From our Files: Headlines from 100 years of local news

100 Years Ago-Oct. 2, 1912
Aroostook Times
    Ludlow politics —Mr. Roland E. Clark of Houlton on the County Committee for the Progressive Party formed a Progressive Party in Ludlow on Friday, with 25 signers, and elected a Town Committee of seven with O. A. Stevens as Chairman; Clarence P. Small, Sec’y and Treas.; Jas. Webb, A. E. Thompson, Earl Adams, F. L. Small and Amos Ingraham as the Committee.
    Carriages built — Carriages we build not only are strongly constructed to withstand long service and hard traveling, no matter what conditions of the roads and weather, but are new and artistic in shape and outline, and smart in style – Huggard Bros. Co., Houlton, Maine.
75 Years Ago-Oct. 7, 1937
Houlton Pioneer Times
Drug store robbery — Chief Lincoln McGaw and patrolman Murlin Collins headed northward in pursuit of a pair of alleged thieves suspected of having stolen $156.79 in cash and merchandise valued at more than $40 from Munro’s West End Drug Store sometime during last night. In addition to cash, investigation revealed that ten watches, a number of fountain pens, and about five cartons of cigarettes constituted the remainder of the loot.
Pioneer Times 1937 file photo
MAY BE HOULTON’S FIRST MOVIE STAR — An all-expense-paid trip to Hollywood and a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture contract await this blonde, blue-eyed Houlton girl, Miss Helen Hughes, 19-year-old winner of the New England Talent Quest, sponsored by the Boston Evening American, the Boston Sunday Advertiser and M-G-M studio. At present a third-year student at Emerson College of Oratory, Boston, Miss Hughes is five feet, one-and-a-half inches tall, weighs 102 pounds and has a peach and cream complexion to set off her golden hair and azure eyes. Judges picked her from a field of 4,000 entrants.
A muddy victory — A strong Houlton High School football unit slopped its way to a 7-0 victory over an outclassed but not outfought band of Minutemen from Stearns High School on Friday afternoon in a literal sea of mud and water that transformed Community Park field into a quagmire.
50 Years Ago-Oct. 4, 1962
Houlton Pioneer Times
Hot autos for 1963 — The latest automotive styles for 1963 can be found in ads touting “the advanced thinking of Studebaker,” “Rambler for ‘63 – the new shape of quality,” “Plymouth’s on the move,” “Look, the lid’s off (Mercury) Comet,” “1963 Valiant has fully new design, “Cadillac – a new standard of excellence in 1963,” and “Pontiac – here’s what the other ‘63’s wish they looked like.”
Valentine Queen — Mrs. Arnold Ellis was elected at the regular meeting of the Psi Chapter, Beta Sigma Phi sorority held last Wednesday evening at the home of Mrs. W. A. Virgie. Mrs. Ellis will represent at the annual Valentine Dance in February for all Aroostook County chapters.
25 Years Ago-Oct. 7, 1987
Houlton Pioneer Times
Coperthwaite award winner — Two pairs of Houlton grandparents, Al and Marion Coperthwaite and John and Genesta Small are “especially proud” of the achievement of their grandson Kevin Coperthwaite, son of Janet and Kevin Coperthwaite of Winthrop. Kevin designed the winning sketch to be used on pins sold by Lioness clubs internationally to benefit the Special Olympics.
Cleale at Carnegie Hall — A young man from Houlton, Lewis H. Cleale, will be realizing a musician’s greatest ambition when as a member of the University of Miami Singers, he will perform on Oct. 18 at the world-famous Carnegie Hall. Cleale is the son of Carol and Ralph Cleale of Houlton and the grandson of the late Lewis A. Potter and Natalie Potter of New Limerick. He is a junior majoring in music media and industry at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.