I went to my (almost) weekly dose of french at Amanouz Café last night. Thursday is "Voulez-vous parler français avec moi ce soir?" at Amanouz. A tradition that is about as old as the café itself. It's fun and casual, so casual that some Thursdays nobody shows up, or you can find yourself at a table with a dozen people whose only common link is french. Some are French, most are not, just there because they like the language, because they study it, or because they spent some times in France and their french needs a little derusting. It's really fun because it's people you would probably never meet otherwise: different backgrounds, different origins or occupations, different ages, etc. Last night I sat with Laurenzo the Italian, Simone the Brazilian, Elsa the only French of the group and Heidi the American from Conway who came with her friend Christina who didn't speak a word of french even though her Mom was French Canadian. Very eclectic mix, always a guarantee of interesting conversations.
Anyway, one my way home I drove by Tasty Top, then down the hill and past the Wing Travel marquee, little signs along the way reminding me that I was almost home. Amazing how one gets used to landmarks. Was it because I had been talking about Sicily, Bordeaux, Rio de Janeiro, dairy farming in Conway or the calm beauty of Lac d'Annecy, I felt like I coming home from far away, not just from next-door-Noho, and the Wing Travel sign seemed to shine brighter than usual, like it wanted to tell me that Easthampton was my home, and that the messages it displays
were so often about events that have become part of my social and professional life in this city.
I HAD to go get my camera, and then once back home I just HAD to write about it in this newsletter ( the piece I had prepared about my experience in the Swiss Army will have to wait).
I know about the Wing Travel marquee issue but, not familiar with all its legal aspects, I feel I'm not qualified to comment on the issue itself.
But there is a wonderful anecdote that I want to share here: As you probably know Eastmont's first location was in what is now the Manhan Café on Union Street. I was getting the place ready just about this time 8 years ago - with the selfless help of Cheryl, thank you Cheryl: cleaning, painting the walls, putting the parquet flooring down , installing the framing equipment, the furniture and the thousands of corner samples. ( Doug, I know that was a pretty lousy parqueting job, but that floor was sooo uneven and I did half of it with a brace on my leg because of a bursitis I got from being on my knees for so long!)
Anyway, as I was working there one morning, a lady came in and introduced herself as the owner of the Nashawannuck Gallery. We chatted for a while and then she suggested I should work for her instead of opening my own business. I was obviously a bit surprised by this unusual proposition but, having just quit a job, I was really looking forward to the independence that self-employment was going to give me and I politely declined. Mai Stoddard - who is also the owner of Wing Travel - then simply told me that in that case she would stop offering framing services in her gallery and send all her customers my way! You can imagine how touched I was by this, but I was even more touched when a few days later I saw
"WELCOME TO EASTHAMPTON"
EASTMONT FRAME STATION
on the Wing Travel sign. From this day on, I have always seen this marquee as a valuable community asset, never failing to look for new announcements and feeling grateful for the numerous mentions for open studios, fundraisers, artwalks, welcoming other new businesses and so many other community events that were posted there.
That's what I had to say about this sign. My personal story.
If you are concerned about this issue, the Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing regarding Mai Stoddards's appeal of the decision to have the sign removed, Tuesday Feb. 24 at 7PM at the Municipal Building.
Qu'on se le dise!
