100 Years Ago: 1922
Workmen were busy Wednesday laying the steel girders for Auburn’s municipal garage at the rear of the city building.
50 Years Ago: 1972
The chimes atop the Northeast Bank branch in Auburn have not been heard of late and there have been numerous inquiries about their cessation. Thomas F. Crowley, bank Senior vice president, said he has received numerous inquiries about the chimes which have apparently become an accepted part of the Auburn scene. Crowley said Tuesday night the chimes have not been ringing because of a mechanical problem, but that repairman will be in town later this week to make repairs
25 Years Ago: 1997
As musicians young and old played on stage at the Festival de Joie’s first-ever fiddle contest, audience members happily tapped their feet in time to the lively jigs and reels. This was no contest for the musically faint of heart. The rules for entrants were clearly spelled out on a form at the registration desk, next to the performance stage under the festival’s big tent number three.
“This is an old-time fiddlers contest and old-time rules prevail,” the sheet said. “Tunes will be played at a danceable tempo!”
Nearly 200 people listened in awe as six kids from Lewiston and elsewhere in Maine competed in the junior division, which included fiddlers up to age 15. Nine competed in the open division for adults, who came from as far away as Massachusetts, Vermont and even Canada.
In addition to providing the crowd with a full five hours of the fiddle, the star instrument in traditional French-Canadian music, the contest allowed young musicians to showcase their skills.
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