10 years ago – Dec. 27, 1997

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – Christmas may be over, but the shopping isn’t. Retailers across northern New England slashed prices and opened their doors early Friday to bargain-hunting consumers.

At the Bangor Mall, traffic was reported brisk with consumers particularly interested in seasonal wrapping paper, decorations and other items, many of which were discounted up to 50 percent.

Not all customers were looking to buy, however. The Wal-Mart in Bangor dedicated several checkout lanes for returns, something other merchants also were prepared for.

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CASTINE – Followed by an affectionate pair of standard black poodles, Bonnie Tyler, wife of the president of Maine Maritime Academy, walks with a cup of chamomile tea from the kitchen of her home to her living room, where she sits in front of the fireplace and looks out across Castine Harbor to Cape Rosier.

The large, eat-in kitchen of Tyler’s home is resolutely practical, with poison control advisories and safety tips for choking guests posted on the refrigerator. The public areas of the house, however, are immaculately furnished with Victorian sofas and Oriental carpets, and adorned with festive holiday decorations.

Since Bonnie and Len Tyler moved into the president’s house two and a half years ago, Bonnie Tyler has turned the official residence into both a home for her family and the site for innumerable academy functions.

The white Colonial Revival home was built about 90 years earlier by the Carpenter family from Massachusetts, who used it as a summer residence. The academy bought it shortly after its founding in 1941, and a succession of academy presidents has resided there ever since.

25 years ago – Dec. 27, 1982

ORLAND – Marion Bridges is spending Christmas at home this year in more ways than one. Her home is a small modified post-and-beam structure built for her by volunteers on the grounds of H.O.M.E. in Orland. The building was built last summer when Marion was unable to stay in her former home in Brooklin after the death of her husband in March.

“The old house was just too big and old to repair,” Marion said, “and it was lonely down there.”

She’s not lonely anymore, she said. Her new home has become a regular message center for the workers at H.O.M.E. She’s never at a loss for company.

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BANGOR – The high winds and a municipal holiday were two factors responsible for the trashing of the Downeast School over the Christmas weekend. Trash put out at curbside for collection was left over the weekend since municipal employees had a holiday Christmas Eve.

The high winds that came up Sunday, recorded at 65 mph at Bangor International Airport, redistributed the trash in short order. The bicycle racks at the school served to catch some of the passing debris.

50 years ago – Dec. 27, 1957

BANGOR – A brand-new spic and span IGA supermarket opened its doors at 489 Broadway, between the Mary Snow school and the Bangor Gardens.

Owned and operated by William E. Hunt, the market is designed to serve the heavily populated section of the city located near and around Bangor Gardens.

Everything is self-service except for the fish counter. The decor is pastel colors of yellow, green and flamingo pink and is very attractive to the eye.

There is plenty of parking space surrounding the store and more will be added as the business expands. The location is at one of the proposed interchanges of the new interstate highway and it is expected that the store will draw customers from all over the city once the road is built.

Hunt has been associated with his mother, Mrs. Mabel Allen, in the operation of Allen’s Grocery Store for the past nine years. His mother is associated with him in this new enterprise.

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ORONO – Christmas Day at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Martin, Kelley Road, was made happier and merrier when the Martins received a call from their son, Pfc. Francis J. Martin, from Fletcher’s Island in Iceland.

The call came over the telephone via radio short wave. The Martins learned from their son that it was on the chilly side where he was located, in fact 60 below zero. Mrs. Martin remarked that the temperature in Orono at the time she was conversing with her son was around 60 degrees above zero.

Francis, better known to his friends as “Sonny,” graduated in 1956 from Orono High School, where he was named Student of the Year. After graduation he joined the U.S. Army and received basic training at Fort Dix, N.J. He graduated from radar school at Fort Monmouth, N.J., and has been in Iceland since September.

100 years ago – Dec. 27, 1907

BANGOR – Arthur Huskins scored a great success at The Nickel in his new song, “When the Golden Sunset Fades Beyond the Hill,” and was obliged to provide one to three encores at every performance. It is a very pretty melody, and Mr. Huskins with his clear, true and finely cultivated voice, does it full justice.

Frank O’Leary has a good, brisk, lively song called “Sacramento,” and he puts plenty of spirit into it. It is the kind of song Mr. O’Leary used to sing when he was known as one of Bangor’s cleverest entertainers and no amateur or semiprofessional show was complete without him. It is well worth a visit to The Nickel just to hear him give it now.

There are five pictures in the new series. One of them shows a long, long railroad trip through Wales and northern England, and in a constantly changing panorama there is some of the finest, most rugged and picturesque scenery in the world.

“The Wood Industry in Norway” is also a fine natural view, instructive and never dull.

Then there are three comedy sketches, “Master as General,” “An Economical Trip,” and “The Unlucky Trousers.”

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BUCKSPORT – Mrs. N.W. Ladd has had on exhibition in the window of her lunch room a large Christmas cake, very prettily decorated to be presented to one of her many customers on Christmas evening. The recipient was W.H. Gardner.

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EAST BREWER – Getchell Brothers have bought a wood lot in Holden and have begun hauling wood to the city with a three-horse team.

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CASTINE – A Christmas tea was held by the Unitarian Society at Emerson Hall on Christmas Eve to which the members of the Sunday school and their parents were invited. The short program was rendered with jolly old Santa Claus appearing and presenting presents to all of the children.

The tree at the Congregational Church was held in the vestry, a large number being present. Mother Goose, accompanied by Simple Simon, Boy Blue, Bo Peep and all the other little Goosies put in an appearance. After the little Goosies had been put through their paces, Santa Claus stripped the tree of its load of good things for the children.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin