■After more than 33 years of service at the Hotel Northampton, Tony Growhoski has put down his cocktail mixer, stirrer and other marks of the trade and will spend his retirement years enjoying his family and working for his church. At a testimonial dinner given by his co-workers in the Currier & Ives Room at the Hotel, Tony was presented with a leather reclining chair.
■”SEEK” — Summer Experiment in Equality through Knowledge — is Williston Academy’s answer to the question “what can we do to help the racial problem today?” The six-week program, which endeavors to create a racially balanced classroom experience, is geared to seventh grade students, and is run by the Rev. Roger A. Barnett, chaplain at Williston and chair of its department of religion.
■A new volunteer transportation project aims to help low-income families with young children get around. It’s called the Family Taxi Program and is sponsored by a local chapter of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) overseen by the Hampshire Community Action Commission.
■Hampshire Regional Superintendent William G. Erickson yesterday named a new principal for the Southampton Elementary School. Norma Lewis of Tyler, Texas, will take over the top elementary school administrative position. She will replace Rosetta Grimm who left in June after three years as principal.
■Shaw’s Motel, a landmark with a storied past at the city’s downtown gateway, is on the market for $1.6 million. The motel at 87-89 Bridge St. was run for more than 60 years by Josephine A. Shaw, 92, of Northampton, who for decades rented units to those down on their luck or suffering from mental illness.
■Buffalo Wild Wings, which opened at the Hampshire Mall less than two years ago with a free-wings-for-a-year promotion, will close Saturday. In a post on its Facebook fan site, representatives from the Hadley restaurant said the company lost its lease at the mall and suggests people head to its Windsor, Conn., location.