bmonthly July 2023

Welcome to July friends and Happy July 4th…Independence Day! Christy and I want to thank all of our service men and women who everyday keep us all free through their service and bravery!

Three years ago we started a contest for July to showcase your photographic skills. Our first year was the Price Tower and the second year was downtown Bartlesville. Last year we had you photograph

“The Center.” Our Community Center, for its 40th anniversary. For this year’s contest we made it just a little harder. We asked you to photograph what I say is the anchor of downtown, the “Johnstone Sare Building .” When I told Crystal Sare, the owner of the building, that we chose her building for the contest, she said “It’s a hard building to take pictures of.” Because of how large it is that might be true, but you all came out and showed just how beautiful this building is. We want to thank each of you for taking the time to take your pictures and submit them.

When the voting ended, Mr. Andrew Nichols was this year’s “People’s Choice.”winner with this stunning picture. Actually both of his pictures he submitted at the time of the contest closing tied each other, so we got to pick which one to make a full page. If you remember, Andrew won the first year’s cover winner of the Price Tower, which still today is one of my favorite covers.

So now it is time to announce this year’s cover winner submitted by Bradley Revard! What a great picture that just jumps off the page with so much color and what a great angle! Congratulations Bradley for being the Judges Choice for 2023! We want to thank all of you for submitting your pictures, and we can’t wait to see what next year’s subject matter will be.

For me, July is the most important month of the year. On July 23rd, 2005 my life was changed forever. On that day I married the love of my life, Christy Louise Dutcher. If you read this magazine for the last 6 years, you know I have written many stories of our journey and what she means to me. Some of you might think what else could he say that he hasn’t already said about Christy? Honestly, I could write for the rest of my life and never in words tell you what she means to me. Our love not only has changed me, us, but has changed others. I remember our first meeting and the smile on her face in 1985. I truly was taken aback by her beauty and her innocence. From that night that I first laid my eyes on her, I have never seen anything as beautiful as I did that night. Everyday when I wake up and see her next to me, I still get that feeling of butterflies inside of me.

When I see that smile on her face I just melt…we spend a lot of time together with

all of our adventures that we do. Even in the silence of no words when we are together, we know what each other thinks and feels about each other. The passion and love that we have for each other just radiates in a room. When she walks into a room and if you’re watching me, you will see this 54 year old man just melt. I don’t know what you might call that but I call it true and forever love. I can’t imagine a day that she is not next to me. I know I can always reach out and touch her. When I need her, she has always been there. But as you know we struggled when we first married, when I relapsed and started going down the road again of my cocaine addiction. It makes me sick today to think about all the HELL I put her through. Can you imagine after 18 years of being apart and finally both coming together in such a magical and fairy tale story? Then 3 months into our marriage,I was in the bathroom shooting cocaine in my arm. I really have to give Jesus all the credit. It’s hard to think of all the pain I caused her and my family. Christy bore the pain but believed that HE put this marriage together and forgave me for all the misery and pain I caused her. Nobody has ever sacrificed as much as she did. She did all she could to help me become clean and to love me when I wasn’t worth loving.

After 18 years of marriage and our very first date in October of 1985, all the mountains we have climbed and the dark valleys we walked through, we never lost our faith. We believed that us being together was meant to be. She has sacrificed everything for me…for us, and I just want to say thank you for never giving up on me and on us.

I know one day this moment, this time, these days will be over. When that day comes and when I take my last breath, I will know that I could of never loved anyone as much as I loved you, Christy. Thank you for being YOU and for never letting go and giving up on our story…our love story! I love you Christy Dutcher McPhail and Happy Anniversary Baby! Simply Yours, Keith

Volume XIV

Issue VII

Bartlesville Monthly Magazine is published by ENGEL PUBLISHING

Offices located in Downtown Bartlesville in the historic Price Tower 510 Dewey Ave, Suite 400, Bartlesville, OK 74003 P.O. Box 603, Bartlesville, OK 74005 www.bartlesvillemonthly.com facebook.com/bartlesvillemonthly

Publisher Brian Engel brian@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Graphics Copper Cup Images design@coppercupimages.com

Director of Sales & Marketing Keith McPhail keith@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Community Liaison

Christy McPhail christy@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Project Manager

Andrea Whitchurch andrea@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Administration

Shelley Greene Stewart

Delivery and Distribution

Tim Hudson

Calendar/Social Media calendar@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Contributing Writers

Debbie Neece, Kay Little, Kelly Hurd, Lori Kroh, Jay Hastings, Sarah Leslie Gagan, Brent Taylor, Keith McPhail, Jay Webster Randy Gamble, Joe Todd

Contributing Photographers

Bartlesville Area History Musuem, Alicia Rezendes, Angela Jeffers

Kids Calendar

Jessica Smith

ABOUT THE COVER

Downtown’s beautiful Johnstone-Sare building was highlighted in our July Cover Contest. The winnine picture belonged to Bradley Revard!

Creative concept by Keith and Christy McPhail

Design by Copper Cup Images

Managing Editors Keith & Christy McPhail were married on July 23, 2005.

We live, work, and play in Bartlesville, and we’re proud to serve our neighbors with integrity

Experienced, Honest, Local

Christie Roberts Community Over Competition

by Sarah Leslie Gagan

For as long as she can remember, shopping has been in Christie Roberts’ blood. From her earliest days growing up in Pawhuska, Christie loved going with her mother to all the shops. Admiring all the clothes, shoes and gift items brought her such joy. That joy of shopping has never left her. Now she is the proud owner of Moxie on Second, and enjoys the thrill of watching her customers shop her unique store.

What started out with the intention of being a school spirit store where Bartlesville Bruin and Dewey Bulldog and all area school spirit wear would be sold soon turned into so much more. It is one of the most unique gift shops in the area with a supply of kitchen items, books from local authors, various vendors with custom made jewelry, handmade gifts and much more.

Christie’s husband Shawn actually came up with the name “Moxie” meaning courageous spirit and determination. The couple thought the name was a perfect fit. Shawn and Christie own Bartlesvillle Print Shop on Second Street, and in 2017, there wasn’t much business on Second Street when Moxie opened. In the six years since, Second Street has sprung to life.

Christie spent her childhood in Pawhuska, Oklahoma with 2 brothers and 1 sister. She was born into a large, close knit family, with her father having 18 brothers and sisters. After graduation from Pawhuska High School, Christie soon began raising a family. She was blessed with two daughters and one son, who would in time bless her with 10 grandchildren.

Christie began a career in the banking industry as a teller at Osage Federal Bank in Bartlesville, which later became American Heritage Bank, and worked her way up the ladder in her 20 years of employment, holding the positions of Mortgage Loan Supervisor to Marketing Director when she retired from the bank in 2015.

Before venturing into retail, Christie was Sales and Marketing Manager for Bartlesville Print Shop, working alongside Shawn. It was in July of 2017 that she

fulfilled her dream of owning a retail store and opened Moxie on Second. Through the store, she has created a unique shopping experience for her customers. She loves seeking unique items and does her best to deliver to her customers a wide variety of items.

Christie is passionate about Bartlesville. For every purchase from the Bruin spirit department at Moxie, a percentage is donated back to the school. So far, the shop has donated approximately $70,000 to Bartlesville Public Schools from the sales proceeds.

Moxie has become a beloved part of the community and was featured on the television show Discover Oklahoma in 2019. The store will be celebrating their sixth anniversary on July 15th with their annual sidewalk sale, opening early from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Christie is involved in many community organizations and activities. She is on the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and

has helped organize the popular “The Good, the Bad and the BBQ” fundraiser for Eldercare for the past ten years. Christie has been gifted with a real heart for working with the elderly population.

Christie loves promoting Bartlesville and encouraging area tourism. She is eager to share local attractions with her out of town customers and highlight sights they must see in the area. She is a huge encourager of new businesses in the community, and does not see them as competition, but as an enhancement to the area. She loves to see her town thriving and growing.

Christie loves the opportunity to meet new people and has created a job that she loves going to every day. It never feels like work. She gives her husband Shawn and employees ample credit for the store’s success and states she wouldn’t be in business if weren’t for their hard work and dedication.

When she isn’t searching for new items to stock in Moxie, Christie loves spending time with her kids and grandkids, as well as playing with her two miniature donkeys and two miniature goats. She also loves to read, but admits she doesn’t seem to find enough hours in the day to do everything she enjoys. Decorating

is also a passion of Christie’s and she loves creating a welcoming atmosphere in her home and shop.

Christie has participated in Leadership Bartlesville as a member of class 23. She also has been acknowledged for her community spirit and leadership by receiving the Jake Bartles Award in 2017, and recently won the Small Business of the Year award for 2023.  Moxie on Second has been voted Best Boutique by the Examiner Enterprise Reader’s Choice Awards every year that they have been open. Christie has also received The Inspirational Leader Award from the Chamber of Commerce. Her humble spirit shows through her service and kindness throughout the community she loves so much.

Christie came across the following quote when she was deciding upon the name of her shop, “If you have moxie, you need the clothes to match.” Well Christie certainly has added the moxie spirit of determination to our community with all she has accomplished. We are so blessed to have her among us and can be sure that she will use her moxie attitude to bring us great things in the future. Thank you, Christie, for all you do to make our town a home!

Andrew Nichols

Andrew Nichols

Ben Adams

Ben Adams

Ben Adams

Bradley Revard

Heather Murphree

Bradley Revard

Heather Murphree

Janet Lightfoot

Kathy Halajian

Kathy Halajian

Kumar Krishnan

Kumar Krishnan

Nathan Perkins

Kumar Krishnan

Nathan Perkins

Thank you to all our contestants and congratulations to our winners! We look forward to seeing your great pictures again next year. Keep checking out our Facebook page and visiting our website at bartlesvillemonthly.com to see what next year’s contest category is going to be.

Also, a special thanks to our contest sponsor:

Robin Mackey

Susan Steward

Bartlesville’s German Whitehairs

by

Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

In northeast Oklahoma, the name White Hair brings thoughts of the Osage Chief or the White Hair Memorial…the Osage Tribal cultural center housed in a 1920s farmhouse in the center of Osage county. However, names are often deceiving.

Charles Edward Weishaar was just 17 years old when he crossed the ocean from his German birthplace and, as often happened, his American name became Whitehair. He married Margaret VanSicle in 1855 and the couple settled in Kansas to raise their four children: May, Edward, John D. and Jessie.

John D. Whitehair made his way into Oklahoma, settling in Dewey with his wife, Hazel, where they raised their children: Louis Aldrich and Mary Whitehair. John became a prominent Masonic figure in Bartlesville, noted in the laying of the Y.M.C.A. building corner stone at the northwest corner of 5th Street and Johnstone Avenue in 1916, and he was generous beyond measure. They lived in Bartlesville and Dewey for 27 years before moving to Phillips Petroleum Company’s lease on 44 Hill, southwest of Bartlesville, about 1927.

Their son, Louis A. was also employed with Phillips Petroleum Company and married Margaret Miller in 1934. He was the Personnel Director for Phillips when the couple was transferred to Bartlesville about 1942 with their toddler son, Louis Hearn Whitehair, who was born in 1937 at St. Louis.

The Whitehair’s lived in the Burlingame Hotel on Johnstone Avenue before buying a home at 1123 S. Delaware and “Lou” attended Garfield School with classmate J. Paul Getty. About 1953, the Whitehair’s purchased a 160-acre ranch near Okesa and Lou traveled the ten-mile journey to College High School where he played Wildcat football and graduated valedictorian of his class in 1955.

Lou was a member of the Lone Scouting of America for rural boys and won their soap box derby using ball-bearing wheels. From that engineering feat, he was inspired to pursue

an engineering degree at Rice University in Houston and Rolla School of Mines in Missouri, graduating in 1959. He then obtained a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Kansas and, upon graduation, he was hired by General Electric Aerospace to help develop a space module. His career continued at McDonald-Douglas Aircraft Company in St. Louis, Missouri from which he retired in 1992.

His retirement looked much different than some. He continued to live in Missouri, where he trained for the Senior Olympics Track and Field events…ran the 100-meter dash in 12.8 seconds, high-jumped 5’5” and bench pressed 225 pounds. In addition, his thirst for knowledge led him to become interested in Multiple Sclerosis and immunizations, which prompted a medical journal article in 2005.

Louis A. and Margaret Whitehair both died in 1991, merely three-months apart. Louis H. Whitehair lived a full rewarding life, although he never married and had no siblings or children. A Parkinson’s diagnosis brought him to the comforts of home in 2015 where he lived at Green Country Village in Bartlesville, making many wonderful friends, until his passing January 25, 2023. He joined his grandparents, John D. and Hazel, and parents in rest at Memorial Park Cemetery… without a drop of Osage heritage.

JULY CALENDAR SPONSORED BY

Big Bang 5K

8 AM; Downtown Dewey

4th of July Freedom Fest

6 PM; Sooner Park

Sizzlin Summer Series Red, White, Blue & BBQ

7 PM; Tower Center at Unity Square

OKWU Summer Development Camp

6 PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

The camp is for ages 5-12 and runs through July 12.

Summer of Fun at Unity Square

7 PM; Tower Center at Unity Square

Join us ALL SUMMER for our series of FREE music on the green at the Bartlesville Unity Square Plaza. This is Open to everyone / Free to the Public.

LIVE Music,. Dance under the Stars , Open Mic & KARAOKE

July 17th for our KIDS night.

Camp Woolaroc (Ages

6-8)

10 AM; Woolaroc

The kids have so much fun that each day they go home sharing their stories with parents and grandparents. By the end of camp, we are getting a lot of requests for a Camp Woolaroc for adults! The registration fee is $100.00 per camper. Members of Woolaroc attend for $80.00 per camper. Camp runs through July 20.

8th Grade Registration

9 AM; Madison Middle School

OKWU Men’s Basketball Select Prospect Camp

1 PM; OKWU Gym

In his 10 seasons as the Head Coach at OKWU, Coach Donnie Bostwick has an 83% winning percentage. This is tied as the highest winning percentage of active head coaches in College Basketball. The camp will include a skill workout which consist of 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, and 5 on 5 play.

Camp Woolaroc (Ages 9-11)

10 AM; Woolaroc

The kids have so much fun that each day they go home sharing their stories with parents and grandparents. By the end of camp, we are getting a lot of requests for a Camp Woolaroc for adults! The registration fee is $100.00 per camper. Members of Woolaroc attend for $80.00 per camper. Camp runs through July 27.

OKWU Diaper Dandy

Basketball Camp (4-10)

9 AM; OKWU Gym

The OKWU coaching staff will be holding a camp for the little Eagles as well. This camp is perfect for the beginner and is open to kids ages 4-8. The camp will be from 9 am-noon. Goals will be lowered and skills will be taught a very enjoyable pace and style. Help your child fall in love with the game of basketball at a very early age.

SAT, Jul 1

8 AM

Bartlesville Farmers Market

Frank Phillips Park

222 SW Frank Phillips Blvd.

The farmers market is held at 8 a.m. every Saturday through October 14.

8 AM

The Rogue Lens Exhibit

Price Tower Arts Center

510 S Dewey Ave.

The exhibit is open during normal business hours through August 6. The Rogue Lens, a brand-new photo gallery in the heart of downtown Bartlesville, is pleased to announce its inaugural exhibition, featuring a stunning collection of photographs showcasing artists in their element. This show captures artists’ creative processes from different disciplines as they create their masterpieces. The collection includes photographs of a florist, baker, glassblower, woodturner, and more. The Rogue Lens is a project by local photographer Andy Dosstt.

8 AM

9th Annual Big Bang 5K, 10K & Fun Run

Downtown Dewey

The 5K and 10K races both start at 7:30 a.m. The fun run starts at 8 a.m.

10 AM

Mountain Man Camp and Animal Barn Open

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

The Mountain Man Camp and Animal Barn are open during normal business hours all July.

JULY EVENTS CALENDAR

MON, Jul 3

5 PM

Beginning Spanish Class

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

Free Beginning Spanish Class every Monday evening at 5 pm in Meeting Room B on the first floor of the Bartlesville Public Library.

5:15 PM

Rev + Flow w/ Rosa

Unity Square

300 SE Adams Blvd.

Rev + Flow w/ Rosa is held on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:15 pm outside at Unity Square. This class is free and open to the public.

6 PM

Pound w/ Tarah

Unity Square

300 SE Adams Blvd.

Pound w/ Tarah is held on Mondays at 6 pm at Unity Square. Pound is a fullbody workout that combines cardio, conditioning, and strength training with yoga and Pilates-inspired movements.

6 PM Intermediate Spanish Class Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

Free Intermediate Spanish Class every Monday evening at 6 pm in Meeting Room B on the first floor of the Bartlesville Public Library.

TUE, Jul 4

WED, Jul 5

9 AM

Tai Chi w/ Bee

Unity Square

300 SE Adams Blvd.

Tai Chi w/ Bee is held at Unity Square on Wednesdays at 9 am. Tai Chi will help improve your balance and wellness. This class is FREE and open to the public.

5 PM

Wine Wednesday Palace Rooms Lounge

309 S Dewey Ave.

6 PM

Freedom Fest hosted by Bartlesville Kiwanis Sooner Park

Annual Fireworks, festival, food trucks, music and kids parade.

6 PM OK EAT-UPS Meetups OK EAT

4400 Nebraska St.

Would you like to make new friends? Could you benefit from increased faceto-face social interactions and a new support system based on common interests? Do you need to get outside and away from cellular life? Get involved, meet new friends, and learn something new by joining OK EAT-UP 2023 Meetups! Put on your farming clothes and join us in creating a casual, social, welcoming, inclusive environment conducive for fun and learning. During the 2023 season, we will lay agriculture cloth, prep the tomato tent for planting, learn organic plant maintenance methods, learn to operate John Deere equipment and more!). We’ll enjoy tastings from various food vendors, and we will invite local and regional businesses to join us.

Join us for Wine Wednesdays at Palace Rooms! Every Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm, we’re offering free wine tastings for our guests who are over 21. Our team of wine experts will also be on hand to demonstrate and discuss our select wines. But that’s not all! We’re also offering specials on wines throughout the night, so be sure to ask your server for more information.

5:30 PM

Wednesday Citizenship Class

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

Citizenship classes are held on Tuesdays at 6 pm, Wednesdays at 5:30 pm, and Thursdays at 11 am on the second floor of the Bartlesville Public Library.

THE MOST-READ MAGAZINE IN BARTLESVILLE

6 PM

Dance ’N Define w/ Tarah

Unity Square

300 SE Adams Blvd.

Dance ‘N Define w/ Tarah is held outside on the Stage at Unity Square on Wednesdays at 6 pm. It is free and open to the public.

6 PM

Johnstone Irregulars Book Club

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

THU, Jul 6

2 PM

Will Rogers Interpreter Bart Taylor

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

FRI, Jul 7

Sizzling’ Summer Series - Red, White, Blue & BBQ

Unity Square

300 SE Adams Blvd.

If you can’t get enough Independence Day fun then come downtown for the Sizzlin’ Summer Series for a “Red, White, Blue, & BBQ” mini-festival! This free outdoor event, from 7pm to 9pm, will have food trucks parked at Unity Square, Price Tower will be open for food and beverages, and King Cabbage Brass Band will be playing a concert. We’ll have a set of horseshoes, cornhole, and volleyball with beach balls. The Fire Department will have a truck parked next to the green space!

SAT, Jul 8

8 AM

Crossfit Dryathlon

Crossfit Bartlesville 3822 SE Kentucky St..

SUN, Jul 9

10 AM

Osage Christian Camp

Osage Hills State Park

2131 Osage Hills Park Rd.

The Christian church camp runs through July 14.

MON, Jul 10

6 PM

Magician Kevin Wade

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

All Day

ACCLAIM - Ochelata Youth Camp

God’s Bible School & College

201 S West St., Ochelata

The camp runs through Friday, July 14.

THU, Jul 20

6:30 AM

Faith In Business Series Crossing 2nd 215 E 2nd St.

9 AM

Douglassaires Homecoming 2023 Westside Community Center 501 S Bucy Ave.

SAT, Jul 15

12 PM

Let’s Chill - Modern Brush

Calligraphy Workshop

Hilton Garden Inn

291 E Frank Phillips Blvd.

This workshop was created with beginners in mind.

TUE, Jul 18

6 PM

BHS Class of 2003 Reunion

Johnstone-Sare Building 100 SW Frank Phillips Blvd.

MON, Jul 24

All Day

Oklahoma Senior & Women’s Stroke Play Golf Championship

Hillcrest Country Club

1901 Price Rd.

10 AM

Camp Woolaroc (Ages 6-8)

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

The kids have so much fun that each day they go home sharing their stories with parents and grandparents. By the end of camp, we are getting a lot of requests for a Camp Woolaroc for adults! The registration fee is $100.00 per camper. Members of Woolaroc attend for $80.00 per camper.

FRI, Jul 21

8 PM

Live Music with Aaron Ray Vaughan Cooper and Mill Brewing Company 200 S Dewey Ave.

SAT, Jul 22

8 AM

Try in July Richard Kane YMCA

101 N Osage Ave.

The Tri in July is a sprint triathlon benefitting the Richard Kane YMCA Scholarship program. The challenge will begin with a 400m pool swim. Next, they’ll hop on a bike for a scenic 12 mile ride with plenty of cows cheering you on! Finally, they will complete a mostlyshaded 5k run on our city’s beautiful Pathfinder. All finishers will receive a medal and a t-shirt!

Open to women amateurs, and to men amateurs who are 50 years old (super seniors 60), residents of Oklahoma, and members of the OGA. Format consists of 36 holes of stroke play.

TUE, Jul 25

10 AM

Camp Woolaroc (Ages 9-11)

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

The kids have so much fun that each day they go home sharing their stories with parents and grandparents. By the end of camp, we are getting a lot of requests for a Camp Woolaroc for adults! The registration fee is $100.00 per camper. Members of Woolaroc attend for $80.00 per camper.

10 AM

Roark Wildlife Exhibit Final Week Woolarok Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

Come and see it before it’s gone! Woolaroc is excited to partner with regional wildlife sculptor, Dale Roark. This partnership will bring 32 of Roark’s signature pieces to Room 6 of the museum.

FRI, Jul 25

9 PM

Live Music with KP & The Closers Osage Casino - Ramona 222 Allen Rd.

dealers, great showroom and vehicles, very accommodating. Really appreciate being called by name.” — Matt from Wichita, KS

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Maltby Hardware Bartlesville Store Was a Sportsman’s Paradise

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

Emmett Parrish was a well-known hardware store operator in Nevada, Missouri. His two-story building was filled to the brim with the necessities for a fully operational farm and garden or fashionable family home. During the wee morning hours of September 9, 1904, the fire alarm sounded and a crowd gathered to help fight the blaze. As the sun rose, the extent of the damage was apparent. The second floor held 125 cooking stoves, as well as many screen doors and other solid building supplies, which fell through the floor, landing on the first floor of goods, leaving a “sorry looking wreck.” Parrish was undaunted and quickly rebuilt.

January 1912, a burst pipe doused the Parrish hardware store, leaving his goods in 4-5 inches of standing water for hours. Parrish did not rebuild. Among his faithful employees was James Rockwood “Jim” Maltby, Sr., who began working with Parrish about 1898. Maltby took the opportunity to move to Collinsville and purchase the F.M. Rogers Hardware Company at 1022 Main Street, northeast corner of Main Street and 12th. The Maltby’s became pillars of the Collinsville community where their three sons were born: Robert “Bob” Maltby Sr., James Rockwood “Jack” Maltby, Jr. and William “Bill” Maltby.

To rival the four hardware and

implement houses located in Broken Arrow, Milton C. Hale established a wholesale distribution in Tulsa with hardware stores throughout Kansas and Oklahoma, including in Bartlesville beginning in 1919, managed by W.C. Morton.

October 1923, Milton Hale sold the Bartlesville Hardware store to Jim and his brother John Maltby, who severed their Collinsville business operations to take prompt ownership of the new store. Beyond serving the Collinsville community hardware needs for many years, the Maltby brothers were well established and active in civic and business enterprises. The hardware store was sold to Olin Burnside, a local clothier, and the town of Collinsville was distraught to see the Maltby family move to Bartlesville.

Maltby’s was the sportsman’s paradise with a fine stock of hunting and fishing equipment, guns, shells, rods, reels, artificial bait and other equipment to give the sportsman a competitive edge in the great out-of-doors

The name of the Bartlesville store was changed to Maltby Brothers Hardware, located at the southeast corner of Second Street and Johnstone Avenue, 101-103 East Second Street. The small corner store had an entrance from Second Street and another from Johnstone Avenue. Maltby’s handled a full line of farm implements, builder’s hardware stock, carpentry tools and even paint. For the sportsman, Maltby’s stocked everything needed for golf, tennis, baseball, hunting and fishing. For the ladies, household appliances and

utensils, domestic and imported China, crystal wear and aluminum pots and pans. For the children, Bartlesville’s own Toyland, complete with bicycles, tricycles, wagons, skates and scooters.

After eleven years of Bartlesville hardware business, Maltby’s expanded to Pawhuska in 1935. Jim Maltby continued to operate the local store and brother John operated the Osage County store beginning January 5, located in the Worten Building at 126 East Main Street. April 1938, the brothers dissolved their partnership, however continued their sole store operations in Bartlesville and Pawhuska.

In 1936, the Bartlesville Maltby’s announced the opening of their Kelvinator electric appliance department, featuring refrigerators, ranges and washers. During the day-long celebration of demonstrations, lady visitors received flowers and the gentlemen received cigars.

As early as Jacob Bartles’ millsite days along the Caney River, he preserved food and ice in a well lined with sawdust. As food preservation advanced, commercial ice companies were established, like the Crystal Ice Company in Bartlesville, and horse-drawn ice wagons made deliveries to homes with “iceboxes.” By the late 1930s, electric refrigerators were replacing iceboxes; and reportedly, by the mid-1940s, 85% of American households had an electric refrigerator

In December 1939, Jim Maltby’s three sons entered the hardware business. George Mueller’s hardware store at 106 E. Third Street was the perfect location for the expansion. After just two years of operation, the stock of Maltby’s No. 2 was

consolidated into the original store at Second and Johnstone where his sons, Jack and Bob, joined the Bartlesville Maltby Hardware and Bill joined his uncle at the Pawhuska location…until WWII called their names. When Jim Maltby retired in 1948, he left the hardware store in the capable hands of his sons.

In 1958, a realestate transaction brought changes to downtown Bartlesville. Don Tyler, of the famed Dewey Portland Cement Company, was the Union National Bank Chairman of the Board who announced the bank had purchased the Maltby Brothers Hardware Store at Second and Johnstone for future bank expansion. On December 7, 1959, this corner became the Union National Motor Bank, a “bank from your car” drive-thru banking facility. At that time, the Maltby’s acquired the Overlees Building at the southwest corner of Frank Phillips Blvd. and Johnstone Avenue, where they completed their multigenerational, 48-year Bartlesville hardware career about 1971.

James “Jim” Maltby Sr. experienced a heart attack and died in 1962, his wife followed in 1965 (both buried in Bartlesville’s Memorial Park Cemetery); Robert “Bob” Maltby Sr. died in 2000 (Tulsa); James Rockwood “Jack” Maltby, Jr. died 1970 (Bartlesville’s Memorial Park); and William “Bill” Maltby died in 2004 (Bartlesville’s Memorial Park).

John Maltby operated the Pawhuska Maltby’s Hardware until retiring May 18, 1954. He sold the store to Tom Olson, of Pawhuska and John died in 1969 (Bartlesville’s Memorial Park).

Did You Know?

The building at the southwest corner of Frank Phillips Blvd. and Johnstone Avenue, 301 S. Johnstone, was built by Jess Overlees in 1907 and was home of Jim Master’s Clothing from 1907 to 1927; then, Tom and Elsie Lee Stout signed a lease as Stout’s Specialty Store. In 1939, the Crown Drug Store occupied the corner before Maltby’s purchased the corner in 1958. In 1972, Denton’s Fashion Center occupied the building and then the block was cleared prior to the June 8, 1984 groundbreaking for the 15-story Plaza Building currently occupying the block.

Now You Know *

Located in the heart of Downtown Bartlesville

Located in the heart of Downtown Bartlesville

100 SW Frank Phillips Blvd

100 SW Frank Phillips Blvd

Reserve your spot at the top (918)440-6773

Reserve your spot at the top (918)440-6773 JOHNSTONE-SARE The

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www.johnstone-sare-theroomatthetop.com

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Bartlesville in 1909...

The Year of Architectural Twins

by Kay Little, Little History Adventures

Did you know that in 1909, two almost identical Neo Classical style mansions were built in the Bartlesville area?

The home of Frank and Jane Phillips, located at 1107 S Cherokee, often called ‘The Grand Lady of Cherokee Avenue’ and the Belle Meade, which means Beautiful Meadows, home of Harold and Zora Lannom, located at 14th St and Hickory, were built at the same time, but by different architects. Walter Everman designed the Phillips home. A contractor from Chicago designed the Belle Meade.

Both Frank and Harold came to the Bartlesville area in the early 1900s and became involved in the oil industry here. Frank eventually founded the Phillips Petroleum Company, while Harold became involved in real estate and oil & gas. Both men were business leaders in the community. Their wives were very active in community events. The wives helped to civilize this oil boom community. Bartlesville was a better place because of these families.

Frank owned quite a bit of land just south of downtown and built a beautiful Neo Classical style mansion on Cherokee Avenue. The Phillips hosted many parties and the neighbors always enjoyed visiting with Uncle Frank and Aunt Jane.

Harold was able to build a beautiful Neo Classical style mansion for his family on his wife’s Cherokee allotment. He continued to buy more acres around the Belle Meade home and established a horse track, which became a popular place of entertainment with horse races, roping, bronco busting, steer riding and dog shows. Unfortunately, Harold and Zora divorced in 1911. The beautiful home was destroyed by fire in 1926. Several businesses in the area have been named for Belle Meade, including a church, a grocery store and salon. Jane Phillips Elementary School and the surrounding neighborhood are on the site of the racetrack and mansion.

The Phillips Home is red brick, with white columns and large porches on three sides of the house. The north side has a circular drive where guests have been welcomed to the home. The house had 26 rooms, with three floors of living space and a basement. The Phillips spared no expense furnishing the home, which included Waterford chandeliers, Tiffany lamps, 10-carat gold bathroom fixtures, leaded glass, marble facings, silk damask on the walls and Philippine mahogany throughout the home. In 1909, after waiting over a year for the home to be built, Frank, Jane and their son, John, moved in to their beautiful home on Cherokee Avenue.

Belle Meade was also a three-story home, built of red brick. It had 22 rooms with spacious hallways, four bathrooms, seven fireplaces of imported tile and a

beautiful winding staircase. The home was decorated with imported materials, furnishings and beautiful paintings. The Lannoms had custom-built furniture throughout the house. Elaborate silver pieces adorned the dining room. This home also had silk damask covered walls. After waiting over a year for the home to be built, the Lannom family, consisting of Harold, Zora and their four children, were able to move in to the home.

You can read more about the beautiful homes of the Phillips and Lannom families in the book,  If Bartlesville’s Walls Could Talk.

THE FRANK PHILLIPS HOME

THE BELLE MEADE

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by Jay Webster

Humans are funny beings.

We’re considered a social species, but there are days…

My wife likes to say that I’m an introvert who can also operate as an extrovert (when I want). In other words, while I may seem a bit anti-social on the surface (like when I have a toddler-sized meltdown at the idea of scheduled social engagements), the truth is I am just selectively social. So, I’m someone who loves people (an extrovert), but I love them even more with the proper amount of alone time (an introvert). I prefer the term Bi-Social.

We all have genetic struggles. Mine happens to be that I’m violently allergic to self-denial or the idea of putting others above my own comfort. I don’t like it. In pop culture, we’re fond

of phrases like “to thy own self be true” or “know thyself”. The challenge is, I’ve met me. It’s not all good. And left to myself (for too long), I’m not someone I want to be around.

We’ve had a lot of those personal discoveries in my home lately.

Just a couple of weeks ago, our daughter graduated from fifth grade…which is not a real thing. It’s not a real thing because we didn’t have “5th grade Graduation” when we were kids. That’s apparently the new standard for validating something or giving it merit… If it didn’t happen to us it must not be real.

At any rate, my daughter “graduated.”

We were at Richard Kane Elementary for seven truly

wonderful years. I know it was seven years because we have a yearbook for every one of those years (including preschool and kindergarten). Now, I don’t want to be that guy, but if you can’t functionally get yourself to the bathroom on your own, do those academic years really need to be immortalized in a $20 yearbook?

In the last few weeks of fifth grade, my daughter was pretty nonplussed about the whole thing. There was far too much to look forward to, for us to start worrying about what was ending. But as our final week approached, all the feels came out. “I can’t wait for next year and Middle School! Five days till Summer! Wait…this will be my last time to play on these Monkey Bars… forever.”

Soon those days were met with anxiety, irritability, stomachturning, lightheadedness, loss of appetite… And that was just my wife.

Having physical responses to our real emotions are not new in my family. There have been other seasons in which all these feelings (conscious or unconscious) have led to sleepless nights, feeling faint, and journeys down rabbit holes of exploration of life/death/eternity and “what does it all mean”.

So we had a family meeting.

We discussed how interesting it is that in seasons of change or transition, we often have these reoccurring reactions (even when the change is good ). Somehow the unsettled nature of these seasons makes us sorta vulnerable to a whole range of thoughts and responses that might not otherwise find time in our consciousness.

It’s almost like the person who finds themself so busy and working so hard that their immune system gets drained and they come down with every passing “bug” that’s floating around. One day they’re fine. The next they’ve got cold sores, stress acne, random bloody noses, and a mild flu.

Transition seasons are interesting that way.

For some of us when we find ourselves in the midst of change we long for some sense of normalcy. How many times have you seen someone who has ended a relationship, something unhealthy with no good future, only to rekindle that thing simply because it feels normal while everything else feels unsettled?

The same can be true of behaviors and habits. Stress-eating anyone? Suddenly cigarettes, a full bottle of wine, and doublestuffed Oreos all seem to have medicinal value and special chemical properties to calm us.

For me, a little awareness can go a long way.

A season like this might require us to slow down and give any big decisions we face a little extra consideration (over impulsively responding by how we feel in the moment). “Am I selling all my possessions and running away with Carl because I love him or because I’m avoiding something else?”

Transition seasons find us with some frequency because life is constantly moving forward. Kids graduate. People get married. Jobs are offered and homes sell. Parents get older and health comes and goes. Rain falls. Rain dries up.

Maybe the key is recognizing the seasons when they happen. It’s like reading a road sign when you’re driving, “Caution, the road up ahead is swerve-y. It requires more alert driving to navigate it. You’ll be fine. Just don’t lose your head.” You’ve seen that one, right?

Recognizing that this is a place in life that requires a little more alertness really seems to help. It involves us. It makes us feel like we are participating in life instead of life just happening to us . That was very empowering as my little family talked about all the “feels” of transitioning from one known to a new unknown. Recognizing the season as a place we’d been before (and come out alive) allowed things to “settle”. We were going into some rapids, we simply needed to apply all the rules for floating through rapids. We were not so much trying to control the situation as much as actively responding in the healthiest manner we could.

Sleep returned. Appetites returned. Feeling faint was less frequent. We still felt nervous and occasionally unsettled in our stomachs but we knew that was “normal” for this place.

I am happy to say, we made it through fifth-grade graduation successfully (even though it wasn’t real). We’re headed to middle school and a summer full of new experiences. (While I’m here, I just want to applaud all the amazing teachers, staff, and administrators we’ve had the privilege of sharing these seven years with. I can’t believe the quality of humans we got to entrust our daughter to. I’m truly grateful.)

I know there’s a chance you may find yourself in the very opposite season my family is in. Maybe there’s no transition season happening for you at all and you just sorta feel stuck. Is this the place where you manufacture drama to keep yourself from getting bored? Check your road signs. Proceed with caution. Keep the other people in the vehicle of your life safe. And then, just keep driving.

Whatever season you find yourself in, I hope you can recognize it and “manage it” with the tools you have. If not - get help. Believe it or not, you’re not the only one to feel these things or face these rapids. Sometimes, just knowing that is enough.

We don’t get to control our lives, obviously. The best we can do sometimes is be active participants by deciding how we respond. In that way, we can influence things for the better.

Whatever season you’re inGodspeed.

We’ll see you next month. Cheers.

Where: Frank Phillips Park, 222 SW Frank Phillips Blvd. (Just South of the train depot)

When: Every Saturday, May 7 - Oct 15 • Time: 8-11:30 am

Sutton Avian Research Center A Local Nonprofit with a National Reach

Thirty-nine years and counting. That’s how long Bartlesville’s nonprofit Sutton Avian Research Center has been fulfilling its mission of finding cooperative conservation solutions for birds and the natural world through science end education. As one of only a handful of well-established and fully staffed bird conservation organizations in the country, this Bartlesville hidden gem may be better known nationally for its work with declining and endangered birds than it is to many local citizens. Its first and perhaps best-known major project was helping to restore nesting bald eagles in Oklahoma and several southeastern states by raising and releasing 275 eagles from 1985 through 1992. The 90 eagles released in Oklahoma have gone on to grow into a population of several hundred resident eagles and over 300 nests in the Sooner state, including one near Bartlesville that can be viewed on an online webcam at the Center’s website suttoncenter.org.

The success of helping to restore the once-endangered bald eagle led to more opportunities, and the Center currently has major captive breeding programs for two of the most endangered birds in North America, the Attwater’s prairiechicken of Texas and the masked bobwhite of the Sonoran Desert. With tiny populations numbering only in the hundreds, these two birds need intensive conservation to prevent extinction and restore sustainable numbers in the wild. Working closely with other partners in multiple states, the Center’s team of aviculturists uses a variety of specialized techniques to help produce hundreds of chicks for release each spring and summer. Sutton Center senior biologist and leader of the masked bobwhite project Don Wolfe says that providing suitable habitat is the key to maintaining any species in the wild, and for something as rare as the masked bobwhite, getting as many chicks back into the wild as possible each year is needed to help restore a population. “Quail have large clutches and high reproductive rates partly because so many things want to eat them and because weather

is highly variable. They can recover from bad years during years of good weather, and we raise and release as many chicks each year as we can to give them the best opportunity for success.”

The Center also has long-term studies of Oklahoma’s birds underway. Statewide surveys of birds utilizing the participation of skilled birdwatching “citizen scientists” track the parts of the state where each species nests, and documents any changes in these distributions over time. Senior biologist and project leader Dan Reinking says that “keeping common birds common is the most effective and least expensive way of conserving bird populations, and long-term projects like our Oklahoma breeding bird atlas can provide early warning for species that may have started to decline.”

Making people aware of birds and their conservation is also part of the Center’s mission, and a robust education and outreach program provides school classes and other groups with personal visits or tours utilizing a number of “ambassador animals” that the Center has available, including a red-tailed hawk, a great horned owl, and other birds. Interested groups can contact education program manager Daniel Harris to schedule a tour or a visit at your location.

As a nonprofit organization, the Center relies on individual donations and philanthropy. The Center’s annual Wild Brew fundraiser is scheduled for August 26 at the Cox Center in Tulsa. This year marks the 25th anniversary of wild Brew, Tulsa’s oldest indoor pub and restaurant crawl. Hundreds of beers from local and regional breweries can be sampled alongside foods from dozens of Tulsa-area restaurants. “For Wild Brew’s 25th celebration, we’re pulling out all the stops for the ‘Greatest Party Every Hatched’ and hope to raise $250,000 to keep Oklahoma’s birds flying high,” says Sutton Center’s Assistant Director Audra Fogle. General admission and patron tickets as well as corporate sponsorships are available at wildbrew.org.

Weston Wisdom Through the Eyes of an Early Bartlesville Historian

by the late Edgar Weston

Over the course of time, Washington County has been blessed with a host of historians who diligently researched and preserved our history. One such man was Edgar Weston, who was a historian to his soul and shared his wisdom with newspaper readers and groups of interested people. Thank you bmonthly for giving Edgar this platform to share with you.

As Bartlesville began to relocate along the new Santa Fe Railroad, business buildings were partly new construction, but many were moved to Second Street from North Delaware upon temporary foundations. The new construction was of a more permanent nature but the small wood buildings were easily moved and very necessary to keep the town growing.

Drug stores, cafes, leather and harness shop, grocery, blacksmiths, livery barns, hardware and lumber yards, clothing stores and many others had to be established as the developing “oil boom” came into focus.

The area of present Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Streets from Keeler to Cherokee became the residential area. Beyond that was the William Johnstone farm, in the area called “On the Hill,” which was almost free of trees.

Sam Bopst built a wooden house on the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Johnstone Avenue with a wood corral that contained a stable, barn, chicken house and hog house.

Although the corral was substantially built, the chickens and young pigs had to be shut in their houses at night to protect them from coyotes that roamed in packs in search of a midnight snack.

Many small houses were built in the area, some were wood construction with wood floors and siding up four to six feet then covered by a tent. Houses of any kind sold as fast as they were built as housing was in short supply. With limited rentals, many people lived in covered wagons. Bartlesville town lots were leased for oil and gas drilling and standard drilling rigs covered many blocks across town. Photos from 1903 and 1904 show a sea of oil rigs blanketing the area.

At night, the chug, chug, chug of the spudders kept up a continuous noise all night, every night. The lights of the rigs could be seen at great distances and the deafening ring of sledge hammers filled the day as drill bits were sharpened and reshaped. The streets and trails were all dirt, covering everything with wind driven dust during dry periods and kneedeep mud and water filled wagon ruts when the rains arrived.

The first City Hall, built in 1903 at Second Street and Keeler Avenue, put in place city ordinances passed by the Town Council controlling oil and gas leasing on town lots, carrying firearms, controlling loose livestock, setting of fires in town, etc.

It is almost unbelievable the amount of activity necessary to keep the Boom Town supplied. Hay and grain had to be taken from the livery barns to drilling rigs and construction materials, pipe, drilling equipment and supplies were hauled as well. Food had to be taken to the drill sites to keep the drilling rigs operating 24/7.

Sometimes we look upon Bartlesville, Dewey, Copan, Ramona, etc. and fail to see the real hardships encountered in their development. These folks had to have a certain determination to blindly finish the task ahead.

My Grandma the Hero

Grandma Jacqueline Showed Strength Through a Tough Life by Randy Gamble, Get Real Ministries

My all time Hero is none other than my “Grandma Jacqueline”  She was born March 8th, 1917 and according to her story she shared with me, she and her family arrived in Barnsdall by buckboard wagon when she was around 8 years old. Grandma was a lady in every sense of the word, in my opinion and a Hero  of Heroes to me.

Grandpa EO and Grandma had two sons, my dad Jack and his brother Bill Gamble and between dad and Bill there were 5 grandkids which basically grandma raised because mom, Patsy and dad Jack worked all the time, same as Uncle Bill and Linda. Here is where the Hero in my eyes began to be exposed.

When grandma was in her late 40s she had some x rays done and they discovered she had a dislocated shoulder. Grandma said she had a cripple arm all her life. Their diagnosis was that during a delivery the Dr. must have dislocated her shoulder. She told the Dr. she has lived with it this long it will be just fine.

As I was growing up my older sister Deb and older brother JR would be in school so grandma would get out her ironing board and get  my sister’s ironing board and iron out for me. I would iron handkerchiefs and dish towels all the while grandma would be sharing Jesus with me.

As we grew up, cousins Billy and Ricky came along. We were a tight family, always eating together, laughing together, sharing Christmas together just like an old school type family.

Then one night, Halloween night, Billy, Ricky and a friend were heading out trick or treating Ricky said, Love You Grandma i will bring you lots of candy home. only about

20 minutes later the ambulance siren began to sound, 5 minutes later grandma was told Ricky was hit by a car and killed. Grandma began to weep and Pray.

Then only a few short years after that, Uncle Bill, a VietNam Vet took his own life, again i saw my grandma weep and Pray.

Then only a few years after that Cousin Billy was in a wreck with 3 other friends and Billy was killed. Again, I saw grandma weep and Pray.

Then a few years after that my grandpa EO had an artery blow in his neck and died at home. And Grandma began to weep and Pray.

So where does the Hero part come in you may ask? I never saw my grandma breakdown and wail out, i only remember seeing her Weep and Pray. As i was growing up in my mid 20s and these major events started taking place, remember I said I was ironing with grandma and she was sharing Jesus with me the whole time! There was a question I would ask grandma at each event and well into her nursing home years. And the question was this “ Grandma, you still Loving Jesus?”  And Her Reply Every Time was the same,

OH YES HONEY, GOD HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO ME!

So when I look at the trials and tribulations that go on in my own life they pale in comparison to what my grandma went through.

I hear the sweet voice of my grandma when I am faced with difficulties, Grandma, you still Loving Jesus?

Oh Yes Honey, God Has Been So Good To Me! That’s My Hero! Love Ya Grandma

Flexible Schedule

Bartles & the DAR

Daughters of American Revolution to Restore Mausoleum

by

Kay Little, Little History Adventures

In 2021, I wrote about the Bartles Mausoleum, hoping someone would realize the need to restore it. Last month, in the bmonthly, Debbie Neece shared even more history of the mausoleum. At the end of her article, she stated that in 1986, a Bartles family wanted to restore the mausoleum to honor his mother, but the mother died in 1988, and it was never completed. Fast forward to 2023.

Debbie Cook spoke to me and Debbie about wanting the Bartlesville Daughters of the American Revolution to restore the mausoleum. We are thrilled! All three of us agreed that we want the purpose to be the restoration of the Jacob Bartles Family Mausoleum in the Dewey Cemetery and to keep our history alive. Mrs. Cook, as BDAR Honorary Regent and Historic Preservation Chair, is leading this project. Funds for the project have been received through donations and grants. Greg Getty construction will complete the project.

Mrs. Cook also told us “The mission of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism. As a local chapter of DAR, it is our honor to work on this project for the betterment of our community and sharing history.”

After we discovered that Jake was a descendant of John Plum, a Revolutionary War Patriot, the DAR realized that this restoration would be in keeping with their mission, while honoring a Patriot.

The Bartlesville DAR chapter was organized on February 14, 1916. The organization has, during its 107 years, provided books for the public library, helped start the Red Cross, provided nose guard and pneumonia jackets during

the flu epidemic in the early 1900’s. The DAR and Red Cross worked in the temporary hospitals in town set up for flu victims.

The local DAR also helped support the Bartlesville Community Center project in 1978, going door to door, handing out brochures. They also go in to local elementary school teaching about the Constitution. These are just a handful of things the DAR has done to improve our community.

At the mausoleum dedication, which we will be announcing soon, the Bartlesville DAR will showcase Mr. Bartles and his ancestor, while sharing stories of some of the patriots of their organization. The DAR members believe that as they prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country and highlight DAR’s dedication to historic preservation, education and patriotism, these stories will rekindle an interest and appreciation for the sacrifices made as our ancestors helped create our great nation.

As Debbie Neece said, “the project will preserve the entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit of the Bartles family and

the place they gathered to rest.”

DAR leaders during the 2022 1st Post Office dedication.

Becki Gailey NMLS # 993347

Like a Rock There is Something Primal About Competitive Will

by Brent Taylor

My daughter often sang along with television commercials when she was very young. She didn’t always get the words right. When the Chevy Silverado commercial came on, she sang, “Mike the Rock, ” a version I’ve come to prefer with all due apologies to Bob Seger.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, we went to our lyrically challenged daughter’s home to see our grandchild … and her. The front door was locked so Karen and I decided to check the back door. I closed the backyard gate behind us and realized the mechanism was a little wonky and I couldn’t re-open the gate and get out of the backyard. We were imprisoned by a sixfoot-tall privacy fence. We heard the dogs barking inside, but apparently no humans were home. The only way out was to climb the wood privacy fence and jump into the front yard. On the flight down from atop the fence, about halfway I suppose, it occurred to me, “This is poor judgment.” And then I landed, and my fears were realized. Don’t tell my orthopedic surgeon who replaced my left knee that I jumped off a six-foot fence. I picked myself up and walked gingerly towards the car.

The vertical distance from which I can fly through the air and land unharmed back on earth is diminishing by several inches each year. I blame my jumping on my friend David Burns, who quotes a story about his brother, Eddie. During a Bible Class, the teacher was making a point that 99% of the things we worry over and lose sleep over, never happen. To which Ed Burns immediately commented, “See, it works!” I knew then, with the 99% certainty that despite tweaking my

calf muscle the day before playing pickleball and having a $40,000 titanium knee, that everything would be okay, even if I jumped. And I was correct. Right after landing and rolling back up to my feet, my wife yelled from across the yard, “I got the gate open!”

Even so, there is something primal about the competitive will to perform physical acts of bravado, some borne of necessity, but nevertheless, spurred on by the pride and knowledge of what once was. Namely, youth, strength, and flexibility. Bruce Springsteen once sang about two high school friends he saw in a bar later in life. The first friend could throw a fastball by you and make you look like a fool, and the other was a girl who could turn all the boys’ heads, but all they wanted to talk about was glory days. There is something deep inside us that makes us long to go back to the primal days when our futures were filled with possibility and our bodies were lean and powerful, like Bob Seger singing about running track in high school, “boldly, sweatin’ in the Sun, felt like a million, felt like number one, I was 18, lean and solid everywhere…like a rock.”

When you are 18, lean and solid everywhere, you jump off fences, sometimes over them. When you are 63, and you jump off fences, you are simply stupid.

In a few months, on my birthday, when I’m 64, things will calm down, according to the Beatles, and on Sunday mornings we can go for a ride and work in the garden weeding, who could ask for more? But I still kind of hope the garden has a fence, maybe a three-footer…

Don’t be Afraid... No Matter What Life Sends Your Way

by Lori Kroh

I knew her before I saw her. I had planned a meeting at a store in Malibu and was waiting. I turned around and saw her in a tunic dress with huge embroidery that read California Dreaming and had a rainbow with a huge sun appliqued on it. I ran up instinctively and asked, “Are you my Wendy?”

She nodded and smiled and we hugged and grabbed hands. I looked at her face and her eyes exuded wisdom. She had a sweetness about her and also this wit when she spoke so every comment could actually be a punchline in her own comedy hour.

My Wendy.

Wendy lives to teach others and for that I am so grateful. She taught me that one never knows someone until they really become curious. “You have to care enough to become curious. It’s the truest reflection and you learn more about yourself when you learn about others. Anyone can ask a question yet, the ones who are really curious learn from others and it teaches you,” she shared.

She and I have spoken over the last few years about all the things. We can talk for hours and still know there is more to be said about movies seen, books read, the places to go and places she has been. She told me stories of the greatest chefs and all to savor. The many hot spots and little hideaways, the grandest rooms and the little cafe’s. I have many notes and wrote down where to go, people to follow and people she knows. Wendy is a world traveler and has been to so many countries and cultures that I just call her when I need to know about anything. I could research yet, for some reason it is just easier to ask Wendy. I get to hear her moments and memories like poetic postcards mailed to my heart. She has a way of explaining that keeps me leaning in and listening.

She has told me stories from her life and it has made me cry and ponder and been in awe and wonder. She has been poor where bread and butter was supper, had extreme wealth where studying yoga in India was a fun whim. She has summered on yachts in the south of France and lived in Woodstock during Woodstock. She has met famous people who had it all and met the monks who owned no possessions. She is the epitome of someone who has mounds of luggage with the stickers placarded all over them of all the places she has been. It tells the world, I’ve been everywhere and so don’t even try to sucker me. Only she has class so she just collects the charms for her bracelet and knows that no one can pull a fast one on her. She is cultured, refined and unencumbered.

One day she picked up the ringing phone and her life came crashing down. Everything was gone. All the wealth and all the

power. All the good standing and all the memberships. There wasn’t a recourse and she was left without a future. She opened the window and yelled to Eddie, the pool boy. She told him to stop cleaning the pool as there was no need anymore. It was over. Eddie didn’t understand and continued to clean. As she stared at her home and all of her belongings, she readily accepted and knew it would all be taken. She had too much and now, not enough. Wendy immediately made a plan. She didn’t take the time to look back or wish for another way, she gave herself 48 hours to pack what she owned and used her mattress money to load the moving van and move across the country. She took only what she knew was sentimental or could be sold. She packed Gucci, Chanel, Prada and Hermes. She packed all of her Burberry and all of her Tiffany. She gathered them together like old friends. Instinctively she knew she would have to sell yet, how would she ever part with them? As she wrapped the bronze sculptures and the gilded paintings and the jewelry that was in velvet cases, she realized all things come to an end.

It would all be taken.

Wendy was in a world of affluence which also offered her a way of depending on others. She was influenced by the affluence and lost herself, or so she thought. Yet, deep down she somehow believed she could drive a moving van across the country. As she climbed in, she just knew that the next adventure was coming. Perhaps, she had not lost her way.

She pulled out the paper map and made her plan.

She did it by herself and for herself and when she recalls these memories, she doesn’t shed a tear. She drove to the other side of the country and landed somewhere in the middle of contentment and learned to embrace her life again.

The strength is in her voice and she lets me know that it always works out. Always.

She added one more charm to her bracelet which says Courage and now only she knows what it took and that’s all that matters.

No matter what life sends your way…the despair, the heartache and anguish one day grow from dark clouds to light and you find ways to cope and you learn that you aren’t afraid anymore. Her chaos was a vessel for her courage and living in contentment is a blessing.

I can’t wait until she comes to Oklahoma and you can meet my Wendy.

Enjoy Life’s Pleasures

All to Often We Take the Simple Things for Granted

by Kelly Hurd

I live a life of two porches – and in today’s world of politics, boycotts, the what-nots of whose-who’s and hot shots – some days I just turn the TV off, step out onto the porch, and enjoy a view of everything but…that.

One porch is small and simple, flanked by knockout rose bushes with a view of stock trailers, cattle pens, and at this particular moment, green pasture. It’s not big enough for rocking chairs, but the top cement step makes a perfect perch for coffee sipping in the morning. Black-Mouth Kerr dogs can be seen in the distance in what I call a cowboy kennel, and gentle horses dot the pens in the early morning hours. Bob White quail let me know they’re up for conversation, and many mornings a gentle wind whispers through the cottonwood tree over by the saddle house. Simplicity is something I appreciate, especially in the mornings – along with a good cup of coffee in a coffee cup that just fits my hand. Throw in the cowboy who built the kennel sipping a cup beside me, and what more could you ask for?

In my opinion, this is living. There’s nothing virtual about it –it’s reality in its purest form. There’s just something good about a little porch time. Porches used to be appreciated. They were the welcoming platform to one’s home, the congregating space for overflow company, a spot to enjoy a breeze and a little shade in the summer, and a place to linger in the evenings when the weather was nice.

Now, the other porch is a back one that we call the patio. It’s a little more upscale and less simple, with a patio couch and chairs, an outdoor dining table along with a stunning cliffside view of Lake Skiatook, Post Oaks, and Pine trees. The sound of boat motors in the distance, scampering deer down below, or playful squirrels chattering as they put on an acrobat show across the tree branches all come together to create a symphony that, in my opinion, could be spa music. It’s one of my favorite

evening spots as the sun goes down.  It’s a good place to unwind at the end of the day. I think of it as my sanctuary, and a little sanctuary time is just good for the soul.

What I’m trying to say in a round-about way – is that there are pleasures in life to be enjoyed - that many times we take for granted, things like porch time with someone you love. Like the sound of horses nickering in the distance. Like a cool breeze in the month of June. Like the smell of coffee, a good belly laugh, a kind gesture, the aroma of hamburgers cooking on the grill, sun tea, and maybe even a red popsicle on a hot day. Don’t “almost” experience reality while virtuality steals your day – take time to smell those porchside knockout roses, to feel a little porch cement under your back side, enjoy the view and appreciate what really matters in the first place. It’s not about the money in the bank, the gadget on the market, the squabbles in the news – it’s about the attitude of the heart and the gratitude of the mindset.

This is me, waving at you from my porch. You’re welcome here anytime!  Thanks for going On the Road with me this month.

#TheSmilesAreAlwaysFree

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Sizzlin’ Summer Series!

BiB! 2023-2024 Season Tickets Now On Sale

The Sizzlin’ Summer Series continues Friday, July 7 from 7 – 9 p.m. at Unity Square. Sweat it out as we boogie with King Cabbage Brass Band. Perhaps you’ve seen this band at Fassler Hall in Tulsa, or at The Jones Assembly in Oklahoma City. Now catch them in Bartlesville! Their pop, R&B, and hip-hop infused set is one you won’t want to miss.

Some of the fun activities for the kids will include a petting area, and an art project provided by the Bartlesville Art Association. Purchase classic summer food, BBQ and Andolini’s Pizza included, from a variety of food trucks, and sip on a cool beverage from Price Tower Plaza!

This free, fun, family-friendly event is sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council and local businesses: Doenges Family of Autos; Truity Credit Union; Arvest Bank; Visit Bartlesville; Stumpff Funeral Home and Crematory; and Scott Gillette - Farmer’s Insurance. For more information, please visit unitysquarebville.com or call 918-337-2787.

The Center for arts, events, and community is proud to announce its 2023-2024 Broadway in Bartlesville! season. Five traveling New York based shows will grace The Center’s stage during the series’ must-see twenty-first season. Purchase your season tickets today and mark your calendars for an outstanding run of national touring Broadway performances.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR makes a return to Bartlesville on Sunday, November 5 at 7:30p.m. This Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Gethsemane” and “Superstar.”

Starting off 2024 is MEAN GIRLS on Thursday, February 1 at 7:30p.m. “Broadway has waited a long time for Tina Fey’s talent. At last she’s here” (The New York Times). Directed by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon),  MEAN GIRLS features a book by Fey(“30 Rock ”), music by Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ”), and lyrics by Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde). Entertainment Weekly calls it “A marvel: dazzling and hilarious!” and  New York Magazine cheers, “MEAN GIRLS delivers with immense energy, a wicked sense of humor and joyful insidejokery.” The story of a naïve newbie who falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies, this new musical is “fresh, fun and infectious” (People).  USA Today says, “We’ll let you in on a little secret, because we’re such good friends: Get your tickets now!”

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award® winning musical comedy phenomenon, comes back to Bartlesville on Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30p.m. It’s 1962 Baltimore and 16-year-old Tracy

Turnblad is out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show, to change the world, and win the hearts of America once again. This mega-hit musical, piled bouffant-high with laughter and romance - and all of the deliriously tuneful songs you love - hits Bartlesville in 2024. And you don’t want to miss this party! Welcome back to the ‘60syou can’t stop the beat!

Another standout production in the Broadway season is a musical tribute, THE CHER SHOW on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30p.m. Superstars come and go. Cher is forever. For six straight decades, only one unstoppable force has flat-out dominated popular culture—breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries, and letting nothing and no one stand in her way. THE CHER SHOW is the Tony Award-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the icon.

Rounding out the season, on a still to be determined date, is COME FROM AWAY. The true story of the small town that welcomed the world, Broadway’s COME FROM AWAY has won Best Musical across North America! The story takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. Don’t miss this breathtaking new musical written by Tony® nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and helmed by this year’s Tony-winning Best Director, Christopher Ashley. Newsweek cheers, “It takes you to a place you never want to leave!” On 9/11, the world stopped. On 9/12, their stories moved us all.

Ordering a season subscription is the most cost-effective way to see all five shows from the same seat. Season subscriptions range from $115 to $395, include five shows, and save subscribers between $30 and $55 over buying individual tickets. However, if you cannot commit to the entire season, single tickets to each show go on sale eight weeks in advance of individual show dates. Single tickets range from $30 - $85.

Financial support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Oklahoma Arts Council, and several local sponsors make it possible for The Center staff to present the 2023-2024 Broadway in Bartlesville! series.

For more information or to purchase season tickets, call The Center box office at 918-337-2787. The Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and evenings and weekends during scheduled concerts and events, and is located at 300 SE Adams Blvd., in Downtown Bartlesville. Learn more at www.bartlesvillecenter.com.

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Bill Armstrong Copan Soldier Survived Attack on USS Franklin

by Lori Kroh

Bill Armstrong was interviewed in Copan, Oklahoma on May 16, 2003.

He was born in new Blaine, Arkansas August 5, 1926, the son of Hulbert and Elizabeth (Stone) Armstrong. The family moved to Ralston, Oklahoma when he was two years old. The farm in Oklahoma was larger and they could raise more cotton.

His neighbor bought a mule from his brother-in-law and he went to help get the mule on Sunday when the heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Rationing did not affect them too much, because they raised most of the own food. He graduated from Ralston High School in May 1945. He joined the Navy on October 26, 1944 while still in high school and the principal said he could get a deferment because he worked on a farm, but he wanted to do his part in the war.

He went through Boot Camp at Great Lakes, Illinois. After Boot Camp he was given a leave, came home, and graduated with the rest of his class. He reported back to Great Lakes and was put on a troop ship for Shoemaker, California. In a few weeks, he was sent to Bremerton, Washington and assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Franklin in January 1945.

He had never seen the ocean before and thought it was an awful lot of water. When he first when on board, he was assigned to the B-4 Gunnery Division and was on the crew of a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun. He was transferred to the 2nd Division and was on Lookout Duty eight hours a day. His duty station was in the superstructure of the ship.

The Franklin went to Pearl Harbor and pilots trained taking off and landing on the aircraft carrier. He said it was totally different taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier than it is on land. After the pilot training, the Franklin went to the island of Ulithi and joined the fleet.

The first mission was sailing off the coast of Japan while the planes bombed selected targets on Japan. He was on

duty the morning of March 19, 1945 on the superstructure and he said it was a beautiful sunrise. He was at his post and he thought he saw something coming out of the sun, but he couldn’t be sure. Suddenly he saw a Yokosuka Dive Bomber flying toward the ship and he got on the radio to report. None of the anti-aircraft guns fired at the dive bomber and he dropped two bombs and flew off.

The Franklin had the F6F Hellcat and the SB-2C torpedo planes. Airplanes were being launched off the Franklin when the two bombs hit. One penetrated the flight deck, exploded and set on fire the airplanes that had just been fueled and loaded with bombs. The fuel caught on fire, which caused the bombs to start exploding. Only two crewmembers survived the fire on the hangar deck.

The other bomb exploded near the sick bay and killed everyone there, including the ship’s doctor. The crew fought fires the whole day and the admiral ordered the captain to abandon ship. But the captain refused, because he said he had too many men trapped below. The crew fought the fires and other ships came and sprayed water on the fires and picked up survivors that were blown overboard or jumped to keep from being burned to death. The Franklin was listing and the USS Santa Fe rammed up against the Franklin to keep it from capsizing and began taking the wounded off.

Out of a crew of 3,000 soldiers, 807 were killed and 487 wounded. He said the bodies were all buried at sea over the next several days and he lost a lot of friends. There were 704 crew members who remained on the Franklin when she came into Pearl Harbor. The rest were picked out of the water by other ships.

He was on the Franklin at Pearl Harbor until he was discharged Jun 1946 in New York City. He came home and said the second best thing he had ever seen was the grassland in Oklahoma and the best thing he had ever seen was the Statue of Liberty. He bought a farm near Copan and moved here.

THE USS FRANKLIN

Agapé Mission...

How Can We Help?

Agape Mission – Feeding the hungry, hurting, and homeless in Washington County area for 23 years.

While Sherri Smith was working as a volunteer in the community, she became aware of the acute need for meals for the homeless and destitute. In 2000 Sherri, with help from Bartlesville First Assembly (now Spirit Church), opened Agape Mission at 309 S Bucy to meet the community’s growing need to feed those who are hungry. In October 2008 Agape moved into their new larger facility at 555 S Cass where they can now serve 100 people at a time. In the past 23 years, Agape Mission has served over 1 MILLON MEALS.

In February 2023, a survey of those served at Agape’s onsite meal program was taken which resulted in startling results. The reality of these results is they represent people in our community who need our help.

• 84% make under $1000/month and are homeless or underemployed

• 72% have NO FOOD at home and NO MONEY to buy food

• 56% said if Agape was not here, they WOULD NOT EAT

• 26% have NO WORKING UTILITIES

Agape’s on-site meal program normally serves 4,000 meals per month, but in May 2023 the number of meals served jumped to 5,108 and 77 new people signed up for meals who have never eaten with Agape. The number of people who need help with this most basic need, FOOD, continues to increase in our community. In addition to the startling results of the survey, over 50% of elementary and junior high school children get

free or discounted school lunches. Agape gives out over 600 snack sacks every Friday to children who would otherwise not have food over the weekend.

HOW YOU CAN HELP. Support Agape Mission with your donations to enable them to continue feeding the hungry and destitute in this community, get involved by volunteering and ask if Agape has any needs not covered.

Agape’s Empty Bowls Lunch &amp; Fundraiser is scheduled for Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at the Bartlesville Community Center from 11:3AM-1:30PM. All funds go to support Agape’s on-site meal program and Food 4 Kids program.

For tickets, sponsorships or volunteering contact Sherri Smith, Executive

Janette Roark

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The Last Great Buffalo Hunt

White Hunting Led to the Wiping Out of the Northern Herd

by Jay Hastings

By the 1770s, the Lakota and Yanktonai tribes had moved west across the Missouri River from the Minnesota woodlands and onto the plains. They began to discover an abundance of the horses as well as beaver and buffalo. The tribes quickly became dependent on the “tatanka” as they called the buffalo.  The buffalo provided food as well as hides for clothing and shelter and bones for tools and weapons.

The Lakota felt connected to the buffalo, which they believed originated beneath the ground and were related to people. They felt the buffalo were a sacrifice, offering themselves to the Lakota people.

By the 1860s, the Lakota were beginning to worry about the loss of the buffalo, which had largely disappeared east of the Missouri River and south to the Platte River, having begun a steady decline in the 1840s. As the buffalo became fewer, it became clear it was possible the buffalo would someday be gone forever.

By 1879, White hide hunters had eliminated buffalo from the Southern Plains. The commercial hunters then shifted the focus to the northern herd in Montana and Dakota which was recently made accessible by the Northern Pacific Railway. Buffalo hides were in great demand to make leather boots and belts. Herds, once estimated to number 30 million, had been reduced to a small groups totaling a few hundred thousand.

At Fort Yates, North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux were struggling to adjust to their newly restricted lives as farmers when word came that a large herd of buffalo had wandered onto the Great Sioux Reservation. The Lakota of Standing Rock believed it was no accident the massive herd had migrated onto the Great Sioux Reservation, once again offering itself to the Lakota.

Excitement spread throughout the Fort Yates agency. James McLaughlin, the agent at Standing Rock, gave his blessing for a buffalo hunt. McLaughlin knew it would be impossible to stop the Hunkpapa Lakota and Yanktonai, whom the buffalo had sustained for generations, from such an enticing opportunity. It would be one of the last great hunts in a final series of large hunts in the Dakota Territory. It was a jubilant time for the hungry Sioux, as the buffalo were rapidly approaching extinction in the early 1880s. However, the eventual loss of the buffalo would manifest in such economic, cultural, and spiritual

detriment to the tribes they have never fully recovered.

Just after dawn on June 10, 1882, a large group of hunters left Fort Yates and traveled 100 miles to the west, where the buffalo, estimated to number 50,000, were grazing on rich grasses. One hundred riders were appointed as soldiers to enforce the rules of the hunt and a dozen leaders rode at the head of the group, setting the pace. About 10 miles from the herd, a signal was given that they were in sight.

Six hundred hunters mounted their horses, forming two wide columns, and rode toward the herd. The Standing Rock hunters, dressed in breech-cloths, no longer resembled reservation Native Americans. Many of them carried repeating rifles while some were armed with bows and arrows. The race to the herd began quietly, without shouts.

The Standing Rock Sioux hunters efficiently thinned the herd, usually downing each buffalo with a single shot. The killing went on all day, ending only when the hunters became exhausted or were dismounted. When the hunt stopped it was after dark. Two thousand carcasses littered the plains surrounding Hiddenwood Creek, near what’s known today as Hettinger, North Dakota. At day break the following morning, the hunt resumed but stopped when the hunters had killed a total of 5,000 buffalo.

Subsequent hunts involving the Standing Rock Sioux took place while the last remnants of the once great northern herd lingered in the area. Most notably, in October 1883, White hunters who were targeting a herd of 10,000 pushed the buffalo east, onto the Great Sioux Reservation between the Grand and Moreau Rivers, halfway between Bismarck and the Black Hills. A party of a thousand hunters from Standing Rock, led by Sitting Bull, rode out to meet the herd and killed the remaining 1,200 in what is regarded as the very last of the documented final hunts.

The seemingly sudden disappearance of the buffalo came as a surprise to the Lakota, who thought the buffalo had disappeared under the ground. The White hide hunters also didn’t realize they had just wiped out the last of the northern herd. “I never had known an Indian to kill a game animal that he did not require for his needs,” McLaughlin wrote. “And I have known few White hunters to stop while there was game to kill.”