Saturday March 31 is our Bunny Breakfast! Join us for a buffet style breakfast and bring your camera- the Easter Bunny will be there (and maybe even some baby chicks!) In the Belvidere ballroom. Call 918-342-1127 to reserve your spot!

Jasper the very friendly rabbit will be back this year!

Destination Claremore is the first week in May, and we are hoping to have a Vintage Fashion Show and High Tea, set for Tuesday, May 19th. Guests will have chicken salad, appetizers, and a dessert sampler with scones, cheesecake, and other goodies. Our models will be wearing fashions from the 30′s to the 50′s, with details like hat, gloves, shoes and bags included. Seating is limited to 50 guests, by reservation only.

The Vintage Fair is May 19th- we are looking for vendors who would like to participate in our second year! The date is a little earlier in hopes we can beat the heat. Vendors will get a table, two chairs and a tent canopy. Guests will be able to purchase a picnic basket lunch, or eat inside the tea room. The event lasts from 10am-4pm. This date is subject to change.

All of our events are fundraisers that benefit the Rogers County Historical Society, or the Belvidere Mansion, and would not be possible without the help and dedication of our volunteers.  If you would like to get involved, or become a member, contact Morgan Williams, membership director,  at 918-342-1127.

Some of the vintage-inspired decor in the foyer

Visitors from Tulsa and surrounding cities and states come to the Belvidere for this event which has become a tradition for many families with children, and with friends who like to meet for lunch in the Tea Room and then browse the gift shop. Everything will be on sale now through December 24th. This is the Belvidere’s biggest and most important fundraiser. Profits from Christmas sales are used all year long to meet expenses, pay taxes and insurance, and make repairs. During Dickens Days November 18-19th, we will be open late until 8pm. Horse drawn carriage rides from downtown Claremore will drop off passengers at the Belvidere to tour and shop. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Breakfast With Santa

On Saturday November 18th the Belvidere will host Breakfast with Santa from 8-10 am. Kids and parents can come up to the ballroom and get their pictures with Santa, and have pancakes, muffins, orange juice, biscuits and gravy, and more.  Reservations for this event are required (918) 342-1127.

Santa learns of Julian's Christmas wishes

Made in Claremore!

This year we are proud to offer a variety of handmade wooden toys (just like Santa would bring!) such as quilt racks, trains, puzzles, cars, and trucks. These are all crafted right here in Rogers County by Roger Anthony, and other members of the non-profit Rogers County Woodworkers (RCW.) Each year the craftsmen make a number of toys and other items to donate to charitable causes such as the Toys for Tots program, and the Muskogee School for the Blind. We are grateful for the opportunity to showcase these toys in the gift shop.

The decor for 2011 features retro-looking and vintage products from K.D. Vintage. With German glitter houses, mercury glass, bottle brush trees, and old fashioned glass ornaments the front foyer is bright with reflected light.  The mantel has unique lighted houses unavailable from other area merchants. Inside the gift shop we have a variety of whimsical trees as well as traditional, country, and primitive decor.

The large wooden ornaments on the right of the photo above are each hand-painted with a country winter scene

The Tea Room will be open regular hours (11-2) Tuesday through Saturday. It is a good idea to make reservations if you plan on bringing a group of 5 or more, as the restaurant is busy this time of year.

Look for teapots, teasets an flavored teas

.

This year the fundraiser will be held at the Will Rogers Memorial, at the corner of SH 88 and Blue Starr. Weather permitting, the band will be set up outdoors for dancing on the terrace, overlooking Claremore.  Participants are encouraged to dress in 1920′s style, with prizes awarded for best costume.

In addition, Spotlight Magic and Costumes (locations in downtown Claremore and in Tulsa at 41st and Yale) will give a 10% discount to any who mention the Gatsby when renting an outfit.

Several area restaurants and wineries have signed on to provide samples: Molly’s Landing, Mattie’s Rt 66 Steakhouse, The Pink House, El Charro, El Maguey, Oak Hill Winery, Roberde’s Winery, Tiny Cakes and Truffles, First Fruits Tea, Morgan Dowell’s Barbeque Joint, The Racino at Will Rogers Downs, Walke Brothers, and of course the Belvidere Tea Room.

The last Gatsby was held in the fall of 1999, in conjunction with A Taste of Rogers County.  “It is just a fun way to get out and see what community restaurants have to offer,” says Peggy Feese, Ways and Means Committee chair.  “The (19)20′s were such an interesting time, we hope that guests will enjoy the gala atmosphere with Big Band music and decor. We encourage everyone to get in the spirit and dress up in costume, but we welcome dressy casual as well.”

President of RSU Larry Rice and his wife Peggy will serve as judges for the 20′s style costume contest. Prizes include gift certificates from participating restaurants and a free professional portrait from Just Candid Photography.

Several local businesses are helping to sponsor the event: Chad and Misty Choat of Community Home Health, RCB Bank, Grand Bank, Grigg’s Construction Inc.,  Love Air Conditioning, Valerie Coy-Jackson of LPD Inc of Owasso, & Frank and Ludmila Robson.

This year the fundraiser benefits needed repairs and maintenance on the Belvidere Mansion, home of the Rogers County Historical Society.

Sandy Coy, Barbara Christmann, and Linda Tedder pose with Shorty's Model T in their Gatsby attire

Claremore's old library, recent location of the Lynn Riggs Memorial Museum is the future home of the Museum of History

Already, Rogers County has a few historic attractions of interest like the Will Rogers Memorial and the J.M. Davis Gun Museum, but neither feature the history of all of Claremore. A museum featuring the heritage of the city would be a draw to former residents, visitors, and travelers on Route 66 bringing more tourism to Claremore.

For years Judy Eagleton has collected and clipped, salvaged and saved pieces of Claremore’s history. After many years she has accumulated so much material and memorabilia that she could fill such a museum. Her dedication to preserving the past is more than nostalgia. Her collection would be of interest to the current and future citizens of Claremore, and it should be on display instead of languishing in storage boxes.

Judy has been meeting with committee chair Tom Pool and other members of RCHS with the goal of restoring the unused part of the old library building into a museum featuring the history of all of Claremore.

The committee’s vision for the museum is subject to change, but one promising idea would feature a model of “Old Downtown”, with stores from Claremore’s past like Wilson’s Hardware, Haddad Dime Store, J.C. Penney, and the Yale Theater.

Visitors would be able to walk the downtown street, “window shopping” as they look into the past with historic memorabilia in each store. Inside the “theater” visitors could view “movies” -reminiscences from family and friends who have stories to share.

This is one dynamic way memories could be preserved for future generations in this increasingly video age.

The old library building also has meaning for the younger generation. Students at Northeast Technology Center’s EAST program are working with a software company to customize the museum displays with interactive media like I-Pads.

Once City councilors saw a demonstration of the possibilities, they came on board quickly.

They have approved the proposed $1 per year lease, securing the former library as the site of the new Claremore Museum. The City of Claremore is retaining ownership of the building plus responsibility for its insurance and groundskeeping. The Historical Society would insure the contents and maintain daily operations. RCHS would also be responsible for installing a sprinkler system, making the building legally code compliant for the public.

The Museum would be perfectly situated to draw in tours via bus, as there is ample parking at the park.

Initially RCHS offered a deadline of 90 days to raise starting capital of $50,000. But councilors are willing to allow more than three months for fundraising.The council did stipulate that certain changes be made to the contract- the murals created by the 7th-8th grade Will Rogers Junior High art students would be preserved and moved safely to another location for storage or display by the fire department.

The involvement of the students at NET with the senior members of the community have bridged generations to bring this about. Together they have created a vision for a project that will be an invaluable teaching tool for past, present, and future residents of Claremore, and enable all to learn of its fascinating history.

From an article in the Claremore Daily Progress by Joy Hampton:

Rogers County Historical Society Vice-President John Cary said the Riggs Museum is a different situation
than the new idea being proposed.
“When we took on the Lynn Riggs, we had family members of Lynn Riggs that were managing it,” said Cary.
“We probably put close to $5,000 into that building even though it’s not our building.”
The Lynn Riggs family member, Leo Cundiff, who managed the museum, passed away leaving it unstaffed.
 “Since that time, we haven’t been able to get anyone to step up,” said Cary.
“The Claremore Museum of History is something many people are interested in.”
“Judy’s the heart of this committee,” said Cary. “We have a plan to preserve and be able to display a lot
of the information from Claremore’s history. The (current) focus is on heritage tourism.
We’re talking about old parts of Claremore.”
 Every high school year book would be on display, not just the old ones.
“There’s a lot of people coming in on Route 66,” said Cary. “They don’t just go to the J.M. Davis and the
Will Rogers. We do plan to have a welcome center too. We’ve got bus parking.”

 Plans include a paid person to keep the museum open but whether that person would be full or part-time is
 dependent upon how much money is raised to support the museum.

 “I expect the funds to come from people primarily who are interested in Claremore history,” said Cary. “This is
 a project like the Belvidere. This is a project like the hotel. The hotel was purchased for a $1 at a tax auction.
We were able, through partnerships, to raise over $2-and-a-half million to renovate that... this is the sort of thing
 the Historical Society has done.”
  In that perspective said Cary, “the library doesn’t seem so daunting a task.”

My own nuclear nightmare

Outside in the garden, the children are chasing a fledgling jay, trying to capture it before the cat does. Chickens scatter before their frantic scrambling. Clouds are gathering in a greenish sky, humid and warm. A southerly breeze picks up.

Then the explosion. Not thunder. Something else.

The wind carries new particles with it as the clouds darken further. Sensing danger, we try to shoo the chickens into the coop and bolt the door. The wind is heavy now, whipping the trees and banging the screen door against the house. The tiny jay squawks as it is caught at last. I struggle to get the cover onto the dovecote. Cats meow at the door to be let inside. Rabbits have fled to their burrow beneath the deck. All are afraid. Something foul is in the air.

Twelve miles south the reactor, breached by a saboteur’s bomb, releases a cloud of radioactive particles, which are carried on toward the unsuspecting town.

I must stay outside until I find the children. Sirens drone, drowning my voice as I call to the children to get inside. I look for the funnel, knowing full well that despite it being in “Tornado Alley,” no tornado has ever touched down here. Finally I see them, running towards the house-from so far away- just as the first raindrops spatter on the driveway.

The rain feels gritty when it falls. Before we can all get inside, birds begin to drop from the sky.

Awake with relief

In May of 1973 when I was in grade school, my grandparents, my mother and I shivered in the water-filled storm cellar of their Tulsa home as a tornado raged overhead. Like the finger of God it pushed over homes, ripped off roofs, and plucked trees from their roots, capriciously skipping around the neighborhood. We could not tell that were spared until we left the confines of our underground shelter.

That very same month and year, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma decided it would go ahead with its plans to build, according to the headline of the Tulsa paper, a “450M N-Plant Planned for Inola.”

Taking its name from the Cherokee word for “black fox,” Inola is a small town in Green Country in the “pretty” part of Oklahoma, about 13 miles SE of Claremore in Rogers County. It was close to my hometown of Tulsa too- only 15 miles east.

The Inola area has a large Amish and Mennonite population, while the county boasts of its favorite son and namesake, Will Rogers. Other notable locals include singer Patti Page, astronaut Stuart Roosa, and Lynn Riggs who authored the play that would later become the famous musical, Oklahoma. Each of these celebrities has a museum dedicated to them, a school, or street named in their honor.

But there is one lady whose notoriety should rightly transcend that of the pop singer, humorist, or playwright. She is Carrie Barefoot Dickerson, the reason why Oklahoma has no nuclear power plant.

the road leading to the property where the Black Fox plant had begun construction

A Caring Teacher

It is not what we possess, but how we live our lives that make all the difference.

Barefoot Dickerson, or “Aunt Carrie” as she was known in the community, was born May 24, 1917 in a log cabin. She met her future husband Robert while they were high school delegates to the annual 4-H convention. He was an award-winning dairy farmer, and she graduated with a degree in Home Economics in 1938. After they married, the Dickersons settled on Robert’s family farm in Claremore. Carrie taught for awhile at the German-speaking Mennonite school east of Inola, then later at other schools in Pryor and Claremore.

Interested in nutrition, she retired from teaching around 1957 and opened a bakery and health food store. After hearing of her customer’s many worries about their elderly relatives getting adequate care and nutrition, the Dickersons decided to open a nursing home in 1964 to address these concerns.

Now serving as dietitian at “Aunt Carrie’s Nursing Home” in Claremore, Carrie felt she was helping fill a community need. When in 1967 the laws changed, now requiring an RN to supervise the staff, Barefoot Dickerson hurried to apply to nursing school just two months shy of her 50th birthday- the cutoff age for admittance to the program. From farmer to teacher, baker to nurse, Carrie had stayed busy and always helpful. Her greatest challenge was yet to come.

An Unlikely Activist

Life is too short and too precious not to do the right thing. It is every American’s responsibility to stand for our principles and to take action when needed.

Now an RN, Carrie was working at the nursing home when she found a copy of the Tulsa paper on her desk chair. The page with the news of the proposed Black Fox N-Plant to be built near her Claremore home left her curious. At first she wasn’t even sure what an
“N-Plant” was, but she wasted no time researching it. After several months of study, Carrie was horrified at what she had discovered.

As she was a habitual clipper or articles of interest from the paper, Carrie had read earlier reports of wildlife birth defects coinciding with effluent from the Manhattan Project. After her research on the hazards of atomic reactors, she made a point to attend the first public hearing on the proposed Black Fox plant.

A person who had trusted that her government would protect her safety, Carrie was outraged to find that the government would allow construction of a nuclear reactor even though it knew a meltdown could render an area the size of Pennsylvania uninhabitable. Frightened and concerned for the future of her state and her grandchildren, Carrie decided that despite her lack of political and publicity experience, she would hold a news conference. At the conference she announced the formation of the political action group Citizens’ Action for Safe Energy (CASE).

Her husband Robert expressed doubts that she could succeed against such odds. Said Carrie, “You can’t win if you don’t try.”

The Crusade Begins

She showed people that one person can make a difference- mostly by bringing people together - Patricia Dickerson Lemon, Carrie’s daughter

Her new found activism was based in love for her children and for her community. “When I saw my little grandson playing outside on the green, uncontaminated grass, I knew in my heart that I was obligated to do all I could to keep him and future generations safe.”

She was a great peacemaker, attracting many dedicated allies to her cause. Concerts and benefits were held to stop the Black Fox plant. In 1978 Bonnie Raitt with Jackson Browne and Danny O’Keefe played at one Tulsa concert to raise awareness. Claremore residents showed their support with bumper stickers and flags. Dickerson gives credit to Ralph Nader and the “Critical Mass” conferences, which led to the founding of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project.

After the partial core meltdown at the Three Mile Island facility in 1979, their cause began to pick up momentum. With costs for building the plant skyrocketing, PSO turned to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) , hoping the agency would allow them to hike the electric rates, passing on these increased construction costs to consumers. A turning point was reached in 1981 when the OCC held hearings on the rate increases, which proved to be very unpopular. After Carrie and many others testified, the OCC declared that the Black Fox Nuclear Facility was “no longer economically viable.”

Tulsa World photo by Stephen Holman, June 2006

Carrie Dickerson proudly displays news that her battle has been won

A Costly Battle

I always kept in mind that I was fighting Nuclear Power, not people.

At last, after nine years and $550,000 in lawyer’s fees, Carrie emerged victorious. PSO abandoned the project in 1982 after the OCC’s decision. Black Fox is the only nuclear power plant in the US to be canceled by a combination of legal and citizen action after construction had already begun. 1973 turned out to be a high-water mark for the nuclear industry, as no US reactor ordered since that year has been completed.

The legal fees of the nine-year battle cost the Dickerson family dearly. After selling their nursing home, mortgaging their farm, and scrounging every penny they could, Carrie’s husband Robert died before the closure of Black Fox was announced. After his death, Carrie got by on social security, by selling vitamins and quilts, and teaching quilting classes. When asked if she regretted the tremendous financial and emotional sacrifice, she responded, “I’m only glad that I had it to spend.”

clipping from a Tulsa World article

A nuclear free legacy

After Black Fox was canceled, I knew a book should be written to encourage other groups to do something about nuclear plants, to let them know you can fight city hall and win!

Carrie remained active in the fight for safe, renewable energy and against atomic power. When the nuclear industry planned to transport radioactive waste through the state, she alerted Oklahomans to this hazard. She also helped persuade Oklahoma’s Tonkawa tribe to reject an effort to dump highly radioactive waste on the Tonkawa reservation.

In 2006 Carrie Dickerson was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award by the Oklahoma Sustainability Network for her work on behalf of the people of Oklahoma and the environment.

With the help of her daughter Patricia Lemon, Carrie wrote an autobiography in 1995, recording the story of her battle to prevent Public Service Co. of Oklahoma from building the Black Fox plant. For many years, Carrie’s youngest daughter Mary cared for her and helped her with her research. Interested in sustainable and clean energy, Carrie and Patricia were working with illustrator Gwen Ingram on a children’s book detailing the history of windmills. From the Carrie Barefoot Dickerson Foundation Website:

Mary’s unexpected death in 2005 cast a shadow over Carrie, but did not stop her from persevering on her project. She had a preliminary edit finished and printed in early 2006, and after much reading and discussion, had worked tirelessly to finish the book. She finished her final edit on Nov. 16 and died quietly in her sleep early the next morning. As her friends said, death could only overtake her while sleeping. She was too busy the rest of the time!

Today Oklahoma remains one of only 19 US states without a nuclear power reactor.

We are forever in the debt of the spirited grandmother who gave so much of her time and money to make certain our children and our land remain uncontaminated by atomic pollution. Her story proves that even ordinary citizens can fight incredible odds and win.

inscription reads: 1986- Made by Carrie B Dickerson, Claremore Oklahoma; in memory of Harry F. Mills, father of Marleta Mills McGuire, Edward McGuire, and mother Dolly McGuire.

One of the quilts Carrie made for a friend, all stitched by hand.
Much gratitude to Carrie Dickerson’s friend Marleta McGuire of the Rogers County Historical Society, without whom this article would not have been possible.

photo from Claremore Progress before renovations began

ramp for stretchers to access the 2nd floor where the patient and operating rooms were located

At one time, the Franklin Hospital was the largest in Rogers County. Built by Dr D.B.Collins, the hospital opened December 29th 1927.  The 48,000 sq ft facility had 24 rooms with the capacity to serve 20 patients on the second floor.  The ground floor was where Dr Collins and his family lived, and included guest quarters, a diet kitchen, and parlor. As a safety issue there were no open fireplaces; instead the building was heated with a steam furnace located in the basement. A long ramp to the second floor enabled patients to be wheeled up to their rooms from the ambulance on a gurney.

Patients could choose their own doctor, and any local doctor could admit a patient to the hospital. No one was turned away because of their inability to pay.  The building next door (now a private home) was originally constructed in 1936 as a  residence for the nursing staff. A survey conducted 10 years after opening showed that 5,176 patients had been served, with 1,892 surgeries performed in the facility, which featured the same technology and equipment  found in much larger cities. (Due to a basement flood which destroyed most hospital records, the total number of patients served will probably never be  known.)

The  Baby Boom after WWII caused Claremore to need larger medical facilities  for its growing population, and construction of the Claremore Regional Hospital began.  Once Claremore Regional opened for business in 1955, the Franklin hospital closed, but remained in service to Claremore residents as a nursing home until the 1960′s.

A look at the operating room area on the second floor

 Since its closure, residents have watched the stately building at the corner of Patti Page Blvd. and Perdue  slowly dissolve into ruin. Many feared it would go the way of the Armory and be demolished or made into another parking lot, and one more piece of Claremore’s history would be lost. There was talk of converting the space into offices or student apartments, but this would require a large investment and the ability to accommodate parking for residents. Though the structure had a new roof, the inside is only a shell of framing. Even making a storage warehouse out of the building would be a task too daunting for most would-be investors.

The best case scenario would be that a local buyer with an interest in history and architecture would purchase the building and restore it as a labor of love, not just as an investment. The building could be re-purposed to suit a community need. A buyer would need vision plus the resourcefulness  and energy to tackle such a project. Fortunately for Claremore, such a person has just purchased the Franklin Hospital!

Local Artist Deserves Community Support

Karl and Heather on 2nd floor of Franklin Hospital

In early May of 2011, Karl Engel bought the old hospital with the intention of turning it into studio space for local artists to rent, with the ground floor open as an art gallery.  Engel, (40) graduated from Oologah schools, but went to  Middle School and Junior High in Claremore.

Some schooling in cabinetmaking and design  helped Karl hone his skills as a craftsman,  but the allure of art compelled him to restore an old storefront in Dallas to be used as an art gallery. Then, after a brief stay in New Orleans, he returned to Oklahoma to work with Tulsa designer Charles Faudree on repairing and creating antique reproduction furniture. Work for Joann Hearst Castro (granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst) ultimately led him to Chile, then Spain.

What began as a short term job assignment turned into a 10 1/2 year stay overseas as Engel accepted other work while there. Even as he worked on antique furniture refinishing and restoration, Karl would return to Claremore as often as possible.

While here he first modified the building that is now the “Aye Chihuahua” dog bakery as a place to stay while renovating the adjacent home at 433 E Will Rogers. The house had been abandoned for a while, and needed all new flooring, paint, and windows. Karl also  enlarged and completely renovated the kitchen, redoing two bathrooms and the utility area. All of this he accomplished while home at month-long  “vacations” in  in 2004.

History by design

Keeping the historic component of the building intact is an important goal for Karl. He plans  to devote a small area on the ground floor to a display featuring some of the building’s history. Rather than pulling out all the old flooring, Karl is trying to preserve as much as he can, adding a different species of wood to the empty areas where stud walls have been removed so visitors can tell where the walls once stood.

As much as possible, he would like to utilize reclaimed or salvaged architectural components, not only to save money, but because the pieces would provide more accuracy. He is working on securing the funds to purchase 27 interior doors from the former Mayo hotel in Tulsa which he will restore for the entries to the various rooms.

A Worthy Goal

front of building after cleanup begun

So far Karl has spent most of his time just cleaning out 40+ years of bird droppings and overgrown vegetation, just to get the building ready for the next phase of construction. New flowers have been planted in the urns out front, and the boards are slowly coming off the windows to reveal the well-lit interior.

The first floor will have a retail area in front for art supplies plus a coffee and beverage area in the SE corner. The rest of the ground floor will provide gallery space.  Though the basement is small and has a low ceiling, Karl envisions it having potential as a clay studio.

Artists will be able to rent one of six separate studio rooms located on the south side of the 2nd floor. The studios will have entry doors with glass windows, so visitors can see the artists at work. The sharing of space is meant to encourage a positive artistic energy, as artists learn from and find inspiration in each others’ creativity.

the outdoor stairs lead to the upper story on E side of building

What was once operating rooms will be transformed into two classrooms, with movable partitions to increase or decrease space as needed.  Equipment such as framing and matting supplies will be available for artists to use and share. Local art teachers and tutors would be able to make use of classrooms to teach and hold workshops.

A reference library area, business office, conference room and bathroom round out the north and west sides of the second floor. Already, Karl and his girlfriend Heather Hartness have constructed a metal spiral staircase that will connect the office with the attic area, which spans the length of the building.

 An entire building dedicated to creative pursuits will be a novelty in Claremore, which currently has nothing like it. Karl hopes to complement, not compete with other artistic venues like the Wolf gallery downtown, and the Three Rivers Art Association. Certainly with the cooperation of the art and historic communities, the studio/gallery will succeed, enhancing the quality of life for all Claremore residents.

How you can help

Karl will be creating displays for the upcoming Claremore Museum. Older furniture, desks, display cases, partitions and classroom materials can all be retooled and re-purposed for this use.

For the art school, he is looking for some 1 1/2 inch wide oak flooring that can be salvaged from a renovation.

To finance the project, he is taking local clients interested in custom furniture creation or repair and refinishing.

Donations of materials to either the Museum project or the Art School are greatly appreciated. Please contact Karl Engel, 918-551-9536

unless otherwise noted, all photos are by Morgan Anderssen Williams, 2011

Claremore Progress news story on Franklin Hospital by Larry Larkin