The Woodward News

Local News

November 16, 2012

Putnam mixing history with Thanksgiving meal

Gary Engel Woodward News

Woodward, Okla. — PUTNAM - The board members for this South Dewey County town have scheduled a free Thanksgiving meal Saturday.

Board member J.C. Winters said another member wanted to host a Thanksgiving meal, and he wanted to put on a history program.

"So we just put them together," Winters said.

The dinner will start at 6 p.m. at the old schoolhouse gym, which is just west of the town's main intersection with U.S. Highway 183.

"You can see it from the (highway)," Winters said. "There's a statue of a rearing horse in front."

Art Peters, curator of the Hinton Historical Museum, is scheduled to conduct a presentation on the California Wagon Road during the gathering. This route traversed Oklahoma between Arkansas and the California gold fields from 1849 through the Civil War period.

Peters said he will cover the many challenges the immigrants endured and the various flora and fauna discoveries they made along the trail, as well as discussing the lingering evidence of their presence.

The Oklahoma Historical Society reported that 20,000 persons traveled the road during its existence.

"This is the first one of these gatherings ever planned," Winters said. "We hope it's the start of an annual event."

He said Peters started coming to the area a couple of years ago to note its various historical assets, such as wagon tracks of the trail, and Winters got interested in exhibiting the various artifacts.

"I've always been into the history of things," Winters said.

Winters said there has been strong interest in the event and organizers are starting to wonder if they should have requested advance registrations.

"It's too late to RSVP now," Winters said. "We've reserved 100 meals, and can go 10 percent over that with the caterer."

The gym does not have central heating so a coat will probably be needed.

"Come out and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast and learn more about our local history," Winters said.

To find out more about the Putnam board and its activities, contact Winters at (580) 445-1952.

Text Only
Local News
  • Ways to help tornado victims

    After donations of all kinds came flooding into Woodward a year ago following the April 15 tornado, it seems that local and area organizations are eager to pay it forward and show the same support to our fellow Oklahomans now suffering in Shawnee, Carney, Moore and south Oklahoma City.

    May 22, 2013

  • Area woman injured in wreck

    One-vehicle accident happened east of Mutual on Tuesday morning.

    May 22, 2013

  • Hospital hosting emergency preparedness meeting

    Various healthcare agencies across Northwest Oklahoma will meet in Woodward Thursday for a conference designed to help them advance their emergency preparedness efforts.

    May 22, 2013

  • EMS strike team.jpg Woodward County EMS helping with tornado response

    Woodward County EMS has joined in the response efforts to the devastation following the deadly EF-5 tornado in Central Oklahoma.

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

  • Fire chief says search almost complete in Oklahoma

    MOORE, Okla. (AP) — The search for survivors and the dead is nearly complete in the Oklahoma City suburb that was smashed by a mammoth tornado, the fire chief said Tuesday.

    Gary Bird said he's "98 percent sure" there are no more survivors or bodies to recover under the rubble in Moore, a community of 56,000 people.

    May 21, 2013

  • Local church to hold prayer vigil for Moore tornado victims

    The First Christian Church in Woodward will be holding a prayer vigil tonight at 6 p.m. in support of the victims of the tornado that struck Moore on Monday.

    May 21, 2013

  • Donations being taken at armory today

    If you would like to send items to help the victims of Monday's tornado that ripped through Moore, donations are being accepted at the old armory building at Crystal Beach Park through 5 p.m. today.

    May 21, 2013

  • Crews dig through night after deadly Okla. twister

    MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Spotlights bore down on massive piles of shredded cinder block, insulation and metal as crews worked through the night early Tuesday lifting bricks and parts of collapsed walls where a monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood. At least 51 people were killed, including at least 20 children, and those numbers were expected to climb, officials said.

    May 21, 2013

  • fireweb.jpg Woodward County fire departments send assistance to Moore

    A search and rescue task force from Woodward County was deployed to help assist with the response to the devastating tornado that ripped through Moore and south Oklahoma City Monday afternoon.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • Police: School near OKC directly hit by tornado

    MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say an elementary school in an Oklahoma City suburb took a direct hit from a mile-wide tornado.

    May 20, 2013