On Saturday, September 9, from 1-4 p.m., the Oklahoma History Center with host an introduction to cross-stitch workshop. Participants will learn the process of cross-stitching and create a cross-stitch bookmark to take home.
The cost of the class is $20 for Oklahoma Historical Society members and $25 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is Saturday, September 2. All materials and instruction will be provided, along with light refreshments.
The Oklahoma History Center is located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr. in Oklahoma City. It is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Please call 405-522-0765 or visit
https://www.okhistory.org/historycenter for admission costs and group rates.

Story and phots by Darl DeVault, contributing editor

Volunteer residents and staff will host a free Sip & Shop Craft and Health Fair Extravaganza at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 14, at Saint Ann Assisted and Independent Living. Last year, 90 vendors and 1,500 shoppers enjoyed the holiday market.
Campus Director Joyce Clark says Sip & Shop is an excellent example of how the senior living community designs daily life around an emphasis on fun and resident-centered services. She says this year’s market will likely be the most well-attended event ever staged in the 21-year history of the northwest Oklahoma City independent and assisted living community.
“Sip & Shop will be an affordable and entertaining way for people to purchase their Christmas gifts and other items,” Clark said in an interview. “Resident volunteers are actively involved in the planning and management of the market.” “After the market, we have a second celebration by raffling door prizes donated by generous exhibitors to our residents.”
The retail and health exhibitor lineup features many diverse vendors.
Showcases of crafts, food, art, senior services, healthcare, vintage items, and an extensive array of items are offered. “With so much variety, there should be something for everyone,” said Clark. “I personally am attracted to the handmade linens, food, barn quilts, clothes, jewelry, wood crafts, and engravings,” Clark said. “One of the rewarding outcomes of Sip & Shop is how we support and promote local small businesses and entrepreneurs.”
Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City Eusebius J. Beltran’s vision of a senior living ministry motivated the Archdiocese to develop the campus 21 years ago. The assisted and independent living center is a not-for-profit Catholic organization serving people of all faiths, featuring a chapel, Chaplain, and daily Mass. It includes 120 independent living apartments, 50 assisted living apartments and a convent.
The “Sip” part of the event will be free apple cider and wine tastings. Put A Cork In It, a local company, will host the wine tastings. The wine venue has been a Bricktown mainstay since 2008, offering award-winning wines.
Archwell Health, Oklahoma Senior Journal, and Put A Cork In It are major sponsors of Sip & Shop. Oklahoma Senior Journal’s radio show on The Eagle 96.9 station will broadcast live from Saint Ann the hour before the event starts. An estimated audience of 22,000 people will hear the program. Organizers say the radio show adds a spark to attract visitors to the fun-filled day.
“Our hard-working dining services staff will make close to 400 lunches for exhibitors, residents, and employees,” Clark said. The neighbor next door to the west, Zion Lutheran Church, will provide overflow parking. Shuttles will circle to make sure people quickly get back and forth.
Saint Ann Assisted and Independent Living is located at 7501 W. Britton Road in Oklahoma City. Residents of all walks of life enjoy the home’s active lifestyle and caring atmosphere.
Organizers say remodeling is in the works for the cozy campus and is set to begin soon after the Sip & Shop event in October.
For more info, call Lisa at (405) 721-0747 Ext 322 or visit https://www.saintannretirementcenter.com/ Independent Living | Assisted Living OKC | Saint Ann Retirement Center

Ruby Miller

(Right) Ruby Miller was 100 on April 10, 2023. She lived in Hominy all her life and was a meat cutter and caregiver until retiring in her 90s. Ruby loves Christmas, having the family together, seeing grandkids happy and cooking big meals.

Georgia Friedman

(Left) Georgia Friedman celebrated her 100th birthday today in Bartlesville. She loves music from the Big Band Era, a big pot of spaghetti for the family & meatloaf.
Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday because of the food & watching her family play the annual touch football game called “The Turkey Bowl!” She loved to wear hats so her words of wisdom for younger people: “Take care of your skin; wear hats; use sunscreen; work hard & enjoy your family!”

Loretta Marshall

(Right) Loretta (Keller) Marshall of Hydro celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year. She was a farmer, homemaker, mother & housekeeper. She keeps her yard & its many flowers & cactus in beautiful condition & mows a half acre lawn. She was the only church organist for her Parrish (Hinton Sacred Heart Catholic Church) for 52 years.

Bill Eugene Muncy

(Right) WWII Army Veteran Bill Eugene Muncy celebrated his 100th birthday today in McAlester.
He enjoys family gatherings, traveling, fishing & being outdoors. Candy bars were the only gifts he requested for his birthday. Thank You for Your Service and Welcome to the Centenarians Hall of Fame.

KNOW A CENTENARIAN?
If you know of a Centenarian you would like to honor, please visit
http://centenariansok.com/ and download and submit our form.

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Ensign William Michael Finnegan, was appointed Ensign on Nov. 18, 1941, after rising to Chief Radio Electrician.
Ensign is the junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy. As division officers, Ensigns were in charge of overseeing the work of a crew of seamen and petty officers in a specific division. As a Chief Radio Electrician, Finnegan was required to qualify for the ratings of Radioman, Aviation Radioman, Radio Technician, Radarman, and Soundman.
In addition to the USS Oklahoma, Finnigan’s Duty Stations included USS Nevada (BB 36), USS Tennessee (BB 43), Naval Air Station San Diego, CA, USS Ranger (CV 4), Headquarters, 15th Naval District, USS Farquhar (DD 304), New York Navy Yard, NY, Radio School, Cambridge, MA and Recruit Training, Great Lakes, IL
Awards and Decorations include: Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal (2), American Defense Service Medal (Fleet Clasp), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (Bronze Star), World War II Victory Medal and the American Campaign Medal.
Ensign William Finnegan was born in Bessemer, Michigan and died during the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. Finnegan will be buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, on September. 7th.

https://tealridge.com/

Seniors from Oklahoma participating in the National Senior Games which was held recently in Pittsburgh, PA represented the state well, finishing with a balanced number of medals, 22 Gold, 23 Silver and 24 Bronze for a total medal count of 69, this number does not include the number of ribbons that were won for fourth through seventh place finishers. While the Oklahoma athletes finished in the lower tier of the medal count, they faired well. The state with the highest number of total medals was Florida with 586 with 19 states gathering at least 100 total medals. View the final results at https://nsga.com/results-2023/.
The next National Senior Games will be in Des Moines, Iowa in 2025. Oklahoma seniors can begin preparing for that competition this September through October. While not a qualifying year, preparing this year will get you headed to qualifying in 2024. Check out the list of events and dates the OSG Facebook page or on the website, at https://okseniorgames.com.

National Newspaper Carrier Day on September 4th recognizes the dedicated newspaper carriers (yes, they are still delivering) who deliver the news in the wee hours of the morning.
A lot has changed since the first newspaper carrier. Not only have the routines changed, but their methods and the age of the people delivering has changed, too. However, the newspaper carrier still exists in some form. Each and every newspaper carrier owe their start to an enterprising young immigrant in New York City over 180 years ago. As the tradition gradually fades, their history becomes no less fascinating.
According to a captioned photo released by the Museum of the City of New York, The Sun‘s publisher Benjamin Day hired the first paperboy on Septemeber 4, 1833. A 10-year-old Barney Flaherty answered the advertisement that September day. And although the ad specified for “steady men” to apply, Flaherty so impressed the editor that Day was so impressed by the boy’s sincerity; he gave him the job.
Down on the corner, passersby soon heard Flaherty hawking his sales pitch. Eventually, the universal chorus of boys (and sometimes girls) calling, “Paper! Get your paper, here!” could be heard on the streets selling papers.
“A number of steady men can find employment by vending this paper. A liberal discount is allowed to those who buy to sell again.” ~ Benjamin Day’s 1833 advertisement in The Sun.
In 1960, The Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame was created. It acknowledges some famous newspaper carriers in our nation’s history, too. Included in the Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame are Martin Luther King Jr., Warren Buffet, and John Wayne.
Note from the publisher:

Nearly every time I attend an event, I meet someone that delivered papers at some point in their lives.
My brother and I started selling GRIT newspapers. Kids could buy these “Enquirer” type publications – 50 at a time – out of the ad section in comic books. I think we paid eight cents per copy and stood outside Gibson’s Department store in McAlester and hawked those papers to customers for a quarter. It wasn’t much, but it paid for our next batch of papers and a bunch of junk food and soda pop.
Later we delivered the Mcalester News Capital and really started making money, LOL. I’ve been in the business for 53 years, all because of GRIT. Oh, and my Grandpa, for sitting at Gibson’s Department store watching us sell those GRIT copies – sometimes all day!
Times have changed (and I’m still not in the Hall of Fame with John Wayne) but the 55-plus crowd still loves picking up our newspaper every month. Advertisers know that when they contact us – and we are sure glad they do.
Take care of those newspaper carriers this month. Give a pat on the back to our SNL delivery folks that work so hard to make sure you have your latest copy of Oklahoma’s Senior News and Living.
By the way, I love hearing your stories. So if you delivered newspapers or just know a funny story, send me an email at news@okveterannews.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll publish your nugget so more than 60,000 seniors can enjoy.

story and photo by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Kristina Tell, RN, knows how important leaving a legacy can be, both in life and in business.
That’s why the executive director for Excell Home Health and Hospice believes her staff is making a difference every day.
“We provide life-changing services and for every one of our employees that is their goal,” Tell said. “We have always been an agency where we have scored well on our surveys that come back. That’s because we really take the time to take care of our patients. You can have the best marketing team in the world and they can go out and sell your product but if you’re not fulfilling that product it’s not going to continue.
“Our legacy is a legacy of excellence and that’s what we continue to strive for.”
Excell is able to offer a continuum of care with both home health and hospice services. If the time comes, patients can seamlessly transfer services without having to give up those important relationships.
“I think going to hospice is one of the scariest words for patients and so for them to be able to have that same nurse transition with them and still go through that time … we’ve seen a really amazing product from that,” Tell said.
Patients suffering from disease progression, frequent emergency room visits, multiple hospitalizations, and/or aggressive medical interventions may also be eligible for hospice care. Hospice care can be discontinued at any time and is a covered Medicare benefit.
Home Health and Hospice offer an affordable way to receive medical care at home. Many who access these benefits are over the age of 65 and are entitled to Medicare benefits which cover 100 percent of the cost of services and associated medication and supply costs. Medicaid and most commercial insurances also provide home health and hospice coverage.
Often, when patients elect home health or hospice, it is their primary physician who authorizes, coordinates and follows their care from start to finish.
Excell Home Care & Hospice works closely with the physician of your choice to provide care. If the patient does not have a primary care physician and needs to be seen by a doctor, the Home Health and Hospice agency has Medical Directors who can visit the patient.
Tell started her nursing legacy in the intensive care unit at OU Medical. Looking for a change, she found Excell in 2010 and accepted a position as a field case manager.
A clinical supervisor role quickly followed before she accepted the position as director of nursing.
A transition in ownership in 2017 placed her in the director of clinical services role leading both home health and hospice.
“I just love our agency. We’re very family oriented,” she said. “I think it really reflects that when our employees are happy so are our patients. We really care about each other and want the best for each other. I think it would be really difficult to leave my family because I see them all as my family.”
In a very mobile industry, Tell and Excell have enjoyed a loyalty from staff that is uncommon.
“I think that’s one of the things that really sets Excell apart, we have a lot of tenure,” Tell said. “Our director of rehab has been there since our doors opened in 1995. We have a lot of nurses that are 20-plus years, LPNs that are 15-plus years. We have a home health aide who has been here for 17 years. We have a lot of longevity and I think that speaks to who we are.”
Each Excell employee knows they are helping patients leave a legacy, and in turn, creating one of their very own.
“I really think it is because we show our employees that we do value them and care for them. That makes a huge difference,” Tell said of her staff longevity. “If they’re just an employee, just another number they’re going to go someplace else, chase that extra dollar. When you really put the time into your employees, getting to know them and their families we spend a lot of time together.”
For more information about Excell Home Health and Hospice, visit https://excellcares.com.

The Oklahoma City Skydance Bridge will join other nationwide landmark bridges as part of a news stamp series by the U.S. Postal Service beginning August 24th. famous OKC landmark will soon grace collectors’ books and the corners of envelopes nationwide. The Skydance Bridge will be featured in a new stamp series (one of four) by the U.S. Postal Service starting Aug. 24.
Inspired by Oklahoma’s state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Skydance bridge soars over Interstate 40. The bridge is a 380-foot-long pedestrian bridge with a 197-foot-tall sculpture.
The bridge opened in 2012 and connects Upper and Lower Scissortail Park. The bridge was built at a total cost of $5.8 million for the pedestrian use, designed and structurally engineered by S-X-L, a local business. Visit your local post office or shop the USPS online at: https://store.usps.com/store/product/stamp-collectors to purchase these iconic stamps.

by Terry Zinn

The Gallery at 11 North Central, Idabel, Oklahoma will be serving visual martinis with a photographic canvas art exhibition and sale during the annual downtown Fall Festival, October 7-8, 2023. MARTINI TRAVELS is a dozen or more images from photographer Terry Zinn’s fifty canvas prints presenting cocktails against a backdrop of travel locations. Some of the fifty photographed locations might include, Berlin, Germany; Boone Hall Plantation, South Carolina; Oak Alley and of course Oklahoma City; among other locales. The exhibit was inspired by Zinn in 1995 after having a luncheon with Idabel native and international artist, Harold Stevenson where he recalled his tales of an extraordinary life over his favorite cocktail, the Martini..
The Gallery is the anchor of downtown Idabel, created and owned by another Idabel native, Robert Henderson. The Gallery was opened a couple of years ago after extensive renovation to the historic 1930’s building that had been vacant and dilapidated for years. “We never charge artists a fee to exhibit and / or sell the work at The Gallery. Arts are an important element to our social society. Bringing the arts to the community, while remaining affordable, is an important mission of our work,” explained Henderson.
The Fall festival hosts craft and food vendors, Miss Fall Fest pageant, chili cook-off and corn-hole tournament. Downtown streets will close with live music and entertainment throughout the event.
Zinn will provide a gallery talk at 7 p.m.Saturday, OCTOBER 7th at the reception along with Dian Jordan, Ph.D., of Hochatown, OK.
Martini Travel images have been previously exhibited in Oklahoma City at the Photo Art Gallery and at the 50 Penn Place Gallery. The exhibit will be accompanied by Zinn’s photographic images of Harold Stevenson, Portraits of Harold. Many of these private images have never been exhibited before. They were made with the endorsement from Stevenson which documented his studios, homes and exhibits from 1995 including locations of: Idabel, Oklahoma; Wainscott, Long Island New York; Long Island City; SoHo, New York; Key West, Florida; San Francisco; Dallas and Oklahoma City. In addition to Zinn’s documentation in photographs he has made over 13 hours of taped interviews of Stevenson over the years. That material is the foundation of Zinn’s play, Last Call: All I Ever Wanted to Be Was Tall, which is available for production.
Jordan’s reception talk is highly anticipated as she will discuss the importance of Stevenson’s inclusion in recent exhibitions. Jordan curated Art in Community: The Harold Stevenson Collection in 2020-2021 at the Museum of the Red River, Idabel. The exhibit was then followed by Stevenson being included in New York: 1962-1964 held at the Jewish Museum of New York in the fall of 2023. That exhibition explored art and culture and how artists living in New York responded to the socio-political changes of the time. Stevenson was also included as one of the 35 legacy artists for We Fancy at the 100th year celebration of the Art Students League, NY, also in 2023. Stevenson won a national scholarship to attend the prestigious school in 1949. Jordan has previously spoken on Stevenson’s place in the canon of 20th century art for the Oklahoma Museum Association’s annual conference, the Oral History Association National Conference, and the International Art in Society Conference.
Zinn was employed for twenty-six years as Photography Processing Manager at the Oklahoma Historical Society/State Museum. His work has been published in numerous outlets. He has exhibited at the Oklahoma State Capitol, I.A.O. gallery, 50 Penn Place Gallery, Photo Art Gallery, and on permanent exhibition at the Gallery of the Plains Indian and the Oklahoma Judicial Center.
While in Idabel feel free to visit the Museum of the Red River and the Phil Silva vintage car collection. Or take the nearby drive to the ever popular Hochatown community known for Broken Bow Lake and luxury cabin vacation homes. The near by twon of Hugo is of interest with its Elephant Cemetery.
Zinn resides in Oklahoma City where he is cataloging his works and seeking permanent homes for his collections. He can be reached at t4z@aol.com.

The Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) announced today that Oklahoma has adopted regulations enacting a “best interest” standard on annuity sales and recommendations based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Model Regulation (#275).
The amended regulations, which are located in Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 365:25-17, are set to go into effect on September 1, 2023. The rules require a producer to act in the best interest of consumers under the circumstances known at the time the recommendation is made.
“The new rules will provide stronger protections for retirees and safeguard access for lower and middle-income families in the state,” Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready said.
Oklahoma is the 40th state to implement the NAIC model regulation, a template for states to create their own regulation governing annuity sales that would align with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest providing robust consumer protection at the state and federal levels.
Earlier this month, the OID issued a bulletin about the training requirements for producers involved in the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of annuities. The training requirements are now located in OAC 365:25-17-7.1. To learn more about annuities, visit
https://www.oid.ok.gov/consumers/annuity/ or contact the OID at 800-522-0071.