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Time Machine — What was happening 80 years ago?

Joe Chambers, left, and Clarence Fair, in the stovepipe hat, stand outside of the Methodist Church in Gypsum before performing in a church play.
Photo courtesy Eagle Valley Library District and Eagle County Historical Society |

One year ago

Week of May 19, 2016

The Denver Broncos Salute to the Fans tour visited Eagle. Children and adults alike flocked to the Brush Creek Park to meet players, cheerleaders and Miles the mascot.



Vail Honeywagon announced plans to build Eagle County’s first community compost center at Wolcott.

Baseball players participating in the Mountain West Summer Collegiate League were looking for local host families.

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Five years ago

Week of May 17, 2012

Eagle County was working on a vertical expansion for its landfill. The proposal was planned to allow the county to build the landfill upward rather than expanding its boundaries outward.

The Eagle Planning and Zoning Commission approved the installation of a pedestal sign at the Sylvan Lake Road entrance to Eagle Ranch.

The Colorado Department of Transportation began a resurfacing and widening project along U.S. Highway 6 between Wolcott and Eagle.

Eagle Valley High school won the Central Mountains Regional Emergency Trauma Advisory Councils Teen Seat Belt Challenge. The school nabbed a $2,000 prize.

10 years ago

Week of May 17, 2002

Eagle Postmaster Sam McGibbon was arrested on charges of felony theft for allegedly paying his wife $35,000 for landscaping and snow removal services, which she never performed, at the Eagle Post Office.

The Western Eagle County Ambulance District broke ground for its new station in Gypsum.

The Alpine Academy of Dance Arts performed “Peter Pan” with Molly Crocker and Kelsey Elwood sharing the title role.

EVHS graduate Corey Strickler sang “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at a Colorado Rockies Game at Coors Field.

20 years ago

Week of May 15, 1997

Adam’s Rib developer Fred Kummer sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers withdrawing his application for a ski resort development and requesting termination of his existing special use permit from the USFS to allow downhill skiing on Adam Mountain and Mount Eve. Kummer has been pursuing development of the resort since the early 1970s.

The town of Gypsum broke ground on its new town hall and library building.

The EVHS boys baseball team ended a Cinderella season with a 10-7 loss to Kent Denver in the state quarterfinals.

Former EVHS three sport athlete James McCollum was tapped as a starter at second base for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy baseball team.

30 years ago

Week of May 21, 1987

Mildred Toomer retired from teaching with Eagle County Schools. In 1967, she began teaching at the Burns School, where she taught five students in five different grades. After the school closed, she moved to Eagle Valley Elementary School.

Ground-breaking ceremonies were held for the new First Baptist Church in Gypsum. The Bobson family donated the building site in southern Gypsum and honored guests at the ceremony included Anna Bobson and her daughter Betty Albertson.

Ed Hurlbut, a professor of biology at Mesa College in Grand Junction, drew the interest of local residents as he spent five days in town capturing ground squirrels as part of an ongoing study of the hibernating creatures. He roamed open fields in the Eagle Commercial Park in search of the lightning-quick rodents. He planned to trap about 100 ground squirrels.

40 years ago

Week of May 19, 1977

Beasley’s Super Foods was set to open at its new location near Eagle’s Interstate 70 interchange.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service crews were preparing for a big fire season. District Ranger Don Wood noted that an April fire near Dotsero burned 30 to 40 acres of Douglas fir at an elevation of nearly 8,500 feet — an area that was traditionally still covered by snow at that point in the year.

50 years ago

Week of May 18, 1967

The Eagle County airstrip was temporarily closed to commercial use while undergoing repairs.

The U.S. Forest Service was planting 45,000 Ponderosa pine seedlings in the White River National Forest at the head of Second Gulch on Hardscrabble Mountain south of Eagle.

The graduating class at McCoy High School consisted of Christi and Johnnie Skiles and Junior Laman.

The EVHS graduating class was a bit larger, with 22 Devils collecting diplomas.

60 years ago

Week of May 15, 1957

The Eagle County High School graduating class included two sets of twins — Caroline and Carl Kunz and Ann and Josephine Pallister. They joined 12 other students to comprise the entire group of graduates.

At Eagle High School, the Class of ’57 numbered 10 graduates.

Popular teacher Matilda Wedow suffered a fatal heart attack and died in her husband’s arms amid the dancers at the ECHS prom.

She had been a member of the school’s faculty for 34 years.

Eagle contractor Dennie Eaton was awarded the job to build the new Phillips 66 station in Eagle. The station was planned on the west end of town.

McCoy High School student John Salzgaver set a new record at the county track meet. He bested a long jump record that had stood for 20 years.

70 years ago

Week of May 16, 1947

Graduation ceremonies at Red Cliff Union High School included a pageant presenting a history of the community.

Twelve students received diplomas during the Eagle County High School graduation while nine students graduated from Eagle High School.

80 years ago

Week of May 14, 1937

Theater operator John Greve purchased the Healy residence in downtown Minturn with the intent of dismantling it and building a movie house in its place.

The graduating class at Eagle High School included 15 students.

Tom Roper, a salesman at Koonce Chevrolet gave and unusual demonstration of a Farmall 20 tractor. He plowed a part of the new ground that T.B. Mcdivitt was breaking for cultivation at his property along Brush Creek. Roper plowed roughly 12 inches deep, as a crowd of 20 spectators watched. “They seemed to think that the tractor was doing a good and thorough job of it,” reported the Enterprise.

A commencement dance was planned at the WOW Hall in Eagle. Admission was $1 and supper cost 25 cents. The Purple and Gold Orchestra had been booked to perform for the event.


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