100 Years Ago: 1924

The newest school in Lewiston, one of the finest of its kind in New England, opened for regular sessions Wednesday morning. It is known as the West Rose Hill, standing with an excellent southern exposure at Lisbon street and East avenue. It is a grade school with five rooms, accommodating 200 pupils. It cost about $75,000; built by Petier, Rivard and Malo.

50 Years Ago: 1974

A Lewiston man has fought City Hall, and won. He’s Albert Dumais, the victor in his court scrap with the city of Lewiston over ownership of a strip of land near the Cedar Street Playground in Lewiston, on the banks of the Androscoggin River.

The dispute, which has been going on for some time, reached a head earlier this year when the city made known it was going to tear down some garages on property which it claimed it owns.
Dumais balked, told the city he’d fight, and with the aid of Attorneys William Rocheleau and Fournier, he did.

The case was referred to Retired Supreme Court Justice Donald W. Webber June 24 of this year and there was a hearing held at the Androscoggin County building. The jurist found that Dumais holds title to the property and further, he barred the city from removing any buildings from or otherwise interfering with plaintiff’s use of the property.

25 Years Ago: 1999

It is said that the Chinese characters for “crisis” also spell out “danger plus opportunity.” A hospital stay, a personal distress, a relationship problem — these can be times of crisis for people as well as an opportunity for drawing on the faith they have come to trust, or for touching again, beliefs once held. How those beliefs are honored and given room to be expressed are vital to a person’s total healing.

This concept forms the core of this year’s Pastoral Care Week celebration under the theme “Diversity of Spirituality.” Chaplains, pastoral counselors, parish nurses and other caregivers working in a variety of settings will mark the week-long event with activities and public information designed to draw attention to the role that spirituality and its many expressions play in the journey toward wholeness.

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