Power Plant Christmas Star Shines over Ponca City

Originally posted December 20, 2014:

When my children were young and the season was right and I had finished telling them all the Gene Day stories, when they were in just the right Christmas spirit, I would tell them about the Power Plant Christmas Star and how it would shine brightly over Ponca City, Oklahoma around Christmas time, calling shepherds and Power Plant Operators to come and see what technological miracle had taken place on Bonnie Drive on the North End of the thriving community known as Ponca City (Did I actually make an entire paragraph out of one sentence? — Geez.  This is why my English Teacher was always slapping my hand — Catholic school…. you can imagine how that was).

The story actually begins way before the Christmas season starts, but some time after Christmas decorations have gone up in Target and Wal-Mart.  That is, some time after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving.  November, 1984 was the first time I had a hint that something big was going to be happening soon.  At the time, I had been an electrician for one year, and since that time, a new machinist had arrived at the plant named Randy Dailey.  We thought he looked a lot like Barney Fife, only he seemed to be a lot smarter.  Here is a picture of the two.  See what you think.

Barney Fife played by Don Knotts in the Andy Griffith Show

 

Randy Dailey looking like Barney-Fife’s Smarter Brother

Ok.  I admit it.  that’s not really Randy Dailey.  That really is Barney Fife’s Smarter Brother.  Here is a real picture of Randy Dailey:

Randy Dailey, known as Mr. Safety to Real Power Plant Men

I happened to be walking through the machinist shop at the coal-fired Power Plant in North Central Oklahoma on my way to the tool room when I noticed a big pile of large cans stacked up next to the large press.  These cans were about the size of a large can of beans.

Large Can of High Fiber Power Plant Beans – makes me hungry

The labels had been removed from all the cans, so I couldn’t tell if they were beans, corn, Hawaiian Punch, or what.  Only Randy Dailey knew for sure.  He had set up some sort of assembly line where he was punching holes through these cans in the shapes of stars and Christmas trees, and I don’t even remember what else.  Ginger Bread Men maybe…. Hopefully Randy will comment at the bottom of this post to answer the unanswered questions about the can decorations and not leave a comment about how I look more like Barney Fife than he does and how he actually looks more like Cary Grant.

 

Cary Grant trying to look like Randy Dailey

One could only imagine what Randy was going to do with hundreds of cans with Christmas designs punched out around them.  I know that one could only imagine that, because I was one.  No one else seemed puzzled about the cans, so I pretended not to be puzzled also.  It seemed to work, because no one stopped me on the way to the tool room to ask me about the puzzled look on my face.  Which was surprisingly not that uncommon since I walked around a lot puzzled by a great many things.

I figured that some day all this can punching (as opposed to cow punching which is something entirely different) would some day make sense to me.  Each year, Randy would do the same thing.  He would fill the machine shop with cans and then proceed to punch Christmas Trees and stars into them.  It finally made sense to me two years later.  After I had moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma.

My wife and I were sitting around one night in our luxurious two bedroom, one bath, one dog house in Ponca City trying to decide what to do for our first wedding anniversary.

The house we rented in Ponca City, Oklahoma (thanks Google for the picture.  Actually thanks Google for all the pictures, except the one with Randy Dailey)

I suggested that we try to solve the riddle of the Randy Dailey Christmas cans.  My wife was not at all surprised, because during our wedding night a year earlier I had made up a story called “Barney Frumpkin, the Christmas Pumpkin”, so, solving a riddle like Randy Dailey’s Christmas Cans seemed right up my alley and in no way out of the ordinary.

Ok.  Here is a side story about Barney Frumpkin the Christmas Pumpkin.  Keep in mind that I just whipped this one out off the top of my head and it was 30 years ago tomorrow (December 21, 1985):

Once upon a time there was a pumpkin patch out in the country by a small town.
Each year the people from the town would go out to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin before Halloween,
in order to make Jack-O-Lanterns and/or Pumpkin Pie.
This one particular year, there was one pumpkin in the patch named Barney Frumpkin.
He had heard from the other pumpkins that the farmer had been talking to someone and said,
“Tomorrow the people from the town will be here to pick their own special pumpkin, so I want everything to be just perfect.”
All the pumpkins were excited about being chosen by a family, but none were as excited as Barney Frumpkin.
Barney stretched and stretched himself as much as he could to try to stand out as a very special pumpkin.
He could imagine himself shining bright orange among the green vines.
When the day finally arrived, Barney was as excited as he could be as children and parents walked through the pumpkin patch,
Each family looking for their own special Halloween Pumpkin.
As each family came near to Barney, he would wish as hard as he could wish that this would be the family for him.
Each time throughout the day, as each family walked by Barney, none of them so much as gave him a second glance.
Toward the end of the day, as the crowds began to thin, Barney suddenly came to the realization that he was all alone.
No one had chosen him to be their special Halloween Pumpkin.
What Barney didn’t know was that he had a very large black spot on one side that made him look like he was rotten.

As the sun set that day, Barney was left all alone in the pumpkin patch.
All the other pumpkins had been picked and carried away.
Barney Frumpkin sat in the patch and cried.
No one heard him except you and I.

As each day began, the sun was lower in the sky and the nights became colder.
Soon there was snow on the ground that left Barney Frumpkin rather wrinkled and dry.
Barney felt as if the world had left him behind and he wanted to die.
So, he just laid there in the withered pumpkin patch sinking slower into the ground.
Shivering in the snow one night, he thought he could hear songs coming from the village.
In the distance people were singing carols of happiness and joy.
In the darkness Barney felt as if his life was coming to an end.
Then suddenly Barney became aware of a different sound.
The sound of someone humming quietly to their self.
Unknown to Barney, it was an evil witch making her way through the pumpkin patch.
Back to the hovel she would call home if she had a heart.
The people of the town called her a witch and she had no friends.
As she approached Barney, the moon peered out from behind a cloud to take a look.
The witch was about to step on Barney Frumpkin when the moonlight appeared.
The witch stopped in her tracks and looked down at the shriveled pumpkin at her feet.
The one with the large black spot on the side.
She had never seen such a wonderful site in all the days of her life.
It was the perfect pumpkin laying right there in front of her!
Without hesitation, the witch carefully picked up the pumpkin.
She smiled a smile that was so big that the cloud covering the rest of the moon scurried away,
Allowing the moonlight to brighten up the pumpkin patch.
The witch hugged Barney Frumpkin with as much care as she could muster.
She carefully carried him home to her hovel which would now become a home.
Barney was so surprised that for a while he was in shock.
He wasn’t sure what had happened because suddenly everything had turned dark.
It wasn’t until he saw the fire in the fireplace that he realized that someone had taken him home.
The witch set Barney on a table close to the fire where Barney could look around the room.
Standing close by, he saw the witch leaning toward him.
Barney Frumpkin had never seen such a beautiful site!
Barney Frumpkin, the Christmas Pumpkin and the Witch lived happily ever after.

A rotten Pumpkin like Barney Frumpkin

End of Side Story.  Back to the mystery about Randy Dailey and his Christmas cans.

So, I went to the kitchen and took the phone book out of the drawer and looked up Randy’s address…. hmm…. Bonnie Drive.  In 1986, we didn’t have the World Wide Web, so I couldn’t Google the address.  So, I looked in the middle of the phone book to where they had inserted maps of the town, and found the street.

Kelly and I climbed into our car and drove north up Union Street to Lora Street and over to Bonnie Drive.  The mystery of the Christmas Cans was immediately solved even before we had turned the corner.  The entire neighborhood was lit up.  Randy’s Christmas Cans were lined up and down both sides of the street, up and down each drive way on the block and each can had a light shining in it so that you could see the punched out Christmas Trees and Stars shining brightly.

Randy’s house was easy to see halfway up the street because it was all lit up.

Randy’s House

You can see the Flag Pole in the front and the Ham Radio tower in the backyard.  Well, the Ham Radio tower had a large star on the top of it, and there were strings of lights coming down on all sides.  The entire street was lit up with Christmas lights and those in front of Randy’s house had a light show going that was fantastic.  Randy had programmed the lights himself.  The Nativity Scene on the front lawn was like none I had ever seen before.  I wish Randy would send me a picture of it (I would put it in this post).

So, the Christmas story that I told my Children went something like this:

The Evil Plant Manager (Eldon Waugh) had issued a decree that no Christmas Lights would be visible on the plant grounds.  And the Power Plant Men were distraught.  Then there were unknown sounds coming from the machine shop.  They went, “Punch, Punch, Punch.  Zing.  Punch, Punch, Punch, Zing…” Like that.

Cans were quietly being donated while the lone Power Plant Elf (Randy Dailey) punched out designs on cans.  Careful to keep them hidden where the Evil Plant Manager wouldn’t see them.  Which was easy, because he never dared to stroll through any shop where work might be happening.

Then when Christmas Eve came, and the Operators were keeping watch over the boilers at night, An Angel of the Lord appeared to them and said, “Lo!  Climb to the top of Unit 2 Boiler and look yonder North toward Ponca City!”

And Lo!  When the Power Plant Operators and any other Shepherds that happened to be nearby (the cattlemen were all tucked in their beds with visions of Salt Licks dancing in their heads.  Apparently, cattlemen don’t need to keep watch at night like Shepherds do.. unless they are trying to catch cow tippers).

Cow licking a Salt lick

Anyway, the Operators and any other shepherds that happened to be nearby climbed up the 250 stairs (or took the elevator), and gazed upon the Conoco Oil Refinery lighting up the night sky, they became puzzled.

Then the Angel said, “No. Over that way.”  And Lo!  The Power Plant Men of Operator Fame gazed upon a Star shining brightly in the night!  With streams of light coming down in a fantastic light show specially programmed for the occasion to elicit maximum emotions.

And the Angel said unto the Power Plant Men and any stray Shepherds, “Be not afraid!  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people!  Know that today, this very power plant has supplied the electricity to power The Star of Ponca City!  To honor the baby Jesus that was born 2,000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem!  The Son of God!”

When the Angel of God had left them, the Power Plant Men said to one another, “Let us go to Ponca City (during our midnight lunch break) and see Randy Dailey’s Christmas Star and all the magical Christmas Cans for ourselves!”

So, they hurried off to their pickup trucks and created a convoy of Ford and Chevy’s and an occasional GMC and Dodge Ram and raced up Highway 177 to Ponca City.  Arriving at Randy’s house, they found the Nativity Scene of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus and they were amazed!  They spread the word to all the Power Plants letting them know how important it was to keep the Star of Ponca City burning for all to see.  Then they all returned back to work.

And now you know…. The rest of the Story!  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!