A Sapulpa Times 2025 Year in Review

Hope, headaches and heartache filled a year that at times seemed more about surviving than thriving. Here’s a look at how the year went through the stories published at Sapulpa Times.

January

• January began with a jolt of sadness as Sugar Llama’s the popular dessert cafe that had opened just two years earlier, abruptly closed without warning just three days into the new year.
• That same day, the news broke that The Route 66 Christmas Chute would be taking a pause for 2025, due to the coming construction on Dewey Avenue.
• Just a few days later, Sapulpa again hit a national spotlight when high-profile 1976 murder of Sapulpa football coach Jerry Bailey became the subject of an episode of “Murder Under the Friday Night Lights” fifty years after the event happened.
• The Salvation Army announced it would be splitting from the Boys and Girls Club and would rebrand to Red Sheild Youth Center.
• The Walgreens on Taft Avenue, which had remained in operation after Walgreens had purchased May’s Drug Warehouse, closed.
• Sapulpa’s homegrown coffee shop, CTX, was sold to a new family, whose daughter said she was fulfilling a lifelong dream.
• Sapulpa’s last remaining local barbecue restaurant, Boss Hawg, decided to close.
• Meanwhile, Youth Services of Creek County completed an expansion, doubling in size.

February

• Sapulpa was hit with an arctic freeze that canceled classes or moved them to Distance Learning for the bulk of the third week of the month. OHP reported high numbers in assists and accidents that week.
• A Sapulpa teenager was tragically killed in Minnesota, resulting in the arrest of three others.
• Lone Star released a statement about embezzlement happening in their sports booster program.

March

• In March, Dewey Street was officially closed to start work on a major infrastructure upgrade that was supposed to only take 200 days (end of October), but wouldn’t be finished for the rest of the year.
• D-Luxe Dispensary, the cannibis retailer in a multi-million-dollar development that included a food truck park and dog park, officially closed.
• The woman arrested for embezzlement at Lone Star was arrested again with more charges from Kellyville.
• Wildfires—the worst they county had seen since 2012—were happening in Mannford. Drone footage captured the devastation.
• An overnight fire at Central U.S. Golf Carts caused a total loss to the building and all the inventory the golf cart retailer had inside.

April

• Sapulpa Schools unveiled a brand new baseball facility in April. In Sapulpa’s very first at-bat, Brysen Donnell hit a home run. Amazing.
• Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum tests the new “Model T Experience” class on a group of Californians who traveled to Sapulpa just for the chance to try it out.
• Lifelong Sapulpan and WW2 Vet Bill Mauch turned 100 in April. We learned more about his family’s connection to our hometown, and what it was like fighting in the Pacific during WW2.
• Sapulpa (and Oklahoma) saw a historic rainfall, right in the middle of our construction on Dewey Avenue. Locals had fun with it, naming it “The Gulf of Dewey.”

May

• Macy’s Cradle—Creek County’s only crisis pregnancy resource center—opened in Sapulpa in May.
• Sapulpa residents and visitors got one more chance to visit Woodlawn Elementary before it was demolished as part of the ongoing construction of Sapulpa’s new high school.
• A story on a flipped SUV sent Sapulpa Times Facebook traffic surging, gaining nearly a million views of the video of the SUV pulled upright.
• A round of severe storms and strong winds toppled trees and blew the windows out of a local church in late May.
• Tank, the gentle giant brindle-colored Great Dane Mastiff that went from the Sapulpa animal shelter to being a first-response K9 won the hearts of everyone he met.

June

• Sapulpa mourns the loss of Pete Egan, local historian and affectionately called, “Sapulpa’s grandfather.”
• Construction on a new park for Route 66 was announced that it would start in July.
• Emmy Babcock, from Colorado, became Sapulpa Parks’ new Aquatic Director.
• Mike and Karen Fanning celebrated 25 years of ministry at Sapulpa Bible Church.
• Sapulpa native Paula George won the million-dollar Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” potato chip contest with her dad’s recipe.

July

• Sapulpa broke ground on the new Route 66 Park in early July. The event featured appearances by multiple Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commissioners and Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell. The park was supposed to be wrapped up by the end of 2025, but is currently ongoing.
• A late-model Chevrolet Camaro was found submerged in Lake Sahoma.
• A show by the Oklahoma Insect Adventure at the Sapulpa Public Library was a hit with the kids and featured giant walking sticks, praying mantis, giant roaches, and more.

August

• Sapulpa got a new mural, courtesy of Joni Rogers, the Creek County Master Gardeners, and Sapulpa native Bailee Green. You can see it in the new Phase 2 Alleyway.
• Sapulpa FOP surprised an 8-year-old girl with a new bicycle after hers was stolen while they were on vacation.
• A new movie was filmed mostly in Sapulpa and featured well-known actors such as Brian Shoop, Lou Ferrigno, and JJ Walker. Director Stevie Fernandez said the movie was part of an ongoing effort to “build an industry.”
• The late Thomas Blakemore of Sapulpa was honored in a special presentation at Circle Cinema in Tulsa on VJ-Day. The event also featured an appearance by Bill Mauch.

September

• Sapulpa’s K9 Officer Pepper, known in the community as the “friendly police dog,” retired.
• A shooting outside of Sapulpa High School after hours had folks on edge as we learned that neither the (unharmed) victim nor the shooter were enrolled at Sapulpa Schools. Both were juveniles.
• Sapulpa picked up another 5 awards at the Oklahoma Main Street Awards.

October

• A threat made on Snapchat caused Sapulpa Middle School to cancel classes out of an abundance of caution.
• Two days later, Sapulpa Police were investigating another juvenile about what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the hand.
• The City of Sapulpa hired a new Golf Course Manager, and almost immediately began seeing postive changes.
• The Sapulpa Plaza, the strip center outside of Walmart, celebrated 25 years in October.
• A presentation at Sapulpa City Council about a parking assessement had many worried that the City might tear down a historic building in order to accommodate the lost of parking on Dewey.
• The month of October ended with the sad news that Sapulpa’s award-winning Heritage Park was due to be torn down at an undetermined time.

November

• The Way Church teamed up with Paula “The Chip Lady” George to provide meals for hundreds of families ahead of Thanksgiving.
• Paragon CEO Derek Wachob was arrested and charged in a $66 million fraud scheme. He later pleaded not guilty.
• Sapulpa Public Schools broke ground on a new Chieftain Center expansion project.

December

• A fire put longtime Sapulpa burger joint “Burgers N’ More” down for the count, but owner says they’ll be coming back.
• Non-working fire hydrants at a house fire left neighbors scratching their heads.
• A Salvation Army Bell-Ringer won the $10,000 grand prize at what might be the last Jingle Bells Sweepstakes in Sapulpa.
• At long last, the City of Sapulpa finally broke ground on a new Booker T. Washtong Community Center.
• The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum got a $1 million grant for a 5,000+ sq-ft. expansion project.
• Just before Christmas, the City of Sapulpa announced that the Dewey Avenue would remain closed through the holidays as they work on finishing some final finishing touches. Lights were working by that evening, though more need to be installed.