Our Neighborhood Club, with 12 members and two guests was pleasantly entertained yesterday afternoon by Mrs. Helen S. Garcelon, Goff Street, Auburn. There was a brief business session and then a typical Dickens afternoon was enjoyed by the ladies.

Mrs. Alfred Salls, Mrs. Ann Lowell and Mrs. A. C. Twombley reviewed the life and works of Dickens, after which there was general discussion of the author.

50 years ago, 1959

Today is March 23 and it was exactly 16 years ago today that fire seriously damaged Edward Little High School. Before the blaze had been brought under control that night of March 23, 1943, more than $350,000 damage had been sustained by the city’s educational landmark. The old bell tower, that for many years had towered above the city, was just a skeleton of charred timbers.

In little more than a month, on May 2, the high school was reopened after having undergone extensive repairs. The third floor of the old section was never rebuilt when it was found that the fire and water damaged walls would be too weak to support it.

25 years ago, 1984

Educators want to build a $2-million building in Lewiston’s Franklin Pasture to house a novel vocational education program designed to keep potential drop-outs in school and better serve the handicapped.

The program, an extension of the regionwide vocational center at Lewiston High School, would couple job skills, paid employment, and placement and support services with formal academic teaching for up to 350 students.

If approved, the program would serve the needs of students who now have only limited access to vocational programs but cannot perform well in traditional academic settings.