Janet Wilson

00:00:00Regan Siler: This is Regan Siler with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. This interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is January 14, 2026 and I'm here with Janet Wilson at the Bristow Library Annex. She's going to tell us a little bit about her life and what it's like living and working in the Bristow area. Can you please state your full name?

00:00:25Janet Wilson: Janet Sue Wilson.

00:00:27Regan Siler: Okay, and do I have permission to record this interview?

00:00:31Janet Wilson: Yes.

00:00:31Regan Siler: Okay. Please tell me when and where you were born.

00:00:35Janet Wilson: I was born in Cushing, Oklahoma on September 29, 1950.

00:00:42Regan Siler: Okay, and were you born at the Cushing Hospital?

00:00:45Janet Wilson: Uh-huh. Cushing Hospital.

00:00:46Regan Siler: Okay. Well, let's start by talking about the people in your family. Can you tell me your parents' full names?

00:00:52Janet Wilson: My mother was Bessie Marie Falmo. Well, it was Stewart, and then Falmo. And my dad was Bobby Eugene McMurtry.

00:01:01Regan Siler: And did your dad go by Bob and your mom go by Bess?

00:01:05Janet Wilson: Yes.

00:01:06Regan Siler: Okay, okay. And I have your dad's date of birth as November 24, 1930, and his date of passing as June 25, 2024?

00:01:16Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:01:17Regan Siler: Okay. And then I have your mom's date of birth as February 16, 1931, and date of passing, November 5, 2023?

00:01:26Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:01:26Regan Siler: Okay, okay. Do you have any siblings?

00:01:30Janet Wilson: I do. Marsha Jones, here in town.

00:01:32Regan Siler: Okay. And are you older? Is she older?

00:01:35Janet Wilson: I'm older.

00:01:35Regan Siler: You're older, okay. And where did you live growing up, and did you have family living nearby you?

00:01:44Janet Wilson: Okay, I started out in Stroud, Oklahoma, and then at four we moved to Bristow. I moved to Bristow, and I had family in Chandler and Sapulpa.

00:01:57Regan Siler: Oh, okay.

00:01:57Janet Wilson: Those were my closest relatives.

00:01:58Regan Siler: Was there a particular reason why you moved to Bristow?

00:02:01Janet Wilson: My dad moved here because, well, mainly because of the turnpike going through. He was working at a service station in Stroud, and wanted to branch out on his own. And he had a choice of here, or I think it was Okemah. And he chose Bristow, because the Kelly brothers, they were with the bank, and they gave him a loan, and so that's how we ended up in Bristow.

00:02:32Regan Siler: So, he had a service station here in Bristow?

00:02:38Janet Wilson: He had a service station on the corner of fourth and main.

00:02:39Regan Siler: And what was that...?

00:02:39Janet Wilson: Little tiny, Bob's Gibble Gas.

00:02:40Regan Siler: Really? Okay.

00:02:41Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:02:41Regan Siler: Okay. And how long, did he have that a long time?

00:02:43Janet Wilson: Yes, he had it until, goodness, until, can't remember if I had graduated.

00:02:53Regan Siler: Oh. So, a long time?

00:02:54Janet Wilson: Oh yeah, he had it the whole time we were in Bristow.

00:02:56Regan Siler: Okay. So, that's what he did the whole time?

00:02:59Janet Wilson: Uh-huh. It was a filling, we called them filling stations back then. Used cars, he sold used cars. He dabbled in all kinds of stuff. He was kind of, then he put in the first car wash here in Bristow, and in Depew, and in Stroud. And they were kind of a new thing back then.

00:03:17Regan Siler: Interesting.

00:03:18Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:03:18Regan Siler: I didn't know that.

00:03:19Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:03:20Regan Siler: So, did your mom work? Or did she stay home with you?

00:03:23Janet Wilson: My mom was a stay-at-home mom.

00:03:25Regan Siler: Stay-at-home mom. Okay, and then your dad has land?

00:03:31Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:03:31Regan Siler: Like, where you have the sorghum festival?

00:03:33Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:03:34Regan Siler: Was that land always in your family?

00:03:36Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:03:36Regan Siler: Or did he acquire that later in life?

00:03:37Janet Wilson: He bought that after my mom and dad divorced.

00:03:40Regan Siler: Oh, okay. Okay.

00:03:42Janet Wilson: He remarried, and they purchased that.

00:03:45Regan Siler: Okay.

00:03:45Janet Wilson: Or he purchased that.

00:03:46Regan Siler: Okay. So, then your family has lived, or you've lived in the Bristow area pretty much since you were four. I know there were some times that you were had moved away for some time.

00:03:59Janet Wilson: We moved to Stillwater.

00:04:00Regan Siler: Stillwater.

00:04:00Janet Wilson: And Watonga.

00:04:05Regan Siler: Watonga. Okay, okay. Well, can you tell me a little bit about your school life? Where did you first attend school?

00:04:13Janet Wilson: Bristow.

00:04:13Regan Siler: So, did you...?

00:04:14Janet Wilson: Started first grade here, we didn't have a kindergarten then. The only kindergarten was with the Catholic Church, and we didn't go to that. So, most kids just started first grade.

00:04:25Regan Siler: First grade?

00:04:26Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:04:26Regan Siler: And so, you attended Bristow School all 12 years?

00:04:29Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:04:29Regan Siler: Okay. When did you graduate?

00:04:32Janet Wilson: 1968.

00:04:33Regan Siler: 1968, okay. Do you remember having any influential teachers during your time at Bristow?

00:04:40Janet Wilson: I did. I had Mrs. Yourman was my third grade teacher.

00:04:44Regan Siler: And do you happen to know her first name?

00:04:47Janet Wilson: Goodness!

00:04:48Regan Siler: It's okay.

00:04:49Janet Wilson: I don't remember.

00:04:50Regan Siler: Do you happen to remember how to spell her last?

00:04:52Janet Wilson: Yourman?

00:04:52Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:04:53Janet Wilson: Y O U R M A N

00:04:55Regan Siler: Okay.

00:04:56Janet Wilson: Her husband was my ophthalmologist.

00:04:58Regan Siler: Okay.

00:04:59Janet Wilson: Here in town.

00:05:00Regan Siler: Oh, okay.

00:05:01Janet Wilson: Where Zeddie is now, Cantrell. That was his...

00:05:04Regan Siler: Wow, okay.

00:05:05Janet Wilson: He started that. And then he went in with Dr. Foster and Hiskett, and then Zeddie took it over.

00:05:11Regan Siler: So, Mrs. Yourman, what grade did she teach?

00:05:14Janet Wilson: Third.

00:05:14Regan Siler: Third grade.

00:05:16Janet Wilson: She was probably my favorite teacher, classroom teacher. And then Chuck West was my absolute, probably favorite teacher. And he was P.E. but, then later he became athletic director. And I don't know he just was always, I always was close to him. I really, you know, some of those teachers just kind of reach out to you, and he was one of those.

00:05:43Regan Siler: That's good.

00:05:44Janet Wilson: Thought a lot of him.

00:05:46Regan Siler: I've heard a lot, in my interviews a lot of people have a lot of nice things to say about him.

00:05:53Janet Wilson: Yeah, he was a wonderful man. But another one that was really influential was Sandford Willis. And he was not a teacher. He was a janitor.

00:06:02Regan Siler: Really, okay? And why is that?

00:06:05Janet Wilson: Well, my mother was, I don't know if she was irresponsible or if she just got busy and you know, back then, a lot of moms didn't work. They had coffee together and different things like that. And I don't know if she was her coffee friends or what, but she was supposed to pick me up, either after school or sometimes at lunch, and she'd forget to come. So, I'd be stuck there, and Sanford would come out and talk to me and help me. And that was like, I was real shy back then.

00:06:38Regan Siler: You were shy?

00:06:39Janet Wilson: I was very, very shy.

00:06:41Regan Siler: That's hard for me to believe.

00:06:42Janet Wilson: I still am very, very shy. But anyway, he would come out and visit with me, and just gave me that little bit of...

00:06:52Regan Siler: Maybe a sense of security?

00:06:54Janet Wilson: Right, and he would take me in. And we had, our principal back then was a, I thought she was huge, very tall, but she wasn't. She was very short, and she always wore black, and she was very, very commanding, you know.

00:07:09Regan Siler: That's probably why you thought she was tall.

00:07:11Janet Wilson: Yeah, but she was, he would take me into her, and she was so kind and so sweet, and really that bond between us was good because.

00:07:21Regan Siler: Well, good.

00:07:22Janet Wilson: I always thought she would be horrible.

00:07:24Regan Siler: Right.

00:07:24Janet Wilson: She didn't turn out to be that way. And she'd either take me over to the cafeteria and you know, where I could eat, or she would get ahold of my mom to come get me after school.

00:07:34Regan Siler: And so, was this like an elementary school, I'm guessing?

00:07:37Janet Wilson: Yes, yes.

00:07:39Regan Siler: All right. Did you have a favorite subject in school?

00:07:43Janet Wilson: I did. I loved English, Reading.

00:07:46Regan Siler: English and Reading.

00:07:47Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:07:47Regan Siler: Okay. So, overall, you would say you enjoyed school?

00:07:51Janet Wilson: I loved school. I did. I had a bully when I was young, and I think that was put in my path for a reason. Because when I became a teacher, that was something dear to my heart. I didn't, you know, I wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't, you know.

00:08:07Regan Siler: Right.

00:08:07Janet Wilson: I was careful to make sure kids in the class weren't bullied, if I could do anything about it, because it's a horrible thing for a young kid.

00:08:14Regan Siler: Right.

00:08:15Janet Wilson: And then also, it's a horrible thing for the bully, because that bully often has a lot going on in their life that needs to be addressed.

00:08:23Regan Siler: Right. Well, speaking from experience, I know you always had a loving classroom, because both my boys had you.

00:08:29Janet Wilson: Thank you!

00:08:31Regan Siler: Okay, well, let's talk about meal times with your family. Did you guys eat together every night or?

00:08:38Janet Wilson: Well, Dad was at the filling station. So, if he came home, you know, within a decent hour, which usually he did, we'd have dinner all together at the table. But Sundays, if he was home, we always had dinner together. That was family back then, that's just kind of the way it was. We didn't eat until dad got home, if he was coming home, and mom always made him lunch and took him lunch at the service station where he worked.

00:09:08Regan Siler: Do you remember having a favorite meal or anything that your mom cooked that you loved?

00:09:13Janet Wilson: My dad hunted, so, we had a lot of squirrel and rabbit, and those were probably my favorite.

00:09:18Regan Siler: Really!

00:09:19Janet Wilson: Fried squirrel, squirrel gravy, rabbit gravy, yeah, yeah. Someone always came by that honestly.

00:09:25Regan Siler: Yeah, they came by that honestly, didn't they?

00:09:27Janet Wilson: Yeah, yeah.

00:09:29Regan Siler: So, did your mom teach you how to cook? Or did you, were you the cleanup crew? Like, what was it, what was it?

00:09:36Janet Wilson: I was to get out of the kitchen. My sister, well, I'm left handed for one thing, and mom couldn't handle that. If I ironed, she threw a fit because I was ironing on the wrong side of the ironing board. Or if I cooked, I was cutting with the wrong hand, and that scared her. And she just would say, you go on in there, or whatever. She didn't. So, mainly, my job was to clean the house. She couldn't be around.

00:10:05Regan Siler: Okay.

00:10:07Janet Wilson: Marsha cooks wonderfully, she's a great cook.

00:10:09Regan Siler: So, Marsha was the cook and you were the cleanup group.

00:10:12Janet Wilson: I couldn't even clean. I just didn't, she didn't want me in the kitchen.

00:10:16Regan Siler: Okay, okay. Well, thinking back to town life and growing up, what were some of your favorite community activities? I know, like in past interviews, people have mentioned things like Western Heritage Days, day camp, parades, county fairs, etc. Can you tell me about any of those memories that you have?

00:10:34Janet Wilson: Oh, they're wonderful. Back when we were kids, there was so much to do in Bristow. I mean, we had everything from skating rinks to swimming pools to outdoor movies. There was always something to do. And then Western Heritage Days was nothing like it is now, it was huge. And the Jaycee Janes and Jaycees put a lot of stuff on that, you know, you just couldn't go pay for something like that.

00:10:59Regan Siler: Right. Well, I've heard, like, you know, about the bed races and the different things and people dressing up in, like, cowboy attire and stuff like that. Was that from your time?

00:11:11Janet Wilson: Uh-huh. We had saloons, like the old banks on the corner was turned into a saloon.

00:11:16Regan Siler: Oh, how fun!

00:11:16Janet Wilson: Dance hall girls would be in there. And those were the Jaycee Janes. I worked at, when I was, I guess when I was in college. My first year of college, I worked for Max Kemp [11/27/1925-12/23/2005] at Kemp's. And we always dressed up, the whole town dressed up. If you worked there, you wore the old timey attire, and it was wonderful.

00:11:39Regan Siler: What do you think, in your opinion, has changed?

00:11:42Janet Wilson: We don't have Jaycees Janes and Jaycees.

00:11:44Regan Siler: Was that a driving force in Western Heritage Days?

00:11:48Janet Wilson: Right.

00:11:48Regan Siler: Because I've kind of wondered that. Because, you know, I know, it faded away for awhile, and then we've had groups that have tried to bring it back, which I've appreciated. The town is appreciated. But it just seems like back during that time things were, there was way more community, like community involvement, than what there is now. And I don't know if life's just too busy or I'm not sure what has changed.

00:12:11Janet Wilson: Well, you have two people working now.

00:12:12Regan Siler: True.

00:12:12Janet Wilson: Back then, when I was growing up, most moms didn't work, and so you had a lot of help.

00:12:19Regan Siler: That's a good point.

00:12:20Janet Wilson: It wasn't the same people all the time.

00:12:21Regan Siler: Right, right. The same few people, yeah.

00:12:24Janet Wilson: And all our Jaycee Janes were really, really active, fun people. They loved doing that stuff, because it took a lot of time. And then, when I was in, I guess college, I was in Outburst. No, I wasn't in college because, it had to have been after college when I was married, the first year. We had a thing called Outburst.

00:12:47Regan Siler: Tell me, tell me about that, because I hadn't heard about that until you had mentioned it on our phone conversation.

00:12:52Janet Wilson: I'm not sure who put it, if it was Jaycees then, I don't know who really put that on.

00:12:57Regan Siler: What exactly was it?

00:12:58Janet Wilson: It was a show, and all these people did groups, did dances, they did different things. It was usually at the Legion hut, and they'd have tables set up, and people could sit at the tables. And then we had our chairs for people to observe, and then we just put on shows.

00:13:24Regan Siler: So, like dance shows, or like plays?

00:13:26Janet Wilson: Well, like one year it was all Western, and so we were, like the group that I was with, we were like slim girls, you know. And we did slim girl dances, and the guys would sit at tables and act like they were. Anyway, that was one year, and then another year was more like the 50's and 60's.

00:13:44Regan Siler: So, was it like one production a year?

00:13:47Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:13:47Regan Siler: Okay.

00:13:47Janet Wilson: That's why I'm not sure. I know, I can remember McMillan, Lois McMillan, talking to us, so I know she was, she must have been part of part of it, or the head of it or something. But like I said, I don't know what group it was that really put it on. We just did it and had fun.

00:14:07Regan Siler: And how long do you think you did that for?

00:14:10Janet Wilson: I know I was in it twice. I was in it two years.

00:14:13Regan Siler: Two years, okay.

00:14:14Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:14:14Regan Siler: Because I hadn't, of all the people I've talked to, I hadn't heard about that. So, I thought that was an interesting tidbit.

00:14:20Janet Wilson: Yeah, I've got books on it. You know, they always gave out, like, a little handbook to people with the pictures and it was always in the newspaper, yeah.

00:14:28Regan Siler: Oh, well.

00:14:28Janet Wilson: It was a big deal.

00:14:29Regan Siler: Yeah

00:14:30Janet Wilson: I mean it was fun.

00:14:30Regan Siler: Fun, yeah.

00:14:31Janet Wilson: A lot of fun.

00:14:32Regan Siler: Right, right. Okay. What were some of, in your memory, what were some of the biggest or most popular businesses around town, say, like when you were growing up?

00:14:43Janet Wilson: Kemp's was always a big deal. Rexall Drug was a big deal. We had everything here when I was growing up. We had shoe stores, we had clothing stores. We had Red Bird shoe store was a big popular place. Then we had Modern Miss. We had Stanford's. Those were girls' clothing places. Gosh!

00:15:05Regan Siler: What do you feel caused the change in that, for those stores to not be here like they were then?

00:15:12Janet Wilson: A lot of people say Walmart, but I'm not so sure that was it, because they started to dwindle. Dad says a lot of things were turnpike related, that people could now get on the turnpike and go to Tulsa really fast.

00:15:24Regan Siler: Well, and then I've heard that as well in interviews, that people felt like the turnpike caused Bristow to get bypassed a lot.

00:15:32Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:15:33Regan Siler: Or it was, you know...

00:15:34Janet Wilson: Well, everything. Stroud, that's what dried Stroud up dad said.

00:15:37Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:15:37Janet Wilson: And he was always in business, so he kind of...

00:15:41Regan Siler: Kind of had a pulse on that?

00:15:42Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:15:42Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:15:43Janet Wilson: Right.

00:15:43Regan Siler: Did you have a favorite place to eat out in town?

00:15:47Janet Wilson: Yes, we had the Highway Cafe and we had Lyons Cafe. Those were two. And then later there was TJ, T&J's restaurant. Let's see Anchor was always here. Then there was a Hamburger King, you know. We always ate at that. There was lots of things on main.

00:16:10Regan Siler: Right.

00:16:11Janet Wilson: Growing up. Highway Cafe was more of a family style restaurant, and it was close to the school. So, when I was in high school, we'd go there to eat lunch. You had a little bit longer, I think we had to have, because we'd have fried chicken and stuff like that.

00:16:25Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:16:26Janet Wilson: So, anyway and then a lot of them, and back then too, you could go in and they always had comic books and magazines like at the Lyons Cafe. And you go sit, if you were by yourself, you just read a magazine or a comic book, or while you're eating your lunch, or, you know, it was a hangout.

00:16:45Regan Siler: A whole different feel than what it is now.

00:16:49Janet Wilson: Oh, nothing like it is now.

00:16:50Janet Wilson: Well, the kids would, they would love it, because it's more like it was more like being in downtown Tulsa or in Utica Square. It was more that type of a life, even like Kemp's had a soda fountain and you could sit and have sodas after school, ice cream and things. Well, I guess Rexall did too. I just went more to Kemp's because it was closer to school.

00:16:50Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:17:11Regan Siler: Closer to school. And what were some of your favorite hangouts as a teenager?

00:17:18Janet Wilson: Frosty Freeze. I'm sure you've heard, was it still here when you were here?

00:17:24Regan Siler: No, there was a Tastee Freeze when I was...

00:17:27Janet Wilson: Okay. Tastee Freeze was...

00:17:28Regan Siler: Different, something...

00:17:29Janet Wilson: It was not in the same place.

00:17:30Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:17:31Janet Wilson: But you had your drag main, and you dragged to Frosty Freeze on the end, turn around and come back up. And they always had the best hot dogs, and everything was super cheap then. You know, you get a hot dog for little or nothing.

00:17:44Regan Siler: So, cruising main was something that you guys did?

00:17:46Janet Wilson: Yeah, everybody.

00:17:47Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:17:48Janet Wilson: Went out around the lake and they had a, before they cleared out and put houses around the lake that was kind of like a lover's lane. You could go up in there.

00:17:56Regan Siler: I've heard, I've heard about that.

00:17:58Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:17:59Regan Siler: Linda Kay [Linda Kay Herman] actually told me about that.

00:18:01Janet Wilson: Yeah, yeah.

00:18:02Regan Siler: Because of her being out around the...

00:18:04Janet Wilson: She lived, around...

00:18:05Regan Siler: Yeah, at the golf course.

00:18:06Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:18:08Regan Siler: Do you have any particular memories about or with the train depot, by any chance?

00:18:15Janet Wilson: Do you know, until the train depot became well, till Polar Express.

00:18:21Regan Siler: Right.

00:18:21Janet Wilson: I have no memories.

00:18:23Regan Siler: Not really, okay. Well, I always have to ask, you know.

00:18:26Janet Wilson: No. Yeah, I understand.

00:18:27Regan Siler: Since we're based there. So, as far as clothing, did you get to shop very much in town for your clothing as a young person?

00:18:37Janet Wilson: We always shopped here.

00:18:38Regan Siler: Always shopped here.

00:18:39Janet Wilson: Every now and then Florine Matthews [5/9/1933-4/27/2016], which was Brenda's mom and my mom would go to Sears in Tulsa and drive there. Or they'd go to every now and then Dillards, but Dillards was kind of a...Renberg's was one.

00:18:51Regan Siler: So, did you get to go too and shop? Or did they just go?

00:18:52Janet Wilson: Sometimes, Brenda always got to go, but I didn't always.

00:18:57Regan Siler: Oh!

00:18:58Janet Wilson: She was always with her mom, but my mom. Most of the time we did, we got to go, because you just didn't get a lot of babysitters back then. [indecipherable]

00:19:08Regan Siler: Right, right. Do you happen to remember your first car?

00:19:13Janet Wilson: I do.

00:19:13Regan Siler: What did you have?

00:19:14Janet Wilson: I had a little red convertible. It was a, what was it? A falcon, a Ford Falcon, red with white leather interior. But my dad dealt.

00:19:29Regan Siler: Well, that's what I was gonna say, you had an in on that.

00:19:31Janet Wilson: Because we got a lot of cars. But my favorite car was a 1965 Mustang fastback navy blue, white interior, leather interior. And Marsha wrecked it, she wrecked it. I think it was at sixth and I don't remember the name of the street, sixth and something, but she got t-boned.

00:19:51Regan Siler: Oh no!

00:19:53Janet Wilson: I'm sure it wasn't her fault.

00:19:55Regan Siler: Do you remember who taught you how to drive?

00:19:57Janet Wilson: My dad.

00:19:58Regan Siler: Your dad.

00:19:58Janet Wilson: We lived out in Glen Acres. Do you know where Glen Acres is?

00:20:01Regan Siler: Uh-huh, yeah.

00:20:01Janet Wilson: Okay, dad owned Glen Acres back then.

00:20:03Regan Siler: Oh, wow.

00:20:04Janet Wilson: And there wasn't hardly any houses out there. So, we lived in the middle and there was no houses, and I kept my horses there. And anyway, the lots by our house were vacant, so he set up cones and stuff, and we would go out there and dive and yeah.

00:20:25Regan Siler: So, is that primarily where you lived growing up was Glen Acres?

00:20:28Janet Wilson: I lived there from the time I was, I think we moved there when I was, I was probably about 10, maybe. We lived behind the football field on dad's. Doyle Matthews [William Doyle Matthews 6/25/1931-5/12/2008] was dad's first really friend here in town, and Doyle was a builder, and he built all those homes behind the football field, and we lived in the very first one he built.

00:20:57Regan Siler: Okay.

00:20:58Janet Wilson: Built that for dad. And so, this is something that I'm not real proud of, but we would do it. We used to after the football games all us little kids, because we were little, we were real. We go over there and go under this, look for things under the seats, and we'd find bags of popcorn and eat that popcorn. Is that not horrible?

00:21:17Regan Siler: Yes!

00:21:19Janet Wilson: We had so much fun.

00:21:22Regan Siler: That's a fun growing up memory, I guess.

00:21:23Janet Wilson: that's why we're so healthy. I'm sure.

00:21:26Regan Siler: Oh gosh, that's good. And so from there, you moved over to Glen Acres, and then did you live there most of your...

00:21:34Regan Siler: The rest of your time.

00:21:35Janet Wilson: And in fact, mom kept that until she went totally blind, and we put her in Woodland Village.

00:21:43Regan Siler: Right.

00:21:43Janet Wilson: I even lived there when Mike and I moved, Mike and I, Dewayne and I moved back from Watonga. We lived there while mom was in Minnesota.

00:21:53Regan Siler: Oh, okay.

00:21:54Janet Wilson: So, for a little while.

00:21:55Regan Siler: Well, what sort of entertainment did you enjoy growing up? I know that, like typically, when I interview people, they always say, well, we were outside, doing, you know. But do you remember, like, any particular programs or did you listen to music or anything like that when you were younger and growing up? Did you have TV programs that you liked?

00:22:16Janet Wilson: Oh, yeah. Rin Tin Tin, Fury, I liked all the animal movies, Lassie, all those kind of things.

00:22:22Regan Siler: Why does that not surprise me.

00:22:25Janet Wilson: That was on Saturday mornings, and you watch those, and then you went outside. You didn't...

00:22:28Regan Siler: You didn't hang out in the house.

00:22:31Janet Wilson: Nuh-uh.

00:22:31Regan Siler: Yeah, okay.

00:22:33Janet Wilson: No.

00:22:34Regan Siler: Do you remember witnessing any pivotal moments, like on TV growing up?

00:22:39Janet Wilson: I sure do. Oh, growing up.

00:22:43Regan Siler: Well, or what, I guess I mean I think. Do you remember seeing anything on TV that was like a pivotal moment for you?

00:22:51Janet Wilson: Well, back then, I think it was All in the Family, where it's Archie Bunker. I can't remember the name of that. I remember sitting there with dad, and that was really a, because they got pretty...

00:23:03Regan Siler: Oh, yeah.

00:23:05Janet Wilson: He was pretty racist.

00:23:06Regan Siler: Yes, yeah.

00:23:07Janet Wilson: And the things that he, and we grew up in Bristow. And Bristow, as far as I can remember, we integrated when I was in third grade. And it was a big moment, but not a big moment. It was like, you know, things I see other people talking about from other towns, it's like, you know, it was, like, a really big deal. I don't remember it being that way. I just remember us being friends.

00:23:38Regan Siler: I've talked to some other people that kind of have the same opinion that you have about that. Everybody might not have the same opinion.

00:23:45Regan Siler: But some of the ones that I've talked to have kind of had the same opinion, that you were just friends, and it was just kind of, it wasn't like you say, it just didn't seem like a huge deal.

00:23:48Janet Wilson: Right.

00:23:53Janet Wilson: No, and part of it, you know, Sandford [Sandford Willis], my friend, the janitor. He was black, and he, I mean, he could have been as close as my dad.

00:24:06Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:24:06Janet Wilson: As that goes.

00:24:07Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:24:07Janet Wilson: And I don't think as a kid, well, you know, that is, you don't notice color.

00:24:11Regan Siler: Yeah, right.

00:24:11Janet Wilson: That's not a big deal.

00:24:12Regan Siler: Right.

00:24:13Janet Wilson: And they were fun. In fact, one of one of them, Larry Robertson (ph), he was the funniest thing. He could tell the best stories. Because back then, in library, you got to get up and tell a story, or if you wanted to, you could get up and tell a story, and he would get up there. We could listen to him for hours. He was, like the best storyteller. I don't know what happened to him.

00:24:36Regan Siler: That's funny!

00:24:36Janet Wilson: He was a cool guy.

00:24:36Regan Siler: Well, as a child, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?

00:24:39Janet Wilson: I wanted to be a veterinarian.

00:24:41Regan Siler: Did you really, and so what steered you to become a teacher?

00:24:45Janet Wilson: When I got to OSU, I went to OSU, which was a big eye opener,

00:24:52Regan Siler: An eye opener, how?

00:24:55Janet Wilson: Because I came from Bristow, and I saw people from everywhere. And, you know, after the first year just looking at people and learning and observing and that type of thing.

00:25:08Regan Siler: So, you're saying, it felt maybe kind of like a culture shock to you?

00:25:11Janet Wilson: Oh, big culture.

00:25:12Regan Siler: Okay.

00:25:12Janet Wilson: I had never seen anybody from other countries.

00:25:14Regan Siler: Right.

00:25:15Janet Wilson: You know, I hadn't seen, it was just different. So, I spent a lot of time looking at people, just observing.

00:25:21Regan Siler: Right.

00:25:21Janet Wilson: Trying to learn from them. And then marijuana was a big deal back then, and people smoked marijuana in the dorms. And you're thinking...

00:25:30Regan Siler: What in the world.

00:25:30Janet Wilson: We had raids all the time. You know, where they would come and raid the dorms and round them up.

00:25:36Regan Siler: Oh, wow!

00:25:36Janet Wilson: Yeah, it was real different but.

00:25:38Regan Siler: So, it was in college when you decided you wanted to become a teacher?

00:25:42Janet Wilson: Yes, because my aunt and uncle lived in Stillwater, and we would spend a lot of time at their house. And Anne (ph) was a teacher at that time, I didn't realize now that she only taught, like, maybe two years, and then she quit and went into real estate or something. I can't remember what it was, but she, she would talk with me. She was a, she's a really neat person, but anyway, she would talk with me, and I thought, I want to be like her and so, and I loved kids. In the beginning, I didn't, as a kid, I didn't care about kids. I just cared about animals and horses and that kind of stuff.

00:26:18Regan Siler: Right.

00:26:18Janet Wilson: But as I got older, kids became something I really liked. I liked being around them, so I switched.

00:26:28Regan Siler: And just decided...

00:26:29Janet Wilson: And I happened to be in, back then you were in FR&CD, which was Family Relations and Child Development. That's how you got into to, well, I went from veterinarian to interior design. That was what I wanted to do. And I was in interior design until I was a, the beginning of my junior year, and then I switched.

00:26:47Regan Siler: Wow.

00:26:47Janet Wilson: To elementary, which I could because that was FR&CD too. So, I didn't lose any hours doing it.

00:26:53Regan Siler: Right.

00:26:57Janet Wilson: After I got into it, it was like...

00:26:59Regan Siler: This is what you were...

00:27:00Janet Wilson: Oh, it was wonderful. Yeah.

00:27:02Regan Siler: So, I want to talk about your teaching in just a second. Want to circle back to the animals for just a second. So, growing up, did you have a lot of animals growing up?

00:27:10Janet Wilson: We always had animals. If we didn't have animals, we'd go find them. My first pet, when we lived by the football field, and you know how your memory is, the dog pound and the vet clinic, I guess, were one. And it was Dr Richberg (ph), and I would go visit those dogs, even though it broke my heart because I just anyway, I fell in love with this one. He was a big shaggy dog, and I really wanted that dog so bad. And he told me, he said, you go ask your parents if you can have that dog. And he said, there's a pet parade coming up, and if you win that pet parade, then what you win, pay me and you can have that dog. So, anyway, I went and asked mom and dad, and they said we could. So, went back, got the dog, dressed him up like a, back then you had pet parades, dressed him up like a little old man. He was the cutest thing. Anyway, I won.

00:27:23Regan Siler: your first house?

00:27:24Janet Wilson: Uh-huh, that was at the first house. I was probably six or seven.

00:28:22Regan Siler: How cute, and how neat that the vet let you...

00:28:27Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:28:27Regan Siler: Buy him for 50 cents.

00:28:28Janet Wilson: Right.

00:28:29Regan Siler: What a deal you got.

00:28:30Janet Wilson: I know.

00:28:31Regan Siler: Okay. So, circling back to college.

00:28:34Janet Wilson: Okay.

00:28:35Regan Siler: Did you tell me you graduated in 1972 from OSU?

00:28:39Janet Wilson: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

00:28:39Regan Siler: Okay. And so, you went from vet to interior design to you decided you wanted to be a teacher.

00:28:46Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:28:47Regan Siler: And then, so, let's talk about your teaching life.

00:28:51Janet Wilson: Okay.

00:28:52Regan Siler: Kind of tell me, go through where you started, kind of go through your whole teaching.

00:28:57Janet Wilson: Well, I started, I graduated in December. So, teaching jobs were not that plentiful in December, but I applied in Bristow. And Mrs. Sanders (ph) taught first grade, and she was retiring or moving, or something I can't remember. But anyway, Dr Carmichael (ph) was here, and he hired me for that position. So, and that was first grade.

00:29:24Regan Siler: First grade, okay.

00:29:27Janet Wilson: And it was, I taught, they had a little small building. I guess it's still there, it's where Home Alone is. And I taught next to Mrs. Barry (ph), and then, who was there when I taught school. And then, later I moved across and taught first grade in my very first grade classroom. So, and what's unique, well, I won't go into that. But anyway, after I taught, I taught three years in Bristow. We lived in Stillwater, so I drove back and forth, because I was trying to get on in Stillwater.

00:29:59Regan Siler: Oh, okay.

00:30:00Janet Wilson: And so, finally I got on in Stillwater, and I taught there for five years. And then I had Paul, and Paul came down with spinal meningitis at six months.

00:30:01Regan Siler: Oh my gosh!

00:30:03Janet Wilson: And so, that really scared us. I mean, it terrified us.

00:30:18Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:30:19Janet Wilson: Anyway, so after that, the doctor had said to us, or the nurse, and I can't remember exactly who it was, said that, had he been in daycare. It was on a Saturday, whenever his temperature spiked like, oh way high and...

00:30:34Regan Siler: And he was only six months old?

00:30:37Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:30:37Regan Siler: Oh my gosh!

00:30:37Janet Wilson: And they said, had he not been in daycare, if he'd been in daycare, it probably wouldn't been detected, and that we could have been facing a whole different scenario.

00:30:47Regan Siler: So, after that scared us, and so I thought, I'm not going to teach anymore. And finances were fine at that time, so I dropped out of teaching, and I quit teaching for five, let's see, up until 1986. I stayed out.

00:30:47Regan Siler: Oh my gosh!

00:31:07Regan Siler: you move to Watonga in that

00:31:10Janet Wilson: We went to Watonga. My husband worked for a grain mill and elevator, and then the bottom fell out of the oil, which a lot of those farms were backed with oil.

00:31:24Regan Siler: Right.

00:31:25Janet Wilson: And so, we came back to Bristow, and the rest is history. We're here.

00:31:33Regan Siler: And yeah, and then you, so you decided that you would start to... Well, no, now, did you teach one year at Kellyville too? Did you do that?

00:31:41Janet Wilson: Okay. I, in 1986 I needed a job, and so, I didn't think I could teach anymore, because I thought my certificate had elapsed, and Mary Johnson (ph) lived next door to us. We were in my mom's house, and they just built a new home next door to us. Anyway, she was over talking to me one day, she said, let's just call and find out if it has. So, we called and it had not expired. It just had a few more days before it was going to expire.

00:32:10Regan Siler: Oh my goodness!

00:32:10Janet Wilson: So, anyway, we renewed it right then. And I had another friend that was from Kellyville, and she knew the superintendent there, and she said, let's go get you an appointment with the superintendent. So, we did that, and he hired me.

00:32:24Regan Siler: So, you taught there for...

00:32:26Janet Wilson: One year.

00:32:27Regan Siler: For one year, and then you ended up coming back to Bristow and teaching here for the rest of your career?

00:32:31Janet Wilson: Dr. Carmichael (ph) lived out in the addition. He had built out there, where my mom and dad lived, and one day I was out mowing the lawn. It's when I lived with mom and I was about eight months pregnant, and he drove up, and he says, what are you doing? And I told him, I said, well, I'm mowing the lawn. He said, are you still teaching in Kellyville? And I said, yes. He said, would you rather be teaching here in Bristow? I said, yes, but who's gonna hire me?

00:32:55Janet Wilson: And he says, let me get you an appointment with the principal here so, he saved my life a second time.

00:32:55Regan Siler: Right.

00:33:06Regan Siler: Oh, oh.

00:33:06Janet Wilson: Yeah, and so, I went and interviewed with Judy Vice and got the job again, and I taught second grade.

00:33:14Regan Siler: But obviously you, were you pregnant with Ty or Kale?

00:33:18Janet Wilson: Kale.

00:33:18Regan Siler: You were pregnant with Kale at that time, so you had to, you had him, and then...

00:33:22Janet Wilson: I had him in October, October 9. So, I didn't get to teach.

00:33:26Regan Siler: Didn't get to teach.

00:33:27Janet Wilson: Yeah, but I [indecipherable]

00:33:28Regan Siler: What a way to get recruited.

00:33:30Janet Wilson: I know!

00:33:30Regan Siler: Eight months pregnant.

00:33:31Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:33:31Regan Siler: Mowing the yard

00:33:32Janet Wilson: With stilettos, that high, yeah.

00:33:36Regan Siler: Oh gosh, okay. Well, let's talk about your married life for a minute.

00:33:41Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:33:42Regan Siler: Okay. Tell me your first husband's name and date of birth.

00:33:47Janet Wilson: It was Dewayne Biggs [Marion Dewayne Biggs], and he was born April 15, 1950.

00:33:54Regan Siler: Okay. And you were married to him for...

00:33:57Janet Wilson: Around 43 years.

00:33:58Regan Siler: Okay, 40 plus years.

00:33:59Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:34:00Regan Siler: And then, you met Mike. So, tell me about, tell me Mike's full name.

00:34:06Janet Wilson: Mike met me.

00:34:07Regan Siler: Or Mike met you, okay. So, tell me Mike's full name and date of birth.

00:34:10Janet Wilson: Michael Glen Wilson, and it's July 7, 1950.

00:34:15Regan Siler: July 7?

00:34:15Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:34:17Regan Siler: Okay, all right.

00:34:18Janet Wilson: What'd I tell you?

00:34:18Regan Siler: No, I had it wrong. That was my, that was my problem. 1950, okay.

00:34:19Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:34:24Regan Siler: So, you said he, he called you?

00:34:27Janet Wilson: He called me. He, I my mom's, I would go over and mow her lawn and do different things. Or if she'd call me and say, I need something, I'd go from school to there, and he'd be mowing the lawn, and he'd seen me go by. So, he said, I guess he called Marsha one day and asked if I was seeing anyone or if I, and she said, you know, funny thing, she just got a divorce. So, anyway, he called, and the rest is history.

00:34:56Regan Siler: And the rest is history.

00:34:58Janet Wilson: Yes. Uh-huh.

00:34:58Regan Siler: So, how long was your engagement?

00:35:00Janet Wilson: I think six months, around there.

00:35:02Janet Wilson: Maybe a little longer, I can't remember.

00:35:02Regan Siler: Okay.

00:35:04Regan Siler: And when, when did you guys get married?

00:35:06Janet Wilson: We got married, December 21, 2017.

00:35:12Regan Siler: Okay, so and so, now you live back where? So, where do you live now, tell us where you live?.

00:35:22Janet Wilson: I live in my old house.

00:35:24Regan Siler: Okay, yeah.

00:35:24Janet Wilson: Rebuilt.

00:35:25Regan Siler: Okay, all right. Okay, well, let's talk about your kids.

00:35:29Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:35:30Regan Siler: Of course, I know who they are, but tell us their names, their full names and birth dates.

00:35:34Janet Wilson: Okay. Paul Hunter Biggs and his is September 14 of 1980.

00:35:41Regan Siler: 1979?

00:35:42Janet Wilson: 1979.

00:35:43Regan Siler: Okay, yeah.

00:35:43Janet Wilson: And then there's Ty Dewayne Biggs.

00:35:45Regan Siler: Okay.

00:35:46Janet Wilson: And he's December 1, 1981.

00:35:48Regan Siler: Okay.

00:35:49Janet Wilson: And then there's Kale Robert Biggs, and his is October 9, 1987.

00:35:57Regan Siler: Okay, okay. Well, so, do you remember any, I know you love your boys, and I know you loved them playing sports and doing all of that. But can you think back to whenever they were small and maybe challenges you had with them as a, because I know part of the time you were a working mom. And tell me about that time of life and what it was like for you. Did you feel like you had any real challenges?

00:36:22Janet Wilson: You know, my boys, I guess because I was a lot like them, as far as liking outdoors and liking things like that. God knew what He was doing when He gave me boys. But Ty was one who would rise with the, before the chickens, and he would go do his own thing. From the time he was little bitty. You might find him outside. He went, you know, he just would do those kind of...

00:36:53Regan Siler: He would occupy himself?

00:36:54Janet Wilson: So, he was a challenge in that you were afraid something was going to happen to him.

00:37:00Janet Wilson: Because, and he was, you know, inquisitive. So, he, I have a lot of stories about him. I used to tell the kids at school, Paul was my, he wasn't ever a challenge. He never rocked the boat. He was...

00:37:00Regan Siler: Right.

00:37:17Regan Siler: He kind of sounds like your typical first born.

00:37:19Janet Wilson: First child.

00:37:20Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:37:20Janet Wilson: Yeah, that's what he was and he, but he was funny, had a good sense of humor. He would, he liked to dress up. He liked to act corny. He just, he was fun.

00:37:32Regan Siler: And then Kale told me a story, and I said, Kale, I thought you were an angel growing up.

00:37:39Janet Wilson: Kale?

00:37:39Regan Siler: Yes, something about being on the roof, and you took the you were trying to get him, and you took the ladder or something. I can't remember what.

00:37:49Janet Wilson: Oh, no telling.

00:37:50Regan Siler: Do you recall that story?

00:37:51Janet Wilson: A lot of stuff with Kale.

00:37:54Regan Siler: I thought, that's what I tell him. I said, Kale, I thought you were an angel.

00:37:57Janet Wilson: Oh, yeah. No, he was a climber. He, one day at church, we went to the Methodist Church. And oh, Dennis Roan and his son was so [indecipherable], he protected Nathan like you wouldn't believe. He wouldn't let him do anything, climb around. So, anyway, I think Kale might have been three, if he was that old, and they had a big jungle gym out there. And so, after church, I go out because he, I guess was over the little ones. I can't remember exactly, but I go outside and Kale's on the very top of that thing. And I said, Dennis. And he goes, what? And I said, what are you doing letting him get up like that. And he said, he can do it. I said, you wouldn't let Nathan do that. He goes, well, Nathan was in [indecipherable]. Oh, yeah, because he was way up there and he was little.

00:38:47Regan Siler: Well.

00:38:48Janet Wilson: No, he was a, he was ornery.

00:38:50Regan Siler: I actually, I actually told Kale, I said, that sounds like one of my Cale stories.

00:38:55Janet Wilson: Yeah, exactly.

00:38:57Regan Siler: Okay. Well, tell me about your grandchildren. How many grandchildren do you have?

00:39:01Janet Wilson: I have 17 combined.

00:39:03Regan Siler: 17 combined, my goodness!

00:39:04Regan Siler: Yeah. I didn't even realize there was that many.

00:39:05Janet Wilson: Yeah, we have 10 here in town.

00:39:07Regan Siler: Oh my gosh. So, you're, you're like, full...

00:39:11Janet Wilson: Busy.

00:39:11Regan Siler: Yeah, you're full on busy with grandkids.

00:39:13Janet Wilson: Yeah, yeah, I love it.

00:39:14Regan Siler: Yeah, that's, but that's what, I feel like you were born to do it.

00:39:17Janet Wilson: Uh-huh. I love it, I do.

00:39:20Regan Siler: Well, and I think back also to, I want to talk a little bit just about your classroom, I guess vibe, for lack of a better way to put it.

00:39:29Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:39:30Regan Siler: I always really loved and appreciated that you had a heart for kids that might be a little different. Can you tell me about that?

00:39:42Janet Wilson: My love, I thoroughly love kids that are, that don't march to the same drummer as everybody else, autistic kids, kids. I went to several workshops on autism. I went to Temple Grandin and watched her. Kids, I don't know if it was from being a kid that was bullied. I don't know if it was, I never really had anybody in my life that was disabled or anything like that, so.

00:40:11Regan Siler: You just always had a special sensitivity, I feel like, for kids that might not learn the same or...

00:40:17Janet Wilson: Right.

00:40:19Regan Siler: That weren't maybe a cookie cutter kid. And that was something I know as a parent, I always appreciated about you.

00:40:25Janet Wilson: Well, thank you. I struggled in math, so that was something I know Mrs. Barnett would, Teresa would say to me, she'd say, I just can't get down to those kids. You know, I don't understand. And she's brilliant in math. And I said, that's the thing. It's hard to understand when you don't understand. And math is something that when they do see it, it's like easy.

00:40:53Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:40:53Janet Wilson: And when we're looking at it, it might as well be a black wall, because my mind doesn't work that way.

00:41:00Regan Siler: Right.

00:41:01Janet Wilson: Until I had Mr. Miller, Tom Miller (ph), as my math teacher, and it was for geometry, and he sat me down and would work with me after school some. He opened a whole new door. You know, it's just like, what in the world? Why was this so hard for me? But it just takes certain people to open doors for you.

00:41:21Regan Siler: To connect.

00:41:22Janet Wilson: The things that you struggle with.

00:41:23Regan Siler: Right to connect in a certain way.

00:41:25Janet Wilson: Right.

00:41:26Regan Siler: Well, so, have you enjoyed being retired? Was that hard to let, it's probably kind of bittersweet. Was it hard to let go of the teaching? And have you been, enjoyed being retired?

00:41:37Janet Wilson: It was really, really hard letting go of the kids, and I enjoyed the camaraderie too, of the teachers. But school was becoming too test driven, to telling you how you can do this and how you can do that. And I'm telling you, when you've got a classroom of 21 kids, and they're all different, and they're all maturity levels, they don't march to the same drummer. You can't give them a cookie cutter something and expect everyone to come out on top.

00:42:09Regan Siler: And, you know, I agree with you. So, I mean...

00:42:11Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:42:11Regan Siler: Yeah, yeah. It's a, I could see where, and not only that, I think there's even maybe some parent challenges to now versus maybe back when you first started.

00:42:23Janet Wilson: You know, that was something I never had a problem with. I think I maybe had one mom, and it wasn't even a mom, it was a grandmother that I ever...

00:42:33Regan Siler: Had a struggle with?

00:42:34Janet Wilson: Had any disagreement with, on anything I never, my parents were so supportive, and so...

00:42:41Regan Siler: That's wonderful!

00:42:42Janet Wilson: It was!

00:42:43Regan Siler: But I also think it probably has a lot to do with how you taught, I mean, how you reached out to each individual child. And it wasn't just, you know, like, you say, a cookie cutter. I always think about the graphic of, like, there's an elephant and a monkey and a lion.

00:43:04Janet Wilson: Uh-huh.

00:43:04Regan Siler: And they're like, climb the tree. You know, it doesn't. It doesn't work like that.

00:43:08Janet Wilson: No.

00:43:08Regan Siler: For everyone.

00:43:09Janet Wilson: No, it doesn't. And I think from what I saw or what I gather, everything you do in teaching, you need to put it to you. As if, okay, if this were you, how would you do this? Or if this were your kid, how would you do this? Or what's this parent struggling from? And this is what I still think, God put so much stuff in your path that you will use. My life with, you know, with my kids as young kids, was very difficult, not because of the kids, but just the circumstances.

00:43:47Regan Siler: Circumstances.

00:43:47Janet Wilson: But every one of those circumstances gave me something. When a parent was sitting across from me, I could see.

00:43:54Regan Siler: You had a special insight.

00:43:55Janet Wilson: Uh-huh and I understood.

00:43:57Regan Siler: Right.

00:43:57Janet Wilson: Like if their kid, I had little kids that would come, I had a little boy that would come to school late all the time. He'd get in trouble. He struggled. He lived in the villages, and most of the time he was waking up parents on drugs or he was trying to get to school. He would walk, he would catch a ride. But that little booger came as often as he could, no matter how late. And, you know, those kind of things, you can't treat that child.

00:44:29Regan Siler: Yeah, yeah.

00:44:29Janet Wilson: The same way.

00:44:30Regan Siler: He doesn't have the same support system.

00:44:31Janet Wilson: He would fall asleep in class.

00:44:33Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:44:33Janet Wilson: He would just, you know.

00:44:36Regan Siler: Oh.

00:44:37Janet Wilson: That's what bothers me. And I know the Friday days off, some people think that's great. I just can't help but think, for the little ones like that.

00:44:46Regan Siler: That have challenges at home, yeah.

00:44:48Janet Wilson: He's not getting any help.

00:44:49Regan Siler: Yeah, no.

00:44:50Janet Wilson: Getting anything.

00:44:51Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:44:52Janet Wilson: Or he wasn't, you know.

00:44:52Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:44:53Janet Wilson: And there's a lot of them.

00:44:54Regan Siler: Yeah, I would agree with you. Well, now that you're retired. Aside from all of your grandkid activities, do you have any particular hobbies that you enjoy?

00:45:05Janet Wilson: Well, I have a booth at KC's [KC's Re-Vintage], and I love messing with it. I love, I still like decorating. I decorate the kid's homes whenever they change holidays.

00:45:14Regan Siler: Oh, you do?

00:45:16Janet Wilson: Yeah, and I love doing that, and the ones that let me. I did do some stuff at Added Touch [Added Touch Florist]. And I'd help her, from time to time, decorate down there, not doing as much now there, because I've got so much going on with the booth. And then...

00:45:30Regan Siler: Right.

00:45:30Janet Wilson: I need to straighten my own, take care of my own.

00:45:35Regan Siler: You've got your own house to decorate, don't you?

00:45:37Janet Wilson: Yeah, yeah, [indecipherable].

00:45:39Regan Siler: Okay. Well, so, I'm going to ask you a couple questions, and these are maybe a little more thought provoking. But how do you feel the world is different now than when you were a child or, you know, growing up?

00:45:51Janet Wilson: Hmmm....

00:45:53Regan Siler: It's kind of...

00:45:54Janet Wilson: Much more fast paced.

00:45:55Regan Siler: Yes. How is it not different?

00:45:57Janet Wilson: Much more technology. It's, I wish my kids could go back to. My dad used to say the same thing to us though.

00:46:07Regan Siler: True.

00:46:08Janet Wilson: You know, so. But I would like for them to to see the safety, or be able to experience, my grandkids experience the safety, the feeling of being able to just walk anywhere you want to, or ride your bike anywhere you want to, and not having the fear of something happening to them.

00:46:25Regan Siler: The bad things that are out there?

00:46:26Janet Wilson: Yes, uh-huh. But, yeah, those are things that I see happening now. The world's in turmoil. You know, whenever I taught in Stillwater, we watched the presidential inauguration in class. You know, it was a really big deal. When I taught in Stillwater, I went and visited in a Muslim home, and the wife taught me how to make baklava. But and that was back in the early 70's, and we're sitting there making it. It was in mary student housing, and then her husband came home. Well, when I first walked in, there's a big picture of her daughter and an older man, and she's in a, kind of like a wedding outfit. And I said, and I didn't know anything, I'm real naive back then. And I said, oh my gosh, was she in a wedding? And she goes, yes, that was her wedding. And my home. It just made me almost sick, because he looked like he could be her grandpa, and she didn't have a smile on her face. Anyway, we just forgot about that and went on and made baklava. But then her daddy came home, the guy, her husband, and he came in and he flipped the TV on to the news, and he was cussing and yelling at the United States and talking horrible about our government. And she said, you've got to leave. And so she ushered me out the front door. I didn't say a word. He didn't say anything to me. She's bringing her baklava tomorrow, so she would come to my classroom almost every day and talk to me after school. I had her little girl, and anyway, she brought it to me, and never showed up anymore after that.

00:48:12Regan Siler: Really.

00:48:13Janet Wilson: So, I don't know what happened after I left. I don't know, but she never came back. She brought the kid, you know, her daughter.

00:48:20Janet Wilson: Every day, but never came and talked to me anymore. But the things that are happening now, you know, I just. And I had a lot of foreign students, because I taught at a school right by the university. So, they were either professors' kids or kids here in school from other countries. So, I learned a lot, but that was the scariest moment I think I've ever experienced, because she knew I had to get out of there.

00:48:20Regan Siler: Right.

00:48:51Regan Siler: Wow!

00:48:51Janet Wilson: And she got me out.

00:48:54Regan Siler: And kind of sad for her.

00:48:56Janet Wilson: Yeah.

00:48:56Regan Siler: Yeah, yeah.

00:48:57Janet Wilson: So, like I said, I don't know what happened.

00:48:59Regan Siler: Oh, man! How have historic events say, for example, like the Oklahoma City bombing or 9/11, even covid affect, have any of those affected you personally? And do you recall how any of those events affected the community?

00:49:20Janet Wilson: The bombing, both bombings, well, the Trade Center and Oklahoma City, those are real hard. It was kind of a, well after the, I can't remember if it was the twin towers or which one and we went on lockdowns. And that was not something that had ever happened, you know.

00:49:44Regan Siler: Right.

00:49:45Regan Siler: have lockdowns. I bet it was the Oklahoma City bombing, I bet. Because I remember, I think they weren't sure where the perpetrators had gone, and they were trying to be. I remember Coach Nicholson [Charles Nicholson] telling me a little bit about that, because of his position in the community that they weren't sure which way they were going. I bet it was during that.

00:50:07Janet Wilson: Now, whenever I taught here, the first time was when we had the bombing of the woman. I can't even remember the guy's name that did it, but when I was on my way into school and her home was bombed, you know. I mean, her car was bombed.

00:50:27Regan Siler: Oh, wow! I don't remember that.

00:50:27Janet Wilson: Fern something, Fern Bowling [Fern Bolding] maybe?

00:50:31Regan Siler: I don't recall that.

00:50:33Janet Wilson: Yeah, it was a big deal here in Bristow.

00:50:34Janet Wilson: It was terrible because they closed the schools for it, because it was right by Washington School, when it was there.

00:50:34Regan Siler: Wow!

00:50:41Regan Siler: So, around, do you remember?

00:50:42Janet Wilson: It was in the morning, early because it was intended for her husband.

00:50:46Regan Siler: Around what year?

00:50:46Janet Wilson: Rex Brinlee was the man who did it. Do you remember hearing about Rex Brinlee?

00:50:51Regan Siler: No, I don't remember. Do you remember around what year that would have been?

00:50:53Janet Wilson: It would have been, when I was driving back and forth. So, it would have been in the 70's.

00:50:58Regan Siler: Oh, yeah. No, I wasn't, I wasn't here.

00:51:00Janet Wilson: You weren't here then.

00:51:00Regan Siler: No, I wasn't here then.

00:51:01Janet Wilson: Yeah. No, it was in the 70's. That was a big, big, big change in schools. I mean, in us.

00:51:09Regan Siler: Well, I think it's kind of when the fear factor gets introduced into school, where school was never, that never even crossed your mind when you went to school.

00:51:18Janet Wilson: Right, right. Covid, I wasn't teaching at the time, I see a change in the community. You know, that's brought a lot of change.

00:51:26Regan Siler: Right.

00:51:26Janet Wilson: It's changing your school systems.

00:51:29Janet Wilson: People not going back to work.

00:51:29Regan Siler: Yeah.

00:51:30Regan Siler: Right, right. Okay. So, is there anything else you would like to tell us about, but also any wisdom you would like to share for future generations, like for your grandkids, anything that you would really want, maybe them to know?

00:51:44Janet Wilson: That there's always hope, that things will get better. You know, I feel that way. I feel like we go through these journeys for a reason, and that, just trust in the Lord and things are going to be okay.

00:52:03Regan Siler: I like that. Well, your interview will become an important part of the Oral History Archives for the museum. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate it.

00:52:12Janet Wilson: Thank you.