PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402 Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net Phone: 580-490-6823
The Red Ryder western shows started out the in comic books and newspapers in 1938, and continuing to radio and then to TV. Don Reynolds who played Little Beaver will be the guest this coming Saturday, May 31, at the Gene Autry museum. Two Red Ryder movies will be shown.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/RedRyder053114.jpg
I was browsing through some of my history files the other day and ran across this newspaper clipping on local attorney Bebe Bridges. She was appointed special judge by District Judge Woodrow George in 1984. I can hardly believe it’s been 30 years. Barely a month goes before someone asked me if I am kin to Bebe. No kin, but I see her all the time around the courthouse and Ardmore. We always have a story to share, and have a few laughs.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/BebeBridgesAppointment1984.jpg
Here is a nice photograph of the old Carter county jail that was located where the present day Annex 1 building on the east side of the courthouse.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/CountyJail1907.jpg
I know some of you are familiar with the nationwide emergency notification program known as Nixle. There is now a link on the Carter County Sheriffs website to sign up for Nixle to receive notifications by email and text messages to your phone or computer. The sheriff will be sending out alerts when necessary, so I would recommend anyone living in the Ardmore area to sign up for the free account. Since 2009 over 4,600 public safety and other government agencies have been certified to use the service and are currently communicating with their residents in times of emergencies. You will find a link in the lower left hand corner of the website.
http://www.cartercountysheriff.us
Anyone remember the concert “48 Hours at Atoka” back in the mid-1970s? There was supposedly a film made in 1979 of the “48 Hours at Atoka” and a Tony Johnson of Mustang, Oklahoma is seeking any information on the concert, the movie, and especially if anyone knows where a copy can be found. The 40th anniversary of 48 Hours at Atoka is coming up next year and Tony is planning some kind of event.
The Paris News ? 2 September 1975 ? Page 10
Atoka Cleaning Up ATOKA, Okla. (AP)?This southeastern Oklahoma rural area was virtually back to normal today, except for the cleanup, after more than 100,000 country and western music fans crowded here for “48 hours at Atoka.” The 48 hours turned into only about 36 as the show ended about midnight Sunday. By Monday morning the fans had dwindled to about 15,000 and they were moving back on the highways. Organizers claimed ticket sales of about 104,000 and said they were pleased enough that they may do it again in 1976. Greg Shanahan, 38, of Atoka, co-owner of the site and attorney for the promoters, said he was “totally pleased” with the festival and turnout although he probably lost money on it. There was little trouble reported from the huge crowd and a make-shift hospital treated about 150 for cuts, sprains and heat prostration.
Last Saturday we had a pregnant deer wonder into our back yard, then a few hours later this Pileated Woodpecker was on an oak tree in our backyard eating ants. The Pilated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in the U.S.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/PileatedWoodpecker052614.jpg
The Daily Ardmoreite, May 2, 1930 – W.J. “Jeff” Reed, founder of the City of Ada, took his life last night. W.J. Reed built the first house and store on the Ada site of the town about 36 years ago. He named the town for a daughter, then an infant.
In the late 1880s, the Daggs family (by way of Texas) became the first family to settle what is now known as Ada, which was originally known as Daggs Prairie. In April 1889, Jeff Reed (a native Texan, and relative of the Daggs family) was appointed to carry the mail from Stonewall to Center (which was later combined with Pickett), two small communities in the Indian Territory. With his family and his stock, he sought a place for a home on a prairie midway between the two points, where he constructed a log house and started Reed’s Store. Other settlers soon built homes nearby. In 1891, a post office was established and named after Reed’s oldest daughter, Ada.[6] Ada incorporated as a city in 1901 and grew rapidly with the arrival of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway line. Within a decade the Santa Fe Railroad and the Oklahoma Central Railway also served the town.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/JeffReed1930.jpg
I’ve added two more vicious dog attacks to my webpage, both just last weekend, one here in Ardmore and the other in Overbrook.
A 4 year old boy is recovering from a pit bull attack in Carter County. Tonight, his parents are thankful the Ardmore boy was not killed.
http://www.kten.com/story/4694744/ardmore-boy-attacked-by-pit-bull
https://oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
We got a little rain this past week, but not nearly enough. We need more rain for our pear tree and grapes.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/Pears052614.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/PearTree052614a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/Grapes052614a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/Grapes052614b.jpg
I stumbled across this body cleanse program and it has made a world of difference in my overall health.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bodycleanse.html
A few of the pavers I’ve sandblasted the past week.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/JamesTuckerBrick.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/HaroldAkinsBrick.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/DebbieFrasierBrick.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/StaceyAkinsBrick.jpg
Q. What is the smallest town in Oklahoma?
A. Slapout, Oklahoma. You know why it’s called Slapout, right? Because it’s slap out in the middle of nowhere and they’re slap out of everything you need. Population 8.
https://oklahomahistory.net/maps/SlapoutOKmap.jpg
Q. Where is the largest oak tree in Oklahoma, maybe the world?
A. (answer in next week’s T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of May 27, 2000:
I received a call this week from Ardmoreite Beth Randolph. Beth worked at the Adventist Hospital here in Ardmore a long time ago. Adventist Hospital is no more….. it was sold to the Memorial Hospital. Now a group of employees of the old hospital are going to have a “reunion” in July, a get together of ex-employees of the old Adventist Hospital. The date is Sunday July 9th, 10am to 4pm. The location will be the Otey Johnson estate at Dornick Hills. If you know any one who worked for Adventist Hospital years ago, please let them know about the event
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Last week I had another honored guest come by….. the great grand daughter of Deputy Sheriff Bud Ballew. Ann Ballew is from Natchez, Mississippi. She and her husband had a lot of tales to tell about her infamous great grand dad, the right arm of the most famous sheriff of Carter County, Buck Garrett. Buck Garrett and Bud Ballew were enforcing the laws of this state when the meanest, roughest people lived in this county during the early 1900s. Oil had just been discovered in Carter county and the roughest, meanest people in the U.S. were coming here to work in the old fields. Yes, Buck and Bud were rough, mean, and fast on the draw. But they had to be, or they’d never been able to arrest one of those guys and make it back to Ardmore alive.
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“Last Saturday…. 5/20/2000 the Founder and CEO of Herbalife International, Mark R. Hughes was found dead at his California beach front mansion. Mark died in his sleep of natural causes. We will greatly miss Mark Hughes. A great leader and dear friend to millions around the world.”
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We had a pretty bad storm come through Ardmore at 6:15am Friday. My part of town (E SW) was without electricity for 11 hours because of downed power lines.
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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
Non-ethanol gas (pure gas) stations in the Ardmore area.
https://oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
“Butch…. Maurice Bridge married Natalie Murphey after her husband died. Seems to me his name was Lowell Murphey. I knew them very well as her niece and I were and still are good friends!!!!” -Dana
“Butch: Following up on your note recently about Doug’s Clock Repair (Doug Acox works at Citizen Bank in Ardmore), a new service in Ardmore. I’ve used that service twice now and report to T&T readers that the service is fabulous with reasonable prices. Doug knows what he’s doing. Just what Ardmore needed.” -james clark
“I remember reading about that train wreck out by Dover, OK. I have a book that shows the wreck site. It said, if true, that the train was left in the quicksand and is still there. II f I can find that book, I?ll scan a copy to you. It was a good read.” -Cecil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ceV8TXVVI4
“Dear Butch I notice on your list of parks in Ardmore, Washington Park on 5th avenue, N.E. The name of that park when we were growing up was Fraley Park. If I am not mistaken I think I saw a sign designating it Fraley Park on a recent visit to Ardmore. The Fraley’s lived in the 400 block of F street. I remember Mrs. Fraley as an elderly widow lady when I was a teenager. She was in the NQC club with our Mother. National Quilt club. As I recall she may have moved away to live with a daughter about that time.” -Fern and Joanna Smathers
“I have to tell all of you about my crazy mockingbird. I have a pair that hang out in a tree in the neighbor’s yard, behind me, since I moved here. Now one has found the mirror on my back fence. I swear he wears me out and I know himself also, flying up and down to that mirror. Guess he thinks he has found his true love. I think they mate for life. Feel like I need to hang a perch of some kind up there for him to hang on. This has been on going for days now. Poor thing. Every so often he will land up on the fence and sing a few cords.” -Karla Johnson
This is a remarkable tribute to our military personnel contributed by a group of grateful individuals who remain thankful for the sacrifice of those who gave their all during the Normandy landing to free Europe’s population and rid the nations of Hitler and his cruel dictatorship and his Nazis.
http://thefallen9000.info/
Wobblin’ Willie
http://bsriner0.tripod.com/wblnwill.html
“A while back someone was talking about the old 77 North Theatre behind the Hastings and UPS store is located now. I grew up on Easley Drive and here is a picture I took in front of our house with the old theatre screen in the background. We used to watch silent movies from our yard when I was growing up lol. I believe this was taken around 1964 or 1966.” -Linda Herschel
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/77NorthDriveIn1965.jpg
“Any party which takes credit for the rain must not be surprised if its opponents blame it for the drought.” -Dwight Morrow
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
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: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund – Administration Webpage
https://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
https://oklahomahistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my Website.
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