8/11/2019 OETT Grant PSG 2 9-11-14

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Thursday , September 11, 2014The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette PiedmontNewsOnline.com  5A

Cont. from Page 1A

$34,691,810.73, which is a

2.3 percent increase in one

year. Oklahoma City col-

lects sales tax at 5 percent.

Yukon, on the other

hand, received a slightly

smaller sales tax check this

August.

Yukon’s August 2014sales tax check was

worth $1,612,254.74.

The city’s August 2013

sales tax check totalled

$1,626,103.97, which is a

0.9 percent decrease over

one year. Yukon collects

tax at 3 percent.

Piedmont’s neighbor

to the north, Cashion, re-

ceived a signicantly

smaller sales tax check in

the month of August.

Cashion’s Aug. 2014

sales tax check totalled$7,602.20. In August 2013

they received a check

worth $15,506.16, which is

a 51 percent decrease over

the last year.

Okarche, however, re-

ceived a slightly larger

sales tax check in the month

of August. Okarche’s Au-

gust 2014 sales tax check

totalled $66,384.00.The town’s August 2013

sales tax check totalled

$65,431.77, which is a 1.5

 percent increase over the

last year. Okarche collects

sales tax at 4.5 percent.

El Reno received a sig-

nicantly larger August

sales tax check this year.

The city’s August 2014

sales tax check totalled

$872,612.07.

The city’s August 2013

check was $740,804.88,

which is a 17.8 percent in-crease over the last year.

Tax:Cont. from Page 1A

This grant will truly have

an impact on the way our

teachers teach and the way

our students learn.”

In total, OETT is

awarding $1.2 million to

19 Oklahoma schools in

2014.“Through the OETT

grants, we are focused on

creating long-term change

in our schools,” said Phil

Berkenbile, OETT Board

of Trustees chair. “Our

goal is to improve overall

student achievement and

learning through the use of

technology and getting the

technology in the students’

hands.”

OETT was establishedin 2001 as a result of an

agreement between then-

attorney general, Drew

Edmondson, and AT&T

Oklahoma. As part of the

agreement, AT&T contrib-

uted $30 million to OETT.

Since its creation, the

trust has distributed more

than $16 million to 207

schools.

The professional devel-

opment that is providedwith the grant has reached

more than 5,000 teachers

and impacted more than

75,000 students.

OETT is administered

 by Communities Founda-

tion of Oklahoma and the

 professional development

is coordinated through the

University of Oklahoma’s

K20 Center.

For additional informa-

tion, visit www.oett.org.

Grant:

Submitted by Shawn Blankenship

(Left to Right) Piedmont Intermediate School rep-

resentatives Josh Pearce, Shawn Blankenship,

Dr. Courtney Lockridge, Angela DeLong, Jake

Heister and Jo Ewy.

Barn:Cont. from Page 1A

injury and soon enough

the family decided to con-

tinue the construction of

the barn. During that time,

Maree’ and her mother, Ai-

mee’ stayed with Robert

and helped him recover at

their home on the property.

The family had to sit

down and gure out what

Robert had in his mind,

regarding the completionof the barn project. They

then called contractors and

worked with local busi-

nesses such as Mayabb

Plumbing and Chris Biggs.

“They could have easily

taken advantage or made

it harder than it was,” she

said. “But they helped me

get through it and listened

to my questions.”

Maree’ ended up tak-

ing over as lead contrac-

tor and worked with the

city. Then as time went

on, Robert began to heal

even more, eventually be-

ing able to speak to Maree’

about some of the specics

regarding the barn.

“It’s a huge milestone

that he could even be up

there and know what’s go-

ing on,” she said. “It was

a huge celebration that he

could be there and see us

get it completed.”

Sand Creek Post and

Beam, of Wayne, Neb.,was chosen by the Treeces

to build the barn. The barn

is a a traditional post and

 beam construction wood

 barn. It features a sturdy

frame with a rustic look

with full dimension rough-

cut timbers. The family

wanted the facade of the

 barn to match the original

as close as they could. The

new barn is as close as an

exact replica as they could

get. The original barn wasused by the McGrana-

han family because James

McGranahan was a mule

skinner, professionally. He

used the barn to house his

livelihood. The barn was

much larger than the home

the family lived in.

“We had a hard enough

time building it with mod-

ern day equipment such

as John Deere tractors,”

Maree’ Treece said. “I have

no idea how they were able

to do that in a lifetime.”The McGranahan fam-

ily settled on that piece of

 property in the late 1800s,

 before the Oklahoma Land

Run of 1889. They raised

their family in the house

that still stands on top of

the hill near Piedmont

Road, and they died in that

same house, just south of

Piedmont.  Maree’ Treece

is a third generation Mc-

Granahan. The barn has

stayed with their fam-ily since the McGranahans

laid their claim those many

years ago.

She said the iconic house

on the hill is her great-

great-great grandparents’

house. She recalled her

great-great-great grandfa-

ther, James McGranahan,

was Oklahoma City’s rst

 postmaster. McGranahan’s

wife, Sarah, ran the rst

hotel in downtown Okla-

homa City.

 Now that the barn iscompleted, the family

 plans to use it for special

events such as weddings

and parties. Their rst

wedding is coming up

at the end of September.

Steve Lunsford proposed

to Maree’ Treece at the

 barn and they will be mar-

ried there as well. Maree’

was actually even born

on the property, by acci-

dent. Her father, Robert,

delivered her in the backof a car somewhere on the

 property.

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