Around Westhampton

By Owen Boss
Staff Writer

Library's new cupola a homegrown effort

As town residents watch the new public library take shape across from Town Hall, the building’s new cupola is being painstakingly constructed by a group of committed volunteers who hope the structure’s topper will prove to be the icing on the cake.

Phil Dowling, who heads the Library Building Committee, said the amount of detail going into the 6-by-6-foot cupola, which is being built in the Northwest Road workshop of woodworker and construction artist Douglas Thayer, is a true testament to the community’s commitment to the project.

“Some of our volunteers have been on the building committee for a long, long time and some people, like Doug, are just offering their help with this part,” Dowling said. “This is a situation that worked out really well with the nearby wood shop and good community involvement.”

Dowling says the wood-framed cupola is “not huge,” but the amount of detail that has gone into making it blend perfectly with a building originally built in 1814 has required some long hours in the shop.

“The building has some interesting trim, some parts of the exterior are decorated with what looks like arrowheads,” Dowling said. “So our town moderator, Ralph Hancewicz, took the time to replicate this dental work and now we’re putting in 208 matching pieces on the trim surrounding the cupola.”

Dowling said the group hasn’t figured out when the cupola will be completed, but said he can already picture what it will look like sitting on the new library’s roof.

“It will sit on the portion of the roof where the ridge and the top of it will be about 8-feet higher than the rest of the building,” Dowling said, adding he thinks the finished product “should look really good.”

•••
Westhampton grown

Each month, town residents who grow or manage some kind of plant life in Westhampton come together to share ideas and discuss growing strategies at the public library.

Kurt Heidinger of Stage Road, who helped organize the meetings in an attempt to start a dialogue among local growers, said they have generated a lot of fresh ideas between professionals and across mediums.

“Our basic mission is simply to invite people in the community that garden, farm or do forestry to come each month and present what they’ve been up to and have a discussion,” Heidinger said. “They can share information and we have been having an evolving discussion about food security and permaculture.”

Heidinger said all town residents are invited to join in the discussion and although they typically meet the first Monday of every month, the group’s next meeting will be held at the library on Dec. 28.

•••
Holiday concert

Hampshire Regional High School’s Music Department will ask the audience to help out at the school’s annual holiday sing-along concert on Dec. 22.

The school’s band, middle and high school choruses, and chamber singers are scheduled to perform at the concert, which organizers say will feature selected holiday songs and familiar favorites that will call for audience participation.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium on Stage Road. Admission to the event is free and any donations will benefit the school’s music department.