A fire which at one time threatened to sweep the entire State Fair grounds, Lewiston, yesterday afternoon, burned four of the cattle sheds to the ground, destroyed the office of Superintendent of the Cattle Department, and did considerable damage to the roof of the grand stand. A spark from the shifting engine on the Maine Central railroad, is supposed to have set fire to the dry grass, which burned like straw, and soon spread to the cattle sheds nearest the midway. The cattle sheds, four in number, were burned to the ground in almost no time. The live sparks from the cattle sheds were carried by the strong wind over the track and to the roof of the grand stand.

50 Years Ago, 1955

The adjutant General’s office said today that Maine National Guardsmen of ground and air branches will join in a history-making “Minute Man” mobilization speed test that could be called anytime now. Each of the National Guard units in more than 50 Maine communities will assemble and prepare to execute missions prescribed by the adjutant general. Time and date of the alert, scheduled to be uniform all over the nation, is a secret of the National Guard Bureau in Washington. “Operation Minute Man” was named for the colonial civilian-soldiers who, 180 years ago this month, dropped their tools of livelihood and took up their muskets against the British. Maine has about 4,500 of the nation’s 340,000 National Guardsmen.

25 Years Ago, 1980

It’s official – The Chisholm Pastry Shoppe in Jay has now sold over two million doughnuts in their 25 years of operation! “The public has been good to us for 25 years, we’ve had a lot of good help and feel like we have a college education, through trial and error,” quoted Ronnie and Dot (Therrien). Asked about the next 25 years, both said, “Hope they are easier than the first!” Chisholm Pastry Shoppe is now the only full family bakery in Franklin County.

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