KEYES, OKLAHOMA — The school year is almost out.
That’s why kids and parents in Keyes got together for lunch on a Tuesday.
Hamburgers and hot dogs make a good pairing, but look around here and you’ll see some other natural pairings.
Thomas and Kaci Compton make up one example.
Ross and Rowdy Menefee make another.
“They are 8 years old,” says mom Courtney Menefee.
There’s Dylan and Tayton Caddell, and don’t forget the Wells twins, Reaha and Rebekah.
School Superintendent Sherri Hitchings is right.
“Crazy odd,” she laughs. “Crazy odds.”
When you consider where the town of Keyes sits, right in the middle of sparsely populated Cimarron County, when you consider there are only 75 kids in the whole school and that there were six sets of twins here at one time in the Fall, the ‘Keyes’ to this city appear to come in pairs.
“There’s too many twins,” says Tayten Caddell, a twin himself.
“Yeah.” agrees another twin Ross Menefee.
Out of 11 kids in the first grade, 6 are twins.
Explanations from parents range from natural to nature.
“We both have twins in our family,” explains Ashley Wells, mother of Rebekah and Reaha.
“This is my second set of twins,” says Jeff Compton, father of Thomas and Kaci.
“I think we had a blizzard several years back,” laughs Rusty Menefee.
As field day commences and all the children in this small town run around seeing double has become the norm.
They’re all good friends.
All of Keyes’ twins are good kids so far.
“They’re juvenile delinquents,” smiles Rusty Menefee.
Actually, Jessi James, Tayton and Dyan’s mom, “we feel sorry for the parents who only have one kid at a time.”
Call it a statistical anomaly or something in the water.
Call it history.
The Nalls twins, Hazel and Gladys, made up two-thirds of the graduating class of 1931.
“Are they a lot of fun?” asks a school visitor.
“Oh yeah,” responds father Adam Caddell. “They’re a blast. They make life worth living.”
Minnesota has its famous Twin Cities.
Keyes would be proud to call itself Oklahoma’s ‘Twins City’
As of the last day of school, there were 4 sets of twins enrolled. The other four twins moved away during the first semester.