Yesterday …

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(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – Aug. 3, 1996

ORONO – Charles Rauch, a retired rear admiral who commanded three nuclear submarines during a distinguished 30-year Navy career, is definitely not the type of person who walks away from a tough job.

It turns out that he is not the type who can easily drive away from one either, as he discovered recently after retiring as chief financial officer for the University of Maine and setting out on a head-clearing, cross-country ramble with his wife.

Rauch, who is referred to usually as “Chick” and sometimes “The Admiral,” depending on his demeanor at the moment, packed up the family Buick in late April and headed west on a trip that took the couple 12,666 miles through 27 states, 13 national parks and three Canadian provinces.

After a pressure-packed year without a vacation, leaving Orono and the Maine countryside was the easy part. Rauch dearly loves to travel, and tends to chronicle the passing miles with the enthusiasm of a cartographer charting an unexplored world. He says he often has flying dreams, too, which do not necessarily involve cumbersome external conveyances such as airplanes.

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ORONO – It was an unusually quiet morning at the construction site of the nearly completed complex that will house the School of Performing Arts at the University of Maine. A dozen workers were milling about – painting, applying floor trim, wiring electrical sockets. Occasionally the fire alarm system, which was undergoing adjustments, would go off with a harsh blare.

Floyd Jenkins, the general manager of the drywall company project, was stacking long planks of wood onto a lift. He was only too happy to walk through the center and show off the final stages of steel stud and drywall work done by his Lewiston-based company.

Scott Brown, who was the foreman on Jenkins’ crew, had already moved on to another job, but the spiffy work he left behind is the hallmark of the building’s modern look.

25 years ago – Aug. 3, 1981

CASTINE – He turns 98 next week, but the occasion was not a celebration of his longevity. Not directly, anyway.

Scott Nearing and his wife, Helen, 77, vanguards of the back-to-the-land movement of the early 1970s, fielded questions at an informal session at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. More than 150 people viewed the half-hour documentary the Nearings made about five years ago.

The Nearings have spent the last 50 years or so homesteading in Vermont and Maine. They moved to Harborside in 1952 and five years ago finished building a stone home overlooking Penobscot Bay.

Imagine building a new house when you are in your 90s. Imagine building a house out of stone and cement at any age.

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BANGOR – About six years ago, Peter Re, then conductor of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, suggested that a string quartet be formed from the ensemble personnel.

That quartet played for “Morning Pro Musica” with Robert J. Lurtsema, the program host, but eventually it languished. Recently, Miles Morgan, the last conductor of the BSO, thought that there were more stable personalities available, so he pushed for a new ensemble. The result is a foursome comprising Estelle Holly and Norman Balabas, violins; James Doversberger, viola; and Robert Collins, cello.

50 years ago – Aug. 3, 1956

BREWER – New construction in the city of Brewer so far this year has passed the one-half million dollar mark, said City Manager Donald J. Waring. He said 78 building permits had been issued in Brewer this year, with the cost of construction estimated at $507,137.

A partial breakdown of the permits lists 35 new homes, 10 private garages and five new business structures. The remainder of the permits were issued for alterations and additions to present buildings.

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BANGOR – One hundred Boy Scouts, 64 horses, 100 rides and shows on the World of Mirth Midway and a lovely singing star, June Valli, kept an estimated 6,500 Bangor fair-goers happy.

The Scouts kept the crowd entertained with Indian dancing, bullwhip cracking, archery sharp-shooting and other feats from the Scout handbook, helped along by four clowns from the Scout executive department.

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BANGOR – June Valli, a pert little bundle of personality, headlined the stage show at the Bangor State Fair. Miss Valli, former star of the “Hit Parade,” was as pretty a singer as an audience could wish for and she put over a variety of songs with zest and plenty of talent.

She starred in a two-hour show that featured the Broadway Rockettes and a number of acts that delighted the 1,600 people in the grandstand for the George A. Hamid Revue.

The dark-haired girl with sparkling eyes, dressed in a bouffant, strapless gown of white lace and yellow tulle, swung into the lively “Somethin’s Gotta Give” with plenty of swing and a strong voice.

100 years ago – Aug. 3, 1906

BUCKSPORT – Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Brownell, who have been for the past two months at Shady Nook cottage at Alamoosook Lake, left for New York where Mr. Brownell will join the “When Knighthood Was in Flower” company.

They have purchased a lot at Alamoosook and will build. The icehouse already has been erected and will be filled this coming winter. The foundation of the cottage will be laid this fall and the cottage erected next spring.

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OLD TOWN – The condition of the sidewalk in front of the bank building is causing a good deal of comment. Many people have expressed the opinion that summary action should be taken to repair the sidewalk, or at least, to lay a few planks on the street.

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BANGOR – Elton W. Ware, who was for many years prominent in church, business and Grand Army circles, died at his residence in Grove Street at the age of 65.

He was born in Orrington, March 6, 1841, the son of Warren and Cynthia Ware. In early manhood, he followed the occupation of builder and was engaged upon a contract in Connecticut when the Civil War was declared. He enlisted in the Second Connecticut Regiment and served with bravery and distinction, being a member of the color guard at the Battle of Bull Run.

At the close of his first term of service, Mr. Ware re-enlisted in Co. I, Ninth Maine, for a period of three years. He was captured July 11, 1863, and was not discharged until March 1, 1865 – an unusually long period of 600 days, during which he was confined in Charleston, S.C., Columbia jail, Columbia asylum camp, Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro, finally being exchanged, weakened by much suffering, at Wilmington, N.C.

Numerous Maine men were discovered to have served great lengths of time, but the record of long service was held by Mr. Ware.

Since the close of the Civil War, Mr. Ware has resided in Bangor. For 35 years he was associated with the firm Wheelwright and Clark and also was the agent for the Abner Taylor estate. At one time, he served on the City Council.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin