bmonthly June 2024

Welcome to June friends! This is the beginning of our summer here in the best city in Oklahoma… Bartlesville!

We are really glad to get the month of May behind us and take a deep breath. When I wrote the May Upfront, it was a week before the tornadoes on May 6th, and it was 10 days before Gracefest. We also had Gracie’s graduation and her graduation party the next day. That Sunday we had our daughter Madison’s baby shower. So let’s just say May was a very busy month for us.

I chose the cover for one reason. This is the best place to enjoy summer and one of the most iconic places to bring your kids. All seven of our kids have been to the “Kiddie Park,” and the experiences there are so memorable. Now after all these years, we are starting to take our grandbabies to the greatest playground in Oklahoma - “The Kiddie Park!”

I’m just going to jump right into this Upfront…June is Father’s Day. I’m going to talk to you about what I thank God for everyday - I get to celebrate with the ones who have changed my life and made me the man I am today. My kids!

I wrote this Upfront late the night of May 22nd, which is the day before my first son Blake was born. Getting to this point in my life was a roller coaster. When I was 24 years old, Blake would have my twin. When Blake was born, my whole life revolved around him. I wanted to be the Dad I never had in my life. Looking back at those days I remember that being a Dad was the best thing I finally did right. I was so focused on being the best possible Dad that I could be and not the Dad I never had.

Growing up I never had a (Dad). I had a (Dad) who walked out of my life when I was just 6 days old. As I grew up I had a (Dad) who I actually thought was my real (Dad) but after 12 years, I found out he wasn’t my (Dad). One day when I was looking through some boxes in the attic, I found my original birth certificate. Was I supposed to find this or was it just a chapter in my story? That day changed my life. This man who I thought was my real (Dad) and who abused me for all these years was NOT MY ACTUAL REAL

FATHER…(Dad)! I was lost. My step dad whose last name I was given committed suicide when I was 19 years old. So I never had a complete relationship with a father.

Have I been the best father to my kids…NO I have not. I have never abused my children, but I know I have let them down. I have been there and then one day gone because of my addiction that I battled for almost 2 years. Because of HIS grace, HE knew what I needed to be and the one thing that would save my life… being a Dad! Everything I have as a man is due to our kids. There is nothing more satisfying than being the best father I can be. Being that man was hard. Christy and I got married, had a blended family of 6 kids all under the age of 11, and Christy was pregnant with our daughter, Grace. With all the blessings HE gave me, the ENEMY was right there and said look what I can do…for 15 months the enemy did all he could do to destroy our family and me!

So let’s just take a quick look at what our GOD can do to one’s life... tomorrow, May 23rd, my son (my first child) Blake turns 31 years old. This day changed my life. I had the opportunity to fix all that was broken in my childhood. I don’t know if Blake will ever read this story, but maybe one day he will find this old worn magazine and open it up to see this story. I hope he will understand how he changed my life, helped to make me the man I am today, mold me into the father I have become, and become the grandfather I am today to four precious grandbabies and one more due in July.

I pray to all the fathers who read these words. You make such an impact and create so many memories for your children. They will help form your children into who they will become. What will your memory be as a father? I hope and pray that each of my kids will say at the end of my life…my Dad did the very best he could…he might of failed me a time or two but at the end he was my father…he loved me to the moon and back…he never gave up on me like he was given up on…I’m so proud and blessed to call him my Dad!

God bless, Happy Father’s Day! Keith (Dad)

bmonthly Managing Editors Keith and Christy McPhail.

The train at Bartlesville’s historic Kiddie Park.

Tug Baughn Embodying Versatility and Commitment

by Lori Just

With an illustrious career at Phillips Petroleum Company, now known as Phillips 66, a Bartlesville resident has not only contributed significantly to the energy sector but has also made a name for himself on the sports field as a distinguished referee. Balancing a career with sports officiating, Tug Baughn embodies versatility and commitment showcasing the possibilities of desire and hard work along with helping others get their start.

Tug grew up in rural Okmulgee County where his father ran a general merchandise store and family farmed the 180 acres adjacent to it. Growing up he was in 4H and FFA throughout his years at Osage Hill and Beggs High School. He had 10 siblings, 3 brothers and 7 sisters. It was during this time he was introduced to sports by a principal that loved basketball.

“I have no doubt that I have played in more school-sponsored basketball games than anyone in Oklahoma,” he laughed as he explained. “We had tournaments every week from October to April. I played in three a week starting in third grade. I would always tell people when I graduated eighth grade, I couldn’t spell my name, but I knew how to dribble and shoot a basketball!”

It was also at these tournaments that he met his childhood sweetheart playing girls basketball, Phyllis (Salsman), and knew she was the one.

“We had 22 miles of dirt road between us,” he recalled. “We didn’t start going together until senior year. I graduated in 1952, and we got married the following year after she graduated. I tell people I’ve been married my whole life. We just celebrated 71 years on May 22.”

On the day of their wedding, he was baling alfalfa hay in their family’s field for their cows when he went back to the house at noon to clean up then headed to town to marry his “Phyll.”

Following their marriage, Tug established himself immediately as a provider for their growing family and worked for the local Phillips Refinery about five years before he experienced the hardest day of his life.

“There I was, thought I was set for life, then I was laid off at the refinery,” he shared. “I had nothing to offer and had a family to look out for. But what was the blackest day of my life turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me. When you’ve lived to be my age at 90, you can look back over your life and see how God was in control every step of the way.”

After securing another position at a rocket fuel plant, he soon learned it would also be shutting down. Disheartened, he was walking down the hallway to the cafeteria for lunch a few weeks prior to closing and saw a piece of three-inch paper on the ground and picked it up strangely. He saw an ad for lab technicians in Calvert City, Kentucky. He gave them a call and they expressed he had exactly the background they were looking for. So, him and his four plant buddies carpooled and drove through the night to Kentucky after their midnight shift. He was the only one given a position that weekend, but six months later they all followed and found their landing. Once his supervisor discovered Tug was also looking to go to school, he helped him apply to Murray State College.

In high school, Tug had been offered numerous sports scholarships that he had turned down to go directly to work. Within thirty minutes of being laid off he said his eyes were opened and he was ready for college. He moved his then pregnant wife and son with disabilities, Steve, to Kentucky.

“It’s unbelievable how things just fell right in line,” he reflected. “I was a different student at 26 than I was at 18. I was at school every day the doors were open for the next five years including intersessions. It put desire in my mind to get a degree, and I wouldn’t stop until I got one.”

He worked the evening and midnight shifts while attending school. In Kentucky, he said, basketball is bigger than football in Oklahoma or Texas. Word got out he was a referee in Oklahoma. The head of the plant asked him to referee games, sometimes during work hours.

“Here I was laid off from a job in Oklahoma and couldn’t have dreamed what the Lord found me in Kentucky.”

Tug graduated Murray State with a double degree in chemistry and biology. It was also during this time, they had a second son, Richard Gregory, but lost him at six weeks old from a heart condition. Tug still obtained good grades and had even been accepted to medical school at the University of Tennessee.

“I had already put my family through so much during my undergrade, so I decided to accept a chemist position with Phillips in the plastics division at the Research Center in Bartlesville in 1964,” he said. And their family moved to NE Oklahoma to start their next chapter.

After a few years, Pete Silas convinced Tug that he needed to join the recruitment program. Silas had told him, “we’ve got businesspeople trying to recruit scientists, and we need someone with your tech degree that can speak their language.” So, Tug go into recruiting and hired many engineers and scientists for Phillips including a former CEO.

“Now this is an interesting story,” he chuckled. “I went down to Texas A&M with a full list of students to interview. I got on the elevator on the tenth floor of Rudder Hall when another student got on. He saw my lapel and made a comment that he had tried to get on the list to interview, but it was full. I can usually tell in the first 5-10 minutes how they may work out. I knew nothing about him, but I liked what I saw. We hired him, and I put him in my old position in R&D. And now the rest is history. And if you ask him about the elevator man, he’ll tell you the same story.”

He was referring to Greg Garland who joined Phillips Petroleum Company in 1980 as an engineer and worked his way into management as president and chief executive of Phillips 66 from 2012-2022.

Tug and Phyllis had two additional sons, Stan and David. In 1993, Tug retired as the Director of Employee and College Relations and Prof Recruitment at Phillips.

In tandem with his professional career, he thrived in his referee career. He officiated 17 high school football state championship games as well as 20 high school basketball state championship games. He also officiated at the collegiate level, which included four National Junior College playoffs, one National Junior College Basketball Championship game, six Oklahoma Collegiate Conference playoffs, six Kansas Junior College playoffs, one NAIA National Football Championship and two NCAA Division I regionals. He was elected to the Oklahoma High School Officials Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tug was also an outstanding fast pitch softball player. He was twice named an International Softball Congress All-American, first in 1957 and again in 1967. He was elected to the Oklahoma Softball Hall of Fame in 1981.

He continued his involvement in sports as one of the most

successful baseball coaches in Bartlesville American Legion history. In his four years at the helm his teams won 205 games while only losing 51, which is a winning percentage of .801. His teams played in three state title games, winning two of them. The 1978 team was the last Bartlesville American Legion team to win the state championship. That same year Tug’s team came within one game of qualifying for the American Legion World Series.

“At first I had turned the coaching position down and my boss had agreed and given me reasons why I shouldn’t take it,” he said. “But then I got a call to see Bill Martin, then CEO, in his office where he said I’d make a great coach. I went back to my boss and he started telling me all the reasons why I should take the position which was a total 180 degrees in under 24 hours. Phillips cooperated with me very well.”

After 51 years of officiating, Tug made the decision to retire in the fall of 2003. He was inducted into the Bartlesville Sports Commission in 2013. He also volunteered for 25 hours at Ascension St. John in patient relations. Tug now spends his time with the love of his life and enjoying his five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

“I feel very fortunate; it’s been a very interesting life,” he said. “The most rewarding thing has been helping youngster get their start in life. By recruiting them to work with Phillips or connecting them to athletic scholarships through coaching officiating, I’ve had several come back and say how much they’ve appreciated it. I’ve met some real good people including Ricky Jackson who was a Bartlesville boy that I think was the best high school basketball player. And I referred Troy Aikman back in his days at Henrietta and through he was the best high school football player I ever saw. And the most successful employee I hired was Greg Garland.”

Pennington Hills . . . A Prairie

City Rising

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

The early 1950s brought change to Bartlesville…the Adams Building was completed in 1950; Frank Phillips died August 23, 1950; Third Street was renamed Frank Phillips Blvd. on September 27, 1951; the Hulah Dam was completed in 1951; and, in 1952, the Phillips Apartment/Hotel joined the completion list. The city was also about to burst at the seams with no room for expansion; so, the concept of the Pennington Hills addition began to stir in the morning coffee of Bartlesville visionaries.

In 1952, the last establishment on East Frank Phillips Blvd. was the Log Cabin Bar-B-Q at Comanche Avenue. At that location, a southbound turn took you to the 7th Street Bridge, which was later replaced by the Memorial Bridge, on your trek to Highway 75 south with options to Highway 60 towards Nowata or continuing south towards Ochelata, Ramona and Tulsa. Bartlesville was in dire need of infrastructure upgrades and east

of the Caney River was an untapped “field of dreams.” The twolane Frank Phillips Blvd. bridge over the Caney River opened Bartlesville to expansive growth opportunities. However, the visions were not grand enough and soon Toalson Road/Adams Blvd, Frank Phillips Blvd. and Tuxedo Blvd. needed widening to four lanes each to alleviate traffic snarls.

Sure as the sun rises in the east, so did the 316-acre newborn city on the eastern horizon…Pennington Hills with projections of including a school, fire station, shopping, restaurants, recreation, a park, and perhaps a post office, movie theater and church. Members of the Home Builders Association included Jim Diamond, Glen Hopkins, Art Lynn, Cooper and Dorris, Frank Marling, Eugene Hooper, Jay Potter, C.W. Lair, Bob Hays and Dick McDonald. The Home Builders spoke to Steve Pennington, well-known Oklahoma City builder and developer, who liked the concept.

A detailed plat was filed with the Washington County Clerk; land was purchased under the persona of the Bartlesville Land Development Company; and machinery was on the move. By April 1953, the foundation was being laid…moving dirt, grading streets and laying water and sewer lines. And, by August, the first five streets had been paved and forty-one homes were under construction.

As quickly as the 5-6 room homes were built, buyers were in line to commit their home purchase with price tags ranging

When Harry and Betty Sharp Smith moved into their new home at Queenstown and State Street in 1959, the streets were still dirt.

from $9,000 to $13,000. Blanketed in brick veneer, the homes welcomed new owners with modern conveniences: garbage disposals, forced central heat and air, Golden Oak flooring, full tile bath with shower, Tex-Boro cabinets with Formica counters and slab doors on 60-foot beautifully landscaped lots. The beehive of building activity brought a different Craftsman-style than Bartlesville’s 1920s era homes.

Project superintendent, Harold Fleetwood kept a tight reign over the construction progress assuring supply stayed ahead of demand. No businesses were permitted within the residential area; every home had to be at least 750 sq. ft.; and one street was set aside for two-bedroom duplex sales/rentals with forced air & heat, plenty of storage, attic fans and aluminum windows.

Once the builders realized the golden egg was indeed hatching and people were moving in to stay, work on the 13acre Pennington Hills Shopping Plaza began July 1953. The half-moon shopping center provided close-to-home access to household necessities. Over the years, the original “under-roof” building has experienced businesses occupying multiple store fronts. Some businesses stayed a moment, while a few others stayed for a career fulfillment.

3812 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – The frying pan was red hot when Gerald Nutter jumped in to open the Nutter-Brigham Plaza Pharmacy with his chief pharmacist, Tom Brigham. Located in the southwest corner frontage of the building, the pharmacy offered everything from ice-cream sodas at the soda-fountain to Band-Aids and aspirin to modern prescription needs. Mr. Nutter was a fellow at the American College of Apothecaries and became a registered pharmacist. He arrived in Bartlesville in 1914 and worked at the Bartlesville Pharmacy and Star Drug Store

before becoming partners in the John Lawrence Prescription Pharmacy at 311 S. Johnstone Avenue about 1940. Mr. Lawrence retired shortly thereafter and Nutter continued to operate the 311 S. Johnstone pharmacy until 1964. He became a partner with Jerry Hourigan in the Nutter-Hourigan Plaza Pharmacy in 1961. Mr. Nutter died in 1971 and Jerry Hourigan continued the Plaza Pharmacy at 3812 Frank Phillips Blvd. through 1972, then went to work at the Walmart Pharmacy.

3812b E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Just next door to the north was the Brooks’ Fine Foods restaurant. Cecil and Oleta (Stanberry) Brooks opened their Brooks’ Drive-In on the Old Bartles Road/ Highway 123 beginning about 1949, offering Kansas City steaks, seafood and hickory smoked Bar-B-Q. In 1955, they moved their Brooks’ restaurant to the northwest corner of the shopping center where children were always welcome and Heinz baby food was free. The 160-seat eatery was cheerfully decorated in a persimmon and turquoise color palette; and, Brooks’ was the perfect meeting place for an afternoon bridge party or social event with juke-box entertainment. Brooks’ Fine Foods closed in 1961 and the Fortune Restaurant opened March 1961 at 3812b E. Frank Phillips Blvd., offering a full service American and Chinese menu. If you were hungry for a ribeye steak with all the fixin’s or a Cantonese meal served family style, the Fortune Restaurant was the place to be. And, who doesn’t remember their peanut butter flavored eggrolls? The Fortune Restaurant closed about 1998.

3816 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Cecil Peters arrived in Oklahoma in 1907 and worked in oilfield operations before buying a series of furniture, clothing, hardware and lumber stores which he evolved into Dewey’s Peters’ Dry Goods in

1935. His sons, Melvin and Clarence were also associated with the Peters’ True Value Hardware and Clothing Stores in Bartlesville and Dewey. On August 1, 1955, Melvin Peters opened the Peters’ Junior Department Store in the Pennington Hills Shopping Center and remained at that location until 1987. At that time, Goodwill Industries established their business and remain at that location; later expanding to fill 3816-3826 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. Walgreens Pharmacy became the anchor of the northeast corner of Frank Phillips Blvd. and Highway 75 in a stand-alone building at 3816 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. beginning 2004 and continues at that location.

3820 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Oklahoma natives Rawdon Tomlinson, Enoch “Les” Gosselin and Raymond Young founded the Central Merchandising Corporation in 1935. The trio opened their first joint-owned store in 1936 and ten years later incorporated their venture as “T.G.&Y.” Their variety stores spread to 930 nationwide by the 1980s. In Bartlesville, their store occupied 3820 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. from 1955 through 1974. After being vacant almost a year, Needlewoman Fabrics opened at that location (1976-1985); Gilkey’s Karate Center (1987-1995); Pizzette’s Pizza and Mazzios (1996-2004); Game Traders (20052007); Mattress Zone (2011-2013).

3822 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. –

Big Bill’s Barbeque operated here briefly before Luigi’s Italian Restaurant from 2005 through 2022, when they moved to South Washington Blvd.

3826 East Frank Phillips Blvd. – Gordon Moon’s 13,000 square foot Foodliner supermarket opened December 14, 1954 with a virtual prairie of parking spaces numbering 500. Moon incorporated more than $200K worth of modern equipment and shopper conveniences including a 66-foot meat counter, six check-out stands, bakery counter, 55-foot produce department, 42-foot frozen food section, 24-feet dedicated to ice-cream treats, along with a book and magazine rack, pet supplies, household and drug departments…and free coffee for all shoppers. Moon owned stores in Webb City, MO prior to settling in Bartlesville about 1949. Here, he took over as ownermanager of the Ideal Market at 219 E. Third Street/Frank Phillips Blvd. in downtown Bartlesville with his partner H.B. Hogan of Joplin, MO. Moon’s moto, “Build a better food market and Pennington Hills will grow up around you,” proved to be solid as not only did the Plaza Foodliner become the anchor that held the shopping center together, a grocery store flourished at that location though 1993. In 1994, West Coast Video Entertainment/ Video Giant occupied the location through 2003; then Goodwill Industries was established and remains at that location.

3830 E. Frank Phillps Blvd. – Harold Thomas held the grand opening of Thomas Jewelry December 1-3, 1955, just in time for Christmas. The opening specials included a free Davy Crockett wrist watch-compass for children and a free 14-carat gold ring for babies under six months. Harold Thomas operated his jewelry store though 1986, when he retired and passed the torch to Jeff Munger, Ronnie Lindsey and Dave Inman who continued the store operation through 1998.

With steady occupancy in place, the next building endeavor was the Plaza Professional Building, just north of the first shopping center building. This area was often the incubator for

businesses which became established and then moved to other locations, like Montessori World, doctors, dentists, optometrists, Plaza Medical Lab, etc.

3900 E.

Frank Phillips Blvd. – Retail spaces filled quickly so, in July 1956, work began for the third addition of the Plaza Shopping Center. Oklahoma Tire and Supply was the first to occupy this building. OTASCO was not new to Bartlesville. Their downtown store was at 316 S. Dewey (19391965), then 122 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. (1966-1989). Their Plaza Shopping Center store closed in 1988; followed by the Apple Tree Mall (1989-1999); Old Town Mall (2000-2002); Bargain Center (2003-2005); Name Brand Clothing (2008-2010); followed by Marco’s Pizza and currently Tacos Maria.

3910 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Vandivort’s Men’s Clothing opened at this location (1957-1964) before moving to Eastland Shopping Center; Larry Black Sporting Goods opened (19671968).

3914 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Huey’s Shoe Store opened (1957-1962); Tayrien’s Shoes (1964-1967); Phil’s Photo (19721981); Bartlesville Camera Center (1982); Anything Sports (19831988); Vacant (1989). Sooner Carpet (1990-1992) occupied this space and then switched store fronts with Singer Sewing

Center, who operated at this location from 1993 to 2016.

3916 E. Frank Phillips Blvd . – From 1957-1958, the U.S. Post office sub-station #1 was at this location for a minute, then relocated to the south side of the street and later to Eastland Shopping Center; Lowry’s Women’s Patio Shop (1959-1969); Oleta’s Fashion (1971); Bust’n Britches (1972); Cheese Keg (1973-1986); Vacant (1987-1988); Mays Drug Overflow (19891998), then Mays Drug moved to Tuxedo Blvd.

3920 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Bar-Dew Hardware #2 held their grand opening November 15-17, 1956, offering all things household and hardware including toys for all ages; however, for animal feed needs, patrons had to visit their downtown store at 114 East Second Street. They were community partners at this location (1956-1971); Clipper Cargo Imports (1972); Scotties Discount Drugs (1973-1975); Scrivco Discount Drugs (19761979); Mays Drug (1980-1998), then Mays Drug moved to Tuxedo Blvd.; Oriental Pearl Restaurant (2006-2012); New China Buffet (2013-present).

3924 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Earl Retterath opened Retterath Furniture (1957-1961); Singer Sewing Center operated at this location (1962-1992) and then switch store fronts with Sooner Carpet, who operated at this location (1993-2023).

3926/3928 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Do you remember receiving Green Stamps when purchasing goods and then redeeming the stamps for treasures at the redemption center? Another trading stamp shoppers received was the Gold Bond stamps. From 1964-1970 Bartlesville’s Gold Bond Redemption Center operated at this location; several Figure Salons (19731982); OK Mobile Home Supplies (1983-1984); and Professional Optical (1985-2020).

3801 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Gas Station (1964-1984); Vacant (1985-1988); Master Lube (1989-2005); Benson Southside Express Lube (2006); Vacant (2007-2008); Starbucks (2009-present).

3813 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Flowerland (1972-1986); Grandy’s Country Cookin’ (1987-1993); Cotton Patch Café (19942001); Amarillo Grill (2002-2004).

3815/3821 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Plaza National Bank (1964-1993); Bank of Oklahoma (1994-Present).

3901 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Coaster Roller Rink (1957); Keg Lanes Bowling (1959); 10-lane Plaza Bowl (1961-1976). Vacant (1977-1978). Evans Carpet (1980-1982); Vacant (19831989); Encouraging Word (1990-1992); Bank of Oklahoma (1994-present).

3931 E. Frank

Phillips Blvd. – The Pennington Hills Fire Station No. 3 opened on April 18, 1955 with a public open house celebration Sunday May 15, 1955. The station operated with two shifts of three men on 24-hour duty. Among the original firefighters were Allie Asnew, Philip Reese and Edward Reese on one shift and Bill Ward, Frank Knode and Herbert Hemp on the other. The

fire station operated at this location (1955-1975), then relocated to Adams Blvd. before gaining their permanent home at 100 S. Madison Blvd. The American Red Cross Service Center operated at the 3931 E. Frank Phillips location (1977-2002).

3838 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – The Penn Theater held a grand opening on August 3, 1967 with Mayor Hensley performing the ribbon cutting. The Pennington Hills Plaza had a large marquee at the northeast corner of Frank Phillips Blvd. and Highway 75 with a smaller, four-line marquee below for the Penn Theater movie announcements. The theme of the brown and gold carpet in the lobby carried through to the auditorium in the fireproof gold curtains and the brown and gold nylon seats that rocked and reclined. And, if you arrived early enough, you could share the “love seat” with your sweetheart. The first movie was Sean Connery starring as James Bond in “You Only Live Twice.” Admission was ninety cents for adults and thirty-five cents for children. Between November and December 1973, renovations converted the theater to two screens. The theater closed July 1998 and, after additional renovations, the Green Country Opry opened briefly. After sitting vacant for years, the building was finally razed January 14, 2009.

While the eyes of the Bartlesville City Council and residents were fixated on the establishment of the Pennington Hills Shopping Center, a new city was forming in the background with 1050 2–3 bedroom homes claiming their space, ready to welcome families home. Nestled among the homes came a park and schools.

The College High School class of 1954-1955 built a vocational carpentry house at 405 Fleetwood Drive.

4620 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – Will Rogers Elementary School was built and open for students for the 1955-1956 school year. Rapid growth of the Pennington Hills area required building three additions within the first eight years of operation, with a playground area tucked in behind offering safe play away from the busy Frank Phillips Blvd. traffic. This school closed in 1986 but has continued to serve the community in various capacities.

500 S. Madison Blvd. – Building the California Modernism style East Junior High School to alleviate crowding seemed like a simple task. Construction began on the building in 1958 and moved along well; however, the proposed Alta Avenue was at the eastern Bartlesville city limits and securing a consensus for the road construction responsibilities between the County Commissioners, City of Bartlesville and the Real-estate board came just short of “fist blows.” None of the parties stepped forward to accept total or partial responsibility. During periods of rain, mail carriers were stuck in the rutted muddy streets and something needed done before school busses met the same challenge. The heated verbal exchanges continued for months and resulted in Madison Blvd. (instead of Alta Avenue) and Madison

Junior High School (instead of East Junior High School), which opened for the 1958-1959 school year with a paved street, not a mud-rutted country road.

512 S. Madison Blvd. – Build it and they will come…and indeed they did…overwhelming the elementary education services in the area. In 1959, Hoover Elementary School was built to ease crowding at Will Rogers Elementary. As Pennington Hills addition grew, so did the population, requiring several additions to Hoover.

Located at the dead-end of Brookline Drive, Brookline Park is a heavily wooded park added in 1958. Land was cleared by the Bartlesville Junior Chamber of Commerce “Jaycees” and city employees with planning for six permanent picnic tables and outdoor fireplaces, six swings, merry-go-round, horse shoe pits, slides and sandboxes. This site also offered nature hike opportunities and has since returned to nature.

As a 1976 bicentennial project, City Planner Joel Smith designed Bartlesville’s scenic Pathfinder Parkway with approximately 11 miles of City maintained walking and bicycling path that meanders throughout the city along the Caney River

When H.C. Price was selecting a location for his Frank Lloyd Wright designed Price Tower, one of the locations considered was across from Jane Phillips Hospital where it would have been used as doctor’s offices and the H.C. Price Pipeline Company offices. That location was of course vetoed and downtown Bartlesville became graced with the “Tree That Escaped the Crowded Forrest” at 510 S. Dewey Avenue.

and Turkey Creek from Jo Allyn Lowe Park to Johnstone Park and to Adams Golf Course at Sooner Park. Turkey Creek is a small babbling brook, mostly hidden within the Pennington Hills addition. However, in times of heavy rain, Turkey Creek becomes a saving grace of flood control as it carries rainwater through the housing addition towards the Caney River, just past Silver Lake Road.

3901 E. State Street – As a mission of the First Baptist Church of Bartlesville, the original Highland Park Baptist Church began in 1920, holding services in the old Highland Park School, located at current Highway 75/Washington Blvd. and Tuxedo Blvd. About 1934, the church became an independent Baptist Church and held services at Bradley and Michigan in the Tuxedo/Highland Park area. In 1952, a three-acre tract of land was purchased and Architects Buck & Caldwell of Bartlesville were contracted to draw the plans for the multi-unit church structure at 3901 E. State Street. The ground breaking ceremony took place February 1953, executing the three-phase plans for an educational building, 500-seat sanctuary with a choir room and pastor’s study, and

a two-story fellowship hall with a small chapel, meeting rooms and a kitchen. The church also maintained a parsonage at Kentucky and Waverly. With easy access from Highway 75 and ample parking available at both the upper and lower levels of the church, the Highland Park Church overlooked the rapidly growing Pennington Hills area below the church perch. The church address was changed to 300 SE Washington Blvd. in 1982.

3500 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. – The Washington County Memorial Hospital was opened on the east side of the Caney River in 1922 as a tribute to our county WWI veterans. To expand the medical offerings in our area, the Jane Phillips Medical Center was completed in 1952 at 3500 E. Frank Phillips Blvd. and named in honor of Jane Gibson Phillips, wife of Frank Phillips, local oilman and co-founder of Phillips Petroleum Company. In 1982, a ten-story patient tower was added to the campus and other additions to accommodate state-of-the-art cancer and pulmonary care.

Some names that have expired from our lips were once the founding fathers of the Pennington Hills real-estate area.

They were the movers and shakers in the construction world of that time and it is their names carried on the series of curvy streets that are woven throughout the Pennington Hills Addition. It has been their visions that became the reality of Pennington Hills Shopping Center where a host of long-time merchants formed their careers: Bank of Oklahoma, 30 years and growing; Penn Theater, 31 years; Peters Department Store, 32 years; OTASCO, 32 years; Sooner Carpet, 33 years; Professional Optical, 35 years; Fortune Restaurant, 37 years, 4 owners; Goodwill, 37 years and growing; Foodliner Grocery, 39 years, 5 owners; Thomas Jewelry, 43 years, 4 owners; and Singer Sewing Center, the winner with 54 years.

Arkansas native, Herman Hampton served in the Navy during the Korean Conflict. After his discharge, he settled in Tulsa and was employed at the Singer Sewing Machine Company before transferring to Bartlesville where he operated the Pennington Hills Singer Sewing Machine store beginning in 1962. He purchased the dealership in 1980 and continued as the owner-operator until August 2016, with a 54-year career in Bartlesville. He lived in retirement five months before passing

away January 2017. Mr. Hampton had a life well lived and gained the reputation as the “Singer Man” and the “guy who cooked steaks at the American Legion.”

Joining the long-timers of the area, the Highland Park Baptist Church has stood sentinel over the Pennington Hills valley for 71 years and the Jane Phillips Hospital, although the name has changed over the years, still serves our community 72 years later.

The Tuxedo, Limestone and Pennington Hills Additions were often spoken of as if they were set aside towns; to the north, the Highland Park/Tuxedo community, to the south the Limestone community and, in the center, the Pennington Hills community. The Bartlesville City Council approved the annexation of Pennington Hills on February 9, 1954. With five additions, approximately 1,050 homes and an estimated population of 4,000, Pennington Hills was the largest area annexed into the city at one time. The City Council could not have known how the weight that vote would greatly impact the growth of the City of Bartlesville.

Around Town with Edgar Weston

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

Welcome Back…Our next stop is the First Methodist Church on Johnstone Avenue.

Indian Territory was a rough era in history with muddy dirt streets and oilfield roustabouts; however, there was a group of women who tamed the oily past. The Methodist Ladies Aid Society was a major fundraising force and the backbone in forwarding the establishment of the Methodist faith in Bartlesville. The First Methodist Episcopal Church South building was built at 4th and Delaware Ave. In 1900, that building was moved to 5th and Johnstone Ave., which was later used as a parsonage; and, still later, was moved to the 700 block of Johnstone to become the Arnold Moore residence, local funeral director.

In 1903, Reverend Larrabee of Nowata was appointed to the Methodist Episcopal Church North in Bartlesville and a “house of eight gables” was built facing 6th Street between Johnstone and Dewey Avenues. So, the “Northern” Methodists met on the south end of the block, while the “Southern” Methodists met on the north end.

In 1905, the two small churches merged and worshipped as one in the eight-gabled church building during fundraising and construction of their beautiful stain-glass filled, westfacing, red-brick building at 5th and Johnstone Ave. Boy Scout Troop #2 was chartered in 1920, sponsored by the M.E. Church. Then, growing Sunday School attendance necessitated the construction of the multi-floor Education Building on the east side of the church in 1927. Although their debt was small, in 1937, the ever-generous Frank Phillips paid Bartlesville church mortgages, including the debt of the M.E. Church.

At the end of WWII, a generous gift from Bill Doenges sparked plans for a larger sanctuary and a

major fundraising effort brought groundbreaking in 1952, with completion two years later. In December 1956, a catastrophic plane crash occurred south of Bartlesville killing eight Phillips employees; among them, Phillips attorney George Sneed. In 1957, the congregation enlarged the Methodist Church footprint by renovating the 1927 Education Building and adding the Sneed Chapel in his memory.

The Church’s forward-thinking leaders were constant community supporters, birthing the Mutual Girls Club in 1964 and the Concern in 1967. In 1973, the Methodist Women Quilting Bee was organized with proceeds benefitting these two community projects though 1995, when they disbanded, having completed 121 quilts. To further the churches outreach, in 1974, the congregation held Summer Drive-in Church at the Hilltop Drive-In theater, later moving to Eastland Shopping Center with services through 2000. In the 1980s, a city-wide pastoral group began the counseling service, Samaritan Counseling and, between 1985-1987, the Methodist Church provided support for a church building in Kenya, Africa.

In 1988, the administration wing was constructed on the south of the building and the Kid’s First Daycare program was added, bringing young families to the church. The children’s youth program received a boost with the Fountain of Youth soda fountain and arcade/movie room added to the basement.

Realizing there was no room for growth, in 2006, the Methodist Church formed a LongRange Planning Committee and, in 2009, the congregation voted for relocation. The selected site was 64 acres at Price Road and Madison Blvd., with groundbreaking in the fall of 2011. Two years later, the building opened for worship services and their downtown church building was sold.

To Be Continued…

JUNE CALENDAR SPONSORED BY

Sunfest

10AM; Sooner Park

This annual event runs through Sunday.

Especially for Kids Festival Winnie the Pooh Tea

2PM; St Lukes Church

Especially for Kids Festival Twinkle Little Stars

Piano Recital

3PM; Ambler Hall

Especially for Kids Festival Boogie Bingo

6PM; Bartlesville Radio (at home)

Especially for Kids Festival Story & Experience

“Frederico the mouse violinist”

10AM; Bartlesville Library

Especially for Kids Festival Story & Experience

“My Amazing Mozart” 1PM; Bartlesville Library

Especially for Kids Festival Story & Experience

“Ukulele Dreams”

3PM; Bartlesville Library

Especially for Kids Festival Story & Experience

“Rise & Shine”

Especially for Kids Festival Twinkle Big Stars

6PM; Ambler Hall

Especially for Kids Festival Take Flight Puppet Show

7PM; Hardest Library

Foam Party - All Ages

6PM; Unity Square

Especially for Kids Festival Kiras Song Puppet Show

10AM; Father Lynch Hall

Especially for Kids Festival Mostly Mozart Puppet Show

2PM; Father Lynch Hall

Especially for Kids Festival Art & Music Immersion

10AM; Boots and Brushes

Especially for Kids Festival Art & Music Immersion

2PM; Boots and Brushes

Especially for Kids Festival Keyboard Orchestra

5:30PM; 1st Presbyterian Church

1 4 6 7 8 14 22 23 5 6 2 4 3

10AM; Bartlesville Library

Especially for Kids Festival Music Experience

1PM; Bartlesville Library

Especially for Kids Festival Rock N Roll Ice Cream Special & John Bond Tribute 6PM; Unity Square

OKM Festival Concert 7PM; Woolaroc

Especially for Kids Festival Melodys Mostly Musical Day 10AM; Cascia Hall PAC

Hot Street Party hosted by Young Professionals of Bartlesville 6PM; Downtown Bartlesville

Woolaroc Kidsfest

10AM; Woolaroc

Sizzlin Summer Concert Series Summer Soiree 7PM; Unity Square

Woolaroc Kidsfest 10AM; Woolaroc

All Month

Kiddie Park Open for the Season (closed Sundays and Mondays) 6PM; Kiddle Park

JUNE EVENTS CALENDAR

Park Open For The Season

Park open all month.

Market

Bartlesville Don’t let the fun stop when the Bartlesville Farmers Market closes up, hop on down to Lollipops where we have vendors and pizza, bounce hosue and fun.

12

SPORTS CAMPS

June 22

Kidsfest runs through

OWKU

Men’s Basketball Camp

June 9th-12th, 2024

Bostwick was a Large School All-State Selection and went on to play at John Brown University where he became an All-American and led the Eagles to a National Championship in 1992. After helping lead John Brown University to a NAIA National Championship in 2005, Bostwick took over the helm leading the OKWU Men’s Basketball Program to the 2009 NAIA DII National Championship. Bostwick returned to OKWU in 2017 after leading Southwestern Assemblies of God University to the 2013 National Championship Game. Once again OKWU Basketball has risen to the top of NAIA Basketball as one of the top programs in the country. Coach Bostwick started a ministry called Spirit Led Coach. His Christian Faith aligns directly with the mission of OKWU, so OKWU Basketball Camps are more than just basketball. Your athlete will have the chance to grow in both basketball from one of the top coaches in the country and also grow in faith during camp.

Ages 8-18

OKWU Diaper Dandy Basketball Camp

June 13th-14th, 2024

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.

Ages: Boys & Girls 4-10

OKWU Summer Development Soccer Camp 2

The Oklahoma Wesleyan University soccer Development Camp is a skills development program designed for boys and girls of all ages and abilities. Training will focus on improving the player’s technical, tactical skills as well as create a love for the game. The OKWU soccer staff will prepare Development Camp participants for the challenge of the upcoming soccer season. For a low cost, your child will receive coaching lessons from successful college coaches with extensive international experience. Each Development Camp participant will receive an OKWU camp T-shirt.

June 10, 11, 12, 2024

Ages: 5 -12

Time: 9:00am - 11:00am

Cost: $85

Location: OKWU Soccer Field

Bruin Basketball Camp

3rd-6th Grade

June 26-27

26th 6-8:30pm

27th-9-11:30am

Bruin Fieldhouse

Bruin Basketball Camp

7th-9th Grade June 29-30

29th 6-9:00pm

30th-9-4:00pm

Bruin Fieldhouse

Bruin Summer Strength and Conditioning Program

Monday-Thursday

June and July

Athletes entering 10th-12th Grade-8:00am-10:00am

Athletes entering 7th-9th Grade- 9:00am-11:00am

Athletes entering 4th-6th Grade- 10:00am-12:00jpm

The Red Cross . . . Boots on the Ground

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

Clara Barton was born on Christmas Day in 1821, and her gift to the world was founding the American Red Cross. During the Civil War, Clara aided wounded Union soldiers and took her nursing skills and supplies to the front lines, earning her the nickname of “Angel in the Battlefield.” After the Civil War, she followed doctor’s orders and traveled abroad to “rest.” That, however, was a word she did not heed well.

Clara met members of the International Red Cross, an organization that grew from the 1864 Geneva Convention, and joined their volunteer effort during the Franco-Prussian War. When she returned to America, her experiences fueled a fire to establish the American Red Cross in 1881. She was also instrumental in the U.S. Congress ratifying the Geneva Convention, demanding humane and reasonable “treatment of the unfortunate and helpless victims of war.”

The American Red Cross received their first congressional charter in 1900. To this day, the organization is tasked by the federal government with providing services to members of the American armed forces and their families, as well as providing disaster relief in the United States and around the world. Red Cross staff and volunteers are deployed alongside our American military providing home comforts, critical healthcare services

During recent tornado destruction, the American Red Cross partnered with BtheLight Mission to support our Barnsdall friends.

and global emergency communications.

The American Red Cross became a reality in Bartlesville through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Their organizational meeting was held in the “Ladies Parlor” of the Hotel Maire with Mrs. Ethel Rood serving as the Regent under their February 14, 1916 charter. They supported the Red Cross while World War I was raging in Europe by creating surgical dressings and teaching first aid classes.

In the spring of 1917, the DAR applied for an American Red Cross charter backed by some of Bartlesville’s most influential businessmen, including Frank Phillips and L.E. Phillips of Phillips Petroleum Company. The Washington County Chapter of the Red Cross was chartered June 4, 1917, and the DAR presented to the Red Cross their surgical dressing and first aid work, and $92 in cash. The DAR then continued their efforts in historical, educational and patriotic work.

This year, the Red Cross of Washington County celebrates 107 years of continuous service to northeastern Oklahoma. Even though it is no longer housed at 601 S. Jennings, there is still a dedicated team of Red Cross members who are actively involved in serving the community. Local members on the Northern Oklahoma Red Cross Board, serving 26 counties in northern

Oklahoma, are Mathew Hitchcock as Executive Director; and Mary Burns, Carolyn Harpole, Dr. Wes Mosier, and Suzanne Shiflet as Board Members. Additional Board Members reside in Stillwater and Enid. Charles and Tami Lewis are also active responders in the tri-county area.

Several of these board members respond to disasters within and outside the United States, install smoke alarms, and volunteer at local blood drives. The Red Cross developed the first nationwide civilian blood program in the 1940s, and they still provide more than 40% of the blood products in this country. Locally, Stephen Colaw continues to support the Blood Service multi-state area by transporting blood products and serving as a Blood Donor Ambassador at local blood drives.

The Red Cross is more than a helping hand in times of disaster. They also present a customizable “Learn, Practice, Share” preparedness education program in schools, teaching children safety skills, local hazards, and basic coping skills for times of emergency. In addition, they have offered first aid certification, swimming lessons, lifesaving services and training programs since the early 1900s.

All Red Cross disaster assistance is free, and families may receive financial assistance to help them recover. In the tri-county area, the number of clients assisted has grown annually. In 2023, the Northern Oklahoma Chapter of the American Red Cross

provided canteen support to area first responders while responding to nearly 290 home fires and other everyday disasters, installed over 370 free smoke alarms, taught emergency preparedness to 840 students and 115 adults, and engaged more than 4,860 community members in preparedness education and hands-only CPR in Washington, Nowata and Osage Counties. Our Red Cross volunteers are heroes!

Although the Red Cross is federally tasked, it is not a federal agency and does not receive federal funding. The Red Cross delivers its mission through the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. There are many local volunteer opportunities. Blood Donor Ambassadors greet donors, register and answer questions, and offer refreshments. Blood Transportation Specialists deliver blood products to hospitals. Disaster Action Team members respond to local emergencies. Disaster Health Services volunteers are professionally licensed healthcare providers that give hands-on care during disasters. There are also ways to get involved with Service to the Armed Forces, “Sound the Alarm” smoke alarm installation and fire safety education events, and teaching and assisting with youth safety training.

Volunteers make up 90% of the Red Cross workforce, and they respond to about 65,000 disasters annually. It requires more than 25,000 volunteers to support the Red Cross’ lifesaving blood services, collecting on average over 12,000 pints of blood from volunteer blood donors. More than 15,000 nurses and nursing students volunteer their services, and 25% of Red Cross volunteers are age 24 or younger. Red Cross volunteers are the boots on the ground with hearts of service. If your heart is called to serve, the Red Cross needs your help. Contact Mathew Hitchcock at 918-345-0623 or Mathew.hitchcock@redcross.org.

When Swedish businessman Alfred Nobel passed away, his will stated that his estate was to be invested with annual prize distributions awarded to an outstanding contribution in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and peace. In 1901, the first-ever Nobel Peace Prize was co-awarded to International Red Cross founder JeanHenri Dunant and French economist Frederic Passy, for their commitments to peace. Since that time, the Red Cross has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three additional times –1917, 1944 and 1963. Now You Know * Did

Returning Home!

Bartian Comes Home to Perform in Broadway in Bartlesville!

by Kay Little, Little History Adventures

What do drums, a Bartian kid, the first female Captain on an American Airlines commercial plane, a Bartlesville Community Center Board member and the events of 9/11/2001 all have in common? On June 28, 2024, you can experience it for yourself at The Center as you watch the final performance for this season’s Broadway in Bartlesville! “Come From Away.”

The play tells a wonderful story of a community that provided shelter for stranded passengers from several planes on 9/11. One of the main characters is Beverly Bass, the pilot, who was a college friend of our own Pat Wright, chairman of the Bartlesville Community Center board. Pat says, “Beverly was outgoing and easy to be around; smart and sweet.”

When I found out one of the musicians in the play was a hometown boy, I wanted to know more. Brandon Wong, son of Danielle and Jen Wong, grew up immersed in music. His family was very involved in CMT and traveled the world to see several musicals.

Brandon started piano lessons at the age of 6, but by middle school, he knew he liked percussion better. He played in the orchestra while in high school and college.

Danielle Wong said that while growing up, her son was very independent, energetic and social. He was involved in several extracurricular activities, including piano, soccer, baseball, golf and drums. By middle school, he had limited his interests to golf and band. Unfortunately, those two activities got in each other’s way at times. Brandon had to make hard choices, which one time caused him to miss a golf tournament because of a percussion concert. He feels that the golf coach never forgave him. He still likes to play golf when he has the chance.

After high school graduation in 2011, Brandon attended OU, where he double majored in medicine and music. By his senior year, he knew music was his first love, so he switched to just the music major. While at OU, Brandon was a part of the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

After OU, he attended NYU for grad school. He immersed himself in his three music loves to see what direction he would go. Those were theater, chamber music and steelpan. He was able to meet more people this way and it morphed into what he does now. He plays in the orchestra for the traveling Broadway shows. Most of the time, he is not seen, which is what he prefers. But, this time, he and the other musicians will be on the stage, which I am sure his parents will love.

During the times Brandon was trying to decide the musical avenue he wanted to pursue, he met more people, which helped him do what he does now. He wanted to make good relations to help with jobs.

Brandon is married and lives in Manhattan. He works to find ways to have some normalcy. He does like being able to travel to other parts of the country, but he misses being able to cook, one of his other loves.

Brandon mentioned there were enough resources in Bartlesville to support his interests and extracurricular activities without being overwhelming. His mother basically said the same thing. Brandon told me “What I value the most from my youth was the community and network of friends and family that I knew I could rely on and that’s what I’m most looking forward to returning home with “Come From Away.”

CHAMBER AWARDS

REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN OFFICERS

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: Julie authored legislation to stop gender transition procedures on minors and protect girls’ sports. She has authored numerous bills to protect unborn children. Julie was a key player in expanding education choices for parents and putting more resources in our schools.

CHAMPION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: Julie passed major protections for student free speech, free exercise of religion and donor privacy while always supporting Second Amendment rights. She advanced criminal justice reforms that improved public safety, crime victims’ rights and protections for defendants.

ENEMY OF BIDEN’S OVERREACH: Julie leads on reducing the burden of government on Oklahomans and cutting red tape. As a lifelong Republican and long-time civic leader, Julie knows we must defend our state from liberals in D.C., in order to secure freedom, build safer communities and achieve economic growth.

It’s an Honor to Represent You

The email sounded desperate. The uncle was trying to locate his missing teenage nephew who suffers from mental illness. He wasn’t a constituent but knew I had authored a bill requiring law enforcement to enter data about a missing person into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). He asked his county sheriff and local police department to enter information about his nephew into NamUs. They said they didn’t know what he was talking about and sent him on his way. Could I do anything to help him?

The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) was responsible for implementing the provisions of the bill. I called the director. A short time later he emailed that the local law enforcement agencies now understood their responsibility and the young man’s data was in the system.

The uncle emailed a few days later. His nephew had been found safe. He thanked me for reading and responding to an email from outside my district.

Of all the responsibilities I have as a state senator or the opportunities I have had to chair committees and be part of senate leadership, helping individual Oklahomans resolve problems with their state government is the most rewarding part of this job. And, with each call for help I learn something that makes me more a more effective legislator.

I enjoy building strong working relationships in order to advance policies I think important. In turn I help others do the same. I am an active participant in drafting and rewriting my bills.

Last session I authored a bill to protect minors under the age of 18 from gender transition procedures. As Chair of the Rules Committee, I was tasked with taking several bills on this issue and drafting one that would achieve the policy goal and stand up in court. It had to be unambiguous about what was and was not allowed. Exceptions had to be clear.

Thankfully, this important policy is in effect. SB613 was upheld in federal district court and awaits a final decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the spring of 2020, it was important to help businesses get back to normal operations after the height of the COVID pandemic. Business owners, employers and organizations were concerned about being held liable if someone alleged they contracted COVID from visiting or working at a business.

I was Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and the bill would come to my committee. Representative Terry O’Donnell, who is a practicing attorney was the House author. We got on the phone and over the course of a couple of hours wrote SB300.

by State Senator Julie Daniels

The bill shielded business from liability if they took certain, specific action to protect customers and employees from exposure. The legislation really helped, and we were pleased to have played a small part in returning things to some sort of normalcy.

I have worked with different advocacy groups to author a number of bills protecting constitutional rights. In 2019, Representative Mark Lepak and I passed a campus free speech bill. We took model legislation and rewrote it several times. SB361 protects free speech in the public spaces on campus. Microaggressions aren’t enough for one person to stop another from exercising free speech. However, when one student’s speech prevents another student from enjoying the benefits of a college education, the university is required to step in or may be sued.

When we compare the recent violent campus protests at some universities with the orderly protests at the University of Oklahoma, we see this law at work.

Representative Lepak and I were invited to the White House after the passage of the bill. We watched President Trump issue an executive order to withhold federal funds from universities which failed to protect students’ free speech rights.

It’s the honor of a lifetime to represent you in the senate. I have served for eight years and hope to serve a final term. I respectfully ask for your vote on June 18.

State Senator Julie Daniels

Do you remember the first moment you had an “Us vs. Them” experience? They come in all shapes and sizes.

I grew up Irish Catholic. At that moment in history, it often felt like there were Catholics and then everyone else. I don’t think we were alone in that. Most Baptists I knew growing up seemed to live on a denominational island as well. “Us vs. Them.”

Did you have that experience?

In third grade, when the world’s nuclear arsenal was raging and the Cold War was hanging over all our heads, it was us vs. the Russians. (If Rocky hadn’t rescued us by defeating Drago, we might all be calling each other comrades by now.)

Later in school, we reveled in “Us vs. Them” with our separation from the pop world. We were desperate to be nonconformists…together.

Locally, we’ve had Spartans vs. Wildcats. East Siders vs. the West Siders. Madison vs Central. Jets vs Sharks . . . wait. (Admit it, you almost started snapping.)

Sometimes the separations are comical: mustard vs. catsup, catsup vs. ketchup, sprinkle vs. dunking, urban vs. rural, east coast rap vs. west coast rap, socks vs. sandals, Drake vs. Lamar.

The “Us vs. Them” lines have been drawn around income, race, social standing, diet, birthplace, acoustic vs. electric, schools, religion, denominations within that religion, churches

within that denomination within that religion, and on and on. Some of those divisions have had greater stakes than others.

Not all “Us vs Them” scenarios have been bad.

Some have helped fuel healthy competition and community and a sense of belonging. Often I feel an allegiance to Oklahoma and my city. This is my tribe. And if the outside world doesn’t know us, doesn’t get how cool we are or what we have here in the Ville . . . well, that’s on them.

My small nuclear family of three is a unit. And on occasion, it can feel like Us vs. the world. But I like that group identity.

In America, we talk a good talk.

We are the great melting pot, all men are created equal, the land of the free, one nation under God . . . That’s all well and good until things don’t go our way and we want to take our states and go home.

We’re also a country in which Christianity is still a large majority. As a result, it’s become vogue to chastise each other - I mean encourage each other - with hand-selected, pointed scriptures. Oddly enough, we tend to stay away from the most basic, repeated text like love others as yourself, treat others as you want to be treated, and listen more than you speak, (or read more than you write in my case).

The talking (or posting) isn’t the hard part (or effective part for that matter), it’s the walking all this out that has proven the most difficult for all of us.

It’s become fashionable to point out the divisions in our country. It’s less fashionable to talk about taking personal responsibility for what we can do to heal those divisions.

I think I understand - in part - why that is.

In the mid-1980s, political radio exploded. We were emerging out of the beige of the late ‘70s, and now a sort of culture tug-of-war was beginning. Talk show hosts seized on that and they fed their audience a truly damaging message on a mass, national scale.

The notion was it wasn’t enough to identify with the political party that best reflected your personal beliefs or ideals or philosophy . . . now we needed to fear and oppose the other side. “Opinion heads” started to vilify the other half of the country. They came up with ugly names for the other party. They mocked the others like they were second graders on a playground. Then, and this was the really damaging part, they began to associate mean and diabolical intentions with the other side. They forecasted a nation in ruin if those people succeeded. They created caricatures of our neighbors as one-dimensional beings that somehow didn’t love their kids, spouses, and country as much as we did. Those people didn’t just disagree philosophically with you, they wanted to destroy you . . . and your America.

Other Americans were now our enemy.

And that, we have discovered (after it was delivered in entertaining, three-hour time slots on an endless broadcast loop and steeped in a brand of fear and anger) is pretty effective.

Interestingly enough, it is also the formula for hate. Hate starts by dehumanizing someone. We devalue them and make them less than. We are no longer required to love them as our neighbors because they aren’t fully … like us. Once that happens, we can dismiss them and then discriminate against them. Finally, we can eliminate them. That’s how we’ve approached every war and conflict we’ve ever faced.

When we entered WWII, we had to rally opposition. So we made caricatures of the enemy. It took generations to erase those images of the Germans and Japanese people. We did the same to native Americans and slaves. Nazis used the very same tactic for the Jews. These people are less than us. They are not our equals. Therefore we are superior and justified in our actions, animosity, and hate.

And now we’re asked to do the same to our fellow countrymen.

We are asked to mock and judge those who don’t agree with us. To be suspicious of those who simply vote differently than we do. We don’t consider them our moral or patriotic equals. And we let media heads assign malicious intent to them. The end result is a one-dimensional, caricature of them that is dehumanizing.

The extraordinary thing is, that these images we create eventually become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The more we war with each other, the more we start to resemble the very caricature they believe us to be. In an arms race of rhetoric and fear, we become that ridiculous, that hateful, that myopic, unintelligible, unreasonable, and extreme.

We are forcing each other into these positions.

I guess the two most difficult questions are: 1) Why do we need an enemy so badly? Is our position not secure enough without someone to oppose it? Can we only feel confident in ourselves if we can feel dominant over someone else?

And 2) What is the way out of all this? If we see this pattern, then how do we break from it?

The only way, to me, is for me to take personal responsibility. I have to do what I can to promote the respect and unity I wish we had as a country. I have to frame my dialog accordingly. And I have to turn the media heads off that demand division and vitriol for the sake of ratings. We can’t wait for anyone else to do it.

That’s my thought anyway.

Cheers friends. See you here next month.

• Skilled Nursing • Wound Care • Falls Prevention

• Disease Management and Education

• Medication Management and Education

• Blood Glucose Monitoring Education

• Restorative Therapy (Physical, Speech and Occupational)

• Blood Draws in the Home for any Labs Needed

• Anodyne® Therapy for Neuropathy and Pain

• Communication Between You and Your Doctor

• Behavioral Health at Home • Alzheimer’s & Dementia

• Skin & Wound Care • Anxiety & Depression Chronic Care

• Take a Breath Respiratory Program • Pain Management

• Care Connections Pre-Palliative Care

The Floorshow

“I Fall to Pieces” But Not Like Patsy Cline. . .

by Kelly Hurd

I thought I was juggling things rather well. I had my open laptop in one hand, cellphone in my front pants pocket, and a fresh cup of coffee in the other hand. I was dressed for the day in my business casual best along with a genuine smile I love to wear, striding for the elevator on my way up to my hotel room before heading out to where I was going that day…

You’d have thought the breakfast folks would have choked on their bagels as they sucked the air out of the lobby with their numerous, deeply shocked gasps in horror - as I crashed to the unforgiving tile floor, spilling coffee all over myself…

I’m sure it was anything but graceful. However, I did land with my computer still open in my hand– and I think that accomplishment just has to be something that should give me brownie points for coordination. Hey, #JustSayin.

Within seconds, folks came running over to check on me. The hotel staff, I’m sure, was in panic mode thinking a law suit was sure to follow, but I bounced up, shook it off, and told them I hoped they enjoyed the breakfast show and assured them I was ok.

At least I thought I was ok… I keep telling myself I’m young, and most days I have myself convinced – but a couple days later my body was telling me I was anything but young. I was in PAIN!

And the pain got worse until a few days later my back went out – and it stayed in a compromised state for two weeks.

TWO WEEKS of pain was no fun for me – or for my husband, who was sweet enough to run a muscle vibrating gun up and down my back and legs every day religiously. (Thank you, John Hurd!!!)

I’ll tell you one thing though – the first morning I was able to get out of bed with no pain felt like a reason to celebrate. I wanted to jump on the bed, turn cartwheels down the hall, or dance in the living room - but needing to be somewhat wise and continue to take it easy, I chose to smile widely with as much enthusiasm as possible while I drank my coffee that morning and thanked the Lord.

Because of all that, I realized how much I take for granted

the simple day-to-day things like wellness, soundness, and being painless. Little things like a good night’s sleep, a brisk walk down a dirt road, being able to sit comfortably in a chair, and getting to drive to Hobby Lobby have become big things that cause gratitude to permeate my attitude.

And you know what? My little permeated attitude has made me happier than I was before the fall.

Because of all this, I got to thinking, “Could it be that ungratefulness is tied to unhappiness?”

Not that I was unhappy, but you know – some folks seem to live in that zone with a continuously wrinkled brow and an attitude so suck-y you just sink when they enter the room… You know the kind of folks I’m talking about – the very kind I was trying not to be during those two weeks.

So, with all that in mind, I’d like to encourage you to count your blessings more often. If you can jump on the bed or turn a cartwheel down the hall – give it a whirl every once in a while, – regardless your age. And for heaven’s sake, don’t leave those country roads unwalked or Hobby Lobby unshopped and if you get the chance to sit it out or dance – dance, baby, dance – just because you can! Having the opportunity to just enjoy life is something we ought to be thankful for.

While in the pain, I searched for things to get my mind off of it. There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “Whatever is noble, right, pure, and lovely – think on these things.” And you know what – just doing that makes a difference in an attitude, even when we’re in a state of pain. I know this because I tried it as I began to feel depression and sadness creeping around inside of me during those two weeks. Gratitude served an eviction notice to depression before depression had time to unpack its bags. #TrueStory

Well, we’ve kinda wandered the back roads of my mind, but I’m grateful you chose to go “On the Road” with me this month! Before we part, let me wish you wellness, soundness, and an attitude of gratitude for every situation.

And, I’ll leave you with a quote:

“If you fall, I will be there for you.” – Your friend, The Floor

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

Experienced, Honest, Local

A Look at Communism

by Aaron Kirkpatrick

Communism destroys beauty. This is not a political statement, just an observation after several trips to Eastern Europe. I visited Ukraine in 1996, not long after the iron curtain fell. The homemade borscht was delicious and the black market shirts were hilarious—I kept my “McStalin” shirt for nearly 30 years. But everything Soviet was depressing. The concrete apartment buildings the communists built were blocky, ugly, and oppressive. I’ll never forget seeing playgrounds in the “parks” between apartment complexes. They were flecked with rust, and weeds grew in cracks in the ever-present concrete. Kids not much younger than my own 13 years were making the most of the space, kicking a soccer ball against a wall, even though there was nowhere to run. Our interpreters, all young adults, relayed their parents’ stories of politically motivated famine, neighborhood suspicion, and the weight of the communist boot upon their culture. They were elated it was over.

country. We saw the ubiquitous stains of communism when we landed in Bucharest, but we quickly escaped to the mountains. Romania is covered by some of Europe’s largest virgin forests. They are home to bears, wolves, and other rare species. After hiking up to a mountain monastery, we were greeted by a red fox moseying across the courtyard. He stopped to watch us, then looked toward the chapel as if inviting us to the service. We accepted his invitation and quietly slipped through the heavy doors at the back of the room.

I have visited Albania twice, where my older Albanian friends grew up under communism. In the capitol city Tirana, Skanderbeg Square is resplendent with ancient iconography. The Albanian flag is a black double-headed eagle on a blood-red background symbolizing bravery, strength, valor, and bloodshed. You see the flag everywhere! It appears on restaurant logos, t-shirts, murals, and even baby strollers. A young boy rode past me on his bike with an oversized flag pole secured to the frame. The double eagle was flapping behind him.

In the center of the square, Skanderbeg sits nobly atop his war horse, sword raised overhead. He was a 15th century military hero to both the Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires. Skanderbeg looks out over ancient mosques, chapels, and cathedrals. When the communists took over, they began eradicating religious and cultural beauty, forcibly turning these religious buildings into museums and infusing ancient iconography with the hammer and sickle. The beautiful mountain and beach towns of Albania are still pocked by blocks of bland, concrete buildings built by the communists. But as soon as communism fell, the Albanians started reclaiming their iconography, celebrating who they are, not who their dictators tried to force them to become.

My wife and I recently visited Romania. It is a stunning

The walls were covered in intricate paintings of religious figures which drew the eyes first toward the gilded sacramental items at the front of the chapel, and then up the dome where the Trinity watched over the service. The stone floors were covered by two ornate rugs where three old women knelt on the floor, heads bowed and covered, repeating the liturgy and praying as the priests directed. After a few minutes, the old doors opened again and a young mother entered, leading her toddler by the hand. She too knelt on the floor, crossing herself and bowing in reverence. The mother placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and gently guided the child into a kneeling position, showing her how to form the sign of the cross. The girl lasted longer than I would have, but soon she was toddling away to a young man—presumably her father.

The entire service was in Romanian, and I didn’t understand a single word, but the beauty of the chapel lifted my spirit. I am not Orthodox, and the rhythms and rituals were alien to me. Even so, the service connected me to something deep and sacred. Despite the strange setting and language, the sincere humility of the women moved me to tears, and I worshipped with them.

What has impacted me about Eastern Europe isn’t just the beauty of the land or the richness of their culture and history. I am inspired by the people. For decades, communism tried to stamp out the culture, history, and will of people all across Europe, but the people refused. Children still played. Young men still held onto symbols of sovereignty and freedom. Old women still genuflected before God, casting their eyes toward Heaven, and they taught their daughters to do the same. And because of them, no matter how hard it tried, communism did not destroy the beauty of Eastern Europe.

THERAPY & REHABILITATION

Forrest Manor has a long track record of providing premier, skilled care for its residents. Trusted by individuals and their families to continue recovery when leaving the hospital and to enhance residents’ lives by promoting independence and safety. Forrest Manor provides rehabilitation services by caring, licensed therapists. Forrest Manor offers:

• Physical Therapy

• Occupational Therapy • Speech Therapy • Restorative Therapy

• Personalized Care

• Social Services Social

• Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation

• Planned Activities

• Skilled Care Skilled

• Respite Care

• Short & Long Term Care

• Hospice

• Senior Fitness Center Senior

• Theater Room Room

• Private Party Room

• Elegant Private Dining Room Elegant

• Meals planned by a Registered Dietician

• Complimentary transportation to Complimentary doctors’ appointments

• Highest wages in the area based on a survey with nursing homes a

• Cigarettes included in per diem

• Transportation to Owasso & Tulsa

• And much more!

Finding Blessings Search For Moments of Joy

by Christina Law

Have you ever wondered how to find blessings during the dark times in your life? I have. Hi, my name is Christi Law, although you probably know me as Christina Lathem, and I’m a Bartlesville native.

My journey has tough, but it been an adventure! Born in 1980 with spina bifida, I have had 34 surgeries, and the 33rd paralyzed me.

For over a decade, I’ve resided in nursing homes in Oklahoma, basically spending my entire adult life in them. Despite these challenges, I have managed to discover joy. How did I manage to find joy and blessings during my darkest moments? The answer is simple - I chose to embrace life. When life is hard, you must actively search for moments of joy. Sometimes, these moments are hidden in darkness, requiring you to rely on God’s light to find them, while other times, they come unexpectedly.

One par ticular moment of God’s blessing and miracles stands out in my memory. In 2016, after having lived four years in a nursing home, I met someone. His name was Nathanael but he preferred to be called Nathan or Nate. Despite his unfortunate physical circumstances, he was only supposed to stay in the nursing home for a short period of time. We spent a lot of time together, and fell in love.

As Nathan’s time to move out approached, we decided to both move back into the community. It was like a dream come true for me, and it was all thanks to him! Before we made the move, we decided to exchange vows and get married only before God.

Nathan and I lived in the community for a few years, but things changed when his health started deteriorating rapidly. He began to go blind, which made it difficult for him to be independent. Due to his declining health, we returned to the nursing home. Nathan was my rock during this time in my life. He also turned out to be an excellent roommate! My one condition for returning to the nursing home was for us to legally marry.

It was at this point when our miracle began. I was thrilled to become a bride. After a long search, I found the perfect dress.

I posted on Facebook looking for a bakery to make our cake. A kind lady replied, saying she wasn’t a baker but wanted to help us in some small way. She offered to be our wedding planner and we happily agreed.

She talked to a photographer she knew, and the photographer offered us a free package. I gladly accepted. The church looked beautiful, the flowers were amazing, the dress fit perfectly, the cake was delicious, and most importantly, I married the man of my dreams. A few weeks later, we got our photos. They were stunning! Unfortunately, my husband had lost his sight completely by then. He couldn’t see anything during our wedding. Just imagine, being at your wedding and not being able to see your bride.

Shor tly after our wedding, Nathan visited the eye doctor. He found out that he could have surgery to restore his sight. After the operation, he could barely wait to take off the bandage from his eye. I told him to put it back on, however he responded in the sweetest voice, “I just want to see your pretty face again.” He removed the bandage, looked at me, and said, “Yep, you’re just as beautiful as ever.”

When he was able to remove the bandage permanently, I showed him our wedding pictures. He was finally able to see his wedding, even if it was through pictures. He cried and our hearts overflowed with joy.

This story is an example of how blessings can come from the darkest moments. Finding them is all about our choices and mindset. We cannot choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond to it. I could have been devastated that Nathan went blind, but I chose to guide him through it. We were sad, but found joy by choosing to embrace life.

Rather than being angry at God for our hardships, we made the choice to find blessings and joy in the situation. We knew that we were not walking this journey alone. We must make a commitment to live in love, positivity, grace, and mercy. Only then, will we truly discover blessings from within the dark.

Christina Law

Eli is a student in the Construction Technology program at Tri County Tech, and a senior at Bartlesville High School. He chose this program because he’s always been interested in the construction field. His favorite part about the program has been the hands-on experience in the shop; specifically wiring circuits and framing small structures.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Eli serves as the secretary for SkillsUSA, volunteers at Pantheon Martial Arts and the United Way Day of Caring, and has secured an internship with Manhattan Construction.

His instructor, Mr. Murphy, said, “Eli has been a great student since starting at Tri County Tech. He leads by example and demonstrates the proper etiquette for other students.”

Eli said that his older brother has inspired him most in life as he pushes him to be a better person every day. After graduation, Eli plans to continue his education and pursue a career in the construction industry as a journeyman electrician.

Congratulations, Eli!

J-Ray is a first-year adult student in the Cosmetology program at Tri County Tech. He chose this program because he loves to make others smile. Seeing his visions transform into an elegant design is his favorite part of the cosmetology experience.

In addition to his academic pursuits, J-Ray is a member of the National Technical Honor Society and a parliamentarian for SkillsUSA. J-Ray also volunteers for the United Way Day of Caring and coordinated a 5K benefiting Nowata, Oklahoma.

His instructor, Mrs. Walker said, “J-Ray is my Ray of Sunshine. He is so positive and a huge encourager to others. He brings his records to share with the class and makes the atmosphere fun. Every class needs a J-Ray! Many of the students look up to him. He really appreciates Tri County Tech and the education he is receiving.”

J-Ray plans to graduate and pursue a career in the cosmetology industry. He is also considering the possibility of becoming a cosmetology instructor in the future!

Congratulations, J-Ray!

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OF THE YEAR

Eli Eggers Construction Technology

ADULT STUDENT OF THE YEAR

Bartlesville PENDING Keeli Droege 918-697-8509

Bartlesville PENDING Keeli Droege 918-697-8509

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PENDING Carolyn Bolding 918-327-1133

3/2.5/2 $239,900 Carolyn Bolding 918-327-1133

3/2/2 $225,000 Amos Radlinger 918-766-2361

Greenleaf Court Bartlesville PENDING Carolyn Bolding 918-327-1133

Summit Road Bartlesville SOLD! Carolyn Bolding 918-327-1133

Ridgewood Road Bartlesville 3/2.5/2 $225,000 Amos Radlinger 918-766-2361

NE Queenstown

PENDING Kim Taylor 918-214-3036

3/3/2 $165,000 Brian Saltzman 918-214-3035

SE Morningside Ave Bartlesville PENDING Kim Taylor 918-214-3036

Dewey Avenue Bartlesville PENDING Kim Taylor 918-214-3036

Winding Way Bartlesville 3/2/02 $195,000 Carolyn Bolding 918-327-1133

CR 2706 Bartlesville SOLD! Carolyn Bolding 918-327-1133

RESIDENTIAL LOTS

Summer Health Tips How to Stay Safe & Healthy in the Oklahoma Heat

by Anderson Mehrle, MD

Summer is here and it’s time to enjoy the warmer temperatures with camping, fishing, gardening and outdoor sports. Many healthy individuals, or individuals striving to get healthy, often use the summer as the time to get more active and exercise. Summer vacations are popular that include hiking, running, kayaking. The issue is our bodies may not be ready for this overexertion and therein lies the risk of heart attack or sudden cardiac death. Here are some tips to stay healthy this summer.

Before embarking on an exercise routine, visit your physician for a checkup. A simple EKG, blood pressure check and physical exam will help determine if it’s safe to get started. If there is a family history of sudden cardiac death, an echocardiogram, which is a simple ultrasound of your heart, would be beneficial at looking for congenital conditions like Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. HCM is a condition that causes the heart’s muscle to thicken and stiffen, restricting the heart’s ability to pump blood. This could be fatal if not caught early.

Hydration and avoiding exercise in heat of day is also important as electrolyte shifts and dehydration can lead to arrhythmias or ruptured plaque causing a heart attack.

If your vacation plans contain activities that you do not normally partake in, be proactive, seek medical clearance and condition your heart and body for the event before you leave. If

you are going hiking in the mountains or running on the beach, your body and heart will be better able to handle this activity. Also, warming up or stretching before outdoor activities may prevent unintended muscle injury, even if you are well conditioned.

Begin your exercise routine on a low level and gradually escalate your program. Listen to your body. When you feel chest pain or exhaustion, stop, rest, recover and then return to a less strenuous level of exercise. To achieve or maintain good cardiovascular health, slow and steady wins the race. Strive for 30 minutes of low impact to moderate intensity exercise 3 to 5 times a week.

For those with heart conditions, it is even more important to have a check-up and even a stress test before embarking on summer time activities. Elderly patients on blood pressure medications who want to venture outside and participate in garden or yard work should avoid doing these activities in middle of day, stay hydrated and go over your medications with your physician as low blood pressure created by dehydration may result in a dangerous fall.

So, before you go out and enjoy all that summertime has to offer, stop by your doctor and get checked out, prepare for your vacations, hydrate well and of course eat healthy to ensure a safe fun summer.

JOINING FORCES

Bruce Robinett

by Maria Gus

With excerpts from the obituary of Bruce Robinett, as written by his son, Tracy Robinett.

On February 18, 1943, Bruce W. Robinett was born in a farmhouse, with no indoor plumbing, in Garfield County, Oklahoma. Bruce was raised in an iconic rural setting, with his family farming wheat and raising cattle. His parents knew nothing but hard work, an ethic that was instilled in Bruce at an early age and that remained with him throughout his life. In his limited spare time on the family farm, Bruce embarked on his lifelong love for the great outdoors, trapping, shooting guns and fishing.

After graduating with his 7-member senior class at Pioneer High School, Bruce enrolled at Oklahoma State University, joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and graduated with an Agricultural Economics degree in just 3 years. By doing so, Bruce became the first Robinett in family history to earn a college degree. While in college, Bruce met a cute 19-year-old from Enid by the name of Ruth Ellen Tigner. They were married in 1963 and one year later, Bruce, with one month old Tracy in tow, began law school at the University of Oklahoma. Bruce excelled, graduating third in his class, serving on the Law Journal and being awarded the law school’s highest academic honor - Order of the Coif. Thereafter, two established lawyers from Bartlesville, Chester Brewer and Jesse Worten, offered Bruce a job. In a wheat truck, Bruce, Ruth and Tracy were off to their new home with their belongings. Three years later, their second child, Shannon, was born.

Fellow attorney and law partner David King said his upbringing made him a better human and attorney. “He was raised on a farm, and people are different on the farm, he was farm tough,” said King. “People who grow up on a farm or a ranch, a lot think they can beat mother nature or human nature, he certainly had that attitude. He was short but he was center on his high school basketball team. Do you know how tough you have to be to be center on the team?” King said he would often give Robinett a little friendly ribbing about his stature and playing for his high school team. Robinett loved to respond that there were better, faster, and taller basketball players at his school, but they didn’t let the girls play back then. King added that Robinett could have practiced law anywhere. He had the attitude, intellect, and strut to pull it off, but he came here. In fact, just four hours before he passed, Robinett won an appeal in a case. “He was a good guy, I can’t believe he’s gone,” said King.

When he was not working, one could find Bruce hunting quail with his beloved bird dogs; playing golf; playing tennis; flying his airplanes; spending time on Grand Lake; snow skiing; attending OU football games; and shooting sporting clays. His lifelong passion, however, was fishing. Bruce chased bass and trout in ponds, lakes and rivers all over North America. Nothing

excited him more than going on a fly fishing trip with his close friends.

Professionally, Bruce soon became one of Oklahoma’s brightest and most respected lawyers. He enjoyed the practice of law immensely and he embraced his long lasting relationships with clients. Immediately before his passing, he was still very active at the office and had a full work load.

Bruce’s greatest talent of all, however, was his remarkable ability to connect with people and make friends. His extended family adored him and he established lifelong relationships with people of all ages and walks of life. He touched countless lives with his intellect, his big personality, his story telling and his great sense of humor.

Friend Karole Cozby spoke of a friend who was always there for her. “He always helped people but never one time took credit,” said Cozby. “Bruce was a lawyer’s lawyer but he was also every man’s friend. I couldn’t say it any better than that, he was just our best friend and so trustworthy. I counted on it, I knew it, I felt it. Still do. A friendship I counted on.”

The fateful cancer diagnosis on January 25 was a shock to everyone, including himself. Until then, he was healthy, active and had so much more to do. While he lived a full life, he certainly was not ready to go. As recently as late April, Bruce was adamant that he would be traveling to Canada in June with his buddies for their annual fishing trip. A trip that he had not missed since 1986. Fishing supplies continue to arrive at his house.

“From the time I moved back to Bartlesville I always admired, respected and looked up to Bruce,” said Representative John Kane. “I don’t know if any of us realize how much he did for individuals and organizations in our community. He was a man that would never betray confidence and he would always give straight answers even if it wasn’t what one might want to hear. He was a fantastic attorney and an incredible asset to any organization with which he was involved. I know that The Lyon Foundation and I will miss him dearly for his talents, but even more for his friendship. You can not overstate the loss to Bartlesville.”

Bruce passed away on May 1, 2024. He was predeceased by his parents, Wayne and Lela Robinett. Sadly, Bruce leaves behind his wife of 60 years, Ruth Robinett; his sister, Carolyn Hamm of Enid; his son Tracy Robinett, along with his wife Susan, of Tulsa; his daughter Shannon LaDuke of Hot Springs; and his four beautiful granddaughters, Meg Robinett, Addie Robinett, Lucy LaDuke and Ruthie LaDuke.

Bruce Robinett was one of a kind. He will be greatly missed by his many friends, his immediate and extended family, his colleagues at the Robinett King law firm and his clients. His shoes cannot be filled.

Ability Works

by Jay Webster

Sometimes an organization serves a community long enough that they actually outgrow their name.  That’s exactly what happened to Bartlesville’s AbilityWorks.

After years of being known in the community as ARC (an acronym for “Association for Retarded Citizens”), the word “retarded” took on a derogatory meaning, especially in pop culture, and no longer reflected the scope of what the organization did.  According to executive director Becky Ingram, a new, updated name was needed.

“Our new name, AbilityWorks, is much more positive and refers to the ability or abilities of all individuals and how those abilities can work toward as much independence as possible for everyone we support,” said Ingram. “Being independent is a normal and natural desire for everyone and we work hard to ensure the individuals we support in all our programs can attain as much independence as possible.  It improves self-esteem and empowers people to reach higher and expand their newly found independence.”

AbilityWorks partners with organizations and companies throughout the community to provide work opportunities and service projects; all with Job Coaches who help ensure the work gets done and everyone participates as their ability allows.

For Ingram, the goal is about empowering lives and maximizing each person’s potential to ensure everyone is entitled to the respect and consideration they deserve.

“The people we support have intellectual and developmental disabilities, but they have the same rights as any other American citizen.  They pay taxes, can vote, and participate in any type of community activity they choose.”

AbilityWorks’ clients work within the organization operating the popular Thrift store, located at 501 S. Virginia Ave, which has been part of the Bartlesville community since the 1950s.  In addition to operating the store, other AbilityWorks clients run the group’s extensive shredding and recycling operation onsite recycling clothing, paper, and cardboard.  As part of the Community Competitive Employment Program other clients work jobs alongside their job coaches out in the city’s workforce at places like McCallister’s Deli and Homeland.

One of Ingram’s favorite work projects that AbilityWorks

participates in is the Shining Honor Project, which enriches the lives of those with developmental challenges while honoring our Nation’s Veterans.

“The Shining Honor Foundation pays our clients $10.00 per hour to clean and maintain Veterans’ gravestones.  We work with several cemeteries in Washington County to provide this meaningful service.”

In addition to employment opportunities, AbilityWorks also coordinates and supports a variety of living options for those they serve.

“AbilityWorks owns and operates three six-bed group homes, an Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) – known as Jacquelyn House, and currently supports over 25 individuals living in the community in their own homes.  All residential programs are supported by Direct Support Professionals (DSP) to ensure community integration, training on specific goals to increase independence, transportation, and medical supervision through medication administration and health care coordination.”

Ingram and her dedicated staff are passionate about the lifechanging mission of AbilityWorks. The board as well as employees work daily to ensure each client knows dignity, opportunity, and achievable independence.  For them AbilityWorks is not just an organization’s name, but a declaration.

For more information on AbilityWorks and their services, as well as information on ways to support and volunteer visit AbilityWorksok.org or 918-336-5928.

AbilityWorks Facts:

AbilityWorks operates a ThirtyStore (501 S Virginia) which offers gently used furniture, home goods, and clothing.

AbilityWorks will pick up large furniture donations as well as cardboard for recycling (918-336-5928)

AbilityWorks partners with Bartlesville High School (Special Education) to give students opportunities to gain experience while earning high school credit for their work in our Thrift Store.

AbilityWorks is a 501(c)3.  Donations and additional information can be found at their website abilityworksok.org.

50 Years of Glenn Security

by Miriam Walker

Safety; the condition of being protected from danger. An action to guard against attack or loss; protection from harm. Safety by its very definition offers security from tragedy, and tragedy to be certain, is such an all-encompassing word.

Glenn Security Systems covers it all, and they set themselves apart by being a local leader in the security industry.

Hard work and dedication have been the backbone of Glenn Security Systems for five decades now. Specializing in both residential and commercial alarm systems, Bartlesville has been home to Glenn Security Systems since 1978.

Ron Glenn started his company in Stillwater Oklahoma back in 1972. They became an incorporated entity in 1974, and by 1978 they had migrated and set up roots in Bartlesville. Along with his wife Jani, son Joseph, daughter-in-law Sarah, and a strong team of employees, they are a much-welcomed staple here in Bartlesville, and our city is thankful for the commitment Glenn Security Systems provides to its clients

We teach our children the basics of safety very early in life. Know your name, your phone number, and your address. But it shouldn’t stop there. In a world that continues to evolve and transform from what we once knew, long gone is the commonplace of leaving doors and windows unlocked like we used to.

Glenn Security recognizes the importance of innovative tools and systems in a world that continues to present evolving risk. Their client-centered approach is simple; provide reliability, adaptable cutting edge technology, and formulate a strategy that

is easy for homeowners and business owners to adapt to and understand.

Glenn Security Systems specializes in intrusion and fire alarms, commercial and residential alarms, and they offer professional monitoring of their commercial security alarms. They are well known for their innovation in securing assets and reducing losses with the use of sensors for their burglar and fire alarms.

In addition, Glenn Security Systems specializes in the oil patch industry, monitoring salt water tanks, gas compressors and pumps, to minimize the loss of production in regards to environmental issues.

Offering a lifetime warranty on workmanship and 24 hour emergency service, Glenn Security are members of the American Society Of Industrial Industry, the National Fire Protection Association, the Oklahoma Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, and the Bartlesville Chamber Of Commerce.

And if the online testimonials don’t give you an indication of the thoroughness of Glenn Security as they protect their clients, then surely 50 years in business will!

Thank you Glenn Security Systems, for keeping our homes and businesses here in Bartlesville safe!

“ We believe everyone deserves to live and work in a safe and secure environment.” Ron Glenn

PLEASE JOIN US as we celebrate Glenn Security Systems 50-year anniversary. There will be a come and go event on June 21st from 3:00 to 5:30, at their building located at 3909 Price Road here in Bartlesville.

Field of Dreams

by Mike Tupa

Screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson (“Field of Dreams”) compared watching baseball by older generations “as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces.”

Bartlesville’s Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium (known until 1997 as Bartlesville Municipal Athletic Field) is more than a 92-year-old baseball Xanadu — it is the embodiment of childhood hopes, baptism in a river teeming with long-forgotten recollections, a halcyon paradise where worldly turmoil is left outside the Brobdingnagian wrought-iron gates that open into the ticket lobby.

On the other side of the turnstile is a welcoming extra-wide corridor that opens up a vision of diamond grandeur of glories gone past and where today’s adolescent baseball dreams still come true — and where old men in the stands remember when…

When Mickey Mantle blasted one of his first pro baseball homers, when Satchel Paige pitched there, when more than 50 future major leaguers, and hundreds of minor leaguers, have run out on that field to do battle.

John Pannell is not what one would call an old man — unless, like Indiana Jones, one includes milage in that calculation, but his roots in the stadium extend back nearly 45 years, since as a child he reluctantly let his day drag him to the games. His association with Doenges — which was known as Bartlesville Municipal Athletic Field from 1932 until 1997 — has followed a straight-line evolutionary development. Batboy to player to assistant coach to head coach to tournament director and back to head coach.

He also nurtures a favorite Doenges memory. Back when he played Bartlesville American Legion summer ball, with the Doenges Ford Indians, back in the early 1990s, the stands used to extend to another row in front with box seats, which put fans almost literally on top of the plate.

“There was this little girl on the ground in one of these boxes,” he recalled. “I came on deck and she got up and said to me ‘Hit a home run,’ and she reached through the net and touched my back. ... And I hit a home run.”

Doenges magic. There’s nothing like it. The same might be said of Bartlesville’s passionate love affair with baseball for more than 120 years.

Initially, the city’s main field was located just north of the city limits on Dewey Avenue. In 1906, local civic icon and oilman William Johnstone donated the lane — at or near the current ballpark site — for a new baseball facility. In 1909, a wooden grandstand was completed and a fence sprang up around the field. In 1910, future Baseball Hall of Famer Jake “Eagle Eye” Beckley spent most the summer as a player-manager for the Bartlesville Boosters.

Several future MLB players pre-1930 spent time in Bartlesville on their way up. A handful of them included pitchers Joe Heving (MLB: 76-48 W-L record, 3.90 ERA) and Larry Cheney (MLB: 116-100, 2.70 ERA, 28 complete games in 1912).

The ushering in of Oklahoma’s Great Depression in 1930 happened simultaneously with a new Golden Era in Bartlesville baseball. Work began that year on a new baseball field — which would be christened as Bartlesville Municipal Athletic Field. It

came with a $30,000 — part of a $42,000 bond issue — and was dedicated May 2, 1932.

At its opening, the stadium already was one of a kind — the only baseball stadium in the world with perfect equidistance to the 14-concrete paneled outfield — 340 feet from home plate. During the next 90 years, the stands would be cut back and home plate adjusted to that the field of 2024 is approximately 354 feet to center field and 350 down the lines.

But, Municipal wasn’t just for baseball. During its first 20-plus years it served as the Bartlesville College High School football field, as well as a site for parades, rodeos, religious revivals and miscellaneous celebrations and events.

The stadium began a regional gem during the KOM minor league baseball days (1946-52). Almost 30 MLB’er’s played at Municipal, including Mantle, Among the Bartlesville Pirate players who went on to the ‘bigs’ were Ron Kline, Ed Wolfe, Brandy Davis, Bill Pierro and Dixie Upright.

In 1997, Municipal was renamed in honor of Bill Doenges, a long-time supporter and sponsor of Bartlesville High School and American Legion baseball.

The facility became more upright in the early 2000s with a million dollars worth of upgrade, including a new roof, huge fans under the grandstand roof, new lights, addition of metal bleachers on the sideline, installation of metal bleachers and chair-back seats in the grandstand and much more.

The improvements — made possible by a highly unified community effort — allowed Doenges to host two American Legion World Series tournaments — in 2003 and 2007.

In 2021, the playing field itself was christened Rigdon Field, to remember former long-time Bartlesville High head baseball coach/athletic director Spence Rigdon.

Some future major league athletes that have suited up in the Doenges confines have included: Bartlesville products Russ McGinnis and Tim Pugh, along with Matt Holliday, Dylan Bundy, JT Realmuto and Archie Bradley.

The GOF (Grand Old Facility) is just eight years away from its 100th Anniversary. It remains linked by the dreams of different generations and the enduring love of baseball.

Shadows of Our Fathers

by Brent Taylor

We are nothing without stories, not only our victory stories, but also our stories of loss. One of my favorite stories began with a baseball thrown by my father to me, accompanied by the satisfying sound of the ball popping into the pocket of my glove.

It was the spring of 1971, when I retrieved my Rawlings baseball glove from the closet and massaged lanolin into the palm. The Little League World Series was unimaginable, yet a dream of mine. We were coached by our dads who played baseball in pastures when they were boys and home plate was an oak tree and 2nd base the hubcap of a 1946 Desoto. The fathers that weren’t coaching, leaned against the backstop and encouraged us. We now wore the names of their work across our chests, Redbird Ranch, National Zinc, Terrel Taylor Company, May Brothers, McDonald Auto Parts.

Dad once told me a story about his dad and Mickey Mantle’s twin brothers which wasn’t so much a story as it was a wistful lament. He was expressing regret over his failures as a dad, and he mentioned reflectively that his dad had never seen any of his Bluejacket High School baseball games. Dad’s Bluejacket team played against Commerce, OK and Mickey Mantle’s twin brothers, Roy & Ray Mantle. Dad was noticeably melancholy about his dad’s absence from that part of his life.

Twenty years after dad played against the Mantle twins, a Taylor and Mantle would cross base paths once again during the Oklahoma State Little League Championship. Commerce and Mantle beat the Bartlesville 12-year-old U.S. All-Stars that year. But this story is about the game that advanced us to the finals, a game against the Bartlesville American League All-Stars. It was a game clinching play at 2nd base that has ever since framed my view of a Bartlesville baseball legend, Tug Baughn.

I was pitching and we were up by a run in the final inning against the American League All-Stars. Tug strolled to the mound to talk strategy. The tying run was on first base and the cleanup hitter, Rick Owen, who later played American Legion ball for Coach Baughn, was up to bat. “Bust him inside with a fastball and then work the curve to the outside corner,” Tug told me. Instead, I grooved a fastball and Rick ripped a shot to the gap in left centerfield.

My heart sank when Rick drove that ball to the fence. The runner from first base was rounding third now, headed for home. The ball was relayed from center field towards home plate. It was offline, so I cut it off and threw to Stan Baughn at 2nd base who tagged out Rick for the final out.

We were headed to the state finals! I jogged toward our dugout and saw Tug Baughn running toward me across the third baseline and neither one of us knew what to do. Those were days when guys didn’t hug. He stuck his arm out and patted me on the back as I jogged past. I had never seen Coach so happy.

I think about baseball less and less these days, but I still fondly remember those halcyon days from the summer of ‘71 when the sky was cornflower blue and the baselines freshly chalked, the air scented green from newly mown grass. Anything was possible at twelve years old, even a trip to Williamsport and the Little League World Series. Yet, our dreams were shattered when we lost the next game to Commerce.

Years later I came to understand more deeply what I felt at the age of 12, while watching the movie Field of Dreams, as Ray Kinsella had a catch with his resurrected dad on a diamond in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. In the movie, John Kinsella asks his son, “Is this heaven?” Ray responds, “No, it’s Iowa.” Most of our fathers from that 1971 team have parted the corn and joined Shoeless Joe and John Kinsella in that mysterious place beyond the outfield. But they live on in their sons and daughters on a thousand ball fields, answering the hopeful question, “You wanna have a catch?”

I never had as much fun playing baseball later on as I did that summer. The memories linger, the sun silhouetting the shadows of our fathers standing against the backstop, the ghosts of their own youth cast onto the diamond, hands raised, and fingers intertwined with the mesh separating them from the field of hopes and dreams.

Dad, Terrel Taylor, upper left and Brent Taylor lower right.

The History of Father’s Day

by Jay Hastings

Father’s Day was first introduced in the United States in the early 20th century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fathers, fathering, and fatherhood.

Father’s Day was founded in Spokane, Washington, at the YMCA on June 19, 1910, by Arkansasborn Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there in Arkansas. In 1909, Sonora heard a sermon about Anna Jarvis’ Mother’s Day celebration at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, after which she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar day honoring them. Sonora initially requested that day be the fifth of June, her father’s birthday. However, the pastors of the Spokane Ministerial Alliance did not have enough time to prepare their sermons for that date, so the celebration was scheduled for the third Sunday in June.

A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was first introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak at a Father’s Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing it would become commercialized. Consequently, Father’s Day did not initially see much success. In the 1920s, Dodd stopped promoting the celebration because she was studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Father’s Day faded into relative obscurity, even in Spokane.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended Father’s Day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation, recognizing two earlier attempts to formalize the holiday had been defeated by Congress. In the 1930s, Dodd returned to Spokane and started promoting the celebration again, raising awareness at a national level. By then, she had the help of trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, such as the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, and other traditional presents to fathers.

Starting in 1938, Sonora had the backing of the Father’s Day Council, founded by the New York Associated Men’s Wear Retailers to consolidate and systematize commercial promotion of the holiday. Americans were initially resistant, perceiving it as an attempt by merchants to replicate the commercial success of Mother’s Day, and newspapers

frequently featured cynical and sarcastic attacks and jokes.

In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus “singling out just one of our two parents”. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. President Richard Nixon later signed the holiday into law on April 24, 1972.

On June 21, 1987, my first child, my son, Todd, was born on Father’s Day. What an indescribable gift! Life has continued to change and evolve since that time. While my own father is no longer living, I often reflect on his influence on my life, and his father’s influence on him. I also appreciate the impact other Godly men have had and continue to have on my life. Similarly, I am aware of my continued influence on my own children, who are all now grown, and others in our family, as well as many other young fathers.

Sonora was right. Though none of us is perfect, fathers and fatherhood are worthy of acknowledgement and celebration, on Father’s Day and always.