Okmulgee County on the Rise The

Transcription

The
TAKE ONE
FREE
A Community Newspaper - October 2015
Okmulgee County on the Rise
TAKE ONE
FREE
Extreme Growth Happening Fast in Okmulgee
Park on the Square Lofts Open and Full - Plus New Restaurant to Open Soon
The Parkinson building at the corner Sixth
and Morton is taking part
in the Okmulgee Rising
development. The building was purchased by
Gene and Mary Lewellen
of Okmulgee.
ONN
spoke with Mary about
the stages and story behind their business plan.
“I bought into the
idea of Okmulgee Rising
at the first intro meeting
led by Ron Drake at The
Council House early in
the Spring of 2014,” said
Mary. “I was trying to
figure out how to be part
of an investment group
with someone else leading the charge and making most of the decisions.
After the 3rd presentation, my husband, Gene,
crunched the numbers
and together we decided
we’d like to do our own
project – thus the purchase of The Parkinson
Building later that summer.”
Lewellen said that after making the decision to
purchase The Parkinson
building they contracted
with Jered Jones of Beggs
and his company “2 Guys
and a Hammer” to help
make the dream a reality. Jones and his crew
threw the first hammer
on September 1, 2014
Okmulgee
Poised for
Growth
Photo by Allen Gardner - ONN
On the Southwest corner of Sixth and Morton you will find the Park on the Square Lofts,
the newest Okmulgee Restaurants Red, White and Brews (Not a part of Park On the
Square) serving American cuisine, (Formerly Ike’s) and 102 Restorante Flatbread Pizza
and Wine Bar that should be open very soon.
and 7 months later, they
were finished and ready
to seek tenants.
Mary said the excitement got to all of them
and in October of 2014,
Jered and his wife, Vickey, decided they wanted
to be a larger part of
Okmulgee Rising and
so they partnered with
them to purchase The
Kimbley, located at 7th
and Seminole. Lewellen
said construction on that
building will begin hopefully within the next few
months. The Kimbley is
a three-story structure
and will require some
additional guidelines for
apartments and historic
tax credits but it, too, will
be converted into downtown lofts for students or
professionals Lewellen
said.
“There have been several situations in my life
when I have embarked
on the unknown with full
certainty of success, Okmulgee Rising was one
of those. With so many
others leading the way.
Rob and Margaret Hess
with The Mac and Jimmy
McClendon and Jason
Winters with their Community Room. I had no
doubt that this was what
Gene and I was meant to
be pursuing right now,”
said Mary.
“Things got a little
scary when our budget
pretty much got scrapped
and costs escalated, but
holding the thought of
completion and the fact
that it would pay it’s way
when filled, we plowed
ahead. “
The Park On the
Square has 6 apartments
upstairs, 5 two bedroom
and a single. All are occupied with yearlong
leases with the option for
extension on all.
See Park cont. on Page 2
Okmulgee may be
considered a small town
that has dried up through
the years. It is true that
it has in the past grown
empty, but with plenty
of spaces to fill up and
lots of room to expand,
Okmulgee is now being poised for explosive
growth through a phenomenon called Okmulgee Rising.
Being the county seat,
the Creek Nation capital
and the home of three
colleges that all sit on a
major highway, places
even more potential for
Okmulgee to see 360-degree growth in all parts of
the region surrounding
the city. Solid leadership
and an immense amount
team participation in a
community involvement
is making this happen on
a county level.
Okmulgee has a large
and diverse package of
amenities that is now
See Growth
cont. on Page 5
Okmulgee Receives Roger Brooks International Report
Roger Brooks of
Roger Brooks International was hired by the
Okmulgee Chamber of
Commerce to assess Okmulgee and provide a
presentation and report
of his findings.
Brooks is an expert
on how tourists view
communities and attractions and has assisted
over 1,000 communities
around North America
and Europe in the past
30 years with his expertise by utilizing strengths
combined with fresh
ideas.
Brooks took an in
depth tour of Okmulgee
through the eyes of a visitor, notating changes that
can help make the community an attraction for
residents, businesses and
tourists. There were 60
items that he specifically
addressed.
Brooks presented his
analysis of the Okmulgee
community and brought
in new concepts designed
to enhance the area’s at-
tributes and promote
Okmulgee pride in a free
event held May 15 at the
Mvskoke Dome.
The
Okmulgee
Chamber of Commerce
is pleased to announce it
received the final report
entitled ASSESSMENT
FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS. The study
conducted by Roger
Brooks International in
May of this year. The report, in hard copy and
thumb drive, was delivered to our 14 stake
holders and 34 people
who signed up at the presentation. Many signed
up but did not indicate a
mailing address to send
the thumb drive. Anyone wishing a copy can
contact the Chamber office (918-756-6172) and
one will be sent to you.
A copy can also be obtained by going on line to
okmulgeerising.com or
okmulgeenews.net.
Okmulgee
Main
Street is currently conducting the Big “O”
roundtable discussions
to determine Okmulgee’s strength’s and weaknesses. Once this is accomplished, the group
will attempt to align the
assets into viable projects
that will benefit the entire
community. They will
also discuss how to convert liabilities into assets.
Is should also be noted that the City of Okmulgee is in the beginning stages of a strategic
plan. It has been some
time since this was done.
The results of all
these efforts should be
informative and exciting.
The Okmulgee
News Network will be
following and reporting
on these developments
online at okmulgeenews.
net and in this monthly
newspaper.
#okmulgeerising
Pg. 2 Okmulgee County on the Rise
October 2015
Okmulgee News Network
Park cont...from Page 1
“Since we finished
in the middle of the OSUIT trimester, we didn’t
end up with students,”
said Lewellen. “Only
one apartment is housing a student, the rest are
young professionals including a young couple
with an 8 year old!”
The 2 bedroom
apartments are 700 – 800
square feet and the single
is 450. They have all new
kitchen appliances from
Neal’s Furniture (stove,
refrigerator, microwave,
and dishwasher) as well
as modern bathrooms,
original hardwood floors,
lots of storage, and character you can only find in
a 100 year old building.
“We tried to utilize
materials found in the
building, all the bathroom vanities are made
of reclaimed wood, the
windows are original
having been removed,
reglued and reglazed, old
office doors are now entry doors with previous
tenants names and businesses still painted on the
glass! There is a laundry
room with 2 washers and
2 dryers as well as a drying rack (formerly bars
over an outside window).
We included fiber optic
wiring with Bixby Telephone Company during
construction – the internet speed is amazing!
The best thing about all
the apartments for me
though, are the huge
windows and views of
historic downtown Okmulgee!,” said Mary.
The Lewellen’s do not
foresee a problem with
renting downtown lofts
in the future. “We get
calls daily asking if we
have any available and
excitement about future
completions is always on
their minds! One of the
more surprising aspects
for me has been the interest outside of students
– the trend nationwide
right now seems to be
relocation to urban areas and Okmulgee is no
exception!
I’m about
ready to sell my house
and move downtown
myself!”
The Lewellen’s downstairs tenants include
The Nutrition Shoppe
(owned by Darel Collins
who sold us The Park),
Jo Woods Bail Bonds
and the nearly complete
102 Ristorante’ owned
and operated by Dwight
Beard and Justin Pollard.
“Dwight spoke to me
last fall about an idea he
had for a new restaurant
and his dream is about to
become a reality. Work
is progressing rapidly at
102 and I think we’ll have
a new and fabulous place
to eat and hang out very
soon. “
When asked about
the whole Okmulgee Rising idea and what seems
to be different than any
other time Mary said, “I
believe with all my heart
that Okmulgee is seeing a
rebirth like never before.
The stars are aligned for
success and I’ve felt the
hand of God in every
step that is being taken.
For the first time in my
memory (I’ve been here
my entire life), all the organizations needed for
success are sitting down
at the table together and
working on the same
plan. OSUIT and Dr.
Path, The Muscogee
Creek Nation, the City of
Okmulgee’s leaders and
employees, the Chamber of Commerce, Okmulgee Public Schools,
Green Country Vo-Tech,
and last but not least,
Okmulgee Main Street,
are all putting countless
hours, dollars, and effort
into the positive changes
we are seeing in our city.
The range of ages of those
investing their dollars go
from citizens in their
late 20’s to Gene and me
– early 60’s. The enthusiasm of the young ones
will keep this fire lit for
many years to come!”
Mary
encourages
anyone who loves Okmulgee to get involved in
downtown.
“If you don’t know or
understand what is happening and who these
crazy people are who are
pushing for change, all
you have to do is come
sit on the sidewalk anywhere on the Square and
someone will be walking
by with the story of Okmulgee Rising to tell.”
“I’m a retired schoolteacher, my husband is a
retired sports official for
the State of Oklahoma
who currently works at
Walmart. We are not
rich people, we simply
put our thoughts to the
future, pencil to paper,
nose to the grindstone
and prayers for success –
so far, so good!”
#okmulgeerising!!!!”
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925664
Okmulgee
1600 S. Wood Drive, Okmulgee, OK
October 2015
Okmulgee the City of Opportunity
by Okmulgee Mayor Steve Baldridge
Dear Citizens of Okmulgee,
Thursday October 8th I attended our Strategic
Planning meeting with INCOG and many leaders
from our community. Currently the City of Okmulgee is working to update our 5 year Strategic plan that
will help provide a road map going forward on projects with the highest impact and the lowest cost. This
meeting was challenging and required a hard look
at where we are now and where we would like to be
in 5 years. Many challenges were brought up in our
session, this effort is designed to identify direction
that needs to be taken along with setting the priority,
weighing the level of effort and cost. The City of Okmulgee invited many stakeholders to help guide the
City and establish a solid plan with goals and milestones. We focused on Beautification of Okmulgee
and cleaning up our City. One of the top topics was
using Code enforcement as a stronger tool to help
clean up and maintain Okmulgee in the future.
This is not a new problem and this was also
brought up once again with Roger Brooks Report and
with Okmulgee Rising/BIG O Round Table Meetings
including many citizens pointing out this fact as well.
Clean up of Okmulgee has been raised many times by
other groups and other councils including this council.
The question is what can we do to make progress.
If we go back 20 years and reflect we have made significant progress.
We have tore down over 300 houses and then contracted with Day Max to build new brick houses that
worked very well.
We have cleaned up the Highway 75 corridor
quite a bit. We continue to focus on Wood Drive and
downtown as we also identify dilapidated structures
throughout the City that require investment from
their owners or the City. We need to take a fresh look
at our codes on the definition of public Nuisances and
modify our codes to include non insured or non running vehicles not behind a solid fence, this includes
automobile parts and appliances in front yards. It has
been suggested many times by citizens and this City
Council to add additional resources to this effort.
It is so important that renters and property owners keep our properties looking nice which helps
Okmulgee Rise. As we work to bring new industries
and work to expand existing Okmulgee Businesses we
all have a vested interest to work on making Okmulgee
Cleaner and sharper appearance. Several other efforts
to help clean up Okmulgee are coming up on October
the 24th the City of Okmulgee is sponsoring a Free
Trash Day. Citizens that reside in the Okmulgee City
Limits will be able to dump one pickup or equivalent
size load at Okmulgee Land Fill after showing their
City of Okmulgee Utility bill and Drivers License.
Please look at this link for the complete information
on this event okmulgeeonline.com . This will also be
in the paper and on radio announcing the event. Then
early November we are also collecting Electronic
waste at the Okmulgee Recycle Center. This will allow citizens to drop off Computers, Monitors, Printers, TV’s, DVD Players, Speakers any electronic type
waste. These are just a few activities the City has been
providing over the years and will continue to empower citizens clean up their homes and properties. The
City Crews have been painting all of the light poles
down town, have built the new turn lane on 8th street
on the east side. Laid new asphalt, stripped the intersection and installed left turn signals. 8th street water
main replacement is getting closer to completion City
Crews are now connecting the north side houses to
the new main. Once this is completed we will resurface 8th street from Wood Drive to Mission.
On the Economic front the Okmulgee Airport
Board met with Tulsa International Airport Authority
for the first time after we started our partnership. Jeff
Hough the Deputy Director of the Tulsa International
Airport Authority was very optimistic about our new
partnership and excited about new opportunities on
the horizon for Okmulgee Regional Airport.
We have great interest from investors wanting
to build new Airplane Hangers at the Okmulgee Regional Airport. The City has over 1500 Acres at the
Airport that can be developed into Aeronautical Businesses and related Industries. We are truly blessed to
have so much potential for growth in Okmulgee. Harland Ford is progressing very fast now that the rain
At The Orpheum
918-756-2270
7th and Morton
Okmulgee, Ok
Movies for Oct. 16 thru 22, 2015
--------------------------------Return Showing!
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Sat., starting at 4 pm.
----------------------------------------------------
For Current Movie Listings
after Oct. 16 visit:
www.okmulgeenews.net and click on the
Orpheum Ad. Be sure to visit the
Orpheum’s Facebook Page for Updates!!
Okmulgee News Network, LLC
The Okmulgee News Network is a Digital Broadcasting Company
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1043 Okmulgee, Ok 74447
Website: www.okmulgeenews.net • Facebook: OkmulgeeNews
Twitter: @OkmulgeeME • Instagram: okmulgeenewsnetwork
Valerie Rice Publisher
Paul Orosco Chief Photojournalist
Betty Anderson Reporter / Editorial Assistant
Allen Gardner Photojournalist
Kelley Love Sales Associate
Okmulgee Co. on the Rise is published once a mo. (mid month)
BUSINESS OFFICE: 918-740-1408 SALES: 918-759-1703
If you have a news tip or would like to submit information
Please give our office a call or email: producer@okmulgee.me
has slowed.
Fastenal moved into the new building that Doug
Penn build and they are expanding their business
in our area. BTC, AT&T and Suddenlink have been
running Fiber all over town and connecting to businesses every day. This competition is bringing down
the price of High Speed Internet for our Community
which is a win win for all of us.
This is a sign of progress for our community. We
also are hearing from new Retailers that are interested
in Okmulgee calling and asking about open properties to locate. We are moving forward and we are
growing our great City. I hear good comments about
Okmulgee from outsiders asking what is going on
in Okmulgee . Believe me others that drive through
Okmulgee see what we are doing. Our Downtown
traffic is picking up, businesses are changing and new
businesses are opening. As consumers and citizens of
Okmulgee County we need to shop as much as we can
locally. Let’s reward these businesses for investing in
our communities.
I just want to encourage our community to work
together and Okmulgee County will continue to Rise.
We all love this place we call home and it takes
action from all of us to make this a great place. We
need everyone to get involved in our community and
we all can make Okmulgee a better place.
For responses and comments please find me
on Facebook Steven Baldridge or email me at:
baldridges@msn.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Steven Baldridge
Mayor, City of Okmulgee
October 2015
Lion’s Roar
Dr. Kayse Shrum, President of the
OSU Center for Health Sciences
guest speaker at Okmulgee Lions
By Lion Dean Craig
Having to stay after class at the request
of her professor became
the turning point in the
life and career of Dr.
Kayse Shrum, President
of the OSU Center for
Health Sciences (Tulsa)
and Tuesday’s program
for the Okmulgee Lions Club. The question
posed to Kayse was this,
“Kayse, you have the
highest grade average in
this class, have you ever
thought about applying
for medical school?” All
the others have already
been accepted. Thus began a frantic search for a
medical school compatible with her goals, beliefs,
and proximity to home,
Coweta, and settling on
her decision to attend
OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa.
Kayse was a fastpitch softball pitcher and
had scholarship offers
from the University of
Nebraska, OU, and others, but chose to attend
Connors State College,
Warner, because three
of her teammates were
also offered scholarships
there and it was close
to home. She graduated
with an Associate of Science Degree in ‘92, earning District Academic
All-American
honors,
Who’s Who in Junior
Colleges, and inducted
into Connors State College Athletic Hall of
Fame in 2013. She continued her education at
the University of Arkansas for one year before
returning to Oklahoma
and Northeastern State
University, then deciding to apply for medical
school at OSU College
of Osteopathic Medicine,
graduating 1998. She has
been in her present position since 2013.
Dr. Shrum spends a
lot of time and effort re-
cruiting medical students
for the college, even
though they have around
3,000 applicants for 115
positions. Her big push is
to provide medical doctors for rural Oklahoma
because more than 25%
of the state’s 1,362 doctors are over 65 years of
age and most of them
are probably contemplating retirement. She was
pleased to mention that
Okmulgee Drs. Tim and
Tracy Sanford are graduates of OSU College of
Osteopathic Medicine.
Another recent Okmulgee graduate of the medical college is Dr. Megan
(Moore) Wilson, daughter of Judge Pat and Lion
Jill Moore, who were
both in attendance for
Tuesday’s meeting. Also
in attendance was Ashley Milton, coordinator
for Dr. Shrum, whose
grandparents, the late
Walt and Marie Beymer,
were long-time residents
Have you been hearing a lot about Downtown Consultant
Ron Drake and the Okmulgee Rising movement?
Would you like to have Ron
Drake as a special guest speaker
at your club, organization or
church?
To find out how this can happen
email Ron Drake at:
Photo by Dean Craig
(Pictured left to right) is President Lion Beth Flud, Dr. Kayse Shrum,
and Lion Dean Craig, substituting for Program Chairman Lion Jim
McClendon.
of Henryetta.
This year a $3.8 million grant from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) to the
OSU Center for Health
Sciences and OSU Medical Authority is a promise to bring more physicians to select regions
of rural Oklahoma. The
TSET funding prompted
matching funds from
the Oklahoma Health
Care Authority to further
sustain these residency
programs well into the
future. This partnership
will fund and establish
medical residency programs to train doctors
in rural and medically
underserved areas, and
provide a reliable stream
of new doctors for years
to come.
Oklahoma ranks No.
48 nationally in access
to primary care physicians, and rural Oklahoma bears the brunt of
this physician shortage.
The shortage is on track
to worsen in the immediate future as 40% of rural
physicians are expected
to retire in the coming
years. Data show that
most medical residents
embrace the communities in which they train,
and choose to stay there
when they graduate.
They become a part of
those communities, hire
from those communities,
and make long-term investment.
Dr. Shrum’s goal is
to continue to recruit
the best of the best to
continue to provide topnotch medical care for all
Oklahomans. What another inspirational story
of (almost) local-girlmakes-good. When are
you going to quit missing
all these good programs?
Make it a point to come
visit the Lions and hear
us roar!
-Each week the Okmulgee Lion’s Club,
as well as Lions Club’s
around the country,
have interesting programs like this one. To
join, find a club near
you and ask about
becoming a member. To find out more:
www.lionsclubs.org
The first annual
Okmulgee Main Street
48 Hour Film Festival
[MAIN STREET 48]
was held in conjunction
with the “Harvest Spoon
Chili Festival”. The Movies made by entrants
were viewed on Saturday,
October 17, 2015 in
beautiful downtown Okmulgee Oklahoma in
the Historic Orpheum
Theatre. Tickets go on
sale at 4:30 p.m. and an
“Orange Carpet” Event,
sponsored by Oklahoma
State University Institute
of Technology .
Filmmakers
will
be
announced
and
honored as they arrive to the theater.
After all entries have
been screened, 1st & 2nd
place winners will be announced at the end of the
screening. Three judges
will pick first and second place winners for
$300 and $200 cash. A
final Audience Choice
Award will receive $100.
Prizes and trophies will
be awarded at the event.
The “Audience Choice”
votes will be tallied and
the winner will be announced at an after party
for the filmmakers.
Everyone is invited
to come out and view the
movies and the purchase
of a $5 ticket will earn the
right to vote on Audience
Choice.
Winners and complete story can be found
after the week of Chilifest
on our website at www.
okmulgeenews.net
Okmulgee
News
Network has entered a
team - So come watch!!
ron@rondrakeconsulting.com
October 2015
Growth cont...From Page 1
being recognized and
staged for development.
The location is connected to major highways
with access to transportation. It has a beautiful historic downtown
district that was built in
an era to stand the test
of time. Okmulgee has
a hospital, other medical facilities and health
programs, great schools,
a nice industrial area and
a variety of government
support for economic development. The potential
for retail and industry is
available for the taking.
All of it comes together
to make up a quality lifestyle for residents and
business.
Since the Okmulgee
Rising movement has
taken hold, each month
one or more businesses
have opened, expanded
or changed hands. For
years buildings have sat
empty and undesired.
More buildings have
been purchased for renovation in little over a year
than has been in the history of Okmulgee in the
past 5 years.
Things are looking
very, very good for Okmulgee.
To get involved in the
movement contact Okmulgee Main Street or
Okmulgee Chamber of
Commerce.
The Oklahoma Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office
(SHPO) is pleased to announce the schedule for
its Fall 2015 workshop
series. Each workshop
is devoted to one of the
SHPO’s federal preservation programs and is designed for preservation
professionals,
government agency representatives, and concerned citizens. The sessions will
be held Wednesday, December 2 through Friday,
December 4. All sessions
will be held in the Classroom, Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih
Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma
City (just northeast of
the State Capitol). The
workshops are free and
open to the public, but
the SHPO requests that
you register by 5:00pm,
Wednesday, November
25. Space is limited for
all sessions and will be
reserved on a first-come
basis.
The workshop schedule is as follows:
tating Historic Buildings
This half-day workshop is dedicated to a
thorough discussion of
the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and
Guidelines for Rehabilitation. Generally referred
to as The Standards, these
common sense principles
are widely used in the
historic
preservation
field. Whether you are
involved in a rehabilitation project for the 20%
federal and 20% state tax
credits, planning a rehabilitation project funded
with federal assistance,
serving on a local historic preservation commission, or just wanting to
know the best approach
to rehabilitating your
historic private home,
you will find this session
invaluable. It is designed
as a stand-alone workshop and as a companion
to Federal and State Tax
Incentives for Rehabilitation.
fects, mitigating adverse
effects, and streamlining
Section 106 review.
December
4
(10:30am-4:30pm)
Working with the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places
is the foundation of the
SHPO’s programs, and a
basic understanding of
the register is essential
for those involved in historic preservation at all
levels of government and
in the private sector. The
workshop provides detailed information about
the National Register criteria, what listing means,
the rights of property
owners in the nomination process, tips for preparing successful nominations, and much more.
Register Now for the SHPO’s
December Workshops
December
2
(10:30am-12:30pm)
Federal and State Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings
In this workshop participants will learn about
the federal and state investment tax credits for
certified rehabilitation of
a certified historic structure. A detailed discussion of the Historic Preservation
Certification
Application, Parts 1, 2,
and 3 will guide owners
and developers in successfully preparing the
information needed for
the State Historic Preservation Office to review
the project and for the
National Park Service to
certify it. This session is
designed as a stand-alone
workshop or as a companion to Guidelines for
Rehabilitating Historic
Buildings.
December
2
(1:30pm-4:30pm) - The
Secretary’s Standards and
Guidelines for Rehabili-
December
3
(10:30am-4:30pm) - The
Section 106 Review Process: A Workshop for
Agency Officials and
Cultural Resource Management Consultants
Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act provides
that Federal agencies
must consider the effect
of their undertakings on
archeological and historic properties listed in or
eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places. Topics addressed in
this day-long workshop
include the basic requirements of Section 106,
the regulations which
govern the process, how
to determine National
Register eligibility, what
constitutes adverse ef-
NOTE TO DESIGN
PROFESSIONALS:
These workshops qualify
for HSW hours needed
to fulfill requirements of
the State of Oklahoma’s
Board of Governors of
Licensed
Architects,
Landscape
Architects,
and Interior Designers.
The SHPO will provide a
certificate of attendance,
and participants must
self-report their attendance to the board.
If you may have questions about workshop
content, contact Melvena
Heisch at 405/522-4484
or mheisch@okhistory.
org.
To register for any
or all of the workshops
contact Jesse Dearman at
405/521-6249 or jdearman@okhistory.org by
5:00pm, Wednesday, November 25. You may also
register online at www.
o k h i s t o r y. o r g / s h p o /
workshops.php
Okmulgee County on the Rise Pg. 5
The Henryetta
Chamber of
Commerce reminds
that shopping local has
its benefits
The Henryetta Chamber of Commerce encourages area residents to keep
their shopping dollars at home. Small
rural communities experience what is
known as retail leakage or simply put;
locals spend money out of town. When
this occurs, the dollars spent supports
that specific community and not the
town they call home and depend on for
services. In turn, the home community
suffers from the lack of tax revenue to
support the city’s basic functions; quality of life programs are stressed, jobs
are lost, local business cannot expand
products/services offerings, property
values decrease, the workforce is diminished, and the overall ability of the
community to attract new businesses
declines.
As an example of the impacts of
out-of-town shopping, let’s look at a
study conducted on rural communities
by Ray Stone & Associates, a Dallas,
Texas based firm: They found that rural communities across the U.S. spend
on the average of $5,000 in the neighboring lager communities, purchasing
items and/or services available in the
hometown. A community with a population of 5,000 typically represents 1,640
households in a community. Apply the
1,640 households against the $5,000
per household spent out of town, totals $8, 200,000 that rightfully could be
spent in their own community. Apply
the multiple effects of money (MEM)
factor of 5 and the small rural town is
giving away $41,000,000 a year. Based
on this study, Henryetta with a population of just less than 6,000 and approximately 2,200 households would benefit
significantly from locals shopping at
home. Whether this study is 100% accurate is not the point; communities are
losing tax revenue daily that could contribute to the communities needs. The
City of Henryetta is not funded by the
state or federal government; it is funded
by sales tax revenue and water/sewage
fees.
If Henryettans expect improvements in the community, as they rightfully should, community loyalty must
occur. The Chamber also realizes that
the city government must manage tax
revenue properly and that Henryetta
based businesses have a responsibility
to reinvest in the community, provide
quality products/services, and establish
operating hours that meet their customer’s needs. If residents, businesses,
and city government work together,
Henryetta can prosper and fulfill the
expectation levels of the community.
As we experience greater challenges to
our economy, increasing energy prices,
ongoing quality of life needs, greater
regulatory requirements, and an aging city infrastructure, and more online shopping, we encourage residence
to think twice when they spend their
money out of town – you can make a
positive difference in your community;
but it requires investing in your local
businesses at every opportunity. Just
ask yourself; when was the last time
Lowe’s Home Improvement Store or
Amazon.com sponsored a school program or donated to other community
programs. In fact, your Henryetta businesses not only financially contribute to
local programs they actually volunteer
their time and expertise to work or organize many events.
Your Chamber of Commerce fully
understands the desire for that occasional out of town shopping trip or the
need to purchase an online item; we
just want you to give your local businesses the first opportunity to serve
your daily needs as it directly benefits
the community.
October 2015
Neals Furniture led the way in 2014 as one of the first Okmulgee Rising Business Expansions
On December 15,
2014, Neal’s Furniture
opened a new showroom
on Hwy 75 North in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The
44,000 square foot building is a in a prime location in the new growth
area north of Okmulgee
at the corner of Hyw 75
and Loop 56. Construction began on the new
building early in 2014.
“With 45,000 cars
passing this corner every
day, it made perfect sense
to build our new building
here on Hwy 75. We are
going to capitalize on the
traffic by extending our
business hours until 7:00
PM each evening to give
our customers that commute, time to get home
and shop. Another big
advantage of the addition
is it allows us to deepen
our inventory selection
and keep our best sellers in stock by utilizing
the old showroom as our
warehouse,” says John
Neal Jr.
The new opening is
the beginning of a new
era for the Neal family.
The family owned furniture store has been in
business in Okmulgee
since 1965 when Lemone
Neal started the business
venture. 5 decades later
the business is thriving
and still heavily operated
by the Neal gang with
two second generation
and four third generation operators the furniture future looks secured
for many years to come
for Okmulgee and surrounding cities.
2015 marked the
50 Year Anniversary of
Neal’s furniture. Neal’s
Furniture celebrated their
official Grand Opening
with a ribbon cutting ceremony that January.
The whole Neal’s
family with even the
newest member, 2-anda-half week old Christopher Neal, was on hand
to join the Okmulgee
Chamber and Ambassadors in christening the
new showroom.
The
Neal
family would like to extend
a special thank you to all
of their loyal customers
for the business and the
friendships made over
the last 50 years and for
the many years to come!
#okmulgeerising
Neals Grand Opening of their new showroom. Pictured above: Andrew Harlan, Chamber Ambassador Terry Dillsaver, Chris Neal, (baby)Christopher
Neal, Classen Gehring, Brenda Longnecker, Katie Been, Brittany Neal, Cherie
Howard, Suzy Neal, Wanda Friehofer, Roy Achemire, Mary Neal, Judy Duffey,
Lamoine Neal, John Neal Jr., John Neal Sr., Chamber member Bob Seebeck,
Rob Robertson Chamber Director, and Jim Martin Chamber Ambassador.
CITY OF OKMULGEE FREE TRASH DAY
OCTOBER 31, 2015
The City of Okmulgee will be conducting a “Free Trash Day” at the Okmulgee Landfill on Saturday, October
31, 2015. The purpose of this event is
to beautify our city by cleaning up trash
that is visible along streets and on properties throughout the city.
On “Free Trash Day”, October 31,
2015 from 8:00AM to 12:00PM (noon),
City of Okmulgee water and sewer account holders will be entitled to one
pickup truck load (or the equivalent)
of trash/refuse deposited free of charge
at the Okmulgee Landfill. This benefit
without charge is for the disposal of
trash cleaned up on the account holder’s
property and adjacent streets. It is not
for the support of commercial entities
such as contractors and rental property landlords. Eligible account holders
must present their most recent City of
Okmulgee water bill AND a photo I.D.
with matching name to that on the water bill (no exceptions) in order to gain
access to the Okmulgee Landfill for the
free disposal of one load of trash. Water bills listed in the name of a deceased
account holder will NOT be accepted.
No trailers will be allowed on vehicles
loaded with trash. Vehicles without
trash will be permitted to enter with
ONE trailer if the material hauled by
the trailer does not exceed that which
could be hauled in the bed of a standard
pickup truck. No tires will be accepted
as part of this event. Hazardous materials, refrigerators, freezers, and air
conditioners will not be accepted at the
Landfill. Electronic waste, including
but not limited to television sets and
computer equipment including monitors, will not be accepted at the Landfill. When loading trash for hauling
to the Landfill, all participants are encouraged to separate materials (metal,
brush, other trash) to speed up the disposal process, and all are encouraged to
cover their loads with tarps to prevent
littering of streets and highways. This
will be the only Free Trash event held
in 2015. Questions concerning the
above information as well as a weather
decision on the scheduled day of the
event can be answered by calling the
Okmulgee Landfill at (918) 733-4558.
This will be the only Free Trash
event held in 2015.
October 2015
First Family FCU Announces
New Location
First Family Federal Credit Union (FFFCU) recently celebrated the groundbreaking of their new Okmulgee location at 1000 East 20th Street (just behind
Walgreens) and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2016.
The approximately 3300 square foot site will feature a “lodge style” design
with many conveniences for credit union members including a larger interior, 24
hour ATM, a coin counter, safe deposit boxes and four drive-thru lanes.
“We are so excited about our future new home!” said Branch Manager Alicia Dudley. “At our new location, we will be able to offer even more services to our
members. We would like to give a special thank you to our wonderful members for
making this possible. It is because of you that we are able to build this new branch.”
FFFCU has grown from being established by the Pittsburgh Plate Workers of Henryetta in 1956 to having four locations (the fourth opening this fall
in McAlester). With almost 13,000 members, FFFCU serves anyone who lives,
works, worships or attends school in McIntosh, Okfuskee, Okmulgee and Pittsburg Counties. FFFCU offers financial products such as savings accounts which
include money market and certificates of deposit, free checking accounts with free
debit cards, mobile banking app, electronic bill pay options, direct deposit, consumer loans, home mortgages, VISA credit cards and much more.
President/CEO David Dykes, Jr. stated, “One of the advantages of credit
unions is that we are a full service financial cooperative. Each and every member
is not only a member; they are an owner of the credit union. We pay our owners
back by providing lower interest rates on loans, higher rates of return on deposits
and lower fees and charges on services.”
For updates on their continued progress, follow First Family FCU on
Facebook or visit www.firstfamilyfcu.com. (See Photos on the Right of this page)
FFFCU Groundbreaking Ceremony
Look for more updates and progress on the FFFCU construction
on our website www.okmulgeenews.net and on our
Facebook Page: OkmulgeeNews
Act Soon to Close Your Insurance Gap
pose you wait until
you’re 55 before you
start saving seriously for
retirement. If you put
that same $3,000 per
year in that same IRA,
earning that same hypothetical 7% return, you’d
only end up with slightly
more than $44,000 after 10 years, when you
reach 65. And to accuTerry Dillsaver
Edward Jones FinancialAdvisor mulate the $640,000 you
When Investing, would have gotten after
40 years by contributing
Put Time On Your Side
Now that we’re well just $3,000 per year, you
into autumn, the days would have had to put in
are getting noticeably about $43,500 per year
shorter. The change in for the 10 years between
seasons reminds us that ages 55 and 65.
Clearly, it’s a lot
time is passing – and
easier
to come up with
it’s important to use
that time wisely. When $3,000 per year than
used well, in fact, time $43,500. So, to accumucan be your greatest gift late the resources you
in many walks of life – need for a comfortable
and that’s certainly true retirement, you’ll help
your cause greatly by
when you invest.
To illustrate the im- saving and investing as
portance of time, let’s early in your working
look at a scenario. Sup- life as possible – and
pose you start saving then continue to save
for retirement when and invest right up to,
you are 25. If you invest and even during, your
$3,000 per year in a tax- retirement years.
The ability to potendeferred vehicle, such as
tially
grow your portfoa traditional IRA, and
lio
sizably
is the key benyou hypothetically earn
a 7% annual return, you efit of using time when
will have accumulated you invest – but it’s not
more than $640,000 af- the only benefit. You can
ter 40 years, when you also use time as a target,
reach 65 and are ready or a way to frame a speto retire. (Keep in mind cific investment goal.
For example, supthat you will be taxed on
pose
you have an 8-yearwithdrawals.)
Now, though, sup- old child whom you
want to send to college in
10 years. When that day
arrives, wouldn’t it be
nice to know that you’ve
been saving money for
a decade? One popular
college savings vehicle
is a 529 plan, which has
high contribution limits and allows tax-free
withdrawals, provided
the money is used only
for qualified higher education expenses. (Withdrawals for other purposes will be taxed and
may be subject to an additional penalty.)
You can also use
time as a signal to adjust
your investment strategy. If you’re going to retire in, say, two or three
years, you might want
to shift some – but certainly not all – of your
assets from growthoriented investments to
income-producing ones.
As you know, the market
will always fluctuate, so
you don’t want to be in
a position where, once
you retire, you need to
start taking significant
withdrawals – i.e., selling investments –when
the market is down. Remember the time-honored rule of investing:
“Buy low, sell high.”
When you invest,
make the best possible
use of time – remember, it’s the one asset that
can’t be replenished.
Walls going up the week of October 14th
(Photo by Allen Gardner - ONN)
Rendering of new FFFCU
October 2015
LIVE LOCAL
LOVE LIFE!
Upcoming Events for Okmulgee County
Dewar Clean Up Day
Date: October 17
** for residents of Dewar only
Henryetta Cruise “Knight”
Date: October 17th
Time: 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Location: Henryetta’s Main Street
Harvest Spoon Chili Festival
Chili Contest and Car Show
Downtown Okmulgee
October 17
Mainstreet 48HR Film Festival Viewing
Saturday Oct. 17 4:30 p.m.
OSUIT Orange Carpet Event
5 p.m. Showing and Awards
Located at the Orpheum Theatre
Masquerade Ball
Downtown Okmulgee
October 31
United Methodist Men Bean Dinners
Every Tuesday in October (20, 27). Lunch is
served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner is
from 5-7 p.m. The public invited to attend. $6
adults. $5 seniors, kids under 12 eat free.
Annual Main Street
Merchant’s Halloween
Date: October 31st
November 12-14 Dripping Springs
Rendezvous
Dripping Springs State Park
Time: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: Main Street
Open Gate Meals Served every Wednesday
at the Episcopal Church 4:30 to 5:45
Henryetta Christmas Parade
of Lights
Date: December 12th
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Henryetta’s Main Street
Sparkle Spree Giveaway
December 22
Downtown Okmulgee
CITY OF OKMULGEE FREE TRASH DAY
October 24, 2015
St. Anthony’s Fall Festival
Oct. 24 at 5-9 p.m.
Beggs School Halloween Carnival
October 27 from 6-8 p.m.
Submit Your Calendar
Items to us
Email: producer@okmulgee.me
Do you have a Community Calendar Item you would like to share? Email it to producer@okmulgee.me
Faith Deliverance Christian Center
presents
Authentic Women Arising Conference
October 23 - 7pm, 23 - 1pm, 24th - 9:30-12:30
Rowe Family Center 302 S. Seminole- Okmulgee, OK
$15 registration at the door.
Friday is Pink Out Night - Wear Pink!
Beware of Scary Inhabitants of the Investment World
In just a few days,
witches, zombies and
vampires will be converging on your house, asking
for candy. As is the case
every Halloween, you’ll
likely be merely amused
over the sight of these
costumed
characters.
But in other areas of life,
such as the investment
world, you may need
to watch out for some
seemingly scary entities.
Here are a few of them:
The
Horrendous
Headline – Big, glaring
headlines rarely offer
any comfort to investors. Whether it’s political squabbles at home,
conflicts in the Middle
East or the debt crisis
in the eurozone, there’s
always something happening that’s perceived as
jeopardizing the stability
of the financial markets.
Yet these threats are often overblown, and the
markets have proven
quite resilient for decades. Here in the United
States, the most powerful economic engine in
the history of the world
has offered investment
opportunities as crises
have come and gone.
The Terrible Tipster – He or she could be
anyone – your neighbor,
friend or relative. But
whatever their origins,
Terrible Tipsters have
one thing in common:
They like to tout “hot”
stocks or “can’t miss” opportunities. The problem
is that by the time you
actually hear about a hot
stock, it may already be
cooling off. And the “can’t
miss” opportunities often
do indeed miss. Don’t
waste time, effort – and
money – seeking a shortcut to investment success:
There isn’t one. Instead,
stick with an investment
strategy that’s suitable
for your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon.
The Scary Statement – When the market is down, you probably dread seeing your
investment statements.
But don’t let a few bad
months, or even a bad
year, cause you to stuff
your money under your
mattress. The financial markets can turn
around pretty quickly,
and if you’re out of the
market when the next
rally begins, you’ll miss
out on some potentially
big gains. So, put those
negative statements aside
and look back at your
investment results over
a period of many years
– the big picture might
look a lot less frightening than you’d imagine.
The Fearsome Forecast – The performance
of the financial markets
is notoriously hard to
predict – but that doesn’t
stop a slew of fortunetellers from trying. And
the same is true of the
economy as a whole –
predictions abound, but
many of them prove far
off base. You can always
adjust your portfolio, as
needed, in response to
changing market or economic conditions, but
don’t act on these possible circumstances just
because someone, somewhere, has predicted
them. Instead, follow
tried-and-true principles
such as diversification,
which can help reduce
the impact of volatility
on your holdings. (However,
diversification
can’t guarantee a profit
or protect against loss.)
The ghouls and goblins you see on Halloween are unlikely to cause
you nightmares. And
the various phantoms
of the investment world
may prove just as illusory. Don’t let them scare
you away from investing.
October 2015
Potatoes, Eggs,
and Coffee Beans
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her
father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t
know how she was going to make it. She was tired of
fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as
one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He
filled three pots with water and placed each on a high
fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground
coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a
word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.
He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them
in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in
a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you
see?”
“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.”
She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked
her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the
shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he
asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a
smile to her face.
Annual Okmulgee Scare
On the Square October 30
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and
coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the
boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting,
but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling
water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique.
After they were exposed to the boiling water, they
changed the water and created something new.
“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When
adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
Moral:In life, things happen around us, things
happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is
what happens within us.
Which one are you?
False Teeth
The pastor, goes to the dentist for some
false teeth.
The first Sunday he talks for 30 minutes.
The second Sunday he talks for 20 minutes.
The following Sunday he talks for two
hours. The congregation gets curious and
asks him why.
He tells them his gums hurt so he had to
stop, but on the third Sunday, he put his wife
teeth in by mistake and couldn’t shut up.
Henryetta’s Christmas
Parade Committee
Announces the 2015 Theme
Henryetta’s Christmas Parade committee
has selected Saturday,
December 12, 2015 for
the annual Christmas Parade. The parade will begin at 6:30 P.M. and this
year’s theme is “A Classic
Christmas.” The committee encourages organizations, churches, and
individuals to start planning now for their parade
entry. There are no entry
fees for those that want
to participate. All parade
entries need to be staged
at 8th Street & Main by
5:30 PM and the judging
will be conducted during
the lineup at 6:00 PM.
This year’s judging categories are: Best of Theme,
Best Church, Best Business, Best School, Best
Use of Lights, Best Classic Vehicle, and Best
ATV.
The committee encourages early parade
registration and if that
is not possible entries
will be received at the
registration area at 8th
& Main on the evening
of the parade. Entry
forms are available at the
Chamber of Commerce
office,
thehenryettan.
com, the Henryetta FreeLance Newspaper, the
City of Henryetta or by
emailing a request to the
Chamber at henryettachamber@att.net or calling 918-652-3331. Beginning at 4:00 PM Santa
and his helpers will be at
Veterans Park just east of
the Library (6th St and
Main). Santa will be visiting and taking pictures
with the Henryetta area
youths and his helpers
will be handing out candy. Let’s have “A Classic
Christmas.”
Halloween is fast
approaching and Okmulgee Main Street is preparing for their annual
“Scare on the Square”.
Held to provide local
youth a safe alternative
to house to house trick
or treating and a chance
to bring more traffic to
downtown Okmulgee,
“Scare on the Square” will
begin at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30.
Last year over 2000
little ghosts and goblins
walked the downtown
streets to get treats from
local businesses. Area
businesses located off the
square can set up booths
or tables along the square
and all participants are
encouraged to dress up
and show off their creepy
side.
Those
businesses
who choose to participate will be required to
supply their own table,
chairs, décor, candy, and
any games they may want
the trick or treaters to
participate in. For fun,
tables and booths will be
judged on their creativ-
A hug is the shortest distance
between friends.
“You can be the
biggest, juicest,
peach, but there
are STILL people, who DON’T
like peaches “!
Henryetta Events
Henryetta Cruise
“Knight”
Saturday
October 17th
6:00 - 10:00 PM
Henryetta’s
Main Street
Annual Main
Street Merchant’s
Halloween
Friday
October 30th
3:30 to 5:00 PM
On Main Street
Henryetta
Christmas
Parade of Lights
Saturday
December 12th
6:30 PM
On Main Street
ity, so bring your best
effort! Other activities
being discussed include
a pet costume contest
and a children’s costume
contest, but no official
word from Main Street
has been given on these
two activities. For more
information, check back
with Okmulgee News
Network as Halloween
draws closer or contact
Okmulgee Main Street at
918-758-1015.
The
Okmulgee
Police Department will
be downtown helping to
provide a safe environment.
There will also be a
table decorating, window
decorating and costume
contest.
Organizations along
with businesses who
aren’t located downtown
are encouraged to participate by bringing a
table and candy to set up
around the Square.
Please join Main
Street along with the City
of Okmulgee and local
merchants for a safe and
fun trick or treat event
for children 12 and under
from 4 - 6 p.m.
For more information
contact
the
Okmulgee Main Street
office at 918-758-1015
October 2015
Lighting
the Path
Ahead
A Column
by Dr. Bill R. Path, the fourth
president of OSU Institute of
Technology
A Series of Q&A’s
Part III
It can be said that
most students who enroll at OSUIT are actually
entering the apprentice
phase of their careers.
With many industry
specific programs and
majors, OSUIT provides
essential skills training
to students before they
enter the workforce as
full-time employees. But
it should also be known
that OSUIT is an outstanding academic transfer institution as well.
Many students from
the Okmulgee area can
take all of their freshmen
and sophomore classes
with us before transferring to another institution of higher education.
Essentially, a student can
take the first two years
of almost any bachelor’s
degree right here in Okmulgee and successfully
transfer anywhere in the
country, and these transfer students can even pick
up an Associate in Science degree from OSUIT
in the process.
Allow me to answer
a couple of very direct
questions that I hope will
result in some local students choosing to enroll
at OSUIT.
Q: When do your classes
start at OSUIT?
OSUIT uses a trimester system of classes
rather than the traditional semester system
that is used by most colleges. This means we run
three 15 week sessions
throughout the year—effectively using all twelve
months in the year. I never really understood why
most colleges work hard
for only nine months
and then encourage their
students to take a three
month vacation during
the summer months. I
have often wondered how
the summer off schedule
is supposed to acclimate
young people to the rigors of the real world.
Let me ask you, besides
education, what industry in the United States
operates this way? The
real world operates on a
twelve-month calendar
and so does OSUIT. The
twelve-month trimester
system helps OSUIT to
be more efficient and actually allows students to
complete their degrees in
a shorter amount of time.
But let me get back
to your question. The up-
coming academic calendar for OSUIT is as follows: fall classes begin on
September 1, 2015 and
run through December
11; spring classes begin
on January 6, 2016 and
run through April 22;
and summer classes begin on May 3, 2016 and
run through August 26.
There is still plenty of
time to get enrolled.
Q: How do I get enrolled
for the Fall Semester?
The first step of enrollment at any college
is gaining admission. To
learn about the admission
requirements of OSUIT,
you may visit our university website www.osuit.
edu or call us at 1-800722-4471. An application
for admission can easily
be filled out online and
our friendly admissions
advisors can walk you
through the process from
there. Enrolling in college can certainly be a life
changing experience but
is not as scary as most
people make it out to be.
Just take the first step
and don’t be afraid to ask
questions.
Students come to
OSUIT because they value the quality education
and vocational training
we provide, but many are
also looking for something more—they want
the overall experience
that often accompanies
college life. By creating
a fashionable downtown
urban environment, we
hope to be able to provide an experience beyond what we have offered in the past and
give potential students
another reason to choose
OSUIT as their college of
first choice.
We envision our
downtown loft apartments will soon become
the premier and most
popular housing offering
at OSUIT. We thus intend this housing option
to be a privilege reserved
for select upperclassmen
or more mature students.
Now, let me attempt
to tackle some concerns
about students receiving
a lesser education if they
live away from campus.
Q: How will downtown
students access food
service, bookstore, infirmary, library, etc?
Students
living
downtown will have the
option of eating at current and future restaurants within easy walking
distance. They will also
be able to enjoy other
entertainment
venues
and retail stores in the
downtown area. At the
same time, they will always have the option of
the various meal plans
that OSUIT provides oncampus, but we believe
that most non-traditional students are interested
in apartment living that
offers a kitchen with options for them to prepare
their own food.
The vast majority of
OSUIT students commute to campus from
their homes in surrounding communities. Students living downtown,
like all other commuter
students, will be able to
access any on-campus
services of their choosing including bookstore,
library, health clinic, etc.
We are also having
conversations with a network service provider
that wants to supply our
downtown
buildings
with the fastest broadband internet speed in
Okmulgee—even to exceed what is available
on-campus. With improvements in technology, physical proximity to
services such as libraries
and bookstores become
less critical. It is still,
however, our desire to
offer a branch of the OSUIT Bookstore in one of
our downtown facilities.
And if downtown students choose not to use
the on-campus health
clinic, they can choose
other options, as they can
now.
Q: Traditional students
who live off campus typically have a lower GPA
than students who live
on campus. Will this
downtown project harm
your students academically?
I am not sure that
I am familiar with any
documented study that
can conclusively say that
the grade point average
of college students are
lower simply because of
living off campus. If that
were the case, most of
our students at OSUIT
would already be at a disadvantage. Technically
speaking, the buildings
that will be operated by
OSUIT downtown are
part of the campus. They
will have the same rules
and expectations for residents as existing student
housing facilities and
they will offer similar academic support services.
It is worth restating,
however, that the OSUIT
downtown housing facilities will be intended for
non-traditional students
rather than traditional
students. And a downtown student housing
option for non-traditional students should make
more rooms available on
the main campus for traditional students.
Every successful en-
terprise and business has
a good working knowledge of their assets and liabilities. As they plan for
their success, they find
ways to accentuate their
assets and build upon
them while minimizing
their liabilities and preventing them from becoming distractions.
I would like to weigh
the assets and liabilities
of our community as I
respond to the following
two questions:
Q: What are the biggest
challenges facing Okmulgee?
Every
community
has its challenges, and
Okmulgee is no different. I recently had the
opportunity to sit down
with several community
leaders and discuss this
very topic. We came up
with a rather lengthy list
of challenges but identified the following eight
areas as being the most
persistent: 1) low median income levels and
cycle of poverty; 2) detractors and negativity
within the community;
3) bad reputation and
negative perceptions; 4)
rundown properties and
poor first impression of
the community; 5) generational apathy and lack
of community pride; 6)
lack of community commitment to the public
school system; 7) lack of
communication within
the community; and 8)
lack of cooperation and
infighting between entities operating within the
community.
By my count, at least
five of the eight challenges facing Okmulgee have
to do with perceptions
and attitudes. So it would
seem to me that the real
challenge in front of us
will not be rehabbing a
building or a street but
rehabbing public opinion
about our community. I
understand that it is not
a wise use of time or energy to try to appease the
concerns of cynics and
Cont. on Page 11
October 2015
Lighting the Path cont....from Page 10
naysayers because there
will always be some people who will criticize any
endeavor. But we must
find ways to change our
liabilities into assets—
our detractors into advocates.
Q: What are Okmulgee’s
strongest assets?
As the discussion
with community leaders continued, we agreed
that the list of community
strengths far outweighed
its weaknesses. Here are a
few examples of the assets
we listed: 1) Okmulgee’s
higher education entities;
2) the Muscogee (Creek)
Nation; 3) downtown
Okmulgee and the #OkmulgeeRising campaign;
4) our geographic location and access to transportation; 5) our historical roots as a diversified
community; 6) our lake
system and potential for
tourism; 7) the availability and affordability of
land; 8) the potential for
new retail and industry;
and 9) the friendly and
giving nature of our citizens.
As I stated previously, all successful organizations are able to capitalize on their assets and
overcome their liabilities,
and the same will be true
of Okmulgee. It serves
no purpose to dwell on
problems that we cannot
solve. We should instead
focus on areas that we can
improve. Okmulgee has
been a great town, and
many of us are convinced
that it can be great once
again. Cynical attitudes
within our community as
well as negative perceptions from outside our
community will change
when we change our
community.
Whenever you hear
someone describe OSUIT, it is difficult for them
to do without using the
word “unique.” We actually take this as a compliment because at OSUIT,
we are proud of our reputation as a trend-setting
institution of higher education.
OSUIT is not cast
from the same mold as so
many other colleges and
universities. In my opinion, we have too much
duplication in higher
education in general. We
have far too many colleges in the country doing
exactly the same things,
offering the same programs of study, in exactly
the same ways. But at
OSUIT, we are different
from the rest.
I am grateful for the
question coming in because it will give me a
chance to describe the
core mission of OSUIT
and explain why we call
OSUIT the state’s only
university of applied
technology:
Q: I have heard that
OSUIT is a leading college in workforce development. Is this true?
If so, how is it involved
in workforce development?
Yes, it is true. Since
1946, OSUIT has been
providing
top-notch
technical education for
Oklahoma and beyond.
OSUIT’s mission is to
serve as the lead institution of higher education
in Oklahoma and the
region providing comprehensive, high-quality,
advancing
technology
programs and services
to prepare and sustain a
diverse student body as
competitive members of
a world-class workforce
and contributing members of society. OSUIT
has trained over 40,000
technicians and continues to set the standard
for applied technical
education, industry partnerships, workforce development and job placement.
In addition to transformative change on
campus, we are launching new academic programs and improving existing ones to better align
with workforce needs
and trends. Through innovation in technology,
teaching and learning,
and student support services, OSUIT is transforming the academic
experience for learners of
all ages.
While OSUIT’s positive impact on workforce needs in Oklahoma
and nationwide is undeniable, the need for
a globally competitive,
highly skilled workforce
continues to grow. New
and exciting jobs are being created in a variety
of industries, including
energy technology, engineering, culinary arts and
healthcare. Employers
communicate a growing
difficulty in managing
under skilled and under
prepared employees, increasingly complex technology and equipment,
growing energy costs,
and increasing pace of
change in the competitive landscape. These
employers consistently
turn to OSUIT to meet
their complex workforce
needs—and OSUIT exceeds their expectations
time and again.
I really want members of the community
to understand just how
special the campus is
that operates in Okmulgee. This is your university and there is nothing
else like it in the state.
The caliber of workforce
training offered here simply cannot be found anywhere else. Young people
who want to successfully
prepare for the modern
workforce need the type
of training that is offered
right here in Okmulgee.
If you know someone
who could benefit from
an education at OSUIT,
please send them to us.
For a complete listing
of the unique majors offered by OSUIT, browse
our official website –
www.osuit.edu.
They say “you never
get a second chance to
make a good first impression.” So at OSUIT, we are
trying to improve how
things look when you
approach campus. For
starters, we have worked
with the State Highway
Department to erect new
highway signs that reflect
the correct name of our
institution.
We have also installed
a full color electronic
marquee at our east entrance on Loop 56 and
a new OSU Spirit Riders
display along the Loop.
I am particularly proud
of these ten foot tall steel
figures because they were
fabricated in-house—by
the skilled maintenance
staff of OSUIT. Let me
also acknowledge the
many long hours spent by
our OSUIT grounds crew
this summer mowing
and trimmed the lawns
all across campus. They
take pride in their work
and do an incredible job
keeping up the appearance of campus. All of
these first impression improvements complement
the recent Okmulgee
City Council resolution
to rename the Highway
56 Loop to “University
Boulevard.”
Now, let me respond
to a friendly inquiry
about recent improvements on the southwest
corner of the OSUIT
campus.
Q: I really like the new
sign on the corner of 4th
& Mission. Do you have
any other plans for this
area?
Thank you for noticing the new campus
marker sign. We are
mighty proud of the way
it turned out. It is actually a high-quality metal
sleeve that fits down over
the top of the old concrete monument sign
that was in that same location. Our maintenance
staff did a marvelous job
clearing out and trimming some of the overgrown vegetation that
was there, and I think the
new plants are looking
very sharp. And let me
just add that if you like
the sign during the day,
you are going to love the
way it looks at night. The
extruded plastic lettering
and logo glow with interior LED lighting, creating an impressive display
afterhours. It should be
there for many years
to come, greeting visitors from town with the
striking OSU orange and
black.
To further clean up
the southern approach
to campus, OSUIT has
purchased all of the
abandoned buildings on
the southeast corner of
4th and Mission—across
from the new sign. This
includes everything from
the Mission Lane Auto
building to the old Speed
Queen Laundromat. Our
plan is to improve this
corner by removing the
old buildings and installing new greenery and
landscaping features to
augment the views of
campus. We have completed our phase II environmental study of this
site and should be ready
to begin razing the buildings sometime this fall.
Soon, we hope to have
an unobstructed view of
campus as visitors approach from the direction of downtown Okmulgee.
It is my intention to
share further updates
with you as we make
improvements to these
twelve acres of land and
pond purchased south of
campus. OSUIT is your
university, and I want you
to be informed of what is
going on as we grow. So,
please don’t be afraid to
ask me questions. Send
your questions or comments to osuit-president@okstate.edu.
To read the complete
series, pick up Aug. and
Sept. issues of “Okmulgee Co. On the Rise”
which is always available
digitally on our website
at
okmulgeenews.net
or visit osuit.edu and
search for “Lighting the
Path Ahead”
October 2015
Sunny Side Up!
by Valerie Rice
----We are going to “flip” Okmulgee!”
was for me to start
It can happen.
I wrote this column when the first stages of the
Now, a little housekeeping. Go ahead all you nay- opening my eyes
Okmulgee Rising began and published it online, but
I feel it is worth repeating for those who are just now sayer’s and spout your gloom and doom thoughts. and paying attencoming on board to Okmulgee Rising. I have tweaked Well, thank you. And now I and all the other people tion. I began paywho believe in a positive vision for Okmulgee will ing attention to
it a bit to fit the present time.
Most everyone has heard of flipping houses. It is take those thoughts, wrap them up in a big ribbon at all the wasted
the art of buying a home that needs fixing up at a low and throw them off into the place of no existence. We spaces, neglected
areas and just places that have so much potential. This
price, fixing it up and reselling it for a profit. Think don’t need them.
Now for those that are beginning to think a little city could be transformed.
about this for a moment. Picture in your mind a run
Well you don’t have to be a naysayer to simply
down, out of date, decaying home and everyone that bit, those who haven’t really thought about it. Some of
thought of living in it would turn up their nose in dis- you may commute to larger cities for work. You might begin churning around in your head what it would
gust. Then, a contractor buys the home and complete- just work and stick to your own little home and what’s take to make this happen. Time, money, ingenuly restores it to a modern, comfortable, valuable piece going on there. There are so many scenarios, but you ity, people…time, money...it’s true, but what is more
of property. And guess what happens next? Everyone are living in your own little world. Knock knock! You powerful that time and money is vision and people
with VISION and ingenuity. It is happening already!
are the people I am speaking to.
wants to live in it!
I created this newspaper, Okmulgee County on
I challenge you to look around your neighborNow picture for a moment...the same thing happening to the town where you live? What if your hood, look around the downtown area, look at the the Rise, to inform and educated the public to what is
town, Okmulgee, was flipped!? And everyone wanted parks and vacant spaces here and there. Imagine all happening in the area. If something has sparked your
interest, I challenge you to start paying attention. I
the things that could be improved, fixed up.
to live there?!
Here’s a little something for your imagination. Do will help show what is going on and where and how
Do you have favorite places that you love to go to
visit? Are there certain places that you speak highly you realize a creek runs right through Okmulgee? A to get involved. It is going to happen whether you are
of? Is there a place that you like too vacation to? Can great place to begin seeing it is at 20th street. It pass- on board or not, but I hope something I have said will
you think of your favorite cool or cozy spots you like es by the YMCA, down and around the west side of make you want to shake the dust off your boots and
to go to and what they have to offer? Where are your Harmon Stadium and First National Bank. It goes un- think about getting involved. That’s all I want you to
social connections and what places bring that social der 8th Street. It has a beautiful little bend that turns do right now, is THINK.
Follow me as I take you on a journey of thought.
connection? Ok, we are not talking cell phone based and flows under 6th Street. Look at this quaint little
You didn’t have to live here all your life, even if you
either. We are talking about real community spaces bridge! (In the photo below this column on the left)
Look past the overgrowth and yes the moss…. did. It doesn’t matter if you moved here yesterday. It’s
such as Bricktown in OKC or the Blue Dome District
“Our Hometown.” Think about it. If you care about
look further into what it could be.
in Tulsa.
Now look at this photo from Siloam Springs (on the place where you live and what you would like it to
Just picture bringing those imaginations to the
downtown area of Okmulgee, even the surrounding the right of that photo) It too was once…just a creek. become, it would be about time to get involved. OthWhen I took this photo of the bridge, I had driven erwise, a large group of people that are making things
areas, parks, walking trails, streets, housing editions,
schools...the list goes on. Ok, sure we cannot bring through this town over and over since I was a kid and happen, will basically decide for you.
(p.s. I will be bold enough to predict in the
sandy beaches, oceans or snow filled ski slopes, but never even knew it existed. Did you? I mean, I knew
there are plenty of extraordinary things that we could it was an underpass, I just didn’t look at the poten- future - that one day the creek that passes through
tial. Seriously, I wasn’t really looking and all it took Okmulgee will be developed into a beauty! I believe.)
bring to our town.
Shake
off Your
Problems
A man’s favorite
donkey falls into a
deep precipice; He
can’t pull it out no
matter how hard he
tries; He therefore
decides to bury it
alive.
Sixth Street Bridge in Okmulgee
Siloam Springs
Do you have questions or comments
for the Okmulgee News Network?
Email them to
producer@okmulgee.me
Why don’t
ghosts like
rain? Because
it dampens
their spirits!
Soil is poured onto the
donkey from above.
The donkey feels the
load, shakes it off,
and steps on it; More
soil is poured.
The donkey shakes it
off and steps up; The
more the load was
poured, the higher it
rose; By noon, the
donkey was grazing
in green pastures.
After much shaking
off (of problems) And
stepping up (learning from them), One
will graze in GREEN
PASTURES.
October 2015
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The purpose of the Main Street program is to improve the quality of life by strengthening the downtown as the center of the
community through concentrated efforts. Since 1986 Okmulgee has worked under Oklahoma Main Street’s Four Point
Approach™ of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring. Under these guidelines, Okmulgee has seen progress
in many areas including the continued revitalization of their historic district.
Follow Main Street
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A Prayer of Moses
Most of us think that the Psalm’s
were written by David, but in Psalm 90
we read the words of Moses.
In fact it is headed with these words:
(A prayer of Moses the man of God).
As I have been reading and memorizing this text it calls out to me from a
man who lived 4000 years ago. It speaks
of our sin and what we try to do with
them.
First, Moses addresses the issue of
the presence of God. In verse I, we come
to see that God is the place of dwelling
or (rest) for all generations. That means
that each generation that comes and
goes has the opportunity to know Him
and rest in the assurance of His presence with them. This requires that each
generation recognize and acknowledge
His presence and freely welcome Him
into their life.
2nd, we read of the truth of life,
we are born and we will die. In verse 3
Moses states that God sends us back to
where we originated from, the dust of
the ground. Remember, God took dust
and formed a man and breathed life
into him in Genesis.
Thirdly, Moses deals with the truth
of our sinfulness. God never forgets our
sin. Yes, we try to hide our sins. In verse
8 we see that God brings to our thoughts
and minds our sins. He does this so
that we will confess and acknowledge
them to Him. Yes God knows of our
October 2015
secret sins. God’s eternal nature, Truth,
for He is truth will reveal and show us
our sinfulness. When I stated that God
never forgets our sin, I mean that even
when we try to hide them, or hide from
them, God knows and each is recorded
by Him for the day that we will give an
account for each and every one. Now,
read this carefully, when we do confess and repent, once again I say, confess and REPENT from our sin, God
strikes those sins away from us and we
are cleansed by Him and His redemptive love. Only then is that sin gone and
never to be dealt with again. The sins I
am talking about are the ones that we
let linger and we try to sweep them under the rug out of site and we think out
of mine.
But Moses tells us that God knows
and remembers these sins and we will
be held accountable for them.
So move to verse 14-17, Let us claim
this promise of God, His unfailing love
is available every morning we live if
we will acknowledge His presence and
confess our sin. He is faithful and just
and will cleanse us from all our sins.
Moses, a man of God has challenged us
to be people of confession and trust in
His eternal and ever present love.
Pastor Richard Manning
Calvary Baptist Church
“Opinions”
by Kelley Love
I once heard someone say, “Opinions are
like noses, everybody has
one”
It seems so harmless to just tell someone “
well, my opinion is”.. and
whether you have been
asked for the advice or
not, sometimes you freely give it anyhow.
But have you ever
thought
about
the
things that come along
with that unsolicited
advice??? We tend to
chime in to the conversation: maybe, find ourselves being a little critical?... Pass along a little
judgement????May b e
even find ourselves doing a little gossip...? And
then before you know
it, you are walking away
upset about a situation
that really had nothing
to do with you in the first
place!
James 1:19
Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every
man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath.
The Power of Prayer
Morris First Baptist Church
I recently read a
story in the book Circle Maker about a man
named Honi, who lived
in the first century BC.
During this time, a devastating drought threatened to destroy the
generation before Jesus.
What we know about
this time is that the last
of the Jewish prophets
had died off, miracles
were a distant memory,
and God was nowhere
to be heard. But Honi
believed that God could
hear him even if the
people could no longer
hear God.
That is when Honi
did something crazy. He
grabbed his staff, stuck
it into the ground, and
drew a circle. After Honi
had finished the circle,
he fell on his knees
and raised his hands to
heaven. With boldness,
Honi began to pray.
“Lord of the Universe, I swear before
your great name that I
will not move from this
circle until you show
have shown mercy to
your children.”
Then it happened.
As Honi prayed,
raindrops began to fall
to the earth. However,
Honi remained on his
knees in prayer. He
was not satisfied with a
sprinkle, so he cried out
again.
“Not for such rain
have I prayed, but for
rain that will fill cisterns, pits, and caverns.”
The once sprinkles
turned into a torrential
downpour.
However,
Honi remained on his
knees inside his circle.
He cried out boldly one
more time.
“Not for such rain
have I prayed, but for
the rain of Thy favor,
and blessing, and graciousness.”
The rain began to
calm down into a nice
steady rain. Each raindrop was a reminder of
God’s grace. This prayer
will forever be known as
the prayer that saved a
generation. And it will
also be a testament that
one single prayer can
change the course of
history.
The reason I tell you
this story is to remind
you that prayer is powerful because God is
powerful. So keep praying, because you never
know when God will
come in and change the
course of history!
The best sermons are
lived not preached.
We say, no, we are
simply stating what we
feel is true, out of the love
of our heart, and then
say: “We will be praying
about that for you”... but,
do we remember to pray
about it? Or was it an opportunity to actually get
in the middle of something for the wrong reasons?? We have all been
guilty of this at one time
or another ! To make you
feel better, I’ll raise my
hand to that !!
Someone very important to me once
said, and I quote “ Instead of pointing a finger, shouldn’t we raise a
hand”?
It’s so easy to criticize
others, and not even realize, that is exactly, what
we are doing. Again, raising my hand!!
Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do
in word or deed, do also in
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
and the Father by him.
Colossians 4:6 Let
your speech be always
with grace, seasoned with
salt, that ye may know
how ye ought to answer
every man.
I’m sure it’s also true
for some of us we have
had the talk with God
when we say
“Lord,
PLEASE, SHUT MY
MOUTH before I say
something I shouldn’t”!
There are many lessons to be learned in
this life; no matter
what your age, God
is continually teaching us something new,
and giving us an opportunity to make good on
our mistakes. How else
as humans, do we learn,
except by experience and
reading of the word?
You may have witnessed something along
these lines in your life,
and even call those people “ Hypocrits”...
I heard a preacher
once tell a story that shed
some light on this for me;
The preacher periodically visited a man’s
store, and each time he
would ask the store owner
to visit his church. Each
time the man politely declined the offer. Finally
one day, the preacher
walks into the store, and
boldy says, “why don’t
you want to come to
church”? The man replies
“preacher, there are TOO
many hypocrits there”!
Preacher says “come on,
we’ve got room for one
more”!
Here is the funny
thing I just realized in
my life; when someone
seems to have a revelation about something, or,
when they are telling you
something that is sooooo
true, it’s almost like they
have been there....... and
done that already.
Well, it’s a good thing
we can rely on God’s
word to be “forever” and
not, an opinion !
-----------------Do you know Marvin? You may not know
him by name, as many
people just refer to him as
the “Jesus guy”.. “ the guy
who carries the cross”.
His name is “Marvin”! He
is from Okmulgee and is
the man you see most
all year round, outside,
blessing businesses, traffic and praising the Lord!
Marvin, is what I
would consider to be a
dedicated man to the
Lord. Some may say “oh,
he is crazy for walking up
and down the road in all
weather”. Okay, but I ask
you, would YOU do it?
Marvin has been loyal to
our community for some
time now in the heat of
the summer, and freezing
cold temps of the winter.
Marvin is a man of
many outfits too! Have
you noticed.. he has worn
the crown of thorns, I
even saw the purple robe
one time! And most all
the time, you will see
him with either a bible in
his hand, or carrying his
cross.
Marvin reminds us
of Jesus’ dedication to us.
Jesus goes to the Father
in our behalf. As I drove
by today, I saw Marvin on
Wood Drive, as I do many
times. As I passed him, I
honked and waived really
big so he could see me..
he smiled SOOO big, it
made me want to cry.
I guess because I think
how much it means to me
to have someone who really cares; they care about
you, and DON’T EVEN
KNOW YOU! Someone
who does this out of the
goodness of their heart,
not asking for anything
in return. We ALL need
someone in our life who
talks to Jesus for us..
THESE are the people that GOD can use in
his Kingdom. We have all
got a little Marvin in us.
Each one of us has been
given a measure of faith
in our lives. How we use
it is totally up to us. Marvin chooses to bless our
community each day;
asking for God’s devine
protection for us. Hard
to believe someone who
doesn’t even know your
name, wants the “best for
you”, huh? I’ve even seen
Marvin at the Okmulgee County Courthouse,
praying for the courtrooms before people entered for a trial!
You know, fact is,
we all talk about doing something, but truth
is, Marvin IS DOING
SOMETHING. You have
to just love that. We all
get so caught up in our
busy lives we forget about
the little things that mean
so much sometimes. I
would like to think that
every time I see Marvin,
he reminds me of what
is important.... The bible
makes this important reference in 1st Corinthians
13:
Although I have the
gift of prophecy, and understanding all mysteries,
and all knowledge, and
though I have all faith,
so that I could remove
mountains, and have not
charity, I am “nothing”.
So I ask you, next
time you pass Marvin, let
him know you appreciate what he does for you?
You know he has things
go on in his life just like
you and I. However, I’m
enclined to believe that
Marvin isn’t allowing
anything to get in his way.
I do wonder though,
does anyone pray for
“Marvin”?
October 2015
Dedication of New Twin Hills Baptist Fellowship Church
A Church Built on the Word
The Twin Hills Baptist Fellowship Church construction is now complete and a dedication was held on
October 4, 2015.
The church is the dream of 26 Charter members
who met first in homes for bible study then moved to
the Creek Nation Twin Hills Community building at
highway 52 and highway 16 for service.
“We began to grow and it seemed God had more in
store for our little group,” said now pastor Noel Brandon.
The members opened a building fund and began to
search for a piece of land. A couple opportunities arose,
but just didn’t feel right until a piece of land opened up
just east on highway 16 in the Twin Hills area. Twelve
months later a building was constructed.
Already 9 new members have joined says Pastor
Brandon. “The people here are like family and treat each
other with respect. We feel unified. We are excited over
everything that has happened. We did not have a long
term vision when we began, we just took it day by day.
We had no master plan, but the Master had a plan for us.
From Prayer and seeking God’s leadership everything
came together. ”
When the headline says that this church was built
on the word, that is absolutely the truth in this case.
Once the ground was ready for building plans a place
was marked out in the ground where the pulpit would
sit once the structure was finished. A hole was dug in
that very spot and Pastor Noel Brandon’s first bible was
buried there underneath the ground.
“Once the structure went up, a man from Singing
Wire Cedar Company stopped in and asked if we would
like to have a cross. He donated the materials and time
and erected the wooden cross you see out front. We are
very grateful to him,” said Pastor Brandon.
It has been a joint effort, but this would not have
happened so fast without charter member Butch Hardesty who has been very generous and brought in his construction crew who worked with us all the way through,”
said Pastor Brandon.
On dedication day three special women in the congregation were honored. Brandon said,” A man can
build a house, but only a God fearing woman can make
a house a home.”
Marsha Hardesty and Betty story were given awards
for their warm hearts and constant smiles while Eula
Goswick for recognized for her contribution as beginning song leader now taken over by J.B. Graves. She was
brought to the stage and teasingly given a tiny shovel as
she was present with her’s at the official ground breaking.
Noel Brandon received his training at Oklahoma
Baptist University. He had not been in the ministry for
many years and thought he would never preach again,
but Twin Hills Baptist Fellowship called his heart back
to the pulpit once again to be used by God he said.
He now preaches along with Associate Pastor Steve
Treagresser.
Karen Mitchell
During the ceremony Karen Mitchell read the
church history it goes as follows:
HISTORY OF TWIN HILLS BAPTIST CHURCH
The history of the Twin Hills Baptist Church is preserved with the hope of inspiring our present and future
congregations. It is our prayer that the future congregations will preserve the ideals and dreams of those who
have labored through many challenges and personal
hardships while working to build God’s Church.
• In February of 2014, a small but faithful body of
thirty (30) plus believers prayerfully united to strengthen their strong spiritual faith and seek God’s Will for a
continued ministry to the local community.
• The initial fellowship and prayer gathering were
in the homes of believers, and prayers were answered
with a move to the Twin Hills Indian Community Center for a full schedule of services beginning in February,
2014. We are grateful to the Community Center for
allowing us to use their facility.
• On March 5, 2014, this fellowship voted to be
identified by both denomination and community location with the name “Twin Hills Baptist Fellowship”.
• April 10, 2014 , a unanimous vote was made
to proceed in faith with formal plans to build a church.
God has provided through the giving hearts and prayers
of members and His grace has been consistently evident
since that leap of faith. Many thanks for the commitment of the all member Building Committee and to
Butch Hardesty who devotedly led all phases of Planning and Construction.
• May 14, 2014, through God’s grace and the support of Dwayne Colvin, North Canadian Baptist Association Director of Missions, this fellowship was granted
the status as a new church startup. This event was cel-
ebrated with a unanimous vote to elect Noel Brandon as
Pastor, an anointed teacher with the heart of a shepherd,
and a faithful instrument in the hands of God.
• On Sunday, May 18, 2014, twenty-six (26) charter members stepped forward signing a spirit led, collective request for transfer of membership from Natura
Baptist Church to Twin Hills Baptist Fellowship.
• In July, 2014, two (2) new members joined by
water baptism. And five (5) acres of land located on
Highway 16, Okmulgee, Ok. was purchased from Charter Member and church neighbor, Bettye White.
• August 13, 2014, the church name was officially recognized by the State of Oklahoma as “Twin Hills
Baptist Church”.
• April 8, 2015, Steve Treagesser was elected as
Associate Pastor.
• As of October 4, 2015 church membership is at
41, consisting of 26 Charter Members, joined by six (6)
new members in 2014 and nine (9) new members in
2015, with an average annual attendance of 36 in Worship Service and 24 in Sunday School.
• On, October 4, 2015, the church celebrated their
first Sunday Worship Service in God’s new church.
God has been our shield and strength. He has guided us with His counsel; blessed us by His divine will and
inspired us by His spirit. But as Jesus did, let us claim
our lasting legacy as the souls we lead to God, the families we encourage and the lives we touch in a positive
way.
-----The church hours are Sunday School 9:45 a.m. and
Sunday Worship at 11, Sunday evening at 6 and Wednesday bible study at 7 p.m. The first Sunday of each month
is the fellowship potluck meal after morning service.
“We welcome all with open arms, “ said Pastor
Brandon.
Mary Graves Special Music
Pastor Noel
Brandon
Twin Hills Baptist
Fellowship
Church
will hold an
Open House
Saturday
November 6th
(1pm - 4pm)
Refreshments will
be served.
Everyone
Welcome!
Eula Goswick recieves honorary shovel at church dedication.
October 2015
Okmulgee will be the next host for
the NativeVision Youth Project 2016
By Betty Anderson - ONN
Okmulgee will be
the next host for the NativeVision Youth Project
2016. The project is a
Mini Sports Youth Camp
for American Indian
children and adolescents
which relies on volunteerism.
NativeVision, a 501C
group, in order to renew
the health of American Indian children was
launched by and is run by
John Hopkins Center for
American Indian Health.
It is partnered with NFL
Players Association and
the Nick Lowery Charitable Foundation.
The program is conducted by approximately
60 professional and collegiate athletes as coaches. There will be clinics
in football, basketball,
track, volleyball, soccer and lacrosse. More
than sports, the three day
camp not only will be a
great cultural exchange
but it also includes education on personal character development for
youth, goal setting, life
priorities and sports nutrition/sports health.
Justin Giles a MCN
representative
stated
that, “Thanks to Tod Williams’s enthusiasm and
Chris Azbell’s vision…”
and collaborating with
the Muskogee Creek Nation and Okmulgee Public Schools, they chose
Okmulgee for their next
location.
The camps have been
primarily held in the
southwest United States.
The Cox Complex will
be the Hub/Headquarters for the project. Okmulgee Public Schools
contribution will be the
use of school buildings
and gyms including the
new building at the High
School for the Education
portion of the program,
the school cafeterias for
their meals, use of school
buses for transportation,
if needed and Harmon
Field and other athletic
fields for sporting events
including hospital park
sports fields.
Giles also said the
program will most generally stay at the same location for 2 to 3 years or
more
Okmulgee
School
Superintendent Tod Williams stated, “It will be
an in-kind donation that
will be good for our community.”
Last year’s camp was
sponsored entirely by
Coca-Cola. They have
hosted as many as 1,200
children but will probably
cap it at 800 for this first
year in Okmulgee, guaranteeing Okmulgee for at
least two years. Children
who live further than a
50 mile radius will camp
out on tribal property at
the Cox Complex; those
within a 50 mile radius
will go home at night. It
will be open to 2nd grade
students through seniors.
Justin Giles Muscogee (Creek) Nation Director of Cultural
Center and Archives Department shares information on the
NativeVision Program with the Okmulgee School Board.
Support Okmulgee On the Rise
with Your Advertising!
Just call Kelley at
918-759-1703
or our Main Office at
918-740-1408
GCTC CARPENTRY CLASS
Improves Primary Gardens
By Betty Anderson
The carpentry class at Green
Country Technology Center (GCTC)
has been working on some great projects at the Primary Gardens.
GCTC received grants to pay for
supplies totaling $1,500 and the rest
of the funding came from a bond issue. GCTC students re-built the picnic tables that had rotted out, routered
the corners to prevent splinters and
painted the metal.
Four new pavilions were built to
cover the picnic tables that were excellent solid structures to begin with
and made with real trusses as used
in home building. Two new bridges
were also built to go across the creek.
School Superintendant Tod Williams requested they extend the
bleachers because they were not big
enough to hold an entire class, so they
extended the seating with no space
in-between. He also requested the
construction of an additional demonstration table.
Finally, they re-built an old rotted
out sign and the GCTC Welding Shop
cut the letters out of metal and welded
the metal sign which should prevail a
long time.
Larabee Family
Design Committee has plans
for creating a more inviting
Atmosphere in Downtown
~People Making a Difference~
For some, enthusiasm comes easy
and this is just the case with Richard Larabee and his family. (Pictured
above) Larabee is one of the first “Loft
tenants” at Park On the Square and
has recently gotten on board with the
Okmulgee Rising movement.
Larabee and his wife attended the
Roger Brooks presentation (See more
information on page 1) and that is what
sparked his interest to become more involved in his community.
“Basically, when my wife and I
came out of the presentation, we left
with a renewed sense of excitement and
appreciation for Okmulgee,” said Larabee. “I had recently met John McConnell, and that evening after the presentation we were both talking about what
we could do immediately in response
to some of things Roger Brooks had
brought to light.”
That is when Larabee decided his
own home-front, may just be the place
to start. “I told him I felt our family could
take up the project of beautifying the
square, specifically helping water whatever plants were bought and maybe
helping raise funds for benches and
some extra tables and chairs.”
McConnel invited Larabee to be
a part of the next Main Street design
committee meeting with other Main
Street members, and from there they
set a date to walk the square with Main
Street Director Heather Sumner, members Mary Lewellen, and several others. The walk was done and according
to Sumner the Square was strategically
assessed and different locations were
chosen for benches, tables and chairs
and places for a mixture of both along
with colorful pots and planters with
greenery.
“We determined a goal for what we
needed to purchase and an estimate of
what it would cost. Funds were secured
from tourism money set aside by the
City, and Rusty Milroy took the helm
from there in regard to purchasing everything we had outlined in our plans,”
said Larabee.
“At the present time we are still
waiting for everything to be purchased,
and I’ve been told it shouldn’t be much
longer before we set a date to set everything up,” he said. “Once this happens,
that’s when my family and I will be able
to get involved in the upkeep of all the
different planters and what not on the
square.” Larabee hopes the efforts will continue to expand out from the square
extending east and west until the entire
downtown is beautified, and of course
that will involve lots of other residents
and business owners. “We’re doing what we feel like is our
share. I’m excited to have my eight year
old son working with me so I can teach
him about taking care of his neighborhood and the responsibilities we all
have to our community,” stated Larabee.
Excitement for Okmulgee is now
a part of every day life for this young
Okmulgee family.
“I want to get involved as much as
possible, in ways that best suit our family, in the ‘Okmulgee Rising’ campaign. My wife and I talk constantly about
how we feel this is the most exciting
time to live in Okmulgee, even more
than when it booming in the early 20th
Century,” said Larabee. “I think if we
instill a sense of pride in our son he’ll
continue to love this area too, and as
he grows up I know he’ll take that with
him wherever he goes.” Okmulgee’s autumn celebration
Harvest Spoon Chili Festival
2015 will kick off
Saturday Oct. 17th downtown
on the square. Look for all the
coverage with
photos and video online at
okmulgeenews.net
October 2015
Jay Johns (second from Right) of Henryetta Physical
Therapy Central and his staff Alysa Rivera and Taylor Green appeared at City Hall with Henryetta Mayor
Jennifer Clason as she signed a proclamation designating
October as National Physical Therapy Month.
October as National Physical Therapy Month
Locally owned outpatient physical therapy
clinic Physical Therapy
Central (PTC) opened
last year in downtown
Henryetta to serve the
surrounding areas for all
physical rehabilitation efforts. Jay Johns and his
staff are working to raise
awareness of the important role that physical
therapists and physical
therapy assistants play in
helping people decrease
pain, improve mobility,
and engage in healthy
lifestyles during National
Physical Therapy Month
is celebrated each October.
Henryetta
Mayor
Jennifer Clason signed a
proclamation designating October as National
Physical Therapy Month.
(See photo above)
In November 2014,
Physical Therapy Central
(PTC) began providing
outpatient physical therapy for a variety of cases
including pediatric, postsurgical conditions such
as knee/hip replacement,
rotator cuff repairs, ACL
reconstruction, surgeries
associated with fractures,
low back and neck pain,
sports injuries, balance
dysfunction,
tension
headaches, and chronic
pain, as well as typical
strain/sprain injuries of
muscles of the arms and
legs.
Outpatient
physical therapy provided by
Physical Therapy Central offers local and quality rehabilitation for
residents of Henryetta,
Dewar, Okemah, Okmulgee, Wilson, Weleetka,
and many other areas in
South East Oklahoma.
“A great place to get
better,” stated local resident, John Howell in reference to the efforts of Jay
Johns and his staff.
PTC Henryetta is
owned and managed by
Jay Johns, PT, DPT, OCS.
Jay graduated from the
University of Oklahoma
Health Sciences Center
with a doctoral degree in
physical therapy in 2011
and has since earned the
title of Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, a specialization less than 5% of all
physical therapists earn.
Physical Therapy Central
offers a wide variety of
hours to accommodate
early and late appointments for the busy student and worker.
“I am happy to be
able to provide quality
physical therapy, and to
serve the wonderful people of this underserved
area,” Johns said.
With 16 locations
around Oklahoma, Physical Therapy Central’s
mission is to provide
quality physical therapy
services to all in order to
get Oklahomans, “Back
to Work, Back to Play,
Back to Life.”
Please call 918-6520443 for any information on physical therapy
services that are available
or feel free to stop by our
state of the art facility at
402 W. Main in beautiful
Henryetta, Oklahoma.
Need advertising? Call 918-740-1408
Search for:
James
Hodge
Chevrolet
October 2015

Okmulgee County on the Rise The

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