Community Living
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Top, Chickasha resident Jackie Byford is nearly covered by the blooming hibiscus plant that grows next to her front porch. Above, Lucky the parrot Byford company as she goes about her day. At left, Jackie enjoys sitting on her porch, enjoying the beauty around her.
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Discussion
Overgrown with beauty
Despite the fact that Chickasha resident Jackie Byford is almost constantly tethered to an oxygen tube, nothing keeps her away from her gardening.
In fact, the porch of her white frame house is overflowing with potted plants of an astounding variety, every plant manicured to perfection.
“I can’t just sit inside,” says Byford. “It’d just kill me if I couldn’t go outside, so I work a while then come sit down and get me another wind and then get to it again.”
Other plants fill gardens that wrap around the house, including roses, crepe myrtles, canna lilies, chrysanthemums, rose moss, marigolds and periwinkles - to name a few.
The showpiece, however, is a bright pink-red hibiscus that is covered in flowers as big as dinner plates.
“Oh honey, I’ve loved flowers all my life and Mama was the same way. She could put a stick in the ground and it would grow,” said Byford of her enviable green thumb.
Eager to share whatever she has an abundance of, Byford gives away plants freely being careful to admonish recipients not to thank her.
“That’s a sure way to kill it,” she says, suggesting they say “I appreciate it” instead.
When she finally does have to go inside, Byford is greeted with squawks and whistles from Lucky the parrot and Jo Jo the cockatiel, both of whom are able to speak a few words. When intimidated with a flyswatter, Lucky will even slink down and sit in his food dish like it is a recliner. However, he doesn’t stay long and it is evident he is not as intimidated as it first appears.
Another companion that Byford has had since she was a “little black ball,” is Sugar, a nine-year-old Schnauzer in a pink “diamond” studded collar who stations herself at the front door and keeps an eye on the neighborhood as she gazes through the glass door.
Though Sugar alerts Byford of someone approaching the house, she is becoming hard-of-hearing and has cataracts that limit her vision.
“I don’t think she’d bite a hot biscuit,” Byford laughs. “But she minds better than the kids. She knows when I’m sick and she stays right beside me and lays her head on my leg and every once in a while, she’ll look up at me. I think she senses that I’m sick.”
A long-time smoker who quit a few months ago, Byford suffers from COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“You name it, I’ve got it,” says Byford, who gives little credence to common theories about the effects of cigarette smoking, despite the fact she relies heavily on her oxygen tank.
“Honey, I should have been dead by now if that’s what it (smoking) does to you,” she says.
Byford has one son, Robert “Bobby” Johnson who lives between Chickasha and Cement.
“He’s real good to me, he always comes by to check on me and he always calls me, too,” says Byford, who also has two granddaughters and three great granddaughters. The many photos in her spic-and-span home attest to the closeness of her family.
She also keeps in touch with three sisters who live out of state.
On one visit to her sister in Tennessee, Byford was exhausted from the flight and just wanted to sit and rest - not come into another room as her sister requested. Suddenly, a bedroom door burst open and to Byford’s surprise, out came her other two sisters.
“They came out of there like a drove of horses,” Byford laughed.
Last summer, Byford’s photo appeared in the Express-Star with one of her prize hibiscus flowers and she wasted no time sending each of her sisters a copy. No doubt she will be contacting them all again real soon.
- Community Living
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Country music's Gene Watson plans Oct. 9 show in Chickasha
Gene Watson, the country music legend with 21 top 10 songs, will return to the Chickasha High School Activity Center for a 7:30 p.m. show Oct. 9.
This will be Watson’s fourth consecutive year to perform at Chickasha High School, having played there every year since the facility opened in 2007. -
Art classes offered at Epworth Methodist
Elizabeth Johnson, local Chickasha artist and teacher, has announced that she will be offering art classes for kids and adults this fall.
All classes begin on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 4th and Iowa, Chickasha. -
Butler announces AT&T retirement
After 44 years of service, Jerry Butler has announced his retirement from AT&T
Butler began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone now AT&T in June of 1966.
His first job assignment was in Alva, Okla., as a Lineman.
In November he transferred to Chickasha where he continued as a Lineman until June of 1970. -
Country music legend Gene Watson plans another appearance in Chickasha
Gene Watson, the country music legend with 21 top 10 songs, will return to the Chickasha High School Activity Center for a 7:30 p.m. show Oct. 9.
This will be Watson’s fourth consecutive year to perform at Chickasha High School, having played there every year since the facility opened in 2007. -
CHS Key Club plans first meeting for Aug. 26
Key Club is the student branch of the Kiwanis organization.
The goal of Key Club is to develop knowledgeable, capable, and compassionate leaders that enhance their communities through service. - Community Briefs
- Juneteenth committee announces winners
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OHCE members take part in state meeting
CHICKASHA, Okla. –Members of Grady County’s Oklahoma Home and Community Education organization met recently in Oklahoma City for the group’s 75th annual state meeting. This year’s theme was “Dreams to Diamonds,” which reflected that the group was observing its 75th birthday.
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Ninnekah community set to host summer blood drive
Blood donors will receive two tickets to the Oklahoma City Zoo and a “Feel Wild” T-shirt when they give blood with Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) this summer. First Baptist Church is hosting a blood drive 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, August 18 at the High School Cafeteria, 901 S. Maple.
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Drawing held, winner named
Glenda Sage of Rush Springs was the lucky winner of a Weatherby shotgun, the prize of a recent fund-raising effort for Miss Audri King, the two-year-old daughter of Brandon and Janae King of Chickasha and granddaughter of Walter and Pat King and Coye and Marla Langford, held at the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull held recently at the Grady County Fairgrounds in Chickasha.
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