Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1983: A leaking exhaust pipe in the Campus Union Building at Eastern New Mexico University had left seven ENMU students and one faculty member hospitalized in Portales, but all were soon released.
Officials said 28 people — almost all ENMU students — were checked at the hospital after the incident, including 17 who were transported by fire and ambulance crews.
Capt. Gary Watkins of the Portales Fire Department said the toxic fumes had leaked into the Faculty Lounge where a meeting of the ENMU student Senate was under way.
The majority of victims were released after about an hour of oxygen therapy at Roosevelt General Hospital, and the offending pipe was replaced within the week.
Fire crews installed large ventilation fans in the building and stayed on duty as the ENMU newspaper staff, working in their basement office, finished that week’s edition.
1978: The Tucumcari High School girls’ basketball team was headed home after spending the night on the carpeted floor of the Melrose High School library when 10 inches of snow stranded the group for an unexpected sleepover.
The school played host to “35-50 stranded motorists,” according to Melrose Superintendent Dan Younger.
Lottie Hester, head cook for the school, braved the conditions to walk back to the school to prepare food for all of the guests, and Principal Richard Hendershot kept the coffee pot going all night long.
Schools remained closed in Clovis, Melrose and Texico following the blast of winter.
Pages Past is compiled by Betty Williamson. Contact her at: [email protected]
