Looking back 40, 30 and 20 years ago, the following are excerpts from the Artesia Daily Press from Sept. 3-9.
40 years ago
Sept. 3-9, 1977
The increasing numbers of yellow butterflies fluttering around the Artesia area lately may add color to the local scenery, but they also add to the problems of alfalfa growers. The butterflies, often called sulphur butterflies, are the adult stage of the alfalfa caterpillar, which include domestic alfalfa in its diet, said Eddy County Extension Agent Dan Liesner.
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The Artesia Bulldogs lost half a season’s worth of fumbles, then roared back from 11 points behind to beat Roswell Goddard 28-18 in Bulldog Bowl Friday night.
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As reported in the Pinon News: Oma Gage is the only person in Pinon whose phone is working. All the other phones are out and the families report they have given very little service all summer.
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The first bale of cotton from north Eddy County was ginned Wednesday about 11 a.m. at the Atoka Gin by the Artesia Alfalfa Growers Association. Robert Knulik grew the cotton near Lakewood.
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Four Bulldogs won awards from their coaches for their performances against Goddard last week. They are, Mark Bowdish (Golden Helmet Award), Randy Russell (Mad Dog Award), Richard Kafton (offensive player of the week), and Jimmy Hamilton (defensive player of the week.)
30 years ago
Sept. 3-9, 1987
Artesia area competitors in this weekend’s New Mexico 4-H Final Rodeo include, Shawn Wooten, Brian Smith, Jim Clowe, Joley Teel, Alan Barley, Shannon Vermillion, Becky Hemby and Cody Harwell.
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The Artesia Bulldogs did their best to continue making the lives of the Hobbs Eagles as miserable as possible. That took place to the tune of a 34-23 whipping Friday at Bulldog Bowl. The loss dropped the Eagles to 0-2 on the season — both losses came at the hands of AAA teams — and upped Artesia’s season mark to 2-0.
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Three students from Artesia attended Shuttle Camp 2001 at the Space Center in Alamogordo this summer. Participants included Hanson Yates, the son of Peyton and Judy Yates; Sara Moreno, the daughter of Manuel and Delma Moreno; and Andrew Barrett, the son of Dave and Sandy Barrett. The three spent their days in a variety of “hands-on” space-related classes, field trips and workshops.
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As reported in the Pinon News: The rain caused trouble for a number of the ranchers on Pinon Draw who had the flood take out the water gaps. Mr. and Mrs. Basil Holcomb were quite busy all their spare time putting the water gaps back on this ranch the past two weeks. Mrs. Holcomb was not too much help because she could use only one hand but she was the “gopher” as most all wives know what they do as their husbands say, “Bring me this or bring me that.” They were delightfully surprised Friday of last week just as they were finishing the job, Norman Cheny, an employee, came to them saying he was new there and did not know about the water gaps or he would have been over there helping fix them. He reported he was Norman Cheney and was ready to help any time they would call him.
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Mayor Pro Tem Ron Head presented certificates of appreciation from the City of Artesia last week to retiring Police Department employees Carroll Shipman and Joydean Felton. Shipman completed 31 years on the force and Felton completed 16 years as dispatcher.
20 years ago
Sept. 3-9, 1997
Kyle Leyva, age 5, earned $15 by winning the Pigskin Payoff game offered by the Daily Press. Out of 21 questions, he missed 3. Five other missed four questions.
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What a difference a week makes. The football team, which used a fourth quarter rally to beat Ruidoso Aug. 29, dominated the Hobbs Eagles, 42-17, at Bulldog Bowl Friday. Artesia, the No. 1 ranked team in Class AAA, used a balance-attack offensively while the defense forced turnovers and stopped the Hobbs offense from being a challenge.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Looking Back is compiled each week by Daily Press Community Living Editor Teresa Lemon.)
