Ponca City, We love you

A Tour of Chilocco Indian Agricultural School

2010-11-22T09:27:12-08:00

On Saturday November 20, My wife and I attended a book signing with Ponca City writer Kim Brumley in Arkansas City for her new book "Chilocco: Memories of a Native American Boarding School" and as part of the event Chilocco Indian Agricultural School was open all Saturday afternoon for visitors to tour the campus.

The school closed in 1980 but we had a chance to talk to Native Americans who had attended school at Chilocco and they told us that during the time period they attended, the school and its employees respected the Native American cultural beliefs and allowed students to speak their languages. Around 1955 the Indian Club was established and it allowed students to practice their beliefs and was open to any student who wished to join.

I've heard of Chilocco all my life but in sixty years I had never seen it, so we took this opportunity to do a three hour walking tour of the campus and photograph it. Take a look at a selection of our photos of Chilocco on Flickr. Here is a short history of the school from Wikipedia.

Chilocco Indian School was an agricultural school for Native Americans located in north-central Oklahoma from 1884 to 1980. It was located approximately 15 miles north of Ponca City, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border. The U.S. Congress in 1882 authorized the construction of a non-reservation boarding school in Oklahoma. Major James A. Haworth, first Superintendent of Indian Schools, selected a site along the Chilocco Creek. The school opened in 1884 and provided vocational education to Native Americans. As the school expanded, additional structures were added in 1893, 1899, 1903, 1909, 1923, 1931 and 1932. In the 1960s, several of the older buildings were demolished to make room for a new dormitory and machine shop. The school's facilities at one time included more than 100 buildings, including a dining hall and hospital.

The curriculum at the school focused on agricultural trades, including horseshoeing and blacksmithing, but also included building trades, printing, shoe repair, tailoring, leather work, and in later years plumbing, electrical work, welding, auto mechanics, food services and office education. The Chilocco School closed in June 1980 when the U.S. Congress ceased funding. In the school's 1980 yearbook, Superintendent C. C. Tillman wrote, "Chilocco is another in a long list of broken promises."

The school's land was granted land interest to five local tribes as the Chilocco Development Authority; the Kaw Nation (.10 mineral interest), the Otoe-Missouria Tribe (.10 mineral interest), the Pawnee Nation (.10 mineral interest), the Ponca Nation (.10 mineral interest), the Tonkawa Tribe (.10 mineral interest) and the Cherokee Nation (.50 mineral interest) hold no surface interest after the school closed. Between 1989 and 2001, the property was leased to Narcanon, which operated a substance abuse rehabilitation center at the site. As of 2008, the property was vacant.

The campus is really huge covering over 8,000 acres. All of the original buildings on the campus are constructed out of limestone quarried from the property. Most of the damage to the properties appears to be roof damage and the buildings themselves are very imposing, enduring, and lasting. There is a good story and map of Chilocco at Abandoned Oklahoma.

Enjoy the photos.

All Photos by Hugh Pickens Creative Commons Licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

What Makes People Love Where They Live?

2010-11-18T07:22:20-08:00

What makes a community a desirable place to live? What draws people to stake their future in it? How does our community of Ponca City rate as a attractive community to live in and what does this mean for the future of all of us who live here?

A new study by the Knight Foundation shows that there are three primary drivers that create emotional bonds between people and their community and they are consistent in virtually every city. Interestingly, the usual suspects — jobs, the economy, and safety — are not among the top three drivers. Rather, people consistently give higher ratings for elements that relate directly to their daily quality of life: aa community’s openness to all people, opportunities for socializing, and an area’s physical beauty. But the most remarkable conclusion of the three-year Gallup survey of 26 US cities, is that the communities with highest levels of resident attachment — a person's passion for where he or she lives — also had the highest rates of GDP growth over time.

According to the study there are three qualities that are leading drivers for attachment to a home city: how accepting a community is of diversity, its wealth of social offerings, and its aesthetics. Let's look at these three factors one by one.

Openness
Matt Thompson writes that according to the study, the number one trait in determining residents' attachment to a community is openness. To get at this trait, researchers asked whether the community was a "good place for" different groups of people - senior citizens, racial and ethnic minorities like our Hispanic residents, Native Americans and African Americans, families with kids, gays and lesbians, college graduates, and immigrants from other countries. Unfortunately, Openness is the most difficult to improve. "After all, civic leaders can fix up highways and freeways, create parks and bike trails, make housing more affordable, encourage the development of fun nightlife corridors, and work to lower crime - we have recognized public policy levers to address all of these community needs," writes Thompson. "But how does a community make itself more welcoming? Laws and policies can only go so far in addressing this perception."

Social Offerings
Researchers asked residents questions about how fun and social their communities are - Is there vibrant nightlife? Is it a good place to meet people and make friends? How much do residents seem to care about each other? When the study talks about social offerings, it means offerings for residents from a number of demographics, not just the young, single urbanites that we think of when we hear words like "nightlife." We need to ask ourselves what Ponca City has to to offer people of a wide range of ages, marital statuses and incomes?

Aesthetics
An area's aesthetics are one of the first things we talk about when we say why we love a place. It means how not just the area's parks, playgrounds and trails and but how residents rate the overall beauty and physical setting of their hometown. It turns out a pretty city is a lovable city.

New Approaches to Attract Business
“This survey offers new approaches for communities to organize themselves to attract businesses (PDF), keep residents and holistically improve their local economic vitality,” says Gallup deputy director Jon Clifton. "Our theory is that when a community’s residents are highly attached, they will spend more time there, spend more money; they’re more productive and tend to be more entrepreneurial." The findings "point to a new perspective that we encourage leaders to consider," says Paula Ellis of the Knight Foundation. "It is especially valuable as we aim to strengthen our communities during this tough economic time.”

Read the whole report for some thought provoking insights on what Ponca City can do to become a more attractive community for newcomers and a more pleasant community for long time residents.

References: Why People Love Where They Live and Why It Matters (PDF). A Report by the Knight Foundation.

Top Photo: Mayor Homer Nicholson speaks at the unveiling of the Pioneer Woman Models at the Marland Mansion. Photo: Hugh Pickens

Bottom Photo: Ponca City residents enjoy a Monster Truck Rally at the Rodeo Fairgrounds in July 2010. Photo: Hugh Pickens

The Pioneer Woman Models Come Home

2010-09-08T07:26:51-07:00

Commissioned by oilman E. W. Marland and erected in 1930, the Pioneer Woman statue stands at the center of Ponca City’s civic life. The result of a sculptural competition, twelve of the world’s leading artists each produced a three foot bronze of their conception of the Pioneer Woman. The bronzes toured the United States and were a sensation in New York City where they were viewed by hundreds of thousands of people at the Reinhardt Galleries and written up in Time Magazine and by the New York Times. Over 750,000 cast votes for their favorite and Bryant Baker’s “Confident” was the selection of the people. The twelve original bronzes from the competition are still in existence and since 1940 have been at Woolaroc Museum located near Bartlesville, 75 miles from Ponca City.

Three years ago, in July, 2007, I published a story on the web about the Models of the Pioneer Woman Statue that are housed at Woolaroc Museum and why "The Pioneer Woman Models Should Return to Ponca City." This year through the efforts of Carl and Carolyn Renfro in Ponca City, Bob Fraser in Bartlesville, and many others, copies of the models came home to Ponca City and were unveiled on April 22, 2010 - the 80th anniversary of the unveiling of the original Pioneer Woman Statue - and are now on display in the Marland Mansion.

When I found out a year ago that the models would be returning to Ponca City, I decided to expand on the article I wrote in 2007 and do some additional research on the history of the sculptural competiiton that E. W. Marland set in motion in 1926 to select which one of the twelve models would become the Pioneer Woman Statue. In addition to researching over 20 primary sources about the competition, another part of my research process included doing in-depth interviews with the principal partipants who brought the models home to Ponca City so I was very pleased that Carl Renfro, Bob Fraser, and John Free each had a lengthy interview with me. After all the effort at research, writing and placing the finished article, I am now at last happy to report that the article I wrote in February, 2010 about the Pioneer Woman Models has been published as a 10-page feature story in the August issue of "Oklahoma Magazine."

The article, published by the Oklahoma Heritage Association, is called "The Pioneer Woman Models Come Home" and the magazine's editor, Gini Moore Campbell, did an outstanding job of editing and laying out the story. If you would like to read the story and don't have access to the magazine, I have put a copy of the article up on the web. Just click on the link above to read it. Again thanks to Carl and Carolyn Renfro, Bob Fraser, John Free, TL Walker, David Keathly, Tom Muchmore, Louise Abercrombie, and Gini Moore Campbell who so graciously and selflessly provided me their invaluable assistance in writing the article and to everyone else who had a hand in bringing the Pioneer Woman Models back to Ponca City. Follow the link and read my article published in the Oklahoma Magazine.

Photos: Cover of the "Oklahoma Magazine" and inside story from the "Oklahoma Magazine"

What are ConocoPhillips Plans for Ponca City?

2010-05-24T17:25:18-07:00

There has been a lot of talk around Ponca City that ConocoPhillips is interested in selling its Ponca refinery to another oil company and getting out of Ponca City especially after ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Jim Mulva met with corporate analysts in October 2009 for the ConocoPhillips Q3 2009 Earnings Call and announced that the company's capital budget would decrease by about 12 percent in 2010 and that ConocoPhillips planned to divest $10 billion in refining, exploration, and production assets in a bid to improve its financial position.

At the earnings call on October 29, Mulva was asked specifically about the possibility that ConocoPhillips might divest itself of some of its refineries and Mulva said that the company was "going through a more strategic assessment [of its refineries] because there are some that are less sophisticated. We will think long-term when the market gets a little bit better about selling some refineries. We think that is going to be subsequent to the next two years for 2012, 2013 and we have in mind a number of facilities that we think might have some value to someone else."

The Tulsa World and the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise report that Mulva appeared before a packed house at the Bartlesville Community Center on May 21, 2010 to present the annual company update, talk about ConocoPhillips' plans for the future, and clarify the company's plans for Bartlesville and for the Ponca City refinery.

Mulva told his audience that employees in Bartlesville and Ponca City have little to fear. Although ConocoPhillips announced last year that it was tranferring or eliminating all 700 non-refinery jobs in Ponca City, ConocoPhillips plans to keep the Ponca City refinery with it's 750 employees. "We will retain only the largest and most sophisticated refineries," Mulva said. "Ponca City is a large and sophisticated refinery that is important to our refinery portfolio."

Mulva added that he didn't forsee any change in the 3,100 ConocoPhillips employees in Bartlesville, and that there was actually room to accommodate an additional 800 to 1,000 more employees in Bartlesville. "There's no change in our long-term plans for Bartlesville," Mulva said. "It's a very important global support center for ConocoPhillips."

The recent announcement reinforces a statement made in February 2009 at the time that the announcement was made that ConocoPhillips non-refinery employees in Ponca City would be relocated over the next three years. "The refinery in Ponca City continues to be a competitive refinery," said John A Carrig, President and Chief Operating Officer of ConocoPhillips, when he talked to students as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series at the Michael F. Price College of Business. "Like all of our facilities, we are continuing to make investments to enable it to thrive. I don't see any particular change in the outlook for it."

Top Photo: ConocoPhillips Refinery in Ponca City, Oklahoma by Warren Brown Photography. Flickr Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Bottom Photo: Jim Mulva, Chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips by EnergyTomorrow Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Click the above photos to enlarge.

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Standing Bear Looks to the Future

2010-02-09T13:15:09-08:00

My wife and I attended the 2009 Standing Bear Pow Wow hosted by the Kaw Nation, Osage Nation, Otoe-Missouria Nation, Pawnee Nation, Ponca Nation, and Tonkawa Nation and were enormously impressed by this gathering where people met to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American Indian culture and have written a photo essay about the Standing Bear Pow Wow.

[Click on the small photos to enlarge them.]

We recently sat down with TL Walker, the Executive Director of the Standing Bear Foundation, and with Oliver Littlecook, a member of the Ponca Nation who was recently elected to the Ponca Nation Business Council and who officiated as one of the two Masters of Ceremony of the 2009 Standing Bear Pow Wow.

We talked to Walker and Littlecook about the mission of the Standing Bear Foundation, how the Standing Bear Pow Wow has evolved over the years, what goes into putting together the Pow Wow, what the future holds for the Standing Bear Pow Wow, and the role the Pow Wow plays in building bridges between the native American and non-native American communities.

We invite you to read the essay we have written about Standing Bear.

Click on this link to read our essay about the Standing Bear Foundation and Pow Wow.

We Remember

2009-11-10T07:35:26-08:00

On Veterans day our family remembers those who have served.

We remember my father Dale Pickens who served as a radio operator on a ship in the merchant marines in World War Two. My father passed away ten years ago just a few months after celebrating fifty years of marriage with my mother Deloris Pickens.

We remember the service of Jack Clarke, a friend of our family living in Ponca City, who served as a marine at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima in World War Two.

We remember Mark Shields, my wife's uncle who was a concert pianist. Uncle Mark was called up to serve in 1952 and was killed in the fields of combat in Korea.

[Click on the small photos to enlarge them.]

We remember my Uncle Gene Ray Pickens still living in Ponca City with his wife Joyce who was called up in the reserves in 1952 and served in Korea in the 45th Infantry Division - the Thunderbirds.

We remember Jack Vaughn, a friend of our family living in Tuscon, Arizona, who served as an officer in the US Marines in the Philippines in World War Two and later became the second Director of the US Peace Corps.

We remember the service of my Uncle Bill Roberts who lives in Oklahoma City and served in the army in Europe during World War Two. Uncle Bill came home as a master sargeant in 1945 to marry my aunt Lelda in Boswell Oklahoma.

We remember my Uncle Donald Cress who served in the US Navy in World War Two. I want to tell you the story of my Uncle Donald Cress - a man I never met.

I first learned about Uncle Donald when I was visiting my grandparents in Minnesota in the 1950's and saw Uncle Donald's purple heart in my grandparents' bedroom. I asked who the medal belonged to and my mother and grandparents told me about my Uncle and what had happened to him.

Donald Cress was the older brother of my mother Deloris Pickens. He graduated from high school in Geneva, Minnesota in 1941 and after Pearl Harbor he volunteered to join the US Navy. When Donald volunteered, he asked to join the submarine service. "I want to come back from the war whole or not at all," Don told his family.

Uncle Don was sent to New London, Connecticut to train as a radio operator and upon completing his training was sent to Manitowoc, Wisconsin where the USS Robalo was being constructed. Don served as a radio operator on the Robalo (SS 273) under Commander M.M. Kimmel in the Pacific theatre during World War Two. Commander Kimmel was the son of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel who had been Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Kimmel was forced to retire after Pearl Harbor but many historians now think that Kimmel was blamed for the failures of his superiors prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and that his career and reputation were unfairly ruined

Robalo was a Gato Class Submarine whose keel was laid down on October 24, 1942 at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin about 80 miles north of Milwaukee. Twenty-eight submarines were constructed at Manitowoc before the end of the war and they were called "Fresh Water Submarines" because they were commissioned in the Great Lakes. Robalo was launched on May 9, 1943, underwent sea trials in Lake Michigan and commissioned on September 28, 1943. There was no St. Lawrence seaway until the 1960's so the fresh water submarines had to be transported down the Mississippi River. Gato class submarines had a minimum draft of 12 feet but could be transported through Chicago and the 9-foot-deep Chain of Rocks Channel near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers by carrying the submarines in a floating dry dock.

Robalo made her way to the Gulf of Mexico down the Illinois River to the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico then on to Gulfport, Mississippi where she was refitted with reinstalled periscope shears, periscopes, and RADAR masts which had been removed to clear bridges over the Illinois River when it was transported through Chicago. On November 19, 1943 Robalo crossed the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean. With a cruising range of 11,000 miles, Robalo began her journey to her new home port in Fremantle, Australia where she would take up her battle station in the South China Sea.

I spoke to Jim Brenan in Fargo, North Dakota about the Gato-class submarines on November 9, 2009. Brenan served as a mechanic on the USS Chopper, a submarine identical to the one Don served on, and told me that life on a Gato-class submarine was hard. The crew spent months in a very hot, confined space and there was almost no fresh water for the men. Showers were allowed once a month. To maximize the operating range of the submarine to 11,000 miles the ship carried 116,000 gallons of diesel and just 3,000 gallons of water for the crew's consumption. The crew worked three shifts around the clock with each seaman spending four hours on, then eight hours off.

In her first patrol, in the area west of the Philippines, Robalo damaged a large enemy freighter. In her second patrol in the South China Sea near Indo-China she sank a 7,500-ton tanker. The Robalo departed Fremantle on June 22, 1944 to conduct her third war patrol in the South China Sea in the vicinity of the Natuna Islands. On July 2 a contact report from the Robalo stated that she had sighted a Fuso-class battleship with air cover and two destroyers for escort just east of Borneo. No other messages were received from Robalo and when she did not return from patrol, she was reported as presumed lost.

On August 2 1944, a note dropped from the window of a prison cell at Puerto Princesa Prison Camp, Palawan in the Philippine Islands. The note said that it was from survivors from Robalo who were being held by the Japanese. The note was picked up by an American soldier in a work detail and given to another prisoner who contacted Mrs. Trinidad Mendosa, wife of guerrilla leader Dr. Mendosa. From this note and from other sources, the US Navy was able to put together what happened to the Robalo.

"Robalo was sunk 26 July 1944, two miles off the western coast of Palawan Island as a result of an explosion of her after battery. Four men swam ashore, an officer and three enlisted men: Samuel L. Tucker, Ensign; Floyd G. Laughlin, QMlc; Wallace K. Martin, SM3c, and Mason C. Poston, EM2c. They made their way through the jungles to a small barrio northwest of the Puerto Princesa camp. They were captured there by Japanese Military Police, and confined in the jail. They were held for guerrilla activities rather than as prisoners of war, it is said. On 15 August 1944, they were evacuated by a Japanese destroyer, and nothing further is known of their destination or whereabouts. They may have been executed by the Japanese or the destroyer may have been sunk. At any rate, they were never recovered and their note stated that there were no other survivors."

The US Navy lost 3,615 men on 52 submarines in World War Two. Jim Brenan told me that when a ship was lost, all the parents would receive was a telegram - there was no body recovered, no grave, no tombstone. So several years ago, the US Submarine Veterans of World War II decided to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in submarine warfare with permanent memorials to each submarine lost and a plaque with the name of each crew member lost. Each state was asked to “adopt” one lost submarine to memorialize and North Dakota’s was the USS Robalo. A 3,700-pound granite slab was placed in Lindenwood Park in south Fargo with the names of the Robalo’s crewmembers engraved on one side and a brief history of the Robalo on the other side. On July 23, 2005 the permanent Memorial to the Robalo was dedicated in Fargo, the city that had adopted the submarine and its crewmembers lost 61 years before.

"Those that made this commitment and on their eternal patrol, may now rest in peace…"

“Well done Shipmates, Well Done!”

We will never forget you.

Photos:

Memorial Day Parade in Ponca City, Oklahoma.

The Robalo (SS-273) hits the water with a huge splash, during her launching at Manitowoc Shipyards, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, 9 May 1943. US Navy Photos: Navsource

Commissioning ceremonies on the Robalo's (SS-273) deck, 28 September 1943.

Take a look at the photos from the Veterans Day parade in Ponca City on November 7, 2009. Click on each small photo to enlarge it or watch a slide show of the parade. Thanks to Dave May and the Poncan Theater for allowing me to photograph the parade from the marquis of the Poncan Theater.

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"Operation Pioneer Spirit" serves Oklahomans in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan

2009-10-29T09:53:05-07:00

Since 2006 members of "Operation Pioneer Spirit" have gotten together every month to put together "care packages" of personal items including snacks, magazines, phone cards, patriotic pillows, and afghans for the men and women serving our country in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. We got together with Mary Anne Potter, Eva Ballard, Sue Patterson, and Irvaline "Irv" Kennedy at their work space in the Pioneer Woman Museum to talk about how they got started, what their activities are, the response from the field, and what the future holds for their organization.

[Click on the small photos to enlarge them.]

In 2006 Megan Potter went to Iraq and after she had been in country about a week she sent a letter to her mother in Ponca City that said "The PX has hardly anything for the girls, so I'm going to send you a list of things that you can send to me because me and my friends are all in the same boat." Megan's mother, Mary Ann Potter, was reading the letter at the Farmer's Market in the the Pioneer Woman parking lot and Normal Erner came by and said let me see that letter. "Norma pulled seven dollars out of her pocket and said - here you go start something and I'll be right there with you and that's how the whole thing began, " says Potter. "We started in July 2006 and by August 3 had packed our first shipment of 19 boxes."

People started joining in. "When I saw what Mary Ann was doing, I decided I needed to volunteer for this too," says Kennedy. "Our youngest son, Douglas, was over there four times during Desert Storm and then three times this time around." Sue Patterson got involved after one of her grandsons was sent to Iraq. "Our grandson number three was in the Air Force," says Patterson. "He was stationed up in McConnell and they said your group is going to Iraq for six months. I knew that Mary Ann was doing this so that's when I joined in. I was told to go to our Dollar Tree store and take my cart and just start going down the aisles and loading up my cart." Eva Ballard found out about "Operation Pioneer Spirit" through her garden club, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. "Mary Ann said 'We're going to start this thing and I said 'Oh sure.'"

"We have never turned down a volunteer," says Potter. "We've had people who are blind. We've had people here with walkers. American Legion girls. Sunday school groups." Some people shop, some fill boxes, some people address packages - there is always something for people to do. "Mary Ann had me start out just making out the customs sheets," says Kennedy. "I can do that at home. But in spite of my limited mobility, I got to where I was coming down and and putting the names on the boxes of the people who are going to receive them. If there's anything you ever needed to make you feel good, it's to come down here, and help pack these boxes and get them ready to send overseas. Since I can't get around much any more, I maybe get out every 8 to 10 days but that's not the kind of person I am. After I come down here and work, I am good for a whole week."

Originally items went only to Megan's group, but then the group realized the need was greater. "We were sending so many items to Megan that she started a supply room in Diamondback camp in Mousal which was a real hot spot at that time," says Potter. "The soldiers could go in anytime night or day and get all their items and then word got out and somebody said 'I've got a nephew over there' and I said 'give me their name.'"

Soon the group was sending monthly boxes to 225 soldiers. "It's just a Ponca City connection," says Potter. "We don't care where they are in the United States. If they are being sent to Iraq, Kuwait, or Afghanistan and have a grandma or grandpa, or a neighbor, mom, dad, sister, brother - they say 'I know so and so' - that's the Ponca City connection. We have never turned down a soldier." "People will come into the museum, see what we are doing, and give us a check," says Ballard. "There was a fellow walked in here and he handed Mary Ann a hundred dollar bill. He said 'I just read about this in the paper,'" says Potter. "And we have that happen all the time."

What sort of items the the organization send overseas? "We send tooth brushes. We send dental floss. We send hand soap. We send crossword puzzles. We send magazines. We send phone cards. We have sent over 1,500 afghans that the soldiers use to cover themselves when they go out on long missions and sleep in their vehicles or on the ground. We have sent more than 1,000 'patriot pillows' that we make ourselves so that the soldiers can use to rest when they go out on long trips." Another thing the organization sends are beany babies and toys. "I can't tell you how many hundreds of beany babies we have sent to Iraq," says Kennedy. "The service men and women tell us that they give them to children in Iraq and that it helps build positive relationships with the people. We have heard back that you can't imagine the look on some of the kids faces when they receive the first toy they have ever gotten."

The group gets emails and letters back from the soldiers expressing their appreciation and many of the soldiers have come to visit the group when they complete their tour of duty to tell them how much the packages mean to them. "We've had soldiers who tell us they are doing reconnaissance work and we don't even know where they are," says Potter. "I had a soldier say that he was in the middle of a fire fight in Afghanistan and his mouth was real dry. He had put some candy in his pocket and he reached down into his pocket and put the candy into his mouth and he said that it felt like Oklahomans had not forgotten him. Just that little piece of candy that we had sent them - he was in the middle of nowhere but it just kind of reminded him of home. Things like that just bring tears to your eyes and let you know you are doing good work. I just feel like it is one person reaching to another person. They are over there. A lot of them are just young kids scared to death and my daughter says you get very lonely and when they get a package they feel like Oklahomans have not forgotten them."

So how long will "Operation Pioneer Spirit" continue? "This will go on," says Potter. "We will not stop until the last Oklahoma soldier is home."

Photos:

Top: Members of "Operation Pioneer Spirit" pack boxes to send to service men and women in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. From left: Irvaline "Irv" Kennedy (in background), Mary Anne Potter, Sue Patterson and Eva Ballard.

Center: "Operation Pioneer Spirit" has sent more than almost 4,000 "care packages" overseas.

Bottom: The group gets emails and letters back from the soldiers expressing their appreciation and many of the soldiers have come to visit the group when they complete their tour of duty to tell them how much the packages mean to them. Photo of Megan Potter in Iraq.

Take a look at other photos of members of "Operation Pioneer Spirit." Click on each small photo to enlarge it - or take a look at a slide show of the program.

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"Rent" in Guthrie and an Academy Award Winner in Ponca City

2009-10-27T09:26:58-07:00

A few months ago JoAnn Muchmore, director at the Poncan Theater, told me about the professional theater group at the Pollard Theater in Guthrie so earlier this month when I went to the Pollard's web site and saw that they were putting on the musical "Rent" this month, I decided to get tickets because along with "Oklahoma" and "West Side Story" it is one of my favorite musicals. My wife saw "Rent" in Toronto in 1996 when it first opened and we both saw it together at the Nederland Theater in the early 2000's in New York City so we knew what to expect. I was looking forward to seeing how the version put on at the Pollard would measure up against the original cast version. One thing for sure, we knew that at $20 a ticket seeing the show at the Pollard was a no-lose proposition since tickets in New York had been over $175 each.

[Click on each photo to enlarge it.]

We attended the matinee performance Sunday a week ago and we were blown away. Midway through the performance I realized that the ensemble group was not just good, not just excellent, but they were superb putting on a world-class performance. The production put on at the Pollard was as good or better as the production we saw with the original cast in New York City. There are seven major roles in the play and there was not a weak performance in the group. Especially notable were James Michael Avance as "Angel" in his breathtaking dance performance of "Today for You, Tomorrow for me," Alex Hall as "Maureen Johnson" in her performance art piece of "Over the Moon," Lane Fields as "Mark Cohen" in his singing of "What You Own" and his dancing in the "Tango Maureen," and W. Jerome Stevenson as "Thomas Collins" in his solo during the reprise of "I'll Cover You" at Angel's funeral. We walked out of the theater into Oklahoma's late afternoon sunlight expecting to see the lights of broadway.

We sat on the front row, stage left when we saw the show on October 18 and we knew that we had to see the show again so we got tickets for both Saturday's performance on the 24th and tickets to see the Sunday matinee again on the 25th and came back to Guthrie to spend the weekend in a Bed and Breakfast two blocks from the theater. We were not disappointed. On Saturday night we had tickets on the front row again and were sitting stage right and saw a completely different show. Rent is a very complex musical, the lyrics are very intricate and hard to take in and there is so much happening on stage that the change of perspective made seeing the show a second time a different theatrical experience. On Sunday we got tickets in the back of the theater so we see the entire stage and take in the whole show.

After the show on Sunday we got the surprise of our lives. After the two previous shows, my wife and I had stayed behind at the stage door and talked to each of the actors in the play about their performance and told them how good we thought they were. A couple of the actors told us that they had seen us on the front row in the Sunday and Saturday performances and that they could see how much we were enjoying their performances. So during intermission on Sunday, the stage manager sent word to us that the cast wanted us to come backstage after the show. We didn't know what to expect, but the group led us up on stage after the theater was emptied and took a group photo of us with the cast of the show and gave us an autographed poster of the show that had been signed by all the cast members. What a memorable experience.

There is a Ponca City connection to "Rent." Anthony Rapp originated the role of "Mark" in "Rent" and was the only member of the cast to be part of the show during its limited three-week Workshop production at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1994, during it's off-broadway phase, during the broadway production at the Nederland Theater, and as a member of the cast of the film version of the play. After the untimely death of Jonathon Larson, the composer and playwright of the show, Rapp became the unofficial spokesperson for the musical.

During the interim between the Workshop production of "Rent" in 1994 and the off-broadway production in 1996, Rapp was a resident of Ponca City during several months in 1995 playing the role of "Tony" in the movie "Twister" while the movie was being filmed in Northern Oklahoma. Most of the cast and crew lived in Ponca City during the filming of the movie and I have been told that the director of "Twister" lived in the guest house behind my home during the filming. Rapp writes about Ponca City in his biography "Without You" but I can't say that he was altogether complimentary in his assessment of the filming experience. "Twister turned out to be just a paycheck gig, with no creative fulfillment, whatsoever," writes Rapp. "I was essentially an extra, on the 'bad guy's' team."

But that connection leads us to an Academy Award winner who lived in Ponca City for several months during the same period. Philip Seymour Hoffman who went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the film "Capote" had a substantial role in "Twister" and if you go back and watch the movie you will see his over-the-top performance as a member of the tornado chase team. Hoffman called "Twister" the weirdest movie he ever made and says "That's not to slight Twister. But it is a weird movie. They're chasing tornados." Hoffman adds that he gained a lot of weight during the filming of "Twister" because he had just discovered "that the blockbuster budget extended to the on-set catering, which was free and plentiful."

I've already interviewed a few Ponca City residents about their involvement in the film production but I would be interested in talking to anyone reading this who remembers the 1996 filming. Please send me an email to hughpickens@gmail.com if you have any stories about any of the cast members especially Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Anthony Rapp, or Philip Seymour Hoffman so I can add what you have to say to an article I've been working on about the production of the film.

Be sure and go to Guthrie this week and seeing a terrific production of "Rent." It has three more performances to run before it closes on Halloween night.

Photos:

Top: The Pollard Theater in Guthrie Oklahoma.

Center: My wife and I join the cast of "Rent" on the stage of the Pollard Theater and receive a signed poster from the complete cast.

Bottom: A scene from the movie "Twister" filmed in North Central Oklahoma in 1995 with "Rent" cast member Anthony Rapp and Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman.

A Surprise Announcement from Silvan Zingg

2009-10-15T22:12:19-07:00

Another wonderful performance tonight at the Poncan Theater this time by Silvan Zingg, the internatationally famous boogie woogie piano player who appeared at the theater only because one of his childhood friends, Martin Stucki, has made his home in Ponca City where he raises A1 Savannahs, the largest pet cat in the world. Silvan is godfather to one of Martin's children and used to play with Martin in concerts in Europe.

[Click on the small photos to enlarge them.]

Silvan told the audience that he had been busy all day and had played at the High School, at Westminster Village, and at the Marland Mansion and that he was very impressed with Ponca City especially how the city has preserved its historic buildings. He even joked that one day he might like to have a home in Ponca City like his friend Martin. At his performance at the Poncan Theater, my Po-Hi 67 classmate Gary Miles furnished the piano for the concert and Gary talked about how the proceeds for the concert are going to Ambucs to help disabled children regain their mobility.

Highlights of the evening included Silvan's renditions of St. Louis Blues, In the Mood, All the Way, and What a Wonderful World. Silvan had the audience singing along with him as he performed "You Are My Sunshine." Then Silvan brought Martin onto the stage and Martin joined him on the accordion as they performed several numbers together including "Beer Barrel Polka," one of my mother's favorites from growing up in Minnesota. Just before intermission one member of the audience gave Silvan a gift of a western style hat that Silvan enjoyed wearing.

But the biggest surprise of the evening was to come after the intermission. Silvan organizes and headlines a Boogie Woogie Festival every year in Switzerland and Dave May made the surprise announcement that Silvan is receptive to organizing a Boogie Woogie Festival in the United States and that he was so impressed with the acoustic quality of the Poncan Theater and with the audience response, that he and Dave are going to organize the festival at the Poncan Theater in 2010. "What better place to organize a Boogie Woogie festival" said Silvan, "than at a theater that was built at the time the music was being created and performed."

Silvan is right about that. According to Wikipedia the precise origin of boogie-woogie piano is uncertain but it was influenced by early rough music played in honky tonks in the Southern United States. Blues historian Robert Palmer writes that the boogie-woogie style bass pattern may have been created in the oil boomtowns of Texas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta in the early 1900's at about the same time Ponca City was starting its oil boom. Texas pianist George W. Thomas published one of the earliest pieces of sheet music with the boogie-woogie bassline, "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues" in 1916. The term "boogie" came into use with Wilbur Sweatman's "Boogie Rag" recorded in April, 1917 just a few years before the Poncan Theater was built.

Anyway Silvan put on a great show and at three hours, it was a long show yet the audience didn't want to leave and at the end of the show they gave Silvan a standing ovation had Silvan perform two encores.Take a look at our photos from Silvan Zingg's concert at the Poncan Theater and click on each small photo to enlarge it or take a look at the slideshow from the performance.

Photo:

Top: Silvan Zingg at the Piano and Martin Stucki on accordion.

Bottom: Silvan and Ponca Theater Executive Director Dave May make their surprise announcement.

Deloris Pickens writes: Remembering the Great Depression

2009-10-07T07:50:36-07:00

I am not the only writer in our family. My sister Gail Pickens Barger writes from her home in Port Neches, Texas and my sister's oldest daughter Amber writes about her life as a Peace Corps Volunteer working in Mongolia. But my mother, Deloris Pickens, a resident of Ponca City since she came to Ponca in 1948 as a telegrapher with the Santa Fe Railroad is also a writer and for the past several years has been writing a family history. Recently she was asked by her church group to talk about life in the Great Depression and she wrote the following essay on what it was like to grow up on a farm in Minnesota in the 1930's. For a different perspective on the problems facing our country and how her generation overcame similar challenges 70 years ago, read Deloris Pickens' essay on the Great Depression.

Deloris Pickens writes: Remembering the Great Depression

We are now in a downturn in our economy that is being compared to the Great Depression which started with the stock market crash in 1929 and didn't really end until World War Two.

We of that generation were not able or did not prepare our children and grandchildren for this event. The bankers and credit card companies were extending credit to people that did not have the ability to pay their bills and a lot of manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. We are now in the process of trying to get our economy and our lives back to what we have perceived as normal.

For those of you who are a generation or half a generation younger than I, let me tell you what I remember about my childhood in the Great Depression.

I was born in 1927 and when I was 1-1/2 years old my Mother contacted tuberculosis and was sent to spend 2-1/2 years in a sanatorium. My oldest sister Dorothy was 16 and a Junior in High School. She quit school to help take care of the rest of the family. My sister Daisy was 11, my brother Lawrence was 8, my brother Don was 6 and I was a year and a half old.

We lived on an 80 acre farm 3 miles from the small village of Geneva, Minnesota. My father was 47 years old at that time. He paid one of the neighbor women to do the washing but otherwise saw that the children had clothes, went to school and of course had to take care of the Dairy herd and the farm work. All the children pitched in and helped.

At that time farmers in Minnesota where I grew up bartered farm work as there was not much money. We bartered eggs for groceries, had a large garden, an orchard and we raised pigs to be sold to Hormel's in Austin, Minnesota.

After my mother came home it was easier on the family. My Mother made most of our clothing and some from flour sacks and some of our clothing was made from things my Uncle Ernest sent to us. Uncle Ernest was a depot agent for the CNW Railroad and had a good job during the depression.

In 1935 my brother Richard was born. My Mother was 46 and my Father was 53 years old. That was the year my parents lost the farm. In 1936 we moved to a rent farm about 10 miles from Geneva. 1936 was a terribly bad winter with a lot of snow. The neighbors came with their sleds and moved us to our rent farm and they had to shovel the snow for half a mile to get the sleds to our new home.

1936 was the same year that my brother Donald broke the snow ahead of me so that we could walk the half mile to school. My brother Lawrence and a neighbor boy took a horse driven sleigh to the small high school in Geneva. They left the horse at the livery stable and this was a 3 mile trip morning and evening. This was 1936 which would be 73 years ago.

We moved to a farm of 120 acres that was located 2 miles south of Hope, Minnesota. My brother Don finished 8th grade at District 76 and I was in 3rd grade. My brother Lawrence and sister Daisy walked across the fields to catch the school bus into Ellendale.

It was a mile from school and I remember during spring thaw that the creek came up over the road. My Dad met Don and I and told us to go back to the railroad and walk the track until we got over the creek. We had to come in the back way and at one point we had to walk the barb wire fence to keep from getting our feet wet.

Things begin getting better starting in 1937. We had a large garden and I helped with picking vegetables, shelling peas, helping around the house and watching my little brother so that my Mother could get the never ending work done. I also started milking cows when I was about 9 years old.

My father was able to purchase a Farmall tractor and plow and he did it on credit using a third of his cream check to pay off the tractor.

We helped our neighbors, we did without a lot of material things, made our own fun by playing cards with neighbors and survived quite well. I learned to sew, embroider, tat and have always been able to entertain myself without spending money.

I can remember when Franklin Roosevelt was elected President. We went to a neighbors house and listened to the radio. The government at that time started a program called WPA (Works Progress Administration) and also the CCC. The WPA helped people earn some money so that they could survive and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) took young men without jobs and made bridges, lakes and other projects. Three things come to mind in our community in Ponca City: Lake Ponca, the High School North stadium and the Bridge over Black Bear Creek going to Stillwater. These programs put people to work and helped us come out of the depression.

Despite the hard times all the children in my family except my oldest sister Dorothy were able to graduate from High School. Don worked for another farmer his Junior and Senior years in High school and I worked for the Superintendent of Owatonna High School in my Junior and Senior years.

Many of my friends whose families owned their farms did not finish school but having a High School education was a high priority in our family. My Mother had been a High School graduate from Marion Iowa in 1907 and had been a school teacher for 5 years. My father born in 1882 finished grade school and his last English book was McGuffys 5th reader and I think they were reading Shakespeare in that book.

This is a strong country and we can put our minds to our problems and come out of this with a better knowledge of how to take care of ourselves. But we have to get back to helping each other and getting our priorities right.

Photos:

Top Photo: Three generations of Pickens women: My sister's oldest daughter Amber, my mother Deloris Pickens, my sister Gail Pickens Barger, and my sister's youngest daughter Grace.

Middle Photo: Jobs disappeared in the Great Depression. Photo taken at the Roosevelt Memorial in Washington DC.

Bottom Photo: The shelters at Lake Ponca Park were constructed during the Great Depression in a government program that gave work to young men without jobs.

All photos by Hugh Pickens

Red Dirt Rangers Appear at the Poncan Theater

2009-10-06T21:40:52-07:00

The Red Dirt Rangers appeared in a free concert this evening at the Poncan Theater courtesy of the Ponca City Arts and Humanities Council and there was a good audience - probably 500 people - and the band was well known to the audience.

[Click on the photos to enlarge them.]

All the members of the band were excellent musicians but I was especially impressed by fiddle player Randy Crouch and by some of the sounds he was getting out of his instrument during the extended jams. I talked to Randy during intermission and asked him how he got the effects - he sounded like Jimi Hendix on the fiddle. Randy told me that he was using a wah-wah with his fiddle just like Hendirx did on his earlier records and added that he considers Jimi Hendix to be one of his main musical influences and that the resemblance between his sound and Henrix's was intentional. Randy told me that he tries not to overdo it with the special effects and asked me if I thought he was using them too much. I told him that I had noticed him using the wah-wah on just two of the band's songs and I thought that was about right.

As an interesting side note the band said that they had played in Ponca City in their second public appearance twenty years ago so to them playing again in Ponca was like a homecoming for them.

Take a look at my photos from the show by the Red Dirt Rangers at the Poncan Theater. Click on each small photo to enlarge it - or take a look at our slide show of the performance.

Ponca City Native Joyce Carol Thomas honored by Writers Hall of Fame

2009-10-05T08:25:58-07:00

Award winning writer Joyce Carol Thomas, the author and illustrator of more than 50 children's books and winner of the National Book Award for Children's Fiction in 1983, was born in 1938 in Ponca City and was the fifth of nine children born into a family of cotton pickers. Although Thomas was about 10 when her family moved from Ponca City to California, she has always considered herself an Oklahoman and her memories of life in Ponca City and the surrounding areas have inspired much of Thomas' award-winning fiction, poetry and plays. Four of Thomas' novels are set in Ponca City: Marked by Fire (1982), Bright Shadow (1983), The Golden Pasture (1986) and The House of Light (2001).

"I grew up in Ponca City, where my family lived on the black side of town," says Thomas. "There was a park dividing the black side from the white side, and to get to the white side or downtown you had to walk through that park. For the first several years of my life I rarely went over to that part of town. So you see, this Oklahoma community was a very sheltered place for me."

Thomas remembers the strength of the African American community in Ponca City. "In my community there were many beautiful moments connected with church and the extended responsibility of adults for children. This was very evident in my life and my friends' lives. Any adult could chastise you if you were caught doing something you weren't supposed to be doing. There was also a sense of pride in the achievements of any child, and everybody shared in that."

Thomas credits her storytelling ability to her mother. "She was a great storyteller," says Thomas. "Every year when we went out to pick cotton in Red Rock, the women told stories at night to entertain us. My mother, who was the lead teller, specialized in really scary stories. I remember that one of the women would slip away and put on a sheet, and when my mother reached the scariest part of the story, this woman would run out of the house in her sheet and scare us half to death."

Thomas was still in grade school when she won her first writing prize — a school essay contest — but Thomas says that the local paper would not include her in the winners because "they just didn't value what black children did. We simply weren't considered to be in competition with the white youngsters." Rather than become angry or discouraged, Thomas preferred simply to face the situation and move on. Since those early days Thomas' fiction, poetry and plays have received recognition and awards. Her first novel, "Marked by Fire," won the National Book Award for Children's Fiction in 1983, Thomas has won three Coretta Scott King awards from the American Library Association, she was Oklahoma Poet Laureate from 1996 to 2000, she won a Teacher's Choice Award in 1999 and now Thomas is being inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame this week at a ceremony at the Philbrook Museum of Art. After her induction, Thomas will be appearing as part of the Oklahoma Landscapes project and will be launching a statewide reading campaign focusing on Oklahoma authors.

The Ponca City News reports that Thomas was in Ponca City in 2001 to autograph copies of her books at Brace Books and to talk about her latest book “House of Light,” that takes place in Ponca City and centers around Dr. Abyssinia Jackson, a regal, nurturing woman possessed of remarkable healing powers. "Part lively novel, part sermon, this story of the black community in Ponca City, Oklahoma, pulls you in with the beat of the prose, the love and sorrow of the people, the changes that transform things," wrote Booklist.

Thomas' first novel, "Marked by Fire," which won the National Book Award for Children's Fiction in 1983 is based on a girl who is struck mute after being raped. "Despite a brutal rape and her subsequent abandonment by her father, the girl is buoyed up by her network of stalwart female friends," writes Jennifer Duke-Sylvester. "She overcomes these difficult events to become a strong young woman and pursue a medical education." Thomas says the book was based on a true story. "Once there was a young girl who got raped in the yard behind the schoolhouse. Before the rape, she'd had beautiful penmanship, but after the rape she couldn't write at all. She had to learn to walk again and to hold a pencil. That something like this could happen must have made quite an impression on me. I'm sure I was thinking, 'Where is God in all this?'"

Thomas balances the darkness in her stories with messages of hope and redemption and her stories have a strong religious aspect. "People will do horrible things to other people, and there is no way to explain it away. So I write about these things as a kind of warning, to tell young people there is a darkness in the world," says Thomas. "I know that life can be ugly, but it also can be beautiful."

We honor Joyce Carol Thomas for her remarkable achievements and take pride in the fact that Thomas uses her years growing up in Ponca City as background for many of her books. Congratulations to Joyce Carol Thomas for her induction into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. Ponca City is proud of you.

Buddy Holly Tribute and Ponca Opry appear at Poncan Theater

2009-10-04T18:22:58-07:00

On Friday night Rave On!, a tribute to the music of legendary '50s rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly appeared at the Poncan Theater opening the new season of musical entertainment. Billy McGuigan, a native of Omaha, Nebraska put on a dynamic performance backed by a seven-piece band that included a three piece horn section.

[Click on the photos to enlarge them.]

The Clarion Ledger reports that McGuigan stumbled on the role of Holly almost by accident. "I'd done acting around Omaha and I had sort of retired ... because nothing was really happening for me and I started playing in a band and thought, well, I'll just be a bar band singer, I guess, for the rest of my life," says McGuigan."I got a phone call one day from a theater here ... to play Buddy and I thought, ah, this would be a cool role - something different. But it ended up exploding. The night we closed the show, we turned away 1,500 people."

McGuigan says that the show, which he began performing six years ago, is not really a tribute show but more of a a one-man show that happens to have a band and considers that his role in the show is one third musician, one third actor and one third standup comic. At thirty-four McGuigan didn't have a direct connection to Holly's music which was recorded over fifty years ago but says he grew into the role. "My dad kind of raised me to think that Beatles music and '60s music was the only music that there was," says McGuigan "So '50s music to me might've been a little cheesy and I didn't think it was tough musically. But as I've played it now for the past six or seven years and seen the reaction it gets, I have fallen in love with Buddy's music and '50s music in general."

One interesting story McGuigan told the audience was that Holly, born in Lubbuck, Texas, was a big John Wayne fan and that the title for one of Holly's most famous songs was taken from a line Wayne delivered several times in the 1954 classic movie "The Searchers" that many consider John Wayne's best role. John Wayne's line from the movie that became a song for Holly: "That'll be the day."

Take a look at our photos from the Rave On show at the Poncan Theater. Click on each small photo to enlarge it - or take a look at our slide show of the performance.

Saturday night we had our second Ponca Opry of the fall season and it maintained it's usual standard of quality. I spoke to the band's steel guitar player Kurt Graber after the show, and asked him if he knew who had originally performed the song Graber performed during the show called "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle" dedicated to Merle Haggard and a reply to Haggard's classic "Okie from Muskogee." Graber told me he had heard it performed by "Pure Prairie League" back when Vince Gill was still a member. I told Graber that the song was originally written and performed by "Big Brother and the Holding Company" in 1970 and appeared on their album "Be a Brother." A little google research shows that the song was written by Chicago/San Francisco bluesman Nick Gravenites while Gravenites was a member of Big Brother. Gravenites was a key figure in both the 1960s psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco and the Chicago blues scene, playing with Muddy Waters and other blues greats. Big Brother and the Holding Company are now remembered mostly for their musical association with gravel-throated rock legend Janis Joplin who began her career as a singer for Big Brother. It's amazing how these little nuggets of information can remain in one's brain for almost forty years and arise as if on command at the appropriate moment.

Take a look at our photos from the Ponca Opry at the Poncan Theater. Click on each small photo to enlarge it - or take a look at our slide show of the performance.

Bes sure and get your tickets for the rest of this season's performances at the Poncan Theater.

Photos:

Top two Photos: Billy McGuigan performs as Buddy Holly at the Poncan Theater in Rave On! on October 2, 2009.

Bottom Photo: Kurt Graber performs "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle" at the Ponca Opry on October 3, 2009.

Ponca Playhouse Looks to the Future

2009-09-24T18:10:28-07:00

Beginning in 1958 Ponca Playhouse made its home in the Civic Center paying $1 a year rent but the city closed the civic center in the early 1990's due to structural concerns and several years later began the centennial project to remodel the building. The Civic Center closed with the production of "Rumors" in the spring of 1994 and the Playhouse began looking for a place to rehearse and perform. Fortunately, the Poncan Theater had just reopened after renovations and offered a vaudeville stage to the Playhouse. Between 1994 and 1996, the Playhouse rehearsed and built sets in a number of locations including Martin's Furniture building which is now Kem's gym. "We were vagabonds looking for a place to land," says JoAnn Muchmore. The Playhouse rented the Poncan Theater stage and produced its first production “Lend me a Tenor” in the fall of 1994 and the Poncan would be its home for theatrical productions for the next 15 years. During this period the Playhouse presented its productions on the stage of the Poncan but used the O'Reilly building on South First St., purchased in 1996 from the Monger family, for rehearsal space, construction of sets, and as a storage area for costumes and props.

[Click on the photo above to enlarge it.]

Now fifty-one years after its founding, this September Ponca Playhouse began presenting performances in the O'Reilly building so that for the first time both the theatrical performances and the work area for preparation and rehearsal would take place in the same location. "We had a dream and I think that one of the big pushes was that we wanted a facility where we would have a home of our own," says Ruslyn Hermanson. "We wanted a space where everything was together and we didn't have to move from one spot to another."

On September 18, I sat down with five members of Ponca Playhouse: JoAnn Muchmore (long time Director at the Playhouse and Director of "Tuesdays with Morrie"), Brian Hermanson (Producer of "Tuesdays with Morrie"), former Ponca Playhouse President Karen Brown, Jose Cervantes, and Ruslyn Hermanson to talk about what it took to get Ponca Playhouse installed and ready to perform in their new space, how the new space will affect the Playhouse's productions, and what the future holds for Ponca Playhouse.

What it Took to Get the New Space Ready

If necessity is the mother of invention, than the looming deadline of the opening of Ponca Playhouse's first play of the season, "Tuesdays with Morrie," galvanized members of the Playhouse to get the space prepared. The amazing thing is that the work on the seats and risers came together so quickly. "The work got done in one month. Three weeks before opening night you would never have dreamed we could do it," says Brian Hermanson. "We were out in the lobby rehearsing and there were twenty-two people inside the theater working so hard they were sweating.," says JoAnn Muchmore. "The actors said one night 'What is plan B? If the theater isn't ready and there is no place for us, what are we going to do?' I told them it would be ready because I didn't want to upset the actors, but I wasn't so sure myself."

The first thing the Playhouse did was put in new bathrooms that were handicapped accessible. "We did that with the help of the Vietnam Vets who did most of the work because they have a policy of promoting handicapped accessibility," says Ruslyn Hermanson. Then came the seats. "Our office manager, Marlene Foxworthy, happened to remember that the Tulsa Performing Arts Center had remodeled," says Karen Brown. "So she got on the phone and found the last remaining seats that had not been used elsewhere. The contractor removing the seats from the Arts Center told us 'We have some seats and if you can come and get them within a week, you can have them.'" Sullivan Trucking provided a truck, a driver, and a helper and about six members of the Playhouse drove to Tulsa, got the chairs, loaded them up and brought them to Ponca City. "The chairs were in pieces, there were three different sizes of hardware so we had to put them together and fabricate missing parts," says Jose Cervantes but what was most amazing was that the risers we had built "fit 108 seats which was exactly the number of chairs that we were able to get from Tulsa," says Brian Hermanson.

As you come in the theater you will see that seats in the theater are arranged in six separate sections with each of the six "risers" self-contained with three levels of seats. The six risers are the crucial piece of the puzzle that made the design of Ponca Playhouse come together. Members of the Playhouse had discussed the design of the theater for 15 years and visited other theaters like "Town and Gown" in Stillwater to get ideas but what the final design came down to was two factors: flexibility and quality of seating. Members of the Playhouse came up with a unique solution that solved both problems. The first requirement for the design of the Playhouse's new performance space was that the Playhouse gain the flexibility to rearrange seating easily to perform different kinds of plays. To meet this requirement each of the six risers was designed so it could be moved anyplace in the room with a pallette jack. "The thing is that we wanted to have a design that was not limited," says Ruslyn Hermanson adding that the seating can be reconfigured in 30 minutes. "We wanted something that could be moved so if we want to have a proscenium stage, we can have it. If we want to have a thrust stage like we are using in 'Tuesdays with Morrie' we can do that. If we want to do theater in the round, we can do that."

The second requirement was that everybody have a great seat and that there be a new feeling of intimacy between the actors and the audience. "Nobody is more than three seats away from the production. Everybody has a great sight line. The actors are having eye contact and actually talking to you and you feel that you are part of the play rather than someone who is hiding in the back of the room," says Brian Hermanson. Karen Brown added that "when we had our open house for picking seats everybody wanted to chose seats in front. They couldn't quite get their head around the fact that now you can see the production just as well from the sides." Another practical advantage of the more intimate setting is that members of the audience can see and hear the play better. "The number of people with hearing problems, as you get over 50 is increasing," says Brian Hermanson. "Now people say after our first production ‘I can hear everything. I can see everything. Even though I have a seat near the back wall I have a great view.'"

The Advantages of the New Space

The ways in which the new space will change the character of the Ponca Playhouse range from the economic, to the artistic, to a change in the way that the actors interact with the audience. "The Playhouse will be better able to weather the hardship of the loss of population in Ponca City by no longer having to pay rent for a performance space," says Karen Brown and the Playhouse can expand their offerings outside of the regular line-up. "We can do dinner theater," says Brian Hermanson. "Whether it be just desert or a full meal, we know that is something our patrons are wanting," says Karen Brown.

Artistically the new space will provide a greater challenge and greater opportunities to the Playhouse's directors. "When JoAnn Muchmore directs a play, instead of just directing her actors to the audience out in front, they are now playing to three or four sides, and this gives her the opportunity to teach us things." says Brian Hermanson. Another advantage to the new location is that it gives the Playhouse more flexibility in scheduling performances. "With so many older people now who don't like to drive at night, I think it would be good to plan more matinees," says JoAnn Muchmore. Having their own space will also allow the Playhouse to have extended runs of their most popular shows. "Musicals generally have more people attending than conventional theater. If we sell out early we can add more performances," says Brian Hermanson. "That's a good problem to have."

Construction of the new space has also been a real unifying experience for Ponca Playhouse and some say that the feeling of accomplishment and pride in putting together the new space is like the feeling when the Playhouse first started over fifty years ago. "We didn't know for sure who was going to show up on a work day. It would just be announced that there would be people down at the Playhouse at this time and day," says Ruslyn Hermanson. "One day twenty-six people showed up to work at the Playhouse. You wouldn't hear people complaining" says Brian Hermanson. "You would hear people inside laughing and having a good time."

What the Future Holds for Ponca Playhouse

"You are going to see some changes behind the stage," says Brian Hermanson. "Right now we don't really have traditional dressing rooms for the actors. Hopefully we are going to be able to expand to two buildings further down the block so we have have dressing rooms and additional work spaces."

Another change will be adding to the infrastructure in the theater. "We want to own our own lighting," says Brian Hermanson. "We want to add our own lighting and a sound booth back in the corner. Right now we are renting lighting because we don't want to make that investment before we have a chance to work with the lighting during a production but our own lighting is something that you are going to see very soon."

From a artistic standpoint the Playhouse may expand in other directions as well. "I think we may want to start doing some different, edgier plays that challenge the audience more," says Karen Brown something that JoAnn Muchmore has argued for in the past. One possibility would be to start a reader's theater on Sunday evenings where readers read from a "script" with reading parts divided among the readers. "There are plenty of sophisticated people in town who may want to see an edgier play, even if it is just on a Sunday night reader's play. We respect our audience and we are not trying to go off on some crazy tangent, but there are ways to serve different audiences now that we have our own space."

So now that the Playhouse has had their first performance in the new space – what is the bottom line? "There has been a tremendous response from the audience" says Jose Cervantes. "We haven't heard a complaint – not about the seats, not about the air conditioning, not about hearing the play. The response from the audience has been overwhelming."

Photos:

Photo 1: Back row from Left: Karen Brown, Brian Hermanson, Ruslyn Hermanson. Front Row from Left: Jose Cervantes, JoAnn Muchmore, Marlys Cervantes. (Click on each small photo above to enlarge it.)

Photo 2 : The playhouse seen from the sound and lighting booth.

Photo 3: Each riser has three levels of seating and the risers can be moved to reconfigure the theatrical space.

Photo 4: The audience as seen from the point of the view of the actors on stage.

Photo 5: The six movable "risers" that provide seating.

More photos of Ponca Playhouse's new space are available online. Click each photo to enlarge it.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to JoAnn Muchmore, Brian Hermanson, Karen Brown, Jose Cervantes, and Ruslyn Hermanson for sharing their insights on the new theater space and to Marlys Cervantes for setting up the discussion.

Ponca City owes a debt of gratitude to the many people who contributed to the new theater space without whose support this never would have happened.

Be sure and get your tickets from the Playhouse to see the rest of this season's plays.

Wanda Jackson and Becky Hobbs Perform at the Poncan Theatre

2009-09-20T06:18:27-07:00

Another good show at the Poncan Theatre last night, this one with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson headlining. There was a good crowd - the bottom part of the theatre was about three-quarters full and there were folks in the balcony so I would say there were about 400 people in the audience. The interesting thing, Dave May told me, is that a lot of people came up from Oklahoma City to see Wanda perform. She has a big following and she doesn't perform that often any more so folks are willing to make a pretty long drive to see her.

Jackson at 72 was still in good voice and put on a good performance. Wanda brought her two granddaughters to the stage and one of them performed a version of Willy Nelson's "Crazy." I especially enjoyed her backup band with Bill Holden and the Nighthawks. Bill was a dynamic guitarist who also does a Roy Orbison Tribute that I wouldn't mind seeing appear at the Poncan at a future date. As I've mentioned before, at this point I would rather see a good tribute show at the Poncan than spend the time and effort to get seats on the 142nd row for the Rolling Stones or U2 when they go on tour.

When I looked Jackson up on Wikipedia it was interesting to find that she began performing inn 1952, when she was 15, after her family moved back to Oklahoma from California and that in 1952 she won a talent contest which led to her own radio program out of Oklahoma City. After graduating from high school, she began to tour with her father as manager and chaperon and often shared the bill with Elvis Presley and at one time briefly dated Elvis while she was on tour with him. During her performance she talked about how one time she found herself in Elvis' bedroom with Elvis singing to her and ladies in the audience swoomed.

The best part of the evening for me though was the supporting act - Becky Hobbs. I had never heard of Becky before but she is a singer-songwriter born in Bartlesville who has written songs for such artists as Helen Reddy, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Shelly West. Her best known song is "Angels Among Us" that charted in 1994 for Alabama. The amazing thing about Becky was that her band didn't show up so she took to the stage and sang and accompanied herself on keyboards putting on a one woman show. The crowd gave her a standing ovation after she performed "Angels Among Us" at the end of her show and brought her back for more. She is another performer that patrons of the Poncan wouldn't mind seeing again - next time with her full band.

After the show my wife and I went out to eat. It was late in Ponca City and one disadvantage of living in Ponca is that there wasn't much choice for a late night meal. Forty years ago there were several all night diners in Ponca City. I remember one I used to go to just west of the Conoco tank farm near where Highway 60 crosses Waverly. I used to eat there every night at 3 or 4 am after I got off work when I worked the night shift on the Rock Island Railroad while I was going to school in the late 1960s. Anyway my wife and I didn't want to go to Perkins or Chilli's so we did what we have done a couple of other times when we're hungry and don't want to go to a regular restaurant - went to the Conoco service station on North 14th up by Lowe's for a couple of hot dogs, a fountain drink, and bags of cheese flavored popcorn (my wife's favorite junk food) and hot barbecued pork rinds (my favorite junk food.) It's a good cheap meal and a nice way to end the evening.

We are going to Tulsa on Sunday morning for a last brunch at the Osage Room in the Gilcrease Museum. Kathleen Kennedy, the owner of the restaurant, has lost her lease and will be closing at the end of the month. Over the years we have had many great meals in the Osage Room and wanted to enjoy one last meal and remember the many times we have enjoyed her hospitality. Luckily Kathleen will continue running Ciao, her Italian restaurant and Jazz club, in downtown Tulsa so we will just start spending more time there instead.

In other news, my wife and I went to Ponca Playhouse on Friday night to see the first performance in their new theatre. Phil Bandy was outstanding in "Tuesdays with Morrie" - it was the performance of lifetime for Phil - one of those roles that very rarely comes around where there is a perfect fit between the role and the actor.

Take a look at my photos of Wanda Jackson and Becky Hobbs from the performance.

Top Photo: Becky Hobbs singing and accompanying herself on keyboards at the Poncan Theatre.

Middle Photo: Wanda Jackson (right) with two of her granddaughters accompanying here and Bill Holden on guitar in the background.

Bottom Photo: My mother Deloris Pickens, daughter Carolina Pickens Jahncke, grandson Keanu Jahncke, son-in-law Jaime Jahncke, and brother-in-law Sidney Toombs celebrating a News Years brucnh in 2007 at the Osage Room at the Gilcrease Museum.

"Patsy Cline" appears at the Poncan Theatre

2009-09-14T04:45:36-07:00

The Poncan Theatre had a fine kick-off for their 2009 fall season of Ponca Opry on Friday. For their season opener the opry featured performances by the "Ponca Opry All-Star Band" with a special guest appearance by Cindy Summers with her tribute to Patsy Cline. Highlights of the evening's show included Dale Eisenhauer singing a duet of "Honky Tonk Angels" with his daughter Kathy Brown and a performance by Rob Loren on the fiddle. My grandfather, Hugh Pickens, used to play the fiddle down in Bowell, Oklahoma and I told Rob after the show that "You play just like my grandfather did, only better."

The most memorable part of the show though was the appearance of Cindy Summers with her portrayal of Patsy Cline. She not only gave a flawless interpretation of the originals but between the songs she provided background for each of them. I was surprised to learn that Cline's signature song "Crazy" had been written in 1961 by Willie Nelson who at time was a clean-cut short-haired young man who went by the name "Hugh Nelson" and that Cline had originally been reluctant to record Nelson's song because she considered it too "pop." Wikipedia reports that Nelson "was a regular at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Nashville's Music Row, where he frequented with friends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller, both unknown songwriters at that time. Nelson met Cline's husband, Charlie Dick, at the bar one evening and pitched the song to him. Dick took the track home and played it for Cline, who absolutely hated it at first because Nelson's demo "spoke" the lyrics to a faster tempo than what Cline later recorded as a ballad. Cline's producer, Owen Bradley, loved the song and arranged it as the ballad it was recorded as. Still recovering from a recent automobile accident that nearly took her life, Cline had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song at first due to her broken ribs, so she came back the next day to record the vocal, which she did in one take. Loretta Lynn remembers the first time Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry on crutches, she received three standing ovations."

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Summers first played the role of Patsy Cline in Wichita, Kansas in 1996 and that that at one time Summers once only knew a single Cline song. "I knew 'Crazy,' but I think everybody knows 'Crazy,' " says Summers. Fans liked how she sang "Crazy" and encouraged her to learn more of Cline's songs and work them into her act. "You can go in about any bar in the world and find 'Crazy' on the jukebox." Summers says her interpretation of Cline's music remains popular because Cline continues to be a legend. "I think great singers are that way just like great movie stars," Summers says. "They don't die because there is something about them that people like to hang on to." There will be three more performances of the Ponca Opry this year on October 3, November 7, and December 12.

There is a tremendous amount of activity coming up next weekend. My Po-Hi '67 classmate Larry Murphy and I are sponsoring Wanda Jackson, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Oklahoma's premier pioneer of rock at the Poncan Theatre next Saturday night. The Pioneer Museum is sponsoring an open air concert behind the museum all afternoon on Saturday in honor of the Oklahoma women of Rock. Also the 35th Annual Fine Arts Festival, sponsored by The Ponca City Art Association, will be taking place at Ponca City Arts Center at the Soldani Manison on Saturday and Sunday. As if that wasn't enough, the Cherokee Strip Barbecue and Chili Cookoff is going to be going on at Lake Ponca on Saturday and the 92nd Annual Kay Country Free Fair will be going on all weekend at the Kay County Fairgrounds in Blackwell. Mayor Nicholson is also going to be having a big auction at his facility on South 1st street starting on Saturday morning that I don't want to miss. I love going to auctions and this should be a good one with lots of tools and construction materials for sale. This is going to be one busy weekend.

You can take a look at my photos from Friday night's performance of the Ponca Opry on Flickr. Just click on any of the small photo images to enlarge them. If you haven't seen it yet, drive by 2301 Donner after the sun goes down. My wife and I have spent the last month on a special project to install lights to highlight the house. We have been wanting to do something like this for a long time and finally went ahead with it when we were a Lowe's and saw that they are now selling florescent spotlights that use only a quarter of the power of regular spotlights for the same illumination. We came up with the placement of the lights and did all the wiring ourselves and I think you will like the result. This week we also got our fountain installed in our front yard with the help of Ed Whitfield and his grandson Jason. Now the challenge is going to be to design and install the lighting, so my wife and I are going over to Tulsa this week to get some ideas on how to best highlight the fountain.

See you next weekend at the auction, the arts festival, the concert with Wanda Jackson, and maybe a few other places as well.

Ponca City Native Kareem Salama Invited to White House

2009-09-03T09:58:23-07:00

I've blogged before about Kareem Salama, the 31-year old country singer born and raised in Ponca City. Although I'm sure my Po-Hi '67 classmate Don Nickles has been in the White House many times, I doubt if Don has ever sung for the President giving Kareem the distinction of being the first performer from Ponca City asked to attend a White House dinner.

Kareem had previously been invited to the White House by President George W. Bush after someone slipped Karen Hughes, Bush's head of public diplomacy, a copy of Kareem's first cd but Kareem was out of the country at the time and unable to accept the invitation.

However Kareem was able to attend President Obama's White House Ramadam dinner. President Obama is not the first to host a Ramadam celebration at the White House. In fact, it has been a tradition to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, since 1996 when then-First Lady Hillary Clinton hosted the dinner for Muslim Americans. President George W. Bush continued the tradition and celebrated the end of the forty day fasting period during each of the eight years he was President. Bush told his guests in 2001, shortly after 9/11 that the Qur’an “has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and literature and science.”

Kareem expressed excitement over meeting President Obama: "I shook his hand, we talked for a minute. He said I could really sing."

"It was unbelievable," Kareem says "I was looking out at the lawn, thinking, 'Wow, no one gets to look from the inside out.' I didn't know the president was actually going to be there."

Kareem is proud of growing up in Ponca City: "I was born and raised in Ponca City, a small town at the edge of Green Country in Oklahoma, but my parents were born and raised in Egypt. When I was young I loved water painting but I was also an amateur boxer for years. I enjoy classical Western poetry but I enjoy classical Arabic poetry as well. I have a degree in Chemical Engineering but now I’m finishing my last year in law school. I like country and blue grass music but I appreciate good R&B music as well."

"Oklahoma, like me, is a place where cultures meet and dance. Oklahoma is a hybrid of Southern, Western and Native American culture and thanks to my mother’s insatiable desire to learn and experience new things she made sure that I and everyone in my family was immersed in all of it. As a child, I went to Indian Tribal Powwows, heard country music artists at the county fair and watched my favorite cowboys at the rodeo every year."

Kareem and my daughter Carolina, who recently received her Ph.d. from UC Irvine and is now teaching at a college in Santa Rose, California, attended Washington Elementary School at the same time. When I corresponded with Kareem by email a few months ago he remembered Carolina and remembered the get-togethers held by Mrs. Radd, a teacher at Washington School who always took a keen interest in students who had lived abroad.

If you haven't heard Kareem perform here is a video of "A Land called Paradise" on YouTube. It's a video that expresses very clearly the love that Muslim Americans have for this country. I had the opportunity to work overseas for many years and for five years I lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, first for ATT helping install and test the nationwide microwave system we built for the Saudi's first national telephone system, and then as an advisor to the Royal Saudi Navy in Jubail.

The year I spent working for ATT in Saudi Arabia was especially interesting because we installed 400 microwave towers across the nation and I probably worked at about half of them. Most of the places we worked didn't even have roads - we had big Suburban pick up trucks with huge balloon tires and just drove across the desert to reach the isolated villages where the microwave stations had been installed. Something I've never forgotten were the astonishing nights I spent in the desert hundreds of miles from the nearest city where the absence of light made looking at the sky on a moonless night feel like you were floating in the middle of the galaxy.

I had a lot of opportunity to meet the people in the villages and my personal experience was that the people that I met were fine people and they were among the most honest and devout people I have met in my life. That's why I am so much in agreement with the sentiments that Kareem expresses in his song.

Our congratulations to Kareem Salama for representing Ponca City as an ambassador to the world. We're proud of you, Kareem.

Photo Credit: Kirk Murray

Copies of Kareem's cd "Generous Peace" are available on his web site.

Life in Ponca City before Home Air Conditioning

2009-07-23T13:38:52-07:00

It has been hot lately but my wife and I were talking to a waitress at Perkins the other night around closing time and I was telling her that as I remember it, this heat is nothing compared to the big drought around 1955 when Ponca City underwent a climate change that made the city seem as dry as the Arizona desert for a few years. You couldn't walk outside without seeing horny toads scurry all around and I remember quite clearly that my friends and I used to catch them by the dozens and keep them captive in water tubs filled with sand feeding them june bugs and ants to keep them healthy.

This was the era before home air conditioning. The only places in town that I remember that had air conditioning were the Poncan Theatre and the Library and folks used to go see a movie or read a book just to get out of the heat. For cooling, we used "coolers" - huge metal boxes that cooled by evaporative cooling. The walls of the cooler were filled with porous wood shavings and a pump circulated water that dripped through the shavings while a 10 horsepower motor sucked air through the shavings and into the house. My bed was right in front of the blast of air from the cooler and I remember that it seemed to cool quite well - probably lowering the inside temperature 5 to 10 degrees and making it quite comfortable during the night. I found out years later that what we called "coolers" were called "swamp coolers" in other parts of the country and in my travels I saw swamp coolers still in use in desert climates in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.

Of course, one reason that coolers worked so well back then was that during the drought, the humidity in Ponca City was about zero so water evaporated readily. It seems to me that up until about 1976, when Kaw Dam was built east of town, the humidity was a lot lower in Ponca City. My mother says that having Kaw Lake so close changed the weather patterns around Ponca City and that the humidity rose a lot since its construction. If someone tried to use a swamp cooler today, I doubt if it would work at all.

I just read an article in the NY Times on how thousands of people today are turning back the clock and living without air conditioning while maintaining a fairly high quality of life. “You live with your windows and doors open, you use fans, drink lots of cold liquids and take it easy,” says Lisa Finkelstein, a freelance editor, who stopped using the semi-functional air-conditioning and heating unit in her rented cottage in Tallahassee, Florida, two years ago, mostly for economic reasons. “You come to realize that winter and summer is going to be kind of a bear but you dress for it, and you enjoy fall and spring very much. What’s interesting is you acclimate to it.”

Those who plunge into a warmer world for economic reasons sometimes find that there are advantages that they hadn’t anticipated. When Genma Holmes and her family put up an awning and fan over their patio — effectively transforming it into their living room, where they spent about three hours a night grilling, playing games and talking instead of going their separate ways — that they discovered the upside of an uncontrolled climate. “We spent an entire summer getting to know our kids by sitting outside trying to keep our electricity bill down,” said Ms. Holmes, who estimated that the family saved $2,100 last summer; they are repeating the experience this year. “It was very therapeutic and we got closer."

That's how I remember it too. Especially down in Boswell, Oklahoma where I went to spend every summer with my grandparents. Nobody thought anything about the heat - it was just how life was. But everybody looked forward to the cool of the evening, just when the sun got low in the sky and the shadows would lengthen and the fireflies would come out. The whole family would go out on the big front porch, sit in the swing, drink ice cold ice tea, and wait for our neighbors to come around and sit down with us to talk about the events of the day. Simpler days and better perhaps - at least in memory.

Photo: horny toad by jared Flickr Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

decaying swamp cooler by DanielJames Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Obama's Mother, Grandparents lived in Oklahoma before Hawaii

2009-02-06T07:38:54-08:00

Barack Obama's Mother lived in Ponca City for Two Years

by Hugh Pickens, February 6, 2009

Caption: Barack Obama with his maternal grandparents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham in the early 1980s when Mr. Obama was a student at Columbia University. Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham, grandmother Madelyn Dunham, and mother Stanley Ann Dunham lived in Ponca City from 1948 until 1951. Click on the photo to enlarge it. Photo: Obama for America

Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas in 1942 and lived in Ponca City for two years while she was a child. An article in the Washington Post says that "she and her parents lived in Berkeley, Calif., for two years, Ponca City, Okla., for two years, and Wichita Falls, Tex., for three years before they ventured to the Seattle area". Wikipedia says that her "family moved to Mercer Island, Washington in 1956" so Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham lived in Ponca City for two years starting in 1948 when she was six years old and she attended first, second and third grades in Ponca City. Beverly Bryant reported in the Ponca City News that Ponca City school records confirm that the family arrived in Ponca City in 1948 and lived in Ponca City from 1948 to 1951 and that Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, attended first and second grade at old Jefferson Elementary School and third grade at Roosevelt Elementary School in Ponca City.

In Barack Obama's memoir, "Dreams From My Father," he describes his grandparents as "stern Methodist parents who did not believe in drinking, playing cards or dancing." The Dunham family was known to be a churchgoing family so we conjecture that the family may have attended First Methodist Church while in Ponca City although this has not been confirmed. The Dunham family would have been a young married couple, she in her mid twenties and he in his early thirties, who had been married for eight years in 1948 with a daughter named Stanley Ann six years old.

Barack Obama's Grandfather Stanley Dunham

Caption: Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham a year or two after he and his wife left Ponca City. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham managed a furniture store in El Dorado Kansas before the war and after he left Ponca City Stanley Dunham worked in Standard-Grunbaum Furniture, a large store in Washington State. While living in Ponca City Stanley Dunham worked as a salesman for Jay Paris. Described as "gregarious, friendly, impetuous, challenging and loud," Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham "could charm the legs off a couch" the New York Times reported.

Stanley Dunham was 30 years old in 1948 when he was living in Ponca City working as a salesman at Jay Paris Furniture. Before coming to Ponca City, Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham had been in the army, volunteering the day after Pearl Harbor and spending the war overseas as an infantryman attached to Patton's tank corps. While Stanley was fighting in Europe, his wife Madelyn Dunham worked on a Boeing B-29 assembly line in Wichita as a quality control inspector.

One man who knew Stanley Dunham well and recognized Stanley's photo as soon as he saw it was former Ponca City resident Bob Casey who worked with Stanley Dunham at Jay Paris' Furniture Store in Ponca City in the early 1950's. Mr. Casey says that Stanley arrived in Ponca City in 1949 and stayed in Ponca City with his family for "more than a year." Mr. Casey says Stanley was a very smart guy with a long face and large shoulders who knew a lot about the furniture business and was one of Jay Paris' top salesmen at a time when the furniture company probably had 6 or 7 salesman.

Mr. Casey, now living in Cranes Mill Texas, says that Stanley knew the technology of furniture, could analyze customers, and was one of the first salesmen to sell furniture as a full concept instead of by the item. "He could sell you a room full of furniture," says Casey. "And he could help you decorate it." Mr. Casey remembers a trip to Wichita with Stanley where they attended one of the first decorating seminars in the area. "Stanley was always working to improve himself" said Mr. Casey adding jokingly that Stanley "was a smart guy who liked to tell you how smart he was." Mr. Casey says he and Stanley Dunham used to joke around together and Stanley once made a bet that Casey couldn't do a specified number of push-ups. "I did the push-ups and surprised Stanley," says Mr. Casey.

Mr. Casey doesn't know exactly when Stanley Dunham and his family left Ponca City because shortly thereafter Mr. Casey went away to attend college at Oklahoma State University. Mr. Casey added that although he knew Stanley Dunham well, he never met Stanley's wife or daughter. "In those days the employees at Jay Paris' didn't really socialize much outside the job."

Longtime Ponca City resident Pat Moore also remembers Stanley Dunham and remembers that the Dunham family lived in an apartment in Ponca City. Beverly Bryant reported in the Ponca City News that the Dunham family lived in homes on West Central and later on North 13th street while they were in Ponca City. Moore remembers that Stanley Dunham was in Ponca City when she and her husband got married in 1950 and remembers that Stanley had a good sense of humor because even after almost 60 years Moore can still remember a funny story with some humorous marital advice that Stanley gave Moore in 1950 before Moore and her husband got married.

Stanley Dunham and his wife Madelyn helped raise their grandson Barack Obama during his high school years, when his mother was living in Indonesia. Barack Obama loved his grandfather who died in 1992 at age 74. In 2008 Obama visited Punchbowl National Cemetery in Hawaii, to pay homage to his grandfather Stanley Dunham.

Barack Obama's Grandmother Madelyn Dunham

Caption: Barack Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham a year or two after she left Ponca City. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Stephen Mansfield writes in his book "The Faith of Barack Obama" that Stanley Dunham and Madelyn fell in love in Kansas and later married on the night of a junior/senior prom just weeks before her high school graduation in 1940. "Madelyn was frequently described by neighbors as different," writes Mansfield. "a gentle word for her eccentricities, and few were likely surprised when she met, and then secretly married furniture salesman Stanley Dunham." Stanley Dunham was notoriously loud and gregarious while Madelyn was bookish and sensitive. Stanley Dunham was Baptist and from a blue collar world, while Madelyn was a Methodist who was solidly middle class.

Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham, who died in Hawaii the day before Barack Obama's election to the Presidency in November 2008, was a powerful figure in Obama's life. Obama has frequently invoked his grandmother in his speeches and she appears prominently in his memoir. “She’s the one who taught me about hard work,” Mr. Obama said in that speech in Denver. “She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she’s watching tonight and that tonight is her night as well.”

Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, was 26 years old in 1948 when she arrived in Ponca City. It is not yet known if Madelyn Dunham worked outside the home but it is documented that in other places she lived like Wichita, Seattle, and Honolulu, Madelyn worked outside the house so it is very possible that with her daughter Stanley Ann in school, Madelyn Dunham had a job outside the house while she was living in Ponca City.

If Madelyn Dunham did have a job while her husband worked at Jay Paris Furniture and her daughter attended elementary school, no one has yet come forward who knew her or remembered her working outside the house. Madelyn Dunham had strong administrative skills as evidenced by her work during the war when she worked as a quality control inspector for an assembly line building B-29's in Wichita.

Here is what we can conjecture about Madelyn Dunham's employment in Ponca City. Later on in her life Madelyn Dunham worked as an escrow officer at a bank and was later vice-president of a bank in Washington State, so if she worked outside the home while she was living in Ponca City, it is possible that she may have been at a bank. Banks that were open in Ponca City at that time would include the First National Bank, the First Security Bank, and Ponca City Savings and Loan, so we conjecture that with her daughter in school, Madelyn Dunham may have worked at one of these banks.

Some say it is possible that with her experience as a quality control inspector during the war, she may have found work at Continental Oil Company or Cities Service while she lived in Ponca City. Others say that as a woman without a college education in the late 1940's, many doors were closed to her that might be open today. Anyone who may have known or worked with Madelyn Dunham in the late 1940's or early 1950's at any of these locations, please contact us at 580-765-6125 so we can update this story.

In any case, after leaving Ponca City Madelyn Dunham and her husband lived in Washington State and later in Hawaii. Madelyn Dunham and her husband also helped raise their grandson Barack Obama - whom she called “Bar” - during his high school years, when his mother was living in Indonesia. Madelyn is known to her family as “Toot,” from “tutu,” the Hawaiian word for grandmother.

In 2008 Madelyn Dunham died at age 86 after a battle with cancer. Madelyn died on November 2, 2008, the day before Barack Obama's election as President. "She died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side, so there’s great joy instead of tears," said Barack Obama. "She was one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America. They’re not famous. Their names are not in the newspapers, but each and every day they work hard."

Barack Obama's Mother Stanley Ann Dunham

Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham a year or two after she left Ponca City. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Beatrice Gormley writes in "Barack Obama" that Stanley Ann was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1942 while Stanley was in the army waiting to be shipped off to France to fight under General Patton. Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham had the unusual male first name of Stanley. Stanley Ann had been named after her father because he had wanted a boy. Time Magazine says that Obama's mother "endured the expected teasing over this indignity, but dutifully lugged the name through high school, apologizing for it each time she introduced herself in a new town." However, the article continued, "By college, she had started introducing herself as Ann".

When Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham arrived in Ponca City she was six years old in 1948 and went to second and third grade in the Ponca City School System. Beverly Bryant reported in the Ponca City News that Stanley Ann Dunham attended first and second grade at old Jefferson Elementary School and transferred and attended third grade at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Stanley Ann's life after she left Ponca City and went to live with her parents in Seattle where her father worked in the post-war boom selling furniture was far different than her childhood in the mid-west. "She was not a standard-issue girl. You don't start out life as a girl with a name like Stanley without some sense you are not ordinary," said former Seattle classmate Chip Wall who knew Stanley Ann in the early 1960's. "Her life showed a deep respect for intellectual rigor and perhaps an uncommon sense of learning," said Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in Hawaii.

Stanley Ann met a Kenyan student named Barack Obama at the University of Hawaii and married him in 1960 giving birth to Barack Obama Jr. in August 1961. "We could see Stanley, with her good grades and intelligence, going to college, but not marrying and having a baby right away," said Maxine Box, her best friend at the time and now a retired teacher in Bellevue, Washington. "I can't think of anything she said or did that would lead to such a radical thing. At that time, you practically crossed the street if you saw a black man and a white woman. Black and white didn't go together at that time."

"The marriage was brief," wrote Jonathon Martin in the Seattle Times. "By 1962, Dunham had returned to Seattle as a single mother, enrolling in the UW for spring quarter and living in an apartment on Capitol Hill [in Washington State]. But friends said she got overwhelmed and returned to her family in Hawaii, and formally divorced Obama Sr. in 1964."

Two-year-old Barack Hussein Obama, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1963. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was the white daughter of a Kansas furniture and insurance salesman who moved his family to Hawaii on the eve of statehood. There, she met and married Barack Hussein Obama Sr., the first African student to enroll at the University of Hawaii. Photo: Polaris

Stanley Ann Dunham met an Indonesian student, Lolo Soetoro, at the East-West Center on the University of Hawaii campus. They married in 1966 or 1967 and moved with six-year-old Barack to Jakarta, Indonesia, after the unrest surrounding the ascent of Suharto, where Soetoro worked as a government relations consultant with Mobil Corporation, the US-based international petroleum company. Soetoro and Stanley Ann Dunham had a daughter, Maya Kassandra Soetoro, on August 15, 1970.

In Indonesia, Stanley An Dunham enriched her son's education with correspondence courses in English, recordings of Mahalia Jackson, and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She sent the young Obama back to Hawaii rather than having him stay in Asia with her, though the decision was painful for her. Madelyn Dunham's job as a vice-president at the Bank of Hawaii helped pay the steep tuition at Punahou School, with some assistance from a scholarship.

In the 1970s, Stanley Ann Dunham wished to return to work, but Soetoro wanted more children. She once said that he became more American as she became more Javanese. Stanley Ann Dunham left Soetoro in 1972, returning to Hawaii and reuniting with her son Barack for several years. Soetoro and Stanley Ann Dunham saw each other periodically in the 1970s when Stanley Ann Dunham returned to Indonesia for her fieldwork but did not live together again. They divorced in 1980, at which time she began using the name Ann Dunham Sutoro, with a modern spelling of her former husband's surname.

Stanley Ann Dunham was not estranged from either ex-husband, and encouraged her children to feel connected to their fathers. She returned to graduate school in Honolulu in 1974, while raising Barack and Maya. When Stanley Ann Dunham returned to Indonesia for field work in 1977 with Maya, her teenage son Barack Obama chose not to go, preferring to finish high school in the United States, living with Stanley Ann's mother Madelyn Dunham and her father Stanley Dunham who raised Barack Obama in her absence.

Caption: In 1992 Stanley Ann Dunham's son Barack Obama web Michelle Robinson on October 18, 1992, with Michelle’s mother, Marian Robinson, at left, and Barack’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham attended the ceremony. Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham did not live to see his grandson Barack Obama marry Michelle Robinson having died nine month earlier in February 1992. Photo: From Polaris.

Having been a weaver, Stanley Ann Dunham was interested in village industries, therefore moved to Yogyakarta, the center of Javanese handicrafts. In 1992 she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawaii, under the supervision of Prof. Alice Dewey, with a dissertation titled Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving and thriving against all odds.

Stanley Ann Dunham pursued a career in rural development championing women’s work and microcredit for the world’s poor, with Indonesia’s oldest bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, Women's World Banking, and as a consultant in Pakistan.

In 1995 Stanley Ann died tragically of ovarian cancer at age 52 after a career as an anthropologist working in Indonesia, Pakistan, and all around the world. "The life that Stanley chose to live after she left is indicative of the fact that Stanley thought about what else was out there," said Iona Stenhouse, a classmate in Washington State. "She was ready for having different experiences."

“My grandparents held on to a simple dream: that they would raise my mother in a land of boundless dreams,” Barack Obama said. “I am standing here today because that dream was realized.”

Help Add to the Story

Caption: Ann Dunham with her two-year-old son, Barack, in 1963. “She was sort of unflinchingly and unwaveringly empathetic,” says Barack’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. “She was always very good at finding a language that the other person would understand, regardless of where they were from, or their socio-economic background. And I think that’s … a major gift that’s bestowed on us.” Photo: Polaris.

More information from people in Ponca City who may have known the Dunham family or gone to grade school with Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham in the early 1950's would be appreciated from first hand sources who knew or remember the Dunham family. If anybody remembers the Dunham's from the early 1950's or went to grade school with Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, at old Jefferson School or Roosevelt School leave a message below or contact me at: hughpickens AT gmail DOT com

Alternately, if you know my mother Deloris Pickens give her a call at 580-765-6125 with any information you have on the Dunham family. She and my father Dale Pickens were both living here in Ponca City when the events in this article took place. Here is my link to the permanent article I am writing about Barack Obama's mother's life in Ponca City in the early 1950's. I'll keep this story updated with the latest information I find out about Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham and her two years living in Ponca City in the early 1950's.

Thanks to everyone who has helped research this story with special thanks to Deloris Pickens, Beverly Bryant, Pat Moore, Bob Casey, and Dale Smith.

Photo Credits
1. Photo of Barack Obama with his grandparents Madelyn Dunham and Stanley Dunham in the early 1980's while Obama was attending Columbia Law School. Photo: Obama for America.
2 Stanley Dunham in the early 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia

3. Madelyn Dunham in the early 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia

4. Stanley Ann Dunham in the early 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia

5. Stanley Ann Dunham in the mid 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia
5. Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham in 1960 about eight years after she left Ponca City. Photo: The Seattle Times
6. Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham in 1959 about seven years after she left Ponca City. Up until high school, signed her name "Stanley." While living in Ponca City she would have been known as Stanley Dunham or Stanley Ann Dunham and been in second grade at old Jefferson Elementary School and third grade at Roosevelt School in Ponca City. Photo: Wikipedia

7. The Dunham family a few years after leaving Ponca City. Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham (left) appears to be ten to twelve years old in this photo. Photo: Wikipedia

References:

1. Washington Post. "Though Obama Had to Leave to Find Himself, It Is Hawaii That Made His Rise Possible" by David Marannis August 22, 2008.

2. New York Times. "Obama Takes Time for a Woman Dear to Him" by Julie Bosman

3. 1988 Po-Hi graduate Dale Smith was the first to notice the Washington Post article that supplied the Obama/Ponca City connection in a post on his blog Faith in Honest Doubt: a personal blog by Dale Smith. "Ponca City Makes the WaPo!" on August 24, 2008

4. Wikipedia. "Ann Dunham" Note. Wikipedia was used to provide a basic framework for the life of Stanley Ann Dunham. The entire section on Dunham's life after her divorce from Brack Obama's father is excerpted verbatim from the Wikipedia article on "Ann Dunham" under a Creative Commons Attribution-Commercial license.

5. Wikipedia. "Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham"

6. Wikipedia. "Stanley Armour Dunham"
7. Interviews by Deloris Pickens
8. Background on life in Ponca City in the period 1948 to 1951 from Deloris Pickens
9. "Dreams from my Father" by Barack Obama. Published by Random House, Inc., 2007. ISBN 0307383415, 9780307383419. 442 pages
10. "The Faith of Barack Obama" by Stephen Mansfield. Published by Thomas Nelson Inc, 2008. SBN 1595552502, 9781595552501 192 pages
11. The Seattle Times. "Obama's mother known here as "uncommon" by Jonathan Martin. April 8, 2008.
12. Interview with Bob Casey by Hugh Pickens. February 6, 2009.
13. "Barack Obama" by Beatrice Gormley . Published by Simon and Schuster, 2008. ISBN 1416971181, 9781416971184. 176 pages
14. New York Times. "Obama Makes Visit to a Most Beloved Supporter" by Jeff Seleny. October 24, 2008.
15. New York Times "Obama Briefly Leaving Trail to See Ill Grandmother" by Michael Powell. October 20, 2008.
16. New York Times. "Barack Obama: To His Grandmother’s Bedside" by the Editorial Board. October 24, 2008.
17. Interview with Pat Moore by Hugh Pickens. February 6, 2009.
18. The Ponca City News. Article by Beverly Bryant. February 8, 2009.
19. Vanity Fair. "Raising Obama" by Todd Purdum. March 2008. The captions used for the three Polaris photos used in this article are taken from the Vanity Fair article.

Copyright
Hugh Pickens - All Rights Reserved
Use of material from this article must include an attribution to Hugh Pickens and a link to the web site Ponca City, We Love You.

My Wife and I attend Barack Obama's Inauguration in Washington DC

2009-02-01T07:37:15-08:00

My wife and I attended Obama's inauguration last week and I put together a photo essay about members of the Peace Corps community who marched in President Obama's Inaugural parade. How did I get these terrific pictures? While my wife and I spent all day at the inaugural event itself, I had my DVR set to record the entire event. When we got back to Baltimore, we reviewed the tape to see things we'd missed and the participation of the Peace Corps community in the inaugural parade is something that meant a lot to me. Here's more information about the parade taken from an Obama campaign press release.
Organized by the National Peace Corps Association and the Washington DC Returned Volunteers, members of the Peace Corps community marched in President Obama's Inaugural Parade.President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's Inaugural Committee officially extended an offer to the Peace Corps Community and AmeriCorps Alums to march in the 56th Inaugural Parade.
In keeping with its commitment to hold inaugural events that celebrate our common values and reflect our nation's history of community service, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's Inaugural Committee officially extended an offer to the Peace Corps Community and AmeriCorps Alums to march in the 56th Inaugural Parade. Members of these service organizations will join representatives from across the country and our Armed Forces in the historic parade down Pennsylvania Avenue following President-elect Obama's swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. "These organizations embody the best of our nation's history, diversity and commitment to service," said President-elect Obama. "Vice President-elect Biden and I are proud to have them join us in the parade."
Members of these service organizations joined representatives from across the country and our Armed Forces in the historic parade down Pennsylvania Avenue following President-elect Obama's swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. The Peace Corps Community included members who served with the corps in the 1960s to the present. Marchers carried the flags of the countries that Peace Corps have served over the years. AmeriCorps Alums will include some of the millions of alumni of national service in this country since John F. Kennedy's call to service and the conception of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in 1961.
By the way, special thanks to Alex Browning in Congressman Frank Lucas' office for getting tickets for my wife and I to attend the inauguration and having the honor of being able to represent the citizens of Ponca City at Barack Obama's inauguration.
It was something we would not have missed, to stand in the crowd with men and women who came from all over the United States to see the inauguration and bear witness to history being made. My wife says there was the same electricity in the air as at Lincoln Memorial 46 years ago when she listened to Martin Luther King give his "I have a dream" speech in 1963.
Thanks again to everybody who sent us their best wishes for the inauguration.

My Favorite Christmas (1960)

2008-12-25T11:30:53-08:00

I wrote a short essay a few days ago for my family and especially for my children about me and about my family and about the nature of the past and truth and memory. Here's how I remember December 25, 1960, the year of my favorite Christmas:
"Three complete generations of my family were all together in Boswell, Oklahoma the third week of December, 1960 – my grandmother and grandfather; my mother, father, and sister; Aunt Lelda and Uncle Bill and my cousin Betsy; Uncle Gene and Aunt Joyce and my cousins Brady, Craig, and Jerry Dale; and my Aunt Shirley and Uncle Bill."
"That’s the Christmas that I remember best with my whole family in Boswell. I remember sitting in the living room around the Christmas tree with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. I remember my grandfather, my father and my three uncles putting their hunting clothes on and going out with their shotguns to hunt and then returning to the house to drink hot coffee and play dominoes for hours. I remember opening the Christmas gifts on Christmas morning with my cousins. I remember my mother, my grandmother, and my aunts in the kitchen cooking up a big Christmas turkey with home-made stuffing and the whole family sitting at the table eating Christmas dinner."
Read the entire story here.
Merry Christmas.

My Interview with the Head of the Peace Corps

2008-12-09T15:52:46-08:00

Not too many people in Ponca City know that I served as a Peace Corps volunteer for three years almost 40 years ago. I am certainly proud to be one of the 195,000 Americans who served in the Peace Corps and I remember to this day watching John F. Kennedy's inaugural address in 1961 and his famous words "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country" that inspired me and thousands of others to spend two years living and working overseas to meet the three goals of the Peace Corps.
There is a saying that there is no such thing as an ex-Peace Corps volunteer - once you volunteer, you are a volunteer for life and I know that I consider the time I spend running my web site at Peace Corps Online a continuation of my service as a volunteer. My web site gets over 500,000 visitors every month so I think I may be doing some good spreading the word about what the Peace Corps is doing and about the continuing service of volunteers.
It was particularly pleasant experience once my wife and I arrived in Baltimore to interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC last week. It takes a lot of work to prepare for an interview with the Director and I have spent almost the last week doing the interview, transcribing the interview, laying out the story, and publishing it and there is some real breaking news in my interview so I am glad to get it out to the returned volunteer community.
Another nice thing happened last week. I knew my wife and I were going to be on the East coast so after Obama was elected over a month ago I called up Congressman Frank Lucas' office about the possibility of getting tickets for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and I just heard back that my wife and I will be receiving tickets. We are really looking forward to that. It kind of brings things full circle for me. JFK's inaugural address in 1960 started the wheels turning that changed my life and sent me out into the world as a Peace Corps volunteer, and now 47 years later, I am interviewing the Director of the Peace Corps and getting ready to attend the inauguration of a man who has promised to double the size of the Peace Corps and increase the commitment to service and volunteerism across the nation.
Anyway, read my interview with Ron Tschetter, the director of the United States Peace Corps on my web site, Peace Corps Online.

Ponca City needs to go ahead with two big projects

2008-12-08T09:12:34-08:00

Vision, Tenacity, Character.
Those are the three words that characterize Burton Barnes, the founder and first mayor of Ponca City. Barnes had a big idea - to start a new city from scratch - and he made that idea come true.
The big idea now is to keep our economy alive in Ponca City as we transition from a "company town" to a small town with a diverse economic base. The big idea is to keep this city nice so that people want to live in Ponca City and more people want to come live and work in Ponca City.
There are two big projects that are coming up for consideration in the next few days for the future of Ponca City. The first one is the vote tomorrow on the extension to the one-half cent sales tax for the construction of a recreation and aquatic center to be operated by the YMCA as it was originally planned. The other project is for the City Council to approve a four story senior center east of Pecan Road which is now under consideration by the Ponca City City Council.
I agree with the approval of both these projects because they will benefit the city of Ponca City economically, make Ponca City a better place to live in, and bring more jobs and more people to live in Ponca City. The housing shortage has been one of the things slowing growth in Ponca City and construction of the senior center will free up housing in Ponca City for new jobs and employees. I hope the citizens of Ponca City vote yes on Tuesday to approve the full construction of the new YMCA. I hope people call their city council representatives and mayor and ask them to approve the construction of the new senior center.
Both projects will be good for Ponca City.

The Last Fall Poncan Opry and the Long Drive East

2008-11-29T15:19:32-08:00

My wife and I left on our long drive east almost 6 weeks later than our trip last year and we were really worried about getting hit by snow during the trip. We had been planning to come to Baltimore a week ago but we decided to postpone our trip after the announcement of the dedication of the Fluke Plaza two weeks ago. Since we like to make our trip on a weekend we decided to stay and see the last performance of the Poncan Opry this fall which fell on Saturday night and then make our trip starting Sunday afternoon.
We are glad we stayed. The third Poncan Opry on November 22 was the best one yet. Highlights included Gary Owen's hilarious performance as "Skinny Elvis" at the beginning of the show then his performance at the end of the show when he brought about a dozen members of the audience up on stage and had each of them in turn talking, telling jokes, and doing imitations until the audience had laughed themselves silly. Owen's performance was on par with the funniest routines we saw Terry Fator put on for us in Ponca City in May of last year.
Dale Eisenhauer and Bucky Fowler had their Poncan Opry backup band with all the regulars with the exception of a replacement bass player because the regular (Eisenhauer's son-in-law) and his wife had just had a new baby making Eisenhauer a grandfather. All the musical performances were good but highlights of the show included Kurt Graber in an outstanding performance on steel guitar, three of Bucky's daughters singing a trio, and daughter Kristine singing another classic song originally done by Tammy Wynette. The performance of the "Harper Valley PTA" was good and the young blues guitar player in the sunglasses demonstrated a lot of talent and potential.
We talked to Dale Eisenhauer, Bucky Fowler, and Gary Owen after the show and all three want to see the series continue next year. I think that with the response we saw from the audience on Saturday night, enough audience members and enough sponsors will come forward to make it financially feasible for the Poncan Opry to continue. We hope to see the Poncan Opry in a few months perhaps as early as March. In the meantime here are some photos I took from the Opry on November 22.
I have just posted an interesting set of photos from our 1,350 mile trip pulling a trailer from Ponca City to Baltimore, Maryland. I mentioned a few posts back that my wife got me a new camera for my birthday that has a lot of new features I have been wanting to try. I took a course in scientific photography in college and since then I have always been interested in time lapse photography. My new camera has an attachment that controls the camera so the camera will take photos automatically at discrete intervals.
Starting at Blackwell I set up my camera on a tripod in the back seat and had it take photos out the front window of our Navigator as we drove up I-35. We started driving at 3 pm and drove 145 miles up I-35 to the toll gate at Emporia, Kansas before it got too dark to continue. I had my camera set to take photos once every minute. I enjoy taking photos that show a process and already did an experiment a few weeks ago of time lapse photography of mowing the lawn in part of my back yard. I enjoy flipping through the time lapse photos I took on I-35 rapidly and identifying parts of the road I am familiar with from having driven it a few times.
The most interesting thing about the photos is that even though the interval between photos is one minute and hence the photos are taken a little more than one mile apart, it is almost impossible to see any continuity between the photos when you go through them in sequence. If I try the experiment again, I will shoot the photos with shorter intervals between them. I also want to get a more steady setup, figure out a way to anchor the camera farther forward so it is getting more of the landscape and less of the inside of the car, and finally take a series of photos driving through the Appalachians of Western Maryland and West Virginia through some mountains or make a trip down Skyline drive through the Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge mountains for some really spectacular scenery.
Our trip took a little longer than usual this time. We always drive the trip straight through and it usually takes from 22 to 24 hours. This year we were worried about snow on the road but didn't see substantial snow until we got into Western Maryland - and all of that was in the fields - none of the road. What we did have was torrential rain. It started raining when we hit Ohio and didn't let up until ten miles out of Baltimore. Pulling a trailer, I really have to be mindful of even a small skid so we slowed way down for the last half of the trip and ended up driving 27 hours before we arrived we Baltimore.

Police Cars to Transmit Real Time Video with new Wireless Mesh

2008-11-22T09:48:02-08:00

I publish a lot of stories on Slashdot but here's one I was especially proud to get published because it's about something that took place in my hometown of Ponca City, Oklahoma and I enjoy helping promote our city with good publicity: Anyway, here is the story:
I submitted a story to Slashdot, the premier technical discussion board in the world with over 5 million visitors every month, about the deployment of the wireless mesh in Ponca City and they picked it up this morning. The hook that I used for the story was that the new system is the first in the country to allow real time transmission of video from police cars. The story as I submitted it follows or you can read it on slashdot:
In the first system deployed in the country, police vehicles in Ponca City, Oklahoma will have wireless video cameras installed so precinct dispatchers and supervisors can monitor activities during traffic stops in real time, and quickly deploy additional officers and resources if necessary. The system to provide an added level of monitoring and protection for its force is part of a broadband mesh network comprised of more than 490 wireless nodes and gateways connected to 120 miles of fiber backbone that will provide coverage for approximately 30 square miles of the city. The network will provide field communications for city services including police, fire and emergency, parks and recreation, public works and energy but will also be used to provide free wireless internet access for all residents of the city. "The testing of this network showed that it was robust enough to handle not only municipal traffic, but also citizens’ traffic.” said Mayor Homer Nicholson. “So the Ponca City Board of Commissioners voted to allow the extra internet access to be given to the citizens of Ponca City for free."
The second phase of the project will expand the network and wireless coverage to more than 430 square miles surrounding the city with an estimated annual cost savings of over $1 million for city residents who can discontinue their existing internet service. “Our goal is to be one of the most mobile communities in America, and this is a significant step in that direction,“ said Nicholson.
Some more of my photos from the presentation on November 10 are available here.

Dedication of the Fluke Plaza

2008-11-16T18:14:03-08:00

I don't have time to write a long post about the dedication of the Fluke Plaza right now but I did upload my photos of the event to Flickr and I told folks they would be available to view so here is the link to the photos I have put on the web. Check back on Monday and I will have some more photos and commentary from this very important and successful event held today at Marland's Grand Home. Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Pictured above are four of the main people who made the Fluke Plaza happen: David Keathly, T. L. Walker, Larry Buck, and Rich Cantillon.

Les Gilliam performs with Riders in the Sky

2008-11-10T08:36:45-08:00

We had a real treat on Friday as local artist Les Gilliam performed with "Riders in the Sky" at the Poncan Theatre. Les is just back from a forty-five show engagement at "Silver Dollar City" in Branson where he and his trio, the Silver Lake Band, performed three shows a day for three weeks.

Riders in the Sky was returning to Ponca City a year after their engagement in October, 2007 that I profiled here. Les did a solo set at the beginning of the show where he performed songs by Woody Guthrie, Gene Autry, and Dale Evans and joined Riders in the Sky at then end of the show for their encore.

Last time Riders was in Ponca City, I used a wide-angle lens and took a lot of group shots. This time I used my telephoto lens to take some great close-ups of Les and the band that I have already added to their Wikipedia biography.

All in all, it was a terrific performance. I would say there were about 500 in the theatre. The balcony was pretty full. A lot of the season ticketholders must have been out of town however, because several rows hear from front seemed almost empty.

This Thursday coming up, Ponca Playhouse will be performing "Steel Magnolias" directed by Jo Ann Muchmore and we are looking forward to seeing the play before we start back to Baltimore.

A Dream Renewed

2008-11-05T08:43:42-08:00

I am so proud of America on the day after the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. The arc of American history is a movement towards greater freedom, greater definition of the rights of our citizens, and a more democratic government that is more representative of the people. This is what we struggled for in the 1960's when members of my generation marched for equal rights of all Americans, what we worked for as we joined the Peace Corps to serve our country, and what we hoped for as we listened to Martin Luther King speak: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."
America truly is a "shining city on a hill" as Ronald Reagan said. It is not a nation built on ethnicity or geographical location - it is a nation built on the ideas espoused in the Declaration of Independence. As each generation re-interprets those ideas and extends them, we form "our more perfect union." As Obama said "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."
The next few years will not be easy. The challenges facing our nation are daunting. But at least now we can begin to address them. As Jack Kennedy said "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
Photos: American Flag Flickr Creative Commons by Billie / PartsnPieces Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
Obama Flickr Creative Commons by BohPhoto Attribution 2.0 Generic

Rachel Barger Dances Lead to "Estória Cega"

2008-11-03T07:00:13-08:00

My sister, Gail Pickens, was born in Ponca City exactly ten years and one day after I was and she went through the Ponca City School System, graduated from OSU with a degree in geography, and went to work at the Research and Development Center at Conoco in Ponca City in the early 1980's. In 1984 she married Steve Barger and lived for several years right across the street from where I now live on Donner Ave, and her two oldest daughters, Amber and Rachel, were born here in Ponca. After Dupont bought Conoco, she and her husband, were transferred to Victoria, Texas and they eventually ended up in Port Neches, Texas where they reside today along with their son, Derek, and a new daughter Grace.
Gail's oldest daughter Amber graduated from the University of Texas last year with a degree in Business and Marketing and I am so proud of her because she followed in my footsteps and joined the Peace Corps and is now serving as a volunteer in Mongolia. She writes a wonderful blog of her experiences there and I would encourage everyone to read about how this daughter of Ponca City is living and serving in one of the most isolated places on earth.
But I am equally proud of Gail's second daughter, Rachel. From an early age, Rachel took an intense interest in both ballet and modern dance and she was so dedicated and talented that she won a full scholarship to the University of Iowa's prestigious dance program.
This last weekend my wife and I were able to make the 600 mile drive up to Iowa City and watch Rachel dance the lead in the University's presentation of "Estória Cega," an original dance production choreographed by Armando Duarte, based on the Brazilian documentary, "A Pessoa é para o que nasce" (Born to be Blind), about the lives of three blind sisters who earn their living by singing in the streets of northeastern Brazil.
Duarte, a native Brazilian, is a founding member of the internationally known Cisne Negro (Black Swan) Dance Company from São Paulo, Brazil, where he worked for 14 years, received a Best New Choreographer award from the São Paulo Association of Arts Reviewers, and in 1989 was one of the international guest choreographers at the American Dance Festival. He has choreographed 45 original dance pieces and is the Artistic Director of the Duarte Dance Company based in Iowa City.
My wife and I drove up to Iowa City on Thursday and arrived in time to see the premier performance of the work on Thursday night. But we stayed over because we were so impressed we had to see the performance again on Friday night.
On Friday we had an opportunity to talk to Mr. Duarte and told how impressed we were with his work and how sorry that we were unable to photograph it during the performance. Photography had been prohibited during the performance, because with an audience of hundreds of people, if you had let one person take pictures, everyone would have wanted to and the flash photography would have been too distracting to the dancers.
Mr. Duarte had an idea however. The troupe was doing a rehearsal of the dance on Saturday afternoon and he offered us the opportunity to attend the rehearsal and photograph it. We immediately accepted and changed our plans to stay one extra day to photograph the performance. I took over 1,000 photos during the performance and have posted a selection of the best photos on Flickr.

A Musical Weekend

2008-10-26T20:19:30-07:00

Just wanted to leave a short note with a link to the photos I took at the Ponca Opry on Saturday night and the photos I took of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra at their performance at Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas on Sunday.
My favorite type of photo is portraiture at a live musical performance but I have been hampered by the low sensitivity of my Canon Rebel 350D which has an ASA that goes up to 1600. I like to take photos with available light because I don't like to annoy the performers by using a flash. I discovered a few years ago that the secret of taking great photos is to take lots of photos and to throw away the bad ones so I like to take several hundred shots during a performance and a flash will run the camera's battery down too quickly. I bought my first SLR in 1970 - a Kowa SETR and went digital in 2003 with a Canon Rebel 300D but I have been waiting for several years now for a single lens reflex camera to come on the market that had the sensitivity that I needed and was in an affordable price range. Finally the new Canon 50D came out a month ago and I saw one in Tulsa and was amazed by its increased sensitivity - almost a ten fold increase over my Rebel XT. That was the present that my wife got me for my birthday two weeks ago.
All my Canon lenses work with the new camera body and the camera has lots of new features but the feature that I have been waiting for is that the ASA goes up to 12,800 which lets me take all my photos with available light with an exposure of about 1/200 second which eliminates the blurring I was seeing with my Canon Rebel when I was up at the limit of its sensitivity and had to take exposures of 1/15 to 1/30 of a second. I used my new camera for the first time at the Opry on Saturday night and the results were spectacular.
On Sunday, my wife, my mother and I went up to Hesston College in Kansas and attended a performance of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. I had photographed the orchestra when they appeared in Ponca City two weeks ago and Rick Benjamin, the conductor of the orchestra, liked my photos so well that he invited me to come up to their performance and to attend their sound check two hours before the performance and take photos of members of the orchestra durings rehearsal. I took over 1,000 photos with my new camera and some of the shots are breath-taking. It's some of the best portrait photography I have ever done. Here are some of the best photos of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's performance.

Ranch Sorting at the Play Pen Arena

2008-10-11T11:59:39-07:00

Once again Ponca City proves that a city of 25,000 has more things going on over a weekend that any one person can keep up with. Last weekend my wife and I attended the Octoberfest at Marland Mansion and enjoyed eating German pastries, listening to outdoor music, a looking at home crafted jewelry but this weekend we have already had an indoor rodeo, a new exhibition and reception at the Soldani Mansion Art Center, a showing of Buston Keaton's masterpeice, "The General," at the Poncan Theatre with live music by musician Dennis James - and there are more activities on Saturday Night and on Sunday.
I have driven past the "Play Pen Arena" hundreds of times. The "Play Pen" is located on Highway 60 in Osage County about a mile east of the bridge that crosses the Arkansas River - it is right across the highway from the new "Osage Casino." On Thursday I read in the "Ponca City News" that there was going to be a four day indoor rodeo at the "Play Pen," that was open to the public so I decided to go and see was going on.
I have attended the annual Cherokee Strip rodeo before but I have never really enjoyed it too much because all the action seemed to take place so far away. The indoor rodeo competition was totally different, easy to understand, and very engaging. The competition that I watched for several hours on Friday morning was called "Ranch Sorting."
In Ranch Sorting the activities all take place indoors and the spectators are seated right next to the pens so you have a terrific view of all the action. There are two pens that are fifty feet long with a twelve foot opening between them. At the beginning, there are eleven calves bunched up at the end of one of the pens with numbers on their sides for identification. The judge raises the flag and when the riders cross the gap between the two pens the clock starts and the competition begins. The team of two riders have to move the cattle one at a time from one pen to the other in numerical order, starting with a random number that the judge yells out. The fastest time to get the eleven calves from one pen to the other wins. If a calf gets from one pen to the other out of order, then the team is disqualified.

The level of horsemanship and the level of teamwork between the two horseman is really extraordinary. There were over one hundred teams competing but the action is fast because the competitive range for winning is about sixty seconds. There are two sets of pens set up in parallel so that when the competition on one side ends, another team on the other side starts almost immediately. All in all, I had a great time watching ranch sorting for a few hours and will probably take my wife and go out this afternoon for another few hours.

Here are a series of photos from one competition.
Interestingly enough I posted a story on Slashdot just last week about how Virtual Fence Could Modernize the Old West: For more than a century, ranchers in the West have kept cattle in place with fences of barbed wire, split wood and, more recently, electrified wires. Now animal science researchers with the Department of Agriculture, is working on a system that will allow cowboys to herd their cattle remotely via radio by singing commands and whispering into their ears and tracking movements by satellite and computer. Dean Anderson, a researcher at the USDA's Jornada Experimental Range at Las Cruces, NM., has built radios that attach to an animal's head that allow a person at the other end to issue a range of commands — gentle singing, sharp commands, or a buzz like a bee or snake — to get the cattle to move where one wants them to. Anderson says it would cost $900 today to put a radio device on one head of cattle, but he says costs will fall and the entire herd wouldn't have to be outfitted, just the "leaders." Much of the research has focused on how cattlemen can identify which cattle in their herds are the ones that the others follow.
This evening there is a movie at the Poncan Theatre of the 1947 movie "Where the Red Fern Grows" that was filmed in Oklahoma and Sunday there is an organ concert at the First Methodist Church we may go to.

Rick Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra

2008-10-05T15:16:57-07:00

Another great show at the Poncan Theatre - this time Rick Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra playing orchestrial accompaniment to Douglas Fairbanks 1920 movie the "Mark of Zorro." I talked to Mr. Benjamin before the show and asked him if he had a Wikipedia article about the orchestra and he told me there was an entry but that it was pretty bad. I told him that I wanted to take some photos of the orchestra after the show and expand his article as I had done for Dennis James when Dennis came to the Poncan Theatre last year and he thought that was fine.
I always enjoy researching and writing an article about artists that I enjoy and here is the one that I wrote today about Rick Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra:
Rick Benjamin is the director and founder of the world renowned Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, formed and dedicated to the exploration and preservation of American popular styles. Benjamin has an active career as a pianist and tuboist as well as an arranger.
Contents
Early Interest in Ragtime Music
Benjamin's interest in ragtime music began in ther 1970's when he was eight years old. Benjamin was visiting his grandparents and wandered out to the garage and discovered an old 1917 Victorola with ragtime music from the turn of the century. "As music poured out of the dusty ancient machine, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of complete wonder: A new world, glowing with life, was calling out to me from another time," Benjamin says. "The sounds were somehow much more meaningful to me than the current pop music of the Gerald Ford era. ...I knew in my bones that these performers and their composers were expressing their sheer joy in life through their music."
Benjamin says he learned that ragtime was the first authentic American music. "Until ragtime came along, all our pop music here was imported from Germany or England," Benjamin says. "Suddenly, with this new ragtime music -- from the Midwest, from Chicago and St. Louis -- was America's first homegrown music product."
Formation of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
Discovery of the Music of Arthur Pryor
Benjamin studied at Juilliard and intended to become a professional tuba player. While a student at Juilliard in 1985, had a "dental accident" while he was having a tooth extracted by a dentist that shattered his teeth. As a result, Benjamin was unable to play the tuba after his jaw was wired up. "I couldn't play, couldn't open my mouth any wider than a straw," says Benjamin. Unable to play, Benjamin was assigned a research paper on Arthur Pryor, an 1890s conductor and music director. In his search Benjamin found that Pryor's personal collection of over 4,000 pieces was in an old theater in Asbury, New Jersey that was about to be torn down. Benjamin was given the collection free for the hauling off and it rook him three days to cart it off.
The collection included rare musical scores and manuscripts. Even at the conclusion of this, I wasn't sure what I had," Benjamin said. Then he found signatures on compositions from Scott Joplin, W.C. Handy and Sousa. "I had pieces no one had ever heard of before." The manuscripts turned out to belong to the library of Arthur Pryor, a conductor, composer and arranger who led a touring band and a recording orchestra. The collection contained thousands of works from the 1920's by composers including Scott Joplin, Edward MacDowell, W.C. Handy, Victor Herbert, and Jerome Kern. Pryor had been first conductor for the Victor Talking Machine Co and as conductor, got to decide what was recorded to play on the new fangled Victrolas. "Anybody who was anybody in that era would send their scores to Mr. Pryor in hopes that they would be recorded," Benjamin said. The collection had been thought to have been destroyed in a fire.
Controversy over Initial Concert at Juilliard
In 1986 Benjamin decided to form a 14-piece orchestra of fellow Juilliard students to perform the music using authentic period arrangements of a similar ensembles from the ragtime era.
Benjamin had originally made a request to Juilliard to perform a concert of turn-of-the-20th-century American composers which was rejected by Juilliard's dean. "Absolutely not, we do Bach, Brahms and Beethoven, not W.C. Handy," said Juilliard's Dean. Benjamin skirted Juilliard's rule against performing ragtime music under the guise of presenting a Mozart program at a concert hall. "I was a rebel, you see," says Benjamin and left the doors to the concert hall open to attract passerbys. Benjamin presented the inaugural performance to a packed house at Juilliard's Recital Hall. The program of their initial performance included the 1912 score of W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues," selections by Irving Berlin and Victor Herbert, and a manuscript orchestration of Joplin's "Peacherine Two-Step." After the performance Juilliard professor Vincent Persichetti told Benjamin that he should make musical preservation of "America's original music" his life's work.
Benjamin was put on probation for producing a concert of ragtime over the dean's objections. However someone in the audience recorded Benjamin's first concert on a walkman and the recording came to the attention of Columbia Records executive Thomas Frost, who loved the music. Frost produced the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's first recording. "Suddenly we went from nobodyhood to having this nine-time Grammywinning guy producing us," Benjamin said. Benjamin quit Juilliard and has been leading the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra ever since. "I became so engrossed developing my orchestra full time and curating the thousands of historic orchestrations I had found that one day I cleaned out my locker and left [Juilliard] without a word," says Benjamin.
Lincoln Center Debut
Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra made their New York debut at the Alice Tully Hall in March 1988. In their debut they performed twenty-one pieces composed between 1905 and 1920 and a medley of tunes from the 1890's. In their debut the orchestra performed in a variety of styles including "a concert waltz, a maxixe, one-steps, two-steps, foxtrots and blues, and, of course, numerous rags, some quite picturesque." Allan Kozinn wrote in the New York Times that their performance "came off not as a dry musicological dig, but as an evening of superannuated but abidingly energetic fun." The performance by Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra was the first of its kind at the Lincoln Center by a professional ragtime ensemble.
Musical Activities
Oh, You Kid!
In February 1999, Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra premiered Oh, You Kid! at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Oh, You Kid! is a collaboration between the Paul Taylor Dance Company and Rick Benjamin's Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and was commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the American Dance Festival as part of the Doris Duke Millennium Awards for Modern Dance and Jazz Music. The commission pairs modern jazz companies with jazz composers and performers for works that feature live music. Anna Kisselgoff wrote in the New York Times that the show was "exuberant romp to ragtime music."
Treemonisha
In June 2003 Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra premiered their version of Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha Stern Grove Festival. Treemonisha had originally premiered with full professional staging by the Houston Grand Opera in 1975. However Benjamin thought that the Houston staging was "too heavy, too Verdiesque" and spent five years reconstructing the opera score for a 12-piece theater pit orchestra of the kind Joplin and his peers wrote for and performed with. "We want to do it exactly as we think he would have done it in 1911 on tour, " said Benjamin. "The train would arrive at some town in Iowa, and the cast and chorus would take a buggy, or maybe walk, down to the theater with their simple properties - - maybe a couple of canvas backgrounds -- set it up and give this show with the local pit orchestra."
Benjamin says that Joplin "understood the power of the operatic medium to deliver a message. As a black man at the time, he probably wasn't allowed to go to the opera." Benjamin hopes his new orchestration will encourage musical groups to perform Treemonisha "with a small orchestra, of modest needs, and still convey this wonderful message. Joplin would be beaming from some place, because his work is being performed." "I see Treemonisha as "opera" in name only," writes Benjamin. "It is much more an amalgamation of the well-established American traditions of vaudeville, tab-show, melodrama, and minstrelsy, all held together by Joplin's marvelous music. For this, the ideal accompaniment should be provided by the regulation twelve-piece theatre orchestra of that era."
Silent Movie Performances
Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra are well known for their recreation of playing original scores to silent films while the silent movies are simultaneously projected on screen. Silent movies for which they perform the score include Buster Keaton's Cops, Harold Lloyd's Never Weaken, and Charlie Chaplin's The Immigrant. "It's like going to the movies with the extra benefit of live music," says Carol Woodruff, director of Cultural Outreach at East Carolina University. "This is a really cool show. The musicians get really pumped and put their whole lives into their performance," says Mary Ruth Helms. Benjamin says he is surprised by the response from younger listeners. "Surprisingly, our audience demographics seem to indicate the audience is younger, Generation X, and not the seasoned citizens, as they are known. It surprises us," says Benjamin. "I think a lot of younger people ... move away from some of the commercial stuff that's crammed down their throats."
Benjamin has a collection of nearly a thousand period cinema-orchestra scores.
Other Musical Activities
In addition to touring, Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra performs on radio programs for the New York Times' WQXR, National Public Radio, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the Voice of America networks.
Benjamin has conducted the the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Olympia Symphony in Washington State, the New Jersey Symphony, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria.
Benjamin has written articles on popular music that have appeared in several periodicals.
Benjamin performs lecture tours on late 19th and early 20th Century American music at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Benjamin is at work on two books: The American Theater Orchestra and Encyclopedia of Arrangers & Orchestrators: 1875-1925.
In addition to curating the collection of Arthur Prior, Benjamin also curates the collection of Simone Mantia, B.F. Alart, and Frank H. Wells theatre orchestra collections. Benjamin's collection totals about 10,000 fully-orchestrated selections from the 1890s – 1920s.
Awards and Honors
Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra were selected to be America's "Ambassador of Goodwill" at the World's Fair in Seville, Spain.
Personal Life
Benjamin was greatly encouraged in his musical career by his grandfather, J. Edward Smith, who played violin, clarinet & piano, among other instruments, throughout his life, and was a musician with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, in Monmouth County, NJ, for many years until his death. Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra continue to perform regularly in Monmouth County, NJ venues, where both grandfather and grandson lived.
Benjamin lives in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and lectures at Bucknell University.
Discography
Rick Benjamin and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra have recorded eleven CD's and produced two DVD's of their music accompanying silent movies.
References
   1. New York Times. "MUSIC; Practice Session Offers a Behind-the-Scene Look" by Robert Sherman. January 9, 1994.
   2. Wall Street Journal. "Benjamin's Ragtime Band Captures the Real Cohan" by Barrymore Laurence Scherer. July 2, 2008
   3. Decator Herald and Review. "Strange circumstances lead to Ragtime Orchestra's genesis" by David Burke. September 19, 1997.
   4. New York Times. "Review/Ragtime; From a Trove Of Rediscovered Joplin et al." by Allan Kozinn. March 24, 1988.
   5. The East Carolinian. "Paragon Ragtime comes to ECU" by Laura Pekarek. March 11, 2004.
   6. New World Classics. "Why a New Version of Treemonish?" by Rick Benjamin.
   7. New York Times. "Outdoors, Concert Fare That's Serious And Rare" by Allan Kozinn. July 20, 1990.
   8. San Fransisco Chronicle. "How Joplin heard America singing" by Jesse Hamlin. June 21, 2003.
   9. Stamford Advocate. "Orchestra performs soundtrack to Buster Keaton films" by Nadia Lerner. January 4, 2007.
10. New York Times. "Footlights" by Lawrence Van Gelder. February 17, 1999.
11. New York Times. " DANCE REVIEW; Fast and Loose in the Age of Ragtime" by Anna Kisselgoff. February 22, 1999.
12. Rick Benjamin's Paragon Orchestra

Here are additional photos that I took of the performance.

Poncan Opry was a Big Success

2008-09-28T11:41:02-07:00

I am not a big fan of amateur talent contests, so my expectations were not high as my wife and I attended the debut of the Poncan Opry last night, but the "Opry," patterned after similar shows in Branson and Nashville, made a believer out of me with a terrific show that kept our attention for two and a half hours and had the crowd on their feet at the end of the show. Kudos to Roy Sullivan, owner of Sullivan Trucking, for the idea of a monthly opry show in Ponca City and to Dave May, Dale Eisenhauer, Gary Owen, and Bucky Fowler who made the show happen.
One of the main things that made the show such a success was a ten-member house band of professional musicians. Dave May contacted Dale Eisenhauer in April to put together a house band for the opry. Dale is from Newkirk and had worked in a country dance band and had been part of Bill Brown's Oklahoma Jubilee in Shidler. Dale plays rhythmn guitar and got his son-in-law Bill Brown, Jr. on bass and drummer Chuck Case to join the band. Then Dale approached Bucky Fowler to play lead guitar and to be the musical leader of the group.
Bucky brought in Kurt Graber on steel guitar and his wife and two daughters provided vocal backups. The only thing missing was a keyboardist and the group auditioned keyboard players until they found Ronnie Jean from Tulsa. Everyone in the band has had years of opry-type experience and the group's professionalism made all the difference in the world as they provided backing for local talent from Newkirk, Ponca City, and Enid. It's a lot easier to sound good when you have professional musicians backing you up and that is what we saw on Saturday night.
Another great idea was to bring in Gary Owen from Oklahoma City to screen the local talent and to be the MC for the show. Gary is the announcer for OETA, Frontier City, and does a lot of radio and television commercials. Gary has produced and directed for a variety of broadcast and theatrical productions who has been featured on Good Morning America and in Time Magazine. In addition to being Master of Ceremonies for the show, Gary performed for the audience. Gary kept the show moving with his "corny" jokes and but the real surprise was when he did two short ventriloquism segments. Gary's talking duck and a Country and Western singing cowboy reminded us of Terry Fator who we had just seen at the Poncan a few months ago.
There were about 500 people in the audience and we are sure that as soon as word of mouth gets around town, there will be a full house of 800 for their next show on October 25. If all their shows are going to be as good as this one, we'd like to see the "Poncan Opry" become a monthly event year round.
Of course, our dream is to see live entertainment at the Poncan - either an opry, a tribute band, a community concert, community theater, or a silent film with live music - every Friday and Saturday night so that Ponca City can become a destination for entertainment tourism, like Branson on a smaller scale.
Take a look at some of some photos I took of the show. I have at least one photo of every performer. Just click on the individual photos to see an enlargement.

50th Anniversary of Ponca Playhouse

2008-09-14T08:37:15-07:00

There are over 7,000 community theater groups in the United States but less than 200 of them of have been in continuous existence for more than fifty years and last night my wife and I went to the gala celebrating the induction of Ponca Playhouse into this select group.
Founded in 1959 Ponca Playhouse has produced 231 regular and off-season projects and children’s productions.
Ponca Playhouse will be opening this season with “The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker” which was the first production ever staged by the playhouse. “The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker” was produced in the Ponca City High School auditorium and played to a total audience of 383 theatergoers. Over the years, the playhouse moved from the High School auditorium, to the Civic Center, where they paid the city $1 a year for use of the facility, and finally to the Poncan Theater where they are today. In 1996 Ponca Playhouse was able to buy their own facility on South 1st street where they have their rehearsals and put together their sets and costumes. I understand that they are adding some modifications to the South 1st facility to bring it up to code for live performances and may start doing dinner theater there in a year or two.
In honor of the playhouse's anniversary, Ponca Playhouse's five productions this year will include a reprise of one play from each decade of the playhouse's history and will include "Steel Magnolias," "The Odd Couple," "Bus Stop," and "Fiddler on the Roof."
Last night was the gala in honor of the anniversary and about 100 people attended a reception and live performance of some of the greatest musical hits of the playhouse over the years. We had a terrific time.
I have a personal connection to the Ponca Playhouse because I was 15 years old when I saw my first play - "The Seven Year Itch" produced by the playhouse in 1966. Charles Clapp, the youth director for the First Methodist Church, was an active member of the playhouse and he gave me a ticket to attend the performance. I was dazzled. I had never seen live theater produced before and I remember the production and the excitement I felt watching it to this day.
As an aside, I remember someone telling me that the play, about a man who contemplated having an extra-marital affair after seven years of marriage, scandalized Ponca City at the time and that some members of the audience resigned their membership when the playhouse produced the play.
I was so intrigued by seeing my first theatrical production that when auditions were held for the next playhouse presentation, W. Somerset Maughn's "The Circle," I came down to the theater for an audition and Director Ralph Meader, who worked as a chemist down at Conoco, selected me to play the butler, a small part with three or four lines. It was really a different world from High School and the chance to work with adults in an atmosphere of camaraderie really had a big effect on how I thought about life and gave me a lifelong interest in art and theater.
Later that year, I had the opportunity along with Carl Schaeffer and Tom Patten from the senior class at Ponca City High School to audition for Director JoAnn Muchmore for one of the main characters, George Mead, in "Our Town" and although I wasn't selected for that part, I did get to play the "Man in Auditorium" in the first act and the "Dead Man" in the cemetery in the third act.
Over the years my wife and I have enjoyed being members of Baltimore's "Center Stage," one of the country's finest regional theaters, and we go up to New York a few times a year to see Broadway productions, but I remember with real affection how my interest in live theater got its start at Ponca Playhouse forty years ago.
Take a look at some of my photos from the gala last night.

Fourth of July Fountain Lights/Son of a Sailor

2008-07-06T09:08:53-07:00

We had a nice fourth of July weekend. On Friday night Ponca City put on its annual fireworks show out at Lake Ponca. Last year I found a good place to watch the fireworks and took a great series of photos of them. The view was so good that this year I convinced my wife to come with me even though she doesn't really like the outdoors and by the end of the evening she was glad she came with me.

We set up our folding chairs right next to the bridge that separates the East Lake from the West Lake. There isn't any parking there so you have to walk but the big advantage is that since there is no parking very few people come to that spot. Last year I was the only person along a 50 yard stretch of the shore. This year there were about a dozen people but it was still felt quiet and secluded like the fireworks was a private show just for us. I dropped my wife off at the bridge, parked the car, and walked about a quarter mile to come back.

I set up my camera, but as soon as the show started I quit taking photos. I realized that the photos weren't going to be any different that what I took last year and I decided to just sit there with my wife, holding her hand, and enjoy the spectacle. We were so close the fireworks filled our entire field of vision. The show lasted 20 minutes but it felt like time had stopped while we enjoyed the lights.

Afterwards we were feeling mellow so we drove around a while. We went down to another one of our other favorite places in Ponca City, the fountain in front of the Civic Center and watched the lights change in the fountain for a while. I got out my camera and took a series of the lights changing in the fountain.

Saturday night at the Poncan Theatre we saw a Jimmy Buffett tribute band called "Son of a Sailor." We enjoyed the show and I got some good photos. It was nice but it didn't move me like the 1964 Beatles tribute we watched a few weeks ago. I think one of the problems may have been that while I know all the Beatles songs by heart and could appreciate the artistry that went into creating the illusion of a Beatles concert, I'm not really that big a fan of Jimmy Buffett and don't know his songs well enough to evaluate whether the tribute was a good facsimile of the original or not.

Another problem was that while the Fourth of July may sound like a good date to put on a show, a lot of people were out of town so the theatre was only about half full. The audience was enthusiastic but it really makes a big difference if you have a full house like we did for 1964 and Terry Fator.

I think the next tribute show on August 22 is going to be a good one - "Hotel California" doing an Eagles tribute. I am expecting a full house for that one. Even my mother at 80 years of age was asking me if there were still tickets. My dad was a big Eagles fan.

One minor technical complaint. The lead singer, Johnny Rio, was having a lot of problems with his microphone. "Jimmy" was complaining that he couldn't hear himself on his monitor speaker and he kept motioning for the sound guy to raise the volume on his vocals. However, whenever they raised the levels, you started hearing feedback. Six or seven times during the show "Jimmy" interrupted the proceedings to complain about the levels. It was quite distracting and really broke the spell of the show.

Note to the band: Aren't you guys supposed to do a sound check and get these problems ironed out before you perform?

Take a look at the series of photos I took for Son of Sailor and for the Fourth of July Fountain Lights.

Here are my photos of the fireworks from last year's Fourth of July.

The History of a Community Defines its Identity

2008-06-22T13:39:42-07:00

I attended a couple of meetings this week of the team that is putting together the new strategic plan for the city of Ponca City. At one of the meetings I had the chance to talk about how Ponca City's identity is linked to it's history first as a Land Rush Frontier Town, then as a Boom Town in the early twentieth century, and finally as the Company Town that I grew up in during the 1960's when Ponca City was the headquarters for a huge company and there were several hundred Ph.D's working at Conoco's R&D facility.

A community is like a person. A community has an identity, a community has a personality, and a community has traits that are defined by it's history. How Ponca City's identity has been affected by these three eras (and by the transitions between the eras) is something I have been thinking about for a long time and I am working on an essay to expand my thoughts that I expect to publish soon.

The most interesting thing to me is that different traits of Ponca City's character came out of each of the three eras:

A focus on science, technology and education came out of the Company Town era,

A love of art, architecture and music came out of the "roaring twenties" Boom Town era, and

An emphasis on entrepreneurship and enterprise was here from the beginning that comes from the Frontier era.

I think that Ponca City is still a work in progress. Communities can suffer traumatic loss just like individuals can. When Marland lost his fortune and his company in 1928, it took something out of the soul of Ponca City and it took many years for people to come to terms with the loss. When I was growing up in the 1960's nobody talked about Marland. It was like the community had suffered mass amnesia. His statue was down on the plaza but nobody my age knew who he was or talked about what he had done. This was 20 years after Marland died. It took a generation to pass before people in Ponca City could talk about Marland again. I know this is true because I have talked to other people of my generation and many of them had the same experience.

When DuPont bought Conoco in the 1980's it was another traumatic experience that took something from the soul of the community and it has taken another twenty years for the community to understand the loss. I think we are now at the point where we have come to terms with the fact that the days of Conoco as the dominant force in the community are gone and will never be coming back. Our community is now ready to define and enter a new era.

I am very hopeful for the future that I think we are in the process of defining now. The past eras have been defined in terms of what the majority population has done and wanted. Now we need a new synthesis that respects and includes contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans to our community. Standing Bear was here before the Land Rush.

If Ponca City can combine the best characteristics from the three eras and is able to come together as a community and create something new then we will really have something.

To be continued...

Blackfoot perform at the Poncan Theatre

2008-06-22T13:04:50-07:00

I had never even heard of the group "Blackfoot" before a few weeks ago and wasn't planning to attend their concert at the Poncan Theatre last night. But my wife and I like to support the theatre so I bought tickets on Friday and really enjoyed the show. The performance wasn't too well attended - I would estimate it at about 100 people but that's all right - those who came got a terrific private show. A lot of people came from out of town and you could see that a lot of them were long time fans.

The group has been together for 40 years now. They are based out of Jacksonville, Florida and play southern rock. The group has been through various incarnations sometimes trading members with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Take a look at the photo essay I made of the show.

One comment - the music was LOUD! My wife and I always carry ear plugs with us in my camera bag and use them when we go to live performances and when we fly. I don't really see how you can enjoy the music when the levels are at the threshold of pain. I wonder if people realize that they are putting their future hearing at risk if they listen without protection. Ask wikipedia says:

Most people in the United States are unaware of the presence of environmental sound at damaging levels, or of the level at which sound becomes harmful. Common sources of damaging noise levels include car stereos, children's toys, transportation, crowds, lawn and maintenance equipment, power tools, gun use, and even hair dryers. Noise damage is cumulative; all sources of damage must be considered to assess risk. If one is exposed to loud sound (including music) at high levels or for extended durations (85 dB A or greater), then hearing impairment will occur. Sound levels increase with proximity; as the source is brought closer to the ear, the sound level increases. This is why music is more likely to cause damage at the same output when listened to through headphones, as the headphones are in closer proximity to the ear drum than a loudspeaker. With the invention of in-ear headphones, these dangers are increased.

With earplugs, you can push them in and get just the right level to enjoy the music. If your ears ring after a show, then you are damaging your hearing. You know it might be nice if the theatre would offer earplugs for sale at their concession stand - they are not expensive.

1964 the Tribute

2008-06-07T06:58:16-07:00

Nice show last night at the Poncan Theatre with "1964, the Tribute" whose mission is to recreate what it was like to hear the Beatles in the early 1960's. The group, who are originally from Akron, Ohio, have been performing their show for 24 years now and take special care in using the same style of clothes, the same musical instruments, and even the Liverpool accents of the originals. Gary Grimes, who portrays Paul McCartney, even plays the Höfner bass left-handed just like Paul did.

There is an interesting story behind Paul's bass that not too many people know: In 1961, the Beatles' original bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe who had used a Höfner 500/5 bass (similar to the later 'President'), left the band to resume his art studies. The Beatles were without a bass player, and none of them wanted to start playing one, but the job fell on Paul McCartney (who had been playing rhythm guitar and piano) over George Harrison (their settled lead guitarist) and John Lennon (who had just bought a new Rickenbacker 325 guitar and refused to switch). In the British vernacular of the time, McCartney referred to it as being "lumbered" ("stuck") with the job. Stuart Sutcliffe initially lent his Höfner 500/5 bass to Paul McCartney. McCartney had seen another guitarist in Hamburg using a violin shaped bass, and when he saw one in the window of a Hamburg music store, he investigated it. Because of the instrument's symmetricality, McCartney could play left-handed without the bass "looking daft" as he put it.

Anyway I took some great photos during the show and had the opportunity to visit the group in their dressing room. I told them I had taken a look at their page on Wikipedia and that there was no photo and that I would upload a couple of my best shots to the Wikipedia site and the group was extremely cooperative.

While I was working on their Wikipedia article I discovered some interesting information on their show that I added to the article on how their performance differs from the original. Although the group strives for authenticity in their portrayal of the Beatles, not everything they do is the same.

Two areas that differ between the tribute show and the original Beatles performances are sound quality and set length. Mark Benson, who portrays John Lennon in the band, says that in the original Beatles live performances in the 1960's the fans were lucky to hear the band. "You have to credit the Beatles with revolutionizing the sound-reinforcement industry," says Benson. "Back then they had these little speakers that you couldn't hear anything out of. The way concerts were amplified had to be changed." Benson says that fans who saw the original shows notice the difference. "People will come up to us and say, 'I saw the Beatles in '64 and the only difference is I can hear you,'" says Benson.

Another difference is the set length. The Beatles did two 30 minute sets in their early shows and never did encores while 1964 the Tribute performs two 45-minute sets. "We tried the half-hour show initially, but it didn't go over well," says Benson.

Take a look a the photos of the show that I uploaded to Flickr.

Death Be Not Proud

2008-05-17T19:20:54-07:00

Peter Militch was probably the best engineer I ever worked with in my life and he was also one of my best friends. Peter was born in Australia. Peter's father had served in Yugoslavia in WWII and ended up interned in Australia where he became a permanent resident of the country after the war and worked in mining in the outback in Australia.

Peter was born in Leigh Creek, a town of 900 people that was about 200 miles from the next town and 400 miles from the nearest real city. Leigh Creek was a government owned town - the government owned all the houses, "even the pub," said Peter. "There was no television, no radio, and only a couple of phones in the town. A couple of years ago the government figured out that the town lay right over the biggest seam of coal in Australia and bulldozed the town and built a new town for the inhabitants," Peter added. "So the town where I grew up is now a hole in the ground, 3 miles long and half a mile wide."

When Peter was 12 he and his mother and brother moved to Adelaide and lived just a short walk from the beach. Peter learned mechanics and he and his brother and friends loved to soup up go-carts and race them around the streets of the city eluding the police. After Peter graduated from college with a degree in Electrical Engineering he went to work on the Deep Space Network in Canberra, Australia. In 1982, Peter came to the United States after he married Donna and went to work at Bendix Field Engineering as a field engineer supporting NASA's worldwide Ground Network.

I first met Peter in 1985 and over the years he and I worked together on a number of projects. In 1992 NOAA's GOES weather satellites were at the end of their useful lives and could have failed at any time so NOAA made an agreement with the government of Germany to borrow a Meteosat Weather Satellite as a backup and drift it over from Europe to provide weather coverage for the US's Eastern seaboard. The only problem was that Meteosat was a pretty dumb satellite and had to be in constant contact with a Ground Station to operate so NOAA started a crash program to implement a Meteosat Ground Terminal at Wallops Island Virginia in six months. Peter and I wrote a proposal to build the ground terminal over the Christmas holidays in 1992 and won the job. It was BFEC's first fixed price engineering contract and the project was basically run as a two man project with Peter handling the design and systems integration while I handled the scheduling, budgeting, logistics, and subcontractor management bringing in temporary technicians and installers as we needed them. The key to the project's success was our decision to subcontract the one custom piece of equipment, a KA-Band triplexer to two different waveguide companies. We needed four couplers in all so we awarded a contract for one each to MDL and to M/A-Com with the carrot that we would award the contract for the other two to the first company to finish. Our strategy worked. At the end of the project, we had completed the Meteosat Ground System on schedule and on budget and made 15% profit on BFEC's first fixed price contract.

In the early 1990's the tape recorder for NASA's $450 million Gamma Ray Observatory failed and the spacecraft's capabilities were severely degraded because the quality of the data depended on getting hours long runs of data relayed through TDRS which was impossible because the spacecraft passed through the "zone of exclusion" on the other side of the earth at least twice a day. NASA came up with a radical solution of solving the problem by building a TDRS Ground Terminal in Australia and came to Bendix to help implement it. The TDRS Ground Terminal in White Sands had cost $600 million and took ten years to build but NASA asked us to build a stripped down Ground Terminal, co-locate it at the DSN Station in Camberra Australia and build it in 13 months. The station had be be remote controllable from White Sands and Peter conceptualized and designed the remote control subsystem. We came in on schedule and on budget with a TDRS system that cost $12 million.

I think Peter's biggest technical challenge was designing and building five radio transceivers to go aboard FAISAT's 2v telecommunications satellite. Each transceiver weighed just over 5 pounds and was the size of a couple of paperback books. "They look for very low level signals coming from the ground at any of the several thousand frequencies, and then process them, decode them, and send them on to the spacecraft computer - all in a matter of milliseconds," said Peter. Each radio unit had three computers executing a total of twelve thousand lines of code in 256 bytes of RAM. Peter led a team that designed and built the radios with less than half a dozen engineers.

But the project that would pay the biggest dividends is one that Peter had dreamed about for ten years - building a fully autonomous satellite ground station that would operate for extended periods of time with little or no human intervention. The station Peter and Mike Anderson built for NOAA at their Fairbanks ground station had a front end with three 13-meter satellite tracking systems operating at L-Band, S-Band and X-Band frequencies. The station included a robust scheduler that permitted remote users to request pass activities for supported missions, built a human-readable control script that tracked spacecraft, received telemetry data, and archived it for post-processing activities. The system Peter designed and installed in Fairbanks became the prototype for a far larger system that would be built later for the DOD.

I once asked Peter if he would ever retire as an engineer and he told me he wasn't sure but he didn't think so. "Working as an engineer is like getting paid for your hobby," Peter said. "Maybe I'll leave the company when I complete my thirty years and do something else in engineering. Maybe I'll go to work for a startup - that would be fun."

But Peter wasn't just interested in engineering. Peter was a voracious reader, going through a book a day and he could discuss any subject intelligently from computer design to history, to cognitive science. His hobbies included riding his motorcycle on cross country trips he made every few years and building an airplane in his spare time - a Cozy Mark IV #740 that he had spent three years on, completing the nose, spars, and beginning the wings.

A lot of people don't know that in the 1990's Peter played a large part in mobilizing the citizens of Laurel to prevent Jack Kent Cooke from building a football stadium for his NFL team in the city. "Peter and his group analyzed maps, data and traffic patterns. We often sat until 1 or 2 a.m. preparing a case that amazed even the most cynical developer representatives," wrote Jeanne Mignon. "Peter never complained about the long hours; in fact, as we ate pizza and talked, he seemed quite in his element. Peter is an engineer. He is precise and communicates clearly. He is also wily and determined. His ideas for stymieing our opponents often bordered on brilliance. He foresaw their strategies, their weaknesses and their arrogance."

When I talked to Peter at his home a few weeks ago, I asked Peter what he thought his legacy would be. "I think it will be my daughters. I am really proud of them," Peter said. "You know they are very kind and I think that kindness is about the most important human attribute."

I think Peter had kindness in him. In the years I worked with him I never once heard him raise his voice or lose his temper. Peter always believed that the facts would speak for themselves and it wasn't necessary to present emotional arguments to support a position. When Peter discovered he had cancer he approached the problem like any other. "A weaker individual would have succumbed to self-pity," wrote Jeanne Mignon. "Peter, true to form, researched and advocated for every possible avenue for cure, remission or delay of the tumor engulfing his system." Peter had a quiet dignity as he faced his condition philosophically. There was a strength in Peter that bordered on divine - you could feel it in his presence.

After his long struggle with cancer Peter died at his home in Laurel, Maryland on May 15 in the arms of his wife Donna who was devoted to Peter's care. Peter is survived by his wife and two daughters and by his mother, father, and brother in Australia.

Peter was 52 years old.

I will miss Peter and think about him every day for the rest of my life.

Click on the photos above to enlarge them. Captions for photos:

(Top left) Peter at work.

(Top right) The three 13-meter antennas that Peter installed at NOAA's Fairbanks station. Take a good look - those tiny objects at the base of the antennas are pickup trucks.

(Bottom left) Peter tests his spacecraft transceiver in a chamber at Teterboro in 1997.

(Bottom right) A photo my wife took of Peter and me at his house in October 2007 before Peter underwent his last course of chemotherapy. Donna is sitting in the background.

Terry Fator at the Poncan Theater

2008-05-07T15:17:56-07:00

My wife and I had a great time last night when impressionist and ventriliquist Terry Fator appeared at the Poncan Theater. We bought tickets as soon as they went up for sale and were lucky enough to get our favorite seats in the middle of the front row. We just knew that since it was going to be a one man show, the closer to the front the better.

Fator said at the beginning of the show that there were "no rules" and that he had no objection to anyone taking photos during the performance so I snapped away with available light during the entire performance. Once again my motto "The way to get great photos is to take lots of photos and throw away the bad ones" worked out. I went through my photos and uploaded 50 of the best to Flickr.

I also went to Wikipedia today and made a major expansion of the article on Fator and added photos that I took from the show. Here are some interesting things that I found out about Fator as I was expanding the article Fator is 42 years old and has been in show business for over 20 years. Fator was the lead singer of a show band called 'Texas the Band' when he was 20, and incorporated his puppet Walter T. Airedale into his shows. Fator's band at one point was about to sign with a major record label and one of the label's representatives came to hear the band. Fator sang the songs impersonating the original vocalists. "He told me 'you gotta stop doing those impressions,' and wanted me to sing in my own voice," Fator says. "I tried it for a few weeks, and absolutely hated, it. We told the record company 'no thanks.' "

Fator left the band and did a solo act combining comedy and ventriloquism but for many years had little success. "Fairs would stick me on a little stage in the back of fair and have me do three shows in the hottest part of the afternoon," says Fator. "I had heat stroke a couple of times, almost passed out." In May 2007, before appearing on America's Got Talent, Fator was performing at a fair near Houston, Texas and only one 12 year old boy was in the audience. Discouraged, Fator contemplated pursuing another career, but his family encouraged him to hang in there. Terry entered the America's Got Talent competition with the hope that the exposure if he made it to the Top 20 might help his career and cause people to want to attend his shows.

Fator's success stems from combining singing and ventriloquism and it wasn't even his idea. Fator had been the lead singer in a band and often did impersonations of singers like Garth Brooks, Etta James, James Taylor and Dean Martin while ventriloquism was just a comic side gig for Fator. Per the suggestion of his manager, Fator decided to join his two talents, ventriloquism and impersonations. "I had one of my characters sing Garth Brooks' Friends in Low Places and the audience went bananas," Fator says. "Boy, that was where my life changed." After his initial success Fator revamped his act. "It took me six months and I completely rewrote the show," says Fator. "It was then that people really noticed and I started getting standing ovations at the end of every show."

Fator has fought to be taken seriously as a ventriloquist. "There have been so few good, successful ventriloquists - Edgar Bergen in the 1940s and Paul Winchell in the 1960s were respected and successful," says Fator. "And in the 1970s, I used to watch Willie Tyler and his Lester as well as Jay Johnson and Bob. But over the years, there have been so many bad ventriloquists - and most of them doing corny shows for children - that people began to think of us as a bad joke."

Fator says that ventriloquists get a bad reputation because of all the ones who perform for kids. "They assume it's only for children and they don't need to be good, and they write stupid stuff the kids will like. You are really underestimating children when you do that," says Fator. "My show is written for adults, for the adult intellect. It's like a Pixar movie. It's appropriate for children, but the adults will enjoy it more than the kids do."

Fator says that he is an illusionist with his cast of seven original puppet characters. "I look at myself as a talk show host and the characters are my guests," says Fator. "I can guarantee anyone who comes to my show, within a second or two, will feel that the puppet is the real entity. I love creating life out of wood and felt." "I feel like I am the poster boy of the American dream, but it's not like winning the lottery - I earned it," says Fator. "I spent years and years honing my craft, working on it and learning to do it as well as I possibly could. I'm so gratified."

All I have to add is that Dave May is doing a great job promoting the Poncan Theater. There was a sold out crowd last night and I was told that there were over 200 who were turned away at the door. The Poncan is really becoming well known as a venue for live music. And success builds on success. With a great show like last night, now more people are going to want to come see the Tribute series with "1964," the Beatles Tribute, appearing on June 4, the Jimmy Buffet Tribute on July 5, and the Eagles Tribute on August 22.

Take a look at my photo series from Terry Fator's show last night.

Bobwhite Quail

2008-03-03T06:53:57-08:00

My father used to love to hunt Bobwhite Quail.

My father always had one or two hunting dogs when we lived at the house he bought in 1949 at 437 Fairview right next to Speck's trailer court and I loved to play with our weirmeraner Ajax and our brittany Ginger but what I remember best of all is my father getting up early on Saturday mornings back in the mid-1950's and going out with his hunting buddies to spend a day in the fields around Ponca City hunting quail while I would stay at home and watch my favorite tv shows with my neighborhood buddies, Mike Eaton, Jay Holmes, Greg Lukehart, and Tom and Bob Monger. We were the first family on Fairview Street to own a television set and everyone would come over to watch Sky King, Roy Rodgers, and 3-D Danny on "Satellite 4."

One of my interests in Wikipedia has been helping write and maintain the biographies of various well known Oklahomans and this weekend I was doing some work on T. Boone Pickens' article and discovered that my father wasn't the only Pickens who loved quail hunting. Here's a paragraph I added to T. Boone's article:

T. Boone Pickens has been interested in hunting quail and in keeping hunting dogs since he was a boy growing up in Holdenville, Oklahoma where his father always kept two dogs. Pickens bought 2,900 acres of overgrazed pasture near the Canadian River in 1971 and Pickens would drive 100 miles from Amarillo to hunt all day with his hunting buddies. Pickens soon began creating artificial creeks on the property to benefit the quail and other wildlife. "As any experienced quail hunter knows, the best hunting is along creek drainages," says Pickens. "We had some good creek drainages on the ranch, but I got the idea of creating artificial creeks." Pickens created artificial creeks by burying PVC pipe and pumping water through the buried water system where the water bubbled to the surface every 1,000 feet to create waterholes for the quail. Pickens added quail feeders for a winter food supply and placed the feeders in plum thickets for overhead protection from hawks. "The system worked pretty well," Pickens says. "We noticed better hunting wherever we put the water lines. Abundant water creates abundant insects, and insects are important food for quail chicks. Even when it doesn't rain, I think the quail dampen their feathers in the waterhole and return to the nest. Pickens' ranch, called Mesa Vista, has now expanded to 68,000 acres with more than 24 miles of frontage on the Canadian River. "A lot of experienced hunters have said that Mesa Vista is the world's best quail hunting," Pickens said. "I don't know if it's the world's best, but I'm convinced it's the best that my team could make it.

My father Dale Pickens grew up on a farm and he was taught to hunt as a boy growing up in Boswell, Oklahoma from my grandfather, Hugh, who was said to be able to hit a squirrel in the eye with a .22 from a hundred yards. I had a bb gun when I was a child and my friends and I used to go on hiking expeditions north of Ponca City to shoot pop bottles and targets on trees by the railroad tracks but after I was a teenager I never really took much of an interest in hunting and I don't remember going hunting with my father more than a couple of times before I went away to college.

It's been ten years now since he died and I would give anything in the world to spend a day with my father again hunting Bobwhite quail.

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Top Photo: Mr. Bob White sitting on his fencepost near Litle Sahara state park in North Central Oklahoma by Topato. Flickr Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Bottom Photo: Dad and I going hunting in 1971.

Jack Vaughn: Peace Corps Legend

2008-01-19T16:43:48-08:00

Jack Vaughn: Peace Corps Legend
Last week I finished a piece that I have been working on for several months: a biography of Jack Vaughn, the second director of the Peace Corps. Vaughn, a lifelong Republican, was appointed the second Director of the Peace Corps in 1966 by Democratic President Lyndon Baines Johnson and led the Peace Corps on a non-partisan basis for three years through some of the agency's most challenging times.

Before joining the State Department Vaughn fought professionally under the name of "Johnny Hood." "I was bumming around Mexico one summer when I ran out of money," Vaughn said. "I decided I would take my boxing and turn pro, but I didn't know enough Spanish at the time to tell whether the agent said I would get 60 pesos for four rounds or four pesos for 60 rounds. You can guess which figure was correct." Vaughn fought 26 featherweight bouts as a professional. Vaughn tells the story that the first time he fought professionally in Mexico, the fans cheered enthusiastically but he couldn't make out what they were saying and he thought they were cheering him on. It was only later that he learned that what the fans were shouting was "Kill the Gringo!" Mata al Gringo! later became the title for Vaughn's unpublished memoirs.

Vaughn was appointed Peace Corps Director on February 16, 1966. Vaughn was in a bar at 12:30 on M Street in Georgetown when the bar telephone rang and the bartender asked, "Is there a Mr. Jack Vaughn here?" Vaughn answered yes the bartender says, "it's someone who says he's the president of the United States." "Let me finish this drink," replied Vaughn taking his time before picking up the phone and saying hello. On the line was President Lyndon Baines Johnson himself. "Vaughn," said LBJ. "How would you like to be the director of the Peace Corps?" "Mr. President," Vaughn replied calmly, "I thought you'd never ask."

When Richard Nixon became president in 1969, Vaughn found himself out of a job. One report says that Vaughn was asked by Nixon's Secretary of State William P. Rogers to stay on as Peace Corps director to emphasize the nonpolitical nature of the Peace Corps. Instead, Vaughn was informed in March, 1969, that he would be replaced after all and reports that Vaughn had been asked to stay on as Peace Corps Director in the Nixon administration were reported in the media to be untrue. "I was the first bureaucrat Nixon fired when he took office," Vaughn said. "But when he found out I was a Republican, he asked me if I'd be his ambassador to Colombia."

Vaughn opposed George W. Bush's nomination of Gaddi Vasquez to become Peace Corps Director in 2001. "As they say on the racing tout sheet for a horse that is not in the running: 'Nothing to recommend,'" Vaughn said. "He has little experience . . . and little to indicate that he understands how to run the Peace Corps or any international organization. It's clearly a political payoff, and it would be a shame to see him approved." As a Republican it pained Vaughn to have to oppose a nominee by a Republican President, but Vaughn came to Washington on his own and appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to speak out against the appointment of Vasquez. However Vasquez cleared the United States Senate Foreign Relations committee by a vote of 14-4, and was accepted in the full Senate on a voice vote.

Read the story as I published it on Peace Corps Online or read the scholarly version with citations on Wikipedia.

Top Photo: Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn meets with reporters and answers questions in fluent Spanish in Honduras in February 1969. From the Peace Corps Volunteer magazine May, 1969.

Bottom Photo: Caption: Jack Vaughn, the second Director of the Peace Corps, (center) with C. Payne Lucas, President Emeritus of Africare (left), and Hugh Pickens, Publisher and Co-editor of Peace Corps Online. The photo was taken in 2007. Photo cannot be not be used without permission.

Classic Rock Concerts Announced for Summer

2008-01-09T15:24:29-08:00

We had a nice turnout last summer for "Bruce in the USA" and lots of people told me and my wife how much they enjoyed the show so this year we thought we would go one better and work with Dave May and the Poncan Theater to help put on a summer series of classic rock with three great shows in the "Second Annual Classic Rock Summer Tribute Series" at the Poncan Theater in Ponca City.

Larry Murphy, my high school classmate from Po-Hi '67 and his brother Bill Murphy of I-Deal Auto Sales have joined with me and my wife to co-sponsor the series. We're going to have three top tribute bands: "1964" doing a tribute concert to the 1964 Beatles, "Bruce in the USA" reprising their 2007 appearance in Ponca City with a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tribute, and "Hotel California" with a tribute to the Eagles. "1964" will be appearing on June 6 in conjunction with "Dragging Grand." "Bruce in the USA" will be here for 4th of July weekend appearing on Saturday July 5, 2008. "Hotel California" will be appearing August 22.

I love a good tribute band, the operative word being "good." I don't have the cash, the contacts, or the patience to get a front row seat to the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin when they tour and the truth is that I don't really enjoy "arena rock" at my age. I love music in a club setting or a small theater as long as the band has excellent musicians who know and love the music. I'd rather have front row seats to see a good tribute band that can bring me back to the music of the 60's and 70's than see a "name band" from thirty-four rows back in a stadium.

Of the three bands that are coming, I have seen 1964 play twice at Ram's Head in Annapolis and they played in Ponca City two years ago. I have seen "Bruce in the USA" about five times now at Annapolis, the Recher Theater in Baltimore (where I took the pictures above) and in Ponca City last year. I haven't seen "Hotel California" yet but Bill Ware saw them play in Dallas and if Bill says they are good, that is enough for me.

Here's hoping that the series this summer is a success and we can make this an annual event. Call Dave May at the Poncan Theater at 580-765-0943 and reserve your tickets for the three concert series today.

Muslim Country-Western Singer is from Ponca City

2007-11-15T14:34:40-08:00

I was reading an interesting story in the New York Times earlier this week on the first Muslim country-western singer, Kareem Salama, when I came to the following sentence and did a double take: He was born about 95 miles northwest of Tulsa in Ponca City, Okla., a town with just one other Muslim family. “They are more redneck than I am, I mean good old boys,” he said, the twang unmistakable. “They go hunting every weekend and drive big old trucks.” Mr. Salama highlights universal themes about love, home and family values. His songs are spiritual without being overtly religious. One inspired by the writings of an eighth-century Islamic scholar, Imam Muhammed Al-Shafi’ee, endorses the idea of tolerance and avoiding violence: “Gentleman, I’m like incense, the more you burn me, the more fragrant I get.”

I went over to Kareem's web site for more details: "I was born and raised in Ponca City, a small town at the edge of Green Country in Oklahoma, but my parents were born and raised in Egypt. When I was young I loved water painting but I was also an amateur boxer for years. I enjoy classical Western poetry but I enjoy classical Arabic poetry as well. I have a degree in Chemical Engineering but now I’m finishing my last year in law school. I like country and blue grass music but I appreciate good R&B music as well. Oklahoma, like me, is a place where cultures meet and dance. Oklahoma is a hybrid of Southern, Western and Native American culture and thanks to my mother’s insatiable desire to learn and experience new things she made sure that I and everyone in my family was immersed in all of it. As a child, I went to Indian Tribal Powwows, heard country music artists at the county fair and watched my favorite cowboys at the rodeo every year."

I emailed Mr. Salama to congratulate him for his success and when he replied it turned out that he and my daughter Carolina attended Washington School at the same time. His family is now living in Richmond, Texas and he may be going on tour soon if he decides to accept an offer to record for a label in Tennessee. I hope to see him in concert soon and wouldn't it be great if the Ponca Theatre could bring him to town for a show? “We hope to establish an American Muslim identity,” said an admirer of Mr. Salama's music, “and what is more American than country music?”

Writing for Wikipedia

2007-11-03T06:12:11-07:00

One of the activities that I really enjoy is writing for Wikipedia. I have learned a lot about how Wikipedia works since I got actively involved as a writer about 6 months ago. Wikipedia is a village and there are as many different roles in Wikipedia as there are tasks in a village. Some people fact check. Some people control vandalism. Some people correct spelling and punctuation. What I enjoy doing is in-depth research on one person. I like to find someone, an artist, a politician, a former Peace Corps Director, or an Oklahoman, that I like and am interested in learning more about and write their biography from scratch.

First I think of someone I would like to write about, then I go to Wikipedia and see if there is a story started about them already but a story that is incomplete. What I like is to find a story that is just getting started. When I go to an article on Wikipedia about someone known best by a small group, and I find only a few sentences written down, then I know I have struck gold. That's the story I want to write.

But finding the right article to write is only a start. To actually write an article I have a process that includes going onto Google, finding out everything I can about a person and putting it all in a database, letting the narrative structure emerge, writing an outline, and filling in the story with information and citations as I go. It's a methodology that can be followed iteratively to construct a narrative. I call it structured history or structured narrative, it's the same thing really.

Last Thursday night I found out that being a Wikipedia biographer has its perks. A few months ago, I decided to write the biography of one of my favorite singers, Marie Daulne of Zap Mama. Here is what her Wikipedia article looked like when I started working on it. I finished the bio and the only thing I was really missing was a good photo to go with the bio. Of course on Wikipedia, you are not allowed to use copyrighted photos so the best bet is to go to Flickr and see if there is a good photo someone has taken and put into the Creative Commons. Failing that the only other alternative is to wait until you see the artist next time in concert and take a photo yourself and put it into the creative commons.

On November 1, Marie Daulne came to Baltimore and appeared at the 8x10 club, so my wife and I attended the show, had a great time, and took some great photos of her and the group to use with the Wikipedia article about her. After the show we went backstage and introduced ourselves to Daulne. I told her that I was at least partially her biographer. "How so," she asked. I asked her if she ever surfed the internet and she said yes. I asked her if she knew what Wikipedia was and she said yes. "Well, I am the person who has written a lot of your biography on Wikipedia," I said.

She was quite pleased to meet me because she knew that the article had recently been improved and here is how it looks after I worked on it. She was very appreciative of the work on Wikipedia for both her own biography and the group bio for Zap Mama. She said that a lot of people go to Wikipedia to find out more about her and that Wikipedia generates a lot of sales for her music and that she appreciates having something on Wikipedia that reflects well on her work.

I asked if we could take a photo together (not for Wikipedia but for my personal blog) and we took several with me and several more with my wife. She asked for my email address and said that she would have her manager be in touch with me after she finishes her tour to provide me with some additional print material that has not appeared on the internet to consider incorporating into her article. She is also going to consider having one or more of her press photos added to the Creative Commons so it can be used on web sites like Wikipedia without running into copyright problems. She knew all about intellectual property laws and how they affect the way she makes a living as a musician. I guess every artist does these days. Good for them. What an exciting encounter. Here are some additional photos I took of Zap Mama at their show in Baltimore that I am putting into the Creative Commons for non-commercial use.

She is going to be appearing tonight in DC at the 930, a nice club in a refurbished warehouse in DC. Anyway it was fun to talk to Marie Daulne, realize that she is very aware of the internet in her business model, and it was a nice feeling to know that the work that people do on an article in Wikipedia is often appreciated by the person it was written about.

A Cross Country Marathon

2007-10-02T12:37:45-07:00

My wife and I are back in Baltimore after a 26 hour drive straight through from Ponca City. We had been postponing our trip for several weeks because there were two big events in Ponca City last weekend that we wanted to see.

On Saturday morning, the Museum at Standing Bear Park was dedicated. A number of speakers got up to talk about the Museum including Carl Renfro, former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating, Congressman Tom Cole who is a member of the Chickisaw Nation, Jim Gray from the Osage Nation and Charles Moncooyea of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe who had some very provocative remarks, but the highlight of the event for us was the flag ceremony with children of the tribes represented in the museum. After the flag ceremony, we photographed four of the lovely princesses of the Native American Nations who happened to be walking up the sidewalk from the museum flanked on either side by the Native American Flags. Take a look at the photo essay we made for the Standing Bear Dedication Ceremony.

Some people ask my wife and I why we make the 1300 mile trip between Baltimore and Ponca City several times a year by land instead of flying. The main answer is that we don't like taking our shoes off. Air travel has become so inconvenient and unpleasant, that we will do just about anything to avoid it. It is much more convenient to pack up as much as we want in our trailor, leave when we feel like it and stop when we want to, than to drive over to Tulsa, catch a plane, be stuck in airports, and have to rent a car when we arrive. In addition, aside from the convenience and independence driving affords us, we spend half as much on gasoline as it would cost for two round trip airline tickets.

Long distance driving is really more like an athletic event than anything else - a marathon if you will. It is not the physical demands of the trip that wear you down but the mental strain so we do everything we can to keep the trip stress free and to mentally prepare ourselves for the trip for several days in advance.

Of course, the most important thing is to be well rested. On the day before our trip, we make sure and get a good night's sleep. Most people assume that on the day of the trip, we would be up at dawn to travel but nothing could we further from the truth. We have found that the optimum time of day to begin the trip is between 4 and 6 pm. You are going to have to drive through a night to make a 26 hour trip, so you want to schedule your trip so you get your night driving out of the way at the beginning of the trip when you are at your best.

I like to take a nap just before we leave and then drive straight through the night. We usually stop at about 6 am and I take another one hour nap in the car to keep me going all day. The only really difficult part of the trip is the last hour when we are coming into Baltimore and have to completely change our style of driving to keep up with the high-speed rush hour traffic.

I mentioned that there were two events we wanted to see before we left and the other was the appearance of "Riders in the Sky" at the Poncan Theatre on Friday night. "Riders In The Sky is a Western music and comedy group which began performing 1977. They have won two Grammy Awards and have done music for major motion pictures, including Toy Story 2's "Woody's Roundup" and Pixar's short film, "For the Birds".

The group includes Ranger Doug ("The Idol of American Youth"), Woody Paul Chisman ("King of the Cowboy Fiddlers"), Too Slim ("a Righteous Tater"/"The Man of a Thousand Hats"), and Joey ("the Cowpolka King")." I was most surprised when I went to their Wikipedia entry to find out that Chisman has a PhD in Nuclear Physics.

The group played a special concert in honor of the hundredth anniversary of Gene Autry's birth. They were traveling to the city of Gene Autry on Saturday to play at the actual 100th anniversary celebrations so it was a tremndous honor to be able to host them on the eve of this special date. Gene Autry set a special record on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame." Stars on the walk are given in five categories: motion pictures, radio, recording, television, and live theatre. Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have a star in all five categories. Take a look at our photo essay for "Riders in the Sky" at the Poncan.

Annual Chili Cookoff at Lake Ponca

2007-09-25T11:18:20-07:00

Take a look at our photo essay on the Annual Chili Cookoff at Lake Ponca.

Three Big Events last weekend

2007-09-20T17:16:03-07:00

There is a lot to do around Ponca City. We had three big events last weekend. We started out at the Centennial Celebration in front of the Civic Center on Friday evening, then went to the Annual Arts Festival on Saturday. We had enjoyed silent movie organist Dennis James so much the previous week that we looked up his schedule on the internet and drove over to Miami, Oklahoma to catch him at another show on Sunday. And I almost forgot that on Friday night at the same time as the Centennial Celebration, the Community Concert series had their first event of the season at the Poncan Theater. After the Centennial Celebration, we drove down to the Poncan and snuck into the balcony and caught the last few numbers.

On Saturday my wife and I went to the annual Arts Festival at Soldani Mansion. There were about 60 artists selling their work. Dave May led an auction for the pieces that had been produced during the quick draw event at the Fine Arts Festival.

My wife and I finally had a chance to meet Native American Artist Jeanne Rorex Bridges, an award-winning artist of Cherokee ancestry. We have admired her work at the Gilcrease Museum for several years and it was a real treat to meet her at the Festival. She lives on a hill in rural eastern Oklahoma, part of the farm and ranch land where she was raised. Here she paints and runs her successful art business with her husband James. Jeanne’s work has become nationally known, winning many awards in Native American art shows. For several years, she has incorporated paintings depicting the shared history of Southeastern Indians and African Americans with her Native American work. The story of Crossing Bok Chitto was a perfect fit for her first illustrated book."

On Friday evening we brought out our lawn chairs and sat down right in front for the Oklahoma Centennial Celebration in front of the Civic Center in Ponca City. Highlights of the program were an hour of music by Les Gilliam and Cordelia Clapp signing "Oklahoma Rising." The show was put on my Ponca City Main Street and featured Mayor Homer Nicholson, Larry Buck talking about Centennial Plaza, and the President of Ponca City Main Street, Phil Bandy.

"Les Gilliam's concerts of cowboy, western swing, country and/or gospel music include fascinating stories about the songs and the artists who performed them. His country dances feature great western swing music and fun activities for the audience. He always includes original songs and humorous material, adding a touch of nostalgia and good ole fashion patriotism."

I especially enjoyed Les' stories about Woody Guthrie, Patti Page and the Page Milk Company, and Gene Autry's five stars on Hollywood's walk of fame. Les was born in Gene Autry, Oklahoma and had just returned from a celebration in California of the 100th anniversary of Autry's birth.

We really liked seeing Cordelia Clapp at last years Centennial Program when she signed a thrilling version of "God Bless America" with the musical accompaniment of Celine Dion. This year she presented her interpretation of "Oklahoma Rising" in Native American sign language. Clapp is a registered nurse who was born in Sells, Arizona, to a full-blooded Pawnee Indian mother and a full-blooded Spanish father. Growing up Clapp had the chance to live on numerous reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. She taught herself the Native signing of “God Bless America” after 9/11 in hopes that sharing the Native American culture with others would help heal the hearts of Americans. She has opened numerous conferences nationwide with her signing, dressed in full Native American regalia.

On Sunday we made a day trip to Miami Oklahoma to see Dennis James perform on the Mighty Wurlitzer in the Coleman Theater which is even more beautiful than the Poncan Theater. We drove over to the Gilcrease Museum for their wonderful brunch, then up to Miami for a 230 pm show. The show we saw at the Coleman was "It" with Clara Bow. Dennis James the organist got up and explained that "it" was a term coined by English romance novelist and screenwriter Elinor Glyn to describe actress Clara Bow. Glyn had written a best-seller of the day that popularized the word "it" as a euphemism for sex-appeal. The story revolved around Bow as a salesgirl in a department story and her romance with the boss's son. The movie was very entertaining. After Dennis' show, the manager of the theater gave us a private two hour tour of the theater. What a treat.

The Coleman Theatre was built by George L. Coleman Sr., a magnate who made his fortune in zinc around the turn of the century. Coleman wanted to give something back to the community of Miami so in 1929 he had the theatre built for $600,000. Some say his motives might not have been completely altruistic since by providing entertainment for his workers he kept them out of bars. The exterior architecture of the theatre is Spanish Mission Revival. There are Terra cotta gargoyles and other hand-carved figures on the exterior of the building. The interior of the theatre is in Louis XV style and includes gold leaf trim, silk damask panels, stained glass panels, a carved mahogany staircase and decorative plaster moldings and railings.

The community of Miami raised $85,000 to bring "The Mighty Wurlitzer" home to the Coleman in 1996. The organ was restored by the J.T. Peterson Organ Company of Fort Worth, Texas who restored, refurbished, enhanced and completed the reinstallation of the organ. We absolutely loved the sound that came out of a true pipe organ. The sound from the deepest registered shook your bones. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the community of Ponca City could get together to bring a pipe organ to the Ponca Theatre?

After the theatre tour we drove back to Tulsa for dinner at P.F. Chang's and then drove back back to Ponca City arriving about midnight. What a nice day. Look at the photos we took at the Art Festival, the Centennial Celebration, and at the Coleman Theatre in Miami.

This weekend coming up we plan to go see "Annie get Your Gun" at Ponca Playhouse and go to the Annual Chili Cookoff out at Lake Ponca on Saturday. The following weekend is the opening of the "Standing Bear Museum" and "Riders in the Sky" will be coming to Ponca City.

Whoever says there is nothing to do in a town of 25,000 is dead wrong. There is so much to do, that you never get a chance to catch your breath.

Dennis James plays Tumbleweeds

2007-09-15T09:03:22-07:00

Dennis James plays Tumbleweeds
Last night I saw an exciting art form that I never knew existed before. My wife and I went to the Ponca Theatre, a movie theatre in Ponca City that was constructed in 1923 during the silent movie era when vaudville was still at its height and we watched the silent movie "Tumbleweeds" starring William S. Hart. The movie is an epic Western that depicts the opening of the Cherokee Strip and the land rush in 1893 that resulted in the opening of 120,000 square miles to homesteaders and the founding of Ponca City.

I was astonished. I had never seen a silent movie on the big screen before and certainly never with live music. Dennis James, a silent film musician, played the accompaniment to the movie and it was terrific.

I expanded the Wikipedia entry for "Tumbleweeds" and I expanded the Wikipedia entry for Dennis James and added two of my photos. This is what Dennis James Wikipedia entry looked like before I made the changes to it and here is what it looks like now.

Tumbleweeds (1925 film)
Tumbleweeds is a 1925 film produced, co-directed and starred by William S. Hart that depicts the Cherokee Strip land rush of 1893.

Background
In the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma during the 1880's and early 1890's, the government lands that were leased to cattlemen were opened to settlement by homesteaders. To allow a fair chance for everyone, the prospective homesteaders were required to register and registrants were prohibited from entering into the Strip before the appointed time. Those who tried to get there beforehand were called Sooners, hence the nickname of Oklahoma as the Sooner State. When the cannon shot signaled the start of the land rush, the race was on as a hundred thousand men and women tried to stake their claims.

Plot
The movie features cowboy Don Carver (Hart) as a "tumbleweed" (i.e., a drifter) that decides to settle down after falling in love with Molly Lassiter (played by Barbara Bedford). Carver decides to get in on the Cherokee Strip land rush but when he's arrested and parted from his new love, he's in danger of missing the big race.

The climax called the "biggest stampede in American history" features the some of the most spectacular Western action scenes ever filmed.[1]

William S. Hart
William S. Hart was a successful Shakespearian actor on Broadway who had worked with Margaret Mather and other stars, William S. Hart went on to become one of the first great stars of the motion picture western. Hart appeared in original 1899 stage production of Ben Hur. Hart entered films in 1914 where, after playing supporting roles in two short films, he achieved stardom as the lead in the feature, The Bargain.

Hart was particularly interested in making realistic western films. His films are noted for their authentic costumes and props, as well as Hart's extraordinary acting ability, honed on Shakespearian theatre stages in the US and England. In 1917, he accepted a lucrative offer from Adolph Zukor to join Famous Players-Laskey. In 1925, he starred in King Baggot's film Tumbleweeds which was his last and probably most famous for United Artists.

Hart loathed the contrivances and artificiality of typical Hollywood westerns. He insisted on stark realism, with sets that carefully evoked a vision of the West that Hart knew first hand from growing up. However, by 1925, the year of Tumbleweeds release, Hart was 60 years old. Tumbleweeds would be Hart's last movie. By this time, the epic Western was in vogue, so with his audiences disappearing, Hart conceded to the current fashion and created his own epic Western.[2]

Revival
Caption: Silent Film organist Dennis James at the Ponca Theatre for his special commission of the 1925 Silent Film "Tumbleweeds" about the Cherokee Strip land rush as part of a celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Oklahoma statehood.

On September 14, 2007, Dennis James, a silent film musician who, according to Carl Bennett, has played "a pivotal role in the international revival of silent films presented with live music."[3] performed the score to Tumbleweeds in a live performance at the Poncan Theater in Ponca City, Oklahoma as a special commission as part of a celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Oklahoma Statehood.[1]

Stephen Salmons, Artistic director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival said of James: "Dennis James is a musician of tremendous artistic scope and range, and a scholar who strives to preserve and restore this unique 20th century musical practice. To witness a contemporary audience experience the beauty and power of silent film through the overwhelming symphonic dynamism that Dennis James unleashes with unerring skill on the theatre organ is an absolute revalation."[2]

Reviews
Photoplay Magazine said that "Bill Hart returns to the screen in a story laid in the time when the Indian territory was turned over to the homesteaders. the scene in which the prospective land owners, waiting for the cannon's boom which would send them racing in to stake their claims, furnished a brand new thrill...It is good entertainment." [4]

Set in Caldwell, Kansas on the Kansas-Oklahoma border, this movie is arguably the first to take place during the Land Run of 1889. Its depiction is said to have influenced Oscar-winning 1931 western Cimarron.

Take a look at my photos from the show.

The Murals of Alva Oklahoma

2007-08-27T08:19:04-07:00

The Murals of Alva Oklahoma
My wife and I like to take day trips around Northern Oklahoma. So far we have visited Bartlesville, Woolaroc, Pawhuska, Kaw City, Blackwell, Stillwater, Morrison, Pawnee, Cleveland, Hominy, Ralston, Burbank, and Shidler among others and now we are starting to head out towards the western part of the state. Isn't it true that if you go to a city to visit, you see things that local residents may not have seen or noticed even though they have lived there all their lives?

Last week we went to Alva. I worked in Alva in 1968. My father was a telegrapher for the Rock Island Railroad in Ponca City and he helped me get a job working on the railroad during the summers while I attended Oklahoma State University during the school year. The work was interesting and the main advantage was that it paid well. Everybody got union scale and during the harvest season, I would get called out on weekends to Billings and Garber to write waybills for grain shipments and would get time and a half on a minimum of three hours according to union rules so I could earn enough working all summer to pay my college tuition, room and board, and books during the school year.

The hardest part was writing train orders. I had to drive down to El Reno every Saturday for 12 weeks and spend all day in class learning to write waybills and train orders. Back in those days, the network of trains wasn't automated so if you had two trains coming down the same track in different directions, you had to have some way of making sure they didn't run into each other. A system was developed and perfected over the preceding 100 years for controlling the trains. You don't just tell a train to "stop at siding 831 and wait there until Train 534 passes by." You write "trains orders" in a special language using special words in special syntax and read and confirm them in special way to ensure that there was absolutely no ambiguity about what the trains were supposed to do.

There is a good article on train orders on Wikipedia that explains: "They were conveyed to telegraph operators at outlying stations along the railroad via Morse telegraph or telephone; the receiving operators would copy the order onto onionskin forms designed for that purpose and would repeat the order back to the dispatcher so the dispatcher and other operators concerned could confirm correctness. As each operator repeated the order correctly, the dispatcher would give a complete time, along with the initials of the designated railroad official for that territory. After the order was completed, it was delivered by the operator to the concerned trains as they arrived or passed the delivery point. The operating time table indicated locations at which train crews could expect to receive train orders."

My job was to work at one of the small railroad stations as Station Master and write waybills and train orders. I was working the vacations of the full time railroad employees so I would only stay two or three weeks in each town. I worked at Ponca City, Enid, Garber, and Billings in Oklahoma and Elbing, Peabody, and Whitewater in Kansas. But I also spent three weeks in 1968 in Alva, Oklahoma.

Last week my wife and drove to Alva to see what I remembered after almost 40 years. As Wikipedia states: "Alva is a city in Woods County, Oklahoma, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 5,288 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Woods County. Alva was established in 1893 as a land office for the Cherokee Outlet land run, the largest of the land rushes that settled western and central Oklahoma. The site was chosen for its location on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and likely named for a railroad attorney, Alva Adams, who had become governor of Colorado. Today, the city council is actively soliciting murals -- one of the most recent is of the storied Castle -- and trying to attract businesses and tourists to keep people in town, important as the population of Woods County has been dropping since the 1930s. Alva lost 200 people between 1990 and 2000 according to official census figures."

I am always interested in seeing what other small towns and cities in Oklahoma are doing to retain their character, history, and identity. Alva is using art in the form of murals that celebrate its past. Take a look at my photographs of the Murals of Alva.

There is nothing wrong with taking ideas and borrowing them or expanding on them. "The Murals of Alva" is something that would work in Ponca City.