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<DIV><SPAN class=325580018-22122006><FONT face=Arial>I realize that OU and OSU
may be the only state schools still open, but if anybody else is out there, I
hope you have a safe & happy holiday season. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=325580018-22122006><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=325580018-22122006><FONT face=Arial>And, just in case you need
to listen to something besides Mariah Carey singing "All I Want for Christmas is
You" every 10 minutes, here's a song (and a singer) I just love that has
roots in Oklahoma:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=325580018-22122006><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=325580018-22122006><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://www.minibite.com/christmas/hippo.htm">http://www.minibite.com/christmas/hippo.htm</A>
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=325580018-22122006><FONT face=Arial>I found this information
online: </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Great song titles aren't all that common, more's
the pity, but here's one that's just top-notch. Gayla Peevey, according to
legend, was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area, and this 1953 hit
was recorded as a fund-raiser to bring the city zoo a hippo. The song raised
$3,000 and the hippo was procured. Unfortunately, Matilda, the hippo, was
scheduled to be transferred to Walt Disney World but died instead in March 1998.
The song is campy as all get-out, but it never fails to raise eyebrows and perk
up ears upon first hearing. <B>Gayla Peevey</B> herself writes in to add: "The
record was released nationally by Columbia Records and because the Oklahoma City
Zoo needed a hippo at the time, the song gave them the idea of putting together
a major media blitz asking kids to send in nickels and dimes to raise money to
buy Gayla a hippopotamus for Christmas. Matilda, a baby hippo, was presented to
me, and I donated her to the zoo. In a roundabout way the song indeed helped the
zoo a<SPAN class=325580018-22122006>c</SPAN>quire a hippo, but the song was not
recorded for that purpose." </FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2>Pam McConahay</FONT>
<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Assoc. Dir., Compliance, Training & Lender
Relations</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>University of Oklahoma Financial
Aid Services</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>1000 Asp Avenue, Room 216
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Norman OK 73019-4078</FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>(405) 325-4617 Fax (405) 325-7608</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>pmcconahay@ou.edu </FONT></P></DIV>
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