Keeper of History and Professional Plate Spinner
Introducing Allie Prater! Managing editor! Mother! A woman who has flown in a Black Hawk, photographed basketball from a scissor lift and still cannot convince the clean laundry to put itself away.
For Newspaper Week, we gave Allie the 20-questions treatment. Six years into the job, her preferred title is “professional plate spinner.”
“And the plates are all glass.” Her days include answering emails, choosing content for The Cushing Citizen, The Yale News and The Keystone Gusher, and putting together the weekly online entertainment magazine, the Cimarron Valley Weekender. She also writes articles and takes photos.
Her simpler explanation: “I talk to people and write what they say for a living.”
The work has brought recognition for four stories, 14 photos and nine columns, along with Editor & Publisher’s 25 Under 35 honor in 2021 and Editor Extraordinaire recognition in 2023. A Rotary Club member, she also received a Paul Harris Fellow award for community service.
But this story began with chicken sandwiches. Allie was working at Chick-fil-A when her father bought The Cushing Citizen, followed later by The Yale News and what was then the Drumright Gusher. Knowing she could write, he asked whether she wanted to apply for the editor position.
Yes, apply. There was an interview, too. Her assignment was covering Dance Star Productions’ annual recital. Talking to children whose hearts were full of passion for something they had practiced so hard made her fall in love with the work. She could share their excitement with everyone.
That remains her favorite part: celebrating wins, sharing good news, giving back and, most of all, being a keeper of history.
The harder assignments carry a different responsibility. Sharing someone’s best day is a joy. Reporting on their worst day can be heavy.
Success also requires organization. One misplaced paper can derail a week of deadlines. And the unexpected skill requirement?
Depth perception. Foul balls have found her at baseball and softball games, and football sidelines have provided too many close calls. Apparently, the camera does not come with a protective force field.
Before journalism, Allie babysat through middle and high school and cleaned businesses in Bristow and Chandler. Her first “real” job was working in the kitchen at Frontier Lanes in Stillwater the summer after graduation. She remembers it as a lot of fun.
Born in Grants, New Mexico, at the base of Mount Taylor, she grew up camping in the crater, exploring lava tubes, picking berries and launching model rockets in the desert. Each year, her family drove up the mountain to cut a Christmas tree.
At 7, she moved to Tryon and attended school in Perkins. She transferred to Chandler in eighth grade and graduated in 2017.
Today, her crew includes husband Skyler, son Jamison and dogs Ren and Weiss. Her ideal day off is an adventure with family, whether exploring nature, visiting an aquarium or zoo, or window-shopping in the city.
The woods feel most like home. From Mount Taylor to her parents’ property, trees and trails have always offered somewhere to explore.
Her first answer for a story she’d like to experience anew is Harry Potter: read the books, then see the movies with fresh eyes. But setting childhood nostalgia aside, she chooses “The Expanse” books. Their intricate world and politics still reveal something new with every reading.
Her adventure wish list is extensive: drive a big fire engine, stand atop Boone Pickens Stadium where the National Guard fires the cannon, go skydiving and try bungee jumping.
Her dream car is equally specific: a sky-blue 1957 Studebaker Lark with whitewall tires.
The smells of tiropitas and spanakopitas bring back hours in the kitchen with her mother and Yiayia, making Christmas dinner.
At 8, Allie wanted to be an archaeologist or paleontologist, thanks to Brendan Fraser’s “The Mummy” movies and “Jurassic Park.” She thinks that girl would be proud she’s happy and a good mother, although disappointed by the current lack of a treehouse for reading.
Her favorite annual assignment is the Keystone Lake Guide, where she shares her love of the lake and the outdoors. Her favorite stand-alone assignment involved covering National Guard preparations for Task Force Tomahawk. She flew by Black Hawk from Tulsa to Fort Riley, Kansas, followed National Guard and Air National Guard members through training and interviewed them.
Another memorable assignment involved senior photos for a basketball player. With a scissor lift left in the gym, the coach let her ride up to photograph a dunk from behind the backboard glass.
She got the shot. She just wishes someone had photographed her getting it.
Personally, Allie is proud of her growth as a person and mother. Professionally, she’s proud of becoming more patient and better at teaching others.
Off the clock, she reads, plays video games, especially Fortnite with her nephews, and sometimes makes candles.
Her request for household magic is modest: She’ll wash and dry the laundry if it will fold and put itself away. Otherwise, that clean basket may require five to 10 business days.
There you have her: Allie Prater! Spinning glass plates, chasing stories and occasionally dodging sporting equipment.
Behind it all is gratitude. She considers this work a privilege and thanks the readers and advertisers who make it possible. Communities that value local journalism are something she never takes for granted.