Lifestyle

By Dean Craig

Okmulgee Lions

Tuesday's Lions Club meeting was an informative program updating our members on the state of our State by Rep. Scott Fetgatter. This Freshman Legislator expressed an uncanny ability to be aware of opinions shared by most "lay people" in conjunction with limitations of the Legislative process to pass much-needed wise and beneficial legislations.  And just like all the animals on Noah's ark, whether Democrat or Republican, they all knew that their survival depended upon their co-existing.  It seems likely that this attitude could work on both the State and Federal level, but what do I know?

Carl and Carol Nichols are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.

They were married on August 23, 1952.

Carl and Carol met at the Okmulgee skating rink while Carl was serving for the U.S. Air Force in 1951.

After serving in the United States Air Force, he went to work for General Motors. 

The couple lived in Swartz Creek, Mich. until Carl's retirement from General Motors. The couple moved to Okmulgee and Carl went to work for Morris Public Schools. 

The couple is a member of the United Methodist Church of Okmulgee.

Children include Karon and Charles McMakin of Oklahoma, David and Tamzie Nichols of Texas, Nancy and Tim Cooke of Georgia and Coleen Nichols. 

They have been blessed with 12 grandchildren: Sarah, Heather, Andrew, Daniel, David, Nichole, Danielle, Eden, Carl, Haley, Sean and Phillip. 

They have also been extra blessed with two great-grandchildren: Wyatt and Jaxon. 

4-H youth learned how to cook like experts at 4-H Day camp recently. The focus was food preparation and nutrition. While at this camp, youth prepared a complete meal, along with learning how to be prepared, be clean and be safe while cooking. Okmulgee County 4-H members gained knowledge about following the MyPlate tips to eat smart and be healthy.   The 4-H day camp was made possible, in part, by a grant from Ambassadors.  Grants from Ambassadors are only eligible to Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service employees and OHCE members. (Photo provided)

By Dean Craig

Okmulgee Lions

Things aren't always like Baby Bear's porridge--just right, but not to worry because we can usually come up with a contingency plan.  Such was the case for Tuesday's Lions Club meeting when one of our planned program presenters notified our president that he was on his way out of town for a family emergency.  Then the light bulb came on in our president's head because he had just sponsored our newest member of exactly one week, and our program was scheduled to include two new member's 15 minutes-of-fame speeches.  The redeeming grace of the situation is that this new member of one week is Rev. Dale Fillmore, pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene, and everyone knows that pastors can fit in for every emergency, and can speak at the "drop of a hat".  So, the show must go on, and it did, and without a hitch.

Project Heart Senior

Monday-Chicken Fajita, Peppers & Onions, Tossed Salad, Tropical Fruit, Brownie, Milk

Tuesday-Sweet & Sour Pork over Steamed White Rice, Oriental Vegetable Blend, Mandarin Oranges, Cinnamon Roll, Milk

Wednesday-Herbed Turkey, Mashed Potatoes/Gravy, Scandinavian Vegetables, Dinner Roll, Fruit Cup, Milk

Thursday-Cheeseburger, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Potato Wedges, Baked Beans, Chilled Fruit, Milk

Friday-Baked Salmon/Sauce, Rice Pilaf, Capri Vegetables, Apple Waldorf Salad, Frosted Cake, Milk

Okmulgee Schools 

All breakfast served with juice. Choice of 1% milk or fat free chocolate milk offered at each breakfast and lunch. For High School, only main entrees are listed and juice is also offered for lunch.

Let Them Eat Cake

Part Two

In my circle of family and friends, we have several birthdays in August.  My nephew, my boyfriend, a coworker, a couple of friends, mine and even my late husband’s birthday (yes, I still celebrate it) are all in this month.  I decided to take the column this month and turn it into a series on cake.  Each week will focus on a different part of a cake from the cake itself, to the filling, to the icing used to cover it.  

While I do like to cook, baking is my true passion.  I love making cakes and other sweet treats.  I love experimenting with new recipes and the people I work with are willing guinea pigs.  This is one subject for which I have plenty of content so this month will be easy to write.  The difficult part will be picking which recipes to use!

Rotarian of the Day Charlie Green presents a pen to his guest speaker, Traci Barber.  Barber oversees the genealogy department at the Okmulgee Library.  Besides phone books, city directories, and high school yearbooks going back to the first decade of the 1900s, the library also has the local newspaper on microfilm for about the same time period. They have census and land records for Oklahoma and other surrounding states.  Barber is also a member of the Okmulgee County Genealogical Society, which meets every 4th Monday, January through October.  Recently, they have been updating cemetery records at four local cemeteries, including Okmulgee, Woodlawn, Oakwood (Morton) and Our Lady of Grace.  Volunteers are always welcome.  Barber invites you to stop by the library and visit with her about your genealogy. 

Let Them Eat Cake

Part One

In my circle of family and friends, we have several birthdays in August.  My nephew, my boyfriend, a coworker, a couple of friends, mine and even my late husband’s birthday (yes, I still celebrate it) are all in this month.  I decided to take the column this month and turn it into a series on cake.  Each week will focus on a different part of a cake from the cake itself, to the filling, to the icing used to cover it.  

While I do like to cook, (to be able to write about it, you have to like it somewhat) baking is my true passion.  I love making cakes and other sweet treats.  I love experimenting with new recipes and the people I work with are willing guinea pigs.  This is one subject for which I have plenty of content so this month will be easy to write.  The difficult part will be picking which recipes to use!

We are three quarters of the way through with the work being done on the Old Post Office complex in downtown Okmulgee. Here at the end of July, we are just wrapping up the ninth month of a twelve month renovation project.  

Q: I love seeing all the new windows being installed on the Grand Old Post Office Building. 

A: Thank you. Most of the window openings have been boarded up for weeks/months, and it is good to see light filling the rooms in the building again. With brand new windows being installed on the Grand Old Post Office, it’s like the building is waking up from a long slumber. 

By Dean Craig

Okmulgee Lions

Tuesday's Lions Club meeting was another amazing story of "local boy does well" with championship results, presented by David Dunlap, a 1997 Okmulgee High School graduate and Head Coach of the 2017 Okmulgee Bulldogs Baseball Academic State Champions. What a marvelous turn-around from four years ago when Coach Dunlap took over the baseball team, and recounted that two of his freshman players had grade point averages of 1.36 and 1.85, and 18 of his 22 players were on the “ineligible list.”