Teen Wellness Table
2024-09-20 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
The Clapp Memorial Library will have a table on their front lawn from 2:00-3:30PM the Friday of the Belchertown Fair (September 20th). Teens in grades 7-12 walking from school to the Fair are invited to stop by for free water, granola bars, and snacks as supplies last!

Craft with the Teen Advisory Board at the Exhibit Hall!
2024-09-20 16:00 - 17:00 | MA
The library’s Teen Advisory Board is offering a free craft in the Exhibit Hall from 4:00-5:00PM the Friday of the Belchertown Fair. All ages are welcome to stop by and do a craft paired with this year’s Fair theme, “Barn in the USA,” as supplies and materials last!

Library Closing: Belchertown Fair 2024
2024-09-21 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
The Library will be closed during the Belchertown Fair

Edible Palette Painting (Adults)
2024-09-25 15:00 - 17:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
September 25th, 3:00-5:00pm and 6:00-8:00pm
Library Activity Room (downstairs)
Learn how to paint with buttercream and royal icing in this Edible Palette Knife Painting class! Sarah Maroney of Cakes by Pip will work with participants on how to decorate 4 cookies together to include a pumpkin, flower bouquet, Sunflower, and fall leaves. The class will also go through what the difference between royal icing and buttercream is and how they are made. Decorating Boxes include a palette knife kit to take home and show off your brand new skills!
Registration & confirmation required, sign up for a session here: https://forms.gle/tsY3xJuvqNUhPqJ36
Both sessions are full, waitlists are open
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Belchertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, and by the Friends of Clapp Memorial Library
This session is for Adults. Edible Palette Painting for Kids is on October 1st, and for Teens on October 9th.

Babytime Story time (3-12 mo) Fall 2024
2024-09-30 09:00 - 10:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Babytime Story time (3-12 mo) Fall 2024
9:00-9:45 AM, Mondays, Sep 30, Oct 7, 21, 28, Nov 4 & 18
Babytime is for ages 3 – 12 months and begins @ 9:00 AM. Registration is required. Our story times feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Registration and confirmation required, sign up here: https://forms.gle/mcZ5J6jKN45yG6b7A. Registration open until all slots are filled.
If the program is full you will be placed on a wait list. Confirmations and program information will be sent out several days before the program starts.

First Steps Storytime (12-24 months) Fall 2024
2024-09-30 10:00 - 11:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Monday Firststeps (12-24 months) Fall 2024
10:00-10:45 AM, Mondays, Sep 30, Oct 7, 21, 28, Nov 4 & 18
Firststeps is for ages 12 – 24 months and begins @ 10:00 AM. Registration is required. Our story times feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Registration and confirmation required, sign up here: https://forms.gle/9yf3619iGU1pxuco8. Registration open until all slots are filled. If the program is full you will be placed on a wait list. Confirmations and program information will be sent out several days before the program starts.

Toddler Time (2 year olds) Fall 2024
2024-10-01 09:30 - 10:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Tuesday Toddler Time (2 years) Fall 2024
9:30-10:30 am, Tuesdays, October 1, 8, 22, 29, November 5, 12 & 19
Toddler Storytime is for children aged 2 years, and begins @ 9:30 AM. Registration is required. Our story times feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Registration and confirmation required, sign up here: https://forms.gle/TFK36x16Ns9B3bew7. Registration open until all slots are filled. If the program is full you will be placed on a wait list. Confirmations and program information will be sent out several days before the program starts.

Edible Palette Painting (Kids)
2024-10-01 16:00 - 17:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
October 1st, 4:00-5:30pm
Library Activity Room (downstairs)
Learn how to paint with buttercream and royal icing in this Edible Palette Knife Painting class! Sarah Maroney of Cakes by Pip will work with participants on how to decorate 4 cookies together to include a pumpkin, flower bouquet, Sunflower, and fall leaves. The class will also go through what the difference between royal icing and buttercream is and how they are made. Decorating Boxes include a palette knife kit to take home and show off your brand new skills!
Registration & confirmation required, sign up for a session here: https://forms.gle/PNJUHS5vbEd7ECqY7
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Belchertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, and by the Friends of Clapp Memorial Library
This session is for Kids ages 8-11. A caregiver, age 14 or older, must be in the building for participants under 10.
Edible Palette Painting for Adults is on September 25th, and for Teens on October 9th.

Mindfulness Meditation for Stress Reduction
2024-10-01 19:00 - 20:15 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Clapp Memorial Library is offering a Stress Reduction Awareness course. The eight-week introductory course starts on Tuesday, October 1 at 7 PM and runs every Tuesday through November 19. The course is designed to teach and practice mindfulness-based skills. Mindfulness meditation skills teach us to be fully present in the moment and, when practiced regularly, help decrease stress levels and improve general well-being and health. Skills covered in the course are gentle and free of judgment. Because each session of this course builds on the previous week, we ask that you register only if you are able to attend all sessions.
Registration closed. If you have any questions please email clapp@cwmars.org
This course will be taught by Magda Bechar, a retired nursing professor who has taught mindfulness meditation skills to many groups, including at the Clapp Memorial Library, for many years.
Sessions will take place on the main library floor, except for October 29th, which will take place in the Activity Room.

Preschool Storytime (3-5 year olds) Fall 2024
2024-10-03 09:30 - 10:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Preschool Story Time (3-6 years) Fall 2024
9:30-10:30 am, Thursdays, October 3, 10, 24, 31, November 7, 14 & 21
Preschool Story Time is for ages 3-5 and begins @ 9:30 AM. Registration is required. Our story times feature age-appropriate stories, songs, finger plays and art activities.
Registration and confirmation required, sign up here: https://forms.gle/cdLAMAwfmz4r3to8A. Registration open until all slots are filled. If the program is full you will be placed on a wait list. Confirmations and program information will be sent out several days before the program starts.

Nine Neighbors You Should Know
2024-10-07 18:30 - 19:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
On Monday, October 7 at 6:30pm, come to the Clapp Memorial Library for “Nine Neighbors You Should Know,” a presentation by Cliff McCarthy, Stone House Museum archivist and author/editor of several books on Belchertown’s history. Do you know which Belchertown native has had a full-length Hollywood movie devoted to his life and has been portrayed by actors John Carradine and James Coburn in other films? Do you know what Belchertown woman drew the plans for remodeling the Stone House into a museum? Do you know of Belchertown’s connection to the first Governor of Kansas? This talk will present nine historical figures connected to Belchertown that will astonish and surprise. Some you will admire, some you will despise, but all have interesting stories to tell.

Maltese Falcon Book Group
2024-10-08 14:00 - 15:30, 2024-10-15 14:00 - 15:30, 2024-10-22 14:00 - 15:30, 2024-10-29 14:00 - 15:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Have you ever wanted to take the time to discuss a novel in depth? In this six-session group we will discuss the classic detective novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. The discussion will be introduced and facilitated by retired professor David Spector, who has some expertise on birds in literature. There are, indeed, birds, including the famous title one, in this mystery story, but David hopes that discussion will range widely over many aspects of the plot and characters of this novel. After registration is confirmed, participants can pick up a copy of the novel to keep, while supplies last.
Registration & confirmation required, sign up here: https://forms.gle/DVBeozi3dHhqBYRG6
The group will meet 2 to 3:30 P.M. on Tuesdays, October 8, 15, 22, and 29, and November 12 and 19. There is no meeting on November 5. October 15th meeting location to be determined.
A public screening of the classic 1941 John Huston film version of the novel with Mary Astor, Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook, Lee Patrick, et al., is tentatively set for Tuesday, 3 December, at 7 P.M.

Ghostbusters RPG
2024-10-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
It’s time to strap on that proton pack and play Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game. For fans of the movies and roleplaying games (such as D&D, Call of Cthulhu, and others). No experience necessary to join in on this zany adventure.
Ghostbusters has expanded from it’s original team of four, with new hires and franchises across the country. Step into the shoes of a team with their new start-up franchise ready to take on spooks!

Why are 27,000 ghosts ravaging the cereal aisles in supermarkets across the country?
Why are supernatural basketball players menacing the fourth-graders of Fritz Mondale Grammar School?
What popular cartoon character is really a Big-Time Demon in disguise?
How can the Ghostbusters stop the Big-Time Demon from destroying Life, The Universe, and Oral Hygiene as we know it?

These and other exciting questions are answered in Ghost Toasties: A nutritious, humorous, fun-filled and life-and-death struggle to save the world from demons, eldritch horrors, and crazed advertising executives.
Our RPG campaigns meet monthly on the 2nd Tuesday from 6-8PM.
Space is limited! If you’d like to join or be notified about our next campaign, email tmannino@cwmars.org
The next RPG campaign will start on May 13th, and invites you to play Vaesen, a dark Gothic setting steeped in Nordic folklore and the old myths of Scandinavia! Dive into mysteries where old struggles against the new, and myths come alive.
Program is for adults 18+, our Teen RPG programs are listed separately.

Music with Pop (0-6 years old) Fall 2024
2024-10-09 10:30 - 11:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Music with Pop (ages 0-6)
10:30 am, Wednesdays, October 9, 16, 23, 30, November 6th & 13th
Music with Jacques Hooten aka Pop! Wednesdays at 10:30 am in the Children’s Activity Room, geared towards infants to age 6. On October 16 Music with Pop will take place in the Town Hall Auditorium. Spaces will be filled first by children who reside within Belchertown. Enjoy singing and dancing in this interactive music series. Limited space so register today.
Registration is required and will remain open until program is filled, just sign up for the Program and Jennifer Whitehead, Children’s Librarian, will be in touch! Funded by the Friends of the Clapp Memorial Library. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/AYyiQCozqpSy37Ju6
When the Belchertown Public Schools have a delay or closure due to the weather, story times are canceled.

Edible Palette Painting (Teens)
2024-10-09 15:30 - 17:00, 2024-10-09 17:30 - 19:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
October 9th, 3:30-5:00pm and 5:30-7:00pm
Library Activity Room (downstairs)
Learn how to paint with buttercream and royal icing in this Edible Palette Knife Painting class! Sarah Maroney of Cakes by Pip will work with participants on how to decorate 4 cookies together to include a pumpkin, flower bouquet, Sunflower, and fall leaves. The class will also go through what the difference between royal icing and buttercream is and how they are made. Decorating Boxes include a palette knife kit to take home and show off your brand new skills!
Registration & confirmation required, sign up for a session here: https://forms.gle/KS7ErSGNuKSv6ACR6
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Belchertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, and by the Friends of Clapp Memorial Library
This session is for Teens. Edible Palette Painting for Adults is on September 25th, and for Kids on October 1st.

Friend's Annual Meeting and Junior Volunteer Recognition
2024-10-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
The Friends of Clapp Memorial Library announce that they will hold their annual meeting for this year at 7 PM on October 10, 2024, in the Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA 01007. The meeting will review actions (including disbursement of funds) from the past year, hold elections for Board members, and discuss plans for the coming year. The general public is invited, and current members of the Friends group are highly encouraged to attend.
Students who completed the Junior Volunteer program are invited to this event, where they will be recognized for their volunteerism and will receive letters of acknowledgement as well as a gift certificate to the Friends of the Library book sale.

Library Closing: Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2024
2024-10-14 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
The Library will be closed in observation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Free Food Friday
2024-10-18 14:00 - 15:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Teens are invited to the library after school on the third Friday of the month (October 18th) for free snacks as they visit and use the library! Students must be in grades 7-12 and arrive between 2:00-3:30PM for a free snack, courtesy of the library, as supplies last.

Once Upon a Halloween
2024-10-19 15:00 - 16:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Saturday, October 19th 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM
What would Halloween be without some chillin’ tales for the spookiest time of the year? Once Upon A Halloween is a fun-filled, Halloween event – complete with a huge cauldron bubbling over with fog for the last dramatic story! This family program contains some old chestnuts as well as great new Halloween stories full of surprises. All tales are appropriate for family audiences and contain a well-rounded blend of suspense and humor.
We are thrilled to have the talented Diane Edgecomb return to the Clapp Memorial Library. This event is geared towards children ages 3 and up and their families and will be held upstairs on the main library floor. Costumes encouraged. No registration required.
This program is made possible by the Friends of the Clapp Memorial Library.

Halloween Spook-Tacular
2024-10-20 17:30 - 18:30 | Chestnut Hill Community School, 59 State St, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Halloween Spook-Tacular
Belchertown Pollinator Garden 5:30 pm on Sunday, October 20th and Thursday, October 24th. Registration is required, sign up here for your choice of date: https://forms.gle/Wfd5gTSa7Z54QPFX9. Space is limited.
Sunday is full, new Sunday signups will be added to the waitlist.
Have fun with spooky stories, a scavenger hunt, cider, cookies and crafts.
Bring a flashlight and come in costume to enjoy a story with Jennifer Whitehead, Youth Services Librarian!Registration is required at the Clapp Memorial Library. Geared toward ages 4 to 11.
The Pollinator Garden is located at 57 State St. at the School Gardens.
Donations for the garden are appreciated.

Needle Felting Pumpkins
2024-10-21 14:30 - 17:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Come learn the art of needle felting at the Clapp Memorial Library on Monday, October 21 from 2:30-5:30 OR Wednesday, October 23 from 6:00-9:00. Local fiber artist Anna Sunschauer will teach you how to sculpt fluffy wool fiber into a pumpkin using felting needles. No prior needle felting experience is necessary, but it is recommended that all participants have good fine motor skills to avoid injury with the sharp needles. All necessary tools and materials will be provided.
This workshop is open to adults and teens. Space is limited and registration is required.
Register here: https://forms.gle/xJp85btxgZxPbg5y8
All adult seats have been filled.
This program is made possible by the Friends of the Clapp Memorial Library.

A Narrative of Dwight Village in Belchertown, Part 1
2024-10-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Michael Carolan will provide a two-part documented history and geographical genealogy of the indigenous and nonindigenous peoples, notable events, architecture and landscapes, from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth centuries, and the district’s contributions to art, industry, politics, science and religion, on October 24th and November 14th. Known as Logg-town, Hopetown, Dwight’s Station and Pansy Park, this narrowly-defined, eight-square-mile district has been subsumed historically into the larger community. The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher—the “most famous man in America”—gave his first sermon here. The hamlet was celebrated as the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln’s first biographer, J. G. Holland. Rare aquatic flower gardens drew hundreds through Dwight’s two railroad stops. And its chapel was established after a culmination of efforts said to have been initiated by Poet Emily Dickinson’s sister-in-law. There were feuds, accidents, suicides, drownings, fires, the millwright who outlived six wives and the portrait painter who rendered the place and its characters in colorfully detailed letters preserved to this day.
Michael Carolan writes for The Springfield Republican and his essays appear on New England Public Radio. He taught literature and writing at Clark University for 13 years.

Teen Advisory Board (Oct 2024)
2024-10-25 16:30 - 17:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
The Clapp Memorial Library’s Teen Advisory Board will meet Friday, October 25th from 4:30-5:30PM in the library’s Activity Room for its second meeting of the 2024-2025 school year! TAB is a group of 7th-12th grade students who meet monthly during the school year to propose library programming for teens, provide input on teen services, volunteer, and have fun. Teens can email clapplibrarytab@gmail.com for more information and to register.

Afterschool Ghostbusters RPG
2024-10-28 14:30 - 16:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Calling all Belchertown Students for Afterschool Gaming
2:30-4:00PM, Mondays, October 28th – December 9th.
*No game on November 11th
It’s time to grab your dice and slip on that proton pack and play Ghostbusters. For fans of the movies and D&D. No experience necessary to join in on this zany adventure.
Step into the shoes of a new team of Ghostbusters for Ghost Toasties, a nutritious, humorous, fun-filled and life-and-death campaign to save the world from demons, eldritch horrors, and crazed advertising executives for Ghostbusters: a Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game
Program will run weekly starting in October for Middle & High School Students. Participants may bring their own nut-free snacks. Please inform Librarian & Game Master Tegan Mannino, if there is a day you will not attend.
Space is limited, sign up at https://forms.gle/7PGoWc6SP8q6pmiK9
Confirmations will be sent out to students confirming enrollment or waitlist status.
Please email any questions to tmannino@cwmars.org

Ghosts of the Bridgewater Triangle
2024-10-29 19:00 - 20:00 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
Come to the library for a night of Massachusetts based paranormal mystery and exploration with Tim Weisberg!
Ghosts of the Bridgewater Triangle: How a paranormal vortex in southern New England has captured the imagination of the world through stories of ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, and true crime. Includes real-life ghost stories and ghostly voices captured in the Triangle
Tim Weisberg is the host and executive producer of “Spooky Southcoast” radio and of “Midnight Society with Tim Weisberg”. He is also the former host of “Midnight in the Desert,” the last radio program created and originally hosted by the legendary Art Bell. Tim is the author of “Ghosts of the SouthCoast” and “Haunted Objects: Ghosts On Your Shelf,” the latter co-written with Christopher Balzano.

Teen Pumpkin-Carving
2024-10-30 15:30 - 16:30 | Clapp Memorial Library, 19 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA, 01007, United States
The Clapp Memorial Library will be having a free outdoor Pumpkin-Carving program for teens in grades 7-12 on Wednesday, October 30th from 3:30-4:30PM. Registration for this program is required, and teens can sign up at the library or by emailing clapplibrarytab@gmail.com. In the event of rain, this program will be moved inside to the library’s Activity Room.
