100 Years Ago: 1923

Henry Ford stopped at the Ramsdell Antique Shop in Falmouth Foreside, Monday afternoon on his way from Seal Harbor, where he visited his son, Edsell, and tags bearing his name were placed on practically every article of furniture, and considerable old China and glassware, before he left. Hardly any of the stock was unsold when he had completed his purchases.

50 Years Ago: 1973

Lewiston’s Mayor John Orestis was invited at a meeting held Monday afternoon at his Pine Street office to host a luncheon to be presented by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, to honor two members of the community for outstanding service in the field of human relations.

Regional directors of the conference. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rand of Boston, Sister Harriet of Lewiston’s Resource Center for the Visually Handicapped, Rabbi David Berent of Beth Jacob Synogogue, and the mayor discussed the luncheon, which will be held Friday at 12 p.m. at Lewiston’s Steckino’s Restaurant.

The purpose of these awards is to promote the idea and application of the brotherhood ideal and involvement of people in the development of community life. Recipients of the award will be recognized for voluntary service at the neighborhood level at which they promoted better understanding between various groups in the area.

25 Years Ago: 1998

Most days, bringing a cow to school is against the rules. Remember Mary? Remember the trouble she got into when a lamb innocently followed her? Imagine if it were a 500-pound Holstein instead.

That’s what Leon Hinkley brought to Sabattus Elementary School Thursday. And not one person squawked. Not the principal, not the teachers, not even the lunch lady.

The children were delighted of course. It made them laugh and play to see a cow at school. They’d been looking forward to it. Thursday was Farm Day, a field trip in reverse for the Sabattus students. The farm came to them. It came with black-and-white cows and calves, with bunnies and chicks and 2-day-old piglets and a cotton candy eating goat named Buster. It came with a menagerie made of balloons, and snapping fresh cider to drink, and games to play for prizes.

It came courtesy of Hinkley and other local dairy and beef farmers who want to reconnect the youngsters with their roots, to teach them that milk doesn’t magically appear in supermarket coolers.

It was the school’s third annual Farm Day. “Each year it gets bigger,” said Diane Whalen, the third-grade teacher who came up with the idea. “It grew out of cuts the school board made to the school’s budget. Committee members left no money to take the students on field trips.”

“I figured, if we can’t bring the kids to the. farm, let’s bring the farm to the kids,” Whalen explained. She turned to Hinkley for help and the project “just took off,” she said. “Every year we add a little something,” she said. This year, it was Ed Morris of Yarmouth, “The Balloon Man.” He amused children by twisting quivers full of red, green and white balloons into a zoo of animals.

Nearby, youngsters climbed inside a balloon – a giant, inflated jack-o’-lantern – to bounce around like jumping beans. Other kids lined up at the pony ride, cuddled one of several bunnies, petted the cows and calves and squealed over the snoozing piglets. Third-grader Ethen Hinkley kept a watchful eye on his cage of peeping chicks. Meanwhile, his uncle Leon was busy making apple cider at the press that’s been in his family for about 200 years.

“I’m doing the easy part,” he declared. He methodically turned the press wheel. Juice from chopped bits of fruit leaked into a container at the base of the machine. “The hardest part,” Hinkley said, “is cranking like the young fellas here.” Jonathan Danforth and Jake Cervantes, both second-graders, eagerly turned the crank to chop the apples into pieces.

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