Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago
Nov. 13, 2014

Following up on some unfinished business at its Nov. 4 meeting, Holyoke City Council unanimously agreed to have City Attorney Al Wall draft an ordinance to allow wine tastings to occur in Holyoke.

As of this month, Dan Kafka has taken over the role of minister at Church of Christ in Holyoke. Former minister Bill Bryan, who lives in Imperial, Nebraska, had been working with the churches in both Holyoke and Imperial and will now be focusing his attention on the Imperial community.

Paoli Mayor Virgil Harms announced they received a state Energy & Mineral Impact Assistance grant for $103,311 from the Department of Local Affairs to build a new town hall.

Nick Colglazier, a 1999 Holyoke High School graduate, was recently selected as a McCloy Fellowship Program representative and traveled to Germany to meet and work with members of the German Farmers’ Association.

Ten Years Ago
Nov. 12, 2009

Holyoke Alternative High School, currently located at 430 E. Denver St., will relocate to the northeast corner of Holyoke High School by Nov. 30.

Last fall, work began on an old Quonset at Camp Machasay, 12 miles northeast of Holyoke. After a couple of months of cleaning and clearing things out of the shed, work began on renovating and building the inside. The new gym now offers a variety of games and activities inside, along with the Tradin’ Post and coffee shop and a couple offices.

Former Holyoke resident Angela (Conde) Purdy and her two children, Heidi and Noah, recently received word that they will be the recipients of a new Habitat for Humanity house in Berthoud.

HHS seniors Marissa Smith and Ryan Baumgartner were recently announced as being Wendy’s High School Heisman finalists in 2009. Smith was also chosen as one of the top 10 female finalists in Colorado.

Twenty-Five Years Ago
Nov. 17, 1994

Elaine McCallum recently received the American FFA Degree, the highest degree awarded by the National FFA Organization. She was one of 1,455 members who received the degree at the 67th National FFA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, Nov. 10-12.

Photojournalist Michael Lewis will be in Holyoke at The Book Stop on Nov. 20 to sign copies of his new book, “Colorado’s Centennial Farms & Ranches: A Century of Seasons.”

Fifty Years Ago
Nov. 13, 1969

Sunny and warmer weather returned to the Holyoke area over last weekend, and by Monday growers were able to do some limited digging after a 10-day delay because of muddy fields. Beets have also received damage from freezing temperatures over the past two weeks.

A meeting that is vitally important to the people of School District Re-1J will be held Nov. 21 at the high school gym. A report will be given by Dr. Arthur Partrige, director of educational planning service, Colorado State College, Greeley. The report will be based on the work that has been done to date on a study devoted to an analysis of the physical facilities for student instruction at Holyoke High School, to provide citizens with sound information as to the need of improving the present high school facilities.

Dan Gracey, junior Dragon end, has been named top pass receiver in the Northeastern League, with 42 passes caught for a total of 686 yards gained.

Water levels in the northern High Plains of Colorado have declined as much as 15 feet since 1954, according to a report released by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Seventy-Five Years Ago
Nov. 16, 1944

Anthony Ohl has accepted the position of agent for the Sinclair Refining Company’s bulk plant for the Holyoke territory. Since the resignation of Walter Sprick and his accepting a similar position at Julesburg last spring, there has not been a bulk plant man in charge here. Mr. Ohl, until quite recently, has been engaged in the livestock auction business here.

The burning of turkey feathers is probably a necessary practice at the local dressing plant, but residents of Holyoke wonder why the burning needs to be done when the breeze is from the north or northwest. We do get a lot of southerly winds here and do most heartily recommend that feather-burning be done on such occasions.