Ann Elizabeth Tebow gazed into the stall at her American Quarter Horse Vinny.
It was still a few hours before Tebow, 18, was scheduled to show the 8-year-old gray gelding in ranch riding prelims on Monday during the Built Ford Tough American Quarter Horse Youth Association (AQHYA) World Championship Show at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City.
“I looked at him in the stall earlier today and I thought, ‘I want to do this for you, I want to do good so that you know that you deserve it,’ because he does. He works really hard for me,” said the recent Piedmont High School graduate.
Vinny, whose registered name is “FS Vintage Sidekick,” and Tebow are an example of the teamwork between rider and horse displayed at horse shows and other equestrian events throughout Oklahoma.
“People don’t realize how they have their own personalities,” she said of horses. “They’re just like people because everyone’s different and they each have their own little quirks. It took us a long time to get on the same page.”
Not only did they make it to the same page but on Tuesday evening Tebow and Vinny won the 2016 world championship in ranch riding.
“That’s what makes this so much more special is because we did get through those hard times,” Tebow said Wednesday. “It shows that if you work hard and keep going you can accomplish anything and your dreams can come true. Everything we went through together just made it that much sweeter.”
The Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show is the pinnacle event for American Quarter Horse exhibitors ages 18 and under around the world, who must qualify for the event by earning a predetermined number of points to compete in each of the classes representing halter, English and western disciplines.
The Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show, which continues through Saturday (August 13) has an economic impact on the Oklahoma City area of more than $10.3 million. The show features more than 2,180 entries from the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom with exhibitors competing for 35 world championships.
Within all those entries are 761 exhibitors and 1,096 horses. That’s a lot of teamwork between horses and riders – and a lot of personalities.
Tebow, the 2015-2016 AQHYA National President, has shown Vinny, owned by her mother Vicki Tebow, for a just a few years now and they didn’t click right away.
Some friendships – including many that last for a long time – take time to develop.
“The problem is that we have similar personalities,” she said. “We’re both curious and like to think a lot about things. He’s really curious so when we get in the show pen sometimes he’s like ‘Oh what’s over here?’ and I’m like ‘Vinny, we’ve got to pay attention right now, we’re supposed to be working.’”
There were times Tebow thought briefly about giving up. Instead, they persevered and got to know each other.
“He’s too smart for his own good, which` is really cool in a horse,” said Tebow, who in the fall will attend Texas A&M University, studying biomedical sciences and competing on the equestrian team. “I’ve heard the great ones have the most personality and so you’ve kind of got to learn how to deal with that. We were constantly trying to outthink him, but I’ve just had to learn that you have to let Vinny do his thing and you’re kind of along for the ride.”
A year ago during the Ford Youth World they “got on the same page” and that resulted in them making the 2015 finals of the ranch riding. They began to find success together.
“The ranch riding class was developed to showcase the ranching heritage of the American Quarter Horse,” said Sarah Davisson of the AQHA. “It includes different maneuvers a horse would use on a ranch on any given day. They have to do a certain pattern in the arena and be scored on the different elements of that pattern.”
This week, Tebow and Vinny again qualified for the ranch riding finals and finished on top with the world championship in ranch riding.
However, she points out that success in the arena is just one part of this special team.
“Now when I ride other horses it makes me appreciate him for all the things that he has taught me,” she said.
Tebow will take those lessons learned with her to Texas A&M where she will compete on the equestrian team.
Davisson of the AQHA, said Tebow, “definitely embodies a great youth.” This summer, the Oklahoma teen was with Team USA for the American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup in Australia.
“Not only does she show and compete on the world level,” Davisson said, “her leadership skills are amazing. She’s also a great role model to the youth coming up in the Association.”
Sometimes that is conveyed verbally and other times through actions. Take for example, Tebow’s reaction a couple of minutes after the ranch riding prelimins as their score was announced. Still horseback, Tebow, with tears welling in her eyes, leaned forward in the saddle, hugged Vinny’s neck with both arms then patted his neck with her right hand.
“It was just like more a sigh of relief that, ‘OK I did you right, I didn’t’ get in your way, I didn’t let you down,’” she said. “I really wanted that for Vinny.”
Partners helping make the Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show possible are Ford, Bank of America, B&W Trailer Hitches, Farnam, John Deere, Justin Boots, Markel, Merial, Montana Silversmiths, Nutrena, Professional’s Choice, Cripple Creek, SmartPak and Wrangler, along with event sponsors, including Noble Outfitters, Metro Golf Cars, Oklahoma State Fair Park, Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Four Sixes Ranch.

Story and photo by Mike Lee, Staff Writer

For the past 57 seasons, Zee Howell has faithfully manned Section 9, Row 60 seats 23 and 24 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
The 94-year-old is one of the university’s oldest season ticket holders and he plans on starting his 58th OU football season when Louisiana-Monroe comes to town on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
But Oklahoma football is only part of the story when it comes to this former Navy diver.
“OU has given a real good account of theirselves, they sure have,” Howell said sitting in his home that bears a Norman address but has a Goldsby water tower in the front yard.
Howell has seen it all during five decades as a season ticket holder.
He’s gotten a front-row seat to four of the team’s seven national championship runs. He’s seen teams coached by Barry, Bud, Bob and unfortunately Blake.
The Idabel native has written more than his fair share of checks to the university, each more than the last.
So why buy season tickets?
“You get lot better seats,” Howell said with a chuckle. “You come in on game day you may be sitting two blocks up the road.”
One row down and seven seats over sits Howell’s kids.
“He wanted a pair close enough for my brother and I so he could keep an eye on us but we were far enough away we couldn’t bug him,” daughter Valencia Howell says.
The only OU-Texas game Howell has missed was in 1957 when Valencia was born at the old Presbyterian Hospital.
“He still hasn’t forgotten about that. It’s not my fault,” Valencia said in her defense. “My brother was born nine years to the day within two hours of the exact same time. The doctor had gotten hold of (mom) in advance and told her ‘you can go, but don’t get too excited.’”
Game day in the Howell household consists of brewing a pot of strong coffee and reading the newspaper before heading to the stadium early to avoid the traffic. He’ll sit in the stadium well after the game for the same reason.
Now retired, Howell has time on his hands and he doesn’t mind that.
At age 18, Howell completed his Naval training in San Diego just before World War II.
“There was a ship sitting out in the bay and one chief said ‘that old ship is a good working ship that can go to sea and haul three million gallons of oil. Don’t worry about it. The Japanese aren’t worrying about our tankers they want our destroyers,’ Howell remembered a chief saying.
“Guess what? It was the first damn one that got sunk.”
Howell was on that ship – the U.S.S. Neches – in his bunk January 23, 1942 when a Japanese two-man sub followed it out of the Pearl Harbor bay around the defensive netting and kept pace for a few miles before unloading two torpedoes.
December 7, 1941 may have been a day that lived in infamy but it was January 23rd that Howell found himself bobbing in the ocean.
He was one of 56 sailors trapped inside a room in the belly of the ship and the only one who got out of that space.
The next day the U.S.S. Jarvis picked up the 182 survivors and took them back to Pearl Harbor.
After leaving the military Howell went to work at Tinker Field. He got in on the ground floor of the computerization of the base and eventually retired as a civilian second chief.
After that he had plenty of time to devote to his favorite passion – OU sports.
At softball games his seat right behind home plate puts him right in earshot of the umpire, who had better call it fair and square or else Howell lets him know about it.
Howell, also a huge softball fan, has his opinions on many of OU’s coaches.
On OU Softball Coach Patty Gasso, who just led her squad to a third national title:
“She’s earning her money,” he says.
On Bob Stoops: “The success he’s had kind of speaks for itself I guess,” Howell says.
On Athletic Director Joe Castiglione: “Well, he makes a lot of money,” Howell said with a chuckle.
Rain or shine you can expect to see Howell at Owen Field come the second weekend in September.
In his estimation, there’s no place he’d rather be.
And for 58 years now he’s had the best seats in the house.

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Southwest Oklahoma, held in Lawton, Okla. on Saturday, August 27, had a record-breaking year with over 300 people in attendance and nearly $45,000 raised to support the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association. To show your support in OKC, join us at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Sept. 24. Visit OKCwalk.com to start, register or donate to a team today.

by Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

It’s the gamut of reactions that Jerry Deming, TTS-CTS, receives when she counsels patients in the Norman Regional Health System about their tobacco use.
In her tobacco cessation role she’s been screamed at. She’s been stared at, through and around.
She’s been shunned and she’s even been hugged.
But this year she’s been able to help Norman Regional’s nurses develop a new Smoke-Free Families campaign that is gaining traction.
Deming began working with the Women’s and Children’s unit after Norman Regional nurses and managers sought help.
“There was an understanding that there were a lot of women leaving the hospital to smoke,” Deming said. “This is a very common problem. I’m in contact with people worldwide and we all deal with this problem in our hospital and clinic settings.
“We all scratch our heads and think ‘what are we going to do to handle this.’ It’s a big problem. It comes up again and again.”
Staff understood that once a mother and her baby went home then it would be easier for the patient not only to smoke, but smoke around the child.
Deming brought forward the idea that it’s a population issue and not one of monitoring.
“We needed to drill down a little bit deeper and figure out how we can help these people get through a hospital visit staying away from tobacco use and even contemplating the idea of … even quitting to have a smoke-free family.”
When leaders got together to decide a plan of action they realized they were entering uncharted landscape. Nowhere could they find a comprehensive plan dealing with the in-hospital maternity population.
Hospital stays are often so short that no one had really figured a good way to approach the issue.
Planning meetings included physicians and nurses. A craving scale – much like a pain scale – was developed.
Nurse Manager Alyson Heeke, RN, saw an opportunity.
“Part of the reason we started this in the first place is we noticed there was an awful lot of times our babies were traveling back and forth to the nursery so their parents could go outside and smoke,” Heeke said. “That became a big concern for us just in the fact they were only with us 24 to 48 hours and a good portion of the time these folks who were really addicted the babies were in the nursery sometime 20 out of 24 hours.
“We couldn’t provide what we needed for our patients if they were always outside.”
Nursing became involved in the LEAN (Lean Education Academic Network) team project helping develop educational material including posters for the room and signage for outside.
“The nurses really did want it to be a successful process for the patient as much as possible and not to be the police officer,” Heeke said. “They wanted to help them understand this also impacts how well they bond with their baby, how they do with their breastfeeding issues and all those other things which are complicated by smoking.”
Director of Patient Care Services, Susie Graves, RN, said many women who are able to quit smoking for their pregnancy often will allow themselves to resume after they deliver.
“Part of what we wanted to do was help them through. Don’t have a start date. Let that continue,” Graves said. “They all know they shouldn’t smoke … but we’re just there not as judges but as support and giving them the resources they need.”
If the patient agrees, nurses are assessing each patient every shift regarding their tobacco usage and craving level.
“(Before) nurses felt pretty helpless,” Heeke said. “Their patients would come from a C-section and be begging for a wheelchair the second the baby was born to go outside and have a cigarette.
“At this stage, with all the things we’ve created it’s given our nurses an opportunity to have something to say to the patient beyond ‘don’t you think it would be a good idea to quit.’”
Deming travels through the halls of both Norman Regional hospital complexes visiting with patients who have indicated a history of tobacco use.
For nine years now she has worked with smokers. Some are just thinking about quitting. Others are desperately looking for a way out.
And some won’t even acknowledge she’s standing in front of them.
She terms her approach as “motivational interviewing.” She stresses to her patients that she’s not there to judge.
Nearly every person Deming visits understands that they need to quit tobacco. Many have tried multiple times on their own without success.
“When we look at this population it’s the most difficult population to approach,” Deming said. “Most people smoking during their pregnancy feel ashamed of it. They don’t like to talk about it. Of course, they are very addicted to tobacco at this point because they haven’t stopped smoking. Most people know there’s going to be a health issue related to that.”
And now Norman Regional nurses have even more to offer to help these patients quit.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn  [email protected]

Some Florida resorts are located amid a massive amount of traffic and tourist activity. The Marriott Pompano Beach Resort and Spa is somewhat off the beaten track, and is boon for motorists, with their own transportation.
While a stroll within a mile of the property can be charming, there are not many cafes, restaurants or shops within the immediate area. If your desire is to get away from it all, and just ensconce yourself in a comfortable setting with pristine and maintained beaches, 2 pools, 2 towers of accommodations and delicious eating experiences, Marriott Pompano Beach Resort and Spa may be your ideal.
When you consider a visit to Florida at any time of year, it is important to keep in mind the annual hurricane season from mid-summer through September. Of course these days, predictable weather patterns of past years seem to be unpredictable. It’s a boon to Pompano that they are far North of Miami Beach with its recent health headlines. It also is North of Fort Lauderdale, and a comfortable distance from its neighbor Lauderdale-By-the-Sea, which is a more active community with its many eateries and entertainment options. Again motorists will find it near enough to quench a typical Florida tourist’s appetite.
Near Pompano is the Hillsboro Lighthouse, privately owned and only open for tours at certain times, being a coast guard operated property. Upcoming tour dates for 2016 are: September 10, October 8, November 6, and December 3.
Happily, sequestered in your ninth floor ocean front room with balcony, you might find the sporadic afternoon thunderstorm a real 3-D entertainment, more impactful than the best free action disaster movie, shown on your large in room TV screen. Be sure and inquire about a corner suite room, for added luxury. As with many upscale hotels, housekeeping may be sporadic, even when alerting them to your out of room schedule.
Check in time is listed at 4 pm, but as someone I know had to do, you might have to wait until 6 pm, which will give you time to explore the property, Atlantic Ocean beach, Spa, and exercise room or grab a bite to eat.
McCoy’s restaurant both comfortably inside or out by the active pools, offers a variety of delectable meal options and beverages with congenial wait staff. If you’re a fan of specially cocktails, with the proper and courtesy instruction, they follow through with your requests most satisfactorily.
Florida still offers what many sun worshipers require and the family welcoming Marriott’s Pompano Beach Resort, might be your new favorite Florida oasis for you and your extended family.

For more information and reservations: www.marriott.com/fllpm

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
http://realtraveladventures.com/author/zinn/
http://www.examiner.com/travel-in-oklahoma-city/terry-zinn
www.new.okveterannews.com – www.martinitravels.com

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Xiao-Hong Sun, Ph.D., a five-year, $2.76 million grant to investigate a recently discovered immune cell involved in asthma.
The role of the new cell, called an innate lymphoid cell, is to protect the body from parasitic infection. However, when too much of this cell type is present, it seems to result in asthma.
“These cells were previously thought to be made only in bone marrow,” said Sun, who holds the Lew and Myra Ward Chair in Biomedical Research at OMRF. “We discovered that they are also made in the thymus, which brings up some interesting connections to asthma.”
The thymus, which sits on top of the heart, is a major site for the creation of T cells, a type of specialized white blood cell that plays a central role in immunity. During childhood and through puberty, the thymus generates a lifetime supply of T cells—enough to carry through adulthood. When the supply of T cells is adequate, the thymus has done its job and begins to shrink.
Sun postulates that innate lymphoid cells are also present in the thymus and might explain why children have higher rates of asthma than adults.
“Since kids have a very active thymus when they’re born and up to puberty, they’re more likely to have a large number of innate lymphoid cells coming from the thymus along with the T cells,” said Sun. “This is also the stage of life where many kids tend to develop asthma. People often say they ‘grow out” of asthma as they get older, so maybe it’s linked to this later decrease in thymus function. That’s what we hope to find out with this grant.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7.7 percent of people in the United States suffer from asthma. The highest rates of asthma occur in the 5-14 age group at 10.3 percent and decline over time, reaching a low point of 6.9 percent in Americans over the age of 65.
“We don’t yet know the significance of this finding, but if we determine this hypothesis to be true, it would have great clinical relevance,” she said. “Perhaps the thymus is where we need to look for ways to control asthma in children. That’s what we hope to learn.”
The grant will also allow Sun and her lab to further investigate whether the innate lymphoid cells produced in the thymus differ from the ones made in the bone marrow.
Sun said their discovery of innate lymphoid cells in the thymus came about by accident through study of a particular mouse model in their lab—a model they’ve used for more than two decades to study T cell development.
“This research builds on our experience and what we have been working on the past 25 years, so it puts us in a unique position to do this work,” she said. “I am very excited to see how this cell is controlled and hope we can learn what happens in the thymus and how it might be linked to asthma. It really fits really well with the overall research of this lab and comes back to what started this lab in the first place.”

Dove Schmidt from Depew, OK, was crowned Ms OK Senior America on June 25.  She will be competing in the National pageant for Ms Senior America in Atlantic City, NJ in October.  The Ms. Senior Oklahoma Foundation is having a CASINO PARTY FUNDRAISER at  the  Quail Springs Grand Tapestry located at 14201 N Kentucky, Oklahoma City,  Oct. 8th  from 6:00 to 9:00 pm with hors d’ oeuvres and beverages. Join us as we help to provide a special send off and encourage her in the final step of competition.