Poindexter Unsure On Tax Passage

County Commissioner Bruce Poindexter said he was unsure if the proposed half-cent sales tax election Aug. 9 would pass. His comments came following the regular weekly meeting of the Delaware County Commissioners Monday.
"The Sheriff asked us to put this up to the voters and we did, and I really was not sure if it would pass or not," he said. "But since Grove has started to make a lot of noise about it, there is reaction in the rural areas and if they get out the vote, it might pass now, " he added.
When asked what the Commissioners would do with the extra $700,000 the Sheriff's office now gets from property taxes, he said courthouse employees would probably get a pay increase and he would favor spending a good portion of it on roads in the county.
The current Sheriff's budget for 2005-06 is around $700,000 but the new tax will generate approximately $1,200,000 per year which Sheriff Jay Blackfox wants to use for equipment and salaries for additional deputies.
The Aug. 9 ballot reads, in part, "Shall Delaware County, Oklahoma, be authorized to levy and assess a one-half percent of one percent of county sales tax through not later than December 31, 2010...said tax to be levied upon the gross proceeds or gross receipts derived from all sales taxable under the Oklahoma Sales Tax Code....to fund the operations of the Delaware County Sheriff's Department..."
If the election passes, the total sales tax in the county would go to 9.4%, one of the highest in the state. Cost of the election will be $7500, said Poindexter, which will be paid by the Sheriff's office.

Grove's Hot Weather No Match for 1952

If you thought this week's weather in Grove was hot, consider that on July 26, 1952 the official high temperature in Grove was 109 degrees. That was the year most people wanted to forget. It was over 90 degrees in most places as late as October. Most lakes and streams were at their lowest levels ever. It was the driest crop season in Oklahoma history.
And, there was no air conditioning in homes or cars.
A report, Climatological Data compiled by the US Dept. of Commerce and Weather Bureau, told of the misery. In Fort Scott, KS, the high temperature reached 120 degrees for a week in July.
But 1952 was just the start of a heat wave and drought that lasted three years and brought Grand Lake down to elevation 712 above sea level. The bottom of the power pool is 715 and only the House Unit was generating in June 1953, according to GRDA memos. Average in-flow for June 1953 was only 930 cubic feet per second, or a trickle. The lake level was at 721.02.
In late December 1953 Grand Lake reached its lowest level since the lake was filled in 1940.
Evaporation took an inch a day from the lake in the summer heat. Most marinas went out of business and Two Tree Island stuck out nearly 40 feet in the air. People could walk across the original Honey Creek bridge built before the lake.
So next time someone tells you how hot it is, remind them they should have been around in the good old days when it was really hot and the lake nearly went dry.

Grove Post Office Move Delayed

The sign on the door of the old Grove Post Office says "We don't know when the new Post Office will open."
The move to the new post office was planned for mid-July but has been delayed due to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Construction is still on-going to make the facility ADA compliant, regarding doors, restrooms, ramps, etc.
Since the Federal Government has previously designed and built new post offices by the hundreds, it is not clear how this issue has come up in Grove.

An Editorial

A new buzzword has come up this season, "pre-release." We don't know where it started, but probably a better term would be "early release." This refers to the practice of releasing water from Grand Lake via the floodgates when it becomes apparent that enough water is coming downstream into the lake to cause the lake to go into flood stage, above elevation 745.

Some of the critics who are always on the back of GRDA, no matter what the cause, accuse the GRDA of having some "secret" or "covert" agenda regarding this issue.

In our studies of the history of the lake and GRDA, there is no mention of GRDA having control of the flood gates. The Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of this, 100% of the time. They read the dozens of upstream gauges, consider what is happening below Grand Lake, and make judgements as to whether or not to order GRDA to open floodgates...how many, how far open, how many cubic feet per second to release. This is a fact that the gadflies continue to ignore.

It is also our observation that the Corps like to store water, a fact that can be observed in Corps lakes. Flood pools of 40-50 feet are common. After all, they wanted the top of the Pensacola Dam to be at elevation 765 with a 30-foot flood pool when it was built, but W.R. Holway, the chief engineer, talked them out of it. Imagine what that would have done to Grove and Miami.

In ordering releases from Grand Lake, the Corps must consider what the results are downstream. If Fort Gibson lake and the Arkansas River below it are already in flood stage, it might be their decision to hold back water from Grand Lake until downstream levels subside. This has been done many times. On the other hand, in past years the Corps has not ordered releases until after Grand reaches 745, even considering that flood waters are coming down from Kansas.

This year, a change in attitude occurred. We don't know if this came from the new management at GRDA, working in conjunction with the Corps, but we are reasonably sure it did. It makes good common sense that if a flood is coming down the Neosho and Spring Rivers, early release of water from Grand can prevent upstream flooding in Miami. On the other hand, people in Miami, and the critics, need to realize that downstream considerations must also be made, what we call "the big picture."

In 1943 the biggest flood in history occurred on the Grand River, a 300,000 cubic foot per second flood. Every gate was open at Grand; so much water came out that it would not flow downstream fast enough and water backed up seven feet high on the powerhouse. They actually swept water off the roadway, according to one witness. And that was before Lake Hudson was built. This flood was caused by 26 inches of rain over a nine day period in May, at Miami, and 19 inches over the entire watershed. "Early release" would not have worked in this case as there was just too much water, much of it already downstream.

We've also noticed that on the original blueprints of the lake, the elevation above Miami of the Neosho River is at 1100 feet above sea level. If this is true, then it would seem that a nearly 300-foot drop in elevation from just north of Miami, into Miami, would cause too much water to flow too fast.

It is true that GRDA can generate 20% more electricity from 10 feet of additional water in Grand Lake; however the current management at GRDA has shown that is ready and willing to work to control uplake flooding by consultation with the Corps and using early releases when possible. Continued criticism by gadflies serves no purpose.

Why This Newspaper?

New readers have asked several questions worth mentioning this week.
Why this newspaper? Simply because Grove needs a newspaper that covers local news and we will attempt to cover all that we can. We will focus on local issues and news, not the rip and read from the AP wire. We believe an Internet newspaper will be the wave of the future....no wet paper in the morning, no trees killed, no rubber band needed, no delivery person, no ink on your fingers, and you can instantly respond to any article you like. (we would appreciate your using a real name) You can even pick it up when you go out of town.
We hope to grow, including all the features you would find in a printed newspaper, including photos, advertising, cartoons, editorials, etc.
Who is the Editor? The editor moved to Grove last year and has lived on the lake since 2000.
He grew up on the lake since age 13. He has a degree in Journalism from OU and has worked in the newspaper/public relations field for many years. He has edited several publications and has worked for an Oklahoma Congressman and the US Information Agency in Washington, D.C. Since 1981 he has planned client golf vacations to Scotland and Ireland and most other parts of the world, and currently works as a Pensacola Dam tour guide several days a week. He trys to play golf every day that ends in "Y."
What is the mission: To present as much news, fair and balanced, as can be covered each week.
Do we get it by email? No. You must go to the website each Friday morning to pick up your paper. www.thegroveobserver.blogspot.com
Mark it as a Favorite for easy reach. Tell your friends. Enjoy.

Robertson Appointed to GLPWA Board

Robbie Robertson, Greens Superintendent at Shangri-La's golf courses, was appointed to the Grand Lake Public Works Authority Board by the County Commissioners at their regular Monday meeting. His appointment came at the Board's request.

This Week's Joke

Three Texas women go down to Mexico one night, get too much to drink, and wake up in jail only to find out that thay are to be executed in the morning, though none of them can remember what they did the night before.
The first one, a brunette, is strapped in the electric chair and is asked if she has any last words. She says, "I am from the Baylor School of Divinity, and I believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on behalf of the innocent." They throw the switch and nothing happens, so they figure God must not want this woman to die and they let her go.
The second one, a redhead, is strapped in and gives her last words. "I am from Texas Tech Univeristy School of Law and I believe in the power of justice to intervene on the part of the innocent." They throw the switch and again nothing happens. They figure out that the law is on this woman's side, so they let her go also.
The last one, a blond, is strapped in and says, "Well I'm a Texas Aggie Electrical Engineer, and I'll tell you right now you ain't gonna electrocute nobody if you don't connect them two wires."

This Week's Restaurant Review

By Sam L. Smithers
Chief Restaurant Reviewer

The past Sunday morning I felt like breakfast out, so I stopped in Ketchum but Stuffins was closed. So I proceeded down to Langley and stopped in at The Chicken Coop. No feathers, but the two waitresses were running around like their heads were cut off. Many customers. After a 10 minute wait, I ordered coffee, two eggs over easy, ham, potatoes, and a biscuit with gravy.
The coffee cup was cracked and traces of lipstick were on it. Since I do not wear lipstick, I knew in a minute that the cup was not mine.
The breakfast plate arrived in about 20 minutes. The two eggs were hard as concrete. The biscuit was out of a package and more like a roll. The ham was half an inch thick but good, and the potatoes were sort of greasy. The gravy was really thick.
It was my fault. Never order anything but Chicken, from a place called The Chicken Coop. Same goes for waffles, pancakes, eggs, sweet rolls, etc. Except we don't have places named after them.
Until next time, good eating.

The Dam Builders (first in a series)

Editors Note: This is the first in a series of interviews with men who actually worked on building Pensacola Dam in 1938-1940. They were conducted this past winter.
Cleo H. Collins will quickly tell you that really isn't his name...people call him Ted and his co-workers on the dam construction in the 18 months he worked there called him "Peanuts."
"Everybody had a nickname, mine was Peanuts because I weighed only 150 pounds soaking wet," Ted says. Now age 86, he is retired from military service and lives in the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Claremore.
He lived in Cleora and went down to the dam site in 1939 and was hired, starting at 40 cents an hour as a common laborer. He remembers his take home pay exactly--$15.84 per week with one cent going to Social Security. He drove to work in his Model A Ford via the Ketchum-Disney Ferry when he started.
Soon he moved his wife, two brothers and his four-month-old son to "Tent City," located in Disney about two blocks north of the Dam Hotel. Rent was $6 per week. Baths were taken in the lake which was beginning to fill. Ted had an unusual commute to work--he swam to work each day from Disney to Langley.
Disney on Saturday nights was a wild ride, says Ted. "Everything you can imagine went on there, it was like a frontier old west town."
"Everytime I had a chance to make another nickel an hour, I took it," he recalls, eventually working up to using a jackhammer to take off limestone on the wall next to the power house. He recalls it was a 94 pound jackhammer. And he hung on a rope sling carving his way down the cliff, making 75 cents an hour.
After construction was completed he worked as an oiler in the powerhouse at $1.00 an hour. One day a young college grad was following him around noting his work routine and shortly thereafter, Ted was fired and replaced by the youngster.
The superintendent told him he was going to Alabama to work on another project and wanted Ted to come down and work for him, but since Ted's old Model A wouldn't make the trip, he went to Joplin and bought a fine new car on credit.
The superintendent never called. The car went back to the bank. Ted then worked on timber clearing after GRDA purchased land up to 755 elevation.
In 1944 he was drafted into the Army and served in the Philippines in advance of MacArthur's return.
Today he is as fit as a fiddle and looks no more than 65. He credits this to hard work during his youth.
Next Week: W.N. Bill Holway.