Muskogee

Garden Club

“Current and Planned Projects” will be the topic presented by Mark Wilkerson, director of Muskogee Parks and Recreation, at the Muskogee Garden Club meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Kiwanis Senior Citizens Center, 119 Spaulding Blvd.

Hostesses are Wendella Thomson, Lulu Boggs, Billie Tower ad Carol Edmonds.

Visitors are welcome.

Information: 687-6124.



Wagoner Library Friends

Wagoner Library Friends Books at Noon will be meet on Tuesday in the meeting room of the Wagoner City Public Library, 302 N. Main St., in Wagoner.

Lunch will be provided by the Arts and Crafts Literary Club. Lunch is $2.

Speaker will be Marjorie Barton of Muskogee, a writer.

There’s been much discussion lately about “economic stimulus,” and “putting America back to work,” according to a media release.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled his “new deal” back in 1935, the country was in economic turmoil. Unemployment was at record levels, but Americans didn’t necessarily want a handout, or a dole. They wanted to work.

The Works Progress Administration fulfilled that need. It provided Americans a means to work and feed their families, Barton said.

The Oklahoma WPA built roads, bridges, libraries, schools, and many other structures that still stand today.

“Dug wells, built storm cellars — you name it, the WPA did it,” Barton said.

Barton is the author of “Leaning on a Legacy: The WPA in Oklahoma.”

Also the author of magazine articles, Barton has written three books since her 65th birthday: “Living Single in a Double World,” “Winning in the Second Half,” and her most recent publication on the WPA.

Barton was born in Muskogee, and has returned to research, write, and enjoy her Oklahoma home. She graduated from Northeast High School in Oklahoma City. In her 40s, she earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in speech from Texas Woman’s University. Barton completed another master’s program in special education at other Texas universities. Barton's career has included public school teaching, assessing students, and newspaper publishing, in addition to authoring several books. She is an advocate for persons with disabilities, especially in church and Civitan International.

Since returning to make Muskogee her home again, she has been active in civic affairs and was recently installed as the new president of Civitan Club. Her daughter, Cynthia, recently moved to Muskogee to also make her home.

She belongs to the Oklahoma Writers Federation, the Muskogee Writers Guild, and the Muskogee County Genealogy and Historical Society. She has five children, Cynthia, Mark, Rhett, Dana, and Krystal, and eight grandchildren. She likes to travel, meet people, find stories, collect rocks, plant flowers, and do hand crafts. Her family is scattered across the United States.