Claus Fredrick Johnson is pictured in the early 1920s. Born in Sweden in 1862, he came to the U.S. in 1877, living in Red Oak, Iowa, until adulthood. Traveling to Colorado, he homesteaded a tree claim 3 miles southwest of Paoli. In 1910 he moved to land 1 mile east of Haxtun, and he farmed there until he retired. He was a resident of the community for 72 years and helped build the railroad through Haxtun. According to his 1955 obituary, there were many times when, due to the lack of roads in his early days in Phillips County, he walked across the prairie to Julesburg or Sterling for supplies. — Source: Phillips County Museum
Peekin’ into the past
Five Years Ago
Dec. 24, 2015
HPD officer Joe Marcum presented a sales agreement from Revize, an agency specializing in government website creation, at the Dec. 15 Holyoke City Council meeting. Revize will give the city its own domain name server and will set up the site and “.gov” email addresses for city employees. The city’s new website will be cityofholyoke-co.gov.
John J. Paloucek. O.D., has announced he has decided to close Holyoke Eyecare, effective Dec. 31.
HHS senior Dani Brandt earned a spot in the Dec. 19 Coaches Invite at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton. It’s been close to 15 years since HHS had a swimmer compete in the Coaches Invite, in which qualifying times are required.
Ten Years Ago
Dec. 23, 2010
JR/SR high math teacher Lynette Hudiburgh showed sample lessons from an algebra class in a demonstration of Promethean board usage at the Dec. 14 Holyoke school board meeting. Currently the district has 14 Promethean boards, thanks to a Morgridge Family Foundation grant.
Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department, Amherst Volunteer Fire Department, Phillips County Sheriff’s Office and Holyoke EMS all responded to a 2 a.m. fire that burned Dan and Shonna Kafka’s four-car garage to the ground and damaged a nearby barn 5 miles southwest of Holyoke on Dec. 16.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
Dec. 28, 1995
Todd and Danette (Reuter) Keener, co-owners of Stonehenge, a 4-year-old network consulting firm that diversified to become an internet service provider in March, are expanding their business venture to provide internet services in the Holyoke area.
Citizens’ suspicions were aired Dec. 21 at a special meeting called by Holyoke City Council to consider passing an emergency ordinance. Discussions were often heated as many of the 15 visitors at the special meeting shared their concerns. All the fuss was about a proposed amendment having to do with Holyoke Housing Authority. When all was said and done, the five council members voted to table the topic until the Jan. 3 regular meeting.
Articles of Incorporation for the Re-1J Foundation Inc. have been submitted to the state for approval, reported Brad Brackhan at the Dec. 19 meeting of the Holyoke School District Re-1J Board of Education. When established, the Re-1J Foundation will be a nonprofit community organization whose purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.
As 1995 closes, Marvin O. “Bud” Colver is officially retiring from his insurance agent position after 37 1/2 years at the State Farm Insurance Company.
Services of an optometrist and two ophthalmologists are expected to be available in Holyoke by mid-January. The doctors will be working out of the former KN Energy office at 116 N. Interocean Ave. in a joint venture with Melissa Memorial Hospital.
Fifty Years Ago
Dec. 24, 1970
Retail sales in Phillips, Yuma and Sedgwick counties during the third quarter of 1970 were higher than during the same period of 1969, according to a report by the University of Colorado Business Research Division. Phillips County led the other two counties with an increase of 18.1% on total sales of $5,232,000. Holyoke retail sales increased 9.8% over the third quarter of 1969 with total sales of $2,983,000.
Jan Johnson was named Miss Holyoke High School of 1970-71 last Tuesday night at the annual Snowball Dance, given by the high school pep club, in the grade school gym.
Seventy-Five Years Ago
Dec. 27, 1945
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Geary have sold their cleaning business to Karl E. Asp of Sterling, who will take possession about the first of January. Mr. and Mrs. Geary have engaged in the cleaning business about 14 months, having purchased it from the Cochrans, who later bought property and opened another cleaning shop here, the equipment of which was recently sold and moved away.
The deficiency appropriation measure, which was being prepared in committee of Congress at Washington when the item of $550,000 for the highline extension from Brush to Holyoke was struck from the bill, has been reconsidered. According to a telegram received by Manager Joe Curtis of the Highline Electric Association here, the item for the highline extension was restored to the bill.
The car of F.E. Clayton of Holyoke disappeared over a week ago from the place he had parked it in the business district after 8:00 in the morning. The theft was reported and shortly afterward two boys, 13 and 14 years of age, were apprehended in Longmont. Sheriff H.L. Clements brought the boys here to face charges of car stealing, and Mr. Clayton brought his car back but had an accident which damaged the machine while making the trip. The boys confessed they had stolen a car at Scottsbluff, Nebraska, drove it to Grant, Nebraska, where they left it and took another car which they drove here.
In the death of General George S. Patton, our Army has lost a man who probably did as much toward winning the war in Europe as any general with a fighting command. He was laid to rest Monday in Luxembourg beside the men who died fighting with him. A traffic accident prevented him from living to enjoy a peacetime Christmas after the great war.