50 Years Ago
- Officials of the Three County Fair Association today said that they have never been formally approached by any individuals interested in establishing a dog track at the fairgrounds. The officials were responding to a report yesterday in the Boston Globe that said that “some unknown forces hope to locate a dog track on the Northampton fairgrounds.”
- A proposal for a shopping mall in downtown Florence, with off-street parking, will be discussed tonight at the Florence Civic Center. According to Ronald Lancour, chair of the steering committee of the mercantile division of the Florence Civic and Business Association, the most feasible site for the mall is the Skibiski property, between the Pioneer National Bank and Yesterday’s.
25 Years Ago
- Northampton is poised to name an insider, George Andrikidis, a man with a 30-year tenure in the Department of Public Works, as the DPW’s new director. For nearly nine months, Andrikidis has served as acting director of the DPW; last week, the Board of Public Works voted to appointed him director.
- A bronze, life-size statue of Sojourner Truth will take its place in a Florence park within six to 12 months, now that sculptor Thomas Jay Warren has been named to create the tribute to the legendary abolitionist and feminist who lived in Florence.
10 Years Ago
- Public safety officials assured concerned Ward 3 residents Monday evening that they are being diligent in their investigation of the recent string of suspicious fires in the neighborhood. Meantime, Fire Chief Duane Nichols, Police Chief Jody Kasper and staff from the Northwestern district attorney’s office urged those who live in the area to keep watch and report anything that seems suspicious.
- Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz presented a proclamation to Yvonne Freccero, the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s “Person of the Year,” at a reception for her Monday at the Hadley Farms Meeting House. Freccero, 86, of Florence, has spent the last 20 years working to create shelters for the homeless in Hampshire County.