Time Machine: 50 years ago, locals pack town hall, express skepticism on time frame for interstate in Vail
Vail Daily archive
5 years ago
June 16, 2017
Great Outdoors Colorado’s board of directors voted to grant $3.1 million toward the purchase of the Hardscrabble Ranch in Eagle in an effort to help connect area trails and provide public access to Brush Creek for fishing and wildlife viewing.
“Hardscrabble contains the last remaining piece of Brush Creek large enough for movement and habitat of big game,” said Michele Frishman, open space program manager with Great Outdoors Colorado.
10 years ago
June 14, 2012
The Colorado thief known as the “ATM Bandit” received a seven-year sentence in Eagle County District Court.
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Eric Callaghan, a Marine combat veteran with an honorable discharge, admitted breaking into 25 ATMs in Eagle and Summit counties over the course of two years. His first ATM robbery occurred on Vail Mountain.
Callaghan said he fell into depression when his best friend from Iraq died by suicide and his mother began suffering from seizures. District Court Judge Fred Gannett said he was sympathetic, but rejected Callaghan’s plea for probation and a lighter sentence.
“Someone’s history usually offers a thread that leads to these behaviors,” Gannett told Callaghan. “That’s not true in your case.”
20 years ago
June 14, 2002
Ski Country USA and Vail Resorts skier numbers for the season were reported, with Vail claiming the title of busiest ski resort in the U.S. at 1.54 million skier visits. The 2001-02 season numbers represented a 7% drop from the previous season.
“Skiers and snowboarders hit Colorado’s slopes in droves despite the poor economy, travel fears stemming from the attacks, and snowfall levels that were 28 percent below the industry’s seven-year-average,” Scripps Howard News Service reported.
30 years ago
June 17-20, 1992
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney was among the guests at the 11th annual AEI World Forum in Beaver Creek.
Conceived by Vail local Gerald Ford during his tenure as 38th president of the United States, the forum was designed to create an exchange of ideas between high-powered members of the public and private sector.
June 19, 1992
Former Vail Mountain owner George Gillett, in an interview with the Vail Trail, said two of the three presidential candidates that year had ties to Vail.
Ross Perot, who had been a Vail homeowner since the mid-’70s, was more well known in town, but Gillett shared an interesting fact about George H. W. Bush.
“Interesting fact, not many people know this. George Bush was one of the original investors in Vail Associates,” Gillett said. “In the ’60s, he had a partnership interest along with two or three friends. So our ties with George Bush and Ross Perot are deep.”
40 years ago
Week of June 11, 1982
Antics by Elvis Presley in Vail were the subject of testimony before the state judiciary committee.
The committee was investigating Presley’s connection with members of the Colorado Organized Crime Strike Force.
Former Vail Police officer Ray Romero testified, saying Presley was snowmobiling on Vail Mountain without permission during January of 1976, and in Presley’s company were Denver Police Department Captain Jerry Kennedy and detective Ronald Pietrafeso, former chief investigator for the Colorado Organized Crime Strike Force.
Romero said after talking to Kennedy, he decided not to cite any of those involved, but told them they would have to stop. Romero said he was invited to a Presley party after the snowmobiling incident, but declined.
50 years ago
June 19, 1972
More than 100 people crowded the Vail Municipal Building to attend a public hearing on the proposed design of Interstate 70 over Vail Pass.
Residents raised concerns regarding pedestrian safety during construction, motorist safety on the highway, bicycle access and the protection of the environment.
The Colorado Department of Transportation said construction of the 14-mile stretch of roadway was expected to get underway in 1973 and be completed in 1975.
Vail residents expressed skepticism that the project would be completed in that time frame.
60 years ago
Week of June 14, 1962
Astronaut Scott Carpenter’s beef-loving father is sent steak from Eagle County thanks to a group known as the Eagle County Cowbelles.
“’The Cowbelles’ got the idea when it became known that the astronauts include beefsteak on their breakfast menu while in training,” the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
The senior Carpenter was sent seven steaks from Eagle County.
70 years ago
June 15, 1952
A crowd of 2,000 attended the fifth annual Burns Rodeo in Eagle County.
The fifth-annual parade and rodeo was held in honor of Frank Newcomer, a prominent member of the Burns Hole area in northern Eagle County who helped in the development of Burns, where the rodeo was held.
Miss Josephine Horn of Burns was proclaimed the Rodeo Queen.
80 years ago
Week of June 12, 1942
Eagle County residents were warned that a coal delivery bottleneck was inevitable in the coming fall, and they will need to get their winter coal stores replenished as soon as possible.
“Months ago, big industries of Colorado, foreseeing the approaching bottleneck of coal delivery trucks without tires and railroad coal cars being used for everything but coal, began buying and storing huge volumes for winter requirements,” the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported. “But householders remain complacent and many of them will discover, too late, that they will be unable to get delivery when cold weather arrives.”
