Friends of The Great Falls Discovery Center

Nice & Easy Walk
2025-02-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-02-14 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-02-21 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-02-28 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-21 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Easy-paced, 1 to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for seniors, but open to all. Enjoy natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance.

First Friday: Navigate Your Neighborhood!
2025-02-07 16:00 - 18:00
Every First Friday of the Month, Turners Falls businesses and organizations stay open late for activities. Drop in to learn how to get your bearings with just a compass and map! While you’re here, find out how you can care for the watershed through Leave No Trace. For all ages. Families welcome. Meet in the Great Hall.

The Secret Lives of Turners Falls Germans
2025-02-08 14:00 - 15:00
After the canal was rebuilt in 1869, German immigrants were among the first to move to Turners Falls and first to witness the planned village’s growing pains. Join DCR staff as we use photos, news clippings, and oral history to figure out how they built their community and traditions through mutual aid and hard work. For youth and adults. Meet in the Great Hall.

Who Do You Love? Valentines for Wildlife
2025-02-09 10:00 - 17:00
For all ages, stop by our Welcome Desk to make Valentines to give to the ones you love, keep for yourself, or give to your favorite wildlife biologist — all in honor of your favorite animal.

Ongoing - Indoor StoryWalks® - Rabbit’s Snow Dance
2025-02-13 - 2025-02-28
Explore the lives of active and resting winter wildlife through stories. For ages 3 and up, accompanied by an adult. Meet at the welcome desk. At the end of the StoryWalk® enjoy reading more books about snow and winter from our collection.
2/1—2/12: Tracks in the Snow, by Wong Herbert Yee
2/13—2/28: Rabbit’s Snow Dance by Joseph Bruchac.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Story Walk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. This StoryWalk® is provided by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Interpretive Services.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Porcupines
2025-02-14 10:30 - 11:30
For ages 3-6, accompanied by an adult. Learn more about our wildlife neighbors in the Connecticut River Watershed. Program includes a story, activities, and crafts. Activities are indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. Siblings and friends welcome. Meet in the Great Hall.

Investigation Station: Amphibians and Reptiles in Winter
2025-02-15 - 2025-02-23
What are amphibians and reptiles up to during the winter? Join us at our investigation station by the Welcome Desk to find out. Explore through touchable artifacts and habitat diorama scavenger hunts. For ages 4 and up.

Building a Blizzard: Snowflakes in the Great Hall!
2025-02-15 13:00 - 15:00
Get inspired by the story of Vermont’s Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley and his obsession with snowflakes. In this drop-in program make your own unique snowflake art. Keep it simple making paper snowflakes or use gel printing techniques. All art materials provided. Along the way learn just what makes each snowflake unique. Families welcome! For adults, teens, and children ages 6 and up who have mastered basic scissor skills. Meet in the Great Hall.

Postponed until March 1st: A Bridge Too Far
2025-02-16 14:00 - 15:00
We are postponing our program ‘A Bridge Too Far’ until March 1st, 2-3 p.m. See you then! Here are the details:What about building new bridges in Gilded Age Turners Falls drove neighbors and whole towns against each other? How do these dramas and debates that played out in newspapers and town meetings still impact us today? Join DCR staff as we piece together the stories and lessons of these burning questions affecting all five villages in Montague during the late 1800s. For youth and adults. Meet in the Great Hall.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Winter Birds
2025-02-21 10:30 - 11:30

Author Reading with Astrid Sheckels
2025-02-22 15:00 - 16:00
All ages. Local author, Astrid Sheckels, reads Hector Fox and the Map of Mystery. Look for animals from the story with a Map of Mystery scavenger hunt! Sponsored by the Montague Public Libraries. Meet in the Great Hall.

A French/Breton Jam Session
2025-02-23 14:30 - 16:30
All ages. An informal group of musicians gathers to play the enchanting traditional dance music from France and Brittany, commonly known as bal folk. This is not a performance but rather a coming together of musically minded friends. The event is free and open to the public to come and go at will. Meet in the Great Hall.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Beavers
2025-02-28 10:30 - 11:30

Ongoing - Indoor Story Walk® 999 Tadpoles
2025-03-01 - 2025-03-11
Explore the lives of our favorite mud season amphibians. For ages 3 and up, accompanied by an adult. Meet at the welcome desk.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Story Walk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. This StoryWalk® is provided by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Interpretive Services.

Ongoing Great Hall Exhibit— Cameron Schmitz: Where We Are, Together
2025-03-01 - 2025-05-26
The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA), in partnership with Montague Public Libraries, celebrates its eighth National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read. Focused on Ross Gay’s book of poetry, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, exhibits and events explore this year’s theme of “Where We Live.” Enjoy the paintings of Greenfield artist, Cameron Schmitz, who uses color and mark-making as her language of expression. “Dashes of paint and gestural strokes tell a story— orchestrated by movement, intuition, and the shifting of time.” Our Great Hall room is also a programming space. If there is a program in progress, you are welcome to visit the Great Hall to view the exhibits.
* The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA), in partnership with Montague Public Libraries, celebrates its eighth National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read. Focused on Ross Gay’s book of poetry, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, exhibits and events explore this year’s theme of “Where We Live.” NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

A Bridge Too Far
2025-03-01 14:00 - 15:00
What about building new bridges in Gilded Age Turners Falls drove neighbors and whole towns against each other? How do these dramas and debates that played out in newspapers and town meetings still impact us today? Join DCR staff as we piece together the stories and lessons of these burning questions affecting all five villages in Montague during the late 1800s. For youth and adults. Meet in the Great Hall.

To Breathe Freely: Tenements of Turners Falls
2025-03-02 14:00 - 15:00
As the brick blocks went up, the Turners Falls tenements tested every aspect of the town, from its ability to deal with disease to what laborers expected from their lot in life. Join DCR staff as we use photographs, maps and news clippings to step back in time and learn about life in the tenements. Ages 12 and up. Meet in the Great Hall.

Nice & Easy Walk - Tenements of Turners Falls
2025-03-07 13:00 - 14:00
Easy-paced, 1 to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for seniors, but open to all. Enjoy natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance. Special topics—March 7: Turners Falls Tenements; March 14: Riverside neighborhood in Gill.

First Friday: Big Night for Beginners
2025-03-07 16:00 - 18:00
Every First Friday of the Month, Turners Falls businesses and organizations stay open late for activities. On a mild, rainy night in early Spring, thousands of frogs, toads, and salamanders move across Massachusetts to reach their vernal pools and start the next generation of amphibians. But the journey across roads and lawns can be deadly. For this drop-in program, come for crafting, a game, and stay for conversations about how you can help a local Big Night Brigade! Take a moment to enjoy hot chocolate too. For all ages. Families welcome! Meet in the Great Hall.

Saturday Matinee Documentaries: Millers Falls Tools & Martin Machine Co.
2025-03-08 14:00 - 15:30
Join us for two back-to-back documentaries, brought back to life by the Montague Historical Society, about local machine companies. Join Ed Gregory and Chris Clawson from the Montague Historical Society, and Dawn Ward from our Friends Group for Q & A. For teens and adults. Hot chocolate included! Meet in the Great Hall.
The Mill at Montague
An oral history time capsule from 1991 of the Martin Machine Company, once in operation in the location now known as the Montague Bookmill. (29 minutes)
Factory Tour of Millers Falls Tools
Several generations of the Shortell family, of Greenfield MA, were involved with the famous Millers Falls Tool Company, which once had manufacturing facilities in both Greenfield and Erving (at the border with Millers Falls). Ed Shortell was the last manager of production before the company’s absorption by the Ingersol-Rand company in the 1970s. The footage is from 1943 and includes recent narration from Rich Shortell and Ed Gregory. It is a unique and amazing war time tour of the factory at Millers Falls (Ervingside). Watch how production from another era at war got the job done! (14 minutes)

Quabbin Obscura: The Swift River in Black-&-White
2025-03-09 14:00 - 15:00
From farm to canvas to camera, artist Burt V. Brooks (1849-1934) captured the landscapes and daily life in the “drowned towns” before the Quabbin Reservoir (today managed by DCR) was filled. Join DCR staff as we look back on Brooks’ work for answers about who he was and what life in the Swift River Valley was like around the turn of the century. Ages 12 and up. Meet in the Great Hall.

Ongoing: Indoor StoryWalk®-The Salamander Room
2025-03-12 - 2025-03-30
Explore the lives of our favorite mud season amphibians. For ages 3 and up, accompanied by an adult. Meet at the welcome desk.
3/12—3/30: The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Story Walk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. This StoryWalk® is provided by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Interpretive Services.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - When Will it Be Spring?
2025-03-14 10:30 - 11:30

Nice & Easy Walk - Riverside neighborhood in Gill.
2025-03-14 13:00 - 14:00
Easy-paced, 1 to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for seniors, but open to all. Enjoy natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance. Special topic March 14: Riverside neighborhood in Gill.

All Cooped Up!
2025-03-15 19:00 - 22:00
The Franklin County Musicians Cooperative (COOP) features solo artists, established duos, and small group performers who perform an unpredictable mix of folk, rock, country, Celtic, jazz and swing. Suggested donations. For all ages. Meet in the Great Hall.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Salamanders
2025-03-21 10:30 - 11:30
