On February 27, 1889 Illinois representative William M. Springer added section 13 to the annual Indian Appropriation bill which authorized the President to open the lands to settlement through issuance of a proclamation. Known as the Springer Amendment, this rider authorized settlement under the provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862 and it denied the original settlers their squatter’s rights. They were to be expelled and the lands were to be settled by a land run. The Act as amended was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on March 2, 1889. During his third week in office, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation on March 23, 1889 to settle the 1,887,796 acres. In what would be known as the Run of ‘89, eligible persons were authorized to enter at noon on April 22, 1889 for the purpose of occupying a quarter section (160 acres, or ½ mile by ½ mile square). Oklahoma’s first land run opened all or part of the present counties of Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne. Tent cities emerged at the first settlements of Oklahoma City, Kingfisher, El Reno, Norman, Guthrie and Stillwater.

The most common question I’ve received throughout my professional life as a public high school teacher has been some variation of this: “How do you handle not being able to speak freely about your Chris-tian faith in the classroom?”

We dedicated precious Rosalyn to Jesus Easter morning. She is pictured above with her parents Gunner and Olicia Fullbright.

Today marks the 27th anniversary of the bombing of the the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people.

As a lifelong English teacher and coach of numerous academic bowl teams, I’m always on the lookout for proper English usage. We ran across this once while studying for an academic bowl and I have used it ever since. Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble.

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Had an old Geezers meeting Monday, April 11, at Smokin Joes. We had 18 show up and there were lots of stories! Those attending were: Ann Kernek Kaiser, Mike Agan, Coby Wells, Bobbie Jo Loomis Wells, Rosalia Mendoza, Mike Winningham, Denny Langdon, Jerry Harwell, Keith Kernek, Gayle Frederick, Geneal Frederick and Joyce Loomis Kernek. Thank you Smokin’ Joe’s Rib Ranch for the new Geezer hats!

Holdenville FFA has received a special grant! The Making Things Better Grant Program is aimed at developing and advancing Oklahoma’s rural communities. Their grant was written to provide further aide to their clean up project partnering with Holdenville Lake! They will receive recognition at the Oklahoma FFA Convention next month!

I was going thru my files this past week to find some Easter items I wanted to share with our readers. The Children’s Bible In A nutshell A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.

King David Olney and Queen Stevi Huff Ryan Rodgers and Kayton Bruner THE SOFTBALL GIRLS TRADED THEIR JERSEYS FOR STUNNING DRESS AT THIS YEAR’S PROM. Pictured are: Isabella Adam, Jessica Moore, Leah’Lah Bowen, Emmy Mariott, Belle McFarland, Stevi Huff, Cheyenne Fixico.