Celebrations
You may have seen the logo on the flag shown above, and wondered how it came to symbolize Lincoln, "The Gateway Town". We at your Lincoln website wanted to find out, so we did a little investigating to find out who the designer is. We found him in Florida, and his name is Marc Delle..
Marc Delle's father, Frank Delle, built Lincoln's radio station, WLKN, back in the 1960s. These days, Marc is an artist for Walt Disney, but when he was growing up here in Lincoln he used his talents to design the town's logo. He was in junior high in 1975, for the upcoming celebration of Lincoln's 150th birthday.
A contest was held in the local schools, and Marc worked with his principal, Cedric Russell, to submit his design to the Town Council. His design was announced as the winner in front of the town hall on Main Street, where he spoke about the elements of the design and received his $25 US Savings Bond as his prize.
Decals and a few flags were produced from the new logo design. Now whenever you see Lincoln's logo, you'll know where it came from! The Lincoln Historical Society has at least one of the original flags, one is on display in the town council chambers at the town hall on Main street and another is folded in storage at the town hall. A version of the flag with the call letters WLKN on it was displayed in the main studio of WLKN Radio during the early 1980s, but has long since disappeared. Also pictured below is a decal of the flag, which you will notice has slightly different colors.
- Lee and Connie Rand
Gary Crocker and Suzanne Weatherbee during the 1979 Homecoming parade.
This photo shows a children's parade on Main Street in Lincoln in the 1950s. The stores in the background have all been torn down. Veterans Memorial Square is at this location today. Photo courtesy of Karl McGillvray.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINCOLN!
DOWNTOWN LINCOLN IN 2009
Lee Rand Photo
January 30, 2009 - Today, Friday, January 30th, the Town of Lincoln is 180 years old. "An Act To Incorporate The Town of Lincoln" was passed by the Maine State Legislature on January 30, 1829. A petition at the time calling for our first Town meeting was signed by Alfred Gates, Benjamin Hammond, Zadoc Gates, H. Bradbury, Chesley Hayes and Humphrey Merrill. On April 6th, 1829, the Town chose for that meeting Ira Fish as Moderator. He along with Benjamin Chesley and Israel Heald were chosen as the Town's Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor. Chesley Hayes was chosen as Treasurer. And, that was the way it was 180 years ago in Lincoln! We've come a long way since my direct ancestor Asa Kneeland "took a lot on Fish Hill" in 1823, and later lived on Half Township. Born in 1791, he died in 1882. A number of area families can trace their families back to the early days of this, and area towns.
I sometimes wonder what our ancestors would think of the town if they came back today. The majestic elm trees that lined our streets are, for the most part, gone. Lost in the 60's. The riverdrivers who risked life and limb as a vital part of our forestry economy are gone, but their memory and deeds are celebrated here every July. The roads are paved and have been for nearly a century now. The Ku Klux Klan no longer marches down Main Street. The woolen industry came and went. In place of the old high school is the junior high on the shores of Mattanawcook Pond. So many people and events over the years that this short column can't begin to do justice to Lincoln's colorful past and the people who contributed to make it the nice, pleasant little town it is today. Photo above: Main Street in Lincoln in the very early 1900s.
In the past, as far as we can tell, Lincoln had no special celebrations commemorating its birthday, except for its 100th in 1929 and its 150th in 1979. Both years the town had a big parade, but it wasn't in January. The parade was held in the summer, and I can surely understand why! Several people have e-mailed us telling us a few things that were part of the birthday celebration. In 1979, the men in town had to get a permit at the Town Office NOT to grow a beard! And, thanks to Tate Aylward, we have a mint copy of the 150th Birthday program that was distributed around town. It's pictured at the end of this article, and has been donated to the Lincoln Historical Society. Also see below a photo of the parade that year.
Below, courtesy of the Lincoln Historical Society, are a couple of photos of Lincoln's 100th birthday parade from 1929:
Here's a photo from George King. The picture was taken on July 21, 1979, duringLincoln's Sesquicentennial Grand Parade. (See program below for other activities that took place during that celebration.) If you have photos of Lincoln's 150th birthday events, please share them with us! You can e-mail photos to us. Please include as much information about your photos as you can.
Here's a photo from George King. The picture was taken on July 21, 1979, during Lincoln's Sesquicentennial Grand Parade. (See program below for other activities that took place during that celebration.) If you have photos of Lincoln's 150th birthday events, please share them with us! You can e-mail photos to us. Please include as much information about your photos as you can.
So, in conclusion, "Happy Birthday Lincoln"!! Your best days are ahead and we've certainly had some glorious, interesting and entertaining ones behind us! I doubt I'll be around for our 200th birthday but I have a hunch there'll be one helluva celebration!! - Lee Rand
Photo at left: Ballard Hill Community Center, formerly a school.
Photo by Lee Rand
Chester once had a fair, as this 1993 poster shows.
This great photo of Lincoln's 4th of July parade in 1950 was brought to us by Barbara Fogg Brown. Barbara's father, Wayne Fogg, was driving the fire truck in this picture. He was Lincoln's assistant fire chief at the time, and was later chief.
A parade on Lincoln's Main Street in the 1930s.
George King loaned us this photo of Lincoln's 1979 Sesquicentennial parade. The Methodist Church has had its steeple modified since then, and the old movie hall visible in the picture has been torn down. If you have any old photos of the Lincoln area, we'd love to share them with our viewers!
This photo was taken by Jeannette King in 1954 during the Fourth of July parade, somewhere along West Broadway.
This parade photo was taken in 1962. Lincoln's movie theater can be seen in the background.
This photo was taken in 1950.
Below is an assortment of old parade photos, in no particular order. We don't know when these were taken, but each one offers a glimpse of a celebration that happened during happy times in Lincoln's past.
