Valley Players donates $3,700 to Center for New Americans

The all-volunteer nonprofit group Valley Players recently donated $3,700 — a portion of ticket sales from its latest show — to Center for New Americans to support immigrant and refugee families in the Valley.

The donation is part of an ongoing mission by Valley Players, which launched in 2024, to donate half of net ticket revenue from each of its shows to other Valley nonprofits that have missions that align with the story or themes of their plays.

Over its first two and a half years, Valley Players raised more than $7,000 for organizations including Cancer Connection, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, River Valley Counseling Center, Community Action Pioneer Valley, the Peace Development Fund, the Literacy Project and Way Finders.

With its 10th program, this June’s sold-out run of Shakespeare’s play, “The Tempest,” Valley Players has now made its single largest donation yet.

Center for New Americans has been serving immigrants in western Massachusetts for nearly 35 years by providing free classes in English, instruction in digital literacy, civics, and employment searching, childcare, tutoring and low-cost immigration legal services.

More information about Valley Players, including how to donate, become a business sponsor, sign up for auditions, get tickets, or join the email list, is at valleyplayers.org.

Douglass exhibit on display at Holyoke Public Library

HOLYOKE — An exhibition, “Frederick Douglass: Advocate for Equality,” is on display at the Holyoke Public Library through July 23.

The six-panel exhibit from the Gilder Lehrman Institute explores Douglass’s life from 1818 to 1895, examining his escape from slavery, his work as an abolitionist and his fight for equality for all individuals during the Jim Crow era.

The showing is open to all during on the first floor of the library at 250 Chestnut St. It is being presented in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Supplementary videos and texts are available. Groups wishing to reserve space for a viewing of accompanying videos or discussion can contact the library’s History Room at 413-420-8107.

Depolarization skills workshop in Westhampton

WESTHAMPTON — A group working to reduce political polarization will hold a Braver Angels workshop Saturday, July 18, at the Westhampton Public Library, 1 North Road.

Titled “Skills for Disagreeing Better,” the workshop will teach essential skills for communicating across differences and finding common ground. Participants will grow their understanding of the values and concerns of people who differ from them politically; learn how to listen in a way that others feel heard; and learn how to share viewpoints so that others might hear even if they disagree.

The workshop is from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The workshop is free, but registration is required. To sign up, email depolarizewmass@gmail.com or sign up at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skills-for-disagreeing-better-registration-1987079685831?discount=BRAVER

For more info about the group’s monthly meetups in Easthampton, email depolarizewmass@gmail.com.

Workshop on photographing flowers, gardens

GRANBY — The Granby Free Public Library is hosting a photography workshop on Thursday, July 30, from 5 to 7 p.m., offering techniques on how to take garden and flower photos.

The workshop will be led by Joan Celebi, a event, lifestyle and branding photographer, who promises to teach a set of simple techniques for taking stunning flower and garden photos. All cameras, phones, and experience levels are welcome.

Attendees will have a chance to try their new skills by photographing real flowers and experimenting with backgrounds, small lights, reflectors, diffusers, Lensball, special effect attachments on their phone and more.

Contact the library at 413-467-3320 to sign up for this program sponsored by the Friends of the Granby Free Public Library, for which space is limited.