Imani Le’Shawn Dindy received his Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater December 11, 2021. Imani is the son of Kimmie and Bennie Blackburn of Shawnee, OK, and Shawn Sanford of Holdenville, OK, and is the grandson of Beverly Sanford and the late Evangeline Dindy. He is the brother of Dyani and Dominic Blackburn. He is a member of the Holdenville High School graduating class of 2017, where he excelled in both academics and sports. He received the OSU Academic Scholarship in 2017 and went on to major in physics and minor in math at OSU. He maintained a high gpa and was on the Dean’s Honor Roll in both 2019 and 2021. He was the recipient of the 2020 Friends of the Observatory Scholarship in Physics at OSU and the Kenneth and Joyce Harwell Scholarship 2021-2022 from the OSU College of Arts & Sciences. He was also accepted into the OSU McNair Scholars Program, a very prestigious PHD preparatory program, on March 17, 2021. He went on to receive the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Assistant Award from the OSU Physics Department for 2021. Imani is also a member of the Seminole Nation. He plans to go on to graduate school to continue his education in astrophysics. We are all so very proud of Imani and his many successes, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for him.

The Holdenville Municipal Airport runway is currently under construction. Funds to restore the runway were all from a 100% grant at no cost to the city. The Holdenville Municipal Airport is eligible for $150,000 of Non-Primary Entitlement (NPE) funds each year, under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), administered by the FAA. These funds are held by the FAA, and issued in the form of a grant, upon receipt of a grant application for work eligible under the program. The funds can be rolled over and banked for three years, but if the oldest money is not under grant by the fourth year, it will expire. The program funds 90% of the eligible costs, and the City’s matching share is 10% (however, this was modified in Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021, due to additional funds appropriated under the CARES Act and ARPA). This program provides an excellent opportunity for communities to continuously improve and maintain their airport, but it is critical that they budget their local match, in order to utilize the funds. Currently the City of Holdenville is slated to lose $150,000 in Fiscal Year 2022, if it does commit to a project, and soon. The city needs to budget $16,667 of FAA grant match money every year and be able to roll it forward in the years in which there is no project, in order to maximize the full potential for use of this funding.

The Holdenville airport closed to all air traffic 11-15- 2021. The beacon and radio transmitter were also turned off. Mr. Huffman sold the land to the City of Holdenville in 1946. Mr. Jim Browning was the airport manager. There were pilots flying and landing their airplanes at the airport. There used to be airmail service at the airport. The pilots that lived in Holdenville that had their airplanes hangar at the airport were Ray Alt, Cran Wilbanks, Gale Pryor, and Blackie Whittington. Other pilots from Wewoka that had their airplanes at the airport were J.W. Chaney, Archie Stout, Dr. Ogle and Gordon Anderson.

DAVIS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY donated to several different meaningful causes this Christmas, locally and in surrounding areas including the local food bank, the Toys for Tots campaign, and the Seminole Women’s Shelter. With the help of Holdenville High School students, they also signed and delivered 2400 Christmas cards to nursing homes here in Holdenville and Wewoka. Their kindness and generosity made the holidays a wonderful time for many in our community. Pictured above are (L-R): Miranda Martinez, Ron Peace, Santa Claus (Glen Robinson), Rick Branscum, Colton Cox, Karen Hefner, and Lee McBride.

Mrs. Sipes with her fellow Grinch fans, Lincoln Logan and Daphne Irby all in their Grinch pajamas for Polar Express Day at Reed Elementary.

PART 1 My gosh, here it is December 20 th , and I have not been down to drag Main since they put up all the Cedar Garlands across Main Street, all laced with colored lights and strung out about every 50 feet, from one side of the street to the other. The stores in the downtown area are staying open until 9 p.m., the windows of the department stores, drug stores and specialty stores are all beautifully decorated and heavily – laden with things we just must have.

Most people in America may hang Christmas decorations and exchange gifts on December 25, but few say they could give all the details about the biblical Christmas story. A Lifeway Research study finds 9 in 10 U.S.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christmas is a celebration of a real event, according to most Americans.

Emmi Marriott sings Stevi Huff a Christmas Carol at the HHS Christmas Tree Lighting. Mylisha Allen is happy to get her hair done by world renown hair stylist, Belle MacFarland.