10 years ago – May 29, 1993

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – When 30 people were injured in a bus-pickup accident in Clifton, ambulances from a dozen agencies rushed to the scene.

But just as impressive to Dr. Norman Dinerman, the director of emergency services at Eastern Maine Medical Center, are the quieter individual treks to Bangor hospitals when emergency medical teams transport people afflicted by trauma, heart attack, stroke or some other life threatening condition. Dinerman recalled a case last fall where a local person would have died from internal bleeding without intervention of a volunteer squad.

“EMS is part of the fundamental infrastructure of American society – as fundamental as police or fire or any other aspect of the health care system,” Dinerman said.

Many of those people work for paid ambulance services, Dinerman acknowledged. “But we also are blessed in Maine with extraordinarily passionate and dedicated volunteers – so much so that if we had to pay these people for the medical care they provide, it would be in excess of $30 million a year,” he said.

There are more than 50 EMS squads that bring patients to EMMC from various parts of two-thirds of the state, Dinerman said.

“One is so impressed with the variety of people involved with EMS,” he said. “I call it the tapestry of EMS – so many different types of people. The constant thread that runs through the tapestry is compassion.”

25 years ago – May 29, 1978

ORONO – The girls from Orono were the single most dominant force in evidence during the Eastern Maine track and field regionals held in Waterville.

The defending state Class C champions won eight of their division’s 14 events, including both relays, while qualifying for the right to face the cream of the Western crop in state schoolgirl meet.

Maggie Johnson paced Orono’s qualifiers by winning the mile in a divisional record time of 5:26:1. Sue Knowlton, who took a third in that race, won the 2-mile and Alice Klinge scored Orono firsts in the 80-meter low hurdles and long jump.

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BANGOR – There was a shell inside a shell, said Althea Lyshon of Bangor, after she cracked an egg into her frying pan last week and found a .22 caliber bullet lodged in the egg white. Just how the live round of ammunition got into the pan is anybody’s guess.

Mrs. Lyshon said she’s sure it wasn’t stuck to the outside of the egg. She said that someone at the Maine Department of Agriculture told her it likely was ingested by the chicken when it got mixed up with a load of grain. That could be, said a poultry specialist at the University of Maine at Orono, but “that’s as close to impossible as can be.”

50 years ago – May 29, 1953

BANGOR – Earle R. Webster Jr., 17, recipient of an American Field Service Summer Scholarship, will sail from Montreal to spend the summer with a German family. He is a former NEWS carrier.

Webster, president of the Bangor High School junior class, will live with the Josef Karras family of Aalen, Wurttemberg, about seven weeks.

He will sail on the S.S. Skaubryn to Southampton, England. He will leave Le Havre, France, on the S.S. Anna Salen and arrive in New York in September. Webster is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Earle R. Webster. This will be his first trip abroad.

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BANGOR – An estimated 2,200 people attended the 37th policeman’s ball at the Bangor auditorium, which featured six outstanding acts of vaudeville direct from Boston.

The stage show was followed by a dancing program with music provided by Bill Stetson and his Night Hawks.

The vaudeville show opened with Chet Dixon and his “little people,” a puppet act that captured the fancy of young and old among the spectators. The gay puppets performed dances of all types, right down to the striptease.

Johnny Miles, young musical impressionist, proved entertaining with his varied impersonations of outstanding personalities in the musical world. Among those whom he imitated were Vaughn Monroe, Harry James, Billy Eckstine, Arthur Godfrey and Johnny Ray.

Norm Lambert of Bangor, organist, entertained with several selections before the opening of the show and provided accompaniment for the acts.

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BREWER – A musical program was presented by the freshman class of Brewer High School. The stage setting included a shrimp boat constructed by Wayne Moody, assisted by Lloyd Tracy and Allen Matthews. The show, “The USS Shrimp Boat,” was presented with Harry Hanscom as captain and announcer. Others participating were Connie Buchanan, Jack Cornish, Janice Homestead, Loretta Jessen, Delia Langan, Irma Strang, Eddie Payne, John Gass, Eddie Chapman, Janice Plummer, Jeanne Sumner, Alice Cameron, Judy Ladd, Harriet Salisbury, Carolyn Violette, Sandra Smith, Adrian James, Beverly Murphy and Charlotte Turner. The program was under the direction of Miss Olive Blodgett, class adviser.

100 years ago – May 29, 1903

ORONO – Some ball players from Harvard college came down to Orono to play ball with the U of M. They were a slick looking lot, lively as crickets and simply elevated their brows and looked politely surprised when the umpire’s decisions were not exactly what they thought they should be, but nary a yip.

It was the team known as the Harvard 2d, presumably the best left in the college after the varsity squad is taken out. They started in like winners and up to the fifth inning it looked as if things would go all their way. Then the Maine men came out of their reverie and went on to win out, which they did quite handily.

The Harvard men presented a tall, willowy blonde named Hammond to do the pitching. Mr. Hammond appears to be a mighty fine fellow, but has a rather painful-looking delivery. He draws himself up to his full six feet three or four inches, hunches his shoulders like a freight brakeman, contracts his chest and lets the ball go with a motion like slamming a door.

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HAMPDEN – Preparations for the Academy centennial celebration are going on vigorously and everything promises to be a success. Everyone in this and all towns is cordially invited to be present. It is requested that former students of the academy in surrounding towns, whose names may not have been on the list, remember that are expected to come.

Participating in the program will be Henry W. Mayo; Professor Allen E. Rogers; Gov. John F. Hill; W.W Stetson, Col. I.K. Stetson, Gen. Charles Hamlin, S.W. Matthews and Chaplain David H. Tribou of the U.S. Navy.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin

More info on Dow planes

BANGOR ? Fifty years ago in May, festivities at Dow Air Force Base marked the 50th anniversary of powered flight, as well as Armed Forces Day.

Two readers of The Weekly called in last week to identify the four planes shown in the Picture of the Past from the May 22 edition. From left, the planes were: T-33, F-80, F-84 and F-86. Don Martin was one of those providing identification. The picture had run originally in the Bangor Daily News.