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Oct. 31st: To haunt and to hold

The 2022 Holyoke Ofrenda at the Wistariahurst Museum
Iohann Rashi Vega
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Wistariahurst Museum
The 2022 Holyoke Ofrenda at the Wistariahurst Museum

Happy last day of October everyone! This is a time both for things unseen, and for those unseen things to be respected.

In the realm of discovery for this the last of the spooky days, we turn to folklorist and author Jeff Belanger. He’s the host of New England Legends, which is both an award winning tv show and a podcast, and the author of over a dozen books. Looking into the stories of New England every week means that he’s definitely got some about western Massachusetts, and we pick his brain for terrifying tales of the four counties.

And tomorrow, Nov 1st, is Dia de los Muertos. Ofrendas in commemoration of the day are being erected throughout the region, and we speak with Iohann Rashi Vega and Jason Montgomery about expanding the number of ofrendas they are building from just one at the Wistariahurst Museum, to three monuments across Holyoke and Easthampton. The meaning of this day means many things to many people, and we venture into some of those connections, and how more community can be built by honoring those we’ve lost.

Christopher “Monte'' Belmonte is host and executive producer of NEPM's The Fabulous 413. He was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been a radio host in western Massachusetts for the last 20 years — the last 17 of them as host of Mornings with Monte on The River 93.9/WRSI.
Kaliis Smith is a radio host and producer for NEPM's The Fabulous 413. She was most recently host and producer at The River 93.9/WRSI where she appeared on Mornings with Monte for the Nerdwatch segment and hosted weekday evenings.