YESTERDAY …
10 years ago — July 30, 2005
(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)
OLD TOWN — The final numbers aren’t in, but this year’s Canoe Hullabaloo wasn’t the money raiser organizers hoped it would be.
Organized by the Old Town Public Library and the River Coalition, Canoe Hullabaloo is designed to celebrate the heritage and people of the Penobscot River communities of Old Town, Alton, Bradley, Greenbush, Indian Island and Milford. Concentrated at Riverfront Park in Old Town, the weeklong festival featured canoe races, evening concerts in the park, a 5K road race, a craft fair and food.
The purpose of the event was designed to bring community members together, allow them to have fun and to honor the Franco-American and American Indian heritage of the area.
BANGOR — A spirit of international cooperation permeated the stuffy atmosphere inside the Brewer Armory as a group of sweaty Scottish and American teenagers scaled a 32-foot-high climbing wall and rappelled down the other side.
The teenagers were part of a gang of 15 cadets from the Scottish Air Training Corps and 47 cadets from the Maine Wing Civil Air Patrol participating for the first time together in a two-week training camp at the Maine Air National Guard base in Bangor. The collaboration was spearheaded by a Civil Air Patrol lieutenant and the Scottish instructor who became friends after meeting at a conference.
25 years ago — July 30, 1990
ORRINGTON — Anyone with a question about gardening couldn’t do much better than to ask Russell Payne. After all, the 84-year-old Orrington man has been gardening most of his life, and he discusses the land and vegetables with the confidence of someone who has seen just about everything.
Payne was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and moved to the Bangor area as a young man. When he first farmed in Orrington, he had a wholesale operation.
So, 30 years ago, Payne built the retail stand that has become a landmark on Route 15 in Orrington. He uses 35 acres for gardens and for greenhouses to grow produce for the stand, which is open from mid-April until early November.
Payne said that the 1990 growing season hasn’t been great. Early cold and wet weather slowed growth, and heat has come with too little moisture. It’s not an uncommon scenario for Maine farmers, he said.
BANGOR — The kids were in their element: surrounded by seemingly endless toys and plenty of playmates. But it was all just a test.
Infants, toddlers and a few older children had been invited last week to help a local organization called the Technical Exploration Center test new toys for a “Let’s Play” toy guide issued nationally to parents before the Christmas holiday season.
The guide is put out annually by the Alliance for Technology Access and is geared toward children with disabilities. The Bangor Center was one of six centers chosen in June to take part in the testing.
Groups of children with autism, cerebral palsy or general behavior problems had the opportunity to be among the first to play with the toys before they hit the store shelves.
50 years ago — July 30, 1965
VEAZIE — Doc Savage of the Veazie has an unusual hobby — he builds his own sports cars. He recently completed a car of unique design based on a wreck that had been written off by an insurance company as a total loss.
But the engine was good, so we started from there and fashioned a sleek, swift and beautiful workable automobile in just 800 hours of his spare time.
The car the engine propels now is a definite improvement over the old. It is lighter by 400 pounds, hugs the road better and corners more sharply. It is also much safer. Doc added an extra roll bar between the engine and the dashboard to give the driver more protection.
The snazzy, sporty shape of the car is sure to catch admiring glances everywhere. Streamlined at both ends, the sleek fiberglass body resembles a Ferrari Monza in design. A conical hollow headrest for the driver, streaming down the top of the trunk, gives the illusion that the car is moving even when standing still.
BANGOR — Maybe you think your dog or cat is almost human, but chances are your pet has no such delusions. A dog is a dog and he has his own personality; he probably wouldn’t ask to be a human on a bet, and ditto for cats.
Three veterinarians and two pet owners from the Bangor area agree wholeheartedly that animals know they are animals and are quite happy about it. Those people who pretend their pets are “people” may be doing the animals a disfavor
Each of the vets and owners consulted stressed the need for obedience training for pets.
“Often it seems as though a pet’s personality matches the owner’s, but I would say it’s because the owner chooses his pet for just that reason. Pets do have definite and individual personalities, none of which are human,” said Mrs. Frederick Bean of Bangor.
100 years ago — July 30, 1915
HAMPDEN — High water in the streams and ponds gives indication in a realistic manner of what has happened. Streams are at spring freshet height in most cases. Kenduskeag Stream, along Valley Avenue and above the dams, shows high water, while the Souadabscook Stream at Hampden above the Smith gristmill has never been at such a high pitch in the memory of the old inhabitants.
George W. Smith, the owner of the mill property on the main road in Hampden, recently constructed a concrete dam under the street railway bridge crossing the stream, and the mill pond, which is usually a very modest body of water at this season of the year, has become quite a pretentious lake, the water reaching up on the banks to the extent of submerging the base of elm trees which had never before been reached.
BANGOR — Brown-tail moths made their appearance Thursday morning about the high power lights in Main Street and Kenduskeag bridge, the sides of the poles being coated with them. This is said by a government agent to be the first time they have appeared in the city streets this summer, and they were undoubtedly attracted by the electric lights of the city, he thought. The myriads of insects, moths, etc., about the streets Wednesday night attracted much attention, but these were not the brown-tails.
The government agent stated that the city authorities should place pans of water immediately below the lights and into these the moths will drop after they have bounced around long enough. If this little scheme will work, and there seems to be no reason why such an inexpensive thing cannot at least be tried, it will be a happy solution of the problem of destroying thousands and possibly millions of the pest.
All kinds of worms and insects appear to be unusually prevalent this season, judging from reports received. The only pest which has thus far not appeared in the usual abundance is said to be the potato bug. The owners of large fields of potatoes state that this summer the bugs have not given them the usual amount of trouble, a fact for which there seems to be no accounting but the blessing is received with due thankfulness.
Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin