Late January brings an undefeated Ravens basketball season, youth rehearsals for a Boredom Buster show, and winter traditions as a small town finds warmth, humor, and community. January, Already Leaving It came as something of a surprise to most residents of Stillbridge that January was nearly over. Not because anyone had been inattentive—though that was…
It’s a quiet week in Stillbridge. The last of the tourists have packed their cars with jars of apple butter and half-empty boxes of fudge, waving one last time from the road that winds out of town. The trees that dazzled with color two weeks ago now stand mostly bare, their leaves raked—or blown—into tidy…
Early autumn stretched lazily over Stillbridge, sunlight draping the town common in ahoneyed warmth that hinted at cooler nights. Leaves rustled in the breeze, carryingthe faint scent of apples and damp grass. It was the perfect day for the annualall-church potluck, and the common buzzed with the gentle chaos of a well-lovedfestival. Reverend Hastings stood…