Monte Belmonte Wines: A toast to Champagne
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate Champagne, with its effervescent, aspirational qualities, levitating its drinkers towards the hope of wealth and good cheer, has become a staple when the clock strikes 12 on the last night of the year. The tiny bubbles of...
Stagestruck: Becomings
In the Valley this weekend and next, there’s a show in which a man becomes a woman, one in which a man becomes a feminist, and a few more that feature (mostly) women who promise to become hilarious.
Painting a Colorful Path: Common Wealth Murals Making a Difference
Britt Ruhe may not be an artist, but she has certainly splashed paint across the canvas of the Pioneer Valley. For more than three decades, the Granby woman has used her skillset of community organizing, project management and fiscal knowledge to lead nonprofit...
‘We’re Still Here’: Exhibit designed to remind visitors that Native peoples today are part of Western Massachusetts
Growing up in Springfield, Aprell May knew a few bits and pieces about her Native American ancestry. But it was not something that family members talked about much. In fact, May says that for years she thought of herself as a “Lost Bird” or a “Missing Feather”...
Northampton Councilors Consider Possible Cap on Pot Shops
City councilors have begun to gather public input on the subject of imposing a cap on the number of marijuana dispensaries that are allowed to open in Northampton, including Florence and Leeds, but action on any formal proposal is not yet in sight. The City...
Headbanging for a Cause
The dose of nostalgia you get from toy gawking — in my opinion — is like no other. Whenever I’m on a Walmart or Target run, I have a tendency to gravitate toward the toy aisles to see what new Marvel action figures line the shelves – yes, I am that person. This time...
From the V-Spot Vault: The Love is There, But the Sex Isn’t
Editor’s note: this article originally ran June 10, 2019. Hi Yana, Over the course of the last couple months my partner’s sex drive has slowly fallen off, and is now creating tension in our relationship. We’ve been together for nine months, and...
Monte Belmonte Wines: A deep drink of Question 3
While getting out my glasses (wine glasses, not reading glasses) and preparing to write this column, I had a new email message from the mailing list of Four Seasons Wine & Liquors in Hadley. While most of their subject lines read “For The Woman You Love: Wine...
Stagestruck: A Fall Harvest for the Theater
Next month on area stages (and a screen), three shows featuring women front and center, bucking prejudice, expectations, even labels. Plus, a musical farce with a woman in a beard. That one first. “Die Fledermaus,” the fall offering from Valley Light Opera, is the...
‘People, Plant, and Purpose’: The motto of 6 Brick’s, Springfield’s newest dispensary
From giving Springfield residents the chance to start a career in the cannabis industry to giving back to the city, Payton Shubrick has a number of goals as the owner of 6 Brick’s, one of the city’s recent dispensaries to open. The business is named for the...
Stagestruck: Fall Harvest – a cornucopia of theater, music & dance
Next month on area stages (and a screen), three shows that place women front and center, bucking prejudice, expectations, even labels. Plus, a musical farce featuring a woman with a goatee.
Sessions
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Best Mann’s Debut Album is a Layered Tower of Sound
Thematically it’s a rich vein to mine and a damn good debut for Best Mann.
V-Spot: A Question From The Mono-Poly Guy
“Someone suggested I might be a “switch,” able to be happy in either a mono- or poly-type relationship with the right partner(s). To me, this sounds about as realistic as a unicorn, but is it possible? Am I missing or not seeing something?”
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Stagestruck: On the Border, and Beyond
Two shows coming to this area have Mexican echoes. One is a children's-story allegory of the current border crisis, the other a Mexican dramedy with an international range. Ropes, by Bárbara Colio, has been performed extensively in Spanish-speaking countries, but the...










