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Colonial Dames donate bench to Arcadia Round Barn

Members of the Oklahoma Society

ARCADIA – Carma Jenkins and her husband, Bill, loved stopping at the Arcadia Round Barn while out cruising Route 66 with their car club.  There’s now a bench there in honor of Jenkins for her years of service to the William Rives Chapter of the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century.

The chapter dedicated the royal blue park-style bench on May 1, with members from across the state in attendance. The marking of historic sites is one of the purposes of the society.

Chapter President Norma Hughes said Jenkins is a former president of the chapter and served the past two years as state president.

“It is one of my favorite places,” Jenkins told her fellow members. “Every time you go by there is someone who has stopped here at the barn.”

Jenkins said the Round Barn, which is now a museum but was built as an agricultural barn, “is a bit of my heritage. My ancestors were all farmers, and I own some land myself.”

Hughes said the bench was built by Oklahoma Correctional Industries and is the first to be donated by the chapter, but she would like to see more historic sites recognized. She said other chapters have donated OCI benches at the Cherokee Strip Heritage Center in Enid, the Enid-Woodring Regional Airport, Honey Springs Battlefield in Checotah, the Perryman Cemetery in Tulsa and the September 11 Memorial in Bixby.

The Colonial Dames is a lineage society of women who can trace their ancestry in the United States to 1700, Hughes said, and members are involved in veterans’ services, historic site markings, preservation of historic records and the awarding of college scholarships.

“We always need more seating here,” said Linda Simonton, president of the Arcadia Historical and Preservation Society, which owns and operates the nonprofit Round Barn. “We do all of these events that are free to the public. We are honored to accept this bench and appreciate the historical preservation efforts of the Colonial Dames.”

Photo: Members of the Oklahoma Society, Colonial Dames of the 17th Century attended the dedication of a bench at the Arcadia Round Barn.  Carma Jenkins, honoree, is seated on the bench with State President Orriene Denslow. Behind them are former state presidents Diane King, Joyce Johnson and Sue Allen.