bmonthly October 2021

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3

WHAT’S INSIDE

what’s inside...

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Upfront

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Now You Know: The Misunderstood Swastika

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Profile: Rick Silver

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Helping Hands: A New Focus MUTUAL Changes Focus & Name to HeartMatters

Looking Back: Bartles Mausoleum Empire-Builder’s Final Resting Place

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Tribute: Dr. Charlie Clinkenbeard

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Feature: The Historic Flood of 1986

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Healthy Living: Juice it Up!

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Feature Sponsor Story: Mike Bouvier A Look at Washington County’s Caretaker

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Overcomers: Bloomin’ Tails Pet Day Spa

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The Arts: Healing Power of Music

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Kids’ Calendar

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Funny You Should Ask: The Trouble with Pants

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Chick-fil-A Events Calendar

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Business Spotlight: Becky Gailey Longtime Local Resident Joins Stride Mortgage

Once Upon a Time: It All Started with... ...Mr. Herman, a Lost Bowling Ball, and a First Date

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A Good Word: What a Year!

Struggles of 2020 Turned Into Victories for Survivor

A Fresh Perspective: An RV Adventure A Trip Through This Land That I Loved Young

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On the Osage: Buffalo Chasing

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Out & About: Photos from Around Town

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Sports: A Fun Sport for Everyone Annual Bartlesville Pickleball Fall Classic on Tap

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From the Heart: March to Your Own Beat High School Band Taught a Valuable Life Lesson

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Knowing Nowata: Flooding a Part of Life Flooding Common in Nowata County

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Making a Difference: Paths to Independence Local School for Autistic Students Changing Lives

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Holiday Magic: Never too Early for Christmas

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Western Heritage: Better Than Ever Woolaroc Retrospective Exhibit & Sale Opens in Oct.

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Let Freedom Ring: Evolution of Travel

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Arts & Entertainment: Back on Stage!

OCTOBER 2021 4

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UPFRONT

upfront Welcome to October, friends ... as fall slowly comes and brings the sunsets earlier each day and the leaves start their change of spectacular colors, and my favorite sport, football, is in full gear. As I write this upfront late in the night on the 22nd of September, I ask Google how many days ‘till Christmas, and her reply ...

93 days away. It's crazy that we are going to start seeing Christmas commercials on TV in the next couple of weeks.

In 1986, one of the most devastating floods this area has ever seen engulfed thousands of acres of Southeastern Kansas and Eastern Oklahoma, from Copan to Skiatook. The flood and the destruction it caused made national news.

In the middle of this catastrophic event was a city of 34,000 people ... Bartlesville.

Our city took the brunt of this historic flood, which left thousands with homes underwater and completely split our city in half. I called Mike Wilt in July and told him I wanted to tell the story of the flood of 1986 on the 35th anniversary and he loved the idea. Mike has written many feature stories for us over the years, and I believe this one is his best!

This issue’s feature story and cover challenged me in different ways than other issues. All but three photos in the feature were shot from a helicopter; 90 percent of them are aerial photographs. For many nights, I studied over 240 pictures of this devastating natural disaster. I wanted you to see the absolute destruction water can cause. Many people who didn't live here don't realize how damaged this city was ... they don't realize how close it was to a flood of biblical proportions if the right decisions were not made — and made right!

October brings our family many challenges each year, but the biggest challenge for us is the anniversary of the loss of our oldest child ... Christy’s oldest child, Tyler. He was accidentally shot on October 8th, 2009. Our lives have never been the same and the void that I see in Christy's heart is always present. It has gotten a little easier than it was those first five years after losing him. At the end of August every year, emotions, tears, and heartbreak filled the air and consumed our lives for the next few months. I didn't have to see a calendar to tell you when September was here because I could see it and feel it in Christy. I lift Christy up to you

Lord, that you may bring comfort and peace and an understanding that we will never know until the day we walk side-byside with Tyler in Heaven.

This past weekend, Christy and I had our annual appreciation party that we do for all of the businesses we work with each month, our staff of writers, our support team behind the scenes, and some of the people we do stories on. It's our way to give back and say thank you to everyone for supporting us over the last four years.

Without all of you, we wouldn't be able to put this magazine together each month.

Thank you!

As the seasons start to change and we wake up each day to uncertainty in this crazy world we live in today, we have to realize that this is part of His plan. Christy and I will not walk around in fear. Each day we will go out and try to tell the historical stories and stories of the great people of our city, who made — and are making — a difference today. We have so much to be proud of, and as you read the feature story you will definitely be inspired. Through that disaster rose a people who helped neighbors and complete strangers withstand the storm. This city has been through many struggles and heartaches since 1897, but we continue to get up every time we are knocked down. That's what we do as Bartians. We never give up and for sure, we never quit!

Volume XII Issue X 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, Lori Kroh, Delaney Williams, Kelly Bland, Rita Thurman Barnes, Keith McPhail, Jay Hastings, Sarah Leslie Gagan, Maria Gus, Carroll Craun, Lori Just, Mike Wilt

God Bless, Keith Contributing Photographers Nowata County Historical Society Museum, Becky Burch, Bartlesville Area History Museum, Geno Walker, Donnie Bostwick, Chance Franks, Jay Hastings, Kathy Peaster

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 of the flood of 1986, the worst flood in Bartlesville’s history.

Creative Concept by Keith and Christy McPhail Design by Copper Cup Images

bmonthly managing editors Keith & Christy McPhail.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

5

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Like us on OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

7

PROFILE

Rick Silver To Protect and Serve

by Sarah Leslie Gagan “On my honor, I will never betray my integrity, my character, or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always maintain the highest ethical standards and uphold the values of my community, and the agency I serve.” This oath of honor is not composed of mere words, but is comprised of the very moral fiber of those who choose to serve and protect their community through a career in law enforcement. It is an oath, and a way of life. Our own Bartlesville community has been privileged to have Rick Silver serve and protect the area for more than 30 years.

Growing up in Bartlesville, Rick was the youngest of three children born to Larry and Shirley Silver. Rick’s father was a police officer with the city of Bartlesville since 1960 and elected Washington County Sheriff in 1985, serving the county until his death in 1993.

Law enforcement was part of daily life in the Silver home.

In his younger years, Rick played various sports, but his real passion was motorcycles. He loved to ride dirt bikes.

His father was a motorcycle officer for a time with the Bartlesville Police Department, and Rick has fond memories of sitting on his dad’s Harley Davidson as a

8

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small boy, pretending to ride. He’s had a lifelong love of motorcycles and continued to ride throughout his adult life.

Rick’s father also worked the K9 unit in Bartlesville while Rick was growing up. Having the dogs at home gave Rick another unique view of law enforcement. He enjoyed growing up with the K9 dogs and hearing about their special methods of service in the community. His father’s experience in the various aspects of law enforcement equipped Rick with a well-rounded view of the career and influenced his future.

Rick graduated from Bartlesville High School in 1984 and explored various career paths before becoming a Bartlesville Reserve Officer in 1988. His father knew the impact that his own career in law enforcement had on his son and wanted him to try other professions before making the decision to serve the community in law enforcement.

In March of 1989, after graduating from the Reserve Academy, Rick was hired as a full-time officer with the Bartlesville Police Department. He served 20 years with the Bartlesville force, retiring as a Lieutenant. His brother also became an officer with the Bartlesville Police Department, serving 20 years before retiring. Rick’s sister, Cyndy, was dedicated to serving the Bartlesville community by working for the Washington County Health Department for more than 35 years.

PROFILE In 2008, Rick began an election campaign to run for Washington County Sheriff and was elected in October of that same year. Being elected sheriff is one of Rick’s greatest accomplishments, from a law enforcement perspective. It was a fast-paced campaign season of public speaking and meeting voters and sharing his viewpoint on the current situation of law enforcement, but his endurance paid off when the people of the community spoke and elected him as sheriff. He was very humbled and honored to serve in that capacity for 10 years.

As soon as Rick was elected sheriff, he and his undersheriff had to immediately begin another campaign to build a new detention center. The matter was being brought up for a vote in the fall of 2009 and was desperately needed. Rick and his team gave their all for the campaign and the vote passed. The new facility greatly improved safety for both inmates and employees, and allowed quality programs to be held such as GED classes, faith-based programs, and life skill classes for female inmates.

Although the campaign was quite a challenge, Rick knows it was worth every effort to see the improvements it has made in the local law enforcement community.

After completing his time as sheriff in 2018, Rick spent three years back at Bartlesville Police Department as code enforcement officer, then special assistant to the chief, working with Chief Tracy Roles. It was bittersweet for the force when Rick retired on June 30, 2021.

Rick and his wife, Lori, have been married more than 30 years. They have three children and two grandchildren. His son, Steven, is the third generation of the Silver family to work in law enforcement, specifically at the Bartlesville Police Department.

One aspect Rick cannot stress enough is the importance of hav-

ing strong family support when deciding upon a career in law enforcement. He has had the full support of Lori, and that has made a huge difference in his success as an officer and a sheriff.

Rick credits not only his father’s influence for his success, but his drive to see bad guys off the streets and to always work toward a safe community for all who live here.

The Silver family loves the Bartlesville community and considers it a wonderful place to raise their kids and family. Both Rick’s wife and mother enjoy volunteering at various community organizations — Lori is active in the Bartlesville Public School Foundation and his mother volunteers at the Community Center, Woolaroc, and other places. Rick stays busy with things he enjoys such as hunting and fishing and working on home projects. Together, Rick and Lori enjoy attending their grandchildren’s sporting events. They enjoy calling Bartlesville home with all it has to offer.

When it’s all said and done, Rick will be remembered for his fairness. He is known for treating all those he encountered with fairness and dignity, no matter the situation. A very rewarding aspect of his career has been running into former inmates who express their thanks and gratitude to him for always being fair and just. It’s not only former inmates that are thankful for Rick’s service, but the community as a whole. He has served Bartlesville well, with honor and dignity, making our corner of the world a safer place. Rick Silver, we thank you for your service to our community, and for the integrity you show to others.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

9

WE LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY IN BARTLESVILLE, AND WE’RE PROUD TO SERVE OUR NEIGHBORS WITH INTEGRITY Experienced, Honest, Local

An Officer & A Gentleman

2021-2022

Monday,

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

November 29, 2021

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Season Subscriptions and Single Tickets now on sale!

Photo

by Ma rk Daw son

Fiddler on the Roof

Waitress

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Friday, March 4, 2022

Madagascar the Musical Friday, April 8, 2022

Monday,

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S NU N O B DO !

ADHOW S

Blue Man Group Wednesday, *Dates & shows subject to change.

June 22, 2022

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May 9, 2022

STUDENT? OR VICTIM?

We help educate and equip to expose child exploitation before it begins.

Child exploitation happens everywhere – even in our smallest, most peaceful communities. Unfortunately, it is often unidentified until it’s too late.

HeartMatters is a Bartlesville-based non-profit that helps teach school aged students how to proactively identify and protect themselves from dangerous content and potential predators they may encounter both online and in their communities. We offer in-school programs and also collaborate with area non-profits, homeschool groups and churches to provide exploitation prevention classes and workshops.

FREE OOL

Visit HeartMatters-OK.org to learn how we can help safeguard young hearts and minds in your community.

IN-SCH AM PROGR

918-336-9151 • 3401 Price Rd. • Bartlesville, OK 74006 • HeartMatters-OK.org

Find a Treasure.

Impact a Life.

When you shop at Tuesday House, all proceeds go to the educational prevention programs at HeartMatters.

Store Location: 327 S. Penn • Bartlesville, OK • 918-336-9154 For hours of operation, visit HeartMatters-OK.org 12

bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

HELPING HANDS

A New Focus MUTUAL Changes Focus & Name to HeartMatters The longtime non-profit that was historically a girls-only program has widened its audience to include Green Country girls, boys, and families with the aim of educating, preempting, and therefore helping to prevent the rapidly-growing problem of exploitation and human trafficking.

As a result of the organization’s new focus, they have changed their name from MUTUAL Bartlesville to HeartMatters. The name was chosen to better identify their mission of ’safeguarding young hearts and minds’ from various forms of abuse before it happens.

MUTUAL Girls Club of Bartlesville started as a girls club on the west side of Bartlesville in 1964. Several years later, a little resale shop that came to be known as the Tuesday House was established to provide funding for the organization. Historically, MUTUAL has endeavored to equip young girls with practical life skills and service opportunities that would lay strong foundations for their futures.

For more than 50 years, MUTUAL continued to facilitate restoration and growth in the area by providing Biblically-sound resources and Christ-like leadership for both women and girls.

In the past decade, the ways in which young people socialize began shifting from in-person activity to more virtual and remote environments. From online games to chat applications, social media, and more — young girls (and increasingly boys) have now become more vulnerable than ever to online predators. As a result, the organization has changed its programs to address this rapidly-increasing threat.

“We have worked hard to keep up with the changing

needs of the young people in our area,” said Penny Meadows, executive director. “Our commitment will always be to make sure we are doing everything we can in order to help educate and equip children and families to expose and prevent exploitation and trafficking before it begins.”

HeartMatters serves 3rd-8th grade girls in Washington and Osage County schools through free in-school programs. They also collaborate with children and youth nonprofit organizations and homeschool groups to provide classes. Workshops and training are also available for students elementary through college along with their families, nonprofits, police, teachers, churches, and more.

HeartMatters, a 501(c)3 organization, operates Tuesday House, an upscale resale shop that helps fund HeartMatters, in addition to grants and donations.

Demonstrating Christ’s love by safeguarding young hearts and minds through character development and digital media education.

For more information, visit www.heartmatters-ok.org.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

The Historic Flood of 1986

by Mike Wilt

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

COPAN DAM

The city of Bartlesville had only been incorporated for two years when it experienced a massive flood in 1899. Today, it’s understandable how one might consider that a harbinger of even greater devastation and hardship.

community events were being held. Little did people realize how their determination and resilience would be tested yet again.

Four Tough Years – A Prologue

The last two weeks of September 1986 were filled with heavy rains that left the ground across Oklahoma saturated. The Caney River that snakes through Bartlesville reaches flood stage at 13 feet above normal. On Tuesday, September 30, it crested at 18.2 feet. However, two days later it had largely receded. The combination of unwanted remnants of Hurricane Paine and an advancing cold front produced more heavy rainfall across Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas. The Caney was back over 16 feet by early Friday morning. A young mother, her infant son, and twin boys were rescued from their home at Johnstone and Lupa Avenues. And the dam gates at Hulah and Copan Lakes had yet to be opened. That was about to change.

At just past 7 p.m. on March 15, 1982, an Oklahoma twister roared through the west side of Bartlesville wreaking damage and destruction in a five-by-21 block area. On December 4, 1984, Mesa Petroleum CEO T. Boone Pickens launched a battle for control of Phillips Petroleum Company. His group of partners dropped its effort after three agonizing weeks. The company and the community barely had time to catch their collective breath when “corporate raider” Carl Icahn made a move on Phillips just six weeks later on February 4, 1985. It would be four weary weeks before Icahn gave up his takeover attempt. A year later, the price of a barrel of oil fell from $27 to below $10.

In September of 1986, hardy Bartlesville citizens were settling into their post-Labor Day routines.

School was back in session, sports were being played, and a variety of 18

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October 3, 1986 – Bracing for the Worst

The water level was 32 feet above normal at Hulah Lake and 20 feet above normal at Copan Lake. With dams at both lakes having exceeded their flood control capacity, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers felt it had no choice.

SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

With water a mere six inches from the top of Hulah dam, the gates were opened at 8:20 a.m. on that Friday, October 3. A smaller release began from Copan Lake. Corps officials predicted that by 3:30 p.m. the city’s major east-west corridors – Adams, Frank Phillips, and Tuxedo Boulevards – would be flooded and impassable. Citizens were asked to get on the side of town they needed to be and to stay there. With the prospect of the city being cut in two, Bartlesville police moved dispatch operations from the headquarters along Hensley Boulevard to the central fire

station at Sixth and Johnstone Avenue. Half of BPD’s rolling stock was sent east of the river while the other half remained downtown.

Businesses closed and schools were dismissed. By noon, downtown resembled a ghost town. Meetings, events, dinners, and sporting events were canceled. Shelters were established at St. John Catholic School along with Oak Park, Jane Phillips, and Wilson Elementary Schools. Sandbagging began at many businesses as well as the newly remodeled Bartlesville Police Department (now a parking lot) and the PSO electric company substation on Comanche Avenue.

On a wall at the police department was a giant city map outlining projected flood lines. First responders began plotting which neighborhoods to canvass first to warn residents. Many of those who were asked to leave chose to ride it out. Evacuating residents of a nursing home in northwest Bartlesville was a daunting but successful undertaking.

People were asked to only call the police and fire departments for emergencies, not for information. Sightseeing was strongly discouraged. Unsure what impact the impending flood might have on the water treatment plant, City officials recommended the storing of water for drinking and hygiene. Most of all, everyone was asked to be alert but calm.

Bartlesville High School with Custer Stadium under water.

Water released from the dams took longer than expected to reach Bartlesville. By 7 p.m., the Caney was just four feet above flood stage. The big increase was expected after nightfall.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

October 4, 1986 – The Worst Nobody wanted to believe the predictions. Then Saturday morning came, and nobody could believe just how bad it was. At 8 a.m., a combined 109,000 cubic feet of water per second was being released from the two dams. Ironically, sunny skies prevailed over a flooded and divided city. As predicted, the three major thoroughfares connecting east and west were overrun with water. Some ten square miles were flooded including large swaths of the county to the north and to the south. Washington County had been transformed into a Florida swampland. One Bartlesville native vividly recalls “seeing boats where you should never see boats.”

In the downtown area, only the very top of the seven-foot concrete wall at the American Legion baseball park could be seen. Buildings, businesses, the YMCA, and the first floor of the police station were all deluged. Today, Kiddie Park 20

bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

visitors can view a sign just inside the front gate that indicates how high the water got there.

As if in a convoy, large hay bales weighing some 1,500 pounds floated with the swift current. Their trunks submerged, pecan trees between Frank Phillips and Tuxedo Boulevards looked like broccoli crowns. The brown, murky water contained oil slicks and debris from washed away pumping equipment. Cattle, deer, and other wildlife were seen swimming in search of higher ground. Many would find it in the front and back yards of dry residential areas.

To the north, homes and churches in Dewey were overwhelmed. A senior care center on the east side of Highway 123 sustained water up to its roofline. A large ranch home on the west side of the road was mired in water halfway to the ceiling. Access to and from Dewey was cut off. While homes in Oak Park were dry, residents were stranded as both Virginia Avenue and Sunset Boulevard were swamped.

SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

DOENGES STADIUM

To the south, the flood seeped into Kane Elementary, which had only been open a year. The football field at Custer Stadium was totally submerged with the top of the water almost lapping over the first level of bleachers. Many homes in the Hillcrest, Woodland Park, and Kenilworth additions and in some rural areas were consumed. In fact, evacuations by helicopter were being performed in Ramona. In a daring and dangerous mission, PSO crewmen traveled by boat during the wee hours of Saturday morning to repair a transformer and restore lost power.

Meanwhile, on the dry side of town, parking lots by The Quarters resembled a military heliport. A U.S. Army Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) helicopter was called in from Ft. Sill to transport those on the west side to Jane Phillips Medical Center on the east side. In addition to dozens of medical assistance missions, the crew flew several rescue missions. At 2 a.m. that Saturday, the crew chief was lowered on a hoist into hip-deep water to rescue a man in a house north of Dewey.

fully performed rooftop and boat rescues. Many of those who were rescued were the same ones who earlier had chosen to ride it out.

And the water kept coming.

Corps officials admitted they were releasing more than they would like, but they could not allow water to go over the tops of the two dams. The Corps also stated both dams were in good shape despite rumors to the contrary. Predictions had the Caney River cresting at 26-27 feet by midafternoon Saturday, far surpassing the 25.3 feet in October 1926 (when there were no dams) and the 20.9 feet in March 1974. The Caney River would eventually rise to 31 feet above normal – the worst flood in the city’s history.

National Guard soldiers from Tulsa were summoned to assist with traffic control and to conduct security patrols to prevent looting. Although eager to help their fellow man, local guardsmen were prevented from assisting due to a policy that prohibited hometown deployment. Sadly, many of the Tulsa guardsmen who came to Bartlesville to help flood victims later learned that their own homes had been flooded.

The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and a host of other organizations and volunteers worked around the clock to provide food, clothing, and shelter. First responders and locals success-

Flood waters making their way toward First Wesleyan Church.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

21

SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

October 6, 1986 – Massive Damage A bright, sunny Monday morning brought the good news that while floodwaters were still at 21 feet above normal, they were receding. Forecasts had the Caney River back in its banks by late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The city was no longer divided as Frank Phillips Boulevard was finally passable after two long days.

The local newspaper, cable TV station, and KYFM radio were still keeping the public informed, and the municipal water treatment

plant was still functioning. Best of all, there had been no serious injuries or flood-related fatalities. A few silver linings in an otherwise dark cloud.

An estimated 2,400 Bartlesville residents had been chased from some 800 homes. Countless others throughout the county were also forced to flee elsewhere. More than 100 buildings and businesses were ravaged. Two businesses along Tuxedo Boulevard suffered the double tragedy of being flooded and then destroyed by fire as BFD pumper trucks could only get as close as three blocks. A county commissioner described the rural road system as “devastated.” The City’s police headquarters, pump stations, lift stations, rights-of-way, parks, and streets all sustained considerable damage. The wastewater treatment plant was so bad that officials couldn’t even begin to make assessments. Motors, pumps, and computer equipment were all built into the facility and could not be moved before the flood.

While other media outlets were able to operate uninterrupted, KWON radio station along Highway 123 was completely destroyed. Studios and offices on the second floor were inundated with five feet of water and smelly crude oil. It would be two months before the station returned to the air and in a new location.

Independent oil producers, ranchers, and farmers – many with late crops in the fields and hay ready for winter – were rendered powerless.

The nursing home in northwest Bartlesville from which residents had been evacuated three days earlier was deemed uninhabitable. It later would be demolished.

22

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

BARTLESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Bartlesville Public Schools lost $80,000 (roughly $200,000 today) worth of instructional materials and cafeteria food after a warehouse was waylaid. While the main high school building escaped any harm, several classrooms located in the football stadium incurred water damage. Adding insult to injury, the sewers backed up. While computers, typewriters, and band instruments had been moved to the second floor, band and football uniforms were soaked and soiled. The boiler room in the BHS basement was a hip-deep wading pool. Two new classrooms that were being constructed in the old machine shop were completely ruined. Fortunately, Kane Elementary collected “only” six inches of water. Books, equipment, and supplies had been moved before the flood, but the carpet and gym floor were in dreadful shape.

Sustaining the most damage was the district’s bus barn located near Kane school.

were receding when Hurricane Paine came along. If not for the special permission granted by the regional office in Dallas to allow Hulah and Copan Lakes to swell past established limits, the flood would have been five feet higher than it was. While that tempered some of the anger, elected officials and bitter citizens maintained more could have been done. For many, that belief exists to this day.

Time-consuming cleanup efforts commenced downtown with some bewildered business owners wondering if it was even

Official cost estimates put the price tag at $100 million, roughly $248 million today. But there really was no price tag to measure the loss of livelihood essential to employees and owners of small businesses; there was no recovering treasured family photos, home movies, and heirlooms; no way to count the mental, physical, and emotional strain.

Clean-Up and Criticism A combination of scrubbing and second-guessing filled the days and weeks that followed. The City of Bartlesville’s board of commissioners began criticizing the Corps of Engineers in Tulsa for its role in the disaster. Specifically, the board publicly questioned why the flood gates were not opened earlier. Corps officials answered by reporting the Caney River was above flood stage downstream in Ramona. Additionally, waters in Bartlesville OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

23

SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

Looking toward Dewey past the Cherokee Bridge, in the center of the photo.

possible to be open again. In affected neighborhoods, heavyhearted homeowners – many wearing rubber gloves and boots – moved soaked furnishings to front lawns, hauled trash to large containers, and disinfected the black, green, malodorous mess.

Wives and mothers set up tables of food for victims and volunteers. Over 100 Bartlesville Wesleyan College (OKWU today) students – some from as far away as South Dakota and Montana – jumped in to help. Churches, nonprofits, scout troops, and countless individuals and families lent their assistance with boats, trucks, clothing, food, and manual labor. Empty rental properties

were offered to displaced elderly and others in need. Businesses offered special discounts for flood victims while others held “post-flood fix-up sales.”

With sightseers being more of a problem than looters, police asked for cooperation since homeowners did not know if the curious were friend or foe.

Residents of Oak Park and Dewey were no longer isolated as roadways finally became passable.

Weary City employees drove front-end loaders and large hauling trucks through neighborhoods in an attempt to keep large items such as couches and washing machines from clogging disaster zone dumpsters. Free permits for temporary housing allowed property owners to live in mobile homes and campers during the clean-up. Landfill hours were extended and many restrictions were lifted to encourage residents to haul flood debris out of the city.

KANE SCHOOL

Carpet cleaning was the order of the day at Kane Elementary.

At BHS, band and football uniforms were disinfected while HVAC equipment housed in the boiler room was repaired or replaced.

Meanwhile, BPS administrators gathered information to determine when to resume classes.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials encouraged flood victims to take photographs from every angle to be used when applying for assistance. The Small Business Admin-

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SUTTERFIELD FINANCIAL FEATURE

istration publicized a telephone number to call for information about relief. City officials warned residents to watch for mold and mildew, and to only use reputable repairmen to avoid “fixup rip-offs.”

For many, recovery efforts stretched on for weeks and months. For some, recovery was not possible. But new opportunities lie ahead.

sionally chronicled the ordeal. It also captured the welding of community spirit by showing friends helping friends, neighbors helping neighbors, and strangers helping strangers.

As with the tornado, the takeover attempts, and the plummeting oil prices, the flood of 1986 once again proved that Bartlesville’s strength is not in its buildings and businesses but its people.

Community Spirit Monday, October 13 was the first day in two weeks the front page of the local newspaper did not contain a single flood-related news article.

Also signaling the journey to normalcy was a photo of the sixth annual Woolaroc Road Race that had been held over the weekend. While peppered with criticism about the Corps, opinion pages continued to be filled with letters and editorials heaping widespread praise and thanks.

At that time, the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise also operated a local cable news station.

While Tulsa TV station crews flew over Bartlesville, the video shot by Cable 30 was one of a kind. The extraordinary aerial footage allowed those on the ground to fully grasp the enormity of the devastation. Later, the footage was folded into a Cable 30-produced documentary that profesOCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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FEATURE SPONSOR STORY

Mike Bouvier A Look at Washington County’s Caretaker

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum When you pass a cemetery, do your thoughts turn to death and loss? For genealogists, cemeteries represent the possibility of finding a long lost relative that ties them to other generations long forgotten.

Forgotten, yes there are residents of Washington County Cemeteries who are indeed forgotten. Some cemeteries are severely over grown, with fallen or vandalized grave markers, begging for care. That is where District 2 Washington County Commissioner Mike Bouvier enters the picture.

Massachusetts born, Bouvier is a multi-layered individual who attended Midwest Christian College in OKC, married and then settled in Oklahoma to be near parents. He became a plumber by trade but his passion is breathing life into neglected Washington County cemeteries. In Mike’s words, “I always wanted to do something for someone else.” He found his calling in returning dignity to the departed and talking to people who don’t talk back.

For Mike, caring for cemeteries is a labor of love and respect.

Mike and a few helpers have torn away years of overgrowth and mowed fence-high grass and weeds to uncover grave markers in dire need of repair. For many early stones, the years of weather and neglect have washed away details of the person’s life. Mike researched tombstone repair and restoration to peel off years of moss, mold and grime to give voices to forgotten lives.

His goal is not to leave the stones in “new” condition but to bring forward the names, births and deaths of the sleeping residents.

Among the neediest cemeteries has been the Stokes Cemetery, near Bar-Dew Lake, and the Tyner Cemetery, located on the allotment of Reuben Bartlett Tyner, about three and a half miles south of Oglesby. Both cemeteries have welcomed guests for nearly a century and a half and some of Washington County’s earliest settlers reside in these cemeteries. The graves in Stokes Cemetery range from William Ringo and Hugh Russell in 1875 to Joyce Horn in 2018. And Tyner Cemetery gained James Benjamin

Franklin Rogers in 1876 and Mathew Wade Jackson in 2019…a span of 143 years each.

Along the way, fences have been repaired, constructed and painted and trees have been trimmed or removed. Mike has even designed stone bases for some markers so they can stand securely.

The markers are all shapes, sizes and styles. Some markers are sandstone with hand-carved dates; some have wooden crosses, symbols or devotional verses; some are surrounded by decorative fences; some have built in flower vases; some are topped with an angel, dove, cross or perhaps a lamb; some show wealth, some poverty but all show respect, love and loss.

When the work was complete, Bouvier planted a solar-lighted American flag that gleams in the darkness at Stokes Cemetery and prepared a road around the cemetery for easy visitation access. In addition, the cemetery mending continues at Keys/Cobb and Jessie Creek Cemeteries.

There is a special place in heaven for givers. Thank you to Mike Bouvier and his friends for restoring serenity and respect to Washington County forgotten cemeteries.

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Proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association and programming for the residents of Green Country Village memory care community.

Car Show Categories ($30 registration which includes a shirt)

Motorcycles • Trucks • Cars Kid Category (no charge, bikes, trikes, etc.)

Fun for the whole family!

Yard Games, Snow Cones, and a Food Truck!

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OCTOBER

CALENDAR SPONSORED BY BPS District Virtual Learning Day

1

2

All Day; District-wide

10AM; Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

7th Annual Cops & Rodders Car Show 8AM; Washington County Sheriffs Office 7th Annual COPS & RODDERS car show to benefit the WCSO's annual Thanksgiving and Christmas programs for families in need. Concessions on hand (hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, drinks) will all proceeds going to our annual giving programs.

Top 20 cars received a $50 cash reward, raffle tickets for door prizes (car show entries only). First 100 to pre-register for the show receive an extra raffle ticket! RAIN OR SHINE we will have another awesome show!

9

2 PM; Don Tyler east off Hwy 75 This is the 1st year for this new event, come out and try some great BBQ, enjoy live music, vendor booths and let the kids play on the inflatables. Vendor booths open at 2 pm. Live music will start around 2:30 pm.

BBQ tasting will be from 3-5 p.m. Tickets are $2 each or 15 tickets for $20. There will be three Grill Master cooking categories, ribs, chicken and grillers choice. $500 prize and trophy will go to the Grand Champion. $250 prize and trophy will go to the 2nd place winner and $100 prize & trophy will go to the 3rd place winner.

Woolaroc Fall Traders Encampment

2

1st Annual Backyard BBQ Cook-off

6

OKWU Soccer vs Bethany 5:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (W) 7:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (M)

10AM; Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve Come join us for the 2nd annual Gathering at the Roc hot rod show! Held once again at the beautiful Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve. Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 9, 2021, and come see 350 of the nation’s most beautiful hot rods! All spectators are welcome!

Dewey Flea Market 10AM; Washington County Fairgrounds

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OKWU Men’s Soccer vs Missouri Valley 4 PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

13

OKWU Volleyball vs Kansas Wesleyan 6PM; OKWU Gym

Tour De Bville 10AM; Downtown Bartlesville A family bike ride with various stops along the way.

Participants will receive a card to be punched at each designated stop. At the end of the ride, completed cards may be turned in for a drawing.

What it benefits: Family Promise of Washington County.

8:30AM; Bartlesville High School

Gathering at the Roc Car Show

Oktoberfest 4PM; Dewey Ave. & 2nd St Downtown Bartlesville

Chasin Bacon Bville 5K

7

Bruins Volleyball vs Claremore

OKWU Men’s Soccer vs Baker

5:30PM; Bruin Fieldhouse (JV) 6:30PM; Bruin Fieldhouse (V)

8

Bruin Football vs Muskogee 7PM; Custer Stadium

7PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

16

Howl-O-Weeen Family Festival 10AM; Tower Center at Unity Square

16

OKWU Soccer vs Friends

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5:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (W) 7:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (M)

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Trunk or Treat 6PM; Ok Heritage Farms

BPS Fall Break Thursday & Friday, October 14 & 15

Bruins JV Football vs Ponca City 5:30PM; Custer Stadium

Sooner Jr. Mini Golf

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OKWU Women’s Soccer vs Southwestern BOOfest 2021

5PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

1PM; Sooner Park “BOOFest” intends to provide a 1 day fun, family friendly celebration with a Halloween twist that all attendees can safely enjoy. Some activities include: outdoor movie under the stars, Monster Mash family dance contest, family-friendly spooky walk, trunk-or-treat, family/friends costume contest, other various youth & family related activities.

OKWU Women’s Volleyball vs Bethany 6PM; OKWU Gym

22

BPS Elementary Parent Teacher Conference All Day; District-wide

OKWU Men’s Soccer vs McPherson 7PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

OKWU Women’s Soccer vs McPHerson

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2PM; OWKU Soccer Fields

40th Annual Run the Streets Woolaroc 8K 8:30AM; Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

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Trunk or Treat

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Bruin Varsity Football vs Sand Springs

5PM; Church of Christ

7PM; Custer Stadium

Sooner Jr. Mini Golf is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings from 6-10pm through the end of September, at Sooner Park in Bartlesville.

Pricing per game: Adults $6, Students $5, Seniors $5, Youth (6-12) $4, Children (2-5) $1, 10 game pass $40.

Saturdays in October Bartlesville Farmers Market 8AM; Frank Phillips Park

Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch 11AM; 18500 N 4030 Rd (Sat) 1PM; 18500 N 4030 Rd (Sun)

History & Haunts at the Dewey Hotel Museum 10PM; Dewey Hotel & Museum

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OCTOBER 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!

Fri, Oct 1

Times Vary

9 AM

Oklahoma Heritage Farm Fall Festival

Makers Market on 2nd Street

Oklahoma Heritage Farm 38512 US-75, Ramona

10 AM

Woolaroc Fall Traders Encampment Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd. Nestled near the shore of Crystal Lake, this camp is one of the most beautiful of its kind. Hosted by Woolaroc's Mountain Men Wes & Roger Butcher, the camp has quickly become a favorite for traders and re-enactors from across the country. The camp will be historically accurate, recreating what a settlement of this type would have looked like in the 1840s. The Trader's Encampment is open to the public, and guests are encouraged to park and walk through the camp. There is no additional admission required; regular admission at the gate includes the Fall Trader's Camp.

Many of the campers will set up their tents or tipis and have period crafts for the public to view and purchase. The camp runs through Saturday.

10 AM

This years event features an 11+ acre maze, a pumpkin patch, giant slides, hay rides, a pumpkin cannon, paint ball gallery, & many more thrilling activities. Tues-Thur 9 am to 6 pm, Fri & Sat. 9 am to 7 pm and Sunday 1 pm to 6 pm. General admission is $8, group rate 12+ $7. Children 2 & under are free. Children ages 3-12 with paid admission will receive a free pumpkin. Additional tickets required for the following activities: pumpkin cannon, giant sling shots, paint ball arcade, ring toss, and face painting. Tickets are $1 or 20 for $18.

7 & 8 PM

Oklahoma Asylum Haunted House Oklahoma Asylum Haunted House 304 W. Cherokee Ave., Nowata.

9 AM

What Were You Wearing Exhibit Bartlesville Community Center 300 SE Adams Blvd.

The exhibit is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through October 29.

Times Vary

Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch 18500 N. 4030 Rd. Off US-60 east of Bartlesville Open to the public on Saturdays from 11 am-7 pm (dark) and Sundays from 1-7 pm (dark). Open during fall break Oct 14th & 15th 11 am to 4 pm.

Sat, Oct 2

2 PM

Backyard BBQ Cook-Off Don Tyler east of HWY 75, Dewey This is the 1st year for this new event, come out and try some great BBQ, enjoy live music, vendor booths, and let the kids play on the inflatables. Vendor booths open at 2 p.m. Live music will start around 2:30 p.m. BBQ tasting will be from 3-5 p.m.

Tickets are $2 each or 15 tickets for $20.

There will be 3 Grill Master cooking categories, ribs, chicken and grillers choice. $500 prize and trophy will go to the Grand Champion. $250 prize and trophy will go to 2nd place and $100 prize & trophy will go to 3rd place. There will also be a cornhole tournament with proceeds going to the Dewey Fire Department, to sign up contact Mike Bolinger 620-330-3253.

8 AM

4 PM

7th Annual Cops & Rodders Car Show

Oktoberfest

Washington County Sheriff’s Office 611 SW Adams Blvd.

The show benefits the WCSO’s annual Thanksgiving & Christmas programs for families in need. The show ends at 2 p.m.

8 AM

Price Tower Arts Center 510 S Dewey Ave.

Bartlesville Farmers Market

MOX

The market is held every other Saturday.

The haunted attraction is open every Friday through Sunday through November 6.

Lauren Florence Exhibit

“In Good Company” on view from August 28 – November 7, 2021 in the Price Tower Gallery. Price Tower Arts Center hours are Mon-Sat 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 12-8 p.m., closed holidays. Admission is free.

Crossing 2nd 215 SE 2nd St..

Frank Phillips Park 222 SW Frank Phillips Blvd.

The market runs through October 16, every Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon.

Dewey Ave. & 2nd St. Downtown Bartlesville 10 AM

National Indian Taco Championship Downtown Pawhuska The festival includes vendors, music, Indian dance, drum contest, cowgirls, and barrel racing — not to mention plenty of delicious Indian Tacos. All Contestants sell Indian Taco's to the public. You can be a judge. Visitors can pay $5 for the Chance to judge the Indian Taco two different ways, either the Preliminary Judge or People's Choice Award Judge.

Traditional German Festival celebrating German food, culture, wine/beer/cocktails, dancing, polka music, games and children' tent. All funds raised support the OKMMusic Festival. Cost is $15 for adults 21 & over, $10 for youth 13-20. Free for children 12 & under 7 PM

Live music with Garrett Brown Band Constantine Theater 110 W Main St., Pawhuska

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has c BRUI ool N gea r

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EVENTS CALENDAR Wed, Oct 6

Sat, Oct 9

7:30 PM

Platinum Cigar Company 314 S Johnstone Ave.

The Folk Legacy Trio presented

by BCCA Bartlesville Community Center 300 SE Adams Blvd.

8 PM

History & Haunts at the Dewey Hotel & Museum Dewey Hotel Museum 810 N Delaware St., Dewey

The Folk Legacy Trio sings the songs of the great Folk Era from the ‘50s through the mid-70s, including songs from The Weavers, The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters, Peter Paul & Mary, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, and many others. The Folk Legacy Trio are George Grove, formerly with the Kingston Trio for 41 years, Rick Dougherty, former member of the Limeliters and Kingston Trio for 25 years and Jerry Siggins, former lead singer of the legendary doo-wop group The Diamonds for 27 years.

They will go over some of the hotel’s unique histories and take a lantern guided small group tour. You will go into some of the rooms, usually blocked off access to guests. Tours are held every Saturday.

Chamber After Hours

Sun, Oct 3

Chinowth & Cohen Realtors 3061 SE Washington Blvd.

1 PM

4th Annual Celebration & Wedding Showcase

8:30 PM

Live music with The Smith Brothers

Thu, Oct 7

Thu, Oct 14 6 PM

Women’s Ranch Rodeo Association World Finals Rodeo Kickoff Party The Constantine Theater 110 W Main St., Pawhuska 8:30 AM

Chasin’ Bacon Bville 5K Bartlesville High School 1700 Hillcrest Dr. Come out and enjoy the day with us, have fun, exercise, and spend some quality time with your local first responders! The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge # 117 is organizing this 5K run and 1-mile fun run.

Fri, Oct 15 8 AM

Women’s Ranch Rodeo Association World Finals Rodeo Osage County Fairgrounds 320 Skyline Dr., Pawhuska The rodeo runs Friday & Saturday, 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. on both days.

4 PM

Fri, Oct 8

Timber Oaks Wedding & Event Center 1639 US-60 KWON KYFM KRIG KPGM will be hosting their 4th Annual Celebration and Wedding Showcase featuring small businesses. Enjoy browsing booths featuring a wide variety of services and products you need to make your event the best it can be. Register for door prizes from participating businesses, including a $100 shopping spree courtesy of KWON KYFM KRIG KPGM. Admission is free.

Mon, Oct 4 5:30 PM

Free Spanish Class Bartlesville Public Library 600 S Johnstone Ave. A free spanish class is offered every Monday, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on the second floor of the library in the Literacy Services office. Call 918-338-4179 for more info.

6:30 PM

Celebrate Recovery Grace Community Church 1500 King Dr. Looking for a safe place to find healing in your life? Your not alone! Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered, 12-step program for anyone with any hurt, habit, and hang-up of any kind! Join us every Monday night at 6:30pm-8:30pm. We have programs for adults, teens, and kids.

10 AM

SASS Cowboy Shoot Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd. Are you looking for a Cowboy shoot the way they used to be? Join us down at Mountain Man Camp as we host the 2021 Pursuit into the Osage Nation SASS event.

There is no additional admittance fee, and guests are welcome to watch the activities. The event runs through Sunday.

9 PM

Live music with Let it Ride Cherokee Casino – Ramona 31501 US 75, Ramona

10 AM

1 PM

Gathering at the Roc Car Show

Bartlesville Pickleball Fall Classic

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

Hillcrest Country Club 1901 Price Rd.

Mark your calendars and head to Woolaroc to see 250 of the nation’s most beautiful hot rods! All spectators are welcome. Cost is $14 for adults, and children 12-under are free.

Mix’n It Up Under the Stars fundraiser for Tom Mix Museum

10 AM

Dewey Flea Market Washington County Fairgrounds 1109 N Delaware St., Dewey 7:30 PM

The Mark Wood Experience presented by BSO Bartlesville Community Center 300 SE Adams Blvd.

Groundbreaking electric violinist Mark Wood joins the BSO for an unforgettable night of original music, rock classics and even Classical classics! An original member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, this Juilliard-trained violinist is joined by wife and vocalist Laura Kaye as they bring to Bartlesville power, flash, and excitement.

Eastland Center • 918-335-2940 32

bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

5:30 PM

Timber Oaks Event Center 1639 US Hwy 60 The event will feature Belinda Gail, "America's Country Sweetheart." Timber Oaks is located approximately three miles west of downtown Bartlesville at 1639 U.S. Highway 60 West. Gates for the fundraiser will open at 5 p.m. Chuckwagon BBQ and Fixin's will be served from 5:30-7 p.m. A silent auction and live auction will take place during the event as well. Dancing will take place from 8-11 p.m. For more information, or to purchase tickets, contact Fawn Lassiter, at the museum, at 918.534.1555. The Tom Mix Museum is located at 721 N. Delaware Street.

EVENTS CALENDAR 7 PM

2 PM

2nd Annual Platinum Smoke-Off BBQ Contest

40th Annual Run the Streets Woolaroc

On Johnstone between Frank Phillips Blvd. & 5th St.

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

This event is a charity fundraiser and a portion of the proceeds will go to ARF and Agape Mission. There is a $25 entry fee, $10 to sample food. BBQ contest begins Friday night at 8pm and ends Saturday at 5 pm. The public can buy wrist bands which will allow you to sample the contestants food. There will be a concert on the street, a dog parade, and a cornhole tournament on Saturday at 11 a.m.. There will be vendor booths from local businesses and civic organizations.

A fundraiser for Run the Streets, a mentoring/running program created by Bob Williams in 2009. Its mission is to challenge at-risk youth to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life changing experience; the training for and competition of a half marathon. The program is provided at no cost to our youth runners.

Sat, Oct 16 8 AM

Bartlesville Farmers Market Frank Phillips Park 222 SW Frank Phillips Blvd.

This is the final Farmers Market of the season.

10 AM

Howl-O-Ween Family Festival Tower Center at Unity Square 300 SE Adams Blvd.

Bring your dogs for a fun day to celebrate Howl-O-Ween!

Bingo Fundraiser to Benefit The Journey Home Washington County Fairgrounds 1109 N Delaware St., Dewey At 5 p.m. there will be 50/50 mini bingo for $1. Regular bingo begins at 6 p.m. Cost is $10 per packet, and concessions will also be available.

9 AM 7 PM

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Copan Model Airpark West 620 Drive, Copan

Constantine Theater 110 W Main St.

Bartlesville Community Center 300 SE Adams Blvd.

Bank of Oklahoma is a sponsor of this Halloween Masquerade Ball FUNdraiser.

Enjoy a Spooky night of Fun, Food & Wine while you Monster Mash the night away to the sounds of Zodiac. Featuring a full Taco Bar and a Scrumptious Dessert Grazing Table. Auction items and a Live Auction to help the Educational Programs that the BSO provides to the Bartlesville community.

Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Timber Oaks Event Venue 1639 US-60 Fundraiser for the room Daybreak wants to sponsor in the new school in Afghanistan. Casino night. Tickets are $50 per person. A Deputy Sponsor (2 tickets) is $150 and a Sheriff Sponsor (4 tickets) is $250.

8:30 PM

Live music with The Smith Brothers Platinum Cigar Company 314 S Johnstone Ave.

Sat, Oct 30 12 PM

Reformation Fest Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church 801 SE Washington Blvd.

Sun, Oct 31

HaPpy HaLlowEen

Hilton Garden Inn 205 SW Frank Phillips Blvd..

The Bartlesville Sports Commission established the Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame to honor athletes, coaches, teams and individuals who have made a lasting contribution to athletics and athletic endeavors in the Bartlesville area. In doing so, we are recognizing not only the worthy inductees but also the value of athletics to quality education, personal enrichment, family values, community, and professional success. For tickets please call 918-213-9334 or online at www.bartlesvillesports.net.

Tallgrass Music Festival Skiatook Sports Complex 2907 133rd St. North The Tallgrass Music Festival is Skiatook’s signature event, bringing you the best of Bluegrass in the heart of Osage County.

10 AM

The Woolaroc Retrospective Exhibit & Sale Opening Weekend

Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve is proud to announce its upcoming art exhibition, The Woolaroc Retrospective Exhibit & Sale, opening October 16, 2021, and continuing through December 31, 2021. The opening weekend activities include lectures & demonstration at 10 a.m., lunch at the lodge at 12 p.m. a lecture at 2 p.m. Cocktail reception & sale at 5 p.m., and the artist & sponsor dinner at 7:30 p.m. Sunday brunch will be held on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Frank Phillips Home. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit woolaroc.org.

BSO Masquerade Ball

6 PM

Sat, Oct 23

10 AM

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

6:30 PM

Afghan We Can 2.0

5 PM

5 PM

Bartlesville Falcon Model Club Fun Fly

Landing fee is by donation and concessions will be provided. Camping is available, however there are no water or electric hook ups. There is a portable bathroom on site.

Fri, Oct 29

Wed, Oct 27

1PM

BooFest

7:30 PM

Sooner Park “BOOFest” intends to provide a 1 day fun, family friendly celebration with a Halloween twist that all attendees can safely enjoy. Some activities include: outdoor movie under the stars, Monster Mash family dance contest, family-friendly spooky walk, trunk-or-treat, family/friends costume contest, other various youth & family related activities.

The Janoska Ensemble Bartlesville Community Center 300 SE Adams Blvd.

Musical passion - that nicely sums up the spirit of the “Janoska Style,” with which the Janoska Ensemble has shot to international fame in no time. At each performance the four artists dazzle their audience with their music and their vast reserves of creative energy.

With the continuing rise in COVID-19 Delta Variant cases in and around Washington County, it is possible events may be cancelled or postponed. If you have questions about any particular events you may be interested in attending, please check with the individual event coordinators or venues to verify the event is still happening or for more scheduling information.

“Friendly dealers, great showroom and vehicles, very accommodating. Really appreciate being called by name.” — Matt from Wichita, KS

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

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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Bartlesville’s preferred mortgage lender • In-house processing and underwriting • Close on time, every time • Large variety of loan options • Over 150 years of combined experience

Proud sponsor of Bruin Athletics Becki Gailey, NMLS # 993347 Sr. Mortgage Consultant bgailey@stridebank.com 1740 SE Washington Blvd Bartlesville, OK 74006 T: 918-331-2907 | C: 918-698-5039 stridemortgage.com/bgailey

This is not an offer of credit or commitment to lend. All mortgage loans are subject to credit approval.

Closing guarantee is based on the closing date provided in the original sales contract. This guarantee is only available on purchase mortgage loans with closing dates set for a minimum of 30 days after the original purchase contract is signed. Required supporting documentation must be provided no less than two (2) business days after application receipt. Closing guarantee is not applicable if: A. Borrower changes loan products or terms, B. Closing is delayed due to the seller’s failure to close on time, C. Borrower fails to meet contract requirements, D. Closing is delayed due to a third party requirement, including but not limited to appraisal and inspection, E. Closing date is not included in the contract, F. Closing is delayed due to inclement weather or natural disaster or G. The loan documentation or application contains fraudulent information.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Becki Gailey Longtime Local Resident Joins Stride Mortgage Team

by Lori Just If you are looking to buy a house, you might see a new — yet familiar — face at Stride Mortgage, a division of Stride Bank. In August, Becki Gailey joined the Stride Team as the senior mortgage consultant after transitioning from a previous local employer.

She has more than 14 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

"I love helping people make one of the biggest financial decisions of their life," said Gailey. “My favorite part of my role is creating relationships within the community, building trust, and simply making the mortgage-buying process seamless every step of the way."

Transplanted to Bartlesville in 2007 from Fort Worth, Texas, Gailey met her husband locally and now has two boys, Ethan, 16, and Trevor, 13. "You'll always find us doing something outside," Gailey said about her family. "My boys both ride dirt bikes, and our favorite thing to do is camping and riding trails together. We love exploring our town and the great state of Oklahoma.”

When Gailey is not busy helping clients find their dream homes or spending time with her family, you can find her working in her garden. She added that there is something about playing in the dirt, nurturing plants, and seeing the transformation that is satisfying.

"I am very excited to be a part of the Stride Mortgage team," said Gailey. "I believe Stride has a great business model and a talented team that uniquely positions itself to provide the best mortgage products in the industry while continuing to serve our communities with traditional financial services that put people first."

Stride Mortgage understands a home purchase is one of the most significant investments you will ever make and they are with you every step of the journey. If you are in the market or just thinking about buying a home, they can help. You can apply securely through their website at stridemortgage.com/bgailey or call Gailey at 918-698-5039.

About Stride Bank Founded in 1913, Stride Bank is an Oklahoma-based financial institution. Offering a full range of financial services such as consumer and commercial banking, mortgage, wealth management and treasury management, we have also developed and currently manage highly specialized payment solutions for several national fintech companies. While we are unwavering

in our pursuit to continue innovating and offering new financial solutions, we will always remain loyal to our community banking roots in Oklahoma. We have locations throughout Oklahoma, Texas, South Dakota, and Utah. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Learn more at stridebank.com.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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CAREER READY I N

U N D E R

O N E

Y E A R

EVENING CL ASSES Our Flex programs are one or two nights a week and possibly some Saturdays. Most are completed in just one school year.

FINANCIAL BOOST Our graduates earn on average $19.63 an hour. Last year, 100% of our students graduated with zero student debt.

VISIT TRICOU NT Y TECH . EDU AND APPLY TODAY. TRI COUNT Y TECH | 6101 NOWATA ROAD, BARTLESVILLE, OK | 918 . 331. 3333 There will be no discrimination in the technology center because of race, color, sex, pregnancy, gender, gender expression or identity, national origin, religion, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, age, or genetic information in its programs, services, activities and employment. The following individual is designated to handle inquiries regarding the technology center’s non-discrimination policies, including Title IX: Tara Stevens, Director of HR & Compliance Officer | 6101 Nowata Road, Bartlesville, OK 74006 | 918-331-3248 | Tara.Stevens@TriCountyTech.edu. According to the State of Oklahoma Sex Offenders Registration Act, registered sex offenders must self-disclose their status before admissions. View our privacy policy: TriCountyTech.edu/Privacy-Policy. View our full non-discrimination policy: Bit.ly/NonDiscrimination-Policy. Title IX Training provided by: OSSBA Workshop Resources: Bit.ly/TitleIX-Policy.

A GOOD WORD

What a Year!

Struggles of 2020 Turned Into Victories for Cancer Survivor

by Lisa Cooper I feel like I can speak for everyone when I say 2020 was a year of trials. Last year was particularly rough for my family. We were trying to navigate the new COVID “normal”, a death in the family, loss of a job, and a family member going through cancer treatment. Then a few days after my 31st birthday I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This seems like a lot of negative, but I am writing this to give glory to God. In all the chaos of life, came peace through Him. My cancer diagnosis came as a shock to myself and many others. I had just turned 31, had no close family history of breast cancer, and was overall an active and healthy person. Cancer does not discriminate! Despite my yearly check-ups coming back normal, I was feeling really worn out and had noticed some changes. I kept feeling a nudge saying “go to the doctor again,” and so I did. My doctor saw me the day after my birthday, and had me scheduled for a mammogram by the next Tuesday. Things seemed to be moving quickly! While getting my mammogram, they did not like what they were seeing and wanted to do a biopsy right then and there. By that Thursday, I received a phone call telling me I had cancer. While this was jarring news, I found myself at peace. God had already spoken into my heart that it was going to be okay, that I was okay!

I had seen my mother-in-law battling her rare cancer diagnoses with love and support from God, and knew that was exactly how I wanted my journey to be. God had shown me his power while my dad made it through his Leukemia treatment two times. “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord your God is with you.” — Joshua 1:9. I put every medical decision into God’s hand and prayed over them.

The doctors wanted to do a mastectomy first, then decide if chemotherapy or radiation was needed. By mid-October, I went ahead and had a double mastectomy.

They found the cancer had not spread and I would not need radiation!

However, I would need to have chemo.

The things that scared me the most were losing my hair, and how miserable and sick I would feel.

God came through it all with me though! I only needed four rounds of chemo.

After my 1st round of chemo, the Monday after Christmas, I did lose all my hair. Through this experience, being the dead of winter, I learned to rock beanies, and the bald look! I did manage to get COVID the same time as my 1st round of chemo. It was a blessing in disguise to lose my sense of smell, as chemo had made every smell nauseating. The other rounds all went smoothly, with the worst side effect being fatigue.

After a whirlwind of about six months, I am now cancer free and have been baptized! I am continuing on in my preventive care and cancer support activities at Hopestone. God is so good!

I am beyond grateful for all the love and support not only from God, but my husband, family and friends, Hopestone, church, my work, and all of those praying over us. I cannot imagine going through this past year without any of you. “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experiences.”— 1 Peter 4:12.

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OUT & ABOUT

WOOLAROC WELCOME CENTER

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OUT & ABOUT

SKATE PARK ACTION

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OUT & ABOUT

FREEDOM FIRE

LEAD AIN’T DEAD

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FROM THE HEART

March to Your Own Beat High School Band Taught a Valuable Lesson About Life

by Lori Kroh As I round the corner of the stadium at the high school, I hear the band practicing and all the sounds of harmony — and even some discord — and watch them do their formations.

I listen to the drumline and feel this nostalgia come over me. It is a rite of passage to go through band as a Bruin. The songs and the presentation of performance may have changed, and I wonder if there is anyone who is faking it till they are making it?

I know this because I was once that member who was all dressed in the band regalia, had the instrument, and never learned one song. I even marched out of step, much to Mr. Rollins’ dismay. He had his megaphone and would come right up to me and say, “Left Right Left. Left Right Left!! No! No! NO!” He would sputter into the megaphone … “Your other left!”

As I would do my best and work to stay up with the others, I would secretly pray that he would march away and not hear me when it came time to play. I was having too much fun with all my friends in band. And in full disclosure, the trumpet case was too heavy for me to carry home each day and practice. I made a decision to leave the trumpet there in the band lockers and never take it home. Since I walked home I couldn’t carry my books, hold my Walkman, and carry the trumpet case too. I took the road less traveled, the easy way, the path of least resistance. I’m not bragging, I’m admitting. The uniform, the camaraderie, and all the fun before and during the games created an atmosphere for me to be me. If there was a prize for participation, then I won. If there was a trophy for goofing off — then award it. I was more concerned about the weather

affecting my feathered bangs than if my valves were sticking.

My friends have asked me, why did I choose trumpet? Well, it wasn’t my choice.

My Dad was a gifted trumpet player, and when it came time to choose an instrument and I wanted the flute, he said, “No way. You’re playing the trumpet,” and that was it. I believe he had big dreams for me.

He gave me his from high school. It was brass and shiny and had mother of pearl valves. It was his favorite trumpet and I even had his original case that I left in the band locker each night. No need to ruin it due to transporting it home each day, or so I thought.

Some people have the talent and some have a gift. I had neither. I did learn the scales and notes and even F sharp, E flat, and G. All I can say is that one day we had a pop quiz in music class and Mr. Rollins went one by one down the trumpet line and had us play. I quickly straightened up in my chair and realized that how the boys were playing the song sure seemed different to me than the notes on the little square of music. Most of the boys even tapped their foot before they started to play, as if it were a

metrodome. Hmmmmmm. I will try that too, I thought. As each boy played the song and ended, Mr. Rollins would nod and proceed to the next. I was starting to feel the pressure and squirm in my chair.

This would be the first time I really ever attempted the entire song and I made sure to look serious because I wanted to pass this pop quiz. The time came for me to play and I got my foot going. Oooops.

Let me start again. One. Two. Three. Four. and a One. Two. Three. Four. Or are we doing eight counts? Oh well. It’s now or never. Better give it my best ... these thoughts raced inside of my head and my heart beat faster. I played the song and Mr. Rollins never stopped me until I was almost done. His face when I put my trumpet down was one of dismay, disdain, and dismissal. He stared at me and said, “F.” I shrank back in my seat. He then said, “Wolkins! If you gave your efforts towards band as much as you give talking, then you would have an A+!” The entire room erupted in laughter and I knew then that some have a talent and some have a gift and the best thing in life is to find yours in whatever you do.

March to the beat of your drum — even if it’s your other left.

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Paths to Independence Local School for Autistic Students Changing Lives

by Kyle Ppool Imagine, if you can, not being able to communicate with your child verbally. Think about living with a crippling fear for your child when they head off to school because they don’t understand social interaction. For parents of children with autism, this is often their reality.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts the nervous system, and approximately 1-in-54 children born in the U.S. are diagnosed with ASD. The range and severity of symptoms varies, but common characteristics are problems communicating, difficulty with social interactions, obsessive interests, and repetitive behaviors.

For parents of these children, the task of figuring out how to best help is daunting. Thankfully for Bartlesville and our surrounding communities, we have a hidden gem in Paths to Independence.

Paths to Independence is the incredible labor of love founded

by Jean Jensen and Clair Bartley. Jensen’s son, Kieffer, was diagnosed with Autism at age two, and after some time in the public school setting, he was struggling. Jean found Clair and they decided that something had to be done. As a public school teacher, Clair knew that Kieffer wasn’t the only one struggling.

Together they decided to design a school that was dedicated to the needs of kids and adults with autism.

In 2012, PTI started its first school year with two full-time students. It was located at 4041 Sheridan Road, which many Bartians would recognize as the old Swan Lake Preschool building. It didn’t take long for things to take off. In 2013 it became accredited to teach students ages 3-22, and parents became eligible for scholarships through the State Department of Education. The enrollment would grow quickly. In 2014, there were 30 students and PTI had its first high school graduation. Over the years, grants and private donations have assisted in offsetting costs associated with the school. In 2016, PTI held its first Dancing with the Bartlesville Stars event, which has gone on to be an annual

Jean Jensen, Kieffer Jensen, and Clair Bartley.

success as a fundraiser for the school. The 2021 DWTBS event will be held November 20th.

As growth continued, it became evident a larger building was needed. In 2017, PTI began renting the former Will Rogers School building from Bartlesville Public Schools. That year, enrollment jumped to 57 students. In 2019, Paths to Independence purchased the building from the school district and began planning for the future. PTI’s board knew the building needed many upgrades, the biggest being the addition of a cafeteria space. A major fundraising campaign was launched. Initial donations came in from numerous individuals, foundations, and organizations.

This summer, a $726,000 challenge grant was awarded by the Mabee Foundation. In order to meet the challenge, PTI must raise the remaining funds by July 13, 2022.

On September 21, PTI publically launched its $5.75 million Champion Campaign. This bold campaign has already raised $3 million for construction, renovation, annual operations, and endowment to assure the school will be able to serve future generations. The campaign has passed the half-way mark, but still has a long way to go still. Now, the greater community is invited to join in and make this inspiring dream come true!

Imagine knowing all the things you once thought impossible for your child are now possible. Imagine not having the same fear and anxiety you once did because you now have a school where your child can flourish like never before. This is what Paths to Independence provides: a place where people with autism are treated with excellence, dignity, love, and respect. And with Bartlesville’s support, we can preserve PTI’s legacy for years to come.

For more information about PTI, their Champion Campaign, or Dancing with the Bartlesville Stars, please contact Clair Bartley at (918) 337-6231.

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Paul Moore, On the Chisholm Trail, 1993, bronze, 21.5 x 57.25 x 13.5 in. Collection of the artist

Sherrie McGraw, The Playthings of Time, 2017, oil, 30 x 28 in.

Collection of Laurence and Cindy Burns

Josh Elliott, Vermilion Variety, 2015, oil, 40 x 40 in.

Collection of Jane and Steve Hipp

BILL ACHEFF • SCOTT L. CHRISTENSEN JOSH ELLIOTT • SHERRIE MCGRAW PAUL MOORE • JOHN MOYERS PEREGRINE O’GORMLEY GRANT REDDEN • MATT SMITH

OCTOBER 16, 2021 Exhibition on display through Dec. 31, 2021

WESTERN HERITAGE

Better than Ever!

The Woolaroc Retrospective Exhibit & Sale Opens in Oct. The Woolaroc Retrospective Exhibit and Sale is back, and better than ever.

What makes this show unique not only to the surrounding areas but nationally, is that it is rare to find a joint retrospective for multiple artists that is paired with the selling of new artwork.

This year, opening on October 16, The Woolaroc will be the fifth national show hosted by Woolaroc. What began as an idea in the early 2000s by Dr. Dean Zervas (co-director of all the shows) has come to fruition thanks to many different people.

“First of all, Dean’s contacts within the art world, specifically western art, allowed us an audience to present our idea,” said Woolaroc CEO Bob Fraser. “Convincing world-famous artists to bring their talents to a place they had never heard of in the corner of Oklahoma was our first obstacle to overcome. And again, Dean’s contacts with artists, galleries, and collectors in Los Angeles, Jackson Hole, Taos, and elsewhere gave us a seat at the table that would have been impossible otherwise.”

Over the course of the last eight years, Woolaroc has brought in nationallyrenowned artists that are highly regarded in their field. These artists left Woolaroc and became great advocates, telling other artists that if they ever get the chance, they should jump at the opportunity to participate in the Woolaroc art show.

What can the public expect at this year’s show? Zervas, along with the Woolaroc staff, have put together another

star-filled group of artists: Paul Moore (sculptor), Matt Smith (painter), Scott L. Christensen (painter), Peregrine O’Gormley (sculptor), Josh Elliott (painter), William Acheff (painter), Sherrie McGraw (painter), John Moyers (painter), and Grant Redden (painter). Each artist is bringing 10 retrospective pieces along with five to 15 sale pieces. Artwork will

depict nature, western landscapes, still life, and Native American culture. Kaci Fouts, chief marketing director for Woolaroc, commented “The energy and excitement that these shows have generated locally and across the country is terrific, and our staff is proud to host such a talented group of artists. We are especially excited to be bringing in two native Oklahomans, Paul Moore and Sherrie McGraw, to be part of this year’s exhibit.”

Opening weekend includes an artist & patron dinner, a luncheon at the lodge, two lecture presentations by Sherrie McGraw and Paul Moore, and the exhibit & sale in the museum the evening of October 16. Sponsorships and individual tickets are available by going to www.woolaroc.org.

The artwork will be on exhibit at Woolaroc through December 31, 2021.

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NOW YOU KNOW SPONSOR

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NOW YOU KNOW

The Misunderstood Swastika

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

As the result of a park bond election on August 31, 1915, the City of Bartlesville was able to purchase park land from the families of early Bartlesville pioneers on January 13, 1916. Lucy Armstrong whose father was Arthur Armstrong, sold 16 acres; Nellie Johnstone Cannon whose father was William Johnstone, sold 40 acres; and Joseph Bartles whose father was Jacob Bartles, recognized as the founder of Bartlesville and Dewey, gifted additional land toward the park effort.

Johnstone Park has been a community staple hosting a varied list of events including picnic socials, seasonal festivities and religious services resulting in Caney River baptisms. The meandering drive following the west bank of the Caney River is lush with walnut trees and scurrying squirrels. Entering Johnstone Park, you are greeted by a childhood favorite…the Kiddie Park, followed by the Landmark Preservation Council’s refurbished Hulah Depot, the Burbank Oil Fire Fighting Cannon, Oklahoma’s First Commercial Oil Well…the Nellie Johnstone and then cross the swastika embellished bridge to reach the north loop of the park.

The Johnstone Park bridge, with swastikas on the columns.

patrick was the City Engineer from 1911-1925 and his March 1920 drawings detail the specifications for the auto traffic bridge Understandably, the swastika creates a broad range of emorequiring 94 cubic yards of tional responses; so, perhaps “May the four winds from the four corners of the heavens, ever Portland cement with sixteen a brief history lesson will ease upon you gently blow.”

Native American good luck your concerns. swastikas and water blessing symbols deeply recessed.

Osage Nation Minerals Council Chairman, Everett Waller says, The Dewey Portand Cement Company was well versed in cre“There was much Native American influence in embellishing the ating concrete molds as H.V. Foster had Johnstone Park Bridge with the swastika concrete quail, Don Tyler had a molded bull and the symbol of good luck for centuries and the Dewey Portland Company logo was is covered by symbols of water blessings imprinted in cement. and prayers.”

Originally, the northern part of Johnstone Park was only reachable by a rustic wooden pedestrian bridge. Then in 1917, Park Superintendent William Trautman built a wooden wagon bridge for better picnic area access. As park improvements were made, the dirt park roads were paved and the wagon bridge was replaced with a Dewey Portland Cement bridge in 1920.

Details of the decorative embellishments have eluded history books and area newspapers. However, Ernest Dewar Kirk48

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One of the earliest historical appearances of the swastika symbol was at the ruins of Troy in the fourteenth century, B.C. Then, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found swastikas during his archaeological excavation in 1870. Swastika symbols have been found in China, India, Greece, Israel and literally around the world, and remain widely used in Indian religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism as a symbol of divinity and spirituality.

NOW YOU KNOW Fast forward several centuries and the swastika or “Whirling Log of Life” became a deeply rooted symbol of good luck, good fortune, well-being and welfare for many Native American tribes.

Across the globe the swastika has been found carved upon rocks in the mountains of India and painted upon canyon walls in Arizona. In 1909, Osage Chief Peter Bigheart wore a swastika lapel pin as part of his traditional clothing. The symbol has been seen on American Indian blankets and pottery, in books, beadwork, basketry and artwork. In addition, Dewey Roundup (1908-1949) contestants had the indigenous symbol woven into their Pendleton saddle blankets. In 1925, “Coca Cola used the swastika as a sales slogan, the Boy Scouts adopted the symbol, and the Girls’ Club of America called their magazine Swastika and sent swastika tokens to young readers as prizes for selling copies of the magazine.”

Established in 1923, the 45th Infantry Division was a unit of the National Guard comprised of over 5,000 men from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Due to the large population of indigenous people living within the four representative states, an exceptionally large percentage of the National Guard’s 45th Infantry Division were of Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, Apache, Sioux, Kiowa, Pawnee, Comanche, Osage, Creek and Navajo decent. In honor of the strong Native American heritage held by the Guard members, their left shoulder insignia was a diamond shaped red patch with a yellow swastika in the center…a symbol reflective of their diverse cultures that celebrated a common theme…good luck.

That all ceased in the 1930s…President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “This generation has a rendezvous with destiny.” No truer words have been spoken.

Germany’s National Socialist Party adopted the swastika as its symbol in 1920, tilting the symbol at a 45 degree angle, standing on its point, while the Native American swastika sits flat in optional left-right directions.

Once revered as the oldest cross in the world, the Nazi regime was able to bring a negative connotation to the once positive symbolism and it became forever tarnished. In 1939, the 45th Infantry Division retired the swastika from their uniforms and replaced it with a thunderbird, another Native American cultural symbol. The unit then became known as the “Thunderbirds.”

PETER BIGHEART

Evil has a way of worming its way into society and destroying centuries of peace and prosperity. Although the roots of the swastika were traditional and genuinely good, the symbol has been irreversibly desecrated by Nazi anti-Semitic ideology. By the 1940s, the swastika represented a symbol of fear, suppression, death and hate leading some American tribes to eliminate the use of the swastika symbol in their own expressive artwork. The multi-cultural symbol of good luck and positivity has been squashed by negativism and the propaganda of war resulting in a tragic cultural theft that reshaped world history.

We hope this history of the swastika has enlightened your world and given less power to the evil and more to your peace.

May your next Johnstone Park visit bring you positive thoughts.

Did You Know?

Near Hominy, the original Carter home, which is now a Drummond home, was also embellished with Native American good luck swastikas. In Konawa, OK, the Works Progress Administrations (WPA) funded National Guard Armory was embellished with a Native American swastika on each side of the entrance. The armory is home of the 179th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division. And, in Yuma, AZ, the U.S. Reclamation Service, later known as the Bureau of Reclamation, constructed a bridge embellished with swastikas at the Laguna Dam, on the Colorado River.

Now You Know*

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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LOOKING BACK

The Bartlesville Mausoleum now, on the left, and the mausoleum after repairs in the 1960s on the right.

Bartles Mausoleum Empire-Builder’s Final Resting Place Over the Years

by Kay Little, Little History Adventures A section of the trail to Caney, Kansas from the new town of Dewey became the Dewey Cemetery in the early 1900s. Before it was named, there were a little over 50 graves, the first one belonging to George Dewey Dickey, a week old baby, in 1899. This was the year Jacob Bartles left the settlement just north of Bartlesville and moved his store north to a wheat field he owned.

Jacob named it Dewey. While the store was being moved, Jacob and his wife, Nannie, moved in to the Dewey Hotel, which he was having built. He had the store moved across the street from the hotel, on the land where Tom Mix Museum sits now.

Jacob’s building burned in the 1950’s.

Dewey grew fast, incorporating in 1905. Every year, Jacob would host a reunion for all his Civil War buddies, which he started while living by his mill on the Caney River. These became very large parties and eventually became the Dewey Roundup, led by Jacob’s son, Joe. Jacob’s last reunion was in 1908. Unfortunately, Jacob Bartles became sick with Bright’s Disease and died on October 18, 1908. The funeral was held in the church named for his father-in-law — Journeycake Memorial Baptist Church, founded by Nannie — and is now the Dewey First Baptist Church.

Jacob knew he was dying and hired William Ryus to build a mausoleum in the Dewey Cemetery.

When Jacob died, the mausoleum was not finished, so the body was buried in the ground. When the mausoleum was finished a month later, the body of Jacob

Bartles was removed from the temporary casket and placed in a new one and then interred in the newly-built mausoleum, which is located on the north side of the cemetery.

Joe helped organize a cemetery association in 1910 to take care of the cemetery, and by 1921 the city of Dewey took over the care. Joe did not want to be buried in the mausoleum. He wanted the local coroner, John McCallister, to have his body cremated and then have Billy Parker spread the ashes from a plane, from the Caney River to Blue Mound. When Joe died on February 3, 1956, the McCallister Funeral Home was no longer in business, so his body was buried with his parents and his four children in the family mausoleum.

During the 1960s, some Dewey citizens became concerned about the crumbling mausoleum of their revered founder. They were able to persuade the city council and a few members of the Bartles family to work together to repair the mausoleum and to plant shrubs around it.

They hired Bartlesville architect Millard Buck to design the remodel. There have been moves in the past few years to restore the mausoleum again because it seems to be in need of repairs.

Jacob Bartles was one of the best-known eccentric pioneers of Kansas and Oklahoma and it would be a shame to allow the family mausoleum to be in disrepair. Jacob, Nannie, and Joe have all had a profound influence in Washington County.

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TRIBUTE

Dr. Charlie Clinkenbeard Former Veterinarian Left a Legacy of Love & Laughter

by Maria Gus Dr. Charles “Charlie” Clinkenbeard was a beloved family man, veterinarian, coach, and friend. Bartlesville lost Dr. Clinkenbeard in August of 2021, but he has left a legacy of love and laughter.

Dr. Clinkenbeard’s wife, Carol, married him in Topeka, Kansas in 1964. Soon, they moved to Bartlesville, where he owned and operated the Clinkenbeard Veterinarian Clinic. Of course, Dr. Clinkenbeard loved animals, but he also relished his family time. He worked hard on his ranch and enjoyed coaching — not only his own children but countless others — in football, softball, and basketball. He was a longtime member of First Wesleyan Church and he lived his faith by the way he treated those around him.

Granddaughter Abby fondly remembered the way he treated all animals. “I especially remember the donkey he used to have and how he would scratch the donkey's ears. Combined with his sense of humor and unique laugh, he had an amazing heart toward animals as well as people.”

player, Corey Rogers, echoed those sentiments, simply stating, “he is my hero.”

Former employee Sheila King remembered Dr. Clinkenbeard for his love of animals, his support of his employees, and his pride in his wagons and buggies.

“He seemed to enjoy practical jokes most

of all,” said King. She remembered he could never keep a straight face and always gave himself away with his giggles.

One thing Dr. Clinkenbeard always made time for was prayer. He prayed for his family, he prayed with his staff, and he prayed for animals, even when their owners weren’t there. He believed in the quiet strength of prayer and shared it with everyone he could.

Many of his former employees and student-athletes had fond memories to share A daddy’s love is the warmth of the sun even on a cloudy day of Dr. Clinkenbeard. He A daddy’s love is the smell of hay tickling your nose often went above and A daddy’s love the sound of rain even in a sunny day beyond in all his interA daddy’s love is the ice cream cone that never melts actions with people.

A daddy’s love is the athlete who wins every time Many times he would A daddy’s love is the bedtime story anticipated the moment you wake up pick up players and take them home, A daddy’s love is pretending you are asleep in his lap so he will carry you to bed ensuring no one A daddy’s love is being awakened the late nights to ride along on a veterinarian missed a practice call to be his helper only to sleep the entire ride because they didn’t A daddy’s love is frantically searching the stands before a game to find your have a ride. number one fan right before the game starts A daddy’s love is being able to make popcorn balls in your sleep “I have so many A daddy’s love is his Bible opening to the exact verse he prayed over us everyday memories and stories A daddy’s love is praying for those 2 inches of snow so he can pull us sledding to tell,” said Angelic behind his truck and hitting every frozen cow pile Glen, a former player A daddy’s love fills our hearts full of love to carry us through the challenging days for Coach ClinkenA daddy’s love says don’t give up try again beard. “He taught us A daddy’s love is always being his little girl that we all are a big — A daddy’s love is like no other - by daughter Cheryl Clinkenbeard family that need each other.” Another former

Quiet strength, a giggle, encouragement.

All of these things defined Dr. Clinkenbeard. All of his grandchildren had fond memories to share of the happiness that he brought them, and his joy was his lovely wife.

He loved Carol dearly and he gave his family and community a beautiful legacy of faith, encouragement, and giggles.

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bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

HEALTHY LIVING

Juice it Up! Local Juice Company Offers Delicious, Healthy Options

by Delaney Williams If you have health goals, then the Local Juice Company on Second Street has you covered.

The Local Juice Company has been a part of the Bartlesville community since November 2019. The business was inspired by a scary time in the life of owners Meghan and Travis Yoder. “I was in a health crisis,” said Meghan. “I turned to juice fasting to flood my body with fruits and veggies in the most digestible way — while also praying for healing.”

Meghan’s health turned around and the couple decided to open a juice shop to help others reap the benefits of fresh-pressed juice.

Fresh juice has many health benefits. It is the easiest way to ingest nutrients from fresh produce. Fresh juice is extremely alkaline and can help with weight loss and blood sugar regulation. It can curb your appetite, is low in calories, and can help with sugar cravings. It contains the full vitamin and mineral profile of the fruits and veggies found in it. The Local Juice Company’s juices are rich in vitamin A, C, and E, potassium, magnesium, selenium, and zinc.

They don’t take any shortcuts on their juice. Heat treating or adding preservatives can make the juice last longer, but diminishes the health benefits of the juice. Meghan and Travis want you to be able to taste and feel the difference between their products and juices you would find on the shelf at the grocery store, so they make their juice fresh every day.

The Local Juice Company is a family-run business. Travis and Meghan came to Bartlesville in 2017 with plans to only live here temporarily. They loved the community and they ended up staying so they could raise their family here. It is very important for them to be an active part of the community. “My husband and I are the owners and one of us is at the juicery every day.

We like to have those face-to-face conversa-

tions with our customers, getting to know who's coming in is really important to us. We appreciate our customers so much.

While our kids are a little too young to work at the juicery right now, we see them helping us more in the future if they'd like,” said Meghan.

The Local Juice Company offers a few different packages to make getting healthy easy. Their Weekly Habit program allows you to prepay for 3, 5, or 6 juices a week to get a discount of up to 15% on your purchase. They offer Juice Fast packages for 1, 2, or 3 days that are specially designed to be nourishing and easy, with specific juices for specific times of day to mimic healthy blood sugar levels. Their Juice Cleanses can help with bloat, constipation, dry skin, headaches, and fatigue.

You can find the Local Juice Company on Instagram at @localjuiceco_bartleville; on Facebook at localjuicecobartlesville; or their website, bartlesvillejuicery.com. Their social media and website have great information on the benefits of juice. Visit them today for a juice, smoothie bowl, or some chocolate energy bites at 119 W 2nd Street in downtown Bartlesville.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

55

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bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

OVERCOMERS

Bloomin’ Tails Pet Day Spa Two Women Turn Recovery Program into Business

by Lori Just In April 2019, Beau Jack, a then fouryear-old black lab, stole the hearts of the bmonthly judges and became the cover winner for that month’s issue. Beau Jack is owned by Parker Conway. During the photoshoot on 4S Ranch, Parker’s mother, Sandra Conway, was also in attendance. She shared with the magazine’s managing editors, Keith and Christy McPhail, her life story and goals of opening a pet grooming salon. Two years later, Sandra is making that a reality along with her friend, Micki McNutt.

“We met at Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility in 2015,” she shared. “We both had a 15-year sentence for trafficking methamphetamine. We were both part of the Guardian Angel Dog Program where we spent part of our incarnation learning to train dogs.”

During that time, Conway and McNutt became good friends despite their lives taking different turns during their incarceration. Micki served five years before making parole in 2019.

“Finding myself while in prison and building a relationship with God is where I got my direction,” McNutt said. “I also realized it’s best to deal with situations as they happen and it’s okay to express how I feel.”

Conway received a two-year judicial review during which Judge Delapp gave her a second chance at life. “After our release, we both ended up going through a recovery program in Tulsa called Muddy Paws that helps rehabilitate women,” Conway said.

“I graduated the program three years ago. Micki also graduated from the program and connected with me. We have now taken a huge step to open our own salon. We are both over 50 years old, and it’s the first time we’ve had a job that we are excited to go to work every day.”

Their new brightly-colored shop, Bloomin’ Tails Pet Day Spa, is located across the street from the old courthouse at 3rd & Delaware. They are currently working on a complete remodel with an opening date in early October and grand opening and ribbon cutting in November. Their full-service salon includes baths, haircuts, nail trims, buffing, tooth brushing, ear cleaning, and anal gland expressing. Specialty services are available for dogs with problem skin that includes medication, mud baths, and facials.

“Our product line is full of all-natural ingredients and essential oils,” said Conway. “It smells wonderful and leaves the dog’s fur amazing. We’ll also have a small retail side with collars, specialty snacks, and toys that you can’t get anywhere else.”

Conway, through contract work for the World Pet Association, has experience with trade shows and working alongside celebrity groomers. She has assisted in prepping pets before they go on stage.

While at these trade shows, she’s able to see new products as soon as they become available. She has become certified as an Advanced Professional Groomer. McNutt is currently a certified Pet Stylist and working on her International Professional Groomer certificate. She also took a class to become an AKC S.A.F.E groomer.

“We are setting up our salon as the first certified shop in Bartlesville,” Conway added. “We have many safety features in place for the animals, including electric tables that retract to the ground. These tables will be a game changer for not only our large breed dogs but also for our elderly dogs or those dogs with hip and back issues. They will no longer have to either jump up on the table or be lifted onto the table. This will significantly reduce the chance of pain and injury."

Conway said the dog program taught her a strong work ethic and responsibility that she didn’t have before. “I spent so many years lost in addiction and put everything else on the back burner — including my family,” she explained. “Through the dog program, I made choices to take care of those animals and it taught me work ethics and skills I never had as a stay-at-home mom. When that dog is on my table it’s fully in my hands, and I want them to have the best experience possible.”

Spoiling dogs of their own — Conway has a west highland terrier, Toby, and 10-month-old Tilly, a rottie poo; and McNutt has an almost two-year-old Shih Tzu and half Pekingese litter mates, Jace and Izzie — they both understand that their customers expect the best in care for their pets. “Pampering those puppies is what we do, and it’s therapy,” Conway said. “I enjoy taking care of those dogs and building relationships with clients.”

After becoming established, Conway and McNutt hope to expand services. They also want to work with programs to give back to local woman the same way they were given a second chance. “Addiction can hit anybody,” Conway said. “We want to help give others an opportunity to have a job they love and train them our way, so the dogs are getting the best possible care.

After hearing our story, we’ve had a lot of vendors in the community step up and help and it’s brought us to where we are today.

It’s amazing.”

Catch all the updates on Bloomin’ Tails Pet Day Spa on their Facebook page.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

57

Exciting October Events!

The

Mark Wood Experience Sat. Oct. 9, 7:30PM Groundbreaking electric violinist and original member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mark Wood, joins the BSO for an unforgettable night of music as he and his wife, Laura Kaye, bring to Bartlesville the same power, 昀ash, and excitement that has thrilled audiences around the world.

Masquerade Ball Sat. Oct. 23, 2021 OUTDOOR DINNER & DANCING WITH ZODIAC

BARTLESVILLESYMPHONY.ORG

THE ARTS

Healing Power of Music New Executive Director Has an Innovative Vision for BSO

by Lori Roll She answers the question thoughtfully, her hands waving slightly through the air as though trying to catch fragments of a song, her expressive eyes searching for the right words. A musician and the new executive director of the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra, Angela Carter was describing her goals for BSO’s presence in Bartlesville. “It can be said that a city of a certain caliber must have a symphony, and this community has certainly established itself as a cultural destination with its long history of supporting the arts. Attending live performances is an enjoyable form of entertainment and social engagement — it’s of great value, but it’s not the goal. What people know is that Maestro Lauren Green and BSO present concerts on stage in the Bartlesville Community Center, and honestly, hearing symphonic music in this amazing hall is a very different experience than anywhere else. But what’s equally important is bringing music out into the community; to public and unexpected places like schools, parks, health care facilities, and retirement centers, engaging and enriching people all the way through life with the comfort and memory of music. The ‘healing power of music’ phrase is cliché, but we do have something powerful to give. We’re not curing disease or feeding starving children, but we have this gift to give to people of all backgrounds and the responsibility to not lock it up in the concert hall. To truly show the value of what we’re doing, we must ensure that the presence of the orchestra is indispensable and we can’t imagine life in this town without it.”

It is a bold statement, and Carter is a bold leader who envisions an orchestra that is intimate, approachable, collaborative, and educational. “What is unique about live performance is the collective experience of a group of humans creating something together.

From the conductor to the musicians to the audience, every person is contributing to and sharing in the experience in real time. It’s one of very few things that cannot be replicated in a digital setting. The magic of participating in a live performance can’t be captured. To fully understand its value, you must experience it in person.”

Her innovative vision for orchestral reimagining earned Carter a seat in a national search by the League of American Orchestras to participate in its prestigious Emerging Leaders Program in 2019.

She was featured in Oklahoma Magazine’s “40 Under 40” in 2017 and, in addition to her position in Tulsa Symphony’s clarinet section, she served as its director of development for eight years until joining the BSO staff in 2021.

A product of public school music programs, Carter is a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She began playing clarinet in elementary school, earning music undergraduate and graduate degrees in Canada and the United States. She and her husband, also a clar-

inetist, received their doctoral degrees at the University of Oklahoma. While in Norman, Carter began performing in the Tulsa Symphony in 2006 and they moved to Tulsa in 2013, where she began her career in arts management.

Carter wants to see investment in BSO’s organizational infrastructure that includes musicians creating new opportunities and interactions in the community. “There are so many creative, innovative ideas that come from the musicians themselves. I’d like to see more musicians involved in the discussions and exploring ideas.

Putting on an orchestra concert is an expensive venture, but we don’t always have to present the full symphony. The are many other efforts BSO can explore to create meaningful and intimate interactions outside of our regular concerts. It could be one person in a classroom where children see fingers and faces up close. Or a quartet adding elegant ambiance to an event or performing for families in a health care facility. Even musicians playing at a restaurant or on a street corner. We want to bring music to those who might not otherwise be exposed and inspire conversations and greater personal connections.”

She envisions collaboration with other organizations enriching the community. “What can we be doing to support other nonprofits? Can we provide music at their fundraisers or partner to create interactive ‘edutainment’ events? With support from this community that appreciates the arts as much as it does, we hope to provide more musical opportunities for free, and the impact can be that much greater through collaborations.” Carter wants to continue building on existing programs such as the Carnegie Hall Link Up partnership within schools and an expanded Young Artists Competition. “We know the value of making and understanding music when you’re young. It builds brain aptitude, develops memory, and promotes teamwork. Music becomes part of your identity and the world around you. When exposed at a young age, you learn that attending or participating in performances of live music is for everyone and that you belong in that world. As kids grow up, they may join the band, choir, or theatre and they become your audience in only 20 years. It’s the long game.”

With the goal of creating unforgettable experiences, Carter and her committee have created a new fundraiser with “fun” in mind.

The BSO has partnered with the Bartlesville Community Center and Price Tower to hold the first annual Masquerade Ball on October 23rd outdoors, at the Tower Center at Unity Square. Music from BSO members will play during a formal dinner catered by the Copper Restaurant + Bar, followed by dancing to Zodiac party band.

“This will be a masked black-tie dinner and party; a chance to dig out your fanciest vintage ball gown and dress with decorative masques, Mardi-gras style. We want to marry frivolity with music in an elegant setting, but with light-hearted fun.”

Tickets, sponsorships, and additional details may be found at www.bartlessvillesymphonyorchestra.org. Roll over, Beethoven, Angela Carter is in town.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

59

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK

The Trouble with Pants

by Jay Webster

I have a difficult relationship with pants. I guess I always have.

I’ve always been somewhere between waist sizes, where one is too tight and the other is hopelessly sinking around me. But even more challenging is where pants hit on me. Instead of riding a straight line across my midsection, they seem fated to arc low in the middle, causing my stomach to look like it’s concealing a

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bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

nine inch platter of lasagna. Pants do this to me regardless of my current weight or level of “in-shape-ness.” I fear my future with trousers may become even more troublesome.

There seems to be a requirement for men as they age to touch their pants at a near compulsive frequency. Sure, it used to be fashionable when they were young to pull up on their pant legs

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK as they sat down. It kind of made the act of sitting seem more celebrated and distinctive, as if they were getting ready to engage in a magic act or show tune. But now that they are older, every crease, crevice, and seam must be tugged and pulled on as if they were a shortstop in mid-August. The tug is usually accompanied by a weight shift with one foot lifting off the ground or sometimes — in extreme cases — a double knee bend.

on the front bench seat of our car beside my mom outside a Best Western in Ocala, Florida. It’s my earliest musical memory. Well, that and the Today Show theme, which accompanied a muted animated sunrise while I sat in a high chair with Cheerios.

Music has that special transportive quality. Nearly every season of my life from childhood on has a soundtrack that I can clearly reproduce in my head. I I like to think of music as an international shorthand for love that about music.

I’m not quite there yet, but I the human experience. It can distill heartache, love and have noticed two new (extremely) My nine-year-old and I like to longing, joy and revolution, praise and rapture into priconcerning habits related to getplay, “What’s your walk up mary colors with subtle nuances in between. Maybe ting older. The first is my mouth. music?”

In baseball, when a batthat’s what makes it so universal.

It seems like every physical venter approaches the plate, there’s ture I engage in — lifting a bit of ceremony to it and they generally announce him and play something, raking something, putting on my shoes — involves my the “walk up” music he has selected. It’s music that’s supposed mouth now. Suddenly, to move my quads requires me to also to say something about him and presumably his intentions at the part my lips and press my tongue against my upper teeth in some plate. Sometimes they do the same thing for relief pitchers when sort of weird counter balance. I haven’t always done this. they walk from the bull-pen to the mound. I’ve selected SaboWhat message is my brain now sending to my body? “Before tage by the Beastie Boys for my imaginary “at bat” (where I will you lift that, brace yourself, breathe like a three-year-old with a make several adjustments to my pants and then mouth-breathe nose cold, and lift with your tongue. Trust me, it’ll save your back. to a full count).

Also, tug at your pants and make sure they don’t bind up on you.”

We also play “Songs for your Funeral.” These are the collecWhat the heck?! tion of songs you want to play awkwardly as people sit (hopefully The second aging abnormality is even worse. It’s the dreaded crowdedly) in a room and remember you for all the amazing insta-nap. More and more, I find myself slipping into sleep things you did … minus your quirks, obsessions, faults, and the regardless of where I am. I used to judge guys like me — men times when you embarrassed yourself. I’ve selected Into the Myswho could rest their folded arms on their protruding abs while tic, by Van Morrison and Staring at the Sun, by U2. their heads lean forward and they crash-out on a public bench in I guess the goal is to say something about yourself or leave the mall. Now here I am, losing consciousness without warning. some lasting message for those in attendance. In that case, Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to see a chiropractor You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone might be a better choice because you hurt your neck involuntarily dozing so hard you sufor Return to Sender or even the Beatles’ Only Sleeping. You probfered whiplash? ably have your own.

I feel like I may be struggling with narcolepsy. Why do they For a long time, we would also give each year an official call it narc-olepsy, by the way? I’m not suffering with the uncontheme song. It was usually a song that we hoped would inspire trollable urge to curb teen smoking by infiltrating high school us and carry us along throughout a year, and at the same time be clicks as an undercover agent. I’m having trouble staying awake. a sorta goal or mantra. One particularly hopeful/aggressive year They should call it naps-olepsy or crap-I-just-drooled-on-myselfit was Eye of the Tiger. This year might be Gloria Gaynor’s I will on-Zoom-lepsy.

Survive or Avicii’s Wake Me Up (When It’s All Over). I guess there’s On the upside, it is October, my favorite month of the year. always Iggy Pop’s Tight Pants, but that really just feels like a selfEverything seems bigger, deeper, more meaningful to me in fulfilling prophecy.

October.

What are your songs? When you step up for your life “at bat,” what’s your walk up One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to open the music?

What jams windows of the house and let the music play loud. The lyrics and would you like to subject heartbeat of each song seem to get picked up by the breeze, carpeople to at your funeral? ried through the house, and back outside like an aroma. (And it’s What about a theme a great way to treat your neighbors to good music instead of the song for this upcoming pop dribble they normally listen to.) year? You could go dark Stevie Wonder said, “Music is a world within itself, with a lanand pick The End by the guage we all understand.” I like to think of music as an Doors, or maybe be international shorthand for the human experience. It can distill decidedly upbeat like heartache, love and longing, joy and revolution, praise and rapJohnny Nash’s I Can See ture into primary colors with subtle nuances in between. Maybe Clearly Now. I’ll probably that’s what makes it so universal. stick with Cameo’s Shake Your Pants.

If I let myself right now, I can play Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings and I will immediately be in footy pajamas

Cheers my friends.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

61

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bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

ONCE UPON A TIME

It All Started with . . . . . . Mr. Herman, a Lost Bowling Ball, and a First Date

by Rita Thurman Barnes Hubby and I will be married 53 years on Pearl Harbor Day. Now, you may ask why we got married on Pearl Harbor Day and the answer is we didn’t. We got married on the first Friday night in December and it happened to fall on that particular day. We didn’t realize it at all until we got to the church and Mr. Herman of Herman’s Studio kidded us about it. He was a great guy whom everybody loved and a wonderful photographer. I went to him for my engagement photo which I cherish to this day and so much appreciated how patient and helpful he was to a 21-yearold who was new to the whole process.

I remember several weddings in which I either sang or was an attendant and in all of which I caught the wedding bouquet, and the event was captured on film by Mr. Herman himself. He remembered me when I went in to have my own photo taken and said that evidently the old wedding ritual of bouquet tossing must have worked in my case. I caught so many bouquets that he finally started looking at me and saying, “You. Again?” My engagement picture is still one of the best photos ever taken of me and I thank him so.

The first informal date hubby and I had and the one which led up to the engagement picture was at the bowling alley. We look back fondly on that day and all the days that followed which led up to our wedding on Pearl Harbor Day, 1968. We’ve bowled our share throughout the intervening years with friends and family, but I bowled for many years with my own bowling ball.

Hubby and I are pictured in the photo with this story with a few of the folks at the local bowling establishment who had encouraged our bowling as exercise. Right after hubby

Rita Thurman Barnes and her hubby, center, with a few of the folks at their local bowling establishment, the Red Apple Bowling Center.

retired, we did a lot of varied and sundry stuff but one of the most pleasant things was taking up a little bowling once or twice a week. It was good for us and kept us limbered up. Something you don’t get from sitting on the sofa writing stories for well over 20 years.

I bowled with my own ball back in those early days but eventually got rid of it at a garage sale and I miss it just like I miss Mr. Herman.

We bought our own shoes that time around, but hubby used to use his father’s ball and I had my own and it seemed easier

somehow. Too bad I didn’t keep my own ball and I wonder whatever happened to it. You know that things like a bowling ball don’t just disappear but do people actually throw bowling balls away when they’re through with them? One of those things I’ll never know I suppose but about which I can always wonder. If you bought my bowling ball from me all those years ago and want to sell it back, I’d love to have it. Wouldn’t that be strange after all these years to actually have it come back to me like a gift out of the past!

I wonder what my bowling score was on that first date. I don’t think that is what I was thinking about back then — just about how handsome my new bowling partner was. How about another 53 years, hubby? I’m proposing this time.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

63

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bmonthly | OCTOBER 2021

A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

An RV Adventure A Trip Through This Land That I Loved Young

by Brent Taylor

My wife, Karen, and I decided to do something this summer that we had never done before. We rented an RV and drove through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Colorado with our friends Bob & Sheila. Why? Perhaps this western wandering was grasping after the nomadic ideal, searching after stories about the land and the people. For our friends, it was simply a way to gauge their interest in purchasing an RV. So we embarked on a seven-day whirlwind tour of these western states.

We sat around a campfire at a KOA in Nebraska and a man stopped to chat. His Ford pickup was pockmarked by baseballsized hail, which he told us got him a $19,000 discount on the otherwise shiny blue truck. His daughter was playing in a softball tournament nearby. We sat around our campfire and I imagined Native Americans living here. Long before white people came, the Omaha, Winnebago, Ponca, Iowa, and Santee Sioux roamed these prairies. Now, we drive our decidedly ironic Winnebago through these Badlands. My friend Bob binged Twizzlers while he drove and I was compelled to match him Twizzler for Twizzler. In the fading glow of our campfire, Sheila confessed something amazing about her love for Bob and why he can consume an entire package of Twizzlers. It began romantically but detoured 180 degrees to the comically sublime “Bob has the most amazing ... pancreas!”

Smoke clung to our hair and clothes and I remembered summer camp with frogs and crickets singing a nighttime lullaby. This land is remarkable and vast. RV traveling magnified our freedom and our constraints. We were free to roam and yet constrained — always monitoring our power usage, our waste, our gasoline, our water.

What must Lewis and Clark have thought about these plains and mountains and streams purchased from the French for three cents per acres for the “preemptive” right to obtain Indian lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers?

Just a stone’s throw from Spear Fish, South Dakota, I channeled my inner Lewis and Clark as I showered in full view of the prairie dogs. A few miles east of Livingston, Montana we stayed at a place called Big Timber. I felt at home in the trees — alive and free, yet small and inconsequential all at once. We couldn’t pass up Old Faithful, and I wondered while watching and waiting if the geyser would let us down and we could say we were there when the geyser was unfaithful. I wondered who had come to this spot long before me.

Kiowa, Blackfeet, Cayuse, and Shoshone traveled these same Yellowstone trails. They visited geysers, conducted ceremonies, hunted, gathered minerals and obsidian, which they used to field dress bison.

I insisted that we stop at Wall Drug in South Dakota, where I discovered a melt-in-your-mouth maple donut. There was a parking lot near Main Street with a long row of Tesla charging stations, and several Tesla cars were tethered and charging. I wondered how far it was to the next station. Fifty years ago I walked through Wall Drug.

It’s changed now, as am I. How am I different from 50 years ago?

Where to even begin. And yet I am still that same child in many ways. What makes us the same person as our childhood self despite a lifetime of change? All these places I saw once in my youth are still here and remarkable. And yet our country has changed so much during the past 50 — years just like me. The roots of our country and the child within us still connect our present self to what once was.

We stood gazing at the Tetons with a Delta airline pilot from Seattle. He bought a 40-acre farm down in the valley to the west, in Idaho. His wife teaches special education and they have three children. They will move from Seattle and live in this peaceful country we see stretching below us like a patchwork quilt of amber and green. We talked about his hometown of Pittsburgh and his grandfather, who once played golf with Arnold Palmer in nearby Latrobe.

We stared at the blue-gray granite peak of Grand Teton in that sanctuary of grandeur. I thought of Simone Weil, who wrote, “Joy is the overflowing consciousness of reality.” Wandering out west on this RV adventure was about that reality, and not only the overflowing wonder of what we observed in nature, but the everyday solidarity of people sharing a life closer to the earth.

I often think of myself in Wendell Berry’s phrase, “As a young man with unforeseen debilities.” Time is neither young or old, but simply new always. As we traveled, I understood this. We get up each day wondering where we are and where we came from and where we will go. We eventually settled in for the evening camp and talked until the stars light up like magic. As we told stories, I thought of my grown children. I miss them and am astonished at how I love them so deeply, and my wife, almost as old as me, I love as I loved young. And this land that I loved young, I love more deeply now.

Seeing it anew, I am changed, I am grateful.

OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

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ON THE OSAGE

Buffalo Chasing The Tourism Gal is Getting it Said. . .

by Kelly Bland In the words of Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove, “Let’s chase ‘em, you want to?... because before long there won’t be any buffalo left to chase!”

main-stream relevance in today’s secular society where the black hat seems to triumph over the silver belly instead of the other way around.

Sometimes in life, it’s good to do something “just for the sport of it,” and whether you call ‘em bison or buffalo, the spirit of which they’ve been partnered with throughout American history is still worth its salt. So, instead of chasing rabbits as I veer off my normal scroll, dare to chase some buffalo with me today.

As I pondered on it for a bit, I realized — there is a place you can go where those values can still be found. In Osage County, we’re preserving more than bison out on the tallgrass prairies. We’re preserving a way of life that has made this country great — where families come first and wealth is tallied in legacy rather than ledgers. Where we Call it the nostalgia of aren’t 50 shades of grey the moment or the senti— we’re red, white, and ment of the situation, but it blue to the core. Where hit me last night as I sat hard work is given and two tables away from appreciated, manners are George Strait and Robert still in style, and kindness Duvall, three tables from is in no short supply. A Reba, and at the table place where respect isn’t Kelly Bland with Red Steagall at the Western Heritage Awards. next to Red Steagall durconsidered an entitleing the Western Heritage ment, it’s earned the Awards. From those calold-fashioned way — one good decision at a time. Character culated GPS coordinates in the ballroom of the National Cowboy may be forged in the fire, like the saying goes, but in Osage & Western Heritage Museum, I was peering beyond the sea of County it’s tempered as well and sounds much like the tink of a cowboy hats and across the waves of ball gowns, fringe, and spur rowel on a pair of cowboy boots jingling in stride with the sequins and thinking along these lines: While the bison may have one who strapped them on. been preserved when they neared extinction, we have another American treasure about to be lost in this country — good, oldYou’re invited to come experience a little of it for yourself. In fashioned wholesome values and an appreciation for the western fact, a great time for you to do just that will be the weekend of way of life.

November 6th, for the National Bison Day celebration out at the Old West Buffalo Co., just west of Pawhuska. They’ll be having a For sure, it was a night of honor and the legends I mentioned soiree on Nov. 5 & 6th called “Buffalo Days,” with historical theabove being recognized. As their bios hit the big screen, and the ater, bison encounters, dinner, and even dancing! You can get stars took the stage, it was obvious those being honored were tickets at OldWestBuffalo.com and come join us in the place now the older generation. I began to wonder who the Western where #TheSmilesAreAlwaysFree and where #TheCowboyNevHeritage committee would be able to come up with five years erRidesAway. In Osage County, Oklahoma we’re preserving from now to honor, as it seems like the legends — the icons — wholesome goodness and Americana values — on purpose — so those rural-rooted, line-in-the-sand, “go-ahead-make-my-day” we’ll have some left for the next generation to enjoy! western heroes may be nearing extinction themselves. Country Check us out at VisitTheOsage.com. and Western has been replaced by Red Dirt. Roy Rogers has lost OCTOBER 2021 | bmonthly

67

Come Watch the Fun! Hillcrest Country Club Tennis Complex

October 15-17, 2021

Tournament hosted by:

SPORTS

A Fun Sport for Everyone Annual Bartlesville Pickleball Fall Classic on Tap

by Brent Taylor There is a discernible buzz in the air as pickleball competitors from surrounding cities and states hone their talents in anticipation of the 2nd annual Bartlesville Pickleball Fall Classic to be held at Hillcrest Country Club on October 15-17. The tournament is being hosted by the Bartlesville Pickleball Club, and with the success of last year's tournament, which drew 175 players from 10 states, the club looks to build on the popularity of that first tournament and continue to grow it into increasingly larger fields and visitors to the Bartlesville area.

The tournament director, Kumar Krishnan, along with his team of organizers and volunteers are looking forward to another great event. “As popular as pickleball tournaments are, last year we filled up the registration about a month ahead of closing. We believe that Bartlesville ended up with 175 ambassadors who enjoyed the event and our city. Many of them are returning this year, so we expect to host around 225 players in October.

The economic impact is significant for Bartlesville. If we have a bigger facility with more courts, I believe that we can expect even higher participation”.

If you are not familiar with pickleball, it is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball grew in 2020 to 4.2 million players in the U.S. Here are a few other key statistics: •

• •

The average annual growth rate for all players from 2017 to 2020 was 10.5%, for a total growth rate of 34% over three years 61% of participants are men and 39% are women The average age for all players is 38.1 years old

Pickleball is a social fluid sport with lots of conversations on and off the court.

Games are often fast-paced and competitive, and the time you spend on the court provides a great avenue toward fitness.

Time flies when you play and you often hear this phrase on the courts, “Just one more!” Sometimes just one more leads to many more until you’ve played long past your anticipated schedule. Another beautiful sociological aspect of pickleball is the inter-generational nature of the game. It’s not uncommon to find three generations competing in the same game, as levels of play depend on traditional models of fitness, coordination, and movement, but also on angles and strategies and positions. It’s a lovely combination of sheer athleticism and craftiness. And you see this often, as the young and the old mingle into competitive games with players who are at their athletic peak.

Given the current pace of growth, many municipalities and local organizations are tapping into the next wave of growth which is not the over-60 crowd, but rather, according to the USA Pickleball Association, the younger set. “When the sport first caught on in the sunbelt states around 2009, it was at 55-plus centers and RV communities. It snowballed from there. But these days, there are many municipalities and parks and recreation departments that are setting up courts, making it accessible to a younger crowd,” said Justin Maloof, executive director of USA Pickleball, Source: Pickle-

ball: The fastest growing sport you've never heard of, NBC News, April 21, 2019, Amanda Loudin.

The impressive growth of pickleball has been made with limited court space.

Often, churches and tennis courts are converted with temporary lines and nets to provide for the continued growth in participants.

In October of 2020, Bartlesville voters approved a general obligation bond to enclose two tennis courts at Johnstone Park. This will provide the space for up to eight pickleball courts on the two existing tennis courts that the city plans to enclose. City-owned tennis courts all over the country are generally under utilized.

With the explosion of pickleball, tennis courts are being repurposed and put to good use.

Kent Stroman is a long-time Bartlesville resident who expresses the sentiment of many local players. “I can’t wait for the new enclosure at the Johnstone courts! So many Bartians are eager for the access to pickleball that this facility will provide. Our community deserves to be at the forefront of the sport that is so loved around the world. And I can’t wait to introduce even more of my friends to this dynamic, fun game. Let’s go!”

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KNOWING NOWATA

Flooding a Part of Life Flooding Common in Nowata County

by Carroll Craun Settlers arriving in what is today Nowata County must have believed they had reached the promised lands. As far as they could see were fertile fields, abundant wild life, tall timbers, and water — lots of water. Nowata County has flatlands, rolling hills, semi-mountains, lots of canyons, many creeks, tributaries, a river, lakes, and ponds.

Desiring easy access to water, settlers built homes and communities close to the river and its branches, often in flood areas, not realizing the dangers they would face. Nowata is bisected by the Verdigris River as well as California, Lightening, and Big Creeks. When they are out of their banks due to massive amounts of rain, significant damage occurs. Flooding is almost a common part of life for the county. When the waters rage, farm lands are inundated, crops ruined, lowland homes flooded, residents face evacuation, livestock must be moved to higher grounds, and oil production is greatly impacted. Rail service stops, and most of the highways built in later years are closed.

There are a number of floods that stand out in history for the area, 1929, 1941-43, 1951, and the more recent floods of 2007 and 2019. The flood of 1941 saw the Verdigris flood waters reach out over two miles in all directions from the river banks. Historic river crests recorded by the National Weather Service for Nowata County are: (1) 43.19 ft on 07/02/2007

(2) 40.44 ft on 05/20/1943 (3) 39.78 ft on 05/08/1961 (4) 38.66 ft on 07/03/1951 (5) 38.60 ft on 07/04/1976 (6) 37.44 ft on 05/28/2019 (7) 36.66 ft on 05/24/2019 (8) 32.86 ft on 05/16/2020 Looking at this list of dates, it is obvious that most of the serious events have occurred during the months of May - July.

Residents hearing the phrase 'This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation' have learned to take it seriously and take as many precautions as they can. Anything over 36 feet is considered to be a major flood while 30 feet is an action-stage flood.

Some floods have occurred that are not entirely due to heavy rains. These have occurred when the flood gates have been opened at the Grand River Dam in an attempt to prevent major damage elsewhere, and one town in Nowata County was entirely destroyed and buried when a planned flood occurred to help with the building of the Oologah Lake and Dam. Alluwe was lost, but persistent and resilient community members were determined the town would not be lost to history and built New Alluwe on land purchased about four miles from the original site.

As long as we build close to water sites, there will be flooding.

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HOLIDAY MAGIC

Never Too Early for Christmas

OKM Music, through its mission of delivering high-quality music and cultural experiences for all ages, is thrilled to bring back its very own Christkindl Market to Northeastern Oklahoma.

Start this holiday season with an authentic Bavarian Christkindl Market on Saturday, November 6, 2021 nestled in downtown Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Enjoy a unique and special experience at this year’s Christkindl Market seeing Nutcracker dancing dolls come to life.

This magical experience will delight those who love Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite and will make everyone smile. Those interested will want to check out the Christkindl schedule for more details on the OKM Music website.

What is a Christkindl Market, and where did it come from?

Imagine a German holiday tradition over 400 years old that originated to celebrate the “Christ Child” and brought together the town’s craftsmen. That period during the four weeks prior to Christmas was known as Advent, where those artisans would display and sell their goods in an outdoor market. It was a time for community, good cheer, and honoring traditions. It was also a special time for families to make unique memories and catch up with old friends.

While adults are enjoying themselves, children will have fun filling a Christmas schultüte, gingerbread cookie decorating, making snow globes, Christmas tree bowling, snowman snowball toss, face painting, and more. Children will love seeing all the Christmas blow-ups and running through the falling snow.

At the OKM Christkindl Market, guests will find wonderful artisans selling their goods, delicious German and American foods, a kinder tent (children’s area), live music, and holiday cheer! Shoppers will find a versatile array of decor, jewelry, food, artwork, and more. Foodies will enjoy warmed pretzels, strudel, bratwurst, crisp potatoes, sauerkraut and potato soup, sweets, and a Bartlesville twist — Christmas tamales. Music lovers will enjoy live music.

Visit the Sugar Plum this year to enjoy a charcuterie board, wine tasting, German Christstollen, Gluhwein, and more. Those interested must purchase the special Sugar Plum ticket for this experience. Seating is limited. Call the OKM Office at 918-3369900 for more information or visit the OKM website at okmmusic.org.

Be sure to ring in your holiday season with OKM’s Christkindl Market at Father Lynch Hall (8th St. and Keeler Ave) on November 6, 2021 from 10:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m. “Music, merchandise, and merriment are at the heart of this event. It is a perfect display of Bavarian charm, musical excellence, and community spirit,” said Mikala Curless, OKM’s director of development.

In conjunction with the OKM Christkindl Market, OKM Music invites all children to participate in St. Nicholas Day on December 6. On this special day, children will learn the magical story of St. Nicholas. Children will be invited to participate in story time, special activities, and receive a St. Nicholas bag filled with special gifts. St. Nicholas Bags will be available for Pre-Order on November 1, 2021. Please see the OKM website, www.okmmusic.org, for more details.

If you have any questions about these or any other OKM Music events or activities, please visit OKM’s website or call 918336-9900.

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LET FREEDOM RING

Evolution of Travel Travel has Changed Dramatically Since Covered Wagons

by Jay Hastings

Around the turn of the century, traveling across the United States was less than glamorous. Travel was often hampered by bad roads or no roads at all. Travel by horseback, buckboard, or wagon were the only means of travel locally. The steam train was the only practical means of transportation for longer distances.

Travelers were confined to schedules of the trains or the stage coaches. It wasn’t until the invention of the horseless carriage that travel began to really change, allowing for freedom and independence across the nation.

On October 1, 1908, the first Model T Ford automobile was completed. Eventually, 15 million Model T cars were built between 1908 and 1927. At the beginning of the 20th century, the automobile was only a play toy for the wealthy. Henry Ford was determined to build a simple, reliable, and affordable car for the average American worker. In 1908, the price of a Model T was $825.00 and four years later the price was dropped to $575.00.

Ford changed the way people travel.

Building cars for the American people and making them affordable for the masses was only going to take us so far. The construction and development of roads were also major projects which would increase the frequency and speed with which people of the world could travel. The first known attempt of a cross-country road trip by automobile occurred in 1903. A group of men in San Francisco made a bet with Dr. H. Nelson Jackson to drive his car from California to New York City in less than 90 days. Dr. Jackson followed telegraph wires and the Union Pacific railroad tracks, and arrived in Manhattan 63 days later.

The evolution of travel over the past century has also led to other cultural changes. What was once considered a journey or a grand adventure is now a fast trip from point A to point B on the map. While we have not actually invented time travel, we have greatly increased the amount of distance one can travel in less time.

I recently took a two-day road trip which allowed me to put this in perspective. My goal was to explore the back roads of Kansas while chasing the Union Pacific “Big Boy” steam locomotive. For two days, I stayed off of the interstate and traveled through small towns I had never visited before. I witnessed many of the locals coming out trackside to witness the old-time steam locomotive as it passed through their town.

At one location near Hays, Kansas, I was able to capture an image of the old steam train and a Ford Model A parked at a railroad crossing. After finishing the second day, I entered my home address in my GPS and found I could actually be back home in six hours if I traveled the interstate. As I drove home that evening, I found myself paralleling the old highway and I began missing all those small towns. I realized all the sights and sounds we miss while taking this modern route across the country. What had taken me two days one way was only going to take six hours of boring, four-lane, highway back.

I have made myself a promise to plan a trip once a month with a route that will take me over the old roads and through the small towns less traveled. I encourage you to do the same when the opportunity arises, and you might be surprised what you will find along your journey.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Back on Stage!

Broadway in Bartlesville! Ready for Exciting New Season After a year off due to the pandemic, Broadway in Bartlesville! is back and excited about its new slate of shows — with a little something extra thrown in for good measure.

The season opens next month with An Officer and a Gentleman, a breathtaking production based on the Oscar-winning film starring Richard Gere. Watch as the performers celebrate triumph over adversity — something Bartlesville can understand right now. An Officer and a Gentleman includes one of the most iconic and romantic endings ever portrayed on screen. The live stage production features the Grammy Award winning #1 hit single Up Where We Belong, and a score based on 1980’s catalogue of music that gave voice to a generation. An Officer and a Gentleman hits the Bartlesville Community Center stage on Monday, November 29.

After a break for the holidays, the new season resumes on Wednesday, January 19 with The Simon & Garfunkel Story. The concert-style performance tells the story of two young boys from Queens, New York who went on to become the world’s most successful music duo of all time.

Fiddler on the Roof has long been a favorite among theater-goers, and Bartlesville residents have a chance to enjoy a wonderful cast and lavish orchestra tell the heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. The performance, which boasts classic songs like To Life; If I were a Rich Man; Sunrise, Sunset, and more, will be held on Friday, March 4.

The new Broadway in Bartlesville! season brings something for the young — and young-at-heart — with Madagascar the Musical. Watch as the cast of characters escapes New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected Journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar. Audiences will have no choice but to Move it, Move it! on Saturday, April 9.

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An Officer and a Gentleman is the first performance in the new Broadway in Bartlesville! season.

On May 9, Bartlesville will be introduced to Jenna, a waitress and pie-maker who is dreaming of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage in Waitress. A baking contest in a nearby county, not to mention the town’s new doctor, just might offer her a chance at the fresh start she so desperately longs for. Despite the best intentions of her fellow waitresses and friends, it all comes down to Jenna summoning the strength and courage to rebuild her own life.

season passes, which allow you to catch all five shows, plus the add-on show, Blue Man Group, for the best price, are available. Individual tickets can also be purchased for any of the performances.

To make sure you don’t miss out on another great Broadway in Bartlesville! season, get your tickets at the BCC Box Office or by calling 918-336-2787 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased online at bartlesvillecommunitycenter.com.

And then that little something extra promised earlier — a special bonus sixth performance!

Special thanks goes to The National Endowment for the Arts, Oklahoma Arts Council and the following local sponsors who have made the 2021-2022 season of the Broadway in Bartlesville! possible: Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Adams, American Heritage Bank, Arvest Wealth Management, bmonthly Magazine, ConocoPhillips, Copper Cup Images, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Crawford, Diversified Systems Resources, ExaminerEnterprise, Green Country Village, Keleher Outdoor Advertising, KGGF-AM KGGF-FM KUSN KQQR, KRIG KYFM KWON KPGM, Nowata Road Liquor, Phillips 66, Price Tower Arts Center, Robinett/King, Dr. and Mrs. Richard Rutledge, Dr. and Mrs. William D. Smith, Sparklight, Stumpff Funeral Home & Crematory, Truity Credit Union, United Linen, and Visit Bartlesville.

The 2021-2022 Broadway in Bartlesville! season closes on June 22 with an absolutely ecstatic performance by the world-renowned Blue Man Group.

More than 35 million people from around the world have experienced this smash hit phenomenon that is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2022. The performance features pulsing, original music, custommade instruments, surprise audience interaction, and hilarious absurdity.

Tickets for the new season — both individual shows and season subscriptions — are now available. Special rates for

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