SOLON & BEYOND: Looking back at old stories

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

This is one of those mornings when I sit down at this computer with only one item that has to do with Solon. I received the following by e-mail: The Solon Congregational Church will be having a supper on February 15 from 5 – 6 p.m., at the Masonic Hall, in Solon. There are always some very good cooks furnishing tasty foods for these suppers. Hope you will support the church and come for the great food and fellowship at this event.

As you perhaps have guessed by now, I am a pack rat as far as old newspapers and saving lots of clippings from newspapers is concerned! I love old history! And so this morning I’m going to fill you in on one of the old papers that I wrote for back in 1983 — the Somerset Reporter.

It states, “For 143 years the Somerset Reporter has been providing Skowhegan and Somerset County with news and information. Under the current direction of General Manager Michael Daigle and Editor Dianne Smith, the paper is once again becoming a leader in the community. In Daigle’s view Somerset County is a vast and interesting territory. ‘This county is so varied,’ he said, ‘it provides us with endless possibilities. We have to be able to provide communities as far apart as Skowhegan and Jackman with the information they require. In addition, the businesses in these communities must know that our paper reaches their customers effectively.’”

Editor Smith agrees. “We have the chance to cover a wide variety of stories,” she said. “Each of the towns in the county provides a different situation for us to cover. Each town has its own character which we must understand and report.” To this end she added, the Somerset Reporter employs a wide wide-ranging correspondent network to help gather both the social and town news which is important.

In the January 31, 1985, paper, the following towns in Somerset County had correspondents in Smithfield, Norridgewock, Fairfield Center, Bingham, Harmony, Madison, Embden, New Portland , Solon.

Others who wrote columns were Rosamond Haley’s “Over the backyard fence,” “Day by Day,” by Mary Day, “La Pie,” by Lorraine Shea, “Eve ‘n’ So,” by Ben Gilbert, “Speaking of Sports,” by Bruce Farrin, and “From the Barron Trail,” by Wallace Barron.

There was a large picture and column entitled, “Federated Church celebrates 200th,” written by Bruce Farrin. “Skowhegan – A very special birthday celebration took place Sunday as the Skowhegan Federated Church honored its bicentennial anniversary.”

I checked on my column in that issue of the paper to see if it was before I ended the column with Salada Tea tag sayings or Percy’s memoirs and neither one was there. But then I noticed the last paragraph, and thought, “Oh NO! ! It said, “Just want any of you who may have passed by last Thursday when I was stopped beside the road talking with that big handsome fella in the New England Tel. car, to know I wasn’t having a rendezvous – that was son Mark! You know how gossip gets started!!”

It would seem that I was just as nutty back then as I am today! and so for Percy’s memoir entitled Judgment: Don’t judge a person by the clothes he wears; God made the person, the tailor made the clothes. Don’t judge a person by his family relations; Cain belonged to a good family. Don’t judge a person by the company he keeps; Jesus can still transform lives by His Presence. Don’t judge a person by his speech ; A parrot can talk, and the tongue is only an instrument of the mind. Don’t judge a person by his failures in life; many are too honest to succeed.

Being Happy Doesn’t mean Everything is Perfect.. it means You Decide to see Beyond The Imperfections… Have a great week!