Peekin' into the Past

Five Years Ago

June 15, 2017

Rudy’s GTO in Amherst, formerly owned by CHS Grainland, closed May 30. Gas pumps still owned by CHS Grainland are temporarily closed as well while being updated to accept credit cards. They are scheduled to reopen within a couple of weeks as standalone pumps.

New rail, ties and ballast are being laid in the construction project at the railroad crossing on Highway 385 on the north end of Holyoke.

Ten Years Ago

June 14, 2012

Homesteaders Park recently received a makeover that included a new disc golf course. The project is funded by a Great Outdoors Colorado grant.

Haxtun Conservation District recently hosted its sixth annual Conservation Camp in Holyoke. Twenty-three students from fourth through eighth grade attended the free two-day camp. Paleontology and archaeology were the main themes, along with soil health.

Preston and Amanda (Bennett) Randall lost their home to the High Park Fire on Sunday night, June 10.

Colorado voters will vote in the state’s first-ever June primary election this year. In 2011 the Legislature moved the primary from the second Tuesday in August to the last Tuesday in June to comply with a new federal law that required mail ballots to overseas and military voters to go out sooner.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

June 19, 1997

In the early morning hours of June 15, fast and furious rains resulted in the worst flooding local residents can remember in Holyoke and the surrounding areas after a slow-moving thunderstorm dumped up to 6 inches of water on the area. All highways around Holyoke were closed on Sunday, with numerous county roads also impassable.

Gary Brown has expanded his business to include on-site computer sales and demonstrations in the Holyoke branch of New Age Electronics of Sterling. It is housed in Brown’s 11-year-old Holyoke business, Video Den, at 136 N. Interocean Ave.

On July 20, recent HHS graduate Anthony Conde will begin his experience with what he calls “the opportunity of a lifetime” when he leaves home for a year of traveling with Up With People.

Fifty Years Ago

June 15, 1972

Total retail sales for the first quarter of 1972 in Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma counties registered a gain over the same period in 1971. Phillips county sales increased 34.9%, followed by Sedgwick County with an increase of 8.9% and Yuma County 5.6%. Total retail sales in Phillips County for the first quarter were $6,975,000.

The Julesburg housing project is now completed and ready for occupancy. The project consists of 52 apartments. There are 26 for elderly tenants and 26 for families.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that the Housing Authority of Holyoke has been awarded the low-rent public housing contract of $474,468. The contract calls for the construction of 30 housing units for elderly citizens.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

June 19, 1947

Mrs. Albert Pollock resigned June 18 from her position as director of the Phillips County Department of Public Welfare. Mrs. Gladys Hofmeister has been appointed to take her place and will resume her duties as director on July 1.

Holyoke’s municipal swimming pool will open June 21, with Bill Watson as lifeguard for the coming summer season. Swimming at the pool on opening day will be entirely free to the general public.

Hospitalization units received by the VFW for its subscription drive Cappers Publication last April are now available for use to anyone in Phillips County. This equipment includes one adjustable hospital bed and mattress, two adjustable wheelchairs, four pairs of adjustable crutches, two infra ray lamps, one backrest, and one bed table, and may be checked out through the local VFW.