Yearly Archives: 2015

Footprints in the Dew is at the printer! Copies will be mailed out  in September to anyone who pre-ordered a book.

Welcome back. As summer turns to fall, several events I always look forward to are coming up including an event I just attended which is where I will start. Advertised as “the toughest event on earth”, the Professional Bull Riding (or PBR as it is known) competition rolled into the BOK Center in Tulsa on Friday and Saturday nights to put on a show and friends that’s exactly what they did. The top 35 money winning bull riders were matched with some of the toughest bulls in the country, competing for some big prize money and a chance to go to the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. But friends it’s not just all about the bull riding anymore. Loud music rocks the arena before, during and after the show. In between riders, renowned rodeo clown Flint Rasmussen had the crowd in stitches with his antics. You bet there were hundreds of bright lights too as well as fireworks and sound cannons.

As with all PBR events, this competition started with the national anthem and a prayer for our country on both nights. Saturday night they announced that new facilities are under construction for the PBR in Las Vegas and more information on that will be coming soon. This was an exciting competition to watch and my overall impression of the Express Employment Professionals’ annual PBR Classic is that you don’t want to miss it next year!

This Friday there’s another event coming up with the Express name on it that also involves cattle. You regular readers many remember that this events also takes place at the end of the summer every year and although they don’t advertise it as such, I haven’t found another cattle sale in the country like it. The cattle at this two day sale often bring hundreds of thousands of dollars and the buyers come from around the world. The guests will include governors, sports celebrities and even movie stars. On the opening evening of the sale five hundred or more guests will be treated to some real Oklahoma hospitality with dinner and entertainment at the Express Ranch headquarters in Yukon. It’s called the Big Event and I can’t wait to tell you all about it next week.

This Saturday August 22^nd is also the date for a truly longtime favorite event of mine- Wild Brew. Now in its 22^nd year, this popular beer tasting and food sampling fundraiser benefits the Sutton Center Avian Research Station right here in Bartlesville. The Sutton Center is an internationally known conservation organization and the proceeds from Wild Brew support their many research and conservation programs, including an eagle’s nest webcam.

Breweries around the country and many of Tulsa’s best restaurants will be showcased and the evening will include music from the Fabulous Mid-Life Crisis Band. I need to mention that this is a party crowd and even if you don’t dance it’s a great opportunity for people watching. Wild Brew will be held at the Cox Business Center from 5-8 PM. Patrons get in early from 4-5PM. For tickets and additional information visit www.wildbrew.org See ya there for sure!

Wrapping up the month on Saturday August 29^th is a follow-up to a story I first brought you about a year ago. The sons of World Heavyweight Champion Tony Morrison are training in Bartlesville as you read this. I do believe that these boys will bring glory to our town during their rise to fame in the boxing world. They are both currently undefeated and will be fighting at Joplin Memorial Hall, a 3,000 seat arena. Floor seats are already sold out and I hear the other tickets are going fast as well. My scoop of the week is to catch them live while you still can. For tickets call Buffalo Run Casino (918-542-9400 ) or visit stubwire.com.

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road……………………….

Correction: Please note that Stan Clark, not Stan Barnes is the founder of Eskimo Joe’s.

 Footprints in the Dew goes to the printer Tuesday after 9 years! The release date is September 26th at Western Heritage Days in Dewey. For a first edition order from this website. And now for the local news….

Welcome back. The City of Edmond which manages Arcadia Lake and utilizes the lake as the main water supply for the city, says it offers something for everyone. I just spent a few days camping at Arcadia and I got a firsthand look at what they are bragging about. The fishermen I talked to told me it is a great spot and during the winter a completely covered and heated boat dock on the lake stays busy. If you are into disc golf, there are two courses there. What about swimming? Arcadia offers three all sand beaches that are cleaned of debris every night to make sure swimmers are welcomed to a clean beach throughout the season.

The lake also has three concrete boat ramps, five miles of trails for horseback riding and many more for hiking. Six spacious pavilions are available for company picnics or family reunions. The campgrounds range from primitive to full utilities and the rates are extremely reasonable. That is one of the reasons I enjoy staying at Arcadia when business takes me to Oklahoma City overnight but even if rates were higher, the beautiful views alone would be worth it. So the next time you’re in Oklahoma City or Edmond make a picnic and check out Arcadia Lake.

On the local front I just learned that the Mutual Girls Club and Tuesday House have purchased the Youth Canteen. This is a brick building that sits directly behind Food Pyramid grocery store on Price Road and it has been a safe haven for Bartlesville youth for several generations. This purchase assures that Mutual Girls Club will have plenty of space for their growing organization. I spoke with their director Emily French and she told me they desperately needed the space for the numerous activities they offer girls including life skills training to prepare them to succeed in school and work.

I also learned that Tuesday House is a resale/thrift shop that operates solely for the benefit of the club. If you’ve never been the store is located at 327 S. Penn Ave. and its open on Tuesday from 8-4. I guarantee that their merchandise offers something for everyone and the friendly volunteers there make a stop worthwhile just for a visit. As a 501©3 they always accept donations which can be tax deductible and benefit this great cause.

Mutual Girls Club is another wonderful organization serving Bartlesville and here are some of the ways you can help them. How about sending a girl to camp? Many girls in our community want to go but can’t afford it. The club also needs more volunteers to mentor the girls and assist with the activities. Snacks are always needed for the after schools programs and of course money is needed as well. Emily and her dedicated group of volunteers can’t do it all on their own. Your dollars will make a difference and it all stays right here in our community. Give them a hand if you can.

With space running short, I want to mention the Lowe Family Young Scholars program before I go. The Dog Days of Summer 5K run is coming up on September 12^th, starting from Johnstone Park. If you’ve never heard of the Lowe Family or this important scholarship program, September 12^th would be a good time to get involved and learn more about them. You might be surprised and inspired at the same time.

And finally a word about a man whom Oklahoma will never forget, Will Rogers. It was around noon on August 15, 1935 when Will and pilot Wiley Post took off from a tidal lagoon near the town of Walakpi, Alaska. Wiley had landed there to get directions while he will exploring a new mail route that would connect the United States and Russia. According to Will’s niece, Coke Meyer, the plane had only gotten about 15 feet up in the air when the engine failed and it fell back to the ground killing Will and Wiley.

This Saturday will mark the 80^th anniversary of their deaths and there will be a big fly-in at Will’s Dog Iron Ranch to honor the 2 men. This is an annual event that is usually held on a Sunday but as this Saturday is the exact anniversary date, the organizers decided to make it special. On Friday the 14^th a wreath will be laid on Will’s tomb at the museum in Claremore and then the fly-in festivities kick-off early Saturday morning. A big crowd is expected and people will be coming in from around the country. I’ll be there and I hope to see you too.

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road….

Unfortunately I missed the end of the James Holmes trial but I have been working night and day to get Footprints in the Dew to the printer….

Welcome back. I’m traveling again this week but while I’m on the road I’m excited to bring you the story of a man who was born on August 9, 1932 in Peru, Kansas. A graduate of the Bartlesville High School class of 1950, he would go on to become the third bestselling retailer of Budweiser beer in the country at the time. Kenny Fox is 83 years old now and lives just a few miles outside of Ochelata. This is just a small part of his life story.

After high school Kenny, as I’ll call him, went to work for a utility company doing manual labor. He was a naturally talented artist and after a year and a half he went to work for Phillips Petroleum Company in the Visual Art department. In the evenings he pumped gas for Cab Renick who was already a basketball legend and owned a Phillips service station downtown.

For twenty years Kenny’s paychecks came from Phillips and then when the J Bar and the adjoining restaurant along with a barber shop next door came up for lease, he jumped into the people business. The J Bar was downtown next to the present day courthouse in a small complex of businesses along Johnstone. This is where Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman, met her future husband and through the years everyone from Boots Adams to Chub Anderson stopped by for some of Kenny’s hospitality.

There were four rental apartments above the J Bar that Kenny turned into a graphic arts business. With his contacts through Phillips the business was an immediate success.

The Eastland Shopping Center on the east side of town was just getting off the ground when Kenny opened the “Cove” there. The Cove was a beer bar that catered to 18 years olds with pinball games, pool, shuffleboard and the best pizza in town which Kenny often delivered personally. The Cove was so successful that before long he opened the “Fox’s Den” next door which offered hard liquor and featured live entertainment. Kenny also established the first Kawasaki motorcycle shop in town on the corner next to the Cove.

Always on the lookout for opportunity, when Maria’s Steakhouse came up for lease he took it over. Then he opened the Gray Fox, a bar and pizza restaurant in Ponca City. Stillwater soon had a Kenny Fox bar there as well, in a 3 story building right across the street from the campus. He also leased the two adjoining buildings which were across the street from where Eskimo Joe’s is today. The founder of Eskimo Joe’s and a close friend, Stan Barnes consulted with Kenny about possibly buying the building where Eskimo Joe’s is now. Kenny recommended that Stan buy it and the rest is history.

Kenny set up another Fox’s Den bar in Norman where OU’s Selmon brothers tended bar for him. In Fayetteville, AR history repeated itself, with another popular liquor and pizza place. It’s a wonder he wasn’t the #1 retailer in the country!

A beauty shop, a high end antique business, two CB radio stations, a construction company to build the CB towers, the list of business ventures goes on and on. Unfortunately I don’t have the space to do them all justice. Someday if we’re all lucky this guy with his many accomplishments will put everything down in a book.

Coming next week its more big stuff as I report on a week spent in Oklahoma City. I’ll be staying at beautiful Arcadia Lake which is located north of Oklahoma City and east of Edmond. The lake has an 1820 acre surface area, 26 miles of shoreline and there are four camping areas to choose from. I’ll give you all the scoop.

Then it’s back to Denver for the life or death decision for convicted movie theater shooter James Holmes. Till next week, I’ll see ya down the road….

#

Help me spread the word! Footprints in the Dew will be in print on September 26th! You can pre-order a copy now on this website! Thanks for your support.

Welcome back. Alva, Oklahoma home of Northwestern Oklahoma University, is a town I pass through often when traveling highway 64 going west to New Mexico. There’s lots of wide open spaces out there and you may drive for miles before you see another car. The area seems remote today but back in 1878 it was even more so. There were ranches and itinerant cowboys roamed the region that would become Kansas. A few miles to the north a few farms had started to crop up across the landscape but in general the area was still undeveloped and too rough and wide open to appeal to farmers. This was the setting for the Battle of Turkey Springs.

Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf had led a band of Northern Cheyenne off the reservation in an attempt to return to their original lands in Montana and Wyoming. There were 92 men, 120 women and 141 children many of whom were ill and starving before the journey but they had pledged to get back to their land or die trying.

Life on the reservation was unbearable for the Cheyenne who were accustomed to living on a wide open range full of game. On the reservation there was only the remains of buffalo slaughtered by white hunters and there was nothing to hunt for food. Many Cheyenne had already died when the tribe was hit by a measles epidemic and they couldn’t take any more.

After leaving the reservation in Fort Reno, the tribe followed trails through canyons and forests to avoid being scene but outside of present day Alva they took their final stand. According to Wikipedia, the band had dwindled to 297 people when companies G and H of the U.S. Cavalry found them. With the help of many civilians, the cavalry had tracked the Cheyenne 11 miles up Turkey Creek to Turkey Springs. When they realized the troops were coming, the Indians dug rifle pits for the men without horses and prepared for what became known as “the last armed conflict between the U.S. Cavalry and American Indians in Oklahoma.”

After their escape, the Cheyenne had outmaneuvered troops on several occasions and when confronted, had out fought detachments from several different forts in their struggle to get home. This time they had exhausted all their options.

In the course of a predictable battle 50 Cheyenne were killed and 30 were wounded but Turkey Springs became a kind of victory because it brought the plight of Indians on reservations to the attention of the American people.

I first discovered this story when I stopped at a historical marker along the Governor Nigh Northwest Passage last week. There are hundreds of these markers along American highways, each one with its own story from our history. Check out one or two the next time you’re traveling, I’ve found many a good story and I guarantee you will too.

Here’s my scoop of the week about an event you may want to check out. Many events are held at the Lions’ Club building on Tuxedo Boulevard, including their annual Christmas tree sale. The building can also be rented and this Saturday from 8-5 there will be a benefit for a young local woman, Kelley Stardette Preston, who is fighting a rare form of cancer. They will be holding a big yard sale with smoked hot dogs available and a bake sale from some of the top bakers in town as well. Dozens of families have donated items for the sale so it should be a lot of fun. Sitting under a shade tree with a hot dog and a cookie sounds pretty good to me. Help them out if you can.

Also coming up it’s the Original Buffalo Dale on tour at OSU Tulsa presenting my project to their OLLI students. If you missed the class in Bartlesville, I’ve been asked to return and return I will with a full cast of characters and more. For more info call Ruth Sirbaugh at (405) 744-5868 at OSU Stillwater or check out my website www.originalbuffalodale.com

Till next week I’ll see ya down the road………………………………….

#

I’m getting down the wire on the publication of the book and have spent the last two week working on the final details. Place your orders now for first editions!

Welcome back. This week I’m taking you back to last Tuesday July 14, 2015 in Centennial, Colorado on what is called “media row” where all the writers, TV journalists and any other type of reporter are supposed to park, the day started out cool with clear skies. Journalists from around the world gathered for closing arguments by attorneys in the trial of movie theater shooter James Holmes and I hope you enjoy my take on how it went.

I arrived at the Arapahoe County Courthouse on Monday in hopes of getting a seat in the courtroom and I was lucky enough to find myself sitting just 14 feet away from Holmes with his mother and father in between us. This would be my assigned seat for as long as the proceedings lasted.

I also had a direct view of the jury which was seated to my right. If they all agreed that Holmes is insane he would go directly to a state mental institution. If they decided he is legally competent at the minimum he faced life in prison or possibly execution. From a prospective pool of literally thousands of people, the pool had been narrowed to 93 people, then to 24 and now it was down to 12 actual jurors.

Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. wanted three assurances from the jurors:

That they could presume James Holmes innocent of all 165 charges against him-not just grant him the presumption of insanity

That they were capable of disregarding any information about the case reported in the media

That if Holmes were found guilty of first degree murder they would be able to fairly consider either sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole or giving him the death penalty

After reviewing over 1500 photographs and listening to the testimony of 250 witnesses and 10 psychiatrists this jury faced a monumental task.

I had the opportunity to do some early research on the background of these folks and though the judge has ordered that no names be released, I can give you a general profile of each juror. During the trial several jurors were dismissed so the numbers are not sequential:

Seat 1: A white woman in her 40s who works as a union plumber and has 2 children

Seat 2: A white woman in her 50s who is a lawyer

Seat 3: An Hispanic woman in her mid-twenties who volunteers for victim advocacy groups

Seat 5: A white woman in her 50s whose niece was in the Columbine High School cafeteria at the time of those shootings

Seat 6: A white woman in her 40s who stated that her son has a drug addiction

Seat 11: A white woman about 60 with a psychology degree whose son and son-in-law both work in law enforcement

Seat 13: A white woman in her 50s who has been a paramedic for 20 years

Seat 14: A white man in his 40s who said he knew very little about the Aurora shootings because he had been living in California at the time

Seat 15: A white man in his 30s who is the manager of a Bed, Bath & Beyond

Seat 17: A white man in his 30s who is a survivor of the Columbine shootings

Seat 21: An Hispanic woman in her 30s whose son is bipolar

Seat 23: A white woman in her mid-40s who expressed an interest in hearing testimony from Holmes’ parents

These are the 12 people who would decide Holmes’ verdict and as you all know by now, they found him guilty. However last Tuesday, with 165 counts against him, a decision was very much up in the air.

I attended the beginning of the Holmes trial some 70 days ago and so I have had the chance to observe Holmes 10 to 12 times. His demeanor has always been the same, only his clothes changed. He sat staring straight ahead often with a slight smile. He didn’t speak but occasionally laughed, seemingly at himself.

There were some preliminary statements on Tuesday morning before the jury was brought in so everyone present knew we were in for a long day.   The prosecution went first, and with a two hour limit imposed by the judge, they opened with a summary of the facts in the case. Standing less than four feet in front of Holmes, the prosecutor pointed to him and told the jury that he was the guy who had killed all these people in a methodically planned and premeditated attack.

In the defense’s statement they responded that yes, Holmes had killed and in fact wants to kill again.

A 25 minute rebuttal by the prosecutor followed, again hammering on the premediated aspects of the attacks. There was a live TV feed from the courtroom through this portion of the trial so millions of people were able to watch the proceedings. For you readers who may not have seen it, I hope I have given you a little insight into what went on.

I’ll end this week with a few interesting facts:

It is estimated that the cost for the trial of James Holmes is now over $5,000,000. It cost $20,000 alone to print the notices and questionnaires for the original pool of 9,000 prospective jurors. According to Yahoo News in 2013 Holmes offered to forfeit the trial in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole if he could escape the death penalty.

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road….

In preparation for the publication of Footprints in the Dew I am scheduling book signings across the country. Please let me know if you are interested or have any contacts. For book ordering information check out the home page of this website.

Welcome back. Whenever I’m traveling, as I am now in Colorado, it gives me the time to get caught up on interesting stories that I haven’t properly covered and this is one of them.

On a recent visit to Oklahoma City, someone mentioned the Putnam City High School football team and a big winning streak they had had during the 1970s. I didn’t remember much about this so I did a little digging and in the process I discovered a legend with close ties to Bartlesville.

Jerry Potter took over as head coach of the Putnam City team in 1965 and by the end of his high school tenure his record stood at 171-67-8 and he had become known as the father of the Putnam City program. With Potter as coach, the school won three state championships and in 1977 the team was undefeated when they played Putnam City West for the championship. It was standing room only at Taft Stadium on the night of the game. Coach Potter retired after that 1977 game with a 21-14 win in overtime. Many people consider this to be the greatest game ever played in Oklahoma High School football.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and former State Representative Steve Largent played for Potter and he has said publically on several occasions that his old coach “altered the landscape of my life.” As a young boy Largent had an absentee father and Potter became his mentor and role model both on and off the field.

Kent Bradford is another of Potter’s former players who credits the coach’s influence for the success he has experienced in life. After graduating from Putnam City, Braford went on to be an offensive lineman at OU and father of Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford.

Former players were not the only ones to honor Coach Potter. In 1980 he was inducted into the National, yes that’s National, High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Another bit of amazing information I found was the number of his past players who went on to become successful coaches themselves. Dennis Evans is one example who became quite well known in high school football and gives Potter all the credit for his success and the success of dozens of others.

With such an outstanding record of accomplishment, I was curious as to what drove Coach Potter. Through my research I learned that he dropped out of high school in 1943 to join the Marines where he served as a tail gunner during World War II. In 1945 he returned to high school and then went on to Cameron University and Oklahoma City University, playing football at both schools.

Usually when I discover a person as interesting as Jerry Potter I contact them and ask for an interview but unfortunately this story doesn’t end that way. On Sunday June 21, 2015 the front page of the Oklahoman carried the sad news that both Coach Potter and beloved broadcaster Bob Berry, Jr. had both died. As you may know, Berry was killed in a motorcycle accident and Potter died of health problems. As for me, I know I can’t interview everyone but I am sure sad that I missed out on Coach Jerry Potter.

Moving down the road, I hope to be back in town for the Children’s Musical Theater production of Mary Poppins at the Bartlesville Community Center which starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday. I caught a preview of the show this past week and let me tell you it was great! This is the much loved story of a magical English nanny, Mary Poppins, and her adventures with the Banks children. The story originated with a series of books by P.J. Travers and was later adapted for the movies by Walt Disney. In 2004 the story became the basis for a musical on Broadway and has since been performed around the world.

As many of you readers know, I have been hanging out in New York and have had the chance to see a lot of shows and folks these kids have talent. I plan on going and hope to see ya there. With that, from Denver, Colorado, till next time I’ll see ya down the road…………..

#

Tuesday, July 14, 2015: From where I sat in the Arapahoe County courtroom, I was just 14 feet from James Holmes with a clear view of him. He was unshaven and wearing glasses. Throughout the proceedings I saw he seldom spoke with anyone, not even his attorneys. From time to time he smiled or laughed, seemingly out of touch with what is going on around him.

After closing arguments by both the prosecution and the defense and then a rebuttal by the prosecution the case went to the jury at 6:15 p.m. They will begin deliberations at 9 a.m. this morning.

I’m back on the road, headed for Colorado where I hope to make some contacts for my project at the James Holmes trial.

Welcome back. The date was May 15, 2015 and I had been ordered by the District Court of Washington County to appear at suite 100 on the 3^rd floor of the Washington County Courthouse at 420 South Johnstone in Bartlesville for what would be a very interesting two days. This week I am bringing you the story of those two days. Over the last few years I may have had more experience with courtrooms than the average person, including last August when I was at the federal courthouse in Boston where mobster Whitey Bulger was brought to justice after an eight week trial. I also attended the trial of Eddie Ray Routh who was convicted of murdering Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield in a small county courtroom in Stephenville, Texas. I myself have been called to testify before a multi-county grand jury in Oklahoma City. Most recently I sat in on the opening arguments in the trial of James Holmes, the so-called “movie theater shooter” in Colorado.

My courthouse summons did not have the drama of these cases but with patriotism running high over the 4^th of July I think this is an appropriate topic to consider. My summons to jury service, or jury duty as it’s commonly called, required that I appear at 8:30 am and when I got there I found the 3^rd floor packed with potential jurors. For the next several hours Judge Curtis Delapp read our instructions according to the law. Through my own research I had already learned how important jury duty is to our justice system. Every person charged with” a crime punishable by incarceration for more than six months has a constitutional right to a trial by jury”. (United States District Court –Northern District of Oklahoma Jury Plan)

If you are a citizen of the United States you must appear when summoned for service and if you do not a judge may find you in contempt of court. I learned that you cannot lose your job during jury duty and that you may be excused if a trial is going to last for a long time. Jurors and prospective jurors also receive a daily stipend of $20.

At the age of 64, this was my first time to be called and I was anxious to learn more about the process. As the judge reviewed the rules with all of us things started to get personal and one by one potential jurors were released. By the end of the day I was still there and the next appearance was going to be in the jury box as the selection narrowed down to twenty-four of us. First we were questioned by the asistant District Attorney Will Drake and then by the defendant’s attorney. More people were excused after each series of questions.

By now I had cleared my mind. The man in this case was innocent until proven guilty, I got that. Then we came to a round of questions about who our friends were and what knowledge we had of either the assistant D.A. Drake or his boss, D.A. Kevin Buchanan. As an avid newspaper reader I knew of both men and I had also personally supported Mr. Buchanan during his election campaign. I don’t know if this made any difference but soon after I was released from service with a warning that that I might be called back again. It was a firsthand experience with our rights and responsibilities as citizens of this great country and I hope to get the chance to serve in the future.

Moving forward I’ve just received word from Denver, CO that the trial of James Holmes should be wrapping up by the beginning of next week and if the river don’t rise I’ll be there. My experience has been that juries tend to come back quickly in these cases where the defendant had already plead guilty and I anticipate that the same thing could happen in this instance. Stay tuned to my website for more details.

Till then I’ll see ya down the road……

I hope you all will have a wonderful holiday with family and friends. I am grateful for your support of my project and to all of you who have ordered advance first edition copies of Footprints in the Dew. If you haven’t gotten a copy yet, visit the homepage of this website (www.originalbuffalodale.com) to order.