I've been retired a month now, and I'm still trying to get used to it. But it seems I'm working more now than when I was full time employed. And every day still seems like Saturday. And I thought I'd have more time to work on my newsletter each week, but that has not happened either. lol
Maybe I will feel better about all this when I receive my first social security check in 2 weeks. Anyway, I think this newsletter has some good reading in it, so let's get started.
Ardmore theaters in 1916:
Dreamland Theater 425 East Main
Majestic Theater 108 West Main
Theatorium Theater 114 West Main
Palace Theater 209 West Main
Robinson Opera House 226 1/2 West Main
Just a little west of the Marietta exit of I-35 is the Hickory House BBQ. It's been around a long time, and still there.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/HictoryHouseBBQMarietta.jpg
For several weeks we have noticed the turkeys coming around again. Last fall we counted as many as 30 at one time. Sure good to see them back.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/Turkeys080315.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/Turkeys080315b.jpg
This photo was taken of a unique shaped barn near Pond Creek, Oklahoma. And I'm not sure what kind of windmill that is, maybe Troy Loard can fill us in about it.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/RoundBarnPondCreekOK.jpg
A partial photo of the Dundee High School that was west of Healdton.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/DundeeHighSchoolWirtOK.jpg
Photo of the Walker Hotel that was in Tishomingo years ago.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/WalkerHotelTishomingo.jpg
The old Nazarene Church at Tishomingo. It no longer exists, so just a memory for those who attended there.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/TishomingoNazarene.jpg
This week I was in Ardmore's Dollar Tree store and ran across the cutest 'baby' mason jars. I couldn't resist and bought a package of 2 to put little stuff in at my workshop. Works so good I'm going to get a couple more when I'm near the store.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/MasonJarsDollarTree.jpg
A few pavers I sandblasted this week.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCHelenFischer.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCSeymourRodke.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCStevenWatson.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCMonteLee.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCDocCochran.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCEricThompson.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCGayleSmith.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/UMCpavers/UMCEmoryCochran.jpg
Rush to Rush Springs, Oklahoma
It's time to celebrate the watermelon, Oklahoma's official state vegetable (yes,
you read that right. Full of watermelon-themed activities, the 71st annual Rush
Springs Watermelon Festival is set for Saturday, August 8.
http://chickasawcountry.com/events/view/rush-springs-watermelon-festival
I'm still happy with the overall effects of TruVision. Knocked those pounds off, more energy, lower BP, and feeling great. If anyone wants to try it, give me a holler. "I'll meet you at the Walmart mailbox!" Join us and check it all out at the link below.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
http://butch.truvisionhealth.com/
After retiring on June 30, 2015 I noticed my electric bill for the month of July was higher. Then it dawned on me, during the month of July I was running my big 60 gallon 220v air compressor almost daily, for several hours a day. That is something I never did before July 1st. So I installed another Okie Power Saver on the air compressor itself. But the power saver only comes on when the compressor is running since I installed it on the motor side in the contacts box. Before the power saver my compressor was drawing 13.8 amps and after I got the power saver installed, the amps being drawn dropped down to 11.16 amps. That's a 2.6 difference which equals over a 19% drop. That's a big savings!
I took the plunge and installed Microsoft Windows 10 on our laptop this week. The laptop had Window 8.1 on it. Everything went ok, not a hiccup one during the 2 hour installation. I like it. Some difference from the old Windows 8.1 but I'll get used to it.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/
Q. What is the name of the only
river in Oklahoma that flows north?
A.
The Poteau River is the only river in the state that flows north. It begins in
the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and flows westward into Oklahoma, where it
turns north through Poteau (pop. 7,939) and eventually joins the Arkansas River.
Q. Dinosaur fossils are found in two
places in Oklahoma. Where?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of August 4, 2001:
A friend in Lone Grove told me they had
reliable information the old Wirt, Oklahoma Baptist Church was slated to be torn
down or moved. Wirt is in far western Carter county. Here's a pic of that
church.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/WirtBaptistChurch.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
This past week Newman Walker sent me 2
photos of him as a child when he attended Wheeler School back in 1939 and 1940.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/NewmanWalker1939.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/NewmanWalker1940.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
A Reader from Texas was wondering where
the old Fraley Lumber Yard used to be in Ardmore. In its heyday, it was located
at 400 "A" NE. Bob Fraley was the proprietor and he started out in the lumber
business as the bookkeeper for Hudson-Houston Lumber Company about 1910. When he
left Hudson-Houston around 1947 he had worked up to General Manager. About 1949
he opened up Bob Fraley Lumber Company at 400 A Street Northeast.
Bob and Mary Fraley lived at 704 3rd NE
back in 1930, but by 1932 they lived at 214 "G" NE. My Grandfather's lumber yard
was not listed until 1939 at 803 3rd NE. In 1916 both my Grandfather Stanley
Carmon and Bob Fraley were listed as General Contractors and lived just three
blocks apart on 3rd NE. Here is a photo of Bob Fraley, far right, sent to me by
a Reader. Also pictured in the 1920 photo is the soon to be Court Clerk, Ancel
Graham and his wife Eddy. Some of you will remember the old wading pool to the
west of Washington Grade School. For many years, during the summer months when
it was open, Eddy managed the pool. I remember her opening up that little white
building in the back and taking a coffee can, scooping up a bunch of powdered
chlorine, and pouring it into the gushing stream of water that was filling up
the pool. The lady in the center of the photo is Thelma Boyd Roberts, she was my
First Grade teacher at Washington Grade School. And next to Bob Fraley is Alice
Frazier who married Herman Hunt, Sr. Herman was once an Ardmore Mayor and owner
of Hunts Food Store on 3rd NE.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/BobAndMaryFraley.jpg
In later years, Bob and Mary Fraley built a new house at 402 "A" NW which brings us to another story of more current times.
At 4th and "A" NW another piece of Ardmore
history was torn down this week. Just across the street south from the Fraley
home was the old Church of Christ. The church was built around 1928 at #30 4th
NW and continued to meet there until about 1951 at which time the Church of
Christ congregation built a new church at 607 McLish. In the years following the
old church was used for the Ardmore Barber and Beauty Supply for many years.
Demolition on the old church at #30 4th NW began on Thursday August 2, 2001.
Here's a photo I took of them tearing it down.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/ChurchOfChrist4thNW.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
Back in 1928 the Frensley Brothers Lumber
yard was at 101 South Washington (across from sheriff's office) owned by Thomas
and Cortez Frensley. But before that their lumber yard was located at 401 West
Main in 1916. Across the street in 1916 at 402 West Main was the Chickasaw
Lumber Company.
----------------------------------------------------
"Hello Butch, I am still enjoying reading
your weekly news letter. I have a question, does anyone remember Rex Jelly? It
was a red, artificial fruit jelly with a very unique taste. I haven't seen any
of it since back in the '60's. It's probably long since gone out of business.
----------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch. Sure enjoy your T&T every
Saturday, in this week's there is a reader looking for info for Sunset Golf
Course, he can call a guy here in town his name is Fillmore Vaughn not sure if
that's how you spell it, but he will know and probably worked there at one time,
he build what is now Lake View which is owned by the City of Ardmore now, and
has worked at Dornick Hills, and another one just north of Lake View I forget
the name of that one."
----------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch~~~ I remember very well when
Safeway burned in Ardmore in the early 50s. It was 4 alarm fire and I can
remember the sirens blowing to call all the firemen in to fight the fire. My
daddy had Crews and Lamb grocery store, but he was a fireman during the war up
at the Airbase, so he went down. The fire burned all night and I remember all
the school kids going the next day to see it and it was such a mess. I am not
sure exactly where it was located, but seems it was on Broadway fairly close to
the lst Methodist Church, facing North. I also remember when the Viaduct caught
on fire in 1964. You could see the black smoke for miles and also when the old
BL Owens furniture store burned, that was another big fire. I love your
publication as I have had a love affair with Ardmore for 61 years now."
----------------------------------------------------
"We sure enjoy T & T. About 1108, it was
moved to the fairgrounds in 1955 (the best I can remember). A buddy and I
watched the crew lay down track, move it a little ways, pick up track, move to
front of engine and start over. One of the hard working crew that day was Waco
Turner and he was working as hard as any other crew member. I vaguely recollect
that Waco furnished the crew to make the move. A visit to the Greater Southwest
History Museum revealed they have a picture of 1108 on Lake Murray Drive as it
is being moved. Also at the museum are some bells that I do not remember being
mentioned. Ardmore's first fire engine that was pulled by three horses has a
foot operated bell on the front. They also have the fire house alarm system that
has a bell on the front. In the NW corner of the museum is a train bell donated
by the Shrine Club. The museum is really an interesting place to spend a few
hours recalling the past. As a bonus, it is very cool in there. Yep, they even
have a truck older than yours---a T model. Keep up the good work. By the way,
admission is really reasonable--------IT IS FREE."
----------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch: Thanks for all your effort in
putting together "T&T" each week. In the July 27 "T&T" you mentioned Lt
McKerson's BBQ gravy--I don't believe I ever tried it but Gray's (in Madill),
had some of the best sliced brisket & brown gravy that I have ever had including
most of the well know BBQ places in Kansas City. Who else remembers Grays? I
sure would like to have some of their offering now, it was slow smoked and they
didn't have red sweet sauce which is horrible. Also the fogging of the town to
kill mosquitoes---My father, Ben Vick of Kingston was a supervisor of 17
southern counties for the Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture that was in
charge of the spraying program that were paid for by the cities involved. The
fog was a DDT mixture of which I had inhaled many sniffs & am lucky enough to
sill to have good health (70 years old). Also there was an article about a
mystic who pointed the Marshall County law enforcement department to the body of
Alton Edgar. The sheriff, Ed Long, was a neighbor of my wife for several years.
After his retirement he owned a neighbor hood grocery store. I graduated from
Madill HS in 1950, but remember several things that you shown and mentioned.
Enjoy it very much." Don Vick
----------------------------------------------------
"Here is the picture of the Threshing crew
with "Moody and Gearham (Graham) Threshing machine." Emet, Indian Territory,
Oklahoma 1900."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/ThreshingMachineEmetIT.jpg
-----------------------------------------------------
"Hello Butch, I was wondering if you wrote about Carter County or just the town
of Ardmore or maybe just surrounding areas. I have a story to share with you and
you can use it or not it's just interesting to me. It's about my great great
uncle Crocket Long. July 18, 1932 in Madill Oklahoma, Oklahoma crime bureau
agent Crockett Long shoots it out with Wiley Lynn. In the corner drug store
Wiley Lynn and Crockett Long both fatally shoot each other and one other
bystander. Lynn reportedly carried a grudge against Long over an incident which
occurred two years before when Long was Madill police chief. Long had used force
to arrest Lynn for drunkenness. So that fateful Sunday afternoon Lynn walked
into the drug store his six-shooter drawn. He said only one thing to Crockett.
"Throw em up." Firing immediately broke out in the crowded store. Wounding two
innocent bystanders, one fatally. Wiley stumbled from the store to nearby
funeral parlor where he fell. His last words, "I'm afraid I'm goin' to die, I'm all
shot to pieces." Crockett later died at an Ardmore hospital. Crockett was the son
of Dow Long and Ann Storm. Not to long ago there was a show called YOU KNOW MY
NAME. It starred Sam Elliot as Bill Tilghman a federal U.S. Marshall. In this
show which is real accounts Wiley shot and killed this man. I copied this down
out of an old Madill newspaper. Pretty good history lesson."
----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Dear Mr. & Mrs. Bridges, In your last Edition of T & T somebody mention 'Puny' Sparger and I knew him from our baseball team (Ardmore Indians ) he was a very nice man and everybody loved him. Here is a 65 years photo that I keep and show to my grandchildren, as you know he is next to our manager Bennie Warren. Hope everything is ok at there and say hello to (Ardmore). -Ernie in NJ
"A fella told me yesterday that the best hamburgers in the world are made at the Crossroads Grill, that's the intersection of US377/OK99 and OK32, 6 miles south of Madill. He said that the place only cooks hamburgers around noon and during the week. If you haven't already been there and if you're driving around that part of Oklahoma, give it a shot." Jim in Whitesboro
From my 2007 archives:
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/CrossroadsGrill082407.jpg
"Butch, Enjoying your newsletter and thanks for all the work. I enjoyed visiting Marietta during my class reunion in Ardmore earlier this year. Nice to see the Levine sign is still displayed.
The historical society is doing a great job and I also visited the library, as I am a retired librarian, as well as a retired naval officer. I was seeking some past information on the Levine family. My grandfather, Simon, came to Marietta I think in 1898. My father, Julius, was born there in 1906. I was born in 1937 and left Marietta for Ardmore about 1947.
I would be interested in receiving emails from any of your readers who recall stories about the Levine family. For example, I heard one, never verified, that during the depression my father said every child in Love county that needed shoes would have them and gave shoes to those families. Keep up the great work and as we say in the navy, Bravo Zulu."
Regards,
Emil LevineCaptain, USNR, Ret.
Kampfeldsiedlung 3
Krumau am Kamp
Austria 3543
43 676 454 4448
[email protected]
"Butch, Just read the most recent newsletter that mentioned an excavation of an Indian village near Petersburg, Oklahoma. This site is known as the Longest Site in archeological literature which refers to an 18th century Wichita fortified village that was supported by the French and attacked by the Spanish. It is actually the so-called ?Spanish Fort? that is normally identified as being on the Texas side of the Red River but the 1960s joint excavations by the University of Oklahoma, SMU in Texas, and the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton verified the fort is not on the Texas side of the river but on the Oklahoma side. It was one of two fortified Wichita villages (one on Red River and one in the northern part of the state near Ponca City) that were major trade centers and actually had log walls surrounded by a moat for defense purposes. The Museum of the Great Plains houses the collections on behalf of the three parties who jointly excavated this site. I had the privilege of working with this material during the 1974-82 period when I was the Curator of Anthropology at the MGP." -Towana Spivey [email protected]
"Bull Durham has been around since the mid 1800's. Company was in and named for Durham North Carolina. The US Navy had a amphibious assault ship Named Durham after the City and had that famous picture of the Bull blowing from the nostrils on a plaque secured to the wings of the ships Bridge. Ship was decommissioned sometime in the 90's. Bull Durham was well known for its ability to burn Hot and burn holes in all your clothes. I called it rolled up Corral dust. But it was cheap." -Don Greenaway
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/BullDurhamPouch.jpg
Mr. Bridges,
Found your email from a web page. Quite interesting, my maternal grandfather owned and ran the Folsom Tractor Company until his death in 1960. As a child in the early '60's I visited my Grandmother there in Ardmore. I remember a two story white colonial house with a magnolia tree in the front, and the fireflies at night. Fond memory.
I write looking for any direction you can give me to learn more about my grandfather. His widow, my grandmother, came to live with us in the panhandle of Oklahoma for a time.
Being close to Ardmore, it would be nice to visit and see some of the old scenes from my childhood. You may know where the buildings are or how to find out where they were.
Kind regards,Kendall McCoy
Dallas, TX
[email protected]
1955: Wirt T and Helen
Folsom lived at 1403 Bixby SW in Ardmore. Current photo.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/WirtFolsomHomeplace.jpg
Virtual Tour of the new World Trade Centre opening May 29, 2015.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/109935205?color=e8f2f7
The greatest mistake in the treatment of diseases is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated. -Plato
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Follow me on the TruVision lose weight program
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
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/
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my
Website.
Feel free to forward this free newsletter. Mailouts: over 1,600.
To sign up for my newsletter enter your info below:
I do not sell,
trade or give my mailing list to anyone for any reason.