Around the Lake...

Lindsey Miller, 22, was selected this week as Miss Grand Lake 2006 and will compete in the Miss Oklahoma pageant next year. She is a graduate of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa and plans to attend medical school. She is a native of Philadelphia, PA. and sang with the Richard Roberts Group at ORU. It is not known if she has ever put a foot in Grand Lake...The estimate to fix the roof at the Grand Lake Association Building on Hwy 59 is now $40,000 and not covered by insurance. The entire metal roof will have to be removed and replaced, says Deb Wolek, Executive Director...Gerald "Buck" Gay of Adair has been appointed to the GRDA Board of Directors effective in September, replacing James Perry of Cleveland who passed away recently. Gay will be designee for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives...Watch for the Grove Fire Department's Fill the Boot drive this weekend to raise money for MDA. They hope to top last year's $6,000 figure and will be standing in the street with their boots to fill with money, so be careful driving this weekend...Gasoline prices topped $2.85 overnight Tuesday in Grove. How does an underground tank filled with gasoline purchased at last week's prices go up 40 cents a gallon overnight this week?...Will the Labor Day Weekend bring out the boats as usual? Some marinas are reporting that people are enjoying their boats in their slips, rather than take them out on the lake and burning gasoline...Larry Steckline, owner of Royal Bay Marina and the Cherokee Queens, took over this week as the new owner of Vinita's KITO-FM 96.1 and 1470 AM. The station went on the air in 1981 and has been owned by Dave and Leona Boyd since, featuring a "countrypolitan" format. Leona said she had no word of a format change. The FM station broadcasts from a tower north of Ketchum with 50,000 watts and is heard in four states. Dave Boyd has been a radio DJ for 41 years in Miami, Tulsa, and Vinita and his last day as a DJ was Wednesday. The Boyd's son Gavin works as a loan officer with IBC Bank in Grove and Claremore...Speaking of radio, if you want to hear first-hand closeup reports of hurricane damage from New Orleans, tune in after dark to WWL-AM 870, the 50,000 watt boomer and the only station on the air from New Orleans. Get in bed, turn out the lights, close your eyes, put the radio to your ear and listen to the stark reports from this ravaged city. It will make you glad you are safe in Grove, Ok. USA...Homebuilders build 40,000 homes a year in Dallas-Fort Worth area and this ranks #2 or #3 in the nation the past 10 years. There are 150,000 homes in New Orleans that need rebuilding. At this rate it will take 4-5 years to rebuild the city. Look for lumber prices to soar and gasoline to go to $4.
If you wish to contribute to help the victims of this terrible tragedy, please call the Red Cross at 1-800-435-7669.