A Look Back: Sept.15

50 Years Ago

■Anthony Ferrante of 48 Meadow St., Florence, has sold his lumber and hardware business and cabinet shop in Haydenville to Harper Associates. Ferrante will be working with the new owners for a short time and then will retire.

■Plans are being formulated for a “real old-fashioned Farmers’ Market” to be conducted in the downtown Northampton area the later part of September. Chairman Robert Leavit of the Downtown Merchants Association said that several local farmers have been contracted and are “very much interested.”

25 Years Ago

■The city will not have to build a multimillion-dollar water filtration plant, the state says. Mayor Mary L. Ford today credited the work of city officials in obtaining the waiver from the state Department of Environmental Protection, saving taxpayers between $10 million and $14 million.

■A month after the Recreation Department lost its athletic coordinator, it has hired a Northampton woman to replace him. Recreation Department Director Ray Ellerbrook said that Theresa Rogers will replace Eric Poulin as the employee who oversees athletic leagues for adults and youth.

10 Years Ago

■A new conservation area in South Amherst will be formally dedicated in a ceremony Monday. The Ben and Virginia Ricci Conservation Area is a 20-acre parcel at the base of the Mount Holyoke Range that was acquired earlier this year, in part with money from the family.

■The Eastern States Exposition kicked off its 17-day run Friday, with opening weekend featuring musical entertainment including Darlene Love, Don Felder and the usual fair standards that draw big crowds.

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