Oklahoma Magazine September 2018

SEPTEMBER 2018

OUR ANNUAL FACES OF OKLAHOMA

Alzheimer’s Advances

Oklahoma doctors and researchers work toward a cure

Commitment to Excellence Notable sports stars from high school to professional

EASY OR HARD TO SWALLOW Oklahoma’s new liquor law: good news for some, a bitter brew for others

PLU S

FALL FESTIVAL PREVIEW SAVINGS

AT ANY AGE

FALL FASHION

STAY

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Y CONNECTED Sign up for our newsletter – we’ll tell you

when our stories are fresh and up-to-date, let you view exclusive web content, and you can be the first to know about upcoming events in OKC and Tulsa.

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OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA

OF COURSE, YOU’RE ONE IN A MILLION. BUT WHAT IF YOU’RE ALSO ONE IN EIGHT?

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Features SEPTEMBER

48 Commitment to Excellence

2018 Oklahoma Magazine Vol. XXII, No. 9

Ranked just 28th in population, Oklahoma always has notable sports stars from high school to professional.

66 Easy or Hard to Swallow

PHOTO BY NATHAN HARMON

Oklahoma’s updated liquor law goes into effect Oct. 1. For some, that’s good news.

For others, it’s a bitter brew.

70 Always Time to Save Don’t let money burn a hole in your pocket; get set for retirement no matter your age or financial situation.

74 Alzheimer’s Advances

40

Doctors and researchers have a better understanding of what causes the disease and how to prevent it.

Legends of the Fall

This season’s undisputed trends include plaid, sequins and leather, topped off with bold hues, statement jewelry and accent pumps.

WANT SOME MORE?

Visit us online.

MORE ARTICLES

SEPTEMBER 2018

SEPTEMBER 2018

OUR ANNUAL FACES OF OKLAHOMA

Read expanded articles and stories that don’t appear in the print edition.

Alzheimer’s Advances

76 Fall Festival Preview

As the leaves turn and the weather cools, Oklahoma festivals come alive.

Celebrations of culture, music, food, hobbies and sports take place from Grove to Frederick.

2

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Oklahoma doctors and researchers work toward a cure

Commitment to Excellence Notable sports stars from high school to professional

EASY OR HARD TO SWALLOW Oklahoma’s new liquor law: good news for some, a bitter brew for others

MORE PHOTOS ON THE COVER: PLU S

FALL FESTIVAL PREVIEW SAVINGS

AT ANY AGE

FALL FASHION

DAX HILL, A SENIOR AT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL IN TULSA, IS ONE OF SEVERAL OUTSTANDING ATHLETES FROM AROUND THE STATE TO WATCH THIS FALL. PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

View expanded Scene, Style, Taste and Entertainment galleries.

MORE EVENTS

The online calendar includes more Oklahoma events.

Now you can schedule care on the go.

Schedule online with Ascension care teams at St. John Health System

No matter where you are, what time it is, or what you’re up to, you can quickly make an appointment to get the care you need at GetStJohnCare.com.

Departments 11

ALL THINGS OKLAHOMA

11 State 14 16 17 18 19 20 21

With national rankings and green-thumbed, backyard ninjas, Oklahoma has it growin’ on.

Development Tourism Community Business People Outside the Metro Progress A revitalized community with tiny houses is underway for low-income Bartlesville residents.

22

Insider

26

Interiors Limestone, cedar,

31 36 38

Destinations Scene Fitness

25 Life and Style

oak, marble, natural lighting, leather, green space and crisp design embrace a new Tulsa home.

21

26

83 Taste 85 86 87

Duet Tulsa contributes to the revitalization of the Arts District.

Local Flavor, Random Flavors Chef Chat Tasty Tidbits

89 Where and When 90 94

Celebrity Attractions brings the ‘Popular’ musical Wicked to Tulsa, with an Oklahoma-raised actor in a leading role.

In Tulsa/In OKC Film and Cinema

96 Closing Thoughts

4

83

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

89

Climbed 5 peaks this month Won the bouldering World Cup Forgot to lock her front door

People are amazing, but we’re still only human. Manage your lights, locks and thermostat from your device with Homelife. Learn more at Cox.com/homelife

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Mail checks to Oklahoma Magazine P.O. Box 14204 Tulsa, OK 74159-1204 Copyright © 2018 by Schuman Publishing Company.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

8/21/18 12:25 PM

TM

918 MAGAZINE

Member

WE ARE

OKLAHOMA

For nearly 80 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma has stood behind our members by providing quality, affordable health care options.

As Oklahoma’s oldest and largest private health insurer, we are investing in our local communities now and for the future. We are Oklahoma. We are here for you.

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Fall has arrived, and with it all our favorite things about this time of year – sports, fashion, food and fun.

This month, we introduce six high school athletes we’ve dubbed “the ones to watch,” and we also share a story about one Oklahoman who went from high school athlete to NFL kicker.

Our state’s new liquor laws take effect Oct. 1, so we’ve brought you a well-rounded explanation of those and the businesses they impact. We talk about Alzheimer’s disease and bring you a full schedule of fall festivals to enjoy with family and friends.

We share stories about some incredible Oklahomans ... including a rescue police dog and the organization that trained her to fight crime, plus a man helping build tiny homes for the less fortunate in Bartlesville. BOK Center’s 10th anniversary falls in September; read on to learn about all the positive impact its had on Tulsa’s tourism industry. We have a story on how Amazon is bringing thousands of new jobs to both of our major metropolitan areas (and how we’re going to get our packages delivered faster than ever), and the exciting volunteer program at Tulsa’s Gathering Place.

And we wrap it all up with an inspiring article from Eran Harrill, CEO of the Oklahoma City Black Chamber of Commerce.

We hope you enjoy this month’s issue of Oklahoma Magazine as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it for you.

Sincerely, Wendy King Burton Managing Editor

OKMAG.COM

S TAY CONNECTED

What’s HOT at

LET TER FROM THE EDITOR

OK

COMING IN SEPTEMBER

After you’ve perused our annual fall fashion photo spread, don’t miss out on even more beautiful outfits – hand-picked to keep you stylish and warm in the colder months – available at okmag.com. Also online, find out more about Eran Harrill, president of the Oklahoma City Black Chamber of Commerce, in our expanded Closing Thoughts interview. Finally, learn how to connect with your kids and bring out your inner child with a whimsical faerie garden, a hobby that has grown in popularity across the country. As always, be sure to follow Oklahoma Magazine at okmag.com and on social media for daily doses of your favorite content.

COMING IN DECEMBER

2014

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Oklahoma Magazine is looking for great places to work in Oklahoma. If your company has what it takes, let us know. Visit www.okmag.com to nominate your company for inclusion in Oklahoma Magazine’s Great Companies To Work For.

OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA advertising@okmag.com • 918.744.6205 Great Companies 1/2 H House Ad.indd 1

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

OKLAHOMA 8/21/18 12:19 PM

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A Network Provider For

State

ALL THINGS OKLAHOMA

A Vast Career Agricultural Powerhouse

Cherokee mezzo-soprano Barbara McAlister passes along her love of voice to her students.

With national rankings and green-thumbed, backyard ninjas, Oklahoma has it growin’ on.

M OKLAHOMA’S AGRICULTURAL TRADITION CONTINUES TO THRIVE MORE THAN 100 YEARS AFTER STATEHOOD. PHOTO COURTESY OSU

emories of the Dust Bowl are in the distant past, especially since Oklahoma is an agricultural powerhouse with an $8 billion annual average impact from 34.2 million acres of farmland brimming with cattle and grains, according to the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

“People go to farmers markets and see many things grown in the state which they can choose to grow themselves,” says Don Stotts of Oklahoma State University’s Division of Agriculture Science and Natural Resources. “But many might not know that we’re nationally highly ranked in several crops, such as second in canola or fifth in all hay and wheat.”

This economic vibrancy is due in large part to sustainability, Stotts says. The state’s agricultural practices are environmentally sound and include crop rotation to ensure no repetition of the Dust

Bowl, when all that was planted was “wheat, wheat, wheat with no rotation.”

Oklahoma does well in the broad-stroke, macro-economic categories of agriculture, but we’re also rich in oddities, such as the century-old Horn Canna Farm in Carnegie, home to the world’s largest canna lily farm. Oklahoma also benefits from the entrepreneurial gumption of savvy individuals like Travis Marak, a fourth-generation dairy farmer.

“Travis’ family has historically sold milk to Hiland Dairy in Chandler since the homesteader days,” says Dave Shideler, associate professor of agriculture economics at OSU and community development specialist for the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.

“Travis is developing local markets directly to grocery stores and farmers markets with dairy-based products with local branding.”

Other business-minded growers have opened their properties to the public as recreation destinations, including several lavender SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

11

The State

farms offering herbal products. Lavender Hill near Haskell also makes and sells wine.

Honey Bear Ranch near Broken Bow Lake began as a hobby, owner Phil Harris says, but it has grown to draw tourists and locals alike with more than 40 varieties of unusually colored, organic, non-genetically modified heirloom tomatoes and peppers.

He also sells “the Rolls Royce of organic fertilizers and soil amendments.”

Agriculture is about more than just engaging in commerce, Stotts says. It includes lawns, trees, flower and vegetable gardens, and containers overflowing with tomatoes and herbs in urban and rural settings.

“We’re all agriculturalists,” Stotts says.

“If you own a home, you have a lawn; you may have flowers, trees. That is urban agriculture. It’s easy to see rural agriculture, but urban ag happens all around you, every time you fertilize your lawn. Folks might not know that Oklahoma is one of the leading producers of Bermuda grass that’s so good the NFL plays on it and it’s on the infield for the Kansas City Royals. Agriculture is all around us, literally.”

Shideler adds: “Culturally speaking, Oklahomans tend to garden more frequently than [people in] other states. To support that, we’ve got the master gardeners program for resources and advice. Relative to similar programs in other states, Oklahoma has a very large and active master gardeners movement.”

The most important agricultural decision someone can make is to have the soil tested.

“Farmers who grow crops get their soil tested to get the best results,” Shideler says. “It’s no different on the smaller scale. County extension offices do soil testing for nutrients, identifying conditions [and] gauging water needs.”

Returning to the land is a common theme for Oklahomans, he says.

“Many households have subsistence gardens,” Shideler says. “They may have a job in the city, but they still have some rows in their backyard, and many even keep a cow, goat or sheep that they’re raising as meat for the family. My observation is that the Land Run was only about 120 years ago. So this idea of farming and being self-sustaining and independent is only a couple of generations removed, so there is still a lot of that culture permeating our lifestyle in this state.”

Growing crops, rearing animals and having a reverence for one’s roots provide good news in the long run.

“We’re also seeing a re-emergence of people returning to Oklahoma,” Shideler says. “People who went away after college are moving back to Oklahoma in the latter part of their careers or retirement wanting to get back to the land, and buying some acres so they can have a garden, maybe animals, horses to ride – all part of a pastoral lifestyle that they had as a child growing up in Oklahoma.”

TRACY LEGRAND

12

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

HOW OKLAHOMA

FARMS RANK

NATIONALLY

1ST

RYE

It isn’t the state’s largest crop, but Oklahoma produces of the nation’s rye.

13.94%

2ND

WINTER WHEAT AND CANOLA

Oklahoma produces about of the nation’s winter wheat and of the nation’s canola.

8% 4%

4TH

NUMBER OF FARMS

TOP-BOTTOM: WHEAT STUDIES ARE DONE BY OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY AT THE AGRONOMY RESEARCH FARM. THERE ARE PLOTS OF EVERY WHEAT OSU HAS DEVELOPED. PHOTO COURTESY MITCHELL ALCALA/OSU

OSU TEACHING GREENHOUSES ARE USED BY STUDENTS IN HORTICULTURE TO LEARN REAL WORLD MANAGEMENT AND PROPAGATION OF PLANT MATERIALS. PHOTO COURTESY TODD JOHNSON

CALVES DRINK WATER AT THE RANGE COW RESEARCH UNIT OFF VASSER ROAD WEST OF STILLWATER. PHOTO COURTESY OSU

Oklahoma has more than , and 34

78,000 FARMS

MILLION ACRES OF FARMLAND. 5TH

PECANS

Oklahoma produces more than of the nation’s pecans.

4%

5TH

CATTLE AND CALVES Oklahoma raises more than of the nation’s , with more than

5%

CATTLE 1 BILLION POUNDS OF RED MEAT

production in 2016.

Source: Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry

FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKER, ACTRESS AND AUTHOR

JAMIE LEE CURTIS

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607469.0518

The State D E V E LO P M E N T

Amazonian Impact

necessarily available for lower-income earners to continue gaining more exThe retail behemoth has plans for fulfillment centers perience and more pay. It in OKC and Tulsa, bringing 3,000 new jobs to the state. is important that everyone in the community has an mazon will soon opportunity for a higher-wage job.” deliver to OklaHe adds that the facility will homans a large benefit OKC “not only from a tax economic impact. base standpoint and a job opportuIn May, Amazon nity perspective, but having a large revealed plans for a fulfillment growing company like Amazon in center in Oklahoma City with a proour market is positive.” jected opening by the 2019 holiday season. Since then, a second facility in Tulsa was announced. Oklaho“The fact that this mans will see about 3,000 new jobs fulfillment center in the state … and their packages will feature the latest from Amazon arriving sooner than before. in automation aligns The fulfillment centers are perfectly with the expected to create a variety of goal of attracting full-time positions, such as facility more new economy, technicians, human-resource team members and warehouse workers. technology-based Building these centers will also jobs to our region.” create construction jobs in the short term and deliver other work opportunities later.

Mike Neal, CEO of the Tulsa Re“[Amazon’s] investment of over gional Chamber of Commerce, says $140 million is a big support to the AN AMAZON a fulfillment center will be good for local tax base, especially schools,” FULFILLMENT CENTER the city and state. says Larry McAtee, a member EMPLOYEE “We are absolutely thrilled that of the Oklahoma City Council.

FILLS ORDERS. PHOTO BY ERIC the Amazon fulfillment center brings “In addition, the creation of jobs SLOMANSON/ with it 1,500 quality, full-time provides opportunities that are not COURTESY AMAZON

A

14

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

jobs with benefits and professional development, not to mention the significant capital investment in our region,” he says. “The fact that this fulfillment center will feature the latest in automation aligns perfectly with the goal of attracting more new economy, technology-based jobs to our region.”

Amazon employees at both centers will work alongside innovations created by Amazon Robotics to pick, pack and ship small items, such as books, household items and toys.

The centers will shorten the wait time for purchased items. Some customers near Amazon fulfillment centers can take advantage of oneday and same-day delivery. Amazon Prime members in participating ZIP codes can place an order in the morning and receive orders over $35 before bedtime that same day, seven days a week, at no extra cost. NonPrime members can have sameday delivery for an additional fee.

Orders placed in the morning will arrive the same day; orders placed in the afternoon or evening will arrive the next day.

When the fulfillment centers are closer to opening, potential workers can apply at amazondelivers.jobs.

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The State

TOURISM

Transpo Dynamo

A 4.8-mile streetcar line and an additional convention center will transform the city’s transportation system and downtown.

C

THE OKLAHOMA CITY STREETCAR WILL BEGIN SYSTEM TESTING IN OCTOBER.

PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF OKC

16

onstruction is wrapping up on the Oklahoma City streetcar and just beginning on another sales taxfunded project designed to make the city more appealing and user-friendly to residents and visitors.

The $131 million streetcar should launch in December, and ground was broken in June for a $288 million convention center, which MAPS 3 program manager David Todd says is the largest single contract the city has ever entered into. The convention center, paid for by the Metropolitan Area Projects Plan, is going up just south of the Chesapeake Energy Arena with a targeted opening in summer 2020.

The 4.8-mile streetcar route “is going to transform the way people get around downtown. It’s a gamechanger,” says Jane Jenkins, president and CEO of Downtown OKC Partnership, a nonprofit managing the downtown Business Improvement District.

Five of the seven brightly colored electric coaches will be on the streets

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

at any time and stop every 12 to 14 minutes at 22 platforms, says Michael Scroggins, public information officer for Embark, the city’s transportation service. He says the streetcars will build on the bus system already in place.

“With rail, the community or region has to have a robust bus network,” Scroggins says. “We created it so if you have a bus pass, you can use the streetcar at no additional cost.”

Passengers will pay with an app or at vending machines on each platform. Fares will be $1 for a single trip or $3 for a day pass. Also offered will be monthly and annual passes, with a universal fee structure for people who ride buses and streetcars.

Jenkins says she expects downtown employees to be “early adopters” of the streetcars, which will serve Midtown, Automobile Alley, the downtown business district and Bricktown.

Workers can park in the morning and go to lunch in Bricktown or Midtown without moving their cars, Jenkins says. Visitors can ride

a complete loop to help them decide which restaurants and attractions to patronize, Todd says. The streetcars will travel in the same lanes of traffic used by automobiles.

“They will go the posted speed limit. They are heated and cooled, and it’s a nice smooth ride,” says Todd, adding that each car will hold 104 passengers (64 seated, 40 standing) and have space for wheelchairs and bicycles.

Testing of the system will begin in October.

The convention center will give “us about twice as much exhibit space, and all the state-of-the-art amenities the exhibitors want,” Todd says.

The building will have a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 45,000 square feet of meeting space and a 30,000-square-foot ballroom.

More than 13,000 trade shows are held in the United State annually, says Mike Carrier, president of the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the convention center will attract more of that business, “especially when you add a first-class hotel like the Omni.”

The 605-room Omni will be part of the complex and add 40,000 square feet of meeting space, he says.

Carrier says the bioscience, aerospace and energy industries will find the convention center more appealing than the 50-year-old Cox Convention Center, and his staff is already working to attract groups for 2021.

KIMBERLY BURK

COMMUNIT Y

It’s a Dog’s Life

Wildflower, a pit bull on Wetumka’s police force, makes drug busts … and has her own social media page.

A

“throwaway” pit bull has become the newest officer in the Wetumka Police Department.

The dog, called Wildflower, came to Oklahoma via a rescue group that transforms strays into law-enforcement personnel.

She was picked up by the Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she was adopted for a short time but returned because she had “too much energy,” says Carol Skaziak, founder of the Throw Away Dogs Project in Pennsylvania.

The nonprofit rescues and trains dogs before donating them to police departments around the country.

“The shelter employees begged me to take her,” says Skaziak, who declined at first.

Six months later, Wildflower still did not have a permanent home and time started ticking for her to be euthanized. The shelter called Skaziak again.

“I agreed this time and she was transported to us by her team,” Skaziak says.

Wildflower came with her name, and Skaziak was skeptical about it. But after the pit bull’s personality bloomed, she knew Wildflower would keep the moniker.

“She is a free spirit … a happy-go-lucky dog,” Skaziak says. “She is a bull in a china shop that doesn’t realize her own strength but does not have a mean bone in her body.

She is just like wildflowers; they blow in the wind and wherever they land they grow.

This is exactly her.”

“She is a free spirit … a happy-go-lucky dog.”

Wildflower did not initally respond to training. Skaziak says that when she first introduced Wildflower to her partner and head trainer, Bruce Myers, the dog had a lackluster attitude with none of her usual playfulness and energy.

“She had no hunt drive, no prey drive;

she was not even interested in a ball,” Skaziak says. “I was devastated. Bruce said to me, ‘What did you get us into?’ All I was thinking is, ‘We have a pit bull we need to re-home.’”

But luck struck.

“Nothing was working until the day a blue lacrosse ball fell out of the bag she came with,” Skaziak says. “Wildflower targeted that ball and [Bruce] knew at that moment he had his golden training ticket.”

Meanwhile, Wetumka Police Chief Joe Chitwood sought a way to replace his newly retired K-9 officer. With no funds to buy a new dog, he wasn’t sure how he was going to get one.

“It was pure luck that the Throw Away Dogs Project was on my news feed, so I went to their page,” says Chitwood, who filled out an application and eventually received his new partner.

Now Wildflower makes drug busts and has her own social media presence.

“Creating a Facebook page for her was my way of keeping the public updated on Wildflower, on and off the job,” Chitwood says. “It’s my hope to show not only the public, but other law enforcement agencies, that rescues, and more importantly, pit bulls can be used with great success as police working dogs.”

SHARON MCBRIDE

WILDFLOWER, ONCE A “THROWAWAY” PITBULL, SERVES THE WETUMKA POLICE DEPARTMENT.

PHOTO COURTESY THE THROW AWAY DOGS PROJECT

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

17

The State

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA SIMILARLY BOOSTS OKC

BUSINESS

Banking on Success The BOK Center, a $350 billion economic driver, celebrates 10 years in downtown Tulsa.

I

THE BOK CENTER CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR, WITH MANY EVENTS AND CHANGES PLANNED TO CELEBRATE. PHOTO COURTESY BOK CENTER

READ “OPEN FOR BUSINESS,”

OUR 2008 STORY ABOUT THE THEN BRAND-SPANKINGNEW BOK CENTER, AT

OKMAG.COM/WEB.

18

n 2003, Tulsa County voters approved a penny sales tax that ushered in multiple developments, one of which became the highly recognizable, $180 million BOK Center.

The building opened five years later, but it’s hard to imagine a time before it came to dominate the economic landscape of downtown Tulsa.

General Manager Jeff Nickler says the 19,000-plus-seat arena has held more than 500 shows in its 10 years, including world famous acts Garth Brooks (seven soldout shows), Madonna (her first and only Oklahoma stop), Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga. Memories have definitely been made at the venue, but its commercial impact is far less ephemeral.

“The construction of BOK Center was a catalyst for the rebirth of downtown,” Nickler says. “Since the arena opened, downtown has seen over $1 billion in private development. In addition, the BOK Center has had an estimated $350 million in economic impact on Tulsa over the past decade.”

Representatives from the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce agree – the BOK Center continues to breathe life into the city.

“Since the BOK Center opened, five hotels have opened downtown, and four more are under construction and opening within the next year,” says Jarrel Wade, a chamber senior account executive. “Downtown is [also]

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

home to the Woody Guthrie Center, and will soon boast the OKPOP Museum and Bob Dylan Center, both under development.

“Since the BOK Center opening … public investments include the $39 million ONEOK Field, home to the Tulsa Drillers baseball team since 2010, and the $55 million Cox Business Center renovation, which is underway. The BOK arena sold its 5 millionth ticket in 2015 and was named Pollstar’s No. 7 arena in the U.S. and No. 24 worldwide this year. Downtown property values have increased an average of 7 percent each year since 2008.”

To celebrate 10 years of success, Nickler says many events and changes are planned at the BOK Center, including a “10 for 10” concert series with performers Justin Timberlake, George Strait, Metallica CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA HAS HELPED DOWNTOWN OKC DEVELOPMENT SINCE 2002. and the Eagles PHOTO BY DAVID MCNEESE (who played the first show at the arena).

In addition, $6 million in upgrades include luxury suites, new signage and state-of-the-art public Wi-Fi. TARA MALONE

Over the years, it’s been known by a few names: the Ford Center, the Oklahoma City Arena, the ’Peake.

Regardless of what you call it, the Chesapeake Energy Arena has been the heart of downtown OKC development since 2002.

The building became home to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, and downtown has felt the ripple effect of success. In the past 10 years, according to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, downtown has added about 1,000 hotel rooms, attracted 3 million more annual visitors and become one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the city. Businesses have hired more than 25,000 employees and more than 10 million rabid NBA fans have attended Thunder games at the arena.

PEOPLE

The Park’s Backbone

I

t’s a giant of a park with an impressive lineup of entertainment, education and wellness options, and volunteers make it all happen.

Tulsa’s Gathering Place is set to open Sept. 8 at 2650 S. John Williams Way, along the Arkansas River. The first phase of the George Kaiser Family Foundation project occupies 66.5 acres of the nearly 100 acres given to the River Parks Authority through a publicprivate partnership.

Haley Biram, volunteer manager for Gathering Place, says volunteers work shifts ranging from 1 to 4 hours to keep the park operating each day of the year.

“We’re so excited to get people in here to volunteer,” Biram says. “We have lots of time slots available.”

Biram says there is no weekly or monthly time commitment for volunteers. They can do a one-time shift during the event-heavy first 100 days of operation or can choose recurring shifts, she says.

Volunteers can help with planting, pruning and watering in the horticulture department, or greet guests and offer directions at the park entrances. They can work with young people at the

Tulsa’s Gathering Place has countless activities for everyone … but they won’t work without the help of volunteers. shady, 5-acre H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Adventure Playground, which features towers, slides, climbing features, a fairyland forest, a reading tree and water areas, or help during concerts and other special events.

“There is a great interest in volunteering here,” says Kirstin Hein, vice president of programming. “We are training all our volunteers to know all about the park and where everything is.”

Volunteer positions are available for all age groups, including people with physical limitations, Biram says. Only a limited number of volunteers can work indoors.

Biram says she had an initial pool of 230 applicants to be screened, interviewed and trained.

“It’s a pretty quick process,” she says because Gathering Place staffers are flexible in scheduling interviews.

Biram says she has not set a maximum number because there are many volunteer opportunities, especially as the park increases its educational and wellness programming.

Plans include classes, camps, workshops and adult lectures on nature, science, reading and art. School field

trips are coordinated with classroom curriculum. All programs operate with the help of volunteers.

“My hope is that anyone, regardless of age, race and socio-economic background, will feel welcome to be a part of our volunteer team,” says Tony Moore, executive director of Gathering Place. “There is only one requirement to being a Gathering Place volunteer, and that’s attitude.

“There are more than 100 different experiences in any day, ranging from sport courts, to skate parks, to boating and kayaking, a dozen slides and a playground, not to mention restaurants, concerts and fun programming events.

Volunteers will be a major part of who we are as a park.”

Hein has worked in parks and recreation for about 15 years in Chicago and Washington and considers herself fortunate to work at Gathering Place.

“It really will be a jewel of Tulsa,” she says.

To volunteer, go to gatheringplace. org and fill out the online application, send an email to volunteer@gatheringplace.org or call 918.779.1000 for more information.

KIMBERLY BURK

VOLUNTEERS AT TULSA’S GATHERING PLACE ARE INTEGRAL TO THE PARK’S SUCCESS. PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

19

The State

FUN FACTS POPULATION 11,703 GETTING HIGHER With an elevation of 3,126 feet, Guymon is located at a higher elevation than Oklahoma towns to its east. But the slant toward the Rocky Mountains takes you steadily higher as you go west.

OUTSIDE THE METRO

A Simple Computation

Guymon, the Queen City of the Panhandle, celebrates its cowboy roots and Hispanic culture. It just makes sense.

I

CHILDREN GET READY TO PERFORM IN GUYMON’S FIESTA. PHOTO BY ARLENE WINFREY

20

t could be an interesting equation: G = P³ – with Guymon as a product of its past and present in the Panhandle.

Spain and Mexico once possessed the land where the city sits, so vaqueros, then buckaroos (derived from that word), have worked on horseback and driven cattle there for centuries.

Guymon embraces cowboy culture; simultaneously, demographic changes mean that the city honors Hispanic heritage, too. The melding is seen in two celebrations dominating Guymon’s calendar: this month’s Fiesta and May’s Pioneer Days Rodeo.

In rodeo circles, Guymon, the Saddle Bronc Capital of the World, is known for the Etbauer brothers and the Panhandle State University rodeo team in nearby Goodwell.

Plus, the Pioneer Days Rodeo is the world’s fifth-largest outdoor rodeo in terms of prize money, so people from across the country come to that event.

Danny, Billy and Robert Etbauer, among the best riders in saddle bronc history, don’t brag about their accomplishments but quickly credit others for their success.

“A lot of Guymon being known for saddle bronc has to do with kids that [Richard] ‘Doc’ Gardner and others recruited,” says Robert Etbauer, Gardner’s successor at Panhandle State, winner of the past two men’s national championships.

Etbauer, a world champion saddle bronc rider, also cites historic occupations.

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

“It’s cowboy country for sure,” he says.

“Lots of people work in feedlots or as rangers or use cutting horses. Part of being a good bronc rider is being good on horseback.”

He says successful saddle bronc riders take that skill, then “work on technique and fitness. There’s a lot that goes into it, especially sheer determination and drive.”

In historic terms, Guymon has long had Spanish speakers. That number increased dramatically in the 1990s, when Seaboard Foods opened a pork-processing plant that attracted many immigrants and their descendants from Mexico and Central America.

A cultural outcome is the annual Fiesta, which has its 22nd run from 3 to 8 p.m.

Sept. 16 at Fifth and Main streets. Event coordinator Soila Medina says Guymon, as a Main Street Oklahoma town, has set an example for other cities.

“Food is the No. 1 attraction because everyone looks forward to it,” she says.

“Businesses also reach out to the Hispanic community and groups have a place to show everyone what they do.

“It’s a complete event – dances, kids activities, performances.

There’s something for everyone.”

BRIAN WILSON

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE FOR

MORE ON GUYMON, GO TO

OKMAG.COM/WEB.

HIGH ON THE HOG Seaboard Foods slaughters and processes 20,500 hogs daily in Guymon. Also in the city, Seaboard owns High Plains Bioenergy, which produces biodiesel from pork fat, recovers biogas from wastewater systems and has a transportation fleet running on compressed natural gas.

DRIVE-IN THEATER The Corral Drive-In is one of eight such theaters in Oklahoma.

Owners Eric and Alka Lammes also have a pizzeria and RV park on the grounds.

ROYAL TITLE The Queen City of the Panhandle is the largest burg in an area given various official names from 1850 to 1907: No Man’s Land, Unassigned Lands, Cimarron Territory and Beaver County.

PROGRESS

Homes That Ma er

P

eople needing affordable housing in Bartlesville will soon have a unique neighborhood to call home.

Complete with energy-efficient designs and attractive front porches, these small homes will be just the right size for the people who need them. The Cottages on Sixth Street will not be short on community atmosphere and needed support for the individuals and families who will call them home.

Arlando Parker, president and CEO of Nehemiah Community Development, saw a need nearly a decade ago. A deacon at his church, a senior citizen, wanted to remain living in west Bartlesville, but there wasn’t adequate housing to meet his needs and budget, Parker says. That sparked an idea to provide affordable rental housing, on a small scale, and revitalize the neighborhood.

Each house in The Cottages on Sixth Street development is 544 square feet and will follow U.S. Housing and Urban Development guidelines for low-income rental rates. Parker and Nehemiah Community Development, a faith-based

A revitalized community with tiny houses is underway for low-income Bartlesville residents. nonprofit primarily focused on housing, look to have a big impact on the community.

“We wanted to establish a product that addresses the need as far as affordable housing, supportive housing, and so we start with housing to address poverty and start to establish community hope,” Parker says. “We at Nehemiah believe that it’s the agency’s responsibility to offer a holistic approach to supportive housing. You not only provide the housing, but you provide the supporting services to help individuals maintain and keep that housing.”

Nehemiah wants to help members of the community improve their situations. Residents will receive referrals and assistance with issues ranging from parental guidance and financial support to mental and physical health services. The group offers classes on healthy conflict resolution, on promoting good relationships between tenants and landlords and between neighbors, and on how seniors make their transitions from larger houses to these tiny cottages.

Six of the nine rental units in the

first stage are complete and Nehemiah recently broke ground on the final three in west Bartlesville. The first tenants will move in soon.

“We believe that affordable housing and supportive programs improve the economic status of our residents, revitalize neighborhoods and stabilize lives,” says Parker, “We at Nehemiah adding that Nehebelieve that it’s miah looked around the agency’s Bartlesville for a location where it responsibility to offer could make the biga holistic approach to gest impact. supportive housing.”

The Cottages at Sixth Street are about resurrecting a struggling area of Bartlesville, housing people who need a helping hand, and redeveloping a sense of community, he says.

“We start with community – we start with neighborhoods to build that as a fiber for strength and stability,” Parker says. “We believe ARLANDO PARKER WITH that community is where you live; it NEHEMIAH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION matters … because home matters.”

BONNIE RUCKER

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21

The State

INSIDER

The Mayor of the Midway By entertaining generations of fans in Tulsa instead of the West Coast, Bill Davis aimed for and pierced his musical balloon.

A ABOVE RIGHT: BILL DAVIS PERFORMS WITH DRUMMER DAVID TEEGARDEN AT CAIN’S BALLROOM. BELOW: BILL DAVIS, WEARING A PATRIOTIC HAT, PERFORMS AT THE FOURTH OF JULY BOOM RIVER CELEBRATION IN 1991.

PHOTOS COURTESY WILLIAM DAVIS

22

fter talking with William Davis following the June 15 death of his father – Bill Davis, the Tulsa entertainment legend – I remembered a bit of sage advice attributed to author James M. Cain.

In the ’30s or ’40s, when the novelist knocked out thrillers like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, he’d said that it was better to aim at a balloon and hit a balloon than to aim at the moon and hit a pasture.

What put me in mind of Cain’s observation was William’s telling me that Leon Russell, after coming in from the West Coast to establish a Shelter Records operation in Tulsa in the early ’70s, had offered Bill a recording contract. The catch, according to William, was that part of the deal involved Bill relocating to Southern California, where Leon would help him break into that scene.

“When he told me that, I asked him, ‘Dad, why didn’t you go?’”

William says.

“He said, ‘I’d rather stay in Tulsa and be a somebody than go to LA and be a nobody.’”

Tulsa, in other

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

words, was Bill’s balloon, just as the crime novel was Cain’s. Both men aimed at their respective balloons and hit them as surely and squarely as humanly possible.

By the time Russell made him the offer, Bill was already an established Tulsa vocalist and bandleader, having been at it nearly a decade.

In a column I did for this space 10 years ago, reflecting on Bill’s 70th birthday, he remembered that he had appeared with his band six nights a week for a solid 18 months at the Trade Winds Inn’s Showboat club during 1970 and ’71 – which was likely the period that Russell came to him with the proposed Shelter deal. (At the same time, Bill was working six days a week as a meat cutter in a grocery store, a trade he’d continue to ply for most of the rest of his life.)

During the interview for that column, Bill also addressed his decision to stay in his hometown.

“I’ve always said I didn’t leave because I didn’t have to,” he said.

“I was able to draw good crowds and make decent money in Tulsa, so there was never any need for me to go somewhere else. And I really didn’t know if I could go play with the big boys and pull it off anyway. I’d rather stay in Bixby, wear my shorts and mow my yard. So I just stayed home and became Bill Davis.”

He may have stayed at home, but he spent plenty of time outside

the house and away from his yard by playing live gig after live gig and appearing for a long stretch on Saturday Bandstand, the long-lived rock ’n’ roll revival radio show anchored by his friend, the music historian and musician John Henry.

From the ’70s through the ’90s, anyone in the least bit attuned to Tulsa’s music scene knew who Bill Davis was. Even if you didn’t catch him on stage at an area club, you could see and hear him at festivals, outdoor summer concerts and the Tulsa State Fair, where he entertained so long and so often that he became known as the Mayor of the Midway.

That wasn’t the only nickname he picked up during his show-biz career. There were, and are, some other great white soul singers around the area – the underrated Jim Sweney comes immediately to mind – but Davis was the one known as Tulsa’s King of Blue-Eyed Soul.

And radio listeners knew him as Boppin’ Billy, the King of Silly, a tag put on him by Henry.

Beginning in the mid-’80s, Davis regularly dropped by Saturday Bandstand, where he’d invariably lapse into his comedy persona, Raoul, a slightly manic hustler of indeterminate ethnic and geographic origin. He and his band – which, at that time, boasted the all-star lineup Tom Tripplehorn on guitar, Gary Cundiff on bass and David Teegarden on drums – also appeared on Henry’s Smokehouse Blues, playing

live. A Valentine’s Day contest from radio station KMOD, which aired the program, even brought Davis to the homes and workplaces of female contest winners, where he delivered roses, candy and, of course, a song or two.

Through the years, working with Teegarden at the latter’s Natura Digital Studio, Davis also cut a few discs. I remember listening to one of them, back in the mid-’90s, and hearing a version of James Brown’s “Cold Sweat” on it that made me feel as though I’d grabbed a live electrical wire. Yet Davis, both funny and self-effacing about his music career, seemed never to expect much from his recorded work. (An exception was “She Can’t Do Anything Wrong,” written with Walt Richmond and recorded by Bob Seger for his platinum-selling early-’90’s disc The Fire Inside; Bill proudly told me it made both of its writers several thousand dollars each.) In an interview I did for a Sept. 27, 2001, article in the Tulsa World touting a new Davis release called Same Old Blues, he mentioned that he’d recently been to a CD release party for his friend and fellow singer Debbie Campbell and seen so many people there that he decided to downplay his own release party.

“What if I say it’s a CD release and the

normal crowd shows up and we sell five?” he asked me. “So I thought I’d better go lightly on calling it that.”

In that same piece, Bill seemed to affirm the decision he’d made some 30 years before to stay in his own backyard, even though, looking back, there might have been a whiff of wistfulness in what he said.

“As the Italians say,” he wrote, “‘Death means nothing. Style is everything.’ Keep on smiling.”

“I’ve never toured, never been anywhere, never been to either coast, never been on a jet airplane,” he told me. “I’ve just been here and Grand Lake, occasionally slipping off to Joplin. But I’ve been steadily working since 1960, and that’s something in a small market like this. It’s something just to still want to do it.”

According to his son William, Bill still wanted to do it during the last decade of his life, but he was aware that his vocal power

had ebbed, and he didn’t want to get in front of a microphone knowing he wasn’t as good as he had once been. So, by his own volition, Bill gradually edged out of the spotlight that had shone on him for so many years.

Not long after I did the piece about him for the July 2008 issue of Oklahoma Magazine, Bill sent me a note from his Bixby home and enclosed a picture of, as he wrote, “the Mayor of the Midway at age 29.”

Snapped in 1966, it shows a young man in sunglasses and slicked-back hair, sporting neither the boater-style hat nor clipped mustache that characterized his look in later years. Framed against a fuzzy background of ’60s suburban homes and cars, he wears the same expression his fans saw many times through the years – the wry smile, the confident mien of a guy who knows he’s looking good, doing well, and having fun – a man who’s already hit the very balloon he aimed for.

When I look at that photo, I think about the last lines in the note that accompanied it.

They seem to form a perfect epitaph for Bill Davis.

“As the Italians say,” he wrote, “‘Death means nothing. Style is everything.’ Keep on smiling. Bill.”

JOHN WOOLEY

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Life & Style

A MAP TO LIVING WELL

Potager Produce The European-style kitchen garden gains popularity in Oklahoma as a way to grow herbs, vegetables and flowers.

F

LINDA VATER CREATED A POTAGER THAT PRODUCES EVERYTHING FROM WHITE KALE TO ONIONS AND ARUGULA. PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

or Linda Vater, fall and winter entertaining begins in her potager.

She might never have created this special kitchen garden had she not discovered potagers on a trip to England 20 years ago. Returning home to Oklahoma City, she created her own.

“There are not many Europeanstyle kitchen gardens in Oklahoma, but they are gaining in popularity as the ‘grow your own food trend’ progresses,” Vater says.

Her potager’s produce is edible and decorative. In spring, she grows leafy greens, white kale and Swiss chard. Early fall’s crops are onions, arugula and mild French breakfast radishes. Various herbs are staples every season.

Vater’s potager is much more than ornamental – she dries or freezes a variety of plants for seasonal cooking and entertaining. For instance, with basil, she cuts above the leaves, not from the stem.

“The more you clip, the more you have,” she says.

To freeze basil for future pesto or bruschettas, she strips the basil from its stems, immerses it in boiling water for 30 seconds, shocks it in a bowl of ice water, then drains the water. She stores basil in a plastic bag with a splash of olive oil to keep it from turning brown. Basil freezes well for six to nine months.

To dry herbs, Vater wraps the stems in cheesecloth and stores them in a warm, dry place, away from sun.

Sage, oregano, thyme and dill are dried, then crumbled and stored in air-tight containers for later use on roasted meats, especially chicken and pork, and in salad dressings.

“Those herbs bring back the aroma

of summer,” Vater says. “Herbs and leafy edibles should be harvested in the morning after the dew has dried on the leaves. They can be harvested until the first frost.”

Vater’s potager also yields a variety of ornamentals, including scented geraniums, rosemary and lemon verbena. She uses these to create floral arrangements or topiaries.

Seeing these garden favorites as flavorful and decorative adds an evocative dimension to any plant’s value in a potager, Vater says.

For more ideas from Vater, watch her on HGTV, Linda Cavanaugh’s TV program on KFOR Channel 4 at 4 p.m.

Fridays, or Instagram, where she creates and posts short instructional videos.

M. J. VAN DEVENTER

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

25

Life & Style

INTERIORS

Clean and Simple

Limestone, cedar, oak, marble, natural lighting, leather, green space and crisp design embrace a new Tulsa home.

By M.J. Van Deventer • Photos by Adam Murphy

W

hen Jill Croka was hired to design the interior for a new Tulsa residence, she chose simple materials – wood and stone – to bring warmth and texture to the house.

“The clients wanted their home to be modern and feature clean lines and natural materials,” says Croka, who collaborated with the clients and architect Mark Nelson from the ground up.

Nelson adds: “Originally, the couple wanted to renovate their midtown home. But that wasn’t going to give them what they needed.”

Nelson designed a new home with the exterior covered in creamy Kansas limestone and bleached cedar sides. Floor-to-ceiling windows reflecting southern light are a major feature of his design.

The neighborhood, in an upscale area near Edison High School, features large lots, with more than an acre for this home.

The area has enjoyed a renaissance with many new home constructions or extensive renovations.

Croka describes the home’s design and decor as “organic modern,” whose simplicity creates “a warm, inviting space.”

She is sensitive about how a home’s interior affects its residents. Her first career was as a psychotherapist, so she includes healing design elements that contribute to a peaceful, beautiful setting.

When she changed careers, she attended the Design Institute of San Diego, then received a master’s degree in design from Oklahoma State University. She taught design at the University of Oklahoma for four years before forming her own firm.

“That part of my life has influenced my

26

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

interior design work. Whether we realize it or not, natural materials really determine how we feel about a space,” Croka says. “A home should provide rest, relaxation and rejuvenation for the things we do in life. I want people to feel inspired by design. The whole first impression of a home should make people feel good.”

This home’s initial view achieves Croka’s intentions.

“The exterior coordinates with the interior and matches the homeowners’ desire [to link] outside [and] indoor spaces,” she says.

The sun-filled entry leads guests to a dining area on the right; the main living area is on the left. The dining area has a distinct wall print with draperies to match. Croka used Cassina Cab leather chairs – a favorite for comfortable dining – to accompany the

ABOVE: THE LIVING ROOM SEAMLESSLY BLENDS COMFORT AND MODERNITY, AND INCLUDES A COMMISSIONED ABSTRACT PIECE BY PAUL MYERS. RIGHT: FLOOR-TO-CEILING WINDOWS OFFER PLENTY OF NATURAL LIGHT THROUGHOUT THE HOME.

BELOW: THE DINING ROOM FEATURES CASSINA CAB LEATHER CHAIRS AND A CUSTOMMADE MARBLE TABLE. BOTTOM RIGHT: THE KITCHEN’S WHITE OAK, RIFT-SAWN CABINETS GIVE THE KITCHEN A CLEAN, AIRY FEEL.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

27

Life & Style

LEFT: THE MASTER BATH INCLUDES WHITE OAK CABINETS, A SOAKING TUB AND STEAM SHOWER. MIDDLE LEFT: A SHOWER IN THE HOME FEATURES DRAMATICALLY CONTRASTING MATERIALS. MIDDLE RIGHT: THE MASTER BATH HAS A MODERN FEEL WITH BLACK TILE AND A SOAKING TUB.

BOTTOM LEFT: THE MASTER SUITE IS SOFT AND VIBRANT AT THE SAME TIME. BOTTOM RIGHT: A BLACK VANITY WITH ROSE GOLD FIXTURES IS STUNNING IN THE POWDER ROOM.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

custom-made oval marble dining table.

The spacious living area blends seamlessly into the kitchen, offering an expansive view of the pool and patio and extending to the back edge of the meticulously landscaped property. The living area also introduces the home’s architecturally dramatic high ceilings.

“The formal living room is a study in textures,” Croka says.

The cocktail table has a metal, embossed stingray pattern. Linen pillows, textured wallpaper and white oak cabinetry flanking a cast stone fireplace add to the design cachet.

Guests are drawn to the living area centerpiece – a large, commissioned abstract

by Paul Myers, blending textiles, wood and wallpaper.

The focal point of the kitchen is the center island, fashioned of weathered stone with a waterfall edge. Back lighting illuminates the island. White oak rift-sawn cabinets and a porcelain penny tile backsplash are notable features. White oak plank flooring is featured throughout the home.

Croka says a powder room near the formal entry “grabs your attention.” An eelskin textured wallpaper and a black vanity with rose gold fixtures are stunning.

In the master suite, Croka designed the custom bed, accented by custom-print velvet pillows.

“The clients wanted a room that was soft and vibrant at the same time,” she says.

“The suite overlooks the beautiful green spaces at the back of the home. It’s quite serene.”

The master bath mimics the kitchen with custom-stained white oak cabinets amid black marble hexagon tile, a soaking tub and a steam shower.

“I incorporated the stone and wood theme again to create interest and contrast in this area,” Croka says.

The home was designed especially to accommodate the family’s lifestyle and create an oasis for comfortable, tranquil living.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

4/17/18 10:34 AM

Life & Style

KEEMALA’S BIRD’S NEST TREEHOUSE IN THAILAND OFFERS RAINFOREST AND RESORT VIEWS. BELOW: THE BIRD’S NEST TREEHOUSE IN THAILAND INCLUDES A SPACIOUS BATHROOM WITH MONSOON SHOWER. PHOTOS BY BRENT T. MADISON

D E S T I N AT I O N S

Hotels That Branch Out

Treehouse lodges are as unusual and imaginative as the forests and terrain into which they’re built.

T

oday’s treehouse paradises are a far cry from the rickety contrivances we used to make out of two-by-fours and plywood when we were kids, so you might be surprised to learn that leafy hotels have risen to new heights of sumptuous, forested ambiance and innovation.

Sweden’s Treehotel in Harads has six “treerooms,” all with spectacular views of the Lule River. One has mirrored walls (they call it the Mirrorcube). Another resembles a UFO capsule, and one called the Blue Cone has a red exterior.

All are set in unspoiled natural settings with a fine dining restaurant on site and a tree sauna nearby. The hotel was inspired by the 2008 documentary The Tree Lover by Jonas Selberg

Augustsen, who shows how city dwellers build human nests and simpler lifestyles.

In Costa Rica, magnificent 100-year-old sangrillo trees wind through the Tree House Lodge in Limón’s Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. This environmentally conscious retreat, surrounded by lush forest, is made of fallen hardwoods, and water is warmed by using solar power. Access is via a wooden suspension bridge.

The floor-to-ceiling glass windows of Chewton Glen’s Treehouses – on the edge of the historic New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England – offer guests sunshineinfused, panoramic views of the wooded valley. The suites, perched on 35-foot stilts, are large and feature hot tubs on terraces, marble baths and breakfast “hampers” delivered daily.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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Arkansas.com

Seclusion is guaranteed, but the treehouses are just a short golf cart ride from the lavish Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa on the south coast.

Contrived names and kidfriendly fun are the orders of the day at the Out ’n’ About Treehouse Treesort in Takilma, Oregon. “Activitrees” include horseback riding, ziplining and river rafting. Stay in the Swiss Family Treehouse, where kids get to their room over a swinging bridge, or the Treezebo, which is so high that a rope is used to hoist up bags. Some of the rooms are entered by the Mountain View Treeway system of suspended bridges and walkways.

More than 8 million people live in bustling Bangkok, but on Bang Krachao, south of the Thai capital, all is calm. Cars are forbidden on the island, where you find the eco-friendly Bangkok Treehouse with open rooftops, outdoor showers, views of the Chao Phraya River and free ice cream all day. Bamboo structures use solar/wind-powered outdoor lights, all linens are line-dried and vegetables are grown on site. For transit, the hotel offers complimentary bicycles.

In Kruger National Park, South Africa, the Lion Sands Game Reserve’s Kingston Treehouse provides openair, outrageous opulence surrounded

by Sabi Sand, unrestrained wildlife and native bush. Or choose the reserve’s Tinyeleti Treehouse down by the river and enjoy bird’s-eye views of animals coming to drink. Both, along with the Chalkley, built into an ancient leadwood tree, submerge guests in indigenous Africa while keeping them above it all in indulged comfort.

CHUCK MAI

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE GO ONLINE TO SEE AMAZING TREEHOUSES AROUND THE WORLD AT

OKMAG.COM/TREES

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

23375 Arkansas Department of Tourism 1/4 Strip.indd 8/1/18 4:31 1 PM

Oklahoma boasts four over-the-top, woodsy destinations of note:

Eufaula Tree• RA’s sort has multi-

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•

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FROM TOP DOWN: THIS LUXURY TREEHOUSE RESORT IN THAILAND IS A POPULAR DESTINATION. PHOTO COURTESY KEEMALA VILLAS

CHEWTON GLEN’S TREEHOUSES – ON THE EDGE OF THE HISTORIC NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK IN HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND – OFFER GUESTS PANORAMIC VIEWS OF THE WOODED VALLEY.

PHOTO COURTESY CHEWTON GLEN

THE OUT ’N’ ABOUT TREEHOUSE TREESORT IN TAKILMA, OREGON, FEATURES SEVERAL UNIQUE TREEHOUSES FOR FAMILIES TO ENJOY. PHOTO COURTESY OUT ‘N’ ABOUT

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level units made of local woods. One of them, the Choctaw, sleeps nine. Visit eufaulatreesort. com and book on Airbnb.

Rock Creek Retreat’s treehouses, near Dougherty, have kitchens and slide exits and are just minutes from the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Go to travelok. com.

Calico Heights at Eufaula spoils its guests with kitchens, fireplaces, whirlpool baths and views of Lake Eufaula. Visit calicoheightseufaula.com.

Cabins in Warren Woods, near Turner Falls Park in Davis, has a hidden treehouse with a king-size bed, kitchenette and full bath. Go to davisokcabins.com.

Another option is in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Treehouse Cottages USA has seven finely crafted suites up in the foliage. Visit treehousecottages.com.

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Life & Style

SCENE

Clayton & Marnie Taylor; Prix de West opening weekend, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, OKC Beth & Scott Brown, Jerry Taylor, Philip Montgomery; TU Uncorked, University of Tulsa, Tulsa

Aletha & Michael Burrage; Purple Sash, YWCA, OKC Dave & Stacey Lopez, Lindsey & Brandon Hart; Red Shoe Gala preparations, Ronald McDonald House Charities, OKC Bob & Carol Naifeh; Let’s Eat, Edmond Mobile Meals, OKC

June Patton, Lori Riley; Somewhere in Time Gala, RSVP Tulsa, Tulsa

Alan Johannsen, Terrie Correl, Jackie Price; Waltz on the Wild Side, Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa Douglas Sorocco, Chip Fudge; Urban Pioneer Awards, Plaza District Association, OKC Ken Underwood, Leslie Paris, Carole Huff, Larry Hicks; Summer Soiree, The Parent Child Center of Tulsa, Tulsa

Shannon, Kyle and Stephanie Coldiron; Care Packs and Cocktails, Tenaciously Teal, OKC

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Chan Hellman, Ashleigh Kraft; Book signing event, The Parent Child Center of Tulsa, Tulsa

David Cole, Susan Harris, Devin Levine, Becky J. Frank, Eleanor Payne, Roger Ramseyer; Vision Tasting for the Vision in Education Leadership Award Dinner, TCC Foundation, Tulsa

CAPTU RE , SHARE # UTICASQUARE

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UTICASQUARE .COM

LINGERING ENCOURAGED Friends visiting from out of town. Impressing clients. Impromptu happy hour.

More than a destination, you want an experience.

Life & Style FITNESS

Hiking for Health

Regardless of fitness or age, anyone can reap physical and mental benefits from romping in nature.

L

ong before John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892, generations before modern doctors and psychologists extolled the benefits of hiking, urbane urbanite Ralph Waldo Emerson knew that nature provides a cure-all.

“In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, ‘He is my creature, and, maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me,’” the famous transcendentalist wrote in his 1836 essay “Nature.”

No matter one’s age or fitness, hiking gets a person into nature, where, Emerson continues, “Man is

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

conscious of a universal soul within or behind his individual life, wherein, as in a firmament, the natures of Justice, Truth, Love, Freedom, arise and shine.”

Glen Brewington and Gaylon Cornsilk practice what they peddle when it comes to hiking. Both get away from their city lives and jobs as often as possible to explore nature.

“My passion is the outdoors,” says Cornsilk, co-owner of Woodsman Trading Co. in The Village.

“You put me in a bunch of trees and I’m in my happy place. I connect with the outdoors. It gives me a break from the noise and fast-paced society. It’s good to unplug and have a techno detox.”

Brewington, an 18-year employee at Backwoods in Tulsa, touts the health benefits of hiking. The 64-yearold says he did mild “touristy” walks as a kid, but he didn’t get serious about the sport until much later.

“When I was 40 with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, my doctor said I needed to exercise,” he says. “I remembered hiking at Red Bud Valley when I was in college and how fun and rigorous that was, so I started back up.”

Brewington says he knew hiking would help him because his guide during those excursions was longtime University of Tulsa botany professor and outdoor enthusiast Harriet Barclay, “who was an older woman, but she would hop around

A SPORT FOR EVERYONE Anyone can hike. The key is knowing

your limits and location, experts say.

Hiking trails in all states are found at websites such as traillink.com and hikingproject.com. Before you begin, understand the rigor and length of the trail and where you will start and end.

If you are out of shape, work your up way from simple, relatively flat and short trails, and certainly don’t go off-trail. Glen Brewington at Backwoods in Tulsa leads hikes nearly every month that are under 6 miles. Most cities and all states have hiking clubs and meetup groups that also bring in speakers.

Gaylon Cornsilk of Woodsman Trading Co. in The Village reminds that novice hikers should break in their shoes or boots before going out.

Once your fitness improves, increase the difficulty and length of trails. That can lead into hiking with a daypack or a full-fledged backpack for multiple days and nights in the wilderness.

Brewington relishes that his sport is relatively inexpensive. A hiker can buy a daypack and shoes/boots and be good to go for under $150. A serious backpacker needs about $800 for all gear, but those items will last for years.

CLOTHING FOR ALL HIKES

Wear sturdy, quick-dry, anti-microbial shirts and pants that wick away moisture; socks blended without cotton; base layer (if needed); hat or hooded fleece/jacket for sun protection; supportive, comfortable boots or shoes.

DAYPACK GEAR

Pack waterproof matches; first aid kit; moleskin; map(s); compass; whistle; multi-use knife; sunglasses; sunscreen; toiletries; trowel; biodegradable tissue; snacks; headlamp.

BACKPACKING GEAR

Pack the same as daypack gear, but include: backpack with cover; ultralight sleeping bag with pad; ground sheet; lightweight tent; rain coat and pants; gaiters; water and water bottles; bladder with drinking tube; trekking poles; crossing shoes/ waterproof hiking boots; slides (for walking around camp without your boots); collapsible chair; freezedried meals; eating utensils; lightweight stove with propane cartridges; merino wool socks, underwear and shirts.

FAVORITE SPOTS like a kid while we students were huffing and puffing.”

Many studies and institutions report that hiking improves physical and mental health.

“Hiking is a good way to improve your cardiovascular fitness, particularly if your route includes some hills, which will force your heart to work harder,” Julie Corliss writes in the Harvard Heart Letter. “Hiking on the slightly uneven surface of a trail also provides a natural way to engage the core muscles in your torso and to hone your balance skills.

“Yet another advantage … may be the restorative and stress-relieving powers of being in nature. [S]tudies hint that spending time in green space – nature preserves, woodlands, and even urban

parks – may ease … stress levels.”

Brewington attests to that point.

“Hiking goes beyond the physical,” he says. “It’s nice to be in the wilderness and hear nature’s sounds. You can also see life as pioneers saw it.”

He describes getting off the Buffalo River Trail near Harrison, Arkansas, and finding homesteads and cemeteries nearly 200 years old, along with unexpected waterfalls.

Cornsilk concurs.

“We found a stream off-trail in the Ouachita National Forest [straddling Arkansas and Oklahoma] that was like a painting – it was so breathtaking,” he says. “It’s healing for the body and soul and spirit to be in that moment.”

BRIAN WILSON

More than 50,000 established trails exist in the United States, with hundreds of thousands worldwide. Glen Brewington of Backwoods in Tulsa and Gaylon Cornsilk of Woodsman Trading Co. in The Village say good hiking can be found anywhere. A highly selective list follows: In the city: Turkey Mountain and the Oxley Nature Center in Tulsa; Lakes Overholser and Stanley Draper in OKC

•

state: Osage Hills, Beavers Bend and • InGreenleaf state parks; Talimena Drive; Wichita Mountains; the Black Mesa

Buffalo River; Ozark Highlands; Eagle • Arkansas: Rock; Lake Wedington Elk River Trail; Tallgrass Prairie National • Kansas: Preserve U.S. spots: Colorado Rockies; Pacific Crest • Other Trail; Appalachian Trail; Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks

Canada; Mexico; Vietnam; India; • International: Nepal; Chile; Peru; New Zealand; Australia; the

European Alps; Scandinavia; the Baltics; Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA

LEGENDS of the

FALL This season’s undisputed trends include plaid, sequins and leather, topped off with bold hues, statement jewelry and accent pumps. Stay one step ahead with our fall fashion forecast.

Photos by Nathan Harmon

Rosetta Getty neck drape back blouse, $680; Rosetta Getty cropped skinny trousers, $790; Jimmy Choo Vachetta leather platform heels, $795; Salvatore Ferragamo Scarlet Medio handbag, $1,190; Vita Fede two tone hoop earrings, $285; Salvatore Ferragamo leather cu bracelet, $260, Balliets.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Marie Saint Pierre Deen dress, $900; Jimmy Choo Vachetta leather platform heels, $795; Salvatore Ferragamo Thalia piccolo clutch, $1,850; Alexis Bittar articulated triangle post earrings, $225; Lordane screw bracelet, $88, Balliets.

Hair by Shawna Burroughs, Jara Herron Salon Makeup by Starla Ward, StunningbyStarla Makeup Artistry Female model courtesy Brink Model Management Clothing, shoes and accessories courtesy Saks Fifth Avenue, Travers Mahan and Balliets Fine jewelry courtesy Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels

On Mitch: Samuelsohn suit, $1,325; Ledbury all-cotton dress shirt, $145; Dolcepunta tie, $165; Alan Payne handburnished deerskin captoe dress shoes, $300; Pantherella socks, $35, Travers Mahan.

On Alex: Chiara Boni La Petite Robe v-neck gown, $995; Manolo Blahnik Hangisido mules, $1,025; Rebecca Minko champagne clutch, $95, Saks Fifth Avenue. Marco Bicego suite: large double-drop lunaria earrings, $2,680; gold lunaria ring, $2,570; Marakech supreme bracelet, $2,630; David Yurman 17-inch pearl and diamond necklace, $2,200, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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On Mitch: Samuelsohn silk and wool sport coat, $1,250; Strenstroms cotton crossover shirt, $235; Alberto five-pocket jeans, $250; W. Kleinberg all-leather belt, $140; Peter Millar collection suede sneakers, $298; Peter Millar sunglasses, $248, Travers Mahan.

On Alex: Les Copains floral jacket, $1,795; Les Copains light blue dress, $545; Salvatore Ferragamo slingback leather pumps, $725; Fendi pink leather peekaboo bag, $5,900, Saks Fifth Avenue. Pesavento Diamond DNA suite: spring multistrand necklace, $1,695; spring hoops, $485; spring ring, $910, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

St. John Luster sequin-knit gown, $1,895; Jimmy Choo Sophia glitter heels, $695; Rebecca Minkoff stud leather clutch, $145, Saks Fifth Avenue. Armenta suite: blue and white quartz, labradorite and diamond earrings, $1,590; imperial kyanite bead necklace, $1,100; open circle link bracelet, $3,290; open carved cuff bracelet, $990; blue and white quartz, labradorite and diamond ring, $2,100, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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St. John metallic knit jacket, $798; Cami NYC silk and lace camisole, $165; Rag and Bone metallic ankle jeans, $250; Manolo Blahnik denim mules, $745; Fendi black and palladium clutch, $1,690; Christian Dior rounded clubmaster sunglasses, $625, Saks Fifth Avenue. Pesavento rosegold polvere suite: earrings, $250; necklace, $279; crossover ring, $396; cu, $700, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Blue Les Copains navy tweed jacket and dress, $995, $595; Jimmy Choo Romy velvet point toe heels, $725; Valentino rockstud handbag, $2,595, Saks Fifth Avenue.

John Hardy dot suite: linear drop earrings, $1,295; gold slim flex cuff, $1,595; gold moon phase link bracelet, $1,995; gold dome ring, $695, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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On Mitch: Jack Victor all-wool sport coat, $650; Brax cotton slub button-down shirt, $148; Edward Armah pocket square, $85; Stenstroms scarf, $165; Brax jean with stretch, $200; W. Kleinberg embossed leather belt, $125; Peter Millar blue suede sneaker, $195; Peepers eyeglasses, $25, Travers Mahan.

On Alex: Theory wool and cashmere belted robe jacket, $595; Alice and Olivia Aster rule cu sweater, $295; Alice and Olivia Lennon plaid overlap mini skirt, $285; Stuart Weitzman Hiline suede over-the-knee boots, $798; Fendi python shoulder bag, $5,100, Saks Fifth Avenue. Ippolita suite: rock candy triple station piazza earrings, $1,095; lollipop lollitini necklace, $1,095; hematite doublet and diamond ring, $695, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Aidan Mattox flip sequin cocktail dress, $245; Manolo Blahnik blue suede point toe pumps, $625, Saks Fifth Avenue. David Yurman suite: petite hoop pearl earrings, $1,950; 35-inch pearl solari necklace, $3,800; 17-inch pearl and diamond necklace, $2,200; diamond solari station bangle, $2,700; pearl and diamond ring, $2,950, Bruce G. Weber Precious Jewels.

FOR EVEN MORE LOOKS FROM OUR FALL FASHION FEATURE, PLUS BONUS VIDEO CONTENT TO LIVEN UP YOUR AUTUMN, HEAD TO OKMAG.COM/WEB. SEPTEMBER 2018| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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COMMITMENT

TO EXCELLENCE Ranked just 28th in population, Oklahoma always has notable sports stars from high school to professional.

By Stephen Hunt and Brian Wilson

Oklahoma has always ranked in the lower half when it comes to population figures in the United States, but it has consistently produced more than its share of athletes who have succeeded nationally and internationally.

We profile football placekicker Dan Bailey, who has gone from his native Mustang and tiny Southwest Covenant School in Yukon to a mainstay for the Dallas Cowboys. We also look at six high schoolers expected to excel this autumn in their respective sports.

Still Kicking; Now Flying Heading into his eighth season with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, Dan Bailey continues living the dream as the kicker of America’s Team. The Mustang and Oklahoma State University product is grateful for where football has taken him, especially after spending time away from the game.

Bailey, 30, played in high school at Southwest Covenant in Yukon and graduated in 2006 with a class of fewer than 30 students. He tried to walk on at the University of Arkansas, then coached by Houston Nutt, a former OSU quarterback. However, he didn’t make the Razorbacks, which led him to do some soul searching about whether being a college kicker would become a reality.

“Yeah, that was kind of a crazy story, really,” he says. “I ended up having to drop out for six months after what would have been my first semester. I had to file a petition with the NCAA to see if I could keep my eligibility so I wouldn’t have to sit out a year [as a transfer]. I was just young and naive. I didn’t know if I’d have another opportunity. I thought maybe that was my one shot and it just didn’t work out.”

But thanks to a highly supportive group of friends and family, he persevered and ended up at OSU in 2007, where he kicked four years for OSU and won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top collegiate kicker when he was a senior in 2010.

“It was just a matter of finding somewhere that I felt like I could go in and compete,” he says. “Oklahoma State was close [to home], so that

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

helped, and then I felt like I had a good opportunity to go in and maybe earn a spot. I just stuck with it, gave it a shot and it ended up working out.”

After graduating from OSU, like many college kickers, he didn’t hear his name called in the NFL draft.

But that summer, Dallas signed him as a free agent, and, after beating out three others, he was the last man kicking.

In 2015, Bailey earned a trip to the Pro Bowl and remains a Dallas fixture today. Before last season, he hadn’t missed a game, but a groin injury forced him to miss four contests. His late-season return resulted in his first-ever missed extra point and several missed field goals.

DAN BAILEY (5) OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS KICKS A FIELD GOAL IN A 19-3, OPENING-GAME VICTORY OVER THE NEW YORK GIANTS LAST YEAR AT AT&T STADIUM IN ARLINGTON, TEXAS. PHOTO BY JAMES D. SMITH/DALLAS COWBOYS

Bailey is itching to return to top form and show everyone that last season, when he made a careerlow 75 percent of field goals, was a glitch in an otherwise rock-solid career that has placed him as one of the most accurate NFL kickers in history.

“It just seems like yesterday that I was coming in my first year and trying to make the team,” he says.

“What’s really crazy is we’re such a young team now; I think we got three guys over 30. When I came in, I think we had 20 guys over 30. I’m kind of the old guy now, so it’s been interesting. I still feel like I’m 22 or 23, but obviously the years are creeping up on me.”

Bailey and his wife have called North Texas home for seven years, but they return to Oklahoma when-

ever possible to visit friends and family.

“I’m definitely proud to be from Oklahoma,” he says. “It’s very much a blue-collar area, and that’s what my family was as well. You learn the value of hard work. I learned [that] at an early age. You put work into something, and you get out of it what you put in. It’s a good change of pace to go back home.

The people up there are obviously great. It’s a laidback vibe. Who knows? I might end up back there when I’m done playing.”

During the offseason, when he’s not going through workouts or preparation, Bailey’s passion is flying. This year, he bought his own plane, a small two-seat sportster, and got his pilot’s license.

Aviation is a family tradition: His grandfather served in the Navy and his father has held a private pilot’s license. Several years ago, Bailey got to fly with the Navy’s famous Blue Angels in Pensacola, Florida.

“It’s obviously challenging, and you’ve got to be focused and locked in, but there is something therapeutic about it for me,” he says. “I really enjoy the attention to detail you have to maintain. I like the challenge of it.

It’s something different every time, especially taking off and landing … but it’s also rewarding.

“There’s nothing better than going up at sunset or even getting up before the sun comes up and being up in the air and watching the sunrise or sunset. It’s definitely good for the mind.”

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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S E T E L h H T c A t L a L FAo W t High school sports

PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

are always big in Oklahoma, and hundreds of athletes in all sports put up impressive statistics and accomplishments.

We offer a small sample of who to watch this autumn.

They are cross country runners, football stars and a nearly lifelong catcher in fast-pitch softball.

All are passionate about their respective sports, but they also have interests outside their performance venues – from outdoor recreation and spirituality to nutrition and academics.

These student-athletes are solid representations of what Oklahoma high schools produce in and out of the classroom.

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Trace Ford Senior

Santa Fe High School, Edmond

Defensive end/linebacker/receiver, football Ford – 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, fast, strong and agile – is described by his coach as “just a freaky athlete” because of his versatility in multiple sports.

“But Trace’s No. 1 quality is that he’s an excellent young man,” coach Kyle White says. “He’s a 4.0 student and is loaded up with Advanced Placement classes. He’s never given us any problems.

He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do.”

Ford, who led the Wolves with seven home runs and 28 steals in baseball last season, also intends to resume his basketball career this winter.

“I just love sports; I always have,” he says. “I never want an offseason. I’m always playing, always practicing. I’m one of nine brothers and sisters, so we’ve always competed against each other, even in academics. If one of us makes a B, we get made fun of. I got a 92 in a math class and thought that was good until my sister said she made a 95.”

Ford didn’t begin playing football until seventh grade and only broke into the starting lineup after several games last season.

“He was mad that he couldn’t play Monday nights on the junior varsity anymore,” White says. “He just wants to be on the field. We’d be crazy to just keep him on the defensive side.”

Ford, who will rotate in as a tight end and slot receiver, has narrowed his choice of schools to Oklahoma State, Baylor and Arkansas, with the Cowboys having the edge.

Dax Hill Booker T. Washington High School, Tulsa Safety, football Nationally recruited by the top collegiate programs in the nation, Hill quickly emphasizes how much he enjoys academics.

“I took physics last year – that was new and interesting,” he says.

“I really love English – anything that has to do with writing. I love to write, especially short stories.

“I just try to work hard on the field and off the field.”

Hill draws parallels between athletics and academics when it comes to excellence.

“I got better at writing because my teachers have us do in-class essays all the time,” he says. “Working at something consistently makes you better. That’s the way life is.”

A five-star defensive back, Hill helped the Washington Hornets win the Class 6A-II state championship last year. During the season, he took one fumble recovery all the way for a touchdown; he also returned three of his five interceptions for TDs. He had 67 tackles, including six on blitzes that led to losses by opposing teams.

In his downtime, Hill likes to hang out with family and friends, watch movies, and play video games and miniature golf.

Hill also credits both paternal grandparents, pastors at Northside Christian Center, for their influence in his life: “I’ve grown up in a spiritual environment,” he says.

Hill will choose this month between Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and Ohio State. His brother, Justice, is a star running back at OSU.

PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

Senior

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Julia Cottrill Senior

PHOTO BY J. HOLLAND PHOTOGRAPHY

Stillwater High School Catcher, fast-pitch softball Cottrill, committed to the University of Florida, began playing T-ball at age 4 and, a few years later, knew the position she was destined to play.

“I wanted to be a catcher like my mom,” the U.S. junior national team member says of Casey Jones Cottrill, who played at Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, Kansas.

Cottrill’s dad, Jeff, is also heavily involved in the sport as pitching coach for Oklahoma State University.

“Julia’s a take-charge girl,” says Karie Linsenmeyer, in her ninth season (in two stints) as Stillwater coach. “She controls the atmosphere and has a big personality. She has all the skills to play at the highest levels.

“She’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever coached; she has the ability to be on-time at the point of contact no matter what the pitch. She also has a big arm, which changes the game because no one steals on her and she can pick off runners.”

Cottrill, whose club team (the Georgia Impact) won this summer’s national title, says she strives to be a leader “because that’s the key to a great team. Leaders show younger kids how things come together.”

Sam Bass Junior

Cross country Roxanne Sterling, who’s coached at the school since 1996, says she hasn’t “seen anyone [except Bass] with such talent and determination in my time at Casady.”

Bass didn’t take his sport seriously until his freshman year, when he set personal best after personal best and saw his potential.

“I didn’t like it at all in middle school,” he says. “My parents kind of forced me to do it. It’s kind of ironic now.”

Bass says he overcomes the pain of training by thinking, “If I don’t push myself, I won’t get better.”

Even when he’s not running, Bass remains active.

“I’m big on being in the outdoors: fishing, kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking,” he says. “I like to relax in nature.”

Sterling says Bass is a quiet, stable presence on the team and subtly checks in with teammates who are struggling.

“I’m not outspoken,” Bass says. “I try to lead by just doing my best.”

Bass would like to run for a Division I program and he anticipates being contacted for the first time (by NCAA rules) this month by several schools.

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PHOTO BY KICKIN’ K PHOTOGRAPHY/ANGELA KNOTT

Casady School, Oklahoma City

Sophia Maag Senior

PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

Norman High School Cross country Five years ago, Maag became so obsessed with what she puts into her body that she committed to herself to quality nutrition and an active lifestyle.

She even has a blog (foodfirst.wordpress.com) where she shares tips on eating. She admires Shalene Flanagan, the first American woman to win the New York City marathon in 40 years and an author who’s written cookbooks with runners in mind.

“In seventh grade, I felt, ‘I’m building my body for the future, especially on the inside, and it’s going to affect me for my entire life,’” she says. “Since then, I’ve been interested in health for myself and for my peers. I post recipes on my blog. It’s fun.

“I feel better without a lot of sugar; I don’t feel sluggish. I like eating whole foods and I cook every night. Plus, nutrition is a huge part of running.”

Maag anticipates another successful cross country season; she finished fourth individually as Norman High won the Class 6A state title.

She would like to run collegiately, but “I want to focus on academics and find a college that fits me first,” says Maag, who sees environmental design, psychology and (no surprise) nutrition as possible majors.

Maag’s fitness helps with her non-running passion, backpacking. She says one of her best experiences was a three-week excursion at Philmont Ranch in New Mexico last summer.

Norman coach Scott Monnard says Maag is always open to instruction.

“She’s low maintenance,” he says. “You don’t have to worry about her when it comes to academics and athletics. She maximizes her ability and the girls look up to her.

“She is as an intense a trainer as I’ve seen in 21 years. I have to challenge her on recovery days not to run and just cross-train with swimming and cycling.”

With a 4.0 GPA and a hefty Advanced Placement load of classes, Maag is considering Santa Clara University and California Polytechnic State University.

Aubrey Byers Sophomore

PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

Deer Creek High School, Edmond

Cross country Byers finished eighth in the Class 6A meet as a freshman, so she and her coach see nothing but limitless potential this season.

“Every runner can keep pushing themselves,” Byers says. “I just keep working harder and harder every day to improve.”

Coach David Riden says Byers has a perfect combination of determination (“She doesn’t like to be beat; she doesn’t make excuses”) and temperament (“She’s good-natured, loves her teammates and doesn’t take herself too seriously”).

A challenge for all cross country runners is mental endurance. Byers handles that by not thinking about herself.

“When you start, you want to think about how you feel when you finish and how you’ve helped your teammates,” she says. “I think about running for my team, not just for myself.”

When she’s not running, Byers volunteers with her church regularly.

She also has “sea shells all over my room. I have about 800,” which she’s collected since she was little.

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FACES of

Where you go for health care, lunch and legal advice is important, but who is behind the services you rely on in your daily life is equally important. The businesses you choose to help you through events in your life are more than faceless entities.

Many of the people behind those businesses are your neighbors, your friends, co-workers and community leaders who strive to make Oklahoma a better place to live for everyone.

These are their stories.

FACES of

Tulsa

These are the Faces of Oklahoma.

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FRONT ROW: H. WAYNE COOPER, JAMES R. BULLARD. BACK ROW: LAUREN A. BROWN, MICHAEL S. LINSCOTT. PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF CORPORATE LAW

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Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson

oerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson’s history spans over 120 years while serving Oklahomans in complex corporate legal matters.

Founded in Indian Territory in 1896, our lawyers were leaders who actively shaped our region to help pioneer success. Our history plays an important role in today’s contemporary business world – evident in our depth of experience and get-it-done attitude that each of our lawyers brings to the table. Practicing with four

locations, Doerner is one of the oldest law firms in Oklahoma.

Our clients include startup and Fortune 100 companies, family-owned businesses and partnerships, developers and Indian tribes, public trusts and municipalities. We provide counsel on legal matters pertaining to business operations, contracts, purchases/sales, financing and infrastructure transactions. Regardless of where clients’ business interests take them, we help them grow and survive during economic hardships.

www.dsda.com Two W. Second St., Ste. 700 Tulsa | 918.582.1211

105 N. Hudson Ave., Ste. 1000 1800 N. Interstate Dr., Ste. 104 Oklahoma City | 405.319.3500 Norman | 405.319.3501

6300 Ridglea Place, Ste. 820 Fort Worth, TX | 817.653.3232 SEPTEMBER 2018| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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THE FACE OF INNOVATIVE HEALTH INSURANCE

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GlobalHealth

rust. It’s what drives GlobalHealth’s mission to deliver the best healthcare coverage in the industry. From its leaders to employees, the commitment to providing affordable and effective health

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

coverage to Oklahomans is clear. GlobalHealth is a health maintenance organization with an innovative approach to care, focused on member outreach and care management. GlobalHealth believes in comprehensive member engagement to earn the

www.GlobalHealth.com Headquartered in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

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LEFT TO RIGHT: TAYLA HARRIS, DAVID THOMPSON, NANCY REED, DEE DELAPP, SCOTT VAUGHN PHOTO BY SIMON HURST

satisfaction and confidence of those it serves. The company is redefining the way members engage with their insurance provider by using a predictive analytics model that has proven effective in reducing the number of emergency room visits, admissions and re-admissions. This translates to reduced premiums and cost shares to their members.

GlobalHealth offers competitive benefits to Oklahomans who need it most. The company serves Oklahoma educators and state employees, Medicare Advantage members and federal employees.

GlobalHealth is truly an Oklahoma staple – and its employees capitalize on their regional knowledge to help members find solutions that go beyond standard healthcare options.

“Our member outreach program helps close ‘care gaps,’ which helps reduce emergency room and hospital admissions,” said Scott Vaughn, GlobalHealth president and chief executive officer.

“This results in improved health outcomes that can be measured. We invest in proactive and preventive care so our members can have better overall health outcomes and our products remain more affordable.”

Also joining Vaughn in the company’s leadership team are Dee Delapp, senior vice president and chief sales and marketing officer; Tayla Harris, senior vice president and chief financial officer; Nancy Reed, senior vice president and chief compliance officer; and David Thompson, senior vice president and chief operating officer.

SEPTEMBER 2018| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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LEFT TO RIGHT: RACHEL HICKS, HOLLI WOODWARD, JENNA MAJORS, NEIL DAILEY, KATHY STACY, BILL MCCOLLOUGH, HEIDI WILLIAMS, RODGER ERKER, LINDSEY SCHLOMANN, KIM CAVIN. PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE McGraw Realtors

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cGraw Realtors is celebrating 80 years in 2018. As the largest and fastest-growing, independently owned real estate company in Oklahoma, McGraw shows no sign of slowing down. The Commercial and Property Management divisions have already tripled in size since their introduction in 2008. Collectively, they provide real estate solutions ranging from tenant and landlord representation to facilities and property management to both residential and commercial clients.

In addition to residential and commercial real estate, McGraw also provides worldwide relocation services through their partnership with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.

“I am excited that I will see McGraw reach 100 years in my career,” says Bill McCollough, company president. “It is truly rare to see any company succeed in business that long, especially one that stays true to its principles over the years.” McCollough emphasizes that McGraw is built on a commitment to excellence, ethics and high standards.

www.mcgrawrealtors.com 1639 N. 3rd St. Langley | 918.782.3211

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10712 S. Memorial Dr. Tulsa | 918.592.6000

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

12620 E. 86th St. N. Owasso | 918.592.6000

4105 S. Rockford Ave. Tulsa | 918.592.6000

524 S. Main St. Broken Arrow | 918.592.6000

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STEPHEN M. BROWNLEE, M.D.

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DAVID W. HALL, M.D.

of

ANTHONY E. LOEHR, M.D.

EVAN R. MOORE, M.D.

WILLIAM P. SAWYER II, M.D.

CHRISTOPHER R. SIEMENS, M.D.

ATUL M. VAIDYA, M.D.

DAVID W. WHITE, M.D.

THE FACE OF EAR, NOSE & THROAT CARE

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Eastern Oklahoma ENT

astern Oklahoma Ear, Nose and Throat has been dedicated to providing the highest quality of care with respect, integrity and compassion for more than 40 years. In fact, it’s grown to be the largest clinic of its kind in Oklahoma, specializing in complete care for pediatric and adult ear, nose and throat diseases. The clinic has the only board certified neuro-otologist in Tulsa, a full service allergy testing and treatment center, board-certified audiologists

and staff members who are committed to ensuring patients and their families enjoy a positive experience during each visit. The dedicated Eastern Oklahoma Ear Nose and Throat team includes Drs. Anthony Loehr, Stephen Brownlee, William P. Sawyer II, David White, David W. Hall, Atul Vaidya, Christopher Siemens, Evan Moore, and Jeremy G. Foon, and our audiologists include Jessica Degginger, Mary Ellen Finerty, Megan D. Ellwood, Karen B. Cox, Desirae Webb, Kevin Hamilton and Shelley Ballard.

www.eoent.com 5020 E. 68th St. S. Tulsa | 918.492.3636

9343 S. Mingo Rd. Tulsa | 918.492.3636 SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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BRIAN WIGGS AND CREW PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF HOME BUILDING

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Brian D. Wiggs Homes

he staff at Brian D. Wiggs Homes believes that every day they are improving lives, strengthening families and making dreams come true. They do this through strong relationships, beautiful design and paying attention to the details.

They enjoy working closely with each homeowner from lot selection through architectural design, and Wiggs and his staff strive to bring customers’ dreams into focus

each step of the way. From new home consultation, remodeling consultation and custom architectural plans to custom interior and exterior design, Brian D. Wiggs Homes always delivers the signature homes customers desire. The first step is simple – make an appointment to discuss the style of home you desire and his team, including Interior Designer Grace Markes, CFO Erin Deweese, COO Cahn Wiggs, and Office Administrator Diana Ball, will guide you from there.

www.briandwiggs.com 302 W. Main St. Jenks | 918.518.5678

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LEFT TO RIGHT: ALISON MCFARLANE, DAISY, LANCE CHENEY, DASH AND HOLLY PARK PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF INTERIOR DESIGN

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Richard Neel Home

he designers at Richard Neel Home suggest clients consider them “style coaches.” Richard Neel Home excels in customer service designed specifically for each client - everyone is different and has different needs. We hope to enhance and encourage your personal style and vision by taking the time to get to know you, your family and, sometimes most importantly, your pets.

Lance Cheney, designer/owner; Alison McFarlane, designer; and Holly Park, manager, are committed to helping clients find their true design – the look they dream about, whether it’s modern, vintage, eclectic, traditional or anything in between.

Richard Neel Home is the oldest brick and mortar interior design company in Tulsa, a fullservice interior design company and a fine home furnishings store that is also a source of inspiration and products for other area designers. “Our store is so eclectic; we have one-of-a-kind, modern, traditional, vintage – because we help you find your style, not ours,” Cheney says. “Every design is different.” The store features 4,000 square feet of retail space in addition to a design studio and the only Visual Comfort Gallery in Tulsa. Merchandise includes everything from furniture and floor coverings to art, lighting, fabric, accessories and wallpaper.

www.richardneelhome.com 3742 S. Peoria Ave. Tulsa | 918.742.4777 SEPTEMBER 2018| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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LEFT TO RIGHT: SUZY ARMSTRONG, SHOHN ARMSTRONG AND SHELLEY HAVIG PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF HEARING AIDS

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Armstrong Hearing Aid Center

rmstrong Hearing Aid Center is a family-owned and -operated business serving Tulsa since 1960.

Shohn Armstrong is board certified in hearing instrument sciences and has worked in the industry for more than 27 years.

Shohn has taken a special interest in patients who can benefit from hearing aids; he is sensitive to the cost and focuses on these areas by exploring options to make hearing aids more available and more

affordable for more people. Think about this: taking the average cost of a hearing aid and dividing it by the average life span, the cost for a hearing aid is approximately 92 cents a day. Keep in mind, hearing aids are mini computers that operate 8-12 hours a day. Isn’t life worth hearing?

Shohn’s wife, Suzy, and Shelley Havig, office manager, make up the rest of the team. We honestly believe we’re the “Best of the Best” in Tulsa. Call us at 918.492.6087 and come check us out for yourself!

www.armstronghearing.com 6038 S. Yale Ave. Tulsa | 918.492.6087

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LEFT TO RIGHT: AUSTIN AND CHASE BOYCE PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF HEATING AND AIR Airco Service, Inc.

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ounders of Airco Service in 1961 were John R. and Louise Boyce. After all these years in business, Airco has earned the third-generation family-owned reputation that Oklahoma customers trust. Airco takes pride in their workmanship with certified trained technicians at delivering the best quality and customer service to their customers.

Airco meets customers’ needs on service repairs and provides free estimates on equipment replacements.

From heating, cooling, electric and plumbing, Airco is the “one call does it all” service company. With over 160 trucks and more than 200 employees, Airco provides service to both residential and commercial properties across the state.

11331 E. 58 St. Tulsa | 918.252.5667 th

The company has received multiple awards, including the Dave Lennox Award for being among the top 25 Lennox dealers in North America out of 7,800 Lennox dealers across the country from 2008 to 2017. For the past three years, the EPA has named Airco Service to the EPA’s Century Club Award, which is given to 100 leaders in home energy efficiency each year. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma has named Airco as a Top Performer in its Power Saving program each year since 2010, and Airco has received the Oklahoma Natural Gas Partnership Award for Innovative Energy Solution.

Oklahomans have rewarded Airco Service for its dedication to its customers by naming the company as The Best of the Best in Oklahoma Magazine from 2010 through 2018.

www.aircoservice.com 4320 Charter Ave. Oklahoma City | 405.715.2665

343 Magnolia Dr. Grand Lake | 918.782.2263 SEPTEMBER 2018| WWW.OKMAG.COM

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MARC CHASTAIN PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF BARBECUE RibCrib

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ibCrib has been “Smokin’ the Good Stuff” on-site, at every location, every day since it was founded in 1992.

And we’ve always been committed to giving back to Tulsa. As RibCrib has grown, we have taken the community service focus from that first location into more than 60 stores in six states. The annual RibCrib Golf Invitational raised $110,000 for local Tulsa charities in 2017, and the company donated $198,000 of free meals to veterans and active duty personnel on Veteran’s Day, something we have done every year for the

last five years. This kind of community support is carried on by our leadership teams in every market we serve.

Citizenship is in our sauce, but the most important ingredient is RibCrib’s people – our employees and customers. “We have so many Cribbers that have been here for 10, 20, all the way up to 26 years.

We are proud that our culture fosters that kind of career satisfaction,” says Marc Chastain, RibCrib president. “Thank you, Oklahoma and all of our loyal guests and team members – we couldn’t have done it without you.”

www.ribcrib.com Located in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, and Missouri.

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LEFT TO RIGHT: WHITNEY WEHMEYER, LARISSA DARNABY, DR. JASON SIMS AND PERRY JONES III PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

THE FACE OF MEDICINAL CANNABIS CLINICS

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Tulsa Higher Care Clinic

ulsa Higher Care Clinic is the first medical practice to start seeing eligible patients for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Program. This compassionate, patient-centered organization provides comprehensive medical consultations for the use of medical cannabis.

Patients will be seen by Dr. Jason Sims, who will determine whether medical cannabis treatment would be of benefit for a patient’s medical condition, especially if the patient has not found substantial

relief from medications such as opiates and/or invasive conventional medical procedures. Unlike traditional modes of therapy, the use of THC with high cannabidiol (CBD) content and/or medical cannabis has proved to be a safer, low-risk, naturally therapeutic alternative for a multitude of chronic and debilitating medical conditions and ailments. At Tulsa Higher Care Clinic (THC2), patients can see a recommending doctor to begin establishing a bona fide or ongoing relationship, as outlined in the rules and regulations of Oklahoma State Question 788.

3321 S. Yale Ave. Tulsa | 918.619.9393

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EASY

By Tara Malone

HARD SWALLOW

Oklahoma’s updated liquor law goes into effect Oct. 1. For some, that’s good news. For others, it’s a bitter brew.

In 2016, State Question 792 hit the ballots and passed with flying colors. Set to take effect Oct. 1, the law makes sweeping changes to Oklahoma’s playbook regulating alcohol and its distribution.

For better or for worse, everyone from consumers and breweries to distributors and retailers await the law’s implementation and outcomes.

Many Oklahomans understand that grocery and convenience stores can sell wine and high-point beer next month, but the law is much more extensive than that, says Steven Barker, deputy director and general counsel for the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission. For instance, liquor stores, under the law, can sell cold beer and wine, not just beverages at room temperature, as well as non-alcoholic products as long as they don’t exceed 20 percent of total sales.

SQ 792 “significantly alters the regulatory scheme for alcoholic beverages in Oklahoma across the manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing tiers,” says Barker, adding that other says notable changes “include loosening happy hour restrictions at bars and restaurants, mandating server training statewide, authorizing

TONY PECK, CO-FOUNDER AND HEAD BREWER OF DEAD ARMADILLO BREWERY, SAYS OKLAHOMA’S NEW LIQUOR LAW WILL BENEFIT COMPANIES LIKE HIS. PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

AN OKLAHOMA LIQUOR TIMELINE1900 1888 1890 1898

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union opens its first chapter (in Muskogee) and lobbies against liquor sale and consumption.

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Congress creates Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory and bans the distribution and sale of intoxicating beverages throughout Indian Territory.

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

The Oklahoma Territory Anti-Saloon League forms to spearhead the campaign for prohibition in Oklahoma Territory.

More than 21 chapters of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union are active in Oklahoma Territory.

1907 After statehood, prohibition is ratified in the state constitution.

Oklahoma is the only state to ever include prohibition within its constitution.

1911 Oklahoma’s blue laws cause mass closings of pool halls and movie theaters.

counties to determine if liquor stores within the county can be open on Sundays, and the direct shipment of wine to consumers.”

The logistics of implementation have been staggering, and Barker says community buy-in has been crucial.

“Because of the complete constitutional and statutory rewrite, we were also required to overhaul our administrative code provisions, which was completed [in June],” Barker says. “One of the biggest challenges … of implementation has been education and outreach. Since the passage of SQ 792, ABLE Commission agents and employees have attended hundreds of public meetings, forums, symposiums and training courses for those interested in learning about the changes. The alcoholic beverage industry, along with various trade organizations, have been instrumental in providing many of these [free] outreach opportunities. We would not have had the ability to reach a fraction of the audience without their efforts over the past year and a half.”

For Sean McCanne, managing member of the League of Oklahomans for Change in Alcohol Laws, this new era of revised alcohol regulations can’t come soon enough. The nonprofit began as a small group of consumers interested in change and morphed into a grassroots movement.

“LOCAL’s first mission was to allow breweries the right to sell their product in their taprooms,” McCanne says. “We called the first mission #FreeTheTaps.”

Before and after SQ 792 got on the ballot, McCanne says his group had informational events, social media outreach and meetings with legislators. The new regulations are victories for both breweries and consumers, he says.

“For consumers, not only is strong Oklahoma beer now available from the breweries, but there have been many breweries opened, and out-of-state breweries are beginning to distribute within the state, expecting that beer will soon be sold cold at liquor stores and other locations,” he says. “The increase in sales locations will increase both competition and availability. All of these changes for breweries will impact the consumer in a positive way.”

Shea Gillock, executive director of the Craft Brewers Association of Oklahoma, agrees that the law is good for business and customers.

“Oklahoma brewers will see their products reach new customers when strong beer is

1917 The most stringent

liquor law, known as the Bone-Dry Law, passes after the fervent backing of the politically influential Walter Ferguson.

1918 On May 21, the Oklahoma Supreme Court rules that churches are exempt from the Bone-Dry Law and can use wine in religious ceremonies.

1919 Oklahoma is the

18th state to vote for the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1920 The 18th Amendment is ratified and prohibits the transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors nationwide.

1933 Led by the Beer for Oklahoma League, a state proposal to legalize the sale of 3.2-percent beer passes with a margin of more than 95,000 votes that summer.

1933 Prohibition ends nationally with the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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JEFF REASOR, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TALKS WITH MIKE STEPHENS, MEAT MANAGER, ABOUT PAIRING WINES WITH CERTAIN CUTS OF MEAT AT THE STORE AT 41ST STREET AND YALE AVENUE RECENTLY. SEVERAL REASOR’S LOCATIONS WILL SELL WINE AFTER OCT. 1.

PHOTO BY JOSH NEW

allowed in convenience and grocery stores,” Gillock says. “Beer will also stay fresh longer, as local liquor stores will begin to refrigerate products. Consumers will see more breweries and brewpubs open across the state, contributing to the growth of the local craft beer industry and, in turn, the local economy.”

For Dead Armadillo Craft Brewing in Tulsa, the new laws promise to make distribution more streamlined, says co-founder Tony Peck.

“Right now, any distributor can order from me and I have to try and fulfill that order. So someone could request 50 cases of our amber ale and I have to attempt to fill it within 45 days, even if I don’t have the product,” Peck says. “This law creates a franchise system.

We pick one distributor and they distribute statewide. It feels more like a partner system, and it’s a welcome change for us.”

1947 Oklahoma defines

the legal difference between low-point (3.2 percent) beer and intoxicating liquors.

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1959 Oklahoma adopts Article 27, Section 1 to its state constitution on April 7, making the sale of packaged liquor legal.

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Peck says it may give retailers a few frazzled moments as they figure out where to get their products from after Oct. 1, but overall, it’s a benefit to brewers and consumers.

“From a consumer side, I’m thrilled I’ll be able to go buy cold product like you can in other states around us,” he says.

Of all the provisions in SQ 792, one of the most popular and controversial is the ability for grocery and convenience stores to sell wine and high-point beer.

Reasor’s Foods, with 18 grocery stores across northeast Oklahoma, has adapted to the changes scheduled for Oct. 1. President and CEO Jeff Reasor says a team has selected products, installed custom shelving and racks, and planned ways to integrate wine and beer into different areas, such as having suggested wines in the meat department.

1959 The state House and Senate pass the Liquor Control Bill on June 23. Gov. J. Howard Edmondson signs it the same day, establishing the Liquor Control Act.

1972 The state votes

against an amendment to the state constitution that would allow for liquor to be sold by the drink.

“We feel the new wine and expanded craft beer departments will blend in seamlessly and … will make for a simple yet productive shopping trip that we feel all customers will recognize and enjoy,” Reasor says.

The changes aren’t just in the lay of the land, but in personnel as well.

“Reasor’s will take the lead as a full-service wine department as we’ll have at least five locations that will employ wine stewards,” Reasor says. “These folks will bring an enlightened experience for the first-time buyer to those with extensive wine experience. These stewards are on duty now and helping with some of the product placement as they learn their store and their associates.”

New regulations always mean work and adaptation, but Reasor says customers should benefit.

1976 The same amendment is added to the ballot again and is defeated by a large margin.

1979 The Supreme

Court strikes down an Oklahoma statute allowing women to purchase beer at age 18 and men at 21.

“From a consumer point of view I can only see positives,” he says. “There are those that feel the status quo was alright, but then the people of Oklahoma spoke and consumer choice was the end result.”

The implementation of SQ 792 is a boon for breweries and grocery stores, but others say it creates hardship on small, independent liquor retailers.

Bryan Kerr, owner of Moore Liquor, is president of the Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma, which represents many independent stores. Kerr says the organization often works with lawmakers and other interest groups to develop legislation, but he says he could not be more disappointed with the passage of SQ 792.

His group filed an unsuccessful suit to have the law declared unconstitutional.

“The bill treats two similarly situated business entities completely differently under the law,” Kerr says. “We believed this to be a violation of the equal protection clause [in the] 14th Amendment, particularly the restrictions on licensing and the 20 percent cap on the sale of non-alcoholic goods.”

Kerr says the new regulations are unfairly skewed toward grocery and convenience stores and national chains while placing unfair burdens on independent liquor retailers. He says another example of the differences is personnel age. Liquor store employees must be at least 21, but grocery store employees need only be 18 to sell strong beer and wine (and can be employed in other parts of the store at a younger age). In addition, liquor stores cannot allow parents to bring their children inside, but they have free range in a grocery store.

“We knew the bill was bad for locally owned liquor stores,” Kerr says. “In effect, it will also make Wal-Mart the largest wine retailer in the state; that money comes directly out of the profits of Oklahomans who have played by the same rules set by the state since 1959.

“As a result, it also hurts local economies as Wal-Mart and the other ‘big box’ players effectively shut down another neighborhood business, then move those profits to their [outof-state] headquarters, which will eliminate both the income and jobs associated with these small businesses.”

Kerr says laws like SQ 792 have devastated independent liquor stores in other states.

“A similar model exists in Texas, and Texas

1984 With the passage

of House Bill 1118, Oklahoman counties can decide whether to allow the sale of liquor-by-the-drink.

has about half the number of retail package stores per capita that we do,” Kerr says. “We have about 680 individually owned liquor stores in Oklahoma. I would not be surprised if that number was under 400 within five years.

That’s a loss of 300 or so small businesses with owners and employees who contribute directly to their local economies.

“Tennessee adopted a similar model two years ago and liquor store owners reported revenue losses up to 60 percent. Even those stores who survive will likely have to lose employees in order to cut costs. Also, the consumer who enjoys spirits, craft beer and fine wine will suffer because liquor stores will need to raise their prices to try and offset the money being lost to grocery and [convenience] stores, who will only carry the fast-moving, most popular brands.”

Reasor, however, says only a handful of grocery stores should enter the new alcohol market.

“The first thing people need to understand is that a large number of grocers will only continue with their beer departments,” he says.

“Many will not want to take on the expense of permits or train someone to handle wine in their store, even if they have space for wine (and many do not). That being said, those that do add to their craft beer sections and wine departments could and should see a small overall increase in total store sales.”

BRYAN KERR, OWNER OF MOORE Regardless, LIQUOR, SAYS THE NEW PROVISIONS ARE Barker says the UNFAIRLY SKEWED TOWARD GROCERY beverage control AND CONVENIENCE STORES. PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS commission has processed “over 2,500 new applications from grocery and convenience stores for purposes of high-point beer and wine sales.”

SQ 792 should have winners and losers.

What’s on tap after Oct. 1 is how many businesses are affected positively or negatively.

2016 Alcohol distributors 2016 State Question and wholesalers form the Oklahoma Beer Alliance on Jan. 20 to persuade the legislature to legalize the sale of full-strength beer in grocery stores.

792 passes on Nov. 8 with a 65-percent majority and modernizes Oklahoma liquor regulations.

SQ 792 PROVISIONS

the Oklahoma constitution to allow • Amends legislative control of liquor regulation – no more need for constitutional amendments to adjust alcohol laws

limits of 3.2-percent alcohol content • Abolishes for beer sold in non-liquor stores grocery, convenience, big box and drug • Allows stores to sell beer and wine (with up to an alcohol level of 8.99 percent) every day

liquor stores to sell cold beer, wine and • Allows liquor until midnight (with closures still on

Sundays) and to sell other products and accessories not to exceed 20 percent of the store’s income (no more running to the grocery store for limes or tonic water)

wine be shipped directly to consumers • Lets in-state with a direct-shipper permit brewery taprooms sell their own beer until • Lets 2 a.m. and have the option to select a single distributor or handle distribution themselves

Oklahoma from a four-tier system • Moves (producer-distributor-broker-retrailer) to a

three-tier structure (with the broker folding into the distributor’s role) found in most states

2018 Twelve Oklahoma Oct. 1 The liquor reforms outlined in SQ 792 go counties still ban the sale into effect. They allow convenience, grocery drug of liquor-by-the-drink. and big-box stores to sell wine and full-strength beer and liquor stores to sell refrigerated beer along with drinking accessories.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Time to Save

By Wendy King Burton

Experts enjoin us to save, build a nest egg and have an emergency fund – and it sounds difficult, no matter your age or financial circumstances, when you’re getting started.

But it doesn’t have to be too hard; it just has to be hard enough to see results and reap the rewards of your thriftiness in later years.

Joel Larsgaard, a 30-something host of the Pour Not Poor podcast (pournotpour.com), says starting to save in your 20s is your best bet.

“I think when you are fresh out of college, the best way to save money is to live like you’re still in college,” he says. “Usually you get that first paycheck from your first real job, and you kind of start to live a lifestyle that reflects that.”

Larsgaard says it’s best to resist temptation for a while.

“So now you move from eating ramen to this 40 hour a week job, and you don’t want to eat ramen anymore,” he says.

Lifestyle creep has already taken over when you realize you are happily shelling out money for someone else to mow your lawn, clean your house

Don’t let money burn a hole in your pocket; get set for retirement no matter your age or financial situation.

JOEL LARSGAARD IS THE 30-SOMETHING HOST OF THE POUR NOT POOR PODCAST. PHOTO COURTESY JOEL LARSGAARD

and cook your meals. You buy takeout instead of cooking at home and drop hundreds of dollars on entertainment that you only dreamed was possible before.

But Larsgaard says all that should, and can, wait.

“If you wait to elevate your lifestyle, and put that excess income toward savings and investments, such as your company’s 401K, building up an emergency fund, that’s a good place to start,” he says. “Later, you’re going to thank your just-out-of-college self that you were dedicated to saving or investing a portion of what you make.”

Experts say you should have a three-to-six month emergency fund saved at all times. And even the smallest investments early in your career add up for long-term financial success in the future.

Larsgaard suggests using your employer’s 401K or 403B contributions as one of the easiest ways to get started.

“Make sure you’re taking advantage of the company match,” he says. “Eventually you do want to increase your lifestyle; in your late 20s, early 30s, you want to buy a home, have children, and then you’re in a position to do that, to start making those big purchases.”

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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However, saving and investing are not “set it and forget” kinds of project.

“Investments 101 teaches you the first rule is to diversify,” says John Cary, a Morgan Stanley financial advisor in Tulsa. “If you’re an executive and you have options to buy stock in the company you work for, you end up realizing at 50 years old that half your stock is invested there. What happens if the company goes bankrupt? Investing in your company stock is a good idea, but diversification is a smart thing to do, too.”

As you begin to reach your financial goals – you have that six-figure income you always dreamed of or you earlier investments are paying in spades – it’s time to reconsider your plan.

“They tell us we’re all living longer.

Therefore, it’s going to take more to financially sustain us in retirement,” Cary says. “The rule of thumb has generally been that you need to have 70 to 80 percent of your pre-retirement income to live on for the remainder of your life. I don’t believe that is enough. You need to plan to have 100 percent.”

A person accustomed to living on $60,000 a year – after taxes and expenses – is generally encouraged to plan so they have around $48,000 a year to live on during retirement.

“My argument is you need at least 25 times your pre-retirement income in savings when you begin retirement,” Cary says. “If you make $60,000 a year, you need at least $1.5 million in your retirement account, unless you’re going to significantly reduce your lifestyle.”

That number probably sounds insurmountable to a $60,000 a year earner, but not with careful planning, and the sooner you start the better.

Avoid bad debt, such as credit cards, signature loans and lines of credit. Build a savings account and, when you can, start investing.

“The biggest mistake people make is trying to manage it themselves. The amateur investor often ends up selling when they’re at the bottom, or think they should just stay in there forever after they buy in,” Cary says. “The experts in behavioral economics tell us that the average individual investor makes the same mistakes over and over again.”

That’s why you might want to hire a money manager, someone with ample experience who spends every moment of their day following the market while you go on about your busy life.

“A lot of people start in their 50s, trying to do it all on their own, and they get into their 60s and find they’ve only grown it 1 percent a year, and they don’t have much more than they started with,” Cary says. “I say, don’t just wing it.”

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

MAKE SAVING EASY

Following are suggestions on saving a little of your hard-earned cash – but don’t save just to have more money for expenses. You have to turn that money you save into an emergency fund, a source for investing and a retirement fund by being diligent about banking the excess. From $1 to $100, it can eventually add up to financial security for you.

LOOSE CHANGE Putting aside just 79 cents a day over one year gets you nearly 30 percent of the way toward a $500 emergency fund, a good goal for those starting out.

MATCH INDULGENCES If you splurge on a frappuccino while out running errands, put the exact amount into your savings account. You’ll soon see where you’re money

is slipping away to, and you’ll build savings pretty quickly.

forget about for a while. Later, balance it all out and put the excess you’ve racked up into savings.

24-HOUR RULE Stop impulse shopping by waiting at least a full day for every purchase more than $25.

NO-SPEND DAY Do this at

ROUND UP Write every expenditure in your balance book as a rounded-up figure.

Instead of $12.84, make it $13. Then don’t spend it and

least once a week after making sure you have a full tank of gas and there’s change under the floor mats for coffee. Go ahead and leave your debit card and credit cards at home.

WISE SAVINGS

Financial adviser Dave Ramsey has five steps to guide the process of investing during a lifetime.

•

Master your finances every month by setting a budget, paying off debt and saving an emergency fund for rainy days.

•

Save 15 percent of your income for retirement once you’ve paid off debt and completed an emergency fund for six months worth of expenses. This might not happen until your 30s or when you’ve established a steady income.

•

Be smart when picking a growth stock mutual fund to invest in. Stay diversified by spreading your investments across multiple mutual fund categories.

•

Invest with a long-term perspective in mind. Saving is a marathon, not a sprint, especially while raising a family.

•

Find an experienced investor to guide you.

Odds are you don’t know everything, so get a pro to show you the ropes.

WISE DEBT

According to National Debt Relief, one of the best ways to make debt an ally rather than a burden is to continue your education. The higher education you accomplish, the better paying career you will acquire. High-income jobs allow you to pay off student loans quicker. While continuing your education, use your credit card to build a future. When the time comes for you to buy a car or house, you’ll be ready.

Even though you pay your credit card bill at the end of every month, it still doesn’t show strong credibility to potential lenders. That’s when debt comes into play. Build some minor debt on your credit card and prove your worth by paying it off in a timely manner. This creates a scenario for you to fall back on in the future as a bargaining chip.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

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FINANCIAL ADVISOR With all my current financial priorities, why should I worry about saving money for retirement?

The sooner you start saving for retirement, the greater the opportunity for your money to grow. If you are in your 20s or 30s, you may not have as DAVID KARIMIAN many assets as those who have been in CFP®, CRPC® the workforce for decades. What you do have is time, and that can be a powerful ally. Time allows you to take full advantage of the opportunity to compound growth in your investments. Even modest investment amounts that have years to potentially grow can make a significant difference in your retirement savings.

Whether retirement is a year or decades away, it’s important to craft a plan for how you will build your nest egg and fund your retirement dreams. If you have questions or want to discuss your personal situation, consult your financial advisor, estate planner and tax professional for guidance.

David Karimian, CFP®, CRPC® Prime Wealth Management A private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise 7712 S. Yale Ave. Suite 240 Tulsa, OK 74136 918.388.2009 • David.x.Karimian@ampf.com www.primewealthmgmt.com Views expressed in the Professionals do not necessarily represent the views of Oklahoma Magazine, Schuman Publishing Co. or its affiliates.

ATTORNEY AT LAW I have been working for 20 years as a secretary. I am having problems with my hands from using the computer at my work. Is this covered under workers compensation? If so, how do I proceed?

Yes. Your employer’s workers compensation insurance company should provide medical treatment and other benefits. The benefits would be determined by the date that you became aware of your symptoms. This determines whether it is to be filed with the Workers Compensation Court or the Commission, if it was after Feb. 1, 2014. Under either case, you may file your case at any time, until you are no longer employed. Your deadline to file will begin to run when you are no longer employed in that injurious occupation.

ESTHER M. SANDERS

Esther M. Sanders Sanders & Associates, P.C. 1015 S. Detroit Ave. Tulsa, OK 74120 • 918.745.2000 Telephone 800.745.2006 Toll Free

PERSONAL TRAINER Why can’t I shed this weight?

1. Poor nutrition. No matter how hard you train, you can’t lose those pounds without proper nutrition.

You must stop skipping meals, yo-yo dieting and eating processed foods. Also stop the intake of caffeine, cola and corn. Refined foods, white rice, alcohol, processed and JOHN JACKSON pasteurized foods serve to make you fatter.

2. Overtraining. There are detrimental aspects of traditional cardio training. Too much will create a hormonal environment that is not conducive to building muscle or weight loss. Also, if you are nutritionally depleted you will only drain your body more by exercising with no energy source.

3. Health and function. Make sure you have been assessed by a health professional who can properly assess adrenal, thyroid, sleep and digestive dysfunction.

4. Limits. It’s important to stress the body differently at all cost, but remember to listen to your body.

5. Balance. You must balance nutrition and smart exercise to eliminate fat. Also it is important to appreciate the body you are given.

John Jackson, Personal Trainer St. John Siegfried Health Club 1819 E. 19th St., Tulsa, OK 74104 918.902.4028 jljackson70@hotmail.com

HOSPICE CARE My grandmother has cancer and is terminal. A friend recommended hospice care. We are not familiar with how it works and don’t even know if she qualifies.

Any advice?

I’m so sorry that you and your family are going through this. Grace Hospice can help. We provide pain manageCAITLIN EVERSOLE ment and comfort to ensure you and your grandmother make the most of every moment. First, one of our registered nurses will visit your grandmother and evaluate her condition. If she qualifies, we will assign her a clinical team of two nurses to supervise her plan of care and two hospice aides to visit several times a week to help with personal needs. If you require, a chaplain and social worker will also provide support to your grandmother, as well as to you and your family.

Grace covers the cost of all related medications and equipment, such as a wheelchair, walker or hospital bed. Please call Grace Hospice at 918.744.7223 for more information.

Caitlin Eversole Admissions Supervisor Grace Hospice of Oklahoma 6218 South Lewis, Suite 1000 Tulsa, OK 74136 918.744.7223 www.gracehospice.com

INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL Is the cost of life insurance holding you back?

Events like a major home repair, a birth, a wedding or a long term illness can really put a dent in your budget. September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and it’s a good time to think about how you can protect your family’s future with RUSS IDEN life insurance. Many people think life insurance is out of reach but in reality it can be surprisingly affordable. Depending on the case, non-smokers can get $100,000 in coverage for less than $20 a month, with females costing even less.

With the average person spending about $584 a month on food, you can have coverage for about what you spend in one day on meals. Consider making life insurance another essential to help protect the most important parts of life. If you have questions about life insurance, call a AAA agent near you.

Russ Iden AAA Oklahoma 918.748.1034 800.222.2582, x1034 russ.iden@aaaok.org SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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A

lzheimer’s

By Rebecca Fast

Advances

Doctors and researchers have a better understanding of what causes the disease and how to prevent it.

Experiencing and caring for a loved one suffering from dementia can be a heartbreaking, complex journey.

Dementia is an umbrella term describing a loss in mental abilities due to brain disease or injury. While there are several types of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common – and there is no single test that can diagnose it.

Instead, diagnosis begins by taking a detailed history from the patient and family members, says Lane Tinsley, a neurologist with the INTEGRIS Neuroscience Institute in Oklahoma City.

“It’s very difficult to obtain a thorough history from the patient alone, so family or caregivers are a vital resource,” she says. “Your doctor may ask details about any difficulties with short-term memory, ability to recognize objects and faces, problem solving, language, planning and multitasking, and taking care of personal issues.”

Tinsley says several standardized memory tests can indicate the level of severity.

“Each dementia has some key characteristics that doctors look for,” she says. “For example, early on difficulties with forgetting conversations, repeating questioning, difficulties multitasking or getting lost may indicate the Alzheimer’s subtype. People who have family members

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

with Alzheimer’s are at a slightly higher chance of getting it themselves. There are also theories that a history of head injuries and heart disease may play a role in developing Alzheimer’s later on.”

Alzheimer’s disease progresses in three stages – mild, moderate and severe – and it’s difficult to predict how quickly a person will advance through them.

“There can be clues in their background history if the progression seems to be slow or fast,” she says.

“Typically, patients will continue to live five to 10 years after a diagnosis is An annual event by the made, but many live much Alzheimer’s Association, longer. Other health issues the Walk to End Alzheimer’s play a big role as well.” raises awareness and funds The disease typically for patient care, support and affects those over 65 in research. There is no fee but what is known as lateparticipants are encouronset Alzheimer’s. Early aged to raise money for the onset Alzheimer’s afflicts cause. For more information, those younger than 65 visit alz.org. and familial Alzheimer’s Upcoming events disease indicates a genetic component. There is no Sept. 15 at the University of Tulsa cure for Alzheimer’s, but the cause of this disease is Oct. 13 thought to be a combination at Oklahoma City’s Civic of age, genetics, environCenter Bicentennial Park

WALK TO END

ALZHEIMER’S

FACTS AND FIGURES

million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or • 16.1 5.7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. By 2050, this number • Approximately other dementias. In 2017, they provided an estimated 18.4 billion hours of care, is expected to be nearly 14 million. valued at $232 billion. disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. It • Alzheimer’s 2018, Alzheimer’s and other dementias cost the nation $277 billion. By 2050, • Inthese kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. costs could rise as high as $1.1 trillion.

• Every 65 seconds, someone in the United States develops the disease. accurate diagnosis could save up to $7.9 trillion in medical and care • Early, costs.

• One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

Source: Alzheimer’s Association

“Historically, Alzheimer’s disease has been seen as an aging issue, ment, lifestyle and other medical conditions. but more and more people are viewing Alzheimer’s as a public health “Most cases of Alzheimer’s disease can be explained by genetic issue because the burden is large, the impact is major and there are changes,” says Linda Hershey, a neurologist with OU Physicians in ways public health can intervene,” McGee says.

Oklahoma City.

Initiatives for the public health community, as outlined by the AlShe says late-onset Alzheimer’s appears to be influenced by zheimer’s Association, include increasing early detection, promoting environment and lifestyle, and several autosomal dominant genes are brain health and risk reduction, and implementing the Healthy Brain responsible for the early onset forms of the disease.

Initiative Road Map, a national collaboration to view cognitive health “Common alterations in the apolipoprotein E gene are well-estabas an integral component of public health. lished risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer’s,” says Hershey, adding Since German physician Alois Alzheimer discovered the disease that it’s important to rule out other medical problems as causes for in 1906, scientists have researched how it affects the brain. However, dementia. “There are sleep disorders (sleep apnea), hematologic disthey couldn’t actually see the effects of the disease on a living brain orders (anemia), and endocrine problems (hypothyroidism) that can until 2012, when the Food and Drug Administration approved a cause memory loss and behavioral changes.” fluorescent dye to help view amyloid plaques during a scan Since 1980, the Alzheimer’s called positron emission tomography.

Association has united caregivers, “This changed the scope of research, allowing scientists provided patient support and spearthe ability to track the pathology of the disease when they headed research. could formerly only diagnose with an autopsy,” McGee says.

“The Alzheimer’s Association “Scientists now have a better understanding of the effect of is the largest nonprofit funder of amyloid and tau – hallmarks of the disease – on the functions Alzheimer’s research in the world, of the brain, spurring much of the research and trials happenas well as the host of the largest 1. ing today.” global forum to advance dementia Memory loss that disrupts daily life Tinsley says the accomplishments in Alzheimer’s research research, the Alzheimer’s Associa2. amaze her. tion International Conference,” says Challenges in planning “The introduction of medication in the early 1990s to slow Toni McGee, director of developor solving problems the disease progression was a big game changer,” she says. ment for the association’s Oklahoma “And more recently there have been clinical studies looking chapter. “Some of the exciting 3. at a more effective treatment in preventing the occurrence research being presented at AAIC Difficulty completing familiar tasks of Alzheimer’s dementia. We are all eagerly awaiting future this year includes focus on prevenat home, work or leisure research and medications.” tion as treatment, highlighting …

4. early findings of how a woman’s Confusion with time or place pregnancy and reproductive history may impact dementia risk, and how 5.

Trouble understanding images intensive blood pressure control and spatial relationships could reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.”

6.

Still Alice The association’s U.S. Study to New problems with words in In this 2014 film, Julianne Moore plays a talented, renowned linguistics Protect Brain Health Through Lifespeaking or writing professor diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 50. style Intervention to Reduce Risk Her story shows the heartbreaking effects the disease has on her life, 7. study – known as U.S. Pointer – is husband (played by Alec Baldwin) and children. Moore prepared for her Misplacing objects and a two-year clinical trial evaluatrole by speaking with women who had the same diagnosis, as well as losing the ability to retrace steps ing whether lifestyle interventions researchers, clinicians and caregivers. She received numerous awards can protect brain functions in older 8. for her performance, including an Academy Award and Golden Globe adults with an increased risk for Decreased or poor judgment Award for best actress. The movie is based on the book of the same cognitive decline. Intervention name by neuroscientist Lisa Genova.

9. methods, which target many of the Withdrawal from work Honey in the Head factors linked with Alzheimer’s, or social activities Nick Nolte and Matt Dillion will star as father and son in this English include physical exercise, nutriremake of the 2014 German drama Honig Im Kopf. Nolte’s character is tion counseling and modification, 10. a retired veteran with Alzheimer’s disease who is also a widower after Changes in mood and personality cognitive and social stimulation, and Source: Alzheimer’s Association Note: This list 50 years of marriage. The film’s premise revolves around a final road does not substitute for consulting a doctor. improved self-management of one’s trip taken by Nolte and his granddaughter to Venice. As Nolte’s mental health. condition worsens, the family must address each challenge.

10 EARLY SIGNS OF ALZHEIMER’S

FILMS DEPICTING LIFE WITH ALZHEIMER’S

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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len

By Mary Willa Al

As the leaves turn and th e weather cools, Oklahom a fe st ivals come alive.

Celebrations of culture, music, food, hobbies an d spor ts take place from Grove to Frederick.

Here’s a taste of what’s to come this season.

ROBBERS CAVE FALL FESTIVAL, OCT. 19-21, WILBURTON

Festival

Oklahoma Regatta

PHOTO COURTESY ROBBERS CAVE FALL FESTIVAL

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Competitive rowing, kayaking, and dragon boat and whitewater raft racing again find a home at RiverSport Adventures for the Oklahoma Regatta Festival. The event offers competition for collegiate, masters and junior athletes from around the country. This year has a special twist.

“We have a superhero theme for our adventures this year,” says Mike Knopp, the Boathouse Foundation’s executive director. “We’re honoring OKC’s first responders – our true superheroes – and adding some comic superheroes for fun.”

SEPT. 28-30

RIVERSPORT

ADVENTURES, OKC

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

This theme ties into the foundation’s newest philanthropic effort, OKCRespond, which “provides health and fitness programs for OKC’s first responders using RiverSport’s unique resources,” Knopp says.

Spectators can enjoy comic book superheroes like Spider-Man and Batman, along with delicious food and a beer garden. For those with a penchant for adventure, Knopp suggests trying the park’s newest feature.

“This year we have a new attraction – Slide the Rapids – which is a 600-foot

water slide you do on a tube. It’s going to be great,” he says.

RiverSport Adventures has the only permanently lighted race course in the country, Knopp says, so spectators should stay late for the OGE NightSprints competitions – from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

For a full schedule of events, visit riversportokc.org.

Tulsa

Greek

l a v i t s e F

Dusk Till Dawn Blues Festival Through Sept. 2 OK Blues Hall of Fame, Rentiesville dcminnerblues.com Coweta Fall Festival Sept. 13-15 Downtown cowetachamber.com

Y lsa HOLY TrRthINoIT dox Church, Tu Greek O

L SA GREEK FESTIVA

The Tulsa eek for a week?

Looking to be Gr ers four off n, tio di city tra Greek Festival, a y bites, st mersion with ta days of Greek im ities. tiv ac mily-friendly shopping and fa l’s kickoff iva st fe e th ed at VIPs are welcom at the Santorini Night, Sept. 15, dubbed l white n e asked to do al church. Guests ar beers and d an es Greek win while sipping on . us traditional fare enjoying sumptuo Sept. 20, off ks kic ne yo The fun for ever blic. Stroll l opens to the pu when the festiva d beautiful fin d an t) a (marke through the agor Lis . ten to utique to peruse jewelry and a bo ces by rm joy live perfo an Greek music or en . Food ng lo d en s all week traditional dancer mari, la ca d an es fri k Gree omabounds – gyros, uk lo d alls), baklava an kefthedes (meatb ). ades (doughnuts teractive ing to take an in ok lo e For thos eek French ur hand at the Gr approach, try yo bbed is t. The winner du Fry Eating Contes althy he a ith w For those Lord of the Fries. al Toga Run the second annu sense of humor, ve some ha perfect way to on Sept. 22 is the e. tim e m e at the sa fun and stay activ history, l’s iva st fe e in th For the first time d with ugh the weeken activities run thro . For a full p.m 3 m 11 a.m. to fro ay nd Fu ay nd Su kfestival. ts, visit tulsagree schedule of even com.

TUL PHOTOS COURTESY

PHOTO BY GEORGIA READ

SEPT. 20-23

Skiatook Pioneer Day Festival and Rodeo Sept. 13-15 Central Park skiatookchamber.com Scotfest Sept. 14-16 Broken Arrow Events Park okscotfest.com

Stone River Music Festival Sept. 14-16 343188 E. 870 Road, Chandler stonerivermusicfestival.com Arts ’N’ Action Festival Sept. 15 Tillman County Courthouse Square, Frederick ramonatheatre.com

Wings and Wheels Festival Sept. 15 Anadarko Municipal Airport anadarkochamber.org Elk City Fall Festival Sept. 15-16 Convention Center elkcitychamber.com

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Grape Stomp Festival

PHOTOS COURTESY CANADIAN RIVER WINERY

Sept. 30 Canadian River Winery, Lexington Step outside the traditional festival experience for the Grape Stomp Festival. Blaze Baxter, Canadian River Winery’s manager, is proud of the company’s use of Oklahoma products.

“We are one of very few wineries in the state to be making real Oklahoma wine from Oklahoma grown grapes – not bulk juice kits and concentrates,” he says. “We … feel that makes us uniquely Oklahoman.”

The festival offers several food trucks, live music from John the Franklin, a petting zoo and family-friendly activities, with a continued focus on keeping it local.

“We try to have 90 percent Oklahoma-grown or -crafted vendors at this event, as well as our Farm Market vendors being 100 percent Oklahoma grown,” Baxter says.

The main event is the grape stomping, which starts “around 1 p.m. and is free for all,” he says. “This is our largest event of the year, and usually a celebration of the end of harvest season, but this year, it also marks the last day before the new liquor laws come into effect – cold beer and wine in grocery stores. So we are calling this year a Prohibition Party.”

The free event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit canadianriverwinery.net for details.

PLAZCOURTESY PLAZA DIST PHOTO

T. IVAL, SEP

T FEST A DISTRIC RICT

29, OKC

Poteau Balloon Fest

Oct. 19-20 LeFlore County Fairgrounds, Poteau Mosey over to eastern Oklahoma to discover the 31.7 square-mile, hidden gem hosting the annual Poteau Balloon Festival. Along with 10 stunning hot air balloons to ogle, visitors can enjoy monster truck rides, local food trucks, stilt walkers, wrestling and helicopter rides.

Swing by a day early to enjoy the opening night of the carnival with rides galore.

Spectators can see balloon glows at dusk both days, along with tethered balloon rides for adrenaline junkies. If you prefer to stay on the ground, activities include pet costume contests, a 20-foot kite flying over the field, jugglers and a meet-and-greet with balloon pilots.

For a full schedule, visit poteauchamber.com/poteauballoonfest.

ER OF COMMERCE PHOTO COURTESY POTEAU CHAMB

Medicine Stone Music Festival Sept. 20-22 Diamondhead Resort, Tahlequah medicinestoneok.com MojoFest Sept. 22 East Village, Tulsa tulsadaycenter.org/funding/mojofest Mesta Festa Sept. 23 Perle Mesta Park, OKC mestapark.org

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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

International Festival Sept. 28-30 Elmer Thomas Park, Lawton lawtonok.gov Rock Island Arts Festival Sept. 28-30 Rock Island Depot, Chickasha rockislandartsfestival.org Fin and Feather Fall Festival Sept. 28-30 Fin and Feather Resort, Gore finandfeatherresort.com

Haunted Castle Halloween Festival Sept. 28-Oct. 27 Castle of Muskogee okcastle.com Fiesta de Las Americas Sept. 29 Capitol Hill, OKC historiccapitolhill.com Plaza District Festival Sept. 29 Plaza District, OKC plazadistrict.org

Hennessey Wine and Chocolate Festival Sept. 29 Memorial Park hennesseyok.org Sucker Day Festival Sept. 29 Main Street, Wetumka travelok.com Fall Festival at the Orr Family Farm Sept. 29-Nov. 10 Orr Family Farm, OKC orrfamilyfarm.com

Linde

Oktoberfest PHOTOS BY SHANE BEVEL/SHANE BEVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

Oct. 18-21 River West Festival Park, Tulsa

You can find 7,500 bratwursts, 28 gallons of mustard and 1,065 pounds of sauerkraut at Linde Oktoberfest, a boisterous Bavarian celebration that rolls back into River West Festival Park for its 40th anniversary.

Feast on authentic German food and beer, take in adorable dog races, do the chicken dance and jam out to one of 40 bands slated to perform. Festival director Tonja Carrigg says a new development brings even more fun this year.

“The Karbach Games Arena features games and friendly competitions, including Bavarian favorites: the Bavarian Strong Stein Hoist, Bier Barrel Races, MaβKrug Races, Carry the Hammerschlagen and the Dachshund Dash,” she says.

This festival figuratively transports you to Germany, but you can literally find bits of Oklahoma everywhere you look.

“Where else but in Oklahoma can you find a Bavarian-style zelt (tent) dedicated to Oklahoma-crafted beers?” Carrigg says.

“Introduced in 2016, the OK Hoptoberfest zelt is the only zelt at Linde Oktoberfest Tulsa that is strictly Oklahoma brews.”

Corporate night, known as Techik Gemutlichkeit, takes place Oct. 17 and is by reservation.

The festival is open to the public Oct. 18-21. For more information, visit tulsaoktoberfest.org.

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AL ARTS FESTIV ROCK ISLAND ISLAND ARTS FESTIVAL PHOTO COURTES

, SEPT. 28-30,

CHICKASHA

Y ROCK

n i k p m Peustival at Shepherd’s Cros

F

STONE RIVER MU SIC

PHOTO BY PHIL CLA RKIN

FESTIVAL, SEPT.

s

14-16, CHANDLER

Sept. 25-Nov. 3 PHOTO COURTESY SHEPHERD’S CROSS

REMORE A L C , S S O R C ’S D R E SHEPH The Pumpkin Festival at Shepherd’s Cross, celebrating autumn, offers classic festivities, including a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, hay maze and hands-on learning stations. Bring the kids and play games like pumpkin toss and corn cob bowling, and stick around to enjoy the picnic area, where you can snack on a packed lunch or goodies like pumpkin pies, breads, soups and other snacks sold on site.

Paid activities include wagon rides, pumpkin picking and outdoor scarecrow making. All-day packages are also available at discounted rates for schools and large groups.

For more information, visit shepherdscross.com.

SKIATOOK PIONEER DAY FESTIVAL AND RODEO, SEPT. 13-15

PHOTO COURTESY SKIATOOK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Honobia Bigfoot Festival and Conference Oct. 5-6 Kiamichi Mountain Mission Campgrounds honobiabigfoot.com Oklahoma Czech Festival Oct. 6 Main Street, Yukon czechfestivaloklahoma.com

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Idabel Fall Festival Oct. 6 Downtown idabelchamberofcommerce.com Pelican Festival Oct. 10-13 Wolf Creek Park, Grove pelicanfestok.com

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

EdFest Oct. 12 Edmond Festival Market Place edfestokc.com Illinois River Jam Oct. 12-13 Peyton’s Place, Tahlequah illinoisriverjam.com

McNellie’s Harvest Beer Festival Oct. 13 McNellie’s Public House (downtown), Tulsa mcnellies.com ShalomFest Oct. 14 Temple Israel, Tulsa templetulsa.com

Arbuckle Mountain Park Fall Bluegrass Festival Oct. 15-21 Arbuckle Mountain Park, Davis chickasawcountry.com Boo on Bell Fall Festival Oct. 18-20 Main St. & Bell Ave., Shawnee shawneeok.org

Aviation

Festival

Enjoy an up-close and personal look at Max Westheimer Airport during the University of Oklahoma’s 12th annual Aviation Festival.

“This is a perfect opportunity to see the airport up close,” airport director Lance Lamkin says. “You get to touch and feel the aircraft, see the airport from the tower’s view and visit with people who are flying the aircraft every day. This is a wonderful time for children of all ages to explore the aviation world and see the many facets of the airport, aircraft and careers in aviation.”

Scores of static aircraft displays include exhibits by the Oklahoma Air National Guard, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Norman Fire Department, Norman SWAT team and Norman Police Department. Also included is a children’s activity area, tours of the air traffic control tower and an open house for those interested in learning about aviation. Appearances from OU mascots Boomer and Sooner round out the day.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit ou.edu/airport/events/festival for more information.

SCOTFEST, SEPT. 14-16, TULSA

PHOTO COURTESY SCOTFEST

PHOTO COURTESY MAX WESTHEIMER AIRPORT

Oct. 13

Max Westheime r Airport, Norman

Robbers Cave Fall Festival Oct. 19-21 Robbers Cave State Park, Wilburton robberscavefallfestival.com Owasso Harvest Festival Oct. 20 Rayola Park cityofowasso.com

National Weather Festival Oct. 20 National Weather Center, Norman nwf.nwc.ou.edu Talihina Fall Foliage Festival Oct. 27 Talihina School Agriculture Barn talihinacc.com

Beavers Bend Folk Festival and Craft Show Nov. 9-11 Beavers Bend State Park, Broken Bow forestry.ok.gov Chickasha Festival of Light Nov. 17-Dec. 31 2400 S. Ninth Street chickashafestivaloflight.org

Minco Honey Festival Dec. 1 Minco High School minco-ok.com SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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Taste

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

Jazzed Up Cuisine Duet Tulsa contributes to the revitalization of the Arts District.

Would I like to go to Tulsa? Boy I sure would. Well, let me off at Archer, and I’ll walk down to Greenwood. – Bob Wills, “Take Me Back to Tulsa”

CAJUN MUSSELS WITH LEMONGRASS, GARLIC, CREOLE SEASONING AND A CRUSTY BAGUETTE OFFER A JAZZY DINING CHOICE. PHOTOS BY JOSH NEW

O

n a pleasant summer evening a few weeks ago, you could have witnessed a sight that wasn’t seen for half a century – hundreds, perhaps thousands, of happy Tulsans doing

just what the Bob Wills song says, strolling east along Archer Street in the once desolate, now revitalized Arts District in the north part of downtown.

Past some of the many tall apartment buildings being built

around Boston Avenue for people eager to live in this pleasant, cosmopolitan neighborhood, past the ultra-modern, metal struts of the Hardesty Arts Center and the lot where the Bob Dylan Center will soon arise, a line of walkers went. And here, just where the neighborhood once ended, they saw

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Taste ABOVE RIGHT: THE DINING AREA WAS DESIGNED TO BE WELL-LIT AND COMFORTABLE. RIGHT: THE EX-PAT IS A DELIGHTFUL DRINK FEATURING BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWER TEA, LUXARDO, LIME AND GIN, GARNISHED WITH FRESH ROSEMARY. BELOW: EXECUTIVE CHEF NICO ALBERT, LEFT, OWNER TUCK CURREN, BAR MANAGER SHANNA POSTOAK AND DINING ROOM MANAGER JENNIE LLOYD ARE THE CREW BRINGING DUET TO FRUITION. OPPOSITE PAGE: DUET SERVES A YUCATAN HALFROAST CHICKEN WITH ACHIOTE MARINADE, PICKLED ONION ON SOURDOUGH CROSTINI.

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before them a long, low-slung, 100-yearold, red-brick building, which has been rebuilt at a cost of over $20 million by the George Kaiser Family Foundation. That’s the organization which has helped to transform a barren tract of abandoned warehouses into a Greenwich Village on the prairie, a mecca for artists and craftsmen (and maybe well-heeled tourists, too).

Pleasant to view, with big, iron-framed windows punctuating the ancient brick, the Archer Building offers subsidized rents to scores of local craft stores (and, on the upper floor, low-rent residences and studios for artists from all over the country).

Those strollers on Archer passed an Ecuadorean restaurant, a nationally known chocolate factory, a store selling craft work from local artists, a Vietnamese sandwich shop and Tulsa’s only independent bookstore.

Just around the corner was a pleasant patio, where a local jazz band played.

If you’d watched that scene, your attention have would been drawn to a man who flitted from table to table while working the crowds. His carefully coiffed hair and beard and his tortoiseshell eyeglasses made

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

him seem dapper despite his T-shirt and shorts, and there was the hint of the rebel about him. Go back 60 years and you would have pegged him as the owner of a jazz club, the kind of hot, smoky, romantic, basement night club that famous musicians would want to play.

That’s exactly what Tuck Curren is. Down a stone staircase near the patio, Duet Tulsa, just such a club (except not smoky) will be opening to go along with the restaurant.

“It’s a wonderful listening room,” Curren says. “You can appreciate music and the sound system is first rate. Musicians will love it.”

Since the acts are booked by the same organization running Gathering Place, famous musicians will inevitably appear.

But let’s ignore the staircase and go through to a high-ceilinged dining room with sun streaming through huge mullioned windows.

“We designed it to have plenty of light,” Curren says. With chandeliers, neon lights and

track lighting, it does. There are Thonet chairs and bistro tables and, in the back and behind a counter, you can glimpse the young executive chef intent at her work. She has tattoos and a bright pirate kerchief, and she readily admits it was the flamboyance and pirate swagger of chefs that drew her to the profession.

But that was when Nico Albert was a teenager, and now it’s the artistry and joy of cooking that keep her going. Her dishes are complex and meticulous. She once spent 10 hours making a Oaxacan mole negro just to flavor one component of an entree.

“Nico was the first person I hired, and we’re going to have amazing food,” says Curren, whose wife, Kate, an accomplished chef and designer, had as much input into the decor and menu as anyone.

BRIAN SCHWARTZ

PHOTO COURTESY GORO RAMEN

“I love the Yucatan roast chicken,” Albert says. “It’s like a Mexican cochinita pibil, but with chicken instead of pork. I use the traditional achiote marinade, but I use French technique, and I serve it over a baguette. I like to do classic dishes with a twist, components from other cultures – my steamed mussels have Vietnamese and Cajun flavors – new interesting updates.

I start from things I like to eat, and I try to make what Tulsans want to eat. I make food they are familiar with, but I try to push them to the edge of their comfort zone and sometimes beyond it.

“I want this to be a neighborhood joint. I want people to stop by for lunch, or on their way home from work. I want to give them, well, not a huge plate, but an abundant and beautiful plate. For me, this is home cooking. This is home.”

R A N D O M F L AV O R S

HOT OR COLD, GORO RAMEN HITS THE SPOT

Summer may be winding down, but September in Oklahoma still brings us sunny days and warm temps aplenty. Usually, heat means giving up cold weather favorites, like hot coffee and nights by the fire, and delicious ramen soup. But not at Goro Ramen,

which offers a ramen with chilled noodles, sesame dressing, shrimp, surimi, mustard greens, menma, negi and fried shallots. Nice and chilly and a perfect way to beat your ramen craving, even in the warmest weather. But if Oklahoma’s bipolar weather has you shivering instead, they also have plenty of tasty, hot ramen soup for your enjoyment. 1634 N. Blackwelder Ave. Suite 102, Oklahoma City, gororamen.com

LO C A L F L AV O R

PHOTOS COURTESY THE MANHATTAN

THE MANHATTAN – OKC, NOT NYC

From the fine folks who brought you Rococo Restaurants and Catering in Oklahoma City comes The Manhattan – think the drink, not the Big Apple.

The Manhattan, in downtown’s Oklahoma Tower at 210 N. Park Ave, opened its doors to business gurus and trendy shop patrons in June 2017. It offers big-city lunch plates, such as its house-cured hot pastrami sandwich on rye with gruyere and the Big Apple salad (greens, apples, almonds and roasted chicken), and dinner entrees, such as the Lazy Man’s Lobster (sauteed in drawn butter and served with jicama slaw and potato wedges) and the pan-roasted filet mignon with mushroom duxelles, paired with a potato-and-blue cheese tower.

As for the joint’s name, you can try 14 variations of that signature cocktail. Plus, The Manhattan is open late to accommodate crowds after basketball games and concerts.

It’s a sophisticated metropolitan gem in the heart of Loud City.

SCOTTY IRANI

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

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Taste

C H E F C H AT

A Servant’s Heart

H

e’s a Navy man, and his arms ripple with muscles and tattoos. He looks like a tough competitor. Ben Alexander, executive chef of the Tavern, is a fighter, but conflict and competition aren’t what he’s about.

“I don’t boss my cooks; I work beside them,” he says, especially on busy nights.

“That’s when I’m on the line, working beside them, getting burned. Sometimes, things happen, but that’s when you gotta just keep working.”

Collaboration is what Alexander is about, and there he was on a recent Friday preparing a banquet with Matt Owen, another Tulsa chef. They dazzled diners with a succession of cutting-edge dishes and, as he used tweezers to meticulously plate 100 portions of beef heart tartare, Alexander never looked happier.

Pushing limits is what he is about, too. “We make food people like,” he says. “We try to push a little bit, educate customers to like free-range, humanely slaughtered animals. And I try to keep on top of coastal trends. Sometimes Tulsa can be 10 years behind; we don’t want that.”

Now, he’s prepping for a Chef’s Table dinner, a five-course meal reserved in advance.

“I do four or five of those a week,” he says, “and I’ve never used the same dish twice. I can do classic French sauces, Asian, Italian pasta dishes, you name it. My greatest satisfaction

is taking a bunch of raw ingredients and turning them into something that people really enjoy.”

When not cooking, he works earnestly to help sick kids.

Alexander’s son, Sawyer, is a bright, lively child with a heart that doesn’t work quite right. That has meant lots of sleepless nights, and then a day came when Alexander and his wife had to quit their jobs and take Sawyer to St. Louis for emergency surgery, which exceeded their financial limits. They realized that thousands of other parents in Oklahoma were in that situation, so they founded and have maintained a charity – Hearts of Steel – to pay for lifesaving procedures that some families can’t afford. They welcome donations.

“People thought we were crazy,” he says. “We work full time and have three kids. But we started that charity and made it work.”

Each month, he and his staff also donate their time to cook at other charities’ events, and the Tavern provides the food for free.

SUMMER GARDEN SALAD

DILL VINAIGRETTE

2

ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces 1/2 cucumber, sliced thin 1/2 watermelon radish, sliced thin Toasted pepitas Fresh garden herbs (dill, cilantro, micro chives) Maldon salt Toasted black pepper

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1/3 cup sherry vinegar 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup chopped dill (stems discarded) 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard 1 tbsp. shallot 2 tbsps. local honey Salt and pepper to taste

Toss tomatoes, cucumbers and radish in a

bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Blend the sherry vinegar, shallot, Dijon, honey and dill in a blender on high. Slowly drizzle the olive oil and completely emulsify.

Garnish the salad with pepitas and fresh herbs.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

PHOTOS BY JOSH NEW

Ben Alexander balances his time at a popular Tulsa restaurant with a charity close to his family.

“One person can’t make a city work,” he says. “We must do it together. We Tulsa chefs form a community. We care about each other, and each other’s families, their kids, and we like to be around each other.”

Were you to walk along Brady Street half an hour later, you’d have seen him through the Tavern kitchen’s window as he served up exotic dishes. And at the same time, he texted a potential contributor.

“We must talk about how the restaurant community binds together for Hearts of Steel. They’ve always had my back, and I’ve always had theirs,” he says.

BRIAN SCHWARTZ

BREW

September in Oklahoma doesn’t always mean the weather cools down … so we’ve found a great way to keep your beer cold and carbonated on-the-go for up to 24 hours.

The TrailKeg is a vacuum-insulated, pressurized growler perfect for tailgating, camping and barbecues, or keeping your favorite craft beer on tap in your fridge. The modular design allows the TrailKeg to be easily transported and supports industry standard connections.

A favorite of homebrewers, the TrailKeg allows you to share your home-brewed beer with friends.

You can also make your own seltzer or use it to keep coffee hot for up to eight hours.

PHOTO COURTESY TRAILKEG

LIKE BEER? YOU’LL LOVE THIS

SNACKS

GAME-DAY DIPS

Football season is back, and along with cheers, jeers and sighs in front of the big screen come hungry friends looking for fistfuls of salty and savory snacks to munch. Try your hand at these varieties for something new.

TAHINI DIP 1/2 cup Juice 2 tsp.

1

tahini, pureed in the blender of two lemons ground cumin minced garlic clover

Drizzle in 1/2 cup hot water and puree until

smooth.

Serve with pita chips.

SIMPLE SALSA DIP 1

2

small jar salsa, mild or hot packages cream cheese

Melt cream cheese and salsa in microwave

and mix until smooth.

Serve with tortilla chips.

DEVILED DIP

8 hard boiled eggs 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tbsp. mustard 1 chopped pickle

Puree in blender until smooth and add hot sauce, paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with ridged potato chips.

H E A LT H Y E AT I N G

PUT DOWN THE SALT About 90 percent of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reducing the sodium Americans eat by 1,200 mg per day could save up to $20 billion a year in medical costs.

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TAFT PRICE BRANDON WHOLEY KIRSTEN LANG MIKE COLLIER JON HAVERFIELD

KJRH2HD

KJRHTV

Where & When

G R E AT T H I N G S TO D O I N O K L A H O M A

A Wicked Good Time

Jason Graae, a Tulsa-grown thespian, takes on the role of the Wizard in the touring Broadway production of a ‘Popular’ musical.

PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS COURTESY CELEBRITY ATTRACTIONS

J

ason Graae, a Tulsa-raised actor, began his run as the Wizard in Wicked in May and enjoys how the production fleshes out an iconic film.

The worldwide hit musical, which comes to Tulsa this month courtesy Celebrity Attractions, is set in The Wizard of Oz universe … before Dorothy drops in. Graae’s first night performing the role was in Omaha, Nebraska – a city holding symbolic weight in his character’s origins.

“Omaha … that’s actually where the Wizard ‘blew in’ from in the movie, so it was a great place to open the show,” Graae says.

The musical steps away from the cut-and-dried, good-versus-evil theme, which engendered the movie’s success, and delivers an intricate backstory and emotional rounding out of The Wizard of Oz’s

magical ensemble: Glinda, the Wizard and, of course, Elphaba (later dubbed the Wicked Witch of the West).

“In the movie, the Witch was just pure evil, and Glinda was perfect and sweet and kind and lovely,” Graae says. “What I love about this show is that you get a backstory for these characters that are so part of our DNA growing up. Elphaba was an outsider – she had to deal with the challenges that went with that – but she has a great soul. And Glinda, who looks like she’s got it all together, is as insecure as the next person.”

The movie’s Wizard, a bumbling but well-meaning man bogged down by social expectations, is also upgraded in Wicked, with baggage and intricacies that audience members will discover as the story plays out.

“All of the Wizard’s scenes have a lot of subtext

going on; it’s really changing and fulfilling,” Graae says.

Wicked is a Broadway rarity because it has retained commercial viability 15 years after opening.

Graae believes the show’s success lies in its alwaysrelevant message of acceptance and against-allodds friendships.

“Everything is so divisive [in the real world] right now, so seeing Glinda and Elphaba, who are at opposite ends of the spectrum, coming together is so beautiful,” he says. “It’s relevant right now, but no matter the political climate or things going on in the world, this show continues to speak to people because the message reinvents itself.”

The show’s Sept. 5-23 run at the Tulsa PAC brings Graae back to his old stomping grounds, where he graduated from Edison High School and participated in groups like Theatre Tulsa and the Tulsa Youth Symphony. He looks forward to exploring downtown, reconnecting with old friends and living on Tulsa time, he says.

“When I get off the plane in Oklahoma and feel the air, I think, ‘Ah, I’m home.’ It’s so green and beautiful,” he says. “I don’t know; it’s just part of who I am.”

For tickets to Wicked, visit celebrityattractions. com.

MARY WILLA ALLEN

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A Symphonic Return

Tulsa Symphony’s season commences at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7, when guests are welcomed to the Guthrie Green for Symphony in the Park.

“Symphony in the Park has been a fun Tulsa tradition since Guthrie Green opened six years ago,” says Lauren McKinney, TSO’s marketing director. “Ron Spigelman will lead the orchestra as they play a broad variety of music under the beautiful Tulsa skyline.

Families absolutely love this event and many folks bring a picnic to enjoy during the concert. The show ends with a fantastic fireworks finale.”

For those jonesing for a more up-closeand-personal experience with the orchestra, try the Fridays in the Loft chamber series at 7 p.m. Sept.

21 at downtown Tulsa’s Fly Loft.

Other series run Jan. 18, March 15 and April 26.

IN TULSA PERFORMANCES BLUE WHALE COMEDY FESTIVAL PRESENTS: JANELLE JAMES AND MARIA BAMFORD Sept. 1 CAIN’S BALLROOM James

is a New York-based comedian who can be seen on Night Train with Wyatt Cenac; Maria Bamford, comedian extraordinaire, closes out the festival. cainsballroom.com

THEATRE TULSA NEXT STAGE PRESENTS: HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH Sept. 6-15

TULSA PAC East German

rock goddess Hedwig Schmidt is back for another run. theatretulsa.org

CHOREGUS PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: PIAF – NO REGRETS Sept. 7 TULSA PAC Christine

Andreas, Broadway star and two-time Tony nominee, celebrates Edith Piaf in this one-woman show.

features instruments from the Baroque period.

TCC VANTREASE PACE Celebrate Leonard Bernstein’s centennial with Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.

signaturesymphony.org

SIGNATURE SYMPHONY PRESENTS: POPS 1 – THE STREISAND SONGBOOK

CHAMBER MUSIC TULSA PRESENTS: MONTROSE TRIO Sept. 23 TULSA PAC In 2013,

TCC VANTREASE PACE

Signature Symphony’s opening Pops concert celebrates the music of one of America’s most powerful and enduring musical artists.

signaturesymphony.org

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acclaimed pianist Jon Kimura Parker joined musical forces with violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith to form the Montrose Trio.

chambermusictulsa.org

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Sept. 5-Oct. 1

PAC GALLERY Art by Katie

Pernu is availble to view all month. tulsapac.com

FIRST FRIDAY ART CRAWL

Sept. 7

TULSA ARTS DISTRICT

AMANDA MCCAVOUR: DIAPHANOUS EMBROIDERY Through Sept. 23

108 CONTEMPORARY

Amanda McCavour’s ethereal environments explore themes of strength and vulnerability.

108contemporary.org

SPECTION: COALESCENCE

This year-round, monthly event features all the galleries, studios, museums and part-time galleries of various shops opening their doors.

Through Sept. 23

thetulsaartsdistrict.org

ahhatulsa.org

RECESS/ED: TEXTURE, SOUND, VISION

T.C. CANNON: AT THE EDGE OF AMERICA Through Oct. 7 GILCREASE MUSEUM This

philbrook.org

AHHA TULSA Spection is an

invented word combining the Latin root, “to see,” with a suffix for “the act or condition of.”

exhibition celebrates one of the most influential and inventive Native American artists of the 20th century.

gilcrease.org

AHHA TULSA PRESENTS: THE EXPERIENCE Ongoing AHHA TULSA The Experience is an artist-driven, large-scale, fully immersive art installation that invites participants to explore a fantastical, multimedia environment.

ahhatulsa.org

SPORTS ANJELAH JOHNSON Sept. 28 HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO Comedian Anjelah Johnson brings a night full of laughter to the stage.

hardrockcasinotulsa.com

INNOVATION ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS: BLACK VIOLIN

SUNDAY CONCERT SERIES Sept. 2-30

GUTHRIE GREEN Guthrie

Green, along with other series presenters, welcomes you to the park every Sunday this season for free live music. guthriegreen.com

WHISKEY MYERS Sept. 6 CAIN’S BALLROOM In two

whirlwind years, the gritty Texas band hit No. 1 on the iTunes Country Chart with its breakout third album, Early Morning Shakes. cainsballroom.com

AIR SUPPLY Sept. 13 HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO The Australian

soft-rock duo visits the casino. hardrockcasinotulsa.com

BILLY CURRINGTON Sept. 14 RIVER SPIRIT CASINO RESORT Billy Currington’s

latest album bears the breezy

Through Sept. 2

EXPO SQUARE Enjoy this exciting equestrian event.

tulsareining.com

a blend of classical, hip-hop, rock, R&B and bluegrass music. tulsapac.com

UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL GAMES

TULSA PAC Black Violin is

CONCERTS

drummer live with his band.

TULSA REINING CLASSIC

Sept. 29

CHRIS YOUNG Sept. 15 BOK CENTER Following his

Sept. 22

Ghostland Observatory’s entire approach to music is essentially a melding of the distinctly different personalities of its two members. cainsballroom.com

ART

Memory – both individual and collective – is the subject of videos by the five artists featured in this exhibition.

hardrockcasinotulsa.com

SIGNATURE SYMPHONY PRESENTS: CLASSICS 1 – SYMPHONIC DANCES

CLOTHED IN STRENGTH AND DIGNITY

REMEMBER THIS: LIFE ON VIDEO Sept. 7-Jan. 6 PHILBROOK DOWNTOWN

TULSA BALLET For the past

tulsaballet.org

GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY Sept. 26

LIVING ARTS OF TULSA

TULSA BALLET PRESENTS: CREATIONS IN STUDIO K 12 years, Creations in Studio K has furthered innovation in dance by commissioning works from world renowned choreographers.

Primus on its Ambushing the Storm Tour. bradytheater.com

This group show investigates unique material juxtaposition as a tool for reimagining physicality and subjective content. livingarts.org

title Summer Forever, but the talented Georgia native has spent more than a decade in the spotlight.

Sept. 1-23

CAIN’S BALLROOM

Sept. 7-Oct. 12

RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL STARR BAND Sept. 1 HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO See the Beatles’

chambermusictulsa.org

choregus.org

Sept. 7-9

CHAMBER MUSIC TULSA PRESENTS: QUICKSILVER BAROQUE Sept. 9 ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH This concert

“The Fridays in the Loft series was created to showcase our incredible musicians in a more intimate setting,” says McKinney.

“These concerts feature smaller ensembles playing interesting chamber pieces. This gives the audience an opportunity to get up close to the music in a way that isn’t possible in a large concert hall.”

For tickets and more information, visit tulsasymphony.org.

PRIMUS Sept. 23 BRADY THEATER See

Sept. 1, 15

DWIGHT YOAKAM Sept. 20 RIVER SPIRIT CASINO RESORT Dwight Yoakam

has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, and he is a 21-time nominated, multiple Grammy Award winner. riverspirittulsa.com

ROBERT PLANT AND THE SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS Sept. 21 BRADY THEATER

Led Zeppelin’s lead singer performs. bradytheater.com

BILLY IDOL Sept. 22 HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO English singer, songwriter and musician Billy Idol rocks the joint.

hardrockcasinotulsa.com

miniature horses of all breeds at this event.

shetlandminiature.com

H.A. CHAPMAN STADIUM

TULSA ROUGHNECKS MATCHES Sept. 15, 19, 22 ONEOK FIELD See the team

tulsahurricane.com

roughnecksfc.com

TU takes on Central Arkansas and Arkansas State, respectively.

take on several competitors in the United Soccer League.

COMMUNITY

riverspirittulsa.com

induction into the Grand Ole Opry and the release of his acclaimed seventh album, Losing Sleep, Chris Young performs. bokcenter.com

AMERICAN MINIATURE HORSE REGISTRY NATIONAL SHOW Sept. 6-16 EXPO SQUARE Enjoy

WIZARD WORLD COMIC CON Sept. 7-9 COX BUSINESS CENTER Celebrate pop culture and comic books at this event.

wizardworld.com

SECOND SATURDAY ARCHITECTURE TOUR Sept. 8

TULSA FOUNDATION FOR ARCHITECTURE Each month, a different historical area or topic of downtown is featured. September’s tour is the Cathedral District.

tulsaarchitecture.org

TULSA PRINCESS BALL Sept. 9

NOAH’S EVENT VENUE

Enjoy a live, interactive show by princesses who keep your little one laughing, clapping and singing along.

premier Celtic music festival and Highland games.

okscotfest.com

MIDAMERICA CLASSIC COUGARS CAR SHOW AND SWAP MEET Sept. 15 ADMIRAL TWIN DRIVE-IN

The show features up to 500 cars and trucks, plus drive-in concessions.

midamericaclassiccougars.com

TULSA GREEK FESTIVAL Sept. 21-23

HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH Music

fills the air as guests arrive and stroll Greek Street. htgoctulsa.org

MOJOFEST Sept. 22 EAST VILLAGE DISTRICT

princessprosentertainent.com

All ticket proceeds go toward the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless. tulsadaycenter.org

SCOTFEST Sept. 14-16 BROKEN ARROW EVENTS PARK Scotfest is Oklahoma’s

BRICKUNIVERSE TULSA LEGO FAN EXPO Sept. 29-30 COX BUSINESS CENTER

PHOTO BY KARL RABE, COURTESY TULSA SYMPHONY

Where & When

CONCERT

WRITERS WITH DIRTY HANDS: THE GARDEN PASSIONS OF VITA SACKVILLE-WEST AND

EUDORA WELTY Sept. 29 TULSA BOTANIC GARDEN

Learn about two writers and how they include their passion for gardening and nature in their literature and works. tulsabotanic.org

CHARITABLE EVENTS CHAPTERS 2018 Sept. 6 HARDESTY REGIONAL LIBRARY Celebrate a love

WALK TO END ALZHEIMER’S Sept. 15

UNIVERSITY OF TULSA

of the literary to benefit the Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service. tulsalibrary.org

Take steps toward ending a debilitating disease.

KALEIDOSCOPE BALL

MCDAZZLE FUN BALL

tulsawalk.org

Sept. 7

Sept. 20

This event combines sophistication, fun, philanthropy and passion with a live auction, entertainment and dancing. eiskball.org

its 28th year, this event features live and silent auctions, great food and entertainment to help out Ronald McDonald House Charities. rmhctulsa.org

COX BUSINESS CENTER

WESTERN DAYS Sept. 11 COX BUSINESS CENTER

This Western-themed fundraiser includes auctions, general store, dinner and live music. westerndaysevent.com

OKLAHOMA CARING AWARDS Sept. 13 DOUBLETREE HOTEL

BY HILTON AT WARREN PLACE Celebrate individuals, businesses and churches that go above and beyond to care for people across Oklahoma.

hhtulsa.org/okcaringawards

DAY OF CARING Sept. 14 TULSA CITY-COUNTY LIBRARY A community-wide

day of service includes thousands of volunteers from hundreds of companies across Tulsa. tauw.org/dayofcaring

IN OKC

COX BUSINESS CENTER In

TULSA CATTLE BARONS’ BALL Sept. 21 JONES RIVERSIDE AIRPORT

comedian Hannibal Buress perform. towertheatreokc.com

OKLAHOMA SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK PRESENTS: RICHARD III Sept. 13-28 MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS William

Shakespeare’s stunning portrait of a Machiavellian king spins a spider-like folktale web, full of rollercoaster lurches and plunges. oklahomashakespeare.com

TULSA CANCER WALK AND RUN Sept. 22 ONEOK FIELD Be a fearless

fundraiser for the kids of St. Jude. fundraising.stjude.org

VISION IN EDUCATION LEADERSHIP AWARD DINNER Sept. 27 COX BUSINESS CENTER This dinner recognizes an outstanding individual dedicated to educational excellence and community leadership.

signaturesymphony.org

BEATLEMANIA Sept. 15 STATE FAIR PARK Enjoy your day at the fair, then listen to the sounds of an exciting Beatles cover band. okstatefair.com

OKC BROADWAY PRESENTS: LES MISERABLES Sept. 18-23 CIVIC CENTER MUSIC HALL

Cameron Mackintosh presents the new production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony Awardwinning musical phenomenon.

CIVIC CENTER MUSIC HALL

LYRIC AT THE PLAZA When We’re Gone is a rock musical that follows Todd, an angstridden teen, in plague-ridden, 14th-century London.

the park and music of Z-Fest. frontiercity.com

SPORTS

Back to the Gridiron

Cooler weather coaxes football fans back into the stands as college seasons kick off around the state.

The University of Tulsa begins the season at 6 p.m. Sept. 1 at home versus Central Arkansas. The Golden Hurricane also takes on the University of Texas on Sept. 8 in Austin,

Sept. 26-Oct. 14

lyrictheatreokc.com

CONCERTS Z-FEST Sept. 2 FRONTIER CITY THEMEPARK Enjoy

COLUMBUS APPROACHING SAN SALVADORE, THOMAS MORAN, OIL ON CANVAS, 1860, GM 0126.2343. IMAGE COURTESY GILCREASE

okcbroadway.com

OKC PHIL PRESENTS: CLASSICS 1, THE REBELS

Rebels in music transcend all generations and time periods. This concert features compositions by rebels in their own time. okcphil.org

Gilcrease Museum continues to shine with its newest exhibition, Americans All!, opening Sept. 21.

“Americans All! showcases the many positive contributions immigrants have made, and continue to make, to American life and culture,” says Lacy Wulfers, communications manager at Gilcrease. “Regardless of origin, once in the United States, these newest Americans have consistently contributed indispensable ingredients to the ongoing

tulsacattlebaronsball.org

LYRIC THEATRE PRESENTS: WHEN WE’RE GONE

Sept. 15

APPRECIATING IMMIGRANTS

evolution of America’s cultural identity.”

The exhibition is drawn from the museum’s permanent collection and includes more than 50 paintings and sculptures by 26 immigrant artists hailing from Haiti to Germany to Denmark. Local talent is also on display.

“In a deliberate effort to make [the exhibition] resonate with those whose immigrant history and stories may be very different from those of European Americans, an essential element of Americans All! is the inclusion and ongoing rotation of works by first-generation immigrant artists, including those of Tulsa-area immigrants,” Wulfers says.

The exhibition is ongoing. Visit gilcrease. org for details.

This annual Western-themed gala for the American Cancer Society includes live entertainment, food provided by restaurants, Westernthemed games and auctions.

PERFORMANCES HANNIBAL BURESS Sept. 12 TOWER THEATRE See famed

ART

JOHNNY MATHIS Sept. 6 CIVIC CENTER MUSIC HALL Celebrating his 62nd

year in the music industry, Johnny Mathis is Columbia Records’ longest-signed artist. okcciviccenter.com

PHOTO BY BRUCE WATERFIELD, OSU ATHLETICS

Release your inner builder at the ultimate LEGO fan’s paradise. coxcentertulsa.com

Arkansas State on Sept. 15 at home and Temple University on Sept. 20 in Philadelphia.

Game day is sure to be electric in Norman as the University of Oklahoma Sooners begin their first season without quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The team plays at home Sept. 1 versus Florida Atlantic, Sept. 8 versus UCLA, Sept. 22 versus Army and Sept. 29 versus Baylor. They play one away game, Sept. 15, versus Iowa State in Ames.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys also boast a busy September with a bevy of home games: Sept. 8 versus South Alabama, Sept. 15 versus Boise State and Sept.

22 versus Kansas.

One away game in Lawrence is on Sept.

29, versus Kansas.

For more information, visit tulsahurricane.com, soonersports.com and okstate.com, respectively.

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

95

TAKE A SPIN Fried food, Ferris wheels, fabulous exhibits and plenty of fun await you at the Oklahoma State and Tulsa State fairs this month.

Amusement abounds at each carnival, with traditional and heart-pounding rides – from the carousel to the Mega Drop – that excite your inner child or adrenaline junkie.

Stop by Disney on Ice to experience Dare to Dream, the company’s newest show that features Disney heroines including Moana, Frozen’s Anna and Elsa and Cinderella.

Bull-riding fans can’t miss the fun at Xtreme Bulls, and musical performances by talented local and national acts run every night.

Top it all off with a skyride on the Ferris wheel or Midway are you’re all set for an unforgettable weekend.

The Oklahoma State Fair runs Sept. 13-23 and the Tulsa State Fair runs Sept. 27-Oct. 7. Visit okstatefair.com and tulsastatefair. com for more information.

THE JONES SUPPER CLUB FEATURING STEVE TYRELL

Sept. 27

THE JONES ASSEMBLY

Enjoy the tunes of Lake Street Drive. thejonesassembly.com

Sept. 13

Enjoy delicious grub while listening to the tunes of crooner Steve Tyrell.

RIVERWIND CASINO, NORMAN Country crooners

team up for this exciting night of music. riverwind.com

Supply hits the stage.

riverwind.com

FALL OUT BOY Sept. 22 CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA Fall Out Boy is on its new tour with Machine Gun Kelly. chesapeakearena.com

September at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art sees the end of one exhibition and preparations for another.

Visual Voices: Contemporary Chickasaw Art, on display through Sept. 9, is a touring show that began its run in Norman.

“The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is excited to be the first stop on the traveling exhibition tour ... because the Chickasaw Nation has long since been active supporters of the arts in Oklahoma,” says Kaylee Kain, director of communication at the museum.

Ticket to Ride: Artists, Designers, and Western Railways, running Oct. 5-Dec. 30, is an exhibition unique to the museum.

“Ticket to Ride ... is the brainchild of FJJMA’s Adkins Curator, Hadley Jerman,” says Kain. “The exhibition is composed of posters, paintings and graphics documenting the relationship between

96

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

MYRIAD GARDENS SIGNATURE CONCERT FEATURING PARKER MILLSAP Sept. 29 MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS Join us for a

music-filled night under the stars on The Devon Lawn.

SPYAIR Sept. 25 DIAMOND BALLROOM

oklahomacitybotanicalgardens. com

Japanese rock band Spyair rocks the house.

diamondballroom.net

corporate railways and artist’s creative efforts between 1880 and 1930. FJJMA is excited to shed light on the sometimes adverse relationship between bureaucracy and creative expression, which actually thrived during this era.”

Jerman says the show features designers including Thomas Moran, Marie Logan and Sam Hyde Harris, who “used railways to their own ends like travel, adventure and self-promotion.”

For more information, visit ou.edu/fjjma.

ERIN SHAW. BENEATH THE SHALLOW SEA, 2016. ACRYLIC ON CANVAS-MOUNTED PANEL. SERIES OF SEVEN ROUND PANELS. LOAN COURTESY OF ARTIST

Ticket to Ride

THE JONES ASSEMBLY

Sept. 28

AIR SUPPLY Sept. 14 RIVERWIND CASINO, NORMAN Rock duo Air

AMERICAN INDIAN ARTISTS: 20TH CENTURY MASTERS Sept. 1-May 12 NATIONAL COWBOY AND WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM As Lakota

ART

artist Oscar Howe wrote in 1958, “There is much more to Indian art than pretty, stylized pictures.”

nationalcowboymuseum.org

ART

LAKE STREET DRIVE

JOHN CONLEE & THE BELLAMY BROTHERS

thejonesassembly.com

PHOTO COURTESY TULSA STATE FAIR

Where & When

COMMUNIT Y

FIRST FRIDAY GALLERY WALK Sept. 7 THE PASEO ARTS DISTRICT

Art opening receptions showcase the new work of the gallery/studio owners or the work of guest artists. thepaseo.org

ISABELLE DE BORCHGRAVE: FASHIONING ART FROM PAPER Through Sept. 9

OKC MOA This exhibition

features the life-size, trompe l’œil paper costumes of Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave. okcmoa.com

SECOND FRIDAY NORMAN ART WALK Sept. 14 NORMAN ARTS DISTRICT

The art walk is a monthly, free celebration of arts and creativity.

2ndfridaynorman.com

INTO THE FOLD: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ORIGAMI

Ongoing

SCIENCE MUSEUM OKLAHOMA Origami

creations from mere millimeters tall to upwards of 80 feet long captivate guests. sciencemuseumok.org

MEGALODON: LARGEST SHARK THAT EVER LIVED

Ongoing

SAM NOBLE OKLAHOMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NORMAN At 60

feet long, the megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived and a dominant marine predator.

samnoblemuseum.ou.edu

SPORTS UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL GAMES Sept. 1, 8, 22, 29 GAYLORD FAMILY OKLAHOMA MEMORIAL STADIUM, NORMAN College football kicks off in Norman this month. soonersports.com

OKC ENERGY FC MATCH Sept. 23

TAFT STADIUM See the

team take on the Sacramento Republic FC. energyfc.com

FULL MOON BIKE RIDE AND RUN Sept. 24

MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS Ride your

bike or enjoy a run during sunset at the gardens.

oklahomacitybotanicalgardens. com

OKLAHOMA REGATTA FESTIVAL Sept. 28-30 RIVERSPORT ADVENTURES

This celebration of rowing, kayaking, dragon boating, whitewater rafting and family fun includes Oklahoma City University’s Head of the Oklahoma race. riversportokc.org

COMMUNITY YOGA TUESDAYS Sept. 4, 11, 18, 25

MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS Enjoy an

all-levels class led by Lisa Woodard from This Land Yoga.

oklahomacitybotanicalgardens. com

BANJO FEST Sept. 6-8 AMERICAN BANJO MUSEUM The musical

diversity of America’s instrument – the banjo – is proudly on display.

americanbanjomuseum.com

VEGFEST Sept. 8 MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS Join us as

we celebrate healthy living and eating by way of plant-based lifestyles.

oklahomacitybotanicalgardens. com

HOWL AT THE MOON

Sept. 10

MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS If you want

to socialize with your pooch, join us for beers, corn hole and fun for both the owners and the dogs.

oklahomacitybotanicalgardens. com

knowledge of Oklahoma plants and find inspiration for your own garden.

oklahomacitybotanicalgardens. com

PLAZA DISTRICT FESTIVAL Sept. 29

PLAZA DISTRICT The Plaza

DR. G. KEITH SMITH

District Festival is an annual arts event drawing a large audience of local art lovers.

OKC TOWN HALL OKC Town

FIESTAS DE LAS AMERICAS

Sept. 20

Hall kicks off with surgeon G. Keith Smith as he speaks on the future of health care. townhall.publishpath.com

MESTA FESTA Sept. 23 PERLE MESTA PARK The

Mesta Park Neighborhood Association introduced Mesta Festa in 1995 as a fundraiser to usher in beautification and improvements to a beloved neighborhood. mestapark.org

GARDENS WALKING TOUR Sept. 29

MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS Expand your

plazadistrictfestival.com

Sept. 29

CALLE DOS CINCO This year marks the 13th annual celebration of Oklahoma’s rich multicultural heritage during Hispanic Heritage month. historiccapitolhill.com

FALL FESTIVAL AT THE ORR FAMILY FARM

black-tie gala is the largest annual fundraiser benefiting the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. okcmoa.com

OMCA/JDM GOLF TOURNAMENT Sept. 11 TWIN HILLS GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB This

shotgun-start tournament benefits the J.D. McCarty Center’s Camp ClapHans, a residential summer camp for kids with special needs.

jdmc.org

CATTLE BARONS’ BALL Sept. 15

orrfamilyfarm.com

FARMERS PUBLIC MARKET

Experience American Cancer Society’s premier fundraiser.

CHAMPIONS OF HEALTH GALA Sept. 27 NATIONAL COWBOY AND WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM This gala

celebrates people and organizations improving the health of our state through innovative programs.

WINSTAR WORLD CASINO AND RESORT, THACKERVILLE See this

quartet of comedy perform. winstarworldcasino.com

DUNCAN LITTLE THEATRE PRESENTS: EVENING OF SHORTS Sept. 14-15, 20-21 MARLOW OPERA HOUSE See a collection

music singer Billy Currington visits with special guest Locash. choctawcasinos.com

KANSAS Sept. 21 7 CLANS CASINO AND HOTEL, NEWKIRK With a

legendary career spanning more than four decades, Kansas has firmly established itself as one of America’s

See works from famed photographer Lorran Meares.

mgmoa.org

PRCA RODEO OF CHAMPIONS Through Sept. 2 BEUTLER BROTHERS RODEO ARENA, ELK CITY Everybody wanted to be a cowboy as a kid ... the lucky ones grew up to be them. elkcityrodeo.com

ZOOBREW Sept. 28 OKLAHOMA CITY ZOO This

COPPERHEAD RALLY

of interesting and comical shorts during Duncan Little Theatre’s production.

duncanlittletheatre.com

JEFF ROSS AND DAVE ATTELL: BUMPING MICS Sept. 21

WINSTAR WORLD CASINO AND RESORT, THACKERVILLE Two

a fantastic Pink Floyd cover band. grandresortok.com

RONNIE MILSAP Sept. 23 CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK CENTER, ENID Ronnie

Milsap has used pop, rock, and R&B elements to test country’s borders. cnbcenter.com

THE ROOTS Sept. 29 WINSTAR WORLD CASINO AND RESORT, THACKERVILLE The Roots

hit the Global Event Center stage. winstarworldcasino.com

NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA ART SHOW Sept. 28-Oct. 13 GRAHAM COMMUNITY CENTER, PRYOR Join

Sept. 6-9

OKLAHOMA CROSS COUNTRY RACING ASSOCIATION ROUNDS 9 AND 10 Sept. 8-9, 22-23 BIG FOX RUN, CAMERON

With wooded terrain and a gravelly base, this location is a treat for riders and spectators alike. occra.com

THE CASTLE ZOMBIE RUN Sept. 8

THE CASTLE OF MUSKOGEE

Green Country has been infected and The Castle of Muskogee is overrun. okcastle.com

CHEROKEE STRIP IPRA RODEO Sept. 14-15 CHEROKEE STRIP RIDING CLUB ARENA, PERRY The Cherokee Strip Riding Club was established over 40 years ago to bring people together for horseback riding and horse activities.

cherokeestripridingclub.org

GROUNDS, SPAVINAW

Copperhead Rally is the best and fastest-growing biker rally in Northeast Oklahoma. copperheadrunrally.com

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL GAMES Sept. 8-22 BOONE PICKENS STADIUM, STILLWATER College football

kicks off with the Cowboys. okstate.com

COMMUNIT Y

A DAY AT THE RACES

Head to Remington Park in OKC for a Kentucky Derby-esque day of equestrian entertainment.

Penned as “Oklahoma Derby Day,” the Oklahoma Derby has been described as one

XTREME EXPERIENCE AT HALLETT MOTOR RACING CIRCUIT Sept. 21-23 HALLETT MOTOR RACING CIRCUIT, JENNINGS Get behind the wheel of one of our supercars as the driver in this high-speed, three-lap experience.

thextremexperience.com

GREAT LAND RUN 5K, 10K AND HALF MARATHON Sept. 29

MAPLE AVENUE, ENID

The Great Land Run is a USATF-certified, mildly rolling, out-and-back 5K, 10K and half-marathon course.

greatlandrun.com

EXTREME COWBOY RACING STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Sept. 29-30

ROYCE ARENA, EL RENO The Extreme

Cowboy Association is the original and only recognized association for the sport of Extreme Cowboy Racing.

extremecowboyassociation.com

us for the largest juried art show in Northeast Oklahoma.

pryorarts.com

SPORTS

COPPERHEAD RUN RALLY

tasting event features more than 50 beers provided by local breweries, home brewers and distributors. zoofriends.org

THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW Sept. 22 GRAND CASINO HOTEL AND RESORT, SHAWNEE Enjoy

ART

SACRED LANDSCAPES: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF LORRAN MEARES Sept. 22 MABEE GERRER MUSEUM OF ART, SHAWNEE

championsofhealth.org

PERFORMANCES

Sept. 7

BILLY CURRINGTON Sept. 15 CHOCTAW CASINO AND RESORT, DURANT Country

cancer.org

AROUND THE STATE IMPRACTICAL JOKERS

stonerivermusicfestival.com

ORR FAMILY FARM Orr

Family Farm was created as a labor of love by the Orrs and longtime staff to share with all the families of Oklahoma.

iconic, classic rock bands.

firstcouncilcasinohotel.com

grassroots music showcasing primarily Oklahoma bands and musicians.

Sept. 29-Nov. 10

CHARITABLE EVENTS RENAISSANCE BALL Sept. 7 OKLAHOMA CITY GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB This

STONE RIVER MUSIC FESTIVAL Sept. 14-16 STONE RIVER PARK, CHANDLER Join us for

COMMUNITY CHEROKEE NATIONAL HOLIDAY Through Sept. 2 VARIOUS LOCATIONS, TAHLEQUAH The Cherokee

4-Dec. 24

cherokee.org

the sites and sounds of the animal barn every weekend. woolaroc.org

National Holiday celebrates the signing of the Cherokee Nation Constitution in 1839.

CHOCTAW NATION LABOR DAY FESTIVAL AND POWWOW Through Sept. 3 TVSHKA HOMMA TRIBAL GROUNDS, TUSKAHOMA Celebrate

Choctaw culture at this festival.

choctawnation.com

ANIMAL BARN OPEN (WEEKENDS ONLY) Sept.

WOOLAROC MUSEUM AND WILDLIFE PRESERVE, BARTLESVILLE Enjoy

OKMULGEE COUNTY FAIR Sept. 6-8

OKMULGEE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, OKMULGEE

Come to see a myriad of exhibits, livestock shows, a horse show and cattle displays. travelok.com

of the top racing events of the thoroughbred season. Celebrate in style by donning your Sunday best and cheering on the races from the sidelines.

Entertaining activities abound – events include a bow-tie and hat contest, a wine festival, food trucks and live music.

The first race kicks off at 3 p.m. Those 18 and over are welcome to the casino and to on-site race betting.

For more information, visit remingtonpark.com.

comedians come together for a night of laughs. winstarworldcasino.com

CONCERTS

PHOTO BY DUSTIN ORONA PHOTOGRAPHY

LEE GREENWOOD Sept. 1 7 CLANS PARADISE CASINO, RED ROCK Few

artists have ever written a song that has become more a part of America’s cultural landscape than Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”

firstcouncilcasinohotel.com

EDDIE MONEY Sept. 8 CHOCTAW CASINO AND RESORT, DURANT A star

from the 1970s returns as Eddie Money hits the stage. choctawcasinos.com

311 AND THE OFFSPRING

Sept. 8

WINSTAR WORLD CASINO AND RESORT, THACKERVILLE 311 and The

Offspring come together on the Never-Ending Summer Tour. winstarworldcasino.com

SEPTEMBER 2018 | WWW.OKMAG.COM

97

Where & When

MAHOGANY AND CHROME BOAT SHOW Sept. 6-8 ARROWHEAD YACHT CLUB AND MARINA, AFTON

Enjoy classic, vintage and retro boats on display. heartland-classics.org

OKLAHOMA HORSE FAIR

including jewelry, pottery, sculpture, photography and more. ramonatheatre.com

WINGS AND WHEELS FESTIVAL Sept. 15 ANADARKO MUNICIPAL AIRPORT This event was

Sept. 7-8

created to highlight the city’s airport. anadarkochamber.org

20 vendors offering everything for the horse and rider.

WINGS OVER WEATHERFORD Sept. 15 STAFFORD AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM High-

STEPHENS COUNTY FAIR AND EXPO CENTER, DUNCAN Enjoy more than okhorsefair.com

WYANDOTTE NATION TRIBAL POWWOW Sept. 7-9 WYANDOTTE NATION TRIBAL GROUNDS, WYANDOTTE Enjoy a

variety of dance contests at this cultural celebration.

wyandotte-nation.org

flying festivities highlight this aviation event.

staffordmuseum.org

Sept. 20

La Cava, Cage and Overground

Shrine Circus brings out hilarious clowns, amazing animals and delicious treats.

September provides a festival in downtown Tulsa, a screwball comedy with an edge and a potentially good horror flick.

DEEP FORK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE 25TH ANNIVERSARY Sept. 15 DEEP FORK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, OKMULGEE Celebrate the

MUSTANG WESTERN DAYS

anniversary of a wildlife refuge with family-friendly activities.

WILD HORSE PARK, MUSTANG Enjoy art

BEDOUIN SHRINE CIRCUS

Sept. 7-8

shows, chili cook-offs, store front decorations, rodeos and a pancake breakfast. mustangwesterndays.com

WINE’N ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL Sept. 7-9 DOWNTOWN DUNCAN This

fun festival features local Oklahoma wineries, artists, food and vendors. travelok.com

FALL TRAIL RIDE Sept. 8 WOOLAROC MUSEUM AND WILDLIFE PRESERVE, BARTLESVILLE The trail ride

covers approximately 15 miles of terrain that is rarely, if ever, seen by the general public.

woolaroc.org

BEDOUIN SHRINE CLOWN CAR AND BIKE COLLECTORS SHOW Sept. 8 HONOR HEIGHTS PARK, MUSKOGEE This event invites all auto enthusiasts out to view rows of rare and classic cars and motorcycles.

travelok.com

SKIATOOK PIONEER DAY FESTIVAL AND RODEO Sept. 13-15

SKIATOOK CENTRAL PARK

Filled with lots of spirit, creativity and fun, the festival and rodeo are must-see events. skiatookchamber.com

ELK CITY FALL FESTIVAL

Sept. 15-16

CONVENTION CENTER, ELK CITY Fall brings falling

leaves, football and a fabulous festival. visitelkcity.com

ARTS ‘N ACTION FESTIVAL Sept. 15

TILLMAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE SQUARE, FREDERICK Guests are

invited to browse booths filled with original artwork,

fws.gov

SOUTHEAST EXPO CENTER, MCALESTER The Bedouin

cityofmcalester.com

MEDICINE STONE MUSIC FESTIVAL Sept. 20-22 DIAMONDHEAD RESORT, TAHLEQUAH This unique,

Sept. 28-30

multicultural, community wide-event. lawtonok.gov

At Home

live music retreat stands alone as the premier Red Dirt music experience. medicinestoneok.com

COMANCHE NATION FAIR Sept. 21-23

COMANCHE NATION COMPLEX, LAWTON The

Comanche Nation Fair is the largest event for the tribe.

comanchenation.com

ARCADIA ROUTE 66 NEONFEST Sept. 21-23 GLASSBOY STUDIOS, ARCADIA Stunning neon

displays abound during the festival.

facebook.com/arcadianeonfest

FIN AND FEATHER FALL FESTIVAL Sept. 28-30 FIN AND FEATHER RESORT, GORE Fin and Feather Resort

hosts its annual festival, one of the most popular arts and crafts shows in the state.

finandfeatherresort.com

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL ELMER THOMAS PARK, LAWTON This is a

OLD TIME THRESHING BEE AND TWO-CYLINDER SHOW Sept. 28-29

HIGHWAY 58, FAIRVIEW

Enjoy one of the world’s largest actual working threshing exhibitions. mchsok.net

TULSA, OKC AND AROUND THE STATE, HEAD TO OKMAG.COM. 98

Around Town

Summer is, perhaps, boom time for film festivals (the chills of Sundance in January notwithstanding), and it’s easy to see why.

Festivals involve walking, so the weather better be nice. In my mind, that makes September an ideal month for a fest – far preferable to the dog days of summer heat.

The Tulsa Overground Festival, an intermittent institution for the past 20 years, has moved its schedule around during its life.

This year’s festival is over the weekend of Sept. 14-15. The Overground provides a more balanced approach to festival-going than many; officially a film and music festival, it features both cinematic screenings and performances by a variety of bands, with events clustered downtown. The festival also features Q&A sessions, workshops with filmmakers and a virtual reality forum with games. With its compact schedule and array of attractions, it’s a good way to dip your toes into the festival scene without submitting to the rigors of a longer festival.

FOR MORE EVENTS IN

FILM AND CINEMA

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

Gregory La Cava has never been as well known as Frank Capra and Preston Sturges, practitioners of the Golden Age of Hollywood sub-genre called the screwball comedy. But La Cava crafted one of the all-time funniest movies with 1936’s My Man Godfrey, out this month on DVD and Blu-Ray in a new 4K restoration from the Criterion Collection.

Set against the jarringly serious backdrop of the Great Depression, the film tackles poverty and class without sentimentality.

One of its most memorable settings is the shanty town where Godfrey – the business-

man turned “forgotten man” turned butler – lives, but the film’s script is full of hilarious lines, over-the-top characters and a frenetic sense of energy. The inimitable William Powell stars in the title role, and his chemistry with ex-wife Carole Lombard, playing the wealthy but flighty millionaire who brings him into her home, crackles with playfulness and romantic subtext.

Despite being a film that ends happily, with bows tied around the rough edges, lingering images of poverty give My Man Godfrey an edge that’s missing from many other, more escapist, screwball comedies. This new release explores that side of the film, featuring newsreel footage about poverty from the 1930s and analytical essays by Nick Pinkerton and Farran Smith Nehme.

In Theaters

September follows August’s lead in film’s yearly cycle: too late for the prime cuts of blockbuster meat, but too early for more substantial fare. Therefore, it often has to subsist on leftovers and scraps of genre fare and films too weak to survive in competitive environments.

Still, the month can have its pleasures, especially if you don’t mind horror films and other fringier affairs. I’m not a huge fan of horror films, but I look forward to the upcoming Nicholas Cage vehicle Mandy. Cage is (forgive the pun) a national treasure who regularly spins trash into gold with his gonzo approach to acting. This film, where he takes revenge on backwoods cultists destroying his life, seems especially well suited to his bugeyed approach.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

Eran Harrill

E

ran Harrill, an Oklahoma State University alumnus, is the CEO of the Oklahoma City Black Chamber of Commerce. He also has had a long career in the National Guard, along with experience in business marketing and public service. We caught up with Harrill and got his thoughts on …

… the many hats he wears.

Until earlier this year, I spent all of my nearly 10-year military career in Alpha Company of the 179th Battalion. I was part of the 20112012 deployment to Afghanistan and was stationed at COP Najil in Laghman Province.

In 2009, I started working with AT&T Advertising Solutions, which became YP Holdings, during my deployment to Afghanistan. In 2012, I was asked to help rebrand the chamber, which … had transitioned from the Capitol Chamber of Commerce to the Black Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Oklahoma City. I have been blessed in my civilian career to work with many great organizations and honored to serve the state and country in a variety of capacities.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma was one of five states selected by the National Skills Coalition to advance state policies and programs. We are honored to work with the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development, representing the state on a national level as we build work-based learning opportunities. Another major piece of work is diversifying our public safety workforce. Over the last couple of years, we started working with several law enforcement agencies [and] helping them have a thoughtful focus on hiring officers who are more representative of the communities they serve. Last year, this initiative led to the creation of the Minorities in Public Safety Scholarship program.

Earlier this year, after helping to secure $1.4 million in development funding, the OKC Black Chamber did a historical ground breaking at Northeast 23rd Street and Rhode Island Avenue. In July, we followed that up with a ribbon cutting on the first health clinic to be opened in northeast OKC in over a decade.

100

OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2018

… young people as public servants.

Through the military and the chamber, I speak to many young people about the importance of selfless service. One of the biggest pieces of advice I give is that the basis of any type of service is just that – to serve. Too many times we see people rise through the ranks and watch them forget that being a public servant means that you truly have the thoughts and welfare of other people first in mind. I once had a young lady ask me, “How should I feel when older people tell me that I need to just sit down and wait my turn?” Having experience and a master’s degree, she was certainly qualified to have a voice on the

topic, but her youth was working against her.

I told her to take that feeling of frustration, box it up and hold onto it for the next 20-plus years because one day there will be a young person in front of her who is full of great ideas and looking to her as a mentor.

Public service is much like this. The things you advocate for and the foundations you lay today will have a profound impact in someone’s life in the future. How positive that impact is remains up to you. To have a hand in changing people’s life for the better, there are few honors that are greater.

FOR AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH HARRILL, VISIT OKMAG.COM/WEB.

PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

… accomplishments at the chamber.

SEPT. 28 - OCT. 6, 2018

You are invited to experience the Chickasaw Nation Annual Meeting & Festival — a week of celebration, honoring Chickasaw culture and tradition.

For a full list of events, please visit AnnualMeeting.Chickasaw.net or call (580) 371-2040.

Bill Anoatubby, Governor T h e C h i C k a s aw N aT i o N