100 years ago, 1915
In an effort to stimulate amateur athletics in Maine for the youth who hasn’t the school and college advantages, a ten-mile road race open to amateurs from anywhere and everywhere for a silver cup to the winner and a score of prizes in addition will be staged in Lewiston Memorial Day by the Lewiston Evening Journal. Amateur athletics in Maine is more or less a dead issue, and, except for the school boy and college meets and the nondescript and haphazard races conducted by the State fairs in the fall, the sport would hardly exist.

50 years ago, 1965
A large group of dancers, colorfully costumed, gathered at the Lewiston Memorial Armory Saturday night for the annual Mardi Gras Ball, sponsored by the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Club and its Rotary Anns, to dance in the atmosphere of a “Mississippi Riverboat.” Exceptionally attractive decorations were created for the event. Guests entered the dance area on a gang plank with the pitch and roll of a rough waterway. Colored streamers roofed the area extending from a huge roulette wheel placed in the center. Dice in various colors and sizes were suspended all about the room and large playing cards were placed along the balcony. The stage was framed by a cutout of a riverboat complete with rotating water wheel. Dice were placed atop the popcorn bowls which were on each table and play money was scattered about.

25 years ago, 1990
Auburn Water District employees Friday installed a two-inch diameter pipe extending out 1,000 feet from the Lake Auburn shoreline in order to take samples from a “deep hole” area of the lake. The depth of water there is estimated to be about 85 feet. Unless Lewiston and Auburn can prove the water quality in Lake Auburn meets stringent standards laid down by the Environmental Protection Agency, the two cities would be responsible for installing a costly filtration system. That treatment plant would cost the cities $20 million to build and $1 million annually in operating costs.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.