100 years ago, 1915
Automobilists appreciate the improvement made at the corner of Court and Goff streets, Auburn. A corner and the sidewalk have been cut away, giving the street a much easier curve at this dangerous point.

50 years ago, 1965
Cards attached to the helium-filled balloons which were released by a throng of area youngsters more than a week ago at the annual Auburn-Lewiston Kiwanis Club Pancake Breakfast continued to be returned today. The child whose balloon will have traveled the farthest distance will be awarded a prize, and one of the two cards received today was from a balloon which flew quite a ways. The card was found in the middle of Lake Nequasset at Woolwich, which, as the crow flies, is believed slightly farther than one found at Bath last week.

25 years ago, 1990
Driving down Wellman Street, four trees that look like they’ve been decorated for Halloween catch the eye. A closer look shows that the trees, encased in gauze-like webbing, are inhabited by thousands of caterpillars. Residents are concerned about the pests, which have entirely stripped the four trees, known only as “Japanese trees” in the neighborhood, and are for the first time moving to other types of trees. Instead of green leaves and small greenish-white blossoms, the trees are wrapped in tough webbing, resembling lace or gauze, and trail hundreds of thick threads leading to the ground, along which clumps of caterpillars, each containing scores of pests, move to the ground.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.