Okie's NW Corner

Woof! Woof!... This has been a busy week for us here in the NW Corner. Living with Oakie is hectic sometimes, BUT... I think I'll keep her around for awhile, anyways. She did let me get my Pug Paws on her 'puter keyboard this weekend. AND... Yes! We are running late... on Mountain Time as a matter of fact.

The combines and harvesters were finally swarming the wheat fields in our NW Corner of the state last Memorial weekend. You could even see a thick layer of wheat dust being distribute across the horizon-line and on anything that was nearby as 2, 3 and sometimes 4 combines worked in the same wheat field until the late night hours.

Thursday, 3 June 2004, this pug-nacious pug got roused from an early morning (5:45 a.m.) sleepy dream of all the Liver Biscotti Woolf Products treats that I could eat. You see... that is the same morning Oakie and some of us headed up towards our place in Ignacio, Colorado for a few weeks. Here is a log that Oakie kept of the gas prices from Alva, Oklahoma to Ignacio, Colorado: Alva - 1.99; Guymon - 1.96; Boise City - 1.93; Clayton NM - 1.96; Walsenberg CO - 1.99-2.02; Fort Garland CO - 2.05; Alamosa CO - 1.99; Pagosa Springs CO - 2.05 and Ignacio CO - 2.10.

My human friend, Bud Clark told me that if I get homesick for NW Oklahoma that Oakie could always put me on an airplane and send me back to him. Speaking of Bud Clark, here is a snapshot of of Bud with one of his great looking yearling horses at his West Ranch, on hwy 14.

Take a look at the finished "Castle on the Hill Mural" located at 5th & Oklahoma blvd. Thanks to the local artists and the Alva Mural Society... Alva is looking great while sporting it's NW Oklahoma legacies.

Happy 100th Birthday to Thelma E. DeGeer Lippincott...

Happy 100th Birthday to Thelma E. DeGeer Lippincott -- A former Freedom, Oklahoma citizen celebrates her 100th birthday, 4 June 2004. Some of you might remember Thelma Evelyn DeGeer Lippincott... Her friends and family are invited to an Open House in honor of Thelma's 100th Birthday. It is to be held on Sunday, June 6th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at her grandson and grand-daughter-in-laws home in Napa, California. Thelma currently resides at Napa Nursing Center on Villa Lane in Napa, California. She was born in Freedom, Oklahoma to Renfrew I. DeGeer and Josie James. We are sifting through over 100 years of photos and memorablia. Thelma graduated from High School in 1922 attended college. She became a teacher in 1923 at the age of 19. 1923-24 Nowata, 1924-28 Gage, 1928-29 Alva/Freedom and 1929-30 Oilton. She then married Roger S. Lippincott of Gage, OK. She lived in Benicia, California then Vallejo until 2001. She has one daughter, Linda Lippincott Kent, of Oakley, California, 2 grandsons, 10 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandaughter who shares the same middle name. You can read more about Thelma in our Mailbag Corner.

Oakie says to set the stage for Y'all to 1951 when some of you were youngsters heading to the local movie theaters to see a SciFi movie, The Thing, that broke the ground for SciFi movies that followed. Did you ever get scared out of your wits in the movie theater -- jump out of your seat -- and run out of the theater? Oakie was only 3-years of age back then when The Thing came out, so she didn't get to experience this movie like some have. One of our readers sent us some of his memories of the Ritz theater in Alva and other memories of growing up in NW Oklahoma. It's all in the Mailbag Corner below. Another reader remembered watching Gone With the Wind when it came out at the Ritz Theater around 1939.

Oakie says I have been up to late tonight. Besides that, my paws have been heavy on this dang old laptop that Oakie makes me type on. So.... We are out of here for this weekend and off to enjoy some Rocky Mountain, cool air and wildlife. Y'all have a great weekend!

See Y'all next weekend... perhaps a bit earlier and hopefully adjusted to the higher elevations around this place.

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY - 4 June 2004 - Thelma Evelyn DeGeer Lippincott...

"My husbands Grandmother, Thelma Evelyn DeGeer Lippincott will be 100 years of age, Friday, June 4, 2004. She was born in Freedom, Oklahoma to Renfrew I. DeGeer and Josie James. We are sifting through over 100 years of photos and memorablia. Thelma graduated from High School in 1922 attended college. She became a teacher in 1923 at the age of 19. 1923-24 Nowata, 1924-28 Gage, 1928-29 Alva/Freedom and 1929-30 Oilton. She then married Roger S. Lippincott of Gage, OK. She lived in Benicia, California then Vallejo until 2001. She has one daughter, Linda Lippincott Kent, of Oakley, California, 2 grandsons, 10 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandaughter who shares the same middle name. We will be celebrating her 100th Birthday in Napa, California, where she resides today. Please refer to www.napanews.com , page C4 of the May 30, 2004 for more information about her family. All of her sisters and her brother are deceased. I am 44 and married to John Kent. John (48) is Thelma's oldest grandson.

I've attach a current picture of Grandma (Thelma Evelyn DeGeer Lippincott). The picture was taken on 4/11/04 at our home. I have scanned almost 100 photos/documents of Thelma Evelyn DeGeer Lippincott. We are having an Open House for her 100th birthday next Sunday. I'm scanning pictures and documents and making an album, video and CD with them. The Napa Valley Register in Napa, CA www.napanews.com, printed an article today (May 30, 2004). The following information has been sent to the Vallejo Times Herald of Vallejo, CA. They will most likely cover this story! I thought you'd be interested. Hopefully, the Freedom, OK newspaper will cover it too and mail me a copy.

Please print the following ASAP... Friends and family are invited to an Open House in honor of Thelma Lippincott's 100th Birthday on Sunday, June 6th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at her grandson and grand-daughter-in-laws home in Napa. Please call 258-1075 and let John or Terry Kent know if you can join them at their home for refreshments at 1075 Alpine Court in Napa, CA, 94558. No gifts please. Cards always welcome. Thelma currently resides at Napa Nursing Center on Villa Lane in Napa, California.

Thelma's 100th Birthday is on Friday, June 4th, 2004. She was born in Freedom, OK in 1904 to Renfrew I. and Josie James DeGeer. She graduated from Alva High School in 1922. She was initiated into Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority Pi Chapter III in Alva, Oklahoma on October 2, 1922. She graduated from Northwestern State Teachers College in Alva, Oklahoma on July 26, 1929. She taught 1st grade. Thelma married Roger S. Lippincott in Alva, OK on Aug. 17, 1930. They later moved to 31 Simple Way in Benicia, CA and then 210 Idora Ave. in Vallejo, CA In 1948, she and her late husband, Roger Lippincott, founded Lippincott Supply Co. in Vallejo, CA. Back then it was a retail hardware store that specialized in fasteners (nuts, bolts & screws) and their daughter, Linda Lippincott Kent, ran the gift shop. Today, Thelma's grandson, John Kent, owns and manages the business at 105 Lincoln Road West in Vallejo, CA with the support of his son, David John Kent, and many longtime employees. They have continued on with the Lippincott Supply Co. name now incorporated. However, they are no longer a retail hardware store. They are a wholesale fastener warehouse now.

She is or has been a member of the Shibui Flower Arrangers Guild of Vallejo, Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority Pi Chapter III of Alva Oklahoma, several bridge clubs in Vallejo and Napa, Community Congregational Church of Benicia, and more. Although her parents, as well as sisters, Audrey, Freda, Opal, Ivy, Eva and her only brother Roy, are deceased she still has family surrounding her: Thelma's daughter is: Linda Lippincott Kent of Oakley, CA (69) Thelma's Grandsons and Grand-daughter-in-laws are: John & Terry Kent of Napa Danny & Danelle Kent of Oakley, CA (Daniels ex-wife is Terri Fahey of Napa) Thelma's Great-Grandchildren are: Tammy D. Kent-Horvath of Napa (24) David J. Kent of Vallejo (22) Brittany Evelyn Kent (deceased) Lindsay S. Kent of Napa (9) Kate-lynn B. Kent of Napa (6) Brittany Evelyn Kent (deceased) Kelly C. Kent of Napa (23) Brad A. Kent of Napa (20) Emily Fahey of Napa (11) Vince Kent of Vallejo (20) Sabrina A. Kent of Oakley, CA (7) Her Great-Great-Grandaughter: Kelsey Evelyn Horvath of Napa (1).

In one of the pictures there is a picture of her as a baby in 1906 at the first printing of the Freedom Express newspaper, that her parents began.

We are trying to hire more help at our business so that we can visit Oklahoma this summer and show our 2 youngest children where their grandparents were born, and raised. We're very curious about the old Hardware store in Gage, Oklahoma. Grandpa Roger S. Lippincott was a Mason and the town Mayor in the 1920's or 30's in Gage. We would like to visit Freedom, Alva, Gage, and such. The last time we visited the area was in 1988. Also, do you know if there is a Post Office by the name or in a town called Farry? Grandma (Thelma E. DeGeer Lippincott) said that her mother, Josie James Lippincott founded and named it. I also have pictures and history on the late Roger S. Lippincott and Lippincott Supply Co., Inc.

We reside in Napa, California. I love this website and hope that this information proves helpful to others. Thanks." -- Terry Kent - Email: terrykent@sbcglobal.net View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Ritz Theater, The Thing (1951) & Flood of Memories...

"I thoroughly enjoyed Vol. 6, Is. 22 (as I do all others). As Judy wrote, it brought back a flood of memories -- Monfort Drug Store fire; Doc Southern and Jimmy Holder and sodas and friends; the Washington School fifth grade class (I was at least a grade younger and went to Longfellow, but sisters and brothers of some of those pictured were classmates of mine); and summer jobs cutting wheat for Sheldon Sherman. But the story of the fire last weekend that destroyed the building that once was the Ritz theater brought back a vivid one.

In 1951 the movie The Thing was released. I was 8 or 9 years old. One of my best friends at the time was Johnny Brand, the grandson of Bill Brand who owned Brand's Pool Hall (that's a whole 'nother story), who was a bit older, more experienced, bigger and stronger than me. When he found out that The Thing was playing at the Ritz and that it was supposed to be a really scary movie, Johnny wanted to go see it and was able to convince my grandmother, Naomi Fash, that it would be just fine for me to go see that movie with him that night. I really didn't want to see it because everyone who had seen it said it was really scary. But I would be with Johnny Brand and he wasn't afraid of anything.

So that evening we walked downtown from my house on Fourth Street (and I'm sure stopped next door at the drug store to see who was there and brag that we were going to see The Thing ), paid our dime at the Ritz ticket counter and, because we were kids, went right down to the front and sat on the second row, right side. We would never sit in the balcony of the Ritz because that's where all of the high school kids sat and smooched and harassed and made fun of little kids who thought it would be all right to sit up there with them.

Movies were bigger than life those days (we had no TV), and particularly bigger when watching from the second row, neck bent, looking up at those huge figures on the screen. From time to time during the first part of the movie, I remember Johnny punching me or saying 'boo' or something like that when something suspenseful would happen and then laughing when I jumped. But I wasn't really, really scared. Until the time when the guy watching the ice block that held a huge alien that crashed near the North Pole didn't notice that the ice melted and the alien was missing. From that time on I was terrified; the dog was killed and stuffed in a bin; someone else was found dead; and the good guys discovered that the really mean plant creature, who couldn't be killed with anything, was breeding more really mean plant creatures so that they all could kill the whole world. Even though I was petrified with fear, I knew in my heart that nothing could really hurt me because I was sitting with Johnny Brand and after all, as he told me only that afternoon it was only a movie.

Then when the really mean plant creature burst out of a door, screaming with arms raised intending to kill everything... everyone in the Ritz screamed and jumped out of their seats. Including Johnny Brand, who not only jumped out of his seat but was running up the aisle toward the exit. I thought: if Johnny Brand was scared and was running away, I sure as hell wasn't going to sit there on the second row of the Ritz all alone with no one to protect me from that evil thing, so I jumped up and ran after him as fast as I could and we both burst out of the doors of the Ritz screaming and scared to death.

It was pitch black dark outside. We told my grandmother that after the movie we would walk back to my house together. We couldn't call her to come get us, so we took off running toward my house as fast as we could. Johnny was a much faster runner than I was so for the last two blocks I was running alone, knowing that at any minute I would be killed by a really mean plant creature whom I knew was lurking in the stairwell of the First Methodist Church's basement. I'm happy to report that I survived. But from that time on, both the Ritz theater and Johnny Brand always looked a bit different to me. Keep up the good work." -- Bob View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Ritz Theatre Memories...

"The main thing I remember about the Ritz Theater is that was where the showing of Gone With the Wind took place (1939). First time I went to a movie with an Intermission and then there was that cuss word at the end that shocked us all." -- Bill View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Another Louthan Family ...

Another Louthan Family Reunion... "Hope you and your family had a great Memorial Day weekend. Attached is some info about a Louthan Family Reunion. It's not my ancestral line, but thought some of your readers might be interested. Would appreciat if you would put the announcement on your web site and next newsletter. This is not the same reunion that Kathy Gregory is part of." -- Jack View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Lanphier, Carter, Hittle...

"Ancestry Message Board Post: My grandfather was Walter Henry Lanphier. Died 7 April 1901 in Lonetree, Woods Co., OK. His wife Mary Gano Lanphier died there on 28 Aug 1911. She was living with her daughter, Myra Albina Carter (Mrs. John F. Carter) in Lonetree. Prior to Lonetree, they lived in Byron and are listed on the 1900 Census as living in Stella, Woods Co. OK. Does anyone have a suggestion as to where they might be buried? Thank You." -- Dordie - Email: dordie_lamphier@yahoo.com View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Who Does What...

A man and his wife were  having an argument about who  should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and   then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee." The husband  said, " You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it,  because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee." Wife   replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that  the man should do the coffee." Husband replies, "I can't believe  that, show me." So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it  indeed says... "HEBREWS" View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Washington Elementary - 1951 Photo of 4th Graders...

"Sam Riggs is right -- it is 4th grade (1951) not 5th grade (1952). Mark Ritchey and I were in Thelma Elmore's class that year. Fifth grade was Mrs. Newby, but this was the year before that." -- Judy View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

More Identities - Washington Elementary School...

"The tall girl on the left Marilyn Marcum is Judith Traverse. The boy on the right of Connie is Sam Riggs. The girl in the first row (w/glasses) directly in front of Judith is Shirley Bradbury. The little guy in the front row with overhauls is Allen Trekell . The little guy to the right of him is Jim Thurman. I am in that picture... my wife thinks I am the one in the striped shirt on the back row. I think I might be the guy in the striped shirt on the right behind the first row (right side). Those are the only ones that jump out at me." -- Leo Magnuson View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Ealey-Bates - Waynoka, Alva & Santa Fe RR...

"Enjoy your web site. It is great. I was born in Waynoka and my husband is from Alva. My grandfather worked for the Santa Fe Railroad for many years. His name was Wilbur Hayes." -- Opal Marie (Ealey) Bates - Email: txopal@charter View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Civil War Soldier Plug...

"Thanks for the Civil War soldier plug. I would be interested to know if you have any reaction or response to it. I am passing your URL along to several of my genealogy and historical friends in Oklahoma. Did I ever give you my Anadarko website URL? View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Ludicrous Laws...

Ludicrous Laws - real laws that are totally Ridiculous... "Some of these are totally unbelievable, guess the lawmakers had too much time on their hands." -- Betty View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Thing From Another World, (1951)...

Thing From Another World, (1951)... Directed by Christian Nyby (more) - Writing credits
John W. Campbell Jr. (story) Charles Lederer - Genre: Horror / Sci-Fi (more) - Plot Summary: Scientist at an Arctic research station discover a spacecraft buried in the ice. Upon closer examination... (more)
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Classic SciFi Review - The Thing...

Classic SciFi Review - The Thing... "Released in 1951, The Thing not only ushered in the golden age of SF monster/alien films, but profoundly influenced all that followed. On its own merit, The Thing is a strong film marked by sharp dialog, quick, logical action and pacing, and naturalistic acting. Hawks' technique just about tosses the drama and characters right into the audience's lap, which is almost disconcerting in a film of its era. The dialog is constant, quick, and overlapping and the action is a streaming thread. Especially effective and memorable is the constant character activity--nearly everyone is always doing something (rolling a cigarette, discussing the present action) whether lead actor or extra....." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

The Thing From Another World...

Amazon.com - The Thing from Another World ( DVD) - Amazon.com essential video... With its modest special effects, lean plot, and small cast of lesser stars, this 1951 thriller remains a sturdy blueprint for fusing horror and science fiction. The formula has been employed countless times since, fleshed out with more extensive and elaborate production values, and manned by..."
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WWII Veteran - Robert F. McElroy... "I served with the 70th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment in the South Pacific from 23 January 1942 to 3 December 1943. Returned to States to attend OCS at Camp Davis, N. C. Commissioned 2nd lieutenant Coast Artillery Corps. Entire class transfered to Infantry. Joined 290th Inf. 75th I D & went overseas again. Platoon leader Anti-Tank Co. 290th. Returned home November 1945. On active duty 4 years & 8 days. I am a member of the 75th I. D. Veterans Assoc. My wife and I regularly attend annual reunions." -- Robert F. McElroy - Email: mcelroy163@msn.com View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Slapout Store Owned by Nosler's...

"My dad, Billy Max Nosler, took me to Slapout as a child in the sixties and seventies. He told me that his Dad own that store. If anyone remembers Bill or Grace or my Father Billy Max Nosler please email me. I would love hearing about them.' -- Kavinna Nosler Anderson Email: kavinna@yahoo.com
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