(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – Oct. 23, 1998

EDDINGTON – If you’re going to play the blues, you might as well be in Memphis. That’s just where a local trio is headed, as the Billings Brew Band will take part in the International Blues Talent Competition in that Tennessee home of the blues.

The group earned the right to go by winning the Maine Blues Society’s Road to Memphis contest. Coming off a club date the night before, the band beat three other groups while playing their all-original music.

Since then the trio, all Eddington natives, have been getting ready for Beale Street in Memphis. Trio members are bassist Randy Billings, 21; his brother, Mike Billings, 23, on guitar and lead vocals; and Dan Bragdon, 23, on drums.

25 years ago – Oct. 23, 1983

BANGOR – The Hammond Street Congregational Church will begin a celebration of its 150th anniversary with a special service.

Dr. Avery Post, president of the United Church of Christ, a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and a recognized church leader in the United States, will deliver the sermon.

Prayers will be led by the Rev. Edward G. Ernst, a former minister of the Hammond Street Church and now minister emeritus. The processional will be led by those who have served the church as deacons and deaconesses during the past 30 years.

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ORONO – The Rev. Rose Mary Denman, formerly on the staff of the Orono United Methodist Church and presently pastor of the Howland and Alton United Methodist churches, has published a book, “With Healing Hands.”

In her book she describes her convictions and refers to Biblical references on the subject of healing.

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BANGOR – Pizza. When your teeth slice through the tasty pepperoni, sink into the scalding sauce and tear off the chewy crust, it’s not a meal you are eating – it’s a piece of art.

The yellow pages are full of people who claim to make a good pizza. They range from the business that throws a frozen crust into a microwave oven to the pizza parlor that has spent several years refining a dough recipe until it’s just right.

It’s also a very competitive business in the Bangor area.

The quantities involved are large. At Papa Gambino’s in Bangor and Brewer, for example, they use about a ton of cheese every week.

Rod Pelkey, whose Pizza Oven is located on Lincoln Street in Bangor, has seven years’ experience, but had never worked for himself. Working 125 hours for himself is better than 80 hours for someone else, said Pelkey, who co-owns the operation with his wife, Raena.

50 years ago – Oct. 23, 1958

HAMPDEN – Mr. and Mrs. Harry Edgecomb of Hampden Highlands celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with an open house at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Robert Taylor, on Summer Street.

Harry Austin Edgecomb and Miss Sarah Helen McClure were married on Oct. 22, 1908, at Miss McClure’s home in Stacyville. The couple moved to Hampden Highlands, where they have resided in the same house overlooking the Penobscot River for the past 50 years. Edgecomb was a carpenter until his retirement a few years ago.

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BANGOR – Mrs. William Bendery of 31 Hannibal St. has complained to police concerning the theft of two large pumpkins that were stolen from her front porch by three teenagers.

Mrs. Bendery witnessed the act, but was unable to prevent it. It was a case of a quick pick-up and an even faster take-off.

With Halloween but a few days away, the pumpkins will probably end up looking through someone’s window. But by then they will undoubtedly be unrecognizable.

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EDDINGTON – A reception for the teachers was held in connection with the first fall meeting of the Eddington PTA in the Consolidated School.

In the receiving line were the officers: Mrs. Minnie Hooper, president; Mrs. Barbara Drew, vice president; Mrs. Shirley James, secretary; and Mrs. Carolyn Wood, treasurer; and teachers Mrs. Jane McGouldrick, Mrs. Bertha Cole, Mrs. Anita Mountain, Mrs. Ella Ifill, Mrs. Florence Sweet and Mrs. Blanche Grimes, principal.

The attendance banner was won by Mrs. Mountain’s fourth- and fifth-grade room.

100 years ago – Oct. 23, 1908

BREWER – The Pintsch Compressed Gas Co. has purchased land adjacent to the tannery of the Britton Leather Co. in Brewer and will immediately begin the erection of a large gas plant.

The Pintsch company furnishes gas for the railroads throughout the East, and they have no relay tanks this side of Boston. A car has to make the run from Boston to St. John and back on one filling and lately, at times, on train No. 8, at night, the cars have been in darkness.

The company will erect a modern plant, which will give employment to a large crew of men, and pipes will be run from Brewer to the passenger yards of the Maine Central in Bangor.

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OLD TOWN – The girls of Old Town High School are forming a basketball team. There are many young ladies in the school with athletic ability and the basketball team will undoubtedly be a great success. Candidates for the various positions on the team have been called for.

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CASTINE – The Unitarian meeting house, one of the historic churches of eastern Maine, has just had a large tablet placed on the front of the property inscribed with letters of gold.

The inscription was prepared by, and the work done under the supervision of, Charles W. Noyes, a member of the parish.

The design and style of the tablet was made to conform to the architecture of the church, which when it was remodeled, was designed by Bullfinch, architect of the Massachusetts state house. The inscription reads:

“The Meeting House of the First Parish of Castine, Massachusetts-Maine, Erected 1790, Remodeled 1831, The Oldest Church Edifice in Eastern Maine. Here were held Town Meetings and Elections, 1796-1831, Special Court Sessions 1796-1838, Meetings to Provide for Public Safety and National Defense, 1809, 1812-13, 1839, 1861-65 and Enlistments, 1839, 1861-65. The First Congregational Society, Unitarian, Organized 1798, Reorganized 1867.”

It is hoped that this beginning of marking historic sites and buildings will serve to call attention to the desirability of a general movement in that direction.

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BUCKSPORT – Ray and Harriman, who have been operating a steam sawmill on the Castine Road in Orland during the summer, have sawed out all their stock, which they made into box shooks, all ready to put together, which were hauled here and shipped on the cars to various points.

They have closed the mill and are now making arrangements for a supply of stock for another season. Edward F. Sinnett has been the engineer in charge and everything has run smoothly during the season.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin