100 years ago, 1916
The inauguration of the new electric organ, the finest in the city, at St Peter’s and St. Paul’s church, will take place this evening. The church has been especially favored in securing M. Telesphore Urbain, the noted blind organist for the evening. Monsieur Urbain has been blind since he was 6 years old. Having a gift for music, his talent has been developed until he ranks very high among musicians. The organ is the second electric instrument to be installed in the city. The Bates College organ being the other, which is only about half as large as this. The Casavant Brothers factories at St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, and South Haven, Mich., were the builders. Some of the finest organs in the world are their work.

50 years ago, 1966
The student-operated radio station at Bates College will begin its ninth broadcasting season at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Beginning eight years ago with a few students, little resources and brand new call letters, WRJR has expanded both its facilities and its programming schedule so that it is now on the air from Sunday through Friday evenings from 5:30 to midnight (with the exception of vacations and examination periods).

25 years ago, 1991
The Auburn Holiday Decorating Committee held its first organization meeting Monday to discuss this year’s schedule and start creating the necessary committees. With only one person who was not already a committee member attending, discussion immediately turned to garnering more community support. “We are still optimistic,” said member Eugene Keene. “We’ve done it in the past with less help, and we’ll do it again if need be, although it would be nice to have a little more support.” The committee currently has $550.92 available to fund this year’s effort. “We need to raise about $2,000 more just to run this at minimums,” said Chairman Andre Pratt.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.

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