Copyright © 2002 NLThomas
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DRY CREEK, OK - The Dry Creek community recently held a groundbreaking ceremony and dinner to celebrate the construction of the new Dry Creek community building.

"It's been a long process," said Charlie Soap, self-help consultant with the Cherokee Nation community building project. "This site had been assigned to the school through the Federal government and there was a lot of red tape, but it got done after several weeks and now the community is ready for their building."

The Cherokee Nation is providing materials and some site work to help the community get started, but Dry Creek residents will construct the building themselves.

"We've had help everywhere from the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) on down to the tribe (Cherokee Nation), plus our community," said Jim Robbins, president of the Dry Creek community building committee. "About 100 people signed up to would work on it. I think that's one thing that helped us get this far, we saw that everybody was interested and willing to give their time."

The building will be used for community activities such as family reunions, singings, meetings, weddings, and special presentations.

"There was no room for community events," said Johnny Bolin, a member of the Dry Creek community. "We always had to borrow other places. It's really going to help us out. We are going to use it to teach the young people a lot of things."

"The thing that we have to hold so dear, is a sense of community," said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. "This is a time of celebration."

For more information on the Dry Creek community building or to volunteer, please contact Willard Mounce or Don Greenfeather, phone: 918-431-4177.