By Jim Bridgman
For the Gazette
50 Years Ago
Have recent repairs to the entrance of City Hall damaged the building’s architecture? The removal of two pillars and two partial pillars from the front entrance of the building has generated concern among some people about preserving the original flavor of the 121-year-old building.
Two area young men have enlisted in the U.S. Navy for four years and are undergoing recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Center at Great lakes, Ill. The new recruits are Thomas J. Coogan III, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Coogan of Spring Grove Ave., Florence, and James M. Mello, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mello of 156 Lincoln St., Easthampton.
25 Years Ago
A long-time Board of Health member who helped fashion a proposed compromise on the city’s restaurant smoking ban will depart the board, saying that with twelve years behind him, he’s served long enough. Michael R. Parsons of Bayberry Lane said today he expects to attend one more health board meeting in March.
An 18-month effort to establish what came to be known as the Northampton Community Charter High School has been abandoned by the handful of people who had continued to work on it. The school was originally proposed by Richard Seelig of Shutesbury and Karen Wittshirk of Huntington.
10 Years Ago
A weekend concert at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton led to a series of drug and alcohol-related arrests. Eighteen people were arrested as a result of activity associated with Saturday’s Disco Biscuits concert.
Northampton High School senior track standout Natalia Paine won her second straight 600-meter title at the Division 3 championships Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston on Sunday.