Yearly Archives: 2016

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the Constantine Theater. It was great to see you- next stop the Tulsa Historical Society. Happy Thanksgiving folks!

Looking forward to showing my film Footprints in the Dew: The Last Ten Tapes  in Pawhuska at the Constantine Theater tonight. Tickets are $12 per person and will be sold at the door. The screening is at 7PM. If you haven’t been to the Constantine before, it is a beautiful historic theater located on Main Street across from Ree Drummond’s (aka the Pioneer Woman) new Mercantile.

Very excited about the first screenings of my new documentary….

Welcome back. The motion picture business opened up the world for small town communities around the country in the early 1900s and many beautifully designed theaters were built to showcase a new fad called motion pictures. In the northeastern corner of Oklahoma several of these old theaters have been bought by local residents or civic groups trying to save a piece of Americana. As you regular readers know I’m currently on a book signing tour and added to that now I’m happy to announce a film tour mostly in these historic theaters. Entitled “Footprints in the Dew: The Last Ten Tapes”, the film contains never before seen footage from the interviews I conducted while writing “Footprints in the Dew: Chub Anderson and the Unsolved Mullendore Murder.”

The first showing will be at the Gregg Theater in Sedan Kansas on November 15^th. Local businessman Roger Floyd saved and restored the theater and it is typical of early American movie theaters. The box office is in the front, then there is a concession stand and a spiral staircase leading to the projection room. The seating area is long and narrow and most of the original details in the building are still intact. The folks in Sedan are still treated to movies on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights just like in the old days. This will be the first Kansas showing of The Last Ten Tapes and advance ticket purchases are highly recommended. Tickets are $12 per person and they are available at the Bank of Sedan and at First National Bank of Sedan. With very limited seating, they tell me they are certain to sell out so please call 620-725-3408 for more information.

The next shot at seeing the film will be on November 17^th at the Poncan Theater in Ponca City. It’s an honor to show the film in this historic theater which was built in 1927 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Due to financial difficulties the theater was closed from 1985-1994 but an enterprising group of Ponca City residents took it over and it has been at the heart of the community’s art scene ever since. Folks, this show house is truly an Oklahoma treasure. It it beautiful to look at both inside and out, reflecting the elegance of a bygone era. The entire historic downtown area of Ponca City is a must visit and I’ll be hanging out there before the 7PM showing. A free wine and cheese reception for movie goers will be held inside the Cherokee Strip Company so come check it out. Tickets for the show are $12 per person and will be sold at the door.

On Tuesday, November 22^nd I will be bringing the film to the Constantine Theater in Pawhuska for another 7PM showing. The Constantine is another historic theater that has been beautifully restored and cared for by a dedicated group of volunteers. This will also be a great chance to check out Ree Drummond’s new Mercantile and the other great shops along Main Street all of which are open till 5 or 6. This is a town that made history in the early days of the west and is also the hometown of one of my favorite people, Ben Johnson.

If these dates don’t work out for you, there will be a final showing in November at the Tulsa Historical Society at 7PM on November 29^th and ticket information is available on their website www.tulsahistory.org The December calendar is filling up fast so stay tuned for those dates as well.

All you OU fans can catch me and Joe Washington this Friday back at Balfour’s in Norman from 2-4. Then it’s on to the big Wannamaker’s Gun Show at the Tulsa Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday. Advertised as the world’s largest gun show, they have a lot more than just guns making it a good place to do some early Christmas shopping.

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

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Hi Everyone: We changed servers and had a foul up so if you haven’t had any notifications lately please visit the website to see new posts. There’s some interesting news about upcoming film showings in the next few days. Thanks for your support.

Things will never be the same in Pawhuska, OK…..

Welcome back. In 1919 a group of volunteer citizens in Independence, Kansas started a festival for kids of all ages to celebrate Halloween in a safe, fun environment. Over the years this event has grown into the second largest annual celebration in the state. With three parades, a chili cook-off and lots of music as well as a carnival, a 10K run and numerous food vendors, the festival offers something for everyone. This year the musical line-up included finalists from TV’s The Voice, Alaska & Madi who are managed by my friend Jim Halsey. During an interview, Independence firefighter Barry Beurskens who also operates a great BBQ food truck told me the crowds were at record levels. By this time you locals know I’m talking about Neewollah which is Halloween spelled backwards and with the great weather I know everyone had a wonderful time.

As for me I had to be in Norman on Friday so I missed the big music show. The party I started at Balfour’s on Campus Corner is growing as the Sooner football team continues to win. It was another fun time and my next appearance there with Silver Shoes Joe Washington is Friday, November 11^th, hope to see you there the day before Baylor Game. We will be at Balfour’s from 2-4 PM and once again Bob Stoops’ restaurant Louis’ Grill will be supplying free food. You really never know who might drop in.

After Friday’s gig, I was booked for two days at the Oklahoma City fairgrounds for a book signing at the big Grand National Gun and Knife Show. If you’ve never been to the fairgrounds, it is a huge venue with numerous buildings for all types of events and it looked to me like every building had something going on as all the parking lots were full. In the big Jim Norick Arena, the weeklong United States Team Roping Championship was in full swing. Friends, I found out that these cowboys come from all over the United States and Canada to try and win a piece of the $5,000,000 prize money that’s up for grabs. The competition is a lot of fun to watch and if you’re interested in going, the event is held in October every year in Oklahoma City.

Still on the move, Monday found me in Pawhuska at the grand opening of Ree Drummond’s new Mercantile. The waiting line was at least one hundred deep most of the day as people came from all around the country to check it out. These visitors also got the chance to explore some of the other neat shops in town. Across the street from Ree’s place is Osage Outfitters which is owned by Joey and Callie Lee. You’ll recognize the store by the twelve saddles they’ve got sitting out front. Inside is wall to wall cowboy merchandise, from clothing to boots, artwork to toys. This young couple has it all located in an old historic building right on Main Street. Right next door I found another interesting store full of artwork that caught my attention, particularly the work of an artist named Carolyn Mock. Mock is from Bartlesville and her paintings of animals look so natural you can almost hear their sounds.

Still another interesting shop is Big Country Pawn and Supply. At first glance you can tell this is not your average pawn shop and with all the metal artwork on display it looked more like an art gallery. You will need some time to browse through everything they have on hand so check it out along with the other little shops in Pawhuska. I’m sure you’ll find something you’re looking for.

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

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For all of you who have been following my project, I’m excited to announce that a new documentary “Footprints in the Dew: The Last Ten Tapes” has just been completed and will have several showings in November. The documentary features never before seen interviews with key characters in the unsolved (until now) murder of leading Oklahoma rancher E.C. Mullendore II, including Chub Anderson.

Scheduled screenings:

November 15th: The Greg Theater, Sedan, KS 7PM  $12 per person For tickets call: 620-725-3408

November 17th: The Poncan Theater, Ponca City, OK 7PM $12 per person. Tickets at the door

November 22nd: The Constantine Theater, Pawhuska, OK 7PM $12 per person. Tickets at the door

November 29th: The Tulsa Historical Society, Tulsa, OK 7PM Tickets at:  www:eventbrite.com/film-showing-footprints-in-the-dew-tickets-29048711478

I’m heading over to Pawhuska in the morning to see all the activity!

Welcome back. With the grand opening of Ree Drummond’s, or as millions know her, The Pioneer Woman’s new Mercantile on Main Street in Pawhuska, OK, my friends there tell me that thousands are expected to flood the town starting on October 31^st. As there are few motels in Pawhuska itself, the overflow to the surrounding communities should be a boon to all the local economies. I think area museums and restaurants will be benefiting and as you know downtown Bartlesville is looking pretty good and should be an attraction as well.

According to The Pioneer Woman website, this project has been several years in the making beginning when Ree and her husband rancher Ladd Drummond purchased an old building in Pawhuska in 2013 and began renovations. The first phase was completed in 2014 and included a large event space and offices for the couple’s numerous enterprises. The second phase was the development of the Pioneer Woman Mercantile which will encompass a retail store showcasing Ree’s extensive line of home goods, a bakery, deli and coffee bar. There will also be an online store.

In addition to the Mercantile building the Drummonds also purchased the former Alco facility in Pawhuska which has been refurbished to serve as a warehouse for the store and online operations. Needless to say, all of these activities have also created a hiring boom in the area.

A true treasure for a small town Ree Drummond is best known as a blogger, author and cooking show host but she is also a wife, mother and know soon to be the director of a major retail enterprise. If you are among the millions who follow her website as well as her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts you probably know all this but back in the mid-1970s when I first met her it was a different Ree Drummond who lived in the Kenilworth addition of Bartlesville. This section of town was just being developed in an area of large estate like properties such as H.C. Price’s home and Shin En Kan which was just across the street but going south there were few homes. Once it was established Kenilworth became an upscale development, attracting Phillips’ executives and well known families like the Tylers (heirs to the Dewey Concrete Plant) and the Mullendores.
I was a young man fresh from dropping out of college and I was working for Dunlap Builders on the construction of Dr. Burris’ new home which was right next door to Dr. Bill Smith’s house who happens to be Ree’s dad. As I remember Ree was a very happy little girl but it was her brother Mike and I who bonded. Little did I, Mike or her folks know what a big impact this small girl would make in the world. If by some chance you don’t know who the Pioneer Woman is yet, you might take a little drive to Pawhuska in the next few weeks and check out her new store. You won’t need an address, just look for the crowds.

My sources also tell me that Ree has just purchased some property at the intersection of Highway 75 and Price Road for an outlet store and I’m betting that it will be open by Christmas so we may have a little Pioneer Woman madness coming here in Bartlesville too.

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

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I was recently traveling in the western part of the state…

Welcome back. This past weekend Joe Washington and I had quite a party on campus corner in Norman with some of the many fans who consider Joe to be the greatest running back in Oklahoma history. We were both autographing books but Joe signed anything people brought to him. Footballs, hats, shirts, towels and baby clothes, Joe gladly signed them all, posing for dozens of photos in between. Several other well-known players dropped in and before I knew it we had a whole team of past players along with several other current OU athletes, both men and women. Bob Stoops’ restaurant, Louie’s Grill, which is next door to Balfour’s, provided free hors oeuvres. If all this sounds like fun, Joe and I are going to do it again on Friday October 29^th which is the day before the Kansas game and once again you’re all invited. There will be free food, past ball players, music and fun for all I guarantee. Hope to see you there.

The party ended about 5 for me as I had to drive to Woodward which I figured was about half way to Guymon, Oklahoma where I was scheduled to for a radio interview at 8 AM Saturday morning. Woodward is the largest town in a nine county area and it is located in an isolated part of Oklahoma. European settlers came to the area in the mid-1800s and at one time Woodward had the most important cattle shipping depot in Oklahoma Territory.

Of course a number of Indian tribes were the first to enjoy the boiling hot springs in the region including the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Cheyenne and Arapaho but that was before the U.S. Army built Fort Supply. As it happened, a young Lt. Colonel named George Armstrong Custer was stationed at Fort Supply during the early days of his career. There were many outlaws in the area including Bill Boolin and Bill Dalton who robbed the Woodward train station. Through the years other famous people came to Woodward as well. Charles Lindbergh made an emergency landing here in 1934, staying for two days while another plane was sent for. During a major drought in 1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower flew in to inspect the disaster. At night the sky outside of town is lit up with lights from hundreds of wind turbines and oil and gas rigs. Woodward also boasts the largest deposits of Iodine in the world. The town has a population of 12,000 and in my opinion it is a neat place to visit.

Two and a half hours west along the George Nigh Northwest Passage lies Guymon which was my destination for the rest of the weekend. One of the first things that caught my attention about the town was the rodeo grounds and the fact that they hold the fifth largest outdoor rodeo in the country which draws elite competitors on the PRCA rodeo circuit. I learned Guymon has a diverse economy with farming, livestock production, manufacturing and of course, oil and gas. Although many consider the town to be out of the way, I found the folks in Guymon are very hospitable and enjoy their place on earth. It is another interesting place to visit and there are lots of highway motels that are quite reasonable. I think you might like it as well as I did.

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

More travels in southeast Kansas. I’ve spent this past weekend in Guymon so I should have a story for you about that soon….

Welcome back. Over the past few weeks I have found many historic treasures along the roads of far southeast Kansas. In Sedan this past week I found another one. Want to see some housing from the early 1930s and 40s that looks just like when they were built? Sedan, Kansas would be a good place to start. Driving around town I found that the residents here are really proud of their past and do an extremely good job of keeping up the old houses. Throw in a couple of good eating places that I also checked out and it looks to me like this old Kansas town is definitely worth a visit just about any day of the week.

A few miles east of course is where Charles Ingalls and his family settled in 1869 which at the time was Osage Indian territory. The Ingalls family stayed for just four years and by the 1920s the land belonged to the Houston family who used it as farmland. Then in 1935 Charles Ingalls daughter Laura published her book Little House on the Prairie and I’m sure you know where I am going by now. Located 12 miles south of Independence, just off highway 75, the house is now a popular tourist destination visited by thousands each year. Over time the book spawned a beloved TV show that is still in syndication and a museum near the homestead.

Brigadier General William Kurtis and his wife Wilma Horton Kurtis began giving free tours of the property to encourage people to read Ingalls’s book and eventually they purchased the land. In 1976 a replica of the original one room cabin was constructed on the site. It’s a place I discovered along with the Little House museum in Independence where the heirs of the Kurtis family told me that people come from around the world to see where the scenes in the book took place.

On another note, if that Kurtis name sounds familiar it might be because it’s the same Bill Kurtis of radio and TV fame whose family now manages the homestead. I’ve visited with Bill in the past and he is mentioned in my book, Footprints in the Dew. Bill has been active in the Sedan community for as long as I can remember and as you can imagine he is also a very personable guy. On this trip I also met his sister Jean Kurtis Schodorf who is equally involved in the community and is running for State Representative in that district.

After a little research I learned that the Little House on the Prairie and the museum are registered not-for-profit organizations dedicated to preserving the history of the Ingalls family homestead. This is another spot that is well worth a drive and friends its free but you’d better hurry, the homestead closes October 31^st for the season. Call (620) 289-4238 for all the scoop.

This coming week starts for me in Norman, Oklahoma where the Oklahoma Sooners will be playing Kansas State. Balfour’s, the home of OU memorabilia, will be hosting me and silver shoes Joe Washington for another book signing this Friday from 2-4 PM. This will be my second gig at Balfour’s with Joe and you never know who might show up. Balfour’s is located on campus corner where the pre-game party takes place Friday and you are all officially invited.

If you are into photography you are in luck because the Oklahoma State Institute of Technology is holding their annual photography exhibit in the Lyon Gallery at the Bartlesville Community Center. I’ve been to this show several times and I’m always impressed by the range of subject matter and the high quality of the images. The show will be up throughout the month of October and folks, it’s free to attend.

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

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Welcome back. As I found out this past Saturday, the drive into Longton, Kansas is beautiful from any direction you take. I attended Longton’s fall festival and am happy to report that this little town of 348 friendly folks was well worth the trip. The town was named after Longton, England and you can tell from the historic downtown that this was once a thriving community.  There’s a beautiful old bank building right on Main that is now a cool little bar called BK and other similar structures next to it that give you an idea of what life was like here in the 1920s and 30s.

The next town over is Elk City which is another small town of around 325 that was founded in 1868. One of the main attractions in town is an 857 acre park on the east sore of the city reservoir which offers boat ramps, a swimming beach, camping and hiking trails. Like Longton, this is a quiet, scenic spot and everyone I spoke to in both communities said they loved living in towns where everyone knows and looks out for one another.

Down the road a piece farther is Elk Falls which bills itself as the world’s Largest Living Ghost Town. With fewer than 200 year around residents, Elk Falls comes to life in the summer when several tourist oriented businesses open up and people come to see the scenic waterfalls on the Elk River. Elk Falls was also the last home of the famous black educator Prudence Crandall who opened the first academy for young black women in New England.

With that said, if you are looking for a day trip in this general area, you might want to check this out. Sedan, which is in the general vicinity of these communities, will be holding the 7^th annual Heritage Festival this Saturday.  The festival takes place in the City Park Fair Building and I understand from the organizers that they expect over two dozen vendors as well as artists and musicians and friends it’s all free, just like the festival in Longton. If I have half as much fun there as I did in Longton it will be time well spent. Hope to see you there!

Traveling the country roads of Kansas I am reminded of the many difficulties early pioneers faced settling this part of the country. Harsh weather, rough terrain and outlaws were just a few of their challenges. Of course there were no convenience stores and when they needed supplies or shelter, danger lurked.  In 1873 several travelers disappeared from this exact part of Kansas where I have been exploring. They vanished without a clue and the people who were responsible were never caught. This is regarded as one of the first known instances of a serial killing and it is widely believed that members of the Bender family were to blame. The Bender daughter was said to have the looks of an angel and it is thought that she lured travelers in only to be finished off with a sledge hammer blow to the head from Pa.  The brother who was muscular and said to be a bit simple and the mother who by all accounts was kind “acting” also participated in robbing and murdering these unlucky people. If you want to learn more, a new film about the Bender family has just premiered in Wichita and will be shown at the Cherryvale History Museum on Sunday, October 16^th. For more information call (316) 258-4247.

In the next couple of weeks I will also be bringing you news of another film being shot in the area that you might find interesting.

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

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