President Roger Webb called the meeting of
the Amherst Club to order at noon on Tuesday, February 17th 2015, and
welcomed us all with greetings for Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday; Carnival –
Goodbye to Meat; Shrove Tuesday – Confession Tuesday; and the British
Pancake Tuesday –with round pancakes echoing the pre-Christian Slav
belief that eating them helped the much-desired sun to return. The members thanked Arthur Kinney for the beautiful flowers that so pleased the recovering Carolyn Holstein. Jean Miller reminded everyone that she is the official sender of get-well cards when a member is ill. Announcements: Ellen Kosmer shared the good news that Vice-President Andrea Battle is out of hospital and in rehab at Linda Manor after her hip replacement. Andrea is doing well and as always cheerful. Ellen passed round a card for her. She and Honore David and Linda Honan were to visit Andrea in the afternoon and bring her flowers. Snapshot: Linda Honan shared her fifth birthday adventures at her home in Limerick city, Ireland. Raffle: Margot Atkinson won the wine. Vivienne Carey won the $10. Speaker: Gigi Barnhill introduced our speaker, UMass History Department Professor Emeritus Bruce Laurie. Bruce has just published another book, called Rebels in Paradise: Sketches of Northampton Abolitionists. This book is available at Amherst Books and he will sign it there on Wednesday, February 18th at 4 p.m. The book focuses closely on five local figures that played important roles in the abolitionist movement in our area during the industrial revolution, which in Northampton gave rise to the factories along the Mill River between the city and Williamsburg. Bruce points out the rich medley of opinions and behavior of these political activists, who were not simply saints and heroes but complex characters with varied motivation. Your scribe, Linda Honan |
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