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Past Events
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Spring Festival, 2025
Sunday, May 25
Whately Town Hall
11a.m. – 2 p.m.
Bridges of Franklin County
Thursday, April 24, 2025, 7 p.m.
Whately Town Hall Auditorium
Stephen Mikesell of Whately will talk about 20 historically significant 19th and 20th century bridges in Franklin County, including covered bridges, technologically rare bridges, industrial bridges, and bridges built after the disastrous floods of 1936. Steve will bring his dual interests in engineering and history to bear in this illustrated talk, as he did in his 2017 book A Tale of Two Bridges, about the 1936 and 2013 versions of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. video of this talk.
Visions of the Past
March 6, 2025, 7 p.m.,
Whately Town Hall Auditorium
Joint program with Hatfield Historical Society.
Photographer Dale Monette pairs Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) images of construction of the Quabbin Reservoir in the mid-1930s with images of the same locations today. Come see how the houses and landscape looked during the Reservoir’s construction period, compared to 90 years later. Many never-before-seen before images from the DCR Archives are included in this program. You will also see pictures of what everyday life was like in the four Quabbin Valley towns that were erased by the Reservoir.
Join Whately friends and neighbors for music, entertainment, education, and good food! The festival will begin following the parade from the Whately Congregational Church to Town Center Cemetery and the memorial ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Park, all organized by the Whately Grange.
Bees: Greg Cootware, master beekeeper and Vice President of Franklin County Beekeepers*
Yo-Yo Man, John Higby
Music by Whately’s Packing Shed Band*
Free Ice cream from Maple Valley Creamery of Hadley
Food by P’frogi and Masa Mexicano
Brookledge Sugar House maple syrup for sale
Grand opening of “What’s for Dinner?” exhibit in the Historical Society Museum.
* Supported by the Mass Cultural Council through the Whately Cultural Council
Beavers in the Valley
Sunday November 17, 2024. 7 p.m., Whately Town Hall Auditorium
Naturalists Allison Bell and Laurie Sanders (Co-director, Historic Northampton) explore the dramatic history, and future, of these fascinating animals. Photos and video will show their busy lives—family groups, seasonal food, building projects—and the amazing diversity of wildlife that beaver habitat supports across Whately and the region. Learn how, after early extirpation by fur trade trappers, beavers were reintroduced to the valley. Today, they are recognized as a keystone species across North America, and the environmental benefits of their engineering are highly valued.
Fall Festival, 2024
Sunday, September 29, 2024
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Whately Town Hall
Hidden History Hunt*–a self-guided tour reveals stories from Whately’s past.
Cider Making Demonstration–We’ll be pressing cider with an antique-style press and apples from Quonquont Farm.
Clothing and Memorabilia display–from Lois Bean’s 1955 stay in Japan.
Music by Whately’s own Chestnut Serenaders.*
Food from Maso Mexicano of Florence and P’frogi by Irida of Northampton.
Free Ice Cream courtesy Maple Valley Creamery and Chrysanthemums for sale–thanks to Mill River Farm of Deerfield.
*Sponsored by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the Whately Cultural Council.
An Illustrator's Journey: From Whately to the World of Children's Books and Back Again.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Town Hall Auditorium
7 p.m.
Longtime Hatfield resident Monica Vachula who has illustrated books about Paul Revere, Sophia Smith, and Noah Webster, will speak about her work.
Read more about Monica at https://www.wmig.org/artists/vachula#thumb
Sunday October 6, 2024, 2 p.m., Whately Town Hall Auditorium
“Toys, Games and their Makers, 1880-1950.” The 2024 WHS exhibit, “Childhood in Whately,” includes many toys and games, every one with a story. Exhibit co-curator Ann Lomeli will tell some of these stories and guide us through the exhibit in the Museum.
Thursday September 12, 2024. 3 p.m., Whately Town Hall Auditorium
“Creating Inviting Gardens for Birds.” Naturalist and birder Dan Ziomek, manager of Sugarloaf Gardens, will offer practical advice about using plantings to attract birds. Co-sponsored with Valley Neighbors
A Whately Sampler
Sunday, November 12, 2023
2 p.m., Town Hall Auditorium
This fall’s “Sampler” will feature three short talks: Ann Lomeli will talk about World War II V-Mail letters and a 1943 – 1945 cache of Pvt. Marshall Pease’s letters home to Whately; Dereka Smith will introduce us to “Four Cornish Miners in West Whately;” and Donna Wiley will talk on “The Three Lives of Laura Sanderson, 1851 -1949.
All three talks were videotaped by Franklin Community Access Television. You can view them, by clicking the links below.
Trolleys of the Valley
Saturday, October 14, 2023; 10 am—Noon Trolleys
Self-guided tour of the Trolley route from Hatfield to Greenfield and exhibitions of trolley memorabilia at four cooperating museums. Begin at any one of the four museums where tour brochures will be available. Sponsors: Whately, Hatfield & Greenfield Historical Societies, Historic Deerfield, and their museums.
Fall Festival, 2023
Sunday, October 1, 11:00 am—2:00 pm Fall Festival
Whately Historical Society’s Fall Festival at the Whately Town Hall, 194 Chestnut Plain Road: Music by Seven Mile Line and Old Country Road Band; food by Tom’s Famous Long Hot Dogs; free ice cream; face painting; braided rugs by Ruth Leahey; and blacksmithing by Rick Martin.
Music and face painting supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the Whately Cultural Council.
A Whately Sampler
Sunday, April 23, 2023
4 p.m., Town Hall Auditorium
“A Whately Sampler” will feature three short talks: Richard Colter, a retired historian from the National Park Service at the Springfield Armory, will talk about the 1813 flintlock musket in the WHS collection; Dereka Smith will introduce three Whately-born brothers who launched a renowned building firm in North Adams in the 1840s; and a “how-to” session with Donna Wiley on exploring “Whately’s Hidden History,” the digital map of Whately developed in 2022.
The Kingsley Brothers: Artists in Whately Glen
Thursday, March 16, 2023
7 p.m., Town Hall Auditorium
Elbridge and Lewis Kingsley grew up in Hatfield in the mid-1800s and created an impressive portfolio of photography, illustrations, and paintings of the Valley—including images of Roaring Brook and Whately Glen. Elbridge achieved world fame for his wood engravings and recruited leading artists to join him in Whately to work from nature. This talk is in conjunction with the WHS Roaring Brook exhibit and sponsored jointly by WHS and the Hatfield Historical Society. Video of this event.
