A Look Back, April 5, 2019

A stroll down memory lane from the archives of the Torrington Telegram

Posted 4/5/19

100 Years Ago

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A Look Back, April 5, 2019

A stroll down memory lane from the archives of the Torrington Telegram

Posted

100 Years Ago

April 3, 1919

Lingle acquires paid 

local club leader

Miss Lena Driver, teacher of the Three Buttes School, six miles south of Lingle, has been secured by the board of directors of school district No. 2 to act as local club leader for all of the clubs in that district. Miss Driver majored in home economics in her college work, and the district is fortunate to have her to act as part time leader. It is the purpose of the extension department of the University at Laramie to put part-time paid leaders in all parts of the counties as club work grows. This is the start for Goshen County.

Good interest shown 

in the Farm Bureau

They are off. The Farm Bureau of Goshen County has left the wire and is making for the quarter post. The work of the County Agent and the County Club Leader will from now on be in a very definite line. There will be no more of the hit or miss kind of effort as heretofore. With the adopting of the county-wide program of work the farmers of the county may know what work will be taken up for the year and can align themselves accordingly.

75 years Ago

April 6, 1944

Launch Victory 

Garden campaign

Expressing pleasure with the work carried on by Victory Gardeners last year and urging a continued effort in this direction again in 1944, the Victory Garden committee this week inaugurated a vigorous garden program in Goshen County. The campaign was launched at a meeting at the courthouse on Wednesday of this week.

The committee recommended all persons having space available which they do not intend to use themselves but would be willing to let someone else have a Victory Garden notify County Agent John Hamon. All persons desiring to plant a garden, but not having sufficient space, should also contact the County Agent.

Torrington youth 

now aviation cadet

Robert M. Johnson, 25, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond K. Johnson of this city, has completed his primary training and arrived last week at the Garden City (Kansas) Army Air Field to receive the second phase of flight training.

Cadet Johnson attended the University of Wyoming for four years upon graduation from Torrington High School with the class of 1936. He completed his primary pilot training in Tulsa, Okla. He has a brother serving with the Navy.

50 Years Ago

April 7, 1969

’68 harvest third 

largest in history

An outstanding sugar beet crop, along with excellent yields of corn, beans and alfalfa, provided the farmers of western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming with the third-highest crop production record in history.

Despite cooler than normal temperatures in early spring and a severe hail storm in mid-June, the North Platte Valley produced crops surpassing the previous year’s total value, reported R. M. Sensintaffar, project manager for the Bureau of Reclamation in Casper.

Third highway project to get under way in Goshen County

A third contract has been awarded by the Wyoming Highway Commission for road improvement in Goshen County. Gus Fleischle Jr., chairman of the Commission and representing Platte, Goshen and Laramie counties, announced an $858,824 contract to Gilpatrick Construction Co. of Riverton was awarded for work on U.S. 85 between Cheyenne and Torrington.

This contract calls for the grading, draining, surfacing on the highway and construction of two reinforced concrete box culverts, one reinforced concrete stock-pass extension and one continuous-welded plate girder span bridge.

25 Years Ago

April 6, 1994

Two TPD officers 

fired after prank

Two Torrington Police Officers involved in a prank on a 7-Eleven convenience store clerk were fired Friday.

City attorney Jim Eddington said Police Chief Billy Janes fired the two officers after receiving a Division of Criminal Investigations report on the incident. Eddington declined to release the names of the fired officers pending appeal to a higher board.

Three officers and one dispatcher took part in a hoax robbery of the 7-Eleven store in Torrington on Feb. 18. About 3 a.m., in individual walked into the store, carrying an M16 rifle loaded with blanks. The man allegedly told the clerk to drop to the ground. When he hesitated, the man allegedly pointed the M16 and discharged several blank rounds.

In response to the incident, clerk Douglas M. Haines of Torrington filed a claim against the town requesting $250,000 for damages, stating he was traumatized and victimized by the incident. TPD Sgt. Tony Fisher, Officer Mike Reeve and dispatcher Kraig Murphy were named in the claim.

Reeve was later identified as the man who entered the convenience store, carrying the automatic rifle and wearing a ski mask. Murphy allegedly called Haines at the store, alerting him “police were in the process of trying to apprehend a suspect who was armed with an automatic weapon and was wearing a ski mask.”

Yo-yo weather pattern 

normal for spring

It’s hard to believe, but this yo-yo weather pattern of 70 degrees one day and snow the next is normal for this time of year.

According to Mike Weiland of the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, it’s spring.

“The changes are rapid this time of year because of the jet stream,” he said. “You’ve also got to remember April is our second-snowiest month of the year. March is the first.”