Reflections on Our Past

 Reflections....on Our Past  

written for the Norman Transcript by Frances Barker Maynard, edited by Letty Stapp Watt

1900's Norman, Oklahoma

My father, Bland C. Barker, came to Norman in 1902 and started the Barker Lumber Company. It was just east of Cleveland County Courthouse, on the land which is now the Security National Bank drive-in, between East Comanche and Eufaula on South Peters Street.

He had a team of horses and a large "dray" to deliver lumber around the town and in the country--all roads were dirt (and MUD after any amount of rain). Two men were hired to help in the lumber yard, in delivering lumber, and to do some building.

My mother, Lucy McKittrick, was a school teacher at Jefferson School.

Eastside School grades 1-12 built in 1894. In 1909 when the new Norman High School opened on the corner of E. Gray and Ponca (facing the south) they renamed Eastside to be Jefferson school grades 1-8. This building burned mysteriously in 1914. The new building opened 1916. 

One fall, the Norman Chamber of Commerce held a contest. The young girls of the community were to represent the different business--literally. Mother was assigned the Barker Lumber Company. 

She didn't know Mr. Barker, and he didn't know Miss McKittrick. So, it was with some misgivings, that Mother went down to the lumber yard to see if there was something she could use in making a costume.

Daddy was very helpful. He brought out tar paper and bangles, strips of color charts, and different shapes and sizes of wood blocks.

Mother took these home, and fashioned a beautiful and very unique costume. On the bottom of the long black dress, she made a flared border from the tar paper, and decorated it with the bangles. Around the collar and down the front of the waist, she sewed the strips of color charts. She also used these strips to make a tiara to wear on her hair. She made a belt, using the wood blocks, to wear around her waist.

The night of the contest, my mother, according to my father, was radiant--with her brown eyes and black hair, and her beautiful costume. She carried a stand-up placard with read, "Barker Lumber Company." 

She was the Winner!

Needless, to say, about a year later, Mother and Daddy were married, but not until Bland C. Barker attended the World Series and Fair in St. Louis in 1904. 

Six children were born to the union: Hermione, Clarence, Frances, Norman, Forrest and Jack. 

***

The reflection closes with the children's names but continues with a little research. The saddest story is that Lucy's son, Norman fought in WWII and is listed as MIA. 

Frances' mother, Lucy McKittrick, was hired to teach at Eastside school in June 1902. The Norman Transcript 1902.2.6 published those receiving teacher certificates. 

I do not know how long Lucy continued to teach at Jefferson. Her daughter, Frances Barker, attended many social events in Norman and Oklahoma City where she played the piano and sang for the audiences. She was a highly talented musician. Frances graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1940 with a degree in music.

In the 1980's Terri Street was hired to teach music at Jefferson Elementary. Terri went on to become a media specialist/librarian for the Norman Public Schools until retirement. She and I remain great friends from our teaching years at Jefferson.

When I saw the last name Maynard, I remembered that Terri had relatives with that last name. One phone call later and we realized that Terri was related to that lovely radiant Lucy McKittrick who began teaching on the same landsite nearly 80 years before.

Terri writes: Frances Alice Barker of Norman married my Granddaddy's older brother, Louis Jackson Maynard. They lived in Norman for many years where she later taught school. Louis, the historian and professor taught at OU and wrote several books on our state's history. They raised two adopted children, and bought a rural property at Wetumka, Ok after Louis retired. They both lived long and happy lives and I remember them well. He loved to write and tell stories, and she loved to sing, play music, and make others laugh. 

It's a small world, isn't it?

We are the Jefferson Dragons. We symbolize "Power, Wisdom, and Chaos." Right now, we are sorting through the chaos and laughing...laughing and loving every moment of the research expedition into our history. 

Letty Watt, Jefferson Historian

Good Enough

"Don't let perfection stand in the way of good enough." 

From centuries of well-spoken thoughts by Voltaire, Confucius, 

Shakespeare 

This quote has been bouncing around in my brain for a couple of weeks, after it linked up with another random question about how the drive for perfectionism affects my golf shots, blogs, storytelling performances, and daily life.

Arlo & Janis 10/29/19 Norman Transcript

Nine years ago when I began blogging my writing wasn't perfect, and my stories and grammar still are not perfect. I realized that in my first few months of writing that IF I wrote/rewrote, then edited/reedited my hand would never push the 'publish' button and my blog would go empty.  By taking a deep breath I discovered I could hit the publish button. 

My purpose of writing the blog, originally, was to write stories that I could then tell in public for paid performances. A few years later, I felt like my stories contained value. Though not perfect they sounded good enough to me. 

     "Yesterday, as we walked, the muted fall leaves scurried like little mice across the streets, under our feet, around the corners, and down from above.  Still it was quiet and the animals in the neighborhood slept on. My mind, too, was quiet, until suddenly a yard sprinkler system came on full blast. Shivers crept up my wet side as I danced to the right and out into the center of the street. Lucy was faster and never a drop touched her fur."




This story became stinkier the longer I walked that morning with Lucy, and it could most certainly stand a revision. If I had waited on perfection the story,  Dancing in the Breeze, might have been neglected and eventually forgotten due to time restraints and frustrations, and this delightful memory lost. 




In the last decade of playing golf, working out, going to physical therapy I discovered that I could not hit the ball with the efficiency and perfection I once knew; I could not work out as long as I demanded of myself; I could not

Dornick Hills cliff hole #16 where I could not hit my 8 iron over it from 100 yards.

perform some of the exercises they gave me.  All of these could nots finally stung me with needles of anger and frustration. One day in early spring I began to say to myself "that shot wasn't perfect but it sure didn't hurt me (both literally and figuratively)."  I made a tally mark on my scorecard of the shot that was good enough.  

In the beginning, I found myself critical of what constituted a 'good enough' shot. On a scale of 1-10 (think of Bo Derek) I expected a shot to be an 8,9,10 which correlated to 5-8 shots out of 45 being good enough. 

It's amazing how happy I can be when I realize that the good shots out weighed the bad. 

"This is not a test," I reminded myself. It is a game, a pleasant reminder of life. So...The next few rounds of golf became more relaxed and more tally marks appeared. Week by week I began to find more positive things about my golf score, and transferred that positivity to my work outs. Some of which I found that just finishing was good enough. 

A close friend from years of teaching, writing, and performing designed a t-shirt for the OU/Texas game this year and gave them to several friends.  When she posted her design on Facebook she made the note: It's not perfect but it is done.