120 Years Ago – July 14, 1904
Wagons sold — F. J. Laffaty & Co., who have already made 44 jigger wagons this season, recently sold one of the J. Henry Ryan Co. of Portland. The wagons manufactured by Laffaty & Co. are among the best of the kind made and give universal satisfaction.
Business doing very well — J. S. Getchell and son have been doing quite an extensive business this season in the manufacture of the Getchell sprayer, having already manufactured 250. It is understood that this sprayer is giving great satisfaction among the farmers.
115 Years Ago – July 15, 1909
A bit of advice — Here is a minister who appreciates the editor. At a recent editorial convention he gave the following advice: ‘To save an editor from starvation, take his paper and pay promptly. To save him from bankruptcy, advertise in his paper liberally. To save him from despair, send him every item of news you can get hold of. To save him from profanity, write your correspondence plainly on one side of the sheet and send it to him as early as possible. To save him from mistakes, bury him. Dead people are the only ones who never make mistakes.’
100 Years Ago – July 10, 1924
To take a summer course — The many friends of Mrs. Alice Kelley, the efficient principal of the Sincock school, will be interested to know that she is to take a course at the summer school at Columbia University in New York and left Saturday for Bangor to visit en route. Mrs. Kelley has taught in the public schools of Fort Fairfield and Caribou for the last 35 years and is considered one of the leading elementary school educators in the State.
Resume practice — Dr. Frank O. Blossom has bought the Robert’s place and will resume his practice of medicine here in Caribou. His office will be at his residence, 4 Roberts street. Telephone number 141-3. His old patients and many friends will be glad to hear of the doctor’s intention to locate here.
75 Years Ago – July 14, 1949
Artesian wells provide means for irrigating potato fields — There won’t be any drought in Aroostook this summer, if Jimmy Trask of the Trask Artesian Well Company has anything to say. Jimmy now has a 12 man crew working with six mammoth well drilling units to supply additional moisture for the County. Many of the wells being drilled this summer will be used for irrigation of potatoes. The Trask Company has just drilled a 400 foot job for Forest Chandler of State Road and is now completing a similar project for Fowler Brothers in Fort Fairfield. 400 gallons are needed to irrigate ten acres a day with an inch of water. To reach this capacity it is usually necessary to drill a 10 inch well from 3 to 500 feet deep. The MPG farm machinery department supplies the irrigation units.
Rec Playground attendance tops 8229 in seven days — Aggregate attendance at Caribou’s two recreation playgrounds during 7 days of operation has totaled more than 8,229 while despite inclement weather conditions more than 4,000 have visited the swimming pool during its 12 days, director Lloyd Pound said this week. In counts taken twice daily at the three recreation spots, Teague Park led its attendance. The popular athletic field recorded 5,934 during this period or an average of 349 daily. At Bridge street 2295 were counted during this period. Attendance at all three places has been very good considering the prevailing poor weather, Pound stated.
25 Years Ago – July 14, 1999
100 years of Frost Memorial — No one in Limestone really knows where the first Library was housed. Sketchy records place the library in various locations, but since its inception, the town’s library has continued to outgrow its home. A town meeting was held in March 1899 where the residents of Limestone appropriated $25 for the town’s first library. By 1903, funding for the library doubled. Almost all of the $50 appropriated was spent on books and the librarian’s salary. Ten years later, in 1913, a group of women got together at the high school and formed the Limestone Library Association. The group’s goal was to have a library in town and the first two years of their existence was spent trying to find a location. The Woman’s Civic Club was organized in 1936 and the library was one of their major projects. The group raised money for library support and purchased and collected books. In the early 1940’s a gift of $5000 from Aubrey C. and Stella Frost solved the problem of a permanent location for the library. The money was used in the construction of a fire proof, free public library. At the March 1941 town meeting, the library in Limestone came to be known as the Robert A. Frost Memorial Library. Over the years the library has grown and expanded to be able to handle the additional books, storage, new materials, computers and a reading room. Now, once again, the Robert A. Frost Memorial Library has outgrown its home and needs to expand and an addition and an elevator which will allow access to all patrons of the library. On July 1, Limestone’s library held an Open House and kicked off a fundraiser. The goal of the project is to raise $400,000 to expand the library.Volunteers honored at RSVP program — ‘Volunteer Brighten Lives’ was the theme of the 24th Annual Aroostook Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, (RSVP) regional Volunteer Recognition Celebration in Caribou. More than 750 RSVP volunteers, all aged 55 or older, provided 144,065 hours of service to 37 County communities during 1998. More than 100 volunteers received special thanks for ‘going above and beyond’ in service to others. 56 volunteers were recognized for years of service or for contributing 500 or more hours of service during 1998.
