Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago

July 13, 2017

On July 8, Garrett Stephenson, age 33, was involved in an altercation at his residence in Holyoke that ultimately resulted in his death. The alleged shooter, 33-year-old John McMartin, Stephenson’s roommate, is being held in the Logan County Detention Center in Sterling.

HHS senior Mariah Pell was one of only five Coloradans among thousands of high school students attending the Congress of Future Medical Physicians at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, Massachusetts, June 25-27.

Learning all sorts of skills from the past and for the future, about 25 Phillips County 4-H members are taking part in this year’s 4-H & More Summer Camp July 10-15 at Phillips County Event Center, Phillips County Museum and Camp Machasay.

Ten Years Ago

July 12, 2012

Shopko Stores announced this week that they will be closing the Pamida Pharmacy located at 118 S. Interocean Ave. in Holyoke, effective at 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 20. Abts Pharmacy will close and remodel the current pharmacy building in Holyoke.

Phillips County commissioners invite the community to an old-fashioned day at Homesteaders Park on July 15. A ribbon-cutting and dedication of the universally accessible playground will be the highlight of the day, but many more activities are also planned.

The community of Lamar, Nebraska, will celebrate its 125th anniversary, or quasquicentennial, on July 15.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

July 17, 1997

Tricia King, formerly of Hastings, Nebraska, is one of the newest additions to the Holyoke and Amherst communities. She recently accepted the position of county executive director at the Farm Services Agency office in Holyoke and is living in Amherst.

The Colorado Wildlife Commission has prohibited contests that award prizes to the person who kills the most animals. In a unanimous decision July 10, the commission voted to forbid contests such as recent events in eastern and western Colorado where prizes were offered to whomever could kill the most coyotes or prairie dogs. Contests may only be held if there is already an existing bag limit set by the commission.

An update on the new prison facility in Sterling will be the highlight of the upcoming chamber of commerce meeting on July 22. A.J. Rose of the Department of Corrections will be making a presentation about the effects of the prison on Holyoke and northeast Colorado.

For the first time in July, temperatures climbed up into the 90-degree range on July 10 and July 12.

Fifty Years Ago

July 13, 1972

The large fireplace that dominates the lobby of the Burge Hotel in Holyoke that was dedicated in 1929 to the Knights of the Grip is featured in the July-August issue of Hoofs and Horns magazine. This historical fireplace stands as a lasting memorial to Mr. and Mrs. P.F. Burge, who spent two years collecting the objects which were fitted together by a master mason to form a work of art.

During the recent Colorado district assembly of the Church of the Nazarene at Lakewood, the Holyoke Church of the Nazarene received the Outstanding Small Church Merit Award. This award is made each year to the church in the district with 50 members or less that has accomplished outstanding achievements in the church year.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

July 17, 1947

Earlene F. Jung of Amherst has been appointed by the board of county commissioners as county superintendent of schools of Phillips County, to replace Gladys Hofmeister, who had resigned her position as superintendent to accept an appointment as director of the Phillips County Department of Public Welfare.

Nash Motors this week has trained its spotlight on Holyoke to award the highest honor it can bestow on a dealer to Charles F. Brown, owner of the Brown Nash Company. Brown was presented with a plaque as the first dealer in this area to qualify under the rigid requirements of Nash Motors’ 10-Point Dealer Program.

The Holyoke fire department has completed plans for the fighting of rural fires during the coming harvest season. The members of the department have divided into six crews of five men each, and each crew will be on duty approximately two and a half days each week during the harvest. Morning crews will be on duty from 8 a.m.-1 p.m., and the afternoon crews from 1-6 p.m. With this arrangement, there will be five men on duty at the fire station every day for the duration of the harvest.