A Look Back, July 1

50 Years Ago

■Forty members of the First United Methodist Church of Northampton voted unanimously last night to sell the church property at 90 Elm St. to Smith College for the sum of $200,000. A spokesman for the college said Smith has “no immediate plans” for the property but was interested in it because of its location as an abutter to the college.

■The unique character of Northampton’s City Hall is being threatened by plans to remove the gingerbread trim from around the roof line, Historical Commission Chairman Dr. C. Keith Wilbur warned today. Specifications for roof repairs to City Hall and Memorial Hall include proposals to remove the trim without replacing it, said Dr. Wilbur.

25 Years Ago

■Like many lawns across the state, Massachusetts rivers are withering in the hot, dry weather. A winter with little snow and a June with hardly any rain have left rivers carrying about three-quarters less water than they normally do at this time of year — a sign, some environmentalists say, of more serious trouble to come.

■Innovative Business Systems, a Florence-based computer services company, has been awarded a contract from FISERV of Oklahoma City, Okla., to supply its “Forms Writer” software to FISERV member banks.

10 Years Ago

■Tapestry Health has hired a new interim chief executive officer to lead the cash-strapped community-based health organization. Cheryl Zoll, former director of the Amherst Survival Center, took over as Tapestry’s director this month, the third CEO in the past six months. She replaces former interim CEO and chief financial officer Sudhakar Vamathevan.

■Jesse Stanley was not able to finish the grueling 66-hour-long Spartan Death Race in Pittsfield, Vermont, during the weekend, but he has a pretty good excuse. Stanley, 34, broke his foot sometime during the first 15 hours of the face. He kept limping on until hour 31, when a doctor on site told him it was likely broken and sent him to an emergency room.