Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Jan. 24
On this date ...
1946: Clovis city commissioners voted unanimously to purchase 500 parking meters from Mark-Time Meter Co. of Denver.
The meters cost $58 each, installed.
City officials said downtown shoppers will pay a penny for 12 minutes or a nickel for an hour of parking time.
The meters were scheduled to be installed within 60 days.
1950: Elida’s fast-stepping Tigers were riding a six-game basketball winning streak and had pushed their record to 8-8 for the season. Ranchvale’s Trojans were the latest to fall to Elida, 45-39.
1951: Levine’s department store in Clovis was selling gabardine suits for women in sizes 10 to 20. They came in red, navy, chartreuse and beige for $16.98.
In addition, gabardine toppers were on sale for $10.98, all satin lined in sizes 12 to 42.
Levine’s was accepting layaway for Easter.
1958: Texico High School students had recently presented a style show. “Phyllis Kelly was attractive in a white circular skirt with blue sweater and white knit collar,” according to a Clovis News-Journal review.
1961: High winds and a “surprising” amount of snow slapped eastern New Mexico.
Weatherman Karl Kramer said 4 inches of snow fell on the Clovis area as temperatures “plunged to a frosty 9 degrees,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Planes at Cannon Air Force Base and local municipal airports were grounded due to the wintry blast.
Clovis police reported 12 minor automobile accidents, with no injuries.
1965: Clovis police were investigating the ransacking of Denton Oil Co. at 318 E. First.
Someone knocked the glass out of the rear door to gain entry, officials said.
The office was then ransacked, apparently in search of money.
Seven cases of soft drinks, valued at $10, were taken, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1966: Low temperatures dipped into the single digits across the region and “solid sheets of ice on all streets made driving risky,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Police said they had investigated 11 accidents by 8 a.m., most of which were connected to the ice and snow that fell a day earlier.
Forecasters said temperatures would be in the 40s in another day or so.
1967: Clovis was hosting a traveling exhibit from the Folk Art Museum of Santa Fe.
Colorful costumes and other memorabilia connected with the ancient Laplanders of Arctic Europe was on display at the Clovis Chamber of Commerce building.
Laplanders, also known as Sami, were best known for their fishing, fur trapping and reindeer herding skills.
1971: Mike Cassan, Bill Montgomery, Clyde Perkins and Ralph Williams had represented Gattis Junior High, finishing fourth in a field of eight teams at the Albuquerque Jaycee Invitational Track Meet.
The Gattis team was also fourth in the four-lap relay, recording a time of 1:23.4.
Dean Frazier of Clovis High School placed fourth in the event’s two-mile run.
1972: The Kelly Green Seeds Inc. elevator in Farwell was destroyed by fire.
Firefighting units from seven area communities responded to the blaze and needed more than nine hours to contain it and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the town.
Officials said 2 million pounds of milo, soy beans, hybrid Sudangrass and red-topped cane were stored in the structure, but a large portion of the seed could be salvaged.
Damage was estimated at $100,000.
Farwell Fire Chief Lee Hutchins said the elevator, built in the 1930s, was ablaze when the first fire units arrived. Within an hour, the wooden frame and galvanized steel-covered building had collapsed, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
No injuries were reported. Windows burst in one nearby home. Officials said they did not know what started the fire.
1976: Texico schools had scheduled three fundraising basketball games aimed at gathering money for athletic uniforms.
In the first game, sixth-grade boys were set to play seventh- and eighth-grade girls. Then coaches were scheduled to play the 1975 senior boys team. And then two teams made up of Texico parents were slated to play.
Admission was six bits for students, a buck for adults.
1976: A Texico boy had uncovered a human skull and skeleton buried more than 600 years ago.
Arthur Chavez, 12, made the discovery while exploring a cave on his uncle’s farm 42 miles west of Las Vegas, N.M., during the Christmas break.
Scientists at Eastern New Mexico University’s anthropology department said the bones most likely were those of a 9- to 12-year-old Pueblo Indian girl who had never been able to walk.
1976: Members of the Clovis Wildcat Marching Band had participated in the annual band Olympics at West Texas State University.
Phillip Mullins rolled a 178 to win the bowling competition. Jo Wilson took first in the 25-meter freestyle swim race. Don Rogers won the pool competition.
1988: Auditions were announced for the 38th annual Floyd Jamboree scheduled to take place in March.
Phillip Russell had been elected by the Floyd Lions Club to serve as the "Big Fuzzy," or main coordinator for the upcoming Jamboree.
Auditions were open to "country/western or gospel singers, and special acts such as puppeteers and ventriloquists."
Program committee members were Rod Payne, Larry Buchanan, and Bruce Lee.
1988: A Clovis News-Journal feature called "Steps in Time," had multiple photos and a story about the afternoon dances that took place every first and third Sunday at the Friendship Center, which had opened in Clovis three years before.
Live music was provided by Los Laureles, a four-member local band with Sortero Sena and Gene Montoya on saxophone, Esequiel Cordova on guitar, and his brother Joe Cordova on bass.
"We make them feel good. That's why they keep coming back," Joe Cordova said. "It won't be but just a few years and I'll be their age, and I hope I'll be able to move like they do.”
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
