Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1862: Washington Ellsworth Lindsey was born in Belmont County, Ohio. He moved to New Mexico Territory in 1900, settling in Portales where he opened a law office.
Lindsey and John Brown Sledge formed the Portales Townsite Co. and sold lots from 1902 to 1911, according to the New Mexico office of the state historian.
Lindsey became Portales’ first mayor and was New Mexico’s third governor. The statue outside the Roosevelt County Courthouse honors Lindsey, who is buried in the Portales cemetery.
1950: Ned Houk, a Clovis grocery store owner, had filed his candidacy for election as city commissioner in District 1.
James Massey, a railroad brakeman, had also filed for the position.
Houk won the race with 199 votes, compared to 34 for Massey and 48 for Fred Brooksher, a third candidate.
1952: Jack Holt the Clothier, at 304 Main, offered Knox & Stetson hats, Hart Schaffner & Marx top coats and McGregor sweaters and sports shirts. There was no charge for gift wrapping.
1960: A 79-year-old woman was hospitalized after a careening car driven by a 16-year-old boy smashed into her bedroom, knocking her and her bed 13 feet across her room.
Mabel Potts, who lived at 500 E. 10th, was listed in good condition.
The boy was fleeing police when he lost control of his car, which “spun into two trees, through a yard fence and into the corner of the Potts home,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Police said they found several cans of beer and a bottle of whiskey in the car.
Neither the boy nor a 15-year-old girl in the vehicle was injured, though police said the girl “passed out during questioning.”
1960: Harold Kenworth, of 219 E. Sixth St. in Clovis, made the first legal purchase of alcohol in Clovis in 17 years.
He made the purchase at LaVista Package Store.
Kenworth bought a bottle of bourbon, ending the city prohibition that began in 1943.
1960: The “hometown merchants” of Clovis were giving away free movie tickets to see Randolph Scott in “Comanche Station.”
The participating merchants were Jack Murphy’s Chevron Station, Levine’s, Thrifty Drug, Foxy Drive-In, J.C. Penney’s, G.C. Williams’ Paint Store, Village Record Shop, Hugh Jones Firestone, Bryson Furniture, Sutton’s Bakery, Murphy-Echols Co., McClung Carpet and Western Auto.
1961: James Stewart and Rock Hudson starred in “Bend of the River,” at the Lyceum theater in Clovis.
Adults were admitted for 75 cents.
1970: The Treasure Chest, at 117 W. Fourth St. in Clovis, “across from the old post office,” was open just in time for Christmas. The store advertised “beautiful candles” from Austria, in-laid wood works and Venetian glass from Italy and Edinburgh full lead crystal from Scotland.
1970: A 16-year-old Clovis High School student was recovering at home after falling from a ladder in the high school band building.
Vickie Standifer was helping decorate the band room for a holiday party when she fell.
1970: A headline in the Clovis News-Journal reported ‘“Meanest Thief’ Strikes in City.”
The thief struck the home of B.L. Wilson, who lived at 308 Cactus in Clovis.
Wilson said the culprit entered the home while no one was there and opened every package under the Christmas tree. Police said it wasn’t immediately clear what had been taken.
1971: Sutton’s Bakery, at 515 Main in Clovis, offered 10-inch pumpkin pies for $1.10 and 10-inch pecan pies for $1.35.
Assorted 10-inch cream pies were $1.10, while an 8-inch German chocolate cake was $1.89.
Sutton’s claimed it had the “finest quality,” and its baked goods were “reasonably priced” for “festive feasting.”
1973: Skippy Hawkins, 15, of Clovis, died while playing on a frozen Greene Acres Lake.
A nearby gas station attendant saw the ice break and ran to help the struggling boy, breaking ice himself as he tried to reach him.
Don Loring’s legs were badly bruised from the ordeal, but he was unable to save the teen from drowning.
1976: Marshall Junior High School students had collected 2,587 cans for the Salvation Army’s canned food drive.
Felix Garza’s home room collected 836 cans.
1977: All gas service was expected to be restored to Portales by mid-afternoon, following a shut-off that affected almost the entire town the previous day.
Gas Company of New Mexico officials said that with the exception of one small residential area, the 11,000 residents of Portales had been without natural gas for six hours during a cold and snowy period.
The Gas Company spokesman cited a failure of a gate border station, after which most of the meters in Portales were turned off.
Roosevelt General Hospital personnel had been gathering electric blankets and heaters to use if needed, but they were first on the list to have their gas heat turned back on.
1980: The Towne Crier, located in Clovis’ Hilltop Plaza, suggested its customers “Give The Gift Of Music For Christmas.”
Advertised specials included albums by Neil Diamond and Lynyrd Skynyrd for $5.98.
Gift certificates were available and the shop was open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
1987: A ribbon-cutting ceremony had marked the opening of the Cinema Four Theater at the North Plains Mall in Clovis.
Chamber of Commerce President Hewell Jones and Commonwealth Theater Manager Abby Parrish shared the ribbon-cutting honors, surrounded by other members of the Chamber and merchants affiliated with the mall.
Movies on the four new screens were “Three Men and A Baby,” “Batteries Not Included,” “Eddie Murphy Raw,” and “Overboard.”
1990: Doc Stewart Chevrolet Geo Buick at 2500 Mabry Drive in Clovis recommended customers “winterize your car.”
Cost was $24.95.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
