PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net, Phone: 580-490-6823
The weather as been extremely hot, over 100 degrees, but starting tomorrow we are suppose to get a break from this heat, even rain is forecasts this weekend and Monday. If you live in the country, you really know how dry southern Oklahoma is, we need rain badly.
June 1934
There will be a celebration following the opening of the new pavement between Lone Grove and Wilson on US 70. A big old fashioned picnic with red lemonade and all the trimmings is to be held at Shady Grove, two miles west of Lone Grove. Tom Pollock and Tom Leachman are part of the arrangements committee. The entire affair is free and the public is invited. Entertainment aplenty is promised; dancing and singing, a band, a candidate speaking and ice cream, hot dogs and soda pop stands will be set up and free ice water will be provided.Q. What is the most generous, giving county in Oklahoma?
A. Cimarron County ranks as the most generous county in the Sooner State. The giving ratio in this county beats everybody by a long shot, at 7.49%. The total contribution from the residents of Cimarron County totaled $1,264,000.Q. Where in Oklahoma is a dude ranch where guests come for the day or stay as long as seven nights. The visit would include activities such as tomahawk throwing and lassoing, there’s a slingshot range, horseshoes, and hiking, too?
A. Answer in next week’s newsletterSome pavers I sandblasted recently.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/WestheimerPeachFlagstone.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/WestheimerPeachFlagstoneBack.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/HaroldChancellorPaver2.jpg
Here is a concrete dog paw I sandblasted for a friend using her already molded paw. Turned out nice.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/SuzieDogPawStone.jpg
I now have a mold that allows me make the dog/cat paws myself. I’ll be using a special formula to make the concrete, so they should turn out great! More later as I develope my technique.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/PawMold.jpg
Below is from This and That newsletter archives of July 26, 2006
From my March 6, 1999 Issue: In the 70s Ardmore had someone better then a meteorologist when it came to predicting rain. He was a full blood Choctaw Indian by the name of Buster Ned. I never personally met Buster Ned, but I’d see him around town many times during those years. Buster Ned had instilled within himself, this uncanny ability to predict rain. One of his main signs for forecasting came from the hoot owl. There were other signs he’d look for, but the hoot owl proved to be the most reliable. In the late afternoons, around 4pm, if he heard the hoot owl on the land he lived on near Durwood, Oklahoma, he knew it would rain within two or three days. He was renowned throughout the area and respected by all. Buster Ned was quoted many times by Ardmoreite columnist “Mac” McGalliard. Buster was born to Frank and Elizabeth Parker Ned in the Marshall county community of Simpson, Oklahoma March 9, 1924. Here is a pic taken of a painting of Buster Ned that hangs in the Money Services business, #6 B Street Northwest, here in Ardmore.
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos/buster.jpg
————————————————————————
From January 29, 2000: “Butch, in the Ardmoreite, dated January 21, 1979, there is an article about Dr. Washington and Buster Ned. It seems the American Trail series filmed Buster Ned and Mac McGalliard telling the story of the Kwanakuasha. In fact one of the pictures shows Mac holding a book about the story of the Kwanakuasha, I guess. My clipping of this is torn and faded not suitable for scanning but I did have the picture of the Dr. and the little man standing on the table. You probably remember this article.”
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/WashingtonHelper.jpg
————————————————————————
I received a surprise phone call last week from Ray Simpson of El Reno, Past President of the Oklahoma Emergency Medical Technician Association. The group was holding their annual meeting here in Ardmore at the new Convention Center. Since I was the Founder of the association back in 1974, Ray Simpson, CCEMTP, RN of El Reno, wanted to invite me to their evening luncheon and awards banquet. Little did I know I was going to received an award, and what an honor it was too. The Oklahoma EMT Association will always be close to my heart even though its been 20 years since I worked on the ambulance.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/EMTaward2006.jpg
————————————————————————
First Furniture Store in Ardmore: Glenn-Bourland. Lawson “Nus” Glenn (1857-1922) moved his family from Wellington, Collingsworth County, Texas to Ardmore in 1901 and opened the first furniture store in Ardmore that flourished until the 1950s. Camilla Bourland Glenn (1866-1851) lived in Ardmore for 50 years where she raised her 5 children who were married in the Carter County area and are buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery. ..The Glenn children were: George Tate Glenn (1885-1962); Jewell Glenn Stringer (1887-1982); Elmo Currie Glenn (1890-1964); Aliena Glenn Chapin Withers (1894-1975); Mary Ellen Glenn Harrison (1903-1993). Patti Adkins-Rochette, prochette@Juno.com
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/CamillaBourlandGlenn6a.jpghttps://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/CamillaBourlandGlenn6b.jpg
————————————————————————
“Dear Butch, You don’t have to go back to the Dust Bowl days for an extremely hot summer in Ardmore. You need only go back to the summer of 1955 or 1956. It was the hottest weather I ever saw in Ardmore. They emptied City Lake and pumped Lake Ardmore dry to supply Ardmore’s water needs. There was strict water rationing that summer. I can’t remember, but I think the high temperature that summer was 116. It was Africa hot. There was serious talk about cloud seeding but I can’t remember whether they did it There were a lot of funny proposals made to stimulate rain that year. Someone older can probably remember what happened in Ardmore’s adult world that I had no knowledge of. The city built a pipeline from Lake Ardmore to City Lake. I can’t remember whether they took any water from the Noble Lake which Lake Ardmore fed over the spillway. They put the pump station at the spillway at Lake Ardmore and drained as much of the lake as they could. Before my sister and I started school in town our family lived at Lake Ardmore for about three years and it was difficult for me to watch our playground destroyed by the city’s need for water. But the rains returned and the lake filled up again and that episode was forgotten. This was also during the polio scare and we were not allowed outside after about noon because of the heat.” -Monroe Cameron
————————————————————————
“The Wilson News February 1915.
We have more rain and mud. Will we ever get our crosswalks? What do you suppose a stranger thinks of a town that has not enough ambition to build a few crosswalks in the main part of town? Means and Lee have just completed a new plank walk on the Fifth Street side of their big store. We said when Dr. Darling moved his building from the corner of Sixth and Main that he couldn’t take that fine cement sidewalk with him; but we failed to take into consideration the ingenuity of a man like Dr. Darling. One can’t tell what that man is going to do. He has put men and teams at work digging up that walk and is having it replanted in front of the building on Main and Fifth. Contributor’s note: Dr. Darling’s building now houses the Wilson Historical Museum.” -Mindy Taylor
————————————————————————
“Here is an Autoharp I bought at Sulphur today. Don’t know how old it is but it needs a little work. I was tickled to get it. Does anyone know anything about these let me know please?” dougwilliams@cableone.net
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/Autoharp6a.jpg
————————————————————————
“Butch, thanks for all your time and effort publishing T&T. I enjoy reading about things of interest in the Carter County area. I was raised in Wilson. My Dad, Roy Barrett was a barber in Wilson, later working for Oklahoma Pipeline Company. His parents owned and ran the Barrett’s Cafe on South 5th Street (1 block south of Main Street) in Wilson. My Dad was killed on November 16, 1944, in WW II. I was 4 years of age and my brother Terry was born only 11 days prior to our Dad’s death. For many years, I thought that our Dad had died in the Battle of the Bulge. After retiring in 1998, I began extensive research about my Dad, and his death and learned that he wasn’t killed in the Battle of the Bulge, but in a little known battle that preceeded the Battle of the Bulge called The Battle of Huertgen Forest. In May 2000, my wife and I attended Memorial Day services at the Ardennes Military Cemetery in Belgium where our Dad is buried. Following the Memorial Day services, we went into the Huertgen Forest in Germany with a guide and went to the location where my Dad’s remains were found (3 1/2 years after his death as he was missing in action until June 1947). It was the most moving experience in my life to be at the location where he was killed and his remains were found. Following the trip to Germany, I built a website, dedicated to my Dad and to all the men who served, were wounded or killed in the Battle of Huertgen Forest. If anyone is interested in the history of this battle, the website can be found at the link below. I am proud of my Dad and was honored when the memorial was erected in Ardmore honoring all those from Carter County who were killed in WW II. My Dad’s name is proudly displayed in that memorial plaque.” -Ken Barrrett
http://hurtgen1944.homestead.com/
————————————————————————
“Mr. Bridges, FYI. You may not know this but there is one LARGE bell Located at the Lone Star School in Sapulpa that is used every day, when school is in session. I do not know of the origin of the bell but if you would like more info I could find out more for you. Here is the link for their home page with the bell.”
————————————————————————
“Hi Butch, love your local history website. Lake Murray was opened to public fishing in June, 1938, and the day, long before sun-up, Lake Murray Drive was bumper-to Bumper traffic. It was really hard to find a place along the shore to throw in a line. Everyone caught fish; it must have been the greatest day of fishing for the most people, ever – a real BOOK OF RECORDS day. My dad, George Meason, managed the INDEPENDENT ICE CO on North “D” Street, and we sold out before noon, then started letting people store their fish in the vault, in wash tubs. We had to quit that pretty soon when we started to look and smell like FISHERMAN’S WHARF. At the end of the day we still had several un-claimed wash tubs, so we had a public fish-fry, at the plant, the next day. We neighborhood kids set up a bait stand at the intersection of McLish & 77 hwy and made over $100 that week-end selling crayfish we had seined out of near-by ponds, notably Walker’s Pond. I wonder if the DAILY ARDMOREITE had any articles about that opening week-end?” -Tom Meason, Tulsa, OKTom Meason’s obituary. He passed away just a little over a year ago. He emailed me quite often, and will be missed.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/obituaries/localobituaries/thomas-mansfield-meason-sr/article_5b01f8a8-939f-5aa2-b792-60fb73cf04e4.html
————————————————————————
————————————————————————Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
Anyone know where Purgatory, Oklahoma is located?
———————————————–
Here is a site for the Oklahoma Historical Society podcasts. Check it out and see what you think. -Cecil
http://www.okhistory.org/about/podcasts
———————————————–
Butch, in last weeks newsletter a person was looking for grave site somewhere northwest of Gainesville.
Ken Fomby purchased a ranch on the Moss lake road and discovered a small cemetery on it, he cleaned it up and was going to fence it to keep out the cattle, Ken passed away about 5 years ago and his son Russ Fomby is currently running the ranch. This may be the cemetery in question.
———————————————–
Speaking of the TALOS missile that Ardmore didn’t get as part of a national air defense system ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIM-8_Talos ), the light cruiser, the USS Oklahoma City *did* carry the missile in combat during the Vietnam war. There’s an excellent web page dedicated to the “Okie Boat” as she was called;
https://www.okieboat.com/index.htmlThe OKC had two notable firings of the TALOS; they were the last one to fire the missile in combat against an enemy plane*, and they were one of the first to fire it in an anti-radar mission – a mission that it was not originally designed for, and the first use of a surface-to-surface cruise missile by the Navy.
*by about 1980, the RIM-8 TALOS was removed from active service, redesigned slightly, and renamed the MQM-8 VANDAL, supersonic target drone.
———————————————–
In last week’s newsletter your history of the NE side swimming pool was very interesting to me since I worked there the first summer it opened. -R. Helms
———————————————–
———————————————–“Let no guilty man escape, if it can be avoided. No personal considerations should stand in the way of performing a public duty.” -Ulysses S. Grant
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
“Friends Make Life Worth Living”PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Oklahoma Bells: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm’s Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
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 Government Website
http://cartercountyok.us