This is my first post since our technical difficulties. It seems like I’m starting all over again as a blogger and as a creature of habit I’ll need to get my bearings with this new format and even newer rules for wrting and posting! Please be patient.
Let’s take a quick trip down “Memory Lane” to June 1, 1960 – courtesy of the Lowell SUN of that date – all editions. As I’ve noted so many times in taking these trips, some issues, activities and controversies are ever with us!

Front and Back Pages:
• Dracut State Forest was searched by DA’s office officials, Lowell and Dracut police and thirty soldiers from Ft. Devens looking for some clues in the slaying of Betty Edgerly.
• House Ways & Means Committee approved $3m for a highway link between Route 3 and Pawtucket Boulevard in Lowell – included new a bridge over the Merrimack River. (The rest as they say is history.)
• DDD – Direct Distance Dialing coming by years-end to the 116,000 telephone users in the Merrimack Valley allowing direct dialing across the country without using an operator.
• The 1960 Census preliminary numbers showed an increased population in eight Greater Lowell towns of nearly 40,000 and a decrease in Lowell of nearly 6,000 from 1950 Census numbers. The new count: Lowell – 91,609; Chelmsford – 154,959 15,959 ; Dracut – 13,867; Tewksbury – 12,737; Tyngsboro – 3,240; and Westford – 6,524.
• The Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce led by President Arthur C. Antonopoulos announced heads of ten reorganized Chamber Divisions including local industrialist Henry C. Van Zandt as head of the Industrial Division and John Gleason of Tewksbury as head of the Area Planning and Development Division.
• The Textile Workers Union of America became the first AFL-CIO union to back a (1960) presidential candidate. It was Senator John F. Kennedy – overwhelmingly!
• Leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination – Senators Kennedy, Johnson and Symington joined in a unity handshake at a $100-a-plate dinner for the powerful Governor of California Edmund “Pat” Brown who controls 81 votes at the Democratic Convention.
Inside:
• Fred Day reported problems in selecting a site for the new indoor $600,000 municipal skating rink. The proposed Belvidere site was opposed by many city councilors but a Dutton Street parking site was not seen as a good option.
• Kendall Wallace’s “1-Minute Interviews” asked “Do you think spying on one country by another is necessary?” One yes – one no.
• Anne Donoghue in her “Dear Old Dad” article strongly suggested giving Dad “wearables” for Father’s Day – sport shirts with contrasting slacks, cotton pullovers in dashing prints, PJs, caps, cool bow ties and beach togs!
• Spelling Bee champ Juanita Boutin of St. Patrick’s School headed to D.C. after a $100 SUN sponsored shopping spree.
• On the City council Special meeting agenda: to select a City of Lowell flag; to discuss a water survey report from Metcalf & Eddy; city salaries.
Social & Civic Scene:
• Anita Morrissette married James Campbell at Ste. Marie’s while the Irene Kapsalis and John Manikas nuptials took place at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.
• The Planning Committee for the OMI Chicken Barbeque to aid the building fund of the Oblate Novitiate was hard at work for the June 15th event.
• Eight graders from Ste. Jeanne d’ Arc School visited the State House and were photographed with Secretary of State Joseph Ward and Lowell State Representative Connie Kiernan.
• Local teen at Happy Hampton and Salisbury Beach over the holiday weekend: Ruthanne McFadgen, Nelson McCarthy, Paula Burns, Honey Blazonis, Norm Desmarais, Maralyn Sheahan, Paul Hayes, Jerry Brockelsby, Barbara Major, Pat Ford, Leo Conway, Frank Redding, Phyllis Zaleski, Marianne Chibas, Carol Sadowski and Eileen Desmond.
In Sports:
• According to sports writer Frank Sargent – Owner Tom Yawkey made a veiled threat in a press box visit to move the Red Sox franchise in wake of “unfounded” rumors of unrest over Billy Jurges’ managerial style.
• Keith Academy’s Dick Gilet was the top local schoolboy batting champ with an average of .354 with teammate Buzzy McHale as his closest rival at .308

3 Responses to 50 years ago: A Trip Down Memory Lane

1. JC says: June 6, 2010 at 5:34 pm

   And, just 16 years earlier on June 6, 1944 the allies invaded continental Europe at Normandy. Let’s hope that bit of history never fades from memory.

2. Gary Francis says: June 6, 2010 at 10:16 pm

   That Chelmsford number CAN’T be right.

3. Marie says: June 7, 2010 at 7:00 am

   Gary – What a sharp eye you have. In my exuberance to get back posting, I used too many numbers in the Chelmsford calculation – it should be 15,959.