Walsenburg
1900: Fully 2,000 people attended the Benediction and Confirmation ceremonies at the Catholic Church Sunday when a class of 300 was confirmed.
1908: Humorous songs, high class and popular vocal and instrumental music and dainty, refined and amusing little comedies will be offered at the Joseph Newman Company’s program at Elks Hall.
1914: Western Union is moving its office to the rear room of the Merritt’s new drug store and the entrance will be on the south, off East Seventh Street.
1920: Walsenburg’s Complete Music Store, carrying pianos, player pianos, grafonolas, records. Lewis S. Brown, 504 Main Street.
1927: Died, George Dick, 131 E. 5th, president of the Dick Abstract and Investment Company. Born in Scotland, he was naturalized while serving as county sheriff and also served as county treasurer, clerk and recorder and Walsenburg chief of police.
1933: John Elley, head of the National Farm Loan Association in Huerfano County, states that 70 farmers have already applied for loans which involve an amount of nearly $200,000.
1939: Works Progress Administration engineers have inspected the site of the proposed municipal golf course on the west side of Martin Lake and it will be one of the most picturesque in the state.
1945: Supt. S.M. Andrews announced teachers at Hill School this year will be Eva Evans, principal, Ann Panion, Winifred Murray, Mary Elizabeth Styduhar and Janet Chatin.
1951: Walsenburg’s brand new four-lane bowling alley adjacent to the Star Lite Inn will be opened Saturday by Harry Satero.
1958: The city’s six public and parochial schools and nine rural schools will open for the school year next Tuesday.
1965: St. Mary schools will receive $31,966 in federal funds from the Neighborhood Youth Corps program.
1971: Mary Biondi says she will miss working at the soda fountain in City Pharmacy when it closes for business. She has worked there since 1953 and first earned a salary of 35 cents an hour.
1977: Lori Corsentino of Walsenburg won the Colorado State Fair grand championship award for her fat Suffolk lamb.
1983: Huerfano County’s assessed valuation jumped $12½ million from 1982 to 1983, with an increase of $9,646,640 in School District Re-1 because of ARCO’s Sheep Mountain project.
1989: Sheriff Harold Martinez’s hiring panel chose five Walsenburg residents to receive specialized training at Trinidad State Junior College before beginning jobs in the new Huerfano County Law Enforcement Center.
La Veta
1903: Raspberries are ripe and are luring several La Veta housewives into the mountains.
1909: The Electric Theatre opens Sept. 4 with a vaudeville performance.
1915: The bumper crops of wheat, corn, oats and barley north and east of town were destroyed by hail, including those on the Atchison, Kreutzer, Bruno Martinez and Hamilton farms.
1921: Mrs. C.E. Turner and son made the drive to Denver in nine hours and 15 minutes including a stop for lunch. Pretty good for an old Tin Lizzy over five years old. [One presumes the editor is referring to the car, not the driver]
1927: Dedication services were held Sunday in the new $13,000 Methodist Church, with a special program supplemented by the wedding of Fred Waggoner and Lucille Stacey of Malachite.
1933: The teaching staff at the La Veta schools for the coming year will be Ulah Mae Thomas, 1st grade; Miss Denny, 2nd; Bessie Derrick, 3rd and 4th; Wilma Lauth, 4th and 5th; Carl Vernon, 6th and 7th; Robert Davis, 7th and 8th; Edith Sherill, Carl King, Constance Ghiardi and E.A. Stansbury, high school.
1938: Brunk’s Comedians will make their annual appearance in La Veta tonight with vaudeville and a comedic play.
1944: We have been informed Pvt. Moises J. Sanchez, son of Mr. and Mrs. Librado Sanchez of La Veta, has been slightly injured in New Guinea.
1950: With the Cucharas River running its second lowest in 50 years, District 16 Water Commissioner H.W. Craig urges residents of La Veta and Walsenburg to follow the rules of complete restriction of outdoor watering.
1957: Volunteers are cleaning and repairing the old buildings at the plaza where four rooms will be used for a new county museum.
1963: Mrs. Fred Wagner and Mrs. Alfred Weir will hold sway over the school cafeteria this year while Mark Anderson and Arthur Prator will be custodians. About 270 students are enrolled including 66 in the high school.
1969: Albert Parks, born Sept. 3, 1869 in Hogeye, Arkansas, will be feted on his 100th birthday by his many friends . Parks left Arkansas for Cripple Creek in 1896 and spent one year, then spent another in Canon City before moving to La Veta. He was for many years a prospector for gold, silver and lead in the Bullseye Mine to which he walked every day until just a few years ago.
1975: Some 40 residents of Cuchara presented a petition of requests for better road maintenance and some type of police protection to the county commissioners.
