A Look Back: July 5

50 Years Ago

■First prize in the Bicentennial slogan contest went to Isabel A. Holden, of 87 Round Hill Road, for her entry, “Northampton — build the best of the past into the future.” The contest was co-sponsored by the Northampton Bicentennial Commission and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

■Dennis Colgan, 24, has assumed the post of manager of the F.W. Woolworth Co. at 90 Main St. Colgan, who is living in Amherst, has had 3½ years of previous experience with the Woolworth Co. in Rhode Island.

25 Years Ago

■Plans for a memorial quilt to decorate the interior of the new Senior Center in Easthampton are moving forward. Measuring 4 by 8 feet, the new quilt will tell the story of the Council on Aging’s history, as it enters a new era in the former Post Office building on Union Street.

■Three physicians who practice at the Amherst Medical Center — Dr. Frank Meyers, Dr. Paul Baecher and Dr. Joel Feinman — are among those who have forged a new independence from the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Their move came before Kaiser Permanente announced last month it will end its operations in the Northeast.

10 Years Ago

■Area business owner Eric Suher came within one vote Wednesday of losing another liquor license that has not been put into use since it was issued about five years ago. Meanwhile, who ultimately gets the license Suher lost earlier this year may come down to chance as the commission determines if it can grant it to a new applicant via a lottery system.

■A proposal to treat a stand of invasive plants in a nearly inaccessible portion of the Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area is stirring debate over the use of herbicides to eradicate non-native plants. Most involved agree that something needs to be done but differ on whether to apply a form of herbicide called Rodeo or instead use a chemical-free alternative.