Colfax Chronicles

10 YEARS AGOFeb. 28, 2002 – Jordan Zapper was one of eight Colfax High wrestlers who headed into last weekend's Sac-Joaquin Section Tournament with their sights set on earning a berth in the prestigious CIF State Meet. But when the dust had cleared Saturday afternoon, Zapper was the lone Falcon standing in the school's quest to make history. Zapper, the feisty 162-pounder who last fall switched positions and guided Colfax High's football team to a section Div. IV championship from his quarterback spot, put forth a strong weekend of wrestling to finish fourth in his weight class and earn a spot in the state tournament. The senior student thus becomes the first Colfax High wrestler to ever qualify for a true statewide CIF state tournament.The Placer County Office of Education Child Care Services will open the Colfax State Preschool at 9 a.m. Friday, March 1, at Sierra Vista Community Center.Area residents can take advantage of classes offered at the Colfax Adult Center, Church and Culver Streets, including Tai Chi, Beginning the Internet, and Lyrical Locos.20 YEARS AGOFeb. 26, 1992 – Building in Colfax continued at a snail's pace during January, with the month's figures the worst in three years. The December 1991 building totals were the worst the city had seen since 1988, and January's was less than one third of that dismal month. The January 1992 total construction in the city was $18, 168. This compares to $29,078 for 1991 and $113,300 in 1990. For the fiscal year, construction has totaled $1,003,429 since July 1, 1991. This compares to $1,217,223 for the same period in 1991 and $1,223,371 in 1990. According to Building Official Bob Carton, projects anticipated to begin construction in the summer include Mink Creek Estates, 102-union mobile home park; the Mormon Church; and completion of the Oak Ridge Estates project that was recently approved for re-subdivision.Toasts were made and hands clasped as Sierra Vista Center Inc. celebrated the transfer of title of the Colfax Community Center. Thursday, Feb. 13, marked the transfer of title of the old Colfax Grammar School from the school district to Sierra Vista Center Inc. The transfer marked nearly five years of efforts to turn the abandoned school into a community center.The Colfax High girls varsity basketball team captured the outright Golden Empire League championship last week. The Lady Falcons, now 13-0 in league play and 27-2 overall, will open Sac-Joaquin Div. IV playoffs this Friday night when they host a yet-to-be-determined foe. The game will be part of a girls-boys playoff doubleheader as the CHS boys will follow with a playoff game. The Lady Falcons hoop program has now won or shared 10 of the past 12 GEL crowns and will be making their 12th straight playoff appearance. The girls team includes Missy Stocks, Jamie Wickwire, Lisa Clark, Amber Steele, Hillary Hoopes, Stacy Moore, Sam Chambers, Kellie Kuelper, Michelle Cornell, Debbie Dutton and Rachel Kulp. Jim Ryan is the coach.50 YEARS AGOMarch 1, 1962 – Alta, Dutch Flat and Gold Run residents have new dial telephones that went into service Saturday, March 3, at 11:01 p.m. The new service has been made available to the residents of this area by the installation of new equipment in the telephone building in Dutch Flat that was recently constructed by the Pacific Telephone Company. The new system will use seven-digit telephone numbers, with the first three digits separated by a dash from the remaining four. All phone numbers in this district, which are known as Alta numbers, will start with three digits 389 and will not use a prefix such as DI 6 that is used in Colfax at the present time. Out-of-town residents may now dial the Alta, Dutch Flat and Gold Run numbers.One person was killed and 37 injured Sunday morning when a chartered Greyhound bus skidded out of control on icy U.S. 40 and plunged over a 50-foot embankment one mile west of Baxter. Killed was Mrs. Laverne Smith, 49, San Leandro, who was crushed under the bus that came to rest on its side. She apparently was hurled out through a window, officials said. The bus, filled with weekend fun-seekers, was San Francisco bound from the Nevada Lodge at Lake Tahoe. Had the accident occurred a few hundred yards in either direction, the bus would have plunged over a 400-foot embankment.Bob and Flo Glessner of Rancho Sierra Inn at Emigrant Gap are planning a big evening for Friday, March 2 for friends, when they will hold an inn warming to get better acquainted with the customers.After 30 years of service with the Colfax Fruit Growers Association, Russell R. Sweet retired from his position of treasurer and office manager effective Feb. 28. On March 1, 1932, Sweet came to Colfax from the Auburn Fruit Exchange to take over as office manager for the local fruit association.For posterity, the Record would like to record the space flight of Colonel John Glenn of the U.S. Marines. Col. Glenn's space capsule was blasted skyward on Tuesday, Feb. 20, by a powerful Atlas booster which shot aloft from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 9:47 p.m. EST. The flight ended at 2:43 p.m. EST in the Atlantic Ocean near Grand Turk Island in the Bahamas, after three orbits around the earth. He saw four sunsets in his five-hour ride.