Silly really, but when, back in the early ’90s, I first heard electronic junk mail referred to as “spam,” it seemed wrong to me. SPAM, after all, was standard and welcome fare during World War II.

SPAM’s history began in 1927, when the George A. Hormel Co. came up with the first canned luncheon meat, a mix of ham and pork shoulders. Some disloyal employees broke off and began to market their own version, but Hormel knew just what to do. The company – imagine the ad men around a table in a smoke-filled room – came up with a catchy name for its product and launched a really big advertising campaign for . . . SPAM. It worked.

Today, Hormel offers an array of SPAM products, including low fat and low sodium, smoked, and breakfast strips.

We first learned that there is a SPAM Museum from Donna and Greg Trundy. They were visiting Minnesota, saw a sign or brochure promoting the museum in Austin, Minn., and “we had to go there.”

All of us can visit the virtual SPAM Museum at SPAM.com. Is it one of the cleverest sites on the Internet? Can’t say as I don’t browse there too much, but it is great fun. Try it.

The other spam

Despite my reaction, of course, spam endures as short-talk for electronic junk mail. Hormel appears to have weathered the insult. Bluff.com reported that in 1999 the corporation sued AOL, Time/Warner, and other providers for trademark infringement. True or false? False.

My mailbox is daily flooded with spam. When Burt deFrees and I coincidentally purchased the same model Mac late last winter, I foolishly supposed that the stream would dry up. It didn’t.

After Nick Waugh got Burt’s and my new systems up and running, I turned for additional help to Mike Adams, a computer access specialist. Should I get a spam blocker? I asked him. You can, he said, but they’ll find a way to get to you and then you’ll just have to get another.

Hold the SPAM, because strawberries are it for breakfast and lunch (plus lobster rolls) Saturday, June 30, at the Dixfield Congregational Church’s annual Strawberry Festival. Dexter Barry’s making the biscuits (his grandmother’s recipe), for the shortcake and Mavis Gensel and her mother made a quilt for the raffle. Fun begins at 8 a.m.

River Valley summer got off to a lively start with RAAPA’s dinner theater event at Black Mountain recently. Then that same weekend, a brunch party for David and Ann Kimball at the Rumford Center Church celebrated Dave’s decades as pastor. Evelyn Thurston Bean, who will be 90 any day now, was among the well-wishers.

The summer calendar is crowded with familiar, much-loved events: the VIS sale in Rumford Center in July, Andover Old Home Days and the Dixfield Market Day in August. Coming up fast a favorite of ours: the annual July 4 performance by the Portland Brass on the lawn of the Moses Mason House in Bethel. No spam there.

Linda Farr Macgregor lives in Rumford and is a freelance writer and author of “Rumford Stories.” Contact her at [email protected]