■For about 10 years, a group of neighbors in the Chestnut Street area of Florence has been caroling on the Sunday before Christmas. The group last night included Mr. and Mrs. James Tobin, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Aquadro, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy McCarthy Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Armand Moggio, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mantegna, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Covell, Mr. and Mrs. John Collins, Miss Florence Curran, Mrs. and Mrs. Joseph Fennessey, and Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Fitzgibbons.
■Harold O. Frohbach, 72, of Pompano Beach, Fla., retired president of Chart-Pak Inc., of Leeds, and former resident of Northampton, died Sunday in Florida. A winter resident of Pompano Beach, he had been president of Chart-Pak Inc. since 1951 and was one of the three founders of the company.
■Following a nationwide search that drew 66 applicants, the Miniature Theatre of Chester has selected a successor for retiring founder Vincent Dowling. Peter Bennett, 59, will take control of the theater in mid-January following its annual meeting.
■The Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School trustees’ recommendation to sell a duplex used by farmworkers was turned down last night by the City Council in a 5-4 vote. Councilors voted against the sale after debating the merits of holding onto the building vs. selling it.
■Throngs of shoppers were out Sunday — the last weekend of shopping before Christmas. Retail establishments in the area were crowded but “bearable,” shoppers reported. With only days to go until Christmas, couples, families and solo shoppers flocked to area stores.
■Massachusetts will lose one of its 10 congressional seats, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday, as its population grew more slowly than the rapidly expanding Southern and Western states. The state Legislature will start redrawing the borders of the state’s nine congressional districts when it reconvenes in January.