■Two snowstorms in less than 48 hours have ensured that Christmas 1970 will be a white one, but clogged roads, unplowed airport runways and the prospect of several more inches of snow may make holiday travel and last-minute shopping somewhat less than festive.
■Christmas came a day early for Patrick Goggins, who received notification of a year-and-a-half extension of his job as Northampton’s recreation director. Goggins started working in recreation in the position of supervisor general, succeeding Daniel Cronin.
■Today, nearly 400 children in Northampton will be visited by strangers bearing gifts, the result of an elaborate campaign known as Santa for a Day. The program, which started nine years ago, is a group effort run by the Hampshire Community Action Commission, the Northampton Police Department, the Northampton Council on Aging and WHMP radio station.
■Besides those dropping temperatures and falling snowflakes, the biggest indicator of winter may well be the illnesses that afflict us all — colds, bronchitis and the like. And these past few weeks, the “first wave” of such aliments have washed over the region, just in time for the holiday season.
■Local Santa Claus experts offered differing opinions Thursday on how St. Nicholas manages to visit eager children all around the world in one night. Some said his reindeer accounted for his speedy travel, while other argued it was the power of Santa believers that allows him to leave so many presents in so many homes.
■Area audiences watching the just-released movie “How Do You Know” over the holidays may not realize that a piece of the Valley is sharing the spotlight with the firm’s stars, Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson. Prominently displayed on the apartment wall of Wilson’s home, is a 42-by-54-inch painting “Halloween II” by Florence artist Marlene Rye.