Duchess Snowy Domain

In the last few weeks while the snow was slowly melting on the slope in our backyard, a murder of crows were gathering -- looking for seeds and the like.

Lots of other things have happened this weekend … some earlier than usual! We sprang our clocks ahead an hour, except for the Arizonians that do not participate in the "Daylight Savings Time."

The implementation of Daylight Saving Time has been fraught with controversy since Benjamin Franklin conceived of the idea. I know the main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time) is to make better use of daylight. What would happen if we just did away with the whole Daylight Savings Time thing (DST)? Would the World fall apart?

They say the primary reason that Daylight Saving Time is a part of many societies is simply because people like to enjoy long summer evenings, and that reasons such as energy conservation are merely rationalizations.

With Daylight Savings Time and the Ides of March, how did the second Sunday and Monday of March 2010 fall upon you?

As we sprang ahead an hour this Sunday, March 14, 2010) here in Southwest Colorado, North of Bayfield, we were met with a cloudy, cold, wet, snow showers most of the morning and into the afternoon.

As we awoke Monday, on the Ides of March, Monday, our 2010 turned into a cool, sunshining day with temperatures in the low 40's degrees as the snow from the day before was slowly melting all around us. We did get the high snow piles shoveled off the back patio, but we still have our high mounds of shoveled rooftop snows piled strategically in several places beside our home. AND … Sadie the Pug has been able to chase up the backyard slope to scamper the Albert Squirrel up a tree or two.

This Duchess Pug hates getting her paws in the snow, muddy puddles and being snowed upon her body and head. Anyone got an old overcoat to lay across the puddles?
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Orion Cemetery - Major Co., OK

Sheri Bensch, Secretary-Treasurer of the Orion Cemeter, in Major County, Oklahoma sent us an updated spreadsheet showing the Orion Cemetery layout of new and old graves and open spaces. Thanks, Sheri, for sharing that with us all.

Here is what Sheri says, "Linda, Thought you might like to have an updated cemetery. The red is open plots. The green are plots that have been spoken for.

"I belong to the Molletts and Goulds. My parents are buried here. They are the Sharps. My mother was a Gould and was the secretary-treasurer until her death in 2003. I kinda inherited the job when she passed.

"One of mom's plans was to mark all the unmarked graves in the cemetery. So far we have marked 30 and have around 15 to go. Hopefully will have these done by Memorial Day this year. I am using openoffice spreadsheets. This is the first of two that I will send." -- Sheri Bensch, Secretary-Treasurer, Orion Cemetery - Email: sheri@pldi.net

* Orion Cemetery.pdf
* Orion Cemetery 2.pdf

[Editor's Note: For those of you who don't have a program to open OpenOffice Spreadsheets, I have saved them to a PDF file.]
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What Is Ides of March?

What is it? Should we beware or forewarned? … NOT!

The Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning.

Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due.

The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. The inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

Joe Stanka: Best Oklahoma Pitcher

[Caption, photo on left: Joe Stanka, a Waynoka High School senior in 1948.]

[Caption, photo on right: Waynoka named their baseball park the Joe Stanka Ballpark about ten years ago in honor of major league pitcher Joe Stanka.]

Sandie, with the Waynoka Historical Society, sent us these photos and news items concerning one of Waynoka's famous citizens: Joe Stanka: One of the Best Pitchers To Come Out Of Oklahoma!

The most recent issue of the Oklahoma Heritage Association magazine, Oklahoma, features the baseball career of Joe Stanka, who was a 1948 graduate and an outstanding athlete of Waynoka High School.

The story, "The Road Less Traveled - Joe Stanka's Strange Baseball Odyssey", was written by C. Paul Rogers, an SMU Law School professor. Rogers begins the story with the pronouncement, "Joe Stanka is one of the best pitchers to come out of Oklahoma, and considering the legacy of Carl Hubbell and Allie Reynolds, that is saying something."

Stanka's senior year at Waynoka High School found him playing football for the first time in his life, and at 6'5" the star of the basketball team. He was All State, and the top scorer in the state. He went on to play for Hank Iba at Oklahoma A&M on a basketball scholarship. He married his high school sweetheart, Lida Jean McDaniel.

The story gives lots of Joe's baseball pitching statistics while telling of his perseverance in pursuing his career in the sport, and includes time with a Cubs team, the Dodgers, White Sox, and his becoming a baseball icon in Japan. It is a great story, well worth the read. Joe and Jean Stanka live in the Houston area, and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

The magazine is available at the Waynoka Museum Gift Shop for $3.95 + $.36 tax. For mailing, add $2. Send orders to Museum Gift Shop, PO Box 193, Waynoka OK 73860. For further information or credit card orders, call the Gift Shop at 580-824-1886.
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World Champion Chili Cookoff Winner Born In Waynoka

Sandie also sent us this information concerning about another Waynoka citizens, C.V. Wood, Jr., who was born in Waynoka in 1920, the son of a Santa Fe Railroad conductor. [See the birthplace of C. V. Wood, Jr. on the left.]

The 1969 World Champion Chili Cookoff Winner was born in Waynoka, Woods County, Oklahoma. History will show that this was a very important year [1969] for the World's Championship Chili Cookoffs.

C.V. Wood, Jr., the man who built Disneyland for Walt Disney, brought the London Bridge to Lake Havasu, an ex-Texan from Amarillo, then living in Beverly Hills, threw his pot in the competition. Wick Fowler, representing Texas, and Joe DeFrates, the Illinois champion, were soundly defeated by the man who would call himself the "UndeFeeted UndeniaBull World's Champion".

C.V. Wood, Jr. known as "Woody" captured the World's Championship with the flair of Cecil B. DeMille.

Woody started what is now known at all chili cookoffs, as "showmanship". He had a large rooting section, T-shirts with his name on them, a monstrous spice chest, a couple of Hollywood starlets as assistants and an electronic chili gauge. This device had knobs for altitude, temperature and humidity.

When the two probes were placed in Woody's chili it registered "EXCELLENT," setting off a siren. We had our first winner! But more important, a team that would play an important role in the future of Chili Cookoffs … Carroll Shelby and C.V. Wood, Jr.

Chili Recipe - C. V. Wood, Beverly Hills, CA Ingredients:
1 3-pound stewing chicken, cut into pieces
1 ½ quarts water
OR 10-ounce cans chicken broth
½ pound beef suet
OR ½ cup Wesson oil
4 lbs flank steak
5 lbs thin, center-cut pork chops
6 long green chilies, peeled
2 TSP sugar
3 TSP ground oregano
3 TSP ground cumin
½ TSP MSG (optional)
3 TSP pepper
4 TSP salt
5 TBS Gebhardt chili powder
1 TSP cilantro, also known as chinese parsley
1 TSP thyme
8 ounces Budweiser beer
4 15-ounce cans Hunts Tomatoes
¼ cup celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 medium onions, cut into ½ inch pieces
2 green peppers, cut into 3/8 inch pieces
1 pound Jack cheese, grated
1 lime -- Dash of Tabasco sauce

Instructions:
Combine chicken with water in a large pot and simmer 2 hours. Strain off broth and reserve chicken for other use, or use canned chicken broth. Render suet to make 6-8 TBS oil or use cooking oil. Trim all fat and bones from pork and cut it into ¼ inch cubes.

Trim all fat from flank steak and cut it into 3/8 inch cubes. Boil chilies 15 minutes or until tender. Remove seeds and cut the chilies into ¼ inch squares. Mix sugar, oregano, cumin, MSG, pepper, salt, chili powder, cilantro and thyme with beer until all lumps are dissolved. Add the tomatoes, celery, chilies, beer mixture and garlic to the chicken broth.

Pour about a third of the reserved suet or oil into a skillet, add pork and brown. Do only half total amount at a time.

Add the pork to the broth mixture, cook slowly 30 minutes.

Brown beef in the remaining oil, about one third of the total amount at a time. Add the beef to the pork mixture and cook slowly about 1 hour. Add onions and peppers. Simmer 2-3 hours until meat is broken down, stirring with a wooden spoon every 15-20 minutes.

Cool 1 hour and refrigerate 24 hours. Reheat chili before serving it. About 5 minutes before serving time, add grated cheese. Just before serving, add the juice of the lime and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Makes 6 quarts. Servings: 6 quarts. Story and recipe from the International Chili Society website.
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Obituary: Jimmy Dale Reece, 1952-2010

He was born December 28, 1952 at Anadarko, Oklahoma to William J. and Elsie (Fatheree) Reece. He died surrounded by his family on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at his home in Lawton, Okla.

Services were held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, 2010 in the Whinery-Huddleston Chapel with an old school buddy, Brother Ray Weathers, officiating. Interment followed at Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko, Ok.

Jimmy was raised and attended school in Anadarko. While still in high school, Jimmy went to work for Humpty Supermarket in Anadarko.

After graduation he worked full time at the market and on January 25, 1974 he married the love of his life Paula Leuch in Anadarko.

Jimmy and Paula moved to Lawton with Jimmy working at the local Humpty until 1979 when he went to work for Goodyear. At the time of his death,Jimmy had been with the plant for over 30 years, and was a technician with the Plant Uniformity Team (PUT).

Jimmy was a devoted family man who enjoyed coaching football, baseball and basketball teams while his sons were growing up. He continued his involvement in their lives as they grew older, and occasionally reminded them on the golf course who was the teacher.

He considered it a challenge to keep all family vehicles mechanically sound, and loved spending time riding his motorcycle.

Jimmy cherished his wife, loved being a grandpa, was a caring and honest friend, an avid "Sooner" fan, and genuinely loved life and everyone around him.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Billy and Wayne Reece; sister Shirley Manthei; mother-in-law, Wanda Leuch; brother-in-law Marshall Settle; and sister-in-law, Faye Reece.

Survivors include his wife of 36 years, Paula; three sons Cody Reece and wife Kandi of Sterling, Co, Kevyn and Klay Reece, both of the home, a grandson Trace Reece of Apache, and another grandson, Aden Dale, coming in June; three sisters, Frances Settle of Lyons, KS, Gwen Moser and husband Gene of Norman and Joyce Reece of Anadarko; one brother Tommy Reece and wife Myra of Lubbock, TX; Father-in-law Dean Leuch of Anadarko ; one brother-in-law Jerry Leuch and wife Sheila of Lawton and Herman Manthei of Ashdown, AR; a sister-in-law Dovie Reece of Broken Bow; and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Jimmy's online guest book my be signed and condolences sent by visiting; www.whineryhuddleston.com
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More Warrick/Warwick Researchers

In response to "Warrick/Warwick Researcher…", Sara Arnold (Email: sara.d.arnold@gmail.com) says, "Levisa Warrick is my great grandmother, married Jesse H. Warrick, married Sarah Elizabeth Warrick, is my grandmother, married Richard Arthur Arnold and Ray Warrick. Arnold is my father. I am searching for my WARRICK roots and would love some help. If you have information, please let me know. Thank you."

OkieLegacy's, Vol 7, Iss. 18, gave some Warwick researcher's information stating, "I have just started to work on the WARRICK family and find that my ancestor was one Dempsey WARRICK born abt 1777 in Virginia. This was verified by the 1850 Pike Co., Alabama census. I was just recently given a family file for this Dempsey WARWICK/WARRICK that was compiled by a Reverend Arnold McRae. As I understand he had been working on this file for about 50 years. He however list no sources for his findings and he has since passed, so I don't have access to him or his records. He list the following:

* Jacob Warwick 1725-1794 and being in Bath Co. VA, spouse Elsie unknown
* Wiat/Wyatt Warwick/Warrick 1746-1830 born Isle of Wright VA, spouse Jane Dempsey 1756-1790 Bertie Co. NC
* William Dempsey Warrick 1777-1859 Surry VA, spouse Mary Elizabeth (Blackman) Sutton, Duplin NC

"I have a pension record Revolution War of this Wyatt Warwick and his 2nd wife Sarah Wilson. Says married 1790 and had no children. Present at the wedding was a son from 1st marriage named John Warrick. That there was also present a Jacob Warrick to which no relation was establised. That there were several children from the first marriage. Based on census records from Wayne Co., NC, I believe that the Reverend is most probably correct that Dempsey's father is Wyatt. I am not finding anything that would suggest that Wyatt's father would be Jacob other than the fact that there was a Jacob at the wedding.

"There is a Jacob next to Wyatt in Wayne Co, NC (1790) but would be of the age to be a son rather than a father. I can't discount the names here William/John/Jacob, but they may be common names in the Warwick line. I would be willing to bet that Wyatt has another given name but have not seen anything that would say so. Could it be Charles Wyatt? I am just wanting to know if your Warwick research has anything that would give a clue to as to where to go from here. Thanks in advance for any help." -- Louis (Bryant)- Email: louisbryant@peoplepc.com
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Eulogy To My Brother Gene - by Little Brother Bob

[OkieLegacy Editor's Note: The following eulogy is not about my father, Gene McGill, formerly of NW Oklahoma. Nor is it about his younger brother, Robert. But ... I find it interesting that there were two sets of brothers with the same exact names -- one set in NW Oklahoma and the other set in Southern Kansas. And … We have found no relationship between the two sets of brothers. ]

Robert "Bob" McGill of California sent us this Eulogy for his older brother Gene McGill, who died recently in Arkansas.

Eulogy for Gene

"It is sad to lose a loved one -- but I think Gene would not want us to be sad and mourn his passing. I believe he would rather have us celebrate his life.

"I knew him as my big brother, hero, mentor, protector, friend, and sometimes tormentor. Having Gene as a big brother helped make me the person I am today.

"He taught me how to ride a horse, when I was about 3, by putting me on an old brown mare we had and turned her loose --- well she headed back to the barn via going under the clothes line leaving me behind. He and his buddy Bucky taught me how to swim by throwing me into the Arkansas river and watching me struggle to stay afloat. I was the little guy they would try new dare-devil homemade rides on like tying a rope with an old pulley with a tire hanging from it to the top of the barn and the other end to a tree 50 yards or so away. Well, sir that was one heck of a ride as I flew down the rope hanging on to that old tire for dear life. I lived to tell the story and the old adage " what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" proved true.

"It was a sad day when he was drafted into the Army. I sure missed him ...but was sure proud of him when came home on leave with a 101 Airborne Screaming Eagles uniform. He was on his way to Korea.

"He served his country with pride. He came home and did what most GIs did...built a life and family.

"I will miss him. I am the last of my birth family --- but our family lives on through our kids. The McGill's are from the proud Scotch - Irish heritage --- be proud of this heritage and live a good life... for that is the best way to pay homage to our beloved father, Grandfather, Uncle, brother, and friend Gene."
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Dodson's Cafe of Waynoka

Sandie Olson with the Waynoka Historical Society has a question concerning the Dodson Cafe in Waynoka during WWII. Also, was there a Dodson's Cafe in Alva, Oklahoma?

Sandie asks, "A writer is asking about Dodson's Cafe in Waynoka during WWII. The couple's names were Benjamin (Ben) D. Dodson and Ruby Lee Dodson. I have not found any information, though one or two people have told me about Dodson's in Alva. I hope you or your readers can help. Thanks very much."
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Anadarko, OK Vietnam List

Dale Talkington (Email: daletalkington@gmail.com) says, "Got the following email from Tommy Rogers and I think his idea is a great one ... If you know any of the information, please forward it to me and I will keep a file on it. As we get information, I will keep it updated.

Tommy Rogers' email reads, "This email started me thinking that it would be nice to see a list of all the people from Anadarko that served in Vietnam, the time frame and the units they served with.

"Of course I know of the ones that lost their lives in Vietnam, but I never heard anything about the others.

"For example, I didn't even know that John Hanson had served in Vietnam until I heard of his illness from Agent Orange. Got any ideas how we could make such a list?

"I have known about the Virtual Wall for a long time, and in fact, I had put remembrances on the profiles of Walter and Eugene several years ago, but I guess they are removed after a period of time.

"At the present time, I don't believe you can add remembrances or photos to the Virtual Wall profiles, due to a software problem, I guess. When the problems are fixed, it would be nice if we could do that for Walter, Eugene and Larry.

"By the way, there is a very impressive profile for Pascal Poolaw listed under the town of Apache, complete with photo and numerous remembrances. -- Tommy Rogers"
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Happy St. Paddy's Day With Irish Songs

Here is a Happy St. Paddy's Day to all my Irish friends and family. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling - Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral (Irish Lullabye) - Oh Danny Boy! Enjoy!

Lyrics - Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral - Irish Lullabye, An Irish Lullaby, words and music J.R. Shannon

Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
Me Mither sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.

"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."

Oft in dreams I wander
To that cot again,
I feel her arms a-huggin' me
As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a -hummin'
To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep
Outside the cabin door.







Oh Danny Boy On Bag Pipes







Nelson Eddy - When Irish Eyes are Smiling 1939


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