10 years ago – Jan. 29, 1994

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – Neil Merrill, a foreman for the Maine Department of Transportation, shoveled slush away from a portion of Interstate 395 in Bangor Friday afternoon.

He and his crew were trying to drain a torrent of water flooding an entrance to the roadway during a quirky winter storm that dropped snow and sleet on the state before depositing up to 1.5 inches of rain on the Bangor area. Temperatures rose meteorically from subzero on Thursday morning to about 40 degrees during the day Friday. Rain spread throughout much of the state.

Merrill said he had logged 375 hours of labor in about three weeks’ time – more than 15 hours a day. He expected to be working far into the night Friday as highway crews struggled to keep Maine roads open.

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OLD TOWN – Old Town Superintendent John Grady sees setting aside snow days for inclement weather as a lot like putting money in the bank. It’s there when you need it.

The problem is this winter has been that “we keep having to go to the bank” and make withdrawals, said the veteran superintendent. Already three of Old Town’s four snow days have been used up. The fourth may be used on Monday if forecasters are right in predicting snow and extremely low temperatures. And that still leaves several months in which foul weather could prompt more school cancellations.

“We’ll do what anybody does when they run out,” Grady said. “We’ll take out a loan. It’s no big deal.” The loan means that students will be making up any excess snow days at the end of the year, in mid-June.

25 years ago – Jan. 29, 1979

BANGOR – Contrary to popular opinion, the Brady Gang did not come to Bangor to rob a bank. As a matter of fact, they never planned to rob anything.

“Your roads here are just too damned rotten,” reasoned Jimmie Dalhover in the Bangor jail, his two slain associates sprawled out in the undertakers’ slabs not far away. That was October 1937. Dalhover no doubt was referring to the limited number of access routes out of the city.

At that time most robbers headed westward – unless they desired driving to Canada, or into the sea – and that meant traveling Route 2. “Even at a mile a minute, therefore,” the NEWS reported a few months after the famous shoot out, “they could have gone not more than 15 miles – far from any point of safety – [before being captured].”

Last week’s robbery at the Hammond Street branch of the Merrill Bank, however, is the latest attempt – as yet successful – to prove that a few are still willing to test the odds of a clean getaway. One relatively recent fold in the highway network – Interstate 95 – reportedly facilitated a faster escape last week, but the challenge is still there.

Bank robberies are nothing new in Bangor. A number have even occurred in the downtown area – the most daring of all locations because essentially it is a trap. Unlike most cities, most of Bangor’s main arteries converge in one spot, at the juncture of State, Hammond, Central, Broad and Main streets.

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ORONO – The game wasn’t a memorable one for the disappointingly small crowd of about 1,200, but it was for the little left wing Robert Lafleur who notched his first career hat trick in leading the University of Maine at Orono’s Black Bears hockey team to a 13-3 victory over a depleted University of Massachusetts squad at the Alfond Arena.

By winning, the Black Bears took over first place in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II East.

“It [the hat trick] feels real good,” said Lafleur, the 5-7, 175-pound Montreal native in his heavy French accent. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

The swift-skating freshman got his first two goals in a five-goal first period and scored number three with just 4:20 remaining in the game. The third goal came on a sizzling 40-foot slap shot from a difficult angle a few feet off the left wing boards.

The shot hit the crossbar over freshman goalie Jeff Moore’s right shoulder and dropped in.

Lafleur immediately dug the puck out of the goal and took it to the Maine bench as a souvenir of his accomplishment.

50 years ago – Jan. 29, 1954

BANGOR – This isn’t expected to come as a surprise to northern and eastern Maine residents, but the Old Farmer’s Almanac warns us to be on the lookout for snow.

The same little booklet that forecast the “blizzard up to your gizzard” in February 1952 now tells us that “a storm is on tap” this week. The book doesn’t say, however, whether the snow falling the past two days is the storm in question or just a warm-up for the real thing.

The weatherman really pulled out all the stops Thursday as the two-day snowfall was measured by the CAA Communications Station in Old Town at 18 inches.

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BANGOR – John Ballou, well-known to local theater enthusiasts, will play the male lead in the Quipus production, “High Ground,” to be given at the Bangor City Hall.

Mr. Ballou was active in the Maine Masque while at the university. He was with the Camden Hills summer theater for six seasons, where he played the lead in such productions as “Henry VIII” and “Hasty Heart.” Mr. Ballou is a graduate of Yale Law School and is now associated with James E. Mitchell. He is replacing Lee Nelson, who has had to withdraw because of illness.

Supporting Mr. Ballou are Mrs. Norman D. Carlisle and Mrs. Barbara Mills Browne, both of whom have had theatrical experience. Mrs. Carlisle played “Snow White” in the Junior League play by that name, and was in “Goodbye, My Fancy,” a Quipus production.

Mrs. Browne, head of the speech and drama department at Bangor High School, has appeared in several Maine Masque productions, including “Harriet,” in which she played the lead. She also was with the Camden Hills summer theater, and is a member of the Bangor Civic Theater and the Maine Speech Association.

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BANGOR – Undaunted by raging snowstorms, the Holy Cross Glee Club arrived in Bangor for its scheduled concert Thursday evening. It was a program in the time-honored college glee-club tradition, gay and lighthearted music sung with youthful vigor.

The Holy Cross men have good voices, and they use them well. Their entire repertoire was sung from memory, and with the greatest control of dynamics and tempo. Their diction is so good that not a word was lost to the audience.

Except for the “Vittoria Ave Maria,” with which the program opened, the evening’s music was of a popular style. A few “light classical” songs, show tunes by Loesser, Rodgers, Berlin and Kern, and popular songs of today and a few years ago made up the backbone of the program.

100 years ago – Jan. 29, 1904

BANGOR – The Bangor police department was inspected by the board of police examiners in the guard room at 5 o’clock last evening.

With the exception of a few men who were detailed to the business streets, every man in the department was present. There were 26 besides the chief. Each was in full dress uniform, with gloves, and they presented a decidedly smart appearance. Chief Bowen was at the head of the line with Deputy Chief Baker next to him. Then came Inspector Knaide and Captains Fahey and O’Donohue, with Sergeants Davis, Sproul and Pierce next to them.

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BREWER – On Thursday night, Mr. and Mrs. Joe I. Mutty entertained the Leap Year Whist Club at their pleasant home on Blake Street. It was a very enjoyable event. Those who participated in addition to the hosts were: Mrs. and Mrs. H.M. Whelden, Mr. and Mrs. George E. Vayo, Daniel T. Mulvey, the Misses Bernice and Eva Mutty, Homer Fraser, Miss Nellie Bennett, Bert C. Hall, Miss Mary McClennan and James M. Doherty. Refreshments of chicken salad, hot rolls, coffee, cake and ice cream were served.

After the play the count-up showed the winners of the first prizes to be Mrs. Vayo, who received a handsome hand-painted china cake dish, and Mr. Mulvey, who was presented a fine smoking set. Souvenirs were given to the hard-luckers.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin