Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1932: Eastern New Mexico was covered in about 6 inches of snow.
“Old timers pronounced this as the heaviest snowfall in years,” the Portales Valley News reported.
“The night bus was unable to run, and the bus mail failed to come in.”
In other local news:
• Mrs. W.M. Drinkard of the East Valley View Club had won a carpet sweeper and undisclosed cash prize in the Ball Jar canning contest. Drinkard won for canning vegetables.
• A Portales man had been arrested for stealing five hens from Ed Spears. The suspect was in the county jail, unable to pay the court’s $10 fine.
• Wicks’ Modern Hatcheries had opened its Clovis plant and was planning to open in Portales in January. The hatchery offered 100 chicks for $10, 500 chicks for $47.50 or 1,000 chicks for $90.
1941: Mr. and Mrs. S.D. Hamilton of Fort Sumner had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
About 75 friends called on the couple, bringing gifts, letters, cards and telegrams.
“In the center of a laced-cover table stood a five-tier, 25-pound wedding cake,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1962: The long-awaited Hull Street overpass in Clovis moved closer to reality when officials announced the State Highway Commission would open bids for the project on Jan. 26.
Estimated cost was $600,000.
1966: A Curry County farmer was killed in a collision with a train near St. Vrain.
The body of Weldon Lewis, 51, was found 112 feet from his demolished automobile.
Police said the speedometer on Lewis’ car was frozen at 86 mph.
1967: The first of the jet-powered aircraft had come to Clovis.
Trans-Texas Airways flight 690 carried company dignitaries to meet Clovis Mayor Ted Waldhauser and other city officials.
The Silver Cloud featured speeds up to 325 mph and could seat 40 with a crew of three.
Flights connected Clovis to Abilene, Lubbock and Dallas daily except Sundays.
1970: “Puzzled Clovis residents” watched as snow swirled about them, with the sun shining brightly out of a nearly cloudless sky, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
No measurable amount of new snow had fallen by noon, but the day’s temperatures started in the teens and the ground remained covered in snow that had fallen the previous month.
Weather watchers said there was also no measurable amount of new snow on the ground in Grady, but school was closed because of blowing snow and limited visibility.
1976: Calvin Stout was elected chairman of the Curry County Commission during a regular meeting.
He succeeded Melvin Estes.
The meeting’s top agenda item: discuss plans to renovate heating and cooling units in the Curry County Courthouse.
1977: Eastern New Mexico awoke to a little snow and frigid temperatures.
Clovis and Texico saw a trace of moisture. Portales was at 24 degrees just before noon.
The temperatures made it too cold to snow much, weather observer Stan Morris said.
1978: More than 150 local farm strikers showed up at the welfare office at the Bruce King State Office Complex in Clovis to apply for food stamps as part of their ongoing protest against low agriculture prices.
One of the organizers said the action was a publicity stunt designed to draw attention to the farmers' plight.
"But most of these young farmers probably will qualify for food stamps," Gorman Byrd added.
The farmers arrived in a caravan with 62 tractors and 36
farm vehicles. After applying for food stamps, the caravan traveled across Clovis to the Employment Security Commission of New Mexico and the State Employment Service Office to continue their protest.
1988: United States Rep. Manual Lujan Jr. had announced plans to retire after the end of his 10th term serving the people of New Mexico's first congressional district.
Lujan, 59, was first elected in 1968, which was the first election after apportionment gave New Mexico a second seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Lujan said the heart attack he suffered in 1986 was not the reason for his retirement.
Rather, "so many of my colleagues have stayed too long," Lujan said. "It was always my fear I would stay too long and not have my health."
2006: The Portales Area Transit System had ordered a new 15-passenger van.
The van cost about $30,000. The U.S. Department of Transportation provided $25,083 toward the purchase.
The addition would give PATS five passenger vans and a bus for its stable, though two of the vans had more than 100,000 miles on them.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
