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Forbes Library Trustees to Honor Debin Bruce, J.R. Greene

By
Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — The trustees of Forbes Library will present the Gertrude P. Smith Trustees Award to both Debin Bruce and J.R. Greene for their dedication and volunteer service to Forbes Library on Thursday, June 11 at 6:30 p.m. Following a brief award ceremony, Tracy Grammer and Jim Henry will perform on the Hess Performance Stage on the Forbes Library’s grounds. This event is free and open to the public.

While serving as a trustee of Forbes Library, Bruce worked tirelessly to advocate and support the needs of the library so that it could best serve the community. Among her accomplishments was chairing the building and grounds committee, where she worked tirelessly to bring the library’s long-standing dream of a performance stage on the library’s grounds to a reality.

Greene served as president of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum standing committee for many years. Always generous with his historical knowledge of Coolidge, he proved himself a steadfast presence for the committee and a champion for the importance of the collection and the museum.

Forbes Library to Celebrate Opening of Hess Performance Stage on Sept. 13

By
Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Forbes Library in Northampton announced the opening of the new Hess Performance Stage on the library’s west lawn. The library will celebrate the new stage with a grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. with an event featuring the O-Tones playing swing, blues, soul, Motown, Latin, and R&B. The opening is free to the public.

The stage is open air with a covered roof and ramped handicap access. It has lights and electricity, and soon will also have a sound system. This project is many years in the making and is intended to provide the necessary infrastructure for outdoor programs and events as well as a new community gathering space. The library has a long tradition of outdoor programming, with the first photographed event held in 1918 when an overflow crowd got together on the library grounds to sing patriotic songs in celebration of the end of World War I.

The stage was designed by HAI Architects of Northampton and built by Campora Construction Inc. of Ludlow. It has a steel structure and curved roof profile inspired by the arches of the library’s building and featuring colors that also reflect the sandstone and granite of the building.

The project was funded by substantial gifts from Marjorie Hess and Rudolph Talaber, for whom the stage is named, along with additional support provided by the Friends of Forbes, the city of Northampton, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, MassDevelopment, AARP Massachusetts, and many individual donors.

Debin Bruce, chair of the library’s building and grounds committee, worked tirelessly to see the stage to completion. “We would not have this stage without Debin and all of the generous support of our community,” said Lisa Downing, library director.

Programs on the stage will continue into the fall with events that are free, open to the public, and of interest to all ages. Check the library’s event calendar at forbeslibrary.org/events for more information. The stage and the library grounds are free and open to the public during daylight hours when not in use by library programming. Beginning in 2026, community groups will be able to book the stage for public events as they do with the library’s meeting rooms.