South Hadley volunteers say "count me in"

Published: Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 11:44 AM     Updated: Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 11:49 AM

SOUTH HADLEY – “Count me in.” 

That’s what people in South Hadley replied when they got an e-mail asking them to help clean up the Black Stevens conservation area in that town. About 70 of them showed up in June to pull weeds and collect litter. 

And “Count Me In” is what the South Hadley group that put out the call have chosen as their name. It’s easy to spot members, who wear yellow T-shirts with the name of the group in blue italics. 

Co-founder Stephanie Viens, a South Hadley High School teacher, says it’s a low-pressure organization. People don’t have to show up for meetings. Don’t have to volunteer for a minimum number of hours. Don’t have to apologize about it. 

“We’re trying to make it a very open and inclusive group,” says co-founder Tanya Kopec, of South Hadley. 

That’s not to say the organizers are lackadaisical. “We met 14 weeks in a row when we started,” said Michael Brouillette, son of co-founder Susan Brouillette and a member himself. 

Other founding members of the group include Emily Pritchard (“a ray of sunshine,” according to members of the group), Jim Reidy, Ira Brezinsky and Robert Judge. Not all members live in South Hadley, but all have a connection to the town. 

The concept for Count Me In grew from a class on religion and philosophy that Viens taught at South Hadley High School. She had thought deeply about the subject of “transformative justice,” an approach that favors forgiveness and understanding over conflict or revenge. 

She and her colleague Sue Brouillette discussed ways of pulling people together in the town they loved. 

The heartbreaking death of Phoebe Prince, a teen-ager who hanged herself in January after being bullied by classmates, added some urgency to their goal. 

To Viens, healing can happen when people work together side by side to do good. 

Though their philosophy may have universal implications, members of Count Me In believe in small projects. For example, some will conduct children’s activities at the high school during the town’s Columbus Day Fair Oct. 11. The group is always on the lookout for more volunteer projects. 

And they’re going back to Black Stevens on Oct. 23, where the bridges are in sad repair. “Everyone is welcome,” said Michael Brouillette. “We’ve got a bridge that needs building.” 

“Metaphorically and physically,” said Viens.

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New South Hadley youth group has big ideas

Monday, September 27, 2010

SOUTH HADLEY - At Sunday's inaugural meeting of a new youth group, the turnout was small, but the ideas were big: a mural project at the entrance to town; an annual Youth Day of activities at the schools; a new youth center that would be a spot for weekly dances and movie nights.

The first meeting of South Hadley Heroes, a youth group connected to the town's nascent Youth Commission, produced a flip-chart full of suggestions for how young people can become more connected to the community - and to each other.

"We are here to make a change," said Melanie Demakis, 17, who led Sunday's gathering at the high school library. "We want everyone to join and give ideas for activities that will involve youth of all ages."
About half a dozen young people attended the meeting, along with the same number of adults, including Police Chief David LaBrie and Select Board Vice Chairman Robert Judge. They formed a circle in the center of the library and brainstormed for an hour about activities that could bring young people of varying interests and abilities together.

In addition to the mural project, other suggestions included a cleanup day at Buttery Brook Park, using resources at Mount Holyoke College to benefit local youth, and reviving regular teen dances and other activities that used to be held at various churches and meeting halls in South Hadley.

Town Meeting approved the formation of a Youth Commission last spring in the wake of the bullying-related suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Commission members have yet to be appointed. Supporters say they want to solicit ideas from young people before the agency officially starts work.

"We want to have feedback from the youth before we go ahead," said Carol Constant, a Town Meeting member who attended Sunday's session at the high school and who used to be involved in an informal youth center in town. "Our hope is to make it not just recreational, but also about community service and leadership. This is a starting point."

Demakis said she got an email last spring from the high school vice principal about the town's plans to form a Youth Commission. "I went to the first meeting and I was the only teen there," she said. "I was a little overwhelmed but I realized this is something I want to be part of."

She founded South Hadley Heroes as a way to involve fellow students in getting the Youth Commission off the ground. Demakis recruited friends to pass out fliers about the group and to make announcements about Sunday's meeting over the high school's public address system.

Middle-schoolers Grace and Torri Lonergan were the youngest people in attendance on Sunday.

"I think it's great that there is a youth group," said Grace, who is in seventh grade. "I liked the idea of the cleanup day."

Demakis said recruitment efforts for South Hadley Heroes will continue. "I'd like to see a lot of different people join," she said. "We want to plan a lot of events for the youth and to keep the town involved."

Garden plots show success

Wednesday, September 01, 2010
By PAT CAHILL

SOUTH HADLEY - A garden tour, a talk on heirloom seeds, a taste of homegrown fruits and vegetables, and some big plans for the future were all on the agenda when members of South Hadley Community Gardens, also known as GRO South Hadley - Gardening and Resident Outreach, gathered for a meeting recently at the garden site.

The garden is only in its second summer, but it's attracting a lot of attention along Route 47 at the Town Farm this year, thanks to a new border of colorful perennial flowers and an eye-catching sign created by South Hadley High School students.

"The flowers have been a phenomenal success," said Lawrence ("Larry") Dubois, president of the GRO group.

He was giving a tour of the site to a group that included South Hadley Selectman Robert Judge.

The gardens started last year with 10 growers. Cost to each grower is $20 per season for a plot 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep. This year all 24 plots are taken. Growers range from retirees to a teenage girl and her younger sister.

"We put children to work, too!" joked Ron Milkey, of Chicopee, a member of Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners. The master gardeners maintain a "demonstration garden" at the site to educate growers.

Tending the gardens is a learning process, said Linda W. Young, co-founder of the GRO gardeners.

Last year the the yield was disappointing, she said. Then the gardeners tinkered with the dirt, adding manure and sending samples to the UMass Extension Service. "The soil came back perfect!" said Young.

This year string beans, zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes and many other plants are thriving, and carrots and corn are on the way. Some of the gardeners have already harvested their early vegetables and have planted a second crop.

Dubois pointed out Chinese cucumbers and pink okra as examples of veggies that are not readily available around here. Among the issues the group is working on now is making sure that plants with a tendency to sprawl (squash, for example) don't expand into a neighbor's plot....