How else to greet you all on this beautiful Fall, cool, midway point of October 2008 than share this Colorado 3-point buck that Duchess (The Pug) found grazin' and lazin' in our backyard.

The barkin' from "The Pug" and her sidekick, Sadie, had no effect on this beautiful creature that calls our backyard his stomping grounds.

As we come to another weekend and meet October halfway, we share this panoramic view of our SW Colorado mountain backyard view where the deer, bucks and grey squirrels graze in the early morning and evening hours.

Last weekend our gas prices in SW Colorado were at $3.46.9 at the Conoco station in Bayfield, Colorado. Last Sunday, Oct. 12th, the Conoco price we hear were $2.49.9 in Perry, OK and now this weekend have showing at $2.29.9 in Perry, OK.

To view our gas prices around the Durango, Colorado check out our SW Colorado Gas Prices website

As I walk through the door of another Fall, October weekend, I leave you with this memorable quote from Robert F. Kennedy:

"What we need in the United States is NOT division; what we need in the United States is NOT hatred; what we need in the United States is NOT violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black." -- Robert F. Kennedy - April 4, 1968 View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

GOPig Stolen In SW Colorado

LOL (Laughing Out Loud) ... Who would vandalize and steal a GOPig? Did they need a Halloween costume? What was the point? -- NW Okie

"This GOPig (Grand Old Pig) was stolen from a yard here in SW Colorado. The owner is heartbroken and offering a reward of $200 for the name of those who perpetrated this crime.

On a brighter note... A NEW "GOPig with Lipstick" has been ordered and should replace the stolen GO Pig shortly. Beware! Vandals who stole the first GOPig should beware, though!

A surveillance camera has been installed to catch the culprits. SO.... If you are thinking of stealing or vandalizing any political signs, SMILE! You may end up on YouTube!" -- Submitted by Another SW Colorado Citizen
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NWOSU's Homecoming 2008

NWOSU's Ranger Heroes, Legends of Northwestern - Homecoming 2008 ... Please join Northwest Oklahoma and NWOSU Alumni October 30 thru Nov. 1, 2008 as Norhtwestern Oklahoma State University welcomes and celebrates it's Ranger Heroes & Legends of Norhtwestern.

The 2nd Greatest Generation Reunion & Parade begins Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008 in downtown Alva, OK. Stop by the Alumni tent and Ranger run around 8 a.m. and stick around for the parade and greatest generation reunion at 10:00 a.m.

After the parade Saturday, Nov. 1st, 2008, 11:30 a.m., school bands marching in the parade will give mini concerts while the NWOSU Alumni serve lunch on the downtown park square at noon.

Don't forget about the football game between the Rangers vs. Southern Nazarene at 4 p.m. at Ranger field.

Other events this weekend in Alva, OK, begins Oct. 30, 2008 with the Miss Cinderella Talent show and the Cinderella Pageant to follow Oct. 31, 2008.

To purchase NWOSU homecoming buttons you may visit the website at NWOSU for more information. The third commemorative series limited edition Homecoming Coins are on sale at $15 along with Homecoming Buttons for just $10. Contact NWOSU Alumni Association at (580) 327-8593 or email NWOSU Alumni at nwalumni@nwosu.edu.

Perhaps you will see The Pug and her sidekick (Sadie) and NW Okie at NWOSU's Homecoming parade, Nov. 1st ... OR ... Maybe Not!
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Original Deed & Papers of Congregational Church, Alva, OK (est. 1893)

"Linda ... Here is the original deed for the Congregational Church in Alva, Ok, established in 1893. (The scans/pages are in the correct order.) Since the document is on legal size paper I had to "adjust the printing field" for an 8.5x11" scanner. I will send more information as I get it done. I will send the jpgs of the ledgers themselves and the list of the pastors of this church from the 1st to last one.

These are the 2 ledgers of the Congregational Church in Alva, OK., which was established in 1893. They have been in my family since about 1912 and were just recently sent to someone on the Cherokee Strip Museum board for acceptance into the museum. Although they aren't full ledgers, they do contain the lists of members, deacons, pastors and board meeting entries dating from Dec. 30th, 1893 to the last entry in 1908. I believe the church closed somewhere around 1910-1912 as some of the entries on the Members Removed list are dated 1910. It was during the term of the last pastor, L.A.Turner, that "the 1st public library along with a gymnasium with bath", were established at the church. (Their collection of books was eventually donated to the city library.)

Alva Congregational Church (1893) Pastors List
This is a list of the pastors who served the Congregational Church in Alva, OK from 1893 until it closed:
* 1. Alfred Connit....(April 22, 1894 - 1896(?) ORDAINED: 1861
* 2. W.E. Wyatt.....(Feb. 22, 1896 - Nov. 1, 1897) LICETIATE(?) (Interm delegate)
* 3. Nathaniel W. Hankemyer....(Jan. 1, 1898 - Feb. 1899) ORDAINED: 1891
* 4. John Hartley.....(March (?) 1899 - Nov. 7, 1899) ORDAINED: 1888
* 5. Chas. A. Greenlees.....(Nov. (?) 1899 - July 1, 1901) ORDAINED: 1886
* 6. William Harding.....(Oct. 1, 1901 - May, 1903) ORDAINED: 1881
* 7. S.J. Malone....(Dec. 1, 1903 - Feb 1, 1905) ORDAINED: 1896
* 8. Wm. B. Stover.....(May, 1905 - May 1, 1908) ORDAINED: 1903
* 9. L.A. Turner....(August, 1908 ---------) ORDAINED: 1897

The salary for Pastor Connit was $400/yr. Rev. Stover's salary was $800/yr. in 1906, "with parsonage, and the priviledge of his earning the amount the church lacks. It was $400 and he was to earn $400. It was while Rev. Stoner was here a reading room and gymnasium with bath was established in the south part of the church and seemed to be appreciated by the town people for a time and it was here that we established the 1st public library, the books which were afterwarded given to the city library.

I've scanned in and printed copies of what I consider the important pages of these ledgers. If anyone is wanting copies, I can either email or snail mail the information. I will be more than happy to look up family names/ancestors from these as well. You are absolutely brilliant with all of this stuff! I'm so sorry I missed you in Alva ... would love to have visited with you.

Should anyone want a copy of this, I will be more than happy to either email or snail-mail a copy." -- Kathy (Walters) Racette - Email: diamondfire1947@yahoo.com

[Editor's Note: Check out this link for the other scanned files Kathy has sent us so far. Other Links & Pages of the Congregational Church of Alva, OK:
* Envelope
* Congregational Church pages 1
* Congregational Church pages 2
* Congregational Church pages 3
* Congregational Church pages 4]
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Old Congregational Church Ledger

"Kathy, I read your note about your ledgers. Can you tell me if my Pittman family and Osborne family have any notes? Thank you and Linda for this great site." -- Comment: Victoria Pittman Glover - OkieLegacy Comment

Note from Kathy: "I checked the ledgers and didn't find the Pittman or Osborne families listed as members ... or under the Removed Members in the 2nd ledger. They may have attended the Congregational Church ... but never joined as members. I found no notes referencing either names.

Linda, I'm going to hang on to the church ledgers for awhile longer and make copies of the critical pages, Members, Members Removed, Pastors from the inception of the church to its close, etc. When I get this done, I will send the information to you for maybe posting on Okielegacy and you'll also have a copy at hand. I think it's important that the information is in more than 1 place for ease of future reference for people seeking information on their families, etc. Thanks!" -- Kathy
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Fox Looking for Breakfast

"Does 10/14/08 seem a little too early for snow? This i what woke up to and then I saw this little fox out the kitchen window." -- Ann in Eastern Colorado

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Ivan Painton - Orion, OK

"My mother was an amateur artist living in Longdale, Oklahoma during the 1980's and took painting lessons from Ivan. I remember visiting his gallery one time and he was quite a character. Someone told me he is in a Whos Who book of Artists, whatever that is. I remember him showing me a portrait he had painted of an Indian chief and he told me he had turned down $20,000 for it. It was a beautiful portrait and still sticks in my mind to this day. So long Ivan." -- Jimmy Demello - OkieLegacy Comment
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Conoco Dropped Gas Prices Further in Oklahoma

"Today Conoco dropped the price to $2.27.9 per gallon. Surely it won't go much lower. I did notice an email concerning the production of Ethanol directly in the fields now. It's still in the experimental stage (in southern Oklahoma) but OSU (along with some equipment creators) have developed machinery that will harvest grain sorghum and process it at the same time to create ethanol that can drive the farm machinery that creates it. There's also an ethanol plant in Blackwell (just north of the Conoco refinery in Ponca City) and perhaps THAT'S the reason that the price keeps going down here. I just keep watching and wondering." -- Roy K.
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Noble Foundation, OSU Collaborate Study Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol

"Researchers with The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and Oklahoma State University (OSU) recently tested a new harvesting and extraction system for sweet sorghum. The innovative process could play a future role in ethanol production for regional farmers and ranchers.

The Noble Foundation's Jagadeesh Mosali, Ph.D., and Drs. Dani Bellmer and Ray Huhnke with the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department at OSU tested the juice expression efficiency of a sweet sorghum roller press, which is designed to simulate a new mechanical harvest system developed by an entrepreneur that cuts and presses sweet sorghum in a single action.

The field trial, which took place at the Noble Foundation's Dupy Farm near Gene Autry, Okla., comes at the conclusion of the first year of a three-year study on sweet sorghum. The joint Noble Foundation-OSU study is designed to determine the yield and quality of sweet sorghum's forage under different nitrogen rates as well as improve pressing and fermentation methods for possible ethanol production. Noble Foundation, OSU Collaborate Study Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol" -- submitted by Homer Hawkins
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Strickland Airport & Flying School East of Alva

"My name is Dari Vickers Sullivan, I am the only daughter of Max Vickers. My father was killed in a car accident June 2005. Today I was just looking through some old paperwork and found this website in His records. How nice to read what he wrote. This is a neat little website, I have enjoyed reading through it." -- Dari Vickers Sullivan -
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Mid-1940's Alva Grocery Fire

"Josie Irma (or Irene) James was the wife of Renfrew Irving DeGeer. They were married in 1900 in Farry, Woods Co. There is no record of children, and it is doubtful they would have had a young child in 1944." -- Joe Melton
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NE Kansas Gas Prices & NWOSU @ Peru State Win

"Hi, Linda! Yesterday, Saturday, 11 October, I went to Peru, NE, to attend the NWOSU vs Peru State football game. The Rangers won something like 45-21. On the way home we passed a CENX gas station just 22 miles from my home here at Westmoreland. The price of unleaded regular was 2.899 per gallon. That is 20 cents less than it is here in Westy, 22 miles away where it is $3.099. Homecoming at NWOSU is coming up on November 1st with the Parade at 10:00 am. I plan to attend. This was a nice issue." -- Jim Bradley
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R. I DeGeer Grocery Store - Alva, OK

We know that DeGeer's had a grocery store in the 600 block of Barnes Ave., Alva, OK. Renfrew I. DeGeer's General Store (1927) that may have been on the south side of the downtown square in Alva, Oklahoma. Josie James DeGeer that lived in the 600 block of Barnes Avenue (631-1/2 Barnes Ave.) perhaps during the 1940's. -- NW Okie - Mid-1940's Alva Grocery Fire
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Colin Powell On Meet the Press

ON Meet the Press this Sunday morning Colin Powell praised Obama's "ability to inspire," pick for vice president-- Joe Biden-- and for running an "inclusive" campaign crossing racial, ethnic and generational lines. Powell said Obama was a "transformational" figure and was clearly troubled by McCain tapping Sarah Palin ... he praised Biden as ready to lead from day one.
Meet the Press
More Meet the Press News
Meet the Press Transcript, 10/19/2008
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'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'

"What we need in the United States is NOT division; what we need in the United States is NOT hatred; what we need in the United States is NOT violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black." -- Robert F. Kennedy - April 4, 1968

"My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be rememberd simply as a good decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. "Those of us, who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world. "As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'" -- Edward Kennedy
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