Carol A. Crafts: Keep Mount Sugarloaf lights tradition going strong

What a wonderful article regarding the holiday lights atop Mount Sugarloaf. [“Mt. Sugarloaf’s holiday lights a community treasure, help needed to keep 75-year tradition alive,” Recorder, Dec. 9, 2023].The dedicated people doing this for years wish to...

Dennis Merritt: Change politics from the bottom up

When I was a young man the country was divided. The issue was American imperialism, and in particular Vietnam.How did this affect me? Well my country wanted me to quit my job and carry a gun through the rice paddies of Vietnam. Why? To fight an enemy...

Noel Gomez: Fed up with fuel assistance

I’ve had it up to here waiting for fuel assistance every year.Do you realize how cold it gets on November nights? This used to be one of the state’s best benefits, but now with all the border busters coming into our area, it isn’t.For a governor to...

Bill Lafley: Musk should thank taxpayers

Elon Musk has cozied up to Donald Trump and is leading the charge to cut government services and make our government more efficient. In 2018, Tesla was the first electric vehicle car company to hit the 200,000 ceiling for the $7,500 federal tax...

Guest columnist William Lambers: America’s Thanksgiving story of charity and peace

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

 Thanksgiving brings families together and gives us wonderful memories. Turkey is on the menu in most homes that celebrate the holiday. But actually, the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag in 1621 likely had no turkey at all....

My Turn: No magic wand — We have only each other to stand with

By MARGOT FLECK

Both human limitations and human resilience become strikingly evident in these multi-cataclysmic times. Stressed as I am, I find in my 80s an old childish wish arising. I want a magical transformation. I want to be instantly transformed into a...

My Turn: The links matter — Easter in November

By GENE STAMELL

 As a child, I never celebrated Easter. In the spring, my family looked forward to Passover and the seder, at which the kids could search for hidden afikomen (matzoh wrapped in a napkin) and request presents from the adults at the table. (One year, my...

James A. Marples: Land and property a treasured asset

Having family near Athol, I read the column published in the Athol Daily News: “Wall Street landlords are coming to our ZIP code” [Nov 20]. While I believe in free enterprise, I simultaneously frown on usury (ultra-high loan rates) and monopolies by a...

Sean Meyer: Gratitude for Rep. McGovern's leadership on nuclear weapons

On behalf of the Back from the Brink campaign (www.preventnuclearwar.org), I want to thank U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern for his steadfast leadership in confronting the existential threat to humanity posed by nuclear weapons. All of his constituents, and...

From Global to Local: Post-election beatitudes beat the blues

By H. PATRICIA HYNES

Whatever postures our country has projected to the world — shining city on a hill; leader of the free world; model of democracy; the indispensable nation; a rules-based order — all have crumbled like a house of cards. Our country’s failures, however,...

My Turn: Whoever dies with the most stuff does not win

By JOHANNA NEUMANN

 Holiday time is nearly here. I’m so excited about filling my home with the smell of balsam fir and baking cookies and the sounds of my boys singing along to Chipmunks Christmas carols.I am not, however, looking forward to the crescendo of holiday...

Michael Valeri: Justifying the misery of the gambler

From the article headline, “Report: Casinos’ impact mostly positive” in the Oct. 28 issue of the Greenfield Recorder, one would think most was positive. Upon reading the article, most does not seem positive. In fact, most findings in the report are...

Columnist Daniel Cantor Yalowitz: Thankfulness and an attitude of gratitude

By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ

Giving thanks is a personal and intimate decision. There is no formula to follow or equation to guide any of us. I cannot dictate to anyone why or for whom they should feel and express gratitude, and no one can advise me as to what I should be...

My Turn: AG battery storage decision protects industry, not people

By CHRISTOPHER QUEEN

Last spring the town of Wendell submitted a general bylaw to the state attorney general regarding battery energy storage systems. For the second time in the past two years, the AG has rejected the will of our voters at Town Meeting.In March of 2023,...

Thomas Newton: Leave the Green River dam

The historic dam controversy is back in the news again. Some are destined to rid the beautiful Green River of its very unique dam. The thought of the Green River having improved habitat and better connectivity is bunk. Having better public...

Fran Bogdanowicz: Firing UMass football coach not the answer

The firing of Don Brown, a very experienced long-time coach with success in multiple programs is another excuse by the ongoing failure of the UMass Athletics Department and the board of trustees to promote UMass football into a program that is going...

Estelle Cade: Homeowner rights diminishing for ‘ordinary people’

I must agree with columnist Al Norman’s Nov. 20 column [“Wall Street landlords are coming to our zip code”]. He often has first-hand knowledge that I do not, but I can tell that “outsiders” of some sort are moving into this area, simply by following...

My Turn: Lawn care is winning, nature is losing

By JOHN DAVID BOLES

I have lived along the Green River for 45 years. One day in 1979 while swimming in the Green River, a woman told me she was selling a summer cottage just above the river. The moment I walked into the cabin, I knew this was the place I would grow old!...

Columnist Judy Wagner: No hibernation allowed

By JUDY WAGNER

It’s official. The chipmunks are confused. From Recorder nature columnist Bill Danielson’s informative piece on chipmunks a few weeks ago, we learned how chippies settle into their elaborate underground dens when cold weather hits and snooze away the...

My Turn: America’s self-inflicted wound

By DANIEL A. BROWN

It’s not uncommon for the process of democracy to contain the seeds of its own destruction. It allows the people to freely elect the very person who has vowed to strangle it to death. Past examples are Adolf Hitler’s Reichstag victories in the 1930s...