Residents rejuvenate town

RED OAK, Okla. (AP) -- Residents here are getting a new glimpse and an old look of their small eastern Oklahoma town as they come together to clean the community. Murals have been painted in downtown

Thursday, January 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

RED OAK, Okla. (AP) -- Residents here are getting a new glimpse and an old look of their small eastern Oklahoma town as they come together to clean the community. Murals have been painted in downtown business windows. Trashcans have a fresh coat of paint. Even the streets have received a makeover with 10 miles of fresh pavement. "I just decided that if I was going to live here, it was going to look good," said Dru Kauk, who participated in the town's two clean-up days.

Ms. Kauk said the Red Oak FFA plans to build a gazebo and planters in an abandoned corner of downtown. "They're going to make it a place of beauty," she said. But the town cleaning also has given residents a glimpse of the past. Underneath weathered paint at an old pool hall, a sign was discovered that advertised "Drink Mission Orange." "I didn't even know what Mission Orange was," Ms. Kauk said. "But the next day we were fishing at our regular fishing hole and there was a can that said, 'Mission Root Beer. Bottled in 1954."' She brought the can home and cleaned it. Ms. Kauk said it's a reminder of her town's restoration.