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Love notes and ‘crude’ doodles unearthed beneath a high school’s floors after 150 years

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Love notes and ‘crude’ doodles unearthed beneath a high school’s floors after 150 years


Blast from the past.

150-year-old love notes written by high school students were found in the floorboards of a school in Maine, according to Bangor Daily News.

Preservation contractor Lee Hoagland started working on the University of Southern Maine’s Academy Building in 2022, and over the course of a year he found hidden papers in a space between the first and second floors of the building built in 1806. 

The papers included love letters between former students of what used to be a private college preparatory school for children aged 10 to 17 for upper-class families.

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A letter discovered at the University of Southern Maine’s Academy Building. University of Southern Maine Office of Public Affairs

“Ada, would’nt you like to swing after school? I will stop if you will. Will you? Write and say!” one of the notes reportedly said.

“My darling, why did…” another note read.

A different note said that a student named Belle Worcester “is a [prissy or pretty] girl.”

Worcester is mentioned several times in the notes, including in one that said, “We had a splendid time to (meeting?) last night, for Belle and I passed notes. We didn’t pass many though, for Mr. Lord was right behind us.”

Hoagland also discovered math equations, English conjugations and penmanship exercises in the school’s floorboards.

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University of Southern Maine. Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

He saved the papers and gave them to associate professor Hannah Barnes.

The students also wrote expletives and insults about their teachers in the letters — proving teenage behavior hasn’t changed a century and a half later.

“The past is not as distant as we think it is,” USM historian Libby Bischof told the Bangor Daily News.

One of the letters found at the University of Southern Maine. University of Southern Maine Office of Public Affairs

Bischof also addressed how one note featured a drawing of a teacher, Ms. Stevens, with a long, cartoon-like nose.

“What really struck me was the Miss Stevens cartoon because it was so crude. Not in crude in a lewd way, but crude like a really bad sketch,” she explained. “And I could tell Miss Stevens had really large eyes because that’s the defining feature.”

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While students wrote things about their fellow classmates and teachers on paper back then, nowadays “it’s all text and Snapchat,” Bischof pointed out.

“We’re not going to have this for future generations,” he added.

According to Bangor Daily News, the old papers are currently being kept in USM’s Department of Art. There are plans to archive the notes in the school’s Special Collections.



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Maine

‘Maddie Moo Designs’: Maine girl builds profitable sticker business

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‘Maddie Moo Designs’: Maine girl builds profitable sticker business


PORTLAND (WGME) — We love to highlight local makers and businesses here on ARC Maine, and one young entrepreneur is using her father as inspiration.

Tom Landry from Benchmark Real Estate has been here on the show before, but this segment is really about his daughter Madeline, or Maddie, who is building a profitable sticker business called Maddie Moo Designs.

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They are both here to tell us all about it.



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Maine

Sen. King calls VA medical record system ‘debacle’

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Sen. King calls VA medical record system ‘debacle’


PORTLAND (WGME) — Senator Angus King (I-Maine) is calling the current medical record system used by the Department of Veterans Affairs a “debacle.”

In a hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, King emphasized the importance of modern, electronic medical records.

He says streamlining information-sharing between the VA and community care providers is essential to helping veterans.

King also questioned how AI could play a role in creating a more efficient flow of information between the two systems.

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“AI could tell you whether there are contradictions and problems,” King said. “I think that is one area where everyone is talking about AI. But it is something where we can quickly and instantly analyze.”

King added that AI could also help narrow prescriptions for veterans.

The committee says King’s idea of using AI could help make medical records more cohesive between the VA and other care providers.



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Maine

Top high school football star staying in Maine to play for Black Bears

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Top high school football star staying in Maine to play for Black Bears


One of the best ever to wear the blue and white of Portland, quarterback Cordell Jones, made it official Wednesday, signing his national letter of intent to play for the University of Maine next season.

Jones, who suffered a separated shoulder during the Turkey Bowl, should be back playing for the Bulldogs in the next five to six weeks.

The two-way star on the gridiron helped lead the Bulldogs to three straight appearances in the Class A State Finals, including a gold ball win over Thornton Academy in 2024.

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This past season, Jones broke two longstanding Bulldog records for touchdowns and total points, and the amazing part is he did it in just three seasons.

Jones had multiple scholarship offers but in the end wanted to be a part of the amazing culture in Orono, hoping to someday help lead the Black Bears to a CAA championship.



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