A Look Back, Sept. 19

50 Years Ago

■Threshold Inc. is sponsoring coffee houses at its Market St. location every other Saturday night. Last Saturday a large group of teenagers turned out to hear “Dirty Ed,” “Boo Olander and the Others,” three members of “Little Fire” band, and Sandy Walsh play away.

■In ceremonies yesterday, the Bay State Gas Co. opened a new office and service center in Northampton. Located off Rte. 10, on Earle Street, the new facility was constructed to replace some of the facilities in the 21,400 square feet of building on Crafts Avenue that Bay State Gas Company donated to the City of Northampton a year ago.

25 Years Ago

■Torrential rains brought by the remnants of Hurricane Floyd hit Northampton especially hard overnight, forcing officials to close roads, invoke an emergency, and rescue people from flooded homes and cars in a frenzied night of drama. The 8.1 inches of rain that fell in the city Thursday left lasting damage.

■Calling himself “an old, failed politician,” Mario Cuomo urged Amherst College freshmen Thursday to get into politics and try to improve the world. He exhorted them to set the high standard for themselves of helping the world and not just themselves.

10 Years Ago

■A group of brazen thieves stole the air bags from 35 vehicles at the Lia Honda dealership on King Street late Monday or early Tuesday — an unusually high number of such thefts for one spot, according to one national organization. Air bag thefts are becoming more common nationwide, especially because they are easy to steal and resell.

■Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. made its proposed Northeast Energy Direct Project official Monday, with a “pre-filing” to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The 36-inch-diameter pipeline would cross nine Franklin County towns — Ashfield, Conway, Shelburne, Deerfield, Montague, Erving, Northfield, Warwick and Orange.