Calendar

Learn how to make perfumes using different essential oils. Class is taught by Nora Zinan, Holistic Nurse. Registration required. Call the library or come in to sign up.

In the Perfume-Making with Essential Oils class, Nora will talk about the historical use of essential oils for both health and perfume-making. Participants will learn the properties of the oils and their blending companions, and then blend the oils that are most appealing to them, making their own personal perfume.

Nora Zinan is a Registered Nurse with over 35 years of experience that includes teaching.  She practices Holistic Nursing which supports healing the mind, body and spirit in natural ways that complement medicine.  She can be reached at nzinandoterra@gmail.com. Her Facebook Page is Western Mass Natural Health and Wellness.

Join us for this special event — A Meat for Tea author reading with Andrew Varnon! Andrew will read his essay “The Other Side of the Net”. This event is drop-in. 

In “The Other Side of the Net,” writer Andrew Varnon imagines playing tennis with the ghost of David Foster Wallace, the author of the monumental novel Infinite Jest. Wallace committed suicide in 2008, but has a devoted following of readers and fans. In his essay, Varnon describes how he came to read Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest through his interest in tennis. The novel is partially set at the fictional Enfield Tennis Academy in Massachusetts. In the tennis community, Wallace is also known for his essay on tennis icon Roger Federer, “Both Flesh and Not,” and is widely credited with the appellation for tennis as “chess on the run.” In his essay, Varnon engages Wallace’s writing style – complete with end notes – and explores the idea of how the activity of reading and writing is, in fact, like playing tennis.

Writer and teacher Andrew Varnon lives in Greenfield with his wife and family. He is the boys tennis coach at Greenfield High School and an active recreational tennis player. He is also a journalist and an award-winning poet. “The Other Side of the Net” was originally published online at The Smart Set (www.thesmartset.com/the-other-side-of-the-net/) and was republished locally in Meat for Tea. Varnon presented a portion of his essay to the David Foster Wallace Conference in Normal, Illinois, this June.

Author and artist Grace Desmarais is back! Grace will give background on her medical experience and then discuss her comic Spoons: a dairy on chronic illness, Tubes: diaries from the hospital and her up-coming book Healing Year. She will then hold a Q&A. At the end, attendees will have an opportunity to buy her mini comics and have them signed.

Artist Bio: 
Grace Desmarais is a French-Canadian illustrator and cartoonist. She currently lives in Eastern Massachusetts and spends most of her time drawing.

Grace Desmarais primarily self-publishes auto-bio comic while also being involved in a variety of anthologies. Most of Grace’s work is rooted in subjects like art history, dis/ability and personal experience. Her long-term goal is to be a published author/illustrator with a committed comics publisher.

At this introductory workshop, we’ll help students create free accounts and explain the basics of sprites, costumes, and coding with visual blocks to create engaging, interactive stories. Students will learn to incorporate rich, multimedia into their projects. We will be focusing on the theme Code Your Hero. This workshop is funded by the Public Policy and Advocacy Office of the American Library Association. Ages 7+. Space is limited, registration required.

Using Scratch, we will  make a name come to life through animation, sound and music. It can be a nickname, the name of a favorite sports team, place, activity or anything else you can think of-use your imagination! Space is limited, registration is required. Ages 7+

Please note: Registration is full. We are working on setting up future dates, so stay tuned!

Come join us for an introduction to sewing and the sewing machine! We will go over the basics of threading and using a sewing machine. We will have two machines available, so please feel free to bring your own machine if you have one. We will learn how to cut, pin, and sew a basic upcycled tote bag. The instructor will provide material to be upcycled for totes, but please feel free to bring your own material as well.

Registration required for a 50 minute session starting at 9:30, 10:30 or 11:30am. Call 527-1031, email slevine@ewmlibrary.org or come in. Julie will provide a one-time guest login to Ancestry.com. Bring questions or any family information you have. Beginners welcome!

Registration is required. Please call or come in to sign up.

We will host Christopher lee of Backyard ADUs to discuss how to build a backyard tiny home in Easthampton and other cities in Western Mass. Backyard homes can be up 800 SF and are proving an ideal way to age in place, help children care for aging parents, and enable grandparents to help care for grandchildren!

The discussion will cover:

• How to build a backyard home legally
• How to evaluate your backyard
• Construction considerations
• How to finance it