100 Years Ago: 1923

Two monkeys from one of the side shows at the Oxford County Fair escaped from their cages and took to the woods, Monday afternoon. A posse is searching for the runaways.

50 Years Ago: 1973

The Neighborhood Mother’s Club will open its seventh season Thursday with a meeting at the High Street Congregational Church in Auburn from 9 to 11 a.m. weekly. Babysitting services are available and anyone interested in securing transportation may contact Mrs. Leo Lafrance, Turner St., Auburn, or Mrs. Marie Tempesta, Roy Ave., Auburn. Refreshments will be served by Mrs. Averill Horsman and Mrs. Robert Wade.

25 Years Ago: 1998

As executive secretary of the Maine Fair Association for the past 22 years, Muriel Bonin has visited a lot of fairs from one end of the state to the other. Her advice for fairgoers is simple, but probably not what you’d expect from this white-haired mother and grandmother.

“Life is uncertain,” she tells everyone from kids to grandparents, “so eat your cotton candy first. And, watch where you’re stepping. This is an agricultural fair, you know.”

It’s no secret, though, the Litchfield Fair which opens Friday is her personal favorite. Her family has been involved here for generations, starting with a long-distance cousin who helped revive the fair years ago, continuing with her grandparents and parents and reaching right through Bonin to her daughter, Rayna Leibowitz, who’s been exhibition hall superintendent since 1978.

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

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