Winds of March

We hear from others that the Oklahoma wind blew in some chilly temps the latter part of this week.

It was mid-week, Wednesday, when the end of February 2007 met with the early March winds and snow here in southwest Colorado valley and mountains dropping a couple of inches or more of snow in the valley. It snowed off and on most of the day.

March 1st, 2007 was sunny, calm but windy in the valley south of Bayfield and east of Ignacio, Colorado. So.... What do they mean when they say, "If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion!" I hear that Kansas and Oklahoma blew in like a lion for the first of March! Got your kites ready to soar?

Saturday's weather in the southwest valley of Colorado turned out to be sunny, with enough wind to keep our chimes chiming their melody in the valley of southwest Colorado. AND... It sounds like next week a warming trend will be settlin' in around here and in Oklahoma. Time to prepare my garden seedlings in my greenhouse for 2007 Summer production. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

NW Okie Makes Prairie Headlines

Have you received your subscription to the "Prairie Connection?" Lots of interesting stories in it this week. Especially, if you have been following the Anthony, Kansas WARhouse (sic) story.

Also, the OkieLegacy and NW Okie made the front page headlines. NO! Nothing bad! Look on the inside for our story of how this NW Okie became interested in writing and the story of the OkieLegacy beginnings (page 5, "Prairie Connection").

You can also learn a bit more about Spivey, Kansas and what it has become today. I am sure that if you have stories of the town of Spivey, Kansas from the earlier days, the "Prairie Connection" would love to hear from you. If you do not subscribe to the Prairie Connection, then check out their newstands located in the Kansas areas and northwest Oklahoma.

• Oklahoma
Alva (Walmart); Enid (Willow Street Cafe & Walmart); Medford (Drug Store); Wakita (Wakita foodland)

• Kansas
Argonia (Argonia Mart); Arkansas City (Daisy Mae's , McDonalds used Books); Ashland (D&B Pharmacy); Attica (Bulldog Supply, Neighbors Cafe); Caldwell (Nostalgia Nook); Coldwater (Dave's Pizza, Timberwolf Cafe); Goddard (White's IGA); Conway Springs (Joe's Market); Harper (Antique Depot, Country Creamery, Jo's Place, Domino's, Kabredelos); Hardtner (Your Place, Hardtner Supply); Isabel )Equity coop); Kansas City (Franlin Center); Kingman (White's IGA); Lawrence (The Merc); medicine Lodge (Alco, White's Foodliner); Pratt (Walmart, Rick's Restaurant); Protection (Protection State Bank); Wellington (Tee-Js, Walmart); Wichita (Beacon Restaurant, don's Restaurant, Hatman Jacks); and we are told that many libraries and senior centers have copies to read.

If you would like to participate in a program to have "Prairie Connection delivered to your business to distribute as goodwill, please email: iread@prairieconnect.com or wepreserve@balmerfund.org.

March Winds

[Transcribed by OkieLegacy & LK McGill Wagner from Scott Cummins book, "Musings of the Pilgrim Bard," page 13.]

When the old house keeps a rockin',
Like as if 'twas goin' to fall;
And the pebbles keep a knockin' --
Knockin' 'gainst the fragile wall,
Sets a tired feller thinkin'
Of fell goblin, wraith or fiend,
Fancy into fancy linkin',
Yet 'tis nothin' but the wind;
Roar, roar, rattle door,
Through each cranny in the floor.
Through each crack and crevice small,
Where a chigger scarce could crawl,
Every seam 'tis sure to find,
O beshrew, the bleak March wind.
All day long, to feed the critters,
I have tried my level best;
Tears my fodder into fritters.
Splits the endgate of my vest;
Almost sets a feller cussin',
Yet to well I understand,
If I ope' my mouth a fussin'
'Twould soon fill with dust and sand;
Shriek, Shriek, creak, creak --
Seven long days in a week;
Though my language seem unkind,
Devil take the bleak March wind.
Now adieu, my lamp burns dimly,
Sleep and rest I needs must try;
Let the roaring round my chimney
Be a soothing lullaby.
This my pray'r before undressin,
Hopeless pray'r with pathos filled,
That the wind may cease caressin'
Nature, and a while be still'd;
Scream, scream, while I dream
'Till the sun with lurid gleam
Wakes me to resume the fight
With the hurricanish sprite,
Respite body, respite mind,
From the raging of the wind.
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Updike's Childhood Story of 1949 1950

We are in the process of taking down Kenneth Updike's stories and ramblings of "Growing Up In Oklahoma" because Kenneth asked us, "To remove all of my previous writings to you about my Ramblins. Personal stories that I told you and your readers. My Son has had all of my writings, and notes copyrighted so that we can put them in a book or booklet. His idea. I really have no objections to this, but he insists we can be viewed by more people. I leave it up to him. Thanks for your help in the past, and I still read your Okie Legacy nearly every week."

If you find some of Kenneth's Ramblings that I have missed, Please email me the link with Vol. and Iss. numbers so that this NW Okie can remove them. Thanks for your help!
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Auto Nostalgia

"A great one for car buffs and burma shavers. I love this one! Texas Bob's World - Auto Nostalgia." -- Homer
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The Rest of the Story

Old Postcards... "I knew where it was. Have been trying to recall what it was called when I was a kid. It was called a rooming house, and it seems to me that Betty Hager's, who was in my class, father owned it and they lived there. It is on the corner of Santa Fe and 6th street, across the street was Reid's farm supply." -- Marvin Henry

Old Postcards... "This hotel still stands 1/2 block north of Choctaw St. on 6th St., on the west side. it was owned for years by the Gilbert Fisher's and became "Fisher Apts." They lived in the downstairs and rented out 2 and 3 room apartments. I don't know if it is still used as such because I don't drive down there very much. Gilbert has been dead quite a few years, and Phylis lives somewhere else in Alva. Their son Harry Fisher lives here at Alva, too. Someone else will probably know more about it." -- Eva Welch

Dear Okie... "Thank you again and again for all the info, that you provide. My family the Pittman's and Osborn families come from Alva, Oklahoma. MY Grandfather Richard Harold Pittman and all his sibbling were born there. If any one has any info that they are willing to share on these families please e-mail me at vglover776@sbcglobal.net." -- Vickie J

Snow In SW Colorado... "Check out these links concerning Al Gore's Documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth" ... Looks like you can see/download the entire movie here for $1.99. Here's a link to the trailer." -- NW Okie

OkieLegacy Guestbook... "I recall that the school buses at Dacoma had printed 'Dacoma Public Schools, District I-25.' I was never sure if the first digit was 'I' or '1' - but never asked anyone about it." -- Rod Murrow

Snow In SW Colorado... "Happy Birthday !!!! I didn't realize that we were so close in age. I'll be 50 in June. What a small world. LOL Hope you had a great time on your birthday. Yes, it's been cold here in the Lake Erie area. Snow drifts to 5 feet in some places. Most going down now with the rain that we are getting. Had an ice storm this morning but not as bad as other places I have heard about. It covered the area with a thick glazing but trees and outages are minimal from what I hear. Snow for a couple of days coming. That's ok. Just flurries. Looks like a lot of us in the US will have great moisture for the Springtime when it gets here. Saw a lot of geese flying north about 4 days ago and the animals are shedding a lot up here. Mother Nature is beginning to change for the Spring." -- Genevieve (Jenni) Latza

Snow In SW Colorado... "I have a leather postcard that was sent in 1905 to my grandparents congratulating them on the birth of their twins, Orange H. Bolson and Olive Violet Bolson (Mrs. Paul Edwards). It is in excellent condition. The picture on it of two babies being held by a man looks like it was put on at the printer's, not added on by hand, so there must have been a market for those with pictures, even of twins." -- Marita Bolson
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SW Colorado Elk Herd

"What a difference 2 hours makes. The first shot before 7am and the others after a pickup drove up and spooked them about 9am. he elk ran off and then came back and are all laying down out there in the snow." -- Ann View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Fonda, Oklahoma

"The weather here was terrible on Saturday, so I didn't drive out to Fonda, OK. However, I plan to, hopefully next weekend. Just curious if you would like for me to email you any pictures I take of where the town was. I don't know if there is anything there now. The road going to Fonda is called Indian Road. The Fonda sign points to a narrow partially paved road. There are some buildings and houses in the distance but I don't know how far to even go down it or where the town was at this time. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks!" -- Traci - EMAIL: traci.armstrong@ok.usda.gov
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Mondy WWI Documents

"Just for the record, the Mondy obit I sent was from a copy of a newspaper clipping in my files. The Mondy family is chronicled in the Footprints Across Woods County, but does not include that obituary." -- Charlie
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Green Valley School & Church Legacy

"The following information tells a bit more of the history of the Green Valley School and Church. The following information is from my great-uncle Alva Martin and great-aunt Helen Van Meter. They were the eldest son and youngest daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Adda Keffer Martin, who were my great-grandparents. All of them, except Alva Martin are buried in the Pleasant View Cemetery.

"It was important to the homesteaders in this area to have a place to worship. Their first services were held in homes and in the sod schoolhouse. Sometimes there were tent meetings lasting one or two weeks. The Free Methodist Church was organized with only four members, in March 1901, at the close of a revival meeting. Two of the members were Parkinson and Mary (Mollie) Irons Keffer. A frame schoolhouse was built later that year. The group continued to worship in the schoolhouse until 1929 when the present Free Methodist Church was built on the northwest corner of Mollie Keffer's farm. Park Keffer had died in 1917. Thomas Jefferson Martin had married Adda Keffer, Park's sister, and spent many hours working on the new church. An old church in Helena was torn down and used in the new church. In 1950 the schoolhouse was moved onto the church property and still serves as a fellowship hall. The school house was also known as Punkin Hollow." -- Marvin Henry - EMAIL: figment1@comcast.net - nmfigment@yahoo.com
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W. C. "Bill" McGill

"Thank you for writing me back. I had read about your ball-playing grandfather and wondered if he was related to me. I recently found an old letter from 1904 written by W.C. McGill to his sister, my great grandmother, telling of the loss of his wife. It was an incredibly moving letter. Thanks for clearing this up for me.

Here's a strange thing though. Around noon today while I was at work a song stuck in my head and stayed there for several minutes. I hadn't thought of it for months if not years, so imagine my surprise to pull up the 'OkieLegacy' page and read about your grandfather W. J. (McGill) enjoying "Que sera sera"! The song was playing in my noggin about the time you were writing me today. How bizarre.

Thanks again for your help, furniture and McGills seem to go hand in hand in Oklahoma. I've also found some old photos of W C. and Kermit on the beach in California from somewhere around 1920. Nice to put the faces with the names." -- Pete - EMAIL: DLondinium@aol.com
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Oh, What A Beautiful Morning

Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' - Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II, Music by RICHARD RODGERS - Click Oh, What A Beautiful Morning (midi file) - .

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,
An' it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.

All the cattle are standin' like statues,
All the cattle are standin' like statues,
They don't turn their heads as they see me ride by,
But a little brown mav'rick is winkin' her eye.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.

All the sounds of the earth are like music,
All the sounds of the earth are like music,
The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree,
And a ol' weepin' willer is laughin' at me!

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day,
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.
Oh, what a beautiful day.
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Farry, OK History

"I am Francis R. Melkus of Amarillo. Texas, I was the middle son of A.C. ( Alba and Laura Melkus) of Farry, Oklahoma. I was born 1 mile west and 3 miles south of Farry schoo; and postoffice in 1936. this farm was the Old Mac Culver place. Later we moved to the Bentley place, which was just nortwest of the Farry School grounds. Later we moved one mile south to the John Frederick and Mabel ( Culver ) old homestead. After that home burned, around 1949, we moved into a little two room house, just northwest of the original house. It was quite crowded for five people. After my father built a new home 1 and1/4 miles west of the Farry School, we moved into that house, about 1949 or 1950. I graduated from Farry High School in 1954.

At that time Ed James lived a little over a mile north of us and Otha James lived a little north of him. I also remember Alice ( James ) and Cass Mapes who lived just east and north of the Farry School grounds.

My brother Keith and I mowed the Preston Hill cemetery for many years, so we would see a lot of the James family on Memorial Day. It was a pleasure to see Ren DeGear, as she was a James, also Mrs Walker from I believe in Kansas, as she was also a James.

Later Edwin and Joan Jasmes moved into Otha's house, then after Joan died from a car crash. Edwin later then married Pat. I think one of Edwin's boys married a Lakita Culver, which would have been a distant cousin of mine.

My folks are deceased now, my mother died January 20, 1999, and Dad died April 2. 2001. I know just about where the first Farry postoffice was, northwest of Otha's house, my aunt Mary worked there at one time and my Uncle Earnest ( ERNIE ) Melkus married her.

I have heard Ren DeGeer had his newspaper under tree, where the Anderson Creek from the west and where Bull creek from the east meet or at that fork. Can you confirm this??? Bull creek ran through my fatherG farm and Anderson touched his farm on the west.

Do you know where Ren Degeer had his homestead, I have about three locations told to me by different people, but I think I might know which is correct.???

When Edwin died, he was about the last person who knew any of the Old Farry History, so I would appreciate any Old Farry History that you would share with me. My brother and I have been trying to find some of the History of Old Farry.

I have been to the site where Farry was northeast of Cass Mapes place. I think it was about the second location, as I think the first was closed to Otha's place. Again... any information that you would share would br greatly appreciated." -- Francis R. Melkus - E-mail: fmmel@sbcglobal.net
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St. Nicholas Hotel - Alva, OK

we went through our photo images over at Okielegacy and found a couple of digital photos that we had taken of the St. Nicholas Hotel, in Alva, Oklahoma a few years back.

The Hotel is on the west side of 6th Street (College Avenue), across from Reid's Hatchery, between Choctaw and Santa Fe Street.

If anyone has any other knowledge or stories about the St. Nicholas Hotel, we would love to hear and share those stories, knowledge with others on The OkieLegacy Ezine! Thanks!
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Oklahoma (the musical)

Oklahoma the musical review [1955]: Music: Richard Rodgers; Lyrics & Book: Oscar Hammerstein II - Based on the play "Green Grow the Lilacs" by Lynn Riggs.

Oklahoma is set in the American Indian Territory at the turn of the century. A ranch hand, Curly is infatuated with Laurey, while Will Parker returns early from his trip to Kansas City to find his sweetheart has a problem with the word "no". -- allmusicals.com - Oklahoma View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe