100 years ago, 1914
Lewiston was digging its way out of a 9-inch blanket of snow Friday laid down in 17 hours of a beastly east blizzard. Thursday noon the rising temperature was greeted with suggestion of snow, but by sundown, a regular storm was in progress. Thruout the night beaten in by a 50 mile gale the snow continued, crippling trolley car service, delaying northern and some of the eastern mails.
50 years ago, 1964
(Advertisement) One of the most successful dealerships in milk and allied products in this section of Maine is that of Pleasant Dairy of 111 Arcadia Ave., Lewiston. Founded by the late Joseph LaFrance four decades ago as a one-man operation in the heart of a congested residential area, the business has flourished until it now serves the two cities and surrounding communities and is a supplier of several institutions such as hospitals and schools. Mr. LaFrance began the operation in a small store on Birch Street in 1924. A year later, he moved to the basement of his newly purchased home on Arcadia Avenue. The prospering operation made it necessary 26 years ago to construct a modern processing plant on a lot adjacent to the LaFrance dwelling. Mr. LaFrance died in 1950. His widow continued the dairy business. In 1962, Pleasant Dairy was incorporated under the management of Mrs. Bernadette LaFrance Begin and her sons, Larry and Henry LaFrance.
25 years ago, 1989
Parked in a bay at the Center Street fire station in Auburn is a 1933 Ahrens-Fox fire engine. Small by today’s standards, its scratched and fading paint is a record of a small part of the city’s history — a history Auburn’s firefighters hope to preserve by raising funds for the truck’s restoration. The restoration will take approximately three years and could cost as much as $70,000. Why so much? The Ahrens-Fox is the Cadillac of fire trucks. Much of the truck was assembled by hand, with nickel fittings and gold leaf lettering. Seen mostly during parades now, Engine 4 was purchased after a May 1933 fire that caused more than $2,000,000 damage and leveled much of New Auburn.
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