Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-08-11
RECEPTION IN TOWN HALL BIC
FEATURE OF SECOND DAY OF old
HOME WEEK o. WINTHROP FOLKS
Especial to the Kennebec JournaD

lively decorated by a corps of work.
ers under the direction of Mrs. L. T.
Carleton. Most appropriately, the
stage was set with fragrant pine trees.
the symbol of the good old State OF
Maine. The front of the stage was
banked with asparagus and flowers
and further floral decorations beauti-
fed the room. Smiths orchestra of
Augusta furnished music for the oc-
casion.
With Mrs. Murray L. Stanley pre-
siding i'll her usual gracious manner
a very fine program was given. Mrs
Stanley IN opening the program stated
that never had she seen such fine evil
dence of real community spirit as has
been put forth in Winthrop in prepa-
ration for Old Home Week, everybody
willingly and whole -heartedly assist
ing i'll preparation for the home-com-
ing time.
The address of welcome was given
by Senator Herbert L. Wadsworth, and
Il most hearty welcome it was, extend
cd in MIR. Wadsworth's unassuming
hlanner but ringing with sincerity.
Mr.. Wadsworth's address is given in
lull below
Address of Senator wadsworth
Madame Chairman, Ladies and Cen
tlemen; The flags and the bunting
here in this hall and upon our streets
are salute of welcome to You old
residents of Winthrop and our friends
from other communities who are
present with us this Old Home Week
These mean that we are delighted to
have You with US again and are in
tended to convey a welcome To you
that we of the East find it hard to ex-
press with effervescent words. We sa-
lutte you and welcome you.
1t is quite possible that Won know
as much of the history and resources
of Winthrop as we who are the pres
ent residents. We all know that the
more than $4,000 acres of territory
within our borders is one of the most
wonderful spots ever given to man to
fish, to hunt, to cultivate and in which
TO bulld homes and to rear God
fearing people. It's numerous lakes
and streams mirror the glories of the
sky and the trees and the verdure
along their banks. Its hills and fields
impress every eye that caves upon
them and awakens within the heart the
poetry of the writer and the picture of
the artist. We are all one tonight in
admiration of these beauties but per
chance it will not be amiss to say
that sometimes we think that in your
quiet hours you have seen a picture
Of wild and stormy winters night |
when the snow fell fast and piled high |
in drifts along the streets and roads. |
You may have seen family circle |
long since broken and YOU may have /
felt The security with fo aud
mother which you would give much to
have come back to you. And YOU |
thought Of the coasting on the hills |
and of the skating on the lakes and |
meadows with schoolmates now scat |
tered, and you may have thought of |
the cordwood which YOU had to reduce |
TO stove size. and then you wondered |
If these rough winter days had some
thing to do with giving the early and
later settlers here the rugged charac-
ter and determination that marked |
them all. 1t may have been that this |
was one of the elements which gave
them love of liberty that sent so !
many of your ancestors forth to throw |
off the bondage of a foreign king. and !
later a larger number to save from |
disruption the nation their fathers had |
founded. 1t may be that this same |
influence of rugged winter put iron
into the blood of our young people to-
day and sent them across the seas to
suppress A monarchy that threatened
the freedom of the world.
And. sometimes you may think of
Your SprnGtme and orr springtime,
when Mother Earth shakes off her
shroud of snow and YOU see the buds
as they start and YOU get the odor
of the land as the grass awakens and
pushes upward its tender shoots and
you hear the song of the birds and
the shout of the hoy from school.
The vision YOU may have of sum-
mer Is ours today. Now all of the
best is at its height. Now the bah
bling brooks sing to YOU and now the
lakes mirror all the beauties of land
and sky that YOU can see In your
dreamings. Now the fisherman is
happy. Now the hay is in the barn
and the crops are coming to matur
ity. Now is vacation time for us
and it is now that we can take time
to think of our advantages in living
in so grand and beautiful a country.
And at another time you may
dream of those wonderful Indian
summer days when the Great Painter
has tinted our foliage with the gor
geous hueS that come at no other
time and you may see the smoke rise
straight upward from the houses of
the ValleW to mingle in an azrue
sky. You may try to look through
an enchanting haze to a little mound
in the churchyard that holds SO
much that is dear to yop and to
home for you and yours beyond the
golden west. You see the houses that
dot the hillsides and there move
slowly the winding roads that lead
to them.
Your picture and our picture of
Winthrop holds much in common.
Some changes have come, but we
cannot claim a larger population. for
now. as then, there are only about
SO people to the square mile Now,
as then, the people make up a CON
tented. happy, hard working, thrifty
community. There is no poverty as
we understand the word. There is
no extreme want Now. as then, we
find fairly constant employment in
our industries which have expanded
in a modest way. Our population
has not increased, for the very CLAM
our of our surroundings and our
golden sunsets have called to many
of our young people to go forth to
conquer, to help. to build, to do SER
vice in other fields and perchance to
come back to visit us some day as
you have tonight. We are proud of
them and we claim some of the credit
and honor you have achieved.
Our railroad has increased its
traffic to an extent that requires
better roadbed, heavier rails and
more trains. Our farmers. we believe
are more prosperous than in the old
days. Their crops are larger and
they have better equipped buildings.