Houlton area From our Files – Week of May 24, 2023

10 months ago

75 Years Ago May 20, 1948

Hodgdon H.S Girls Take Katahdin Valley Laurels –  The Hodgdon High School girls’ basketball team wound up a triumphant season with 18 wins, one defeat, to take without question the title of champions of the Katahdin Valley League. 

The only defeat the champions suffered was the hands of the Sherman team which, in a second game, they defeated handily. Their record stands for victories, both in and out of the league, as a high mark in Hodgdon school athletic competitions. 

Houlton Band Announces The FIrst Concert in New Ricker Hall – The Houlton Town Band has arranged an elaborate program for its fine appearance in the new Ricker Auditorium June 3 at eight. With attention to the acoustics of a hall of immense gauge and ovaled proportions. Director J. E. Robinson has planned performances of compositions designed to give full play to the passages of special instrumentation. In some cases, there will be the gamut of orchestration with emphasis on the instruments recently acquired, the bells, chimes and tympani. Other portions of the program develop the possibilities of the wind section. There are novelty numbers, as well. 

50 Years Ago May 23, 1973

Jaycees Win 11 Awards During State Convention – At the annual Maine Jaycees State Convention, the HOulton Jaycees received 11 first place awards out of 14 projects submitted. They were in the areas of membership recruitment, international involvement, ways and means, publications, youth assistance, public relations, spiritual development, inner city, leadership development, welfare and environmental control. They also received an award for the outstanding project for their division. The project was the Amblyopia Clinic, the Jaycees conduct each year. Only four such awards are presented in the State. Division II, of which Houlton is a member, comprises almost 70 percent of chapters in the state.

Assigned Airman – Ronald C. Van Tasel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Van Tasel of Houlton, has been assigned to Keesler AFB, Miss., after completing Air Force basic training. During his six weeks at the Air Training Command’s Lackland AFB, Texas, he studied the Air Force Mission, organization and customs and received special instruction in human relations. The airman has been assigned to the Technical Training Center at Keesler for specialized training in the administrative field. Airman Van Tasel graduated in 1972 from Houlton High School.

25 Years Ago, June 10, 1998

Late night fire damages local potato house – Fire damaged a local potato house last Sunday night. The structure, located on outer Court Street, was owned by farmer Roger Wilson. Houlton Fire Chief Milton Cone said the fire was reported to the department at 10:45 p.m. by a nearby resident. “When we got to the scene, we found the potato house to be fully involved with heavy smoke showing,” said Cone. Twenty-two firefighters, three pumpers and one ladder truck responded to the scene. The cause of the fire was unknown at the time. 

Katahdin Trust Company celebrates 80 years – About 80 years ago, a bank was developed in order to help create development that was needed within the area. It started out fairly small with only $208,000 in assets, but today as the Katahdin Trust Company celebrates its 80th year in the banking business it has grown to almost $130 million in assets, and into seven branches.