IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of September 1, 2016

by Katie Ouilette

WALLS, you, better than anyone, knows that a daily newspaper is supposed to tell you all the news-of-interest every day. But, some interesting information  came into our possession during Lew’s and my travels from Yarmouth, on Friday. Yes, The Town Line was available to us and, faithful readers, my apologies for saying Gerald Marble was, once, director of the Skowhegan’s State Fair, when, in speaking of son Russell spending his first paycheck on the hand-blown glass boat he purchased for me.  Yes, WALLS, I goofed, because it was Roy Symonds, that I should have given the credit to.  Well, you faithful readers can blame my mistake on my age, but I will say that both Gerald and Roy walked our Skowhegan downtown with the same sense of respect being accorded from town folk. Yes, I do remember both men……..do you?

Another happenstance really awakened my memories when the Woolen Mill in Sangerville was written about in a newspaper. Believe me, WALLS, I thought of the wooden spools on the shelf in our living room that came from the Maine Spinning Company. Maine Spinning’s building still stands on The Island and was significant for the military’s woolen materials made at our American Woolen Mills. Unless you faithful readers are close to my age, you don’t know how important the people who worked in our local mills and shoe factories were in the World Wars.

When Lew and I entered the Red Barn Restaurant, in Augusta, our memories awaked of all wars that our USA has been involved in, as we saw a tribute to Togus and its soon to celebrate its beginning.  Wow, how well I remember being in Garfield School, in Skowhegan, and our marching to downtown with flags in our hands…..flags to be waved as our National Guard had marched from the, once, Baptist Church in Skowhegan’s Bloomfield, ‘the original Skowhegan’ on our town’s Main Street.  Yes, those brave young men were marching to our Maine Central Railroad and the railroad cars that would take them to their ‘shipping-out locale’ and World War II.   Yes, we have our Civil War Governor, Abner Coburn to be grateful to for the MCRR.

At the post office, I received a reunion reminder from my alma mater.  Yes, when Dr. George Young’s daughter attended Colby Junior College, he read the X-rays that had to be taken there for Dartmouth Medical College and, you bet, that brought memories of Dr. Young’s son and his beginning Yonder Hill Campground on the Lakewood Road. Well, faithful readers, most folks couldn’t believe anyone would want to spend time at a campground, but Yonder Hill now has its third owner and it is known as Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park at Yonder Hill.

Y’know, WALLS, don’t you agree that memories that come alive through our years keep us aware of our importance on this trip
through life and, at the same time, understand that  those who don’t have the memories yet, will have them for all their tomorrows.

A few minutes ago I listened to ‘old songs of my era’ on MPTV.  Yes, lots of memories in those songs, too.