100 Years Ago: 1918

It was voted to engage John W. Rhines of Binghamton, N.Y., secretary of the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting of the board of directors yesterday morning. Several candidates had filed applications for the place, but all things taken into consideration, Mr. Rhines seemed to meet the requirements here. He will succeed Secretary John L. Reade. At a meeting of the directors held two months ago, the matter of securing a secretary to devote all his time to the work of the Lewiston Chamber, was taken up and discussed at some length. It was finally agreed that such a course should be taken. Since that time many applications have been received. Both local and out-of-town men have sought the place. The various candidates were considered at a Tuesday morning’s meeting, and it was decided to hire Mr. Rhines, who will assume his duties about the first of September. Mr. Rhines is about 52 years old and inexperienced in the chamber of commerce work, but has expressed confidence to the directors that he can “make good.” He is a printer by trade and for many years was employed by the Funk & Wagnalls Co., publishers of the Literary Digest. He is the inventor of a new voting machine now in use at New York State and is said to be a very able public speaker.

50 Years Ago: 1968

Members and guests of the Richlieu Club will host Gontran Rouleau, international president of the organization, Saturday night at the Happy Jack Restaurant in Lewiston. There will be a social hour at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7, which will be followed by dancing and other social events.

25 Years Ago: 1993

Thirty-four youngsters from the Maine Migrant Children’s Program have spent the past week learning and having fun at the Maine Conservation School north of Bryant Pond Village on Woodstock’s Lake Christopher. Kathy Pedalino of Wiscasset, one of the group’s chaperones, stated Friday that most of the children are from Maine’s coastal region with the exception of a few from Hartford, Sumner and Buckfield. “It has been a great week,” Pedalino said, “they have all made friends, there have been no major problems and it has been a tremendous learning experience for the kids.” The Maine Migrant Children’s Program is designed to help youngsters experience different environments with a major emphasis being placed on learning about themselves and their problems while in that setting. Pedalino went on to explain that the children are picked by their teachers according to their needs to find a way to become better students in the regular classroom situation. “Most of these children come from Rockland, Thomaston, Waldoboro, Nobleboro, Damariscotta, Bremen, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Augusta, and are from families involved in the fishing industry, farming or lumbering,” she said.

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