Ashfield Then and Now

Meandering up Rt.116 from South Deerfield in the winter of 1982, I arrived in Ashfield. At once I knew I wanted to make this place home. I can remember Dave Culver haying the field that now belongs to Tamsen Merrill with his draft horses. Raw milk was available at Bill Eddie’s dairy farm, fresh squeezed, unpasteurized, apple cider at Janice “the apple lady” Scott’s. Spring brought fried dough, maple syrup, and crowds to Gray’s Sugar House. Outside there was sliding down the hill on Willie’s homemade “jumpers” and crafts in the barn. Summers were spent at the Ashfield Lake, climbing Pony Cliff, sliding down the rocks at Chapel Falls, and hiking around Bear Swamp. These are only a few of the beautiful spots in town. Fall was time to go back to the Old Sanderson Academy with Miss O., Poppy Doyle, Mrs Hall, Jackie Clark and many others who hold a special place in my heart. Before Christmas my daughter Sarah and I would ride our horses down West Road to Betty Scott’s to cut our Christmas tree and drag it home tied to our saddles.

Speaking of riding our horses, I was riding down West Road one day and Dillon Frazer saddled up one of his cows and rode along. Where else would such a wonderful thing happen? My horse was a bit perplexed!

As concerned citizens we protested the radar towers at the Hawley potato fields and prevented harsh chemical sprays along the roadsides by WMECO. Which by the way they are talking about again, so a letter to the Selectboard in opposition to the spraying would be helpful.

Today Ashfield still holds much of the same charm. Pieropan’s is still open to cut your own Christmas trees, Ashfield Fall Festival provides a fix of Gray’s maple cream on fried dough, Ashfield Hardware has 50 cent ice cream cones, plenty of nifty things, and a talking pumpkin to boot. Country Pie provides a cup of soup and a slice of pizza free every Tuesday through the “Share the Warmth” project to which you can donate, and you can still get raw milk at Side Hill Farm. There is organic beef at the Steady Lane Farm that is simply delicious and the cows have a wonderful life. Vegetable stands still have cans so that you can self-serve and we have a great Farmers’ Market. Neighbors meet at the two town country stores and share time and space. During emergencies like our ice storm last year, the townspeople always come through and help one another. We have a lively town meeting in which we can agree to disagree, and I encourage all to attend the Wednesday Selectboard meeting so that you can find out what is happening in your town. The Ashfield Lake is still a wonderful place and the Lakehouse provides a place for swimmers, boaters, guests and snowmobilers. The Belding Park space is growing and the History Project is working to provide another history book.

Inevitably things change, some small, some big. There is life and death, triumph and tragedy. But we, as any other town or city, have laws, policy, an awareness of political correctness, (personally, I think, gone a bit over the edge). We should be able to talk freely if our intentions are honorable. We have a responsibility to respect those who have religious practices, sexual preferences, or ideas that are different from our own. We need to honor and celebrate diversity as it adds to the beauty of our town of Ashfield.

This will forever be my home.

Karen Sullivan