For Sarah Christie, the heart of her story has always centered on two things: family and the children she serves. At 31, the wife, mother of three and early childhood educator has woven those passions...

When Tara Cato packed up her life in northern Illinois and moved more than 600 miles south to Sequoyah County, she didn’t know she was heading not just toward a new home, but toward a new beginning. C...

If you’ve spent any time around Vian, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Camry Jett — whether through her bustling small businesses, at the local lake, or surrounded by fabric and thread in the mid...

Lillian “Lily” Holmes of Muldrow never expected to find herself on camera, walking through dark corridors of one of Arkansas’ most haunted sites. But when longtime friend and indie filmmaker Gavin Web...

For Jessica Johnson, life in Sequoyah County feels like a breath of fresh air — literally and figuratively. A native of Illinois and a 2006 graduate of United Township High School, Johnson traded the ...

For Vian native Julie Spears Hunter, life has come full circle. A 1988 graduate of Vian Public School, Hunter has returned to her hometown to give back to the same community that shaped her. After ear...

Brittany Bunting of Sallisaw has spent 37 years living in Sequoyah County. A 2006 graduate of Vian High School, she grew up north of Vian on Lake Tenkiller. “I was a lake baby,” she said. She also has...

Tra Lowder, 48, has lived in Sequoyah County since she was 8-years-old. For the time that she has been here, she has made a name for herself at Liberty Public Schools as school secretary, where she is...

Dea Smith, 62, has been a resident of Sequoyah County for 38 years. Growing up, her father was employed as an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman, so she said she moved around the state quite often. After grad...

If you ask Becky Partain where she learned the value of hard work, she won’t point to a classroom or a corporate office—she’ll point to the racetrack where she grew up. Her parents trained and raised ...

Shelley Maddox is a mother to many and has called Sallisaw home for about six years now. During that time, she’s worked as a KATS bus driver, a job she’s grown to love. Before moving to Sallisaw, she ...

What Seth Lattimore enjoys most about living in Sequoyah County is the opportunity to live and work in the community that he grew up in. He has lived within the small Akins community for his entire li...

Gracie Risley, daughter of Gill and Delaina Risley, has lived in Vian her entire life. This small town isn’t just where she grew up, it’s all she’s ever known. For generations, she and her family have...

Brooklyn Herod, 17, was excited to step into her senior year at Vian High School. She said the first day of her senior year was something she had imagined since she was in elementary school. “I was ju...

Dale White, 64, was born in New Mexico, but his roots were firmly planted in Oklahoma when he and his family moved to Eufaula in 1967. Decades later, in 1991, he made his way to Sallisaw, the town he ...

Zane Carr, 22, has lived in Sallisaw his entire life. As a child, he lived on Main Street and can easily recall a time when his parents would take him and his brother to the park by the football field...

Daniel New, 49, grew up in Webbers Falls. He's been married to Stephanie New for 12 years now. He spent his kindergarten and first grade at Carlyle School, that is now shut down, in Gore. After that, ...

Terry Grinstead, originally from Muldrow and a graduate of Sallisaw High School, has now worked at the much-beloved Short Stop in Vian for 18 years. As a teenager, Grinstead said she did all the thing...

Rebel Buttery, 17, is spending her summer before her senior year working at Hardwaters Shaved Ice in Vian and soaking up her time on Lake Tenkiller. At Hardwaters, Buttery is making a name for herself...

Max Smith has lived and worked in Sequoyah County his entire life, having graduated Sallisaw High School in 1975, except for the brief time he served in the Army. He was one of the first to serve in t...