July 8, 1963 – Springer, Oklahoma – A 14-year-old Texas cowgirl who calls Springer her second home is making a name for herself on the horse show circuit.
She’s Gloria Dickson, who lives in Dallas, but spends many weekends at her family’s 2,120 acre ranch 4 miles east of here.
Gloria, riding a registered palomino quarter horse gilding named Honey Bimbo, scored her greatest triumph last week by winning the grand championship of the Western Pleasure riding class at the Texas Cowboy Reunion at Stamford texas. Competition included some of the top quarter horses in the southwest.
Sulphur Oklahoma – bison to be moved to new location.
https://www.nps.gov/chic/learn/news/bison-to-move-april-6th.htm
The Ardmore standpipe on North Commerce was first built in 1902 or 1903. A mural was painted on it the past few days by Dr. Bob E. Palmer. https://www.muralsbypalmer.com/
Below is a picture of the beautul bronze bell in the dome of the Love County Courthouse at Marietta, Oklahoma.
hot-diggity-dog! Thanks to Aaron Atkinson I have some morel mushrooms. It’s been 2008 since I’ve ate morels. OSU Extension Office agent, Leland McDaniel, had a secret place he’d get his morels every year. He’d cook up a mess of them in the OSU kitchen nextdoor to the courthouse and invite county employees from the courthouse over to eat. Boy, talk about some good eating. Aaron, like Leland, would not tell me where his secret place was located to gather morels. I can hardly wait to get them fried up!
Thackerville, Oklahoma
I had the privilege years ago to PAINT and erect this sign on the acreage where the Winstar casino now exists. Worked for the Chickasaw Nation. What a difference. -Jim Ford Sign Shop
From the open field above to the WInstar Casino of today, 400,000 square feet of gaming floor.
Above the north entrance of the Carter County Courthouse.
HAM Radio Talk
I’m still enjoying almost daily my video conference chats at 10:00am everyday on hamcam1.net (enter Room 1) with HAMs all over the world. Sometimes there are as many as 12 of us online at once. You can imagine the fun when several try to talk at once. lol Below are first time contacts the past week using Echolink on my computer.
219. 03/24/23 7:50pm K04AXL Tim in Hickory, NC
https://www.qrz.com/db/KO4AXL
220. 03/24/23 10:am AA2MW Malcom in Corfu, NY
https://www.qrz.com/db/AA2MW
221. 03/25/23 7:45pm KE4DER Bill in Fayetteville, NC
https://www.qrz.com/db/KE4DER
222. 03/28/23 7:30pm KE8WNV Brad in Ferndale, MI
https://www.qrz.com/db/KE8WNV
223. 03/29/23 7:40pm ZS4X Francois in Bloemfontein, South Africa
https://www.qrz.com/db/ZS4X
224. 03/30/23 8:45am DO9KC Karl in Oldenburg, Germany
https://www.qrz.com/DO9KC
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG….
Butch, The old stand pipe was built before statehood and stands approximately 100′ high and 80′ around. During WWII, the planes flying back to Ardmore airfield loved to see the lights atop that old stand pipe because they knew they were home!!! Now the top is adorned with microwave towers and such.
We can thank Bruzzy & Gloria Westheimer, Sherwin-Williams, City of Ardmore and Ardmore Beautification Council for their donations and the talent of muralist, Dr. Palmer, for their efforts in acknowledging the historical importance of the Ardmore Stand Pipe. I love being back in Ardmore! –Jadean Paschall Fackrell
New paint, New LED Lighting, and New Hands for all 4 clock faces finally complete! If you are downtown, take time to look up or listen for the bell! We are proud of it, but glad it’s finally over. Thankful for our Commissioners that understand the responsibility of keeping up our Historic 1910 Courthouse and always give us the go ahead on these projects! -Kalub Miller, Courthouse Maintenance
Early in the morning go on B Street NW between Broadway and 1st and watch as the sun hits the clock… beautiful! -Myrtle Louise Butler
Below is from my Vol 4, Issue 153 April 1, 2000 newsletter:
Seventy-five miles northeast of Ardmore is Coalgate, Oklahoma. For many years there was one thing that Coalgate was noted for the home of Hudson’s Big Country Store. In the late 1960s when I was a teen I drove all the way over there to buy cowboy boots. But one thing I didn’t have with me was one of those Hudson’s tokens.
I was digging around in a chest of drawer the other day and found a ring I handmade when I was a teen. I would take a fifty cent piece (they were all 90% silver in those days) and a spoon, to create a ring. It took me about a month of beating on that fifty cent piece, round and round and round, before I had it down to the size to fit my finger. I then took a drill bit and carefully drill the center out. You could see the date and some of the wording on the inside. A person could use a present day fifty cent piece, but remember it has copper in the center (only 40% silver). I used a tablespoon and by the time I had the ring made, the bottom of that spoon looked like it had been through a war.
“Hi Butch. There used to be an old feller that rode a mule, and behind him trailed a train of horses. This feller also had a white beard, and was seen riding the roads of carter, love, jefferson, and countless other counties. If I remember correctly he was called whiskers,and was a horse trader. Not many people knew anything about whiskers. He reminded me of the bearded man riding the bike in ardmore.”
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it” –David Henry Thoreau (1817-1862)
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, OK
580-490-6823