Electric lines buried at
Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch

Digging deep Cullus Jones (in cab) and Benny Johanson volunteered their services to operate the Williams Construction equipment to dig a four-foot trench to bury the Verdigris Valley Electric Coop lines at the south end of the grass airstrip at the W ill Rogers Birthplace Ranch. Removal of the highline has made it possible to proceed with the Aug. 14 Fly-In marking the 70th anniversary of W ill and pilot Wiley Post’s death in an Alaskan plane crash.   Equipment and services donated Michelle Lefebvre-Carter, Will Rogers Museum, executive director, visits with equipment operators Benny Johanson (left) of Claremore and Cullus Jones of Oologah, who donated their time to dig a trench to bury Verdigris Valley Electric Coop lines at the south end of the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch grass airstrip. Williams Construction of Pryor-Tulsa donated use of the heavy equipment.   Underground Electric lines at the south end of a grass airstrip at the W ill Rogers Birthplace Ranch (birthplace house in the background) at Oologah have been buried, making it possible to continue with the Aug. 14 Fly-In. Williams Construction of Pryor-Tulsa donated use of the equipment operated by Cullus Jones of Oologah (in cab) and Benny Johanson (on the ground) with Michelle Lefebvre-Carter, Will Rogers Museums executive director.   CLAREMORE — The show will go on.       Thanks to a cooperative effort of community, public and private sectors, the annual Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch Fly-In Sunday, Aug. 14, will be possible without danger of high wire electric lines at the south end of the ranch airstrip.       About 445 feet of electric line has been converted to underground.       The ranch is served by Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative.       What first was considered by “cost prohibitive” (by VVEC) for fear of hitting limestone in the code-required four-foot trench was made short work by a volunteer crew with a donated trench digger, according to Michelle Lefebvre-Carter, Will Rogers Museums executive director.       Learning of the plight, Harvey Swift of Oologah, Iron Workers Local president, contacted Bob Llewellyn, president of Local 627 operating engineers. Llewellyn, who lives if Verdigris, is retired but is still president of the union. Gerald Ellis is business agent.       With Llewellyn’s contacts, Ivan Williams, president and chief executive officer of Williams Construction of Pryor-Tulsa, donated use of their huge ditching equipment. Cullus Jones of Oologah and Benny Johanson of Claremore, both retired operators who have worked for Williams, volunteer to operate the equipment. Denton Morgan is Williams’ equipment supervisor. (Williams Construction was the contractor on the Will Rogers Museum theatre and east wing addition a number of years ago, the first major addition since the Museum opened in 1938.)       Fill-in was completed by Jim Williams, Birthplace Ranch manager.       “A plane clipped the highline at last year’s Fly-In,” Lefebvre-Carter said. “No damage was done, but it put the future of the event in jeopardy.”       She sought aid from the VVEC board, which made the relocation possible. VVEC set new poles at each end of the underground. “Jack Bogart of Oologah represents the birthplace area on the VVEC board and helped make this project possible.” Lefebvre-Carter said. “Vision and civic awareness saved the Fly-In,” she said.       The annual Will Rogers Ranch Fly-In, which commemorates the Aug. 15, 1935 death of Will and pilot Wiley Post in an Alaskan air crash. Planes will land on the 2000-foot grass strip alongside the house where Will was born in 1879.