50 Years Ago this Month, January edition

Field trip delayed over transportation spat

School employees and the School Committee couldn’t agree on how to transport students and their chaperones to NYC’s “Odyssey House,” a drug rehabilitation center for teens. The group planned to study the operation and gather ideas for a similar venture in Burlington. But just before the plane tickets were booked, the School Committee had an epiphany about saving money with bus travel instead. School employees didn’t like the idea. Back to the drawing board.

Man robbed, beaten at RCA parking lot

Paul Moran of Tewksbury, 46, a foreman for a cleaning company, was leaving work at RCA Friday night when he discovered he had a flat tire. The valve stem had been removed. When he went to change the tire, two men with silk stockings over their faces approached and demanded his money. He tried to flee but they caught him and pistol-whipped him. He was treated at Choate Hospital for cuts and bruises. Burlington police officers Gerald Crocker, Robert Hyde and Sgt. Ferguson are investigating.

Burlington Police nab mall con artist

A man who claimed to have access to a super-cheap color TV was taking money from mall patrons in the parking lot — and then failing to return with the TV. A Littleton man and a friend finally placed him under a citizens’ arrest until Burlington police arrived. (Editor’s note–the mall was only a year and half old, yet flim-flams were already underway!?)

These ads wouldn’t fly nowadays  . . .