100 years ago: 1925

Despite the theft of radio equipment overnight at the Armory, Lewiston’s first official appearance ‘on the air’ by radio in connection with the opening of the big auto-radio show at the Armory yesterday was a great success. The program, afternoon and evening, was under the personal direction of John D. McCarthy, proprietor of McCarthy’s Music Store, and was received with applause at the Armory and won commendations from hundreds of radio fans all over Maine who responded by telephone. More than 400 people in towns as far away as Augusta and Sanford phoned to say they could hear the show over the airwaves.

50 years ago: 1975

An Auburn police officer says the equipment being utilized at the Auburn-Lewiston airport for security purposes may not be functioning properly. Recently, when Air New England was certified by the Federal Aviation Agency, Auburn police were asked to provide security at the local airport when passengers are being checked aboard. The passengers pass through a metal detecting machine which is supposed to determine if they have guns or knives on their person. Sunday morning, Patrolman Bruce Bartlett, while providing security for a departing flight, notified the airline representative that the metal detector alarm activated as two passengers were being checked. Officer Bartlett was told this was okay as long as the scale didn’t reach 45. Officer Bartlett wasn’t completely convinced so he passed through the metal detector in full uniform, which includes lots of metal, such as gun, ammunition, etc. , and the scale only reached 40. Bartlett suggested the airline representative notify the airport manager of the situation so the machine can be checked.

25 years ago: 2000

The [Auburn] Planning Board voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject a bid aimed at stopping development of a 68-acre wooded property, the site of a planned Walmart Supercenter. The measure will still move forward to the City Council on April 3, but it will do so without the important recommendation of the Planning Board.

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