Perkins Fire
Perkins, OK,
America
uo e the w, most mportant t ]ng in
communication is to hear what isn*t being said."
: : .....
Assistant District Attorneycharges against Matthew Perkins Maintenance build- of presstime early Wednes-
Jack Bowyer confirmed this Dale Smith, 23, of rural ing, and the empty buildingday, those charges had not
week thatsevencountsofsec- Payne County and Edgar formerly occupied by the been formally filed.
ond degree burlary and one Leslie Kendrick, II, of Still- Perkins Journal, according to Perkins Chief of Police Bill
count of knowingly concealing water. Bowyer. Lott confirmed to the Journal
stolen property will be filed Smith and Kendrick are to "I anticipate filing charges that Perkins Police Officer
against two men for allegedly be charged in connection with and plan to proceed, although Ken Boles was to take the
burglarizing several Perkins the breakins and burglariesI am awaiting additional in- additional information to the
businesses earlier this month, of Burt's Jewelry Store, Har- formation from the Perkins district attorney's office some-
Bowyer said that he has ris 66, Glamor Cuts, Olivers Police Department," Bowyer time Wednesday. Charges
enough information to beginBarber Shop, the Perkins told The Perkins Journal were expected to be filed and
the process of filing thoseRoundup Club, the City of early Wednesdaymorning.As warrants issued by Thursday.
•:iii
Glen Wyatt Earp
by permission from the Spring edition of Persim-
'9
generation cousin of Wyatt Earp's find success
in today's Hollywood westerns?
Earp hopes so, since he is trying to wrangle an
aided by the legend of his famous namesake,
people often think he's joking about his name.
aspiring actor was a recent visitor at the
OXvboy Hall of Fame and said growing up as a
of the famous lawman was always a great
opener. "The kids I grew up with around
ust thought I had a funny last name," Earp
traditions were always a part of his childhood. His
was a driller ofoil and gas wells, working
PUsher for Gene Porter Drilling Co. for 20 years,
'att and his three sisters grew up wrangling
the family ranch. "My mother, Wanda, always
famous cousin was an outlaw," he laments.
grader, Earp used to make up and present little
dramas based on Gunsmoke, his favorite televi-
Even then, I wanted to be the next Matt Dillon,
figured by the time James Arness retired, I'd
for the part."
tlatil aider grad-uation from Oklahoma State
1984, with a degree in political science, that
tirae to learn more about his lawman cousin. He
ancestry to Joshua Earp, great grandfather of
known for creating a legacy of swift justice.
reading biographies about Wyatt Earp, es-
written by Glenn Boyer, an authority on the
of Wyatt Earp.
the footsteps of his cousin's political ambitions,
motivational speaker for high school students,
them to realize their ambitions and live their
OCcurred to Earp that he was telling everyone
achieve their goals, without really pursuing his
bored," he noted in a 1994 People magazine
to get the hell out of Dodge." In 1988, at
Earp pulled up stakes and moved to Los Ange-
his dream to become an actor.
I had wanted to do since the third grade,"
"I had been telling all these young kids to
XVagon to a star. I decided it was time to rekindle
To me, acting is less about who you are
to be and more about finding different aspects
a real estate and financial investment
studying at the University of Southern Cali-
Angeles and appeared in student films while
"big break."
in my ancestor graduated when
were being made about his life," the young
Smelled gold. When I read an announcement
1992 that they were making the movie Wyatt
, up the director Lawrence Kasdan and said, 'If
town who needs to be in that film, it's me
is Wyatt Earp.' They didn't believe me.
them my driver's license to prove my iden-
for the part of Wyatt's brother, Morgan, in
Perkins is about to become a part of the information high-
way as Southwestern Bell Telephone Company announced
plans to upgrade the switching facilities at Perkins and to
link the community with fiber optic cable, according to Larry
Brown, area manager for Southwestern Bell in Stillwater.
Southwestern Bell Telephone announced that it will be up-
grading and modernizing it's telephone network by install-
ing state-of-the-art digital switches in 72 Oklahoma com-
munities of which Perkins and Ripley are included.
"We are real excited about it," Brown told The Perkins Jour-
nal. "It represents a $85 million investment (statewide) by
March1993. But before the Wyatt Earp script was finished,
he was offered a part in Tennessee, by Kevin Jarre, the movie's
writer and initial director. "I wound up playing a combina-
tion of two characters in the movie, bad guy Billy Claiborne,
a real-life enemy of Wyatt's. I robbed a stage coach, killed a
Continued on page 5
• @
in
By M.J. Van Deventcr
(Reprinted by permission from the Spring 1995 edition of"Per-
simmon Hill magazine)
For American cowboy Trey Aven, the Ukraine has become a
new Western frontier. As one of 44 Peace Corps represen-
tatives to the Ukraine, this Oklahoma native enthusiasti-
cally sells the cowboy image abroad and stresses his own
western heritage at every opportunity.
As one of the first group of American business advisors
Trey Aven, son of Bennie Russell of Perkins, is a real
life cowboy in Kiev.
chosen by the Peace Corps to serve in the Ukraine two years
ago, Aven expected to use his experience as a marketing, ad-
vertising and mass media professional to help businesses
there learn how to promote and market their products and
services. "The Cold War was won and not with weapons, but
with Western style marketing," Aven says, "the stuff that
put Levis and Nikes on bodies worldwide."
Although more than 100 United States corporations are
currently doing business in the Ukraine--including Coca
Cola, Apple Computer, Reebok, Snickers and Philip Morris--
the 46 year old Aven did not expect to become a Western icon
on the streets of Kiev.
But when he invited Vladimir Lakamov, the chief for for-
Continued on page 5
Southwestern Bell Telephone."
The digital switching upgrade in the 72 Oklahoma commu-
nities should be completed within "20 months", according to
Brown. He could not confirm the exact shedule of when
Perkins and Ripley would get the new equipment.
"Customers will notice a remarkable difference in the clar-
ity of conversations," Brown said when the new equipment is
installed.
He added that many other positive changes will be notice-
able including being able to add features such as Call For-
Continued on p ge 10
Barbara Tarlton
Perkins Elementary
teacher to retire
When an educator gives of
her time to successfully teach
students for 24 years, don't
you agree that they deserve
to be feted and congratulated
by their fellow educators and
friends on their retirement?
Fellow teachers and friends
of Barbara Tarlton are plan-
ning to show their apprecia-
tion for her help and encour-
agement to them and for her
friendship by hosting a "Best
Wishes" reception at 10 a.m.
on Monday, May 22nd at the
Perkins Elementary Cafete-
ria.
Before her teaching career
began, Mrs. Tarlton attended
OSU, graduating from there
in 1961 with an M.S. degree
in 1972 and a B.S. degree in
1961.. Because nurturing
her three children was so
very important to her, she
took "a coffee break" often
years while they were grow-
ing up.
When she began teaching
at Tryon, she taught a com-
bined first and second grade
classroom with 28 students.
"I planned to be in a position
of a library aide at Tryon,"
she said, "but due to the fact
that my mother was retiring
and her position was avail-
able, I began my teaching ca-
reer in 1971. I felt that this
was a special beginning, as I
had the opportunity to follow
my mother in my career."
Continuing her own educa-
tion was important to this
teacher, so she had begun
work on her master's degree
part-time before she began
teaching. "I received certifi-
cation as a librarian, so when
Perkins-Tryon schools began
a library progra L I became
district librarian," she said. "I
yearned for the close teacher-
student relationship," she ex-
plains, " so I returned to the
classroom to teach fourth
grade at Perkins Elementary,
and did so for six years.
"I desired the opportunity to
teach younger children, so I
requested a change in place-
ment, spending another six
years in first grade, one of
which was in developmen-
tal first grade," this educa-
tor said. "Seeming to suffer
six-year burn-out, I then
moved to second grade where
I have remained to the
present day." Even though
she won't be teaching in el-
ementary sdnodl and dne'mr/ t
the school librarian any more,
she surely isn't worried about
becoming bored because she
has is many church activi-
ties to keep her busy. She
has been the Sunday School
pre-school director at the
First Baptist Church for 20
years and a pre-school
teacher for 14 years. She is
on the Sunday School coun-
cil, the pre-school committee,
a Vacation Bible School
teacher, a member of the Per-
sonnel Committee and she is
on the Prayer Ministry.
Now that Mrs. Tarlton's
children are grown, she will
enjoy spending time with her
six grandchildren. Daughter
Judith Deaver and her son
Benjamin, age 12, live in Still-
water. Daughter Bonnie
Baird and husband Craig live
in Ponca City with their chil-
dren: Sabrie, age 10; Ashley,
7; and Bradley, age 3. Son
Randy and his two children
make their home in Perkins.
Amanda is 8 and Zachery is
6.
Barbara, in addition to her
many church activities, which
in addition to teaching Sun-
day School, includes being the
assistant church librarian for
Continued on page 10
