115 Years Ago-Dec. 8, 1897
• We are glad to hear again the sound of the Caribou Coronet Band, having been reorganized under the efficient leadership of Horace True.
• S. W. Collins & Son received 538 bushels of wheat at their new roller mill Saturday.
100 Years Ago-Dec. 4, 1913
• Big screen baseball — Take me out to the ball game Friday to the Gem to see Christy Mathewson and all those good old baseball players because they are all going to be there on the screen in the series games of 1913. So come early and see it just the same as the fans did who paid five dollars. Just think, only 10 cents.
• Parlor games — “Pilladex” is a delightful game played by persons of every age. Players are seated on two lines of chairs, facing one another, divided by a long pink satin ribbon, which is tied to the back of chairs at either end of the row. The person at the end sends ball to his opposite neighbor who returns it, only the back of the hand being used. If the ball is dropped, a mark is lost. Each gentleman should sit opposite to a lady in this game.
75 Years Ago-Dec. 8, 1938
• Blackstone dairy adds pasteurization — F. J. Blackstone & Sons recently installed up-to-date pasteurization equipment to their dairy farm on the old Washburn Road. The dairy has been operating in Caribou for about 20 years and has shown steady growth under the leadership of Fred Blackstone. Assisting in the work and caring for a year round average of 30 cows are daughter, Marjorie, and five sons, Kenneth, Wendell, Earl, Fred Jr., and Arnold.
• Aroostook’s poem set to music — A prize of $25 is offered by the Aroostook Federation of Music Clubs for a musical setting of the following poem, “A Song for Aroostook,” written by Harold W. Reed.
Great Mother of the North! to thee
Our hearts in song we raise.
Let every hill and every tree
And lake and stream in majesty
Join voices in the praise.
In living forests framed, thy face
Is lovely; and we know
How Winter’s icy hand can trace
O’er summer’s smiles a deeper grace
In sculpture of the snow.
Great hearts and brave thou dost demand;
Strong hands of willing skill;
And souls undaunted, to withstand
Thy sterner moods, dear Motherland,
And bold to love thee still.
Aroostook, let thy home lights shine
Forever warm and clear,
Eternal as thy stately pine
That o’er the wide world thy sign,
Our homeland without peer!
50 Years Ago-Dec. 5 1963
• Taxi fare increase to 75 cents —It costs a little more to travel by taxi in Caribou today, but by any figuring use of a cab is still a pretty inexpensive habit, especially for two persons taxiing together. Ordinance amendments requested by taxi firms and carried out by Town Council this week, allow cabbies to charge 75 cents for one or two passengers whose destination is not beyond one mile. The previous charge was 50 cents.
• Michaud is published poet — David P. Michaud, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Michaud, was notified that he had a poem published in the 1963 “Anthology of College Poetry,” published by the National Poetry Press of Los Angeles, Calif. He also had a poem published in 1962. Michaud is a junior at Washington State Teachers College.
25 Years Ago-Dec. 7, 1988
• Ballet ‘catching on’ in Caribou — In her editorial column, “Ketch’s Corner,” Brenda Ketch writes: If Mikhail Baryshnikov could have been in the audience Sunday as the students of the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department’s Caribou School of Ballet preformed Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Matchgirl,” he would have been extremely proud. It’s wonderful to see ballet finally ‘catching on’ on this area. Recreation officials said over 300 people attended the afternoon performance.
• New energy standards — State Energy Director,Harvey DeVane has issued a reminder that Maine’s new Energy Efficiency Standards law will take effect Jan. 1, 1989. The new law established for the first time in Maine mandatory energy efficiency standards for all commercial, institutional and certain residential buildings.
