Friendliest Town In Oklahoma
By Wil C. Fry, Feb. 2, 2005

There's nothing to do in Sasakwa, Okla., unless you like 
school or sports. There used to be a swimming lake there, 
called Rock Lake, but the public's not allowed there any-
more.

Yet, somehow, I like going there. And, mind you, I've been 
to New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tokyo, and other 
great cities. And I've visited hundreds of small towns 
across this great nation and others. But I've never found a 
town where the people are as friendly, and as accepting, as 
they are in Sasakwa.

I've heard it called "the asshole of Seminole County," and 
other derogatory names. It sits in the very southeastern 
corner of Seminole County, with only one highway running 
through it. Twenty miles from anywhere. Less than 200 peo-
ple.

I first showed up in the late summer of 2003, to cover a 
high school football game for the county newspaper. I had my 
camera and my notepad, and my natural suspicion of strange 
places. It was humid and hot - near 100 degrees. Bugs were 
buzzing around, getting in my hair and on my skin. The rail-
road track runs within 50 feet of the football field, so the 
game stops every time a train goes by, due to the immense 
noise.

About 300 people (more than the population of the town) 
showed up for the game, to see a team that hadn't won a game 
in more than two seasons.

Walking among these "folks," as they're called in Oklahoma, 
I noticed that they were smiling. They were at the game with 
their families. All their friends were there. Their troubles 
were behind them, and would be ignored for about two hours.

Immediately, people began introducing themselves to me, ask-
ing what paper I was from, telling me how excited they were 
to be there, and how excited they were that I was there. 
They weren't all the "backward country hicks" that you see 
on the news near a tornado strike. They were regular people 
with lives, dreams, hopes, cares, families and friends.

They were white, American Indian, African-American, and they 
didn't seem to notice that people around them were of dif-
ferent colors. They didn't ostracize me because I was born 
overseas or because I was a "city slicker."

I went back a few weeks later, for another game, even though 
the team still hadn't won a game. When I showed up, people - 
especially the students - flocked up to me, remembering my 
name immediately. Glad to see you. How happy we are that 
you're here. What took you so long to come back? When will 
you be back again.

Over the months and years since then, I've been back a few 
dozen times, almost always for sporting events (one time for 
a manhunt - the police were looking for an accused murderer 
near the old swimming lake.)

The same people are there. They're still smiling. Looking 
past their financial woes and the obvious plight of the once 
thriving town, they're still smiling. And hoping. And dream-
ing.

And they're still the friendliest people in Oklahoma.

Sorry, Seminole, but Sasakwa gets this one hands down.