Old Newspaper Gives a Snapshot of Daily Life in Town a Half-Century Ago

Fifty years ago this month, in a story just below the fold, the Bedford Minuteman announced that I was named the newspaper’s new editor. 

At this time, I take advantage of this personal milestone to use the content of the June 6, 1974 issue as a comparison with today’s local issues and culture.

First, the backstory. After six years as editor, Carol Amick resigned to pursue her ultimately successful political career. As a recent stringer covering government meetings, I was in the right place at the right time, and Executive Editor Bob Benoit engineered what we now call a seamless transition.

As a 25-year-old reporter with several years of small-town journalism experience, I immediately appreciated the enormity of the editor’s responsibility. I felt like the caretaker of a vital grass-roots institution, and I could tell Carol served with a similar philosophy.

There were logistical challenges that are hard to imagine with today’s technology. The Minuteman was part of a seven-town chain of weeklies. There was no Bedford office; there was a desk at corporate headquarters in the Adams Building on Meriam Street in Lexington. Every article was submitted typewritten or handwritten for re-keying into a computer system that produced galleys of type.

I tried to stay in Bedford, close to the news. My home, the police station, the Recreation Department on the ground floor of what is now Old Town Hall, and the Bedford Fruit Store (Stefanelli’s), were some of the places where I could hang out for processing press releases and developing story ideas.

So much has changed during this half century. In June 1974, many town employees were homeowners (my monthly rent for a three-bedroom apartment in a Bedford Gardens duplex was $190 a month). 

There were four neighborhood schools, a new town charter creating the first position of town administrator, two 1960s shopping centers with anchor stores: Bradlees, W.T. Grant, Marshalls, F.W. Woolworth, and Purity Supreme. 

(There were few shoppers at the IGA supermarket in the Great Road Shopping Center, although Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk shopped there when he resided at Drummer Boy Green down the street at the jughandle in Lexington.) 

Most of the brief news stories that helped fill the pages of The Minuteman on June 6, 1974 reflected a culture that has changed. But there are issues addressed in front-page stories that resonate today, specifically:

• Regulatory agencies were on the verge of approving the construction of Bedford Village, the first privately-built housing complex under the state law that allows developers to bypass zoning density if at least 25 percent of the units are affordable. The 1974 article said the developer, Cosmo DeBonis, hoped to break ground in June on the $2 million, 96-unit complex on Dunster Road. 
• The Bedford High School senior class – one of the largest at 287 – would be graduating that night, the 17^th commencement and the first to take place on the football field. The story said that in case of rain, the ceremony would be held on the following night.
• The Planning Board was preparing a zoning bylaw amendment tailored to construction of “a luxury hotel, complete with restaurant, lounge, racquet club, swimming pool, and sauna,” on Middlesex Turnpike. Those facilities, originally under the Stouffer’s brand were demolished last year, never recovering from the impact of the pandemic.
• Don Plummer was seeking a victualler’s license to move his Cozy Corner takeout place from the strip mall at Pine and The Great roads, known as Iasi Park, to the corner of The Great and Fletcher roads as part of the Sheldon Block. Selectmen were said to be concerned “about the impact of his service on groups of young people who congregate on the Common.” Plummer, who later became BHS hockey coach, “noted that his new location is also across the street from the police station.”

The newspaper was replete with school news – two photos on page one, the list of graduates on page three (including Richie Iovino, Maureen McAuliffe Sullivan, Valerie Beecy, Mike Elias, Todd Webber), a picture of two couples from the senior prom. The fifth page featured a photo of Lane School fifth graders and another of kindergarteners Renata Pomponi, Veronica Welch, and Danny Millar.

A lengthy press release submitted by school officials described a half-day workshop for all teachers on the new law known as Chapter 766, depicted by the speaker as “the most humanitarian legislation ever to come out of any legislature.” 

Carol wrote a weekly column, “Around and About,” which ran at the top left of page two. Packed with a range of news items from sources as varied as the BHS athletic director, the captain of the Minutemen, and dog officer Jim Faulkner, the final version closed with Amick’s thanks to the readers.

She also repeated the announcement that the drop-off location for news items would move from her mailbox on The Great Road to the Bedford Fruit Store, 68 The Great Road. “It’s a good central location and readers will have a chance to talk with Duke (Stefanelli) and other family members, or buy some groceries.” 

Included in more than a page of school sports was a recap of the BHS girls’ track and field season written by Wayne Braverman (yes, we go back that far). Page School won the elementary school Olympics with outstanding performers that included Tom Mead, Yvonne Busa, Mark Little, John Isnor, Lois Farrell, Pat Genetti, Bryant Wingood, Julie McMurtrie, and Mark Ennis. Jim Maglione’s byline topped a detailed summary of Little League games, with “a special tip of the hat to Mike Gural for a fine umpiring job.”

Here are some samples of local events that reflect a different Bedford era: 

• Paul Tsongas campaigned for county commissioner at a local home. 
• The Golden Age Club planned a trip to Portsmouth.
• The Newcomers Club planned a luncheon at Cottage Crest in Waltham. 
• Jane McLaughlin coordinated a dinner dance at the Marist Seminary fieldhouse on behalf of the Friends of the Marists. The fieldhouse is now the library at Middlesex Community College.

Other news items included:

• The Bedford Grange donated $100 to Emerson Hospital. 
• The Camp Fire Girls held their annual council fire and Blue Bird fly-up. 
• The Historical Society sponsored visits to the Two Brothers Rocks, charging 25 cents for the bus ride to the trail, while Paul King of King Cycle led bicycle tours. 

There was also:

• The strawberry festival, still a June mainstay hosted by the First Church of Christ, Congregational, 50 years ago was a project of the church’s Ball and Chain Club. 
• Standard weekly listings in the news pages were the school lunch menu, building permits (porches, fences, and a couple of houses), and lost bank books.

The advertising in the June 6, 1974 Minuteman is an interesting snapshot. Most of the ads were sold in combination with other papers in the group of weeklies, so Bedford Jewelers, Tricon Sports of Lexington, Burlington Cycle, and the Cheese Shop in Concord Center were contiguous on the page. Carrol’s at 310 The Great Road, the Pie Shop in Burlington, Pine Meadows Country Club in Lexington, Kentucky Fried Chicken in Billerica, and Shaheen’s Salisbury amusement park with “exotic foods and snacks” were cornerstone ads.

Classifieds and other regional advertising were featured in a second section, The Minuteman Supplement, common to all papers.

The Business Directory on the second page was a weekly template for regional tradespersons’ advertising. Lew Putney’s painting and decorating was represented, along with Bedford Flooring, and Bill Siekman painting. Other small local advertisers were Bernard Saunders electrical contractor on South Road, King Cycle, Bray Roofing, Comley Brothers, and two septic tank services.

There were ads for five movie houses. 

• Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” played in Lexington, with $1 admission on Monday and Tuesday. 
• “American Graffiti” was the feature at the Pinehurst Drive-In, and there were double features at the Burlington Mall and Acton.

Oh, and right alongside was an ad for two adult films at the Stoneham Theater, with “continuous showings weekdays from 5:20 p.m. to midnight and for nine hours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Elsewhere on the same page was a weekly feature: detailed schedules in eight Bedford churches, all of which are active today.