The GTO Education Foundation and Galleria Furniture are proud to announce CELEBRATE OKLAHOMA – ITS PRODUCTS & ITS CHILDREN on June 24, 2018.
The event will run from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. at Galleria Furniture, 3700 W. I-40 Service Road, Okla. City, Oklahoma.
The event has two purposes: showcase Oklahoma made products and businesses, and raise funds and collect school supplies for school children across the state.
To date over 75 Made in Oklahoma vendors have reserved over 100 booth spaces to showcase their products and promote their business. To have a booth at the event, vendors have been asked to donate school supplies in lieu of booth space rental. A wide variety of Oklahoma Made products will be offered to the public.
Over 10,000 three ring binders received from one of GTO’s donors, will be distributed to 350 Oklahoma school teachers for their students at the event. Additional school supplies collected during the event will be distributed the second week of July.
There will also be a Classic Car Exhibition by 405 Classic Cars. The exhibition will feature over 15 classic cars, sure to catch the eye of all classic car enthusiasts.
Free hot dogs and the trimming have been provided by two Oklahoma based companies and will be available all day. Additionally, several food vendors will be offering a wide variety of delicious food items.
Admission to the event is a mere donation of school supplies.
Anyone donating supplies on the day of the event will be put in a drawing for one of 54 prizes, which will be drawn for at 5:00 P.M. on the day of June 24. Guests do not have to be present to win. Prizes include: 5 piece bedroom set, a queen mattress set, a recliner, 2 sets of malouf pillows, and 50 special made in Oklahoma hand crafted items.
Two things Mr. Gary Owens and his family are passionate about is Made in Oklahoma products and Oklahoma school children.
Celebrate Oklahoma highlights these two passions.
The GTO Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by Galleria Furniture store owner Mr. Gary Owens and his family in 2015. The mission of the GTO Foundation is very simple: To assist Oklahoma school children with the supplies and tools necessary to be successful in the classroom.
GTO posted a face book post recently asking teachers what they needed for their students for the upcoming year and the post received 1,100 requests from teachers all across Oklahoma. GTO’s goal is to assist as many of these teachers as possible. For individuals or businesses who would like to donate school supplies but can’t make it to the event, we have partnered with Blu Source, a school supply company out of Guthrie, Oklahoma, and they have provided a web site dedicated to purchasing supplies for GTO donations. The web address is: https://gtofoundation.bluschoolsupplies.com/
Over the past two years GTO has provided over 15,000 three ring binders to Oklahoma school students and has provided over 3,000 books to schools for children that might not have a book at home to read. Several special events have been held in the past to showcase Oklahoma teachers.
Please join us as we CELEBRATE OKLAHOMA – ITS PRODUCTS & ITS CHILDREN.
For additional information contact Marsha at 405-942-9222, ext 144, email the GTO Foundation at: [email protected], or visit our face book page: The GTO Foundation.

Please bring any unwanted items to our office (between 8a-5p) and we will ensure to clean and price them accordingly! All items received will be sold in our Yard Sale on June 8th and June 9th between 8a-5p. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO BENEFIT THE ALZHEIMER”S ASSOCIATION! Please feel free to donate items AND attend the yard sale! We look forward to raising awareness with you!

Highlight: Lindsay Roberts

by Betty Thompson

CALERA—Some people are born with an innate desire to help others. That is certainly true of Lindsay Roberts.
Growing up 10 miles north of the Oklahoma-Texas state line in Calera on her family farm, Roberts was heavily involved in agriculture from a very young age. And she loved it.
“It completely defined my life,” said Roberts, “Agriculture should define your life; It feeds you three times a day.”
Like many who grow up in the industry, Roberts became involved in the youth organizations 4-H and FFA. She began showing sheep at age three as a Cloverbud. As soon as she turned nine, she immersed herself in everything 4-H had to offer, showing, public speaking, shooting sports, and so much more. When she entered the 8th grade, she joined FFA and took advantage of the many opportunities it had to offer as well.
“I love both organizations,” Roberts said, “I think they are valuable resources.”
Roberts reflected on many life lessons she obtained in those organizations.
“I have a wonderful mom and grandma at home who taught me lots of things, but I learned how to set a table properly, how tip a waiter or waitress and how to put on pantyhose through FFA,” Roberts laughed.
She continued her FFA membership even into the collegiate chapter. Today she volunteers with both organizations wherever she can, one of those ways is by serving as the sheep superintendent for the Bryan County Junior Livestock show.
Roberts said many of the same volunteers who were here when she was showing as a kid are still in the barns volunteering today. She is the youngest of the livestock show volunteers, and the only woman.
“I love to help these kids with their projects,” Roberts said. “If they need something, or can’t afford something, I want to help. It’s my way of giving back to all those who helped my parents raise me.”
After Roberts graduated from Calera High School, she studied at Agricultural Economics at Murray State and went on to finish the degree at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
In the winter of 2004 Roberts was home on Christmas break from school and over at a friend’s house. As fate would have it, there was a young man there who was home on leave from the Navy. Dustin Roberts was deployed shortly after she met him, and the two began dating through letters and emails.
Shortly after, they got married, and three days later, Dustin deployed again for 18 months. They have been happily married for 13 years now.
The two have settled near where Roberts was raised, allowing her to help with her family’s fertilizer plant in Durant.
She is putting her economics degree to good use as the accountant for the family business, and also helps with other duties such as assisting with and loading bulk fertilizer, ensuring customer orders are filled and invoiced, and managing the office.
Her dad and grandparents have owned the business since 1995, and most of their employees have been there for over 15 years, so Roberts said they are all like family.
“I love working with my family every day,” Roberts said. “Not many people get to do that. It sure is rewarding at the end of the day.”
While working full time at the fertilizer plant, Roberts is also working on her Certified Public Accountant licensing at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant.
“A lot of federal and state agencies recommend using a CPA that specializes in agricultural accounting,” Roberts explained. “That’s a service I hope to provide in our community.”
Roberts said there are not many CPAs who concentrate on agricultural accounting, so there is a great need in a highly agricultural area.
Her desire to help those in her community does not stop with 4-H, FFA and accounting. She has become the main point of contact for Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) issues in her area.
Roberts said the law enacted by the FDA took many producers, retailers and veterinarians by surprise.
“I worked with local vets and a local math teacher to work out an education program to help the vets and those of us on the retail side as far as what their options were,” Roberts said.
She even got her husband Dustin, who is the Representative for House District 21, to work on a legislative approach. She took time to meet with Congressmen and ranchers from various states, and as a result, she became a valuable resource to many in the community on how to stay compliant with the law.
She carries her helping nature into her home as well. In addition to the Roberts’ two rescue dogs and cat, they also have two rescue ducks.
Roberts said she was attending a birthday party for a toddler when she rescued the two baby ducks from being trampled by the toddlers.
“They weren’t being handled gently, so I just went over and scooped them up,” Roberts laughed. “I turned my green house into a full-blown aviary—they live the life of luxury.”
The rescue ducks, Petey and Petunia, are certainly not the only ones in southern Oklahoma who have benefited from Roberts’ generosity and desire to help.

Mark Goeller was recently named State Forester and Director of Oklahoma Forestry Services by Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese. Goeller has served Oklahoma Forestry Services, a Division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, for the past 33 years. He has held various positions with the division, the latest being Fire Management Chief and Assistant Director since 2005.
“I am pleased to name Mark Goeller as the new State Forester and Director of Oklahoma Forestry Services,” said Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese. “With his extensive experience and leadership abilities, Mark is the right person to take the division forward to the next level.”
In his new role, Goeller will lead the division of over 100 people who are dedicated to conserving, enhancing and protecting Oklahoma’s forests and natural resources. In addition to providing forest management advice and best practices, Oklahoma Forestry Services is the state’s lead agency for wildfire suppression. “I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the past years and excited about the opportunity to continue to provide valuable services to the people of Oklahoma,” said State Forester and Director of Oklahoma Forestry Services Mark Goeller.
In addition to his regular duties, Goeller also serves in leadership roles on the state, regional and national levels. He is chair of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Risk Management Committee and serves on the S-520 Advanced Incident Management Steering Committee. He also chairs the Southern Group of State Foresters Fire Management Chiefs. Additionally, Goeller is an Operations Section Chief, having served in that capacity on a Northern Rockies Type I Incident Management Team since 2005. His incident management experience comes from wildfire and all-hazards assignments in 21 states. He also serves as chair of Oklahoma’s All-Hazards Standards, Qualifications and Training Committee for Incident Management Teams and a member of the Oklahoma Incident Management Team Advisory Committee. Goeller holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture – Forest Management from Oklahoma State University.

What is your biggest pet peeve? Heritage Assisted Living

When people use the words done and finished wrong. Cookies are done. People are finished.

Kimberly Brenner

I wish I would have known ahead of time what I didn’t know before.

Ken ‘Pops’

My pet peeve is noise.

Mary Brunnert

Too much noise.

Bea Johnson

The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C. – based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers, today released the new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital – Oklahoma City, including SSM Health Bone & Joint Hospital at St. Anthony, was one of 750 awarded an ‘A’ for its efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S. The Safety Grade assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms among patients in their care.
“SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital is part of one of the largest integrated health systems in the nation – a health system that is internationally recognized for quality. Our priority is to provide exceptional care that improves the lives of our patients and the health of our communities,” said Tammy Powell, President, SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital.
“This is the only national rating of how well hospitals protect patients from preventable harm and death, such as medical errors, infections, and injuries,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Receiving an ‘A’ Safety Grade means a hospital is among the best in the country for preventing these terrible problems and putting their patients first, 24 hours a day.”
Developed under the guidance of an Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to approximately 2,500 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
To see the SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade on Twitter and Facebook.
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

By Darlene Franklin

On the eve of Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, I remember watching Diana Spencer marry Prince Charles when my children were small. A generation later, Americans remain fascinated with royal weddings. Although our country rejected a sovereign king at its birth, we still love pomp and circumstance.
According to the New York Post#, we remain fascinated by royalty because embody national unity in a unique way. (Presidents are rather polarizing figures).
Perhaps that’s why enjoying nature’s majesty leads us to the unifying force of nature’s God.
Consider the experience of Katherine Lee Bates.
In 1893, the young Wellesley professor taught a summer course in Colorado Springs. She joined a faculty trip to the top of Pikes Peak. Inspired by the panoramas, she wrote a heartfelt poem. Visitors today can read her words on a plaque atop the mountain that rises more than two miles into the sky:
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesties above the fruited plain! America, America, God shed grace on thee.
Almost a hundred years later, I traveled to Colorado for the first time. I kept looking for the mountains. At the top of one final rise, they filled the horizon. Mountains, mountains, everywhere I looked, from north to south. Tall, rugged, in shades of slate blue and purple—breathtaking.
God’s majesty stampeded through my heart for the first time since I left New England for college, The soaring peaks increased my awareness of God’s other-ness as creator and king. I loved it so much that I stayed in Colorado for two decades.
As a child, I loved summer storms. Lightning flashed and waves crushed against the rocks with destructive force, but they didn’t scare me at all. In the pounding, echoing, hissing squall, I heard echoes of God’s voice and responded to His roll call.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory in the heavens.
In similar ways, music’s harmonies lift my heart to God. Two hundred seventy-five years have passed since Messiah, George Friedric Handel’s masterpiece, was first performed on Easter Sunday, 1742.Legend has it that King George II attended the premiere. He was so impressed by the Hallelujah Chorus that he remained standing for the duration of the song. Everyone around him also stood, as required by royal protocol. That’s the reason why audiences today stand during the performance. An earthly king recognized The King, and so must we.
I’ve had the privilege of performing all two and a half hours of the Messiah. When I’ve been at my lowest points, I lose myself in a music, whether classical or contemporary, that lifts God up. Worship His majesty.
While not nearly as melodic, a child’s first cry also showcases God. Nothing captures the pinnacle of creation, the one creature made in His image, as perfectly as a newborn child. So tiny, so helpless—so perfect. All parts work as God designed, made to live with God in eternity although it will take a second birth to make that happen.
As the proverb says, a child is God’s approval that the world should go on. God gave Abraham and Sarah a son after he had lived for a century. The Lord gave me a grandchild when my daughter died. My first great-grandchild this year brought happiness as old age approaches.
Lately I’ve discovered that the silence of old age adds a high-pitched bell, hardly heard, to the choir. A church holds regular services every Sunday and Wednesday at the nursing home where I live. Many of our most faithful members struggle to speak. One lady of German descent claps when the preacher’s family joins in the singing. Her evident delight brings to mind the verses from Psalm 8 that speak of “the praises of children and infants.”
Or how about my friend, who writes down her prayer requests because we struggle to understand her stroke-riddled speech? Or the ones who come in reclining chairs, their warm smiles saying it all? Sweet praise rises from the lady who reads out loud from her Bible, so soft-spoken we can’t hear her words. Their whispered, nonsensical, missing voices reach the highest heaven. I offer a pianist’s hands as a humble accompaniment to their purer worship.
God’s majesty confronts me, demanding an answer. I respond in worship.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

It wasn’t until the bullets engraved with the initials of her and her children were placed into her hands that Krystel Huddleston, RN, realized just how close she had come to death.
Eight years later the nurse manager who lived through fear, isolation and abuse wants to make sure others in similar situations know that there is hope.
Born and raised in Texarkana, Texas, Huddleston fell in love early at the age of 14. She met a man 10 years older she was sure she would spend the rest of her life with.
As a married woman high school seemed frivolous so she dropped out.
Three kids soon followed as did the isolation and belittlement intermingled with mental and physical abuse.
“I actually got into nursing because he chose that for me,” Huddleston said of her ex-husband. “He felt like that was predominantly women and I wouldn’t be around a lot of men.”
Staying home and playing World of Warcraft and Everquest were at the top of her husband’s agenda.
Huddleston’s husband drove her to nursing school every day until she became an LVN.
Huddleston would cook, clean, go to school, do homework and take care of the kids, all while being kept inside a trailer with locked windows and no other contact.
“I really felt like I had a normal life,” said Huddleston, now a nurse of 12 years and a manager. “I remember getting out into the workplace with strong women and strong personalities. I remember sitting at the nurses station one year and a seasoned nurse was talking about Dr. Phil.”
“I said ‘You’re allowed to watch Dr. Phil?’ She looked at me and asked if I still lived with my mom. I told her my husband says I couldn’t watch that because it gives women ideas.”
“I remember that exact moment realizing my life isn’t normal.”
“I knew the abuse was not normal and he was extensively, creatively abusive,” she said. “I knew that was not normal but I also knew if I catered and walked those egg shells I could find my way around.”
There were good years, but the alcohol and mental health issues began taking their toll.
While Huddleston was bettering herself with a career her husband’s love for the couch, ice cream and playing video games caught up with him.
He developed uncontrolled diabetes. Huddleston had to take care of him, too.
“As he was getting weaker I was getting stronger being in the workfield around strong women,” she said. “Finally, I decided he was going to kill me if I stayed or if I left so I was going to at least make it worth his time.” She went to work one morning after hearing the clicking sound of an empty gun pointed at her temple.
She called the police to pick up her three boys.
Her ex-husband beat the female officer who responded.
Three months later her husband shot himself.
Going through belongings after the funeral, Huddleston began questioning herself.
Was it her fault? Did she do something to make it happen? What could she have changed?
As she dug through personal belongings she found an envelope.
In the envelope was a receipt for five burial plots.
Letters written to her parents and his explaining the family’s planned death were also included.
“His full intention that day was to kill everybody but something intervened and he only killed himself,” Huddleston said.
The irony of her ex-husband choosing the one career for her that would set her free was never lost on Huddleston.
“At first it was very intimidating – just more bullies,” Huddleston said of entering nursing. “I felt I was the low man on the totem pole and I knew nothing. But as those women became my colleagues and I was learning and seeing them interact with spouses I pulled from that and I grew from that.”
“That really helped me become a stronger person.”
Huddleston had one boss that really poured into her. She challenged her to stop being negative, realize her strengths and push forward.
Some scars will always remain.
To this day she’s still not a hugger. She admits she can be uncomfortable with touch.
At restaurants she sits facing the door. In meetings she has her back to the wall.
Don’t sneak up on her.
She’s remarried, though, and moved on.
“I still have my moments,” she says. “Some days I can be confident and be great and nobody knows. Other days it’s one bad event after another.”
The future she’s given herself and her boys is the stuff Lifetime movies are made of.
“There’s always a chance. Take that chance,” Huddleston said of getting out. “It’s worth a chance to try.”

4th Quarter of your Life – Spring Training was held at Crossings Church Oklahoma City on May 3rd. The weather started out with thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Break outs sessions were presented by Elaine Dodd, with the Oklahoma Banking Association on fraud & the Million Dollar Business in Oklahoma, Carla Scull with the Oklahoma Alzheimer’s Association. Patrick O’Kane with Sunbeam family services facilitated the Grandparents raising grandchildren.
Ray Walker, Director of Medicare Assistance, Jose Olivero with Social Security, Brandy Bailey Valir Pace, Jill Huff Director Marketing with Spanish Cove, Keri Dennis with Stone Creek Assisted Living, Jack Werner A to Z Home Inspection, Samantha Strealy Territory Manager with Comfort Keepers, Jay Parker from the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs held classes for more understanding on the options that many adults face every day. Our thanks to the Sponsors of the 4th Quarter, Comfort Keepers, SYNERGY HomeCare, Well Preserved Advisory Group, Spanish Cove, Stone Creek Assisted Living, Niki Higgins- Life Style Realty, Quail Creek Bank, Interbank, Baptist Village, Daily Living Center, Oklahoma City Hospice, OGE, Rick & Denise Guttenberger, Mercer Adams, Touch mark, Village Concept and Home Care Assistants for helping to make the 4th Quarter a great success. It was an honor to deliver “A big fat Check” to RSVP on Wednesday to help with the Senior Transportation program in Oklahoma County. The check was named after Lance Ward, Congregational Care Pastor asked Eunice if she brought the check? The answer was no – with that Mia, Eunice’s granddaughter came up with a “Paper check made by Mia titled “A BIG FAT CHECK “ all remaining proceeds from the 4th Quarter Event were donated to RSVP. Upon return to Crossings Lance immediately emailed Beth to let her know the Check is really in the mail!