Children’s Agenda set for 2024 The 2023 OICA Fall Forum concluded last week, and it was an intense four days of learning and sharing for those attending the conference. Advocates in attendance shared ...

This Saturday is Veterans Day. Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, which was the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annua...

10 Years Ago: The City of Okmulgee, through a proclamation to be issued by Mayor Steve Baldridge, honored November as Native American Heritage month. A special meeting was held for the ceremony in the...

“God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” It was a quote I had heard years before. Now, like small fragments of glowing embers in a fire pit being newly-roused by a stout breeze, the ...

DEAR ABBY: For years, we have given generous gifts to our six out-of-town grandchildren and received almost no thanks or acknowledgment. It hurts my feelings because I devote a lot of thought, in addi...

Have you ever been so nervous about something you failed to do what needed to be done? For part of my college years, I lived at home. The college I attended was about 45 minutes away. It just so happe...

I attended a nonprofit conference Monday hosted by the Sarkeys Foundation. While there, I served on a panel which delved into the issues dealing with incarceration. Some might ask why a child advocate...

DEAR ABBY: I have recently been diagnosed with a chronic illness. I am only 40, and I always took for granted that I had plenty of life left to live. I’m happily married, but I worry because my husban...

Now that Halloween is past us and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I thought I would do a column I have refused to do for the last 7 years - pumpkin. I am not a fan of pumpkin myself and I don...

10 Years Ago: Open Gate Meals Ministry held a spaghetti dinner benefit to help the program at the Okmulgee Elks Lodge. Employees from PolyVision, who were members of the United Steelworkers Union Loca...

“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous”. Einstein’s quip leaves me wondering whether the renowned Physicist had a family of returning missionaries in mind. With us no longer living and servi...

I was leading a service club board meeting. We had received a request for some financial assistance and I was bringing the issue to the board for their consideration. I took the letter out of the enve...

DEAR ABBY: My sister, who is quite a bit older than me, was married to a man for more than 20 years. He was a part of my family from the time I was 3. When I was a teenager, he made a “move” on me, wh...

I am beginning the process of retiring. I will admit this is not my first attempt at going into full time fly fishing. I’ve saved up enough equipment to hopefully keep me out of the workforce for a fe...

If you follow the national ag press, you already know that the general consensus among farm policy experts seems to be that there is little hope for a new Farm Bill any time before spring, with many m...

One of the most important events on the annual calendar of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) is our Fall Forum. Held each October or November, this event is where advocates from across ...

DEAR ABBY: My nephew is getting married soon, and he and his father are having issues with the guest list. My brother-in-law has a few immediate family members who don’t know their limit when it comes...

Last weekend’s party was a good one. I have to admit though, I am beginning to wonder if, at 45, I am getting a little too old for the late nights trying to get everything ready for the party. Between...

The pursuit of happiness is our right. The Declaration of Independence says so. I’m not going to argue that issue, we have a right to pursue happiness. But, that doesn’t guarantee that we are going to...

During unsettling times, whether marked by terrifying conditions or those less dramatic, the prevailing hope in most is to catch sight of the proverbial ‘North Star.’ For centuries and for myriads of ...