Holyoke's New Year's Eve Gala

On the canals... Sexier than Venice!

This year Crush has put together a sexy New Years party at the Open Square building. Last year's party was awesome, and a total sell out with the Wistariahurst Museum at capacity. So this year Crush has moved the party to a larger space.

Come join us as we ring in the New Years with the warmth and style of a historic Holyoke Mill. Plenty of tickets still available. You can buy them online at crushonholyoke.org

Merry Christmas Holyoke!

Christmas comes early for fire victims

Western Massachusetts reaches out to 15 families left homeless following Holyoke tenement fire

103 Lyman Street Fire

The fire started just before 5:00. I was stunned to hear the call come over the scanner at my house. I glanced out my upstairs bathroom window and could see smoke and flames leaping into the air. You can imagine how fast I ran out the door with my camera.



A young woman was near hysterics running back and forth. It looked like many people ran out of the building taking nothing but their coats.



The streets around my house are mostly blocked off as write this. I can hear evac alarms from the engines. The blue lights of police cars reflecting off my neighbors windows are strobing in my eyes. The roof of the building is now on fire. I'm going back out...

Photo Slideshow

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Update: 7:00 PM



The top floor is still burning. The engines were sounding evacuate alarms to warn all companys on scene of collapsing walls. They are bringing in a State Command Post vehicle, and the Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents.



I heard a few officers had minor smoke inhalation from evacuating the building when they first arrived on scene. The fire appears to have started on the back porch.

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Update: 9:00 PM

Here's a short video from earlier this evening.

103 Lyman Street Fire from Peter Palombella on Vimeo.

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Update: 10:00 PM



The fire is now out. 22news reports the building was fully occupied, and MassLive says one of the residents was taken to the hospital.

Ice coats everything around the building. It would be beautiful if it wasn't so tragic. It looks like most of the residents lost everything.



This is one of the last tenements in the Flats. Most are gone now. What will the Flats be called when all the Flats are gone?

Dead Frog Circus

Thursday was one of those 'too many things scheduled at the same time' days.



First up was the unveiling of a mural on the Victory Theatre. Called 'Perspectives Of Holyoke' it was created by five Holyoke High School seniors as part of a Mural Arts Workshop in The CONNECTIONS After School Program at Holyoke High.



From the release: The five Holyoke High School student artists are: Gesenia Gutierrez, Fernando Ortiz, Jesenia Paredes, Andy Maldonado, and Elahn Santiago, all in 12th grade.

The Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA) offered a public home for the mural on an exterior wall of the Victory Theater, which the arts organization recently purchased.



The unveiling attracted a large number of students. They were hanging out in MIFA's office before going out into the bitter cold to see the wraps taken off the mural. The kids should be proud. The murals look great.

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Next up was a send off for Kate Navarra Thibodeau at the newly renovated Wistariahurst carriage house. Kate is leaving her job as curator/historian. The event doubled as an official opening for the carriage house.



Kate showed off her collection of Holyoke charms designed by Sutter's Jewelers. She also gave a few limited edition charms as gifts to those have been supportive of her 'Creating Holyoke' project, and efforts to preserve Holyoke history over the years.



After an absence of 20 years The Dead Frog Circus is back on display in the carriage house. It's not possible to get a good photo of the diorama behind glass so I suggest you just go see it in person. It's one of those crazy things that give the city so much character.



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Finally, a sparsely attended hearing at Morgan School.



The hearing was called to answer questions about asbestos, and toxic materials cleanup going on at the Parsons Mills site under EPA supervision. It was not about the release of toxic chemicals into the air during the fire as reported by 22news.



A large amount of toxic materials remain at the site. including many barrels of various chemicals used in the paper making process. EPA representative Tom Hatzopoulos explained that they had secured the site to prevent unauthorized access. Security guards are on site when workers are not present. Currently they are staging waste materials in a secure area of the site. They will be presenting a transport plan to the city outlining the route they will use to truck materials out. They expect to be finished with the cleanup by late Spring or Summer of next year.

Tis The Season..

For a few photos of the Holyoke Tree Lighting, and Santa Train on Dec 3rd.





I kind of like our Charlie Brown-ish looking tree. In the current economic climate it seems just right.



Full Slide Show

Sorry to all my blog fans. My health hasn't been good of late, and sitting in front of a computer doesn't make for much aerobic exercise either. Something I am suppose to get more of.

So I have been thinking of changing the way my blog works, adding more contributors, or just starting another blog. Perhaps called 'Holyoke Ramblings'. Any thoughts?