Free podcast intended to give children home on summer vacation encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration

EASTHAMPTON—Janice Beetle of Janice Beetle Books will launch a 20-day series of free podcasts for children and families on her website at JaniceBeetleBooks.com starting June 22. 

Called Poem Pods, the homegrown broadcasts are narrated by Beetle and her feisty 11-year-old grandson Eli.

A blog that will post on June 22 will offer a complete Poem Pod schedule, outlining posting dates, the names of interviewees, conversation topics, and that day’s activities. The pods themselves will begin on June 23 and post daily through July 12.

“As Eli and I say in our homegrown broadcasts, Poem Pods are fun poems and fun stories for fun people,” Beetle said. “My hope is that they give children encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration to get them thinking creatively as a summer without camps and public swimming pools begins.”

Poem Pods are theme-based and explore concepts like family, friendship, inspiration, vulnerability, fears, and asking for help. When the day’s poem is about family, for instance, Beetle and her grandson discuss the importance of family, and they interview a family member. 

At the start of each segment, Beetle and her grandson talk about Beetle’s writing inspirations and education, starting when she was six years old, and her grandmother gave her a notebook. 

The poems, written by Beetle years ago for her two daughters, are short and silly and cover topics from dogs and cats to family, raindrops, love, and friendship. They follow the introductory conversation and are in the middle of the podcast. “Much like a pea is in the center of a pea pod,” Beetle said.

After the day’s poems are read, Beetle and her grandson have lively and interesting conversations on that day’s theme and offer children an activity. And in 11 of the pods, they bring on a guest, and Eli conducts an interview that extends the discussion. 

The interviews also offer a closer look at the inspirations of others along with an education into what it’s like to be a writer, a medical professional, or an air traffic controller, for instance.

Along with each audio post, each episode will also feature a written transcript in the blog feed for those who would rather read than listen. Or, some could choose to listen while reading along.

To receive an email when the Poem Pod schedule posts, and to receive each day’s new Poem Pod post, sign up for the blog at JaniceBeetleBooks.com.

Beetle is a longtime writer and editor from Western Massachusetts. Janice Beetle Books LLC centers around book development and publishing and is based in Easthampton.

Through Janice Beetle Books, Beetle works with writers of all skill levels—as well as nonwriters—to help them carry a book idea through to publication. She also offers writing coaching services.

Beetle, of Easthampton, holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Westfield State College. She also runs Beetle Press, a PR firm offering writing, editing, and digital marketing services to business owners and leaders of nonprofit organizations.

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GILFORD—As musician Jon Lorentz describes it, Dueling Pianos at Patrick’s Pub & Eatery is somewhere on the entertainment scale between watching a cover band and a stand-up comedian. “It’s more about having fun than trying to light the music world on fire,” he said.

Though the concept traces back to the 1890s, Dueling Pianos is a popular entertainment offering at the pub today. Launched three years ago by Lorentz—a longtime and well-rounded musician—Patrick’s version has its own unique style.

Lorentz admits the musicians don’t actually duel. “It’s more of a volley,” he said with a laugh, noting the competition is all in jest. “We try to get through as many requests for as many customers as we can.”

The duels will start back up on May 24, and Lorentz and three of his colleagues— Gardner Berry, Jim Tyrrell, and Matt Langley—are ready to take the stage.

From 8:30 to 10:30 on Friday nights, two keyboardists face one another on the Patrick’s stage. Patrick’s customers serve up song requests that Lorentz said run the gamut from Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and jazz standards like “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Georgia on My Mind” to Billy Joel and Elton John tunes, and hip hop and pop.

“It’s set up to look like a grudge match,” Lorentz said. “We get the crowd excited to come up with song requests. No style is off limits. Customers come up, and we pass the requests back and forth to see who will play what.”

Berry said, “It’s great fun. Nobody takes themselves too seriously, and we all have our own niche, which allows us to be quite successful at fielding the various requests.  Patrick’s is a wonderful venue, staffed with great people, and friendly customers.”

Patrick’s has been hosting live music since it opened in 1987, originally featuring mostly Irish music. After Jeff and Allan Beetle purchased the pub in 1994, they began to expand the music offerings. “We like to say we’ve brought some American spirit to the Irish ancestry of this pub,” Allan Beetle said.

“During Dueling Pianos, it’s awesome to have such talented musicians performing classics on request,” Beetle added.  “Live music is part of our DNA here at the pub, helping to create great experiences for our guests.”

Patrick’s entertainment line-up includes five nights of live music with Open Mic on Tuesdays; Acoustic Music Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; and Dueling Pianos on Fridays. For more information, visit www.patrickspub.com or email info@patrickspub.com.

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