Located in East Longmeadow. Trusted tax, accounting, and business consulting services for individuals and businesses throughout Western MA.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame welcomed its 2026 class to Springfield on August 14 and 15, with Doc Rivers, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Amar'e Stoudemire, Mark Few, Mike D'Antoni, Joey Crawford, Chamique Holdsclaw, and the legendary 1996 U.S. Olympic women's team all receiving their gold jackets.

I love that a city in our own back yard gets to host this every single year! If you missed Enshrinement Weekend, keep it on your radar for next August, the energy downtown is something else.

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Orchards across the region are starting to welcome pickers now through the fall. Here are just a handful located in our neck of the woods!! Bashista Orchards in Southampton, Fern Valley Farms in Wilbraham, Kielbasa Orchards in Hadley, and Kosinski Farm in Westfield.

I am already planning my first trip of the season, and I am bringing a bigger bag this year.

Where is your favorite place to go apple picking? Send me an email!

This year's fair runs September 18 through October 4 in West Springfield, and the Court of Honor concert schedule already includes Uncle Kracker, The Smithereens, Sammy Kershaw, Jet, and Great White, all included with fair admission.

Three weeks out and I am already deciding which night to go. Mark your calendar now before the good tickets disappear.

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4th Annual Latino Arts Festival — Friday, Aug 28, lecture at 3:30 p.m., festival 5 to 8 p.m., Springfield Museums Quadrangle Green. Free and open to everyone, with a Smithsonian curator, live Puerto Rican music and dance at 6 p.m., a floral art workshop, kids' crafts, guided tours, and food trucks. I am staying for the music.

Forging Freedom: Springfield Armory's America 250 Living History Day — Saturday, Aug 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., concert 4 to 6 p.m., Springfield Armory National Historic Site. Free. Reenactors, blacksmiths, military vehicles, free ice cream, and a Black Hawk helicopter landing right on the Armory Green. I am there for the helicopter alone.

Amherst Rotary Club Town Fair — Wednesday, Aug 27 through Saturday, Aug 30, Amherst Town Common. Rides, carnival games, and fair food, with every dollar raised funding local scholarships and nonprofit grants.

Mardi Gras Murder Mystery Dinner — Friday, Aug 28, 6 to 9 p.m., The Ranch Golf Club, Southwick. A comical, fully interactive murder mystery dinner with a Mardi Gras theme, $65 a ticket, the kind of night that turns into a story you're still telling a month later.

Sole Syndicate Brewing Co. Car Show — Sunday, Aug 30, noon to 4 p.m., Ludlow. Classic cars, craft beverages, and live entertainment, a relaxed Sunday plan to send the summer off right.

See the full calendar on our Events page.

Siblings Salim and Fatema Abdoo just opened this açai bowl and Belgian waffle spot at 76 Main Street in Northampton, and the menu reads like a passport, ingredients pulled from all over the world because that is genuinely how they built it. Açai bowls loaded with toppings, waffles that are properly crisp outside and chewy inside, open seven days a week.

This menu made me an instant fan of Northampton's newest breakfast spot, and I am already planning my order before the weekend crowd finds it first.

Website: berrybatter.com | Instagram: @berrynbatter

Four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and just over 5,000 square feet on three quarters of an acre, with a private pool built for exactly the kind of golden hour swim you see in the listing photos. Inside you get a wet bar, stone countertops, recessed lighting, and a primary suite with a real walk in closet. So if a Longmeadow pool house has been on your wish list, now is the moment to call.

Listed by Karen M Kopeski, Today Real Estate, Inc. Verified active on Realtor.com, MLS #73544597.

Friday, Aug 28, 7:30 to 9 p.m., Brunelle's Marina, South Hadley. A narrated cruise on the Connecticut River under the full moon on the Lady Bea. I am a sucker for anything on the water at sunset, and this is the kind of date that gives you more to talk about after than a typical dinner out. Call Brunelle's at (413) 315-6342 to confirm tickets before you head out.

Western Mass has one of the original mobile paint and sip experience since 2012, and it is still ours! Paint Social Art is simple and fun! No experience necessary and beginners are encouraged. They they come to you and bring ALL the supplies. You bring the fun!!

Paint Social Art has helped hundreds of organizations raise thousands of dollars in fundraising. This is a creative and fun way to unite everyone for a great cause.

But they don’t stop there. You don’t need to look any further for a fun and creative birthday & anniversary celebration, team building, fundraising and just because!!! If your team, your organization, your family, or your favorite cause has been talking about a paint & sip event, this is the best experience!

Nine TrackMan golf simulator bays let you play more than 300 world-class courses without leaving Springfield, right inside the Basketball Hall of Fame. It's a golf entertainment venue first, with a full menu of food and drinks to go with it, so you can book a bay and make a real night of it. I am bringing my brother here for his birthday, and I already know we are staying past our reservation.

Western Mass Insider reaches engaged readers who love discovering local businesses, events, and things to do in the Pioneer Valley. Want your business in front of people who are actively looking for what you offer?

This is a real working bakery at 105 Exchange Street in Chicopee, fresh bread and pastry made right there for Western Mass and Connecticut, with a walk in storefront most people driving past on Exchange Street have no idea is open to the public. Open seven days a week, with the fullest pastry case Thursday through Saturday. I am partial to getting there early enough to still smell the ovens running.

Until next time … keep exploring the Pioneer Valley

Curated with care by Christine Carbonaro-Freda westernmassinsider.com