From the pages of the Livermore Falls Advertiser  

75 years ago:  

Philip Strout, local manager of the local branch of the Farm Service Co. store, is raising several partridge. This feat of unusual nature began about six weeks ago when the mother bird, who had just completed hatching her brood, was killed by accident when she flew into a truck.

Permission was granted from state authorities to attempt to raise the birds to maturity. According to statistics, doing so is a rare accomplishment.

Mr. Strout has been feeding the birds on Larro Turkey Builder. Some of the chicks died but the remaining birds are strong and healthy.

At one time the birds were so tame that they would fly from Mr. Strout’s hands to another store employee. The birds’ dwelling place has been placed out-of-doors and the great number of people who have observed them have caused them to become more timid.

Norland Grange will hold its annual Lawn Party on August 7. Plans are being made for a gala occasion with booths dispensing all kinds of refreshments and home-cooked foods. The outdoor activities will be followed by a drama and dance inside the Grange Hall.

The local branch of the New England Creamery Co., which recently went into bankruptcy, has been sold to the Shawsheen Dairy of Andover, Mass. That dairy is one of the largest milk distributors in the Boston area.

The new owner took possession recently and plans extensive renovations. The local retail milk route will be continued and present personnel will continue their employment with the new concern. 

Maine farmers, including many in this area, are reported to have lost nearly $30,000 which they will not recover because three Boston milk companies have gone through bankruptcy.

This situation has brought about a movement on the part of farmers to secure a bonding law similar to other New England states at the next session of the State Legislature.

Laws in other states require a milk dealer to file a bond or other surety with the Commissioner of Agriculture to be used for paying farmers in case the dealer fails to do so.

Local farmers, who have lost about $13,000, would have been protected had such a law existed in Maine.

The Farm Bureau Town Improvement committee met with Livermore committees last Wednesday evening to make plans to build a Community Bath House at Brettun’s Pond.

50 years ago:  

A Special Town Meeting was held in Jay last Monday evening at the Jay High School Gym to act on articles pertaining to new sewers and new streets and the new elementary school. The sum of $13,500 was appropriated for new sewers and streets with $11,000 for the Dow Dubord Development and $2,500 for the Henry Barker Development. All streets are to be forty feet in width. Selectmen were also authorized to borrow money, not to exceed $495,000, for the purpose of paying for construction and furnishing the new elementary school.

The State Forestry Inspector was in Livermore Falls last week to tour the town proper to inspect the Dutch Elm disease in the area. He found 35 trees to be so badly infected that their removal will be necessary. Nearly 100 more show evidence of the disease and will need to be professionally trimmed.

The sick trees are located in nearly every section of town including Main, Church, Depot and Park Streets. Fortunately for the beauty of Livermore Falls’ town ways, most of the badly diseased trees are located back from the road. Most of the affected trees on the main streets can be saved by proper and prompt trimming.

If conservation is not practiced in the Livermore Falls-Jay area, residents may be without drinking water. Moose Hill Pond is 8.5 feet down from a full pond due to this year’s dry conditions. With a full pond, the water is 139 inches over the pipe used to drain water for homes and businesses in the area. On Tuesday, there was only 37 inches of water over that pipe.

Due to insufficient funds, all bids for the Wings Mill Bridge at Mount Vernon were rejected.

Mr. and Mrs. Emilio Perez and Grizell will be moving Saturday to Alexandria, Virginia. The Perez family, Cuban refugees, was sponsored in the United States by the First Baptist Church and arrived in this community May 21 from Spain, where they had been residing since leaving Cuba.

25 years ago:  

Selectmen this week approved additional  street lighting for Bellaire Drive and Spring Avenue. They will also be considering installing a light at the intersection of Searles and Vine Streets. Requests for additional lighting on Knapp Street, Baldwin Street, and Royal Drive were denied by selectmen.

Twenty two 8th graders attended a reading slumber party to encourage reading at Jay Jr. High School recently.

The Friday Night Prime Time was the first for the 8th grade and everyone agreed it was a total success. Young people and adults alike celebrated the joy of reading for a fun-filled twelve hours.

Staff members at Jay Jr. High planned this event to encourage reading habits, and to show that reading can be a pleasurable recreational experience.

Half hour periods of silent reading were interspersed with physical activities such as relay races. Total time spent reading was two and a half hours. At the end of each hour, pages read were totalled. For each one hundred pages read, a book was hung on the “book tree”. By the end of the event, the group had read 4,017 pages.

At a recent reception, volunteers at Jay Elementary School were presented a corsage and certificate in recognition of the many hours of assistance provided the school.

Five volunteers received plaques in special recognition. Barbara Marston and Lois King contributed 200 hours of volunteer service; Barbara Dufour 300 hours; Judith Dames 600 hours; and Janice Diguiseppe 1,000 hours of volunteer service.

After running into the snag of having to have a bulldozer make the road more accessible, the Roberts Bros. Circus began the three hour process of transforming the Livermore Falls recreation field into a three ring circus.

By noon, performers and animals alike were ready and waiting for the show to begin.

In separate performances, Monica Morgan and Andrea Duguay were introduced as honorary ringmasters. Each girl blew a whistle from center stage to begin the show.

The Gibbs Mills Baptist Church in Livermore was recently taken over by one of its founders on the advice of his lawyer. Locks were broken, new ones installed, and windows barred in an effort to prevent entry to the building.

The problems between the pastor and some members of the congregation apparently began nine months ago.

This week, others in the community are reacting to the situation and urging both sides to deal with one another to solve the dispute.

Compiled by Pam Harnden