This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 16 Issue 784 Circulation 5,000 February 2, 2012
PO Box 2
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-657-8616
I had a pleasant surprise this week, a visitor from my long ago past, someone I had not seen since my teenage years. Charles Dabbert stopped by to share a book with me. His wife, Dana Dabbert, passed away about 6 months ago, and he brought by a book she had just published just days before her death. Since her death Charles has been doing book signings in behalf of his deceased wife. The book may only be about 12 pages long, but it has the most vivid colors and so beautifully done, and a stimulus for some great fun with grandkids. The book is aimed at children about how grandparents (parents too) can enjoy the day with grandkids using only cardboard boxes as entertainment. Its an example of how plain cardboard boxes can be painted and customized to create villages, one building at a time. Really quite unique and easy to do. There is a link below where the book can be purchased (even a digital format to download). This book would really go great in a library, preschool, daycare, just to name a few. To talk to Charles about his wife's book and how to get your hands on a copy, he can be reached in Ardmore at 580-223-9754.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CardBoardVillageFront.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CardBoardVillageBack.jpg
http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61346-435-9
In the last issue of T&T we mentioned a web cam on a Bald Eagle's nest near Vian, Oklahoma. By this week all three eggs had hatched and now there are 3 eaglets under the mother eagle. I need to give credit to the father too, he covers the eaglets to keep them warm when the mother is away from the nest. as well as help feed. The last eaglet born is the runt of the bunch. I hope he makes it. It will be a long 12 weeks before they take flight on their own.
http://www.suttoncenter.org/pages/live_eagle_camera
Turn your phone into a GPS for free. It is also very easy to install. Turn-by-turn it comes with voice-guided navigation for your mobile phone. Available for Iphone, Java, Blackberry, Android and Windows mobile. Find the free software and download it at http://www.AmazeGPS.com
As many of you know, google is my favorite search engine. I have tried them all, some no longer even around, and I can find what I'm looking for faster using google for my searches. Google now has Google Public Alerts. A person can see in a second the entire U.S. and where any weather alerts have been issued right down to the county or particular area of a state. This will come in handy keeping up with my many T&T and Facebook friends across the country and any severe weather they may be experiencing. I'll be checking this webpage daily!
The google public alerts webpage
http://www.google.org/publicalerts
From This and That newsletter archives
of February 6, 1999:
I'm not sure what a
"route card" is but this is a photo of the official route card of the Stevens
Bros Circus of Hugo, Oklahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/photos/circusok.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
This week a reader sent an email that instills a spirit of patriotism and
touched me more than usual. It is an email that I want to pass along to everyone
right now.... and not below in The Mailbag. It truly makes me want to travel to
Philadelphia and touch that bell. Here is that moving message:
"Butch, I was reading the latest T&T and got to thinking about last March when I
went to a death penalty seminar in Philadelphia. Although the time schedule
didn't leave any time for sightseeing, being a lawyer I was darned sure not
going to leave Philly without visiting the Independence Hall area! If the
birthplace of the Constitution isn't sacred ground to a lawyer, then truly,
nothing is sacred to anyone."
"I was with another attorney friend that I used to work with who had just moved
to Chicago. We walked into the building and there were only a couple of other
people there; they were on their way out. Terri and I walked up and were looking
at the bell and the Park Service guard read our minds and said, "It's okay. You
can touch it." Of course, we did."
"Butch, it felt ALIVE. My fingers seemed to vibrate even after I pulled them
away. Terri felt it too. We both must have been standing there looking
flabbergasted when the guard said, "Yeah, it does the same thing to me when I
touch it." It was simply incredible. I could still feel it in my fingers a
half-hour later."
"The government is planning on remounting the bell on a pedestal that will be too
high to touch. If you can get to Philly before they do, I recommend that you do
so. I'd like to know if it does everybody that way."
"A few minutes later I managed to work my arm through the iron bars and touch
Ben Franklin's gravestone. In sort of a sad commentary on modern life, a
homeless man had set up housekeeping over a steam grate not ten feet from where
Franklin rests." -Randy Evers, Oklahoma City
-----------------------------------------------
One reader sent in the directions to Ten Acre Rock north of Ravia, OK: "In
Ravia, turn North into Hwy #1 and proceed to Troy. On the Right corner of Ten
Acre Rock Road, which is now unidentifiable by street name sign, there stands an
old weathered gas station with a dilapidated red tin roof. Turn right and proceed
down the road about 2 miles and watch on your right for a pull in parking area.
You will find this area at about what is the rock's mid-section. Park in there.
It's a straight-up climb to the top of the rock so wear shoes with some grip."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/glimpsepast/tenacre2.jpg
Map to Ten Acre Rock with GPS
coordinates. This GPS reading is about as close as I know to get it. So you
should be pretty close. 34.329828 -96.758995
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/TenAcreRockMap.jpg
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And in very far northeastern Oklahoma is Picher, Oklahoma. In fact, on the map
Picher looks about 50 feet from the Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas borders. This
is an old 1944 photo of Flem's Cafe in Picher.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/photos/picher.jpg
--------------------------------------------------
In far north central Oklahoma, about 15 miles north of Ponca City, just before
you reach the Kansas border is Chilocco, Oklahoma. Here is an old 1913 photo of
Haworth Hall, Chilocco Indian School. They even had a bell!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/photos/chilo13.jpg
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"Hi Butch: I was standing on Ten Acre Rock just a couple of hours ago. It has to
have been a sacred place sometime back and it is sad to see the trashing and the
spray paint graffiti which have occurred since I was last there in July. This
place is an Oklahoma treasure and ought to be protected somehow. It is a place
which inspires and it is hard to understand why for some it only seems a good
place to be destructive. From the amount of broken glass and beer cans, it is
obviously operating as an "open bar". Too bad the property cannot come under the
protection of an agency such as the Nature Conservancy. It is so sad that such
beautiful places are more frequently the targets of disrespect and eventually
destruction. We live in one of the most beautiful regions of the country and
maybe each of us needs to actively advocate for appreciation of that fact.
Thanks Butch, for the picture."
------------------------------------------------
Q.
Close to 20 years ago a movie was filmed in Oklahoma and the scene below was
etched in people's minds across the country of the location in Oklahoma. What
was the name of the movie and where was this location?
A. Twister 1996
In January 2012 Russell Martin took a pic of the spot where the twister was
coming through, the only difference is in the movie a flag was in the
background. The location was just west of Maysville, Oklahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/TwisterMovieLocation.jpg
Q. What western Oklahoma community is home to the Route 66
museum and the Tradewinds Motel, "Where Elvis Stayed."
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Stopped at the new Liberty Burger in Dallas just after New Year's. Had a Liberty Burger with all the veggies, mustard and mayo both, "skinny fries" (almost like "shoestring potatos"), and iced tea. Did not leave hungry! They are *great* burgers, but a little on the pricy side. I'm sure I'll eat there next time I go down, and will take a picture for you. We now call the place "3 o'clock burger" - I think you can see why." -Dan Major http://www.GiveMeLibertyBurger.com/
"On the subject of Cornish Ok, here is what I heard from Erlene Freeman Goddard 81 yrs old, she recalls her first grade teacher being a Quanita Pennington from Cornish at Orr school, she said the teacher rode a horse all the way from Cornish to Orr every day, isn't that about 15 miles each way?" -Linda
Note: Looking at the map, Orr is about 12 miles S-SE of Cornish/Ringling, Oklahoma. GPS 34.035164 -97.535591
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/OrrOklahomaMap.jpg
This is a close-up view of Orr, Oklahoma using bing.com's aerial view
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/OrrOklahomaAerial.jpg
"In the last T&T a reader was recalling the first movie he saw, My Darling Clementine. My family left the grocery store at 6:30 PM on Monday night when it closed, and get a quick bite of supper, usually at Edens Fine Food Restaurant next door to the Tivoli Theatre, then to see the movie. The first movie I remember was The Third Man. It was a WWII movie and the only thing I remember about it was the theme song (The Third Man Theme). It was played on an instrument, a zither, and the music was enchanting and hypnotizing. I don't remember liking the film because it wasn't a comedy or musical. But that song was hypnotizing. I think the movie I remembered and enjoyed in 1950 was Bob Hope's "Fancy Pants" -George Davis The Third Man Movie
"Hi Butch. I noticed in the recent OkHis newsletter, someone was trying to remember the first movie they could remember. The first I can remember that made enough impression on me to remember was the 1939 movie "Stagecoach" the John Wayne saga with many other great actors of that era. It made quite an impression on a 4 year old boy, as the coach raced across the deserts of the West chased by the marauding Indians...wow...it kept me on the edge of my seat. Of course I must have seen other before it, but it is my first real memory of a movie. I can also remember attending movies, mostly Saturday westerns in the Roxie (later the Globe), the Fox, the Arapaho, all on East Main as well as the Ritz, Paramount and Tivoli on West Main. Ah those were the days, .10 for a movie, serial and couple of cartoons, .5 coke, popcorn or candy bar..."Turn Back, Turn Back, Oh, Hands of time...to yesterday, when I was a boy, With cheeks of tan, strolling over these sand hills of Carter County....ah well time and 73 years changes all things." -Steve
"Johnnie's Grill in El Reno, Oklahoma was featured on that cable show that goes to America's greatest diners. My son just sat there shaking his head saying "they shoulda gone to Robert's Grill". I was living in Crescent, Oklahoma for awhile & when they would come up from Ft Worth he would walk in the door & say what 2-3 hours were reserved for Robert's. He loves those slaw dogs. And dont forget the Fried Onion Burger Day in El Reno is May 1st 2012."
http://www.ElRenoBurgerDay.com/
"Butch, On your list of 1967 eating places in the last T&T, there is no mention of McKerson's BBQ. I'm sure he was there then, wasn't he?" -Kerry
Note: McKerson's BBQ was located at 116
East Main in Ardmore, but since he only had a pay phone in his establishment,
his business was not listed in the 1967 telephone book.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos4a/McKersonBBQ.jpg
"Used to eat at the Smokehouse when it was in an old drive-in on Highway 82 out west of Gainesville (Lindsey, TX). We'd call the airport on the radio and let them know we were inbound and there would be a van waiting for us, took us back to the airport when done." -Jim Foreman
"Hi Butch. One of our excuses for flying down to Gainesville is the barbecue. We often make the 15 - 20 minute flight from Ardmore Downtown airport, get a courtesy car at the Gainesville airport and go have one of those barbecue lunches. They are great. Another place close by that we sometimes use as an excuse to fly is the restaurant at the Cedar Mills Marina just on the other side of Lake Texoma. That is also a very short flight to a grass strip and a short walk takes us to the marina restaurant for a good hamburger. The place was submerged during the floods a few years ago and was completely rebuilt but still has good burgers." -Jon
"Your list of 1967 eating places last week included Miller's Tastee Freeze. (I may have spelled that wrong). Owners Fran and Ernie Miller were both ham operators, W5SNM and W5SNL. Ernie was at most of the ham meetings at Charles Dibrell's place when I first got started. I noticed lately a For Sale sign on the building. Not sure who currently owns it."
"There is some really good barbeque brisket in Davis(Bill's BBQ). It is melt-in-your mouth tender and ample servings, too. The service is great, also. It's located on the east edge of Davis." -Iva Lee Quetone
"Butch let Scheryl know that we call the hominy and pork Pashofa. And it is not hominy but white corn that is grinded." -Linda
http://www.chickasaw.net/history_culture/index_662.htm
"Butch, You wrote about eating places in 1967. I had almost forgotten Tommy Anastasio and his pizza place! Wow, what great pizza and his salads with his home-made dressing was the best! Never had any pizza since as good as his. Great memory. I had a 61 Chevy back than and the dashboard was really big, so we would get one of his pizza's and go to the drive-in and the dashboard was the table for us." -Jay Cook
"Around 2003, my late wife and I were traveling in an RV and had set up temporary home in Thackerville at the Indian Nation RV Park (now Red River Valley RV). We enjoyed dining in Gainesville and one evening decided to try Smokehouse II thinking we would suggest a group of friends from the park might dine there later. We could always share a plate and upon deciding to share the bbq platter summoned the wait person. She told us we could not share a plate but had to order for each person. I asked for the manager and she confirmed with no explanation as to why. We left to never return without eating. This was not a buffet or all you could eat, just a plate off the menu. Go figure. There is a Smokehouse in Lindsey and they let us share. There is also a smokehouse in Denton and they let us share. I understand they are tied together by ownership." -George
"Butch, to show you how Facebook is helping people I have an interesting story. One evening a man called and because my last name is Wallace he asked if I was or knew Benita Wallace. He said he had found a Dickson class ring and the date was in the '80's I believe he said. Well, I used to teach at Dickson and that name was familiar. I told him I'd do some research and see if I could find her. Immediately I thought of Facebook. Sure enough I found her and this is what she had to say. "Almost 30 years ago I lost my class ring in Lake Murray. A kind man in Ardmore was using his metal detector around the lake recently and with the water being so low, he found it, did the research, and found me. Wow!" Another plus for Facebook!"
"Have you ever seen or heard of anybody having photos of the old timber 5th Avenue viaduct from up on top -- shot while walking across it? I well remember the first time I walked across it as a little kid with my folks. I also remember how the boltheads and nuts holding it all together would jingle against their washers when we drove across it in the folks' '55 Bel Air or, later, in the '60 model. I sort of figure it was probably originally built by the railroad companies.
Next question -- I see that they've replaced some of Ardmore's brick-paved streets with concrete. Any idea what becomes of the historic brick pavers?" -TOM ELMORE
Auction Saturday February 4, 2012 at Ardmore, Oklahoma. 60 years of accumulations.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/Auction020412.jpg
"Hello Butch and Jill, Warm, well actually kinda cold greetings from good old Ireland, just thought id drop you a line to say thank you for your excellent post on your webpage about building a pallet shed. I currently have around 20 square pallets in the back garden and am waiting for some decent weather to get cracking at the build, your project is what im gonna follow looks pretty solid and kinda easy to build, i love how you bolted the thing together very clever, was wondering how you secured the roof?, in one of your photos it looks like your used metal bands around the beams is this correct? Ill take some photos as it goes up and maybe you could put them on your site? Thanks again for an informative building technique." -Marc and Judy McAlester, from leixlip, County Kildare, Ireland.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/palletshed.html
Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Festus Country) by Ken Curtis
See them tumbling down,
Pledging their love to the ground,
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.
Cares of the past are behind,
Nowhere to go but I'll find
Just where the trail will wind,
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.
I know when night has gone
That a new world is born at dawn
I'll keep rolling along,
Deep in my heart is a song,
Here on the range I belong,
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWR6FLnPack
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a
minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official
American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
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