Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1946: A Portales man was killed on the Clovis-Portales highway in what officials termed a “freak wreck” that involved four vehicles.
T.D. Lewis, 64, of Portales died in a head-on collision that left three others hospitalized. Two other vehicles crashed into those two vehicles soon after the initial collision.
Four people were jailed in connection with the incident, police said.
1946: Clovis Police Chief Nelson Worley was warning residents that his officers had “wanted to be reasonable,” and had not been issuing traffic citations for parking during a recent snow storm.
Now that drifts had cleared, Worley said, “we don’t want to see any more streets clogged with (parked) cars.”
1950: Dora overcame a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to upset Clovis, 35-32, in a District 6 high school basketball clash.
George Brumfield’s field goal in the fading seconds was the deciding basket. Claude Walker led Dora with 14 points.
Cecil Davis paced the purple-and-white Wildcats with 11, despite fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
1952: Two teenagers hoping to get married in Oklahoma were instead in a Clovis jail on charges they stole a car.
The boy, 15, had disappeared with the girl, 16, after a vehicle disappeared from the Day Motor Co. in Clovis.
The boy's parents lived in Oklahoma City but he'd been staying with relatives in Clovis, where the girl lived.
They got to Lockney, Texas, before they were stopped by police.
1952: New Mexico State Police Chief Joe Roach had announced the state was raising its maximum speed limit to 70 mph during the daytime, though it would remain 60 at night.
The decision came after a district court judge in Lovington dismissed a speeding ticket issued to a former state representative. Judge John Brand ruled the state must prove a defendant was exceeding the speed limit and that his driving was unreasonable or imprudent, United Press reported.
Roach warned motorists that the "liberal tolerance" patrol officers once permitted under a 60 mph limit would no longer be exercised.
1965: Rev. Herbert Peiman, interim pastor of Immanuel Church in Clovis, had requested that all members fill out questionnaires on “time and talent.”
He said the questionnaires were “based on the thought that everyone has a gift, and that this gift sometimes is not recognized by the person possessing it.”
1968: W.T. Grant Co. in Hilltop Plaza was selling staple guns for $3.77, Easter baskets for a dime and infant car seats for $2.77.
1968: A course to train adult hunter safety instructors had been held in Clovis with 35 in attendance.
Local participants included Sam Scott, scoutmaster of Rotary Boy Scout Troop 24 in Melrose; Phil Gillespie, assistant scoutmaster of Kingswood Methodist Church Boy Scout Troop 226; and Dan Spalding, scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 777 of the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Portales.
Bob Parish, the local officer for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, helped teach the course, along with Safety Officer Carl Berghofer of Santa Fe.
The newly certified instructors were prepared to teach hunter safety to the 11-25 age group.
1970: Clovis police reported they had solved two reported armed robberies at the Shell Service Station at 201 W. Seventh St.
The station attendant initially told police he’d been robbed of $50 on Nov. 24 and $30 on Dec. 11.
He ultimately admitted he made up the stories.
Officials said he would not be criminally charged if he made restitution within a week.
1973: A dozen local square dance callers had banded together to form The Clovis Area Callers Association, a group designed to promote and encourage square dancing in eastern New Mexico.
Jack Orio was elected president of the group, Buddy Jones was vice president, and Bobby Graham was secretary treasurer.
The nine other charter members were Bud Coiner, George Cooper, Cliff Gossett, Eddie Gunnels, Ron Markus, and Bill Scott, all of Clovis; Karl Cox, Jr., of Dora; Leroy Coffey of Melrose; and James Pettus of Portales.
1975: Kmart, at 21st and Prince, offered “fast service at our grill.”
The Wednesday special was liver and onions with whipped potatoes, brown gravy, a buttered vegetable and roll for 97 cents.
Submarine sandwiches were three for $1.17.
1976: Unidentified Flying Objects were sighted over Clovis for the second night in a row.
Police said they counted 18 in the sky at one time.
One of the objects “appeared to be hovering over Texico,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. Soon the object began to “rise rapidly,” and then a “jet vapor trail” headed toward the UFO, “complete with flashing red lights at its head,” CN-J reported.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
