Massachusetts
Woman dies after falling from cliff while hiking at Massachusetts state park
A Massachusetts woman died while hiking with three of her children after she fell down a cliff on April 23, police said.
According to a press release from the Sutton Police Department, the incident happened at the Purgatory Chasm State Reservation in Sutton, Massachusetts, some 40 miles southwest of Boston.
Police said they were called to the area after receiving reports of a woman who fell down a cliff around 50 to 75 feet high.
“There were multiple medical professionals in the area hiking the Chasm at the same time, and were able to provide medical attention right away. However, she had succumbed to the injuries sustained during the fall, and was pronounced deceased a short time later,” police said.
According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, part of the USA TODAY Network, the woman was identified by authorities as 49-year-old Carolyn Sanger.
In the press release, police said they believe the fall to be accidental but have an active investigation into Sanger’s death.
“Lastly, the Sutton Police Department would like to extend our condolences to the family during this very difficult time,” police said.
Who was Carolyn Sanger?
Sanger, a mother of four, lived in Topsfield, Massachusetts, around 20 miles north of Boston.
According to NBC 10 Boston, she was the owner of a massage, yoga and Reiki studio. Members of the community who knew Sanger remembered her as a positive influence in the area.
“She could show up in a room, light up a room and give you a hug and you felt that warmth, she was a safe place, you could talk to her about anything,” Jamie Belsito told the NBC 10 Boston.
Sanger was also a regular at Zumi’s Espresso, which was right next to her wellness center. Umesh Bhiji, the coffee shop’s owner, said Sanger was a wonderful person.
“She was wonderful, very kind-hearted, at Zumi’s all the time with her kids, friends, for hours of talk,” Bhiji told NBC 10 Boston.
In a GoFundMe set up following Sanger’s death, she was remembered as a caring, wonderful mother.
“She was a friend to all and her smile and kind spirit will be greatly missed. She passed too early- but she left the earth doing what she loved, with the ones she loved,” the fundraiser’s description reads.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
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CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The Healey and Driscoll Administration has launched the SafetyWorks Initiative to enhance workplace safety across 160 organizations in Massachusetts.
The initiative includes $800,000 in grants aimed at training workers within these organizations, which collectively employ nearly 14,000 individuals.
Employers can apply for up to $25,000 in training grants through MassDOT.gov. The SafetyWorks Initiative is designed to improve safety standards and practices in workplaces throughout Massachusetts. By providing substantial grants, the administration aims to equip workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to maintain safer work environments.
Employers can apply for the SafetyWorks grants here.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WWLP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WWLP staff before being published.
Massachusetts
Live Wire: Nields’ Welcome Table Chorus concert to benefit Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
NORTHAMPTON — Two things that have an almost innate ability to bring people together are food and music.
And that combination will be the focus of an upcoming Welcome Table Chorus concert at Northampton’s Bombyx Center for the Arts on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. The evening will feature a massive chorus of singers and proceeds will benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
The Welcome Table Chorus is the brainchild of Nerissa Nields of local folk duo The Nields. Nields said she had created a similar folk chorus when she was in college in the late 1980s.
“So, it’s something I’ve been interested in my entire life,” she said. “The college chorus was called Tangled Up in Blue and that was sort of a template for me.”
Although she is best known for her work with The Nields, who blend folk, rock and pop into their sound, Nields is no stranger to choral music. Along her music journey, she has created and conducted choruses for children, including one in Northampton which turned into three different groups and ran for five years until the pandemic hit.
Of course, COVID stopped most live music and community events in their tracks.
Then last April, Nields and her husband went to Boston with friends for the “No Kings” rally and one of her friends happened to be a parent of one of the children from a previous chorus.
“She asked me if I ever thought about starting a chorus for adults and said that if I did, she’d join it in a second,” Nields said.
The idea intrigued Nields, but initially she thought it would be too much work. But after mulling it a bit, she called her sister (and bandmate) Katryna, who had been running a few youth choruses already and asked her if that’s something she would want to do together.
“And she didn’t even hesitate. She immediately said ‘yes.’ But we debated it and went back-and-forth and wondered if it would be too much time or if we would lose our minds,” Nields said with a laugh.
In the end, the sisters decided to forge ahead.
“I think this is something that people need; we need to sing with other people and be in community with other people,” Nields said. “Especially with the twin things of people being more cautious and isolated after COVID and the political climate being what it is, it’s important that people do gather.”
So, they put out the word, expecting to get maybe 30 people.
They got 80.
“We started out with about 80 singers — there were no auditions so anybody could join. But people whittle themselves away, and now we have about 60 to 70,” Nields said.
The songs that will be performed are about inclusion, love, and activism, Nields said, but it will be a diverse set list. Some of the songs on the setlist include Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’, “Crowded Table” by The Highwomen, “Don’t Carry It All” by the Decemberists, and “Dreams” by The Cranberries.
The chorus will be singing all these tunes in four-part harmony and putting that together so quickly (the chorus just started in September) is a daunting task. But fortunately, Nields relied heavily on her former chorus work.
“A lot of the songs we chose were ones that we already had arrangements for,” she said.
The chorus itself is also diverse.
“It’s a mixture. I got all kinds of different all different kinds of people. Some are quite good, and some are complete beginners. I have some parents from the earlier choruses. We have people who are Nields fans, and we have people who don’t know anything about us,” Nields said. “I even have one of my classmates from college who is doing it 40 years later with her husband.”
Nields mused about why singing gives people a sense of community.
“I think there’s a kind of spiritual thing that happens, which would be kind of hard to define in words, but we all know it when we feel it,” she said. “But from a technical point of view, when you’re singing with other people – at least the way we’re teaching it – you really have to listen. You have to pay attention to what your neighbors are singing. You have to look each other in the eyes if you’re singing together. It’s pretty intimate.”
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