Watonga Main Street


If you were not down on Main Street on the evening of October 4, to attend the Centennial Celebration and the dedication of Watonga's Centennial Project, The “Watonga Main Street Park”, you really missed a good time and a golden opportunity to associate and visit with a lot of our friendly Watonga folks.
	We served 450 people according to the plate count and there were also some attending who did not eat. So there must have been close to 500 who came down to enjoy the evening. Everyone dined on delicious Bar-B-Que pork, prepared by burying the meat in the ground over live coals for about twenty four hours, had never seen this done before, but the results were delicious.

Damon Jones, Casey Cowan and Kenny Shaw were kind enough to donate their time and expertise in the preparation of the meat, which was donated by the First State Bank. The Centennial Committee provided the chips, cheese and cold drinks, along with the cakes. Several local ladies were in on baking the cakes. They were Mina Green, Roberta House, Rhonda Olson, Prissy Ice, Janet Edsel, Joyce Lucas, Mary Sue Stewart, and the beautiful cake in the shape of Oklahoma was provided by Phylis Hightower.
	We were certainly pleased with the number of folks who turned out to celebrate our states one hundredth birthday. It all started with a performance by the Watonga High School Band who played the “Star Spangled Banner,” and then gave a rousing rendition of “Oklahoma.” We certainly appreciated their participation. Next the “Lord's Prayer” was offered in Indian sign language and song provided by Miles, which was beautiful and very inspiring.

It was a perfect evening weather wise and everyone seemed to really enjoy sitting out and listening to the performance by “The Thomas Country Opry Band “. They put on a great show.
	Invited guests who added to the evening's enjoyment were Senator Ron Justice who gave an inspiring talk. Senator Justice was involved in helping to secure funds for the park also, as was one of our other speakers, former State Representative Clay Pope, who is still our neighbor, living in the Lomega area . Dr, Fred Lucas also spoke on the significance of the design of the park which was created by his son, Trey.

I had an inquiry about the commemorative bricks which have been placed in the park. Yes, these are still available to anyone wanting to purchase them, in remembrance of a family member or for themselves. The forms can be picked up at Country Home Antiques, Temptations Gift shop, the Chamber Of Commerce or the Main Street Office and are installed periodically as we get several of them ready.
	Just a word about our City employees, both the street department and the water and power departments have been working hard on the downtown street scape . All this work is being done in addition to their regular duties. So if you see John Taylor, Warren Rice , Marvin Schweigert or any of the other city employees in the process of doing their jobs around town .You might want to stop and give them a pat on the back . They certainly deserve it. They provide a valuable service to the community and do a lot more than is expected, or paid for.