Dubbed the “July 4th issue,” the next one in the archive is June 22, 1979 Vol. 12, Issue

13 Sugarloaf and Rangeley Lakes Irregular.

“Deer here are cautiously excited about stories appearing in both the Maine Sunday Telegram and the Morning Sentinel,” began a story headlined “Hunting off?” Maine’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife was considering a ban on deer hunting in much of western Maine over the following three years due to the dwindling deer herd in the area. Causes blamed on the decline in numbers included forestry practices, bad weather and coyotes.

Nine new four- and five-bedroom Birchwood condominiums were under construction and were expected to retail between $75,000 and $100,000. The work employed 20 additional local persons and was expected to pump about $0.5 million into the local economy. The units were expected to be complete between Labor Day and Oct. 15, 1979. Fourteen other condominiums were completed the previous spring.

Among the movies Lakeside Theatre in Rangeley was showing were: “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Ice Castles,” “The Brink’s Job” and “The Bad News Bears go to Japan.”

The Howard K. Smith drawing below depicts his vision of a “BMW Turbo Diesel Skidder.” Among the “features” are the rear airfoil providing “highway tracking stability at speeds over 100 MPH and also provides canopy for work during inclement weather,” and the refrigerator that “loads from the outside” with “access from the inside, (and) holds up to three cases of 12- ounce cans.” The tires were all-purpose and “tested at Daytona.” In addition, the inset shows a 220 volt (AC or DC) Laser Chainsaw, that ran off the turbo skidder’s arc welder.