99 Years Ago – October 1, 1925
Company received both contracts they bid on — The Boone & Brewer Construction Company, Presque Isle, put in the lowest bids on Federal Aid project No. 90-A. “K” spur, Fort Fairfield, $73,719.05, and on Federal Aid project No. 92-A. “K” Caribou, $82,957.80. It received the contracts for these jobs. It was a matter of great satisfaction to all our people that this north Arosootk concern had gotten these contracts, both for the sake of having the work done by Aroostook parties and for having it done in as satisfactory a way as the Boone & Brewer Company always did their work.
50 Years Ago – October 2, 1974
County given $900,000 for crime programs — Criminal justice programs in the county received federal grants totaling almost $900,000 in the four and a half years a regional planning effort had been underway, directors of the program heard at the last meeting in Caribou. The directors, members of the Northern Maine Regional Criminal Justice Planning Council, heard that the federal government expected to spend about $500,000 for a countywide communication system for which bids were received Sept. 16.
Aroostook bank opened in Bangor — The 41-year-old Northern National Bank, with main offices in Presque Isle, held a grand opening of a new branch in Bangor Sept. 25-27. The bank, which had 16 branch offices at the time being, all but the Bangor office in the county was chartered Sept. 6, 1933. The official groundbreaking for the new, modern three-story branch office in Bangor was held in October of 1973. The new building was designed by John Leasure of the architectural firm of Leasure, Tuttle and Lee of Portland. It was constructed by Cutler Associates, Inc., of Worcester, Massachusetts.
New TV donated — The Rainbow Girls of Presque Isle presented a black and white television set to the Opportunity Training Center as the culmination of a fundraising campaign that ran about eight months. The new television to serve as a teaching aide at the center to supplement the regular school program, according to Thomas Pooler, the center’s director. Pooler accepted the television set and its stand from Rainbow Girls Vickey Bonville, Mary Alice Graham, Mary McKay, Rosemary Delano and Shelley Johnson.
25 Years Ago – October 6, 1999
Pumpkin grower won at the fair — Aroostook County had one more claim to fame. The weekend at the Greater Pumpkin Commonwealth contest in Topsfield, Massachusetts, a Presque Isle pumpkin took top honors as the biggest ground grown in the state. The pumpkin, grown by Todd Hedrich, weighed in at 757 pounds and captured first place in Maine and fifth place overall. It was a close race with only a 24 pound spread between the top five pumpkins. Before the pumpkin was cut from its vine, it was nestled safely in a patch of rich green leaves with four other very big pumpkins. Hedrich explained how some secrets could never be told, but both him and his brother, Joe Hedrich, started with two Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds taken from a 914-pound pumpkin. From the time Hedrich started the seeds in his greenhouse in mid-May, 3,500 pounds of vegetation grew. By July, the plant was transplanted in the pumpkin patch where it kept growing until he cut its vine.
Grants helped agencies’ PR efforts — Three Aroostook County economic development agencies got a boost from the Department of Economic and Community Development in their efforts to attract business and industry to northern Maine. The Business Development Marketing Partnership Program awarded more than $1.1 million in grants to 22 organizations in Maine. In the County, grant recipients included the Northern Maine Development Commission ($75,000), the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation ($35.000) , and the Central Aroostook Business Attraction Marketing Program ($30,000).
