This and That Newsletter
www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vol 22 Issue 1,109 Circulation 5,000 April 26, 2018
Ardmore, Oklahoma
My permanent email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-490-6823
After posting photos here in last week's newsletter of Poker Rock southwest of Lone Grove at 3135 Timber Road (just west of Cheek Road), I've received updated photos this week. The ones I post in last week's newsletter I took in 2004.
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos18a/PokerRock042318a.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos18a/PokerRock042318b.jpg
Below are the photos I took in 2004.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/PokerRock7a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/PokerRock7b.jpg
The photo of the No Trespassing sign I posted received the most commons, and 99% of the comments were positive. The sign is just a few hundred yards east of Poker Rock.
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos18a/TrespassersWillBeShot.jpg
Speaking of no trespassing, today the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed what is called the "Constitutional Carry Bill." Senate Bill 1212 would allow anyone who owns a gun to carry it without a permit.
http://kfor.com/2018/04/25/oklahoma-house-passes-constitutional-carry-gun-bill/
A few bricks I sandblasted this week. This first one has a semi truck cab that turned out beautiful. One of the most beautiful I've ever made.
http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/PerryConleyGraniteMarker.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/DorothyBeaversFlagstone2.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/MaggieMayCatPaver.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/MissKittyPaver.jpg
The Daily Ardmoreite 12-20-1918
Should Investigate Court House
During the session of Carter County District Court yesterday, a piece of plaster, several feet in diameter, fell from the ceiling of the court room. No person was sitting where the plaster fell, but as it struck the empty benches it caused a lot of noise, interrupting the court proceedings for a time. Plaster has fallen from other portions of the building and it was suggested that the breaking of the plaster is probably the result of the shock of the explosion which wrecked so many buildings in Ardmore over three years ago.March 1934
Spectators stood by helpless to aid them two men were burned to death on US Highway 70 west of Lone Grove. The accident occurred at a narrow bridge on a detour. Witnesses said they saw a car on the bridge before the big heavy laden lumber truck piled into a ravine. When the truck left the road and plunged into the creek, across it and ran head-on into the bank. The lumber skidding forward pushing the cab over the two men inside and the wreckage almost immediately caught fire.March 1958
Carter County officials and employees were working in the courthouse and its Annex with coats on and would have welcomed a summer day. There was no heat due to gas explosion yesterday which damaged a boiler furnishing heat to the building. No one was hurt. The explosion rocked both buildings. And investigation revealed the pilot light on the boiler had gone out resulting in an accumulation of gas which was ignited from flames from an adjacent hot water tank.Q. Where is the oldest amusement park in Oklahoma located?
A. Frontier City in north Oklahoma City.
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/oklahoma/oldest-park-ok/Q. Where is the the largest ice cream festival in Oklahoma held?
A. Answer in next week's newsletter
Below is from This and That newsletter archives of May 4, 2006
"Butch: In the process of moving my office and unpacking, I found the following items that were given to me several years ago that I thought you might find interesting for your t&t history page. It all involves Carter County law enforcement history. This is a photo of the staff of Carter County Sheriff Floyd Randolph. He is the man on the first row, 4th man from the left. The only other one I think is the man at far left on the first row and he is Deputy Bill Ratliff. This was taken in the early 30's, not for sure which year, but it was sometime around 1935."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/RandolphandDeputies.jpg"Butch: This is a photo of Sheriff Randolph and Deputy Ratliff with murder suspect Weldon Goodman, age 19. This was taken around November 1935 when Goodman killed a Dixie Cab driver east of Ardmore. Attached is a copy of the confession of Goodman as told by Sheriff Randolph."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/RadcliffandRandolph.jpghttp://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/WeldonGoodmanConfession.jpg
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Jim Hubbell at Whitesboro, Texas sent in a pic of hail that fell there on April 29th. We have had a lot of storms here in this area and north Texas the past week. Received much needed rain too.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/WhitesboroTXhail.jpg
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"Butch: In your never ending search for the best hamburger in this area, I think I have found it for you. You've just got to go to a little convenience store in Durant. It's called "Grand Central Station" and it's located at the northwest corner of Evergreen Street and Washington Avenue. (It's a block north of the post office and Carl's.) Butch, not only is it a big-sized hamburger but the best one made--period. You can get a hamburger made just like you want it. On top of that, you get a hamburger, french fries or tater tots (your choice), and a large drink for right at $4. Add cheese and it's not much more than that. Once you've been there, trust me, you WILL go back again and again!! The chicken fried steak, that you pictured, is nothing compared to the one that you'll get at the Bar-B-Q Pit in Madill (on Highway 70, which is South First street). You can get a very nice sized and very tasty chicken fried steak, a generous bowl of gravy, Texas toast, and two side orders (of your choice) for about $9. If nothing else, the service at The Bar-B-Q Pit and Grand Central Station is great. Both places treat like you're royalty. In This & That Vol. 10, Issue 483, someone was inquiring about The Dickenson Family. I would like to mention another local artist named Bob Beckham. According to his album, "Just As Much As Ever," he is originally from Stratford. The album was released, in 1959, on Decca Records, record number DL 8967. He took the song "Just As Much As Ever" to #32 on the popular music chart in 1959. That song appears on a few obscure oldies country collections. Does anybody know anything else about him, though?? Thanks, Butch! -Larry Rowland
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While repairing a tv he picked up some strong "snow" on channel 2. He discovered at the same time a tornado was about 15-20 miles away. He discovered that turning to channel 2 (not cable tv but Over The Air) during tornado conditions, turning down the brightness control to near zero or black and watching for the first glimpse of "snow". Now the article said, (Popular Science I think) when the screen becomes "white" there is a strong possibility of a near tornado or chance of one. Later this was confirmed because of strong electrostatic conditions in these clouds. Twisters do form though without this in no violent fronts. -Jack
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------------------------------------------------------------------------Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
I read the “mail” last week from Bruce Bennett about the Otis Ivy store in Amber OK. I had seen that name mentioned in T&T in the past connected to Ardmore and thought that was an interesting coincidence. In 1967 & 68 I lived in Ardmore and worked for Calvert Dairy. Otis Ivy’s store was one of our regular “sody pop” stops for the tank trucks, it was the social center of Amber back then. Otis and his son B.B. were good people and were very kind to me one cold rainy night when I got the milk truck stuck in the Grady County mud. They kept the store open a good while as I waited for the big wrecker out of Ratliff City and loaned me a pair of “rain britches”. -Roy Barnes, Purcell OK
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The Hamburger Inn, the FBI, the United Nations and me!!!
Strange connection? Maybe not. My father Julius Levine moved our family from Marietta to Ardmore about 1946-47, owning both Levine’s Men Store in Ardmore and Levine’s Dry Goods in Marietta. I was 11 years old. Of course, he had breakfast every morning at the Hamburger Inn. (Then a trip with a dad to the Hamburger Inn was as special as young kids going to McDonald’s today.)
Fast forward to Washington, DC 1972. Now 35 and I am applying for a job with the Office of National Narcotics Intelligence (ONNI), Department of Justice. As I was leaving the job interview, the personnel officer noticed the deputy director, Russell Ash, walking by and introduced me. Mr. Ash asked where I was from and I said Ardmore. He asked if Julius Levine was my father and said as FBI Resident Special Agent Ardmore in 1948, his office was located in the Post Office next to the Hamburger Inn, and he had breakfast with my father every day!!! If we had left the personnel office thirty seconds before or later I would not have met Mr. Ash. (And you would not be reading this!!!)
The next day I got a call saying I had been selected for the position at ONNI as senior intelligence analyst. (There surely were 40-50 applications for that job. Often who you know not what you know?)
ONNI was soon transferred to the Drug Enforcement Administration from which I retired in 1992. During this period, at a professional meeting I again coincidentally met a person who later transferred from the Department of Energy to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria. Knowing my background in library and information science, she asked me to join her computer department there in 1994. I retired in 1999 and became a library consultant for the UN and remain in Austria with my Austrian wife today.
Sometimes two ships passing in the night actually meet!!!
I have attended all class reunions of the AHS class of 1955 and we guys always have breakfast at the Hamburger Inn.
Butch, I enjoy your website and especially stories about the Hamburger Inn. This is why.
Perhaps of interest:Emil Levine
Captain, USNR, RET
Kampfeldsiedlung 3
Krumau am Kamp
3543 Austria
emil.levine@a1.net
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hambur47.jpg
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Pioneer woman's diary describes trip to Oklahoma in 1892
I thought that you might like to see this article. Right up my alley. It is too bad when I was a kid they didn't teach some of this in Oklahoma history class. It might have been a more enlightened learning experience. This goes right along with my historical photography "Moment In Time" interests. Have a good day. -Cecil
http://newsok.com/pioneer-womans-diary-describes-trip-to-oklahoma-in-1892/article/5591719
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It's Monday here in Big Sky, WY so we have snow. Notice the squirrel who is barking at me because he can't find his nut. -Monroe
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos18a/SnowBigSkyMT042318.jpg
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-----------------------------------------------Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
"Friends Make Life Worth Living"
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Oklahoma Bells: http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
http://cartercountyok.us
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