A Look Back, March 27

50 Years Ago

■ Gary J. Mysorski, 12 Massasoit St., will brush up his French and tackle Arabic during the coming months in preparation for a job as a YMCA administrator. For Mysorski, the job will have an exotic bent, because he will be based in Beirut, Lebanon. Mysorski, son of Hampshire YMCA’s associate director Benjamin S. Mysorski, will travel to his Beirut post in July after completing his master’s degree in YMCA administration at Springfield College.

■Science and audiovisual equipment were taken in two separate break-ins at St. Michael’s High School over the weekend. Sister Mary Magdalen, principal of the school, said that thieves somehow gained entry into the school between closing time Friday and Saturday morning.

25 Years Ago

■Linda O’Brien, a health information management service employee at the Northampton veterans hospital, was named January’s employee of the month at a staff meeting March 18. A member of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center staff since 1981, O’Brien handles medical records, discharge summaries, diagnoses and computer entries, her employers say, all with ease and organization.

■Cameras will roll somewhere in downtown Northampton today, when producers from the “Roseanne Show” tape a remote-location segment for an episode of the daytime talk show. Producers for the show contacted Mayor Mary L. Ford several weeks ago, expressing an interest in interviewing lesbian residents of the city.

10 Years Ago

■The winning word at the 14th Adult Spelling Bee to benefit the Northampton Education Foundation Wednesday was demurrage, defined as the price paid to detain a ship or other cargo vehicle for extra time. The winning team was Beauties and the BEEst, sponsored by the Northampton beer, wine and specialty food store Provisions, and made up of members of the Northampton Special Education Parents Advisory Committee.

■The principal of a middle school in Springfield, who once taught in Amherst, has been hired to head the Amherst Regional Middle School. Marisa Mendonsa, who has been the principal of the John J. Duggan Middle School in Springfield since 2012, will take over for Betsy Dinger who is returning to teaching.