2020 VISION: Zaloudek leads Kremlin kids in doing good deeds for their community

Feb. 23--KREMLIN, Okla. -- For the past 27 years, Gini Zaloudek and her WildHorse Gang have been making a difference in the town of the Kremlin and its younger residents who are part of the gang.

WildHorse Gang, established 1992, is a Christian volunteer community organization for youths. Meetings are held during the school year on the first Tuesday of every month at Zaloudek's home.

It began with stolen golf balls

It was at the founder and director's home that the WildHorse Gang really began, Zaloudek explained.

"Kids were doing a lot of things in Kremlin, breaking into houses and garages," she said. "I didn't think it mattered to me until they stole a 5-gallon bucket of golf balls I practiced with. Having done so much volunteer work, I decided it would be something good to do with kids: Teach them to do something else.

"And," she said, "it worked."

The aim was to get Kremlin's kids out in the community, doing good, and keep them too busy to get into any shenanigans.

"They usher at the symphony (Enid Symphony Orchestra), and they've been doing that for five or six years. They do roadside cleanups with the Lions Club," Zaloudek said. "They just finished a big project they came up with themselves. They cleaned up the parking lot at the Kremlin Post Office."

Before the cleanup there was grass in the parking lot and curbs broken everywhere.

"And they fixed it," Zaloudek said. "It looks like a new post office."

She said the kids also serve at the Integris Bass Baptist Medical Center Christmas Dinner, with 700 to 800 guests present. The kids get tips for their service, which they pool and split.

'A lot of cans'

Each year, an aluminum can round-up is held after school ends for the summer and "between the rain," Zaloudeck said. She said the kids collect and fill up an entire roll-away container, which can take two trips to deliver to the recycling center.

"We fill it clear to the top and still have some left over. Poundwise, it's 1,000-plus pounds," she said. "I'll tell you, it's a lot of cans."

The proceeds all go to support the Kremlin pool, which provides free entry to members of the gang during the summer.

Last year, a thief stole a truckload of cans from the roll-away dumpster. Despite the setback for the kids, Zaloudek said the community stepped up to help in light of the theft.

"I think the most amazing thing ... the correctional center on East Maine ... the director called me and told me they wanted to give (their) cans to the kids," she said.

Zaloudek said she thought the director was deciding to give away cans the inmates collected for their pocket money, but it was the inmates who asked the director to make the donation.

"It was an amazing experience. The guys enjoyed talking to the kids and telling them, what they shouldn't do," she said. "Everyone of them signed the paper -- all of them signed to give away the cans.That's amazing to me. They didn't have to do that. It had an impact on the inmates even."

Proud of what they do

WildHorse Gang is for any Kremlin kids, as young as preschool, as long as their parents know the children must behave, Zaloudek said. She said there's about 15 kids in the program, but most leave when they reach high school and get involved in more activities.

"Kids get busy when they get to be high school kids," she said. "I keep them so busy its hard for them to be involved in school and be involved in WildHorse Gang."

Zaloudek said she even has favorite events for the gang because of the impact they have on the kids.

"I love for them to usher at the symphony and serve dinners because they have to dress up -- black pants and white shirts," she said. "And they're proud of themselves when they dress up."

She said each a time a meeting is held, they always conduct the flag salute, conduct the salute to state of Oklahoma, recite the Lord's prayer and the 10 commandments.

"I want the kids to be proud of where they come from and what they do and what they've accomplished," she said.

What's in a name

Zaloudek said an area a mile or two north of Kremlin was called Wild Horse because it was the name of creek that ran through there. She said she also used to live in Duncan, and behind her house ran the Wild Horse Creek. She said she added gang to the name because of one featured in a TV show.

Zaloudek said there were some in the community who warned her and told her to drop the word "gang" from the group's name.

"I said I was going to prove to people that 'gang' was good word," she said.

Zaloudek said the group was invited for pizza at a really nice home of a woman in Kremlin, and she worried about how the kids would behave.

"Those kids were perfect, and she said, 'Don't you dare change the name.' So, I didn't," she said. "I just tried to prove to people how you could make a gang a good gang."

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Rains is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle. Follow him on Twitter, @cassrains.

2020 Vision is a special section that will publish in the Enid News & Eagle for eight Sundays in February, March and April 2020. The section is designed to feature individuals, businesses and organizations in Enid and Northwest Oklahoma that work every day for the betterment of the region and its residents. This section, which published Feb. 16, 2020, focuses on Northwest Oklahoma.

Read all sections at 2020 Vision: All stories

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Cass? Send an email to crains@enidnews.com.

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