YESTERDAY …

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(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – Nov. 30, 1996

BANGOR – A little girl pushed her face against the cage at Pet Menagerie, eye level with one of the impossibly fluffy kittens inside, her fingers trying to scratch its ears.

“No,” said her mother as she pulled the girl toward J.C. Penney.

The spot she had occupied was quickly filled with other people who had been waiting to look at the kittens and puppies.

The day was a retailer’s dream – people waiting to look at things for sale.

On what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, many retail store managers in Bangor were saying that it was busier than it has been in years. But the crowds who filled hallways, formed lines and slowed traffic to a crawl, weren’t as much buying as they were looking and enjoying the beginning of the holiday season.

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BANGOR – Gail and Charlie L’Herreault and their 8-month-old baby were one night away from roaming the streets of Bangor, homeless, when a generous benefactor intervened.

Holed up in the modest efficiency unit at the city’s Scottish Inn, the unemployed couple and their baby girl were facing eviction. They owed almost a month back rent and they had no money.

A call from the front desk clerk, less than a day before their forced departure, stunned the couple.

Someone – they don’t know who – deposited nearly $1,000 in their account at the inn, paying three weeks back rent and assuring them a place to stay through December.

25 years ago – Nov. 30, 1981

BANGOR – Jeff Courtney, 15, of Bangor had a little something to be thankful for on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. Jeff, hunting with his father, Richard, in Bradford, bagged an eight-point buck, which dressed out at a healthy 238 pounds.

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BANGOR – A Bass Park Corp. official credited the peaceful crowd of 1,500 at the Bill Chinnock-Alice Cooper concert at the Bangor Auditorium to tight security and thorough frisking at the door.

Police had on hand a trash can for confiscated items. Police collected such articles as Pepto-Bismal, No-Doz, marijuana, cans of soft drinks and beer, and drug paraphernalia.

Between numbers Chinnock said, “I hear they want to stop rock and roll in Bangor. If you’re 18 you can’t drink in bars anymore. Where are the recreation centers for you guys to hang out in? Where are the town fathers?”

50 years ago – Nov. 30, 1956

BANGOR – Youth has really taken over the American entertainment field as will be proven when The Biggest In-Person Show of ’56 comes to the Bangor Auditorium for one performance, featuring The Platters.

The Platters are still in their early 20s and already have four gold records to their credit.

Clyde McPhatter, though still in his early 20s, has been in the professional entertainment field since 12 years of age and has sung with the Ward Dominoes and the Drifters.

But the prize for youth in the show goes to Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. All the boys in the group are 17 and under. Frankie is only 14. Frankie is not only the lead tenor in the group, but he has written the Teenagers’ biggest hits, including “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” “Come on Baby,” Please Be Mine” and “Am I Fooling Myself.”

Also featured are The Clovers, Shirley and Lee, Chuck Berry, Kila Johnson, Shirley Gunter, The Flairs and Buddy Johnson and his orchestra.

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BANGOR – In this age of nuclear weapons, Civil Defense is our main defense, Miss Elizabeth McCarthy told members of the Bangor District.

Miss McCarthy, civilian administrator for the Bangor Filter Center, declared that millions of Americans must be trained in CD and every American must learn the facts of survival. “Without CD training,” she asserted, “a community can be rendered helpless. Survivors [of a nuclear weapons attack] would find themselves homeless, without food, clothing, shelter or money.” In order to prevent a complete collapse on the home front, we need millions trained in Civil Defense and intensive education in self-protection, the speaker declared.

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BANGOR – An experiment to prepare Bangor for what is expected to be the greatest shopping season in history, was discussed and approved by city officials and local businessmen.

The heart of the plan deals with the cooperation of all parties concerned to eliminate meter feeding in the downtown sector and to provide added parking facilities at the auditorium grounds during the Yuletide rush.

Meter feeding is the simple expedient of bringing your car to work and dashing out at intervals during the day, inserting coins into the meter to keep the flag down and avoid getting a ticket.

100 years ago – Nov. 30, 1906

GLENBURN – Mrs. Annie L. Grover of Glenburn trapped a fugitive convict in a barn at her home where he was captured. She came to Bangor and engaged the services of lawyer John F. Robinson to prosecute her claim for the $100 reward offered by Warden Norton in behalf of the state of Maine and $10 offered by the U.S. government. Mr. Robinson says Mrs. Grover is fully entitled to the reward.

Mrs. Grover was formerly Mrs. Fisher, and lived for a time on Essex Street in Bangor. Mr. Fisher died in 1902 leaving her with three children and soon afterward she was married to Albert Grover of Glenburn and removed to that town where Mr. Grover is employed by Fred Cort, a manufacturer of charcoal.

Mrs. Grover is about 40 years old, unassuming but spunky, as her clever caging of the convict shows.

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BREWER – Brewer is in possession of the new [train] station, which brave in its new coat of paint, attracts attention. The building, one having good architectural lines, is well constructed, convenient and commodious. Interior decorations are very nearly completed and desks and other furnishings soon will be put in.

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HAMPDEN – Eight members of the Bangor Gun Club tried their skill at the grounds of the club in East Hampden Thanksgiving morning, and considering the conditions of the weather they acquitted themselves well. The wind was blowing furiously and the temperature was not of the variety to inspire the contestants with the ambition to break records.

Henry Peavey broke 42 clay pigeons out of a possible 55, which was the highest record made in the tournament. Porter Osborne, who has the reputation of being one of the most accurate shots in the club, broke 55 pigeons out of a possible 75.

Other contestants were Walter Higgins, R. Kimball, H.A. Chapman, M.H. Cobb, H.S. Summers and Howard Peavey.

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BUCKSPORT – The football game that was to have been played on the Central Street grounds was given up on account of the snow on the field, and some of the best men of the Point team being unable to play.

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BANGOR – A pretty romance culminated at Bangor when Miss Estelle Ethel Mayberry and Charles Arthur Armstrong of Bangor were married at the residence of the bride.

The wedding was the outcome of a correspondence begun last spring between the parties that had its inception in a story in the Sunday Post about the many eligible bachelors in the town.

Mr. Edwin Torrey, one of the persons mentioned as eligible, received several missives from members of the fair sex and as he could not attend to them all, he distributed them among his friends. The one written by Miss Mayberry he gave to Mr. Armstrong, who answered it in a spirit of fun.

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BUCKSPORT – Frank Fellows, son of Hon. and Mrs. O.F. Fellows, who has been in the Russell hospital in Brewer recovering from an injury received in a football game several weeks ago, was able to be removed to his home in Bucksport, arriving on the train. His many friends were glad to see him and hope that he will soon be able to be about again.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin