YESTERDAY …
10 years ago — Oct. 2, 2004
(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)
BREWER — Chanju Byun returned home to South Korea much less worried about her daughter’s college years in Maine. After spending a Sunday afternoon at the First Korean Methodist Church in Brewer, she found that her fears had been eased because her daughter would be able to connect with other Koreans, eat familiar foods and worship in a familiar language.
Byun was relieved because a group of approximately 40 Korean men, women and children worship at the First Methodist Church on South Main Street in Brewer.
Services in English and Korean are led by the Rev. Jeong Jae Kim, who has served the congregation for almost two years. Hymns are sung in Korean, bulletins are printed in Korean and fellowship includes potluck of Korean dishes.
BRADLEY — When it comes to gardening, Elroy Morgan thinks big, really big.
In his home garden, where the cornstalks and sunflowers grow taller than tall, Morgan has grown tomatoes that weigh two pounds.
But those are dwarfed by his real focus in the garden, the crop that keeps him planning and worrying and ever searching for improvements.
Pumpkins. Atlantic Giant pumpkins, to be exact. Pumpkins that grow taller than a child, yet weigh more than several large men combined.
From humble beginnings that began with a 55-pound pumpkin that never reached its 1,000-pound potential, Morgan has buckled down, studied, tried and tested tending methods, retested and most of all learned.
The result is a pumpkin patch this fall dominated by a bright orange juggnaut pumpkin that is expected to tip the scales at 800 pounds.
25 years ago — Oct. 2, 1989
BANGOR — Three years ago insurance broker Jerry Pallotta was reading to his three young children when he realized there weren’t any really good alphabet books. While he found there were many out there, none he saw had the text to go along with the letters and illustrations.
Having grown up by the ocean in Scituate, Massachusetts, he decided to write and alphabet book, “The Ocean Alphabet Book,” on ocean life along the New England Coast.
In the three years that Pallotta has been writing, he has produced five alphabet books that have sold nearly 100,000 copies.
FRANKFORT — The fishway at the Marsh Stream dam in FRankfort was dedicated in the memory of the late Leo W. Gilmore, a Frankfort resident and avid outdoorsman who had campaigned for its installation. State and local officials participated in the dedication ceremonies as did members for local Scout troops.
BANGOR — Children from the Capehart neighborhood tested their agility as they ran through a trail of tires during the inaugural field day held as an end-of-summer event at the Downeast School. Sack and egg-in-spoon races, the dunk tank _ which waited ominously for Bangor Police Officer Gregory Sproul — and hot dogs were the highlights of what Elsie Coffey, director of the Bangor Housing Authority said was expected to become an annual affair.
50 years ago — Oct. 2, 1964
BANGOR — The Bangor House, the first lady of Bangor hotels, was built in 1834, the same year that Bangor became a city. Its backers, a group of Bangor businessmen, believed that Bangor would soon rival Boston in stature, and the hotel was planned along the lines of the famous Tremont House in Boston and the Astor House in New York.
Although Bangor failed to reach the heights prophesied for it, the Bangor House lived up to expectations. Presidents Arthur, McKinley, Harrison, Teddy Roosevelt, Grant and Taft have stayed in its rooms.
Heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan and temperance crusader Carrie Nation once were guests at the Bangor House.
Other prominent people who stayed at the Bangor House include Jack Benny, Paul Whiteman, John Philip Sousa, Gene Autry, Rudy Vallee, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Duke Ellington, Greer Garson, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Cornelia Otis Skinner and Dorothy Lamour.
BANGOR — Parents should be told in nontechnical terms the results of I.Q. and achievement tests, panelists at a discussion meeting at the Harlow Street School agreed.
Panelists who spoke at a teacher’s convention session were Milford F. Cohen, Bangor school committee chairman; George D. Vose, principal of the Fifth Street Junior High School, and Mrs. Dorothy Marsh, elementary guidance counselor for the Bangor west side schools.
Mrs. Marsh pointed out that a single test is not a good basis for forming a judgment [concerning a child’s intelligence]. Several tests, administered at different times, must be taken into account, along with other factors in building a picture of the child’s potential.
100 years ago — Oct. 2, 1914
BREWER — Frank Adams has constructed one of the most attractive residences in Ward One from the old house situated opposite the school house in North Brewer. The building will be practically new when completed and is of bungalow model. This was omitted from the list of new buildings recently published but is one of the many additions in which the city takes great pride.
OLD TOWN — The milliners held their openings Thursday and many pretty hats were shown. A great many black and white hats are worn, while there also are colored hats, both large and small. Miss Jameson has a very pretty window, the trimmings being all in autumn tints, autumn leaves, clusters of grapes, poppies and geraniums were used. Miss Malkson’s windows were in green and white, with black hats and a large bouquet of roses.
OLD TOWN — Ellison Lockwood, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Lockwood, has proven himself quite a gardener. In the spring when the garden was planted he put in some watermelon seed with the result that he has been treating his friends to nice sweet watermelon raised in his own garden. Several grew to a large size and were perfect in every way and as those who ate them said, “Better than you buy in the store.”
He gathered about two dozen from the vines so will try his luck another year.
Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin