Vaughn, Peterson win Junior Bassmasters opener; elephants in the graveyard
The LeFlore County Junior Bassmasters had their first tournament of the year on Saturday at Broken Bow Lake, launching from Firefly Landing.
Cole Vaughn and Wyatt Peterson won with 8.54 pounds. Dartyn Meeks and Lake Wooten took second with 7.12 pounds. Kason Free and Willie Dehart were third with 4.71 pounds.
Meeks and Wooten hauled in the 2.6-pound big bass.
Upcoming fishing tournaments
The first LeFlore County Bass Club open tournament will be Saturday at Broken Bow Lake, launching from Grasshopper Landing. The cost is $50 per angler.
The first LCBC club tournament will be March 4 at Broken Bow Lake, launching from Grasshopper Landing. Entry is $50. per angler. Membership is $50.
If someone wants to pay for all of their fees up front, the cost is $650 ($50 for membership and $600 for tournaments) to be paid before Saturday’s open tournament.
The next Junior Bassmasters tournament is March 25 on Robert S. Kerr Reservoir, launching from Applegate Cove.
Circus in the cemetery
Recently, I was passing through Hugo. I had heard from a couple of people that a cemetery in Hugo, being that it’s the Circus Capitol, has dedications to circus animals.
I located Mount Olivet Cemetery on the south side of town and rolled around until I found a little sculpture near one of the entrances with an elephant on top and the inscription, “Showmen’s Rest.”
I found a few gravestones with elephants on them, including one for Lawrence Graves and Len “Bubba” Leonard, who both worked for Carson and Barnes Circus. Graves’ marker said, “Salesman extraordinaire.”
Since Leonard was noted as having been the front door boss, his marker said, “Everyone must have a ticket.”
I would have had my press pass ready for him.
Anyway, it’s interesting that a town that identifies so much with the circus, even decades after the circus receded from being a fashionable form of entertainment, memorializes performers as commonly as Hugo does.