Jane Anne Jayroe: Beauty Queen and Media Mogul

Jane Anne Jayroe Photo Credit:http://studentorg.richmond.edu/axo/famous_alpha_chi_alumnae.htm

Her eyes are icy blue like frozen crystals in the Arctic, but they radiate warmth and friendliness contrasting the cold color when she laughs. When she grins, she exposes her nearly perfect pearly-white smile- the same smile that captured the hearts of America in 1967 and helped to win her the illustrious broadcast personality title in Oklahoma and Texas. Jan Anne Jayroe is legend in Sooner Country and in the United States alike for a respectable reason.
Jayroe was born in Clinton, Oklahoma but spent many of her childhood years growing up in Laverne, Oklahoma. She attended Oklahoma City University where she entered the Miss Oklahoma pageant with the help of her sorority. Not only did Jayroe win the Miss Oklahoma title in 1966, she also went on in pursuit of the Miss America title in 1967. After winning the Miss America Pageant, Jayroe married and began to have children. At the age of thirty she had fallen on hard financial times and accepted a job with the state board of education hosting a small “throw-away” show.
Jayroe’s career skyrocketed when the producers of the small government show she worked on sent in a tape to the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City. When the producers of the ABC station saw her tape, they quickly offered her a job, which she readily accepted. A few years later, the NBC affiliates in Dallas saw tapes of Jayroe and also offered a position as a news anchor on their primetime news program. While in Dallas, Jayroe won the award for “Outstanding News Personality” and received much acclaim for it. After working for four years in Dallas Jayroe returned to Oklahoma City where she lives today with her husband hosting a small program promoting Oklahoma travel.
While Jayroe has an impressive past career, she still has much to say and advise about the current news industry.
“It is very hard to be a mother and a news anchor,” Jayroe said. “Many people think the industry is so glamorous, but in reality it is a lot of hard work and it is very time consuming. If women want to be mothers and work in this business, they have to realize this.”
While being a mother and a media professional is hard, there are other influences to the news industry that could hinder one’s career. According to stateofthemedia.org, evening news viewership was at about 50 million in 1980 and was about 20 million in 2008. This steady decline of viewers makes accessing a job for a journalist difficult.
Jane Jayroe’s career is inspirational to many who aspire to be media professionals. Her wise insight into news industry workings is still applicable to modern journalism. Without Jayroe, the Oklahoma news industry would not shine as bright.

Spirit in the Sorority House

Sophomore English major Stacy Goswick experienced paranormal activity at the Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) house on Wed. Oct. 6th when visiting a friend. Goswick claims that she heard voices and the clanging of pots when she walked into the kitchen to retrieve a snack from the cabinet. The spirit did not harm Goswick but she is apprehensive to return to the sorority house.
Goswick visited the house last week for a social visit. When she went to the kitchen late at night for a bag of chips when she experienced the spirit. She recalls a drop in temperature and a faint voice that was almost inaudible saying “I like the cold.” Soon after Goswick heard the voice she remembers the hanging pots and pans banging together “almost as if someone was running their hand across them.” Goswick left the kitchen/dining area as soon as the pots and pans began to clamor and hastily made her way back to her friend’s room on the second floor.
However, Goswick is not the first person to experience the spirit. Many of the girls who live in the house report similar experiences to Goswick’s. Junior anthropology major Laura Moon comments that the attic door used to sporadically shake in her room last semester and her thermostat would inexplicably be turned down. Moon calls the spirit “Bob” and says that she has never felt threatened by his presence.
President of the Oklahoma AOII chapter Clarke Erikson spoke about the history of “Bob the Ghost” and the many speculations of his death. According to Erickson, the sorority house was the former home of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. When smoking illegally in the attic about 20 years ago, a fraternity member was trapped when a fire erupted in the house and he died when he could not escape the flames, Erikson speculates. Many believe that the man who died in the fire is the same spirit that haunts the house today.
Erikson commented that having a spirit in the house makes AOII unique and establishes an unconventional tradition in the house. “We hope that Bob stays with us for as long as possible,” Erikson said. “We want future pledge classes to have the same experiences with Bob that we did.”
To hear Stacy speak on her paranormal encounter, listen to the audio clip below.

Audio Test

Here is the audio test.

The Mythical and the Movies: The Ritz Theater

On Tues. Sept. 28th paranormal investigator and self-proclaimed psychic Christy Clarke recounted her investigation of the Ritz Theater in Shawnee that took place in 2008. Clarke spoke of her findings at the theater and the supernatural events that took place there.
According to Clarke, a former projectionist of the theater named Leo Montgomery haunts the building. Many have seen Leo wandering the halls of the theater and have heard him speaking, including one of Clarke’s investigators named Sara. During a “sit down” in the auditorium area Sara saw an older man wearing a vest and high-waisted pants complaining about his baldness. The man stopped to glare at Sara and “suddenly disappeared.” The man was identified as Leo Montgomery when Sara was shown a picture by one of the theater’s employees; however, these ghostly appearances have not hindered visitations to the theater
“The Ritz Theater has been a staple in the social scene of Shawnee for many years,” says a visitor of Shawnee named Kate Thompson. The theater has been a part of the town since 1911 when it was originally named the “Cozy Theater” and its name was later changed in 1926 to “The Ritz.” Many people like Thompson visit the Ritz today to engage in its unique supernatural history.
Clarke emerged herself in the paranormal activity of the theater by herself in the projection room during one day of her investigation. “The theater part was actually very peaceful, but I did feel like we were being watched,” Clarke said. She claims that she did also see Leo and hold a conversation with him while in this room. “I feel as if Leo stays there to watch over The Ritz to make sure it is being taken care of. I don’t think that his job there is done yet.”
Clarke believes that Leo will continue to reside in The Ritz as well as the other spirits that might be there still. For more information on The Ritz theater, visit http://www.okpri.com/RitzTheater.htm.