10 years ago:

Whitingham School Board member Johanna Boliver announced she would challenge Wilmington Town Clerk Susan Manton (Haughwout) for the Republican nomination for the Windham-Bennington 1 house seat. The winner would challenge Democrat Bob Rusten in November. Boliver said her campaign boiled down to “faith, family, freedom, and future.”

15 years ago:

Valley residents were concerned that the suspect in a Jamaica murder could be an escapee from a state mental hospital or a prison, and might be on the loose in the area. According to news reports, around the time Sharon and John Procopio were found murdered, one man had walked away from a state hospital treatment program, and another escaped from a prison furlough program. State police assured local residents that they were closing in on a suspect. Police later arrested the Procopios’ neighbor Bruce Batcheldor for the brutal slayings.

20 years ago:

Whitingham residents voted to provide office space for the town clerk at the Whitingham Municipal Building in Jacksonville, and raised $7,000 to cover the cost of having plans drawn up for the renovation. The town clerk said the primary concern was to have a vault in which to keep town records.

The Wilmington School Board had an internal battle over the practice of “professional courtesy,” allowing the children of teachers who reside outside of Wilmington to attend Wilmington schools.

Dover planning commissioners filed a complaint against two local developers for failing to comply with their Act 250 permit. Commissioners said the developer of the North Commercial Complex failed to install such details as cupolas, bay windows, window grilles, and planters.

25 years ago:

Wilmington Police Chief Tom Donnelly decided to hold a second community protection meeting when the first one was attended by only 10 people. There had been nearly 40 burglaries in Wilmington since June, and police wanted to inform the public of steps they should take to prevent being victimized. Donnelly attributed some of the crimes to a “burglary ring” that operated like a business, taking only items that they could dispose of, and sometimes leaving items of higher value.

30 years ago:

The Wilmington Planning Commission began looking at a proposal for a design control district. In a presentation to the commission, Biff Longfield , of the architectural firm Longfield and Durky, of Rutland, noted that the “village has a lot of diversity. Everyone was doing his own thing.” Longfield discussed the “aberrations of architecture” and “discontinuity of color and materials” in the village, and suggested establishing architectural guidelines “in order to promote visual consistency and unity within the (proposed) district.”

40 years ago:

Dr. Clarence Truesdell, a former Newton, MA, high school principal was named Windham Southwest Supervisory Union Superintendent. One of Truesdell’s key attributes was a background in “open concept” schools. Deerfield Valley Elementary School, built with an “open concept” plan, was nearing completion.

The dinner menu at Stella and Hans Hunziker’s Ironstone Inn included brook trout with lemon butter for $5.10, braised sauerbraten with spaetzle for $4.75, and braised Swiss steak with country sauce for only $4.60.