(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

10 years ago – Jan. 3, 1998

BANGOR – When Elliot Blackstone trotted off the court to get – how do I say this delicately – a coach-mandated first-quarter breather, the face that greeted him at the bench was not that of the happy, contented mentor.

Instead, it was a rather energetic coach Roger Reed who told Blackstone exactly what he thought of his performance to that point.

The crime: being tentative.

Later, when Blackstone was allowed back on the hardwood in the Red Barry Gym, Reed sat back and relaxed as much as basketball coaches ever relax. Not at all.

He could have.

Blackstone, a 6-foot junior, went absolutely ape on Nokomis of Newport from there, scoring 21 points in the final three quarters and keying a 70-46 Big East win.

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ORONO – Cindy Blodgett has single-handedly made large Alfond Arena crowds erupt in jubilant cheers with her play for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

Friday night, Blodgett silenced a sold-out throng of 5,508 fans.

The UMaine faithful received a sudden reminder that the program’s most celebrated performer, who has been as dependable as she has been sensational in three-plus seasons, should never be taken for granted.

Blodgett aggravated a soft tissue injury in her left foot and was forced to leave the game with 8:20 remaining in Friday’s America East game against Boston University. The Black Bears posted an 80-56 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 5,508, but Blodgett’s sudden vulnerability seem to overshadow any elation.

Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie said Blodgett is suffering from a painful condition called plantar fasciitis, which involves the tightening, tearing and swelling of tissues in the bottom of the foot.

25 years ago – Jan. 3, 1983

ORONO – The many ways the University of Maine contributes to the quality of life in Maine will be the theme at Expo ’83.

Workshops and exhibits on topics ranging from acid rain research to the options and issues of two-income families will be available. Dr. Joyce Brothers, psychologist and television personality, and singer-songwriter David Mallett will headline the festivities.

50 years ago – Jan. 3, 1958

BANGOR – Little Frederick Brown has been officially declared the “First Baby of 1958” in Bangor or Brewer and, thus, the winner of the annual First Baby Contest.

The time of the little fellow’s birth to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Brown of 124 Palm St. at Stinson Private Hospital has been officially recorded as 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day. A close runner-up in the contest was little Kimberly Ann Reynolds, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roland Reynolds of Union Street, who was born at 5:19 a.m. on the same morning at Eastern Maine General Hospital.

Little Master New Year will soon be awarded a host of gifts from the merchants of Bangor, among which will be three weeks of diaper service, a beautiful nylon blanket made like pajamas, a Johnson’s baby gift set, a scale to measure Freddy’s growth from his original 9 pounds, 6 1/2 ounces, a gift certificate for his first shoes, the very latest in baby tubs, a deluxe baby book, an Add-o-Matic bank, a sterling silver baby cup engraved with the little fellow’s initials, $10 worth of dry cleaning for the family and 100 gallons of oil.

Sponsors of this annual contest were Boyd and Noyes Inc., Picture and Gift Shop, Eastern Trust and Banking Co., Sanitary Diaper Service, Senters, Sweet’s, W.T. Grant Co., Robinson and Kenney, Standard Shoe Store, Miller Drug, Gold Star Cleaners, Thompson and Lyford and Webber Oil Co.

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BANGOR – If ever a ballgame could be termed a “natural,” tonight’s clash between Bangor and John Bapst at the Municipal Auditorium would fall into that category.

For the first time in a 30-year history of the spirited basketball rivalry, both teams enter the game with perfect records. The Rams have racked up five straight and the Crusaders – off to their best start in years – have reeled off seven in a row. This will start the fourth decade in a great rivalry.

Add to this a crowd of perhaps 4,500 fans and the stage is set.

Coaches Red Barry of Bangor and Johnny Mitchell of the Crusaders report that their teams are in razor sharp condition.

Bapst will start Tommy Jordan, John Greer, Bob DeGrasse, Bob McAllister and Bob Reynolds.

Coach Barry will counter with Jim Mooney, Ted Leadbetter, Archie Tracy, Bill Cohen and Wayne Lawton.

The game shapes up as a close scrap. Both clubs can shoot, with the Rams holding an edge in the experience department.

100 years ago – Jan. 3, 1908

BANGOR – Conditions along the river as regards anchor ice were worse Thursday night than they have been at all. Electric cars were stalled in Bangor and along all the lines controlled by the Bangor Railway & Electric Co. after 4 p.m. for several hours. It was absolutely unavoidable and the company used every resource that they had at their command trying to avoid it.

Not a single wheel at the Veazie station could be turned by waterpower, as there was better than 7 feet of water in wheel pits. All the boilers were run under full head, and every engine that could be made to turn was pressed into operation. But when the lights began to come on at 4 p.m. the load was too heavy for the dynamos to carry, and the cars were hauled off.

It was a problem of shutting off the lights or taking off the cars and it was immediately decided that fewer persons would be inconvenienced from canceling car schedule than from cutting off the lights. Of course people who were in Bangor from out of town were inclined to be rather restless, but suburban cars were run soon after 6 p.m., as soon as a single unit of power could be spared from the lights.

At the Veazie station of the Bangor Railway & Electric Co. it resembled a young inferno. The section devoted to water power was silent and cold, while the fire room and the portion of the main floor devoted to the auxiliary steam engines was a bewilderment of blaze, steam and flying wheels. Anxious engineers stood with their eyes centered on the delicate little needles that indicated to a fraction just what power was being developed and used.

Abreast of the lower end of the station, where one ought to have seen a dam, there was nothing to show that the dam was there. The jagged fields of ice were piled up flush and higher than the apron itself, and the suggestion was disquieting.

The Bangor Railway & Electric Co., in cooperation with the Bodwell Water Power Co., put a large crew at work near the Milford station of the Bodwell Co., stopping the flow of anchor ice and caring for it. It is expected today that some of the under ice at the Veazie dam will wash through and that an immediate drop in the back water will take place.

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BUCKSPORT – Charles O. Hutchins of Penobscot, who is a large shipper or fresh eggs and poultry, on Thursday with his usual consignment, shipped two large cases containing more than 200 rabbits to Boston where they have a ready sale for about 40 cents a pair. Many of the boys in this vicinity make quite an amount of pocket money by snaring them and selling them to the shippers.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin