10 years ago – April 7, 1995

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – The Bangor business community will lose a popular fixture on June 30 when Malcolm E. Jones retires as president of Bangor Savings Bank. He will be succeeded by P. James Dowe, 46, president of Bath Savings Institution since 1986.

Jones started working at Bangor Savings Bank 41 years ago as a teller. Always eager to discuss an industry he loved, Jones would give reporters a quote, and frankness.

“If you don’t want my honest opinion, you’d better not ask for it,” Jones once told a reporter.

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ORONO – Brenda Blaine of Delta Delta Delta sorority stumbled into the lobby of Sigma Chi fraternity house weighted down by more than 80 items of clothing.

Although it was probably the coldest April day in recent history, Blaine was not wearing the exaggerated L.L. Bean layered look for a fashion statement or to ward off the Montreal Express winds that followed her through the door.

Each garment she wore was worth a pledged amount, which was counted as she deposited each item on the floor of the lobby.

Sigma Chi, which has mostly engineering students among its 33 members, was beginning its Derby Days competition, a four-day event that will benefit another fraternity member with needed special equipment.

25 years ago – April 7, 1980

BANGOR – Downtown Bangor has an image problem.

Despite improvements such as the $144,500 Columbia Street project, the cleaning up of the urban renewal lots and the reuse of several downtown buildings, many people see only the business closings and are convinced that downtown is ailing.

Deborah Thompson of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission thinks there needs to be more rehabilitation and restoration of downtown structures to create a style and feeling of revitalization similar to the experiences of Portland and Boston.

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BANGOR – Downtown Bangor means many things to many people, but it means most to those who make a living there, and those who depend on it for their livelihood. And despite rumors to the contrary, there are still many people making a good livelihood there.

It’s unfortunate that some single out downtown when they cite business closings, merchants interviewed said. Those who have folded or closed have done so for various reasons, but it is not likely that the chief reason is the fact they were located downtown.

Downtown has a future. Downtown is alive and well. And downtown will continue for many years to come, those interviewed indicated.

50 years ago – April 7, 1955

ORONO – Ralph G. Eckert, head of the department of family development at the University of Connecticut, gave his second Farm and Home Week talk on “Children Can Help Us Help Ourselves.”

Children, said Eckert, are happiest receiving love; the mature person is happiest in giving it.

The speaker also touched upon the difference between “smother” love and “mother” love, and the need for a delicate balance between too much parental supervision and too little.

He spoke of the family situation as it developed in our complex modern life and quoted Dr. Lillian Galbraith on our need to become efficient homemakers so that we may be leisurely, not necessarily efficient, mothers.

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BREWER – The long awaited start of construction on Parkway South in Brewer has finally been set for April 11 and the first phase of the project will be completed with in 30 working days.

The Bridge Construction Co. of Augusta and Kenneth Cianchette of Pittsfield were awarded contracts for approximately 3,500 feet of road.

The contracts call for the construction of a portion of Parkway South from Wilson Street to a point where the new road will cross the Bar Harbor Railroad tracks.

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OLD TOWN – The large empty clock case on the Eastern Trust and Banking Co. building has brought up a question in the minds of many local residents.

Will it be back? The answer from Branch Manager Harry Porter is, “yes.”

The clock was thrown out of kilter several weeks ago when that corner of the building at Main and Center streets was struck by a truck.

When the four-sided timepiece will be back to the place it has served townspeople for more than 20 years is anybody’s guess, said Porter.

Repair work is being done in Bangor.

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BANGOR – Shades of Henry Ford! Tuesday evening a 1920 Model T Ford was breezing up Main Street making a little better than 25 miles per hour.

First thought was that it might be some teenager with an old souped-up jalopy, but closer scrutiny showed that it was someone wearing a gray fedora and an overcoat. No young sprout.

Overtaking the car of ancient vintage with its hard rubber tires, the driver turned out to be Dr. Maurice P. King, well-known Bangor dentist. Seems he has had the car nearly a year and gets between 18 and 20 miles to the gallon.

100 years ago – April 7, 1905

BANGOR – The storm which swept Bangor yesterday was severe and made a lot of people uncomfortable. It did a lot of good, however, and everybody was glad to see it. At the pumping station dam, water was running to the depth of 5 feet 1 inch, a rise of one inch in 24 hours.

The wind blew hard from the Southeast and whipped a number of limbs from trees throughout the city. People on the streets had a hard time making headway at certain moments, but they all grinned and bore it bravely for they said the rain was doing somebody good. That was a nice charitable spirit and there is probably hope for the town.

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BANGOR – There isn’t the first particle of need for Bangor people to get worried over the “hobo” situation. To be sure, the police station is crowded every night with them, 42 having been turned out in the past three mornings, but they are harmless specimens and seem intent on getting work. Many of them are looking for the nearest employment office for the new Seaport railroad and say if they can’t get a job there, they are ready to go into the woods.

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ORRINGTON – The empty cisterns are filled, the frost is coming out fast, spots of green grass are beginning to show, the ice is ‘most all out of the creek, and the people are rejoicing that this “grippe”-afflicted community is permitted once more to extend a glad welcome to gentle spring.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin