Maine has rightly been called “the playground of the nation,” and from every indication the tourist business the coming season will be the largest in years. The various steamboat and car lines are making preparations for handling large crowds at the different pleasure resorts. One thing we have long noticed – summer business is always good presidential campaign years. So let the Maine people get ready for the hosts that will flock here.

50 years ago, 1958

• Open water fishing starts in Maine Tuesday – and game wardens report more than the usual amount of open water available to eager anglers. A sizable part of Sebago, southern Maine’s only major lake, is ice-free, around White’s Bridge and the mouth of the Songo River.

• Local fishermen hoping to sneak a bite out of the beautiful salmon in Lake Auburn might as well put the rod back in the closet for another two or three weeks or until the ice covering gets around to breaking up. Romeo E. Thibodeau, president of the Androscoggin County Fish and Game Association, predicted it would be at least two weeks before Lake Auburn would be sufficiently clear for general fishing.

25 years ago, 1983

• Penny-wise motorists around the state rushed to fill up their tanks Thursday on the eve of state and federal fuel-tax hikes totaling 10 cents a gallon, even as the governor said “people understand” the need to raise more highway-repair money.

BOSTON – As a student of humor, Joseph Boskin says Americans don’t take April Fools’ Day seriously enough. “I think we have to resurrect it,” said Boskin, a social historian who tries to discern the deeper meaning of elephant jokes and other bits of humor.

• Friday, April Fools Day and Good Friday, is for the frustrated angler, tired of the long winter wait, a triple holiday, as it is also the opening day of fishing season in Maine.