100 Years Ago: 1920
A khaki-clad outfit of sturdy Maine boys swung up L Street at Camp Devens late Saturday afternoon, fell out and swarmed over the section of the big concentration camp, filled barracks and started to make things ship-shape. They did it with the same zest, the same get-at-it-ness and know-how of the men who but more than a year ago were swinging up those same streets and sleeping in the same quarters.
50 Years Ago: 1970
“Members of the Auburn School Committee last night named Lewis E. Webber to serve as acting superintendent until the new head of the Auburn School System arrives. Webber retires at the end of this month and the new superintendent, Patrick Donahue, named last week by the ASC, does not assume his Auburn duties until Aug. 1. In the meantime, someone is needed for such routine things as signing official documents, and unless the ASC takes action, the State Department of Education would name an agent to fill the position for that purpose, and it would have to be someone with a superintendent’s certificate.
25 Years Ago: 1995
What leads a young white man, without a drop of American Indian blood, to choose to live in a tepee and make Indian flutes? Verrill Jones explains that he was invited by a friend to go to a powwow in Cumberland four years ago. “It was unbelievable,” says Jones, “Something clicked within me … it seemed right.” Then he met a friend playing a flute and took an interest in the Indian instrument, teaching himself to make the flutes through trial and error. “You don’t really make a mistake,” Jones claims, “because you learn from them.” Jones’ father, Mike Verrill, says that when his son plays the flute, “it’s very comforting.” Now the older man has become interested in American Indian culture and flute making too.
The material used in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors may be corrected.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
