bmonthly November 2020

NOVEMBER 2020

Give Santa a break.

Give them a Stride Bank gift card.

1415 SE Washington Blvd. Bartlesville, OK 918-333-0380 | stridebank.com Fees and restrictions may apply. See bank for details. This card is issued by CenterState Bank of F.L., NA pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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WHAT’S INSIDE

what’s inside...

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Upfront

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Profile: Sue Ann Rice The Captivating Life of a Military Groundbreaker

Funny You Should Ask: What You Don’t Know ...

About Thanksgiving

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Making a Difference: Arvest Bank

Giving Back: Operation Toy Soldier

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Out & About: Photos from Around Town

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Feature: Brothers in Arms

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Feature Sponsor Story: Last Civil War Pension Irene Triplett Received the Payment in May of 2020

On the Osage: GPSn’ with Johnny Horton North End of Kihekah Bringing the Sass & the Class

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The Arts: Theater Bartlesville Roles Changing During Pandemic

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Local Legends: The Violin Maker Bartlesville’s Ed Moss Was a World-Class Luthier

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Meet Your Writer: Lori Kroh

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Honoring Our Veterans: Oklahoma Veterans’ Memorial

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A Fresh Perspective: The Heart of Music

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Local Leaders: Community Spirit

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Once Upon a Time: Bridge Over Troubled Waters

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Supporting Soldiers: Blue Star Mothers

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Business Spotlight: SLO Acres Soda Fountain

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A Good Word: What God Has in Store for Me

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Kids’ Calendar

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Chick-fil-A Events Calendar

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Tribute: Harold Charles Price Jr. A Hall of Famer Remembered

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Helping Hands: Give Today & Change Tomorrow United Way Raising Funds to Help Those in Need

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Looking Back: History of the AAHC What Would Bartlesville Look Like Without the Arts?

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From the Heart: Medal-Making Moments They’re Out There, Sometimes You Just Have to Ask

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Now You Know: Oklahoma’s National Prestige State Has a Strong History of Military Vessels

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Knowing Nowata: French Legion of Honor

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Entertainment: The Show Must Go On

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Tribute: JoAn Fraser

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Survivors: Women of World War II

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Kiwanis: Holiday Wreaths & More

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National History: Let Freedom Ring NOVEMBER 2020

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UPFRONT

upfront Welcome to November, friends! I really can't believe I am writing the November Upfront, and we are starting to plan our Santa Claus cover for the December issue. Where has this crazy year gone? Since 2017 we have honored our brave veterans with our November issue. Christy and I believe there is no better time than now to honor the men and women who have fought for our great country and that “Ragged Old Flag” that has seen its share of victory, defeat, heartache, sacrifice, tear,s and sadness. She has been abandoned, burned, turned against, cursed, stomped on, and most importantly the forgotten meaning of her great colors ... the colors of the Red, White, and Blue...Ol’ Glory!

I dedicate this issue and this Upfront to all the men, women, and their families — who without pause or hesitation — gave all of themselves to a country, to a people, and to an incredible idea called America, and to her country's flag that has seen the best and the worst of this country. Many of her citizens have turned their backs on her without understanding what this flag means to the world and to the millions of lives this country and that flag have saved and liberated!

When I was driving to the office last week, I stumbled on an old country station and this song came on that I had heard many times growing up. The song playing was Johnny Cash's classic song “Ragged Old Flag.” It has probably been 20 years since I heard that song, but as I turned it up, I began to think what that old flag has seen over the years. I decided to share the lyrics of this classic song so we may never forget what this sacred flag has been through, and the sacrifices made for us all.

Something we should be all proud of!

I walked through a county courthouse square On a park bench an old man was sitting there I said, your old courthouse is kinda run down He said, naw, it'll do for our little town I said, your old flagpole has leaned a little bit And that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it He said, have a seat, and I sat down Is this the first time you've been to our little town?

I said, I think it is He said, I don't like to brag But we're kinda proud of that ragged old flag You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when Washington took it across the Delaware And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key Sat watching it writing say can you see And it got a bad rip in New Orleans

With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams And it almost fell at the Alamo Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg And the south wind blew hard on that ragged old flag On Flanders field in World War One She got a big hole from a Bertha gun She turned blood red in World War Two She hung limp and low a time or two She was in Korea and Vietnam She went where she was sent by Uncle Sam She waved from our ships upon the Briny foam And now they've about quit waving her back here at home In her own good land here she's been abused She's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused And the government for which she stands Is scandalized throughout the land And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin But she's in good shape for the shape she's in 'Cause she's been through the fire before And I believe she can take a whole lot more So we raise her up every morning We take her down every night We don't let her touch the ground and we fold her up right On second thought, I do like to brag 'Cause I'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag Today we have over 17.5 million Veterans in the United States. Sadly, we have less than 500,000 thousand WWII veterans and we are losing an average of 350 veterans a day. We also have 3.3 million veterans who stood and fought for this land, for you, me, and for that “Old Ragged Flag” after we were attacked on September 11, 2001. According to the US Department of Veterans, we lose over 20 veterans every day to sucide! What! Did you hear what I said? Twenty of these proud men and women who wanted to serve and protect what that flag means, what this country means, and what their service meant are no longer here. November 11 is Veterans Day. On this day, please remember the men and women who served this nation with honor and stood proud to defend that “Old Ragged Flag.”

Volume XI Issue XI Bartlesville Monthly Magazine is published by

ENGEL PUBLISHING

Offices located in Downtown Bartlesville in the historic Price Tower 510 Dewey Ave, Suite 400, Bartlesville, OK 74003 P.O. Box 603, Bartlesville, OK 74005

www.bartlesvillemonthly.com facebook.com/bartlesvillemonthly Publisher

Brian Engel brian@bartlesvillemonthly.com Art Direction

Copper Cup Images design@coppercupimages.com Director of Sales & Marketing

Keith McPhail keith@bartlesvillemonthly.com Community Liaison

Christy McPhail christy@bartlesvillemonthly.com Project Manager

Andrea Whitchurch andrea@bartlesvillemonthly.com Administration

Shelley Greene Stewart Delivery and Distribution

Julie Drake Calendar/Social Media

calendar@bartlesvillemonthly.com Contributing Writers Debbie Neece, Kay Little, Jay Webster, Maria Gus, Tim Hudson, Lori Roll, Lori Kroh, Brent Taylor, Kelly Bland, Rita Thurman Barnes, Keith McPhail, Bob Fraser, Jay Hastings, Carroll Craun Brandon Dutcher, Stevie Williams, Dave Austin, Ryan Martin, Aaron Vaughn, Sarah Gagan, Laura Offitt, AJ Webster, Lori Just Contributing Photographers Bartlesville Area History Museum, Alexis Hallum Photography, Heather Murphree, Nowata County Historical Society, Trait Thompsonr Kids Calendar

Jessica Smith

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or otherwise, without prior permission of Bartlesville Monthly, Inc.

ABOUT THE COVER Cover photo is Washington County Courthouse during World War II. Creative Concept by Keith and Christy McPhail Design by Copper Cup Images

God bless, Keith Keith & Christy McPhail NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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PROFILE

Sue Ann Rice

The Captivating Life of a Military Groundbreaker

by Sarah Leslie Gagan Growing up in Ponca City holds many fond memories for Sue Ann Rice. It was shelter from the happenings of the world, and wartime. It was the kind of childhood one might dream of, with lazy afternoons picnicking at Lake Ponca with her parents and dogs, and time spent working in the family garden. She willingly braved the chiggers to pick peas, beans, corn, and other vegetables for her mother to preserve.

She attended St. Mary’s Catholic School, graduating in 1952 and enjoyed playing basketball on the team. During those years, the Navy was training men and women at Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater. The Rice home frequently hosted WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) on their weekends off, and this had a huge impact on young Sue, who loved reading her books on the Navy. Her father worked for Conoco and had many military friends that stopped by to visit. These encounters helped shape the direction Sue would choose to follow.

After graduating high school, Sue spent the first year of her studies at Stephens College in Missouri. From her Sophomore year onward, she attended The University of Oklahoma, completing training as a secondary high school biology teacher.

While at OU, Sue joined the Naval Reserve, surface division, in February of 1954. They met every week and had two weeks of active duty. Sue expressed interest in becoming a radioman, but because of her biology background, the Navy assigned her to become a Corps WAVE. Sue spent her first two weeks of boot camp at Bainbridge, Maryland in 1954. She was appointed Recruit Chief Petty Officer, which was not much to her liking because it meant a lot more work. When asked about her most vivid memory of boot camp, Sue recalls, “Other than the problems I had as Recruit Chief Petty Officer, I think standing out in the boiling hot sun and then having only 10 or 15 minutes to eat lunch and going through the chow line and having the food thrown on the tray. Then trying to woof the food down — which was not that great — and going through the scullery to empty your tray, it was stinky and hot. In fact, I lost 10 pounds in two weeks.”

In 1954 and 1956, the service wasn’t a popular career for women, but Sue remembered the WAVES she met during WWII, and remained very interested in the Navy. Sue graduated college in May of 1956 and went on active duty in early June.

At that time, the only way a woman could get a commission was to attend officer candidate school, so Sue was sent to Newport, Rhode Island. It was a step up, and not nearly as demanding as boot camp. Sue recalls, “I remember receiving our officer hats before the commissioning and standing in front of the mirror. Knowing we were going to be commissioned offi6

bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

cers was a very impressive feeling. We had excellent instructors and good courses. You rotated being commander, then for graduation, the troops elected the company commander. I was elected company commander. The graduation was the most impressive.”

As a Navy Ensign, Sue was assigned to the Dallas Office of Naval Officer Procurement for about eight weeks, where she worked campuses such as SMU in Dallas. Sue enjoyed the increasing notoriety that was given to military women at the time, as she was the first newly-commissioned female officer ever assigned to Dallas. After Dallas, Sue was sent to her permanent station, Great Lakes, north of Chicago, and

PROFILE assigned to the Headquarters, 9th Naval District — which included 13 states.

Her boss, Commander Wheeler, had been in the Navy longer than Sue had been alive, and was getting a woman, fresh out of officer candidate school who had never even been assigned to a ship! He had never worked with a female officer before, so there was an adjustment period, but her knowledge and dedication surprised him and he soon gave Sue a full commander’s job. Suddenly, she was responsible for the testing for the promotion and advancement for all the enlisted on inactive duty in the 13 states of the 9th Naval District, plus running two schools for reserves.

After two years, Sue was stationed in Oahu, Hawaii, where she replaced a man on the staff at the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet. At that time, the highest rank for a woman was commander. If you didn’t make lieutenant commander in 12 years, you were automatically out with severance pay and no chance to retire.

The temporary housing there was built during World War II, with cracks in the walls big enough to see through due to missing boards and caulking. Sue kept a gecko in her room to keep the insect population down. She was assigned as the administrative officer for the Logistics Division, Assistant to the Fleet Logistics Officer, and the Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics, as well as being in charge of all the enlisted in the division and top-secret control officer. From her station at Great Lakes on, Sue always had a top-secret clearance.

Sue also completed temporary duty in Japan. Her next assignment was at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California, where she was the first female officer to be assigned. From there she went to Women Officer’s School Staff and was the Assistant Military Training Officer, teaching drill and other subjects. On the day President Kennedy was assassinated, Sue reported for military law training at Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon completion, she attended Instructor Train-

ing School at Norfolk, Virginia, where she almost set a record for the highest score of a woman, missing it by two one-hundredths of a point.

After graduating, she eventually became the Academic Director of the Woman’s Officer School. This was during the Vietnam War years, and Sue saw her class size multiply from a group of 20 all the way to 200 in training, which included both women and men.

When her time there ended, Sue went into the computer field at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. She had first seen a computer while at Great Lakes — a Univac 2 — which was so large you walked inside it, and she was captivated. At this time, computers were being designed for logistics. Her training would branch out to include anti-submarine warfare.

This led to an exciting time, as Sue recalls, “I was the second woman in the history of NATO to be their county’s principal representative. It was called the North American Treaty Organization Military Command and Control and Information Systems Working Group. My headquarters was at the Pentagon, because I was responsible for developing policy for the U.S. I worked very closely with the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Defense Communications Agency, as well the Joint Chiefs of Staff for each service branch.”

This was Commander Rice’s last tour. She retired from military life on August 1st, 1977 and was presented with the Meritorious Service Medal for her service with the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, OJCS. It had been a phenomenal career.

After traveling the world for her entire life, in 2000 Sue moved back to Ponca City to care for her mother when she became ill. She recalls, “I’m glad I lived in D.C. as long as I did, but I’m really enjoying being back.”

Thank you for your service, Commander Rice. You have broken ground and blazed the trail for men and women alike. We salute you.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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GIVING BACK

Operation Toy Soldier Annual Event Provides Toys for Children

by Lori Roll Operation Toy Soldier sounds like a secret code for a Lilliputian military coup. But the real coup is a successful annual effort by Stumpff Funeral Homes and Humble Road Church in Bartlesville to provide toys for children of deployed active and reserve service members in the Army and Air National Guard.

The brainchild of Scott Guynan Holz, general manager of Stumpff Funeral Homes, Operation Toy Soldier helps area children of deployed military members who need extra attention while parents are away in sometimes frightening situations. “We have a long list of children in need,” he said. Keith Stumpff, the founder of Stumpff Funeral Homes, is a veteran, as was Scott Holz’s father.

They wanted to do something to help families stressed by the absence of military family members. Operation Toy Soldier does just that. New toys, blankets, games, sports equipment, and gift certificates are collected at eight Stumpff locations, Humble Road Church, local participating businesses, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and their Research Center. Toys are delivered mid-December to two National Guard Reserve locations in Owasso and Broken Arrow for distribution to military families.

“We started Rumble in the Park in 2018 to kick off the toy drive,” Holz said. “As a motorcyclist, I was happy to be approached by members of the Humble Road Church, many of whom are also bikers, who wanted to do something in the community. This seemed like the perfect match.” The 2020 event was staged October 17 at the Peters-Stumpff Funeral Home in Skiatook, where over 60 bikers wound through the scenic hills of the Osage to the Humble Road Church to deliver toys and share food, games, fellowship, and cash raffles. “Half of the raffle proceeds go to purchase gifts cards for military families,” he said.

“This is part of a larger effort of the Stumpff Funeral Homes to support and honor veterans. We are the only area members of Veterans Funeral Care, a group of independent, family-owned funeral homes around the country who have special programs and offer an annual think tank summit to better help veterans.” In 2018 Scott won the President’s Award for the work Stumpff Funeral Homes have done in their respective communities for veterans. They have locations in Bartlesville, Barnsdall, Nowata,

SCOTT HOLZ

Hominy, Skiatook, and Tulsa, as well as a crematory in Tulsa and Bartlesville and a cemetery in Tulsa.

Holz said the Stumpff homes offer many services to veterans not offered by other funeral homes. “We offer discounts and special programs for veterans such as a veterans museum, a room for families which contains military memorabilia. We have special merchandise such as caskets lined in dress blues fabric and the veteran’s branch symbol, special urns, and signature books. One of our initiatives is the Honor Cremation and Flag Retirement Program. People give us tattered, worn out, and faded flags to dispose of. According to the US Flag Code, the proper way of disposing of these is by ceremoniously burning them, so when we do a Veterans Cremation, they are wrapped in the flag to both give the Vet honor and retire a flag.”

Holz, who was raised on a farm and ranch in Nebraska, began working at a funeral home when he was 14 years old, and earned his college degree in mortuary science. “I’ve always looked at it that everything I can do for a grieving family helps them, gives them comfort, and makes a most difficult time of life easier,” he said.

“Stumpff Funeral Homes hasn’t been closed for a minute since 1966.

We want to be part of the good times and be there to help and support families in bad times. We are very active in our communities and especially want to thank our veterans. They are VIP’s around Stumpff for their time, devotion, and service to our country.”

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

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Brothers in Arms

by Sarah Leslie Gagan

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It was September 12th, 2020, Maggie’s 90th birthday.

Her one wish was to go to the theater that night, and, well, I never could deny her anything, it seemed. We were halfway across the country from Bartlesville, the only home we had ever known. “Move closer to us,” the kids said. “Let us take care of you,” they promised. Well, there we were, far from home, still doing for ourselves.

in the middle of the street. Their foul mouths were screamin’ and yellin’. I couldn’t make out the words as I moved to shield Maggie with my body. They had masks and bandannas over their faces, but I could still see their zits. I may have been 95 years of age, but I towered over ‘em with my six-foot-four frame. Hell, I’d seen bigger runts on a hog farm.

Darkness was falling over downtown as we walked toward the theater. I sure missed the Community Center back home, but we made do with these big city productions. A crowd rambled nearby, I paid ‘em no mind ‘til they got right up on us. In our face, right there in the crosswalk,

It happened so fast, like lightening, but as we were shoved backwards, my ears understood their chants before Maggie’s head smacked the pavement. “NAZI SCUM, OFF OUR STREETS! NAZI SCUM, OFF OUR STREETS! NAZI SCUM, OFF OUR STREETS!”

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

My blood boiled in an instant and as I clenched my jaw, I uttered a deadly whisper, “You know NOTHING about NAZI SCUM.” Falling, I began to drift back to the safety of home, Bartlesville. 1943. I was 17 and the war was on. I had enlisted after my graduation from College High, but it would be a few months before I was old enough to deploy. I was the man of the house with Pa in active duty since ’41. I did my best to care for Mama and my sisters as Pa would have, but it sure wasn’t the same. Mama had to take a job at Phillips Petroleum to make ends meet. Plus, they really needed the workers, with most of the town’s menfolk in the service. I’ll

never forget how tired she was at night, but I’ll be darned if she didn’t work every bit as hard as a man would’ve.

We all worked hard during those wartime years. My sisters and I, we collected for the rubber and metal drives in town. Why, I was even part of the crew that pulled up some of the rails from the old Interurban Railway system that ran from Bartlesville to Dewey years ago. Had to use a pickaxe, but we did it. We scrapped cars, tractors, machinery. Anything that could be recycled, was. Mama even saved the metal tins from the Tums she couldn’t live without.

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That metal was sorely needed for artillery, weaponry, and the like, and we were happy to have busy hands to soothe our worried hearts. Made me feel like I was serving the troops in some small way, even though I couldn’t join them in person just yet.

The rubber drives were really something. I saw people come from miles around to drop off gloves, raincoats, boots, waterproof sheets, girdles, hot water bottles, bathing caps, garden hoses, toys, even rubber baby panties. Mama and the girls had taken to painting their bare legs to look like they were wearing nylon stockings, when they had to surrender those too. In exchange for all the rubber, the government paid a penny a pound. The military required rubber for vehicle and aircraft tires, pontoon bridges, gas and oxygen masks, medical equipment, boots, raincoats, shoes, and even erasers.

Now understand, this wasn’t a voluntary effort, it was a mandate. Civilians were allowed strict rations of rubber goods from January of ‘42 through December ‘45.

We were allowed to keep five tires per automobile and required to surrender any others. If you thought the toilet paper drought of 2020 was a hardship, imagine having to make five tires last the entire war!

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Rubber wasn’t the only thing rationed in wartime. It was the shortage of food that affected just about all of us, daily. Food was in short supply for many reasons. Processed and canned foods were shipped overseas to our military and allies. The gasoline and tire rationing limited the transportation of what homegrown food there was, and well, as far as importing things like coffee and sugar, that just wasn’t as important as transporting soldiers and war supplies.

To solve the shortage and make sure all citizens were provided for, the US government established a system of rationing that would fairly distribute foods in short supply. Every American was issued a series of ration books containing removable stamps good for rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. A person couldn’t buy a rationed item without giving the grocer the right stamp. Once a person’s ration stamps were used up for the month, they couldn’t buy any more of that type of food. The girls and I started a garden in the back yard to help provide for ourselves. Just about everybody did. It helped us survive.

Phantom pains struck where my right foot had been, and I realized my prosthetic leg had come

SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

off as we tumbled. Thirty-two months I’ve been on the VA waiting list to get fitted for a new one. This old one was plumb worn out.

I wish I could say I lost my leg in combat, but it was a war with my VA doc that cost me my mobility. By the time my sugar diabetes was diagnosed, it was too late to save my foot. My leg was amputated below the knee, and I’ve walked with a falsie ever since.

Oh, I saw my share of combat, that’s for sure. But there were Washington County families and dear friends that had it much worse than me and mine. I was my parents only son, that was true, but I knew families that had three, four, even five sons go off to war. Our community held them folks mighty close during those uncertain times.

Robert enlisted in March of 1943, while a senior at CollegeHigh. He had already met graduation requirements, so at graduation, his mother accepted his diploma on his behalf. Findley fought aboard the Indianapolis when her big guns pounded the enemy at Okinawa. In March of ’45, Robert was one of the survivors when a Japanese suicide plane struck the Indianapolis.

He suffered the trauma of shrapnel wounds in his shoulders and gasoline in his eyes, all the while witnessing the sudden and gruesome death of the sailor sitting next to him. Robert’s enduring bravery was honored when he was awarded a Purple Heart.

When he recovered, he was back aboard the Indianapolis. He had a rare piece of luck when he was transferred off the ship July 12th, 1945, just three days before it sailed on what would be its final mission. On July 15th, the repaired vessel set out on its speed run to Guam, never to return. Robert’s traumatic experiences of living a life twice-spared took a toll on him mentally and physically.

He was one of many walking wounded, my brothers in arms.

I remember the stories told by the Findley brothers like it was yesterday. Robert Leslie Findley enlisted in the Navy at 18, and Albert Lee Findley Jr., we all called him Sonny, joined the Air Corps at 20. They may have chosen different branches of service, but they both became fine radio operators. Their Mama, Mabel Findley, made the best pie in town. It was heaven on a plate with tons of whipped cream.

ROBERT FINDLEY

ALBERT FINDLEY

Sonny Findley had his own story to tell. Now, he was a man who knew Nazi Scum. He NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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was called to service in 1943, and moved up the ranks to become a radioman on a B-24 bomber. He became missing in action February 6, 1945 after completing his 26th bombing mission over Germany. They were flying at about 21,000 feet over the Ruhr valley, when enemy fire destroyed the craft's left wing, its No. 1 engine, and the rear of the plane. Thinking they were over Belgium or Holland, the pilot prepared to land. They began losing altitude and at 1,500 feet, the signal to bail out was given.

Findley and the navigator landed in a plowed field, about 15 feet part, while other crewmembers were scattered one-to-two miles out. Armed men approached wearing Nazi swastika armbands, and they knew they’d been captured.

Their money, cigarettes, and everything except their clothes were taken. They remained in jail with only water for about 24 hours, then were driven to another filthy jail, with no toilet or anything. They were fed black German bread, which was

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their first food in days. A train then took them to an interrogation center near Frankfurt.

For 11 days they were fiercely interrogated but held close to the rules of the Geneva Convention, and only shared their name, rank, and serial number. Sonny thought about the folks back home, knowing they must fear him dead. It was impossible for him to sleep, it was so cold. He kept walking during the early morning hours, to get warm, and he sang every song he ever knew, and kept singing.

At the end of 11 days, he was put on a train with a number of British and American prisoners and sent to Dulag Luft transit camp at Wetzlar. At Dulag Luft, the Red Cross distributed warm clothing, sweaters, soap, and the first cigarettes they had had since captured. He told me it was small, but the best camp he had been in. He had been there three weeks when he and several hundred other prisoners were loaded into freight cars,

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where they would travel three days straight, to Nuremberg Camp.

There was 40 men or more to a car, and they all had to lay on their sides just to fit. Soon after arriving there, Allied lines began closing in, and they were moving once again. The prisoners were marched 100 miles in 17 days to Stalag VII-A, near Moosburg.

After marching two days, camping in small villages, closely guarded, the prisoners neared Wurzburg. They saw P-51s bomb the city. The planes flew low over those marching, and the men scattered. By April 29, 1945, they were at Moosburg in another prison camp. That morning, tanks could be heard, along with small arms fire, then silence. Members of the 14th Armored Division had liberated them. It was June 2 before Sonny was back on American soil, and all he could think

of was his Ma’s pie, with mountains of whipped cream.

Mr. and Mrs. Pearl Gardner from Ochelata, were fine folks who had four sons serving in the armed forces all at once. Their oldest, Sargent Robert Gardner left his job at the H.V. Foster Ranch to enlist in the infantry in 1940 at the age of 23. He became chief cook for his camp and had a real flair for cooking.

Fred Gardner enlisted in ’42 and was assigned to the 338th Engineer’s Regiment of the U.S. Army. Edward Gardner was 19 when he enlisted in ’42 and spent time at Sheppard Field, Texas for his basic training, then .

R E N A RD to Carlsbad, New Mexico for more ED G D N A , advanced instruction. He then went to the army air T BER , RO T base at Douglas, Arizona.

Private Edward was active in S NE E AR , D sports in school at Ochelata, playing football and basketball for F RE several years. He also worked for the H.V. Foster ranch south of town.

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

The youngest son, Private Earnest Gardner, enlisted in December of ’42 in the Army Air Corps technical training command, and was assigned to Sheppard Field, after a short period at Fort Sill. They sure have a lot to be proud of, the Gardner family.

Now, I remember the Andy Harmon family of Ramona quite well. They had a wonderful, thriving farm when the draft and enlistments took their three sons and two sons-in-law to war. Mr. and Mrs. Harmon ran the family farm as best they could during those years, and they got by. The first son to leave was Elton, who enlisted in the Army in September 1940, and was assigned to San Antonio, Texas, for mechanical training. In August 1942 he was promoted to staff sergeant, and in December 1942 was sent overseas, landing in England.

Eugene left in December 1942 for Sheppard Field, where he took an intensive course of instruction in aircraft mechanics. The third son, Lloyd, was drafted into the Army in December 1942 and sent to Camp San Luis Obispo, where he was assigned to the quartermaster corps.

Four of the Harmon brothers who served in WWII. 18

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One son-in-law, Buster G. Brown, husband of Marjorie Harmon, was drafted January 1942 and sent to Ft. Belvoir, Virginia for basic engineering training. The second son-in-law, Hurschel Allen, whose wife was Ivonne Harmon, was also drafted, and left December 1942 for Camp Hale, Colorado. The third son-in-law, Roscoe Morrison, who married Thelma Harmon, worked in the shipyards at Portland, Oregon, during the war.

I’ll never forget the Daigle family, who had four sons in service.

Albert, Russell, James, and Henry. Perhaps the most notable was James, who was captured by the Germans and spent nine hellish months in the Nazi prisons. He didn’t talk much about his experience, but he didn’t need to. We all knew it was horrific.

Then there was Mr. and Mrs. Bill Gay of Okesa, who had eight sons — six who were in the service. This must have been a record for our area. The boys were Kenneth, Buster, Sammy, Roy, and twins Willard and Willis. All fine soldiers, every one of them.

ALBERT DAIGLE

RUSSELL DAIGLE

JAMES DAIGLE

SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

Yes, I served with some superb men from the Bartlesville area.

I remember most of them, and I will never forget those who never returned home. I keep their memories alive in my heart, where they will live on forever.

THE GAY BROTHERS

You know, the war may have ended in ’45, but the war within me never really stopped. Maggie was the best thing to ever happen to me, and we built a wonderful life together. I had a good job in Bartlesville with Phillips, was a deacon at church, and our family was thriving. But somehow, I was forever haunted by the internal war raging inside. I’m not proud of it, but I will candidly admit, more than once I thought of ending it.

There was always an ache inside that felt like death. I willed myself to overcome at times, but many a day I thought I would succumb. I loved my wife and kids with all I had, but for some reason that no one ever understood, I couldn’t fully experience the joy of living.

My brothers in arms understood.

Although we rarely spoke of it, they knew, they knew.

Tears fell from my face onto Maggie’s, mingling with the blood.

I saw the life leave her body the same way I had with so many of my brothers in arms. Thud! Thud! Thud! Went the boot in my back. The volume intensified but I couldn’t hear it. I was slipping, dying on my native soil, attacked by an army of my fellow citizens, whose freedoms I fought for. Murdered by an army that never should’ve been allowed to rise.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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FEATURE SPONSOR

The Last Civil War Pension

Irene Triplett Received the Final Pension Payment in May

by Lori Roll While the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 may seem like a dusty segment of American history relegated to classrooms and annual reenactments, Bartlesville owes its founding to several soldiers who, after the war, reached the banks of the Caney River. Local city founders Nelson F. Carr, Jacob H. Bartles, and Arthur Armstrong were former Union soldiers who turned owned land, a trading post, and mill into a town called Bartlesville.

Long after the last gun shots reverberated and the dead were buried, many soldiers who fought for the Union IRENE TRIPLETT and sustained disabilities received pensions from the United States government for their service. Pensions were also granted to widows, children under 16 years of age, and dependent relatives of soldiers who died in military service from war-related injuries. While Confederate soldiers and their dependents did not receive pensions, southern state governments granted pensions to Confederate veterans and widows. Since most Civil War soldiers were farmers or laborers, their inability to perform physical labor due to injuries sustained in the war meant that pensions and other government assistance might be their only source of income.

Pensions were meager at $8 a month, but increased when they became recruiting tools to lure new soldiers during the war, in addition to aiding injured soldiers in the economic collapse after the war.

Of the more than 335 soldiers from Washington County who fought for the Union or the Confederacy, only 28 received pensions — among them Arthur Armstrong.

While a military pension system was already in place, the Civil War presented a significant challenge which rendered the old system inadequate. Over two million veterans could claim assistance, many of whom were physically and emotionally damaged. After the Civil War, pension systems became more

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complicated, divisive, and expensive, providing a model for future conflicts that remained in place until World War II. By 1893, more than a million men were on the pension rolls, which consumed 40% of the federal government’s revenue. When in 1907 old age was determined to be a disability, the pension rolls grew to include more than 90% of living Union veterans.

The last Union soldier pensioner was Albert Woolson, who died in 1956, but Civil War pensions remained in place for surviving dependents until this year. The last known widow died in 2008 and Irene Triplett, the last dependent, died May 31, 2020.

Irene Triplett was the daughter of Mose Triplett, who at age 16 joined the 53rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army in 1862. When a fever hospitalized him, he missed the battle of Gettysburg, which claimed 734 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured out of the 800 in his regiment. Eight days after his hospitalization, Private Triplett disappeared, reemerging a month later when he joined the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry for the Union, where he remained until the end of the war.

In 1885, Triplett applied for a pension and retired to his farm in Wilkes County, N.C. Known as a “hard man,” Triplett and his first wife, Mary, bore no children. After she died in 1920, he married Elida Hall, who was reportedly mentally disabled, in 1924. He was 78 and she was 27. Marriages of disparate ages were not uncommon at the time, providing financial security for younger women and care for their aging husbands.

Of the Triplett’s five children, only Irene and her brother, Everette, survived. Irene was born January 9, 1930 when Triplett was 83. She was also mentally disabled, and had bad memories of her childhood and the beatings she received at school and on the family farm.

Triplett died in 1938, a few days after attending the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. His pension of $73.13 a month went to his widow Elida. The family moved into a rat-infested “poorhouse,” and after Everette left, they moved to a nursing home, where Elida died in 1967. The pension followed to Irene, who spent her remaining days at a nursing home in North Carolina playing bingo, reporting television news to other residents, laughing, and listening to gospel music with her red Solo cup as a spittoon for her chewing tobacco. She died at the age of 90 as the last surviving pensioner, 155 years after the end of the Civil War.

Green Country Pet Cremation Service offers private pet cremation with timely return of ashes in your choice of a decorative wooden urn with an engraved nameplate. If no return of ashes is requested, the ashes will be gently scattered on a beautiful pastoral/garden property.

We are located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and gratefully serve pet owners from a wide area surrounding Bartlesville, Dewey, and Northeast Oklahoma.

For our fee schedule, please feel free to call us at any time.

918-766-3812 GCPetCremation@aol.com

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A GOOD WORD

What God Has in Store for Me

We Find Out by Walking the Walk He Has PLanned for Us

by Aaron Vaughn Often throughout my life, I have wondered what God has in store for me. I find that every time I’ve ever searched for meaning and purpose in the pursuits that I was engrossed in — whether they were career-oriented, hobby-based, or otherwise — I was, in fact, just living out the walk that God had in store for me.

From my greatest joys of being a husband and a father, to more simplistic endeavors such as writing a song that was in my heart in an expression of emotion and thought; I know it all comes from and is predicated upon the foundation of my faith in Christ (whether I realized it at the time or not). I’ve learned that growth is much more than just a physical attribute, and is layered in personal development through experience and understanding. All the things that make us who we are can be summed up in the fact that our existence is not about what God has in store for us, as much as it is who God is in us.

You see, my upbringing, although rooted in faith, was also at times rooted in chaos and uncertainty. I came from extremely humble beginnings, and experienced and endured things as a young child that both tore apart and reinforced the very fabric of my being.

However, no matter the wretched heartbreak or physical pain I experienced or observed my loved ones’ experience, I grew in that, and was taught by God how to endure, process, and benefit from such instances. Then there

were the instances of great joy I experienced throughout my childhood, filled with music, laughter, excitement — all formulated and driven by faith and hope that cannot be found in anything other than Jesus. A tragedy and a triumph alike is my upbringing, which hinged on an unwavering drive established through my mother’s teachings of music and Jesus to my sisters and me.

Fast forward to today, and what you see is what you get with me. A family-centered, working man who is a veteran soldier and police officer; who also happens to be a college graduate, and the frontman for a semi-successful Folk-Rock band. I have seen the worst kinds of evil this world has to offer, and I have seen the most miraculous and incredible as well. I have experienced them all as a wretch, and a sinner who is undeserving of any good, but by the grace of God through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, has been called from death to life!

So in all of this, I have found some wisdom.

But more than that, I have found peace in a purposed life filled with new opportunities to share the gifts God has blessed me with, while loving my wife and children, and teaching them of the hope that will conquer all fear and uncertainty.

What’s in store for me? Lord knows.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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NOVEMBER

CALENDAR SPONSORED BY 1

Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch Last Day 1 PM; Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch The Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch is located east of Bartlesville on Highway 60 approximately six miles. Turn north on N4030 Rd. continue about 1 ½ miles. Pumpkins and gourds are available for purchase as well as other items in the Country Store & the Snack Shack. Cash and cards are accepted at the patch and the Country Store, but the Snack Shack is cash only.

Oklahoma Heritage Farms Fall Festival Last Day 1 PM; Oklahoma Heritage Farm Featuring hayrides, kids activities, corn maze, entertainment, pumpkin cannon, petting zoo & more!

We have carefully considered and implemented guidelines that we feel will offer a safe outdoor experience as we welcome our visitors this fall season. We invite you to check out an outdoor event for the fall that brings you right to a real working farm for some fall fun. Bring family & friends and see what we do every year as we transform our home base into acres covered with over 30 activities and entertainment 24

bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

6

OKWU Basketball vs York TBA; OKWU Gym (W) 7 PM; OKWU Gym (M)

7

Veteran’s Day Parade TBD; Downtown Bartlesville

MMS Choir Concert 2 PM; Sooner Park Band Shell

History and Haunts 8 PM; Dewey Hotel Museum Spend an evening with us at the Dewey Hotel. We will go over some of our unique histories and take a lantern guided small group tour.

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OKWU Women’s Basketball vs Saint Mary TBA; OKWU Gym

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OKWU Basketball vs Ottawa TBA; OKWU Gym (W) 8 PM; OKWU Gym (M)

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History and Haunts 8 PM; Dewey Hotel Museum Spend an evening with us at the Dewey Hotel. We will go over some of our unique histories and take a lantern guided small group tour.

OKWU Volleyball vs Tabor and vs Ottawa TBA; OKWU Gym

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Fantasy Land on foot 6 PM; Johnstone Park Back by popular demand!

Everyone enjoyed last year so much, the Rotarian Elves said they were willing to host it again for the Bartlesville and surrounding area. SO, Have you ever wanted to walk through Johnstone Park (on the road - not across the park...too dangerous!) and see the lights? This is your chance...The night before we open officially for the holiday season, come walk the Park.

Come stare at your favorite display without a car behind you! There will be some food available from a couple of local banks. And who knows what else we might have up our Rotarian Elf Sleeves?! $10 for adults, $20 for a family group Children/youth 18 and under are free. (Suggested Donation as entering Johnstone Park) Fantasy Land of Lights works with donations and no admission fee. The donations support Bartlesville Daybreak Rotary scholarships to college for area students. This special event, Fantasy Land on Foot, has a suggested fee. The fee helps Daybreak to continue to support its youth programing (dictionaries, speech contest) and community outreach to help non-profits in Bartlesville.

Help us support Bartlesville and surrounding area!

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BHS Theatre Winter Blackbox Production

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7 PM; FAC Acting Room

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Fantasy Land of Lights 6 PM; Johnstone Park Presented by Bartlesville Daybreak Rotary, Fantasy Land of Lights is an annual, drive-through Christmas light display at Johnstone Park has become a holiday tradition.

With the help of generous donations from the public, Fantasy Land of Lights continues to grow each year.

Be sure to visit so you can see what is new this year! Fantasy Land of Lights takes the work of all of our members in the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving. The display is manned by dedicated volunteers from the Bartlesville area. There is no admission fee however donations are accepted and very much appreciated. Once the expenses are paid, money is set aside to purchase or repair displays and a budgeted amount goes into the Club’s Foundation to cover educational scholarships to students in the Washington County area. The display runs through December 30.

History and Haunts 8 PM; Dewey Hotel Museum Spend an evening with us at the Dewey Hotel. We will go over some of our unique histories and take a lantern guided small group tour.

Wonderland of Lights Distant Learning Day All Day; District wide

OKWU Basketball vs McPherson TBA; OKWU Gym (W) 8 PM; OKWY Gym (M)

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OKWU Basketball vs Ecclesia College 3 PM; OKWU Gym (M)

BHS Theatre Winter Blackbox Production 7 PM; FAC Acting Room

History and Haunts 8 PM; Dewey Hotel Museum Spend an evening with us at the Dewey Hotel. We will go over some of our unique histories and take a lantern guided small group tour.

5 PM; Woolaroc A wonderful holiday tradition returns as a drive-thru experience this year with the spectacular Wonderland of Lights! The grounds and buildings of Woolaroc will be covered with over 750,000 lights as the historic ranch transforms itself into a magical winter wonderland. The lights will be turned on Friday, November 27th, and will be on every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 5-9 p.m., through December 20th. Admission to Wonderland of Lights is: $2 per person Children 2 and under and Members of Woolaroc are FREE

Weekly Virtual Storytime 10:30 AM Every Wednesday on Bartlesville Public Library's Facebook page.

November 23-27 BPS Thanksgiving Break

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Hwy 75 in Bartlesville • (918)333-8010 • gopatriotauto.com

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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NOVEMBER EVENTS CALENDAR

Know of an upcoming event you would like to see on our calendar? Visit us at www.bartlesvillemonthly.com to submit a free listing!

Sun, Nov 1

9 AM

2 AM

Oklahoma Heritage Farm Fall Festival Final Day

Daylight Savings Time Ends

Mon, Nov 2 8:30 AM

A Medical History of Washington County

Oklahoma Heritage Farm 38512 US Hwy 75, Ramona

11 AM

Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch Final Day Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch Highway 60 east 6 miles to N4030 Rd left 1.5 miles Admission is $8 for ages 3 and up, children 2 and under are free. This includes mazes, rides, games, and activities.

Pumpkins and gourds are available for purchase as well as other items in the Country Store & the Snack Shack. Open until dark.

Tue, Nov 3

Bartlesville Area History Museum

Oklahoma Heritage Farm Fall Festival will feature hayrides, kids activities, corn maze, entertainment, pumpkin cannon, petting zoo & more! Admission is $8 for ages 3 and up, children 2 and under are free. Military & first responders get $1 off, and groups of 12+ are $6 per person. We have carefully considered and implemented the guidelines that we feel will offer a safe outdoor experience as we welcome our visitors this fall season. We invite you to check out an outdoor event for the fall that brings you right to a real working farm for some fall fun. Bring the family and friends and see what we do every year as we transform our home base into acres covered with over thirty activities and entertainment for all ages to enjoy including an incredible maze for maze enthusiasts and a pumpkin patch for the kids. You can check out our festival web page (OHFfallfestival.com) for general festival information.

401 S Johnstone Ave., 5th Floor The Bartlesville Area History Museum is presenting “A Medical History of Washington County.” The free exhibit will run through Monday, Nov. 30th. This exhibit covers medical history of the Bartlesville area. It examines the area’s first doctors, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and how the evolution of modern medicine took place in Bartlesville.” A Medical History of Washington County” opened virtually on Monday, Sept. 14th. Links to the virtual exhibit can be found on the museum’s Facebook page. The virtual exhibit will feature a virtual reality tour. The museum is open to the public but has a capacity limit of 10 people at a time due to COVID19 precautions. Museum hours are 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For info, call 918-338-4294.

VETERANS D AY

Wed, Nov 4 1 PM

Daughters of the American Revolution Meeting Bartlesville Womens Club 601 S Shawnee Ave. The Daughters of the American Revolution will welcome OSDAR State Regent Teresa Ellis Cales who will be speaking at the Bartlesville Chapter NSDAR meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4th. Mrs. Cales is the Oklahoma State Regent for 2020-2022.

She has been a member of NSDAR since 2008, holding several Local, State and National positions during this period. Mrs. Cales is a resident of Ponca City, Ok. and her topic will be "Reaching Out in Service and Education". She will share her vision of A Garden of Roses to Honor, Benefit & Serve Oklahoma Women.

Sale

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Bravo BEETHOVEN! Sat. Nov. 14th bartlesvillesymphony.org NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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EVENTS CALENDAR Original Oil Paintings and Commissions by Carolyn Mock

By Appointment Only 918-333-0748 WILDLIFE, WESTERN, PET PORTRAITS, PEOPLE, AND LANDSCAPES Sat, Nov 14

Fri, Nov 20

Fri, Nov 27

7:30 PM

6 PM

5 PM

Bravo Bethoven Presented by Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra

Fantasy Land of Lights presented

by Bartlesville Daybreak Rotary

Woolaroc Wonderland of Lights

Bartlesville Community Center

Johnstone Park

1925 Woolaroc Ranch Road

300 SE Adams Blvd.

Bartlesville

A stirring 250th birthday celebration for one of history’s greatest and most powerful composers, featuring the symphony, along with two stellar soloists with local roots, pianist Roger Price and soprano Sarah Moyer.

10 AM

Fantasy Land of Lights is an annual, drive-through Christmas light display at Johnstone Park has become a holiday tradition. With the help of generous donations from the public, Fantasy Land of Lights continues to grow each year. Be sure to visit so you can see what is new this year! Fantasy Land of Lights takes the work of all of our members in the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving. The display is manned by dedicated volunteers from the Bartlesville area. There is no admission fee however donations are accepted and very much appreciated. Once the expenses are paid, money is set aside to purchase or repair displays and a budgeted amount goes into the Club’s Foundation to cover educational scholarships to students in the Washington County area. The display runs through December 30.

Sooner Park Electronic Recycling Event

Thu, Nov 26

Fri, Nov 6 10 AM

Sooner Park Electronic Recycling Event Sooner Park Madison Blvd.

Donors are asked to bring their unwanted electronics for recycling. Acceptable materials in any age/condition/quantity are welcome and FREE to recycle. This event is open to everyone (business or individual) with unwanted electronics.

Prohibited Materials: Items with Freon (refrigerators/air conditioners), anything radioactive (smoke detectors), anything bio-hazardous (dirty medical equipment), light bulbs.

Thu, Nov19 6 PM

Sat, Nov 7

Sooner Park Madison Blvd.

See November 6 event for information.

12 PM

Inaugural Platinum Smoke-Off Platinum Cigar Company 314 S Johnstone Ave. NewKings in a live concert event! Come enjoy the best in BBQ, a good cigar, and music by Northeastern Oklahoma’s own!

Fantasy Land on Foot Johnstone Park Bartlesville Have you ever wanted to walk through Johnstone Park (on the road - not across the park...too dangerous!) and see the lights? This is your chance...The night before we open officially for the holiday season, come walk the Park.

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

Wonderland of Lights is one of the highlights of the year for us at Woolaroc and we know that it is a tradition for so many of our friends and guests. The grounds of Woolaroc light up in such a special way during the holiday season, it truly is some of the best “magic” that Woolaroc has to offer. The safety of our guests and staff remains our top priority, which has led us to make some changes to this year’s plans. Don’t worry, WE ARE STILL HOSTING WONDERLAND OF LIGHTS AT WOOLAROC! To ensure we are following proper safety recommendations, we will not be able to offer wagon rides, Santa in the museum, or cookies in the Lodge.

However, we will be open for a drive-thru version of over 750,000 lights that will cover our main grounds. Our lights will shine every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5-9 pm November 27th through December 20th. Since it is a drive thru only, we have greatly reduced the price to $2 per person (children 2 and under are free). While it is different than our usual holiday celebration, we will make sure that our lights shine brighter than ever as we all work to make the very best out of these unusual times and help keep our holiday tradition alive. One more thing… .rest assured that our Holiday Horseman will still be roaming the grounds, so keep a close eye out for him! Woolaroc is located 12 miles SW of Bartlesville on State Highway 123 and 45 miles NW of Tulsa. For more information, call Woolaroc at 918-336-0307, extension 10 or 11. Wonderland of Lights has become as family tradition for many people!

Because music matters.

GI ING TUESDAY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Join OKM online for #GivingTuesday and experience live, local music. Visit: okmmusic.org 28

bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

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TRIBUTE

Harold Charles Price Jr.

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum Bartlesville was a pretty magical place to grow up for Harold Charles, Jr. and Joe Dudley Price. It was a simple time of life when Frank Phillips would appear for a Christmas visit decked in a tuxedo and top hat. Joe announced the guest by shouting, “The boss is here!” But for Harold, Frank was just a friend of the family. He took more joy in “cowboy shows” at the Lyric Theater and he was enthralled when movie star Anna Neagle appeared as guest of honor at the grand opening of the Osage Theater in 1940.

It was indeed a simpler time. Harold Charles Price, Sr. and Mary Louise Patteson Price welcomed Harold into the world in Tulsa, on February 17, 1927. Harold attended Garfield Elementary and Central Junior High Schools before continuing his education at the New Mexico Military Institute where he graduated in 1945.

He spent two years in the U.S. Army medical corps and then continued his education at the University of Oklahoma. During college, Harold met Carolyn Sue Propps and the couple married June 11, 1948 at his parent’s Star View Farm, south of Bartlesville.

Harold graduated in 1951, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration, and the couple settled in Bartlesville to build their family. Harold joined his father in working at the H.C. Price Company.

After WWII, the H.C. Price Company experienced rapid growth and Harold’s father recognized the need for a dedicated office building. Harold’s brother, Joe, held friendships with Bruce Goff and Frank Lloyd Wright and Mr. Wright was selected to design a 19-floor skyscraper, the Price Tower. In 1956, Harold’s first born son, Harold “Charles” Price III, had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the Price Tower grand opening.

According to Harold, “Frank Lloyd Wright and H.C. Price were the perfect marriage. They were both innovators – H.C. Price through welding and Frank Lloyd Wright through architecture.”

This was not the Price’s only architectural adventure. In 1955, Harold and Carolyn commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design their “Hillside” home on the Price’s Star View estate. As their family grew to include six children (Harold Charles Price, III, Julie, Meredith, Laurie, Allison and Andrew), William Wesley Peters was selected to design a playroom addition to the Hillside home.

Harold served H.C. Price Company as vice-president for several years before succeeding his father as president in 1959. A role he continued until his retirement in 1983.

Harold and Carolyn divorced; and in 1979, Harold married Sandy Stebbins with whom they added a seventh child. They moved to Laguna Beach, CA in 1983 to live in retirement and on September 3, 2020, Mr. Harold C Price, Jr. died in Scottsdale, AZ after a lengthy illness.

From the humble beginnings of a smelter worker, the Price’s raised a family, grew a business and brought architectural class to Bartlesville through the designs of architects Cliff May, Bruce Goff, William Wesley Peters and Frank Lloyd Wright.

HAROLD CHARLES JR & JOE DUDLEY PRICE NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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HELPING HANDS

Give Today & Change Tomorrow United Way Raising Funds to Help Those in Need Bartlesville has not been spared from the global pandemic which is COVID-19.

Daily life has been impacted and sadly some lives have ended.

Part of the Green Country landscape for nearly a century, the Bartlesville Regional United Way has stepped forward to help minimize the damage caused by the coronavirus.

Earlier this year, thanks in large part to a generous donation made by Phillips 66, the BRUW established the COVID-19 Impact Grant Program. Initially introduced in April, the program has allowed area non-profit organizations and schools to apply for grants to support their respective programs and services that address needs directly related to the coronavirus.

To date, more than $300,000 has been distributed through the grant program.

“While we certainly wish the circumstances were different, we’re very happy that we’ve been able to make this program available,” said Lisa Cary, CEO and president of the BRUW. “It has offered some help and relief to those in our community who most need it.”

A non-profit organization, the BRUW raises money to support the programs of its 14 partner agencies. Those partner agencies are all nonprofit organizations themselves and offer services at little or no cost to those who need them.

The services help support the mission statement of the BRUW, which is the lead “the fight to improve the health, education and financial stability of every person” in our community.

Among the non-profit partner agencies of the BRUW are the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, Mary Martha Outreach, Elder Care and Agape Mission — just to name a few.

“The United Way and its partner agencies will always remain focused on helping those throughout the Bartlesville area who need it,” said Cary. “And, we could not offer that help without the support of our community. We are so appreciative of that assistance.”

The BRUW holds its annual fundraising campaign each year, and the 2020 campaign officially kicked off on Sept. 4 at Custer Stadium on the Bartlesville High School campus. During halftime of the Bruins’ varsity football game, BRUW officials announced their 2020 fundraising campaign goal of $2.2 million. The goal reflects the funding the BRUW’s 14 partner agencies will need to make their

respective programs available at little to no cost to those who need them.

Last year, thanks in large part to money raised during the BRUW’s 2019 fundraising campaign, its partner agencies were able to assist more than 30,000 individuals across three counties in the Bartlesville area.

The ways in which interested citizens can give to the BRUW are numerous.

They can visit the BRUW’s dedicated website at bartlesvilleuw.org and click the yellow “Donate” box, which is located in the upper right-hand corner of every page. Another convenient way to donate is via the “Text to Give” option, which simply involves texting “BRUW” to 41444. You can visit the BRUW’s social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram to learn more about giving possibilities.

“This has obviously not been an easy year,” said Cary. “But the Bartlesville Regional United Way is a strong organization, and we are committed to fighting for those throughout our community.

“We are very thankful for our generous donors, who give at work, online and by several other means. By giving today, they help us change tomorrow for the better.”

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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LOOKING BACK SPONSOR

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LOOKING BACK

History of the AAHC What Would Bartlesville Look Like Without the Arts?

by Kay Little, Little History Adventures

I often say Bartlesville is a small town with big city flavor, and a big reason for that is because we have so many arts organizations and museums.

One reason we were able to have many of these organizations is because of the Bartlesville Allied Arts and Humanities.

In 1965, the State Arts Council of Oklahoma (SACO), was organized. A local lover of the arts, Mrs. James Bole, was a member of SACO and assisted in organizing the “Cultural Council of Bartlesville” on October 24, 1968. The purpose stated: To promote, encourage and incorporate cultural endeavors and educational activities for the community.” In December 1968 the Council voted to change its name to the Allied Arts Council.

Bartlesville was one of 41 cities in the United States to participate in the first humanities series. Its goal was to promote the arts and humanities in smaller cities.

In 1972, the Council decided to change the name again, this time to Allied Arts and Humanities Inc., after they were incorporated in May 1970.

When the Council was first organized, it was a booking agency to bring many programs to Bartlesville. When the Bartlesville Community Center opened in 1982, the Council was no longer needed for that purpose. This changed the focus of AAHC to one of community enrichment and education, which they did very well. AAHC established many programs in the schools and community. In 1983, the Bartlesville AAHC was honored with the Governor’s Arts Award for its leadership in our state.

Membership dues, individual and corporate donations, and grants provided the financial support for AAHC. This funding

allowed AAHC to maintain SPOTLITE, Missoula Children’s Theater, Poetry Alive, and many other services.

I was privileged to serve as President of the AAHC Board during its last years. In 2013, the board struggled to keep providing many of its services. State funding had been cut drastically and great new programs in the community were attracting money previously directed to AAHC. The budget was downsized significantly.

In 2014, the board made the hard decision to dissolve Bartlesville AAHC. We realized we had accomplished our mission: “AAHC believes that active participation in the arts and humanities creates a stronger community through the power of shared cultural experiences. We nurture arts and humanities programs in Bartlesville and its surrounding area by sponsoring arts education, promoting and supporting artists and cultural organizations and recognizing individuals for their achievements in the arts and humanities.”

Before AAHC dissolved, the board worked to make sure SPOTLITE and Missoula Children’s Theater were able to continue.

Fortunately, Bartlesville Children’s Musical Theater took over the reins for the two programs, which is a perfect match.

On April 24, 2014, we celebrated AAHC and its accomplishments with a big awards banquet.

Even though the Council has dissolved, the spirit of AAHC lives on through an endowment, awarding grants to local arts and humanities organizations through Bartlesville Community Foundation. If you are involved in an arts or humanities program, you can contact BCF at 918-337-2287 to get more information.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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FROM THE HEART

Medal-Making Moments They’re Out There, Sometimes You Just Have to Ask

by Lori Kroh Someone has what you need in order to complete a miracle. The story of how it happens is really up to you. The phrase “You have not, because you ask not” is taken in part from the Bible, and the verse is stating that if one is asking with wrong motives, they will not receive what they had asked for ... because of the motives. I would like to add that perhaps, when you have the pure motive, you should just ask— because it is in the asking that amazing miracles can occur.

Even today, what you lack, one may have yet; you won’t know unless you ask.

Perhaps what you need someone can give, and that person has been searching to give it to someone. Connections are the miracles, and the story that is told after the need is met is the beautiful emblem that is like a medal for your soul. You will never forget the story or the people. A few years back, I was asked to design a show stopper for an entrance and about 10,000 people were going to see it. It was supposed to be an eye-catching delight for people who love to decorate homes. I had hardly any money and less than three weeks to get it done. I work best under pressure, so I dreamed up the idea of making a regular shed from Lowe’s into a She Shed with a chandelier, shiplap walls, and even a fireplace. I sketched it and then I went driving. I usually find myself driving around looking to see what can be seen and praying for a miracle of sorts. I had only 300 dollars in my pocket and knew that I would need a connection.

I drove all around and saw a man on a ladder hammering some shingles on the sheds at Lowe’s. I pulled up and I got out of the car. I have not ... so I am going to have to ask. This is having bravery and why it is a medal-making moment. “Hey, mister! Can you talk to me for a minute?”

He looks down and stares at me. I ask him why he is hammering shingles and how would I go about getting a shed for free from Lowe’s.

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He puts down the hammer and stares at me. “Ma’am, these sheds are 1500 dollars or more, and some of them have damage from the terrible tornado winds we had last week. I don’t know about free, but here’s my boss’ number and good luck!”

He gives me a cell phone and I call it once I’m in the car. The man answers and I tell him my name. He then asked me how I got his personal cell phone and I said … ”Well, sir. I asked Charlie. He was on the ladder and I needed to talk to a decisionmaker today.”

He was in sales, and of course he liked that answer.

I told him my dreams of making a shed into a She Shed and that it would be beautiful. I told him I was going to do it myself, film it on video, and that many would see it.

I had 10,000 people that were going to walk by and maybe they would be inspired, too. “Oh, and sir ... I am asking boldly for you to give it to me for FREE.” He said he would think about it and call me tomorrow.

I then asked the next question ... I asked him, “Sir, Are you really going to think about it and call me? I would hate to sit by the phone all day waiting for a call. I have issues. I’m still waiting on a boy to call me for prom, and that was 30 years ago.”

He busted out laughing and promised to call me. My motives were just to showcase something special for others. He called me the next day and told me to send him pictures when I was done. Someone else has what you need and I will be waiting to hear your story. It’s a medal-making moment and it will be beautiful.

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NOW YOU KNOW

Oklahoma’s National Prestige

State Has a Strong History of Military Vessels

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum December 7, 1941 is indeed a day that will “live in infamy.” The USS Oklahoma was on Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii when she was attacked, sealing the fate of 429 service men. But, this was not Oklahoma’s first namesake vessel and would not be our last. Prior to WWII, the United States held another ship named for the State of Oklahoma.

In 1907, the Guffey Petroleum Company contracted with the New York Shipbuilding Company to build a 10,000 ton steampowered oil tanker. Named for the new state, the 419-foot long SS Oklahoma was launched with a gala champagne christening on February 29, 1908 and she proceeded on her maiden voyage from Philadelphia to the United Kingdom with deliveries at Belfast and Dublin. Although the Oklahoma had a storied operational history with a few bumps and bruises, she held fast to her shipping task.

State named battleships carry nationally prestigious recognition. The USS Oklahoma was a Nevada-class battleship placed into commission May 1917. During her early years, the Oklahoma served with the Battle Fleet and, during the Treaty of Versailles, escorted President Woodrow Wilson on his voyage to France. In 1927, she received a “battle worthy” modernization and, in 1936, she helped evacuate U.S. citizens during the Spanish Civil War before shifting to the Pacific Ocean in 1940 to join the Battle Fleet again.

Early December 1941, the U.S. Navy had a fleet anchorage of 130 vessels at Pearl Harbor. Among the vessels were eight naval battleships, including the USS Oklahoma.

Tora! Tora! Tora! echoed over Japanese communication radios as their forces neared Pearl Harbor Bay on December 7, 1941.

Moments later, smoke filled the sky as a full-blown attack was executed upon the unaware “sitting ducks” anchored on Battleship Row. Among the venerable, the USS Oklahoma took eight direct torpedo strikes splitting her port side and capsizing the ship as the ninth torpedo sent her into the shallow harbor mud.

There were 2,402 U.S. deaths that infamous day, 429 were aboard the USS Oklahoma.

On January 3, 1914 the Oklahoma left New York enroute to Port Arthur, TX with thirty-eight crew members and one passenger aboard. A storm with gale force winds struck the ship the morning of January 4, off the coast of New Jersey, breaking the hull of the Oklahoma and sending part of her crew to life rafts while others clung to the floating wreckage. The high seas greatly hampered the rescue operations of the five assisting vessels which resulted in the loss of twenty-six lives. On January 6, the Coast Guard attempted to sink the wreckage with mines, but failed. The following day, 16 shots from the Coast Guard’s “rapid-fire six-pounder” guns sent the Oklahoma to the The National Parks Service operates the Pearl Harbor National ocean floor.

Museum, Oahu, Hawaii as a tribute to the day that will “live in infamy” for the United States of America.

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Among the heroes was Connecticut native, Floyd Welch, who was aboard the battleship USS Maryland at the time of the attack. After pulling survivors from the sea, Welch was among the seamen who heard survivors tapping within the Oklahoma’s hull and frantically worked to cut holes in the ship’s steel plates to free at least 32 trapped

NOW YOU KNOW

crew members. Mr. Welch died at 99 years young, August 2020, one of the last Pearl Harbor survivors.

The Oklahoma remained capsized for two years before being raised in 1943 and sold as scrap in 1946. While in tow May 1947, 540 miles northeast of Pearl Harbor, the USS Oklahoma sank to her final grave at sea.

While World War II erupted in 1939, Americans still held memories of WWI close to their hearts … financial devastation and loss of life was still raw. Deep in the Great Depression, America was not eager to sink her teeth into another war. However, Pearl Harbor forced us to join the war in retaliation, which ultimately resolved the depression.

World War II was felt around the world with battles fought on land and sea. The U.S. shipped war supplies across the Atlantic Ocean and Germany was determined to close that access. With the goal of crushing America commercially, U-boat commander, Captain Reinhard Hardegen navigated his U-123 submarine to the U.S. shore twice under a secret mission called Operation Drumbeat … a mission that created one of the worst American Naval disasters in history.

While Europe was in the trenches of war, American lives continued as if there were peaceful conditions. Our Atlantic coast was alive with activity and the evening, filled with light, created a perfect backdrop for Hardegen to orchestrate his attacks. As he trolled the ocean floor like a bottom feeding shark, his first attacks targeted ships along the New York shore. He retreated to Germany for refueling and supplies before returning to the Georgia coast for a second round of attacks, including the U.S. tanker, Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma was a 9,298 ton steam tanker built in 1940. On April 8, 1942 the Oklahoma was

enroute from Texas to Rhode Island with 105,000 barrels of oil when she was attacked by Hardegen’s U-123 off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia. She lost 19 of 37 crew members and was towed back to Chester, PA for restoration. She returned to service December 1942 but was attacked a second time March 28, 1945 by the German U-532, while on a supply run between South America and Africa in the Mid-Atlantic. This attack caused her to sink with a loss of 50 crew members. During Operation Drumbeat, from January to August 1942, a total of 609 ships were sunk carrying more than 3.1 million tons of essential supplies.

In 2019, the U.S. Navy announced the construction of the USS Oklahoma, a “state-of-the-art” Virginia-classed nuclear attack submarine with projected delivery between 2025-2029.

In case you have a submarine curiosity, the USS Batfish resides at the Muskogee War Memorial Park, just an hour and a half or 93 miles south of Bartlesville, offering a unique “American Military History” experience for the whole family. During our Covid-19 crisis, the Batfish is “currently submersed” so check their website before making the venture.

Did You Know?

Navy Seaman 1st Class Orval Austin Tranbarger joined the Navy at just 18 years of age. He served on the USS Oklahoma and his body was among the unrecovered sailors killed at Pearl Harbor. September 2019, Tranbarger’s remains were identified through the use of DNA. Nearly eight decades after his death, Seaman Tranbarger received a hero’s welcome in his home town of Mountain View, MO, where he was laid to rest beside his parents. Rest in peace Seaman Orval Tranbarger.

Now You Know *

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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TRIBUTE

JoAn Fraser A Life Well-Lived as a Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, and a Friend

by Bob Fraser One of the tragedies of this last seven months is the number of terrific people we have lost and we can’t give them the farewells that they so richly deserve ... Mike Proctor, Mike May, Don Brady, Jerry Cozby, and Don Cone, just to name a few — all personal friends who helped make Bartlesville the community that it is today.

On October 11, we added my dear mother, JoAn Fraser, to that list.

I’m sure that most children can go on and on about how wonderful their mother was ... I am no exception.

Mom lived an incredible life — married for 74 years to a man that she deeply loved, a talented business woman with terrific marketing skills, a charter member and deacon of her church — but her greatest title was Mom. The love, discipline, guidance, and patience that she showed raising three boys was extraordinary. My mother is best defined (as have I) as a “hard truth teller.” One never wanted to ask her a question if they didn’t want a straightforward and honest answer, even when it stung.

But the key to JoAn Fraser was LOVE. Never once in my 68 years did I ever question her love for me. We argued, we fought, we cried, and we laughed — oh how we laughed — but we always knew that there was unqualified love.

Almost 95, she lived every day of her life to the fullest, never a wasted day. She loved her God and she loved her family. When the end came, she was ready ... her job here was complete and she was so ready to see Dad again.

While I miss our visits so much, I smile at the thought of her’s and Dad’s reunion and find it hard to be sad. A life well-lived, as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a greatgrandmother, and a friend to many. To me, she was my very best friend.

God speed JoAn Neely Fraser, you did well. We love you and miss you and we treasure the wonderful lessons and memories that you gave us.

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JoAn Fraser and her son, Bob Fraser.

FUNDRAISERS

Kiwanis: Holiday Wreaths & More

by Lori Just The Kiwanis Club of Bartlesville will be hosting its annual holiday wreath festival and nonprofit fundraiser, “Bartlesville Holiday Wreaths & More,” from November 1 through November 15. According to event chair, Karen Wilson, 32 nonprofit organizations will have custom-made, holiday-themed items on display at the Hilton Garden Inn for viewing. All entries are available for purchase by an online silent auction.

“The money raised from the silent auction helps these nonprofits provide much-needed resources to our neighbors, especially during these unprecedented times when fundraisers are being put on hold,” Wilson said. “In addition to receiving 100% of the proceeds from the sale of their entry, organizations have an opportunity to win cash prizes. To my knowledge, this is the only event where this many organizations join together to do fundraising. Every year we've endeavored to make it a better opportunity for the participating organizations.”

The custom pieces are designed by the nonprofit group, or a volunteer on behalf of the organization. In 2020, event organizers have expanded beyond wreaths by using “and more” as a category to include centerpieces, mantle displays, and other holiday creations as auction items.

“As with other events, we are adapting to the environment,” said Wilson. “People can view the entries at the Hilton Garden Inn safely while social distancing; pictures just don’t do them justice. Then they can go online to bid and vote for their favorites”. This year the display of items has been expanded to two weeks, November 1 – 15, and the silent auction and voting will occur throughout the display.

View entries and bidding info at bartlesvillekiwanis.org or call Kiwanis at 918-977-3400 ext.4.

The Kiwanis Club of Bartlesville is celebrating its centennial year of service to the community. Bartlesville Kiwanis Club chartered February 18, 1920 with 75 members; five years after the birthdate of the National Organization. Kiwanis is a worldwide service organization appealing to those who have the desire to become personally involved in making their communities better places in which to live.

Working together, Kiwanians voluntarily share the challenge of the community improvement and leadership assuming personal responsibility for humanitarian and civic projects.

“Year-round, Bartlesville Kiwanis supports local youth-serving organizations by awarding grants, volunteering and supporting various fundraisers,” said Wilson. “Every year we award a scholarship to an outstanding senior from each high school in Washington County. We also recognize an outstanding sophomore and 8th grader from each school.”

Major community events have been a focus of the Bartlesville Kiwanis, involving thousands of volunteer hours by dedicated members and partners. Bartlesville Kiwanis presents the annual 4th of July Freedom Fest which was moved from downtown back to Sooner Park this year. The spring fishing derby that was started in 1951 still continues at Jo Allyn Lowe Park on Price Road. Kiwanis has also operated the Sooner Junior Miniature Golf Course since 2002; which normally operates May through September. Bartlesville Kiwanis also assumed full responsibility of the Bartlesville Christmas Parade in 2012 ″Bartlesville Holiday Wreaths & More is a great tie-in to our Christmas parade and starts off the holiday season in a festive way with our theme of ‘Carols of Christmas,’” Wilson said. “This year’s parade is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Bartlesville.

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FUNDRAISERS

Bartlesville Blue Star Mothers OK 19

Bartlesville Police Department Foundation

Bartlesville Regional United Way

Boys & Girls Club of Bartlesville

The Cottage of Bartlesville

Green Country Pilot Club

Green Country Republican Women's Club

The Journey Home

Kiwanis Club of Bartlesville

Lowe Family Young Scholars

Mutual Bartlesville

Oklahomans for Equality -Bartlesville

OKM Music 46

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Phillips 66 Asian American Network Phillips 66 Black Employee Network

Phillips 66 Hispanic Network

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Phillips 66 Native American Network

Phillips 66 New Hire NetworkÂ

Phillips 66 PRIDE66 Network

Phillips 66 Veterans Network

Phillips 66 Women's Network

Price Tower Arts Center

Salty Senior Actors Troupe

Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary

St. John Catholic School

Washington County CattleWomen's Association

Washington County Child Care Foundation

Washington County Mental Health Association

WCSSD (Pack the Backpacks)

Washington County SPCA

Westside Community Center

Youth & Family Services NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK

What You Don’t Know ...

About Thanksgiving

by Jay Webster

The election. I know.

I don’t want to talk about it. I’m too worn down.

Let’s talk about something else for a few minutes. I mean, sure, like you … I have worried about the state of our Union for a while now. It feels like we have been on a steady decline of civility, empathy, and general unity for years. We’re splintered in our TV shows (Netflix vs.

Hulu vs. Prime vs. Cable), our science (mask vs. no mask) and obviously in our politics.

But there’s enough of that stuff out there already. We don’t want to talk about all that, do we?

Come on, you choose a topic.

What’s that? Is there a chance we are fractured beyond repair as a country? I guess, maybe. I mean even the Civil War had clean lines, right? You knew what the issues were and the sides were conveniently coalesced in the North and the South (more or less). Now our opponents live in our houses and share a cubicle wall and go to our churches.

Why do you keep bringing this stuff up?

It’s the Holidays …

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FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK Appropriately enough, did you know it was actually during our last Civil War that Abe Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official national holiday? It’s true. Before that, turkeys just ran rampant on the prairies, we had a mass surplus of canned cranberries, and stuffing was just called bread. (By the way, who was the first person to have that idea? “You know Clementine, before you throw that bird in the oven — let me just stick my hand up it like a puppeteer and fill it with some day-old-bread and spices.

We’ll just see what happens.”)

And did you know those early Thanksgiving celebrations really didn’t have anything to do with remembering the pilgrims or drinking pumpkin pattes or avoiding your uncle’s inappropriate side hugs? It was a response to military victories and a hopeful resolution to the Civil War. Having come through so much hell, Abe was hopeful for signs of Heaven on the horizon.

He wanted to acknowledge the gifts that could easily be lost in the face of our daily struggle.

“To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.” It may also come as no surprise that the “foresight” behind a national holiday was a woman’s. Reportedly, Sarah Josepha Hale (author of Mary Had a Little Lamb … seriously) was a friend of the Lincolns. She had lobbied for decades on behalf of Thanksgiving. She finally wrote Abe a letter pressing him on the topic and a week later a proclamation was made. In part, this is how his tweet read: “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.”

with were equally convicted and assured of their beliefs and were, in fact, praying to the same God for victory. While he was assured of our failings at times as a nation, he refused to hang that blame on others, but declared that we all share in that shame. That’s amazing.

I don’t know what the fallout of this election will be. I don’t know if the pandemic will suddenly, miraculously fade away. I don’t know if 2020 will stick around like an uninvited house guest that refuses to leave when the party is over — hovering over the queso and asking if there’s any hummus left. All those things are beyond my control.

What I can choose is Thanksgiving. I can acknowledge the amazing gifts in my life … which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible ….

I can take control over the way I see and respond to my fellow man … woman … persons … human beings. Respect is my choice, even in the face of non-sensible arguments. Love is my option, even in the face of hateful rants from my uncle, who is still forcing his unwanted shoulder massages. Hope is still my opportunity, even in the face of a diatribe of bad news on a nearly-daily basis. (It is okay, by the way, to turn the news or radio or podcast off. They’re not going to get over on you just because you’re not listening for a couple of days. Give your soul some time to rest.)

I may not be able to control a second piece of pecan pie or the amount of stuffing that accidentally ends up on my plate. But these other things I can do my best with … in the spirit of Thanksgiving. I can celebrate the Holiday, not just observe it.

I guess that’s enough for now. This was good. I like the way you think. I’ll look for you again next month.

Cheers, my friends.

To me, the hallmark of Abe Lincoln as a president is his unique refusal to dismiss the “other side.” When he encourages us to pray and help the widows and orphans, he makes no distinction between those from the North and the South. Here’s a man with the conviction to go to war over what was right, and he also had the personal humility to believe those he struggled

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Arvest Bank

New President: Teams Grew Stronger Through COVID-19

by Stevie Williams “I love being a part of a regional bank who puts our customers first,” shared Arvest local bank president Kim Adams. “The culture of this company is extremely important to me. We are both big enough to offer every financial solution a consumer or business needs, but small enough to have relationships with our customers to walk along and grow with them.”

“We also train our associates very well, we promote from within, and we create teams to support each other,” said Adams.

This team support was put to the test right after Adams began her new role in Bartlesville. She had only been here a few weeks when the world changed with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To lead a team who didn’t know me during a pandemic, knowing that we had to make quick decisions, was worrisome. In the end, I honestly think it made our teams stronger. We united quickly.” Those teams are part of the Arvest Bartlesville region which includes three local banks as well as branches in Dewey, Nowata, Vinita, and Caney, Kansas.

While Adams may not have been familiar with the Bartlesville area, Adams has a great understanding of Arvest. She started her career with the company 24 years ago as a part-time teller while going to school. Through the years, she worked at the branch level, managing several bank branches. She also has management experience within Arvest as a business banker, private banking manager, and sales manager. In her role as sales manager in Tulsa, Adams oversaw 35 branches. She relocated to Bartlesville in February of this year as local market president.

“I am really loving Bartlesville. The community has been very welcoming to me. Bartlesville is a perfect-sized community. I can tell residents are proud of this city and I’m looking forward to learning more about its deep history. I am part of Leadership Bartlesville Class XXX this year, which has allowed me to get acquainted with the community and learn about ways I can get involved to help support my new town.”

One way that Adams has already learned about community organizations is through contributions by the Arvest Foundation

to local non-profit organizations throughout the four counties served within the Bartlesville region. The Arvest Foundation seeks to provide funding to grantees who are actively working to create positive change for others.

“We are so fortunate that the Walton family sees the importance of being community-focused. It is another aspect of our community-focused culture, to both be a part of helping our communities grow and to be part of the betterment.”

Arvest Bank operates more than 270 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas through a group of 14 locally-managed banks, each with its own board and management team. Arvest provides a wide range of banking services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest also is one of a select few banks in the nation to have its mobile app — Arvest Go — certified by J.D. Power for providing an outstanding mobile banking experience. Arvest is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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OUT & ABOUT

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

OUT & ABOUT

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NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

ON THE OSAGE

GPSn’ with Johnny Horton North End of Kihekah Bringing the Sass & the Class

by Kelly Bland To play with the words of an old Johnny Horton tune — “North, on Kihekah! Go North, the Rush is on!� No, it’s not Alaska we’re talking about — it’s Pawhuska, Okla-ho-ma, on the north end of Kihekah Avenue, to be specific. You won’t need a pick and shovel to find treasure up there — just a good eye and grounded sense of appreciation for personality!

While it’s not “just a little southeast of Nome� — it is just a few blocks north from The Pioneer Woman Mercantile, but well-worth the journey. From mink coats to Mini Pearl hats, jewelry to artwork, the north end of Kihekah is becoming a little top-heavy with originality, coupled with quality, and loaded with personality.

Now as the song says, “Big Sam left Seattle in the year of ’92 with George Pratt, his partner, and brother Billy too� — but you can grab the gals and head that direction with no Yukon River to cross between you and your bonanza gold! When you get a gal from Australia paired up with a former diamond broker, you know it’s going to be interesting — and that’s what you’ll find “Up North!�

Ros Jackson, owner of The Pawhuska Marketplace and The Gypsy Cowgirl, was whisked off her feet — and her continent — by an Oklahoma cowboy who brought her home to Osage County.

You’ll find style, both vintage and brand new, in her two stores, as well as consignment booths sure to capture your attention. Ros will greet you with a smile and mesmerize you with her accent if you get her to visiting while you’re there.

Ros’s next-door neighbor, Denise Webster, says she’s had an eye for glamour and glitter since she was a young girl. When you walk through the doors of Sunset Ridge Gallery, you’ll know in an instant she still has it. With crystal chandeliers hanging above racks of mink coats, it’s apparent you just hit the motherload!

Sunset Ridge Gallery also carries Oklahoma artwork, many pieces by notable Oklahoma women artists such as Carolyn Mock, of Bartlesville; Terri Wagner, of Kiefer; Kathy Soliday, of Sapulpa; and Roberta McBride, of Stillwater. In addition, Denise

also carries Larry Wade bronzes as well!

Make no doubt about it, Ros brings the sass while Denise brings the class — and they mix it up into something special up there on their end of the street.

From adorning their minks and strolling down to The Merc for an afternoon coffee, these two gals know the value of a good laugh, a good story, a good time, and a good memory.

Ros shakes things up with her neverending wit, and Denise adds her western flair recounting tales of keeping up with her 250+ longhorn herd on her ranch just outside of Hominy. A lady-puncher paired with the diva of punchlines — they’ll keep you entertained!

This little Tourism Gal can tell you that a glamorous cattlewoman and an Ausie/Okie cowboy’s sweetheart, when mixed together in the right atmosphere, make for a recipe that even The Pioneer Woman would approve of! You can pull up a chair and enjoy a good conversation on an episode of the Osagin’ It podcast called “Way Up North,� where Denise and Ros talk about their stores, men, and more!

Y’all come see us in the Osage — Pawhuska, in particular.

Start down on the south end at The Pioneer Woman Mercantile, but be sure to work your way up north to The Gypsy Cowgirl, Sunset Ridge Gallery, and The Pawhuska Marketplace. AND – we’ve got a brand-new addition up there too! Prairie Sky Jewelry Co. has just staked their claim and opened up shop as well! Word has it that owner, Kenyon Lomax is one heck of a silversmith!

Hmmm ‌ an Aussie, a diamond broker, and now a silversmith!! “North, on Kihekah! Go north, the rush is on!!â€?

Check out Prairie Sky Jewelry Co., The Gypsy Cowgirl, The Pawhuska Marketplace, Sunset Ridge Gallery, and even The Pioneer Woman Mercantile online at VisitTheOsage.com — the best darn website for all things Osage County — where #TheSmilesAreAlwaysFree! đ&#x;˜‰ NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

THE ARTS

Theater Bartlesville Roles Changing During Pandemic

by Ann-Janette Webster A normal Autumn means raising the curtain on a new season of local theater productions. But, as with live performance outlets across the world, Bartlesville’s own group of creative thespians has been forced to take an improvisational approach in 2020.

Rather than take a year-long intermission, artistic forces at Theater Bartlesville have dreamed up new ways to keep quality entertainment coming. Theater Bartlesville Vice-President Dana Gore believes their creative crew has done a “tremendous” job going off-script to adapt their offerings in this unprecedented season. “I think the Arts are important any time, but especially during this pandemic. They help us forget about our worries for a short while … the world is so heavy right now,” said Gore. “The Arts make people think, and feel, and laugh, and cry ... they bring so much joy and give all of us an outlet. I think it’s also been important for us to continue to keep on creatively, so that our theater can survive when all of this goes back to normal.”

The norm for Theater Bartlesville, which celebrates 95 years in the community this year, is to annually produce several classic and new, original plays featuring volunteer cast members, crew, and directors — onstage inside their downtown venue. Rather than bow out on this year’s challenging season, TB has taken theater to the great outdoors. Earlier this fall, they moved their always popular Dinner Theater show to the Ville’s newest stage outside at Unity Square. “We had the idea to do our Dinner Theater show All Rights Reserved (which was previously canceled earlier this year) outdoors at our wonderful new green space venue. It allowed our actors to still perform live in a safe environment, and as a bonus it was something different than we had ever done before,” said Gore. “It was also helpful to the community, as we hired a local food truck and Price Tower Plaza had more business that night as play-goers purchased drinks, so these events have been a win-win that also help the economy.”

Following the success of their first outdoor production, the theater team of seven volunteer board members decided to stage their next show on a downtown boulevard. Original radio play Exit Earth, written by local playwright Tim Hudson, took to the streets for a live reading in early October. Instead of a live radio broadcast as in past years, a portion of Dewey Avenue was blocked off as local actors performed with Theater Bartlesville’s quaint exterior as their set. Exit Earth, Hudson’s latest Halloween offering, packed the streets and gave the community another chance to gather safely at no cost to enjoy live, seasonal entertainment.

“Halloween and horror are kind of my thing, so I love doing these radio plays this time of year. The idea to do it outside was really based out of necessity, with a little bit of love of adventure thrown in,” said Hudson. “With all the cool things happening around Bartlesville, it's important to be cutting edge. In retrospect, I think it actually added to everyone's experience with the play. I love seeing the pictures of our people in the streets and the actors

doing their thing with historic buildings in the background. I'm very lucky that so many talented people agreed to be part of it all, and I hope to keep going with these radio plays.”

As the holiday season arrives, Gore says Theater Bartlesville’s team will enjoy a break until January 2021, when another of Hudson’s original radio plays will debut. The Comeback — about a smarmy PR agent from LA trying to remake Frankenstein for the new millennium — will premiere back inside on the indoor stage … hopefully. “We are planning to be back inside for The Comeback, which is scheduled for January,” said Gore. “But things are constantly shifting and changing … so we’re figuring them out as we go.”

Come this spring, Gore will direct Theater Bartlesville’s next show The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds.

According to Gore, the Pulitzer prize-winning show, which features an all female cast, is just the type of “wonderful” show she hopes will keep drawing people back to experience live theater locally. “Everyone currently involved in our Theater is volunteering, and we have been fortunate to have so many talented, successful theater people in Bartlesville. We all share a commitment to keeping theater alive — during the pandemic and beyond,” said Gore.

“Live theater is such a special experience because there is nothing quite like it. When the curtain opens, it’s a thrilling new experience each time. If you’ve never been to one of our shows, I highly encourage you to do so. If you haven't experienced live theater in a few years, it’s time to give us a try — it may not be what you’d expect. We’re constantly evolving and trying to bring you a little something different.”

After nearly a century of local productions, Theater Bartlesville continues to write their own unique story … making sure that in our city’s future — the show will always go on.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

LOCAL LEGENDS

The Violin Maker Bartlesville’s Ed Moss Was a World-Class Luthier

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum The term “hidden in plain sight” has delivered many a Bartlesville surprise. Few people know of the hidden talent of Ed Moss, the celebrated luthier (maker of stringed instruments).

William and Mabel Moss married in 1912 and lived in Baxter Springs a short time where their eldest son, Edward Barry Moss, was born in 1917. They moved to Bartlesville in the early 1930s and established the Moss Furniture Store with custom built furniture, upholstery, furniture repair and refinishing. Ed was a young lad when he began working in the shop with his father, learning the trade. Joined by his brother, Kenneth, the pair continued to work there together until Ed left for WWII service May 1944-Feb 1946.

Upon his return, Ed briefly worked at the furniture shop, until he was hired as a draftsman at Phillips Petroleum Company, employment he maintained until his retirement in 1978, after about 30 years of service.

Ed’s brother, William Moss, Jr. operated the Moss Furniture Repair Shop after the death of their father (1958) and mother (1961), moving the business to his home from about 1964-1971, then he moved from Bartlesville.

Beginning as a hobby about 1958, Ed Moss enjoyed creating musical instruments in his garage workshop on Lester Avenue in Bartlesville. His passion was so great that he shared his craftsmanship with others and became influential in the careers of other luthiers as well.

The late Sam Compton of Tulsa spoke highly of Ed’s craft, “Ed made violins and fiddles for over thirty years. He took second place five times at the National Violin Making Competition for

both quality of tone and workmanship. I feel quite fortunate that Ed chose me to teach his techniques.” Compton worked with and learned from Moss for about two years before establishing his luthier career about 1983.

Moss’s notoriety brought him additional fame when he created instruments for some of music’s well-known musicians like Johnny Gimble, the western swing fiddler who played for the Texas Playboys, and toured and recorded with Willie Nelson.

And Moss offered instruction to current Bartlesville luthier, Johnny Walker, who took Moss’s advice, “Plan to take the rest of your life to build a guitar. What he meant was not to hurry up in your building, take your time and do good work.” Mr. Walker became a world-class master luthier himself.

Edward Moss was highly acclaimed in the most notable societies and festivals across America. And in 1981, he earned his spot in Susan Caust Farrell’s book the “Directory of Contemporary Musical Instrument Markers.”

Middle school student, Regina Moss Beardsley, connected with Ed through a Gifted and Talented mentorship program.

Regina asked to learn violin repair and Ed accepted the challenge.

At the end of their year together, Ed gifted Regina with a “Moss” violin. In her words, “I have such pleasant memories of my friend, the pipe-smoking highly-skilled craftsman.” Regina played her treasured Moss violin in All-State orchestra and the Bartlesville Symphony. And when Ed passed away in 1992, three young ladies were honored to play violin at his funeral … Barbara Wallace, Mary Snider and Regina Moss Beardsley with her Moss violin.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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MEET YOUR WRITER

Lori Kroh

Local Writer Wanted to Raise Her Kids the Way She Grew Up

by Tim Hudson Lori Kroh is back in Bartlesville.

Well, in fairness she has been back for a couple of years, but that’s all part of the story as to why she’s such an amazing writer for Bartlesville Monthly.

“I love our community,” she said. “I love how everyone is so accessible to me. Just to be your friend and open up and get to know people. That aspect of our community is hard to find in a lot of other places. I’ve lived in other towns and this is a very easy place to make friends and have fun with your family.”

But back to the beginning. “I grew up in Bartlesville. My parents went to college in Bartlesville, they met and married, it was Bartlesville Wesleyan Collage back in the day and they moved away for just a short time. To make a long story short, they asked where can we raise our family? So they had three little girls and came back to Bartlesville in 1974,” she said. “I started kindergarten at Wilson and I was raised my whole life in Bartlesville. I met Christy Dutcher [McPhail] at age 10, and went to First Wesleyan.”

Christy, with another Bartlesville native, husband Keith, would go on to be the editors of the magazine that you are holding.

“Then, at the T. Boone Pickens almost-takeover, my parents took an early layoff package. It wasn’t early retirement, but a layoff package, and they gambled and we ended up moving away the summer of my senior year. I moved to Tulsa, went to Victory Christian, and graduated from there.”

Then it was on to college out of state. She moved back to Oklahoma after about 30 years in 2008, but this time to Broken Arrow. “I just kept coming back to Bartlesville every month and seeing Christy and some friends and I just had this angst in my heart. The cute, fun story I kept saying to Christy was I really want my kids to grow up how I did. So she and I had gotten Murphy’s to go, and we drove out to her parents ranch and we were sitting looking at the big lake. I saw the sun out on the water and we are sitting there and I was like ‘I just want my kids to grow up like this.’ Then Christy said ‘well they can, just move here.’ So that was it. The next weekend we came down and we were driving around looking at homes and we saw this little cute bungalow, called Donna Skelley, then bought the house and there we go,” she said.

“I wanted my kids to grow up in a small town. I wanted their names to mean something and I wanted other people’s names

to mean something, and I wanted to be known. I didn’t want to be a number, I wanted to be known.”

As you can probably tell, Lori is rarely at a loss for words, and was a perfect pick to write for her longtime friend Christy’s magazine. “My favorite thing to write about is that I just like to find the little stories everywhere, so whether I’m sitting at Outpost or Murphy’s and I’m listening to someone talk. I feel like everyone, if you talk to them long enough, will have a good story. I like digging for that, the treasure hunting for a story when you are talking to people,” she said. “I love things that move the heart, and I love things that take a moment and make you realize what the important things are in life.”

You just know she really means that from the heart and her writing reflects that. Check out one of her stories in this very issue or hit her up at Outpost some morning. You can be guaranteed of two things: she will be friendly and it will be interesting.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

HONORING OUR VETERANS

Oklahoma Veterans’ Memorial Park Honors Oklahoma’s Soldiers Killed in Action

by Maria Gus "Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.”

— General Douglas MacArthur Near the Oklahoma State Capitol is a quiet place created as a testament to the duty and honor of Oklahoma war veterans killed in action. It is a modest yet moving memorial dedicated to their sacrifice and courage. It is also a way for Oklahomans to stop and remember their fellow countrymen who fought on behalf of every American.

Located just southwest of the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Veterans’ Memorial was built to recognize soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. There is also a memorial to the USS Oklahoma, which was sunk in "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the the attack on Pearl Harbor on highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them."

December 7, 1941. Visitors can see the names of men and — John F. Kennedy women who gave their all to preserve the freedoms we now enjoy.

The idea began in 1984 and was originally intended to be a memorial to Vietnam veterans, a first of four phases. In 1986, Governor George Nigh started a fundraising effort to raise $300,000 for the project. By then, planners had decided to move the site to the northern grounds of the Oklahoma Historical Society building, now the Oklahoma Judicial Building, southeast of the Capitol. On November 11, 1986, the 8 ft. tall bronze statue of an American soldier just coming off patrol in the Vietnam War was unveiled at the official dedication of the Oklahoma Veterans Memorial. Now fondly referred to as “The Big Guy,” his bronze face has the features of a Native American and reminds Oklahomans of their roots and roles in the protection of the nation. Oklahoma artists Jay O’Meilia and Bill Sowell were the sculptors.

The memorial features red granite walls with bronze bas relief plaques showing scenes of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. On the interior panels, the names of soldiers who have died in each of those wars, in addition to wars that have taken place since Vietnam, are carved into the granite. An eternal flame is situated directly behind the sculpture of the soldier.

Trait Thompson, State Capitol Project Manager for the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services, said Oklahomans should make a point to see the memorial.

"The Oklahoma Veterans' Memorial is a fitting tribute to Oklahoma soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The bronze statue of a Vietnam era soldier accurately conveys the hardships and trials of combat in the face of a war-weary soldier. I encourage everyone to take time to visit this solemn place across the street from the state Capitol the next time they are in Oklahoma City."

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

— Winston Churchill

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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bmonthly | NOVEMBER 2020

A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

The Heart of Music

Music Unleashes What You Cannot Articulate Otherwise

by Brent Taylor Victor Hugo once said that music expresses that which cannot be said, and on which it is impossible to be silent.

Speaking of that on which it is impossible to be silent, my wife still listens to 1970’s music on American Top 40 with Casey Kasum on Saturday mornings. And she sings out loud in the kitchen and car, especially when The Night Chicago Died comes on. Recently, I convinced Karen to experience some of my people. Mark Knopfler, of Dire Straits. We listened from the balcony of the Midland Theater in Kansas City, to Knopfler’s Romeo & Juliet…

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be…

All I do is kiss you through the bars of Orion Julie I’d do the stars with you any time That song makes me feel 15 again, a feeling similar to my first concert, Chicago Transit Authority, where I heard Beginnings in the midst of levitating doobie hipsters. They sang and swayed in the aisles, revivalists moving to horns, bongos, and bass that rattled my inhibitions. Like Knopfler’s line, kissing someone through the bars of Orion, whatever that means, it unleashes what you cannot articulate otherwise. And these melodies play on my internal jukebox without asking permission. For instance, Midnight Confession by the Grass Roots. Karen and I were making pizza and that song came on.

The sound of your footsteps, Telling me that you're near, It brings out a need in me that nobody hears, except, In my midnight confessions, when I tell all the world that I love you.

Sometimes we have to erase our musical memory, when it brings up a bad memory or you have misheard the lyrics. I always misheard Midnight Confession.

Instead of midnight confession, I heard ... in morning at confession. Misheard lyrics are difficult to remove from our hard drive, like trying to rid your inner jukebox of Love

Shack by the B-52's, a song that Shaquille O’Neal claimed ruined his ability to properly close a letter to someone he loved.

Ray Charles speaks of music in the biological sense, that it was a body part, or perhaps an organ or one of his senses.

“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me – like food or water.”

We sense this coursing through us when we bury our dead to the trumpet strains of Taps, and we stand taller when we sing the Star Spangled Banner. Music stirs us to rebellion when we are stupidly young, and nobility when we are stubborn and old. Music gives voice to the broken, courage to warriors, and megaphones to injustice. And all of this articulated in tones which softens the calloused and awakens the indifferent. Music is the stuff that comes out of us when we can’t speak...

A flood of nostalgia ensues when I hear Sunrise, Sunset from our wedding day, and melancholy when I hear Hush

Little Baby Don’t You Cry, remembering Karen singing to our mortally injured dog Cocoa. Like hot air balloons hovering over our world, musical memory shapes and influences our identity. I sang when my daughter Lauren was born, alone on a pastoral New Jersey highway. “You don’t know what it’s like to love somebody, the way I love you.” I sang with the Bee Gees and thought about being a father. It was an unexpected moment of poignancy and the song had nothing to do with fatherhood, but I didn’t care. It was how I felt, like nobody understood the joy of having a daughter like I did at that moment, so I sang like Pavarotti in the shower.

Researchers tell us that when we sing together we exhale and inhale together as one. Our hearts slow and in time become synchronized, as pulse rates that begin as a jumble of jagged lines quickly become a series of uniform peaks. The shared rhythm and the external synchronizing of melody flows to the internal rhythm of hearts and lungs.

Food, water, breath, and blood ... hmmm, maybe Ray Charles was on to something.

NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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LOCAL LEADERS

Community Spirit Former Platoon Leader Now Leads a Community of Believers

by Brandon Dutcher Peter Johnson has been in some tight spots.

In his nearly 25 years of active-duty service in the U.S. Army, including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, the former tank platoon leader and chaplain earned the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Stars, six Meritorious Service Medals, and the Ranger Tab. But when he visited Bartlesville for the first time in 2019 — during reconnaissance, he told his driver to take him down every street and back alley — he felt a rising anxiety and a tightness in his chest.

“Rick!” he exclaimed. “There’s a church on every corner!”

That’s enough to induce a mild panic attack, to be sure — if your intention is to pastor a new church in a city of 36,000 people that already has 80 of them.

But Rick Hudson assured Rev. Johnson everything would be fine. Hudson and his wife, Carol, along with four other families — Jason and Angie Kreider, Chris and Jenna Zervas, Dennis and Candis Grover, and Tim and Tammy Carroll — had planted Hope Presbyterian Church in 2017.

The church needed a full-time pastor.

Johnson accepted the call and moved to Bartlesville in July 2019. A California native, he has lived (courtesy of Uncle Sam) everywhere from Kansas to Kuwait, from Georgia to Germany. He met his wife, Cathy, a former Army transportation officer, when they were both stationed at Fort Hood, in Texas. Their oldest son, Soren, is at Princeton Theological Seminary preparing to be an Army chaplain; son, Lars, is a student at Wheaton College; and daughter, Bethany, is in middle school.

(later Spirit Church) building at 900 S. Dewey, has more than 25 families and continues to grow.

The church is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a conservative, Reformed denomination. (Notable PCA figures include Tim Keller, Joni Eareckson Tada, the late R.C. Sproul, and the late Francis Schaeffer.)

The denomination is also robustly evangelical (“Evangelism Explosion” founder D. James Kennedy was a PCA pastor).

“We are a group of sinners saved by grace,” the church’s website (hopepresbyterian.church) says, “seeking to love one another through gospel community that is intentional and authentic.”

It was that sense of authentic community that drew Peter and Cathy to Hope Presbyterian. “It was the people who brought us here,” he said. “This church has all kinds of people — working cowboys, doctorates in chemistry, an accountant. It’s a Christian community of brothers and sisters who genuinely like to be together.”

They were impressed with the people of Bartlesville, too. He recalls an incident in a hotel elevator in which a hotel employee asked him with unusual earnestness, “How are you doing today?”

“We got off the elevator,” Johnson said, “and I told my wife, ‘She really meant that.’”

Hope Presbyterian isn’t an Army unit, of course, but each is a small community requiring pastoral care. Lt. Col. Johnson was already a U.S. Army Armor Officer when he felt called to the chaplaincy, and once ordained he purposely chose combat deployments. “Here’s an 18-year-old kid,” he said. “Last year at this time he was playing high school basketball. Today he killed five people. How does he get to sleep?”

Johnson conducted more than 85 memorial ceremonies for fallen U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

As 2020 draws to a close — a year marked by fear, uncertainty, cultural upheaval, and a strident tribalism — Johnson is energized. Now, more than ever, he said, “people are hungry for community, for connections.”

“When it’s dark,” he said, “that’s when the church shines.”

Today, Hope Presbyterian, located downtown in the former First Assembly of God NOVEMBER 2020 | bmonthly

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ONCE UPON A TIME

Bridge Over Troubled Waters Writer Shocked at COVID-19 Diagnosis

by Rita Thurman Barnes “When you're weary, feeling small. When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all. I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough and friends just can't be found. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.

Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.”

Everyone knows the words from that lyrically immortal Simon and Garfunkel song; well, almost everyone. But it’s always been a favorite of mine. Their voices so clearly perfect in word and harmony. I didn’t know, however, that there would come a day when the lyrics to this song would mean more to me than ever before.

Some of you know that I inherited an autoimmune disorder and that I only learned what it was about ten years ago. I became aware it was a condition that mostly impacted females and thus my late sister came to know she also inherited the condition.

About the last week in January 2020, I became extremely ill and saw our family doctor and made a couple of visits to the local ER where I was told I had the flu. My husband escorted me there and had no symptoms at the time. No one knew anything yet about the upcoming pandemic, but my husband became gravely ill as I had done and for the whole month of February, we suffered through what we had been told was the flu. He recovered but with my lowered immunity I continued to experience symptoms month after month. I later came to believe we both had had Covid-19 but I wouldn’t go in for the antibody test because I was still afraid of catching Covid.

Then one beautiful Sunday this past September I awoke with what I believed to be a UTI infection and couldn’t reach my doctor’s office. We drove to the ER where I was told after seven hours that I didn’t have an infection. I had sheltered inside our home since February except for a few exceedingly rare trips outside where I was “always” wearing a mask. Always. The ER doctor wished me well and said I could go home. I asked, since I was already at the hospital, if she could administer a test for Covid-19 and she very kindly did so.

I slept well that night and awoke early the next morning to the sound of my phone. I wasn’t worried about the Covid test, so I thought the call from the hospital was to inquire about my recent visit. I was shocked to hear the words “you have Covid-19” and that my husband and I had to be quarantined. He was tested the next afternoon and the results were negative even with a 101 temperature and continuing symptoms. A false negative is yet to be determined.

Covid was not on my radar since I was taking extremely good care of myself and was following the rules as best I could.

Shocked was not the word for how I continue to feel but this much I know . . . “Sail on silver girl. Sail on by. Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way. See how they shine. Oh, if you need a friend I'm sailing right behind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind” . . . and faithfully “He” does.

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JEFF HALL REAL ESTATE “My commitment to service is my commitment to you!”

34 Years of Real Estate Knowledge Jeff Hall, Broker/Associate (Licensed Broker in OK and NC)

515 SE Delaware Avenue, Bartlesville, OK 74003 918.440.9199 jhall@mcgrawrealtors.com

320 SE Delaware Suite 5 PO Box 996 | Bartlesville, OK 74005

918-333-5151 70

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AGENT FOR GOODVILLE MUTUAL

SUPPORTING SOLDIERS

Blue Star Mothers

Organization Supports Military Members, Veterans

by Lori Roll

During World War I and World War II, families customarily hung a Service Flag in a window of their home with a star for each family member in the military. The Service Flag, also called the Blue Star Flag, was designed and patented by World War I Army Captain Robert L. Queissner, who had two sons serving on the front line. A blue star represented living servicemen, while a gold star represented servicemen who had lost their lives in the war.

The Blue Star Mothers of America was formed by Captain George H. Maines and 600 women in Flint, Michigan on February 6, 1943 as part of a movement to support military members serving overseas, and to provide assistance to families who endured hardships as a result of their son or husband serving in the war.

Members volunteered in hospitals and train stations, packed care packages for soldiers, and supported each other in their common cause of patriotic pride. Blue Star Mothers chapters quickly formed in Ohio, Wisconsin, Oregon, Iowa, Washington, California, Pennsylvania, and New York. The organization was chartered by the U.S. Congress on January 6, 1960.

Today, the Blue Star Mothers of America includes not only mothers of service men and women, but also grandmothers, adoptive and foster mothers, and female legal guardians living in the U.S. and abroad who support family service members in recent conflicts. Fathers and community members may join as associate members, who do not vote or pay dues. There are over 200 chapters and 7,500 members and associates in the United States. Since there is no permanent headquarters, the national president holds the responsibility of coordinating chapters and annual conventions. Service members include all branches of the military, including Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the new Space Force.

Becky Balli, President of the Blue Star Mothers OK 19 in Bartlesville, said their organization’s purpose is to support each other and family service members who are deployed overseas and stateside. “We send two packages each month, and additional boxes for special holidays. People may not realize service members have to purchase everything personal, from uniforms, boots, socks and even rank advancement insignias to haircuts, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, sheets, pillows, and blankets. We usually send one box with personal hygiene items and one box of special foods. On holidays we add special items and cards. We want our service members to know we care, remember them, and appreciate what they’re doing.”

Balli said some service members don’t get mail or packages from home, so Blue Star Mothers reach out when they become aware someone needs extra attention. “It breaks my heart that some service members never hear from anyone back home. We make sure to include extra treats and even a letter to say we appreciate them. We want stateside service members to know they are doing an important job, as well as veterans who sometimes don’t get recognition for serving their country,” she said.

The Bartlesville chapter takes care packages to veterans in area nursing homes. “Veterans love to get cards, letters, and visits from local school children who spend time talking with them,” she said.

When COVID quarantine put a damper on visits, the chapter arranged a drive-through parade at Heritage Villa Nursing Center with live animals, including a pot belly pig, llama, goat, donkey, and lamb.

Blue Star Mothers also support each other in times of need.

“We are always there for each other. We provide meals and cards for members who need support, and moms who are proud but fearful for their newly-deployed sons and daughters,” she said.

The chapter holds meetings at the Elks Lodge at 6:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month to discuss chapter activities and share support. Membership is $30 a year, and there are currently 19 local members and associates. “The dues don’t pay for all we do, and we are very blessed to have generous donors in the community from individuals and businesses, including ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, who have veterans’ networks and provide special fundraisers and donations of needed supplies,” she said.

In addition to service activities, the local chapter established a food pantry for veterans. “It’s hard to transition from military to civilian life, and a lot of veterans don’t have jobs lined up when they get out because many military jobs don’t translate well to civilian life. Especially with COVID, so many veterans don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and many are homeless,” she said. The food pantry is located at the Elks Lodge, who donated climate-controlled space for the pantry and for packing boxes to send service members.

“We want to say how much we appreciate everything this community does to support us and provide items for our service members. Don’t stop, because there is always a need, and everything we receive goes to our service members.” Balli invited interested community members or mothers of service members to browse bvlbluestars.org or follow Bartlesville Blue Star Mothers on Facebook.

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108 E Cherokee Nowata, OK Open 11 am - 8 pm

• • • • •

Milkshakes Malts Sundaes Old fashioned phosphate Handcrafted sodas

SLO ACRES the happy place to be!

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

The Happy Place to Be SLO Acres Soda Fountain Serving Up Tasty Treats

by Laura Offitt Most of you reading this will remember the TV show Cheers.

Remember the theme song? “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.”

A little over a year ago, my husband Scott and I started on a journey to create just such a place in Nowata. We wanted a place where families could gather, friends could meet, and everyone felt special.

We prayed, trying to come up with a place that could be all that and more. One day it hit us that an ice cream shop could fill the bill. Is there anything more happy and inviting than an ice cream shop?

Here is where I need to say, my husband Scott is an amazing man that never fails to support my crazy ideas. (I would say that even if he wasn't sitting here trying to read this as I type.)

Not only does he happily board the crazy train with me, but he's actually been know to toot the horn as we go. So when I said, “I think we should open an ice cream shop,” he said “Sounds good to me.”

SCOTT & LAURA OFFITT

I started looking for equipment and eventually found the entire contents of an old-fashioned fountain in Missouri. Then Scott stepped in and tooted the horn on the crazy train and bought all of it for my birthday. The bar, the stools, and the antique soda fountain are all at least 75 years old. Some of the stools are actually porcelain-coated cast iron from the 1920s. It

was amazing and beautiful, and had almost everything we needed.

In October of 2019, we drove a rented 26' box truck to Blue Springs, Missouri to bring my soda fountain home to Nowata.

From the very start of this adventure, God had told me to serve hot dogs in the soda fountain. Yes, God and I talk about hot dogs.

I try to talk to Him about everything, but sometimes (usually) I'm not as good at listening as I am at talking. I am always telling God He needs to send me a neon sign if He wants me to get what He has to say. Consequently, when God gently said hot dogs I ignored him. We had almost finished loading up all of the equipment in Missouri when the lady helping said, “Oh wait! I have one more neon sign that we had custom made.” Of course here she comes carrying a big neon hot dog sign. That's when I yelled, “Okay fine! I'll do hot dogs!” The poor lady just said, “Okay” and slowly backed away.

At our place you will find ice cream, sundaes, old-fashioned hand-crafted sodas, ice cream sodas, banana splits, milk shakes, MALTS (yes I said malts), big soft warm buttery pretzels, Frito chili pies — and of course, hot dogs.

Every once in a while someone will walk out without paying for their food. But you know what? They always come back.

Every one of them say something like, “I'm so sorry! I got so comfortable and just felt like I was hanging out with family. I didn't even think about paying.” When we can make people feel that comfortable, then we have succeeded in our mission to serve Nowata. People always say “Nowata needed some place like this.”

Yes Nowata, you did. But so did we. Thank you for letting us fill our hearts by serving you, because this place has turned out to be so much more than ice cream. SLO Acres Soda Fountain — the happy place to be.

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KNOWING NOWATA

French Legion of Honor Nowata Resident was Awarded France’s Highest Award

Photo Courtesy of findagrave.com

In my eyes, anyone that puts on the uniform of any branch of the military for the United States and serves is a hero. For whatever reason they join, they have agreed to risk their lives defending the values we hold dear: freedom, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They do this not only for our homeland, but for other nations around the world.

When World War I occurred (July 28, 1914 November 11, 1918), many of our young men and women stepped up to go to war knowing there was great uncertainty they would return home in one piece — or even at all. Their bravery was recognized by a number of ribbons, pins, and medals. These were conferred by the military or by our president on behalf of a grateful nation, and this still happens today with our military forces serving in all parts of the world.

In rare cases, other nations give our veterans special recognition. France did so a number of years after the end of WW I. In 1999, 80 years after the end of World War I, then-French President Jacques Chirac decided to honor and award Allied veterans who battled on French soil fighting for the liberation of France with his nation’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, or the Order of the Legion. The award was created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The award is given to men and women regardless of race, class, or nationality. It is based upon exemplary civil service or extraordinary bravery and service in times of war. In addition, military personnel that receive the award are also given the Croix de Gurre, the highest military award given by France.

When they receive the award they must swear to uphold liberty and equality.

Three Oklahoma veterans received this medal in 1999, Willie C. Liddell, of Healdton; Joe B. Foster, of McAlester; and Nowata citizen Clifton Harris. The award was presented to Mr. Harris at the age of 104.

On March 16, 1999, the Consul General of France in Houston, Pierre Lepetit, came to the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Clare74

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Photo Courtesy of Nowata Star

by Carroll Craun

more, where Clifton was living at the time, to present the award.

In addition to the French award, Harris received a special certificate from the U.S. Congress recognizing his service, and Governor Frank Keating proclaimed March 20, 1999 as "Clifton Harris Day" with all the rights that went with it. The year before, on June 20, 1998, Harris was made an honorary Full Colonel by the National Guard.

Clifton first saw military action in Belgium and on September 1, 1918 arrived in France as a 23-year-old Army buck private. He fought in the trenches until March of 1919, when the Armistice was declared. He was one of the lucky ones to make it out alive and return home.

Life started for Clifton in the Brockett area of Arkansas, where he received his education. He worked as a wheat harvester in Oklahoma until joining the Army with the call for service during World War I. When he returned home, he married Lilye Jane Morris and they settled in Oilton, where he began work for I.T.I.O. Oil Company. They moved around with the company until the call came during World War II for workers in the shipyards in Richmond, California. At the end of that war, they returned to Oklahoma, raised a family, and Clifton became a cabinetmaker and wood carver. They moved to Nowata in the 1980s and became active in the community. Clifton said of his French award, "I am glad it is the size it is and not one of those big ones, as I plan to wear it."

And he did with great pride.

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Introducing LuxeRehab

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Ignite will soon offer: Our new hospitality model, LuxeRehab featuring hospitality tablets, room service, the latest in technology including virtual reality and contact free vital monitoring coupled with beautiful renovations to include our signature LuxeCafe proudly brewing Starbucks Coffee

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ENTERTAINMENT

The Show Must Go On

OKM Music Continues its 2020 Programming Amid COVID-19

The OKM Music Festival is entering its 37th year as Oklahoma’s premier music festival. The festival, which began in 1985, brings talented state, national, and international artists to the local stages of Bartlesville, and offers music education and music exposure to youth in the community. For 36 years, OKM Music has had a rich history and has continued its mission by making music and the arts accessible to all — especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid COVID-19, the arts all over the state, country, and world have taken a hit due to the pandemic. In response to the coronavirus, OKM knew that the ‘show must go on’ and made many changes to its planned 2020 programming, including hosting its 36th festival virtually with free access to all as well as offering limited in person performances. Through these changes, OKM was able to further its mission and maximize exposure to guests safely viewing from home.

OKM’s 36th festival, originally scheduled for June, was postponed into two separate events: an “Especially for Kids” festival postponed to July, which brought music exposure to over 3,500 children — both in person and online, as well as a reimagined 36th festival held predominately virtually, reaching more than 35,000 individuals worldwide.

“Our 36th festival was a little different this year. However, between social media and our in-person concert, our performances we were able to quadruple our average Ffestival audience, which was really exciting. We also had guests from over 10 countries and all over the United States watching our artists,” said Ryan Martin, OKM’s marketing director.

COVID-19 could not stop OKM from hosting its traditional Oktoberfest. This celebration has become a beloved tradition in the community.

“I enjoy catering OKM Oktoberfest because the people seem to really enjoy themselves. They stay for the entire evening and really have a great time,” said Dean Price, of Price’s Meat Market.

The board and staff felt that it was important to hold Oktoberfest, bringing the Bavarian traditions of food, culture, and music once again — but knowing that social distancing was important to the residents.

On Saturday, October 17, OKM held its traditional Oktoberfest, but with a twist for 2020: “OktoberNest.” This stay-at-home event encouraged families and guests to order Bavarian picnics to go with delicious foods, such as bratwurst, knackwurst, weisswurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad, pretzels, apple strudels, and more. Bartlesville favorite, Price’s Meat Market prepared most of the food. However, Siegi’s Sausage Factory and the Gingerbread Factory also contributed.

In addition to the delicious food, participants at home got to watch an exclusive performance by New York City polka band, The Polka Brothers, as well as participate in a virtual chicken

dance, beer and food tasting, and even a stein competition — all from the comfort of their home. All proceeds from OktoberNest helped support OKM’s artist’s and children’s programming for 2021.

“This year, while we couldn’t have the children’s tent at Oktoberfest in-person, we did have a wonderful kid’s parteikorb (party basket) filled with Bavarian treats and culture. Each bag contained a Kinder Egg, Lubkuchen cookie, accordion, German language/coloring book, crayons, Oktoberfest games, and more.

“Thanks to our wonderful sponsors, Revo Financial, Arvest Bank and Truity Federal Credit Union, we were able to really give the kids something special,” said Mary Lynn Mihm, OKM’s chairman of the board.

OKM plans to host several more events in 2020 to bring exposure and to help support local and state musicians. On Tuesday, December 1, OKM will be joining non-profits all over the world for #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving. Many local Bartlesville and Oklahoma artist’s will be performing short musical performances during #GivingTuesday as a way to bring people together through music, virtually. Christkindl Market, a favorite Holiday tradition in Bartlesville, will be held on Saturday, December 12.

This traditional Bavarian shopping market will be held amid COVID-19, but with a twist to ensure everyone’s safety.

“People all across the world have been brought together by music during this pandemic. During the past months, more than ever, people needed to bond, and they needed hope. Music is a universal language that everyone understands. It is a cultural conversation that unites our community. OKM Music believes music is the heart and soul of Bartlesville,” said Mihm.

For more information on any future planned events, to make a donation, or to view OKM’s earlier events from 2020, please visit: www.okmmusic.org.

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SURVIVORS

Women of World War II:

by Lori Just

Barbara Tillman, Civilian, Polish Underground Barbara Tillman was born in Gsynia, Poland on February 26, 1935. After the German invasion, when she was four years old, her parents both joined the Polish Underground.

“My very first recollection was the Germans attempting to bomb all the infrastructures,” she said. “They had phosphorous bombs to see what was there. I was put in a bathtub and mattresses were put on top of me. The bathroom is the safest place, because in Europe the plumbing is above rather than below. I remember the bombs and phosphorous lighting up at night. There were German soldiers everywhere. To this day, I cannot tolerate anyone wearing boots on a hard surface.”

Her Godmother had a bakery the Germans kept open due to her superb cooking. Her mother spoke perfect German and Russian. She would meet friends at the bakery and listen to German officers. She would listen to them talk, then come home and make notes on pieces of paper. Her Godmother would put Barbara in a buggy, even though she was too big for a stroller, and go down the street right past the SS Office to the gate of the ghetto to pass on the information.

“My family was very active in the Underground,” she said. “The family decided my mother would go to work for a German company that would rebuild bridges that had been blown up in the invasion. Through the company, my mother could funnel needed workers. It was kind of like Schindler's List.”

Many Jewish families would smuggle their children into her mother’s care before their number was chosen to be taken to work for the Germans or sent to a camp. Throughout the war, Barbara could never recall the endless count of children she rescued.

During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, there was street-tostreet fighting. Barbara helped by carrying messages hidden in her long braids through the sewer to the Polish. Her mother helped funnel an entire city of 1.5 million people through the industrial section. She rescued countless people.

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“She had worked for the Polish Red Cross and knew enough about medicine,” she said. “She dressed in a nurse's uniform and went to the camp every morning. If you appreciate funneling the 1.5 million people through a town that was designed for 10,000 or 15,000 people, there was utter chaos.”

After the Uprising, the Germans were being forced toward Krakow.

They wanted to destroy anything and everything. In the community where Barbara lived, the people had to dig ditches then line up to be shot and fall into the ditch.

“My father was not there, it was just my mother and I,” she said. “I was 10, and I was too short. I remember just lying in that ditch until dark then crawled out. My mother was in the same ditch, but not in the same place, and she also survived. I suppose she was able to put me in the back and not up front and that is how I survived.”

After the war, the Russians occupied Poland, and Barbara and her mom were able to get to Sweden, then to North America two weeks later.

“When I saw the Statue of Liberty, I knew this was all coming to an end,” she said.

Her father's family goes back to the 1500s as foresters; taking care of a forest about the size of Ohio. Her father could not see leaving Poland. His paper factory in Danzig had survived, even though the town had been destroyed. He was put in prison after refusing a print request from a Russian, where he stayed for the next seven years.

Barbara came to Bartlesville in 1964, after living in Kansas City, where she was engaged and married. Her husband went to work for Phillips Petroleum and she had her LPN degree and a career in social work.

SURVIVORS

A Look at Two Survivors Mania Korenblit, Holocaust Survivor Mania (Szloma) Korenblit was born December 10, 1923 in Chrubieszow, Poland. Her family was Jewish, and she recalls the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Being Jews, they were told to leave their homes and had 20 minutes to gather a few items.

“I put a few things in a small pillow case. Of course, I figured I would be back,” she said. “Who thought that would be the end of it?”

Her family was sent to a ghetto and lived there three months.

A neighbor of hers, Major Korenblit, told her that something was going on and they should hide. There was not a fence around the ghetto and they hid in a big haystack. They returned the next day and her entire family had been shot.

She was then sent to five concentration camps over the next two and a half years: Budzyn, Lichtenvenden in Czechoslovakia, Miellec and Auswich. Her number was A-27327.

“They called me by my number, not by my name,” she said.

“We stayed in bunks and it was all women. When it was time for lunch, we got soup, which was warm water, then we went back and laid down on our bunk until the next meal. Every day was the same. They kept us there to kill us. They always took out somebody. The one that looked the worst was taken out and killed.”

The Russians came in January 1945, opened the gates, and told them to go. She walked and hitchhiked the 400 miles home — weighing only 68 pounds.

“Once home, people took me in and fed me until Major came and got me,” she said. “We moved to Munich, Germany. I signed

up to go to America. He said it would take 20 years, but it took only six weeks.”

They traveled from Munich to Bermmerhaven, then went on an Australian ship for 41 days to Venezuela. From there they sailed to New Orleans. They arrived in Oklahoma on April 29, 1950 after a sponsorship by the Lutheran Church in Ponca City.

These personal testimonies are part of of the Joe Todd WWII Interview Project shared with Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum, Oklahoma Historical Society, and the Bartlesville Area History Museum.

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NATIONAL HISTORY

Let Freedom Ring A Lot of Work Was Needed Before the Constitution

by Jay Hastings When thinking about the governmental foundation of the United States of America, many folks quickly consider the Constitution.

Truth is, however, much “governmental” work had already been accomplished by the time the Constitution was originally ratified in 1788 and the first president elected in 1789.

As the colonists were trying to break free from British control, political maneuvering was setting the stage for an official declaration of independence. On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a formal Declaration. The committee consisted of John Adams, of Massachusetts; Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia; Robert R. Livingston, of New York; and Roger Sherman, of Connecticut. The Declaration explained why the 13 colonies at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as 13 independent and sovereign states, no longer under British rule. With the Declaration, these new states took a collective first step toward forming the United States of America.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence while he was renting a room in the home of a Philadelphia brick layer. He’d been persuaded to write the draft by John Adams because he (Jefferson) had the fewest enemies in the Continental Congress and was known to be a good writer. Just 33 years old, Jefferson was the youngest member of Congress at the time. He was given 17 days to write the draft and completed it in only three. From that point, there were many amendments before it was presented for a vote.

On July 2, 1776, the Resolution of Independence was adopted with 12 affirmative votes and one abstention. John Adams wrote to his wife telling her July 2nd would become a great American holiday, believing the day the vote occurred would be celebrated, not the date the announcement was finalized. “I am apt to believe that Independence Day will be celebrated by, succeeding generations, as a great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bon-

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fires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward for evermore.” The wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved July 4, 1776. It is that date, ultimately, that came and continues to be recognized as an American holiday.

In the years after the Declaration of Independence was written and the Constitution was developed and ratified, Federalists continued to advocate for a strong national government, while Anti-Federalists argued for power to remain with the state and local governments. Eventually, a Bill of Rights would place specific limits on governmental powers. Federalists continued to argue the Constitution did not need such a Bill of Rights, but Anti-Federalists held that the Bill of Rights was necessary to safeguard individual liberties.

The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, a very important addition to the Constitution.

George Washington would become the Nation’s first president, serving from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. John Adams would serve as the second president of the United States, March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1801. Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States and served eight years, from March 4, 1801 to March 4, 1809. Jefferson was the first president to make the White House home while serving the nation, following its construction in 1801.

We Salute Our Veterans!

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