BACK ROADS, THIS PLACE HAS IT ALL INCLUDING MY HEART.
♪ >> ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE THINGS ABOUT AMHERST IS YOU CAN COME HERE ANY TIME OF THE YEAR AND IT MAINTAINS A BEAUTY AND A CHARM.
SHAYNA: AUTUMN IN AMHERST FEELS EXTRA SPECIAL.
TAKE IT FROM ME.
THIS IS MY HOMETOWN.
I AM A WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS KID BORN AND BRED.
MORE ON THAT LATER.
FIRST, WE GET THE LAY OF THE LAND 942 FEET UP.
>> THE HOLYOKE RANGE STARTS AT THE CONNECTICUT RIVER.
SHAYNA: PERCHED AT THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT HOLYOKE, A FORMER HOTEL TURNED VISITOR CENTER.
FROM HERE, PANORAMIC VIEWS OF 35 TOWNS IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY AND ACROSS THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY.
KERRY ELLIS IS WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION.
>>>> YOU CAN SEE THE SKYLINE IN CONNECTICUT AND EVEN THE DETAIL AND THE DIFFERENT COLORS OF THE FARMLAND.
IT IS LIKE A BEAUTIFUL PAINTING.
SHAYNA: THE REGION HAS BEEN A HIKER’S PARADISE SINCE THE 1800S.
>>>> THE MAIN RIDGELINE TRAIL THAT GOES ALL ALONG THE HOLYOKE RANGE RED LINE IS CALLED THE EMINEM.
-- OF THE M AND M.
SHAYNA: SHORTER TRAILS EXIST BUT SHE SAYS MANY ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
>> THESE ARE STEEP, ROCKY TRAILS WITH DRAMATIC DROPS AND CHANGES IN ELEVATION.
WE DO CONSIDER THEM MODERATE TO ADVANCED.
SHAYNA: ALSO FOUND, 56 BIRD SPECIES INCLUDING RARE TROPICAL BIRDS.
>> THIS IS WHERE THEY NEST AND BREED AND THEN THEY GO BACK.
THEY WINTER IN SOUTH AMERICA.
THEY DEPEND ON OUR FORESTS TO REPRODUCE.
SHAYNA: IN THE HEART OF THE VALLEY, THE TOWN OF AMHERST.
HOME TO UMASS AMHERST AND AMHERST COLLEGE.
MOUNT HOLYOKE AND SMITH COLLEGE’S ARE A STONES THROW AWAY.
>> OUR YEAR-ROUND COMMUNITY IS 40,000.
WE GET TO BE 80 TO 90,000 DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.
YOU GET THIS VIBRANT ALMOST CITY FEEL.
SHAYNA: GABRIELLE AS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT.
>> WE HAVE 47 RESTAURANTS IN A ONE MILE SQUARE AREA.
THERE ARE 10 MUSEUMS.
ALMOST ALL OF THEM ARE FREE.
SHAYNA: COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS HAVE MADE THE TOWN QUIETER BUT NO LESS APPEALING.
>> THE VERY FAMOUS FREDERICK OLMSTED WHO DID NEW YORK’ CENTRAL PARKS RAIN SPACE FOR A TOWN WITH SUCH A HAPPENING DOWNTOWN CENTER.
SHAYNA: GREEN SPACE AND GARDENS WERE BELOVED BY AMHERST’S MOST FAMOUS RESIDENT, EMILY DICKINSON.
THE POET SPENT HER ENTIRE LIFE IN THIS HOUSE BUILT BY HER GRANDFATHER IN 1813.
>> HER MOST EXTENSIVE WRITING YEARS CAME BETWEEN 1858 AND 1866.
DURING THAT PERIOD, SHE WROTE PROBABLY 1000 OF THE NEARLY 2000 POEMS THAT HAVE SURVIVED.
ONLY ABOUT 10 OF THOSE WERE PUBLISHED DURING HER LIFETIME.
SHAYNA: JANE IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE EMILY DICKINSON MUSEUM.
IT IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS, BUT THE STAFF REGULARLY HOLDS VIRTUAL POETRY EVENTS.
>> THIS SHORTLY -- THIS SHORT LIFE THAT ONLY LESSEN OUR, HOW MUCH, HOW LITTLE IS WITHIN OUR POWER?
SHAYNA: INTEREST IN DICKINSON HAS NOT WANED SINCE HER DEATH AT AGE 55 IN 1886.
SHE IS REVERED FOR HER MODERN POETIC STYLE, INTELLECT AND RUMINATIONS ABOUT NATURE AND LOVE.
SHE ALSO REMAINS A MYSTERY.
>> THERE IS ONLY ONE REALLY AUTHENTICATED IMAGE OF EMILY DICKINSON.
IT IS A DECLARED TYPE TAKEN -- A DAGUERREOTYPE TAKEN WHEN SHE WAS 16 YEARS OLD.
SHAYNA: AS A YOUNG WOMAN, SHE WAS SOCIAL AND SPIRITED.
THE DAUGHTER OF A PROMINENT ATTORNEY TURNED CONGRESSMAN.
>> SHE WAS VERY BRIGHT, VERY WITTY.
WELL EDUCATED.
SHE LOVED GARDENING.
SHAYNA: PART OF DICKINSON’S GARDEN REMAINS BEHIND HER HOMESTEAD.
SHE WROTE MUCH OF HER POETRY AT THIS TINY DESK IN HER WELL PRESERVED BEDROOM.
>> I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE WEEP IN THE ROOM.
SHAYNA: 100 YARDS AWAY, A MANSION.
THE EVERGREENS BELONGED TO DICKINSON’S BROTHER, AUSTEN AND HIS WIFE, SUSAN.
>> SOMETHING THAT EMILY AND SUSAN WERE MORE THAN JUST FRIENDS.
IT SEEMS CLEAR FROM THEIR LETTERS AND FROM SOME OF THE POEMS THAT EMILY WROTE TO SUSAN THAT SHE DEEPLY LOVED HER.
SHAYNA: THE DICKINSONS LIKE MANY FROM THEIR ERA WERE PLAGUED WITH UNTIMELY DEATHS.
THEY HAVE NO DESCENDENTS.
ONLY EMILY’S POETRY.
>> I THINK THE TIMELESSNESS OF HER POETRY IS ITS MAIN CHARACTERISTIC.
THIS OVERARCHING SENSE OF CONNECTION BETWEEN THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE DIVINE.
SHAYNA: BECAUSE COVID HAS CLOSED OR PARTIALLY CLOSED MANY COLLEGE CAMPUSES, THE TOWN OF AMHERST HAS ONLY 7000 STUDENTS THIS FALL COMPARED TO THE REGULAR 30,000.
THIS HAS BEEN TOUGH ON BOTH -- ON LOCAL BUSINESSES.
THE DOWNTOWN LOCAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN RAISING MONEY FOR GRANTS, PPE AND AN ARTS CONTEST.
THERE IS A LOT OF VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING TAKEN PLACE.
DICKINSON WAS KNOWN FOR HER WORK AS AN AMATEUR BOTANIST.
NEXT, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IS