Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1951: The Portales Lambs defeated the Clovis Kittens in the junior high Friendship Basketball Tournament hosted by Clovis.
The Lambs improved their record to 11-0 with the 28-24 win. W.S. Pearson scored 11 points to lead Portales’ scoring.
Rosedale finished third in the tourney, edging Floyd, 16-13.
1956: An F-86 jet pilot had died after his plane crashed near Tucumcari.
First Lt. Roger B. Cox, 27, of Clovis was killed.
Jack Bollinger of Tucumcari, who was doing construction work about 100 yards from the crash scene, received a slight cut from a plane fragment.
Nelda Lynn Parker, 4, was standing with her mother near their home and narrowly missed being hit by a wing section, which struck the house. The girl suffered burns on her head and hands.
Officials said 14 people were in the vicinity of the crash scene. Several cars and trucks were damaged by flying debris.
The plane’s wreckage was scattered over 40 acres.
Cause of the crash was not immediately known, but witnesses said the plane “turned up into a loop and plunged flat into the ground when it failed to pull out at the bottom of the loop,” The Portales Daily News reported.
Cox was survived by his wife, Barbara Jean, of Clovis.
Bargains, by George …
1921: George’s Bargain Counter, operated by Henry George in Portales, offered the following for sale:
• Good choice piano, $250
• Good choice Hoover sweeper, $55
• Good Western electric sweeper, $45
• Best porcelain range stove, $165
• New cotton mattresses from Panhandle Mattress Co. in Amarillo, $25
Wanted to buy: pickup ...
1956: Portales Municipal Schools officials were looking to purchase a 1956 model half-ton pickup equipped with standard cab and bed, directional lights, spare tire, radio, heater, and defroster.
Bids were being accepted on both six- and eight-cylinder motors.
A 1950 International pickup, which could be seen at the rear of the senior high school building, was being offered in trade as part of the deal.
The want ads …
1971: The Portales News-Tribune offered “everything from scuba gear to kitchen sinks” in its classified ad section.
Listings in the newspaper’s latest edition included a job opening for a waitress at Pizza King, a request for a man to drive a 4020 John Deere Mesquite Grubber, and, yes, a complete scuba outfit for sale, along with a kitchen sink built into a Formica top cabinet.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact:
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