“You don’t know jack.”
That sounds like something a teenager might say, but in this case, I did get to know Jack. What’s more, I got to know the three creative women who are with Jack. They are utilizing his story to promote their business and their community, and having a lot of fun in the process.
Sisters Marsha Hoagland, Diane Johnson and Rhonda Gabriel are the owners of Red Dirt Jack’s in Medicine Lodge. Red Dirt Jack’s is a gas station, convenience store and more.
These three women and a fourth sister, Kim Fowles, are the Hoagland sisters. They were raised on the family ranch in western Barber County. “We call it red dirt country,” Marsha said. The ranch is near the unincorporated rural community of Lake City which today has a population of perhaps 20 people. Now, that’s rural.
They grew up here, went to school in Medicine Lodge and on to college. Marsha went to Wichita State and had a career in finance. Her husband’s family owned a convenience store in Oklahoma for many years.
