YESTERDAY …

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(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – June 1, 1996

BANGOR – The executive director of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce is leaving the chamber, but not the city. Mike Crowley is resigning from the chamber position he held for three years to accept the position of development director for Eastern Maine Healthcare.

While Crowley was executive director, the chamber increased its membership by 65 percent over the past two years, to 900 members. Members were brought in from areas not represented before, including educational institutions, social service agencies and health care providers. It also expanded the towns and cities it serves.

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ORONO – To say that recent graduate Scott Bennett has left his mark on the University of Maine could be considered a bit of an understatement. In fact, understated is the last word that comes to mind when viewing one of Bennett’s artistic contributions to the new Sculpture Station now under renovation near the Maine Center for the Arts at the Orono campus.

As a project for his sculpting class, the Dexter native has designed a huge pillar, fashioned out of PVC piping and wood, to adorn the outside facade of the building. In the spirit of Claus Oldenburgh. famous for his larger-than-life sculptures of such mundane items as clothespins and bicycles, Bennett sculpted a huge nail as a symbol of the effort of sculptors to create objects of art from various media and join them in a cohesive way.

The nail is more than 20 feet high and looks as though a giant, wielding a mallet, let out one hefty stroke and drove the nail through the front awning of the building. The end of the nail, fashioned into a point, rests on the ground.

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BANGOR – Underneath a rainbow of lights, country music star Martina McBride thrilled concert-goers with a wide spectrum of music at the Q106.5 Listener Appreciation Concert.

The 29-year-old songstress took the stage singing Linda Ronstadt’s “When Will I Be Loved?” and a roar of applause from the 5,500 fans quickly let the singer know that Bangor indeed loves her music.

The performance brought many of those in attendance to their feet and may have left some wondering how a voice like that could come out of such a petite singer.

25 years ago – June 1, 1981

BANGOR – Talking over a cup of tea, going shopping, learning to bake bread – these and other seemingly routine activities will be the focus of a unique volunteer project that aims to help abusive and neglectful parents change their behavior.

Called “Dare to Care,” the pilot project was conceived two years ago by two women who used to work at the Counseling Center in Bangor. Pat Jameson and Brenda Davis often saw the isolation and low esteem felt by parents who did not have the support of their spouse, relatives or friends. They envisioned a parent support program whereby trained, well-motivated parent aides pay regular visits to troubled families.

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BANGOR – The Bangor school board voted unanimously after an executive session to give Superintendent Howard Storm a $2,441 pay raise. His salary goes from $34,880 to $37,321, said Rick Gautschi, chairman. That does not include a $2,500 retirement annuity contribution paid each year by the school system.

50 years ago – June 1, 1956

BANGOR – Dr. Edward J. Hughes Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hughes of 106 Webster Ave., will receive his medical degree from Ottawa Medical School. He was graduated from John Bapst High School and Holy Cross College. He received a scholarship from Bowdoin College in 1955.

Dr. Hughes will begin his internship at the Eastern Maine General Hospital July 1.

Dr. Hughes is married to the former Barbara Yunck and they have two children, Edward Hughes 3rd, age 2, and Stephen Mark Hughes, 1.

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ORONO – Miss Mary June Renfro of Stillwater, a senior at the University of Maine, has received the Amy Burnham Onken Award presented to the outstanding member of Pi Beta Phi in the Alpha Province.

Miss Betty Buzzell of Old Town, a sophomore at the university, has received the Portland Alumnae Club Outstanding Province Sophomore Award.

100 years ago – June 1, 1906

BANGOR – The new engine for the Bangor Fire Department arrived on the noon freight train and was hauled to Central Station early in the afternoon. It will remain there while Superintendent of Steamers Joseph Kimball is fitting the delicate parts that came unattached.

The engine isn’t anything for looks – it isn’t as finely finished as Liberty 4, at present at the station – it hasn’t the bright nickel and brass work. But it is a ponderous, serious, powerful-looking mountain of steel that weighs 8,200 pounds and will throw two streams of water over the Morse-Oliver building.

Mr. Kimball has requested that $2,000 be appropriated for the repair of Liberty 4, an Amoskeag engine which, with a new boiler and a few new appliances, could pump 700 gallons a minute.

Three horses will be needed to haul the new engine, as it is a ton heavier than the heaviest piece of apparatus in the department. The new machine cost $3,800.

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BANGOR – The usual summer season of house-breaking has been very unhappily ushered in by a ransacking of the handsome residence of Mrs. Sarah J. Stetson on Union Street, opposite the seminary grounds. Mrs. Stetson has been in Europe for the past two years and the house has been occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin G. Merrill and family.

Just how the thieves gained entrance is not known. They entered all the unlocked rooms and turned things upside down. One man expressed the opinion that it might have been children in the neighborhood who entered the place, simply in a spirit of mischief. All the valuables in the house had been removed and there is nothing for a thief to take away unless he wants to carry chairs and tables and beds.

The house is one of the most imposing in Bangor, elegantly furnished and surrounded by extensive grounds.

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BUCKSPORT – The salmon fishing remains about the same. There appear to be but few salmon running up the river. Decatur Bridges took 14 to Bangor Thursday morning. The price is 20 cents a pound for the whole fish.

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ORONO – One of the prettiest weddings of the season took place in St. John’s Universalist Church in Orono on Thursday morning. The participants were Maj. Frank B. Cummings of Portland, formerly of Bangor, and Miss Uly W. Snow of Orono. The Rev. Nellie M. Opdale, pastor of the church, officiated at the impressive double ring ceremony. The church was decorated with palms and apple blossoms.The bride wore white crepe de chine and carried a bouquet of violets.

Directly after the ceremony a reception was held at Dr. Mayo’s, the home of the bride. The simple decorations throughout the house were apple blossoms, except the dining room where the table was daintily decorated in violet and streamers of white ribbons attached to tiny bunches of violets reaching from the chandelier to the corners of the tables. A handsome centerpiece of violets decorated the table.

Mr. and Mrs. Cummings left on the noon train amid a shower of violets instead of rice.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin