When you drive by Alva's Cherokee Strip Museum and see two life-sized buffaloes "out to pasture" in the yard anchored in cement think of Alva couple Wes and Beth Smith. Anyone who knew Wes would expect the punchline to a joke he would tell about then.

Wes passed away earlier this year on Feb. 19. Beth started volunteering at the museum well over 20 years ago and was a board member. She became curator of the museum about 23 years ago. She said Wes helped her a great deal at the museum. With memorial money given in Wes's memory, Beth decided a fitting tribute would be to enhance the museum with...