April 2022

For the first time in Burger Day history, the night skies will be illuminated with something other than stars.

Oklahoma City-based ARC Pyrotechnics Inc. has been contracted to put on a fireworks display over downtown El Reno. The first shots will fire around 9 p.m.

“We have been trying to do this show for three years but something like weather or COVID-19 has come up every year. So we are excited to get this one up in the air and we promise a good show, weather permitting, but it’s Oklahoma so you never know,” said company president Chandler Cook.

Oklahoma’s own Jason Young Band will be the headliner for the 2022 Burger Day musical acts and is set to take the Clara Bushyhead Stage at 8 p.m.

Melissa Meadows and her daughter, Shana Miller are the driving force behind Extreme Animals.

Meadows has been handling exotic animals her whole life.

Having a father as a game warden, Meadows was introduced at a young age to all manner of native wildlife.

Since her family was also very active in wildlife rehabilitation, she acquired a cougar when she was about 17 years old.

Having this amazing big cat as a pet, Meadows began to understand that her destiny was to be involved with the care, conservation and rehabilitation of all kinds of animals.

The Burger Day Festival is a tribute to the fried onion hamburger, cooked daily in El Reno since the early 1900s.

It’s the burger that has helped make the community a destination for food lovers and those trekking along historic Route 66.

It’s not uncommon to hear languages such as French or German being spoken in El Reno’s three main “burger joints,” Johnnie’s, Robert’s or Sid’s.

This year’s festival will include a Native American dance troupe as well as an Hispanic mariachi band.

Two representatives from the Department of Human Services showed up at Legacy Community Church Thursday evening, attempting to close the day care operating there. An El Reno police officer arrived, apparently assigned to help enforce the DHS mandate.

Friday morning, the day care was still operating.

Pastor Danny Hart said it will continue to operate because it’s not a day care. It’s a church ministry.

El Reno’s population is now at 21,000 people and the average household income has jumped to above $67,000, according to information provided by the city government. The overall trade area is close to 40,000 people.

Mayor Matt White laid out the numbers during last week’s El Reno Now gathering.

The monthly event was created and is hosted by White and School Superintendent Craig McVay.

Editor’s Note: Dee Cordry is an El Reno native. He became an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. His late mother was a teacher in the El Reno Public School System and his late father was circulation manager for the Tribune, as well as working with a local funeral home.

Matt Whetsel, director of Intervention and Crisis Advocacy Network, shows off a flier promoting the organization’s upcoming Cinco De Mayo event.

Whetsel was at the El Reno Now gathering last week.

The ICAN fundraiser begins at 6:30 p.m. May 5 at the Education Building at the old fairgrounds in El Reno. The event will feature Mexican food, music, a cash bar, contests and giveaways.

Graveside services for Delma Sue Mendel were held Monday, April 25 at Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche with Deacon Charles Krumsiek officiating.

Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Sue died April 20, 2022, in Oklahoma City. She was born May 10, 1952, in Okarche where she was a lifelong resident.

She graduated from Okarche High School in 1970 and was a member of Holy Trinity Church.  Sue worked in housekeeping and enjoyed attending her nieces and nephews sporting events.

The Calumet Chieftains, ranked 17th in the state, won the Class A, District 19 Championship over the weekend with two wins over Wellston and a third over Waukomis by a combined 48-8 margin.

Calumet was the lone small school in the county to emerge from the district round of the baseball postseason.

See Saturday’s edition for a breakdown of area small schools in the postseason for both baseball and slow-pitch softball.