Greenfield Recorder Library Letter 1/21/19

Pride at the library

With some unexpected free time after work recently, I spent a couple of hours at the Greenfield Public library. I felt a patriotic pride seeing the best of our democracy: people of all ages, races, abilities, making use of free and equal access to education and cultural enrichment.

I found a chair in a sunny corner and was a few pages into a Stephen King novel when I had to move because, the apologetic librarian explained, the area is reserved for teens. May the Greenfield Public Library one day have a young adult room.

The debate over the new Greenfield library has triggered flashbacks of the 2011 Shutesbury library war. It was a disappointment to watch 15 years of planning end in a tie vote and forfeit of the grant that would have paid more than half the cost of the new library.

Worse than losing the library was the animosity toward it. People are still reluctant to talk about the library, which had more than two-thirds support until the final vote. Don’t believe them when they say it’s too expensive; taxes are a smokescreen for unwillingness to invest in municipal infrastructure or services they don’t use.

In Shutesbury, people with the largest homes were the most vocal opponents. Don’t be like Shutesbury where fist fights broke out on the playground over a library. Be like Wendell, Sunderland, Leverett, Athol, Pelham and over 250 Massachusetts towns that built or expanded their libraries with construction grants.

Greenfield’s robust community of library supporters will no doubt funnel generosity to the library whenever we can. Isaac Mass, pony up, leave a legacy. For the sake of your constituents get on board and help reduce the cost not by opposing, but by fundraising. Libraries lift us up and benefit the poorest the most.

KAREN TRAUB

Shutesbury

Greenfield Recorder Justice Letter 5/20/19

Readers Write

Justice system

I am writing to express appreciation for the justice delivered during the Lewis Starkey trial. It was my first time in the new courthouse and my first time at a criminal trial.

I attended because I was a friend of Lew’s father and because I am a student in the Newport MFA. The soaring architecture of the Franklin County Courthouse with the view of the Berkshire Mountains and natural light in the courtroom are inspiring and I hope bring some comfort to those going through the worst time of their lives. I appreciate the continuity with the old building but did not miss the sketchy feeling of walking the corridor lined with lawyers and their clients in the dank basement on my way to jury duty or the Registry of Deeds.

It heartens me that our justice system presumes innocent until proven guilty and that anyone, guilty as sin or poor as a church mouse, is entitled to representation. Imperfect and messy as our democracy is, I appreciate living in a civilized society that reaches for justice.

I appreciate that the process is visible to the public and that the defendant is judged by a jury of his peers. I respect the honesty of prospective jurors who admitted they believed him guilty and those 16 selected who could be impartial. I respect the process of jury selection which took almost three days and nearly 200 potential jurors. I was struck by how many had been touched by the plague of domestic abuse.

The brutality of the crime was tempered by the decency in the courtroom. I feel safer knowing a dangerous man is behind bars. My heart goes out to Amanda Glover’s family and I encourage anyone experiencing domestic abuse to ask for help and get away safely.

KAREN TRAUB

Greenfield

Cash strapped co-op ‘worth fighting for’

Cash strapped co-op ‘worth fighting for’

New energy, volunteers keep grocery store alive

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer Greenfield Recorder 2/28/20

LEVERETT — Its shelves were bare, save for some diet soda and beer, its staff had been laid off, board members resigned and its manager departed.

Just a few weeks ago, the future of the Leverett Village Co-op on Rattlesnake Gutter Road, following a vote in October that set a course for its possible dissolution, was in doubt.

But as the month of February comes to an end, several members have growing confidence that the worst is behind them as they help to bring the Moore’s Corner institution back from the brink and once again make it a destination to pick up a loaf of bread, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a bottle of wine — or enjoy an omelet for breakfast or a sandwich for lunch.

“We have noticed people who had stopped coming are coming again,” said Karen Traub, a member from Shutesbury and clerk to the co-op’s board. “The community has been incredible. People are calling to find out what they can do to help.”

Following a Feb. 5 board meeting, those trying to pull the co-op out of its financial crisis, where it has been nearly

$200,000 in debt, went on what they termed a twoweek hiatus to get new board members in place and determine how to return the co-op to being a place welcoming to all shoppers, and a gathering place for people to meet each other.

Traub is among those who have been volunteering to staff the register and stock the shelves daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and make pizza on Friday nights from 5 to 8 p.m.

Julio Mendez of Shutesbury, the new president of the board, said he has been shopping at the co-op for three years and has been a member for the past two years.

“Experiences are memorable enough that it’s worth fighting for,” Mendez said.

During the hiatus, the board created five committees focused on fundraising, volunteering, improving the building and facilities, creating a business plan and doing outreach.

Mendez acknowledged the work has not been easy, as many vendors are owed money. But the co-op has been able to pay off $16,000 in immediate debt. In addition, the coop received a $25,000 personal

SEE CO-OP A6

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Co-op

FROM A1

loan from Samuel Lovejoy of Montague and a $20,000 donation challenge that, once met, led to another $5,000.

“The infusion of $50,000 into a business that had no money whatsoever has gone a long way to get past the initial steps to move forward and to keep the doors open,” Mendez said.

The board will soon have to make management decisions to make sure it is not returning to a troubling position.

“We will change it in a way to meet the needs of current patrons and those who have never come here,” Mendez said. “We have an outpouring of community support right now that comes from the fact they don’t want this to disappear. ” The co-op has also benefited from the aid of Paul Rosenberg, the former general manager who retired 18 months ago. He has appealed to a number of vendors to bring them back on board, Traub said.

In fact, the shelves and coolers filled with eggs, yogurt, milk, toilet paper, and other basic necessities are the result of his efforts. “Having Paul back is fundamental to keeping us afloat,” Traub said. Support has also come from local enterprises that Traub said don’t want to see the co-op fail, including Maple Mama sodas in Wendell and Real Pickles in Greenfield.

Mendez notes that Thursday morning he met with Joshua Kingsbury, from Kingsbury Farms in Deerfield, to make sure that maple syrup is back in stock.

In addition to the store, the Cafe Rattle & Schmooze serves breakfast and lunch cooked to order.

Kathleen Leonard, the cook and caretaker of the kitchen for the Cafe Rattle & Schmooze, said she is doing her part to revitalize it with homemade soups and chowders, cakes, cookies and scones, and sandwiches.

“I’m upbeat again. With a lot of volunteers, it feels like new energy here,” Leonard said.

Ann Ferguson, a past president of the board, said the board tried a new model because of declining revenue, but she said that it may have gone in too upscale a direction and was unable

to secure a needed bank loan for the improvements it planned.

Retreating from that, Ferguson, who lives in North Leverett, said the new board understands the need to go more slowly and get the community re-involved.

“They need to pay down the debt and grow more cautiously, and include all members,” Ferguson said.

Traub said one of the priorities is to bring back staff, with some already being able to return on a halftime basis.

“They are beloved by shoppers, we know it’s their livelihood, and we’re trying to give them some stability and appreciation,” Traub said.

If the co-op can get through the rest of winter, Traub said, she is confident that it will be ready for the busy seasons of spring, summer, and fall when hikers and bikers return to the nearby Rattlesnake Gutter, visitors head to the Peace Pagoda and swimmers make their way to Lake Wyola.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.

The Leverett Village Co-op with signs around the store asking members for support in October 2019.

GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

Published in 2020

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https://www.strawdogwriters.org/pandemic/leverettvillagecoop

The View from the Register of the Leverett Village Co-op by Karen L Traub

Posted on June 24, 2020

Karen L Traub lives in the woods of Shutesbury and is a new member of Straw Dog Writers Guild. A student in the Newport MFA, Karen’s first published essay appeared in Brevity Online. She serves on the Editorial Board of Quabbin Quills and is writing a memoir about her local library.

The View from the Register of the Leverett Village Co-op

Fresh baked bread, eggs and cheese
Yogurt, muffins cookies,
Coffee, soymilk, wooden stirrers
Plexiglass

New life from the ashes
As people slow down and stay close to home
A food Co-op nearly squashed by big box stores revived
Nourished by our remembered belief that together we can do good

The café wrapped in hazard tape
Marks on the floor where it’s safe to stand
The Covid Do-si-do
Two shoppers pass with care

Gloves, hand sanitizer, bandanas
The nicest grandpa looks like a gangster
Or a cowboy
Faces uncovered
Are now the ones we fear

Rattlesnake Ray
With snazzy pointed sideburns
Sniggers like a cartoon bad guy at my mask
“You look like a doctor”
Next time he comes in he is wearing one

From the register I see
People meeting, not on Zoom
In the flesh, six feet apart
Arms crossed in the sign language for hug
“Stay safe” the new goodbye

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Voices of the Valley Anthology June 25, 2020

https://quabbinquills.org/

HEMLOCK HOSPICE

Karen Traub

As they lose their needles and then their life

I watch the giants fall

I think of every person I have known and loved who has died

And I remember to live

New life will sprout from this decay 

There will be more light in the forest 

More sun in the winter

And a view of the dawn each new day

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POSTED JULY 16, 2020 MULTIPLICITYMAGAZINE

https://multiplicitymagazine.com/2020/07/quickwork-no3/

Mom, Dancing

by Karen Taub

One of my best days at work as full-time grilled-cheese-sandwich maker, homework tutor, boo-boo kisser, TV warden, and part-time Scheherazade in purple, red and gold sparkles, was when the little girl sitting cross-legged in the front row at the Girl Scout Jamboree stared googly-eyed at me on stage, dancing and playing finger cymbals, and announced “She’s beau-ti-ful.” She wasn’t seeing the wrinkles and the worries, the mini-van driving, mortgage-paying mortal, but the reflected possibilities of her future, a woman feeling good in her skin while kids, Dad and the dinner dishes wait at home.

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