75 Years Ago – Sept. 18, 1947
Serious loss at Cone dairy farm — Damage which may reach $20,000 was caused to the large dairy barn on the farm of Walter Cone on the North Road Friday afternoon when fire of the undetermined origin broke out within warning and burned so fiercely that the building was badly gutted when the Houlton Fire Department arrived.
Cone and his men were threshing not far from the scene and put in a prompt call for help. Although it was necessary to lay a line of hose for a long distance, the fire fighters nevertheless managed to keep the flames from spreading to the farm residence and other nearby buildings. Fortunately Cone’s large herd of dairy cattle were in the pasture at the time of the flames, but several small calves were tethered in the burning structure and the owner suffered a cut on one hand while freeing them and leading them to safety.
High school opens — The Island Falls High School opened Sept. 8 with an enrollment of 128. Several of the high school faculty attended summer school and worked for credit towards their Master’s Degree.
50 Years Ago- Sept. 20, 1972
Miss Burton to teach at dance school — Miss Barbara Burton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Burton of Houlton, will be teaching and assisting at the Taylor School of Dance this year. Miss Burton, a 16-year-old junior at Houlton High School, has taken dance instruction from Mrs. Madeline Taylor at the Taylor School of Dance since she was 10 years old, and last year began special instruction at the Polly Thomas School of Dance in Bangor, attending classes during the weekend. This year she will be in the advanced class, where she is looking forward to a year of instruction in a variety of styles to dance.
HIgh school will host home economics teachers — The Houlton High School Home Economics Department will host the regional conference of the Maine Home Economics Teachers Association Sept. 23 at the high school. Home economics teachers representing the southern Penobscot and Aroostook County areas will be in attendance.
25 Years Ago – Oct. 1, 1997
KVHC breaks new ground — Following more than a year of planning, the Katahdin Valley Health Center is ready to branch out. The expansion will better serve residents of Island Falls, Patten, Sherman Mills, Oakfield, Benedicta, Smyrna Mills and other surrounding communities. A groundbreaking ceremony was held last Wednesday at the site of the future facility, just off interstate 95 on route 156 in Island Falls. The 1440- square-foot facility will house a lobby-reception area, three exam rooms and a comprehensive lab.
Houlton exploratorium receives school funding — Future Houlton High School science students will benefit from a decent $500 Beacon School grant for their exploratorium. S.A.D. 29 recently presented Beacon with $7,000 to continue its activities. Five hundred dollars of that money was given to the exploratorium, in order to help continue with student projects and bodies, as well as keep the land maintained. Although High School Biology teacher Herb Pottle appreciated the grant, he knew that realistically $500 wouldn’t go far in today’s world. “We would literally need thousands of dollars to do everything we wanted to at the exploratorium.” Pottle said. “It’s a good start though.”
