Presque Isle area From our Files – Week of February 2, 2022

MEMBERS CONTINUED PLEDGE — Doctor Clifford O. T. Wieden, president of the Board of Trustees of the Arthur R. Gould Memorial Hospital, accepted a check from Miss Donna Keirstead, treasurer, and Rick Currier, president of the Presque Isle High School Hi-Y and Tri-Hi-Y executive council, Na. 21. It marked the continuation of Gold Brick pledge payments made by the clubs in November of 1968. These pledges support the Expansion Fund of the hospital. The students who made the original pledge had graduated and the current members of the Y-clubs were keeping up the payments. The two clubs decided to pay $00 in order to pay off the debt before 1978. It was hoped that the following year, they would be able to complete the pledge by paying $300 more. In Presque Isle, the five Hi-Y and Tri-Hi-Y clubs were c-sponsored by the YMCA and the Presque Isle High School. The local clubs in the previous few years had achieved national and international recognition, twice having been written up in national magazines. In addition to the Gold Brick Fund, the local clubs performed many services for the community. Each year, the clubs sponsored several fund-raising activities to support their extensive programs which included several downstate trips. (File photo 1972/The Star-Herald)

75 Years Ago –   Jan. 30, 1947

Admitted to Bar — Wendell L. Phillips was admitted to the Maine Bar at a session of the Supreme Judicial Court by Justice Nathaniel Tompkins. Mr. Phillips was associated in the practice of law with Carl A. Weick at 150 State St., Presque Isle.

Formerly, he practiced law with the firm of Powers & Hall in Boston, Mass., with which he became associated upon his admission to the Massachusetts Bar in 1936. During the war, he was in the Navy, serving as an officer aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific for 18 months. Mr. Phillips lived in Presque Isle with his wife and two children.

Adams was named to represent the team in foul shooting — Captain Freddy Adams of the Presque Isle Wildcats, while leading the Star-Herald foul shooting contest, was named to represent the Wildcats in the divisional shoot-off of the Portland Sunday Telegram foul contest. The shoot-off was held at the Aroostook State Normal School under the direction of Tom Corrigan. Adams shot three for three in the Washburn game to step up his average and remain in top position in the contest for the Star-Herald trophy, while Andy Tuttle made four out of five in the Washburn and Caribou games to strengthen his hold on second place  as the Wildcats passed the halfway mark in their Aroostook League schedule.

50 Years Ago –  Feb. 2, 1972

Norsworthy completed tour — Sp 4 Terry L. Norsworthy, son of Mrs. Elzena Norsworthy of Presque Isle, completed a tour with the armed forces in Germany with the 1st Military Police Co. Exercise Reforger III. Following a visit home, Norwsorthy was transferred to Vietnam. The specialist was a 1970 graduate of Presque Isle High School. 

Allen Memorial Fund to benefit the library — Keith D. Allen of Westfield presented a check to Mrs. Mary Irvine, principal of Westfield Consolidated School, on Jan. 26, for the purchase of books for the school’s library. The money was obtained from Keith D. Allen Jr. Memorial Fund. Chief Warrant Officer Allen was pilot of an AH IG Cobra gunship in Vietnam and was killed April 13, 1969, while returning from a mission. He had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, both for heroism 26 Air Medals (the first and last were for heroism) and the Bronze Star. Allen was a 1961 graduate of Westfield Consolidated Schools and a 1965 graduate of Presque Isle High School. At PIHS, he was president of the senior class and vice president of the student council, while other activities included the Mars Hill chapter of DeMolay as master councilman. He also attended Maine Maritime Academy and Aroostook State Teachers College (University of Maine at Presque Isle). A memorial fund was established for him by the Class of 1965. His parents requested that the money be deposited in the bank to draw interest. (It was this money that they turned over to the Westfield School Jan. 26 for the purchase of library books.) The Class of  ’65 also presented a plaque to PIHS in memory of their president.

25 Years Ago –  Jan. 29, 1997

Nomination process raised questions — Presque Isle City Councilors named a new chairman Jan. 22, although the process was not an easy one. For the first time in three years, the deputy chairman of the council was overlooked for promotion to the chairman’s position. Two-term councilor Kathy White, the board’s only female, failed to collect more than three votes for that position. Councilor Kevin Sipe, who was entering the final year of his first term on the council, was selected to lead the group by a 6-1 vote, with White in opposition. 

Cross country team captured relay event — The Presque Isle cross country ski team was the Class A champion in the Telstar Relays, held in Bethel. The relays consisted of three parts; a 3×3-kilometer boys team, a 3×3-kilometer girls team and  a 4×3-kilometer mixed team. Making up the boys team were Mike Smith, Andrew Vernon and Ben Yaeger, while the girls team consisted of Tianna Morrison, Lauren Malnichuck and Anne Thomas. The first mixed team included Tyler Wood, Jessica Hallett, Lucas Desmond and Samantha Richard, while the second mixed team had as its members Kevin Mahoney, Leanne Hemphill, Andy Goumas and Hilary Bard. The boys team finished sixth overall, while the girls were fourth. The first mixed team ended up third, while the second mixed team was fifth. In the A division, Presque Isle totalled 13 points, followed by Lewiston with 14 and Oxford Hills with 17. Presque Isle was the only Aroostook County school among the 15 schools which competed.