AHS - Class of 1925

1925 — Marjorie Hayward, Alva, and Eloise ‘Dude’ Ferguson Faull, Georgia, are two who graduated in 1925. Dude was a member of the national basketball championship team (The Goldmiddies). While her good friend was in NY playing the Croton-0n-the-Hudson team for the national title, Marjorie remembers sitting in the cafe listening to reports of the game on the radio. ‘Dude’ Faull, believed to be the only remaining member of the National Championship Goldmiddies team, will be in Alva for the reunion festivities. Faull resides in Georgia.

AHS - Class fo 1923

1923 — The earliest graduate of the group is Mary Barbara Korff who graduated in 1923. Mary Barbara is best known for her musical contributions to the community over the past many years. She regularly entertained the Woods County Senior Citizens with her piano skills until recently.

AHS - Class of 1920's

AHS Early Grads of the 1920s
Aftermath Reunion 2000 - Classes of the 1920's

The Graduates of the 1920s were the honored group during AHS Reunion 2000, Monday, 3rd July 2000, in downtown Alva, Oklahoma, 10:00AM. (SEE Reunion 2000 Pics for more photos of that 2000 reunion.)

This lively lovely ladies were invited to be the marshals of the Reunion 2000 parade held July 3rd, 2000, on the downtown streets of Alva, Oklahoma. Not all are shown in this parade photograph taken the morning of the parade. AHS names of 1920s… Marjorie Hayward (1925), Wilma Lee (1926), Elanor Sterba (1927), Vera Strasbaugh (1928), Mary Barbara Korff (1923), Eloise Ferguson Faull (1925), Addie McGuire (1926).

Alva High Fight Song

Goldbug Fight Song…
On A . . H . . S! On A . . H . . S!
To the tune of “ON Wisconsin", Courtesy of Univ. of Wisconsin

On A . . H . . S!, On A . . H . . S,
Fight on for your fame.
Make a score in every quarter
And we’ll win this game.
Rah . . Rah . . Rah

On A . . H . . S, On A . . H . . S,
Fight on for your fame.
Fight, Goldbugs, Fight
And we will win this game.

Original Alva High School Song

In the 1920s there was a song composed by Earl Shelley during the ’20s and was used to open all their school assemblies. Complete lyrics to the song are:

Once again we as schoolmates assemble,
we far would lift our hearts in song,
to our high shcool our dear Alma mater,
let gladness the moments prolong.

We are proud of our lads and our lasses,
of honors won in days gone by,
so here’s a cheer for Alva High School,
for Alva High School, for Alva High.

Here’s to our classes,
here’s to our lasses,
here’s to the lads they adore.
Here’s to the seniors so mighty,
juniors so flighty,
freshies and sophomores.

Let mirth and gladness banish all sadness,
and as the days go by,
you’ll find us ready and steady,
boosting for Alva, High.

Soon for us will our school days be ended,
and joys of youth that fade so fast.
But we know that our hearts often ponder,
on mem’ries that are past.
There are joys that will long be remembered,
and friendships too that ne’er shall die.
So here’s a cheer for Alva High School,
for Alva High School, for Alva High.

-- Read more about Alva High Goldbug History.

Castle On The Hill Poem

(Also found in The OkieLegacy Ezine, Vol. 6, Iss. 50 See also, this PDF file of the : 1938 Ranger yearbook, scroll to pg. 17 of the PDF file for the lyrics of the poem).

We would like to share a few lines from a poem entitled - The Castle On the Hill - written by Thelma Meyers for the 1938 Ranger Album (pg. 2, of Ranger yearbook) .

The Castle On the Hill
“You have written your name in history.
Oh! Northwestern!
You’ve engraved it deep upon the scrolls of fame.
We have linked our lives with yours –
Oh! Norhtwestern!
Our achievements add a luster to your name.

We’ll write your name upon the archives of distinction.
Ambition and achievement e’er will be our aim.
We will write your name with reverence,
Oh! Northwestern!
Our achievements will but glorify the same.

So – then stand ye sons and daughters of Old Northwestern!
Take off your hats to the men upon the field!
They will fight tonight for Old Northwestern
And for the honor of the Castle on the Hill!
So – then stand all ye sons of Old Northwestern!
Paying tribute to the men who never yield.
They will win tonight for Old Northwestern.
And for the glory of the Castle on the Hill!”
— Thelma Meyers —

Old Opera House Mystery (Morals, Miller, Mabel & Murder)

Old Opera House Mystery - Black Hand Letters of Death (Morals, Miller, Mabel & Murder)By – LK McGill Wagner, the OkieLegacy

What does 1910, Old Opera House, Law Enforcement League, Black Hand Letters, Alva , Oklahoma , Mabel Oakes and Justice of Peace Nelson L. Miller have in common?

This was a time when female purity was regarded as a virtue to be protected. Social standards & dress were according to what was expected and morally correct in society. Women still wore the tight fitting, laced corsets, but there was a change, debate in the air as to if it was a healthy, safe garment for women to wear, confining, restricting their upper torsos. The skirts were to the ground; the coats were below the knees; and the blouses necklines were up around the neck. The “Law Enforcement League” was established, funded for the purpose of enforcing local moral standards, whether they dealt with booze, kissing in motion pictures, separation of races, or investigating backgrounds of newcomers to be sure they were morally acceptable to ruling town fathers.

9 November 1910, considerable excitement was buzzing through government square of Alva , Woods County , Oklahoma . Those favorable to the democratic cause were keeping their eyes, ears glued to the election postings at “Jesse Jackson’s Cigar store,” on the west side of the square, College Avenue, North of Monforts Drugs. On the North side of the square, those favorable to the republican cause were doing the same, upstairs in the two-story building of the “ Woods County Citizens Union Bank,” northeast corner of 5 th Street & Flynn Avenue.

Old Opera House Mystery (The Rest of the Story – Part I)

Old Opera House Mystery (The Rest of the Story – Part I)
By – L. K. McGill Wagner, OkieLegacy

The last we left you hanging in suspense when Justice of the Peace Nelson L. Miller found Mabel Oakes body in the Old Opera House around 3:00 p.m., November 9, 1910, in Alva, Oklahoma. Sheriff Martin and Justice Lawhon were gathering people off the street for a late afternoon coroner’s inquest on that same day for an inquiry into the death of our young, 23 year old, single woman, whom was allegedly strangled in the dusty, back room of the Old Opera House. This was to be known as the blackest day in history for this western Oklahoma community.

Later that afternoon, George Oakes filed a Warrant dated 9 November 1910, executed on the 11 November and an Information filing dated 10 November 1910, both of which were signed under oath by George Oakes showing reasonable grounds for the authorities to investigate the mysterious death of his daughter, stating that Justice Nelson Miller, allegedly “willfully, purposely, without authority of law, feloniously, with malice aforethought, and with the premeditated design to effect the death of another human being (Mabel Oakes) by means of a scarf wound around her neck, strangled to death.”

This quote from Howard K. Berry’s book, The Life of Moman Pruiett - He Made It Safe to Murder , page 346-352, will give you an insight of how politically aligned some of the authorities were and states, “The scene was so crudely laid that it failed to fool anyone but the prosecuting authorities who were politically allied with the prominent Miller, and who wanted to be deceived.”

It makes you wonder what would have come of this case if George Oakes had not filed a warrant, information into the mysterious death of his daughter. Mr. Oakes also hired an out of town attorney as leading prosecutor, J. N. Tincher, Medicine Lodge, Kansas to assist the county attorney, Claud McCrory. The “Law Enforcement League” hired and engaged Moman Pruiett as special prosecutor, to assist in the prosecution of Miller. Was Claud McCrory one of those authorities “politically allied” with Miller?