Cruisin today

From the look at the traffic on VanBuren I'd say the Cruise was a complete success. I have never seen so many old cars in one place as this evening. Not only were people driving up and down but people were finding a place to set up their chairs along the street and they were taking pictures, just watching, or showing off their car. I chased Steve Thurman all over trying to catch him in his white chevy but never could get in line where I could snap a picture. The traffic was too much. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea. Click to enlarge. Under the big tree is the sign in behind Mickey D's and the people under the awning of Moto Foto are setting up to watch and show off their cars. The others are just catching some old cars.

Oh, there he is, someone else found him:

Cruisin' VanBuren Followup

June 6, 2010
Former EHS students invited to relive old days of cruising Van Buren

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — Today teens have a number of outlets they can access without even leaving the house. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites will keep them in touch with the friends and even introduce them to new people. But in “the old days,” their parents and grandparents met each other face-to-face by driving their cars up and down the main street. Darla Dalton Robbins, a 1989 graduate of Enid High School, started a Facebook page about the days when kids “cruised” up and down Van Buren. As a result, a “cruising” reunion has been set for June 18-19. The Facebook page had 1,438 members as of Sunday. People who went to Enid area schools in the 1960s through the 1990s reminisced about what they did while cruising, the businesses that were here and who they met along the way. Several commented they met their future spouse while cruising. One woman wrote Robbins she met a cute guy at a stop sign one night and eventually married him. They will celebrate more than 20 years of marriage this year. Another woman who met her husband while cruising will be married 32 years. More than 100 pictures of the cars people cruised in are posted on the Facebook page. “I told my kids about it and they thought it was boring. But we had a way to actually meet people face-to-face,” Robbins said. She set the reunion on Father’s Day weekend because many people will be returning to Enid to see their fathers and they can set aside time that Friday and Saturday night to cruise. Cruising officially will be held 7 p.m. to midnight both nights. “We’re keeping it simple,” Robbins said. A women who now lives in Enid, a 1971 graduate of Enid High School, wrote she plans to attend her class reunion next year and urged Robbins to hold another reunion then because she is anxious to cruise Van Buren again. As they did in the old days, participants can park behind McDonald’s. Robbins will have a sign up sheet there for those who are returning. If all goes well, next year she may have vendors and schedule events earlier in the day. The website has 107 confirmed guests who may bring their families, 372 who may attend and 546 who have not yet replied. “It’s hard to know what the numbers will be,” Robbins said. “It is a family event and they may bring several other people with them.” Those who write on the Facebook page talk about many things that happened while they were cruising. Robbins remembers having water guns and shooting each other as she cruised along in her LeBaron convertible with a sign on the front that said “Darla’s Attitude.” She listened to Def Leppard, Poison, Guns N’ Roses and other popular ’80s groups. Her father Alvin Dalton is more excited than she is, Robbins said. “He is a ’60s grad and he bought a shirt. My kids don’t think it’s their thing,” she said. At the time Robbins was cruising Enid, gasoline sold for about 97 cents per gallon. She said they could not afford to cruise with gasoline over $2 per gallon. She said they tried to stop in some places and talk, but the police ran them off. She has called Enid Police Department and reported the reunion so that will not happen this time. If cruising got boring in those days, the teens went to Overland Trail Arcade to play pool. The kids made the rounds from that side of town to the other. Sometimes they went to the movies or to the mall, which was new back then. Each generation established a slightly different route, according to Robbins, but all mainly drove Van Buren. Businesses along the route like Pizza Planet, Van’s Plaza Drive In, Lennox Drive In and others are remembered fondly by those who have written to Robbins. Robbins, who lives in Sapulpa, is married and the mother of four.
For more information, go to the “VanBuren Cruisers Reunion” page on Facebook.

Happy Birthday

"I want to wish everyone in the EHS class of 1958 ""Happy 70th Birthday"" ouch

Janice Overstreet Krey

EHS gets new stadium turf

Enid High’s D. Bruce Selby Stadium says good-bye to the old grass-surfaced field. Turf crews from Austin, Texas, have begun removing the old grass and will soon be replacing the surface of the football field with artificial turf.

Plainsmen Field is getting a turf replacement costing $870,650 as part of the $100 million bond issue passed by Enid voters early in the year.

The project is expected to be completed in six to eight weeks and should be done by the beginning of pre-season football practice in August.

Pictures courtesy Tommy Parker.

Cruisin' VanBuren

Can you imagine cruisin up and down VanBuren like we did in high school? They are having a VanBuren cruise reunion on June 18th and 19th from 7pm to midnight. They will circle around McDonalds on one end and then down to the old Boy's Market on the south end. There are t-shirts that you can order that say VANBUREN CRUISERS 2010 on it. If you need more details or have questions you can email Darla Dalton Robbins at vanburencruisers@mail.com. If any of you are interested in t-shirts it would help me to know ahead of time so I know how many to order. Thanks!! They run from Youth Medium to Adult 6X in white, black or gray. They are 12.00 for sizes up to 1x and 14.00 for 2x and larger. You can send payment to: Darla Robbins P.O. Box 700812 Tulsa, OK 74170 T-shirts will be at the event behind McDonalds. If you need to make other arrangements you can email me at vanburencruisers@mail.com or call me at (918) 899-4191. check this group out on Facebook at VanBuren Cruisers of Enid

Judge Franklin retiring from bench at the end of the year

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — After nearly 19 years on the bench, District Judge Ronald Franklin will retire effective at the end of the year.

“I won’t be filing for re-election,” Franklin said Wednesday in his chambers at the Garfield County Court House. “I’ve been in it for 44 years. It’s time to take it easier.”

Franklin has served 18 years as a district judge for the Fourth Judicial District of Oklahoma. He was appointed May 28, 1992, by then-Gov. David Walters to fill a term left vacant by Judge Richard Pickens.

Prior to that, Franklin had a private law practice in Enid and also was in the district attorney’s office for four years. Franklin passed the Oklahoma Bar examination in April 1966 after receiving his law degree from the University of Oklahoma School of Law and a bachelor of science degree in business from Oklahoma State University.

“I was born and raised here and I came back here to work,” Franklin said. “I never left.”

It will be almost 19 years on the bench when Franklin retires in December and he said he’s seen many things in his time as a judge.

“You could read it in a book and not believe it,” Franklin said of some of the cases he’s handled. “Some of it is kind of amusing and some of it is very serious.”

Franklin said one of the things he enjoys most about his job his traveling to the surrounding counties for cases.

“It’s been kind of neat traveling around seeing the different counties and different people,” Franklin said. “I’ve handled everything from murder cases to divorce cases.”

Franklin offered this advice for the next judge: “Be yourself. If you are yourself and honest with yourself and be true to yourself you’ll be true to everybody. Don’t try to be someone you’re not.”

Franklin said he plans to travel with his wife, Gayle, and continue on with his hobbies.

“Just relaxing and traveling a little bit,” he said of his plans. “Just fiddling in my shop, things like that. I still run a few cars now and then.”

Franklin said when he retires it will be the people he will miss.

“Seeing the people,” he said. “Beth Malatin has been my court reporter since I’ve been here. Sharon Grantham was my bailiff before Darla Jankey and those are the people I’ve worked with my entire time here.

“I’ll miss them and not seeing the other judges.”

Franklin’s staff said they would miss the judge, too.

“He’s very fair. A great person and a great judge,” Malatin said. “It’s been wonderful working with him.”

“We honestly couldn’t ask for a better person to work for,” Jankey said. “We wish him and Gayle well in his retirement.”
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Mike Crosslin

We were very sorry to hear about the death of Michael Crosslin.  Ray Carter sent in the information that he passed away in Feb of this year.  Our condolences go out to his family.