Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago
Nov. 3, 2016

For the first time ever, Double W Farm Dairy of Holyoke can boast a champion cow. The dairy farm entered 3-year-old Brown Swiss cow and overall champion Double Star Carnation at the Heart of America Brown Swiss Show in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Oct. 22. It is the only national show featuring exclusively Brown Swiss cows.

With the recent creation of the Golden Plains district, or hub, of the Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology Robotics organization, Holyoke Robotics Club had the chance for its first competition Saturday, Oct. 29, at NJC in Sterling.

Recent renovation and expansion at Melissa Memorial Hospital is being put to good use as, for the first time ever, MMH will host its annual health fair on site Saturday, Nov. 5.

Ten Years Ago
Nov. 3, 2011

A balloon that was spotted flying over Holyoke on Oct. 3 has been identified as a helium-inflated gas balloon competing in America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race. The Lady Britannia flew 974 miles in 71 hours and 31 minutes from New Mexico to North Dakota for a first-place win in the annual race.

Phillips County Extension held a haunted house in the Boy Scout building at the Phillips County Fairgrounds Oct. 29-31.

Vets Club Inc. has assumed the management role of Holyoke Vets Club, as of Nov. 1. Prior to this, Vets Club Inc., which is the governing board for Holyoke Vets Club, has hired management while maintaining oversight review.

Twenty-Five Years Ago
Nov. 7, 1996

Holyoke Police Department and Phillips County Sheriff’s Office will each receive a new Polaroid Spectra camera to help record physical injuries to victims of domestic violence.

With the new incinerator at the Phillips County Landfill nearly complete, the county commissioners are getting ready to start it up. However, there is a concern that once the incinerator is up and running, the level of hydrochloric acid emissions will be too high to meet state standards.

City of Holyoke officials have requested permission for the city to relocate its current water well to a new site. The request came at a public hearing before the Frenchman Ground Water Management District Board of Directors on Nov. 4. The board is expected to issue a written recommendation about the water well before Nov. 15.

Fifty Years Ago
Nov. 4, 1971

The Holyoke Lions Club will hold a white elephant sale Nov. 6 in the former Zeiler Creamery building. Purpose of the sale is to raise funds to pay for the building the Lions Club has purchased for club rooms. The club purchased the building formerly housing Zeiler Creamery from the Evans estate.

A fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous has been formed in Holyoke for the purpose of helping the person with a drinking problem that he or she cannot control alone.

Seventy-Five Years Ago
Nov. 7, 1946

Fred R. Peterson, owner and operator of the Clover Blossom Creamery, Monday announced that he had transferred the business to Mr. L.A. Biddle, who has been raising Brown Swiss cattle here since 1938 and has operated a milk route in Holyoke since last February. Mr. Peterson operated the creamery when it was owned by F.M. Smith and son. He leased the creamery from them in 1931 and purchased it in 1936.

Holyoke and surrounding territory received its first heavy snowfall of the winter season when snow started to fall early Saturday evening and continued until early Sunday morning. There was an estimated 4 inches of snow in Saturday’s storm. Another snow was received on Tuesday in the amount of an estimated 2 inches. The heavy snow of Wednesday was estimated at between 8 and 9 inches. The estimated snowfall for the entire storm was between 14 and 15 inches, with the total precipitation reaching 1.47 inches.

Due to the acute shortage of meat, women have been unable to save and turn in fats to the extent they had during previous months, but with the lifting of price ceilings, fat salvage collection should surpass those of recent months. According to the American Fat Salvage Committee, housewives, since the start of the program four years ago, have been responsible for the recovery of more than five hundred million pounds of fat.