July 4 peace walk to honor Crowe, Wieland

A nine-mile walk along Route 9 between Amherst and Northampton on Saturday will honor longtime late activists Frances Crowe and Paki Wieland.

Participants in the Fourth of July Interfaith Peace Walk will gather at the Amherst Common at 8:30 a.m., and begin the walk at 9 a.m. The group will arrive at the Northampton Friends Meeting, 43 Center St., at around 1 p.m. where a short program will take place along with a meal.

At 3 p.m., participants will join the American Friends Service Committee’s call to sit in silence together. People who believe in nonviolence, and who feel like they are physically capable are invited to attend. There will be support vehicles, including a doctor, following the walk.

The walk is being initiated by Northampton Friends Meeting and cosponsored by ION Interfaith group, Hampshire Mosque, Unitarian Universalist Society of Northampton and Florence, Mt. Toby Friends Meeting, Amherst Unitarian Universalist Society Peace and Justice Committee, New England Peace Pagoda, Congregation B’nai Israel Tikkun Olam Social Justice Committee, The Enviro Show, Traprock Peace Center and Wally Nelson Chapter 95 of Veterans for Peace.

To volunteer, email 2026july4peace@proton.me. For more information, contact Eric Wasileski at ericwasileski@gmail.com, or at 413-557-4536.

Tickets on sale for Plainfield Firefighter’s Barbecue

PLAINFIELD — Tickets are on sale for the Plainfield Volunteer Firefighter’s Association (PVFA) will host the 55th annual Firefighter’s Barbecue and 50th Plainfield Road Race on Labor Day weekend, Sunday, Sept. 6.

The day’s event will include a giant silent raffle, with tickets on sale at the food tent. Live music will also return, featuring the Curtis Rich Review that includes a Plainfield resident performer. The Plainfield Cultural Council is supporting the barbecue’s live music again this year.

The barbecue will again feature a barbecued chicken dinner that includes local baked potatoes and corn-on-the-cob, as well as homemade coleslaw, dinner roll, slice of watermelon and a beverage — cooked on a giant open fire pit built by firefighters two years ago. The cooking fire starts at 6 a.m., and cooking occurs through the morning to be ready for a 1 p.m. serving time.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12. Tickets are available from any Plainfield firefighter, EMT or fire association member.

The Road Race, started in 1976, is a 1.1-mile loop around the center of town on a deceptive difficult course. Registration is free the day of event. The race starts at 1:15 p.m. Winners of both the overall race and kids under 12 get their names inscribed on race bowls that are on display at the Shaw-Memorial Library throughout the year.

A giant silent raffle is put together during the summer months preceding the barbecue by fire association members who seek donated items throughout western Massachusetts. To donate an item (new items only, packaged and sealed), contact a firefighter or EMT or drop off the item Thursday evenings at the Safety Complex, 38 North Central St., after 7 p.m. Raffle winners are picked the day of the event.

S. Hadley Senior Center to launch peer technology mentor program

SOUTH HADLEY — The South Hadley Council on Aging has been selected to receive a 2026 AARP Community Challenge grant to launch a Peer Technology Mentor Program at the South Hadley Senior Center.

The $9,620 flagship grant will train five, tech-savvy, senior volunteers to provide one-on-one technology help and group classes to fellow older adults, roughly tripling the center’s tech-support capacity and serving more than 200 residents a year.

South Hadley is one of 750 grantees chosen from more than 5,100 applications nationwide.
This year AARP is investing $8.3 million across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the largest number of Community Challenge grants in the
program’s 10-year history.

Peer mentors will receive structured training on teaching techniques for older learners,
session documentation, classroom setup and more. The grant also funds new iPads for the
center’s lending program, as well as a device library of phones, tablets, smartwatches and
streaming media devices for Peer Mentors to demonstrate to members in-class.

The AARP Community Challenge is a grant program to make improvements in
communities that jump-start long-term change. It is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable
Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and
rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages. To learn more, visit
AARP.org/Livable.