Read more about March 23, 1948, in the SunJournal.com archives.

100 Years Ago: 1923

Gov. Baxter is not a candidate for the republican nomination for governor in 1924. The governor in a statement issued Friday made it plain that at this time he had no concern with future political honors.

50 Years Ago: 1973

(photo from Journal) The Youth and Chapel Choir of the Auburn United Methodist Church will be in the spotlight Wednesday, March 28, when they make a guest appearance at the annual Spring Concert being presented by the Auburn Community Band. The choir is made up of 37 boys and girls, some of whom are photographed here. Left to right in the front row are Michelle Manson, Steve Vennet, Bragg Shields and Scott Gardner; second row, Bobby Guptil, Becky Rice, Barbara Keene, Kim Marsh and Donna Smith; third row, Debbie Grondin, Patty Nichols, Patty Ford and Leslie Shields. The concert will start at 7:15 p.m. at the Webster Middle School Auditorium and it is open to the public with no admission charge. Linda Boothby is the director of the choir and Richard Albert is directing the Auburn Community Band. Albert is a music director at Lake Region High School, Bridgton and is also director for the Bridgton Community Band.

25 Years Ago: 1998

An old-fashioned March Nor’easter foiled a rite of spring for most Oxford County sugar makers on the 15th annual Maine Maple Sunday, the day they open the sugar houses’ doors to the public. Many plan to make up for it next Sunday.

Jim Record of Jim Record and Son Real Maine Maple in West Paris said he wasn’t open because of the storm and resulting treacherous road conditions but will demonstrate syrup making on his wood-fired evaporator next Sunday, the 29th. Record said there are two reasons for Maple Sunday: to promote Maine’s maple syrup and to encourage people to get out on a nice spring day and visit the sugar camp to see the sap running and the steam rising.

He said the state Department of Agriculture should be more flexible so Maple Sunday, which has always been held on the fourth Sunday in March, could be postponed a week if the weather is bad.

Records said the effects of the Ice Storm of ’98 on syrup production depends on “where the sugar bush is and who is operating it because the storm varied in its intensity. “For example,” he said, “the upper part of my sugar bush looks like a tornado went through it but about a mile down the road by the river, the trees weren’t affected much at all.”

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