Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago — Aug. 13, 2015

The Lions Club Mini Park project has hit a standstill after City workers started removing concrete from the old park at the stoplight on Aug. 3 and the brick wall along Scheunemann’s Department Store began to crack. Fortunately the wall is just a brick veneer and is not structurally necessary.

HUB International, a leading global insurance brokerage, announced last week that it has acquired BW Insurance Agency Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of the West. In Holyoke, Colorado BW Insurance employees Peggy Rafert and Keith Pocock will remain in their existing location at 125 S. Baxter Ave.

With a couple of months under her belt as Holyoke’s code enforcement officer, Amber Marcum is eager to educate the community and assist in compliance with city codes and ordinances.

In a study done by financial technology company SmartAsset, Phillips County gave other U.S. counties a run for their money, earning a ranking of No. 1 in Colorado for counties where Social Security goes the furthest and No. 5 for places with the most incoming investments. Additionally, Phillips County ranked in the top 100 counties nationwide, coming in at No. 86 in the Social Security study.

Ten Years Ago — Aug. 12, 2010

Electronic medical records have now been implemented at Family Practice of Holyoke. As of Aug. 10, staff will now enter patient information on laptops instead of keeping paper charts on hand.

There’s a new face in Holyoke and at Phillips County Family Education Services. Trisha Herman, formerly of Yuma, started the position of executive director on Aug. 2.

Colorado Bombers brought home the 2010 Nebraska baseball Class B championship at the state tournament after an 8-2 victory over Chadron, Nebraska, in Sidney, Nebraska, on Aug. 8.

Twenty-Five Years Ago — Aug. 17, 1995

Harvey Hicks and his family recently moved to Holyoke from Pierre, South Dakota, so Hicks could begin his duties as new operations manager at D&D Farms. Hicks is not exactly replacing anyone at D&D. Instead, the change was part of some restructuring.

Announcement was made last week that Lenny Adams has been named manager of National Insurance Agency Inc. of Holyoke. National Insurance Agency is located in Community First National Bank at 125 S. Baxter Ave.

Howard Hunter started a new business venture in July involving the sales, installation and service of Sun Tunnel. The skylight’s rounded dome’s surface allows light in from all angles, bounces it past mirrored-finish stainless steel rings, through the reflective tube and finally to the diffuser, where it bursts across the room below.

Fifty Years Ago — Aug. 13, 1970

Border League All-Stars defeated Ent Air Force Base from Colorado Springs 4-2 in their first game and 6-4 in the second game to be declared state champions at the tournament held in Burlington Aug. 7-9. The group left last Tuesday morning for Russell, Kansas, where they played an exhibition game before going on to Booneville, Missouri, for the regional playoffs starting today.

Superintendent John Pierce has announced that the Venango, Nebraska, school will start Aug. 31 for a half day and no lunch will be served. Tentative enrollment for kindergarten is 12, elementary grades 95, and high school 33.

Seventy-Five Years Ago — Aug. 16, 1945

A 2 o’clock program was held at the courthouse grounds here Wednesday, as had been planned, following the official declaration of V-J Day at Washington. Shortly after 5 o’clock Tuesday, President Truman announced that the Japanese had accepted the terms of the Potsdam ultimatum and that the end of the war had come. The Holyoke siren sounded, and stores began preparing to close for a holiday all day Wednesday.

Two men who gave their names as Calvin Kirk and Gerland Barnes of Vanita, Oklahoma, confessed to stealing wheat in Phillips County and in Perkins County, Nebraska, recently when Marshal Willard Bolen and Sheriff H.M. Clements arrested them after an exciting chase.

This year’s wheat crop in Colorado is the best crop ever produced in the history of the state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has released figures giving the total production of 1945 as 30,840,000 bushels, compared to the 1943 crop which was the best previous wheat year when 29,381,000 bushels were produced. This year’s average acre yield is given as 24 bushels, compared to a 10-year average of 14.9 bushels per acre, L.L. Yowell, manager of the Holyoke Cooperative Association, stated today.