This and That Newsletter

T&T Reader Licia Babb lives in southern Florida. When hurricane Fay came through Florida last week, I wondered how Licia was doing, so I emailed. With over 1,500 subscribers, I feel like we are one big family, and it troubles me if I hear of a Reader caught in a storm area or other natural disaster. Here is Licia's reply in her own words:

"It has been horrendous! I have really lucked out, myself, with my own property but so many communities around me are experiencing total loss of cars and homes and belongings and with such a depressed economy most of these people did not have house insurance. The storm's eye settled over me yesterday and stayed there all day which was a nice break and helped the Electric crews fix all the power loss problems around us. Then it moved west and by the time the eastern side of the storm was to hit us it had weakened a lot and we just got a LOT of rain, especially this morning. Now it's just rainy...People around here have cabin fever!! Kids have been out of school for days since Wed. The deaths that the news say are "attributed" to the storm is a completely wrong statement. The deaths are attributed to stupidity..not the storm, People drowning in the surf trying to show off, people putting their generators in there homes and getting asphyxiated and people driving during the worst part of the storm when the news on every station CONSTANTLY telling people to stay off the roads, out of the ocean and warning them of the dangers of putting their generators inside their homes without ventilation. It is so sad when you see such wasteful death and people's lousy decisions affect more than just themselves. The Good Lord protected me as HE has before and, although, I have standing water all over my yard I'm in great shape!! Thank you for asking and for thinking about me. Maybe you could mention to the readers that the Red Cross sure could use some donations to help all these displaced people." -Licia Babb, FL 8/22/08

I received a request this week asking if anyone knows where the old Fox townsite was located before the town was moved to where it is today. If you know, send in an email.

Fox is a small community in Carter County, Oklahoma. The post office was established January 25, 1894. It was named for Frank M. Fox of the Chickasaw Nation. It is best known as a racially integrated school and producer of several H.S. championship football teams, particularly in the late 1970's and early 1980's and this may be the driving force behind an upcoming motion picture release. Captains 1979-80: O. Young, J. Payne, S. Black. -Widipedia

Another request, wanting to know if anyone has info on a train robbery between Paul's Valley and Ardmore in about 1904. One man [Sanders] was captured but broke jail, another was killed by the messenger during the robbery, and the third man was captured and sent to prison.

Hoot Gilbert at Healdton sent in a Photo Album this week of his wife's flower garden. I can see she is like Jill, quite the green thumb. To see Ruth Gilbert's flower garden, just click on Photo Album above and then click on the flower photo on the left side of your screen.

Tom Miller wrote in this week asking if anyone remembers the old Estes Store near Turner Falls on Highway 77. If you remember the details, send me an email.

The Daily Ardmoreite, August 1924 - For some time protest as been going up from local motorist, over the price charged for gasoline in Ardmore, compared with other places. The Chamber of Commerce took the matter up recently to see why the condition existed. The Secretary has findings which lead him to believe prices will be adjusted to a more equitable basis within the next few days.

Jill was over at Wilson the other day and stopped by Susanne and Dan Jolliff's Coffee Professionals and found a blend of coffee that we have fallen in love with. We liked their Okie Blend but their Coconut Cream flavored coffee beans are great. What a great smell and taste in the mornings, and we grind our own beans, so its fresh. If you haven't tried the Jolliff's Coconut Cream coffee, you might want to consider it, we think its just the right blend of coffee beans and flavoring. Its different, and great tasting!

Boy, I never know what my T&T Readers are going to do. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't send me a surprise email. This week Joy Willingham at Medicine Park, Oklahoma decided I should run for President. Most Oklahoman's never heard of Medicine Park, much less know where it is on the map. Its a small, quaint little town north of Lawton nestled in the Wichita Mountains. Its a beautiful place with a cold, clear creek running through the middle of town. You know, this newsletter can't be all serious history all the time, so let's have a little fun. Joy Willingham didn't have the faintest idea what she would start, when she sent the "Vote For Butch Bridges" webpage. Below is the link, just click on the blue box when you arrive at the webpage.

Now for the fun. We haven't had a poll in over three years, so I've created a new one thanks to Joy. And to be fair to the other candidates I have even listed the names in alphabetical order so one doesn't have an edge over the other (people tend to vote for the 1st choice on the list). :-) And I'm only going to have one plank in my platform, taken from Herbert Hoover's campaign in 1928. My only promise if elected is "a chicken in every pot". Now click on the link below and vote for the candidate of your choice. Remember, you can only vote once, so make it count. lol

There are days when I wonder why I was not allowed onto the plane. I was driven back to Fort Ord, and housed in an empty barrack for the night, to fly out the next morning. My wife came and picked me up and we went to eat before taking me back to the barracks.

We decided to stop by my wife's sister to let them know that I wasn't allowed on the plane, only to find them grieving for me. They then informed me that my parents needed to be notified that I hadn't been allowed to board the plane. When we arrived at my parent's home, about 20 miles away, we found my family gathered trying to comfort my parents. It was joyous news for them, but I felt a real loss for the friends I'd lost.

I've struggled all these years, wondering "what if.."

Thanks again for helping me find some closure to this very traumatic experience. I also appreciate what you've done to memorialize the many lives lost in this tragic accident. -Nickolas Saldivar, Sacramento [email protected]

"My friend (and former employee at the Perry Theatre, Perry, OK) Sharron Miller got her first 'big break' when she went to May Lemke and 'bought' the rights to her story and the story of her savant son (adopted), and then persuaded Dick Clark to let her film it for an afternoon special (she'd already done a short piece on it for "That's Incredible" (another TV series). Sharron was a 'movie nut' while growing up here in Perry and was about to drive my wife crazy with her questions about movies and TV, so my wife, Ann, told me about her and introduced us. I trained her as a projectionist and had her working in the booth with my son Kevin when I got a call from my former employer at KWTV (channel 9 in OKC) wanting me to come back to work. I persuaded them to hire Sharron instead, and that evening went in to my projection booth to tell her what she needed to know to get the job and how to do the film editing work. She worked there a year and decided to go back to college and major in film production so she could 'go to Hollywood'. While in college (at OSU) at Stillwater, she came to me to borrow a movie camera to film a project and won a college award for the film. When she decided she was ready, she went to Hollywood in search of work, and worked as a script girl, sound editor, and any other job she could find while waiting for that 'big break' and Leslie Lemke's mom provided that break. Dick Clark saw the piece on "That's Incredible" and tried to buy the rights from Sharron only she told him no! Not unless she could direct it and be responsible for it. He agreed. She won seven awards including a daytime Emmy for that film. You can find her credits on IMBd (the Internet Database) by clicking on "The Woman Who Willed A Miracle" on that website. You will also see a large list of Sharron's accomplishments including a film she shot here in Perry called "Cradle Song". My son Kevin worked on that one with her (but was not given and credit. The credits also listed her mom (Emaline Miller) and her nephew (Patrick McLemore). It was filmed on Gertrude Gengler's farm and Mrs. Gengler was given a role in the film. I was only out there for one days filming to see how it was progressing. Oh, Sharron also borrowed a hand-rewind set from me for editing the dailies. This was back in the days when we lived on a farm west of town, and I was operating my Stereo Center (21 years in that location beginning in 1972) just a block north of where my antique mall is now." -Roy Kendrick, Perry, OK [email protected]

George Washington is the only president who didn't blame the previous administration for his troubles. -Author Unknown