The Chuck Wagon BBQ was located at Ardmore’s Highway 199 (old Highway 70 1984) and P Street Northeast back during the 1970s and 1980s.The restaurant was owned and managed by Doris Jean Bailey (1927-2013). Besides BBQ they were famous for their apple dumplings. A Reader sent in what is reportedly the recipe Jean Bailey used in her restaurant.
Back in the late 1960s we did not have Kalshi, DraftKings and FanDuel to place our bets on. But we did have a sheet of paper with a lot of little squares. You’d put your name in a box with what you think would be the winning score. Each square was 25 cents. Whoever picked the winning score, won the $10 or $12 worth of quarters. Could some of you fill in my fuzzy recollection on the details? I can’t remember the details or exactly what the sheet of paper looked like. Or even draw the squares out on a sheet of paper, take a pic and upload? The DA said it was illegal betting, of course that was right up our alley!
Some friends refreshed my memory. Below is an AI generated form similar to what we placed our 25 cent bets on in high school.
Ardmore’s first convenience store at South Washington and Stanley SW.
I should have been listening to my body decades ago. Back in the 80s at the ambulance service, we’d go eat at Taco Bueno because manager Fred Burger would give us half price. The girls who waited on me would ask, “Do you want to sneeze today?” If I answered yes that meant I wanted hot sauce. After we sat down I’d look over at the checkout counter and the girls would be giggling, because they knew I’d sneeze about the 3rd or 4th bite. Ardmore’s Taco Bueno at 905 N. Commerce Street in Ardmore first opened its doors in 1982.
Fast forward to today:
No matter what I eat of HEALTHY food I will ALWAY sneeze 4 or 5 times. Yet, I can eat a Hostess Twinkie or a chocolate cupcake, or a Honey Bun with cinnamon, and I do not sneeze. I need to listen to my body more. -Butch Bridges
Below is the Milburn, Oklahoma depot in 1902
Speaking of Milburn, Oklahoma, years ago my cousin, singer Don Bridges, in Virginia made a song about Milburn. I’ve uploaded the 2½ minute song (27meg file) to my Google Drive.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YMcsnnLD2n0igjJ9jzB2ijmPhf8723Hv/view?usp=sharing
Below is a Palmolive token sent in by a Reader
Note: I found this token on eBay for $6. 🙁
From This Weeks Mailbag
I didn’t know about the Shelterbelt. That was really interesting. Ironically, there’s not a tree to be seen in the area behind the granite maker at Mangum, Oklahoma telling about it.
https://oklahomahistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FirstShelterbelt.jpg
Note: A shelterbelt is a line of trees or shrubs planted to protect an area from high winds and reduce soil erosion.
Tech Talk
My Surfshark VPN protection for my cellphones, computers and Smart TVs has now added a new free feature. Text scams are becoming harder to spot, often looking just like the messages from brands you interact with every day:
Fake shipping updates
Urgent alerts
Missed payments
Government tax rebates
Verification codes and many more
They look real, and sometimes come right when you expect that kind of message. So how do you know if that’s a scam?
Use text message protection to take the guesswork out of your inbox, acting as a filter so you don’t have to stay on high alert 24/7. SurfShark is one the the best things I’ve done to protect my network while connected to the internet. All my devices are protected for just $2.79 a month.
https://surfshark.club/friend/4vhaWbNT
HAM Radio Talk
Hi Butch,
Thank you for the congrats AND advice not to go back to the old ways. I am DONE with public service, except for helping Terry, KR5B with the Weather Bunch nets on the Denison 145.330 repeater.. and that is only IF and WHEN needed. I am one of the original founding members of the Weather Bunch ham club.. started back in 2013. They gave the founding members a 1 year award plaque in 2014. Myself and Darrell Reed, KF5DA both were celebrating 40 years as hams at that time. Darrell was a Meteorologist at KWTV-9 in Oklahoma City for a long time, then at KTEN-10 for a while… he was originally from Ada and lived north of Pottsboro. Both Darrell and Doc, KB0TWL who were founding members, are now silent keys. Here we are 12 years later and the Weather Bunch ham club and the weekly nets are still going strong. I don’t participate much with the club, but I promised Terry that I would help out with the actual nets if needed.
I chose the worst career path in the world… beginning as a communications dispatcher with the Murray County Sheriff’s Department in 1976 and later became a police officer for the City of Davis for several years.. pay was terrible. I also served as a volunteer firefighter for 20 years with my hometown (Dougherty) Vol Fire Department and 22 years or so as a civil defense volunteer, 10 of those as Director. I also served as Scoutmaster of our local Boy Scout Troop 61 for a couple of years… and now wrapping up 16 years as a Security Officer with the Chickasaw Nation.
Throughout those years, (probably like yourself) I saw more heartbreaking scenes than anyone could imagine. Some still linger… you just can’t unsee some things, and I won’t mention them here. I was a storm spotter for many, many years, before storm chasing became popular and I finally retired from doing that in 2009 after the Lone Grove tornado. I lived in Lone Grove at the time and I was on Hwy 70 just west of Interstate 35 watching as the tornado crossed the highway on the east side of Lone Grove. After it passed, I drove back into Lone Grove… it was dark… the highway had light poles and debris everywhere.. I couldn’t get back home on 70, so I turned north on a street (Meridan I think) to go to Memorial and across to my house… that was even worse.. car on its top in the middle of the street.. people running toward my headlights crying and screaming looking for their neighbors… A police officer arrived behind me and he told me that all streets were blocked with debris going north in that area. I ended up back in Ardmore at the Red Cross helping Vance Smith KE5BAL and Mike Key with radio comms.. Vance finally made it across into Lone Grove past the debris area and radioed back that my house was okay.. no visible damage. Going back to April 1979, I was out spotting storms and was up on the Arbuckle Mountains when Wichita Falls got hit by a major tornado. I could hear some of the ham repeaters and I could tell it was bad… SO, that is it in a nutshell.. I think maybe I’ve done my part… it’s time for the next generation to carry the torch. My wick is weak and my flame burns dim.
-Joe Keith KF5S
Sadler, Texas
Hope is being able to see there is light despite all the darkness.
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
580-490-6823
https://oklahomahistory.net
