The Abbey Theater at the Cultural Center at Eagle Hill

The Cultural Center, which opened on November 1, 2008 with a Jane Monheit concert, is about to launch it’s third season with a fantastic line-up of performers starting with the Annie Moses Band: Pilgrims and Prodigals.

The Annie Moses Band, a family of Juilliard trained musicians, with dynamic stage presence and awe-inspiring music will perform in the Abbey Theater on Saturday October 2, 2010.

Led by lead singer and violinist, Annie Wolaver, this talented family band includes her six siblings: Alex, viola; Benjamin, cello; Camille, harp and keyboard; Gretchen, violin and/mandolin; and Jeremiah on guitar. Annie’s parents, Bill and Robin Wolaver, are veteran award winning song writers whose talents contribute to this dynamic group. The group performs original music with roots in folk, classical, gospel, pop, and jazz. Featured in two exclusive PBS specials and with a national performance schedule of over 80 concerts a year, this is a show not to be missed and a great way to kick off the third season at the Cultural Center.

And Clamber Hill, a local inn and restaurant in nearby Petersham MA, is offer a restaurant special this September to help promote The Cultural Center. Anyone dining at the Inn between September 1st and September 25th will be entered into a drawing for two free tickets to this season opener, the Annie Moses Band:Pilgrims and Prodigals. (One entry per table, value of $50, drawing to be held at 10 pm on Saturday Sept 25th). The Inn’s restaurant is open to the public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings by reservation. So don’t miss out on this opportunity to enjoy an evening of fantastic food followed by an evening of fantastic entertainment.

Dining at Clamber Hill, great food in a romantic setting!

Allium Sativum, more commonly known as garlic

Here in Orange Massachusetts, plans are well underway for the 12th annual Garlic and Arts Festival on October 2nd and 3rd. And while this festival in not yet one of the top ten garlic festivals in the world, it is one of the largest festivals of any kind in the North Quabbin area, bringing thousands of visitors into the area for the weekend.

A schedule of events is posted on their website: www.garlicandarts.org, along with their mission statement:

“The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival is a celebration of the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the region. The purpose of the festival is to unite North Quabbin people whose livelihoods are connected to the land and the arts, and to invite both local residents and those who do not live in the region to experience the richness of an area that is often overlooked. The festival emphasizes what is homegrown and high quality, as well as what helps preserve and support the environment. The festival is an engaging, fun and educational celebration for all ages.”

Plan on coming out to it this October and enjoy a wonderful weekend. Of course there will be lots of yummy food made with garlic, cooking demonstrations by local chefs, lots of local artisans selling wonderful hand made arts and crafts and a variety of live music to enjoy. It’s a North Quabbin event not to be missed.

And of course if you’re looking for a place to stay, The Inn at Clamber Hill offers both overnight accommodations and fine dining — complete with many dishes prepared with garlic, such as our wonderful Sicilian Salsa appetizer!

Clamber Hill's Sicilian Salsa, a poplular appetizer made with garlic!

So if you’re a garlic lover, either check out one of these great festivals this fall or simply come dine at Clamber Hill!

Mt. Monadnock, one of the most frequently hiked mountains in the world.

When we moved to Petersham, MA from Leverkusen, Germany I did not believe that Mt. Monadnock could possibly be one of the most frequently climbed mountains in the world, but apparently it is, right up there with Mt Fuji. I can now add myself to the people that have climbed Monadnock, but my husband Mark has climbed both!

The word monadnock is an old indian word that has been adopted by US geologists. The more frequently used international word is Inselberg, or isolated mountain. Lesser known synonyms are kopje and koppie. The definition of monadnock is an isolated rock, hill, ridge or small mountain that rises abruptly from it’s surroundings. In the case of Mt. Moadnock, which lies between Jaffrey and Dublin, New Hampshire, the mountain rises approximately 2000 ft above it’s surrounding landscape to a height of 3165 ft.

The history of the mountain is quite interesting. The first record of it being climbed is in 1725 by Captain Samuel Willard who was scouting for Indians. In the early 1800′s the face of the mountain was changed irrevocably. Local farmers and innkeepers, waging war against the local wolf population caused wildfires which ultimately denuded the summit.

In the mid to late 19th century the mountain became very popular with up to 400 people a day hiking it. The Halfway House, a hotel large enough to accomdate 100 people and 75 horses was build in 1858 and operated until it burned down in 1954.

The town of Jaffrey started protecting the mountain in 1885 by acquiring 200 acres of summit land. This conservation effort was soon joined by the Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests. Today 3672 acres are protected as conservation land, including a 900 acre state park on the western side of the mountain.

View from the summit of Mt. Monadnock

Innkeeper Deni Ellis on the Summit of Mt. Monadnock

My husband told how popular birding is and I didn’t believe him but research shows that  51.3 million Americans are into birding and that figure probably does not include people like us who feed birds in their own back yards.

When we opened the Inn at Clamber Hill in 1998, we knew almost nothing about the area’s birds so we set out to educate ourselves buying books and field guides…. Audubon’s, Peterson’s and Sibley’s among others.

Our desire was to create a bird garden.  What we discovered is that we already had a bird garden with the diversity of fields, perennial gardens, woodlands and streams on the property already attracting over 20 different species of birds including the Pileated Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker, the Evening Grosbeak, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the Indigo Bunting, the Scarlet Tanager, the Baltimore Oriole, the Red Tailed Hawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and many more commonly sighted birds such as Robins, Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, Sparrows, Juncos and more.

Blue Jay Babies at Clamber Hill

Many of our overnight guests love to watch the birds.  Some sit on the front patio or back terrace with a glass of wine and watch the birds in the early evening.  Others are more active and visit many of the special bird sanctuaries in the area.  We are close to many Mass Audubon properties.  The 332 acre Eagle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Holden MA, the 60 acre Cooks Canyon Wildlife Sanctuary in Barre MA, the 772 acre Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sanctuary in Gardner MA and of course the spectacular 1500 acre Rutland Brooks Wildlife Sanctuary right here in Petersham MA.

Petersham is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts with thousands of acres of conservation land belonging to Mass Audubon, Harvard Forest, Trustees of Reservation and others.

Clamber Hill serves as a resource center with both Field Guides and Trail Maps made available to our overnight guests.  We sell books such as “Birding Western Massachusetts” by Robert Tougias and try to keep up with local happenings too.

In fact this weekend, Petersham’s own Jim Baird is leading a Nature & History Tour of the Lewis-Corrine Babbitt Wildlife Sancutary at 9 am on Sunday June 13th.  It starts from his house at 18 Gay Dr.  If you are interested you need to register with the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary in Princeton MA.  The cost is $9 for Audubon Members and $13 for the general public.

The central feature is a massive rock formation, not quite but almost a cave. Easy to see how it’s called a house. This “Rock House” was formed during the last glacial retreat and was used as a winter hunting camp by Native Americans.

The property became a farm in the mid 1880′s and later someone created a pond and built a cabin on the ledge overlooking the pond. That cottage is now a trail side museum and overs spectacular views of Carter Pond.

The pond at Rock House Reservation in North Brookfield, MA

Just north of the Trailside Museum one find’s Balance Rock. It is huge and it is balanced and it is stable — I know because my husband and our three dogs climbed all over it to check it out.

Balance Rock at Rock House Reservation

The swamp pinks decorate the woodlands with a little color

Ok, so that’s not green. But the green is poking through everywhere from the grass to the new buds on the plants and trees. And what happens when nature turns green again? People return to the greens–the golf greens that is! Petersham is lucky to have the Petersham Country Club, a nine whole golf course designed by Donald James Ross in 1922. To golfers, Ross’s master craftsmanship is evident in the layout of the course with long, green fairways, hidden bunkers and relaxing stroll from tee to green.

The Petersham Country Club is offering a special in June –just $22 for either nine or eighteen holes including a cart! The catch, you have to play on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday before 3pm.
For more information or to make a reservation contact Country Club manager Tim Bishop at Tim.Bishop@PetershamCC.com.

Petersham Country Club designed by Donald Ross

And Clamber Hill is matching that with a Golf Special. Book a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday night with us in June to play golf at the Petersham Country Club and get a room for just $145. Make sure you book with the following code when making your reservation. PCCCH0610

In “our spare time” we research and visit interesting places to send our guests. Often our guests help out by telling us about places, which we then go visit.

That was the case with Magic Wings, a Butterfly Museum located in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. A lovely, elderly couple from Connecticut told us about Magic Wings, so the next time our nieces and nephews came to visit we went.

It truly is a magical place. The old Candlelight Restaurant owned by Francis Redmond was converted into an 8000 square feet conservatory (new construction), gift shop, and food court (located in the old restaurant).

You enter through an air lock to protect the butterflies. You are not allowed to touch them, but if you are lucky, they will land on you!

As with Old Sturbridge Village, this is a great place for people of all ages — and if you plan to go, be sure to allow enough time — you need at least a half a day! And don’t forget to take your camera–they do allow you to take photographs inside the conservatory.

And again, Magic Wings is only about 35 minutes from the Inn at Clamber Hill!

North Hampton is great for shopping (it’s the best in the area unless you want to drive to Boston) and also has a great selection of restaurants. In fact North Hampton is about the only place in central Mass to get great ethnic food, Japanese, Mexican, Indian and more….

But in all the times we’ve been over there we never knew about the Smith College Museum of Art. It’s not quite in the center of town, but it’s right there on Rt. 9 and once you discover it, you wonder how you could miss it.

It was the gift of a new Massachusetts travel book that allowed us to find this great little art museum. A forty five minute drive from the Inn makes it an ideal place for us to visit on a Sunday afternoon.

What a gem! — especially when you love the late nineteenth century French artists such as Monet, Degas, Picasso, Pisarro, Manet, Seurat, Cezanne etc. They don’t have a lot of any individual artist (they do have three Monets and two Degas) but they have a nice collection and it’s a permanent collection. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Museum in Williamston, MA is famous for it’s Impressionist Collection but it was a very pleasant surprise to find another wonderful collection much closer to home.

Admission to the museum is only $5.00 making it one of the best bargains in the Pioneer Valley.

Of these eight, the only one I am familiar with is Northfield Mountain which I can heartily recommend! There are 26 miles of wide groomed trails. The terrain varies from meadows to sloping hills to a climb to the beautiful reservoir at the summit. And the Northfield Mountain Visitor Center doubles as a ski lodge.

Or for those that have their own skis and don’t care about groomed trails –Harvard Forest in Petersham also has miles and miles of trails–which the Petersham residents enjoy! Some of these great trails start right at our Inn, Clamber Hill. We have even had guests ski up to spend the night (although they had their luggage dropped off)

No matter which type of skiing you prefer–get out there in time to enjoy the fresh snow!

This event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is free and open to the public. So if you are a blues lover, music lover or just simply have the wintertime blues and are looking for entertainment–come to the library this week for a wonderful time.

And if you’re coming from far away and need a place to stay, mention this blog to get a special one night rate at Clamber Hill, just a mile north of the library.