Oklahoma Magazine January 2021

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Oklahomans of the

YEAR

Honoring grit and perseverance in a whirlwind year

HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Staying fit in mind and body

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

J A N U A RY 2 0 21

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE

34

7

A Better You

Everyone looks for a fresh start when a new year begins. Whether it’s eating better, working out more or getting a handle on one’s mental health, January is a great time to get back on track to reach personal goals. We talk with health professionals about staying fit from home, protecting the immune system, the importance of sleep and keeping up with challenging resolutions.

State

4-H programs around the state teach members valuable life lessons.

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Clubs Hobbies Crafts Philanthropy Nature Sports Arts Business Insider

21

Life and Style

22

Oklahomans of the Year

2020: Perhaps the strangest year in recent history. That said, it’s tough to narrow down and honor only a handful of people who made it better. Our 2020 Oklahomans of the Year range from the obvious (but well-earned) picks like frontline workers, to a senator paving the way for racial equity in Tulsa. We honor them, along with a hardworking tribal chairman and a larger-than-life rancher in Waurika, for proving 2020 had its bright spots.

Interiors

A collaboration between three Tulsa heavy hitters produced a home that’s functional and inviting.

28 30 31 32

38

Destinations FYI Outside the Metro Health

49

Taste

A Tulsa gem for over 25 years, Tucci’s is under new leadership, but still offers a warm, calming respite.

50 51 52

Local Flavor Chef Chat Tasty Tidbits

54

Where and When

Start the new year off right with virtual and in-person community events.

56 57

As the world slowly emerges from a tough year, it’s time to look ahead to the future of the wedding industry. We discuss ways to create a safe and joyous celebration, and we provide inspiration with spreads of designer gowns, bridesmaids dresses, cakes, catering and flowers, plus some honeymoon destination ideas.

2

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

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Special Section: Oklahoma Wedding

Film and Cinema Closing Thoughts

JANUARY 2021

59

V O L . X X V, N O . 1

SPECIAL ISSUE:

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OKLAHOMA WEDDING Navigating the ins and outs of the big day

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Oklahomans of the

YEAR

Honoring grit and perseverance in a whirlwind year

HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Staying fit in mind and body

ON THE COVER:

ESSENTIAL WORKERS ARE ONE OF OUR PICKS FOR 2020’S OKLAHOMANS OF THE YEAR. WE SALUTE THE DOCTORS, NURSES, RESPIRATORY THERAPISTS, POSTAL WORKERS, GROCERY STORE CLERKS, FAST FOOD EMPLOYEES, EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS AND ALL OTHERS ON THE FRONTLINES FOR HELPING US NAVIGATE A TOUGH YEAR.

Here to Help You Rebuild Your LifeÂŽ Why You Should Send a Settlement Offer

Settling a divorce or family law matter is something most parties desire. Trials are expensive. Not only are they expensive, but in a trial the result rests in the hands of one family court judge. Most reasonable parties do not want to put their case in the hands of one judge.

To settle a divorce or family law matter, it usually takes one party to take the first step towards settlement. In other words, somebody has to extend the olive branch first and broach the topic of settlement.

Settlement negotiations often begin with one party sending an offer through their attorney to the opposing counsel.

While initial settlement offers do not always result in a settlement, it can open the door to more negotiations.

Many ask if it matters who sends the initial settlement offer. If one party issues the first settlement offer, some worry that offer shows weakness. In some cases, where the positions are far apart, some fear sending a settlement offer is futile.

However, sending a settlement offer does not ordinarily signal weakness. Instead, it shows that a party is willing to be reasonable to reach a constructive resolution to the case. It can indicate that they

are ready to swallow their pride to reach a resolution.

Most judges, before they hear a trial in a divorce or family law matter, also want to know if the parties have attempted settlement. When parties have not even made an attempt, some judges may have concerns.

Settlement negotiations are technically inadmissible at trial. It is possible, however, that a judge could hold it against a party if they did not attempt meaningful settlement negotiations. Judges often know about the settlement efforts from pretrial or settlement conferences in a case.

Instead of worrying about whether it looks weak to issue a settlement offer, parties should instead focus more on appearing reasonable to the court. Being reasonable often results in obtaining a positive result if the case ends up in trial.

Further, a settlement offer can ultimately lead to a settlement. When there is a settlement, parties save money on attorneys’ fees. The parties can also put to rest the emotional anguish and stress of being in the midst of a divorce or family law matter.

However, it is vital to have enough information about the finances or the particulars of the case. These details can be gathered through formal or informal discovery to make an informed settlement offer.

To make an informed settlement, parties often need the tax returns and statements regarding all marital property and debt. When valuations are needed, the parties can hire experts to value marital property such as real estate, stock options, and business interests. With children involved, the parties may need school and medical

records.

Once this takes place, most parties should think about sending a settlement offer. Sending the initial settlement offer may not work, but it can begin the conversation.

It also signals a willingness to negotiate and be reasonable.

Stange Law Firm, PC limits their practice to family law matters including divorce, child custody, child support, paternity, guardianship, adoption, mediation, collaborative law and other domestic relation matters.

Stange Law Firm, PC gives clients 24/7 access to their case through a secured online case tracker found on the website. They also give their clients their cell phone numbers. Call for a consultation today at 855805-0595.

To schedule a consultation:

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WWW.STANGELAWFIRM.COM The choice of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Stange Law Firm, PC is respsonsible for the content. Principal place of business is 120 South Central Ave, Suite 450, Clayton, MO 63105. Court rules do not permit us to advertise that we specialize in a particular field or area of law. The areas of law mentioned in this article are our areas of interest and generally are the types of cases which we are involved. It is not intended to suggest specialization in any areas of law which are mentioned The information you obtain in this advertisement is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results afford no guarantee of future results and every case is different and must be judged on its merits.

Tulsa County Office

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OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA

Welcome to 2021! In our first issue of the year, we take a look back, acknowledging those who made 2020 better. Last year was – to put it mildly – chaotic, and filled with much more negativity than we could have anticipated. But the light to be found in all of it is this: the adversity brought out grit and determination in many. We honor a few of them in our Oklahomans of the Year feature (page 38).

While many loathe the idea of coming up with New Year’s resolutions, it’s often a great way to take stock, seeing where you have room to improve. In the Health and Wellness spotlight, we discuss how to keep those resolutions all year, along with the effects of too little sleep, ways to work out effectively at home and how to boost your immune system (page 34).

At this point, staffers at Oklahoma Magazine are typically in a flurry of preparations for the annual Oklahoma Wedding Show. This time around, we decided for the sake of everyone’s safety to move the event online – Jan. 23 at oklahomawedding.com – but we still have plenty of wedding-centric goodies for you in our Oklahoma Wedding section (starting on page 59). Peruse beautiful designer gowns, enjoy spreads of delicious catering, cakes and flowers, and read some advice about prepping for the big day.

Also in this issue are a profile on the CEO of the Oklahoma Aquarium (page 57); a write-up on Tulsa’s beloved Italian hot-spot Tucci’s (page 49); and a look into 4-H clubs around the state (page 7).

Stay healthy, Oklahoma!

Mary Willa Allen Managing Editor

OKLAHOMA

PRESIDENT AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR DANIEL SCHUMAN

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What’s HOT at

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We decided to take the Oklahoma Wedding Show virtual this year. On Sat., Jan. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., guests (who visit for free) can chat with vendors online about all the aspects of their wedding celebrations. Don’t worry – we still have great prizes.

Visit oklahomawedding.com to learn more!

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THE STATE

ALL THINGS OKLAHOMA

FOSTERING PREPAREDNESS 4-H programs around the state teach members valuable life lessons.

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The Food, Fun, 4-H initiative brought families together in the summer for a home cooking program.

Photo by Todd Johnson

uinton White really needed his 4-H leader beside him as he prepared to deliver a calf, but a virtual experience would have to do.

“He called me and said he had a small herd of heifers, and had just found one calving,” says Justin Wagner, a Cimarron County extension agent. “So I put him on FaceTime.”

Wagner instructed White to get gloves, sanitizer and pulling chains to put around the calf ’s front legs.

Normally, he would have driven the 36 miles to the ranch near Texhoma, but it was April, and the state was on lockdown. Personal interaction between 4-H members and their leaders might be important, but it wasn’t essential.

“From the very start of this, when

we were first told to shelter in place, our mission has been to continue to keep our youth and families engaged,” says Steve Beck, state 4-H program leader. “It’s been hard, but it’s also been exciting and fun to see the innovation, and see the way the 4-H families reach out to one another, and the way 4-H educators reach out to 4-H-ers.”

One brainstorming session resulted in the innovative culinary project “Food, Fun, 4-H” initiative, which was wildly popular. Senior extension specialist Cathy Allen, situated in Stillwater, says 727 households across the state took part in the summer program, which gathered individual families together once a month to cook a meal, dine together, engage in a physical activity and

submit photos of the experience.

Participants who weren’t enrolled 4-H members received recipes and materials, such as dinner table topics, via email. 4-H members were mailed kits that included two utensils needed for that month’s recipes.

“These were things like zesters, meat thermometers and rolling pins,” says Allen. “It helped them build their kitchen utensils inventory.”

Adair County 4-H member Dayci Star, 11, was so enthused about the utensils that she started using her allowance to add to her collection.

“One parent reported that her son went to the mailbox every day in anticipation of the utensil kit,” says Allen.

Clint and Laura Harrison of the

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

7

T H E S TAT E | S TA R T I N G O F F Top to bottom: Kids enjoy the 4-H ATV Rider Safety program in Guthrie.

STEM camps are important to the 4-H communities. Over the summer, students at OSU developed 15 virtual camps for kids aged 8-12.

Photos by Todd Johnson

Carter County Homeschool 4-H Club participated with their children Olivia, 14, and Rafe, 11.

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in this program,” they wrote to Allen. “Several recipes have now been added to our family’s normal recipe rotation.”

Olivia wrote that she was “usually not a fan of pasta salad, but this one surprised me.” Rafe said he intended to try new ingredients and create his own pasta salad recipes.

Tulsa 4-H members have been making lots of videos, says Lisa Nicholson, 4-H educator for Tulsa County.

“They are young kids full of great ideas,” she says.

Older 4-H members made demonstration videos to help newer members learn skills. They filmed themselves giving speeches for a competition usually

held in person. Some clubs got together by holding outdoor meetings, and a few livestock and horse shows were held in the fall. Masks were required.

“They wanted to have the shows,” says Nicholson. “Those kids have been working with those animals all summer.”

Beck has been with the extension service for more than 25 years, most of it in Oklahoma. He spent a few years working in New Mexico before becoming Oklahoma’s state 4-H leader in late March.

Even before he arrived, co-workers had started taking 4-H online.

“Some of our educators had started a Facebook page called Oklahoma 4-H Virtual Clovers,” he says. “The purpose was to provide hands-on, virtual activities.

Our educators and specialists created a lot of those videos, but they also encouraged teen leaders to create some.”

More than 100 videos were produced, with an average of 33,000 views per week. Some were chosen for the national 4-H website. Now, some outdoor-based activities have resumed, such as shooting sports and ATV safety classes. Anything STEM-related is big with 4-H members, says Beck. Oklahoma State University students teach STEM classes at 4-H camps. Since in-person camps weren’t held during the summer, the college students developed 15 virtual camps for those ages 8 to 12.

And, although many events could go virtual, some 4-H members weren’t able to exhibit their livestock projects because county fairs were canceled.

“They spent their summer getting a lot of the life skills and learning, they just didn’t get to enter the competitions,” says Beck. “They still got to raise the animals.”

If you wondered how that calf made out with only some virtual coaching – all’s well. White named his new calf COVID-2020, says Wagner. “[White] had done it many times, but had never done it by himself,” says Wagner, and his father was not there to help him that day.

“When I had to do it completely by myself, and in an emergency situation, it was kind of mind-blowing,” says White, who is now studying ranch and feedlot management at Clarendon College in Texas.

“4-H was a huge thing in my life growing up,” he continues. “I like the feeling when you do things right and it works out.”

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T H E S TAT E | C L U B S

LET IT FLY A high-flying community of model aircraft enthusiasts populates Oklahoma.

B

The Tulsa Glue Dobbers are happy to welcome new members to their ranks.

Photo courtesy Tulsa Glue Dobbers

10

uild. Fly. Crash. Repeat.

That’s the motto of model aircraft hobbyists.

For many, building and flying a replica airplane – or one that just goes reaaaal fast – is pure joy, and they’re looking for the next generation to join them.

Luke Brown, who’s been flying for seven years and is a trainer for the Bald Eagle R/C Club in Tulsa, was inspired by his father to get into the hobby.

“After he passed away, I wanted to see what he loved so much about it,” he says. “So, I bought my first plane and haven’t looked back.”

Brown says it isn’t as expensive as people think.

“I bought a plane for $69, and I love flying the crap out of that cheap little thing,” he says. “As long as something’s in the air, I’m happy.”

Getting started is easy; you can find what you need at a local hobby store or shop online. Those concerned about controlling the plane as a newbie shouldn’t worry. Most planes out of a box have safe technology that allows you to select beginner, intermediate or advanced mode.

“In beginner mode, when you let go of the stick, it self-levels;

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

it doesn’t let you loop, roll or do anything crazy,” says Brown. “You learn how to fly with something like that.”

Mike Pennell, a member of the Tulsa Glue Dobbers, agrees that the hobbyist determines how much time, effort and money is put into the craft. Pennell lost his father at age 12 and was guided into the hobby by a retired army sergeant neighbor. While he’s fond of warbirds, particularly WWI and WWII aircraft, he says the most popular models lately are electric-powered ARFs (or ‘almost ready to fly’).

“These airplanes are typically made of foam and are ready for the radio installations,” he explains. “Some come with the radio gear already installed and ready for flight. Balsa and plywood models are regretfully becoming less popular due to time constraints for most modelers.”

Raymond Atkinson, who became a member of the OK Sooner Squadron in 1993, thinks the hobby is dwindling with younger generations.

“It seems that the older people [who] have money and time on their hands want to learn or get back into it, but there’s so much competition of things to do, it’s

hard to get kids into,” he says.

“They have their iPads [and devices], and that’s what they seem to go to.”

What Atkinson loves most about building model aircraft is trying something different, essentially “creating something that isn’t just a kit.” He fancies WWII planes, which he says are not easy to fly, but learning is fun and requires patience.

“A lot of people don’t have the patience, but I enjoy the learning process,” he says. “It’s an accomplishment once you learn to fly.”

Atkinson isn’t sure how to get new people interested in the pastime, but believes that there are always fresh and different aspects of the hobby to keep anyone busy.

Brown and Pennell both mention that their clubs have female members, so the hobby and flying clubs are not “boys only.”

“We do have a young nineyear-old lady in the club who can put on a show with her airplane,” says Pennell.

For more info about flying model aircraft, visit modelaircraft.org. To find out more about the clubs, visit baldeaglerc. com; tulsagluedobbers.com; or oksoonersquadron.org.

ALAINA STEVENS

T H E S TAT E | H O B B I E S

A GRAPE ESCAPE Wine enthusiasts can make the libation at home ... or visit a winery to take part in the process.

A

Customers at Waters Edge Winery in Oklahoma City can customize, bottle and cork their own creations.

Photo courtesy Waters Edge Winery

glass of wine to relax after a long day, or as a nice complement to a meal, is one of life’s simple luxuries. The winemaking process can be a fascinating learning experience at a winery or vineyard, but it’s also a fairly easy and fun pastime to make your own wine at home. “[Wine-making] kits are a good way to get started, to understand the fermentation process, and a good way to get your feet wet with wine-making at home,” says Gail White, owner of the Brew Shop in Oklahoma City. “I always say, if you can follow directions to bake a cake mix, step by step, then you can definitely follow directions to make the wine kits.”

These kits, which are available at home brew stores like the Brew Shop, provide everything needed to make wine at home. And there’s no cooking required at all, White reassures; it’s just mixing, stirring, transferring from one fermenter to another, then bottling.

“They are very simple to make, and they’re very reliable, and you get a very consistent wine out of it,” says Desiree Knott, owner of High Gravity Fermentation Supplies, a retailer of wine-making goodies in Tulsa that also sells home kits.

The kits come in a range of prices from $70 to $170 and include grape juice from various places, all the ingredients to add for the fermentation and clarification processes, as well as the necessary equipment.

And the yield is typically six gallons, or about 30 bottles of wine. This can mean significant savings, as White compares the higher end kit wines to a $20 to $25 bottle of wine from a liquor store.

And while home wine making is a simple process, there are two steps that are vitally important and must not be overlooked. White empha-

sizes the necessity to thoroughly clean and sanitize all equipment and to make sure your wine is stored somewhere with good temperature control. Wide swings in temperature can kill the yeast needed for fermentation.

Knott adds one more ingredient for every wine maker: time.

“Making wine is a patience game.

It’s all about patience, that’s the secret ingredient in good wine,” she says. “If you try to rush it, you’re wine isn’t going to be as good.”

If making the wine at home is a bit beyond your desired level of involvement, there are local wineries that allow you to be part of the process.

Roger Cude, owner of Waters Edge Winery in Oklahoma City, shares that customers can customize their

own wines and help shepherd them through the process. If there’s a certain flavor you are looking for, he explains, they will pull that batch (26 bottles) and customize it with your preferred flavor. Cude says this allows wine enthusiasts to have input into the creation of that bottle. And, when your wine is ready, be sure to schedule a bottling and corking party.

Cude helps keep the process in perspective.

“What people need to remember, whether they’re making wine at home or whether they’re going out to enjoy wine, at its core it’s grape juice,” he says. “You just need to have fun. Drink what you like, like what you drink.”

BONNIE RUCKER

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

11

T H E S TAT E | C R A F T S

CREATING YOUR OWN GEMS Making jewelry is a challenging, rewarding and innovative process.

G WaterWorks Art Center has the supplies and advice you need to create your first pieces of jewelry.

Photos courtesy Water Works

12

ift buying can be tricky – whether it’s for a birthday, holiday or special occasion. Coincidentally, we often see advertisements for jewelry, telling us it’s the perfect gift idea for various instances. But what do you get for someone who has quirky tastes or is hard to shop for? How about for someone who appears to already have it all? The answer is simple: make some jewelry for them yourself.

Jenny Bradley is the overseer of the jewelry classes at WaterWorks Art Center in Tulsa, and has a variety of ideas for one’s first foray into the craft.

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

“‘Every expert was once a beginner,’ as Helen Hayes said. It really just depends on how much time you want to focus towards your goals,” says Bradley. “Starting with the basics – like sawing and simple soldering – can build to more complicated skills. I know lots of jewelers tend to start with beading or wire wrapping, as it requires less equipment overall.

I’m constantly amazed at the work some of our beginners are able to create.”

WaterWorks offers a class for beginners, ‘Jewelry Basics,’ that runs for 3 hours over the course of 6 weeks.

“Students are introduced to best safety practices and instructed on how to properly use the equipment,” says Bradley. “We discuss materials and design and then get to work on our projects.”

The cost of your kit is included in the class fees, so there’s no need to worry if you don’t have everything you need upon starting.

Instructors at WaterWorks have various qualifications – including Bachelors and Masters of Fine Arts degrees from schools around the country. Classes cover how to solder, how to use a kiln if needed, how to use a rolling mill, as well as how to buffer, along with information about different gems and metals.

Susanne Barnard with the Bead Merchant in Tulsa also offers classes and supplies, although courses are currently private due to COVID-19. The business carries a wide range of supplies, from single beads to pre-made strands and inexpensive goodies, gems and semi-precious stones.

The Bead Merchant also offers ready-made jewelry, and the team is more than happy to help you make your dream designs a reality.

Spending time on the company’s website leaves customers with ideas that can easily become tangible, unique gifts.

Really, all you need is an idea or a desire to try. There are so many options around the state for any level of learning and, even during a pandemic, you can safely utilize these mediums to create your own works of art.

Bead Merchant is located on 16th and Harvard in Tulsa and WaterWorks is at 17th and Charles Page Blvd. Other options include The Craft Room in Warr Acres and Jan’s Jewelry Supply in OKC. ERIKA BROWNING

T H E S TAT E | P H I L A N T H R O P Y

HOPE AND HEALING WITH HORSES A therapeutic riding program in El Reno serves children and adults with special needs.

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Students engage with horses, volunteers and certified instructors during a session at the Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program.

Photo by Carol Mowdy Bond

TO CONNECT

with Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program: Visit: savannahstation.org Email: info@savannahstation.org Call: 405-422-6239

estled among farms and ranches on Canadian County’s prairie, there’s an area that simply looks like more barns and horses. But Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program isn’t your average horse ranch.

“We are the only therapeutic riding program that serves special abilities youth and adults and their families west of Oklahoma City, all the way to the state border,” says Andi Holland, the program’s executive director since 2017.

Always the head cheerleader extraordinaire, Holland is overthe-top thrilled for her students who participated in the fall 2020 Special Olympics Equestrian competition.

“We are excited to congratulate our amazing medal winners,” she says. “We had one gold, four silvers and five bronzes. 2019 was the first year we participated, and we had a gold and two bronzes.”

A native Oklahoman, Holland came from a lengthy career in nonprofit management. She is a certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor with PATH – the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship – which is the credentials organization for equine special-

ists. While overseeing Savannah Station, she finds ways to raise the annual $85,000 budget, including the Galloping for Hope Barn Party fundraiser, which switched to an online auction in 2020.

The nonprofit program, with a mission of “hope and healing with horses,” relies on individuals, sponsorships, grants and fundraising events for support. All classes are free for students.

“When I started in 2017, there were 14 students,” says Holland.

“Now, we have 40 students and a waiting list, and the highest number of students ever. Our ability to grow depends on the number of volunteers and instructors we have. We have 60 volunteers and four certified instructors. The minimum age for riders is age 4, and now we have riders ages 4 to 30.

They have 45 minute sessions, and we have three riders in each class.

Our programs focus on cognitive, social and emotional confidence.

Since the program began, we have worked with approximately 200 children and adults.”

A proven form of valuable therapy, equine-assisted riding uses the horse’s movement to create muscle and sensory stimulation that brings about physical,

emotional and cognitive rehabilitation. It’s linked to the rhythmic, repetitive gait of the horse, giving the experience of normal pelvic movement for the rider. Riding the horse brings a sense of freedom that many riders are unable to experience another way.

The program’s lessons address numerous challenges including autism, brain injuries, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, emotional and learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, spinal cord injuries and visual impairment, among other disabilities.

In 2013, a retired special education teacher and other volunteers founded Savannah Station.

Originally a traveling program, each week they moved the horses, tack and arena equipment to Bethany, Piedmont and El Reno.

But in 2016, the program nabbed a permanent home at Redlands Community College’s Royce Ranch in El Reno.

“I absolutely love seeing what our miracle-working, healing team of horses does for our students,” says Holland. “Little miracles happen in every class. This is God’s program – it always has been and always will be.”

CAROL MOWDY BOND

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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T H E S TAT E | N AT U R E

AMPHIBIAN APPRECIATION Herpetology clubs help to break the stigma around these creatures by providing educational tools to Oklahomans.

H

erpetology, defined as the study of snakes and amphibians, is a topic that can be daunting or downright terrifying for many individuals. However, the hobby has grown quite an enthusiastic fan base in recent years.

Clubs like the Oklahoma City Herpetological and Invertebrate Society and the Tulsa Herp Club have been around for decades. These groups are an excellent spot for beginners, who plan on having a herp of their own, to learn the ropes. There, they can gain insight and knowledge from a lot from folks who have been in the game for years.

Jamie Zachary with Oklahoma Herpetological Society says that OHS “only deals with wild herps – specifically in conservation and research.” This club meets for special field trips twice a year, where they gather information on species and movements to send in to colleges, universities and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

“We also host a conference each spring that covers several topics regarding conservation and field work,” says Zachary.

Another wealth of information comes from Lori Ensign-Scroggins, owner of Safari’s Wildlife Sanctuary in Broken Arrow. She wants to help the general public become less fearful of these creatures.

“We explain to people that our animals have never seen the wild. They’ve been in human hands since they came out of the egg,” she says. “They are handled consistently and respectfully. People are usually scared, but we explain that they’re not slimy or wet – they are very soft and [we] encourage people of all ages

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

During a normal year, the Oklahoma City Herpetological and Invertebrate Society visits several expos to showcase their critters.

Photo courtesy OKCHIS

to try touching the tail. People can be very nervous about simply touching an animal that they’ve been told to fear, but once they try it, they usually become very inquisitive.”

The sanctuary is not currently open to the public, but it offers a mobile ‘Zoo2You’ option for parties or educational purposes.

Both the Oklahoma City Zoo and Tulsa Zoo have very considerable and wellequipped education departments. Their docents go through extensive training to learn how to safely handle each animal in the department, as well as how to present artifacts in an understandable way.

“There is nothing more exciting than seeing a group of kids squeal in anxious anticipation to see a snake up close,” says Charity Rowse, a former Tulsa Zoo docent. “Once they touch them, the questions start. I’ve even seen kids that I met in camp or at a presentation who come back months later to tell me about their new snake pet or bearded dragon.”

Whichever way you choose to explore

this hobby, the best part is gaining a new respect for an often disrespected species.

Education is a big perk in the herp community, and those involved rarely run out of interesting facets to explore.

For those feeling trepidation, the risks involved tend to be minimal. It’s important to note, however, that pretty much every animal has self-preservation instincts and many can hurt you – which is why being part of am educated community can help.

Facebook is a great place to start your search. With three major clubs in the state and countless smaller groups, future herpetologists are sure to find a group that’s right for them.

ERIKA BROWNING

T H E S TAT E | S P O R T S

RIGHT ON TARGET

Trapshooting has an avid following in the state.

Quail Ridge Sporting Clays in McLoud has challenging courses for participants of any skill level.

Photo courtesy Quail Ridge Sporting Clays

U

nlike some of the more visible team sports, clay pigeon shooting sports may be new to many.

They consist primarily of three types: skeet, trap and sporting clays, but they all involve shooting a shotgun at a clay target. But there’s much more to it – and lots of opportunity for fun.

“We can get you started, from the beginner who’s never shot to whatever level of competition you desire,” says Brian Hughes, owner of Quail Ridge Sporting Clays in McLoud, who shot competitively for more than two decades before purchasing his club a couple of years ago. He encourages everyone to give these sports a try.

Quail Ridge specializes in sporting clays, which, as Hughes describes it, creates a kind of hunting scenario.

“You’re out in the woods, or in a field, or around the pond or whatever the setting of the club may be,” he says. He compares it to a

golf course in that shooters follow a trail of stations that go through woods or pastures. Each station has different kinds of targets that may throw toward the shooter, away from the shooter, crossing, falling, and even rabbit targets that run across the ground.

Skeet shooting and trapshooting are the two other main forms of clay target shooting (also known as pigeons or birds). These disciplines are more stationary than sporting clays and involve the mechanical throwing of a clay target from a “house” in a variety of locations and angles. And all of these sports can be played competitively, up to the Olympic level.

But many who enjoy the activity are simply “looking for a nice day outside with friends and family,” says Hughes.

There are a couple different kinds of amateurs within these sports. There’s the true beginner who hasn’t held a shotgun before – those who have a gun they have inherited in the closet that they’d like to put to use. Then, there are the people who hunted or shot targets in the past and want to pick it up again. That is Matthew

Riggin’s story. He got back into shooting about 20 years ago and now serves as the Tulsa Gun Club board president.

“The nice thing is that young and old, men, women, they all come out and they all have fun,” says Riggin as he describes the more than 1,000 people who shoot at the Tulsa Gun Club, a member-led non-profit.

The Tulsa Gun Club has been around for nearly 100 years in its location in northeast Tulsa.

Members and guests can practice shooting skeet, trap and sporting clays there, as well as get direction and training from instructors. They even offer a First Shots program for the uninitiated to allow beginners to get a feel for the sport without significant purchases.

“They can truly come with nothing more than an open mind and a willingness to try and experience the game,” says Riggin.

“The best feeling in the world is when you hit a target straight on, and it just dusts into a big starburst, and you know you were right on that target.”

BONNIE RUCKER

JANUARY 2021| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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T H E S TAT E | A R T S

FINDING THE WRITE SPACE Writing groups provide a haven for those in search of some inspiration, guidance and camaraderie.

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The Creative Quills writing group offers a safe space for aspiring authors to share their works.

Photo courtesy Creative Quills

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n its first year, the Creative Quills Writing Group had a booth at the El Reno Burger Day Festival. Twenty-five authors, still unpublished at the time, filled the group’s table with their business cards. The following year, the table was covered with 25 newly published books. What started as a workshop during poetry month in 2015 has blossomed into a thriving writing group that creates, edits and publishes together.

Groups like the Creative Quills exist across the state. These clubs gather for shop talk, skill building and the camaraderie that comes along with it. Creative writing groups provide a space to discover the storyteller within ... and others with a similar interest.

Andrea Foster, chief instigator of the Creative Quills Writing Group, remembers the night when a new member came to the group’s meeting with five half-written books. By the next meeting, he had finished one. The group helped him edit and finalize the text while getting to know this new writer.

“Join a group,” says Foster. “The

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

community is invigorating, and you’ll meet other people like you.

In making friends, you’ll gain the impetus to get writing.”

Before COVID-19 closed Tulsa City County Library branches to the public, the Tulsa NightWriters met monthly at Martin Regional Library. Today, around 20 members regularly sign-on for virtual meetings. In total, the NightWriters have a membership of around 100, and the group has continued to grow, despite or thanks to, the pandemic.

“Using Zoom for our meetings, I’ve been able to invite speakers from Texas and Florida,” says Kathryn Helstrom, vice president of the NightWriters.

In 2020, members have learned how to use Scrivener writing software with Tulsa author Bre Lockhart and heard a presentation from Dallas-based Tex Thompson.

During a regular year, the NightWriters host a conference, but this year they chose to use that money to publish an anthology, From Behind the Mask. The creative record of COVID-19 includes poetry, essays, fiction and more. Helstrom

says it was a way to keep everyone writing.

“We have a lot of people who are unpublished and just getting started,” she says.

Recently, the NightWriters started genre groups, in which writers with similar topic interests, such as romance or mystery, get connected and workshop ideas together. Helstrom says the idea has been successful, but the groups are looking forward to one day gathering in-person again.

Foster identifies with Helstrom’s desire to gather face-to-face. The Creative Quills have moved online as well. Foster says the group used to hang out at a local coffee shop for hours, talking all things writing and story ideas. Even so, the Creative Quills has published six books, through a variety of avenues, since August, and has three more on deck.

During their every-other-week gatherings, Foster offers the group a prompt that they have five minutes to write about. She sees it as fostering a creative spark of energy. Sometimes the prompt is a simple yet loaded word, like ‘mother.’ Other times it’s a song or photo, or a phrase like: ‘I knew I shouldn’t have done it.’ After writing, each member shares with the group.

“Some books were born out of those things that started in five minutes,” says Foster.

In addition to meeting regularly, Creative Quills members participate in beta readings of one another’s work. Foster says the group has experts who are able to offer a close read in their areas of interest. For example, one member brought her Western novel for reading, and a member who has historical expertise reminded her that the specific type of gun she referenced in the book wouldn’t have existed in the time the work was set in.

“If you have a passion for writing, I think you deserve to have your book in your hand, for it to be a pretty good product, and pretty decent and cleaned up on the inside, too,” says Foster. “What I love is the confidence that people have gained in themselves along the way.”

LAUREN MIERS

T H E S TAT E | B U S I N E S S

A STURDY FOUNDATION

Becco Contractors has a hand in much of northeast Oklahoma’s infrastructure.

Becco Contractors works to improve northeastern Oklahoma through quality construction and contracting work.

Photo by Mike Townson courtesy Becco Contractors

A

true Tulsa hometown company since 1988, Becco Contractors Inc. started small.

General superintendent Chad Smith tells how his dad started Becco in the family garage with a backhoe, a dump truck, a trailer and five employees ... and their first job was digging a dog’s grave for $88.

Becco grew by focusing on municipal, county and state needs, and now, some of its main clients include the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), the City of Tulsa and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. The company is known for expertise and success in heavy highways, roads, bridge construction, grading, earthworks, concrete paving, asphalt paving, small and large drainage structures, retaining walls, water and sanitary lines and underground utilities.

With over 400 employees, Becco has specialty crews that perform almost all types of con-

struction, and the team is capable of working numerous jobs concurrently. The company is known for a multitude of projects, and crews can self-perform a lot of the work, requiring fewer subcontractors.

It’s helpful that they own their own trucks.

“We follow the bid process with everything we do,” says Becco’s Vicki West. “We buy and live and work local. We strive to find what we’re looking for in the Tulsa area, unless we just absolutely can’t.

We’re civil contractors.”

Tulsa’s Gathering Place is one of the biggest privately-funded projects in the world at $465 million. Working alongside the city throughout the process, Becco contributed to the drainage structures, paving of roads and other contracting needs.

“In 2019, Becco won the American Public Works Association Oklahoma Chapter Silver Winner Award for ‘Project of the Year’ in the category of transportation between $25 and $75 million,” says West. “Becco also did work for the Hard Rock Casino in Catoosa. Now we’re building a bridge over the Arkansas River, just west of Tulsa.”

An equal opportunity employer, Becco also won

the 2019 Prime Contractor of the Year for SBE Award Volume, given by the City of Tulsa. Valuing high quality construction with a focus on safety, the company keeps pace with Tulsa as the city progresses in infrastructure development.

And Becco follows market changes closely. On top of it all, Becco has a recycling program to reprocess asphalt and concrete.

While Becco partners with entities like I Build America and the Associated General Contractors of America, Smith is especially pleased with the company’s ongoing partnership with Tulsa Tech; the school fills the company’s employee needs, and even customizes programs for people going straight to Becco. The end result upon graduation is a reliable employee, ready to go to work.

Known as the safest heavy highway contractor in Tulsa, the company has a family-oriented culture. With jobs primarily in northeastern Oklahoma, Becco has a high employee-retention rate which increases the company’s reliability. In 2017, Becco won an Association of Oklahoma General Contractors award for having over 400,000 hours with no accidents.

CAROL MOWDY BOND

JANUARY 2021| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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T H E S TAT E | I N S I D E R

ANOTHER HILARIOUS CHAPTER Beloved radio personality Brent Douglas if off the air and on the stage.

O

Brent Douglas, after years on the radio, looks to try his hand at comedy after a life-altering experience.

Photo courtesy Brent Douglas

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ver the last several months, Brent Douglas has learned a lot about the principles of action and reaction – although they’re not the kinds of lessons you’ll find in a physics textbook.

Instead, the performer whose voice and phone-call shtick brought consistent laughs to a generation of

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

Tulsa-radio listeners has been applying this newfound knowledge to stand-up comedy.

And yes, it all has to do with action and reaction. So says the man who voiced the famed ambush-comic Roy D. Mercer, memorably working the weekday morning-drive slot with his partner Phil Stone at radio station KMOD for well over a quarter of a century. Not long ago, after deciding he’d like to take a shot at the stage, Douglas debuted a stand-up act at Tulsa’s Loony Bin – and immediately realized the two comedy venues were not the same.

“The difference, basically, is that you’re in front of an audience [with stand-up], and you get instant feedback,” he explains. “Hell, during all the time I was on the air, my singular purpose in life was to make Phil laugh. I knew if he laughed, I was going in the right direction.

Mostly, it was just banter back and forth, and he never talked to me [beforehand] about what he was going to say, or what direction he was gonna go, so I could hit it with an initial response rather than think about it too long.

“Without a straight man, you’ve got to set up your own stuff and act. You’ve got to know where you’re going. You can’t just react to someone else.

You’ve got to set it all up – and it’s exhausting.” He laughs.

“Really. It’s just exhausting, because you’re playing two parts at once.”

Whether interacting with Phil Stone or executing the classic Roy D. Mercer phone calls – which targeted unsuspecting folks who’d be forced to defend themselves against a bellicose Roy D. – his comedy, Douglas says, was all about reaction rather than action. The most action he would ever take for the Mercer segments would be to research a couple of local landmarks if he was phoning someone in a different town, just to make the call sound believable.

“The rest of it was just off the cuff,” he notes. “I didn’t have any-

thing set up about what I was going to say. It was all up to them, the people who were on the other end of the phone line. It was ad-libbing to what they were saying. It was reacting. I didn’t drive that bus – I was just a passenger, heckling the driver.”

He and Phil Stone rode that bus for a good long time, becoming not just locally but nationally famous for the Roy D. Mercer character.

Between 1996 and 2013, nearly two dozen Mercer CDs hit the racks, most of them from the major Capitol Nashville label, with many climbing well into the national country-music Top 40.

By 2013, however, Roy D. Mercer’s humorously confrontational calls could no longer be found on the Tulsa airwaves, as Phil and Brent and the station failed to come to terms on a new contract. They left KMOD in 2012; near the end of that year, Stone passed away from a heart-disease-related illness at the age of 57, putting an end to the team forever.

After nearly 27 years of engaging many thousands of listeners on a daily basis, Douglas retired to a life of playing golf, traveling, reading and spending time with his family, including his grandkids. But the drive to entertain with his words and insights never quite left him.

“One of the reasons I wanted to do stand-up was that I’d get the urge to give my take on whatever was happening, and it was driving my wife crazy,” he recalls. “I think I just had to get it out of my system like I’d gotten to do on the radio.

When we said on the air it was like a four-hour therapy session, we were really serious. It saved both Phil and me a lot of money and a lot of time on the psychiatrist’s couch.”

He didn’t act on that urge, however, until a few months ago, after a sudden series of mini-strokes altered his life. After running Douglas through the requisite tests, his doctors found a major blockage in his carotid artery and he underwent a surgical process that left his well-known voice weakened and his stamina drained – both conditions he had to deal with when he made his stand-up debut a couple of months later.

At this writing, Douglas has made only “I didn’t realize it was going to be that Brent Douglas as Roy D. Mercer.’ I want to a handful of appearances, all at the Loony much of a strain,” he admits. “That night, stand up – literally – on my own two feet, Bin – which is just fine with him. part of it was just talking. My voice just and see if I can do it without doing that.”

“I don’t want to go out on the road or didn’t last very long, because of the intubaHowever, he knows that sometime in the anything like that,” he says. “I don’t want to tion and all that nonsense. That’s when future, his alter-ego will return. make a career out of it. I don’t want to have they cram that hose down your throat, so “My brother and I were talking the other they can pump air to you while you’re doing to be there on a certain night or whatever; day, and he said, ‘You know, you ought to it’s kind of like a hobby. It’s not something I surgery.” talk about growing up Roy.’ That’s really The voice, says true. That’s the way I Douglas, has almost “I didn’t have anything set up about what I was grew up. So I think one returned to full day that’ll come to the going to say. It was all up to them, the people forefront. Maybe I’ll strength. But, he adds, who were on the other end of the phone line. use a little bit [of Roy “My endurance, my stamina, is going to be Mercer material], do a It was ad-libbing to what they were saying. the last thing to come little Q&A at the end, or It was reacting. I didn’t drive that bus – back. In fact, when I did whatever – jack around I was just a passenger, heckling the driver.” it [stand-up] a couple of with the people. I like weeks ago, I was basithat better than anyhave to have financially. It’s something that cally out of breath at the end. I had to pull a thing, man, that back-and-forth, one-onI have to have for my soul. chair over and sit down for a little bit. And I one thing. It feels natural to me.

“I only play golf once a week,” he adds thought, ‘This is not good. I’m just talking.

“But I don’t want to sell out for Roy. with another laugh, “and that’s probably It’s not like I’m jogging around a track or That’s why I haven’t done any commercials about right for comedy, too.” anything.’” as Roy. I didn’t want to stick a dollar bill in Another thing that’s right for his comedy Still, he adds, “I’m nearly back to 100%. his mouth. I wanted to keep him as pure as may be the resurrection of his most famous But, you know, it [the surgery and its afterI could.” character – even if he doesn’t think the effects] put the fear of God in me. It really Douglas pauses and then laughs again. time is quite yet right. did. It told me, ‘If you’ve got something that “That is,” he says, “if there’s any purity “I don’t want to use Roy as a crutch,” says you want to do, you’d better do it, and quit involved where Roy’s concerned.”

Douglas. “You know: ‘Appearing tonight: making excuses about why you haven’t.’”

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HOSPICE CARE Is a hospice patient more or less likely to contract COVID-19?

The CDC states that those at a higher risk for the virus are people 65 and older; people of any age who have a serious underlying medical condition; and those who live in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Hospice patients generally meet at least one CAITLIN EVERSOLE of those conditions. The good news is that hospice patients are less likely to come into contact with the virus because Grace Hospice caregivers follow all CDC mandated precautions, starting with the proper personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves. Grace caregivers are also tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis and the results of those tests are subject to oversight by the Health Department. We’re always here to help. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at 918-744-7223.

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FINANCIAL ADVISOR What are some solutions to today’s challenging retirement income environment?

1. Maximize Social Security: The later in life you begin collecting Social Security, the higher your monthly benefit.

2. Give dividend-paying stocks a closer look: Since most of us can DAVID KARIMIAN CFP®, CRPC®, APMA® expect to spend 15-20 years or more in retirement, the growth potential of stocks is still important in a retirement portfolio.

3. Try to boost Roth IRAs: Distributions from Roth IRAs have the potential to be free of taxes.

4. Consider a “bucket” strategy for your investments: Segment your retirement portfolio into three buckets – money needed in the short-term (the next two-to-three years); needed threeto-six years in the future; and held seven years or more.

5. Add stability with annuities: Annuities can generate a consistent stream of income for a set period of years.

David Karimian, CFP®, CRPC®, APMA® Prime Wealth Management A private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial 7712 S. Yale Ave. Suite 240 Tulsa, OK 74136 918.388.2009 • David.x.Karimian@ampf.com www.primewealthmgmt.com JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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The Renaissance starts today Nothing brings a Renaissance to your home or office like a custom-designed hardwood floor.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

LIFE & STYLE

A M A P TO L I V I N G W E L L

A GREAT SECOND ACT A collaboration between three Tulsa heavy hitters produced a home that’s both functional and inviting.

By Lauren Miers • Photography by Sarah Baker Photos

“I

f you look at the house on the outside, you would not expect what you see on the inside,” says builder Tim Yardy, co-owner of Astoria Properties.

In a year’s time, Yardy and his team at Astoria ( formerly known as the Maison Group), alongside Align Design Group and interior designer Laura Ellis Barnes, transformed a European-inspired estate into a fresh family home.

The master bathroom’s sleek marble tub – designed by Jason Gibson – was purchased through Tulsa’s Heatwave Supply and Showroom. It provides an oasis away from outside stresses.

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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L I F E & S T Y L E | I NT ER I O R S

Located in Bixby, the traditional interior of the 8,000-square-foot residence felt dark and heavy, with rich colors and ornate accents. The new owners, a family with two school-aged children, wanted a cleaner, more modern look, without the cold aesthetic that sometimes comes along with contemporary design.

In all aspects of the finished interior, approachability was key. The family entertains regularly, so it was essential that the space be both functional for hosting and feel like home. They planned to preserve the existing layout while opening up the space visually, using clean design and natural light.

“I had seen their old house and saw that they leaned more modern, towards cleaner lines, and had quite a bit of color,” says Ellis Barnes. “I tried to take that and make it age-appropriate for a young, fun, entertaining family.”

The result was a fresh, colorful and vibrant look that’s trendy and style-forward. Modern furniture and jewel-toned colors create a cohesive aesthetic across the home’s many spaces. All of the wood elements remain natural without stain.

Where painted details create contrast, natural materials provide warmth.

Continuing on the goal to open up the space using natural light, Yardy removed the formerly castle-esque wooden door and made the home’s entry, including

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

the front door, entirely of glass and steel.

Crossing the threshold places visitors in the midst of a glorious entryway with a grand staircase ahead, and hints of the colorful designs in the dining room and study to each side.

Yardy updated the entryway flooring with a white oak and walnut wood inlay that reflects the square details built into the bottom of the staircase. The room’s central element, the sweeping staircase, got a face-lift thanks to a contemporary railing and animal print stair runner.

Together, Yardy and Ellis Barnes selected

Clockwise from top left: The entry of this home leaves a dazzling first impression.

The family room boasts an eye-catching book shelf that adds a pop of color to the space.

Guests converge in the formal living area, which includes interesting wall art and lighting.

The home’s oice/study boasts a unique teal color scheme and a fireplace.

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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L I F E & S T Y L E | I NT ER I O R S a chandelier to tie the space together and give it its show-stopping quality.

“It’s a large house, so I wanted to fill it with interesting color and patterns while still keeping it clean, so nothing felt busy or heavy,” says Ellis Barnes.

Moving through the formal living room and into the kitchen, Yardy and his team brought the space all the way down to the studs before bringing to life the vision Align Design created.

It was important for the family to have relevant items in-reach while some of the heavy lifting could be hidden away. The kitchen’s outward-facing area features a large island with lots of seating and space to stand because, as Align Design principal architect Jason Gibson puts it, that’s where everyone ends up during a party. Behind-the-scenes, on the opposite side of the range, is a galley kitchen where the other typical kitchen elements – such as the dishwasher, wet bar and oven – live. Gibson describes the dark edges and bright inner focal points of the

Clockwise from top: The master bedroom is a study in tranquility, with a unique ceiling feature to top off the design.

Marble reigns supreme in this stunning master bath, brimming with subtle gold accents.

A comfortable entertainment room is perfect for the homeowner’s two children.

One of the children’s bedrooms dazzles with colorful wallpaper.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

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L I F E & S T Y L E | I NT ER I O R S Clockwise from top: The formal dining room combines navy, green and gold accents, providing a crisp, streamlined space.

The organized pantry is the perfect spot to store snacks and ingredients, avoiding any visible clutter in the kitchen.

The family enjoys laidback meals in this cozy nook offering outdoor views.

room as a “tuxedo look.”

“The space was big enough that we could pull off a dual color scheme and call out the darker areas as more private and closed off and the brighter areas as more opened up,” he says.

The painted hood that extends the length of the range contributes to the kitchen’s clean look. Gibson says they decided to go with a flat, squaredoff face, instead of a traditional hood, to avoid creating visual clutter. The kitchen’s rift-sawn white oak cabinetry faces were custom designed by Align’s cabinet maker.

“I think having free rein opened us up to bring ideas to the table that we felt were original,” says Gibson. “It gave us opportunities to do custom things that we think make spaces function better.”

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The kitchen’s center island is the focal point in this completely redesigned space.

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The master bedroom continue the home’s youthful ambiance. Pops of orange can be found in throw pillows, art and a stylish bedroom bench.

Walking into the master bath, one finds a relaxing combination of marble, gold accents and light woods. The marble tub, designed by Gibson and purchased through Tulsa’s Heatwave Supply and Showroom, is the centerpiece of the space.

The home’s study is another hidden gem where form and function, as well as old and new, meet.

Yardy says the existing room was full of cabinetry, heavy molding details and a fireplace. Rather than rip everything out, the family opted to revive it.

Ellis Barnes calls the end result a colorful jewel box because of its rich colors and reflective teal paint job. Two giant pieces by local artist Bob Sober hang over the glass-topped desk, and bold, patterned drapes flank the nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. Ellis Barnes says the family wanted the study to be a statement room that was functional for working.

“You have all this traditional detail, but we painted it all with high-gloss color,” says Yardy.

“We flipped it on its head and made it feel younger and more contemporary.”

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L I F E & S T Y L E | D E S T I N AT I O N S

ENGULFED IN GALVESTON ISLAND This tropical escape is only a quick plane or car ride away.

N

A variety of tourist attractions, plus stunning beaches, shopping and eats, make Galveston the perfect long weekend getaway.

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ever before has a beach destination been more welcome than this past year.

COVID-19 restrictions have thrust travelers into creative domestic trips, and Galveston, Texas is one of them.

Approximately 8 hours by car from Tulsa and 7 from OKC – or a short flight away – you’ll be transported to this island paradise in the Gulf of Mexico.

Imagine the relaxation you’ll feel when you can fly directly into the Galveston airport and bypass all the Houston traffic. Excursions, boutiques, fresh seafood from the wharf and dolphin sightseeing boat cruises will give you a respite from your routine.

The Seawall is the ultimate treat, and the magnetic force attracting you to the sand and waves. Kick off your shoes, stroll in the sand and search for seashells. It sounds so simple, but it’s the ideal therapeutic treatment for the landlocked blues. Just crossing the causeway from Houston into Galveston, you feel a soul-plucking levity as high as the seagulls soar. Your vacation starts as soon as the beach town energy pulses through you.

Pier 21’s dolphin sightseeing cruise is a bargain the whole family can enjoy.

Along with viewing these enchanting mammals, the pelicans and seagulls are

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

THE STRAND

The eclectic district of historic warehouses directly off the pier is utterly charming.

Restaurants, coffeehouses and boutiques nestled into picturesque sidewalks are abuzz with live music. Patio bars enhance that beach town essence so you can linger outdoors. The 70+ block district is a National Historic Landmark because of its 19th century architecture. La King’s Confectionery is a must-see stop with delicious candies, chocolates, ice cream and fountain drinks. Reportedly, everything is made on site.

THE WETLANDS

Don’t miss an opportunity to appreciate the preserved estuarine wetlands of the lower Galveston Bay. Also known as fringing marshes, the mysterious beauty of the thickened vegetation is an excellent example of preservation efforts. It’s hard to believe you’re in Texas when the landscape looks like Costa Rica.

RECOMMENDATIONS the true entertainment. The buoyancy of pelicans devouring morsels thrown off the wharf kitchens while the seagulls soar nearby is nature’s ballet. Boat cruisers are mesmerized by the sea wildlife while viewing cruise ships, private yachts and an oil rig all in the same marina.

Galveston has an interesting history of settlement, dating back to 1816. This stunning architecture is preserved in several of the buildings and Victorian landmarks.

You can learn about Civil War-era mansions and former pirate dwellings included on bus tours. Bishop’s Palace (also called Gresham’s Palace) is considered one of America’s most significant Victorian mansions. Basement to attic tours are available with a third-floor panoramic view of the Gulf of Mexico.

A unique spirit has remained among a proud community of people known as “BOIs” and “IBCs” – standing for those “born on the island” or “islanders by choice.” The latter nickname gives them a distinction from nearby Houston citizens.

However, many Houstonians’ affinity for the island draws them there for weekend escapes to their bungalows, beach houses and boats.

Island living is truly a state of mind. The minute you arrive on Galveston, you find yourself more relaxed and less stressed.

Life is just slower in G-Town.

Throughout your trip, enjoy the Pleasure Pier, Moody Gardens, amusement park rides, the Railroad and Seaport Museum and the ghost tours. Then, relax and unwind with luxurious spa services (like eucalyptus steam rooms) at Hotel Galvez and Spa. Follow up with an authentic dining extravaganza at the famous Giado’s Seafood restaurant. A weekend itinerary for couples, friends or families is waiting for you.

GINA MICHALOPULOS KINGSLEY

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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L I F E & S T Y L E | F YI

NO SOIL, NO PROBLEM Hydroponics – growing crops without soil – offers a unique alternative to traditional farming and gardening.

I

f you haven’t had the time or inclination to pick up an off beat hobby during this very weird time, you might want to try hydroponics. But what does this practice actually entail?

“A simple explanation would be the cultivation of crops without the use of soil,” says Max Altschuler of Guerrilla Grow Hydroponics in Broken Arrow. “Any hydroponic store will have the proper and necessary fertilizers, grow lights and growing media for indoor and outdoor cultivation, whether it be organic soil or hydroponics.”

According to Altschuler, the growth in hydroponics is sustained through a nutrient solution that can be applied in a multitude of ways.

“Many home and commercial gardeners will utilize ebb and flow, drain-towaste and deep water cultivation as some of the common methods,” he adds.

“Absolutely anyone can grow a plant hydroponically. While I typically find that growing hydroponically is less forgiving than soil, I find the only requirements are time,

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

research and dedication.”

For Altschuler, farming has always been a key point of interest.

“The source of what we consume daily has been an important link to understand our supply chain and food chain,” he says. “I have always found self-reliance and self-sustainability to be important qualities, from brewing my own beer to growing my own food and creating my own medicine.”

Guerrilla Grow Hydroponics was established in 2018 with a focus on providing the equipment and, more importantly, the knowledge to grow and cultivate hydroponically.

“We always encourage our clients to ask questions about the products and how to use them to maximize their commercial or home cultivation project,” says Altschuler.

Albeiro Diaz with HTG Supply in Oklahoma City believes that the practice of hydroponics can be restorative.

“Many customers find that growing in hydroponics is therapeutic, because it brings them closer to nature without the mess of soil,” he says. “I got involved because, as a consumer, I wanted to take back some power when it came to choosing where I receive some of my food each week. I wanted to grow varieties I don’t see in the store, like purple tomatoes or wild strawberries. Above all else, I wanted my

produce to be fresh – right off the vine.”

After getting over the initial shock of no soil, the advantages of indoors hydroponics systems become clear. Farmers are able to produce food literally anywhere in the world without worrying about growing seasons. Essential nutrients can be added in exact quantities. Vertical space can be used, increasing planting density.

Water unused by the plants is recycled.

And soil conditions can be ignored because, well, you’re not using it.

Still not convinced hydroponics can be a good idea for some growers? According to GreenOurPlanet.org, when compared to soil-based crops, hydroponics’ advantages include: • an increase in production of three to 10 times in the same amount of soil space; • up to 90% more efficient use of water; • no pest control or chemical weed products; • some crops can be grown in half the time; • crops can be grown in climates where weather conditions are unfavorable.

“If you want vigorous growth, bigger fruits and faster yields, you should definitely try hydroponics,” says Diaz. “Our priority is always the success of your first harvest.”

DEBI TURLEY

L I F E & S T Y L E | O U T SI D E T H E M E T R O

ALLURING ANADARKO

The Wichita Tribal History Center is a tourist hot spot in Anadarko.

Photo courtesy the Wichita Tribal History Center

Those hoping to learn more about Native American history should visit this city in southwestern Oklahoma.

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FOR MORE

INFORMATION:

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Anadarko Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

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Southern Plains Indian Museum

405-247-6621 doi.gov/iacb/southernplains-indian-museum

Wichita Affiliated Tribes History Center and Museum

405-247-2425 wichitatribe.com/historycenter/wichita-tribal-history-center-and-museum.aspx

n a state whose very name is a Native American phrase meaning “Red Earth,” one Oklahoma city is notable for playing a major role in the history, government and culture of the state’s Plains Indian tribes.

Anadarko, county seat of Caddo County situated about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, is the tribal headquarters for the Delaware Nation, Apache Tribe and Wichita Affiliated Tribes. Moreover, four other tribes – the Caddo Nation, Kiowa Tribe, Comanche Nation and Fort Sill Apache Tribe – are closely intertwined with the city, with facilities and a large segment of their tribal membership close by. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, under the U.S. Department of the Interior, not only has an agency office but a regional office in Anadarko.

According to Oklahoma historian George Shirk’s Oklahoma Place Names, the name Anadarko comes from the Caddo word Na-da-ko, the name of the Caddoan tribes.

Anadarko’s mayor, Kyle Eastwood, estimates that about 50% of Anadarko’s estimated 6,700 residents have some Native American blood, and says tribal culture and business is vitally important to the

community. He says the city’s main focus right now is on tourism.

“We have a lot to offer someone wanting to immerse themselves in tribal culture,” says Eastwood.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is dampening those efforts.

Eastwood says the city has imposed a mask mandate locally since the early days of the pandemic.

“I think we have fewer cases but can’t prove it,” he says. “The science is pretty clear that it helps. It’s not perfect, but it helps.”

Nevertheless, officials with one of Anadarko’s main annual events dedicated to Native American culture – the American Indian Exposition – canceled what was going to be the 85th annual event in August.

For more normal times, however, Eastwood extends an invitation to anyone interested to visit Anadarko, where an abundance of information awaits in the city’s museums, artifacts, murals and people.

The Interior Department operates a major museum – the Southern Plains Indian Museum – that, in normal times, offers an array of exhibits from western Oklahoma tribal culture, rich in variety, depicting clothing, shields, weapons, baby carriers, toys and other items. The museum has been closed for several

months due to COVID-19, but leadership hopes to open it up soon.

Adjacent to the museum is a tenacre drive-through park that houses the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians, displaying sculptured busts of historical Native American figures.

The City of Anadarko offers its own free-admission museum, housed in the city’s former Rock Island Railroad station. The museum, also closed at present, is operated by the Anadarko Philomathic Club.

Betty Bell, a member of the club, says that visitors can peruse exhibits that include railroad memorabilia, photographs of early Anadarko settlers, historic Native American relics, Civil War documents and old military uniforms.

Bell encourages visitors to check out not only the museums but also the downtown post office, located on S. First Street, where lobby visitors can view murals painted by local artists.

According to the city’s website, Anadarko has adopted an American buffalo as its mascot, in a tribute to the species of bison that once roamed the area in massive herds.

Images of the mascot can be found in various places within the city.

HENRY DOLIVE

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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L I F E & S T Y L E | H E A LT H

PROTECTING YOUR SKIN The body’s largest organ needs daily upkeep to remain strong and youthful.

H

ealthy, clear skin can boost your selfconfidence, make you appear younger and help your overall wellbeing. Skin is, after all, the body’s largest organ and an amazing protective barrier between us and our environment. To help keep your skin aglow, consider these tips.

FOR ACNE:

No matter your age, acne can be a painful nuisance that leaves you feeling less than your best.

“These days, no one needs to suffer from any skin condition, including acne,” says Johnathan Ledet, a dermatologist with Warren Clinic Dermatology. “We have so many treatment options available that can help eliminate and/or manage a variety of skin care issues.”

Ledet says a trip to the dermatologist is the best place to start.

“People will often waste time and money trying several kinds of products to find what works,” he says. “To get on the right track and be on the way to clear skin, it’s best to visit a dermatologist and receive a personalized regimen for your unique skin.”

Pamela Allen, a dermatologist with OU Health Physicians, says over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide, adapalene and salicylic acid topical products can help mildly inflamed acne, blackheads and whiteheads. However, she cautions against picking or squeezing acne lesions – as this can lead to hyperpigmentation and scarring.

When asked how often you should wash your face, Allen says it depends on your day’s activities.

“Morning and evening face washing, especially during this pandemic, is prudent,” she says.

“Kids who are playing outdoor sports may need to wash their face an extra time after playing to remove sweat, dust and dirt particles. Because facial skin can be sensitive and easily irritated, I recommend gentle cleansers that are hypoallergenic and fragrance-free. Avoid harsh scrubs and exfoliators unless otherwise indicated by your board-certified dermatologist.”

FOR DRY SKIN:

During the winter months, a common irritant is dry, itchy skin.

“Patients often ask why their skin is so dry when they are drinking lots of water, but it doesn’t exactly work that way,” says Ledet. “To hydrate skin, you have to apply moisturizer

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

directly onto the skin. When it’s cold outside and we’re turning the heat up inside, the decrease in humidity dries out our skin and can make some skin conditions worse. I recommend moisturizing regularly – especially after bathing.”

FOR SUN EXPOSURE:

Not surprisingly, one of the greatest threats to our skin’s health is the sun, and diligent sun protection should begin in childhood.

“Start early,” says Allen. “The American Academy of Dermatology recommends parents avoid exposing babies younger than six months to the sun’s rays. Start applying broad-spectrum sunscreen, which protects against UVA and UVB rays – SPF 30 or higher – to children by the age of six months. This will decrease not only the aging effects of the sun but also help prevent skin cancer.”

Ledet adds that if kids are playing outside, it’s important to have some form of sun protection every day, whether it’s sunscreen or sun protective clothing, and it is equally important for adults.

“We know that repetitive sunburns lead to skin cancer,” he says. “We also know that sun exposure breaks down the skin’s collagen, which causes fine lines and wrinkles and can lead to premature aging.”

FOR AGE SPOTS:

As people grow older, age spots often appear on the face, shoulders, arms and hands.

“Age spots, also known as liver spots or sun spots, are small, flat, tan, brown or black lesions of varying sizes that occur with increasing age in sun-exposed regions of the skin,” says Allen. “Pigment cells in the skin are activated by the ultraviolet rays, producing an increase in melanin and an increase number of pigment cells.”

Fortunately, Allen says age spots are benign and there are treatments available to help lighten the skin, such as fading creams, chemical peels, lasers and intense pulsed light therapies.

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A Better

u o Y

By Rebecca Fast

w year begins. ne a n he w t ar st h es fr Everyone looks for a more or getting a t ou ng ki or w , er tt be Whether it’s eating ary is a great time to nu Ja , th al he l ta en m s handle on one’ We talk with s. al go al on rs pe h ac get back on track to re from home, t fi g in ay st t u o b a ls health professiona portance of sleep im e th , em st sy e un m protecting the im lenging resolutions. al ch h it w up g in ep ke and Staying Home, Staying Fit

Many of us are spending more time at home – which probably means less time at the gym.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t get in a great workout, says Holly Andersen, a personal trainer and group exercise instructor with the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City.

“There are many effective workouts like tabata and HIIT (high intensity interval training) that can be done from the comfort of your home,” she says. “These types of workouts can also be body weight only exercises, and can be just as effective as using weights and will raise your metabolism and heart rate in no time.”

Since the pandemic, Andersen has seen a decrease in attendance in group exercise classes and an increase in personal training

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

clients. Many YMCA members are also taking advantage of online classes.

Before beginning any new workout, talk to your physician, says John Jackson, a personal trainer and the owner of Impact Fitness in Tulsa.

“You don’t have to be in a gym setting to get fit and stay fit, but it’s important to check in with your doctor to make sure you’re healthy and ready to start a new fitness routine,” he says.

Whether you’re working out with a group, a trainer or virtually, Jackson says it’s best to start with a clear direction.

“In my profession, we talk about resting heart rate and active heart rate, and discuss how to challenge your body without overdoing it,” he says. “It’s all about finding the right balance to help you exercise safely and meet

Boost Your Immune System

your health and fitness goals.”

To help keep you motivated at home, Andersen says it’s best to set a routine.

“Working out on the same days and time is a must,” she says. “Stay consistent and make exercise a priority. Exercise has many benefits, and now more than ever, those benefits are critical to physical and mental health.”

Also, don’t be afraid to get outside, even when it’s chilly.

“You can always jog or do a brisk walk in the cold,” says Andersen. “To enhance a normal jog or walk, add some interval training.

For example, you can jog at a moderate pace for one minute, then sprint or increase speed for 30 seconds. Or look for a marker, like a stop sign. Jog until you get to the stop sign, then stop and do 20 squats or push-ups. This will increase your endurance and make the normal jog or walk less boring, and you will warm up in no time.”

Our immune system is extremely complex and consists of two parts working together, says Catherine Mims, a physician and an assistant professor for the departments of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

She says one part of the immune system is referred to as ‘innate,’ meaning it works the same against any kind of infection, viral or bacterial, and the other part is referred to as ‘adaptive,’ meaning it can adapt to the exact organism the body is trying to fight.

“The main part of the immune system we’re able to control is our innate immune system,” says Mims. “This includes our skin, nasal passages, mouth and GI tract. These are all barriers to infections we need to keep healthy to allow them to function well against infections.

The adaptive immune system has shown to be more challenging to affect, and is typically only improved by routine vaccinations. However, there is some data that some vitamins can improve the adaptive immune system.”

Two vitamins that gain a lot of attention during cold and flu season – and now during COVID-19 – are vitamin D and C. “Vitamin D activates the immune system against infection and has been shown in some studies to improve the body’s ability to fight respiratory infections, like the common cold in particular,” says Mims. “Vitamin C supports our

innate immune system on many levels, including helping our epithelial barriers as well as our immune cells to prevent infection.”

While vitamin C deficiency has been associated with a high susceptibility to infections, Mims says in most studies, it has not been shown to prevent respiratory illnesses, despite its known benefits to the immune system.

“Additionally, Vitamin C has not been shown to be effective at treating respiratory infections and has required very high doses to show any benefit in most studies,” says Mims. “There are side effects with high dose vitamin C; therefore, it is not routinely recommended to treat common illnesses. Maintaining a good level of Vitamin C in your blood daily is more important than trying to take it once you have a cold.”

Rachel Franklin, a family medicine physician with OU Health, says to think of your immune system like an army fighting an enemy.

“There are sentries always on the lookout; if the sentry sees something it knows to be an enemy, it alerts the killer cells to surround and imprison or destroy the enemy,” says Franklin.

“This is why vaccination is so important; vaccines give the sentries a look at the enemy before it attacks. Your army also has alarm systems for when the enemy attacks without the sentry recognizing it as an enemy. Part of what has made COVID so terrible is because the army doesn’t exactly know what it’s fighting. It overreacts, creating collateral damage in healthy tissue. This is why people have suffered heart and kidney failure from COVID, just as it looked like they were getting over the respiratory symptoms.”

Mims says the most effective ways to prevent common illnesses such as colds, influenza or even COVID-19, is to support the innate immune system by frequent hand washing, wearing a mask and avoiding close contact with others.

“The best way to support the adaptive immune system is to get your annual flu shot and the COVID vaccine, when available,” says Mims. “These are simple but effective measures at decreasing exposure and improving response to common illnesses.”

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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The Power of Zzzs

Are you getting enough sleep? Of the sleep you do get, how much is restful and undisturbed? The time we spend asleep can be just as important to our overall health as the time we spend awake.

Richard Bregman, a sleep specialist physician with the Saint Francis Health System Sleep Disorders Center, says adults between the ages of 18 and 64 should sleep between seven and nine hours a night, while adults ages 65 years and older should sleep seven to eight hours a night.

“That represents quantity of sleep, but quality of sleep is just as important,” says Bregman. “Associated with sleep deprivation, either by hours of sleep or quality of sleep, are many health problems including cognitive decline, hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, chronic fatigue, decreased libido, fibromyalgia, diabetes mellitus, depression and automobile accidents.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drowsy driving plays a part in at least 100,000 motorvehicle crashes and more than 1,500 deaths per year.

Common sleep disorders that cause poor quantity or quality of sleep include insomnia, where a person has difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, and sleep apnea syndrome, characterized by abnormal breathing during sleep which causes fragmented periods of rest.

Bregman says all the above risk factors can be secondary to sleep apnea, as well as cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and reduced heart function. In addition, hormonal changes that occur with sleep deprivation and sleep apnea can lead to obesity. However, successful treatments are available, and Bregman encourages anyone suffering from sleep issues to seek professional help.

Sticking to Resolutions

With the new year comes resolutions – and typically near the top of the list is getting healthier or more fit. But staying the course can be challenging. To reach future goals, start with examining the past, says Kathryn Reilly, a family and sports medicine physician with OU Health in Oklahoma City.

She says this can help identify personal strengths as well as roadblocks that may hinder success – and then make plans on how to avoid these setbacks.

Before beginning a new exercise, she says to visualize the time, place and frequency and set reasonable goals for weekly weight loss.

“Research shows that it takes several weeks for a new habit to develop,” says Reilly. “For exercising, it gets easier after six to eight weeks.”

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

While maintaining momentum can be difficult, Reilly offers a few tips to stay focused.

“Sharing your goal with someone close to you can be helpful, both for accountability and for support when enthusiasm wanes,” she says. “Many people benefit from investing in the change they want to make by joining Weight Watchers, hiring a personal trainer, doing Noom or another web-based program.

Having a partner makes it easier to show up, if only to avoid letting the other person down.”

Additional motivation can include a reward (preferably not food-related) for achieving specific goals along the way. This could be a fun trip, a new outfit or other enjoyable activity. Reilly also shares the reminder that if your goals are related to health issues, be sure to discuss any changes with your physician, as they can offer a variety of information and support.

Mental and Emotional Stress during COVID-19

As pandemic precautions continue to affect everyone’s daily lives, many are feeling overwhelmed and fatigued by it all. The effort to adjust to new work environments, navigate social distancing and cope with lifestyle changes is causing mental and emotional strain.

To help manage stress, you should be open to your emotions, both good and bad, says Rebecca Brumm, director of operations within the eating disorders program at Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital, who is also a licensed professional counselor and certified eating disorder specialist.

“Pushing challenging emotions away or judging yourself for feeling them only intensify them,” says Brumm. “It’s normal and natural to feel the full continuum of emotions every day. Allow feelings to come and go like waves.

Try to be an objective observer about your thoughts, and notice

how judging them increases suffering and intensity.”

Brumm also recommends an exercise in finding your inner wisdom by taking a sheet of paper and making two columns. Label one side ‘fear’ and the other side ‘wise mind statements.’

“Write out pain- or fearproducing statements under the ‘fear’ column, and write your response in the other column as if you are addressing a dear friend, child or loved one,” says Brumm.

“Examples include, ‘The world is not safe,’ answered with, ‘The world has never been safe, but it The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is safer than you feel right now.’

Centennial Commission thanks our Another example is ‘I could lose Chair, State Senator Kevin Matthews for his vision and leadership as we approach my job. I’d lose my house, savings, the 100th anniversary of the massacre etc.’ A wise mind statement could in 2021. Because of his fortitude and be, ‘That could always happen, but passion, Tulsans will get to view the you also have many resources, rich history of Black Wall Street through Greenwood Rising, scheduled to be talent, resourcefulness and completed by May 31, 2021. family support.’ Many people find that addressing and answering To make a financial donation, please visit www.tulsa2021.org their fears this way can provide relief. Of course, a mental health professional is always available to help you work through difficult 24568 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission.indd 1 12/16/20 12:04 PM emotions.”

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Oklahomans of the

YEAR

2020

: Perhaps the strangest year in recent history.

That said, it’s tough to narrow down and honor only a handful of people who made it better. The last twelve months passed in a blur – filled with pandemic panic, election frenzy and general existential dread – but there were a great number of Oklahomans who kept their heads down and got to work. Our 2020 Oklahomans of the Year range from the obvious (but very well-earned) picks like frontline workers, to a senator paving the way for racial equity in Tulsa. All in all, this year certainly pulled the grit and determination out of some already awesome Okies. We honor them, along with a hardworking tribal chairman and a larger-than-life rancher in Waurika, for proving 2020 wasn’t so bad after all.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

By Kimberly Burk and Mary Willa Allen

FRONTLINE WORKERS An unexpected public health crisis showcased the empathy and hard work of countless Oklahomans.

Looking back on 2020, it’s clear the COVID-19 pandemic defined the year – muddying any other topics with its long-standing devastating effects. But it doesn’t seem fair that one person, or even one organization, deserves to be the face of the fight against this disease.

Instead, this designation of Oklahoman of the Year is reserved for every person who went to work in a pandemic to keep the state safe, informed and moving forward.

The first honorees on the list are, of course, the doctors, nurses, infectious disease specialists, respiratory therapists and other hospital personnel on the frontlines.

People who work in the health care sector have likely had the hardest year of their careers – watching helplessly as people succumbed to a mysterious illness while hoping they didn’t get it themselves. This is for those who tended to the sick, then quarantined in their own homes, away from their families, to ensure no one else got infected. Those at local and state-level health departments, working tirelessly to keep the public educated on case numbers, best safety practices and risk factors. We thank everyone involved in the process – from emergency room doctors to psychiatrists helping providers avoid burnout, janitorial workers keeping rooms as sanitary as possible and those on the administrative side handling hospital capacity spikes. You are leading us bravely through a nightmare.

But this designation is also for those overlooked in the madness. Fast food workers, servers and line cooks who didn’t have the option to work from home. Public servants like EMTs, police and firefighters who put themselves at risk to help during emergencies.

Grocery store clerks who dealt with harried customers hoarding toilet paper.

Postal workers handling an influx on packages – including mail-in ballots for a deeply polarizing election.

We salute all of you for your bravery, your determination and your grit. You make Oklahoma a safer, stronger and better place. - MWA

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

39

JOHN BARRETT The leader of a major Oklahoma tribe, along with his talented staff, works diligently to ensure his citizens are safe and happy.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest crisis John Barrett has faced in his 35 years as chairman of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

Yet the tribe was prepared, Barrett says, in some cases by decisions made in the 1980s, when the constitution was revised and gave the executive branch latitude to operate under laws passed by the legislature. Another plus is that CARES Act funding was supplemented with tribal reserves earned through investments.

“This whole period of time, when expenses have doubled and income fallen in half, we have been able to go into that with a cushion,” says Barrett.

But most of all, he says, “I have the greatest staff that any tribal leader in the state could possibly have. They are really professional people who took on a huge responsibility and met it with a great deal of professionalism and courage.”

Dr. Adam Vascellaro, chief medical officer of CPN Health Services, is Italian and has relatives who are healthcare workers in Sicily. As the virus began to ravage his home country, “they were advising him [that] this was a lot more complex and a lot more serious than anything we were getting from the Trump administration,” says Barrett.

Vascellaro set to work in February, installing testing sites and ordering protective gear.

“Our assistant medical director, Dr. Kassi Roselius, also has a master’s degree in public health. She was a wealth of information and assistance in getting us ready,” says Barrett. “We really had a 30-day lead.”

Testing, contact tracing and quarantine policies have kept the infection rate comparatively low among the tribe’s 2,400 employees, Barrett says. The tribe has continued to pay its employees and helped other struggling citizens throughout the pandemic. The COVID-19 response also included a temperature-controlled vaccine storage facility.

Through it all, infrastructure and economic development efforts continued, including the Iron Horse Industrial Park, which is a foreign trade zone. A Canadian company, Pro Pipe, will be the first business there with a $5.5 million factory.

Groundbreaking is scheduled this month for an expanded mental health facility, which will allow the hiring of additional mental health providers. - KB

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

Although the pandemic was tribal chairman Barrett’s toughest crisis in his 35-year tenure, he and other leaders in the Citizen Potawatomi Nation were prepared to weather the storm.

Photo courtesy Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Along with a variety of other community involvements, Kevin Matthews leads the charge at the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, which has several events planned for the tragedy’s 100th anniversary in May. Photo by Stephanie Phillips

KEVIN MATTHEWS Leading the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, Matthews works to educate Oklahomans, mentor youth and create a more equitable Tulsa.

2020 was a long and fatiguing year, State Sen. Kevin Matthews acknowledges. But he finds plenty to be positive about as he reflects on the months defined by both COVID-19 and racial unrest.

Matthews chairs the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Commission, which is deep into its planning process for the May 31 centennial observance. Meetings were crucial last year, and a pandemic shutdown was in no one’s plan.

“What COVID did for us was it pushed us into the 21st century of meetings,” says Matthews. “We now have Zoom meetings from our homes, and we use technology a lot more. Actually, I think we are getting more done because we don’t have to all drive to meetings.”

Central to the centennial observance is the opening of a history center, Greenwood Rising. The fundraising goal was $29.5 million, and Matthews has been overwhelmed by how quickly the money was gifted – all but about 10% as of early December.

“I want to say how pleased we are that we are in such a giving and benevolent community that’s receptive to the significance of this center,” he says. “It’s been humbling to see how many people support trying to tell the story in an honest way, and help reconciliation happen here on this ground where this horrific incident took place.”

The Democratic senator spent 25 years with the Tulsa Fire Department prior to his legislative service, and he lives and volunteers in Greenwood.

“This has been my community all of my life,” he says. “It’s important to me to build this community and help every person who is interested to reach their fullest potential.”

He volunteers with the 100 Black Men of Tulsa mentoring program and founded the Youth Entrepreneurship Shadow program to teach black high school students how to start a business. In his quest to eradicate food deserts in his district, Matthews is working with Oklahoma State University and Langston University to create programs that will teach urban youth how to get involved in the farm-to-table movement. - KB

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

41

TERRY STUART FORST Forst, based in Waurika, plays a major role in Oklahoma’s robust ranching community.

Terry Stuart Forst shouldered her share of the load as a longtime officer of agricultural associations, for which she was rightly honored by her peers.

But mostly, she’s a rancher.

“My primary job is this ranch, and it is hands-on and full-time,” says Forst, who became general manager of Stuart Ranch in 2001. “I work daily on the ranch. We have 11 employees, counting myself and my two sons, Robert and Clay.”

The Stuart Ranch is the oldest in the state under continuous family ownership and encompasses more than 45,000 acres in southeastern and southwestern Oklahoma.

The family continues to diversify. Their cow/calf operation is Hereford and Angus.

Clay manages Stuart Ranch Outfitters, offering guided hunts for deer, waterfowl, turkey and feral hogs. Robert manages Bar S Corriente Cattle and Stuart Meat Company. Registered American quarter horses are bred for show and ranch work.

“We compete in the reined cow horse, roping and cutting,” she says. “Whether you are working or showing, it’s a blessing to ride a well-trained horse.”

Forst is a member of the 2020 class of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She was the first woman president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and the first woman to receive the Oklahoma Cattleman of the Year Award. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

Serving as an officer in the OCA is no small commitment.

“The OCA president spends two years as president-elect, two years as president and two years as past-president,” she says.

“I believe we all have a duty to serve in the industries in which we make our living.”

Forst left the ranch as a young woman to earn some academic credentials in her field. When she returned, she said, “my dad kinda threw me to the wolves.

“I had experience and education, but I was smart enough to realize how little I knew. I sought advice and counsel often from successful people. I made a lot of mistakes and learned those lessons well.”

- KB

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

Forst, a rancher at heart, owns and operates Stuart Ranch in Waurika.

She was also the first woman president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and the first woman to receive the Oklahoma Cattleman of the Year award.

Photo courtesy Terry Stuart Forst

EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN IN MEDICINE

Dr. Kayse Shrum OSU Center for Health Sciences Dr. Kayse Shrum, president of the OSU Center for Health Sciences and the dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, has made the OSU Medicine enterprise into an academic powerhouse and expanded its services to rural and underserved Oklahomans.

Dr. Shrum was serving in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s cabinet as Secretary of Science and Innovation before the arrival of the coronavirus in 2020, at which time he asked her to be part of the COVID-19 Solution Task Force. The group put an emphasis on expanding testing capability. OSU-CHS partnered with

Stillwater colleagues to stand up a human diagnostic testing lab within an animal testing lab in within 10 days, and also set up a community drive-through testing pod and satellite testing lab in Tulsa.

In fall 2020, the testing lab in Stillwater migrated to a larger, stand-alone facility, increasing testing capacity by 300%.

Because of Dr. Shrum’s leadership and commitment to excellence, OSU Medicine is dedicated to serving our state, standing as a beacon of hope for a healthier Oklahoma.

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JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN I N T H E WO R K P L AC E

Gunta Sandmeyer Southern Homes, Boulevard Interiors Known for her approachable manner and distinct style, Gunta Sandmeyer is passionate about homes, and has made it her profession for the last 20 years. Her experience encompasses the full spectrum of the industry; from new home building at Southern Homes (founded with her husband 15 years ago), to full-service interior design at Boulevard Interiors, as well as serving select real estate clients.

Southern Homes and Boulevard Interiors have been the recipients of numerous awards, including Southern Homes being named one of The Best of the Best in 2020. Sandmeyer

oversees complete design development for all new spec and custom homes and takes it a step further, offering a one-stop design and build experience. From carefully selected finish materials to customized interiors, Sandmeyer ensures clients maximize their budgets and save time. Clients are also able to utilize the designer’s access to the best in furnishings, window treatments and dÊcor, creating a home of their dreams.

With hundreds of satisfied clients, Southern Homes and Gunta Sandmeyer are here to elevate your next home building/ renovation experience.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

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EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN I N T H E WO R K P L AC E

Leigh Goodson, Ph.D. Tulsa Community College Since 2014, Leigh Goodson has led Tulsa Community College as the school’s fourth president and chief executive officer. In that time, she has increased graduation and university transfer rates, opening pathways to success for her students.

The majority of Goodson’s career has been spent in higher education. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Master of Science in Organizational Communication, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education Research, Goodson served in roles at Oklahoma State

University and Tulsa Public Schools prior to her tenure at TCC. Goodson, passionate about student success, has created and led multiple projects to support scholars in science, technology, engineering and math – creating a more diverse workforce for Tulsa and beyond.

Outside work, Goodson is active with YMCA of Great Tulsa, the Oklahoma Innovation Institute and the Tulsa Regional Chamber One Voice initiative. She has also received several accolades for her leadership and contributions to the state.

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JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN I N T H E WO R K P L AC E

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No project is too big or too small. We can help you pull together a plan for your home and create a well thought out environment reflective of your lifestyle.

We love helping our clients transform their houses into the homes they always aspired to have, combining their own vision with our direction of beauty, creating a custom, one-ofa-kind design.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

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EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN I N T H E WO R K P L AC E

Kelly Smakal Smakal Munn, P.C. Kelly A. Smakal earned her law degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville in December, 1996.

Since that time, Smakal has focused her practice exclusively on domestic and family litigation matters, including guardianship and adoption. She is a frequent speaker on family law topics at continuing legal education seminars and formerly was an adjunct clinical professor of law at the University of Tulsa’s Elder Law Clinic addressing probate and guardianship issues.

For over twenty years, Smakal has provided legal

representation across the State of Oklahoma, helping people navigate difficult times. She was recognized as an Oklahoma Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2010 and as an Oklahoma Super Lawyer since 2011. She has also been named as one of the 10 Best Family Law Attorneys for client satisfaction in Oklahoma by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys since 2015 and has been selected to the inaugural 2020 Best of the Best Attorney’s Top 10 Family Law Attorney list for Oklahoma by the Best of the Best Attorneys.

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F O O D , D R I N K A N D OT H E R P L E A S U R E S

LIKE COMING HOME A Tulsa gem for over 25 years, Tucci’s is under new leadership, but still offers a warm, calming respite.

D

One of Tucci’s most popular slices, the Queen Margarita, comes with basil, pesto, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

Photo by Stephanie Phillips

oris Matthews, owner of the beloved Tucci’s for 25 years, is a bit like the Mona Lisa. Gregarious, a fixture, seemingly there forever ... yet enigmatic, shrouded in mystery, with more than a hint of glamour. Some of Tulsa’s older denizens know her as the wife of the manager of Southern Hills Country Club. But where was she before that?

Precisely at 2:00 p.m. a few weeks ago, her phone rings with a call. (Only a pandemic would keep her from appearing for an interview in person. “I’m on the endangered species list!” she quips.)

“I was born in legendary Greenville, Miss.,” she begins.

“I had a very unremarkable childhood, almost a blur. At 18, I found myself in Tampa, Fla., working for one of the biggest retailers. Fashion was a big thing in those days; there were trunk shows all the time. We’d all drive over

to Palm Beach and end up, somehow, in Miami. Oh, I loved Florida ... the ocean, the palm trees, youth, fun, martinis, jazz. All there for such a brief moment, and then it’s gone.”

One evening, while dining in the legendary gaudy gardens of Florida’s Kapok Tree Inn, she met a man named Dean Matthews. He later became her husband.

“I concentrated on home and kids then, but we had fun. Dean would say, ‘We’re going to Paris,’ or ‘We’re going to Greece,’ and we’d go. He knew whom to meet, where to eat – he was insatiable,” she says.

Dean knew how to manage national golf tournaments, the kind that require years of planning, and every top golf club wanted him as manager. That’s how he ended up at Southern Hills. Then came the day in 1991 when, without warning, he was gone. Doris found herself to be a widow.

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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TA S T E | FIR S T BI T E

Top to bottom: The lasagna at Tucci’s, also called the ‘Mile-High Italian Pie,’ comes with baby greens and Italian vegetables.

Popular cocktail choices at Tucci’s include the housemade sangria and the Godfather, with Dewars, Amaretto, lemon juice and simple syrup.

Photos by Stephanie Phillips

“I had to do something,” she says.

“I couldn’t go on not doing anything. But what? Somehow, my sons and I decided to open a pizza-by-theslice joint on Cherry Street. I’d eaten in every Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, but, somehow, that seemed the right thing to do.”

She’d been to the legendary Rao’s in Italian Harlem, and she felt at home in the era of Frank Sinatra; dark and smoky seemed the way to go. The first month Tucci’s was open, a quartet of sinister men in dark suits showed up every night (and Doris never found out who they were). However, the place got a reputation for

excitement – with maybe a hint of danger – and all the people she’d known at Southern Hills came pouring in.

“We had people out the door standing on the sidewalk,” Doris recalls. “Always the A-list. It was raucous. People had fun. The place was full, and full of laughter, and the later it got, the louder it got. Somewhere, there’s a video of a guy singing karaoke, except we didn’t have karaoke; it’s a drunk guy using a pepper mill as a microphone, and that about sums it up.”

One of Tucci’s most loyal regulars, a legend in his own right, was Robert Merrifield, owner of the Polo Grill.

“Robert’s mother is my sister,” says Doris. “I’m his aunt, and Tucci’s became his hideaway. He could escape from the stress of running a flagship fine-dining restaurant. He could come here and just be Robert, just have fun. So when, a year or so ago, I decided to sell the restaurant – you have to get out at some point, and I’d been there 25 years – I sold it to him. He is the only person who can take Tucci’s to an even higher level.”

Merrifield, of course, wasn’t there during those crazy late night hours, and his memories of Tucci’s are more sedate.

“So cute, so romantic,” he recalls. “I grew up working in res-

taurants like that, so it has found a place in my heart.”

Will he change the ambiance, the concept, the decor?

“We made the patio more cozy, put new upholstery in the booths, and that’s about it,” he says.

“We’ve had more input on the menu, though.”

Tucci’s, which had always served pizza, started serving pasta when, sometime around 1996, a diner asked for it. Doris happily recalls how she ran to the kitchen and shouted to the chef to throw some sausage, oregano and San Marzano tomatoes in a pan. The menu that evolved over the years was, in Merrifield’s opinion, a bit too heavy on red sauce southern Italian specialties.

“We’ve put fresher dishes on,” he says. “New pastas like bucatini.

We even ran a special of vegan ravioli lasagna.”

Merrifield has always liked the idea of salad coming with the meal. In addition to Doris’ famous limonata salad – which she developed years before with months of trial and error – Tucci’s now offers Caesar or soup. But for the most part, Merrifield will leave Doris Matthews’ dream restaurant unchanged.

“Coming into Tucci’s,” he says, “is like putting on a pair of old shoes. It’s comfortable. It’s a perfect fit. It’s home.”

BRIAN SCHWARTZ

LING’S CAKERY

In August, I made my usual drive through the Asian District to pick up groceries at Super Cao Nguyen when I spotted a storefront I hadn’t seen before: Ling’s Cakery. I wondered how many times I had passed by and hadn’t noticed, and more importantly, if they had durian cake, a favorite of mine that isn’t all that easy to find in the state.

Ling and Jack Chen owned and operated the Great Wall restaurant in Edmond for 16 years, but after Ling fell in love with baking five years ago, she had a new dream. They sold the restaurant and opened their shop at 27th and N. Classen in July 2020.

The cakery features rotating specialty desserts in their display case, including their Hokkaido cupcakes, vanilla custard-filled and topped with

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

whipped cream and fruit. Also in the case was their Mille crepe cake, which offers layer upon layer of delicate crepes with creamy filling in between each. I was delighted that one of the eight rotating flavors they offer is durian, and it is spectacular, though the fruit is an acquired taste for some. Other flavors include matcha, Earl Grey, chocolate and passionfruit-mango.

Ling’s specialty cakes are gorgeous and customizable. She needs about a week’s notice, but trust me – they’re worth it. Her house cake flavor is a strawberry and cream shortcake with whipped cream and fresh fruit, but other flavors are available upon request.

To see what’s available in the case, visit the website (lingscakery.com) and follow Ling’s on Facebook and Instagram.

AMANDA SIMCOE

Photos courtesy Ling’s Cakery

TA S T E | L O C A L F L AV O R

TA S T E | CH EF CHAT

BLAZING TABLES One of OKC’s newest chefs brings the heat.

W

ONLINE

SEE THE RECIPE FOR CHEF KOTH’S FRIED RICE AT OKMAG.COM/KOTH Dylan Koth offers a niche market to Oklahomans: private hibachi dining at home.

Photos courtesy Dylan Koth

ith the social strains of COVID-19 affecting the community, many people are still wary of venturing out to eat, putting the usual gatherings of friends and family on hold. One solution to the problem is the private, in-home chef experience.

While there have long been chefs who specialize in this side of the business, one OKC newcomer offers an option this writer has yet to see in Oklahoma: hibachi at home.

Dylan Koth, an Illinois native, began studying the culinary arts in high school, attending a local tech school. His interest in cooking stems not from time in the kitchen, but from dining out with his family.

“My parents didn’t cook much, so we went to a lot of restaurants,” he says. “I loved how the chefs made so many people happy. I just thought they were really cool and decided I wanted to be like them.”

When it was time to choose a college, his mother convinced him to check out the hospitality and tourism management program at Oklahoma State University. When he arrived, he found Steve Ruby – then a clinical assistant professor – focused on a stack of paperwork. As soon as Koth introduced

himself as a prospective student, Ruby stopped what he was doing and spent the next two hours showing off the campus that would be Koth’s academic home for the next four years.

“I knew this was where I was supposed to be,” says Koth.

Over those four years, Koth gained extensive experience through both the curriculum and the school’s outstanding lineup of student-run events.

He participated in Wine Forum, Craft Beer Forum and multiple Distinguished Chef Series events.

After graduation, Koth and his now wife Laci moved to Denver. While he was enrolled and ready to continue his education at Johnson and Wales University, he became fascinated by the Teppanyaki skills he was learning in his new position at Benihana. He chose, instead, to learn on the job.

After two years, the Koths decided it was time to move back to Oklahoma to be closer to family. He knew he wanted to open his own business someday, and to Koth, COVID-19 was the perfect catalyst to jump right in.

In 2020, amid a pandemic, Blazing Tables was born.

“I didn’t know of anyone else offering this kind of pop-up here,” says Koth of his mobile hibachi kitchen. This one-man show brings the entire dinner performance to your home, complete with the tables, chairs, linens and dishes needed to turn your backyard into your own private dining experience. Koth combines a delicious five-course menu with all the flying knives, forks and fire that you love at a Teppanyaki restaurant.

Koth works with each client to customize the perfect menu. Whether it is chicken, steak, seafood or a combination, he’s ready to feed any group from 2-30 people. Blazing Tables’ regular service area is within 30 minutes of the OKC metro, but he’ll travel up to 125 outside it for an additional fee.

AMANDA SIMCOE

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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TA S T E | TA S T Y T I D BI T S

For creative takes on fromscratch, organic food, along with classic American dishes and handcrafted cocktails, the Vault is a culinary destination (and a historical one, too). Opened in 2012 by Libby Billings, the Vault is nestled inside a downtown, mid-century modern building that was once the world’s largest drive-through bank (hence the moniker). Options for dining include the spacious modern indoor space as well as a spacious patio and take-out. Quirky-cool choices include a fried cauliflower sandwich and free-range fried chicken sandwich. Appetizers like bruschetta three ways is presented with a gourmet flourish that’s also a feast for the eyes. With an emphasis on original and classic cocktails, your server can help pair your meal with the perfect alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage. 620 S Cincinnati Ave., Tulsa; vaulttulsa.com

Photo courtesy the Vault

AZTECA MEXICAN GRILL

Azteca Mexican Grill provides an ambiance steeped in alluring, spicy scents and bright colors, proclaiming the eatery’s love for truly authentic Mexican food.

Menu highlights include the guiso de puerco verde, a dish of cubed pork loin and potatoes in green sauce with rice and beans. The aromatic caldo siete mares soup is slowly cooked with seven sea mix cut in small pieces and served with rice. Dessert selections include flan, a traditional vanilla custard; churros, a chocolate covered cinnamon stick filled with pudding; and fried ice cream. 4024 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City; aztecamexicangrillokc.com

THE RED CUP

Your neighborhood vegetarian café since 1995, the Red Cup offers a wide array of plant based, vegetarian and vegan selections. Breakfast is served all day, and cheese and/or egg can be added by request to choices like the flour tortilla breakfast burrito, full of savory goodies including potatoes,

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

black beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, tofu scramble, cashew cheese sauce, crema, salsa and pico. Sandwiches and wrap selections are plentiful and offers both sweet and savory options. Try the Sloppy Jane, a toasted bun with house “slop mix,” cashew cheeses, pickle and onion. 3122 N. Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City; theredcupokc.com

Generations of delicious family recipes are behind the authentic Italian dishes and ice creams at Gaetano’s Pizzeria and Creamery.

To start off, try the pepperoni rolls, a blend of pepperoni, mozzarella and provolone cheese rolled in hand tossed dough, coated in a house blend of garlic butter, dusted with Parmesan. Vegetables rule the signature salad of mixed greens and fresh spinach, tossed with grilled garlic chicken, pineapple, craisins, candied pecans and raspberry vinaigrette. A popular pizza choice is the Iron City All Meat Feast, a robust pie loaded with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pork sausage, Italian sausage, hamburger meat and bacon. Don’t forget the award-winning, premium gourmet Chocolate Shoppe ice cream flavors. 12141 S. Elm St.; Jenks; gaetanospizza.net TRACY LEGRAND

Photo courtesy Gaetano’s Pizzeria & Creamery

Photo courtesy the Red Cup

GAETANO’S PIZZERIA & CREAMERY

Photo courtesy Azteca Mexican Grill

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WEDDING SHOWS, RETREATS AND HIKES

THE OKLAHOMA WEDDING SHOW READY FOR AN EXCITING JANUARY? READ ON FOR OUR TOP CHOICES THIS MONTH. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, MANY EVENTS ARE CANCELED OR POSTPONED. CHECK INDIVIDUAL LISTINGS FOR UPDATES.

SPORTS

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PERFORMANCES

Athletic displays are around every corner this month.

Tulsa’s Expo Square offers three goodies. First, the Tulsa Holiday Winter Circuit runs Jan. 1-4. This equine showcase features junior, senior and amateur Western pleasure and trail riding events. Second is the World of Wrestling Flo Tulsa Nationals from Jan. 14-17, where youth, high school and college wrestlers compete for coveted titles.

Lastly is the American Finals Rodeo from Jan. 22-24; the event packs in a variety of rodeo performances each day. Hockey fans will be pleased to know the Tulsa Oilers are back on the BOK Center ice Jan. 8-10 with a three-game stint against Utah.

OKC’s State Fair Park also offers three events this month. The 2021 Jr. Open Wrestling Championship wraps up Jan. 1-2. There, you can see some of the best young wrestlers in the state compete. On Jan. 2-3, the Redland Rendezvous offers competitive volleyball entertainment. Lastly, the International Finals Rodeo on Jan. 15-17 welcomes the top 15 cowboys and cowgirls from across the U.S. – and three Canadian provinces – to vie for world championship titles.

In Claremore, the All Star Team Roping event on Jan. 9-10 offers equine excellence at 400 S. Veterans Parkway. At Duncan’s Stephens County Fair and Expo Center, the Red River Showdown runs Jan. 29-30. There, you can watch as adventurous go-kart competitors race around the track.

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IPRA RODEO

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

FALUN DAFA ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA PRESENTS: SHEN YUN Jan. 12-13 Tulsa

PAC Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends and modern heroic tales. tulsapac.com

SIGNATURE SYMPHONY PRESENTS: CHAMBER MUSIC #5

Jan. 14 Virtual Artist director

finalist Alejandro Gómez Guillén curates this concert of Signature Symphony musicians featured in a more intimate and personal setting.

signaturesymphony.org

CONCERTS HANGOVER BALL 2021

Jan. 1 Cain’s Ballroom 2021’s Hangover Ball features Cody Canada, Wade Bowen, BJ Barham, Jamie Lin Wilson, Mike McClure, Dierks Canada, Elysha Lemaster, Elle Gorman and Calen Parish. cainsballroom.com

THE BELLAMY BROTHERS Jan. 15 River Spirit Casino Resort Howard and David

continue to prove that the trail they’ve ridden to fame has been as unique as their music itself. riverspirittulsa. com

ART LANDSCAPES ON FIRE: PAINTINGS BY MICHAEL SCOTT Through Feb. 21

Gilcrease An elemental

force of nature, fire contains immense power to create and destroy. gilcrease.org

WEAVING HISTORY INTO ART: THE ENDURING LEGACY OF SHAN GOSHORN Through March 28 Gilcrease

There’s something about having a message in a vessel shape that makes people curious and engaged. gilcrease.org

THE EXPERIENCE: IMAGINE Ongoing ahha

Tulsa This completely new art environment continues ahha’s tradition of large-scale, semi-permanent, interactive art. ahhatulsa.org

AMERICANS ALL!

Ongoing Gilcrease Drawn

Photo courtesy the International Pro Rodeo Association

1

Going online this year, the Oklahoma Wedding Show is on Jan. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Guests, who attend for free, can visit with vendors virtually to discuss the ins-andouts of their big days ... all from the safety of their homes.

Register and learn more at oklahomawedding.com.

Start the year off on a healthy note at a variety of First Day Hikes happening on Jan. 1 at Oklahoma’s state parks.

This free, guided trek can be the first group event of your new year – whether you visit Alabaster Caverns State Park in Freedom, Quartz Mountain Park in Lone Wolf or a variety of other meet-ups. Visit travelok.com for a full listing of locations and more information.

Find your zen at the Winter Big Om Yoga Retreat on Jan. 8-10 at Sequoyah State Park and Lodge in Hulbert. There, guests can disconnect from the outside world and enjoy a calming retreat to immerse themselves in nature.

At the Chisholm Trail Expo Center in Enid, the KNID Agrifest runs Jan. 8-9. This is northwest Oklahoma’s largest farm show which offers demonstrations, fun activities and knowledgeable vendors. The Oklahoma City Home and Garden Show is Jan. 22-24 at Oklahoma State Fair Park.

Visit this event to get expert advice on several home-related products and services.

OKC PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS: RIVER DEEP, ROYAL HIGH(NESS) Jan.

FA M I LY / K I D S

30 Civic Center Music Hall

Celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 18 with events in Tulsa and OKC. Tulsa’s parade starts on Detroit and John Hope Franklin Blvd. and offers impressive displays, floats and music. In OKC, the MLK Jr. Holiday Parade goes virtual this year to honor an American Hero. Register at okcmlkcoalition.org.

Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean you can’t continue enjoying some festive events. Tulsa’s Winterfest runs through Jan. 23 in downtown Tulsa with ice skating, carriage rides and community events. In OKC, Downtown in December offers its joys through Jan. 31 with boat rides, light displays and ice skating.

4

from the Gilcrease Museum permanent collection, this exhibition showcases the many positive contributions immigrants have made, and continue to make, to American life and culture. gilcrease.org

SPORTS TULSA SHOOTOUT

Through Jan. 2 Expo Square

The Tulsa Shootout is the largest micro sprint racing event in the country. tulsashootout.com

CHILI BOWL NATIONALS

Jan. 11-16 Expo Square Now in its 35th year, these races attract over 300 talented drivers from around the world. chilibowl.com

signaturesymphony.org

TULSA HIGH PERFORMANCE RACING AUCTION TRADE SHOW AND SWAP MEET Jan. 16 Expo Square Vendors

action-packed rodeo performances each day.

acrarodeo.com

COMMUNITY THE OKLAHOMA WEDDING SHOW PRESENTED

BY OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE Jan.

23 Virtual Hosted on a

state-of-the-art site, the virtual Oklahoma Wedding Show allows vendors and attendees to connect risk-free from the safety and convenience of their own homes and businesses.

oklahomawedding.com

FOOD TRUCK WEDNESDAYS Jan. 6, 13, 20, 27 Guthrie Green Every Wednesday,

grab some tasty eats and gather on the grounds of Guthrie Green. guthriegreen.com

CONNECTING THE DOTS #9 Jan. 12 Virtual Through

free, three-day event is the largest free wintertime home and garden show in Green Country.

Gerard Schwarz, the amazing father-son duo, are performing a must-see show.

29-31 Expo Square The

coxradiotulsa.com

IN OKC

PERFORMANCES

Lawson started writing jokes at the age of 16 and has opened up for many well-known comedians. bricktowncomedy.

16-17 Expo Square Watch

TULSA MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. PARADE Jan. 18

Square This event features

SCHWARZ & GERARD SCHWARZ Jan. 7 Armstrong

MID-CONTINENT KENNEL CLUB OF TULSA DOG SHOW Jan.

raceshow.net/tulsa

Youth, high school and college wrestlers compete for titles. worldofwrestling-

AMERICAN FINALS RODEO Jan. 22-24 Expo

GREEN COUNTRY HOME AND GARDEN SHOW Jan.

midcontinentkennelclub. com

Detroit and John Hope Franklin Blvd. This event

grows every year and now includes hundreds of people with impressive displays of music and floats.

mlktulsa.com

NOT ON THE RUNWAY RUN Jan. 21-24 Virtual

Sign up for the Not on the Runway Run and you can compete at your own pace over four days in January. runsignup.com/

tasmrunwayrun5kvirtual

WINTERFEST Through Jan. 23 Downtown Tulsa

Downtown Tulsa is transformed into a festive wonderland during Winterfest, an annual holiday tradition. tulsawinterfest.com

CONNECTING THE DOTS #10 Jan. 26 Virtual

Through the Connecting the Dots series, Signature Symphony musicians act as virtual hosts, guiding you through a variety of musical topics. signaturesymphony. org

Bricktown Comedy Club

com

ARMSTRONG AUDITORIUM PRESENTS: JULIAN

Auditorium Julian and

armstrongauditorium.org

OKC PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS: A BEETHOVEN BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Jan. 9

Virtual Celebrate

Beethoven’s birthday with pianist Sergio Monteiro and the OKC Philharmonic.

This evening performance includes “The Creatures of Prometheus: Overture,” “Piano Concerto No. 2” and “Symphony No. 8.”

okcphil.org

OKC BROADWAY

PRESENTS: STOMP Jan. 15-17 Civic Center Music Hall

CONCERTS THE FLAMING LIPS Jan.

22-23 The Criterion Enjoy a

funky space bubble concert with the Flaming Lips.

criterionokc.com

ART

Revel in some car-centric fun this month. On Jan. 16, rev up for the Mad Dog Demolition Derby at the Claremore Expo Center. Children and adults alike will love the thrashing and crashing of a variety of cars at this adrenaline-pumping event. Additionally, the Duncan Monster Truck Wars are Jan. 23 at 2002 S. 13th St. The event showcases giant monster trucks going head-to-head.

BRICKTOWN COMEDY CLUB PRESENTS: PREACHER LAWSON Through Jan. 3

WORLD OF WRESTLING FLO TULSA NATIONALS

roller.com

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY PARADE

fill Central Park Hall with merchandise, parts and other hard-to-find items perfect for completing your car project.

canines perform a series of routines and commands at this local dog show.

Jan. 14-17 Expo Square

Photo courtesy River Spirit Casino Resort

the Connecting the Dots series, Signature Symphony musicians act as virtual hosts, guiding you through a variety of musical topics.

Photo courtesy MLK Comme moration Society

ENJOY OKLAHOMA

River Deep, Royal High(ness) brings together music from Bach, Strauss and Schumann played by tubaist Ted Cox. okcphil.org

KIOWA AGENCY Through Jan. 17 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman

From 1927 to 1929, while at the University of Oklahoma, six Kiowa artists created many paintings featuring their tribe’s culture.

ou.edu/fjjma

OK/LA Through May 7

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman This exhibition

This unique show consists of an eight-member troupe that uses unconventional objects like brooms, hubcaps and garbage cans to fill the auditorium with a magnificent beat.

okcbroadway.com

features the work of six former Oklahomans who left the state in the late 1950s for Los Angeles. ou.edu/fjjma

FIND HER WEST Through May 16 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum The American West is difficult to define and far more complex than stereotypes suggest.

BRICKTOWN COMEDY CLUB PRESENTS: STEVE-O Jan. 22-23

nationalcowboymuseum.org

you like laughs, then head to Bricktown to see Steve-O dominate the stage with his unique humor.

Through May 16 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Women

Bricktown Comedy Club If

bricktowncomedy.com

OKC PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS: RAGTIME AND ALL THAT JAZZ Jan.

22-23 Civic Center Music Hall Lift your spirits with

upbeat jazz from the OKC Philharmonic. okcphil.org

BLAZING A TRAIL

in the American West faced specific challenges that their Eastern counterparts often did not.

nationalcowboymuseum.org

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: WESTERN WILDLIFE

Through July 11 National Cowboy and Western

O N T H E S TA G E

JANUARY’S ABUZZ

Start 2021 off right with both in-person and virtual showcases.

At the Tulsa PAC, the Falun Dafa Association of Oklahoma presents Shen Yun on Jan. 12-13. Enjoy a mixture of modern heroic tales and ancient legends told through music and dance.

Signature Symphony presents its fifth chamber music concert on Jan. 14. Artist director finalist Alejandro Gómez Guillén curates a selection of music for this online event; register at signaturesymphony.org.

If you’re itching to go out on the town, the Bellamy Brothers visit River Spirit Casino Resort on Jan. 15. Celebrating 40 years of success, the duo performs in a safe and socially distant show.

In Edmond, Julian and Gerard Schwarz visit Armstrong Auditorium on Jan. 7 for

a must-see performance with the Mozart Orchestra of New York.

OKC Philharmonic is buzzing with activity this month, starting on Jan. 9 with a virtual Beethoven Birthday Celebration. The philharmonic teams up with pianist Sergio Monteiro for a night of musical fun; register at okphil.org. Other events for the Phil are Ragtime and All That Jazz on Jan. 22-23 and River Deep, Royal High(ness) on Jan. 30, both at Civic Center Music Hall. And the Criterion hosts the Flaming Lips on Jan. 22 and 23 with a funky space bubble concert THE BELLAMY BROTHERS to keep patrons both safe and entertained.

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JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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W H E R E & W H E N | ENTER TAINMENT Heritage Museum The animals of the American West are as iconic as the landscapes they inhabit.

nationalcowboymuseum.org

RENEGADES: BRUCE GOFF AND THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Ongoing Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman The American

School refers to the imaginative school of design and practice that developed under the guidance of Bruce Goff. gibbs.oucreate.com

SPORTS THE 2021 JR. OPEN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP Jan. 1-2

Jan. 23-24, 30-31 Gaslight Theatre, Enid Come see the

grandeur of an ancient British and Welsh legend and lore brought to life at Gaslight Theatre. gaslighttheatre.org

CANADIAN BRASS Jan. 30 McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, Stillwater See this brass quintet live in Stillwater. mcknightcenter.org

ART AFTER THE LAST SUPPER Through March 28 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark. This free focus

exhibition puts a spotlight on a single work from the Crystal Bridges collection.

Oklahoma State Fair Park

crystalbridges.org

statefairparkokc.com

Ongoing Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark. Crystal

See some of the best young wrestlers in the state compete.

REDLAND RENDEZVOUS

Jan. 2-3 Oklahoma State Fair Park Competitive

volleyball reigns supreme at this exciting tournament. statefairparkokc.com

COMMUNITY OKLAHOMA CITY BOAT, RV AND OUTDOORS SHOW Jan. 15-17 Oklahoma State Fair Park Featuring

the largest display of boats anywhere in Oklahoma City, with more than 300 watercraft, see a showcase of hundreds of new boat lines. okcboatshow.com

MLK JR. HOLIDAY PARADE Jan.

18 Virtual Honor an

STATE OF THE ART

Bridges opens the new decade with the opening of the Momentary, a new space for contemporary visual and performing arts, and the debut of State of the Art 2020. crystalbridges.org

SPORTS LITTLE BRITCHES RODEO Jan. 2-3 Stephens

County Fair and Expo Center, Duncan Western-minded

youth take to the rodeo arena to showcase their horse riding and roping skills. travelok.com

ALL STAR TEAM ROPING Jan. 9-10 400

S. Veterans Pkwy., Claremore This two-day

iconic American hero with a celebration of love and equality at the MLK Jr. Holiday Parade. okcmlkcoalition.org

com/claremore-ok

OKLAHOMA CITY HOME AND GARDEN SHOW Jan.

RED RIVER SHOWDOWN GO-KART RACING Jan.

22-24 Oklahoma State Fair Park Visit this show to get

expert advice on any homerelated product or service.

oklahomacityhomeshow. com

event combines the finest points of other associations to create an all star lineup. allstarteamroping.

29-30 Stephens County Fair and Expo Center, Duncan Cheer on go-kart

racers as they compete in the annual Red River Showdown in Duncan.

DOWNTOWN IN DECEMBER Through Jan.

redrivershowdown.com

downtownindecember.com

There’s no better place to be than Robbers Cave State Park near Wilburton on January 1st for a free guided hike. travelok.com

31 Downtown Downtown in December presented by Devon is a series of holiday events and attractions.

AROUND THE STATE

PERFORMANCES

PAULS VALLEY OPRY Jan. 2 Pauls Valley High School Auditorium Hear the Memory

Makers Band live each month as touring musicians and local talent layer on their unique vocals. travelok.com

GASLIGHT THEATRE PRESENTS: EXCALIBUR

COMMUNITY FIRST DAY HIKE Jan. 1

4666 N.W. 1027th, Wilburton

WINTER BIG OM YOGA RETREAT Jan. 8-10 Sequoyah State Park and Lodge, Hulbert During

this calming yoga retreat held at Sequoyah State Park & Lodge in Hulbert, immerse yourself in nature and disconnect from your normal routine. bigomyogaretreat.com

FOR MORE EVENTS IN TULSA, OKC AND AROUND THE STATE, HEAD TO OKMAG.COM.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

KARATE, CRIME AND MARVEL January offers a variety of streaming options to combat a weak month at the theater.

H

appy New Year! Unfortunately, January is the month where movies go to die. It’s cold, everyone is depressed because they’ve already failed their New Year’s resolutions, and the most creatively bankrupt films are dumped into a month where many won’t be going out. I’d say the pandemic would make this worse, but people might be so desperate to see something new that they’ll take the risk. (Or they would, if there were any movies to see.) For those reasons, everything here will be streaming TV shows.

First up, Netflix releases the third season of Cobra Kai on Jan. 8. Originally a YouTube Premium web series, the show is a follow up to 1984’s The Karate Kid, with rivals Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence at the center – played

by Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, respectively, reprising their roles over 34 years later. The story finds them as middle-aged men, both attempting to move on from their pasts, yet unwilling to completely let go. Karate obviously makes a return here with the former students now both masters of their own dojos. Previous seasons are streaming on Netflix, so catching up before season three is easy to do. The show has a great balance between the comedy and drama of its ’80s predecessor, and the performances, especially from the two leads, are spot on. A fourth season has already been commissioned.

If watching people punch others in the face isn’t really what you’re into,

Netflix also has a new crime show that’s all about gentlemen thievery. Lupin, a contemporary retelling of stories based on French detective novels and short stories by Maurice Leblanc, stars Omar Sy (Intouchables) as Assaen Diop, who inherits a book about Arsen Lupin and his many adventures. Leblanc’s stories have been adapted many times, more famously as the Japanese manga and anime series Lupin III, but this series looks to take a different approach to the source material. The trailer indicates a thoughtprovoking mystery with crime elements galore and fun twists along the way. It releases Jan. 8.

Finally, Disney Plus offers WandaVision. Set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe – with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprising their roles as Wanda Maximoff and Vision, respectively – the series takes place after Avengers: Endgame. The miniseries appears to be about the two leads living an idyllic life in something like a sitcom full of tropes and laugh tracks. But, of course, that all comes crashing down. It will be the first Marvel property in Phase 4 of the Cinematic Universe and releases Jan. 15.

If you’re not in the mood for a series, online options of films released within the past few years are plentiful, so even though the scrolling is often daunting, finding something to sink your teeth into shouldn’t take too long. Here’s hoping 2021 has a better grip on things so film releases start to feel normal again.

DREW JOSEPH ALLEN

CLOSING THOUGHTS

KENNY ALEXOPOULOS

H

ailing from Houston, Kenny Alexopoulos graduated from Texas A&M University in 1996 with a dual degree in marine biology and marine fisheries. Before finding his calling in aquarium science, he worked various jobs – on fishing boats in Alaska; collecting data for National Marine Fisheries; hatching king penguin eggs for the Moody Gardens Aquarium on Galveston Island, among others. Alexopoulos has been with the Oklahoma Aquarium since June of 2000, three years before the attraction opened to the public. He and his team were crucial in the research and design phase of the aquarium’s construction. We caught up with Alexopoulos and got his thoughts on ...

Most of my original team is still with the aquarium and we have become like a family. It’s hard to leave that type of environment. Also, I feel great ownership towards the aquarium since all of the exhibits were built and designed in-house by the staff and myself. This aspect is very unique for an aquarium of our size and has become a labor of love.

... a day in the life.

I usually start my day walking through the facility to make sure everything is in order, clean, and the exhibits and their inhabitants are healthy and well maintained. I then look at any new visitor reviews to get insight on what we are successful with and what we need to improve on. Due to the vast array of goings-on at an aquarium, every day can be drastically different from the next. I may be designing a new exhibit, which is an extensive process that includes concept, filtration and habitat design. Sometimes there are animal issues that come up that need my input – this is especially true with the sharks. I attend multiple manager’s meetings, including with City of Jenks management. I often work on new and existing revenue generating sources.

... his favorites at the aquarium.

Our new Polynesian Reef exhibit might be my favorite [exhibit]. The diversity of fish and the recreation of a natural reef maybe the best I’ve seen. My favorite animal at

Photo by Stephanie Phillips

... his long tenure with the aquarium.

our aquarium is, of course, the bull shark; we have one of the only (and the largest) collection of bull sharks in the world.

... proudest moments.

The first time we successfully collected bull sharks from the wild; the first day we fired up the 400,000-gallon shark filtration system that we designed and built; and the completion of the bull shark statue.

... what’s on the horizon.

We are building a huge clownfish exhibit and a massive jellyfish exhibit in our Amazing Invertebrates gallery – it will open summer of 2021. In 2022, we plan on opening a jellyfish touch exhibit. Some of our future hopes are to construct a very large stingray lagoon to replace our smaller one, and create an immersive ‘Walk through the Woods’ experience in our Aquatic Oklahoma gallery by adding trees and boulders. And our grandest dream is to create a living indoor water park, where the main feature is a snorkeling lagoon that allows guests to snorkel with tropical fish and stingrays.

... his artistic talents.

It is very unusual for an aquarium of our size to be almost completely designed and constructed in-house. This approach saved millions of dollars and has produced a staff with extensive experience and skills. I am proud to lead such a team, and always look forward to our next project. I have developed this knowledge out of necessity due to a challenging budget at the time of the aquarium’s construction. It is this experience that allows us to continue to add new and exciting exhibits for pennies on the dollar.

There is definitely a need for an artistic eye when designing new exhibits. I had always been somewhat artistic as a child, but it wasn’t until I was introduced to this field did I get so inspired to create. Along with exhibit design, I have painted several murals throughout the aquarium and even sculpted the bull shark statue in the entrance of the aquarium. This was probably my most rewarding creation, and it’s very special to me because there is a message to my son carved into it. It sums up my one piece of advice to him: “Do what you love, son.”

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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CONTACT THE SALES AND CATERING OFFICE TODAY: 918.384.7462 HARDROCKCASINOTULSA.COM 777 West Cherokee Street | Catoosa, OK 74015

WEDDING MAGA ZINE OKLAHOMA PRESENTS

GOES VIRTUAL

COMING SAT., JAN. 23,

2021 FROM 10-2

AT OKLAHOMAWEDDING.COM

alongside the January wedding issue of Oklahoma Magazine. Win one of several incredible prizes just by attending. Admission is free! For more information, call 918.744.6205 or email advertising@okmag.com.

60 Wedded Bliss in Uncertain Times 64 Planning 66 Accessories 69 Designer Gowns 74 Flowers 75 Catering 76 Cakes 78 Honeymoons 80 Bridesmaids JANUARY 2021| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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O k l a h o m a W e dd i n g

Wedded Bliss in Uncertain Times

As the world slowly emerges from a tough year, it’s time to look ahead to the future of the wedding industry. We discuss ways to create a safe and joyous celebration, how vendors are bouncing back after a rocky 2020, how to create a reliable budget and the trend forecasts for 2021.

By Mary Willa Allen

A Merry (And PandemicProtocol-Friendly) Celebration

Planning a wedding in the midst of COVID-19 is clearly different than preparing for a traditional ceremony. Along with juggling the normal stresses like seating charts, bridesmaids dresses, invitations and food, you now need to take into consideration the health and wellness of your guests, striving to create a risk-free environment for those you love most.

But how can you make your wedding special, intimate and joyous while following CDC guidelines? The

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021

first way revolves around the utilization of technology. With free apps like Zoom and Skype, plus FaceTime and livestreaming, many of the guests that can’t make it to the celebration can enjoy the ceremony from the comfort of their own homes. This may be the perfect solution for those who live across the country or for those in high-risk COVID-19 categories.

If you want to have a celebration in person, it’s still a doable affair with a few adjustments. Have a creative friend or an artist make signs to hang up around your venue, encouraging social distancing and the use of masks (and make sure the signs are well-lit and visible). For the ceremony, space seating out so large groups aren’t tempted to sit together. Make sure the expectations you have for your guests are clearly communicated to avoid any friction.

As for food and drink, offering pre-packaged meals, snacks and cocktails is a safe option that can lend itself to more creativity. From picnic baskets to bottling one’s one specialty mixed drink, these measures ensure guests stay seated at their tables longer and

The Perks of Tech avoid touching food others have grazed. As the spring approaches, it will also be easier to distance with an outdoor shindig.

But what if you don’t feel comfortable hosting an event until the pandemic subsides? Postponing your wedding is understandable. One of the most important things to do while considering postponement is to keep vendors in the loop. If you have a planner, this is exactly what they’re here for: to act as a sounding board to work out the kinks. Said planner would likely encourage you to look over the fine print of your contracts, understanding the financial commitments you’ve already made along with additional costs for rescheduling. Talk to your venue about open dates, and be patient with them – they’re dealing with major changes, too. It’s also crucial to keep your guests informed, especially if your timeline is short and formal invitations have already been sent out. Operating with patience, empathy and flexibility will reap rewards.

To the Horizon

Those in the wedding industry were hit hard by the pandemic, as couples canceled big celebrations, opting for small gatherings at home or a quick trip to the courthouse. (These events were, adorably, coined ‘minimonys.’) The Knot estimates that between March and August of 2020 alone, one million weddings were scheduled around the globe. Most of those couples had to reconfigure their plans ... and the vendors they hired suffered major financial loses.

But how has the industry coped with those changes? After all, 2020 was projected to be a landmark year for weddings, as couples tend to schedule celebrations on even years, and the start of a new decade is a popular time to tie the knot.

Well, a lot of it revolves around rolling with the punches and hoping for a more stable 2021.

For those who pushed on to have an a celebration in 2020, a shift to virtual consultations reigned supreme. Bakers sent cake samples to couples at home and chatted with them as they ate. Venues offered virtual tours. Planners spent hours upon hours in Zoom calls, helping their clients make dreams come true from afar.

But now that couples have gotten a taste for intimate celebrations that cost significantly less, are large weddings gone for good? The general consensus: no. In May, WeddingWire performed a survey of U.S. couples, and 95% of them said they weren’t planning on reducing their overall budgets for weddings going forward.

(The Knot’s 2019 Real Weddings survey revealed that, on average, couples spent $33,900 on the engagement ring and celebrations – like ceremony and reception – in 2019.) That’s good news for photographers, hair stylists, makeup artists, caterers and venues who need that budget to remain afloat. And with so many bookings being shifted to mid-to-late 2021, it seems those in the industry may just have their landmark year in 2021 instead. After all, many are itching to celebrate with those they love most after so much isolation. The future is bright, indeed.

Imagine planning a wedding with only pen and paper – no email blasts, text chains, apps or websites. It’s hard to believe that was the reality until recently, but luckily, couples looking to get hitched in the future have a bevy of online tools to help them succeed without breaking a sweat ... or having a break-down.

Wedding apps are a dime a dozen, and no matter which you choose, you’ll likely be better off than legging it yourself. Wedding Planner by the Knot is a top choice. Major perks on this app include a style quiz that helps you find your aesthetic before making any big purchases; access to over 250,000 vendors; assistance setting up a wedding website so all your info is stored in one place; and a universal registry that you can add to with one click.

Other apps that walk couples through the journey and are highly rated include WeddingWire’s Wedding Planner and Zola Weddings.

For those who are looking for specific apps for specific reasons, you’re in luck. Mint can help you stay on budget.

Evernote assists with to-do lists and important reminders. Pinterest leads you to countless inspiration boards.

Palette Cam will find you the color you’ve been dreaming about. Venue Report can hunt down the space for your celebration. And Headspace can calm you down after a particularly stressful day.

Combine these apps with virtual consultations, email invites, wedding websites, online registries and livestreaming celebrations and it’s clear tech is on your side.

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O k l a h o m a W e dd i n g After such a weird year, 2021 looks to switch up the expected with some new trends while simultaneously ushering in a return to normalcy.

Mentioned before, food and drink have been re-imagined due to COVID-19. But even after things return to normal, that inspiration lingers in prepackaged meals, individualized treats and bottled cocktails. Bakers are now more often concocting mini cakes and singular goodies for each guest instead of everyone sharing one succulent treat. Mini appetizers – like a charcuterie board for one – are all the rage, and many people are saying ‘bye bye’ to buffets.

Another popular trend inspired by the chaos of 2020 is a ‘nanomoon.’ These trips after the big day include more in-country outings, especially roadtrips to nearby states. Shorter than the typical honeymoon, these sojourns save money and allow couples to explore the beauty just outside their front doors.

But some things remain the same. Tents are back in 2021 in a big way, along with fairy lights and mismatched seating choices for a more casual atmosphere. Toasts are still relevant but are taking a backseat in celebrations – less people are speaking and toasts are short and sweet. Brunch and weekday weddings are swinging back around in popularity – in part because rescheduled celebrations make it hard to find a weekend evening spot – but also because the convenience of an afternoon ceremony means people can make it home in time to relax for the evening ... or party on with the bride and groom until dawn. It’s also safe to assume the act of livestreaming weddings is here to stay, making people feel connected from afar.

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Photo by Chris Humphrey Photographer

The Wedding Forecast

Budgeting

Whether you’re working on a shoestring budget or have an ample amount to spend, it’s always wise to set clear financial limits when planning your nuptials.

A good rule of thumb when beginning your journey is to allocate appropriate funds from the start.

How much are you willing to spend on a venue? On a cake? A dress? As you’re planning, consider which areas you’re willing to splurge on and which areas you’re OK with pulling back on. Maybe you have your heart set on a glamorous venue, but you’re OK with scrimping on a make-up artist. Whichever route you choose, having those hard numbers in mind before making any big purchases creates a strong foundation.

For those with generous parents, friends or other family members who have made it clear they’d like to contribute financially, have a frank conversation about how much they can contribute.

This is not a time to beat around the bush or talk in hypotheticals – get real numbers and, of course, be gracious about any amount they give.

Keeping track of all your expenses is also a must, and budgeting apps are crucial for this bit. Those include EveryDollar, GoodBudget and Honeydue (among others). This way, you can see just how much you’ve spent and can ensure you’re staying on track.

And, of course, take into consideration all the little components before finalizing the budget. Of course, some emergency expenses can’t be anticipated, but for the most part, you can create a solid, detailed budget from day one. Pesky details you may overlook include alterations, taxes and gratuities, vendor trials and rental transportation.

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LIFE’S MOST SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS

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PL ANNING

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Organizing a wedding, making everyone feel included and navigating finances can be stressful. We discuss ways to make the process easier and more enjoyable.

By Amanda Kirzner and Nina Bronson

W

hen a couple gets engaged, the air is colored with excitement, hope and dreams of the future. The couple basks in the attention and love, looking forward to the fairy tale wedding they envision.

Often, this perfect moment is short-lived. Faster than many expect, the couple ends up entrenched in wedding planning. Despite the fact that this is – or should be – a celebration full of pure happiness, wedding preparations can be one of the most stressful, trying events of a couple’s relationship. It’s difficult enough when you’re juggling a busy work schedule, trying to spend time with family and friends and, most importantly, spending time with your fiancé(e) while prepping for the big day. Add to that the joining of two families with differing values and opinions, and you may have a recipe for tension and arguments that many people don’t anticipate.

While some degree of wedding drama is almost inevitable, there is proper etiquette to ensure a smooth process and avoid ruffling any feathers. We enlisted the help of New York event planner Farrah Edelstein of Top of the Party to gain some insight into the process.

“When it comes to weddings, there isn’t always one correct way to do things. It really depends on the audience you’re dealing with,” says Edelstein.

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She shares that while her official title is “wedding planner,” she often feels like she’s the middle man, voice of reason or even therapist for the wedding party when things aren’t going as expected.

“There are a lot of people involved, a lot of personalities, and most of the drama that arises comes from trying to please everyone without sacrificing the vision of the bride and groom.”

“My job is to smooth over every situation,” she says. The bottom line is that “there are a lot of people involved, a lot of personalities, and most of the drama that arises comes from trying to please everyone without sacrificing the vision of the bride and groom. Often, achieving that is not possible.” The more people involved, the more concessions people will have to make, including the bride and groom.

After the initial excitement of the engagement dies down, it is critical to have a frank discussion with both sides of the family about their desired participation in the wedding, both financially

and otherwise.

“This can be a really awkward but necessary conversation,” says Edelstein. “On one hand, if one set of parents hasn’t offered any financial help or expressed any interest in contributing, it might be safe to go ahead and assume that they aren’t contributing anything.

However, assuming isn’t always the safest approach.”

Importantly, you need to know your budget before you begin planning a wedding. Nobody wants to waste time, and knowing your budget will help you avoid just that.

If people are going to contribute financially, it’s important for everyone to understand where they would like the money to be allocated or if the lump sum can go towards any aspect of the wedding.

Traditionally, the bride’s parents pay for the wedding, but things are changing.

“It’s a different generation.

Often, both families split the costs, or the bride and groom pay for it themselves, especially since people are getting married later,” says Edelstein. “I really do find that the weddings that are the most seamless, drama-free events are the ones where the bride and groom pay for it themselves with no involvement from their parents.”

This is likely because people feel that their financial contributions toward the event allow them to

have more say than they should have, which, again, is the reason an up front conversation is so important in the first place.

Everyone intimately participating in a wedding likely has the purest and best of intentions; they may not even realize if boundaries have been overstepped. People can get sensitive when they feel left out or if their opinions aren’t valued.

Even if you don’t have a strong relationship with your future inlaws, Edelstein still recommends trying to involve them in some of the wedding groundwork.

“I would pick two or three categories to involve them in, whether it be the band, flowers, food tasting – anything works,” she says. “You are really just looking to create a feeling of collaboration and sensitivity towards everyone’s thoughts and feelings about the big day.”

As far as the bride inviting her future mother-in-law to help select her wedding gown, “it is a very personal decision, and it really depends on your relationship. There really is no standard when it comes to this, and you can argue both sides,” says Edelstein. On one hand, “it is understandable that the bride would want to keep this big event or right of passage as a special outing with her own mother, sister or best friend, but at the same time, if the bride’s future mother-in-law only has sons, it might be a really nice gesture.”

While it should not be expected, inviting your future mother-in-law is generous of heart, but involving someone too much can also make a situation worse, depending on the dynamic. It really is a judgment call.

With regard to proper wedding attire, all of the guests and wedding party should be comfortable in what they’re wearing, but, at the same time, it is not unreasonable for the bride to have the final say.

It is not uncommon, for example, for the bride to request that the wedding party wear a certain color, and the courteous thing to do is for the wedding party to simply oblige without argument.

“Although there can be issues with anything and everything when it comes to a wedding, I feel like

most people don’t argue too much when it comes to the dress code.

Despite what is shown on TV, it is pretty rare for the mother-in-law to show up to the wedding in a white gown intended to upstage the bride,” says Edelstein.

Bigger issues usually come into play and overshadow the trivial things. For example, if one family is Jewish and the other is Christian, they may fundamentally differ on how to incorporate both religions into the ceremony. Trying to navigate differing beliefs while simultaneously trying to keep everyone happy is difficult.

“I tell brides to focus on their relationship with their partner, and as long as her future spouse stands by her and sticks up for her, it’s all good,” says Edelstein. However, it can be hard to focus and move forward when both sides of the wedding are clashing – it can take a lot of the joy out of planning a wedding. Both sides will ultimately have to relent and give the bride and groom the final say when it comes to differences of opinion.

“After doing so many weddings and dealing with so many people and personalities of different backgrounds, you do start to get a glimpse of who will and won’t make it, and who will have a more challenging relationship going forward,” says Edelstein. “Weddings can bring out the worst in people, and I have had people cancel their weddings during every stage of wedding planning. I have even had a bride cancel her wedding the night before due to fighting with her mother-in-law and a lack of support from her fiancé. I have had fights break out between the two families during the wedding.

“But, I have also seen weddings bring out the best in people. I will never forget a bride I had whose mother had passed away. As if that weren’t bad enough, her father was ill and in the hospital. The father would not allow his daughter to cancel the wedding even though he couldn’t be there. Her father Skyped in during the wedding, and her uncle walked her down the aisle, but her future in-laws were so kind and sweet and loving, it just made

me happy that she was marrying into that kind of family, since things were already so hard for her.”

People’s true colors often shine through during wedding preparations – whether they are good or bad – and this feat has been particularly difficult in 2020. Couples have had to become very creative in celebrating their special day with all of the event restrictions and guidelines; this has added another layer of complication to an already stressful process.

Being aware that it is common to have issues during this time can help couples navigate the situation and mitigate problems early on, before drama can snowball out of control. Being up front and having difficult conversations about finances and expectations on both sides is the best way to avoid disagreements down the road. It is safe to say that this past year has forced people to put everything into perspective. The most imperative thing to do is to focus on the beautiful, new beginning that planning a wedding signifies, and to try your very, very best not to sweat the small stuff.

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ACCESSORIES

The Cherry on Top

Secrets mule 95, Aquazzura

The dress may be the main event, but add-ons like shoes, headpieces and jewelry make all the difference.

Omi prive sapphire and diamond earrings, price upon request, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

Sade pump 105, Aquazzura

Bougainvillea sandal 105, Aquazzura

Tequila sandal 105, Aquazurra

Celeste sandal plateau 120, Aquazzura Della wedding crown, $980, Eden Luxe Bridal

Kwiat starry night diamond Demi Riviera necklace, $5,450, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

Rahaminov 18K white gold 3 stone halo ring, $22,580, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

Rahaminov platinum and 18K yellow gold yellow diamond ring, price on request, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

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Christopher Designs L’Amour diamond band, $8,895, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

Mikimoto Akoya pearl and diamond classic earrings, $1,400, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

Penny Preville bangles, starting at $5,995, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

All photos courtesy their respective brands

Christopher Designs L’Amour diamond eternity band, $24,316, Bruce G. Weber Diamond Cellar

Har-Ber Village Event Center Located minutes from Grove, Har-Ber Village Event Center offers a parklike setting with rustic back drops, lake views, and the ambiance of the Har-Ber Village Museum in its backyard! The Bridal Dressing Suite is even located inside a log cabin!

Our Event Center is an indoor/outdoor building that seats up to 100 guests, with a stage that offers electricity, a dance floor, separate ceremony area, and indoor restrooms. Our Event Coordinator can help with on-site catering options, bakeries, musicians, and photographers.

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Let Oaks Country Club host your indoor or outdoor wedding.

Call Ava for more details or to schedule a tour: 918.359.0813 ¡ ava@oakscountryclub.com

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indoor + outdoor locations event coordination in-house florals 23606 S Keetonville Rd Claremore, OK 74019 Northeast of Owasso pecandarosaranch.com 918.698.7500

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Your special day deserves a memorable experience.

See how weddings at Campbell can change an ordinary occasion into an extraordinary one. Book our hotel along with your event center and make The Campbell your own private venue. Experience a new horizon of refined style & boutique luxury.

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Weddings at Campbell

The Campbell Hotel

12/7/20 8:57 AM

11/15/19 1:48 PM

DESIGNER GOWNS

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Find Your Muse Galia Lahav

Berta

Monique Lhuillier

Turn to the industry experts for help finding your perfect silhouette.

ONLINE

FOR BONUS DESIGNER WEDDING GOWNS, VISIT OKLAHOMAWEDDING.COM

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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Morilee Bridal

Monique Lhuillier

Berta

Alon Livne White

Justin Alexander

Oscar de la Renta

Anne Barge

Hayley Paige

Galia Lahav

Jenny Packham

Inbal Dror

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DESIGNER GOWNS

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Oscar de la Renta

Inbal Dror

Galia Lahav

Ines DI Santo

Justin Alexander

Alon Livne White

Alexandra Grecco

Monique Lhuillier

Lihi Hod

Allison Webb

Berta

Tara Keely

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Galia Lahav

Berta

Jenny Yoo

Inbal Dror

Blue Willow

Justin Alexander

Amsale

Kelly Faetanini

Alon Livne White

Monique Lhuillier

Allison Webb

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DESIGNER GOWNS

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Anne Barge

Lucia by Allison Webb

Morilee Bridal

Monique Lhuillier

Hayley Paige

Justin Alexander

Lazaro

Jenny Packham

Berta

Inbal Dror

Galia Lahav

Oscar de la Renta

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FLOWERS

Blooming Beauty Florals add that final touch of enchantment to your nuptials.

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Toni’s Flowers and Gifts, Tulsa Photo courtesy Toni’s

The French Bouquet, Tulsa Photo by Redeemed Productions

Mary Murray’s Flowers, Tulsa Photo courtesy Mary Murray’s

Ever Something, Tulsa Photo by Ricki Thompson

C AT E R I N G

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A Bit of Everything Find inspiration in a bevy of tasty eats from culinary creators in Oklahoma.

Fried chicken and caviar, Summit Club, Tulsa Photo courtesy Summit Club

Branzino and clams, Summit Club, Tulsa Photo courtesy Summit Club

Tenderloin of beef with butternut squash puree and micro fennel fronds, Aunt Pittypat’s Catering, OKC Photo courtesy Aunt Pittypat’s Catering

Rosemary chicken with roasted broccolini, JTR Group, Tulsa Photo by Valerie Wei-Haas

S&B’s cheeseburger, Quail Springs Culinary, OKC Photo courtesy Quail Springs Culinary

Mini pecan pie cheesecake bites, C2 Catering, OKC Photo courtesy C2 Catering

Ahi tuna tartar, Summit Club, Tulsa Photo courtesy Summit Club

Bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers, Cafe 7 Catering, OKC Photo by Dani G. Photography

ONLINE Southwest shrimp, Duet, Tulsa Photo courtesy Duet

FOR MORE DELICIOUS DISHES, VISIT OKLAHOMAWEDDING.COM

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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CAKES

A Slice of Delight

Talented Oklahoma bakers make one-of-akind treats to top off a magical celebration.

Amy Cakes, Norman Photo courtesy Amy Cakes

Andrea Howard Cakes, OKC Photo by Andrea Howard

Rosebeary’s Bakery, OKC Photo courtesy Rosebeary’s Bakery Sweet Devotion Cakery, Tulsa Photo courtesy Sweet Devotion Cakery

Amy Cakes, Norman Photo courtesy Amy Cakes

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Antoinette Baking Co., Tulsa Photo by Andrea Mohn

Amy Cakes, Norman Photo courtesy Amy Cakes

Red Rooster Bistro and Bakery, Wagoner Photo courtesy Red Rooster Bistro and Bakery

Amy Cakes, Norman Photo courtesy Amy Cakes

Madison’s on Main, Norman Photo by Kevin Paul Photography

You Need a Cake, Edmond Photo courtesy You Need a Cake You Need a Cake, Edmond Photo courtesy You Need a Cake

Andrea Howard Cakes, OKC Photo by Andrea Howard

ONLINE

FOR EVEN MORE DELICIOUS CAKE CREATIONS, VISIT OKLAHOMAWEDDING.COM

JANUARY 2021 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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HONEYMOONS

To Have and to Hold We offer both domestic and international destinations for a post-nuptial celebration.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires

If the natural beauty of this seaside splash of Argentina doesn’t wow you, the culture will. Where else can you dance the tango while having a fernet with Coke? Mendoza has the fine wines, Cordoba has awesome 17th-century architecture, but for a sense of sheer energy with a cosmopolitan flair, Buenos Aires has what you’re looking for: big, bustling and sophisticated. It is, after all, the Paris of South America.

Tucked into one of Buenos Aires’ most elegant neighborhoods, the Algodon Mansion comes highly recommended.

The sleek, neoclassical-style boutique hotel, with a rooftop pool and spa, is a ten-minute walk from the ornate tombs in La Recoleta Cemetery, a 15-minute walk from the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes ( fine arts) and a mere stroll from the city’s main shopping boulevards.

For instant cultural immersion, visit the La Boca neighborhood at the mouth of the Riachuelo River. The Italian influence is unmistakable amidst the artist colonies and tango-infused street life.

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NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING

Florence

FLORENCE, ITALY

Nantucket

Nantucket is a bit less accessible than its big sister, Martha’s Vineyard, and that remoteness is part of Nantucket’s charm. The world’s former top whaling port is now a posh Massachusetts tourist destination and summer colony with whaling and shipwreck museums and 300-year-old harbors lined with upscale restaurants, quaint inns, specialty shops and chowder shacks.

Bicycle or take the shuttle around the 50-square-mile island for a leisurely look at Nantucket’s many snug seaside cottages, old whaling captains’ mansions, lighthouses, sand dunes and rugged beaches. Bike trails traverse the entire island.

In the center of Nantucket, the White Elephant has been an exclusive summertime retreat since your grandfather was in short pants. Accommodations range from residences to garden cottages to luxury suites in the picturesque Harborside Hotel. Casual fare and a spa are on premises; many fine restaurants, including Lola 41, are nearby.

Our base hotel is really an elegant historic retreat in the heart of Florence surrounded by resplendent shopping districts. The Helvetia and Bristol Starhotels Collezione boasts flawless marble, superb service, original art nouveau, Murano glass chandeliers and stunning views of the city. And it’s near Brunelleschi’s Dome. Between Piazza della Repubblica and Via de’ Tornabuoni.

Everything in Florence is near something else. For example, it’s a five-minute walk from Il Duomo Square Cathedral to the Gallerie Degli Uffizi, two top attractions. Florence was ground zero for the Italian Renaissance and there is just so much to see. Planning is key.

Definitely swing by the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Piazza Duomo. Visit Galleria dell’Accademia where Michelangelo’s bestknown work, David, resides. Don’t miss Pitti Palace on the River Arno. And while you’re in the area, check out Ponte Vecchio, a multi-level bridge over the Arno with built-in shops which sell mostly jewelry.

Jackson Hole

The town of Jackson is the southern gateway to two of America’s gems: Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

The snow-fed waters of the Snake River find their way to the Yellowstone Plateau and then wind south through the alpine valley called Jackson Hole.

Once popular with trappers and Western explorers, Jackson Hole, Wyoming has been around for a while and has the museums to prove it. Now, the town is known for world-class snow skiing with resorts to match, summer hiking, wildlife, spas and a booming downtown full of unique shops and restaurants.

Book yourself a couple of days at the Amangani, a luxury Aman lodge right outside of town that specializes in spa treatments – from deep tissue and shiatsu to Thai, hot stone and Himalayan salt scrubs. Hit the Amangani Grill and then enjoy the mountain views from the heated, outdoor infinity pool or from your own in-suite soaking tub.

CHUCK MAI

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2021 Hayley Paige Occasions

Jenny Yoo Bridesmaids

Amsale

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Bari Jay

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Bari Jay

Hayley Paige Occasions

Jenny Yoo Bridesmaids

Amsale

Bari Jay

O k l a h o m a W e dd i n g BRIDESMAIDS

Make an Impression

Finding the perfectly flattering fit for your bridal party is a must.

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We’re Always Banking on a Bright Future.

Future Company Growth Future Family Vacations Future Business Partnerships Future Home Buying Future Investment Success

As we face these challenging times together, it’s important to hold onto hope for the future.

This season will pass. And as they say, good things come to those who wait.

So from all of us at Mabrey Bank, we wish you good health, hope, and happy days ahead.

MABREYBANK.COM | 888.272.8866 | MEMBER FDIC