Our company celebrated it’s 100th anniversary on May 26, 2022, by hosting a special celebration for our customers, employees, and friends. We had an old-fashioned picnic at our office, with games for the kids, hotdogs, and special prize giveaways. Much thanks go to our wonderful customers for supporting us for over 100 years. We would not be here without the communities that we serve!
We’ve been working for several months on planning and preparation to get Fort Cobb connected to an all-new high-speed GIGABIT FIBER network. This week, since the rains let up just a bit, we were able to get back to hanging more cable and installing equipment. We’re well on the way towards turning our first customers up on this new system in just a few short weeks. Take a look at some of the progress we captured today in pictures:
Every year, we sponsor a photo contest during the Carnegie Tri-County Free Fair. We try to find the best photo from around our area to be featured on the cover of our annual telephone directory. With the cancellation of the Fair this year because of COVID-19, our contest is now entirely online. You could be the big winner! Just submit your photo on our photo contest page here.
We took some time this Friday to give a pat on the back to our great employees. We had set a goal to reach, and we hit the target on time. We had an informal lunch with all of our employees–socially-distancing, of course! The weather cooperated, so we were able to enjoy some time outside in rather cool weather for July to have a delicious lunch provided by a local business, Taqueria Guadalajara.
We’re finally glad to roll out our services to everyone in the Crow’s Roost community on the north side of Fort Cobb Lake. We are proud to be a part of this community, as we connected up the fire station to our network, as well as several homes and businesses over the course of the previous few months. We wanted to test our equipment out really well and make sure it worked. This summer, we’re finally ready to go and offer an amazing customer experience to the good people who live, work, and play in Crow’s Roost!
We are excited to continue to expand where our ultra-fast gigabit network can go. Now, we are upgrading our network in Fort Cobb, OK, with the latest fiber-to-the-home technology in the summer of 2020. Gigabit fiber service is coming very soon to the home of the Mustangs!
Our crews have been busy installing an extension to the top of our tower at Crow’s Roost on the north side of Fort Cobb Lake. With this additional height, we can now reach the entire Crow’s Roost and Swan Lake area with affordable, reliable, high-speed internet.
These have been unprecedented times this spring! With everyone stuck inside their houses, internet use has been skyrocketing! We’re here to keep things running as smoothly as possible. We had a little bit of work to do on some of our towers this morning, and with social-distancing being the order of the day, we did it “vertically”. As crews climbed up to 300 feet in the air to replace antennas, we worked quickly to get things upgraded as quickly as possible.
We all got dressed up in warm hoodies, and prepared to take off driving down Main Street in Carnegie for this year’s Christmas Parade. The Carnegie Chamber of Commerce decided that it was time to bring back the fun in December by having a parade of highly-decorated cars and floats. We decked out one of our bucket trucks in a bunch of Christmas lights and even a big tree in the bed! It was a fun time for everyone to throw out some candy and encourage people to sign up for a chance to win a free TV this Christmas season. Merry Christmas from your Carnegie Telephone friends!
The Carnegie Telephone family is saddened at the loss of Lyn Johnson. Lyn had served as President & CEO of the company for many years, in addition to working in many other roles here over the course of his lifetime. Lyn will definitely be missed, and we will always cherish the happy memories we had of him.
Lyn David was born August 2, 1955 in Carnegie, Oklahoma to Wesley and Fannye Wright Johnson. Surrounded by his family, Lyn, 64, left this earth to meet Jesus on Friday, September 13, 2019 in Edmond, Oklahoma after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Lyn spent his childhood in Carnegie and attended Carnegie Public Schools. Lyn graduated with the Class of 1973. At the young age of 16, he began working at the Carnegie Telephone Company for his family, eventually becoming President and CEO.
Lyn attended the University of Oklahoma from 1973-1976. It was there he met his future wife, Terri. Lyn married Terri Rene Roseborough on October 16, 1976 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After college, Lyn and Terri returned to Carnegie where Lyn resumed his role in the family business. Along with his family, they became the 4th generation of the James A. Wright family to own and operate the local telephone company. It has remained in the family for 98 years.
Lyn and Terri were blessed with three daughters: Julie Lynelle, in 1980; Michelle Rene, in 1983; and Torie Lyn, in 1987.
Lyn was very active in the First Baptist Church of Carnegie, where he served as a deacon. He also served as the Sunday School Director for many years. In addition, Lyn was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
Lyn loved the town of Carnegie and served on numerous boards and committees. In 2006, he was Carnegie’s Citizen of the Year, and in 2018, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Carnegie Chamber of Commerce.
Lyn was inducted into the Oklahoma Rural Broadband Association Hall of Fame in 2018 and received the highest award given to members, the OTA Bill Barnes Award, in 2019.
Above all, Lyn loved Jesus and spent time reading the Bible and praying for others every day. Lyn shared his love for the Lord for over 30 years, singing as part of a gospel trio, and eventually quartet, known as The Messengers.
Lyn loved Carnegie Schools. He spent many Friday nights running the chains at the high school football games. He also helped the basketball coaches by scouting other teams in the area. He was an avid Wildcat fan and loved the red and black. He also became a huge Oklahoma City Thunder fan. His love of red and black quickly changed to Thunder blue as his kids had graduated and all moved away.
Another joy of his life was his grandchildren. He adored every one of them and was so thankful for the time he got to spend with Bella, Alivia, Mia, Logan, Lucy, and Britton.
Lyn’s favorite two weeks of the year were to travel to Cancun with his wife, family, and different friends throughout the years. He loved the beach so much and enjoyed taking people there to enjoy the beautiful water and surroundings. Lyn and Terri were also blessed the past few years to travel the world with their friends Lynn and Nancy Merrill. They enjoyed many adventures and were called “One N Lyn” and “Two N Lynn”. Much laughter occurred on these trips.
Lyn was such a fun person to be around and his quick wit was always evident. He once told his wife when she asked him about moving closer to their kids that “if Carnegie isn’t moving, I’m not moving.” He loved his hometown.
Lyn was preceded in death by his parents Wesley and Fannye Johnson and his brother in law Gary Woodruff. Survivors include his wife, Terri; his daughters, Julie Butler and husband, Ben; Michelle Sawyer and husband, Joshua; and Torie Moore and husband, Zachery; six grandchildren, Alivia and Logan Butler, Bella and Lucy Sawyer, and Mia and Britton Moore, all of Edmond, Oklahoma, his sister, Leslie Woodruff, Carnegie, Oklahoma and Deanna Johnson, Coolidge, Arizona, and numerous relatives and friends.