>> STEVE, JUST REMARKABLE STORY ALL THE WAY AROUND.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

AS WE DO ON THE FIRST FRIDAY OF EVER EVERY MONTH, THIS WEEK WE PRESENT THE 12TH INSTALLMENT OF OUR YEAR-LONG INSTALLMENT, OKLAHOMA'S HISTORIC BLACK TOWNS THAT WILL CONCLUDE IN FEBRUARY.

THIS WEEK WE TRAVEL TO THE TOWN OF VERNON IN McINTOSH COUNTY, ESTABLISHED IN 1911.

JOE FILOMENO HAS THE REPORT.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> FAMILY AND FRIENDS REUNITE ON A FALL MORNING AT THE VERNON COMMUNITY CENTER TO REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES GROWING UP IN THIS SMALL COMMUNITY.

HOME TO NOT JUST 37 FULL-TIME RESIDENTS.

>> I ATTENDED SCHOOL HERE, MY MOTHER STARTED ME TO SCHOOL HERE IN VERNON HIGH SCHOOL WHEN I WAS 5 YEARS OLD, I HAD A WONDERFUL TEACHER, AND I NEVER FORGOT HER.

>> MARY BODE BONE, A FORMER RESIDENT, REMEMBERS A BUSY MAIN STREET WHEN SHE WAS GROWING UP.

>> WE DID HAVE STORES HERE, AND WE HAD THE McDONALD'S STORE, THE HALLAWAY STORE, AND ALVIN FLOYD HAD A HAMBURGER CAF É.

>> HER COUSIN, ELFIE GUYTON, SAID GROWING UP VERNON DIDN'T GET ELECTRICITY UNTIL SHE WAS A TEENAGER.

>> I WAS BORN IN '43, WE DIDN'T HAVE ELECTRICITY UNTIL '58.

I WAS LIKE 13.

>> ON THIS DAY, CLARENCE WALKER REUNITED WITH HIS PAL, BENNY CATO.

THE TWO SPENT MOST OF THEIR CHILDHOOD GROWING UP IN VERNON.

>> I WENT UP TO BENNY'S HOUSE, I SPENT MORE TIME UP THERE, I BELIEVE THAN I DID IN MY OWN HOUSE.

ESPECIALLY IN THE DAYTIME.

I WAS ALWAYS UP THERE, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE WASN'T IN SCHOOL.

I GO UP THERE AND PLAY WITH THEM UNTIL THEY RUN ME HOME.

(LAUGHS) ♪♪ >> THE TOWN OF VERNON WAS ESTABLISHED ON OCTOBER 4TH, 1910, AND WAS DESIGNATED AS AN ALL-BLACK COMMUNITY.

♪♪ >> VERNON IS LOCATED ABOUT 70 MILES SOUTH OF TULSA, BORDERED BY I-40 AND THE INDIAN NATION TURNPIKE.

>> AT ONE TIME VERNON, BACK IN THE '20s, VERNON'S POPULATION REACHED OVER 2,000 IN THE AREA HERE.

>> THE RAILROAD HELPED KEEP THE TOWNSPEOPLE SUPPLIED WITH MERCHANDISE, AND IN 1912, THE VERNON POST OFFICE OPENED FOR BUSINESS, IT WAS LOCATED IN A SINGLE STORY COMMERCIAL BUILDING THAT LITTER HOUSED -- LATER HOUSED A GROCERY AND DRY GOODS STORE.

THIS BUILDING WAS LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES IN 1984.

VERNON WAS GOING STRONG UNTIL THE GREAT DEPRESSION HIT.

HURTING FARMING AND STOPPING THE GROWTH OF THE TOWN.

>> AND THIS IS WHY THE TOWN WENT DOWN, BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING HERE, NO INDUSTRY.

WHEN THE TOWN STARTED OUT, IT WAS A FARM COMMUNITY, AND YOU HAD EVERYTHING ELSE BUILT UP, YOU KNOW, AROUND THAT.

WE HAD A TRAIN STATION AND THEY HAD ALL KINDS OF THINGS.

♪♪ >> AFTER THE NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH IN VERNON, ANDERSON FIELDS REMEMBERS THE HARD-WORKING DAYS OF HIS YOUTH.

>> AFTER THEY BUILT THIS SCHOOL IN '48, '47, SOMEWHERE AROUND THERE, WHEN I WAS COMING UP ON 14 YEARS OF AGE AND MY DADDY ASKED ME TO STAY AT HOME TO HELP FARM.

>> FIELDS WORKED ON CROPLANDS IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA, AND IN ARIZONA TO SEND MONEY BACK TO HIS FAMILY IN VERNON.

>> I LEFT VERNON AT 14, AND I MOVED BACK, AND I DROVE FROM HERE TO OKLAHOMA CITY TO WORK UNTIL I RETIRED AT 62.

>> FIELDS RETURNED HOME TO VERNON AFTER RETIRING, AND JOINED THE CHURCH MINISTRY.

>> SO I'M THANKFUL TO BE FROM VERNON, AND I GOT HOMESICK AND SAID I WANT TO MOVE BACK HOME, AND I CAME BACK HOME.

>> MARY BONE GRADUATED FROM VERNON HIGH SCHOOL IN 1954, HOME OF THE TIGERS.

SHE SAID EVENTS HELD AT THE SCHOOL DREW BIG CROWDS FROM AROUND THE STATE.

>> WE HAD A NICE GYMNASIUM, WE COULD PLAY INSIDE, SO WE HAD MORE STUDENTS TO COME FROM OTHER SCHOOLS TO VISIT HERE, AND WE HAD THE JAIL NIS YUM -- GYMNASIUM DECORATED FOR SPECIAL EVENTS.

THE SPY SCHOOL'S GYMNASIUM AND BASKETBALL COURT BECAME A CENTER OF ACTIVITY FOR ENLT HE WERE TIRE -- ENTIRE TOWN.

>> EVERY YEAR DURING SCHOOL CLOSING WE WOULD HAVE NICE PLAYS, AND PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER McINTOSH COUNTY, AND SOME OUT OF McINTOSH COUNTY WOULD COME TO SEE OUR PLAYS.

WE HAD OUR YOUNG MEN, BASKETBALL TEAM, THEY WERE OUTSTANDING.

>> ERIC HOLY BASS RN -- WAS BORN IN ROVP, NEW YORK AND -- ROCHESTER, NEW YORK AND MOVED TO VERNON.

>> COMING HERE, IT ALLOWED ME TO LOOK AT THINGS THROUGH THE LEPS OF MY -- LENS OF MY MOTHER FATHERS AND FAMILY LOOKED AT THEM IN -- FOREFATHERS IN THE SENSE OF MAKING THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE GIVEN.

♪♪ >> HIS FAMILY ENCOURAGED HIM TO BE A TRUE STUDENT-ATHLETE.

>> MY MOM ALWAYS ENJOYED THE FACT OF ME PLAYING BASKETBALL, BUT SHE ALWAYS STRESSED EDUCATION.

MY GRANDMOTHER WAS A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER, SUBSTITUTE TEACHER, AND JUST THE IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO SAY READ AND WRITE WAS WAY MORE IMPORTANT TO HER THAN ANYTHING ELSE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.

>> HE WOULD GRADUATE FROM EUFALLAH HIGH SCHOOL, AND ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA.

>> THE ONE THING FOR VERNON THAT ALLOWED ME TO TULSA, WAS THE SIZE.

VERNON BEING A SMALL COMMUNITY, TULSA BEING A SMALL UNIVERSITY AMONG THE STATE SCHOOLS.

>> HE WENT ON TO PLAY BASKETBALL FOR THE TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE FROM 1996 TO 2000 UNDER LEGENDARY COACH BILL SCOUT.

>> HE WAS ONE OF THE EASIEST COACHES, HE WOULD MOTIVATE YOU TO GIVE YOUR ALL.

IF YOU FOUND YOURSELF, SAY, YOU NEEDED SOMEBODY TO TALK TO, EVEN TO THIS DAY I COULD CALL HIM.

>> DURING HIS TIME IN COLLEGIATE SPORTS, HE SAYS -- -- COLEY SAID HE ALWAYS MADE TIME TO RETURN TO HIS HOME IN VERNON.

>> MY HEART WAS ALWAYS HERE FROM THE TIME I MOVED HERE AS A KID, JUST BEING ABLE TO SAY KEEP THE FAMILY HOUSE OPEN SO WHEN WE HAVE OUR FAMILY REUNIONS, PEOPLE HAVE A PLACE TO COME HOME TO.

>> COLEY GRADUATED WITH A DEGREE IN BUSINESS, AND PLAYED IN THE SEMI PROS, AS WELL AS THE OLD AMERICAN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION.

HE FINISHED HIS CAREER IN 2007, PLAYING FOR THE ROCHESTER RAZOR SHARKS.

>> YOU GET TO A CERTAIN AGE, YOU CAN'T RUN AND JUMP AS FAST AS YOU USED TO.

FROM THAT POINT I JUST WENT INTO WORKING CONSTRUCTION.

>> COLEY NOW GIVES BACK BY VOLUNTEERING TIME AT THE VERNON CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, TO KEEP HIS WHOM HOMETOWN ALIVE.

>> WHEN YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF, WHAT BETTER WAY THAN TO VOLUNTEER IN SOMETHING THAT YOUR FAMILY AND THE TOWN, WHICH IS BASICALLY ONE BIG FAMILY, THAT'S STILL THRIVING AND CONTINUING ON, EVEN THOUGH ON A SMALLER SCALE.

♪♪ >> BENNY CATO IS A MEMBER OF THE VERNON CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, AND SAYS IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1978.

>> IT ISN'T LIKE WHAT IT USED TO BE, BUT WE STILL, WE GREW UP HERE, WE LOVE VERNON.

>> ELFIE GUYTON SAID THE FIRST TASK FOR THE FOUNDATION WAS FIXING ROAD CONDITIONS.

>> WE WORKED ON TRYING TO GET, YOU YOU KNOW, GET THE ROAD PAVED, AND SO WE, FOR WHAT THE PAST 30, 40 YEARS, BUT WE -- NEVER GOT THAT ACCOMPLISHED.

BUT YOU DID GET THE STREETS PAVED AND THE ROADS OPENED UP TO PUT GRAVEL ON DIFFERENT STREETS.

AND ALSO HAD A NEW BRIDGE.

>> GRANTS ALLOWED THE FOUNDATION TO REBUILD THE VERNON HIGH SCHOOL, AS WELL AS THE GYMNASIUM.

>> WE GOT A GRANT AND STUFF TO REDO THE SCHOOL, AND WE USED TO HAVE -- THE SCHOOL USED TO HAVE A PLACE WHERE YOU WOULD GET FOOD AT GAMES.

>> THE TOWN OF VERNON WAS INCORPORATED IN 2005.

THE BUILDING BEHIND ME IS THE FORMER POST OFFICE, WHERE EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO TURN IT INTO A MUSEUM.

>> MY VISIONS WERE THAT THIS SCHOOL WOULD BE THE CENTER, THE CENTER OF THAT, TO PUT LIKE A MUSEUM.

>> CATO ADDS THAT THE FOUNDATION WIFSHS TO RESTORE -- WISHES TO RESTORE VERNON INTO A HISTORICAL SITE FOR VISITORS.

>> KIND OF LIKE A MUSEUM, WE COULD HAVE ARTIFACTS AND THINGS, SOMEBODY CAN COME AND SEE, READ ABOUT THE TOWN, PICTURES.

JUST A LOT OF THINGS LIKE THAT ABOUT THE TOWN.

>> ERIC COLEY SAID HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE BUSINESS GROWTH IN VERNON.

>> I WOULD LIKE JUST TO SEE THE IDEA OF PEOPLE HAVING A PLACE TO COME BACK HOME TO, WHERE THERE WOULD BE AID FORABLE HOUSE -- AFFORDABLE HOUSING, SOME TYPE OF BUSINESS MANUFACTURING, OR EVEN JUST THE IDEA OF A RETIREMENT VILLAGE.

>> HE ALSO HOPES TOURISTS COME TO VISIT AND EXPERIENCE THE CLOSE BONDS THAT EXIST IN THE PLACE HE CALLS HOME.

>> WHENEVER SOMEBODY COMES HOME, THEY SAY THIS IS THE BEST PLACE THEY HAVE COME TO IN A LONG TIME.

>> JOE FILOMENO, OKLAHOMA NEWS REPORT.

>> COMING UP IN FEBRUARY, JASON DOYLE WILL PRESENT OUR FINAL REPORT ON LIMA IN SEMINOLE COUNTY.

WE WANTED TO SHARE A NOTE FROM LONG-TIME VIEWER DON SPIKER.

HE WROTE, ANOTHER GREAT JOB TONIGHT, STORIES ABOUT HISTORIC TOWNS IN OKLAHOMA CANNOT BE TOLD TOO MUCH.

THANK U."

DON, THANK YOU.

WE AGREE.

THESE STORIES ARE IMPORTANT.