Presque Isle area From our Files – Week of July 27, 2021

3 years ago

75 Years Ago –   July 25, 1946

DuMond spoke at Field Day — The Aroostook County Farm Bureau announced that C. Chester DuMond, Commissioner of Agriculture of New York, was the principal speaker at the Field Day held at Aroostook Farm, Presque Isle.

Mr. DuMond had been a New York state farmer for over 30 years and had held numerous offices in the State Farm Bureau Federation. He had been honored as a master farmer by New York State and had a national reputation as an authority on agricultural affairs.

Bishop confirmed large class at St. Mary’s  — The Most Rev. Joseph E. McCarthy, D.D. Bishop of Portland, administered the Sacrament of Confirmation in a very impressive ceremony at St. Mary’s church Friday afternoon to a group of candidates comprising 89 girls, 78 boys and 22 adults. Mr. Archie Bishop and Mrs. Marian Dobson served as sponsors. This was the last class to be presented by the pastor, Rev. Daniel J. Feeney, Auxiliary Bishopelect of the diocese, whose consecration was taking place in Portland. Joseph Freeman, Henry Gagnon, Vital Martin, Bernard Thibodeau, Donald McCallum, Edward Ferland and Albert Gardiner, Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, formed an honorary escort for the Bishop in the long procession marching from the Parish Hall to the church, which was filled to its capacity with relatives and friends of the candidates.

50 Years Ago –  July 28, 1971

Position with Eye Care Division — A Crouseville man was named to a counseling position with the local rehabilitation service, according to an announcement made by Paul Rourke, director, Division of Eye Care of the Maine Department of Health and Welfare. The announcement was made when Rourke released the information that an office to provide rehabilitation services to visually handicapped persons had opened in the Star City. Milford Clark was appointed to counsel both adults and children who are blind or visually impaired. He graduated from Aurora College in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science degree and joined the family services unit of the department in 1956, stationed in the Caribou office.

Capitol bound — Roxanne Nickerson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Merle Nickerson of Mapleton, was selected to attend the 4-H Citizenship Short Course at Washington, D.C. She stayed at the National 4-H Center, Chevy Chase, MD. She was a member of the Busy Hands 4-H Club of Washburn and was the 1971 winner of the Central Aroostook 4-H Style Dress Revue held in May.

Local swim team on top — The strong Presque Isle swim team made a clean sweep of the Fort Fairfield swim meet, bringing home the team trophy and the high point individual trophies offered in each division. Presque Isle led with a narrow lead through all swimming events; however, they widened it comfortably with the point worthy diving of a very skilled club. The team trophy was won with a total point accumulation of 104. Individual high point trophies went to Stephen Nichols in the senior boys division, Ellen Hendrickson in the senior girls, Tim Higgins in junior boys and Michelle Schriener in junior girls. Other teams competing in the meet were: Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, Loring and Washburn.

25 Years Ago –  July 24, 1996

Ferland named EMS coordinator — Peter Sirois, president of Aroostook Regional Emergency Medical Services Inc., announced the appointment of James A. Ferland as regional coordinator for the Region Five office of EMS. Ferland retired from the Presque Isle Police Department. In this position, Ferland was responsible for coordinating the operational, training, education and service delivery activities of the Regional Council. The council served all the ambulance services in Aroostook County and one in Washington County. Ferland said this new position presented many new challenges and opportunities.

Green joined AMHC — Caribou resident Regina Green joined the staff of Aroostook Mental Health Center as an emergency services specialist. Green’s major responsibilities were to provide crisis intervention and stabilization to individuals and families in crisis in the Central Aroostook region. Green worked with other agencies and service providers in the region to coordinate resources. A 1996 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in Social Work, she had several years experience in crisis intervention, mental health and speech and hearing services. Moreover, she provided legal support and advocacy for victims served by Domestic Violence Intervention Services in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She also worked as a case manager for the same agency, specializing in individual counseling. Green had prior experience as a psychiatric technician, providing outpatient and mental health services to adolescents. She was also a community education specialist for the Tulsa Speech and Hearing Association.