October 30, 2021 Issue, Page 1 of 14

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Serving Western Oklahoma in Saturday, October 30, 2021 Weekend Edition Popular local restaurant Prairiefire celebrates ten years letting leave having a better day than they were.” Vickers mom, Mary Kilhoffer, shares that her daughter called her one day and told her “Mom, I'm always going to be a waitress” to which she replied “well, finish school, it’s paid for,” she shared amusingly. So Vickers graduated with a marketing degree, met her now hus- band and moved to Texas for a few years before moving back to Elk City where both she and her mother were born and raised. She explains that she was a stay at home mom, which was a blessing. When she reentered the work force, she says she went right back to being a server, but found herself wanting to have a restaurant of her own, as she had long yearned for. However, she needed a partner, someone that had a work ethic. Like many daughters, she says she spoke to her mother about her “frustra- tions and hopes and dreams,” including the dissatisfying job that she had at the time. So it’s not surprising that when she heard that the owner of what was then Katy Depot was looking to sell and she found herself loving the old historic building and its lo- cation on Main Street that she would bring both her mom and her dad, a builder by trade, in to get their opinion about the old train station turned restaurant. Soon after that, Vickers says, her mom volunteered to be her partner. Vickers says that having her mom, whom she calls Mary at work, has allowed, among other things, for her to be able to grow her family of now five. “The great thing about us is that Elk City Fire we balance each other out really well,” Vickers shares, “We stress over different things. We are a happy medium.” The mother- daughter duo, while equal partners, does find Kilhoffer work- ing more on the books side of things while Vickers is more on the operational side. Together they “keep the wheels turning.” Mary Kilhoffer and her daughter Amy Vickers are and However, they explain with a bit of a chuckle, “Nobody seems to and EMS have been equal partners and owners of Prairiefire since understand that we're equal partners. They always ask one of us it opened ten years ago this week. Courtesy photo. if we're still helping the other out down at the café.” “I can't believe it's been ten years,” Kilhoffer said as she recalled to hold By Burgundy Lee Hanrahan Halloween event that it seemed like just yesterday that she was “standing out there” and wondering if the work they were doing to the building Amy Vickers says that “way back when she was 15 years old,” would ever be done. “What's it going to be like when it is?”, Kil- hoffer said she remembered thinking, “are we going to have any she was the bus girl for Lupe’s before eventually waitressing and customers? What have we gotten ourselves into?” She explains even helping manage at one point. “The restaurant business is By Burgundy LeeHanrahan that she also found herself wondering if it was even what she real funny. You either love or hate it. You have those people that wanted to do because “this is for the rest of my life. I mean, I'm will be in it the rest of their lives or they’ll walk away from after not going to go on to do something else. I've done all the things A post on the Elk City Fire & EMS Facebook page used a two weeks.” Vickers further explained that she worked at a res- I've wanted to do work-wise and I'm too old try anything else rhyme to invite the community to come to the department for taurant through college and “I just loved that. I love the challenge new.” In addition to Prairiefire, Kilhoffer also owns a garden a good time: “On Halloween night from 6-9 of people, making them happy, making them smile and hopefully See Prairiefire page 2. If you want to do something that will send chills up your spine... Triple Negative Breast Cancer Awareness Come to the haunted house your fire department has cre- ated for you, So Sparky the fire dog doesn’t feel blue. that she was told that they thought it was found early as it was kind of small. She underwent an MRI and around the same time If you're into sweets this information will come quite the results of the biopsy came in. She had invasive ductal carci- handy, noma, breast cancer, a stage one, close to a stage two and more than that — it was triple negative. To have triple negative breast Sparky the fire dog loves to give CANDY! cancer (TNBC) means that the estrogen receptor (ER), progester- Whether you're a ghost, a ghoul, or a duck, one receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 Come check out the fire trucks. (HER2) are all absent. This means that none of the targeted treat- ments that have been developed for those breast cancers in which He'll give you a tour through his Spooktacular creation, any of these receptors are present will work for those diagnosed As representation of our fire departments appreciation. with TNBC. According to TNBCFoundation.org, chemotherapy We LOVE our community and all that you do, has been found to be the most effective treatment. In Kilhoffer’s case, she underwent chemo first. Halfway Come give us the opportunity to give you a boo! through, she says that they did another MRI to see if it was having Come by and let Sparky give you a scare, any effect on the cancer. It turns out that the cancer had shrunk by around half. They resumed the chemotherapy and once it was from 6-9 we hope to see you there!” finished they waited a little while before performing a lumpecto- ‘The department's Public Information Officer, Brian Pierce, my. After the surgery, because the cancer was invasive, Kilhoffer tells The Elk City News that this is the second year that they underwent radiation five days a week for seven weeks. She admits have put on “Sparky's Spooktacular Firehouse.” Pierce explains that she had bad, dark days, especially in the beginning, She had crying fits and mad fits. She also struggled a lot with keeping her that the department first put on the event last year because weight high enough to get her chemo after it caused her to lose “with COVID and everything, everyone seemed to be down so much. The woman who had always eaten healthy now found herself eating whatever sounded good, such as milkshakes from and out, so we were just trying to find that fun thing to do. TNBC survivor Belynda Kilhoffer is seen here during one of Braums that her friends would bring her. ‘This is our second one and it looks to be even bigger and better her chemo treatments. Courtesy photo. ‘This past May, Kilhoffer reached one of the biggest milestones than our first last year.” that a cancer survivor can - the five-year mark. At the five-year By Burgundy Lee Hanrahan mark, the chance of reoccurrence drops dramatically. That's not Pierce also shares that while there is no age restriction on the only thing that Kilhoffer has accomplished in that time. She the event, those between four and eight years of age will likely Belynda Kilhoffer says that she’s always been active, she’s says that in the spring after finishing her treatments, she was find it most enjoyable. Along with the inevitable candy, there even taught several aerobics classes over the years and has always asked by her treatment team to run a relay with them at the been health conscious. Seven years ago, she started running, and Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. “It was pretty cool. They had will also be a chance to vote for your favorite pumpkin out of realized that she was pretty good at it and ran in the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon in 2016. She came in second in her never had a patient run with them before. It was a pretty high the ones carved by each of the three shifts of first responders, moment.” age category and “was on top of the world.” A few months prior a meet their mascot Sparky and see the fire trucks. Pierce says “tiny little spot” had been found during a regular mammogram. she’s‘These days, Kilhoffer says her hair isn’t the same as before and had some spots in other parts of her body show on scans that that while the event and its activities are not scary, they are She explains that she was told that it was probably a cyst, which they're “spooky” is very common in women, and they'd check again in six months monthskeeping an eye on. However, she just got back from four in Colorado with her husband, which she seems pretty but to let them know if anything changed. After her half mara- thon, Kilhoffer says that she noticed while running that the spot pleased with. The survivor says that she credits her family and Elk City’s town-wide trick or treating will be on Sunday, had changed and had become more solid and more tender. She friends as well as her faith in God, which was very important and Oct. 31 as well, so be sure to make the fire department one of called her doctor who said to come in and they performed a bi- helped her maintain a positive attitude, with getting her through your stops for the night. You can find the fire station at 303 opsy. “I know now that she knew what it was when she looked at her experience and to remission. She also encourages other to get it,” Kilhoffer shared. The retired school employee received a call their mammograms and to “tell people the things you really want West Fifth Street. the very next day with the news that she had cancer. She explains them to know, because you might not have another chance.” «IU Weather tomorrow & 65/39 Vol. 119, No. 87 75 cents, 14 pgs. Mail delivery 580.225.3000 View online elkcityoknews.com