Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago
July 5, 2012
    Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to acquire land near the courthouse, Phillips County purchased Scormor Lanes, reported commissioners at their June 29 meeting. They may use the property for storage but are also thinking about creating more parking spaces for county vehicles.
    More than 600 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in Colorado this year. The Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, considered the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, has damaged or destroyed about 346 homes and is only 15 percent contained. The High Park Fire, which began June 9, was fully contained July 2 and is the second most destructive fire in Colorado history, destroying nearly 257 homes.
    Abigail Christman, survey coordinator for Center of Preservation and Research at University of Colorado Denver, is being assisted by two students with local ties in surveying homes and buildings for the Colorado Rural Preservation Education Project in Phillips County.
    Holyoke High School baseball player Deyten Klein recently returned from Baseball Factory’s Omaha National World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, June 22-27.
     Gano Cafe officially opened its doors for business July 2 at 125 1/2 N. Campbell Ave. Dalia Ortiz,  Carmen Ramirez and Ricky Quintana formed a partnership to provide the cafe under the parent company Gano Excel International, which provides products enriched with Ganoderma lucidum, a Chinese herb suggested to improve one’s well-being through its antioxidants and phytonutrients.
    
Ten Years Ago
July 5, 2007
    David Nygaard was officially sworn in as the new mayor of the City of Holyoke June 29. He fills the vacancy left after the death of Mayor Roberta Tonsing.
    Susan Ortner officially took over the Holyoke JR/SR High School principal position July 2.
    After two years with Jeffers-Baucke Funeral Home in Holyoke, Darwin Jeffers has opted to retire from the funeral business. Jeffers joined Dan Baucke at the funeral home in August 2005 when he took over as director of the business. The funeral home will now be known again as Baucke Funeral Home.
    Danny Vernon was “given the world” in Orlando, Florida, when he and his family were presented an all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World June 15-18 from Ginny’s Kids, an organization helping families with illnesses to create memories together.
    
Twenty-Five Years Ago
July 9, 1992
    A new style of license plate became available July 1. The current red, white and blue designer plate will be replaced by one called “Colorado Denim.” This new plate still has the mountains across the top, but it has a blue background that is shaded from light to dark from top to bottom.
    Colorado Exposition Skydivers Roger Koberstein and Scott Chew presented the U.S. flag to start off each night of the USA Motor Spectacular last weekend and also gave a demonstration Saturday night.
    Robb’s Appliance & Air will soon be moving from the Holyoke Home Improvement building at 128 S. Interocean Ave. into the building which recently housed the Banner 5-10 store at 118 N. Interocean Ave.
    
Fifty Years Ago
July 6, 1967
    Phillips County’s wheat harvest, which usually is in progress by the first week in July, will be considerably later this year. The weather will be a big factor, but even with ideal ripening conditions, it is expected to be a week or 10 days before any wheat is harvested in the county.
    Donald M. Gordon, minister of the Christian Church in Palmer, Nebraska, for the past four years, arrived in Holyoke last week with his family and has assumed the ministry of the First Christian Church here.
    Another half inch of rain here on the Fourth increased Holyoke’s total precipitation since April 1 to 12.06 inches. This is a little more than two-thirds our average annual moisture.
    
Seventy-Five Years Ago
July 9, 1942
    An ordinance providing for closing of Holyoke liquor stores at 10 o’clock at night was adopted by the Holyoke town board at its meeting Monday night.
    Stopping in Holyoke Saturday on his annual trip through this territory ahead of the harvest, crop observer A.W. Erickson stated that prospects for an enormous wheat crop were splendid over a huge area. Even in sections where hail had done heavy damage, other areas nearby would have such heavy yields that more wheat would be harvested this year over western Nebraska and eastern Colorado than the crop of last year totaled.
    A field of winter barley on the Clarence Brase farm near Amherst yielded 51-55 bushels per acre when the crop was harvested this week. Aside from this one field, no reports have been received of any harvesting in this section except some rye.
    Cealo Mohawk, known as the human seal and famous for his submarine swimming, will be at the Holyoke municipal swimming pool for eight days and will give instruction in the mornings and exhibitions in diving and swimming in the evenings.