Lunchtime Series Returns for More Local History Presentations
A McAlester Public Library program begun during last fall’s The Big Read is returning for another six weeks of local history presentations.
“History at High Noon” will resume Friday, February 28 with a talk by James Earl Tannehill about the Tannehill Museum. A free lunch of chili, crackers, a drink and dessert will be served in the library’s Whiteacre Room. Following the noon program, Tannehill will lead tours through the museum at 500 West Stonewall.
Other programs, all featuring free meals for up to 25 people, include:
*Friday, March 7—Authors Wayne and Carolee Maxwell of Purcell, who will talk about their book “Touched by Greatness,” the story of Charles Watson McGilberry. McGilberry, their ancestor, was one of three Choctaws selected for “the Wanamaker Experiment,” which brought Native Americans into the educational institutions of the Ivy League. The menu will include Indian tacos.
*Friday, March 14—Pat Leeper of the Kiamichi Quilt Guild will present a “Bed Turning,” telling historical stories through a series of quilts, just in time for National Quilting Day. Beef stew, drinks and dessert will be served.
*Friday, March 28—Retired Kiowa principal Clark Rhyne and Pake McEntire will be on hand to talk about the early career of Reba McEntire, marking the birthdate of Southeastern Oklahoma’s country superstar. The menu will feature chicken and dumplings.
*Friday, April 4—Ann Parrott, co-owner of the J.J. McAlester/Hunt’s Department Store building at 3rd and Choctaw will talk about the history of the building, which is now undergoing extensive renovations. Lasagna will be the main dish on the menu.
*Friday, April 11—Carolyn Clifton of the OSU Extension office, will present “Corn Dodgers and Hard Tack,” a program about frontier life and food preparation then and now. The program was originally scheduled to be part of last fall’s The Big Read, about the book “True Grit” by Charles Portis. Clifton will prepare corn dodgers, and participants will have the chance to make their own butter. The menu for the day will include beans and cornbread.
“The first History at High Noon series proved to be so popular, library patrons wanted more,” said Assistant Librarian Kathy McGilberry. “With so much interesting history in the area, finding presenters was no problem. Narrowing the lineup to only six programs was the challenge.”
Tannehill, a lifelong history and antiques buff, is one of the owner-operators of the privately-owned Tannehill Museum. The 1973 McAlester High School graduate is currently working on a new, much larger, museum building that will triple the facility’s square footage.
The museum houses items from Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Indian Territory days, the local mining industry and artifacts from J.J. McAlester, the town’s founder.
The Maxwells discovered files pertaining to McGilberry’s Ivy League education during genealogical research.
“The content of the folder revealed much more than was ever expected,” Carolee Maxwell said. “Charlie McGilberry was most definitely an anomaly. A fierce competitor on the football field, in the classroom or on the debate team, he was destined to become a great Indian educator.”
Following their presentation, the Maxwells, whose book has been featured on KFOR-TV’s “Is This a Great State or What?” with Galen Culver, will be available for a book signing.
Leeper first learned about “bed turnings” by viewing programs at other facilities in the area, including a presentation by Rose Stoos at the Katy Depot in Checotah.
“All quilters know about bed turnings,” she said.
Leeper has presented her program as the past two Kiamichi Quilt Guild annual shows. She plans to gather 10-15 quilts and tell a brief story about each one. A past president of the Guild, she was married to Carl “Red” Leeper for 57 years, and is the mother of Debbie, David and Matt Leeper. She has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Rhyne got his first fiddle for Christmas in 1954 and has been active in music since. He helped launch the country music career of Reba McEntire by starting a Kiowa High School music class which eventually produced a number of professional musicians.
“I’ve played for money and had my own band for a long time,” Rhyne, who today has lost over 90% of his sight, said. “On Dec. 23, 1983 I became a Christian and quit the honky tonks and I’ve never gone back, nor will I. I’ve never regretted it.”
He will be joined by Pake McEntire, Reba’s brother and one of the original members of the McEntire band. He will be on hand to talk about the family’s musical career and his new memoir.
“Pake talks honestly about how it feels to be the brother of country music superstar and why she makes him proud,” according to his wife Stephanie McEntire. “Pake is a true American cowboy who will leave you feeling like anything is possible.”
Parrott, with husband Bill and son Tracy, undertook the building renovation project downtown following her return to her home city after a business career in Oregon.
“We want to house positive, creative things that will help McAlester and downtown,” she said. “We want to meet more and more people downtown.”
“My family was here before statehood,” she said. “And we’ve learned so much about this building. Many people don’t know the upstairs west side of the building was the original Pittsburg County Courthouse.”
Additional plans call for plantings of herbs and vegetables in downtown planters, she noted.
Clifton, a graduate of Kiowa High School, Oklahoma State University and the University of Central Oklahoma, is the area coordinator for the Community Nutrition Education Program. She is married to Joe Clifton and they have one son, Tyler.
Her program will teach how the pioneers grew, gathered and hunted their food, as well as how they purchased staples from the General Store.
“I will also talk about food preservation then, and about food today,” she said.
Funding for this series of local history programs was provided by the Puterbaugh Foundation.
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