Nasson College President Dr. William Graham Cole and family
Photo: Sanford Tribune, Oct. 20, 1975
SANFORD Fifty Years Ago
By Lawrence Furbish
The major news of the day was a dispute between the Sanford School Committee and the town over Article 5 that resulted in a lawsuit filed in Superior Court. Article 5 was passed as an ordinance in December 1974 and made “all budgets and contracts over $1,000 subject to Town Meeting approval.” In its lawsuit, the School Board argued that applying Article 5 to school budgets and contracts was illegal. The School Board had granted raises to certain school employees, including school nurses, custodians, and secretaries. The Board of Selectmen (Emile Cote, Paul Garvin, and Norman Hall) refused to issue the checks because the raises had not received Town Meeting approval.
On Dec. 29, the Tribune reported that the School Board had won its lawsuit. On the day before Christmas, Superior Court Justice Sumner Goffin ordered the Selectmen to pay the salary increases effective to the date they were made.
Other major news was the inauguration of a new Nasson College president during Homecoming celebrations. Dr. William Graham Cole became the school’s fifth president.
In sports, there was good news and bad news for the Sanford High School Redskins (whose name would later be changed to the Spartans). The SHS football team topped Westbrook 29 to 18, but the Deering High School girls’ field hockey team prevailed twice, 3 to 0 over the varsity and 2 to 1 over the junior varsity.
The whole country was in the throes of celebrating the nation’s bicentennial, and the Tribune was running a periodic quiz about revolutionary events. That week’s questions asked about one of the earliest acts of the American rebellion, the Pine Tree Riot of April 14, 1772. In case you are curious, a group of loggers in Weare, NH, refused to obey a law requiring all pine trees suitable for masts for the King’s navy be reserved for British use. Sheriff’s men who came to arrest the loggers were beaten up. A patriotic court dismissed the case after imposing a nominal fine. Nothing was said about what happened to the logs.
You could pick your own apples at McDougal’s Orchard for 15 cents a pound, get a hot dog and fries at Dairy Queen for 69 cents, or if you were feeling flush, for $15 you could get a sandwich, bus ride, and a ticket to a Patriots game.
Lawrence Furbish is president of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society. The Historical Society Museum in Springvale has many resources regarding Sanford’s history. It is open Thursday and Saturday from 10 am-2 pm and Friday, 10 am-4 pm.
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