Bringing the Sound of Music to Agawam 

So.... Every summer since 2010 my friends Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards, two musicians from Webster, do a Massachusetts Walking Tour. They choose two towns in different parts of the state and hike from the first to the second, bringing their instruments with them and giving free concerts in the communities where they stop each evening. The first year they walked across Massachusetts (that's how I first met them, after my own Walk Across Mass in 06). The second year they hiked the Midstate Trail from the RI border to the NH border (the same MST we're walking this summer), and last year they did a semicricle around Wachusett. In 2013 Mark and Raianne are hiking on the newly connected New England Scenic Trail. Over 15 days, from June 15th to June 29th, they walked almost 100 miles from Royalston to Amherst to Holyoke and ended in Longmeadow. They're also hiking with Amy Alvey and Mark Kilianski, two singer-songwriters from the Boston area.

Tonight I drove out to Agawam to see the group play at the Agawam Public Library. It was a small audience, only two or three people (Mark and Raianne leave the concert promotion to the towns' local cultural council; sometimes they attract a hundred people, sometimes they attract a more, um, intimate gathering.) Anyways, as always they gave a great concert (especially after walking 15 miles in the heat and rain that day). Afterwards it was good to catch up with them and hear and share some stories of their walk this year.

Mark, Mark, Raianne and Amy retired soon after the concert and I drove up to Springfield, a city I've driven through, but haven't been in since I went to the Basketball Hall of Fame when I was a kid.

Based on a Google recommendation I went to Theodore's, a BBQ/Blues restaurant (very good choice), randomly met some local Springfielders who invited me to hang out and play some pool (I nailed my best game since my college days). It was a fun night!

Anyways, for more information on Mark and Raianne's Annual Massachusetts Walking Tour, see www.MassWalkingTour.com. It takes a lot of time to plan, but 2014's route and schedule should be released this fall.