Quote of the Day– Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. -Og Mandino
Public Notice– Due to Veteran’s Day failing on our regularly meeting date, the Town of Terral City Hall.
You are invited– Come have cake and coffee with us on November 3, 2019 to celebrate the 85th birthday of James Gordon Mckinley, held at the Terral Community Center from 2:00- 4:00 p.m. No gifts please just the gift of your company. Hope to see you all there!
Terral First Baptist GA’s– We have finished the “Armor of God” series and now we are learning the books of the Bible. We are now studying the New Testament books of the Bible. We will have a Halloween Costume Contest on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. Our upcoming events are a Craft Show on December 7th from 9:00 to 2:00 p.m. and bingo will start at 5:00 p.m.
Craft Show– The Terral First Baptist Church Girls in Action Group will be having a Craft Show in Saturday, December 7th from 9:00 to 2:00pm. To reserve your table call Shirley at 580-437-2337. Tables are $10.00 each. We will also have our annual BINGO starting at 5:00pm. Cost of Bingo is $1.00 per game or a one-time pay of $25.00 for the night. Baked goods and a Snack Bar will be provided. All proceeds go to the Girls in Action for crafts and outings. Thanks in advance for your support.
Community Prayer List- Teresa Sexton, A.R. and Martha Jane Goates, Wayne Wyler, Pat Bussey, Tony Rodriguez, Scotty Day, Sue Linton, Martin Villarreal, Shawna Reed, Hardy Johnson and our military stationed around the world- Kurtis Morgan & Chris Cox. Our prayer is for God to keep you in his loving care.
A letter dated January 2, 1980 from Glendora Montandon Hill to a Mrs. Davis contained an inquiriry into the possibility of a memorial in Waurika for the Rev. Charles Clay Montandon and his wife Myrtle who had once pastored the Nazarene church in Waurika and then later returned with plans to live out the rest of their days in this comunity they enjoyed.
Unfortunately, Charles came down with Bright’s disease and heart trouble and passed away on December 31, 1941.
His wife, Myrtle, continued to raise their children here.
Charles Clay Montandon was born in McMinnyville, Tennessee.
Myrtle Taylor was raised in Texas.
According to a paper supposedly drafted by the family found in files at Waurika City Hall, the couple didn’t meet until after Charles had been ordained as a minister in the Congregational Methodist Church.
They were married at her parent’s home at Gouldbusk, Texas.
The couple had 8 children 7 of those survived. Carlos, Nina, Faye, Charles, Glendora, Pat and James.
Charles Clay & Myrtle Montandon with their son Carlos in 1911. Source: “Oh the Glory of it All” by Sean Wilsey
Myrtle once made the remark that they had children in school for forty-two years beginning with Carlos, the oldest, and ending with Jim, the youngest.
Their ministry together consisted of revival meetings in communities where there were no churches. Once a church was established Charles would find a pastor for the congregation then move on to another community.
Charles was known as a competent contractor and builder. He often built the new church buildings or surpervised their construction.
According to the letter from the family, the couple were instrumental in establishing more than 31 churches of the Nazarene in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
According to family history, the Montandons pastored the Nazrene church in Waurika for a several years before continuing ministry in Texas.
Charles believed in the church being available to people of all races. This got him into trouble in Texas.
After allowing African Americans to attend services one week, the KKK burned the church down then set fire to a cross on the lawn of the church parsonage. The church board felt this was too much heat for their small congregation and asked the Montandon’s to leave.
This event lead the Montandon’s to retire from Ministry and move back to Waurika. Waurika was chosen because they had many friends here and it was by far the best place they had ever lived according to Pat Montandon’s memoir, Oh the Hell of it All.
More than once in her book, Pat refers to “growing up” in Waurika, Oklahoma.
The family arrived in town just before WWII. Pat Mondandon can remember the time period because someone from Waurika was nice enough to loan the family a Philco radio so they could listen to news about Hitler bombing Poland.
The death of Charles later on December 31, 1941 had quite an impact on the family. He was only fifty-six.
Myrtle stayed in Waurika to raise the three youngest who were still at home.
The people here were always good to the Montandons.
After Charles passed away, someone in the community purchased them a small home.
An accidental fire burned the house to the ground. Within two months friends in the community found them a much nicer home in a better part of town and even furnished it.
Myrtle would eventually pass away in 1979 in California. She had moved there to be near family, including her daughter, Pat, who had become somewhat of a celebrity by then.
January 1980.
City Manager Stan Patty was given the letter Glendora had written and wrote her back about the possiblity of building the pavillion in their honor.
According the the letter several options had been considered, but the city commissioners decided on remodelling and expanding Harmon Park. Part of the improvements planned for the 22 acre park was to build two pavilions.
The Montandon Pavilion under construction in 1980. Source: Waurika News-Democrat August 14, 1980
Members of the city commission at the time were Mayor Terry Kirkland, Vice Mayor Earl Swanson, H.C. (Jack) James, Bill Fechtel and Ceburn Lovett. The city clerk was Billie Helm.
In the letter Patty advised the cost to build one pavilion was only $2000.00.
In a forthcoming letter Glendora advised they would be happy to have a Pavilion named in her father and mother’s honor and promised a donation to cover the cost.
Glenda Montandon Hill
The plan was to have a permenent marker attached to the pavilion which would read,
“In Memory and the Honor of Reverand C.C. and Mrs. Myrtle C. Montandon.”
According to a picture in the Waurika News-Democrat (see front page), construction was well underway on August 14, 1980.
The contractor for the project was Ron Kerley.
The Montandon family left their mark on Waurika in more ways than one.
Some may recall the fame of their daughter Patricia “Pat” Montandon,
who made a name for herself in San Francisco, California.
Pat left Waurika when she was around 16 or 17 to pursue a career in modeling. Her brother-in-law Cecil Antrim (married to Faye) took money from his juke boxes and candy machines he had located around Waurika in order to pay for her trip to Dallas so she could work for Neiman-Marcus as a clothes model.
Later she migrated to San Francisco, California.
She worked as a columnist for the Sacramento Examiner and hosted her own televsion show.
Montandon published several books including How to be a Party Girl,The Intruders, Whispers from God: A Life Beyond Imaginings, and Oh the Hell of it All. Her memoir Oh the Hell of it All was a response to her son, Sean Wilsey’s book Oh the Glory of it All.
In it she talks about dating Frank Sinatra for a summer. Though she found him charming she didn’t want to marry him.
Later she met and married Melvin Belli, the attorney known as the King of Torts, and the famous attorney who defended Jack Ruby. Their marriage, however, was short lived, lasting only a few days.
Original memorial sign which was mounted on the pavilion and will be re attached once the pavilion has been rebuilt. Photo by Catrina Watters
Over the years Pat Montandon left her mark on the world. She fought for the rights of women, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, met with 26 world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet President, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India.
Some would consider her a force of nature.
During here lifetime she overcame many trials and tribulations.
In 1987 she received the UN Peace Messenger award.
The Montandons did more than leave their name on a Pavillion in Harmon Park. Through their lives and the lives of their children they left their mark on the world.
A special thank you to Catrina Watters for obtaining the files in the archives from Waurika City Hall and for the pictures of the pavilion.
DUNCAN, Okla. – It’s the ninth year for the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center to offer its free National Day of the Cowboy celebration, Saturday, July 27. With funding from the Oklahoma Arts Council, the museum is able to provide live music and a children’s art project during this event. This day is also the busiest day of the year for the Heritage Center.
Designed as a fun celebration and a way to give back to the community, there’s no admission charge into the museum on the National Day of the Cowboy. Guests can choose to attend morning, mid-day or afternoon and they will be able to enjoy everything planned. All the fun is indoors. The entire day of activities, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., is for families and individual fun – no matter the age.
All the fun is indoors. Music, exhibits, a few surprises and interesting individuals – an author, bison ranchers, a basket weaver– will be available for guests to meet.
This year, a nationally-touring exhibit, Bison: Ancient. Massive. Wild., is available to see and the art project will be bison related. It will be the final weekend to see the bison exhibit. It is the largest exhibit the Heritage Center has hosted and is a visual, educational and historical display.
Visitors to the Heritage Center for its biggest event of the year always remark how much they enjoy meeting the special guests booked. This year’s out-of-town guests include Oklahoma author, Kristi Eaton of Tulsa, who wrote “The Main Streets of Oklahoma: Okie Stories from Every County”; Pauline Asbury owner of Habasketry, of Oklahoma City, who will demonstrate basket weaving; and bison ranchers James and Sandy Stepp from Wichita Buffalo Co. at Sandy Springs Farm in Hinton. The Stepps will feature their products, share stories about bison herd management and have a surprise for the children. Also, visitors get a chance to see “A Texas State of Mind” that has original paintings from Nocona, Texas artist, Larry G. Lemons.
Live music entertainment will be the Cowboys at Heart band, with Allen Wooten, Missy Frye and Gaylon Blankenship, from the Comanche Opry in Comanche. They have been entertaining the guests to the Heritage Center for years on Duncan’s original National Day of the Cowboy celebration.
“I am a cowboy at heart and from this area. The Heritage Center is history of this area,” Wooten said. His band formed about six years ago and the Heritage Center is one of their favorite venues to perform. Plenty of chairs are staged so visitors can sit and enjoy the music or dance if they choose. Wooten and his band also perform during jam sessions at his Cowboy Opry venue on Thursday nights.
Frye, one of the band members, began playing guitar in 2005 and has been singing for most of her life.
“Allen and I have jammed together since 2005, but probably playing consistently (as a band) for audiences the past six or so years. The Heritage Center is special because of all the history it portrays from our ancestors,” Frye said. “My grandparents came across the plains in a covered wagon so seeing life size images of all they saw as children is interesting to me. Not to mention all the kind people who have invited us to play each year. It is so much fun and a highlight for the band.”
Blankenship’s name may be familiar to fans of Summer Breeze, who he played with for years, also having opened for many country bands. “I quit playing music in 1986, then started back in 2006. I love playing with Missy Frye and Allen Wooten. We have so much fun playing together.”
Over the years, they have performed at ranches, rodeos, firefighters’ banquets, Fourth of July celebrations and cowboy church events. They play traditional cowboy songs, with some gospel and old country tunes mixed into their sets, which vary from venue to venue.
And while the more mature visitors enjoy the music, children can play in the Interactive Area, the Duncan General Store and create an art project to take home. Each year, the art project is different.
Visitors can experience the 4D theater, Campfire Theater, and tour the Garis Gallery of the West on this day of free admission. Tours will not be provided on this day and guests or large groups wanting to learn more about the history of the museum and the Chisholm Trail are encouraged to pick another day to visit.
FYI:
Chisholm Trail Heritage Center’s National Day of the Cowboy background information.
In 2016, the Heritage Center was awarded the “Cowboy Keeper Award” by the National Day of the Cowboy non-profit organization. The award is given to those who make substantial contributions to the preservation of pioneer heritage and cowboy culture, while also inspiring others to do the same. Since 2010, the Heritage Center has been celebrating National Day of the Cowboy with a free admission day. In 2013, Oklahoma state legislators approved a resolution to officially recognize NDOC.
Please visit our website: www.onthechisholmtrail.com and our Facebook page to learn more about all of these activities and other events.
Chisholm Trail Heritage Center is open 7 days a week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Located at 1000 Chisholm Trail Parkway in Duncan. Call 580-252-6692 for information. It is an official “Best Heritage Attraction,” an Oklahoma Outstanding Attraction, a National Day of the Cowboy ‘Cowboy Keeper” and a Top Ten Western Museum – True West Magazine. Chisholm Trail Heritage Center Association is a 501c3 non-profit.
(l-r) Mollye Compton, Brionna Compton, and Lynette Weatherly
They closed the doors on Monday of this week, December 31, 2018.
It’s as much a part of Ryan as City Hall, or the bricks on Washington street.
Ryan Drug has been an essential part of the community since Dewey and Gladys opened the doors on January 1, 1924.
While operating the drug store, Dewey also found time to raise a farm.
The store evokes fond memories for many.
Jon Harris, former Ryan resident and Jefferson county historian, remembers Dewey and Gladys Nash.
“His wife, Gladys, was one of the sweetest, most benevolent humans to visit this earth,” says Harris.
She had been his sixth grade teacher at Ryan.
Dewey Nash and his wife Gladys. (submitted photo)
“I remember him smoking his pipe,” Harris remembered. He also remembered that you could get pipe tobacco in the store.
What Harris really enjoyed was the strawberry ice cream soda you could get at the old soda fountain.
Visiting the Ryan Drug for Harris back in the day was like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting.
Another one of the former customers remembers seeing Dewey in the store on Saturdays dressed in his dress shirt and slacks kicked back in his recliner watching a ball game.
Harris said both Dewey and Gladys would enjoy their recliners during their later years at the Ryan Drug.
Their son, James Lyle, helped out around the store after he left social work around 1985.
They had two daughters as well. Their names were Kathleen and Juanita.
Juanita is the mother of Mollye Compton, the current owner.
Originally, the store was confined to the building on the east side of the current location. It was actually in just half of the building. The other half belonged to Peggy Baker and her dress and flower shop.
This bench was a gift from Lanette Weatherly, Glenda White and Shirley White. Leman Webber did the engraving.
Mollye’s interest in the Drug store began when she was 9 years old.
That summer Mollye and her twin brother Mel would visit while their mom was working on her master’s degree in special education.
Mollye learned to work at the soda fountain making cherry limeades and salty dogs. A salty dog is shaved ice with a lime squeezed in and topped off with salt. She said there were lots of people who liked the salty dogs including Diane Breeze.
She would follow her grandad around the store. It was during one of those times that it began to dawn on her that she might want to become a pharmacist when she grew up.
This epiphany came to her during a time when she was exploring other interests.
Mollye had been in the band since she was in the seventh grade. This fostered her love for music during the time she was growing up in Denison, Texas.
She graduated from Denison High School in 1978. After graduation she attended Grayson County Junior College for two years and took the pre-requisites for pharmacy school.
She was accepted at Southwestern in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
Mollye earned her pharmacy degree in December of 1987.
This was an opportunity not afforded to Kathleen, Dewey and Gladys’ oldest daughter.
Kathleen was born in 1925. Once she graduated from high school she wanted to become a pharmacist, but her father wouldn’t allow it. He told her, “It’s not a career for a woman.”
Instead Kathleen became a teacher.
Mollye officially began working as a pharmacists for her grandfather on April 1, 1989. At that time Dewey was 90 years old.
She bought the store from her grandad in 1990, just after her daughter, Brionna, was born. Dewey passed away in 1991. It was before he passed that she bought the building the drug store is now in.
“I didn’t think I was going to get to buy it,” she says. She couldn’t get a loan at the time.
One day Jack Savage came in. She said, “I thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’, so I just asked him if he thought his bank would loan me the money.”
Jack asked her how much she thought she would need. She told him and he told her, “Just come and fill out the paperwork.”
Archie Fulton owned the building just to the west. He had bought it from Robert Huff. Birdie and Claude Thorpe originally owned it when it was a movie theater.
The main part of the current store collapsed in 2000 and had to be refurbished. It had to be completely gutted. Ronnie Campeche and Raymond Pollan did the work. It didn’t take them very long she says.
After the remodel, she moved the old soda fountain into the new part. It was nostalgic for customers, especially those who hadn’t been in town for years. Hershel Shoffner was the one who kept the soda fountain in proper working order.
She recently sold the old soda fountain to her nephew Brian Hander who lives in Denison, Texas. He has acquired a building in Denison to show off the fountain along with the memorabilia from Dewey Nash.
Molley has enjoyed the years she has operated the drug store. However, she is ready for the change.
“I just want to slow down,” Mollye says. She is ready for less stress in here life. However, she goes to explain, “You hate to leave something like this behind,” she says with tears coming into her eyes. It’s obvious she has a deep love for the people of Ryan and those she has served over the years.
She knows that there is a level of customer service that the community receives from businesses in a small town that they don’t receive in the larger cities.
Lanette Weatherly has worked with Mollye off and on for over 20 years. It was sad to watch her say goodbye to Mollye and Brionna Monday evening as the last shift of the store’s official business day came to a close. It was the end of an era.
Brionna has her own fond memories of growing up at the Ryan Drug store.
Brionna remembers the fun she had with Dru Harper. Dru would always stop by at 3:00 pm for their daily snack. You could say that Dru was like a second mom to Brionna.
Mollye and Brionna will pack up some of the remainder of the items slowly as they begin a new chapter in their lives.
Mollye will be working some for Biff Eck at Eck Drug in Waurika. She looks forward to less hours and less stress. However, she is grateful to everyone who was such a blessing to her. With tears in her eyes, she expresses her love for the people she has had the privilege to know. “This place wouldn’t have been around all these years if it hadn’t been for the people,” she says. She has had customers drive from as far away as Nocona, Texas.
She wants to say Thank You to everyone who has made working at the Ryan Drug a pleasure.
The Jefferson County 4-H has been on the road again showing at the Oklahoma Junior Cattlemen’s Association Preview show in Stillwater, OK.
Here are the results:
Kylie Waters: 3rd in class with her Simmental steer.
Kynlee Waters: 3rd in class with her Maine-Anjou steer.
Rance Howard: Reserve Breed with his Simmental steer, 1st in class with his Charolais steer, and 2nd in class with his Limousin steer.
Cody Ramsey: Reserve Breed Hereford Steer and 3rd in class with his Commercial Heifer.
Caitlyn Ramsey: Breed Champion Saler steer, 2nd in class with her Shorthorn steer, and Champion Junior Showman.
In addition to showing, they competed in several competitions including the Quiz Bowl, Cow Camp, and the Livestock Judging. Kynlee Waters, Cody Ramsey, Stanton Hooper, and Caitlyn Ramsey placed first in the junior Quiz Bowl. Also, Kynlee Waters placed high Junior Individual in the Judging Contest.
Ryan High School has received word of its selection to receive a grant from the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust.
The news of the selection was shared last Thursday with Ryan High School principal Tony Tomberlin.
The grant totals $65,000 and is divided into designated money for equipment and money for professional development for faculty at Ryan High School.
The high school was selected out of multiple schools from across the state of Oklahoma meaning grade schools, middle schools and high schools.
Application for the grant had to be made and on average only about 18 to 20 schools have been selected since grants were first awarded in 2001.
“This grant will help prepare our students for college and give them new and more interactive ways to learn,” said Ryan superintendent of schools Marcus Chapman.
“We are very excited to see this new technology in use,” noted Chapman. “A big thanks goes to our technology committee for the time and effort put into writing this grant!”
The trust which was first established with a $30 million gift by AT&T Oklahoma exists to equip Oklahoma common school and Career Tech students with the technology and technological skills necessary to compete in today’s global marketplace.
The grant provides funds for computer and telecommunications equipment, infrastructure, leadership and professional development to implement and advance integration of technology into classroom instruction.
It took Ryan High School officials two tries to receive the grant and it was a two-year process.
“The grant has been a long process,” said Tomberlin. “It is a high school only grant and you have to apply by school and not district.”
The faculty of the high school put together a desired plan and vision for technology use at the school and a technology team wrote the grant.
Members of the technology team included Angie Underwood, Seth Miranda, Kim Rhoades, Raquel Welchel and Tomberlin. Natalie Seay was also instrumental in the process.
Ryan High School is the only school in southwest Oklahoma to receive the grant for this year.
Tomberlin outlined the plans for the grant money designated for equipment.
“We will use the money to purchase two augmented reality tables, digital microscopes, several augmented/virtual reality headsets, 3-D printers and some other technology to go with it,” explained Tomberlin.
The OETT was established in 2001 as a result of an agreement between then Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmonson and AT&T Oklahoma during the company’s transition to a modern form of regulation. AT&T establishing the trust with the gift was part of the agreement.
Through the years, OETT has granted approximately $21 million worth of technology and professional development to 289 schools across Oklahoma. This initiative has reached well over 12,000 teachers and 150,000 students in communities and schools both large and small across the state of Oklahoma.
Interested schools have to successfully complete leadership training offered and after completing this stage, the next step is for administrators of schools to become eligible to apply for the grant money. The grant recipients are required to provide a 10% match ($4,000) that can be used for technology and equipment.
What a week we now have behind us. We skipped fall and now we are having more winter-like weather. We had more rain this past weekend and are expecting more for this week. I got out Saturday morning in my car to make a couple of deliveries and decided I would drive over to the south bridge of Beaver Creek. Boy, that was a mistake! Water was barreling over the bridge, not from the water below the bridge, but, from the water coming down the hill across the road. I made my way over to the turn in for the city dump and sat there for a couple of minutes. I rationalized in my mind that if it began raining any harder, I was not going to be able to get back down that road in my car. I was able to turn around and made it back up the hill to make my deliveries, safely. I won’t ever do that again! Our earth is so saturated in this area now, that all of our moisture we are getting now is staying on top of the soil and running off to the nearest creek or river. Several bridges around our county have washed away. Edna Grantham lives out east of town and said the bridge between her house and the house of Iva and John Roark was not there anymore. I had water coming under my arch from my neighboring building here in town Saturday morning, too.
The dinner for Sammy Overstreet surely brought in a crowd of people. Most of the Givens family came back home for this event. Lolly and I got there just as they ran out of spaghetti. We just patiently waited for them to bring out some more. There were a lot of workers there for the dinner. We had to sit in the front dining area because the back area was completely full. That says something right there.
We have a celebrity in our midst around here. I missed the news broadcast on channel 7 out of Lawton last Wednesday at 6:00, but there was a news team from Lawton that interviewed Sarah Tyus last week. Sarah has been home schooled by her mother, most of her life since she was school age. She did attend Ryan School for a little while, before her mother decided she would teach her the necessary curriculum in a home school program, herself. Donna has done a good job with her. She has had some extracurricular activities that she has participated in as well. Sarah has been active in showing sheep with the Ryan FFA kids. She has also excelled in her archery skills. She has done very well for herself and I know her parents, Donna and Kevin, are very proud of her. Sarah is 16 years old now and I was asking her about whether she had a drivers license yet. She said she does not, and really doesn’t have a great desire to drive anyway. She will someday soon enough, I am sure. I am sure, too, that we will be hearing more about the accomplishments of this young lady as time progresses. Way to go, Sarah!
Kim’s news for this week:
Last week I got to see Bryson Hernandez in a cross country track meet. It is so great. Next week he goes to State. Foxy went and didn’t complain about the rain. I’m still receiving knowledge from the Cowboy College.
Everyone have a blessed week. Prayers to those that are suffering from illnesses or just in need of our Lord’s presence in our lives.
