A Look Back: May 24

50 Years Ago

■The leading candidate for the 1974 Democratic gubernatorial nomination said Saturday that he was giving “very serious consideration” to pushing Mayor Sean M. Dunphy for lieutenant governor. Attorney General Robert Quinn said anyone interested in running for governor should think seriously of including a municipal official on the ticket to “galvanize the support of our mayors, most of whom are Democratic.”

■Northampton Junior College held its 77th commencement exercises Saturday at the Pines Theater, Look Park. Kenneth Cardwell, director of information services at Mass. Mutual Life Insurance Co. and vice chairman of the board, presided at the ceremonies.

25 Years Ago

■Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, one of the architects of the Irish peace accord, drew cheers Sunday from University of Massachusetts graduates when he said, “There is today hope in Northern Ireland.” Mitchell addressed 4,172 recipients of bachelor’s degrees at the 128th UMass commencement, held under cloudless blue skies in Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

■Rockridge Deaconess, a retirement home on Coles Meadow Road, is shaping tentative plans to expand. Plans for building either five duplexes, a 24-apartment building, or a second floor to the facility’s main building have been described to neighbors but termed as preliminary.

10 Years Ago

■The state is giving Northampton more than six acres off Pomeroy Terrace near College Church, a move that may pave the way for a long-desired nature trail in the Meadows Conservation Area. The land is just north of a flood control dike and would provide a key access point for a future trail, said Wayne Feiden, director of the Office of Planning and Development.

■Amherst Media is expected to move forward with plans to build new headquarters on Main Street in the Emily Dickinson Historic District. James Lescault, executive director of Amherst Media, said a search for a new site has been ongoing since 2010, when Western Massachusetts Electric Co., the landlord of its College Street building, notified Amherst Media it would have to leave.

]]>