FROM THE EDITOR A meaningful Christmas
My, how time flies. I can’t believe it has been one year since I told you all that I was packing my bags and heading out for maternity leave. Well, here we are. Baby Anja is almost a year old and that means her first Christmas is here.
And hopefully, her first Christmas doesn’t disappoint. So far, she’s met Santa Claus, which you can see on the cover. She was playing with Grinch (that girl is just like her mommy... if you don’t know, I wrote a column about being the Grinch a few years back) and trying to destroy
The Banner’s Christmas, and Old Saint Nick had to come and set her straight. Believe it or not, Anja was all smiles to see Santa. And she kept that smile on for most of the photoshoot... well, until someone tried to take something away from her and tell her “no.”
Please see the picture embedded with this column for a giggle.
Since meeting Santa, Anja also had the chance to meet the Grinch in real life. She really likes her Grinch stuffie, but Grinch in person? Count her out! She was scared!
But the winter season is young. Anja still has her first Thanksgiving in front of her and then the whole month of December to go. I’m certain that her Christmas season will be full of merry festivities. In fact, I’m sure yours will be, too.
And if you don’t have holiday plans yet to get in the season, well buckle in and read on, because I’ve got a boatload of reasons for you to be jolly as the Day of Giving draws near.
For starters, if you know me, then you know bread is a love language. If you haven’t heard already, Duncan has its own microbakery, Bread and Roses, and you can order some delicious loaves to go alongside your
holiday meals.
The opening story will introduce you to the man in the kitchen and how special each sourdough loaf is to him.
To get more in the spirit, a new décor boutique has opened in Duncan. Inside Out is sure to please whatever fancy you may have, and if you are in need of new Christmas decorations, you’ll be sure to find them there.
While you’re there, stop at the new Royers coffee shop for a cup of Joe and a pastry. The owner is also excited for Christmas and you can find many festive flavors for the holiday season.
Now, if bread, coffee and Christmas decorations don’t have you filling full of spirit, then there are multiple events in Stephens County you won’t want to miss this season.
For starters, the county will host not one, not two, but three Christmas parades – all in one day! And if that isn’t enough for you, make sure you buy tickets to attend this year’s Cowboy Christmas Gala to help the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center keep educating students, stop by Kiddieland Park in December for the Holiday Express (you can ride
a train, meet Santa and more), or travel south to Comanche where you can step foot into a winter wonderland called the Christmas Village. You might be lucky enough to find yours truly and Miss Anja attending!
Finally, to top off the Christmas spirit, take a flip to the back of the book where you can find this year’s picks for winter reads (I’ll be sure to read the children’s selection to Anja) and 10 special recipes from our young bakers in the county 4-H program. I know I have a few recipes that I’ll be trying with our family this year. Still not in the Christmas spirit? Give it time. Look to your younger relatives. Watch them enjoy the experience... that enjoyment may just find its way into your heart and help it grow, times three.
CHARLENE BELEW
MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS
EDITOR CHARLENE BELEW
Charlene, also known in the community as Charlie, is the Managing Editor for The Duncan Banner and Duncan Magazine. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Cameron University, where she also held multiple positions with The Cameron Collegian, which ended with her serving as the Managing Editor in 2014-2015.
Charlie has served two tenures with The Banner. Her first began in 2014 with an internship through Oklahoma Press Association and culminated in 2017 as News Editor. Her second began in 2018 when she returned as a staff writer and she resumed her editorship in 2020. Although she has spent much of her life growing up in Lawton, Charlie has always felt a special call to the Duncan and Stephens County community. She adopted a dog from Stephens County Humane Society’s Take Out Tuesday program with The Banner in 2019 and also participates as a member of the Duncan Rotary Club. In 2021, Charlie led The Banner to the first Sequoyah Award from the Oklahoma Press Association since its last in 2012. She has taken home multiple awards for editorial writing and news writing, and most recently swept Oklahoma Press Association’s design competition for Semi- and Tri-Weekly publications. She had her first child, Anja, in January 2024.
PUBLISHER CRYSTAL CHILDERS
Crystal joined The Banner staff in 2013 as an advertising executive. She was promoted to Advertising Manager in 2017 before becoming General Manager in 2020 and then Publisher in August 2023. Crystal has won numerous awards from the Oklahoma Press Association in ad design, most recently a first and third place win for large ad space design along with second place for small ad space design. Born and raised in Duncan, Crystal graduated from Duncan High School in 2001, joining a long line of Duncan graduates in her family. Crystal is an active member of Faith Church along with several community groups, including the Duncan Noon Lions Club. She is a proud supporter of the Stephens County Humane Society and all Duncan Demon sports from the many years her children participated. Crystal has three children, Alyssa, Jacob and Jordan and enjoys spending time with family and her many dogs.
TAMARA GREGOR
Born and raised in California, Tamara joined the staff at The Duncan Banner in March 2020. As an award winning journalist, Tamara has placed for her feature stories and photography, as well as for her news and column writing over the past few years. Tamara previously gathered her experience by interning at the South Gibson Star Times in Fort Branch, Indiana, as well as working as the editor for her college newspaper, The Collegian in Oakland City, Indiana. Her experiences continued while writing and publishing a magazine, Evoke, with a group of friends in Turlock, California. With family local to Stephens County as well in the surrounding areas of Oklahoma, Tamara moved to Duncan from Stanislaus County, jumping right into community events as a reporter. She loves to connect and engage with the community members to tell their heartfelt stories each day.
JASON HODGES
A Comanche resident since the age of 10, Jason graduated from Comanche High School in 1991. His wife, Jennifer, followed a year behind, and the family has strong roots in the area. They have raised three daughters here, each of whom graduated from Comanche. They also have grandchildren attending school there. Jason began his career with The Banner in 2016 as a freelance photographer. Later, he accepted a fulltime position in the advertising department, but he still enjoys taking photos, both for The Banner and his personal business, Hodges Photography. Jason loves his connection to the community he has now working at The Banner. He currently serves as the Comanche Chamber of Commmerce’s Vice President and can be contacted for photography work on Facebook at Hodges Photography.
Duncan Magazine’s goal is to create a publication local to Stephens County that’s fun to read and view and created entirely by the hands of people you know. Here are the creators who use their time and talent to tell your stories.
LINDA PROVOST
Toni’s history with The Banner began in February 2000 as an education editor and continued in various roles, including news editor in 2013. During this time, she was assigned to serve as managing editor from 2003-05, at The Banner’s then sister publication, The Waurika NewsDemocrat. She left The Banner as news editor in 2013.
Toni began her news career in the mid-1990s in La Junta, Colorado. She was photo chief for a four-state wide agriculture paper, The Ag Journal. In 1997, she and her family moved to Marlow. Harbour Whitaker, then owner of The Marlow Review offered her a job as reporter, which she did for a couple of years.
In September 2022, she returned to news when offered the managing editor/general manager position at The Review until she retired in May of this year. Toni joined The Banner as a contract writer in July. Her work as a writer and photographer has been published in multiple award-winning publications, including The Dallas Morning News, The Native American Times, Cowboys & Indians, and Oklahoma Today (while working at The Heritage Center). She also published a book, Riding The Chisholm Trail ‘Once in a Lifetime’ in 2009.
Awards include her news work (everything from education to sports), photography, and tourism.
Linda worked for The Duncan Banner for more than seven years. She covered schools, city governments and feature stories. Provost was known by her colorful hair and was called “The Unicorn of Duncan.”
Linda graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in Mass Communication and an emphasis on Print Media and minors in Religion and German (though she doesn’t remember much German anymore). While at The Banner, Linda was lead reporter, interim editor and magazine manager. She has won several Oklahoma Press Association awards, including first place for columns three years in row.
Linda retired from news in 2019 and found while you can take the gal from the newsroom, the newsroom stays with you. As a result, she regularly freelances for The Banner but is a stay at home cat mom to Tuxedo Mask and Tabooli Jane and takes care of her husband, Zuriel.
TONI HOPPER
Homemade loaves lift spirit for baker and community BREAD AND ROSES
The kitchen is small and comfortably warm. Music fills the air and coils around the aroma of fresh baked bread which hits your nose like music notes. Loaves of bread are stacked on baking sheets on any flat surface holding still and rows of bagels seem ready to march off to war. A garage door window bears a “cheat sheet,” with the recipe of the current day’s baking in dry erase marker.
Sunlight filters in through a small window, dappled by the trees outside as the steady sounds of kneading dough are heard from Joseph “Joe” Fairbanks, owner and baker for Duncan Bread and Roses Mircobakery.
Fairbanks opened his kitchen, offering up a slice of hot sourdough bread and a cookie – chocolate chip with Nutella – made by his daughter.
“This is a pretty accurate representation, I’m in the middle of my bread day,” he said. “Typically everything gets cleaned up in the evening. So at 4 o’ clock in the morning I destroy everything again. I was making everything bagels – I call them everywhere bagels because the seasoning goes all over – the floor, the counter. I swear when they are cooling, stuff just jumps off.”
His love of baking started in connection to the holidays and when a change to his life came, it become a soothing night time ritual.
“I was a solar salesman for about 15 years. My father was getting older and I opted to take care of him for about 5 years and it’s really in that time period I started doing bread,” he said. “The sourdough started because I started waking up in the middle of the night like an old man. It was like 2 or 3 in the morning and it was like ‘What are you going to do for a couple of hours to wind back down?’ Some people read a book, I just started messing around in the kitchen, which somehow turned into me making sourdough over the
STORY AND PHOTOS BY LINDA PROVOST
course of those five years.”
When in California after leaving the solar panel business, he got a job in a bakery and worked there so he could take care of his father. There, over the next few years, he learned the ins and outs of several baked goods.
“I would make 12 different types of bread in a single night,” he said.
Fairbanks said that job gave him the confidence and knowledge to pursue his own bakery and when his father passed, he had been in the process of getting permits in California.
Ultimately, they sold their home in California, and came to Oklahoma to be closer to family.
“We’re all together now,” he said. “I am from Idaho so the small town thing is fine. It is something I am used to so it didn’t require much adjustment.”
While getting settled, Fairbanks found somewhere to use and refine his skills.
“When I got here, I worked part-time at Wishbone Scratch Kitchen and they closed down this summer,” he said. “Which kind of worked out … I was
already reducing my hours there anyway. But I wouldn’t have chosen the beginning of summer because that’s the slowest time of year for bread.”
Because of his late night tinkering, he was well ahead of the sourdough trend that popped in in the early days of the pandemic.
“That really kind of vaulted me because everyone was just starting to bake sourdough but I had already been doing it. So it definitely gave me an advantage,” he said. “And it literally took years to figure out because there are so many variables – from temperature to weather.
“I honestly think sourdough ‘knows’ your confidence level, the more confident you are the better the bread comes out. It seems to me there is nothing physically different only, thinking ‘I don’t know about this coming out today’ and it doesn’t. And if you are feeling good about it, it comes out great.”
The need for sourdough wasn’t really in Duncan yet.
“I didn’t know what kind of market I was getting into – no one was really
buying sourdough in Duncan, no one really offered sourdough in Duncan,” he said. “So I’ve gone from selling a couple of loaves a day to now producing 10 loaves a day. I’ll double that on Fridays because of the farmers’ market at Think Ability. A third of it [sells] is through Facebook … mostly orders of bagels and stuff. The sourdough sells really well at the farmers’ market.”
Having a then unfamiliar product and being solo meant hitting the ground running after getting settled into their new home, which he and his family bought sight-unseen.
“It’s been a game of persistence, I feel like now our people show up specially to pick up my bread,” he said. “Some people will take and freeze it so they buy like four loaves at a time.”
Before things picked up, the excess bread was a heartache for Fairbanks.
“We have the churches pick up my day olds and got that problem taken care of so I am no longer wasting bread,” he said. “Which was always a stress – as a home baker that’s hard to get over because you end up throwing away a lot of bread. No one wants to throw away bread. I spent a lot of time just trying to give it away.”
Now with word of mouth growing his business and his needs out growing the current kitchen, Fairbanks plans on moving to a new house with a large workshop/garage he can make into the bakery of his dreams.
“Everything is picking up nicely. I am optimistic about getting across town, getting into a new bakery and doing a little bit more,” he said. “Right now I am cooking as much as I can out of that little residential oven and that really dictates how much I can do.”
Fairbanks has even gotten some of the larger equipment he will need at the new place, like the mixer which can handle 25 pounds of dough. But for
now, it is a glorified bread shelf.
“One of the things I am looking at doing at the new place is to build a brick pizza oven so I can do 10 to 20 loaves at one time,” he said. “Here it takes me the course of six hours just to do 10 loaves.
“I am spending eight to 12 hours because it’s about six hours in the morning I spend baking, then three or four hours in the evening preparing the starter, preparing the next night’s (dough). I sleep four hours in the night waiting for the bread to rise, then I sleep four hours in the daytime between starting the next one.”
While this biphasic sleep mode might not sound great to some, it works here.
“I love it because I get to spend time with my daughter, I am in the house most of the time … spending time with
my grandkids,” he said. “It’s great – the little stool next to the counter, that’s where the grandkids like to get up and just watch me do my stuff with the bread.”
This new rhythm to life is part of the inspiration for the name of the business. The phrase Bread and Roses was used first in a speech by American suffrage activist Helen Todd, and was expanded into a poem by James Oppenheim where it gained more life for other labor strikes.
“It’s pretty much because ‘Bread and Roses’ was a slogan of the U.S. Labor Movement back in the 1900s,” he said. “The statement of ‘bread and roses’ was that they didn’t just want what we call ‘a living wage’ they wanted a ‘thriving wage.’ So for me it was the luxury of having a business in my own house, that was my thing –it gives me a much greater freedom. It’s my call for a better life.”
Fairbanks said he is ready for the multiple holiday baked that come around in winter from Challah bread for Jewish holy days, to Christmas offerings like panettone and meal compliments like rolls for any gathering.
“I can do big centerpiece loaves too,” he said.
You may see Fairbanks out and about on Thanksgiving this year as he is out delivering 400 rolls for someone else’s feast. If you’re wanting fresh bread for the holidays, get on the microbakery’s list now. Getting orders in a bit earlier would be helpful, Fairbanks said, as the family will soon move to their new home.
Custom orders can be made through the “Duncan Bread and Roses Mircobakery” Facebook page or by calling 580-860-6020. For ready made items, check out the Garden Hub and Duncan Farmers Market, located at 2113 W. Beech.
JOE FAIRBANKS, OWNER AND BAKER FOR BREAD AND ROSES MIRCOBAKERY, SCORES A LOAF OF SOURDOUGH BEFORE GETTING THE NEXT ROUND INTO THE OVEN.
Decorating from the Inside Out
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TAMARA GREGOR
The sounds of Christmas flow in and out of Gigi’s house just as they flow through a new home decór boutique in Duncan.
Inside Out proprietor Pam Spurlock said she loves the Christmas season and especially loves spending time with her grandchildren.
“Since they were little bitty, we’d have Gigi’s Christmas Party every year,” she said. “It’s an all-night party.”
Spurlock said her grandkids — Miles, Creede, Harper, Brooks and Griffin — stay up all night, eat way too much food, play games, watch movies and make and decorate sugar cookies.
“They just drink a lot of egg nog and decorate sugar cookies,” she said. “They climb right up on the counters, and they have since they were little bitty.”
Much like Gigi’s Christmas Party in her home, Spurlock’s love for Christmas spills over into her newly opened home décor store.
Originally from Temple, Spurlock has resided in Stephens County for 35 years. She’s worked in the horticulture field, as well as with home decór. She said she wanted to add her home decór to the horticulture field to help get through the hard seasons and to stay financially stable.
It was around 10 years ago, Spurlock said, when God gave her a vision of the current building.
“It took a while to get it happening,” she said.
After a difficult season, Spurlock said the business came into fruition.
“It’s been kind of a peaceful place for me and a healthy place for me,” she said.
When Inside Out officially opened, Spurlock said she wanted the store to be a peaceful and fun place for customers to gather and shop.
As the horticulture side of the business expanded, Spurlock said the home decór side grew also.
Some of the more popular pieces are the floral pieces in the store. Customers can either bring their own vase, or
INSIDE OUT PROPRIETOR PAM SPURLOCK OPENED INSIDE OUT, A HOME DECÒR STORE, IN MAY 2023. SPURLOCK BEGAN ON THE HORTICULTURE SIDE AND MOVED INTO HOME DECÒR.
purchase one, to design a floral piece. Spurlock said they offer custom designs as well.
Other popular items include pictures, fall home items and Christmas items.
“This is a kingdom business,” she said. “You usually hear Christian music playing, we have some fun music, but we also have a lot of Christian music playing.”
Part of the ambiance at Inside Out is the newly added coffee shop, Royer’s Coffee and Pastries, and its prayer wall. Spurlock said they will have people come in and they will pray for them or
each other.
Spurlock previously knew the owner of the coffee shop, Alexis Royer, because the brewmaster used to work for Spurlock in the horticulture business.
After Royer returned from college, Spurlock brought her on board to open the coffee shop.
Spurlock said the community can come in, walk around, grab a cup of coffee and sit and converse.
Inside out is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is located at 5410 N. Highway 81 in Duncan.
DM
‘Pour into others’: Royer’s Coffee and Pastries offers fresh brew, conversation, prayer and
love
Pour into others — a slogan wrapped around a cup from one of Duncan’s newest coffee shops will certainly brighten someone’s day.
Royer’s Coffee and Pastries, pronounced roy-a, opened this past October along North Highway 81 in Duncan.
The small, picturesque coffee shop and bakery sits adjacent to a home decór shop on the north side of Duncan and is ready to serve up a cup of Joe, holiday treats and smiles to its customers.
With the holiday season in full swing, the new coffee shop and bakery made its way into Duncan to not only bring coffee and pastries, but also conversation and new friendships, said owner Alexis Royer.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TAMARA GREGOR
Royer, 21, said she’s enjoyed the art of baking since she was about two years old when she would bake sweet treats, like cookies, cinammon rolls and cakes, with her grandmother, Shirley Nunley. Royer has been in love with baking ever since.
“I would make things with her,” she said. “I just fell in love it with from there.”
That love fueled a dream to open her own bakery, and that dream has now come true.
Royer said her grandmother pretty much taught her everything she needed to know about the culinary arts and baking, aside from going to school.
Royer said the cinnamon rolls are one of the more complicated bakery items
to make, but her grandmother loved making them and she sold them at craft shows.
“The only reason I sell cinnamon rolls is because of her,” Royer said. “I use her recipe. Those are for her.”
Royer, born on Ft. Sill, said her dad serves in the military and her mom works on Ft. Sill. They traveled around when Royer was young, but she’s lived in Stephens County most of her life.
For a two years, Royer lived in Washington State before moving back to Oklahoma. Royer graduated Central High in 2021. It was during high school, when baking became more of a reality for Royer, who would take cake and cookie orders.
After high school, Royer attended
Cameron University for a year to complete a lot of her basic studies before transferring to culinary school at OSU Institute of Technology in Okmulgee, where she obtained her Associate’s Degree in Applied Science.
Now, her shop is set up right here in Stephens County.
“I love the small town feel,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody, so the word gets out fast and then you become friends with new friends.”
In the beginning, Royer wasn’t sure if the bakery was an option for her, but she’s worked with Pam Spurlock, owner of Inside Out previously, and Spurlock brought Royer on board after opening the new décor business.
While Royer only opened the coffee
ALEXIS ROYER OPENED ROYER’S COFFEE AND PASTRIES THIS FALL AFTER RECEIVING AN OPPORTUNITY FROM INSIDE OUT OWNER, PAM SPURLOCK. THE SHOP PROVIDES FRESH JOE, FRESH BAKED GOODS AND ALSO A PRAYER WALL.
and pastry shop just a few weeks ago, she’s enjoyed being a business owner.
Since she opened her doors, sugar cookies decorating for every season have become a popular hit, along with her quiche, cookies and muffins.
“Eventually, I’m going to get into doing croissants,” she said.
For the Christmas season, Royer will sell gingerbread cookies and potentially gingerbread kits for families to decorate together.
“Christmas time is going to be very fun in here,” she said.
Royer’s Coffee and Pastries offers regular drip coffees, cold brews, lattes and macchiatos. Royer said they have a variety of flavors for the coffees and alternative milk options, as well as sugar-free options for customers.
Coffee enthusiasts can choose from different fall flavors, such as pumpkin, toasted marshmallow and toffee nut for the fall. Closer to Christmas, the shop will add peppermint to the mix, along with a few other fun flavors.
The support in the days since opening has been overwhelming and humbling, Royer said.
“Didn’t realize how big of a support group I had, until I opened this place up,” she said. “Just seeing every face, every face I know that I’ve seen before, just come in and support — it’s amazing. I make a new regular almost every day. I love it.”
She said people from the community come in, sit and talk and meet people here as well.
One reason she wanted to open the bakery and the coffee shop is to give customers a place to go, sit and relax, grab a sweet or a cup of coffee while shopping or take break before shopping some more.
In addition to grabbing a coffee or a sweet treat, those who come to the shop can add a prayer request to the wall. As faith-based workers, Royer said she wanted to provide the prayer wall to help recognize those people who are in need of prayer.
Royer said they’ve already have a
few prayers added to the space. She said each day they look at the wall, they say those prayers.
“Hopefully, eventually someone will put a red heart on their prayer that it was answered,” she said.
Aside from the prayer wall, Royer’s Coffee and Pastries utilizes Grounds 4 Compassion to make the coffee. Royer said Grounds 4 Compassion does a lot of mission work.
Founded in 2011, G4C is a missional coffee company with the desire to give back. Every Sunday in Oklahoma City, the group operates a church under the bridge for anyone who wants to come
and for anyone who needs something to eat. They host church services with fresh coffee and a meal.
“They kept growing and growing,” she said.
Royer said the owners are “super, super sweet.” The company is also veteran-owned.
“I wanted to use someone in that service, because of my parents,” she said.
Royer’s Coffee and Pastries is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and closed on Sundays. The coffee shop is located adjacent to Inside Out at 5410 N. Highway 81 in Duncan. DM
Comanche’s Christmas Village invites you to step inside winter wonderland for the holidays
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TAMARA GREGOR
Christmas magic is in the air and a county church will look to spread joy and happiness to the community this holiday season.
For two weekends, The Christmas Village will come to the southern portion of Stephens County. Anyone wishing to step inside the winter wonderland can do so from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 8-10 and Dec. 12-14 at the Family Life Center of Comanche First Baptist Church.
Pastor Dr. Mark Hall said the church’s sixth Christmas Village will offer families a fun way to make memories at Christmas time.
After organizing and presenting the Christmas village for the past five years, Hall said it’s become one of the church’s favorite things to do for the holidays.
“We love to see the joy it brings those who come visit the village,” Hall said. “We get to impact so many with the true meaning of Christmas and emphasize the love of God for them that is seen in His gift to us of His Son, Jesus, to come to the earth and die for our sins.”
The Christmas Village will bring many favorites back to town, including a movie theater for kids to watch a short Christmas movie, as well as an outdoor train ride.
The Christmas Village will also feature the Cocoa Shop, a Christmas Train, a Post Office, the Lottie Moon
A FAMILY STOPS OUTSIDE OF THE GENERAL STORE SET UP AT COMANCHE’S CHRISTMAS VILLAGE. THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS VILLAGE WILL OPEN FROM DEC. 8-10 AND DEC. 12-14.
Experience with mission emphasis, The Library, Cookie Shop, Candle Shop, Craft shop, Theater and the Carpenter Shop. Snow cones and s’mores will be at stations and the popcorn is served in the theater.
Hall said the Cocoa Shop will supply cocoa, cider, coffee, water and most likely some cookies and snacks.
For the Carpenter Shop, kids will get the opportunity to make and paint wooden ornaments.
The Post Office is where kids can write a Christmas card to a resident at a nursing home. They will ‘stamp’ the cards and drop them
into the Christmas Village mailbox. The handwritten letters will go to the Meridian Nursing Home.
“We will deliver them when we take the Christmas presents up there,” he said.
Also on the list of activities are cooking decorating and creating wax candles. There will also be a holiday story time experience.
Hall said they will host a special room dedicated to their mission’s efforts, along with a new craft room where kids can make a different craft each night at the village.
This year, the Christmas Village will host a new trav-
el experience – the Lottie Moon Experience.
Hall said Moon was a missionary in China and their annual International Mission Board offering is named after her.
“We hope to have an interactive display where the children can learn about her life and missions,” he said. “We will serve cookies from her recipe in that room.”
For both weekend events, the Christmas Village will host different groups from area schools to perform at the village.
There will be numerous photo opportunities for families and individual photos,
Hall said.
Hall said Christmas is his favorite time of the year.
“It gives me such joy to be a part of this ministry,” he said. “Our faith family really goes all out and each one gets into the Christmas Spirit as we express our love for people and God.”
The event is free and open to the public.
lage, Hall said there will be giveaways for those that register.
For anyone wishing to get a sneak peak of the Christmas Village, Hall said this opportunity will come during an open house from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, prior to the Comanche Christmas Parade.
Comanche First Baptist Church is located at 315 W. Oak Main, Comanche. CHRISTMAS
Every night of the vil-
VILLAGE ATTENDEES FROM PREVIOUS YEARS VISIT
All Aboard! Kiddieland Express Holiday Experience ready to roll into town with family fun
STORY BY TAMARA GREGOR PHOTOS BY JASON HODGES AND SUBMITTED
The lights, the music, the atmosphere — there’s just something about the Christmas season that strikes hearts with love, compassion and happiness. This rings true as one local civic organization’s volunteers continue to bring festivities and family fun with the Kiddieland Express Holiday Experience.
For the third year, Kiddieland Park will transform into a winter wonderland for area families to enjoy at Fuqua Park East.
The holiday experience, sponsored by the Chisholm Trail Kiwanis Club of Duncan and Kiddieland, will open from 6-8 p.m. on Dec. 6-7 and Dec. 13-14. There will be no Sunday event this year.
Brittany Maxwell and Patty Wininger, event co-chairs, said the event includes a second weekend this year due to the popularity.
Kiddieland will be decorated in a traditional theme and will feature a train ride for kids and families, a carousel, hot cocoa and cookies, Mr. And Mrs. Claus, a giveaway and a Letters to Santa writing station.
During the event, there will be a special reading of “T’was the Night Before Christmas” for those riding the train.
Maxwell said families who take a ride on the train
THE KIDDIELAND TRAIN WILL PULL INTO THE STATION TO OFFER A HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE TO THE PUBLIC DURING TWO WEEKENDS IN DECEMBER.
can enjoy visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, seasonal treats and interactive holiday displays throughout the park.
“It’s designed to create a magical and memorable holiday experience for all ages,” Maxwell said.
Tickets for the Kiddieland Express Holiday Experience will cost $5 and for admission, Maxwell said attendees will get the full Kiddieland Express Holiday Experience.
“A ticket will get you
a seat on the Kiddieland Express train where you’ll hear a traditional Christmas story be read, write a letter to Santa, take a spin on the vintage carousel, meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, and enjoy a chocolate chip cookie and a hot cup of cocoa,” Maxwell said.
Through offering this holiday experience, Maxwell hopes everyone who attends has a memorable time and creates a lasting family tradition.
Over the years the fes-
tive event has continued to grow. Maxwell said Kiwanis added the Letters to Santa station, made the carousel operational during the winter month, introduced more lights and decorations and extended the experience to two full weekend.
“We’ve also seen greater participation from the community,” Maxwell said. “We hope to see this event continue to grow and evolve in the years to come.”
Maxwell said the Kiwanis International motto is
“serving the children of the world,” in addition to the Kiwanis vision, “Kiwanis will be a positive influence in communities worldwide –so that one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them, nurture them, and provide the support they need to thrive.”
“I believe our Duncan Chisholm Trail Kiwanis Club does just that,” Maxwell said. “With the money raised from our service projects like Kiddieland, swim lessons and holiday experience, we are able to provide Duncan High School seniors with scholarships for college, higher education,” Maxwell said. “Additionally, we sponsor the Duncan High School Key Club, as well as the Elementary Junior Police.”
“It’s all made possible by the volunteers in this community,” Maxwell said. “Whether they are a Kiwanis member or not, individuals and businesses are selflessly eager to step in and help with any needs that arise to keep Kiddieland Park running.”
Events such as the holiday experience help the Kiwanis raise funds to keep Kiddieland running for families
to enjoy.
Wininger said they work to keep it affordable.
“Kiwanis uses this as a fundraiser to help run Kiddieland, teach children and youth summer swim lessons, and award scholarships to graduating seniors,” Wininger said.
Maxwell said the Chisholm Trail Kiwanis are excited to bring this festive event to the community for the third year.
“The community’s support has been incredible, showing that there is a real need for an event like this in our town,” Maxwell said. “We love sharing our unique Kiddieland Park with Duncan and the surrounding areas.”
Maxwell said there is an open invitation to anyone who wants to volunteer or get involved with Kiwanis or Kiddieland.
For more information about Kiwanis, contact Maxwell by email at President@duncankiwanis.org or Bmaxwell@duncankiwanis. org. You can also find the Duncan chapter of Kiwanis on Facebook.
Kiddieland Park is located at the corner of Beech Avenue and Highway 81 in Duncan. DM
Cowboy Christmas Gala offers holiday fun for a worthy cause
STORY BY TONI HOPPER, PHOTOS BY TAMARA GREGOR
Many people enjoy the holidays for social events, whether it is church or family gatherings, or work-related.
There is one event that its supporters will enjoy again as an annual event. It’s the Cowboy Christmas Gala, which will benefit the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center.
“We had a great time last year. We enjoyed great food, great company,” said Mikel Davison, whose wife, Vicki, serves on the board. This is the second year for the event.
Carol Murphy of Marlow also serves on the board, after being invited by a founding board member, Barbara Braught. Murphy and the Davisons are all retired educators. Mikel is also an artist.
Their enthusiasm for the upcoming gala, set for Dec. 5 at the Simmons Center, isn’t just about the social event, but goes deeper.
“Last year was my first gala to attend,” Murphy said. “It was a very exciting and interesting evening. There was an auction, with some interesting items and it’s important to the mission of the Heritage Center’s education program.”
CTHC Executive Director Leah Mulkey said the facility has served more than 100,000 children since the foundation of its education program in 2004. In 2023, they served 10,424 students.
“The Chisholm Trail Heritage Center board of directors sees the need for an education expansion. The expansion will upgrade the museum for our education program and for our guests,” Mulkey said. It will be a physical expansion of the building.
“This museum is a special place,” said Mikel Davison. “Thousands of children have been here. You’d have to literally have been a boomer to not have been served by the education program.”
Davison said so many of the old West classic movies center around the history of this region. “The museum introduces that [history] to our kids.”
As a former teacher, Murphy said she finds the hands-on, interactive areas fascinating.
“You see kids exposed to things they don’t normally see, at the Heritage Center. Even if all the kids just walk through to see the displays, to see and learn about the West, it’s so good. The interactive programs they put on and the art the children do, it’s wonderful.”
The Heritage Center offers four different themed educational sessions for grades third through fifth. Teachers and homeschool groups fill up the available programs quickly through field trip bookings. Sessions are The Abernathy Boys (fall), Holidays on the Trail, History Heroes (winter), and Oklahoma Land Giveaways (spring).
Over the years, new programs have been added to reach more youngsters. Children in kindergarten through second grade can attend Animals on the Trail, and, or Cowboys on the Trail;
and there is a Cowpokes & Wranglers art program in January and February for children ages 2-4, and ages 5 and up for wranglers. A unique program is the Saddle Up & Write (Creative Writing) for sixth-grade students from Duncan, Marlow and Empire. In the summer, the Center offers Free Family Art every Monday in June. All of these programs are possible because of funding through the Oklahoma Arts Council, grants and private sponsorships, and memberships. Mulkey said currently there are 140 paid memberships, but the board hopes to double that number. The gala is one way to help connect with potential new members.
“We are asking the community to partner with us in our mission to provide quality, memorable field trip experiences for students throughout Oklahoma and North Texas. Our goal is to raise funds for education expansion,” Mulkey said. “History is important. Immersing children in our history, the history of the Chisholm Trail is our mission.”
Mulkey also credits Nancy Litsch
for her tireless efforts in launching the Cowboy Christmas Gala.
“Nancy is the force behind both galas. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be successful,” Mulkey said. Last year, 250 tickets were sold, making the event a packed house. It begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, and music by Dr. Lorne Lee, a 12-string touch-style guitarist. There will be a special performance by opera vocalist Amanda Kosi.
“During the evening, silent and live auctions with Butch Graham as our auctioneer.”
An additional reason for the expansion is to continue to highlight artists essential to the history of the American West, Native Americans, and the Chisholm Trail region.
Mulkey said it will include new exhibits.
Davison has been fortunate to have his work exhibited twice in full shows, and also has pieces on display. “The artists the museum represents, Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington and
the Kiowa 5, well, just to be represented among those artists in history, is incredible. I encourage people to go to the Gala, and [personally] being able to donate art for the auction is special. It’s an opportunity to support your facility that is privately run. They aren’t looking to make money and what they offer is really something. The Gala is better than some Hollywood event where celebrities are yammering about something that doesn’t matter. The Heritage Center is worth supporting,” Davison said. “The Garis Gallery of the American West is one of the top 20 museums in the country.”
Pretty much everyone associated with the Heritage Center agree.
“I have lived all over the country, Texas to Maryland,” Murphy said. “I tell people that the things Duncan has for the size of town it is, such a treasure. I tell people, if they are coming to Oklahoma, there are two places they must see. The first is the Wichita Mountains and then the Heritage Cen-
ter,” she said.
Litsch brags about the museum and all its offerings. “Hundreds of people from around the USA and the world visit the Center every year. After visiting the Cowboy Hall of Fame and CTHC, my Australian friends declared our museum “the best!” More importantly school children have the opportunity to learn about a way of life that shaped the character of Oklahomans,” she said. “Our community is very supportive of the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center. The amount of in-kind donations from local businesses is staggering. Their generosity for CTHC will allow us to see a greater margin of profit for our facility enhancement effort. It has been my privilege to meet new artisans from our area. Their artwork is unique and astonishing. They are as excited as I am to be a part of this Gala. I hope all of you will join us on December 5, for a delightful, different evening of entertainment,” Litsch said. DM
POPULAR BOOKS SELECTED BY PATRONS OF DUNCAN PUBLIC LIBRARY INCLUDE THOSE WRITTEN BY DEBBIE MACOMBER AND KAREN KINGSBURY. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS IS ANOTHER FAVORITE FOR ALL AGES AND IS POPULAR WITH ILLUSTRATORS. NOT ALL BOOKS PICTURED ARE FROM THE LIBRARY.
Christmas poem still remains a ‘favorite holiday book’ 200 years later
STORY AND PHOTO BY TONI HOPPER
We’re all familiar with treasured Christmas stories like “A Christmas Carol” or “The Night Before Christmas” but do you know which is the oldest story, or the stories behind them? Few do, but it’s the stories themselves that many of us will have one particular favorite.
“The Night Before Christmas” was originally titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and is often known as “T’was the Night Before Christmas.” It was written as a poem, published in a newspaper anonymously, in 1823. Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, which was
first printed in book form in 1837, is a favorite in households with children throughout the world.
“We always read “The Night Before Christmas” as a tradition. Started when the kids were little and still going,” said Bayli Crowell Lucas, a teacher at BrayDoyle Public School. She and husband, Matt, and their three children, Morgan, Kaden and Macie, now all young adults, continue the tradition. They even made sure to take photos throughout the years of the family moment. Bayli said it’s a treasured tradition.
Tina Bennett, library director of the Garland Smith
Public Library in Marlow, said that book and “Rudolph” are two of the most circulated children’s books during the holiday season. “Classics of that nature,” she said. “If I had to pick a favorite Christmas book, it would probably be “A Christmas Carol” because I’m a huge Charles Dickens fan.”
As for books most popular among adult readers for the holidays, she said novels by Debbie Macomber and Fern Michaels come to mind quickly. “Richard Paul Evans has a Christmas series too and Anne Perry.”
Marlow educator and mom, Chelsea King DaVoult, also has wonderful memories of “The Night Before Christmas.”
“My great-grandmother recited the entire thing by heart. She had a steel trap memory and loved poetry. We would sit at her feet while she told the story. It’s something I will cherish forever. I fell in love with the magic of Christmas through her story-telling,” DaVoult said. “The reason I love Christmas so much is because it takes me right back to being a little girl at my Granny and Papa’s (Harry and Cherie Callaway) house in Marlow, and listening to my Mimi (great-grandmother Elsie Acord) feed our anticipation of the arrival of Santa. I fell in love with the magic.”
Christmas storytelling didn’t end in Chelsea’s family with the magical fantasy of Santa.
“She always followed with the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas when we gathered to share our family meal. I sure wish I would have soaked more of that up as a child.
Sure miss those days,” said DaVoult.
One story that many may not know is “The Birds Christmas Carol” a novel by Kate Douglass Wiggin, printed as a private story in 1886, then published in 1888, complete with illustrations by Katharine R. Wireman. The book was created as a way to fund the Silver Street Free Kindergarten in San Francisco, founded in 1878.
Local store owner Angie Toone is extremely familiar with the story.
“The Birds Christmas Carol was my favorite. I cried every time I read it. I still have my copy from childhood,” she said. No plot spoilers here, you’ll have to read the story, but be prepared to have a box of tissues nearby. The story was adapted into a silent movie in 1917, “A Bit o’ Heaven.”
Amy Ryker, library director for Duncan Public Library, was able to quickly reference the most popular novels selected by patrons. She said Debbie Macomber remains the Queen of Christmas, with the highest checkouts overall. “Her books are well-known for being uplifting and delightful, many of them being made into Hallmark movies over the years,” she said.
“Her top three were Cedar Cove Christmas, Cindy and the Prince, and The Snow Bride, but following close behind was Call Me Mrs. Miracle, The Christmas Basket, and the Christmas Letters.”
Ryker said author Karen Kingsbury also “managed to peek into the top three” with her inspiring story, “Gideon’s Gift.” She also offered that the most checked
DID YOU KNOW?
Duncan Public Library Director
Amy Ryker shared this for our readers.
So far this season we’re seeing checkouts for the following:
Kids:
–The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
–Clifford’s Christmas by Norman Bridwell
–Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! By Mo Willems
Adults:
–The Christmas
out Christmas movie is “The Polar Express.” (For those who don’t know, there’s also a book!) Books like “T’was the Night Before Christmas” and “The Polar Express” have been reprinted many times with various illustrators. The books are as popular for those illustrations as they are for the stories.
Kristi Hendrickson King, director of the Stephens County Genealogical Society Library in Duncan, said she always rereads “The Christmas Carol.”
“I know it’s a cliche’ but it’s still my favorite Christmas story. I don’t always read it at Christmas time,” she said, mentioning one of her favorite moments in the story. “When Scrooge goes to see his nephew and talks about his sister. And
Tree Farm by Melody Carlson
–The Christmas Cottage by Davis Bunn –Christmas in Painted Pony Creek by Linda Lael Miller
The top three children’s books of all time that are checked out:
–Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Connor
–Olive the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh
–A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles Schulz.
Tiny Tim always sticks with you.”
She also loves reading “Little Women.”
“It has always stayed with me at Christmas. It is set at Christmas during the war. It made an impact on me what they were going to do with their dollar for Christmas.”
King, an avid reader who worked in a large bookstore for years, said the best books always come out in the fall and holiday season. “You don’t buy what you want at Christmas, because you are usually saving to buy other gifts for your family. Christmas is a bad time of the year,” she quipped, “because I can’t buy myself books. My family asks me for a list or they get me a gift card.”
DM
Creating memories through cooking 4-H youth participate in annual cook-off, share recipes ahead of holiday gatherings
STORY BY TONI HOPPER, PHOTOS BY TONI HOPPER AND SUBMITTED
Nearly everyone has fond memories of holiday meals, especially when you think of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe it’s the smells of pumpkin pie, homemade stuffing, baked turkey and ham that tug the heartstrings. Underlying scents of cinnamon, fresh apples and oranges, nutmeg, sage. Sweet and savory side dishes.
Holiday baking and cooking in the kitchen are where memories are shared and made, where old family traditions are passed down to younger generations.
Stephens County 4-H has hosted an annual cook-off for decades and this is the 41st year. The pre-holiday event takes place at the county fairgrounds and is open to all 4-H youth.
Emma Wilcox, 18, has been participating in the event since she was about eight-years-old. An online-homeschooled student, Wilcox said it is something she really looks forward to each November. Last year, she entered a cheesecake pumpkin roll.
“I’ve seen her grow and show responsibility,” said her mother, Alethea Wilcox, of Duncan. “I appreciate the 4-H program and event. It correlates work and the outcome of that work.”
Emma said the cook-off has helped her pay more attention to details, includ-
ing the overall picture when presenting the display. In fact, the presentation is one component of the judging process.
Last year, Emma used a fall setting to display an apple pie she entered. Faux fall leaves, and an autumn decorated platter and placemat were eye-catching components. “I really like just making the food and having
my family enjoy it.”
Shelbi Morgan, a busy mom of two little girls and the agriculture teacher at Comanche High School, still finds time to encourage Kinsley, 9, and Karsyn, 5, in the kitchen. The 2023 cook-off was Kinsley’s second time to participate, and Karsyn’s first time as a Cloverbud member.
“I think it’s good. My girls
love it. Cooking teaches useful skills and elementary school age is not too young to start building confidence. In the fall, we go through our decorations or go to the dollar store. Kinsley knows what she wants,” Shelbi said. Past entries for the Morgan girls have included banana bread, punch and a cheeseball. This year, there are plans for an apple cider cake and baked tortellini.
While the idea is to encourage and promote cooking skills, the actual event also offers much more. While the judges are reviewing entries, OSU Extension Educator Brenda Gandy Jones has a separate room filled with many STEM related activities using food items and more. The children get a chance to see old friends, make new ones and play learning games before the awards are announced and the food is devoured. A cookbook is also created and presented to all the youth.
“I think because other kids are involved, they do stuff with their friends, is why they like it so much,” Shelbi said. “It’s a good stepping stone to get involved with 4-H.”
Even boys get involved. The Presgrove brothers, Tucker, 12, and Tripper, 9, of Velma, are as excited about the event as the girls. This is Tucker’s fourth year. One of his favorite dishes to enter is “mac and cheese.” And he
PARKER POWELL MAKES PIE CRUST FOR HIS DISH IN THE 4-H COOKOFF LAST YEAR.
loves to eat it. Another dish he enjoys making is the traditional stuffing.
“It’s fun to make because of family time. I really like making it but I don’t like to eat it.”
Tripper entered pumpkin sugar cookies last year. He really likes baking sugar cookies and at Christmas, he likes the stocking shape.
“I like to compete. I think it’s fun and I like to get creative,” Tripper said.
Their mom, Carolina Page Powell, isn’t surprised they enjoy cooking and competing.
“My family has always been involved in 4-H. Tucker has always loved to cook meat, steak, potatoes, deer meat, and as usual, his little brother follows. We use my grannie’s old turkey dressing recipe. They love to help with that. I did that with my grandparents too,” she said. This year, the youngest, Parker, 6, will enter for the first time. He’s finally old enough. He’s making a cheese ball, which is an easy recipe for beginners and a favorite appetizer for all ages.
Madison Cochran, 12, and a student at Bray-Doyle School, also loves the annual cook-off. She has entered the past three years, and like the others, plans to enter again this year. Her mom, Jasmine, said Madison loves being in the kitchen.
She had a salsa chicken entry and various desserts in the past. “She also goes through and picks the plates and how to decorate. She won with her fruit cake.”
Madison said she likes to challenge herself to see how to improve a recipe. This year, she is intent on entering a German Black Forest Cake, based off a recipe of an old family German cookbook.
“It’s really fun to do and learn new things. The cake is time consuming.” She’s also made German lemon Christmas cookies for the cook-off.
Central High 4-H youth, Graycie,11, and Wyatt Farris, 8, will also return to the cook-off this year. In last year’s event, Graycie’s lemon blueberry bread won 1st place, and Wyatt made reindeer brownies.
“Both of the kids have really taken to cooking and baking in the kitchen with their Granny and GiGi over the last couple of years,” Lacey said. “The cook-off contest is their favorite event within 4-H. The kids get to choose their recipes and how they decorate their place setting at the contest.”
Note: This year’s event was originally planned for Nov. 4, but was postponed because of the threat of severe weather. It was rescheduled for Nov. 18.
MAMA’S APPLE PIE
Ingredients
FILLING:
6 cups of sliced apples
2 Tbsp of Tapioca
3/4 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves, cardamom, ginger, and allspice
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of lemon extract
CRUST:
● 2/3 cup and 2 tbsp shortening/lard
● 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
● 1 tsp salt
● 4 to 6 tbsp cold water
Instructions
FILLING:
Combine all filling ingredients in a medium
saucepan and cook on low. Do so until the apples are soft and a gel-like substance surrounds the apples. About 15 minutes. Let sit to cool down.
CRUST:
Combine dry ingredients and mix. Then, using a pastry cutter, cut the shortening/lard and into dry ingredients. Add water until it reaches the desired consistency. Form into a ball and chill for 45 minutes. Split the crust into half and make top and bottom crusts. Bale at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 50 minutes.
Recipe submitted by Emma Wilcox
FRUIT TART CAKE
Ingredients
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
9 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 package Vanilla pudding
2 large cans sliced peaches (or fruit of your choice)
1 package fruit glaze
Use a flan pan or nonstick tart pan for this recipe.
Instructions
Make your vanilla pudding and let it chill for about 10 minutes in the refrigerator. Mix eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add oil and mix well. Sift flour into mixture, and then
fold flour into the batter. Grease your flan pan with oil. Pour in batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Open cans of peaches and drain the juice. Once the cake base is done, take it out of the oven and then spread the vanilla pudding on top of the cake base. Add the peaches, starting at the edge of the cake base and go inward. Make your glaze and pour it on top of the fruit. Place in the refrigerator for one hour before serving. Makes 10 to 12 servings. .
Recipe submitted by Madison Cochran
GRAYCIE FARRIS SCOOPS UP SOME FROSTING TO DECORATE OREOS AT LAST YEAR’S 4-H COUNTY COOKOFF.
Ingredients
CAKE ROLL:
1/4 cup powdered sugar (for parchment paper/towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
PUMPKIN PIE SPICE:
1⁄2 tsp Cinnamon
1⁄2 tsp Ginger
1⁄2 tsp Nutmeg
1⁄2 tsp Ground Allspice
1⁄2 tsp Ground Cloves
3 large eggs
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup Pumpkin Puree
CREAM CHEESE
FILLING:
1 and 1/2 packages of room-temperature cream cheese (total of 12 ounces)
1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
9 tbsp of softened butter
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 tbsp of honey
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a baking sheet, then line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Mix well.
3. Next, beat eggs and sugar together until it is very thick, then beat pumpkin puree in. After this
add the egg/sugar mixture to the flour mixture.
4. Spread this mixture evenly into the pan, smoothing over with a spatula. Place in oven and bake for 13 - 15 minutes. When done, the cake will be springy to the touch, but it must be set, especially in the middle.
5. When done, remove from the oven. Now to ROLL the cake, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, and then place a towel over the top.
6. Start to roll the cake, keeping the parchment paper on, with a clean towel as well. The cake needs to be rolled short ways, not long ways for best results. In addition, make sure you roll it when the cake is slightly warm. After rolling the cake, set it aside to cool.
7. For the cream cheese filling, beat the cream cheese and sugar together with the butter, vanilla, and honey until smooth. Then, unrolling the cake (and removing the towel) spread the filling inside evenly.
8. Keeping parchment paper on, reroll the pumpkin roll. After this, refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
Recipe submitted by Emma Wilcox
MIMI’S BANANA BREAD
Ingredients
½ cup shortening
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
4-5 mashed bananas (1 ½ cups)
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. Salt
2 ½ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Baking soda
2 ½ cups flour
Instructions
Step 1: Cream together
shortening, sugar and eggs.
Step 2: Add remaining ingredients.
Step 3: Grease loaf pan and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until done.
Servings: 12.
Recipe submitted by Kinsley Morgan
THANKSGIVING PUNCH
Ingredients
12 ounces cranberry juice
10 ounces orange juice
6 ounces Sprite
4 ounces pineapple juice
1 Tbs. grenadine
Instructions
Mix your ingredients together. Stir or shake well. If shaking, shake gently because of the
Sprite. Serve over ice in a 12 or 16 ounce glass (or smaller punch cup). Garnish with cranberries, orange slices or whipped cream. Makes 4 to 5 servings in a glass.
Recipe submitted by Kinsley Morgan
PARKER’S PUMPKIN CHEESE BALL
Ingredients
2 8 oz packages
cream cheese room temperature
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
3-4 green onions diced 1 cup finely chopped pecans
Paprika
Bell Pepper stem
Instructions
Mix cream cheese, garlic powder, cheese, onions together. Form
into a ball. Roll to coat in paprika, then chopped pecans. Cover in plastic wrap. Wrap with rubber bands for pumpkin ridges. Chill at least 1 hour. Remove plastic wrap and add bell pepper stem for pumpkin stem. Serve with crackers of your choice and/or sliced vegetables.
Recipe submitted by Parker Presgrove
TRIPPER’S PUMPKIN SUGAR COOKIES
Ingredients
½ cup softened butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 egg
½ cup pumpkin puree
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp Salt
TOPPING:
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Cream butter, sugar, eggs and pumpkin puree
until smooth.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add into the butter/ pumpkin mixture. Roll dough into 1” balls, roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture to coat. Bake at 350 for 8-10 mins on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Recipe submitted by Tripper Presgrove
TUCKER’S PUMPKIN ROLL
Ingredients
CAKE:
¼ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup AP flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves (optional)
¼ tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
FILLING:
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla or maple syrup
Instructions
CAKE:
rease a 15x10 baking sheet. Line with wax paper, grease and flour wax paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda,
cinnamon, salt and cloves if using in a small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin, Stir in flour mixture.
Spread evenly into prepared pan. Optional – sprinkle with 1 cup nuts Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes until top of cake springs back up when touched.
Turn out onto prepared towel. Peel off wax paper. Roll up cake and towel together. Cool on wire rack.
FILLING:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth. Unroll cake, spread filling over cake, reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
Recipe submitted by Tucker Presgrove
SNOWMAN BROWNIES
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter melted
2 eggs
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 inch pan.
2. Mix sugar, flour, melted butter, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking powder, and
salt in a large bowl until combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry, and edges have started to pull away from the side of the pan, about 20 -30 minutes
4. Let cool, then use your choice of decorations to make your snowman. White, orange, brown icing, straight pretzels. Number of Servings: 4-6 .
Recipe submitted by Wyatt Farris
LEMON BLUEBERRY BREAD
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup Unsalted Butter (melted)
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 tsp. Lemon Zest
4 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Blueberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350*F and line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper (or lightly grease with butter).
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside. In the bowl or an electric mixer, blend together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. While slowly mixing, add flour mixture and milk into two batches (some flour, then some milk, then the rest of the
flour and the rest of the milk). Stop mixing as soon as it is combined. Rinse off the blueberries (if using fresh) so they have just a bit of moisture on them, then in a small bowl toss the blueberries and 1 T. flour. Add the flour coated blueberries to the batter and gently but quickly stir, by hand, to combine. Immediately pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in the pan for about 30 minutes, then move to a wire cooling rack with a baking sheet below (to catch the glaze you are about to add). Prepare glaze by whisking together the melted butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla, then pour the glaze over the loaf.
Recipe submitted by Graycie Farris
Community Calendar
This is an indoor/outdoor Flea and Farmer’s market with over 100 vendor spaces. We have a wide variety of products and vendors to meet everyone’s shopping needs. We have food trucks available with a variety of great food options.
Dec. 6-8
Jan. 10-12
Feb. 7-9
Mar. 7-9
April 11-13
May 9-11
June 6-8
July 11-13
Aug. 8-10
Sept. 5-7
Oct. 10-12
Nov. 7-9
Dec. 5-7
FACES
MSD’S HOLIDAY STROLL KICKS OFF WINTER SEASON
Main Street Duncan hosted its annual Holiday Stroll, which kicked off the shopping season in Stephens County ahead of Christmas. The annual event brings merchants, vendors and Santa Claus to the downtown area in November for a night of family-friendly fun.
Photos by Jason Hodges
FACES
COMANCHE TOYS FOR TOTS
BENEFITS FROM RIDE
Motorcyclists came together for a toy run in November to help Comanche Toys for Tots. The nonprofit is currently gearing up for the Christmas season and the riders brought toys to help further the Christmas mission of getting toys into the hands of kids.
Photos by Jason Hodges
FACES
VETERANS HONORED WITH ANNUAL PARADE
Stephens County Veterans were recognized in November during a Veterans Day parade in downtown Duncan.
Photos by Jason Hodges
DUNCAN
THROUGH A LENS
PARTING SHOT
SISTERS STELLA, ON SHOULDERS, AND MILEY STOP FOR A QUICK PHOTO IN FRONT OF A CHRISTMAS TREE AT MAIN STREET DUNCAN’S HOLIDAY STROLL IN NOVEMBER.
PHOTO BY JASON HODGES
Santa’S Mailbox
Send your letter to Santa
Santa’s making his list, so make sure he gets yours!
Mail your letter to us by December 6th, and we’ll make sure it appears in our Letters to Santa section on December 14th with a copy delivered to Santa himself!
Mail Letters to:
Santa c/o The Duncan Banner, P.O. Box 1268, Duncan, OK 73534
Or Bring Letters to: The Duncan Banner, 811 W Main St, Duncan, OK 73533
Please remember to include your first name and age on your letter!
Use this form to submit the letter. Letters must be received by 12/06/2024.
Name:
School:
Address:
City:
Age:
Grade:
State: Zip:
*Letters subject to our consideration with regard to space and appropriateness. All letters become property of this publication and cannot be returned.
