(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – March 8, 1997

BANGOR – Just moments before the beginning of the Eastern Maine Math League fifth and final meet, Dan Lamson shared his thoughts about what ought to be the first topic.

“Not conics,” he said to his nine teammates from Orono High School. Lamson got his wish about delaying the difficult topic, which involves questions about cone shapes, parabolas and circles that intersect with ellipses.

Instead, the 15 teams gathered at Bangor High School – one to a classroom – started off with a session working on problems devoted to circles and spheres. For physics fans, one of them even focused on pulleys.

The dreaded conics was the second topic. The calculators came out for the third category, arithmetic. In truth, arithmetic was actually the easiest topic of the day, with many students at the meet scoring a perfect 12 on the round.

Top scorers in the meet were Lewis Kotredes, Bangor, 46 points; Marie Blanke, Bangor, 45; and two students with 42: Mike Pare of Orono and Zach Shubert of Bangor.

25 years ago – March 8, 1982

CASTINE – Lawrence Greenlaw, special assistant to Gov. Joseph Brennan, spoke before members of the Castine Men’s Club about a bill which would take money from the state general revenue fund to help reduce interest rates on housing and provide employment to more than 1,000 people.

Members discussed the proposed Sears Island electric plant, sales tax on electricity from Quebec, the state highway fund and the fishing and potato industry.

Col. Alfred Bagot conducted the meeting in the absence of the president. He welcomed two new members, Richard Falk and David Tenney.

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ORONO – One of the results of the media-inspired “writing crisis” of a few years ago is the Young Authors’ Conference now in its third year at the University of Maine.

Nearly 250 school children and 2,000 teachers from central Maine schools gathered to attend writing workshops run by teachers and professional writers, and to listen to a keynote talk by Lois Lowry, author of award-winning children’s books.

Lowry is not a harsh critic of writing instruction in schools. She said in an interview that most teachers are already providing the “positive reinforcement” that their pupils need most besides grammar and usage instruction. But she read a passage about teacher insensitivity from her book, “Anastasia Krupnik,” about a little girl whose poem is marked a failure because she did not capitalize the first word and rhyme the end of each line.

The goal of teachers should be to get students to write about their own experience and to recognize that the first piece of writing they do is only a first draft, said Rosemary Salesi, associate professor of education at UM who specializes in children’s literature. Future drafts, helped along by critical questions and observations by the teacher, should focus on improving the content and organization.

“Teachers who write are better teachers of writing,” she said.

50 years ago – March 8, 1957

ORONO – The Fiction Study Group of the Woman’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Edward S. Wood Jr. for a program which included a review of Kamala Markandaya’s book, “Nectar in a Sieve” given by Mrs. Richard T. Batchelder. Mrs. Wood drew a comparison between Runbeck’s book, “Year of Love,” and “Nectar in a Sieve.” Both books are stories based in India.

Mrs. Roger Clapp read excerpts from “How to Travel with Parents” by Barranger.

Mrs. Milton M. McGorrill, chairwoman of the book committee, announced that the author of the Dud Dean stories, the Rev. Arthur Macdougall of Bingham, would be guest speaker at the Husband’s Night meeting of the club.

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BUCKSPORT – The Bucksport High School debate team received top honors in the Hancock County Debate Tournament at the Bucksport school. Members of the team are Patricia Smith, Jane Harvey, Pearl Cunningham and Christine Connors. Lindon Christie Jr., faculty adviser, is coach.

Best Bucksport speakers chosen by the judges were Jane Harvey, Pearl Cunningham and Christine Connors.

Judges were William Whiting, Gerald Beckwith and Donald Barton, all members of the University of Maine Speech Department.

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ORONO – The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, making its annual appearance at the University of Maine, was warmly applauded by its enthusiastic audience of students and faculty members for a well-executed performance in the Memorial Gymnasium.

A. Stanley Cayting expressively conducted the orchestra through numbers by Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Chabrier and Moussorgsky.

As a short encore in response to eager applause of the audience, the orchestra played the delightful and humorous “Typewriter” by Leroy Anderson.

100 years ago – March 8, 1907

HAMPDEN – There is the prospect of quite a building boom in town this season. Nine new houses are already in completion.

George Goodell Jr. will build a house the coming season on the Henry Pierce place, which he recently purchased at Hampden Center.

Mrs. Annie Basford, Daniel Ryan and A.A. Smith are among those who will build houses at the Upper Corner the coming season.

Frank Reed, who recently sold his home place to Edward Doane, is living in the house he recently built.

Capt. M.L. Hodgdon leaves this week for New Bedford, Mass., to take charge of the three-masted schooner, Lottie Beard, which he and other Hampden and Bangor parties have purchased.

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Men Wanted – to learn to drive and repair automobiles: positions open pay $25 to $75 per week to competent men. Road driving and repairing course, $25 complete, license guaranteed. Get into this new industry now as the demand for competent men is greater than the supply. Boston Auto School.

Wanted – A few more ambitious young men and women to attend the Pierce Evening School of Shorthand and Typewriting, 24 State St., Brewer. Instructions given by a practical and experienced stenographer.

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BANGOR – On Thursday night 250 University of Maine students came to Bangor to celebrate the passing in the House of Representatives in Augusta of the bill granting an appropriation for which friends of the university have labored so earnestly and so long. It was much more significant than the celebration of a football victory, as it commemorates something substantial and lasting.

The students left their train at the Exchange Street station, passing up Exchange Street, across Kenduskeag bridge and so on up to Main to the Opera House. In the theater they made a very lively evening for the general audience which seemed to enjoy the fun.

The visitors liked the show, evidently; they sent flowers to Miss Fields, the leading lady, and their curtain calls at the end of every scene were enough to raise the roof. But their celebration was kept as well within bounds as a college celebration can ever be.

The students left the Exchange Street station on the 11 p.m. return train.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin