(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – July 31, 1998

OLD TOWN – Inspired by the sturdy crafts of the Penobscot Indians, local entrepreneur George Gray hired A.E. Wickett to build the first Old Town Canoe in 1898.

As the brand grew in stature, so did the Old Town factory. It is now the largest producer of canoes and kayaks in the world and a drawing card for outdoors enthusiasts, with an average of 50 tourists per day visiting during the summer months.

With Gov. Angus King in town for the company’s 100th anniversary, city officials are busy preparing for the next century of waterfront development. They hope to build on Old Town Canoe’s success with a waterfront designed to keep sports tourists in the city.

25 years ago – July 31, 1983

KENDUSKEAG – What do you do with 500 yards of rug binding and an acre of wool material? If you’re Gail Partridge, a talented seamstress, you make 50 horse coolers (blankets), which are draped over the winners of the Bass Park raceway pacers and trotters.

Partridge, a Kenduskeag housewife whose sewing experience had been limited to crafts and mending for her and her husband’s five children, was drafted into the horse blanket business this spring.

Partridge was paid $19.95 for each blanket she custom-made to the specifications of the business that sponsored each race.

Before Partridge made the coolers, they were ordered months in advance out of state and were all the same. With a few days warning, however, Partridge can whip up on her 20-year-old sewing machine a cooler in just about any color called for.

Maneuvering the bulky wool blend material, which she purchases from Guilford Woolen Mill, is tiring, Partridge said, but it takes only about two hours to make each blanket. She then takes the blanket to H.M. Goldsmith Co. in Old Town where Steve Weingarten applies the lettering.

Partridge’s 13-year-old daughter, Cindy, helps her with the cutting.

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HAMPDEN – “The biggest problem in education is a matter of motivation.”

With these and a few hundred other well-chosen words, U.S. Secretary of Education Terrell Bell, along with about 50 area residents, dedicated the Edythe L. Dyer Community Library under clear skies and a light breeze.

Edythe L. Dyer, 3-year-old granddaughter and namesake of the lady who gave the library to the town, was held up by her father, Jack Dyer, while she cut the ribbon that was hung across the door.

The Hampden Town Council accepted the $300,000 Tudor-style home as a gift from Mrs. Dyer and agreed to lease the building for $10,000 annually, with Mrs. Dyer returning $10,000 each year. The lease arrangement allows the town to use the building on a trial basis with the option to have the Dyers take it back at any time or for them to simply give the building to the town.

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BREWER – Low key, but an important part of the Bangor-Brewer business community for the past 60 years, the Emple Knitting Mills on Wilson Street has weathered both the recession and foreign competition with only a minor drop in sales.

Every week, 24,000 sweaters are manufactured at the mill and shipped throughout New England for sale in famous stores such as Brooks Bros., Saks Fifth Avenue and Filene’s, according to company president, Jerry L. Williams.

Founded by Samuel Emple and expanded by his son Joseph Emple, the business is still family-owned and -operated.

50 years ago – July 31, 1958

BANGOR – Plenty of ice cream, candy, hot dogs, sunshine and approximately 6,000 children made for an enjoyable third day at the 109th Bangor Fair.

Gov. Edmund S. Muskie was a guest of Thomas Mourkas at the evening’s grandstand show.

Muskie arrived in a light blue Cadillac, driving around the track once before taking the stage to bring official greetings to the fair.

The governor was applauded as he briefly paid tribute to the fair’s fine reputation throughout the state. He remarked that this would be his last opportunity in his capacity as governor to wish fair-goers good weather and the organization continued success through the years.

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BANGOR – Charlie Gould of Bangor Hydro has skidded 67 points in hitting since the last tally but take a close look or you’ll never notice it, because the vet pitcher-outfielder’s average is still a whopping .538. Gould still leads the Eastern Maine League by a comfortable 146 points.

Closest to Charlie is his teammate Roger Wing, who rose 10 points to a healthy .392. Third is husky Don Rice of Bucksport. The former Colby College ace gained 12 points to .384. Jasper Kane of the Bucks lost 41 points but is only two behind Rice at .382. Rounding out the top five is Dick Geroux of Old Town, his team’s only representative, at .357.

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BANGOR – Whether or not there was a record crowd at the Bangor Fair, there was no question about there being a near record attendance in the city jail, and all on account of the fair.

The reason: Arrests by police, 15 in number, of those attempting to gain entry to the fair without paying. All were charged with larceny by evading a fare. With but one or two exceptions, those involved were residents of Hampden Highlands, Newburgh or Etna.

Those taken into custody were males, ranging in age from 13 to 26 years. More than half of those arrested were over the juvenile age limit of 16 years, and were locked up in a cell following their arrest.

A mother of one of the young men locked up was located at the Bangor Opera House in the company of two young girls who had come to Bangor to watch the Elvis Presley movie.

The women folk had chosen Elvis in preference to the fair and had made plans to join the boys later. She didn’t believe it when the officer tapped her on the shoulder at the show and told her “Junior was in the jug.”

100 years ago – Jul 31, 1908

BANGOR – Dr. John A. Green and Dr. George A. Foster, the recently appointed interns in the Eastern Maine General Hospital, have arrived and will begin service immediately. Both young men are graduates of Bowdoin College from the Maine Medical School.

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BUCKSPORT – A cannonball, no doubt a relic of the lively times back in 1814 when the British fleet sailed up the Penobscot River blazing away promiscuously, was brought to light a short time ago by carpenters who were repairing an old house near the river at North Bucksport, owned by Capt. George W. Reed.

The ball was no doubt fired from a British gun at the house which presented an easy mark upon the shore.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin