A look back at the fair

It was good to see more school kids and people out at this year’s Pottawatomie County Free Fair which wound up Saturday evening at the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center in Shawnee.Late August and early September each year are the months county fairs are held throughout Oklahoma.

Football story

Way back when the earth was young, I got my first newspaper reporting gig: area sports reporter for the Ada Evening News.I had the time of my life covering sports in an eight-county rural area and got to have to have some interesting up-close and personal experiences.

A Labor Day elimination

Monday this week was of course Labor Day, a holiday for most people. As we often do, my wife Pat and I had decided we would go out for breakfast that morning.We weren’t in any big hurry.

Helping a friend in need

I can remember the days of when heading out to fish or going hunting were simple.All you needed was a fishing pole or two and some bait or if hunting, was a gun, some shells and a vest.It’s not quite that simple these days.

Letter to the editor

Dear Editor, We are writing to express our profound gratitude to Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, House Speaker Charles McCall, and House Appropriation and Budget Chairman Kevin Wallace for their roles in securing the most significant state investment in adult and child victim services in...

Bum weekend

It started when Kindra came home from work Friday with a hacking cough and feeling achy and tired.She felt progressively worse through the night and decided she had a sinus infection or maybe a summer cold.

Hank Quilliams

Kindraand Iwentto the exotic reptile show a couple of weeks ago at the Shawnee Expo.It was a generally creepy place, with many people walking around with pythons draped over their shoulders and necks and row upon row of little snakes for sale.But there were some warm fuzzies, too.

Helping a friend in need

The other night I received a call about 8:15 from a good friend. When I asked him how he was doing, he told me, “Not very good.” I could tell he was crying and asked what was wrong.He said his daughter had overdosed on drugs and that he had found her dead earlier in the day.

Good move by Meeker board

Meeker’s Board of Education took decisive action this week when its members voted unanimously in directing School Supt. Jeff Pruitt not to follow memorandums from the State Department of Education regarding its Bible mandate.In essence, the board told State School Supt.

Connecting the past and present

Pat and I had our grandson Liam stay with us part of this past weekend. He is 5½ and about to turn 6 the last day of August.