The Holdenville Chamber of Commerce received an informative legislative update from State Senator Roger Thompson and State Representative Logan Phillips during their December 17 general luncheon meeting. Thompson served Senate District 8, which borders the northeast corner of Hughes County and is composed of Okmulgee, McIntosh, and parts of Okfuskee and Muskogee counties. Phillips serves House District 24, which includes Holdenville and roughly the northern half of Hughes County, as well as portions of Okfuskee and Okmulgee counties.

We had eight Red Hat Ladies to attend our Christmas Party at GiGi’s in Seminole. They are normally closed on Saturday, but they opened just for us! Isn’t that special! Barbara Tiger and Joyce Brinlee were our hostesses. They had the table all decorated with a Christmas tablecloth and candy canes and a Santa head at each place setting. It was very festive! Barbara brought a friend, Susie Coachman with her and she loved it! Maybe she will join our merry group.

Happy New Year to everyone. I know everyone is hoping for a better year in 2021 than we had this previous year. Covid has been running rapid and the media has everyone scared to live a normal existence in the community. The good news is that GOD is still in control and wants us to continue in HIS work and teachings this new year. Wherever GOD leads you, HE will equip you to do HIS work.

Friday, January 15th, is the last day to apply for voter registration in order to be eligible to vote in the February9th Allen and Weleetka Public School Special Election, Hughes County Election Board Secretary Brandy Davis said today.

Voters will go to the polls Tuesday for the January 12th County Special Election, Hughes County Election Board Secretary Brandy Davis said today. Please keep the following information and tips in mind as the election approaches.

Hughes County mourns the loss of Dallas Von Pryor, 64, who died from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle accident early Thursday morning, December 31. According to a report from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Pryor was driving a John Deere 6430 Tractor eastbound on State Highway 9.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education approved a one-year suspension of the Oklahoma School Report Card letter grades for the 2020-21 school year. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said the move is necessary in light of the significant disruptions in instruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Holdenville Public School Superintendent, Randy Davenport told The News, “As of now there will be no report card for this year due to the pandemic. That could change at any time but that’s the case as of now. That being said, we don’t believe that these report cards are a true picture of what our students have accomplished or where we are as school system. There is a much bigger picture to what we do in public education. What we do and how they’ve grown simply can’t be measured simply by single letter grade.”

Although the number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Oklahoma, a new vaccine is now being distributed and offers a ray of hope in the battle against the virus. The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) has added an ongoing report on the vaccine to their website.

MRS. STORY’S CLASS - Piper Robinson, Raden Tillery, Dru Smith, and Hollis Armstrong MRS.

A special thank you to my dear friend Ima Lee Lankford for identifying The Teachers Class Record Book that Charla Garner recently found. We recognized a few of the names but did not know where they went to school. Ima Lee called to tell us that they went to Moss School and the teacher was Buster Brooks. She said he was an outstanding teacher.