The Holyoke Rural Fire Protection Association was formed Dec. 4, 1940, financed by a few farmers in the Amherst, Holyoke and Paoli areas. A 1941 one-and-one-half-ton Dodge truck was purchased in March 1941 and was equipped with a pump and a 400-gallon water tank to serve the rural areas. Pictured with the Holyoke rural fire truck in front of the Holyoke Fire Department in the 100 block of North Baxter Avenue are Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department members Cody Patrick, Clinton Kinch, Walter Lutze, Francis Flanagan and Clarence Smith. — source: Phillips County Museum
Peekin’ into the past
Five Years Ago
Aug. 22, 2013
Holyoke Lions Club is taking the next step in a couple improvements at the Lions Club Fishin’ Hole east of Holyoke. They’ve lowered a wire cage full of barley straw to help with the accumulation of blue-green algae, and they are currently looking for ways to fill in the fishing pond under the platform after strong winds blew away much of the dirt in the April 8 storm.
The Venango Community Church in Nebraska will be celebrating its 125th anniversary on Aug. 25.
House Bill 13-1135 went into effect Aug. 7, which allows every person who has reached 16 years of age to preregister to vote and update voter information, as long as they meet all Colorado registration regulations.
Ten Years Ago
Aug. 21, 2008
Holyoke City Council members proposed a 1 percent sales/use tax increase at a special meeting held Aug. 12. If passed, the increased city sales tax added to the unchanged county and state taxes will bring the sales tax total in Holyoke to 6.4 percent.
Judy McFadden, director of Phillips County Department of Social Services, and Nicki Johnson, executive director of the nonprofit organization Help for Abused Partners, have made a commitment to make on-site help available in Phillips County, with McFadden obtaining a contract with the county commissioners to begin a weekly program in Holyoke led by Johnson.
Gathering community input for a comprehensive health care reform package, U.S. Senator Ken Salazar spoke to a crowd of close to 25 at Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke on Aug. 13.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
Aug. 26, 1993
Disagreeing with the county commissioners’ proposed approach to reorganize the communications center, Holyoke City Council will not be going along with that plan as presented. Phillips County commissioners Jay Dean Krueger and Jack Kennedy were at the Aug. 17 Holyoke City Council meeting to discuss the reorganization plan with the council.
Accumulating the most points in the “High Plains 5 Series” PRCA Rodeo circuit this summer, Holyoke’s Mike Miller was presented with a championship saddle at the recent Logan County Fair.
Dashabout Shuttle Service owner Lea Holtorf of Akron addressed the Holyoke City Council Aug. 17 to ask for the city’s assistance in obtaining funding to expand her area transportation service. Dashabout is a private for-profit business that provides transportation to Denver and Greeley, with some shuttles continuing into Fort Collins, Boulder and Summit County, and Holtorf wants to expand the local Dashabout schedule for Holyoke and Haxtun from the current once-a-week stop to seven days a week.
Fifty Years Ago
Aug. 22, 1968
The office of the School District Re-1J superintendent has been moved from the high school building to a mobile unit pending construction of a new superintendent’s office. The temporary unit is situated between the old dormitory, Posegate Hall, and the south side of the high school building. A new office is to be constructed during the ensuing school year by members of the vocational carpentry class.
Phillips County, on the edge of a major rainstorm, received relatively little rain last Wednesday, while Sterling and other parts of Logan County reported one of the heaviest rainfalls in that area’s history. As much as 9 inches of rain or more reportedly fell in areas north of Sterling, disrupting highway travel, flooding stores and homes, washing out bridges and causing heavy damage to crops.
Seventy-Five Years Ago
Aug. 26, 1943
J.G. Scholl, for the past eight years Ford dealer in Holyoke, last weekend sold his Ford parts and parts bins to Garnsey & Wheeler of Greeley and concluded his agency as a Ford dealer. Scholl will continue to wholesale and retail gas, oils and similar products and only sold out the Ford business due to the fact that there were no autos for sale and no competent help available to take care of the repair work.
A “queen” contest has been added to the list of features to be held during the Phillips County Fair, the dates of which are Sept. 8-10. Voting places will be Holyoke stores, one vote to be made for your favorite with each merchandise purchase. To date, 11 girls have consented to run for queen.