A Look Back, July 8

Special festivities have been planned for the premiere of “Daniel Shays’ Rebellion” on Friday at the Pines Amphitheater at Look Park. Kermit Hunter, who wrote the script for the play, will be the special guest at the premiere, the party and at a press reception before the performance. Hunter, of Dallas, Texas, is known as “the dean of the outdoor dramatists” in America.
Michael J. Russell, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Russell of 4 Linden St., was recently awarded the Helen U. Kiely Memorial cash scholarship. It is given by St. Mary’s parish and administered by the Pioneer National Bank. Russell will attend Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania this fall.

To combat a growing infestation of the water chestnut locally, the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is joining forces with Northampton’s Conservation Commission and volunteers for a plant-pulling on Saturday. The refuge will provide canoes for volunteers at the boat launch on Route 5 at the Oxbow for a day of pulling out the plants growing in the mouth of the Mill River.
Two years after installing automated “Fast Lane” booths, the Turnpike Authority is spending more, not less, to collect tolls. In 2001, the Turnpike will spend a projected $30.7 million on toll collection, up from the $28 million it spent in 1999, the first year Fast Lane booths were installed on the full length of the road.

Mayor David J. Narkewicz on Wednesday announced his appointment of former city councilor and United Way executive Linda Desmond as director of senior services. Desmond is set to succeed Patricia Shaughnessey as head of senior affairs in Northampton beginning Monday.
Ryan O’Donnell and Marlene Morin were declared the winners of the preliminary City Council election Thursday night. The pair will move on to a final election to determine a new at-large city councilor next month. Only 9.7 percent of the city’s registered voters turned out for the election.

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