A Look Back, April 27

50 Years Ago

• Robert O. Underwood, owner of Underwood Farms in Easthampton, officially announced his candidacy yesterday for the Republican nomination for this fall’s race for Edward Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat. Underwood said he thought his chances of beating Kennedy are “excellent.”
• Amherst Selectman Robert J. Garvey, a Democrat, has announced his candidacy for Hampshire County Commissioner. In making his announcement, Garvey cited his involvement in governmental activities at the local, county, and state level.

25 Years Ago

• Susan C. Bourque, Esther Booth Wiley Professor of Government at Smith College, has been appointed provost and dean of the faculty. Bourque succeeds John Connolly, who will be acting president during the search for a successor to President Ruth Simmons, who is assuming the presidency of Brown University July 1.
• Amherst Town Meeting voted Wednesday to send two messages to legislators in Boston: Stop using the MCAS tests as a graduation requirement, and allow resident aliens to vote in AmherstÕs local elections.

10 Years Ago

• Saturday’s Extravaganja event at the Three County Fairgrounds appears to be a go after a long and winding path to securing the new space. The pro-legalization marijuana fest, which was long held on the Amherst Town Common, grew too large to continue using that space, said Amherst Town officials who declined to renew the University of Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition’s event this year.
• A nearly 200-year-old church in South Deerfield will close by year’s end. Rick Parker, the co-moderator of the Congregational Church of South Deerfield, said the church’s members took a formal vote during a meeting Sunday to end the church’s regular services by the end of 2016.