Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1954: Police said someone stole 25 Christmas trees from B&D Fruit Market at 520 E. First in Clovis. All had been sprayed with silver and area tree dealers had been notified.
1960: Roy R. Smith Cleaners, located at 416 Main and 1310 Main in Clovis, had a suggestion for customers.
“Just drop your out-of-season clothes into one of our convenient storage boxes, and when it is crammed full, let us have it,” a newspaper ad stated.
“What’s more, each piece receives the very finest dry cleaning, and is ready for use when needed.”
Smith’s storage box plan was “safe, convenient, worry-free” and all for “one low price.”
Smith Cleaners was a member of the National Institute of Dry Cleaning.”
1964: A second Eastern New Mexico University student died from injuries suffered in car-train crash near Portales at the U.S. 70-State Road 467 intersection. Rose Ann Luango, 19, of Forrest Hills, New York, died the night after Beverly Jean Parkhill, 18, of Tucumcari, died at the scene.
1965: The Muleshoe Mules rolled past Friona, 54-41, in high school basketball action.
Mickey Wilson led Muleshoe in scoring with 18 points.
The Mules’ season record was 7-3.
1966: The Melrose Rotary Club had announced plans for its annual turkey shoot.
The location would be Zuber’s Gravel pit, a mile north and a mile south of Melrose, near the power substation.
The club’s student of the month was Charlotte Screws.
Visitors at the latest meeting had included Floyd Bresenham, a Rotarian from Portales.
1966: Antonio Gennaro, assistant professor in biology at Eastern New Mexico University, was establishing a natural history museum for research and teaching. A newspaper story began: “The cold eyes of a rattlesnake immersed in a specimen jar of formaldehyde stare from a shelf on the wall. A bobcat, menacing fangs bared and smelling slightly of a preservative, lies in serene repose on a tray.”
1970: Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center in Clovis offered “23 merchants in one convenient location.”
A newspaper advertisement claimed “smart Santas shop at Hilltop Plaza.”
The old elf himself was on hand to accept gift requests.
1970: New Mexico Beauty and Barber Supply encouraged its customers to “get the lady in your life a wig for Christmas,” in a newspaper ad.
The ad claimed it would be “a goof-proof purchase. We will gladly exchange if you make the wrong selection.”
1971: Clovis auto dealer Doc Stewart was selected chairman of the Committee of Fifty, a Cannon Air Force Base support group, for 1972. Other executive committee members included Dr. Jacob Moberly, Dick Worley, Charles Wade, Max Meadors and Wilbur Johnson.
1971: Central Baptist Church, the Forrest Heights Spanish Baptist Mission and Citizens Bank had earned top awards at Clovis’ annual Christmas parade.
Central Baptist’s “Peace on Earth” entry was named most beautiful float. It had been designed by Charles Brandon and constructed by members of the married young people’s department.
Forrest Heights won best religious float with a living donkey in a Nativity scene.
Citizens Bank received the most clever trophy for its Citizens Choo Choo “with a happy expression,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1973: Owners of pigs being kept in Clovis city limits were given six months to relocate them or get out of the hog business. City commissioners approved the ordinance banning pig feeding in the city after receiving complaints from residents about odor and rodent problems.
1975: An estimated 8,000 people lined Clovis’ Main Street to watch the annual Christmas parade.
“(A) possible record-breaking 110 entries traveled from Hilltop Plaza to First Street,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Santa and Mrs. Claus rode in a 1926 Model T Touring Car.
The “Christmas Eve to Valley Forge” float, sponsored by Citizens Bank, won two awards — one for most beautiful and one for most religious.
The parade began at 11 a.m. and wrapped up at 12:15 p.m.
1975: Portales’ girls edged Clovis, 32-31, for the championship of the first Clovis Cage Classic.
Portales placed three players on the all tournament team — Peggy Martinez, Diane McCutchen and Gail Cozzens.
Clovis’ Margie Martinez, Julie Perich, Sharon Nuckles and Sherri Harris also made the all-tournament team, which featured 12 players.
1976: U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, had been named guest speaker for the annual Clovis Chamber of Commerce banquet.
Domenici, the state’s senior senator, said he had scheduled multiple meetings with area residents in addition to the Chamber appearance.
He planned to meet with representatives of the Eastern New Mexico University-Clovis campus and had scheduled meetings with area farmers and ranchers to discuss water and energy issues.
1987: Wayne Crume, a self-described “old cowboy from Kenna,” made the front page of the Clovis News-Journal with a photo and feature headlined, “Cowboy croons with $38 guitar, plenty of smiles.”
Crume was a regular fixture at the Tastee Freez restaurant in Portales, where he spent two hours each Saturday night playing cowboy songs and honky-tonk classics on his guitar, an upright piano, and a “mouth organ.”
When feature writer D’Lyn Ford visited Crume on the job one Saturday, he was greeting customers as they came in to the back room at the Tastee Freez.
“We’re here to have a little fun, aren’t we?” he asked. “If you aren’t having fun, you might as well be home cleaning the cream separator.”
1987: Local tree trimmer Glen Shot had more than 25,000 lights up and twinkling at his home at 3312 Cherry Drive in Clovis, better known each Christmas for the past five years as “Shot’s Winter Wonderland.”
The display also included lighted snowmen, reindeer, and various storybook characters, as well as a waving Santa. On an adjoining lot, there was a live Nativity scene with a llama, sheep, and donkeys.
For 50 cents, visitors could ride a motorized train throughout the display that increased Shot’s electric bill more than $1,000 each December.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
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