10 years ago – April 17, 1993

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

GREENBUSH – With a temporary reprieve from the dangers of flood waters, selectmen turned to other matters.

Town Manager Robert Littlefield said all town roads were reopened by Friday afternoon, but he didn’t know what to expect if heavy rains, as predicted, hit over the weekend.

Damage so far appeared to be minor, with most confined to the shoulders of flooded roads. Military Road and Lower River, Middle River and Upper River roads and a portion of Greenfield Road had some flooding.

With some of the shoulders washed out, said the manager, there is the danger of motorists driving too close to the edge of the pavement, causing the roads to break up.

25 years ago – April 17, 1978

BANGOR – It has been study, show and tell for members of Mrs. Betty Carey’s sixth-grade class at Mary Snow School. Foreign countries have been the focus.

Each student selected a country that he or she wanted to know about. Each did research, watched the newspaper for current events concerning the country, made a booklet and presented the findings to the class from an outline.

Amy Lieberman invited Mrs. Judy Gaber to share her experiences of living in Israel.

Pat Kirby was invited by Jeff Courtney to share his experiences of Scotland. Kirby brought samples of Scottish shortbread for the children to sample.

Mrs. Erika Shannon, who was born and raised in Germany, was invited to talk about Germany by her daughter, Amy Parker.

John Segal invited his father, James Segal, to share his knowledge of England.

50 years ago – April 17, 1953

BREWER – Ronald E. Stewart, newly hired Brewer city manager, is expected to face several apparently major tasks after he reports for work.

The most immediate, according to Mayor Gerald D. Robertson, will be that of hiring a city engineer to replace Carlton F. Wiswell, who retired recently to take employment with the Harrington and Cortelyou company in Kansas City, Mo., which is working on the new Bangor-Brewer bridge project.

Another is the fact that several roads in Brewer need major repairs, a project that has to be undertaken soon, Mr. Robertson said.

The much-discussed municipal radio system also will require attention before long, the mayor pointed out. The council recently set aside $2,000 to install a communications system between the police station, fire station and police car.

In discussing the radio setup. Robertson said he disliked the idea of breaking off contact altogether with the Bangor system, with which the Brewer police car is now linked.

Another thing the mayor felt might require some time on the new manager’s part is the transition from a town to a city form of government.

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BREWER – Joanne Field was crowned Scout cookie queen and Margo Witham, Brownie cookie queen, at the joint meeting of Scout Troop 13 and Brownie Troop 51. Each queen received a prize, then distributed prizes to all Brownies and Scouts who had sold Girl Scout cookies.

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HAMPDEN – Announcement has been sent out to the parents of children in the first and second grades of the Hampden Consolidated School that because of lack of volunteer help, the hot lunch program in the school will be discontinued seven weeks before the closing of school.

The letter, signed by Earl C. McGraw, superintendent, and Mrs. William Marsh, supervisor, thanked those who have helped make the lunches possible. During the February vacation it was decided to try to keep the lunches going until June, but those in charge now feel that this is impossible because of lack of help.

The children have been receiving a balanced meal, prepared to meet state requirements, for 25 cents.

Mrs. Marsh said the school will continue to serve a half-pint of milk daily to all grades until the close of this term.

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HAMPDEN – At a meeting of the executive board of the library council held at the home of Mrs. R.B. McLaughlin, chairman, the group went on record as opposing the sale of obscene and objectionable magazines and books.

Mrs. McLaughlin said that great care had been taken in the selection and purchase of the highest type of reading for young people in the library at Hampden Consolidated School, and that the sale of such reading matter in the town defeats the purpose of the library.

It was announced that in 1952 $591.42 was raised for the library. Schoolchildren raised $209.77 of that amount from the sale of seeds and magazines. There are at present 1,964 books in the school library, which started with a nucleus of 537.

100 years ago – April 17, 1903

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Under red, white and blue signal lights; red, green and blue flags; with a big headlight burning in the middle of the stage and stands at either side – surrounded by all the implements of their calling, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Moosehead Lodge 443, held its third annual ball at City Hall.

A good-sized audience assembled to hear the concert, and many more came for the dance which followed. The floor was in splendid condition and there weren’t so many couples that dancing was an effort. Pullen’s orchestra provided the music from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.

As part of the concert, Miss Mary McDonough sang a song.

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BANGOR – George W. Brown & Son sold to the city a handsome pair of black horses to be used on the fire wagon, which is expected to arrive for Station 2 this week. This is a combination hose and ladder wagon, the finest that the city has ever ordered.

The one-horse hitch, which is in Station 2 now, will be moved to Station 6, at the corner of Montgomery and Center streets.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin