Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1930: The Mountain States Telephone Co. had released its newest telephone directory for Clovis.
The directory featured 1,055 phone numbers, including 19 Smiths, 18 Joneses, 10 Davises and eight Browns.
Twenty eight businesses started their firm’s name with Clovis.
1957: Sporting crisp crew cuts, two coaches and two players from the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhound football team were photographed as they watched a film preparing them for an upcoming game against Los Angeles State College.
Backfield coach B.B. Lees was manning the projector, while head coach Carl Richardson, graduate assistant Ben Newcomb, and tackle Bruce Chronister looked on.
The film may have paid off because ENMU won the game, 27-0, a few days later, giving it a sixth straight victory for the season.
1960: Longtime Eastern New Mexico University history Prof. D. H. “Tiny” Reed resigned his position amid controversy.
University regents had alleged Reed accepted a paper from a student despite knowing it was plagiarized, and a majority of faculty members had approved a resolution asking for his dismissal.
Reed, who had worked at the university since it opened in 1934, said his voluntary resignation was in the university’s best interest.
He was the last original member of the school’s faculty.
1961: Area high school football scores from the weekend:
Bovina 41, Hart 6
Ruidoso 39, Fort Sumner 14
Olton 12, Muleshoe 8
Kress 26, Farwell 6
1961: A newspaper ad for an unspecified business stated, “I am looking for a particular type of man.”
Qualifications included “He must be married, 30 to 50, bondable, church affiliated, sales experienced ... aggressive, willing to relocate and prepared to start immediately.”
Pay was $1,755 per month.
“This job deals in some of the most unusual material in the world,” the ad read.
1964: What started as a trash fire on the west side of Eastern New Mexico Builders Supply turned into one of the worst fires in Clovis’ history. The lumber yard, at 2410 Prince St., sustained $250,000 to $350,000 in damages.
Clovis Fire Chief Joe Maddox said firefighters had to pump water from three and four blocks away because recently installed fire hydrants had not yet been connected to water lines.
Five fire trucks and 50 firefighters — 30 of them volunteers — battled the flames for more than three hours. In addition to heat, firefighters were “ducking paint cans which exploded and rocketed out of the main building,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Owner Pat Perry said lumber in the yard occupied close to 4,000 square feet and almost all of it was destroyed.
1969: There were three men in her life — one to take her, one to love her and one to kill her. The movie was “Once Upon a Time in the West,” starring Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson. It was showing at 1:40, 4:40 and 7:50 at the State theater, downtown in Clovis.
1972: Cannon Air Force Base was preparing for an open house that would include a simulated helicopter rescue, a dunking booth and an air show starring the Thunderbirds.
1976: Clovis and Curry County officials were debating whether to pass ordinances aimed at curbing the sale of pornographic material.
A new bookstore established outside the city limits had sparked the discussions.
Assistant District Attorney Bill Bonem said he had determined that all material in that bookstore was harmful to minors and had instructed the proprietor not to sell to minors.
Bonem said he’d also been checking Clovis bookstores and found one store had 56 publications that were harmful to minors, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
But City Commissioner Frank Murray said he felt it was not the business of government to tell an adult what to read or not read.
County Commissioner Calvin Stout said: “When you start making laws to prohibit reading something you are infringing on my right. Our freedom is dwindling anyway.”
1982: Shelly Minnis, daughter of Maj. and Mrs. W.G. Minnis of Cannon Air Force Base, was crowned football homecoming queen at Clovis High School during the halftime of a game with Portales at Leon Williams Stadium.
Other queen candidates were Missy Eastham, Shana Smith, and Stephanie Storrie. The homecoming court of honor included Debra Carey, Tracy Lemoine, Lisa Romero, and Koena Snipes.
Today’s students at Clovis Christian Schools might recognize Queen Shelly as their superintendent, Shelly Norris.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
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