WELCH—Your Lady Cat fast-pitch softball team defeated Afton yesterday, 10-2, and Ketchum today, 2-0.

Thanks to Deanna Chenoweth, we’re able to share the following photos (if you click to go to the Flickr page, you’ll see the captions).

You, too, can help provide news and info to our community. Email us at info {at} WelchOK {dot} com.

WELCH—As I posted when we first launched WelchOK.com, I applied (unsuccessfully) for a radio license that would have given us our own station right here in Welch, America.

Lately, I’ve been wondering, if we did have a radio station, what would you want to hear on it?

So, please vote in our latest poll:

WELCH—Vinita native Clint Walker will bring his high-energy Rockin’ Music show to the Welch Civic Auditorium for a back-to-school concert Sat., Aug. 28, 2010. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., and the show starts at 7:00.

Walker has toured with some of country music’s best and is famous for his classic rock tunes from the ’50s and ’60s. His vocal stylings are always thrilling to hear, and there’s not a better way to start the school year than with an evening of great entertainment.

Tickets are $10.00 and will be available at the door. Kids under 12 are $5.00 and children 5 and under are free with a paid adult.

Concessions will be available before and during the show, and the proceeds from food sales will benefit the Welch school music department.

Walker said that he owes a great debt to the public school music instructors who helped him on his way years ago, and he hopes everyone will come and support this effort to give back.

Start your school year off right with an evening of great music and good food.

This event has been added to our Community Calendar. To add your community event to our calendar, contact us at info <at> WelchOK <dot> com.

WELCH—The Welch Lady Cat fast-pitch softball team will be having a spaghetti feed fundraiser Sun., Aug. 22, 2010, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m at the Welch Civic Auditorium. Meals are $6.00 per person and include spaghetti, two sides, dessert, and beverage. All proceeds benefit the fast-pitch softball team.

This event has been added to our Community Calendar. To have your community event added to our calendar, contact us at info ‹at› WelchOK ‹dot› com.

WELCH—Thanks to all who entered the contest for the Welch Wildcat bears from the Blossom Shoppe. Here’s Tyler with the winner:

And if you’re too impatient to watch the video, Chanda Jarvis was our big winner. Chanda, come pick your bears up any time you’re in town.

WELCH—Brian Mooney of Mooney Auction Company announces it will be offering many items collected by Dale and the late LeeAnn Newman for public auction, Sat., Aug. 14, 2010, at the Newman home, 165 N. Commercial St., in Welch. The auction begins at 10 a.m.

On the block will be household, kitchen, outdoor, and miscellaneous items listed on the sale bill below. Terms are cash or check at time or purchase. Photo ID required to receive bidder number. Not responsible for accidents or theft. Concessions will be available on the grounds.

The sale bill is embedded below. If you’d like to print a copy, click the “Open in new window” link in the upper right corner of the viewer. You can then print from the new window.

WELCH—Tulsa author Carla Stewart will be greeting readers and signing her debut novel, Chasing Lilacs, at Chapters bookstore in Miami, Okla., from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Thur., Aug. 12, 2010. Chasing Lilacs has received rave reviews, and Stewart will be meeting with the Welch book club, which is reading it for August, while in the area.

The public is welcomed to stop by Chapters and meet Stewart, visit with her about Chasing Lilacs and her soon-to-be-released second novel, which is set in Tulsa, and pick up a signed copy of Chasing Lilacs. Due to street repairs in Miami, you are encouraged to use the parking lot behind Chapters, as well as the rear entrance.

About Chasing Lilacs:

Elvis is on the radio and summer is in the air. Life in the small Texas community of Graham Camp should be simple and carefree. But not for Sammie Tucker. Sammie has plenty of questions about her mother’s “nerve” problems. About shock treatments. About whether her mother loves her.

As her life careens out of control, Sammie has to choose who to trust with her deepest fears: Her best friend who has an opinion about everything, the mysterious boy from California whose own troubles plague him, or her round-faced neighbor with gentle advice and strong shoulders to cry on. Then there’s the elderly widower who seems nice but has his own dark past.

Trusting is one thing, but accepting the truth may be the hardest thing Sammie has ever done.

Learn more about Stewart, Chasing Lilacs, and what others have to say about them both online at http://www.carlastewart.com.

VINITA, Okla.—Jacqueline “Jackie” Kay Brooks, 44-year-old Miami, Okla., resident, died Sun., Aug. 8, 2010. She was born Nov. 10, 1965, in Miami to Bill and Anita (Viles) Jarvis.

Jackie was a graduate of Vinita High School and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M School of Nursing. She was a registered nurse and worked for Integris Baptist Regional Health Center in Miami.

Jackie married Tom Brooks on Dec. 28, 2002, in Miami. She was a member of the Cleora Methodist Church. Jackie was a big fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, liked playing softball, riding horses, barrel racing, and travelling.

The family includes: her husband Tom of the home; parents Bill and Anita Jarvis of Big Cabin; sons, Brandon and Brenton Hale of Miami; step-children, Brandi Morgan of Bella Vista, Ark., Jennifer Marks of Springdale, Ark., Jason Brooks of Owasso, Okla., and Jordan Brooks of Boston, Mass.; sisters, Susan Wadley of Cleora, Okla., Barbara Chenoweth and husband Tony of Welch, Lynn Shearhart and husband Robert of Grove, Okla., and Shirley Jarvis of Miami; brothers, Billy Jarvis and wife Jan of Cleora, Okla., and Mike Jarvis of Cleora, Okla.; three step-grandchildren, Ariana Brooks, Jaelyn Adams, and Thomas Marks; and numerous other relatives.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wed., Aug. 11, 2010, at the Luginbuel Funeral Home in Vinita, Okla.

The funeral will be held Thur., Aug. 12, 2010, at 10 a.m. at Cleora Methodist Church with Rev. Rich Brasher officiating. Interment will follow at the Sixkiller Cemetery south of Afton.

Online condolences may be sent via http://www.honoringmemories.com.

Arrangements are by the Luginbuel Funeral Home of Vinita.

CHETOPA, Kan.—Richard Lee Overman, 62, of Welch, formerly of Oswego, Kan., died at 2:58 p.m., Wed., Aug. 4, 2010, at his home.

He was born Mar. 3, 1948, in Columbus, Kan., to Gordon LeRoy and Edna Faye (Westervelt) Overman. He was a 1966 graduate of Oswego High School, earned a Bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg State University, and a Master of Divinity degree from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as a Baptist minister from 1980-1988.

He was a current member of the Welch United Methodist Church. He also was elected to serve in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974.

Richard was a friend of WelchOK.com, and he had recently contributed this guest editorial.

Survivors include three sons: Larry Dewayne Overman of West Memphis, Ark., Jacob Michael Overman of Jacksonville, Fla., and Peter Christopher Overman of Chicago, Ill.; one daughter: Esther Elise Harrington of New York; one grandchild; and one sister: Nancy Whetstone of Chetopa, Kan.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Robert LeRoy Overman.

Following cremation, a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Sat., Aug. 14, 2010, at Faith Baptist Church in Chetopa, Kan.

The Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Chetopa is in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences may be left at http://www.forbeshoffman.com.

WELCH—It’s hot—too hot!—outside, so we decided it was time to have a cool contest. Thanks to our friends at the Welch Blossom Shoppe (918-788-3955) it’s a beary cool contest!

Just in time for back to school, you can win this pair of Welch Wildcat bears. These bears retail for $13.99 each, or $25 for the pair, and we’re giving away one set.

"We Need a Home" / Click for larger view.

Winning is easy. We’ll draw for a winner, and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post (on the http://WelchOK.com site—NOT Facebook) saying why you love being a Welch Wildcat (or if you’re not a Welch Wildcat, you can say why you wish you were). Around 5 p.m., Fri., Aug. 13, 2010, we’ll draw from among the commenters and that lucky person is our big winner.

No purchase is necessary, only one comment per person, and our thanks to the Welch Blossom Shoppe (918-788-3955) for these two bear friends who are showing their school spirit.

Oh, and before some  of you macho guys think you don’t need some stuffed Wildcat bears, we’re sure you can think of a girl in your life who would love a present for no reason.

Good luck!