New T-Shirts and MRGI in the News

Sojourner Truth Walking Tour October 3

October 1, 2015 by JW Sinton

Saturday October 3 Walking Tour

Walk through history in Florence

Saturday at 9:30 come join us to learn about African-American history in Florence including Sojourner Truth’s house, abolitionist sites and the 19th c. utopian community in Florence. We will explain what brought a progressive group of people to Florence in the 19th century, how they influenced Florence’s development and what happened to those innovative and progressive people.
Walk starts at the Sojourner Truth statue, Park & Pine St. in Florence at 9:30 a.m.
Rain cancels
Walk sponsored by Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee and David Ruggles Center
Walks last about 1 1/2 hours. No need to sign up ahead of time, come and join us on Saturday morning!

Florence Riverwalks 8/15 and 9/26

July 30, 2015 by JW Sinton

Get ready for some high summer fun on the two Florence riverwalks and prepare for a fantastic fall!

The Florence I riverwalk from Maines Field to Meadow St. Bridge will be led by Wendy Sinton of the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee and MRGI’s John Sinton. It’ll feature the Mill River industries that drove Florence’s prosperity with a focus on the underground railroad and the Northampton Association of Industry and Education. That’s Sat. August 15.

The Florence II walk on Sat. Sept. 26 walk is one of our most popular, featuring naturalist Laurie Sanders and Elizabeth Sharpe, author of In the Shadow of the Dam. It will cover the river from Meadow St. Bridge to Crimson & Clover farm across from Look Park.

Room is available on both those tours, a sneak preview of which can be found at this link, which you should simply copy onto your browser: https://player.vimeo.com/external/133577379.source.mp4?s=31561790f19a26cad582699c08cf0c56&profile_id=0&download=1

The video was brought to you by Burgy’s inimitable and invaluable Tom Adams, Director/Owner of Reelife Documentary Productions & Folktography by Tom

And get ready for a fantastic fall. We’ll be working with new partners and old to create a path from Leeds to Haydenville, to begin some invasive management, to develop a partnership with the Conway School, and add to our Mill River History.

With all our best wishes, John and Gaby

Interactive Map for the Hidden Mill Riverwalk

July 1, 2015 by JW Sinton

Here’s an amazing interactive map for the Mill Riverwalk from Paradise Pond to Old South Street. Check it out and send us your feedback at info@millrivergreenway.org
Thanks to the incredible work of Victoria Beckley and Jon Caris at the Spatial Analysis Laboratory at Smith College, we have an interactive map of the riverwalk from Paradise Pond to the corner of Old South Street and Conz in Northampton. This is a companion to the brochure, but allows us to display other features and links, such as Smith College’s Paradise Pond monitoring project. It also provides a more accurate location for the former Hoe Shop at the dam.

Please let us know what you think of it. You can find it here.

Leeds Rail Trail Closing in July

July 1, 2015 by JW Sinton

Construction of the MassCentral Rail Trail extension will begin in Leeds in the middle of July, precise date to be determined. During much of the construction, the existing and new section of the trail north of Florence Street/Mulberry Street and Grove Avenue will be closed.

This is one of the projects that the CPC and your donations to the City of Northampton and Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways have supported over the years. Thank you.

New T-Shirts and MRGI in the News

May 13, 2015 by JW Sinton

First, check out these fabulous MRGI t-shirts designed by the extraordinary Rob Stewart and Damia Cavallari of Transit Authority Figures. They come in black or green, sizes small to extra large, and you can buy one for $20 at any MRGI event. Sorry, no mail sales, but if you contact us, we might be able to meet you somewhere in the Mill River watershed.

Second, see how fine these t-shirts look on Gaby and John, who were thrilled on May 13th to receive the Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways 2015 Trail Neighbor Award. Thanks to all our supportive members who made this special accolade possible!

Third, Gaby and John had a great time with Jim Madigan on WGBY’s Connecting Point this month when Jim interviewed us about MRGI’s work. It’s a fun 6 minutes, so check it out — hit the link and scroll down to the Mill River Greenway segment.

Finally, we still have some room left on the summer riverwalks, so please sign up to assure yourselves places.

Gaby and John with the new MRGI t-shirt 5.13.15