115 Years Ago – Sept. 16, 1992
Speaking terms — Caribou is now on speaking terms with Bangor and Boston; the long-distance telephone connections have been completed last week. The charge for a three-minute talk with Bangor is 90 cents, and one with Boston two dollars.
Talk — There is quite a bit of talk among several young men of building a boat house next spring at a convenient place on the bank of the Aroostook River. Several parties in town already own canoes, and a neat house capable of accommodating a dozen boats could be erected at a comparatively small cost.
100 Years Ago – Sept. 20, 1917
New hours — Beginning Monday, Sept. 24, all stores in Caribou will remain open Monday and Saturday nights until January 1, 1918.
Resigned — R.A. Fortier has resigned as pianist at the Powers Theater and will leave Saturday for a vacation of six weeks or two months when he expects to return to his musical engagement here.
75 Years Ago – Sept. 16, 1992
Librarian leaving — The Caribou Public Library loses Mrs. Ada Britton, who has served the Public Library and the community faithfully for 24 years. She entered the services of the library on Sept. 19, 1918, when the yearly circulation was 8,400 volumes, which has grown to a circulation now exceeding 65,000 volumes. It was through Mrs. Britton’s efforts that the Northern Maine Library Association was formed in 1921.
Jobs — There is an urgent need for stenographers, storekeepers and firefighter jobs to be filled to aid in our war efforts by the United States Employed Service, announced today by John C. Caldwell, manager of the local office in Caribou. Stenographers who can take dictation at 96 words a minute and transcribe at 35 are needed for war service appointments at $1,440 per year.
50 Years Ago – Sept. 20, 1967
More space needed — Additional reasons and needs for new and enlarged facilities at Cary Memorial Hospital in Caribou were set forth this week by the building committee of the institution which has won Town Council approval for a $1,500,000 bond issue referendum question on the Dec. 12 ballot here. The building committee began its presentation on its newest expansion program to the public last week, and several additional points by the group followed.
Keep Maine Scenic Award — Fred Bennett, president of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce, has presented Charles Hatch, Caribou’s town manager, with a certificate received from Paul K. McCann, co-ordinator of the Keep Maine Scenic Committee. McCann said that his committee is “impressed by the scope of the annual Caribou cleanup campaign, both from the point of view of the results and the from citizen participation”.
25 Years Ago – Sept. 16, 1992
Manufacturer relocates — A plastics engineering factory in Caribou was closed last Thursday, stripping the area of 60 jobs. Officials at Northern Plastics Engineering Inc. said they will reopen the business Sept. 17 at another mill in Laconia, NH. Most employees at the Caribou location have been offered jobs at the new site, according to Jeffrey M. Dow, plant manager. Northern Plastics is a major supplier of athletic footwear cleats to Etonic, Dexter Shoe, Nike, Reebok and Footjoy, according to a company-prepared statement.
Construction — Contractors will work on Park Street in Caribou starting on Sept. 15 to install storm water drainage, said city manager Richard Mattila. Contractors will strive to minimize closure of the street to through traffic, but traffic will be impeded. Citizens are requested to travel alternate routes whenever possible during the next 30 days.
