“The name of the barber you worked for, his name was Roy.”
If I had ever heard his first name, I certainly don’t remember. Thanks Rex.
The American Legion had their family night with food, music and dancing. There was a pretty good crowd and the music was enjoyable. Thanks to Bill Roberson, Cary Gore, Gene Chesley and David Sorrell. The music for the most part was what I would call classic country. I heard songs Saturday night that I had not heard in a long time. All four band members taking turns singing lead and especially memorable was Mr. Chesley’s comedic turn a’ la Ben Colder. Ricky Martin cooked the burgers and hot dogs, he did a good job. I don’t care what Santos says’ I like my burgers thick. There was also a fifty/fifty drawing and of all people, Dustan Bryant won.
On my list of favorite books has to include, “One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw” by Witold Rybczynski. This is a very interesting book that is exactly what the title says. The author, an architect, professor and writer was asked by a magazine editor in 1999 to write a short essay on the most useful tool of the last 1000 years. Mr. Rybczynski took the job and produced a really interesting and fact filled book about the screwdriver and the screw. I know the book sounds odd but this is definitely a case of not judging the book by its cover. Another book on the list is “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. This was the last major work of Mr. Hemingway to be published before his death. Almost any of his writing could easily make the list, be they novels or short stories, but this is one of my favorite books. As I age, this story seems to grow on me even more. There were also a couple of good movie versions of this story. The first starring Spencer Tracy and the other a made for television movie, starring Anthony Quinn. Both fine actors, in truth I would probably pay to watch either of them read the phone book.
One of the questions that I get as a reader. What do you read? The answer is almost anything. I had a wonderful teacher, Ms. Cleta Rickard. I did for the most part enjoy the part of her class that covered English Lit. No matter what else, you were going to cover Chaucer. Don’t ask me why but he bored me to tears. Maybe I’ll give it another try. The late Mrs. Rickard grew up in Ryan as Cleta Huskey. That doesn’t have anything to do with boring old Mr. Chaucer, it’s just a little FYI. I guess I approach my reading much as I do my writing. I start out one place and often end up someplace completely different. That may speak to a certain lack of direction, just don’t tell Curtis.
I am writing this on Monday evening as the storms that have been brewing all day seem to be (knock on wood) passing us by. For those not so fortunate, I hope you escaped unscathed.
Voters will go to the polls this coming Tuesday, June 26, 2018 to decide who will serve District 3 as the County Commissioner and who will serve on the Waurika City Commission.
We sat down with all the candidates to give them a chance to let the voters know a little bit more about them.
Last week, we featured the interview with the current District 3 Commissioner Ricky Martin.
Ricky Martin
First, we begin this article with the other two candidates for the District 3 seat, Macy Lovett and Kenny Wilkerson.
Macy Lovett – District 3 Commissioner Candidate
Macy Lovett
Macy Lovett was raised in Waurika and lived in Jefferson County his whole life.
Although he went door to door when he was a child campaigning for his dad when he was running for State Representative, this is his first time to run for any political office.
He is throwing his hat in the ring for the District 3 Commissioner position because he feels he can contribute to the success of Jefferson County.
One of his goals if elected is to improve the budget by “going after federal funds.”
He believes there are grants and funding available at the federal level.
He also wants to improve the roads within the district.
Lovett has worked hard his whole life starting when he began working for his dad at the Culligan Water Treatment Company here in Waurika while attending school.
After seven years, his dad retired and sold the business, Lovett then went to work in Wichita Falls for a subsidiary of ALCOA for the next seven years.
Next, he worked for the Goodyear tire plant in Lawton. He stayed with them for ten years.
He then moved out to the family farm east of Ryan and has worked for England Farm and Fuel for the past six years.
If elected he plans to serve the citizens of the district by being attentive and treating everyone with respect, listening to their concerns.
He says he will always be up front and honest with his constituents. He also commits to working hard for the community and the success of the county.
Kenneth Wilkerson – District 3 Commissioner Candidate
Kenneth Wilkerson
Kenneth Wilkerson has also lived in Jefferson County all of his life.
He was raised in Grady, Oklahoma and attended school in Ryan.
He moved to Terral in 1978.
He was a part of the last graduating class of Terral High School.
Wilkerson enjoys helping in any way he can in the community.
He has helped with the Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
Wilkerson has worked for District 3 in the past.
Much of his work experience includes driving a truck for twenty-nine years.
During that time he got to see much of the United States but prefers life in Jefferson County.
He also wants to improve the county budget and improve the county roads.
Making the county the best it can be by giving back for how good it has been to him is a driving motivation in his life.
Rickey Porterfield – Waurika City Commissioner Candidate
Rickey Porterfield
Rickey Porterfield is a lifelong citizen of Jefferson County. He was born at the old hospital on Elm Street on Friday the 13th.
He is running for a seat on the Waurika City Commission.
Porterfield’s family has served the county in various capacities.
His father was a police officer back in the days when officers had to supply their own cars.
Like many, he is concerned about the increase in the water bill.
He is going into this race with his eyes open and says he will not make any promises that he can not keep.
Porterfield worked for the Waurika Fire Department for 27 years.
During that time he made lots of friends and impacted lots of people in a positive way.
He has also helped with the Ambulance service.
Porterfield worked for the Elliott Manufactured Homes in Waurika for a while and now works for local rancher John Ross.
He is running in order to help the community in any way he can.
James Terry – Waurika City Commissioner Candidate
James Terry
James Terry is a familiar face in Waurika.
He is seeking a seat on the city commission to make improvements.
Lowing the water bills and improving the streets are his main two goals.
Terry was raised in Ryan and in Oklahoma City.
Terry moved back to Waurika 10 years ago.
He is famous for his watermelons.
His other occupation is mowing yards during the summertime.
Jacob Eck – Seeking Re-Election to the Waurika City Commission
Jacob Eck
Jacob Eck was elected to fill an unexpired term and is now seeking re-election.
Eck is quick to point out that the success of the city commission has been a group effort of all the commissioners. He says the commissioners are working well together.
He is grateful that the city is no longer in debt and is looking forward to continued growth.
Recently he said the city was able to save the citizens around $300,000 by refinancing and consolidating loans.
He is excited about the future of Waurika.
If re-lected he wants to see the city to continue to improve financially.
Eck’s reason for seeking another term is for the sake of continuity. He doesn’t want to see the city revert back to the way it was a few years ago.
He now understands how the city works, especially the city budget, and wants to maintain the growth and stability the city is currently enjoying.
Eck says that the inner workings of city government are more complex than many realize.
One of the things he has enjoyed is learning how city government works.
For instance there are limits on what the members of the council can and can’t do. That knowledge helps improve the relationship with other entities in the community like the chamber of commerce. It allows them to work together more efficiently.
Eck is proud of the hard work of the city employees in making Waurika a better place.
He said one of the things the citizens should be proud of is that one of Carole Eakin’s goals of seeing the water towers repaired and cleaned is coming to fruition.
It’s his goal that the city grow and be able to hire more employees in order to better serve the community.
Another goal of his is to see the golf course operating and successful again.
Eck says he is accessible to citizens and values their input. If their suggestion is not feasible or possible he always tries to explain why.
He understands the concerns citizens have about the increased water rate.
Eck explains that the rate increases have been necessary to ensure the balanced budget and keeping the city in the black.
Henry Lara – Seeking Re-Election to the Waurika City Commission
Henry Lara
Henry Lara has been on the commission for three years. He said the first two years “you have to sit back watch and learn. During the third year, you have to remember that you are only one vote out of five. For instance, I voted against the 7.5 percent rate increase on the water bill. I want to see the town grow. I want to see more jobs come to Waurika.”
Lara is grateful for the improvements over the past three years. He even bragged on the efforts of Jacob Eck with the Downtown Again program and he was grateful for the new Farmer’s Market.
In the future Lara wants to upgrade the city vehicles. They are old he says and even lack air conditioning.
He believes the city is on the right track.
If elected, Lara states that his next term will be better than his first term. “I’m more knowledgeable, I can look more deeply into the subject matter and am a little wiser today.”
“There’s a good harmony among the commissioners,” he says. He believes they all want what is best for Waurika.
Sometimes I wake up before dawn, and I love sitting up in the middle of the bed with all the lights off, pitch black dark, and talking to the Father, with no interruptions and nothing that reminds me that there’s anything in life but me and him. -Charles R. Swindoll
Special Thanks- A big “Thank You’’ to everyone who donated desserts, cooked food, served, delivered or help with our Chili Dinner last Saturday. Your help was very much appreciated.
FBC Girls in Action Group- The GA T-shirts are in and if you ordered a T-shirt from a GA they will be delivered this week. We are open for new orders if anyone would like to order a T-shirt please call Shirley at 580-437-2337. We are still taking recipes for our Community Cookbook until Feb. 14th. You may drop them by City Hall or to Shirley or Mary Alice Kunkel. Thanks!
Happy Birthday – Michael Freeman celebrated on Feb. 6. Kathy Denton partied on the 13th.
Community Prayer List- The Duncan Families in the passing of Clovon Allen, Cindy Day, Tony Rodriguez, Brenda Bryant, Scotty Day, Tom Baysinger, Sue and Avery Linton, Martin Villarreal, Sr., Joe Martin, Faye Tanner, Adam White, Mary Loo Duke, Florita Villarreal, Glen Martin, Robert Harnois, Esther Grimes, Marie Pollan, Virginia Tanner, Darlene Hall, Carrie Sheffield, T.K Delaney, Manuel Villarreal, Shana Reed and our military stationed around the world. May God keep you in his loving care.
The Ryan basketball squads found the going a bit tough last weekend in the annual Bulldog Bash at Healdton High School.
Neither team could capture a win in the tourney.
The Cowboys fell to Elmore City-Pernell last Thursday in a first round contest, 56-46, and then fell in the consolation semifinals to Wilson, 51-32.
It was a difficult outing for the Cowgirls as only six players were available for the first round game with Wilson and the Cowgirls lost another player in the game and eventually fell to the Lady Eagles, 37-27.
Last Friday in the consolation semifinals against Turner, the Cowgirls’ Kenzie Lewis suffered an injury in the first half forcing the Cowgirls to play with only four players most of the game and the Lady Falcons took full advantage to capture a 46-31 win.
Those four players that remained on the floor for the Cowgirls in Friday’s game were all sophomores, but they managed to outscore the Lady Falcons in the second half, 24-15, even though Turner left their starters in the game the entire way.
It was the hot shooting from the outside for the Lady Falcons that allowed them to build an insurmountable lead.
The Lady Falcons hit three three-pointers in the first quarter in building a 15-3 advantage and then hit four more in the second quarter to take a 31-7 lead into the locker room.
Juliet Spangler led the Cowgirl scoring attack with 18 points, while Lily York added 10 points. Bailey Martin contributed three points to round out the scoring for the Cowgirls.
In the Cowboys’ consolation semifinal contest with Wilson, it was also the opponent’s hot shooting from the outside that doomed the Cowboys.
Wilson managed a 14-10 lead after one quarter and held a 21-16 advantage at halftime. Three of the Eagles made baskets in the first half were beyond the arc.
In the second half, the Eagles took advantage of poor shooting by the Cowboys and built a 33-21 lead after the third quarter.
Wilson outscored the Cowboys, 18-11, in the final frame to capture the win.
Grayson Tomberlin led the Cowboys in scoring with nine points.
In the first round game with Wilson, the Cowgirls fell behind after one quarter, 13-7 and could never rally the rest of the bout with the Lady Eagles.
Wilson led, 22-9, at the break thanks to four treys. The Cowgirls battled on even terms much of the second half, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Spangler and Lily York led the Cowgirls in scoring with nine points each. The Cowgirls had another tough night at the free throw line as they connected on only six of 14 free throws.
The Cowgirls finished with only five players as Kenzie Keith dislocated a finger early in the game.
In the first-round game against Elmore City-Pernell, the Cowboys kept the contest close throughout the first half and actually held a 25-24 lead at intermission.
But, the Badgers went on a tear in the third quarter as they outscored the Cowboys, 19-0, to take control of the game with a 43-25 advantage.
The Cowboys managed to trim the lead in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Badgers, 21-13.
The Badgers did much of their damage at the foul line hitting 23 of 35 free throws, while the Cowboys connected on only 13 of 24 charity tosses.
The game was marred by 45 fouls.
Tomberlin led the Cowboys in scoring with 11 points.
Ryan will play host to Thackerville tonight on Raymon West Court before traveling to Healdton for a doubleheader with the Carter County School on Friday.
Next Tuesday the Cowboys and Cowgirls return home for a matchup with Southern Eight foe Geronimo.
QUOTE OF THE DAY – Never let your best friends get lonely…..Keep disturbing them.
VACCINATION CLINIC – On Saturday, March 10th, we will have a Vaccination Clinic for dogs and cats at the Terral City Hall. Dr. Clark from the Jefferson County Animal Hospital will be here from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Prices are as follows: Dogs – Rabies $8.00, Destemper/ Parvo $15.00, Kennel Cough $10.00 and Lymes $30.00. Cats – Destemper $12.00, Destemper/Lukemia $32.00. Make plans now to get your pets’ shots.
TERRAL ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT – Our annual Easter Egg Hunt will be on Saturday, March 31st at the Terral Indians Baseball Field at 12:00 p.m. noon. Registration will begin at 11:00 a.m. There will be three groups: Walking to three, four to six and seven to nine years
old. Make plans to come enjoy the fun. Prizes will be given to the most eggs in each category and eggs will be marked for prizes. The Terral Volunteer Fire Department will be hiding the eggs
for us again this year. Hope to see ya there!
FBC GIRLS IN ACTION GROUP – The GA’s will be having their cooking class on Saturday, March 10th at 10:00 a.m. at the church. GA’s will be decorating an 8” round cake and the
Sunday morning congregation will be our judges on Sunday morning. Best of luck to all of our GA’s.
COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST – Family and Friends of Fay Tanner in her passing. Tony Rodriguez,
Brenda Bryant, Scotty Day, Tom Baysinger, Sue and Avery Linton, Martin Villarreal, Sr., Joe Martin, Adam White, Mary Loo Duke, Florita Villarreal, Glen Martin, Robert Harnois, Esther
Grimes, Marie Pollan, Virginia Tanner, Darlene Hall, T.K. Delaney, Manuel Villarreal, Shana Reed
and our military stationed around the world. May God keep you in His loving care.
A look at Jefferson County’s Fair —according to the information that I’ve obtained.The 1925 fair was held in Ryan, (So it has been going on in our county for 93 years!).
The very first county fair that I remember attending was held in Waurika, under the “Football
Stadium —- and the “Home Demonstration Agent was Miss Dora Bolinger (notice the Miss –you see the agents were then required to be single!!)Ok, the only other, or first Home Demonstration agent was Miss Jeffie Thompson (she was Bennie Ruth Robertson’s aunt!).
Now to fast forward to 2018 County Fair.I want to personally Congratulate the three Extension County Educators for a tremendous job they did -working overtime to get all the “Fair Entries” labelled and in place – and they are: Tara Brown, Leland McDaniel, and Linda Goodwin.
This years Fair was the best (in my opinion) that we have had, in a long time!!!!
ACCORDING TO WAURIKA NEWS-DEMOCRAT, THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1985
This marks the 60th year of continuous fairs in Jefferson County.Early fairs were held in 1919 and
1920, with a gap of five years before establishing a once-a-year show of Jefferson County exhibits.
The 1925 Fair was held in Ryan with a total budget of $1000 including premiums, judging and advertising.We’ve come a long way to this point with our budget for judging alone almost as much as the total budget for the 1925 event.
Two contests that were introduced at last year’s fair are the Pie Day and Cookie Jar Contests
The Pie Day Contest is to be held August 27 beginning at 11 a.m. Pies will be judged on flavor, texture
of crust, texture of filling and general appearance, individuals will enter pies in one of the following divisions: apple, cherry, peach, other fruit, pecan, chocolate, coconut, custard, lemon, pumpkin, cheesecake and other pies.
The aim of the contest is to recognize that person that has the greatest number of blue ribbons following judging.If a tie exists, ribbons will be counted for each place until the tie is broken.
The Jefferson County champion pie baker will be awarded trophy which has been donated by
Shelton’s Grocery.The Cotton Cooperative will also present the champion with an ice cream freezer (electric) and an enlargement of a color photo of the winner with the awards.
The Cookie Jar Contest will be held Tuesday. Just like the pie day, the judging will be based on
a variety of cookies.Entrants will prepare a wide-mouthed cookie jar filled with an assortment of at least six different types of cookies.Cookies should be of different types (molded, bar, drop. rolled) and should be a variety of colors.For judges convenience, one cookie of each type (in a plastic bag) should accompany entry, so judges won’t have to open jar.
A trophy will be presented to the winning entrant by Shelton’s Grocery.The Cotton Cooperative will also be presenting a space saver can opener and a color photo of winner with a cookie jar.
As a special treat to get viewers involved in these new contests, we are sponsoring a drawing for the Champion Cookie Jar.So be sure to drop by the exhibit and sign up.The drawing will be held Tuesday night at the lamb show.
For details on these and other contests, drop by the extension office to pick up a fair catalog or call the office at 228-2332.
1. How do you feel about your last year? I am super excited to get to move on to bigger things in my life. Although, I am sad that I won’t get to stay a kid with little responsibilities anymore, I am excited.
2. Sum up your school experiences? I enjoyed school, it taught me more than what I thought it could have, and prepared me for a great future.
3. Activities/organizations you have participated in? I have cheered all four years, ran track my fresh. and soph. year, cross country my fresh. and soph. year, powerlifting my freshman year, FFA my fresh., soph and junior year, showed a goat my freshman year, yearbook and FCCLA and basketball my senior year.
4. Plans for the future? I plan on attending a college, cheerleading while I’m there and majoring in English.
5. Favorite memory at WHS? After the Empire football game, Colton and Gatlin dumped the water cooler on me while it was freezing cold outside.
6. What teacher class prepared you? Over the years I have enjoyed all of my English classes and all of the teachers that have helped me love English even more than I already did. I can’t wait to become an English teacher myself.
7. Give advice to an underclassman? Remember to have fun while you can, because high school ends in the blink of an eye.
8. Anyone you want to thank? I want to think my mom and dad for pushing me to be the best I could be. I would also like to think the rest of my family and friends.
9. Do you have a fear about leaving? I do not want to grow up and be an adult. I love high school and I’m afraid to move on past it, although I feel it is not as bad as I make it out to be.
10. Are you going to miss being at WHS? Yes, even though I moved here my senior year everyone has been so great to me and I gained so many friends and I am sad that I did not get to know them longer.
On Thursday, February 22nd, the Library will have a computer class at 4:30pm. This class will be geared towards beginners and cover basic mouse operations, creating files and folder, and copying, moving and pasting text or files. We will have computers available, but you can also bring your own device including phones or tablets if you have any questions about how to do something.
Next Monday, February 19, the Library will be closed in observance of President’s day. We will reopen at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
On March 1st and 2nd, the Waurika Public Library will celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday welcoming Terral grade school on the first, and Waurika and Temple Head Starts on the second.
The Story Of The Boot was a display of family stories in Jefferson County created to
compliment the Smithsonian Institute exhibition at the Rock Island Depot this summer.
These stories have been compiled into a hardback book. Copies of ‘The Story of the Boot’ are $25 and take 2-3 weeks for delivery to the library. If you would like the copy mailed to a location other than the library, please add an additional $5 for shipping and allow for an additional week for mailing.
‘Your Hometown’ is a DVD compilation of videos from the local community. The DVD includes the opening of Veteran’s Park, Brickstreet Classic Car Show, Interviews with residents of Jefferson Co. and more! Copies of the DVD are available at the library for $10 with proceeds going to the Friends of the Waurika Public Library.
Story Time has a new day! Story Time is now on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. Each week, we read stories to pre-k children. After Story Time, we have games, puzzles, and children’s computer games available. If you would like to see Story Time on a different day and time, just let us know.
Many events and programs at the library are supported and funded by the Friends of the Waurika Public Library. The Friends have started their sponsorship drive for 2018. Sponsorship of the Friends starts at just $10. For more information, to become a sponsor, or volunteer, please visit the Waurika Public Library.
For information about events, activities and more, visit our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/WaurikaPublicLibrary/
CONGRATULATIONS- I would like to send our congratulations to the Terral graduatimg Kindergarten Class, Eight Graders and to all the Ryan Graduating Class. Best of Luck in whatever you pursue.
Quote of the day- “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1-3
Terral School – May 7th is our Graduations. May 8th is Field Day for 5th through 8th grades. May 9th we will not have school- Professional Day. May 10th is our Awards Assembly at 9:00am. and the last day of school.
FBC Girls in Action Group – School is almost out and we will be out for the Summer also. Last day for our kids or Christ is May 8th. We are gearing up for our Mother’s Appreciation Breakfast on May 11th. End-of-the-Year Pool Party will be announced as soon as scheduled. Special Thanks to everyone who supported us this year.
Terral Alumni Association – Attention All Students: It is time to apply for Terral Alumni Scholarships. The deadline is May 3, 2019, and the application must be postmarked on or before that date to be considered. The following are eligible to apply: 1)Have graduated or will be graduating from Ryan High School. 2) Are attending or will be attending an accredited institution of higher learning full-time, 12 hours per semester. 3) Reside in the Terral, Oklahoma school district. Terral Alumni does not discriminate in its scholarship program on the basis of race. The committee will be making the final decision for the scholarship in May. The applicant receiving this scholarship must be enrolled and confirmed by the institution’s registrar before the check is mailed directly to the institution in the Fall and in the Spring. If you have not received a scholarship application in the mail and are interested in applying, please contact Karen Gunter, 580-437-2347, Thanks- Johnny Reynolds, President.
Happy Birthday To You – Tooter Alsup celebrated her “84” on Sunday May 5th.
Community Prayer List – Katie Bussey, Gary Bussey, A.R and Martha Jane Goates, Wayne Loo Duke, Esther Grimes, Virginia Tanner, Darlene Hall, T.K. Delaney, Manuel Villarreal, Shawna Reed, Hardy Johnson, and our military stationed around the world. Our Prayer is for God to keep you in his loving care.
