This and That
Newsletter
www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vol 13 Issue 644
Circulation 5,000 May 28, 2009
PO Box 2
Ardmore, Oklahoma
73402
email address:
butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-657-8616 (not a toll free number)
Another history lesson by Betty Carroll:
"Once Upon A Time.... Plainview school was located on the originally
established land three miles southwest of downtown Ardmore. School District I-27
was approved March 9, 1909 and was a one-room school. The first building had one
teacher, Miss Pearl Jones, and accommodated students up to the eight grade. This
original structure burned in 1918 and was replaced with a two story building.
That building was replaced by a rock building with housed all 12 grades and is
now the Clint Buck Elementary School. In 1923 the school had four teachers and
an opportunity for a high school education. Teachers were Leona Fullerton, Mrs.
O.C Reynolds, and Inez Crites with Verla Clark acting as both teacher and
principal. O.C Reynolds was superintendent, the school board members were Arthur
Lynch, T.J. Hernon and J.A Zellner. The year 1924 was the first year with a
graduating class of seniors. Seven students were graduated, including J.L.
Zellner and Lean Lynch (Minter)." -Recorded by Betty Carroll, March 15,
1989
Caleb Hacker came by this week with an unusual item he
came across northwest of
Ardmore. An old bottle of some kind, with the words Ace of Drinks, but seems no
one knows who made these type of bottles. Caleb thinks it was
manufactured/sold in the Ardmore area. Maybe a T&T Reader recognizes this
unusual bottle??? Caleb's email address is
hackersmacks123@gmail.com or
580-668-2885
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/AceOfDrinksBottle.jpg
In the last T&T newsletter we had a poem written by my uncle Paul Bridges
just a month before he was killed in action in France in 1945. A Reader sent in this week a newspaper clipping
from the Green River, WY newspaper about my uncle Paul
dated January 25, 1945 in which the clipping tells of Paul shooting a deer in
France on Christmas Day the month before, and he and his buddies all had
venison to eat at Christmas time.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/PaulBridgesClipping1945.jpg
A lady here in Ardmore contacted me to help find her son-in-law's father.
She has nearly all his pertinent information, DOB (1960), SSN, last living in
Florida, brother's name, sister's name, etc., just needing to get in touch with
him for a reunion in July. If any 'super sleuth' would like to help find
him, send me an email and I'll send all the information provided me this
week. Any help appreciated.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/AceOfDrinksBottle.jpg
Well, after several weeks I consider the chicken coop finished. And
after Jill added her touch to it, its fancy, that's for sure. We call it
the Hen Hotel. lol
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/chickencoop.html
If anyone is into raising chickens, I found a wealth of information on the
subject, written by a lady in the UK. I think she knows about everything
there is to know about chickens. She puts out a monthly newsletter by
email which I look forward to each month.
http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/
We have some seedlings started from the Porter Improved seeds I bought a
month ago. Maybe they will turn out this time.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/PorterImproved052509.jpg
Speaking of tomatoes, my tomato webpage gets more Hits then any of my other
530 webpages.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/tomatos.html
Ten cheapest places to buy gas in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Q. The Thunderbirds
rescued people from what concentration camp?
A. Dachau
Q. During WWII how many POW
camps did Oklahoma have?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
Oklahoma Antique Aircraft Association will be having a "Fly-In" at the Pauls
Valley Airport, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma on Saturday, June 6, 2009. It will be
open to the public and is a gathering of pre and post WWII aircraft. The Pauls
Valley Kiwanis will be selling breakfast at 8:00 AM and lunch at 12:00 PM.
Please attend and enjoy the fun and learn a little about aviation.
For further info please contact: Johnene Smith -
580-653-2622
bensmama@hotmail.com or Glenn Smith -
580-653-2253
or http://www.antiqueairfield.com
http://www.antiqueairfield.com/chapters/ok_chapter_2009_01.pdf
"Attached are some photos from the Memorial service at Ardmore's Confederate
cemetery last week."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CVmemorial052509a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CVmemorial052509b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CVmemorial052509c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CVmemorial052509d.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CVguard052509.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SCVprogram052509a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SCVprogram052509b.jpg
"Butch, I am a long time tomato grower, and couldn?t help but notice that two
suggestions may help all the growers. 1. Know if your tomato varieties are
indeterminate or determinate varieties. The determinate types seldom need
pruning, have a ?prescheduled? harvest where the fruit comes in at an earlier
date and almost all at once. The growth and fruiting are ?determined? where the
indeterminate are not. They are bred this way for large commercial growers so
only one harvest is required. The INdeterminate tomato is a vine (like the
determinate) but requires pruning. I like to remove all the leaves and branches
before the first flower set. I usually say ?below? the first flower set, but in
your case (upside down planting) I can?t. This hardens up the stalk and places
the work of that ?sugar factory? plant into producing fruit, not the unneeded
lower leaves. Then I remove all the suckers as they appear, with the exception
of those that come from the nodes on the first and second stems. Actually, this
is a popular method of directing the growth into only three stems. There is a
method of removing the suckers called ?Missouri? pruning where only one or two
leaves of each sucker are allowed. This provides additional leaves if they are
needed. You can probably find references to this online. By removing the
suckers, two things are accomplished. You get more plant growth directed into
production of fruit, and there are less leaves and the sun can get to them all
to create the necessary photosynthesis. When leaves are hidden, they can turn
yellow and die.
2. If you want to encourage very high yields, you need to periodically fertilize
the plants once they begin to set fruit. I suggest about a tablespoon of
Ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) or maybe a short table spoon (2/3 -3/4 ) Ammonium
Nitrate (33-0-0) every week or two. I have not grown them upside down.
But I will try it someday. Gets away from all that tying and concern about
kinked branches when they are laden with fruit, disease, cutworms, etc.
I put the fertilizer around the plant in a circle about a hands width from the
stem, and then water it in good, or use the ?Texas? (since that?s where I am)
method of placing a coffee can with plenty of holes in it, set open side up and
empty between each plant with the top at soil level. Then I put the fertilizer
in a quart of water and pour it in. It drains out the holes and into the soil at
root level. I wash it down with a couple more fills. In the upside down method,
I guess I?d mix it up and pour it around the edges of the can and put the lid
back on.
While upside down seems a good method to avoid some insect damage, the sphinx
moth caterpillar or the hornworm will still get at them, and those big
caterpillars can go through a plant in pretty short order, so keep on the
lookout for them. If you see leaves beginning to disappear, except for the
central vein and some of the other veins, suspect hornworms.
Oh, by the way, I have heard all sorts of rumors about the hornworm. First, let
me be specific, the hornworm is a huge green or multicolored hairless
caterpillar that has this large horn on his rump. Anyway, more than one person
thinks that horn is poisonous, that these caterpillars bite, and all sorts of
things that make it seem dangerous. To clear the record, it is completely
harmless. They could not hurt you if they wanted, so there is nothing to be
concerned about. Simply pick them off when you see them. Pitch them up on the
roof of your house and the birds usually eat them. No, they don?t burrow into
wood. They simply eat tomato plants until mature and them spin a cocoon in which
they complete the metamorphic cycle and emerge as a large beautiful moth. The
moth has elongated wings, the top wing often resembles bark, and the under wing
is where you find the unique colors. One of the most common is pink or reddish
and with a simulated eye. They are also called hummingbird moths as they fly
much like that little bird, hover at flowers in the evening sipping nectar until
mating time. They will generally lay on tomato plants as that is the only
vegetable the larva prefers.
If you will mix say, about 3-5 inches of peat moss (the granulated stuff from
the bottom of the bog) in with your potting soil, it will greatly enhance the
soils moisture retaining abilities and prevent drying out, and reduce watering
needs. Additionally, placing mulch on the top of the bucket should prevent or at
least slow the evaporation rate if you aren?t using a lid. I always use mulch
and for that reason.
My crop this season is not doing well as I have been experimenting, and the
person who said that the plants do better with plenty of sun but lower nighttime
temps is correct. Frankly, when the night temps go over 75 degrees F, it can
stop fruit production. Same can be true for temps under 55, so the tomato can be
a tricky vine in some areas. In Texas, we have this red or yellow clay soil and
it just doesn?t drain. We have to get the ph to about 6.0 and add plenty of lime
plus several pickup loads of good soil for the usual 350 sq. ft. garden and 8 ?
10 bags of peat moss. Then the summer heat comes along and it can be another
problem." -John M. Cook in Texas
"I am so intrigued with Betty Carroll's history of Carter County and this area. I
too can remember her on the radio. It was a pause and refreshing thing to listen
to her. I encourage the First National Bank or anyone else to support this kind of
advertising. It will make you "lots" more money than any other kind of
advertisement." -Ken at Wilson
"Hey Butch, Thanks so much for sharing the letter and poem written by your
uncle, shortly before his death on the battle field while fighting for the
freedom that we enjoy. We can never thank these brave guys and gals enough both
then and now in the service to our country. On this Memorial Day as every day,
our prayers go out to our solders, airmen and sailors as well as the families
that they leave behind. We sometimes forget that those left behind are heroes as
well. Thanks for your T&T each week. I always look forward to it. Best wishes to
you and Jill." -Roy Miller, Oklahoma City
"I was amused several years ago to read in a very old (1950s) edition of The
Oklahoma Almanac that Roman Nose State Park was named for "State Senator Henry
Roman Nose." It doesn't appear in later editions, now mostly about government
and I think a state publication now. The current publication says the park was
named for "Chief Roman Nose." Presumably the Tourism Department, with their
emphasis on "Native Americans" as a tourist attraction thought it would be more
attractive to list him as a chief rather than a state senator."
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
"Hi Butch! I am an avid birder and I've been thoroughly enjoying the questions
and descriptions and wonderful photos of the birds folks are seeing right now.
One person was surprised that the Inca Dove made it as far north as Carter
County. We see them regularly in the summer in southwest Colorado! I guess
they have quite a large range. Here in SE Florida, we have quite a few different
parrots, and they love to build large twig nests beside electric transformers!
I guess the heat feels good to them, although there is plenty of heat to go
around down here. Every once in a while, FPL has to take down a nest before it
interferes with the transformer's work (i.e. blows it up!). My latest project
has been raising monarch butterflies; we have released over a dozen so far this
week. It is simply magical to watch them go from egg to caterpillar to
chrysalis to butterfly in only a few weeks! A picture of one of our female
releases is attached. Keep up the good work. I'm so glad you are getting
chickens. Nothing beats a fresh egg unless it's a homegrown tomato!" -Cindy
Search Confederate pension records - Oklahoma
http://www.odl.state.ok.us/oar/docs/pension.pdf
"Butch, I have ten 5 gallon buckets, with tomatoes in three 1inch holes on the
bottom side up two inches high, I put some small drain holes in the bottom, I
placed 3 inches of MIRACLE GROW POTTING SOIL IN the bucket, I stuck my plants in
the holes 3 inches, then I filled the bucket to three quarters full of ONLY
MIRACLE GROW ONLY, other brands wont work, I now have beautiful plants with
TOMATOES also growing bell peppers, I am doing this WHOLE HOG. ALL HANGING THREE
FEET OFF THE GROUND." -Charley
Here is a really interesting link on Bonnie and Clyde from FBI files. Some never
released until this week.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may09/bonnieandclyde_052709.html
"Butch, here's an interesting (or totally silly if you prefer) project I came up
with.
A couple of years ago I bought a case or two of solar lights on EBay. I had so
many of them scattered around our place that I ran out of places to illuminate
so I decided to illuminate our pond. Crazy Huh! Well, anyway I made a cheap and
easy floating solar light platform from inch and a half poly roll pipe that I
had on hand and formed it into a circle. I cut it into three sections and joined
each section with Tees with the middle part of the tee facing up. I put a short
section of pipe vertically in the middle part of the Tee and inserted the solar
lights onto the top of the short section as shown in the attached photos.
The top ring is just for looks while the bottom ring is enough to float the
whole thing. No foam or anything else is needed, just the air inside the bottom
ring is enough to make it float.
I ran two lines of black plastic (or nylon) bailing twine from each side of the
pond to keep the platform centered in the pond. This makes it easy to service
the lights, just untie one line from it's stake and pull the platform to the
bank and as you can see from the wide angle shot our pond got a little over full
with all the recent rains. I can just about fish from our back porch. LOL
There's an attached night view of the lights also. They look good at night with
the reflection on the water.
The lights I used are stainless steel with three LEDs in each. Three LEDs make a
much brighter output.
I went crazy and even installed some of the solar lights on my Ham Radio Antenna
Tower. I've attached a night photo of that also. One light near the top and two
down the tower a ways.
It would be easy to make a floating platform that would look much better and be
more elaborate than mine with PVC pipe, etc but as I said I went for cheap and
easy at the time. Maybe some of your newsletter readers will. -Dwane
Stevens onmp@arbuckleonline.com
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SolarLights09a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SolarLights09b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SolarLights09c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SolarLights09d.jpg
Oklahoma Antique Aircraft Association
will be having a "Fly-In" at the Pauls Valley Airport, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma on
Saturday, June 6, 2009. It will be open to the public and is a gathering of pre
and post WWII aircraft. The Pauls Valley Kiwanis will be selling breakfast at
8:00 AM and lunch at 12:00 PM. Please attend and enjoy the fun and learn a
little about aviation. For further info please contact: Johnene Smith -
580-653-2622 or Glenn Smith - 580-653-2253 or
www.antiqueairfield.com
"Jill and Butch, I wanted to share this with you , I watched a movie last
weekend on HBO (Taking Chance) and was touched by the subject. It is True story
about a Marine Officer (Kevin Bacon) who escorts a fallen Marine home to
Wyoming. It makes you proud to be called an AMERICAN. My only recommendation is
keep a tissue close. I don't care how Macho you are, you will tear up." -
Kenneth Kemp, Whitesboro,Texas (Formally from Wilson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtmiLdzzgGE
Many things grow in the garden that
were never sown there. -Thomas
Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a
minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
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