Here are pictures from the Ryan Homecoming Parade:
You might expect when a sports writer is asked to write a tribute to someone the focus would be on that person’s accomplishments as a coach or player.
But, this article will be focused more on the person than his accomplishments.
Last week a large crowd gathered at Ryan’s First Baptist Church to say goodbye to legendary Ryan coach and principal, Raymon West.
Most anyone that has been under the instruction of Mr. West would probably choose to focus on the man because
his contribution to the lives of people went far beyond the football field, basketball court or baseball diamond if they were tasked with writing a tribute.
As Bro. Mark Kunkel, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Terral, said numerous times while conducting the service, everyone was mostly there to honor the man Mr. West and not Coach West.
However, well over half the crowd identified themselves at one point in the service as having been coached by Coach West.
And certainly his coaching ability is not to be overlooked, but each person who has come under the influence of Mr. West would probably be quick to agree with Bro. Kunkel and this writer that his greatest achievements were what he poured into our lives.
You see the goal of Mr. West was not really to produce great athletes – although that did happen. His goal was to prepare high school students for life.
And, for the most part he was a master at teaching life lessons.
Mr. West was tough. He was a disciplinarian. However, he correctly knew that making life a bit difficult in the athletic arena would serve each person well when they began to tackle life as a young adult.
And, some of those lessons not only served us well as young adults, but throughout our life time.
As was noted in the funeral service, Mr. West cared deeply for people. He endeared himself to most every athlete he ever coached and those he taught.
The compassion Mr. West had for people carried over to his retirement years as he served people through his church and was frequently present when a need had to be met in the community.
Everything Mr. West did was with great passion – his family, ranching, teaching and coaching.
Mr. West’s accomplishments in the coaching profession should not go without mention. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Girls Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1988. Most everyone knows he coached the 1965 Cowgirl squad that won the Class B state championship – the only state title in school history. He coached the Cowgirls for a total of 13 seasons.
He coached the Cowboy basketball team for 15 seasons and took the 1962 squad to the state tournament – one of only two boys’ teams to advance into the state tournament.
Mr. West’s contributions to the football program are more notable than most people might think. He coached football on three different occasions – in 1958, 1962-1963 and 1977-1980. The 1962 squad just missed out on a district title and finished 8-2 which tied the 1929 football team for the second most wins in a season up to that time.
It is likely that one of the key decisions made by Mr. West while serving as principal and head football coach at Ryan was moving from 11-man football to eight-man football following the 1977 season. The decision probably saved the football program and he coached the Cowboys to the playoffs in the first year of eight-man football.
Mr. West also coached baseball in the early years at Ryan.
In the four sports coached by Mr. West, he led squads to 14 conference championships, three county championships, seven bi-county championships, 10 district titles, three regional crowns and one state championship.
No tribute, however, would be complete without personal stories because Mr. West had a profound impact on my life.
Late during my eighth-grade year and Mr. West’s first year back at Ryan after having coached at Burkburnett, Texas and Duncan, he noticed right away that my athletic genes were just about non-existent.
Mr. West came to me and asked me if I would be interested in being the student trainer, which I did after football season that year. He sent me that following summer by bus to Baylor University to attend the National Athletic Trainers Association annual convention.
I was definitely way out of my league (can you imagine a kid who just completed eighth grade going on a trip like that alone?), but I learned a few things and spent the rest of my high school days helping with all sports. Mr. West saw potential in me that I did not see in myself and giving me that responsibility helped me stay connected to sports.
As you can imagine we spent a lot of time together during basketball practices. During that time I learned a lot about basketball, but did not fail to pick up one or two life lessons along the way.
One of those came one afternoon after Ryan had suffered a loss in a game that was not well-officiated. And, as I have a tendency to do even today, I was griping about how poorly the officials called the game the night before.
I suppose Mr. West had heard enough and he looked at me and said, “You worry about the things you have control over. We have no control over the officiating.”
That little tidbit has remained with me through the years and has been invaluable in my life’s journey.
In the years following whenever I would make my way to Ryan I would try to make sure I came in contact with Mr. West.
A side note – most anyone coached by Mr. West were all afraid to ever call him anything but Mr. West or Coach West. It was always difficult to address him as “Raymon.” But, that is the kind of respect he commanded and deserved.
Many others and in particular his family could share similar stories about how Mr. West impacted their lives. I am just fortunate I had the opportunity to be the one to write this article.
I believe it is pretty easy to come to one conclusion – there will never be another Raymon West.
The council voted to apply for a grant that will enable the town of Ryan to purchase new electronic water meters that will be more accurate and tamper proof.
If the REAP grant is awarded to the town of Ryan, the new meters will allow city employees to accurately read the meters with electronic equipment. The meters can also notify city employees automatically if anyone tampers with them in anyway.
This will cut down on citizens turning the water meters on and off without notifying city hall. This has been an ongoing problem for some time.
In other business, Dennis Underwood addressed the council about the instillation of a Christmas Tree in the intersection of 5th and Washington during the Christmas Season.
Coach Stan Mueggenborg will be constructing the permanent tree stand that will be embedded in the center of the intersection. He assured the council members that it will be done professionally and will not detract from the aesthetics of the brick street.
The council agreed to let the project go forward.
Some at the meeting were wondering why city employees no longer decorated business downtown with Christmas lights. It was explained that this tradition was stopped because it is a liability to the Town of Ryan for its employees to be decorating private businesses.
Business owners are free to decorate their businesses for the Christmas Season if they so wish.
There was also a vote to allow other members of the city council to sign and receive REAP grant awards.
In other business, it was decided that a calender will be utilized to schedule use of city owned property such as the city park.
Anyone wanting to use the park in the future will need to stop by city hall and reserve the date. At this time there is no cost for using the park.
During the meeting all the bills and claims were paid.
The council also voted to raise the pay of Michelle Mellow $87.50 per pay period.
It was noted during the meeting that Michelle Mellow does not sign checks.
Dylan Sheffield addressed the council on behalf of the Regeneration and Community Beautification Group and informed them of a fundraiser scheduled for Sunday September 16th. The group is also scheduling a Fall Festival in October.
Once all business was dispensed with, the meeting was adjourned.
It’s been a really awesome week. We’ve had more rain, our grass is green, and lawns are in desperate need of being mowed (at least my lawn is). I got on my riding lawn mower Sunday afternoon and mowed a 15 foot strip beside my driveway before the mower died. I couldn’t get it started again after numerous tries. It would turn, but, it just wouldn’t start. So, it is still sitting where it died. I moved it about 4 feet off the patch of grass it was sitting on so that I could mow it with my trusty push mower. It makes from a 3 hour job riding to an 8 hour job pushing. I will call Sears and get them to come out and get it going, but, that usually takes about 2 weeks to get that scheduled and I would have a jungle before then. I am getting it done, anyway.
This weekend is the wedding day for Macie Wright and Austin Masoner. Their wedding is to take place just outside of Marlow on Saturday evening.
Ryan has lost another one of our great legends. Raymon West passed away Sunday morning. Raymon was a part of our community for I don’t even know how many years. He served in the military, taught school, and became an administrator in the Ryan Public School, then was employed at ASCOG after he retired from his job as the superintendent of Ryan Public School. Raymon had some very interesting things to tell about what all he went through regarding his life. He fits into the same highly respected class, along with Bob Givens, in my opinion. Even after Raymon’s mind had been invaded by the Alzheimer’s disease, I had gone to visit him while he was a resident of the Cherry Street Assisted Living Facility in Nocona, and he had a photo album in his room that he showed me. He was so very proud of all of his accomplishments and his children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. His celebration of his life will be Wednesday this week at the First Baptist Church in Ryan. Prayers to the West family during their loss.
I am still being hopeful that someone might want to come into this community and take over my pharmacy so we won’t even have to close our doors at the Ryan Drug Store. I will ask for folks to please be in prayer that the Lord will take care of this situation for this little community. I keep moving the date of closing, thinking that there will be an answer to my prayers, and I will continue to be patient during this time.
Kim’s news for this week:
This week I can’t complain, because of all the needed rain.
Every morning Foxy & I go to the barn together and ride in the nice cool weather.
Summer weather has almost parted and shorter days and longer nights have started.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for rain and for each other.
A man who has not only secured his place in local sports history, but has also secured a place in the hearts and lives of those who knew him and played for him passed away Sunday.
Raymon West will be remembered for his impact on the world of sports in Jefferson County.
He will be remembered for his contribution as the principal at Ryan High School.
He will remembered for championships.
He will be remembered as a great husband and father.
He will be remembered for being a great man.
Next week, Trey Smart will be writing a proper memorial to this coaching legend.
Until then, we just want to say that you will be missed Coach West.
Thank you for the memories and your contributions to our lives.
What a beautiful morning it was to get up and feel the cool breeze instead of the heat for a change. I know the forecasters say that we are going to be headed toward 100 on Wednesday, but, it certainly is nice for now, anyway. Sunday morning we had enough precipitation to get the pavement wet. That’s okay, it’s better than nothing. Our lawns are finally green and it soon will be time to mow again. I won’t make it 4 weeks between mowing this time.
There is a baby shower for Rachel (Pollan) and Brandon Sain at the Terral Community Center on August 26th at 3:00pm. They are expecting a baby boy. The couple is registered at Walmart and Amazon if people wish to go to the stores or online to purchase gifts. The Ryan Drug Store has a hostess box for them if anyone would like to put their name in as well.
I stand corrected on the Mayor of our town not rerunning for his seat in the next election. Terry Grantham is seeking reelection and I do apologize for the miscommunication in last weeks paper.
Taylor Street is in quite a mess as the city workers are working to repair water lines behind the First Baptist Church.
Our local merchants are planning another sidewalk sale on Friday, September 7th. I’m hopeful that our weather will be a bit cooler and more tolerable by that time.
As I got online this morning to start up my email to begin my article, I am quickly made aware that Google mail has now upgraded their site. I am a creature of habit and I had to hunt for the compose prompt that was always down in the bottom right corner of the screen. That is what life is all about–change. Nothing ever remains constant.
Kim and her four legged children are well, but, she didn’t provide me with an article this week.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for rain and each other.
Of the many items discussed Tuesday evening at the Ryan Town Council meeting, none were more interesting than the discussion about the possibility of a full-time police officer in Ryan.
The question was asked by David Winfield because of his concern for the safety of citizens and local businesses.
He was also concerned about people speeding around the school.
Mayor Terry Grantham said that for the past three years nobody has applied for the position. Prior to that the candidates that they did interview all wanted to live in towns other than Ryan.
Grantham said that the last officer to work for the Ryan quit because he could never get any time off. People would call his house all hours of the night and day.
It did come up in the meeting that the town does set aside $25,000 in the budget for a police officer.
City Attorney, Kenzie Wheeler, said that $25,000 would not pay for one full-time officer. Besides the salary, there would also have to be money allocated for taxes and benefits that she said would possibly raise the cost for one officer to around $60,000 or more per year.
Wingfield asked if there was a grant that would pay for an officer. City Attorney said that she believed that the grants available were for equipment. Wingfield said that he had read somewhere that in 2017 there was a “Safe Oklahoma” grant that distributed large sums of money to law enforcement in Oklahoma communities.
Other members of the council said that the Chickasaw Lighthorse Brigade and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department patrolled through the community regularly.
One of the concerns of the council is the lack of sources of revenue. A rate increase on utilities, it was said, would possibly not be popular. (It was said in the meeting that electricity rates have not increased since 1987).
Grantham said there was a rumor that the Town of Ryan passed a tax in 1977 to pay for a city officer. According to Grantham, no record had been found to verify that. He said they had even checked with the election board and could not find a record of an election held in Ryan for that purpose.
Council members asked Wingfield if he and his neighbors would be willing to work together to form a neighborhood watch.
Mayor Grantham said that the council would revisit the idea at the next council meeting.
Grantham said he appreciated Wingfield bringing his concerns to the council.
Next, the trustees discussed the issue of the cooperative agreement between the Town of Ryan and the Jefferson County Sheriff (payment for dispatch services). It was brought up again that the trustees have a problem with only three towns paying for the dispatch for the whole county. That was one of the reasons for Ryan pulling out of the agreement.
Grantham and the trustees assured everyone in attendance that although Ryan is no longer paying the dispatch fee, the services (such as fire and city services) are still being promptly addressed when needed.
Cody Rodriguez was added to the Ryan Volunteer Fire Department.
Wingfield reported later in the meeting that the Ryan Community Beautification Group was selling T-Shirts at Chunky Charms to help raise funds to help further the effort in improving the appearance of Ryan.
Under New Business, Michel Delaney asked if the city could turn on the water running to his property south of Ryan. Delaney thought the city may have cut the line to his property. He was assured that was not the case. The city agreed to turn on the water for Delaney and he will see if the line is working properly.
The Ryan Public Utilities Authority meeting followed the regular meeting.
The bills, claims and invoices were paid.
The trustees approved the purchase of a switch for the reclosure area for a price not to exceed $5000.00.
Grantham said that they have recently had a problem of citizens turning utility meters on that the town has turned off. Some will turn water on at night in order to take showers, cook, etc after the town has turned it off for non-payment. Other instances of utilities being stolen have occurred within the town limits. Three of these thefts occurred this past week.
In order to remedy this the trustees passed a motion to have the city attorney to write ordinance(s) that will enable the town to fine those who tamper or steal city services (water/electricity) or tamper with the meters in any way.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
What wonderful weather we are experiencing around Ryan the past 2 days. We’ve had temperatures just above 90 Monday and not expecting to hit 100 this week. The past week was miserable with temperatures climbing up to 114 and lows around 80. It’s a blessing to get outside in the morning and feel a cool breeze around you and then to go home in the evening on my bicycle and still hardly break a sweat before I get home, even after riding out to the cemetery before going home. Summers can be hard to tolerate some of the time.
This Saturday morning is the day of the Ryan food bank.
This Saturday evening, Billy Roberson and his band will be playing at the old Methodist Church in Byers. The admission fee is $10.00 if folks might be interested in going out for a good night of country & western entertainment. I am not certain as to what time the music starts, but I will find out before Saturday if folks want to call the drug store for further information on this event. Bill is a great musician and singer if you’ve never had an opportunity to hear him sing or play.
Sunday, at the Ryan Senior Citizen Center, there will be a benefit dinner for Pat Bussey, starting at 11:00am. Pat is undergoing cancer treatment in Tulsa, and has to make numerous trips to undergo these treatments. Please get out and give to this event that can help Pat and her family have less of a financial burden.
Sunday afternoon, the wedding shower for Macie Jo Wright is from 2:00-4:00 at the Ryan Church of Christ. We still have a hostess box for them if folks call before too late this Friday afternoon.
This next week, on Friday, August 3rd, Ryan will be having our sidewalk sales again. I’ll be praying for cooler weather for this day. Maybe before then, we will have had some nice rains, too.
Kim’s news for this week:
Sunday, Ruffy Tuffy got a day off, because it was just too hot.
But, the rest of the week, early morning riding we seek.
Foxy likes early better, especially in this hot weather.
Everyone have a blessed week. Pray for rain and for each other.
We were blessed here in Ryan last week on Tuesday and Thursday with nearly 2 inches of rain each day. I will be getting on the mower this week, finally. Temperatures over the next week are expected to be over 100 degrees, and no rain mentioned in the forecast. We will get through it.
Last Tuesday, the Ryan City Council met. The first thing on the agenda was for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. There were a couple of deputies there to discuss the concern of the Jefferson County dispatch service. After discussion between both groups, Ryan Council told them they would meet with them after their next council meeting at the Jefferson County Commissioners meeting in August. The concern was that they felt all communities should be asked to be a part of this service, and pay a fair share across the board. Ryan Council felt it wasn’t fair for Ryan, Waurika, and Ringling to foot the bill for all the towns or communities within our county. There were other items on the agenda, but, this was the most notable.
The wedding shower for Macie Jo Wright and Austin Masoner is planned for July 29th from 2-4pm at the Ryan Church of Christ. There is a hostess box at Ryan Drug Store if folks would like to put in any money for the couple.
This past Friday night, I missed an invitation to the Rockin H Land & Cattle Co. in Temple, Oklahoma, for the birthday celebration for Dana Major. She celebrated her 70th birthday with a lot of friends and family at the restaurant. I saw a video on Facebook of Dana blowing out her candles on her cake. I don’t think they had 70 on the cake, but it still took her some pretty good breaths to get them all blown out. She had a good time, and it looked like everyone else did, too.
Prayers to the family of Glen Martin during their loss of Glen this past week.
Kim’s news for this week:
Foxy was quite a sight wearing her straw hat at the Ranch-Round-Up Rodeo Saturday night.
I have to give God a cheer for no car damage when I hit a deer.
Everyone have a blessed week and please pray for rain and for each other.
Praise the Lord! We received some measurable rain Sunday afternoon. The pavement is still wet and conditions are cloudy. I haven’t mowed in 3 weeks now. There is nothing to mow. Our grass is laying dormant on the ground. Plants have had to be watered from the water hoses. God’s blessings of rain far surpass any garden hoses. He just hasn’t seen fit to send much our way yet. Our temperature was 94 degrees around 3:00 pm yesterday and when the front blew in, it was 74 degrees. The temperature stayed there all night. I got out and watered the plants this morning, anyway. We desperately need rain around Ryan. The grasshoppers have really begun to move into town again.
I went over to see Mom Saturday afternoon after going to Wichita Falls. I spent some time with her and was on my way back to Ryan on Highway 81 just north of Ringgold and I could see an animal beginning to cross the highway. It’s body was slim and low to the ground, and I assumed it was a coyote. I was getting closer to the animal and it was slowing down and so was I when we met, face to face, on the highway. It was a tiny baby deer, and I saw no sign of its’ mother. It just stood there looking at me. My car was dead still, and I honked at the baby deer, it didn’t even move at first, then I honked again, and it began running back from the direction it had originally started crossing. Its’ little feet were slipping on the pavement of the highway as it was trying to move quickly to get away from this foreign object that it was facing. I know there are an abundance of deer around our area, but, my heart went out for this little guy or gal. I hope it found a safe place and still has its’ mother to care for it somewhere out there.
Kim’s news for this week:
Yes, it is true Ruffy Tuffy got a straw hat, too.
Every morning I go ride with Foxy by my side.
Then Foxy and I go to the ball park, where she can play ball and bark.
Everyone have a blessed week, a safe 4th of July and please remember to keep praying for rain and for each other.
