Popcorn burglars enter local homes
From the files of Your Sequoyah County Times
This Week in County History
— Sequoyah County Times, Jan. 16, 1948
From the files of Your Sequoyah County Times
25 Years Ago
(From Jan. 18, 1998, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) –Blue Ribbon Downs owners have been asked to expand their plan to repay a court judgment against the track, in their bankruptcy plan, and at the same time are considering repaying the city of Sallisaw.
The BRD board of directors is considering asking the bankruptcy court if they may begin making payments to the city of Sallisaw on a $2.4 million loan the city backed in 1995, said Bob Inglish, the track’s bankruptcy attorney, Thursday.
50 Years Ago
(From the Jan.11, 1973, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —Big Basin Country, along with most of the Midwest, received a blanket of white snow Saturday night and Sunday morning, creating in some cases, a winter playground, and others a hazardous situation.
The snow started falling Saturday night and by Sunday morning three and eight-tenths inches of snow had fallen, leaving the area a beautiful but dangerously slippery winter wonderland.
—Calvin Remy, chairman of the Sallisaw Port Authority said Tuesday that a meeting of that group will be held at 10 a.m. on Jan. 15 at the city manager’s office in Sallisaw.
Remy said Jim McCoy of the Corps of Engineers will be at the meeting to update the authority on the current in depth studies being carried out by the corps.
The studies that are being carried out are the preliminary foundations of what could be the reality of a port being located in the Sallisaw area.
—The Howard’s Discount Store in Sallisaw has closed its doors and the stock of merchandise has been removed. Benny Brown, former manager of the store said last week that the store was closed by Howard’s officials due to financial conditions.
Brown has been transferred to the Howard’s Discount Store in Rogers, Ark. The store had been in operation here for nearly five years before closing out last week.
75 Years Ago
(From the Jan. 16, 1948, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —The home of two prominent Sallisawians were broken into early this week by what local police dub the “popcorn burglars.”
Sometime during Monday, the Henry Jones home was entered and a shot gun, a rifle, a German submachine gun, several boxes of ammunition, a boy’s air rifle and a watch were taken.
Tuesday night, between the hours of 6:30 and 9:30 the Guy Thompson residence was ransacked and much the same kind of loot was stolen.
At the Thompson home, the intruders left a trail of popcorn as they rummaged through chests of drawers and closets throughout the house.
According to chief of police W.H. “Buck” Johnson, the housebreakers are believed to be juveniles and recovery of the Jones and Thompson property is expected soon.
—Announcement was made this week by Glenn Ward that he had sold the Community Store located on Wheeler Ave. to Bill Lovern, popular young Sallisaw business man.
Lovern stated that he would operate the store as the Southland Grocery and would carry a complete line of staple and fancy groceries. He will also operate the service station in connection, with his grocery business. Lovern stated that he plans to build up his meat market, handling only the best in both pork and beef meats, cheese and lunch meats.
The store will continue to feature Montgomery-Ward famous Riverside tires and tubes for which they are the local agent.
100 years ago
(From the Jan. 12, 1923, issue of the Sequoyah County Democrat) —W.A. Matthews, of the firm of McDonald and Matthews of this city, accompanied by Mrs. Matthews, will leave next Monday for Kansas City to attend the National Implement Convention. This convention is held each year by the implement manufacturers of this country to promote their sales and to acquaint their customers, the retailers, with the new designs and recent improvements made in standard makes of farm implements. The convention will last from Tuesday morning until Thursday evening, and a large attendance of western retail merchants will be present to familiarize themselves with goods to offer their trade this season.
—Perhaps the greatest assemblage in history of Oklahoma Tuesday hailed a new governor and feasted at his barbecue party.
It was the fulfillment of a pledge made by Jack Walton in all his campaign speeches that he would hold a party for the people when he went into office.
“When I am elected governor there will not be any inaugural ball, and there will not be a ‘thè dansant.’ I am going to give an old-fashioned square dance and barbecue, it will be a party for all the people and I want you all to come.”
And today he made good to the utmost of the first of his campaign pledges.
Sixty thousand persons had been fed all they could eat at sundown, the chairman of the barbecue serving committee estimated. And 15 lines of humanity were still surging through the openings and passing little windows of cook houses on the state fair grounds where the barbecued beef, pork, mutton, bear, reindeer, deer, rabbit, chicken, turkey, duck and o’possum was being passed out on paper plates with buns, pickles, onions and sugar.
“ They will be fed as long as it lasts, another shift of workers is going on and we will continue serving all night,” the serving chief said.
