Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1951: A pioneer railroad conductor died in the Clovis hospital.
Samuel L. Sutter, 69, of 1216 Main, had fallen ill the same afternoon.
He came to New Mexico in 1900 to work for the Santa Fe Railway at Las Vegas. He went to work on the Belen cutoff when construction started in 1906 and made his permanent home in Clovis in 1910.
He worked 48 years for the Santa Fe until his retirement as a conductor in 1948.
1960: Area softball players were preparing for the weekend Clovis Jaycee Invitational tournament at Jaycee Park.
Teams entered included Horton and Sons, Powell’s Machine Shop and Helton Oil.
1966: Residents of the Triangle Addition in southwest Clovis complained to the City Commission about rattlesnakes in their neighborhood.
Residents said at least two rattlers had been found in recent days, identifying weed-infested vacant lots as their favorite hiding places.
City officials said there were 31 vacant lots in the area. Mayor Ted Waldhauser asked City Manager Marvin Hass to contact the lot owners “in person,” and ask them to clean up, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1969: Willie Hall, a 5-10, 180-pound tailback from Clovis, was among high school football stars slated to play in the annual North-South All-Star grid clash.
Clovis coach Steve Graham called Hall the best running back in the state of New Mexico.
Hall had been clocked running the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds and had agreed to play college football at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.
1970: Retirement receptions were honoring two longtime Eastern New Mexico University faculty members.
History Professor Ira C. Inde and education Professor Thelma Mallory had 62 years of service to ENMU between them.
1973: The president of Texas International Airlines had vowed to “grow with Clovis,” according to a headline in the Clovis News-Journal.
Francisco Lorenzo had been in Clovis to speak at the first mid-summer Chamber of Commerce banquet.
“Clovis is obviously a healthy city and while you’ve grown, we’ve been growing too,” Lorenzo said.
“Our costs are increasing greatly, but we can and will provide more and better service with your assistance and a community willingness to aggressively promote and support TIA.”
Lorenzo said TIA flights out of Clovis averaged just 1.7 passengers per day in 1963, but that number had risen to more than 30 per day in 1973.
The company began as Trans-Texas Airways, but critics and cynical customers called it “Tinker Toy Airlines.”
When Trans-Texas changed its name to TIA in 1969, it published newspaper ads that read, “No more Tinker Toys.”
TIA ultimately merged with Continental Airlines. It left Clovis in the late 1970s, replaced by Air Midwest.
1975: A San Jon couple had been killed when an explosion rocked their home the day before.
Erman and Thelma Waller, both 67, died. They’d lived in the area since 1937.
Officials said a leaky butane line caused the explosion, which was so forceful it forced the home’s floors through its roof.
Debris was scattered a block away.
1976: Clovis had scheduled its first school for DWI offenders.
The eight-hour session was to be held at the Clovis Chamber of Commerce.
A recent law allowed, but did not require, judges who invoke DWI penalties to consider the class as part of sentencing.
Officials expected 15 to 18 people would take the class.
1977: Hillcrest Skateland counted up the winnings from a skate-a-thon held to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.
Officials said 35 skaters, age 8-42, skated 12 hours to raise $1,275.21.
The top money makers were awarded trophies.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
