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The Okie Legacy

Saturday, 30 October 1999, Vol. 1, No. 30

OAKIE'S MIDIBOX

Festivals & Colors of Fall

Once upon a time not so far away across the seas, there lived a group of people in northwestern Europe nearly 2000 years ago, that believed that October 31st was a time to celebrate the arrival of the cold, dark fall season on this earth.

Others may see it as the day the Lord of Death released the souls of the dead back to earth. To all his own belief and it should be respected as such by each one of us.

To me, the ending of October brings with it the changing of the seasons with it's magnificent, brilliant and radiant colors as Nature's golden and reddish remnants eventually find their way back to the earth from whence they came. It is one of my most favorite times of the year.

You might see scattered across the Oklahoma Heartland's numerous families making their annual trek into the Pumpkin Patches to help celebrate in their own ways this "All Hallows Eve" and "All Saints Day" that is almost upon us. Others will be preparing for the November festivals to give Thanks and be grateful for what they have.

The Celts believed that October 31st was a time to celebrate the arrival of the cold, dark fall season. In the year 46 The Romans conquered the Celts but adopted the fall celebration by combining it with their own celebration on November 1st (All Saints Day). They called October 31st, "All Hallow's Eve" (Halloween).

The Catholic Church attempted to separate Halloween from pagan traditions but those traditions persisted. In England, beggars would roam the streets singing and begging for food. It is from this pastime that we began the tradition of trick-or-treating.

The tradition of bobbing for apples came from the Irish settlers who could afford nothing more than plain apples. The English and Scottish tradition of carving out potatoes, turnips and beets changed into pumpkin carving upon reaching America.

Some might state that October 31st was, "The last night of the year in the ancient Celtic Calendar, and was celebrated as the end of summer and it's fruitfulness. It was a festival that the Celts of northern Europe (and the British Isles) marked with bonfires, to help the sun through the winter."

"The Real Origins of Halloween", as written by Isaac Bonewits states, "The pumpkin is a New World plant that never grew in Europe until modern times, so it couldn't have been used to make jack-o-lanterns by the Druids. Human fat would make a lousy candle fuel even if anyone were psychotic enough to try. Apparently turnips were used to make lanterns in Ireland, and I said in earlier versions of this essay that one would need some darned big turnips to make jack-o-lanterns, but I've been informed by several former or current Irish residents that Ireland does, indeed, grow some mighty big turnips! They tell me they were used for lanterns in previous generations, and that they are much harder to carve than pumpkins, which is probably why Irish immigrants to North America switched to using the latter. I'm unaware of any historical references to the turnips being used as jack-o-lanterns in Ireland until modern times, or of the turnips being used in any of the many other Celtic territories where the Druids once worshipped."

My wish for all of us is... To respect each other's customs for celebrating. The Fall festivals of this World can be felt as the beginning of a miracle as the 'White Buffalo' is a miracle symbol to the Native Americans.

According to the Native American's, "The White Buffalo is a symbol of hope, rebirth and unity for Native Americans. In 1996 in the form of a white buffalo calf named 'Miracle' (a rare birth) took place on a farm in Wisconsin, and is represented as a great cultural significance for the Great Plains Native American tribes. Floyd Hand, a Sioux medicine man from South Dakota, says the arrival of a white buffalo is like the Second Coming of Christ. The calf's birth will 'bring purity of mind, body and spirit, and unify all nations... black, red, yellow and white'".

The Fall colors that surround us wherever we are, whether we are in West Virginia, Virginia, New England, West Coast or the Heartland are those bonfires that our ancestors used to help the sun through the Winter so it could shine anew and fresh in the Spring of a new year and bring a new beginning for us all.

The Red Maple trees give us the fiery red glow amongst the golden-yellows and greens that represent those bonfires of the Fall festivals. It is still my favorite time of year as the cool, dark sleep of Nature's crops prepare for the oncoming of the Winter months to sleep and to be born again in the Spring of a new year.

Let me leave you with the following quote by Susan Pollis Schutz, "This life is yours - Believe in yourself. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the Power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Nothing is too good for you - You deserve the best. Take the power to make your life healthy, exciting, worthwhile and very happy. Take the power to create your own dreams and make them come true."

OAKIE'S MAILBAG & LINKS

Here are some things to think on and send me your thoughts & old pics...

"Little Dixie long has been part of the lexicon of Oklahoma politics, its very mention conjuring up images of good ol' boy, Yellow Dog Democrats in the historically poor part of the state. Former U.S. House Speaker Carl Albert came out of Little Dixie, helping build the legend. State Sen. Gene Stipe hails from the area, too. "It's a state of mind as much as a geographical reality," Cole said. "It's historically Democratic, settled largely by people coming out of Texas and the Deep South." Roberts said, "There's no lines painted on the ground and no boundary lines. They were calling it that years before I was born. There's a strong Democratic tradition in the 3rd District."

"The Third District of Oklahoma has always lain in the state's southeast, a region called "Little Dixie" because its settlers came from the nearby Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas and its agricultural economy is based on cotton and peanuts. Its voters almost always vote Democratic. Albert, because his work outweighed his small stature, became "The Little Giant from Little Dixie."

The Obituary Links Page or its mirror site will hopefully help you see this page as a viable tool for family researching.

"Linda, Here is a URL of a photo from the OKC tornado in May. I hope you like it."

"The picture was taken out of my bedroom window. Fortunately water only got into the garage, back porch, shed, over ran the pool, and in a couple of our cars. 12" of water in less than 24 hours was no fun." -- VA Beach, VA & Hurricane Irene.

"There was the German prisoner of war camp out south where the airport is currently located. They would bring the German prisoners to town on work details, and while part of the armory was used for grain storage, there was a portion where shovels, rakes, hoes, etc were stored. The MP's would come down the street and notify everyone that a work crew was coming so everyone had to go inside, lock the doors, and stay inside. We would watch out the window as the crews would come pick up their tools to go off for whatever they did."

If there is anyone out there who might have a copy of Alva's Germany Prisoner of War Camp in NW Oklahoma during WWII era, I would love to hear from you.

Marvin has put up some interesting pictures that he found in an old '56 AHS yearbook that show what Alva was like down around the square in 1956. For instance, the Old Alva High School can be seen in the background of this picture. Alva West side of square in 1956

Here is a combined photo of Alva, Oklahoma, in 1956 and showing the west side of the square in the daytime and the square at nighttime.

For those of you who remember that Alva did have more than one movie theater way back when, here is a shot of the Pix Theatre is located just to the left of the Jetts store on the west side of the square

"NWSC from 64-66. I was there during those years. Doc Sheffield's office became the coolest spot on campus for the not-like-everybody-elses. And the PIX reminded me of Lynn (Paris) and popping a big sack of popcorn at his house and then going to the PIX where we could get in for free after the movie started because Lynn was best friends with the Kelly son ... I've forgotten his name."

"There was an article in the paper today that I thought you might be interested in because of your nicknames, alteregos, screen names. You may have already seen it. It was an article on the century's worst weather events. Ranking first for its impact upon American Society was the 1930s dust bowl. An historian for the Oklahoma Historical Society, talking about the derogatory use of the brand "okie", said he thought of Okie as a courageous term. The Okies persevered, unlike others devastated by the depression. 'They didn't jump out of buildings like some people did. They just held up their heads and headed west.' That sounds just like you."

Weather Watchers Choose Dust Bowl as Worst Event -- by Daily Oklahoman staffwriter, David Zizzo, 10/29/99. The story goes on to state, "The onslaught of topsoil borne on parched winds caused thousands to flee Oklahoma, heading down Route 66 to California. One observer joked that Oklahoma's third-largest city became Bakersfield, Calif. Those who migrated were branded "Okies," a derogatory term at the time."

Paleopagan Druidism in Ireland and the British Isles was wiped out by Christianity long before anyone was building medieval castles with "princesses" in them. You can read more about the Paleopagan Druidism of Ireland at the following website.

If you are in that part of the world that celebrates daylight savings time, Don't forget... You get an extra hour to spend this weekend. Spend it wisely and turn your clocks back this weekend (Oct. 30-31, '99). Your Life is yours to enjoy and create.

You have the power to create. To begin to become a creator, you must create. One simple good deed is an act of creation. You will create the feeling of happiness in someone else. Do one of these good deeds each day. It can be as simple, or as great, as you wish to make it.

What's important is that as you do it, you realize the purpose behind the action. It is not to gain points on your spiritual development chart. It is to create a feeling in someone else. Your action will cause the birth of a positive emotion in someone else.

This is an act of creation, and you are the creator. The deed itself is unimportant, the change in yourself necessary to do it, is. You will find that making someone else happy creates its own happiness within you.

This emotion is a reflection of what you are. It is the reward that creation offers to those who create in others. It is the greatest gift that you have to offer, and is an important part of your destiny.