■The old house which was the rectory for the Holy Ghost Church in South Deerfield has been torn down. The Gazette photographer got there just before the last vestiges of the old building went, and there amid the remains of the structure was a piano still intact and ready to play. Moments later the house was all down and the fate of the piano is now known.
■The possibility of bringing the eastern Morgan Horse Show back to Northampton was discussed at a meeting of the Northampton Fair Association and the Eastern National Morgan Horse Show yesterday. The horse show had been held for many years at the Three-County Fairgrounds, but a disagreement over facilities resulted in the show moving to the Eastern States Exposition.
■Joan Keochakian, director of Hospice of Hampshire County, is one of 10 women being honored by the YWCA of Western Massachusetts for significant contributions in the home, workplace and community. Keochakian was instrumental in changing the hospice program from a volunteer one to a professional organization, each year serving some 130 patients and their families.
■Students at the state’s 15 public community colleges will be guaranteed admission to the University of Massachusetts as juniors if they meet specific requirements under a program to begin next fall. To qualify, students will have to maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average and complete the work, usually at least 60 credits, for an approved associate’s degree at a community college.
■Elliot Offner, a longtime Smith College professor whose sculptures are prized for their lyricism and beauty, died of cancer on Friday at the age of 79. The artist and educator who lived on Washington Avenue in Northampton retired from Smith in 2004 after 41 years on the faculty.
■Vicki Kennedy, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s widow, will visit Northampton Sunday in support of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal. Kennedy is expected to give a speech at Union Station, where she will talk about Neal and his record of service.