Oklahoma Scenery
One Okie's  View of the Sooner State
~ David Flick ~

 

Ninety-one years later and Loyal is still loyal

 

 
The small rural town of Loyal, Oklahoma is located 45 miles south southwest of Enid in northwestern Kingfisher County. The community was settled by German immigrants in the early 1890's. The first post office was established on June 15, 1894.

The town's original name town was "Kiel," which was the name of the town in Germany from where many of the immigrants came. Shortly after the outbreak of WWI, the residents of Kiel changed the name to show support for the United States military. On October 1, 1918, they changed the name of the town to "Loyal."

Loyal is located 15 miles northwest of Kingfisher, a town whose claim to fame is being the "Buckle of the Wheat Belt."  Wheat is the primary crop grown by farmers who live in the area surrounding the town.

 In 1978, the Loyal school system consolidated with the school system of nearby Omega. A new high school school was built between Loyal and Omega. Joining the names of the two communities, the school took on the name of  "Lomega." The high school is located closer to Omega. The elementary school is in Loyal.

One of Loyal's claims to fame is their high school girls basketball team. In the late 1970's, Karen Edgar was hired to coach the Lomega girls basketball teams. She inspired immediate success into the program.  In 1979, the Lomega Lady Raiders basketball team reached semi-finals of the Oklahoma state Class B basketball tournament, beginning a string of 18 consecutive appearances in the state tournament. Under Edgar's leadership, the Lady Raiders appeared in the state tournament nine times, winning four state championships. The Lady Raiders have won 10 Class B state championships. Their most recent title was won in 2008.  In 1988, Karen Edgar married Bobby Knight, who was, at the time, head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team.

In addition to the Lomega elementary school, Loyal has a post office, a filling station/farm store, a city cafe, a fire department, a farm co-op, and two churches. The two churches are the United Methodist Church and the Loyal Evangelical Church. There is a large tree in front of the Loyal Evangelical Church. On the tree is a large red, white, and blue ribbon. There is a sign posted above the the ribbon with a  message which reads, "Pray for our military personnel. All are giving some ...Some are giving all"  In 1918, Kiel, Oklahoma changed its name to Loyal, Oklahoma to show support for the United States military. It could be said that ninety-one years later, Loyal, Oklahoma is still "loyal."

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