Donrey used to own a long string of small newspapers stretching from Indiana to Hawaii. Stephens sold the smallest ones (many in Oklahoma). It kept the papers in Las Vegas, Fort Smith, Springdale/Fayetteville/Rogers and a few other places.

Although I grew up in Oklahoma I had only recently moved to Tulsa from New York City where I had been singing in nightclubs and with the Sammy Kaye Orchestra. I've stayed in Tulsa and continued singing.

I have my own jazz quartet and I work with Sentimental Journey (18 piece band) and Swinghouse (10 piece). I'm a founder and president of the Tulsa Jazz Society and I'm involved with the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. I do have three CD's available and I'm getting ready to record again.

It has been fun to be talked about. Those were amazing, exciting times in my life.

Thanks for remembering.
Pam

Great to hear from you, Pam.

I will be attending the Nickel Creek concert at the Cain's in November, and a little ghost action will just add to the fun!

We took note of PITT's investigation of the Cain's this year on Club Card page 1.

After FIFTY YEARS of utter silence on his whereabouts since graduation from TU in 1953, no word on what he was doing, etc., who should (figuratively) fall out of my computer two weeks ago but RICHARD J.("DICK") GARCIA!!! Not only that, he (and wife Virginia) are headed for Tulsa (from their home in Sacramento, California), to attend TU Homecoming events and Dick will join the 50-year club!!!

Dick said he found me by surfing the net for news of Tulsa and TU and came accidentally on "TV Memories." There he found my email address and decided to contact me.

Dick has quite a tale to tell and I will let him tell it when he gets here--working at several California stations, WASH-FM in Washington (D.C.), WKYC in Cleveland (with Virgil Dominic at WKYC-TV at the same time). Prior to all this was an enlistment in the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps which took him to Europe (yep, I'm jealous!).

I realize the majority of readers of "TV Memories" these days are too young to have known Dick, but everyone "of a certain age" who attended TU at that time (Attention: Noel Confer) will surely remember he was a booth announcer at KOTV in the Harry Volkman era. In any case, it will be great to see an old friend! Ed Dumit, who searched frantically and unsuccessfully for Garcia ahead of the KWGS 50th anniversary events is also looking forward to Dick's visit.

Were you the local photographer that took back-up photos of the crime scene at the direction of Sid Wise? Were you familiar with Ron Grimsley of the Pryor Daily Times?

Was Camp Scott on the east or west side of Hwy 82?

The basic facts of the case are on the OSBI's site. A 1981 book on the subject is out of print, but available from Amazon.com: Someone Cry for the Children: The Girl Scout Murders of Oklahoma and the Case of Gene Leroy Hart. The reader comments at Amazon's site are of interest. The book is also available for check out from the Tulsa library, though there are several holds on it at the moment.

By the way, the Tulsa library system is fantastic. You can browse the catalog, reserve books, have them sent to your nearest branch, and get email notification that they have arrived, all online.

Regards,
Mike

Was in Locust Grove a week ago.....driving south down Hwy 82 I thought back to the Girl Scout murders of '77. I noticed that Camp Garland is still there, but Camp Scott is now gone. Would be interested in hearing any recollections from anyone who covered the murders and trial for any local media. Am I remembering right that Gene Leroy Hart was acquitted? What ever became of Sid Wise and Buddy Fallis?

Jim Reid talked about the story in Guestbook 76. Bob Duff is seen reporting it on the KOTV page featuring the newscast of June 28, 1977.

Clayton Vaughn anchored the KOTV News of 6/28/1977

65-13! What a blow-out. That makes 4 straight years. Well, congratulations to the Sooners. Great game.

Makes me sick to think about it.

That is a true statement.

My question is this: Was it Shakey's or Shotgun Sam's that had the guy who played the piano in the dining room? It seems there was also a big window through which we could watch 'em making the pizza in the kitchen.

Lordy, I sure do miss living there...............

Boy do I miss the Washington Post. The local newspaper is now owned by Stephens Media Group. (Is this Jack Stephens of Little Rock and Worthen Bank fame?) Anyway, front page news is usually devoted to quilt contests and the local airport political problems. So thank goodness for cable news.

I have found a couple of good places for chicken fried steak and BBQ. More later. Right now I am only able to use the Internet via the local library. But at least we are here and closer to Tulsa. Hope to say hello when I make it up there, Mike.

Sounds good...let me know when you're headed in this direction.

In 1995 I was working for Sheriff Stanley Glanz in the Tulsa County Courthouse (I was the evening shift security officer) and I was locking up one spring evening when A. Burns came calling at the front door. He handed me a piece of paper and he told me to "serve" the Sheriff and the Chief District Court Judge with it. I thanked him politely and he went on his way. I wish I had saved the note because, among other things, Mr. Burns wanted the 1994 election thrown out, the Sheriff's Office closed down and the inmates in the jail set free. No reason was given that I could readily decipher as the legal papers he was using looked like old traffic citations.

It should be noted that in further discussions with Accountability, he told me to line my baseball caps with aluminum foil to keep the spy satellites from stealing my brain waves.

Ship him to California, and Arnold has an opponent for the next go-round. The scary thing is that like Arnold, I think A. Burns is smarter than he looks, if you don't count the dementia.

By the way, are Koolees & Icees an old item?...Jeez, I'm old! You all stop talking in this fashion...please!

RX Depot from Tulsa also made the CBS Evening News tonight on their importing of overseas drugs.

I did not know about The Westby Theatre - wow. So what happened to the theatres in the shopping mall at Williams Center?

Here is an excerpt from the obituary:

Lee was best known to fellow Tulsans for his alter ego of Modell Phipps who was a popular radio and special appearance personality. He appeared in "America's Most Wanted," several episodes of "Walker, Texas Ranger," and was cast in a number of roles on the popular "Dallas" television series. He also hosted 13 episodes of "Video Tonight" for England's Lorimar Productions.

Here are his credits on the IMDb.

Unaccountably, he hasn't filed for office in over a year.

Another question for you!
Anybody here remember the Horn Brothers (furniture?) country music TV show? They used to run it late at night on weekends. I'm guessing channel 8. It must've been at about the same time in the mid '70's as the John Chick Show. Aside from that, all I remember is a woman called Pam Van Dyke was a regular performer. I'm thinking some local media person was the emcee.

Thanks again!

The Longhorn Wingding dates back at least to 1965, as the link shows. "Ike Horn" (M.A. Eichhorn) was the emcee. Pam Van Dyke is now a jazz singer here in Tulsa. The show was typically on around 6 p.m.

The "Og" party.

"Ve vill dooh evvyting ve can fo dose people touched by dis tragedy...vot is a tonaydo anyvay?"

The milkshakes I described in an earlier post cost $1.99, and they aren't anywhere close to 32 oz.

I recall an incident in Tulsa right after WWII when a teen age girl started to come down the ramp to go out, but, when she saw what was happening, she ran back in. She appeared again, slowly creeping toward the place where the blast of air would occur. She apparently didn't know that the barker was watching in his mirror.

She let another woman go by. Then, she again crept slowly toward her rendevous with destiny. Of course, the crowd of males standing on the ground below was mad with expectation.

Finally, the girl made a dash for safety and freedom, but the barker timed it perfectly, letting go with a big blast that blew the poor child's skirt up to her waist. I'll never forget how the barker's voice sounded, "Ho. Ho. Ho. She didn't have on any panties at all!" The men cheered.

Such was the male-female culture in the sexist '50s.

Now that girls wear jeans, there is nothing to blow up. Anyway, many women would gladly raise their skirts voluntarily, thereby taking all the fun out of it.

Been reading here for over a year now! Lots of memories coming back.

We used to get Koolies at Quik-Trip back in the very early '70's. Then the Quik-Trip at 11th street across from ECHS (the only one in the area us kids could walk to) changed to Icees. We used to collect those little blue(?)red(?) Icee Bears printed on the side. (I think you got 3 with a large, 2 with a medium.) Never did figure out what they were supposed to be redeemable for...but we saved 'em!)

We went without Icees for a while after that Quik-Trip got caught at the wrong end of a tornado on June 8, 1974. They rebuilt, but apparently it just didn't work out as a QT. I don't know what's there now.

I never heard of Zemi. I suspect it was after my time. (When I was in school vending machines of any sort were not even on the scholastic radar. We thought a pay phone in hallway was the big time! :-))

Question for you guys! What was the name of the little squirrel critter Uncle Zeb used to make out of his bandana?

Thanks!

Thanks for signing in. That's a good question; I'll check with Zeb...here is his response:

"Howdy,
Bandana squirrel's name was 'Hank.' I often referred to him as, 'Hank.. the flying squirrel'.
Keep 'em flying,
'Uncle Zeb'"

QuikTrip been out here in the Valley of the Sun for about 2 years now. Someone at the QT headquarters got a clue that Koolees might sell well here in the heat in the desert so all new QT's are getting Koolee machines!!! My daughters are now hooked on Koolees.

They're building a QT just down the road from my house. It's really weird seeing a QT going up near me here in Phoenix after growing up next to QT #1 at 51st and Peoria.

I'll be in Tulsa next week for OSU homecoming. I'm looking forward to attending Oktoberfest and eating my way through Tulsa starting with Goldies, then Braums, maybe some Elmer's.... can't forget happy hour at Rosie's Rib Joint. Some much good food, so little time.

Speaking of food, I saw a strange announcement on a billboard today. It said that Martha Stewart is honoring Ike's Chili and that filming would begin Oct. 14. The billboard is visible as you exit onto 71st Street from the Mingo Valley expressway, coming from the north.

You're welcome.

There was a 1962 Tom Poston movie called "Zotz!", having to do with a magical coin. Zotz candy is still available.

U-Tote-M was also a source for Icees, as well as a locale for tube testers.

Is "whank" (or "whang", as in "that crappie has a whang to it") Oklahoma-only slang? I guess not, because I found this Adam Sandler quote: "Life is a lot like a bowl of punch, it has a wang to it."

Secret Fun Spot's Flash-powered Web Toon #2, "The Phantasmagoria", shows you what it's like. Kirk D., the cartoonist, has checked in here several times.

I still dream about cherry flavored Zemi's.

Rick Rutledge, late of KJRH's "World's Worst Movies", checked in and told us what he's up to. Hockey and rasslin' in Tulsa got a going-over.

All of that is on display in the just-archived Guestbook 147.