LOCAL

IBP Completes Acquisition of TAV Here
11th Annual Pie Festival Features Longshot Gang
Class of 57 Sets Gathering
Area Oil and Gas Report

IBP Completes Acquisition of TAV Here

By LOUISE ABERCROMBIE

News Business Editor

IBP, Inc., headquartered in Dakota Dunes, S.D., has completed the acquisition of Thorn Apple Valley (TAV), a Michigan based meat processing company which includes the state-of-the-art plant in Ponca City.

The plant here primarily processes pork including ham, smoked boneless ham, spiral sliced bone-in hams, steaks and four-by four-luncheon meats. Employment here is around 500.

Doug Moore, Ponca City plant manager was quoted previously about the proposed sale, “I am very, very pleased. This means that employees here have very solid job security.”

Opening here in 1995, the new plant was made possible in part by the incentives offered the city and by the state’s Quality Jobs Act, which ties incentives to number of jobs created. The plant has maintained the level of employment.

Purchase Takes Little Time

IBP officials in June entered into a letter of intent to buy TAV, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. A federal bankruptcy judge approved and confirmed plans for the transaction in July. Effective Aug. 25, TAV is operating as a subsidiary of IBP.

“Thorn Apple Valley is the latest step in our further efforts aimed at a more manufactured, higher margin product mix,” according to Robert L, Peterson, IBP chairman and chief executive officer. “This acquisition is a great complement to our other value-added businesses. Already we have begun the process and started the investment to move beyond the challenges of the past. Specific initiatives to improve product quality, to ensure product safety, and to achieve state-of-the-art manufacturing are underway, We are firmly committed to TAV’s customers.”

In the transaction, IBP purchased certain assets of TAV for $117.5 million in cash and assumption of debt. With inventory and receivables valued at $50 million, IBP’s investment in brand names, trademarks and fixed assets is approximately $67.5 million.

Other Facilities Also Purchased

Operating facilities included in the purchase, in addition to the Ponca City meat processing plant, are Forrest City, Ark., Holly Ridge, N.C., Grand Rapids, Mich. and Detroit.

Thorn Apple Valley produces bacon, hot dogs, lunch meats, hams and sausage and manages national brand names such as Thorn Apple Valley, Corn King, Colonial and Wilson Certified and Cavanaugh Lake View Farms.

IBP, Inc. began as Iowa Beef Packers, Inc. in 1961 with a single plant at Denison, Iowa. This plant, however, was not just a meat packing facility, it represented an entirely new approach to both the mechanics and economics of producing fresh red meat. Currently IBP’s first adventure into pork took place in 1963 when it bought the Iowa Pork Company of Perry, Iowa. The next pork business came about in 1976 with the acquisition of Madison Foods of Madison, Neb.

Changing the Name

In 1982, IBP purchased a major pork plant at Storm Lake, Iowa. Because of IBP’s movement into pork and other value-added areas, Iowa Beef Processors became IBP the nation’s largest producer of fresh pork by 1990.

IBP is well-known as the world’s largest supplier of premium fresh beef and pork products. The company also is a diversified producer of hundreds of consumer-ready food products, including deli meats, pizza toppings, pizza crusts, soups, sauces, ethnic items, appetizers and side dishes as well as tanned leather products for leading automobile, upholstery, and apparel manufacturers.

Nearly News

The annual Chili Cook-off, sponsored by Professionals Today, will be held at Wentz Camp on Saturday, Sept. 19. Entries are coming in from all around Oklahoma as well as Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, and sites are still available. Coupons for $5, which can be exchanged for tasting kits at the barbecue and cook-off, can be purchased in advance from the Chamber of Commerce, Carla’s Hallmark, local banks and any Professionals Today member.

NN has learned that Ponca Citian Jenna V Cargill will be sitting with eyes glued to the TV at 8 p.m. Friday, watching her great-grandson, James Gerard, baritone soloist with the Vanguard Drum Corps. The show will appear on OETA, Channel 13. The Corps travels throughout the summer, and has recently competed in the Drum Corps International competition held in Madison, Wis. James is also a great-nephew of Clyde and Nadine Frisby of Ponca City, and makes his home in Van Nuys, Calif. NN says “happy watching” to Jenna V and the Frisbys.

11th Annual Pie Festival Features Longshot Gang

Don Long and the “Longshot Gang” band will be donating their talent again this year at the 10th Annual Peachtree Pie Festival to be held Saturday at Pioneer park from 6 to 9 p.m.

Don and the band will be playing Western Swing and some of the Big Band era music through the evening. Several musicians and singers are from Ponca City. Long and his band have donated their talent for the past seven years to aid Peachtree Landing, a shelter for the homeless in Ponca City.

Also on tap will be a magic show and face painting for the children and other activities.

The homemade pies, baked by Ponca City’s best cooks from local churches, topped by a generous dollop of ice cream from the Vance Johnson ice cream machine, hot dogs, chips and a drink, will be available for $6, served by members of the Peachtree Landing board of directors. The food items will also be available separately at various prices. All proceeds are used for the homeless shelter.

Peachtree Landing, a shelter for the homeless located at Hazel Avenue and North First Street, has been giving a “hand up — not a hand out,” for 12 years. First organized by concerned local citizens and several churches, the shelter serves thousands each year, aiding them with education, budgeting, health problems, jobs, and training in addition to providing a safe temporary shelter. Most clients stay about three days.

“We help them find better paying jobs, get job training, find more suitable housing and just give them a hand-up — generally speaking,” says Carmalita Wesbrook director.

Attendees at the pie festival are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or a blanket for more comfortable seating during the entertainment by Long and his band.

According to Peachtree Landing board members, any whole pies left at the close of the festival will be available for sale.

Class of 57 Sets Gathering

Members of the Ponca City High School graduating class of 1957 will gather for an “end of summer” mini reunion-picnic at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at 815 North Fourteenth.

Reservations need to be made with Kay Allen Anthony, 762-5840, or Vicki Rowe Poulson, 762-4280, by Aug. 30. Larry Cramton will be catering the dinner. Organizers of the reunion need an accurate number of those planning to attend.

Area Oil and Gas Report

Located about 8.5 miles southwest of Ponca City, the No. 7 Nemaha is scheduled for spudding in Kay County’s Tonkawa Field. Hegco-Canada Inc. will be the operator.

With total hole projected to 6,000 feet, the well will be seeking production in the Granite Wash Formation.

Section 35-township 25n-range 1w-ne-sw.

The Warren Corp. has begun making hole for the No. 4 Refinery, a Kay County wildcat operation. Drilling got under way on July 14 in a lease a little over three miles southwest of Kildare. Total drilling depth is projected to 2,400 feet.

Section 33-township 26n-range 2e-nw-ne.

An ill-fated Kay County wildcat has been written off as a dry hole in a lease near Kaw City. Drilling commenced on May 30 with West Bay Exploration Co. as the operator. Designated as the No. 1 Godbehere et al, the well bottomed with no commercial shows at an undisclosed depth.

The lease was about 4.5 miles north-northwest of Kaw City.

Section 35-township 27n-range 3e-sw-ne.

Noble County’s South Tonkawa Field will see more developmental action when a shallow developmental well is spudded by independent operator M.H. Williams.

Located about six miles southwest of Three Sands, the well is designated as the No. 1 David. It is aiming for production in the Herrington Formation with total hole projected to 800-ft. TD.

Section 25-township 24n-range 2w-ne-se.

A recompletion for extended production life is planned at the No. 3 Sara Yost in Noble County’s Billings Field. Located a little under five miles southeast of Billings, the well currently bottoms at a depth of 3,004 feet. It will be seeking new production in the Tonkawa formation with Chesapeake Operating Inc. as the operator.

Section 22-township 23n-range 2w-ne-nw.

Plug-and-abandon orders have been executed for the No. 48 Sanders Marsh, a wildcat drilling venture in Noble County. Located about five miles west of the Red Rock community, the well was spudded on June 27 of 1998. Total drilling depth was unavailable.

West Bay Exploration Co. was the operator.

Section 14-township 23n-range 1w-se-sw.

DEATHS

Kenneth C. King

Obituaries

Kenneth C. King

Kenneth C. King, longtime Ponca City resident, died Tuesday, Aug. 24, 1999 at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. He was 82.

A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, Aug. 27, 1999 at Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery, with the Rev. Ron Ledbetter, pastor of Sunset Baptist Church, officiating. Arrangements are made under the direction of Trout Funeral Home.

Kenneth was born on Nov. 18, 1916 in Minco, to Addie and Bessie (Curtis) King. He attended Binger and Chickasha schools.

He married Ruth A. Fanning on June 8, 1940, in Winfield, Kan. She preceded him in death on Oct. 24, 1998. The couple made their home in Oklahoma City for a short time where he was employed with Gilmore, Gardener, and Kirk Trucking Company. He was transferred to Ponca City in 1955 and later became employed with Groendyke Transport. He retired in 1982. He enjoyed fishing and spending time with his family.

Kenneth is survived by one daughter Eva Taylor and her husband Virgil of Ponca City; four sons, Dale King and his wife Sandy, Wayne King and Shirley Coffman, Billy King and his wife Christy, and Jim King and his wife Bernita, all of Ponca City; 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. In addition to his wife Ruth, he was preceded in death by his parents and one granddaughter, Amy (King) Young.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association Memorial Fund, 4425 West Airport Freeway, Suite 130, Irving, TX 75062.

The family will be at 2535 South Ranch Drive.

paid obituary

NEWS BRIEFS

Senior Citizens Dance Set — A Senior Citizens Dance will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday at the Senior Citizens Building, 320 South A in Arkansas City. The Pete Coli Country Band will play for dancing. All senior citizens are invited to attend and bring a favorite snack to share.

Head Country all day Friday special­ All you can eat, smoked BBQ ribs, beans, potato salad,

and coleslaw, only $7.49, all day. 1217 East Prospect. 767-8304. adv.

Drugs — At 9:42 a.m. Wednesday, a Ponca City police officer arrested a 27-year-old woman in the 500 block of Foster Avenue for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Dougan's Bar-B-Q Friday special from 4-8 p.m., all you can eat ribs with beans, potato salad and

coleslaw, $7.49. 215 South 14th, 765-7979. adv.

Arrest — A Ponca City police officer arrested a 20-year-old man in the 200 block of North Oak Street at 3:41 p.m. Wednesday for four Kay County warrants.

Burglary — A Ponca City police officer took a report of burglary to a residence in the 2900 block of North Union Street at 10:35 p.m. Wednesday.

Arrest — At 2:11 p.m. Wednesday, an employee from the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center emergency room contacted the Ponca City Police Department regarding an intoxicated subject. An officer responded and arrested a 43-year-old man for a Kay County warrant and public intoxication.

Chicken lovers. Check new selection of lamps, teapots, picture frames, plates and pictures. Mrs.

Brown’s Attic, downtown Ponca City. adv.

Accident — A Ponca City police officer responded to the report of an accident at North Fifth Street and East Highland Avenue at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday. Information was taken for a report. No injuries were noted.

Dougan's Bar-B-Q Thursday special from 4-? 1/2 BBQ chicken with 2 vegetables. $4.25. 215 South 14th. 765-7979. adv.

Arrest — At 11:09 a.m. Wednesday, a Ponca City police officer arrested a 44-year-old man at Garfield Park for a city warrant.

Stolen — A subject in the 200 block of West Hartford Avenue advised the Ponca City Police Department at 11:24 a.m. Wednesday that a wallet was taken from a vehicle while the driver was inside a business. An officer responded and took a report of larceny.

Harassment — A resident in the 300 block of South Fourth Street contacted the Ponca City Police Department at 11:23 a.m. Wednesday regarding harassment. An officer responded and took information to make a warrant request for assault.

Become Part of the Ponca City Public School Substitute Teaching Team. Required Training, August 24, 1999, 9:00 a.m. at 111 W. Grand. High School Diploma required. Bring Drivers license and Social Security Card, (Park in Back) For more information call 767-8000. adv.

Arrest — At 12:19 p.m. Wednesday, a Ponca City police officer arrested an 18-year-old man in the 400 block of South Pine Street for a Kay County warrant for pointing a firearm.

Free Pregnancy test. Birth Choice cares. Confidential. Hours: Tuesday, 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, 1-3 p.m. and Thursday, 6-8 p.m. 700 West Broadway. 765-9689. adv.

Accident — A Ponca City police officer responded to the 2000 block of North Fourteenth Street at 2:36 p.m. Wednesday to take information about a private property accident.

Fraud — A resident in the 2100 block of Meadowbrook Drive contacted the Ponca City Police Department at 2:37 p.m. Wednesday to report unauthorized use of a credit card. An officer responded and took a report.

Warrant Served — At 3:41 p.m. Wednesday a Ponca City police officer arrested an 18-year-old man at North Fifth Street and East Comanche Avenue for a city warrant.

Arrests — At 4:54 p.m. Wednesday a Ponca City police officer took a 21-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman into custody from the Kay County jail and took them to the Ponca City jail to be booked on charges of city warrants.

Larceny — An employee at Sonic, 2603 North Fourteenth Street advised the Ponca City Police Department at 5:33 p.m. Wednesday that money was stolen from a vehicle. An officer responded and took a report.

Theft — At 5:56 p.m. Wednesday an employee of Hibbett Sports, 901 East Prospect Avenue, contacted the Ponca City Police Department to report a boy left the business on a bike. Two officers responded and located the subject in the 3200 block of North Fourteenth Street. The 13-year-old was arrested for petit larceny and advised not to return to the store. The youth was released to a guardian on a promise to appear in juvenile court.

Slashed — At 11:09 p.m. Wednesday, a resident in the 2900 block of North Union Street advised the Ponca City Police Department that three tires were slashed. An officer responded and took a report.

Arrest — A Ponca City police officer arrested a 20-year-old man in the 100 block of South Elm Street at 1:44 a.m. Thursday for a Kay County warrant.

Accident — At 2:58 a.m. Thursday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol was advised of a possible accident which occurred in the southbound lane on Interstate 35 at mile marker 220.

Burglary — Six officers responded to an alarm at No Limit Custom, 318 North First Street, at 3:32 a.m. Thursday. Officers took an 18-year-old man into custody for second degree burglary.

Water Line — At 5:40 a.m. Thursday, a Ponca City police officer requested the Water Department be advised of a possible water line broken in the 2500 block of North Fourteenth Street. Communication officers advised the department.

Whole Pies Available — A limited number of whole peach pies (and other flavors) are available for citizens and businesses who want to help the homeless but cannot attend the Saturday evening Peachtree Pie Festival at Pioneer Park from 6 to 9 p.m. For a $12 donation, the delicious pies, will be delivered to your address Friday. The pies are excellent with a cup of coffee at your office coffee break or at any meeting! Call 762-3208 to order or for information.

GARDENING

Save Some Garden Seeds For Next Year’s Plantings
Flower Growers Travel To MSU To Decide on Next Year’s Varieties
Gardening Takes New Twist
Learning To Love a Brown Lawn

Save Some Garden Seeds For Next Year’s Plantings

By LEE REICH

For AP Special Features

Saving seeds from this year’s tomatoes is a way to preserve varieties not offered by the seed companies. These are seeds that have been handed down from parents to children and from neighbor to neighbor. Such seeds are from plants whose flowers self-pollinate.

Hybrid seeds, in contrast, are produced when two different varieties cross. Hybrid plants often are more robust than their parents and produce more uniform plants.

When it comes to flavor of vegetables and beauty of flowers, though, hybrid is not always “high-bred.” A lot of old garden varieties, grown from nonhybrid seeds, possess qualities lacking in modern hybrids. For example, new varieties of sweet peas cannot match the intoxicating fragrance of an old variety such as “Painted Lady,” introduced nearly two centuries ago.

Concern about the loss of old varieties led to the founding of Seed Saver’s Exchange. This nonprofit organization makes available some nonhybrid seeds and a list of sources for others.

Saving seeds from your garden favorites is not difficult. Select plants that are healthy, and guard against hybrid seed production. Some flowers may get pollen from another variety, particularly if different varieties are grown close together. Cucumber flowers are either male or female, so there is an especially good chance that they could receive pollen from a nearby, different variety. Hand pollinate and bag flowers, if necessary.

Let fruits mature, whether they are the dry pods of lettuce and radish plants or the juicy fruits of tomatoes and cucumbers. Take a few seeds out of mature tomatoes as you eat them; mature cucumbers are unfit to eat. Rinse well, then dry the seeds from juicy plants. No need to do anything with seeds you pop out of radish pods or rub from heads of marigolds or daisies, except to pack them away.

Seeds keep best when stored in a cool, dry place. Cooler temperature makes up for less dryness. A good way to store seed packets is in a tightly closed jar.

Longevity depends on the type of seed and the storage conditions. Generally, corn and onion seeds keep for up to a year; beans, peas and carrot seeds for two years; pepper seeds for three years; and lettuce, spinach, cucumber, squash and melon seeds for four years.

Flower Growers Travel To MSU To Decide on Next Year’s Varieties

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Surrounded by 30,000 petunias, zinnias, begonias, salvia and other flowers in full bloom, Kim Myslinski cast a critical eye on the bright golden flowers of a rudbeckia.

Myslinski was looking over the Michigan State University Horticultural Demonstration Gardens to see which annuals she might want to offer next spring to customers at Marsh Greenhouse in Rockwood.

“I like to see what they’ve put together and the colors,” she said, gesturing at a bed planted with purple heliotrope and delicate pink nicotiana.

The yearly Grower’s Day at the garden gives the state’s 555 flower and bedding plant growers a chance to find out if the flowers they see in catalogs live up to their billing, and what the plants look like when they’re in full bloom. About 100 growers attended this year’s event.

The seed catalogs “always paint you such a rosy picture,” said Bob Auxter of Meiring Greenhouse & Farms, a large wholesaler in Carleton that ships out 150,000 flats of flowers each year to major retailers like Target and Kmart. “It’s nice to see the stuff in its natural setting.”

Although the recent heat blast left the impatiens limp, most of the plants in the test gardens came through unscathed, said Norm Lownds, an assistant professor of horticulture who coordinates the trial gardens for annual plants.

The trial gardens are an important tool for regional growers, who want to see how plants hold up to the area’s growing conditions. They also help seed companies, which may decide not to market a particular kind of flower in the region if it does poorly in the Michigan State trials.

Flower growing is big business in Michigan, accounting for $143 million in sales of bedding and garden plants in 1996 and $26 million in sales of flowering potted plants. The state is ranked either first or second in the value of geraniums, impatiens and petunias sold.

“When you drive around (Michigan), everyone has flowers,” Lownds said. “Our growers can start growing early and ship it (their product) south, then grow almost another whole crop and ship it north. It’s almost like having two seasons in one season.”

Myslinski said she likes the Michigan State gardens because the flowers get the same attention most home gardeners give their flowers. Four students take care of the annual test gardens, planting, fertilizing and watering the 800 to 850 varieties of flowers by hand.

Bob and Sandy Oak of Sandy Oak Farm in Milford said they liked the chance to consider some new flowers they can offer their customers. And they appreciated the well-kept gardens.

Looking over a bed packed with flowers of every hue, Bob Oak gave the garden a verbal thumbs up. “They have a lot of good weeders,” he said.

Gardening Takes New Twist

For gardeners, already it’s time to start thinking spring. Though tulip, daffodil and other spring-flowering bulbs won’t actually be available at garden and home centers until September, now is the time when smart gardeners sit back and enjoy their favorite mail-order catalogs filled with colorful photos of flower bulbs and perennials for planting this fall.

Knowing that new and unusual plants can sell out early, many gardeners begin placing orders as soon as their catalogs arrive.

Now, with the advent of the Internet, mail-order gardening takes on a new twist. In fact, whether you prefer to order bulbs from a traditional catalog or directly on-line, the World Wide Web is a great place to start.

Several sites on the World Wide Web serve as informal hubs that can guide you to mailorder companies both traditional and cyber-based.

Here’s a short list of “pilot sites” provided by the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center in New York City for those interested in finding catalogs to order bulbs and perennials by mail:

MailorderGardeningAssociation, http.//www.mailordergardening.com/ This non-profit association, dedicated to helping member mail-order companies provide the best service to consumers wishing to shop for garden products by mail, recently came on-line to direct consumers to their member companies. Included are many excellent flower bulb mailorder firms. Firms can also be searched by product category.

National Gardening Association, http.//www. garden. org/ The 1999 National Gardening Association’s Buyer’s Guide is a directory of mail-order gardening companies compiled by the National Gardening Association. To use the Garden Buyer’s Guide, search for products by keyword, or choose from popular categories. The Buyer’s Guide gives you easy-to-use hyper-links to garden company Web sites and fast e-mail forms so you can request a catalog or more information.

Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center, http://www.bulb.com/

The U.S. Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center (NFBIC) is the U.S. press office of the Dutch flower bulb industry. This site is designed for the working press, but consumers are welcome to visit and browse its extensive resources devoted to flower bulbs.

Everyone from the rank beginner (try the “Bulb Basics” section) to the accomplished gardener (check out the “Bulb Guides” section) to professional landscapers and commercial flower growers (see the “Technical Bulletins” section) will find plenty of interest.

In addition there are answers to FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions), gardening and cut flower tips, as well as tantalizing tales about the history and romance of flower bulbs. If you don’t find what you’re seeking, let them know by leaving a note in the Suggestion Box. They can’t answer all questions personally, but they do work to make sure questions are answered in future upgrades to the site.

Click on the “Where to Buy” icon, to find a comprehensive list of U.S. and Canadian mail-order companies that sell flower bulbs.

GardenNet,http://www.gardennet.com/ GardenNet’s Catalog Request Service is available to GardenNet visitors free of charge. Just complete the information, place a check next to the catalog you would like, then press the “Send My Request” button. GardenNet will receive your catalog requests and pass them on to the appropriate firms for you. There is no charge for any catalogs listed there.

Of note: GardenNet will ask for your e-mail address. But they have a strict policy against selling mailing addresses and e-mail addresses. Your mailing address will be given only to those catalogs you request. E-mail addresses are for GardenNet’s use only, and only when they have questions about your request.

The Garden Gate, http://garden-gate.prairienet.org/ The Garden Gate is a good gateway to some of the best gardening spots on the Web.

One of the original gardening home pages, this information-rich labor of love, administered by Webmaster Karen Fletcher, should be in every gardeners bookmarks.

Their “Gardener’s Reading Room” offers links to on-line books, magazines, catalogs and catalog information, as well as online sources for gardening books. So, as they say on their site, “make a cup of tea and pull up a comfy chair.”

Learning To Love a Brown Lawn

By GEORGE BRIA

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. (AP) — The loves of summer feature few surprises, but this year in this village we’ve been given a new object of affection. The town fathers urged us to “love a brown lawn.”

“Be a good neighbor,” their leaflet said, “and please do not water your lawns.”

It’s in the interest of preserving our wells and trying to save our landscape should this neighborhood face record-breaking drought conditions plaguing areas of the East.

Now, in half a century of gardening here, I’ve become wait-and-see-ish, if not skeptical, of drought warnings. Groundwater resources have always seemed good enough and rains have had a way of arriving toward the end of the summer. The scare then vanishes from the news. In fact, as I write this on a mid-August day, we’ve had showers in the night and more are forecast.

Lawns always get brown in the middle of summer. It’s their natural cycle of dormancy. They rejuvenate themselves in the fall. This summer’s lawns display extensive seared areas so dead-looking they scare even a skeptic.

The town government leaflet notes “some meteorologists have determined that we need the precipitation carried by as many as three hurricanes to offset the dryness of the past 12 months.”

So we were asked to refrain from watering lawns, although newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials may have water as needed. What’s at stake is not so much this year’s garden as next year’s. Will perennials survive to do their thing in 2000?

To keep the situation in perspective, I checked with the town and was told no one had as yet reported any well going dry in Pound Ridge, situated in southern New York about 50 miles north of Manhattan. That may mean volunteer conservation efforts are working or that our groundwater resources were in good shape to begin with, or both.

I’m talking about gardening, and my own garden in particular, and not farms in various Northeastern and Middle Atlantic states which have suffered badly and are looking to disaster relief.

In my vegetable garden, the corn patch has suffered somewhat. Ears of Silver Queen, normally plentiful, are scarce and some are dwarfish. But, so far, one of them did reach full size and a few others seem on the way.

Earlier crops — asparagus, peas, lettuce, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower — all did OK. And the broccoli are putting out florets as usual, following the cutting of the main heads. Tomatoes have been maturing on schedule, although perhaps there are fewer fruit. The peppers definitely seem to have fewer fruit.

All this with very little watering on my part except when the plants were very young.

My raspberry patch, in a site difficult to reach with a hose, was wiped out as far as a crop this year is concerned. My everbearing strawberries, in a raised bed inside my vegetable garden, produced magnificently in June, but have been skimpy since. I probably should have watered them deeply every day.

In ornamentals, the showy trees and bushes of spring — the forsythias, magnolias, lilacs, dogwoods, crabapples, redbuds — all were fine. But their blooming season occurred before the dry June, July and early August set in. The question, as indicated, is how they will do next year if the dryness should persist. The same with vines like roses and clematis and my trumpet creeper.

An hour’s drive to the north, wildlife authorities are reporting bears and rattlesnakes coming down from the mountains in search of food and water because of withered berry bushes and dried-up streams.

One aspect, however, has been a plus for humans — the scarcity of little puddles and pools has meant few mosquito eggs hatching. And so, few mosquito bites.

SPORTS

Coaching Congressman
A Golden Opportunity For OSU Linebacker

Coaching Congressman

By RENEE RUBLE

Associated Press Writer

TULSA (AP) — There’s no executive treatment, just teen-age sweat as U.S. Rep. Steve Largent is back on the football field to share Hall-of-Fame moves with his son’s high school team.

Largent, R-Okla., said the hot, shirt-drenching days coaching at Metro Christian Academy are the perfect way to spend a congressional vacation.

Wearing a blue visor and red athletic shorts, he watched Wednesday as the freshman squad scrimmaged against the Patriots’ arch rival, Holland Hall. He watched the other side as if they were a young pack of Democrats.

‘‘Hey, that side is yours to cover, OK?’’ Largent yelled to one of his players.

‘‘There you go, there you go,’’ he said, nodding, as Metro Christian advanced on the next play.

Largent kept a special eye on his son, Kelly, as he played receiver — just like dad.

‘‘This is my chance to get into his world, so we can share the same language over the dinner table,’’ Largent said. ‘‘But Kelly is like any teen-ager. He gets embarrassed when his parents are around.’’

But Largent isn’t any parent.

He has been running plays with the varsity team and sharing tips that helped him get selected to the Pro Bowl seven times and set NFL receiving records. And it was just across town Largent started at the University of Tulsa and went on to play 14 seasons professionally with the Seattle Seahawks.

Metro Christian head coach Shawn Booth said he was kind of intimidated at first coaching with Largent.

‘‘When he called me I was kinda shocked, then I started thinking, how many kids across the nation could have a Hall of Famer receiver on their coaching staff?’’ Booth said. ‘‘Now he’s just Coach Largent.’’

Almost never missing a practice, Largent said the game his pretty much the same as when he played — still blocking and tackling.

And he can still keep up with the high schoolers on the field.

But, Largent said, it is his role that has changed.

‘‘I’m a cheerleader now,’’ he said.

A Golden Opportunity For OSU Linebacker

By OWEN CANFIELD

AP Sports Writer

STILLWATER (AP) — The Oklahoma State football media guide sums up Jack Golden’s 1998 season like this: ‘‘Sat through a redshirt season after suffering an offseason injury.’’

That’s one way of putting it. In fact, Golden watched from the sidelines because he had been shot through the leg during a summer altercation at a Stillwater convenience store.

They were experiences — being shot, then not getting to play — that Golden says have changed his outlook about life in general and make him more hungry than ever to get on the field this season.

‘‘After you go through something like that, it takes a lot out of you mentally,’’ said Golden, a senior from Harvey, Ill. ‘‘At the time, I really didn’t see it. But now that I can reflect back on it, it really did take a lot out of me. I’m glad I took the time off.’’

The shooting occurred about 2:30 a.m. on July 10, 1998, while Golden and fellow linebacker Raymond Cato were at the convenience store. Both players later testified that a man started making threats about his gang membership.

Golden said he thought the incident was finished after words were exchanged and the man left.

‘‘It really wasn’t, because the guy came back and he was in the car and proceeded to fire some shots,’’ Golden said.

A bullet went through Golden’s right calf, leaving a nickle-sized scar as a reminder. Golden said he considers himself fortunate that the bullet didn’t shatter his shinbone.

‘‘I’m not bitter about it, I’m not upset about it,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s just one of those things that you have to learn how to make better decisions.’’

Golden was back at practice by the middle of two-a-days and probably could have played last season. But he decided after talking with his family, the team doctors and the coaching staff to sit out as a redshirt.

It wound up being a difficult season. The Cowboys, who started the year with great promise, lost three close games and wound up going just 5-6. And Golden, who had started 10 of 11 games in 1997 after making a successful switch from tight end, was relegated to scout team duty.

‘‘It was incredibly hard,’’ he said. ‘‘You don’t miss the game until it’s taken away from you. It’s kind of like a gut check. I kind of felt like I wasn’t part of the team because I wasn’t there, I wasn’t helping them.’’

Coach Bob Simmons said he can see a difference in Golden.

‘‘You see him smiling more than he did when he was sitting out,’’ Simmons said. ‘‘But in my opinion it was the best thing for him. He’s bigger. I think he’s probably happy that he did sit out.’’

During the past year, Golden’s body fat has dropped from 11 percent to 5 percent. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior now is part of a linebacking corps that is the clear strength of the defense and is considered as one of the best in the country.

While watching instead of playing was difficult, the time away from the football field helped Golden, a sociology major, get a minor in Spanish. He said he plans to graduate in December and hopes to join the Secret Service or go into military intelligence.

For now, he can’t wait to play again and get to a point where he’s answering more questions about football than he is about that scary night last year.

‘‘It’s kind of bad something like that could happen,’’ he said. ‘‘But I feel like I’m blessed overall because I’m still here and I have another year to play football.’’