To the Editor:
The passing of Shirley Chadbourne brings to mind the downtown Damariscotta businesses of the 1950s and ’60s.
I believe Shirley was the last of the business owners on Main Street of that era. Anyone who grew up in Damariscotta during those years will remember The Woman’s Shop owned by Shirley and her husband Paul. After retiring from The Woman’s Shop, Shirley owned an antique business in Newcastle.
Doris Pierce and Martha “Tiny” Reed passed away earlier this year, as well as Winty and Joanne Jacobs. Who doesn’t remember Waltz’s Drugstore and Soda Fountain, The Yellowfront in the Lincoln Theater building, and Reed’s Department Store?
In these days of big box stores, and the disappearance of our downtowns it brings a great deal of pleasure for those of us who grew up here to remember all of those people who made our community such a vibrant and caring place. Bentley Glidden, Barney Cowan, Perley Waltz, Bob Reny, Howard Reed, Ethel Dickinson, Mabel and Spencer Gay, Emmett Weed, Eddie Keene, Bob Gardiner, Arnold Briggs, Ed and Denham Pierce, Otis “Skeet” Page, and so many others played a part in making Damariscotta the hub of Lincoln County.
