 In these days of uncertainty and stretched wallets, it’s good to know you can count on your neighbor. While it’s been a difficult year for many of us, it’s also been an inspiring time. Looking around at communities in western Massachusetts, you’ll find any number of official and unofficial neighborhood groups that are working to ensure their town’s good old fashioned New England self reliance.
Sustainability is in fashion, and many of your neighbors are involved in efforts to help promote it, whether it’s in terms of your local environment or your local community, both of which of are entwined with the other.
In Ashfield, a group formed about this time last year in response to the sky-high costs of heating oil that were anticipated for the winter. Knowing a good Massachusetts winter can become a real financial burden when it comes to heating your home, a group of like minded community members decided to pool their efforts and find a way to ease this burden for those people in their town who may be struggling. Donning the name Share the Warmth, the group found a local home weatherization professional to provide training on the basics of weatherizing your home, that is, keeping the warm in and the cold out. After receiving training on basic weatherization techniques, and raising money for supplies at the Ashfield Fall Festival, Share the Warmth members and supporters went out and weatherized the homes of a dozen Ashfield residents, with the goal of reducing the burden of heating costs for those families.
Like most good ideas, home weatherization had a cascade effect, and Share the Warmth has now grown from a loosely organized group of people interested in better insulating homes, to a core group with nine committees, an official mission and logo, and a couple handfuls of community sustainability efforts underway. Many of the activities of Share the Warmth involve, literally, just that. They coordinate a community firewood pile at the town transfer station, so residents with unneeded wood can add it to the pile for people needing wood to heat their homes. They collect (and some people even knit!) warm winter clothes, which are available for free at the local churches’ regular food pantry. And, new this year, they have planned a free workshop, courtesy of the Center for Ecological Technology (scheduled for October 13, 7pm, in the Ashfield Town Hall), on improving your home energy efficiency.
But in the past year the meaning of sharing the warmth has gone beyond keeping cozy in the chilly months. The group is also interested in sharing the lingering warmth of the summer months, in terms of providing workshops and resources on preserving foods and overall food system sustainability. In the works for hopefully the next growing season is a community garden space where people who don’t have their own land can have free access to local garden space for growing their own food. “Our biggest challenge,” says founding member Ann Scelba, “is letting people know it’s okay to ask for help.” She believes that with all of their resources, Share the Warmth should be able to help anyone who needs it. Knowing who to help is the first step.
So much of preserving our treasured way of life in western Massachusetts requires the support and cooperation of our neighbors. If we want to keep the rural character of the landscape intact, it is up to all of us to do our part to conscientiously conserve and manage our towns and lands. And if we are to sustain our way of life without the resources of the large tax bases found in more developed communities, then it’s up to us to pool our creativity, motivation, and resources, and get involved in community-building efforts like Share the Warmth. Whether you are a community member who could really use those resources, or someone who has something to share, or maybe you’re both, the benefit of small town living is the ability to connect with one another and discover where you fit into the puzzle. Like your favorite tree on that hill behind your house, you stand alone but remain a part of the greater landscape. Share what you can and enjoy the benefits your community has to offer.
Share the Warmth may be contacted through the following four members: Maryellen Cranston (town administrator) – 413.628.4441; Caroline Murray – 413.628.3954; Sue Craft – 413.773.5555 ext. 227; or Ann Scelba – 413.628.3957. Many communities in our region have groups similar to Share the Warmth that are involved in local sustainability and conservation. If you’re wondering what’s happening in your town, check out the bulletin boards in your town center, read your town newsletter, or contact your town’s officials to see what they know. The Trustees of the Reservations also has an ongoing project, the Highlands Community Initiative (www.thetrustees.org/hci), which seeks to foster collaboration, cooperation, and creativity in the Hilltowns. Contact Wendy Sweetser (413.268.8219;
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
) for more information on those efforts. And if you find nothing’s happening where you live, start something!
|
Monthly Update 
