Local
A15 Saturday | October 29, 2011 | tulsaworld.com
A half-century after their Army service, five Korean War veterans meet in Tulsa to rekindle old friendships. A17
Church sued in Fight Night death • The Medical Examiner’s Office still hasn’t ruled on the cause of death for ex-TU player Clinkscale.
DIED George Clinkscale: The former TU football player died following a boxing match at Guts Church.
George Clinkscale III, a former TU linebacker and father, died following a boxing match at Guts Church’s Fight Night VI, held in the church’s parking lot Sept. 21. Clinkscale, who was 24 and from Cedar Hill, Texas, reportedly began cramping during his match and later died at a hospital. The state Medical Examiner’s Office did not have a preliminary report of the cause of death when contacted by the Tulsa World on Wednesday.
BY JARREL WADE
World Staff Writer
The family of a former University of Tulsa football player who died following an unsanctioned boxing match at a local church filed a suit Friday in Tulsa County against the church for damages. The suit alleges gross negligence by Guts Church for promoting and organizing a boxing match that was not licensed and in violation of state and federal regulations.
View the Clinkscale family’s lawsuit against Guts Church. tulsaworld.com/clinkscale
The suit lists defendants, William and Sandra Scheer, as directors of Guts Church Inc., and holds them accountable for Clinkscale’s death. A spokesperson for Guts Church could not be reached for comment Friday night. According to the suit, the defendants should have known that the boxing matches, called “illegal and
In the lawsuit, members of Clinkscale’s family, including his father, mother, fiancee and two children, were listed as plaintiffs and asked for an unspecified amount of damages in excess of $75,000 and punitive or exemplary damages.
extremely dangerous underground boxing operations,” were in violation of state law. “As a direct result of the … conduct of the defendants … George L. Clinkscale III, prior to his death, endured pain, suffering and mental anguish which was directly caused by the injuries he suffered in the fight and his ultimate death,” according to allegations in the lawsuit. The suit further alleges the defendants used fighters somewhat known in the area such as University of Tulsa football players to promote the event. SEE DEATH A18
Habitat, Hilti to begin 10 for Joplin
CAMP GRUBER: A CHAPEL FOR SOLDIERS
••The•volunteers•will• build•10•houses•in•days• at•“ground•zero”•of•the• tornado-damaged•area. BY MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer
Workers carry a wall through the mud as volunteers work to build Thunderbird Chapel at Camp Gruber, which has gone without a chapel since 1947. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
A place to ‘find peace’
Camp Gruber history • Established Dec. 15, 1941, as a military training post, with 1,750 buildings and up to 14 chapels • World War II prisoner of war camp until May 1946 • Closed June 3, 1946 • Reopened by National Guard in 1977, with no chapels • Home to National Guard’s only Air Assault School, 1988-1994
Adjutant general impressed by quick work BY BILL SHERMAN
World Religion Writer
B
RAGGS — Nearly 100 volunteers on Friday erected the walls of a chapel at Camp Gruber that is being called a gift from Oklahoma people to the men and women serving in the Oklahoma National Guard.
Inspired by Gov. Mary Fallin and being built by volunteers using donated money, materials and equipment, the 10,483-square-foot Thunderbird Chapel is expected to be completed before soldiers from the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade return from Afghanistan in April. Fallin was at Camp Gruber Sept. 7
for the groundbreaking. Camp Gruber has not had a chapel since 1947. “If the government was doing this, it would take a 10-year process to build it,” said Maj. Gen. Myles Deering, adjutant general of Oklahoma, who spoke to volunteer workers after lunch as SEE CHAPEL A18
The•original•idea•was•to•build•20• new•houses. “But•they•looked•at•me•like•I•was• crazy,”•remembers•Cary•Evert,•chief• executive• officer• of• Tulsa-based• Hilti• North• America,• a• construction-supply•company. “So,•I•said,•‘How•about•10?’ ” Even• that• is• a• monumental• challenge,•by•far•the•largest•project•ever• undertaken• by• Tulsa• Habitat• for• Humanity. But• after• months• of• preparation,• “Ten• for• Joplin”• will• begin• construction• on• schedule• Saturday• morning. If•all•goes•as•planned,•the•houses• will• be• finished• in• just• 16• days,• in• time• for• the• new• homeowners• to• celebrate•Thanksgiving. Evert• had• the• idea• after• visiting• Joplin,•Mo.,•in•early•June,•not•long• after• a• massive• F5• tornado• wiped• out• nearly• one-third• of• the• town,• destroying•more•than•8,000•homes. The•new•houses•will•sit•within•a• few•blocks•of•each•other•in•an•area• locals•call•“ground•zero,”•laid•waste• from•horizon•to•horizon.• “Pictures•can•never•tell•the•story,”• Evert•says.•“Nothing•you•saw•on•TV• could• prepare• you• for• what• it• was• really•like.” To• pull• off• such• a• large-scale• project•in•such•a•short•time•period,• SEE JOPLIN A18
To donate or volunteer, visit tulsaworld.com/ tenforjoplin
Tulsa Run takes over downtown streets • The race will include more than 11,000 runners and 13,000 spectators. BY MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer
People don’t wake up one Saturday and just decide to go run 15 kilometers. It can take months, even years, to work up to the Tulsa Run. The official “celebrity runners” — this year including Blue Cross and Blue Shield President Bert Marshall —
started training in March. “Seeing him, at his age, get out there and train like that, it made me really think,” says Blue Cross and Blue Shield employee Basil Malik. “I decided that if he can do it, I can push myself, too.” But Malik admits that he had a sort of head start with his training. He started running several
years ago, slowly working up to 3K and 5K events, eventually finishing a 10K race a couple of years ago. Saturday’s 15K, however, will be the longest he has ever tried, by far. “The thing is, I used to be the kind of person that you would never see running, unless somebody was chasing me,” Malik says. “As a kid, I used to be obese.” Experts typically recommend at least a 16-week regi-
men to prepare for something like the Tulsa Run. The run’s other celebrity participant, Julie Chin, a meteorologist from KJRH, Channel 2, also began training in the spring. Beginners often start with a 3-mile run — even if they have to walk a lot of it —and gradually increase the distance. A 15K race roughly equals 9.5 miles. SEE RUN A18
City of Tulsa worker Derrick Jackson moves a barricade into place on Boulder Avenue as the city prepares for Saturday’s Tulsa Run. CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
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