The H.L. and Harriet Carpenter family are pictured in front of their sod house about 7 miles southeast of Holyoke. Hannibal L. and Harriet (Kitchel) met in Nebraska and were married in 1887. They came to Phillips County to homestead in 1893 with three daughters: Ada, Dora and Elnora. Seven more children were born in the sod house for a total of seven girls and three boys. H.L. went to Brush every fall with some of his neighbors to obtain food supplies for the winter. The homestead was sold around 1910, and the family rented a place west of Amherst. They then bought land between Paoli and Haxtun and lived there until H.L. retired, at which point they moved to Holyoke about 1920 and lived at 506 S. Belford Ave. — Source: Phillips County Museum
Peekin' into the Past
Five Years Ago — Feb. 11, 2016
Thursday, Feb. 4, Colorado remembered Kelsie Schelling. The 21-year-old Haxtun High School graduate who grew up in Holyoke disappeared on that date three years ago. The General Assembly named Feb. 4 Missing Persons Day to remind Colorado that Schelling and 300 more like her are missing and that their families want closure.
Holyoke Lions Club Fishin’ Hole was featured in an article in the February 2016 “LION,” a magazine of Lions Club International. “Clever, crafty and anything but conventional” is an article written by Jay Copp about how clubs get creative in serving their communities.
Lori McWilliams, Regan Van Overbeke, Dani Brandt and Emily Krogmeier have qualified for the 4A state swimming championships Feb. 12-13 in the 200-yard medley relay.
Ten Years Ago — Feb. 10, 2011
Tracy Trumper is officially the new CSU area Extension agent for family and consumer sciences and community development for the Golden Plains Area. Excited to be in this new role, Trumper said she will dabble in everything, but her main focus will be on health, fitness and nutrition.
Austin Killin and Preston King are the co-hosts of “Wake Up Holyoke,” which airs every Thursday morning on public television channel 13, as part of Cindi Beavers’ TV Productions class. The HHS seniors have been sitting down with local people every Thursday morning for the past few months and interviewing them — late-night talk show style.
Local barbershop quartet Equally Delinquent performed the national anthem for the opening of the Senate session at the state Capitol building on Feb. 4. The quartet, comprised of Dan Kafka of Holyoke, Maury Kramer of Amherst, Chris Garcia of Sterling and Steve Schwartzkopf of Ogallala, Nebraska, was invited to sing by Senator Greg Brophy.
Phillips County Family Education Services, Social Services, Economic Development, Rural Solutions and Eastern Region Workforce Center are partnering to launch the brand-new Holyoke Job Club next month. A series of six workshops will teach participants about job searching strategies, interviewing skills and other essential resources for landing a good job.
HHS junior Mark Edmonds picked up his 100th career win in high school wrestling at the Eaton dual meet tournament on Feb. 5.
Twenty-Five Years Ago — Feb. 15, 1996
Jean Capra has officially started as the new Golden Plains Recreation Center director, the first the organization has ever had, in the former chamber of commerce office at 135 W. Denver St. Her official title is “youth activity director,” and she is to provide recreation, social and mental activities for youth and their families.
Pages and pages of requirements for running a dog pound are creating a dilemma for Holyoke’s city council. At the Feb. 6 regular meeting, members discussed options for what seemed to be a no-win situation.
A plan for hospice care in Holyoke is being developed through Melissa Memorial Hospital. A community meeting has been scheduled for Feb. 28.
Julie (Kramer) Tonsing was named “Newspaper Person of the Year” at the Colorado Press Association annual convention in Denver last weekend. A 1981 graduate of Holyoke High School, Tonsing serves as business manager for the Sterling Journal-Advocate.
Holyoke High School will sport eight contenders at the 2A state wrestling tournament. Dragon qualifiers include senior Mark Sperber; juniors Anthony Conde and Bernardino Cano; sophomores Dustin Reuter, Luke Hayes and Tyler Chappell; and freshmen Justin Newman and Curt Schroetlin.
Fifty Years Ago — Feb. 11, 1971
Dr. Frank E. Roark and his staff have moved into new offices in the medical clinic on the east side of the hospital. The building was built by the Heginbotham Trust.
Merle Schauland, Randy Radtke and Ken Vasa will compete in the Colorado state wrestling tournament in Aurora today.
An era ends in February when production of Linotype machines ceases in the United States. The development of computer-directed photographic and electronic printing equipment has led to fewer orders for the machine that once revolutionized printing.
Plans are being made to organize a community choir in Holyoke in time to present an Easter cantata, according to Gary Nickell, music instructor in the Holyoke schools.
Seventy-Five Years Ago — Feb. 14, 1946
An egg, 9 1/2 inches around the long way and 8 1/4 inches in the middle circumference, was brought to the Enterprise office Monday by Henry F. Schmidt of the Wages community. He said the egg was from either a white leghorn or white rock hen. The texture of the shell is much like a leghorn egg, but the shape is too nearly round for a typical hen’s egg. What an omelet it would make. Upon weighing the egg, nearly 8 ounces or a half pound was recorded. It’s certainly “some egg.” Another egg brought to the office this week is the smallest hen’s egg we have ever seen. See ’em in our window.
Readers of The Denver Post may wonder whether or not the change of publishers will cause a change in news content and general news policy of the big Denver newspaper. William C. Shepherd steps out of the Post’s management, and Palmer Hoyt steps into his place. The Post, known as an extremely sensational type of newspaper, may be in for a change — a change for the better, we hope.