75 Years Ago – June 30, 1949
Air Academy Opens Presque Isle Port – With more people becoming air minded, Linwood Lawrence, owner of the Aroostook Air Academy, announced the opening of a new sub-base of the Academy at Presque Isle recently. In announcing the opening of the new airfield, Mr. Lawrence stated that Northern Maine has been without adequate private air service for a number of years. Located on the Arthur Hussey farm, one mile north of Presque Isle on the Caribou road, Mr. Lawrence claims that now charter trips to Presque Isle from Houlton and other points will have a landing field wherein before landings could be made there only through special permission or through emergency necessity. Hugh Stearns will be the manager of the new unit and will continue to make his home in Houlton. An airminded gent, Mr. Stearns, an ex-Sgt., obtained his commercial rating in the short period of a year.
Boston University to Hold Reunion – Willard S. Lewin, of Houlton, will be among a group of men who began their legal practices before the turn of the 20th century, who will review their half century as lawyers and judges during the fourth annual reunion of the Boston University Law Alumni Association.
50 Years Ago – June 26, 1974
Athletic, Band Awards At Junior High Assembly — Athletic awards were presented at the junior high school assembly on June 12 held in the Houlton High School auditorium. Mr. Freeney presented the following soccer team members with awards: Wayne Benn, Charles Wampler, David Thompson, Jon Pierce, Steve Johnston, Roger Grant, Tim Farrar, Gary Dilmore, Doug Briggs, Bob Gregoire, Mark Torry, Richard Wilson, Stephen Daniels, Kevin Rouse, Brian Stewart and John Jenkins. Seventh and eighth grade baseball awards were presented by Mr. Sanders to Gregory Prince, Wayne Benn, Steve Johnston, Douglas Briggs, Mitchell Ross, Wendell Harvey, Ricky Martin, David Thompson, Brian Stewart, Mitchell Holmes, Mark Putnam, Mark Rowe, John Prince, Gary Dilmore and Joe Kinney.
Crockett Nears End of 5-Week Geology Tour — Frederick J. Crockett of Island Falls is one of 28 advanced geology students who are completing this week a five-week tour of points of interest in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. They are all students of the University of Wyoming, and the special summer course, which began May 28, will yield six semester credit hours. The tour, which concludes this Friday at Laramie, Wyo., has included seven major stops and extensive field studies embracing observation of a wide range of geologic phenomena, mapping, and evaluation of collected data.
25 Years Ago – June 30, 1999
Flowers Planted at Peace Pole – On May 27, second graders from Houlton Elementary School planted marigolds around the Peace Pole in Monument Park. Each child grew one plant from seed in the greenhouse at the school. Community service through beautification is an important lesson learned through this project. Because of the violence in some schools in the United States, it is also a reminder of the joys of a peaceful community and resolving problems non-violently. The two sentences on the Peace Pole are: “May Peace Be in Our Homes and Communities,” and “May Peace Prevail on Earth.” Inside the hollow Peace Pole are almost 600 wishes for peace that were written by people in the Houlton area in the winter of 1996-97. Under the stewardship of the Southern Aroostook Ministerial Association (SAMA) the Peace Pole was “planted” June 19, 1997 during a dedication ceremony.
Blood Recognized as ‘Educator of the Year’ — The people who invest their time and lives into others rarely get the recognition they deserve. Many times their deeds are performed in the background and never gain recognition except by those who receive their help. Not everyone’s good deeds go unrewarded, however, as Houlton High School’s math teacher, Peter Blood recently found out. Blood was recently recognized in a nationwide teen magazine as one of their “Educators of the Year” after a recommendation by one of his students, Jamie Richards. “I moved to Houlton last year because I was going through a difficult time. I had never opened up to guidance counselors before, but Mr. Blood was different,” said Richards in her essay. She found a willing listener in Blood. “I went through a lot of stuff last year,” said Richards. “I didn’t think I would need help, but I was wrong. I felt too bad. I wanted to smile and I knew I needed someone to open up to.” Blood took time with her, helping her work through her problems and even helped her iron out issues with her parents. “I remember one time, I had been depressed and skipping school. I didn’t know how to reach out to my dad,” said Richards. “When I told Mr. Blood, he gave me two options: he would call my dad and talk to him or he would have come in. That was the nicest thing anyone could have ever done.” Blood continued to help Richards throughout the year. At the end of the 1998-99 school year, she saw the ‘Educator of the Year’ contest in the “21st Century” magazine. She wrote about all that Blood had done for her and submitted her essay to the magazine contest. Richards’ essay on Blood appeared in the June issue and now his simple act of kindness and concern is being laid out in the open before the “21st Century’s” 300,000 readers.
