March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Little shop of memories

Yesterday, I received a copy of your April 25-26 editorial, “The changing landscape.” At first, I couldn’t imagine why my aunt had sent it to me. I don’t know anything about Dover-Foxcroft or Guilford, where the Blethen House and the Masonic Block would be “razed to make way for two more Rite Aid pharmacies,” but I felt sorry for those communities.

Then there was mention of the Thompson Printing Co. building, and since I had grown up in Brewer, I thought that was the reason for the clipping. I sighed and said, to no one, “I remember that building.”

Next, the editorial mentioned Union Street, then Grants Dairy, and the I knew what was coming next. When my eyes caught Grampy’s name , I began to cry. The barber shop was going to be torn down. How could this happen? Just a little house of a building, not a big, menacing eyesore.

I am struck by a couple of sentences from the sensitively written editorial. One is, “People’s lives were shaped there,” and “The tiny building contains a thousand stories…” The shop, a gathering spot for folks from all avenues of life, must have given people a place to swap fishing stories, or to talk about local politics. And Dow Air Force Base was in town.

The shop may be slated for demolition, but the memories will be remembered. Cynthia Farrington Cameron Katy, Texas


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