50 Years Ago — Jan. 11, 1973
Ornaments of love — The parents and adults of St. Bruno’s Parish were presented with a large Christmas tree loaded with ornaments made by the children of the parish between kindergarten and grade 8. The artistic, hand-made ornaments were an expression of their love and participation in the great feast of The Nativity — a feast of love.
The tree was decorated and placed by the main altar on Christmas Eve. Reverend Gerry Demers, during the Midnight Mass homily, expressed his appreciation to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Smith for their work as organizers of the idea.
25 Years Ago — Jan. 14, 1998
First baby of 1998 — Celina Grace Babin was the first baby born in the St. John Valley and was born at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent at 6:26 p.m., Jan. 7, 1998. The proud parents are Bruce and Greta Babin of Fort Kent. Celina is the Babin’s eight child.
10 Years Ago — Jan. 9, 2013
Dragon closing plants — Six employees at Dragon Products’ ready mix concrete plant in Frenchville are out of work due to the company’s decision to shut down its ready mix facility located on U.S. Route 1, according to Dick Michaud, the plant manager. Michaud also confirmed during a phone interview on Jan. 2, 2013, that the ready mix operation in Presque Isle would also be closed down. The Presque Isle plant had also employed six people, Michaud said. Both the Frenchville and Presque Isle plants were regularly, but temporarily, shut down each year, during the winter months. During these periods, the employees would be laid off, but in the past had been scheduled to return to work in April.
