-- East Coast Edition –
-- Printed in Loving Memory of Wanda J.
Jackson 1934 - 2011 –
Read old/current issues and send news
or comments online at:
http://www.234enterprises.com/RooseveltNews/newscenter.htm
Editors:
E-mail: mmay@234enterprises.com
Carolyn Niebruegge May Michael L. May 
Vol. 1, Is. 20 Dec.
2, 2011
From the
Editor
This has been an overly
exciting week for the May family. We
returned to
Even this euphoria has a
downside. As excited as we are for Kevin
and Brenda--and ourselves, we must reflect on the other half of our little
family--our daughter, Karen and her husband Mark who after the birth of their
now 5 year old Paige, lost both a little girl and a little boy during two
separate pregnancies. Karen and Mark so
wanted a second child that just wasn’t to be.
As happy as we know they are for Kevin and Brenda, we understand that
their joy is somewhat tempered with “Why couldn’t we too have the blessing of
that second child?” However, that said,
I believe that they have finally consoled themselves by believing that since
they have such a vibrant, loving little girl who brings them joy on a daily
basis that their family of three is as it was meant to be.
We know that the makeup of
our families is not up to us, but to God and only He knows and has the plan
that will play out for each of us. It
then becomes our responsibility to follow that plan and understand that it was
not “written” without forethought.
Enjoy your family, hold them
close, tell them often that you love them, and thank God each day for the blessings
that they provide.
mlm
Content
Contributors for the Week
Elizabeth
(Boydston) Miller, Class of 1969
Becky
(Bynum) Tannery, Class of 1965
All
those who sent messages to the Email “Bag”
Thank
you all!
Remembering Christmases Past
As Christmas approaches I
began to recall some of the memories I have of Christmas as a child. I may not remember the year or the age I was
but there are just some things that stand out in my mind.
First, there was always a
program at church on Christmas Eve. The
children all had verses to recite and songs to sing. After a wonderful service in the sanctuary,
we would go to the fellowship hall in the basement of the church for
refreshments and the arrival of Santa.
The ladies of the church always made goodies to share. My Dad was responsible for the
”goodie” bags that Santa handed out to all who came. I can remember shopping for candy and fruit
for those bags. Dad had to make sure he
had the best oranges and apples he could find for the bags. A small bag of hard Christmas candy was a
must and it had to be just a certain candy.
I also believe he included nuts, candy canes, and chocolate bars. I don’t remember what else but I do remember
the shopping that went into getting everything to put in the bags. He always made about 100 bags so it was no
small thing. By the way, Mike served as
Santa for the church one year—don’t remember if it was
the year before we married or the year after.
Now leading up to Christmas,
buying the Christmas tree and getting it decorated was a big event. I remember Dad going to the store and going
through all of the live trees to find the “perfect” tree. He wanted it to almost reach the ceiling and
be as full as possible with the perfect shape—no thin spots. Once home and in the stand, he would make
sure it was centered in the picture window of the living room. Then he began putting the light strings
on. We always had lots of lights as Dad
thought the more lights the better the tree.
I remember the strings of big multi-color lights—as I recall some had 7
lights and some had 14 lights. We
probably put 10 or 12 strings on the tree.
Then we had the strings of bubble lights to mix in—probably had 4 or 6
strings of 7 lights of those. (I don’t know that any of the big lights or
bubble lights exists today unless someone has kept them through the years. Who would have thought of only clear lights
or mini lights much less LED lights?)
After putting on the lights, Dad would go outside and look through the
window from the road to be sure those lights were in just the right place on
the tree and make adjustments as necessary.
Once satisfied with the lights, we got to put on the multi-colored bulbs
and other ornaments. We had white
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer ornaments which were so cool. I
still have them somewhere. Then the tree
wasn’t finished until we had hung many, many icicles on it—one icicle at a time. On what fun!
Now I do remember that my Grannie decided that she had to be up on the latest and
greatest. So she purchased one of those
aluminum trees with no lights on it.
There was a spot light you pointed on the tree and a multi-colored wheel
turned to make different colors on the tree.
I think a year or two she didn’t use the multi-colored wheel as pink was
her favorite color and she had only pink bulbs on the tree. I also remember
when “flocked” trees were in and she had her tree “flocked.” What a mess as I recall! Leave it to Grannie
to have the nontraditional Christmas tree.
After attending the
Christmas Eve program at the church, we usually found something to do—maybe
taking in a movie-- so Santa had time to come before we arrived home. Now, of course, Mom and Dad usually had some
reason to go home ahead of us. I had
begun to suspect they had something to do with Santa. Then, one year we went straight home from the
program and low in behold Santa had already been there. Under the Christmas tree, I found a Madame
Alexander Queen Elizabeth doll dressed in her coronation gown. That was the best but I just couldn’t figure
out how Santa had come because I was just sure Mom and Dad played a big
roll. Later, I remembered that as we
were getting in the car to go to church Dad had to go back in to the restroom,
not an unusual occurrence for him.
Duh!! I think I was in the 4th
grade that year and it was the last year I really believed in Santa.
Another Christmas that I
really remember is the one Santa brought me a Ricky, Jr. doll. (I think I was 7 or 8.) That was the year Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had Desi Arnaz, Jr., known as Ricky,
Jr. and there was a life size baby doll named for him. I was so proud of that doll. I got a stroller and baby bottles along with
a bottle sterilizer. There were even
real baby clothes for him. He fit in a
bassinette I had received a few years earlier.
That doll went everywhere with us for several years—vacations to several
western states included. In fact, that
bassinette and the doll are in my storage room today. Of course, I have most of the dolls I ever
got as a child and several I have received as an adult. I am one that believes a “girl” is never too
old for a doll. My granddaughters never
have to worry about having dolls and Paige now knows Nana will have her a Madame Alexander doll under the tree every
Christmas. Yes, Raegan got her first one
last year at only 1 month of age.
Even though we opened
packages on Christmas Eve and always at our house, we had Christmas dinner
about noon on Christmas Day at Grannie’s. Mom always made Cranberry Jelly for the
dinner. She always started making that
jelly after we opened packages on Christmas Eve. We always said the jelly wouldn’t gel unless
it was cooked at midnight on Christmas Eve.
I never have Cranberry Jelly that I don’t think of Mom making that good
homemade jelly on Christmas Eve. Past
that Grannie and my aunt were responsible for the
turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
Mom and I worked all Christmas morning at our house making the salads
and vegetables. Grannie
had to use the best dishes and silver for the dinner. Everyone was always dressed up. It was not uncommon for me to get a new dress
(always made by one of the several ladies in Snyder who sewed for us) for
Christmas and of course I had to wear it.
Mike chuckles as he reminisces about those Christmases after he joined
the family. My granddad, Dad, and uncle
always playing dominoes dressed in their dress shirts and ties. That was a bit much for him.
I could go on and on and may
just do that at a later time to record some of my memories for my children and
grandchildren but I think this is enough to hopefully get each of you started
thinking about things you remember from Christmases past. We would love to receive any of your memories
you would like to share with our readers.
cnm
Thoughts from
the Squirrel Lair
Growing Old
Becky Bynum Tannery sent
this to me in a power point format which unfortunately doesn’t work well in an
email--so I did a little research and found this version on You Tube which is,
as far as I can see, almost identical.
I know you’ll enjoy it…
Turn on the sound and run in
full screen (left click the little box at the lower right of the You Tube
screen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnEAaF9mnn8
Becky, thank you so much for sharing -- mlm (64 and 15/16 years of age)
A Treasure from the Past
After being gone for 10
days, a stack of held mail was delivered today.
In that stack I found a treasure from the past thanks to Elizabeth Boydston Miller who sent me a copy of a cookbook compiled
by the Roosevelt Band Mothers in 1956.
I really like cookbooks and have quite a few old ones handed down to me
by Gayle and my mother. This one is so
unique compared to any of the others I have or have ever seen. Each recipe is in the original handwriting of
the contributor. I have never seen a
cookbook compiled and bound as this one was and I assume sold as a fund raiser
with handwritten recipes. I have certainly
enjoyed spending time going through it.
I want to share a few interesting things I found.
The first section was
“Hints” which had one page of handwritten household hints signed by Lonita Johnson and Jonnie Wolfe. These were very interesting to me so I am
going to share them with you.
“To keep whipped cream
stiff, beat in 1 t. gelatin which has been soaked in 1 T. milk, then dissolved
over hot water.
If cooked frosting will not
set, add powdered sugar, a little at a time—until mixture is of right
consistency.
To keep dresser drawers from
sticking rub a cake of soap along top or sides of dresser.
To prevent cream from
dripping down the sides of a pitcher onto the tablecloth rub a thin coating of
butter underneath the lip of the pitcher.
When whipping cream, if it
is found too rich and likely to turn to butter, add a little fresh milk slowly
and then whip.
Creamed cheese thinned to
mayonnaise consistency with any tart juice makes a delicious quick dressing for
a fruit salad.
When cleaning around
bathroom fixtures try using an old toothbrush.
Dill pickles, untouched by
the fingers, never form a white scum.
These are all very useful
hints but not likely to be found in a cookbook published today.
The recipes were from
typical categories found in any cookbook:
breads, meat dishes, pickles, salads, vegetables, desserts, pastries,
cakes, cookies, and candy. Obviously, I
can’t print all of the recipes but I can list the names of the contributors
which I think many of you will enjoy because I am sure you will have memories
of most of them. Mrs. Douglas Sears,
Mrs. Edker Miller, Mrs. Curtis Law, Susie Colvin,
Mrs. D. D. McKelvey, Carrie Byrd Rule, Isabelle
Farrar, Etna Hackney, Mrs. Deral Johnson, Mary Kimray,
Naomi Sue Henderson, Merle Langston, Mrs. Carl O. Johnson, Mrs. Cecil Martin,
Mrs. Elmer Ard, Mrs. Dick Johnson, Mrs. R. C. Kimray, Mrs. Henry Dacus, Mrs. Gene Stephens, Mrs. Kenneth Funkhouser, Mrs. Ted Laney, Mrs. Dewey Johnson, Mrs. Fain Muldowney, Nancy Davis, Mrs. Frank Gray, Mrs. C. R. Wolfe,
Mrs. E. E. Autry, Lonita Johnson, Mrs. Herman Sheets,
Mrs. Junior Morris, Mrs. Maggie P. Reneau, Mrs. Don Rudkins,
Mrs. Guy Reneau, Etola, Mrs. Leon Jones, Mrs. L. H.
Wright, Mrs. Richard McNutt, Mrs. L. C. Cheuvront,
Mrs. C. F. Kuehn, Mrs. Zeeda Bagley, Mrs. Bill
Jackson, Mrs. Clay Sonnmore, Mrs. LeRoy May, Mrs. H.
T. Edmundson, Patsy Owens, Mrs. Ryvers Reeder, Norma
Clare, Vera New, . Mrs. Paul Stafford, Mrs. Ken Boydston,
Mrs. Lee Wood, Katye McNutt, Mrs. Thurston Barnes,
Mrs. A. H. Shaw, Mrs. B. Ragsdale, Almeda Riggs, Lois
Sorrell, Mrs. I. B. Younger, Mrs. L. R. Lewis, Maxine Reneau, Mrs. Orvis Autry,
Retha Brooks, Mrs. Walter Jackson, Jr., Bertis Gage, Mrs. V. V. McAlister, Elouise Smelser, Mrs.
Charlie Doyle, Mrs. Walter Edmundson, Jr., Mrs. Ben Simmons, Mrs. Clifford Pirtle, Mrs. C. R. Wolfe, Mrs. John V. Rose, Mrs. Jessie
Sells, Zelma Muldowney, Mrs. Leland Curtis, Bertis Gage, Mrs.
Opal (Nickell) Stafford, Mrs. Harold Tipton, Mrs. Ray
Henderson, Mrs. Leon Morgan, Mrs. Jay Davis, Mrs. Harrison Rule, and Mrs. W. A.
Sheets. There were a few recipes without
names and others with FHA or Band Parents.
An interesting note here is that Etola Talley
only signed hers as Etola. Both Mike and Elizabeth said that she was
always known as Etola and didn’t need to include her
last name for everyone to know who she was.
I immediately honed in on
one recipe, “Roosevelt Band Parents Barbecue Hamburgers,” which serves 100
people. This looks like the same recipe
Mike had tried and finally succeeded in finding that he attributed to Viola
Brown. He remembered it being served in
class concession stands at the Roosevelt-Cooperton Free Fair. Mike claims Viola’s barbecue was “the BEST
EVER!” Who knows where it originated but
I am sure it was used for many fundraising events in
I found that like many of
the family recipes I have from earlier generations, the directions were not
always clear. Our mothers and
grandmothers learned to cook by cooking with their mother or grandmother. They just knew what to do from that and never
considered that the directions included with written recipes might not include
what those of us in later generations might need to prepare the dish. For example, one interesting recipe in this
book for Liver Spaghetti Supreme gave explicit directions for browning the
meat. Then it said “alternate layers of
meat with one 7-oz. package of spaghetti.”
Do you cook the spaghetti before layering? I would guess so but I have a recipe that
your brown spaghetti in shortening before cooking with the meat. So guess I couldn’t be sure about this one.
I also hoped I might find
the recipe for Bertis Gage’s Molasses Cookies. Mike remembers these as the best he ever had
and has asked everyone he thought might have it to no avail. I did find cookie recipes from Bertis Gage but no Molasses Cookie recipe. Anyone out there reading this that might have
that recipe, please let me know. If you have any interest in a recipe from any
of the contributors let me know and I will share.
Again, to me this is a
classic from days gone by and I feel so very fortunate that
cnm
Alumni Website
We have renewed the account that Wanda
Jackson had set up at the photo sharing website, picturetrail.com for the
Roosevelt Alumni: http://www.picturetrail.com/rooseveltalumni. She had posted many pictures from past
reunions, class panels, and old schools buildings along with write ups about
them. We thought you might find these
interesting if you haven’t visited this site in the past.
News
Southern Kiowa
Chamber Christmas Parade
The
Christmas parade sponsored by the Southern Kiowa Chamber will be in downtown
Snyder, Saturday, December 3, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The highlight of the parade will be the arrival
of Santa. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be
handing out treat sacks and visiting with the children following the parade.
Following
the parade there will be a drawing for over $3500 of prizes. Tickets for the drawing can be purchased at
any Chamber business. Items for the
drawing include the following: 46” Flat
Screen TV, WII, Fisher Price Harley Davidson Tough Trike,
Fisher Price Barbie Tough Trike, Battleship and
Monopoly Game sets, Kindle Fire, Tangled Rapunzel
Doll and Tangled DVD, Xbox 360 Kinect, 1 set Lego
City and 1 set Lego Cars, and flat bed trailer.
Make
plans to attend this festive event. Fun
will be had by all.
********
OSBI Investigation of Dog Poisonings in
Articles appearing in the
Hobart Democrat-Chief written by Zeke Campfield of
the Lawton Constitution and in the Lawton Constitution written by Scott Rains
report that the OSBI is investigating dog poisonings in Roosevelt.
Kiowa County Sheriff Russ
Tate asked for the assistance of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
after as many as 10 dogs in the
After investigating, the
OSBI arrested Sharon Motley who is a contract animal control officer for
Snyder,
Another arrest was made as a
result of the investigation into the possible poisoned animals. But for the second time, investigators say
the arrest is for an unrelated charge. A
spokesman for the OSBI reported that the Snyder Police Chief, John Phipps, was
arrested on a felony complaint of possession of methamphetamine and booked into
the Jackson County Jail.
Stan Moddie,
Mayor of Snyder, terminated Phipps. He
appointed William “Bill” Lancaster to serve as interim chief of police until a
permanent one is hired. He also
terminated the contract with Motley for animal control services. The police department will be responsible for
animal control services until a new animal control officer is hired.
The investigation of the
possible poisoning of the animals is still ongoing.
As
a side note, William “Bill” Lancaster is husband of Krystal (Mahoney) Lancaster
of Roosevelt.
Birthdays and
Anniversaries
We
have compiled all of the birthday and anniversary information we could from
Wanda’s files. We are sure we are
missing some. Please send us the
birthdays and anniversaries for your family and friends so that we can have as
complete as list as possible. We are
going to start with what we have from Wanda’s files so if we miss you, please
send us the information so we have it for the news next year. In addition, should any of the birthdays we
list be wrong, also please let us know.
Happy Birthday
To:
December 2 – Jay
Howard, Class of 1993
December 3 –
December 3 – Sam McNeill, Class of 1962
December 3 – Johnny Starcher, Class of 1977
December 4 – Daniel Valderas – 1990
December 5 – Wilma (Cook)
December
6 – Monte Webb
December 7 – Norine (Goodin)
Jackson, Class of 1949
December 7 – Dwight Peterson, Class of 1956
Humor
Two Dogs
Dining
This
is so cleverly done, didn’t know which dog to watch!!!
Turn on the sound and run in
full screen (left click the little box at the lower right of the You Tube
screen)
From the Email
“Bag”
November
25, 2011
Hi
Mike and Carolyn,
Being
a southern Okie country boy, Corn and Oysters for Thanksgiving or any other
time is new for me. Must
be a northeastern dish. A few
years ago Margie and I went with Joyce and Helen Holder and traveled the noreast coastal area.
It seemed like ever other eating place had a big craw-dad (crawfish)
sign out front. They called them
LOBSTERS up there.
I
enjoy your newsletters. I print them out
and give them to Johnny Kirk and the folks at the Senior citizen dinner at
Dan
Ramsey
********
November
25, 2011
Hi everyone:
I haven’t sent
information about my Mom, Margetta Stafford, in quite
a while, so thought I would send along an update. Mom is now staying at
The Edmond Nursing Center in
Earlier in the
year she fell and broke her hip and had to have the femur repaired with an
artificial femur head. Even though she has healed nicely she is being kept
off her feet because she is so unstable with her walking. They still get
her up and assist her with walking to keep her strength up in her legs.
On December 9th
she will be celebrating her 86th birthday.
I am not sure if
any of you have heard that Kathie (Blish)
Joan Blish, Kathie’s Mother, is now staying with daughter Cindy
(Blish) Phillips in
Kathie and I
continue to enjoy the Roosevelt News and appreciate all the effort that goes
into keeping this information up-to-date.
Thanks,
Dewayne and Kathie
Stafford, Class of 1969
********
November
26, 2011
Mike:
You published a newsletter about the increase in
earthquakes in
I can't seem to find the newsletter again. Could you resend it to me? I know it took a lot of work and research to
come up with those numbers and I for one really appreciate the work you and
Carolyn do.
Thank You Mike
Linda Newsom, Class of 1968
********
November 26, 2011
Mike and Carolyn, Glad you had a good Thanksgiving! We had a good one to. We are still eating some of it. We seem to cook to much each year. This is
birthdays for my brothers and sisters and my kids. Think Wanda had some
birthdays, but don't know for sure.
Keep up the good work. Wanda would be proud!!
Bonnie (Pollard) Phillips, Class of 1964
Obituaries
Useful
Links:
Becker
Funeral Home of Snyder, OK
http://www.beckerfuneral.com/?page=snyder
Ray
and Martha’s Funeral Home of Hobart,
http://www.234enterprises.com/Roosevelt%20Cemetery%20Layout.htm
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/rooseveltcemetery
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99397&CScn=roosevelt&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99399&CScn=Hobart+Rose&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2246374&CScn=Resurrection&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99042&CScn=Mountain+Park&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=98391&CScn=fairlawn&CScntry=4&CSst=38
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