Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Pages past - March 13

On this date ...

1988: While it was typical for about half of all students who applied to medical school to receive rejection letters, in 1987, an impressive 85.7 percent of Eastern New Mexico University pre-med students had received acceptances to further their education.

"We've just had smashing success," according to Dr. Gary Pfaffenberger, an ENMU biology professor and member of the Allied Health Advisory Board.

Also quoted in the Clovis News-Journal article was Dr. Lonnie Alexander, the newest member of the Allied Health Advisory Board and a 1978 ENMU graduate practiced medicine for decades in eastern New Mexico.

"The program is demanding enough that you learn to study," Alexander said. "People assume you have to be brilliant, at the top of your class, to be successful in medical school. In fact, to be successful in medical school, it takes reasonable intelligence, and broad-based, well-rounded experiences."

1973: More than 500 people attended Roosevelt County's 70th birthday party at the Portales High School auditorium, many of them people who had moved to the area even before it officially became a county in the territory of New Mexico in 1903.

The oldest county resident in attendance was Helen Lindsey Armstrong, 74, daughter of Washington Lindsey, the first Portales resident to serve as governor of New Mexico.

Portales' other former governor, John Burroughs, gave the welcome address for the event, congratulating the Roosevelt County Historical Society and Eastern New Mexico University for their work in preserving the history of the area.

Pages Past is compiled by Betty Williamson. Contact her at: [email protected]

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