A Look Back
50 Years Ago
∎ Candlelight and Christmas greens in conjunction with the clear, young voices of Smith College and Lehigh University students once again provided a treat to area residents attending the two Christmas Vespers services at John M. Greene Hall yesterday. The annual event is a highlight of the Yuletide season to many.
∎ A Florence father called police early last night to report his young daughter missing. A cruiser was dispatched to organize a search. Before it arrived at the home, however, the father telephoned again to report his daughter safe asleep — in the bathtub.
25 Years Ago
∎ State legislators from Amherst say the expected appointment next month of Jane M. Garvey as commissioner of the state Department of Public Works will be a boon to western Massachusetts because she knows the area well and is fair-minded. Garvey, 43, is expected to be named commissioner by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.
∎ It was an evening of black ties and sequined gowns, recollections of Daniel Shays and Calvin Coolidge, a five-course meal with each course announced by proclamation, and mingling with the local legal community, as the Hampshire County Courthouse celebrated its 100th birthday last night.
10 Years Ago
∎ Cardinal Bernard F. Law’s abrupt trip to the Vatican remained shrouded in secrecy as more than 50 of his priests formally asked him to resign, hand-delivering a letter to his Boston residence. Fifty-eight Boston-area priests signed a letter calling for Law’s resignation, amid increasing criticism of the Boston Archdiocese clergy sex abuse scandal.
∎ Acting Governor Jane Swift made what is likely her last round of budget cuts Monday, trimming $60.7 million, including cuts to welfare benefits and a program subsidizing water and sewer rates. Swift said the cuts were painful but necessary.
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