Walsenburg 1877: Uncle Johnny Albert says that before the late snow storm, we had millions of grasshoppers, but now hardly any can be seen. This is good news to the county and more especially to the poor farmers who have been struggling for years, you might say, in poverty. 1885: Town Council has ordered that absolutely no outside herds shall graze on the common within town limits. 1893: J.M. Vigil, interpreter for George T. Kearns, is visiting with his cousins J.D. Mondragon and Roque Vigil. 1898: The Misses Traylor and Gillespie were carried clear from the head of Main Street to the bridge over the Cucharas when their buggy horse ran away. 1903: This week the new 36 by 40 foot dining room in the Klein Hotel was opened and decorated with large palm trees. The Colorado Telephone Company has moved into the area that was formerly the sample room, which has a new room on the east opening onto Sixth Street. 1909: The Brunelli brothers new brick and concrete store building on West Seventh Street is really making a big showing now. 1915: The widow of Dr. P.P. Lester, who was killed during the big strike here last year, will receive $5,000 from the state legislature. 1923: Bootleggers are keeping the sheriff’s force busy. 1928: Mrs. Caroline Sporleder Young will retire from teaching music and Miss Eva Curry will take over the studio on West Sixth. 1933: Mrs. Charles Minear finished her year’s work at the South Bradford School last Friday with a school picnic on Bruff Creek, while Billy Curtis closed the North Bradford School with a picnic near the Charles Schmidt home. 1938: Police officers have installed a new red “Police Stop” signal atop their Terraplane squad car for traffic violators. 1943: A capacity audience attended the Elks Lodge “I Am an American Day” Sunday in Washington School Auditorium where the guest speaker was Reverend J.H. Gerault of La Veta. 1948: St. Mary grade school was broken into recently but only boxes of candy appear to have been taken. 1954: Winning honors for scholastic achievement in the county’s 13 rural schools are Betty Schmidt, Gardner, Richard Micek, Dand, and Charles Wolf, Bradford. 1959: Virgil Ladurini, Frank D. Vanotti and C. Albert Anderson have declared their candidacy for directors on the new District Re-1 school board. 1964: The Reverend James Friel, a 1943 graduate of St. Mary High School and son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Friel of Walsenburg, will be guest speaker at that school’s graduation exercises. 1969: Thomas L. Zellar was re-elected president of Huerfano School District Re-1 Board, Earl Tatman, vice president, Andrew Ritz, secretary and Virgil Ladurini is the new member replacing Robert Kelley as treasurer. 1974: New wiring has been installed in the Huerfano County Jail and the plumbing will be replaced to bring it into compliance with the Department of Health standards. 1979: Walsenburg Weather: High 77, low, 26, 10 inches of snow for more than one inch of precipitation. 1984: Members of the Re-1 School Board were entertained by Brent Seawell’s eighth grade musicians from Gardner School who had made their own instruments. 1989: John Mall High School was struck by a mini tornado Monday that upended a car and lifted a student off the football field. 1994: Emmet F. Bellville and Jena Vail will share honors as co-valedictorians at JMHS and Charlcy Daher will be salutatorian. Graduation will be May 28.
La Veta 1876: Members of the Baptist Church voted to have a celebration July 4 and an activity committee was formed to plan it. Planners will be Reverend W.T. Fisher, J.A. Erwin, F.L. Martin, J.E. Harris and Samuel Patterson. 1883: A.L. Prator has just completed a neat frame house on his ranch on the Wahatoya and is now building a substantial fence around his land that will probably cost about $1,500. 1895: The Emerson mine on the Greenhorn produced 1,000 ounces of silver ore. Call at our office and we will show you the solid rock. 1900: High water in the Cucharas is running through the Drum property on Oak Street and all the bridges in town have disappeared. The Wahatoya is far out of its banks. And it’s still raining. 1905: Dr. L.B. Roberts sold his home beside the alley on Main Street to P.L. Estes and Alex Lindsay will live there so as to be close to his work in the drug store. 1910: The Monday evening moving pictures will be held on Sunday evenings at 8 o’clock to allow the hose brigade a practice night. 1916: The burning of some brush on the side hill next to the flour mill Wednesday evening concerned many citizens who thought the mill itself was on fire. 1921: Irene Gibbons will be valedictorian of this year’s graduating class. The other members are Helen Kincaid, Beulah Vasquez, Sadie Kreutzer, Julia Ward, Mena Ghiardi, Mary Firm, Elmer Mathews, Leslie Smith, Guy Lougheed and Walter Carver. The 11-member class is the largest yet to graduate from La Veta High. 1926: The American Legion has decided to fence two sides of the baseball field. 1931: The class of 16 graduates, the largest ever, includes three married ladies. The seniors are Charles Erwin, Alta Erwin, Helen Kreutzer, Victoria Koklas, Virginia Kreutzer, Joe Kincaid, Billy Bruce, Howard Mock, Dorothy Danks, George Kreutzer, Pauline Ashbrook, Dorothy Bowdino, Mina Dighera, John Vories, Rose Luchino and Bessie Derrick. 1936: Chris Turner has sold the Advertiser to Earl Gault of Walsenburg, owner of the World-Independent, and James Woody will be editor. Turner has spent 41 years recording the local news and affairs of the community since he helped put out the first issue on May 18, 1895. 1941: Allen Ritters of La Junta will replace George Field as pharmacist at the Coleman Drug Store. 1946: Fred Scholes was appointed justice of the peace for the La Veta district and Town Board has named him police magistrate. 1951: Officers of the Student Council for the 1951-1952 school year were elected. They are Louis Zember, president, Sylvia Christie, vice president, Angela Ferrari, secretary and Christina Cruz, treasurer. 1956: La Veta Chamber of Commerce President Milton Utt says, through its efforts, town lake was approved for fishing and will be stocked, a golf course will be built there, and an airport with a mile long runway is in the planning stages. 1961: Died, Neva Belle Engberg, who was born in 1897 in Greeley and married Edward E. Engberg. They moved to La Veta in 1938 when E.E. took over as editor of the La Veta Advertiser. He retired in 1957. She leaves her husband, sons Edward Junior and Donald O., and daughter Mrs. Lindo Padoven. 1966: For Sale: 3 bedroom home on 100 by 200 foot lot located by the stream. $9,200. 1971: Winners of the pollution poster contest sponsored by the Spanish Peaks Grange were September Cross, first, Sam Keeling, second and Mike Aguirre, third. 1976: Died, Beatrice V. Niebuhr, born in 1895 in New York but a Colorado resident for 60 years. She was a former postmaster at Crestones, a member of PEO and a 50-year member of the Order of Eastern Star. She leaves her husband George, former county commissioner. 1981: Tonight’s meeting of the Friends of the Arts will be in the old Presbyterian Church followed by a musical program by Peggy Arnold and Lars Kampmann, accompanied by Peggy Abbott. 1986: The La Veta/Cuchara Chamber of Commerce weekly bingo games in the school cafeteria have been changed from Thursday to Wednesday nights, 7-9 p.m. 1991: Shay Marie Brgoch was baptized on Mother’s Day in Christ the King Church.
