The Daily Ardmoreite May 1, 1921
Racing Program For Carter County Fair
At a meeting of the board of directors of the Carter county Free Fair association held at the office of the secretary Saturday morning, it was unanimously decided to put the racing program under the direction of Sam Baird of this city, and the directors ordered him to proceed with the program for the coming fair in September. Mr Baird stated that he would do so and informed the officers and directors that he was in communication with a number of out of town horseman who wanted to bring their stables here to train, and promise a good program for the coming fair.
The directors named Mr Baird, a committee of one to confer with the park board and do everything possible to induce horseman to come here and use the track for training purposes. This is one of the best half mile tracks in the southwest, it could be utilized the year-round if horsemen were permitted to use the barns and other equipment. In addition to the horse races there will be one day devoted to the automobile racers, and the program will be so arranged and sufficient purses offered to induce many speed demons to participate.
Monday May 9th the officers of the association will meet with the city parks board to discuss proposed building plans, and other improvements contemplated at the fairgrounds before the next annual event.
The meeting will be held at the rooms of the chamber of commerce at the noon hour, over dinner the details will be discussed. At the meeting yesterday morning secretary Simpkins outlined some of the his plans for the coming fair, and the premium list were discussed. The premium list is being compiled and will be ready for distribution within the next few weeks.
December 21, 1950 – Ardmoreite
Four Firemen and Motorist Hurt In Wreck
Fire truck and car collide on Main Street intersection,
cars involved in wreck were damaged.
Four Ardmore fireman and a motorist from Norman were injured painfully but not seriously late Thursday afternoon when a fire truck and a car collided at D Street and West Main Street. Injured were Fred Woods, Ed Jennings, Curtis Moore and fire chief Maxey Gordon of the Ardmore fire department, and Floyd W. Lamb of Norman.
The accident occurred at 4:00 p.m. when Lamb apparently failed to hear the siren of the truck as he pulled around another car on main Street collided with the truck which was traveling north on D Street in route to a house fire in northwest Ardmore.
Fireman Fred Woods, driver of the truck, swerved to miss the car which was directly in his past as he reached the intersection and the impact of the collision overturned the truck, throwing two of the firemen into the pavement.
Lamb’s car was knocked into two parked cars at the curb and both the car and truck were damaged extensively.
Lamb received injuries about the chest. He is still in the Hardy Sanitarium. Most seriously injured was Ed Jennings, fireman. Jennings, who was riding on the rear step of the truck, was hurled into the air and landed about his head and shoulders on the payment and skidded under a parked car. He was being treated at Hardy Sanitarium for head injuries, possible concussion, cuts and abrasions. Hospital attendants reported early today that Jennings was not in any danger and was resting as well as could be expected. Fireman Woods, Moore and Gordon were treated for bruises and abrasions and released from the hospital. Gordon received rib injuries and a broken finger, Moore was treated for bruises about the head and Woods suffered a bleeding shoulder.
The fire truck involved was one of the newest trucks in the department- a fog truck. The truck was put into service in 1948. The accident, according to Royce Coe, former fire chief, was the first of the department in 4 years the most serious in a number of years.
Witnesses said the accident occurred when Lamb, apparently in the process of passing another vehicle pulled into the path of the oncoming fire truck. Due to the traffic noise he apparently did not hear the siren of the truck despite the fact that two other fire trucks were traveling close behind the number one fog truck.
The other trucks proceeded to the house fire in northwest Ardmore.
A photo of the old Von Keller hospital at 12th and North Commerce where the CVS Pharmacy is located now.
HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
The state legislature established the office of District Attorney during the 1965 session. The first District Attorney election took place in 1966, and the newly elected DAs took office in January 1967.
The office of Justice of the Peace was abolished in Oklahoma in 1967.
The statutes concerning Justices of the Peace were repealed by the 1968 legislature, to take effect January 13, 1969.
After the creation of the office of District Attorney, the first person elected in the 20th Judicial District (Carter, Johnston, Love, Marshall & Murray Counties) was Burke Mordy.
After the change in the judiciary that abolished the County and Justice of the Peace Courts and created the offices of Associate District Judge and Special Judge, the first to hold those two positions in Carter County were James Dillard and Earl Brown.
Additional trivia about those two positions:
Only four people have been Associate District Judge in Carter County – James Dillard, Earl Levally, Tom Walker and Lee Card.
There have been seven Special Judges – Earl Brown, Luster Cook, Tom Walker, Mike Hisey, Bebe Bridges, Charles Tate and Thomas Baldwin.
Only one person in Carter County has ever been Special Judge, Associate District Judge and District Judge – Tom Walker.
HAM Radio Talk via Echolink
One can use the website qrz.com to search for HAMs by name, address including by zipcode, county, etc. I used Tish’s zipcode 73460 and did a search. Below is the results.
Page 1 of 1, of 12 matches for Tishomingo: 73460
| AB0VB | Robert E Williams, Mr Tishomingo OK |
| KC5PAJ | BILLY J HUTCHINS Tishomingo OK |
| KE5GSQ | Ken W Kingsbery Tishomingo OK |
| KF5BHI | Micah E Wakefield Tishomingo OK |
| KF5BHJ | Jana J Wakefield Tishomingo OK |
| KF5BHK | Nathan E Wakefield Tishomingo OK |
| KF5LVU | Marvin E Bostrom Tishomingo OK |
| KF5PAR | Bill G Malone Tishomingo OK |
| KG5SD | GARY K WEST TISHOMINGO OK |
| W5TME | BETTY L ROAN TISHOMINGO OK |
| W5VIA | GARY L GREEN Tishomingo OK |
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG….
The first Adventist hospital was the old Von Keller hospital while they built the new one across from Memorial hospital, then it became D&H nursing home while they built a new one out on 3rd NE. -Jerry Dishman, nephew of Dr. von Keller
A reader sent in the following two photos of the Beatles on tour in 1966.
Butch, I came across these two photos and thought you might like to have them.
When the Oklahoma Constitution was amended to change the judiciary, effective the 1968 election, the office of Special Judge was created. The 1st photo is from the swearing-in of Earl Brown as the 1st Carter County Special Judge. I think, but am not sure, that he was the last County Judge. Those depicted left to right are Associate District Judge James Dillard, Judge Brown, unknown, District Judge Kenneth Shilling.
Below is a photo taken at Judge Brown’s retirement:
When Judge Brown retired, he was replaced by Luster Cook. The 2nd photo below is his swearing-in by Judge Shilling. As a FYI, I replaced Judge Cook when he died in 1975. -Tom Walker
The photo below is the swearing-in of Judge Cook:
Below is from my Vol 4, Issue 163 June 3, 2000 newsletter:
1955 City Directory- Ardmore colored Methodist Episcopal church, Rev W. M. Carter, pastor. 11 G Southeast
This week I was driving out 3rd NE here in Ardmore and just before I reached Mary Niblack Road on the north side….. was this bell in front of the old J.B. Means homeplace. I had to stop and take a pic!
https://oklahomahistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/JBMeansBell.jpg
“I would like to post a thank you on your T&T. A couple of weeks ago I inquired about Microsoft’s “Power Toys.” Right away I got a response and started a dialog with a very nice gentleman from Ardmore. After several emails and exchanges of ideas he provided me with the information that I needed. The gentleman’s name is Gene South whom many of you must know. A great BIG THANK YOU to Gene South. From Ted Edwards (tebear) As for you Butch, keep up the good work. An additional BIG THANK YOU to Butch”
“I don’t know how many tornados have been in Ardmore but I remember on in about 1945 or 46. I was in the 6th grade at Franklin Elementary School. It was quite a storm, my dad came and got me out of bed and told me to be careful there was glass on my floor. The wind had blown a 50 gal barrel against the double windows of my room. We were lucky just that year they had cut down a big Cottonwood tree that was just outside the window because of my brother’s allergies. Our house wasn’t hurt much, we found later it had been moved off the foundation just a couple of inches. The chicken house in back was blown down. Workers were cleaning up a week later and an old chicken came from under the rubble squaking. Hungry but ok. The yard at the school where we still had school that morning was pretty messy and some big old trees were blown down. Many houses were damaged and blown away in our neighborhood, but it skipped whole streets and hit others with tremendous force. Those were days to remember in my home town.”
“Butch I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your site. You see I have been away from Ardmore about 10 years and this site lets me come back Home, even if it is for a short time. Since leaving I have lived in LA. and now I live in TX. I can go online at anytime and check into things back HOME. I want you to know that we (everyone that gets your mailing) would never be able to show you how much we appreciate you taking the time to put this site together for us. Thank you again.”
June 2000 – “Butch, I noticed in the Ardmoreite yesterday that the Civic auditorium is now being called Heritage Hall, do you know when and why the name was changed…. I believe the people of Ardmore needed a say if the city father’s decided to change the name.”
“He who has a thousand friends,
Has not a friend to spare,
While he who has one enemy,
Shall meet him everywhere.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, OK
580-490-6823