75 Years Ago – Sept. 4, 1947
$5,000 fire In Amity — A fire which started in the chimney of Fred Oliver’s home in Amity Thursday afternoon spread through the entire house before help could reach the scene. The flames quickly spread to the barn and out sheds, according to James McIntosh, fire warden, who was first called to the farm.
The furnishings were a complete loss also. Damage was estimated at $5,000, with partial insurance to cover the loss.
New horse pulling record — More than 2,000 people gathered at Camp Williams, the site of the Monticello Fish and Game Club building, Thursday for the 19th annual field day which opened at 9:30. The big event of the day was the horse pulling, in which 15 teams were entered. The heaviest load pulled at the day’s events was 13,800 pounds, the heaviest known stone load ever pulled at the Monticello Field Day. Winner of the first prize was Asa Harvey of Monticello with a team weighing 2,175, pulling a load of 12,400 pounds with a ratio of the load pulled per team being 4.56.
50 Years Ago – Sept. 6, 1972
Folsom trains at artillery school — Army Private First Class Michael D. Folsom, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul W. Folsom of Houlton, recently completed an eight-week field artillery operations and intelligence assistant course in the U.S. Army Field Artillery Training Center, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He learned to assist command and staff officers in the continuous appraisal of intelligence and operations. His training included instruction in the conversion of observer’s reports, techniques of plotting targets and computing sites, elements of fire order and fire commands, computation of fire commands and corrections, and administrative procedures. The soldier is a 1970 graduate of Houlton High School.
Dickinson ends basic training — Airman James P. Dickinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Dickinson of Oakfield, has completed Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas. During his six weeks training, he studied the Air Force mission, organization and customs and received special instruction in human relations. The airman is remaining at the Air Training Command base for specialized training in the security police field. Airman Dickinson is a 1972 graduate of Oakfield Community High school.
25 Years Ago – Sept. 17, 1997
Patten hunting guide attacked by black bear – Many Mainers worry about encountering a moose as they travel on the roads. However, a Patten hunting guide recently had an encounter with another well-known Maine animal: a 420-pound black bear. Brian Glidden, 49, was leading a group of bear hunters early last Wednesday morning. The attack occurred around 7:30 a.m. “We had been tracking him for a while,” Glidden said. “We left the Happy Corner Road in Patten for Staceyville, trailing him all the way. We ran him through the trails and he climbed up a tree.” Glidden advised one of the hunters to shoot the bear in the head, but the bear was grazed slightly, causing him to fall out of the tree, landing in front of Glidden. “The bear landed about three or four feet in front of me,” Glidden said. “When he got up, he grabbed me by the leg and knocked me down. Then he started to bite me on the leg.” A small bone in Glidden’s leg was broken in the attack, and Glidden said he had six canine teeth bite marks on one leg. “The bite marks were the size of a quarter,” Glidden said. “His teeth went into my leg about two inches on each side and he started to shake while he was biting me, which caused the wounds to open up a bit. It was quite painful.”
NBA Hall of Famer coming to Shiretown – It isn’t every day that an NBA Hall of Famer comes to Houlton. However, on Sept. 20, former Boston Celtic great Nate “Tiny” Archibald will make a rare appearance in Aroostook County, as he will sign autographs at Shiretown Coins at Market Square from 12-1 p.m. Archibald’s appearance is the result of Shiretown Coins’ Tim Wilde’s golfing abilities. Earlier this summer, Wilde competed in the Fleer/SkyBox Hobby Legends Tour Celebrity Golf Tournament in Chicago, Illinois. Wilde was one of the three closest-to-the-pin winners, thereby winning a visit by a sports legend.
