100 Years Ago: 1924

Shivering from the cold, without work and despondent, a Cambridge, Massachusetts man came into the Auburn police station over the weekend and asked to be arrested for vagrancy that he might find shelter and food in the jail. It seemed to be the only thing to do and in court Monday morning he was sentenced to serve 15 days.

He says he is a fireman and is without work.

50 Years Ago: 1974

An Auburn woman was awakened late Sunday night by a would-be thief.

According to Auburn police, Jan Horrigan of 456 Broad St., was awakened at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday by a man who told her not to scream, that he wanted money. She told him she didn’t have any, and to get out before she screamed. Telling her to cover her eyes as he opened the door, he left the premises.

25 Years Ago: 1999

More than 50 children placed in foster homes by the state celebrated the holidays with their temporary families, local firefighters, court clerks and the judge who placed them in state custody. The party was held at 12th District Court Wednesday.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” said District Court Judge Robert Mullen. “These are children who for a number of different reasons, ranging from very unfortunate family situations to very unpleasant situations, have been placed in foster care.”

Mullen said he’s been contemplating throwing a holiday party for the Department of Human Services children for two years now after he heard about it from a Chicago judge during a conference he attended in May,1998. When Mullen mentioned the idea to clerks working at the court, the idea just took off, he said. “They were just very, very excited about it,” Mullen said. “… This party is 99.46 percent because of them.”

The party was officially sponsored by the Fire Department, which raised money to buy age-appropriate and significant gifts for the children and the food for the party. Firefighters brought a pumper truck to the court building for children to climb on, examine and have their photos taken with.

The Jolly Old Elf, a.k.a. Bailiff Bob Bowering, visited with the children and checked off their wish list.

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