Pages past - Dec. 13

On this date ...

1987: Wayne Crume, a self-described "old cowboy from Kenna," made the front page of the Clovis News-Journal with a photo and feature headlined, "Cowboy croons with $38 guitar, plenty of smiles."

Crume was a regular fixture at the Tastee Freez restaurant in Portales, where he spent two hours each Saturday night playing cowboy songs and honky-tonk classics on his guitar, an upright piano, and a "mouth organ."

When feature writer D'Lyn Ford visited Crume on the job one Saturday, he was greeting customers as they came in to the back room at the Tastee Freez.

"We're here to have a little fun, aren't we?" he asked. "If you aren't having fun, you might as well be home cleaning the cream separator."

1987: Local tree trimmer Glen Shot had more than 25,000 lights up and twinkling at his home at 3312 Cherry Drive in Clovis, better known each Christmas for the past five years as "Shot's Winter Wonderland."

The display also included lighted snowmen, reindeer, and various storybook characters, as well as a waving Santa. On an adjoining lot, there was a live Nativity scene with a llama, sheep, and donkeys.

For 50 cents, visitors could ride a motorized train throughout the display that increased Shot's electric bill more than $1,000 each December.

Pages Past is compiled by Betty Williamson. Contact her at:

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