STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
“We didn’t have no fun here at all.”
That was the Valley in 1903, and the opinion comes from a man who knows whereof he speaks, William H. Slaughter, who has just turned 98, and the grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather of a lot of local Rogers.
The peppery old gentleman, whose remembrance of things past flashes on and off, remembers that he first arrived in the Valley in 1903.
He got off the train from Texas in Imperial because that was as far as the railroad went.
“Filed on 100 acres down between El Centro and Calipat,” he says, “and kept it for a while, then sold it for $100. Guess it’s worth more than that now. But then the whole place was pretty much desert ‘til they figured out some way to get the water here.”
The way they figured was the old canal from the Colorado, through Mexican territory and into the Valley. It broke through in 1906 in the great flood that formed the Salton Sea. Slaughter had been working at leveling land, but the flood was too much: he left in 1907. But the itch was still there, and he returned in 1911 and went into business hauling produce for melon growers.
40 years ago
Imperial Valley College trustees Friday may name the successor to retiring IVC president Terrel Spencer, who is scheduled to step down in June. According to various campus sources, two prime contenders remain after a fourmonth selection process — Dr. Daniel Angel, a Republican legislator from Michigan, and Dr. Larry Blake, president of a community college in British Columbia.
There has also been speculation the trustees could opt to re-advertise for the post in an attempt to get more California applicants for the position. Dr. John A. “Buck” DePaoli, IVC’s associate superintendent of instruction, was the only California to apply.
He withdraw his name last week. However, one faculty source said Wednesday, DePaoli cannot be completely ruled out. Several Board members reportedly were unhappy that the Holtville native stepped aside.
The trustees, meanwhile, have been silent on the subject. Interviews with the candidates were conducted in executive session, and names of finalists have never been officially released.
30 years ago
There was one big surprise and two smaller ones in Monday’s first round of the 23rd annual Central Union High School Boys’ basketball tournament in El Centro.
The biggest surprise came when the Calipatria Hornets came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat Brawley 78-77 with a basket at the buzzer.
Also in the first round, Calexico avenged an early-season defeat by beating Holtville 49-46; Imperial defeated Palo Verde 61-53 and Central thrashed Vincent Memorial, 89-31.
20 years ago
HOLTVILLE — Controversy has shaken the Holtville Unified School District after Superintendent Robert Duran recommended two principals be removed from their positions and reassigned to classrooms.
Joanne Singh, principal of Holtville Middle School, and Pat Salcido, principal of Holtville High School, were told Dec. 16 they could lose their administrative positions.
The school board is expected to discuss Duran’s recommendations when it meets on Feb. 12.