Funeral services for William L. Pawnee Jr. will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Concho Community Hall, with burial following in the Concho Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

William died Aug. 3, 2021, in El Reno. He was born Dec. 17, 1962, in Clinton. He was a construction framer and member of the Native American Church.

William is survived by his brother, Freeman Pawnee of El Reno; stepbrother, Rodney Candyfire, and stepsister, Shelley Yates, both of Clinton.

A wake for Louis Sequoyah Locust will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Concho Community Hall. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Monday, also at the Concho Community Hall, with burial following in the Concho Cemetery.

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

Sequoyah passed away July 29, 2021, at Bear Butte State Park in South Dakota.

After meeting with the leadership from the Oklahoma State Department of Health and Canadian County Health Department Infectious Disease Specialists and consulting with local medical providers, El Reno Public Schools will begin school Aug. 12, 2021, much like we ended school last May.

The district will follow Centers for Disease Control recommendations in regard to the spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus (except in areas of the recommendations which are forbidden due to changes in Oklahoma State Statute).

All summer long I’ve wondered how we can recover from the aches, pains, bruises and scars from the last 18 months.

We’ve all been quarantined, sick, scared, and in many cases lost co-workers, colleagues, friends and family members. How in the world do we attempt to recover? Then, as in most cases my entire life, an inner voice told me to get up, buck up, grow up and quit feeling sorry for myself.

On Monday, July 19 I was driving around our school district checking on back-to-school progress when it hit me.