For a brief, shining moment back in 1977, the First Brother, Billy Carter, stole the spotlight from his brother, the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter.
While Jimmy Carter was a well educated, military veteran and successful peanut farmer, brother Billy was a good ole boy whose main avocation seemed to be drinking beer.
So, what happened?
A company called Falls City Brewing launched Billy Beer in 1977, and it took the nation by storm.
Billy Beer and brother Billy instantly gained the sort of notoriety that a Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance generated in 2023 (and continues today). There were volumes of newspaper articles about the beer and Billy.
Despite all the hoopla surrounding Billy Beer, the brand folded up like a crushed can just one year later in 1978. Billy Carter died in September 1978 of pancreatic cancer.
Turns out, folks didn’t like the taste of Billy Beer, despite Billy’s quotes printed on the cans themselves about the quality of his brew.
“I had this beer brewed up just for me. I think it’s the best I ever tasted. And I’ve tasted a lot. I think you’ll like it, too.” — Billy Carter
According to an article from the 1977 Milwaukee Journal, Billy admitted that he actually drank Pabst Blue Ribbon.
“There were MILLIONS of cases sold by 4 different breweries in the late 1970s. One estimate of the number of Billy Beer cans made is 2 BILLION. As a result, it is worth about 25 cents at most and then only if it is in very good shape, and if you can find a collector who actually needs one.”
A check on Billy Beer prices on eBay shows you can by an unopened (empty) six pack for a range from about $10 to $30. So, Billy’s brew hasn’t appreciated much in value over time.
Sidenote: A North Carolina brewery has begun brewing a Billy Beer that plays off the name and look of the can, but has nothing to do with the brew from the 1970s.
As for me, I never tasted a Billy brew. I’m pretty sure its distribution didn’t reach Arkansas or Texas, although I could be mistaken. A friend of mine who lives in Mena, Ark., had an unopened six pack stashed on a shelf in the late ’70s for what I assume was investment purpose.
But I did come across a couple of guys on Youtube who did a Billy Beer taste test in modern days. Watch for yourself:
So, why am I writing about Billy Beer in 2024?
Well, OKC’s Sundance Brewing recently debuted a beer called “Switzer Light Lager.” It’s named after former OU football coach Barry Switzer, himself something of a good ole boy from Arkansas as well as one of the best football coaches in recorded history.
Tailgating may never be the same before OU games if Switzer beer has longevity. It has some promise, because it’s a craft beer brewed locally, and in Oklahoma Barry Switzer is still the king.
One other note. According to an article in the Norman Transcript, profits from Switzer beer will go to support the Ground Zero Training Center for search and rescue dogs.
From the Transcript:
“Ground Zero Emergency Training Center is a Non-Profit Organization in Oklahoma specializing in exceptionally trained urban search and rescue canines, educational opportunities, and a state-of-the-industry facility in which to hone their technical skills. Ground Zero was founded by Oklahomans, Barry & Becky Switzer in 2017 to meet the needs of a critical shortage in search-and-rescue canines.”
It sounds like a worthy cause. Now, we just have to crack open a cold Switzer Light Lager and determine if it’s a worthy brew or just another Billy Beer.
The Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark scoreboard says ‘Pick the Winner’ as it shows the dots and course before the Dot Race starts.
Back in December, I published an article on this blog about the history of baseball’s Dot Race and how it was created here in OKC by Larry Newman in the early 1980s. You can read it here.
Larry was an employee of the Oklahoma City 89ers in those days, as well as working part time on the Sports desk at The Oklahoman.
That’s where my path crossed with Larry’s, because I worked on The Oklahoman’s Sports desk as a copy editor for most of the 1980s.
So, I saw the Dot Race in action on the 89ers scoreboard many times and learned that it was created by Larry. The Dot Race often created almost as much in-game excitement for the 1980s Oklahoma City baseball fans as the game itself.
After the blog post was published — and also mentioned on the 3 Old Geezers podcast, of which I am a part — the current-day Oklahoma City Baseball Club contacted Larry. He offered to re-create the original Dot Race for use during the 2024 season and the team accepted.
Larry went to work and created a perfect replica of his work from 40-plus years ago.
The OKC Baseball Cub plays as the Oklahoma City 89ers on Thursday nights, and the team decided to play the Dot Race during each “89ers” game.
That brought Larry and his family, along with me, my fellow Geezer Ed Godfrey and Ed’s son, Cade, to the ballpark this past week to watch the first 2024 Dot Race.
Dot Race creator Larry Newman and his wife, Stephanie, at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Thursday night before the Dot Race.
To me, it looked exactly the same as the 1980s version, although maybe a little smoother with the better technology and scoreboard capabilities in 2024. It was a small crowd that witnessed the rebirth of the original Dot Race, but I could see and hear some excitement as the dots rounded the final turn for home.
Anyway, I asked Larry to share his thoughts on the whole experience. Here’s what Larry Newman had to say about going Back to the Future to watch his 1980s Dot Race in 2024:
Larry Newman’s Dot Race thoughts
“First, I was quite surprised when you contacted me this winter to learn more about the origin of the Dot Race. After all, it had been over 43 years since I did the first Dot Race and about 38 years since I had done my last one. It was an enjoyable experience meeting with you and recalling the events that occurred to set the stage for the creation of the first Dot Race.
Thoughts about seeing other teams adopt the dot race
“By nature, I spend very little time thinking about the past, so after I left the 89ers to take a technical writing position in Phoenix, AZ. in 1987, the Dot Race became a small footnote in my mind and simply a fond memory of the eight years I spent working for the 89ers at All Sports Stadium. The only time I thought about it was when I would go to a Texas Rangers game or other major league sporting event and see a Dot Race in those other venues. I got a kick out of seeing how various teams improved the race over the years, and I enjoyed watching the fans cheering on their selected dot during the races. That always brought a smile to my face.
Thoughts about how the Dot Race came back to OKC
“Fast forward to early 2024 when AJ Navarro from the Oklahoma City Baseball Club contacted me after either listening to your podcast or reading your blog about the origin of the Dot Race.
“He said they are dedicating every Thursday home game to honor the legacy of the 89ers and were doing all they could to integrate as many elements of 89ers history on these nights.
“During our conversation, I asked Mr. Navarro if he would like me to create an authentic replica of the first generation 89ers Dot Races that he could run on their video system. He was enthusiastic about the idea.
“After receiving the video resolution specifications from Mr. Navarro, I set off to create a race that would look as much like the original dot races as possible. This meant it needed to be in black and white, no color, and a little jerky. After all, creating a Dot Race in the 1980s involved creating a 400-frame black and white animation one frame at a time. It was also a bit jerky due to computer processing limitations — very crude tools compared to today. The data was also stored on audio tape—there were no reasonably affordable disk drives or rewritable flash memory in those days! So even storing each race took a bit of time.
And the winner is…!
Thoughts about the fan reaction
“During the dot race Thursday night at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, I was mostly watching the reaction of my two adult children, Matt and Haley. Matt was born in 1989, and my daughter several years later, so neither of them had ever seen a first generation Dot Race created by their dad. My kids got quite a kick out of watching the race, so I was happy. My wife (Stephanie) also came to the game, but since we were dating in the 1980’s, she had seen many of my Dot Races at All Sports Stadium.
“The general fan reaction in the ballpark was muted but better than I expected. It was evident that some of the fans either recalled the Dot Races at All Sports Stadium or enjoyed Dot Races at other venues and enthusiastically cheered for their selected dot.
“The Oklahoma City Baseball Club does such an incredible job of filling every moment between innings with great entertainment that I suspect some fans will continue to look forward to watching the Dot Races, but it will probably struggle to stand out or gain much momentum with the fans throughout the season. There are simply so many other things competing for the attention of the fans. It’s an amazing environment for baseball and elevates the fan experience far above what I have ever experienced in any other ballpark, so it’s a good trade-off.
“I plan to attend many more games this year.”
Thank, you Larry Newman, for creating the Dot Race and for sharing it with the 2024 audience. It’s a great memory for me from days long past, and I’m sure it will create some memories for today’s fans.
Even RoboNiner made a 2024 appearance at the ballpark on Dot Race night.
It was my first time to attend the BIO show and to travel as part of the group that identified itself as OKBio. The annual BIO show brings thousands of people — scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, economic development professionals and reporters — together for a week of networking and showcasing emerging life science technologies.
There was a joke that we had to travel 1,600 miles to get to know our neighbors.
Only it was not a joke, but, in fact, reality.
That 2004 BIO show was my first of what became more than a dozen trips with the OKBio group to pitch Oklahoma and our growing life sciences community in major cities like San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and more.
So, I met a lot of people on that first BIO trip who became important sources to me as a newspaper reporter for future articles about local startups or emerging research.
In fact, I specifically recall meeting Craig Shimasaki, MBA, Ph.D., on the floor of San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Dr. Shimasaki was stationed along with his wife in front of a display that showcased the OKC-based startup he was guiding at the time.
If you’re not familiar with Dr. Shimasaki, he’s a California native who emigrated from his home state to Oklahoma to help develop a technology that diagnosed the flu virus. Along the way, he also earned his MBA from Northwestern University, his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Tulsa, and never left the state.
Since that first introduction, I’ve become friends with Dr. Shimasaki and interviewed him probably a dozen times or more for newspaper articles on Oklahoma-based startups he founded or guided, groundbreaking research in which he was involved and books on entrepreneurship he wrote.
I’ve watched him participate in a panel discussion on ‘gut health’ at one BIO show and engage with potential investors in a Startup Stadium presentation at another. I’ve sat in on Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup pitches by college teams for which he served as advisor. He’s led me on a tour of a world class laboratory that he oversees.
It was from Dr. Shimasaki as he discussed one of his books on biotech entrepreneurship years ago that I first encountered the term “you don’t know what you don’t know.”
And, you know, I don’t know.
Dr. Craig Shimasaki making a presentation at a past BIO show.
I’ve written all of this because of how life sometimes leads you back to where you began.
Recently, I reconnected with Dr. Shimasaki through Moleculera Labs, the Oklahoma City-based company for which he co-founded and serves as CEO. Molecular Labs describes itself as “a precision medicine company focused on identifying the underlying immune-mediated root of neurologic, psychiatric, and behavioral disorders.”
The company has gained a lot of attention both local and nationally for its technology that can identify the underlying cause of apparent psychiatric and behavioral disorders that afflict both children and adults. Moleculera Labs has tested more than 15,000 patients since it began offering its test panel on a commercial basis about a decade ago.
So, when Dr. Shimasaki asked me to provide some assistance in crafting press releases for breaking news the company sought to share, I was all in.
Over the past two weeks, Molecular Labs announced the addition of a long-time life science industry veteran to its Board of Directors, and also revealed that it has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) that will help it develop AI technology that will be integrated into its test panels.
There is even more breaking news from Moleculera Labs this month. The company announced this past week a strategic collaboration with Quest Diagnostics by which its offers patients of its neuropsychiatric autoantibody test services the option to provide blood specimens to any of Quest’s lab centers across the U.S.
It’s all big news not only for Moleculera Labs, but for the state’s entire life sciences community and all of Oklahoma.
For me, it’s the latest development in a relationship that began two decades ago on the floor of the BIO show 1,600 miles from OKC.
We’ve been good ‘neighbors’ ever since.
BONUS COMMENT FROM DR. SHIMASAKI:
“The BIO International Conferences allowed us to connect, and it’s been a wonderful relationship working with Jim Stafford over the many years as he has been actively covering the biotech and life science scene in Oklahoma,” Dr. Shimasaki said. “Jim has an innovative way to tell audiences about the interesting stories in a way that inspires and informs,”
Thanks for the kind words, Dr. Shimasaki, but it’s innovators like you who have shown me the impact that your research can have — and is having — on human health worldwide.
Our driver poses outside the BRT bus at the Lake Hefner park-and-ride stop along the Northwest Expressway.
My first brush with Oklahoma City’s new BRT — Bus Rapid Transit — didn’t start with promise.
A bus was waiting as I drove onto OKC EMBARK’s Lake Hefner park-and-ride lot along NW Expressway about 11:30 Monday morning. So, I parked, exited my car and started to walk about 30 yards to the platform only to watch as the bus pulled away.
I went back to my car.
My mission this morning was purely exploratory to see how efficiently Oklahoma City’s new BRT route that launched Sunday could move someone who parked and rode into downtown OKC.
I had read the waits for the next BRT buses were only 12 to 15 minutes, so I stuck around, and after about 10 minutes returned to the platform. The bus-tracker monitor said the next bus would arrive in 4 minutes.
The monitor was accurate, and the BRT bus pulled up as predicted.
The great thing about catching public transit — or a plane or a train for that matter — when the equipment is new is that you get that ‘brand-new car smell’ before it’s worn out by use. Or was I just imagining?
And the BRT cost is perfect all through December at the low, low price of free. The City of OKC officially launched the BRT line with a special ceremony early Monday morning.
The Northwest line is one of at least three BRT routes planned by the city, with two others in the works for the south side and the Northeast corridor. MAPS 4 dollars are paying for the new BRT routes, according to this story from The Oklahoman.
Anyway, the bus was clean and new with about 5 people already aboard in the back seating area. I took a seat in the middle, and we headed toward downtown OKC.
We wound through the neighborhood just west of INTEGRIS Hospital, past the platforms outside the hospital and turned onto NW Expressway.
That’s when things got interesting. The bus began filling up.
Each eastbound stop seemed to add four to six more people, and when we turned south on Classen Blvd. so many people climbed aboard at the first couple of stops that most new newcomers were forced to stand and hold on to the straps and poles.
Opening day strap hangers on OKC’s new BRT bus route.
By coincidence, my seatmate for a portion of the route was Cody Boyd, a friend of mine who actually works for EMBARK and was headed to a downtown restaurant for lunch.
I stayed aboard until we reached the Downtown Transit Center. Total time for the inbound stretch from Lake Hefner lot was 38 minutes. Not bad, considering how many people got on — and off — along NW Expressway and Classen Blvd.
After departing the bus, I walked a couple of blocks to my favorite OKC sandwich spot — Hobby’s Hoagies — where I ordered lunch and grabbed a table. After finishing my sandwich, I hiked back to the Transit Center where two BRT buses were waiting.
One bus pulled out before I got to the platform and headed south to complete the downtown loop. I boarded the northbound bus, and we were off on the return trip to the Lake Hefner stop.
On this trip the bus was less crowded, traffic was favorable and we arrived at the park-and-ride lot in 31 minutes. I thanked the driver and took his photo as he walked out of the bus onto the platform for a few seconds.
So, the BRT route gets a big thumbs up from me, even though it doesn’t lend itself to my daily transportation needs. Here’s another first-day perspective, that of OKC Free Press founder/editor Brett Dickerson.
Monday was the second time I was a first-day rider of a new OKC public transportation route. I rode the OKC Streetcar on its first day in December 2018 and liked it, as well, although the Streetcar only takes a slow loop through downtown.
The annual NAMI Walks Oklahoma event went off under a bright blue sky at Lower Scissortail Park
Living with a family member who suffers from mental illness reminds me of the weather. There are sunny, cloudless days when blue skies make you optimistic about a bright future. Then the clouds gather and an unexpected rain washes away your unrealistic hopes.
I had one of those blue-sky days on Saturday, literally.
I participated in the annual NAMI Walks Oklahoma event at Lower Scissortail Park on a beautiful, sunny and cloudless day.
Sponsored by NAMI Oklahoma, hundreds of people gathered to walk in support of NAMI’s mission to end the stigma of mental health. It was a great morning.
Although I’m a huge fan of OKC’s Scissortail Park, I had my doubts about how well the newly opened Lower Park would serve the NAMI Walks event.
Too isolated. Not enough parking. An unfamiliar venue south of I-40.
Not to worry. Folks found their way to the park with no problems. And while parking was at a premium, NAMI Oklahoma arranged for a shuttle bus that would take people from free parking areas across from the Paycom Center down to the lower park.
Better yet, the weather matched the festive mood. Bright blue skies and warming temperatures.
So, we had a great time as we listened to the beat of the music selected by the DJ, connected with old acquaintances and heard stories of overcoming anxiety and depression from speakers like Ashley Ehrhart. A former Miss Oklahoma USA and a member of the OKC Thunder Girl dance team, Ehrhart advocates for mental health from her own experience.
There was a Zumba exercise class that broke out, games for kids and ‘Mabel,’ the double-decker English bus from Junction Coffee that had a line of customers all morning.
Then at 10 am, the emcee counted it down and the actual Walk began on a 2 kilometer course over the Lower Scissortail walking trails. The sight of watching hundreds of people marching north toward the upper park and eventually back south on the west side was awesome. There were dogs, strollers, children and large groups wearing matching T-shirts.
I took scores of bad photos as I walked along the course on both the east and west sides.
Anyway, my reservations about the venue were totally unfounded. It teemed with life and enthusiasm. And the bright blue sky fueled my optimism that folks living with mental illness and their families can find that better place.
Thunder mascot Rumble makes an appearance in the stands at a recent OKC game.
I’ve heard a lot recently about this Artificial Intelligence app called ChatGPT, which allegedly will answer any question and write a report or an essay on any topic.
I figured that I owe BlogOKC readers an explanation of what ChatGPT is, so I went right to the source. Here’s what the Chatbot told me.
“ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It is trained on a dataset of internet text, which enables it to generate human-like responses to a wide range of text-based prompts. It can be used for tasks such as text completion, question answering, and conversation. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) architecture.”
A little long-winded, but there you have it.
So, I came up with a topic for my Chatbot to address to see how awesome it could be. Since much of my time seems to be focused on the Oklahoma City Thunder and my opposition to its tanking philosophy to rebuild for the future, I thought I would ask Chatbot for its take on the subject.
Here’s Chatbot’s take on why tanking is not the right philosophy for the Thunder:
“Tanking, or losing on purpose, is a controversial strategy that can have negative consequences for teams in the NBA. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, tanking may not be the best route to rebuild their team and become a contender in the league.
“One of the main reasons why tanking is a bad route for the Thunder is that it can have a negative impact on the team’s culture and morale. When a team is losing on purpose, it can be difficult for players and coaches to stay motivated and maintain a positive attitude. This can lead to a lack of effort and poor performance on the court, which can ultimately harm the team’s development. Additionally, it can also lead to a lack of fan support and engagement with the team, making it harder for the team to attract and retain fans.
“Another reason why tanking is a bad route for the Thunder is that it doesn’t guarantee success in the future. The NBA draft is not a sure thing and even the top draft picks do not always turn into star players. Therefore, tanking may not result in the Thunder getting the high-quality players they need to become a contender in the league. Additionally, even if they do get a high draft pick, it takes time for young players to develop and it’s not guaranteed that they will become the star player the team needs.
“Additionally, tanking can also lead to a lack of stability for the team. When a team is consistently losing, it can be difficult to keep coaches, players, and management in place. This can lead to frequent changes and a lack of continuity, which can make it difficult for the team to build a sustainable winning culture.
“Furthermore, tanking can also be detrimental to the league as a whole. When teams are not trying to win, it can lead to a lack of excitement and interest in the league, which can negatively impact the league’s reputation and overall revenue.
“In conclusion, while tanking may seem like a quick fix, it can have negative consequences for teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tanking can lead to a negative team culture, lack of fan support, lack of stability, and lack of success, and it can also harm the league as a whole. Instead, the Thunder may be better served by taking a more gradual approach to rebuilding, focusing on player development and making strategic moves in the draft and free agency.”
Did you read that? “Detrimental to the league.” Chatbot went right to the heart of why tanking doesn’t fly for me, and I hope millions of other fans. If a lot of teams are playing to lose, the interest will wane everywhere.
I think Chatbot is dead on in its assessment of the impacts of tanking, including decrease in attendance and a loss of revenue.
All in all, I would grade this essay with an A+.
Chatbot, you’ve impressed me with this argument.
After I read this essay, I decided to have Chatbot argue the other side of the equation for balance. So I ask it to write 450 words on why tanking is good for the Thunder.
Here’s what it wrote in favor of tanking:
“Tanking, or losing on purpose, is a controversial strategy that teams in the NBA have used in order to rebuild their rosters and improve their chances of success in the long term. The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently in a position where tanking could be the best route to rebuild their team and become a contender in the league once again.
“One of the main reasons why tanking is the best route for the Thunder is that it would give them a better chance of getting a high draft pick. The NBA draft is the primary way for teams to acquire young, talented players who can help them improve in the future. The higher a team’s draft pick, the more likely they are to select a player who can make a significant impact on their team. By losing on purpose, the Thunder would increase their chances of getting a high draft pick and selecting a player who could be a cornerstone of their team for years to come.
“Another reason why tanking is the best route for the Thunder is that it would give them more financial flexibility. The NBA has a salary cap that limits how much teams can spend on player salaries. When a team is not competitive, they may not be able to attract top-tier free agents who can help them improve. By rebuilding through the draft and developing young players, the Thunder would have more financial flexibility to make moves in the future.
“In addition, tanking would give the Thunder a better chance of building a team that can contend for a championship in the future. Building a championship team is a difficult and time-consuming process that requires a combination of talented players, good coaching, and a solid organizational structure. By losing on purpose and getting high draft picks, the Thunder would be more likely to acquire the young, talented players they need to build a championship team.
“Furthermore, tanking would also give the Thunder a chance to give more playing time to their young players and prospects. This would be beneficial for their development and would also help the team to evaluate their potential.
“In conclusion, there are several reasons why tanking is the best route for the Oklahoma City Thunder to rebuild their team. The Thunder are currently not in a position to compete for a championship, and tanking would give them a better chance of getting a high draft pick, more financial flexibility, and a better chance of building a team that can contend for a championship in the future. Additionally, it would also give more playing time to the young players and prospects and help in their development. While tanking is a controversial strategy, it can be a necessary step for teams like the Thunder to rebuild and become a successful team again in the future.”
ChatBot presented some compelling arguments in favor of tanking for a rebuild. It hit on an argument that my friend, Steve Buck, often makes in favor of tanking: player development.
Chatbot wrote: “Furthermore, tanking would also give the Thunder a chance to give more playing time to their young players and prospects.”
Again, Chatbot wrote a compelling essay without an factual errors that I can detect. I give it an A+ on this assignment, as well.
However, I’ve still not moved an inch from anti-tanking stance.
Chatbot, when I finally found you at the OpenAI web page, you surprised me with some fine writing and compelling arguments.
Well done.
Editor’s note: My first attempt to have ChatGPT to write essays for and against tanking by the Oklahoma City Thunder was done via an app I downloaded to my iPhone from the Apple App Store. I’ve since discovered that app is ChatGPT filtered through a company hoping to make money by charging a weekly fee for the free, open-source app. So, I signed up on the OpenAI page and had the Chatbot write me new, much improved essays.
The Edmond Citylink bus parked at the Festival Marketplace downtown.
Attention, Edmond-to-downtown Oklahoma City bus commuters: I come bearing bad news. The Edmond Citylink bus service to downtown OKC is ending on December 30.
I know this is not big news to most of my NW OKC-Edmond neighbors. There’s a certain stigma to taking public transportation in a well-to-do community where the automobile is king.
But all my adult life I’ve wanted to live in a city where public transportation was close enough to me that I could easily take it to work if I chose.
Never happened.
Once, I lived in a house near NW 50th and Hudson in Oklahoma City, and the city bus passed right by my residence. But the hours of my job in downtown OKC began in mid-afternoon and didn’t end until midnight or later.
So, there was no bus option to get home.
Then I married and, together with my wife, moved to far northwest OKC near Edmond Road and Western. There was no public transportation options within miles of my car-centric neighborhood.
Then I learned about Edmond’s Citylink bus service that connects downtown Edmond to downtown Oklahoma City. It’s called the Expresslink bus.
By now, my work was located in the Research Park at NW 8th and Lincoln just east of downtown. Turns out, the Expresslink bus went right by the Research Park.
So, looked at the schedule and figured out that I could drive 3 miles to the Edmond Festival Marketplace, park my car and catch the free 7:15 am bus that would let me off right at the Research Park entrance.
Did I mention that it’s free?
So, it cost me nothing to ride and saved gas expense and wear and tear on my car. I could step out of my office and walk just a few yards to catch the bus back to Edmond at the end of the day.
Perfect. I caught the Expresslink bus off and on for several years.
Then my professional life moved to a work-from-home situation. I’ve only taken the Expresslink bus one time in the past three years or so.
I’m off the bus now, so to speak, but still found the recent news disheartening that Edmond will end the Expresslink bus at the end of the year.
Most of the time, when I rode that route, there were 12-to-18 people who rode with me on the 7:15 am bus.
Among Edmond residents who often took the Expresslink bus downtown was my friend Dan Lovejoy.
“The bus is nice,” Dan said when I asked him about why he took the bus instead of driving into OKC. “It’s not much slower than driving – and I can work or rest on it. It forces me to leave on a schedule and not stay too late.”
Many — or most — riders boarded the bus as an alternative to rush hour driving, as Dan did.
“One distinguishing characteristic of successful public transport is — do people who don’t have to take it actually take it?” he said. “On Edmond Express at least, people rode it who didn’t have to ride it.”
Today, Dan drives an electric vehicle, which cuts down fuel costs. He also has a job in which he works at home a couple days a week, so he’s not taking the bus on a routine basis.
“I wonder if there are a lot of folks like me who just aren’t commuting much any more,” he said.
I’m convinced the pandemic has had a major impact on Expresslink ridership. Many people like Dan are able to work from home at least a couple days a week.
I emailed Christy Batterson, Edmond Transit Program Manager, to inquire about ridership numbers, but she did not respond.
The transportation news isn’t all bad, however. There’s a silver lining in far distant clouds.
That’s a pretty exciting prospect, not only for a rail fan like me, but for potentially hundreds of Edmond commuters who could take the train in to downtown OKC each work day.
Of course, it all depends on overcoming the stigma of boarding public transportation in Edmond, Oklahoma.
OKC skyline seen from the footbridge across Scissortail Lake
I’m embarrassed to admit that Thursday was the first time I have visited OKC’s new Scissortail Park since it opened last year.
I had stepped on the grounds just a few weeks before it opened to shoot some photos of the new convention center under construction, but had not returned.
However, the park drew my son and me downtown late in the afternoon to shoot some photos of the OKC skyline and scenes around the park.
We arrived about 7:30 pm, and had no worries about social distancing. There were no crowds for us to negotiate, because we saw just a few families strolling on the grounds.
So, we parked in the boathouse area along Hudson Ave., and walked into the park.
Convention Center just east of the park
I noticed two things in what turned out to be a fairly brief visit.
First, the downtown skyline vistas are awesome. You have unobstructed views of skyscrapers immediately north of the park. And it’s spectacular.
Second, this is a great place to walk for exercise. There are sidewalk/trails around the lake and throughout the park that invite you to walk or even ride your bike. We saw quite a few families strolling in the late afternoon light, along with a few bikers. Plenty of dogs on leashes, too.
Our walk took us across Scissortail Lake on the footbridge and then around the south edge of the lake back to the boathouse.
Although the park is a good 16 miles south of our house, I plan to return ASAP and walk a lot more of the grounds.
A company called Falls City Brewing launched Billy Beer in 1977, and it took the nation by storm.
Despite all the hoopla surrounding Billy Beer, the brand folded up like a crushed can just one year later in 1978. Billy Carter died in September 1978 of pancreatic cancer.
Jim Stafford's BlogOKC 