If you can identify where this photo was taken, contact us at bmail@sunjournal.com or call 689-2896 and leave a voicemail with your answer, your name, town, and phone number. Correct entries will be put into a drawing for a $25 gift card courtesy of Hannaford Supermarkets. Find the Mystery Photo online at https://www.sunjournal.com/tag/mystery-photo/

While we had a few wildly incorrect guesses, the majority of our entries this week correctly identified the former Martel Elementary School that was recently demolished at the corner of East Avenue and Lisbon Street in Lewiston. Many of the entries came with heartfelt memories from former students. In a random drawing from all the correct entries, Linda Murch Leiva of Lewiston was picked as the winner of a $25 Hannaford Supermarket gift card. She wrote: “This is near and dear to my heart and that of my brothers. Martel School, 1925-2024, Lisbon Street, Lewiston. My family lived two houses up in the 1950’s and my mother and father were both very involved as well. We walked to school and back home for lunch. Our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Philbrick, took our class up to our house to see the first flowers of spring in my father’s little greenhouse next to our enormous garden. My mother served in the PTA. My father, working for Harriman Associates as an architectural inspector, was involved in the building of the addition. The ceiling of the multi-purpose building was built of very large cedar planks. Using a few pieces of the waste from that ceiling, my father made lobster buoys for his summer hobby — lobster fishing on Orr’s Island. My mother made little doll beds out of cigar boxes and wooden clothespin pegs, complete with pillows and ruffles, to sell at the PTA raffle. I remember my friend Cathy and I were in Mrs. Stewart’s sixth-grade and we two were selected to answer the office phone whenever it rang. The only problem was that it was in Mr. Davis’ office on the first floor and our class was on the top floor. We would take turns running all the way down the hall, down two flights of stairs and down the hall to the office, to say ever so pleasantly, “Hello, Martel School!” I also worked in the cafeteria with Mrs. Bednarczyk and learned some very interesting recipes! Our recess milk was delivered by a dairy and came in little glass bottles with tiny cardboard discs as a “lid” with a perfect hole for our straws. Two weeks ago, my twin brother Al delivered a brick to me, with tears in his eyes . . . Our school! Great memories all!”

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