WAYNOKA—Dieter Dorner landed in Middle America nearly 30 years ago armed with an idea: to bring a decent restaurant to duners. A tourism expert based out of his native Germany,…
Category: Business
Garber café brings community together
GARBER—For Toni Kroll, it’s all about community. The hometown baker who grew up in Covington, lived in Billings, and now resides in Garber running the downtown café Wick’s, she wanted…
Be blown away by Wakita’s Old Settlers’ Celebration
WAKITA—Long before Wakita blew onto the international map thanks to “Twister,” the small rural town in Grant County almost on the Kansas border was a bustling community. Founded in 1893…
Hometown flavor: Lola’s is local couple’s dream come true
CHEROKEE—For Alex Garcia and Malissa Jordan, running a restaurant in a small town is dream come true. The couple owns and operates Lola’s—with a tag line of “homemade Mexican cuisine”—in…
Panhandle paradise: Hitching Post Lodge offers window to another world
KENTON—Things have changed a little since Jane and Bob Apple launched the Hitching Post Bed & Breakfast in 1996. The plan was to give people an opportunity to experience an…
Piddle around at the antique shop in Carmen
CARMEN—Travelers driving through Carmen on Oklahoma 45 may not know there are hidden treasures and vintage finds tucked inside the old Baptist church on the north side of town. This…
Carving out community: 4T’s delivers more than meats, produce
HENNESSEY—John Taylor was working for Bill’s IGA in Kingfisher in 1963 when one of the locally owned grocery stores in downtown Hennessey went up for sale. He and his boss…
By design: Garber shop creates more than shirts
GARBER—When Jeri Fincher started selling t-shirts out of her home in the Fairmont area, she never dreamed her business would take off like it did. “It started out as a…
It’s a zoo: Bradt’s Menagerie offers fun on the farm
ALVA—Three miles west of Alva is the largest petting zoo in the state of Oklahoma. Bradt’s Menagerie, just off U.S. 64, opened as an official Oklahoma Agritourism farm in September…
The only show in town: El-Co Drive In brings movies to far Northwest Oklahoma
SHATTUCK—In the early 1950s, like many communities across the nation, Shattuck opened a drive-in movie theater downtown. The drive-in was built and opened in the summer of 1952. It was…