by Mike Lee, Staff Writer

Head down to Bricktown on any given night and you’ll see families riding on a water taxi along the Riverwalk.
You’ll probably see people coming and going from any number of restaurants that have moved into the revitalized area within the past 15 years.
Head a little farther north along West Reno and you’ll hear the chants from more than 18,000 screaming fans inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena pulling for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
It wasn’t always this way and it wasn’t always this good for Oklahoma’s capital.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett wants people to never forget that. That’s the reason behind Cornett’s nearly four-year labor of love Oklahoma City: The Boom, the Bust and the Bomb which opened at Harkins Theater on April 10 with four showings daily.
“When I was elected mayor over 10 years now I knew about and was proud of Oklahoma City’s history but I think I also assumed every city had a history that wasn’t all that unique from Oklahoma City,” Cornett said. “As I spoke more and  more about Oklahoma City’s life experience of the 70s, 80s and early 90s I realized over time our city’s history was unique.”
“The highs of the the 70s and the lows of the 80s added on with the emotional burden of the Oklahoma City bombing those are significant elements on a city’s timeline and we saw them all in a relatively short period of time.”
Cornett holds that the good times the city is experiencing right now are a direct result of the trying times.
“I want them to understand how we got to where we are today,” Cornett says.
Cornett parallels his movie with the story telling style of the late Paul Harvey, who was born in Tulsa in 1918 and made a career telling people “the rest of the story.”
“He would tell you some things that went on before that that had a significant relevance that you probably never knew about. That was the rest of the story,” Cornett says. “That’s kind of what this movie is. You look at Oklahoma City today and see the city we have … well, this is the rest of the story. This is the story of the city that didn’t have any of these things and what it went through and how it never gave up.”
Cornett’s full-length feature film tells the story of Oklahoma City’s rise and fall from 1970 to 1995.
In Cornett’s eyes, no other city has a story like this. From being formed in a single day, to playing for the NBA Championship, Oklahoma City has ridden the triumph-to-heartbreak roller coaster for a good part of its historic life.
Oklahoma City:The Boom, the Bust and the Bomb, examines the most critical time in our city’s history. It centers on a pivotal 25-year period.
From the oil boom of the 1970’s to the failure of Penn Square Bank in 1982 to the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995, this inspiring film sheds light on the darkest days of Oklahoma City – and the people who refused to give up.
“Just like people are shaped by their life experiences, cities are as well. And the city we have today is a direct result of some incredibly tumultuous times,” Cornett says. “I want the next generation and those who have moved to the city since 1995 to understand the events that have shaped Oklahoma City in the 21st century.”
Cornett says he interviewed 20-25 people in piecing the story together. “It’s an amazing story and I think people will leave the theater inspired.”
Cornett interviewed people from all walks of life
“I saw the emotions of the camera crew, young people that didn’t know anything about these things and I saw their reaction and I thought this was just as powerful of a story as a I hope it would be,” Cornett said. “I don’t think the next generation has any idea what we went through.”
Cornett said he’s received “incredible feedback” from people his age and older.
Running a city and working, Cornett spent the better part of three years working on the movie. It took him a single year just to write the script.
To rent the movie instantly on any device or purchase the DVD, go to www.okcmovie.com.
“I think it’s a better story than people realize and there’s an emotional aspect to it as well,” Cornett said. “I think people are really going to enjoy it.”
When it seemed like things couldn’t get worse – things got worse. This is the inspiring story of Oklahoma City.
And if things go well Hollywood could be calling. Cornett already has his eye on recutting the film for a major motion picture audience.

by Mike Lee Staff Writer

Pam Spanbauer, RN, BSN, MEd, may be retired from her nursing practice but her impact on healthcare in Oklahoma will be felt for generations to come.
As the governor’s appointee to the Physician Manpower & Training Commission, Spanbauer is the only nurse on the board that helps ensure healthcare for thousands of rural Oklahomans.
Now the board chair, Spanbauer helps make sure that small communities in Oklahoma get the competent and professional physicians they so desperately need.
Spanbauer also currently serves as the vice president of the Oklahoma Nurses Association.
The commission is a task-force established in the 1970s.
“They have funding to help fund physicians in training to go out into the rural areas in Oklahoma,” Spanbauer said. “In Oklahoma we have so much rural area. In these farming communities the last thing they can do is take a day and drive to the city to get healthcare and drive back.
“It’s really important especially with the fact we don’t have many hospitals in the rural area.”
Spanbauer was raised in a small town in North Carolina. She had a single doctor growing up who took care of her entire family.
“If we had to have gone to the city we probably wouldn’t have gotten healthcare,” said Spanbauer, whose family lived 50 miles from the nearest hospital. “I’ve always had that small-town respect.”
She says the reality is that most doctors are going into specialty practices. Those who head to family medicine will stick closer to more populated areas.
The commission will cover a significant portion of a doctor’s tuition for a commitment to be the physician in a rural area.
“Many of the physicians actually wind up staying in that area after their commitment is done,” Spanbauer said. “If it weren’t for that a lot of doctors wouldn’t even know there are these opportunities and how great healthcare can be in a small community.”
Spanbauer and the commission review each applicant and decide the best place to match each doctor. Communities routinely send in requests for physicians to cover their population.
The mission of the Physician Manpower Training Commission is to enhance medical care in rural and underserved areas of the state by administering residency, internship and scholarship incentive programs that encourage medical and nursing personnel to practice in rural and underserved areas. Further, PMTC is to upgrade the availability of health care services by increasing the number of practicing physicians, nurses and physician assistants in rural and underserved areas of Oklahoma.
Subsequently the Oklahoma Legislature has added the responsibility of a Physician Placement Program, Nursing Student Assistance Program, the FP Resident Rural Program, the Physician Community Match Program and the Physician Assistant Scholarship Program. Spanbauer says the commission is guided in all the programs by a sense of stewardship which requires that maximum effort, both individual and organizational, be utilized to increase the number of practicing physicians, nurses and physician assistants in Oklahoma and, particularly, in rural and underserved areas of the state.
“I’ve always had a strong desire to give back in some way which is why I love being retired,” Spanbauer said. “I loved what I did when I was working but now it’s like I can give back. When I was working I didn’t have as much time.”
During her career, Spanbauer served as an EMT and drove an ambulance for Children’s Hospital. She also helped start the MediFlight program and later spent nearly her entire nursing career at Mercy.
“I had an opportunity at that time to see how spread out everything in Oklahoma is,” she said. “We would drive to pick up a baby and see how some of those hospitals barely had enough to get by. They didn’t have all the equipment we had in the city to take care of these premature babies.
“I’ve always been very passionate about wanting everybody to be able to have access to care. It’s a fact that people don’t.”
Spanbauer says the commission is charged with five high-priority goals:
1. Work to improve the balance of physician manpower distribution in the State of Oklahoma, both by type of practice and by geographic location;
2. Aid accredited physician training facilities in the establishment of additional primary medical care and family practice internship and residency training programs by sharing in the cost of these programs;
3. Assist Oklahoma communities in selecting and financing qualified medical and osteopathic interns/residents to participate in the Physician Community Match Program;
4. Assist Oklahoma communities, in any manner possible, in contacting medical and osteopathic students, interns and residents, or other physicians (inside and outside Oklahoma) who might wish to practice in Oklahoma;
5. Work with Oklahoma communities and the leadership of Oklahoma’s nurse training institutions to provide nurses for underserved areas of the state.
“It gets back to what medicine is all about and that’s the relationship the doctor has with the patient and the community,” Spanbauer said.
And that’s how Spanbauer makes a difference for future generations to come.

Story and photo by Jason Chandler, Staff Writer

Jonette Dunlap continues to feel an altruistic calling as a retired school teacher.
Her life had been dedicated to children and she wanted to see more of them prosper and experience the beauty of life. Six years ago, she discovered being an advocate for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), would provide a stepping stone for many more children that she has mentored and acted in their best interests.
The goal of a CASA is to advocate for children and teenagers during a child custody court proceeding due to their legal guardians’ alleged abuse and neglect. Dunlap hopes that more retired school teachers will consider volunteering as a CASA.
“I have a passion for this,” Dunlap said. “It’s being able to take what I did as a teacher involved in the child’s life, but only so far, and go with them further, and be able to be an active advocate for their situations.”
A judge is looking for a neutral third-party opinion to cover bureaucratic concerns. They want someone to give an objective point of view to what would best serve the children, said Alex Corbett, CASA volunteer recruiter and training facilitator.
DHS is mandated by statute to attempt the reunification of the child and legal guardian if there is a glimmer of hope. CASA is not bound by that law when advocating.
There are currently 174 active CASA volunteers in Oklahoma County, he said. During the course of a year, there are typically 240-250 active volunteers on one or more cases, he added.
Corbett refers to Dunlap being a rare breed — a super CASA. Dunlap accepts the maximum work-load of five cases.
“By putting a cap on the number of cases a CASA volunteer can serve on — the wisdom being that the CASA volunteer comes to know the children, families and the core situation much better than the DHS worker has the time to do,” Corbett said. “The DHS workers want to, but they don’t have the time to dig as deeply in the case as what a CASA volunteer can do.”
Dunlap cautioned that there are not enough CASA volunteers to serve the growing needs of children in Oklahoma County. The ideal situation would be to have a CASA on every case, for every child that enters the custody of the Oklahoma County DHS system.
“That way we could make sure that all areas are being covered,” Dunlap continued. “And as Alex was mentioning, the DHS workers are very good, but they only have a certain amount of time. So we step in and fill some of those gaps. We can make more visits. We do have more time to go to the schools.”
As a teacher, she would make home visits and see families living the way most people would not consider as normal. She could not do anything about it, Dunlap said. But as a CASA, she is empowered to advocate for at-risk and deprived children in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
“We follow them along through that time in custody,” Dunlap said. “With my particular background, I always look at that education.”
Many children are far behind literacy standards when entering the DHS system. These children become even further behind in their education when being placed in different areas of custody or for therapies in different patient facilities, she said.
Providing opportunities to change a child’s life is also uplifting for Dunlap.
“Being there to see their eyes light up. That’s the main thing,” Dunlap said. “Seeing them have hope and being able to make a difference in their case; my reward is when I’m able to change something that was not getting taken care of in the way it should have been.”
She recalls a case when a boy was supposedly home-schooled. But it was found that at the age of 8, when he entered DHS custody, he had been without any schooling. The boy knew nothing about math or spelling.
“As an 8-year-old he had to start in the first grade,” Dunlap said. “He started behind. He is still behind but making some strides to catch-up,” Dunlap said. “That is a success story because I’ve spent time with him, taking him to the library and tutoring him in reading.”
Education is sparking the boy’s curiosity to learn and engage in life, when before, he was very quiet because he could not read at all.
“He now is very proud to be able to read some little beginning books,” Dunlap said.
Reading is so important to one’s life because illiteracy impacts a growing prison population in Oklahoma.
“If you are interested in children, and you like making a difference, CASA is a great place to do it,” Dunlap said. “You pretty much have control of your time and the only things that are fixed in stone are the court dates. So you’re expected to be there with your child and have a report written for the court.”
The volunteer is supported by an advocate supervisor who accompanies the CASA in all court proceedings, Corbett said.

Growing up, what did you want to be? Salvation Army Senior Center – Warr Acres

I wanted to always work in an office. I always liked typing. Norma Bellamy

I leaned more towards office work because in high school I took shorthand, typing and bookkeeping. Alie Faye Johnson

When I was little I wanted to be a beauty operator. I did all my cousins’ hair. Cheryl Wilson

I think I wanted to be a nurse and I was, working in oncology and chemotherapy. Lynn McKinnon