On Thursday morning, I called my friend Brian Adler, who is the public information officer at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, to check in with him and apologize for not making the short drive to Weatherford this year for their annual media day.
I love to attend this annual event and observe how Brian and SWOSU President Randy Beutler meet and greet all us members of the media. I always tell Brian how impressed I am with their facilities and especially the media room that oversees their basketball court in the Pioneer Center.
I also love how they treat us to a home-cooked buffet style meal that tastes like my Grandma Ross made for me when I was growing up. I had some facial surgery the day before Brian’s event and when I awoke the next morning, I realized that looking like I had just gone three rounds with Ronda Rousy would not make a very good photo of me schmoozing with Dr. Beutler and Mr. Adler.
Brian was very understanding and told me he hoped I was OK and to just make sure I made it out to Custer County for next year’s event. As far as I am concerned, every day is a good day to be in Custer County and on the campus at SWOSU because of the down-to-earth people that interact with so many of our Canadian County kids who attend college there.
For many of our Yukon kids, SWOSU is the University of Oklahoma because of guys like Randy Beutler and Brian Adler. This newspaper takes a lot of pride in publishing all the news that Brian sends us on a weekly basis, about all these SWOSU kids from Yukon, Oklahoma. You will not find another university president and public information officer in the United States that deliver specialty cupcakes to the newspaper people every year, year after year!
Brian loves to see his work published in our papers. It is music to his eyes. I just call it Brian’s Song. One of our former editors asked me once, “who brought us the cupcakes?” I just said, “The Beutler did it!”
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I finally broke down a few weeks ago and purchased new garage door openers for my home. I still had the originals from 2007 and I was keeping them going with band aids, bailing wire and the annual help of Lance and Kim Drieth who own Yukon’s Garage Door Systems.
I have counted on Kim to dispatch Lance or one of their technicians to my home every year for the past five years, make some adjustments and get things operational. Kim finally convinced me that I needed the LiftMaster units and man was she right. I can operate these units with my smartphone, the doors open and close from 100 yards away, which helped me this week during that bad weather, and they are super quiet. Just like Kim said they would be.
I strongly encourage you to call Garage Door Systems here in Yukon. They are the real deal. The steel eel. The Shaquille O’Neal. The Drieth’s know how to get in your garage without getting in your pocket!
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I called my longtime friend Dale Choate in Hennessey this week to check-in on him about his health, to get some business advice, and to talk politics. The Choate family in Hennessey is to Oklahoma politics what the Eischen family is to the Tyson chicken plant in north Texas and I am not clucking around!
Dale told me he has finally made the difficult decision of selling his metal recycling plant to his son-in-law and that he is going to focus on his cattle operation. I have been trying for about 10 years to recruit Dale to buy another metal recycling yard here in Canadian County. Dale always just tells me that he is too old and tired. Which is just more of his bull-Choate!
I wish “my old friend” the very best of luck in his new adventure as the “The farmer in the Dale.”
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Longtime Yukon chiropractor Dr. Jim Downing phoned-in Thursday morning and wondered where his copy of the Progress was. I told brother Downing that I would have circulation call him and straighten this mess out!
I knew Jim’s subscription had not expired and even if it had, I knew that his “vast wealth” would quickly produce a check, credit card number or stack of cash to remedy this oversight!
Dr. Jim Downing is not only one of the best chiropractors in Yukon but in this state. He has taken care of multitudes of Yukon people with his adjustments and Bio-Freeze much like Jesus Christ took care of the multitudes with fish and loaves!
He reads about his patients on the pages of the Progress and he keeps up with how they are doing! Jim Downing is Jim Dandy! I love this guy and how he has been the backbone of the Yukon chiropractic community for so many years. When you’re down in your back it’s time to see Downing!
Thanks so much for reading. I will see you next Saturday. Would you like a Progress?
