Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1946: Lloyd Jordan and Don Litchfield had been named captains of the 1947 Clovis High School football team. Coach Bill Gibson made the announcement at the annual football banquet.
Also at the banquet, John Fila had been presented the Holmberg Award, symbolic of the most outstanding football player on the squad. The award, given by Wildcat supporter and jewelry store owner A.A. Holmberg, was a 14-carat solid gold miniature football. Attitude, ability and sportsmanship were the primary factors considered in selecting the winner.
Twenty-three Wildcats were awarded letters from the previous season, including 13 seniors, seven juniors and three sophomores. Co-captains Jack Estes and Jack Durham were among letter winners.
The banquet was adjourned with the singing of the school song, “Purple and White.”
1960: Police were looking for a Hotel Clovis robber who stole $50 at gunpoint, saying he needed the money to get his wife out of the hospital.
The robber ordered the hotel clerk to give him only $50.
Police were looking into hospital records for female patients with bills totaling $50.
1960: Ice on telephone lines throughout the region was blamed for the loss of phone service from Clovis to Fort Sumner and in most other area communities.
Farmers Electric Co-Op officials said they were concerned about power outages as well.
Ice was an inch thick on utility lines, officials said.
1966: The front page of the Clovis News-Journal featured Lucy van Pelt atop Snoopy’s dog house, complaining about “keeping his place warm while he goes shopping.”
“He’s got 14 more (shopping) days,” she moans.
1970: The streets of Melrose would not be paved, at least not anytime soon, after a judge had ruled in favor of 17 property owners protesting the costs.
District Judge George Reese of Roswell ruled that village trustees had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in equating estimated benefits from the paving with the assessed costs of paving construction, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
CN-J reported the Clovis courtroom was “nearly full” for the hearing.
1971: A layer of ice covered streets as eastern New Mexico braced for a severe snowstorm over the next 24 hours.
Police in Clovis and Portales each reported eight minor traffic accidents before noon, all blamed on the icy road conditions.
Temperatures were in the low 20s.
1974: Kmart was hosting its three-day Pre-Holiday Bombshells sale.
Great smelling Brut cologne was $1.36 for a 7-ounce bottle.
A case of motor oil was $8.50. That was for 20W or 30W, all-weather motor oil — 24 quarts in all.
Five rolls of gift wrap were 77 cents.
Christmas cards were 99 cents per box, with an assortment of religious, contemporary and humorous themes.
Kmart was open 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. weekdays and from noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.
The Clovis store was located at 21st and Prince.
1976: Rev. Clyde Stanfield, Air Force Capt. Mike Bell and Rev. W. C. Green were among those attending a meeting of the Curry-Roosevelt Council on Alcoholism.
The meeting was to discuss alcohol abuse, its effect on military families, and how good cooperation between the community and base could be extended to help abusers.
1977: Randy Walters, a ninth-grade tuba player at Marshall Junior High School in Clovis, was the only junior high student in the state selected for membership in the New Mexico Education Association All-State Band.
Randy, the son of Loren and Carol Walters, earned higher scores than any other band student in the symphonic division, securing a spot in a group made up of predominantly juniors and seniors.
1982: New Mexico Lt. Gov. Roberto Mondragon was in Portales to officially open the new Roosevelt County senior meal site at 501 W. Ivy St. About 375 people attended the opening ceremonies and lunch.
Ruby Goforth, director of the Eastern Plains Agency on Aging, presented Mondragon with a plaque to thank him for his efforts in bringing the service to the area, and for his contributions to senior citizens during his eight years as lieutenant governor.
The meal site was the first for Roosevelt County, and complemented the one in Curry County at the Clovis Memorial Building.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
