■Dr. William A. Yorzyk, formerly of Northampton, has been appointed to the Springfield Public Health Council by Springfield Mayor Frank Freedman. A resident anesthesiologist at Springfield Hospital, Dr. Yorzyk was the Olympic swim champion in 1956, having won the 200-meter butterfly race in Australia.
■Little League baseball at the best is a mixed blessing, turns off an increasingly large number of boys at the high school and college level and thus is responsible for the growing shortage of good ball players for the professional leagues, says Bill Veeck in an interview at UMass. The former major league baseball team owner and sports maverick said the program should be revised so that parents have almost nothing to do with it.
■Belchertown flags are lowered to half-staff this week in memory of William Gerry Whitlock, a former selectman and executive secretary who helped guide Belchertown through its boom years. Mr. Whitlock, 68, known to many as “the mayor,” died Sunday at home.
■Billed as a salute to homegrown talent, the Really Big Show at the Academy of Music yesterday was aptly titled, matching size with the sheer variety of acts in the more than two-hour performance. The show which capped the Northampton Arts Council’s Four Sunday in February series, featured a slew of local acts, such as musicians, dancers, comedians, solo singers, jugglers and pet tricks.
■Actress Jane Lynch of “Glee” fame will serve as Smith College’s commencement speaker this spring. Lynch, an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress and comedian, will share pearls of wisdom — and no doubt a few jokes — at Smith’s 134th commencement, the college announced Thursday.
■Hickory Ridge Country Club, rumored for some time to be having financial problems, is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction next month. The 150-acre site, which includes an 18-hole golf course, restaurant, banquet facility and pro shop, is to be sold in its entirety at a public auction.