75 Years Ago – May 3, 1945
Varied program at Rotary — Herbert W. Kitchen was chairman of the Rotary Club program introducing five members of the club as speakers.
The following men gave five-minute talks: Dr. L.F. Carter, head of the Northern Maine Sanatorium; L.H. Alline, president of the Board of Trustees of the Presque Isle General Hospital; W.J. Mackin, chairman of the School Board; George W. Perry, chairman of the local USO Club; and Olin Berry, chairman of the local OPA Board. Dr. Robert B. Somerville was taken in as a new member.
Scrap paper drive collected 18 tons — In a record-breaking scrap paper drive, the Presque Isle Salvage Committee loaded three cars of scrap paper as the result of a successful drive handled by the Boy Scouts. Harry Sutter, chairman of the drive, said that 80,830 pounds of paper were collected from Washburn, Crouseville, Mapleton, Ashland, Easton, Westfield, Masardis and Presque Isle. Sutter said that almost 18 tons of paper had been collected in Presque Isle. A major portion of the paper had been collected individually by Scouts, who were competing for the Eisenhower Award, which is a medal given to the International Paper Company at Livermore Falls.
50 Years Ago – May 6, 1970
Won again — The Brand Names Award for 1969, won by Grossman’s Lumber and Building Materials Company in a national competition, was presented to Nissie Grossman, chairman of the board, by Jay N. Cooke, chairman of the board of the Brand Names Foundation at ceremonies held New York City. Grossman’s ads in the Star-Herald helped win the award.
Spuds loaded — The Presque Isle Chapter of Future Farmers of America finished loading out their potatoes. The chapter raised five acres, 769 barrels, of Foundation Katahdin Potatoes on Lewis Drake’s Farm in Chapman. These members were Jeff Giggie, Glen Leach, John Johnston, Lewis Drake, Gary Drake, Jim Johnston and Gary “Bobo” Barnes.
Presque Isle CYO cheerleaders — The cheerleaders that represented Presque Isle in the county CYO finals held in Presque Isle and represented the state in the CYO cheering finals held in Worcester, Mass., were Joyce Heffernan, Debbie Carrier, Mary Derosier, Gloria Packard, Carla Page, Jeana Pelletier, Ann Theriault and Marti Morneault.
25 Years Ago – May 3, 1995
Moose auction netted $41,202 for youth — Thanks to five moose hunters from Maine, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, 200 Maine youngsters received scholarships to Maine Conservation Camp. The 1995 Maine Moose Auction, which was approved the prior year by the Maine Legislature, allowed the Fish and Wildlife Department to publicly offer five moose hunting permits to the highest bidder with all the proceeds going to fund conservation education for Maine boys and girls ages 12 to 14. According to Vesta Billing, the Department’s director of licensing and registration who oversees the bidding process, 124 bids were received from all over the United States. The five top bids total $41,202. The highest bid for a 1995 moose hunting permit was $13,500; the lowest among the top five bidders was $6,000. The average bid overall was about $1,500.
Land donated to university — A dedication ceremony was held honoring the donation of 10 acres of land from University of Maine at Presque Isle Professor of English, Dr. Nan Amodeo. Amodeo donated the 10 acres of land to UMPI in honor of Marguerite HIll Wieden, wife of past president Dr. Clifford O. T. Wieden. The new site, the Marguerite Hill Wieden Botanical Station, will be used by the science department as a practical learning lab.
