Looper Preserves and Gifts History

Goodwell, Okla. — On October 6th, 2018, Panhandle State alumnus and retired instructor, Lloyd Looper made his way to the university’s surplus auction along with other community members.

Midway through the auction, a pair of old, broken, and worn-down desks came to the front.
Without anyone bidding, Looper stated, “I saw it and I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to save that. I can’t let it go.’”

Looper snagged the couple of projects for a small fee of five dollars per desk. Upon bringing his new purchases home, he decided to take a closer look at the antique treasures. A “’43” was stamped on the desks, as well as a “Panhandle A&M College ‘56” stamp. Looper believes the desks were built in 1943, then inventoried at Panhandle State in 1956.

With such a treasure, Looper wanted to make the history last, so he decided on making cutting boards out of the desks. He began wood working in 1967 when his wife, Doris Looper, gave him a lathe to suit his interest in creating wood projects. After many years of wood working and creating wood pieces to help support scholarships, Looper was well practiced when the desire to save school history was put on his heart.

Looper decided that he wanted to give one of the cutting boards to Kelly Faltyn, Panhandle State’s First Lady. He believes that the history in the oak is what is where its worth lies and wants to keep that history alive by gifting it back to those who appreciate it.

Panhandle State President Tim Faltyn stated, “it’s a wonderful thing to have people like Lloyd Looper preserving and valuing the history of what makes Panhandle State great. I can’t thank him enough for his generosity and thoughtfulness.”

Looper intends to be able to produce 16 complete cutting boards out of the two desks he purchased and wants to continue to spread them around. With people like Looper in the community, Panhandle State’s rich history will continue to live on through the generations.