Paregien Christmas Newsletter - 2007
Howdy-do, y'all:
The first major trip of 2007 for Peggy and me was an early Spring trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. We went there to spend some time with Peggy's sister, Paula Allen King, and with Paula's son Jeff and his family. Paula and Jeff and Lisa were very generous with their time in acting as tour guides for us. How nice it was to travel with people who speak Spanish fluently. We saw both great affluence and grinding poverty. The native Mexican people we met were kind and gracious to we Okie Gringos.Stan & Peggy with her sister, Paula King, in downtown Guadalajara
Next, we took three of our grandchildren (the fourth, Jodi, is married and was occupied caring for our two great-grandchildren) with us on vacation, as we did last year. This time Peggy and I flew to St. Louis from Oklahoma City while our two grandchildren in Caldwell, Texas (daughter Stacy Magness's children, Dylan and Christal) flew from Houston to St. Louis. We all spent a long weekend at the home of our third grandchild (son Stan Jr's son, Daniel), touring the sights in St. Louis and enjoying their country living across the Mississippi in Illinois.
Daniel Paregien, Dylan Magness, Peggy Paregien, Christal Magness & Stan - American Falls
Then Peggy and I and Daniel, Dylan and Christal flew from St. Louis to Buffalo, New York. We rented a van and drove to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. We spent a delightful two nights there in a hotel overlooking both the Canadian and American falls. . . . . . We then drove down to Cleveland, Ohio and toured the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame . . . . . Then we drove up to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio for a couple of days. Stan Jr and Becky joined us for this leg of the trip. There were 17 rollercoasters there and Stan Jr and the kids rode every one of them. The scariest thing I (Stan Sr) rode was the shuttle from the motel to the park!
We all left there and drove to Cleveland and picked up daughter Stacy at the airport. Then we drove to Hiram, Ohio and stayed at a bed and breakfast. We were there for the wedding of John Lombardi and Joy Burkholder (he is the son of Mark & Joy Lombardi and the grandson of Charlotte Allen Gardner). They even had a tornado warning alert the night before the wedding, making us Okies feel right at home. After the wedding, we all left for our respective homes.
Early in May, Peggy and I flew to California and took my mom, Evelyn, for a tour of Yosemite and the Redwoods. We had not planned to spend the night in the Yosemite Park, but got there late and managed to get a room at the same Lodge where we had honeymooned 45 years ago. We were all enthralled with nature's beauty in those spots.
Peggy and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary ( May 31, 1962) by spending three days and two nights on Santa Catalina Island, located "26 miles across the sea" (as the old song goes) from Long Beach, Calif. We particularly enjoyed staying at the Zane Grey Inn, the former home of one of the most successful Western novelists of all time. He built his home up on a hill on the right side of the harbor in 1922. On the first night, we enjoyed watching the habor -- full of yachts and ships -- as it was bathed in a full-moon. Very nice.
Stan and Peggy at the harbor of Santa Catalina Island
Both Peggy and I have been involved this year with a work called Cross and Crown that ministers to the homeless and poor people in downtown Oklahoma City. We continue to worship with the Quail Springs Church of Christ, as we have for many years now.
I continue to perform my cowboy storytelling, music and poetry. I performed at the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, Texas in September. That was my 16th year to do so. And I was honored to perform twice this year new Oklahoma History Center, including once as a featured entertainer at the Oklahoma Folklife Festival . . . . . . I also became a member of the Advisory Council of the Oklahoma Folklife Council headed by Hayden Roberts . . . . And I helped Jim Garling and others revive the Oklahoma Chapter of the Western Music Association . . . . . And we had a couple of our periodic Cowboy Jam Session shindigs at our house, the last being on Saturday, November 24th. It is always a blast to get together with friends and play or listen to some good music.
Scott Bumgartner, Stan Paregien & Adrian Lopez after their storytelling performances at the
National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, Texas in September
However, 2007 was not just a series of mountain-top experiences. We lost our dear friend Tom Fox after years of illness . . . . . And our long-time cowboy poet pal Ray Owens passed away . . . . . Then there was the death of Cecil Hook, a gifted religious writer and speaker whom I met a couple of times and with whom I corresponded over many years . . . . . There was also the death of my favorite high school teacher at Fillmore, California, Mr. Charles Mozley ( I have often quoted a statement he made in class: "I can withstand everything except pain and temptation.") . . . . . We also lost a distant relative, Mrs. Arbun (Mabel) Paregien of Madill, Oklahoma, who was in a nursing home because of dementia problems. . . . . . And we recently learned of the terminal illness of another distant relative, Ethel Liddeke of Kansas, who attended our Paregien Reunion in 2006 . . . . . And we attended the funeral of Rose Waltman, the mother of one of Peggy's long-time coworkers and closest friends, Martha Russell . . . . . . And rodeo champion Jim Shoulders died just a few weeks after my last interview with him at his home in Henryetta, OK (My article about Jim was published online by American Cowboy magazine). . . . . Our hearts were also saddened at the death of Barbara France, who was married to my high school classmate Roger France for more than 40 years . . . And on Dec. 6th we lost Atchelle Walters Crumb, my 87-year-old maternal great-aunt ( my grandmother Vada Walters Cauthen's sister).
Plus we have the daily concern for the health of Stan's mother, Evelyn Paregien Spradling, and his sister and brother-in-law, Roberta P. Fournier and Norm, with whom Evelyn lives in Pioneer, California. Berta was near death in December of 2006 and has had a couple of close calls since, so we are happy and blessed with each day that we have her with us . . . . . And we are in prayer for Stan's cousin in Tennessee, Jerry Paregien, who has a number of health issues . . . . . and for California friends Don Downey and Betty Hood. And Peggy and I each have our own assortment of aches and pains and malfunctions that often come with the aging process. As someone has said, growing old ain't for sissies!
Then were were a bunch of much lesser aggrevations. My computer crashed and wiped out information (including some digital recordings of my interviews with notable folks) and photos that cannot be replaced. It was very disheartening and time-consuming. But I now have a computer with a backup harddrive to guard against that situation, plus I am putting certain items on CD's and in online storage. Hope you are also taking extra steps to protect your info . . . . . . We also had our Lexus flooded up to about 4 inches inside the car while we were parked at the airport in OKC. They had a 6 inch rain in a couple of hours and the place turned into a river . . . . And as I write this, on December 10th, we in central Oklahoma are in a very bad ice storm. Our trees and power lines are bending low with a thick layer of ice, with more freezing rain on the way today and tonight.
Front, l to r: Christal Magness, Bailey & Jodi (Paregien) Barrow, Becky Paregien, Evelyn Paregien Spradling,
Stacy P. Magness, our dog Penny, Peggy Paregien. Back: Stan Paregien, Brandon & Dominic Barrow,
Dylan Magness, Daniel and Stan Paregien Sr. Thanksgiving in Edmond, Ok. Photo taken by neighbor Bud Barton.
As many of you know, I have been "mostly retired" the last couple of years. In August I officially retired from the insurance business . . . . . and promptly joined Peggy as an employee of the best durned airplane company in the world -- Southwest Airlines. Peggy has worked the last 12 years as a Reservation Sales Agent . . . . and now I are one. This workin' full-time sure puts a crimp in a fellah's wanna-do's. That's why I have suspended my Cowboy Directory Newsletter as well as my ParegienFile Newsletter. Maybe I'll crank 'em back up in the Spring. And, then again, maybe not.
Reckon that's about it from the ol' Circle P Ranch. We always enjoy visitors so if you're ever in our neck of the pasture, why stop by and say howdy.
We wish you and your's a very merry and Christ-centered Christmas. And here's hoping that 2008 will give you opportunities galore to share your talents with others and to bless every person you meet.
---Stan & Peggy Paregien
December 10, 2007
P.O. Box 3937
Edmond, OK 73083
Email: paregien@inbox.com
P.S. If you haven't done so, you may read Stan's article "My Most Unforgettable Christmas" by going to the menu at www.cowboydirectory.com and clicking on "Feature Articles".
