100 years ago, 1916
While no official announcement has been made regarding an advance in the wages of the textile operatives in Lewiston, it was rumored yesterday that such an announcement was soon to be made, the new schedule to take effect early in January. An increase of five percent was predicted.

50 years ago, 1966
A painting owned by Auburn supermarket magnate Richard W. Sampson will be displayed next month at an Auburn bank, it was learned Thursday. The painting by Sir Winston Churchill was purchased at a London auction in November by Sampson for $27,930, and it reportedly will be on display Jan. 10-11 at the Auburn branch of the First Manufacturers National Bank. A bank official contacted Auburn police Thursday, asking that the department provide an escort for the painting when it is taken to the bank the morning of Jan. 10 and again when it is returned to the Sampson residence following the close of the bank’s business day on Jan. 11. Sampson, who only recently moved to Auburn, purchased the painting Nov. 12. It was done by Sir Winston in 1925 at the Duke of Westminister’s Riviera home and art experts have considered it to be one of Churchill’s best efforts. The painting is titled “Mimizan Landes.”

25 years ago, 1991
Hugs and tears, poetry and roses, candles and memories flowed as Marlene Lessard greeted two long-lost sisters and a brother at the Augusta airport this weekend. For Lessard, a medical secretary who lives in Wales, the meeting was the finale to an intensive 21-year search for her family. It also was the start of a new phase in her life. “It’s a new year, a new beginning,” an excited Lessard said late last week. “Life is no longer a smothered light, but a glowing light.” To symbolize that glowing, Lessard added 40 lighted candles and 40 roses to her Christmas tree Saturday. They represented the 40 years she spent separated from her three siblings. Lessard’s parents were not married, and from the age of 6 months, she said, she was placed by the state of Pennsylvania in hospitals, an orphanage and foster homes.

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