Will highlight pre-lake history

INDIANOLA – Folks interested in the history of this area before Lake Eufaula was completed will want to attend the fifth annual “An Evening in Indianola” event, to be held the evening of Thursday, Oct. 12, in the Indianola High School Auditorium.

A reception will be held at 6 p.m. followed by music featuring the area’s Circuit Riders band and a program called “The Land Before the Lake,” about the history of the area pre-1964, the year the lake was dedicated.

“It will be an overview of the land before the arrival of the Corps of Engineers,” said Mike Cathey, an organizer of the event.

A representative of the Corps is expected.

The program will commemorate the approaching (2024) 60th Anniversary of the dedication of Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma’s largest man-made body of water with an area of 159 square miles.

The evening’s program will focus on Indianola’s linkage to the “Gentle Giant” and highlight some things now only in history “Land Before the Lake.”

Indianola, which bills itself as “The Onion Capital of the World,” is located in Pittsburg County, about 17 miles southeast of Eufaula and 17 miles north of McAlester. It has a population of about 200.

Cost of admission to the event is $10 each for those 12 years and above and $5 each for those five years to 11 years.

Funds raised will be used to benefit the Indianola Community and Senior Center and the Indianola and Choate Prairie Cemeteries.

In addition, there will be the opportunity for on-site “annual giving” for the three charitable organizations.

For more information call 773-844-1804.