100 Years Ago: 1925

Mrs. Margaret L. Howarth, of 458 Weetamoo Street, who is well-known in Lewiston, and spends her summers in Bath; has opened offices for the practice of law in Fall River, Mass. Mrs. Howarth was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar last April and has since had her office in her home. Mrs. Howarth received her LL. B. degree from Portia Law School and graduated with highest honors.

Mrs. Howarth, who is a native of Bath, is a high school and normal school graduate and also specialized in English and History at Columbia University.

Mrs. Howarth has taught both in the High and Elementary schools in Maine and Massachusetts, has traveled extensively in this country, Canada and abroad, and has given many interesting talks on her experience in foreign lands.

She is a member of the Quota Club and the Auxiliary of the American Legion of Fall River, the Lurant Club and the Margaret Brent Civic Club of Boston.

Mrs. Howarth is a daughter of Mrs. M. E. Kateon of Bath.

50 Years Ago: 1975

Lewiston city officials feared the loss of thousands of dollars in the way of snowmobile registration fees until this week, when it was learned that a measure calling for a reduction of the snowmobile fee had been withdrawn at Augusta.

Senator John Roberts of York County proposed that registration fee be reduced from $10 to $5, with the share of the snowmobile municipality eliminated.

The law now states that $3 of the resident fee shall be credited to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Game and $1 to the Bureau of Parks and Recreation. Roberts proposed that $2 be credited to the Bureau of Parks and Recreation.

The document filed by Roberts stated: “The purpose of this Act is to remove that part of the registration fee for snow traveling vehicles which is paid to the municipalities due to the fact that municipalities in general do nothing in turn with the revenue to provide for the sport.”

City Clerk Gerald Berube says the move is just one more step towards taking more money away from the cities. He said the state took away a chunk of the revenue dollar when it decided to do away with the excise tax on snowmobiles several years ago. He said the $6 from the registration fee represents about a third of the excise tax the city used to get.

He explained that the money credited to the Inland Fisheries and Game is used in enforcing the snowmobile law, particularly in the woods, where snowmobilers have been known to chase deer.

The Bureau of Parks and Recreation share is utilized for snowmobile trails. Berube didn’t agree with the reasoning behind Robert’s bill. Another city official suggested that his city’s Police Department is responsible for enforcing the law within city limits.

The Journal was informed by Treasurer Alfred Plourde that the bill was withdrawn this week because it had received little support.

25 Years Ago: 2000

Dorothy Bearce Eichorn still remembers the folks who said Community Little Theatre would never last.

“When I started the theater, with the help of many others, there were those who said it just wouldn’t work,” explained Eichorn. “So look who is laughing now!”

At the spry age of 94, Eichorn has earned any laughing rights that come her way. As the founder and first board president of Community Little Theatre, she’s one of the few today who witnessed the troupe’s first production in 1940.

The show was two, short one-act plays: “Come Here,” with Coleman B. Norton and Betty Robbins, followed by “Spring,” starring Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Jemison.

In that same year, “Ladies of the Jury” was the first full-length show, directed by Eleanor McCue, who would continue to direct numerous productions for the next 25 years.

The beginnings were simple, according to its founder. She says that a small group of people would get together regularly to do “little shows.” They would read scripts and do performances for local clubs.

In a November 1940 article from the Lewiston Sun, Eichorn describes the founding of the theater group as “a community project in which a number will be active participants and others will serve as audience.” She also said that the founding of the theater is in response to comments that “for many years, the lack of a legitimate theater in these communities has been felt and much has been written to call attention to this.”

Today, with more than 180 productions to its credit, CLT continues to provide the greater Lewiston-Auburn communities with loads of theater memories from its Great Falls Performing Arts Center in Auburn, and many agree it is the wealth of volunteers involved with the group that have allowed it to survive and thrive.

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