November 18, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 12

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Commun November 18, 2020 WTC of Sayre announces S\WQSU-Sayre History Professor Hammon graduate War Civil Defense for his book Cold War Oklahoma. He even incorporated pictures of and information about some of the items in storage. According to Brewer, the fed- eral government began supply- ing municipalities like Elk City with fallout shelter supplies in the early 1960s at the height of Cold War tensions between the United States and the So- viet Union, when the risk of nuclear war was greatest. “The hope was that in the event of a nuclear war, Ameri- cans who didn’t die from a nu- clear bomb blast could also sur- vive radioactive nuclear fallout in the atmosphere by seeking refuge in fallout shelters for up Margaret Walker of Hammon, has just completed her Medi- to two weeks,” Brewer said. cal Office Assistant training at the Western Technology Center- Fallout shelters that met Sayre campus. Susanne Silk, WTC-Sayre Business Technology federal criteria had a federal Instructor is presenting Margaret Walker with her Completion fallout shelter sign placed on Certificate. the outside and were stocked For more information about WTC check out www.westtech.edu. inside with water barrels, food, medical equipment and medi- cine. Elk City’s Civil Defense storage included all these plus radiation detection equipment A” Coffectine Colamn and defunct Thunderbolt Civil Defense sirens. Elk City’s City Manager (from left) Tom Ivester and SWOSU-Sayre History Professor Landry Brewer transfer some Cold War Civil Defense items to Jeff Briley, deputy director of the Okla- According to Brewer, these With Andy & Renie Bowman homa Historical Society. may have been among the city’s Civil Defense sirens that Landry Brewer recently facility. Inside were dozens of these items,” Ivester said. sounded a false alarm during In a Fizz helped Tom Ivester, Elk City’s Cold War-era supplies that had Brewer got in touch with Bri- the October 1962 Cuban Mis- City Manager, transfer some of been in storage since after the ley, who recently drove to Elk sile Crisis. Fearing that a nu- the city’s decades-old Cold War fall of the Soviet Union and City’s airport where he found clear attack was imminent, the Civil Defense supplies to the the Cold War's end in the early several items to add to the His- false alarm sent frantic parents Oklahoma Historical Society. 1990s. tory Center's Cold War collec- to Elk City’s schools to pick up Brewer and Ivester met Jeff “I wanted to make room tion. their children. Briley, who is deputy director in the airport storage facil- A history professor at Briley said that Elk City’s of the Oklahoma History Cen- ity, but before throwing away SWOSU’s campus in Sayre, Civil Defense items will even- ter in Oklahoma City, at Elk items of historical significance, Brewer had toured the civil tually be prominent in an ex- City Municipal Airport, site of I thought [d enlist Landry's defense storage facility when hibit interpreting Oklahoma’s the city’s Civil Defense storage help to find a worthy home for researching Oklahoma Cold Cold War role. How would your child cook a turkey? Have them fill this out and turn itin to be included in the drawing for a turkey donated by United Supermarkets. bring by our Office or submit via email to [email protected] eee ‘How to cook a turkey While working in my front yard the other day, I noticed the How do you cook a mailman zip past our house without stopping. Not too unusual and my only thought was, “Evidently had no mail today.” But just afew minutes later here he came again, from the other direction. delicious Turkey on Our neighborhood consists of a couple of streets built in a figure eight. It circles thru about fifty homes, so it really isn’t that large of mail delivery zone. But it can be confusing to a newbie, which obviously he was. Thanksgiving? ee Icontinued my raking and then I heard him coming from the opposite direction. Minutes later he reversed course and passed our house again. But this time he slowed down and stopped, then backed up and delivered our mail. I have no doubt he will We are partnering with get the hang of our neighborhood quite soon. United Supermarkets of Elk City I waved and returned to my pile of leaves and grass cuttings to provide a turkey to a family with a grin on my face. Laughing at his predicament? Nope. in our area. Quite the contrary. His frantic zipping around overlooking what he is seeking just may be the story of my own life. Being in a fizz to get somewhere to get something done...and miss seeing what was right in front of me and truly important. I've been in his shoes too many times to enjoy a joke at his expense. Want some examples from my life that may have an echo from Must be emailed to [email protected] yours? or dropped by our office at 109 W. Broadway Be ee Ee Ee Ee As a small child, the days between December 1 and Decem- by November 18th! Drawing will be ber 25 seemed to take forever when I was young and waiting for held November 20th. Christmas Day. Remember that feeling? Being so impatient you Pages can be printed at home or picked don't really enjoy the entire season. up from our office. Later during the years of being an older kid, [jealously waited for my cool teen years, with all the ‘freedoms’ they promised. ‘Then I became a typical gritching and grumbling teenager, whining about the strictness of my parents, and longing for Directions: Age: Phone# adulthood. Pet ——_eg=_ eee ee ee ee Now an adult, I can still be racing everywhere and zooming right past the good things in life. Always looking around the next corner, blind to now. Something tells me I am a member of Club Fizz. Are you one of us - spending too much time doing things that aren't really cru- cial, to achieve things that are forgettable? And therefore miss- ing the truly significant? Making good money and being known to have good kids at the expense of making good relationships is a poor bargain. A dad being so busy growing the family business that he misses too much of his kids growing up. A mom pushing and encourag- ing her brood to be all they can be. And forgetting to not only encourage them, but to also help them grieve and learn to accept their failures as a normal part of life. Folks, I implore you, slow down that vehicle you are driving. Take time to actually see the people in your life and make the time to enjoy what God has given you. Coffeetimecolumn.com Send responses to: [email protected]