10 years ago – March 27, 1993

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – There were a few tense moments at Bangor International Airport Friday when the pilot of a KC-135 fuel tanker radioed the tower and said an emergency light indicated that the plane’s No. 3 engine was on fire.

The light activated about 15 minutes after the plane had taken off from the Maine Air National Guard base, said MANG Public Affairs Officer Jim Fader.

The plane remained in the air for about 45 minutes and was forced to dump much of the fuel it had on board, officials said. When it landed, there was no fire spotted, Fader said.

Whether the malfunction was in the light or the engine remained unclear.

25 years ago – March 27, 1978

ORONO – The silent “p” in the word “cupboard” was the decisive letter in the Orono-Veazie school union spelling bee.

The union winner was Sheryl McCormick, who will represent the union at the county spelling bee.

Other classroom winners who were contestants were Michelle King, Lisa Chase, Mary Lawrence, Ellen Topliff, Doug Wood and Angela Smith of Veazie, and Shelly Nason, Mary Devoe, Kamie Wagner, Joe Khoury, Diane Jennings, Carol Lang, Allen Haley, Joel Nadeau, Diane Ronan, Joe Kenney and Tim Clark of Orono.

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HAMPDEN – The Hampden Community Playschool will hold an open house April 4. Teachers Valerie Welland and Nancy Doughty will be there to talk with parents, friends and persons interested in playschool activities.

The playschool, located at the corner of Routes 1A and 9, is a nonprofit organization for children ages 3 to 5 in the SAD 22 area. It operates on the principle that children this age learn through play. This is accomplished by the children doing crafts, painting, playing games, storytelling and even cooking. The children occasionally take field trips and parents sometimes share their work or hobbies. The playschool encourages the children to express themselves, learn to share their play equipment and make friends.

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Oldtimers can talk about memorable cold snaps of past years, but government weather experts said that the winter of 1977-1978 was the most frigid east of the Rockies.

“While January of 1977 still stands as the coldest single month since formal weather records-keeping began in the late 1800s,” a government statement said, “for the winter as a whole this winter’s temperatures probably were worse than last.”

Robert Quayle, a spokesman for the National Climatic Center, explained a large sector of the eastern two-thirds of the United States had average temperatures more than 8 degrees below normal last winter. Quayle said the only winter to compare with the past two for cold was in 1917-18.

50 years ago – March 27, 1953

BANGOR – Miss Mary Carolyn Freese, daughter of F. Drummond Freese of Bangor, has joined the Washington staff of U.S. Sen. Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts.

Miss Freese graduated from Dana Hall, Wellesley, Mass., and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in Boston. She was employed in Boston for a time before coming to Bangor to become secretary to the NEWS advertising manager. Miss Freese left Bangor to join the staff of former Sen. Owen Brewster of Maine and more recently was employed by the National Geographic Magazine in a secretarial capacity.

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BANGOR – “The Restoration and Decoration of New England Homes” was the subject of an unusually interesting and informative talk by Roger Withington of Portland, well-known interior decorator, at the Bangor House. Mr. Withington spoke before a capacity audience at the affair for the benefit of the Pine Tree Society for Crippled Children and Adults Inc. It netted $375.

The stage was beautifully decorated with various Easter flowers and the stage was arranged to represent a living room, replete even to an old English doorway.

Withington illustrated his talk by showing drapery materials and wallpapers adapted for the old New England home. They included old English and colonial prints as well as interesting floral designs.

The interest in his talk was manifested by the many questions which were asked regarding restoration and decoration of the New England home.

Mrs. Randolph Weatherbee was chairman of the affair and she was assisted in arrangements by Mrs. John Rodick, Mrs. Charles Kimball, Mrs. Augustine D’Amico, Mrs. Robert Freeley, Mrs. Ambrose Higgins, Mrs. George Silver and Mrs. Ralph Simms.

100 years ago – March 27, 1903

BANGOR – Mayor Beal does not agree with Rep. Sargent of Brewer as to the length of time that would be required to make the Bangor and Brewer bridge free under the provisions of the act just passed in Augusta.

Mr. Sargent has expressed his opinion that it would take 100 years of toll gathering to yield net receipts sufficient to pay for the proposed steel structure. He sets the whole cost at $140,000, upon which the interest charges at 5 percent would amount to $7,000 a year, so that after interest had been paid there would remain but $3,000 for expenses of maintenance and operation, and for payment of the principal.

Mayor Beal thinks that by the proposed plan, the time required to pay for the bridge would not much exceed 20 years.

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CHATHAM, Mass. – Two schooners were sighted in distress and were boarded by the life savers. The first one discovered proved to be the D. Howard Spear, Capt. Pinkham, bound from Philadelphia for Bangor with coal. In rounding Monomoy Point during the night, she carried away her headsails and was obliged to anchor under Orleans, where she was discovered at daylight flying signals of distress.

After working hard all day, the life savers succeeded in clearing away the wreckage and she proceeded on her way in the afternoon.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin