100 Years Ago: 1924

Marcel Roy, three years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Francois Roy of 148 Oxford Street, Lewiston, decided Friday morning that he could make a fire as well as his father, if not better. His father had to start a fire in a big, black iron thing called a stove, and had to use paper ‘n’ everything to get it going.

Marcel said to himself he’d show his father how to build a fire without going to all this fuss. So Marcel got a match, probably while his mother wasn’t around, and touched it to some wood in the wood-box behind the stove. His mother heard a shout of glee when a big flame burst from the wood box and smoke started to fill the room.

Somebody “pulled” box 67 at 10:40 o’clock Friday morning and the Lewiston fire department hastened down Oxford street to find out where the fire was. The chemical got there first, and by the time the rest of the apparatus showed up,  the “fire” was out. They threw the woodbox out of the kitchen, put the embers out, and checked what might have been a serious blaze.

When the smoke cleared. Mrs. Roy found that the wall behind the stove was somewhat charred. There was no other damage, so far as Gedeon Jacques, owner of the building could learn, but little Marcel might feel that a motherly hand or a stinging slipper had damaged a certain part of his anatomy.

50 Years Ago: 1974

A testimonial dinner honoring retired Superior Court Justice Alton A. Lessard, former Lewiston mayor, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Sheraton Eastland Motor Hotel, Portland. Attorney Norman S. Reef is chairman of the dinner committee, and Jack Maloney will be master of ceremonies. The dinner is in recognition of Judge Lessard’s 40 years of public service. He was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1965.

25 Years Ago: 1999

Clover Health Care in Auburn celebrated its 25-year anniversary recently with festivities taking place throughout the day. The event included a community thank-you barbecue and entertainment by the L-A Youth Folk Ensemble and the Parisiennes.

Opening ceremonies featured recognition of Clover’s long-standing employees in each department, the oldest resident as well as the two residents who were the first to be admitted to the facility when it opened 25 years ago.

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