The Grove Observer

A weekly newspaper for Grove and Grand Lake residents. Published every Friday. If you have news, email us at groveobserver@yahoo.com or fax (918) 791-0206. Copyright 2007. No reproduction without consent of the author.

Welcome to The Grove Observer...a weekly newspaper serving Grove and the Grand Lake area. If it's news, we'll cover it. You also have the opportunity to comment on our newspaper via your own posts. We publish every Friday and hope that you enjoy this increased coverage of events around Grand Lake. Send our web address to your friends as well.

Editor & Publisher: Jim Mills



Friday, April 13, 2007

Grove Beginnings...Part 3

Businesses and Homes in the Grove Town Plat

By Rose Stauber

Business in Grove in 1906 was centered in the area of Third Street and Main and near the railroad station. We haven't mentioned the railroad before, but the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad had bought the line built from Rogers, Ark., through Southwest City to Dodge out on Cowskin Prairie to Grove.
The line opened in 1900 and was important for moving passengers and cargo until trucks and cars took over the job. It was closed in 1940 and the tracks were removed. The right of way is still visible in various places across the prairie and on the east edge of town. The depot was located on the west side of Main Street about First Street. A turntable was located on the line so that the engine could be manually turned around and headed back to Rogers.
Two hotels are found on the plat. One was the Corey Hotel in Block 17 on the west side of Main Street. Charles H. Corey had a livery barn in Lot 1 valued at $400. His wife Nancy is listed for the frame hotel valued at $800 in Lot 2. Both Coreys were white. Two frame houses once owned by the Coreys are still on the property and owned by descendants. Charles was a Union veteran of the Civil War from Iowa.
The other hotel was owned by a long-time resident of the Grove area. William P. Mayes was the half-brother of the two Mayes who were chiefs of the Cherokee Nation. He had established a post office at Olympus, southeast of Grove, in 1885. It was closed and the mail sent to Grove in 1895. That could be when Mayes decided to move to the developing town. Mayes' hotel was on Lots 1 and 2, Block 16, and was a frame building estimated to be worth $1,800. He owned two frame houses in Block 16 and two box houses and a barn valued at $300 in Block 15.
In Block 16 William H. Doherty had a stone building valued at $4,000. Next door he and John H. Gibson owned a stone building worth $500 more. Next door to that the Citizens Bank of Grove was housed in a brick building estimated at $2,500. The cashier was a William M. Jones who is listed as an agent in a number of lot sales.
Four men shared equally in a brick store building estimated value $1,500. They were Samuel J. Salyer, John H. Gibson, William P. Mayes, and William T. Melton.
Finally, on Lots 8 and 9, Block 16, Mayes had 40 bearing fruit trees on each.
The Bank of Grove, incorporated, Walter E. Ross, cashier, had a brick bank building like the other bank, value $2,500, in Block 17. A blacksmith shop, stores, and stone foundations also were going up. Rebecca J. Broaddus had a $400 frame house on two lots. The holdings of Letha Tabler, widow of Dr. Peter Tabler, show that some of the area had been long occupied. She had five lots in Block 20 with two box sheds, a frame house on two lots and a barn.
Letha, a Cherokee, is said to be buried beside her husband in Olympus Cemetery, but her grave is unmarked. Dr. Tabler came from what is now West Virginia and served in the Union army. Letha was his second Cherokee wife.
Annie Snell had a box house, a well, and a barn on two lots in Block 27. Annie was the mother of William P. Mayes.
One of the persons living the longest in the Grove area was George M. Ward.The well-known Quaker minister, Jerry Hubbard, had held services at Ward's place over the years. Unfortunate with his wives, Ward had been married five times.
Edmond D. Carey is something of a surprise to find in Grove. The heir to Carey's Ferry owned lots 15 and 16, Block 35, which were occupied by three box sheds and two frame houses. The ferry was about two miles northwest of Grove on Grand River.
Sarah B. Cheek, a white and a widow, understood the rules of the game. She had the land in the name of her son, Pleasant J. Cheek, with herself as guardian. She bought lots 7 and 8 in Block 49. The Cheek family allotment was on the northwest corner of what became Grove. One lot of particular interest was contested. A later column will address this. The coming column will be about the founder of Grove.
Copyright © 2007 Rose Stauber

The Photo Page




In Photos: Arvest Bank, Grove's newest, held its Grand Opening Thursday; Grove's tallest structure at nearly 300 feet, Verizon's new cell tower is up and dwarfs the old tower; Being sworn in Thursday by Municipal Judge Richard James are Grove's three newly elected councilmen, Gary Trippensee, Larry Parham, and Mike Davenport, who will officially take office Monday at 12 noon.

New Visitor Center Takes Shape

















Easter Hats on Parade was termed a huge success at Har-Ber Village Museum, moved indoors to the almost-completed new Visitor Center. Co-chairs of the event were Shirley Daggett, left, and Carla Mills, right, pictured with Mr. Easter Bunny and Jan Norman, Executive Director of Har-Ber Village Museum. The new $500,000 Visitor Center will open in August, which will house traveling exhibits in the arts and humanities and serve as the formal entrance to the Village. It was funded by grants and donations.

Observations...

The people who want to know who sent out the unsigned six-page missive prior to the council election have upped the reward ante to $5,000. This reward, says their unsigned ad in the Grove Sun Daily, will be paid for "any information which leads to positive identification of one person involved and with knowledge of other participants in the above will receive the full reward." An unlisted telephone number is at the bottom of the ad. A recording answers. Our call was not returned. We wonder how Secret Police tactics in the Soviet Union in the 1960's differed from this approach here. We find it amusing that someone would run an unsigned ad seeking information on an unsigned letter. What's next...cameras in your home, tracking devices on your car, bugs on your phone? For those that didn't read the missive, it was a fairly complete blast at GrovePAC's candidates and named supporters that previously had not been publicly identified. Whoever wrote it had a good local knowledge of Grove's political history…Frankly, the election is over and we don't care who wrote it...DirecTV has added several of Tulsa's network stations to its HD lineup, Channels 2, 8 and 23. Channel Six CBS is not yet available via DirecTV HD. Be advised you will need a fairly new DSS Receiver as older models will not recognize the new satellite at 99 degrees, where Tulsa locals in HD can be found. You will also need DirecTV's new 5 LNB dish. The technology has changed so quickly that even a two year old piece of equipment is outdated and useless. Otherwise, the only way to get Tulsa stations in HD in Grove is to put an antenna on the roof…To date we have had no applications for the job here as Editor. Amazing…but there is still time to apply...The Man from AT&T came to Grove Wednesday to speak to the Rotary Club and laid a fairly large Egg. Craig Conley talked about all the mergers and a new product called "Uverse" which won't be available in Grove for maybe 103 or 72 years since you have to have DSL to make it work. When asked when DSL would be available throughout Grove he said it would "take time but we are doing what we can." He said "our area does not meet the model," whatever that is, for finishing out the work. His attractive sidekick, Mary Moore from Tulsa talked about another new product called "Homezone" which includes DISH network and Yahoo broadband, but again one must have DSL to make it work. She described it as "an all digital home entertainment system" where one can even put up their worst photos on the TV for everyone to see. Both of these products ignore the burgeoning wi-fi systems now going in place everywhere...Lots of police, fire and EMS people from the area gathered at the Monkey Island Fire Department this week to receive training on their new 800 mghz radios, but not Grove's. The MIFD received $110,000 in grant money from Homeland Security funds as part of a statewide program along I-44. Someone in Grove blew off the application last April and apparently our city was left out of the money, but Acting City Manager Debbie Mavity says we are not out of the running yet, we're still working on it...With Oklahoma's peculiar Municipal Election laws, the winning candidate does not always win. David Adzigian beat Larry Parham in Ward 3, where they both reside, by 749 to 671 but because all candidates are elected at large, Adzigian lost. Such silliness does not apply in state or Federal elections...We also wonder why people can vote here without any proof as to who they are. In Grove, dead people can even vote. Most places require a photo ID or Voters Registration Card to prove you are a registered voter, but not in Delaware County...

Third Thursday Features Book Author

A special treat is in store for those who remember when during World War II many young British airmen trained in Oklahoma at schools in Ponca City and in nearby Miami.Now Paula K. Denson of Ponca City has authored a book which preserves the history of these schools, the young men who trained there, and the Oklahomans who made them part of their lives.

Denson will be the speaker at Third Thurday at 12 noon April 19 at the Grove Public Library.Third Thursday welcomes everyone to come and enjoy the experience. Attendees are invited to bring a brown bag lunch. "The Royal Air Force In Oklahoma" tells the history of Oklahoma's two secret British Flying Training Schools. It is a comprehensive, well-documented social commentary detailing and illustrating the heritage of the two schools. The publisher is the Oklahoma Heritage Association.The book has hundreds of photographs the author sought out.

"I suppose it was blind luck that I attended an estate auction in 1997 and came away with a $2 shoebox full of old letters. They were postmarked from various locations in Great Britain during the years 1942 throuogh 1947. I decided to learn more about the authors of these letters," Denson said. So began her search for the history of the RAF in Oklahoma.

"I have met some of the writers and their family members and established friendships all over the world. What a thrill to meet some real heroes," Denson said. Denson previously was responsible for founding the North Central Oklahoma Historical Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of her county. The result was a two-volume, national award-winning history, "North Central Oklahoma: Rooted in the Past, Growing for the Future."

Copies of the book will be available to buy and have autographed. Third Thurday is sponsored by Friends of the Grove Public Library and the Grove Public Library.Everyone is welcome. Desert and drinks are provided.

A Matter of Faith...




By Carol Round

Unexpected Lessons

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.”
Psalm 16:7 (NIV)

For the first time in days, I had gone to sleep without the aid of painkillers. However, my sleep was not restful. I tossed and turned, confused by advice from well-meaning friends after an accident sent me to the hospital for two days.

A follow-up doctor’s appointment earlier that day assured me that I would recover. I felt blessed. I would only have a long scar on my right calf as a reminder of the trauma. Even so, I glared at the glowing red numbers on my alarm clock and began to pray. “God, please show me what to do.”

Arising from my sleepless night, I spent time with the Lord that morning. I had the answer to my question. Peace flooded my mind, body and soul. I knew what steps I needed to take.

Taking steps the first few days after the accident was not easy. I had to depend on crutches and friends and loved ones for assistance. I was not used to relying on others for help. Then I began to reflect on what lessons the Lord was teaching me during this time.

Because my writing is based on life experiences, I wanted to use this incident to help others too. As I began to list those life lessons, I realized how often we ignore what God is trying to tell us.

I am one who often forgets God’s instructions to rest. I have a tendency to push myself when what I need to do sometimes is just “be still.” Even God rested on the seventh day. Now I had no choice.

We do have a choice, however, to accept help from others. It’s not easy for me when my nature—just like a two-year-old who is testing her own independence—wants to jump up and say, “I can do it myself.” I can, however, hobble painfully to the kitchen to prepare my food or allow someone who cares to serve me.

When we let go of our ego, and say, “I need you,” then we are admitting our vulnerability. Our stubborn pride doesn’t want to admit defeat, even if it is temporary. God did not create us to be loners. Not only are we suppose to trust Him for our needs, we are to lean on family, friends and strangers to help carry our burdens.

During my recuperation, I have experienced the kindness of neighbors and friends who have mowed my lawn, walked my dog, brought food, cleaned house and shopped for groceries. I have received phone calls, visits, prayers, cards and flowers.

This incident has humbly taught me about being a recipient of grace. I have experienced the influence and spirit of God operating in humans to help me as I regain my strength.

God provides these unexpected life lessons for our growth. Even in the dead of night when we are awakened by His voice, He will answer when we ask.

A collection of Carol Round’s most popular faith-based columns is now available in book form. For more information, readers can reach her at carolaround@yahoo.com

Model Airplane Meet Set for April 21

The OKRC Cloudbusters Radio Controlled Model Airplane Club will have an AMA sanctioned Spring Fly-In on Saturday, April 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The location is at the flying field located between Grove and Fairland. (From SH 125, 1/4mile east on Co.Rd.210, then turn left (N) into Lebow’s Topsoil Farm, proceed north to the flying field, (1/4th mile).
All pilots must belong to the Academy of Model Aeronautics for safety and insurance reasons.
The club has about 40 members from the Fairland, Grove, Miami, and surrounding area. An expected 30 to 40 flyers from a 100 mile radius of Grove will attend, to display flying skills from novice to advanced, and airplanes weighing from a few ounces to 20. Also several of the planes will have electric propulsion motors powered from the new technology Lithium Ion batteries.
Organizers said "we are extending this invitation to the public, to come on out, observe the pilots, their aircraft, and to try your skill at flying. We will have a trainer plane, a buddy box system and an accomplished pilot to assist you. Some of the older persons can remember “when”, and the younger persons may see an opportunity to learn a new hobby that provides both the fun of flying as well as the skills of building if desired. Some outstanding piloting skills will be seen and your questions answered to the best of our ability. Occasionally you will get to see a 6foot wingspan airplane fit into a garbage bag (not a guaranteed event)."

Make Candles at YMCA

Next week you and your friends can learn to make candles at the Grand Lake Family YMCA.
Debbie Anderson will be instructing class members in how to make wonderful waxy, fragrant candles for home decorating or gift-giving.
The Candle-Making class is scheduled for Thursday, April 19 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm at the YMCA.
The cost is $3 for YMCA members and $5 for non members..
For further information, call the YMCA at (918) 786-5774. The YMCA is located at 206 Elk Street in Grove.