Oklahoma Today Volume 41 Issue 4

52 Pages·1991·10.9 MB·English

by  Oklahoma Today

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA

July-August 1991 Vol. 41, No. 4
THE RETURN OF THE WILD HORSE 10
After a century, wild horses have returned to the bluestem prairies near Bartlesville.
How long can they stay this time? By BurkhardBilger
MAIN STREET HARDWARE 18
Hey, browsers, putterers, and pack rats, this is the hardware store of your dreams.
By Barbara Pa/mer, photography by Dave Crenshaw
STARRY. STARRY NIGHTS 20
For amateur astronomers, the Oklahoma sky holds far more mystery than tomorrow's
weather report. For them, observing the stars and the sky is a journey filled with
beauty, adventure, and awe. By Maura McDermott
A COTTON CANDY KIND OF FAIR 38
Sweet and unspoiled, the Hydro Free Fair resonates with neighborliness and good
clean fun. By Barbara Palmer, photographs Allen Russe/l
rage lo
TODAY IN OKLAHOMA 4
IN SHORT 5
LETTERS 6
OMNIBUS That Oklahoma Wind, by Jeanne M. Deulin 8
PORTFOLIO Hidden Places 32
FOOD The Watermelon Patch, by RichardMiw 43
WEEKENDER Prairie Song, I.T., by Beto Stephenson 45
ARTS Down Home with the Blues, by Chris Casteel 47
ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR A guide to what's happening 49
COVER: Wild horses at the Prairie National Wild Horse Refuge. Photograph by Dave
Crenshaw. Inside front cover: Sailingon Grand Lake. Photograph by Jim Argo. Backcover:
Wichita Mountains after a rain. Photograph by Steve Wilson.
July-August 1991
s this issue began to take zine without seeing some mention of
shape a year ago, I found Oklahoma. InMetropo/itanHorne, I read
our editorial team kept cir- that my mother's set of sturdy brown
cling back to the love-hate Frankoma mugs and pitcher may be
relationship Oklahomans seem to have among the next wave of hot American
with our famous end-of-summer heat: collectibles. In Reader's Digest, I read
We want to be outdoors in July and that Tulsa has done an ingenious job of
August. But, once outside, we gravitate reclaimingland laid waste by freeways.
to shade. Or water. And in Vanity Fair, I read the home-
What seemed to be in order was an spun wisdom of Oklahoma's favorite
issue that would give travelers a reason son, Will Rogers, is enjoying a revival
to get outside, but at the same time on the Broadway stage, through a new
enable them to outfox the heat. Tommy Tune musical, Will Rogers
"
We put our heads Follies." (I get a
together-and personal kick out
watched the lineup of the fact that
grow: Burkhard Tune, who is part
Bilger's story on the Shawnee, grew up
Prairie National spending summers
Wild Horse Refuge on his grandmother's
lets you walk on farm in Oklahoma
Oklahoma's wild ~ 4z,i,gfied cirls: ~~b~~~is~ s econd and is said to have
side without leav- from hght on the top row. choreographed his
ing your air-condi- first dance numbers
tioned car; Maura McDermott's tome in her cornfield.)
on the celestial wonders of our night If all that, plus the six Tony awards
skies puts you outdoors in the cooler "Follies" won this summer, weren't
hours ofevening. As for associate editor enough to make Oklahoma chests
Barbara Palmer's story on an old-fash- swell, the success of one of our own
ioned hardware store in the lake town should be: OneofthesixteenZiegfield
of Eufaula, let's just say you can feel Girls in Tune's Broadway hit is Re-
the ceiling fans whirring with a becca Downing, a product of Okla-
sultriness you haven't experienced homa City and Oklahoma City Uni-
since "Casablanca." versity. "It's what I prayed for, pre-
Ultimately, it is our hope that read- pared for, and crossed my fingers for,"
ing this issue will approach the won- admits the 29-year-old mezzo-soprano,
derful sensation of downing an ice-cold who isn't so star-struck she can't see
bottle of pop after a hot, sweaty game of the irony in her Broadway debut being
softball. It is, after all, a matter of syn- in an Oklahoma show.
ergism: Neither the cold pop nor the "I've known about Will Rogers since
hot softball game would be as good school," says Rebecca, "but I've got-
without the other. So it is with August ten to know him on a personal level
...
heat. It's what separates the true Okla- doing this show it always interweaves
homan from the wannabes. his upbringing and the values he grew
Last summer, however, I had no idea up with in Oklahoma and how that
just how hot Oklahoma would be this made him the man he was.
summer. And I'm notjusttalking mer- "The show reminds me of the great-
cury readings. It is May as I write this ness and the power of Oklahoma, and
and for the last few weeks I haven't it's really nice to touch home again."
been able to pick up a national maga- Here, here. Jeanne M. Devlin
Oklahoma TODAY
Association title. More recently, Ty
Shawnee Puts The
Up
Murray of Stephenville, Texas, won the
PRCA's all-round buckle the year after
Largest Rodeo In-The World
winning the same title at the NHSFR.
B U ~the pageantry of the NHSFR alone
would make it unique. On opening day,
Hosting the National High School says Etchieson, earnestly. as contestants carry their state's flags
Finals Rodeo in Shawnee (pop. With 1,350 contestants, the National through the arena for the grand entry,
26,506) is not unlike inviting High School Finals Rodeo is billed as the different contingents in the grandstand go
1,350 people over to the house for a week to whooping,
and suggesting they each bring a horse 1w2
A
and a cow. "The first thing is the mass 2 ringing cowbells.
numbers of people and livestock and how z -
to feed them," admits Ken Etchieson, A2
ga rodeos," says
director for The Heart of Oklahoma LL
Exposition Center in Shawnee. (It takes Etchieson,
8-10,000 bales of hay just to feed the proudly.
livestock.) Once under
The next thing, is getting everyone a way, the rodeo is,
bed for the night. literally, a three-
At the fairgrounds, the horses sleep ring circus. "We
fine. The Exposition Center built 1,350 Oklahomans go to
new box stalls to house its four-footed rodeos all the
guests. (The 2,000 visiting head of cattle time," Etchieson
camp outside.) observes, "but to
Back in town, the teen-aged contes- NHSFR twents nmthe gamut, from girls' b a dr acing to buN riding. see something of
tants and their families do okay, too. this magnitude,
Oklahoma Baptist University and St. largest rodeo in the world. It also serves with three arenas going at the same time.
Gregory's College both open their dorms as an unofficial farm team for the is unparalleled anywhere else."
to house the young cowboys and professional rodeo circuit. The late Lane Shawnee hosts the NHSFR July 21
cowgirls, and area motels and Shawnee Frost of Lane was a NHSFR bull riding through July 28, and again next summer.
homes take care of the rest. "All in all, we champion before he went on to win the For more information, call Ken Etchieson
take them in like company for the week," same Professional Rodeo Cowboy at [phone].
Frankoma: The Next Hot Collectible?
"humble" pottery, made from clay dug
near the Sapulpa plant, have soared. "It's
not unusual for prices to be in the
rankoma Pottery is as Oklahoman Neither the high praise nor the hundreds of dollars for pieces dated before
as Waterford Crystal is Irish. purchase surprise Joniece Frank, the our 1938 fire," says Ms. Frank.
The difference? daughter of Another sign of its new popularity:
Heck, we eat lunch off mom's antique John Frank 9g y Counterfeit pieces now exist.
Wagon Wheel Dinner Plates. who founded 3 These days, Ms. Frank says even she
But times they may be a changing. Frankoma &, would be excited to find a Frankoma
In the May issue of Metropolitan Home (FRANK, 51I piece dated 1938. In November of that
magazine, Tiffany design director John OklahOMA) year, just nine months after opening for
Loring pauses during a ramble of New Pottery in business, the Frankoma plant burned to
York City flea markets to remark that Sapulpa in I the ground, destroying her father's original
"humble Frankoma pottery is one of my Februaryof molds. New models were recast from
favorite" new collectibles, because its 1938. existing pieces of pottery, but the
"best pieces are wonderfully eccentric" ~h~~~ books F ~...L..... ...
... ...., procedure resulted in pieces that are 10
and presently inexpensive. have been bodies, post-deco shapes. percent larger than the originals.
With that said, the creative force written on "Frankie in back recently picked up
behind many of the artful objects made Frankoma as a collectible, and Phyllis one at a flea market," she confides. "He
for Tiffany's each year plopped down $22 and Tom Bess' book "Frankoma paid 50 cents for it. But I knew when I saw
for two Frankoma pieces made in the late Treasures" recently went into a second it what it was. And on the open market it
Forties. printing. Meanwhile prices for the could go for over a hundred dollars."
November-December 1990
You're holding Vogue, Texas Monthly, and Fortune always exciting to receive Oklahoma
magazines. Today. I read every word, and espe-
the Regional
&&a
cially liked articles about my Chero-
kee chief Wilma Mankiller (January-
Magazine
Also this spring, (Mzhoma Today February 1990)a nd Carl Albert (Sep-
awarded its first annual writer and pho- tember-October 1990). Your mags-
of the Year!
tographer awards. Ralph Marsh, a fre- zinc brings "home" to me.
quent contributor from Heavener, was Patricia Goetz
Oklahoma Today-we were thrilled to named "1990 Writer oftheyear." Marsh Kenema, West Africa
learn-was named the "Magazine of the often writes about southeastern Okla-
Year " at the 1991 Regional Publishers homa and his affection for that part of Just wanted to let you know that
Association's national conference in the state is evident in his stories. the articles on the restaurants in
Kerrville, Texas. With that honor, the Oklahoma City photographer David Oklahoma are great. How many times
magazine's name was added to a trophy Fitzgerald, who is equally gifted at have we traveled in the smaller towns
bearing the names of such outstanding photographing both landscapes and in Oklahoma and wanted a good place
regional magazines as Arizona Highways people, was to have a meal and usually ended up
and Yankee. named "1990 in a fast-food place because we didn't
In addition to that award, presented Photographer of know any place else to go. Keep up
for overall excellence, Oklahoma Today the Year." Not the good work.
received six other awards for writing, coincidentally, J.D. Freeman
design, and photography. both Marsh and Oklahoma City
Those awards include: a gold award Fitzgerald were
for "Saving the Trees: A Growing major contribu- Reading "Chautauqua 'Ti1 You
Movement is Keeping Oklahoma tors in the issues Drop" (May-June 1991) brought
Green," by Burkhard Bilger, published we submitted for many fond memories to me. I learned
September-October 1990; a silver award Ralplr Manh judging in the how to spell Chautauqua before I
for overall design; RPA contest. went to school-we lived on
and two silver In making the RPA awards, the Chautauqua Avenue in Norman. As a
awards for the In- judges had a lot of nice things to say child I went to every Chautauqua-
dian art special is- about the magazine and about the art style entertainment that came to the
sue published in direction provided by Stroud Design, University of Oklahoma. I hope the
November-De- Inc. But one comment in particular Chautauqua will someday come to
cember 1990. The pleased us. A judge wrote: "I'm sure Texas.
magazine also won your readers look forward to every is- Lucy Glee Fullington
awards of merit for sue." We sincerely hope that is true. Odessa, Texas
a photo essay shot
In the March issue, thephoto on page 2 is
Letters
Prairie Preserve in identifiedas Robbers Cave State Park, it
Osage County by Pawhuska photogra- is Beavers Bend State Park. Also, the
pher Harvey Payne and written by woman onpage34isnot Theresa Charles,
magazine Managing Editor Jeanne M. Your ability to capture the flavor, but Ruth Khekole of Dallas, Texas.
Devlin, from the July-August 1990 is- history, and natural beauty of our great
sue; and a historical column about a car state is unsurpassed. I have been a
manufactured in Enid in the 1910s,w rit- lifelong resident of Oklahoma, and now NEXT 1SSUE:Toolingdown an
ten and photographed by M. Scott Carter that business has moved me to another Oklahoma road in fall, the sky is
and published in the January-February state, I will depend on Oklahoma Today brilliant blue, the leaves tantaliz-
1990 issue. more than ever. I learn about and love ing as gold coins, and a drive to the
Contest judges were Abe Peck, who this place more with each passing issue. local co-op resembles a fairytale
has worked as an editor and writer for Jim Newport trip. With that in mind, we take to
RollingStoneand Outsidemagazines; Terri Jonesboro, Louisiana the highways and even the sky to
Brooks, a contributor to such magazines bring you the best of Oklahoma
asHarper's, WorkingW oman,a ndRedbook; I have been an "Okie" for 62 years, fall foliage in the September-Oc-
and Dennis Darling, a photographer and and I am beginning my fourth year in tober issue of OkIaAoma Today.
designer whose work has appeared in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer. It's
Oklahoma TODAY
TreatyourseIf;afriend, or reZutive to an Oklkhomu book.

To ordec me the order curd inf ront of this issae.

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Ot

Ob~a~ornwaind
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~Variba/ou~tshe stan around Society interviewer in a 1937 interview. the pressure in Oklahoma City is
And sends the c/o14dsa -f /vin', "She heard them chirping, and finally higher than it is in hot Amarillo, air is
iMaricl nzukes the tnountait~sso und located them. l'he wind had blown going to flow to Amarillo causing wind.
Like folks were up there (yit~'. them into the jug and she had to break 'The bigger the difference in the tem-
Maria... Marin... the jug to get them out." peratures and the bigger the difference
Thq cu// the wild Muria. Wind in Oklahoma long ago entered in the pressure between the two loca-
-"They Call the Wind Maria" the realm of folklore. But this is one tions, the stronger the wind.
case in which reality often rivals fiction. In general, Oklahomans tend to os-
W
ind is part of the Okla- After Oklahoma chickens were re- cillate on whether wind is a curse or a
homa mystique. For bet- peatedly found featherless after en- blessing. Wind almost blew away por-
ter or for worse, we not countering tornadic winds, one scien- tions of this state in the 1930s. Yet, from
only have more wind than tist decided to determine the wind the beginning it was the water pumped
just about anybody else, but what we velocity at which this happened by by windmills that made settlement of
have is also, well, windier. building a wind tunnel, strapping some this land possible.
Chicago may call itself the "Windy unlucky chicken in it, and turning the And so it has gone: farmers building
City," but at an average annual wind fan up until his feathers blew off. "You wind breaks in an attempt to slow the
speed of 10 miles per hour, it dims in know what," says Gary England, dis- wind, settlers digging caves in an at-
comparison to Oklahoma City (14 mph) appointedly, "they found if you scare tempt to escape it, engineers building
or Boise City (15). Even genteel Tulsa a chicken enough, his feathers fall out." wind turbines to generate electricity,
clocks its average wind speed at 11 Still no one disputes the ferocity of pump oil, and power irrigation systems
miles per hour. And then there are Oklahoma wind. Elmer Ellsworth in an attempt to use the wind.
those Oklahoma gusts. Noah in another OHS interview ob- In the end, Oklahomans do seem to
The strongest wind gust on record, served, "In 1896 the wind began to be happiest with the wind when there
says Channel 9 meteorologist Gary blow with the fury of a hurricane and it is at least a semblance of their being in
England, is 69 miles per hour. "But I continued day after day for weeks. One control of it. Bergey Windpower Com-
know that's bull," he says, bluntly. day the wind blew straight from the pany in Norman is the world's largest
"We've had winds associated with north and the next day just as hard from maker of small wind turbines. ItIike
tornadoes we think reached 250 to 300 the south. There was no pause and all Bergey says it's not a coincidence his
miles per hour. The reason we can't be the vegetation blew off the fields, un- firm is here or that he's sold more than
sure, is that's so strong it would blow til the ground was bare." a hundred of the turbines (at $20,000 a
the measuring instruments away." According to humorist Richard piece) to Oklahoma farmers. "You ask
Spoken like a true Oklahoman. McGuinn of Hallet, farmhouses once virtually any Oklahoman, and they'll
No one appreciates a good windy came with "crowbar holes" from which say, 'I hate the wind,' but if you ask
story like an Oklahoman. And through wind velocity could be tested. "If the those who own their own wind gen-
the years, we've come up with some crowbar merely bends when thrust out erators, they can't wait for windy days,"
doozies. A favorite in the late 1930s the hole," explained McGuinn, wryly, he says. "It's hard to come up with
involved a woman who put three chicks "it is safe to go out. If the bar is broken anything good about wind. It messes
in a box and then placed a jug of warm ~ffi,t is better to stay in." up your hair and cakes laundry off the
water in the box to keep them warm. We get more wind in Oklahoma be- line and blows trash into the yard. Rut
"The wind blew the top off the box, xuse of our flat terrain, but also be- if you own your own wind generator, it
blew the water out of the jug, apd when Zause of how wind happens. Air tends makes you money."
the woman went to look after the to flow toward lower pressure areas. Air And that may be the closet thing to
chicks she could not find them," John also tends to rise and fall as the earth's a wind comeuppance we'll ever get.
C. 'l'alley told an Oklahoma Historical surface heats and cools. If it is cool and -Jeanne M. Devlin
July-August 1991