Nowata Star

09/10/2026

🎡🎶 THE CHEROKEE STRIP CELEBRATION IS ALMOST HERE! 🎶🎡

Mark your calendars for September 12-19 and make plans to visit Perry, Oklahoma, for a week packed with tradition, community and fun! The celebration includes the Noble County Free Fair, Cherokee Strip Rodeo, Cherokee Strip Carnival, 5K/10K race, parade, live music, street dance and more.

The festivities wrap up with a full day of events on Saturday, September 19, featuring everything from the race and parade to the Cherokee Strip Celebration, street dance and live music from Ruby Leigh!

Rodeo action, carnival rides, great food, live music and plenty of family fun - there's something for everyone at this year's Cherokee Strip Celebration!

📍See you in Perry!

09/10/2026

The Arvest Foundation recently announced a $5,000 donation to the Nowata Youth Sports program to pay for helmet recertification.
The grant funds the sanitizing, repainting, and repairing of 48 football helmets to ensure the safety and well-being of youth participants.
Arvest Bank commercial loan manager Nicholas Moody and business banker Trayson Stewart presented the check to Amy Fischer and James Patton of the organization.
Read the full story in this week's edition at reidnewspapers.com/nowatastar

09/10/2026

Support the Nowata County Free Fair next week at the Bake Sale Auction and enjoy some fellowship the next night with Free Ham & Beans and Watermelon.

Just a reminder of the annual Baked Goods Auction and Sale at the Nowata County Fair Building next Thursday evening, Sept. 17, starting at 5:30 p.m.

This annual tradition is a fun event rewarding our Grand, Reserve Grand and first place winners in the baked goods division during a great auction conducted by our host auctioneer, Eric Epperson.
All other baked goods will be available for purchase after the auction with all proceeds always going back to the exhibitors as an additional reward for their hard work.
Come enjoy all the action, purchase a sweet or two and show our exhibitors your support.

On Friday evening, Sept. 18, come hungry and enjoy the annual Free Ham & Beans Dinner, from 5-7 p.m., sponsored by Cocieta and Justin Collins.
There will be brown or white beans with fixings, cornbread and dessert.
You can also enjoy the Free Watermelon Feed sponsored by the Nowata County Fair Board members!
We hope to see everyone there and hope you will take a while to look at all the exhibits.

See more News Briefs in this week's edition at

09/09/2026

Help get 4th grader Haylee Veley to go play at the 2026 Nationals All State Championship youth fast-pitch softball tourney being held in Viera, Fla., this December.

A fundraiser dinner is being held this Saturday, Sept. 12, at the New Alluwe Community Center, located at 107 Seals Avenue in Chelsea, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Meals are $10 and the menu includes pulled pork sandwiches, chips, baked beans and choice of water or sweet/unsweet tea.
All proceeds will help with Haylee’s travel expenses.

Haylee attends Nowata Public Schools and her 10-and-under softball team nominated her to play at the state tourney during the summer. She did so well there that she was selected to help represent Oklahoma at nationals this Dec. 28-31.

There will also be a raffle drawing on Oct. 13 for three prizes to help raise travel funds for Haylee.
• A half hog raffle for $20 a ticket.
• A Lone Star quilt raffle for $5 per ticket, or three for $12.
• A kitchen basket raffle for $5 a ticket, or three for $12.

To get a ticket, call Sam at (918) 214-6272, Connie at (918) 440-1755, or Steven at (918) 886-1112.

Find our more community announcements in this week's edition at

09/08/2026

Opponents of AEP-PSO’s Northeastern Oklahoma Transmission Enhancement Project are asking their supporters to rally behind the effort and make their voices heard by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
A large crowd packed the Welch Civic Center on Thursday night with representatives from Craig, Nowata, Washington and Ottawa counties to learn about their options.
The $342 million NEOTEP project aims to build approximately 100 miles of 345-kilovolt transmission lines across Washington, Nowata, Craig and Ottawa counties that will allow for wind energy generated in Kansas to be routed through Oklahoma to supply power to Missouri.
Opponents of the NEOTEP line are largely farmers and ranchers who do not wish to see their properties altered by the construction of swaths of transmission lines they say will not benefit themselves.
This fight against the NEOTEP line is also the first test case of this happening in Oklahoma.
Natalie Bullard, a member of Protect Rural Oklahoma, a grassroots organization opposed to the NEOTEP project, said the Oklahoma project is being broken into two projects, east and west.
Bullard explained that the OCC will host hearings in Oklahoma City on Nov. 9 and Jan. 11 to listen to ‘pro se’ arguments from the public. ('Pro se' is a Latin phrase referring to a person who represents themselves in a court case without a lawyer.)
The hearings are an administrative step in the process where the OCC board will decide whether to issue a Certificate of Authority, which is needed to green light the project.
Bullard encourages everyone to come and represent themselves ‘pro se’ and tell the OCC in person why they oppose the line.
“The goal is to get their attention. This is a public project and we have a right to be involved,” said Bullard. “There are about 150 seats in that room. Our goal is to pack that room in Oklahoma City and be a part of that. It’ll make a real impact if people with mud on their boots from their fields show up. We have to state our reason why this project is not beneficial to Oklahomans.”
The NEOTEP West project is the 34-mile leg running from the Delaware Substation in Nowata County heading north to the Oklahoma-Kansas border.
The OCC will be hearing public comments on NEOTEP West on Nov. 9 on Oklahoma City.
The NEOTEP East project runs from the Delaware Substation eastward across Craig and Ottawa counties to the Missouri border.
The OCC will hearing public comments on NEOTEP East on Jan. 11 in Oklahoma City.

Read the full story in this week's edition in print and online at reidnewspapers.com/nowatastar

09/03/2026

Sheila Sellars (right) and Georgia Sellars work on a patriotic sidewalk mural at Glenn C. Moore Elementary for the start of the school year.
See this and more community happenings in this week's edition at reidnewspapers.com/nowatastar

09/01/2026

🚨 MyNowata Community Alert 🚨
ℹ Nowata County Commissioners Extend Burn Ban to Monday, September 14th
🔗 Full Information: https://nowataok.gov/nowata-county-commissioners-extend-countywide-burn-ban-august-31st-2026/

The Nowata County Board of County Commissioners have extended their 14-day countywide burn ban for Nowata County passed by resolution on Monday, August 17th, 2026 for another 14-days, with the renewed burn ban now set to expire on Monday, September 14th, 2026.

You can read the County's full resolution on the 14-Day Burn Ban via this link to our city government website - https://nowataok.gov/nowata-county-commissioners-extend-countywide-burn-ban-august-31st-2026/ .

Updates on the status of the active burn ban will be posted on social media, the city's website, and the free MyNowata Community Alert System.

Thank you for your cooperation and support of our hometown community.

You can sign-up for the free MyNowata Community Alert System on our website - https://nowataok.gov/mynowata/ .

09/01/2026

08/28/2026

Oklahoma Union 4-H’s Ava Inman (right) brought home Grand Champion Market Steer honors at the 119th annual Inter-State Fair and Rodeo held in Coffeyville, Kan. Inman also earned Reserve Champion Junior Showmanship honors and Cross Champion honors.
Read the full story in this week's edition at reidnewspapers.com/nowatastar

08/28/2026