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Most Recent Blog Posts.
Jonny’s Gifts
When I met Jonny Skye , the Peoria tribal citizen, she allowed LEAD to choose one of her paintings to visually represent this year’s Tar Creek Conference, only to discover the title “It is in the Water” would also serve as our theme. The other paintings needed to be seen and I was pleased when she agreed to allowing us to host an art show for the public. Downtown Miami came to life one night this week at the time most towns close up. LEAD Agency held space open to the public
leadagency
Oct 293 min read
Reflecting on the 27th Tar Creek Conference
Earlier this month, LEAD Agency held our 27th National Environmental Tar Creek Conference on Oct. 7, 8 and 9 at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami.
To kick off this year’s conference, on October 4 we co-hosted an inaugural disc golf tournament, the Tar Creek Open, at the Veterans Memorial Disc Golf Course, located near Tar Creek in what used to be a residential neighborhood before residents were forced to move due to repeated flooding. It’s been our dream for many
Kim Barker
Oct 223 min read
The Project: What’s in the Air in Your House
The investigation of what’s in the air inside homes in Miami, OK in the far NE corner of Oklahoma is based on a discovery made 28 years ago.
A family moved into a home in a nice neighborhood, moving from a state that required childhood blood lead testing, both testing negative. After living in their home only 6 months 2 of the children tested positive. Upon investigating the playroom, the air vent cover was lifted and the HVAC duct had deteriorated and what seemed like gr
Rebecca Jim
Oct 123 min read
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Jonny’s Gifts
When I met Jonny Skye , the Peoria tribal citizen, she allowed LEAD to choose one of her paintings to visually represent this year’s Tar Creek Conference, only to discover the title “It is in the Water” would also serve as our theme. The other paintings needed to be seen and I was pleased when she agreed to allowing us to host an art show for the public. Downtown Miami came to life one night this week at the time most towns close up. LEAD Agency held space open to the public
leadagency
Oct 293 min read
Reflecting on the 27th Tar Creek Conference
Earlier this month, LEAD Agency held our 27th National Environmental Tar Creek Conference on Oct. 7, 8 and 9 at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami.
To kick off this year’s conference, on October 4 we co-hosted an inaugural disc golf tournament, the Tar Creek Open, at the Veterans Memorial Disc Golf Course, located near Tar Creek in what used to be a residential neighborhood before residents were forced to move due to repeated flooding. It’s been our dream for many
Kim Barker
Oct 223 min read
The Project: What’s in the Air in Your House
The investigation of what’s in the air inside homes in Miami, OK in the far NE corner of Oklahoma is based on a discovery made 28 years ago.
A family moved into a home in a nice neighborhood, moving from a state that required childhood blood lead testing, both testing negative. After living in their home only 6 months 2 of the children tested positive. Upon investigating the playroom, the air vent cover was lifted and the HVAC duct had deteriorated and what seemed like gr
Rebecca Jim
Oct 123 min read
Native American Designs
A gift from a friend is always special. But when I peered into the little flowered bag, and pulled the single item up to the light and held it in my hand, I was transformed. Going back decades to the event held each May, the Gilcrease Rendezvous. Each year for maybe twenty years, I would load many of Miami’s Indian Club dancers and all of our regalia into a school bus and head out of Tulsa straight to The Gilcrease Museum. With our dresses, shawls, bustles and suitcases, we w
Rebecca Jim
Sep 123 min read
Over
Over has been one of my “go to” words through the decades.
The only real loan I took out with my home as collateral, when the last payment was made and I burned the papers, that over was sweet.
Driving home down the long dirt road with my signed divorce papers after an eleven-year long marriage, wrong from the start, gave me a great feeling of over. So much so, I began to laugh.
Over was more than a word, it became a feeling. The word could explain feelings that ranged
Rebecca Jim
Sep 63 min read
Heavy Metal Heron
I work surrounded by art, encouraged by artists who see this damaged place, mourn with us and lift up the hope for a better tomorrow through the art that challenges reality with their mockingly clever creations.
While at the LEAD Agency office just this week, a gentleman who I had never met walked in with a sack and was about to leave when I stopped him to introduce myself, while another man hollered out his name in great familiarity. The gentleman stopped and handed me the s
Rebecca Jim
Aug 123 min read
Murderland
When you live in the country not all your mail is in the mailbox. Laying flung into the tall grass was a book I had ordered just a few days ago. The timing couldn’t have been better. I was experiencing a great deal of shoulder pain and the PA instructed me to rest to not further complicate the injury. So, with those instructions, I dove into Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser. It’s been a long time since I picked up a book and too
Rebecca Jim
Aug 54 min read
Just Down Past the Rock Pond
Just down past the Rock Pond, and across the field, the lake appears to the south. It had been a lake once before.
My dad inherited the land where I live when his father died in 1929. He was just eighteen years old. His older brother received the land across the fence, but chose to sell it to go into business. But my dad held on to his, paid the taxes for decades before he returned to the land to retire. When he and my mother arrived for keeps, the first thing he told her
Rebecca Jim
Jul 213 min read
Last Chances
Meredith Garvin called me and I missed talking to her. I had tried calling her number for the last year and leaving messages, and she had called the office and I had not been there to take the call.
I was left remembering the last time she came to our office. Don, her husband was with her in the car. I missed saying thank you to her for all the kindness and good work she had done and letting Don know that working with him at Will Rogers was a highlight in my school career. B
Rebecca Jim
Jun 292 min read
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