Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1956: The White House Christmas tree was scheduled to make a stop in Clovis prior to heading east, Santa Fe Railway officials said.
The 65-foot spruce cut in the Lincoln National Forest was slated to be shipped via two flat cars.
The tree would be on the cars “considerably west” of the passenger depot, officials said, before being loaded onto a different freight train sometime during the night.
1957: Big news in Elida: Mr. and Mrs. Claud McDowell were driving a new Mercury car, the community was still talking about the recent bonfire pep rally/wiener roast at the high school baseball field, and Johnnie Creighton, who was operating a barber shop in Ruidoso, was in town visiting his friends and parents.
1961: Phillips House of Music at 219 Main in Clovis advertised Wurlitzer pianos, Hammond organs, band instruments and record players.
Promotions include no down payment and no payment due until February.
1961: Lane Pattison, a New Mexico State University student from Claud, had been released from the hospital after a tree fell on him in northern New Mexico. Family members said he was unconscious for several weeks, but could now sit up five or six hours a day. He was recovering at an apartment in Taos.
1962: Terry Stovall, 14, had received the Eagle Scout award, the first Clovis scout to earn the honor in 1962.
A court of honor ceremony was held at Kingswood Methodist Church.
“The Eagle Scout rank is the highest award attainable and only about one percent of Boy Scouts achieve this rank,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
In other scouting news, Chad Lydick and Tom Black had received their “Life” badges.
A minimum of 21 badges were required for reception of the Eagle Scout rank and 10 for “Life” badges, according to the newspaper.
1966: More than 150 farmers had gathered around the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Office in Portales, anticipating signup for a “crop-adjustment” program.
The campers arrived amid rumors there would be more applications than funds available for the program.
Portales police said they expected “little or no trouble,” but confirmed there had been a “slight flare-up” between those camped on the grounds and “late-comers” who said they had been unable to leave the work at their farms to participate in the signup.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Montoya told farmers that effort would be made to provide “more money” if qualified applications exceeded funds available.
About 300 farmers showed up to apply for the federal subsidy program the next day and no problems were reported.
1968: Tickets were on sale for the annual Clovis Chamber of Commerce banquet scheduled Dec. 14 at the Holiday Inn.
Tickets were $6.50 and included admission to the entertainment portion of the evening, in which the Levee Singers were to perform at Marshall Auditorium.
1979: Historic artifacts, along with valuable paintings, jewelry and firearms worth an estimated $280,000 were recovered by police in Clovis and Hobbs.
The items had been reported missing months earlier in Texas by rare books and document dealers.
Items recovered included an anecdote hand-written by Abraham Lincoln, an early printing of the U.S. Constitution and a first edition copy of James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Spy,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Officials said the Lincoln document was valued at $15,000.
A Clovis man was charged with the thefts, but told police he purchased at least some of the items on credit.
1990: Incumbent Roosevelt County Commissioner Herschel Caviness was back in office — by one vote.
After the Nov. 6 election, challenger Garry Dictson appeared to have defeated Caviness by one vote, 573-572.
But the recount showed Caviness won, 574-573.
District Judge Stephen Quinn upheld the recount and declared Caviness the winner.
1990: Clovis welcomed three new glittering “Welcome to Clovis” signs painted by local painter/musician Charlie Hager.
Signs — paid for by a lodgers tax — were located on the Texico highway coming into Clovis from the east, on West Seventh coming into Clovis from the west and on the desolate stretch of U.S. 70 between Elida and Roswell.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
