Editor’s note: This is part one of a review of stories from 2021 in The Okarche Warrior. Advertise your local business today and support hometown news coverage throughout the new year by calling 405-577-6208.
By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
The top stories in Okarche for the year 2021 covered topics from the pandemic to water rates.
A year in review follows:
Some go virtual
Okarche Schools navigated the pandemic waters
Students in Okarche Public Schools had the option of choosing virtual learning for the spring semester.
At the beginning of the new year and spring semester, there had been 13 students in the district opt for virtual, distance learning.
The spring semester started Monday, Jan. 4 with in-person learning and virtual learning.
Enrollment figures available, Tuesday, Jan. 5, showed the district had 378 students enrolled. There were 212 students in grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, 77 students in grades seventh through ninth in the junior high school, and 89 students grades 10 through 12 in the high school.
There were two elementary students enrolled in virtual learning and 11 students in the junior high and high school who are taking virtual learning classes from home.
Basketball quarantine ends
The quarantines for COVID-19 ended for the Okarche basketball teams in January 2021.
Games were canceled at the end of December due to COVID-19 cases and exposure.
Games with Harding Fine Arts Academy scheduled for Jan. 2, 2021 were also canceled.
The boys’ and girls’ teams played Thursday, Jan. 7 in the Three Rivers Conference Tournament at Fairview.
Parents or guardians were asked to contact the school the student attends to sign up for virtual learning.
The fall semester in August opened with in-person learning. A virtual-learning option was included for the spring semester after Superintendent Josh Sumrall and staff members talked to parents and people in the community about which direction to take.
Okarche Schools made it through most of the fall semester in-person but then went to virtual learning before Christmas break.
Those who opted for virtual learning did not need to go to schools Monday and they could contact their school on Monday to notify administrators of their choice, Sumrall said.
“Navigating through the first semester allowed school officials to evaluate some procedures that need to be adjusted for the second semester,” Sumrall reported in a letter to district patrons.
Few COVID-19 cases reported in schools
The number of cases of COVID-19 has been reported in Okarche Public Schools this week as schools have returned to the classroom for the second week of the new semester.
There were two students who had tested positive on Tuesday, Jan. 12, said Superintendent Josh Sumrall.
One student in the elementary school, and one student at the high school had tested positive.
The spring semester started, Monday, Jan. 4 with in-person learning.
Virtual learning is an option for students for the spring semester.
The district reports 13 students have opted for virtual learning.
Meanwhile, staff members are waiting to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Okarche High School history teacher Larry Black went to Redlands Community College in El Reno on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021 where he received the first dose of the vaccine.
Taking home a title
Okarche’s Lady Warriors took home the title from the Three Rivers Conference Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021.
Okarche won the championship game 52-29 over Fairview.
Jalie Rother had 13 points, Madison Owens scored 11 points to lead the team in scoring. Karsyn Vallerand had seven points, Emma Stover had six points, and Ryen Wittrock, five points, Abigayle Johnson, three points, Sage Griswold, three points, Sophie Vandendriessche, two points and Tyson Endres, two points.
Holy Trinity reports the virus
Kindergarten, first and second grade students at Okarche’s Holy Trinity Catholic School were quarantined in 2021 due to COVID-19 exposure.
A student tested positive for COVID-19, Principal Alice Newman.
The students in kindergarten through second grade will be quarantined until Monday, Feb. 8.
A letter from Newman to Holy Trinity parents and staff released Thursday night reads:
“We received notification that a student has tested positive for COVID-19. While we must protect the privacy of the student involved, we believe it is best to communicate transparently with you. As a result of the positive COVID-19 test, kindergarten, first, and second grades will be quarantined until Monday, February 8.
We believe one of our greatest responsibilities is to communicate transparently
and often with you, our school community, so that you can make well-informed
decisions for your family.”
Freezing weather shuts down school
Okarche Public Schools were virtual only on Thursday, Feb. 11 and a snowstorm with record low temperatures hit.
The Class A District Basketball Tournament times were changed for Friday and Saturday. Game times were moved to earlier in the day.
The boys will play Depew at 3 p.m. Friday and the girls will play at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The games will be at the Okarche High School gymnasium.
“The OSSAA HS Basketball District Tournament at Okarche has adjusted game times to help schools and fans, so they do not have to travel on slick roads after dark. “
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service reported wind chills near minus 25 degrees in central Oklahoma,” according to a statement on the Okarche Facebook page.
Two hurt when vehicle slides into train
An 18-year-old driver of a pickup and his 15-year-old passenger were hospitalized after the pickup they were in slid on ice Monday afternoon, Feb. 8, 2021, and struck a train near Okarche.
Brenden Toepfer, 18, of Kingfisher, was taken to Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports.
About 3:50 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, Toepfer was driving west on E 860 Road, just east of U.S. 81 about 3 miles north of Okarche in Kingfisher County, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
The northbound Union Pacific train was driven by engineer Clinton Baxter.
Toepfer’s pickup hit ice as he approached the railroad tracks and then hit the side of the train.
According to a report from the patrol, the pickup slid on the icy road and struck the side of train, then slammed into a signal mast and spun 360 degrees, ejecting both Toepfer and passenger.
The 15-year-old boy was taken to The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center.
The train engineer, Baxter, and conductor David Johnson, 56, of Chickasha, were not injured.
District champs
Okarche boys’ and girls’ basketball teams were the district champs.
The boys defeated Drumright 72-30. The girls beat Depew 67-34.
Ryen Wittrock had 18 points to lead the team in scoring. Emma Stover scored 11 points. Jalie Rother and Madison Owens scored eight apiece. Tyson Endres scored six points. Sage Griswold pitched in five points and Sophie Vandendriessche four points. Adyson Arms had two points in the win and Jadyn Rother scored one point to round out the score.
On Saturday, Logan Kroener had 16 points, Evan Endres, 15, Brayden Stover ,12, P.K. Harris, 12, Wyatt Pinkerton, four points, Alex haw, 6, Tanner McMillin, five, and Caden Schieber, two points.
Okarche town trustees raise water rates
After 11 years without increasing the water rates, Okarche Town Trustees decided Monday night, Feb. 22, 2021, that the time had come to raise them.
Citing the need to generate enough revenue to cover the costs of the water system, and the need to build a plant to treat water, trustees increased the minimum monthly water bill to $30 a month from what had been a minimum of $21.34 a month for residents.
The increase should generate about $50,000 a year, said Mayor Jeff Sadler.
More than $100,000 a year has been used from reserves to cover costs to operate the water system in the past two years. A recent audit showed the increase was needed, Sadler said.
“I don’t think any of us realized before this was brought up by the auditor at the last meeting how long it had been since we had an increase, and we looked back on it and it had been 11 years,” Mayor Jeff Sadler said. “And that is part of the issue.”
Trash service increases have been made in recent years, but water bills have not been increased, Sadler said.
“We haven’t had a rate increase on the water or the sewer in 11 years and we have been told we have to start covering our costs in that area if we want to be able to and that is what we are going to do,” Sadler said.
Sadler said the $21.64 minimum monthly bill for water service in Okarche is low compared to surrounding cities.
“That is way lower than anyone else and it can still be lower than anyone else,” Sadler said.
The town needs to build a nitrate plant to treat water, Sadler said.
He said there are possible rate increases in the future by adjusting usage rates.
Sadler said more frequent rate increases more often would prevent such a large increase need.
The deposits for water use were also increased. Cost for installing rural and in town water meters was increased.
The new rates will take effect on the April bills.
Speech team has much to say
The Okarche High School Speech Team completed qualifying competition for the 2020-2021 school year by placing several students in two virtual speech tournaments.
During the month of February, 2021 OHS speech students competed in the Weatherford and the Crescent invitationals.
Two students entered the Weatherford contest, and both received first place in their events: Emma Stover was first in prose and Brody Sadler first in original oratory.
Seven students received medals for placing at the Crescent competition.
McKenzie Stewart and Kaylea Steelman were tournament champions in humorous duet, and Emily Neuenschwander and Emma Stover were runners-up in the event.
The freshmen team of Rhylie Bomhoff and Reagan Marler placed first in dramatic duet, and Brody Sadler, an OHS sophomore, placed second in prose.
Speech team wins
The Okarche Speech Team won its 24th Southwest Regional Speech and Debate title Saturday, March 27, 2021.
OHS claimed the first-place sweepstakes plaque from the event, which was being held virtually this year due to COVID. Crescent placed second, and Lawton Academy took third.
As a state qualifying competition, the tournament results determine which students will compete at the state competition in April.
Okarche advances 15 students in 22 events to state. Emily Neuenschwander was regional champion in three events: monologue, humorous interp, and humorous duet with her partner, Emma Stover. McKenzie Stewart was champion in poetry and original oratory and claimed runner-up medals in humorous duet with teammate Kaylea Steelman. Steelman was also third in humorous interp.
Larry Annuschat buys back part of family farms
At the last minute, the farm stayed in the family, the main part of it at least.
It was not the complete end of an agriculture era Friday at the Annuschat Farms east of Okarche.
Larry Annuschat, who lost four family members involved in running the farm to COVID-19 last year, decided he would bid on the homeplace.
“At the last minute, I decided to buy the farm and keep it in the family,” Larry Annuschat said.
He made the bid at the real estate portion of the auction Friday for tract one, and later for some of the equipment, said Lippard Auctioneers’ Troy Lippard.
There had been 829 acres on separate tracts up for auction at the beginning of the day.
Annuschat Farms, a staple of the Okarche and Kingfisher County farming community for more than six decades, was on the auction Friday as farmers and others gathered at the historic site.
The farm was started about 65 years ago by his parents Arthur Frank and Ruth Janet (Brueggen) Annuschat, Larry Annuschat said. At 10 a.m. Friday, April 23., 2021, there were 829 acres on separate tracts near Okarche and north of Waterloo Road, were auctioned live and online from the farm at 28271 N. 2850 Road, Okarche.
Tractors, trailers, tillage vehicles, cattle and hay equipment were auctioned Friday. There were shop and household items out for the auction Friday morning.
Prom planned for 2021
The pandemic challenges resulted in cancellation of the 2020 Okarche High School prom.
But the prom will go on this year.
The 29 seniors will also have a live graduation ceremony at the high school.
The prom was Saturday, May 8 in the Okarche gymnasium, 632 W. Oklahoma Ave.
In 2020 town officials placed banners on utility poles around town to recognize each in the Okarche High School senior class.
A drive-by prom parade was planned to replace the traditional prom last year. Students in vehicles paraded through the town as people lined the sidewalks and streets and waved and cheered.
West inducted into hall of fame
Former Okarche boys basketball coach Ray West joined an exclusive club Saturday.
West was posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at Eddie’s Grill in Edmond.
West’s son, Aaron, accepted the award on behalf of his late father.
“It is a tremendous honor for my father and family,” Aaron West said. “I know my dad would be very humbled by the honor. He never considered himself a hall-of-famer and never once brought it up, even though we all felt different about it for him.”
West spent 25 years at Okarche where he compiled a 554-182 record with 11 state tournaments and two state title games appearances.
Overall, West totaled 853 wins, good for second all-time in Oklahoma high school boys’ basketball history.
In 2012, The National High School Athletic Coaches Association named West their Coach of the Year.
West also coached at Fort Supply (1974- 76), Gould (1976-77), Purcell (1977-78), Mountain View (1978-81), Mustang (1981-82) and Cordell (1982-94).
Joining West as inductees this year were Larry Callison (Ketchum), Dan Hays (Oklahoma Christian University), David Page (Pawnee) and Bob Weckstein (Frontier).
West will also be inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Tulsa in July.
Driver of truck killed by train
The driver of a truck was struck by a Union Pacific train and killed Friday, July 30 near N.W. 234 and Country Club Road, said Sarah Stewart, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokeswoman.
The collision happened about 3 p.m. on Union Pacific Railroad tracks on the southwest side of Okarche behind Mainer Ford, authorities report.
The man killed was identified as Hugo J. Barrera, 22, of Warr Acres. Barrera was driving east on N.W. 234. He did not wear his seat belt and was ejected.
The train engineer Ronald Johnson and passenger, Randy Aultman, the conductor, were not injured.
Barrera did not wear a seat belt.
Okarche Police Chief Forrest Smith said the driver was treated by medical emergency technicians at the scene before being taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Read part two of The Okarche Warrior year in review next week and follow okarchewarrior.com for local news and events. Advertise today and support local business and news coverage by calling 405-577-6208.
