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The viewpoints submitted on this site are not necessarily the opinion of the Cordell Chamber of Commerce or it’s members. |
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The articles listed on this page/category and within this website is for entertainment and information purposes only. Advice or suggestions should not necessarily be taken literally or followed. The authors are not responsible or liable for any harm or loss to anyone or their property due to the content of their article. Any advice or instructions followed by reader will be at reader’s own risk. Furthermore, we are not responsible for the accuracy of submitted content. |
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Writers are volunteers and not compensated in any way. The Cordell Chamber and this Webmaster appreciate their interest, dedication and participation in giving their time and talent to make this a better website that local and global readers can enjoy. A Sincere Thanks! |
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Success Story! 01/22/10 By: Dean Jackson
Community Garden Project Serves Multi-Purpose Role.
The Clinton Community Garden was born out of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Plasticulture Program. Organizer Henry Caldwell, a retired ATM technician and Clinton resident, saw opportunity in the project to help increase the involvement of people, to help provide fresh food availability to his community and remain active in his retirement. One thing Henry discovered while doing the project is how much pride people of all ages can have in something they have accomplished together.
Great Plains RC&D conducted a Plasticulture Workshop in conjunction with the installation of the garden. This workshop was one of several held across the western part of the state. Most were done for producers who were selling to local farmers markets or sold their products wholesale to grocery stores. This project, however, had a greater purpose. It helped pull together many elements that make this countries agriculture heritage tie directly to the communities. The concept of producing a bounty from the land, eating from that bounty and selling the excess are all elements of sustainable agriculture practices.
What transpired beyond that was an opportunity to teach young people where their food comes from and get them involved by helping with the garden. Another added lesson was how that product is harvested and marketed and can provide monies to replenish the garden next season. Everyone seemed to take special pride in making sure things got done.
The market was located at the former site of Dorsey’s Fruit Market on Route 66 in Clinton, Oklahoma. Closed for years, the landmark is now open as a restaurant and gathering place for meetings. Originally planned for Saturdays, the Farmers’ Market was expanded to Tuesday and Thursday mornings due to overwhelming response and availability of product. Many times produce was “snatched-up” before the canopies ever got constructed. This market has great momentum! Dorsey’s original sign is lit up once again after all these years. The new owners of Gayla’s pay homage by keeping the original market front and signage to welcome diners and visitors. Recognized for their dedication to the Clinton Community Garden, Henry and Jacqueline Caldwell received a Certificate of Recognition and were honored at the Great Plains RC&D Annual Meeting. Presenting the award was Chairman Alfred Miller. Folks like this are what make this world a better place and encourage others to make a difference in their communities. Judging from this years success of the Clinton Community Garden project, we can’t wait to see what the future will bring for the Farmers’ Market in Clinton. Hopefully this can be an inspiration to other individuals, communities and groups to go beyond the norm and do great things! |
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Shopping Local 02/03/10 By: Dean Jackson What’s the point of shopping local, when I can get everything at the “Big Box” stores!! How many times has someone said this to you? How many times have you heard this on television? It is what the “big box” stores want you to think. Why not just get everything in one stop? Let’s examine what happens when we go to the “big box” stores. Yes, we may save some money by buying in bulk or larger quantities. However, we have spent some money and time traveling to get there. Let’s talk about the local economic impact. Let’s say the local grocery store is selling the same donut for 5 cents more than the big city store. It did cost more to get that product out here to you and they still have to cover operating expenses such as utilities. If we take that money out of the local community, the local grocery store may not be able to meet its expenses and be forced to close. That service would no longer be available to others in the community who are not as fortunate to be able to travel to the big city to buy from the big box store. Also, how many times have we ran out of something in the middle of a project and had to go to the local store and get it. Aren’t you glad they were there for you? I have used the local grocery store for an example because people pay more attention to things they “need”. This concept applies to every store or service in town. Every store and service makes up the total community. What if a store is forced to close? Jobs are lost with it. Sales tax dollars are lost with it. Charitable donations locally are lost with it. Good people are lost with it. The availability of what that particular store sells is lost with it. Other businesses are lost with it. Our community may be lost without it. A recent article called: "Thinking Outside The Box", a Study sponsored by The Urban Conservancy in partnership with Civic Economics, cited these and other reasons that shopping at home is essential to the health of our community. |
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05/10/10 “....just the ramblings of my daily thoughts.” by Dean Jackson Show me the money…… I am amazed at the willingness of our government to give away our money. I didn’t realize we had so much money to give away. I hear some people have lost their jobs. Maybe it’s because there is too much money in the system. Why are we all even working anyway if we have so much money? When do we get to see the money? I am thinking we should all move to a foreign country to make us eligible to get the money. Who is going to give us the money if we give away all of our money to other people who don’t spend their money wisely? Why is money even valuable? Isn’t money just some paper with ink on it? If money gets to be worth nothing, and we have to eat it, I’ll bet it isn’t nourishing at all. I’ll bet money doesn’t even taste good with ranch dressing on it. Money is pretty and silver, but so is aluminum foil and those cool silver Christmas trees that they used to make. Merry Christmas. |
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Former Executive Secretary for the Cordell Chamber, Claudia Gray, is back with us as a Featured Writer. We enjoyed reading your articles before, and now we can look forward to them again. Welcome back Claudia. |
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Donna Goeringer, Chamber Board Member, is one of our latest writers to join the team. She is passionate about cars, bikes and racing. If this subject interests you then her articles are a must read. She will be sharing her experiences with us on a regular basis, so check back often. |
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Welcome our new Featured Writer and Associate District Judge Christopher Kelly. The title of his articles will be “From The Third Floor of The Courthouse”. The subjects will vary and may contain some surprises. This is an interesting and humorous man of many talents. We look forward to his column. |
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Dean Jackson, Entertainer, has a wonderful personality and sometimes lends his somewhat dry sense of humor to his writing. He also has a serious side and tackles issues from a different slant. We never know what he will submit next. |
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JUNE 2010 Sale, Sale, Sale by: Claudia Gray
June is beginning vacations and finishing up that “spring cleaning” before you leave for that cruise. I have a suggestion if your vacation is later, why not get your old clothes and other items that you and your family no longer need gathered up and hold a garage sale. The Cordell Chamber’s annual citywide garage sales every year is always held on the first Saturday of June. This year, it is June 5th from 8:00 am to ???? With today’s economy, now is the “perfect time” to collect up items and make a little extra cash for the vacation. More folks have begun looking for “good used items” and by purchasing new items from a store. Suggestions: If you have lawn mowers, tools, house wares, kids clothing (a good selling item), extra furniture, air conditioners, baby furniture, games, videos, TV's, now is the best time to sell those items and make more room in your home, garage and storage. A great time is start now, you still have a few weeks. Gather up items and place on tables, mark them a fair price. Yes, if they are clean you can ask more. Place items like glassware, clothing, jewelry all together, by grouping them together. Price each item so that you are not bothered all day with people interrupting you while you are adding up another customer’s total. Some garage sale persons like to get all items out, and will tell morning customers that everything will be half price at noon (or whatever time you want). The prospective buyer will gamble that they can get an item for half price at noon and will return to your sale. Generally they buy additional items for half price. This is if you want everything gone. Some folks do all extra work and re-box items to donate. Save time and clear it all out. Don’t re-stack it in the garage. Cordell each year has 50 to 80 garage sales. Besides you are not only catering to Cordell folks coming by and checking out your sale, but the huge amount of out-of-towners will come sweeping in to collect up the bargains early. Most garage sales begin at 8 am but if you have yours ready earlier than 8 am, just throw up that garage door and they will come. To get more people to your sale, you might want to go in with a neighbor or relative because everyone wants to go to the larger sales. You may want to combine your sales together for the best location. Each location is great, but some are better than others If you have items such as stuffed toys throw them in a big box with the box displaying the price. Have different racks to display clothing and have each item marked. You will find some customers who would like to pay a lower price, so consider if you would want to lower the price. That’s up to you. I hope you all have a successful sale and have enough money to have extra fun on your vacation, or something you really need at this time. Good Luck! |
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Webmaster Darryl Anthony is a man of many talents and interests. His writings have a wide range of subjects. Darryl is also dedicated to making this website the best it can be and hopes readers enjoy his efforts. |
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The Author’s columns are not grouped together. They are scattered throughout different pages. |
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