Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1950: Rex Ormon, a junior from Borger, was elected president of the student body at Eastern New Mexico University.
Ormon succeeded Anderson Carter as president. He received 130 votes to 108 for Artesia senior Mickey McGuire and 93 for Royce Lowry, a junior from Shamrock.
1956: Williams & Son Motor Co., located at 800 Main St. in Clovis, claimed, “No other truck can offer you as much as a new 1956 GMC.”
A newspaper ad reported all the new GMCs had a 12-volt electrical system and tubeless tires.
1960: Veteran musicians Alva Parker, on the fiddle, and Albert Vidler, with the mandolin, joined four youngsters to rehearse for their performance in the upcoming “Grand Old Opry-type” show hosted by the Floyd Lions Club at the Floyd high school.
1970: A series of tornadoes over a dozen communities had left 23 dead and multiple homes destroyed across eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.
The violence began the night of April 17, while many were sleeping. One F4 twister was reported to have stayed on the ground for 26 miles. It killed a woman and destroyed three farm houses near Lazbuddie.
Five people died in the Hale County area and Plainview reported $4.5 million in damages.
Early on the morning of April 18, 17 more people were killed, mostly in a resort community near Clarendon, Texas.
1973: While construction was still not complete, a short, windy ribbon cutting had been held on the Texas/New Mexico state line for the Kakawate Road, the newly improved “shortcut to Muleshoe.”
Portales Mayor James Kiker and Judge Glenn Williams, head of the Muleshoe Commissioner’s Court, met for the brief ceremony, along with several dozen residents of both communities.
“The road is described as another sign of the cooperation evidenced in the past 25 years between the Portales and Muleshoe communities,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1975: Six members of a Logan family were found shot to death in their home.
Quay County law officers identified the dead as Robert McFarland Jr., his wife Kathy, three daughters, Michelle, 6, Ann, 4, Cindy, 2, and a son, Robert III, 3 months.
Police the next day said they believed McFarland, 32, killed his 25-year-old wife and their children before claiming his own life.
“That’s about the only way it could have been,” Sheriff James Knight said.
A pistol was found near McFarland’s body, The Associated Press reported.
The family operated the McFarland Bros. Bank in Logan. The bank was founded by McFarland’s grandfather and an uncle in 1904, AP reported.
Their bodies were found by McFarland’s father, Robert McFarland, who had gone for a visit.
1976: Clovis police claimed 99% of traffic accidents were caused by violations of the Clovis traffic codes and state motor-vehicle laws.
More than 70% of vehicle crashes in the city were blamed on intoxicating liquors, police said.
1977: Gov. Jerry Apodaca held open office hours in Clovis at the Governor’s Citizen’s Service Center, 107 W. Grand Ave.
The governor’s first visitors were Joe Bowlin and Emmet Fallon of Fort Sumner.
Fort Sumner’s business leaders, with support of Clovis’ leaders, were hoping to attract a $13 million minimum security corrections facility.
1978: The New Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling that attorneys who wanted to promote their practices could do so through advertisements in newspapers and periodicals, but discouraged ads on television or radio.
The action came after a United States Supreme Court ruling stating that it was unconstitutional to forbid attorneys to advertise their services to prospective clients.
According to The Associated Press, the state court ruling said the print ads could be used to attract clients in a “dignified manner.”
The ruling did not specifically exclude broadcast advertising, but radio and television were “not listed as acceptable methods of promotion,” the article said.
1992: Veterinarian Dr. Les Morrow and others were preparing for the inaugural Clovis/Portales Optimist Club Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
“Cowboy poetry has become real popular in the last 12-15 years,” Morrow said.
He described the art as Western music, storytelling and yodeling in the Old West’s finest tradition.
Curt Brummett, Nile Henderson and Rod Taylor were among those scheduled to perform.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
