Time Machine: 70 years ago, county airstrip lauded as a lifesaver
5 years ago
Week of July 21, 2016
The Ikoma Chuo U13 team from Japan was one of the youth baseball squads that traveled to Eagle for a tournament presented by PBR West Champions Youth Baseball. Forty teams competed at the event.
The Gypsum Town Council approved a proposal from Holy Cross Energy to build a 28-unit solar array south of the Eagle County Regional Airport.
The Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton presidential race would lead the November ballot, but several Eagle County entities were planning to go to the voters with financial questions. Topping the list, Eagle County Schools planned an estimated $140 million bond issue ballot question.
10 years ago
Week of July 21, 2011
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The Eagle County Fair and Rodeo was back in town with new events including the Lane Frost Bull Riding Challenge and the Texaco Country Showdown talent competition.
The Show, a large youth baseball competition, canceled its Eagle tournament just days before it was set to start.
Christian Moreno, a young man from Westminster, participated in the Gypsum Daze 5K run. He was able to be part of the event because he received an organ transplant from Gypsum resident Terry Thompson. Thompson died when he suffered a massive heart attack after completing the Gypsum Daze 5K 2008.
20 years ago
Week of July 19, 2001
A heavy rainstorm in Gypsum left behind a layer of silt in the yards along Riverview Drive. The Rollins family reported that storm water washed a couch, car seats and other debris through their yard.
Cotton Ranch developer Tim Garton sold off the remaining lots, the golf course and the clubhouse facilities at the site to a North Carolina land investment firm.
Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs and the Vail Valley Medical Center formed a partnership to work on a joint medial campus at Eagle Ranch.
Jasmine Bryant of Eagle was named honorary bat girl for the Aug. 3 Colorado Rockies game.
30 years ago
Week of July 25, 1991
Larry McKinzie, owner of The McKinzie Group architectural firm, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Eagle Town Board.
Arthur M Hutchison, a 27-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, was named as Eagle’s new police chief. He was selected from a field of six finalists.
Brad Jones, son of William and Margaret Jones of Eagle, was awarded his Eagle Scout honors. He earned 26 merit badges to qualify for the award.
40 years ago
Week of July 23, 1981
Eagle County School District’s new financial director was faced with a challenge as he took over his duties. School board member Al Abrams offered a blunt appraisal of the 1980 budget “We overspent it. I don’t think the board had the right information on what we’d spent. We didn’t know we were going in the hole.”
The Eagle Town Board voted to hold a sales tax increase election. In 1980, the town collected a total of $144,000 in sales tax.
50 years ago
Week of July 22, 1971
The town of Eagle mulled its trash collection operations after the municipal garbage truck gave up the ghost. Weibel Co. of Vail was running the town’s trash routes and according to Enterprise editor Marilla McCain, the outfit was “doing a magnificent job: regular service and complete and clean pick up.”
Kaibab Industries added a second shift at its Eagle sawmill. That move meant the company hired an additional 15 workers, bringing Kaibab’s total local employment to 150 jobs.
An auction was planned at the Diamond J Bar and Café east of Eagle. The bill of sale included everything from a treadle sewing machine to a TV set.
Weekly specials at Stanley’s Cash Grocery included a giant box of Biz laundry soap for 69 cents.
60 years ago
Week of July 20, 1961
Denver and Rio Grande employee Robert Colwell was one of two men credited with the capture of Delmar Spooner. Spooner was charged with the murders of Eagle County Undersheriff John Clark and Lt. Hiram Short of the Colorado State Patrol. Spooner was captured as he crouched behind a rock near Copper Spur along the Moffat railroad line.
Spooner had remained at large for three days after the fatal shootings, which happened near Kremmling. The Enterprise described the scene during the manhunt as armed men searched through local homes for the fugitive. “Just a few short days ago, Bond became an armed camp. Women and children stayed inside their houses with doors locked or darted quickly to the store of post office and then back home …. One lady left food on the table and keys in her car, even after being told not to, in hopes that if the killer wandered her way he would take the food and vehicle and be on his way without bothering to look for her. It will be a long time before we forget these three days spent in an entirely different world.”
John Clark was buried in Eagle. There was an overflow crowd at the Methodist church for his funeral and an honor guard of 30 Colorado law enforcement officers escorted his casket to Sunset View Cemetery.
70 years ago
Week of July 19, 1951
“The CAA emergency landing field between Gypsum and Eagle literally saved 11 lives and a $375,380 piece of Uncle Sam’s equipment when a craft carrying Navy, Army and Air Corps personnel made a forced landing,” the Enterprise reported. The airplane was carrying troops on emergency leave and was headed to Lowry Air Field from Las Vegas when it developed engine issues and was forced to land.
The featured movies at the Eagle Theater were “Let’s Dance” starring Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire and “Sierra” starring Audie Murphy.
80 years ago
Week of July 18, 1941
Don Russell, a member of the most recent contingent of draftees from Eagle County, wrote a letter to the editor from boot camp in Polk, Louisiana. “I think that a year in the Army would do any man good. Of course, it is hard to leave your home and friends for a year, but after all, you have to leave some time or another. As long as a fellow obeys orders and keeps his mouth shut and jumps when they holler ‘frog” he will get along OK.”
Eagle’s water was declared safe for domestic consumption. Eagle County Sheriff Murray Wilson had sent a sample of the Eagle municipal water to the state for testing.
