Only the faces have changed.
Since the Will Rogers Memorial Museum opened in 1938, women of the Cherokee Indian Women’s Pocahontas Club have honored one of their own Nov. 4, the anniversary of Will’s birth on an Indian Territory Ranch.
The closely-held group, formed when Will was a young man and with friends crashed the “girl’s parties and talked them into letting them become honorary members, has held the promise to honor Will Rogers’ birth in a tradition that that has varied little — placing a basket of fall foliage in the Memorial rotunda at the Jo Davidson statue and a wreath at the family tomb. This is a promise made when they attended the museum opening.
None of the original members are living now, but many are descendants of early members. One of Will’s own relatives has taken leadership in planning the event — always on Nov. 4.
Doris “Coke” Lane Meyer, granddaughter of Maude Ethel Rogers Lane, and a great-niece of Will, returned to Oklahoma after several years in Arizona and is active in Pocahontas Club and chairs the tribute. Since the October death of her cousin, Tom Milam of Oklahoma City, she is the oldest living descendant of the immediate family. She will celebrate her 88th birthday on Nov. 12.
The program will follow the tradition of club activities with Bob McSpadden as master of ceremonies. His brother, Clem, will be the special honoree for the occasion. The McSpadden brothers, great-nephews of Will, grew up on the ranch where their uncle was born and their father was the resident manager. Clem celebrates his birthday Nov. 9.
Andrew Miller, a Jenks fourth grader, and grandson of Linda Chambers Bradshaw, a Pocahontas Club member, will present his history of Will Rogers from a child’s view.
Mary West, Oologah civic leader and guest soloist for many Will Rogers’ events, will sing while club members sign the Lord’s Prayer.
Imogene King Crutchfield will place a basket of fall foliage in the rotunda, a symbol of Mary America Rogers’ taste in decorating. Crutchfield said accounts of daughter Sallie’s December wedding to John Thomas McSpadden relate how the ranch house was decorated in dried arrangements.
She will also read a Maggie Culver Fry poem “Autumn Leaves.”
Pocahontas Club will honor Dale Frakes and Kim Jones of Tulsa for their role in recognizing Will Rogers’ contribution to aviation. Frakes, a retired corporate pilot, is the chairman of the annual Will Rogers-Wiley Post Fly-in, and Jones, director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, has authored a book about early Oklahoma aviation and has cooperated in the fly-in.
Pocahontas Club leaders and members of the family will place the wreath at the tomb.
Meyer said city and town officials from all Rogers County and county officials are being invited to share in the event as well as all family members, Will Rogers Memorial Commissioners, Historical Societies, Chambers of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureaus.
The club will host a reception for the public following the program.