Amaryllis follow-up. With one plant having two stalks with four blossoms each, it is top-heavy and falls over. I put the plant in a deep vase to protect it.

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If you can get tickets, go see “Newsies,” the Amherst Community Theater production this weekend at Bowker Auditorium at UMass. It is quite a production with a huge cast and good voices. The choreography doesn’t stop.There is even tap dancing. Many thanks to the many who put it together. Well done!

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Rebecca Curzon of Amherst sent me an email about the DeCamera concert, “Songs for Healing and Hope,” that will be held Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at Grace Church on the Common in Amherst.

It will also be performed Sunday, Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of Sts. James and Andrew in Greenfield.

Both concerts are free.

“Our wish is to offer music as a channel to peace, community, and love,” she wrote.

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Dennis Vandal, president of the Friends of the Amherst Senior Center, sent me an email about the Friends’ envelope that was included in the town census mailed to residents.

“The Friends are the only authorized corporation that raises funds for the Amherst Senior Center. This fundraiser has been the single most important activity for many years,” he wrote. The money supports programs and supplies at the center.

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Speaking of the census, please return it. I work at the polls and residents come in that have to be sent to the warden since they are not on the voter registration list. Why? Because they didn’t return the census.

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Thanks to a neighbor who plowed my driveway, I was able to deliver my contribution to the Amherst Survival Center food drive before the 1 p.m. deadline Monday. Rep. Mindy Domb organized the effort and was there for lots of hugs, handshakes and picture-taking with the donors who kept streaming in. Volunteers Mary Custard and Ted Mone were wheeling the carts with donations. The estimate was about 4,000 pounds collected by 1 p.m. However, more donations are expected.

You can always deliver food to the center or send a donation. I decided to contribute diapers. For some families, diapers are just as critical as food. A child needs diapers to attend day care.

Thanks to all who contributed. You have made positive difference in our community.

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Good news of sorts — it is less than eight weeks until spring.

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Not so good news unless you are the IRS getting my payment. I am getting papers ready to do the state and federal income taxes. I have checkbook registers. So here is the question: How long does one keep check book registers? I found one from 2009. House insurance was less than $600. You don’t want to know the real estate tax at the time.

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