This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 16 Issue 793 Circulation 5,000 April 5, 2012
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]
580-657-8616
If you missed the 30 minute documentary The United State of Oklahoma on TV last night, you missed a great presentation what the future might hold for Oklahoma's water. The documentary is sponsored by the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations of Oklahoma. This should be a must watch presentation for every citizen of this state, the future of Oklahoma's water is important to everyone. There are more broadcasts scheduled on TV, but you can also watch it at the link below.
Photographer Cecil Elliott in OKC sent in a nice photo of U.S. Marshal Heck Thomas' grave marker. The marshal is buried in Lawton, Oklahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/HeckThomasMarker.jpg
A Reader gave me a photo this week of the milling plant in downtown Ardmore years ago. The location is near 1st Street SE and Mill Street. I see at the very top the old ice plant. The streets are all dirt. I'm not sure when exactly this 8x10 aerial photo was taken, maybe someone can give us a good estimate. By the way, the scan I made does not do the photo justice, the detail is much better in the real photograph. I think we'll do something different with this photograph that we've never done before, let's have a silent auction. All the proceeds will go to help pay the burial costs of the owner's mother who recently passed away. Just send me an email of what you bid, it will go to the highest bidder. If you live outside Ardmore, we will add about $3 to cover shipping costs.
The silent auction will end Sunday night, April 8th, 2012. Get your bid in before that time. The winning bid will be announced in next week's T&T.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ArdmoreMill.jpg
Here's a aerial view of about the same area as it is today using bing.com
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ArdmoreMillToday.jpg
Well, as most of you already know, the biggest news to family researchers since 1930 has just been released, the 1940 U.S. Census now available online. When it went online at 9am Monday April 2nd, the U.S. Census website came to a crawl with millions of people trying to take a peek at the new data. I can hardly wait to start my digging, I have a lot ancestry questions that maybe I can find answers to inside the 1940 database.
http://1940census.archives.gov/
And as a follow-up to the above, this map of the 2010 U.S. Census is a wealth of information.
http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1
A Readers this week sent in a link to some fantastic Oklahoma City metroplex history. I see Danny Williams, boy does that bring back memories of watching Channel 9 out of OKC in my early teens on our first black and white tv.
From This and That newsletter archives
of April 3, 1999:
A couple of weeks ago I promised to tell everyone about the largest bell in the
world. It's already been cast at the foundry in Nantes, France. A lady here in
Ardmore gave me the March 12th Wall Street Journal, and there on the front page
was a large article about it. The bell is to leave France this month, makings it
way up the Mississippi River and finally up the Ohio River, and ending up in
Newport, KY in July 1999. It is there in Newport, Kentucky they plan to ring in
the new Millennium on December 31st with this bell. I sure would like to be
there when they ring that 73,000 pound bell for the first time! It's the world's
largest swinging bell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Peace_Bell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XT-jbhyDuQ
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Here is a pic of a bell taken by a friend on top of the Our Lady of Guadalupe
Catholic Church in Hollis, Oklahoma (far SW Oklahoma).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/hollbell.jpg
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I saw on the TV
this week, that after decades, it seems like we have been fed misinformation
about just what's a Blue Moon. They now say it is when four full moons occur in
one season, the third one is a Blue Moon.
-----------------------------------------------------
"Reagan, OK....I
have many fond memories of that place. Just north of the fish hatchery, there
was a swimming pool that was fed by the Pennington creek. Just north of the pool
was a skating rink with shutters that were raised in the summer to help keep the
place cool. The Pennington creek flowed down through Tishomingo on the west side
of downtown, flowing over a dam in the northwest part of town that was a popular
place for swimming, diving, and picnicking."
-----------------------------------------
Q. The nation’s first “tornado warning” was issued
March 25, 1948 in what city?
A. The first official tornado forecast (and tornado warning) was made by
United States Air Force Capt. (later
Col.) Robert C. Miller
and Major Ernest Fawbush at Norman, Oklahoma.
Q. Which state has the most tornados per square mile,
Oklahoma or Texas?
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.....
"Butch, I am searching for information on Cherokee School. My dad always told me, when I was a child, there once was a school about a mile from where I live called Cherokee. It sat on the north side of Cherokee Creek here in Love County. This was before statehood and possibly could have been a "subscription school". My dad was born in 1913 and I'm sure he never saw it but had been told about it. It would have been in the Eastman community today. He had told me where it once was located but I can't seem to find any record or anyone who knows anything about it. The school at Eastman was organized in 1908 and I'm sure Cherokee school was long before that. Hopefully some of your readers may have been told stories about it. I'm at a loss." -Betty Rackley
"Had time to run up to Black Bear and Perry, Oklahoma when I was at my Mother-in-law's house at Stillwater." -Dwane Stevens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNgZY0E2Jdg
"Butch, Judging by the clothes and what appears to be perhaps a 1936-1941 pickup in the background, would it be safe to say that the wreck/derailment happened in the late 1930s to early 1940s?" -Mike
http://mariettaok.com/trainderail/imagepages/image14.html
Title: 1st Saturday Sale
Date: Saturday April 7, 2012
Time: 12:00 am - 12:00 pm
Repeats: This event repeats every month on the first Saturday
Location: 1100 Woodall-Rodgers Freeway, Dallas, TX
http://www.SidewalkSale.com
"Hi, Butch, You probably saw this story in the paper. My mom says she believes there is a "bent tree" at Ft. Washita."
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2012-04-01/groups-identify-trees-bent-american-indians
SAVE THE DATE!!
On April 29, 2012 in Ballinger, Texas a very special day will transpire! Special guests will travel short and long distances to be recognized while honoring our new Indian statue, “A Friend”, and recognize the place on which he stands that has come to symbolize many things to a wide range of people. Come be a part of this historic Ballinger event that started 4 years ago with a dream from seventy-five sixth grade students and their teacher.
Some of our special guests will include: Nell Shepperd Hambrick, 95, former Ballinger resident, teacher, friend, and daughter of Elmer Shepperd who originally purchased Ballinger’s original old Indian from Ardmore, OK. Donald Pearse and Geraldine Pearse Zuehlke, family members of the two men who built the old Indian rock base. These two men were William(Bill) Pearse and his son, Albert Pearse. Xoxi Nayapiltzin, our new Native American friend that is very appreciative of the students’ goal and has taken our mission to heart. He hopes that all Native Americans whose homelands are in Texas hear of this project to honor their ancestors and come join in the celebration. He is a dear friend to Fred and Kay Campbell, guardians of the pictographs in Paint Rock, Texas that so many people have enjoyed over the years. Xoxi’s ancestors are of the Jumano family. However, he has chosen to coordinate multiple cultures of true Native American dancers, Elders, and Chiefs because of what our statue has always stood for, “A Friend”. In Xoxi’s own words, “ When the European’s first came to this land, most Native Americans stood proudly to great them as a friend, just as your statue is doing and is how Texas got its name”.
We extend our invitation to all in helping us celebrate a “Dream turned Reality”, a “GOAL COMPLETED” and the honoring of our Native Americans for their love, appreciation, and respect for this land and our country.
All activities begin at 10 a.m. at the Ballinger City Park with the Glory Road Cowboy Church featuring the musical group, “Concho Valley Grass”, followed by “Picnic in the Park” with various organizations offering lunch choices, and surrounded by fun booths for all ages. The Official ceremony will begin at 1:30 and will include several facets: the unveiling, recognition of our honored guests, followed by a celebration of the Native American Cultures and their descendants through dance and a very special ceremony of the “Blessing of the Ground” and a “Salute to the Four Directions”.
Come and enjoy a day of family fun and be a part of an event you will not soon forget!
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.
Jonathan and Charlotte in the UK - March 2012 audition
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Nashobish Ikana
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
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
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my Website.
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