Backyard OASIS - Older Adults Seeking, Inspiring, Serving

In 1894, fifteen Sunderland women joined the national Woman's Club Movement that had established the idea that women had a moral responsibility to transform public policy. More than 125 years have passed since the ladies got together to chat and work for change (something had to be done about those dirt roads!) and the club is still moving forward today.

Today, host Denise Schwartz sits down with the outgoing President of the Sunder...

Join us for the third episode of Ms. Americana on Backyard OASIS. This week, Gloria Ratcliffe discusses Women’s Health with returning guests Professor Emerita Anne M. Wiley and Author- Professor Emerita Joanne McNeil Hayes of Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

This episode touches on how health care research in the United States excluded women and girls for years, and examines the importance of longitud...

This week on Backyard OASIS, Denise Schwartz sits down with United Way of the Franklin and Hampshire Regions' Digital Navigator Rich Vaden. Rich talks about his approach to helping our local seniors navigate a digital landscape that can feel impenetrable at best and actively hostile at worst. Have you ever wondered how to make a secure password that you can actually remember? Do you have trouble determining what is or isn't a scam ...

On this episode of Backyard Oasis, host Gloria Ratcliffe speaks with author and (retired) Greenfield Community College professor Joanne McNeil Hayes about her newest poetry collection, I am the Prairie. Joanne treats us to several excerpts from the text, as well as providing insight into her inspiration for the work. What was it like to grow up in Illinois "in the shadow of the prairie," as Joanne describes it - in the great "Prair...

Dave Hayes does weather with a personal touch and an entertaining writing style. Since August 2011, he’s been providing daily and very entertaining weather forecasts for western Massachusetts.

We discuss his passion for weather and learn a bit more about the man behind the forecast, including an original guitar solo.

Here are the ways you can access Dave Hayes’ weather reports:

Mobile App (iPhone): https://apps.apple.com...

"A week after his release from prison, Al Kitchen is found dead beside a bicycle on a back country road. Al served 18 years in prison for beating a well-liked man to death during a botched robbery, but most everyone in this small town is unwilling to forgive him. Nobody feels Al could have changed from the reckless guy they knew although he believes he has. They prefer he died in prison, and they make sure he knows that upon his re...

Jan Maher is a local writer, creator and co-founder of LAVA, a community arts center in Greenfield MA. In this episode, we learn more about Jan, her life and art. And we explore Jan’s thoughts about creativity.

Jan’s latest play, Phoenix will be read at LAVA on June 5. On the Boards: "A Rare Sight" + "Phoenix" - The LAVA Center

She will also adapt her stepfather’s classic sci-fi story “I, Gardener” as a...

Named a Publishers Weekly Editor’s Pick.

“Lost between the ancient wisdom of 13th-century China and the unraveling of his modern life, one man must solve the ultimate koan: how to live in the present...”

A haiku magically transports Zen student Stephen Maine to 13th-century China where he encounters Zen masters, experiences koans firsthand, and begins a romance with a beautiful sword maker that threatens to upend hi...

Community colleges are more than just classrooms; they are hubs where generations collide. In this special episode, host Denise Schwartz speaks with GCC's Associate Dean of Community Engagement Judy Raper and GCC student Carly Mahowald to discuss the social infrastructure that keeps us connected. We’re moving past 'old versus young' headlines to explore how proximity, shared goals, and genuine curiosity can dismantle stereoty...

Gloria Ratcliffe, alumnae of Greenfield Community College/MS. Americana Waves podcast and Professor Emerita Anne M. Wiley of Greenfield Community College have a conversation about AI and its impact on you. We discuss the types of AI, how AI works, and some of the concerns how AI has potential harmful social impacts on humans. We also discuss how AI uses data servers that contribute to environmental degradation.

Be sure to subscr...

"With the innocence of young eyes and with the perspective of a long life well lived, Wright gives us this sweet, loving memoir full of wonder and mystery that is our world."

- Ken Burns. filmmaker

Jonathan A. Wright takes us around the world in his coming-of-age memoir based on his boyhood diary entries and deep memories of a 9-month journey with his family across the globe in 1962 and 1963. It explores his awakening to privilege an...

Enter Smith College from Elm Street onto College Lane in Northampton and stroll down the hill towards the Mill River on your right. On your left you have arrived: the Botanical Garden of Smith College with outside flower beds, a pond surrounded with diverse wetland plants, and the Victorian style greenhouses of The Lyman Plant Conservatory.

Join Anjali D’Souza, Manager of Engagement for the Gardens and longtime docent, Bill C...

Western Massachusetts resident Larry McFarland calls himself a travel enthusiast. And indeed, he has traveled to some thirty countries from the age of 54 to his current age of 70.

In this episode, Larry describes his journey, both in mind and miles. He addresses solo vs. group travel, planning a trip, safety and financial considerations, and regales us with a few anecdotes from his jaunts.

Speaking of jaunts, you can find Larry&rsqu...

Pioneer Valley has suffered some demanding changes to climate in the past 20, 25 years. Are public officials prepared to meet our needs as these changes deepen?

Hosted by Chad Fuller with guest Josh Shanley, this conversation explores the concept of resilience centers - community spaces designed to support people during climate-related emergencies or other large scale disruptions - and what it might take, both practically and collec...

What does it mean to walk the Camino - not just once, but multiple times, in different seasons of life and with different people?

In this conversation, Beth Berry shares what keeps calling her back to the Camino and how each journey has unfolded in its own way. From shifting expectations and comfort levels to the subtle (and not-so-subtle) changes in trail conditions, Beth shares how the same path can offer something new and alive e...

In "High Bridge", Miller imagines what might happen if two 19th century historical figures with different childhoods and worldviews formed a friendship and combined their skills to vindicate a person accused of murder. Set in upstate New York, "a cauldron bubbling with the lure of fast fortunes... and battles for civil liberties", High Bridge links Matilda Joslyn Gage, a child of freethinking abolitionists, and Grover Cleveland, w...

Meet the residents of the winter and spring forests, JoJo who is no bigger than his grandfather’s thumb, and Bea the Bolivian Bunny, when Copeland and Rosnick read their children's books and talk about the importance of telling stories to people of all ages.

“Writers Read Us Stories They Love”, a Backyard Oasis series, introduces listeners to authors in western Massachusetts who read from their books and talk abou...

Denise Schwartz reads "Bird of Providence", a short story written by her brother, T.P. Schwartz-Barcott. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1989, it introduces us to Joey G. Gagliardi, a young guy trying to find his way out of a neighborhood that "no longer matters because no one who matters lives there. "

T.P. Schwartz-Barcott's book "Let There Be Light", as well as his other books, can be found online.

“Writers Read Us Stor...

Judy, Jo An, and Lou are older adults in recovery who come together in this episode to reflect on the challenges and unexpected gifts of growing older while living sober.

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast, and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Photocredit: Ivana Cajina "Sunrise"

Hosted by Judy Raper

Produced by Will Copeland in the Multimedia Stud...