the races advertised on TeeVee back in the 60s, it was a big thing back then. I guess it's still popular in the midwest.
The Androscoggin was absolutely horrid back then. There were a few years wen we lived in Bowdinham (along Doughty Lane, the house has long since burned down). We had to drive over the river when we went to Brunswick, which was the nearest place to get groceries back then, I remember my brother and I would try to hold our breath all the way across. The fumes were so bad that you would be rather ill if you tried to walk or ride a bicycle across. There were several paper and fabric mills on either side Brunswick/Topsham, especially on the north side of the river where the Pejepscot paper mill was just below the dam spillway. There was always a large plume of brown foam floating on top of the water. I remember going to the bridge with a friend on an adventurous day and dropping rocks over the edge and hearing them splat in the foam. If you lived in Brunswick or Topsham, you got used to the smell after a while. Walking to school on most mornings was really bad smelling... paper mills, ewwww! I think the Androscoggin did catch fire at some point but I didn't live there then, I don't think. It wasn't like the community was eager to have that news get out far and wide.
That river experienced a lot of abuse for a couple centuries. My mother used to take a whole day to drive up to Lisbon Falls to buy mill end fabric (she made all of our clothes) at the Worumbo Mill store. There was a Sear and Robuck catalog store and a couple other places she liked to shop that were not available in Brunswick... would have been a drive to Portland for anything that looked like a big box store these days. Back then, Lisbon Falls was a bit of a long drive up river.
Interesting site: http://www.bethelhistorical.org/A_River%27s_Journey.html
I remember the same smell in milltowns in Wisconsin. The cities of NH had a different odor. Most rivers in New England were pretty nasty when I lived there. Left New England in the early 70s.
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