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April 23, 2025: Trails and Alleys

Today we’re getting extra retro with an extra New England pastime, archaic conundrums and classic ways of making art.

The art is found up and down the Hilltowns through Hampshire and Franklin Counties. The Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail is a network of studios that are open for the public to witness ceramic artists in their craft. We head to Florence to peak at the only wood fired kiln along the route and chat with artists James Guggina, Tiffany Hilton and intern Lucas Putney about their work and the upcoming festivities.

And, few outside of New England know of or have played our classic pastime, candlepin bowling, but it's the style housed by some of the oldest operating bowling alleys in the nation, one of which is right here in western Mass.. We head to Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley where owners Tony and Tam Hanna show us how the game is played, how the lanes are maintained and how far the history of the location stretches.

Plus, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, lays an over 700-year-old mystery in our laps. Or does it lie in your lap? We look at the homophone pairing of lay and lie, and which one we should let sleeping dogs do.

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.