Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1903: Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway workers began construction on the Belen Cutoff – 268 miles of track that connected Texico and the Texas-New Mexico border to the AT&SF’s main line near Belen, south of Albuquerque. The new route, avoiding the mountains of northern New Mexico, led to the creation of Clovis in 1907.
1931: About 100 men, most armed with shotguns, gathered outside the Clovis News-Journal office on Main Street. Then, “bent upon bloodshed,” they sped out of the city, the newspaper reported. Their target was thousands of rabbits known to have taken refuge in the draws north of town. When the hunters returned that afternoon, they piled about 400 rabbits on the pavement in front of the newspaper office. Some were taken to the Salvation Army to help feed the hungry. The primary purpose of the hunt was to help prevent crop damage come summer.
1941: The Fergas Co., located at 300 E. First in Clovis, had a new year’s message for the region: “We do not have a remedy for the flu,” it reported in a newspaper ad, “but we do know that your family’s health and comfort will be guarded against many common colds and winter ailments when you have your home properly heated with Fergas and guaranteed Fergas-installed equipment.” The phone number was 282.
1955: David Ray Hinson was the first baby born in Clovis in the new year. He arrived 48 seconds after midnight, weighing in at just over 8 pounds. He was named for his father David of Clovis and his uncle Ray of Bloomfield. “Most likely, we’ll call him Ray,” the senior David Hinson said. Multiple gifts from area merchants were presented the family, including diapers, a silver spoon, free ambulance service on the ride home from the hospital, an engraved piggy bank, 10 quarts of milk, a pair of shoes, a $5 savings account, a free lubrication job for the family car, a hi-chair pad, a car wash, a free suit cleaning and more.
1961: Winners of Melrose’s Christmas lighting contest had included Glenn Hutton, O.J. Awtrey and Walt Eastland. The contest had been judged by “uninterested persons visiting in Melrose during the holiday season,” Mrs. Cleo Widner reported in the Melrose Notes newspaper column.
1962: The January white goods sale at Sears featured "quality cotton muslin" Harmony House white sheets for $1.47. "So white, firm and long-lasting with 134 threads per square inch after washing & won't shrink over 1 percent," according to a paid advertisement.
1962: Steed Funeral Home, in a promotional ad, told us: "A fish wouldn't get hooked if he knew when to keep his mouth shut."
1963: Dink Essary was elected chairman of the Roosevelt County Commission. Essary joined J.T. Fleming and Stanley Good as new members of the commission, which took its oath of office on the holiday.
1963: Burglars “peeled” the safe at Clovis’ Kenner Drug, getting away with somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000. Police said the store at 14th and Main was entered through the front door and the safe was opened inside the building. The burglary was discovered at 6 p.m. though it wasn’t clear when it occurred.
1966: Clovis’ first baby of the new year weighed in at 6 pounds and 2 ounces. The unnamed baby was the first for Frank and Mary Louise Green, who had lived in Clovis two years. Frank Green was a porter at a Clovis hotel, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1966: A Clovis teen was killed in a traffic accident near Portales. Richard Gault, 19, of 515 Wallace, was struck while walking in the middle of a traffic lane on U.S. 70 about seven miles northeast of Portales, police said. The driver of the vehicle was not injured and police said he would not face any criminal charges.
1966: The Clovis Kiwanis Club was preparing to install officers and directors for the new year. T.E. Willmon Jr. was slated to become the new president at an installation banquet to be hosted by the Silver Grill restaurant.
1967: Denver police had arrested a man who had escaped from the Tucumcari city jail more than a month earlier. Albert Garcia escaped by using a smuggled hacksaw blade to cut a hole through steel mesh covering a skylight. He squeezed through the opening and slid down a utility pole to freedom, United Press International reported. An anonymous telephone tip led to his arrest in Denver.
1970: The Clovis News-Journal applauded its 80 newspaper carriers with a “hearty well done” for their recent performance. “Even the recent snow that slowed and hampered the delivery of the News-Journal did not succeed in stopping a single boy from making his rounds in the city of Clovis,” the newspaper reported. The short story included a photo of brothers Elton and Robert Wells, standing shoulder deep in a snow drift.
1971: Clovis News-Journal reporter Imogene Baumgart wrote that New Year’s resolutions are better made in the fall. “Who could quit smoking with those gloomy January days staring you in the face? Why, a cigarette is the only thing between you and the funny farm after two weeks of no sun,” she wrote. “New Year’s resolutions should be made in the fall, when you have the kids off to school, you’re fresh from vacation, and you haven’t just Merry Christmased the family into bankruptcy.”
1976: Ilya Marissa Uribe was due on New Year’s eve, but decided to wait and become the first baby born in Clovis in 1976. She arrived at 3:38 a.m., weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Her parents, Airman Robert and Noemi Uribe, lived at 609 Lea Street.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact:
Do you have a question?
A comment you'd like to see published?
Or maybe a story idea for a future edition?
— Please email the publisher: [email protected]
