We've been happy to see continued coverage fo the CCC Town Hall event from Tuesday, October 18. The most recent was an  op-ed from the Daily Hampshire Gazette on Friday, October 28.

While we appreciate the continued attention, we do take exception to a quippy aside from the Editorial team: "First, they may want to keep the group’s name off promotional materials related to entertainment events they cook up. No offense to the coalition’s hard-working members, but we suspect students see something inherently disapproving in the group’s name." Really? Come on! This hurts our feelings!

Actually, we're not at all bothered. We had a nice complement of students who came to offer their ideas on what would make for a fun  all-ages friendly nightlife in the Amherst area. And judging by our survey responses thus far, we know that we've hit a chord with a good group of folks who are most excited by increased off-campus student involvement in and near commercial areas.

We'd also brought up what we'd learned to the UTAC Culture subcommittee who were very encouraged by many of the ideas that came forward. Ultimately, UTAC, as well as the Amherst Chamber and BID will be important partners in activating a plan to capitalize on the energy in the room. 

With this we most certainly agree: "It makes most sense to start small. Because Amherst does not have as many entertainment venues as Northampton, it has to be creative. We like (Sarah) la Cour’s notion of working with churches and fraternal organizations to open their spaces for all-ages events that would add to the mix of things to do in the town center, regardless of who attends."