shawnee outlook september 2010

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Vol. 7 Number 7September 10

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Articles and advertisements in Shawnee Outlook do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the magazine or Layers Media. Layers Media does not assume responsibility for statements made by advertisers or editorial contributors. The acceptance of advertising by Shawnee Outlook does not constitute endorsement of the products, services or information. We do not knowingly present any product or service that is fraudulent or misleading in nature. Shawnee Outlook assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials.

September 2010contents

features

6 Life of a Dancer

13 fLag traveLS fuLL circLe

17 Happy traiLS

21 Doctor in tHe HouSe

22 tranSpLant atHLete: mike Lane

25 croSSing tHe cuLturaL DiviDe

26 SuStainabLe Lumber

29 Spar finDS HomeS for petS

departments 9 Scott’s Space

10 best of Shawnee

20 Sonic contest

30 reflections

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for many people ‘following your dream’ is just a cliché. for cordell Weathersbee ii, it’s not anymore. cordell, also known as

cJ, is now following a dream that was once simply a hobby.

born in italy to military parents, cordell, has lived in a variety of places from bermuda to new Jersey. it was during his sophomore year of high school in allen, texas that a spark for dancing was lit. cordell recalled, “my mom, a minister, took me to austin where she was preaching. i heard a song and felt the need to dance to it. my mom encouraged me to dance in front of all those people. afterward, one of the ministers came to me and said that something big was going to hap-pen in my life with dance.” although this was the beginning of the journey, the passion for dance didn’t take hold of cordell for a few more years. During cordell’s senior year of high school, he was asked to do choreography for the pom squad and started a school Hip Hop club. that‘s when cordell said he ‘got serious‘ with dance. His sum-mers were spent taking dance classes in L.a. from award-winning choreographers such as Shane Sparks and Wade robson. then on to new york for classes with Luam and emmy winning chore-ographer, mia michaels. He shared about one of his favorite choreographers who he hopes to take classes from in the future, Laurie ann gibson. “She’s an inspiration. She’s an amazing choreog-rapher and a person who embodies what dance is, that it comes from within you, that works for me.”

cordell’s passion for dance exudes with ev-

ery spoken word. He shared that every dancer, every choreographer has a ‘style’. “my style is realistic. i like to base it on real situations, real people, real life.” His dance embodies a theme and brings it to life. it could be something as abstract as water and “how the moon affects the ocean, the flow of things. that leads people to think about cause and affect in their own lives.” to many dancers technique is the most impor-tant aspect of dance. While cordell respects the ‘beauty of technique’, he expressed a belief in something that goes deeper than what the eye sees. “i want to change how people look at dance. How you can take something from your-self and put it out there. a dance full of great techniques without reality movement doesn’t draw people in and create a connection.” Last year he choreographed a dance on ‘loss’ that revealed how everyone deals with loss differ-ently. “no two people look at loss the same. unfortunately some people hurt themselves or become depressed afterwards. i wanted people to realize that they’re not alone. everyone has things to deal with and we shouldn’t judge one another.” this expressive dance style has taken cordell to places that many dancers dream of, an audition spot on the Hit tv Show ’So you Say you can Dance.’ although he didn’t make the final cut, he will audition again. as such, he is ’under contract to be silent.’ However, he stated, “it was an awesome experience. it’s tough. even the ’big-time’ choreographers try out. i feel blessed to have been a part of it.”

the amazing opportunities cordell has had

to train with some of the most highly sought after choreographers in the dance industry helped fan that early spark into a flame. attend-ing dance school might seem the most ‘natural’ step for him to take. However, unforeseen cir-cumstances prevented that from becoming a re-ality. this obstacle has not deterred him from pursuing his passion. While pursuing a pr major at obu, cordell continues to take dance classes from the Dancenter and applause Studios. He also participates at the monster’s of Hip Hop and pulse conventions. this continued training keeps him in demand as a choreographer and dance instructor. He choreographs locally for the mcLoud and Seminole pom Squads. as well as teaching Hip Hop at faith christian outreach in Shawnee and contemporary dance at the Dan-center in okc. the future is bright for cordell who shared a few ’highlights of things to come’. “in September i start an internship with the box talent agency. this will work well with my pub-lic relations major and help me to understand the dance industry better. as an agent and cho-reographer, helping people achieve their dreams and see their lives differently through the art of dance, that’s my heart, it’s where god is taking me.”

With determination and great focus, “i have a dream that i can accomplish. Dance became who i was, it’s such a big part of me.”

for class information, private lessons or choreography, contact cordell Weathersbee ii at 405-219-5420, [email protected] or on facebook- cordell cJ Weathersbee.

by: mindy Woodlife of aby: melanie phillips clemens


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Hello, readers! This month’s article is go-ing to be a bit disjointed, as i leap from topic to topic, but stick with me. first

i want to talk about my daughters. my eldest, Sabrina, was just cast in the SLt production of “annie”, which will be coming up in october. This will be her first speaking role in a real play, and she’s pretty excited. She’s playing tessie, who i think is pretty whiny- nothing like her in real life. although i have performed in the theatre the majority of my life, i never wanted to push my girls into doing it, unless they wanted to. So i’m pretty happy Sabrina is wanting to follow in her old man’s footsteps- at least for now. go see the show!

my youngest, marilyn, just started pre-k yes-terday. The good thing is we weren’t really too concerned about sending her, because she has the same teachers that Sabrina did- ms. ingold and ms. ernst. ms. ingold told me she enjoyed the articles that i write, and that i should write one about pre-k. So here you are, Lynn! These ladies are fabulous teachers, and we consider ourselves blessed that Sabrina got to experience them, and now marilyn. after a year with them, Sabrina was able to write her first novel, split the atom, and create works of art that rival picasso. yes, these teachers are that good.

now on to something else- music. i am of-ten asked- “Scott, what kind of music do you listen to?” and i’m always a little hesitant to answer, because i think that what you listen to says a little bit about who you are. So i’m going to try and answer this question, and hopefully you won’t think i’m too weird. The other ques-tion that usually accompanies this one is “Who is your favorite band?” Those that know me well knows that i love the red Hot chili peppers. yes, those adolescent looking funkmeisters from Los angeles. i first discovered them in the early nine-ties. a friend of mine, Lane Davis, was showing me his music collection. He pulled out a chili

peppers cD and said “if you wanna rock out hard, listen to these guys”. That was back in my “rock-out hard” days, so i bought one of their cD’s. and have loved them ever since. The thing that i think most people would be surprised by is just how musically talented they really are, and how they have matured as musicians. are they my #1 band? maybe. fighting hard for that spot is another band that i discovered around that same time- the pixies. The pixies can best be described as a bizarre mix between pop and punk. They were only together for about 6 or 7 years and recorded 5 albums. They didn’t have much mainstream success, but they are highly revered in the music industry. at least that’s what i’m told.

What about concerts? probably the best show i’ve seen was pink floyd, back in 93 or 94. now i know purists will say that wasn’t really them since roger Waters was not with them at the time, but they still had the majority of the original band. for pure sound quality and spec-tacle, i still hold it as the best show i’ve seen. a close second is u2, when we saw them last year in norman. The stage was massive, and the music was outstanding. and of course, i’ve seen the chili peppers three times, loving every one of their shows. (Snoop Dogg opened up for one of those shows- that was quite a unique experi-ence). and next month, i will finally, after all of these years, get to see the pixies live when they come to tulsa. They have done several re-union tours over the last few years, and i be-lieve this is their first foray into oklahoma- and i will be there! (i’m missing a wedding between two friends of mine to go- please forgive me.) a game i like to play with friends is to ask them what band they would pay a lot of money to see, or who would they like to see reunite? number one for me would be a Led Zeppelin reunion- i think i would pay mucho cash for that. i’d also like to see a cars reunion- i used to love the

cars! and i’m still kicking myself repeatedly for missing the police when they reunited recently. i always hate to see bands who continue with-out their distinctive lead singer. in my mind, it’s much easier to get a new drummer or keyboardist than it is to replace a legendary singer. chicago without peter cetera- meh. Styx without Dennis Deyoung- meh. We saw Journey in concert last summer, and they have a guy that sounds just like Steve perry- but he’s still not Steve perry, so while it was a good show, it wasn’t the same as seeing them with Steve.

as you can probably tell, one type of music that i really do not care for is country. it’s some-what ironic since i have lived most of my life in oklahoma where there is an abundance of coun-try stars. i can’t tell you why- i just don’t like it. really the only “country” i’ve ever enjoyed is The man in black- Johnny cash. and to me, his atti-tude was more rock and roll then country- maybe that’s why i liked him. other than him, there re-ally is no other country that i can stand to listen to. please don’t take offense country lovers- per-haps it’s some genetic flaw that i have.

That should clear things up somewhat as to where my musical tastes lie. Just to throw a wrench into things, i will confess to you that as i’m writing this i’m listening to enya- yes, the celtic singer whose lush, dulcet tones i find ex-tremely soothing and relaxing. go figure. you may have noticed there are no “new” artists that i mentioned. i guess i’m on my way to cranky old man-dom, complaining about the sorry state of music nowadays, and how you punk kids don’t know what good music is. So help me out hip-sters- give me some really good artists to listen to. i’d appreciate it- i can listen to it while i’m changing my Depends. remember, you can con-tact me at [email protected], so let me know who your favorite bands are, who you’d like to see reunite, and what new groups are worth listening to.

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Step into another world when you taste the culinary art of mimosa bici’s House of crepes Sussette! mimosa and her husband Dritran moved from tirana, albania to oklahoma last year and two months ago opened the take out restaurant on W. macarthur Street. their medi-terranean menu encompasses greek and french cuisine with a style that is all her own.

they offer sixty items including pasta, poul-try, beef, salads and crepes filled with a choice of 46 savory or sweet flavors and a free cup of coffee. there’s something for everyone from vegetarians to meat lovers or those with a sweet tooth. crepes can be stuffed with chicken and swiss cheese, spinach and feta, fruit and choco-late or even tiramisu! coming this fall they will add authentic albanian hot baked dishes, stews, and several flavors of cappuccino.

mimosa has a passion for light and healthy food. they do not fry their food or cook with fats like butter and they use fresh, raw ingredients. Salads are drizzled with olive oil, herbs, and fresh squeezed lemon. everything is prepared naturally and mimosa says her customers can taste the difference. “When you don’t use food with fillers or preservatives, you can taste every ingredient. We use whole milk and eggs from braum’s for our crepes so you have calcium and

protein. We prepare our batter twice a day so it’s always fresh. We use fresh extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice for dressings and we even make our own yogurt for the Zaziki sauce.”

they use authentic italian cheeses like mas-carpone, fresh mozzarella in soft balls, ricotta, feta, swiss and cream cheese. the restaurant is named for the famous crepe Sussette, a sweet and tangy filling of fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice, orange and lemon zest with caramel and grand marnier.

according to mimosa, crepes are a versatile food and can be enjoyed as a meal or finger food. She has also enjoyed introducing something so new to her customers. “it’s a quick meal and most people here don’t realize you don’t have to use a knife and fork. it is a satisfying meal especially because our entrees equal two portions. i enjoy watching their reactions to something new and see new customers referred to our restaurant.”

Her greatest satisfaction? “cooking for me is a passion because it is a basic need and a pleasure but we put our heart and not just our money into this restaurant. i take satisfaction from my customers, their impressions and their friendship.”

mimosa and Dritran have been met with a welcoming and friendly community. When mi-mosa “won” the green card lottery, they enjoyed a prosperous life in albania but wanted more op-portunities for their children. after consulting with friends and family in america and doing re-search, oklahoma was a fit. “Some of our friends told us about Shawnee. Life here is cheaper, quiet, and easier to running a business. people are very friendly and nice here and we’re making friends and having fun. america is the land of the free and land of dreams becoming true. ”

House of crepes Sussette is located on W. macarthur one block east of kickapoo Street. place your orders by phone at 275-1005 or stop by between 10:30 am to 6:30pm.

Best of Shawnee

by: mindy Wood

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each year Shawnee plays host to a del-egation of new friends thanks to our Sister cities relationship with nikaho Japan. this year’s installment of the program has been quite the 20th anniversary celebration. it wasn’t just about taking some memorable snapshots with new friends. this year’s del-egation saw history come full circle.

Some may wonder why nikaho was cho-sen as our Sister city. What began as a busi-ness venture has since become a cultural ex-perience for hundreds of school children and sponsors. the idea for the Sister cities pact with nikaho actually began in 1987 when tDk, which stands for tokyo Denki kagaku (tokyo electric and chemicals), set up shop here.

Shana Hibler, treasurer for Shawnee Sis-ter cities, has been involved with the pro-gram since 2003. She explained that former Shawnee mayor pierre taron, Jr. and nikaho mayor norio tomoe shared a vision to pro-mote peace and broaden the minds of stu-dents in their two cultures.

“many around Shawnee are not aware of the fact that the birthplace of tDk was in nikaho, Japan,” Hibler said. “now that industry has locations literally all over the world. these two men set out to enter into a relationship between our two cities that has now grown into a 20 year relationship. through this cultural exchange, students have been exposed to not only the culture of nikaho and it citizens, but also its educa-tional system, economic system, etcetera.”

in march of 1990 the first delegation of Japanese dignitaries visited Shawnee. in october of that year, several Shawnee city leaders made the trip to nikaho to sign the formal Sister cities agreement.

each summer, Shawnee sends a group of students and sponsors to nikaho. in the fall, nikaho students and adults visit Shawnee. the guests stay with host families so they get to experience local culture first hand. visitors to Shawnee are often treated to a football game, a visit to local schools, horse-back riding and a picnic at Shawnee Lake.

Hibler explained that students hoping to claim one of the delegate spots pick up an ap-plication in January of their 7th grade year. they must answer four essay questions and provide the names of four references. names are removed and three independent judges score the essays. each reference is sent an evaluation form to complete and interviews are conducted by a panel of five out-of-town judges. the highest and lowest scores for each student are thrown out and the top eight students are selected based on the fi-nal score.

Shawnee’s delegation left august 2 and returned august 10. the group toured nika-ho’s city Hall and the local science museum. they took a ride on a fishing boat and swam in the Sea of Japan. the group also toured the middle school, where 200 students greet-ed them, even though they interrupted their vacation to do so. at the local fire station, they were challenged to a race with the fire >

Flag Travels Full CirCleSister Cities Program Celebrates 20 Years

by: Denise Watson-Quinalty

Interview with Japan TV


hose. “We won, but i think maybe they let us

win!” delegate emma morris said. “So, the firefighters did 100 pushups for us!”

also during the trip, morris had a front row seat as her own family history merged with what many of the rest of us only read about in history books. this up close and personal history lesson actually began in World War ii where her step dad’s grandfa-ther was stationed. according to family his-tory, he was part of a group that was attacked by Japanese pilots on a kamikaze mission, a suicide attack in which the pilots intention-ally crashed their plans into their targets.

“one pilot, mr. Hoshi, was draped in a kamikaze flag that had Japanese writing all over it,” morris said, adding that her great grandfather brought the flag home with him after the war. although he died when mor-ris’s stepfather, chris Sherman, was only three, the little boy found the flag and asked his grandmother if he could have it. “He’s had it ever since.”

this past June, when nikaho sent an adult only delegation to Shawnee, morris’s

family hosted two men, one of whom stud-ies ancient Japanese writings. the delegate, whose name is Shiro, could make out the pi-lot’s first name and tell that he was a student priest. the other writings on the flag were prayers of his classmates. Shiro took pictures of the flag before returning to Japan. the week before morris was to leave for nikaho, Shiro e-mailed Sherman that he had located the pilot’s family. morris took the flag with her and presented it to the man’s nephew, who drove six hours to receive the flag at the Shawnee delegation’s welcome party in nikaho.

“i was interviewed on Japanese tv, which was really surprising!” morris said.

She found out that mr. Hoshi’s 85-year-old sister, who was unable to make the drive to nikaho, told Shiro that having her broth-er’s flag brought home made her feel like her brother was being returned home to her.

morris’s mother, nicki Sherman, hopes her daughter learned some valuable lessons while she was a member of the delegation.

“they are very humble people and that is something that i think we could all improve

continued from pg. 13

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upon!” she said. “We also were hopeful that this experience would open her eyes to the fact that, even though we may be worlds apart, we all see the same sun and moon; we all have the same problems, fears, hopes and dreams.”

this act of friendship is a representation of what the Sister cities agreement between Shawnee and nikaho means—two nations that were at war a mere 65 years ago now coexisting in a relationship of peace. for more information on Shawnee’s Sister cities agreement with nikaho, visit http://www.davidhibler.com/sistercities/about-us/.


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supplies, organize traffic control, plan the route and head out for some adventure.

cecil bernard is a member of several trail riding associations, including the northwest calva cade, the oldest in america. He has been featured twice in trail blazer magazine for his expertise and dedication to these trips back in time. He is responsible for the very first elec-trical and water hookups that trail riders now enjoy in oklahoma. “campsites had electrical hook ups for motor homes but not for horse travelers. i went to governor boren and he told me to write a proposal for it. He approved it and robber’s cave was the first place to ever get hookups,” said bernard. “now they’re ev-erywhere from prague Lake to Lake murray.”

bernard was also a former u.S. marshall on horseback and responsible for traffic con-trol for one of the most famous trail rides in

u.S. History. He traveled with the bicentennial trail ride through eight states, beginning on January 1976 in Houston, texas and ending at valley forge, pennsylvania July 3rd. Some years later he also joined the unforgettable trail of tears trail ride and has continued year after year to support local trail rides through-out oklahoma.

“i started shoeing horses when i was four-teen and made my living doing that and train-ing horses for farmers and people who like to ride in rodeos. i used to take old wood wheel wagons and restore them. out on the trail rides, there’s always someone who needs help with a shoe or a horse that needs some minor attention. We all help each other along the way,” said bernard.

Since the earlier days of covered wagons people have updated them for better travel.

Hundreds of people across the united States are hit-ting forgotten trails on horseback and in covered wagons, forged by pioneers and cattle drives. right

here in Shawnee, oklahoma cecil bernard has been closely involved in the movement to re-member our heritage and relive a by gone era.

The 88 year old horseman still saddles up for the trail rides that are held twice a year. over rocky terrain, around towns and camp-grounds, travelers make their way through beautiful oklahoma countryside for an experi-ence like no other.

every spring and fall, a virtual traveling town of people with pioneer spirit, pull their resources and skills together for rides that range from 50 to 100 miles. They pack their

by: mindy Wood

>

Reliving a By Gone Era


continued from pg. 17

horse or hitch them to your wagon and expect to make a 120 mile ride. it’s just like athletics, it takes time and preparation.”

all the hard work seems to be worth the joy it brings them and others who witness these trail blazers in action. “We go by a lot of schools and it’s fun to see the kids excite-ment. When we go by nursing homes the older folks get a chance to see the things they saw in their youth. We sit around and tell stories by the campfire. it’s a lot of fun and you’re with a great group of people,” said carpenter.

The journey builds a deep sense of com-munity and according to the old cowboy way, there seems to an unspoken code of conduct and consideration for others. “a man like ce-cil bernard is always there to help,” said car-penter. “i’ve always been impressed with his knowledge, experience and the fact that’s he’s easy to get along with and easy to get to know. i’ve always admired that about him.”

fascination with trail rides and wagon trains are found throughout our country and have been going on for decades. cecil bernard summed up why so many americans feel com-pelled to take on these roads less traveled.

“my theory is we all like to go back in time and try to think of living our heritage like our ancestors and granddad’s ancestors did from the settlement of this country on up.”

for more information on trail riding visit www.oetra.com or www.89nerswagontrain.com

complete with bedding, electrical capabilities, insulation, portable toilet, and even cookware these wagons are virtual homes on rubber wheels.

friend to cecil bernard and fellow trail rid-er, coy carpenter has watched improvements evolve over the years but said that some things never change, like danger and difficult circum-stances. “We search out campsites and people have nice equipment and supplies but we’ve been caught in thunderstorms with 45 mile an hour wind gusts, severe thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Sometimes you end up with problems with the animals. Last april we had to put a horse down. another time, two hors-es were pulling a wagon and one of them went down on top of the other. We had to get the horse back up, get everything calm and make sure no one was hurt in the process.”

bernard added that certain trail riding skills have to be acquired. “We’ve seen people come on the ride with a horse that hadn’t been trained for a long ride and the people hadn’t been either.” carpenter added, “you have to spend time conditioning yourself and your team for that. you can’t just jump on your

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a handful of students across the nation were selected to participate in a summer honors pro-gram at indiana State university. the students spent a week on campus to learn about the basic techniques of cancer research and Shawnee high school student, Leslie Sutton was the only student from oklahoma who joined them.

the straight-a-student decided a couple of years ago she wanted to be a doctor. this year she scored so high on her pSat that colleges have al-ready started courting the young sophomore who was first in her class last spring.“Letters started pouring in,” said mother, elizabeth young. “We knew we wanted to get her into a summer program to expose her to career opportunities in medi-cine and the indiana State offer seemed to fit for her.” after submitting letters of recommendation, transcripts and scores from her pSat she was ac-cepted.

the program demonstrated research methods, provided insight to patient care, and even edu-cated students about the newest cancer drugs on the horizon. Leslie Sutton seemed to learn a lot. “We did experiments that imitated what cancer does in our bodies, how the cells grow and spread. i learned that when tumors are stationary they don’t do much but when they start moving it gets dangerous and that most people have tumors but they’re benign. they also talked about a new drug that better targets cancer cells to kill them instead of killing so many healthy ones.”

Leslie was exposed to the need for better pa-tient care and how cancer centers are improving. “cancer is horrible but the process to get better makes you sick. We learned that cancer centers are trying to make them feel more at home. a lot of pa-tients are there for awhile and they want something familiar. Some places are letting patients pick the color of their room, hang paintings donated to the patients, and they give them a garden to go into when they feel like it. more windows let in natural

light and it doesn’t make them feel so caged up.”When asked what she thought it takes to be a

good doctor, she talked about the doctor-patient re-lationship. “i think a doctor should be empathetic. you should never be mean to a patient because you don’t know what they’re going through. i think you have to be really dedicated to your patients.”

Leslie is close to the disease and so were about a fourth of her fellow students who knew someone who died or was fighting cancer. Her great grand-mother passed away fighting it. “the day Leslie kicked in my womb was the day i found out her great grandmother died,” said elizabeth. “it was bit-tersweet and my mother always said Leslie would grow up and be the doctor that found a cure for cancer. i’ve never pushed her into it. i didn’t have any preconceived notions so if she didn’t want to be a doctor i was okay with it. as long as she’s happy with what she chooses to do then i’ll be happy. i’m very proud of her.”

as to whether or not Leslie wants to be an on-cologist, she said “it’s an option but probably not. it makes me sad. i like helping people and i think medicine is fascinating,” she added with a smile, “and the pay’s not bad either.”

Leslie has some time to think about the type of doctor she wants to be and has a string of colleges who are already trying to help her decide where to go. “i don’t know where i want to go yet,” she said “but there are a lot of letters on my wall right now.” in the meantime she plans to work hard in school and keep up with her favorite shows, the two hit doctor tv dramas, House and grey’s anatomy.

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at five feet four inches tall and 129 pounds, you might not peg mike Lane for an athlete, but he is. in fact, he has four medals to his name and is only in his third year of competition. Lane has overcome a lot in order to compete, but he shows everyone daily just how much of a competitor he truly is. no matter how you look at him, mike Lane is blessed.

at the age of six, Lane was diagnosed with brittle juvenile diabetes, meaning he experi-enced extremely wide fluctuations in his blood sugar level.

“by not listening and doing what the doctors told me to do, i did and ate want i wanted to,” he said. “i saw in my eyes that i was no different than any other kid, but i was because i was not taking care of myself.”

a mini-stroke in 2001 led to testing that showed Lane’s kidneys were failing. Three years later, doctors told him he would need to start dialysis treatments and that he would eventu-ally need both kidney and pancreas transplants. on april 25, 2005, Lane was placed on the trans-plant waiting lists.

Lane was one of the fortunate ones whose wait was relatively short. The web site orgando-nor.gov states that the average wait time for a kidney is 1,121 days, or just over three years. The average wait time for a pancreas is 501 days, or just over one year and four months. for Lane, June 29, 2006 stands out as the day that would change his life forever—the day he received the call that compatible organs had been found.

The procedure was successful, but that is not the only happy ending to Lane’s story. nearly two years later, while reading an organ trans-plant newsletter, he noticed an article seeking transplant athletes and called the contact per-son for team oklahoma.

“i asked what sports they had and when she said that bowling was a sport they had, i said,

‘where do i sign-up?’ i felt like i had missed out on so much of life growing up with diabetes that this is how i could give back and honor the spe-cial person and family for allowing me to be here today,” Lane said.

to qualify as a transplant athlete, a person must be the recipient of a heart, lung, liver, kid-ney, pancreas, eye or any other type of tissue or organ. The athlete must be six to nine months post-transplant and have a medical waiver signed by their transplant physician to clear them for participation in their events. transplant recipi-ents may compete in the uS games in even num-bered years and the World games in odd num-bered years.

Lane’s first opportunity to compete was in pittsburgh, pennsylvania in 2008. His doubles bowling team placed 4th, narrowly missing the medal stand by 11 pins. in singles bowling, Lane again finished in 4th place, this time missing out on the bronze medal by just eight pins.

in 2009, Lane attended the World transplant games in australia. With a partner from utah, Lane earned a silver medal in doubles bowling and once again placed 4th in the singles event, missing a medal by 16 pins.

This past august it was off to the uS games, which took place in madison, Wisconsin. Lane and his teammate took the silver in doubles bowl-ing and Lane went on to win the bronze in the singles event. also this year, Lane competed in 3-on-3 basketball with his team taking bronze. He placed 9th in the softball throw with a dis-tance of 129.3 feet.

“and to make the end of the week a fascinat-ing ending, i made the 2010 uS transplant games highlight video!” he said.

over the past four years, Lane has become an active supporter of organ donation. He is an ad-vocate for the cause, even when it means missing league bowling nights at Shawnee bowl. While

he is missing valuable practice time, he knows he is making an impact elsewhere. Lane wants oth-ers to know what a difference sharing the gift of life can make and the best way to get that point across is to be present—to show others what a healthy transplant survivor looks like. This is also one way he honors his donor, who had to lose his life so Lane could have a second chance at his.

Last fall was an emotional time for Lane in that regard. He wrote his first letter to the fam-ily of patrick bowen, the young man who saved his life, on what he calls his one year “transplanti-versary” in 2007. upon his return from australia last summer, Lane finally received the response the family sent in 2007, which had somehow sur-faced after nearly two years.

Lane responded immediately and met the family in person last october. now, he spends time with them celebrating the young man who brought them all together. Lane has joined the family on visits to patrick’s gravesite on what would have been his birthday. He has also attend-ed holiday gatherings and a baptism. The bowens have gotten involved with Lane’s activities, in-cluding donor/recipient picnics and the national kidney Walk.

“it has felt like a part of pat is still here,” pat-rick’s step mom, angela bowen, said. “mike hangs out with us and attends many family events. ev-eryone has been very accepting. it sort of gives patrick’s life and death a sense of purpose and re-ally helps make it feel not so tragic knowing that some good came from it.”

Lane never forgets the ultimate gift he has re-ceived from the bowen family. it is a blessing he acknowledges each and every day. Lane looks for-ward to continuing his mission of informing oth-ers about organ donation and already has plans to attend the World transplant games next year in Sweden. for more information on organ dona-tion, visit lifeshareoklahoma.org.

by: Denise Watson-QuinaltyMike Lane

t r a n s p l a n t a t h l e t e


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many oklahomans, learn about a foreign country, its language or customs, through textbooks or cyberspace. However, sev-

eral families in Shawnee and surrounding communi-ties have had the opportunity to learn about other countries firsthand through a program housed on the campus of St. gregory’s university. The Lan-guage company Shawnee is the original and oldest division of The Language company. Their purpose is to provide english instruction and cultural exchange for international students who desire to learn eng-lish as a second language. closer inspection reveals a more intimate agenda that has opened the world to its participants.

tLc Shawnee operates on the 3rd floor of the mark braun Hall, complete with computer labs, classrooms and dorm rooms. a professional staff of highly skilled teachers spend their days with stu-dents from various ages and nationalities. interna-tional students come for a minimum 4 week session and attend classes in grammar, verbal Skills, read-ing and Writing with electives that include vocabu-lary, conversation, computer and american culture. tony terry, director, shared “many of our students go on to study at an american university while oth-ers want to ’climb the corporate ladder’ in a company in their native country. The interview process for jobs in foreign countries is often done in english. if their english skills are not good enough to conduct a good interview, they will not get the job.” although, university bound students are guided through the college enrollment process, their experience on american soil, “the whole mix that is america, will help them in the classroom.” The average age for an international student is 19 years old and older but ‘study vacation programs’ often bring in students as young as 15. Students come from korea, Japan, ec-uador and Saudi arabia to name a few. The cultural exchange between student and teacher has been an amazing experience for them both. one of the seven teachers at the school, anne Sadberry shared, “being a teacher here has opened the world to me. i see stu-dents come here unable to speak english. communi-cation starts between koreans, Japanese, africans and Saudis. english becomes the common denomina-tor.” a great teaching environment, perfect student to teacher ratio and willing students has made ‘The

Language company Shawnee’ an attractive place to work. teachers, Thomas mosley and marilee mcel-fresh, agreed “that it’s been an exceptional opportu-nity to work with such a diversity of cultures.” “i feel like i’ve actually been to Saudi arabia through inter-acting with the students from there. i’ve gotten to learn about their values, their culture.” Thomas said.

This cultural interplay is not exclusive between teachers and students. tLc Shawnee has a Homestay program that connects local families with its students for a cultural experience ‘from another world.’ Susan Sterling has been the homestay coordinator for the past 10 years and a homestay parent even longer. for international parents sending their children abroad, Shawnee is a “rural hometown with ethnicities that make it the perfect place for a student to experi-ence america.” participating in a homestay makes an international students’ visit in america more welcoming and is an integral part of tLc. “it really immerses them into american culture. They have to speak english all the time. in the dorm, it’s easy for them to slip into speaking their own language” Susan said. Homestay families are financially compensated at the rate of $600 per 4- week session per student for ‘housing’ them.Therefore, the families must un-dergo an application process. it’s necessary to pro-vide the student with 3 meals a day, a room of their own and transportation to and from school. it “really integrates them into the family.” Wanda robinson has been ‘homestay mom’ to more than 60 students over the past 11 years. They started hosting students while living in california and continued after mov-ing to oklahoma because “it brings the world to our family.” Wanda enjoys the flexibility that tLc offers to homestay families since you can house a student for 4 weeks or 9 months. While most of her students have been asian, a young man from Saudi arabia has become one of her favorites. “He’s delightful, not the stereotype you often see in the media. When you get to know the students, you find out they’re different than what you thought. it’s the same for them. The media often portrays americans different than what we really are. i had a Japanese student who thought we walked around carrying guns. He had a gangster

mentality of america. it’s good for them to see what america is really like.” Wanda said. another home-stay veteran, barbara calmes has not only housed students but has encouraged other families to open their homes as well. She shared her fondest memory, “an older, single lady was hesitant to participate in the program. finally she hosted a female student. They connected so deeply that the young girl has stayed in touch with the family even after the lady passed away.” Since barbara’s husband retired as pastor of first baptist church of Shawnee, they have taken advantage of the ‘study vacation program’, a limited session offered by tLc. “We travel a lot overseas and this works well with our schedule.” in previous years, the calmes would have as many as 5 students at one time. barbara boasted of “having a marvelous time and making great connections with the kids.” both Wanda and barbara expressed that, “ it’s an oppor-tunity to be a good ambassador as a christian and an american.”

The privilege of being involved with people from another country is voiced by international and american families alike. The relationships fostered have literally crossed the cultural divide with families becoming intermingled for years to come. christmas cards, wedding invitations, birth announcements are just a sampling of the communication that contin-ues between international family and american Host family. prejudices fell away as they got to know indi-viduals. even past prejudices handed down from one generation to the next disappeared. at a final gradua-tion ceremony, students have been reported to say, “i can’t believe my best friend is Japanese or korean. i did not know any Japanese or korean. before i didn’t have good feelings towards them but now i have good feelings.”

“The Language company, is one of those points where worlds can come together.” coupled with the Homestay program it’s “one more great gift we can give that causes them to appreciate the united States.”

for information on being a Homestay family con-tact Susan Sterling at 405-397-7196 or by email at [email protected].

Crossing the Cultural Divide

by: melanie phillips clemens


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few things are more satisfying than doing what you enjoy. When your work also happens to give back to your community and the land you love, its like icing on the cake. for tony Wall of Shawnee Saw mill, harnessing un-tapped resources and providing jobs are both worthwhile endeavors.

He opened his sawmill about a year ago when he real-ized that the need for land clearing and the need for cost effective lumber could serve each other. “i saw several needs coming together at the same time. Land owners needed clearing. Wood workers, the construction and oil industry really needed the wood that was going to waste.”

according to Wall, when a land owner or developer clears land, the end result is usually a pile of trees going up in smoke. “Land clearing is expensive. it’s an eye sore, a potential fire hazard and a waste of resources. our concept is to offer low cost or no cost land clearing and convert unwanted timber into more profitable uses.”

With the recent tornado damage, home owners found out how expensive it is to get rid of unwanted trees or tim-ber. “Seventy miles of damage about two miles wide was an almost unbelievable amount of damage done. other than firewood there’s really nothing that people can do with it except spend money to clear it out. insurance companies rarely cover that so the loss of these beautiful trees and the financial liability for land owners is significant.”

over populated trees can be a nuisance, especially the problem with cedar trees in oklahoma.“The number one agriculture problem in oklahoma is cedar trees. Depend-ing on their size they drink more than 50 gallons of water a day, cause land erosion and are toxic to some types of vegetation including some fruit trees. birds eat the seeds and then deposit the seeds along fences. The next thing you know, you’ve got cedar trees growing along your fence line. if you don’t get control of it quickly, you’ll lose your fence. We’re losing tens of thousands of acres a year to red cedar. That wood is used for furniture, fencing, wood working, animal bedding and cedar oil.”

Wall’s supply of lumber doesn’t only come from mas-sive land clearing or natural disasters. “We often get peo-ple who had to cut down an old tree planted by a family

member. rather than cut it up for firewood, they bring it to us and have us cut it to reuse it for their own lum-ber. people call us a lot and offer a couple of trees they had to cut down.”

His customers find the material less expensive and pleased to find woods that are not easily found, espe-cially hardwoods. “oil companies need hardwoods for rig mats, heavy equipment trailers need it for a sturdy bed and dump trucks need railings. There are a lot of commercial applications for our wood and before, cus-tomers had to drive as far 200 miles to get this material if they could even find it. We’re offering it locally and competitively.”

contrary to common thought, Wall said we are not in short supply of trees. “We have more trees in amer-ica than we did 100 years ago. replanting efforts have caught up with companies who planted more trees than they cleared or harvested. it’s actually good for a heavily wooded area to be thinned out because it will stimulate more growth. in that way, we’re protecting the environ-ment and making wise use of our natural resources.”

His business is also contributing to the local econo-my. “including our subcontractors and employees here, we employ about fifteen workers. That means we’re feeding fifteen families and that’s meaningful. i mean, can you offer anyone something better than a job? The best thing about having a business is helping people.”

tony Wall comes from a long line of business own-ers. His grandfather started the family run newton Wall company. tony owns a financial planning and in-surance business, Smart money network and started doing trim work as a hobby twenty five years ago. While health problems prevent him from getting his hands in the work, he enjoys it just the same. “i’ve always thought people should get into what they love doing. i had a vi-sion and found great people to handle the work. We’re meeting needs with natural resources that were being wasted and putting money back into the economy. if i end up with money in my pocket, that’s great too.”

Shawnee Saw mill is located at 511 e. Highland and can be reached at 788-6186.

Sustainable

S h a w n E E S a w M i l lby: mindy Wood

Tony Wall and crew


D O W N T O W N K A F É

main street

main street

C O F F E E • T E A • S M O O T H l E S • S A N D W l C H E S • S O U P • S A L A D S

W W W . S l P S K A F E . C O M

l l 4 E A S T M A I N • S H A W N E E


kids aren’t the only ones looking for a good home in pott. county. animals who lose their way or are abandoned

roam the streets in search of welcoming own-ers. Saving pets at risk (Spar) rescues these animals and match a potential pet with an owner while easing the burden that displaced animals pose on our community.

Since July 2009 they’ve successfully placed 39 dogs and 44 cats with owners. Spar networks with local vet clinics, shelters and national organizations to reduce the number of pets killed at animal shelters and address overpopulation through spay and neuter-ing. Some pets have been reunited with their original owners, several rescued from neglect, and others found hopelessly wandering the streets.

kay Heinz and her husband paul are the adoption directors for Spar and reported that pet homelessness occurs for several reasons. pets are often “dumped” if attempts to sell or give them away are unsuccessful, natural di-sasters estrange pets from an owner, or are abandoned when a pet poses a financial bur-den due to improper care.

animals who are not spayed or neutered populate more unwanted offspring. “it creates manpower problems at the city level,” said kay Heinz. “there isn’t enough space to house them and if they’re full they have to start put-ting them down.”

that’s where Spar comes in. “Wes beck founded Spar to save any pet or animal that is a stray, abused, or abandoned from eutha-nasia. our local shelters and even surround-ing area shelters check with us because they don’t want to euthanize any of them. We find

pet foster homes and take care of medical needs and food for the animals,” said Heinz. “foster home volunteers don’t have to pay for it.”

Spar has fundraisers to help cover these costs and with an average of forty to sixty animals in pet foster care, those expenses add up. it’s all worth it according to Heinz. “We’ve nursed some animals back to health and found owners who are willing to take them. We even reunited a pet with an out of state owner through our pet finder link on the website.”

the fourth Saturday of every month Shaw-nee mall hosts an adoption fair from 12pm to 4 pm where potential owners are screened. adop-tive pet owners who take on an adult pet re-ceive an animal that has been checked by a vet-erinarian and spayed or neutered. “We follow up with adoptive pet owners who get a puppy or kitten to remind them about vet care and to make sure that it’s spayed or neutered.”

best friend’s animal Hospital veterinarian, Dr. brad roach offers Spar discounted vet care and supports its volunteers. “these animals deserve a chance,” said Dr. roach. “the human animal bond can have a healing effect. call it what you want, but these animals have an im-pact on people’s lives. there are kids bullied in school whose only connection to compassion is their pet, we’ve seen this impact with a person who has a problem with an arm or leg adopt a pet who’s suffered amputation. many times these gracious dogs come into a person’s life at just the right time,” said roach.

chris thomas, Dr. roach and paul Heinz founded another organization called arc (ani-mal rescue center) in response to the need for a facility that would be a “no kill or low kill” center where animals could receive medical

care while providing a sanctuary and adoption services. their plans for the facility include a dog park complete with walking trail, pond, sprinkler system for a dog water park, and a special area for puppies. “With the funds we can make this a really unique attraction for Shawnee. the facility will be mainly for adop-tion purposes and we hope to see it replace euthanasia,” said kay Heinz, arc secretary.

Dr. roach offered insight for those consid-ering a new pet. “Start with our local animal shelter first. people who consider adoption need to think about shelter, behavioral train-ing, and prevention care. a lot of animals end up in a shelter because they were left un-trained and alone in the backyard, which can make them a little neurotic to say the least. if you adopt, do the training necessary for a dog to become a part of your family. more animals die of disease or accidents than people real-ize and preventative care is far less expensive than fighting a disease. Heart worm preven-tion is only a few dollars a month and will save you a $700 treatment bill.”

Spar will be at atwoods September 18th in Shawnee and norman for an adoption fair from 12pm to 4 pm. September 11th they will hold a “pet pool party” at veteran’s Woodland park for anyone with pets who love to swim. Dogs can swim and chase their favorite ball or frisbee for only $5. the proceeds go to Spar, arc, and cci (canine companions for inde-pendence). october 1st and 2nd Spar will host their annual garage sale fundraiser at central plastics on Harrison St.

for more information visit www.spar-shawnee.org or www.arcshawnee.org or send an email to [email protected]

by: mindy Wood

SPARFinds Homes for Pets


Dave was my best friend. He lived one house down from mine in our little Wisconsin town. We met in late august when we were both six and i was new to the neighborhood. i spotted Dave playing in his yard with another neighborhood boy named tom. Waving and smiling, i walked toward them and said some-thing interesting like, “Hi, guys!” Dave strutted toward me and stopped me at the lot line. “Stay out of my yard, kid,” he growled. Surprised by his hostility i assumed he was kidding around, so i stuck my toe across the imaginary line and said, “Like here?” Dave tackled me, his subtle way of letting me know he really didn’t want me in his yard. the next thing i saw was the blue summer sky above me glowing warmly like an aura framing Dave’s buzz-cut head and con-torted face. He was sitting on my chest. “i told you to stay out,” he said.

i don’t know why, but we became insepara-ble. We rode bikes together. We tormented his little sister together. We searched for fossils in gravel parking lots and for salamanders in the window wells of our neighbor’s homes. We pretended we were professional wrestlers like the ones we watched each Sunday morning on channel 13 out of rockford, illinois. He was the quarterback for the high school football team and i was the center. He was my doubles partner in tennis. He was the best man at my wedding and i was the best man at his.

the only hiccup in our otherwise great friendship was my jealousy. Dave always had

better stuff. His bike was cooler. He was riding a stingray while i was riding my sister’s black single speed that she had outgrown. a girl’s bike for crying out loud! When i finally upgraded to a Schwinn Lemon peeler, a yellow five speed chopper, his grandparent’s bought him an adult ten speed. He had a color television long before my parents traded in our old black and white box. When we finally went color, his parents bought a bigger color television with a stereo record player built in. trumped again!

the worst humiliation came during the win-ter that Dave’s parents bought a snowmobile. it was a beautiful, black arctic cat with purple trim. His snowmobile suite and shiny helmet matched the cat. He looked like a commercial sitting on that beautiful machine.

a few weeks later my father came home on friday night and announced that he bought a gently used polaris snowmobile and we’d pick it up on Saturday. a huge fight erupted with mom ranting about Dad making this decision without talking with her and about me dying alone in the snow after hitting a tree at a speed just this side of a sonic boom. When we picked up the snowmobile the next day it was obvious that mom didn’t need to worry about speed.

our snowmobile was a tank, a faded, sky blue dinosaur. Dave’s was sleek and low, lithe and nimble in the snow; i almost had to stand up to see over the hood of ours. Dave’s cat ran a cool 65 mph; mine struggled to reach 35. When i tried to jump a snow drift like Dave did with

his snowmobile, my polaris hit the drift with a thud and sank up to the windshield. my snow mobile suit was a pair of red coveralls we used for deer hunting and my helmet was a blaze or-ange humiliation Dad bought on clearance. on the bright side if i got lost in a blizzard i’d be easy to find. and my family wouldn’t have to go far to look for me; after fifteen minutes the beast would get hot, the engine would die and refuse to start for at least half an hour.

everybody knows the old saying, “the grass is always greener on the other side.” it is a call to contentment and a warning that envy is a waste of time. my neighbor’s world always looks better than mine and my neighbor probably thinks my situation is better than his. Sadly, the old saw breaks down in my case; Dave’s stuff really was cooler than mine. His grass was greener.

at this point one might expect a wise word about how much richer my life was when com-pared to Dave’s, not in material things but in things like love and happiness. that would be a lie. not only did Dave’s family completely enjoy their cool stuff, his family was just as loving as mine. besides, what kind of person criticizes his best friend’s family in order to make his own look better? friends do not do that that sort of thing. friends love, honor, and respect each other in spite of inequities, forgive undeserved tackles and endure just about anything else you can think of. true friendship can even hold at bay something as dangerous and destructive as envy.

by: bob Searl

Reflections

dangerousdestructiveenvy

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