Caddo Heritage Day is Saturday, Oct. 5 with a parade, street dance and many other activities taking place on Buffalo Street.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. and there will be food trucks, live entertainment, a car/truck/tractor show, Little Miss/Little Mister Contest, Cutest Baby Contest, street games and much more.
Buffalo Street will be closed from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and there will be a street dance from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m.
The theme for Heritage Day is “Preserving Caddo’s Legacy.”
Mary Maurer was selected as Caddo’s Citizen of the Year. Maurer is an avid researcher on history and a contributor to the Durant Democrat. A retired educator, she has researched Caddo’s history and shared it through books, newspaper articles and on social media.
She is a past member of Caddo Community Association, Town Restoration Association of Caddo (TRAC) and Caddo Education Foundation. Maurer has held a variety of offices, worked on grants and community projects, and participated in community events. She is a current member of Caddo Civic and Cemetery Club.
Maurer has been a member of theBryan County Genealogy Library and Archives for many years and was secretary for the past four years, a term that ended in May. She photographed the Yard of the Month for TRAC for 12 years and has maintained public flower beds in Caddo for several years. During her research of Caddo and the surrounding area, she compiled 16 books for the Bryan County Genealogy Library. Copies were donated to the Indian Territory Museum and to the Caddo High School. She contributes to several history pages on Facebook, including Caddo, Oklahoma History and Memories.
“I started on this obsession in 1980 when I did a little family research for my mom,” Maurer said. “In those days, the main resources for research were the libraries and museums. Research was timeconsuming and somewhat tedious. I sometimes spent hours on a single date or fact and could not find it.
“I recall getting permission to look at a book kept in a locked case at Southeastern and then sitting at a table, wearing gloves, and carefully turning the pages while a library assistant sat nearby. Research is still time-consuming and somewhat tedious, but it is also more rewarding because there is so much information that is available. Not only have online resources increased, but the Bryan County Genealogy Library has gained resource materials through donations from estates.”
Maurer began focusing on Caddo history when she learned that a neighbor’s father was murdered when the child was a baby.
“His killer had turned himself in to the town constable, my great-great-grandfather,” Maurer said. “Other stories followed: The woman in the glass-topped coffin in the mausoleum, the headstone with a bullet in it, the famous outlaw who was a frequent visitor to his family in Caddo.
“The more I read the old newspapers and court records, the more I wanted to continue exploring the history of this little town founded by the railroad. I’ve come to the conclusion that there really is no end to the stories about Caddo. I still turn to my husband and say, ‘Listen to this,’ and then read to him from an old issue of the Caddo Herald.”
