A Look Back: Jan. 11

50 Years Ago

■Western Massachusetts Theatre Associates Co. has leased 14 Massachusetts motion picture theaters including Northampton’s Calvin on King Street and the Amherst Cinema on Amity St. Nelson M. Wright, Robert Waldman and David E. Dick are principals in the new organization.

■Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, entering the second day of his whirlwind tour of western Massachusetts, said this morning that the nation would face a constitutional crisis if President Nixon vetoes any move by Congress to cut off appropriations for the Vietnam War.

25 Years Ago

■Support Our Schools, a year-old parent-led fundraising and lobbying group, has raised more than $10,000 for the schools to date. Seven efforts undertaken throughout 1997 brought in $10,797 to be divided among the Northampton schools, including the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, in proportion to each school’s student population.

■After three decades of fierce rivalry in a highly competitive business, the area’s two largest real estate firms have merged — Town & Country Realtors and the D.H. Jones Real Estate Group. Last year, the two Amherst-based firms accounted for about a quarter of all sales in the area.

10 Years Ago

■Members of the community will join tonight with family of the late Sherry Morton and her son Cedric to mark the 20th anniversary of their deaths. Yoko Kato of South Hadley, the mother and grandmother of the victims, is hosting a graveside service led by the Rev. Peter Ives at the Spring Grove Cemetery.

■A longtime volunteer and former board member of Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has temporarily taken the helm at the nonprofit. Northampton resident Aaron Walker, 32, has been serving as interim director since M.J. Adams-Pullan left her job as executive director on Jan. 4 after 11 years.

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