by Katie Ouilette

Y’know, WALLS, it’s for sure the season for many things. I did write about having Spring Fever a bit ago, and spring has so much for us to be thankful for. First of all, we got the news of a flock of robins flying over Skowhegan’s famous and ‘historic’ lumber business a few days ago. Then, there was a father-daughter dance held in one town and Big Brother-Big Sister celebrations held for many. You are so right, WALLS, the reason I didn’t know about it all is because I, Katie, have been a ‘one and only’ Kathleen Valliere. Thank goodness I had lots of great kids to play with in our Chestnut Street neighborhood and great friends throughout those ‘growing’ days. Yes, WALLS, the Skowhegan High School Class of ‘48 has decided to meet at the new KelMat Café on the first Monday of each month, so our friendship lingers on, as well as our memories.

Now, speaking of memories, WALLS, you must be ‘number three’ in thanking Milt Huntington for making our minds turn to yesterdays. WALLS say many thanks, Milt. Yes, your writing for PAGES IN TIME might have been ‘mushy,’ but every word brought back memories to those of us over 65 years of age but, frankly, PAGES IN TIME surely gave our youngsters a glimpse of what we used to do with our spare time. Yup, no computers and Facebook in our growing years.

Oh, my, WALLS, now antiquity has really come to your fore. Yes, you often have thought about the ancient buildings that have existed in other countries on our Earth. Milt awakened our thoughts about our own Augusta, our State Capitol City and what it used to be like. Yup, we Americans want everything new. In fact, we tear buildings down when they aren’t even ancient! Just this week, WALLS, you witnessed the ancient coliseum in Italy that, admittedly, has walls broken, but remains. You also saw archaeologists digging in foreign lands to find remnants of villages that existed or caves that led to some of the history that we never had to study, because, in yesteryear, none of us knew about them. This is where we must thank scientists for their curiosity and their search for knowledge for us.

WALLS, thank you so much for bringing our history alive through our newspapers, magazines and television. What’s more, even now, modern folks about whom we read or see, are bringing the past to us. Yes, our USA is changing, as we hear of the repairs and rebuilding that is needed for our infrastructure. Let us hope that those rebuilding jobs or repairs are made available to those who need employment and are not left to robots. Yes, even robots and air service are being done for people. What a world awaits our future! But, we know that Maine is as life should be…….even shoveling snow!

by Katie Ouilette

WALLS will now let faithful readers know what had been told about Redington-Fairview General Hospital’s being all that people should be grateful for. So, now, faithful readers, WALLS has spoken, and thanks go again to CEO “Dick” Willett and all staff members and volunteers at RFGH for the caring they exhibit in everything they foresee and do.

O.K., let’s switch to education. Rather, WALLS is repeating what was written a bit ago, namely, ‘’What goes around comes around.” Well, WALLS isn’t sure this subject of ‘education and money’ will come around, but those who were in school in the ‘40s, as Katie was, feel that this solution may have merit. Those were our World War II years and all students in Garfield and Lincoln schools in Skowhegan were given small American flags to wave as soldiers marched passed them on Water Street. Yes, those uniformed soldiers had marched from the VFW Hall on Main Street and were headed for deployment to war and our, then, passenger train would be waiting for them at Skowhegan’s Train Depot on Court Street.

But, what about the budgets for the schools? Well, we of Skowhegan and Madison learned the art of being very frugal in those years. Jean Finley and her family had moved from Pittsfield to Skowhegan and the frugal school boards of Skowhegan and Madison had hired her dad to be superintendent of schools in both towns. Oh, that was just one of the differences that we lived with in the ‘40s. The frugal school boards also had the sharing extend to the sharing of school music teacher, yes, remember Mr. Baraket? The towns also shared our school nurse Mrs. Wise. Oh, and lest we forget that Miss White became Mrs., since female teachers were to be their “students’ mothers” prior to World War II! We also were placed in two-grade rooms. Eight of us in the fifth grade shared the room with Mrs. Lewis’ foruth graders and, likewise, the eight of us shared Miss Weston in her sixth grade and the other desks in Miss Weston’s room were occupied by fifth graders. Well, do you faithful readers think this was a good idea? Frankly, some of the students in a lower grade learned from listening.

By the way, we Skowhegan students were all eager to get to junior high school on the island in Skowhegan. Yes, that building, once, housed Skowhegan High School, but a new high school awaited, when we were ready for it……..yes, the first Skowhegan High School was on Willow Street.

What happened to them? Well, the Skowhegan Junior High on the island burned down and the villages have replaced old Skowhegan High, but the memories linger on.