75 Years Ago – October 6, 1949
“Crazy Farmer Act” Highlight Of Houlton Air Show Sunday At The Municipal Airport — Walter Moore of Portland, will fly a Stearman bi-plane and do a variety of acrobatics at approximately 300 feet in full view of the spectators in an hour and a half air act at the Air Show at the Houlton Municipal Airport starting at one Sunday. Mr. Moore’s show will include loops, square loops, Immelman turns, inverted flight, low passes at 170 miles per hour, snap rolls, slow rolls, half rolls, four point rolls and vertical reverse. He will also give his famous “Crazy Farmer Act,” in which he flies a Cub airplane in a hair-raising fashion at altitudes of five to 50 feet and make bounce landings.
Starting New Business In Houlton 50 Years Ago Rough, Old Article Reveals — Starting a new business 50 years ago was apparently not any easier than it is today, if we can believe an article taken from the Commercial Farmer and Villager of March 20, 1901, describing difficulties which J. Fred Doescher had to overcome half a century ago when he came to Houlton from Massachusetts to establish the Houlton Creamery, the first enterprise of its kind in this section of Maine. That he succeeded and went on to establish a flourishing and profitable business which he actively managed until selling out a few years ago to H. P. Hodd and Son, is now a part of local history. Probably Mr. Doescher can laugh now at the task he had to face 50 years ago, but it is safe to assume it was far from funny then.
50 Years Ago – November 27, 1974
Area Is Hit By Raging Snowstorm — A blistering Northeaster, which at 1 p.m. Tuesday had dropped 15.3 inches of snow on Houlton in a little more than 12 hours, and continued to rage Tuesday night with as much as 25 inches of new snow expected before the storm was due to taper off in the early hours of Wednesday morning. A check with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Service Station at Houlton International Airport said that at 2 p.m. Tuesday Houlton appeared to be in the center of the storm, with the barometric pressure down to 29.39 inches. The storm had been raging for 12 hours up to that point, and FAA officials said that another 12 hours was expected, with another six to 10 inches of snow also expected.
Ricker Adds Equipment For TV — Ricker College has entered the era of television. The college has obtained all the necessary equipment for a TV studio and this comes at a time when Ricker is preparing to offer degree granting work in Communications. The TV studio at Ricker is now functioning and its first use will be for a television workshop to be held in January. Students at the college are using their spare time to sound proof the studio and learn the operational aspects of the TV equipment.
25 Years Ago – December 1, 1999
Former Winston Man To Visit Southern Aroostook Communities — Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, and Joe Camel are all mascots for products aimed at young people. However, before Joe Camel came the Winston Man. Images of a rugged man who seemingly looked “cool” while smoking were depicted on television and magazines. Now former Winston Man who doesn’t think smoking is so cool will be sharing his message with community members and students alike throughout southern Aroostook County. Dave Goerlitz, the former Winston Man who smoked three-and-a-half packs of cigarettes a day for 23 years, now travels the country warning people of the dangers of cigarettes and how the tobacco industry uses advertising to entice smokers.
Houlton-Hodgdon Blackhawks Compete In Thanksgiving Tourney — The Houlton-Hodgdon Blackhawks varsity ice hockey team competed in the fifth annual Presque Isle High School Thanksgiving Tournament last weekend. Coach David Wilson used the preseason event to assess how his players would react in game situations. The Blackhawks picked up a win, tie and suffered two losses over the weekend.
