Memorial Day Weekend III - Memory Lane Cemetery

Next stop?  
Anadarko.
Memory Lane Cemetery.

I have included this stop on the list since Junior Menefee passed away.  Junior and Winona are my ex-husband's paternal grandparents.  Theirs are the only graves in the cemetery that I mess with, although I will usually say 'hi' to Delphia (Winona's mother) since I used to have her ironing board.  But that is a whole other story.  

Memory Lane really is a nice cemetery.  And it is HUGE!  The Menefees are off to the east side not far from the north entrance, so usually it is a quick in and out for us.  This time we drove around a little bit which is not an easy feat given the cemetery's teeny-tiny narrow lanes!  I thought I spied a veteran's memorial or something of the sort but when we got closer it turned out to be just a section more saturated than others with veterans markers.  Nothing more.  Once there I was able to get a pretty decent picture from the top of a hill that somewhat gives an idea of how broad and sweeping this cemetery is.

I have little personal history with Anadarko itself and am rarely there anymore, so I don't have much in the way of personal tidbits to share.  However, there is a synopsis of the history of the Memory Lane Cemetery on Anadarko's city website that is worth checking out.

Memorial Day Weekend II - Ninnekah History in Rose Hill Cemetery

As explained in the last post, we added Rose Hill Cemetery as a stop for our Memorial Day Weekend traditional trek.  Our destination?  The graves of Fred & Christel Kluver.  Our mission?  To put flowers on the graves for Memorial Day.  The result?  Well, we did the flowers (though not the ones I wanted - waited too late to buy this year) and we will continue to visit their graves on Memorial Day Weekend.  However, what happened as we were fulfilling our task served to change the atmosphere of the whole day and to throw Betsy into full-scale geeky history-loving mode that poor Rick had to deal with the rest of the day. (Yeah, and beyond that day.  Possibly forever!  :-) )

You see, as I was getting pictures I spotted something very close to Mrs. Kluver's grave out of the corner of my eye.  It was the name BEELER.  I had to look.  I made my way over and RIGHT THERE THEY WERE!!!  The graves of George & Georgia Beeler!!!!!


Rick was immediately thrown into the midst of a Ninnekah history lesson.  I told him just about everything I could remember about the Beelers.  I shall now regale you with the high points:

• George Beeler founded Ninnekah!!  
• Georgia was the first postmaster and she picked out the name which means 'Dark Waters' in Choctaw.  
• He turned down the roundhouse that the railroad wanted to put in, causing them to go to Chickasha and in turn for Chickasha to practically overnight become more important than Ninnekah.  
• They had a large residence of which there is a replica in the Ninnekah Historical Museum.

What particularly blows my mind is there they lay in eternal rest with very simple markers and a simple family marker that just says 'Beeler.'  No mention of them founding Ninnekah?  No mention that he is considered the first resident of Chickasha (more details on that tidbit I looked up later)?  It seems there should be something marking the grave!

The reason I know anything about the Beelers at all is because of Mrs. Craig.  She was my art teacher in 7th & 8th grade and my civics teacher in 8th grade.  She and the 8th grade class of 1990 started Heritage Day in Ninnekah and helped put in motion all kinds of things to preserve Ninnekah's history.  In 1992 Mrs. Craig complied a book of sorts of various pieces of Ninnekah history including brief biographies of prominent individuals, interviews with descendants, cemetery records, and more.  At the end of my 8th grade year (1994) the last assignment of the year was to read through this 'book,' and write a summary of it.  I LOVED IT!!!  I am looking at my report right now, which ends with 'I found this book very interesting, and wish I could get a copy!'  First off, I don't know what purpose that comma is supposed to serve and secondly, it doesn't seem to be an appropriate conclusion for a summary of a book.  Nevertheless it got me a copy!  Mummy took me out of school a bit early the last day of school (the same day we turned the reports in) to go visit Aunt Debbie who had just moved to Oklahoma City.  On our way out of the building Mrs. Craig stopped us and gave me one of the books.  I was far too shy back then to tell her how I appreciated that, but I can tell you without a doubt that I WAS ECSTATIC!  That is evidenced by the fact that I am looking at that book right now if nothing else.


Want to know more about Ninnekah?  Sadly, this article is about the best you will find online.  But don't worry.  We will talk more about Ninnekah and the Beelers later!!

Memorial Day Weekend I - The Kardokus / Gee Way

THE OLD RITUALS

Memorial Day Weekend.  A time of cookouts, lake trips, food and fun for many.  For my family and me in particular, it means fake flowers and the dusty wind that just seems to always come with cemeteries in Oklahoma.
From the time I was just a little thing we would make the trek out to Eakly (where Mummy is from) to decorate Grandpa Don, Grandma Florence and Zelda Faye's graves.  We only occasionally make the longer journey to Enid for Grandpa Russ's grave.


I remember a lot of those trips to the Eakly Cemetery from my childhood.  Before Aunt Thelma passed away we would go to her house with the horseshoe drive afterward.  It had been Grandma Florence's house and behind it used to stand the house that Mummy and her uncle Johnny were both born in - among many other peeps I am sure.  I still can find it when I drive into Eakly (which is rare - usually we just hit the cemetery and head back towards Binger) but it is no longer in the family.


These Memorial Day visits and Mummy's feelings about cemeteries helped me to grow up with a fondness for them.  Mummy always loved cemeteries and dreamed of buying and living in an old rural church with a cemetery.  She wanted to spend her free time tending to the cemetery.  I think I would like to be a cemetery sexton in retirement or something (assuming, of course, that I START a career to retire from!).


I am not sure when I went on the cemetery run by myself for the first time - and by myself I most likely mean with the ex-husband.  I would guess maybe 14 years ago or so.  As time went on, more graves were added.  Chris's grandparents in Anadarko (handily on the way to Eakly), and in Eakly, Mummy, Cousin Rattlesnake Leroy and Grandma.  There is a ritual to it, as there is to just about anything I do, which involves certain colors of flowers for each person and the order of the stops and what convenience stores to stop at among other things.  Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko is first, followed by Eakly Cemetery.  Then home.  If a trek to Enid is planned, it is most likely a different day.  Also I greatly prefer to go just prior to the weekend or very early in the weekend; you don't want peeps to be at the cemetery thinking the family has been forgotten!


But the most important part:  the flower colors.  I have only set the colors for the more recent graves - very carefully, of course.  The older graves get the same colors that Mummy had put on them for many years before I ever started going with her or was on this planet for that matter.  Those colors were also carefully chosen; substitutions are done in extreme emergency situations ONLY.

A NEW TRADITION

Several months ago Rick and I were walking in Rose Hill Cemetery - the premier walking trail in Chickasha - when we spotted Mrs. Kluver's headstone.  It was right near the gate and easy to get to so it took us all of a couple of minutes to decide that we would add Rose Hill Cemetery and Mrs. Kluver to our Memorial Day Weekend treks.
You see, while we only met Mrs. Kluver on a few occasions she is very important to us.  We bought her house!  There is even still a 'K' on the front screen door.  :-)  She was just the sweetest little old lady!  I know she would be disappointed that I didn't keep her garden spots up and that we have taken out most of the shrubs and stuff AND that the house is in such desperate need of remodel.  Nevertheless, I think she would be happy with us being there because we LOVE the house!!!  This is what it looked like shortly after she and Fred bought the house in 1945:

The house was 20 years old at the time.  She lived there for 60 years (he passed away in 1996) and they raised four children there.  They built on to the back around 1960 - probably mostly to give Mrs. Kluver a larger kitchen!  :-)  We still have the coppertone stuff that was put in at that time.  The back porch was added on to in the 90s - or so I estimate from various pictures.  Those windows you see?  Pretty sure they are the same ones we have now except for the one on side of the house on the far right.  Isn't it just fabulous to have a house with so much history and love behind it?  I think so!  I could go on and on about this topic, but I will wrap it up with a picture of the house now for comparison.  This is a photo of a pencil drawing Michelle did of the house (using Google Maps!) as a Christmas present:

CONCLUSION

Now that you know a little bit about the Memorial Day Weekend rituals and new addition to this year, let's get started on chronicling Saturday, May 26, 2012, shall we?

Yes, Laverty Cemetery AGAIN

Catch up time!  I MUST get more serious about keeping my blog up - as well as the adventures that make it!  :-)
Let's finish up Laverty Cemetery, shall we?

I know.  It's not an exciting pic from the cemetery.  It is, however, a temporary marker that I made at work!  So it has a bit of 'fun' value for me...if that makes any sense!  :-)

On November 5, 2011 (yes, I am THAT far behind!) Rick was my adventure partner.  We headed out to Laverty (my 3rd trip) to finish up taking pics of the graves.  And we did!  What else did we do?  I have no clue.  According to my camera it was November 5th, and I see from the calendar that it was a Saturday.  Like I remember anything else from that far back!  :-)  All the more reason for me to keep up with this blog in a timely manner!
I do know that I have not finished uploading the pics to FindAGrave.  Slacker!

Rose Hill Cemetery

Whew!  It is catch-up day for On Sooner Trails!! 
This is another cemetery that I have been to many a time.  Chickasha peeps know Rose Hill Cemetery primarily as the premier walking spot.  Rick and I have traversed the walking path often in the past, though not for some time.  This cemetery also happens to be right next to where I work! 
Michelle and I were out doing errands today when Rose Hill was admitted to the conversation.  I was mentioning that I need to find one of the graves there; I told a lady I would get a picture for her.  Michelle's first impression was 'piece of cake,' just walk over there and do it!  I incredulously asked if she had SEEN Rose Hill, to which she responded in the negative.  So we loaded up in the car and headed that way! 

Rose Hill Cemetery is a BIG cemetery.  I am sure there are much larger ones in the world, but this is the largest to which I have ever been.  It is also BEAUTIFUL!  It is oddly situated in the middle of town, though one can assume that when it first opened it was nowhere near the middle of town.  Old, ornate tombstones sit next to new, plain ones.  A person could easily just lose themselves in wandering the cemetery discovering names and reading inscriptions.  We did not have that luxury, however.  It was already growing dark by the time we got there and we quickly found ourselves in a shadowy world of stone and uneven ground.  Our adventure was short-lived, but fun as it always is to wander in a cemetery! 

Michelle looks WAY too serious posing with the flowers!  :-)

Eakly Cemetery

It seems a bit odd to post about going to the Eakly Cemetery as if it is a novel adventure.  I am fairly certain that Eakly Cemetery was the first cemetery I was ever in and DEFINITELY the one I have spent the most time in!  On October 18th Rick and I headed for the metropolis of Eakly, trying to beat the twilight.  It was time to 'freshen up' Mummy's headstone for her birthday!

I know.  It doesn't look terribly exciting.  I didn't get any new flowers; I just used some stuff that I keep stashed in the trunk for spur-of-the-moment Eakly trips.  Rest assured, she is perfectly happy with the scarecrows!  The other peeps that visit the Eakly Cemetery must think we are a 'special' family because her headstone is decorated for fall year-round!  Anyone who knew Mummy understands, though.  :-)
I got a few pics of family graves and a couple of other interesting ones, but it was late in the day.  One of these days I plan to go out there and spend several hours taking pictures.  There are a lot of graves on the FindAGrave site that don't have pictures with them from the Eakly Cemetery.
I also meant to hit up the Historical Marker on the highway on the way back home, but zoomed right past it without even thinking!  Maybe next time!

When I was younger I always found it quite amusing that there was a water tower IN the cemetery!  :-)

Labor Day Adventures

I am FINALLY updating my blog with my Labor Day Adventures!  Well, mine and Hope Marie's!  I was off work and decided it was a good day to get some more work done on the Laverty Cemetery.  Hope Marie was my unwitting accomplice!  She actually agreed to go before she knew why on third earth I called her and asked her to go to a cemetery with me.  Hhmmm...
Anyway, we made a day of it.  We started out with some yummy fuel from Long John Silver's and then headed out to Norge.  We had to stop and get some pictures for my first Historical Marker for the blog!!

Pretty cool, huh?  It is surprisingly lacking in details though!
We then continued down the road for my Laverty Cemetery trip numero dos.  I had hoped to finish up the pics of the cemetery, but alas, despite the fact that it was much cooler than it had been, it was still quite warm and Hope wasn't up to hanging out in it for very long. 

We got quite a few pics in and then ended our adventure for the day.  I have yet to upload the pics to FindAGrave (I know, Slacker!!).  Maybe the next trip out there I will complete the circuit of the cemetery.

Update on First Visit to Laverty Cemetery

Just from the few pictures we got at the Laverty Cemetery on August 6th, I was able to create 59 new memorials on FindAGrave.com and upload 104 pictures (some of them duplicates as in the case of a husband and wife sharing a headstone) including one picture that made a lady's day (it was a picture she had specifically requested of her aunt's headstone).

Yay!  I am a bona fide FindAGrave.com contributor!!  :-)

Also kudos to Michelle for being quite likely the only person on earth to get the reference to my "country twin" in my first post!!  :-)

Laverty Cemetery

I have been doing TONS of genealogy research lately; both on my family and on my friend Michelle's family.  One of the AWESOME sites that I utilize is FindAGrave.com.  It is a database of cemeteries and those interred in them.  All the information and pictures are gathered by volunteers.  On Friday I signed up to be a volunteer photographer in my area and I uploaded some pictures right away of some of the family headstones at Eakly Cemetery. 

Saturday (8/6/11) I decided to get a jump on taking pics of headstones.  This called for a nearby cemetery, preferably pretty small to get started, and one that needs a lot of pictures.  Laverty Cemetery won out!  I had never heard of Laverty Cemetery until I started at my current job (funeral home).  We have buried several people out there since I started, but I had not personally been to any of the committal services.  Therefore I was curious to see this cemetery hitherto unknown to me, yet so close to where I have lived my whole life!

Rick got volunteered to be my adventure partner for the day.  The cemetery was as easy to find as everyone had told me at the funeral home.  It is in what was Laverty, Oklahoma--out past Pioneer.  Once you get past Pioneer School basically just keep going straight until you see the cemetery on your right.

Immediately upon our arrival, we noticed that this is a much smaller cemetery than we had been expecting.  The smart thing to do seemed to be to ignore the list we had of headstones sans pictures on the website and instead just walk up and down the rows taking pictures of all the headstones!  How long could it take?

It was a good plan.  We were moving quickly.  Unfortunately, so was the mercury.  It was so hot out there that the camera I was using was almost too hot to handle!  In the end, we completed the perimeter and saved the two middle sections for a cooler day.

While we did run across some interesting and some old headstones, the remarkable event was the fire we could see building to the south.  It looked BAD!!

When we finally dove for the blessed creature comfort of our car air conditioning, we decided to see how far we could follow the trail to the fire.  After crossing a bridge that looked like it belonged at Girl Scout camp on a hiking trail (and still would be scary to WALK on) and meandering aimlessly through time-forgotten back roads for some time, we somehow ended up headed in to Ninnekah.  At that point we gave up the hunt and drove to Daddy's house and thus our adventure ended.