Peekin’ into the past

Five Years Ago
Nov. 8, 2012
     An official groundbreaking ceremony was held Nov. 6 for a new Cobblestone Inn & Suites at the intersection of Highway 385 and Johnson Street in Holyoke. A group of investors is working with Cobblestone to bring the new hotel to Holyoke.
     The new Family Dollar store at 143 W. Denver St. in Holyoke was open for its first day of business on Nov. 1. A grand opening will be held Nov. 17.
     CineMagic, a fundraiser for the Peerless Theatre in Holyoke, was deemed an extreme success Nov. 3. Members of the board of directors for Golden Plains Recreation Center hope to make this an annual event.
    
Ten Years Ago
Nov. 8, 2007
     After a very brief three months in the East Phillips County Hospital District, Dr. Maria Soto will make her departure. According to Melissa Memorial Hospital administrator John Ayoub, it became clear over the past several weeks that there were differing expectations for her services here, and a mutual decision between Dr. Soto and the district was made to transition her out of the physician status in Holyoke.
     Arlan Scholl, a 10-year member of the Holyoke School District Re-1J Board of Education, was recently recognized for his years of service. He was presented a McGuffey Award at a regional meeting of the Colorado Association of School Boards in Sterling on Oct. 30.
    
Twenty-Five Years Ago
Nov. 12, 1992
     Bill and Kristie Pelle have announced that they have purchased the Van the Nut Man business, which is presently established in Rapid City, South Dakota. The business consists of the handling of dried fruits and natural nuts. The Pelles are operating the business from their home and are planning an open house this weekend.
     Former Holyokite Allen Howland, a 1976 graduate of HHS, will be a contestant on “Jeopardy,” the nationally syndicated television game show, later this year.
     A nine-week construction unit at HHS has featured a combined class of Vo-Ag III students and Industrial Arts Construction Fundamentals class members, and the combined class is about to complete the building of four storage sheds. The teachers for both classes, Tom Fey and Ron Grinstead, do a construction unit in their classes and decided to combine the classes to team-teach this project.
    
Fifty Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1967
     Starting Saturday, Nov. 18, and continuing each Saturday for five weeks, Holyoke merchants will give away a total of 60 turkeys in a pre-Christmas promotional event. Fifty-four business houses are cooperating in the program.
     Four inches of snow, the first of consequence this fall, fell across Phillips County last Wednesday night. The storm was followed by the season’s first cold wave, with the mercury dropping to 6 above zero Thursday night.
     The “powder puff” football game that had been scheduled for last Thursday night, pitting girls against girls, was called off because of cold weather. The Dragon-Indian game was played as scheduled Friday night, but barbecue grills were fired up on the sidelines to give the players a little extra heat. The field had been cleared of snow and was in good shape, considering.
    
Seventy-Five Years Ago
Nov. 12, 1942
     Overtaking and passing vehicles without violating the wartime 35 mph speed limit will require skillful handling of the car, and caution should be exercised at all times. The new low speed limit went into effect Oct. 1 through an order of the Office of Defense Transportation and is an important element in the government’s tire replenishment program designed to keep all cars in operation until adequate supplies of synthetic rubber become available.
     The post office department now is starting the most gigantic task in its history — the movement of a deluge of Christmas parcels, cards and letters while maintaining the regular flow of millions of pieces of mail daily to and from our armed forces all over the world. Indications are that the volume of Christmas mail will be the largest on record. The deadline already is past for mailing gifts to Army and Navy personnel overseas with assurance that the parcels will arrive by Christmas.
     Phillips County’s levy for operation of its general government was reduced 0.57 of a mill at the meeting of the board this month when levies were made. Last year the total levy of the county was 10.97 mills, while this year the total is 10.4 mills.