They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but that’s exactly what employees from St. Ann’s Skilled Nursing and Therapy handed out Wednesday afternoon.
Bags filled with sandwiches and chips were put together to help the homeless in Oklahoma City.
“Our staff has really bought into this once-a-month event where we get to come out, we get to serve others,” said Mary Peacock-Smith, St. Ann’s administrator.
Each month, for the last few months, a group of employees from St. Ann’s have assembled meals and then taken them downtown. They set up just north of the Embark bus station in Oklahoma City and hand out the lunches to anyone who asks for one.
On this month’s visit, they brought 350 sandwiches, lunch sacks and bottles of water out to fill a void for some of those in need, but there is a greater purpose behind the lunch sacks both for staff members at St. Ann’s and for the homeless.
“Being in lockdown and going through that traumatic event together, we needed something to bring us together and bring us a sense of community,” said Peacock-Smith. “I think by serving others we really help ourselves in a positive way.” The lunch giveaway event is part of a partnership St Ann’s has forged with the local non-profit Oklahoma Citizen Advocates for Recovery and Transformation Association (OCARTA).
“They decided hey we want to help and so they’ve been doing the food and the water and helping support our mission, and we certainly support theirs,” said Donna Woods with OCARTA.
OCARTA offers free services to those in need of recovery or mental health services. This monthly lunch event helps bring awareness to the homeless community about the services that are available. And it is making a difference.

*Includes 16 hospitalizations in pediatric beds.
**Focus, Rehabilitation and Tribal Facilities numbers are not assigned to a specific region as their patient populations reside across the state. Information provided through survey of Oklahoma hospitals as reported to HHS as of the time of this report. Response rate affects data. Facilities may update previously reported information as necessary.
Data Source: Acute Disease Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health. *As of 2021-11-29 at 7:00 a.m.

Story by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

Seven years after retiree Mac Troy began writing his novel and a year after his own untimely death, the longtime Oklahoma City resident’s time-travel saga “Out of Time” is finally in print.
Featuring a modern-day teenager’s time travel to Oklahoma’s Territorial days, the book would never have been published without the assistance of his widow, Carol Wilkinson Troy, a longtime on-air personality and executive at KOCO-TV5 in Oklahoma City.
“Out of Time” is the realization of Mac’s dream to write a book that would transport readers of all age groups to new worlds,” Carol Troy said. “His not living to see his dream realized was sad enough, but it would have been truly tragic if his efforts had all come to naught.”
The paperback book of 350 pages will make its debut on Friday, Dec. 3, at Full Circle Bookstore in north Oklahoma City. A talk about the book and its long journey to print will be given by several guests invited by Carol, who will sign books for her late husband.
Finally retired after decades of producing television documentaries and operating his own advertising agency in Oklahoma City, Troy began writing “Out of Time,” his third work of fiction, in 2014. Although he produced numerous award-winning documentaries and ads during his career, including one Emmy nomination, the noted metro resident was at heart a fiction writer.
“Mac was a voracious reader,” Carol said, “and he lived a pretty adventurous life, including directing a documentary film crew in the climbing of Citlaltepetl, the third highest peak in North America. His life experiences and love of the written word came together in his writing.”
“Out of Time” follows the adventures of teenager Travis “T-Bone” Stone of modern-day Dallas, Texas, who unexpectedly finds himself and his dog transported back in time to Oklahoma’s territorial days. Adjusting to his new life as a greenhorn cowboy, the athletic youth falls into the company of a colorful assortment of rough-and-ready characters who teach him how to survive the dangers of life in the West.
Along the way, the wide-eyed time traveler meets the mysterious Wind Dancing, a fetching Cherokee maiden who has more than a little to do with T-Bone’s time-travel adventure. His ready adaptability to his new environment and his passionate feelings for Wind Dancing leave young T-Bone with mixed feelings about returning to his former life in the 21st century.
Although a complete work of fiction featuring a dog that communicates with the young at heart, Troy strived for historical accuracy in his depiction of life in the early 1890s Oklahoma and Indian territories. The author consulted with noted Oklahoma historian Dr. Bob Blackburn to achieve this realism.
“The author has done a superb job of mixing fantasy time travel with an authentic history of cowboys and Indians in the Old West,” Blackburn said. “I thoroughly enjoyed this book.”
Blackburn has been invited to the Dec. 3 book signing to comment on the historical events and characters in the book. Several other special guests, including Oscar-winning producer Gray Frederickson, may be present to discuss Troy’s efforts to get his final manuscript in print.
“It’s been just a little more than a year since Mac’s death,” Carol said, “so the celebration of his book’s debut will also serve as a nice commemoration of his life and his passion for writing.”

Story and photo by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

For passersby looking at a large public art mural painted on a wall in Oklahoma chances are it was painted by former University of Central Oklahoma art professor Bob Palmer, 70, or one of his former students.
The renowned Bethany muralist’s calendar is crowded with the commissions, chores and deadlines Oklahoma’s most viewed artist attends to these days.
He continues to add to his busy calendar by submitting proposals on large mural projects. Palmer, who earned a doctorate of education at Oklahoma State University, recently submitted a proposal to paint three of The Pathway to Hope Public Art Trail underpasses in Tulsa. The six underpasses are beneath Interstate 244 from Main Street to Greenwood Avenue, planned to honor the vibrant history of the Greenwood District.
Palmer Studios, Inc., a consortium of his best former students during his 30-year art professorship, is in demand. He is busy marketing his painting talents and historical perspective through his and his former students painting career.
Sometimes this means in-depth proposals to selection committees, while other times his vast legacy of 3,800 murals makes gaining work so much easier. This happens when a previous client calls and tells him he is needed for a massive project.
The internationally known artist, yes international because of his works in Canada, Mexico, Macedonia, Zagreb the capital of Croatia and Eastern Europe, is in demand. With the advent of the internet, when people want the most talented muralists possible, they have a global reach. Palmer has been hired from Oklahoma to paint murals in Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Tennessee and Louisiana
“Retired from teaching in 2014, I still work my career every day, in some form or fashion, even when I am not busy painting a mural,” Palmer said. “Now a days it seems people want us to do larger ones, with more detail about their agendas or concerns and I have to be ready with plenty of supplies to make that happen.”
Successful nationally known Oklahoma sculptor Joel Randell said he was fortunate to get into one of Palmer’s traditional painting classes at UCO in 1993. Randell went on to help Palmer complete 450 murals around the state.
“His quiet insistence that I trust my talent, telling us to paint big during the semester helped me learn to paint in an impactful way to create colorful and lifelike murals.” Randell said. “I think that Bob can serve as an inspiration for all of us of the power of mentoring a new generation of artists. The new budgeting for public art across our communities is transforming the cultural landscape in Oklahoma towns and cities.”
Oklahoma art historians say Palmer had a lot to do with Edmond’s City of Art status by showing the way to engaging its citizens and visitors with public art.
The art rich community began with more than 100 sculptures and paintings. This was sparked 30 years ago when Palmer first took his mural painting class’s artists off campus from the University of Central Oklahoma to begin an intense mural painting campaign. This emphasis on adding public art to the community stretched seven semesters before they ran out of walls to paint in the downtown and outlying Edmond area.
This intense emphasis on public art in Edmond sparked many other public art installations, mostly focused on sculptures. The city created the Edmond Visual Arts Commission in 2001, half funded by Edmond’s Art in Public Places Program. It commissioned many art pieces placed across Edmond’s grassy intersections, city streets, business entrances and parks during the past 20 years.
Growing to more than 260 murals, sculptures and installations, Edmond exploded with public art. Edmond utility, transformer and traffic boxes are currently being transformed into works of art.
“As a public art muralist when you paint a scene on a huge scale the viewer is engaged through the powerful lens of their cultural heritage,” Palmer said. “My former students and I have done so many, when I retired, I finally put some of the best and largest into a book that has sold well.”
His hard back coffee table book “Painting Oklahoma and Beyond” with 500 photos of his murals is available at Painting Oklahoma and Beyond illustrates state murals (oklahomabooksonline.com).
“While other artists have paintings in the permanent collection of prestigious museums, my pride is based on far more people seeing mine daily,” Palmer said.
His last three decades as a prolific muralist means more of his art is on public display in Oklahoma than any artist in history and will remain so well into the future.
Palmer says while some artists have their photo taken with famous people, he tries his best to capture the normal street scene the viewer might have seen from the past at its most colorful and most robust.
“This mural work puts me on the road a lot. But I try to make sure the majority of my time away from home is applying paint to my murals,” Palmer said. “Along the way I have met so many neat people here in Oklahoma it has made it a fun, exciting life.”
“My wife has been my biggest fan. Starting off she wanted to keep track of every piece of art I did. After two years she realized that was not going to work and was happy to share her husband with the world,” Palmer said, referring to his wife of 48 years, Carolyn.

Now through Christmas night at Joe B. Barnes Regional Park

Story by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

Midwest City’s Holiday Lights Spectacular creates a free holiday drive-through wonderland of twinkling lights celebrating the magic of the season with more than 100 animated light displays.
“The City of Midwest City is excited to bring Holiday Lights Spectacular back for the 2021 holiday season,” said Josh Ryan, communications and marketing director. “The lights are an important holiday tradition for families in eastern Oklahoma County. Despite the many challenges we had in getting the show running this year, we knew it was a challenge we had to overcome.”
The lights at the popular destination giving visitors plenty of the Christmas spirit to enjoy shine brightly each night through Christmas night (Dec. 25). The holiday light’s shimmer will be viewable from the comfort of personal vehicles in a driving tour from 6-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 6-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 6-11 p.m. Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
Joe B. Barnes Regional Park comes alive with secular and religious displays featuring the vibrancy of a majestic 118-foot Christmas tree Illuminated with more than 9,000 LED lights and topped off with a dazzling 8-foot star.
Visitors can enjoy driving through more than one million sparkling lights, many of which are animated. This seasonal celebration of animation is the hallmark of the display’s dazzling winter wonderland claim to fame.
The lights of every color spectacular features the animated illumination celebration of a dancing forest light show performing to traditional holiday music. Visitors tune their vehicle radio to a specific frequency to hear the holiday music that accompanies the animation.
The one-of-a-kind Santa fly fishing in a 20-foot-tall waterfall with gliding fish and prancing animals is a unique feature of the loop through a quiet wooded area. Elves are seen baking their Christmas confections in the animated Candy Cane Company.
The Park is transformed into a lighted wonderland where visitors can see anything from the Nativity scene to Santa playing soccer. Visitors drive through the park and experience the displays while in the warmth of their car. The estimated drive time for completing the tour is 20-30 minutes.
This family tradition began in 1995 with just 44 displays and has grown to be what at one point was the largest animated lights display in a five-state region.
The Park, 10 minutes east of OKC at 8700 E. Reno Ave., is easily found from I-40. Head north on Douglas Blvd. to find the lit snowflakes heading west on SE 15th St. to the entrance south on Century Blvd between Midwest Blvd. and Douglas.
Admission is free, thanks to the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce and many merchants. The Holiday Lights Spectacular runs on sponsorships and donations. Donations are appreciated onsite or contact organizers.
With easy access from I-40 and just 10 minutes east of Oklahoma City, visitors and their family will want to make this an annual tradition for years to come.
For group arrangements for the light show, including guided group tours and itinerary planning and more general information call 405-739-1289 or visit Holiday Lights Spectacular | Midwest City Oklahoma. Organizers thank sponsors for their support that allows them to present this community service to the public.

To celebrate the season, Willowood at Mustang Senior Living, offering assisted living and memory care, will be hosting a holiday “Parade of Trees” event.
Several local businesses and vendors have donated six to 14-foot Christmas trees decorated according to the theme: “Christmas Past, Present and Future.” From Wednesday, Dec. 1 through Tuesday, Dec. 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, the public is invited to tour the display and enter a raffle to win a tree from the display. In addition, each tree will be entered to win the award for “Favorite Design.” The winning business or vendor will receive a wine and cheese basket to share with their team.
This event is free, and guests will be asked to follow COVID-19 protection measures. While vaccinations are not mandatory to attend, they are encouraged. Upon entry, guests will be given a symptom questionnaire. Hand sanitizer will be available and face masks are required inside to protect our residents.
“We’re so grateful for the generosity of the area businesses and vendors that partnered with us for this event and donated the festive Christmas trees for our ‘Parade of Trees,’” said Executive Director Cathy Collins. “We can’t wait for guests to visit our community and see what’s sure to be a winter wonderland.” Willowood at Mustang Senior Living was designed to meet the growing need for senior housing and health care in Canadian and Oklahoma Counties and the surrounding area. Willowood at Mustang provides assisted living and memory care residences and offers services centered on quality care and life enrichment. The community is managed by WellAge, a respected senior care management company located in Lakewood, Colorado. For more information about Willowood at Mustang Senior Living, call 405-860-6326 or visit www.WillowoodatMustang.com.

Friends of the Capitol was honored to host their annual Statehood Day art contest with nine OKCPS 4th grade classes. Ridgeview, Adelaide Lee, Hawthorne, Coolidge, Shidler, Hillcrest, Britton, Cleveland, and Martin Luther King Elementary Schools all competed for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The theme was “My Oklahoma,” which all the students painted their interpretation of what Oklahoma meant to them. Their works of art was showcased at the Oklahoma State Capitol, on Statehood Day. All their families, friends, and teachers came out to support them and had some refreshments and celebrated Oklahoma’s Birthday!
There were protests going on at the Capitol that week and this brought some light to the Capitol and to Oklahoma. Seeing the 4th graders dressed up showing off their art to everyone was priceless!
“Friends of the Capitol” loves being a part of celebrating Statehood Day by bringing in kids and educating them about our Capitol and our great State. It is a great way to get Oklahomans involved”-Amy Dillon, Executive Director. Friends of the Capitol is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) corporation that is devoted to providing private funds to maintain and improve the beauty of the Oklahoma State Capitol building and complex and its works of art. It is the only tax-exempt corporation designated to receive private funds for this purpose. For More Information: Amy Dillon, 405-843-2443 or [email protected] or visit www.friendsofthecapitol.com.

Willowood at Mustang Senior Living announces that industry veteran Cathy Collins will serve as the community’s new executive director. Collins will oversee operations of Willowood at Mustang Senior Living’s assisted living and memory care apartments.
Collins has served seniors for most of her life. A born and raised Oklahoman, she began her career as a certified nursing assistant, then a certified medical assistant, and later became a licensed practical nurse. In the years that followed, she worked in healthcare administration.
Now, as Executive Director for Willowood at Mustang, Collins will lead a team of senior care professionals in providing residents with the best quality services and care, all while ensuring residents are thriving in a loving, safe, fun community environment that feels like home.
“At the end of the day, it’s the best reward to know I’ve made a difference in residents’ lives,” said Collins. For more information about Willowood at Mustang Senior Living visit: https://willowoodatmustang.com/

Blood clots are a major concern for people facing various health situations, including surgery, hospitalization and cancer. While current medications lower the risk of clots, they increase the chance of bleeding complications, to an extent that some people cannot take them. However, a new option may be on the horizon — a research study published today in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine shows promise for a new oral medication that is effective for preventing clots without increasing bleeding.
Gary Raskob, Ph.D., Dean of the Hudson College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, is senior author of the publication and chair of the steering committee for the study. The study tested the drug Milvexian in patients undergoing knee replacement surgery, who have a high risk of developing clots in the deep veins of their legs. More than 1,200 patients undergoing surgery at 118 health centers in 18 countries participated in the trial. Results showed that a daily dose of 100 milligrams or more of Milvexian was more effective for preventing clots than the current standard of treatment and, importantly, it had a low risk of bleeding.
“We are encouraged by these initial results with this new oral anticoagulant that works differently from existing medications,” Raskob said. “We may finally be able to realize the longstanding goal of separating the benefit of anticoagulant medication for preventing clots from its side effect of increasing bleeding complications.”
There is an enormous need for drugs to prevent clots — two of the top 10 drugs sold across the world are anti-clotting medications, Raskob said. Blood clots can cause serious illness and disability. As the underlying cause of most heart attacks and strokes, and of clots in the legs that move to the lungs, they are responsible for about 1 in 4 deaths worldwide. Blood clots in the lungs, known as pulmonary embolism, are fatal for about 100,000 people each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Because so many people require the medications to reduce the risk of clots, researchers are devoting significant time and resources to developing new therapies that are effective and improve patient safety.
Researchers chose the drug Milvexian to study because of the way it reacts with a protein in the blood called Factor XI. People who have a genetic deficiency of Factor XI (a condition known as hemophilia C) have a lower chance of developing clots later in life, and they don’t have spontaneous bleeding complications compared to people with other types of hemophilia. This suggested to researchers that if Factor XI could be reduced in at-risk patients, clots could be prevented without bleeding complications. Milvexian works by binding to Factor XI and inhibiting it, which reduces the risk of clot development.
Most of Raskob’s research career has been devoted to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of blood clots, formally called deep-vein thrombosis, as well as pulmonary embolism, a blockage that occurs when part of a clot breaks off and travels through the bloodstream to the lungs. In July, he was an author for another publication in the New England Journal of Medicine about abelacimab, a monoclonal antibody injected under the skin, which also targets Factor XI for the prevention of clots.

This holiday season, Leslie Shaw, 66, is looking forward to time with family. It’s time the Oklahoma City man wasn’t always sure he would have when he was hit by a life-threatening stroke.
A massive stroke nearly claimed Shaw’s life, leaving him hospitalized, unable to walk or talk. His doctors warned family members to prepare for a funeral.
“I decided I wasn’t ready to get busy dying, so I’m going to get busy living,” Shaw said.
Shaw says he was in the hospital when he discovered Valir Pace, a program that could provide him with all-inclusive care.
“We’re able to identify a patient, evaluate and give them whatever amount of therapy they need. There’s not an insurance company saying, ‘OK, you qualify for this many visits and then done.’ We just go until the goal is achieved,” said Ashley Henson, a nurse practitioner with Valir Pace.
Shaw’s stroke happened just a few weeks before his 60th birthday. His godson noticed something was wrong.
“He said, ‘Godfather, your face is looking funny.’ I said, ‘Looking funny?’” Shaw said.
The young man told him his face was drooping. Not long after that conversation, Shaw collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors told him his only hope to recover was to start therapy as soon as possible.
“There’s a window of time after a stroke, we call it neuroplasticity, where the brain is just ready and ripe to rehabilitate,” Henson explained.
Henson said Shaw’s experience is an important wake up call for all families with older loved ones, adding the holidays are a good time for families to check on their loved ones. Those wellness checks should include making sure they are taking their medications properly and following their doctors’ directions, especially if they have high blood pressure or diabetes which both increase the risk of stroke.
Henson said it’s also a good time for families to familiarize themselves with the signs of stroke. The acronym F.A.S.T. can help families know what to look for, when it comes to stroke.
The “F” stands for facial asymmetry — that’s the “drooping” on one side of the face that Shaw’s godson noticed.
“Have them smile. If part of their mouth is not pointing upwards, that’s a sign,” Henson said.
The “A” stands for arm weakness. The “S” for speech issues, such as slurring their words or struggling with speech. And, the “T” is for time, meaning you need to get help quickly.
Shaw did get to the hospital quickly. He also began therapy shortly after his stroke, and with the help of his therapists, he regained the ability to walk – first with a walker, then a quad cane and eventually walking on his own, even completing a 5K walk with some of his Valir Pace team at his side. He continues to work each week to maintain his strength and mobility.
Shaw credits hard work, God’s grace, and his team at Valir Pace for his ability to continue to live independently and says he is ready to enjoy life with those he loves this holiday season.
To learn more about Valir Pace and whether you or a loved one qualifies, visit ValirPace.org