Make plans now to be a part of Christmas on the Trail in Ryan on December 1st.
There will be multiple FREE drawings throughout the day. However, you must be present to win.
School kids will bring their decorated ornaments to place on the Downtown Christmas Tree between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm.
There will be pony rides, wagon rides, hot chocolate, face painting, vendors, a cake walk.
As a special bonus, the 2 Cajons food truck will be there as well.
We will see you there!
It’s beginning to feel like winter around here. We were fortunate to have had rain instead of snow yesterday morning. This weekend looks like it might be a pleasant and dry weekend. Then, the week of Thanksgiving, it looks like we are going to get wet again.
This coming Saturday, there will be the food distribution from the Ryan Food Bank. This will be the 3rd Saturday, instead of the 4th Saturday, because of the Thanksgiving Holiday. The same will apply for December.
There will be businesses closing for the Thanksgiving Holiday, which will be Thursday, November 22nd. The banks, post office, Beaver Creek Mercantile, Tina’s Flower Shop, and Morgan’s Beauty Shop, and Ryan Drug Store will be closed on that Thursday. The Ryan Health Clinic on the highway will be closed on Thursday and Friday. The Ryan Medical Clinic will be closed on Thursday and a half a day on Friday.
Kim’s news for this week:
Because we are going into winter and out of fall, I had to put more bedding in Ruffy Tuffy’s stall. Because of the colder weather, Foxy has been wearing her sweater. Foxy and I sure had fun visiting Barbara Sunday afternoon.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for each other, too. Prayers for safe travels for folks that will be leaving town next week, too.
We’ve still been blessed beyond measure since last week. And we have another week to look forward to more blessings.
Prayers to the families of Faye Etheridge and Sammy Overstreet during their losses of these family members, and to their friends, also.
There will be a free dinner at the Ryan Senior Citizen, brought to us by the Ryan First Baptist Church this Sunday, October 28th
This coming week, you better get ready for a lot of events around our community. First, trick or treaters will be getting out in their frightful costumes on Wednesday evening, October 31st. The Ryan City Council declared October 31st, the day to be observed for trick or treating around Ryan. Then, the next event is Friday, November 2nd. Our Ryan Methodist Church is having our annual Fall Bazaar, starting at 10:00 at the church, will be a bake sale, followed with chili, stew, or chicken tortilla soup. Please help our Methodist church by purchasing some fantastic baked goods and then filling your tummies with a wonderful lunch with dessert included. Then, the 3rd event will be Sunday, November 4th, at the Ryan Senior Citizen Center. The annual Thanksgiving dinner to raise money for keeping our center going for another year. These dinners are fantastic! If you don’t plan to have turkey and dressing of your own, you can’t beat this. There are a lot of people that work hard to make this event possible. This year, Linda Ryan will be providing her homemade rolls for the dinner. You can’t beat them either! She is a fantastic cook.
This Saturday will be the 4th Saturday of the month and the Ryan food bank will be making their distributions for this month starting at 10:00 am behind the Ryan First Baptist Church.
I am looking forward to getting Brionna for a stay for this coming week’s events. She is looking forward, too.
One more thing to add, there is a free dinner at the Ryan Senior Citizen, brought to us by the Ryan First Baptist Church this Sunday, October 28th. Plan to attend this event, too.
Kim’s news for this week:
The rain has ceased for a few days at least. But, I had no doubt that the sun would come out.
The pond is full of water and grass is growing like it oughter.
Everyone have a blessed week. Prayers to those that are ill or in need of God’s loving touch in their lives.
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.
If you haven’t noticed by now, my last two articles failed to include the usual conclusion of praying for rain. He has blessed us nearly beyond measure with the answered prayer for our much needed rain. I am not going to pray that He turns it off by any means, either. I can’t even keep track now of how much or when we have received our rains over the last 2 weeks. We are getting more rain as I am writing this article. We are heading for lows in the 40s over the coming week. Highs are predicted in the 70s and a couple of days in the 60s. Enough about the weather. Thank the Lord for providing for us,weather and otherwise.
I went and picked up Brionna this past Friday evening in Bowie. We missed the ballgame, but, saw the final score of 84 to 38 in Ryan’s favor. I bet that was quite a game! Brionna, Kim and I went to the horse show Saturday morning at the Crossbrand Cowboy Church in Waurika. Brionna participated in one of the events. She showed Ruffy Tuffy in the halter show. She got a ribbon for showing. Kim participated in 3 events and got ribbons for all of the events she participated in, too. It was a fun time and we got to meet some new people and we also got to see Mary Elizabeth Pierce from the Whispers of Hope Horse Farm. She had 6 horses and a group of riders that all had a good time, too. They travelled from Wichita Falls, Tx.
This coming Saturday, starting at 3:00pm, there will be the Fall Festival in the Ryan park across from City Hall. There are several activities planned for that day, so, be sure to work it into your calendar. Have your money with you, too, so that you can make purchases and donations to the Ryan Community Regeneration.
Then, Sunday, there is a benefit dinner at the Ryan Senior Citizen Center for Sammy Overstreet. Sammy has been diagnosed with cancer. Please get out and support him by attending this benefit dinner. The food will be great, too.
There is a wedding shower for Shaylee Kimbro and Ryan Chester this Sunday at 2:00pm at the First Baptist Church in Ryan.
This last Saturday, we lost another resident just outside of Ryan. Nam an Mendoza, from Sugden, passed away and they are having his service this week. Prayers to Barbara and their family during their loss.
Kim’s news for this week:
At the Cowboy Church Horse Show, Ruffy Tuffy won 4 ribbons and Foxy won 1. Brionna got to show Ruffy Tuffy for me. It was a no wreck day and everything went okay.
Everyone have a blessed week. Please pray for each other.
There was not an empty seat at the monthly Ryan Town Council meeting held this past Tuesday evening at Ryan City Hall.
Of all the items discussed, perhaps the one that caused the most excitement was the possibility of Fiber Optic Internet coming to homes and businesses in Ryan.
Dick Segress, the owner of Terral Telephone addressed the council seeking cooperation in beginning the process of laying fiber optic cable within the city limits.
Terral Telephone has already surveyed Ryan and is willing to share their engineering details with the city to ensure that the cable laid will not interfere with existing infrastructure.
The council will consider the matter more fully at the next meeting but the prospect looks positive.
After his address, we asked if he was interested in bringing high speed internet to Waurika and he said, “most definitely!”
The usual business of approving the minutes of previous meetings and the paying of bills were approved.
The treasurers report was approved.
Members of the Ryan School Board and Superintendent of Schools, Marcus Chapman, were present.
They asked the council if the town would consider serving as the authority having jurisdiction for the purpose of outsourcing fire and building permit inspections.
A representative of the construction company working on the school was present to explain the process of applying for jurisdiction and the benefits of doing so.
The state does allow third party inspections.
The state Fire Marshall will come in and complete his own inspection once fifty-percent of the construction is completed.
Allowing the town of Ryan to conduct the inspections will save time and money. It sometimes takes up to four months for a state Fire Marshall to come and inspect a building. If a third party completes the inspection, it can be done in a couple of weeks.
It was explained that the town can apply for the authority to conduct these inspections through a qualified third party.
This is a process that many communities across Oklahoma are adopting to speed up the construction process.
The construction company representative assured the council that they would cover all the town’s expenses in applying and acquiring the proper paperwork to assume jurisdiction.
A question the council members had, of course, was liability. Their concern was if an issue were to arise after the construction was complete, who assumes liability?
The construction representative assured the council that the third party inspector is not relaxing the state codes in any way. They would just be speeding up the inspection process.
It was decided that the council would investigate the issue and get back to the school as soon as possible. It was stated they could even have a special meeting if necessary.
The company is wanting to begin work on the school foundation in ten days.
Next, Dylan Sheffield representing the Ryan Community Regeneration asked for permission to use the Ryan Public Park on October 13th.
On that date they will hold the first annual Fall Festival.
The Ryan FFA will be serving hot dogs at the festival as a fundraiser. There will be live music and games. It will be a time of getting together and celebrating the fall season creating a sense of community.
Dylan is also the newest member of the New Jefferson County Development Authority.
Ater that, Resolution 2018-07 was passed that forbids any changes to city owned property without first obtaining permission.
During the Ryan Public Utility Authority meeting the council members passed resolution 2018-08 to establish guidelines and fines for manipulation, tampering, disconnection, etc., of town property and facilities, including utility meters by an unauthorized individual.
According to the resolution anyone tampering with an electric or water meter if they are not authorized to do so will be fined up to $50 per day of occurrence.
This brought many questions from the audience.
One such question concerned what to do if a residence had a water leak? The council members suggested installing a water shut off valve on the residence side of the pipe leading from the meter to the building.
If one is not installed, city hall will need to be notified during a water leak and they will come and shut off the water.
The same would be true if an electrical meter needed to be shut off. Only city employees can fix or adjust meters.
Mayor Grantham advised that this measure was being taken because in the past meters have been broken by home owners who then expected the city to pay for damage.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
My computer is making it difficult for me to write my news for this week. It is not the operator’s fault. I can’t blame myself for this modern technology that has come to pass, it has taken 30 seconds to just get that comma into place. Maybe the computer needs to be rebooted, or, maybe the computer feels the operator needs to be rebooted. I gave up. I went to my iPad. It was dead. So, now I am on my iPhone. I could prompt it to write as I speak , but, that would be a really big mess. Enough said. I will get it done.
I have decided not to close the drug store until the end of the year. I have not found a buyer that would maintain it as an operating pharmacy. To be honest, I haven’t found a buyer period. I can still get some more ads out in other papers and see if there might be someone that might take on this business and keep it running.
Folks here in the city limits of Ryan, if you have large items that won’t fit into your trash cans, you can have those items picked up free of charge on the 3rd Monday of every month. There is a phone number you can call on your monthly statements from the Town of Ryan. You need to call them on Thursday before the 3rd Monday of that month. There are some concerned residents around town that have been trying to tell our residents of this free service. There are several property owners around town that have some unsightly piles of old furniture along with other large items, that need to be hauled off. If you don’t find the number on your statement, call City Hall at 757-2277 and they will give you the number to call.
There is a wedding shower for Shaylee Kimbro on October 14th at 2:00pm at the Ryan First Baptist Church. Her fiancé, Ryan Chester are getting married on December 8th in Chickasha. We will have a hostess box in the drug store for them if folks would like to be a hostess. Congratulations Shaylee and Ryan!
There is a blood drive here in town at the Ryan School this Thursday, October the 4th from 10:00am to 3:00pm. This is short notice.
Sunday after church I went to the store to unload my cokes and when I pulled up, my back door was shattered. It was the act of the rock that was propelled from the lawn mower. I had some ply board and my mowing man helped me put the board into place until I can get a new glass installed. That wasn’t amongst my events planned for the day. Accidents happen.
Brionna will be coming home to go to a horse show that Kim invited her to be a part of at the Cowboy Church in Waurika this Saturday morning. Brionna will be excited when I show up to bring her home later this week. We had gone and gotten some western duds for this event when she was home last time, but, the event was cancelled because of the rain we had that weekend.
Kim’s news for the week:
Saturday, Foxy and I shopped around in Wichita Falls, a big city town. Dog and horse t-shirts is what I found. One of them that Foxy saw said “I don’t go anywhere without my dog”.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for each other.
The Ryan Senior girls were honored recently at recent home game. The community expressed their gratitude for their commitment and hard work….
The following is a picture of the seniors and their parents.
We were blessed with close to 6 inches of rain last Friday. It started Thursday evening around 6:30pm, when the winds and clouds came in. We lost our electricity until 2:31 Friday morning. It was off for nearly 8 hours. It was cooler to go outside than it was to stay in the house with no air circulating. Brionna was home with me and she wasn’t too fond of being without electricity. People used to do without electricity, but, modern amenities have come to spoil us. And, cooler days are right around the corner and summer is officially behind us.
This next Tuesday will be the evening of the Ryan City Council meeting at 6:00.
On Friday, October 5th we will be having another sidewalk sale for our Ryan merchants.
Megan and Joby Edwards were blessed with a baby boy, Joc, nearly 2 weeks ago. Congratulations to them on their new baby.
This Friday, there will be a meeting at the Mercantile to discuss Christmas decorations around town if anybody is interested in helping with that . The meeting will be held at 6:00pm.
I was riding my bicycle to make a delivery before I opened the store this morning and I noticed Debbie Patrick had moved her car a couple of times away from her usual parking place in front of the old post office building. She was parked across the street beside the Mercantile and was looking out her window across the street and I asked her what was going on. She said there was something in her parking spot and it wouldn’t move. I got a little closer and it was a really big turtle. It had taken up residence in her parking spot and was resting. She said she had tried to get it to move, but, it wouldn’t move. I got off my bicycle and got hold of a chair and tried to budge it to change its spot, but, it sure didn’t want to. It took a bite out of the end of the chair when I was trying to get it to move over to the grass. It finally was in the grass, turned over on his back, and so I told Debbie he must be tired out and so was I. I made my delivery and after I was riding back to the store and Debbie had moved to her parking place and she told me the turtle made it across the street and up the steps to the sidewalk in front of Jimmy Ferris’s place. I rode over to the side of the building and caught a picture of him as he was traveling. I guess he made it up the hill from the creek. (see picture below)
Kim’s news for this week:
Saturday, Ruffy Tuffy was very happy, he got a day off cause I went to a Woman’s Church Conference in Comanche.
This past week we can’t complain, but, Praise God for the rain.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for each other.
This past week has been a very eventful week around here. It was homecoming week for our Ryan School.
On Wednesday, if you were on Washington Street, at about 9:15am, here came a little crew from the school. It was Heidi Townsend and TJ Dewbre, and 8 little preschoolers, walking to the drug store to get a tasty treat of an ice cream cone. They each one held onto a rope and walked in an orderly fashion, nearly a mile, to get to town. There were some dressed in a costume to go along with the week’s event.
It seemed like they all had a really good time. We had a table and chairs fixed up for them when they came.
On Friday, there was a good crowd to attend the homecoming football game. There was a special half time honoring Phil Elerick and the 1988 Ryan football team. Most of the men on the team from that time period were there for this. We had a parade downtown before the game and saw some very good looking floats. Our Cowboys won that game 30 to 14. Holland Carter was crowned Homecoming Queen at the game.
Saturday, Macie and Austin exchanged their wedding vows. It was a very pretty setting for their wedding. They were married just up north and east of Duncan at Kendall’s View venue.
Sunday, there was the Indian Taco dinner to raise money for the Ryan Beautification Group. It was a very good meal. I hope they raised a good bit of money so that it can be used in different ways to benefit the community.
I have not yet been able to find a buyer for the pharmacy. I keep extending my date of closure, thinking that something good will happen and the store will be able to stay open.
Tuesday afternoon, Robin told us that Ricky’s mom had passed away. Prayers to Ricky and his family during their time of loss.
This coming Saturday is the 4th Saturday of the month and the food commodities will be distributed at the Ryan Food Bank.
Kim’s news for this week:
On Sunday, once again, Dustan gave Ruffy Tuffy a trim and Penny was with him. On Monday, I was glad, I had lunch at Circle Dee’s with my dad. Foxy couldn’t go, she was sad.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for rain and each other, please.
