Small towns are often known for their hospitality, especially with food. Some towns in Oklahoma show how seriously they take this tradition by hosting an annual community dinner that goes back generations in some cases.

The Frederick oyster fry began in Manitou in 1952, says co-organizer Betty Box, when resident Bramlett Johnson went fishing on the Texas coast and brought back a gallon of fresh oysters.

“Nobody in this part of the country (southern Oklahoma) had tried it,” Box says.

Tradition was born when one PTA member, after tasting the dish, suggested a fundraising oyster fry. After that, the fry was held every year until 1983, when it was discontinued, Box says.

But, in 1990, the Chamber of Commerce for the city of Frederick – 10 miles south of Manitou – restarted the fry, and the dinner is still held today, in support of the chamber.

“You either like oysters or you don’t, but more people seem to like them,” Box says.

The oysters used for the fry are transported by a local truck the night before and are never frozen.

Now, 800 to 1,000 people attend the fry, including bus tours that come from Tulsa, Oklahoma City and eastern Oklahoma.

The event’s popularity often causes long lines to form hours before the event, but this doesn’t discourage anyone, Box says.

“It’s worth the wait,” she says.

Another long-standing dinner takes place on the eastern edge of the state. In Tahlequah, a wild onion dinner organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary has been going on as long as Faye Morrison can remember. And Morrison has been a member of the organization for 47 years, as a former president and as a current secretary.

“People won’t let us quit,” Morrison says of the annual dinner. “The community demands it.”

This annual event’s main course is wild onions and scrambled eggs.

“Wild onions are a traditional Cherokee food in this area,” Morrison says. “We fry the onions with bacon drippings and add them to the eggs.”

Proceeds from the wild onion dinner, which is actually held during lunchtime, go towards veterans’ needs.

“It’s something you just do here in the spring,” she says. “The money goes back to the community, and you won’t go away hungry.”

Tulsa might be a city, but the Tulsa County Democratic Party has taken a cue from small towns with its annual bean dinner Cowboy Bash, which marked its 45th anniversary this year.

Vice chairman and executive director of the party, Michael Whelan, says that the dinners help raise funds and give candidates a chance to meet and mingle.

“Bean dinners and bean suppers have been a mainstay throughout the Democratic Party across the state, and it is important for the party to continue to pay homage to that tradition,” Whelan says.

Community dinners can be found scattered all throughout Oklahoma, like newer bean dinners held by Wagoner’s Okay Senior Center and Norman’s American Legion, to Bartlesville’s wild onion dinner in its 58th year. All Oklahomans need to do is work up an appetite.

Twenty years ago, Oklahoma Natural Gas converted its fleet of service vehicles to run off of compressed natural gas. With direct access to both the gas and the pipelines, it was a logical step. This led to a network of fueling stations across the state to service these vehicles, which then led to infrastructure that enabled general consumers to use CNG as a personal use everyday fuel. 

CNG is one of the cleanest burning fuels and is abundant in the United States, especially Oklahoma. This ability to run cleaner engines and reduce dependency on foreign oil has been a driving force behind a number of incentive programs and pieces of legislation that seek to improve availability and infrastructure growth.

However, for most who have purchased CNG vehicles or converted vehicles to operate on CNG, the decision has been largely economical. Prices for CNG across the state range from 71 cents to $1.39 per gallon equivalent, according to www.cngprices.com. State averages for gasoline stand in stark contrast at about $3.25 per gallon, according to AAA.

In 2009 Paul Wood bought a Honda Civic GX, the only car that currently rolls off the assembly line fully fueled by CNG for the retail market. Wood’s daily commute takes him some 100 miles roundtrip from his home north of Depew to his job in Sapulpa. Because of the miles Wood travels each day, the return on the upfront investment of a CNG vehicle purchase made economic sense.

Since switching to CNG Wood has seen a decrease in his monthly gas bill from $520 to $225.

“You could make about six or seven car payments with the gas savings,” says Wood.

Mark Spraz, of Joe Marina Honda in Tulsa, says the gas prices drive the popularity of CNG vehicles.

“When gas prices are high, my phone rings off the wall,” says Spraz, who has driven the Civic GX since 2008.

Leader In Infrastructure

Wood would not call himself an early adopter. He waited until there was a proven and reliable infrastructure in place to make the switch. 

Wood’s car gets about 190 to 200 miles per tank, which is less than a typical car. Even with the increased need to fill his tank, Wood has found CNG to be a feasible daily use fuel. He says the infrastructure is strong enough now that anyone can do the same as long as they pay attention to where CNG is available. Wood drives his CNG vehicle for shuttling his kids to school and any other driving.

There are a number of online resources like www.cngprices.com to help drivers locate CNG filling stations, see prices and even plan a trip.

The infrastructure in Oklahoma is one of the strongest in the nation for consumer use of CNG. Oklahoma had the unique opportunity to steadily build the infrastructure during the last two decades with the initial purpose of providing more economical fuel for industry and municipal fleet vehicles. By the time consumer demand for CNG was growing, the infrastructure and supply could support it. 

Today there are 41 publicly available CNG fueling stations in Oklahoma. The skeleton of this network began with the ONG service stations. Companies like Oncue Express, Love’s and QuikTrip have further grown the retail infrastructure by adding CNG to some of their locations.

A number of factors play into Oklahoma’s unique position in this industry, says Don Sherry, communications manager at ONG.

“Part of it is that we are close in proximity to the natural gas. Part of it is that we are close to production,” says Sherry.

Sherry points to the creation of Oklahoma’s utility system during the early part of the last century as benefiting the success of natural gas. It established a network of natural gas delivery for home heat.

Oklahoma is one of the top three states in the nation for natural gas production and home to many leaders in the oil and gas exploration and drilling industries, including Chesapeake Energy, the most active driller in the United States. 

“Oklahoma is really setting the standard and setting the bar. Everyone is talking about Oklahoma’s great expansion of the fuel,” says James Roller, manager of corporate development and government relations at Chesapeake Energy.

Lack Of Vehicles

Even the auto industry is taking notice, says Roller. Companies like Ford, GM and Chrysler are paying attention to what is happening in Oklahoma.

This is good news. While availability of the fuel is abundant in Oklahoma, the availability of the vehicles that run on it is not.

Spraz has been selling the Honda Civic GX for about five years. The vehicle is generally affordable, at around $26,000, but Honda doesn’t produce many. They must be specially ordered and availability is spotty, Spraz says.

Oklahoma was initially one of only four states authorized by American Honda to sell the CNG vehicle. Last fall Spraz says American Honda opened this up to all 50 states. However, due to lack of infrastructure elsewhere sufficient to support general consumer use of CNG, there have not been any other states jump on the bandwagon.

Another option for those interested in CNG is conversion. This is done with an EPA-certified conversion kit by a certified technician typically on new or nearly new vehicles. It can be expensive, ranging from $8,000 to $16,000. 

“As the market grows, you will see more and more vehicles offered,” says Roller.

GM recently released a cargo van that runs on CNG. Roller expects the introduction of a CNG-fueled heavy-duty pick-up sometime in 2013. These vehicles could be used as oil and gas and telecommunications work trucks. He points out that small businesses, such as plumbers and florists could also benefit from the fuel savings of these vehicles. This increases demand for the fuel, which encourages infrastructure growth. Roller says this will eventually spur the creation of more light duty vehicles for personal use. 

This would in turn generate yet more infrastructure growth.

“The more cars we can get on the road, the more fill stations we can get. The more fill stations the more cars,” says Spraz

CNG producers, distributors, retailers and users alike are passionate about expansion of this market in Oklahoma and nationwide. For some it is to make full use of Oklahoma’s natural resources. Two-thirds of the natural gas produced in Oklahoma is currently exported. Keeping it here supports local industry and could serve to reduce the operational costs of industry and government. For some it is all about the cost savings. Others look to promote independence from foreign oil. And still the individuals who drive the cars look forward to widespread installation of CNG filling stations.