Beaver County Chamber Of Commerce Circa 2013

 

For a number of years this was the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce's website.
Content is from the site's 2013 archived pages offering a glimpse of what this site offered its visitors.

The current site for the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce is found at: https://beavercountychamber.com/.

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Welcome to the Beaver County Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce
Home of the Cimarron Territory Celebration
and
The World Championship Cow Chip Throw
in April of each year

Visitors immediately sense that Beaver is unusual. Nestled beside towering sand dunes that stretch for miles along the Beaver River, Beaver Dunes (formerly Beaver State Park) contains acres of dunes for off-road challengers, plus fishing, hiking, day-use areas, RV hook-ups and campsites. In addition, the Beaver Pioneer Golf Course is a challenging and picturesque nine-hole public course next to the park.

For hunters, the Beaver River Wildlife Management Area is abundant with deer, quail, pheasant and other game. Other hunting lodges are in the area as well.

A tour of Beaver reveals an impressive school system, library, hospital and nursing home as well as interesting and friendly shops. The area's history can be explored at the Jones and Plummer Trail Museum and the first church building in "No Man's Land"– the Presbyterian Church, c. 1887.

Each April during the Cimarron Territory Celebration, Beaver County hosts the World Cow Chip Throwing Championship Contest which draws international attention. The town’s mascot, "Big Beaver" resides prominently in the downtown area awaiting the next tourist’s snap of the camera lens! "Big Beaver" has been the subject of thousands of pictures and he is also a target in a geocache hunt for those that participate in that kind of adventure.

The economy is driven by the agriculture and oil and gas industry, as well as the new wind energy industry. We welcome any requests for information you may desire in your consideration of locating a business here. We hope you'll give our area a look and believe you'll find a charming community, rich in history

 

Upcoming Events

World Championship Cow Chip Throwing Contest

Saturday, April 20, 2013



The nine-day Cimarron Territory Celebration—packed with the likes of a kiddie parade and horseshoe throwing—culminates on the third Saturday of each April, when men and women fling dried cow chips with all their might across a roped-off course.

 

In The Mix: "I was sent to this event specifically to cover the cow chip throw event for The LineUp, which tends to cover all kinds of provocative silliness that our readers expect. Jesse James (this was his real name) was contesting his 2nd place throw due to a wet chip and agreed to an interview. Sensing the limelight, he started spouting what seemed to be inane literary quotations about how this was a spiritual exercise that philosophers could learn from when I recognized his source. His claim that confusion was the source of clarity and that everything could be derived from the concept of nothing are straight out of Rev Sale's post about the meaning of nothing - one of my all time favs. When I mentioned that I had read "In Search of Nothing" he smiled and invited me have a beer with him, where we continued our extremely entertaining chat. That Jesse James was reading philosophical posts about the notion of Nothing blew my mind in a very good way so much so that I forgot who actually won the contest because I found a source for a much more interesting article." Paul Robbins

 

HISTORY OF THE COW CHIP THROW

 

The Great Plains Country was the most unique and unfriendly area of the United States in terms of early settlement and development. Through rugged courage and individualism, the pioneer settlers "Won the West"; in this most raw and untamed environment so prevalent from the Rocky Mountains to the Ozarks and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

The late 1800's brought the beginning of the settlement of the Great Plains Country. The Mayflower Pilgrims might never have stayed, if they were faced with the same difficulties as the Western settlers. These latter settlers had to face not only the unfriendly Indians, but the scarcity of water,timber for fuel and shelter, plus the extreme weather conditions. The buffalo hunter, the most hated enemy of the Plains Indian, killed off much of the natural game of the territory.

While these first pioneers drifted in wanting to make permanent homes, the Indians were on the rampage, and the few cattlemen were increasing their greed of ownership of land. This left the small sod-farmer pretty much in the middle. it must have been a predestined thought for this land to be settled, because anything other than the all consuming desire to own a home, land and raise a family would have driven most people away.

Lush grasslands stretched for endless miles. The cattlemen wanted this land and were as unfriendly to the settlers as the Indians were. Alone, miles from any neighbor and water being scarce, life was hard and lonely. Bitter winters in the open plains found the settlers in desperate need of fuel. With miles and miles of grass, no fuel was available. Fuel for fire was needed in almost everything the settler did from cooking to branding to heating their homes.

The Buffalo hunters had found that dried buffalo chips could be burned with adequate results. By the time the settlers came through, most of the buffalo were gone. He found he had to rely on the "Cow Chip" for furnishing his fuel to cook his food, warm his house and in a sense, sustain his life. When dry the chips emitted no odor, gave a clear bright flame and burned with intense heat and left no soot.

Chips were gathered and stored for the winter as autumn set in. During this early period, money was scarce and work for actual wages was even more scarce. A wagon load of chips could be gathered, taken to town and traded for food or anything else that the pioneer needed.

In the fall of each year, early settlers would take their wagons to the pastures to load up cow chips for the winter. With the whole family along, it became a sport as to who could throw the chips into the wagon with the most accuracy.
To say the least, Cow Chips were of great importance to the Great Plains Settlers. The heritage of this area was based on one of nature's most fundamental elements.

Not until 1970, however did anyone consider making a sport out of "Throwing Cow Chips". The Cimarron Territory Celebration is held each year in Beaver, Oklahoma in remembrance of the early day pioneer. Only now instead of throwing these chips into the wagon, a competition is held to see who can throw them the farthest distance from the wagon.
Men, women, VIP's and teams have their own judging. Wind velocity and direction play an important role in the annual Beaver Cow Chip Throwing Celebration.

OFFICIAL RULES:

 

  • Two (2) chips per contestant. Chip thrown the farthest shall be the only one counted. If the chip breaks up in mid-air during the throw, the piece going the farthest will be counted. (This does not mean the chip hits the ground and then breaks up.)
  • Contestants are divided into the following: Men's Open Division; Women's Open Division; VIP Division and Team Division (Must be at least 16 years of age to participate)
  • Chips shall be at least six (6) inches in diameter.
  • Contestants shall select their own chip from the official wagon provided by the B.S. Enterprise Committee. To alter or shape the chips selected from the wagon in any way (except in the rare instance when a loose fragment may be removed and provided that the removal does not render that chip less than (6) inches in diameter), subjects the contestant to a twenty-five (25) foot penalty. Decision of the Chip Judge is final.
  • Contestants will be registered and numbered at the official registration booth and must be ready when their number is called.
  • Any sanctioned Cow Chip Throwing® Contest held anywhere in the world must use the adopted international arena layout and measurements to qualify any record throw and to be recognized officially.

 

 

 

Trent Willmon Concert

Saturday, April 20, 2013
7:00 p.m.



Tickets $15.00 in advance
(by 5:00 p.m. 4/19/2013)
$20.00 after 4/19/2013

 

July 4h Softball Tournament

 

 

 

OUR COMMUNITY

Schools

There are 4 public schools within the Beaver County community: Beaver, Forgan, Balko, and Turpin. As is the case with most small communities with excellent students and continual support from the citizens, school activities provide community social activities, a sense of belonging, and community pride.

Library

The Beaver County Pioneer Library sits at the corner of  Douglas Avenue and 2nd Street in Beaver and provides excellent library services to the citizens of Beaver and the surrounding communities.

Churches

Baptist: First Baptist Church Beaver, Balko Baptist Church, Clearlake First Baptist Church, First Baptist Church Turpin, First Baptist Church Forgan

Christian: Beaver First Christian Church, Forgan First Christian ChurchChurch of Christ: Beaver Church of Christ, Forgan Church of Christ, South Flat Church of Christ

Methodist: Beaver United Methodist Church, Turpin United Methodist Church, Forgan United Methodist Church, Gate United Methodist Church, Fairview United Methodist Church

Presbyterian: Beaver First Presbyterian Church (listed on the National Registry of Historic Sites)

Knowles Nazarene Church, Midway Apostolic Country Church, Balko Community Faith Church, St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church, Beaver First Assembly of God, Balko Crossroads Bible Fellowship, Bethel Church of God, Turpin Mennonite Church, Peace Lutheran Church, Faith Community Chapel, Gate Friends Church, General Assembly and Church of the First Born

Businesses

You will find businesses in Beaver County to meet all of your basic needs. Those businesses range from banks (First Security Bank and Bank of Beaver City) to grocery stores (Downing’s Market) to hardware stores (Beaver Ace Lumber, Pugh’s Otasco, and Beaver Supply) to utility companies (Tri-County Electric, West Texas Gas, Town of Beaver, and Panhandle Telephone Cooperative) to variety and specialty stores (Delk’s Engraving, Rainbow Connection, Emmanuel Bookstore, Flowers by Rhonda, Girls of Grace, Henny Penny, and Pooh’s Place) to travel agents (L & L Travel) to garden nurseries/landscaping (Bittersweet Station) to photographers (Brent’s Pics) to car washing (Beaver Auto Bath) to funeral homes (Beaver County Funeral Home and Clark’s Funeral Service) and many more.

If you are visiting the area and are in need of a place to rest your head, Beaver and the surrounding community has plenty of rooms to choose from (Hillcrest Motel, Sunset Motel, Duster Inn, Beaver Motel, and Red Rooster Inn).

If you are in need of filling your stomach, you can choose from pizza and other Italian entrees (Pizza Hut and Sunset Pizza** in Forgan), Mexican and American food (Dos Castillo’s Kitchen and Chapala’s Mexican Restaurant), sandwiches (Subway inside of Love’s convenience store), or finish off the meal with ice cream and sweet treats (Sweet’r Side). And don't forget Don the Drapery Man's Steak Out - the owner is a refugee from New York where he ran a drapery cleaning Manhattan service, but now is the expert on aged beef and bbq sauce.

Medical Care

Beaver provides medical care to its community through the Beaver County Hospital Authority system which includes a nursing home, hospital, pharmacy, EMS services and clinics. Additionally, the Bennett Clinic also provides medical care to the community, as well as chiropractic care on specific days.  Care for the eyes is also provided locally by Carlisle Vision Center.

Attorneys

Legal representation can be found at several places throughout the county, including Trippet, Kee, Trippett, and Parsons as well as Drum & Venable, attorneys at law.

Oil & Gas Industry

Many companies within Beaver County support the oil and gas industry, including Beaver Oil Company, Partners Oilfield Services, Plateau Energy Services, Ramon & Bennett Roustabout Services, Bennett Construction, and WB Supply.

 

 

 

 

2012-2013 Members:

Platinum Members ($500):

  • Downings Market
  • PTCI
  • The Bank of Beaver City
  • Town of Beaver
  • Tri-County Electric Cooperative

Gold Members ($300):

  • Colvin-Mills Agency

Silver Members ($200):

  • Beaver Supply, LLC
  • Bennett Clinic, P.C.
  • Integrity Trucking and Construction Services, Inc.

Bronze Members ($100):

  • Alan Clark Funeral Services
  • Beaver Auto Bath
  • Beaver Auto Supply, Inc.
  • Beaver County Funeral Home
  • Beaver County Nursing Home
  • Beaver County OSU Extension
  • Beaver Oil Company
  • Bennett Construction, Inc.
  • Bittersweet Station/Sweet’r Side
  • Carlisle Vision Clinic
  • Charles & Karen Weber
  • Cline’s Body Shop
  • Davis Spraying
  • Delk’s Engraving, LLC
  • Double J Truck Beds & Equipment
  • Elk Supply Company
  • First Presbyterian Church
  • First Security Bank
  • Flowers by Rhonda
  • Freda Schlessman/Duster Inn
  • Girls of Grace
  • Hardberger & Smylie, Inc.
  • Henny Penny
  • High Plains Energy, LLC
  • KT Energy, Inc.
  • L & L Travel (Laughter & Leisure Travel)
  • M & M Consultants
  • Meyer’s Auto Body, Inc.
  • Panhandle Motor Co.
  • Panhandle Water Well, LLC
  • Partners Oilfield Services
  • Plateau Energy Services, LLC
  • Pooh’s Place
  • Pugh’s Otasco
  • Rainbow Connection
  • Ramon & Bennett Roustabout Services, Inc.
  • Seaboard Foods
  • Sooner West Insurance Agency
  • Southern Office Supply, Inc.
  • Southwest Gas Equipment Co., Inc.
  • Trippet, Kee, Trippet, and Parson, PLLC
  • WB Supply
  • West Texas Gas

Individuals ($25.00):

  • Bryan Knowles
  • Charlene Marshall, independent Tupperware dealer
  • Denise Janko
  • Stacey Russell
  • Jack Albert
  • Kathy Nelson

 

BeaverCountyChamberOfCommerce.com