I attended a great meeting last week hosted by Jon Lowry and Lana Shafer of AVEM Health Partners, our local hospital management company.
It was a monthly meeting in a series we have been having with regards to an action plan for Stroud.
The purpose of the meetings is to prioritize goals for our community and then plan strategies for obtaining those goals.
It’s exciting to talk about ways to move Stroud forward in lots of different areas. Those attending were the hosts as well as Clara Hodgens, Sheri Ripley, David Smith, Angie VanDenbark, Ed Dyer, Aleta Smalley, Julie Bivin, Amy Shields, Holly Thompson, Bob Pearman and Andrea Thompson.
Stroud has wonderful things coming its way!
Thank you to Brian and Kindra Blansett for all the hard work they put in on our “Tribute to Veterans” in last week’s paper.
It was great to see who had served in our multi-county area. Go ahead and send your veteran’s picture to the newspaper at brian@ tricountyherald.com.
It’s not too early to get it in so that your loved one is honored next year. Thank you to all those who purchased ads and for those that purchased and displayed “Thank You Veterans” yard signs.
Also, thanks to Representative Kevin Wallace and Senator Zack Taylor for their support of our veterans and the work they do for our area.
The Stroud Chamber of Commerce has announced its Christmas Parade plans. This year the parade’s theme will be “The Ugly Sweater Christmas Parade.”
It will be held on Saturday, December 4th and will start at 6:00 p.m. Refreshments and entertainment will take place at the Route 66 Pavilion before the parade at 5:30 p.m.
Everyone is encouraged to wear an ugly Christmas sweater. If you would like to register a float or group to participate, please private message the Chamber Facebook page.
Last Saturday Gary and Randa Lea (Weatherford) Hohweiler hosted an open house for their cabin which sits on the same property as their home south of Stroud.
They restored the cabin a few years back and were celebrating the cabin’s 130th anniversary. Randa told me it is the oldest cabin in the state and was built in 1891. It’s just another great “claim to fame” for Stroud.
We had to say good-bye to two former Stroudites this past week. Mary Fletcher Baker passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. Mary was the daughter of Joan Farmer, and her grandmother was long-time Stroud resident Edna Brown. I remember as a kid the Fletcher girls, Ann, Jane, Mary and Martha coming to Stroud to spend some time with their grandmother each summer.
We Stroud girls dreaded seeing them come to town because they were so pretty and all the boys in town seemed to only have eyes for the Fletcher girls.
They also had one brother, Ken. Mary was married to Randy Baker, who also died from cancer several years ago. Randy was the son of locals Larry and Donna Baker. Another Stroud alum, Jackie Henderson, also died this past week. Jackie graduated from Stroud in 1972 and was a lineman on the State Championship football team along with my brother, Bruce Smalley and cousin, Tommy Miller.
He was currently living in Perkins. Their hometown offers condolences to their families.
It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week and the end of 2021 is just around the corner. Be sure to visit our local grocers and restaurants for all your Thanksgiving needs.
They are anxiously waiting to serve you.
Have a great week and thank you for choosing to shop local……………..first!