Pollution brings end to Oklahoma mining town

Sirens cut the silence. Police and fire vehicles have lined up, and it's about to begin now, the parade marking Picher's 90th — and perhaps last — birthday. Something like 300 people have turned out to pay last respects.

"We cry every day," moans resident Louise Blalock, waiting in her minivan for the procession to start. "It's like a death, really."

"For what it is, I'm losing my heritage," says Steven Meador, who moved out of Picher in 1986 and lives in small town nearby.

"I feel like it's the end. That's why I'm here. This is it for me," says Norma Jean Skinner, who made the pilgrimage from California to say a proper goodbye.

Cars, pickups and motorcycles roll by. Locals on the floats toss suckers and Tootsie Rolls into the street, but many of the candies aren't scooped up because there are so few kids left here.

The parade ends at the Paul Thomas Funeral Home.

'It's just fading away'
After the parade, folks gather at the elementary school cafeteria for a reception.

Honky-tonk music sets the mood, and couples get up from bowls of beans and cornbread for one final twirl around the floor.

Paul Thomas, the town's silver-haired undertaker, sits in the back, dressed in a dark suit.

The 84-year-old has buried much of this town and can remember the days when Picher's streets were crowded.

"It's just fading away," Thomas says, looking straight ahead. "It just keeps getting smaller and smaller."

The people shouted, line-danced and swapped stories into the afternoon about first kisses, favorite teachers and long-gone eateries like the Chili King.

For a few more hours, they were the kings and queens of Picher, and no one could tell them this wouldn't last forever.

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