100 years ago: 1925

“Lewiston-Auburn manufacturers, practically all of the business places, schools, churches and street railway companies will go on Daylight saving time schedule, effective Monday April 27.

“It was decided sometime ago to adopt a daylight saving time plan this summer, but not until yesterday did the Lewiston mills and the Auburn factories decide that the hands of the clocks should be pushed ahead an hour, the same as last year, instead of keeping them on Standard time and setting the hours of work back an hour, as was at first contemplated.

“Setting the clocks ahead, is believed to be a far more satisfactory way of arriving at the same end, and the people, especially those living in the cities, have been accustomed for several years to setting the clock hands ahead at about this season of the year, and seem to like it.

“Therefore in compliance with the decree, all clocks should be set ahead an hour Sunday night, then everyone may be on the job at the right time Monday morning.”

50 years ago: 1975

“The tragic death of a 14-year-old Auburn boy at Taylor Pond is the first fatality of the open water fishing season this year. It also is a warning of the springtime dangers in and on every body of water in the state.

“The young sportsman and a cousin decided to fish from an ice floe, when fishing from shore proved unproductive. The decision was an unwise one. As the floe began to break up, the two boys took off their boots and jackets and tried to reach shore by swimming. Only one made it.

“We offer sincere condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown of 176 Turner St., in the loss of their son, Richard. There may be consolation in the fact that the tragedy may save some other youngster.”

25 years ago: 2000

“LEWISTON — What happened Easter Sunday morning in St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church was a wonder. Father Richard St. Cyr certainly had not seen it before, not in the 20 months since he’d come to the church, to prepare it to be closed.

“Usually, standing at the altar, he’d look out over the pews and into the faces of, what? One hundred parishioners? Two hundred? That’s why the Diocese of Portland is closing St. Mary’s — too few people in the seats. That, and the cost to operate.

“But on this special Sunday morning, the church had come to life. Because what St. Cyr saw was people, as many as 700 of them, his biggest congregation in nearly two years. It was a reminder of the church’s glory days, when it was the cornerstone of a vibrant neighborhood known as “Little Canada” because of the Franco-Americans who lived there.”

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