Growing Up Rand Proof 10-27 by Theresa Ayotte

Growing Up Rand

Dedicated to our parents Floyd Priest Rand and Mary Theresa Dionne Rand & our brother Robert Henry Rand (center), who we lost in 2012.

Floyd & Mary

Ft. Fairfield

How They Met

Richard: My parents as they were around 1939.

Wedding pictures?

Richard: They got married on October 7, 1939.

Marriage certificate lists Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s occupation as a stenographer.

Honeymoon, where?

Our First Home Cedar Street

Richard: The picture shows my mother with the carriage. Richard: This is probably the earliest photo of myself, probably in the Spring of 1942. I like this photo because of the adoring way my mother was looking at me. This photo was taken on Cedar Street in Presque Isle, the third house on the right from Main Street. The area is built up now but the photo shows an open field.

Richard: That is me in the carriage. I remember the carriage when I got older and we lived in the Fairview Acres. The reason why I remember the carriage is the small round window on the side.

Fairview Acres Housing Project

Richard: Around 1946 or 1947 we moved from a nice little home on Cedar Street to a housing project on Parsons Street called The Fairview Acres. The Fairview Acres is one of the off base housing projects originally built for the Presque Isle Army Air Force personnel. Below are a couple photos of the project. The first photo shows how the apartments were built next to each other in a row. All the streets in the apartment complex were named after a potato variety, such as Katahdin Court. You can still see some of the streets on the right as you turn up Central Drive from Parsons Street. The box like objects in front of each apartment were coal bins. There was a small coal stove in each apartment. The second photo shows the interior of one of the apartments. This photo is a mirror image of our apartment at 10 Green Mountain Drive. Many of the streets are still there but are not being used. On the left is the porch at 10 Green Mountain Drive.

Richard: Our neighbors on one side were Larry and Camilla Cronkite and their children. The Cronkite’s were friendly people. Our neighbors on the other side, the Michaud’s, were not so friendly. Once, while walking by, Mr. Michaud showed me a knife blade and told me that if I came too close he would cut my ears off. He was laughing while he told me this. Once, after we were playing outside, Katherine reported that her doll was

missing. We thought it may have been taken by one of the neighbors, but there was not much we could do about it. We reported this to Grammy Dionne when she was visiting. Grammy walked right into the neighbor’s apartment and got the doll. We didn’t get along well with the Michauds and it is very likely that this was one reason why Mother was glad to move. 6

There was a Mr. Smart who maintained the buildings. We children at the Fairview Acres had a little saying: “Mr. Smart let a fart and blew the houses all apart.”

The Cabin

Toys?

Stephen: Dad and I at Portage lake, Maine. Notice the switch. No wonder I am such a nice guy now. Richard: Stephen was so cute. We used to call him Butterball. Richard: Robert at the Fairview Acres, probably around 1950. Our apartment was in the building behind him.

David: Dad rented a cabin at Portage Lake in the late 1940s for a week for about 3 years. Wasn’t much of a break for mom, but five children liked splashing in the water and going for rowboat rides. He does have something in his hand, but I don’t ever remember dad using a switch on us.

(Left) The Rand children at Portage Lake around 1947. This was a setup photo, Richard didn’t steer and I didn’t paddle. At some point I remember talking mom into letting me paddle near the shore with a couple of sibs as passengers. She walked along the shore road and made me keep her in sight. 7

Richard and David?

Vagabonds

Going to the Movies

Richard and David: Back in the late 1940’s David and I, like most children at the time, would wander around town. The Fairview Acres, which during WWII was government housing for the Presque Isle Air Base, became available for locals when WWII was over. The Fairview Acres was well located for two little boys. David and I would wander around town - like two little vagabonds. As long as we got home for supper. Mom was pretty busy taking care of the younger kids.

Richard: From Fairview Acres we could walk down Parsons Street to State Street to go to the State Theater, which was near the corner of State Street and Main Street.

some people were coming in. The people coming in were there to see the second show. So I stayed. My parents were concerned, though, and told me not to do that again.

The admission fee was 12 cents. Popcorn was 5 cents. We asked the lady at the ticket office why it costs 12 cents. She said it costs 10 cents for the movie plus there was a 2 cent tax. We were O.K. with that answer.

Today, at 5 cents for a returnable bottle or can, it would take over 100 bottles or cans to get into the movies. I call that bottleflation.

Playing in culverts?

Sometimes there was a line of children waiting at the ticket office to go into the theater. There were no adults in the line, just children about our age. At that time my brother David and I would wander to town by ourselves and then wander back home.

There were ushers in the theater at that time. Part of the ushers job was to make sure the kids behaved. Usually he would just shine his flashlight at somebody if he or she got too noisy. Once in a while a kid got kicked out. There were few, if any, adults in the audience. Most movies back then were cowboy movies such as Hoppalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, or Gene Autry. Roy Rogers was my favorite because we had the same initials. Besides the movie there was a newsreel and a cartoon. One time when the movie was finished I noticed that when people were leaving 8

We had to come up with 20 - 25 cents to get in and have popcorn. At that time, stores were paying 2 cents for a returnable bottle. So with 10 returnable bottles we could get into the movies. I remember going door to door at the Fairview Acres asking if they had some returnable bottles. I usually got enough bottles to get into the movies.

Stephen: I remember going to the Braden theater with Mom and two of the movies were “Carousel” and “Lady and the Tramp”. Not sure how I got to go because I was school age. Maybe we went on a Saturday. I figure I was around 10 years old. Mom used to get cat calls from guys as we walked up Main street. If you were under 12, you could get a child’s ticket. I used that ploy till I was 14. Now I use the senior discount on everything I can.

The Fair and Snake Tent Richard and David: Back in the late 1940’s the World of Mirth would come to town on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. The World of Mirth was the Northern Maine Fair rides and shows. The Fairview Acres location was especially good at fair time. We could walk to the end of Turner Street, and we were at the fair gate. More likely, though, David and I would walk across a field to the fair grounds and sneak under any hole that was by dug by older local rascals or over it at a couple sites where tree branches came over the fence. There was a lot of excitement when the fair came to town. The fair would unload their own cars near the B & A station. Of course, we had to watch the fair people unload. It was quite an event to watch the unloading of the animals and rides and shows from the flatcars. Sometimes they would use elephants to pull the objects off the cars. There were crowds of people watching this including myself, of course. There was a big “wild animal” tent at the fair. Once in a while we would get a job working at that tent. One job was to feed the animals at the Clyde Beatty animal show. Clyde Beatty was a world-renowned animal trainer. I can remember bringing egg yolks in a bowl to the snakes. This was a good thing - we didn’t want the snakes to be hungry.

We would each carry a big snake around our shoulders that would droop almost to the floor. We would walk around the crowd in the tent and allow people to touch the snake (to prove that they were not slimy). Sometimes the head was resting in my hand. The people would “ooh” and “ah” at the sight of us carrying the creatures.

I had a tear in the seat of my pants so I walked sideways or backwards so people would not see the tear. Each day when we were done work we would go to the manager to collect promised fair passes. That was OK with me. My favorite ride was the bumper cars. For a few days he would say “come back tomorrow.” About the third day we pushed about the passes. The boss gave us each a quarter and told us to “git.” David went to dad who was working at the gate and complained.

Dad took a week off of vacation during the fair and would collect entrance fees at the State Street entrance not far from the Acres. He went with us to the animal tent and insisted to the manager that we were not being treated fairly. The guy grumbled and gave us some quarters which was worth a lot more then than quarters are now. We would rather have had passes but the money gave us some rides. Deep down, we probably would have done it for nothing, but a deal is a deal. 9

At that time there was a girly show and a freak show at the fair. One of my friends told me he would sneak under the girly show tent to watch the show. Another friend told me that there was a lady with a male organ at the freak show. He described it to me but I don’t remember the details. I didn’t bother going to the freak show. I figured there were enough freaks in the Presque Isle area.

The Donut Shop Richard and David: Right next to the Fairview Acres on Parsons Street was a doughnut bakery. David and I were not too proud to beg for doughnuts. After a while the workers at the shop got tired of our begging and refused to give us any more doughnuts .

We noticed, though, that any defective doughnuts were deposited in garbage cans at the back of the shop. For a while, anyway, we managed to acquire quite a few broken or crooked doughnuts from the garbage cans.

Where is this?

Parsons Road

Munson Hill

Our mother and father sitting on the front porch of the house on the Parsons Road. Probably around the mid 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Richard: It was 1951 when I can remember my mother being quite happy to move from the Fairview Acres to the home on the Parsons Road. The substation provided a reduction in voltage for an electric trolley owned by the Aroostook Valley Railroad (AVR). My father, Floyd Rand was a station agent for the AVR. His office was on Dyer Street in Presque Isle. Mainly, he took orders from farmers who wanted to ship potatoes.

engines were used to haul freight cars, so the substation was no longer needed. The freight did pass our house once a day every day covering the entire route.

The metal trestle in the below right photo spanned the Aroostook River about 5 miles north of Presque Isle on the Parsons Road. Mr. Ward Hansen occupied our house before we moved in. Mr. Hansen operated the substation before it closed. His daughter, May Hansen, was my 6th grade teacher in Washburn. Notice the electric wires giving power to the trolley.

Munson Hill is in the background. You can see our home and substation on the bank of the river near the trestle. On the hill behind the house are farm buildings that were abandoned by the time we moved there. Down the road on the right are buildings that belonged to Arthur Sawyer. I recall Arthur as an elderly gentleman living by himself at the time. To the right again, towards Washburn are buildings that were occupied by Arnold Davis and his family. Arnold was a turkey farmer. Just out of the photo to the right were the Arden and Alden Bull families. Both families had children about our age.

As roadways improved, however, the needs for these services declined. Passenger service was discontinued on August 7, 1945. Diesel-electric

Crossing the Aroostook River near Crouseville

The Neighborhood

Richard: Stephen, my friend Jerry Hjulstrom, me, Robert and Katherine. we were sitting on a substation structure. The house roof barely shows in the upper left. The railroad trestle is to the right in the background. David might have taken this photo because at the time he was into developing film. We were scared at first to walk on the trestle but after a while I would use it to cross the river to work for a farmer in Crouseville, Willey Crouse. I can remember riding my bike on the trestle. It was a bumpy ride.

Richard: On the left is Jerry Hjulstrom. He was a friend of mine even before we moved to the Parsons Road when we lived in the Fairview Acres in town. He lived nearby on Turner Street then. I can remember going to his parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camp at St. Froid Lake. I used to go to his house a lot and he visited me. One time, when he came to visit, he brought a ring to Katherine.

Stephen: All of us used to play on the trestle a lot. It is a wonder one of us never fell because we did some crazy things on it. Katherine always was the smart one and always cautious.

Richard: I told David that I explored the old farmhouse in the background (on right). I was told there was toys in the cellar. Being only 10 years old I had to go check it out. There were no toys.

Richard: Alden and Arden Bull were brothers and lived across the road from each other north of us. Both Bull brothers had children about our age. I’m in the picture on the left with Arden Bull Jr (Ardie). We may have been at the Northern Maine Fair. Ardie used to keep baby beef and the back of one of his calves can be seen at the bottom of the photo. I used to stay with him at times when he stayed at the fair.

David: We also got milk from Arnie Davis for a while. He tried raising turkeys but gave up on that. That reminds me that we had to walk by a cemetery if we went to Curries for milk. I didn’t like walking past it in the dark. Katherine: I babysat for Arnold and his wife a few times. Always liked their house.

My chore was to get the milk. I would bring the empty bottles to the farm and bring full bottles back. Once, at Alden’s farm I was in the barn while he was milking a cow. Alden said “Look Richard. One of this cow’s teats has a square hole. But you have to look real close.” So I got up real close to look for the square hole, and he squirted me in the eye. Alden liked to play practical jokes like that.

Richard: The land surrounding our home belonged to the Currie family. The driveway was on land belonging to the Curries. Mom had to pick potatoes for them as payment for use of the land. John and Pansy Currie had children about our age. There was Jack, Jerry, Tim, and Noreen. We Rand children visited with the Currie and Bull children quite frequently. David: Another sign of those days was how easy it was to get paid work if we wanted some money. There were several farmers within a couple miles that often needed labor. Richard and I would walk to them, mostly the Bull brothers, and ask them for any work. They usually had something, picking weeds or rocks, or bagging potatoes. One of our worst jobs was to clean out bins of rotten potatoes.

Manners and Food David: Mom tried hard to teach us polite dining and behavior. It is difficult to imagine calling us in for the main meal after we had been playing outside all day or working for a nearby farmer and not just having mob action. Her usual tactic was to make sure we noted the cake or pie or other type of dessert. I am a good vegetable eater since in order to have the dessert we had to eat what was offered. If she hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t used this method I am sure we would have just wolfed down what we wanted and got into the dessert. We had to sit up, eat the veggies along with meat and potatoes. There were tears sometimes, but no veggie, no dessert. Also more than once my hand was wacked with a butter knife if I reached across the table too far or talked with my mouth full. Perhaps it might have been more for us older ones before she got ill, but to this day I remember how to set a table with napkins and silverware. When we met approval to have our dessert, we would fight over who had a piece bigger than the others. Mom solved this by having one of us cut the dessert, and then that person getting the last piece. I remember using a ruler and carefully measuring the cuts so that no one got more than I did.

Richard: My knuckles were rapped a few times but my manners still need a little work. Top photo is of Mom in the garden. She would be in her mid thirties in the photo and very proud of her garden produce. 14

Sugar.. .and teeth dentists started working on me. These were dental students doing their practice while being paid as lieutenants. Some were good, some made me think they were working for the Russians. I can’t complain, they saved my remaining teeth. Katherine: I remember white bread, oleo, sugar on top - it’s a wonder we have any teeth. I also was telling someone the other how we used to wrap bread around our hotdogs and was so excited for actual hot-dog buns! We just didn’t know any better, did we? And that’s a good thing.

Richard: This picture shows David, Me and Katherine proudly showing my catch. I did spend a lot of time fishing at the river beside the house.

I can remember taking the photo of my mother on the upper left. It shows her fishing from a pier that had fallen. I was on the railroad trestle looking down. She loved to fish at that spot.

The photo on bottom left shows the shed, the garage, an old Hudson car, and the chicken pen.

Richard: I was in the dining room. You can see the substation thru the window. Usually we had lots of cereal for breakfast. Wheaties was my favorite cereal. I recall putting lots of sugar on my cereal. That is the dining room table but I’m not sure why there is only one chair. Most likely after Mom got sick and passed away we didn’t sit down very often together for a meal.

David: That reminds me that mom sometimes would make a batch of oatmeal for our breakfast the next morning. It sat overnight and in the morning was fairly solid. I loved it, mixed chunks of oatmeal with milk and brown sugar chunks. That may have helped me lose a few molars until the army 15

Stephen: I remember when we used to go out and cut off a stock of rhubarb and dip it into sugar and eat it. The bitterness of the rhubarb and the sweetness of the sugar was quite a combination... Richard: I had bad teeth when a Junior in High School. I can remember walking Main Street in Presque Isle looking for a dentist to take care of a couple large and painful cavities. I came across a Dr. Richard Dick. At the time he was a younger dentist and he used the more modern techniques. It took several sessions but he saved my teeth.

If I’d had missed his sign and gone a little further down Main Street, I’m sure I would have had my teeth pulled by another dentist. I told Dr. Dick that story many years later after he retired.

Water, Heat and Bathing David: One thing that should not be forgotten was how cold it got in the winter - in the house. There was a coal stove in the living room - that was all the heat except for the kitchen stove, which was originally wood fired but modified to oil or maybe kerosene. On cold winter nights I would wear long underwear and dress underneath the blankets for before I got up for school. We had a bucket for water by the kitchen sink. sometimes you had to break the ice to get any water. The best thing about getting old enough for high school were the showers by the school gym. Once we got that age we no longer used the small tub. We really loved going to school in the winter with real bathrooms and (in High School) showers. I think the Rand children really appreciate what we have because of not having these luxuries. Richard: I remember my first shower at the Washburn High School after some sports game. I was amazed at the force of the water against me. I probably stunk but so did many of my classmates. Stephen: I also remember taking a bath in the kitchen sink when we first moved out on the Parsons Road. Right out there in the kitchen for all to see.

Richard: (Above) Stephen, David, Katherine, me and Robert. Katherine is getting dowsed by David. Looks like Stephen just got splashed and Robert and I are waiting. It was David’s chore to pump water for drinking and washing. The well and pump was about 100 feet from the house. He would take the water pail up to the well house, pump water with the hand pump and return the full bucket, setting it on a counter near the sink. Sometimes he would run back and forth to the well house and pump real fast, like he was in a race. This means that we didn’t take baths often and when we did we bathed in a tub something like the one in the picture. David reminds me that we took turns bathing in the same water, starting with the youngest Stephen. Having no electric water pump and no water heater, it’s very understandable why we would bathe this way. 16

Katherine: Earlier we used to take baths in a tin tub by the stove that our poor momma filled with hot water. I was the first to bath being the girl, and I also carried my share of buckets from the pump house. Made for the strong muscles I still have. As we got older it was a lot of sponge baths in our bedrooms (at least that was what I did). Plus we didn’t change clothes every day like the kids nowadays - often wore the same things more than once before cleaning.

Stephen: I think Richard or Robert dared me to stick my tongue on the water pump handle in the middle of the winter and my tongue got stuck on it. Had to pour hot water over the handle to get my tongue unstuck.

bathing water heated on the stove?

The Outhouse

Pisspots

The Ice Truck

Richard: The outhouse was right on the river bank. There was a wooden path from the shed to the outhouse. We had a fancy outhouse with two seats - one high and one low. It even had wallpaper on the walls, although the wallpaper was missing from the walls directly in front of the outhouse seats. This is what happens when you run out of toilet paper. At times we used Sears catalog pages for toilet paper. I like to joke that we got to the Harness section of the catalog around April or May.

Richard: Homes without running water had pails in the bedrooms called pisspots. These were handy to have, especially in winter. We had to empty the pisspots during the day but sometimes we neglected to do that as often as we should and the pots got a bit crusty at times.

Richard: Electric refrigerators were a fairly new item to many in the 1940’s. Those who did not have an electric refrigerator had what was called an icebox. You had to put large chunks of ice into a separate compartment in the icebox to keep things cool. Every once in a while the iceman would come by with his ice truck, delivering ice to customers along the way. When we neighborhood kids saw the ice truck coming we would run to the back of the truck, hoping he would throw us chunks of ice. It was a kind of treat, especially in the Summer, to suck on a piece of ice from the iceman.

David: When it was freezing cold, the contents below the seat no longer slowly got to the river and the material would build up close to the seats. We kept a big stick to push stuff down. The one good thing about that outhouse was that there were nights that the sky was full of stars and sometimes the northern lights were spectacular. In the winter, usually we didn’t stand too long to admire the sky.

Stephen: One of the most fun times was when Richard and I pushed the old outhouse down the bank when we finally had indoor plumping. We finally got a real toilet and shower put in upstairs where you and David had your bedroom. Also you and I took the rickety shed down that was attached to the house. It is a wonder we did not get hurt doing it. Katherine: As for the outdoor privy, I remember someone writing an ode to “Ruby” - will never forget that one - (David - fess up!) It was hilarious.

OK What is the story about Ruby? :)

Expressions cropped up during those times that are not in use today as much such as a pisspot haircut. A pisspot haircut was cut real close on the sides but left longer on top. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has a pisspot haircut.

We boys would just pee outdoors during the day. In the winter the snow was quite yellow just outside the back porch door because we didn’t bother to go as far as the outhouse. This led to another older day expression that we used to describe people who are worthless. . . “He won’t amount to a pisshole in the snow” To this day it doesn’t seem right to urinate in a little ceramic bowl when you have the whole outdoors.

Stephen: I remember once when I had to pee at night and peed in an empty shredded wheat cereal box that was up in Robert’s and my bedroom. I must have been about 6 years old. 17

Later, I found out that ice was harvested in the wintertime on the Presque Isle Stream just upstream from the State Street Bridge.

David: The iceman had a cart hauled by a pony or donkey. Sometimes mom would ask one of us to take out the water pan at the bottom of the icebox. The ice man had ice blocks and broke sections off with a metal tool, always leaving some chips, which he would give us.

The BB Gun

Bedrooms

David: We had a BB gun for a while - don’t remember how I got it, probably bought a cheap one with potato picking money. Anyway we would play a form of hide and seek. If you got hit by a BB you would definitely feel it, but usually no harm done. Stephen and perhaps Robert were on the roof of the shed hiding. But once Stephen’s head popped up to see where Richard and I were. I shot a BB at him and I heard an “OW” and his head went back down. Well, worst case scenario came immediately to my brain and I visualized that poor Stephen might have gotten hit in the eye. I really was upset at what I might have done, so I immediately threw the gun to the ground and I said out loud that I would never shoot this again. Richard, apparently not as worried as I was, quickly asked me if he could have it. I don’t remember my answer if any but I did run over to Stephen. I think the BB hit him on the nose, there was a little dent in the skin there. If we ever used the gun again, I am sure it was just for target practice. Stephen: I still have a dent on the tip of my nose to prove that I got shot. I was on the chicken coop roof and David was teasing me or us by shooting the BB gun as we ducked and he shot it when I came up instead. (I think that is how it happened.) He did not mean to but at least two of us were upset and Richard saw an opening to get a free BB gun.

Stephen: Robert and I had a trundle bed and I slept on the bottom. I remember Robert fell asleep while he was smoking a cigarette once and the blanket started smoldering and he and I threw the blanket out the window onto the snow. Dad hollered from downstairs “what is going on up there”..... “Nothing Daddy”....

Richard: Notice the bed headboard. Usually David and I shared the same bed, and one of us exercised by pushing and pulling on the headboard frame. I’m sure it is bent on the other side, also. I can remember doing that, and I’m sure David helped me. Looks like the frame was not meant for that. For radio there was a WAGM and a WEGP. WEGP played more of the latest rock and popular music. There were some shows that we listened to like Red Skelton - a humorist and Boston Blackie - a mystery show. 18

Katherine: David and Richard shared a bigger bedroom and Stephen and Robert a smaller room - next to mine which was just me and there was no door between the two as I remember. Sometimes a curtain or sheet was placed there for privacy. David and Richard’s room also had a closet as I remember. Ours didn’t. Before she died, one of our mother’s projects was to paint and wallpaper my bedroom. I remember the wallpaper was flowery, and she would outline the flowers near the top with paint. She was artistic with what she had available.

Bed sheets - just one sheet? I remember a story of being baffled by people who used two sheets

Pets

Clothing and Shoes Katherine: I am wearing a hat plus a homemade jumper made by our mother. She sewed a lot mostly for me but also for you fellows - shirts, etc.

Richard: This photo is with Sheba.

Richard: Katherine and I are with our dog Impy. The substation is behind us.

Katherine: I also remember Impy very well and how he was run over down in front of the Currieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. So sad.

Around the House

Richard: There was a row of apple trees along the driveway to our house, one of which is occupied by Robert, Stephen and me.

Richard: Family life on the Parsons Road. Stephen, Robert and Katherine are playing around the ladder and Mom is ironing in the shed.

Richard: The upper photo shows Stephen trying to improve his batting skills by batting against the substation. Behind Stephen is the old shed attached to the back of the house, the clothes line and the path from the shed to the well house.

Richard: Katherine and I as we were standing between the house and substation. Is that a tobaggon in front of you?

Richard: This photo is of myself clearing some grass from the driveway. The line of trees to the left are apple trees. The property line follows those trees so the neighbor farmer owns the land I am working on. I might have been around 14 at the time. I still have a larger scythe that I putter around with - mostly for fun. 21

Richard: As you can see, we were quite active with outdoor activities and I think all of us. David, Myself, Katherine, Robert, and Stephen enjoyed and still enjoy doing things outdoors the old-fashioned way.

Walking on hands?

Sledding and Skiing Richard: I recall that back in the 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most outdoor activity was with steel runner sleds. The highway by the house - Parsons Road - was plowed but not sanded and salted as much as highways are today. Plus with less traffic we would slide on the highway with steel runner sleds. Seems like there was more crust on the top of the snow so that we could slide on hills off the highway also.

Swimhole Robert leaving (I seem to remember a pic of swimhole?)

My first skis were more what a cross country ski would be today. We had to ski to the hill and up the hill before we skied down. By the time I got to high school I would go to the Quoggy Joe ski run where Aroostook State Park is today. There was a rope tow at the park so for a dollar or less we could use the rope tow. For this we had ski boots but the binders were not that good and the skis would come off easily.

photo?

Richard and Robert with steel runner sled.

May Baskets Richard: One tradition that children participated in back in the late 1940’s was the making of May baskets. We made these baskets out of a colorful crepe paper. I don’t remember how it was done but I do remember that the final result looked like an elongated bag with perforations so that you can see inside. It had a handle so you could hang it on a door knob. You might put sweets or other goodies in it. On May 1 you give this to someone you like. This person was supposed to chase you and kiss you. You didn’t run too fast because you wanted to be caught. Something like running in slow motion.

The Black Man Stephen: I vaguely remember the May baskets. I do remember us kindergarten kids at Gouldville using colored paper streamers going around one of the support poles down in the basement and we called it the May pole... I had to dust the cobwebs out of my brain to remember that. We would weave around it to create a colorful pole. Then we took a nap afterward and got a star on our foreheads if we were quiet.

At Gouldville School we had a very pretty teacher. Her name was Miss Lenentine. She is the present Mabel Desmond who now lives in Mapleton. One noon hour on May 1 there was a group of children at the door waiting for Miss Lenentine to come out onto the playground. They each had a May basket to give her. I was in the group and I can remember looking into the door window and seeing Miss Lenentine down the hallway looking into a mirror, putting on lipstick or brushing her hair. Most likely I had more than one May basket to give to her. Theresa: I can’t believe you remember your teacher’s names! Richard: Only the cute ones.

Richard: Stephen and I are checking something out in the house.

Richard: Years ago, when we were walking on State Street we came across a black man who was being taunted by some kids going by. We were approaching the man at the time and he was quite agitated by the time we got to him. What I can remember quite vividly is the black man looking at us and pointing to parts of his body, inferring that he was just as human as anybody else.

David: I remember them teasing him and running away, I don’t remember whether they were on foot or bike. The black man didn’t only point but was quite agitated, I guess we were the only ones nearby. He had been on a porch or deck, and got up to speak to us. We walked along and he didn’t follow us. We talked with Dad about it and he just told us to stay away from blacks. This was about 1947 or 48. I don’t remember seeing other blacks, although there must have been a few at the base. It probably seems strange now, but we were likely just walking home from a movie like a lot of other kids of that time. We always knew to get home by supper time.

Waiting for the Bus REUBEN MARTIN: Reuben was also a minister in the town of Washburn.

HAROLD COREY: Harold became a barber in Washburn. You had to go down a set of stairs off Main Street to get to his shop. It cost me 75 cents the last time I got a haircut from Harold. Today, being the very generous person that I am, I would tip him the quarter. HARRY DUNCAN: Harry was an older, but very kind gentleman.

Richard: I was ten years old when we moved from the Fairview Acres to the Munson Hill home in 1951. I was in the 4th grade and my 4th grade teacher was Mrs. Bugbee.

We lived about 5 miles from the Washburn schools so we had to be picked up by school bus. We had to walk the Aroostook Valley Railroad tracks about a thousand feet to get to the Parsons Road. David, myself, Katherine, Robert, and Stephen waited for the bus near the mailbox at the railroad crossing. We had to walk the tracks to get the mail. We were very fortunate to have had the bus drivers that we had. I’ll list them and make a comment about each one.

Stephen: One event I remember about you and I was one day we were by the railroad crossing on the Parsons Road by our old mail box and we were throwing rocks. You were bending over to pick up a rock and I attempted to throw a rock over your head but you stood up to fast and the rock hit you in the head and you started bleeding bad. I was afraid you were going to beat me up but you were a good brother and knew it was a mistake. Remember that?

Richard: Once, while waiting for the bus, Stephen was tossing rocks and accidentally hit me on the head. He told me later that he was glad I didn’t get mad. I tell Stephen that when something like that happens, I don’t get mad. I get even. I just haven’t figured out yet how to get even. 24

Katherine: Remember we often were the last ones on the bus at drop-off. Reuben Martin and his wife had a summer bible school in Washburn which surprisingly our mother allowed us as Catholics to attend. Don’t know how we got there but it probably was a minivacation for our mother. Richard: The photo (above) shows David and a friend Sam Stoddard walking the driveway. In the summer we could drive from the Parsons Road to the garage behind the house. In the winter, though, we had to park the car at the end of the driveway where Sam’s car is. To get on the school bus in winter we walked the tracks to the railroad crossing - about 500 feet.

Spankings?

Going to Church

Stephen: I remember Mom saying “wait till your father gets home” to me often. He would put me over his knee and spank me till I cried. I learned to start crying right away.

Richard: As far as church goes I remember being dropped of at the Catholic Church in Presque Isle with the rest of you. We were each given a nickel for collection. Grammy Dionne was quite strict about us going to church and being good Catholics. Stephen losing money on way to church?

I seem to remember a story of a belt in the shed? First Communion photo

Mom’s Singing Voice

Stephen: I remember David telling us a scary story while we were visiting Uncle Arthur and Aunt Florence and it seemed we were at their a cabin somewhere in New Brunswick. I was on the stairs that lead to the bedrooms and I was too scared go to sleep. Poor little Stephen. David was a good story teller.

Richard: She did seem to enjoy singing to herself while at home. She did that a lot.

Katherine: I remember seeing her on a stage singing and someone saying she had such a nice voice she should have gone to New York. Singing in church?

I also remember that there was a piano in our apartment in Fairview Acres. Can you brothers confirm this? Was it true?

40s, 50s and 60s culture

Dancing the Jitterbug

Parties dancing with uncles, aunts, cousins

school dances

homemade ice cream in FF?

Drive in movies

Drive in restaurant

Dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Work at the Railroad Across the street is a starch factory. Farmers would deliver potatoes at this starch factory. Usually they would empty barrels of potatoes in a storage bin at the factory. The factory would dump waste directly into the Presque Isle Stream behind the factory. When crossing the Braden Street Bridge downstream you could see the waste flowing downstream in the water. It gave an unpleasant odor.

This freight order was written by my father Floyd P. Rand. Notice the Date 9/5/1941, the year I was born.

The car is a â&#x20AC;&#x2122;55 Hudson. He purchased more Hudsons than other brands. Hayes Super Service was at the corner of Parsons and State Streets, and he purchased most of his cars there. David: He started working for Canadian Pacific and got assigned to Fort Fairfield where he met mom. The Aroostook Valley Railroad, formerly owned by Arthur R. Gould, was bought out by CPR, so Dad got reassigned to the AVR in Presque Isle. Richard: I worked in the type of potato house shown in the picture (left), shoveling, racking, bagging and weighing, and stacking into the railway cars.

Richard: I took the photo in 1958 from the front porch of the Aroostook Valley Railroad Freight Shed on Dyer Street in Presque Isle where he worked. I think we were returning from the funeral home when Mom passed away. I figure Dad was around 48. He was a station agent. His job was to order freight cars for shippers. Mostly farmers would call or go into his office to request a box car to ship potatoes in. Near the freight office were several potato houses where farmers would store potatoes.

do I remember that your dad was a drinker and kept a bottle of alchohol at work?

Picking potatoes?

Chores?

Haircuts Katherine to Matthew, Robertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son: Did he ever tell you the time I cut his hair when our mom was sick? Poor Robert. Had to wear a hat for couple weeks. Gave him a reverse Mohawk...

Transportation Richard: The photo on the right is of one of our Hudson cars. I believe it is a ‘53 model. The small building next to the car is a small garage where David and I kept our first car. It was a 1946 Chevrolet. We bought it in the late 1950’s from Floyd Easler for $35. The body was in good shape but it didn’t run. David and I tried to get it going. The engine was 6 cylinder, but we had it running on 5 cylinders. It didn’t run very long so we eventually got rid of it. I sure would like to have that car today. It would go good with my 1946 Chevy truck.

We used to ride the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad passenger train to Bangor. You could see the tracks go by when you looked down the toilet. why would you go to Bangor?

Hitch-hiking Richard: We walked the trestle frequently, mainly to get to Presque Isle. The Washburn Road was on the other side of the Aroostook River, where there was more traffic and it was easier hitch-hiking. Once in a while we wanted to get to Crouseville, which was a small town on the other side of the river. One time while walking the trestle I could hear the train coming, so I had to hurry.

Losing mom...

The Move from Fairview to Munson Hill Katherine: At first she may have appreciated and enjoyed the different living conditions but as the years went on she became “bored out of her gourd”. Here is a smart, talented, beautiful woman stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no running water or bathroom facilities, unable to drive, etc. The main reason we lived there is because it was either rent-free or very cheap, because it was owned by the railroad. I often think of our mother at home all day and the house plans she cut out of the paper and kept - perhaps dreaming of one day living in one of them. I think of her aloneness often until we kids all came home from school and the sweet desserts she always had ready for us. Was that to keep us happy or an outlet for her to be busy? God knows she must have been busy with chores, gardening, sewing, etc. I am sure our father felt it too but worked very hard to support all of us and often wasn’t quite sure what to do with us - me included. But they tried.

Mary Passes Away On December 21, 1918 our mother, Mary Theresa Dionne Rand, was born. Age 39

David: I think we appreciate what we have more than most people because of our childhood. I don’t have a million bucks, but I know that I am “wealthy”. Dad did the best he could - we never lacked for food. 32

School Years

Kindergarten, Gouldville Elementary School When I was 5 years old, I went to the Northern Maine Sanatorium. I was told I had “a spot on my lungs.” The Sanatorium was a TB hospital. I remember what little boys remember such as a movie room and flavored cough medicine. In the evening when we children were put to bed on the front porch of the Sanatorium, one of the nurses would come by with the cough medicine. When we saw the nurse with a bottle and spoon, we would all start coughing so we could get a taste of the medicine. I remember my Uncle Charles took me home because we didn’t have a car. Staying at the Sanatorium might be one reason I had to repeat Kindergarten. Most likely another reason might be immaturity. I like to tell people, though, that I repeated Kindergarten because I flunked Sandbox and got a D- in afternoon naps. I never really did recover from immaturity.

The little girl with the sad face was one of our neighbor’s children. The little guy in the front row is John Farley. John was a good friend. He lived at the end of Dyer Street near the Presque Isle Stream. John and I wanted to dig a tunnel from the bank of the Presque Isle Stream to the Fairview Acres, which is about a half mile. We got in about two feet before we gave up.

Richard: This photo was taken at the Fairview Acres Administration Building where the kindergarten class was held. I can remember when the photo was taken because the photographer got behind a shroud when he took the photo. The photo was probably taken in 1947 when I was 6 years old. I’m in the second row, second from left. Sister Katherine is in the third row, third from left.

Katherine and I were in the same class all through grade school and high school. People thought that Katherine and I were twins, because we were in the same class. Actually, this was my second year in kindergarten.

Richard: This picture is a schoolyard photo of Arden Bull, myself, a friend, and Darrel (Butch) Maynard. Arden lived nearby. We worked on his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm and in his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gravel pit. Butch Maynard attended a phys ed class with me when the instructor held up two pairs of boxing gloves and asked for volunteers. Butch and I volunteered. I can remember getting a bloody nose out of the deal. It was my first and last boxing match. Butch has since passed away. He used to call me to chat in his later years.

3rd Grade Play, Gouldville Elementary School Richard: Looks like there was a large cast in the third grade play at Gouldville School. The Gouldville School building on Parson’s Street was within easy walking distance from our home in the Fairview Acres. I’m standing in the top row, second from left, Sister Katherine is in the second row, fourth from left. Her friend Darlene Duprey is at her right. Katherine was an angel. I was a bumblebee. I can remember Mom making the wings to our costumes. The guy in front of me is Phil Soucey. He was a friend. My best friend, Jerry Hjulstrom, is in the center of the third row. He also has a bumblebee costume.

I can still remember my bumblebee part in that play. I would be glad to recite that part to anyone willing to listen - just ask. (Don’t ask. He’ll tell you “Bzzzz” as we ALL know.)

The High School Years

class rank?

learning to drive Driver ed? 37

Boy’s State

Richard: In 1959 I had the opportunity to attend Boy’s State, which was held at the U of M at Orono. Boys State was a simulation of how State Government is run. There were elections, Governor, Legislators etc. This took place in June 14 - 19, after school was done. Boys State is sponsored by the American Legion.

I considered it an honor to have been chosen because only two persons from each school in the state were selected to go. I had the chance to stay at the Orono Campus, meet the Governor of Maine, and learn some government procedure. In the photo is one of seven towns, so you can see that a lot of boys were there. I am in the second row from the top, second from left. The guy beside me to my right is the other Washburn High School participant. His name is Sheldon Richardson. 38

Richard: Me and Sheldon Richardson at Boy’s State. Sheldon quit high school and stayed out for about three years. I can remember seeing Sheldon picking up garbage at the high school when he was out of school. He went back to high school and entered in my class. Sheldon then went to Aroostook State Teachers College (now UMPI). We attended a lot of classes together there. He taught at Washburn Schools as a career. He has since deceased.

Sports

Richard: This photo was taken in 1960. David was developing photos as a hobby. He dared me to go out in the middle of winter with just swimming trunks. That’s all it took.

FFA

David: I asked him (Richard) once why he joined the FFA at school (Future Farmers of America). He wasn’t going to be a farmer but he liked the jacket.

Richard: I played on the Junior Varsity basketball team and the baseball team. A couple good buddies of mine are in the front row, Dick Campbell (#6) and Butch Maynard (#3). In basketball I mostly played left bench. In baseball I played shortstop and third base. I found a quote from the baseball coach Ralph Prince. It was in the 1960 WHS yearbook. I enjoyed playing both basketball and baseball.

“Rich, You did a very good job for us at third base this year. Keep up the good work in everything you do. R.W. Prince”

Katherine: I was a cheerleader at least one year but the practices and games were difficult for our father to get me to, so I ended up staying overnight with Brenda Levesque. I also remember a basketball player one time running so fast he ran onto my lap with his foot. Great memory. PS Always had a crush on Darrel (Butch) Maynard. 39

1960

College Years Art basket

asked to model for art class?

giving blood to pay for tuition books from library

Richard: I believe the insignia is Aroostook State Teachers College. It was a nice jacket and it was cool to walk around with your collar up.

Richard: The small building is the well house. Notice the basketball backboard on the pole beside the well house. The date looks like April 62. If thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the case, the jacket must be a fraternity jacket. I joined the Kappa Delta Phi fraternity in college. photo of you drinking with college buddies?

The Blind Date

Richard and Thelma

Thelma Visits Munson Hill Richard: (photos left) Thelma and I at the trestle in 1963. She is the reason I left the Munson Hill Home.

The outhouse was not maintained well because the door kept falling off. When I was going out with Thelma in the early 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, there was no door. She said she never used the outdoor toilet when she visited. Good thing the outhouse was isolated.

Going to the laundromat

Wedding and Honeymoon

selling a gun for a dresser?

job as a cashier?

Since then I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t own a car until after Thelma an I got married. Thelma tells me that we bought a 1955 Ford in November. We paid $500 for the Ford. I was still going to college so Thelma had to fork over the money. In May of 1964 the Ford broke down as we were heading to St. Francis. Uncle Harold was following us and he gave us a ride the rest of the way. We purchased a Plymouth and that was a decent car. Since then I was teaching and we could afford to buy something other than old Clunkers.

Working at Sawmills

The Drive In

I did work at sawmills during the summer months while in early years at college. The mill I first worked at was the Ben Statig mill on the Mapleton road just as you are leaving Presque Isle. That’s the mill where hurt my arm.

A cute story that happened when we were first married. We lived on Chapman Street next to the Catholic Church in Presque Isle. A Mrs. Dobson owned the house. Her son Donny was a chum of mine. Donny and his new wife Mary Ellen and Thelma and I decided to go to the drive in movies.

It was a belt driven mill and at times a belt would slip off a pulley. To get the belt back on we had to turn the main saw by hand so that the pulleys would turn. That’s what I was doing when Ben touched the starter on the main engine. That turned the saw I was holding. It tore my shirt off and cut my right arm - but not too bad. All I needed was a few stitches but it could have been a lot worse. Later, Ben sold the mill to S. W. Collins for whom I worked for a while.

When we were first married and after I graduated from college I worked that summer at Dean Craig’s mill on the Parsons road near where Uncle David lives.

Graduation and Teaching

We didn’t have much money so Donny and I got into the trunk of the car so we could sneak by the drive-in ticket booth. We knew the lady at the ticket booth. Her name was “Cookie” Allen. Mary Ellen was driving so when we got by the ticket booth Cookie asked “Where are the boys?” Mary Ellen told her that the boys are busy. Thinking back, it is very likely that “Cookie” knew exactly where we were.

After my first year teaching at Ashland I worked that Summer at Pinkham’s mill on the road to Portage. I sold lumber at that mill. (Theresa) You were a tiny baby.

Rand & Priest Ancestry

Horace “James” Edwin Rand Sr. was born July 15, 1962 in Monroe, ME. A clipping from Bangor Daily over 100 years ago notes that in 1890 H.E. Rand was shipping telegraph poles to many places. He was a prosperous merchant, owning a general store in Wytopitlock. Annie G. Rollins was born in 1866. She operated a general store in Wytopitlock with her husband, Horace. She and Horace had four boys: Dr. Percy “Bert” Ellsworth Rand, Horace “Eddie” Edwin Rand Jr., Harry “James” Josiah Rand, and Gerald Francis Rand.

looks like a little girl in the photo?

Family tradition says Horace left Annie to raise the children by herself and that he became an alcoholic, lost everything and died penniless. His last few years were spent in an apartment with his son, Harry, looking after him. He was a resident of Columbia, ME for 20 years. He died on November 25, 1935 of chronic myocarditis.

Horace “Eddy”, Harry “Jame”, and Percy “Bert” Rand

Priest farm

Harvey Station

Virginia Emily Priest was born September 4, 1888 in Lowell, ME.

Horace “Eddie” Edwin Rand Jr. was born February 13, 1890 in Wytopitlock, ME and died March 27, 1939 in Ft. Fairfield, ME. He married Virginia Emily Priest on May 7, 1908. He was a telegrapher for Canadian Pacific Railroad. He worked as a train dispatcher and worked in Carleton, N.B. for a while. His son Floyd said he was a station agent at Harvey Station, N.B. during Floyd’s youth. He lived in Ft. Fairfield five years prior to his death, previously in Harvey. He died relatively young. One story is he had a stroke while working on a roof. He died of angina pectoris. Horace and Virginia’s children were Florence Rand Coburn (1908), Floyd Priest Rand (1909), Lester “Hockey” Edward Rand (1915), Reta Annie Rand Gasker (1917), Glendon Francis Rand (1928) and Murray M. Rand. Floyd Priest Rand was born November 30, 1909 in Lowell, ME. 48

Richard: My Father’s mother Virginia Rand. My father’s father, Edwin passed away before I was born.

Floyd in college (back left?), Fredericton, N.B.

Richard: I think Dad went to the University of New Brunswick for a while but he did not have a college degree.

David: Dad’s father worked the for Canadian Pacific Railroad. He was American but mostly worked in New Brunswick near Fredericton in charge of a RR stop. So Dad, an American, mostly grew up in New Brunswick. He did go to college there for a year but had to drop out due to the depression. Dad was not an athlete but he was smart and had a new car in that difficult period, which made him more of a catch.

Floyd and Florence

Richard: Visiting with us is Grammy Virginia Rand.

cemetery in background?

Katherine: David, I did not know that about our father being American born. Often wondered. He was smart - took an accounting correspondence course and got Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. 50

Dionne & White Ancestry

Lucy, Jeremiah, ? , Adeline,

Richard: Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother was Theresa (White) Dionne. She was originally from Lakeville, New Brunswick. She was teacher in Fort Fairfield. Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father was Philip Dionne. He was originally from around Grand Falls, New Brunswick. He worked as a custodian for the Fort Fairfield schools. why did they leave Canada and move to FF?

Mary (age 6) and Monica

Mary in Lakeville

Mary senior picture

Katherine: I remember hearing that our Grandmother Dionne urged our mother to smoke because in those days it made women look â&#x20AC;&#x153;sophisticatedâ&#x20AC;?.

Monica, Fred and Mary

Richard: This is my Mother’s naturalization picture when she became an American citizen in 1955. She never had a driver’s license. Mother’s brothers Charles and Douglas. birth order?

Charles and Mary

Richard: The guy in the middle photo is my mother’s brother Fred. The little guy is Uncle Fred’s son Wayne. They lived in Pennsylvania. Fred’s wife name was Cid. 54

Richard: Grandparent’s Philip and Theresa Dionne’s home in Fort Fairfield.

Richard: I’m on the left. Then Robert Grammy Dionne, Katherine and David. Most likely Stephen is beside Katherine at the door. The photo was taken at Grammy’s on Forest Avenue in Fort Fairfield.

The Rand kids with Uncle Glendon (Floyd’s brother) and Uncle Doug (Mary’s brother). Photo taken at Richard’s daughter Theresa’s house in 2009.

Design of this book by Theresa Rand Ayotte is lovingly dedicated to Richard Rand, the consummate storyteller (how many times did he tell us that story?!). A special thank you to David for his photography hobby as a youth and for his genealogy research.

The Rand kids in 2009 replicating the front cover photo.

A gift to the children and grandchildren of David, Richard, Robert, Katherine and Stephen. Our mother, Mary Theresa Dionne Rand would have been 100 years old this year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2018.