Indexing the Ashfield News

We at AHP are fortunate and grateful that Anne Eberle, a professional in the art of indexing, has graciously offered to act as consultant and to assist in any way she is able with our plans to index the entire 31 years of the Ashfield News. Don Robinson will be working on this effort covering the major areas of Town business and trends, but there are countless, precious other subjects, people, events and creative output that would not fall into the larger categories. We are hoping that there are some who would find it exciting to comb through the old newspapers and categorize it all into an index that would allow researchers to find what they seek at their finger tips. The only newspaper in the area whose archives are fully accessible, is the Shelburne Falls Independent. Our achievement will result in an extremely valuable resource not only for our history project but for the whole region.
We have all the old issues of the Ashfield News, right from the start, in our office at the Ashfield Memorial Park barn. It is a comfortable, roomy place, where those wanting to indulge in this activity, may work in an undisturbed, quiet place without the activities of others competing. Ms Eberle is particularly interested in having the opportunity to instruct people of all ages including young people. This is a great opportunity for us all.

E. Leete's Life in Ashfield

We’ve received the first two of Elizabeth Leete’s Ashfield remembrances, beginning with her wedding to her husband Gurdon in 1963. She describes the occasion, which was held at the home of Ernie Wyatt in colorful prose. Ernie was pretty colorful himself; Elizabeth characterizes him as “an iconoclast, womanizer, drinker, leftist, anarchist even, retired sailor.” Ernie re-did his house on Town Farm Road to make it look like a ship - port holes and all.
In her second piece Elizabeth reminisces about acquiring her home, “Blueberry Hill,” in Apple Valley (found by Ernie,) and some of the people who figured in her life then: Donald Graves, Ted Howes and Cecil Bolton. We're looking forward to many more of her memoires.
This is one of many sorts of contributions we hope a growing number of people will make to the Ashfield History Project, always enriching the texture of the Ashfield story.