It’s Monday and we’re back with our roundup of the week’s events. Here are this week’s town government meetings, and cultural, recreational, and athletics events that caught our eye.

Missoula Children’s Theater Auditions – Monday

Amherst Community Theater is presenting Missoula Children’s Theater’s Hercules, a full-scale musical production (from rehearsal to stage in just one week!) for youth in grades K-12. Auditions are Monday at 4:00 pm and performances are Sunday, March 29 at 1:30 and 4:00 pm. For audition information and more, go HERE. 

Town Council – Monday

At its meeting on Monday evening, the Town Council will consider action on multiple items, including a proposal to amend the FY26 budget guidelines and a possible vote on the assessment for the Regional schools’ FY26 budget. The Town Manager is recommending the Council reject the Regional School Committee request to amend the assessment method for the FY26 budget. The assessment method is the approach that’s used to define how much each of the four towns in the region contribute to the annual operating budget. An amended method must be approved by all four towns. Monday, 6:30-10:30 pm in Town Hall and on Zoom. MORE

Finance Committee – Tuesday

The Finance Committee meets on Tuesday to discuss the proposed amendment to the FY26 budget guidelines and the amended assessment method requested by the Regional School Committee. Tuesday, 2:00-4:00 pm on Zoom. MORE

Regional School Committee – Tuesday

The Regional (secondary) School Committee meets on Tuesday evening and will get an update on the middle school facilities. The committee also will discuss fees for sports and other programs, the system for reporting bullying, and more. Tuesday, 6:30 pm in the library at ARHS and on Amherst Media. MORE

Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home – Tuesday

This spring, the Jones Library celebrates the rich tradition of Latino poetry with a two-event series that’s part of a national public humanities initiative, Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home. Directed by Library of America with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective, the initiative comprises a groundbreaking anthology, events around the country, and an online media archive.

The series kicks off this week with Voyage to the Underworld: Selected Latino Poetry from 1523 to the Present, featuring a discussion and reading of selected poems from Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology edited by Rigoberto González, led by Dr. Ilan Stavans of Amherst College. The event also will include poems from Stavans’s book Lamentations of Nezahualcóyotl, retold from the Nahuatl by Ilan Stavans. Tuesday, 7:00 pm in the Woodbury Room at the Jones Library. MORE

Joint Capital Planning Committee – Wednesday

The JCPC meets on Wednesday to continue work on a proposed Capital Improvement Plan for FY26. It will review capital requests related to planning and conservation as well as follow-up information related to previously reviewed requests. Wednesday, 4:00-6:00 pm on Zoom. MORE.

Amherst School Committee – Wednesday

The Amherst (elementary) School Committee meets on Wednesday evening to review and vote on the FY26 budget. Wednesday, 6:30 pm in the library at ARHS and on Amherst Media. MORE

ARHS Varsity Athletics at Home – Friday

The spring sports season is here–catch ARHS varsity athletes in action at home this week! Girls Tennis vs. E. Longmeadow, Friday at 4:15 pm at the tennis courts at ARMS; Girls Softball vs. Springfield Central, Friday at 4:30 pm. MORE

History Bites: The Great Flood of 1936 – Friday

The Amherst Historical Society’s lunchtime series, “History Bites” continues on Friday with a talk on The Great Flood of 1936. In 1936, an exceptionally cold winter followed by heavy rains led to a massive ice jam in the northern Connecticut River. When it released the backed-up water in March, the resulting flood and ice floes destroyed bridges and flooded communities from Bellows Falls down to Hartford and Middletown. By the afternoon of March 19, more than 200,000 people were homeless as a result of the flood. Local Author Josh Shanley will share photographs and stories from this historic disaster. Friday, 12:30-1:30 pm at the Bangs Community Center. MORE

Amherst Community Connections Exhibit & Opening Reception – Friday

The Mill District Local Art Gallery is excited to present Amherst Community and Connection in the Front Window Gallery. Join them for a celebratory reception on Friday to meet and celebrate our community connectors while enjoying complementary light refreshments. The collaborative exhibit highlights and celebrates just a few of Amherst’s amazing local organizations whose mission is to connect individuals to services, resources, community, and/or the land. Each has decorated a 3’ x 3’ panel to artistically represent their mission and community impact. Friday, 5:00-7:00 pm at the Mill District Local Art Gallery. MORE

James Earl Jones Remembered: Dr. Strangelove – Sunday

Amherst Cinema continues its series showcasing the work and art of James Earl Jones, who passed away in September 2024. The series explores the breadth of Jones’s remarkable career and celebrates the life of one of cinema’s most beloved actors. On Sunday, see Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. James Earl Jones’s debut film role was as Lt. Lothar Zogg, the bombardier aboard a rogue B-52 in Kubrick’s riotous, piercing satire of Cold War nuclear politics. Sunday, 1:30 pm at Amherst Cinema. MORE

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Want more? We’ve gathered the event and program calendars from the many organizations and committees in Amherst onto Community Calendars. Check it out to find even more upcoming events.

Have an event you’d like us to spotlight? Email us TheAmherstCurrent@gmail.com.