Caribou area From our Files (week of October 17, 2018)

6 years ago

115 Years Ago – Oct. 20,  1903

Spooky, spooky Washburn reports a ghost prowling around the village at night.

Dance Until further notice, there will be a dance in Foster’s Hall, Water Street, every Friday night.

100 Years Ago – Oct. 23, 1918

In town A.C. Frost of Limestone was in town on business Friday.  Mr. Frost is enthusiastic over the growth and advancement of Limestone.  WIthin a few years, the town has had electric lights, water works sewer, a new bank, new Masonic hall, besides many other new buildings.

Gasoline ban — The ban on Sunday gasoline was raised last Thursday, in consequence of which a large number of cars were out last Sunday.  At best, we can have only a very few more Sundays where an auto can be used in this country.

75 Years Ago – Oct. 20, 1943

Dry cleaners re-open — The Aroostook Dry Cleaners re-opened for business yesterday under the proprietorship of Buster Swenson of Caribou and Maxwell Jacques of Presque Isle.  In the absence of Mr. Swenson, who is employed in defense work in Connecticut, Mr. Jacques will carry on the business. Mr. Jacques has had many years of cleaning service in Presque Isle.

High school opens — Caribou High School opened its 1943-44 session Monday with a large enrollment in spite of unfinished digging operations.  This year’s curricula will line up with the war programs as it did last year, continuing with the High School Victory Corps.

50 Years Ago – Oct. 23, 1968

Vocational school — Initial steps toward the establishment of a regional vocational technical school in Caribou, with 75 percent of the costs to be repaid by the State of Maine, were taken by the Caribou School Committee at its Thursday evening meeting when it authorized Superintendent of Schools Richard F. Crocker Jr. to commence a study of the project.  Caribou has already been approved as a site for a regional vocational technical center, the superintendent told the board. He said he had been advised by the state director, Harold Mailman, that the first step would be to develop a detailed plan of instruction courses to be offered, approximate cost of construction and equipment.

Hospital Acquires “Birtheeze” An Emerson “Birtheez” is a new piece of equipment which has been provided to Cary Memorial Hospital by the hospital’s Memorial Fund and the Hospital Auxiliary.  The Birtheez is just what the name implies: it is a unit which relieves pain in the first stage of labor through abdominal decompression. Holding a micro-switch in her hand, the patient turns on the pump each time a pain starts.  These factors will benefit the mother and child as the child matures.

25 Years Ago – Oct. 20, 1993

Merger continues Cary Medical Center directors voted 7-1 Monday night to continue the process of combining Cary and The Aroostook Medical Center into one new health-care entity.  John McCormack, Cary executive director, said after the meeting that he “felt good.” The Cary board convened a series of meetings beginning at 4 p.m. Monday, expecting to consider a recommendation that the consolidation process be put on hold because of a number of issues that had risen in recent weeks.  The meeting Monday night lasted for more than eight hours before anyone reached a decision.

Pathway Plans for a path around Collins Pond are progressing, Kathy Mazuchelli, director of the Caribou Recreation Department, told the Caribou Planning Board at its Oct. 7 meeting.  The mile-long trail will run across the Grist Mill Bridge on Main Street, by the Lions Picnic Ground, behind the ball field, up Sincock Street, across the trestle, down the Aroostook Valley Railroad (AVR) tracks, Washburn Street, Hatch Drive, across the S.W. Collins Co. Parking lot, and down the bank behind One Vaughn Place.