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.

“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.

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.

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.”

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.

The Waldo Theatre, located at 916 Main St., Waldoboro, glides into the holiday season with a visual feast of artwork by painter and mixed media artist Pam Smilow in her latest show, “Seasons of Maine.”

The exhibition showcases a collection of large-scale painting and mixed media pieces on canvas and paper.  Smilow will cover the gallery walls with a celebration of Maine through selected works from her Floating House series and Talking Trees Winter Clothes series, Dress series. Pam’s art is both bold and colorful with a whimsical simplicity that lifts the spirit.

“I’m excited to display a number of larger pieces at the Waldo Theatre for this show. I wanted this to be an immersive experience for the Waldo audience,” said Smilow.

Smilow is considered a local artist, splitting her creative time in her studios located in Maine and New York City.  “I draw heavily on childhood memories, on many personal experiences throughout the years, as well as my travels. Nature continues to be one of my biggest inspirations.”

Smilow describes her artistic motivation as seeking to create a little piece of beauty and a refuge from our busy and chaotic lives – an inspiration to do better and be better in the universe. She sees each piece of work as one step on a continuum, each painting not precious unto itself but as an ongoing journey. 

Widely exhibited throughout the United States and in Europe, Smilow has also been featured in a variety of media publications over the past decade including art, lefe-style and home décor publications.

Her online gallery can be found at www.pamelasmilow.com.  She also publishes a weekly blog called ‘Things We Love,’ which can be found at www.pamelasmilow.com/things-we-love. 

“Seasons of Maine” will be open to the public during the months of December and January. A pop-up gift section featuring scarves, tea towels, and other unique gifts created by the artist will be available for sale.  A portion of  each art sale benefits The Waldo programming. 

Maine radio personality and humorist Robert Skoglund of St. George, who went by “the humble Farmer,” has died, his stepdaughter confirmed on Saturday.

He was 88 years old.

A musician who played piano, clarinet and bass, and spoke multiple languages, Skoglund was probably best known for his radio show, “The humble Farmer,” which aired on Maine Public Radio from 1978 to 2007.

The show used a simple format, described in a 2009 BDN profile as “old-time jazz interspersed with tightly scripted rants delivered in a deadpan Maine accent that’s as thick as the rolling coastal fog.”

His storytelling prompted comparisons to Garrison Keilor, and his dry, sharp wit, evident in his written columns and letters to the editor, often recalled Mark Twain.

In 2008, he started a “humble Farmer” television show that was broadcast on community access stations around Maine and as far away as Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

He also wrote a column for the Portland Press Herald and produced a humble Farmer television show for Belfast Community TV.

He published two collections of his writings, in 2017 and 2022, both titled “Chicken Poop for the Reader’s Soil.”