I am in downtown Ardmore several
times a week, if not daily. I never noticed this beautiful piece of art work on
a building I drive by frequently. Last week I was driving by the Ardmoreite Building in
downtown Ardmore and notice a mural that had been painted on
the east side of the building.
This picture is a wide angle view of
the entire mural.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreiteMural093016.jpg
The next 3 are close-ups of the east
wall.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreiteGilbertBuildingB.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreiteGilbertBuildingC.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreiteGilbertBuildingD.jpg
I snapped this front view of the
Ardmoreite Building (old Gilbert Building 1930).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreiteGilbertBuildingA.jpg
September 1932
Because they heard he had asserted he would never be taken alive, and
anticipating gunplay, three officers fired upon and mortally wounded Finis
beard, 20, an escaped convict of Granite Reformatory, as he fled from his
sister's home here. A companion Albert Snyder, 20, was captured at his sister's
home shortly before the search for Beard began. Beard, Snyder, and 22 others
participated in a prison break Sunday night. There are still 11 fugitives at
sarge.
The municipal swimming poll at
Purcell, Oklahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/PurcellSwimmingPool.jpg
Platt Motor Courts at Sulphur,
Oklahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/PlattMotorCourtsSulphurOK.jpg
Rustic Bridge near Sulphur Springs at
Sulphur, Oklahoma.
Monument dedicated to first Boy Scout
troop in the U.S. in 1909 at Pawhuska, Kolahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/FirstBoyScoutTroop1909.jpg
Picture of Lake Texoma Lodge right
after its completion. The lodge was built in 1951, and officially closed its
doors on December 1, 2006.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/LakeTexomaLodgeNew.jpg
Dougherty, Oklahoma jail from the
bygone years.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/DoughertyOKjail.jpg
One of several bricks I sandblasted this
week.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/BlackburnBabyPaver.jpg
You can find current gas prices for a
particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search
box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Q. Where is the #1 rated most
beautiful river in Oklahoma located?
A. The Little River is in Southeastern Oklahoma and travels through the
Little River National Wildlife Refuge and a portion of the Ouachita National
Forest and on into Arkansas. It's said to be one of the most beautiful rivers in
Oklahoma.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS
Q. How many species of poisonous snakes in Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That
newsletter archives of October 12, 2002
This bell is at the First Baptist Church in
Butler, Oklahoma (Custer County).
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/custbap2.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
Electrical contractors from Oklahoma City
have been busy the past few weeks retrofitting our courthouse. Many areas of the
court house has very old electrical wiring and Osborne Electric out of OKC will
be replacing most of it over the next 8 or 9 months. George Soter, an Electrical
Engineer from Oklahoma City, started the initial work on the courthouse's
electrical needs, and Osborne Electric will be doing the work. Here is a photo I
took of Mr. Soter back in July 2001 when he was looking at some of the old panel
boxes in the basement that will be replaced.
http://www.Oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/soter2.jpg
Lonnie Davis (front) and Rick Scammahorn
(rear) boring a 4 inch hole through the first floor to the basement area
underneath the courthouse for electrical conduit.
http://www.Oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/osborne2.jpg
Electrical box that has just been installed on the first floor.
http://www.Oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/osborne4.jpg
Much of the conduit that will bring the electricity into the court house, must
first come in through the dirt floor basement. This is the basement area under
the first floor of the courthouse where new conduit is being run.
http://www.Oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/osborne3.jpg
http://www.Oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/osborne5.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I can not ever tire of hearing
information regarding Washington School. Those were the happiest years of my
carefree life. I do remember clearly Miss Ringer and her pictures placed around
the room at the blackboards. On Fridays, if it was our day to have art instead
of music, Miss Ringer would spend the entire class period telling us the history
of the artist and the circumstances of why the particular painting was made. I
was literally terrified of Miss Ringer, and only had her for art during the
upper elementary school years. I was very poor in art, but out of those years I
was able to do two things which she praised to high heaven. One was I was called
on to go up the blackboard and take the pointer and name each one of the
paintings as well as its painter. I did every painting correctly without even
pausing to think. Miss Ringer was so proud of me. Another time, she let us to
finger painting with different color paste or some kind of potion she mixed up
(remember the sink in the back of her room). My color was green, and near the
end of the class she told us to paint a picture for her that would good enough
to be posted in her classroom. Well, I couldn't draw worth a flip, so I quickly
thought up the idea to draw a musical staff with a treble cleft, and a couple of
sharps or flats as well as a time signature. Miss Ringer was so proud of me, and
I actually did a good job that my painting made the group to be hung with the
selected ones. She said it was so original as no one else had that idea. I
always did better in music with Mrs. Wilna Lasiter, and she was also my 5th
grade homeroom teacher. She was a great teacher, and she was not as rough as I
feared Miss Ringer might be, and literally could be. Many people have inquired
about Mrs. Lasiter and they would say Wilma Lasiter, but her first name was
Wilna. At one time she directed the choir at The Calvary Presbyterian Church,
and I think she played the piano for a local church. She was a very talented
lady and was a very sweet woman. At the end of the school year, she put on the
play about the great American composer, George M. Cohen. We practiced all
semester on those wonderful patriotic songs. I will never forget that program
that the fifth and sixth grade did in May of 1956. I am sure that many of
Washington School former students will also remember those extremely nice
Christmas treats that the PTA gave each student. I remember Mrs. Gentry very
well. Also, Mrs. Smithers who made such lovely chocolate cake on soup day each
Wednesday. I would give ten dollars for a piece of cake that taste just exactly
like that did. I have never had any just like it flavor wise, and I have even
tried to make it myself. I have often wondered if Mrs. Smithers would give us the
recipe for this cake. I know the school received commodities in those days,
therefore real butter was used in our food, and we always had that delicious
cheese. In those days, there was no such items as pizza, pigs in a blanket, or
chili con carne on our menus at school."
----------------------------------------------------
I called London, England again this week and talked to the people at Ginness
World Records. They are the most wonderful people, I loved talking to them. I
guess if there was any place in the world I'd like to visit, it would be
England. Anyway, I talked to Kate White and she said there was several people
from Oklahoma who have set world records and so recorded in the Ginness World
Records book. Here is her reply to my inquiry:
"Many thanks for your message. Please find below some details on records which
are held by people in Oklahoma. I have put the couple which are in this year's
book at the top of the email. I hope this is of help, Kind regards, Kate.
In the 2003 edition
Largest stitched teddy bear- The largest stitched teddy bear measured 11.79 m
(38 ft 8.5 in) in length on 21 January 2001 and was constructed by Dana Warren
(USA) of Edmond, Oklahoma, USA.
Tallest dinosaur- Dinosaur remains found in 1994 in Oklahoma, USA, belong to
what is believed to be the largest creature ever to have walked the Earth.
Sauroposeidon ('lizard earthquake god'), was giraffe-like in shape though it was
30 times larger than the largest giraffe. It stood a staggering 18 m (60 ft)
tall (the size of a six-storey building) and weighed 60 tonnes (132,300 lb).
This lofty dinosaur lived about 110 million years ago, in the Mid-Cretaceous
period.
Not in the 2003 edition
Longest straw chain- Crossings Community Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
pieced together 24,387 regular-sized drinking straws to form one continuous
chain measuring 14,825 ft (2.8078 miles) on 29 April 2001.
Most Golden wedding anniversaries in one family- The greatest number of golden
weddings in a family is 11, the three sons and eight daughters of John Lester
and Evaline Bradley of Hollis, Oklahoma, USA, all celebrating their golden
wedding anniversaries between 1963 and 1997, and the seven sons and four
daughters of Clifton E Rutledge and Mary Luella (Moore) Rutledge of Mooreland,
Oklahoma, USA, celebrated golden wedding anniversaries between 1972 and
1991.Thomas and Molly Frey of Nebraska, USA had 17 children; 11 of these
children celebrated golden anniversaries between the years of 1968 and 1991.
Tallest water tower- The Waterspheroid at Edmond, Oklahoma, USA, built in 1986,
rises to a height of 66.5 m. (218 ft.) and has a capacity of 1,893,000 litres
(416,000 gal.). The tower was manufactured by Chicago Bridge and Iron Na-Con,
Inc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Watersphere
Youngest published author- At the age of 6, Dennis Vollmer of Grove, Oklahoma,
USA, wrote and illustrated Joshua Disobeys and had it published by a commercial
publisher, Landmark Editions, Inc. of Kansas City, MO, after his story won a
national student writing contest in 1987."
Kate White, GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BD
(011) 44 207 891 4516
(011) 44 207 891 4536
----------------------------------------------------
"In your column, you mentioned a girl that
won a part in the Little Rascals Movie. I believe that is Jerry Almon from here
in Ardmore. I have seen a newspaper clipping she has about the movie and how she
was picked. You might contact her. Also, thought I would tell you that one
resident out at the Magnetic Hill said that when it rains the water runs
backwards UP the hill. Enjoy your column very much. Save every one."
----------------------------------------------------
"The local former child actor of Little
Rascals fame to whom you referred in your Oct. 5 edition is a woman named June
Thompson. She should be in her mid-ups about now. Her phone number seems to be
unlisted. I couldn't find the number for her daughter and son-in-law, Bob and
Elizabeth Lucas, either, though they are probably still here, too. Her son's
name is Joe Lacy; he tried to resurrect the old Haney Grocery Store in Gene
Autry a few years ago. Before retiring from show business June was quite the
jazz singer for many big bands."
----------------------------------------------------
"I have a request for my 96 year old
Great-Aunt. She says that three doctors left Equity, then Kincaid, KANSAS about
the time of the land rush into the CHEROKEE STRIP. One wrote back to Kincaid
that they had named the city of Enid after her sister, Enid ROUTZONG. Does
anyone have information on the naming of Enid, OK? My G-Aunt is a collector of
trivia (lists and lists) and has been wondering about this for years. She is
very lonely and would just be thrilled by this information. Also a list of early
doctors into Enid would be great. Many thanks." -Rita Wood, Kansas rwood@lvnworth.com
Enid, County seat of Garfield, County. Post Office established
August 25, 1893. Although there are a number of versions of the origin of the
name, it undoubtedly was taken from
Idylls of the King by Tennyson.
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Butch, I really enjoy your This and That. I might have a picture
of Walker Stadium as my Mom kept all of AHS football information from 1959-1962.
I played on Tip Jacobson's teams. My fondest memory was my senior year and we
were coming off a horrible 1-9 season.
Putnam City was our first game. They were prancing around in their Halloween
colors warming up trash talking. They were ranked #1 in the state and we were
picked last in the old Boomer Conference. Guess what the final score was 16-14
AHS. Kenny Stockdale threw a touchdown pass to me and Jeff Villines got the two
pointer to seal the deal. We held them to under 200 yards offense. The next week
we were ranked #2 in the state.
Jimmy Jack Forbes went on to play at Southeastern, Will Johnson played at
Vanderbilt , and I was fortunate to receive a football scholarship to TCU. Kenny
was a year behind us prior to playing at Baylor.
BTW you might remember my Father, Maurice Altom who taught Vocational Ed for
years. He was also principal at Franklin Elementary and Vice Principle at AHS.
Ardmore brings back a lot of memories and was just a wonderful place to grow up
in." -Charlie
I just read a great tip for people caught in a hurricane and have
to evacuate. It's called the one cup tip. You put a cup of water in your
freezer. Freeze it solid and then put a quarter on top of it and leave it in
your freezer. That way when you come back after you've been evacuated you can
tell if your food went completely bad and just refroze or if it stayed Frozen
while you were gone. If the quarter has fallen to the bottom of the cup that
means all the food defrosted and you should throw it out. But if the quarter is
either on the top or in the middle of the cup then your food may still be ok. It
would also be a great idea to leave this in your freezer all the time and if you
lose power for any reason you will have this tip to fall back on. If you don?t
feel good about your food, just throw it out. The main thing is for all to be
safe.
At the link below are 10 more scans of old photographs this week. -Robert
Hensley
http://oklahomahistory.net/postcards
One is a photograph of Judge S. B. Bradford and his
family. I did a Google search and found a S.B (former Attorney General of
Kansas). Bradford in the July 22, 1901 issue of The Daily Ardmoreite. And also
in Vinita, Oklahoma's The Daily Chieftain (July 24, 1902 issue) I found an
article on Judge Bradford. In the newspaper clipping Judge Bradford draws a
graphic picture of the 75,000 Oklahoma school children living in distress.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/postcards/JudgeSBBradfordfamily07041898.jpg
Below is the 1902 newspaper clipping from the Vinita, Oklahoma
Chieftain newspaper in which Judge Bradford talks about the plight of school
children in Indian Territory before statehood. He was addressing his fellow
Oklahoma congressmen about the situation.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/JudgeBradfordClipping1902.jpg
Photograph of Judge Simeon Briggs Bradford
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/SBBradfordAttorneyKansas.jpg
Judge Bradford is buried just west of the east gate (now
the front entrance) at Rosehill Cemetery in Ardmore
Find-A-Grave
Our new publication A Tribute to Wilson's Korea-Vietnam Era
Veterans is in the final stages of publication, with a target date of our first
books being shipped by January 2017. This publication is a hard cover book with
over 600 pages and includes biographies and pictures of the veterans along with
newspaper articles from the Wilson Post during the years 1950 - 1975 that
pertain to the soldiers. If anyone would like to preorder this book please go to
the Wilson Historical Museum website and print the order form, fill it out and
mail your check to:
Wilson Museum. 1270 8th St. Wilson.
$50.00 cost of book
$4.25 8 1/2% tax
$7.00 shipping or you can pick it up at the Wilson Historical Museum.
For more info contact Mindy Taylor at mindyltaylor@att.net
http://www.wilsonhistoricalmuseum.org/
"History is a relentless master. It
has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to
be swept aside." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy
See everyone next
week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443