71 years ago, 1948

Milford Superintendent of Public Works Salvatore Grasso asked motorists to stay off back roads because the thaw was bringing frost out of the ground and making shoulders extremely soft. On several occasions, automobiles had been stuck and had to be towed.

The Laughing Pioneer 4-H Club of Mont Vernon met at the home of Mrs. Helen Witty, advisor, where it was voted to sell Easter lilies for the benefit of the Cripplied Children’s Fund.

Our Wilton High School correspondent, Mary Elizabeth Horne, reported the results of a poll conducted among families with students attending the school: 138 families voted to have school begin at 8:27 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., and 37 families voted against it.

The Town Hall Theatre in Wilton was showing “Blaze of Noon” with Ann Baxter and William Holden.

30 years ago, 1989

Richard Mace was elected chairman of the Milford Board of Selectmen. Vivian Barry was elected vice chairman.

Mont Vernon teachers and the town’s school board agreed on a revised salary package giving teachers a 5 percent raise, bringing the salary for an entry level teacher to $17,955.

The Amhert Middle School boys basketball team won the Peterborough basketball tournament, beating 14 teams from New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Canada.

20 years ago, 1999

The Souhegan Nursing Association, headquartered in Milford, kicked off a year-long celebration of 50 years of providing health care to the greater Milford area.

Fleet Bank branches in Wilton and Hollis were not listed among the nine Fleet branches the bank planned to sell in the wake of its merger with BankBoston.

Wilton’s town water department was boasting of a surplus of $450,000 and town Moderator Dick Rockwood directed water commissioners to hold a public meeting to discuss the money, which worked out to $140.62 for each man, woman and child in the town.

Howard Zinn, professor emeritus of political science at Boston University, was to speak at a rund raising event for the David Anderson Peace and Justice and Nonviolence Center for Social Change at the Pine Hill School auditorium in Wilton. Anderson died the previous summer of leukemia.

15 years ago, 2004

A Hillsborough County grand jury indicted Peter Gage of Lyndeborough and his son Lyman on felony charges in connection with the beating of Peter’s wife, Mary. And in documents filed in Milford District Court, Peter Gage asked that his wife have no access to his Mercedes, Jaguar and other vehicles.

Milford High School’s Mock Trial team was preparing to defende its state title, taking on arch rival Souhegan High School in the finals. Milford had won the title the two previous years.

Hampshire Hills Sports and Fitness Club was planning to open a sports dome with indoor fields and running and roller tracks, assuming it won approval from planning and zoning boards.

Amherst officials voted to leave the Milford Area Communications Center (MACC-Base) and establish its own dispatch center, and Lyndeborough was considering withdrawing.