We had one visitor this week. She said she was interested in helping with the museum.
I cleaned in the kitchen this week and put museum wax on the wooden furniture there. We have three old antique wooden carpet cleaners. The kind without motors so they aren’t vacuums. One still has the label on the bottom, reading “The Aer Sweep suction cleaner. $17.50. Manufactured for The Decker Sales Co. Fort Collins, Colorado. Shipped from Quincy, Ill. Serial No. A-40”. It measures approx. 15" long, 9" across, and 12" tall to the top of the handle and has metal wheels. The wheels remind me of the wheels used on barn doors that slide back and forth. It has printing on top _ _YCO “Bear”. I can’t make out the first two letters. I remember Mom had something similar when I was still at home but hers wasn’t made from wood. There is one labeled Bissell’s “Cyco” Ball Bearing Grand Rapids. I couldn’t find the price that it would have cost new but one was found for sale for $65.00 on EBay. The last one has “Impred Eclipse” printed on the front. I couldn’t read anything else. Pieces of the original label are still on the bottom but are unreadable.
While cleaning out underneath the stair case we found a notebook with interviews done by Frank Beneda. He donated the interviews to the Oklahoma History Center and they gave us a copy. In the interview with Solomon Bill he talks about growing up in Ferguson, Oklahoma (West of Homestead, Oklahoma). It appears at one time Ferguson was a thriving town with several stores and three saloons. He mentioned he had six brothers and sisters going to school at one time and if he played hooky he wasn’t missed. His dad began to be suspicious and watched him go around the building instead of going in. His dad confronted him and Solomon told him he didn’t like school. His dad told him he didn’t have to go back since the teacher didn’t miss him and he wasn’t learning anything. He tells of his dad going on a trail drive taking cattle to Montana. Solomon said that Ferguson was in competition for the state prison but McAlester won out.
We are making plans to have the Watonga third graders come April 19, 2022 for Frontier Days. That is the anniversary of the Cheyenne Arapahoe land run. We plan on having educational stations in the morning and games in the afternoon. Graham from the Watonga Republican will be there to tell them about publishing a weekly newspaper.
Reminder that Sandra Maddux will be giving a program on card making April 2, 2022, 10:00 am at the Watonga Library. Please call the museum to register so we know how many card kits to have ready. Sandra makes beautiful paper cards and other paper items.
The Easter Egg Hunt for five year olds and below, they must be able to walk, will be April 16, 2022, at 11:00 am. Pictures with the Easter Bunny will be at 10:00 am. Pictures will be $5.00 each.
Hours of operation are Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Closed state holidays. We are always happy to open after hours for special tours. Just give us a call at 580-623-5069 or 580-614-1018 to make arrangements.