100 Years Ago: 1922

Chief Harry Fogg of the Auburn Fire Department has adopted a little time-saver in having the rubber-coats of his men arranged systematically on the trucks. A certain number of places have been marked out numerically and each fireman must process directly to his number and always take the coat there. The coats of the officers are on a different truck and so there might not be any confusion between officers and men. By this arrangement, no time is to be lost in case of a fire.

50 Years Ago: 1972

John Wakefield will be skipper as he represents the Taylor Pond Yacht Club in the Sears Cup Central Maine F Division, North American Junior Sailing Championship eliminations to be sailed Wednesday and Thursday, on Taylor Pond.

Craig Edmundson will be the crew and he and Wakefield will compete against teams from Boothbay Harbor, North Haven, Burleigh Hill, Southport and Camden. The class of boats for this elimination will be Enterprises.

The winning team will race winners from the Eastern and Southern divisions of the state at Portland Aug. 8 and 9. Lightnings will be used for the state eliminations, winners of which will journey to North Chatham, Mass. to compete for the district championship in Day Sailors. The finals will be sailed at Jackson, Miss., in Thistles, starting Aug. 28.

For this week’s eliminations Bob Libby will serve as alternate.

25 Years Ago: 1997

Perfect summer weather and the smiling faces of happy campers welcomed guests to the dedication of the new Harold and Bibby Alfond Lodge at Camp Susan Curtis on Friday. The 23-year-old summer camp on Trout Lake serves hundreds of economically disadvantaged Maine children each year and is named for the daughter of former Gov. Ken Curtis and his wife, Polly. Susan Curtis died of cystic fibrosis as a child.

The new lodge was made possible by contributions to the Campaign For Camp Susan Curtis together with an estimated $100,000 worth of donated professional services.

The Alfonds, well-known Maine philanthropists, have made a $100,000 challenge gift to the Campaign for Camp Susan Curtis. The Harold Alfond Fund will match every new dollar to the campaign up to $100,000. And in a surprise announcement Friday, Alfond announced, “I’m going to give you another $100,000.” which was received with much applause and cheers. Friday’s celebration began when Alfond landed in a helicopter in a nearby field and was met by the Curtis’s and camp director Bob Flynn. Since Friday was also the 24th Annual Trustees and Friends Day, at least 50 guests gathered together with about 90 campers and 36 young counselors-in-training and the camp staff for the dedication. Among those attending was Jim Alden, the assistant camp director, Tom LaPointe,  the pioneer camp director, and Dick MacPherson, retired head football coach for the New England Patriots; and Mary Ellen Deschenes, all of the Susan Curtis Foundation.

David Ott, president of the board of trustees said, “We’ve had a capital campaign going for a couple of years for the purpose of improving the facilities. The Alfond Lodge is a 10,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility.” It features a full institutional kitchen named in memory of Phyllis Millett who was camp cook for 19 summers, 200 seat dining hall with a huge field stone fireplace, and decorated with art stork created by the campers, large indoor activity center, staff room, two program centers and a large wrap-around porch filled with picnic tables.”

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