As everyone may have heard, Tailgate Picnic deli closed its doors on December 31, 2025 after 37 years at the Village Commons. Founded in 1988 by the Magri family and then taken over by Dawn Morey in 2022, the Tailgate was a fixture in South Hadley and our committee appreciated the opportunity to hold our monthly First Friday Breakfast in the back room for many years.
Get ready to help support Neighbors Helping Neighbors-South Hadley Food Pantry, and save the date to DRIVE UP and DROP OFF items at South Hadley High School!
Food Drive for Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Pantry
Saturday, February 7, 2026
9:00am to 12:00pm (rain or shine)
South Hadley High School, 153 Newton Street
Hosted by South Hadley Democratic Town Committee
In the event of a significant snowstorm, see: southhadleydems.com
All food and monetary donations are accepted (please make checks payable to Neighbors Helping Neighbors). Items most in demand include any and all feminine hygiene products, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, bar soap, pet food for cats and dogs (canned or dry), hot or cold cereal, soups, and canned meats such as Spam, corned beef hash, and beef stew. Please be sure to check expiration dates.
Democratic Town Committees in Granby, Belchertown, and Ludlow are also planning food drives in a regional effort to help local families.
Download and share our Food Drive Flyer (pdf)!
South Hadley's 2026 Annual Town Election is Tuesday, April 14, 2026. In-person voting for all precincts is held at South Hadley High School, 153 Newton Street (Rt. 116). Separate elections for Fire and Water Districts 1 and 2 are held on the same day at South Hadley High School.
For information about voter registration, voting options, and elections, visit the Town Clerk's Elections page at www.southhadley.org/elections. For details about local elected positions on the ballots and how to run for them, see the Running for Local Office Guide and the information sheet about the local election Calendar and Positions Available. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the helpful staff at the Town Clerk's office.
On November 7-8, people from communities across the area came to Fellowship Hall at Center Church in South Hadley for Our Roots, Our Voices, to tell stories about their families and their histories. Co-hosted by SHDTC and Center Church, the non-partisan, non-sectarian event highlighted the many ways in which people have put down roots and created lives in this nation, now in its 250th year. Over the course of the 25-hour event, listeners heard 75 different stories shared by participants of all ages, from Gen Z to the Post War Generation. Some stories were moving, while others were delivered with humor, but all were unique, and across the hours a shared appreciation of our country's history as a land of welcome and opportunity was evident. The event made clear that in a country with tremendous diversity, Americans have much in common.
Our latest Updates newsletter features a poem by an anonymous poet, which was read during a weekly vigil at an ICE Detention Center in Burlington, MA earlier this month. The writer, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is an immigrant who sought and was granted political asylum some years ago.
Non-Partisan, Non-Sectarian, All-American.
Although September 17 is an annual observance commemorating the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, many of us ignore this day--possibly because it's not a federal holiday, or possibly because we take for granted the many freedoms granted by a centuries-old document forged to help ensure democracy in our country.
Fall business meetings will be held on at 6:30pm on Thursdays, September 18, October 16, and November 20, 2025 in the South Hadley
Library Trustee's Conference Room. Meetings are normally on third Thursdays and hybrid-online;
participants may attend in-person at the Library or online via Zoom. To obtain a meeting link, to join our mailing list, or for other information about SHDTC, please email: southhadleydemocrats@gmail.com.
First Friday Breakfast and Conversation
Plan to join us for First Friday Meetups at 8:30am on October 3, November 7, and December 6, 2025 at Tailgate Picnic Deli in
the Village Commons (www.tailgatepicnicdeli.com), 7 College Street, South Hadley. Conversation is
casual with no set agenda, just a chance to talk about local, national and international affairs and join in community with others, Democrat or not, South Hadley resident or not. Purchase your own
coffee/pastries or snacks (cash preferred), all are welcome.
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