The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 4

THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN OKLAHOMA 4-A SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2002 Bittersweet Day Erick plans a museum for music star Erick Eik (30) STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID McDANIEL These five eighth-graders form the final graduating class at Burbank School, a dependent district in rural Osage County. Clockwise from top left are Melissa Mobley, Morgan Fowler, Camille Conely, Kent Drummer and Bryce Settlemire. 98-year-old school closes Man's attack brings order for skunk kill By The Associated Press ENID Police have orders to shoot skunks on sight after a man was bitten by a rabid animal outside his home. Police Chief Rick West ordered the skunk kill after a rabid animal bit Sydney Kusch, 81, twice outside his home. Kusch grabbed the animal and held it until authorities arrived.

"I used to hunt skunks during the Depression for 25 to 35 cents a hide, but I've never heard of one attacking someone," Kusch said. He began treatment for rabies Thursday, a day after state Health Department authorities told him the skunk tested positive for the infectious disease that destroys nerve cells in the brain. Rabies is often fatal if untreated. West authorized his officers to kill skunks with shotguns. Residents who see skunks, especially during daylight, are asked to call the police department immediately.

If they see a dead animal, they should call animal control officers. Kusch's neighbor, John Murphy, said he saw the skunk on his front porch when he opened his door Monday afternoon. Murphy later saw the animal in a flower bed and it chased him, he said. "That rascal came after me a 240-pound guy," he said. "He chased me to the curb, turned and ran to the neighbor's house." Kusch was tending to his tomato plants in the back yard when the skunk charged him.

Kusch said he tried to stomp on the skunk's head, but he lost his balance and fell. The skunk bit him once on his abdomen and once on his leg before Kusch grabbed the animal. Kusch's wife, Vera, 79, whacked the skunk with her cane as the animal and her husband wrestled on the ground and the skunk sprayed. Then she called police. There were 60 cases of rabies throughout the state in 2001, mostly in skunks.

By Ron Jackson Staff Writer ERICK Country music legend Roger Miller will always be king of the road in his hometown. The people of Erick folks like Hugh Prather would have it no other way. Prather recently donated a 1929 Model-T Ford to the future Roger Miller Museum, a project sure to be discussed today at the town's centennial celebration. Festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m., and Prather's antique vehicle will be on display. The antique car is one of six Prather has restored over the past 49 years in a metal shop behind his house.

He still toils with his roadway treasures whenever he gets the urge. Prather, 88, would like to be known as a proud Erick resident who desired to pay tribute to his beloved hometown and its famous prodigy. "I wanted to try to help the community out," Prather said recently while ambling through his shop. "I wanted to try to help bring people in here. So I thought I could donate one of my antique cars for them to sell on the Internet for the museum.

"Roger Miller well, I was proud of him." Prather is hardly alone. A local group teamed with Mary Miller, Roger's widow, to create the Roger Miller Museum Foundation two months ago. Since then, the group has raised more than $15,000 and tentatively agreed to purchase a 73-year-old brick building in downtown Erick. "We have a group here that is very excited about having a Roger Miller Museum," said Gayla Dunlap, Erick's mayor. "We probably have 15 people who work diligently on this project every day." Roger Miller's roots sink deep into Erick's red soil.

When Roger was 1 year old, his father died and his impoverished mother sent him to live with an aunt and uncle on a farm near Erick. It was there he learned to play the guitar, banjo, fiddle, piano and drums. At the age of 5, he wrote his first song for 37 classmates at a one-room schoolhouse in Erick. Prather remembers Miller well. He was the boy's bus driver.

"I remember him on that bus," Prather said, chuckling. "He was like a lot of other boys then ornery." Miller parlayed that spunk into a musical career in which he won 11 Grammy Awards. Among his greatest hits was his trademark tune, "King of the Road," a lively folk tune that playfully glorified a hobo's life. He also created the music for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical "Big River." Miller died of cancer at a Los Angeles hospital in 1992. Staff writer Ron Jackson can be reached by e-mail at rjackson igOklahoman.com or by phone at (580) 666-2340.

By Dawn Marks Enid Bureau BURBANK The 42 students of Burbank School played volleyball and ran sack races Friday. They laughed over lunch and end-of-school festivities together and at the end of the day, they hugged the teachers, some of whom the students have known most of their lives. This was no ordinary goodbye quickly executed in anticipation of summer vacation. The 98-year-old school closed its doors for the last time Friday a victim of declining enrollment. Camille Conely, 14, who attended the school every year except kindergarten, said Burbank was a place where teachers encouraged students not to exclude anyone and cared about the students individually.

The Osage County school lost 27 students in the past three school years because of transfers, and community members decided this was the last year the school could hang on. On May 13, voters passed a plan to send students to Ponca City, Shidler and Woodland School District in Fairfax beginning next school year. Most will attend Shidler or Woodland, Superintendent Tod Williams said. Bus ride times shouldn't increase greatly since Fairfax and Shidler are 10 miles away from Burbank. Students who will now go to Ponca City schools will be between eight and 12 miles from Ponca City.

Williams said closure had been looming for almost a decade. He was hired at the beginning of this school year with the understanding that he was to formulate an annexation plan for voters. The high school closed in 1968. Since then the district has operated a dependent district a school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It has required the community to find cost-saving measures such as sharing administrators or busing students to other schools for some classes.

Teachers such as Irene Gauger, who taught at the school for 31 years, especially were saddened by the school's final days, Williams said. Gauger, now a first- and second-grade teacher, missed only eight days during her years at Burbank, the only school where she has taught. Gauger is considering retirement but could find another teaching position elsewhere, he said. At graduation Thursday, Conely addressed the school as valedictorian and shared special memories about the school. Before Friday's final "graduation" of the school's five eighth-graders, Williams said he expected emotions to be high during the ceremony.

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