Memorial Day was celebrated in both cities by Grand Army organizations, the National Guard, Sons of Veterans and others interested in the significance of the one day in the year set apart to commemorate the memory of the fallen heroes. In addition to the usual parades public exercises were held in public places. Attendance at the services were not as large as in years gone by. The Lake Grove Rollway was opened Memorial Day and was crowded to the doors. Music was furnished by Gifford’s orchestra having been engaged for the entire season, by Manager Lincoln.

50 Years Ago, 1956

Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me) told the Senate she was shocked by the “callousness” shown passengers by the airlines. This applied particularly to the big airlines operating on the East Coast, she said, adding that the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) already is investigating airline policies on “overbooking of flights” and “dissemination of flight information.” Sen. Smith said this attitude of callousness was reflected “on such matters as reservations, overselling, flight connections and withholding of flight information.” The Senate’s only woman member accused the airlines of maintaining “an iron curtain” on weather information to “prevent passengers from switching to railroad transportation on occasions of questionable weather” and of air traffic congestion “so that the traveler doesn’t have a free choice of how to travel.”

25 Years Ago, 1981

As an aficionado and entrepreneur, 13-year-old David Rea hopes to introduce a new sport to Maine: bicycle motorcross racing – known to insiders as BMX racing. BMX racing is “motorcycle racing except with a bicycle,” says David, the son of J. Philip and Carol Rea of Auburn and an eighth-grader at Auburn’s Middle School. “It started in California in about 1974 and it’s already in New Hampshire,” he says, but has “been slow getting into Maine.”