Walsenburg 1876: The co-partnership heretofore existing under the firm name of Morton and Blake is this day dissolved. The business will be continued by Mr. George E. Blake at the old stand in Gardner. 1882: George Caldwell is building a new saloon at Gardner and will open the same about the 15th inst. [sic] 1889: New resolutions soon to be forgotten are now in order. 1895: Two drunks tried to do imitations of an Apache war dance Sunday and were promptly jailed by Marshal Smith and fined $11.00 each on Monday. 1901: The lights were turned off in Walsenburg Sunday evening when some water pipes above town broke and no water reached the light house. 1908: Quite a few Gardner people attended the masked ball in the Malachite hall on Christmas Eve. 1915: The large new company garage is nearly completed at Cameron. 1921: A daughter, Alice Joe, was born Dec. 19 to Mr. and Mrs. August Unfug Jr., and a girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. R.M. Baker on Dec. 21. 1928: Darwin Ouderkirk says he has a Holstein cow at the Loma Park Dairy that gives ten and a half gallons of milk daily. 1935: The Slavish All-Star grid team will play the Italian All-Star aggregation on Legion Field on New Year’s Day with “Pomo” Repola and Coach Gaston Santi leading the Slavs and Frazy and Marcon the Wops. 1942: Word has been received of the death of Lt. Conrad J. Farr, 24, in action in Western Europe Dec. 20. He was the son of Mrs. Vernie Hutchcraft. 1949: Quiet, cigar smoking Dr. W.S. Chapman, who has been handing out pink pills in Huerfano County for more than 50 years, is one of three finalists for the American Medical Association’s “Doctor of the Year”. 1956: The 1956 Ford belonging to Robert Weston was stolen over the holiday from in front of his home at 319 Walsen Avenue. 1962: Geraldine Bellotti will be known as Sister Marian after she takes her vows with 19 other Benedictine Sisters. 1968: Mayor John Geiger turned on the new natural gas valve Friday. The first customer to receive natural gas was the City Clerk, Betty Price. 1973: An after Christmas snowstorm left two feet in Walsenburg, bringing the total snowfall since Sept. 1 to 56 inches in the city. 1979: Cindy Mendez won Happy the Giraffe, the toy offered in the Christmas drawing at the Ben Franklin store. 1985: Sunkist Navel Oranges, 39 cents a pound, California Avocados, 59 cents a pound. Black and White Grocery. Come In and See All Our New Generic Items! 1991: Dear Santa, Plese bring pece in the wolad and make the air better. Robby.
La Veta 1876: As of Dec. 16, a total of 14 retail and wholesale liquor licenses had been sold or renewed since Nov. 25 in the town of La Veta. 1883: With the removal of Publisher J.B. King from the town, H.A. Tanner was elected clerk and recorder pro tem. Mr. King was paid his bill for publishing town business in full, for a total of $15.50. 1892: Solomon Boyd cut some trees in Francisco Park near the river and will sell the lumber at a fair price. 1898: The old saying that a stormy Christmas is the index of a fair summer, we trust we prove true. 1904: Frank Hayes has started a dairy on his ranch south of town and has a ready market for all the butter he can make. 1910: Ben Middleton, a former La Veta boy and brother to Mrs. Nanny Elrod, has launched the new weekly Alamosa Leader. 1916: Members of the Local Union No. 3018 walked out of the Ojo coal mine. 1922: Patrons of the livestock show and sale filled the hotels, cafes and dance hall last Friday and Saturday nights. 1927: Tony Mauro of Walsenburg has leased the ice cutting operation at the mill lake and will start operations immediately if he can find men and teams to hire. The ice is said to be 10 inches thick. 1933: Paul Ghiardi applied for a license and will open a liquor store in La Veta. With the high price of legal liquor, however, it is feared bootleggers will still ply their trade. 1939: Since its inception on Oct. 1, 1935, the Works Progress Administration has expended the huge sum of $2,821,432.24 in Huerfano County. 1945: Harry Lee Moore was honored last Thursday on his 17th birthday. 1952: A Denver man miraculously escaped injury when his plane crashed four miles north of La Veta near Mount Mestas. 1958: The La Veta Redskins defeated the Huerfano County High School Panthers 48-46 in a thrilling non-league, holiday basketball game. 1964: Violent winds and dust replaced the White Christmas in La Veta this year. 1970: Mitzi Masinton, Peggy Arnold and Eugene Sawyer were the winners in the annual Huerfano County Veterans of Foreign Wars “Voice of Democracy” speech contest. 1976: Tax notices to Huerfano County taxpayers will be sent at least a month later than usual, according to County Treasurer Tom Solomon, because the assessment of property has not been completed. This could result in severe financial problems for every taxing district in the county. 1982: Bruce Batting is giving cross country ski lessons at Panadero Ski Resort. It is called Kinderschool for kids and is open to children age five to ten years and includes rental equipment, lesson and lunch for $30.00. 1988: Peggy Arnold now has 13 students in the high school choir. 1994: Bill and Wanda Hunter entertained 17 members of the La Veta Cuchara Chamber of Commerce with a dessert buffet at their bed and breakfast, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month.
