R. Sargent Shriver brought the politics of fun to Northampton yesterday. Speaking to an audience of about 50 elderly citizens at the Walter Salvo House, Shriver said that he had recently been asked why he put up with all the difficulties of running for the White House. “The truth is that campaigning for the presidency is much better than going to the movies or watching television,” he said. “The American people are the greatest show on earth.”
Ella T. Grasso, governor of Connecticut, will speak at Smith College Rally Day exercises at John M. Greene Hall on Thursday. During the ceremony, Mrs. Grasso will receive an honorary degree from the college. Mrs. Grasso is a 1940 graduate of Mount Holyoke College.
25 Years Ago
Royster C. Hedgepeth, who designed and implemented the first major capital campaign in University of Massachusetts history, is leaving the university to become vice president of philanthropy at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Beginning April 2, Hedgepeth will be responsible for $17 million to support the continuous upgrading and improvement of the Hall of Fame museum’s exhibits and the establishment of a Basketball Hall of Fame Foundation.
State Treasurer Shannon O’Brien, at an interview Thursday at the Daily Hampshire Gazette, said she will likely decide in a few months whether she will make a Democratic run for governor.
10 Years Ago
With just over a week to go until the Massachusetts presidential primary, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders drew his largest crowd yet in western Massachusetts — 9,000 strong. The Vermont senator nearly filled the 10,000-capacity Mullins Center at UMass on Monday.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette was cited Saturday for “general excellence” by the New England Newspaper & Press Association in an annual competition that also saw staff reporters and a photographer pick up six first-place prizes and other awards.