Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
On this date ...
1972: A Texas couple and two of their small children sustained serious burns when a lantern caught their tent on fire at the KOA campground near Tucumcari. The 22-month-old child, who suffered burns on over 60% of her body, died one day later at Trigg Memorial Hospital. The family was sleeping in a tent after their car broke down, could not afford a motel and were given $10 to rent the camping space as their car was being repaired.
• A fire destroyed the Tucumcari Junior High School cafeteria on Fifth Street, causing about $70,000 in damage. The fire was reported about 8:48 p.m. yesterday in the war-surplus army barracks building that was converted into a cafeteria about 1948. The cafeteria served the high school and junior high, plus the Granger, Buena Vista and third grades of Zia School. Students are asked to carry a sack lunch until other meal arrangements are made.
• The Odeon Theatre was screening “Sometimes a Great Notion,” a drama about Oregon loggers starring Paul Newman, Henry Fonda and Lee Remick. The Canal Drive-In was showing two Spanish-language films: “Los Alegres Aguilares” and “El Hombre de Negro.”