100 Years Ago: 1922

The tree stump that has protruded from the sidewalk in front of the Cushman-Hollis factory, Court Street for two years has at last been removed, a curbing placed there and the sidewalk constructed.

50 Years Ago: 1972

Renovations at Fairview School in Auburn will cost about $3,000 and not $24,000, according to Auburn School Supt. Patrick L. Donahue.

Three rooms in the school are being turned into an “open classroom” concept in order to accommodate additional students this Fall because of the closing of Sacred Heart School.

At a recent meeting of the Auburn School Committee, the figure of $24,000 for the renovations was tossed out. Donahue told the Journal today that the labor for the job is being provided by the school department maintenance staff and the cost is only for the materials. This will run about $3,000 he said.

25 Years Ago: 1997

Friends and former colleagues Thursday mourned the death of Woodbury Brackett, the former city manager credited with sparking an economic development boom in Auburn in the 1960s.

Brackett, city manager from 1958 until his retirement in 1970, died Wednesday, two days after his 92nd birthday. The Bath native worked as a city manager in Houlton, Middlebury, Vt.; Montpelier, Vt.; and Concord, N.H., before coming to Auburn.

Retired Judge Damon Scales, who served on the City Council that hired Brackett, said the manager’s reputation preceded him when the council interviewed applicants for the job. “I spoke with a fella up in Bangor who was available for the job and he said, ‘If you can get Woody, you don’t want me,’” Scales remembered. “He worked easily with people. He was sort of self-deprecating and he didn’t put on airs.”

“We felt he would be an asset to the city of Auburn,” said Harry “Bud” Woodard, who was also on the council that appointed Brackett. He later served alongside Brackett as mayor from 1963 to 1967. “He was just an outstanding city manager. Everyone looked at him for any advice he could give in city affairs.”

It was that advice and experience that Dwight Dogherty hoped would rub off on him when he turned down an offer to become a city manager elsewhere to serve as Brackett’s assistant city manager in the early 1960s. “l figured with his stature and his knowledge that it would be a great learning experience.”

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