Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1941: Law officers across eastern New Mexico and west Texas were patrolling highways in search of a lone bandit who robbed the First National Bank in Levelland, Texas.
The man got away with $20,533, officials said, locking employees in the bank’s vault.
Witnesses said the robber had two pistols and escaped in a Ford pickup.
A nearby farmer’s son confessed to the robbery a few days later and all but $78 was found, most of it buried under a seed bin on his family’s property.
1942: The “suddenly announced glider training school for Clovis” was preparing to receive the first of 67 planes to be used in training, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
About 200 personnel, including fliers, Army officers, doctors, nurses and an ambulance unit were expected to be in Clovis by the weekend.
“Hurried plans were under way today for the immediate leasing of three if not more tracts of prairie land near this city as auxiliary landing spots of the planes,” the newspaper reported. “Housing of the men and other details of new facilities at the (municipal airport) were under consideration today.”
Training involved pilots reaching 500 to 5,000 feet, cutting the motor, and gliding planes to specific landing locations, officials said. Training was scheduled to begin June 1.
“The specific aim of the training is to equip men to participate in commando raids,” the newspaper reported.
The glider training school would close after World War II, but its success became the inspiration for Cannon Air Force Base.
1945: A bond rally was held at Portales’ Yam Theatre and raised $4,000 to help fund military operations.
The “Bondardiers” from Clovis Air Base provided musical entertainment, The Portales Daily News reported.
1946: Jimmy Dale McLean, 2, who lived at Box 841 on the Portales highway, was recovering after being run over by his father’s car.
Officials said the boy suffered a fractured pelvis, scratches and bruises after being knocked down by the family vehicle as it backed out of the driveway.
Tire marks were “plainly visible on the flesh” but a doctor said he did not think the wheel had passed completely over the child’s body, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1961: Cannon Air Force Base officials said 10,523 people passed through their gates a day earlier for a “display of might” by various branches of the armed forces.
The Clovis-News Journal reported the highlight of the 90-minute show came “when a sleek F-104 Starfighter careened across the sky at supersonic speed, breaking the sound barrier as it passed over the crowd.”
The F-104 was sometimes called a “missile with a man in it,” according to the newspaper.
1969: A “cloudy cold front” had rolled through eastern New Mexico overnight, dropping temperatures by 42 degrees in 16 hours.
The area saw a Wednesday afternoon high of 92 degrees, but by 7 a.m. Thursday temperatures had fallen to 50 degrees.
A light drizzle accompanied the front, with Cannon Air Force Base reporting .15 of an inch of rain.
Clovis had .06 of an inch of moisture, bringing its month’s total to 4.14 inches. Clovis had recorded 7.26 inches of moisture for the year.
1975: Clovis Chamber of Commerce officials said 42 entries had been received for next month’s Pioneer Days parade.
Chamber Manager Bob Spencer said horse entries might be fewer than usual because of a “swamp fever regulation” in Texas that prevented unvaccinated horses from returning if they left the state.
A vaccine was $10, but Spencer said “these people are not going to want to particularly pay for a shot just to enter our parade.”
1983: Funeral services were scheduled in Portales for William D. Pitt, 61, a longtime faculty member at Eastern New Mexico University who died May 21.
Born in 1921 in Kansas City, Mo., Pitt came to Portales in 1963, and taught geology at ENMU until his retirement in 1981.
He was a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and was also active in the Lions Club, the Geological Society of America, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Portales Gem and Mineral Society, and the Roswell Geological Society.
Survivors included his wife Natalie Pitt, and a son, Lee Pitt, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
1988: Clovis High School students were pledging to avoid drugs and alcohol during the last week of school as part of the "Good Start for Life Program."
About three dozen local businesses signed on as supporters for the effort, which was sponsored by Principal Mack Mitchell, the yearbook staff, the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program, Students Against Drunk Driving, the athletic department, and the junior class.
Students who signed up to participate were entered in daily drawings for prizes including gift certificates, free movie tickets, and meals at local restaurants.
"This may save a real bad accident," said Assistant Principal Roy Franse. "I think it will help save a life."
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
