99 Years Ago – July 2, 1925
Meeting to form Fish and Game Association — A meeting was held Tuesday evening in the office of Ralph K. Wood, Esq., in the Star-Herald Block, for the purpose of discussing the advisability of forming a Fish and Game Association in Presque Isle. After a full discussion, a committee was appointed to draw up rules and by-laws as follows: George T. Noyes, J. A. Riley and E. Howard. The committee to report at a later meeting. Another committee was appointed to canvas the town for signatures to a referendum partition on the “one-deer law.”
50 Years Ago – July 3, 1974
Ashland a Right to Read site — SAD 32, which included Ashland, Garfield Plantation, Masardis, Oxbow Plantation and Portage Lake, was one of 13 school systems to be selected as participating sites in the Right to Read Project for 174-75 by the Maine Department of Educational and Cultural Services. Right to Read is a national effort to increase functional literacy so that by 1980, 99 percent of persons under 16 and 90 percent of those over 16 were able to possess the reading skills necessary to function effectively. Right to Read is also a concerted effort to bring a student to his or her highest reading level and aims at the prevention of reading problems rather than cures. The project not only emphasizes reading importance in schools but reaches parents of preschool children and adult non-readers as well.
Chamber added 12 to roster — The annual Chamber of Commerce Membership Campaign was termed a success by Emery Skillin, internal vice president and chairman of the activity. Skillin reported that to date, 12 new members of former members were added to the membership roster. They included Herm’s Barbershop, Tuff-Kote Dinol, Western Auto Associate Store, Kelley’s Laundromat, Somerville Studio, Archie Lafland’s Sunoco, The Owls Hoot, Northeastern Construction, Inc., Dr. Richard Price, Transport Service, Inc., Beaulieu’s Market and Silver’s Garage.
25 Years Ago – July 7, 1999
Scholarships awarded — The County Federal Credit Union awarded five $500 scholarships to local graduating high school students. Selection was based primarily on financial need, along with academic performance, a letter from the student and a reference from his/her counselor. The winners were Amanda Leonard from Presque Isle High School, Dara Kidder from Ashland Community High School, Katherine Williams and Nicole Young both from Easton High School, and Simon Sjostedt from Caribou High School.
Lake conservationist honored for her efforts — Amy Collins had been doing her best to keep the lake clean, and she had been recognized for her effort. Collins received the Maine Lake Conservationist of the Year award from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for her work to improve and protect Portage Lake’s water quality. The award goes to a person or group that has contributed in an exceptional way to water quality or habitat protection in Maine’s lakes. Collins was instrumental in getting a watershed survey completed for Portage Lake and had worked to find funding to correct problems identified in the survey.
Donation — Jim Krysiak of the Presque Isle Fire Department accepted a check from Anna Jean Boucher, treasurer of the National Association of Insurance Women of Aroostook, as a donation for the department’s new imaging camera. Also present during the presentation were Angela Rider, Lisa Flewelling-Haney, Carol Hodde and Linda Dunn.
