100 years ago, 1914
Eight Camp Kohut boys, on a canoe trip from their headquarters on Thompson Pond, Poland, to Bath arrived in Auburn, via the Little Androscoggin late Tuesday afternoon. They started from the camp at two, Monday afternoon. The first appearance of this outing octet was on the Grand Trunk railroad tracks when they were carrying around the Barker Mill dam and the rapids below. They had experienced many carries in the course of their route thus far, and, when opposite the Roak greenhouses, they decided to store their canoes and look over a further prospective course before continuing Wednesday.

50 years ago, 1964
Extensive remodeling plans for the Sears Roebuck and Co. store at 212 Main Street, Lewiston, were revealed Tuesday. The announcement was made in a Joint statement by Charles Cressy of Sears, Roebuck, and Sumner L. Peck of the B. Peck Real Estate Company. According to Cressy, it is the intention of Sears to replace all present fixtures at the Lewiston store with the latest display materials. This project will be completed in two years, although the basement sales area is currently being revamped with a completion date of October of this year.

25 years ago, 1989
It’s not an ark or an antique, as passers-by sometimes guess, gawking at the incongruous sight in Robert Girard’s front yard in Poland Sring. It’s a genuine Chinese gaff-rigged teakwood junk, built by the Talley Boat Co. in China in 1959. The original name of the junk, Ho Choi, can be seen on the aft section, and Girard, as current owner, is not about to change it. “That would be bad luck,” he said, “as every sailor knows.” Girard, 46, is taking his time in renovating the craft, which he bought in Stuart, Fla., four years ago for $5,000. When new, he said, it was worth $300,000, and when he makes it seaworthy, it should be valued at about $15,000. Hard-carved scrolls decorate sections of the hull topside, resplendent now that Girard has re-carved them to give the ornate figures third-dimensional depth, and varnished them so that they shine in the sun. Ho Choi is 43 feet long.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.