December 19, 2020 Issue, Page 1 of 8

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Santa Clause came to town for Merritt Elementa ANG Elk City High School FFA President has perfect week in ag contests Santa visited Merritt Elementary Wednesday afternoon to spread a little cheer to their | students before Christmas. By Shonda Little difficulties, too. The kids have been quarantined or their teachers have. There has just been a lot of things out of the norm and we “These two men have been making Christmas wishes comes true wanted something that brought that happiness. And these two men for their daughters since the early ‘80s,” gushed Merritt Public were happy to do it. They are the best,” she added. Schools first grade teacher Stacey (Carter) Barker. “My dad did it So, unbeknownst to the rosy-cheeked children at Merritt Elemen- for me and Amy’s did for her and now they are doing it for our stu- tary, Santa Claus and his trusty elf driving a red fire truck would dents.” interrupt their day early Wednesday afternoon. Barker, a long-time elementary educator, knows that Santa some- After lunch was served, the students learned that they wouldn't times needs aid from special Christmas elves to help little children be heading back to their normal class. Instead they would be hauled fully indulge of the magic of the season. outside for some unbeknownst surprise. She and her co-worker, pre-kindergarten teacher Amy Watkins, Herding that many small children is no small task. Fortunately, dreamed up a plan that involved their own special Santa's helpers Mrs. Barker and Mrs. Watkins were met with overwhelming sup- — their fathers. port from the administrative staff. “Mrs. Watkins’ dad has been Santa a forfew years and my dad has “Yeah, when we ran it by our principal, Mrs. Amy Edler, she was his old fire truck. She came to me with this idea that ‘Santa’ could be all for it,” Mrs. Barker advised. “This may even become a yearly tradi- on the back of fire truck and I was like, ‘Wow, why didn’t I think of tion after Covid is over.” that? This year more than any other is one where we needed this,” ‘The children, bundled up in winter clothing, were scuttled out- said Mrs. Barker. side their classrooms to align the parking lot. They were given candy With Christmas Break nearly here, Mrs. Barker knew that many canes and instructed to wait patiently for a few moments as a big children would be missing out on the regularly expected joys of the surprise was coming, Christmas season. Just before they perfectly aligned, Santa came riding in on the “Most years, these kids have many opportunities to sit in Santa’s back of his big red sleigh — the old fire truck. Santa waved as the lap. Not this year because of Covid. The area is having some financial See Santa page 2. Farm to table milk soap available in Elk City Mason Smith By Shonda Little and surrounding communities Winning one speech contest held through a state university would be exciting for any high school Future Farmers of America By Shonda Little Brown Cow Soaps has been a family venture. Each family member student. has their special assignments. Winning a second that same week would impressive even by the Brown Cow Soap has taken western Oklahoma by charge. The un- “Well, my husband Jeremy is often my guinea pig,” she laughed. most accomplished FFA alumni standards. expected hit from a tiny Durham dairy adorns the stores of western “He gets to be the first one to try things out and he will say, “This is But backing up those two big victories by earning the top prize of Oklahoma and Texas. too oily or this has too much scent.’ I just go from there and tweak grand champion at an international stock show would just a regular In Elk City, the wide array of soaps, body creams and beard treat- over and over again until it is a really good product. My son Ty is week in the life of Elk City High School FFA President Mason Smith. ments can be found at Southern and Company Boutique and Mar- 17 now. He gets to be my muscle a lot. Sophia runs my website and “I feel really honored,” said the 18-year-old son of Sheila and Mi- ketplace located at 1200 West 3rd Street. credit card payments. She helps a lot with the cleaning, too.” cheal Smith. “It is kind ofa dream come true, but I’m committed to While Sayre doesn’t currently have a retailer, the luxury items can But, the day in, day out labor of love with her girl gang of Jersey agriculture in western Oklahoma.” be found in Foss, Clinton and Leedey. cows falls to York. On November 9, Smith was competing at the Panhandle State “We currently have 18 stores,” said proprietor Jennifer (Low- “They have to be milked every 12 or so hours,” she explained. University Interscholastic Speech Contest. rance) York.” That includes a few stores in Texas, too.” “Sometimes it may not fall exactly at 12 hours because one of the He delivered his well-tailored address on agriculture policy re- York was a graduate of Sayre High School before earning a busi- kids have a ballgame or something, but then the girls are up early lated to agriculture therapy. ness degree from Southwestern University and moving to Durham ready to be milked.” He was awarded the top prize. in northwest Roger Mills County after marrying her husband Jer- ‘The same neighbors who taught her to milk are willing to serve as However, the Covid-19 pandemic created the rare opportunity emy. her replacement help if she decides to takea rare day off. Sometimes for Smith to essentially compete in two speech contests at the same Quickly mastering the ropes of a farm wife and insurance agent her husband even takes a shift. time. didn’t prove challenging enough for York. She was curious about her “A woman's touch helps when you are hand milking cows. So “I recorded my speech for the OSU Collegiate FFA contest that neighbor's dairy. when Jeremy does it, it is like they look at him while sighing, ‘Let’s day and submitted it because it was being judged virtually. Like with “And I had cousins in California who would jokingly asking me just get this over.’ Their bodies tell them it is time to milk.” most speech contests, the OPSU contest allowed for judges to ask if I knew how to milk a cow,” York recounted. “Well, I didn’t, so I Her small herd of Jersey cows has now swelled to seven. Each cow questions following the speech. The OSU contest was done virtually, decided to learn.” has her own name and her own personality. so they were not able to do that,” Smith advised. After a few lessons, she bought herself her first Jersey cow. She “Clara Belle is definitely the boss. She runs the field and she runs He left OPSU with one first place prize already in hand. The OSU sold milk and butter directly to her neighbors and acquired two the barn, She is the first to eat or drink every day. Sadie, bless her contest was graded on November 12. more cows. Before long, she had more milk than she could throw heart, has zero sense of direction. Maggie is smart. She can open ‘Once again, he won. away in a day. gates, but she also doesn't like to be messed with. She and Gwen and “Then we left that week on Tuesday for a stock show in Louisville She didn’t feel right just throwing out perfectly good milk. Fate Clara Belle are my old gals. I call them the quilting crew. But then I and we didn’t get home until Sunday afternoon,” Smith remem- intervened, have my younger girls Fannie, Sadie and Ivy. They always come up bered. “My mom bought me a bar of goat’s milk soap while she was last. It reminds you of typical teenagers. Fiona is Fannie’s daughter Along with his parents and a group of local livestock showman in Colorado, Well, I thought if goat's milk can be soap, cow's milk and searching for her place with the crew, but she is a good gitl, too. lead by Ty Allen, Smith traveled to Kentucky with his three sheep. could, too,” York added. Iname all my girls the old farm names,” York joked. One sheep was bought from Kendrick Livestock in Colorado. She experimented with scented oils and learned about developing York has a hands on approach to her business aside from the ac- Smith coined that prize-winning ewe with a name playing on a line other products. tual milking, She drew their logo by hand. from popular rapper Kendrick Lamar. “Now we have the scented milk soaps, essential oil soaps, whipped “liked the old cartoony type look,” she detailed. “[ named him Duckworth,” Smith laughed. body butter, man soaps, sugar scrubs and bath melts,” York advised. See Soap page 2. 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