We saw Don and June Chesser this past week for the first time in a long time. Don recently had a shoulder replacement but is doing good. He has been through a lot, but June is taking great care of him. They are special friends and I always enjoy the time we get to spend together. Don has been a board member of WWTC for many years and has been instrumental in making it the great success it has become. In my opinion, Vo-Tech is a much better choice for most graduates than college. When you learn a trade, you are almost guaranteed a job in a good profession. And it is a lot less expensive. Thank you, Don for all you do to help our area young people. It has made a positive difference in the lives of many…..It was an incredible Sunday service on August 1. TreBob Buck provided the special music and I have never heard better. The Buck family is known for their gospel music and TreBob is carrying on that tradition in a mighty way. I must brag a little bit, but TreBob’s singing and Dane’s preaching are an unbeatable combination. These two HHS graduates are making a great difference wherever they go, and I am really proud of both of them. The Lord is using them in a mighty way…..Dayna had a good visit with Steve Hearn recently. He has had some serious health problems but is doing much better. Steve told Dayna that as a kid he remembers when the Beatles were going to be on television, all of the neighborhood kids went to Vickey Petete’s house to see them because her family had the only colored TV in the entire area. Steve said the house was jampacked and everyone had a great time…..Dayna also visited with Sonny Henry, who was with Steve at the time. They were all at Jay LaValley’s Holdenville Eye Center. Sonny is a long time friend and drove the Wewoka Nazarene church bus for many years when my dad was pastor there. His wife Sandy was the church treasurer for many years. The two of them were among the most faithful members of the church and continue to be such a blessing to so many….Dayna and I have a new “granddog”. The beautiful white shepherd puppy arrived at Jade’s home last week. Jade says we have come more often to see the puppy than we did to see him. We took some of the grandkids over to see “Olivia” last week and they fell in love with her. I have a suspicion that “Ollie” (as Jade calls her) may spend some time at their home…..The Hughes County Free Fair will be early next month. A lot of folks put a lot of work into this event and we really look forward to it. We were recently researching some old newspapers and found a list of fair winners from 1954. Many of the names are very familiar. Here is the list of 1954 winners…..

There are Cowboy rules for people visiting Oklahoma and other states classified as the Southwest or sometimes as the Wild West that vary from state to state but some basic rules apply to the entire area. Such as:

Wellington Dindy is not only a special friend but one of the finest Christian gentlemen I have ever known. His smile will light up any room he enters. He stopped by Saturday to visit and I really enjoyed it. He shared memories about three of our dear friends that are now in heaven. Ed Lacey, Joe Coombs and Lee Moore. The old church that they attended is now gone. However, before it was destroyed, Wellington was able to get the pew out that Ed Lacey sat on for many years. He then carried Ed’s favorite scripture on the back of it and gave it to Ed’s granddaughter. She said nothing had ever made her that happy. It now sits in her living room. Wellington is a master at carving and wood burning and we have several of his items. He uses his talent for the Lord and loves to quote his preacher, who at the end of every Sunday service says, “We are a blest people in a blest church on a blest journey.” How true…… Speaking of blessings, all of us are amazed at how great John Gibbs is doing after his openheart surgery. A lot of prayers went up for him and Linda during that time. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him back at work in the near future…We are really going to miss our friend and next-door neighbor Janie Goostree. She took early retirement from Edward Jones this past week. She took great care of many of us for many years….This next weekend Dayna’s uncle and aunt, Dalton and Betty Smith Leewright will celebrate their 60 wedding anniversary. Congratulations!! They live in Guthrie and we plan on going to the celebration. Both were born and raised in Holdenville……Dr. Bob Irby being the topic of conversation and he wasn’t even around! The friend of his told me that he had never visited with anyone that knew as much about the Bible as Bob does. He added that at times he would go by his house just to visit with him. He is my best friend and I also love to visit with him about the Bible. He does missionary work wherever he goes and both Bob and Carol have touched countless lives….I believe our church has a music team that could fit in with the Gaithers. Since they got together, they have sounded great, but a couple of weeks ago they sounded incredible. They brought some of the old hymns to a new level. What a blessing! The group consists of Becky Shields, Roger Cellars, Lorelei Shroyer and Allen and Catherine Brigden. If you enjoy old time music and don’t have a church home we would love to have you a the Church of the Nazarene on South Oak St. Church starts at 10:45 a.m…..Speaking of music, two of my favorite singers just got out of the hospital. P.D. and Gloria Brown sing the kind of music I love. I hope their health continues to improve….I visited with Marshalla Middleton Gann-Freeman this past week. It was the first time in a long time I have seen her. I have known Marshalla since she was a youngster. She grew up in the Nazarene Church and had a lot of family members that attended there. She told me that she has a twoyear-old granddaughter that is the pride of her life. We sure understand that feeling….Speaking of the Nazarene Church, Ralph and Mae Leach were two of the most faithful members in the church.

Jim Priest is CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma and can be reached at jpriest@okgoodwill.org. I’m thinking of my Dad this week as it would have been his 100th birthday.

Maybe it’s because we have had a little hot weather or maybe it’s just that time of the year. It couldn’t possibly be that some of us are getting a little older. But anyway, Al Wilburn, who doesn’t seem to have a problem with either one, nevertheless has some suggestions on how to improve the quality of our lives.

One Friday night not long ago my wife and I exited a restaurant to discover our parked car had been whacked by another car. It wasn’t like the other person tore our bumper off but it wasn’t a little ding either. It was the size of two fists and streaked with an orange paint smear. I immediately looked on the windshield to see if the car smacker left me a note of apology with insurance information. No such luck.

For four years, I was unable to attract a single hummingbird to try the sugary red liquid housed in an (expensive) and delicate special container designed especially for the busy little creatures. I have accumulated a lot of information about hummingbirds, first from Zach Hubbard, possibly the most gifted of all the gifted and talented students I ever encountered during my 16-year reign of pure, unadulterated joy as the G-T teacher at McLoud, then more information from my late (sweet) sister Carolyn, better known as KK.

Great City Great People Too often we hear criticism of our community and complaints about everything from the water to the streets. There will always be need for improvements but as the fourth generation to be born and raised in Holdenville I believe we have a great city with great people, and I am glad to call Holdenville home.

Quote of the Week… .“If you have lived well, laughed often, and loved much, consider yourself a success.” Very few local folks will remember that at one time Holdenville had a Children’s Hospital. We found the following article form 1935… IDEAL ACHIEVED WITH FOUNDATION OF CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN CITY The Children’s Hospital, newest of the city’s three hospitals, was founded to fulfill an ideal, and to render a service in Holdenville Dr.

For the first time in a long time, I got to see Sue Wood. She is always so full of pep and a joy to be around. She told me that she really misses Geraldine Ingram, June Cramblett and my mom. The four of them used to run around together a lot. They never cared where they went, they just wanted to go. What a great group. Sue said she and George were doing okay. I probably need to get George’s opinion on that matter….Bill Anderson was also at Save-a-Lot at the same time as Sue. I hadn’t seen him in a while either. Angela Gibbs told Bill to be on the lookout for pigmy rattlesnakes as they had found some in their area….Many of us “old timers” remember Dr. Joe Danel and his wife Melba. They had a daughter, Sandy, who graduated from HHS in the 1960’s. After they moved from Holdenville, Melba started writing a weekly column for the Daily Oklahoman. It was one of their most popular columns and widely read all across the state. It has been a number of years back that Dayna and I were in Oklahoma City at an event and ran into Melba and Sandy. We had a great visit. I did not know until this week that Melba had passed sometime last year. We have not taken the Daily Oklahoman in many years and did not know about her death. If any of our readers know where Sandy is, please let us know. We would like to visit with her and tell her how much we thought of her mom and dad…..Jack McCoy has been one of my good friends for many years. However, it was not until Monday that I knew he was a Korean War Veteran. He and his cousin Glen McCoy joined the army together and went to Korea together. Glen was killed in action and Jack suffered major injuries. There are so many local heroes and Jack is at the top of the list. His late wife Colene was such a joy to be around. I worked with her at Burton’s IGA and she was one of the sweetest people I ever knew. Jack shared the story about when he got saved and it blest my heart. Our dear friend and Jack’s pastor, Rev. Jimmie Freeman led him to the Lord. We honor people for doing many things but those that are doing the greatest of things often go unnoticed. God bless them…..