This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 14 Issue 724 Circulation 5,000 December 9, 2010
PO Box 2
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-657-8616
After last week's newsletter I learned I had several Readers who attended Nebo school in Murray county. Many times I do not know just who or how many Readers my T&T reaches until some emails me with their story or comment. We appreciate the emails and Jill and I appreciate the wonderful hospitality and tour by Richard and Dorothy Shive at their Nebo "museum". If anyone wants to ask more about the old Nebo school house, their email is RLSHIVE@aol.com
We have mentioned several times over the years, and shown the photograph that
goes along with the hanging that took place back at Ardmore in 1905. It has been
reported as the last hanging in Ardmore (in connection to the
Federal court system).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hang05.jpg
Back in November 1950 there was a hanging of some kind north of Lone Grove:
The Daily Ardmoreite, November 1950- The partially decomposed body of John
Watkins, a 47 year old transient, was found hanging from a tree, 5 1/2 miles
north of Lone Grove by quail hunters. Examining physicals said the man had been
dead for more than three weeks. A vague location for the tree was giving to the
sheriff, and it took some time to find the place again.
Oklahoman Joe Lawter, the ship's bugle boy, was the first to sound the alarm aboard the USS Oklahoma in 1941.
http://www.okmoments.com/index.php?q=373
From This and That newsletter archives December 1997:
The Carter County Courthouse has some new furnishings this week. Dalton Cain, Chief of Maintenance, has been busy making some very nice benches for all 3 floors of the rotunda so people can sit while waiting for court to start, etc. Dalton used 2 X 12s, some metal brackets, and dark stain to create some very practical and needed seating. They almost look as if they have been a part of the courthouse for many years. I'm sure the elderly and people with medical problems are going to appreciate not having to stand or lean against the walls for long periods of time. I've been watching, and on all three floors, people have been making use of the small, short, wood benches. I've overheard several visitors to the courthouse commend the county commissioners for making it possible.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/WoodBench120810.jpg
The main entrance to the Carter county courthouse is on the west side of the building (B Street SW entrance). When the courthouse was opened in 1910 there were 3 doors or entrances into the building. Today there is only 1 entrance on the west side of the building as the other 2 were closed in years ago. That will soon will change as commissioners are working to restore the 2 closed-in west entrances for use by the public.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/FrontEntrance120710.jpg
Just
inside one of the 3 west entrances is a black marble plaque with Latin
wording on it by the poet Virgil.
HAE TIBI ERUNT ARTES
PACISQUE INPONERE MOREM
PARCERE SUBJECTIS
ET DEBELLARE SUPERBOS
-Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)
I found on the Internet a program called LatinQuick which seems to do a good job translating the Latin to English. If anyone can translate better, please let me know what you think. I am sure the below is not exactly the way old Virgil would have said it:
These to you will be the skill
To impose of the peace the custom
Forbear throw undered
And to fight to a finish arrogant
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/MarblePlaque120710.jpg
Q. Where is Oklahoma's
Hopes and Dreams statue located?
A.
Perry, Oklahoma
Q. Where is the antique
capital of Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's newsletter)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG....."I am Henry Allen, I am the current president of The Texoma Hamarama Association. I have been attending Hamarama since 1976. 2010 is my 7th year as Hamarama chairman. I hope someone can help me with something I am trying to establish. I am trying to find out what year the Texoma Hamarama was first held. So far I have not found anyone that can tell me. If anyone can give me any information I would appreciate it. Even if someone could just tell me the earliest year that would help. As you know Hamarama has been held In Ardmore since 2007." -Henry Allen, W5TYD k5bugla@gmail.com
http://www.texomahamarama.org/
"Wiley Walker's Dad singing on WKY radio in Oklahoma City." When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again -Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan 1941
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7XwZqGMKdI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
"My name is Ethel. I visited your website last night while researching some genealogy resources and I was wondering if you might consider listing my family tree template page as a link on your website? My family template section has over 20 pages of completely downloadable free family tree charts. I thought this might be helpful to some of your visitors who are interested in tracing their ancestry. www.ObituariesHelp.org's mandate is to provide as much free online genealogy resources as possible and it's constantly being updated." -Ethel Reagan
Jelly Bryce, Oklahoma's fastest quick draw.
http://www.okmoments.com/daily.php?j=1291611600&i=1291643471-1561
"One of your readers asked about the shoe shop owner Ben Dye. I knew of him very well as my Grandfather was a boot maker for years here and in California and he worked for Ben. My grandfather was a deaf mute bootmaker and his name was Seab Weldon. He always had a cigar that he kept in his mouth but never lit. Some of the older people here in Ardmore will probably remember him working at the City Shoe Shop back in the 50's and early 60's." -Betty Dighton, Ardmore, Ok bldo38@sbcglobal.net
Circa 1945 - Seminole, Oklahoma
"I had never ridden on a train. Daddy wrote Grandpa or Uncle Emory down in Kingsland , Ark. We were coming to see them on the "TRAIN" . I don't remember much of the particulars other than Mother and Betty taking us down to the CRI & P. Depot in Seminole. It was at the far South end of Main St. We boarded the train and I was amazed that the inside of the cars looked exactly like they did in the movies. The two seats faced each other. I remember daddy telling me he didn't like riding backwards because it made him feel sick. It didn't bother me because I didn't set down that long. I was walking up and down the aisles and going from one car to the other. Yep it was just like you see in the movies. I remember the toilets on board. You set down on the commode and when you were thru and flushed, it opened and dumped between the tracks. You could see the railroad ties when the toilet opened up. I have often wondered what they done when someone used it while they were stopped at a station.
We were to make a train change somewhere in Eastern Okla. or just into Arkansas. I only know when we arrived at the place to catch the next train it had already come and gone. Daddy found out that we could catch a train over in the next little town to get us on into Kingsland. He found us a Hotel/rooming house and we spent the night. I remember him putting his wallet under his pillow. I thought how great, that he would think of such a thing to protect his money!
The next morning when we awoke and we were getting dressed to go down stairs, I noticed Daddy had a Twenty dollar bill folded up and put in his shoe. This man amazed me that he was a world traveler and had the intelligence to watch out for us in case of robbery, skullduggery, etc.
Well in order for us to catch the train in the next little town, we "Hitchhiked". It was somewhere around 11 miles and we started walking. I remember watching and listening to all the birds along the road. It was just an old county road. Not a paved highway. I kept hearing a cat meow and asked Dad if there was one around. He said that it was a Cat Bird and pointed it out to me. We stopped and listened to him. It certainly sounded like a cat meowing.
Soon an old man came by in an old pick up and gave us a ride into the next town. I think Daddy offered to pay him and he wouldn't take any money. We caught the train and got on into Kingsland.
God thank you for these memories."
"I have been doing genealogy research for my husband Carl Blankenship. He was born in Oklahoma City and his father and grandparents lived in Oklahoma City for a very long time. His father, Carl Alva Blankenship, played in Ruby Nance's Band. I was surfing the net using Ruby Nance Band and came across your website for "This & That". A mention was made about a CD and on pg. 2 of the CD there is suppose to be a picture of Ruby Nance and 27 members of the band. If anyone of your Readers has any knowledge of Carl Alva Blankenship and the Ruby Nance Band, I would appreciate hearing from you." -Dottie Blankenship dottiedripple@peoplepc.com
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/rubynancedanceband.jpg
Radio & Kids in the 1930s
Recent mention about early KVSO television in Ardmore sent my mind wandering
again. KVSO began in the '30s as a radio station, located in what had been known
as 'Home Beautiful' which still stands, now 905 Northwest Blvd. Its tower stood
on that corner for decades. Family friend Charles Dibrell was the nighttime
operator, one of very few licensed people in So. OK in those days. I would
sometimes ride my bike out and keep him company while he sat and changed
'electrical transcriptions'- actually music records and every half hour announce
"KVSO Ardmore". Sometimes local talent would perform. I remember Thelma Crosby,
my age and neighbor sang once a week, opening with "Blue Moon".
KVSO wasn't a network station. We got a radio about 1932. We would tune in WFAA
Dallas or WKY in OK City if Will Rogers or President Roosevelt was on.
Not many commercials, no local radio advertising I recall, only the network
stations with major products. Orphan Annie - Ovaltine, Jack Armstrong - Wheaties.
The mid '30s saw the soap operas like Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins,. Little Orphan
Annie came on at 5:45 and gave out coded messages you could read if you sent in
and got their 'decoder pin'. We only turned the radio on when there was
something specific to listen to.
A lot of us kids were interested in building our own little radios we could
listen to with earphones. Some of us used old telephone receivers till we could
trade for a headset or a new one for $2. Radio was fun, harmless, educational,
not too expensive - and our parents didn't understand it at all.
My Grandparents got a radio back in the 1920s, long defunct due to nuisance and
cost of charging and buying batteries. I found it in the attic and was given it
as a source of parts for my projects. I got into 'radio' at about 12. Coming
home from school I would stop by Dibrell's radio shop at NW corner 8th and C st
NW where I got started making crystal radios and later one-tube sets. A great
thing when your home-built set could hear 'Dallas in the daytime'.
In addition to radio as his profession, Charles Dibrell was a radio 'ham' -
operator of his own amateur radio station with W5BLW call letters, talking with
other hams around the country and the world. He and Jack Gant, another ham,
conducted an evening radio training class in Ardmore High School in summer of
1941 which I attended. Later in 1946 I had my own ham station in Belgian Congo
Africa, OQ5CE, and once talked with my parents at Dibrell's from Africa.
Radio today is just one of many electronic sides of life, TVs, CBs, Cells, etc
-- but it all got started in radio.
I didn't follow radio but the learning served me well in aviation technical. I
think kids into old cars, radio, fixing and building things, etc., got
experience that was useful later in their lives - the basis of American
ingenuity in winning World War Two. -Bob McCrory
New 50's diner in Healdton: "Hey Butch, you need to travel to Healdton to try our new diner in town on Main St at the red light called Jo B's. Great burgers and fresh cut fries. It just open yesterday and hours are 11am to 9pm, weekends too"
SPRINGER ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARADE -SATURDAY - DECEMBER 11, 2010 AT 1:00 PM
All participants meet at 12:30 PM in the Springer School parking lot on the South side to register.
Entry fee is one (1) unwrapped toy per entry.
Everyone welcome - ATV's, cars, bikes, animals, walkers, floats, tractors and etc.
Immediately following the parade join us for refreshments at the Springer Community Center.
Volunteers and donations welcome and greatly appreciated. Call for info: 580-653-2500,653-2829 or 653-2324
Q. "My name is Jack Robertson, I was looking for a photo of the Frisco railroad bridge in 1940, before they made Lake Texoma. I have a really great photo of the building of Denison dam 1940. my great-great grandpa helped build it. Now I have dived down under the bridge and i look at my diving watch and from the bank is 30 feet drop and go 20 feet. its 60 feet 30 ft out and so on and so on. the main span is 115 feet to the bottom of the bridge." -Jack Robertson
A. "Hello Jack, unfortunately I don't have a photo of the bridge from 1940 but I do have one from 1948 after Lake Texoma was made which I have attached. It shows a Frisco train passing over the bridge. The photo is from one of the publications from the Oklahoma Historical Society. If I ever run across an earlier photo than 1948 I'll be sure to send it to you." -Dwane Stevens
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/TexomaBridge1948.jpg
"Dear Butch, As a retired Culinary Arts instructor, I enjoy giving speeches from time to time on various aspects of hospitality. Speaking to young homemakers is my favorite group. Today, as I spoke and was trying to give them the confidence to ?invite? people into their homes. I enjoyed telling them that my first examples of true hospitality were from my parents, Doug and Ruby Pattillo. The second ones were my next door neighbors, Mrs. Addie Carmon and Louise Bridges (your grandmother and mother). As a very young child, I would sit in their front porch swing as they listened to their radio shows. Sometimes, I would be invited inside with them which was a real treat and to be served lemonade or Kool-Aid from one of the abundance of snuff glasses from their cabinet. This was a great example of the point I was trying to make that it is not WHAT or HOW you serve someone, but the fact that you put hospitality into practice. This is a very special memory for me." -Nancy Pattillo Watson, Edmond, Oklahoma
P.S. As an added note to Nancy's email, these are snuff glasses I own, plus two still full, never been opened containers of snuff that belonged to my great grandmother. -Butch
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/snufglas.jpg
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost (1922)
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound?s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nGcmUWWmIY&feature=related
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a
minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
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