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Friday, March 22, 2013

Section A, Page 3

"I was a mechanic for 30 years, and I went as a support person to work on the rig if there were any problems."
Darrell Ward, Muskogee Rotary Club member on his volunteering to go to Nicaragua to help dig water wells

Accident victim ID'd as Tulsa man

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has released the name of a Tulsa man killed Tuesday night when he was struck by a car in Cherokee County. Timothy Casey, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene when he was struck just before midnight Tuesday. Troopers said Casey was walking west in the eastbound lane of U.S. 62 approximately 2 1/2 miles west of Tahlequah and was struck by an eastbound 2012 Ford Focus driven by Robert Hensley, 60, of Stilwell. Troopers said Hensley was unable to avoid hitting Casey, who was thrown an unknown distance. Hensley, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured. Troopers said Casey's condition at the time of the accident is not known.

Ward

ICTC honors three students

Indian Capital Technology Center's students of the month for March are KayLee Joslen, a post-secondary practical nursing student; Midway High School senior Charley Jordan, a culinary arts student; and Fort Gibson High School senior Ashley Sells, a sports medicine student. Cathy Crutchfield and Robbi Cowan, ICTC practical nursing instructors, said Joslen excels in the practical nursing program, showing remarkJoslen able maturity in the classroom and clinic. She is dependable and gets along well with her peers and patients, they said. Culinary arts instructor Georgiann Belton said: "Charley is the leader of the class, president of FCCLA, a senior-second year student. She shows Jordan positive influence on the culinary arts students. Charley represents us well and desires to someday come back and teach culinary arts at ICTC." Sports medicine instructor Meagan Calwell said: "Ashley is a great student and a great representative of ICTC. She is very conscientious about her classwork, projects, labs and the Sells grades she gets on these. She also is very self-driven to succeed in life. Ashley is determined to accomplish the goals she has set for herself and doesn't let anyone or anything get in the way."

Guilty plea given on drug-related charge

A Tahlequah man pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawful use of a communications facility, according to a media release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Cameron Lydell Foster Jr., 26, was charged following an investigation by multiple city, state and federal agencies. A criminal information alleged that on or about Feb. 22, 2012, Foster used a cell phone to facilitate the distribution of less than 50 kilograms of marijuana. Foster will be sentenced following the completion of a presentence report. He will remain in custody. The statutory range of punishment is up to four years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

VAMC ex-employees asked to attend meet

The Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center is inviting former employees to participate in a meeting at 1 p.m. today in the Downing Room, on the second floor. The hospital is preparing to celebrate its 90th anniversary in June. The hospital wants former employees to share their memories and any information they have about significant changes or events at the hospital since 1960. Pictures are also needed; they will be scanned and returned. Those who are unable to attend but have information to share can notify Nan Haynes, (918) 577-3646 or freida.haynes@va.gov.

Submitted photos

Water gushes from a well in western Nicaragua dug through a Rotary International project. Darrell Ward, a member of Muskogee Rotary Club, spent five weeks in the country working on the well and several others.

Indian Elder honor nominations open

AARP Oklahoma is accepting nominations for the fifth annual AARP Oklahoma Indian Elder Honors through June 30. All nominees must be a living enrolled member of a federally recognized Oklahoma tribe or nation. To submit a nomination, send an essay detailing how the nominee has affected his or her tribe or community, along with a non-returnable photo, to AARP Indian Elder Honors, 126 N. Bryant, Edmond OK 73012. Nominations can also be made online at www.aarp.org/ok. Information: Mashell Sourjohn, (405) 715-4474.

Area Rotarian helps villagers get water

By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer

UKB slates egg hunt

The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma will have its annual Keetoowah Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday at the Keetoowah Celebration Grounds, south of Muskogee off West Willis Road. The egg hunts will begin at 1 p.m. and are for children ages 1 to 12. There will be three age group categories. Approximately 3,000 eggs will be hidden. Prizes will be awarded in each category for the child who finds the chief's egg and the assistant chief's egg. UKB tribal members as well as the general public are invited. Information: (918) 4566533.

UKB center to teach classes in toy making

The United Keetoowah Band John Hair Cultural Center and Museum is offering free classes in April. Stickball stick making will be taught April 6 and marble making April 13. Both classes will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the UKB Tribal Complex Celebration Pavilion. All tools and materials needed for each class will be provided. Classes are open to the public, but registration is required. Space is limited. Information: (918) 7724389.

Corrections and clarifications

The Phoenix tries to promptly correct errors. To report an error, please call (918) 684-2900.

Darrell Ward put his mechanical expertise to good use recently by helping Nicaraguan villagers get clean water. Ward, a member of Muskogee Rotary Club, spent nearly five weeks in Nicaragua digging water wells through a Rotary International project. He said he worked with crews to dig 14 wells for villages in western Nicaragua. He described the villagers as being "the poorest of the poor." "You see their homes are made of cardboard siding," he said. "Some were lucky if they had a sheet iron roof." Villagers were having to walk two or three miles each day to the nearest water source, usually a polluted lake, river or pond, he said. Rotarians from Tulsa had made annual trips digging wells to help villagers get a cleaner source of water, he said. Ward, a real estate agent who lives near Webbers Falls, said he heard about the trip through a medical supply network with which Muskogee Rotary works. "I was a mechanic for 30 years, and I went as a support person to work on the rig if there were any problems," he said. The workers built handcranked rope pumps, Ward said. He recalled the weather was "extremely hot 105 to 110 degrees every day." Personal hygiene was the biggest challenge Ward recalled. In Nicaragua, he said, not even wealthy people have air conditioning. There was often no electricity or hot water.

Military Army National Guard Pvt. Madison A. Greenwood

Army National Guard Pvt. Madison A. Greenwood has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, Greenwood studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises. Greenwood is a 2012 graduate of Hilldale High School.

Rotary International members and Nicaraguans show the vil!age's new water well.

Yet Ward said he found the work satisfying. "We were able to help so many people," he said. "We're so very fortunate to have what we have at home." He also appreciated the villagers' hospitality. "The villagers would serve us meals," he said. "And what we had to eat was better than what they served themselves." After his work in Nicaragua, Ward visited Venezuela with a Rotarian from that country. Ward returned earlier to Muskogee this month. He said

the biggest reward of his trip was "being a part of Rotary." He said the Rotary motto is "Service above self." Ted Hine, a Muskogee Rotary Club historian, said Ward is the club's first member to actually go on such a service trip. "This is kind of a first for our club, to have an individual go out of the country to help," Hine said. "We do a lot of things locally." Ward said he would welcome the opportunity for another trip. Reach Cathy Spaulding at (918) 684-2928 or cspaulding@ muskogeephoenix.corn.