100 years ago: 1918

The annual exhibit of boys’ and girls’ clubs of Androscoggin and Sagadahoc counties was held in Auburn Hall Saturday with a fair attendance. Each boy and girl was allowed ten jars each of canned goods and every sort and kind was seen, for in the line were 34 exhibitors with 340 jars. These were tastefully arranged and they speak volumes for the work that was done by the children. Grown people couldn’t have done any better.

50 years ago: 1968

The annual Christmas Fair sponsored by the Central Maine General Hospital Nurses’ Alumni Association was a successful event. The fair took place in Herbert Hall with a variety of items available including coins which Max Lautcn had charge of. Mrs. Jane Pike, Mrs. Maxine Young, John Finley, Jean Hutchinson, Nelda Packard, Jean Pulkkinen, Agnes Scannell, Rosemarie Bates and Mrs. Annie B. Mason supervised the decorations.

25 years ago: 1993

Even as she celebrated her 90th birthday Tuesday, former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith followed the politician’s creed to never rule out anything. Asked jokingly by a reporter why she did not join the other 17 people who are running for governor next year, Smith smiled and didn’t skip a beat. “I never thought of it. Is it too late?” she asked. Friends and admirers turned out by the dozen to honor the matriarch of Maine’s Republican Party at a reception at the gubernatorial mansion given by Gov. John McKernan and U.S. Rep. Olympia J. Snowe. Mrs. Smith wore her trademark red rose, a blue dress, and a pearl necklace as she reclined on a chair and received the guests who waited in line to greet her. Mrs. Smith. who lives in her native Skowhegan, ended a 32-year political career in 1972 after achieving a long list of firsts. She was the first woman to be elected to the Senate, to serve in both houses of Congress and to see her name placed in nomination for the presidency by a major party. She was widely hailed for her 1950 “Declaration of Conscience” speech in which she implicitly repudiated the ‘smear tactics’ of fellow Republican, Joseph R. McCarthy, the anti-Communism crusader from Wisconsin.

The material used in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors may be corrected.