Picking Peaches, Recovery runs, and a Ribbon Cutting
By Neal Quesnel ·
The SOAAR 5k and Recovery Rally marks its tenth year at the Playing Fields in Belchertown on Saturday, August 29, with a run-walk and community gathering from 10am to 2pm. The Latino Arts Festival opens Friday at 5pm at Springfield Museums, free and open to all ages, and Salsa in the Park follows Saturday evening at 95 Montague Road in Amherst from 6 to 9:30pm. The Eric Carle Museum in Amherst hosts a joint storytime Saturday at 11am with Caldecott Honor winners Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal. Mortgage rates eased slightly, with the 30-year fixed at 6.65%, still 7 basis points above last year. The Hangar Pub and Brewery in West Springfield opened a new arcade game room, Cutchins Programs acquires the Fields Center in Northampton with a ribbon cutting Thursday, and Easthampton's new municipal electricity aggregation program launches in October. A full week ahead.
This Weekend
§ 01- № 01
10th Annual SOAAR 5k and Recovery Rally
Sat Aug 29 · 10am to 2pm · Playing Fields, BelchertownTenth year for this race. Registration at 10, race off at 11, and then the Playing Fields turn into a music festival with live bands and family events until 2. Run it or walk it, nobody's checking. Money goes to Honest Beginnings, which routes it straight back into local recovery services.
- № 02
Brewing Massachusetts
Fri-Sun thru Oct 11 · 11 to 4:30· Old DeerfieldMemorial Hall Museum built out the whole story of Massachusetts beer inside a replica of an 18th century tavern. Rare artifacts, photographs and documents tracing brewers from the Pilgrims to beer on tap now. Five bucks, free for PVMA members, kids under 12 and students with an ID. Ticket money goes toward repairs on the Bloody Brook Tavern.
- № 03
Morgan Street: A Historical Walking Tour in Holyoke
Sat Aug 29 · 10:30 to 11:30am · 148 Morgan Street, HolyokeTwo houses on this block are twins on purpose. William Chase built 148 and designed 158 to match it the same year, because he and Joseph Ely had married the Houston sisters and figured (naturally) they may as well live next door in matching Craftsman English Revival. The rest of the street is paper mill money from the 1890s, including the man who ran Holyoke's water works for half a century. One hour, flat sidewalk, funded by the Holyoke Local Cultural Council.
- № 04
Latino Arts Festival 2026
Fri Aug 28 · 3:30pm talk, 5 to 8pm festival · Springfield Museums, SpringfieldFourth year, and free. It opens at 3:30p with Dr. Ariana Curtis, from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and grew up out here, talking about how Western Mass shaped what ends up on the walls in DC. Then Bomba de Aqui plays, the Ponce museum exhibit gets tours, and there are hands on activities, a children's book giveaway, hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. Run by the Mi Museo Committee.
- № 05
Salsa in the Park
Sat Aug 29 · 6pm to 9:30pm · 95 Montague Road, AmherstFree lesson under the pavilion from 6 to 7, so showing up alone or with zero experience is welcome. After that DJ Picu takes over until 9:30 with salsa, bachata and merengue. There's a food truck on site. Rain or shine. Hosted by Salsa con Tacos, sponsored by Amherst Recreation.
- № 06
Pick Your Own: Peach Season
All weekend · Pioneer ValleyPeach season runs a couple of weeks in the Valley before apples take over. Park Hill in Easthampton is picking every day this week. The full list of farms is at the link.
Kids Corner
§ 02- № 01
Skinner Servants' Room exhibit grand opening
Sat Aug 29 · 12pm · Wistariahurst, HolyokeAges · All agesCost · Cost not postedThe Skinner Servants' Room opens as a new permanent exhibit at Wistariahurst on Saturday afternoon, timed to back-to-school season. The mansion's public tour skips the staff quarters; this room fills that gap with a family opening event of activities and learning stations.
- № 02
Special Storytime: Molly Idle and Juana Martinez Neal
Sat Aug 29 · 11am · Eric Carle Museum, AmherstAges · Ages 3 to 8Cost · Cost not postedSpecial Storytime at the Eric Carle Museum brings Caldecott Honor illustrators Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal in for a joint reading. They are frequent collaborators and close friends, which is the reason to catch them together rather than separately.
- № 03
The Flea Circus
Wed Aug 26 · 6pm · East Longmeadow Public LibraryAges · All agesCost · FreeEd's Flea Circus lands in the Community Room at East Longmeadow Public Library on Wednesday evening with a miniature big top: trapeze, high wire, high dive, and a flea shot from a cannon. It is a novelty act built for kids who want a show they have not seen at school.
- № 04
End of Summer Ice Cream Party
Fri Aug 28 · 3pm · Agawam Public LibraryAges · All agesCost · FreeThe End of Summer Ice Cream Party at Agawam Public Library marks the last Friday before school starts with ice cream, popsicles, board games, and coloring supplies in the Judith Clini Community Room. Drop-in format, no registration mentioned.
- № 05
Arcadia Folk Festival · Songbird Pass
Sat Aug 29 · 10:30am-7pm · Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, EasthamptonAges · Ages 11 to 17Cost · $199 per personEighth year for this one, put on by Signature Sounds and Mass Audubon out at the wildlife sanctuary. Three stages including one tucked into the woods, food trucks, juried art vendors, naturalists walking people around between sets, and kids' activities running all day. Bring a chair and a blanket. Adults $84.99, teens 11 to 19 $39.99, and kids 10 and under get in free with no ticket. Rain or shine, no weather refunds.
Real Estate Pulse
§ 03This Week’s Rates
Freddie Mac PMMS · August 20, 2026
| Instrument | This Wk | Last Wk | Yr Ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-yr fixed | 6.65% | 6.67% | 6.58% |
| 15-yr fixed | 5.95% | 5.96% | 5.69% |
| 10-yr Treasury | 4.69% | 4.72% | 4.26% |
All three eased a hair this week, with the 10-year Treasury leading the way down 3bp to 4.69%. The 30-year is still 7bp higher than a year ago and the 30-to-15 gap is holding at 70bp, so buyers hoping for a late-summer break got a nudge but not a real opening. If you've been sitting on a pre-approval, the math has not meaningfully changed since spring.
Around Town
§ 04- · Opening
Cutchins Programs for Children and Families has acquired the Fields Center, the Northampton program serving neurodiverse children and families. Public ribbon cutting Thursday Aug 27, 5 to 7 PM at 881 N. King Street, with tours and light refreshments.
- · Town
Easthampton Community Electricity, the city's new municipal aggregation program, launches in October with a 13-month rate meant to stabilize bills against seasonal price swings and add renewable options. If you live in Easthampton, watch your mail for the opt-out notice.
- · Closure
GOMBO Nola Kitchen & Oyster Bar in Northampton is closed through the weekend after a Friday fire at the restaurant. No reopening date yet.
- · Town
McCaffery Interests, the Chicago developer partnered with Springfield on downtown, has filed building plans to turn three historic downtown buildings into 99 market-rate apartments with ground-floor retail. A milestone step, still years from move-in.
- · Heads up
Putts Bridge on Route 21 over the Chicopee River gets daytime lane closures next week for inspections between Ludlow and Springfield. Plan extra time if that's your commute.
- · Town
Richard Salter Storrs Library in Longmeadow is heading toward a voter-approval question for renovations. Director Jean Maziarz told the Select Board at its Aug. 17 meeting the building is not fully ADA-compliant and has ongoing water infiltration damage.
- · Quirk
Leverett has installed a set of Witness to History signs around town to mark its 250-year legacy. A slow driving tour rather than a single stop.
Local Wins
§ 05Elizabeth Poggi, a seven-year-old in Agawam, has run a lemonade stand for three summers running, with the money going to Dakin Humane Society. Three summers is a serious commitment for any 7 year old. The animals at Dakin get a little more kibble, a little more vet care, and a little more of whatever the shelter needs that week.
Restaurant Watch
§ 06The Hangar Pub & Brewery, in West Springfield, cut the ribbon on a new arcade game room this month, with Mayor Will Reichelt on hand for the opening. It is a small move that changes what the room is for: a brewpub with a place the the kids to hang out while they wait for the food.
Valley Fact
Greenfield, Massachusetts
On August 30, 2019, the Valley Flyer made its first run into Greenfield, restoring a north-south Amtrak passenger connection that Franklin County had been without for decades. The pilot, run by MassDOT as an extension of the Hartford Line, put Greenfield's Olver Transit Center on a one-seat ride to New Haven with connections onward to New York. It runs twice each weekday in both directions and once each weekend day, which is modest service by big-city standards and a genuine shift for anyone north of Springfield without a car.
That’s the week. Say Hi to a stranger. Talk on Tuesday.
– Neal