(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – Nov. 10, 1995

BANGOR – Hugh Kelly is looking for a pediatric wheelchair.

Surely, he said, some child in the area has outgrown a wheelchair that can be given to Viorel Covaci, a 3-year-old who lives in an Onesti, Romania, orphanage and who was born with no legs.

The child manages to crawl around and has developed a strong upper body, but by government standards, he is on the nonadoptable list.

Once the child acquires the mobility the chair will give him, he will qualify for adoption. The beauty of such a gift, said Kelly, is that when Covaci eventually outgrows it, it can be handed down to another orphan.

Kelly made his first trip to Romania in September 1992 when he learned of a fellow NYNEX worker who was going there to help erect a playground and paint a Romanian orphanage.

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ORONO – The University of Maine hockey team has picked up a bad habit.

Over their past six games, the Bears have spotted their opponent the game’s first goal.

Fortunately for the Bears. they are 3-1-2 in those games.

They will hope to reverse that trend when they take on the upstart Providence College Friars at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I.

Maine junior center Tim Lovell said falling behind a defense-oriented team like Providence could be dangerous.

25 years ago – Nov. 10, 1980

BREWER – Doris Lyford, 87, remembers Nov. 11, 1918, well.

A student at the Gilman Commercial School on Broad Street in Bangor on the first Armistice Day, Mrs. Lyford witnessed one of the city’s most joyous celebrations.

“What a furor there was that day,” she recalls. “What rejoicing. All the church bells in Bangor and Brewer were ringing, mill whistles blew and parades sprang up everywhere. School was canceled that day and everyone joined the marching throng, singing patriotic songs of the day including the familiar ‘There’s a Long, Long Trail A-Winding’ and ‘Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag.'”

Mrs. Lyford also remembers being awakened a year earlier in pre-dawn light by troops marching through downtown Bangor to board trains at the Union Station. Some 40 of the original 1,848 Bangor men would return home in flag-draped coffins.

Although Mrs. Lyford had no immediate relative fighting in the “war to end all wars,” she did her part by knitting khaki scarves to send overseas.

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BREWER – Brewer High School has lauded five of its top seniors for achieving high academic standing.

Paul Thomas and Pauline Coleman were selected to represent Brewer High School in the Randolph Hearst U.S. Senate for Youth Program.

The winner of the Century III Scholarship was Marc Brown, son of Edwin and Sandra Brown. First runner-up for the Century III Leaders Program is David Coco, son of Salvatore and Carolyn Coco. Ronald Martin, son of Paul and Elizabeth Martin, was chosen as second runner-up.

Coco was selected to receive the Bausch and Lomb science award.

50 years ago – Nov. 10, 1955

BANGOR – “Anyone who steals the anchor in front of the Naval Reserve Training Station on Outer Essex Street will be court-martialed.”

Those are the words of Lt. Richard Jacobs, commanding officer, and he is referring to the new 5,000-pound anchor that the National Guard helped the Navy to locate at the naval center.

The skipper, Lieutenant Jacobs, was in Boston recently, prowling through the Charleston Navy Yard when he saw this large anchor lying around.

“This is just what we need at the reserve center in Bangor,” said Lieutenant Jacobs.

The other day the Maine Central Railroad called up and told the naval lieutenant that they had a package for him. “Deliver it,” ordered the skipper. “Come down and get it,” answered the railroad.

The Navy asked the National Guard, the 314th Anti-aircraft Company, to give them a hand. The guard brought its five-ton wrecking rig down to the freight yard and with scarcely a groan, lifted the huge 21/2-ton anchor out of the railroad gondola – not Venetian – and delivered it to the Naval Reserve Center.

The anchor is labeled as having been built in 1918 and Jacobs believes it is one from the Great White Fleet of Teddy Roosevelt’s time. He also believes that it is probably one of the largest anchors seen in Maine since the days of Lief Ericson.

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BANGOR – Five members of the Orono Cub Scout Den 8, and their den mother, visited the NEWS recently and were taken on a guided tour of the plant by Al Moulton, public relations director.

The boys were highly interested in all phases of newspaper production, but seemed somewhat disconcerted to find that the reporters, especially the Society Department staffers, were not working on murder cases as do their television counterparts.

Mrs. Basil Smith, den mother, accompanied the boys who introduced themselves as follows: Rusty Smith the Great; Maurice Bonde the Greatest; Jimmy Williard the Very Great; Ted Prince the Very, Very Great; and David Smith, the Best of All.

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OLD TOWN – Davis Seymour, superintendent of the Public Works department, said that the city has received 60 tons of salt in preparation for winter. The salt has been stored in the city salt shed and will be used on icy roads.

The snow plows are in condition and ready to be used for the first snowfall, Seymour said. In preparing for snow, the Public Works department plans to store sand and put up snow fences, Seymour said.

100 years ago – Nov. 10, 1905

BANGOR – The first polo [on roller skates] game to be played in the auditorium will be next week. Manager Moulton says that the Bangor floor will be as good as any in the state and will be nearest to regulation. The screens are all up now and the netting will be in a day or two.

The outlook for the new league, which includes Bangor, Portland, Augusta and Waterville, are bright, and L.D. Mathis, president of the league, is looking for a great winter.

Bangor has already signed two men: McGovern for goal tender, and Haulsell, second rush. Both men are well-known in polo circles, are fast, and will form a fine nucleus for the home team.

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BUCKSPORT – The schooner Robert W., Capt. John Brackett, arrived from Mount Waldo, having made a remarkably quick trip. The schooner left last Monday night, going to Mount Waldo, where on Tuesday she loaded her cargo of granite and brought it into port here for shipment by railroad, all in less than 48 hours.

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BUCKSPORT – E.S. Coombs, O.D. Snowman and Harry Haynes returned here, having been on a hunting trip in the woods around Schoodic Lake. The party left here two weeks ago, going in their own team with a pair of horses. They brought back with them two deer apiece, the six deer making a fine showing as the returning hunters drove into town.

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OLD TOWN – Manager Edward J. Jordan has booked Stetson’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” at City Hall. This should be a welcome announcement to patrons of that popular playhouse as well as to the general public, that love this charming old drama.

It is a well-known fact that the Stetson Company is one of the best that has ever played this great play, and this season will but add to its popularity with young and old, for it is even better than what it has been. New features have been added, and the old ones given better interpretation. The musical part of the program has been greatly increased. It is said to have the heaviest scenic equipment of any company traveling.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin