Kay County Events

2Ponca City Octoberfest 901 Monument Road Ponca City 10/02 & 10/03 ALL DAY EVENT From The Beer Garden To The Live Music, Crafts & Food, Visitors Will Find Everything Needed To Enjoy Oktoberfest, Ponca City’s Largest Fall Festival. The Ponca City Octoberfest is a community event put on by a group of volunteers. The event is also a fundraiser for the Marland Estate Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and restore the historic, architectural landmark and to educate others on the E.W. Marland story. www. poncacityoktoberfest.com

9Ponca City K9 Olympics Unity Gym 1908 E Woodland Rd, Ponca City 11:00AM TO 2:00PM Ponca City Parks & Recreation, Northern Oklahoma Humane Society and Trainer Angie Carroll have teamed up to kickoff the inaugural Ponca City K9 Olympics. The event will give you and your dog the chance to compete for gold in a variety of competitions that include Sit, Spin, Down, and Agility. This special dog competition will include awards to 1st – 3rd place finishers as well as raffle prizes, doggie and human snow cones, dog treat booths and much more. Dogs must be current on shots, please bring your dog’s vaccination record to the event. Event is scheduled for October 9th at Unity Gym. Register at poncacityok.gov/parksandrecregistration or for more information call 767-0430.

14 Ponca City Motoplayground Motocross Championships AMBUCS Motocross

Track, Ponca City 10/14 - 10/17

ALL DAY EVENT

Join us for The Most Amazing Display of Dirt Bike Culture Ever Assembled...

The Motoplayground Race at PONCA

CITY www.poncamx.com.

OCT

16 Blackwell Fall Fest! Blackwell Fairgrounds NOON - 4PM Food,Kettle Corn,Costume Contest,Best-Painted Pumpkin Contest,Scavenger Hunt and Prizes! Fun Games & More! Over 20 Vendors will be setting up with a Variety of Options to fill Your Holiday Shopping Needs! Petting Zoo,Horse Rides,Bouncy Houses! Anytime Flowers Is hosting a Free Flower Bouquet Class for Kids during the Event! Please bring your own small container or Pumpkin to put the flowers in.

Goblins on Grand 300 block East Grand Ponca City 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Each year Ponca City Main Street hosts Goblins on Grand, our community Halloween carnival, in downtown Ponca City. Main Street organizes this event which takes place on the grounds of City Hall and in the adjoining street area from 6th – 3rd Streets. This year the carnival will be held on Thursday, October 22, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., with a rain date of Thursday, October 29. For this event, we partner with local businesses, clubs, and organizations within our community to provide a fun and safe trick-or-treating environment. The carnival features tons of games, a glow booth, a witch dance, food trucks, and more! The Ponca City Noon Lions host children’s vision screenings in their screening trailer each year and line up on Grand with the rest of the booths. Wristbands that serve as entry tickets are $2 per participating child, regardless of age. All bands will include a trick-or-treat bag for candy and prizes. If you purchase your band in advance, you will receive your trickor-treat bag the night of the event. You can also bring your own trick-or-treat bucket or bag if you choose. The $2 wristband price helps us pay for items like event insurance, advertising, bags, candy, off-duty police officers, and other event expenses. www.downtownponcacity.com

OCT 30

USW Trick Or Treat USW Union Office 1202 W. Ponca Ave 5:30PM - 8PM Stop by for Candy!

The mission of “Friendship Feast” is to feed hungry people. We will provide food and care in a way that honors the “Dignity of Life” for all individuals who come to the meals. We will provide a balanced diet of nourishing and healthy food. We will strive at all times to be fair to everyone. We will always seek to give generously and freely from the heart and to operate cost effectively to reap the most benefit from the time and effort given by volunteers.

The program was started to meet a need in the community. Jesus said to “feed the hungry” and as a body of Christ, we believe that is what the church is about. Feeding God’s people not only helps meet physical needs, but also sets an example for the people being served to “love one another.” We hope this message will speak to the children and let them know that someone loves and cares for them.

FRIENDSHIP Continued on page 73

the food so that everything is in good shape for their guests. Bread and desserts are not packed in the same container as warm food for example, so they won’t get soggy.

Friendship Feast Coordinator Tricia Fagg shares what she’s seen from the groups who cook for the Feast. “All of our volunteers, just, they cook with so much pride. I mean, like they’re serving their own family there. They want to feed everyone. They want to make sure there’s plenty. They, you know, never for anyone to go without. That’s our motto. Everyone gets plenty to eat as we can see it.”

Each night of the Feast, 3-6 cooks gather to prepare a meal for friends. Many of the cooking groups also donate the food for their meals each time they cook. It’s evident to both Robert and Tricia how much love each group puts into every meal they make.

“Everyone could dump the corn out or dump the green beans out and heat them up, add a little salt and pepper and be done with it. But none of them do that. They want to add butter. They want garlic, they want to add onion flakes, and we supply some of it. But a lot of them come with this plastic bag full of spices that they bring in from home because they want the food to taste good.” says Robert.

They are also very intentional about how they use what they are given. Robert goes on to share, “We try to make sure nothing goes to waste. Even if people have a smaller amount than we can use, we’ll take it and figure out how to use it, to supplement our own program or I’ll pass it on to Survivor’s Resource Network or Peachtree Landing, or if it’s the right stuff, I’ll give it, I’ll give it to The Mission.”

The Friendship Feast is nondenominational, and the goal from the beginning was for the effort to be an ecumenical ministry. Today, churches from all over our area help with the Feast. First Christian Church serves as the home for the Friendship Feast. The Board realizes without FCC, the work they’re doing wouldn’t be feasible. The Feast is funded by volunteer donations, community donations and grants. Generous groups like the Elks Club and the United Community Action Program have given them grants this year. RCB Bank is also a generous supporter for which the Board is very grateful. They receive food from the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. In a typical year, they normally host a spaghetti dinner fund-raiser, but that’s not been possible due to COVID-19. If you’re interested in helping out financially, donations can be sent to First Christian Church in care of the Friendship Feast.

There is a number referenced above that bears repeating – 520,000 meals. That’s 520,000 incidences of children and their parents not going to bed at night with an empty stomach. It’s difficult to capture with words the impact the Friendship Feast has made in our community. A warm meal, a smile, a listening ear – love. It comes down to love. The volunteers who help with the Friendship Feast each week are a wonderful example of what it truly means to love your neighbor.

Organizations Currently Represented at Friendship Feast Albright United Methodist Church First Christian Church First Lutheran Church First Presbyterian Church First United Methodist Church Free Will Baptist Church Grace Episcopal Church Kiwanis Club Lion’s Club Newkirk First Baptist Church Newkirk First United Methodist Church Northeast Baptist Church Prince of Peace Lutheran Church St. Mary’s Catholic Church St. Paul’s United Methodist Women Woodlands Christian Church

Story by Terri Busch, Communications & Marketing Coordinator/PTC

Manufacturing Day is October 1st, and for Pioneer Technology Center we’re celebrating our manufacturers and those partnerships throughout our district. We are grateful to those companies who have agreed to open their doors to our students and allow them to take a peek into their possible futures. We also thank those area manufacturers who hire our students, sometimes even before they graduate.

Our hands-on program areas for manufacturing include Precision Machining, Mechantronics (renamed from Industrial Technology), Construction Technology, and Welding Technology. Training with up-to-date equipment like CNC machines, carbon fiber printers, robotic welders, and a recently donated plasma table, students continue to develop an understanding of the processes and equipment they will one day run or automate in district manufacturing companies.

Pioneer Tech’s Business and Industry Services (BIS) division supports and champions local manufacturing partners through multiple programs. BIS Staff members, Janet Schwabe, Innovation and Incubator Manager, and Johnny Thornburgh, Industrial Coordinator, help area industries and entrepreneurs align with manufacturing partners who build parts. For example, a new entrepreneur, Triune Industries, Inc., who recently moved into our Business Incubator needed a piece of equipment for a truck-trailer dunnage rack they had designed. Brad Fredrick and Pat Dowell, owners, were heating metal and using a hammer to piece together a specific part to their truck-trailer rack. Through collaboration with our BIS team, a process engineer and utilizing 3D printing resources at Pioneer Tech, they created a prototype of the part. PTC’s BIS connections with area industry, like Oklahoma Investment Casting, will then be engaged to assist in discussion with product development to manufacture this part locally, which will end up saving time and money. In support of area manufacturers, Pioneer Tech collaborates to foster business to business introductions through a close relationship with the Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA) and other district partners. An example of these relationships is the presence of area manufacturers, Precision Toole and Dye, Centerline, Cookshack, Moonlight Machine, and K&C Manufacturing, at the Design to Part Show held in Texas. Participation in this show is an effort to highlight the industry base and vast capabilities of these businesses to other companies seeking manufacturing solutions.

“When you walk down the aisle there is a whole section of Ponca City manufacturing companies who are working together to bring work to Ponca City and other area manufacturers. This cohesive group plays off everyone’s strengths and works together to support the growth of the manufacturing industry in our region,” says Johnny Thornburgh, PTC Industrial Coordinator.

Through additional collaboration and pooling of resources, tools like the Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), which was purchased by the PCDA and is housed in the Pioneer Tech Contractor’s Plan Room, make it simpler and faster to measure even the most complex parts. Hand-picked by area manufacturers, this piece of equipment is another example of partnerships and resources available within our district. Manufacturers have 24/7 access to this machine helping them make parts that save time and money.

We are blessed to have a wide range of manufactures in Northern Oklahoma and we salute our district employers, builders, constructors, creators, fabricators and processors this Manufacturing Day and thank them for their continued support and partnership. Truly your success is our success.