It was what we would call a “sultry” night in Stonewall, Oklahoma, in 1947. I was 12 and I had a less than lucrative job running the popcorn stand at the Main Theatre there on Stonewell’s Main Street.

I was glad to be there. It was “Prayer Meeting Night” and I hadn’t been feeling so religious that day. Popping corn at the “Main” was a pleasure. But it was April and back in those days the people in the First Baptist Church thought running a movie was flirting pretty close to a sin. At the age of 12, I wasn’t too scared but I sure didn’t want to tinker too much with my credentials to heaven.

The old Main Theatre was pretty packed that night —“cash night.” A drawing would be held after the first show and some happy person would win some welcome cash. There were storm warnings out that night according to what we had heard on KADA radio, the only radio station in the Ada area. But there was no TV then. Channel 4 in Oklahoma City would come on the air in 1949. There was no weather radar. It was against the law at that time for a radio station to broadcast an actual tornado warning as it might create panic. I think they were onto something.

Early, during the first feature the news of a big tornado hitting Woodward hit the news wire and KADA made mention of it. First news I had of the destructive storm was when Mrs. Maudie Elkins burst into the lobby and without so much as a howdy-do ran down the aisle shouting for her son, Glen. Her voice was clear and plain as she dragged little Glenn out of the now stirred up movie. The crowd was astir. Many were grabbing up their kids and heading for the exits. Someone pushed the big double door fire exit open and a lot of people went out. The words being heard by me were “Where’s this Woodward place?” Someone exclaimed that it was 10 miles away and we had just a few minutes to get out of the way.”

A lot of Stonewall’s residents had moved in for oil field jobs and really didn’t have much feel of exactly where Stonewall was located in relation to Woodward. More arrivals at the theatre to fetch family and old Monte Bell, KADA’s leading broadcaster, news manager head honcho had alerted all who listened to the radio that the tornado was near and coming our way. Pretty soon, prayer meeting was turned out at the First Baptist Church and I suppose some of them came down to get their family members out of that “Godless” movie house before they were taken by this horrendous tornado.

How bad was it. Really. The big monster twister had torn across the Texas panhandle, ravishing towns such as Canadian but it hit “paydirt” in Woodward. A town way west of Stonewall. The big monster storm tore right into Woodward’s heart. The town’s very nice movie house was leveled killing and/ or injuring many of the patrons inside. When the twister cleared town it left 169 dead. There were 980 injured. The lawn around Woodward’s Hospital was littered with dead bodies. The injured were already being transported to Oklahoma City or anywhere that had a hospital.

Meanwhile, Stonewall’s City Marshal Tommy Crow was driving his 1941 Ford Police Cruiser up and down Stonewall’s streets with his siren on. The Town’s big tornado siren went off too. There was now an edge of panic in the Streets of Stonewall by a twister that was 199 miles west of us.

The Woodward Storm never came close to us. The storm-tossed town finally recovered except they never did find a 4 year old girl named Joan Gay. Gay was taken to the Woodward hospital with minor injuries but when her family went looking they couldn’t find her. A recent story in the Daily Oklahoman had a story about her surviving relatives still searching for the little girl. We’ll never know what happened to that little 4 year old. But I know my young buddy Glenn Elkins was more than a little embarrassed the way his mama extracted him that night from Stonewall’s Main Theatre.

I don’t know if Stonewall still has that giant siren atop of the old Case State bank building but I can tell you this. The siren was given to us by the government. An old survivor of London’s Blitz. War surplus.

Hope you will go to church Sunday. And remember, I enjoy hearing from my readers, especially those over at Stonewall.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail.com