El Reno is 125 and Jobe's Drive In

A couple of cool things are happening this weekend in my little town of El Reno, OK.

FIRST:
El Reno is turning 125 years old!  At a lunch I went to today I learned that we actually have the oldest of the (only) four remaining Carnegie libraries in Oklahoma.  How cool is that!

You can listen to a recording I made today of the speaker at our lunch, Mrs. Carolyn Barker.  She has been the historical gatekeeper as it were for this area in the county (maybe all of the county) for the last 50 years. Very knowledgeable and full of great factoids!  (PS: I did receive her permission to use the  recording of her talk today.)



SECOND:

Jobes on 6/12/2015

The infamous Jobe's Drive-In in El Reno (on Route 66) is scheduled to be auctioned off (all of it) this Saturday. The good part here is that there'll be (I am told) about 400 classic cars doing a "last cruise"by the old drive thru joint tonight (Friday).  It just might be the classic car lineup for the record books. I wish I was going to be in town to grab a pic or two...

the bad part is that about a year ago the owner and his wife were in a tragic car accident that killed his wife of many, many years.It is just time to sell it.

Another bad part is that another iconic symbol of the past will be removed from Route 66.. Unless of course a really cool person buys it...

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

"You Got This!"...je

Storms do have a personality!

When I have talked to people and maybe even done business with them on the telephone...but never had a chance to meet them it always cool to meet them eventually.. When I do...I'm like, "It sure is good to put a face with a name"...

Have you ever experienced that?

Well, tonight we had a good old Oklahoma storm line heading our way, so (as usual) I grabbed the GoPro and the tripod and set it up in the front yard. (used the time lapse function)

When I finally went back out to grab the GoPro it had taken about 400 pictures. As I scrolled through the pictures I ran across the one below...curious if it jumps off the

picture for you too??




And here is another that was about 10 pictures later..(not quite as noticeable)



Just goes to show you that these storms have personalities and sometimes they even have a face!!

#scary

"You Got This!"...je

Too much water is a really bad thing...for a house!

Lots of rain in central OK!  Forget that...LOTS OF RAIN IN ALL OF OKLAHOMA!

In fact, record rainfalls to be specific.  We've experienced a 5 year drought with lakes almost drying up (many farm ponds did)...but that's pretty well over now. Here is a LINK to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.  If you read those survey numbers most regions of The Great State of Oklahoma are 200% over normal rainfall...FOLKS, IT IS ONLY MAY 11th!!

I suppose we can discount some of it since it all came in 3 hours (just kidding)...more like 1-2 weeks.

Regardless of the drainage plans we've instituted at the hacienda...it still fell short after a 3-5in rain in about 2 hours.  I thought we were in the headwaters of the Colorado River!!

Here is a video of the mess we are dealing with in our backyard.  The video sums it up pretty well.  We have a great landscaper who has us on the schedule...it just takes time.  

Here is my quick summary of the issue.

It rained a ton, it flooded like a river, I dug a trench, it worked pretty well.  That is all.

NOTE: So as to quash any myths that I (myself) rode a leaf down the trench
with my phone...you must know that I used my GoPro Hero 3+ in the upside
down mode and on a selfie stick to film this masterpiece.

What can I say...leave it to a banker for creativity..

OK High School State Golf Tournament (v1)

May 6, 2015
Great day with Samantha watching Claire at the State Golf Tournament in Claremore, OK!

This video clip includes a terrific shot out of the tall native grass. Tee'd of at noon and the weather was perfect all afternoon!




More tomorrow...

"You Got This!"...je

That BLOOM!!

"WOW!" is all I can say.

Kind of funny...

We all kept smelling this scent around the office.  Everyone just assumed someone else sprayed a deodorizer or air freshener in the back room.  (You know, almost public restrooms, etc)

But, it just kept getting strONGER and more smelly. It smells nice..just a huge amount of nice smell!  

It is almost overpowering at this point at the end of the day.  Not sure what kind/type of tropical plant this is..but WOW!

I've posted a pic so you can help identify it!

The Future of Agriculture...

My friend and soon to be graduate (of El Reno High School) Clark Reuter ended his term as the local FFA Chapter President this week. 

His speech was posted on YouTube so I thought I would share with you.



"You got this..!"  jay

SNOW DAY - EL RENO, OK!!

Kids are pumped as there is no school in (I think) every school in the county and likely all the counties around us!  I am sure they'll get caught up on homework...

Roads weren't too bad this morning.  I was able to mount the camera and shoot this video on the way into the office about 6:40am this morning.   (Oh, in the video I say it's Feb 5...lets just say it was early and I was confused...its FEB 6th!)

We still have a youth event scheduled for FRI and SAT and so far we are FULL STEAM AHEAD!!



"You got this!"

"An inch of ice will do ya!"..and caramel corn..

What a crazy ICY night (last night) and day we have had over the last 24 hours! And we are not through with this messy stuff yet!! What's it doing in your neck of the woods?

The ice is quickly approaching ONE INCH thick on most of our trees, flowers, cars and anything else that finds itself outside.  Our weathermen indicate it'll happen all day and maybe even snow tonight.

Pine Needles..encased in ice!

I've added these pictures to just give you an idea of how it looks around here.  The first is from the pine tree behind our house...it was taken this morning up close..(on left)

1" thick ice!!

I took this one about 2 hours ago in the front yard (right).  It's a branch of our little White Bud tree that maybe about 6 foot tall at best.  It always marvels how God can create something with such elasticity...and then BAM...it hits the breaking point.  You can also see that the driveway and streets are just wet..THIS IS GOOD!

We're thankful the wind hasn't come up because if it starts blowing it'll sound like rattlin' bones outside and power lines WILL start breaking. Since I enjoy electricity this would not be good. OG&E has this site for folks to see the outages, etc. (HEY!! It says there's some outages in El Reno!!)

Lastly, the one here on the left is from last nights forecast by Channel 9's David Payne.  We have been very fortunate that temps have stayed 29-32deg or the roads would resemble the trees.  But thus far we've dodged the "icy road" bullet.

OK, so now you're stuck in the house...WHAT WILL YOU DO?  Well, below is my video on how to make my favorite make caramel corn recipe...  If you have just a few ingredients...Voila!

Nice snow this morning...

Enjoyed receiving maybe another 3-5 inches of snow last night and then got to drive in it this morning about 6:30am!  Always fun to blaze a trail...but I wasn't the first one out!!

On the way home to...SNOWRENO, OK!

Thought you'd like the music too... : )..  KEEP CALM and STAY WARM.

"TORNADO ON THE GROUND!" - El Reno, OK - 5/31/2013

This video is my summary of the evening of Friday, May 31, 2013..  Tornado's are no little thing and there is a bit of edgy, nervousness still in the air..

Can you say "hailCOMET!!" - El Reno, OK 2013

Several small comets hit my backyard and it is surprising how large they were!  The one below was HUGE!! (Like 10x the size of my watch)

The yard is full of divots...and as you can see the window did not fair too well!!!  I'm thinking the roof is not good either..

I'll post a video soon on JayTheBanker YouTube channel.. Stay tuned!!

Keep all our friends who lost so very much in your prayers...and Tim and his family, the storm chaser who chased his last...

Here's to better weather!!

@jaythebanker

Patriotic "Can" Do!

Okay...I'm talking about Patriotic (Trash) Cans! 

Local art students at El Reno High School painted these community trash cans recently.  It was a major upgrade from the stingy look they had for many years..

They did a great job and had the chance to be awarded a "certificate of merit" for the fine job they did.

Their art teacher, Kathy Bass, was super excited for the challenge and the students response!  USAF Chaplain Justin Racca and other local dignitaries spoke to the students!  Check out the video..

Sweet golf Jay!!

Crimson Creek - Hole #1

Got to pass this along!

Yesterday I was fortunate to play in a scramble with three great men here in El Reno.  The tournament was a fundraiser for the local high school girls golf team booster club..

Here is the cool thing.  My hand picked team scored, very likely, the new course record at Crimson Creek Golf Course.  This was a four man scramble.

Okay, we had four players, had a total of 8 mulligans and a hand picked team.

We came in dead last at 70!  The winning team of the tourney shot 55... WOW!

I suppose it's a good thing we just wanted to support the booster club and those great students playing golf!

#ehsgolf #golf #crimsoncreek #elreno #supportgolf

@jaythebanker

@SilverRingThing Event Coming to El Reno!

This is great event to load up and bring a group of students to see!

My kids will be there and yours should be too.. I have been involved with them a few times in the past and its edgy, real and speaks to students in a way us adults don't.

While many would say, "Everybody is having sex, why not me too?"..it's really ok to let them know there IS another option.

BUY TICKETS HERE!

#livepure #psalm119:9

@heastonyouth
@jaythebanker
@silverringthing

The one that got away..

It all came down to the freeze line and the movement of the front.  Well, at least that is my expert opinion.

Drove around this morning and the roads were basically fine.  Even had to stop the car and take turn off 4 wheel drive.  Soooo not fair...

My kids will be disappointed in the (overnight) snow accumulation but they are pumped since they canceled school for today...LAST NIGHT.

How crazy would it be if the school system was like.."uhh, we made an error and we WILL be having school after all.."  If that happened there might be a town mutiny.

Have a great day.

#nosnow #noschool

Snow is coming...BOOM! (thunder too!)

Or at least that's what they are predicting...in a major "Snowmegeddon" type way!

Here's the snowfall accumulation forecast and a pic out my vehicle window..7:45am on 2/25/2013.

Stay tuned!!!

#bringonthesnow
#weneedthemoisture

@jaythebanker

Spielberg...do you have my number?

We had a "SNOW EVENT" earlier this week and it got everybody excited.  I must admit, snow is one of my favorite things.

But, by default on this particular snowy day, (since everyone else chickened out) I had the chance to be interviewed on our local KFOR news channel.  One of my coworkers snapped it on her iPhone from the side and sent it to me.. thanks. 

It won't be long and Spielberg will be trying to locate me...

#letitsnow

I made a movie trailer... Very fun indeed!

I made THIS with the iMovie app on my iPhone5 last weekend..  It'll also work on 4's and 4S's.

Lots of other options on the app too..  We'll see what's next..

#kw2013

Sunday is PICTURE DAY!

It might be a good for Sunday to be picture day.  May be one of my favorites from the week or maybe (like today) I post several from throughout the week!

Abster - breaking out winter clothes!  I think she looks so sad because its harder for her to move in that thing!

 

A funny memory of my sister Julie from a few summers back.  She had this KAVU hat...

My random shot from the backseat.

Tooters in El Reno, OK - GREAT CHICKEN!

Putting up lights already!  This year it wasn't 24 degrees when we started.