An Old Fashion Oklahoma Christmas
by Butch Bridges
In the heart of Oklahoma’s winter chill,
Where plains and prairies lie so still.
A Christmas tale of days of old,
In an Oklahoma winter, brave and bold.
Beneath the open skies so wide,
Where the wind whispers secrets, none can hide.
The snow may fall on fields so vast,
A blanket of white, memories cast.
In Ardmore town, the lights aglow,
A festive spirit begins to grow.
With cowboy boots and hats adorned,
Oklahoma’s Christmas, tradition sworn.
On the ranches, ‘neath the starry sky,
Cattle lowing as snowflakes fly.
The crackling fire, a warm embrace,
A cowboy’s Christmas, full of grace.
From the Red River to the Arbuckle range,
In every corner, a holiday change,
Oklahoma, with your spirit so true,
Merry Christmas to all, from us to you!
OK. I am like George Washington, I can not tell a lie. I did not compose the above poem. I asked artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) to create for me “an old fashion Oklahoma christmas poem”. IA did the rest and created the poem for me in 1 minute. And that my friends is the delima, What is real and what is not on the internet nowadays (see, you all thought I wrote the above poem lol).
If you haven’t made it down Ardmore’s Main Street this Christmas season, you are missing out on the most beautiful lights display.The picture does not do it justice with all the bright colored lights for blocks. Phillip Capshaw took the photo below a few days before Decemter 25th.
The Daily Ardmoreite December 17, 1921
Four persons are now in county jail held in connection with shooting
Wilson OK – J. A. Gillum of Ardmore residing at 702 F Street Southeast was arrested late yesterday afternoon making four persons being held in connection with the shooting at Wilson Friday night and the finding of the bullet pierced body of Ardmore police officer C. G. Sims
Mrs McGibbon with Mr and Mrs H. O. Van, friends, went to Wilson to see the body. The body had been taken from the field, where found, to the undertaking parlors at Wilson. Mrs Sims said that after ascertaining the body was that of her husband she had Harvey Brothers Undertaking Company of Ardmore come for the body. From the undertaking parlors the body was taken late Friday evening to the home at 122 A Street Northeast. The date for the funeral will not be determined until relatives are heard from, it was stated last evening
Arrest Ardmore man – with the arrest of J. A. Gilliam of Ardmore last evening in connection with the killing at Wilson Thursday night of James Carroll and John Smith of Wilson and the wounding of Jeff smith, and the subsequent finding of the body of C. G. Sims, Ardmore plain clothes man, the mystery of the slaying is thickening instead of being cleared up.
J. A. Gillam of Ardmore is one of the prominent citizens of the county and was a candidate for the nomination for sheriff last campaign. Mr Gilliam is said also to be well acquainted in Healdton, where he lived until a short time ago.
It was stated last evening that Mr Gilliam was arrested while downtown Friday afternoon by deputy sheriff Will Ward.
A tour behind the scenes of television late 1940s Tap/Click Here
From the Mailbag
“Butch, wanted to let you know that my Dad, Les Gilliam, the Oklahoma Balladeer, recently passed away. Thanks for always being such a great supporter of Dad’s. He was proud to be from Gene Autry and Carter County.” -Dan Gilliam
Les Gilliam Obituary
Leslie Don Gilliam was born October 18, 1934 in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on November 19, 2023.
Les grew up in Gene Autry (Berwyn) and graduated from Ardmore High. He attended Murray State College where he played baseball and football, before moving on to Oklahoma A&M. Les Gilliam and the Western Rhythm Kings played many dates in and around Stillwater. He graduated in 1956 with a degree in Mathematics.
While at Oklahoma A&M, he met the love of his life, Martha Jane, and they were married on August 31, 1956. They soon had three children, Dan Leslie, Julie Ann and Cynthia Alice.
Les worked as a computer programmer for Chance Vought in Grand Prairie, Texas, before moving to Ponca City, Oklahoma, to join the new Computer Department at Continental Oil. He excelled at programming and quickly moved into planning and managerial roles. He left Conoco in the early 1980’s and started his own consulting practice using his extensive computer knowledge and planning skills.
Les loved country and western music and performed many times on the Big D Jamboree in the late 1950’s, playing shows with Johnny Cash, Sonny James and Mel Tillis. In 1998, he was named the Oklahoma Balladeer by the Oklahoma State Legislature. Les and Martha traveled all over the country, and even to Austria, sharing his songs and stories. In 2005, Les received the most prestigious award in western music, the coveted Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Les Gilliam and the Silverlake Band played many shows and dances, even playing at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO for almost 20 years. Many of the same fans would come each year to hear Les and the band and twirl around the dance floor. Les recorded 18 albums, including 3 gospel records, and won numerous awards. He was very proud that he was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Over the years, Les shared the stage and became friends with Riders in the Sky, Johnny Western, Rhonda Vincent, Connie Smith, Buck Taylor, Robert Fuller, James Drury, Monty Hale and many others.
Les had met Gene Autry as a youngster and was so proud to represent the Autry Family when Mr. Autry was inducted in the inaugural class of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. He and Martha became good friends with Mrs. Autry and the staff at Mr. Autry’s museum in California.
Les was a member of the First Baptist Church in Ponca City. He served many years as a Sunday School teacher, deacon and trustee. He chaired numerous committees and spent hours on the phone checking on his Sunday School class members.
Les was also an active member of the Lions Club. He was honored to have received the Melvin Jones award.
Below is a link to Les Gilliam’s website.
http://www.lesgilliam.com/main.htm
The following is from a Reader:
“They are in the process of demolishing the Frisco railroad track that runs alongside 6th Street Southwest and crosses South Commerce. A railroad engineer in Texas told me that, the Frisco railroad was the first established railroad through Ardmore and was historically used exclusively for materials during the industrial era of lakes and manufacturing.”
A. Butch, There has been a lot of inaccurate info about the railroads into Ardmore. Let me clear up a few.
First, The line mentioned running along 6th street is not being demolished. Just the opposite, BNSF is installing new cross ties on that line where needed all the way to Michelin. Also installing new signs at some crossings. That line serves the Asphalt Co. just west of Michelin. There are lots of RR tank cars out there. Even when Michelin shuts down they will still spot cars for the Asphalt Co.
Second, that line was built by ATSF not Frisco.
Third, The first railroad line established through Ardmore was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe when in 1887 they laid tracks across the Roff Brothers “Seven Hundred Ranch” running north. That’s when Ardmore was established. The next Railroad to Ardmore was actually the Western Oklahoma RR which later became the Rock Island. About 3 years later the Frisco came to Ardmore. They both came from the east and had trackage rights together to cross over the Santa Fe. That’s why the trestle system and the steel bridge that used to cross over todays BNSF Red Rock main was built that way, to easily cross over the Santa Fe line that was already there.
-Dwane Stevens
Butch, Tell folks the framed 1970 Turner Falls POP FESTIVAL poster with original ticket & news articles can be purchased for $250. I need to send as much $ down to TX this Christmas as possible for that needy farm family. And if folks could go as much as $300, it would still be a bargain since people have been paying $175 online just for the poster by itself unframed. Having all this together in a frame is extremely rare & collectible, the poster, original ticket and newspaper clippings. It is truly one of a kind ! This going to a good cause this Christmas, so tell folks to open their hearts. Thanks Butch for your help! -Steve Miller oldboldflyboy4@gmail.com or leave a message at 580-223-8494
Below is on back of poster/frame
I’ve been a ham radio operator for about 42 years, mostly on CW (Morse code) but now about a 50/50 mix of CW and Single Side Band voice modes. Almost 100 percent of my activity is on high frequency radio. I am however a relative late comer to official traffic handling. I’ve been doing this for the past three or four years or so and it is something I have grown to enjoy. There is an organized system of radio networks across the country where formal written messages are passed from one part of the country to another free of charge and using only the radio wave spectrum. While the traffic is routine, knowing how to do this in emergencies makes it worth the effort. One of the nets I am a member of, the 7290 traffic net had it’s 70th year of operation this year. They recently recognized me with the Whitney Nugget traffic handling award. It was a surprise and not at all expected. I am honored to be a small part of this great group of public service operators and all the other ops on all the nets. -Jon Lofton KZ5Z
Hey Butch > Your posting of the photo of J.R. Shaw’s Tire Shop brought back fond memories. As a young lad, J.R. Shaw’s was one of my favorite places to visit. My pappy would always go to J.R. to have flat tires fixed. J.R. had quite the process for fixin’ a flat. He called it the ”hot patch”. He would grind down the inside of the tire where the hole was in order to roughen the surface. He had a device that would push the tire inside out, exposing the hole in the tire. He would then place glue plus a special patch over the hole and then set the whole thing on fire. While it was still burning, he would take a roller type device and vigorously roll it back and forth over the patch until it stopped burning. Then while it was still hot and gooey, he placed yet another patch over that and then used the roller device over all that. Man, did I like watching that whole process > especially the whole fire burning thing. Another ‘attention getter’ was this device that he would drive a car tire up on. It had rollers that would spin the tire while it was on the car, making a loud whirring sound. He called it a ”spin-balance”. Then there was a ”truing machine”, that would shave rubber off a tire in order to make it perfectly round. Lots of gadgets and ‘goings-on’ at J.R. Shaw’s ! > > J.R. had this ”souped up” ’63 Dodge that he would take to the Ardmore Drag Race Track. Folks would come from all over the country trying to beat him in the 1/4 mile drag race. It was a standing challenge. The unusual thing about this race car is that it still had the Dodge ”push-button” automatic transmission. J.R. was quite the mechanic, tutoring many young lads in the art of drag racing and ”souping up” cars. > > Later gator, Steve’o
First guest checks in to Ardmore’s Ramada Inn – Sept. 19, 1972
Below is from my Vol 4 Issue 189
December 2, 2000 newsletter:
A couple of issues ago I spoke about Bromide, Oklahoma and the touted healing waters that supposedly were drawing large number of visitors there back in the 20s. Bromide is about 15 miles NE of Tishomingo, Oklahoma and I was over there visiting the other day. I found some interesting things of long ago, and also visited Camp Simpson just two miles to the west of Bromide down a dirt road.
Here is a pic of what the local residents call “Bromide Hill”. The word Bromide is written into the side of that hill with white rocks (above the pavilion in the photo).
As you start into town at the first curve, there in the front yard of a residence a are couple of odd pieces of history. One is some kind of railroad crane. To the left of it is even an odder piece of equipment. It is a little car used by railroad workmen to travel the rails. I’m sure some of you railroad buffs out there can shed more light on this strange contraption.
At that same curve where these two pieces of railroad equipment sit is the dirt road that thousands of Boy Scouts have travelled down on their way to Camp Simpson. Camp Simpson is just a couple of miles west and then back into those rugged mountains. The Camp consist of about 2,000 acres of rugged land in pristine condition. There is a small, beautiful 200 acre lake nestled in the 2,000 acre camp, fed by several springs. As I travelled around the Camp I noticed a number of springs running through it…. across the roads. Animals abound. Nature everywhere.
Here is a pic of Witch’s Hole. Local legend has it that it was an abandon mine of some kind many many years ago, and the shaft down to the mine is where Witch’s Hole is located. People say Witch’s Hole is over 200 feet deep. And it is full of big bass too, mostly leftovers from the nearby U.S. Fish Hatchery over at Reagan, Oklahoma. They throw into the creek any extra fish they have, and it sure makes the creek that runs through Camp Simpson a fisherman’s heaven for those Boy Scouts.
And last but not least is the bell located in front of the Mess Hall!
12/02/2000 The Carter County Sheriffs Office here recently installed new file storage equipment in the Records Department. Record archiving is very important, especially law enforcement records. Standing in the photo is Shirley Christian, Records Clerk for the sheriffs office. She has been with the Sheriffs Office 17 years and I remember very well the day she came to work. Shirley is probably close to having a photographic memory. I recall many times when the deputies were working on a case, had a suspect in mind, but could not remember the suspect’s name. The deputy or sheriff would go ask Shirley and usually within minutes she had the suspect’s file out and on the desk. About 1988 we had some big rains here in Ardmore. At that time the Sheriffs Office was located in the old jail next door to the courthouse in the building known as the Annex Building. The older records were stored in the basement of that building, and as fate would have it, a sump pump failed during one of those downpours and many old records from the 1940s to 1988 were destroyed in the basement flooding. The new filing system replaces 23 file cabinets and increases the storage space in the Records Office by 143%. And most importantly, the new system well organized, protect and preserve records for generations to come.
“Hi Butch, We just started receiving your This & That and really enjoy it. I have an input about the Ardmore Hotel that one of your subscribers seems to be pursuing. I think the Drugstore he’s thinking about is the old V.A. Grissom Drugstore on the corner and located beneath the southeast corner of the Hotel. I think for a while he was associated with Emmit Key, before Key moved to East Main. I remember Mr. Grissom very well. My Dad rented property from him at Stobtown back in the early 30’s and he often came out to visit with us. In case Stobtown is unfamiliar, it’s located approximately 5 miles north of Lone Grove on the Meridian Road. It was named Stobtown because of the huge iron pipe in the middle of the intersection there. It had a huge wagon-wheel affair on top and mailboxes were attached to the top of the wheel. There was a small community there, grocery store/gas station, church, and several homes. Thus; Stobtown! I lived there for the first 18 years of my life and returned shortly for about four years later on. We return to Ardmore to visit family several times a year, and remember a lot about the growth of Ardmore. Incidentally, the stob disappeared from the intersection on Meridian Road at the behest of the Postmaster. After wards all mailboxes were placed at the side of the road. Also, you mentioned about Travis Harris being the father of the brainchild coin operated car wash. Correct! We knew him well and that is so true. Thanks so much for all the news from home. Keep it up.”
“Love your newsletter! The drug store located in the Ardmore Hotel was Grissom’s. Father of Bill and Bob Grissom. I worked there for a short time in 1946 soon after my graduation from high school. Steel Drug was located on the corner of Main and N. Washington. My mother was a waitress for a short time at the Hotel Ardmore Coffee Shop. The drug store was on the corner and the coffee shop was to the north of the drug store. You could enter the drug store and the coffee shop from the hotel lobby or from the outside. There was a news stand in the lobby of the hotel. My friend worked there.”
“I have a vast store of memories of Love’s Valley, Marietta and Ardmore. We moved to Ardmore when I was a freshman in high school and lived there until 1986. I just sold my home a few years ago when I knew that I could never go back there to live. Need to be near my children. At the age of 15 I worked for S.H. Kress and Co.The envelope in which I received my first pay is in the Greater S.W. Museum. I made the total sum of $2.15 per day. More later.”
“Tuck’s Ferry was in Love’s Valley. I rode on it as a child. I lived in Love’s Valley until I was five years old. We still have a reunion every year of residents and former residents. Some of the Tuck family did live in Medicine Park. My aunt lives in Lawton and we went out there to see them. Of course, all of the older members are gone now.There was also another ferry on red river by Love’s Valley.”
“Ardmore Hotel: corner of C & Main Streets. Many years ago the Drug Store went by the name of “Grissom Keys Drug Store” and sometime later it became “Henley Drug Store” and was owned by Everett Henley. “Steele Drug” was located in the old Masonic Hall Building that is located at the corner of Washington & Main Street and originally owned by Frank Steele. Steele Drug moved from that building and located on 2nd Ave. N.W. by the Arthritis Clinic.. Today, Steele Drug is in a new location on Grand Blvd., where it just recently moved.” -Ernest Martin
“Please change your address book, because I sure enjoy your e-mail. No I am not from Ardmore, However I helped build the Arbuckle Dam at Sulphur, many years ago. Some time soon (3 or 4 months) I would like to come to Ardmore and take a tour through the court house, mainly to see the Court House clock. Some years back there was an article in one of the magazines I receive about it, I sure want to see it before they take it down. It is one of a few that is still in operation. Keep up the good work, and keep sending the mail, you sure have some interesting pictures. Thanks.” -Virgil Housley (Retired Trooper) Muskogee Oklahoma
“Butch: Our family holds a “double cousin” family reunion at Thanksgiving time up at Falls Creek Baptist Assembly Grounds. This year I noticed a beautiful, big bell setting on a stand under the shed at the side of the old open chapel. I have no idea if it is old or if it has a story. Just thought you might be interested.”
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke
See everyone next Thursday!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, OK
580-490-6823
