A Look Back, March 15

50 Years Ago

■Last year was the year of the shopping mall in the Pioneer Valley, which has continued into 1974. Last year two major shopping malls opened, Mountain Farms in Hadley on Route 9 near the Amherst line, and Hill on Dale on King Street, site of the Cesco Manufacturing Co. in Northampton.

■After a number of years of declining enrollments and some school closings, Roman Catholic schools in the area are digging in. Latest evidence of a more aggressive outlook is the decision this week to open a kindergarten for the first time at St. Michael’s in September.

25 Years Ago

■A small piece of land in Look Memorial Park has been sold for $25,000 by the park’s trustees to the developer of a gas station at the intersection of Route 9 and Florence Street in Leeds. The sale of the roughly 1,600 square feet of land will enable that station to expand.

■With 400 members and only 12 parking spaces, representatives of the Elks Lodge say it’s time for them to find a new lodge. The lodge was first put on the market in December 1996 with an asking price of $950,000. The building is assessed by the city at $305,000.

10 Years Ago

■Changes planned in math offerings next fall at Northampton High School aim to better align courses to new Common Core standards and allow more students to take advanced math classes in their junior and senior years, administrators say. But some parents worry that the changes proposed for next year’s ninth grade will mean fewer options for advanced students and a less challenging math curriculum overall at the high school.

■A former Boston police commissioner known for leading the marathon bombing investigation last year will spend the next two months conducting a comprehensive review of the way the University of Massachusetts and the town of Amherst handled Saturday’s Blarney Blowout. The hiring of Edward David is the highlight of a much broader approach by UMass Amherst officials to study the history and culture of not just the Blarney Blowout but other large, crowd-related disturbances that have occurred over the years.