115 Years Ago – Feb. 19, 1902
Standstill — Telegraph communications between Caribou and Boston was practically at a standstill Tuesday, owing to the damage done to the wires by Monday’s storm. It was not until night that telegrams could be gotten through to this town, and then they began to come thick and fast, causing a general hustle on the part of the employees of the station here to find the parties to whom the messages have been sent.
Lumber — Lumber business has been booming. The mills are all running on the full time up there and everything is rushing. There has been an immense amount of pulpwood cut this winter as well.
100 Years Ago – Feb. 22 , 1917
Humorous — Dr. S.A. Randall, a Houlton lady, must have a good sense of humor. On leaving her office recently, she discovered a medium-sized potato. She had the following ad placed in one of the papers: “Found, in front of my office on Market Street, one medium-sized Green Mountain potato, owner please call, identify property and pay for this ad.” S.A. Randall.
75 Years Ago – Feb. 19, 1942
Quick-freeze plant opens — Peterson’s Market opened last week their quick freeze locker plant, the first and only one in the State of Maine. The plant has been under construction for the past several months by Moon Smith Co. of Bangor, and as completed has an estimated value close to $10,000. The plant consists of a room measuring 19 feet by 38 feet, an outside storage room 19-feet by 14 feet also a built-in quick freezing unit with a 500 pounds capacity.
Safe in Hawaii — Corp. Warren Bouchard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Bouchard of Caribou, recently wrote his parents that he was safe and well following the attack at Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7. Warren was recently promoted from Pvt. F.C. to Corporal.
50 Years Ago – Feb. 22, 1967
Shucks! To school as usual — A plug in the sewer line at the Caribou Junior High School Friday afternoon proved to be no plug at all, as far as the students were concerned, for in spite of several hopeful inquiries on their part there was school, as usual, on Monday morning. The clogging, caused by tree roots in the school lawn, forced water back into a basement section adjoining the gymnasium Friday afternoon. A social gathering and junior high school concert scheduled for that evening had to be cancelled.
Weather great for polar bears — Unofficial temperatures as low as 48 degrees below zero were reported in Aroostook County last weekend, although official and semi-official marks stopped at minus 44. The lowest official temperature recorded in the county between Friday and Monday by the United States Morning Weather Bureau in Caribou was 29 degrees below zero Monday morning.
25 Years Ago – Feb. 19, 1992
Re-election — Sen. Donald F. Collins, R-Caribou, announced Monday that he would not seek re-election to the state senate. Collins, who is completing his third consecutive term, also served a term in the late 1970s and a House term in 1972. Collins said Monday that the so-called “Legislative session from hell” last year was a factor in his decision.
Winter fireworks — Hundreds of spectators gathered at the Caribou Municipal Airport last Saturday evening to view the fireworks display which was part of the Caribou Winter Carnival activities. The event was organized by winter carnival co-chairmen John Morrell and Mark Sleeper, was performed by Jim Kysiak, Presque Isle fire chief, who is a pyrotechnical representative of the Blue Hill Pyrotechnics firm.
