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[This is a brief article I submitted to the Ada Evening News, the local paper in my aunt Melba's home town. I also included the two "bookend" photos below, which I think illustrate in an interesting way how long she's been a part of our family. And I was interested to see how much our granddaughter, Siggy, resembles her great-grandmother at that age.]
Some 150 friends and relatives helped Melba King celebrate her 100th birthday at the Ada Arts and Heritage Center on December 21. Participants came from around Southeast Oklahoma and from several states to honor Melba’s accomplishments and celebrate her friendship. Caterer Tamara Jones provided a fine array of food, and Melba’s nephew and party host, Rudy Ramsey, was truly grateful that all these people managed to keep the surprise party a secret from Melba.
Melba is a full-fledged native of the Ada area. Her parents, Zebulon and Addie Brown McKoy, moved from Texas to Stonewall when it was still Indian Territory, and Melba Brown McKoy was born there on December 24, 1908. She moved with her family to Ada in 1922.
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Melba at age 14, with her sister, Zebbie
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Central State Teacher’s College (now ECU) in 1929. She was a member of Pi Kappa Sigma sorority. She also attended the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma.
Melba married Churchill W. Thomas, of Ada, in 1926 and they celebrated their golden anniversary before Churchill’s death in 1977. They lived in Ada all through their marriage except for two years in the late 1930’s spent at the University of Colorado, and a few adventures in uranium prospecting in Utah in the late 1950s.
Melba also had a happy, though all too brief, second marriage to Lester W. King, of Ada. They were married in February, 1979, and he died in November, 1980.
In her 84 years in Ada, Melba has been involved in many social activities. She’s been a member of the First Christian Church since 1925. She was a long-time member of the Wednesday Morning Music Club, and as an accomplished pianist in her younger days, she often entertained others. She was involved in the League of Women Voters, and has long been a member of the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary. In particular, she was for many years an active fund-raiser for the Salvation Army children’s summer camp program. One of Ada’s best bridge players, Melba was until recently a member of four bridge groups in town.
She has made a number of philanthropic contributions to various charities in Ada, especially to East Central University and to the First Christian Church.
Melba at age 100, with Zebbie’s great-granddaughter, Siggy
Even at the age of 100, Melba still lives at home, on South Broadway Blvd. She says she’s planning to live to be 122. Preparations for the party are underway.
Posted 1 year, 8 months ago at 10:27 pm. Add a comment
My aunt, Melba McKoy Thomas King, of Ada, Oklahoma, will turn 100 years old this December.
Melba has been a fixture in Ada for essentially her entire life. She has always been involved in civic affairs there, and has many friends. I think she would very much enjoy seeing them to help her celebrate this very special occasion.
So we’re planning a serious surprise party for her. Here are the details:
Time: 2:00-4:00 PM, Sunday, December 21, 2008
Place: Ada Arts and Heritage Center (a beautiful, historic building), 400 S. Rennie, Ada, Oklahoma
We’re making a serious effort to invite all of Melba’s friends and relatives, but we’re sure we’ll miss some. If you’re one of these and we missed you, please come anyway! No offense was intended.
There’s no need for an RSVP. And please, Melba needs your presence, not your presents.
I’ll be hosting the event (I’m Melba’s nearest relative, and also her legal guardian). So if you have questions, please contact me by email or give me a call at 303-841-7839 (or 303-332-7643).
Please don’t forget that this is a surprise party. I’m guessing we’ll take Melba out for an afternoon snack at a relative’s house, and happen to stop off on the way (about 2:15PM) at the Arts and Heritage Center. I’m pretty sure Melba won’t happen across this information while browsing the internet, and I’m hoping y’all can keep a secret.
And watch this space for any updates. In particular, if we should have to change the details of this event for health reasons, this webpage is how you’ll find out.
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 6:31 pm. Add a comment
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| Around September, I bought a go-kart for our grandson, Carlos, so he could join Devin and me in autocross racing. He hasn’t had very many opportunities to drive it yet, since he started just at the end of our regular summer series, but he’s having a good time. And we’re very much enjoying having him there. Ian (his dad and my son) has been helping us prepare the kart and get it to the events, and the whole family (Ian, Susan, Siggy, and Carlos) come occasionally. |
| Here’s what Carlos looks like without the helmet: |
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| He’ll be racing in the Formula Junior B class. There aren’t a lot of competitors, but it’s a great way for kids to have a chance to race in a very safe and supportive environment. |
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One thing I really like about our local SCCA events is their extreme safety consciousness. Whenever the juniors are moving, all other cars are stopped, and remain stopped until the juniors are back in their own grid area. And the stewards who run this youth program (both fathers of girls who race in the Formula Junior classes) are great with the kids. |
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Here’s Carlos with part of his pit crew (Siggy): |
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Posted 2 years, 8 months ago at 5:37 pm. Add a comment
Alice and I just returned from a 21-day driving tour of the Pacific Northwest, including Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Island (British Columbia), Banff National Park (Alberta), Montana, and Wyoming. This is our first North American vacation in a long time, and our first long driving vacation ever. We had a great time, had very enjoyable visits with four relatives and their families, and saw some truly beautiful parks.
This vacation was a bit more manic than we usually attempt, as we had a lot of specific things we wanted to do. Aside from the vacation spots, summarized in photos below, we had nice visits with
- Rudy’s sister, Shawna Ramsey, and Patrick, in Reno, Nevada
- Alice’s sister, Jeanne Haster, and Jim, Katie, and Ben, in Portland, Oregon
- Alice’s nephew, Robert Farrell, and Ginger, in Seattle, Washington
- Alice’s cousin, Vicki Holbrook, and Chuck, in Whitefish, Montana
Here’s a very brief set of photo highlights, intended for family and friends. They may or may not be interested, but I can’t imagine that anyone else will be.
| Colorado River, Fisher Towers, and Mount Waas, near Moab, Utah (6/10/2007) |
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| Double Arch, Arches National Park, Utah (6/11/2007) |
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| Rudy with his sister, Shawna, at Lake Tahoe, near Reno, Nevada (6/13/2007) |
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| Crater Lake National Park, Oregon (6/15/2007)
Pictures don’t do it justice! |
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| Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon (6/17/2007) |
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| Gatsby Hotel, Victoria, British Columbia (6/19/2007)
Our lodging. |
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| High Tea at the Empress Hotel, Victoria, British Columbia (6/20/2007)
With Denver Post Travel section (we’re hoping to get into print) |
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| Alice at Butchart Garden, near Victoria, British Columbia (6/21/2007) |
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| Iron Mine Bay, Pikes Road Trails, East Sooke, British Columbia (6/22/2007) |
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| Lake Agnes from the Teahouse, Banff National Park, Alberta (6/25/2007)
After a 2.2-mile uphill trail. We nearly froze at the top. You can see the wind in the photo! |
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| Above Upper Falls, Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, Alberta (6/26/2007) |
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| Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (6/29/2007) |
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I also did some coffee-related things, attending the Pacific Northwest Home Roaster’s Gathering and experiencing several very special coffee shops in Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and even Whitefish, Montana. I hereby express my gratitude to Alice for her tolerance. 
Especially enjoyable were several hikes we did, and I shot video of my favorite, Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park. I plan to prepare a short video on this hike. Banff is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
Posted 3 years, 2 months ago at 10:14 pm. Add a comment
Several times over the last few years, I’ve thought of starting a personal blog. Up to now, I’ve always decided against it, feeling that I didn’t really have anything to say, though that doesn’t seem to have stopped anyone else. 
It turns out, though, that I really do have things to say. I just don’t have a continuing stream of riveting commentary on the events of the day. This is partly because I’m a jack of all trades, with such a variety of interests that few if any people would want to read about them all. For example, I’d like to post things about specialty coffee and about autocross racing. And I would certainly like to do posts in Scottish Gaelic. Just this short list of personal interests is likely shared by approximately zero other folks. And I’m interested in genealogy, Celtic singling, martial arts, single-malt scotch, and progressive U.S. politics. Not to mention the possible use of a personal blog to post information that might be of interest specifically to my extended family and close friends.
So what I’ve decided to do is to create a blog which will have occasional postings in my various interest areas, and will provide categories and category-based RSS (and podcast) feeds for anyone foolish enough to want to come back for more.
I absolutely don’t promise a steady stream of material — my postings in any given category will likely be relatively infrequent. But I’ll try not to post anything unless I think I have something worth saying, and I’ll try to apply the category coding so you won’t even see postings unless they’re on some topic in which you’ve indicated an interest.
Thanks for visiting, feel free to comment, and maybe I’ll see you here again.
Rudy
Posted 3 years, 2 months ago at 5:26 pm. 3 comments
