Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1955: Norma Smith, a senior at Eastern New Mexico University, was named Miss Portales over 20 other contestants. The Portales native was majoring in education and would represent the city at the Truth or Consequences Fiesta a week later.
1960: Portales defeated Causey, 17-14, in a high school baseball game at Portales’ Morrison Field. Shortstop Ronnie Hooper hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Rams to victory just as darkness set in. The Tomcats scored five runs in the top of the first inning and finished with 14 hits.
1960: A fire had destroyed a double-car garage near Ranchvale, but “the wind direction kept it from the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Noel Compton, located only a few feet away,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Two visitors were working on a car in the garage when the fire started “apparently from sparks igniting some gasoline,” the newspaper reported.
A freezer, automatic washer, power mower and several smaller items were destroyed by the fire, along with the structure.
1968: Clovis city commissioners had voted to make the Carver Public Library at Eighth and Mitchell Streets a municipal institution.
The Clovis News-Journal article reported the action was a long-awaited move to bring Clovis' only public library "under government control where taxpayers' money can be made available for expansion."
At the time, the library was operated by a nine-member board appointed by the city and the Carver Estate.
The existing building housed 14,000 volumes in 1,860 square feet of floor space, which library board member George Murphy said was far too small for a community the size of Clovis.
1971: An overdose of barbiturates was blamed for the accidental death of an 18-year-old Portales boy. The boy had recently been arrested for possession of illegal drugs, but charges were dropped because of an invalid search warrant, the Clovis News-Journal reported. He was awaiting trial on his alleged role in a recent burglary at Portales Drug.
1973: Funeral services were scheduled for Portales Municipal Judge Melvin C. Saunders, 73, who had died at Roosevelt General Hospital several days after suffering an apparent heart attack.
Saunders, a longtime resident of Portales, owned and operated a hardware store for many years. He had worked as a sheriff's deputy in the early 1950s.
A charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Portales, he was also a veteran of World War I and a member of the American Legion.
He was survived by his wife, Novalee.
1975: A surprise snow storm that dumped about 5 inches across eastern New Mexico was reported as “generally beneficial to area farmers,” by Curry County Extension Agent Phil Crystal. “I’m sure the farmers would rather have a storm like this than a sandstorm any day,” Crystal said.
1982: Wind gusts up to 55 mph annoyed much of the region.
An insurance adjuster returned from a call to find his car had been hit by a large tree limb.
Clovis High Plains Hospital had tumbleweeds piled as tall as a car parked near its west wall.
1987: Diane Johnson Leland, a graduate student at Eastern New Mexico University, was scheduled to present a violin recital on the ENMU campus.
She'd been playing the violin since she was 8.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
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