Serving Northern Oklahoma FEBRUARY 2021
Finding Love in Ponca City LOVE & FOSTER CARE
ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fix-a-Feral Program Community Health Foundation Meet the City Commission Candidates
VIEW DIGITAL EDITION AT PONCACITYMONTHLY.COM
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FEBRUARY 2021
FEATURES
9 The 2021 Ponca City
•
VOL. 2 NO. 2
CALENDARS
49 Chamber Link
Commisioner Election February Chamber Events Meet the City Commission Candidates
15 Community Health Foundation
ARTS
26 Fix-A-Feral
Artist Andrew Hicks
Good Health is Key to Good Lives
Northern Oklahoma Humane Society’s Newest Program
42 Finding Love in Ponca City Love & Foster Care
19 ARTSPACE
34 Sounding Off
Music in & Around Ponca City
EDUCATION
59 She Said Yes!
53 Nursese in High Demand
HEALTH & BEAUTY
62 Education Corner
He Put a Ring on it! - Now What?
36 HIIT
High Intensity Interval Training
39 Fitness Goals
Keeping up with a Healthy Year-Long Plan
FOOD 6 Taste of the Town
Tonkawa’s Hidden Gem: T.S. Fork
55 Lemon Ginger Crème Brûlée Tasty Treat for your Valentine
HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENT 22 Stew on That
by Rachel Stewart
22 Crossword Puzzle 37 Crossword Puzzle Answers 60 Ponca City Monthly’s Geocash
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February 2021
NOC Offers Nursing Program at Three Locations The Love of Learning
BUSINESS
28 Business Spotlight
Napoli’s Italian Restaurant
30 Kevin’s Corner
Stock Market News
BOOK REVIEWS
2 Children’s Book Review 3 The Ickabog 33 Adult Book Review Eight Perfect Murders
GARDENING
56 Backyard Gardener
The Stay-At-Home Month
Publishing Company MyMediaMatters Marketing Agency Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Wagner Associate Editor & Advertisting Director Robyn Ryan Staff Writers Carey Head Jennifer Vaughan Brenda Baugh Jay Wagner Lauren Payne Ad Designers Robyn Ryan Kelsey Wagner Magazine Designers Christina Wright Kelsey Wagner Robyn Ryan Copy Editor Sherry Cable Staff Photographer Jay Wagner Office Manager Brenda Baugh Contributing Writers Paul Muehlberg Rachel Stewart Patrick Jordan Adam Leaming Lorrie Layton Kat Long Ashley Peitz Steve Scott Scott Cloud Nancy Laffey Kelli Northcutt Kera Kester Circulation Manager Brenda Baugh
© MyMediaMatters, LLC, dba Ponca City Monthly 2020. For permission to reproduce any article in this magazine, contact admin@ my-mediamatters.com. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Letter from the Editor
My all-time favorite movie is “The Wizard of Oz.” The movie starts off somewhere in the Kansas countryside and Dorothy, a little red-headed and naïve girl, dreams of a far-off land where the skies are blue, and there isn’t any trouble. That wasn’t a far reach from my own childhood. I was a daydreamer, my thoughts always floating somewhere far away.
For those close to me, they know, I’ve given this exact advice to them! It’s advice I took to heart years and years ago, because when you actually apply it to your life, it has a distinct way of putting things into perspective.
So, traveling by tornado, Dorothy, reaches Oz, the land she dreamed of, and from the outset, encounters nothing but trouble! She is in danger most of the time she’s in Oz. Dorothy misses her family terribly, and almost loses her dog trying to get back home!
That college degree that is going to solve all your problems? that future husband? that dream job? the debt you’ll pay off? Or maybe, the time after the kids are out of the house? When those things happen – THEN you’ll be happy, right? We spend so much time dreaming of a far-off land where there isn’t any trouble, that we waste the present moment to be happy. But take Dorothy and my advice - no such land exists. She and I have both searched for it. What we have found, is that true happiness lies in the here and now. It lies in the everyday and it is all around you, if you will take the time to see it.
In the end, and what always resonated with me, is when Dorothy makes the stark realization that she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places. “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”
Editor@poncacitymonthly.com
First off, you if haven’t seen it – spoiler alert!
Shofpor Good! Serving Northern Oklahoma FEBRUARY 2021
Finding Love in Ponca City LOVE & FOSTER CARE
ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fix-a-Feral Program Community Health Foundation Meet the City Commission Candidates
VIEW DIGITAL EDITION AT PONCACITYMONTHLY.COM
ABOUT THE COVER
Photography by: Ashley Ballinger, Speak Now Film Co. Design by: Kelsey Wagner Pictured on the cover: Chris and Kyla Radaker-James
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T e h n t o w of TASTE Tonkawa’s Hidden Gem… TS Fork Story & Photos by Nancy Laffey If you are looking for an excuse to go out to eat, Valentine’s Day is one. When I think of fine dining, I have a few qualifications that must be met: 1. Great lighting and ambiance 2. Amazing food that delights and entertains 3. Dessert worth the splurge. We are spoiled in Ponca City to be within minutes of TS Fork in Tonkawa, which meets all of my requirements. Make your reservations for the next weekend today, ladies and gentlemen, you won’t be
disappointed. Upon entering the beautifully updated downtown building, Chef Jeff Denton greets dining patrons with a dinner bell and a breakdown of the menu with details on the farm-to-table experience. I have been to T S Fork on a number of occasions, and each experience tops the last. The menu is set by the Chef and is updated depending on the seasonal availability of local ingredients from farms and ranchers, to give you a reason to keep coming back for more. This unique dining experience lends itself to the perfect date night because the menu and price per person are the same, so no pressure in making food decisions. You’re free to enjoy every detail of the food with the company of your group or date. Our menu on this particular night in January was the finest meal I’ve experienced yet, and all have been very good.
TS Fork Restaurant is located on Main Street in Tonkawa, Oklahoma.
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February 2021
The signature appetizer at TS Fork is the deconstructed deviled egg. Our main course was the most perfectly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin I have ever had. It was no-frills, stand-alone delicious. The signature appetizer at TS Fork is the deconstructed deviled egg. The fresh boiled eggs from Tonkawa chickens are pureed white/yellow and all with homemade mustard, pickles and dill for a delightfully creamy dream. The mixture is piped beautifully into a crispy filo shell, the perfect size to pop into your mouth without mess; and as a bonus, we each were served two! As the courses develop so does the fun of partaking in this five-course tour of flavor. Soup course was a classic winter favorite; this potato soup was a stand-out dish as well. In the bowl was a single slice of sausage, which gave the rather thin soup a bit of substance. All the usual potato flavors were there, with perfectly rendered crisp bacon in bits cut uniformly and melty cheese to top it off. Next, we jumped off a crispy crouton diving board into a fresh and perfectly dressed salad. In the bleak of winter, the crisp goodness of a great salad reminded me of warmer days. The right amount of Parmesan peppercorn dressing awakened my taste buds, but the real crowning glory of the TS Fork salads are the “Sweeties.” Let me tell you these are not tomatoes but Peruvian Pickled Peppers, and they are the Valentine’s kiss of flavor you need in your salad. Our main course on Main Street in Tonkawa was the most perfectly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin I have ever had. It was no-frills, stand-alone delicious. The tenderloin from Ms. Pat’s Amazing Creekstone Farms was served Cheesecake! with a peppercorn demiglace and took our dinner all-the-way. I love a good horseradish sauce with my beef, but I assure you nothing else was needed to enjoy the flavor of
this cut of beef that was cooked to the perfect temperature. It deserved to be savored, and we chose a Napa Valley Black Stallion bottle of cabernet that paired well. I have never been disappointed in the dessert at TS Fork, which is served with every meal, an incredible value for five courses at just $40 per plate. “Ms. Pat,” whom I have never met or seen at TS Fork but in whom I believe wholeheartedly, makes the best desserts in Kay County. That evening we were served a homemade chocolate cheesecake that was the perfect sweet end to a really fabulous meal. If you have not eaten at TS Fork in their many years of business, then you are missing out on a real metropolitan dining experience in our little metropolitan spot in the world.
FEBRUARY ST. VALENTINE’S MENU COURSE 1 TS FORK Deviled Eggs Caprese on Cru COURSE 2 Italian Wedding Soup COURSE 3 Valentine’s Salad COURSE 4 Premium Beef Bourguignon Orzo COURSE 5 Ms. Pat’s Red Velvet Cheesecake For reservations visit www.TSFork.com 1-800-928-1840 100 W. Grand Avenue, Tonkawa
Nancy Laffey is known for her community volunteer leadership and is the owner of Completely Quilted. A somewhat unknown fact about Nancy is she is a 2004 graduate of the Culinary Arts and Foodservice Management program at Oklahoma State University and has worked in many roles in the foodservice industry prior to her quilt shop opening in 2007. She is classically trained in French cuisine and bakery sciences and uses her training now to enjoy fine dining and culinary experiences both at home and around the town. Nancy believes a great dining experience is to be enjoyed from the moment you enter an establishment, to the final goodbyes. She loves to eat good food and to share her tips on living every opportunity to dine-out to the fullest.
February 2021
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Remember, when choosing a Hospice provider, there is a difference.
• Nursing service with 24/7 emergency care • Personal care by Certified Nursing Assistants • Medical social services • Spiritual support and counseling • Light housekeeping services • Volunteer services • Bereavement services • Ancillary services: Occupational therapy, Physical therapy, Speech therapy and Dietician service • Durable Medical Equipment and supplies for palliation of the symptoms for terminal illness • Medications used to treat symptoms of the terminal illness
Extra Care Offered by Hospice of NCO (Not required by Medicare): • Massage therapy • Community bereavement support including Butterfly Wings (formerly “Raindrops”) support for those who experience a miscarriage or infant loss • Pet Therapy • We Honor Veterans Program • Community equipment loan program • Educational in-services to the community
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February 2021
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580.763.1871
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Meet the Ponca City Commision candidates Interviews by Kelsey Wagner/Editor-in-Chief Photos provided by Rob Bodick & Terron Liles
Rob Bodick
Terron Liles
The City Commission is the representative body of the people of Ponca City. Its members are responsible for overseeing city expenditures and the tedious, sometimes unpopular task of ensuring that community needs are prioritized and addressed under the constraints of the operating budget and State and federal laws imposed on the City. The City Commissioners play an active role not only in our community, but at a regional and State level as well. Their involvement with the Kay County Mayors Round Table, the Oklahoma Municipal League, the Mayors Council of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, and the Mid-Size City Coalition (just to name a few) allows them to meet with leaders from around the State to discuss current issues and trends. The Commissioners, in turn, bring this information back to Ponca City to be used as they make decisions, shape policy, and develop goals. Source: “City Commission: Ponca City, OK.� City Commission | Ponca City, OK, www.poncacityok.gov/94/ City-Commission.
Voting Information
A general election for the City of Ponca City will be held on February 9, 2021. Early voting will take place at the Kay County Courthouse February 4 & 5. And, a Runoff Election, if necessary, will be held on April 6, 2021.
Interviews on Page 10-13 February 2021
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Robert Bodick asked them when the last time they actually spoke with a commissioner or anybody in leadership and their answer was the last election. And I don’t think that’s right. You know, I think one of our best city leaders E.W. Marland said best, is that you have to have constant contact with your people in your city, and I really believe that having the experience and leadership with such diverse groups that I’ve been a part of, whether it be the Department of Defense or the Lions Club, I believe that I have the best ability to bring everybody together and to make Ponca City an even greater place. What volunteer work have you been involved in? I’ve always been an active member of my church and the community, serving through multiple civic organizations. I’m a small group leader in my church. We were actually really active this year during the COVID-19 response. We were handing out boxes of food and milk to people in the community. That was a pretty big thing. I’m pretty proud of our church for stepping up and doing that.
Tell me about yourself and your history in Ponca City. I was actually born and raised just north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, only 18 miles from where E.W. Marland himself was born and raised, and we both ended up in Ponca City. I ended up in Ponca City after I retired from the Air Force. I had 20 years of service in the Air Force. I was also in law enforcement and was a K-9 Handler. I did four years of direct secret service support for President Clinton and Vice-President Gore and have served in leadership positions all around the world. I’ve been living in Ponca City now for around 12 years. It’s the first place that my kids have actually said that they felt like it was home, and I have fallen in love with Ponca City, the people of Ponca City, and what that represents in our state as far as our values and just life in general. I’m married to Cara Bodick, and we just celebrated three years of marriage. Together we have five children and two adopted dogs. Our youngest kids are in the Ponca City School District right now. My wife is a teacher at Pioneer Technology Center, and I work in retail at Marshalls. What made you decide to run for the City Commission seat? My service to my community started in 1988 when I took an oath to serve not just our community, but our country. Local city government is the most important form of government in the United States. It’s where the hearts and minds of people rest. I’ve always had an affection for the leadership. We have a very fiscally responsible city government right now. What really drove me is you know, speaking with the multitude of people that I’ve talked to, there were several of them that work urging me to run. They believe that I have the best boots-onthe-ground leadership experience, both locally and on the international level. I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to make hard decisions in split seconds. And when I look at our local government, I really feel that even though we’re doing a pretty good job, there is a disconnect between the city leadership and its citizens. You know, some of the people that I’ve talked to, I’ve
10 February 2021
I am also the current District Governor for Lions Club International for Oklahoma 3 Northwest, which is a pretty large swath of Oklahoma. And you know, my volunteer, you know, I always say I’m boots on the ground, but we as Lions Club, we provide glasses and diabetes support for people in all of Kay county. As a matter of fact, when I took over as President, we used to just serve Ponca City, and now we serve all of Kay County. We spend forty plus thousand dollars a year helping people get glasses. Most of my volunteerism is been directly with the people out there in the street. You know, I mean I sit on the board for the Marland Mansion, I was part of the historic preservation board in the city and those were very important boards, and they mean a lot to the city, but I think my favorite stuff is when I’m out actually working with people. Additional volunteer projects I’ve been involved in as a Ponca City Noon Lions are: the Festival of lights; I organized city clean up environmental activities cleaning up trails and park areas; raised money for Scholarships to high school seniors; white cane drives for blind; collected glasses, set up and trained people to use electronic visual aids for people who cannot see well enough to read; supported Main Street and other activities through Child Vision screening activities; Raised money to help purchase disability dog for school age boy; partnered with Provisions Coffee house feeding low income and homeless people both in churches and out in the streets; NERA volunteer in back helping shop/stock; Charity walks; Delivered food and snacks to the school for diabetic children to have healthy alternatives. My city volunteer work includes the Historic Preservation Committee (former); Marland Mansion Board; Youth Football Coach; Portray E W Marland both locally and at state events with Marlands Grand Home, Mansion, and chamber of commerce tourism, and Main Street events, helped organize and act in Ponca City Ghost Tours at the Mausoleum the resting place of many of our former city leaders; President of the Ponca City Police Foundation; 101 Ranch Supporter My church volunteer work includes: Youth Leader; Awanas
Teacher; Small Group Leader/Facilitator; Christmas community outreach events; Back to School Backpack shoe events; Handed out milk and boxes of food to hundreds of people delivered food kits to elderly stuck at home on several occasions during COVID-19 lockdowns; Church Security Team Member and anywhere else they need me to serve. Tell me about your career and educational background. When I graduated from high school, I actually went into the restaurant industry and was in that for a while, until I decided I wanted to join the Air Force. I went to the Law Enforcement Academy down at Lackland Air Force Base. I was a dog handler from there. I spent many years in law enforcement. When I moved to Little Rock Air Force base, I was selected actually to do direct support for presidential security. I’ve worked in Portugal helping train the Portuguese government and their canine. I spent seven years in Special Operations out of Hurlburt Field, Florida. I did a lot of different missions – drug interdiction. Of course, everything got turned upside down after 9/11, so we did a lot of deployments in support of the war on terror and the war in Iraq drug interdiction. We basically were the tip of the spear on the war on Drugs from South America and when I retired, I was an investigator working in Germany. I retired to move to Vance Air Force base, and I worked in resource protection and plans and programs for the base there. I came to Ponca City and I worked. I was the security contract security manager for the refinery for several years. I left that position and went and worked for some time with the Opportunity Center as their Director of retail operations, and then moved over to Marshalls. and I am a key carrier at Marshalls. And do you have any mentors or people that you look up to or that you strive to be like – maybe politically, locally, nationally? I think the number one mentor I look at is to be Christlike. I think that’s to love all people and respect them. I have a lot of mentors that have trained me. I have pastors that I’ve worked under, worked by vocationally as a youth pastor when I was stationed in Florida. I’ve always had a lot of really good supervisors and trainers and in my life. Some of the people that I read that I really like, I’m a fan of John Maxwell. I believe he has sound leadership principles. I’m a fan of Zig Ziglar. That’s another person. Stephen Covey has some really good leadership, but I really believe that a lot of my leadership skills were really driven by life experiences that I’ve had. And a lot of those people – I’m an avid reader – so I read a lot, but those are probably some of the highlights of some of the people that I pull from.
What specific skills or attributes do you have that you think make you uniquely qualified to be a commissioner? Number one, I think one scale is I’m in touch with the people on the ground. Another one is that I’m not afraid to make hard decisions. I can analyze things very well,
look at the facts and determine what the right course is. I believe that I have a pretty good ability to listen to the people and determine the direction that they want to go. And sometimes the thing in leadership is making a hard decision and being able to explain yourself and make it known to the people and communicate. I think that’s probably one of my number one skills, is just the fact that I’m not afraid to communicate with anybody. I think my life experience, and just in leadership in general, dealing with a large group. I’ve worked with budgets, and our city has an amazing budget. It’s a hundred and six million dollars. Thank God it’s broken down into different smaller budgets because I would really hate to read those sheets. We have a really good long-term plan, and I think my support for that plan is pretty solid. I mean, there are a lot of good things that are going on in there. But I think my thing is I’m not afraid to stand up and make the hard call. What are your goals as a City Commissioner? My goals are intertwined with some of my concerns. I think my number one goal is to continue the fiscal path in the growth of our city and to make sure that we’re following our long-term plan and even improve on that plan if it’s deemed necessary. Another goal I would say is to create an environment that brings not just businesses but families to Ponca City and there are four keys to businesses coming to us to a town. The first key is the health and safety of the people in that town, starting specifically with police and fire. People will literally break down and look at your police and fire and the support that they can get. Another one is they look at the school district. I think Ponca City has one of the best school districts in the state. Being in leadership, I think it’s always important to always press for support for those schools, especially when it comes to bond issues because that’s what grows your town. I believe that we need to create the best recreation destination for our town. We have an amazing Parks and Rec team in place. We have an amazing facility and a RecPlex. I’m a member of the RecPlex. We have an amazing lake, but I think we can expand on that. Just go down to War Memorial Park and look and see all the people playing Frisbee golf and other things. I think we can expand on our parks. I think we could add some more campgrounds. I think it’s sad that so many people pass up public Ponca Lake to go to Kaw Lake, even though Kaw is a pretty nice attraction. I think we could add fishing piers, and I think we can add some more campsites.
has taken over that land and we spend a lot of money cutting that grass and doing other maintenance. We need to reutilize that land. You go to some of your bigger cities and you have companies and churches and other areas that adopt areas in the city to beautify them. You look at ‘adopt-a-roads’ and you see signs going down the roads, but we want people to adopt areas. We have organizations like the boys’ and girls’ club and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Wouldn’t that be nice if we could take an area that we have in the city and let them utilize that for let’s just say an urban garden and start teaching them life-sustaining abilities and just beautify that area? At least that would help save the city some money because we’re not going to have to cut that grass. I think we need to partner with some of the organizations – and this goes back to cleaning up the city – you know, we have a lot of abandoned buildings. If you talked to the police, they’ll tell you, a lot of what’s driving theft in this city is its drug use. People are utilizing these abandoned buildings. We need to straighten that up. There’s a theory in law enforcement called the Broken Glass Theory. When businesses and people come to cities and they drive around, and they look at buildings and there’s broken windows and there’s not a lot of upkeep on them facilities. It’s displeasing and it actually brings in elements that you really don’t need doing that. Another concern and goal is, and this is near dear to my heart, is to ensure personal liberty is always available to everybody in the city. We see personal liberty being trampled on in other cities and other states and we came close to trampling on that just recently [concerning the mask mandate] and it upset a lot of people and rightfully so. Our liberty needs to be protected. I fully believe that if you really look at the people of Ponca City, they’re smart people. They’re trusting people and quite honestly, you know, they should be able to make a determination whether or not they’re going to wear a mask or not. I’m a COVID-19 survivor. I’ve had it – it knocked me out. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. I can honestly say I wore
a mask every day. I wore a mask outside. I sanitized into my mask. I sanitized out of my mask. I changed my mask frequently, and the sad part about the mask mandate or ordinance was, we essentially passed an ordinance saying that we’re going to enforce another ordinance. It was redundant. The worst part about it, and this goes back to what I was saying earlier communication, I don’t think any of it was communicated properly and it really gave an appearance that people’s rights were being were being trampled on. I think there are a lot of people watching those videos of it, and I kind of have to agree. But I also support the businesses that want to require masks. That’s their right too. When you look at our founding fathers and their writings, they’ll tell you straight up that the personal liberty should trump law. That is paraphrasing, but it’s important that we protect everybody’s rights and personal liberties as well as their well-being so there has to be some balance in there. I personally would have voted no on the mask mandate. I think there were way too many questions that were not answered for me. Another goal that I believe I would really shoot for is, and this goes back to creating an environment that brings in more families, is we need to make sure that that our police, our fire department and our linemen, who are the most recent heroes, need the best equipment and safety gear that they can possibly get. Our police drive around in outdated vehicles, vehicles that need to probably be put out to pasture, that’s their office. They live in that vehicle and quite frankly, that’s their safety zone. We need to make sure that they’re getting the proper equipment, and we’re supporting that. Those are some of my basis of what I see in the city. I think it’s a sound approach to take. Tell me a fun fact about yourself that people may not know about you. A fun fact? Oh gosh, let me see. Well, I actually had tea with Margaret Thatcher. I was protecting her at Harding University in Arkansas. I got to meet with her and drink a little bit of tea back in the 90s. It was neat.
One of the most important things is to find affordable housing and drive some affordable housing for people. There’s a huge gap. There are extremely expensive houses. And then there are extremely lowincome houses. We need to find that middle lane for affordable housing which is going to drive a good workforce into Ponca City. One thing it’s near and dear to my heart, when I moved here a while back, I used to say “man, Ponca City is such a clean city” and now some areas have just really gone downhill. I don’t think there’s anybody – I don’t think there’s a single person in town that can say that it’s the most beautiful city in the world because it needs cleaned up, you know, it’s a shame. I would like to perhaps increase access to the city dump. Right now, we allow free access one week out of the year in the spring. I would like to change that to two days a month with an active utility bill that matches the address on the driver’s license. The city also has a lot of land. I think they call them urban green zones, for a lack of better terms and it’s from blighted areas where the city
Front: Delaney Jackson, Cara Bodick, Rob Bodick, Cadence Jackson, Jenna Bodick, Back: Adam Bodick February 2021
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Terron Liles owe it to the community of Ponca City to give back to it. And I think that this is a great opportunity to take that next step to do so.
people, which I appreciate that, but my role models seem to be people I know really well, and I was lucky enough to get to know Mr. Boettcher.
What volunteer work have you been involved in?
What specific skills or attributes do you have that you think make you uniquely qualified to be a commissioner?
I am very heavily involved in things that happen downtown and in the art scene, and that’s another reason that I would like to serve as City Commissioner because I would like to serve and volunteer for the entire city as a whole. I think running for City commission, while my past experiences would help me in that position, I feel like it’s just a great opportunity to serve Ponca City as a whole.
Tell me about yourself and your history in Ponca City. I have been living in Ponca City since November 2009. I grew up in Anadarko. I went to college at Oklahoma State University. I moved around a lot working actually in agriculture – different ranches mostly, in the show industry, the show cattle industry. I enjoyed that, but it felt like more of a hobby and less like a lucrative way to make a living, so my family purchased the boutique, which was formerly The Bag Lady boutique and we moved to Ponca City and ran it alongside my family. We’ve since done a rebrand, so it’s now Liles & Company. I have also recently taken a job with the Ponca City Art Association as Executive Director. Through my volunteer work in Ponca, the love and admiration for the Arts was sparked for me. I could almost say my arm was somewhat twisted into loving the Arts, probably eight years ago when I met John McNeese and he really showed me what art can do for a community – the youth in a community and the adults. It’s nice to be passionate about your career. I have been blessed to be passionate about both careers I’ve had since I’ve been in Ponca City. I love Ponca City. We’ve made it our home and plan to be here for years to come. I like a small town; Ponca City is just the right size. It can always grow, and I hope to help it grow, but I love the small-town values that Ponca City holds dear. What made you decide to run to decide to run for the City Commission seat? I have thought about running for City Commissioner since I moved to town. I’ve been involved in many organizations by volunteering, and I feel like serving on the city commission would be that next step to be able to give back to my community. A quote that I try to live by – Fred Boettcher said that “giving back is the rent you pay for living on this Earth,” and I feel like I
12 February 2021
As far as my volunteer work, volunteered for the Ponca City Art Association before I became the Executive Director. I have been chairman of the Marland Mansion Gala twice, which is a fundraiser for the Marland Mansion. During my time as chairman, we raised over $35,000, which I’m very proud of. I have sat on the Mayoral-appointed Marland Mansion Estate Commission. I have also served on the Marland Mansion Estate Foundation, the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce and Ponca City Main Street, all of which invest in the arts, humanities, tourism and the revitalization and upkeep of some of our most treasured places in Ponca City. I have served as a board member for the Opportunity Center and Leadership Oklahoma. I have been a Big Brother in the Big Brothers/big Sisters program, I co-chaired the fundraising party for Hospice of Northcentral Oklahoma and have also served on the allocations committee for Ponca City United Way. Tell me about your career and educational background. I went to college at Oklahoma State University majoring in Agriculture Communication, which is a public relations for the college of Ag. I worked on different ranches everywhere from Fort Cobb to Elgin, Oklahoma, up to South Dakota. So I’ve been a little bit of everywhere. Since I’ve been in Ponca City for the past 11 years. I have worked for retail and my family boutique, Liles & Company, and now I am the Executive Director of the Ponca City Art Association. I also am an event coordinator, but with my new position with Art Association, I’m taking a break from that to focus on the Art Association.
I think if you look at past City Commissioners as a whole, you’ll notice they have historically been older than I am. So I bring, I hate to say youth, because I am almost 40, [laughing] I’m 38, but in the whole scheme of things, that is a youthful outlook. I also think that if you look at past or current City Commissioners, you don’t have an Executive Director for a nonprofit, and I think that my outlook from working for a nonprofit in our community is going to be very beneficial as a City Commissioner. I also think running my own business with my family and running my own event coordination company, as well as now running a nonprofit. I’m very familiar with budgets, so that that’s been very beneficial. I’ve looked over the city budget, which is a multimillion-dollar budget and it’s not scary to look at it, because I’ve been looking at budgets over the last 10 years. Another thing that I think is a benefit is my array of friends and associates. Since I’ve moved to Ponca City, I pride myself in the fact that I have friends from lots of different groups and lots of different backgrounds. I think that my diverse network will be really good for the City Commission because I’ll be able to hear the opinions from a diverse group of Ponca City citizens. What are your goals as a City Commissioner? People have asked what my platform is for City Commission and I try to explain to them that as a volunteer elected official for a community, you shouldn’t go into it with a platform per se – unless there is a true issue that needs fixed. Luckily, we live in an amazing community with very few problems by comparison to other rural communities around us.
And do you have any mentors (locally or nationally) or people that you look up to that you strive to be like?
Probably my number one goal is to keep Ponca City fiscally responsible. I think that is the most important thing a city can be as in the black. Without a solid budget, without being slightly conservative with our funding you can’t get your community anywhere. That is something that our current City Commissioners already do an amazing job of, so my goal would be to continue their work in that aspect.
I have local mentors for sure. I think everybody can say this, but my family first. They have been my rock, my whole life. They have been role models, all of them in their own way. They’ve made me who I am, and I love them for that. Someone else locally, who I previously mentioned, is Mr. Fred Boettcher. He was very impressive to me because he was kind to everyone, no matter socio-economic background, education level; he was just a kind man that believed in giving back to his community. If I wanted to say someone famous, that’s really hard. A lot of people look up to famous
Another thing that I do feel passionate about is supporting our fire and police personnel. I have always supported our fire and safety departments in Ponca City. I have donated goods and services to multiple Back the Blue fundraisers, All Fired Up fundraisers, as well as donated to the Ponca City Police Foundation and the Ponca City Fire and Safety Council. I was an avid supporter of the sales tax to fund the new safety center which the community thankfully supported and
passed. To have a safe and orderly community, you must have properly funded and staffed Police and Fire Departments. While I know these departments are having difficulties filling vacancies, I think they are doing a tremendous job for the staff size, equipment and funding they both have available. Cities in Oklahoma are only given the sales tax that they collect within their community to fund operations, and to fully fund our fire and safety departments would require more than the amount we collect annually in sales tax. Ponca City is so fortunate to own our utility company which helps fund the remainder of the city’s annual budget. The Black Live Matters movement has also made an impact on the way many people view law enforcement in the United States. We are so fortunate to live in a community that has remained removed from police brutality incidents and issues. Our department is staffed with respectful officers and is led by an exemplary Chief of Police. After speaking with organizers of Ponca City’s own BLM peaceful rally last year, I was relieved to hear they also felt that our police force was viewed by minorities as being much better than most Oklahoma communities of our size. Organizers also told me that our local officers are open to, and actively seeking, diversity training, and they
too have a good relationship with the PCPD. I think also, and I hate to list this as a problem because I think it isn’t a problem yet, but I think that place-making and public art and anything else that could help us recruit new people or new employees to live in Ponca City or retain our current citizens should be a goal. We need to focus on things that we can do that would incentivize people to stay after high school or come back from college, just move here in general. Place-making helps cities to create a place that feels like home, places that people want to go back to and hang out at, and we need that for all ages from youth to our retired citizens. Ponca City is already doing an amazing job at place-making. We’ve created the walking trails, that’s a place-making project – we have splash pads, which are all excellent. We have the RecPlex, which is a gym in Ponca City. Some of the things that happened organically in our history are also great places in Ponca City. The Marland Mansion and the Marland Grand Home to name two, and those are expensive places to take care of and maintain, and our city does a great job. I think specifically what I will bring to the table is my new viewpoint on place-making and public projects.
We are so fortunate to live in a community with so many beautiful facilities, an outstanding Parks and Rec Department and so many foundations and organizations dedicated to the preservation and funding of some of these facilities. The Ponca City RecPlex, the new walking trails at Lake Ponca, the Marland Mansion Estate and Grand Home, Cann Gardens, multiple splash pads and the beautiful flower beds downtown are just a few of the examples of the well-kept places paid for and cared for by our city. Eric Newell and his staff do a phenomenal job with the upkeep and hosting community events. These facilities help create a sense of place in our town, which helps raise the quality of life which in turn assists in employee recruitment and citizen retention. These are all costly endeavors, but through the successful efforts of citizens voting in support of sales tax funding and our city coordinating and caring for these outstanding facilities help make Ponca City a unique and beautiful place to live. Tell me a fun fact about yourself that people may not know about you. I grew up showing cattle, I was in 4H and FFA in “small town rural southwest Oklahoma”. So I think that probably is kind of a unique fact. Another unique fact is that I’m kind of a little old lady at heart, and I collect some pepper shakers.
Front: Ella McKee, Back: Traci Iraggi, Trina Liles-Sims, Terron Liles February 2021
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Kelli Northcutt (left), Executive Director of the Community Health Foundation, and Wendy Stobbe, CEO of North Central Palliative Care and Hospice of NCO discussing Hospice’s new palliative care service.
CHF: Good Health Is Key to Good Lives – Organization Outreach Includes Programming, Education, Scholarships and Grants Story & Photos by Kelli Northcutt It goes without saying that our personal health is important. Good health allows us to live our lives to the fullest, do the things we want to do and be the kind of person, parent, friend and employee we want to be. This past year, we have seen just how important the health of our community is, as well. The health of the community has taken on a new meaning and we have seen more than ever how it affects our personal health and our ability to live, work and function in the larger world around us. The Community Health Foundation has been focused on the health and well-being of individuals and the community since its beginning in 2006. The Foundation was created when a new hospital corporation purchased the nonprofit hospital, Via Christi, that operated in Ponca City for many years. The hospital Board at the time knew that Via Christi managed a private foundation that benefited the health of Kay County and that the new hospital would not be able to do so. The Board made the decision then to form the Community Health Foundation as a separate entity that could carry on the work of the
former Via Christi health foundation. The Community Health Foundation (CHF) is a nonprofit organization that exists to improve the health of the citizens of Kay County primarily through programming, education, scholarships and grants. The Foundation focuses on all ages and virtually every aspect of a person’s health. Each year CHF has an open grant process where organizations and agencies in Kay County apply for funds that will be used with the CHF mission in mind. CHF has made contributions to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma for its Kay County elementary backpack and middle school and high school food pantry nutrition programs; to Survivor Resource Network for domestic abuse victim counseling; to Edwin Fair for community mental health services; to RSVP to support senior adults; to NERA; to NOYS for its Family Resource Program; to the United Way Prescription Program; to Hospice of North Central Oklahoma to assist in launching its Palliative Care service; to the University Center’s Bachelor of Nursing Degree program; to Dearing House; to Golden Villa; and more.
February 2021
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“The Health of the Community has taken on a new meaning and we have seen more than ever how it affects our personal health and our ability to live, work and function in the larger world around us.” Another large aspect of the Community Health Foundation’s work is its scholarship program. CHF understands the importance of investing in our present and future healthcare professionals. A considerable factor in the health of our community members is having access to quality care. Every year, CHF gives NOC registered nursing students and Pioneer Technology licensed practical nursing students a combined $20,000 in scholarships. The majority of these students graduate and Van Page (left) and Ken Kestler (right) then work as nurses in Kay at Ponca City Senior Center accepting County. The Foundation a donation of cleaning supplies also awards scholarships every year to high school seniors planning to pursue a degree in healthcare, University Center Bachelor of Nursing Students, and to University students pursuing a wide variety of degrees who currently or will hopefully one day choose to work and live in Kay County. With many medical associations predicting a shortage of almost every healthcare professional in the United States in the coming years, CHF is working to help ensure a quality healthcare workforce here at home. The Foundation even began a monthly Healthcare Professional of the Month program this year to recognize and honor an amazing person from our healthcare system each month. The Community Health Foundation has been extremely proactive throughout the last year to assist Kay County in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. CHF provided snacks to every unit at Alliance Health Ponca City, purchased about 2400 student face masks for use in Ponca City and Kildare elementary schools, purchased cleaning supplies for Peckham and Kildare elementary schools, purchased face masks for Ponca City Head Start students, and very recently contributed funds to RSVP to provide meals to shut-in senior adults and cleaning supplies for McCord and Ponca City Senior Centers. CHF can contribute to local agencies, provide scholarships and assist our community in a health crisis because of our ongoing investments and our many very generous local donors. The Foundation makes sure that every single dollar donated by community members is used for improving health through grants, education or scholarships.
Jessica Duncan (left) and Noel Lawver (right), CHF NOC Nursing student scholarship recipients
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February 2021
To learn more about or donate to the Community Health Foundation or to nominate someone for Healthcare Professional of the Month, visit CHF’s website at chfofpc.org or at the Community Health Foundation Facebook page.
February 2021
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Artist Andrew Hicks Story & Photos by Brenda Baugh, Staff Writer
Artist Andrew Hicks Walking down Grand Avenue toward the Royalty Building on Fourth Street, there is a man looking in the window of the new location for Studio2o5. Since my previous brief encounters with Andrew (Andy) Hicks have been while conducting business at A+ Printing or casually discussing art while he is purchasing a painting at Art Crawl; I’m not sure this is who I am to meet for the interview? As I approach closer, the man turns and smiles. That smile! His expression is warm and welcoming as he recognizes me simultaneously as I do him. My excitement rises to find out more
Photography: Abby
Anderson in the Caine
s Ballroom
about the graphic design artist, because I can sense there is so much more to him than just a mild-mannered man with a great smile. Andy Hicks knew at a young age what he wanted to be and what career path he was going to follow. In grade school, his class took a field trip to learn about all the “moving parts” it takes to publish a daily newspaper. This visit to Tulsa World was a very pivotal moment in the young life of Andy. Just seeing the giant printing presses and feeling the fast-paced energy of the people bustling around him, he knew he was hooked. Standing there in that moment, he immediately fell in love with graphic design and photography instantly and equally. He decided he was going to make newspapers! In high school he learned print making. From there Hicks got a job working at an alternative newspaper. He started out there by cleaning toilets, taking out the trash, answering phones and doing whatever tasks he could to just be there. Eventually, he started working his way up the “paper chain” by proving
phone
Photography: Micro
continued on page 20 February 2021
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Art Space
continued from page 19
himself. This is where he started to develop his design and photography styles and interview skills. This grew into him being asked to interview and photograph musicians. Andy still does this type of work as a freelancer. “I like using my gifts to help the community,” Andy said. Throughout Hicks’ adult years, he has continuously volunteered at multiple local nonprofit organizations. Currently, he is donating his time and talents to the Ponca City Main Street organization. Andy goes on to say, “Often these groups are trying to better our towns and neighbors. Unless they are a large organization, they might not have a budget for marketing and design.” This is when Hicks steps up to offer his services to help their cause. As a designer, Andrew believes that his versatility is the key to his success. Over the last two decades, he has had the opportunity to design everything from business cards to van wraps. The many types of artistic mediums he has mastered is what gives him the most enjoyment and allows him to be highly creative. The one constant in his artistic career that still excites him is photography. Andy has had the opportunity to photograph musicians of all types of genres, from small local bands to big names that can fill a football stadium with fans wanting to hear their music live. When asked who his favorite band/musician was to photograph, he stated without hesitation, that it was his stepson. Known by his stage name, Yung Trucks, is the one that Hicks is most honored to have been given the chance to photograph one of his live performances in a small Tulsa venue. “I was working for a greenhouse in Tulsa that ironically was co-owned by Ponca City native, Sue Welch. Out of a need for wanting marketing photos, I started snapping pics of flowers to use for advertisements and promo material. I guess it just kind of stuck.” Andy continues, “Over the last couple of years it has become an obsession. Flowers have complex textures hidden past the bright colors. When you get in real close you can see all the layers that make this simple looking object so fascinating.”
Night Photography: Sunflower 20 February 2021
Hicks has recently discovered photographing flowers at night. He enthusiastically exclaimed, “Flowers don’t sleep. The colors seem so much more vibrate and moody, like a Lana Del Rey video. I think that is why I like them. I’m an artist, of course I like things moody and dramatic.” Of course! However, moody and dramatic would not be the words I would describe his food photography. “I get to experiment with different mediums; and while the end products are varied, the process to create them, at least for me, is the same,” Andy confessed. Andrew Hicks is a true modern-day Renaissance man. He can do it all, and I am sure he will continue to add to his long list of accomplishments and mastered skills while residing in Ponca City. To learn more about Andrew (Andy) Hicks, you can visit: instagram.com andrewtheartist78 andrewhicks.me
Graphic Design: Signal Box Wrap
Night Photography: Flower
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21
Humor & Entertainment
Stew on that By Rachel Stewart
LOVE OFFERINGS by Patrick Jordan
ACROSS 1. Therefore 5. Smartphone download, briefly 8. Sunrise 12. Intelligently profound 13. Single-masted sailboat 15. Stackable cookie 16. Creative thought 17. Walkway in a theater 18. Camera attachment 19. Cake type often topped with coconut frosting (2 wds.) 22. Golf ball supporter 23. Ponca City's county 24. Shopping binges 28. One who writes verses 30. Breakfast meat 33. Visa or Discover offering (2 wds.) 35. Voice or muscle quality 36. Red-breasted bird 37. Tell fibs 38. Brutal gangsters 39. Aid and ___ (help with a crime) 40. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" band (3 wds.) 42. Blanc who spoke for Bugs Bunny 43. Borrower's obligation 44. By a slight margin 45. Five doubled 46. 300, in Roman numerals 47. February event when the last words of 19-Across, 33-Across, and 40-Across may be given as gifts (3 wds.) 56. Captain who fought Peter Pan 57. Letter carrier's path 58. Rate of walking
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Not doing anything 1970s vice president Spiro The Bible's 15th book Cooking vessels Laundry quantities Forest grazer
DOWN 1. Tiny tree branch 2. Conceal 3. Computer operator 4. Sewing line 5. Wonderland visitor 6. Luxurious, as some hotel rooms 7. Horseback sport 8. Country singer Parton 9. Region 10. Departed 11. Organ of smell 13. Most rational 14. Nipped with a beak 20. Had a meal at home (2 wds.) 21. Cheerios grain 24. "Get outta here!" 25. Official investigation 26. Defy authority 27. Check for misspellings 28. Imitate Picasso 29. Raw minerals 30. Realtor's listing 31. Heavenly being 32. Extremely untidy 34. Caveman's weapon 35. Superhero played by Chris Hemsworth 38. Scarcely detectable rain amount 40. High Army rank 41. Network information option (2 wds.) 43. ___ Monte (canned vegetable brand) 45. Seizes
Where did it go, you may be asking yourself? Well, I wonder that too. We, the people, have loved and supported you from day one and you are going to end your union without so much as an explanation to us? How dare you. We rooted for you! And you left us with nothing. We now have to sift through your graphics of ocean scenes with motivational quotes on them to try to piece together what happened. We’re hurt, and we deserve some answers. I know that you are still processing your feelings at the end of your relationship that you had so much hope for, but your friends on social media whom you see maybe once a year deserve closure too. Please be more mindful of this as you navigate a really tumultuous dating pool in the future. Thank you for your consideration in this matter, and I’d appreciate immediate rectification.
But you know who I especially love? – my dating friends. It brings me so much joy to see their love blossom from meeting on an online dating app, to obscure photos at a restaurant hinting at a first date, to finally unveiling the face of their new lover and changing their status to, “in a relationship,” which evolves into pumpkin patch visits, vacations and sharing their first holidays together. I am there and support them through it all. I “love” and “like” and “care” about them. I comment things like “Couple goals!” and “So happy you two found each other!” and I comment the heart eyes emoji on their pictures until my fingers bleed. I take so much happiness in their happiness.
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Crossword Answers on Page 37
22 February 2021
I am invested. But, sometimes, that love is suddenly gone. The pictures, the posts, the LOVE – poof, vanished, like it never even happened.
Alright, I’m just going to say it, I love “love.” I love Valentine’s Day. My cold, tiny, black heart grows a little in size seeing all the sweet posts of my family and friends professing their unending love for their significant others in the form of flowers and chocolates and beautifully written posts detailing all the ways they’re so amazing.
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Popular food fish Exceeded 70 MPH Confused state Property measurement Calendar's span, usually
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The Renfro Family Foundation would like to thank the Ponca City Police Department, Ponca City Fire Department, Ponca City EMTs, AllianceHealth and all medical personnel for keeping our community and our families safe and well.
– Serving Ponca City since 1983 –
Additionally, we thank all those in education, secondary, higher education and Vocational Technology for all you are doing. A special salute to all our Veterans and those serving in the military, for our freedom. Carl Renfro President
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Fix-A-Feral
Northern Oklahoma Human Society’s Newest Program Story by Jennifer Vaughan/Staff Writer Photos provided by Karlissa Archibeque
Can you tell me more about the Fix-A-Feral program? Northern Oklahoma Humane Society’s Fix-A-Feral program is designed to reduce shelter euthanasia, preserve scarce shelter resources and solve our community’s feral and stray cat overpopulation crisis through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). What exactly is a “feral” cat?
A feral cat is one that lives outdoors, is not socialized to people, avoids human contact and does not belong to anyone. What is the ultimate goal of Fix-A-Feral?
The desired outcome and ultimate goal of the Fix-A-Feral program is to permanently reduce the local community cat population through the use of TNR in order to eventually eliminate feral cat colonies. Why is Trap-Neuter-Return the solution?
TNR is the recommended method nationwide for controlling feral cat colonies. For over a century in the United States, the majority of animal shelter programs relied on a uniform approach to the management of both dogs and cats. However, the outcome was remarkably different for the two species. Dog euthanasia rates declined steadily while feline intake and euthanasia remained high. In recent years, however, TNR has been implemented widespread across the United States and proven to be effective.
Some of the local feral colony cats who have benefited from FixA-Feral’s program.
In seven years, a single female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 more cats. 26 February 2021
Are the cats simply trapped, neutered and returned through Trap-Neuter-Return?
With this TNR program, once they are trapped, they are then spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, ear-tipped for a visual identifier of a sterilized feral cat (so they aren’t TNR’d again) and finally, returned to their original colony. Is this really a problem in our community?
Very much so. Ponca City has multiple feral cat colonies in local neighborhoods and at our grocery stores. Conservation biologists consider feral cats to be one of the worst invasive species on Earth. Because a female cat can become pregnant as young as 16 weeks of age and go on to have two or three litters a year, the feral cat population (and the problems associated with it) grows and perpetuates. In seven years, a single female cat and her kittens can produce 420,000 more cats. The city, as a whole, incurs higher animal control and shelter costs from the continual intake of feral cats and kittens. I’m REALLY not a cat person. Is there any reason that I should feel compelled to support this program?
In all actuality, this is precisely the program for you. The use of TNR will lead to permanent reduction of the local feral cat population by quickly stabilizing and reducing the colony by ending reproduction and removing kittens and socialized cats. Since the cats are no longer reproducing, the colony will gradually diminish in size. Some of the benefits of Fix-A-Feral’s program include less smell, less noise, disease reduction and rodent control. Neutered male cats will mark their territory less, thus cutting down on the smell, and of course with fewer cats there will be less smell overall. Neutered male and spayed female cats will make less mating noises and male cats will fight less, all reducing the noise nuisance. In fact, research indicates that animal control receives few feral cat complaints when TNR is implemented in a community. There are plenty of ways you can support Fix-A-Feral’s goal to eliminate feral cat colonies in our community without any hands-on involvement. How can I help?
Karlissa Archibeque, Northern Oklahoma Humane Society Board Member and Committee Member for Fix-A-Feral, is pictured with her children, Kaycen and Kaylynn (left to right) (Photo by Jennifer Vaughan)
In order for this program to be sustainable and effective, we need the help, support and collaboration of the community as a whole. This is not just a “cat” problem. This is a community problem. We need the community to come together and support implementing TNR locally. Fix-A-Feral is always looking for additional volunteers to assist with trapping, transporting, fostering and coordinating fund-raising, marketing, social media, record keeping, education and community efforts. There is also a great need for veterinarian partners to donate or discount medical procedures, as well as donations from individuals to cover those costs
Thank you to our Board Members and Volunteers Ponca City’s local Fix-A-Feral program wouldn’t be possible without the many people who volunteer their time and resources. Thank you to everyone who works so diligently to make our community a better place! COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Ashley Villines – Executive Director of NOKHS Suzanne Boettcher – NOKHS Board Member Karlissa Archibeque – NOKHS Board Member Larry Bittman – Communications Liaison
VOLUNTEERS: Aeryka Lawson Allison Watson Amanda Hill Angela Whitfield Donna Al Balas Hannah Hayes Jessica Free Kimberly McCall Kristen Siler Payton Wooten Rhea Jones Shelly Nagel Tamara Behara
This is not just a “cat” problem. This is a community problem. We need the community to come together and support implementing TNR locally. February 2021
27
Business Spotlight Napoli’s Italian Restaurant Story & Photo contributed by Kelsey Wagner/Editor-in-Chief
It
P
Hand Tossed Pizza
2 for $25.99
Napolis is located at 3202 N. 14th Street in Ponca City. When you walk into Napoli’s Italian Restaurant, you are greeted with the wonderous smell of freshly made pasta, homecooked bread and a mixture of Italian spices. Napoli’s is a small family restaurant located on north 14th street. To someone who has never been there before, it may appear similar to other Italian restaurants located around the state, but it is very unique. Because this Italian restaurant has one thing that the others do not have – it has Jimmy.
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Jimmy Krivaqa was born in Italy and immigrated to the United States in 1999. Jimmy has owned and operated Napoli’s Italian restaurant in Ponca City since 2009. Though he has only owned his own restaurant in Ponca City for the last 11 years, Jimmy has been in the restaurant business his entire life. He lives, eats and breathes his work and is passionate about providing only the very best to his customers. When Jimmy came to America, he did so to seek out his dreams and to provide a better life for his family. He knew the restaurant business was the way he could do that. Jimmy has an amazing team of staff that work with him at the restaurant. But the workers at Napoli’s are not just waitstaff and cooks, they are more like family, and most have been with Napoli’s for years. Jimmy says the last year has been trying for the restaurant industry as a whole, but he counts himself lucky. The pandemic has been difficult, but Jimmy says his loyal customers have supported him since day 1 of the lockdown. “We are like family,” Jimmy says of the community, in his thick Italian accent. Jimmy’s customers have not only their favorite dishes; they also have their favorite booths. The menu at Napoli’s is full of authentic, homemade Italian dishes. New recipes are added and tweaked, and specials are available weekly. Jimmy says the local favorite is the ‘Napoli’s Special,’ which includes lasagna, chicken parmigiana and chicken alfredo. The pizza served at Napoli’s is made from scratch on location daily. Every meal at Napoli’s is served with complimentary Italian rolls, a perfect match to any Italian dish.
28 February 2021
Trinity Burnett displays homemade Italian entrees. Jimmy says his restaurant has been blessed with loyal customers since the beginning, but he does not take a single day for granted since a chance encounter with customer. “When I first came here … we were so busy here. I tried to help in the kitchen to make sure we are not backing up, and I sometimes feel this restaurant is so small
because it is so busy. One day, a customer asked to talk to the owner, so I came, and thought, ‘probably because it’s so busy and he is waiting’ but he just wanted to say something. He wanted to welcome me to Ponca City,” Jimmy says warmly. The customer gave Jimmy advice that he still carries with him. The customer said, “We are going to support you, but Ponca City does not accept just any game or joke. We are a great town. If you do well, you are welcome here. But if you play around, you will not last. If you do not treat the people like your family, you are not going to make it.” Jimmy remembers that moment, and says he thanked the man for his advice. It proved to be a reaffirmation to Jimmy’s dedication to the community and his service to the people. “We try to bring all our passion and love in everything we do,” Jimmy says. Jimmy calls the restaurant his second marriage, and that he treats it as such, something that he must spend time on and take good care of. Though Jimmy has only lived in America for just over 20 years, he beams with
pride as he talks about his journey becoming an American. Jimmy says one of his earliest and proudest American moments was when he got his driver’s license. “It’s so amazing to get a driver’s license – so easy!” Jimmy says. He says in America, things are not as expensive as in his home country, and that there is less competition. Jimmy says he has attained his own American dream, complete with a job he loves and a wonderful family. Jimmy has a beautiful wife and four children, aged 12, 10, 7 and 6. “My American dream is now completed because I have four children; they will all be well educated here; they all will go to good schools; and I can send them all to college. I worked so hard to prove myself and to take care of my family. Kids to me are everything; family has long roots. I see America as a great opportunity for everyone who wants to work. If you want to work, everything is possible.” So, the next time you visit Napoli’s Italian Restaurant in Ponca City, be sure and ask to say “Hi” to Jimmy. Because when you visit Jimmy’s restaurant, you are not just enjoying homemade Italian food, you are also sharing in Jimmy’s American dream, and that is something very special indeed.
The Pasta Sampler gives you a chance to try the cheese ravioli, lasagna and manicotti, all in one dish!
February 2021
29
Kevin’s Corner Stock Market News & Information
Dad ‘s just crazy. Momma gave him a couple bits of food, and he swallowed one but spit the other back out. He said he liked the first one “better.” What the heck is better? Look, here’s the hard truth from an expert. A treat is a treat. You eat the treat. That’s it. I don’t get what’s so difficult to understand, since nothing that comes from Momma’s warm fingers is ever bad. If there’s one good thing about my lump of a sister Bridgey, it’s that any food hitting the floor quickly disappears. As for me, I’d never eat off the floor, but expect to be served properly. OK, so last month Momma suggested we start buying mutual funds, rather than building an investment portfolio from scratch with individual company stocks and bonds. She said mutual funds can be a pretty good idea, because the fund Investment Manager watches financial markets all day and can see opportunities we might miss, and also because some stocks like Amazon (AMZN) cost over $3,000 to buy ourselves, while a mutual fund may own a lot of Amazon shares and the fund share only cost us $5. But with over 123,000 mutual funds to choose from, and long tricky names, Dad wonders which funds they should buy. Luckily, Momma says decoding mutual funds is pretty easy. The first part of the name is usually the investment firm that created the mutual fund, like Vanguard, Fidelity, Blackrock or Schwab. These firms usually have many different offerings as a “family” of funds. From there, we’ll see words like: • Growth: Usually, newer companies with a popular product, fast expansion and stock price zooming up
30 February 2021
• Value: Something a good company experienced that made its performance (and stock price) fall, but remains fundamentally sound and should bounce back
• Dividend: Generally, Value or Large Cap companies that give us a percentage of their earnings each quarter (like seasoned public utilities or companies that have been around forever, like Coke) • Small Cap vs. Mid Cap vs. Large Cap: Market Capitalization is simply the number of company shares outstanding X the market price of a single share. It’s not important to calculate, but instead understand the size of companies we’re buying
• Domestic: Generally, buys stocks or bonds of USA companies only
• Foreign: Generally, buys stocks or bonds of only non-USA companies. When USA markets are down, foreign markets may be up • Global: Generally, buys stocks or bonds of both USA and non-USA companies
• Specialty: Also known as sector funds, they generally focus on a single industry like real estate, technology or healthcare
• Index: These funds buy the stocks in major market indices, like S&P 500, to simply replicate their returns. Since a lot less thought goes into managing these funds, their operating costs are usually lower (and our net returns higher). It’s also good to understand that very few Fund Managers consistently outperform the general market. • Bond: Usually owns only bonds, as we lend
out money for a specific time and hope to get it back with interest
• Corporate vs. Government: Can lend to companies, a government (US Treasury), or government agency (HUD, USDA)
• Muni: Usually owns only bonds from smaller governments, like the City of Tulsa. The strength of revenue generation and cash reserves of each municipality (or municipality project like sewer or stadium construction) determines how high an interest rate they must pay us. Interest on muni bonds may also be tax free for investors who live in the municipality, which can increase overall investment returns • High-Yield: Usually owns only bonds issued by riskier companies that are more likely to default and not pay us back. To take on that higher risk, these “junk” bonds pay an above-average interest rate that can generate higher investment returns • Diversified: Usually owns both stocks and bonds
So, if Dad sees names like Fidelity Mid-Cap Growth Fund or Blackrock Global High-Yield Fund, he now has a better idea of what all that means and also understands it’s nice to own a little bit of multiple types of funds. As happens every few hours, it’s time for my nap, but next month I’ll tell you how to become a landlord without buying a single piece of property. While Momma is hoping everyone improves their table manners, Dad works at Cherokee Strip Credit Union and keeps Kevin’s crayons sharp. Copyright 2021 – One Trick Productions
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CHILDREN’S BOOK REVIEW BY LORRIE LAYTON
The Ickabog
By J.K. Rowling Once upon a time, J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) told her children an original fairy tale called The Ickabog and her kids loved it. She worked on putting her fairy tale to paper in between writing the Harry Potter books, but it ended up in the attic when she decided to not publish another children’s book following her Harry Potter series. That manuscript would probably still be in the attic if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. When Ms. Rowling realized the pandemic’s impact on children, she brought her fairy tale down from the attic, brushed it off and completed the transcript. She then made The Ickabog available online for free and invited children to submit illustrations. The winning illustrations are featured in this recently published hardcopy version of The Ickabog. The Ickabog is set in the happy, wealthy country of Cornucopia, known for its fine foods and ruled by King Fred the Fearless.
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Sadly, King Fred’s priority is that his citizens love him. The king’s two advisors, the Lords Spittleworth and Flapoon, excel at manipulating poor Fred. Of course, Cornucopia has a monster known as the Ickabog living in its northern marshlands. All adults know the Ickabog isn’t real; it’s just a boogeyman used to frighten children. When reports begin circulating that the Ickabog is leaving the marsh to hunt humans, no one knows quite what to think – besides Lords Spittleworth and Flapoon. They automatically see this as an opportunity to benefit from the kingdom’s fears and take advantage of the situation. As things in Cornucopia become increasingly dismal, two children, best friends Daisy and Bert, take it upon themselves to get to the bottom of this whole Ickabog mess. Their friendship, courage and integrity save the day.
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us!
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ADULT BOOK REVIEW BY LORRIE LAYTON Eight Perfect Murders By Peter Swanson
When Malcolm Kershaw was a young bookseller
working at Old Devils Bookstore, a mystery bookstore in Boston, he wrote his first piece for the store’s blog. His post, entitled “Eight Perfect Murders,� were his choices for “the cleverest, the most ingenious, the most foolproof murders in crime fiction history.� Mal added that these eight books were not his favorite mysteries, nor did he think they were the best. They were just the ones in which the murderer came closest to pulling off a perfect murder.
Fast-forward to present day. Malcolm is now a widower and the owner of Old Devils Bookstore. One stormy winter day, he receives a phone call and subsequently a visit from FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey. She believes she has found a correlation between some unsolved murders and Malcolm’s “Eight Perfect Murders� list from back in 2004. Of course, Malcolm’s first thought is that he is a suspect, but
Agent Mulvey soothes him, saying he isn’t an official suspect. Rather, she would like Malcolm to provide insight as to why he chose those eight particular murders for his list and just what it was that made them “perfect.� Additionally, she is hoping Malcolm might be able to link a few other recent unsolved crimes to his list. Agent Mulvey is following a hunch that the same person has committed the murders she has tied to Mal’s list and, moreover, that they are deliberately imitating the murders on the list. Malcolm begins to worry – Is the perpetrator trying to get his attention? Does the killer know him? Does he know the killer? How well do they know each other? What does he want from Malcolm? Are Malcolm’s friends and employees in danger? I refuse to spoil the book. Read it and enjoy!
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February 2021
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Sounding Off
Music In & Around Ponca City Story & Photos Contributed by Steve Scott
I’m sitting in a corner of the ballroom in the historic Marland Mansion. The nostalgic setting seems to be a good way to start the new year, as I remember all of the great bands and instrumentalists who have filled this magnificent “Palace on the Prairie” with music. Over the decades, I attended many balls, galas and other events, just as often dining and dancing, as well as playing with my band. If these walls could talk, I believe they would sing of the good times. To meet publishing deadlines, I am writing this February column in early January with snow on the ground, seeking the most optimistic indication of when live music will return to our local entertainment spots. But even as rose-colored as my glasses are, I was grateful for the temporary “thawing” of the “bar closing edict,” breaking open the opportunity for live music in Ponca City again, just in time for New Year’s Eve. The Bandstand Veteran headliners Morrison 33 are continuing to work on their upcoming CD release. Having owned a project studio for over 40 years, I can personally attest to the massive effort involved to record, mix and master songs for an album. “This is not just a job. It really is a passion for us,” said Bill Wetzel, bass player for the band. Watch for a release of this milestone album. Local troubadour Larry Newsom appears to be continuously booked, entertaining patrons at numerous venues across northern Oklahoma. He regularly performs at Zannotti’s Wine Bar in Stillwater and has upcoming performances on Feb. 5 at the Spotted Hound Saloon in Weatherford and on Feb. 19 at The Office Bar in Enid. If you are looking for
34 February 2021
somewhere to go for a “Valentine’s Date,” one of Larry’s shows should be seriously considered! Dynamic rockers Mother Kelly are still sorting out their future in light of losing Mark Swenson. While practice location and equipment issues are dominating the conversation, the music will live on. The band is trying out drummers. Stay tuned for their reemergence on the local music scene. Local trendsetter The Fox owns a long history of supporting live music. This hot spot remains a stable barometer of Ponca City nightlife, with their potent drinks and ambiance, and started 2021 with local band Arms of London on New Year’s Eve. Ridin’ High, Northern Oklahoma’s premier dance club, continues to sponsor karaoke each week, and just announced they are ready to book bands for 2021. In addition, they are boldly going where local clubs have not gone, requesting ideas from the public to expand their offerings. If you have favorite bands or ideas, please contact them via their Facebook page. Back 2 Sighs brought in the new year with a live band, New Dynasty. Local entertainment venues Astoria and Vortex are waiting on a permanent resolution to the “bar closing” limitations. Both of these “downtown jewels” admit 2020 was “one heck of a year,” but are more than ready to get back to doing what they love to do – serving and entertaining the public. Local Stars This month I’m featuring the band Dirty Erin. This local foursome brings the heavy metal rock show to Northern Oklahoma with every performance. Band members Chuck Tillman (guitar/vocals), Zane Finton (drums/vocals), Greg Renfro (aka “Fro” on bass/vocals) and Blane Boyer (guitar/ vocals) are all seasoned musicians with years of experience playing the club circuit in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas before coming together in 2009 to form Dirty Erin. Musical influences show the band “embraces and celebrates the flamboyant, leathersoaked music of Motley Crue, Poison, Cinderella,
Def Leppard and other bands of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.” I can personally say the energy of the band on stage is best described as loud, tuneful, impeccably sung and aimed toward the rafters. As noted in a previous column, the band is now designing the package for the new CD and booking venues and festivals for 2021. “Fro” told me, “We miss our club friends at The Fox and Ridin’ High in Ponca City.” Believe me, “Fro,” Ponca City misses Dirty Erin too! In Memoriam One of the great Ponca City losses at the end of December 2020 was Sue Lippert, an extremely talented and passionate pianist. You could always find Sue playing at weddings (including my own), special events, balls, church services, funerals and other gatherings. She was also the pianist for First Methodist Church. Sue was a class act and was Ponca City music at its finest. Finally This was the strangest New Year’s Eve in all of my 60+ years as a musician. From conversations with my fellow melomaniacs (those of us who love music), starting another cycle around the sun is simply not “right” when you are not playing for your fans, or the public at large. I sincerely hope that 2021 brings a significant reversal in pandemic trends and returns some semblance of normalcy to the Ponca City music scene. If anyone has information on live music events, please email me at smscott54@hotmail.com.
“I sincerely hope that 2021 brings a significant reversal in pandemic trends and returns some semblance of normalcy to the Ponca City music scene.”
le sell their properties and finding their dream homes! E to help YOUsell with your real estatetheir needs. I would LOVE V ping peple properties and finding I LOVEtheir helping people sell their dreams! properties to help YOU with your real estate needs. and find their dream homes! I would LOVE to help YOU with your real estate needs.
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February 2021
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HEALTH&
Beauty
Now that we’ve got the basics, let’s get right into these three exciting styles of HIIT, shall we!?
HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training Story & Photo contributed by Kera Kester, NASM Certified Personal Trainer Let’s play the scenario game “What Would You Do?” Imagine you’ve just kicked open the doors of a gym, entering with some buddies – movie cliché style. Determined. Unified. Confident. After stretching, you ask how everyone wants to begin. One buddy initiates a “team huddle” as she squeals “let’s do cardio!” Would you put your hand in or reluctantly remain hand out? For some of us, cardio has a bad rep. The word provokes a shoulder drooping expectation for drawn out, burdensome and redundant machine time. Well, I’m your personal Morpheus telling you to swallow this red pill and have your mind blown. The red pill is one acronym – HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). Hour-long bouts of steady state are replaced with effective short intervals. ALSO, get this, HIIT keeps the calorie burning in effect long after a workout, requires no machines, is fun AND still creates desired results. I know … boom! “How should I do HIIT, Kera?” I’ve got you covered with three fun styles that will unleash that strong, powerful champion within! Cardio is short for “cardiovascular.” Another word for cardio is aerobic, meaning “with oxygen.” Vascular refers to the blood vessels that transport blood, such as arteries, capillaries and veins. During cardio, the heart rate increases and breathing quickens. One of my favorite words “cardiorespiratory,” relates to this functioning of your heart and respiratory system, or lungs. Without going deep into the science, I’ll say the benefits of cardio in the quickest way that I can. Regular cardio can strengthen your heart and blood vessels while lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Enhancement of oxygen flow throughout your body commences and provokes endurance, progressing overall health and wellness.
36 February 2021
EMOM – GUYS. This is one of the best styles of exercise because it challenges your recovery capabilities, which forces bodily adaptation. EMOM = “Every Minute On The Minute.” First, choose 4-6 exercises. Next, pick a specific number of repetitions for each exercise (usually 8-15 reps). At the start of minute 1, complete the reps for exercise 1 – use the remaining time within that minute for a rest period. Start minute 2 with exercise 2 and continue the pattern of reps and rest. Yes, complete rest - you can even sit down. Whether it takes 30 or 40 seconds to complete the reps, go at your pace! When you finish all 4-6 exercises, return to exercise 1 and repeat the sequence. Try to do this EMOM sequence 3-5 times! EMOM is unrivaled for rapid weight loss. Furthermore, it progresses muscle building and strength! TABATA – Some of you reading this are thinking, “30 seconds of work still seems too long.” Don’t worry, there’s a style just for you! Tabata has two exercises for only 20 seconds of work followed by a rest of 10 seconds. It’s most generally conducted in 8 sets, meaning you can get an effective workout in a total of four minutes – four minutes. For this reason, I’d deem the Tabata method as top pick for those who are being brave, determined and cool enough to jump into working out for the first time or after a long period without exercise! LADDERS – An amazing way to test the progress you’re making throughout your fitness journey! Choose two exercises and perform each for 1 repetition, followed by a 30-45 second rest. Next, perform each of the exercises for 2 repetitions, followed by the same rest period. Continue adding a rep each time and see how far you get before your body fatigues! After, try two different exercises and repeat the sequence. The more consistent you are with exercise, you’ll notice your body strengthen. Four weeks in, you might complete three or more sets than you could on day one! You can incorporate a variety of exercises for these HIIT styles, including bodyweight movements and sprints. With greater understanding on what to do, now let’s talk about why. Your motivation could be New Year’s weight loss resolutions or doctor’s advice - both of which are completely valid. My heart would also leap to hear the effects HIIT has in your life when it comes to endurance for playing with energy-filled kids, or feeling strength and accomplishment again, or strengthening your bones as you continue aging. Any motivation close to your heart matters and can reap results greater than you imagine. Utilizing this HIIT info will ensure you taking hold of daily opportunity to be stronger, wiser and healthier. ALWAYS feel free to reach out with questions, comments and successes on my IG or FB pages under “Kera Kester.” I absolutely LOVE hearing from you guys and care about your journeys! Cheers to starting this year out right with progression and love!
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HEALTH&
Beauty
Fitness Goals: Keeping up with a Healthy Year-Long Plan Story contributed by Ashley Peitz *Disclaimer – I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, but I figured out what worked for me. I hope some of what worked for me will help you start or continue your path to your best self. 1/8/2021 I walked into the RecPlex at 4:50 a.m. this morning and I was not expecting to see 155 on the scale. Five minutes into my workout, I really thought about that number. When I reflected on the 40 pounds I had lost, I realized it had taken: • 6 Months – with a 5-month break between month 1 and month 2 … because yano … COVID-19 • 375+ Miles walked/ran – good thing my dogs and my mom are good sports, that would have been a lot of miles by myself • 95+ RecPlex check-ins • IDK 200+ times I hit snooze (Sorry Kaity Beaty, I will forever be 10 minutes late, thanks for being my account-a-billa-buddy, yes y’all … I know that is not a real word, but we will get back to how important that buddy is later) • + Countless other things I’m not thinking of All of that made me think wow, I sure wish I knew where to start, when I started. New Year, New Me Month 1, January 2020 Quick rewind to December 2019. I didn’t have a primary care physician, so I hadn’t been to the
doctor in a while, I stepped on the scale and I saw 195, my heart dropped. I have never been athletic, I played sports but was never better than “OK” at any of them, I had always been fairly active and was never much more than slightly overweight, until now. That day, I decided I needed a change. I started working out at planet fitness a few days a week. Shortly after, because I used to be skinny, it should all just fall off … right?! Right when I started to get in the groove of things, I had an injury. Then, after that, COVID-19. Things just kept happening, and you can fill in some blanks after that. New Year, New Me Revision 1 Month 2, August 2020 COVID-19 was still here and getting more annoying again. Work was CRAZY busy, and “adult-ish extra-curriculars” (boards, nonprofits, life in general) were in full swing. After taking full advantage of the ‘Rona, and eating what I wanted, and not moving, I was hating what I looked like more and more. I hated every picture I was in, and I did not even want to think about stepping on the scale. A few friends and I decided we wanted to make a change, we decided we were going to start going to RecPlex on Monday. Slow and Steady Wins the Race Monday was here and before I knew it, the truth hurts, and I hadn’t done my work at home. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Monday started with the treadmill, slow, like real slow … But you have to start somewhere … right? I did not let myself step on the scale for the first 6 weeks. At first I was scared. Then I started to realize the
number on the scale does not actually matter, it’s all about whatever “healthy” is for you. Here is what I wish I knew starting out: What does not work • Extreme crash diets • Going to the gym 7 days a week • Eating clean 3 meals a day, 7 days a week • Doing what your significant other/family member/best friend/accounta-billa-buddy is doing in the gym for his/her diet What DOES work • Gradually get STRONGER • Gradually eat BETTER • Gradually walking/running FASTER I highly recommend having an accounta-billabuddy to HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE. Someone is going to miss a day here and there, but having someone you know that will be there, makes it so much easier to finally get out of bed when that fourth snooze alarm goes off. Every day is different. Some days you kill it all around. Other days, you are just there – do a lackluster job – and go home. But that’s OK! It is all about balance. Some days you eat better; some days you work out harder; and other days you do neither.
continued on page 40 February 2021
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Fitness Goals continued from page 39
HEALTH&
Beauty
So, come up with a fitness goal, then crush that goal at your own pace. Some of my fitness goals for 2020 were: get to the gym consistently; add weights to my workouts 3 days a week; run a 5k; get stronger mentally and physically; and drink more water. Each time I met a fitness goal, I came up with a new one. The Workout
One of the most important things I did to help me lose weight – move 30 minutes every day (including weekends and on days I don’t feel great.) My goal was to close my exercise ring every, single day. Closing your exercise ring doesn’t have to be some intense gym workout, it can be a leisurely walk, cleaning out your closet, walking your dog. My personal favorite, Nelli and Bullet (my dogs) and I walk EVERYDAY. The goal is to move – literally anything to get your heart rate going.
I like to pick proteins I can use to make multiple recipes. This week I am browning hamburger to use in Egg Roll Bowls (this recipe is on my Pinterest board!) and Parmesan crisps (recipe also from Pinterest). For the actual crisp recipe, I add hamburger, fresh veggies and sour cream on top (this is a copycat from Astoria Bistro & Blvd., they have some great low-carb options on their menu). I also choose a few different sides; one day I will have a fruit salad, another I will have veggies with hummus. I have a variety of healthy portions controlled (this part is hard, I slowly started reducing my meal size, as I learned more, I figured out what portion sizes worked for me). I also keep snacks in my desk so I don’t go to the vending machine (Farha likes to tease me and put all my favorite snacks in that sucker, so I avoid even
walking by it). I still eat what I want, but I chose a few times a week to do that instead of every meal. I would never have been able to lose weight if I would have completely cut out some of the things that I love the most – think carbs, alcohol, sweets, treats … all the good things. Need to eat on the run/out? My favorite trick is ordering a kid’s meal! The portion size is perfect, and the price is half what you would normally pay. My go-to is the kid’s meal from Rib Crib, and you even get ice cream (which I eat every bite of). Don’t see anything you like on the kid’s menu? Modify anything to make it healthier. Order something without the bun, have a salad instead of French fries, drink water instead of a soda. Even just a few small changes can make your meal significantly better for you. Just one beer (or soda) or two won’t hurt … right?
Resources that helped step up my workout game Pinterest (apeitz2101) I have a workout board that I use every day when I am at the gym; TikTok; Apple Fitness (my new fav, so many videos you can do at home, you can watch them on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV); RecPlex Classes; Under Armour Walk; YouTube; friendly competition with friends; signing up for stuff outside of my comfort goal (Turkey Trot 2020 was my first 5K and WAY out of my comfort zone). Eating Healthy … What’s that? This part is my least favorite, because I love food. Make the eating part easy so you can stick to it Meal prepping – this part takes work. Hours … lots of hours, prep, planning and organization. I also hate eating meals more than once which makes it even more annoying.
40 February 2021
Photo by Jennifer Vaughan
I think one of the biggest things that helped me to lose weight was cutting back on alcohol and soda. A few beers on a random night, a few nights a week or upsizing your drink to a large because you need a little extra caffeine adds up more than you realize. I still enjoy a beer now and then, but I try to limit it to only on the weekends. When I do that, I know that closing my exercise ring will be that much harder. I also used to drink a few sodas a day. I have never been a coffee drinker so I would start early. I still will indulge and have a can of coke every few days (I also like to buy the mini ones, then I can have one with lunch and not feel guilty about it) but again, it’s all about balance. If you only have one take away from my experience, remember that balance is the key! If you get off track, just realign and get back after it.
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Story & Interviews by Kelsey Wagner/Editor-in-Chief Love is a powerful word. People write books and make movies about it, people gossip about who is in it, wars have been fought over it and its a world that almost every person says at least one time to someone in their life. Love has so many meanings to so many people. But love has new meaning when it comes to children and families. Love does not always translate to nuture and care. Parents can, at times, struggle to care for their own children. At possibly the lowest point of any child’s life, when they are taken away from everything they know, they put into the care of others.
42 February 2021
All across Ponca City, in homes, apartments, perhaps even next door, foster families are taking in children, wrapping their arms around them and loving these children in their greatest time of need. Foster families often receive no recognition - there are no awards for a lifetime dedication to foster care. In the month of love, we wanted to explore a different take on the tradiational love story. These are just a few of the foster care workers, supporters and families strive every day not just to help foster children be care for, but to help them find love in Ponca City.
Sarah Pickup works at Marland’s Place as the Director of Development. She lives, eats and breathes foster care, something she has always been passionate about. Her goal is to help raise funds to support the mission of the organization, but when she’s not working, she’s home caring for own foster children. Sarah has been a foster parent since 2012. Sarah has had 10-12 placements – no more than three at a single time. Sarah says they answer questions from curious families all the time, and they see the common misconceptions about foster care. She says that it is a big commitment, but that foster families actually have a lot of choice in what type of care they offer and the ages and number of children they take.
“There’s different types of foster care, and if they don’t want commitment to longer term, they can just be emergency placement, meaning as soon as a child is brought into custody that child can stay with them anywhere from 24 hours to 3 weeks, or until a more permanent solution is found,” says Sarah, adding, “there really are a bunch of options with foster care, whether that’s with age, gender, whatever you are comfortable with and that can also change over time.”
There are all types of foster parents and the requirements to become certified are fairly simple. Foster parents must be 21 years of age, have a dedicated space for the child that includes a bed, and a place for their belongings and must be able to properly care for the child while they are in the home. Food, toys and a caring adult to look after a child who is experiencing one of the most traumatic experiences of his/her entire life.
Sarah Pickup and Jamie Phillips Marland’s Place
Marland’s Place is a unique organization that specializes in foster care support. Jamie Phillips, CEO of the recently rebranded organization, formerly Marland’s Children’s Home, says that she has seen a huge uptick in families reaching out to become foster homes.
“I’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people who are actually responding and reaching out. We have so many families to process, which is a super good problem to have!” said Jamie. Kay County is the third largest for numbers of foster children in the care of the state, directly behind Tulsa and Oklahoma counties.
Just two short years ago, the Marland’s Children Home functioned as a group home, but due to continued budget cuts and the sheer complexity of running the group home, the board decided to shift their focus to supporting foster families. With a large campus with room to grow, they set their mind and mission to provide support and housing to families that wanted to foster. “We have five apartments on campus, and they have been full the entire year,” Jamie said.
Marland’s Place is not the only foster agency providing housing for foster families, but Jamie says they are rare, with only two other agencies in the state with similar housing available.
They are in the process of building five more foster family apartments, but the process to raise money and build is long. Because of the high demand, they are looking for other ways to provide housing. A recent bequest of a house located in Ponca City will provide one more home, while the others are being built.
Having enough space to foster children can be a limitation, and by removing that barrier, it can open foster care opportunities to those who would not otherwise have the ability. Another reason why the on-campus housing was made available is because it enables sibling sets, who are more often than not separated, to be kept together.
FAST FOSTER FACTS
On any given day there are approximately 7,000 children in DHS custody across the state.
There are many misconceptions about the requirements, but Sarah says many of those are false. For example, foster parents can be single or married, rent or own, same sex or heterosexual marriage, have children or no children. People who have had previous child welfare issues are not accepted, as well as some criminal offenders. All foster parents do have to pass a background check, and while a criminal background can be a disqualifier, Sarah says that is not always the case. “Sometimes that can be negotiable, so I don’t want people to hesitate to at least try if it’s something they want to do,” says Sarah.
It generally takes up to six months to become a certified foster parent. There is a lot of paperwork involved, followed by a home assessment and a home study. A neutral third party comes into the home and reviews the living conditions, background, family of original, finances and any possible traumas that might be present in the home. If the home study finds the foster parents to meet criteria, they will then begin their training. “It is a time commitment; it is. It is six months of paperwork, home study, training; but in the end, it’s worth it. It does pay off,” says Sarah.
Where Marland’s Place comes in, is as a resource for the foster families. In addition to providing the training, they also provide a way for foster families to connect and network together. Though COVID-19 has put a damper on their social events, Jamie says that their social events help set them apart from other agencies.
Marland’s Place also has an “on-call” phone that is manned 24 hours a day. The phone is there for their foster families to call in case of any emergency, but Jamie says that is the role their agency plays, to be there for any needs to support their foster families. “There are times that some children come in with specific needs, and we may need to connect them with an occupational therapist or a physical therapist; but as there is a need, we find gaps to fill those needs,” Jamie says. Sarah says she is asked questions all the time about what it’s like to give children up after having them for a short time.
The most common reaction is, “I could never do that, I would get too attached!”
“Those are the parents that need to be foster parents. We are looking for people who are willing to get attached and love wholeheartedly and fiercely, and just love these kiddos. Usually, they do require a lot of time and attention, and they have needs that are higher than kids in general. It’s important that they pour into these kids, and they do get attached. There are days when it’s hard when that baby or kid leaves, but you also have to look at the side of reunification for that family, which is always the goal.” Sarah says that reunification makes it all worth it. For either a mother or father who has met the threshold to regain custody of their children, as difficult as giving up the child may be, the thrill of knowing the child is back home makes it all worthwhile.
continued on page 44
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Finding Love continued from page 43 With the emotional highs and lows that come with foster care, the process can seem overwhelming. But the time put in can make a real difference in that child’s life. It could be that the child is going back to a home or family that is still not completely stable and the time spent in the home of the foster family, is the only stability they may ever see, making its impact all the more valuable. “These kids have been through some real trauma. What these children need for a healthy start in life is for someone to get attached to them. It’s so important,” says Jamie. Sarah has advice for anyone looking to get into foster care, advice that she herself has taken to heart: “If you love fiercely, there are no regrets.”
Marland’s Place is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. To make a donation, visit them online at MarlandsPlace.com
“You just think about the trauma of that removal initially anyway, and then you have the second trauma of them losing their friends, their school, their church,” Markesha says. Markesha says the need of foster homes is great, but that the process to get certified for most is fairly easy.
“It starts with a phone call. Many people just have questions,” and Markesha says she is available all the time to answer those questions. She says it can take some people years to come to the decision to actually begin the process after their first phone call.
Some foster homes can be certified in as little as 90 days if there are no issues.
Foster care is open to most adults, and even though foster parents must be over the age of 21 to have a foster child, there is no upper age limit. All applicants must pass a medical exam and be physically able to care for a child, so they leave that determination up to a medical professional. Most new foster families, Markesha says, simply need support, and if they can’t get ahold of their social worker for the child, she is the point person to answer all their questions. There are also virtual support groups that have been meeting in lieu of in-person meetings because of COVID-19. Most new foster families, Markesha says, simply need support, and if they can’t get ahold of their social worker for the child, she is the point person to answer all their questions. Markesha encourages the families and directs them to any other additional resources but says that even though there are requirements to care for the children, when you boil it down the most important thing they need is love. “You are not just helping a child; you are helping a FAMILY. It’s very rewarding if people will just think about the children. We have such a huge need. We do not have enough beds in our home county,” says Markesha, “and can’t we help lessen that trauma by at least keeping them in Kay County?”
For more infomation, please call Markesha at 580-362-7167 or visit okfosters.org.
Markesha Collins-Duggan, DHS
Markesha is in Recruitment and Development in the Foster Resource Unit of the State of Oklahoma Department of Human Services. She’s been working with foster care families for over five years but has worked with the state of Oklahoma for over 20.
The largest issue, she says, at the current are that there are more children that need homes than there are homes available in Kay County. Many children in Kay County, more than half in fact, are shipped out of the county: away from their school; away from their siblings; and at times, out of reach for visitation. In Kay County, at this moment, there are only 22 traditional foster homes available to take placements. There are times when kinship placements are options, but for many children, there are no kinships available to take them. Markesha describes what happens when siblings are separated out of county.
“Let’s just say it’s a sibling group of three, and we don’t have enough beds, and they have to be placed out of county. We may have one sibling placed in Comanche County, which is in Lawton; we may have another sibling in Garfield County, and one placed in Tulsa County. Now just imagine facilitating visitation on any given day, to either see their parents or seeing each other as siblings! It just creates a lot of barriers for that family to reunify and keep that connection. On top of that, you have a social worker running all over the state just to pick up and facilitate those visits,” says Markesha.
44 February 2021
David and Tina Havens
22 years ago, Tina and David decided they wanted to become foster parents. David’s parents fostered, and his now grown daughter has become a foster parent. “We just thought it would be a good thing to do,” says Tina, sweetly.
continued on page 47
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46 February 2021
Finding Love continued from page 44 Tina and David have fostered over 75 children in 22 years, and of those 4, they have adopted 4. They have biological children between them, which were raised alongside their foster children.
Tina says not much has changed in 22 years, except perhaps the invert of phones with makes children more distracted and less personable than they used to be.
Tina says they have utilized their ability to choose what types of children they can take, because their family situation has changed as they have gotten older. “We used to have kids of all ages, up to 5 or 6 kids under the age of 6 years old. Now that we’ve gotten older, we take maybe one or two at a time, and we try to stay between the ages of 6 and 10. That’s just where we are right now,” says Tina, indicating that their needs will likely continue evolving over time.
Tina says that she had all types of children over the many years, some with worse traumas than others. Tina and David are a team, and tag team when the other parent is tired. Tina says she’s learned a lot in 22 years and has found that keeping the kids busy with activities is the most tried and true way to keep them engaged, but it’s even more rewarding for herself. “One of the nicest things is to see a child do something for the first time, and that could even be a 10-year-old. We’ve had some kids that had never been to the zoo, never signed up for any sports, never swam or didn’t know how to swim. So, we really like that part of it,” she says. Tina says she has been able to keep in touch with some foster children over the years, but its ultimately up to the parents of the children what they prefer.
As a seasoned foster parent, with years and years under her belt, Tina has seen or been in almost every situation a foster parent can experience. She says she knows it can be hard at the beginning and offers her own advice for new parents feeling the sting of a bad experience early on.
“Don’t ever give up after the first try, because there will be other kids that come through your life. Just because one child has a hard time adjusting, doesn’t mean the next child will be like that,” she says. For those teetering on whether or not to become a foster parent, she adds simply, “just give it a try.” “You just have to learn to appreciate the time you have with those kids,” says Tina.
David, who has sat quietly during the entire interview, interjects at this point, saying, “For a week or two weeks or a month, or however long we have them… that may be the only family life they ever see.” The only family life they ever see. In their entire life.
“I would not take time back for any child that has ever walked through our door. Yes, some of them are hard, some of them are not so hard, but you just take one day a time,” Tina says.
Tina is preparing now for more time and activities at home, as she has recently found out her children are transitioning to distance learning. The pandemic, like regular parents, has added extra stress on an already stressful situation. But Tina does not complain or say anything negative or wish for things to be easier. She has only one wish. “I do wish more people would open their doors.”
FAST FOSTER FACTS
In order to meet the need for foster care in Oklahoma, 898 more foster homes would need to be certified.
Cameron and Elizabeth Wood
The Wood family’s first two placements were two little boys, 5 and 3, and they stayed for three months.
They got their second placement just this past summer, a little girl, aged 11.
In addition to their foster children, they have four biological children in the home as well, aged at 13, 11, 10 and 8. “My husband and I always thought we would adopt internationally,” Elizabeth says. “At least here there is a system, and in other countries they are just on the street, so I always thought I/we would do that.” But Elizabeth described learning more about the foster care process and need through her husband’s brother, who is a social worker in Kansas City.
“They started fostering teenagers, and it just really helped to normalize the process. It’s something we could do pretty much right away at no cost to us,” she says. The process was sluggish she says, primarily because of the huge amount of paperwork required. It was 2 to 3 years after starting the process, but says it was actually the creation of Marland’s Place that galvanized their will to complete the process. Their house is within walking distance to the Marland’s Place campus, so, they walked over one day and completed the paperwork.
“We just thought, it couldn’t be any easier than this,” she says laughing, adding, “they have been amazing, and really helped so much with the process.” Elizabeth says their two placements have been completely different. She describes the challenges with her most recent placement because it was an out-of-county foster. “I would prefer to be in county, because it just helps with everyone’s communication and being able to do visitations,” she says.
Elizabeth says it’s common for foster children to feel like they have no value, so she works immediately to try and invest in their self-worth and convince them that they do, in fact, have value and that they are worthy of love. She says that having four biological children presented its own set of issues,
continued on page 48 February 2021
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Finding Love continued from page 47 but it was something that they chose to do as a family.
“We knew going in there would be challenges for our children, but we embraced those as growing opportunities for them as people to learn how to love people that they wouldn’t necessarily choose to be around all the time, but also to learn to have compassion when its hard,” says Elizabeth. With the Woods family, love and attachment is at the very core of how they care for their foster children.
“There’s no way you can care for them and not get attached. As humans, we don’t operate that way,” she says.
Elizabeth says their first foster placements left very, very abruptly and described the emotional turmoil that it creates. To invest so much time in children, and then to have them leave suddenly, with very little closure is always a possibility and can come unexpectedly. But Elizabeth says the attachment and subsequent detachment, though painful, is not a reason to stop fostering. “It is tough. It is one of the challenges. But in my mind, that’s not a reason – that’s a selfish reason – to be quite honest. You are thinking too much about yourself, and not thinking about these kids that are in need. They don’t have anybody. They are in danger; they are being abused; and they don’t have anyone to tell them ‘I love you’ and ‘you have value,’” says Elizabeth.
Elizabeth says it’s best to just remember the love you have to give, and that most people who were raised in stable homes with loving parents can take a little bit of pain. Some children who need foster care, she says, “are in pain all the time.” Elizabeth recommends finding a support system before you get into foster care and to surround yourself with people who understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. She says it is a time commitment and to be prepared for that, but it is manageable. But again, the struggle is nothing compared to the struggle the kids are experiencing, and that knowledge helps her maintain perspective.
“Everything has changed for these kids. This is a child that has come from who knows where, and who knows what? Even if they don’t have any scary behaviors, there is an adjustment period. Even if they came from abuse and neglect, it’s scary because it’s not what they know and there is an adjustment period,” Elizabeth says.
During the course of the interview, Elizabeth talks lovingly about her current placement, a little girl. Their current foster has been with the family since June but is scheduled to leave the next day, and the process of detaching and grieving, as Elizabeth knows all too well, will begin. But she is prepared and will soon have more children placed in her home to love and to show them their value and their worth. “It is all so much harder and so much more rewarding than I thought it would be,” Elizabeth says. But the process, while daunting, is something that Elizabeth and her entire family are proud to continue.
FAST FOSTER FACTS
On any given day there are approximately 7,000 children in DHS custody across the state. 48 February 2021
Todd and Jennifer Murphy
For Jennifer and Cameron Murphy, the calling to become foster parents came unexpectedly. Seven years ago, Jennifer worked as a secretary at a secondary school and she had received an email about two students at the school who were in desperate need of a home. That email was enough for Jennifer to come home and ask her husband if they could take in these two children.
“I came home that evening, and my husband agreed. We contacted the worker and got the process started. We’ve had those two kids in our home ever since; we ended up adopting them.” Though the Murphy’s adopted the first two children they ever fostered, that did not stop them from continuing their foster care journey.
After their adoption case was closed a year and a half after taking in their first foster children, which was considered a kinship foster home, they began the process to move to traditional foster care. “I’ve had about 22 children through our home,” Jennifer says, and she currently has two placements.
“We do younger children,” she says, “we’ve done anywhere from 0-10 years old, maybe 11. Usually, they call me for babies or little ones, and if they have a sibling, I’ll take their sibling.” Jennifer describes her very first time receiving a baby back in 2016.
“I used to want older ones … in 2016 we had our first baby. It was a real heartbreaker, but I got myself through it. I prefer the babies. I feel like, personally, I can do more there. So, with the nurturing – that’s the kind of thing I like to do, hold babies and spoil them,” Jennifer says, smiling. Jennifer says chasing toddlers has gotten harder as she has gotten older.
Jennifer really prefers keeping contact with her past foster children if possible, saying she’s been able to keep in touch with almost all of her previous placements. She says she develops a deep connection with each child, and that’s how she prefers it. “If I didn’t have that connection with the children and even with most of their families, I don’t think I could do this,” says Jennifer.
For some children, continued connection is simply not possible, and she has learned to live with that as well. Jennifer describes her biggest challenges as being very personal ones, including losing people in their lives.
continued on page 50
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Finding Love continued from page 48 “Our biological kids are grown. People we used to hang out with, we don’t really anymore because we have little kids in our home, so you can lose relationships and that’s a struggle,” she says. Jennifer has fostered through DHS for all seven years and says she feels supported at all times, even when things have been hard.
“I know DHS can get a bad rap from a lot of people, but I can say that the Kay County workers do their best and try their hardest. I feel like right now we have a really good group who are trying their best to support us and support the families who they are serving, so I want to praise them,” she says. Jennifer says they aren’t ready to quit anytime soon, because she knows in her heart that what she is doing makes a real difference in the lives of vulnerable children. She says that it is that knowledge that gets her through the day.
“It is knowing that we gave time to a child to feel loved, and to know what it feels like to have normalcy and to be taken care, and nurtured, and told I love you and just giving them a normal routine and showing them normal things.” Jennifer wouldn’t trade her time fostering children for anything in the world, and says she knows that when it comes for the children to return home is the hardest. But she has a message for anyone who doubts:
“You can give them back. Yes, it hurts, and you cry and it’s sad. When you realize that you can get over it and that God has put each child in your house for a specific purpose, you can do it. It is possible. Kids need stable homes; they need normalcy; and their parents need our support. You need to be able to not judge. I would encourage anyone to try it. I do get upset, but I’ve learned that’s OK. When I stop crying and caring, then I’ll probably stop doing this.”
FAST FOSTER FACTS
Kay County Partner Agencies Circle of Care Choices for Life Eckerd Kids Oklahoma Families First TFI Wesleyan Youth Care Oklahoma Marland’s Place
Agencies Providing Therapeutic Foster Care Choices for Life Eckerd Kids Wesleyan 50 February 2021
Chris & Kyla Radaker-James
The thought of fostering first came to Kyla when her parents began fostering, when she was 20 years old. Her parents fostered nine children in total, and Kyla developed relationships with all of them.
“I remember being in college, and when my mom told me they were bringing in a little boy, and a little girl, something just kind of clicked in my head, and I just decided that this was something I was going to do some day. I am going to be a foster mom someday,” she says. For Chris, he knew after college and was open to foster children because of an experience he had with a friend who had taken in foster children.
“I actually did not know anything about foster care until a friend of mine and his wife went into training for foster care,” Chris says.
So, when Kyla and Chris met, it was a match made in foster care heaven. Christopher and Kyla are not a traditional family, and they are proud of their status as a nontraditional family. They have chosen for themselves to not have biological children, but to instead foster children in need. Kyla specifically, who grew up with strong, independent aunts who showed her that a woman’s value is derived from her ability to have children. Chris and Kyla are actually Ponca City transplants from Branson, Missouri, with Chris having a job offer to be the Executive Director of the Poncan Theatre. During their Ponca City tour, they were told about an organization called Marland’s Place that would have housing and support available for foster families. Though they said Marland’s Place wasn’t the deciding factor in moving to Ponca City, it was a huge perk. After their big move, the goal was to spend at least one year in marriage without children. Though they had sought foster care certification and were approved before their anniversary, they asked to not have any placements until they had reached their one-year anniversary. Unfortunately, they did not meet their goal. “They gave us a call, and they had a newborn and we couldn’t say no,” says Kyla, smiling.
When the baby’s name is mentioned, both Kyla and Chris stiffen, and pause momentarily as emotion wells up. The wound of losing their first foster baby is still healing. Kyla says there is no such thing as a clean break in foster care.
“I still get super, super emotional just thinking about my foster care siblings that my parents had that moved on,” says Kyla, adding, “You do get attached. I don’t sugarcoat it – foster parenting. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, but It wrecks you in ways you can’t quite understand until you’ve done it.” Kyla says the grief is overwhelming, but the best way to move on is to feel it, grieve the loss and honor it.
“Never for one second have we questioned if it was worth it,” says Kyla, “and these kids need people who will fall in love with them and show them what a healthy household looks like, more than we need to shield our hearts.”
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Nurses in High Demand NOC Offers Nursing Program at Three Locations Story & Photos by Scott Cloud, Director of Public Information at NOC employed before they graduate, with 94% staying in Oklahoma after graduation. Hicks oversees 11 full-time master’s prepared faculty members at three locations. The NOC program is approved by the Oklahoma Board of Nursing and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. NOC has nursing facilities at Tonkawa, Stillwater and Enid. The NOC Nursing Program plays a vital role in the delivery of health care services to the citizens of Oklahoma, especially in rural areas. The NOC program, headed by Division Chair Dr. Nikole Hicks, is future-oriented, learning-focused, connected and distinctive. Hicks started as NOC Division Chair last fall. “This is a transformational time in academic nursing education,” Hicks said. “I am excited to work with the excellent faculty and staff at NOC to prepare the next generation of nurses to improve the health of Oklahomans in our region.” NOC’s program focuses on preparing students for the workforce. Over 90% of NOC students are
All nursing locations have a high-fidelity, computerized simulation mannequin that mimics real-life human functions and at least four midfidelity simulators, including an adult, a birthing simulator that provides students with the ability to experience labor and delivery, a pediatric client and a neonate. The mid-fidelity simulators give the student the ability to assess vital signs. master nursing skills and identify changes in a client’s status. NOC also provides health fairs, vital sign and handwashing clinics, health education to the public and volunteer hours in the Tonkawa, Enid and Stillwater areas. NOC also works with Career Technology Centers to provide LPNs the opportunity to further their education.
Northern offers 14 scholarships available specifically for nursing students, along with many other scholarship opportunities. Hicks has over 30 years of experience in nursing, including clinical, education and supervisory/ management roles; clinical expertise in maternal/child, adult health and perinatal education.
Dr. Nikole Hicks
She has over 20 years of experience in academic nursing education, including program and curriculum development and assessment; accreditation; administration; graduate, undergraduate, traditional, hybrid and online teaching. Her scholarly interests include online teaching strategies, curriculum development, test construction and faculty development. For more information abut NOC nursing, call (580) 628-6679. Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public community college, is a multicampus, land-grant institution that provides high-quality, accessible and affordable educational opportunities and services, which create life-changing experiences and develop students as effective learners and leaders within their communities in a connected, ever changing world. NOC, a public two-year community college, serves nearly 5,000 students on the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater, online and the University Center in Ponca City. Of these students,about 60% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. Over 80% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.
In a 2019 photo, NOC nursing students work with a mannequin in the NOC nursing program. (Photo by John Pickard/Northern Oklahoma College.)
NOC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science. The associate degree fulfills lower-division course work, which is applicable toward a bachelor’s degree. Call (580) 628-6200 for more information about Northern Oklahoma College or visit www.noc.edu.
February 2021
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54 February 2021
Tasty Treat for your Valentine Recipe & Photo by Paul Muehlberg/Contributing Writer Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to splurge on the one you love. Crème Br�lée, the classic French custard dessert, with its decadent cream and hard caramelized shell is my favorite dessert to pair with any romantic meal. Steaks, pasta and seafood all pair
perfectly with this sweet dessert, but I love adding lemon and ginger to give it a slight Asian-inspired twist. This year’s valentine’s meal at my house will be spicy ramen, but the star of the show will be Lemon Ginger Crème Br�lée!
INGREDIENTS • 4 cups heavy cream Prep Time: 5 minutes • ¾ cup white sugar Inactive: 4 hours Cook Time: • Pinch of kosher salt 20-30 minutes • 12 large egg yolks • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped • Zest of 1 lemon • Turbinado sugar or white sugar for br�lée
DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 300 degrees F Combine 2 cups of the cream, sugar, salt, lemon zest and ginger in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a gentle boil. Stir mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from the heat and steep lemon and ginger for 15 minutes. While the lemon and ginger is steeping, boil two quarts of water in a teapot. Next, place eight 5-ounce ramekins in a deep roasting pan or baking dish. If using shallow ramekins, you may need to use more than one pan. Add the egg yolks to a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the 2 cups reserved cream to the sauce pan with the lemon and ginger. Next, slowly poor about half the cream mixture into the eggs and whisk until well combined. Add remaining cream mixture to the bowl along with the vanilla extract; continue whisking until the eggs, cream and vanilla are
well combined. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the cream into a 2-quart measuring cup with a pour spout. Divide the cream mixture evenly in each ramekin. Place the roasting pan with the dishes onto the middle rack in the oven. Next, carefully fill the roasting pan with the hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins, making sure to not spill any water into the ramekins. Close oven door and bake until the middle of the custards is just set with a slight wobble in the middle or an instant-read thermometer registers between 170-175 degrees F, 20-30 minutes for shallow ramekins, up to 35 minutes for the deep ramekins. Allow the custards to fully cool before covering with plastic wrap and chilling in a refrigerator for at least four hours and up to two days in advance. One hour before serving, remove the custards from the refrigerator. Add 1 teaspoon sugar (more if using a shallow ramekin) to the top of each custard forming a thin and even layer of sugar. Be careful not to add too much sugar to the top; you want a paper-thin layer of sugar. Using a kitchen torch, slowly torch the sugar until melted and caramelized in color and smell, about one minute for each crème br�lée. Place the custards back in the refrigerator and allow them to chill up to one hour before serving.
February 2021
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Backyard Gardener The Stay-at-Home Month
Story & Photos Contributed by Kat Long/Contributing Writer option is to cut down on shipping costs; bare roots are lighter and can be packed together in a smaller container. You get more plants/ trees in one order and they are shipped in a dormant state, which means you don’t have to immediately plant them or take care of them until the ground is ready. Now is the time to get your plants ordered and figure out the prep work on where to plant.
As a gardener, February is a stay in the house month. There are seed catalogs, podcasts, garden planning and all sorts of inside things to do to get ready for March (seed sprouting, supply gathering and yard cleanup month). But more about March next time, here is what February looks like in the Long house. “Another seed catalog,” the hubby yells. I just think he is jealous as all the seed catalogs are addressed to moi, and only moi. I don’t get jealous when he gets all those car part catalogs, but he doesn’t buy nearly the amount of things out of his catalogs, so maybe that is the rub. I really am not looking to buy a whole lot of seeds this year. This year is a fruit tree year. I want to add four more dwarf fruit trees to the yard. I have to figure out: 1. what fruit do I want to add and 2. where do I put them?
Actually, fall is the best time to order these types of plants, but there are still some varieties in stock. And not everyone is comfortable with being confronted by a box of twigs when opening online purchases. The first time I received a box from Gurneys, I thought it was seeds because it was so light and forgot to open it for a week. But that is OK with dormant plants. They are good with sitting in a corner and waiting on the right time to go into the ground. You still have time – promise. PLANTING PREP As you peruse types of fruit trees and plants,
minimal human interference. For this, I suggest looking at the OSU Extension Office Fact Sheets to check out varieties which do well in our neck of the woods (see end for links). There are information sheets on Home Fruit Planting, Maintenance, Pest Control, Soil Testings, etc. … Once you determine your list of must have fruits, do the prep work on where you will plant: Amendments to the soil, digging the appropriate hole and drainage before you plant the tree or bush are much easier before, rather than after, planting. And knowing what your yard can handle (and what you need to add to the ground) is really important for the health of these perennial fruit plants and trees. Humans don’t thrive in a hostile living environment and your plants won’t either. They really don’t have a choice to move, so disease and death are their two other paths and that is no fun for us gardeners. Smaller fruit plants such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. … can also be ordered bare root – especially strawberries. You can get 25 bare root plants in a small box, get those puppies in the ground in late April and even have a few strawberries this summer. You can also be on the lookout for fruit plants and bushes here in town. My grape plant came from Aldi’s and puts on fruit every year. SEEDS
keep in mind your yard size, where you will plant (shade vs. sun) and size of tree and plant. I stick with dwarf plants, which can still get up to 15 feet tall and have
Glorious seeds. Truly, buying and saving seeds is a separate hobby from gardening. They are simpatico, but boy, can I spend some money on seeds. Going through my seed collection each year after Christmas before ordering is necessary for me, because I, Kat Long, am a seed hoarder. Yup, admitting you have a
BARE ROOT TREES There are a couple of reasons I order fruit trees from a catalog, and one is the bare root option. Before I give any other opinions, let me also say, the 11-year-old nectarine tree I have in my yard, which has fruited faithfully and survived Oklahoma weather, was purchased at Tractor Supply here in Ponca. It is a standard dwarf nectarine, and I have no idea of the variety. I couldn’t find any guidance at the time for nectarine trees, which grow well in northern Oklahoma, so I just bought it and planted it. Now, let’s get back to the bare root discussion. Diversity and bare root are the two reasons I browse the catalogs and websites for fruit trees. Nurseries carry several varieties of fruit trees and bushes. Self-pollinating plants/trees are always a favorite to look for if you have a small yard. I have shopped Gurneys.com, Starkbros.com and Treesofantiquity.com with very similar results. They all have good plants; just some of them did better in my yard than others. The bare root
56 February 2021
a canopy that is big if left unchecked by pruning and cuttings. My dwarf nectarine tree has been as tall as 15 feet, but Oklahoma winds and storms have trimmed it up over the last couple of years. Now comes the fun part: scrubbing the wants against those trees/plants that grow well, with
problem is the first step. I still look at all the seed catalogs, but I only allow myself to order in a new year after I go through all my seed boxes and bags leftover from last year. Since I haven’t done the old clean out, I am only a seed browser at this point. I love Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company for organic and unusual seeds. Check them out if you want a good origin
story. Jere Gettle, the owner, started his seed business back in 1998, when he was a teenager. I have been following rareseeds.com (his website) since I started growing things 12 years ago. I also love SeedSavers. org for their heritage seeds and the stories attached to the saved and growing seeds. If you can get a catalog from these two companies, they are great reading, as well as fabulous pictures of the plants and produce. As you pick out your seeds, make sure you will eat what you plant. It is all well and good to grow unusual produce, but someone needs to actually eat it after it is picked or what is the point? To review, February is a great month to get ready, inside, for the upcoming months. Grab a cup of coffee or cocoa and check out some websites, catalogs and definitely the OSU Extension Office information sheets. I can promise you the prep will lead to some Happy Gardening.
SEED WEBSITES (catalogs too)
• www.rare seeds.com • www.seedsavers.org • www.gurneys.com • www.anniesheirloomseeds.com • www.Reneesgarden.com (California-based, but their seeds do pretty well here in Ponca City) • www.Johnnyseeds.com (only sell to home gardeners on certain days)
MY FAVORITE PODCASTS
• You Bet Your Garden • Joe Gardener Show • GardeNerd Tip of the Week • The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Musings
OSU Extension Fact Sheets Extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets
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She Said Yes! He Put a Ring on it! - Now What? Story & Photos by Lauren Payne/Staff Writer
The Proposal Love is in the air. More couples get engaged between Christmas and Valentine’s Day than any other time of the year. One of the most perfect gifts comes in a little, unexpected box concealing an engagement ring. Excitement, smooches and tears follow one the most memorable moments of your lives. But what comes after the engagement?
First word of advice is to relish in it. Enjoy all the moments leading to your engagement. Think back on how you met, your first date and the first awkward encounter with his/her parents. Laugh at how nervous you felt, how dorky the first date really was and how your life changed with the first kiss. You went from girlfriend/boyfriend to engaged overnight. Take a moment, a week or a month to enjoy it and celebrate yourselves, your commitments and your love. Perfect excuse for lots of date nights. After the after party, comes deciding how you want to share the news. For some couples, this is immediate – Thank you, social media! For others, sharing the news might start with close family and friends, with a big announcement after engagement pictures. Either way, expect a whirlwind of excitement, maybe some shock and an indefinite number of questions upon questions. The Wedding Plan When, where and who will be invited? Who’s going to pay for it and what do you want for a gift? The list will go on and lest not forget, unsolicited advice from everyone from your soon-to-be mother-in-law to some sweet little old lady at the coffee shop. Some questions you’ll get hit with you haven’t even asked yourself.
Things can get can overwhelming right out of the gate, so remember this is a time of joy, not stress. Soak it up; soak it in. This is your wedding. You get to do it your way, which leads to the next step. Budget, vibes and expectations. After you’ve decided whom to tell and when, it’s time for a wedding planning date night. Discuss the budget, the vibe of the day (contemporary, vintage, boho, rustic, seasonal, etc.) and the most important parts to you both – where to put the money first. Some brides set a strict budget and stick to it, bless them for their extraordinary ways, while others set a rough estimate and wing it. What works for some families doesn’t work for others and that’s OK. Recognize the budget,
the type of mood you want to emanate and the details most paramount to you both and move forward with those guidelines.
Next up, pick a season. There might be a particular date you’re swooning over, but until your dream venue is on board a date can’t be set. So, pick a season and go from there. The venue is the first big purchase (besides the rock and insurance on that sexy chunk of bling) that you need to make. Do you want a dreamy and historic local gem, like The Marland Mansion, or a new trendy locale that has it all, like Wild Wood Weddings or maybe a more whimsical outdoor setting at a friend’s or family’s property? Once you know, you know, and when the date is officially booked, the real fun begins. For the bride, the next step is easy. Pick your wedding day tribe. The bridesmaids get to laugh, cry, party and plan with you through the whole process. Invite the girls and shower them with a welcome bridesmaid box or gift, a fun text or a night out. The groom, well, he probably doesn’t have a list he’s been planning on for years. He just needs to text his guys and tell them the party is on. But they need gifts too. The best ones come by way of engraved shot or whiskey glasses, flasks and/or cuff links.
Once you’ve got your wedding party on lock, it’s time to tackle the vendors. Some vendors, photographer, videographer and DJ, especially, can book out a year in advance. If you’re also wanting engagement pictures, hiring a photographer is the best start. He/she will give you a preview of what you can expect on your wedding day and should make you feel comfortable knowing your pictures will be priceless. Don’t be afraid to shop around, stalk social media and call your vendors to make sure they’re the best fit for you. After the basics have been covered, there’s dress shopping, cake tasting, decor (are there really different shades of white? Yes … yes, there are) and the list, literally, goes on and on. The Big Day The most important advice to give a bride or groom is this – at the end of the day, you will be married to your best friend. You’re marrying your fiancé for the rest of your life. The marriage is just one day.
At the end of your “big day,” you will not remember what color napkins you stressed over. You will remember the other piece of your heart and the start of an incredible journey of life and love that starts with “I do.”
“The most important advice to give a bride or groom is this – at the end of the day, you will be married to your best friend. You’re marrying your fiancé for the rest of your life. The marriage is just one day.” February 2021
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• Local employment. • Economic development – not-for-profit electricity attracts business. • Control over the electric distribution system aesthetics and design. • Innovation techniques and technology to meet energy needs. Ponca City Monthly’s very own geocache-style game where following clues can you to • Local Power supports otherthe entities such aslead police, fire, $ park and recreation, to name aBucks. few, by 50library, in Chamber contributions to the city’s general fund. • Customers have a direct and powerful voice in decisionGeoCashing making through their communities elected officials. Story by Jay Wagner/Staff Writer • Local Power makes a difference every day: you live in a This Geocash wasAppreciate found by it and support it! Localmonth’s Power Community. Charlotte Sheiver. We’d like to congratulate her on her $50 reward Chamber Bucks, Learn more aboutinOur Local Power by visiting which was awarded to her for the return of our special code! We’d also like to recognize a few other special geocachers who located our stash and added their name to the list:
www.OurLocalPower.org
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Charlotte Sheiver (Winner) Elizabeth P. Alice & Calder Anna & Patrick Angie & Brantley
THANK YOU PONCA CITY Good luck to next month’s geocachers and happy hunting on your next GeoCashing quest!
for believing in and supporting Ourrules: Local Power Utility! Contest
Charlotte Sheiver, Winner of Last Month’s GeoCash
Be the first to find the cache, and bring in the special code for your prize. Also, inside the container will be a collectible coin to keep! The cache will only be hidden for a limited time for each issue, so hurry to find it fast!
OurLocalPower.org We Love Our Customers!
And, We Love “Our Local Power!” Ponca City’s Earth Day Celebration is Wednesay, April 22, 9-1 at Unity Gym.
Need More Room BATES: offer Pump Rebates! City If youWe are the first to Heat find the cache, please retrieve thePonca special code andEnergy coin but can be reached at: 580-767-0405. leave and sign the included note saying that the treasure has been found. Once the deadline has passed, the code will no longer be valid for the prize. A new PC GeoCash will be placed as the next issue of Ponca City Monthly is released. Winners may not win more than once per calendar year.
to store your stuff?
February Clue: As Barnes searched for a new place to be He settled here based on these resources three One is of iron, to bring supplies to and fro The second is a highway where swift currents flow The third is a secret that all settlers would seek And funny enough it’s a secret that leaks A secret that fills the cups of those who learn And upon their depletion they often return You may not know where it is that I hide But I was once a source of New Ponca’s pride
Difficulty: Terrain: Size: Deadline:
Easy (located in 10-15 minutes) Easy (mostly flat surfaces) Small (size of a golf ball) 20th of each month
Bring the Special code to:
→→→
60 February 2021
FORT KNOX Mini Warehouses 1301 E. Prospect • Ponca City Location of Last Month’s GeoCash at Pioneer Woman Statue
My Media Matters / Ponca City Monthly City Central 400 E. Central, Suite 203
Behind Danny’s BBQ Head Quarters
580-765-0687
5’x8’ to 10’x30’ Storage Units
Pay for 5 months, get 6th month FREE!
February 2021
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Education Corner The Love of Learning
Story by Adam Leaming, CEO, University Center/Contributing Writer
Have you ever met someone who truly has a gift for eliciting the love of learning in someone? Maybe it’s a tantalizing problem or task uniquely pitched that piques an interest or lights a fire for a call to action? I recall several times while pursuing my own education that I remember where a teacher stoked that fire and continued my love for learning. I firmly believe that love of learning helped propel my future with a career in education. Having a love of learning is a strength we would love for our children to exhibit, or an employee to have in his/her daily work or a trait our students would demonstrate. The love of learning is not isolated to the realm of education; in fact, it can be found in people and it’s displayed in a number of career paths, hobbies and other avenues. I daily share with my children the times in my life where I was inspired by a teacher or professor and that inner fire for learning was lit and a passion was stoked. I recall my first day of eighth grade science when we walked into the classroom and our teacher put us in individual groups and challenged us with this: “We’re leaving Earth in a space station, each of your groups is in charge of one critical aspect of human existence in space. We will be spending the next 16 weeks exploring concepts on how to live and exist in another world. Let’s get to work.” I
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“The love of learning is not isolated to the realm of education; in fact, it can be found in people and it’s displayed in a number of career paths, hobbies and other avenues.”
was hooked. You could feel the energy in the room as the fires of our imagination were stoked to life. I had another experience my sophomore year of college with a dynamic professor from Northern Oklahoma College who inspired me to write about, and share, my own personal experiences. I remember him vividly sharing his own profound experience in which he witnessed a complete stranger in New York City suffer an unfortunate construction accident. The way he told his story and the way he challenged us to reflect on our own experiences and how we can use those to shape our own personal narrative inspired me to seek more understanding of the power in writing. In fact, I got so inspired, I considered deeply if I should change my life direction and my major from mathematics to English. I have had the pleasure of experiencing a countless number of individuals and teachers who inspired and fed this love of learning over the years. Even today, in our community, my career and in my own family, I seek to find resourceful answers to meet challenges. The joy I find is not so much in the completed project, but in the process of seeking the knowledge and uncovering the process it would take to solve a problem. I hope you can nourish your own love of learning, take that personal responsibility and see new successes each day.
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