Looking back 40, 30 and 20 years ago, the following are excerpts from the Artesia Daily Press from August 23-29
40 years ago Aug. 23‐29, 1975
As reported in the Pinon News: Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Drennon from near Dallas, Texas visited Mr. and Mrs.
Allen VanWinkle at their home south of Weed, Monday of last week, then Tuesday morning, they visited Mrs. Edith Atkins.
The Drennons lived on McDonald Flat when young people and Mrs. Drennon wanted to learn of persons and events of this area in about 1915. This is about the time they lived here.
She was the daughter of the late Jim Cox, who was killed by the late Lester Courtney in a shoot out near Weed some sixty years ago. Mrs. Atkins was living here at the time Mrs. Drennon lived her. Mrs. Drennon learned she resides in weed, and visited to see if she remembered events of this time. Mrs. Drennon is related to the VanWinkles and Calvin Drennon is a relative of the family of Drennons and Hales that lived for a number of years on McDonald Flat.
— An attempt to solve a flooding problem in southwest Artesia, including First Street, will soon be taken under study. The problem area includes a lowlying spot between Roselawn and Sherman avenues to the west of First Street and an area including First Street east to Freeman Avenue. Mayor Ernest Thompson explained water coming into the city from the west misses the Eagle Draw channel on 26th Street and tries to follow a former natural channel through the southwest portion of town across U.S. 285 and into the Pecos River.
— Playing a vital role in the fortunes of any football team are the team’s managers, who must take care of equipment, uniforms and training supplies.
This year’s Bulldog managers are David Button, Clendon Kirkpatrick, Jimmy Gail and Derrick “I.T.” Wilson.
— Coach Ken Parrish will coach the offensive ends on this year’s Artesia Bulldog football team.
Moving from Park Junior High, where he coached football and track last season, Parrish will have at least eight players vying for varsity starting honors.
Corey Tolle, Bill Trainor, Henry Vargas, Henry Terpening, Larry Ivy, Jerry Harrison, James Pope and David Taylor are this year’s crop of offensive ends.
— Bulldog quarterback Jerry Brown turned on the speed and picked up a few extra yards in a 12-yard romp against the Pecos Eagles. Artesia held its first scrimmage of the year Friday and the team showed it needs much more work, especially on offense, before the season opener against Roswell Goddard Sept. 5.
30 years ago Aug. 23‐29, 1985
Artesia quarterback Shaun Standard faked a handoff to fullback Trent Boneau while preparing to roll out on a pass play against one of NMMI’s defenses.
Standard threw a pair of touchdown passes, a short one to Gino Juarez and a long one to Ryan Faulkenberry, as the Bulldogs outscored the Colts two touchdowns to none Friday at Bulldog Bowl. Artesia hosts Ruidoso in its season opener Friday.
— As reported in the Pinon News: Rains fell in the Avis and Pinon areas recently and the grass is really gowing and the blue gramma grass is making seeds very fast now. If the rains will continue to fall for the next three weeks, the grass will make feed for the cattle and sheep through the winter. The H.A. Stringfields, the Mike Stringfields of Alamogordo and the Herschel Stringfields from El Paso spent the week at the Basil Holcomb ranch helping Basil brand calves.
— As reported in the Museum News by Maurine Mathis: Practically nothing has been of greater benefit to mankind than the printed word. Newspapers were and are the hub of a town or city since they came into being. Artesia wasn’t even a town when Gayle Talbot set up his printing press and issued Volume No. 1 of the Artesia Advocate Aug. 29, 1903. The old copies of that paper and others of the area are also at the museum through the generosity of Jim Green, publisher of the Artesia Daily Press. He gave this valuable collection to the museum. The fragile old copies are kept in a vault to protect them as much as possible.
Copies have been put on microfilm to make them available for research. Several other newspapers have been in circulation in the area over the years and many are also on microfilm.
The Pecos Valley news was here from 1906 to 1914. The Artesia Herald was short lived in 1931. The Hagerman Messenger was published from 1929 until 1939 and the Dexter Tribune from 1962 to 1974. The Dayton New State Informer and the Pecos Valley Echo were in existence from 1909 to 1912.
— The F-84 fighter in Eagle Parkway at First Street got a new coat of paint Saturday courtesy of the Artesia Historical Museum, Jaycees and volunteers.
Jaycees member Tito Hernandez covered the plane’s landing gear with newspaper and masking tape before others began applying the yellow primer coat of paint. A new canopy and decals for the aircraft were “donated anonymously,”
museum director Terry Koenig said Saturday, and Maupin’s True Value Hardware Store donated paint-shaking equipment to assist with the project.
— “Summer Rental” and “The Return of the Living Dead”
were the featured films at the Cinema Twin theater. A 1985 Ford T-Bird, fully loaded, was clearance priced at $10,436, at Artesia Ford and Mercury Sales.
20 years ago Aug. 23‐29, 1995
Things went pretty much as expected Friday as Artesia opened the 1995 prep football season with a 34-8 roasting of Ruidoso before a wilting crowd at baking Bulldog Bowl. Coach Cooper Henderson’s Bulldogs put the game out of reach early with four first-half touchdowns.
The offense wound up providing four of the five Bulldog TDs — the other coming in the kicking game — and the defense dominated a Warrior offense that packed little punch.
— As reported in Cobblestone Tales by Nancy Dunn: The first AHS football team was put together in 1909. The school colors had already been selected as orange and black (probably chosen by the student body, although no one seems sure now), and the official high school song was titled (what else?)
“Orange and Black.” Football was not a big deal in the years prior to WWI, being eclipsed in the news by baseball and basketball.
All high school sports were suspended from 1917- 1920 due to WWI and its aftermath, and then reinstated in the 1920-21 school year, it was with renewed interest in becoming No. 1. The 1920-21 school year was also the first time that AHS published a yearbook, and the first time that their football team was referred to as the “Bulldogs.” Interest in football picked up in the 1920s, a tradition that has lasted until today.
— Visitors checked out classrooms at Yeso Elementary School Sunday afternoon during a tour and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $4.1-million school. Superintendent Mike Phipps and Artesia Board of Education President Charles Mulcock thanked the public for their support of the schools through mill levy taxes. Almost 500 students are enrolled in the 54,000-square-foot school.
— As reported in the Pinon News: H.A. Strindfield came to the ranch and spent most of the day working on different things Saturday. Heavy rains were reported in Pinon, south and west of Pinon. Pinon Draw ran, and Big Stevens Draw was reported to have run more water than it had in several years, so “String”
went to see if it had rained in his pasture. He reported there was half an inch in the rain gauge, so he was rather disappointed.
It was reported that Drue Goslin had 3 2/3 inches Thursday evening. Mrs. Oza Holcomb had about two inches in her rain gauge in Pinon. All the ranchers are happy about the rainfall but are hoping for more, especially in places. Odie Prather, Cody Gaslin and Paul Kneipkamp hauled hay Thursday for Farrell VanCleve. They were afraid it would get wet, but Odie had a tarp and covered it; and they missed most of the rain showers and got the hay back to Van- Cleve’s with very little rain on it. Mrs. VanCleve reported the hay was in good shape.
— Arial spraying of salt cedars west of the Pecos River is due to begin early Wednesday. The spraying of between 2,600 and 3,000 acres of private land infested with the water-intensive plant is being done under the auspices of the Central Valley Soil and Water Conservation District. The district received a $500,000 appropriation from the 1994 Legislature for the project.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Looking Back is compiled each week by Daily Press Community Living Editor Teresa Lemon.)
