Front-page news in the May 20, 1926, edition of the Elk City News-Democrat was the high-school graduation, which was scheduled for Friday, May 21, 1926. Prior to the graduation ceremony, the Broadway Methodist Church held a Junior-Senior Reception on Thursday night. The baccalaureate sermon was held held Sunday night at the high-school auditorium. Dr. E. E. Dale of the University of Oklahoma was to give the graduation address at the Friday graduation ceremony. In 1926 Elk City High School had 63 graduating seniors.
Other news in the Elk City News-Democrat was the defeat of Elk City by Mangum in a baseball that ended with a score of 4-0. This loss was in spite of the fact that the article claimed the pitchers were evenly matched.
In other news, the Berlin Women’s Temperance Union met. In addition to the regular membership, “three crusaders” were present and “gave some interesting reminiscences of visits to saloons and ‘gallon stores’.”
1926 was an election year, and the newspaper listed several candidates for local and state offices including County Assessor, State Senator, State Representative, County Clerk, and President of the Board of Agriculture.
In addition, the American Legion was sponsoring “Decoration Day” events starting with a parade. A program at the auditorium with music and a memorial address were next followed by a service at the ceremony. The legion asked for the public’s help, requesting “that all business houses be decorated in the flags and bunting by 9 o’clock on the morning of the 30th, and that merchants stock bunting for this use.” The public was also encouraged to bring flowers.
Ads in the Elk City News-Democrat was an article about a new recreational venue ten miles south and nine miles east of Elk City called Crystal Lakes. The new venue featured swimming, picnicking, camping, a skating rink, and the Palace of Sweets featuring soft drinks, hamburgers, cakes, and pies. The owners issued the following warning to prospective customers: “Positively no rowdyism or vulgarity in any form at any place on the ground will be allowed.”
The front page of the May 20, 1926, issue of the Sayer Journal led with the headline “Survey Being Made to Assist Cripples.” The article said that the county judge was “making a survey of the county for the purpose of searching out all of the defective and crippled children in the county.” A clinic was going to be held to give free examinations and suggestions for treatment to those children. Nowadays, we would never refer to children as cripples or defectives.
The Sayre Journal also reported on the Merritt graduation exercises, which were scheduled for May 27. The County Attorney C. L. Clearman was to give the graduation address. The article also stated that Merritt had the distinction of being a Superior Model School.
Another article reported that the American Legion Auxiliary was selling poppies for Memorial Day. The poppies were made by veterans convalescing at the hospital in Muskogee and would receive pat of the profits from profits from the sales. The Auxiliary encouraged the public to wear poppies on Memorial Day.
Page one of the May 20, 1926, issue of the Beckham County Democrat contained an article about graduation entitled “Commencement or Consummation.” The author encouraged graduates to “go forth and serve humanity.”
The Beckham County Democrat had its usual chapter of a serialized novel. Chapters two and three of The Water Bearer by J. Allan Dunn were featured. The novel was a western about the introduction of irrigation in the western United States territories.
Finally, the paper had a long article entitled “When the Farmer Listens In” about farm families’ use of radios. The article was based on surveys of the farms in the United States and said that one in five farm families had a radio with the majority in the northeastern part of the United States. Farmers were more apt to listen to market and weather reports, while farm wives enjoyed household shows.
The front page of the Texola Tribune contained a large ad for Greene Dry Goods. The store was touting new arrivals for ladies including corsets and slippers. In other news, the paper reported that Texola had won a baseball game against another team 5-0,
One hundred years ago, Beckham County celebrated its graduating seniors and remembered its fallen heroes on Memorial Day just as the current citizens do. One hundred years does not separate us from what we hold dear.