Volume 10 , Issue 41

1941 - Col. Bob Tells Alva He's Not Whipped

As it appeared in The Daily Oklahoman, dated Oct. 11, 1941, page 7, the following headlines read: "Colonel Bob Tells Alva He's Not Whipped."

This is to report to the many friends of Col. Bob Kirkbride, who helped run the rattlesnakes and coyotes out of Woods county, that he is getting along fine.

He is just a shadow of his former self, dropped from 290 to 220 pounds, but he still has that old razz-ma-tazz spirit that made his name a household word throughout Woods County.

"Tell my friends I drew a long row to hoe this time, with lots of weeds, but I'm getting the job done." he said from his bed at Wesley hospital.

That was the pioneer auctioneer's way of explaining he is recuperating from a kidney operation he underwent Monday (1941).

Good Old Alva -- "I've been sick since August, been everything wrong with me but my appetite and disposition, but I'm winning out and will be up and back in heaven on earth, Alva, before very long," Kirkbride said.

Kirkbride's speech is something like that of his good friend, Governor Phillips, whom he has known since their Custer county days. Kirkbride's speech is salty, and to the point.

Given a chance, Kirkbride, who has lived in Woods County since 1905, will go into a spiel that would make the Alva chamber of commerce blush.

Save A Duck -- "Say, tell those boys up there not to kill all those ducks, I've got to get my share for my annual Rotary club luncheon and to feed all those crippled children folks who eat with me every year." he continued.

"And say, tell all the rest of the folks that Alva is the best city in the best county in the best state in the union, and tell them to come see me some time."

Does anyone out there remember any of the stories concerning the annual Rotary duck dinner luncheon's that Col. Bob Kirkbride used to feed the crippled children who ate with him each year?
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