A Look Back, Feb. 22

50 Years Ago

■Peter Pan World Travel in Northampton is presenting a travel fair entitled “Travel Expo 74” in the Colonial Hilton Hotel this week. The Colonial Hilton, located at the junction of Routes 91 and 5, has cooperated with Peter Pan World Travel by contributing use of its facilities for the three-day event.

■Carl Amaral, exploring division executive, and David Pool, Norwottuck District executive of the Great Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America, have been awarded a free three-day trip to the Mount Snow Ski Resort in Mt. Snow, Vt. The Mount Snow Development Corp. is sponsoring the trips for 200 members and wives of the northeast region professional scouting staff that have successfully met criteria of the Boypower 76 program.

25 Years Ago

■An independent consulting group is recommending the eventual closure of the Helen E. James School in Williamsburg. Classrooms are too small, the multi-storied design of the former high school is inappropriate for a primary school, and the use of the basement is problematic, the consultants said.

■Peter L. DeRose is now sole publisher of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, after being co-publisher with his brother, Charles W. DeRose, for more than 28 years. “Although this is a formal change, it is only recognizing what has been happening over the last four years or so,” said Peter DeRose. “In December we decided we’re going to formalize it.”

10 Years Ago

■A real estate developer has acquired a parcel at the heart of Route 9 in Hadley with plans to build a commercial building with space for eight or nine businesses, including a dental practice. The property is next to Taco Bell and in front of The Home Depot near the intersection of North and South Maple streets.

■Two days after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission denied Northampton’s request for financial relief from MGM Resorts International, City Council President William H. Dwight chastised commissioners for “failing us enormously.” “I think that they treated us with disdain, diffidence and contempt,” Dwight said Thursday.