A Look Back: Feb. 8

50 Years Ago

■Christopher B. Fuller, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. A. Fuller, 310 Elm St., has been named president of Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Co. Inc., according to Victor A. Bonomo, president of Pepsi-Cola Co. Fuller graduated from Northampton High School in 1947.

■Dorothy Duffy of Hinckley Street, Bay State, has been named the Gazette’s “Newsgirl of the Month.” Dorothy has been in the newspaper delivery business for 10 years, starting when she was only 7 years old.

25 Years Ago

■The Cooley Dickinson Hospital is now displaying a replica of the bronze stork that sits atop the building that housed the original Maternity Pavilion. The bronze reproduction had earlier been given to the late Dr. Peter Merzbach, who delivered more than 10,000 babies at the hospital. The gift was made by his nursing staff in 1978 to celebrate his 10,000th delivery.

■An attempt to dissuade city Department of Public Works officials from trapping beavers in Florence, whose work has flooded a brook, has failed. The city’s assistant engineer, George Andrikidis, said he hopes a trapper hired by the city will begin work today.

10 Years Ago

■The Northampton City Council took a forceful stand against hate crimes Thursday night in the wake of a brutal beating outside a downtown lounge last weekend, warning those who commit such acts will have “no sanctuary here.” The council moved to act this week amid speculation that the vicious attack against an Easthampton man was a hate crime because the victim is gay and was leaving an event at a bar that was advertised as gay friendly.

■Massachusetts Rep. Daniel Winslow said Thursday he would run in the upcoming special election for the U.S. Senate, giving Republicans a candidate for the seat after former Sen. Scott Brown and other high-profile party members declined to enter the race. Winslow is a native of western Massachusetts and now lives in Norfolk.

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