100 years ago, 1913
Clad in green chinchilla mackinaws, adorned with brass William Tell buttons, corduroy suits, flannel shirts and topped off with green sky-pieces, some twenty-five members of the William Tell Club gathered at the Upper Maine Central station, Friday morning to take the 8:15 train into the wilds of Maine on their annual outing. The special car that waited on the siding was packed full of blankets, guns, trunks, cream puffs and Poland water. The object of this journey into the “Promised Land” was pleasure and to bring home skins and yarns that they may tell thrilling stories of daring escapades and fights with terrible bears, or even tigers and leopards that probably strayed across the Atlantic from Africa. Their wives and sweethearts came to see them go, one wife or sweetheart to a man.
50 years ago, 1963
“Operation Nightmare,” which has been successful in this area in the past, will be held tomorrow night, with teenagers gathering at Edward Little High School. From that point, the caravan will be an old hearse, the “Nightmare Wagon,” with its unknown occupant resting in a coffin in the back. When the destination point is reached, the group will go on a brief tour through “Nightmare Alley,” which is followed by the presentation of the guest of honor, a “real, live corpse.” The program is presented annually throughout New England and is sponsored by the Word of Life Bible Clubs in cooperation with local sponsoring churches. The evening will conclude with a brief message from Jack Wyrtzen, director of the Word of Life Fellowship, and nationally known youth speaker.
25 years ago, 1988
A Portland developer has been talking to a number of parties about becoming the anchor tenant in a proposed multiple-story downtown office complex. The Boulos Co. hopes to learn by January if enough tenants can be found for the building. The company will spend about $100,000 to study if there is a market for the building, develop preliminary engineering designs and perform soil tests and study the feasibility of constructing a 14-story office complex on the municipal parking lot off Ash Street.
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