This week in History for April 7, 2011

La Veta
1900: Edwin L. Smith bought the store building of Col. Francisco that now stands on Francisco Street and will remove it to Main Street and open a general mercantile.
1907: Jasper Kerby has obtained a new hack and double seated buggy for use in his livery business this summer.
1915: Allen Roush has re-covered the floor of the bakery with some kind of cork linoleum which is pleasant to walk on and easy to mop up and keep clean.
1921: The special election April 1 on whether to consolidate the upper grades of the Oakview school into La Veta Dist. No. 9 resulted in a 149-78 vote against the consolidation.
1928: The Frink Creamery Company has purchased the Methodist parsonage next door to the church on east Francisco Street and will use it for storage once their cheese factory is complete and in production.
1934: C.F. Boyd opened shop March 26 for general blacksmithing and wagon repair in his old place on east Francisco Street.
1941: Huerfano County now has 5,015 licenses motor vehicle operators.
1947: We notice in the “Forty Years Ago” column in the La Veta Advertiser that in 1907 La Veta had, and enforced, a dog licensing ordinance. Are we slippin’?
1952: A total of 124 voted for and 20 against placing a pipeline from the town’s water supply intake to the reservoir to replace the present open ditch.
1957: Two feet of heavy, wet snow fell in La Veta this week and three feet in Cuchara.
1963: The combination of heavy winds and a low snowpack in the mountains is the cause of the current water shortage and the Town Board may place water restrictions.
1969: Mrs. Nell Magro resigned as town clerk after serving in that post for the past nine years and the Town Board appointed Mrs. Lenore Brown to replace her.
1976: Gilbert Arnold is running for trustee of the Town Board. He is the present La Veta postmaster and an electrician, has served four years on the school board and as president of the Huerfano County Historical Society, is on the board of the Methodist Church, is a Spanish Peaks Grange past master, and is an active member of the local chapter of Rotary Club International and the Friend of the Arts Guild.
Walsenburg
1893: It was a complete victory of the entire city ticket – the only ticket – by a majority of 12 votes. A total of 16 ballots were cast Tuesday, of which four were defective.
1900: Fred G. Walsen bears the distinction of being the youngest member ever elected as trustee in the town of Walsenburg and received the largest vote cast for that office [Walsen was just 21 or 22, born in 1878].
1908: Messrs. Roof and Dick are advertising for bids on the erection of two modern brick store buildings at the corner of 6th and Main.
1914: Lost: somewhere between Skinner and Tioga, a folding go-cart. Please return to the Pictou Livery Barn.
1922: The marble finishings on Guaranty State Bank were set this week and the building rapidly is nearing completion.
1929: Alex Levy received his membership in the Southern Colorado Pioneers Association for living here since 1867.
1935: Died, Juan C. Vallejos, a resident for 70 years and pioneer of Butte Valley. His wife was the daughter of Pedro Gomez who married a daughter of Ceran St. Vrain.
1942: A number of Japanese have settled in the Rye area to operate farms for the duration of the war after being forced out of their homes in California.
1949: Clara Vezzani of Rouse School won the county spelling bee and Delfin Cordova of Washington School won the city title.
1956: Finalists for the VFW Auxiliary jacks contest are Annette Kravic, Beulah Garcia, Colleen Zohar, Mary Lou Cruz, Janice Cordova and Vickie Ariano.
1961: Karen Widdifield and Charmain Rizzi will be co-editors of the St. Mary High School Paladin next fall and their staff will include Jay Geiger, Carol Visich, Sylvia Martinez, Pat Noga and Mary DiMatteo.
1967: The Rattlesnakes Buttes 4-H Club took a livestock tour last week, visiting the ranches of Milo Rogers, Marvin Davis, Jack Williams, Homer Kenner, Al Chase and Julius Roberts.
1974: Nine marriage licenses were issued during March by the county clerk’s office.
1980: Linda Simpleman and Sandy Dotter have been named co-chairwomen for the second annual Whoopee Day set for Saturday, June 21, with an all-day sidewalk sale, booths and special events.