Step Back in Time features community news items from The Daily Star 25 and 50 years ago.
{"HeadlineLight14"/}{"HeadlineLight 14 Italic"/}25 years ago
June 22, 1984
ROXBURY _ The second half of a rural-urban exchange program between the Manhattan Country and Roxbury Central schools recently introduced 18 local fourth graders to the wonders of the big city.
Teacher Lynn Stephenson and nine chaperones accompanied the Roxbury kids to New York May 23 and 24 as a follow-up to their visit with Manhattan Country School students at the MCS farm in Roxbury.
It was first time any of the Roxbury youngsters had been to New York and it was a new experience for many of the chaperones as well, according to teacher Stephenson. They visited the Museum of Natural History, the World Trade Center and Chinatown, but says Stephenson, "It wasn't the sightseeing that was so important, but the experience of what a city like New York is really about."
The group saw homeless street people, discovered the difficulties of communication with people who don't speak English, and got a glimpse of ethnic lifestyles far different from their own.
The Roxbury children were the guests of their MCS counterparts, sleeping at the school on East 96th Street. The exchange was termed by MCS founder and director Gus Trowbridge "the most significant outreach program we've been involved in since the school was started in 1968." A reunion is planned for July when some of the city students are slated to attend summer camp at the Roxbury farm.
{"HeadlineLight14"/}{"HeadlineLight 14 Italic"/}50 years ago
June 22, 1959
Employees of Elmore Milling Co. have unanimously agreed to strike unless new contract demands are met by July 1, the expiration date of the present contract.
The 53 member organization, Local 209 of the American Federation of Grain Millers, AFL-CIO, agreed to the strike action during a meeting Saturday afternoon in Union Hall, Broad Street.
Local 209 is asking a 15 cent an hour wage increase, George S. Graves, Westford, president of the local said. More generous vacation time and a $40 annual allowance for maintenance of tools, is also sought.
Under the present contact, signed a year ago, employees are paid an hourly rate ranging from $1.74 to $2.06.
The last labor disagreement at Elmore's was about five years ago when employees walked off the job for two weeks. They returned to work however, when the strike was settled on company terms.
Elmore's, a large scale producer of feed and grain, operates throughout northeast United States.
