100 Years Ago: 1918

Today will be the closing day or the War Savings Stamp “drive” in Lewiston and Auburn, and it is expected that the results will exceed the expectations of those who have been in charge of the drive. Business has been good all of the week, and since Monday, when the little booths were placed in their different locations, the young ladies who have been stationed in these booths have used every persuasive influence to make their sales of these Investment stamps, as large as positive. The largest single sale reported, is that of a visitor in Auburn, a woman who purchased $300 worth of Savings Stamps, but the patriotic spirit shown through the week, in which the appeals of the eager sales ladies met with a ready response, and the spontaneous buying, have given them the courage to stick to their posts during the chilly days of the week and the rain of yesterday. It is impossible now, to make even a conservative estimate of the total number of stamps sold, or what the grand total will be tonight.

50 Years Ago: 1968

Work is currently underway in the Goff Hill area of Auburn by crews of the Auburn Sewerage District and it is expected that work will start, in about another week on re-laying the sewer main. Most of the present work consists of moving service boxes back from the curb line as streets are widened somewhat. Earle A. Tarr Jr., the superintendent of the water and sewerage districts, said the district had delayed installing a new one, although the new one was needed until the Code Enforcement Project was ready to start. It is anticipated that considerable ledge will be encountered on Lake Street as in some places ledge shows, above ground and ledge is known to be under the streets in at least some areas where the reconstruction work will be, done. Tarr said the contractor on the reconstruction project, the W.H.Hinman Co., is cooperating with the water and sewer crews in the work area. Tarr said that when crews start ripping up Lake Street for the actual reconstruction It will be necessary of do considerable blasting and at this time the superintendent said extra care will have to be taken not to fracture the water mains. He said there is a big 16-inch main running down the hill and a 12-inch main on Court Street. It is these two large mains with which Tarr is principally concerned. Tarr said that the cost of the work being done by the Auburn Water and Sewerage District crews In the project area has to be borne by the districts. He said this is the same with all utilities in the area. Costs of renovations of the utilities is not a part of the Code Enforcement project.

25 Years Ago: 1993

Ground-breaking ceremonies for the recently approved $7 million veterans’ nursing home on High Street in South Paris, will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, according to Steven C. Gaudette, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Maine Veterans’ Homes. “We have been through a very complex year of planning at a time when public funding has declined. We have overcome our planning obstacles and will face the operational challenges of our newest home with confidence,” Gaudette said. “We are fortunate to have the resources of three existing homes and the addition of this one in South Paris and a new home in Bangor,” he added. Sunday’s program will feature an address by Maj. Gen. Nelson E. Durgin, Maine’s adjutant general and a native of Oxford County. Remarks will also be made by Gaudette, Vice Chairman Joseph A. St. Michel and others. “Many veterans in this region are looking forward to the new home,” said Robert Sessions of Norway, who was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees. “We are doing everything we can to support cooperation in the region by all who have been involved.” Maine Veterans’ Homes currently operates 120-bed homes in Augusta and Scarborough, with a 40-bed residence in Caribou. The new Paris home will have 90 beds, and another 120 will be located at the home in Bangor. The new Paris home will create about 100 new jobs in the region, according to Jefferson Ackor, chief executive officer for Maine Veterans’ Homes.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared in the Sun Journal, except for any errors or corrections made at that time.