I remember back in the 1960s my Carmon grandparents would load me up in their car on a Saturday afternoon after closing their lumber yard and we'd head NE toward Gene Autry, Oklahoma to look for persimmon thickets. We would usually find at least one or two thickets to stop and pick some sweet persimmons to take home. We'd make this trip several times during the fall months in search of these delicacies.
Back in December 1997, behind McDonalds on West Broadway and K Street NW, I spotted a persimmon thicket in the front yard of a house. I was surprised to find one growing right here in town. Below is a picture I took back in 1997 of the thicket at West Main and K Street.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos11a/PersimmonThicket1997.jpg
This afternoon I had just left Braums after picking up a gallon of milk, and I happened to notice in the front yard of that house, yes, the persimmon thicket is still there after all these years!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/PersimmonThicket112014.jpg
I placed the order with Lone Grove's Wilson Monument Company for the Healdton granite stone on Friday November 14th. The memorial purchased from Wilson Monuments to be placed at Healdton will be almost identical to the one below, as far as size, color, and thickness goes.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Memorial092715.jpg
The 14 donors below made the Healdton law enforcement memorial monument possible. Thanks to all of you, it would have never happened without you.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/HealdtonDonors111214.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/hutchison.html
I will post reports here from time to time as progress is made on the memorial.
November 1930 - Announcement of the
purchase of a 1,503 acre farm near Berwyn by the Booker T. Washington home for
former slaves now located at Oklahoma City has been made by Dr. E.J. Cain,
president of the home. Under present plans, the home will be moved to the farm.
Sixty eight former slaves are now maintained at Oklahoma City. These individuals
will be brought here and 28 families will serve as share croppers on the farm.
All building material and livestock to completely equip the farm ($18,000
estimate) will be purchased in Carter County. The Booker T. Washington
institution is the only one of its kind in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington
November 1965 - A Swedish newspaper wall call all mature women, married or not, Mrs. in the future. "When a boy reaches a man's estate, he is automatically awarded with the title of Mr. But a miss is always a miss and never a Mrs. until she gets married. It is an insult to woman for society to distinguish women that way."
Below are a couple pavers I sandblasted this past week.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/VinsonPaver.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/DanielHarrisPaver.jpg
I loved her first, I held her first, and a place in my heart will always be hers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpd1532StR8
Q. Who was the singer and actress
born in Leedy, Oklahoma who was in Our Gang - The Little Rascals radio
and films?
A. Darla Hood
Our Gang Series 1935 to 1941
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCN_n3DNPvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXej6sSCaPc
Q. Okay Walmart shoppers, the
first Sam's Club, members only warehouse shopping center, was built in what
Oklahoma city in 1983?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
I mentioned a few weeks ago using the free service mailchimp.com to mail my newsletters. It has been working great. And people can subscribe or even unsubscribe from my newsletter automatically by going to the link below. There is a T&T newsletter signup form on the webpage.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttnews.html
From This and That newsletter archives of November 18, 2000:
I received a letter this week from a reader in Grandfield, Oklahoma. Though she lives in Grandfield, she was originally from Bromide, Oklahoma. Bromide is about 20 miles northeast of of Tishomingo, Oklahoma on Highway 7D. I remember when a child my mother and I and Charlie and Irma Bailey going to Bromide to see somebody. This would have been around 1960. The only thing that sticks in my mind, was going to the outdoor toilet at the residence we visited. It was located out back away from the house, kind of a scary adventure for a city boy.
The reader who wrote me this week about Bromide included a copy of an article in the February 2, 1975 issue of Orbit Magazine. The story was about Bromide, Oklahoma, the ghost town. Around statehood (1907) Bromide was a hustling bustling town with a bank, four hotels, a cotton gin, cotton yard, rooming houses, numerous restaurants, a lime stone rock quarry, and last but not least, the reported healing bromide waters that was plentiful there. Tulsa industrialist Robert Galbreath is given credit for turning Bromide into an overnight sensation. Galbreath was the owner and developer of the first big oil strike in Oklahoma, the Glennpool Oil south of Tulsa. But the recognized Father of Bromide is the Chickasaw Indian judge, W.H. Jackson. From the efforts of Galbreath and Jackson, it wasn't long until excursion trains were pulling up to the station at Bromide loaded with visitors from Texas and other parts of Oklahoma, ready to soak in the cure-all healing bromide waters.
But as suddenly as it started, the dream
ended in the middle 1920s. The trains no longer stopped at the Bromide depot,
mainly because of the advent of Henry Ford's Model "T" had opened up a new
adventure to vacationers. The final death knell came to Bromide in the 1930s in
the wake of the Great Depression when the quarry and crusher ceased operations.
Bromide, Oklahoma would never return to her glory days as she was just a quarter
of a century earlier. -Butch
----------------------------------------------------
This week I was flipping through the
channels on TV and there was the 1981 movie
"The Long Summer of George Adams" starring
James Garner and Joann Hackett. The movie centers around the water tower in the
town of Cushing, Oklahoma about 1950 and the fact that it no longer had water in
it. The city council of Cushing voted to have water piped in from a nearby town.
James Garner plays a railroad man who loses his job. One funny part of the movie
is where a guy climbs up the water tower and looks out, and says, "I can see all
the way to McAlester, Oklahoma." Now that is some feat, since that would be
about 100 miles! -Butch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AmqLqW-uk8
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I really appreciate all the work
you do on T&T...I love the "flashbacks" of when it "used to be". Tell the girl
doing her family research that the genealogy library at the Greater SW
Historical Museum might be a possibility. They are a great bunch of people and
so very helpful. I try to go in there at least once a month when I'm in Ardmore
to visit my mom. I forget where the Ardmore Hotel was...There was a "filling
station" on the corner across from the Methodist Church at E and Main (NE
corner) and also one at D and Main (NE corner). We used to "drag Main" and the
one at E and Main was our turnaround point. Ah, youth!!"
----------------------------------------------------
"A while back you ask for the recipe for
corn dogs. Well I have one that I got here about 40 years ago. I don't know if
it is the one they used for sure or not. But the name of it is Super Dogs."
[email protected]
1 cup milk
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
flour - enough to make thick.
Then dip dog in it and fry in deep fryer.
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I have in safe keeping a document
that I came across several years ago, taped to a bottom of a drawer of an old
desk I purchased. It appears to be one of the original copies of the court
ordered bankruptcy of the
Tucker Automobile. My curiosity is getting the better of me and I was
wondering if one of the T&T readers might have knowledge of this Tucker
Automobile that didn't quite make it. Kindly forward replies to Gerry Stanford."
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch: Go to the link below. You'll see
the movie Fate was released in August 1921, and did in fact star
Clara Smith Hamon
(originally from Ardmore). Now, finding a copy of it is quite a different
story."
http://silenthollywood.com/fate1921.html
----------------------------------------------------
"What I really wanted to share with you is
a link that one of my NY readers sent me concerning a story of one of the
survivors of the OKC bombing. Thought you and some of your readers might be
interested in reading Richard Williams' story as a survivor of the Oklahoma City
bombing. Here is the link she sent me.... "HI, I was just reading this page
about an OKC bombing survivor. I finished reading the paragraph and thought I
would share this story with you."
http://www.thrivenet.com/stories/stories00/stry0011.shtml
----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/index.aspx?mss=152754
Non-ethanol gas (pure gas) stations in the Ardmore area.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Hello Butch, I'm hoping you can put this info in your news letter, I have a bunch of old photos that came from the Family of Lynn Charles Magness and his wife Alma Jean McGinnis.. Alma's mother Grace Alma married Herman Woodruff and had 2 sons, Herman and Stanley. Some of the photos are of the woodruff side, not sure about the Magness. Would love to find someone that could help me identify these photos. Thank You." -Debbie [email protected]"Hi Butch, Here are a few views of the Chickasaw Cultural
Center at Sulphur I took a couple of weeks ago. When we got there it was later in the
afternoon and the lighting wasn?t up to my liking. I had been meaning to go
there for quite awhile. My wife got a new Honda Accord and we decided to give
it a road test." -Cecil
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014d.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014e.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014f.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014g.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014h.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ChickasawCulturalCenterNov2014i.jpg
"Lost my Ardmore class ring a long time ago. Posting with you might find it among your Readers. It is a man's 1971 Ardmore High School class ring with the initials RKD on the inside band. Reward to be paid upon return. Butch write back if you get any results."
"I was up in the Arbuckle Mountains today checking out the windmills lining the top of the Arbuckles west of Davis near Hennepin. If I remember correctly they told me there would be about 75 generators when the project is finished. I've attached some photos. In the far right view of the panoramic shot is the main office, Origin Wind Energy LLC." -C. Dwane Stevens
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/OKWindMills111514a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/OKWindMills111514b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/OKWindMills111514c.jpg
"Butch, At OU, in the early 1970s, I was in graduate school and a group of us started an entertainment paper called the ROSE ROCK REVIEW. It dealt primarily with live music and because it was the only local publication covering live music we chose the name because the stone was found in Cleveland County.
I loved the story about "Honest John" and his peanut butter milkshakes last week. When I was younger we would occasionally stop there to get something to drink and watch the parrot. I may have mentioned in the past that Hubble used a press to form his hamburger patties and when required because of meat prices going up, he would take the press to Murphey's Machine Shop which was a couple of blocks away and have a little metal shaved off the press to make the patties a little thinner. John Murphey's granddad owned the machine shop (205 Mill Street SE in Ardmore) and John and I have known each other since 1957 when we were on the same baseball team. In high school we used to race his flat-head Ford pickup at Green Valley Raceway and he was successful in setting the low e.t. and high m.p.h. AHRA records for Formula 8, D Stock the last Nationals race we attended before starting college." -Monroe Cameron0
Springer Christmas Parade ? Saturday ? December 13, 2014.
Open to antique cars, bikes, ATVs, floats, walkers and horse groups.
Entry fee is 1 new unwrapped toy. If you would like to participate, please meet in the Springer School parking lot on the South side of the school at 12:30 PM.
The parade will start at 1:00 PM. Volunteers are welcome and greatly appreciated. Come and enjoy the parade and the fun with us at the Community Center for refreshments after the parade.
"Watched Philadelphia Story last evening starring a cast of great actors one of whom was Ruth Hussey (you know where I'm going with this don't you?) and was able to pick out Aunt Marie in some of her cameo shots when she filled in for Ruth Hussey. Love seeing old movies with our Aunt Marie in them." -Ralph "Bridges" Ford
Thanksgiving will be here in a few days. We should all pause a few minutes next Thursday and be thankful we live in the land of plenty..... Where supermarket shelves are stocked with every kind of food imaginable. If you have some extra thanksgiving dinner, share it with someone less fortunate. We never know the lift in spirit such a simple action can give to someone who feels like no one cares.
We Gather Together -Christian hymn of Dutch origin written in 1597
We gather together to ask the Lord?s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!
We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3dXCL34aEA
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
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://cartercountyOK.us/
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