Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1941: Eastern New Mexico College President Donald W. MacKay had resigned, officials announced.
No reason for the resignation was reported. MacKay was not available for comment since he was out of town on vacation.
MacKay had been the college's only president since its opening in 1934.
College officials said they were attempting to interest former New Mexico State College President H.L. Kent in the ENMC job. Instead, Floyd Golden became the college's second president, holding the position for 18 years.
1968: A report on Past Masters night at Elida Masonic Lodge 31 was included in Velma Hathcock's Elida column in the Clovis News-Journal.
Ninety area Masons attended the event, enjoying a supper served by Holmes Lovejoy, Darwin Ward, Fred Van Eaton, and Jimmy Ted Bilberry.
Chris Burrell of Fort Sumner delivered an address on "What a Mason should tell his wife about Masonry."
I.J. Dixon Jr., a past master of the Elida Lodge, gave an overview of the history of the lodge, and 25-year pins were presented to Dr. E.L. Miller of Portales and George W. Littlefield of Roswell.
1971: Portales City Council members had voted themselves a pay raise - from $20 a month to $80 a month.
All council members supported a raise and debated increases from $50 to $100 a month before settling on $60.
Officials said a new law allowed the council to set its own pay rate so long as it did not exceed the pay rate for county commissioners. Roosevelt County commissioners earned $2,000 per year.
1971: Jerri Ferguson announced in a newspaper ad she was moving to Pink Patio Beauty Shop, 1314 S. Ave. I, in Portales.
She invited all of her clientele to “come see me … for your next beauty appointment.”
1974: Cooks, located at 21st and Mitchell streets in Clovis, was “Your Father’s Day Gift Headquarters.”
• Walkie Talkies were $9.99 per set.
• A Panasonic AM/FM portable radio was $19.88.
• Short-sleeve sport shirts were $2.99 each.
• Double knit slacks were $4.99 per pair. They had “2-way comfort stretch” and a flare leg.
• A 5-gallon shop vac was $19.97.
• A car wash spray gun, which attached to a garden hose, went for $1.99. Wash and wax pellets were included.
1976: Clovis police Detective Caleb Chandler had upset incumbent Odis Echols in the Democratic primary for the District 27 state Senate seat.
Echols served 10 years in the Legislature.
Chandler, a political newcomer, received 1,373 votes to 1,237 for Echols.
1977: Three Clovis youth were arrested after police said they pushed a city-owned riding lawnmower into Greene Acres Lake.
Police Officers Kevin Clements and Leroy Bryant pulled the mower from the lake using a cable attached to a four-wheel drive vehicle.
The Clovis News-Journal reported the mower was "brand new." The keys to the mower were in the pocket of a city employee when the incident occurred, the paper reported.
1977: A Tulsa, Okla., man had been arrested on marijuana charges in Portales.
Two New Mexico State Police officers pulled him over after noting he had only one license plate on his pickup; Oklahoma vehicles were required to have front and back plates.
During the traffic stop, police found 12.5 pounds of marijuana in the back of the man's pickup.
He was charged with intent to distribute.
1983: Hillcrest Zoo in Clovis was holding a naming contest for its newest resident, a tiny male black bear cub that had been rescued from the Gila National Forest and given to the zoo by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
Zookeeper Mike Rodriguez said the cub tipped the scale at 20 pounds and was estimated to be about 2 weeks old. The hope was he would grow up to be a mate for Maxine, the zoo's 3-year-old bear.
Tina Faulkner won the Zoological Society's $25 savings bond by submitting the name "Max" before anyone else.
Max was the most popular name submitted in the contest.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
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