This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 16 Issue 808 Circulation 5,000 July 19, 2012
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]
580-657-8616
Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday Ardmore, Oklahoma will be
celebrating its 125th birthday at Mt View Mall. There will be a craft fair show,
face painting, kids' karaoke, and a photographer taking old west style pictures
and more. On Saturday July 21st there will also be a cutting of the Ardmore
Birthday Cake, and punch to be served at 1 pm. I will be there about noon on
Saturday and hope to see many of my newsletter Readers and Facebook friends
there too. Its going to be a lot of fun, plenty of fellowship, story telling,
and reminiscing of times past. If you are in the area of Mt View Mall Saturday,
stop by and let's have some fun. Be sure and look me up and say Hello, I'll be
in the
Center Court area (near the cake LOL)!
Construction crews preparing footings for some portable
buildings at Lincoln School at F and G Street SW found some old red bricks as they dug
the trenches. No one seemed to know what all these red bricks were doing
just below the surface. They are the remains from the old brick street that started at Stanley Street SW and went north back in the early 1900s. I ran
across info several years ago that stated Ardmoreite Stanley Hodges Sr. even
owned a Candy Store on that street, and in later years ran his Candy Store
across the street south from Jefferson School on 4th Street SE. Here are
some pics from the construction work going on this week at Lincoln School.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/LincolnSchool071612a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/LincolnSchool071612b.jpg
Also back around 1930 and later, there was a tunnel that went from the south entrance of Lincoln School, under Stanley Street, to the sidewalk on the side side of Stanley. This gave safe passage to the kids so they didn't have to cross the street. A person can still faintly see the outline on the wall inside the school's front door, where the steps led down into the ground to the tunnel.
Cecil Elliott in OKC sent in a photo he took of Ballard's in Pauls Valley. Sad that it is now history.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BallardsJune2010.jpg
I never know what the postman will bring me from a T&T reader.
This week I was surprised to receive a letter from Jim Edgar in Pine Mountain,
Georgia. Inside was the Obituary for Coach O.L. Gilstrap. Coach Gilstrap was
born in Ardmore in 1923 graduating from Ardmore High School with 5 gold metals
for track. Below is a scan of his obit.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CoachOLGilstrapObit.jpg
Below is the obit from The Daily Ardmoreite along with a photo of
Coach Gilstrap
http://www.ardmoreite.com/obituaries/x1903092409/O-L-Gilstrap
Here is an ode to Mr. Gilstrap, interesting and sometimes funny,
from the Ledger-Enquire in Columbus, Georgia
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/07/15/2121130/guerry-clegg-commentary-ode-to.html
Last Saturday morning I bought the best watermelon I've eaten so
far this year. I purchased the melon at the
Market On Broadway and Caddo here in Ardmore from the Birch Tree Farms table
for $5 and it was delicious and sweet! Can't wait to go back Saturday for
another one! By the way, he said they will be at Market on Broadway every
Saturday til Fall.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BirchCreekWatermelon071412.jpg
Birch Creek Farms has an informative Facebook page, just do a search for them!
Within these webpages are tons for Oklahoma history!
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/
A couple months ago we were camping up in NE Oklahoma at Natural Falls and that evening a man from Minnesota asked me what was that noise made at night by something in the trees. I told him it was Cicadas. He had never heard them. A couple months ago the cicadas on our property was almost deafening, so loud, made by the male cicadas. That noise has subsided some the past few weeks, but they are still singing in our trees. Here is one that feel to the ground for some unknown reason, so I took a pic of it.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/cicada071512.jpg
There are many of these cicada holes in our yard, where the Cicada larve crawls out as a 'bug' and then leaves behind its shell as it flies into the trees as an adult cicada. (That is a doodle bug trap hole just above and to the right.)
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CicadaHole.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CicadaShell.jpg
The cicada looks mean, but its really harmless to humans.
I see workers have started building a white fence on the south side of West Broadway across from Tiffany Plaza (west of Highland Park Apartments).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/FenceTiffanyPlaza071912.jpg
Yesterday, Wednesday, was my birthday. I was overwhelmed and humbled by the 700 birthday wishes on Facebook, and the dozens of emails. Thanks everyone, you are appreciated!
From This and That newsletter archives of July 18, 1998:
"I read in The Daily Oklahoman this week
that Roy Rogers was in Ardmore and Ada in October, 1946 for the premiere in each
of these towns of his film "The Hills of Oklahoma. If anyone out there has any
information or pictures of this event it would sure be fun for the rest of us to
see. I was a young boy in the fifties and sixties, growing up watching Roy
Rogers on Saturdays."
----------------------------------------------------
"Roy Rogers may actually have saved my
life... We were backstage at the Oklahoma State Fair Rodeo in the early 70's.
Roy and Dale had just performed and I had managed to get my Mom and brother and
I backstage to try and get autographs. All of a sudden, one of the barrel racers
lost control of her horse coming off the barrels and out of the arena. The horse
was running right at me.. Roy saw what was happening and moved me out of the
way.. and yes, I DID get his and Dale's autographs.. He'll always be one of my
heroes.."
---------------------------------------------------
The Daily Ardmoreite - Thursday, July
15, 1915
AUTOMOBILE FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT
COST OF LIVERY RIGS SOON EAT UP THE
PRICE OF A CAR - PURCHASE WILL BE MADE SOON
Commissioner London stated this morning that it was about decided to purchase an
auto for the police department, as a glance at the accumulated bills for the
necessary auto hire for the past two months has convinced the commissioners that
it was far cheaper to own a car than to pay livery bills.
Mr. London stated that he had not decided what car the department would buy, but
that the Ford seemed to be the best suited for their purpose. It has been
adopted by Oklahoma City and several other places in the state, and was giving
good satisfaction with a minimum cost of upkeep.
The police department has been handicapped for the want of some means of
transportation of prisoners when arrests are made, especially if they are in
some remote part of the city and inclined to be rough. The best they can do at
present is to call for livery cars, and the bills paid monthly by the city would
soon pay for a car.
It is the purpose of the commissioner to keep his department to the highest
point of efficiency, but this is hard to do unless they have the necessary
equipment, and the most necessary thing at present is a means of transportation.
The car will probably not be purchased before the first of the coming month.
----------------------------------------------------
Q. In 1936 Murray County circulated a petition to
change the name of the county to what?
A. Roosevelt. The county voted 4 to 1 for him in the election. -Larry
Q. In 1889 after the opening Oklahoma City was actually made
up of two towns. Why? And what was the name of the second city?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Check gas prices by town or zip code anywhere in U.S.
http://www.kmov.com/traffic/gas-buddy
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"The photo Wayne Whitted of Hickory Creek, TX, refers to in
last week's edition of This and That Newsletter (7/12/2012) is of students
wearing St. Agnes Academy jackets. The photo was taken by Fonville Studio
(probably by Harry Fonville, owner of the studio) in February 1948. St. Agnes
Academy was located on the site of the current St. Mary Catholic Church School,
Stanley and E Street SW. The building in the background was probably the wooden
St. Agnes Academy school building. I attended Kindergarten - Second grade in
that building under the tutelage of the Sisters of Mercy (1951-1953). The
following year, classes were moved to the old wooden church, by then used as a
parish hall because the new and current St. Mary Church had been constructed,
and I attended my Third Grade year there. By 1955, the new St. Mary School was
completed and students moved into these new quarters where I attended Fourth,
Fifth and Sixth Grades. I refer you to the following sites for more information:
This and That Newsletter, Dec. 25, 2008: Ancestory.com Message Boards on St.
Agnes Academy of Ardmore, Oklahoma;
www.stmaryardmoreok.org and
www.mercy.net/newsroom-mercy-memorial-health-center-ardmore-quick-facts-0
Hopefully my hasty research is accurate and that it helps explain the photograph
in question." -Mike McCulloh in Oregon
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/SApictureA.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/SApictureB.jpg
"Butch, I looked at Wayne Whitted's picture and the first thing I did was look in the 1948 CRITERION because the boy in the photo was tall and I figured he probably played sports at AHS. His name is Kenneth Hunnicutt and did play both football and basketball. I looked through the CRITERION again looking for letter jackets that might have an "SA" insignia but couldn't find any. After looking at some old photos I have, I came up with nothing. So, we know the students went to AHS and probably belonged to some social group.
I think the picture was taken on the east side of "E" Street half a block north of Stanley. The house in the background contained apartments when I was in grade school at Lincoln in the early 1950's if it's the house I'm thinking of." -Monroe Cameron
"I really enjoy the newsletter every week. I still get homesick for Oklahoma. As they say, "once an Okie, always an Okie". We installed the same storm cellar you have at our place in Sulphur about 1994. Thankfully, we only had to use it a couple of times. We always had a large garden and used it as a root cellar to store potatoes, onions etc. My husband put some shelves along one wall and I put canned stuff on them. The cellar stayed cool year around even during the summer." -Mary Baker
"That Double R - Roy Rogers ranch is located near Oro Grande, Calif. On sale 67 acres with opening bid of $100,000."
Saturday August 4th at 10:00am. Absolute Auction at Tex Ritter's place, 3021 Springdale Road, Ardmore, OK.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/RitterAuction080412.jpg
"This really works. Privacy as we know it is pretty much gone. Enter your address, and up comes a map of your area...and a list of all neighbors and their phone numbers! Even has pictures of the neighborhood and lists the children living in the homes. Look up your neighbors address and phone number just by entering your address. (You can run but you can't hide!)"
http://neighbors.whitepages.com/
"I am looking for a guy names John Pittman, that was a foster child of my Uncle's in the 70's. He lived on Lake Murray Dr in 1971,72 and 73 and joined the Navy, John also went to Ardmore High School. My Uncles name is Alonzo Amerson "Datch" Smith and he recently passed away and was very fond of John and the family would like to notify him of Uncle Datch's passing. If you or anybody has any information, We would greatly appreciate it." -Valorie Brown
"My name is Roy Regan Withers, and I'm the grandson of Roy Nathaniel Withers, mail carrier in the 1915 photo you've publish. I have many pictures and writings from my grandfather, however this is the first time I've ever seen this picture. I'm 48 yrs old, and the last time I saw my grandfather was when I was very young, perhaps 5 or 6 years old at the most. We live in California, so once or twice per year, my father would pack up the family in the station wagon, and drive us out to visit for a few weeks with his parents, Roy & Pearl Withers. I have many fond memories of our times together, and I may have some additional photos of him that could be scanned into jpeg pics if you were ever interested in seeing them. So I'd just like to thank you for publishing his picture and story, and introduce myself. All the best. So I'd just like to thank you for publishing his picture and story, and introduce myself. All the best." -Roy R. Withers, D.C.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/MailCarrier1915.jpg
"Here are another couple old photos from my family collection. I have no idea where they were taken but due to the family being in the Healdton or Ardmore area most of the time I would think to start there. No identification on any cars or people either in it. Here is hoping someone out there recognizes something." -Wayne Whitted
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WhittedPhoto1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WhittedPhoto2.jpg
"Hi Butch. Don't throw out the pickle juice when the last pickle is gone. Cut up 'cukes' from your garden or store and shove them down into the juice. Voila! In a week you have more pickles. Add jalapenos if you like them hot." -bob taylor
Frank "Sugar Chile" Robinson at 6 years old. Wow!
http://www.wimp.com/oldschool/
Wiley Post History Center in Oklahoma City. -Cecil Elliott
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WileyPostHistoryCenterOKC.jpg
Oklahoma History Center, OKC - Cecil Elliott
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WileyPostHistoryCenterOKC.jpg
Gainesville, Texas the most patriotic city in the U.S.
http://www.gainesvilleregister.com/x471602183/We-won
"Try the Navy Times - they can help locate former service members." -Poss
http://www.navytimes.com/
"Thought I‘d send you some info that happened in 1957 in Wilson, Oklahoma. The names were changed, see if you might of heard of this happening." -Jackie Anderson Scarberry Thornley
BRIGHT HALLOWEEN NIGHT IN WILSON, OKLAHOMA
The names have been changed to protect the innocent (and there aren’t that many innocent).
It was Halloween night and the moon was a bright Harvest Moon. Dickie, Bird-dog, Frog and He-man Bruce were riding down main street and over to one of Wilson, Oklahoma’s alley ways trying to think of something to do. The show had closed due to the late hour, and all of the stores in town were closed, except for Findley's Diner. The group felt like they were too old to go trick-or-treating and didn’t want to be involved with the young kids, so they thought t would be fun to “Tip Toilets.”
Everyone in town and outside of town had outdoor johns, and wouldn't it be so much fun to move everyone’s “john” over a couple of feet so when the owners would go to the bathroom, instead of physical relief, they would fall straight into the potty hole. Dickie, Bird-dog and Frog were well-built for their age, so moving an outhouse would be ‘NO PROBLEM”
They started downtown and moved every toilet they could find, laughing all the way. A man with 7 children had a double-sitter, and Dickie nearly jumped out of his skin with laughter. How fun it is to know that maybe more than one would hit the hole. At times, the moon had some passing clouds blocking the light, but they could see just fine to do their deed. Dickie Bird-dog and Frog made a mad rush for the double-sitter, when all of the sudden ‘SPLAT!! ALL 3 fellows landed, neck deep, in the double-hole southern waste-pit. The farmer had gotten wise on those boys, and decided to move the toilets before they arrived....... Mark... one for the home team.
So, remember this.... CRIME DOES NOT PAY EVEN IF IT IS FOR FUN...... AND REMEMBER........ YOU MIGHT NOT GET IT NOW, BUT YOU WILL IN THE END.
I have a number of T&T Readers and Facebook friends who live in Louisiana and when I saw this video, I thought of them there in Cajun country. And you can be sure when we make it down that way some future date, I hope to attend an old fashion crawfish boil ! I have not eat crawfish (crayfish - crawdads) since the early 1960s. There was a small creek just a block east of where I grew up on 3rd NE and as kids we had fun going there and catching crawdads with a piece of bacon. lol
http://999ktdy.com/boiled-crawfish-recipe-song/
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
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