A Look Back, May 17

50 Years Ago

■Cubmaster Walter Dembek was taken by surprise at a meeting of Cub Scout Pack 119 last week at which Carol Paciorek narrated a tribute to the scouting leader entitled, “This is Your Life.” Dembek was given a photo album and plaque commemorating his service to Pack 119.

■Article 50 on the Amherst Town Meeting warrant would have replaced “man” in all titles in town government and staff positions with a term which does not denote sex. The move failed on a tally vote, 71-104, after almost an hour’s discussion.

25 Years Ago

■A North Carolina professor has acquired an old photograph he thinks may be a previously undiscovered image of reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, although several local experts are skeptical of its authenticity. Philip Gura, a Ware native who teaches American literature at the University of North Carolina, said he bought the photograph on eBay. On the back someone had written with a pencil, “Emily Dickinson/died/rec1886.”

■A teacher and administrator from Texas will be the next principal of the R.K. Finn Ryan Road School. Thomas E. Petray Jr. accepted the position Wednesday. He will begin work Aug. 1, one month after the school’s current principal, Walter R. Crowther Jr., retires.

10 Years Ago

■Dennis Bidwell is seeking the Ward 2 City Council seat now held by Paul D. Spector. Spector, 65, announced in December that he would not seek election to a seventh term saying that after 12 years, it was time for somebody new to represent the ward.

■Closed for renovations since October, Zoe’s Fish House in Hadley may reopen in six to eight weeks, according to owner Jim Sands. Sands said renovations have taken several months longer than anticipated.