A Look Back, Jan. 18

50 Years Ago

■The 70-member Northampton High School Band, which plans to visit England and Ireland for 10 days in April if it can raise some $30,000, has received encouraging words from a Northampton, England, newspaper. The editor of the “Chronicle & Echo” of Northampton, England, G. B. Freeman, has assured band director George T. Menousek that the group will receive a “warm welcome” if they come.

■The sale of a former Northampton School for Girls building to the College Church will be finalized today. The building, which housed gym facilities for the all-girl school prior to its merger with Williston Academy in Easthampton, has been the site of worship services since inception of the church almost two years ago.

25 Years Ago

■History will be repeated when the new café and bar at the Calvin Theatre gets its name. As happened in 1924, a contest is being held to name the cafe, scheduled to open in late February. The creation of a 70-seat cafe and bar is the last element of the restoration of the Calvin, undertaken by Eric Suher, who owns the historic theater as well as other entertainment venues downtown and several downtown buildings.

■The single-lane iron truss bridge over the Mill River in Leeds known as the Hotel Bridge may be closed if the city cannot keep trucks weighing more than 3 tons off the bridge, according to an inspection report by a state highway official. At issue is protecting the integrity of the 132-year-old structure, which is believed to be the oldest bridge in the city.

10 Years Ago

■Fifteen local students are among the 400 eighth-graders who will be spending an afternoon doing community service in Boston Saturday as part of a program launched by Gov. Deval Patrick to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Patrick initiated Project 351 during his inaugural in 2011 to promote community service and celebrate youth leadership throughout the state around Martin Luther King Day, which is Monday.

■A school bus carrying students between the ages of 6 and 13 from the Holyoke Community Charter School was struck by gunfire Wednesday afternoon. No one on the bus was hurt. Investigators say nine shots were fired, and two of them struck the back of the bus but did not penetrate to the interior.