There’s a large, fairly ornate and extremely heavy cast iron steam radiator outside our old barn in Auburn, and a couple of smaller ones are stored inside the barn. It never ceases to amaze me how often I find unexpected connections between ordinary objects such as these and some fascinating stories of many years ago. […]

In the earliest days of the 1900s, Taylor Pond was a little-known and totally undeveloped gem just a couple of miles from the center of the Twin Cities. Within a few years, ideas were being proposed to make it a major resort destination that would replace the extremely popular Lake Grove amusement area at East […]

Reality shows, and especially talent competitions such as TV’s “American Idol” and “The Voice,” have huge television audiences these days. That kind of entertainment has been around for many years. It’s the everyman’s dream of achieving show business success, and a Lewiston man found himself chasing that dream about 76 years ago on a nationally-known […]

The benefits of a cold winter were truly appreciated many decades ago when the ice man made his rounds on a hot summer day to fill the family’s ice box. This area’s ice business peaked in the years just before 1920 as many tons of ice were cut from the Androscoggin River, Lake Auburn and […]

Firefighters are a very special breed of public servant. That’s apparent from the daily news. My research through newspapers going back more than 100 years shows that deeds of firefighters have been hailed from front page headline stories of courage and heroism in times of tragedy to many small accounts of compassion in community service. […]

A good supply of firewood is nice to have at this time of the year. I remember when I became old enough to take a hand in preparing for the winter’s wood-burning needs at this old farmhouse. At about 10 years old, I could throw the sticks of wood through the cellar window as my […]

“Over the river and through the woods” was a familiar refrain in an old tune. It sounds like a pleasant description of a trip to Grandma’s house, but many years ago such an outing could turn into “a night to remember forever.” That’s how my aunt recalled one frigid winter night in the mid 1920s. […]

It was New Year’s Day 1923 and the front page headline of the Lewiston Evening Journal proclaimed that Will Rogers, famed actor/humorist, had checked into the DeWitt Hotel. The town was abuzz with the news. Rogers, one of the most famous radio, vaudeville and silent motion picture personalities of the 1920s, was in Lewiston, and […]

Just about everyone likes to turn the memory clock back at this time of year. Even Scrooge found some forgotten joy in his time travel with the Ghost of Christmas Past. For many of us who have lived in the Twin Cities for 50 or more years, there was something very special about the holidays […]

Hunting season is in full swing throughout Maine and, in just a couple of weeks, deer hunters with muzzle-loading firearms will be taking to the woods. For these sportsmen, it’s not so much about bringing home the venison as it is about the equipment, the history and the thrill of reliving the challenges encountered by […]