Stroud Community In Action (SCIA) and AVEM recognized City Manager Bob Pearman its 2022 Man of the Year for his commitment to the Stroud community and the excellent job he is doing as City Manager.
SCIA Co-Chairs Alfreidya Webster and Clara Hodgens hosted a reception for him on Sunday at First Baptist Church’s fellowship hall. Attendees enjoyed Bob’s favorite pie, coconut cream, and he was presented his very own pie to take home.
Clara Hodgens gave an overview the many things Bob has accomplished, along with his staff, since taking over the helm of our city. She mentioned, in her tongue and check way, some improvements he might be proposing for the future such as bridges across the railroad tracks so we don’t have to wait on the train to pass, all citizens late on their utility payments will be forced to adopt one of Stroud’s feral cats and a statue in Ed Smalley Centennial park of a city manager which would be placed next to our future bugle boy statue.
Instead of playing reveille this statue would play “whistle while you work.” Bob assured everyone in attendance that we wouldn’t be seeing those items on the City Council agenda any time soon.
Sunday my mom, Andrea Flatt Thompson and I were having lunch and ran into Stroud graduate Pam Miller Xitco. She and her husband currently reside in San Diego but Pam graduated, along with Andrea, from Stroud with the Class of 1988.
She was back in her hometown visiting for the holidays. Pam is the daughter of former Stroud resident Nancy who now resides in Arkansas and Stroud’s very own Bruce Miller.
My mom was Pam’s French teacher in high school. Even though Mom taught English, also, her former students always comment about their time spent in French class. As with many of mom’s students, Pam quoted one of the sentences she learned in class, “Parlez-vous Francais” which means “do you speak French” and seems to be the one phrase all students remember.
I dropped Andrea off at Unique Market later that afternoon and Billy Hicks, Jr. came in to get his dad a chocolate shake. I have known the Hicks family since I was a little girl. Billy’s mom, Mary Jo Hicks, was my mom’s hairdresser for years and we all attended church together.
Billy and I visited a bit and as he was going out the door, he told me to tell my mom hello and he, too, brought up her French class. He said, “tell your mom the only thing I remember from French class was Becky Smothers legs. We both had a good chuckle.
As I was leaving town to head back to Tulsa Sunday evening, I was turning right on to Main Street off 3rd Avenue when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bright light to my left.
I turned to see what it was and noticed it was the new neon sign on Main Street. The sign was for our latest Route 66 attraction, a new museum. A newcomer to Stroud, Steve Brant bought the Ballard building and remodeled it to house his museum.
I tried to contact Steve to get a little more information but was unable reach him before the paper deadline. I will try to fill you in on the details of the museum next week.
I checked the Stroud Happenings and Functions Facebook page and there were no community activities listed for this week. Tuesday was the last day for school until after Christmas break so athletic competitions are probably on break, also.
My dear friend and fellow 1974 Stroud graduate David Griebel’s granddaughter, Jocelynn Mitchell, has written a book titled The Book of Ellie about her pug dog. Her mom, Alicia Mitchell, illustrated it. You may purchase it on Amazon. I just ordered one for a Christmas gift so be sure and check it out. Just another reason to be Stroud Proud.
Christmas falls on a Sunday this year and it is the first time it has done so since 2016. I read an interesting on- line article from the New York Times titled O Come All Ye Faithful Except When Christmas Falls on a Sunday. Logically that seems like the right day for it to fall on since it is the day we celebrate Christ’s birth. The article stated though that Christmas morning and Sunday morning are sort of in tension with each other. It also commented that most people who are church goers think of Christmas morning not as a religious time but a family time. Brother James Bond at First Baptist Church said someone told him maybe 50 would attend Sunday morning but he says he’s planning on a crowd of 100. I know when Christmas isn’t on Sunday many churches hold Christmas Eve services and attending together is often a family tradition. However you choose to spend Christmas Day, take time with your family to remember “it is the day of our dear Savior’s birth.”
Last minute shopping means local shopping. The weather is predicted to be extremely cold with a chance of snow this week so it’s probably best to finish up those last minute Christmas list requests right here in Stroud, OK. Thank you for choosing to shop local first this past year and on behalf of all Town Talk volunteers, we wish you a Merry Christmas!