If you’re looking for a certain article I wrote in a past issue of “This & That” you might find it faster by doing a “search” with your browser. With Netscape just click your mouse at the top at EDIT and then FIND and type in the word or words you’re looking for. Since I don’t use Internet Explorer, I’m not sure exactly how you do a search there, but I’m sure you can.
Below is October 3, 1998 to December 26, 1998. The latest issue is at the top, and the oldest issue of “This & That” for this time period is at the bottom.
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From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, December 26, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 88
Changes. We’ve seen so many the past year, and with the new year only days away, it’s hard to imagine the changes we will see and make during 1999. I have a poster in my house that reads in part:
“Everything is new, nothing is the way it was….”
That rooster is trying to tell us, we have to be flexible. 1999 is sure to be a test for us all. We need to value our friendships, we will need them even more in the New Year.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/rooster.jpgI said last week, I’d tell everyone what Bob and Sue Lantrip gave me for Christmas. Well, Friday morning, I opened it up, and there was the nicest glimpse into the past I could want. It was a CD with movie clips of The Fab Four, The Beatles, along with their music from the 60s. Thanks Bob and Sue, you two are great friends! The other day I was in Marietta, Oklahoma and saw something I had never noticed before right on Main Street. It was across the street from the Courthouse. This great big beautiful bell on the front lawn of the First Baptist Church. I don’t have a pic yet, but you can be assured I’ll get one!
Last week I had a typo for the pic of Ludwig Isenberg’s tree ornaments. Like one reader told me weeks ago, I sure get carried away with those wwwww’s.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/ludorn.jpgHere’s an old postcard pic of the Enid, Oklahoma Federal Building and Courthouse.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/enidfed.jpgSOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“i spent over 2 hours enjoying your web site. i don’t often find sites interesting enough to hold my interest that long. i found your site searching for information on the hanging in ada. i had read about it several years ago while doing a little research on my family tree. i have lived near stonewall, oklahoma for the past 28 years and many of the points of interest on your site were familiar to me. however i didn’t have the knowledge of their history that i do now. thank you for the fine job and work you have put in your site. i will recommend it to several of my friends from this area with access to the web. i have only now started to play around with a web site, and with yours as inspiration, i have more motivation and direction than before.”
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“Butch this is not a fancy Christmas card or an elaborate ornate Christmas gift, but is something much more wonderful and will last an eternity. The Lord sent us Jesus Christ so that we could enjoy peace & love, but most of all, eternal life. We all know the Christmas season commemorates the Birth of our Savior, but many people forget that true meaning. So I just want to say, I hope God will bless you this season & may next year bring you many more Blessings, both spiritual & material. I cherish the friendship that seems to prevail between us & I just want you to know how I feel. Merry Christmas to you and yours and may God bless you.”
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“We appreciate all the time you have spent in 1998 making people happy. Everyone loves your ‘This & That’ column. Keep up the good work. 500 hundred people on your column list? If the list keeps growing, you are going to have to find yourself a larger mail bag, and have yourself cloned.”
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Christmas Eve I was at the post office and an elderly lady of refinement who I have never met, walked up to me and asked, “Aren’t you Butch Bridges?” I answered, yes, and she begin to unfold to me her desire to share with Ardmore 21 pieces of history she owns, and when she was through I was in awe (to say the least) that she would ask me to help. I can’t say anymore, but as soon as I am able, I will share this remarkable story and pieces from the past.
Hope everyone is enjoying the Holidays as much as I am. I’ve just been reflecting back the last couple days, listening to some old songs at rockinwoman.com and setting some New Year resolutions. Thanks to all who have shared so much with me the past year. I appreciate everyone one of you for letting me come into your home each week.
Let’s make 1999 the best we can make it.See you all next year!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, December 19, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 87
Christmas is upon us. I want to thank everyone for all the electronic Christmas cards and even the paper ones sent by snail mail too! The other day I walked into the Court Clerks Office and looked up at where I have a “mailbox” along with a lot of others at the courthouse. There sticking out of my box was a brightly wrapped box with red Christmas paper. I couldn’t imagine who in the world had put that there. When I looked, it was from my friends Bob and Sue Lantrip. Sue is at the courthouse almost daily researching land records for her job…… and Bob… well, he’s just having fun with his new digital camera Santa brought him! Bob sent me email a year ago….. that meant so much. I appreciate the mail I get from everyone, but ones like Bob sent makes all the work I put into the webpages and my T&T, all worth it. I don’t think Bob will mind me sharing with everyone the email he sent me, he wrote…..
“I sure do enjoy your web page and visit it often. I especially like the pictures of the clock in the courthouse. Back in the late 70s when I worked for the County Treasurer, Mike McComber was always taking people up to see the clock tower and I could never go see it. Now, thanks to you, I can see what I missed back then. Thanks!”
Anyway, I’m not going to open the present until Christmas, but I’ll let everyone know what Bob and Sue gave me. I hope for your sake Bob, it’s not a gag joke. hahaha
This one couple gave me a bottle of Manischewitz the other day too. Boy, they must really want me in the Christmas spirit hahaha.
On reader wrote in last week inquiring about the tree ornaments that local architect Ludwig Isenberg painted area buildings, etc on. Ludwig came in to my office this week, and brought with him the only two ornaments left in his possession. This is not a good pic, but it will give you an idea what we’re talking about.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/ludorn.jpg
Here’s a pic of Ludwig on a dedication stone down on Main Street.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/isenberg.jpgA friend sent in a URL of a great place to listen to songs from the 50s and 60s. Those marked with an akerisk are the original songs by the original artist. http://www.rockinwoman.com
Increase your surfing speed on the Internet up to three times faster and best of all its FREE!!! http://www.web3000.com/
A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST
The Daily Ardmoreite
Sunday, December 28, 1919
Ardmore, OklahomaBuck Garrett Host To County Shut-Ins On Christmas Day
At the county jail, following his usual custom, Sheriff Buck Garrett was host to the prisoners on Christmas Day. And the sheriff lived up to his policy of not doing things by halves and put on a highly appreciated “spread”. There was turkey and cranberry sauce and pies and all the “fixings” attendant at a Christmas feast. Besides all the good things at the dinner table, the “shut-ins” received candies, fruits, nuts, tobacco, etc., all of which helped materially to lighten the burden of feeling that they were denied the freedom of the average American citizen.
SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“Nice issue this week. You mentioned the Kellogg’s sanitarium in Battle Creek. A few years ago there was a movie made (mix of humor and serious) called “The Road to Wellville”, loosely based on Dr. Kellogg and his sanitarium. Can you tell me more about Ludwig Isenberg’s Christmas ornaments? He and Dad were friends, but I never knew anything about this. BTW – do you remember the mural on the wall of the parking lot on Main Street (I think it was between C and D )? Was wondering if you might have any pictures of it.”
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“Speaking of bells in the churches. Does the Methodist Church on Main St. still exist in that spot. I remember right after WWII they remodeled the even then beautiful building and put in “state of the art” electronic bells. My father was the electrician on that and I remember how wonderful they sounded and how modern they were. I believe the church was located between Main and Broadway about even with the park.”
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“Of possible interest. All Aboard is a mailing list dealing with passenger train travel. For those of you along the proposed route of the new Ft.Worth/Oklahoma train route click here for details of station restoration efforts in Ardmore Oklahoma” http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/shart?ID=253312&TP=getarticle
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“Have been unable to get the Burial Records the last couple of days. Is this no longer available?”
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“Butch, you really got the memories going this morning in the T&T. ….the old road that is now Grand Ave. That was the way we would walk going home from town. We lived on F St. NW and then later on G. I had a couple of playmates that lived at the corner of F and now Grand. My favorite memories were of the “sewer” that ran along the old track. It was a great place to walk and pick up “crawdads”. I remember one time my brother had picked up a bucket full and placed them on the back porch. While we were sitting listening to the radio they began to pay us a visit. Some had escaped from the bucket.”
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“Thanks for the good work you have done, and fun you have provided us this entire year — I hope you have a happy holiday season…. Thanks again, and don’t forget the reason for the season.”
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I am trying to keep this issue short. With Christmas this Friday, I know everyone is busy…. and minds on Santa. If there is one wish I could have this Christmas, it would be for peace throughout the world, on the most celebrated day of the year.
Merry Christmas to all….. see you next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, December 12, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 86
I get a lot of email from so many of you, but every now and then one comes to me that is just, just, well different. One friend penned a poem for me and the T&T readers…… here’s what she wrote:
The hustle & bustle of holiday time is here again.
If you didn’t get a head start.. you’d better begin!
There’s so much to do, not a minute to spare,
Lest the tummy be empty & the Christmas tree bare!
Oh, we have decorating, shopping, wrapping & baking to do,
Christmas greetings, visits and some holiday parties, too.
I wonder, if by Christmas, I’ll have this all done!
It’s rushed and stressful, but isn’t it fun?
So many things to do… and places to be,
but here I am waiting… for this week’s T&T!
Merry Christmas to you… and to your readers too,
For 52 times a year… we all learn something new!
It’s the year-round gift… with so much to view,
I love it so much, Butch…my hat’s off to you!!!The following email came to me this week, that I made a mistake on the Deaf Ministry building. The pic and its link is the new building. The grant money they got from Mabee Foundation was to finish it up.
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“Just received your new issue (I enjoyed them very much by the way), but we’re confused around here. The picture you showed of the deaf ministry is the new building that they have been working on for a year (at least). I can’t remember off-hand what the old one looked like, but it was certainly nothing like this new one.”
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/deafmin.jpg
====================================One email I’ve put in this week’s Mailbag is from a reader telling that years ago Grand Avenue in Ardmore was a railroad right-of-way. Around 1972 the ambulance service was looking for property to build a new ambulance building. The Board looked at property all over… even closed-down service stations. They wanted to build on the west side of Memorial Hospital, but Vincent Snider, the hospital administrator at that time, was adamantly against it. One of the City Commissioners mentioned there was a piece of City property next door to Dr. Bahner’s Dental Office on Grand. The City had owned the property ever since the railroad closed down through there. They were going to give the piece of property to the Ambulance Service, but found out that would be illegal since the Ambulance Service was listed as a “private” corporation by the IRS even though it was classed in the 501(C)(3) category. I might add we were the only “private corporation” ambulance service in the State that had the 501(C)(3) exemption. Of course, in reality the service is a public trust, overseen by a Board of Trustees.
Anyway the City ended up leasing the property to the Southern Oklahoma Ambulance Service for One Dollar a year, for 50 years. In looking back I guess it was best Mr. Snider opposed building on hospital grounds, since the hospital was eventually sold. The one thing I remember so well about Mr. Snider was he knew every employee by first name. He never failed to say “hello” and call you by name as he passed you.
I ran across another remarkable find the other day. I was going through some of my grandfather Stanley Carmon’s items, and I found this picture in a frame. It’s a baby on the phone crying for help, asking for Number 1000. Phone number 1000 was the George C. Wright Lumber Company in Altus, Oklahoma. My grandfather built a school for the State of Oklahoma in Altus during the early 30s, and I’m sure this is where the picture came from. The school in Altus, Oklahoma was one of 29 schools he built around the state.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/lbrbaby.jpgAnd when I think it can’t get any better, here comes more memories right out of the past. Ardmoreite Ronnie Roberts lent me his two photos that were taken during the filming of Dillinger here in the Ardmore area. This one is of the cast which included Ronnie Roberts, Bill Coburn, Bill Wofford, James Clark, Lester Priest, Merle Salthouse, Wayne Warthen, and actors Ben Johnson and Roy Jensen. (1972 photos)
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/dillgang.jpg
And here’s one of Ronnie Roberts with actor Ben Johnson
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/ronben.jpg++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST by Senator Ernest Martin (retired)On May 1, 1971 former Oklahoma State Senator Fred E. Tucker came to a homecoming occasion at the Oklahoma State Senate and he brought members of his family along with him. Senator Tucker served what was then known as District 18 in the State Senate, from 1915 to 1923 and reportedly represented the District very well. (After reapportionment the District was changed to 14.) The Tucker Tower at Lake Murray south of Ardmore is named in Senator Tucker’s honor and is recognized as one of the State’s most Recognized Landmarks. Senator Tucker lived in Texas at the time this photo was taken (1971) and was very impressed with our legislative process. I felt most honored to fellowship with him and profit from his recalling his early days of our State history. This 1971 photograph displays present day Senator Ernest Martin (Martin’s Landing) and to his right Senator Fred E. Tucker (Tucker Tower).
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/marttuck.jpg
Here’s a pic of Tucker Tower.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/tucker6.jpg
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Here’s another picture postcard from those 300 I got in a yard sale. I did a search using several search engines, and could not find anything on the Post Tavern in Battle Creek, Michigan. Since Battle Creek was and still is renown for Post Cereals, I assume this is a pic of the Post Cereal headquarters from years ago.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/posttav.jpg
On the back of this old picture postcard it reads that Battle Creek has the largest and best equipped Sanitarium in the world.Also I received the pic below this week of Tucker Tower from my friend Gary Simmons. He’s sending it as his Christmas gift to everyone!
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/tuctow1.jpgTweak your Windows95/98. Make it run at top performance.
http://home.swipnet.se/~w-31362/SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“Dale’s funeral was held in Lloyd Noble center (Norman, OK) It was the only place big enough) and we were told that the procession from Norman to Ardmore was nearly three miles long. I’d especially like to thank Ardmore Masonic Lodge No. 31 for the reception after the services in Ardmore. It had been a very long day by that time, and everyone was nearly exhausted. The food was fabulous and helped all of us regain our spirits. I literally felt ready to go out and face the world again.”
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“I spent Thanksgiving day with my family at Lake Ardmore this year. It was beautiful with all that sunshine and the leaves. I told them how I was keeping up with my Oklahoma roots through your newsletter. ….you should tell people about Ludwig Isenberg’s local Christmas ornaments…. Thanks for all the wonderful memories.”
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“Butch, in this weeks T&T there was mention of railroads in our area & it sparked a bit of memory back to my younger days. As a student at Franklin School (First Ward – N.W) & even later when a student at Ardmore Junior High School we boys sometimes skipped class (played hooky). We walked the tracks west until we reached an old retired Steam Engine much like the one now displayed over on Lake Murray Drive. This old engine was a perfect place to play “engineer”. We all found something to do there and in our imagination we played every part to the hilt. The engine was located just about where the bowling alley or the Sonic now are located on Grand Ave – just east of the big vacant area now known as Commerce Street. When the old Ringling Railroad shut down the right-of-way was developed into what is now one of the business hubs of Ardmore. The Ardmore Public Library is located right in the middle of the old rail road right-of-way. East of the Library, about 4 blocks on the corner of N Washington & 3rd Ave the old Ringling Railroad depot is still standing & leased by the American Legion from the City of Ardmore for a dollar a year. Later I will tell you more about the train track area from the perspective of a young person of some 60+ years ago. I am sure there are many citizens of our area that could tell you much more also. Today, I would be surprised if our younger people ever knew that Grand Avenue once was a railroad right-of-way.”
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“Ardmore-Ringling was built by the Oklahoma, New Mexico & Pacific in 1913-14. Healdton Jct.-Healdton was built by the Ringling & Oil Fields in 1917. These were purchased by the Healdton & Santa Fe in 1926 and leased to GC&SF. Lines were abandoned ca. 1974.”
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“…a few weeks ago you mentioned that you had been told that there might be bells in the attic of the First Orthodox Baptist Church on North Washington Street. I did not see a response to that. I talked to a friend… grew up in Ardmore and attended the Orthodox Baptist Church. His mother was an organist there while he was growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He told me that while his mother was practicing the organ he used to sometimes go up into the attic and look around. He said that there were no bells in the attic. He said that there was a louvered window like opening in the front of the church but that was just for ventilation.”
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two friends here in Ardmore gave me a Celine Dion’s Christmas CD the other day. One song she sang was titled “The Prayer”. Here are a few lines from that song……
“I pray you’ll be our eyes, and watch us where we go
And help us to be wise in times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer, when we lose our way
Lead us to a place, guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.”See everyone next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, December 5, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 85
I saw on the front page of last Monday’s Daily Oklahoman an article on a deaf ministry in Sulphur, Oklahoma. They had been approved for a grant to help restore their building, which was destroyed by a fire almost 2 years ago. But the thing that caught my attention when I was by there the other day, was the unusual architecture of the building they’re presently in, Victorian style. I hope they don’t tear down this beautiful old building, to build a new, modern one.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/deafmin.jpg
Here’s their website to learn more about this Oklahoma ministry.
http://www.brightok.net/~dmw/And let’s not overlook the Oklahoma School for the Deaf on the east edge of Sulphur, Oklahoma. It’s been in that spot since 1908. Here’s a few pics a friend sent to me…..
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/deafscho.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/longhall.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/deafsch2.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/deafsch3.jpg
For more info and pics of all the buildings at the Oklahoma School
for the Deaf, visit: http://members.tripod.com/~osddeaf/Last Saturday I mentioned the old photos found by a Pauls Valley resident in this grandmother’s belongings. What I failed to ask is, does any one know the officers in the picture? We know that Mr. Cathey is in the upper right hand side of the pic.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/lawmen.jpgHere’s an old picture postcard that was with the 300 I got at a yard sale here in Ardmore. It’s the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit,
Michigan. http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/bookcad.jpg
Today it’s just a decaying shell of a building. Sad.
http://www.bhere.com/ruins/downtown/cadillac.htmI mentioned a couple weeks ago about the Dillinger movie I found for $14 in Canada. I went to http://www.blockbuster.com and did a search for Dillinger, and there it was… on sale for $7.99 hahahahaha Anyway, if anyone out there wants this movie, with some of its scenes taped at the courthouse here in Ardmore, just get it from Blockbuster! Something interesting that was brought to my attention this week…. on the second floor of our courthouse is a metal circle railing around the rotunda area. There is a broken piece in the railing that is clearly visible when Melvin Purvis is walking down to the first floor in the movie. So we know it was broken 1973 or before. Anyway, we are taking steps right now to repair that railing. Maybe we should leave it broken, it’s truly a part of history….. shown around the world in the movie Dillinger! As a followup, a friend at the courthouse went to Blockbuster to purchase the Dillinger movie…. and after the sales clerk pulled it up on the computer, and said they were $6.99 each, she ordered 3 tapes!
Carter County Clerk Royce Moser is getting a new computer system. The purchase was approved last week. She will be using KellPro out of Duncan, Oklahoma to provide the software needed to keep all those land records in a database. I don’t want to toot our horn, but outside Oklahoma City and Tulsa, we are probably one of the most computerized courthouses in Oklahoma.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/coclerk.htmlFREE DOWNLOAD MANAGER
With Net Vampire you can schedule files for downloading at any time. The program can make as many attempts as you wish to download any file, and you can easily schedule downloads by simply dragging and dropping HTTP or FTP URLs from your browser window into Net Vampire’s main window, or onto it’s smaller drop basket. You can even set up Net Vampire so that it monitors the Clipboard or watches the URLs that you click on in your browser, automatically recognizing addresses that point to ZIP, EXE, and other types of files. And if the server you are downloading from supports the “resume” function, which most of them do nowadays, then interrupted downloads can be automatically restarted from where they were left off. http://www.netvampire.com/
SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“JUST WANTED TO SAY I WATCHED CELINE TOO SHE IS WONDERFUL, SUCH A POWERFUL VOICE..THEY DON’T MAKE EM LIKE THAT ANYMORE! HAVE A WONDERFUL XMAS”
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“…. One thing I was thinking, sure wish someone knew how to put one of those java moving water things in front of that first Little Niagara photo. It would be beautiful…it is beautiful anyway. Loved your salute to the Moose. How fortunate we are to have such a group in our area. They made a special event for many people for whom it would have been just another day of survival. Thanks for bringing them to our attention.”
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“I well remember the border stations, which came in like local stations. XERF was only one of several. (Incidentally, it’s Villa Acuna, not Via Acuna. “Villa” means “town;” in English it would probably have been named Acunaville or Acunaburg. It’s now named Ciudad Acuna [Acuna City]. For an interesting account of the border stations, which were a part of life for radio listeners (which meant practically everybody then) in the 1930s and 1940s, this is a fascinating book:”
Fowler, Gene, 1950-
Border radio / by Gene Fowler & Bill Crawford.
Austin, Tex. : Texas Monthly Press, c1987. xi, 282 p. : ill. : 24 cm.
Includes index. Bibliography: p. 261-270.
LCCN: 87-17975
ISBN: 0-87719-066-6———————————————————————
“I sure do love it when you include pictures of local scenery in your T&T. I send them to internet pals all over the world so they can see what beautiful Southern Okieland is like. Thanks!!”
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“Just a quick note to mention that I enjoy your memory walks through time. It seems you have quite a bit of knowledge in both areas. I especially liked the lawmen picture. I was wondering if anyone knew the identity of these men? One thing I noticed of interest was the picture of the lawman on the top left. I noticed his badge was on his right side. Perhaps…… this was a gentleman along with his partners wanted to make sure that his badge was going to be in the picture…. placed it from it’s normal left chest location to his right….. or not???? Any thoughts?”
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/lawmen.jpg———————————————————————
“The Oklahoma, New Mexico and Pacific Railway Company was opened from Ardmore to Wilson in October 1913 and from Wilson to Ringling in July 1914. From Cobalt Junction to Healdton, six miles, was incorporated in 1916 as the Ringling and Oil Fields Railway Company, and opened in September 1917. They were consolidated as the Healdton and Santa Fe Railway Company in 1925 and were purchased October 16, 1926, by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe.”
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“My grandmother Ada Beck was born in 1892 in Ardmore. Her siblings were Harve, Jess, Lillian, Mary, Ethel, and Annie. The only one I ever knew was my G-Aunt Annie. Lillian married a man by the last name Whiteage and they had a daughter Lizzie. Lizzie married a man named Charlie Evans. Lillian died young and Lizzie came to live with her grandfather Luther Beck. My grandmother Ada was the oldest girl left at home (her mother Emma E. Couch was already deceased) so she raised Lizzie and the rest of her sisters left at home…… You’re free to forward this to anyone who might help.” mailto:[email protected]
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“…. i just finished reading your T&T this morning and i had to tell you that i enjoyed it tremendously…the pics on the chickasaw national rec area, buckhorn campground and arbuckle lake were incredible and the flower park with the rays of sun between the trees reflecting on the water – awesome…”
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“I have missed your news letter for some time now and thought I would inquire as to what happened. I trust that you are well and that the news letters will resume in the near future.” sincerely, Wilton S. Tifft http://www.tifft.com
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“Could you let me know who sent you the e-mail regarding the “67 Chevy Ambulance? He said he was in an accident with Dale Deberry. Dale’s brother is just curious.
I made a copy of the newsletter to give to Dale, but Tuesday, Dec. 1, Dale suddenly had a heart attack and died at the age of 41. He graduated from Ardmore High in 1975, OU in 1980, and had worked for the Norman (Oklahoma) Police Department for the last 14 years.
Dale’s family thought you might could pass this info on to his many friends out there. Thank you.”
=========================I received the above email this week. It was only two weeks ago, a friend of Dale DeBerry wrote in, telling of an car accident he and Dale were in when they were teens… 25 years ago. Email is powerful. It can travel halfway around the world in a few seconds. Friendships are powerful. They can last a lifetime.
See everyone next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, November 28, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 84
I was looking at the Thanksgiving Day issue of The Daily Ardmoreite Thursday and a photo and caption caught my eye. Our local Moose Lodge said they would deliver Turkey Dinners to shut-ins. My aunt and uncle are both 87 years old, alone, and unable to fix turkey and all the trimmings any more. I called the number listed, gave them my aunt and uncle’s address here in town, and like angels on a mission of mercy, here came their Turkey Day dinner! I used to see ads like that, where shut-ins could get a free Thanksgiving Dinner delivered years ago in the paper….. all by churches. But the Moose Lodge was the only one Thursday. Times sure have changed. http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/tdmoose.jpg I salute the members of the Moose Lodge
http://www.mooseintl.org/I mentioned two weeks ago about the Chickasaw National Recreation Area at Sulphur, Oklahoma… well, here’s more beautiful area pics.
http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw/PlattMore.html
http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw/LakeMore.html
http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw/BuckhornCampground.htmlA friend of mine in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma was going through his grandmother’s old photos…. and found these…. what a find too!
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/lawmen.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/laundry.jpgYou think the Net is slow? This link let’s you check the Net’s pulse.
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/Sweet Adelines International is an Oklahoma based organization of women singers committed to promoting barbershop harmony.
http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/Last Wednesday evening I watched the Celine Dion program on TV, “These Are Special Times”. The program was beautiful and her singing was awesome. I am going to take a minute here and tell how I would have loved to tape this TV special, why I couldn’t, and how a friend I’ve never seen made a tape for me.
Around 1983 when I worked for the ambulance service here, we transported a little man who lived at the Veteran’s Center. He was able to work some…. drove a taxi here in Ardmore part-time. The Veteran’s Administration would not pay his ambulance bill to Oklahoma City. Every Friday he would drive up in that old, beat up taxi and pay a few dollars on his bill. He did this for nearly two years until he had the bill paid off. During one visit he said something about VCRs and wish he had one at the Veteran’s Center so that he and other residents could see movies. He told me he could even work on VCRs. I told him my VCR at home didn’t work quite right and if he could fix it, he could have it. I knew there was not really much wrong with it, I had the problem before… since I only used it every few months, the heads needed cleaning. He came back the next Friday and I gave him my VCR. The next Friday when he returned, that little old man had this big smile on his face, told me he got it working and they were using it at the Veteran’s Center!
Since that day, I have not owned a VCR. After the Celine Dion special on TV, and you all know she is my favorite singer, a friend and ex-Ardmoreite I’ve never met in a far away state, sent me email, saying she was sending me a tape of Wednesday night’s program! Friends, they make life worth living. Now I’m going to have to get another VCR!!
I see the Ardmore High School class of 1969 is having their initial meeting to plan for their 30 year reunion. It’s at 6:30pm Wednesday December 9th at Texhoma Office Supply here in Ardmore. Contact Merla Harvey Capshaw: 580-223-3189
SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“….could I have the address of the person who wrote the newsletter with a query concerning the book “An Oklahoma Tragedy”? I would love to correspond with this person. My husband’s favorite uncle was William Edgar “Bill Guess”! He visited in our home up until his death. Also his son Doodle, Oleta, and Randy Guess, visited with us until Doodle passed away. The price is less than ten dollars, the ordering address for this book is: An Oklahoma Tragedy, by Abraham Hoffman,
Southwestern Studies Series No. 82, ISBN 0-87404-163-5
TEXAS WESTERN PRESS
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO
PASO, TEXAS 79968-0633
There is a copy in the research department of Ardmore Public Library, you just can’t check out. I understand there is another book but have been unable to trace down so far.”———————————————————————
“My mother grew up in Ardmore and surrounding areas so I have shared your articles with her. She wants to know if any of your readers might have any information on a school her mother taught at called Equal Rights somewhere north of Ardmore. Her mother’s name was Myrtle Hooven. Her husband was Edgar Hooven, a contractor in Ardmore. Mom says she can’t find any body who knows anything about this old school. If any of your readers know anything about Equal Rights, Myrtle, Edgar or my mom, Shirley Nadine Richerson, please feel free to e-mail me.” email:[email protected]
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“Boy, that picture of the ’67 Chevy ambulance brought back some memories. I was hauled back from Lake Murray road one hot afternoon in August of 1973 in that ambulance after Dale DeBerry and I got run off the road by some jerk in a white GTO. My leg ended up going out of the window as the car rolled over on it, which, luckily, only broke my leg, rather than slicing it off.”
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“This one, of “Little Niagara Falls” in Sulphur, appears to have a 1909 postmark.” http://pages.prodigy.net/jrking/sulphur.jpg
“This view of Ardmore’s Main Street is unused, and there’s no date (though I understand that serious postcard collectors can often figure out when a card was printed by the company’s code number on the card — in this case it’s marked 2780-N, and made by E. C. Kropp Co. of Milwaukee). From the automobiles in the picture, it appears to be late 1920’s or early 1930’s — it looks like there are more Model T’s than Model A’s: http://pages.prodigy.net/jrking/mainst.jpg Nearly all the buildings are still there; easily identifiable are the old Masonic Temple at right, the Little Building on the left, with the Dunlap Building right behind it and the First National Bank across the street. Note, too, the trolley car tracks in the middle of Main St.”
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“…this picture of a “gusher” in the Healdton Field; the short note on the back is hard to read, but the date is clear: November 6, 1921. I suspect the view on the card is a little older than that.
http://pages.prodigy.net/jrking/healdton.jpg
The oilfield picture reminds me of my favorite bit of Ardmore trivia: What was the official name of the Ringling Railroad when it was built (about 1915) to serve the oil areas of western Carter County?”———————————————————————
“From some friends that are in the “know”, the meteor shower should be better *next* year. The meteor shower the last time around (30? 33? years ago) was better the year *after* the comet had passed. I was out this year too and only saw 7. I went in after 30 minutes. I only had my robe on and I was shivering too bad to see straight. The mineral in the “cat whisker” radio was probably galena – a naturally occurring form of lead sulphide.”
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“An old neighbor that has moved back near me after a few year’s absence has been taking me to meetings of the OU (in Norman, OK) Astronomical Society. They have meetings that are open to the public, and usually have four or more large telescopes set up for viewing different objects in the heavens. Tonight we looked at Jupiter, Saturn, and the Orion and Horse Head nebulas. It’s amazing what is up in the sky, just out of sight of the naked eye!”
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“….the radio station near Del Rio was XERF. the studio was in Del Rio and the xmtr was across the river in Via Accuna. it ran 200kw i belive. 2nd the mineral used to make the best crystal radios was Galena. i belive galena is lead oxide”
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“I was in Ardmore this weekend. I just got back to Norman, in fact. I decided that nothing would do Saturday but a footlong coney and a Purple Cow from Miller’s. I haven’t had either in years, and I was really looking forward to it. Guess who was closed.”
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“Selwin Lasik was the owner of the Lasik News or wholesale magazine co. for southern Ok. He ran the business from about 1952 to 1960 then sold it and moved to Dallas, Tx. and went into the loan business. As far as I know he is still in Dallas but retired. I worked for him from 1955 to 1960 when he sold out.”
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“I have learned that the “mineral” used in the old-time crystal set radios was galena (Lead Ore). So I went to a local radio supply house in search of the mineral but discovered that it was not available there. I ended up buying a modern version of the crystal set radio – I brought it home & did all the connections as instructed. I strung up a decent outside aerial & a suitable ground. Now, with all the modern cathodes, diodes etc., and everything in its place, I did receive a signal from KVSO Radio just as I did 60 something years ago. The obvious problem is: This modern version does not function even a 10th as well as the old version. It reminds me of the Black & White photo. Prints we used to get back from Fonvilles or Webbs studio – the prints were excellent. Today you can take the negatives that were made by the old Kodak box camera, to a modern shop to be printed and the quality is just not there.”
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===================================================Thursday afternoon I drove to my stomping ground where I grew up…. 3rd Avenue Northeast here in Ardmore. So much has change…. people gone…. houses gone…. little home-owned stores gone…. but there are friends I knew 30 years ago still there. I miss those people… and times…. our roots are important. Don’t loss touch with your roots. When we do, a part of us is always missing.
See you next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, November 21, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 83
Last Saturday I was walking to the courthouse to do some work on the Novell Network when I came across a front yard sale. I stopped and looked around……. found this shoebox with 295 old Picture Postcards from the US and around the world! I got them for a steal. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of these postcards, mostly all before 1950, some in the 30s. Here’s one of the Belleview Artesian Well Number 2 in Sulphur, Oklahoma.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/bellev2.jpgHere’s one of Turner Falls in the Arbuckle Mountains near Davis, Oklahoma. Sure is a lot of water coming over those falls. I would date it 1940 but not sure.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/tfalls4.jpgThe interesting part about these two picture postcards is on the back it reads “PLACE ONE CENT STAMP HERE”. Also the photos used on these two cards were taken by Lacik News Agency, Ardmore, Oklahoma. I wonder…… does anyone remember this Mr. Lacik?
And here’s one probably made right after the Memorial Hospital here in Ardmore was opened….. mid 1950s? In the very lower right hand corner, behind the old Adventist Hospital, you can see the old ambulance office building where I worked from 1970 to 1975 before we moved into the new office on Grand Ave.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/memhosp4.jpgI have a pic I took of our old Ambulance Office in 1970. In this pic you can see the 1967 Chevy Station Wagon we used as an ambulance until we received two new Dodge Van ambulances in 1975.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/2amb.jpgThese two Dodges, along with the Chevy station wagon, were parked on the east side of the old Adventist hospital after they torn down our older office and put us in a “temporary” mobile home office. We ended up being in that mobile home for two years before they finished the office on Grand Avenue! The other ambulance was our high top Cadillac ambulance. Boy was that a smooth ride for the patients. Not at all like the rough riding ambulance “boxes” of today. But the Feds outlawed the hightop Cadillac ambulances since they “only” had 54 inches of headroom in the patient compartment. Give me a break, haha.
Anyway, if you look closely at the right hand side of the old office you can see this bicycle leaning up against the north wall. After his divorce, that was one employee’s only means of transportation for two weeks. He had to wait til payday to buy another car. And since the four of us… Bill Lewis, Troy Loard, Joe Pack and myself… only grossed $212.50 before taxes every two weeks, you can imagine what kind of car he bought. hahahaha Boy, those were the good old days!
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/soasoff2.jpgLast week when I told about the Dillinger movie, I had a typo on the photos URLs. Here’s a glimpse at this 1973 find I now own!
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/dilltapa.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/dilltapb.jpgI set my alarm and watched the Meteor shower around 3am last Tuesday morning. After only seeing about 4 meteors lasting less then 2 seconds each fly by, I gave up and went back to bed after 30 minutes.
A friend brought to my attention this week an Aumbry located inside the Episcopal Church here in Ardmore. On my HAM link I have a memorial to Henry Kyker. Henry was the craftsman who created this work of art inside that church, used to contain consecrated elements left over from Holy Communion or Holy Eucharist.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/aumbry1.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/aumbry2.jpgHere’s something pretty neat, let’s two people surf the net together! http://www.conavigator.com
MORE THAN JUST TURKEY
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http://www.softseek.com/features/thanksgiving.htmlSOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“My mother had a very dear friend in Ardmore and I believe she is still living but when I was back I couldn’t find anything about her. She and her husband had a jewelry store on Main St for many years. I know he died and her son was killed in a car wreck back in the 50’s but I would like to know about her and maybe write her a note. Her name was Nettie Peden the last I knew her sister Wilma was living with her. If anyone knows I would love to hear from them.”
mailto:[email protected] Evelyn Barton———————————————————————
“Butch, what I knew was very little, since this happened 3 years before I was born, except what I had heard from my parents. But a few years ago my cousin, Bill Guess’s granddaughter was searching for information and in the process of me helping her I found a book written by a UT professor. I can’t recall the name of the author but the name of the book was “An Oklahoma Tragedy” published at UT of El Paso, Texas. It was very good and very fair. My uncle and Mr. Crosby, (a school mate of my Dad’s) were both found innocent. But the Governor (Bill Murray) was willing to offer them as a peace offering to Mexico. The whole thing was a sad mistake but Bill Guess shot in self defense. The account in the Ardmoreite was fair and accurate.”
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/rubio.html———————————————————————
“Among the many other observations you made in this last issue (Nov. 14, 1998), I was especially impressed with your Tribute to Charles M. Dibrell. When I was around 12 or 13 years of age I experimented with all things that seemed to interest me. I was involved with the construction of a homemade crystal set radio at that time & when I had completed it, I discovered that we were almost out of range with any radio station – although I could sometimes pick up a radio station beamed from near DelRio Texas or perhaps a faint signal from a station in Dallas or Ft Worth. All reception was very faint but on occasion I would receive one side of a ham radio signal that was coming from a little building in the 800 block of C street N.W. & was being broadcast by Mr. Dibrell. Then one day in 1936 a radio station was opened in Ardmore with the call letters of KVSO. As I remember it the Daily Ardmoreite announced that the station would go on the air at 6 A.M – I was standing by that fateful morning & sure enough when the transmitter went to work I was there to hear it.- what a thrill. The crystal set radios we made back then actually had a mineral crystal with a cat whisker which was used to place on a sensitive spot for better reception. I think a cathode later was used to replace the mineral crystal. To this day I am not sure what the old crystal mineral was made of, yet it appears to be a natural substance. Maybe you can inform me.”
http://www.radio.mcmail.com/xtal.html———————————————————————
“When we visited awhile back you thought you might have some way to contact someone who had knowledge of some Mt Washington history stored in a building out near where the old school stood? I can certainly tell from your latest letter today that you are very busy, and do not want to push but simply to remind you that if there was any way to track this down, the alumni group would be most interested. Keep up the great informative letter which is most appreciated by both my wife and I each week!!”
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“I imagine you’ve already thought of this, but over the past 15 years or so most of the libraries in the country have transferred a lot of stuff from paper to electronic databases, including their catalogs. My understanding is that outside companies usually perform the chore.”
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===================================================One good thing about this time of the year…… eggnog can be found in the grocery stores. I love eggnog… ummmmmmmmmmmm. Went to eastern Oklahoma the other day….. got some great pics of the Choctaw Council House, Robber’s Cave, the Indian Hospital in Talihina, and much more….. will share the pics next Saturday.
Thanksgiving will be here in a few days. There is so much to be thankful for….. seems like the past week or so, everyday I saw another name in the local obit column who I knew. I hope everyone takes time Thursday to reflect back….. and count all the things good….. and be thankful even for life itself.
See you all next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, November 14, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 82
A few days ago I received in the mail what I call a fabulous find! For over a year I had been searching the Net for the 1973 movie Dillinger. And then a couple of weeks ago I stumbled on a website in Canada that sells old records, movies and the like. He had a Dillinger movie produced in 1940 or so. I sent him email saying I was looking for the 1973 version. In a few hours he had written me back and saying he had 1, unopened and still wrapped in cellophane. He said I could have it for $13 USD and you can imagine what I did, had a money order off to him within hours! When I received it this week, its just as he said…. brand new!!!
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/dilltapa.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/dilltapb.jpg
Here’s the website where I found Dillinger, plus much more.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/la.champagne/buyers.htmA few weeks ago we threw a surprise birthday party for one of the Carter County Commissioner’s secretaries. Several people decorated her desk area with “over the hill” banners, and balloons, etc.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/overhill.jpg
And when Phyllis came to work that morning, was she surprised!!!
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/phyllis.jpgI’ve been researching for some time now, how to scan the records in the old “big red books” at the courthouse. I found a couple of overhead scanners that would do an excellent job of scanning the oversized books (which date back to 1907 and before). The problem is the courthouse doesn’t have funds to purchase the scanner. This one model scanner cost about $13,000 plus the software. And we’ll need a CDROM writer to store the images on once they’ve been scanned. I seldom ask for help, but I would appreciate any suggestions on how we can get our old record books scanned and burned to CD. I’ve even received offers to help scan the priceless record books using volunteer help. But before that can be done, we have to get the necessary equipment. So, please give it some serious thought…. and let me hear from you if you have any ideas. http://www.imageaccess.com/bookeye.html
I had one typo on my Shark Liver Oil remedy for my next door neighbor’s dog….. instead of two weeks, I had been giving her the oil for about two months now. Bought it at the health food store. Worked wonders on the dog!
On October 28, 1998 a good friend and neighbor of mine, Charles Dibrell, passed away. He was a HAM operator and used to work on our ambulance two-way radios years ago when he was in business.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/dibrell.htmlLast week I said the Ducks Unlimited Banquet was “one of the funniest events I go to.” My wordprocessor changed funnest to funniest. I don’t even know if there is such a word as funnest hahaha. But I do know the Ducks Unlimited banquet is a yearly event I look forward to.
http://www.ducks.orgFind your uncle 5 times removed…. or a skeleton?
http://www.ancestry.com/main.htmUNBEATABLE UTILITIES
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http://www.softseek.com/files/review?INGE20507swHere’s a photo of Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Pete Patterson beside the Patrol’s 1937 Ford. 1937 was the year the Patrol was created.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/ohppete.jpgThe sheriffs department here received a free program in the mail this week. A program that allows them to create composite drawings of faces. It’s a pretty neat program. I assume all police and sheriff depts received the free CD. http://www.facesinterquest.com/
Speaking of police, I stopped the other day to see my friend at the Marietta, Oklahoma Police Department, Chief Mike Buxton. I hadn’t been there in a couple years, and they have moved into bigger offices in City Hall. Chief Buxton showed me their two display cases with drug items and illegal weapons they’ve confiscated during arrests.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/parapic1.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/parapic2.jpg
Here’s a pic with Chief Buxton behind the counter in their new offices.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/buxton.jpgHere’s a great site for info and pics on the Chickasaw National Recreation Area near Sulphur, Oklahoma. Absolutely beautiful pics!
http://www.homestead.com/chickasawSOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“I am a great-grandmother who was raised in Ardmore. If I had stayed and not moved when I was a “freshman” I would have graduated in 1952. I would love to hear news of Ardmore and would really enjoy hearing from anyone who would have been in that class. My name was Jo Evelyn Franklin, my father was an electrician and had a business there in the late 40’s. mailto:[email protected] (Evelyn Barton)
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“….I really liked the picture of the Ten Acre Rock. My Grandpa was born and raised around Ravia, Oklahoma. I was just wondering if you knew anyone who lived up around that way. My grandpa was born in 1900, his name was Walter Page. If you know of any online sources or if you know anyone from around Ravia, or if there are any references you could suggest that I look at online I would really appreciate it.” mailto:[email protected] (Richard Page) http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/tenacre2.jpg
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“Attached are two photos that I took earlier today. I think you said this building was used for an express rider. I was told today that it was used by bootleggers during alcohol prohibition. Anyway it is located south of Sulphur, Oklahoma on 177. It is in sad shape.”
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/bootleg.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/bootleg2.jpg———————————————————————
“Just for the record, Fort Washita is in Bryan County and it has some great reenactment events….. Thanks for sharing your info.” http://www.texoma-ok.com/trooper/1842.htm
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“I remember the filming of Dillinger. You failed to mention that the great Ben Johnson played Melvin Purvis. Ronnie did a good job… so did Larry Smith even though he added a couple of extra words to his part…and, I think James Clark was in it too. Also, many of your readers might be interested to know that Steve Kanaly (who played Ray Krebbs on the Dallas series) played the part of Pretty Boy Floyd. I was in Ardmore Little Theatre at the time and we were responsible for entertaining, chauffeuring, etc., of some of the actors while they were there. It was fun…one of my good memories. Still see a couple of the stuntmen in shows today… one has become fairly popular… can’t remember their names right now…maybe it will come to me later.”
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“Butch, the colors are turning beautifully. I was in the mountains today and the leaves were breathtaking. Anytime this weekend, next week, next weekend and there should still be color Thanksgiving week and weekend. There are no events that I know of but there is a lot of history along the Talimena Scenic Drive and in Talihina, Oklahoma. Be sure and stop at the information station at the start of the drive and get a guide book so that you do not miss the Old Military Road Site, Horse Thief Springs, Kerr Nature Center, Rich Mountain Forest Tower, Miniture Forest, Pioneer Cemetery, Talimena State Park and Lodge, and the remains of stone fences & foundations of houses. If you would like an update give me a call at 918-567-3434 or E-Mail”
mailto:[email protected]
http://www.Kiamichi.com/Talihina/TalihinaHome.html———————————————————————
“Planning a trip overseas? Learn a few key words before you go at Foreign Languages for Travelers, Over 65 languages with free sound clips on this site. Russian, Serbian, German, Espanol, Swahili, etc.”
http://www.travlang.com/languages/———————————————————————
==========================================I’ve been real busy the past week at the courthouse…. trying to to configure a three port Print Server Box on our Novell network. Eat my lunch several times hahaha, but I finally got it all working. I still haven’t got the workstations that are on the Novell Network to working on the Internet. I hope I figure it out soon….. any Novell volunteers out there who can help me?
A friend of mine here left the other day for Honduras, to help with the rescue efforts there after Hurricane Mitch. He will be gone for a couple weeks. 80% of the country was destroyed. If you are a praying person, remember those in the hurricane aftermath.
See everyone next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, November 7, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 81
This week a pleasant surprise arrived by the U.S. Mail! It was an envelope with two photos in it….. of this bell located on Hwy 23 at the north edge of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I was in Eureka Springs in the early 70s, but sure didn’t notice this bell. The thing that sticks out in my mind about Eureka Springs was I tried to sleep that night in a Volkswagen Beetle, and I swore I’d never try that again! I hurt all over the next morning. The dumb things we do when young and mindless hahaha. Anyway, the friend that sent these was in Eureka Springs on vacation and I hope they didn’t try what I did in a VW…..hahahaha.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/esbella.jpg
Here’s a close up with the words “THE O.S. BELL CO. HILLSBORO, O.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/esbellb.jpg
Boy, I wish I owned a bell like that!My friend Ronnie Roberts loaned me his 1973 Dillinger movie in which parts of it were filmed in the courthouse rotunda here in Ardmore. Melvin Purvis was cool sitting there on the shoeshine stand, talking to one of our local kids…. David Bacon, son of Ray Bacon at the First National Bank here in Ardmore. David didn’t want to be a G-man. Ronnie was also in the movie along with Wayne Warthen, Ray Bacon, and several other local townspeople. Of course the stars of Dillinger were Warren Oates and Cloris Leachman.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned about automatically running some backup programs in the middle of the night at the courthouse. I have about three events running and its working great. I’m using a little freeware program I downloaded several years ago off the Net called Webwilly. I went to see if it’s still available for downloading, and found there is a much larger file now available. I downloaded it, and it wouldn’t even work on my computer… hahaha. So, I’m going to keep using the older version I have. If you want to try it……
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/programs/ and then right click on willy001.exe and download (save) it for installation.A few months ago I mentioned I had a Memorial Hospital coaster with the pics of four employees they honored as being there from 1955.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/mem1975.jpg
Well, I forgot about the silver medallion I have that the hospital here made in 1980 to celebrate their 25 years of service. What is so unusual about this silver medallion, is the hospital took a bunch of old x-rays, extracted the silver content somehow, and used that silver to make the medallions. Very unique indeed.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/memmeda.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/memmedb.jpgArdmoreite Jimmie McDaniel has a great pic on her Home Page. It’s the old train depot in Mannsville, Oklahoma. Mannsville is 15 miles east of Ardmore. http://www.brightok.net/~lwmac/mandepot.jpg
Also Jimmie sent me an old picture postcard of the Old Soldiers Home (now the Veteran’s Center) on South Commerce. By looking at parked car, it might be in the 1930s. Anyone want to guess a date?
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/conhome.jpgSpeaking of trains, there was an article on the front page of the Daily Oklahoma last Saturday (31st) telling about the Amtrak passenger train making runs back through Oklahoma next May. So we just might get to ride that train yet!!!!
A couple months ago I noticed my neighbor’s old dog had these great big rough looking calluses behind her “elbows” and “knees”. These were very rough and large, about the size of a silver dollar. So I did some searching on the Net and found several websites on canine care and they said to give the dog Shark Liver Oil if he has any kind of hair and skin problems. Not only did she have those calluses, but a lot of her hair was gone and thin. Plus she had no energy what so ever. So I started pricking a couple of Shark Liver Oil capsules and squeezing them out on some dog food for her. Now two months later, it is like a miracle! The calluses are completely gone, and hair has grown back where the rough spots were. Her coat has grown back thick, black and shiny. And she will run all the way from her yard to mine, which she hasn’t done in several years. Amazing what something so simple as Shark Liver Oil can do.
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Here’s an interesting email I got this week about a postcard dated in 1910. The postcard is a pic of her cousin standing on a railway car.Butch, this is a picture of a cousin of my grandmother, that wrote this postcard–she was 16 at the time and not married, so this is form a Frank Smith or a Frank Bridges— on the back, its hard to read the town, I thought it was Adamsou, but after your T&T, it probably is Ardmore.
Ardmore, Okla, 9/27/1910
Miss Texia Smith, Osage, Texas
“Dear Texia, How are you all getting along? I am working every day–and more. Have you seen Father and family yet? If they are at your house when you get this, tell them to write to me. Write to me yourself soon, and tell me all the news from there, your cousin Frank” (on the side he wrote, “would like to see you again”) http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/ok.jpg
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////If you haven’t visited Ft Washita in Johnston county Oklahoma, here’s a great URL maintained by OHP Trooper Schulze with lots of info and pics about this old fort. http://www.texoma-ok.com/trooper/1842.htm
SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“I hope you are right about Amtrak coming back. When I was 12 my grandparents took me on a train trip to Canada and we left from Ardmore America. We took it from here to Chicago and on to Vancouver and Victoria. We went to Banff, Lake Louise and much more. It was wonderful. I can’t wait for it to come back.”
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“I enjoy your paper and look forward to it ever Sat. Do you know if there are any plans to put the marriage lic on in the near future. Your paper had helped alot of us with our genealogy research.”
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“Butch, I agree with your readers that Amtrak quit about 1980. When I moved here in 1978, I distinctly remember my wife and daughter, who was about three, coming down here on the train……”
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“I have been enjoying your news sent to me by my friend… however, he is not always here and so I miss some of the issues, in fact, about 5 in a row. Might as well add me to the list because I am hooked. I really enjoy your pictures. I love history and pictures are history no matter when they are taken. Keep up the good work.”
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Last Thursday I went to our annual Ducks Unlimited Banquet here in Ardmore. I will have to say, its one of the funniest events I go to. Lots of drawings….. and the kids all win something! It’s great to see the smiles on all the youngins. My friend even won the grand door prize…… a 12 gauge Binnelli Shotgun valued at $1,145. Wow! But the funniest thing was when we got out of his (his wife’s) car to go into the coliseum where the banquet was being held, he decided to put the emergency brake on. We couldn’t figure out how to take it off….. I got my cellphone out of my back pocket, called his wife, she said… “the emergency brake is not on that I know of” hahaha and that she has never pushed the emergency brake on… so she had no idea how to release it. Anyway, after 20 minutes, he decided to get the manual out of the glove compartment… finally it said to “depress the emergency brake pedal a second time to release it” hahahahaha I got to talk with a lot of friends I haven’t seen in months….. it was really a fun evening. I would recommend the Ducks Unlimited Banquet to anyone! http://www.ducks.org/ Local caterer D. Allen Wint was there catering us all to his BBQ! Plus someone brought Mountain Oysters again this year. I ate some, they weren’t too bad.. but it takes some psyching out to eat them. hahaha
Well, I need to cut this issue off… before it gets too long again. Remember, good will always overcome evil.
See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, October 31, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 80
Last Saturday I hit a tender spot in a lot of people’s hearts, when I mentioned the return of the Amtrak train to Oklahoma! Your response was almost overwhelming. As space permits, I’ll try and share all those train comments everyone sent in. Maybe someone in Oklahoma City will keep us posted on the restoration progress of the old Santa Fe Depot there too. Last week the OKC TV channel showed them working on it, trying to get it ready by next April or May. I have tried to put as many of your emails about this in the Mailbag further down in this T&T. But first, I do have to mention a few other things…..
I have placed on Carter County Court Clerk Karen Volino’s website the court docket, one week at a time. This is probably another first in Oklahoma for public access such as this via the Internet.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/crtclerk.htmlI would like to point out another milestone in Oklahoma being accomplished by the Oklahoma County Assessor. He has placed the assessor’s records for public access on his website. The records can be searched by Name, Address or Parcel Number of property owners in Oklahoma County…. a giant step forward of record accessibility. http://www.oklahomacounty.org (go to “Department:Assessor”)
The other day I found this old outhouse at #37 E Street NE here in Ardmore….. this is truly a remnant of the bygone years!
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/outhse.jpgHere’s a pic sent in of the bell at the New Hope Baptist Church in Shady, Arkansas. http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/shadbell.jpg
And here’s some pics a reader in Marietta, Oklahoma sent me, some scans of the old King theater that used to be in Marietta.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/kingshow.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/kingtick.jpgAnd here’s a very old pic of the Marietta, Oklahoma Depot…. what a jewel of a find…. any one know what year this might be?
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/mariedep.jpgWant to learn all the secrets about Window 98?
http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/1101/Fea0068.htm//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ///////////////////////////////////
I found a lyric’s server ( http://www.lyrics.ch ) and posted a message for the lyrics to Grandma’s Lye Soap. Within two hours someone wrote with the lyrics….wow! I never cease to be amazed at the power of the Net. Here’s the OH SO HARD TO FIND lyrics to that old song:Do you remember grandma’s lye soap?
Good for everything in the home,
And the secret was in the scrubbing,
It wouldn’t suds and couldn’t foam.Then let us sing right out of grandma’s, of grandma’s lye soap
Used for – for everything, everything on the place,
For pots and kettles, the dirty dishes, and for your hands and for your face.So we’ll now sing the second verse.
Let’s get it with great exuberance, let’s live it up.
It’s not raining inside tonight.
Everyone, let’s have a happy time.
Are we ready? All together, the second verse.Little Herman and brother Thurman
Had an aversion to washing their ears
Grandma scrubbed them with the lye soap.
And they haven’t heard a word in years.Then let us sing right out of grandma’s, of grandma’s lye soap.
Sing all out, all over the place.
The pots and kettles, the dirty dishes, and also hands and also face.
(clapping fades)Well, let’s sing what’s left of the last verse.
Let’s have a happy time, everyone.
The last verse, al-l-l-l together.
Ev-v-v-very one!Mm-m-m-m. Thank you kindly, kindly,
M-m-mrs. O’Malley, out in the valley,
Suffered from Ulcers, I understand.
She swallowed a cake of grandma’s lye soap,
Has the cleanest ulcers in the land.Then let us sing right out of grandma’s, of grandma’s lye soap.
Sing right out. All over the place.
The pots and – the pots and pans, oh dirty dishes,
And the hands.The above song was found on the Lyrics World server: http://www.summer.com.br/~pfilho which has lyrics for many top-40 songs from 1930-1998.
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“…anyway I hope that you are right about the train coming back threw Oklahoma… In ’91 I took Amtrack to Az. and had to go to Dallas to catch it… the best trip that I had ever taken… I think that it would be a good way to go back and forth from Ardmore to Okla City and Dallas….I hate the drive”
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“….Your imagery is very evocative, but I think you had in mind a steam locomotive. That would be earlier than the Texas Chief, which was established by the Santa Fe as a diesel-powered lightweight streamlined train after World War II. That was the first train called the Chief which ran through Ardmore, and it never ran with a steam locomotive.”
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“Instead of waiting and then getting mad, go the Mayor’s or City Manager’s office and find out if they are negotiating with Amtrak. Decisions for station stops are being made right now! It will be too late, if you wait until they start running trains. I’ve heard that the station stops are Norman, Pauls Valley, Ardmore, Gainesville between OKC-FTW. P.S. Oklahoma State Senator, Dave Herbert, the leading political advocate of passenger rail in Oklahoma will be speaking at our regional rail meeting at Dallas Union Station on November 14, 1998. You guys are cordially invited to attend.”
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“When Amtrak comes I want to be second on board. (Let you be first) I think that would be great. Takes us all back to our childhood. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to ‘catch a train’ in Ardmore and go to OKC or Dallas for the day? or go to Kansas City (when they turn on the Christmas lights) or El Paso or or or… be wonderful to ‘catch a train’.”
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“I find your report about Amtrak running through Ardmore very intresting and very surprising. I work for the BNSF railway as a conductor out of OKC and I work on various trains that run on the ONLY main line that goes north and south through Oklahoma and I havn’t heard anything from company officials about leasing that line or any portion thereof to Amtrak and I seriously doubt that Amtrak would invest the one million dollars per mile it would cost to build a main line from here to OKC (much less KC) that would be able to handle Amtrak’s high speed (90mph) passenger service. While I think it would be great to have a passenger service through Ardmore I don’t see it happening anytime soon. Don’t get your hopes up because it’s just some politicians campaign promise that will never come about.”
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“I was pleased to see your hopes for, and reminiscences of, passenger rail service in Ardmore. But 30 years? I’m old, I’m coming to realize, but not that old! When I was in college at Haverford and Bryn Mawr I traveled by train, a few times, between Ardmore, Oklahoma, and Ardmore, Pennsylvania, via Amtrak’s “Lone Star” (the old Texas Chief) to Chicago, and connecting there to the Broadway Limited toward Philadelphia. My last such trip was in 1975 or so. Well, I guess that’s _almost_ 30 years, but not yet!”
“Life would be so much more civilized if this country still had a viable passenger rail network. I read (in a history of Pullman service) that back in the 20’s there were dedicated sleepers between Ardmore and Oklahoma City — you could go down to the Santa Fe station and get on a sleeper and go to bed, and then a train that came through at 3 in the morning would latch on to the car and take it to the city, so that you woke up there in time for a full day of business. Then you could do the same thing in the other direction. So much more useful and restful than seeing businessmen and salesmen filling up an airport at 6 a.m. every day so they can fly somewhere, do a day’s business, and then fly back that night. Traffic, parking fees and all!”
“I don’t know exactly when Amtrak dropped the Lone Star line, but I think it was about 1980 — in favor of the old Missouri Pacific route from St Louis through Little Rock and Texarkana to Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. A roundabout trip, but if they had to choose, the Arkansas route served more large cities more efficiently than the Oklahoma approach. Still, it would be a great service — especially if Amtrak followed the old Frisco tracks in a way that linked Oklahoma City and Tulsa.”
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“I look forward to reading This & That every Saturday morning. I nearly always find something of special interest to me. I’m looking forward to the trains returning, too. I don’t remember exactly when they quit coming through Ardmore, but I do remember taking my sons (who are now 22 and 23) on trips to Gainesville and Shreveport and leaving from Ardmore. It was so much fun!”
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“… I especially like the part about the train. I too, was fascinated with them and lived less than a mile from the tracks so went down there a lot to put pennies on the track and get them flattened. Our depot may have had gum but I don’t remember. Loved the man in the Caboose because he always waved.”
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//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////I had several other things to pass along, but run out of space. Hope next week I can tell you some other neat stuff I found. One last thing, I’m trying to learn about Perl. Does anyone out there know how to use it? I need some help. http://www.perl.com
One last thought…….. Freedom is Not Free.See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, October 24, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 79
I heard on the TV the other day that Amtrak should be running between Kansas, Oklahoma City, Ardmore and Ft Worth by April or May. They are working hard to get the old Santa Fe Depot in Oklahoma City ready for boarding passengers. I hope someone in Ardmore…. who I dont know…. is planning to see that we have a depot stop here in Ardmore. If they dont, I’m going to be upset. In fact, I may be MAD…. which I very seldom do. hahahaha Anyway, its been 30 years or more since the passenger trains came through Ardmore. I remember as an early teen, riding the train to Oklahoma City and back. Several times a week my grandfather, Stanley Carmon, would stop working at the lumber yard at 4pm and we’d go to the depot to see the train come in about 4:15 or so. Mr A.L. Senters lived behind us, worked for the post office, went to the train station three times a day to get the mail off the train. Everytime my grandpa took me to the station with him, he’d give me a couple pennies to get some gum out of the machine inside the depot. That was the highlight of my day many times, to wait outside, real close to the track….. and hear the whistle as the Santa Fe Chief came closer and closer. When it finally stopped, I’d look at those huge wheels….. and the steam and water dripping out of several places underneath the engine. It was an experience so many of the younger generation doesnt remember. But maybe soon it will be back. One thing for sure, I’ll be riding that train on it’s first ride back through Oklahoma!!!! All Aboard! For more info…….. http://www.ipt.com/aboard/ok/ok.htm
Here’s a great website to learn about those big war birds of WWII. You will need RealPlayer installed to see the videos. I have enjoyed seeing those old clips from the past!
http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/A friend told me last week about a Server with the lyrics to 107,455 songs!!! WOW! I checked it out, and it is an unbelievable wealth of information on songs.
http://www.lyrics.ch/Carter County Government is having a big auction at the Springer, OK barn north of Ardmore. Lots of stuff. Starts 10am Fri Oct 30th.
Here’s a link to lots of free stuff. http://www.freeforum.com Have your website checked out. http://siteinspector.linkexchange.com/
One reader wrote and said he may have found the complete lyrics to the “Grandma’s Lye Soap Song”. Sure hope he comes up with it! Everyone keep an eye out, the lyrics has got to be somewhere.
I received a bar of lye soap in the mail the other day from a man in Alabama! He’s been making it for years, and I will have to say, it is a beautiful bar of soap…smooth, rounded, in a colorful package. Here’s a pic of the colorful box he markets his lye soap in.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/lyesoap.jpg
If you’re interested in buying some of his soap, write Richard Hamner mailto:[email protected] BTW, Richard lives just down the road from Ardmore…. Ardmore, Alabama (not Oklahoma) that is! hahahaha Below is his story of how he started making lye soap years ago:“We started making soap about 25 years ago after my mother-in-law got us all together to pass on some of the skills she had learned growing up. We made butter by churning fresh cow’s milk, we made preserves by picking fresh fruit and cooking it down, and she also taught us how to make soap. The butter and preserves were consumed with great gusto, but making them never quite caught on with us.”
“But the soap stuck. We continued to make it, learn about it, and refine it. Over the years, as we studied more and more about how to make it, we discovered that handmade soap, if it is properly made, can be far superior to commercial soap. Commercial soap has lots of additives, and it has all of the glycerine removed that is naturally produced during the soapmaking process. The glycerine is the great moisturizing component in natural soap.”
“Soap is made by a chemical reaction. The reaction occurs when vegetable and animal oils are mixed together with caustic soda (otherwise known as “lye”). That means that ALL soap is “lye soap”. This is probably the biggest misconception about soap in all of America. But there is no lye in soap, because all of the lye has been reacted with the oils to produce soap and glycerine.”
“We use olive oil, coconut oil, and tallow as our oils. When these oils are mixed in the proper proportions with sodium lye, it makes the best soap we have ever seen, even if we do say so ourselves!”
——————————————————————-Last week I had a little typo on my pic of Camp Howze that used to be located near Gainesville, Texas during WWII. Here it is: http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/howze.jpg BTW, my aunt Pearl Carmon was so much German, during WWII she was required to register at the old Post Office here in Ardmore. I remember as a young teen, one Sunday, as I always did, I was watching the Ed Sullivan Show. The guest star that night was Jerry Lee Lewis. My aunt Pearl happened by about then to visit, and she thought his performance was shameful. His twisting around on that piano bench, his long hair bouncing all over, and the sweat pouring down his face as he sang “Great Balls a Fire”. hahahahaha If she could see the TV shows today. http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/pearl1.jpg Here’s that website again that has all the info on Oklahoma POW Camps
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1263/powcampinfo.htmlSOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“Loved this week’s issue, but I think you must have been tired when you typed it..Think you got slap happy with the “w”s there for a minute.”
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“…the last couple of T&Ts that you’ve sent – some of the web sites that you list – you can’t just click on them & launch your browser to get to the site. You have to copy & paste.”
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…bet you don’t remember me ..but I’m the one who was asking you about camp Howze lots of months back ..and I sure am glad you found something out!!! I searched all of INet,too…. and didn’t find anything.. so, I’ll send on the info to my Sis…”
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“If I ever finish my BRIDGES OF OKLAHOMA, I will send you the completed book and you can read where your grandpa Esco Bridges in WWII was in charge of some German POWs at the mess hall at Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma City. They liked him so well that several corresponded with him after their repatriation to Germany after the War.”
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“Your articles on the Y2K (2000) problem has more people worried than should be. Your manual date change verification in this week’s T&T is the fastest way to test to see if a person needs (an upgrade card) help. Another good web site on this issue is http://www.ami.com …American Megatrends produces BIOS software. Lots of good info, FYI.”
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I saw in the newspaper Friday where an Ardmore businessman and friend passed away at his home in Lone Grove. John C. Simpler was the first person in Ardmore to expose me to the world of computers. He had a two disk drive (10 inch floppys) and let me learn how to write programs and all. I remember when John took his 14 year old daughter to Nashville on January 21, 1984 to record her first record. She was Lori Simpler and what a voice. John had 1,200 45RPM records made of his daughter singing original songs by two local songwriters, Danny Puckett and Greg Jean…. “Nobody’s Baby Anymore” and “Someday”. I still have my 45 record and paper insert about Lori. I’ll try to make a 1 minute music clip of her singing for my next T&T. The record was produced by an Oklahoma City recording company. John was just a few years older then me. Enjoy every day to its fullest…. we just never know.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/lori45.jpgSee everyone next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, October 17, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 78
The other day I went to the optomitrist. My eyes just aint as good as they used to be. Course the doc did all the test. When I came back to pick up my glasses, the lady who fits the glasses to everyone, put a piece of paper down in front of me…. asked if I could read it. I said….. “prefectly”. She said, “good, that’s the way we want it”. There were several people sitting behind me, waiting their turn, when I told her, “I can read the words on the sheet perfectly without glasses”. The people behind me all cracked up laughing…hahahahaha. I don’t have trouble reading stuff up close, it’s far away things are getting fuzzy. hahaha
After months of looking for the words to the song to Grandma’s Lye Soap, one reader came up with at least part of the wording. Myself and a couple others did extensive searches on the Net, to no avail. So we feel very fortunate to have at least part of the song available!
Chorus:
“Let us sing out, for Grandma’s Lye Soap,
Good for everything on the place.
The pots and pans, the dirty dishes,
And for your hands, and for your face!”One verse:
“Cousin Herman, and Brother Thurman,
Had an aversion, to washing their ears.
Grandma washed them, with the lye soap,
And they haven’t heard a word in years!”I learned something new this week on the computer. How to share a CDROM with “Client for Microsoft Networks”. We had this one workstation at the courthouse that needed a program installed from CD…. but the problem was the workstation had no CDROM. I was able to go into the Network Icon and setup this one workstation that did have CDROM, and share that CDROM with others on the network. Worked great!
Plus I been real busy sitting up a computer in my office to do scheduled events during the night on the Novell Network. I have it doing a couple backups to tape drive. And then also running a batch file that copies data files from one Server to another Server. Pretty neat how this networking stuff works! More later.
Q. Had a friend ask me the other day what home owners should do to update their computers for the year 2000. Told her I didn’t know but would ask you what you would suggest?
A. I talked about this in my July 8, 1998 issue of T&T. In it I tell where to get a free program that will tell you if your computer will switch over to 2000. http://www.nstl.com/html/ymark_2000.html And last week I received a computer catalog. In it was a card that fits in a slot for $50 bucks. It will take a computer that its BIOS won’t change over automatically, and take care of the problem! But if you know how, you can go into your CMOS and change the date to 12/31/99 and the time to 11:50pm, EXIT AND SAVE, let the computer come back up, and wait a few minutes and see what happens. Also here’s a great site for more info and downloadable programs.
http://www.computerexperts.co.uk/I went to Gainesville, Texas last week. At the library I found some info on Camp Howze, which was located a couple miles west of Gainesville during WWII. Months ago a reader wrote me saying she could find very little on the Net about Camp Howze. Neither could I. But I did find one Page with the following on prisoner of war camps which were located in Oklahoma. Also I probably have the only pic to be found on the Internet of Camp Howze, Texas.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/photos/howze.jpgPAULS VALLEY — This was a mobile work camp from Camp Chaffee, AR POW camp, and was located at N. Chickasha St. north of the Community Building. The camp opened July 16, 1944, confined about 270 prisoners and closed Oct. 16, 1946. The site is now Wacker Park in Pauls Valley.
GENE AUTRY — The camp was adjacent to the town of Gene Autry, 13 miles NE of Ardmore, at the Ardmore Army Air Field.. It opened June 1, 1945 and held between 200-300 Prisoners. A branch of the Camp Howze, TX base camp, it closed Nov. 1, 1945.
MADILL — This was the administrative headquarters for several camps in the area including Powell and Tishomingo. It opened April 23, 1943 in the old First National Bank building and closed April 1, 1944. There were no prisoners confined here.
POWELL — Located a short distance south of Powell, about 8 miles SW of Madill, this camp opened April 29, 1943 as a branch of the Madill Provisional Internment Camp Headquarters. It was transfered as a branch to Camp Howze, TX. Camp capacity was 600 and it was kept full. The POWs cleared brush and trees from the bed of Lake Texhoma, which was just being completed. It closed Sept. 1, 1944.
TISHOMINGO — Located on old Hwy 99, north of the Washita River and south of Tishomingo, this camp opened April 23, 1943. Originally a branch of Madill, it later became a branch of Camp Howze, TX. With a capacity of 600, there were only about 300 confined there. It closed June 13, 1944, and is the site of the airport now. Two escapes were reported.
Madill Record, Madill OK, June 17, 1943, Aug. 29, 1943 Rudolph Arens, Jacob Braun. (They did not actually escape, but was left behind when a truck transported the work crew back to Camp. They were found walking back to camp.) Here’s the link on “Behind the Wire”
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1263/ctypowcamps.htmlSOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“Just a bit to add to the “Discovery of America”… One of the deans at Murray State College (MSC) had a neat honors program… One of the topics was that: Great civilizations were flourishing on this side of the Atlantic by the time of the “Discovery”/Conquest/Civilization” by the European explorers. No doubt that the hardships of trans-oceanic travel are worthy of note, but most people who discussed that subject during that MSC course came to that conclusion: Nothing was missing.”
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“Keep up the great job… Seems that you have a flair for bringing up very good topics with a touch of your humor, which makes for wonderful reading.”
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“Thank you so very much for finding the words to “Grandma’s Lye Soap.” It really is a cute song. I’ve certainly enjoyed receiving your newsletter and the wonderful pictures. I now find myself looking for bells as I travel in our beautiful Oregon.”
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“Your last few This and Thats have been great. I know nothing about them, but I love bells! The ringing of bells remind me of God. I love God, so I must love bells.”
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=====================================================================This issue was a little longer then I planned, so I’ll close now.
A smile is contagious………. try it.See you next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, October 10, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 77
This last Monday and Tuesday….. awlful. I was up to my neck in alligators. Been busy setting up 14 new computers all over the courthouse and the sheriffs office which is one block away. I learned that on the Windows 95 CD there’s a utility called Print Manager. It allows computers on a network to print to a certain computer which has a printer attached. Gets kinda complicated but it works great when you need to print to a printer over in another room through the Windows95 or 98 Network.
I’ve noticed something all over Ardmore. As you know, we didnt get much rain here for several months. Over 60 days with the temps way over 100 degrees. Then a couple weeks ago the rain came back….. and all over town, in yards, I noticed these toad stools popping up. One friend said he used to go looking for mushrooms. I’d be scared to eat any mushroom I found in a back yard!
On Monday, October the 12th, we celebrate Columbus discovering America…. Was it missing? My Choctaw Indian ancestors knew where it was all along. hahahaha
I do a lot of scanning photos. I’ve learned from experience it takes a lot of practice to get the results you want. Either the file is a mile too big, or smaller then my bank account, or the words you want on the pic is in the wrong place, or whatever. I found a place that is a clearinghouse for UCR scanning, and things related to it. http://hosc.net/ocr/index.html
John Dillinger, gangster, terrorized the central part of the U.S. for 14 months after being released from a 9 year prison term in May 1933 in Indiana. One strange fact I noticed was Dillinger, after being killed outside the theater, was taken to Harvey Funeral Home in Mooresville, Indiana. We have had a Harvey Brothers Funeral Home here in Ardmore since the city’s beginnings. I wonder if the owners were kin? What a lot of people don’t remember, was parts of the movie Dillinger were filmed right here at the courthouse in Ardmore (1977?). The part where Purvis is getting his shoes shined in the courthouse is our courthouse here. They also used some local residents in the filming….. Ray Bacon, his son David Bacon, James Clark, and others. Filming also done in places near Ardmore, including the recently burned down Chickasaw Club Lake house.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/4172/Sometimes we forget just how fast time is flying, until we stumble across an old high school classmate. A few weeks ago, that very thing happened to me, and my Old Timers Disease was so bad, I could hardly remember her. But then after a few shock treatments, I remembered, and how she could sing like a songbird back then. As Celine Dion’s song goes…….”its all coming back to me, its all coming back to me, its all coming back to me now.” Former Ardmoreite Schahara Winter Hudelson was a talented lady way back then, and today she’s still bringing smiles to a lot of people with her music!
http://www.hub.ofthe.net/MusicMessage/schahara.htmlAlthough there are dozens of capable audio players available, Sonique has perhaps the coolest appearance of them all. The animated menu system and windowless display break new ground in the area of interface design. There are three modes to choose from, including a small, space-saving version with a pop-up control menu and an enlarged interface with a graphic equalizer and other CD-style controls. Sonique even has a playlist editor, a built-in MP3 decoder, and support for downloading new music from the Web. Sonique .55 Beta, Windows 95/98 Freeware:
http://www.softseek.com/files/review?HOMUCD19769swSOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“Good Morning Butch — and two Happy Smiling Faces with that! We really look forward to your newsletters and especially your upbeat approach to everything. Goodness knows we are all “full-up” with the stuff which hits us everytime we turn on TV. As newcomers, we are learning a lot of wonderful history — you have taught us a lot that doesn’t appear in any of the books we have read. And it is especially wonderfully to have you openly exhort people to hold on to their dreams. Too many feel that dreams are just for kids, or that they haven’t the right to dream — your encouragement could be just what they need….”
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“I posted to URL to a maillist I’m on, the Firearms Discussion List. The folks there were appreciative. One of the list members has come up with a page for the 1998 Darwin Award winners. check out” http://www.mindspring.com/~keeva/fal/darwin.html
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“Any luck finding the words to “Grandma’s Lye Soap” song? I am still searching. I am headed for the library this morning to look.”
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“Just a note to thank you for the time you gave me while in Ardmore. Surely enjoyed our visit and could no doubt have easily spent a lot more time coming up with history. It finally dawned on me that I was sharing some history which went back even before your time! Oh well, it was fun.”
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===============================================================The other night on one of the talk shows….. they interviewed the Divine Bette Midler……. beautiful. At the end she sang a song…… “My One True Friend”. It’s from her latest CD, Bathhouse Betty. “My One True Friend” has to be the next “Wind Beneath My Wings”. It’s a warm melody about the revelation of friendship and souls connected, and the sweet pain of getting it all out on the table too late.
“…… I have walked and I have prayed.
I could forgive, and we could start again.
In the end, you are my one true friend.”Here’s the song…… takes a couple minutes to load this 300k WAV file, but it’s beautiful.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/friend.wavFor more about the Divine Bette:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/4377/index.htmlFriends…… they make life worth living.
See you next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: [email protected] (Butch Bridges)
Saturday, October 3, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 76
Time is passing by so fast. Another week gone and a new month here. I’ve had the old camera clicking away, lots of pics to show you. I’ll try to keep things moving along…….
I been busy the past couple days, unboxing the 9 new computers at the sheriffs office here. The company that has the Inmate Phone System there is upgrading to 300mhz Pentiums. The older 133mhz computers are going into deputy offices, so they will each have their own workstations on the Novell network. Going to really be nice!
http://www.securitytelecom.com/Carter County Court Clerk Karen Volino attended the County Officers Meeting in Oklahoma City on September the 17th. She was honored with an award for “Excellence In Management”.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/volino98.jpg
You can visit her website at:
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/crtclerk.htmlFriday afternoon I had a nice surprise….. all the way from Ohio! Bob Farrington, an ex-Ardmorite was in town with his wife, and came by to see me. She is attending a Mt Washington School Reunion this weekend at Lake Murray. Bob and I talked about a lot of things…… things that used to be around here. It was great!
One reader told me she collects Japanese Glass Floats. I never heard of such a thing. They’re beautiful! And getting hard to find!
http://www.pacifier.com/~smiller/home.htmlPUT A SMILEY FACE ON YOUR DESKTOP
Brighten up your day with the smiley face and colorful flowers in the Shiny Happy Desktop Theme. The theme comes with lighthearted wallpaper, icons, cursors, and animated cursors.
Shiny Happy Theme, Windows 95/98 Freeware:
http://www.softseek.com/files/review?DEDEFU11976swA GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST
On Main Street in Ardmore, sitting on the southwest corner at B, is an old red brick building. Today it doesnt look like much. In fact, right now the workmen are remodeling the upstairs into a beauty saloon, so I’ve heard. But in 1898 this building was the Federal Courthouse and jail. Here’s a photo I took of it last week.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/fedbuild.jpgA few years ago, a Memorial Brick was placed in the sidewalk outside.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/fedsite.jpgOn the second floor, in the far south end, is the old vault. It’s so sad the condition it has deteriorated to over the years. If you were to stand in front of it…. looking at the right angle, you can faintly see the gold letters reading….. “CLERK’S OFFICE”. Here’s a pic of the vault door in it’s horrible condition.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/fvault1.jpgAs you open the door, there is another steel door a few inches inside.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/fvault2.jpgThere is a long stairwell, going from the middle of the second floor, down and coming out at the front sidewalk. Here’s a photo…
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/fedstair.jpgCan you imagine the history that has walked those stairs? When I walked up those stairs for the first time last week, I could almost feel the presence of history past. Like a step back into time!
SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG
“I recieved this address from some parents in a parenting forum that I like to visit. I thought you might be interested in it, you might put it in your T&T. It really touched my heart.”
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/4157/DAVID.html—————————————————————-
“I am sure you will get mail from others besides me that there should be sadness for the motorist and his or her passengers. Motor vehicle collisions with animals are a significant cause of injuries and death. When I was riding with my father one night near Covington, we hit a horse that came galloping down the road… or perhaps more accurately, the horse hit us. Not only did it cave in the side of the car, my father–not normally a nervous person–was shaking for days.”
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“Saw a 800 number on tv the other nite. It showed how you could stop junk mail. Something like 1 800 U stop? Have you seen this or can you help me. I am being deluged with this crap. Thanx for your time.”
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“I’m the one who outbid you for the old Ardmore postcard. A couple of months ago someone was auctioning a postcard with the photo of all the cotton wagons lined up on Main Street in the early 1900’s, and I lost it because I forgot to check back at closing time”
http://www.ebay.com—————————————————————-
“The bell at the old (Tishomingo, Oklahoma) courthouse is not where you think it is. It is mounted outside the courthouse on the southwest side of the courthouse. The Chickasaws have laid down new grass all week all around the courthouse. And putting everything in order for the big parade for the Chickasaw Nation on Saturday Oct. 3rd in Tishomingo.”
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“I have to tell you something funny. You know the pic you had in your this and that?? The road kill that was painted??? Well I sent it to my daughter as a joke, she showed it to her boss and it has been doing the circuit LOL LOL. It is now a pic with a caption… Our dumb government LOL or something of that sort… can you beleive how dumb! Paint right over a dead animal… my how caring LOL LOL LOL See what you did?? LOL LOL too funny”
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/roadkill.jpg—————————————————————
“I just wanted to tell you about a great offering from Surfree.com, a nationwide Internet service provider offering unlimited Internet access for just $14.95 per month, with fast 56K connections, 24/7 toll-free customer support, 5MB Web hosting space, Web-accessible email, free startup software featuring Netscape and Internet Explorer, chat, Snap! News and a free 30-day money-back guarantee.”
http://banner.surfree.com/click.asp?lid=3355—————————————————————
=============================================================== I’m going to cut this off now. Get ready to test the internet backbone again….. hahaha….. and send this all out. I haven’t mentioned it lately, but I appreciate the emails, URLs and instant messages and all. Sometimes I can hardly find the time to answer them all….. but I still appreciate every one. And not a week goes by that I dont get requests to add others to my mailing list. I know so many of you forward my T&T along to others. Finally reaching several thousand, so they tell me. It’s humbling to say the least. I may need your help, if my circulation gets to be too much. I guess if worse comes to worser, I can go up on the subscription rates. hahaha
I will close with this thought:
Hang on to your dreams. Dreams can bouy us on with hope. Down through history, from time to time, all it took was one dream to set a nation free. So don’t let go of your dreams…….See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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