In a week that logged the cancellation of the University of Massachusetts football season and the announcement that Northampton schools will go remote through Nov. 4, other ways of life in the Valley continued as if the pandemic didn’t exist.
I stopped by Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton a few times this past week to view the construction of a new 30-by-50-foot, timber-frame teaching pavilion at the site, orchestrated by Trevor Chalmers, the sanctuary’s property manager.
“Seeing the giant timbers come together, it just puts a smile on your face,” he said. “I was excited before, but now I’m really excited.”
The project is the result of about two years of planning and fundraising to create a space where the sanctuary’s Forest Preschool students can learn outdoors.
“It’s invaluable,” he said. “With COVID, it’s even more invaluable.”
The design was a collaboration between Chalmers and Stephen Kemmett, the owner of New World Timberworks in Hanson, who is also a Mass Audubon property manager. In addition to the preschool, the $150,000 structure will be used for special events, including the annual Festival of Birds. It could also be rented when it isn’t in use for the sanctuary’s programs. Chalmers hopes it will be completed in a month or so.
Throughout the pandemic, I’ve found it continually compelling to see how people go on with their work, despite how odd everything is.
For example, last Thursday I accompanied Patrick Beaudry, a candidate for state representative in the 5th Hampden District, as he canvassed a neighborhood in Holyoke. Imagine knocking on doors and asking strangers for their vote with only your eyes visible above your face covering. During our walk, he visited someone he knew, but she didn’t recognize him until he unveiled the remainder of his face. At a safe distance, of course.