Hiring of City Attorney on Council Agenda

The matter of hiring a city attorney for the city of Grove will be re-visited Tuesday night at the regular Council meeting. Two weeks ago Council met in executive session to discuss five candidates, with one being nominated in public session, Jot Hartley of Vinita. The vote was 3-2 against hiring him and no other candidates were nominated.
At least two councilmen indicated they wanted to interview Hartley in person before reconsidering the matter.
An executive session items is on the agenda, as well as appointments of two trustees to the Grove Planning and Zoning Board. Council will also discuss a request to GRDA to designate all shoreline within the Grove City Limits as a Responsible Growth Area under the new Shoreline Management Plan under final consideration by GRDA.
Council will meet at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

County Commissioners Face Full Agenda

Delaware County Commissioners, now back to full strength after several months, face a full Agenda for Monday's regular meeting, including a motion to hire the Center for Economic Development Law" to establish a TIF (tax increment financing) district for the benefit of The Peninsula development on Monkey Island.
This item had previously been "no actioned" several weeks ago on the advice of the Assistant District Attorney, who said the commissioners must first establish a review committee per state law.
In this month's Chairman's Letter to Shangri-La members, Peter Boylan says "we are currently working with the Delaware County Commissioners who have expressed an interest in forming a TIF district and passing a lodging tax to facilitate the redevelopment for the benefit of the county and community. The approvals of these incentives remains vital for the redevelopment."
Other action includes a possible Executive Session to discuss the Paul Staten and Island Enterprises lawsuit against Delaware County, and the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission versus the Board of County Commissioners of Delaware County.
Motions to approve platting of several new subdivisions will be heard, including Mariner's Lookout, and Governors Retreat Phase III.

Grove Beginnings...Part 15

By Rose Stauber

Remember that Sept. 17 was the big day that voters in Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory voted on big issues: for or against the constitution which meant for or against becoming a state; for or against liquor; and election of officials at all levels of the new state, if it became a state, from governor to township justice of the peace.
Obviously, politicking was going on all over the state. William Jennings Bryan, speaking in Oklahoma City, was quoted in the Grove Sun as saying, "I have read your constitution carefully," he said, "and I want to say that you have the best constitution of any state of the Union, and better than the constitution of the United States." He didn't mention that the constitution supported segregation.
President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, was having trouble with the Oklahoma constitution. What is more, the Democratic nominee for governor, C.N. Haskell, and the President seem to have had differences, to put it mildly.
The Democratic and Republican parties in what would be Delaware County were carrying on in the usual way: party meetings, speaking tours around the county and all the things that go on. The tickets, printed in the Grove Sun had different symbols than today. The Democratic ballot was headed by a crowing cock and the Republican one by a large bird, probably meant to be an eagle, with wings spread and a striped shield in its claws.
Locally, the only campaign smear that made the newspaper involved the candidacy of Cherokee Steve Peak for county school superintendent. The Grove Sun of Sept. 6, 1907, carried the following under the headline, "Another Campaign Lie Nailed." The story was from Southwest City, Mo., Sept. 2, 1907. "We, the undersigned are citizens of Southwest City, Mo., and know Steve Peak, and know him to be a sober and law-abiding citizen. Understanding that there is a report being circulated to the effect that Steve Peak came to our town and got intoxicated, we feel it our duty to say to the people of Delaware county that we have never at any time seen Mr. Peak under the influence of whisky, nor was he ever arrested in our town." The item was signed by the mayor, the JP, the city marshal, Nichols Bros., J.C. Yeargain Jr, D.E. Havens, Thos. Holt, C. M. Dunlap, and J. I. McNabney. The notice was very nice of the Southwest City officials. Of course, everyone knew that Southwest City had a distillery and that the town was a main source of liquor.

Steve Peak won the job of county schools superintendent. Before and after his election, he seems to have been a popular teacher around the county.
The October 4, 1907, Grove Sun carried preliminary results. The official results were the same and carried in the October 11 issue. A recent centennial article in the Tulsa World carried the headline: "In 1907 vote, state came in as liquor went out". The other no news was that the Democrats won most offices in a landslide.
In what was to become Delaware County, 1,200 voted for the constitution, 398 against. In the liquor vote, 858 voted for prohibition and 624 against.
The list of county officers began with George W. Hogan elected sheriff over Jeff Muskrat. W. N. Smith was unopposed as county judge. Ad. V.Coppedge got 1,015 Democratic votes to win the county attorney job. Geo. A Cox, Democrat, won as clerk of the district court. Ed West, Democrat, with 972 votes became county clerk over Jeff D. Sexton. T.J. Williams, Democrat, beat Dan Taunneacie by 982 to 569 for treasurer. For recorder, G.W. Fields, Jr., Democrat, won 1,600 to 551 over W. Fox.
Steve Peak's margin over his opponent, J.P. Butler, was 961 to 554.
The county commissioners, all Democrats, were T.T. Rogers, District 1; Tal Gray, District 2, and Dee Jones, District 3. Two Republicans won minor offices in the election of officials in the six townships.
In the state offices, L.B. Smith, Democrat, was not opposed and would become the first Delaware County representative in the Oklahoma Legislature. E.M. Landrum, also a Democrat, was elected state senator.
One of the new U.S. senators from Oklahoma was Robert L. Owen. The new senator was a Cherokee, and on the Dawes Roll. His mother began life in what became Delaware County. She was born Narcissa Chisholm, daughter of Thomas Chisholm, who was one of the three chiefs of the Old Settler Cherokees at the time they were moved out of Arkansas to Indian Territory. Chisholm picked an area directly west of Maysville for his home. He died in 1834 and is buried in a cemetery there. This is the oldest marked grave known in Delaware County. Narcissa wrote her memoirs which have recently been republished. Plenty of material is available on Robert Owen.

After the election, President Roosevelt announced that he would sign the Oklahoma Constitution. His personal opinion of the document, the president laughingly said, was "not fit for publication." All obstacles were now removed to Oklahoma statehood.
© 2007 Rose Stauber

GRDA to Hold Final SMP Meetings

The Grand River Dam Authority reminds lake area residents of the upcoming public meetings, related to the final draft of the Grand Lake Shoreline Management Plan (SMP).
These meetings are GRDA’s opportunity to present the final SMP draft plan to the public and will include a question and answer session after the GRDA presentation. The first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 2, at 6 PM at the Cleora School. Another meeting will be held Thursday, October 4, at 6 PM at the Grove Community Center
The GRDA Board of Directors received the final draft from GRDA staff at its September 12 meeting in Vinita. The 30 day public comment period on the draft began at that time. After the close of that comment period (which runs through October 15) and the two public meetings, the board will vote on the final plan in November.
GRDA has made copies of the final draft available to the public and those interested in seeing the draft can obtain a copy at GRDA’s Vinita headquarters, or it may be viewed online at www.grda.com. Anyone interested in commenting on the final draft can send an email to smp@grda.com or other written comments can be addressed to SMP PO Box 409, Vinita, OK 74301.
GRDA began developing the SMP at the request of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency which licenses GRDA to manage the Pensacola Dam and Grand Lake. The plan will determine future development activity to be allowed along Grand Lake’s 1,300 miles of shoreline.

Jana Jae Featured at Epcot Center

EPCOT Center at World Disney World will present an exhibition of Oklahoma History and Heritage thkrough Nov. 11, including an opening by Jana Jae and her band, Hotwire.
The 100 year history of Oklahoma will be showcased on three "walls of wonder" 12 feet high and 21 feet long, telling the stories of personalities that helped shape the state's history.

Rotarians from Brazil Visit Grove

Five Rotarians from Brazil visited Grove this week. Shown are Davi De Paula, a pediatrics and neonatology physician; Marcello Rodrigues de Oliveira, an information technology manager at a refinery in Canoas; Irina de Oliveira, an architect and urban designer; Patricia Barbosa, an English teacher; and Jorge Da Silva Duarte, accountant at a construction company. Housed in private homes in Grove, the group visited Lendonwood Gardens, Har-Ber Village Museum, Pensacola Dam, NEO and the mushroom farm in Miami, and saw "Oklahoma" at the Coleman Theatre. Prior to coming to Grove on their 40-day American visit, they spent time in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Eureka Springs, Lamar, Mo., Iola, Kan., Bartlesville, and continue next week to Muskogee and home to Brazil.
There are more than 50,000 Rotarians in Brazil.