75 Years Ago – August 18, 1949
Beautiful Exhibits Feature Annual Houlton Flower Show — One of the most beautiful and colorful Flower Shows ever presented by the Houlton Garden Club was its 12th annual exhibit held Wednesday afternoon and evening at the Northland Hotel. The Lobby, Silver Room, and mezzanine were used for artistic and unusual arrangements of flowers while in the ballroom exhibits of plants, vegetables, fruits, specimen blooms, table arrangements and special exhibits were on display.
Work Trend In Maine Increases — Lumbering, shoes, textiles, summer resort work, quarrying, crop harvesting and food processing all made major contributions to a tremendous increase in employment opportunities in most sections of Maine during July, according to a state-wide summary of the month’s operations released today by the Maine Employment Security Commission.
50 Years Ago – August 21, 1974
Lost Pilot Led Safely Into Houlton By FFA — While on a rather routine picture taking assignment Wednesday at the Houlton International Airport, I was suddenly thrust as a bystander into a suspenseful and interesting experience. That experience was watching two men, Art Bourget and Wayne Kenney, air traffic control specialists, with the Federal Aviation Agency, find and guide a lost aircraft into the Houlton airport. The aircraft, a Cessna 182 with a single engine, radioed for help as it encountered severe thunderstorms with the weather closing in fast. The Houlton airport and the Boston FAA authorities responded with Boston trying to pick up the plane on radar, but due to the low altitude, this was not possible. The Houlton office, after several radio contacts with the pilot was able to locate the craft on the directional finder (DF) and by contact with the craft and Millinocket airport, the men soon had the craft pinpointed on their map in Houlton, and Boston conceded to the Houlton office to “bring it in.” Thus the suspension and tension was increasing. The craft was located and was within a few miles of the airport in Houlton, but the difficulty was to bring it in through the thunder and heavy rains. The pilot naturally was reluctant to head into the storm and the men were insistent that this was the only way to reach Houlton. Mr. Kenney and Mr. Bourget had to have constant radio contact with the pilot for at least five seconds each time he called in. He would be positioned on the DF and then on the map. By describing what little of the terrain he could see such as a small body of water, a small mountain, and constantly talking by radio with the office, the pilot was soon headed for the airport.
Nearly 300 Are Screened In Clinic At Oakfield — “We hoped 200 people would be interested in our clinic but we never dreamed this many people would come,” said Mrs. Iona Nadeau, chairman of the Oakfield Health Council Friday night at the completion of the Risk Factor Screening Clinic for 297 persons at Oakfield Grammar School on August 15 and 16. This community program for preventive health care for adults included over 70 workers from the Oakfield Health Council, the Teacher Training Corp. of SACS, the area Public Health Nurses, and volunteers from Dyer Brook, Houlton, Island Falls, Merrill, Oakfield and Smyrna.
25 Years Ago – August 25, 1999
Bikers Prepare for Annual Toy Run To Be Held Sunday — It will be a thunderous noise as more than 70 motorcycles – of all years and models – stream from Travelers Big Stop parking lot at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and head north on Route 1, as part of the United Veterans Motorcycle Club and Caribou Harley Owners Group’s annual toy run. Each year between 75 – 100 riders participate in the Toy Run event, donating at least one toy apiece.
