The El Reno American (El Reno, Okla.), Vol. 61, No. 57, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 24, 1955 Page: 3 of 14
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: El Reno American and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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Globetrotting Grandma Tells Of I olcrlw
20,000-Mile Trip To Germany
The large assignment of trying!those who seemingly are making
*to reform youths in a 20-months j perfect adjustments at the prison
N energetic El Reno great-
grandmother thinks that she
has come up with the perfect
formula for feeling about 50 years
younger and strangly enough, it
doesn’t call for the use of any
exotic potions, fountains of youth
or other mysterious means.
The bright-eyed little lady is
Mrs. J. D. Rinderhagen, 907 South
Barker, who leturned just last !
week from a trip to her birth- HH
place in Germany halfway around
the world which she had left when
just a girl of 15 and not seen
since
The globetrotting grandmother
said that she had wanted all her
life to return to her old home in
Oldenburg, Germany and see the
friends and relatives that she,
her brother and mother left be-
hind in 1902 for a two-year stay
in America--a stay which, to their
delight, turned out to be a little
longer than they anticipated.
|l had often talked of going back
* to Germany some day to see
my friends and relatives,” Mrs.
Rinderhagen told friends, “But
never really made any plans for
it until July or August when I
made up my mind to take the
trip without saying a word to my
daughter Mrs. Laurence Chappeli,
or the other relatives. I just pulled
out by steam ship tickets one day
&nd told them that I was leaving
in a couple of weeks for a two
And one-half month trip that
would take me some 20,000 miles
before it was all over.”
Mrs. Rinderhagen decided that
now was the time to take the
trip to Europe and so on Sept.
b packed her duds, boarded a New
Vork City-bound train and waved
goodbye to relatives, who stood
[>n the train platform much more
concerned over the spunky little
grandmother’s escapade that she
herself seemed to be.
"I just made friends everywhere
I went,” Mrs. Rinderhagen ex-
plained. “People were very nice
to me and anytime I wanted some
help I just spoke up.”
1
period after their parents, their
schools and their churches have
failed on the job over a 20-year
period, is faced by the El Reno
reformatory.
Associate Warden John Waller
explained the difficulties faced
by the institution when he spoke
at the Ladies Nite meeting of the
El Reno Kiwanis club, Friday
evening at the Wesley Methodist
church.
Explaining that average sen-
tence of the inmates at the El
Reno federal institution is 20
months and the average age is
20 years, Mr. Waller noted that
many of the former inmates have
developed into useful and highly
respected citizens, indicating that
the reform program is effective,
even though the officers at times
become discouraged over the seem-
ing indifference of their charges.
He died several instances where
the youths have become leaders
in their communities.
Instead of blaming the youths
with criminal instincts due to lack
of education the speaker declared
that educational advantages or
high IQ apparently had no effect,
and their criminal tendencies ap-
parently were due more to at-
titude than any other ingredient.
Many of the smartest youths and
here, continue in their criminal
paths after release, due to the
fact that their attitudes toward
crime have not been changed by
their incarcerations. Lack of dis-
cipline dating back to when they
were as young as six months en-
ters into this attitude, he sug-
gested.
Mr. Waller praised the faculty
at the reformatory as (me of the
best he has encountered in his
many years of prison experience.
He pointed to the excellent educat-
ional, psychiatric and psychologist
testing given the prisoners, and
regretted that only those who have
already broken the laws have been
incarcerated in prison have the
opportunity to benefit from this
testing service.
Mr. and Mrs. Waller came to
El Reno from Washington, D. C., iu
April. The speaker was introduced
by Rev. Jack Carroll.
Entertainment for the program
was provided by the Kiwanis
Barbershop quartet, composed of
R. A. Bruce, Walter P. Marsh,
George Kizer and G. M. Anderson,
and by the chorus of the Dam-
rosch Music club, directed by Mrs.
H. M. Woods. The chorus sang
two Thanksgiving numbers and
a quartet from the club sang three
Thanksgiving hymns.
Help Fight TB
A Mpmpnfn Frnm Horn.a Mrs. J- D- Rinderhagen shows
m Mememo rrom nome ofr one ()f lhc many items she
brought baeK with her from a recent Eurojjean jaunt — a teapot
complete with sweater. The wool knit covering, which is called a
cozy, is one of the many unusual but useful articles found in Ger-
man homes, but is quite an oddity in the U. S.
Buy Christmas Seals
^I TER a couple of days of sub-
way riding, tours, watching
television shows and “seeing the
bright lights,” Mrs. Rinderhagen
boarded the ocean liner America
For the voyage to Bremerhavcn.
The 68-year-old traveler de-
scribed the voyage as wonderful,
with an abundance of entertain-
ment which made the nine-day
acean crossing seem only a matter
af hours.
“You know, it was an odd thing,”
she quipped, “There were some
limes when we hit rough weather
and most of the passengers turned
a little green and passed up the
delicious meals; but not me, I
weathered the storms in good
shape and didn’t miss a meal.”
An experience of a lifetime and
certainly one of the highlights of
I he trip was when relatives met
her as .she got off the ship at
Bremerhavcn. The little grand-
mother confessed that this was
bow to feel about 50 years young-
er and that it was an adventure
hat she will never forget.
I don’t know how they did it,
* but without any introduction
>r help from anyone, my cousins
:ame rushing out of the crowd
lo greet me,” she said, “ And the
funny thing about it all was that
I found myself just jabbering
iway in the German language
with them—I hadn’t-talked any
German in 25 or 30 years and
bought I had forgot ton it all.”
4-H'ers Face Heavy Schedule of Events
A glance at the schedule for also at 7 a.m. and is to serve on
the state 4-H Congress which gets the Information Committee for
underway this week shows that Thursday afternoon.
Canadian county’s throe young- Another local 4-H’er figuring
sters attending will have’ their prominently in the proceedings of
hands full trying to make all the ,hp sixth annual congress will be
activities in store for them. Gary Smith, who is to make the
The two official delegates of "Jhfks to our Sponsors" !tddress
the county are lo be Virginia j ?,* nonn *un(:^'>0f1 Jn
Stults of the Calumet 4-11 club. ‘he Per’la<n1 room of the Skirvin
and Earl Folk of the Yukon 4-H ^ er.. , , . .
c]up Smith will be accorded a special
v ‘ . „ . 4 .. ,. ... honor Friday afternoon as he and
Each youngster attending will other delegates leave for the
have some official duties during. National Congress in Chicag0
the course of the three-day pro- The threc days of the state con-
gross will be crowded with din-
Miss Stults has been named to ners, theatre parties, recreation
lead the 4-H pledge at the Fri- programs, banquets and meetings,
day morning breakfast at 7a.m. The youngsters will bo housed
Folk is chairman of the hosts in the Biltmore and Skirvin
at the Friday morning breakfast! Towdr hotels.
Christmas Decorations
To Be Up Before Long
City firemen are continuing
their work to bring El Reno's
Christmas decorations back up to
par this week as winds have
forced them to delay putting up
the remainder of the ornaments
along the city streets.
Fire chief Leroy Searcy said
that the men could complete the
job of hoisting them into place
and hooking them up for the
coming holiday season with three
It had been exactly 53 years
dnee the little El Reno woman's.......„ .....„ .................
relatives had seen her and then I or four days of nice weather
is a rosy-cheeked little Fr.mlein---
if only 15.
Another moving experience was
leseribed by Mrs. Rinderhagen
when she returned to her home-
own and first saw the little
lower garden nearby where she
)layed as a child. She sat on the
rery same heavy old wooden
jench in the garden that she sat
m as a child and played dolls.
\s she told of it this week her
eminiscing brought a quiver to
ler voice.
MOBILIZE for
DEFENSE
Tuberculosis costs the American
people more than $600,000,000 a
year and most of it is in tax
dollars, Joe C. Scott, Oklahoma
City, treasurer of the Oklahoma
Tuberculosis Association, said this
week in discussing the 1955 Christ-
mas Seal Sale, which opened Nov-
ember 16.
The cost of case findings, health
education, rehabilitation, hospital
and other medical care for the
tuberculous, relief to families,
pensions to veterans and medical
research, is estimated at that
figure. Added to this is the money
needed for hospital construction,
depreciation of old building and
the training of personnel.
“We cannot estimate how much
the loss of patients’ productive
capacity and their possible earn-
ing power drains from the nation-
al pocket book,” he said.
“The people of this state can-
not afford to pay even a part of
that price for a disease which can
he prevented and can bo cured,”
he added. “Christmas Seal dollars
spent now for prevention of
tuberculosis are an investment in
human life, the most precious of
our natural resources. They also
mean tax dollars saved in the
future.
Deadline On VFW
High School Essay
Confesf Is Dec. 10
One-Third of State
Homes Pay No Tax
The El Reno (OkU.) American, Thursday, November 24, 1955 3-A
"•*-!
Sixth district Veteraas of For-
eign Wars have opened their an-
nual high school safety essay con-
test with invitations going out to
all schools urging their students
to participate ano vie for winners'
prizes totaling $50 and special
certificates of commendation.
District public safety chairman
for the VFW John White of Law-
ton, reports that the topic for
this year’s competition is “Work-
ing for Safety—A Priceless Op-
portunity.” White reports that the
Oklahoma City—More than one-
third of all the homes in the state
are apparently paying no county
and local taxes, a group of farm-
ers studying tax problems at the
Oklahoma Farm Bureau conven-
tion in Oklahoma City were told.
Jim Williams, assistant director
of the Oklahoma Public Expendi-
tures Council, said a study of 41
counties’ homestead exemption
records shows that 37.8 per cent
of all homes in those counties are
assessed below $1,000, and thus
are “riding free” of county taxes.
The homestead exemption law
permits all homesteads an exemp-
tion of $1,000. All homes assess-
ed below that figure pay no coun-
ty taxes.
Williams spoke at the taxation
and legislation study group of Ok-
lahoma Farm Bureau. He said
one veteran county assessor, Chas.
A. Haibaugh of Garfield county,
estimates 50% of the home* in Ok-
lahoma are p a y i n g no county
tuxes, because of low assessments
and the homestead exemption
law.
“Oklahoma farmers are being
penalized by the present method
of applying the law,” Haibaugh
said.
Williams said the survey of 41
counties by the Public Expendi-
tures Council included reports on
281 cities and towns. Thirty-
seven of the 281 cities had no
homes assessed at more than $1,-
000, and 123 cities had less than
10 homes paying any county tax,”
Williams said.
Hai baugh h a s recommended
that the homestead exemption
law be amended so that the ex-
emption would apply to 50% of
the value, not to exceed $1,000.
Thus the home assessed at $1,000
would pay taxes on a $500 valua-
tion. He further suggested that
the full $1,000 be allowed to all
home owners over 65 years of
age.
Oklahoma F a r m Bureau this
year favored cutting the exemp-
tion from $1,000 to $500.
0*4*
• m
\ V-
A Word of Advice Linle lhree'year'old Mark
renzen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Eu-
gene Lorenzen of eight miles southwest of $1 Reno, cautions
the champion tom turkey at Saturday's county poultry show,
that the Thanksgiving season is no time for him to be strutting
around and that he had best watch himself or he is apt to end
up on a Thanksgiving table. The handsome bird was entered
in the poultry show by Perry Lee Baker.
Drivers License Crackdown by Patrol
Brings Crowd to Examination Office
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Blanton and
children, Bobby, Janice and Dav-
id, 2433 Towns End drive, will
essays are to be of between 200- [ have as their Thanksgiving din-
400 words and that they be type- ner guests today, Mr. and Mrs.
written. All entries in the sixth
district are to be forwarded to
Bennett Enfield, quartermaster-
Merton Carter and sons, Jimmie
and Ronnie of Kingfisher, and
adjustant, of 808 Allison place,
El Reno.
Deadline on entries is Decem-
ber 10.
Mrs. Blanton’s parents, Mr. and
Mrs. J. L. Carter of El Reno.
Merton Carter is a brother of J.
L. Carter and uncle of Mrs. Blan-
ton.
You can ask drivers license
examiner George Helms about the
recent rrnckdown being waged by
the highway patrol on unlicensed
drivers and he will tell you that
it is getting results.
Proof of this was shown Tues-
day when he set up shop in the
county commissioners office in the
courthouse for his weekly visit
here to administer the written
test to applicants seeking a license.
Business started off with a bang
when he opened at 8:30 a.m. and
was still going strong at 4:30 p.m.
with a good number having to be
turned away because there just
wasn’t time to process them. There
were 39 drivers processed during
the day.
Helms said that it would moke
the thing a lot simpler if the
applicants would all go by the tag
office and pick up a drivers man-
ual in preparation for their
examination, as it takes only a
fraction of the time to process
someone who knows his driving
rules as it does an applicant who
it in doubt.
Local drivers who have discov-
ered their licenses expired may
have them renewed by taking the
examination at the courthouse on
any Tuesday. Helms said that if
someone had to drive he could
obtain one at the highway patrol
headquarters in Oklahoma City
any week duy.
A/lc and Mrs. Eugene G.
Schoeppel of Topeka, Kans., spent
the weekend with her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. C. E. Tobias and daugh-
ter, Miss Nancy, 204 N. Macomb,
end with other relatives.
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Baker and
Mrs. Anna Lorenz.en. 603 S. Had-
den, will have as their guests for
Thanksgiving dinner, Mr. Baker’s
parents, Mr. and Mis. Aaron Ba-
ker of Edmond, and Mrs. Alva
Perkins of Oklahoma City.
For 56
Plenty of
Q)7A
in this
through Your
RED CROSS
%
N*. I
A visit to the small rural church
where she had served as a
lower girl when it was dedicated
n 1902 also was an enjoyable
xperience for her. She described
t as having changed very little
n the 53 years.
‘ Probably the one thing which
narvelcd me most was the fact
hft my relatives and friends all
eemed to be so happy despite the
act that many of their homos,
businesses and belongings were
ostroved in the war.”
Knowing that the trip would
>e the last to her homeland. Mrs.
linderhagen brought back a plent-
Ful supply of mementos and gifts
ar the grandchildren. She marvel-
d at the many fine products the
lermnn people make and how
igenious they are about contriv-
ig hundreds of small, useful
Hides. She brought back curkot
locks, glassware, china, toys and
ther interesting gifts for her
datives and friends so they could
?e first-hand what the German
andiwork was like.
The only drawback she could
nd about the enjoyable adventure
ms that she feared Christmas and
s usual Joys was going to be
ather an anticlimax coming right
n the heels of the visit
Next Thursday Is
S-D
(SAFE-DRIVING
December 1)
DAY
I, % 00
The 1956 Buick SPECIAL 4-Door Riviera
it
MAKE EVERY DAY
S-D DAY
This one is the news-maker that's front-page big.
“It’s their homework - S-D Day
it coming up December 1st I"
We urge you to join in this National
effort to reduce the terrific accident
rate on our highways.
SAFE DRIVING
—is a habit of courtesy which all mo-
torists should strive to acquire. . . .
Today is a good time to start.
MAKE YOUR CAR SAFE-
Come in for a checkup so you may be sure no accidents occur due
to defects in your car's operation.
This one is the new Buick Special for 1956-the biggest
bundle of high-powered energy and high-fashion luxury
ever offered in Buick1 8 lowest-priced Series.
Just a quick listing of some certain facts will give you
the picture.
First—its engine is a big new 322-cubic-inch V8 engine
with an all-time high in horsepower for this Series-
and an engine that liits the record book at a neat 8.9 to 1
compression ratio.
Second-its getaway-with the double-action take-off
of the new Variable Pitch Dynaflow*-is spectacular
even at only part throttle-and comes with a new boost
in gas mileage to boot.
Third-on ride, this new Special is more than great-
what with all-coil springing, and torque-tube stability,
and a new deep-oil cushioning, and a whole new front-
end geometry that adds a wonderful "sense of direction”
to the car’s travel.
Fourth -on room, luxury, interior finish-there’s never
been a Buick Special like this before. From the big,
broad seats to the stunning new instrument panel—
there’s new decorator smartness and quality throughout.
But get the picture on price, and you have the biggest
reason why this sizable automobile is so extra special
a buy.
For this Buick comes to you at a figure so close to those
of the most widely known smaller cars, the difference
in price is small change.
So-come in and see and sample this beauty. Youll find
it, we firmly believe, the biggest package of automobile
at anywhere near its budget price.
*New Advanced Variuldc Pitch Dynaftow is the only Dynaflow
Huick Imlds today. It is standard on Hoadmastcr, Super and
Century-optional at modest extra cost on the Special
SuieA.
SEE JACKIE GLEASON;
ON TV
l*«fv Soiwdov EvOaIoq
MIDWEST MOTOR COMPANY
—-WHEN UTTER AUTOMOIIUS ARE BUILT lUICK WIU IUI10 THEM
When Better Automobiles Are Built Buick Will Build Them
0*t 4-Staton Comfort In your now Buick with
FRIGIDAIRE CONDITIONINO-now at a now tow prka
BLOW
YOUR OWN HORN
In The Advertising Columns
OF THIS NEWSPAPER
OLDSMOBILE-CADILLAC AGENCY
El Reno, Okla.
VOGEL
SAMPLES BUICK CO
It
214 NORTH CHOCTAW
PHONE III
I
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Crump, Donald. The El Reno American (El Reno, Okla.), Vol. 61, No. 57, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 24, 1955, newspaper, November 24, 1955; El Reno, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc912159/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.