It struck several people in downtown Turners Falls that when their businesses were defaced last week with graffiti — it seemed targeted, but misplaced.
In this western Massachusetts village in the town of Montague, the numerous messages were connected to the violence in Gaza, to children dying, and notably to the eating of brunch.
The person (or possibly people) tagged numerous public buildings and businesses, sidewalks, front doors and windows for almost half a mile, early morning September 25.
Hours after the graffiti had first been discovered, Billy McKerchie, the owner of the Upper Bend Cafe on Avenue A, stood in front of his business with others, discussing the vandalism.
His restaurant's front windows were sprayed with disturbing messages; a public art statue by the door, known as the Bread Man, had been hit with red paint.
"[The graffiti] was kind of expressing the general sentiment that ‘you're selling coffee and brunch to wealthy white people while babies are dying in Palestine and Gaza,” McKerchie said.
It's tricky though, he said, as McKerchie agrees with some of the messages. So why was his business and others nearby tagged?
“All these places are small businesses, you know, doing their best to make jobs for people in town and provide general services,” McKerchie said.
It's misdirected anger, McKerchie said, and there's a lot of anger right now and not many outlets to express it.
Despite the progressive views of Dreamhouse Restaurant owner Jillian Fishman, her business on 3rd Street was defaced by graffiti on almost all sides; the restaurant's steps, the deck's window boxes, the wooden front door and some exterior walls of the building.
In the window of the Dreamhouse, among other signs and political statements, Fishman pointed out a Palestinian flag.
“The general sentiment [of the graffiti] is that capitalism fuels genocide,” Fishman said, "and prominently featured is the message ‘no brunch while we're killing kids'.’’
The Dreamhouse explicitly describes itself as a place for brunch.
It doesn’t make sense, Fishman said.
"We opened our business just over two years ago, knowing that we were going to be an outspoken queer liberation abolitionist based business,” she aid.
“No more wadge (sic) slavery," was another message spray painted on the side of the Fishman's restaurant.
Given her politics, Fishman said she’d been expecting something more like a brick through the window.
Early Friday afternoon, Fishman was standing outside her restaurant. She made way for customers to come in. The place was packed.
"Brunch is a daytime meal," Fishman said. "We serve breakfast, we serve lunch, we serve cocktails, we serve juice. We think brunch is just whatever you want it to be."
If the person who wrote these messages meant them Fishman said, it's a reductionist take.
Cafes have been “the center of political movements and discourse forever,” she said, “so I get where they're coming from, but there's certainly more nuance to it."
Fishman was grateful her staff is safe; what happened is cosmetic and like others, she said people in town really showed up for each other to clean up what they could.
The chalk paint will come off windows easily, business owners said, but other politically charged messages spray painted in red and white on doors, sidewalks and brick won't simply wash off.
In recent years, Turners Falls has been spruced up. New arts, culture, textile and food related businesses have opened.
It was once a thriving industrial town with the water power of the Connecticut River helping to build Turners Falls into a manufacturing city. Like other mill cities, it experienced a downturn in the 1920s.
Now, some say it's been gentrified.
Rose Whitcomb-Detmold who grew up in Turners Falls describes the village as an interesting mix of people.
"Maybe more blue collar, who have lived here for a long time, and then an influx of artists, young people who are really interested in revitalizing the town," Whitcomb Detmold said. “I think sometimes there's tension there, but also it's situations like [the graffiti] that bring the community together.”
Montague Town administrator Walter Ramsey agreed.
“The fact that people kind of immediately started cleaning up their neighborhood and taking care of their neighbors, I think that's speaks to a lot of the resilience of Turners Falls. And so I'm really proud of how my community is responding,"
Ramsey said.
He was in Turners Falls all weekend. The town is still evaluating the extent of the damages — and what additional clean up will be needed.
Some business owners expressed an interest in connecting with whoever did this – not to villainize them they said, but find out why and how to help them.
As of Sunday a person of interest had been identified connected to the graffiti, Ramsey said.
