10 years ago – Nov. 28, 1992

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

WINTERPORT – The planning board will meet with the shoreland zoning amendments committee at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, to discuss recommendations for changes in the town’s shoreland zoning ordinance.

The amendments committee met each Thursday evening from Sept. 10 to Nov. 12, to review the shoreland zoning map. It has held interviews with property owners, received letters and telephone calls from them and discussed various aspects of their work with representatives of the Department of Environmental Protection and other experts.

The committee’s first proposal would delete from regulation 11 areas classified as fresh-water wetlands by the Department of Environmental Protection in 1989 “because the evidence of impact on wildlife is low or has not been rated and is not sufficient to justify the imposition of shoreland zoning restrictions.”

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ORONO – The Town Council will consider on Dec. 14 giving MaineTech Development Corp. another shot at running the research park.

Earlier this year, the council voted not to renew its agreement with MaineTech to serve as master developer after the management company failed to bring in the minimum amount of business there.

With the 70-acre park being the town’s major area of taxable development, councilors are anxious to fill the mostly empty ground there.

“It’s key to trying to solve some of the problems we’ve got with the tax base,” said council chairwoman M. Terri Hutchinson.

25 years ago – Nov. 28, 1977

BANGOR – By the end of the year the Bangor Fire Department is expected to occupy its new $1.2 million quarters on Main Street.

The impressive three-level concrete structure will be three times larger than the current home base on Union Street, and have facilities to accommodate all equipment and alleviate traffic problems. The building’s architectural design is contemporary, bordering on a utilitarian style noted for its square massive form and horizontal windows.

The Main Street station has a modern kitchen, library, classroom, inspection area and 10 bedrooms on the third floor, offices on the second floor and the main-floor equipment storage area. New furnishings, an intercom system, an ambulance room and two drive-through bays where firetrucks can be washed or repaired by the full- time mechanic will be added.

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BREWER – The 70th birthday of the Brewer Public Library will be observed at the annual library association meeting Monday at the library.

The library was opened in 1908 in the Emerson Batchelder building on Wilson Street. Although Brewer citizens had wanted a library before the turn of the century, it wasn’t until 1907 that 30 citizens formed the Brewer Free Public Library, a corporation, and elected Jonathan Lane as president.

The library began with operating capital of $12 and it was open only one afternoon a week. Most of the books were donated.

The new Carter Block, home of Brewer Savings Bank, was completed in 1908. The library moved onto the second floor in 1909, remaining there until 1938 when the city provided facilities in City Hall.

Brewer’s new spacious library contains over 25,000 volumes, has a children’s reading program and a selection of large print books.

50 years ago – Nov. 28, 1952

BANGOR – This is the day of the big Christmas parade in Bangor. Little boys and girls who have sufficiently recovered from stuffing themselves on Thanksgiving turkey have another big treat in store today as they welcome Santa Claus to town.

A special dispatch received last night from the North Pole reported that the jolly old man with the bag of toys has taken care of all the last minute details and is getting ready for his annual trip to Bangor.

Santa is scheduled to arrive in town at 1 p.m. by seaplane on the Penobscot River. The plane will approach the city from the north, land just below Union Station and taxi to the foot of Union Street, where Santa will be welcomed by city officials and hundreds of children.

After the official welcoming ceremonies, Santa will be escorted to his float, which will be waiting nearby. The float, gaily decorated in Christmas style, will include a section of Santa’s workshop, transported intact from the North Pole and reassembled for the benefit of the Bangor parade watchers.

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BANGOR – Tuesday evening when Robert Frost speaks at the First Universalist Church in Bangor, people of this vicinity will have the unusual opportunity to hear the man whom William Rose Benet characterized as “an American of whom we can rightly be proud as we are proud of Emerson, and that to me is saying a great deal.” Mr. Frost will be delivering the second Ashley A. Smith Memorial lecture.

To some, the word “poet” often carries the suggestion of an impractical and unworldly person. But Robert Frost is neither of these. Time Magazine has said, “In a literary age so preoccupied with self-expression that it sometimes seems intent on making the reader feel stupid, Robert Frost has won him by treating him as an equal.” The public understands and likes what he writes so well that more than 375,000 copies of his books have been sold in the United States alone.

100 years ago – Nov. 28, 1902

BANGOR – Warden Neal made a find when the late train from Washington County arrived in Bangor on Wednesday night.

According to custom he made an examination of the baggage on the train and in it found three large-sized deer skins. These, along with the trunk, he confiscated. He was unable to find the owner of the trunk on the train.

On Thursday noon he opened a grip and found in it about 15 pounds of excellent moose steak, which he seized.

Orrington folks had a deer hunt on Thanksgiving Day. On that day five of the animals appeared in the town and the people turned out and went after them. There were a number of the hunters and they gave the deer a long chase, but failed to get even one of them.

These hunters say that a hound was on track of the deer and that the main reason they didn’t get the deer was that they were trying to get a shot at the dog.

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BREWER – The matinee dancing party of the Algonquin Club in City Hall was a great success – too much of a success, in fact, as there were so many couples on the floor that dancing was difficult. The event was highly enjoyed, however, and adds another to the long list of successful affairs under the auspices of the Algonquin Club.

Excellent music was furnished by Pullen’s men.

The stevedores rushed work on the coal stages at South Brewer in spite of the disagreeable weather and Thanksgiving. It is a case of hustle to get all the coal ashore before the freeze-up.

The general opinion of the people in regard to the apportionment of the share it is to have in the purchase of the toll bridge, is that the offer of three-tenths, which means somewhere about $25,000 made by the Brewer representation, is about right and as much as Brewer can afford to pay.

Compiled by Matt Poliquin