number 6 november, 1984

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

?., -

THE CAWOLELIGHT FACTORY: BARTLESVlur'SKEEPSAKE INC. - PRAIRIE CHICKEN& VOlCBS FUOM THE BOOMIHb QROUNDS

November-December 1984 George Nigh, {ojGovernor9. .fl

1w11

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST GO WEST Mamas, go ahead, let your babies grow up to be cowgirlsif you want them to be in the running for the Miss Rodeo America title, that is.

OKLAHOMA'S LAST BOOMERS The lives and times of the slightly improbable (undeniably tasty) prairie chicken: the bird that fed the West.

From simple tapers to candles with the look of cut glass, Bartlesville's Keepsake INHERITANCE FROM HARD TIMES

Candles makes them all. Photo by Jerry Poppenhouse. InnaPfiant. Berries and snow, Woods County. Photo by Sylvia J. and Lloyd R. Brockus 111. Back. Oklahoma's World's Fair flotilla, cruising down the river to New Orleans. Photo by Jim Argo. I- I-DepressionIt's been cFEATURES

8 Art, WPA Art, New Deal Art and even "Mr.

WAXING ELEGANT Roosevelt's Art Gallery." Whatever you Keepsake candles first see light on a hill call it, it's all around us, on post-office near Bartlesville. They're pretty. They walls, in court houses and museums, smell good. And they have a secret. hidden away in storerooms. . . .

Publishedby the OklahomaToarlsmand Uepemnent

Sue Carter, Editor Abe L,E&mgr, Diwdw Kate Jones, Managing Editor Ta~tlChi&I Pbnnzq€3aaUIopmnt Pat Shaner Laqucr, Art DiFector E k e Il&eck, MarkeAng2hukz KevinNorman, Matketlag ksWhg,wp Geri Stevens, Accountant N, Cb1p M c D e n i t , Park Melanie Mayberry, Wnwrim Semha NEidPsd L. Maccia, Adhnrjir-bn Eydie Youngblood, k n t s C&nder

Touriemand Reemdon Gommidm

Bob Hinton, Chiman Larry Lindley JamesDurham, Vin C h b a n Jim Pate R.A. "Bob" Hodder Celia Roeenberger Carlos Laneston IWbWilcox

November-December '84

..* -*

Vol. 34, No. 6

OKLAHOMA PORTFOLIO Scenes from the Antelope Hills and the Wichitas, by Tulsa photographer David Halpern.

Oklahoma's wandering minstrels (and ballerinas and tenors and flautists and ragtime bands) carry big-city culture down home-with some help from the State Arts Council.

DEPARTMENTS Today in Oklahoma .................................... 4 Bookt/Letters .............................................. 4 4 UncommonCommon Folk Cleo.............. 6 Oklahoma Omnibur The Mistletoe.......... 32 On to Oklahoma.......................................... 45 EntertalnrnentCalendar.............................. 46

I

O&&/wma TODAY (ISSN 0030-1892)is pub-lished bi-monthly, in January, March, May, July, Sepember and November. Subscription Prices $lO/yr. intheUS.;$13 overseas. Copy-right 1984 by O & k TODAY magazine, 215N E28th,P.O.Box53384,Oklahoma City, OK 73152.(405) 521-2496.

Rlated nt ~ o u t h w ~ t e mS t o u & BaaL Supply, Olrlphomn City

Se-cond-ckes m g e paid at Okbhoma City. Postmaser: Send address changes to O,&hm TODAY Circ&on, P.O. Box 53384, Okk-homa City, OK73152.

I

Before that, you're going to want to read all about Cleo and her cookbook, beginning on page 6. $- Throughout the holidays, it's plea- sant to bum scented candles. But did you know that some of your favorites are made in Bartlesvillel The secret of how they can be bumed but still retain their beautiful outside design is revealed beginning: on page 8. h- ~~d right after Christmas comes the new year, and you'll want to be ready for it with one of our beautiful scenic calendars. From the dramatic view of the Wichita Mountains on the cover clear through the winter snow scene above the month of December, each page of the 1985 O k h k TODAY calendar shows spectacular photography. But I suspect what you will enjoy most are the interesting bits of trivia about our favorite state that are found on each page.

This year's calendar also has plenty of space to jot down notes for each day and a plastic spiral binding that allows it to lie flat on you desk or hang on the wall. We were thrilled when the 1984 O k h k TODAY calendar won an Addy award from the Oklahoma City Advertising Club, but some folks think this calendar is even more beautiful.

You will get the calendar free when you order three or more subscriptions, or you can order the calendars on the back of the dust cover at 85.95 each plus $1 for postage.

A joyous holiday season-from all the O k h k TODAY staff.-Sue Carter

The Rush Begins: A History of the Red Fork, Cleveland and C l e ~Pod Oil Fields, by Kmny A. Frank; Okhiboma H d a p A~soc.,151KI N. Robimn, Okh-A m Ciiy, OK 73103; $2250. Voices from the Oil Fields, edted by Pau/ F. Larnbert and KPnvy A. Frank; UnliwrJi~y of ORhAm P~PII, Nomn, OK 73019; $19.95. This fall adds two titles to the list of works on Oklahoma oil.

Oklahoma TODAY

umor has it that the world's best Rchicken-fried steak is prepared right here in Oklahoma, although some of our Texas readers may want to challenge that. There is no doubt at all, though, that this dish is the hands-down favorite of most Oklahomans.

Lots of newcomers to our state want to sample this down-home gourmet food. Many visitors have never even tasted it before. And so, as a public service, O h -/muTODAYhas assigned a writer to do a story on the best places to eat chicken-fried steaks.

What we need is a note from each of you telling us your favorite place and what makes its chicken-fried better than any other. That willget our writer started. Of course, she will sample the steaks throughout the state before making her selections, so write us soon. i j u From 1933 to 1943, the federal government sponsored various programs

shelves at Classen High School, Wilson Grade School or perhaps Oklahoma City University, all known to have received art. So look around you-some lost treas-ure may be as close as the nearest wall.

After reading Burnis and Jim Argo's story on New Deal art, beginning on page 24, you'll want to visit some of the post offices around the state to see these almost-forgotten murals. * Interest also continues to grow in the performing arts around our state. And what's terrific is that the Oklahoma Symphony, the Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Okla- homa and the Cirnarron Circuit Opera Co., along with other, smaller groups, are willing to pack up and go to the farthest comers to perform.

It's a stimulating experience for the performers as well as the audience, but along the way some amusing incidents are bound to happen. I think you'll enjoy Connie Cronley's story that begins on

that produced and distributed o n g ~ ~ I page 40. art. Now, some 50 years later, people are intrigued by those murals, some still pre-served in local post offices, and are won- deringwhat happened to the hundreds of other paintings, drawings and sketches made during that period.

Dr. Barbara Kerr Scott, art professor at Cameron University, says that hundreds of these works of art were shipped to Oklahoma City public schools and other institutions from Chicago in 1943 when the government ended the programs. Many were framed. Some were painted by artistswho later became famous, artists such as Acee Blue Eagle, the Kiowa Five and Woody Crurnbo.

Dr. Scott is interestedin tracking down this missing a h Some may stdl be hanging on classroom walls or stored on

To illustrate that story, by the way, a sampling of these traveling artists posed outside Oklahoma City's once-busy Union Depot. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the station has been beautifully restored and adapted for the offices of the Thurman Magbee Corporation. &J Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because I enjoy visiting with my parents, my brothers and their families. That's when we get caught up on who has gmwn another inch, who is getting married, and perhaps find out when another baby is on the way. And there's always lots of good food.

If you have a large family gathering for Thanksgiving, perhaps you'll want to try out Cleo Bryan's Scripture Cake.

In The Rush Be&, Kenny Franks traces the boom cycles of three huge fields in the Tulsa area, using words and plenty of old photographs. He tells who brought the wells in, who profited (and lost) and what the fields meant to the state (a pipeline network and enough money to fund further exploration) and gives the histories of some of the earliest boom towns: Red Fork, Cleveland, Sapulpa, Kiefer, Mounds, Taneha-and the biggest boom town of them all, Tulsa.

Yoibfmthe OI;/ Fie& is just that- the edited transcriptions of interviews done in the late '30s by the Federal Writ- ers Project. We hear from drillers, a spudder, a rig builder, a roughneck, a "tankie" (tank builder), a tank cleaner, a pipeliner, a pipe puller, a welder and a shooter (responsible for the nitroglycerin that was "torpedoed" down wells). Then there are the stories of a boom-town lawman, an oil-patch preacher, a prosti- tute. ..and "The Little Old Lady with a Crutch." Each has his or her own way of telling a tale, but the same message comes through again and again. Life in the earlyday oil patch was every bit as rough as we've always heard-and then some.

Keep the Horses Up Tonight, by M. F. "Bo" Gwt; Dakama Boohs, l? 0. Box 25.51, Nomn, OK 73070; $5.95 pltu $1 shzwng. Here's a perfect small gift for anyone who grew up in earlyday Okla- homa and came of age in the Great Depression. Mr. Guest is a retired mail carrier who grew up and still lives in Hollis-and writes "epistles" for the town paper. This paperback is a collection of those epistles, which are simply his recol- lections of life in Hollis when he was young-what businesses stood where, games children played, gypsies camping on the edge of town, sharing a pair of roller skates with a younger brother, picking cotton, fishing, working as a printer's devil, going off to war.

Mr. Guest has captured the simple richness of small-town life, and his book sort of makes you want to stop in at the Empress Theatre for a Hoot Gibson Western-and maybe a nickel ice cream


cone or popcorn from Claude Johnson's popcorn stand. Facing the book's opening page is a quotation: "Remembering the past may not cure a bellyache, but it eases the pain of mortality."

L E r n I readwith intense interest the article on Highway 66 and commend the author for excellent research and thrilling presentation.

But regrettably he omitted all mention of the man probably most prominent in the development of U.S. 6bCharles A. Tompkins. He served for two terms as president of the U.S. 66 Highway Assn. He spent months of travel up and down the highway meeting with legislators to promote paving on the route and at- tending conventions.

Born in 1873, Charley was rated as a champion roper, and he was a fine friend of Will Rogers and worked with him at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Later he organized his own Wild West Show.

Coming to El Reno in 1919, he entered the auto business and thus became interested in highways. He led the movement in Canadian County to pass a million- dollar road bond issue in 1927, which provided for half a million for state roads and half a million for gravelling the county roads. This included paving the Canadian County section of U.S. 66.

By the way: When 66 was first routed through Canadian County, it ran west from El Reno to the Fort Reno Reserva- tion, cut northwest to Calumet, then to Geary, then back southwest to the old Key suspension bridge. In order to elim- inate this circuitous route, the state under the leadership of Sam Hawks built the new bridge due west of El Reno, elimi- nating the kink.

H.Me& Woods El Reno

Michael Wallis'article about Route 66 in the September-October issue brought back a fading memory for me.

In the spring of 1926, a caravan of cars left Oklahoma City to attend a national convention of Congregational churches in Detroit. As I remember it, there were five cars, four of which were driven by ministers-bad drivers all-and the other car was driven by my mother. I was the only child in the group.

There were patches of pavement be-tween Oklahoma City and Joplin-mostly going into and out of towns along the way-but most of it was mud! The Rev. Wallach (I believe that was his name), who started the Easter Pageant in the Wichitas, was one of the drivers, as was our long-time pastor, Dr. Frank M. Sheldon, and a Dr. Marsh, who was superintendent of Congregational churches in this area. I also remember Mrs. Frank Trosper and her niece Ressa Alexander as being among the passengers.

We got to Detroit and back all in one piece, but there were several times when we were doubtful we'd make it to Joplin.

Jean Collins Chacotah

Michael Wallis did a marvelous story on Route 66 in Okhhma TODAY (Sept.-Oct. 1984).

I truly enjoyed reading every word! I am pleased to have been a small part in the history of Route 66. It saddens me that my husband, Jack [longtime president of the Route 66 Association], didn't live to see and read the results of his years of hard work on this famous road.

Your magazine is an asset to our state. GrcCays Cutberth

Clinton

Greatly enjoyedthe story on catfish farming (Sept.-Oct. 1984).

1 remember fishing for catfish on Buf-falo Creek back many years ago, when the meat on the fish was as sweet as honey.

I've been away from the state for many years now, but it makes me sad to think that Oklahoma has allowed her beautiful water to become so polluted that the fish have lost that flavor. Shame on all of us!

B.E. Tuber Sun Francisco

5

CLEO By KathrynJenson

beams down approvingly on her daughter's explanation of the book's title: "When my mother was growing old with failing memory I asked her one day, 'Mama, how did you make your Poor Man's Pie?' She put her hand to her head and, with a twinkle in her eye, said, 'Well, it seems like I done it this-a- way!' " That response, familiar to anyone who has asked a true country cook for one of her "receipts," inspired Seems Like IDone It Thh-A-Way, a cookbook that is not only a collection of recipes, but also a loving and d d e d record of the rural way of life.

Cleo claims that her mama's response clicked in her mind with what many other women had told her about asking thtr mamas for cooking directions. Consistently, she reports, they would say, "I can't cook like Mama did because she'd always just tell me to put in a pinch of this, or a lump or handful of thHt or a glob of oil." c ~ Aconcluded that unless she saved them. countless old recipes would be lost.

So, when she retired in 1973 to her home near Tahlequah, Cleo began translating pinches into teaspoons, globs into cups and a rich oral tradition into written- record. Like an 18thcentury novelist, Cleo has given her book a long and descriptive subtitle that sums up the complexity of its contents; she calls it "A Comprehensive Book of Recipes and Information for Every Home Containing Recipes That Are Almost a Lost Art and Suggestions and Facts Worth Knowing and Recalling." With no formal training as a writer, Cleo has produced a kind of Foxjre book that contains not only the recipes for every course from soup to vinegar pie, but also her own poetry, inspirational quotations, home remedies, household hints and just about everything else. She doesn't

n the inside back cover of include the kitchen sink, but she Cleo Stiles Bryan's provides directions for making the soap cookbook, a photograph of to use in it. Seems like SAP done it Mary ~lizab&h ~&d'~t i les

During 35 years as an extension home economist, Cleo kept records of all the best versions of everything she tasted. When she retired, she says, "I'd go back and pick out the best cooks. If someone did a good dish, I wanted to see it done, hear her describe it as she did it and convert the measures as she did it. We measuredall those globs of oil." Cleo refers to her recipes as "interviews." because the ;oak was talking and'cleo was recording what she said as she cooked. She's used each woman's own words as much as possible, editing and revising her notes only for coherence and accuracy of

Ckoset%her book at craftts fairts, and 4 mail

measurement. Since her changes are slight, the flavor of the woman wielding the wooden spoon comes through; the "character" in each recipe adds to the storybook quality of the work. Cleo is proud to tell that not one of her heroines ever hesitated in granting her an interview. The country attitude of "Long as I got a biscuit, you got half," clearly can be changed to "Long as I got a biscuit recipe, you got it, too."

It's easy to see why Cleo has met with such wholehearted cooperation. If her charming smile, lively wit and costume

of a long calico dress and white pinafore apron didn't melt the cook's butter, her persistence in tracking down the best must have. She's traveled to Missouri for a special cinnamon roll recipe and to Pennsylvania for instructions in making apple butter. The Pennsylvania Dutch woman who provided the latter was in her 90s, making her the oldest contributor in the book. Cleo's also gone to Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and even Finland, where she was taken to a backwoods home and taught to make Karelian pastries.

Cleo's energy is so powerful that she could talR egg whites into stiff peaks. At 67, she's now working on the third edition of her book, which, like the first two, she's writing out completely by hand before giving it to the typist. Her husband, Odell, she claims "says I come alive at about 10 o'clock. He never knows when I come to bed." The first edition of the book, which appeared in 1976, took three years to complete. She printed 20,000 copies of it, and they're all gone. She's been offered up to $44 for a copy of what has now become a collector's item. In 1980, she brought out 40,000 copies of the second edition, and she's moving close to a sell-out of that run now. ~tcontains 144 new pages and several new sections, including "modern" treats for kids and ethnic dishes. Number three will be off press in the spring of 1985. It's going to include a section called "Come Laugh With Me," a smorgasbord of Cleo's humorous ex~eriences.

In additioito gathering, editing and writing out all the information in the book, Cleo acts as her own publisher and distributor. She and Odell, who crafts beautiful furniture. travel to anywhere from eight to 15 shows and festivals each year hawking their wares. She also sells the book throu~h mail orders bv includin~ several t d e r blanks in each iopy. s e e i s that anyone who

Oklahoma TODAY 6

U N C O M M O N C O M M O N F O L K 01I

sees someone else's copy just has to have one of her or his own.

Although she's been approached by publishers and retailers who would like to handle the book, Cleo isn't interested. She explains why she wants to keep the book a personal project: "This was a challenge to me. I had worked for 35 years, and to give up the general public would have probably been the death of me. I enjoy meeting people and helping them, and I enjoy the remarks on the book. I don't want to sit down, twiddle my thumbs, let moss grow under my feet and let the government keep me up. As long as I can keep active discussing problems with people, I think I can keep my mind active and clear."

Right now, that mind is as active as fresh yeast and as clear as drawn butter. Cleo's background explains both her physical and mental energy. Born on a farm outside Snyder, Oklahoma, she was the "next-tethe-baby" of 11 children. On the farm, she remembers, "We didn't have a lot to cook with. We had to make do with what we had. We bought our staple goods, sugar and coffee, but we ground our own wheat and corn for flour and meal and grew everything else. Our back bedroom looked like a country store, full of big sealers of canned goods that we had cooled in a big horse tank."

Probably one of the reasons that Cleo has never tired of researching and

preparing food is that when a young girl, as she tells it, "I didn't do the cooking. My older sisters were the cooks. I had to get out and do the farming, ride the go-devils, plow the cotton, gather the eggs and kindling, fetch the coal and bring the bath water in for the coal stove to heat." She recalls following the harrow for up to 20 miles a day. At day's end, she says with a laugh, "You'd let the horses go in, and you'd come when YOU m&." As her older sisters married and left the farm, Cleo got promoted to kitchen duties, which she loved. No wonder; in comparison to the outside chores, they must have seemed like a piece of cake.

The icing on the cake for Cleo right now is the warm response she's had to her labor of love. She keeps more than 4,000 letters from satisfied readers in an ever-growing collection of three-ring binders. In the back of the second edition, she's printed many excerpts. My favorite reads "I am proud of your accomplishments and the cookbook is most interesting. I learned where babies come from, from you, sitting on the ground in your potatoe patch where your dad was plowing up potatoes. Remember?" Cleo especially treasures the letters from oldsters in what she calls "real tottery handwriting." Her all-time favorite reads, "I like the kind of book by people like you-and not that other kind-you know!" All of the letters

praise the pod food, and most, like the following, praise the "good read": "I just couldn't put it down once I started through it. It was like reading a storybook and I lived it right along with you and your wonderful family."

When she's not working on the book, Cleo gives frequent dinner parties and teaches country cooking workshops. She loves the students' "pride of knowing they made that. When I do bread workshops, they tie ribbons around their loaves and mark their pans so they can't get mixed up with someone else's. They call their husbands out after class and have 'em to come look!" She's seen a great renewal of interest in home cooking in the last few years and says anyone can learn the art with only one prerequisite: "You have to liRe to cook. That's the secret of it all. If you don't have the interest, you can't do it. Good cooking takes time. Anything that's worth doing takes time."

Cleo has taken a big handful of her 35 years' time as an extension home economist, a lump of her love of good food and the country way of life and a big glob of imagination. She's whipped these together until they felt about right and then sprinkled in a pinch of folk knowledge and humor. What she's cooked up is not just a collection of recipes, but a very tasty slice of a way of life that, thanks to her, now has a much better chance of being preserved.

0ne of Cleo's most recent letters indicates that women still believe that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. A young girl writes, "Please send me some information on

how to get your cookbook. I cook pretty good but don't have any recipes. I saw you a few years ago in my home town. Now I'm living in California and have a wonderful boyfriend. I know he likes real home cooking cause he's from back home too. I'd like to be able to cook him some nice meals. It sure would be a nice way to get a serious relationship off to a good start. I really like him and he likes me." With the help of Cleo's book, I'll bet he will soon "really" like her, too.

Sm;dhrre Cake (Kmg James Version) Tun,to the Chapterand Y m in thegiwn Bod in the Bibk, madit andit WITmggest thprop~r ingredients.

1 c. Judges 525 (3rd item) 1 c. Jeremiah6:20 I c. Genesis 43: 1 1 (3 rd item) or I Sam. 14:25 6 Isaiah 10:14 or Jeremiah 17:11 3% C. 1st Kings 422 (1st item) 1h tsp. Leviticus 2: 13

2 tsp. Matthew 13:33 (1st item) or Amos 4:s 1 large (grated) Exodus 16:31 (optional) 1 tsp. 1st Kings 10:2 or I1 Chron. 9:9 '/2 c. Hebrews 5:13 or Judges 4:19 (2nd item) 2 c. I Samuel 30:12 (2nd item) 1 c. Numbers 17:8

Cream Judges 525. Add Jeremiah 6:20 and Genesis 43:ll. Add Isaiah 10:14 one at a time and do as in Proverbs 23:14 after each.

Sift together 1st Kings 4:22, Leviticus 213, Matthew 13:33, 1st Kings 10:2 and Exodus 16:31 (if desired). Do Proverbs 23:14 until well mixed. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Add Hebrews 5:13 alternately with dry ingredients. What the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto, follow Solomon's advice in Proverbs 23:14 for making a good boy. When this has been done, add I Sam. 30:12 and Numbers 17:8.Continue Proverbs 23:14 until thoroughly blended. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan or tube pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Loosen cake from pan with spatula and place on rack to cool.-Cleo Sh'los &yan

To order ChS cookbook, $end $7.95 per book (j~st'd)to Ckv Byan, l? 0. Box 749, TaAkpA, OK 7&&.

November-December '84 7

WAar began whm the Ritie fanu& nm& mayn-tinted c a d s &r a church bazaar has pvwn up to be KrPp~ake Cam%$ Znc. Zn the gym of an ait-force imt&n'm near Bartkdk, Ahe Ri& and10 mpiiye~ make &My ypattemed and ocented cam%$-many m&kdfnmr an* g h m .

Oklahoma TODAY 8

By Jeanette Swindell Photographs by Jerry Poppenhouse

WMING ELEGANT:

KEEPSAKE inter in Oklahoma may lack the beauti-

ful hues and scents of other seasons, but there's one peaceful, tree-covered hill nestled

among the Osages just west of Bartlesvdlewwhere colors and aromas never go out of season. Often called Radar Hill, it is the unlikely home of Keepsake

Candles Inc. On the hill's crest sits an unpretentious one-story building, just across the way from a srnall herd of sleepy cattle.

Not e d y where you'd expect to find a factory that ships its product to stores in all 50 states. But don't let this simplicity and country mood deceive you. For inside that building is a factory with 10 employees producing more than 1,000 candles a week.

Pretty colors and scents, yes. But visitors to Keepsake soon learn that these long-burning candles offer much more. Hand- crafted entirely of wax, they are reproductions of authentic turn-of-thwentury, Victorian, Art Nouveau and 1920s glass-ware. The factory produces more than 100 patterns in styles including tumblers, sugar bowls, vases, spoon holders, tooth-pick holders, celery vases and rose bowls.

No one would want to light one of these beauties if it meant destroying the antiquedesign wax. So their creators, Alice and Ed Ririe, came up with a way for people to bum their candles-and keep them too.

They developed a s p e d external, heat-resistant wax. This discovery allows for the inside, or filler, wax to bum to the

bottom. Light glows softly through the colored, patterned exte- rior. The shell remains to be refilled and enjoyed all over again.

The special wax wasn't developed overnight; neither was the success of Keepsake Candles.

"We started small and learned everything along the way," says Alice, who runs the business. The candles and the company they spawned were created 14 years ago when the Riries volunteered to donate some candles to their church's Christmas bazaar. Although he had no experience in making candles, Ed-a mechanical engineer with Phillips Petroleum Co.-had made molds of valves and other oilfield parts. He decided to try making candle molds of some of the family's heirloom glassware. (Thus the Keepah name.)

"We made them upside down, of solid wax, and added pieces of our daughters' crayons for color," Alice laughs, as she recalls these first efforts. Although pretty, their first efforts didn't hold a candle to what came later. Nevertheless, all 100 were sold at

the bazaar, and a local Hallmark shop ordered five dozen. This inspired the Riries to take their new-found hobby more

seriously. They moved the operation from their kitchen to their garage and experimented with ways to improve the candles.

The most significant improvement was the development of the durable, heat-resistant shell. "Ed began mixing polyethylene additives to wax and slushing it in the molds," Alice says. "We learned quickly that the entire candle can't be made out of that-just the outside. If there's too much additive, the


The fadoty s e m to be cmpounaed ofqt(cl~parts hot mandingenui~.(Hm, fi& Thorn, kfi, and Traci MaUm transfer some ofthat m.)The ing~nuityc u mfmm Ed Ririe, who inwted a heat-re&tani mfor the outer sheh o f Keepsake catuiks; they can b e M d again and again. I 10 OklahomaTODAY

on pegs on the wall, awaiting future use. Although Alice runs the business and

"makes 99 percent of the decisions," she praises her husband, who builds and maintains the equipment. "It's not always easy finding parts for these things," she says as her eyes scan homemade air blowers, turntables and other machinery, all built by Ed.

The next thing visitors learn is that although Keepsakes areproduced en masse using machines Rube Goldberg might have envied, each candle also receives individual attention.

A Keepsake candle begins with a piece of antique glassware that Alice buys at shows, shops or flea markets. "I like to own it so I can have it on hand in case we need to make another mold," she says.

Although she has no set schedule for hunting, Alice is always on the lookout for pieces that have an interesting design; she researches each piece to discover its name and date. One of the oldest in the collection is "Button and Daisy," a spooner that dates from the 1860s.

I To make the mold, Alice sets the glass

in a cylinder and pours a mixture of sil- Thecam& are pradmd by a b M ofrna~~pndu&~ia Aand work. L i d TAoma~and &-tihe

icon rubber around it. After the mold I a d ~ e ~ m w ~ n u a ( m ~ a n ~ r r ~ h e h ; ~ - ~ t h e w & t e , r ~ ~ n t e d ~ z m r shell will crack. If there's not enough, it won't hold up. He experimented until he had it blended just right. . . .Then we developed more sophisticated molds with edges on them and turned them right side up."

According to Alice, all these features are the exclusive property of Keepsake. "Companies that make candles from antique glassware make solid candles from upside-down molds," she explains. "Com- petitors' candles don't bum to the bottom without destroying the outside, and they don't have lids or edges."

Alice, the company's only mold maker, is as proud as she is secretive of her special molds that make these features possible.

The Riries began showing their in- novative candles at arts and crafts shows, and demand grew. They hired help and moved the business from their garage to a small building near their home. In 1975,


they bought the present site on the oddly named hill on the outskirts of town. (During the 1950s, Radar Hill was an Air Force control and warning installa- tion. Today, the factory and its gift shop occupy what was once a high-windowed gymnasium.)

Like the building that houses it, it seems that nothing in the factory is used for its intended purpose. The first thing visitors see is an old wringer washer that has been converted into a giant wax- melting vat. The last job of every work day is to place slabs of wax into this heavily insulated machine. The next morning the wax is ready to be turned into Keep sake candles.

Four outdated gas stoves, burners con- tinually aflame, heat wax contained in buckets and aluminum coffee pots; a rainbow of wax drippings kaleidoscopes their exteriors. When colors or scents are changed, the pots, wax and all, are hung

cures, she cuts it with a special knife and removes the glassware, unharmed. The mold is then ready to receive the wax mixture that will form the outer shell.

Wax from the vat is poured into buckets, and color cubes and polyethylene are added. There's a recipe for each color, but wax temperature also determines the color. "We dye a bucketful at a time and keep it barely melted and use the smaller pots to heat the colored wax to the required hotter temperatures," Alice says.

The candles are available in frosted pastels and antiqued colors. The pastels are very popular-Disneyland, Keepsake's largest account, prefers these. When the pastels are poured, the first layer is white, and the colored wax goes in behind it- creating a frosted effect. In contrast, the antiqued candles begin with the colors.

Whether pastels or antiqued shades are being poured, a gloved employee transfers the hot wax mixture to the mold and slushes it around, coating the mold's inside. She pours out the excess wax and

11

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I

popular in the fall; redkranberry and greedbayberry are musts at Christmas. Alice prefers the natural aromas, as chem- ical perfumes are overbearing. "The scent lasts as long as the candle does," she boasts, "because the shell keeps it from evapoxating."

Because wax shrinks as it cools, all candles are topped with a final thin, extra hot layer of wax. This seals them and adds a smooth, finished look.

A tag with the name, size, color and scent is attached to each wick. Employ- ees check for quality before wrapping and boxing the candles. Alice is a stickler for quality for a simple reason: econom- ics. Her candles must compete against other grft lines at trade shows. "My can-dles have to look good enough for the buyers to want to purchase instead of other grft items," she says.

Alice doesn't worry about competition from the big candle producers because of

the handwork her candles require. No doubt, this handmade quality has kept Keepsake glowing throughout economic ups and downs, but Alice offers addi- tional reasons.

She prefers staying small and profita- ble with an enthusiastic staff to enlarging and increasing production and overhead. "And our sizeenables Keepsake to remain current with decorating color trends," she says. "It doesn't take much to change our colors to meet demands. A large company would have to do a lot more.

"We haven't tried to grow beyond our means." Or beyond the homemade machines and down-home atmasphere of the old gym-turned-factory. It looks like the Riries have no plans to let the candle- light go out on Radar Hill. 5

The urnb d % g that hares the Riris' fa- a h A& theirgj?sAop, +

3p.m. iatu+s. I&,- Jtiqjpers can find fip~sakecam& that range* 2 to 12 imhes U,andrart jbm $2to $30 In can$ Nmber, the shop gets a ho&y lo& and ha&y hourx 9 am. to 6p.m--and 1-5 p.m. &&J brgimnig a#er Thanks&&

The cam% mnbioppnfw t m f i m n 9 a m to3p.m. w k d y s ; thoyq-h ywr can ju~t drop by, A h Ri& mggpstsyouc d w write aWtomake~~tpthey'Ube~pea~~ngonpu~ chen +.

Ifyou&ntomneinagroupoflOor mow, c&g or wrin'ng ahead r j pwn mom appm&ted. "Wemghf swetp theflwand &an up thepbcea bif, 'VAlceqs. ( T h t 5 no jbke in a fado'y w h the ~~s haw to be s-d &an of w m dtippings mmzltimsa wk.)

ClUor write the mtqkzny at Rte. 3, BGX mK,Bart&&, OK 7m3;(918) 336 0351. To much Ra& Hi& dn;W tww mikJ w.rt ofthe State Highway 1231;ncttcnonon u s . 60. A &points the .way to the f a d q 7/1OtAr of a nu2 north up a w'nding d

T k g h thy &to c h s ar big andfar away asLXmeybnd, the companyd o tlpxt d w to the f a d q w hthe can& am 4;it's t d d by &an A6sAim.

allows the firstlayer to cool. This "slush-ing" is repeated three or four times at different wax temperatures.

When the shell is the correct thick- ness, it is placed on a cooling table, cleaned and its seam lines removed. If it is to be antiqued, black spray paint and clear gloss are applied and quickly wiped off, resulting in a deeppatterned look. Pastels receive a clear spray for a glassy finish.

Next, the wick is anchored and the shell is filled with white, scented filler wax.The candles are available in a variety of scents, which usually correspond to the colon-for example, forest greed bayberry, red/strawberry or cranberry.

Maple nut and apple pie scents are

JeamtteSwb&U h a m n m wtiter fing in &r tkd; J q Pqydwme tias sAotpAotoppAr d o z w the d f b . PMpl P&m

Oklahoma TODAY 12

, let us help make surp you'reA ON TO OKLAI13F.,A! ;$FR C.i. c

YES! Enter my subscription today! I enclose my check for $-. 17Please charge $ to my:New Renewal VISA Mastercard, Interbank #

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One year (six issues), $10; two years, $19; three, $28. Over-seas subscriptions, $13/year. Donor address: For fastest service, use our toll-free number for credit-card charges. Call 1-800-652-6552 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. weekdays, in Oklahoma and surrounding states.

Oklahoma TODAY P.O. Box 53384 Oklahoma City, OK 73152

By Kathryn Jenson

. .r arar83'3-a * c-

Once upon a tiine, 46 a 6s beautzfil queensgathered in the

dSiB.L5tl Dim- *

:e: f2ircapital a2y of Okbhoma tt attend a tournament where boH knzk/ts in shinlng chaps

hnitgfeats. T h e lovely and regal bdies came notjust t o cheer on thefearkss kn$ts ax thgjousted with wz*Hhorses and bulL7but t o enter into tAeir own competition. Thg competed t o determine who wax to be the Queen ofquems7the fairest ofthem all-. . .

OklahomaTODAY

1

,

1

' 1

lthough this sounds like the Abeginning of a slightly fractured fairy tale, it isn't. Not just once

upon a time, but each year in I conjunction with the National Finals

I Rodeo, a bevy of state rodeo queens from across the U.S. rides into Oklahoma City to compete in a uniquely Southwestern variation of the standard beauty-pageant theme. As the smells of perfume and hairspray mingle with those of clover hay and horse manure, these unmarried women from 18 to 24 vie for the title of Miss Rodeo

I America, a major upgrading of the Annie Oakley image of the Western woman.

Last December, Brenda Lee Bonogotsky, Miss Rodeo America 1983, removed the Queen's tiara from her Stetson and handed it to Sandy Kay Meyer, Miss Rodeo Wyoming. As in most beauty pageants, the succession was accompanied by the mingled tears of joy and sadness. As in no other, the abdication was actually a dismount, and some of those shedding tears were horn .

The trail from plain ol' horse-riding girl to Miss Rodeo America is not one for greenhorns. "Queening," as those who do it call it, is a demanding occupation. Those contestants who come from the "rodeo belt," the traditionally Western states where rodeo is the #1 sport, have someadvantage in this tough contest. Since Western clothing is somewhat of a rarity on 5th Avenue and rodeos are seldom held on turnpikes, women with sashes identifying them as "Miss Rodeo New York" and "Miss Rodeo New Jersey" are not as seasoned in Western stylistic subtleties as those from Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and the like. In fact, one 1984 contestant from "back East"

I had never even attended a rodeo before I this year's NFR. ; Teri Turnage, Oklahoma's 1983 state

queen and one of the 10 finalists in the 1984 national competition, said, "I've been riding since I was old enough to sit up, and I've been actively involved in

1 rodeo for the last 10 years. A lot of girls

from the northern and eastern states come down here totally unprepared and don't really know what it's going to be like." Wyoming's Sandy Kay Meyer, who won not only the 1984 title race, but also the preliminary Personality and Horsemanship heats, made it her job to know. She'd been involved in local queen contests for four years before coming to Oklahoma City to compete, and she approached the national contest with the concentration of a serious and

make herself a serious contender. To win the national competition takes

work as hard in many ways as that of the rodeo athletes who compete in the NFR, and even for those women with a lot of horse sense, it's no pleasure ride. All the contestants are put through their paces for six full days of judged events; to make it into the winner's circle, they must show conformation, endurance and a lot of heart. Vanette Ruzanski, Miss Rodeo Colorado, explained: "It's hectic

F m a l a m s the kingdom ( m n N m JPTIV),rodeo nukes gather each December in Okbhoma City for sr;C +s ofUy6ke jouiting. Thy f.P diked (but not w'ked), show tm 'LAorqiw~onship, "get new Stetsa m n s - a n d m e constant& on ther best pan&behmot: [Thy do take t h e out fot. court& jests-and to show their a p p ~ k t i o n of a horse or w,)

knowledgable competitor. Sandy attended the 1983 Miss Rodeo

America Pageant as a spectator to get a clear idea of how the race was run and won, and then spent her year as Miss Rodeo Wyoming in training to take the national title. She says, "I was very fortunate. Wyoming gears its queen's reign to preparing her to compete in the national pageant." She was more than fortunate; she was determined: She enrolled in speech and modeling classes and sharpened her horseback skills to

and demanding, but also a lot of fun. We get from four to six hours sleep, get up at 5 a.m. to get ready and have breakfast at 7:30. Then they hustle us off to make-up sessions, rehearsals and personal interviews." Displaying the sense of humor necessary for survival in this marathon, Vanette hastened to add, "I usually don't wear half a can of hairspray to keep my hair looking nice. But it works. It might break if I touch it, but it works."

From the time the women arrive in I

I November-December '84

Oklahoma City until the new Queen is announced, they must "keep their hair looking nice," both literally and figuratively. At all meals and at a constant round of parties, they engage in informal conversations with the six judges. All must also present a formal speech praising their home states, appear in a fashion show and give a series of formal i n t e ~ e w s where they are judged on appearance, personality and their knowledge,of horsemanship. Even their "leisure" hours aren't leisurely; they attend mandatory pajama parties each night of their stay.

In addition to all this, of course, each woman must display her actual aMig on horseback. What makes this aspect of the competition tough is that the women, like the rodeo athletes, draw an unknown horse to ride. Although they are all skilled in horsemanship, or, as master of ceremonies Bob Eubanks bravely stuttered out, "horseperson-ship," how well they do in this competition depends heavily on the luck of the draw. No matter how uncooperative the animal, the contestant

f d I 3

ITharena,trUp fed ofa d m quem. LiLiRP

Schaubptt o f North Dakota, each contestant murt ~nitKat Aor~emamAi+on a steed she5 n e w tihh befom.

must show that she can control it with grace and the illusion of ease.

All the women have practiced the four Miss Rodeo ~me*ca horsemanship patterns at home atop their own horses. However, added to the variable of the strange horse in the competition is the fact that no one knows which pattern she will be required to ride until just before she mounts up. The riding competition is set up this way for good reason. As she travels the U.S. promoting rodeo, Miss Rodeo America is faced with a year-long series of unknown horses. She must maintain her dignity as Queen by staying in the saddle no matter what kind of horse she's given to ride.

Encouraging each woman to keep her seat during the competition is a full entourage from her home court. Family and a host of loyal friends come to scream with delight and excitement each time she rides into the arena. The fathers in the group have one other responsibility; in addition to moral support, they must provide financial support. They dig deep into the royal coffers to pay for outfitting and transporting their daughters. And anyone who's priced hats, boots and custom-made Western suits lately knows that the price of dressing q a l

Western is much higher than going common in plain jeans and work boots. Although some of the contestants are helped by sponsors, most end up spending a great deal for the honor of competing. Mary Darnell, Miss Rodeo New Mexico, summed it up: "My daddy told me I couldn't have Christmas again until at brut 1986!"

Dorothy Alexander, the pageant coordinator for 16years and a 26-year veteran of work in "regular" beauty contests, admits that girls from the rodeo belt states have an easier time finding sponsors to help them ease the financial burden. However, she believes that having a lot of money or an extensive wardrobe is not necessary to win. She remembers that, "One year, a contestant from Idaho won with only three homemade suits, so cloth& don't necessarily make the Queen. The judges decide more on the way the woman wears the cloches than on the clothes themselves."

The final segment of the competition pmue~that more than fancy clothes are required to take the title. In it, Bob Eubanks asks each of the 10 finalists to answer a question that can range from the social to the political realm. The 1984 questions demanded opinions on the issues of the appropriate legal

Oklahoma TODAY 16

drinking age, the causes of the ever- increasing divorce rate and women competing in rodeos against men, among many others.

Considering their end-of-the-d exhaustion and the "touchy" nature of some of the question topics, the women herded up some pretty good answers. However, not one went for controversy or left-ofconservative philosophy. The contestants were well aware that they had to strive to please a broad range of judges and still honestly speak their minds. In the struggle to maintain this delicate balance between expected "queenly" behavior and their own individuality, and in most other ways, the Miss Rodeo America contestants are basically the same as contestants in a1 beauty pageants.

However, Ms. Alexander, who has worked both Miss America and Miss Rodeo America pageants, does see some difference in the two groups of contestants. Noting that 90 percent of the rodeo bunch have or will have a college degree and that many are interested in veterinary medicine, she says, "Miss America contestants tend to view the contest as a stepping stone, as a way on to other things. Their varied talents in the arts lead them naturallv to

As emcee Bob E u b ~ ~ n k ~ sutd more than once- beauty is not enough. A qwen must aho be bnghi andpoired, on horseback or off,

Sandy Kby Mger3 thra tramported/Ipr to a yearlong p m e ~ i o n of ttdwand a~arances - the real w& of "4wm'n~."

careers in show business. The Miss Rodeo America contestants seem more excited about the pageant itself and about the scholarship money. They all have many talents, of course, but they're all more intensely interested in the outdoors and animals. After all, horsemanship is the main focus of this pageant."

Not that the Miss Rodeo America title doesn't lead to other things. When she ends her reign at the reins, Sandy wants to work in public relations, and her year's experience has helped her toward that goal. She says, "It's been everythingI thought it would be and more. I've been on the road for three weeks every month meeting with the public at schools, hospitals, civic events and, of course, rodeos. I've also appeared on television and radio. The fourth week of each month I've worked at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Champions. All this has taught me to be independent and flexible, to make the best of whatever happens."

Kathtyn J m n r j a wgubr contn'butor to Oklahoma TODAY.

Sandy displayed all her new qualities right here in Oklahoma when she arrived at a Yukon rodeo only to discover that her luggage was still in Denver. What's a Queen without her tiara, banner, hat and boots? In Sandy's case, clearly still very much a queen. She rode in the rodeo parade in "commoner's" garb, but managed to let everyone know she was Miss Rodeo America. When her luggage did arrive, only a few minutes before rodeo time, she gamely changed into her queen's regah behind the nearest, darkest tree. After all, there's more to t<queening" than wearing a crown- especially when the crown wraps around a Stetson and the royal slippers are custom-made cowboy boots.

EZY~Pthough 45ofthe 46 M ~ J competing zh GUY tak dd not win the mted titk 0fMrj.s ROdeD Amaia 1984, none war wal .a hm. TAPy a1 d off ikto the sunset k i n g mn the wspect and adm>ahhmof& who wtched them vr ; . f i the ctvwn. Ad, of course, thy a1Lwd hpp& pzwr a*. Ed

L

Getting There

Ihehorsemanship cornpetitition among the MLw Rodeo America candidates, whkh isfree and open to the public, runsfrom 7 to 11:30 a.m. November 30. A reception and luncheon set at 11:30 a.m. December 1 (tickets $15) will be followed by thejrst Beauty and the Beast performance at 1:30 p.m. Tickets me $5 and $10.

Thesecond performance and queenS coronation begin at 7:30p.m. December 2. Tickets me $6, $8 and $10. A reception

follows at 10:45p.m. Tickets me $15. All events are held in the Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City. Tickets may be orderedfrom the Fullerton Ticket Agency, Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City, OK 73102.

November-December'84 17

SBOOMERS By h a i n Bland

'Tn all of modern America, there is no more lost, @intive, OH-time sound than the

I booming of a nativepraink chicken . . .a lone&, wiBsound made by a lone&, wiia bird. '"

18 OklahomaTODAY

I

I. THE HUNT

That was the only shot-Dick must've


1-strung out in a

DSAGE COUNT"

pack. I could see 20, maybe 25, birds gathering, wings

pumping, then gliding, pumping, gliding, heading due onto me.

Back came the hammers; then, as the birds headed toward me, I swung Old Cough and Groan up, pulled out in front of one of the high oncomers and set free the leaden swarm of No. 6 shot. In a heartbeat, I swung on another as I glimpsed a puff of feathers explode from the first bird. As he tumbled earthwards, I burned the second barrel.

Missed. Darn.A few moments later I located the bird that was down, a young cock with short "ears." Kneeling on a bare patch of ground I reloaded Old C & G, from makings I carried in my coat pockets.

Chickens are best hunted with a mod- em 12 bore, preferably one with full choking. No. 6 shot is ideal for chickens, as the birds don't take a lot of shot to bring down. Birds should be marked and gone to quickly, though, as a crippled bird will instantly run, and sull, in the weeds and grass.

Prairie chickens are hunted through two methods, one known as "pasture walk-up," the other a matter of waiting for the birds as they come to feed in a favored area. Waiting was the method we were using. It's important to scout feedmg areas before the hunt-otherwise, the hunter could wait in a field that no birds are using. Even hunting a field that large numbers of birds are known to feed on is no guarantee that they will be there on a given day, as the birds are extremely unpredictable.

The hunt itself is a matter of crouch- ing in the field and hoping for a shot at any birds coming there. Camouflage clothing is worn by the average chicken hunter, and binoculars should be used to scan for incoming birds.

Prairie chickens are truly not a difficult target. Their flight is unusual in that the birds pump and glide, rising slightly as they pump their wings, then leveling as they glide. Along with this, they have a rolling movement, which often causes the birds' flight to be called "rock and roll" flying. Few of the birds fly too high

to be out of range, but many do fly just "off the deck," so the hunter must be careful not to shoot toward other hunters around him. Best hunting hours are two hours just after daybreak and two hours before dark, as these are the birds' nor- mal feeding breaks. Throughout bad, stormy weather, the birds often come and go to feeding areas anytime during the day.

Once the morning was half gone, we compared notes, then headed for the big grass pastures. Osage County is made up of little else, so we had lots of ground to cover. Getting permission to hunt prairie chickens is often no more difficult than drivifig up to a ranch house and asking, but asking is a must. Osage County ranchers are like all cowcountry people: They are a little leery of strangers, but if approached with respect, they'll warm to a hunter's request to hunt their spread. Could be they'll have certain pastures they don't want you in, but if you'll do as they ask, it may be that you'll have a place to hunt chickens for some time to come.

Pasture walk-up is not for the soul who doesn't like to put one foot in front of the other. It's not uncommon to walk many miles in a day's time-without get-ting a shot at a single bird. Once the Pinnated Grouse (a fancier name for "prairie chicken") realizes there are hunters after his scalp, he takes to watching for them, poking his head above the bluestem just like a periscope on a sub marine. Seldom will these birds let hunters approach closer than 60 yards before they flush, oftimes flying a mile before alighting. Talking and yelling is taboo, as this spooks the birds.

The Lesser Prairie Chicken, cousin to Osage County's greater Prairie Chicken, inhabits western and northwestern Okla- homa, and lives among the shinnery mottes, which makes these birds easier to walk into range of, as the knee-high cover screens the hunter from the resting birds.

Pasture hunting results in the flushed birds rising slightly, then flying due away from the hunter. Easy shots, but the hunter must be quick, or the bird will be

beyond gunshot. Heavy loads and a full-choke shotgun are the only answers.

11. THE HISTORY

The Prairie Chicken, Prairie Grouse, Pinnated Grouse-whatever you call him-came with the "Territory," so to speak, when Oklahoma was first settled. Indian children caught the birds back before the coming of white men, and the person who can recognize feathers from this bird's plumage will often notice them adorning old buckskin garments and other Indian regalia.

One old-timer was heard to say, "Chick- ens were as thick as pigeons down around Spiro, in LeFlore County." That remark might not mean much unless the reader knows that the now-extinct passenger pigeon c r d the evening sky "in clouds" in the 1800s. The white man's greed doomed the passenger pigeon, and Okla- homa's prairie hen appeared headed down the same path.

Mankind threw his hardest punches: Market hunters killed the birds by the hundreds of thousands, shipping them to markets at Wichita, Kansas City, St. Louis and Fort Smith. Some marketeers didn't even bother to shoot them, but bought the birds from the Indians for 50 cents a dozen, then sold them for $3. Prairie chickens were shipped to market in huge wooden barrels, 500 birds to the barrel. Others were simply hung in long strings along the inside walls of railroad cars, with only the entrails drawn. Spoil- age was commonplace. After all, there were plenty more where those came from. The birds sold for 30 cents to a dollar each in the big cities.

Equally threatening was the home- steaders' plow. With the coming of the sodbuster, the prairie was turned grass sidedown, with a family trying to eke out a living on just about every quarter of land. Habitat was decimated.

Statehood brought the first laws to stop

opposite page. The two O&Aoma pra i~e cAickm am fwkak'kes. Sti4 wriatiom in t k size, w a U &q and co/w of t k r air Jars set t hapmt. The Greaterh s on bluPstmpmIYU~, the b s z r in shinmy mattes.

Oklahoma TODAY 20

I "Males do a sonpand-ance routine that -I includes strutting, stanzpiing thezrfeet and

/ @bye4p i m e standing up l'iRe rabbit ears. " 1 November-December '84

the slaughter of wildlife. Though there were no daily bag limits, seasonal hunting dates were set, allowing long months of hunting, from August 1through Decem- ber 31. This did nothing to help the prairie chicken, and as late as 1912 the season ran all of September and October. Fifteen birds could be killed a day. The 100-bird limit allowed each hunter per season was neither heeded nor enforced. Finally, during the '30s, the season was closed.

The '30s also saw Mother Nature take a hand in the goings-on. Dry, blowing winds came, and with them, scudding away on dirt-laden clouds, vanished the dreams of many farmers. As settlers were forced out, the grass returned, and with it the straggling bands of prairie chickens that had managed to survive.

At last, by the 1940s, a short season could be held, as the birds' numbers reg- istered a surplus. Though limited, with small bags and short seasons, such hunts are a tool in wildlife conservation, as they create hunter interest, which results in hunters pressing for public dollars to be used in bringing about large numbers of huntable birds.

Large numbers of the Greater Prairie Chicken can today be flushed in ranch- land pastures throughout much of northern Oklahoma, particularly in the area from Nowata to Miami, and in Osage County. Scattered packs dot other places, and many folks who think they've never seen these birds may have noticed them along the Cimarron Turnpike, where it passes Oklahoma Gas and Electric's Sooner Lake, in Noble County.

The Lesser Prairie Chicken ranges further west, the largest concentrations located in Ellis, Roger Mills and Wood- ward counties. As the birds' names indicate, they come from prairie country. The smaller bird is found on terrain de- scribed as sandsage, high-plains shortgrass and shinnery oak. The Lesser Prairie Chicken is also known as the Sandhill Chicken. The Greater Prairie Chicken primarily inhabits bluestem grass country.

Both birds are ground nesters, have no curiosity and are extremely wary, p w

sessing excellent hearing and vision. Stu- dies indicate a 60-percent turnover in populations each year. Hunting seems to have little bearing on numbers, but these birds are at the mercy of habitat loss, which keeps eroding their domains. Brush spraying in shinnery country and pasture improvements are the worst offenders.

Ducks are found in "flocks," quail in "coveys," and prairie chickens in "packs." A pack may number anywhere from five to a hundred, though the average is around 25. The birds scatter in dense

Hunting seasm on praik chackem this w'nter are:

-Gun Lusser PrainjP Chickex Nov. 3,4,20,12 Greater Prairie Cluckm Nov. 3-22

Archery Lesser Nov. 27-Bc. 25 (Reaver,

H a w , EL& and Woodwrd countks) Greater Nov. 17-Dec. 25 (Cra*, &y,

Mayes, N m t a , Osage, Ottawa, Rogers, TuLra, Wagoner and WarAington rountk)

Good p h m to vbwprairie chackm are wiuife management areas- Osage, near PawhusRa, and Kaw, n o d and east o f Ponca City, for the Gwater Praik Chicken, and Bli,at Lake U y d Vincent near Arnett, for the Lesser Praik Chic&. Bird wtching shouki beptponed during hunting season, needkxs to say.

If the National Audubon Son'ety hitJ wuy, a permanent horn for the Greater Praik Chicken w7l soon mist. The group I j

working to havP 65,009 acres set d e as the Osagt= Prairie Nationai P w s m ; its heart wouki be the near4 30,000a m of the h r d Ranch, north OfPawhuska. Says Ed Pembhton ofthe smety, "The mhng (inR in presemng natural areas a m 5 the county hbeen the tal-grms praink The Osage Praine wukifill this gap. "

For more information on the area, write the Aua'ubon Society Re+/ Office, 2210 Southwind PL, Manhattan, KS 66502 -

grass to spend the night hours, but at first day they fly toward a favored feeding ground, which runs the gamut from wheat stubble to sorghum fields, soy- beans, alfalfa, clover, millet, cut-over hay meadows and green wheat. Having fed, the birds gather, flying to grass pastures, where they spend the "nooning" hours. Late in the afternoon they feed again.

On this feeding schedule, Lesser adults grow to one and a half pounds, whereas the Greater adult will weigh nearer two pounds, full feather. The Greater has dis- tinct brown barring across the breast, with an overall brownish appearance. Lessers appear to be yellowish in color. Both have feathers down the legs, flow- ing out onto the toes-pantaloons, so to speak. Both species also visit the mating, or booming, grounds twice a year, in the fall as well as the spring, though mating takes place only in the springtime.

It's these mating grounds that are the scene of one of the most famous shows in the wild. Every spring along about April, males of both subspecies congregate at small, flat areas, usually on a rise void of vegetation. These spaces, often returned to year after year, are called "booming grounds." The object of the gathering is to attract females.

To get the attention of the opposite sex, the males do a song-anddance routine that includes strutting, stamping their feet and running for short distances, tail feathers splayed, wings out, heads down and "pinnae" (long black feathers at the sides of their necks) standing straight up like rabbit ears. They may also fight among themselves-make-believe or for real.

All this is accompanied by "booming." This is the sound made when the males expel air from inflated sacs that lie just below the pinnae. The Greater Prairie Chicken's air sacsare orangish-and when he deflates them, it's with a sound that's something like "whoom-ah-oom." The Lesser males, which carry reddish air sacs, make a two-syllable mating call that's more of a gobble and has been likened to a dog's bark.

Both calls can be heard a mile or so away, and when a whole pack of cocks

Oklahoma TODAY

- -- --- -- .------ -- -- ---- rra The first we&& of chicken season, hunters who want to outdraw the r r d when it comes to barnkg a p i m t e d p u s t congregateat O q e County>I t w o w ~ h t 0 4250permits go out at tach refirge,jifi corn, f j r t s m d , starting at noon on Noumber 2. I

' circle will not be broken in the years to come.

For if man plows it all under again, spraysall the brush with poisons, cuts out the shinnery clumps and levels all the hills, the little banty rooster of the prairie will join the Passenger Pigeon, in that Big Pasture in the sky.

are booming, some have said it sounds like thunder. One writer called it "a lonely, wild sound made by a lonely,wild bird. ...In all of modern America, there is no more lost, plaintive, old-time sound than the booming of a native prairie chicken."

That afternoon, near sundown, I topped a long rolling hill. Standing there, look-ing off to the east, I thought about an early trader who'd settled over in that direction. Old Jake Bartles had no way of knowing that a town like Bartlesville

binBkznd ri a national&known hunter and author, who^favored q u n y are wZd turk9.s andprain'e chickem-.

would someday be named after him, no more'n a cow waddie by the name of Tom Mix could realize he wouldn't always be working cattle for an outfit like the 101 Ranch, making $15 a month.

No doubt in my mind, though, that both those old-timers crossed paths with the feathered cock of the plains, because the prairie chicken staved off hunger for many pioneers.

Because of game laws, and a land too tough for sodbusters, things have come full circle for these birds. Let's hope the

November-December'84

sk historians and researchers to comment Pon what has survived the New Deal era, and they list public buildings, bridges, roads, parks, monuments and Social -Security. Artists, however,remember

some thing quite different. cal la ,- variously, Depressionera Art, WPA Art,

New Deal Art or Post-office Art. Oklahoma's share includes murals, easel paintings, dioramas and even two pieces of sculpture. They can be found in all parts of the state in museums, art galleries, public schools and colleges and a variety of government buildings.

These art works-the hundreds that can be located as well as the hundreds that have been destroyed (or mis- placed) over the years-are all part of what is probably the longest-running art exhibition in the state. All were com- pleted during the 10 years between 1933 and 1943, and all were the products of four government-sponsored programs: The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), works Progress ~dministration/~ederh A& project (WPNFAP), Treasury Section of Painting and Sculp ture (Section)-also known as Section of FineArts-and the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

Of these four programs, the Section, whose commissions consisted mostly of murals, was the only one not established as a relief program for out-of-work artists. Instead, it was set up as a means of securing quality art by recognized artists to decorate new public buildings.

According to Dr. Nicholas A. Calcagno, North- eastern Oklahoma A&M College, Miami, in his booklet, "New Deal Murals in Oklahoma," the Section program 66offered commissions by anonymous competitions for paintings and sculptures to decorate new federal buildings, largely post offices and court houses."

Oklahoma's other New Deal art authority, Dr. Bar- bara Kerr Scott, Cameron University, Lawton, turned up the information that artists who did the 3 1 post-office murals in Oklahoma were paid between $500 and $2,800 for their work. (The largest sum went to Randall Davey for six murals in the Vinita Post Office that trace a brief history of the Cherokees.) Each artist submitted a pro- posed sketch for approval after visiting or at least researching the area he or she had been selected to portray.

Though the era in which they were created was a time of hardship and despair, a majority of the art created (at least in Oklahoma) does not reflect this. In Oklahoma post offices, for instance, there are no scenes of bread lines or Dust Bowl travelers, no gaunt, hungry faces or Wall Street panics. The artists chose, instead, to portray Indian life and culture, the settlement of towns, the land runs and scenes from nature.

If the murals' subject matter tended to be idyllic, their reception was not always so serene. Dr. Calcagno tells, for instance, of some trouble that arose between the

INHEl!tITh

By Burnis Argo

Oklahoma TODAY 24

- NEW DEAL ART-

towns of Purcell, Oklahoma, and Jackson, Missouri.

"E FROM Artist James B. Turnbull, a ~issobrian, submitted a

L prize-winning design for the Purcell Post Office, a cattle- loading scene. Conway, also of Missouri, received a

l d commission for the Jackson Post Office mural. When the Jackson residents saw Turnbull's entry, they insisted on having it for their post office, leaving Purcell with Con- wav's scene of cattle and havstacks. The Purcell postmaster-of that time didn't car; for the haystacks Lither, so Conway had to submit another sketch.

All was not serene in Claremore or Watonga, either, though the flap in Blaine County turned out to be a giant hoax. The Watonga mural, painted by Edith Mahier in 1941 and called "Roman Nose Canyon," was said to be unacceptable to the Cheyenne 1ndi;ns and more specifi- cally to Red Bird, the tribe's 71-year-old Chief. His most-

Photographs by Jim Argo quoted comment: "Mural stinks!" Listed among his objections were: "ponies Indian

riding look like hobby horses with swan necks. . . . ~ o r n a nNose's baby look like stumpy pig. . .,AllRoman Nose's clothes look Navajo." The resulting furor was reported in Time and on the front pages of papers across the country.

Finally,says Karal Ann Marling in her book Wallto WallA m h a A CukuralHzStoy of Post- Offe Murals in th Great Depw.&, Mahler discovered "that the fun- loving Watonga Chamber of Commerce had hired Red Bird, Joe Yellow Eyes (his picturesque interpreter) and their retinue to drum up free publicity." Mahier, an art instructor at the University of Oklahoma and the only non-Indian native to receive a commission, good-naturedly offered alterations. But the Cheyenne conflict subsided, and Roman Nose (and his "stumpy-pig" baby) still decorate the Watonga Post Office.

In Claremore the situation was very emotional because that mural pictured the community's most revered favorite son, Will Rogers. According to Dr. Calcagno: "[The mural] installed in 1939 rapidly gained disfavor in the eyes of several local community leaders. They felt it was a 'hodge-podge and not enough Will Rogers.' Club women protested that there were too many show people and too much orchestra. . . . It failed to capture the cowboy philosopher's life as Claremore folk saw it." Many residents didn't think the central figure in the mural even

I looked like Rogers. To all of which artist Randall Davey responded with an astringent press release that began "Phooey to Claremore, Oklahoma from Randall Davey."

1 trauehr~." from mtuw,In~iead, irtijts portrayed Indrbn &/turn, J C ~ ~ P J

the ~etthnent of tavnr O u r E Bemi~ghrmrchose to captare W e ~ t W r d


UtAL ART

murals. As is frequently the case with familiar things, often seen, many post-office patrons in Oklahoma towns stopped noticing their mu4s long ago.

In Purcell, site of Conway's "The Round-up," postmaster Robert R. Stephens has noticed that adults never appear to see the mural ("Adults never seem to look above their heads"), while the children almost always do.

"You can see their eyes go right up the wall to it when they walk in," he says, adding it is probably the subject matter, a brightly colored scene of cowboys on horseback in a swirling sea of cattle, which attracts their

old post-office building with the provision that the mural, "Pre-settlement Days,"be removed, restored and rehung after the building was converted to city offices. Artist Jacques Lampin, who did the removing and restoring, had quite a time getting the canvas separated from the wall.

The original artist, Ila McAfee Turner (who alsodid Cordell's mural), was apprised of his troubles during an interview at her Tam, New Mexim, studio.

"Well, the mural wasn't put up to be taken down," snorted Mrs. Turner. "It was put up with the idea of stwine up!" -attention.

In Weatherford, postmas ter Troy Johnston was amused at the reaction of a number of

and the &n walls painted white a number of years ago.

"People kept coming in and saying 'Oh, you put up a picture'," says Johnston, who notes that the mural, "Termi- nus of the Railroad" by Oscar E. Berninghaus, had been in the same place since 1940.

The Weatherford mural is one of the few of the "post-office'' pictures that can be eas- ily seen in its entirety: mast of the others are partially ob- scured by low-hanging light fixtures. Most murals hang in the same place in each post office, by the way-over the postmaster's door-and they are all approximately 4 x 12 feet in s&.

Although many of the murals are painted on canvas, others are not-the one in

I

Dr. Nichoh G z h ~ g n oand Dr. Barbara Kiw Scott haw snnrrpd O&hmJQ for N m Deaf R~CJ ,Lh the plintingJ fimn o f i h m ~A?f Ctntffr'l&&hn. AlthOUgh h t d d haw hrn fbund hundredr more are siiUunac~~unted for.

The Edmond mural isn't the only one that has come down over the vears. The one in Idahl was-moved to the new post office. Clinton's was relocated in Town Hall. The one in Perry was framed and rehung at the town's Chere kee Strip Museum.

Both Randall Davey's con- t r o v e r s i a l C l a r e m o r e mural and the one in Guymon (called "Harvest") were taken down and have been in storage for several years. Both were hastily removed with some resulting damage just ahead of the wrecking crews. In fact, if it hadn't been for some quick thinking by historic-minded persons, both would have been lost.

Says Dr. Scott, "The one in Claremore was rescued by a local banker who arrived as the wall it was on was about to b, torn down. He asked what they were going to do with the mural and not liking the

Marietta, for instance. Painted directly on the plaster wall by an Oklahoman, Creek artist Solomon McCombs, it is titled "Chickasaw Family Making Pah Sho Fah."

What k Pah Sho Fah? The people of Marietta are nothing if not friendly and eager to please. A post-office patron heard the question asked, borrowed a phone from postmaster Marius D. Easy and turned up the following information:

"Pah Sho Fah is a dish made of corn and pork with very little seasoning and still served at Chickasaw tribal events."

One of the murals painted on canvas is the one that once was in Edmond's post office. When a new post office was built in 1983,the city of Edmond was given the

answer asked if he could have it. They gave him half a day to get it down, which he did, although naturally it was damaged somewhat, and he currently has it stored away until such time as the public wants it back.

"Fortunately plans are now underway to have both these murals restored and rehung," she adds.

All of this talk about post-office murals is not to say they were the most important or even the best of New Deal art. It is mostly a case of them being so readily available for viewing, a fortunate thing for those people interested in art or in history (and certainly for those who like an excuse to travel around the state).

Other excuses for travel abound. At the University of Oklahoma, for instance, can be seen two pieces of sculp

Oklahoma TODAY 26

NEW DEAL ART

'S&m fiket Part Offi; fmSnuQ Picttlm" d a Chicago Daily Newa h e d m in June f PQI. P a p s a m the c 0 u n 4

&&ghied in quotzng Cheyennec&f Red Bid% pzingpnt comment on Edith Ma-& 'J dy&ion of Chzef

IRomanNosef6t the WatongaPost Offie:"ld &!"Thef im turned out to bemm PR thanart. . . cnfmm-and Chkf Roman Nose ~tzZstandr,

ut I&m r&edno&r

Ilhu&Mahhg Pah Sh Fa4 "by an O&zhoman, Cm&at& w m McCBmh (Pah Sho Fah i ta tm&hd&Adby

-NEW DEAL ART

ture by Jules Struppeck, done for the WPA and FAP, on the front of Adarns Hall and three dioramas and four murals (WPA) by Ralph Shead in the paleontology room of the Stovall Museum.

The hallway on the top floor of the Oklahoma His- torical Society building in Oklahoma City is lined with PWAP murals by two of Oklahoma's Indian artists, Monroe Tsatoke and Spencer Asah, both Kiowas.

Some other places to look for artfrom this era: N o h - eastern State University, Tahlequah; the Garfield County Courthouse, Enid; Berryhill Junior High School, Tulsa; Bacone College, Muskogee; and the Osage Tribal Museum, Pawhuska.

Even more work was done on a smaller scale. The Okla- homa Art Center, for instance, has 19 WPA easel works that occasionally are put on display in special exhibits.

"There isn't really much special interest in them," says Jerry Riggs, assistant museum curator. "They aren't really remarkable separately, at least the ones we have, but when shown as a group they do take on a whole different meaning. It's probably because they are thematic and reflect that era so well-the Depression, effects

priorities on a massive scale. Following the war, interest seemed to stay directed

away from the Depression and its art. Then, in the '70s, people began looking around and noticing once again the artworks that were all around them. Both Dr. Scott and Dr. Calcagno became interested in New Deal art because of someone else's interest.

Dr. Calcagno began his study in the early 1970s when he ran across a friend who was a professor of art at Wichita University.

"He told me he was doing aninventory of depressionera murals in Kansas and suggested I do the same in

Oklahoma, as it was important to have a record of all of this. So I got busy and traveled around the state trackingdown the murals and photographing them. What my friend hadn't told me was there was a government program going on at the time in which each state was divided into sections, with a researcher in each section. I did the whole state by myself," he adds, laughing. Hisresearch was later used in his New Deal booklet, which was published in 1976 as a bicentennial project.

Dr. Scott was looking for a subject for a special project during Oklahoma's Diamond Jubilee celebration in 1982.

"I couldn't come up with any ideas, but finally my department chairman, Jack Bryan, reminded me I had two students who were interested in New Deal - and suggested 1think about doing somethingwith that," she says.

of war, the social and indug trialadvancements of the time."

These particular 19 paintings have a very special meaning to the art center itself. "They are how the art center began, the beginning of our collection," says Riggs.

The was q k d through the effom the center's founding director.

Not all N i Deal art w pmnted on c a n w ; t k ~maumnLd . f Z ~ t p s ~'$iPtedlS J& S t m c d f a O~~~ U&.;Sr' A ~ ~ H Z witpare anti+pn &aPJ)( ~ k& h h f a m i c ~ ~ e n

the late Nan ~hee t s .~~ t was through her work as director of Oklahoma's branch of another WPA project, the Fed- era1 Gallery, that hundreds of WPA pieces were brought to the state. Mrs. Sheets was one of the people in charge of allocating these works to the buildings or institutions where they would stay.

The Federal Gallery was established in December, 1935. By 1942, several extension galleries had been established in smaller Oklahoma towns, hundreds of art classes for school children, senior citizens, blacks, soldiers and other special groups had been held, and hundreds of lec- tures and exhibits had been conducted-all in the interest of acquainting Oklahoma people with art. The Gallery continued till World War I1 redefined the government's

"At first my students, sally ~oelle and Gayle Clark, a d I thought we might do a travel map of some kind, listing places where people could see examples of New Deal art and showing how to get there."

The subject proved to be larger than they ever imagined, and her booklet,"New Deal Art: The Okla- homa Experience," is the result.

Both experts are willing to let the subject drop. Indeed, they have tried, but without much success.

"Not a day goes by that I don't get a phone call or a letter on the subject," says Dr. Calcagno.

"I make at least two talks a month to organizations on the subject," says Dr. Scott, who also receives her share of mail and phone calls. The two have finally

Oklahoma TODAY 28

-- +.--:-. MEWDEALART

'#UH&J" Imte tht WmmiQParto s . f i h & - & on rht watplfd%ji$my. Qnhd&,Wh? n o n - I .Nm Deal& W J ~ f j m nt k 'b&md art sf& "q&g W & a m t o f t b w a ? d r P a g m r , ~ n g r l f i d b y the ltrghdhof Gmnt W d d T h f i r f l h t m r

decided to prepare a program and exhibit on the subject, which they hope to have ready next year.

Dr. Scott likesto point out that WPA art is, after all, a program that is still very much alive today.

"The governmentstill owns these art works and has a say in what happens to them. They are still in the business, believe it or not, of reallocating these pieces," she says.

Ask a researcher (Scott),an art curator (Riggs) and

an artist (Woody Crumbo, who did the Nowata Post Office mural) what was the best thing to come out of the New Deal programs of the Depression, and they will tell you: the federal programs for the arts.

"It was really far-sighted of the government to make provisions for our cultural life," says Riggs. "We really need somethinglike that again, more support for the arts today. But I'm sure such a thing will never happen again."

Getting T k e Thefdmirg is a hit ofpost of+ in

OkMoma where New Deal m u d can be seen-cmphe with MM offheartists a d the muralr. The hit w.m mmpikd by Dr. Barbara Kkr Scott and Dr. NichoL A. ma*

Anadarko *StepenMOM, " K i ~Moving Czmp"(26paneh)

Coalpate

*AceeBhe Ezgk, "WomanMaking P h hfa"

Cordell Ikz McAfee Turnery"The Scene Chges"

Drumright Frank WeathemLong, "Okkzhoma Land Rub''

H o b LIqfLozes GofJ "Mapping the Trd"

-0 (Old Post Office) JarepfiA A Fkrk, '"'TheRed Man of OkkzhomaSPes the First Sfagemch"

Idabel (New Post Office)-hlarry Lo& Freud, " k tHome ofthe ChoctawNatrbn"

Madii-Eth/Magafan, "Prainl.Fie"

Marietta *&haMcCombs, ''CfiicKaJawF a d y Makhg PafiSho Fah "

Marlow hE Davrj, "CattkDrys"

Nowata * W d Crumboy" R a i n h "

Okemah *W&m Rlchrd (DirR) Wed, "The

30 Oklahoma TODAY

G d Cmndof2842"

Pawhwka OLw R d , "Osage Treaty"

Poteau J m Cunmnghm, "Cottm "

Purcell Freuhck E Cotmq, 'TheRound-up1*

Mod murah hang abow thepa'tntastfl's dow- CiRe Troy Johnsfon 5 in WeatAerfotd.

VanceHid KirkM, "The +ning o f the ChyenneandAra@ho count^"

Seminole *AceeBlue Eagk, "Semincnk Indian YdkzgeS m "

Stilwell O&a Mohr, "ChedeeIndian Fanning a n d A n i d Hwbadry "

Sulphur Albert T.W,"The Romance ofthe M d i n the Odd Catth Cmtr~r"

-Vinita RamiMDauey, "ChemkeeHistory" (6

Watonga *EdithMa&, "Roman Nose Canyn"

Waurika T M m VanSoekn, "Canaa'lirn Hakers "

Weatherford Oscar E. M n g h , ''T~7rm~nrczofthe Railmad"

Wewoka Maiorrh W k z n d Cbrke, "Hrjroricd Background of W m k a "

Yukon W mI*, 'TheRun, Aprr1.22, 288- Taking the had"

0therpo.rtdfJce m u d are no &er on PO. d,butstiUpxljt:

Claremore (in storage) Ran&zUDawy, "WZRogers"

Clinton (moved to Town Hall) Loren Nonnan M e , "RacefwLundw

Edmond (new City Hall)-Ikz McAfep Turner, '‘PTPsetthent Drys"

G~~~~~ (in storage) JUJ' &&fig, "&PwJ~"

(CherokeeStrip Museum) T k M. StelJr., "Range Bradng h n by the Big Tan&"

Dr. Cakagno5 work on New Deal muralr ir no /qpinprint, but his sdae dmand

on the muralr can be mtedf i $5a weekfrom the O k k a k F&tion for the

NW wresw, O k k z k Cih. OK 73222 A &mid

*herirk i d d e Okkzhma &J. P 428410" t h yfm ofchrgp.

Tahlequah ManuelA. BrumsPg, "Choctaw Bal-

numberof~r~&5 WbwDealArf: The O k k z k -"ran d o be obtakd

New Deal Artist Emeritus

1943 when he finished his mural, "Rainbow," for the Nowata Post Office. He worked on it at home, and when the canvas was finished he took his tools along and put it up himself with the help of a local handyman. He was paid $750 for his work, and he recalls that it seemed a handsome sum. (Only a few years before, he'd sold 22 paintings to the San Francisco Museum of Art for $8 apiece.)

"A couple of years ago they had me come back and do a little restoration work and clean the mural," Crumb, remembers, as he relaxes in the shady front yard of his home near Checotah. "There wasn't much restoration to do because I use egg tempera, which holds up good. I was paid about three times as much on that job as I was originally. If I could wait around another 40 years, just imagine how much money I might get," he adds, laughing.

Not long ago, Crumbo's son went to see his father's other Section murals (there are six) in the new Department of Interior Build-

enough he finally found them. They are to go to Washington to pint those. I wo hurry and get out of there."

Dr. Nicholas Calcagno, one of Oklahoma's New Deal Art experts, says that of all the murals painted in Oklahoma during the Depression era, his favorites are the ones by Crumbo and his fellow Indian artists.

He has plenty to enjoy, because there are 50 murals in the state pinted by Oklahoma Indian artists, including Crumb, Stephen Mopope, Acee Blue Eagle, Monroe Tsatoke, Spencer Asah, Dick

versity(bth in Wichita, Kansas) and the University of Oklahoma. He was appointed director of the school of art at Bacone College when he was 21 and was curator of the El Paso Museum of Art from 1960 until 1968.

Crumbo stopped painting 30 years ago, and as a result, he mys, "Sm one of the few artists who has had the opportunity to see the value of his original work greatly increase while he was still alive. I stopped painting because I couldn't make a living at it. There was a time when I couldn't sell a painting for $35. Today that painting would be worth about $35,000, maybe more."

=

one-man shows. Still, he looks back on the New Deal pro

says. to c

"I think the programs helped immensely in getting recognition for Indian art and artists. I think I would have made it all right if it had never happened, but it sure didn't hurt anythmg," says Crumb, a grin lighting his face.

By Burnis Argo

Bun& andJimAlga Gtedpart officps andstwt.roomsamso&Lzhto mmrd thstate 5 M a p oflkpmszbwa art.

- -

The MistZetoe By KateJones

Ifthere's ever an Oklahoma Edidon ofTrivial Pursuit, one questian will havet0be: '~OWahomfi ts t occurred onFeb. 11,18931""

Answer: On that date, territoria governor Abraham J. b ysigned into lawHouse Bill 49, naming the miswletoe Oklahoma T~tory'sfloralemblem.It was the first commonweal&to name an of f id flower.

The hw& i t pass withoutt u m d 91y m ago,and it M t lived without challengeshe.Reason?Themidem is undeniablg.an.Bdd choice for a state fbwm.

What h alwaysb d h d stme OZdrthornansis chat mistletoe is a parasite. (More precisely, it's a mi-

--

parasite;it has its own chlorophyll but takeswater and mineralsfrom itshost.) No doubt abut it, thoagh, our ssate flower couldn't live without a treein Qklsh0mt5 mogt often an Bn

The ~~mistletoe's scientific m e isP A w ~ ~ s m - a r u lit?$ onlpwhen leave8 drop in the fan that O & a eatn Zook up and see their atateBower high in the treetops. 1% intifieant f l o m show up in late summer, qnd the waxy Mesit's known for come out soan after, hanging around till CIwhtms. (Thoughaide can mtulch She lertvetgand saw bitcis crave the betriesyhothate ~ O U to S

humans.)Wbat the mistletoe hcb in

independence it makes up in folklore. It's been linked to the d d of the Norse god Bddtlr, and to the cr:rucifixion of Jesus, Celtic Druids gathered it with golden &kles from their sacred oaks-and one mume tiesow custom of khmg under it to the Druidic high priests, who bussed on^ another during t h e i r r i & . A ~ k e ~ o f p a p and Christian cmm Zed to its identification with theWinter Solstire-and Chrisms

None of the8e Gzles £id lyhad much to do with the territorial 1+re8s choosing the mistkx es ourmte flower.In kt,it all started when the Temtom had% tochsose a Bower to r e p m iit at Chicago's C01mbian

This bill .. . was sponsored by a Mrs. Beason, who was an early settler at old

tion in the House, as Hon. Harper Cunningham, speaking for the ladies of Guthrie, or rather for the Episcopa- lian Guild, wanted to substitute some other flower. .. . But the majority of the members lined up with Mrs. Beason, and H.B. No. 49 passed 16 to 8.

Cunningham struggled mightily against the mistletoe, claimed it was "a

Oklahoma City newspaperman Leland Gourley rose to defend the besieged state emblem: "It took imagination to make a state flower out of a parasite. . . . Should we put a dome on our capitol because everybody else

parasite with the name and character of a thief, and characterized it as a

R. C. Brennan spoke for the plant, giving "an historic address":

The first winter after the Opening, the woods along the creeks and in the river bottoms were covered with Mistletoe,

In 1910,after another bout of wildflowers and author of books on the

A motion to reconsider H.B. 49

sadder reason that the women of the

One of the most famous bouts problems. But I feel it's past time Okla-homa had a respectable state plant."

when heaped with its rich spgys." Once the battle was over, the

plants we have in Oklahoma, and some of them so widespread and so attractive


DAVID HALPERN Davla Hal'pern grew up in Nashville, and f i t picked up a camera there. For years,

though, h h photography stayed an avocation, while he worked in adverttsing, marketing andpublic relations.

About 12years ago, his career took an abrupt turn. "When I started out workzig on my own," he says, "itwas with the intent of being both a wnterandaphotographet; and Ihada letterhead

made that could go either way -it said 'wnter' on one sde and jhotografier' on the othex " Gradually, the photography side won out, though he-2as kept wn'ting on hzi own: magazine

articles, columnsfor The Tulsa Tribune, a journal filled with essays andpoetty. Today he operates out of a Tulsa photography studio known for its commerczd work. On his own time,

howevet; he admits that his f i t love is envimnmentalphotography: "I've got a deep and abiding interest in the environment; I always have. I was an envtronmentalist when the word wasn 'tpopulax

I was an ecolo~kt before that word was invented, I think." Thzi love has taken him t o wild lands across the West, and h t summer he was artist in residence at Rocky Mountain National Park. One of h k favorite haunts, though, Ij' Oklahoma5. Wichita Mountains.

All three loves -writing, photography and the environment -fised in an exhibit of his Wichita photos at the Philbrook a few years ago. In the exhibit? brochure was a poem of Davizs. An except:

"Remember, too,/That the land is not yours./It belonged not to your fathers;/ Nor can it ever belong/To your sons and daughters. / Neither does it belong simply/

To mankind. / It belongs to life. / All life. / It belongs to eternity."

RIGHT. OPPOSITE PAGE. Antelope Hills, Fall in Hollis Cam/on.

Roger Mills County I Wichita Mountains

Oklahoma TODAY 34

DAVBRW, Wichita Mountains

Wildlife Refuge

Oklahoma TODAY 36

AUlWlN AND THE Balanced Rocks,

Wichita Mountains

November-December'84 37

LakeQuanat7Poker, Wichita Mountains

All this plus: Slices of

Oklahoma history

State and national holidays

Spiral binding Expensive paper Size: 81/2~11!4''

A beautiful way to keep track of all

your days in 1985!

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wance," says the council's executive direc-F- tor, Betty Price, "Oklahomans are able* to enjoy highquality dance, music, theater, opera and visual-arts exhibits that otherwise would be out of reach of many presentors' budgets."

The local sponsors work with the council and the artists, but it is the sponsor who reserves the theater, sells the tickets, publicizes the event, prints the program and counts the money. This makes t h e e performance a truly local event.

"Nutcracker"

- . The Oklahoma Symphony Orchestraz .%

of Oklahoma City is one of the most active touring organizations in the state.

II The 60-piece orchestra, one of the busiest

III

for its size in the nation, performs in about IS Oklahoma communities every year; counting Oklahoma City performances, it gives about 140 concerts a year.

Last year, the Oklahoma Symphony gave a cabaret concert in an airport han- gar in Duncan. At a Dallas wedding, the orchestxa provided a string quartet f ir the reception, the full orchestra and a 10-II

jkl it 5 &rth the tn) to &om for new audiences-46,Z 74people at h t count. A h %ght Hutton of Tuha Balkt bibwyeMeL& good-byp. Below. Chsnwms, school bathrwms, f l g y m ~ (and derphce) dwbk ar dresstng n m m ~on the mad--and there are no red caps.

It is this funding assistance that makes art affordable for smaller communities. As one state legislator said in defense of the appropriation, "Without this funding, the only art some Oklahoma communities would have is a collection of PeopZe magazines in a Carnegie Library."

According to the State Arts Council, 46,174 Oklahomans attended performances by artists in the touring program. The sponsors reported that 87 people

were employed full time and 16 were employed part time because of the touring; 1,127 volunteers donated their time to the performances.

Opera and symphonic performances were the most frequently scheduled events. The smallest community to book a touring arts group was Copan (population 675), which booked a performance by the Cirnamn Circuit Opera Company.

"With our matching financial assist-

piece dance band. They played everything from the wedding march to the theme from "Rocky 111."

The orchestra prides itself on its range of services: "No fuss, no muss, you can get everything from us," as director of operations Scott Myers puts it.

Usually, the orchestra's concerts are more traditional and include the "war- horses" or great classics of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven or Liszt. Young People's Con- certs, usually held in gyms, feature theme programs like "Percussion Power" or "Meet the Orchestra" (string family, woodwind family etc.). Printed guides tell students about theater etiquette and the orchestra's history.

Myers' work with the sponsor begins long before the curtain rises. He works to establish a helpful relationship with the sponsor, provides a detailed publicity kit, consults with them about ticket prices, visits the community to help find a suita-

OklahomaTODAY 42

Here ate the State Arts Counn'fjrmd show$ m NombPr and DembPr:

November 1 Hughe~ShngAd., Padam& State U h ~ ~ t y , SFPATGG0od.k O~~~ Otrhes~tm TicRPt~:(405)349-2622, at.260

November 10 S o u t h ~ tPhyhw, Ckntm C h a m C i d Opera, "Opera Gab. "

November 30 Scottrjh Rite Tm@, Guthnk Baht OkhAmM, "Nutcracker. "Ec&s (405)

Rad'rd, fbmenco pitanit. T i c k Jwry Tuck, (405) 225U26.2, or Ruth Hoard,

(405)225-2235. December 3

St. Gtegvty jC&ge, S h e Okhhoma B~~ hPmbk.F~ ofckrPe.

- 0

December 8 Cmtml Uniwiiu,A-Tula Wt

Theatte, "NutcracRw. "

December 9 Guymon H;gA Schw/Aud;toninn, Guyma: W k t Okkzhoma, "NutcracRPr. "Tickets

wth Tula Baht Theattr, "Nutcracker. '" T&r (918) 423-2212.

December 13 Hutckm M e m d Theater, Ponca City; Tula Baht The&, ''Nutrrackpr. "

G w p ~mterested in qkmmiirga vljit& rmp ofthe touring c o m ~ s can m t e the

Artr coundof Rm.M,ORhk Jim T h e BHg., Okkzhoma Cdy, OK 73205,ffor a j k brochure outlining the p r q q r a d p r o f l n g the artists. (To be eligr'bh as a @omor, a p u p nrurt be na-

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rn C A L E N D A R H I G H L I G H T S

W i Rogers Memorial on West Will Saturday with the start of the Main Event, Rogers Boulevard. The proceeds go to the 1-the and biggest race of the year.

Grab your partner, swing her 'round, the Oklahoma Square Dance Festival is coming to town! Thousands of dancers from all over the state will meet at Oklahoma City's Myriad Convention Center November 3 to dance the night (and day) away.

The fancy footwork begins at 9 a.m. and continues until 2 a.m. the next morning. In addition to square dancing, there will be clogging, round dancing (patterns of movements done by couples in a circle formation), a style show, workshops and clinics on new movements, smoothness and styling and an educational panel that will discuss organizing and running a square- dance club.

The Grand March, the highlight of the festival, will kick off the evening dance. Dancers from each of Oklahoma's nine districts parade around the Myriad floor, where they "square off" to begin the evening dance.

Jack Culbertson, past president of the Oklahoma Square Dancing Federation, says that square dancing is a great way to "meet a lot of people, have a lot of fun-and it's healthy!" If you are interested in joining in (or just watching), the admission charge is $1 in advance or $1.50 at the door. For more information, contact Mr. Culbertson, (405) 354-1093.

Claremore will be saying "Happy Birthday" to Oklahoma's all-time favorite son, Will Rogers, when the town celebrates the 105th anniversary of Rogers' birth with a weekend full of festivities, November 2,3 and 4.

The birthday party itself, complete with birthday cake and entertainment, will be Saturday, November 3, at Rogers' birthplace on Lake Oologah. Later that day, Oklahoma's great chili makers will battle it out at a chili cookoff in the parking lot of Claremore's Elks Lodge. Taster cups will be provided for visitors to sample the entries, and a country & Western band will dish out the entertainment. The "chili heads" will begin judging at 4 p.m.; prizes will be awarded for showmanship as well as for the chili itself.

Trips, dinners, books and other items donated from around the state will be auctioned Saturday evening, 6:30 p.m., at the

memorial and help fund programs like the birthday celebration. Admission to the auction is $15, which includes hot hors d'oeuvres and other refreshments. All weekend long, more than 100 top

notch artists will display paintings, sculptures, crafts and folk art at the arts and crafts Country "Fare" in the Old Armory Building, in downtown Claremore. Times for the show are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Other activities that weekend will include children's games all day Saturday at the memorial, costume and windowdecoration contests and a film festival. Celebrity guests will be Will Rogers Jr. and Dr. Lawrence Peter, author of The Peter Prinnhk. All activities, except the auction, are free

and open m the public. For more information, con- the Will Rogers Memorial, (918) 341-0719.

Motocross is coming to Tulsa-minus the roar of dirtbikes and the omnipresent dust (or bottomless mud) of an outdoor track. Tulsa's Expo Building is being transformed into a bicycle motocross track complete with jumps, turns, obstacles and sand traps for the American Bicycle Grand Nationals, November 23-25.

The excitement begins Friday, November 23, with the Super Bowl final, and escalates

Highlight of the threeday Grand Nationals is the finals of the Main Event, Sunday at

In the Main Event, riders in age groups ranging from under five to over 35 will race across the most difficult track of the year- some 700-1,500 feet long-for the honor of taking home one of the 7-foot-tall first-place trophies.

Admission is free all three days. For more information, contact the American Bicycle h i a t i o n , (602) 961-1903,,or the Expo Center, (91 8) 744-1 1 13.

Woodward is getting a history lesson-in bison. The Pioneer Museum and Art Center is hosting an exhibit entitled "Bison: From the Pre-historic Past to the American Frontier" from October 11 through November 22.

The exhibit tells the story of the bison through historic and contemporary photographs, art prints, artifact reproductions and graphics. F ieen free-standmg panels discuss the bison's history from pre-historic species to presentday efforts at conservation. Also emphasized are pre-historic man's buffalwhunting techniques, the bison's effect on the development of Plains Indian culture and the relationship between the white man's westward expansion and the near- extinction of the buffalo.

Woodward's Pioneer Museum and Art Center is located at 2009 Williams Avenue, beside U.S. 270 South. The exhibit is free and is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on this exhibit, contact the museum at (405) 256-6136.

By Kim Edwards

Next Issue:Join Okhhoma T+ as we salute one of the state's proudest traditions the fighting Thunderbirds of the 45th Division. Visit Baldo Hill. the third generation of his family to take up a quintessential Western craft-the making of fine saddles. Relax in Oklahoma's last mineral-water spa and discover the brilliant works of the state's leading stained-glass artists. All in the January-February issue of OkhAoma TODAY.


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NOVEMBER 1-22 "Bison: From the Pre-historic Past to the American Frontier," Pioneer Museum and Art Center, Woodward

1-26 "Making Medicine: Ledger Art from Fort Marion," Center of the American Indian, Kirkpatrick Center, OKC

1-31 Jewelry by Carolyn Bobelu, Zuni Pottery by Stella Shutiva, Amma Pueblo, Southern Plains Indian Museum, Anadarko

I-Dec.2 "The Photography of Irnogen Cunningham: A Cen-tennial Selection," Oklahoma Museum of Art,OKC

1-Dec.2 The Prints of Mary Nimmo Moran, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa

1-Jan. 18 "Things of the Spirit: Art by the Kiowa Five," Okla. Historical Society, OKC

2-Dee. 7 Paintings by Ming Fai-Yu, Governor's Gallery, State Capitol, OKC

3-25 Santa Clara Pottery by the Youngblood Family, Gil- crease Museum, Tulsa

11-30 "Bert Seabourn: Paintings and Drawings," Mabee- Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee

16-18 Navajo Rug and Indian Jewelry Show, Gilcrease Museum Shop, Tulsa

18-Dec. 30 Currier and Ives exhibition, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa

20-Dec. 2 "Holidays at Phibrook," Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa 30-Jan. 20 "Jamie Wyeth: An American View" and "American

Abstract Expressionist Paintings from the Blaffer Col- lection," ~klahoma Art Center, OKC

DECEMBER 1-16 "American Art in M i n i a m 1984." Gilcrease , Tulsa 1-31 Steve Jones, bronzes; Biiy Da Vee, Indian art; Marilyn

Hallien, watercolors, Pioneer Museum and Art Cen-ter, Woodward

2-31 Christmas Sales Exhibition, Southern Plains Indian Museum, Anadarko

-2-Jan. 27 "Spiro Mounds," Buckley Public Library, Poteau 20-Jan. 6 "Holidays at Gilcrease," Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa

NOVEMBER 1-3 An Evening of One-Acts, Arts Theatre, Woodward 2 4 & 7-10 "Home," upe el ones Theatre, OU, Norman

2-11 "The Man Who Came to Dinner," Theatre Tulsa 5 "Mark Twain," Tulsa Alliance for Classical Theatre,

Performing Arts Center, Tulsa 7 "Poetry in Bricktown," Individual Artists of Okla.,

OKC

8-11 & 15-17 "Mame," Little Theatre, Muskogee 11-13 & 17-19 "Royal Hunt of the Sun," American Indian Theatre

Co., Tulsa 12-15 "The Glass Menagerie," Southwest Playhouse, Clinton 15-18 "The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe," Little

Theatre, Cameron University, Lawton 16-17 "Oldest Living Graduate," Theatre Guild, Commun-

ity Center, Bartlesville 17-19 "Absurd Person Singular," Community Theatre,

Woodward 18-20 & 24-26 "Come Blow Your Horn," Ponca Playhouse, Ponca

City 18-20& 25-27 "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/

When the Rainbow is Enuf," Classen Theatre, OKC 24-26 "M*A*S*H*," Ardmore Little Theatre, Goddard

Center, Ardmore 30-Dec. 4,

7-11 & 14-17 "Stingiest Man in Town," Cabaret Supper Theatre, Ft. Si

28-Jan. 13 "They're Playing Our Song," Gaslight D i n e r The- atre, Tulsa

30-Dec. 2 "Annie," Theatre Guild, Community Center, Me%

ville 30-Dec. 23 "A Christmas Carol," American Theatre Co., Per-

forming Arts Center, Tulsa

DECEMBER 1-18 "Heaven Can Wait," Jewel Box Theatre, OKC 3 4 "I Do! I Do!" Theatre Guild, Community Center.

Mesville 3,s & 6 "Harvey," Community Theatre, Cleveland

7-16 "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," Theatre Tulsa, Tulsa

8& 10 "See How They Run," Shortgrass Playhouse, Hobart 8-17 "A Dickens of a Christmas," Tulsa Alliance for Classi-

cal Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa 8-21 "Cinderella," Oklahoma Theatre Center, OKC

9-12 & 15-17 "Chapter 2," Pott. County Production Co., Tecumseh 9-17 "To Grandmother's House We Go," Community

Theatre, Lawton 10-13 "A Christmas Carol," Southwest Playhouse, Clinton 12-16 "Love on the Rack," Tulsa Alliance for Classical

Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa 15-17 "Wizard of Oz," Theatre Guild, Community Center,

Bartlesville 15-20 "A Christmas Carol," Little Theme, Shawnee

1 Jazz Band Concert, Kirkpatrick Auditorium, OCU, OKC

1 OSU Symphony, Community Center, M e v i l l e

OklahomaTODAY 46

2 Barbara Mandrel& Merle Haggard, Myriad, OKC 3 "On the Go Like the USO," Silver Lake Chapter of

Sweet Adelines, Bartlesville 3,8 & 10 "Carmen," Tulsa Opera, Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa

10 Greater Oklahoma Bluegrass Music Concert, Com- munity Center, Midwest City

10 & 11 Family Portraits, Prairie Dance Theatre, Oklahoma Theatre Center, OKC

I 1& 13 Oklahoma Symphony, featuring pianist Bella David* rich, Civic Center, OKC

I5 Thanksgiving Choral Festival, Seretean Center, OSU, Stillwater

16 "An Evening with Carmen McRae and Louis Bell- son," Oklahoma Symphony, Civic Center, OKC

17 "Opera Gala," Cimarron Circuit Opera, Sooner The- atre, Norman

17-18 "Les Sylphides," Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa

18 LAXAngeles Piano Quartet, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa

20 OSU Men's Glee Club-Women's Choral Club Con- cert, Seretean Center, OSU, Stillwater

21 Oklahoma Symphony, Tinker Air Force Base, OKC 22-24 "Cosi Fan Tutte," Kirkpatrick Auditorium, OCU,

OKC 25 Beethoven's "Triple" Concerto, Oklahoma Symphony,

Civic Center, OKC 25 Concert on Ice, Tulsa Philharmonic, Williams Center

Forum, Tulsa 30-Dec. 2 ,s -8 "The Nutcracker," Rupel Jones Theater, OU, Norman

DECEMBER 4 Country Music Show from Nashville, Civic Center, Muskogee

7 Christmas Choral Concert, Chapel, OCU, OKC 8 "Hansel & Gretel," Cimarron Circuit Opera Co.,

Sooner Theatre, Norman 8 Greater Oklahoma Bluegrass Music Concert, Com-

munity Center, Midwest City 9 Choral Society Christmas Concert, Community Center,

Bartlesville 9 "Messiah Sing-Along," Oklahoma Symphony, Civic

Center, OKC 9 George Strait, State Fairgrounds, OKC

10 Cocoa and Carols: "Messe di Gloria," Oklahoma Christian College, OKC

13-16 "The Nutcracker," Ballet Oklahoma, Civic Center, OKC

15-16 "The Nutcracker," Bartlesville Civic Ballet,Commun- ity Center, B a r t l d e

17-30 "The Nutcracker," Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Performing Arts Center. Tulsa

7 F A I R S & F E S T I V A L S

NOVEMBER 2-3 CheeseSausage Festival & Food Fair, Fairgrounds, Stillwater

2-3 Cheese Festival, Watonga 2 4 Arts & Crafts Fall Festival, Expo Square, Tulsa

8-10 The Nutcracker Christmas Shop, Hamelden, Tulsa 9-10 8th Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Festival, Fairgrounds,

Duncan 9-1 1 Illinois River Arts & Crafts Festival, NSU, Tahlequah

10 Chrishnas Artsand C& Sale, National Guard Armory, Weatherford

16-18 Arts and Crafts Festival, Civic Center, Miami 16-18 11th Annual Craft Harvest, Great Plains Coliseum,

Lawton 17-18 Osage Hills Arts and Crafts Show, Activity Center,

Sand Springs 23-24 American Business Women's Arts and Crafts Show

and Sale, Civic Assembly Center, Muskogee 30-December 2 Arts and Crafts Show and Sale, Community Canter,

A"" City

NOVEMBER 3 National Appalcosa Horse Sale, Heritage Place, OKC 9-10 Okie 100 Bull Buckout, Fairgrounds, Muskogee

10-17 World Championship Quarter Horse Show, State Fairgrounds, OKC

27-Dec. 2 Miss Rodeo America Pageant and Beauty and the Beast Competition, Myriad, OKC

DECEMBER 1-2 Stallion Spectacular and Horse Sale, Heritage Place, OKC

1-9 National Finals Rodeo, Myriad, OKC 12-15 Sunbelt Cutting Horse Futurity and Sale, State Fair-

grounds, OKC 26-Jan. 1 Holiday Circuit Quarter Horse Show, Expo Square,

Tulsa

SPECIALE V E N T S - I NOVEMBL., 2-4 Will Rogers Days ., , id , ..,.,u,,Ao ...,.,.u...J,

Claremore 3 Oklahoma State Square Dance Festival, Myriad, OKC 3 "Oklahoma Statehood Ball," Skirvin Plaza, OKC

3-4 Fall Flower Show, Tulsa Garden Center, Tulsa 3-6 Tulsa Area Cluster Dog Show, Expo Square, Tulsa

8-12 Oklahoma Sooner Circuit Dog Show and Obedience Trial, State Fairgrounds, OKC

10 Half Marathon, Jenks 10 Chocolate Lovers, Omniplex, OKC

10-1 1 Oklahoma Grand Prix, State Capitol Park, OKC 16-18 Texhoma Rod and Custom Car Show, Myriad, OKC 17-18 Gragg Toy and Doll Show, Expo Square, Tulsa

22 Von Franken Charity Food Run, Zink Lake, Tulsa 22 Thanksgiving Feast, Lake Murray Resort, Ardmore

23-24 Sooner Gun Show, Fairgrounds, Muskogee 23-25 American Bicycle Association, BMX Grand Nationals,

Expo Squre, Tulsa 24-25 OKC Cat Club Show, State Fairgrounds, OKC

DECEMBER 1 Christmas Parades Ardmore, Checotah, Eufaula, Stigler 1 Road Race, Mohawk Park, Tulsa

1-15 Ultimate Christmas Gala 111, Mabee-Gerrer Museum, Shawnee

1-31 "Star of Wonder," Planetarium, Kirkpatrick Center, OKC

7 Tree Lighting Ceremony, Main Mall, Tulsa 8 Christmas Gala, Marland Mansion, Ponca City 8 Christmas Parades: Heavener, Tulsa

15-16 Oklaoma National Gun Show, State Fairgrounds, OKC

16 Chrinma~ Tree Lighting, Model Park, Tulsa 31 Tulsa Times Square, Bartlett Square, Tulsa


number 6 november, 1984

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