Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago — Sept. 3, 2015

Holyoke looks forward to hosting close to 1,000 bike riders and their family and friends who travel with them in the first of two overnight stops in the Sept. 18-20 Pedal the Plains Bicycle Tour in northeast Colorado.

With a strong membership count at 134, Holyoke Chamber of Commerce is experiencing more members and more involvement than ever in the history of the local nonprofit organization.

A new Emergency Management Board for Phillips County was created by county commissioners to support efforts during an emergency, as explained in a resolution at their Aug. 31 end-of-month meeting.

Ten Years Ago — Sept. 2, 2010

Several Amitie schoolmates got together at Regent Park and Carriage House on Aug. 26 to reminisce and share memories about the old country schoolhouse southeast of Holyoke.

A collection 40 years in the making recently found a new home at the Phillips County Museum. Dozens of select pieces from Milton and Leona Oltjenbruns’ Depression glass collection are now on display at the museum.

The first annual Holyoke Wrestling Club mouse races will be held Sept. 4 at Phillips County Event Center.

Twenty-Five Years Ago — Sept. 7, 1995

Every fire department in the area was out Friday night, Sept. 1, as lightning strikes started numerous blazes across the prairie south of Holyoke. Damage was reported in so many places that no one is certain how many fires there were or how many acres actually burned.

Vickie Bowen, who is filling the new position of counselor at the elementary school, recently explained her role in order to raise public awareness about services she plans to offer.

A meeting to acquaint the community with hospice and to enlist the aid of volunteers and others interested in hospice will be held Sept. 18 at the house which will be used for hospice and respite care located at 440 S. Interocean Ave.

Fifty Years Ago — Sept. 3, 1970

Four straight days last week, the temperature passed the 100-degree mark, with a high of 103 last Saturday.

Classes started last Monday in the Holyoke schools with a total enrollment of 687 students, compared to the 1969 enrollment of 672 students.

The 56-man Dragon football squad has been hitting it hard for the past 10 days and is ready for the annual soap game on the local gridiron tomorrow. Everyone is urged to turn out for the intersquad game. The admission will be a bar of soap to be used by the players in the shower room.

Seventy-Five Years Ago — Sept. 6, 1945

The United States Navy’s mighty 45,000-ton battleship, the USS Missouri, ended her World War II career in a blaze of glory Aug. 31, 1945, in Tokyo Bay. She served as the scene of the historic unconditional surrender of Japan to the United Nations.

Enrollment in the Phillips County High School for the fall semester, which opened Monday, totaled 180 students, including one graduate student. Wilbur Hargreaves is the graduate student. He finished with the class of 1945 but returned for post-graduate studies. The Holyoke Grade School enrolled 192 pupils this week.

The American Fat Salvage Committee was given an official government mandate today to accelerate the collection of used cooking fat to offset the most serious fats and oils shortage in this country’s history.

Congressman J. Edgar Chenoweth says that Selective Service will soon end. He says there is no need for it any longer now that the war is over.