ion Oklahoma Magazine December 2015 / January 2016

ionOk.com

From vinyl records to computers, Ronnie Kaye still gets his groove on Philosophy the same in overseas conflict or art creation for Choctaw artist D.G. Smalling Thomas Friedman speaks at UCO

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

The PinUp Dames!

Supermodel for a day Play to learn at Oklahoma Wondertorium in Stillwater David Gregory visits the Bombing Memorial

Lifestyle ‌ Culture ‌ Entertainment

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OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS MEN'S BASKETBALL - 2015-16 SCHEDULE Date

Time

Opponent

Loacation

Dec 12

7:30 PM

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Sioux Falls, SD

Dec 15

7:00 PM

Longwood Lancers

Stillwater, OK

Dec 19

5:00 PM

Florida (Orange Bowl Basketball Classic)

Sunrise, FL

Dec 29

7:00 PM

Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos

Stillwater, OK

Jan 02

3:00 PM

TCU Horned Frogs

Stillwater, OK

Jan 05

7:00 PM

Baylor Bears

Waco, TX

Jan 09

1:00 PM

West Virginia Mountaineers

Morgantown, WV

Jan 13

8:00 PM

Oklahoma Sooners

Stillwater, OK

Jan 16

5:00 PM

Texas Longhorns

Austin, TX

Jan 19

6:00 PM

Kansas Jayhawks

Stillwater, OK

Jan 23

6:00 PM

Kansas State Wildcats

Manhattan, KS

Jan 27

8:00 PM

Baylor Bears

Stillwater, OK

Jan 30

7:00 PM

Auburn Tigers

Auburn, AL

Feb 03

8:00 PM

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Lubbock, TX

Feb 06

1:00 PM

Iowa State Cyclones

Stillwater, OK

Feb 08

6:00 PM

TCU Horned Frogs

Fort Worth, TX

Feb 13

12:00 PM

Kansas State Wildcats

Stillwater, OK

Feb 15

8:00 PM

Kansas Jayhawks

Lawrence, KS

Feb 20

8:30 PM

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Stillwater, OK

Feb 24

8:00 PM

Oklahoma Sooners

Norman, OK

Feb 27

5:00 PM

West Virginia Mountaineers

Stillwater, OK

Feb 29

6:00 PM

Iowa State Cyclones

Ames, IA

Mar 04

8:00 PM

Texas Longhorns

Stillwater, OK

2016

OKLAHOMA SOONERS MEN’S BASKETBALL - 2015-16 SCHEDULE DATE Dec 12 Dec 19 Dec 22-25 2016 Jan 02 Jan 04 Jan 09 Jan 13 Jan 16 Jan 18 Jan 23 Jan 26 Jan 30 Feb 02 Feb 06 Feb 08 Feb 13 Feb 17 Feb 20 Feb 24 Feb 27 Mar 01 Mar 05 Mar 09 - 12

OPPONENT Oral Roberts Creighton Washington State Diamond Head Classic

LOCATION Norman Norman

TIME (CT) 1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

Honolulu, HA

10:00 p.m.

Iowa State * Kansas * Kansas State * Oklahoma State * West Virginia * Iowa State * Baylor * Texas Tech * LSU (BIG 12 / SEC CHALLENGE) TCU * Kansas State * Texas * Kansas * Texas Tech * West Virginia * Oklahoma State * Texas * Baylor * TCU *

Norman Lawrence, KS. Norman Stillwater, OK. Norman Ames, IA Waco, TX Norman

6:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

11:00 a.m.

6:00 p.m.

Baton Rouge, LA.

TBA

Norman Manhattan, KS. Norman Norman Lubbock, TX Morgantown, WV. Norman Austin, TX Norman Fort Worth, TX

7:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m.

12:00 p.m.

TBA * Kansas City, Mo. BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

* Conference Games

TBA

publisher : Don Swift assistant : Joni Yeager editor : Tim Farley editiorial assistant : Darian Woolbright videographer : Jeremy Gossett director of photography : Michael Downes web site developer : Patrick Moore with Set Sail Media web site developer : Nina Jones, Data Design Inc. illustration : Rosemary Burke graphic design : Wendy Mills Advertising Sales Dave Amis Tina Layman Photographers Justin Avera Jeremy Gossett Donny Ho Fran Kozakowski Hugh Scott, Jr. Tracy Reece Jerry Hymer

Advertising Consultants Rick Buchanan Contributors fashion : Linda Miller art : Joy Reed Belt people : Peggy Gandy entertainment : Heide Brandes book reviews : Lucy Smoker social issues : Robbie Robertson community : Lauren Wright bon appetite : Cheryl Payne contributing writer : Julie Bishop contributing writer : Don Brewington contributing writer : Greg Horton contributing writer : Asa Leveaux contributing writer : M.A. Smith contributing writer : Mindy Wood contributing writer : Julie York thunder fastbreak : Tim Farley

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 ionOklahoma 9

14

Contents COVER STORY

14

From vinyl records to computers, legendary DJ Ronnie Kaye still gets his groove on

by Sandi Davis

ART

23

Chickasaw artists’ work on display

by M. J. Van Deventer

68

Philosophy the same in overseas conflict or art creation for Choctaw artist D.G. Smalling

by Tim Farley

FASHION

78

Southwest Travels Inspire Priceless Navajo Rug Collec

40

by Linda Miller

THEATRE

20

Perfectly dressed eyes and lips: Go sexy, sultry and sophisticated

Broadway musical ‘Ragtime’ national tour to perform at Oklahoma City Community College on Dec. 13-14

PEOPLE

32

by M. J. Van Deventer

Annie Oakley Society Honors Noted Philanthropist and Navy Admiral

by M. J. Van Deventer

20

42

The PinUp Dames! Supermodel for a day.

by Mindy Ragan Wood

82

An interview with journalist David Gregory at the OKC National Memorial

by Peter Preksto

89

In My Space: First Gentlemen

BY Peggy Gandy

10 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

64 TRAVEL

73

Edmond missionaries work to restore Christmas in Sierra Leone: Couple hopes to bring joy to children in two orphanages

by Sandi Davis

47

Play to learn at Oklahoma Wondertorium

by Linda Miller

ENTERTAINMENT / MOVIES

53

Movies: Crimson Peak, The Night Before, Spectre

by Jacob Oller

60

Winning combination: Newcastle Casino adds games, restaurant, parking garage

by Linda Miller

64

REVIEWS

Merry & Bright:Holidays at the Myriad Gardens!

29

by Mindy Ragan Wood

What’s for dinner? Ree Drummond has the perfect menus

by M. J. Van Deventer

47

50

Book Buzz: Show Us Your Book

by Lucie Smoker

COMMUNITY

36

Pulitzer Prize Winner Thomas Friedman Shares View of New Electronic Global Economy

86

Opening Night: It’s a fun, family-friendly event full of action, music and fireworks

by Sandi Davis

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 11

Publisher’s Note Welcome to ion Oklahoma Online, one of Oklahoma’s fastest growing online digital lifestyle magazines and news-entertainment websites.

For more than a decade after the start of OKC Maps Project was approved, downtown Oklahoma City is today being recognized as one of the most successful urban transformation projects in America. Mayor Ron Norick’s original plan approved in December 1993 to fund the rebuilding of downtown Oklahoma City is being studied by many cities across the nation.

Over the years Oklahoma City has seen both public and private investments totaling more than $3.14 Billion. Forbes Magazine has published several feature stories describing this tremendous transition and one of the most desirable commuter cities in America, one of the best cities for jobs and among one of America’s cleanest cities.

“Like” us on facebook facebook.com/pages/ IonOklahoma-Online

The big Oklahoma City downtown undertaking will be the Core-To-Shore Project.

City planners are expecting it will be taking our wonderful city and lifestyle to the next level in its journey to that of Major League City status. There’s also the planned convention center, a proposed convention center hotel and a streetcar system.

I would encourage all Oklahomans to visit Oklahoma City over the holidays. It’s exciting and uplifting for everyone at Ion Oklahoma to publish the holiday printed edition. Hope everyone will have a safe, happy holidays and Happy New year.

follow us on twitter @IonOklahoma

Sincerely, Don Swift Publisher ion Oklahoma

12 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

COVER

From vinyl records to computers, legendary DJ Ronnie Kaye still gets his groove on

Ronnie Kaye hangs out with Elvis.

14 ionOklahoma FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015

Back at KOMA, Kaye recalls meeting Elvis, Smokey Robinson and other musical greats

BY SANDI DAVIS

F

rom the days of radio studios equipped with turntables and vinyl records to today’s studio filled with computer screens and keyboards, legendary disc jockey Ronnie Kaye has kept generations of listeners entertained with an enticing mix of music, special guests and his smooth voice.

Kaye has been working in radio since his first job at radio station KLCN in Blytheville, Ark., doing play-by-play for a county basketball tournament while still in high school in the mid-1950s.

These days he has the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift on KOMA and plays a mix of music from the 1960s through the 1980s.

For those counting, that’s almost 60 years. In that time he’s been a DJ and hosted a hugely popular dance show, “The Scene” from 1966 to 1974.” At one time it was syndicated and played in other markets like San Diego and San Francisco. He took a break from radio in the 1980s to work at a TV station but returned to radio in 1991 when he went to work for KOMA.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 ionOklahoma 15

“I know it sounds trite but I love this,” Kaye said in an interview at KOMA. “The other thing has been luck. I’ve been blessed. I always seem to step on the right stone in the water.”

Kaye believes he has been on the air longer than any other DJ in Oklahoma.

He started his stint in Oklahoma City with WKY radio in 1961 already well versed in rock and roll.

“When I worked in Blytheville, rock and roll was just two years old. It was close to Memphis and the music scene there was really hot but, especially when Elvis started recording,” Kaye said.

The national president of the Elvis Presley Fan Club listened to Kaye’s show and invited him to see Graceland.

“I went. Elvis wasn’t home, but I met his dad,” Kaye recalled.

Kaye would meet The King years later while he and his wife were visiting Los Angeles in 1968. They were just outside the main gate at Paramount Studios. He asked the security guard if any celebrities would be coming or going out of the gate and was told that Elvis should be coming out at any time.

Elvis was filming “Spin Out” with Nancy Sinatra. He left the movie lot sitting in the back seat of a car.

Kaye and his wife followed the car through Beverly Hills and Bel Aire up into the Hollywood Hills until Elvis’ car stopped at a gate in front of his house on Rocco Road.

Kaye jumped out of his car and ran to Elvis’ car and knocked on the window.

Elvis rolled the window down and like so many of us who freeze when we meet someone we admire, Kaye’s mind went blank.

“I stood there looking at Elvis Presley,” he said. “I finally blurted out, ‘Your wife is beautiful.’”

Elvis, always quick with a reply, smiled at the flustered man and said, “That’s what she tells me.”

Kaye, who is easy to talk to, sat in a conference room at Tyler Media, owner of KOMA, relaxed with a slight smile as we talked. His looks haven’t changed much since his early days in the city and he looked handsome in a black sweater over a white shirt with the sleeves of both rolled to his elbows. His jeans covered the tops of black cherry Luchese cowboy boots.

“I was lucky to be at WKY in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Kaye said. “In the early days, bands would tour from city to city and stop by a radio station for interviews and maybe a performance.”

He recalls meeting Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Ray Charles, The Temptations.

Once, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were at WKY to do a recording, but the single studio used for taping was being used to make a TV commercial for C.R. Anthony’s, a clothing chain. The filming went

16 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

Three scenes from the television show the Scene, that was hosted

by Ronnie Kaye in the 60s and 70s.

Dr. Pepper also sponsored “The Scene.” They also sponsored “American Bandstand.”

The first few shows, Kaye was particular about showing how the dancers looked, dressed, acted and danced. He provided costumes (which he still has).

“The Scene” lasted eight years. During that time Dick Clark himself came to the show when it filmed at The State Fair of Oklahoma.

longer and longer.

“I kept having to go back to our coffee shop to tell them they needed to wait a little longer,” he said. “I felt bad but they were so nice. When I finally had to tell the group that they wouldn’t be able to tape that day, they took it really well.

“They were dressed like they were ready to go on stage but they needed a ride back to their hotel so I took them. They sang to me all the way to their hotel. It was wonderful.”

In the mid-1960s, films of bands singing their songs started coming to WKY. They came from bands like the Beatles who didn’t tour a lot.

Kaye had been watching “American Bandstand” and thought a show like that would be popular in Oklahoma City.

“I asked about doing a dance show using local high school students. They said yes and gave me a 13 week contract,” he said. “I didn’t know that Anthony’s has asked about having a show for teenagers just before I did.”

Clark invited Kaye to Los Angeles to see “American Bandstand” and had him sit on the bleachers.

“Now you have to remember that it was the 60s and how we dressed back then. I had on a bright purple suit,” Kaye recalled. “I couldn’t believe it when Dick Clark asked about the color of that suit.

“I said it was exploding grape.”

“American Bandstand” had a popular dance contest featuring couples from coast to coast. “The Scene” sent the show’s winning couple Deitrich Nelson and Davida Williams. They won the 1969 contest and both received cars.

“The Scene” started by using specific high schools but finally opened up the show to all schools and loosened the dress code a bit when the show went into DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 17

In the time he’d been working at a TV station, radio had gone into the computer age. He had training, but at first he had trouble trying to find the next song using a mouse.

“It was literally like starting over,” he said.

“After about a week I walked in to the manager’s office and said I couldn’t do it.”

The manager asked him to give it a few more days. It was good advice.

Now, he sits in his studio and makes it look effortless as he plays song after song. He talks a little, then plays commercials before going right back into music.

Above, Ronnie Kaye with Dick Clark.

Right, Ronnie cuts t he rug with James Brown,

syndication.

It also was one of the first integrated shows in the area.

When the show first began, Kaye asked, and was given two cameras. A third camera was added and by the time it was syndicated into eight markets, it was a four camera show.

“It was quality programming, and I made so many contacts and friends,” he said.

The show had performances from James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Jay and the Americans, Brewer and Shipley and a lot of local bands.

“The Scene” filmed its last show in 1974.

Kaye played tunes as vinyl, which was replaced with 8-track tapes and cassettes at WKY. As music changed, so did the programming at WKY. They let Kaye go in 1980. He worked a few weeks at KOFM, then took a job as News and Public Service Director at KOKH-TV. “I gave Kelly Ogle his first job,” Kaye said, smiling.

In 1991, KOMA called. They had changed their programming to attract the Baby Boomers and now played classic rock.

“Radio is more exciting than TV. I love it,” he said.

“It’s theater of the mind.”

Kaye went to work for KOMA, which now is housed where WKY used to be, so in a sense he’s back where he started.

It almost didn’t happen.

18 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

He enjoys talking to his listeners and communicating with the public.

“It’s amazing how perceptive the audience is,” he said. “When I don’t feel good, they call ask what’s wrong.”

How does a man with 54 years in radio keep going?

“Every morning I have oatmeal with a banana, an apple and an orange. Then I go to work,” he said. “I don’t eat while I’m on the air and I’m not hungry until after I leave.”

In addition to his radio career, Kaye started providing music for dances, including the first prom ever held at Graham High School in Okfuskee County in 2000.

The first song? “Footloose, of course.”

He provides music for all sorts of parties and an allschool reunion at a metro area casino, giving his fans a chance to thank him in person for the decades of music and memories he has provided.

“I am happy and content.” he said, as he left for another meeting. n

THEATRE Broadway musical ‘Ragtime’ national tour to perform at Oklahoma City Community College on Dec. 13-14

Oklahoma City native Jeff Johnson to play role of Booker T. Washington Oklahoma City Community College will host its first ever Broadway musical production when the national tour of “Ragtime” cakewalks into town for two shows on Sunday, Dec. 13 and Monday, Dec. 14 in the new, student-funded Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave. “Ragtime” is a 13-time Tony Award-nominated musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s bestselling 1975 novel. Set in turn-of-the-century New York, “Ragtime” tells the stories of Coalhouse Walker Jr., a daring, young Harlem musician, Mother, the matriarch of a white, upper-class family in Ragtime: Coalhouse, Sarah C.Sams, L. Jackson.

20 ion Oklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

Ragtime: Crime of the Century J. Van Niel.

New Rochelle, New York, and Tateh, a determined Jewish immigrant from Latvia, all three united by their desire and belief in a brighter tomorrow.

The musical debuted on Broadway in 1998 and ran for 834 performances, winning Tony Awards for Book of a Musical (by Terrence McNally), Original Musical Score (music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens), Orchestrations (William David Brohn) and Actress in a Featured Role (Audra McDonald).

Director/Choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010 for her revival version of the musical which is currently touring.

“This musical is a timeless celebration of life, with story themes of immigration and racial relations that makes it as relevant today as it ever was,” Dodge said.

The 2015/2016 national tour of “Ragtime” – produced by Phoenix Entertainment – kicked-off its 91-city run on Oct. 22

at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Gainesville, Florida. The tour concludes June 12 at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia.

The tour makes two stops in eastern Oklahoma before arriving in Oklahoma City: Dec. 7 at the Bartlesville Community Center and Dec. 8 at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center.

Starring roles will include Chris Sams as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Kate Turner as Mother and Matthew Curiano as Tateh.

Oklahoma City native Jeff Johnson will play the role of Booker T. Washington. Other historical figures appearing in the story include: Harry Houdini, J. P. Morgan and Henry Ford.

The soundtrack includes marches, cakewalks, gospel and ragtime, all of which will be enjoyed in the new theater, considered by some to be the best acoustic hall in Oklahoma.

The scenic design is by Kevin Depinet, lighting design by Mike Baldassari and sound design by Craig Cassidy.

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 21

a Broadway experience that feels a little more intimate, reminiscent of classic New York and London concert halls,” said Lemuel Bardeguez, Acting Vice President for Community Development for OCCC. “Our theater is modern, comfortable and conveniently located. Every seat in the house is a great seat, the sound is incredible and parking is always free and plentiful.”

Ticket Information “Ragtime” is a family-friendly show for all ages. Tickets prices range from $33.50 to $65.50, available online or at the OCCC box office on the night of the show.

For more information about “Ragtime,” visit www.ragtimeontour.com.

Learn more about Oklahoma City Community College Cultural Programs at www.occc.edu/pas.

Scenes from Ragtime. Above, Buffalo Nickel, M. Curiano.

Right, Emma Goldman S. Zwier.

About the Venue OCCC students contributed toward the construction of the new $20 million, 1,049-seat Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, which opened in Feb. 2014.

Designed as a multi-use theater space capable of accommodating Broadway musicals as well as choirs, orchestras, dance troupes, bands and movie screenings, the stage has already been graced by Francis Ford Coppola, Sandi Patty, Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

“The smaller size of our gorgeous new theater will offer 22 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

ART CHICKASAW ARTISTS’

Native American artists Timothy Tate Nevaquaya, Jim Trosper and Brenda Kingery approach their art differently but achieve similar results: powerful and stare-worthy.

Their paintings and photography can be seen through Feb. 29 at three separate locations across Oklahoma. Nevaquaya’s paintings are on display at the Chickasaw Visitor Center in Sulphur; Tropser’s photography is at the Chickasaw Nation Welcome Center in Davis; and Kingery’s paintings are showcased at Exhibit C in Oklahoma City.

Nevaquaya, son of artist and renowned flute player “Doc” Tate Nevaquaya, credits his father for setting the example of excellence and guiding his life and art.

With his father as a teacher, he learned the basic principles in Native American art forms, as well as flute making and music composition.

“My father was Comanche, and my mother Chickasaw,” Nevaquaya said. “I’ve been immersed in Native American culture all of my life. My art is a reflection of my culture. I began my art by painting my father’s styles. As I’ve grown older, I’ve since transitioned my work to be more contemporary, a style all my own.”

Nevaquaya’s work has been shown in the “Wisdom Speaks,” a painting by Timothy Tate Nevaquaya.

Smithsonian National Museum of the

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ion Oklahoma 23

American Indian, Gilcrease Museum of Western Art, Philbrook Museum of Art and the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Trosper captures with his camera lens what many of us miss. Even as a child he appreciated photography and always reached for the camera during family vacations. After graduating from UCO with a degree in photographic arts, he began freelancing, carefully building a foundation for his career.

“While it does take understanding the fundamentals of photography to create a good photo, I feel that it takes

emotion to make a photo great,” Trosper said. “If I stay passionate and pursue a great image, I always seem to end up in the perfect spot to get emotion from my subject.”

Whether he’s photographing live bands at the Zoo Amphitheatre or horse racing at Remington Park, Trosper challenges himself to work with new photo styles every day, to create irreplaceable images that capture great moments.

Kingery’s life is recorded through her paintings, masterfully working with textural patterns, the use of mixed media, acrylic or oil, and sometimes mica and small objects.

“My goal is to create paintings that reflect life’s breath. My work depicts textural patterns that can be described as narrative symbolism reflecting my Native culture. Some of my paintings have been known to have 25 layers of paint,” she said.

A Chickasaw artist, Kingery attended graduate school in Japan and at OU, writing her thesis on the origins and influences of Ryukyuan folk art. She was appointed by the President in 2007 to the Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indians and Native Alaskans in Santa Fe., N.M. Her work has been exhibited across the U.S. and in Asia, Africa and Europe. n Left, “Dance,” a painting by Brenda Kingery.

Below, Jim Trosper’s photograph titled “Road.”

ART JB ART AT THE ELMS HOLIDAY EXHIBIT JRB Art at The Elms presents a holiday group exhibition with work by 25 Oklahoma artists alongside a solo show and installation by Denise Duong.

The exhibitions opened with a reception December 4 during the Paseo’s First Friday Gallery Walk and continue through Sunday, December 27.

Denise Duong’s exhibition will occupy the

entire Ship Gallery and include the artist’s whimsical black and white drawings, several large scale paintings, and, for the very first time, an in situ artwork on the gallery walls. The exhibition’s title, “Flux,” highlights continuous change: artistic growth, her travels this year in Uganda and elsewhere, the move of her practice between mediums of paint and drawing, ceramic and in situ. fi

GeorgeBogart, 1970, Pandora’s Box, Oil on linen.

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ion Oklahoma 25

Gorey, Denise is able to provide human comfort in charming caricature.

The gallery’s January program will include 12 paintings by Oscar Brousse Jacobson, as well as a re-vamp of the gallery’s somewhat traditional “white show” – this year called “Tres Blanc.” About 20 Oklahoma artists, some entirely new to the gallery, are expected to display their work. n

Left, DeniseDuong, 2015, chicago 120.

Below, Marilyn Artus, her lipstick smiles always created trouble.

Opposite page, Ford Beckman, Pop Target 9.

In this last month of 2015, her exhibit is a fitting metaphor for the changes the United States and the world have faced over the past year – and a reminder that nothing but change is yet to come. As Heraclitus of Ephesos said, “change is the only constant.”

Denise’s imagery shows the inevitability of change at an adaptable, inviting, and human scale, as people journey with her characters through their poignantly cartoon-like escapades. In some patrons see her dog, a charming white bull terrier, anthropomorphized as only a dog lover could do – at once comic and gentlemanly. In other works, the depiction of social relationships belies Duong’s deep grasp of the human psyche – the daily interactions of two people in love, out of love, on a bike ride, doing business or caught in a windstorm. Like Shel Silverstein and Edward

26 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

PEOPLE

What’s for DINNER? Ree Drummond has the perfect menus

BY M. J. VAN DEVENTER

W

hat’s for dinner?

That’s a late afternoon, early evening lament that stretches across the country, day after day. Families peer into their fridge or freezer, pondering this ever timely question.

Cook in? Eat Out? Order take out? Skip supper? For some, the question is so daunting they head for the nearest fast food vendor.

Ree Drummond insists dinnertime doesn’t have to be that way.

She should know. As the wife of Ladd Drummond, one of Oklahoma’s best-known cattle ranchers on a large, historic spread in the Osage Hills near Pawhuska, Ree has taken this dinnertime bully by the horns and written a new cookbook, which is her fourth. Also, as the mother of four, always hungry children, she believes the new book solves the dinner problem forevermore.

“The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime” is a 398-page handsome, colorful volume complete with abundant recipes and photographs of the energetic and enterprising Drummond family at work and play.

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ion Oklahoma 29

Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders.

Ree has divided the book into 11 enticing chapters, three focusing on breakfast, salad or soup for dinner. Other topics include freezer food, 16-minute meals, pasta pronto, comfort classics, veggie and starchy sides, new favorites and quick desserts.

She notes, on the inside front cover flap: “Don’t get me wrong. I adore breakfast. I love lunch! But dinnertime definitely tops them all. It’s the time of day when we reunite with our sweeties, our kids, our friends, our parents … and catch up on the events of the day over something mouthwatering and delicious. Dinnertime anchors us, nourishes us, and reassures us. It’s the greatest meal of the day.”

This cookbook is definitely all about easy to prepare comfort food. The recipe titles are mouth-watering: Cashew Chicken, French Dip Sandwiches, Chicken Marsala, Pan-Fried Pork Chops, Beef Stroganoff, Coconut Curry Shrimp, one of the Drummonds’ household cat’s favorites.

Who could resist such tempting desserts as mini blueberry galettes, quick and easy apple tarts, raspberry fool, a traditional English dessert or your favorite ice cream topped with a homemade quick caramel or hot fudge sauce.

Like Ree’s three other cookbooks – “Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl,” “Food from My Frontier” or “A Year of Holidays” – every recipe is accompanied with step-by-step photos of how to prepare the dish. You can’t miss with a 30 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

photographic tutor like Ree, who takes most of her own photos. She did let Ladd, whom she lovingly calls “the Marlboro Man,” photograph dinner specialties featured on 11 different pages.

Just so readers will have a glimpse of Ree’s action-packed life, she includes two pages of a typical week in the family’s life, which she describes in one word - “chaotic.”

For a Wednesday night, she writes: “Hallelujah! We’re all home together again. It’s a make-it and serve-it kind of

Pioneer Woman Dinnerware comes in several mix-and-match styles and colors.

evening, so at 6:30 I whip out one of my family’s favorite dishes, Cajun Chicken Pasta, (page 188), along with a simple green salad and a batch of The Bread (page 336), which couldn’t be easier to make. We all go to bed very, very happy. And very full!”

Ree offers prep tips, noting, “Anything I can think of to do ahead of time to save my sanity, you can bet I’m going to do it.” She also introduces readers to a French cooking concept – mise en place.

“It’s a fancy term,” she knows, “but it’s one of the best get-ahead tricks many home cooks can have.

In my cooking life, mise en place can manifest itself in two different ways. The first is simply taking a few minutes to measure and assemble ingredients before I start cooking a meal - it makes the cooking process more efficient.

“The second is what I like to call make ahead mise en place.

I prepare the entire array of ingredients for a recipe one, two, even three nights ahead, (if the ingredients hold well) then store them on a rimmed baking sheet in the fridge.”

Ree uses a variety of kitchen aids to hold these ingredients - Pyrex or ceramic bowls or ramekins, covered if necessary, plastic zipper bags, Mason jars or foil packets. If necessary, she uses another tray for the countertop for dry or canned items as rice, beans, flour, cornmeal or tomatoes.

“These make-ahead meal ‘kits’ are exciting because they give me the promise of a super-quick homemade meal in the coming days. Have your kids help you put these together at the start of the week. It really does make dinnertime fun,” she promises.

Even though Ree admits, in print, “I really don’t like going to the grocery store,” she does offer stocking up tips. Her list may differ from yours but she suggests keeping items on hand that are staples in your fridge, freezer and pantry.

Her latest book, like all her others, is a keeper. If you are a newcomer to her fan club or blog, start with her first book, “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels ~ A Love Story.” Ree calls it her story of “an unlikely romance” with a chaps-wearing ruggedly handsome cowboy.

Oklahoma City fans were treated to several visits a few years ago, including a book signing at Full Circle Books, when Ree was accompanied by Ladd and their four children. Penn Square’s lower level was packed, with standing room only. She also was the guest speaker for a Pi Beta Phi sorority luncheon at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.

On Nov. 28, she returned for another engagement at Full Circle.

Since starting her website blog in 2006, The Pioneer Woman, Ree has become a number one best-selling author with her three other cookbooks.

Her cooking show, The Pioneer Woman, premiered on the Food Network in 2011. Her latest venture, in addition to the new book, is a collection of dinnerware and colorful cookware with butterfly knobs sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores and Walmart.com. Linens will eventually be added to the cookware line.

As Ree tours across the country promoting her new book and cookware, she is telling fans the Dinnertime book is her favorite.

“I packed as much deliciousness into each chapter as possible. My hope is that you will turn to this book regularly to solve your dinnertime dilemmas and that you will use these recipes to feed your family time and time again. The more stains, smudges and smears on the pages, the better!” n DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 31

PEOPLE Annie Oakley Society Honors Noted Philanthropist and Navy Admiral

BY M. J. VAN DEVENTER

A

nnie Oakley was a high-spirited trailblazer in the American West and the national society that applauds her character has honored two distinguished women who have achieved historic reputations.

Josephine “Jose” Freede, a well-known Oklahoma City philanthropist, and Michelle Howard, a four-star United States Navy Admiral, were honored by the Annie Oakley Society in November during a luncheon ceremony at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Freede was honored with the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The other recipients of that honor were Linda Davis, 2011, and Pat Summitt, 2014. Davis is a Cimarron, New Mexico rancher, daughter of one of the museum’s earliest board members and now, a current member of the museum’s board of directors. Summitt was an award-winning women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee.

Howard was honored with the Annie Oakley Society Award, the organization’s highest honor. Howard was born in California, graduated from high school in Colorado and was chosen as a distinguished honoree from the American West.

Howard joins the ranks of four other women who have been past recipients of this award – former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Reba McIntyre, Nadia Comaneci and Kristin Chenoweth.

Josephine ‘Jose’ Freede Freede was one of the Society’s founding members in 2010 and also a founding member of the museum’s Docent Council. An Oklahoma resident for the past 60 years, she is a native of Plymouth, United Kingdom and met her late husband, Dr. Henry Freede, in London, while she was serving as an orthopedic nurse.

Her good friend for the past 30 years, Oklahoma City resident Joan 32 ion Oklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

Gilmore, said, “Jose survived the bombing of World War II in London and spent part of her childhood in a safer area of Britain. Survivor is a descriptive word that still describes her.

“She and Henry fell in love. He returned to his career at Oklahoma City’s McBride Hospital. When Jose arrived in New York City from England, they were married in Manhattan’s Grace Episcopal Church. In Oklahoma, Jose turned her nursing training aside and began a career in volunteering and philanthropy,” Gilmore noted.

“The first recipient of her service was the Republican Party, which she served as a block volunteer. To this day, she remains faithful and generous to Republican candidates. For example: Jeb Bush comes to Oklahoma City, Jose is at his table for lunch,” Gilmore said.

Cathy Keating, a former First Lady of Oklahoma, recipient of the Society’s 2014 Trailblazer Award, and a founding member of the Annie Oakley Society, recounted Freede’s volunteer service.

Keating said, “For more than 60 years, Jose has embodied the spirit of Annie Oakley in her approach to bettering her community. A 2002 inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, she became known as the ‘million dollar volunteer,’ ” referring to the money she has raised for the worthy causes she and her family supported.

An avid supporter of education and the arts, her longstanding civic involvement in organizations includes serving on the boards of numerous organizations and contributing to Allied Arts, the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra, its women’s committee, and the Oklahoma City Horse Show.

Oklahoma City University inducted her into its Meinders School of Business Hall of Fame. Both Integris and Mercy

Josephine ‘Jose’ Freede (above) has received the Lifetime Achievement Award and Admiral Michelle Howard (right) the Annie Oakley Society Award, the organization’s highest honor.

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Admiral Michelle Howard

Admiral Michelle Howard

hospitals have honored her. The Freede name is on a theater in the Civic Center Music Hall, as well as on buildings at Special Care, the University of Oklahoma and OCU. Gilmore said, “Jose’s life as a widow has not slowed her down. Not only does she purchase tables and donate to major good causes, she attends them and encourages friends to do the same. She is friendly and loved. When she attends an event at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, the staff brings her a special comfortable chair to sit in.”

As a close friend, Gilmore noted, “Jose has done so many nice things for me, but a special treat was her taking me to meet Laura Bush and Mitt Romney’s wife, face to face and chatting.

She loves brunch on Sunday mornings at the Hefner Golf Club diner, where we eat eggs benedict, drink hot tea, dress casual and talk about people and current events. At benefits, she likes to leave as soon as dessert is served and so do I.” Keating said, “Freede’s longstanding civic involvement is a testament to her lifetime of achievements in our community.”

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Dr. Steven Karr, president of the National Cowboy Museum, said, “Admiral Howard is the definition of what we honor every day at the museum. The American West is known historically as a challenging frontier. Admiral Howard continues to exemplify a modern-day pioneer spirit by rising to life’s challenges with drive, tenacity and perseverance.”

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin presented Howard’s award, tracing her military achievements. Her notable assignments included leading relief efforts in Indonesia following a 2004 tsunami and directing maritime security operations and multi-national counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia in 2009. Howard’s leadership led to the rescue of the Maersk and Alabama Captain Richard Phillips, who was made famous in a 2013 film starring Tom Hanks.

Howard’s honors outside the military include receiving the NAACP Chairman’s Award in 2013, the 2011 USO Military Woman of the Year Award, and the 2009 Dominion Power Strong Men and Women Excellence in Leadership Award.

Keating said of Howard: “She demonstrates the diversity of experience this award represents, as women leaders come from all backgrounds, races, religions and industries. These women should be honored and positioned for a new generation of young people to look up to them and aspire to be like them.”

The Annie Oakley Society includes women leaders and philanthropists, who, like Annie Oakley, play significant roles in shaping communities and creating new horizons. Through their efforts, society members work to demonstrate an undying determination, passion for excellence and support for the American character preserved and promoted through the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

For further information about the Annie Oakley Society contact the National Cowboy Museum at (405) 478-2250. n

COMMUNITY

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER SHARES VIEW OF NEW ELECTRONIC GLOBAL ECONOMY…

P

ulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman delivered a relevant, timely and inspirational message at the University of Central Oklahoma Nov. 10.

The speech was the final session in the Distinguished Speaker Series at UCO. Friedman, of The New York Times, focused on how the world is exploding with information like never before and told several of his unique experiences and perspective shared from his latest book The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

Laura Butler, assistant director of student leadership programs and the Distinguished Speakers Series Committee are to be commended for their decision to invite Friedman to speak at UCO, as he is considered 36 ion Oklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

one of America’s leading interpreters of world affairs and the new globalization.

The goal of the Distinguished Speakers Series at UCO is to cultivate learning and inspire meaningful dialogue among many interested students, faculty, and local community leaders.

Friedman was the final speaker of the Distinguished Speakers Series, which has been held this year as part of the university’s 125th anniversary.

Other speakers during 2015 included Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter John Legend, Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hagar, and the Brookings Institution’s Bruce Katz.

“I have enjoyed reading all of Friedman’s books and weekly column in the New York Times,” said UCO President Don Betz. “I don’t think there is anyone in American journalism that articulates better the forces

shaping the world as Friedman does.”

Friedman delivered an impressive keynote presentation describing how the advent of new electronic technology, especially the Internet, is impacting the world and all our lives.

“Today, if you want to be a dairy farm hand, I hope you’ve taken computer science, because you will never get any closer to a cow than that,” said Friedman.

He shared what he called “the last human” and told of the IBM computer Watson answering questions on the game show “Jeopardy” under 2 seconds and beating two human champions of the game.

He shared his experience riding as a passenger in a Google X self-driving car, which has been driven more than a million miles and been in 12 accidents – all rear-end accidents caused by drivers in other cars.

Friedman explained how he was nervous at first sitting in the back seat of the car with an engineer on a laptop computer driving the car seated in the front seat, but soon felt safe as the computer driver of the car had better vision outside the car than the traditional driver sitting behind the wheel.

Next he shared that 3G phone service is now available at the summit of Mount Everest.

“We are now in the age of the last human,” he said.

“The last human bus driver, the last human taxi driver, the last human x-ray reader.”

Freidman said he’s careful in his book to not use the term the cloud, because it is too fluffy, too soft.

“This is a supernova. It’s an explosion of energy that keeps on exploding. And what it does and what it’s doing is putting into the hands of human beings the

UCO DSS Committee: (left to right) Francis Mooney; Leigha Pemberton, Manager Sport Programs, Wellness Center; Sarah Ward, Coordinator Communications and Marketing, College of Business; DSS featured speaker John Legend; Reagan Hamlin, Assistant Vice President of Development; Anne Holzberlein, UCO@125 Chair; Vice President of Development; Laura Butler, DSS Chair; Assistant Director of Student Leadership Programs in Leadership Central; Nicole Doherty, Coordinator Student Organizations

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 37

most power and energy that’s ever been put in the hands of human beings since fire,” he said.

Friedman said next, “the implication is that it’s an amazing time to be maker of things. His warning, however, is that competition is now open to everyone on the globe.

Companies will offer projects to anyone in the world who can manufacture items quickly and more efficient.

With this understanding of globalization, Friedman is worried that high-wage, middle-skill jobs that built America’s middle class are things of the past. The jobs today now require more skills, are outsourced to

Below, UCO President Don Betz introduces Thomas Friedman.

Right, Thomas Friedman.

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UCO President Don Betz with Thomas Friedman.

workers in other countries, or to machines, or are now just obsolete, he said. The core challenge facing America is how to regain those mid-level jobs which will not only require more education to understand technology, but also include certain human social skills, he said.

The faster the world gets, the more everything that is old and slower really matters like community, good parenting, solid education, good religious leaders and good government.

“When historians or archaeologists some 50 or 60 years from now look back at the early 2000’s and are

asked what was the most important thing to be happening then…I think what they will say is that was the greatest technological inflection since the Gutenberg press,” said Friedman.

Unlike Gutenbergs’s invention, which touched only those people who could read or had access to printing, Friedman said, the current inflection is happening at high speed and touching huge areas of the planet and people around the world all at once. n

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FASHION

PERFECTLY DRESSED eyes and lips Go sexy, sultry and sophisticated

BY LINDA MILLER

A

dark and sultry pout or one that’s innocently nude can be beautiful.

So can eyes smoldering in smoky black or charcoal or subdued shades of gold and copper.

Both are perfect for the holidays. Since they’re not everyday beauty looks, at least for most women, emphasizing the lips and eyes is one way to achieve a look that’s pretty and sexy.

Red lipstick is timeless but a bit predictable, especially during the holidays and moving forward toValentine’s Day. Going dark red adds an element of sophistication and suggestion.

Alex Mendez-Kelley, owner of The MakeUp Bar, likes illumination on the cheeks and under the

Dark lips and soft smoky eyes, a sultry look for the holidays.

Scarlet Empress lipstick by NARS

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Left, Actress Jennifer Lopez with smoky eyes and nude lips.

Below, Kevyn Aucoin’s “Bloody Gorgeous” look.

Vesuvian lip gloss by Kevyn Aucoin.

brows, smoky eyes and dramatic red lips. “Red, dark lips.

The deeper, darker, purplier, berrier, the better.”

A few of her favorite lipstick shades include Blackberry Jam by Serenity + Scott and Scarlet Empress and Fire Down Below from NARS. Not every woman – or man – is enamored with dark lips, though.

“Of course, my husband Joe finds it very sexy when I do my eyes ‘dark,’ which is smoky when translated from ‘man-ese,’ and glossy nude lips,” she said.

One of her go-to products for a smoky eye is The MakeUp Bar’s “sha-liner” in Mindless. It’s a true, dark black gel liner that gives a precise line and smudge, Mendez-Kelley said.

“I feel for holiday parties and such, I can go crazy, and black can’t be black enough and lips can’t be nude wet enough,” she said. “I live for nude lips.”

She regularly reaches for Lipstick Queen’s Sinner Nude and tops it with Kevyn Aucoin’s Vesuvian gloss.

Bottom line: Embrace perfectly dressed lips and eyes. If it’s easier, play up just one. Smoky eyes with nude lips. Dramatic, dark lips with more subtle eyes. Either look is the perfect complement for a holiday party, romantic dinner on Valentine’s Day or any date night that includes sparkling wine and candlelight. n

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PEOPLE

THE PINUP DAMES!

42 ion Oklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

Supermodel for a day

BY MINDY RAGAN WOOD

W

omen come in all shapes and sizes, but sadly the fashion industry holds up only one as the ideal female. As the media reverences the thin super model, American women with “real” bodies feel less attractive with every billboard and cover girl they see.

“We don’t let clients see themselves during the hair and makeup so they get that reveal affect. I remember the first time a woman cried. This woman walked in and you could tell she had no self-esteem. A friend of hers had talked her into it. She looked at herself in the

Photographer Tammie Godfrey is changing that one dame at a time. She created “The Pin-Up Dames” to restore pride and confidence for full figured and curvy women. Boudoir or retro pin-up, she poses women in their most flattering positions and uses lighting techniques to reveal the unapologetic woman of today.

Godfrey is adamant about not “photoshopping” women into thinner versions of themselves. “A photo session at Pin-Up Dames is all about embracing the beautiful woman you are, just the way you are. I am asked daily if I can ‘take away’ this or that, ‘can you make me skinny, remove 20 lbs?’ or, ‘remove the hail dents and stretch marks?’ and on and on it goes. My typical response is, ‘Yes, I can, but I won’t. I will polish you, but not change you.’”

When she opened the studio in 2007 she was not prepared for how rewarding her work would be. Godfrey remembered the first woman who cried after the makeover.

Photographer Tammie Godfrey created “The Pin-Up Dames” to restore pride and confidence for full figured and curvy women.

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 43

mirror and screamed. She was crying to my stylist, ‘I’ve never felt pretty before. I’ve never felt pretty and you just made me feel pretty.”

Men have also contacted Godfrey and thanked her for “showing real women.” Their website and Facebook page shares stories from women who say it’s changed their lives.

“You gave me inspiration to feel better about myself and my body,” wrote Denise B. “I’m 58 years old, I have gained massive amounts of a weight since the car wreck that changed my life, and as I’ve aged, I have very poor self-esteem. I was just devastated from my situation that I was in romantically and physically. Most people would say I am intimidating and very self-assured, but it is a huge facade. When Tammie showed me the slideshow from my photoshoot, I was floored! I literally did not know that I could look that beautiful.

They were very tasteful, incorporating all of my best qualities,” wrote Leah.

Godfrey said she is continually amazed at the difference she sees in women after their shoot. They’re wearing makeup, fixing their hair, and taking pride in their appearance.

“My favorite clients are the housewives and working mothers because we don’t do anything for ourselves. We give our last breath to our kids, our husbands and our work,” she said. “We let ourselves go.”

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Many of these women come back for more after the first shoot, every couple of months with new clothes or shoes. “It’s the experience. They feel sexy; it makes them feel good about themselves,” said Godfrey.

It’s common for women to feel uncomfortable or even scared at first.

“Especially at the beginning of the shoot, you can tell they’re shy and insecure, but by the end of it they’re rocking the shoot like they’re America’s next top model,” said Godfrey.

Clients meet with Godfrey before the sessions for a consultation regarding the style and package they want. Some clients want modern boudoir, others strictly pin-up or a combination of both looks. Some women go for the sultry bombshell and others for the ballroom goddess.

The studio has a wardrobe but clients are encouraged to bring their own clothing items as well.

The sitting fee of $75 includes 1-2 outfits, professional hair and makeup. Photography packages start at $199.

Unless the studio is shooting a party of women, no one is allowed to accompany the client inside the shoot.

“It’s harder for them to relax if they’re got someone standing over their shoulder. Or the friend that comes in with them gets jealous because they’re not in it.

They’ll say things like, ‘really, you’re going to wear that?’ or ‘you’re really going to get that picture?’ It’s very positive here, so if someone is a Debbie-downer, they’re asked to stay out front until their session,” she said.

Not all women have to sign a model release form, but those who are showing themselves to the world enjoy the comments on the Pin-Up Dames Facebook page. Their images have drawn clients from out of state, and as far away as Canada and Australia.

What’ the secret to Godfey’s success?

“Other boudoir photographers are just selling the sexy, but we’re giving them a whole experience. We work with clients based on that connection so they’re seeing themselves in the photos and not someone they think they should pretend to be, like Marilyn Monroe.”

For more information, visit www.pinupdames.com or call 405-331-9996. n

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The Bestselling Book by Kent Frates

Oklahoma’s Most Notorious Cases Six cases that remain the talk of the courtroom Oklahoma has had more than its share of sensational legal battles with national ramifications, but for the first time in one volume, attorney/historian Kent Frates reveals the facts behind six cases that helped shape the history of the state—and the nation.

From bloody murders, to political scandal, to the horrific act of domestic terrorism known as the Oklahoma City Bombing, OKLAHOMA’S MOST NOTORIOUS CASES captures the stories, the times, and the import of these landmark trials.

Read the book that inspired the serial podcast We Will Always Remember (RealMysteries.us | weekly Feb. 12 to April 23) www.

Order now by visiting

OkMostNotoriousCases.com

or calling toll free 877.536.7634

Only

$24 Includes 16 pages of historic photos!

available at Full Circle Bookstore, OKC Best of Books, Edmond The Bookseller, Ardmore The Book Place, Broken Arrow and Barnes & Noble

TRAVEL

BY LINDA MILLER Photos by Oklahoma Wondertorium

O

klahoma Wondertorium in Stillwater is serious about play.

This is where young minds can examine a surgery center, build castles or towering skyscrapers with foam blocks or wooden links – and then knock them down; perform on stage, navigate giant magnets on a wall and have fun with a maze of air tubes.

The Wondertorium’s mission is to offer a safe, engaging space for unstructured play. Everything in the museum is intended to inspire. It’s about the experience and during that experience parent and child engage, often playing together.

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Children who don’t know each other become partners in play.

Ideas and solutions start to form. The brain kicks into gear.

Children learn about math, physics, air flow, different cultures, engineering and problem-solving. All through play.

Clayton Moore, executive director of Wondertorium, said an added benefit is that adults, either through engaging with children or watching them on the floor, begin to realize the importance of play, that it can be an important and fun way to learn.

“Unstructured play is the core of our mission,” he said, and it leaves children with a really good feeling.

At Wondertorium, children don’t make something to take home. “This process is to create, not to walk away with anything,” Moore said.

With OSU and its diversity, children at the museum are exposed to different cultures and languages, sounds and learning.

“That makes it a gem,” he said. “The science that happens on that floor is just as significant as any research anywhere.”

As children play and are exposed to everything from math and physics to medicine and performing, it gives them a belief they can do it for real, he said.

Moore said the museum’s goal is for children to feel better about themselves when they leave. When they discern something they didn’t know or make a friend, that’s a good thing, he said.

A-mazing Airways is a maze of tubes.

THE MUSEUM’S PLAY-TO-LEARN METHOD allows children to imagine, problem solve, test and lead.

“The best thing we can do is offer a safe, clean engaging space for kids to do their best work,” Moore said. “There’s value in giving a child the space and opportunity to play and play well.”

Wondertorium features more than a dozen exhibits, many of which are open-ended so children may see it differently each visit. For babies and toddlers to 24 months, there’s an enclosed Little Wonders room for tot time and interactive play.

The rest of the museum is more open so children can move easily from exhibit to exhibit without being far from an adult.

There’s the Forest Playground with rock climbing, tunnels and slides; a barnyard so children can learn that food doesn’t magically appear; and a Japanese house to honor Stillwater’s sister city in Kameoka, Japan. The Discovery Diner, Artist’s Pad and Water Works inspire creative play and problem solving skills.

WONDERTORIUM HAS BEEN OPEN FOUR YEARS but started as an outreach program. It came about when two mothers realized Stillwater had much to offer but not as much for families. They did their research, surveyed children and parents about what type of exhibits interested them, started bringing Museum without Walls programs into schools and then complemented those educational activities with Wondertorium.

“It’s a great story of people not just satisfied with the status quo and who didn’t just complain,” said Debbie Williams, the museum’s programs coordinator. “They said, ‘What can we do?’ ” The community got behind the idea from the beginning and still pitches in to help. People regularly clean out their closets and drawers and bring in craft supplies, buttons and medicine bottles, anything that can be used or recycled for exhibits. Volunteers have built furniture and props.

In three to five years, the plan is to build a new museum closer to downtown Stillwater.

“Hopefully it will be our dream home,” Williams said. “This is our first home and we’ve learned so much.”

Williams said the museum anticipated 13,000 visitors the first year. More than 47,000 came, and those numbers have stayed constant each year.

“This was sorely needed in the community,” Williams said.

Oklahoma Wondertorium is at 308 W Franklin Lane in Stillwater. Call (405) 533-5333 or go to okwondertorium.org for hours and more information. n

Medical needs are examined in the surgery center.

BOOK BUZZ:

Show Us Your Book

by Lucie Smoker When you want to know what people will be talking about in the next few months, find out what books they are reading now. This month, influential Oklahomans showed us their favorite books of the year. Next, it's your turn. Take a selfie with your fav and send it to okbookbuzz@gmail.com. I'll publish some of your choices in the February column.

FROM UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESIDENT DAVID BOREN Our Kids by Robert Putnam “I am reading it along with our students at the University of Oklahoma as a part of the One Campus One Book program through our Student Government Association,” said President Boren.

“It is especially fascinating to me, because it shows how a failure to have access to good schools handicaps an individual from achieving the American dream. Upward social mobility, which includes moving from the bottom quartile economically at birth to the top quartile economically through life is at an all-time low in America. Only 4% are able to experience that level of progress. The book clearly is a wakeup call. The American dream of equal opportunity is in danger.”

FROM THE WONDERTORIUM PROGRAMS COORDINATOR DEBBIE WILLIAMS

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt “It is one of those rare books that is equally enjoyed by children and adults,” said Williams.

In this silly story, Duncan just wants to color, he opens his box of crayons to find only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown.

Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking— each believes he is the true color of the sun. What can Duncan possibly do?

“I could philosophize about the deeper meaning of the book but suffice it to say all of us should have the right to think outside of the box.”

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Mrs. Claus’ Night Before Christmas by Oklahoma author, Carrie McKenzie “One of our holiday traditions at the WONDERtorium is Cupcakes With Mrs. Claus. Carrie and I were both frustrated with the lack of quality holiday books available for children. In keeping with our theme, I suggested we create our own story based on what Mrs. Claus does when Santa leaves to make his deliveries. The next day Carrie had penned this wonderful rhyming story. Then we found Gabi Martin who made the words jump to life with her illustrations. The two of them have collaborated to create a fun and whimsical holiday story. It’s been great fun to watch the evolution of this story from the germ of an idea to a full-fledged book.”

FROM OKLAHOMA CITY BALLET ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ROBERT MILLS

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey The mental ward, Nurse Ratched, Chief Bromden, McMurphy and the shocking climax still resonate today.

“As a young boy interested in the arts and studying ballet, I was naturally drawn to things counter-culture because at times when I was not interested in the Friday night football games, seasonal school dances, or many of the things other young people around me were interested in,” Mills said, “I felt counter culture myself. In Kesey's novel, the idea of questioning conformity and societal norms set in the backdrop of a mental institution was a powerful and uplifting book that helped me understand how and why we have a need to define ourselves.”

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FROM ANNIE BEWLEY, STORYTIME SCIENCE COORDINATOR, SCIENCE MUSEUM OKLAHOMA

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty “This book, starring the great-great-grandniece of Rosie the Riveter, teaches children that it’s okay to fail because mistakes are nothing but a great first try. Only true failure can come if you quit.”

What an inspiration to find history, encouragement and humor all in one book!

FROM IONOKLAHOMA BOOK BUZZ COLUMNIST, LUCIE SMOKER

Second to Nun by Alice Loweecey This is a charming, old-school mystery with snarky, new-school laughs. Giulia Falcone-Driscoll is a former nun turned private investigator with a knack for finding trouble. When her new client drags her to a tarot reader who advises that Fate wants Giulia to evict a ghost from her lighthouse B&B, things get interesting. When she finds out about the missing family gold coins and cut gas lines, Giulia takes her husband Frank on an unplanned vacation to the lighthouse. I enjoyed her attitude and relationship with Frank. How many books even depict happy couples anymore?

A suspense author and freelance writer, Lucie is featured with Goldie Hawn, Piper Kerman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Weird Al, and others in The Best Advice in Six Words available as an e-book and hardcover gift book.

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ENTERTAINMENT

BY JACOB OLLER

The Night Before Rated: R / Runtime: 1h 41m THE NIGHT BEFORE, A HOLIDAY HANGOVER, a spectacle comedy of man-children and pop culture riffs, rises above its raunchy reference humor thanks to its consequence-driven character exploration.

Not to mention this is one of the only R-rated comedies I’ve seen where the supporting female cast gets arcs of their own.

Lizzy Caplan (as Diana, the girl Joseph Gordon-Levitt couldn’t commit to) is coy, sexual, and adamantly set in her values – all while fan-girling over Miley Cyrus. It’s just a nice bonus that her chemistry with Gordon-Levitt is off the charts. Thanks to the honesty of the characters, their responses, and their teasing, sharp dialogue, their collective ten or so minutes of conversation resonate like every wannabe star vehicle romcom in the last ten years has not. Jillian Bell, as Seth Rogen’s

pregnant wife, explores maturity and maternity with heart, even as she’s providing Rogen’s character with a boxful of “every drug”.

Thankfully, the character-centric surprises don’t stop there.

Gordon-Levitt plays Ethan, an orphaned thirty-something clinging to the gimcrack traditions built with his friends in their early twenties. His friends are his family and they’re growing up, leaving his arrested development behind. Rogen’s Isaac is on the brink of fatherhood, and much like his character in the excellent Neighbors, he struggles with accepting domestic responsibility at the expense of unlimited, reckless freedom. Anthony Mackie completes the trio as newly minted football star Chris, social media whore and steroid abuser. Each expresses symptoms of the Peter Pan syndrome sweeping through R-rated comedies, though more thoughtfully than The Night Before’s contemporaries.

Even if this film doesn’t ask you to think hard, it’s progressivism still finds root in its open-mindedness.

Religiously, familially, and sexually, The Night Before posits that everything is in shades of grey. Chris’s mom, played by the excellent Lorraine Toussaint, is shown as a good mother and Christian that gives dinner leftovers to the homeless while DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ion Oklahoma 53

swearing at Ethan for losing the girl of his dreams. This isn’t a sassy grandma or a saintly mother; she’s just nuanced enough to stay with you and seem real. A shrooming Isaac receives dick pics thanks to an accidental phone-swap, and his increasingly open replies to them are the opposite of the standard bro-comedy’s gay panic. The movie isn’t making fun of him, or the fact that he may not be 100 percent heterosexual, but rather the absurdity of the situation. Surprisingly enough, those penises are the only nudity in the film, which is absurdly refreshing in its own right. No topless Christmas elves just because, only the equity of male nudity.

But that’s not the only way The Night Before subverts expectations. From the grand musical number ending in a dramatic gesture that is soundly rejected to the corporate sponsorship whose product is the butt of jokes, The Night Before knows how dumb you think it is and surprises at every turn.

Bolstered by amusing cameos by Miley Cyrus and Nathan Fielder, spectacle comedy and ubiquitous product placement roast on their skewers alongside emotional immaturity. Michael Shannon, as a drug-dealing riff on about ten holiday classics, has the most Oscar-worthy supporting performance in a comedy since Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Gruff gravitas and 54 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

stoner humor have never found a more perfect conduit.

ALTHOUGH THE FILM COULD’VE BEEN much improved, not to mention about 20 minutes shorter, if it cut the five or six musical numbers, The Night Before rises above its raunchy competitors thanks to its understanding of consequential storytelling.

I’m not talking point A to point B plot road-mapping, but a story in which the actions and responses of its characters create noticeable changes. I don’t want to end up with the same happy-go-lucky bar-hopping losers that we started off with. They’re presented as a problem.

Other comedies with similar veins would keep the ending open for the possibilities for a sequel, but here it’s impossible.

The very notion of a sequel, of seeing these same characters do more of the same, undermines the very premise.

The emotional closure, the growth – too honest to be hokey, even if the writing often has a laser target on the proverbial nose – pushes its characters into adulthood through their close friendship. The closer you are with someone, the harder it is to tell them they need to change. Inside this, The Night Before nests the notion that these are often the only people that CAN say these things. And of course, the outermost nesting doll is the one caked in weed, tacky sweaters, and hilarious jokes.

Crimson Peak Rated: R / Runtime: 1h 59m ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS CRIMSON PEAK DOEs, other than establish that ghosts are real and very present in this story, is namecheck Mary Shelley. Leave your preconceptions at the door, it says, and prepare to embrace the heightened Gothic ghost story in this film’s delightfully romantic bloody waltz.

Director/Writer Guillermo del Toro has always had a penchant for macabre visual flair, but his films have never felt like traditional horror. And, to be fair, this movie may not be the horror many contemporary viewers expect. This is no foundfootage, shaky webcam, haunted doll shlock. This is the hyper-crafted, meticulous, grand creepiness of films like The Shining or The Exorcist.

Drawing from Juan López Moctezuma’s 1970s Mexican horror – the bloody bathtubs of Alucarda and the flowing petticoats of The Mansion of Madness – del Toro weaves his influences together with the visual flair we’ve grown to expect. His smoky, gory wraiths have a creepy, messy gravitas lost with the invisible jump-scare machines found in other films. These aren’t special effects, they’re characters that melt before your eyes. They drip and scream, writhing with an anguishing psychic pain that immediately tempers our fear with sympathy.

These horrors come filtered through the eyes of Mia Wasikowska’s aspiring writer, Edith Cushing. Edith quickly sets herself apart from her catty socialite contemporaries with her drive to publish her horror manuscript, masking her handwriting to disguise her gender. This leads to her chance encounter with dark, mysterious baronet Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston in one of his finest performances). He and his sister (the brilliantly unhinged Jessica Chastain) eventually lure Edith back to their mountaintop manor where the bloodred clay seeps and stains the landscape like Lady MacBeth’s unwashable hands.

Something, you may ascertain at this point, is not right about this whole situation.

The escalating anxiety and tension dovetails with Edith’s burgeoning curiosity and Sir Thomas’ growing uncertainty.

Wasikowska coats Edith’s tough core with a dainty, prim padding, much like the fluffy shoulders on her gowns. That the character is never written as a pushover, but as a gaslit mark slowly uncovering the depth of her own deceit, does wonders for our affections for her. She’s as tough as any horror protagonist – an Ellen Ripley in lace.

Hiddleston secretes so much oily charm that it feels like you should wipe him off with a cloth. His darkness, somehow linked to his past, glints sharply below the surface of his expertly crafted, Victorian pickup artist veneer. Chastain’s wild-eyed desperation makes me want her to stick with horror films: she’s just so riveting. She captures you with the smallest movements, holding you hostage to squirm in her unbearable yet inescapable presence. Later in the film she becomes a beautiful whirling nightmare, as terrifying as any creature concocted in del Toro’s imagination.

Unfortunately, the miscast Charlie Hunnam seems out of his depth surrounded by such wonderful performances, his accent and charm wavering on the side of high school Shakespeare.

That aside, the film’s atmosphere makes up for any weak DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 55

spots. More romance than horror, no jump scares or tongue-incheek sex romps, Crimson Peak builds on the feeling that something is wrong.

It eats at you, an atrophying cholera slowly burning away at any feelings of comfort or safety.

Aside from the excellently perverse and intelligent script, the visual storytelling demands your attention.

Edith’s investigations into the mysteries of the Peak contain several visual setpieces – a trunk and keyring, tea trays and wax phonograph cylinders – that resonate with meaning even as they serve as key plot devices. The production design of these items, the mansion, and the rest of the film perfectly captures the heightened decorative masquerade disguising the brutal truths beneath the surface.

Cyclical violence and manipulative relationships lurk as

thematic horrors, embracing the Gothic adoration of sexual cynicism with clever commentary. Love, while not abandoned or scorned, floats out of reach, dangerous but worth reaching for. The inevitability of most fairy tales, in which being warned of danger often lead to being embroiled in it, culminates in the full-circle finale. After a cathartic chase and showdown that will go down as one of the most heart-pounding, gorgeously-shot, and passion-fueled horror endings in modern memory, the audience releases their collectively held breath not with a sigh, but a cheer.

Beautiful and horrible, Crimson Peak has the discordant panache and meaty substance to be an instant horror classic and perennial Halloween favorite.

Spectre Rated: PG-13 / Runtime: 2h 30m DESPITE COLLAPSING INTO CLUMSINESS near the finale, Spectre’s James Bond dovetails in a perfect combination of Craig-era romantic irony and classic 007 cool.

Daniel Craig may not ever have a lot of plot to work with, but he’s crafted a nuanced James Bond who’s evolved from the violent meat-weapon of Casino Royale to the smug, distant, romantic Bond in Spectre. That he does so in a standoffish, almost thuggish way speaks volumes to his 56 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

melding of damaged lover and aloof assassin. From the opening moments, we realize Bond has regressed even further into himself since Skyfall: suave as ever, but with his panache directed towards the efficient completion of his mission, not a one-night stand.

The opening sequence is a doozy. Director Sam Mendes and director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema (Her, Interstellar) follow an extended tracking shot (that ends with Bond strutting atop a parapet like a runway) with a combination of ’70s noir, throwback Bond set pieces, and modern Wes Anderson-style centered symmetry. This is a very pretty 007, with the opening titles possessing a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-level of black, dripping, dangerous sexuality. Colors flip between the cold blues of London and the rustic browns and oranges of Rome and Africa, while each frame is composed with such care that even the uninitiated or unobservant can identify the intended focal point and manage to ascertain some deeper meaning.

As Bond attempts to investigate and thwart a scheme somehow involving the surveillance state and his own tragic backstory (the plot is drivel), he stumbles into enough car chases, train fights, and building demolitions to excite the most jaded action fan. Car chases look like violent commercials, all impossible gliding turns and glossy exteriors.

Luckily, humor is routinely injected into the action to

compensate for its partial delves into intangibility. This may be Craig’s lightest Bond yet, in terms of cheeky winks and visual gags. Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) helps those along as a perfectly overwhelming henchman, bulldozing his way through obstacles, scenery, and Bond himself with the showmanship garnered through a career of pro wrestling.

And where would 007 be without a new Bond girl? This iteration’s offering, Léa Seydoux (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Inglorious Basterds) as Madeleine, slays as a counter to Bond.

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hardened casing with a delicate veneer of her own. She and Eva Green will go down as two of the best.

FOR ALL THE CHEEK SPECTRE GIVES YOU, as soon as it turns to the plot, it immediately becomes broadly no-nonsense and jumbled. If you meshed all the Mission: Impossible plots into the newer Fast & Furious storylines, you’d have an approximation of why following along with Spectre’s plot is pointless. Andrew Scott rehashes his Moriarty performance from BBC’s Sherlock into the head of the merger between Britain’s intelligence forces. Pompousness is a good look for Scott, but his monologuing gets old quickly, especially when we know we’re not watching the secret agent do something much, much cooler.

The final third of the film, as soon as they disembark from the aforementioned train, becomes a fan-made Austin Powers parody. For all the self-seriousness of the surveillance politicking, its culmination feebly echoes the dangerous utilitarianism of Watchmen and our own NSA. The superficial commentary can be boiled down to the opposing sides of the argument: invasion of privacy vs. preemptive prevention.

That’s as far as we get. But juxtaposed with Christoph Waltz’s maniacal performance as the main villain, the limply relevant plot surrounding and supposedly supporting his character feels completely insufficient. Not to mention his beef towards Bond seems totally foreign to the generically convoluted logic of the rest of the plot. We go from point A to point B and suddenly Waltz has tied us to some railroad tracks, twirling his mustache and cackling.

The romantic developments inside Waltz’s evil lair come fast and unmotivated, finishing with a literally handheld escape that looks as goofy as Mike Myers in a frilly shirt stopping to pick off a few henchmen with a pistol as the building explodes around him.

After those zany theatrics, the main plot must be resolved in 58 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

the lamest, easiest, least dramatic way possible. Bond runs through an on-the-nose metaphor for aging while M and the rest of the crew hack a computer. Yes, this is basically the same final act as Furious 7. And yes, Furious 7 does it much, much better.

Which is saying something.

I WALKED OUT OF SPECTRE THINKING ONE THING: I should buy a black turtleneck. When you walk out of a James Bond movie thinking that, you know it’s done something right. For as much as this movie tries to make being a professional killer seem like a painful, distancing, lonesome profession, Spectre and Daniel Craig succeed in bringing Bond back to basics. And that means it nurses your inclination to covet. Not necessarily the gadgets or the cars or the ability to take a life, but the confidence that goes along with them – or walking away from them.

Martinis shaken, widows of your enemies seduced, supervisors cheekily chastised, and girls gotten, Craig’s Bond reaches peak 007 in his own unique way. From brutal, brooding warrior to a man hiding passion behind a blank facade. Bond movies are never about the plot, they’re about the Bond. Spectre finally sees its star join the ranks of classic 007s by spitting in the face of the series’s misanthropy and misogyny with the emotional indemnity of a romantic hero.

Spectre sets you up with the conventional coolness of James Bond, complete with a fanatic’s plethora of homages, only so you have a reference for exactly how much Bond is willing to sacrifice for love. For all the chases and fights, Bond really just has some romantic and psycho-sexual issues to work through, and the best thing about Spectre is that it allows this Bond to unfold before us in the context of a conventional action movie.

Even if it’s not perfect, the fact that the ride we go on with this Bond is almost as cheeky and self-assured as its star is consolation enough. n

Our host, Brenda Bennett

Welcome To Our Premier Mystery Podcast Eleven Weekly Episodes

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ENTERTAINMENT

WINNING COMBINATION Newcastle Casino adds games, restaurant, parking garage

BY LINDA MILLER

N

ewcastle Casino has had another growth spurt.

Since opening 16 years ago, the casino has been expanded seven times, the most recent including 30,000 square feet of gaming, a restaurant and parking garage.

Some 500 new electronic games beckon with flashing lights, spinning wheels and sound effects. Smack in the middle of the new gaming area and just as tempting is Kitchen 44 with a menu of Southern-style dishes, including pot roast, country fried steak, fried catfish, chicken fried chicken, sandwiches and burgers. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open 24 hours a day.

Ryan Sykes, the casino’s general manager, said the expansion was necessary due to increased patronage.

Close proximity to Oklahoma City, Norman

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and Moore makes it a popular destination for those who want to try their luck. The expansion brings the total number of electronic games to 3,000, including go-to classics and new games that may soon become favorites.

“The focus of Newcastle Casino has always been about building relationships with our patrons and improving their experience at the casino,” Sykes said. “We have seen consistent growth in the facility and look forward to offering more to our patrons and the surrounding communities.”

The expansion project also included renovation of the former Stonehouse Pizzeria into the Front Row Sports Bar where guests can take a time-out and watch their favorite sporting event while munching on a Frito chili pie or Nathan’s Famous hot dog and sipping a cool drink.

Casino officials knew additional games and amenities would draw even more guests,

Newcastle Casino’s expanded gaming area includes 500 new electronic games.

A new entrance leads visitors into the expanded gaming area and restaurant at Newcastle Casino.

necessitating increased parking. A six-level parking garage on the north side of the casino keeps cars and patrons protected from the heat and the cold with an enclosed walk from the ground floor into the casino.

“The excitement surrounding the casino expansion has grown since the project started,” Sykes said. “The restaurant, parking garage and gaming floor have been well received by patrons, and employees are proud to show off the new facilities to visitors.”

Newcastle Casino, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation, is at 2457 Highway 62 Service Road in Newcastle. For more information, go to www.newcastlecasino.com. n Kitchen 44, a new restaurant in Newcastle Casino, is open 24 hours daily.

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MERRY BRIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

HOLIDAYS AT THE MYRIAD GARDENS!

BY MINDY RAGAN WOOD

I

t’s time for the magic of Christmas and hope for a New Year at the Myriad Gardens. The international award winning complex will be brimming with holiday cheer and twinkling with romance. December and January events are sure to make this year merry and bright for the whole family, from decoration crafts and pop-up shops to ice skating and caroling.

The Rink If you didn’t dare attempt ice skating last year, get your skates out for lessons. Learn to skate with instructors on December 7, 10, 21 at 7 p.m. and glide with the graceful. The ice rink, sponsored by Devon and Downtown Oklahoma Inc. will have recurring events. Every Friday in December is Rock ‘N Skate. A DJ will spin the best of all genres in music from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Country, new pop, jazz, disco, and more will keep skaters rocking into the night. Every Saturday at 11 a.m. kids can skate with their favorite cartoon characters.

The rink is open Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday until 11 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. During the holiday break, the rink will be open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., until 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, noon to 6 p.m. Christmas and for even more fun from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. New Year’s Eve.

This is the fifth annual skating season and its popularity has grown each year for families and love birds. “It’s almost everyone’s favorite attraction,” said Leslie Spears, marketing director for the Myriad Gardens. “We’ve had quite a few proposals out there too.

Every hour the rink is shut down to resurface it and that’s usually when a couple skates onto the ice and he proposes.”

The Gardens There’s plenty of romance on the grounds as well. Thousands of shimmering lights are strung around the grounds. The Crystal Bridge is cheery with evergreens and an extravagant red poinsettias display.

Families love the craft projects, visits with Santa and posing for their annual holiday photos. Carolers will sing the songs of the season to warm hearts. Wednesdays kids will enjoy a story time from 10 a.m. to 10:30 followed with December Drop-Ins for nature themed ornament crafts and hot chocolate. Twigs, fruit, acorns, pinecones and evergreens pair with craft materials for ornaments to hang on your tree or use as gifts from little hands to big hearts.

Some crafts are better to eat. Saturdays with Santa from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. kids will learn the art of edible crafts like Hershey bar reindeers, ice cookies, and gingerbread houses.

Fun for Grownups Kids won’t have all the fun this year. Adults will enjoy succulent wreath making classes, gift craft projects, and handcrafted therapeutic gift baskets. “These are very classy gift baskets,” said Spears, “they’re perfect for door prizes and holiday party gifts.”

It’s wise to pre-register as some of these class times are already booked. fi

fi Shopping and dining is also a favorite experience.

Courtesy of Prodigal, Winter Shoppes is back this year, from known vendors who just want a downtown presence to privately owned businesses. Clothing, accessories, holiday gifts, sweets and more will be available near the Crystal Bridge. This year the roster includes Anabelle’s, Calamity Jane, Learning Tree, Sweets & Spurs, Live Boho, and several others. Shops will be open only on weekends from Friday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Food and drink will be served near the rink or dine inside at the Park House daily for lunch or dinner.

The fun continues in January as the rink will remain open through the 31st. January 18 the annual Martin Luther King celebration will again include gospel choirs from area universities.

For Oklahomans who love the gardens, it’s always a treat, but during the holidays it is a must for the whole family. For a complete list of events, visit oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com n

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ART

Philosophy the same in overseas conflict or art creation for Choctaw artist D.G. Smalling

BY TIM FARLEY

Event Center creations largest ‘art investment’ in 300 years for Choctaw Nation

W

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hether working as a globally-known artist or a crisis management specialist in the Balkan Islands, D.G. Smalling has a similar philosophy that he’s used in both paths of his life.

Above, D.G. Smalling at the Choctaw Event Center.

“I think things through thoroughly and I execute the plan once,” he said during a recent interview. “It’s the way I grew up and I think it has to do with my time in the Balkans.”

Before becoming a professional artist 10 years ago, Smalling worked with private defense contractors in Bosnia and Kosovo during political and military upheavals in both countries. His mission, which he gladly accepted, was to defend the lives of people who had been threatened and to prevent potential coups.

Having grown up with missionary parents living in Africa, that type of life wasn’t unfamiliar.

“In the middle of chaos, someone has to think clearly and make decisions,” he said. “What I learned elsewhere isn’t irrelevant here with my work as an artist.”

Fully aware his life would be in constant danger if he returned to the Balkans, Smalling decided enough was

enough. That’s when he landed a position with the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Peace Studies. At the same time, he began his professional art career, which has blossomed in the last decade. In that time, he’s completed portraitures of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Booth-Blair, Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, England, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger, Oklahoma City University President Robert Henry, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole and Mrs. Allen Houser.

In 2008, Smalling was commissioned to paint a gourd dancer for Prince Albert of Monaco’s 50th birthday. His artwork also has appeared in notable exhibitions including Epcot Disney World where he was the featured artist for Oklahoma’s Centennial Show. His DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 69

and doesn’t remove it until he has completed the entire outline for a particular piece of artwork.

“Line is the foundation of all design. It defines and creates context. It provides subjects that emerge with clarity and stand without other obstructing elements or techniques,” he wrote on his website.

Smalling also discussed how his work has evolved into an exercise of contemporary Southeastern NeoHieroglyphics.

“By this, I mean to reapproach the hieroglyphic art of my Choctaw heritage in a modern way both in terms of materials, techniques and subjects,” he said. “The continuous line defines the contours of the subject, at which point I develop the contoured areas with paint or ink. In this way, the neohieroglyph conforms to the old, but is dynamically fluid with motion and not rigid. The subjects I depict are rarely historical — D.G. Smalling because I want to describe life today.”

Smalling uses acid-free cotton fabric and birch wood as his most dominant surfaces.

Smalling’s style Smalling said he enjoys the commissioned work he receives because of the trust people place in him.

When it comes to his artistic style, Smalling explains “The subjects I do on a regular basis are based on it starts with thorough research followed by one what people have seen other places,” he said. continuous line that forms the basis of the entire piece.

“Sometimes, they request subjects I’ve never done but In other words, Smalling places his pen on the surface

work appeared at an exhibition in Paris, France and at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. where the exhibition celebrated the Choctaw Codetalkers in 2012.

His work for the code talkers was natural since Smalling is a member of the Choctaw Nation and is responsible for much of the artwork that hangs in the Choctaw Event Center, adjacent to the Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK. Smalling calls the artwork in the event center the “largest art investment in 300 years for the Choctaw Nation.”

He was allowed to select the artists who assisted him in the project with no editorial committee oversight.

“What you’re creating is not for you, but rather a significant piece of national art for 250,000-plus people,” he said. “This work will live long past by lifetime so when we were finished with that series, I had some loneliness.

I was sad that that phase was done.”

The Choctaw Event series is entitled “Reclamation,” which attests to where the Choctaw Nation stands today, Smalling said.

“I think things through thoroughly and I execute the plan once.”

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they like my technique. Any commission is an honor because you’re being hired to put your perspective on their mantel piece. I’ve been very fortunate in terms of the reception people have with style and eye.”

In the past, Smalling has been commissioned to draw Oklahoman and New York Yankee baseball legend Mickey Mantle swinging a bat, horse reining and wrestling.

“I love horse reining and depicting that, watching the horse and rider work together,” he said.

Unbeknownst to most people, Smalling has created artwork that’s never been seen by the public, including a series on the Oklahoma City Ballet. At times, he’ll sit in on rehearsals and sketch dancers who are not on stage.

“There’s always a juxtaposition of what’s expected and what’s real,” he said.

In the case of the ballet dancer, he’s sketched a dancer standing outside in the cold wearing tights and a winter coat while smoking a cigarette.

Smalling creates his brilliant work in the upstairs studio of a building in the Paseo District. Eventually, he plans to put an art studio in his clan town of Hochatown, which is near Beavers Bend in southeastern Oklahoma.

For more information on Smalley and his artwork, visit www.dgsmalling.com n 72 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

TRAVEL Edmond missionaries work to restore

Christmas in Sierra Leone Couple hopes to bring joy to children in two orphanages

BY SANDI DAVIS

I

t’s Christmastime and everywhere you look you see colorful lights, decorated trees and people bustling around buying gifts and planning which parties to attend.

On the other side of the world is Sierra Leone, perhaps the poorest, most corrupt country in Africa. Eighty percent of the more than six million people are Muslim and it was home to an Ebola outbreak that was so bad last year the government canceled any celebration around Christmas to keep people from getting together in large groups.

An Oklahoma-based ministry runs two orphanages there, one full of the orphans left from the Blood Diamond wars, the other, newer one, for children made orphans by Ebola.

Still, Christmas was canceled. Children, especially the ones in orphanages, didn’t sing carols or open gaily wrapped gifts.

They were kept inside the walls of their orphanages or inside their homes.

This year, an Edmond couple is determined to change all that and bring Christmas – and Jesus Christ – back to their mission and the two orphanages they run.

Jerome and Shanna Crawford are preparing to make a three week visit back to Sierra Leone during the holidays, bringing with them “Restoring Christmas,” a project made possible by Komeo International Ministries.

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JeromeCrawford oversees unloading supplies.

Leone for the past eight years.

Sometimes their six children come with them, sometimes they stay in Oklahoma with friends and family.

Jerome Crawford started out playing in bands and doing stand-up comedy in Bricktown while working with a charity called Oasis.

When he found out about the first orphanage in Sierra Leone, one founded for the orphans left during the Blood Diamond wars, he felt he was called by God to take care of those children there and founded the non-profit Komeo.

It was his wife, Shanna, who first visited Sierra Leone.

Before she left, the couple were talking about adopting a child through Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services.

“I called Jerome and told him we were not adopting children now, we were adopting an orphanage” Shanna said, seated in the living room of their Edmond home.

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Shanna Crawford gets a hug from an orphan girl.

When Ebola broke out in that poor country, it left enough orphans that a second orphanage was opened, called “Ebola Refuge.”

“God provided,” Jerome said. “When the sickness first started, we were able to move the children into an ex-United Nations facility and we tried to keep the kids inside the gates the entire time.”

While some of the children lost both parents, some children would come and go, and those were the children who got sick.

Even with that, only one died.

At one point, the Crawfords lived in Sierra Leone for a year and a half. Since their return, they have made at least four trips a year to their compound, a three story building complete with a guard shack.

“We live on the top floor,” Jerome said. “The staff live on the second floor.”

They visited in late 2014 when Ebola was everywhere, but they went despite criticism about their timing.

“We brought 30 tons of food and medicine,” Jerome said.

“We traveled to villages handing it out and we went to places that had never received aid.”

Sierra Leone is about 80 percent Muslim, but they like Christmas. They shoot off fireworks and have parties.

It was the Christian president of the country who ordered Christmas canceled to try to stop Ebola’s spread.

The Crawfords returned to their Edmond home from their latest trip in April, and the U.N. has declared the country Ebola free.

That’s when the idea for “Restoring Christmas” started.

There are 87 children in the Ebola Refuge now. The youngest child there is two.

There aren’t enough beds to go around so about half sleep on mattresses on the floor.

The Crawfords hope to raise $50,000 before Dec. 20. They’ll be taking food and medicine to share with the villages, but also hope to hire a full-time nurse for the orphanages, buy 45 beds and food for a year.

On top of that, there will be two Christmas gifts for each orphan.

“We’ll have a Christmas tree at each orphanage. We want to show them an American-style Christmas so they will have a gift from Jesus and one from a sponsor, hopefully with a letter from a sponsor,” Shanna Crawford explained.

The orphanages are operated by Christians and the children are educated there and taught to be Christians.

Many of them go on to college, a rare feat in Sierra Leone.

“We have 45 of the orphans in college now, from the orphanage started during the Blood Diamond wars,” Jerome said. “Ten will graduate this year and about 30 next year.”

A few who have their degrees now work in the mission and with fellow orphans.

The Crawfords are trading Christmas with their six children – three adopted, three biological – for the orphans.

“The kids don’t mind,” Shanna said. “They are home schooled and Jerome works at home so we are together all the time. I imagine they all will be spoiled during Christmas while

we are gone.”

Jerome is a programmer, so he can work anywhere.

One of their daughters gave them $35 she had to help the cause.

During this interview, Jerome was checking with their travel agent to see if flights had become available in the dates they had specified.

Donations are welcome.

They need clothing, over-the76 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

counter medicines, hygiene products like toothpaste and deodorant.

“A tube of toothpaste can cost $9 over there,” Shanna said.

“A good deal of those items get shipped to Sierra Leone in big barrels to our mission,” Jerome said. “They don’t care about the weight of barrels. We will pay $200 a suitcase for the gifts we’ll be bringing. We can’t mail anything because the country doesn’t have a reliable mail system.”

Any type of clothing will be welcome.

“Over there, any kind of clothing is better than being naked,” Shanna said.

To find out more about Komeo, visit its Facebook page or its website at www.komeo.org. To follow “Restoring Christmas” follow Shanna Crawford’s Facebook page. She will update everyone with her posts during their trip. n

Don’t let another baby go hungry. Visit www.infantcrisis.org.

t / -JOcPMO Blvd, Oklahoma CJty, OK 73105

ART Southwest Travels Inspire Priceless Navajo Rug Collection

BY M. J. VAN DEVENTER Photography courtesy the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

O

n the path of life, Grace “Pam” Parrish loved to travel, especially on backwoods country roads. Route 66 was her favorite. It was on that fabled road, en route to New Mexico, that she fell in love with Navajo weavings.

TWO GREY HILLS RUG, ca. 1970 Stella Curley, Navajo (Diné), Arizona Natural wool and aniline (synthetic) dyes. (Gift of Pam Parrish)

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New Mexico was a favorite stopping point for Parrish and her husband during the 1970s. He was of Delaware Indian heritage and involved with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They lived in West Texas and California and often traveled back to Oklahoma, where Pam spent her childhood. Along the way, the couple would peruse the wares of Native American vendors.

It was one of those roadside trading posts where she bought her first Navajo rug - the seed for a priceless collection that is now on display at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum through May 8.

It didn’t take Parrish long to learn the unique qualities of Navajo weaving. She began to collect high quality rugs from some of the Southwest’s most well-known master weavers - Daisy Tauglechee, Clara Sherman, Rose Gould, Linette Nez, Katherine and Larry Nathaniel. Tauglechee was Parrish’s favorite.

Parrish was fortunate to encounter Bob Payne, an

auctioneer in Bloomfield, New Mexico, who became her guide and guru to acquiring her collection of more than 60 weavings, including rugs, saddle blankets and tapestries.

She learned the distinctions of the various geographic styles, including Two Gray Hills, Teec Nos Pos, Wide Ruin, Ganado, Sampler, Storm Pattern and Yei. At the time Parrish was collecting, many of the weavers kept their own sheep; shearing, cleaning, carding and spinning the wool for weaving. Each region developed its own style so no two weavings were ever alike.

What also makes her collection distinctive is the creativity of the weavers she collected.

They drew inspiration from their imagination or experiences, shunning patterns or styles used by other tribal weavers.

SAMPLER RUG, ca. 2010 Daisey Kee, Navajo (Diné) Natural wool with vegetal and aniline dyes.

(Gift of Pam Parrish)

Eric Singleton, Curator of Ethnology at the National Cowboy Museum, says, “Each artist’s skill and knowledge is seen in a piece of fine art that is unique, yet displays a family legacy and tradition going back hundreds of years. Of all the regional styles, the Two Grey Hills and Wide Ruins stand out because they used undyed wool or natural dyes to create the designs of each weaving. They harvested flowers, leaves, roots, bark and stems from a variety of plants to create the colors in Wide Ruins weavings. The Two Grey Hills artists used the natural color of sheep and goats’ wool.

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TWO GREY HILLS RUG, ca. 1996 Rena Begay, Navajo (Diné) Natural wool and aniline (synthetic) dyes. (Gift of Pam Parrish)

“Two Grey Hills and Yei are important due to their history and the distinctive designs they incorporate. I also would include the Ganado style. Ganado was one of the first trading posts and the bright red incorporated in their designs is distinctive,” Singleton notes.

“All the regional styles are unique and beautiful in their own way. They all developed about the same time.

They all have, for the most part, remained true to their regional style and have specific qualities that make each worthy of displaying and keeping for their beauty, skill and the benefit of future generations,” Singleton said.

Well into her buying mission, Parrish knew she had created a collection of value. She had acquired, in a 40year period, a diverse group of weavings, which represented many regions of the Navajo reservation.

Some of the large pieces in her collection took more than a year to weave, giving them even more value more cache - for her collection.

As an Oklahoma City resident, Parrish was familiar with the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and believed the weavings could be used there as teaching tools. She also recognized there was still a strong Navajo weaving movement and thought her collection would be beneficial in researching the 80 ionOklahoma DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

differences among the weavers, dyes and designs.

It may have been a bold move on Parrish’s part, but she made a cold call to the National Cowboy Museum four years ago to see if they might have an interest in acquiring her precious collection of weavings.

It seems prophetic that Mike Leslie, the museum’s former curator of ethnology and now the assistant director, answered her call and listened.

“She had no connection to the Museum until then. We struck up a friendship and she began gifting part of the collection during the next three years,” Leslie said.

He noted, in a Spring 2014 issue of the museum’s magazine, Persimmon Hill, “I’ve had similar experiences where pieces are not quite what the collector thinks and it doesn’t work out. Other times, it’s truly amazing what the collector has and this is one of those cases. It has turned out to be a phenomenal collection.”

“So much of the collection is of tapestry quality, with very, extraordinarily fine weaves. The artisans who produced these works are incredibly gifted,” Leslie said. “But just as important is the documentation that Mrs. Parrish kept along with these pieces. Having the artwork and the information behind each piece is really a museum’s dream come true.”

The current exhibit of 22 weavings from Parrish’s 60plus piece collection, reflects the work of several late 20th century weavers - Edith John, Nora Shorty, Rena Begay, Larry Nathaniel.

It provides what Leslie calls “an enlightening opportunity for museum visitors who may not have an awareness of Navajo weavings. The collection will serve a purpose beyond the exhibit space as well. Because of its diversity, the pieces and documentation can be used as a cultural insight into the Navajo people. They also may serve as an educational tool for current and future artists.”

For the viewer of this exhibit, Singleton suggests, “If there is one aspect of the show that should not be missed, it would be for the viewer to contemplate the size of some of the pieces. Often, we look at the overall beauty of a piece, but several of the weavings are between eight and 12 feet. To accomplish something like this, the weaver would need to work on it for nearly a year or a year and a half. That is a remarkable display of not only skill, but patience and fortitude.”

Also included in the exhibition in the Museum’s Silberman Gallery, is one distinctive painting from the

Arthur and Shifra Silberman Collection of Native American fine art. It is Harrison Begay’s The Weavers, depicting two weavers producing a Yei pictorial weaving. There are sheep below them and they are sitting on two rugs of an older design. “It is reflective of all that goes into a weaving,” Singleton said.

The Silbermans were Oklahoma City residents who loved collecting and documenting the work of contemporary Native American artists, particularly Oklahoma artists.

“A collection of this nature and quality illustrates the passing down of a tradition. It is not a dead or dying culture, especially with most of these pieces being woven in the 1960s, 70s and 80s,” Leslie said.

Now with the entire collection in the museum’s hands, Leslie considers it a “historical, priceless stand-out collection - a great asset for the museum.”

Unfortunately, Mrs. Parrish passed away in March 2015 before seeing part of her collection staged in the current exhibition. Remembering her fondly, Leslie said, “She was an extraordinary lady.” n

SAMPLER RUG, ca. 1997 Millicent Platero, Navajo (Diné) Natural wool with vegetal and aniline dyes. (Gift of Pam Parrish)

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PEOPLE An interview with journalist David Gregory at the OKC National Memorial

BY PETER PREKSTO

T

he Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum and the Greater Oklahoma City Jewish Federation hosted a conversation between Kari Watkins, Executive Director, and journalist David Gregory during his appearance here on Dec. 2.

In September, Gregory published How’s Your Faith: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey. The title question was one asked of him several times by President George W. Bush, who knew that Gregory had been studying Jewish theology for several years with Erica Brown, author of Happier Endings.

Gregory is married to Beth Wilkinson, who prosecuted Timothy McVeigh.

The daughter of a pacifist mother and a father who commanded a nuclear submarine, Wilkinson is herself a Methodist, and she struggled with the decision to argue for the death penalty in McVeigh’s federal murder trial. Her forceful concluding remarks swayed the jury to act on behalf of the community, viewing McVeigh not as a man of courage, as his defense argued, but as a coward who killed and injured innocents.

Gregory covered the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and the McVeigh trial, and he and Wilkinson eventually married and had three children.

Gregory, raised in Hollywood, is a member of a well-known Jewish entertainment family. His father, Don, for whom he is in mourning, was a movie producer. The family’s synagogue was located in the Director’s

Left, David Gregory.

Above, Gregory listens to question.

Left, Watkins and Gregory interact with the crowd.

Guild building on Sunset Boulevard. Surrounded by Oscars on display at the Guild, Gregory had believed that they were mystical Jewish symbols. Although the family was fairly secular, he has always felt that culturally he is a Jew. His clumsy termination from “Meet the Press” was a humbling blow to this successful member of the journalism elite, and his exit was handled badly by NBC. Since then, Gregory has worked and prayed to comprehend what it means to him to be a Jew, and how, as he put it last night, he could “quiet the noise of religion with spirituality.” The couple

agreed to raise their children as Jews, a decision that he deeply respects and a sacrifice of hers that he sometimes feels as a burden. Shabbat is a core of their family life, and family and friends gather each Friday, creating new rituals to augment the old.

It’s a complex family life, with Wilkinson’s stellar and full career as a litigator and partner at Paul|Weiss, his career, their three kids, travel and writing. Gregory said that he likes a bumper sticker he saw recently, “I don’t know, and you don’t either,” and he appeals for less certainty in our beliefs—not substituting a wobbly faith, just an avoidance of an attitude of “I’m right and you’re wrong.” Focus on your personal humility and spiritual journey, he said, and that of your family, then you may find you don’t have time to try to run the lives of others.

Gregory starts each day with the Prayers Upon Awakening DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 ionOklahoma 83

and in the afternoon, Minchah, a pause in the day to talk to God. He prays especially for humility, the antidote for arrogance. And he strives to balance spirituality and religion in his life and in his family.

Video excerpts from the conversation can be found on the Memorial web site at https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/a-conversationwith-david-gregory/ n

Gregory signs a book.

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EXPERIENCE THE RENOVATED

MUSEUM In honor of the 20th Anniversary, the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum completed a $10 million renovation that unveils hundreds of artifacts, 35 new interactive stations, and never-before-seen key pieces of evidence. The newly-enhanced Museum is a life-changing pilgrimage through loss, resilience, and the ultimate renewal of a city and its people, following the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

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TRAVEL OPENING NIGHT It’s a fun, family-friendly event full of action, music and fireworks

BY SANDI DAVIS

A

s the numbers go down and the ball goes up, fireworks will light the downtown Oklahoma City night sky as the Opening Night 2015 winds up another successful year.

Before that however, the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and hundreds of volunteers will work to provide its audience a fun, family friendly, alcohol free mix of art, performances and hands on projects for the 28th year.

The event will begin with The “Finale 5K” run at 4 p.m. Dec. 31 starting from the finale site near Bicentennial Park. The USA Track and Field organization sanctioned run will travel through downtown over the Skydance Bridge and end where it started.

“We’ll have performers along the route to keep the runners entertained and we’re having a costume contest among the runners,” said Kaitlyn Carter, director of Opening Night 2015. “The winners, and the winner of the costume contest will get original works of art. Every participant gets a medal specially created for the run.”

In the past Opening Night has sprawled throughout the entire downtown area and sometimes into Bricktown. This year’s event will be consolidated but still starts at 7 p.m. and ends with the midnight finale.

“We’ve condensed our footprint,” Carter explained. “People don’t like walking so far between venues.”

This year, the expanded children’s area takes up the Hall of Mirrors in the Civic Center Music Hall.

Entertainment will be scattered in the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Civic Center and City Hall and in Bicentennial Park.

Performers include five live bands, Oklahoma City Improv, a magic show, Bricktown Clowns and strolling entertainers.

Folks wanting a snack or a non-alcoholic drink will find food trucks in Finale Alley.

“The nucleus of Opening Night is the children’s area,” Carter said. “This is a great family event and there are not a lot of New Year’s Eve events that are for the whole family and this is a big party.

Children can have their faces painted, work on an interactive art project or get the whole family involved in a giant game area.

“With all the development in the city and the growth of Oklahoma City, there is a lot here that people don’t know about and this is a great way to see it first hand,” Carter said.

The biggest event happens at midnight as 2015 is ushered out and 2016 is welcomed in.

Shortt Dogg will be playing on the Bicentennial stage starting at 9 p.m. The eight musicians in the band play funky, upbeat dance music and will entertain until midnight, when the finale begins.

Fireworks are keyed to music in the spectacular show, the perfect way to start a new year.

Wristbands for Opening Night 2015 are $8 in advance and $10 the night of the event.

Pick them up at 7-Eleven stores, metro area Homeland Stores, MidFirst Bank locations and Science Museum Oklahoma beginning Dec. 1. At the event, ticket kiosks will be scattered around the party area.

For more information, call (405) 270-4848 or visit the website www.artscouncilokc.com/openingnight. n

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IN MY SPACE FIRST GENTLEMAN

BY PEGGY GANDY

ATTENTION *(The tongue-in-cheek observations in this column do not refer to Bill Clinton or anyone else you may know or have heard of. They’re just random fun ‘what ifs’ about what might happen if a woman, married to an average guy, should be elected president.

E

ventually some smart woman, whose husband thought she was running for City Council so she could head a campaign to install park swings with heated seats, is going to find herself elected President of the United States.

And boy is she in for a surprise when she meets her buff Secret Service agents.

You know, the ones that party a lot.

Getting through the inauguration won’t be easy. Her husband’s attention span between football games only runs to 15 minutes and that won’t even cover the swearing- in ceremony.

Dressing him for the occasion could create a problem. I’d like to see a Press Secretary try to describe the spousal inauguration outfit. Something more than his tie and socks would have to be mentioned, maybe a cropped-comb over or a red, white and blue lapel handkerchief. One of the newsprint descriptions of the outfit President Reagan’s wife Nancy wore to his inauguration read like royalty…“For the public swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol Monday, Mrs. Reagan will wear an electric blue Adolfo melton coat over a blue wool crepe dress. Both are trimmed with gold buttons and chain belts. She will also wear a small, off-the face

Breton hat of the same color.’’

While we’re on the subject of clothes, he needs to be reminded to stay off the helicopter pad when he is wearing his “Doug’s Barbeque’’ bowling shirt or biking shorts.

Planning State dinners is taboo too as well as grilling outside on his Egg. By the time he gets the coals to burn, diplomatic relations could be broken off forever and half the cabinet members stoned on bug spray.

Press interviews would also present a problem. The first time the President’s husband goes into a press conference and mentions his wife’s age, how often she misplaces her cell phone, her inability to balance a checkbook, or her lack of computer savvy, he’s going to find his clothes moved permanently into the Lincoln bedroom…( and how, I wonder, would the tour guide explain THAT to the little old ladies from Peoria!)

Naturally you’d see a few changes made on the grounds.

Hammocks in the rose garden, a trout pond on the east lawn….

No do-it-yourself projects would be allowed: repainting the trim around the Red Room, adding book shelves to the Treaty Room, new pulls on the kitchen drawers…

Accommodating a First Gentlemen would have its moments.

But on the plus side, where else would a wife ever be in a better position to shame her husband into sleeping in his pajamas. (No, no, not the footed ones, think of the little old ladies from Peoria!) n

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