YESTERDAY …

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(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – Jan. 25, 1997

BANGOR – Two men in military uniforms peered around the corner of a Pentagon corridor. “Is that Senator – I mean Secretary of Defense – Cohen?” one asked, looking at the group of people at the end of the hall.

It was, and the officer wasn’t the only person in Washington who kept calling him “senator.” After 24 years of representing the state of Maine, William S. Cohen of Bangor made a swift transition from the legislative to the executive branch of government.

It’s a change that will make the most of his experience in military and foreign affairs, but will require him to alter his trademark independence and outspokenness. He now will need to be more loyal to Clinton than he has been to any president.

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BANGOR – Somewhere in the gorgeous, foreboding expanse of Maine’s woods, amid the trees where lumberjacks and writers roam, there’s a violin. Chances are, you can’t see it. But Nathan Slobodkin can.

To be more precise, he knows exactly which maples and spruces contain the curled wood that produces the distinct finish of a violin. And he’s willing to drop everything to find them.

A passion for local wood is just one of the facets of Slobodkin’s remarkable career as a violin maker, one that has taken this self-proclaimed hippie kid from the halls of the Smithsonian to the multi-million dollar instrument repair shops of Manhattan and introduced him to such classical greats as Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman.

Most recently, his career brought him international stature. In November, Slobodkin was awarded a Certificate of Merit for his workmanship at the Violin Society of America’s prestigious competition in New Mexico – one that drew more than 200 entries from the United States, Germany, France, Canada and the People’s Republic of China.

25 years ago – Jan. 25, 1982

ORONO – University of Maine professors are planning to export their expertise to such Third World nations as Egypt, Rwanda and the Philippines under a U.S. foreign aid program sponsored by the Agency for International Development.

By far the biggest UM effort is aimed at Haiti, where teams of professors and students have been traveling while designing ways to fight poverty and malnutrition. Haiti is reputedly a corrupt, oppressive dictatorship, but politics is not on the minds of the professors.

The UM Haiti committee consists of more than 50 people, 19 of whom have been studying Haitian Creole, the French-African dialect invented by the slaves whose descendants comprise most of the impoverished nation’s population. The teacher is John Benoit, director of the UMaine Conferences and Institutes Division, who took a six-week course last summer at the University of Indiana.

50 years ago – Jan. 25, 1957

BANGOR – Volus Jones, one of Walt Disney’s top artists for more than 20 years, will be in Bangor on Feb. 9. He plans to visit institutions including the Eastern Maine General Hospital’s children’s ward. He is the artist who draws Gus, one of the stars of Disney’s cartoon feature film, “Cinderella.”

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BANGOR – Gene Autry, America’s favorite cowboy, will appear at the Bangor Civic Center for two performances, according to Forrest Fleming, promoter.

While in Bangor last year, the Autry show appeared before 8,000 persons, setting an indoor record for attendance.

His ability to sing, plus the top western talent with which he is associated, makes the Autry show one of the top groups of its type in the country.

Well known for his film roles, personal and television appearances, and his recordings, Autry is the idol of many children who have viewed his performances.

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BANGOR – More than 300 women from all parts of Maine were told that the cause of Christianity is moving forward throughout the world, even in areas under Russian domination. They were told of a strong determined underground movement of Christian workers in East Germany which will eventually see to it that the cause of Christ will triumph.

These women have gathered in Bangor for a two-day rally of the Maine Baptist Women’s Missionary Society at the First Baptist Church.

Mrs. Frank Wigginton of the board of managers of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and of the Women’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society gave a talk on the work of Baptist missionaries in Burma and India, and on conditions in East Germany. Mrs. Wigginton made a 33,650-mile trip to those countries in which she traveled by rickshaw, elephant, jeep and airplane to visit the various mission stations maintained by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society.

In the afternoon session, Mrs. Theodore Bubeck, who has been a missionary in the Belgian Congo for 25 years, told of the great steps forward being taken by the women of the Congo in matters of education, home management and spiritual life. She stated that women now outnumber men in the groups entering into the mission station life.

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BANGOR – There were some red faces at Bangor police headquarters.

Police had spent the night looking for a stolen automobile owned by Walter J. Gogans of Hampden. The vehicle had been reported stolen early in the evening from Patrick Street.

The car was found after daybreak on Newbury Street.

Sometime during the night the vehicle had been given a ticket for illegal parking.

100 years ago – Jan. 25, 1907

BANGOR – Jan. 14 will ever remain a red letter day in the annals of the First Baptist society of this city, for it not only marked the unveiling of the magnificent Thompson memorial window, but also the anniversary of the birth of the beloved officer of the church in whose memory the window was given.

The musical portion of the dedication was under the direction of C. Winfield Richmond, organist. The choir consisted of Miss Margaret Ayer, Mrs. Neil E. Newman, Willard Barrows and Charles H. Hubbard.

The platform was simply but most effectively decorated with wreaths and festoons of evergreen and roses.

Following a solo by Miss Margaret Ayer, Mr. Richmond played a soft selection on the organ, and during its rendition the pastor withdrew the veil which had concealed the beautiful memorial window, and it was revealed to the audience in all its glory.

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BANGOR – Thursday morning was cold. None was found to dispute the fact and everyone kept on the move. At the East Side Pharmacy at 7 o’clock the thermometer registered 32 below.

The cold weather caused delay in the passage of many trains. The morning train from Portland and Boston, due here at 5:25 a.m., was two hours and 40 minutes late and this caused a delay in the outgoing train. The 3:30 p.m. train from Portland and Boston was an hour late.

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OLD TOWN – The ladies of the N.N. club of Stillwater will be entertained at the home of Mrs. Charles Sutton. For the first time in the history of the club, the gentlemen will be admitted.

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OLD TOWN – Tonight in City Hall, what is expected to be the fastest and most exciting basketball game of the season will be played between St. Mary’s of Bangor and the Old Town team.

Neither team is overconfident of victory and each individual player realizes that his opponent will do his best to out-play him. Knowing this to be a fact, the opposing captains have required their men to put in some hard practice in preparation for the coming contest. A large number of tickets have already been sold and a record crowd is expected to in the hall when the first whistle blows.

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BUCKSPORT – A carload of machinery for use in the construction of the dam on the outlet of Toddy Pond arrived and will be taken there at once, when active operations will be in order.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin