100 years ago: 1919

Dr. C. O. Holt of Lewiston is a mechanical genius. He has just finished a mandolin that is an artistic beauty. The bottom is of polished oak while the top is spruce and inlaid mahogany. The eight strings and the same number of keys are perfect of their kind. The curious part of the matter is that Dr. Holt knows nothing whatever about music and cannot tell one note from another. Those who have tested this instrument say that its tune is absolute perfection.

50 years ago: 1969

Capt. Leslie Stewart of the Auburn Police Department presented an interesting and informative talk on drugs before members of the Auburn Knights of Columba Auxiliary when they met Sunday evening at the Hampshire Street clubrooms. He illustrated the talk with a display of the various drugs and following a question and answer session he showed a film of the subject.

25 years ago: 1994

Rick Speer, Lewiston Public Library director, will be the featured speaker when the National Association of Retired Federal Employees meets Tuesday at 11:30 am. at the Ramada Inn. Speer will talk on the topic, “From Lifelong Learning to Lasers. The Lewiston Library in the 90s.” He will cover the range of materials and services available at the library with a special emphasis on what is new. A native of New Kensington, Pa., Speer was named Lewiston library director in 1984. He graduated from Millersville State College with a bachelor of science degree in education and from the University of Pittsburgh with a masters degree In library science. Speer co-chairs the Lewiston-Auburn Community Education Coalition and chairs the Maine On-line and Automation Section of the Maine Library Association.

The material used in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors may be corrected.