(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – April 5, 1997

BANGOR – Putting to rest months of rumors, Bangor Mall and City Hall officials announced a $26.6 million renovation and expansion project aimed at bolstering the city’s economic role in the regional economy.

More than a face lift, the project is a major remodeling of the interior of the mall as the 19-year-old building tries to shed its old appearance for a trendier look that includes the upscale fashion store Filene’s.

Expected to be completed by late 1998, the project includes a $10 million remake this year of the inside of the mall as well as a 160,000-square-foot addition next year that will house Filene’s department store.

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BANGOR – A flaming sword bromeliad nests in the crook of a withered tree high above the saturated soil, its roots clinging precariously to the bark. The plant’s waxy leaves cup protectively around the brilliant orange flower, which juts toward the sunlight like a knight’s jousting lance.

Blue and purple orchids, flowers fanning out like a moth’s wings, dangle from a thin branch of the old ash. A tropical cactus drapes across another branch, like the drunkard for which it is named. On the ground far below, Swiss cheese philodrendrons and staghorn ferns obscure the rich earth.

The Bangor Civic Center is in full bloom with the annual appearance of the Bangor Garden Show. The show is expected to attract 16,000 spectators during its three-day run.

25 years ago – April 5, 1982

BREWER – The common egg becomes a work of art in the hands of Irene Slabyj. A Ukrainian native, she is expert at making Pysanky, eggs decorated in a process that exalts eggshells the way batiking transforms cloth.

According to the Brewer resident who emigrated to this country in 1948, the techniques for making Pysanky have been handed down through generations of Ukranians, most frequently mothers to daughters.

“The art of Pysanky (the term for the eggs themselves) is an ancient one, originating in pagan times and symbolizing the rebirth of the earth out of winter into spring, with its promise of new hope, new life, health and prosperity,” said Slabyj. “After the advent of Christianity, it symbolized the Resurrection, with its promise of eternal life.”

Slabyj’s eggs, which are painted raw, display symbols – a ribbon or belt for eternity; sieves or dots suggesting “fishing for men;” ladders for prayers; triangles for any trio, such as air, fire and water or the Holy Trinity; roses or eight-pointed stars for an ancient god; fish for Christianity; flowers for love and charity; suns for good fortune; and fir trees for eternal youth and health.

“What you’re doing is writing a story on the egg,” Slabyj said.

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ORONO – Orono author Dorothy Clarke Wilson, who has traveled throughout the world to research stories, is author-in-residence at Aurora College in Illinois.

Mrs. Wilson is the author of numerous biographies, novels, religious plays and books for juveniles. She has presented more than 1,000 lectures in the United States and abroad.

At Aurora College, she will be featured in a lecture on three women of the 19th century, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Dorothea Dix, who was born in Hampden, and Susette LaFlesche, subjects of her biographies.

50 years ago – April 5, 1957

HAMPDEN HIGHLANDS – Francis J. Chesley has returned to work for the Soil Conservation Service in the Penobscot County Soil Conservation District in Bangor.

During the winter, Chesley took the Civil Service examination for Soil Conservation Aide and passed with a high grade.

Interested in soil conservation work as a career employee, he will work throughout Penobscot and Hancock counties. Most of his time will be spent in making surveys and designs, and supervising construction of open drains, tile drains and farm ponds.

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BREWER – The Chicago Tribune’s Sunday Magazine of March 10, carrying an article titled “A Best Buy Home,” is of interest because the story is about Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jaap. Jaap was formerly stationed at Dow AFB. His wife is the former Beverly Marsh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Marsh of Brewer.

Mrs. Jaap was employed for several years at the New Central Furniture Co. and is well known in Bangor.

With $2,000 in savings, Jaap, a salesman, and his wife took an apartment in Chicago and commenced looking for a home. They purchased in the Country Club Hills development a three-bedroom house with 1,100 square feet of living space and a carport for $14,900. It is a new home with modern facilities and a half-acre of land.

The article relates the experience of the young couple in furnishing their home and found that the incidental expenses of moving and additional furnishings came to $822. That amount did not include an “extravagant” lamp. But taking into account the cost of the $1,100 down payment and closing costs, the total came to $1,992, all within the young couple’s budget.

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BANGOR – Members of the home economics classes at Bangor High School presented a fashion show with the theme “Queen for a Day.” The girls made ensembles they modeled. Among those taking part were Rosemary Hopkins, Maureen Honey and Joanna Cole.

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ORONO – Mrs. William A. Mosher was hostess for the Fiction Study Group.

Mrs. Bernie E. Plummer Jr. reviewed Norah Lofts’ “Afternoon of an Autocrat” and Mrs. Reginald Cowin reviewed “This Green and Pleasant Land” by Dudley Baker.

The refreshment table was appointed with a pale green linen tablecloth and a centerpiece of pink snapdragons and white daffodils in an old ivory china container. Mrs. Leroy Nickerson poured.

100 years ago – April 5, 1907

OLD TOWN – Preparations are afoot by the high school students to put a baseball team in the field this spring to compete for the prep school championship.

Many of the old ballplayers graduated last year, but enough of last year’s team remains to build on and the chances are that the team will represent Old Town High School this spring as one of the fastest in the history of the institution. Mishou, Martin, Spencer, Gray, McEachern, Wood and White are a few of the most likely candidates for the team.

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BANGOR – Most people who use the telephone have no idea how carefully every phase of the operation is supervised in order that there may be no interference with the efficiency of the service.

Those whose memory dates back to the earlier days of the utility, now a little more than 30 years old, will recall that at first the young man who then acted as operator at “central” handled subscribers’ calls pretty much in accordance of his own sweet will.

He had no set phrases and was under little actual compulsion to be courteous in his treatment of patrons. It was soon found desirable to replace the young man with a young woman. But even under the new order of things, there was none of the careful training in phraseology and correct enunciation of words which is now regarded as so important that regular schools of operation are maintained in the larger cities.

The familiar “number?” pronounced with a rising inflection, the quick yet clearly enunciated “did you get them?’ and the gentle request “what number are you calling please?” are all examples of prescribed phrases.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin