Sand Springs breaks ground on new Billie A. Hall Public Safety Center

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The City of Sand Springs broke ground on the new Billie A. Hall Public Safety Center Wednesday morning. 

The $10.7 million facility will house the north-side police and fire stations, 911 operations, a jail, and court rooms. It will be approximately 40,000 square feet and is located in the Sheffield Crossing development.

The facility is named for Sand Springs native Billie Allen Hall, who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in 1966. A special forces medic, Hall was stationed at Camp A Shau when it was attacked by North Vietnamese regiments. After losing both legs to a mortar strike, Hall refused treatment and instead worked to treat other soldiers and coordinate medical efforts until he succumbed to his injuries. He was 26 years old at the time.

Hall has been honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1967 and inducted into the Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2007 the American Legion Post 17 in Sand Springs unanimously voted to rename the Post in his honor, and the organization continually works to have Hall awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. There is also a memorial dedicated to Hall at the local Woodland Cemetery.

Sand Springs Mayor Mike Burdge invoked President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, quoting, "We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract." 

"That's true of this property too," continued Burdge. "Every police officer and firefighter who enters this building will see and know the story of Billie Hall."

Burdge also celebrated the Sand Springs public safety forces, saying "we have one of the best police departments and fire departments in the (Tulsa) Metro Area."

Hall's widow, Janice Bellew, gave a heart-wrenching speech on her lost beloved. "We both grew up in the Widow's Colony...they were the first people we met when we moved in there."

"He would take the shirt off his back to give to anybody or help anybody out," she said through tears.

"He was three years old when his daddy died. My daughter was three years old when he died. It's just hard losing somebody. My daddy was killed in the Navy before I was born so I never got to know him. It's been a hard life for all of us, but you have to carry on.

"I remarried. I've got a son, two great grand kids. So we have a good life, even though I don't have Billie anymore that doesn't mean I've forgotten him. I lived too many years growing up with him."

City Manager Elizabeth Gray spoke briefly, saying "We want to thank the citizens for their vote of confidence that they gave us to do this. We want to thank the fire and police officers for bearing with us as we work to get them a facility they deserve." 

Police Chief Mike Carter expects the center to be completed in about a year. City officials have also discussed the possibility of a veterans' memorial on the grounds. 

2 Angels Toy Run honors fallen Sandites and veterans, collects Christmas Presents for Salvation Army

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More than 200 Sandites turned out Saturday to honor two young car crash victims by donating toys to the Salvation Army. (Photo: Scott Emigh). 

Click here to view the full photo gallery.

In October of 2010, two Charles Page High School students were tragically killed in an auto collision that left the community reeling. Hannah Christian and Cassidy Rotramel were only fifteen years old when their vehicle was t-boned. Their driver was reportedly distracted with an electronic device and rolled a stop sign. None of the passengers were wearing seatbelts.

The tragedy was a sobering wake up call for the community on the dangers of distracted driving and the importance of safety precautions. It was also a time of mourning for the popular teens who were both role model students.

The schools were filled with additional counselors in the coming weeks and hundreds of students utilized their services to cry, vent, and search for answers. Classmate and musician Jake Tankersley used his college savings to record a song in their honor and the "See You Soon" single sold thousands of copies to help pay for their funerals.

The close knit Sandite community vowed not to let their deaths be in vain. Hundreds of students signed a pledge to never text and drive. Then, within a few weeks, the 2 Angels Toy Run and scholarship fund was born.

Christian family friend Eddie Baugher envisioned the toy run and Church That Matter has since taken over the event. Each year, hundreds of car and motorcycle enthusiasts turn out for the drive and bring new, unwrapped toys to donate to area charities in time for Christmas. The Church That Matters Holy Smokers serve barbecue and t-shirts are sold to raise money for scholarships. Two $3000 scholarships are given away each year to CPHS students.

Members of the Sand Springs Community Band perform at the 2 Angels Toy Run in honor of Veterans Day.

The event is regularly held on the second Saturday of November, which happened to coincide with Veterans Day in 2017. The Sand Springs Community Band turned out to perform the songs of each branch of the military, and veterans were recognized prior to the ride.

More than a hundred motorcycles and cars turned out with hundreds of donors. The motorcade ran from the Tulsa Community College West Campus to the Keystone Dam then back to Charles Page High School where they turned their toys in to the Salvation Army. Local businesses donated door prizes for a drawing among toy donors. Prizes were also awarded for the best decorated motorcycles.

New Sand Springs Public Safety Facility to be named in honor of war hero Billie A. Hall

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Designs for Billie A. Hall Public Safety Facility. (SUBMITTED).

A new Public Safety facility is in the works in Sand Springs and the Sand Springs City Council unanimously approved the naming of the facility as the Billie A. Hall Public Safety Facility in a regular meeting Monday evening.

Staff Sergeant Billie Allen Hall was born on September 21, 1939 and killed in action on March 9, 1966 in Vietnam when Camp A Shau was assaulted with mortars and small arms fire by two North Vietnamese regiments. Hall was a medic in a company of 143 men sent to relieve the battered camp. Hall ran through the center of the firefight multiple times to assist in dragging the wounded to safety and treating them.

Staff Sergeant Billie Allen Hall. (SUBMITTED).

Hall lost both legs to a mortar strike but refused medical attention and morphine, instead focusing on helping others. He did not allow himself to be moved until he had finished treating other casualties and continued coordinating medical efforts until blood loss caused him to collapse into a coma and eventually die.

Hall is honored on Panel 5E, Line 132 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and is buried in Section 51, Site 946 in Arlington National Cemetery. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1967 and inducted into the Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2007 the American Legion Post 17 in Sand Springs unanimously voted to rename the Post in his honor. Legion volunteers are continually working to have Hall awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

Design for Billie A. Hall Public Safety Facility. (SUBMITTED).

The new facility will be constructed in the 400 block of West Morrow Road in the Sheffield Crossing development. It will be approximately 40,000 square feet and will house Police, Fire, Municipal Court, Jail, Emergency Operations Center and 911 Communications operations. 

CPHS Class of 1967 graduate Larry Hurst to be inducted into Sandite Hall of Fame

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Sand Springs Education Foundation will be holding its 28th Annual Hall of Fame banquet this Thursday evening at the Charles Page High School Ed Dubie Field House.

CPHS Class of 1967 graduate Larry Hurst is one of three Sandites who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Class of 1967 - 50 Year Reunion

Hurst was a fullback on the 1966 2A State Champion football team, which holds the only State Championship in Sand Springs football history. The '66 Sandites finished the season undefeated at 12-0 in the second-largest class of competition. Hurst scored the winning touchdown on a 10-yard run to help his team defeat El Reno 14-7 at Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City. He continued his athletic career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College where he competed on the Golden Norseman football and track teams and helped the football team to a NJCAA National Championship in 1967.

Hurst graduated the University of Central Oklahoma with a Master's degree in Education, then attained a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He returned to football as a coach. He worked as an assistant at Del City, then took the head coaching position in Blackwell from 1978 through 1981 and held an 11-28 career coaching record.

After a brief stint as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma, Hurst returned to education as the Assistant Principal at Edmond Memorial High School.

In 1998 Hurst was hired as the Principal of Sheridan Junior High in Wyoming. He then transitioned to the High School as an Assistant Principal until his retirement in 2013. During his time with Sheridan he also worked as an assistant varsity football coach, freshman coach, and junior varsity coach. 

Hurst passed away on May 31, 2014 at the age of 65 after being struck by an intoxicated driver while bicycling with his wife, Sara. Hannah Terry was convicted of aggravated homicide with a vehicle and sentenced to eight to twenty years in a State penitentiary. Larry and Sara were one year shy of their thirtieth anniversary. Sara maintains a legal practice in Sheridan.

The Hall of Fame banquet will be catered by Rib Crib and will feature a silent auction and music by the CPHS Jazz Band. Sand Springs Teacher of the Year Janet Johnson will also be recognized at the event. 

I was Terry Scott's favorite person

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The first thing I thought when I was told of Terry's passing was "I can't believe he's not going to be here for Star Wars Rogue One." And so it's fitting that his family entered the auditorium today to the Imperial march theme.

The friends and family of Terry Scott gathered together at Word of Life Tuesday morning to celebrate his life and legacy. But it wasn't a funeral.

To put it in the words of his wife, Linda, we did it Terry Scott style. There was a smorgasbord of coffee, because Terry loved his coffee. The attire was casual: Superman, OU, and plaid shirts were everywhere. The atmosphere was lighthearted and filled with laughter because "if you were around Terry, you laughed--even if it was a courtesy laugh at times" said Linda.

Micah and Holly Felts led the congregation in worship, and it was a large congregation. The church was packed front to back and dozens were standing along the walls. The reach of that man was so great that the service was live streamed across the globe, and the attendees had to put their phones on airplane mode to keep the servers from crashing.

Word of Life Carlsbad Pastor Daniel Shirley opened things up with tales of his many mission trips with Terry and shared some humorous memories. "Terry knew every song that had ever been written, and a few that had never been written and never should be written," said Shirley. Shirley was with Terry on their final trip together in Guatemala when he passed.

Terry's younger brother, Bert, shared tales of growing up with Terry. Particularly when Terry would wake him up in the middle of the night and trick him into thinking it was time to get ready for work.

Bert mentioned the quote "All you can take with you is that which you've given away," from It's a Wonderful Life. "I believe that's what Terry's life was all about."

"He loved my mom in a way that I have never seen a man love a woman," shared daughter, Ashley Scott. She recognized anyone who ever bought a cup of Daily Brew coffee and thanked them for supporting her father's dream. She recognized everyone who ever traveled with her father and his ministry, which just recently celebrated more than 20,000 individuals led to Christ as a result of Future Vision Ministries.

"I encourage you to love hard and never give up on people," said Ashley. She then shared a quote of her fathers that he would encourage people with. "you're nice enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it people like you."

Word of Life Pastor Chad Stewart shared Terry's love of acronyms and shared one that he came up with for Terry.

Technology
Encouraging
Reliable
Relational
Yearning

"Terry loved technology. Linda would still be carrying an iPhone 2S and Terry would already have the iPhone 9T," joked Stewart.

"Terry was always encouraging. You could go into a conversation with him where you felt like you were supposed to be encouraging him, and by the end of it he was encouraging you.

Reliable. If you asked Terry to do something, you could put it away because it was as good as done.

Relatable. Everybody Terry knew thought they were his best friend. Within hours of his passing he had more than 300 posts on his wall.

Terry yearned to know God more and to see other people love God more. He went where other people didn't want to go, he did what other people didn't want to do. And over 20,000 people came to know Christ because of that yearning. "

I first learned of Terry's love for acronyms on a mission trip to New Orleans in 2012. Whenever we would ask what was for dinner, he would tell us "WAFO," or "we're going to the WAFO house." WAFO meaning, "Wait And Find Out."

Everyone who Terry encountered felt his love. He greeted everyone he saw like they were a celebrity that he couldn't believe he was encountering. "Scott Emigh!" he would bellow. "How the heck are you?" he asked as he would firmly grip my hand and pull me in for a hug. 

I was never one of Terry's closest friends. But I was his favorite person. Everyone was his favorite person. He treated us all the same, with warmth and compassion and love. I knew him my entire life, and in many ways he was larger than life. He was an icon of Christ--an apostle. It will likely be some time before the reality of his passing truly hits me. He made every one of us feel beyond important.

"We've all been touched and impacted in so many different ways by Terry Scott...we miss you, we love you, we can't wait to see you again." Said Stewart in closing. 

Sand Springs Pastor Terry Scott passes away on mission trip to Guatemala

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Rev. Terry Scott with his 2012 summer interns on a mission trip to New Orleans. (Photo: Scott Emigh).

Local pastor, minister, and entrepreneur Terry Wayne Scott (57) passed from this life into the next Tuesday afternoon on a mission trip to Guatemala. 

The married father of two leaves behind wife Linda Scott, daughter Ashley Scott, daughter Heather Faulkenberry, son-in-law Cody Faulkenberry, and two grandsons, Hunter and Isaiah Faulkenberry. 

Scott was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1977. He graduated from the School of Life Bible School in 1987 and founded Future Vision Ministries International in 1991. He served as the Youth Pastor at Depot Youth Ministries (Word of Life Church) for 17 years and has been the Associate Pastor for the past several years. 

In addition to ministry, Scott has also been a face in local business for decades. Terry and Linda opened the TNT Fireworks Supercenter in West Tulsa in 1999 and have used it to fund their ministry ever since. They both have worked in realty and briefly operated a downtown Sand Springs coffee shop called The Daily Brew. 

Scott helped found and support dozens of churches across the world in his decades of ministry. He has traveled to Mexico, the Philippines, China, the Bahamas, Belarus, Russia, Latvia, Albania, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Guatemala, Burma and all across the United States.

Though his life was cut short, Scott touched more people in his 57 years than most people could reach in 100. Since his death was made public, scores of former students, friends, and loved ones have flooded his Facebook with memories, photographs, and fond words. 

From The Editor: Sunday June 12, 2016

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From the Editor’s Desk:

Greetings Sandites!

Thank you for reading the third edition of our new Sandite Pride News Weekly digital edition. We hope to be bringing this to you in a print format very soon!

This week’s edition is dedicated to a man very near to my heart, my late uncle, David Wayne Emigh.

David was the founding pastor of Word of Life Church in Sand Springs, and led our congregation for thirty years. In that time he touched countless lives, not just in our little community, but across the world.

From being a published author of three books and hundreds of magazines, to traveling the world in missions and founding hundreds of churches, David’s words have reached the hearts of many.

David means a lot to me, despite never getting to know him that well in life. I was only fifteen years old when he passed, and I wish that I had been closer to him. Overseeing a church of some seven-hundred people required a lot of David, but he still found time to check in on me when he could, taking me bowling, laser-tagging, and having me over for movies. We weren’t nearly as close as some uncles and nephews are, but I looked up to him then, and even more so now.

My parents split up in 2009, and despite his best efforts, my father wasn’t around as much as a son needs. I’m sure many of my readers can relate. When you’re a kid, you need role models, and you look for them wherever you can. Often times we turn to celebrities or athletes for inspiration. I was fortunate enough to have a great man to look up to, who left behind a smorgasbord of writings, videos, and recordings to learn from.

The five year anniversary of David’s untimely death is this Wednesday, June 15th. Our community lost an incredible human being, and many of us are still feeling the pain of loss.

Scott Emigh
Editor-in-Chief
www.SanditePride.com

This story was originally published in the Sandite Pride News Weekly Sunday edition.