(Information was gleaned from copies of the Wet Mountain Tribune, all from the fourth week in November.)

100 Years Ago – 1909

The Thanksgiving Ball at Eddy’s Corner on Thanksgiving night was an elaborate affair and a grand success in every particular. The crowd present was the largest at an occasion of this kind in Custer County for many years, all the surrounding communities being well represented. The floor space was taxed to its capacity when twenty sets occupied it in a square dance. The new hall with its elegant equipment elicited the admiration of all visitors, many of whom had never before realized that so fine a place for large public gatherings was being prepared in the Eddy cement block.

Mrs. Brandenburg with a couple of young horses, while driving to town Tuesday, made an effort to pass a rig on the road in which Zach. Jordan and “Billy” Dawson were riding. A mixup of horses and vehicles followed with the result that the horses became frantic and runaways were barely averted. Mr. Jordan’s rig was overturned and its occupants thrown out upon the ground. They sustained but slight injury. One of the Brandenburg horses was slightly injured and Mr. Jordan’s rig somewhat demolished. It was fortunate that the accident proved no more disastrous.

Miss Mollie Rosentrauch on Saturday accompanied the two Dickson children to Pueblo, where she placed them in the Sacred Heart Orphanage.

George Walker and Gus Menzel got the lion’s share of the turkeys at the shooting match at Max Garnier’s last Sunday.

50 Years Ago –1959

Lake DeWeese, four miles north of Westcliffe, will be open for fishing from Thursday, Nov. 26 through the month of December. The Colorado Game and Fish commission declared the post season Tuesday after it learned the DeWeese-Dye Ditch Co. would drain her reservoir to repair headgates. The ditch company discovered the broken headgate early this summer. They sank bed mattresses to cover the outlet but this proved to be an unsatisfactory method of controlling the amount of water released from the reservoir.

Lavern Hanssen, U.S. Navy, will be home this week for leave. He has just returned from several weeks’ overseas duty aboard the ship Bexar. He received his California port Tuesday and telephoned his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hanssen, that he would be here for Thanksgiving.

Mrs. Bill Falkenberg spent last Friday in Salida visiting with her mother, Mrs. Robert O’Haver.

25 Years Ago – 1984

More than 60 people enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal at the Silver Cliff Senior Center, with about 15 meals delivered to shut-ins. Gladys Miller, cook for the senior center, prepared two 22-pound turkeys for the occasion.

Acting county road supervisor Joe Potthoff said new priorities are being established at the county shop which should result in improved conditions on many county roads. Some of the major problem areas identified by Potthoff include Macy Lane between Schoolfield and Hermit roads; the bridge on Junkins Park hill; blind curves on Brush Hollow Road, and Bradbury Hill in the Ilse area.

School librarian Eula Strayer has been re-elected to the governing board of the Arkansas Valley Regional Library Service System.

Congratulations to Marv and Ann Rankin. They celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary on Monday.

10 Years Ago – 1999

John and Carol Barnett’s drive to Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving with their family ended in tragedy when the rural Westcliffe couple was killed from injuries sustained in a head-on collision on Interstate 70 in western Missouri near Kansas City on Thursday morning, Nov. 18. John Barnett, 68, died at the scene. His wife, Carol, 64, died on Sunday at a hospital in Liberty, Mo. The multi-vehicle accident, which followed an earlier accident at the scene, also resulted in the death of a 35-year-old Missouri man. The Barnetts, who were active as horse breeders and in the local arts scene, had been residents here since 1994.

Marty Frick has been named director of the Custer County Library in Westcliffe. She was one of 19 applicants for the job. She replaces Kate Mutch who recently accepted a similar position in Andover, Kan.

Corb and Jan Griffin have opened the Berthel Fisher and Co. Financial Services office in Westcliffe. Griffin has more than 25 years experience as an investment executive.

5 Years Ago – 2004

Custer County was a picture-postcard scene earlier this week, when a foot or more of snow fell throughout the county.

The Chamber of Commerce invites the public to take part in its upcoming Holiday House Tour. Stops in the tour will include the Duckett Creek Ranch, Maytag Ranch, King Ranch, the Hillside Post Office, and the homes of Boyd and Holly Conwell and Tedi Rankin.

The 1930s-era Peerless carbon-arc projector at the Jones Theater is being replaced with more modern technology. Keeping the old projector up and running in recent years has been Ken Hudson, who was a licensed union projectionist in New York City for some 20 years prior to moving to Westcliffe.

That’s the spirit! Six-year-old Ellie Gluschke has emptied out her piggybank and is donating $22.50 to the Valley Park organization through the Community Foundation’s current Community Spirit matching fund campaign. Valley Park is planning to install tennis courts at the town park.

1 Year Ago – 2008

The board of directors for the Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District has signed a letter of intent with the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District to lease water from the Johnson Place Ranch. UAWCD is hoping to lease 20-acre feet of water annually for a period of 25 years. Upper Ark says the water will be used to bring a blanket augmentation plan to Custer County.

Black ice conditions on Highway 96 last Thursday morning caused a Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow and numerous other vehicles to slip and slide off the road. The C-DOT truck went off the highway near mile marker 16 near MacKenzie Junction at about  8 a.m. Though the highway was closed for about two hours, there were no injuries or major damage reported.

The Custer County Airport Authority has been awarded a $164,000 grant from the state’s Division of Aeronautics to erect a maintenance building at the county airport.

Third grader Keziah Bachert has been crowned Junior Princess by the Southern Colorado Horseman’s Association.