Tag Archives: Minco Oklahoma

Homestead and Garden, Oklahoma culture

Small Town: BIG Fun

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Crickets.  Do you hear them?  That’s because I’m not at The Ranch.  I headed back to my hometown of Chickasha, Oklahoma for a 30 year class reunion.  A lot of times people head back to their childhood homes and think everything seems small.  That was not the case for me this week.

Now this is some summer fun!

You remember playing in the sprinker, don’t you?  The 100 degree temperatures were trying to dry out the grass on the sod farm.  I guess it just wasn’t going to happen today.  I had to drive out to the motor and get a closer look at this.  I think the neighborhood kids could be quite happy after lunch once this got turned on.

wind turbine
Wind turbines have moved into Minco.

Wind mills were never a rare sight in Oklahoma, but since I’ve been away, several wind turbines have moved into my home state along Highway 81.  The famous Oklahoma wind is going to be harnessed by these incredibly large “windmills” and turned into usable energy.  These turbines are growing in popularity and come in a variety of sizes.  The blades alone are about 116 feet long and are placed on top of a 212 foot tower.  The three blades cover about an acre of air space as they turn.  These two wind turbines in the photo to the left make the trees in the same photo look like shrubs.

pancake
I ate fifty cents worth of a $2.00 pancake.

Also in Minco located at the southwest corner of the stop light sits the Coffee Cup cafe.  That location has been some kind of restaurant since I can remember.  I stopped in to have a cup of coffee and a little breakfast one morning after checking out the wind farm.  I ordered just one pancake and some bacon.  When I spun around on the stool to face my plate, I was amazed! Continue reading Small Town: BIG Fun →

Homestead and Garden, Oklahoma culture, Relationships

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: “Not So” Hidden Treasures

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I’ve had a pair of  “his and hers” bright canary yellow satin Western shirts in a picture frame on my wall since my mom gave them to me as a housewarming gift in 2006.  Odd gift, right?  They belonged to my great grandparents.

Main Street in Minco, Oklahoma (circa 1950)
Ben and Nancy Barr ride their paint horses down Main Street in Minco, Oklahoma during the 1950's.

With the help of a few black and white pictures and a phone call, pieces of the story have slowly come together over the years.  My great grandparents participated in a rodeo club around Minco, Oklahoma in the 1950’s.  They rode in parades and rodeos in small towns around the state.  At some point, they were too old to ride, so the horses were probably sold.  It has been said that my great grandmother kept her custom-made saddle carefully hidden under her bed, a reminder of a special time in her life. The saddle was one of her last memories of the horse it belonged to before she finally sold it too.

The pictures are black and white, but I can see the beautiful patterns on the paint horses my great grandparents rode.  I envision the horses to be black and white, and I can only imagine how spectacular they both looked in those canary yellow shirts trotting down Main Street.  The smell is there too. That’s right.  Tobacco from a pipe smoked my great grandfather, Ben Barr.

I have been told that I am a lot like her.  We both love all animals, and I am just discovering my love for gardening.  However, there is one way we are different. The treasures she left for me are not hidden under the bed.  They are displayed prominently in random places around my house where I can use them or enjoy them daily.   The reminders are not painful.  They are happy.  A history.

My history.

The shirts came out of the frame last night, and we rode into the Boots And Spurs Ball like we were on those paints.   I am not sure I will ever have the opportunity to ride in a parade or carry a flag in the opening ceremony of a rodeo, but I can wear a canary yellow shirt.  My husband can wear one too.

And we did.

Yellow Western Shirts
Julie and Greg Allgyer sport her great grandparents' Western shirts at the Boots and Spurs Ball, a benefit for Special Trails.