Sue Bridges, Town of Hastings Clerk-Treasurer
Glenda Hood, Town of Hastings Mayor
Ronnie Ward, Executive Director of the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments
The Hastings REAP grant of $45,000 will be used to repair and resurface a total of 3.35 miles of town streets that are in dire need of repair.
Ricky Martin has served as County Commissioner for District 3 for the past 12 years.
During that time he says he has not worked for a political party but for the citizens of Jefferson County.
He says he wants to remind those who vote straight-party to remember to check the box with his name by it as well.
Martin was raised in Terral his whole life, except for the two years he spent in the Army during the early 70s.
For 13 years he worked for Rash Barrett.
Martin loves his job as commissioner and loves hard work.
He says his only frustration is the supply-chain shortages that has interfered with work. That and high gas prices has have hindered some of their maintenance on the roads.
He is looking forward to the improvements on the horizon for his District.
There will be two new bridges built within the next couple of years as well as improvements on Union Valley road.
One of the bridges to be replaced is the one out by the Corley place. He says it has needed an upgrade for some time.
The other is the one on Fleetwood Creek.
He wants voters to know he has done the best he can with the limited funds commissioners receive for each district.
Martin loves the work and looks forward to serving another term as commissioner.
Mical Delaney has lived in Waurika all of his life.
For over twenty years he has worked in both construction and maintenance.
Four of those years he worked for the sheriff’s department in maintenance.
Since retiring from construction, he has realized he misses the work. It’s one of the things that inspired him to run for county commissioner.
If elected he would like to tackle various projects and make improvements.
One of his goals is to make sure there is always someone on call for emergencies, day or night.
He would like everyone to know he is hardworking and committed. Once he starts a project he likes to see it through to completion.
Mical says he would love the opportunity to serve the community. He knows he will be dependable.
In his spare time he has volunteered to work with the Baptist Disaster Team.
He loves to stay busy.
Mical has also volunteered on the Waurika Fire Department for 13 years.
For the past two months he has been attending the County Commissioner meetings in order to be prepared for the job if elected.
A special thanks to Tyler Plant for producing, filming, and editing this video.
Caitlyn Ramsey (left) was named the 2018 National Miniature Hereford Breeders
Association princess. Caitlyn Ramsey’s parents are Casey and Ruslyn Ramsey.
Caitlyn Ramsey, a 5th grader from Waurika was named the 2018 National Miniature Hereford Breeders Association princess. To compete, Caitlyn had to submit an application along with her resume, answer an essay question and send a head and shoulder picture of herself. She, along with 6 other girls were then judged on their submissions by 2 non Mini Hereford breeders and 1 Mini Hereford breeder. To be a princess you must be between the ages of 10 and 14 and have Miniature Hereford cattle in your name as well as attend/show at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO. and Miniature Hereford Junior Nationals which will be held this year in Kearney, NE. The Miniature Hereford Breeders Association has always had a queen, but this year the queen coordinator added the princess title. “There are many young kids showing this breed and it’s time they were represented along with the older kids. By having a princess, it shows the younger girls that they too are leaders and someone to look up too.” Caitlyn along with queen Sarah Potter of Silverton, OR were crowned Jan. 20th in Denver at the annual MHBA banquet. Congratulations Caitlyn!
We are expanding our Buried Fiber Internet Service to all the Communities along Highway 81 up to Chickasha.
Buried Fiber Internet directly to the Premise is the Gold Standard for Internet Services that require maximum speeds upstream and downstream.
Since the COVID19 pandemic there has been high demand for Distance Learning, Zoom meetings, and Telemedicine. All of these two way video services require fast speeds in both directions. All other Internet connections can’t offer these speeds.
81 “True Fiber” Internet brings the fiber directly to your home or business. Some companies that offer “Fibet Internet” only have fiber to the town or neighborhoods, then they use old outdated lines to bring it to your premises. This limits speeds to the capacity of those old lines.
Since you’re only as fast as your weakest connection, once we bring our True Fiber to your house or business, we provide a gigabit router that provides these great speeds directly to your devices over Super Fast WiFi.
Our Gigabit True Fiber network will provide communities the maximum speeds and reliability the Internet has to offer. Streaming Video, Teleconferencing, Telemedicine, E-commerce, Gaming, and Security Cameras all require True Fiber to work best.
True Fiber Internet provides the infrastructure to grow our communities, improve our healthcare, and advance our education. We are providing the tools for next generation Internet services that will give our customers the competitive advantage they deserve.
81Broadband is a DBA of Terral Telephone Company www.81broadband.com
He’s completing his second term as the District 3 County Commissioner and looks forward to another one if elected.
In a recent interview, he was asked about what he felt like was the greatest accomplishments over the past four years and he quickly responded “the equipment we have paid for and the roads we have built.”
He said that recently they have received quite a bit of help from the Comanche Tribe with the roads. “They are talking about maybe finishing the roads going on into town (Ryan).”
He wanted to address the concern that he wasn’t getting enough REAP Grants. “I’m trying to get all the money for the county that I can. It’s not easy, plus you have to match the funds you get in a REAP Grant.”
Martin said that some have even complained about him working on the weekends and after hours.
“I do it because it helps us to stay caught up. Plus I like doing it. I like working.”
Martin believes that the hours of a county commissioner are 24-7.
“If you get a call about a flood or a road damage you have to go when called. It’s not just an eight hour a day job.”
Martin has lived in Terral his whole life.
“Except for the two years I was in the army.”
Before becoming the county commissioner of District 3 he had driven a truck for a living.
What he has enjoyed the most is the getting to know and help the people of his district.
He says that being commissioner is a good job. He acknowledged that the pay is not that much, but he enjoys the work.
During the next term he wants to rock more roads and clean up more of the ditches along the side of the road.
He has some ideas about saving money.
When they get all of the equipment paid for he would like to see the district get some newer trucks.
He’s also proud of the new county barn. It was built with a $45,000 REAP Grant and local volunteers and of course the county hands.
Rash Barrett loaned the county the track hoe to set the beams.
David England loaned them some equipment.
Tony Rodriquez helped by welding the beams.
Ty Phillips came down and helped.
Martin says that they have good hands working in District 3.
His goal is to finish all the current projects before the end of the year.
Boys from Waurika Cub Scout pack 4460, recently participated in Mountain Man Day hosted by Cub Scout leader Alan Harper. 17 kids participated in the event, and over 40 people were in attendance for the day. Committee member Clay Carter, Den leader JJ Edwards, and other parents and adults helped the boys participate in the event.
They began the day eating breakfast and learning about cooking in Dutch ovens with Chris Harper. Chris is the Scoutmaster of Troop 49 in Nelson, Missouri, and he has held this position for 34 years. He also serves as the B.S.A. District Executive for the Osage Trails and Kinderhook districts of the Great Rivers Council. After breakfast they divided up into groups for the trapping, leather working and blacksmithing stations. Roy Himebaugh taught the boys about different trapping techniques and why it was an important survival skill for a mountain man to know. He also showed them how he set his traps when he used to run his trap line. Michelle Dyer, pack 4460’s Webelos Den leader, taught the boys about leatherworking. At this station, they were able to design, dye, and stamp their own leather belt to keep. Alan Harper taught the boys about blacksmithing and the importance of blacksmiths in frontier towns. With the help of an adult, and while wearing safety equipment, the boys made a hat/jacket hook for their home. The day ended with eating some Klondike chili and cobbler made by Chris. Everyone enjoyed the day, and leaders are already planning next years activities!
It all started in January of 1991.
Kenny Wall had begun a journey in county government by becoming the District 1 County Commissioner in Jefferson County.
In 2008 he left the District 1 Commissioner position to become the manager of projects for the Circuit Engineering District number 6.
As the only full-time employee of District 6 he worked for nine counties as an overseer of the road and bridge projects, and hired the engineers for the projects. He would then oversee the project all the way through to completion.
Although the Oklahoma Cooperative Circuit Engineering Districts were set up in 1997 there wasn’t any money available for the hiring of employees until 2008. Kenny Wall was the first full-time employee for District 6, Jefferson County is a part of that district.
He was the one who set up the way the district 6 is operated.
Because there wasn’t any money to hire other staff personnel he had to be creative. Most of the work he did by himself.
His office was in his home because they didn’t have the money to buy offices.
The individual counties worked with Wall on the projects.
The districts are funded by the Department of Transportation.
Wall said he was able to give back around $540,000 to the counties in his district each year.
His goal was to always do what he could to help the individual counties the best he could.
What he will miss the most will be the interaction with the commissioners of those counties.
What he will enjoy about retirement is working with his reining horses and competing in shows.
He has been participating in the reining horse competitions for about 20 years.
He recently won first place in a competition at Shawnee after sitting out for about a year.
Wall will also enjoy spending time with his grandchildren. He and his wife Sheila have three. Their daughter Shandra Yasuda has two girls and a boy.
Joel is 13.
Abby is 7.
Elly is 4.
He says they keep him busy. But he enjoys them immensely.
Editor’s Note: The Antique Station was founded by the Webb family. Both Mr. and Mrs. Webb went by the name Pat. For the purposes of this article, Mr. Webb will be referred to as Pat and Mrs. Webb as Patsy.
Pat and Patsy met in 1986 and then Married in 1997. Although it was their second marriage. They soon discovered they were made for each other.
“He was my soul mate,” Patsy says.
Pat was born and raised in Addington, so when the two married, they made Addington their home.
Pat had recently retired from his own business, E&W Construction, when he surprised her with a marriage proposal.
While they were dating, they had spent a lot of time on the road traveling to craft shows. During this time Patsy was still living in Marlow. One day, Pat came in and said he had worn out three pickups traveling between Addington and Marlow.
“Don’t you think it’s about time we get married?” That was his proposal.
Her reply was just as down to earth, “I expected a proposal at some point in time, but not like this. But yes, it’s about time.”
She says he was just what she needed. “He had a wonderful sense of humor.”
On July 2, 2005 they founded the Antique Station. They started the business on a wing and a prayer. Obviously, it paid off.
They rented the building from Charlie Harris.
Patsy and her friend Laura Thorn Jackson had been in business previously in Bowie, Texas. So she came up and helped. She brought her own antiques to sell in the store.
In the beginning, they sold antiques and barn wood furniture. Barn wood furniture was really in at the time and Pat was the best at building it.
The original floor was an ugly tan brown. Pat took a bumpy roller and painted the interior a lite jadeite green. That set the tone for the business.
It wasn’t long before they began to outgrow the space they were using.
The only space available was the lobby of the original gas station. The old pilings from the gas pumps were still out front.
Charlie gave them permission to enclose the front and removed the pilings and cement from where the gas pumps had been. It was really hard work. They did it with sledge hammers and manual jack hammers.
By the following Sunday evening she took a car sponge and painted the interior and made it look like old bricks. He husband had some concerns when he first saw her artistic endeavors.
“Honey, I hate to tell you this,” he said. “But your bricks are all going down hill.” She politely responded, “It’s supposed to be an old building, get over it.” Together they laughed and made the best of it.
This was characteristic for them. They hit it off from the first time they met and always made the best of whatever situation they found themselves in.
Together, they were turning the Antique Station into a thriving business.
Pat loved to hunt down the antiques but he left the selling up to Patsy.
On January 26, 2006 Pat unexpectedly passed away.
“I’ve been mad at him ever sense” she says. “That wasn’t in the plans.” She says it was really tough that first year without him.
Her friends from high school all showed up her first day back at work after the funeral and stayed with her the entire Saturday. Later that night they all went to Bill’s Catfish.
“It was great to have that support,” she remembers.
With the grace of God she continued to grow the business.
Later a tornado came through and tore some of the corner of the roof back. It exposed some of the glassware and other items to rain.
She called her son in law at the time, James Pass. He came up, along with her grandson Dallas, and was able to fix the roof with ease.
However, there was a lots of water still standing.
She says she is thankful she had insurance. They sent a company to come down and remove all the water.
Mark Childers and his wife Sherrie, who had been previous customers, joined her in the business venture in 2008.
It all started when he paid to fill her propane tank so she could have heat.
Later Mark had the idea of holding auctions in the old barn that wasn’t being used on the property.
Pat says she was always interested in antiques. She says it is her dad’s fault. Pat is the daughter of Richard and Pauline Sisk. They lived on a farm north of Marlow.
Before Patsy’s parents married, her dad had served in World War II and sent back items of value to his then “Pen Pal” Pauline (the same Pauline he would later marry).
Richard was with the 45th infantry and was a personal driver for Col. Cornish for while. Then later for Lt. ColbWalter Schlotzhauer.
One of the items sent back was a bedspread from Adolf Hitler’s bed. Other valuable items just happened to be antiques.
He also sent a Majolica Platter. He once told Patsy that “this is just stuff. If you ever get into trouble, you can sell it.”
That began her love for antiques.
She had a piece of pottery from Anzio, Italy, also sent by her dad.
Recently, she was able to sell it on Ebay and someone from Salerno bought it.
One of the heartbreaks of her life happened one day when she came home from college to find her mother had taken the antique family dining table to the dump.
She had done this because Richard, Patsy’s dad was a pioneer of irrigation submersible pump farming in the area and which brought in a surplus of income for the family. This inspired Patsy’s mother to want “new” furniture. It inspired Richard to buy the family their first new car, 1962 Ford Galaxy XL 500.
Poor Patsy was able to rescue a couple of chairs from the dump site but her beloved family table was too damaged for repair.
Now the family was stuck with the Harvest Gold dinning set. Patsy says it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen.
After graduation from Rush Springs, she attended Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha.
While she was there it changed to COED and also changed the name (over her strong objections).
Patsy has three children: Zack, Jeremy and Melisa.
Patsy’s daughter, Melisa recently married David Kramer. They live in Checotah, Oklahoma.
Melisa is an instructor at Teen Challenge. David is a Caterer.
The Antique Station has been her life for the past 17 years. She is so grateful to everyone who helped her and supported her in so many ways.
Recently Patsy sold the Antique Station to Mark and Sherie Childers. She wishes them the best and hopes the store will continue to grow and prosper.
Vincente Villarreal, Town of Terral Mayor
Ronnie Ward, Executive Director of ASCOG
The Terral REAP grant of $45,00 will be used to install new water meter to customers. The current meters are obsolete and do not reflect an accurate accounting of water usage.
