100 Years Ago: 1921

Four quarts of fine ripe raspberries were picked today in the garden of Antoine Pontbriand, 72 Ninth Street, Auburn, and as many more green ones remain to ripen. They are the St. Regis species and are a second crop. The bushes were a new growth this year, and are not the ever-bearing kind.

50 Years Ago: 1971

Chuck Wagon Restaurant won the coveted United Fund “Hamburg Stakes” trophy last night at Lewiston Raceway. The proceeds from the race were turned over to the “Lewiston-Auburn United Fund” to the amount of $1,470. Receiving the trophy for the second time was Paul Paradis of Chuck Wagon Restaurants.

25 Years Ago: 1996

Samara Devore has been cooking recipes for a long time: she traces her enthusiasm for culinary arts back to the fourth grade. While a senior last year at Mt. Blue High School in the culinary arts program, she also was lunch cook at the Homestead Bakery. “She’s an extraordinary kid. I don’t get too many of them like her coming through here.” said Homestead Bakery chef Dot Bryant. Devore, who will soon attend a prestigious cooking school, spent last Sunday cooking lunch specials on her final day on the job. Devore’s specialty is low-fat meals with lots of veggies, and vegetarian dishes. She likes to keep inventing new dishes, making sure of one thing: the food pleases customers. Behind the doors at the Homestead Bakery, Devore would begin her meal preparations at 6:30 a.m., everything from chopping vegetables to planning recipes. When she goes on to The Culinary Arts Institute of America in Hyde Park, Brooklyn, she plans to learn even more. Devore attributes her acceptance to this ‘cooking school to the culinary arts program of the Foster Technical Center at  Mt. Blue High School in Farmington, where Sean Minear directs the cooking.

The material used in Looking Back is produced exactly as it originally appeared although misspellings and errors may be corrected.