This and
That Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 17 Issue 869 Circulation 5,000 September 19, 2013
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]
580-657-8616
Janice Curtis brought me an old booklet printed by The Daily Ardmoreite years ago with info and photos of the 1915 Great Explosion that nearly destroyed downtown Ardmore. I made a Folder on my website and copied all the pages into that folder.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/1915explosion/
Here are some pictures I took while camping at McGee Lake State Park 25 miles east of Atoka, Oklahoma. There are two campsites, Buster Heights, and Potapo. We camped at Potapo. It was so beautiful, 60 foot pine trees just 10 feet away, blue water just 20 feet away, and the smell of pine in the air was awesome. We'd sit in our chairs outside the camper and listen to the wind rustling through the tops of those pines. Loved it.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413c.jpg
Looking out the camper window
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413e.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413h.jpg
Potapo Trail Loop 1.4 miles
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/PotapoTail091413a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413i.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413m.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLakeRamp1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLakeRamp4.jpg
Boat unloading ramp at Potapo Campsite
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLakeRamp7.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLakeRamp8.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/PicnicTable1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/McGeeLake/McGeeLake091413s.jpg
I've been working on a webpage to list gas stations in the Ardmore area that sell non-ethanol gas (pure gas). If anyone knows of any I've left out, let me know.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Q. What is Oklahoma's state
drink?
A.
Milk
Q. How many telephone area
codes in Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of September 11, 1999:
18 miles NE of Ardmore is Gene Autry, OK.
Before 1940 it was known as Berwyn, Oklahoma. If you go to Gene Autry today you
will see a number of residences, a couple churches, a post office, and a
schoolhouse among other things. But the most prominent feature you see is what
was known as the Gene Autry General Store. In 1907, the year Oklahoma was
admitted to the Union, this building was a bank.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/BerwynBank1907.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
"The community of Wilson creek is still
there. At the time it was regarded as a town it was known as Wilson. Nothing
remains of the town but a cemetery and of course the creek that is known as
Wilson Creek. I think the actual postoffice location was west of the creek.
George H. Shirk's book "OKLAHOMA PLACE NAMES" states the following: ""WILSON. In
the southeastern Carter County, 7 miles southeast of Ardmore, A post office from
April 4, 1888, to Aug. 15, 1907. No longer in existence. Named for J.H.Wilson,
local merchant."" The town of Wilson, 17 miles west of Ardmore is not to be
confused with the above mentioned post office location. This town, once known as
New Wilson did not become known as Wilson until 1/28/1920. Wilson (creek)
location is: Carter County, Section 29 Range 5 South Township 3 East"
----------------------------------------------------
"I really enjoyed the T&T this week. I
remember well the old swimming pool and skating rink at Whittington Park. The
Skating rink was the place to go on Saturday night before the "Preview". In case
you don't know what the "Preview" was it was the preview of Sunday's movie at
the Tivoli Theater. It started at 12:00 AM every Saturday night. That was where
everyone went. I remember at one time the Cochran family owned the skating rink.
They had a daughter "Cherry". We went to school together. That was in the late
40's. Good memories."
----------------------------------------------------
"In those days, you could be sure the
tag was purchased in Carter County only by the CE,CR or CRR. Also another
interesting thing to know is that the tags were made in batches of 10,000 each -
therefore Carter County probably only had 30,000 Car tags (or less). The system
used now is much different because maybe for the same reason we have changes in
area codes so often."
----------------------------------------------------
"In a previous issue of T&T, someone asked about the old pool at Whittington
Park. Here is a picture of that pool. You can see the slides in the background.
This pic was taken in 1920."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/WhittingtonPool1920.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/index.aspx?mss=152754
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.....
"HELLO BUTCH, WHEN THE OLD SKATING RINK WAS CONDEMNED, MY BROTHER, THERON GODWIN, WAS RUNNING IT. AND THE CITY SAID IT WAS DANGEROUS. I, DO KNOW THE LOUIE AND FAYE CUMMINGS, HAD IT FOR SOME TIME ALSO.
SO THERON CHECKED ON THE ARMORY, AND THEY LEASED IT TO HIM. AND THEY PUT ALL NEW VERY, HARD WOOD FLOORS. DOWN. AND HAD A WONDERFUL BUSINESS AND MANY GREAT FRIENDS , PETE DENNISON, WAS A WONDERFUL GUY. TO HELP, HE HELPED PUT DOWN THE FLOOR. AND WORKED IN THE SKATING RINK, UNTIL THEY SOLD THEIR INTEREST. AND THEY MOVED TO PAULS VALLEY, OKLA. AND PUT IN A BIG " BOWLING ALLEY ON WEST SIDE OF HIGHWAY. FOR MANY YEARS. ALL HIS FAMILY HELPED." -RUBY
"I noticed you mentioned the Pak A Sak in Ardmore. My friend, Bob Cook, always called it the Tote A Poke. This got a laugh out of us teens in the 50's."
"Butch, first I want to thank you for all the good you do for the community and anyone that needs help. When I was in grade school at Marietta, the Key Quads came to our school. Sonny Bourns and his wife both worked at the Pak-A- Sak on Lake Murray Dr when I lived on Douglas Blvd. and we became good friends. Sonny had also worked at the Pak-A-Sak on W. Bdwy and my mother lived on G St. S.W. so I got to know him there first then his wife when she went to work on LM Drive. I can’t remember his wife’s name at the present time (memory is getting bad) but she worked until 11 p.m. then would go to the cemetery and sit by Ricky’s grave for hours. The police were worried about her and tried to get her not to go out there. Ricky also worked at the store on LM Dr. before he went to work for KVSO. I seldom saw his mother smile after he died. It was so very hard on both of them. Ray, who owned the skating rink was Ray Jiminez (SP?) I met my husband at Jack’s Roller Rink. When we lived in Marietta, it was a real treat to go skating in Ardmore. Then we moved to Ardmore, I went at least twice a week and sometimes more often. I think it was just 20 cents on Monday night if you had your own skates. I used a ration stamp to get my skates and still had them when I moved from Ardmore in 1986. I get the Love County Historical Society newsletter quarterly. In the last issue it mentioned a place called Grassburr. Have you ever heard of that place? And I still have not found out where Okra was located in Garvin Co.I met one man who said that he knew and would tell me how to get there but then he was in a hurry to leave with some other people and I never saw or heard of him again." -Francis
1960 or 1961
My wife and I were living in Skellytown, TX. It was in October and my birthday was just around the corner. OU and Texas always play football in the Cottonbowl about this time of year. I had never ben. We talked about going and somehow we decided to go. We left our three kids with someone, dont remember who, and off we went in our '58 Volkswagen. It's a long ways from Skellytown to Dallas. We only had one small problem. We had nearly gotten there, when I heard something fluttering in the engine of the VW. I pulled off the hiway and was checking the motor (in the rear end) when two Texas Highway Troopers pulled up beside me and asked if something was wrong. I told them I had a small engine problem, but had fixed it.
I had left a rag in the engine compartment and the air cooled motor had sucked it up into the fan. They asked me what I was driving and I told them. Said they had not seen very many of them on the road in Texas. We made it on to the fair and of course we had to go see "Big Tex". We spent a few hours walking up and down the fairway and spending a little money on the food booths. We made our way to the Cotton bowl and found Texas students selling tickets to the game for face value. Dont remember how much but they were cheap. Less than $10 bucks apiece. So I bought two and found out after we got into the bowl that they were in the end zone and nearly on the top row.
I remember when we entered Vonnie said "This don't look like a very big place." There were 50000+ people there. But by the time we had reached the top of the stadium where our seats were, she was huffin and puffin and had changed her mind. Texas won.
We left the stadium and went back to the fairway. We saw our first colored TV there. I still remember it was a show called Gunsmoke. And Miss Kitty had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. We kept strolling up and down the fairway and found out that Hank Thompson was having a free concert. So we waited around until nearly 8pm to see him. He put on quite a show. There were beer cans everywhere and most of the trash cans were full and running over. I have ben in beer joints that smelled better than there.
I remember the crowd cheering and asking Hank to play "Oklahoma Hills" which was one of his most popular songs at that time. He said "I wont play it till Oklahoma beats Texas in the Cottonbowl" . We never heard it for a long time." -Ken at Wilson"I absolutely LOVE you for all the hard work and time you put into each of your newsletters!! I've been through the past issues searching for pictures of my grandmother, Tennessee "Inez" Howell. She worked at the Squeeze Inn Cafe. I've seen the group picture from churches and things of that nature but I'm REALLY interested in finding one of her in that cafe!! Please see if any of your readers can help! They are more than welcome to send it straight to my email [email protected]
"Butch, I just finished reading another book by the authors(Ken Farmer & Buck Stienke) here in Gainesville, TX. It is titled Haunted Falls and the setting is Ardmore, Turner Falls, Honey Creek and Gainesville. While it has some factual material, it is mostly fiction that makes fun reading. If you buy the book at Buck’s business (Lone Star Shooting Supply) here in Gainesville you will get an autographed book. By the way, the Fried Pie in Gainesville closes at 3:00pm." -Dan
"Butch, some one had about the old skating rink in the Whittington Park. My brothers were the ones they were talking about. Pete Denison worked for Jacks roller rink as a whistle boy, Jay Denison played the music and Charles "Nuthin" Denison put on the skates. The last ones that had it was Theron Godwin and he moved over to the Armory and Pete helped put the wooden floor down to skate on. It is still in the building. Theron later sold to Wayne Gist from Sulphur. and then he sold to Ray Jiminez. Our whole family grew up skating at both rinks." -Wilma Denison Parnell
Night Train: M.P. 447.2, South Ardmore, Ok, 20 second manual exposure, F5.6, ISO 100, 18mm, RAW, auto white balance, sRGB. -Dwane
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/1Nb7vf3XmehyJEXG-YYdCSBGGPIorVX3I6twJJxWXzY=w1583-h750-no
First snow in Big Sky, Wyoming. http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/FirstSnowBigSkyWY091813.jpg
Title: 3rd Saturday Sidewalk Sale
Date: Saturday September 21, 2013
Time: 6:00 am - 6:00 pm (GMT-06.00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Location: 1100 Woodall-Rodgers Freeway, Dallas, TX
http://www.sidewalksale.com/
"Hi Butch. I just wanted to add to the comments that Monroe Cameron made about the English Village. I agree with him that Tommy Anastasio owned the convenience store. He owned it until at least the late ‘50’s and perhaps longer. My friend Tommy Childress worked there when we were in high school (graduated 1960), but I can’t remember for sure what year(s), and I used to hang out with him a lot. Tommy Anastasio opened a pizzeria in the Broadlawn shopping center but he still operated the store at least for a while. I think he sold it after his pizza place got going. I, too, remember the green neon sign and the old Ardmore hospital directly in front of it across 12th Avenue." -Leon Bow
"To the world you may only mean one person, but to one person you may mean the world."
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Nashobish Ikana
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
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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