Vital Gagnon

Vital Gagnon grew up here in Lewiston, moving all over Lincoln Street till ending up at a farm in Auburn, with both parents working in the mills located nearby. Both of them at one point even worked at the Bates Mill together, though his mom later worked as a fancy-stitcher in the shoe industry. Vital himself started work at the brickyard. He shares a lot of information about the process, going over the kiln process as well as the way the workers had to go non-stop. There is also a story he shares about a lot of college kids trying to work over the summers but getting quickly burnt out because they think they can handle the most intense work right at the start. It was a lot of intense work, but also a very consistent job, as there were always new orders of bricks to fill.