Holiday cheer

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inside

INSIDE ’Tis the season for toasts, entertaining, fine dining, spending time with

friends and family and experiencing all the bright lights, laughter and warmth our city has to offer. Check out our coverage of all these glorious things in this week’s Holiday Cheer special issue. Cover by Anna Shilling.

Culture Native American Heritage Month

48 Holiday Cheer Lights on,

Broadway!

9 12

Election impact and outcomes Education school calendar changes

49 Holiday Cheer Red Earth Treefest

50 Holiday Cheer MarriageMelody

51 Holiday Cheer Cameron Buchholtz comedy

52 Holiday Cheer Great Russian Nutcracker 53 Holiday Cheer Southern Momma

54 Holiday Cheer Mike Wimmer 55 Holiday Cheer Beer Yoga 56 Holiday Cheer OKC Thunder

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32 Holiday Cheer meet the

brewer: Bruce Sanchez 33 Downtown in December 37 Holiday Cheer Tarahumara’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina

38 Holiday Cheer The Copa, Finishline and Angles’ updates

41 Holiday Cheer Rococo updates 42 Briefs 43 Holiday Cheer Chesapeake menu additions

44 Gazedibles + Holiday Cheer parties

46 Holiday Cheer Friendsgiving traditions

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57 Film streaming Native American films

58 Calendar

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13 Forty Under 40 29 Commentary Robin Meyers 29 Letters 30 Chicken-Fried News

arts & Culture

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61 Holiday Cheer Vices in El Reno 62 Feature Vastye 64 Live Music

FUN

news

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COVER

Mission statement Oklahoma Gazette’s mission is to stimulate, examine and inform the public on local quality of life issues and social needs, to recognize community accomplishments, and to provide a forum for inspiration, participation and interaction across all media.

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NEWS

Peace path

Dakota, after city officials expressed concerns over environmental impact, could threaten the tribe’s water supply.

“Taking advantage of natural resources [on native lands] has been happening to Native Americans for years, and the cycle continues to repeat itself,” said Roberta Botello, president of the recently formed Native American Faculty and Staff Association at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). “When people don’t have a perspective on what ‘rez life’ is up in North Dakota with the Sioux, they don’t understand that they don’t have an infrastructure like Edmond or Oklahoma City.

I know the best thing I can do is say my prayers and keep those people in my thoughts in everything I do today.”

As the United States and indigenous tribes mark Native American Heritage Month, protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline enter their seventh month and debates over sovereign rights swell locally and nationally. By George Lang

Seven months after they began, the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests at North Dakota’s Standing Rock Indian Reservation have converged with Native American Heritage Month, bringing even greater focus on the thousands of people from various indigenous tribes and nations working to halt pipeline development on Standing Rock Sioux Tribe lands.

The tribe’s goals are, in essence, to protect water sources and sacred land and enforce government-tribal treaties and tribal sovereignty.

The conflict at Standing Rock pushed Sterlin Harjo, the Seminole-Muscogee director of Barking Water, Four Sheets to the Wind, This May Be the Last Time and his latest project Mekko, to use his talents and profile to shine a brighter spotlight on the issues of environmental spoilage and the ongoing violation of tribal sovereignty.

“Being an activist was never my thing — I always wanted to be an artist — but I found myself leading a rally yesterday in Oklahoma City to support Standing Rock, so you have to do your part,” Harjo said on a short break during what is always his busiest month.

“It is pulling all these different tribes together. There’s a lot of apathy in the 4

Hundreds of campers at North Dakota’s Standing Rock Indian Reservation participate in a prayer ceremony. Indigenous tribes from across North America show solidarity with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s struggle to protect its natural resources and sacred land. | Photo Wade Dunstan / for Oklahoma Gazette

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world — money always wins, corporations are too powerful — but at Standing Rock, they’ve stood up and said no, that we can do something about it, but we have to come together and we have to be peaceful.”

Peace is always a good policy, but for the people banding together to protest the DAPL, it is essential when going up against corporate and governmental power structures. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners planned the 1,172-mile underground pipeline to transfer oil from fields near Tioga, North Dakota, through Iowa and to a tank facility in Patoka, Illinois.

The pipeline is expected to cost $3.7 billion.

The issues that initially forced the Sioux Nation and Meskwaki tribes into action were the processes by which Energy Transfer Partners acquired the right-of-way for the pipeline and the potential long-term environmental impact.

The company secured the right-of-way through a combination of voluntary easements, or right-of-use agreements, and eminent domain.

The Sioux Nation argued that it was not properly consulted on the development and the underground structure, which was rerouted away from Bismarck, North

Busiest month Native filmmaker Sterlin Harjo recently visited protests in Standing Rock, where he saw a colleague get arrested. | Photo provided

You hear songs from all these different cultures, you see people taking care of each other, feeding each other, living the way humans are probably supposed to live.

Sterlin Harjo

Harjo said that Native American Heritage Month seems a little redundant, given that for him and all other members of the First Nations, every month is Native American Heritage Month. However, it’s not without its perks.

“The upside to Native American month is a lot of people I know wouldn’t have as lucrative of careers if not for Native American month,” he said. “A lot of artists get asked to go, and paid to go, to speak at colleges and show their work. There’s a lot of art shows that happen this month — some of these artists wouldn’t get as much exposure without Native American Heritage Month. As an artist myself, I’m always booked up in November. I leave tomorrow, and I’ll be back in 11 days, then I’ll be back out again.” continued on page 6

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Water protectors attempting to defend Standing Rock Sioux Tribe natural resources and sacred land stand near a river as armed police line up along a hilltop near development of the Dakota Access Pipeline development. | Photo Wade Dunstan / for Oklahoma Gazette

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Those 11 days away from home include time at Standing Rock, where Harjo will shoot video as part of a documentary project with several filmmakers.

Because major news networks have expended few resources in covering the protests — likely a casualty of the incessant 2016 presidential election coverage, he said — Harjo and the other documentarians will capture the spirit of the protests as well as law enforcement’s treatment of protesters.

“It mobilizes you, because when you have 100 friends in jail, you have to do something,” said Harjo, who saw his friend and a frequent actor in his films, Casey Camp-Horinek, arrested during the protests.

“When you’re there, you feel like you’re in a really special place,” Harjo said. “You hear songs from all these different cultures, you see people taking care of each other, feeding each other, living the way humans are probably supposed to live.”

Chance Rush, a youth organizer and motivational speaker from Broken Arrow who recently visited the protest site, agreed.

“I think when you go back to the Stone Camp [on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation], you see a lot of togetherness,” Rush said. “I think a lot of the individuals who have been on the front line need to step back, go pray down at the camp and to go back in. The togetherness is important. We have to understand why we’re even there. Don’t be there if you want to create violence. Don’t be there if you want to be disrespectful. It’s supposed to be peaceful.”

Nonviolent protest can be hard for many to process.

“It’s driving the Dakota Access Pipeline people insane, because they would love it if we were in the streets, fighting and throwing rocks and burning things,” Harjo said. “That’s what they really want us to do — to the point where they’re even lying about it. They would

Energy Transfer Partners Founded: 1995 Headquarters: Dallas Fortune 500 company Parent company of Dakota Access LLC, which is developing the DAPL Some divisions/subsidiaries: >> Dakota Access Pipeline: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois >> Fayetteville Express Pipeline: Arkansas and Mississippi >> Florida Gas Transmission: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida >> Lone Star: Texas >> Midcontinent Express Pipeline: Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana Mississippi and Alabama >> Panhandle Eastern Pipeline: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan >> Rover Pipeline: (pending regulatory approval) Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan >> Sea Robin: Oklahoma, Louisiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan >> Tiger: Texas, Louisiana >> Transwestern: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, California >> Trunkline: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan Other ETP operations: Lone Star, Sunoco Logistics Partners, Southern Union Company, ETP HoldCo Corporation, PennTex Midstream Partners (purchase of 100 percent of general partner share should be completed by late 2016), Citrus Corp.

Flags representing North American indigenous tribes line a hilltop at North Dakota’s Standing Rock Indian Reservation. | Photo Wade Dunstan / for Oklahoma Gazette

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Youth organizer and speaker Chance Rush recently visited Standing Rock. | Photo provided

love us to do it, because they could strike back and not be vilified for it. Instead, they’re having to be violent against the water protectors up there and it looks really bad on them.”

While the protests have been largely peaceful, Botello said the peace is not always reciprocated.

She said that with mainstream media not paying sufficient attention, filmmakers like Harjo can do a lot to capture what is happening at Standing Rock.

“I absolutely hope that it will open more eyes. When I turn on the TV, I expect to see the reality of what is happening,” she said. “Our Natives are being maced and dogs are being released on women and children and people are being shot with rubber bullets and their faces are black-and-blue. We’re not seeing that in the news media — I’m seeing that on Facebook.”

‘Indian Problem’

As early as George Washington’s presidency, the federal government regarded First Nation peoples and their use of valuable land as the “Indian Problem.”

Whether it was the displacement and relocation of the Trail of Tears or the opening of Indian Territory to non-Native

settlement during Oklahoma land runs, a continuing thread through the history of the United States of America involves taking Native American property, disregarding tribal culture and history and neglecting the agreements made between tribal and federal governments.

Washington’s view was that Native Americans should be “civilized,” which meant teaching them European values, lifestyle and religion, thereby diluting tribal systems by assimilating indigenous people into Western culture.

Harjo said that variations of this doctrine continued well into the 20th century.

“My grandmother, who helped raise me, was part of a program where they relocated people to cities,” he said. “They offered them jobs. They’d say, ‘Come to the city and make money,’ but really it was to take them out of their communities and break up the tribes.”

With the Dakota Access Pipeline standoff, the “Indian Problem” is being handled in much the same way it has been for the intervening 300 years.

But now, with the prevalence of social media, it is much harder to get away with blatant land grabs and much easier to organize protests.

“It is such a prominent issue, and it affects the entire community,” said Jessica New Moon, a Ponca and president of the UCO Native American Student Association. “Even though we all come from different tribes, we’re all connected.”

Like Black History Month, Native American Heritage Month is one of the few times tribal issues gain traction in mainstream culture.

But if the anti-DAPL protests have any impact beyond their immediate goals, it could be that they coalesce North American tribes and nations into a unified political force, one that can command attention during any month of the year.

“Just the fact that we’re alive is powerful,” Harjo said.

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NEWS

e l e c t i on

Thousands gathered at the state Capitol for a 2015 teacher rally. The call continues after voters nixed a proposed 1-cent sales tax hike to help fund education. | Photo Gazette / file

What next?

Despite election outcomes, teacher pay is still an issue.

After hearing reports of long early voting lines, first-time voter Christina Sommers visited her polling station early to cast her ballot in the November general election.

The 18-year-old arrived at 6:55 a.m. at the polling location near her home in Choctaw and was one of the first to submit a ballot.

“In my government class, my teacher spent a lot of time talking about the upcoming election,” said Sommers, who graduated high school in May and attends Rose State College in Midwest City. “He encouraged us to vote, as it was part of our civic duty.”

The presidential election and Oklahoma’s seven state questions drove Sommers’ enthusiasm for democracy. As she completed her ballot, Sommers believed she was lending her voice to the state’s and nation’s future. One policy proposal greatly impacting her and future generations was State Question 779, a constitutional measure to raise state sales and use tax by 1 percent to fund education, including a teacher pay raise.

“Teachers deserve more,” Sommers said. “I’ve seen them struggle over their pay. They deserve it.”

Whether teachers deserve raises or not wasn’t the policy question before Oklahoma voters, which opponents pointed out in the weeks leading up to Election Day. SQ 779 asked voters to decide whether to raise the state sales and use tax to fund a teacher raise as well as distribute new funding streams to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education and Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly disagreed with the ballot plan to deliver a $5,000 pay raise to all public school teachers. The current average salary for Oklahoma teachers is $44,549, below the

By Laura Eastes

national and regional average. All said, 853,573 Oklahomans voted against the measure and 583,429 voted in its favor, Oklahoma State Election Board data shows.

Educator perspective

As election night results rolled in, a number of SQ 779 backers — including many who work in public education — shared their reactions via social media.

Among them was Lori Kennedy-Goodbary, a teacher at Edmond Public Schools’ Cheyenne Middle School.

“We took it for granted that it was a done deal. I never really thought it would fail,” said Kennedy-Goodbary before she took a deep breath. “I was in tears thinking nearly 300,000 people in Oklahoma don’t respect my career and think I am a glorified baby sitter. That’s what I felt. It was a stab in the heart.”

SQ 779 was fiercely debated in the months before the election as proponents and opponents generally agreed a teacher pay increase was very much needed. The disagreement was over how to best finance the raise. Opposition groups said shifting around state budget funds could make room for the raise. Groups like OCPA Impact and Oklahoma Deserves Better insisted a tax increase was unnecessary and could hurt the working class, poor and local economies.

Lawmakers’ chance

After the defeat of SQ 779, many Oklahomans wonder what’s next regarding teacher pay. The measure’s proponents and opponents agree the issue is an important one.

Five days after the election, Oklahoma’s Children, Our Future, the coalition responsible for proposing the constitution-

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al amendment, released an open letter to Oklahoma lawmakers. It was posted on PassAPlan.org, and Oklahomans were encouraged to add their name to the seven-paragraph letter.

“It is time for you to take bold action and pass a plan that adequately addresses Oklahoma’s education funding crisis and massive teacher shortage,” the letter’s first sentence reads.

At least one lawmaker is already working on a legislative plan to invest in public school teachers. Earlier this year, Sen. David Holt, R-Oklahoma City, proposed a $10,000 teacher pay raise. The proposal, which included calls for tax reform and earmarking revenue growth, failed to advance.

With time before the legislative session begins in February, the northwest Oklahoma City lawmaker aims to again file legislation to raise teacher pay.

“I think the statement that the voters of Oklahoma made Tuesday was not a rejection of a teacher pay raise,” Holt told Oklahoma Gazette two days after the general election. “I think it was a statement that legislators need to do a better plan.”

The lawmaker envisions a teacher raise bill with multiple funding streams. He suggested enacting taxes on currently exempt items like auto services, cable television and overnight trailer park rentals.

Holt plans to spend the next month developing a teacher pay proposal to bring a $10,000 raise, which would put Oklahoma closer to the national average. If the legislation moves forward, it would take a few

At-a-glance >> 1,467,560 ballots were cast during the November General Election. >> 1,452,992 Oklahomans voted for president, an increase of 118,120 votes over the 2012 election and 9,669 fewer votes than in the 2008 election. >> State Question 779, a proposal to raise the state sales and use tax by 1 percent to help fund education, received 39.4 percent of the vote in Oklahoma County. Southern Oklahoma’s Jefferson County recorded the most “yes” votes with 53.8 percent of the vote. >> Oklahoma County overwhelmingly rejected State Question 777, a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit Oklahoma lawmakers and state agencies from enacting laws regulating or restricting agricultural production, with 30.7 percent of voters for the proposal. For State Question 792, a measure calling for alcohol reform, 71.1 percent of Oklahoma County voters voted for the proposal.

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Sen. David Holt says he will propose legislation to bring a $10,000 pay raise to Oklahoma teachers. | Photo Gazette / file

years before teachers would see the increase reflected in their paychecks.

Regardless, Holt believes it’s essential to move forward on a plan.

“If we do abandon the issue of teacher pay, we will simply not have the type of teachers in Oklahoma that we want,” Holt said.

New plan

Crisis is a term often associated with public education in Oklahoma. The state has a deepening teacher shortage, fewer dollars coming into classrooms and no statewide teacher pay raise since 2008, despite many legislative attempts, which failed to advance.

When Oklahoma’s Children, Our Future introduced its education sales tax plan in October 2015, the plan and its championed supporters ushered a statewide boost in teacher morale, KennedyGoodbary said.

After 25 years in the family and consumer sciences classroom, KennedyGoodbary is a committed and passionate educator. The National Board-certified teacher is nearing retirement. A pay increase would lift retirement savings, which could make the difference between enjoying retirement and retiring but seeking a second job.

“It was the light at the end of the tunnel,” Kennedy-Goodbary said of SQ 779. “It was just enough of an increase to not be broke at the end of every month.”

Scrolling through social media, educators posted their post-Election Day classroom and school experiences. Based on Oklahoma voters’ decision, many said that they sensed people don’t appreciate teachers and the role they play in shaping Oklahoma’s future. Others received encouraging emails and notes from school leaders or parent-teacher associations.

It worries longtime educators like Kennedy-Goodbary that fewer people pursue teaching and young teachers leave the profession for careers with higher pay.

She is hopeful that lawmakers will step up, not just to propose teacher pay legislation, but also to pass it.

“We’ve got to get something in place,” she said.

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NEWS

Learning days Oklahoma City school leaders revisit the calendar debate. By Laura Eastes

Following the lead of other urban school districts around the country, the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education pushed forward on a plan to boost student learning by closing the achievement gap in 2010.

Revising the school calendar, leaders explained, was an academic improvement strategy. Simply put, shorter time away from school would increase retention rates. Student remediation would happen when it was most needed — during the school year — with mid-semester breaks offering learning interventions to at-risk students.

At the time, leaders of Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) described the approach to the calendar, called continuous learning, as visionary. The district was acting ahead of its time, and it was predicted other school systems would following the lead. A lot has changed since OKCPS began its continuous learning calendar during the 2011-12 school year.

Four different administrators have overseen the state’s largest school district, state academic standards varied from school year to school year, there was overhaul to create the district’s curriculum department and then a dwindling state budget mixed with loss of federal funds left the district with $30 million less to operate with.

Circumstances have changed, and with no clear indicators that student achievement increased over the past few years, a new set of district leaders will decide whether to continue with the current calendar, switch back to a traditional one or develop a blend of the two.

Continuous learning

When Oklahoma City students began the school year Aug.1, it marked the sixth straight academic year on the continuous

learning calendar. Under the approach, classes begin on the first Monday in August, followed by a two-week break in October and then a three-week break in December.

For the second half of the year, students are out for two weeks in March and end classes at the end of May for an eight-week summer break.

In many ways, OKCPS’ continuous learning calendar resembles the yearround school approach with a shorter summer break and days off added to traditional breaks, typically around holidays.

Poor execution

Ruth Veales, who represents the northeast section of Oklahoma City and Spencer, is the only board member who remains from the eight-person board that approved the calendar change six years ago.

Veales said members of the District 5 community advisory board advocated for the continuous learning calendar, which went into effect at District 5’s Rogers Middle School and Douglass Mid-High School four months before the December 2010 vote.

“We initiated that for the purpose of academic performance,” Veales said. “That was the key, academic performance.”

The district’s intersession program was a crucial aspect to improving academic achievement. Intersession, offered during fall, winter and spring breaks, provides additional learning opportunities for at-risk students.

District leaders created the program to reach students at a variety of different levels, like struggling readers, English language learners and middle and high school students needing to catch up on algebraic equations.

As part of the voluntary program, principals and teachers approached parents

to encourage student enrollment. Lack of interest and communication barriers prevented the district from reaching all poorly performing students.

“I think one of the biggest challenges we’ve had is actually getting the kids who need it the most to intersession,” said Lynn Barnes, executive director of pre-K-12 academics. “We do have a turnout, but typically, it is not the children who need it the most. We can’t force families to send certain students.”

In math and English, student achievement remains virtually unchanged over the past seven years, according to district data presented to the board during the Nov. 7 meeting. In science, student achievement has decreased drastically since 2012, two years before state lawmakers approved new science standards.

National studies on programs similar to continuous learning are inconclusive in academic achievement. Research has supported the claim that students do forget or unlearn during summer breaks; however, studies specifically examining learning outcomes comparing year-round and traditional school find little difference in academic performance.

No indication of academic improvement in the data has cast doubts on intersession — not only its ability to reach students but in the quality of the program offered to students present. Veales said parents shared with her that their students were seated at a computer and received little instruction from a classroom teacher.

Board member Gloria Torres, who served as an OKCPS principal in 2010, said the calendar and intersession were never fully implemented and no solution was developed for ensuring at-risk students attended intersessions. If the board approved a continuous learning calendar for the upcoming school year, she questions if intersessions would be implemented as intended.

Financial considerations

A switch to a traditional calendar eliminates opportunities for a program like intersession and teacher professional development during breaks. With school shut down longer during the summer months, OKCPS would see a savings of $525,000, according to a district estimate.

As the district continues to muddle through a tough financial year and another expected, financial savings have to be considered, said board member Bob Hammack.

“That’s a huge sum of money,” Hammack said. “How do I go to people and say, ‘We had a chance to save a half-million dollars from changing over to system A from system B; and system A is not doing what we hoped it would do in the first place.’ You better have really good reasons to say why you walked away from a halfmillion dollars.” from left Lee Elementary School students Jackie Carrera and Emili Carrion study leaves and transfer what they see to paper. This month, Oklahoma City Public Schools leaders decide on a districtwide calendar plan. | Photo Gazette file

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OKCPS 2017-18 calendar proposals At Monday’s Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Aurora Lora is expected to make a recommendation for one of the three calendar proposals.

The board is expected to call the recommendation to a vote. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the administration building, 900 N. Klein Ave. Continuous learning calendar Classes begin: Aug. 1 Fall break: Oct. 9-Oct. 20 (intersession Oct.9-Oct.11) Winter break: Dec. 13-Jan. 1 (intersession Dec. 13-Dec. 15) Spring break: March 12-March 23 (intersession March 12-16) School ends: May 29 Traditional calendar Classes begin: Aug. 21 Fall break: Oct. 16-Oct. 20 Winter break: Dec. 25-Jan. 8 Spring break: March 19-23 School ends: May 29 Hybrid calendar Classes begin: Aug. 16 Fall break: Oct. 16-Oct. 20 Winter break: Dec. 18-Jan. 1 Spring break: March 19-March 23 School ends: May 24

If OKCPS switched to a hybrid calendar model, the district could save close to $350,000.

Last month, in order to cut expenses, OKCPS did not offer intersession to students. Voluntary educator professional development was offered to the district’s 2,600 teachers during fall break. The district reports 805 teachers participated.

The program was also eliminated for winter break but will return for spring break.

Teachers and their union support the continuous learning calendar. A major reason cited is the long breaks, which allow teachers much-needed rest. District officials say the continuous learning calendar has served as a recruiting tool because teachers favor the schedule.

The district distributed calendar surveys to parents, community members, teachers, support staff and principals.

Parents received the survey by text message or phone call, and just over 6,000 answered questions, producing split results toward the current calendar.

Superintendent Aurora Lora is expected to deliver a calendar recommendation to the board during Monday’s meeting.

Most recent state budget numbers will likely weigh heavily in the first-year superintendent’s recommendation.

Ultimately, it will be the board’s decision to continue with continuous learning or make a change.

CLASS OF 2016 VISIT OKC.BIZ TO SEE THE FULL FORTY UNDER 40 PRESENTATION

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Forty Under 40

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s the Forty Under 40 Class of 2016 was assembled, we learned a number of remarkable things about the honorees.

It was exciting to discover their depth of commitment to living in Oklahoma City and their positive feelings about the community.

Many have old-fashioned reasons for deciding to live in Oklahoma City, such as family values, friendliness and its strong sense of community.

Others are drawn to its emerging urbanism, dynamic growth and

opportunity. Each of them in their own way make a difference and move OKC in a positive direction.

Their dreams and aspirations bode well for the future of our city. There’s hardy commitment to fostering the arts, supporting transportation enhancements and building businesses that add vibrancy to our urban mosaic.

Oklahoma Gazette is pleased to introduce to our readers 40 citizens who make Oklahoma City a great place to live.

CL ASS OF 2016

INDEX Sarah Adams-Cornell.......... 26 Aimee Ahpeatone................. 15

www.okc.biz

Tiffany Astl............................ 27 Miguel A. Baez..................... 25 Bryan Bagby.......................... 17 Regina J. Banks.................... 25 Gabriel Bird............................ 19 Kayla Bonewell..................... 23 Kamisha D. Busby................ 22 741 NORTH PHILLIPS AVENUE | 405.239.3900

Jenna Byrnes........................ 20 Graham Colton...................... 19 Christian C. Cox.................... 18 John W. Davenport............. 22 Bobbie Earles........................ 17 Jessica Farling....................... 21 Jack Fowler........................... 20 Jeremy P. Gardner................ 21 Jared Garner......................... 20 Nathaniel Goodwin.............. 25 Joshua Harlow...................... 22 Jason R. Henderson............ 20 Chad Hodges......................... 18 Corey Horsch......................... 18 Elizabeth Isaac.........................18 Sara Kaplan........................... 26 John Krenger......................... 21 Shannon M. Lavicky............ 26 Justin Lawrence................... 22 Blake Lawrence..................... 17 Aurora Lora............................ 16 Reji M. Pappy........................ 26 Ted Perry............................... 27 Ashley E. Garcia Quintana.... 16 Anataya Rucker..................... 15 Brittni Shull............................ 17 Jenny Rodgers Stewart....... 21 Katie Tiegreen ..................... 23 Melissa Vincent.................... 25 Kevin Watson........................ 24 Lyndi Zavy ........................... 24

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SPONSORS

Aimee Ahpeatone

AGE

38

Owner, Mosaic Mental Health; partner, Sweet Sixteenth LLC; co-owner Well Beauty Nail Studio Aimee Ahpeatone is a real estate developer, nail studio owner, consultant and counselor. She owns multiple companies and is a partner in Sweet Sixteenth LLC, which is responsible for much of the development in Oklahoma City’s Plaza District. Her company, Mosaic Mental Health, is owned entirely by women, as is her Plaza District nail salon, Well Beauty Nail Studio.

She is committed to making the world a better place and is pursuing that goal from several directions.

“I’ve spent 10 years of my life committed to working with victims of trauma,” Ahpeatone said. “I have worked mostly with children and teens of physical and sexual assault. I have spent time other countries, helping improve the status of mental health and equality among the sexes. My company advocates for those who have a limited voice by providing mental health services to a variety of disenfranchised folks, including survivors of trauma, children and folks in the LGBTQ community.”

Mosaic Mental Health provides counseling for children, adults, couples, families and groups, and services can be provided in the patient’s home, school, office or at Mosaic’s Oklahoma City offices.

Ahpeatone and her co-owners and fellow counselors Miranda Bergman and LaDonna White can treat issues like substance abuse, depression, trauma and anxiety.

Anataya Rucker offers hope in the face of despair through her work with elderly, physically and mentally disabled people currently living in institutionalized settings, yet hoping to regain some independence. As she meets each patient, someone very special is always in the back of her mind.

“My grandfather is an 86-year-old disabled veteran, and despite health challenges, he still remains in his home with aid from family and home health agencies. The thought of losing more of his independence than he already has is very difficult for him to understand,” Rucker said.

Rucker works as clinical nurse supervisor for Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA)’s Money Follows the Person (MFP)-Living Choice program.

“I love my job. I thoroughly review assessments and medical documentation to identify individuals who can be served on the Living Choice program based on the services we can provide,” she said.

Rucker also is pursuing a dual degree in a family nurse practitioner (FNP) doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program.

“My goals will consist of providing preventive measures for families and maintaining optimal health for those dealing with acute and chronic health issues,” she said, “with the objective of offering services to all mankind, regardless of economic, gender, socioeconomic or ethnic backgrounds.”

Anataya Rucker

AGE

31

Clinical nurse supervisor, Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA)’s Money Follows the Person (MFP)-Living Choice

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Forty Under 40 Ashley E. Garcia Quintana

AGE

26

Chief of operations, Bridges Strategies

Ashley Quintana has a mantra, which she first heard in elementary school in Harlingen, Texas — “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow” — that she relates to in a profound way.

“The past is my teacher; I learn from it. My Latina heritage, my God, my amazing counselors and professors, my parents and my brother and sisters have shaped me,” she said. “The present is a blank canvas, where I paint every day. ... The future is what I look forward to. In my mind, a successful life is found when you balance the three: past, present and future.”

She’s a fierce businesswoman, and the two-year-old company she co-founded with a partner and a $10,000 investment, Bridges Strategies, is a multicultural success story.

Quintana constantly gives back and serves others for very personal reasons.

“I was born to an immigrant family in Harlingen, Texas. Spanish is my first language; I started learning English in kindergarten in Oklahoma City,” Quintana said. “I am the first in my family to graduate college with an undergraduate and graduate degree.”

She donates to Oklahoma City Police Athletic League, led the development and execution of a bilingual voter registration campaign and every year, she travels to Mexico with donations for children living in poverty.

“When I was a first-year teacher in Houston, I decided that my dream was to become an urban school district superintendent by the age of 40,” she said. “For the last 16 years, I have been very open about the fact that this was my dream and that my career has been devoted to achieving that goal.”

On July 1, it happened.

It’s without a doubt a huge achievement, but it’s not the only impressive item on her vitae. She was the subject of a book written by Teach for America, Ms. Lora’s Story. She also founded a school, Tubman Middle School/Harriet Tubman Leadership Academy for Young Women, in 2005 in Portland.

Lora holds a master’s degree in education policy and management from Harvard University, another master’s degree in education with principal certification from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from University of Texas at Austin.

“So far, my experience as superintendent has been better than I even imagined. I love this city. I love my job. I love the my employees and students and feel so supported by so many community partners who are stepping up to help our school district during difficult budget times,” she said.

Aurora Lora Superintendent, Oklahoma City Public Schools

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AGE

39

Forty Under 40 Brittni Shull

In a typical day at the office, Blake Lawrence’s activities include constant communication with partners and clients, cooperative work on large-scale transactions involving multiple interested parties and representing clients spanning small and medium businesses, indigent people and financial institutions.

When he’s not at the office, he is devoted to nonprofit work.

“I have made serving on nonprofit boards a priority and have had the great pleasure to work with some terrific organizations doing fantastic good for the Oklahoma City community. From arts nonprofits to an educational camp for elementary school students, helping others from all walks of life and covering a myriad of different interests has been extremely rewarding,” Lawrence said. “Additionally, with two small children, I try and be the best father I can be and keep up with all of their activities! With some luck, they will grow up wanting to make a difference in their own communities in their own ways.”

His service includes holding board positions with Canterbury Voices (formerly Canterbury Choral Society); Oklahoma Hall of Fame Second Century Board; Freedom School OKC, which operates an intensive reading camp for underprivileged Oklahoma City youth each summer; and YMCA Youth and Government Advisory Board. He also is a member of Leadership Oklahoma City’s Linking Oklahoma City’s Young Adult Leaders (LOYAL) Class VIII.

Blake Lawrence

AGE

29

Account director, Koch Communications

AGE

30

Attorney, Hall Estill Attorneys at Law

In her tenure with Koch Communications, Shull has seen the company double in size, moving from a converted house in Midtown to the entire fifth floor of a Bricktown office building, and that excites her.

“I’ve helped the company grow while mentoring new employees who are experiencing the first steps in their careers,” she said.

Mentoring is important to Shull, thanks in part to the mentors who supported her as she began her transformation from student to professional.

As Shull’s career progresses, she also takes time to sharpen her skills.

“I’m reading a book called The Human Brand: How We Relate to People, Products, and Companies by Chris Malone and Susan Fiske. It’s all about ensuring marketing is human and building relationships will always be valuable. There are plenty of real-world examples and situations analyzed throughout the book, which I love. It’s a loaner from one of my coworkers.”

Volunteer work is important to Shull, who is dedicated to serving Arts Council Oklahoma City. She was a founding member of its Artisans young leadership group, which she became chairperson of in 2015.

“I’ve always been so enthralled with stories 30-plus-year Festival of the Arts volunteers share with me about how far this city has come,” she added.

Bryan Bagby

AGE

30

Director, Paycom service department Within her first eight months at Oklahoma City marketing firm Insight Creative Group (ICG), Bobbie Earles quickly worked her way up through a handful of positions before becoming executive director.

“As executive director, I manage all aspects of the operations of ICG on behalf of the ownership team. I am active on all ICG client accounts, responsible for all financial operations and the ‘team captain’ to all employees,” she said. “As executive director, I get to grow our team on a personal level — not only working with someone on being better at what they do from 8 to 5, but on being more purposeful within all sectors of their lives, being more positive and always working with the attitude of serving others and having a big impact, both through our work and who we are as people.”

Part of her confidence comes from the talented creative team at ICG. “In areas that I am weak, I have a team of directors and senior staff that I completely trust to lead with expertise and do excellent work,” she said. “I have trusted confidants that tell me when I’m on the right track (or when I’m not!), and we work together on creative solutions for our clients as well as internally at ICG.”

Bobbie Earles Executive director, Insight Creative Group

AGE

33

Bryan Bagby manages more than 350 employees in the Paycom Service Department and attributes a lot of his success as a professional to his parents.

“On the professional side, I’ve always looked up to my father and the impact he’s had on the lives of my siblings and me. … That example has impacted me in a way that’s allowed me to see the blessings my company has provided me,” he said.

That’s not to say that the pressure doesn’t get to him sometimes.

“In early 2010, prior to my one-year anniversary with Paycom, our CEO wanted a better understanding of what the day-to-day lives of our payroll specialists looked like,” he said.

Bagby found himself being shadowed and enjoying lots of one-on-one time with the big boss.

“I could have easily folded under the pressure of our CEO spending six straight hours with me,” Bagby said, “but instead, I took it as a learning experience and an opportunity to get to know our founder.”

Bagby and his wife focus a great deal on making the world a better place, whether through his involvement with his kids’ little league sports or through sponsoring a child to attend camp through Cavett Kids Foundation. The pair also recently founded Bagby Family Foundation, which will create scholarships for Tuttle students looking to attend college.

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Forty Under 40

Forty Under 40

Chad Hodges is a man who creates and embraces professional and personal growth, though the line between the two can seem blurred. He created and owns DNA Designs, Inc., a commercial painting business he founded four years ago.

“I employ over 40 dedicated and talented painters and drywall finishers,” Hodges said. “Each day, we have the opportunity to work for amazing general contractors, business owners and residents. As a small business owner, I feel like each day is a significant achievement and look forward to what the future holds.”

His side gigs in the Oklahoma cycling community are where his creative contribution to society takes place. He manages DNA Racing, an Oklahoma Citybased cycling team that he helped form in 2009.

He also manages domestic elite cycling team Team Arapahoe Resources and is Oklahoma City Pro-Am Classic’s founder and race director. The race celebrated its fifth year in 2016. Additionally, Hodges is race director for the Wheeler Criterium weeknight riding festival, with weekly rides in spring and summer. Food trucks, spectators, cyclists and now the Wheeler Ferris Wheel combine to give these events a unique Oklahoma City flavor.

Chad Hodges

Corey Horsch

AGE

38

Corey Horsch is a long-term planner with a penchant for investing, which was discovered by a mentor during his internship.

He has also enjoyed a career that people twice his age would be right to envy. In the mid-2000s, he was vice president of Credit Suisse; before that, he lived in New York City and worked in the gaming, lodging, beverage and tobacco industries. Stints at Luther King Capital Management in Fort Worth and Surveyor Capital in Dallas followed.

These days, he works at the headquarters of America’s favorite drive-in, Sonic Corp., and he tries to make the world a better place in a very direct way.

“The first way I try to contribute to improving the community and the world is to be the best father, husband, son, friend and coworker I can be,” he said. “The biggest opportunity I have is to positively impact the people I am lucky enough to interact with every day.”

He’s also a dedicated mentor.

“Providing kids with role models outside of parents and teachers (as important as those are!) offers another opportunity for them to make a connection or get introduced to a new viewpoint, new skill or new style of leadership,” Horsch said.

Elizabeth Isaac Christian Cox’s list of awards is impressive both for its number and its variety. There’s the Chesapeake Presidential Scholar designation at Oklahoma City University, and there’s also the Bob Mills Rebranding Competition winner. His business interests are equally far-ranging. He’s employed by Oklahoma City University, where he works as a marketing manager. He’s also Uptown 23rd’s marketing director. Through his own company, Modern Influence, he provides marketing and social media management to industries including clothing, phone repair and food.

His Oklahoma City University gig involves creating and managing Google, Facebook and LinkedIn campaigns, along with copywriting, script writing, video shoots and advertising campaigns.

As marketing manager for Uptown 23rd, Cox said it’s his privilege to act as Uptown’s voice, help coordinate events and maintain their positive and community-based brand.

“We’ve introduced initiatives to foster the well-being of the community, such as new bike racks to promote riding to the district ... or the summertime farmers markets to grant people access to fully organic and healthier food options,” he said. “We are passionate about making Uptown 23rd a place to not only enjoy time with friends and family, but also to feel inspired and motivated to live better lifestyles in our rapidly growing city.”

Marketing manager, Oklahoma City University; marketing director, Uptown 23rd; owner Modern Influence 18

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Vice president of investor relations and treasurer, Sonic Corp.

Owner, DNA Designs, Inc.; team manager and founder, DNA Racing and Team Arapahoe Resources; founder and race director, Oklahoma City Pro-Am Classic; event director, Wheeler Criterium

Christian C. Cox

AGE

AGE

33

Registered patent attorney, Dunlap Codding

AGE

25

Elizabeth Isaac has taken a decidedly untraditional path to success. She’s a patent, trademark and copyright attorney at Dunlap Codding, and after graduating law school and while working full-time as an attorney, Isaac returned to undergraduate school to further her education in biological sciences in order to sit for the United States Patent and Trademark Office bar exam.

“While working and serving as board chair of IgniteOKC, I studied for and passed the patent bar,” Isaac said. “I am the only attorney in my office thus far to have completed this nontraditional route. Fortunately, I work for a law firm committed to its attorneys’ growth and serving the community.”

For Isaac, her career and her community are very much intertwined.

“Dunlap Codding shows strong dedication to the arts in Oklahoma City, and the people here are made of the same fiber that’s sewn in me,” Isaac said. “It’s a unique fiber of creatives and dreamers and doers.”

The philosophies of Isaac and Dunlap Codding work well together. The firm offers its space to nonprofit organizations for free and sponsors events throughout the year.

“Spreading good news about OKC makes our community a better place,” Isaac said. “Spreading goods news period makes the world a better place.”

Gabriel Bird

AGE

33

Dentist, Gabriel Bird DDS

Perhaps it’s fitting that Gabriel Bird, a man whose philosophy is to work from small to big, taking care of the little things, putting relationships, patient care and personal integrity first, would have on his reading list a book of similar bent called Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness.

As he explains, it’s clear that his dedication to being the best he can be in as many small ways as possible has led him to great success.

“I strive to be the best version of me I can be and empower those around me to do the same,” Bird said. “On an individual level, I can make my home a pleasant place that offers wellbeing for me and my family. On a personal level, I can be a loving father, faithful husband, loyal friend and generally decent person.

“Professionally, I structured my dental practice to put patient care first. I stay small by design; I won’t overbook my schedule in order to devote all of my attention and energy to the person in my chair. I listen to them and treat to the individual as opposed to the profit margin. I don’t answer to a corporate office; I answer to my patients.”

Graham Colton has recently reinvented himself again. After a major label career, lots of television appearances and being pigeonholed as a singersongwriter, he has gone through a metamorphosis.

It started when he left Oklahoma City and continued upon his return.

“I love my city,” Colton said. “I hope to lend a creative voice and support all the amazingly talented people furthering Oklahoma City’s renaissance.”

Now, Colton is stretching his wings and taking chances. He’s in real estate. He’s developing technological innovations for musicians and venues. And he’s following in his grandfather’s footsteps, stepping boldly into the philanthropic scene in Oklahoma.

What Colton is most proud of, though, is his work with nonprofits. He has recently been named to the board of directors of Allied Arts.

His grandparents, the late Jackie Cooper and his grandmother Barbara, founded Red Tie Night, which benefits the Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund.

“I’m very proud of the work that the Oklahoma AIDS Care fund does,” he said. “This is still a horrible disease, and we cannot take our foot off the gas pedal yet. Younger people need to be brave and talk about HIV and AIDS. It’s still got a lot of taboo about it.”

Graham Colton

AGE

35

Singer, songwriter and entrepreneur

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Forty Under 40 Oklahoma City resident Jack Fowler grew up in Wewoka and Seminole and worked on a cattle ranch after he graduated from Oklahoma State University. Today, he is a prolific producer of projects in an array of media and endeavors to “leave a trail of art in [his] wake.” This month, he received the Paseo Arts Association’s Emerging Artist Award.

This Jack of many trades is also a dedicated volunteer, although he’s charmingly modest about it.

“I do stuff like volunteer and coach baseball and donate work to charities, but I think everybody does stuff like that,” he said.

His latest project is coming to a wall near you. Bricktown Octopus is a 200-foot-long, 25-foot-high mural that will cover the back side of Chevy Bricktown Events Center. Fowler also is a freelance writer and Oklahoma Gazette editorial cartoonist. Readers voted him Best Visual Artist in the Gazette’s 2016 Best of OKC reader poll.

He’s passionate about art.

“I feel driven to make art every day and try as hard as I can to fling it far and wide,” he said. “I guess I don’t know if I’m making the world a better place, but I’m damn sure making it more colorful.”

Jack Fowler

Jason R. Henderson

AGE

39

Jason Henderson began working for Mako Surgical in 2011.

Mako Surgical was a national leader in robotic joint replacement procedures at the time. Two years later, it was purchased by Stryker Corporation, and Henderson’s career flourished.

“I now manage and helped grow a multimillion-dollar area that continues to drive new business each year,” he said.

“Through our integration, I have piloted a robotic joint replacement virtual site right here in Oklahoma City for surgeons all around the world to observe. I have successfully launched two products for the company. … Our largest ever will be released to the general public in 2017.”

When it comes to civic engagement, Henderson is active in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma. He serves on its board and co-chaired its 2016 Taste of OKC fundraiser.

He served on Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Walk for Wishes committee in 2013, is a member of Leadership Oklahoma City’s Linking Oklahoma City’s Young Adult Leaders (LOYAL) Class XI and helps with the Waurika Public Schools Foundation.

“I love Oklahoma and want others to love it as much as I do. …

I believe that if we all do our part, then society will change for the better and we will have great passion for making the community a better place.”

Jenna Byrnes In 2012, Jared Garner decided to make a big change.

“Prior to owning Garner Insurance, I worked as an assistant store manager at Lowe’s, with no insurance experience … after about five years, I decided I was ready for a big change,” Garner said.

Garner started his insurance career as a producer at another agency. Two years later, he decided to go out on his own.

“Within a five-year time frame, I went from no insurance experience to owning and operating a successful, thriving agency with two employees and another producer,” he said.

Without two key mentors in his life, he wouldn’t have been able to do it.

“The first would be my old company commander, Capt. Bible. When I was in Iraq as a young private, he taught me to be strongminded and to work through the tough situations.

He taught me to think through the scenario before just diving in,” he said. “The second is my father-inlaw, Jim Adair. He taught me that business doesn’t always have to be hard and that it can also be fun. … I have worked hard to make my business successful, but without his confidence, I do not believe I could have made it to this point.”

Owner/Agent, Garner Insurance

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Makoplasty Product Specialist Manager for OK, AR, MO, KS; Senior Clinical Launch Specialist, Stryker-MAKO Surgical Corporation

Artist, writer, editorial cartoonist and radio show host

Jared Garner

AGE

AGE

35

Senior vice president, Oklahoma City Dodgers

AGE

33

If you’ve been to a baseball game at Oklahoma City’s Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, you’ve seen Jenna Byrnes in action. As senior vice president of the Oklahoma City Dodgers, her role includes overseeing ticket sales, special events and internal leadership and training initiatives. She loves her work.

“I am fortunate enough to work for an organization that makes it our mission to positively impact the quality of life in the community,” Byrnes said. “The OKC Dodgers put an emphasis on quality family entertainment, and we are passionate about helping our fans create lasting memories at the ballpark.”

Byrnes’ most significant business achievement has been helping transform the underperforming team she met in 2011 into one of only three Minor League Baseball teams that have increased attendance the past five seasons.

About two years ago, Byrnes played an instrumental role in identifying the need for and creating the Oklahoma City Dodgers Baseball Foundation.

“The role a sports team can play in raising awareness of causes is a good one,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed being involved in the creation of this foundation as a way to further enhance the baseball team’s lasting imprint on this community.”

Jessica Farling

Jenny Rodgers Stewart was diagnosed with cancer when she was 13 years old. She went from a typical young teen concerned with sleepovers, sports and friends to fighting for her life. She felt like nobody understood what she was going through.

“Everything changed the moment Cavett Kids Foundation came into my life,” Stewart said. “I attended Camp Cavett and finally found other kids who understood what I was going through, and I wasn’t alone anymore.”

Her experience put her on her path. Stewart is dedicated to helping others through her work with nonprofit organizations.

Through her work with youths, Stewart has learned to cherish the little things. She learned how to laugh and that life is too short to not have impromptu dance parties.

An eight-year stint as executive director for Cavett Kids Foundation gave Stewart the opportunity to test her wings.

Under her direction, the organization increased its fundraising by an incredible 415 percent and its membership by $1,300 percent. And the number of children served increased from 200 per year to more than 12,000.

As Stewart looks to the future, she finds herself inspired daily by a favorite quote from Helen Keller: “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

Jenny Rodgers Stewart

AGE

31

Director of public engagement, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

AGE

32

Nonprofit professional

Jessica Farling’s career with Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art began when she was a student at the University of Oklahoma.

“In 2010, when I began working at FJJMA as a part-time employee, I set out to get my fellow OU peers excited about the art museum,” she said. “Then, in September 2014, I was promoted to director of public engagement, which has allowed me to think more broadly about all audiences of our museum. As part of that, I was tasked with the museum’s membership program. For the past 18 months, I have been working to foster excitement for the museum within our current core of members while looking for ways to get new people engaged with the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.” Farling is eager to innovate but rejects the notion that traditions should be scrapped. A student program she launched in 2010, Art Museum Ambassadors, is still going strong. On the flip side, she opted to draw on the heritage of the museum when tasked with its annual membership party, now called the Silver Soiree.

“Coming back to Oklahoma in 2009 was the best thing I could have done for my family and my career … I have learned so much from this community, and I am looking for ways to give back,” she said.

John Krenger

AGE

29

Vice president of energy financial services, Bank of Oklahoma Jeremy Gardner has been involved with some of Oklahoma City’s most recognizable projects and is on track to create many more. He helped form Gardner Architects in 2015 and before that was a director at Butzer Gardner Architects, where he worked on projects like SkyDance Pedestrian Bridge, Norman’s 104 Loft, The Oklahoman’s downtown digs and Mayfair Apartments in Midtown.

Gardner has served as an invited architecture critic at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. His interest lies in bringing found objects and old buildings back to life.

“Our practice contributes but a small fraction of our community’s built environment. We hope that what we have the opportunity to contribute in such a way that it adds value for our clients and adds value to the context in which we are working,” Gardner said. “We try to achieve this through a timeless approach to design, which is sensible as well as thought-provoking and relevant. We get to serve as the lens through which these objectives get projected to the community, be it a single family residence, a reimagined historic structure, a condo project downtown or a food pantry.”

Jeremy P. Gardner Principal/Owner, Gardner Architects

AGE

38

This young banker has his share of impressive achievements under his belt, many of which have come in the last two years, a trying time for the energy industry.

While some other lenders have had to stop lending to the energy industry altogether because the losses in their energy lending portfolios were so great, Krenger has written no losses within his portfolio and does not expect to.

“I have been fortunate enough, which speaks to the strength of Bank of Oklahoma, to grow my oil and gas loan commitments by $80 million over the past 18 months, which has allowed companies to operate as usual in challenging times,” Krenger said. “We made good decisions through the boom times … and have been good and trusted partners to our customers during these leaner times.”

His commitment to the community runs as deep as his commitment to his clients. His love of football guides his civic engagement, and he serves as the volunteer head football coach for Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School’s seventh- and eighth-grade junior high teams, which he has done for six years.

Krenger and his wife and also have been supporters of the United Way of Central Oklahoma and Allied Arts.

“We do our best to support those foundations, as they have a huge impact for our community here in Oklahoma City,” he said.

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Forty Under 40

Forty Under 40 Justin Lawrence

John Davenport directs the Oklahoma City market for Service Corporation International’s (SCI) Dignity Memorial company. SCI is the nation’s largest funeral and cemetery designer. He manages some 200 employees and generates about $20 million per year in revenue in the metro area while serving about 3,000 bereaved families a year in Oklahoma City alone.

“We are here for families on some of the worst days of their lives. We are here to make things as easy as possible after the loss of a loved one,” Davenport said. “I lead the team in Oklahoma serving our community. Each quarter, our team volunteers multiple hours at the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank and our associates are involved in countless community events — from Rotary to Chamber activities or school boards to athletic leagues, our associates are there. I have a firm belief that we can do more each day and push all of our associates to be part of multiple groups.”

In April, Davenport completed a two-year volunteer commitment. He was selected by the Norman Chamber of Commerce to co-chair a group of area high school sophomores in a program called Tomorrow’s Leaders. For 10 Saturdays, the group performed service projects around Norman, such as volunteering at Norman Music Festival or at a senior living center.

John W. Davenport

AGE

32

Owner, Oklahoma Shirt Company

Justin Lawrence’s philosophy is as practical as it is poignant.

“I think making the world a better place starts at home, and as a husband and a dad, my number one priority is my family,” he said. “When I’m not loving my kids, I’m spending my time with my second family, the family we’ve built at Oklahoma Shirt Company, united in our love of this great state and building lasting relationships with our fellow Oklahomans and standing alongside other local businesses. We take so much pride in our community, which has given us so much, and we love giving back as much as we can to the people of Oklahoma.”

His successful company began humbly enough as a way for Lawrence to support his family while he was in medical school.

“In four short years, we have grown from a small operation slinging shirts out of my garage into an organization that has a tight-knit team of 12 employees, occupies a city block in downtown Oklahoma City and generates over $2.5 million per year in sales,” he said.

His company’s Shirt of the Month club now counts more than 9,000 members across the country.

AGE

38

Oklahoma City market director, Dignity Memorial, part of Service Corporation International

Kamisha D. Busby

Senior vice president, Jones Public Relations

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Project coordinator, Central Oklahoma Healthy Start Initiative

Since Joshua Harlow arrived at Jones Public Relations in 2009, the company has grown exponentially, going from four employees to a staff more than 15 in offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Much of that growth is due to one of Harlow’s initiatives, the company’s burgeoning public affairs program. “[It’s] a practice I started from scratch six years ago with no relationships in Oklahoma and have built to be the preeminent public affairs firm in our state,” Harlow said.

He also is a member of the MAPS 3 advisory committee on Trails and Sidewalks, the communications committee for St. Paul’s Cathedral and volunteers for the National Down Syndrome Society on its national communications committee.

Another one of Harlow’s passions is the belief that every person is capable of changing things for the better. His upbringing shaped his altruistic worldview and his impressive work ethic.

“Growing up, my parents owned restaurants, and I worked the family business a lot as a teenager and even before. I washed dishes alongside a man who had Down Syndrome, who my parents gave a job to because no one else would,” Harlow said. “My parents taught me that if you treat people with respect and work hard, you can go far in this world.”

Joshua Harlow

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Kamisha Busby’s dedication to serving those who need it most developed early in her career.

“I started my professional career as a nurse, caring for others within my community in a hospital setting as well as home visitations,” Busby said. “It was there that I saw there was a greater need for the people I served, more than just providing physical support. Returning to school to complete my bachelor’s degree aided in my development to advocate for change in the healthcare system.”

In 2014, Busby was honored with the Indian Health Service GPRA (Government Performance and Results Act) Provider Champion award for her women’s health service to the American Indian community.

She now provides a direct link to the urban community.

“The community I serve has significantly greater health disparities than other races, specifically in infant mortality,” she said. “It is through this platform that I can best influence change and encourage other professionals around me as well as the community to advocate for change. I have been selected as a subcommittee chair of the Infant Mortality Alliance, a community-driven, grassroots effort addressing the disparities that impact infant mortality. I hope to be a catalyst for a larger transformation in the reduction in health care disparities while improving the access for all to quality healthcare regardless of social and financial status.”

Katie Tiegreen

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Director of catering, Embassy Suites OKC Downtown Medical Center and founder, Work Hard. Love Harder Katie Tiegreen’s journey to success is a snapshot of what’s best about America. She was an underdog, a single mother of two young boys with very little help.

She worked 80 hours a week to support her small family, taking on two full-time jobs.

“In the fall of 2012 … I decided to leave Arkansas and head to Kansas City to accept a supervisor position at a hotel,” Tiegreen said. “The day before I was to leave, the director of sales from the Hampton Inn/ Holiday Inn called me.”

They wanted to give her a chance as a catering sales manager, her first salaried position.

By 2014, she had moved to Tulsa to take a director of sales position. She moved to Oklahoma City in 2015, where she is proud to have purchased a home and has enrolled her oldest son in private school. She also runs Work Hard. Love Harder to help single mothers and give them hope.

“I was continuously told that I could never succeed as a single parent of two,” she said. “I want other single mothers to know that there is hope for their dreams, for their children’s dreams and that there are people that believe in them and will support them day in and day out: Work Hard. Love Harder.”

We are p rou d to have you on ou r te am.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication!

100 n Classen Blvd | oKC (405) 272- 0821 | youngBrosinC.Com

The weekend after the tragic June 12 nightclub shooting in Orlando, Rev. Kayla Bonewell put on her clergy collar and visited LGBTQ establishments in Oklahoma City.

Bonewell is a pastor at two churches in one location, each with unique missions, that serve the Oklahoma City community.

Church of the Open Arms feeds more than 300 families each month with its onsite client-choice Friday food pantry. It also offers an onsite shelter and a clothing closet for youth experiencing homelessness via the Sisu Youth nonprofit, and the church supports #BlackLivesMatter, #WaterIsLife and the green/environmental justice movements.

“Both churches help to create alternative family to invite, include and empower those who have been cast out in our culture,” Bonewell said. “[My goal is] to empower communities, through experiences of the Divine, to lead lives of deep meaning while cultivating health, peace and beauty in our world.”

Cathedral of Hope donates school supplies and winter clothing to Wilson Elementary School, sends volunteers to Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and supports The Winds House, which provides housing to people in our community who are living with HIV and AIDS. “I am humbled to be able to provide ongoing spiritual support and education while reclaiming the radical teachings of Jesus for the progressive Christian community,” she said.

Kayla Bonewell

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Pastor, Cathedral of Hope UCC Oklahoma City and Church of the Open Arms United Church of Christ

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Forty Under 40 Kevin Watson

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Director of outpatient psychiatry clinic, OU Physicians; assistant professor and associate residency program director, University of Oklahoma department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; landlord; teddy bear deliverer Sarah Adams Cornell

We are so very proud of the great things you have achieved and the difference you have made to people’s lives along the way.

Congratulations on this great honor -Mom and Dad

Helping people live authentic lives is Kevin Watson’s way of making the world a better place.

“As a psychiatrist, I get the honor of helping patients work towards this goal. I am proud that I have been able to achieve this goal to a large degree in my own life,” Watson said. “As a gay man, I struggled with being who others or society thought I should be, but on the other side of that, now more able to stand independently in my own truth and identity, the struggle was definitely worth it.”

He has always been a driven achiever, winning honors and awards during his medical school and undergraduate years, including earning a chief resident appreciation honor and Distinguished Psychiatry Graduate Award. His lecture and presentation titles include Gender Cognition in Transgender Children.

His most significant (and possibly most delightful) creative contribution to the community is giving teddy bears to nursing home residents during the holidays.

“For the past several years, my partner and I bought over 1,000 teddy bears and drove around town, spreading holiday cheer,” he said.

“The look on residents’ faces is priceless.”

Lyndi Zavy’s career in human resources is all about serving others, as are her volunteer activities. Zavy volunteers for Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Leadership Council and as part of the board of Central Oklahoma Humane Society. She also has been a human resources committee member for The Homeless Alliance.

“I was raised with an understanding that I was born on third base; advantages like a supportive family and opportunities for education made it easy for me to make it to home plate,” Zavy said. “That understanding fuels my desire to give back and help others succeed. … I started working with Central Oklahoma Humane Society two years ago because I wanted to adopt every dog I saw on the street but decided that my efforts in a boardroom would be more impactful than breaking city ordinances with a house full of animals.”

Her biggest professional achievement so far happened about a year ago.

She created and launched OU Leadership Council, an eight-month program that brings campus leaders together monthly.

“I get to replicate it across all three campuses this year,” Zavy said.

Lyndi Zavy Director, human resources and assistant director, Learning & Organizational Development at the University of Oklahoma 24

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With several startups under her belt, Melissa Vincent is focused on making the technology environment better for women entrepreneurs. She has worked hard to build her companies, the first of which, 9Tribe, should break $2 million in revenue this year. It’s a boutique software development firm designed to solve some of the problems she encountered in her time working for other startups.

She also cofounded Locked In Sports, which helps young athletes have equal access to customized training specific to the sport they play in so the distribution of elite training becomes more egalitarian.

Vincent believes that if we can help other women share their experiences and mentor them, we can create a community of strong, successful female entrepreneurs.

“Software development and technology based startups are not incredibly friendly environments for female entrepreneurs,” she said. “Nationally, only 28 percent of startups are women-owned. However, a study in 2015 showed that female CEOs outperform male peers three to one in the S&P 500. … The National Women’s Business Council published a report that showed that men start their businesses with six times as much capital as women do.”

Melissa Vincent

Nathaniel Goodwin

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At Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City, Nathaniel Goodwin works with faculty and staff to develop advisement strategies targeted to student needs as he generates increased awareness of campus resources and programs.

His said most significant business achievement, though, was opening up a modeling business this year. Nate G’s Training and his Nate G’s Modeling Boot Camps focus on training new models to become professionals.

“For decades, I have seen many models come into the industry and get burned out because there are so any scams that are involved with the term ‘modeling’ in Oklahoma,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin’s parents and sister are his key role models because they taught him the value of hard work.

“My dad instilled in me the ability to adjust to changes and never take anyone or anything for granted. … My mom is a gregarious person and is the woman who I got my personality from,” he said. “My sister is very ambitious and is very candid about her feelings.”

He also volunteers as a Wishmaker for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, reads to elementary school students via World Experiences Foundation and models in children’s charity fashion shows.

Regina J. Banks Cpl. Miguel Baez’s favorite quote neatly sums up the way he approaches his life: “It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”

This version of Baez’s philosophy is borrowed from Albert Einstein, but it could have just as easily come from his father.

“With a determination and drive to create a better life, he took a chance and moved away into a bigger city,” Baez said.

“He went on to become one of the highest ranking engineers at DuPont.”

As a firefighter, Baez is realizing a dream of his own.

“Being raised in Tampico, Mexico, it was always a dream of mine to have a career in which I could make a difference in someone’s life,” he said about becoming a firefighter.

Each day, Baez reports to a job where he responds to individuals of all walks of life, ages, races and religions who are facing some of their hardest moments.

“They don’t call my station when things are good; only when things are terribly wrong,” Baez said. “I make it my duty to stay positive, encouraging and helpful.”

When he’s off duty, he spends his time volunteering with organizations and schools, promoting safety and sharing his story.

Corporal, Oklahoma City Fire Department

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Academic advisor, Oklahoma State UniversityOklahoma City; owner, Nate G’s Training LLC

CEO, 9Tribe and cofounder, Locked In Sports

Miguel A. Baez

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President, Arjaybi’s Concepts; board chairwoman, IgniteOKC

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Regina Banks is the proud founder of a small business dedicated to helping other small businesses through graphic and web design, print and promotional products. Her team of six creatives plans to change the world one small-business brand at a time. Through two programs, Reach4Work and On the Job Training, Arjaybi’s Concepts provides internships and work for women who might otherwise remain unemployed.

She serves as board chairwoman of IgniteOKC, is a member of Leadership Oklahoma’s LOYAL Class XI and serves on the Oklahoma City Community College Digital Media Design advisory board. She volunteers for Junior Achievement teaching entrepreneurship classes, for Heritage Hall school’s parent association and People’s Church.

“IgniteOKC serves as a platform for thought leaders and innovators to share their passions and spark change in others,” Banks said. “These same companies and ideas … are shaping our city today.”

Banks is also adamant that girls should not be left out of STEM activities. To that end, she holds STEM workshops and loves watching girls’ eyes light up as they explore computer coding.

“I picked up coding skills as an adult. I find it fascinating and many times feel like a magician with a keyboard as a wand,” she said.

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Forty Under 40

Forty Under 40 Sarah Adams-Cornell

Twice a month, Reji Pappy drives four hours to serve patients in rural Oklahoma who otherwise would not have access to a cardiologist. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and serves as a part of the leadership team at St. Anthony Hospital, which will soon launch a relatively new cardiac procedure that allows patients with severe symptomatic aortic valve disease to have the aortic valve replaced through a nonsurgical approach.

Pappy’s story began when his parents came to the United States from India in the 1970s.

“Due to the financial and social challenges that my dad faced as a new immigrant, he was not able to pursue his goal of becoming a physician,” Pappy said.

“I attribute my becoming a physician to the qualities instilled in me by my parents: outstanding work ethic, perseverance, honesty and spirituality.”

He has always valued the importance of making civic contributions, doing medical research while completing his internal medicine residency, cardiology fellowship and advanced interventional cardiology fellowships.

He also serves as a council member for the Oklahoma Chapter of the American College of Cardiology.

Reji M. Pappy

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Native American activist; board member, Live Indigenous OK; co-creator, Matriarch, Inc.

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Medical doctor and interventional cardiologist, St. Anthony Hospital

Sarah Adams-Cornell is a member of the Choctaw Nation.

She and her daughters have learned the Choctaw language, songs, dances, beadwork and history to help preserve and celebrate their heritage. She was a recipient of the Greater Oklahoma City chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America’s 2015 Oklahoma Human Rights Award.

She’s also professionally dedicated to advocating for Native American education, rights and culture. “As Native people, we think long-term. When making decisions, we think about how it will impact our relatives in seven generations,” Adams-Cornell said. “This way of living and being has very much impacted every aspect of who I am. … Seeing pain and need in my community also drives the work I do.”

Adams-Cornell recently served as activist-inresidence at the University of Oklahoma. She hosts the Matriarch program on the Success Native Style Radio Network and serves on the boards of Live Indigenous OK and Not Your Mascot. She also serves on Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Native American Student Services Parent Committee.

“Many Native women have come together in my community to educate and advocate for our people and especially our children,” she said. “I am proud to work alongside these Native women.”

Shannon M. Lavicky

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Private equities accountant, Hall Capital

Sara Kaplan is a geologist by education, works for the City of Norman as a retail marketing coordinator during business hours and co-owns foodie haven Native Roots Market with her husband. She also is an instructor in geology for Independent and Distance Learning and the proud mother of a kindergartner, Stella, whom she says is her most significant creative contribution.

“My job is not something where I am out saving lives, but I try to help people whenever I can,” she said. “I think in today’s environment, we are exposed to so much negativity, a kind word and giving attitude can go a long way.”

She also has served on the Children’s House Montessori School Parent Teacher Organization since 2014 and was copresident for the 2015-16 school year. She is president of Urban Neighbors downtown neighborhood association and has been a member since 2012. She also serves on Norman Arts Council’s Norman Public Arts Board.

“I try each day, both in my personal and professional life, to look at issues from all perspectives and understand other people’s viewpoints,” she said.

Sara Kaplan Retail marketing coordinator, City of Norman; co-owner, Native Roots Market

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Shannon Lavicky is a tax accountant at Hall Capital, a private investment company dealing in private equity, real estate, automotive and oil and gas. On a daily basis, she prepares the financials and tax returns for a majority of the firm’s entities and particular family members.

“After working in public accounting for three and a half years, I became the youngest accountant by a large gap to start working privately for the Hall family,” she said.

She said the Hall family has been important in shaping her career.

“Seeing their drive to constantly bring new and exciting investments and opportunities to Oklahoma City and other parts of our nation makes me realize that we have not only the obligation, but the honor of helping our community’s economy and culture with the talents and assets given to us,” she said.

She also founded a nonprofit, Senior Step Companions.

“We are partnered with Epworth Villa, a retirement community located in north Oklahoma City,” she said. “Our volunteers are paired with seniors who have lost their loved ones or have out-of-state family. A volunteer can weekly or biweekly go into the facilities and walk with the elderly.”

Ted Perry

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Private banking associate, The Private Bank at Bank of Oklahoma

Private banking is a tough industry, but Ted Perry has dealt with far tougher. A West Point graduate who holds a master’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University, Perry is also a captain in the United States Army and served two tours in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“There, I was the lead artillery officer in a 158person team providing mechanized infantry support,” he said.

He counts among his accomplishments planning, assessing and leading more than 500 combat patrols in a volatile area in east Baghdad, where he embraced leadership opportunities and performed the duties of executive officer and company commander in combat on numerous occasions.

“In my personal and professional life, I always strive to be a servant leader in helping the lives of others,” Perry said.

“Whether it is in aiding an individual or family with their financial dreams and needs, coaching kids in athletics, tutoring students or growing nonprofit organizations, I give my time and myself genuinely with no strings attached.”

In 2014, Perry helped create the Sunbeam Family Services Young Professionals Board, which drafted guidelines, policies and bylaws, and the group now shapes the future of Oklahoma City’s oldest nonprofit.

Congratulations Kevin Watson, M.D. Voted a member of the 2016 Class of Forty Under 40 Dr. Watson, a board-certified psychiatrist and native Oklahoman, is one of 660 OU Physicians super stars. He is medical director of the outpatient psychiatry clinic and is an assistant professor for the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He earned his medical and undergraduate degrees from OU.

Way to go, Dr. Watson!

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo

Tiffany Astl’s passions are art and design. She is proud that through her hard work and unparalleled customer service, she has earned the trust of many of Oklahoma City’s most respected designers and contractors. Young Brothers is a specialty tile showroom offering custom fabrication and installation of natural stone.

“The business owners trust and value my opinions and are allowing me to help implement a new layout for showcasing our products,” Astl said.

Astl works hard, and if she could step back in time to chat with her 20-year-old self, she would share a favorite motivational quote: “Be around the lightbringers, the magicmakers, the world shifters, the game shakers. They challenge you, break you open, uplift and expand you. They don’t let you play small with your life. These heartbeats are your people. These people are your tribe.”

Her volunteer work includes service to her church, Habitat for Humanity, City Rescue Mission’s Mission of Hope Banquet, the 2016 Design Appétit event to benefit Homeless Alliance, WestFest and Uptown 23rd Farmers Market. She said she gives back to her community as often as possible.

Tiffany Astl

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Director of operations, Young Brothers, Inc.

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Opinions expressed on the commentary page, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in this newspaper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ownership or management.

What have we done?

letters

Oklahoma was the first state west of the Mississippi to be called for Donald Trump, and what prouder moment could there be for followers of Jesus? If Hollywood designed the perfect candidate to represent the anti-Christ for evangelicals, he would be thrice married, twice divorced, a builder of casinos, a sexual predator (unless the women are ugly), a liar and a man so in love with himself that his fondest wish is to die in his own arms.

In the Jesus spirit of the open table and unbridled compassion for the last and the least, deeply religious Oklahomans joined the majority of Americans in electing a man who mocked a disabled reporter; insulted women for menstruating; invited a foreign power to interfere in our elections; bragged about paying no taxes after losing other people’s money; refused to release his tax returns (which would have revealed how little money he gives to charity); and insulted Mexican immigrants, John McCain and Carly Fiorina — the latter for having a face no one would vote for.

He blamed Bush for 9/11, made lewd remarks about his own daughter and regularly encouraged violence at his political rallies. If the Middle-Eastern Jesus himself came knocking, Trump would deport him. Who could blame the Prince of Peace for saying, “With friends like this, who needs enemies?”

Who could blame the Prince of Peace for saying, ‘With friends like this, who needs enemies?’

In the 31 years I have been in ministry in Oklahoma City, I have heard Republicans insist that character counts for more than anything, especially as it applies to Bill Clinton. “By your fruits you shall know them” they quote scripture, while sparing us no lurid details about Clinton’s infidelities.

Democrats are all secular humanists, they said, and the problem with America is that not enough people go to church. If we had the Ten Commandments in plain sight, they say, morality and virtue would return to America. Really? If you vote for someone who violated all 10 of them, then obviously something else matters a lot more to you than the religion you are wearing on your sleeve. As for the seven deadly sins, see Donald Trump.

This is the unmasking of evangelical religion in America. It is not, in the end, about character or virtue. It is not about what love does to transform the human heart. It is about power, it is about fear, and Donald Trump tapped into widespread

Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers is senior minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC Church and professor of social justice in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University. | Photo Gazette / file

climate scientists with no political agendas?

The Industrial Revolution was fueled by fossil fuels, and our quality of life was greatly enhanced due to this. The advent of fossil fuel lamp oil is credited with helping to greatly reduce the number of whales being slaughtered for lamp oil.

People who promote this theory apparently have no idea or appreciation of what effect the sun has on our temperature or knowledge of past geologic climate events.

Mickey McVay Oklahoma City

Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com.

Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.

Biggest losers

Oklahoma taxpayers are the biggest losers of this election. The referendum does nothing to remedy the deep and persistent problems with the death penalty in our state and may cause even more dysfunction. Now we all must foot the bill to defend SQ 776 when it is challenged in court and then thrown out.

SQ 776 was expected to pass with at least 72 percent of the vote, so this result signals a significant shift in attitudes on the death penalty in our state, echoing a trend we are seeing across this country, and indicates just how out of touch the Oklahoma Legislature is on this issue. The Sooner Poll found that more Oklahomans prefer the alternative of death by incarceration — true life without the possibility of parole — over capital punishment when given that option. We look forward to the findings of the Henry Commission so that we can all have a discussion on the merits of the death penalty itself.

Oklahoma should have that discussion,

economic frustration and a smoldering rage about the displacement of the working class, especially less-educated white workers.

They believe that Trump is the strongman who can save them. He is the first president ever elected who has never held office or served in the military and does not seem to understand why nuclear weapons cannot be used.

He doesn’t go to church; he mocks communion by saying that he “eats those little crackers and drinks those little cups of juice,” and then he boasts about his sexual conquests and calls his opponent a “nasty woman.” We almost elected the first woman president of the United States. We almost sent that unforgettable message to women and girls everywhere. Instead, we elected a sociopath and think he is an answer to prayer.

God help us.

Corrections

because we know that support for the death penalty drops when people understand the real facts about how the death penalty operates in practice.

Connie Johnson, chairperson of the Say No to SQ776 Committee Oklahoma City

Greenie weenies?

Well, I see that some progress is being made.

Nathaniel Batchelder’s letter in the Oct. 19 issue of Oklahoma Gazette (Opinion, Letters, “Warming to reality”) states that “95 out of 100 scientists agree” that humanity is well on its way to seriously damaging the living systems that sustain life on earth.

The greenie weenies used to state that 99 percent of the scientists were in agreement with this. I made frequent sales calls

on some of the leading research and development laboratories in the world during my 50-year chemical sales career. A large number of the people I called on were PhD chemists, physicists, microbiologists, etc. I never encountered a single one of them that professed to believe in manmade global warming. Many scoffed at the notion.

I well remember when scientists used to say that the atom was the smallest particle of matter and could not be split. The Japanese might beg to differ.

With regard to the 195 nations at the Paris Climate Summit agreeing to plans to reduce CO2 and methane gas emissions, just how many of them are willing to seriously damage their economies and reduce their standard of living to comply with stringent controls?

Just how many of them are truly qualified

>> Food brief “Wine Walk” (Food, briefs, Greg Elwell, Nov. 2, Oklahoma Gazette)​ incorrec​t​ly reported​ ​the date of Oklahoma Wine Walk. The event was Nov. 5. We apologize for the error. >> In the July 28 story “Questionable changes,” by reporter Greg Elwell, Gazette incorrectly reported ABLE permitting requirements if State Question 792 passed. In and out-of-state wineries must purchase an annual $150-$300 direct wine shipper’s permit from Oklahoma’s ABLE commission to ship up to six 9-liter cases of wine to Oklahoma residents. Law restricts the shipments to varieties not already available in Oklahoma stores. Additionally, consumers over age 21 may order shipments of up to 30 9-liter cases per year.

Consumers are required to obtain a “direct wine consumer” permit. The bill language does not establish the cost of the direct wine consumer permit.

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Water foul?

The weather in Oklahoma City on Nov. 3 was pretty nice for a fall day.

But that doesn’t excuse 22-year-old Kholer Shane Sullivan, whom Oklahoma City Police Department officers said they fished naked out of Lightning Creek that morning.

According to KFOR, the arrest began around 1 a.m. when an officer tried to pull over a car being driven erratically with its bright headlights near SW 53rd Street and S. McKinley Avenue.

Police said the driver would not pull over and made repeated U-turns. A woman jumped out of the vehicle at SW 62nd Street and S. Klein Avenue and a man exited at SW 46th Street and S. Blackwelder Avenue, but the driver kept going until he reached Lighting Creek, OKCFox.com reported.

“He went underneath the bridge and, at some point, actually took off all of his clothes,” police officer Megan Morgan told KFOR. Police said Sullivan jumped in the creek, stayed there for nearly an hour and was finally dragged out by four officers. He was arrested on complaints of attempting to elude police, driving without a state driver’s license, speeding, failing to stop at a stop sign and driving with glaring lights.

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Laid-back booth

Ruffled curtains, a white ceramic table lamp, knickknack ceramic piggybanks shaped like life-size pigs and painted with cheery yellow flowers, rose and green flowery printed couch cushions — this isn’t your granny’s living room (it isn’t on Election Day, anyways); it’s a polling place in Dover, Oklahoma.

Most voters across the country headed to schools and churches to cast their ballots, but The Daily Beast delighted online readers with a list and photos of notso-normal voting settings.

Laundromats, tool sheds, beauty salons, fire departments, car lots, supermarkets and restaurants made the news and opinion outlet’s list of The Strangest Places for Americans to Vote.

Internet media company BuzzFeed’s expanded list included art museums, appliance stores, pools, pool halls, lifeguard headquarters and even a cemetery.

Dover is a small Kingfisher County town of less than 400 people.

If its super-cozy polling place belongs to your granny, we hope you took her out for a nice dinner or something to reward her for letting citizens actively participate in their government in the comfort her living room.

Banking woes

Let’s be honest; going to the bank can be a bummer. Let’s review the reasons: 1. Your account balance is lower than expected.

2. A banker rejects your loan application.

3. Asking to speak to a manager doesn’t end with removal of an unexpected bank fee.

4. There is a line, a long line.

5. The lollipops are only for children.

Even in the worst banking situations, remember to take a breath and remain calm.

At least that’s what those of us here at Chicken-Fried News do.

Eric Maxwell did the opposite during his Nov. 7 visit to Bank of America in Leadership Square, local media reported.

According OKCFox.com, Maxwell visited the bank to close an account. After arguing with managers, Maxwell was asked to leave and police were called.

Just as bank workers predicted, the upset, newly former customer returned.

“There was a verbal exchange, and the suspect then attacked the officer, hitting him multiple times in the face, scratching his face,” Oklahoma City Police Capt. Paco Balderrama told the television station.

Yikes!

Now, in addition to dealing with banking woes, Maxwell faces an assault and battery of an officer charge.

Sticky fingers

Oklahoma residents had a whole lot on their minds when they entered voting booths last week.

Many had multiple ballots, dozens of categories and candidates and over a half-dozen state questions to consider.

They earned those felttipped pens. Or they were just so exhausted after performing their civic duty that they left as quickly as possible.

And just like when we sign for copays when we visit a doctor, voters inadvertently walked away with a whole bunch of Tulsa County Election Board’s pens, Tulsa news outlet NewsOn6. com reported at 9:03 a.m. Nov. 8, aka Election Day.

Safety coverage

Legendary University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer is known as a great recruiter. Recently, he used his talent and influence to assemble a top-notch team from outside the human ranks.

Switzer and wife Becky made a recent public announcement at the Oklahoma City National Memorial declaring their plan to open a center for the full training of search-and-rescue dogs to be used by fire departments and emergency responders around the state.

News9.com recently reported the

the guys that are with them are Bear Bryants and Nick Sabans and Bob Stoopses that are handling them.”

Chicken-Fried News is happy to hear about Switzer’s investment to help serve and protect a state known for a long history of natural disasters.

This is a team fans from both sides of the Bedlam rivalry can get behind.

Quote of the week

“Schools need to step up and look at their expenses and look at their operations and help us go, certainly, to five-day school weeks.”

Gov. Mary Fallin, during a recent panel discussion in Tulsa. She said education funding will be a priority in the 2017 Legislature but schools also need to do more with the funds they receive.

Stop the presses!

Ground Zero K9 center will be located on a 120-acre stretch of land in Tuttle.

Switzer said each dog will receive around $20,000 worth of training. All dogs trained at the facility will be given to state departments at no cost.

There are currently 11 dogs serving on state search-and-rescue teams, News9. com reported.

Switzer said his goal is to boost that number to 36. The facility should completed in three years, and training the new dogs has already begun.

Lead trainer Darrell Wilkerson has decades of experience with search-andrescue K9s.

“We want to make sure our dogs are Heisman Trophy winners,” Swtizer told News9.com, “and we want to make sure

Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb has an important message: The state needs to diversify its economy.

Lamb spoke to the Enid Rotary Club earlier this month about the state’s lack of a 20-year plan for its economy, Tulsa World reported.

“Over 20 percent of our state budget comes from the oil and gas industry and the hydrocarbon industry,” Lamb said. “We will never divorce ourselves, nor should we.”

Unstable oil and gas prices have hit the state hard, contributing to a gaping $1.3 billion budget hole and a significant loss in industry-related job stability.

Shocking, we know.

Anyone around here remember the 1986 oil bust? Anyone? Anyone? …

Beuller?

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f eat u re

EAT & DRINK

Meet the brewer Opening Twisted Spike Brewing Co. is the realization of a decades-long dream for Bruce Sanchez. By Greg Elwell

Editor’s note: As part of our continuing coverage of Oklahoma craft beer, Oklahoma Gazette presents “Meet the brewer,” a monthly feature profiling beermakers.

thousands of dollars into Twisted Spike, an adverse ruling on SB 424 might have doomed the fledgling company.

Plywood still covers the windows at 1 NW 10th St., located just a few feet away from where cars thump-tha-thump over the railroad tracks dividing east and west Oklahoma City. You know you have arrived at the right place because a banner on the building’s east side reads Twisted Spike Brewing Co. A giant logo is painted on an inside wall and is visible from what will soon be Twisted Spike Brewery Tasting Room.

Building the taproom was a leap of faith for owner and brewmaster Bruce Sanchez.

“In the pre-[Senate Bill] 424 days, the taproom or anything associated with the brewery had to be owned by a different entity, but we anticipated the change,” he said.

Right before the law took effect in late August, Sanchez and dozens of brewers and beer enthusiasts crowded into a monthly Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission meeting to protest the agency’s decision restricting breweries from serving cold, full-strength beer in their taprooms. The decision was overturned after State Attorney General Scott Pruitt guided ABLE in interpreting the law.

Taprooms are important in making new breweries fiscally viable, Sanchez said. After he and others invested tens of

“I’ve been in the Oklahoma City beer nerd scene for 25 years,” Sanchez recently told Oklahoma Gazette.

His love of beer extends even further.

In 1982, as his friends drank Coors and Miller, he preferred German imports like Beck’s Dark.

At a time when no one knew about craft beer, he tried a batch made by a homebrewer so tasty that it inspired him to take up the hobby himself.

“In 1992, my son and my first batch of beer were born,” he said.

The batches outnumbered his sons, but family commitments and strict Oklahoma liquor laws kept Sanchez from expanding his passion for brewing beyond much more than a hobby. Being an electrical engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration is much less risky than opening a brewery, Sanchez said.

“Ever since getting my MBA (master’s of business administration degree), I’ve wanted to own my own business,” he said.

“But I had three young sons, and the laws were so prohibitive for so long.”

Sanchez was a successful homebrewer.

He entered many of his creations into competitions and earned medals and valuable feedback along the way.

“The beer is always good when someone

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Twisted history

An agreement with COOP Ale Works allows Twisted Spike Brewing Co. owner Bruce Sanchez to house his brewery in a downtown Oklahoma City building. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

is at your house, drinking for free,” he said. “Honest feedback comes from certified judges.”

In the last several years, Sanchez’s beers placed in the top three of the National Homebrew Competition (NHC) seven times. In 2014, his Cherry Grand Cru earned first place in an NHC regional event and second place overall in the national competition.

In the intervening years, businesses like Choc Beer Company, COOP Ale Works and Anthem Brewing Company helped transform the state’s craft beer market. As his kids readied to graduate college, Sanchez decided to open his own brewery.

New digs

“I want this to be beer nerd central,” he said as he toured the taproom.

Designed with the nearby railroad tracks in mind, the room is decorated with converted shipping containers. A 40-foot container was cut down by a few feet to fit inside and will serve as his bar. Between the brewery and the tasting room, a pair of containers were welded together to create an enormous refrigeration unit where bottles and kegs will be kept before they’re sent to consumers.

Sanchez seemed nearly giddy as he opened the cooler to show off his first batch of kegs, which will soon be en route to bars and restaurants.

“I get at least five Facebook messages and three calls a day asking when they can get a keg or a growler or anything,” he said.

The wait is nearly over. Sanchez said he’s planning a Dec. 10 grand opening.

He said that date was made possible with support of the local beer community, especially his friends at COOP. Both the Twisted Spike brewery and its taproom fit into the small 1927 building because of arrangements he made with

COOP to make Sanchez’s wort, the liquid malt that converts starches into sugar.

COOP brews the wort off-site and Sanchez adds it to his on-site fermenter, where the sugars are then converted to alcohol. The partnership was borne from a mutual respect and desire to grow Oklahoma City’s beer scene.

Twisted Spike is one of around 20 licensed breweries in the entire state, Sanchez said, whereas the city of Longmont, Colorado, located just northeast of Boulder, has at least that many.

Getting funky

His brewery’s primary focus is Belgianinspired and American beers, including Black Snake Russian Imperial Stout, which earned the No. 3 slot in Gazette’s Fall Brew Review in October out of more than 30 seasonal beers that were blind taste-tested in categories of aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression.

Twisted Spike’s initial beer lineup features a Belgian blonde ale, a saison, a quadrupel and its 10th St. Pale Ale, named for the brewery’s location. Sanchez has brewed these beers in one form or another for decades.

His eyes twinkled as he opened the brewery’s back room.

“This is Funky Town,” he said.

Recently, he has grown enamored with the trend toward sour beers, which are intentionally brewed to impart a tart, acidic or sour taste. They take about a year to brew, he said, because “yeast and bacteria work very slowly.”

The success rate is just 30 percent, which contributes to the higher price of many sour beers. Even so, the scientist and beer nerd in Sanchez is eager to create some of his own.

Visit twistedspike.com or call 405-3013467 for more information.

SPONSORED PROGR AM

MA P O F

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Red Earth TreeFest Skirvin Holiday Events “Miracle on the Canal” Pop Up Bar Christmas Crawl at Deep Deuce Sure Beats Walking Holiday Segway Rental 31. OKCMOA Holiday Events

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Free Holiday Water Taxi Rides Legends Night in Deep Deuce Automobile Alley Light Display Bricktown Canal Lights Snow Tubing Winter Festival Little Willie's Triple Dog Dare A Dog Day in December at Midtown Mutts Film Row Light Display Lights on Broadway Annual Event Winter Shoppes at Myriad Gardens Deluxe Winter Market Holiday Pop-up Shops OKC Arts Council’s Opening Night Lyric's A Christmas Carol Sheraton Hotel Holiday Events OKC Philharmonic's The Christmas Show OKC Ballet's The Nutcracker Canterbury Christmas Reduxion Theatre Holiday Shows Downtown Historic Church Tour Holiday Events and carousel at Myriad Gardens

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SPONSORED PROGR AM

An annual collection of

H O L I DAY

EVENTS

Downtown in December, presented by Devon, is a collection of more than 30 holiday events that take place in and around downtown Oklahoma City each year.

All information about the following events, including schedules, pricing, and other details can be found online at DOWNTOWNINDECEMBER.COM DOWNTOWNOKC DOWNTOWNOKC DOWNTOWNOKC DEVONICERINKOKC SATURDAYSWITHSANTA #DOWNTOWNINDECEMBER

DEVON ICE RINK AT MYRIAD GARDENS

The Devon Ice Rink returns for its 7th season in the Myriad Botanical Gardens November 11 through January 29. Join us for another great winter of outdoor ice skating at Downtown in December’s premier attraction.

Open 7 days a week, the Devon Ice Rink hosts daily public skating, private parties, and special events all winter long.

The Devon Ice Rink is located in the Myriad Botanical Gardens at 113 S. Robinson (at the corner of Robinson and Sheridan.) Please call (405) 708-6499 to book a private party or for general questions. Visit DowntownInDecember.com to see the full schedule and daily hours of operation.

RATES:

› $12 per person for all ages, includes skates › $8 for guests who bring their own skates › $8 for 10 or more guests, includes skates Reservations are encouraged for groups

DEVON’S SATURDAYS WITH SANTA

Bring the kiddos downtown to the Devon Energy Center December 3, 10 and 17, to visit Santa, make crafts, and participate in holiday-themed activities.

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DECEMBER 3 - 10AM TO 4PM DECEMBER 10 - 10AM TO 4PM DECEMBER 17 - 10AM TO 4PM

Devon Energy Center is located at 333 W. Sheridan Ave. in downtown Oklahoma City.

For more information, visit downtownindecember.com

SANDRIDGE SANTA RUN

On Saturday, December 10, guests will be prancing in the streets of downtown Oklahoma City in the 2016 SandRidge Santa Run. As part of Downtown in December, the SandRidge Santa Run includes a 5K race, a one-mile Fun Run and a free Kids’ Dash, plus a warm-up with Rumble the Bison.

All runs begin and end at SandRidge Energy (123 Robert S. Kerr Ave.) where there will be snacks, a photo booth, kids activities, and a mad scientist show! Medals will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers in each 5k age group, and all runners are invited to dress up in their most festive holiday attire for cash prizes in a costume contest afterward!

Register now at DowntownInDecember.com

BRICKTOWN TREE LIGHTING FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY SONIC

On Friday, November 25 from 5pm to 7pm, the annual Bricktown Tree Lighting Festival will take place on the 3rd Base Plaza at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Guests will enjoy a live band, hot cocoa, food and fun as Mayor Cornett lights the Christmas Tree and kicks off the holiday season. Santa will make an appearance at the festival to take free photos with the kids, which are printed on-site. The event also features food trucks, face painters, and musical performances. The Bricktown Tree Lighting Festival presented by Sonic is free and open to the public. This event is also sponsored

by JE Dunn Construction.

FREE HOLIDAY WATER TAXI RIDES

All aboard for an adventure cruise on a Bricktown Water Taxi! Come enjoy a fun-filled float down the beautifully-adorned Bricktown canal free of charge, courtesy of the Downtown Business Improvement District. The narrated and holiday-themed Free Holiday Water Taxi Rides will begin at the main dock on canal

level, below the entrance to Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse. The tours will run on a continuous loop through Bricktown, Thursdays through Sundays, November 25 through December 31 from 6pm to 9pm. (Closed Christmas Day.) Admission is free and open to the public.

AUTOMOBILE ALLEY LIGHTS DISPLAY

See the historic buildings of Automobile Alley in a whole new light at Automobile Alley Lights on Broadway. More than 180,000 colorful LED lights will drape the buildings along eight blocks of North Broadway making for a magical holiday wonderland. (NW 4th to 10th St. on Broadway Ave. in downtown Oklahoma City)

BRICKTOWN CANAL LIGHTS

The Bricktown Canal Lights display will brighten your Bricktown experience from November 25 through January 1. As you stroll the canal, enjoy the dining and shopping along downtown OKC’s premier entertainment district under the gorgeous holiday lights. The light display is free to the public. Also, check out the Free Water Taxi Rides on certain nights of the week throughout the season.

SNOW TUBING WINTER FESTIVAL

The Snow Tubing Winter Festival at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark opens on Saturday, November 26!

It all begins with the gigantic snow tubing slope, starting from the upper level behind first base and landing near second base — it’s a thrill that you won’t want to miss. There will also be a second, smaller slide for children and those looking for a more moderate thrill. But let’s not stop with the slide!

From Santa’s Workshop to the children’s train, plus sparkling holiday lighting and décor, this will be a holiday highlight that your family will remember for years to come. There’s something for the whole family, so bring everyone along for a ride in the snow, hot chocolate and a snack, and a festive holiday atmosphere.

Non-riders can purchase Winter Festival tickets for just $3 per person. Guests that will be snow tubing can buy single-session tickets for $14 per rider. Please call 405-218-1000 for group rates and private event information.

LITTLE WILLIE’S TRIPLE DOG DARE

The 4th annual Little Willie’s Triple Dog Dare will be held Saturday, December 3 at Leadership Square (211 N. Robinson Ave.).

This stair climbing athletic event is open to people of all ages, and keeping it in line with the “Little Willie’s” spirit, there’s even a Firefighters Division – racing in full gear of course! All proceeds go to charity. Awards will be given to Top 3 overall male and female as well as age group divisions. For more info, visit littlewilliestripledogdare.com.

A DOG DAY IN DECEMBER AT MIDTOWN MUTTS

Bring the pups and enjoy a pet-friendly holiday party on Thursday, December 1 from 6pm to 8pm at Midtown Mutts Dog Park (1115 N. Hudson Ave.).

Dogs will take photos with Santa and enjoy Milk Bones and Cookies. The first 100 dogs to arrive in costume will receive a free goodie bag. This event is sponsored by The Midtown Association.

LIGHTS ON BROADWAY ANNUAL EVENT

Cruise down historic Automobile Alley for the district’s holiday open house and the first day of this year’s stunning light display with the inaugural Lights On Broadway event on Saturday, November 19 from 4pm to 8pm on Broadway Ave. between NW 4th & 10th Streets. Retail shops and restaurants will be featuring buzz-worthy holiday window displays in addition to children’s activities, special promotions, and giveaways.

There will be complimentary carriage rides, visits with Santa, live artists and musicians, a free photo booth, an outdoor movie, hot cocoa, and more! Join us in discovering the Alley “in the new old-fashioned way”! For more details, visit downtownindecember.com.

SPONSORED PROGR AM

BRICKTOWN TREE LIGHTING FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY SONIC

SNOW TUBING WINTER FESTIVAL

DEVON ICE RINK

AUTOMOBILE ALLEY LIGHT DISPLAY

SANDRIDGE SANTA RUN

HOLIDAY POP-UP SHOPS AT MIDTOWN

FILM ROW LIGHT DISPLAY

Beginning Friday, November 25, enjoy Film Row’s holiday light display. Film Row once housed the offices of major Hollywood film studios like Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, MGM, and more. The streets are lit up during the holiday season to showcase rich history and vibrance.

The light display will be up until January 1.

WINTER SHOPPES AT MYRIAD GARDENS

Open November 25 through December 18, the Winter Shoppes at Myriad Gardens presented

by Prodigal is an exciting outdoor shopping experience featuring more than 20 different vendors. The shops are located at the North Plaza by the Great Lawn. For more information, visit wintershoppes.com.

NOVEMBER 25-27 - 11AM TO 6PM DECEMBER 1-4 - 11AM TO 6PM DECEMBER 8-11 - 11AM TO 6PM DECEMBER 15-18 - 11AM TO 6PM

DELUXE WINTER MARKET

On November 26 and November 27, the Deluxe Winter Market will take place in Leadership Square (211 N. Robinson Ave.) Back for its 9th year in 2016, the market will offer an opportunity for guests to do their holiday shopping at more than 60 vendor booths featuring all local and handmade goods. Free admission and free kids’ activities. For more information, visit deluxeok.net.

NOVEMBER 26 - 11AM TO 5PM NOVEMBER 27 - 11AM TO 5PM

The Holiday Pop-Up Shops are returning to Midtown in Downtown Oklahoma City for their 5th year in 2016!

Visit 35 Oklahoma-owned shops and an urban Christmas tree lot for five weeks this holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Shops rotate weekly through a set of geodesic domes at NW 10th and Hudson, next to Bleu Garten. The holiday shopping village is open each weekend, starting Black Friday, Thursday through Sunday to the public. Entry is free, shopping is encouraged. For more information, including the list of shops, visit okcpopups.com.

NOVEMBER 25-27 DECEMBER 1-4 DECEMBER 8-11 DECEMBER 15-18 DECEMBER 20-22 THURSDAYS-SATURDAYS 10AM TO 9PM SUNDAYS - 10AM TO 6PM

LYRIC’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL

In its 6th year running, the spectacular Oklahoma holiday tradition returns with Lyric’s production of Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, sponsored by Devon Energy.

Go on a magical journey with Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future! Tickets start at $30, and the show takes place at Lyric’s Plaza Theater (1725 NW 16th St.). To purchase tickets or for more information visit, www.lyrictheatreokc. com or call (405) 524-9312.

SHOW DATES & TIMES: NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 24

Tues., Wed., Thurs. performances at 7:30pm Fri. & Sat. evening performances at 8:00pm Sun. evening performances at 7:00pm Sat., Sun., and Fri. (12/23) matinees at 2:00pm

OKC PHILHARMONIC’S THE CHRISTMAS SHOW

The OKC Philharmonic returns to the Civic Center Music Hall with The Christmas Show.

OKC’s Favorite Holiday Song-n-Dance Spectacular, starring Kelli O’Hara. A holiday treat for the entire family, The Christmas Show is a Broadway-style holiday variety show with singers, dancers, comedy, holiday music, gorgeous costumes and full sets.

From delightful novelty numbers to inspiring Christmas hymns, the Philharmonic will move you with the spirit of the season! For more information, visit okcphilharmonic.org or call 405-TICKETS (842-5387) SHOW DATES & TIMES: DECEMBER 1 - 7:30PM DECEMBER 2 - 8PM DECEMBER 3 - 2PM & 8PM

OKLAHOMA CITY BALLET’S THE NUTCRACKER PRESENTED BY DEVON

A family trip to the Civic Center Music Hall to see The Nutcracker creates special holiday memories that will last a lifetime. Oklahoma City Ballet’s stunning professional dancers are joined by over 100 children from The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet plus the OKC Philharmonic to complete the production. The story of Clara, her Nutcracker prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy will enchant with performances this holiday season. Enjoy special activities before and after performances for families to enjoy together!

To purchase tickets or for more information visit, okcballet.com or call OKC Ballet at (405) 848-8637.

SHOW DATES & TIMES: DECEMBER 10 - 2PM & 7PM DECEMBER 11 - 2PM DECEMBER 16 - 7PM DECEMBER 17 - 2PM & 7PM DECEMBER 18 - 2PM DECEMBER 19 - 7PM DECEMBER 20 - 7PM

CANTERBURY CHRISTMAS AT THE CIVIC CENTER

Canterbury Choral Society will hold their 125-member adult chorus holiday performance on Sunday, December 4 for Canterbury Christmas at the Civic Center Music Hall at 7pm.

Also featured will be the traditional holiday carol sing-a-long along with the children of the Canterbury Youth Voices.

To purchase tickets, call 405-232-SING or visit www.canterburyokc.com.

REDUXION THEATRE HOLIDAY SHOWS

Reduxion Theatre Company (RTC) returns with its interactive Christmas-theme event Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker! This original piece of live theatre was developed by the artists of RTC and is based on the life and works of romantic English novelist Jane Austen. For more information, visit reduxiontheatre.com SHOW DATES & TIMES: DECEMBER 2 - 8PM DECEMBER 10 - 8PM DECEMBER 3 - 8PM DECEMBER 11 - 2PM DECEMBER 4 - 2PM DECEMBER 15 - 8PM DECEMBER 8 - 8PM DECEMBER 16 - 8PM DECEMBER 9 - 8PM DECEMBER 17 - 2PM & 8PM

SHERATON HOTEL HOLIDAY EVENTS

The Sheraton Hotel will be offering several holiday events this season. Enjoy dinners and events located in the heart of downtown. For more information, visit sheratonokc.com.

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SPONSORED PROGR AM

DOWNTOWN HISTORIC CHURCH TOUR

The second annual Downtown Holiday Historic Church Tour will take place Sunday, December 4 from 2pm to 5:30pm. This event features self-guided tours of historic churches in downtown Oklahoma City. All proceeds benefit Good Shepherd Ministries. Wristbands are $20 each. For more information or to purchase wristbands, visit goodshepherdokc.org.

LEGENDS NIGHT IN DEEP DEUCE

On Saturday, December 17, Oklahoma City’s Deep Deuce district will host Legends Night, sponsored by Downtown Oklahoma City, Incorporated. Legends Night will bring some of the best jazz musicians back to their roots to perform in Deep Deuce, a neighborhood in which many of them spent the peak of their careers performing. The event will be from 7pm to 10pm. Location TBD. For more information, visit www.deepdeucedistrict.com.

MYRIAD GARDENS HOLIDAY EVENTS

MERRY CAROUSEL IN THE GARDENS The Myriad Gardens’ Merry Carousel is back for another year of holiday magic! The charming vintage carousel welcomed thousands of riders over the last two years and is now a great holiday tradition. All proceeds benefit the Myriad Gardens. Enjoy rides for $2/person from November 27 through December 31.

OG&E MERRY & BRIGHT FREE ADMISSION SUNDAYS The beauty of the Crystal Bridge takes on a whole new glow at night. Thanks to OGE Energy Corp., the Myriad Gardens will offer

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FREE admission on Sunday evenings to the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory. Come enjoy charming holiday light displays and beautiful plant exhibits designed especially for the holiday season. Free admission dates: November 27, December 4, December 11, December 18 from 6pm to 9pm.

LEARN TO CURL AT THE DEVON ICE RINK Join The Oklahoma Curling Club as they walk through the basic rules and etiquette of curling, explain the how’s and why’s of delivering and sweeping a stone, and get you on the ice enjoying the sport of curling together! Dress warm, wear rubber soled shoes, and prepare for the most fun you can have with a broom this side of Quidditch! All other equipment will be provided by the Oklahoma Curling Club.

November 19 - 9AM-10:30AM December 10 - 9AM-10:30AM *Members $20, Nomembers $25 YOGA TUESDAYS IN THE GARDENS SPONSORED BY TINKER FEDERAL CREDIT UNION This is a great all-levels class led by Lisa Woodard. Class participants should bring a yoga mat and water. Classes will meet under the Pavilion as weather permits; when it doesn’t drop in for a session or two or enjoy the entire series! They will meet inside the Crystal Bridge. Must be 16 or older.

Tuesdays year round - 5:45PM *Members Free, Nonmembers $10 READING WEDNESDAYS (BEST FOR AGES 2-5) Bring your youngster for story time each Wednesday at 10am. Books are nature-themed and selected based on the season. Children will also enjoy creating a small craft after the story. For groups of 10 or more please call Kodi Clifford at (405) 835-6789. Note: No program November 23, December 21, and December 28.

HOLIDAY SERIES: DECEMBER DROP-INS (BEST FOR AGES 2-5) After Reading Wednesdays at 10am, stay for holiday crafts, music, and hot chocolate!

Children will make ornaments to take home for tree decoration or gifts. We’ll use natural items like twigs, dried seeds, fruits, acorns, evergreen cuttings, pinecones and craft decorations. For groups of 10 or more contact Lily Christman at 405.445.5162.

The Myriad Gardens will be offering additional paid classes to enjoy this holiday season, such as: PAINTING IN THE GARDENS BOTANICAL DRAWING GINGERBREAD HOUSE WORKSHOP LIVING WREATH CLASS DIY HANDMADE STAMPS & HOLIDAY STATIONERY

For more information and to sign up for classes, visit www.myriadgardens.org or call 405.445.7080.

FREE HOLIDAY WATER TAXI RIDES

DEVON’S SATURDAYS WITH SANTA

RED EARTH TREEFEST

Red Earth Art Center will host three Holiday Open House events in December at 6 Santa Fe Plaza (between the Skirvin and the Chase Tower.) The Second Annual Red Earth TreeFest runs from November 1 through January 13, featuring fifteen Christmas trees adorned with ornaments created to showcase the Native cultures that make Oklahoma unique. For more information, visit redearth.org or call 405-4275228. Admission is free and open to the public.

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSES: DECEMBER 3 - 10AM-3PM DECEMBER 10 - 10AM-3PM DECEMBER 17 - 10AM-3PM

SKIRVIN HOLIDAY EVENTS

As Downtown Oklahoma City comes to life this holiday season, the Skirvin Hilton once again will host several festive events, including Holiday High Tea and Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Plus, enjoy fabulous Skirvin holiday breakfasts, brunches, and dinners on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. For reservations or more information, contact the Holiday Desk at the Skirvin at 405.702.8542.

CHRISTMAS CRAWL AT DEEP DEUCE

The annual Christmas Crawl through the Deep Deuce historic neighborhood returns on Friday, December 16 for its third year. Participants are encouraged to bring with them their best in holiday cheer. Dress the part of a traditional holiday party-goer with an ugly Christmas sweater, Belsnickel, Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation or another festive variation to show their holiday spirit while enjoying holiday spirits. Meet at Deep Deuce Grill at 9pm to share stories of holiday revelry.

SURE BEATS WALKING HOLIDAY SEGWAY RENTALS

Sure Beats Walking will be offering a holiday discount for $20/hour. Enjoy rides throughout the downtown districts exploring the beautiful holiday decor. Located at the Myriad Gardens (301 W. Reno). For more information, visit surebeatswalking.com.

OKC MUSEUM OF ART HOLIDAY EVENTS

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will feature several holiday events this winter.

Art installations, drop-in art classes, yoga, workshops, and more. The Museum Films will be presenting “A Very Wes Anderson Christmas.” The OKCMOA is perfect for families and children. For more information, visit okcmoa.com.

OKC ARTS COUNCIL’S OPENING NIGHT

Ring in the new year in style! Since 1987, Opening Night has been the place for families and friends to enjoy the performing arts and “open” the New Year in the spirit of community. Downtown Oklahoma City is the setting for a variety of bands, fireworks, and an unforgettable children’s craft and performance area. The day begins with a festive 5k and all the excitement concludes with a fireworks extravaganza at midnight. For more information, visit downtownindecember.com.

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EAT & DRINK

Tara firma

Solid service and excellent food put Tarahumara’s on sure footing for a successful future. By Greg Elwell

con carne over the top.

Sour cream chicken enchiTarahumara’s Mexican Cafe ladas ($9.20 lunch, $11.85 & Cantina dinner) only seem simple when they’re done correctly, as they 702 N. Porter Ave., Norman facebook.com/tarahumarasok | 405-360-8070 are at Tarahumara’s. The chicken is moist. The corn torWhat works: Outstanding mole and tilla wrapped around it is soft chile Colorado. enough to be cut with the side What needs work: The busy dining of a fork, yet strong enough to room gets loud. make the trip from the scorching plate (the server isn’t Tip: Ask for the special spicy green salsa. kidding about it being hot) to your mouth without falling apart. Best of all, the sour cream Though my trip to the popular Norman sauce stays together. There’s nothing quite restaurant wasn’t inspired by his question, so disappointing as a fairly straightforit was a nice bit of serendipity that Oklahoma ward sauce that comes to the table broken Gazette reader Barrett Nuzum asked me (i.e. the fat has separated from the rest of the sauce). via Twitter, “Is there any good, authentic mole in OKC? Wife and I were watching @ It’s a matter of attention to detail, which oeta and now have a hankering.” this Mexican eatery has down pat. Servers Yes! Yes! Un mil times yes! and cooks who are focused on the cusMole (pronounced MOE-lay) shows up tomer won’t let a dish leave the kitchen at several local Mexican restaurants, but looking sub-par. Tarahumara’s is full of if you’re willing to drive a little way south, veteran employees who care about every step of the process.

Tarahumara’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina, 702 N. Porter Ave., in Norman is the Another example: Watch servers bus version that stole my heart. The mole tables. NASCAR pit crews should come in poblano ($9.75 lunch, $14.95 dinner) feato take notes on how quickly and efficienttures big pieces of chicken covered in a ly each table is cleared, cleaned and set for creamy, dark brown sauce. the next group of customers.

Mexican restaurants are high-volume A brief confession about my eating habits: Watch your hands. Years of everfood service centers, and the team working shorter school lunch breaks and vying with at Tarahumara’s clearly knows what it’s my little brother for the last helping of doing. mashed potatoes turned me into a voraWatch them before the food comes, cious eater. though, because it’ll be nearly impossible Usually, that’s evident with Mexican to take your eyes off the plate as your food when the vortex that is my mouth server delivers a sizzling skillet of costillas devours a plate of enchiladas and a couple a la parrilla Tarahumara ($13.75). of tacos in a matter of minutes. Not so with Similar to fajitas, this dish of grilled the mole, and if you’re a fast eater like me, pork ribs comes with sliced onion and bell I implore you to take a little extra time pepper slowly melting on a cast iron plate. with this dish.

But instead of strips of steak or chicken, The slow-cooked sauce is sweet and diners are greeted with ultra-tender meat bitter thanks to the prominent inclusion in a spicy sauce. of chocolate in the recipe. The flavor is so Check out the balancing act the cooks rich and deep that it deserves the full atmastered with these ribs. Pick one up and tention of both mind and taste buds to it holds together, but apply any pressure parse every nuance on the tongue. It also from teeth or a fork and the meat falls right masks some serious heat, which is another off the bone. It’s the perfect compromise good reason to savor each bite. for those who can’t decide between The chicken is fork-tender and juicy, Mexican food and barbecue.

Though it doesn’t come with all the though its flavor is largely inconsequential because nothing can stand up to the sauce. flash and sizzle of costillas, there’s something quite striking about a Those looking for a more subtle taste should consider Tarahumara’s tamale plate of chile Colorado ($9.75 lunch, $13.95 dinner). Maybe it’s that bold dinner ($9.75 lunch, $12.90 dinner). The corn masa outer shell is mildly sweet, and red hue that gives the sauce a signait comes wrapped around your choice of ture flair. Or maybe it’s the way people began gulping water and chicken or pork.

The red chili pork is the tastier of two pouring frozen margaritas in their fillings if the tamales are served plain, as mouths after a couple of bites. they come at lunch. But at dinner, either The point is it’s hot. The sauce is choice is good with the restaurant’s chili either red because it’s made of slowly

Mexican-style grilled pork ribs over sautéed onion and bell pepper, costillas a la parrilla Tarahumara | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Cinnamon-and-sugar-covered churros with strawberry syrup and whipped cream | Photo Garett Fisbeck

braised spicy red peppers or because it’s made of lava that hasn’t had a chance to cool. Either way, the stew is delicious.

Chunks of pork and potato soak up the sauce so each bite is a burst of fiery flavor.

Chile Colorado is reason enough to get a frozen swirl (that’s frozen margarita and sangria swirled together), but so is wanting a delightful beverage to start off a fun night out.

Tarahumara’s is a perfect spot for a lively gathering of friends since there’s plenty of seating inside and out and the noise level is right on for people who like to get a little loud. And there’s a nice selection of Mexican beers served in big, frosted glass goblets for those seeking lower-point drinks.

Whatever you eat (or drink), save some room for a dessert of

churros (three for $3.95). The cinnamonand-sugar-coated fried treat has a crunchy texture that gives way to a creamy center.

Strawberry syrup and whipped cream aren’t necessary, strictly speaking, but as long as one is indulging a sweet tooth, why not go all the way?

That go-all-the-way attitude is what makes Tarahumara’s such an enduring favorite among diners in Norman. The food is outstanding, and the precision service is a thing of beauty. And, seriously, order the mole.

Chile Colorado, pork and potato in spicy red sauce with rice, refried beans and pico de gallo | Photo Garett Fisbeck

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EAT & DRINK

HOLIDAY CATERING THIS YEAR, TAKE A LITTLE TIME OFF YOUR PLATE. YOU’LL LOVE WHAT WE PUT BACK ON IT.

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Karren Aloyan loves his job.

After 20 years of running clubs in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Baltimore and New Orleans, Aloyan now manages The Copa and Finishline, two of the most popular LGBTQ bars and nightclubs in Oklahoma City, and he prides himself on making the nightspots welcoming to everyone.

“What we try to do is give everyone a chance to be themselves, whether they want to dress, act, talk or dance in a specific way. This is what makes us so special, and that’s why everybody wants to come hang out,” Aloyan said. “I get so many people who say, ‘Thank you so much. I can be myself here, because if I tried to wear makeup or wear certain shoes or a dress or my hair in a certain way, I might not be accepted somewhere else. Here, not only am I accepted, I make a lot of good friends.’ So we give everyone a chance to be themselves in a judgmentfree environment.”

fans. Finishline is a country music and cowboy club.

Generally, country earns a reputation as the conservative American soundtrack.

Aloyan said Finishline makes country more inclusive.

“It gives everyone the opportunity to dance,” he said. “You can see girls couple dancing, guys couple dancing and straight couple dancing. The best part is that everyone’s smiling at each other and happy, and that’s because everyone has freedom of choice. That’s what makes it so different: People are friendly and accepted.”

Aloyan first visited the clubs at Habana Inn two years ago and started getting to know the patrons and employees.

In July, owner Rick Post offered him the manager position.

So far, he has not made any major changes to either venue and said injecting an air of positivity at the managerial level makes a lot of difference.

Busting boundaries

Celebrating unity

The Copa and Finishline are premier bars and clubs in the Habana Inn, 2200 NW 40th St., a major regional LGBTQ destination for the past three decades.

The Copa serves disco and drag show

Major changes will come with the new year. Early next year, Angles, the massive event venue and former hot-spot dance club at 2117 NW 39th St. will open regularly on weekends, and Aloyan, who will

1240 S.W. 44th St. | Oklahoma City, OK | 405.429.7940 | southwindwomenscenter.org

一伀嘀 ㌀ ⴀ 䐀䔀䌀 ㈀㐀 Karren Aloyan is the new manager of The Copa, Finishline and Angles in OKC’s 39th Street District. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

also manage that venue, is preparing to transition Angles from its status as a special events club to a full-service bar and dance destination.

Angles’ history dates back to 1982.

Its reputation for great DJs and its inclusive atmosphere helped it become a destination dance club.

Aloyan, who was raised in Armenia, makes a strong argument for his clubs to be spaces where all people come together.

On Nov. 8, as Donald Trump was elected president-elect and the nation’s lines of division became more apparent, Aloyan said Finishline was a place of relative tranquility.

“We have a lot of TVs and a lot of customers who’ve been coming there for many, many years — sometimes 30 years,” he said. “Even during an election, you have people who are being friendly. You have people sharing their opinions and supporting this side or that side, and on that night, you had people who were upset, but the atmosphere was so friendly that you would think the election was the one of the most fun things to do ever. They were sharing their opinions, but they were laughing about it.

“It doesn’t matter who’s going to be running the country,” Aloyan said. “At least here, we’ll still have freedom of choice and the opportunity to be ourselves.”

吀䤀䌀䬀䔀吀匀 匀吀䄀刀吀 䄀吀 ␀㌀㄀ 䈀唀夀 一伀圀 䘀伀刀 吀䠀䔀 䈀䔀匀吀 匀䔀䄀吀匀℀ 㨀㨀 䄀䐀䐀䤀吀䤀伀一䄀䰀 䘀唀一䐀䤀一䜀 倀刀伀嘀䤀䐀䔀䐀 䈀夀 㨀㨀

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EAT & DRINK

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from left Chefs Bruce Rinehart and Jason Bustamante | Photo Garett Fisbeck / file

Changing courses Rococo owner Bruce Rinehart plans some radical menu alterations. By Greg Elwell

Over the last 12 years, the Rococo menu evolved as chef Bruce Rinehart honed his ideas of East Coast-style fine dining.

Rococo Northpark, owned by Rinehart and business partner/executive chef Jason Bustamante, celebrated its sixth anniversary Nov. 9.

In 2017, they’re planning massive revisions to the restaurants’ fan-favorite menu.

“It’s time,” Rinehart said.

It’s a season of change for both the original venue at 2824 N. Pennsylvania Ave. and the larger second location at 12252 N. May Ave. Rinehart recently parted ways with chef Josh Partain after working together eight years, and Rinehart and Bustamante are planning a new bar concept, The Manhattan, which is expected to open sometime in 2017 at 210 Park Ave., Suite 150.

Menu redo

Rococo won’t deprive guests of the restaurant’s famous crabcakes or Bruce’s Love Salad for Two, which marries a classic iceberg lettuce salad with an antipasto plate of Italian cheese and meats.

But when he began asking customers about potential changes, he found them surprisingly willing to reply.

“I was talking to a guy, and told him I was thinking about taking an item off the menu that he enjoys,” Rinehart said. “And he said, ‘I’m not going to stop coming in here just because you take that dish off.’”

Anyone who visits either location knows the owners take a personal approach with diners, and Rinehart and Bustamante have been exploring how to best introduce new items and pare down menus without alienating loyal customers.

“We’re passionate about people,” Rinehart said, “but we have finally come to a place where Rococo will still be Rococo” if the menus begin to diverge.

That means the Northpark and Penn locations will grow into their own identities, yet remain bonded by philosophy and a select core of menu items.

“Way back in the day, when I opened Northpark, I wanted a smaller menu that included sides to pair them with centerof-the-plate items,” Rinehart explained.

“Looking back, I wish I had done that.

And now we can.”

He said the pair will explore seasonal menu selections with more “straightforward flavors.”

“A lot of the New England flair will stay, and our seafood is still a big focus that’s important to us,” Rinehart said.

Big city

Everything that could delay The Manhattan’s opening has, he said. Bar construction is at least a month behind schedule. Though the slow pace of progress is frustrating, Rinehart still eagerly discusses the new concept, which he plans to open in early 2017.

“The place is going to be wicked sexy,” he said.

The Manhattan is going in at the base of Oklahoma Tower, and the bar’s signature drink will be the potent cocktail for which it is named, a favorite of partner Ted Streuli, editor of The Journal Record.

“We had two concepts we wanted to do,” Rinehart said. “He’s from San Francisco, and I’m from back east, so it’s kind of an East Coast vs. West Coast thing.”

But all of it revolves around the drink, with tiered Manhattan offerings with varieties of vermouths, ryes and Bordeaux cherries.

As he does at Rococo, Rinehart said he will take his cues from his customers, start with a small menu and see how they respond to daily features.

“We’re really catering to the neighborhood, with some cool salads and panini,” he said. “And we’ll grow it with our guests’ tastes in mind.”

One issue at The Manhattan is the bar doesn’t have a gas range, which he said just makes cooking a more creative process.

www.sandbburgers.com O kg a z e t t e . c o m | n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

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EAT & DRINK b rie f s By Greg Elwell

Jonathon Stranger is taking time to focus on his family and upcoming restaurant En Croûte. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

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Chef Jonathon Stranger has left Ludivine, 805 N. Hudson Ave., and The R&J Lounge and Supper Club, 320 NW 10th St. “I just wanted something different,” he said.

The decision was not made in haste, but there was a moment that crystallized the need for change. At 4:30 a.m. while caring for his teething son, Stranger realized it would be the only time the two would see each other that week.

Co-owning and cooking at Ludivine and The R&J while working to open a pair of new restaurants in Edmond meant he was spending too much time away from his family and too much time staring at Excel spreadsheets.

“I hate Excel,” he said.

The parting is amicable, and he remains friends with co-owner and chef Russ Johnson.

He also leaves the business in good shape with the recent hire of former The Museum Cafe chef Henry Boudreaux, who Stranger said will continue the ethos that put the national foodie spotlight on Ludivine.

Stranger will now focus on his role as consulting chef of En Croûte, a small Nichols Hills bar, restaurant and cheese shop at 6460 Avondale Drive, which he hopes to open soon.

“It’s tiny,” he said. “There are 30 seats and a limited menu. We’re only doing a few things, but we’re doing them the best.”

Sweet partnership

Palette cleanser

Finding Oklahoma food gifts for the hol- At this year’s Refreshing the Palette event, idays just got easier with the announce- The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro paired 20 ment that Davis, Oklahoma-based Bedré wines with 20 Oklahoma artists to raise Fine Chocolates is making its products $3,500, including funds for Oklahoma Visual available in multiple metro-area Crest Arts Coalition (OVAC).

Foods locations.

The art show is run by the restaurant, Bedré general manager Kay Colbert said 6418 N. Western Ave. The art sale benefits in a media release that the chocolatier and the artists and the coalition, said OVAC asthe grocery chain both have strong sociate director Lauren Scarpello.

Artists received 70 percent of proceeds Oklahoma roots and she thinks their relationship will be mutually beneficial. from pieces sold and the remaining 30 “The partnership with Crest is ideal for percent went to OVAC programming, includus, and it comes at a time that happens to ing artist grants. be one of the busiest for both of our brands “We rarely receive grants,” Scarpello said. as we enter the holiday season,” Colbert said. “Refreshing the Palette helps us fill in the Crest locations selling the chocolates financial gaps for some of our most imporare 10601 S. May Ave.; 2550 Mount tant programs.”

Williams Drive in Norman; 2200 W. 15th Artists Marilyn Artus, Christie Owen, St., Suite 124, in Edmond; and 249 N. Suzanne Wallace Mears and William Struby Douglas Blvd. in Midwest City. reimagined wine labels to create original They join several metro Homeland pieces for the show.

OVAC’s mission is to educate, bring recstores and The Gourmet Gallery, 1532 S. Boulevard, in Edmond that sell Bedré ognition to art in Oklahoma through Art products.

Focus magazine and help artists support Visit bedrechocolates.com. themselves through their crafts.

Visit ovac-ok.org.

f eat u re

The Okie Burger is topped with country-fried bacon, pickles, onion rings and honey barbecue sauce. | Photo Michael Kinney

Dine in

Chesapeake Energy Arena upgrades its food menus for Thunder basketball season. By Michael Kinney

Chesapeake Energy Arena executive chef Andrew Murin warns anyone who tries his English Sticky Toffee Pudding that they could become addicted.

“Everyone who has tried it goes on and on about it,” Murin said. “I’ve made this for about 15, 20 years.”

The sweet treat was one of many new food options on display recently at the arena as officials with SAVOR foodservice and Levy Restaurants presented new dining offerings now available through the Oklahoma City Thunder season.

Each year, the Thunder wants to make sure fans experience new and exciting things both on and off the court, Murin said. Research and testing help bring fans culinary experiences like no other venue in the NBA league.

“I think the primary influence for us in enhancing the food and beverage menu here is driven by the fans,” said Thunder senior vice president Brian Byrnes. “The fans are constantly telling us things they like and don’t like. We can measure that. … So every year, we’re trying to be responsive to that feedback.”

Byrnes said the game menus reflect OKC’s growing diversity of food options.

“We also have to be considerate to the fact that in the last 10 years, as Oklahoma City has grown, there are so many new influences now in the culinary space,” Byrnes explained. “We’re being inspired by what entrepreneurs are doing and what the new restaurant groups are doing in creating a new experience for Oklahoma City in general. We need to be building experience to be as good or better than

what any fan can get around the arena.”

This year’s new options include the pork belly bánh mì sandwich, Okie Burger, Oklahoma Heat Dog, s’mores pizza, chicken and doughnut sandwich, Trio Street Tacos and biscuit and gravy varieties. An important theme this season, Byrnes said, is freshness.

Levy’s regional manager Joe Guthrie said that means making it easy for fans to get their food without missing the game.

“What we’ve really started learning about millennials is they want everything their way,” Guthrie said. “The food being prepared in front of you guarantees the food is fresh. It’s really a growing concept, and we’ve really tried to incorporate it into all of our stands.”

List your event in

Sound improvements

In addition to upgrading palate experiences for fans, the Thunder also recently upgraded the hearing experience. During the offseason, Chesapeake Energy Arena’s 650,000 square-foot building was outfitted with a new sound system. Byrnes said it cost around $3 million. Part of that funding came out of Oklahoma City’s maintenance fund, which is dedicated to arena upkeep.

“Over the past couple of years, the one consistent area we felt like we were not meeting the fan expectations was the audio sound distribution,” Byrnes said.

“There were fans, particularity in Loud City, that were getting a completely different experience than folks sitting just 10 feet away from them. … As we try to create a theater of experience.”

There are so many new influences now in the culinary space.

Brian Byrnes

Submissions must be received by

Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Submit your listings online at okgazette.com or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

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g a z e di b l e s

eat & DRINK

Party time!

Release your inner Wayne and Garth, because it is the season for holiday parties. Excellent news, right? Whether you’re getting together with colleagues or meeting all 31 members of your high school ska band for a reunion, you’ll need a venue that can handle the party’s food and drink needs. Schwing by these restaurants and event spaces for service and ambiance that will have guests saying, “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!”

By Greg Elwell Photos Garett Fisbeck and Gazette file

The Tasting Room 4322 N. Western Ave. thetastingroomokc.com 405-604-3015

On the other side of The Lobby Cafe & Bar and Sushi Neko is The Tasting Room, the hidden gem of Western Concepts Restaurant Group. The intimate space can host seated dinner parties up to 48 people, but its uses are myriad and include wine tastings and cooking classes. Party planners can put together a three-course menu for chef Jeffrey Khowong to prepare or consult on the creation of something special to customize the event.

Vast

Red Piano Lounge

Its name is literal. With a wide-open view of Oklahoma City, the metro’s highest-elevation restaurant also is one of its most spacious. Vast’s private dining rooms range in size and scope from the intimate 10-person Chef’s Table, allowing a party to watch (and eat) as the chef works, to the accommodating Broadway Room, which can seat 100.

Need more space? Check with V2 Events at Vast, the event space one floor up.

Dinner, drinks and dancing? Look no farther than Red Piano Lounge inside the historic Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City. A casually elegant spot for an after-work party, this bar offers expertly made cocktails and a great menu of light bites. (More substantial fare is just a few steps away at Park Avenue Grill, also inside the hotel.)

Music lovers rejoice, because Red Piano’s ivories are tickled Tuesday-Saturday.

333 W. Sheridan Ave. vastokc.com | 405-702-7262

1 Park Ave. skirvinhilton.com | 405-702-8444

Office Parties. rehearsal dinners. reuniOns.

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Tues Open Mic night Wed Ladies night Thur KaraOKe Fri/saT Live Music & 2nd & 4Th Fri dJ w/cOMedy shOw

Viceroy Grille

1200 N. Walker Ave. viceroyokc.com | 405-898-8120 Technically, a viceroy outranks an ambassador, so the luxurious Viceroy Grille must be in charge at Ambassador Hotel Midtown.

One look at the menu filled with tasty steak tartare, short rib sauerbraten and Maine lobster tail, and you’ll salute, too. A few areas are easily curtained off for smaller private parties. For events hosting up to 70 guests, a rooftop terrace overlooks Midtown District.

Myriad Gardens’ Events Center

Mary Eddy’s Kitchen x Lounge

Formerly Park House restaurant and home to the OK Chefs Relief Pop-Up after the May 20 tornado in Moore, the newly christened Myriad Gardens’ Event Center brings fine dining elegance to cocktail parties, wedding receptions and corporate get-togethers. Myriad Gardens works with different caterers, including Aunt Pittypat’s Catering, Holloway Restaurant Group and Running Wild Catering, to keep guests satisfied.

Hotel eateries, by their nature, must be versatile. So Mary Eddy’s Kitchen x Lounge inside eye-poppingly gorgeous 21C Museum Hotel serves breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and cocktails daily to hotel guests and walk-ins. Chef Jason Campbell and his team leverage that experience to create unforgettable meals for parties in the restaurant and the connected museum for those hungry for a feast for the eyes and belly.

301 W. Reno Ave. myriadgardens.org/rentals | 405-200-1547

Dekora!

200 S. Oklahoma Ave., Suite 130 extremeyum.com | 405-702-1325

900 W. Main St. maryeddysokc.com | 405-982-6960

After they took over the venue, In the Raw owners Drew and Anna Mains wanted to change the name of their first restaurant but instead took time to raise the funds for a re-launch. Now Oklahoma City can enjoy their efforts at Dekora!, which fuses the sushi menu customers loved with cooked Japanese entrees, including bulgogi tuna steak and char siu pork belly steamed buns.

With its bold Japanese decor and access to the restaurant’s inventive cocktail menu, its big back room is perfect for lively parties.

Holiday Catering Menu now available Email info@provision-kitchen.com for more details and this year’s menu selections.

lunch & dinner

6014 n. May 947.7788 | zorbasokc.coM

Nichols Hills Plaza | provision-kitchen.com

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ARTS & CULTURE c u lt u r e

Friendly fest Many seek alternatives to traditional Thanksgiving and other seasonal gatherings. By Ben Luschen

For many people, the holiday season is a time for cheer and feasting alongside family members and loved ones.

For others, however, that’s not the case.

Some live far away from their families or are alone.

Others might just wish they lived far away from that borderline racist uncle or bratty cousin with whom they’re forced to share an annual meal.

Luckily, there are alternatives to the traditional family Thanksgiving.

This year, many people will instead choose to celebrate “Friendsgiving,” a gathering of amigos, buddies, chums and/ or comrades in observance of possibly the greatest gift of all: companionship.

Unexpected traditions

It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in Josh Hutton’s sophomore year at the University of Central Oklahoma.

He and several other friends finished their classes for the day and were heading into Thanksgiving break.

No one wanted to go home just yet (they’d spend plenty of time with their families later in the week) so Hutton, who now lives in Guthrie, and a small group of college buddies strolled to a nearby WalMart Neighborhood Market to stock up on weird holiday beers and whatever food

Buddy love

sounded appealing at the moment.

Their first Beersgiving was a spontaneous event.

“It was not the trappings of a regular Thanksgiving,” Hutton said. “There was some really horrible fried chicken. Fish tacos entered the mix. Just whatever people could make or microwave really quickly was what became the staple of that first meal.”

Everyone ended up in the kitchen. They raised their drinks and toasted to friendships and whatever successes they had found that year.

Five years later, the toast is an annual tradition.

Beersgiving has become more elaborate and organized. Home-cooked, alcohol-infused meats and comfort foods replaced microwavable fare. To mark this year’s fifth anniversary, the friends pitched in to order commemorative Beersgiving beer mugs.

Hutton said Beersgiving usually feels happier and more intimate than traditional family gatherings.

“Not to say that I don’t enjoy my family Thanksgiving, but there’s always the weirdness of trying to catch up with uncles, aunts and cousins you haven’t seen,” he said. “You’re almost afraid of what part of your life you can even talk

about with those people.”

The yearly observances give Hutton time to pause, imbibe and appreciate life’s comforts.

“I think there’s something that makes you feel alive when you do events like that,” he said. “As we live in this very digital space where we’re everywhere at once all the time, [it feels good] to pull yourself into more of an intimate event

Customers can put the

est can serve up to 28, she said.

Friendsgiving shouldn’t be a lot

responsibility of making sure

Of course, dinner parties don’t

esting private dining spaces is

of work. There shouldn’t be so

everything is cooked correctly

have to be huge to be fun. Inside

the giant round table at Sushi

much cooking and cleaning be-

and tastes great on the capable

Paseo Grill, 2909 Paseo Drive,

Neko, 4318 N. Western Ave.

fore everyone arrives that it be-

shoulders of his kitchen staff.

there are options for private and

Guests remove their shoes

semiprivate spaces, said co-

and sit on mats before sharing plates of sashimi and maki rolls.

“You’re getting a product that

comes difficult to enjoy the meal and the company. That’s just not

is failproof. It takes all the doubt

owner Lesley Rawlinson. It also

what Friendsgiving is about.

out of it,” Soward said.

runs The Reserve, a full-service

Broadway 10 Bar & Chop-

from the restaurant for groups of

Public House, 1100 Classen

up to 50 guests.

Drive, for beer selection and

Kitchen escape

said he loves hosting at his home,

Stella Modern Italian Cuisine

though there can be drawbacks.

sous chef and assistant manager

“I love cooking. We do it at

Melissa Aust said personalization

easily curtained-off areas to keep

rant serves Irish pub fare in a

my house every year,” Soward

is one reason people choose her

dinner feeling more intimate.

laid-back environment that is

said. “And I love that my family

restaurant for dinner parties dur-

Small groups get access to the

equally friendly to the wallet

can be relaxed and enjoy it.”

ing the holidays.

full menu, while Rawlinson sug-

and taste buds.

The Midtown District Italian

gests a pre-set menu for bigger gatherings.

Wherever they choose to go, Aaron Soward said the best

restaurant, 1201 N. Walker Ave.,

the kitchen before and after the

is a favorite for Friendsgiving

meal while everyone else enjoys

groups, Aust said, because the

that way,” Rawlinson said. “It

celebrations to a restaurant

quality time. The same is true for

chefs are so eager to work with

takes a little more thinking out

isn’t the gourmet food or selec-

Friendsgiving parties, but staff at

customers.

of it.”

tion of cocktails. It’s that they

Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse,

“Depending on the size of the

1101 N. Broadway Ave., help

party, we can do a limited menu,

Mixing menus

make holiday gatherings easier

where people can choose from

Friendsgiving celebrations often

for everyone by putting together

four entrees, soup or salad and

follow the traditional Thanksgiv-

group meals they can serve to

two desserts, or we can have a

ing menu with turkey, ham and

people on the go.

buffet-style service,” she said.

green bean casserole, but why

“It’s something we could even deliver,” Soward said.

46

Stella’s largest room can hold about 50 while the second-larg-

n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

limit a dinner party to one type of cuisine?

Licensed professional counselor and life coach Kris Bryant hears two primary

space. The three-story restau-

and his wife being relegated to

“The execution is a little easier

Holiday headaches

Few places in the metro can match James E. McNellie’s

house co-owner Aaron Soward

What he doesn’t love is he

with people you really care about and say, ‘This is going to be sentimental. We’re going to build each other up; we’re going to have a good time.’”

One of the city’s most inter-

dining room across the street

For smaller parties, there are

A custom beer glass design for the annual Beersgiving event organized by Josh Hutton and his friends | Photo provided

treat for hosts who take their

don’t have to clean up when the party is over.

“Nobody likes being stuck cleaning up,” he said.

By Greg Elwell

reasons his clients feel stressed around the holidays.

The first is a general sense of being overwhelmed.

“They miss out on the good things about the holidays because they get so caught up in the hustle and bustle,” he said.

Bryant has worked 10 years in mental health and has practiced privately for nearly three years.

The holidays should be relaxing, but there can be a lot of work associated with celebrating. He said massive holiday to-do lists can amplify pre-existing tensions.

The second most common stressor Bryant’s clients share is the painful reminder of a deceased relative or loved one whom they will miss during the season’s gatherings.

Others might have strained relationships with certain family members and choose to avoid potential conflict.

“I work with some people who just prefer not to be around families during the holidays,” he said. “They stay at home by themselves.”

Bryant said developing a Friendsgiving tradition is a great alternative for people who want to celebrate the holiday on their own terms.

Sometimes, family lives far away and someone might have to choose between visiting for Thanksgiving or Christmas, if they are able to visit at all.

To fend off feelings of loneliness, Bryant recommends getting out into the community.

Taking time to appreciate nearby friendships also helps.

Additionally, he suggested volunteer-

Thanksgiving 2016

ing as a way to boost lonely spirits over the holidays.

“One of the best ways to help ourselves when we’re not feeling the greatest is to help other people,” he said.

It is best to not keep score during the holiday season or compare one person’s experiences to another, Bryant said.

Instead, focus on being thankful for the things that bring joy in everyday life.

“We can kind of choose our own family as we get older,” Bryant said. “Maybe your family of origin aren’t the most positive or supportive people to be around, but maybe you can find some other friends or co-workers and create a sense of family elsewhere.”

Dinner party destinations Sometimes, home isn’t the best place for a dinner party. Whether due to a lack of space, time or culinary acumen, many prefer to host their gatherings at restaurants, where they can mingle with friends while chefs and servers handle the details.

Here are a few suggestions:

Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse 1101 N. Broadway Ave. broadway10okc.com 405-212-3949

MUFFINS, DANISH, BREAKFAST BREADS

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StylE And SErvicE for EvEry budgEt

AppLEwOOD SMOKED BACON & SAUSAgE LINKS

~

200A SE 8th St. • Moore • 912-4450 forrestfireplaces.com

Licensed counselor Kris Bryant | Photo provided

James E. McNellie’s Public House 1100 Classen Drive mcnelliesokc.com 405-601-7468

s m o t Bot Up!

2909 Paseo Drive, Suite A paseogrill.com 405-601-1079

1201 N. Walker Ave. stella-okc.com 405-235-2200

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NOv E M BE R 2 4 11a m - 5pm reser vat ions recom mended 4 05. 239. 39 0 0

Red PrimeSteak

J. Bruner’s at The Haunted House

~

$35 adu lts $18 ch i ld ren

Paseo Grill

Stella Modern Italian Cuisine

~

HERB ROASTED TURKEY BREAST CARvINg STATION w/cranberry sauce, giblet gravy & warm rolls

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2920 NW 63rd St. meatmarketrefectory.com 405-608-8866

9201 Lake Hefner Parkway hefnergrill.com 405-748-6113

vEgETABLE pOTATO HASH, CREOLE gRITS

~

The Meat Market Refectory

Hefner Grill

Paseo Grill’s curtained tables and back room offer parties of all sizes a place to find a little privacy. | Photo Gazette / file

BRU NCH M E N U

CINNAMON FRENCH TOAST w/bananas foster sauce

504 N. Broadway Ave. redprimesteak.com 405-232-2626

7101 Miramar Blvd. jbruners.com/haunted-house 405-478-1417

E.S. FOUNDER’S

Sushi Neko 4318 N. Western Ave. sushineko.com 405-528-8862

1613 N. May Ave 405-601-5607 M-SAT 2-2 | SUN NOON-2

741 N phillips ave OklahOma city Ok 73104 O kg a z e t t e . c o m | n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

47

ARTS & CULTURE

c u lt u r e

Automobile Alley celebrates the season with its Lights on, Broadway! event on Saturday. | Photo provided

Festive glow

Automobile Alley launches the Lights on, Broadway! showcase with special events Saturday. By Adam Holt

Beginning Saturday, Automobile Alley twinkles with holiday cheer as the district’s shops and restaurants welcome the community for its Lights on, Broadway! open house and lighting display celebrating the holiday season.

The opening event runs 4-8 p.m.

Saturday, and the display can be seen dusk

to dawn Saturday through Jan. 1.

“Lights on, Broadway! is Automobile Alley’s first annual holiday open house and unveiling of this year’s light curtains,” said Staci Sanger, Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. marketing manager. “Automobile Alley is a historic district that deserves a display that is as unique as its character and the

businesses within it.”

To match the growth of the downtown OKC district, Lights on, Broadway’s display will be the area’s largest and share a motif.

Approximately 180,000 multicolored LED lights sparkle along Automobile Alley’s eight blocks, which stretch along Broadway Avenue between Fourth and 10th streets.

“Retail shops and restaurants are creating ‘vintage Christmas’-themed window displays and offering special deals and promotions,” Sanger said.

Sanger said the free public event showcases everything the district offers and includes entertainment for everyone in the family. Enjoy carriage rides, visits with Santa, artists and musicians, face painting, a holiday-themed photo booth and an outdoor film screening of White Christmas along Broadway Avenue and some side streets between Fourth and 10th streets.

Sanger said blankets are welcome for the 6 p.m. free movie screening in the RCB Bank parking lot, 701 N. Broadway Ave. Just before the movie starts, Holey Rollers will serve complimentary hot cocoa.

Other offerings throughout the district include snacks, a s’mores station, food trucks, a magician and balloon artist and street chess. District businesses offer sales, promotions and giveaways like free giftwrapping, Christmas cookies, cheese samples, mulled wine samples, Mexican hot chocolate and more.

“There truly is something for everyone,”

Sanger said.

Automobile Alley businesses also come together during Lights on, Broadway! to help those in need. The Salvation Army and Warmth 4 Winter are this year’s beneficiaries.

“The businesses in the district are incredibly generous and wanted this event to stand out in a way that is beneficial to its community,” Sanger said. “They gathered together to pick a deserving beneficiary, and that is how the partnership … came about.”

The community can participate, too, she said. New or gently used coats can be dropped off at any one of eight Automobile Alley locations, including OKC Energy FC’s office at 1001 N. Broadway Ave., Cultivar Mexican Kitchen at 714 N. Broadway Ave. and Schlegel Bicycles at 900 N. Broadway Ave.

Lights on, Broadway!

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CULTURE

Fancy firs

A Red Earth event features 18 holiday trees decorated by members of Oklahoma’s 39 Native American tribes.

By Mark Beutler

When decking halls, the main focal point is often the Christmas tree. Whether it’s traditional or trendy, real or fabulously The Citizen Potawatomi Nation joined other fake, the holiday tree epitomizes the spirit Native American nations and tribes in Oklahoma and character of its owner. to decorate trees with traditional ornaments for Red Earth, Inc. once again puts its own Treefest. | Photo Red Earth / provided trimmings on display with a Native American twist. This year, it hosts its Red Earth Treefest decorations reflect second Treefest in downtown Oklahoma that diversity. He said Oklahoma tribes City through Jan. 13. work hard to protect and sustain their The tradition began last year with five culture and share it with others. trees decorated by five Oklahoma Native Decorating the trees takes a while, and tribes. The festival has expanded and now volunteers began hanging ornaments in October. It also takes a while to make all features even more trees beautifully those ornaments. decorated in the spirit of the season.

“Some of the tribal groups have been “The response we received from the community was unbelievable,” said Eric working on ornaments for the Christmas Oesch, Red Earth, Inc. co-director and trees since last summer,” Oesch said. director of commuA placard explainnications. “Guests ing the pieces and how they relate to from throughout the Red Earth Treefest state came to the Red tribal culture accomEarth Art Center to pany each tree. Some 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, see our Christmas are created by chil10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 3, 10 and 17 trees. We had many dren, Oesch said, and Red Earth Art Center homeschoolers, others were made by 6 Santa Fe Plaza senior groups and the accomplished tribal redearth.org response from the artists.

405-427-5228 tribal community Featured organiFree was very strong. That zations include the Absentee Shawnee event was so successful, we decided to triple the size for our Tribe, Caddo Nation, Cherokee Nation, 2016 event, and today, we’re featuring 18 Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation, Christmas trees.”

Visit any department store and you’ll Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Comanche see traditional red and green glass ornaNation, Delaware Nation, Hopi Tribe, ments. Themes range from barefoot Kaw Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, surfing Santas to bandana-wearing Sac and Fox Nation, and Seminole Nation cowboy elves. of Oklahoma.

An added benefit to this year’s event Not so at Treefest, where Native ornaments are all handmade, each different is Red Earth’s stay and play package. Red and unique and representing the culture Earth joined several arts organizations of those who made them. to provide discounted rates at the “Oklahoma has 39 tribal headquarters Wyndham Garden Hotel and discounts located within its borders, more than any to see Oklahoma City Ballet’s production other state in the United States,” Oesch of The Nutcracker and Lyric Theatre of said. “Yet only three tribes are actually Oklahoma’s A Christmas Carol. The from Oklahoma. The rest were relocated package also includes $250 in coupons to here from other parts of America.

The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City Oklahoma’s tribes have histories that go and discounts to area restaurants. back to the Florida Everglades, the Great Treefest continues through Jan. 13 at Lakes regions, Smokey Mountains, the Red Earth Art Center, 6 Santa Fe Plaza. bayous of Mississippi, New Mexico and Admission is free 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. even California.”

Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 3, 10 and 17.

Because of that, Oesch said the cultures of Oklahoma tribes are some of the most diverse of all Native nations.

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ARTS & CULTURE

c u lt u r e

Full Circle Melody musicians can create personalized wedding songs via the company’s MarriageMelody service. | Photo provided

Lovely ditty

Full Circle Melody DJ, live music and emcee company writes itself into weddings via its spinoff MarriageMelody service. By Lauren Dow

MarriageMelody provides couples with a wedding song that is truly their own, based on their love story.

The service began four years ago when Travis Wackerly, owner of Full Circle Melody, which provides full service DJ, live music and emcee services to the Oklahoma City and Dallas metros, wrote a song for his wife and their own wedding.

It became the launching point of the idea, which grew into a business venture when the mother of one of his clients asked if they could perform a song about her daughter.

It was well received, and Wackerly launched his MarriageMelody service.

Storytelling

MarriageMelody musicians create unique wedding music inspired by each couple’s love stories. Couples are interviewed by songwriters and complete a questionnaire. The writers also perform Full Circle Melody.

Wackerly said the best songs are the result of in-person interviews because his clients, “just continue talking while we are recording, which gives us much more than a simple questionnaire to get details of their story for the song.”

Wackerly said their personal funny, romantic or even embarrassing stories are his favorite to work with.

“One groom proposed with lights strung across a 30-foot fence, so part of those lyrics are ‘He’s got a love that’s as big as the earth, and I think he made that case with a question you can read from space,’” Wackerly said.

He said another groom “proposed in the rain in the middle of a garden, so the theme of that was based off of the title to the song ‘Yes in the Rain.’”

Heartsong

The performers write songs in whatever genre the couple prefers, and because Full Circle Melody usually also DJs the wed50

n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

dings, they are able to gain insight into which genres the couple like. If the couple doesn’t specify, writers create a song that they feel best communicates the story.

They have no problems personalizing the songs.

“Each couple is unique, so we craft these songs to match what we have learned about their personalities and background stories,” he said. “We have used their personal names in some of the songs, but mainly the couple’s background story is so original in itself that there will not be any other song like it.”

If the company creates a wedding song, the couple receives it as professionally recorded mp3 digital file. If the client also books Full Circle Melody for their event, they receive a live performance of the song. MarriageMelody has created two music videos for songs, both this year.

Travis said the reactions to the music are priceless.

Our song can really touch a heart months or even years later.

Travis Wackerly

“For live performances of the song at weddings, these songs create a really powerful moment,” he said. “Our song can really touch a heart months or even years later.”

MarriageMelody provides song samples on its website marriagemelody. com. Songs can also be purchased as gifts.

“A lot of couples have songs that they consider ‘their song,’” he said. “We’re on a mission to give them a song about them, their love, their story, a memory that will last forever.”

ARTS & CULTURE

Cameron Buchholtz 8 p.m and 11 p.m. Nov. 26 Opolis 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman opolis.org 405-673-4931 Free

performing arts

18+

Live audience

Comedian Cameron Buchholtz opens up Opolis for two shows to record his first comedy album. By Ben Luschen

While feeling his way through a fledgling comedy set during his first booked gig, Cameron Buchholtz worked a crowd that wasn’t necessarily there to see stand-up.

“Opening for indie bands is always tough,” the local comic said about that Opolis show.

Almost a decade later, a more established Buchholtz returns Nov. 26 to the Norman venue that helped launch his comedy career, where he’ll perform a free live taping of what will soon be his debut comedy album.

Buchholtz, also known as a Sunday radio DJ and personality for 100.5 KATT FM Radio, headlines two free live shows, which will be taped, 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. at 113 N. Crawford Ave. Guests will also be treated to sets by local comedians Spencer Hicks, Andrew Deacon and Alex Sanchez at the first show and James Nghiem, Josh Lathe and Dan Skaggs at the second.

Fans already know they’re in for a night of great stand-up, but Buchholtz remembers telling jokes during his debut booking to a crowd that was waiting to see an indie rock band. He said many in the audience stood

with their arms folded across their chest.

“Hopefully it won’t be that way at the end of the month,” he said. “I’m sure it won’t.”

Getting ready

Opolis has since become one of Buchholtz’s favorite venues in which to perform. He began doing stand-up and comedy podcasts around 10 years ago. He also cofounded OKC Comedy, the city’s most prominent comedy booking and promotions company.

Despite a list of many other comedy accomplishments, this will be his first live album release.

“I used to always feel like I just wasn’t ready to do one,” he said. “I never liked my full hour enough to be like, ‘This is the thing that represents me,’ but I think I just decided that I’m probably never going to like it that way so I should just do it anyway.”

He expects to release the yet-to-benamed project via iTunes, Spotify and other services in early 2017. He also plans to issue it on cassette sometime next year.

Cameron Buchholtz | Photo Garett Fisbeck / file

Buchholtz deflects any pressure associated with prepping the debut, instead approaching it as a snapshot of where his set is at this particular time.

The comic is known for frequent pop culture and music references in his jokes and occasionally mentions his unabashed love for theatrical rock band KISS. (Find his Ted Nugent bit on YouTube for a good, adult laugh.) “[My set] is a lot of dumb classic rock references,” Buchholtz said. “Basically, if anyone has seen me perform in the last year or so, it will be that but an hour of it.”

He has been performing more gigs recently as he refines older jokes and makes sure he is in top form for his Opolis shows.

“Normally, I’m just about getting as much new material out as possible and developing a lot of new stuff,” he said. “It’s sort of a weird shift to have to force myself to go back and really focus on refining everything.”

Comedy boom

Buchholtz lists Paul F. Tompkins’ 2007 album Impersonal and Jimmy Pardo’s crowd-working 2005 Pompous Clown as two of his favorite live comedy albums.

Those comics are from Philadelphia and Chicago respectively.

Buchholtz launched his career in Oklahoma but spent a few years in New York City and Austin, Texas, to hone his act. In New York, he performed as many as 15 shows a week. Buchholtz said in smaller markets like Oklahoma City, especially in years past, this type of frequency is impossible.

“At a certain point, you just need to be

on stage as much as possible,” he said. “The only way to do that is in another place.”

New York crowds also were quite different from what he encountered locally, and the move allowed him to connect with new comics from around the country.

Buchholtz returned to his home state in 2014, in part to help leave his mark on a booming local scene. Stand-up has come far since the days when The Loony Bin and Othello’s Italian Restaurant were some of the only performance venues available.

“I like being back here in Oklahoma City because it feels like I can actually build something as opposed to a place like New York or Austin, where you’re just chasing what’s already built,” he said.

As an OKC Comedy founder, he has helped book and bring in national touring acts David Cross, Maria Bamford, Doug Stanhope, Shane Mauss, Josh Gondelman and Cameron Esposito within the last year.

“We just kind of figured if no one else was going to do it, then we needed to,” he said. “It’s been really great to see that the people of Oklahoma City also want to see those same type of comics.”

The great public interest in these bookings, he said, is indicative of the strength of comedy everywhere, not just in Oklahoma City.

“Comedy as a whole everywhere is kind of growing in popularity,” Buchholtz said.

“It’s kind of a mini-boom again, and I think that’s definitely the case here.”

Find Buchholtz on Twitter and Instagram at @cbuchholtz.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

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ARTS & CULTURE

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Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker arrives Nov. 25 at Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center in Midwest City. | Photo Moscow Ballet / provided

Chance to dance

Moscow Ballet lets young dancers appear onstage in Great Russian Nutcracker. By Ben Luschen

Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker 7 p.m. Nov. 25 Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center 6420 SE 15th St., Midwest City nutcracker.com 405-733-7960 $28-$175

Anna Radik was a little girl when she saw her first performance of The Nutcracker.

She watched it from backstage. Much about the world of dance was revealed to her during a childhood spent largely inside the National Opera House of Ukraine in Kiev.

“I can say that I was raised there since I was little,” the dancer said.

Radik will join Moscow Ballet in its performance of Great Russian Nutcracker Nov. 25 at Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center, 6420 SE 15th St., in Midwest City. The performance is extra special because several young, local dancers will have the opportunity to join Moscow Ballet onstage for the show.

Radik started dancing when she was 6 years old and began attending Ukraine’s national dance academy at age 9. Her mother spent 16 years as choir director inside the national opera house, so Radik was constantly exposed to dance and opera while growing up.

Radik spent nearly a decade as a member of Kiev Music Theatre. She has spent the last four years with Moscow Ballet. In her professional dancing career, Radik has toured across more than 30 countries.

However, it is her first year as audition 52

n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

director for Moscow Ballet. Radik orchestrated the effort to look for local ballet and dance students from each city to join them onstage for that night’s performance.

The students must be between the ages of 7 and 17 with at least one year of formal training to audition. Radik said the company’s auditions usually bring in as many as 60-75 students. Those selected from the audition will go through a few rehearsals before heading onstage.

Roles for student dancers include party children; mice; snowflakes; snow maidens; and Spanish, French, Chinese and Russian variations. Radik said her new role feels different from her comfortable position as a soloist onstage.

“It’s very different work,” she said. “It’s one thing when you perform on your own as a dancer; you have a lot of responsibility for yourself. When you’re the audition director, it’s a completely different thing because I have to take care of all the other kids as well.”

Another thing Radik loves about being a dancer is the ability to travel and experience different crowds, not only in the United States, but around the world.

“Every country has something special that I can see. There are so many different cultures. It’s very exciting, and I think I’m very lucky to do all of this stuff as a dancer because I really travel a lot.”

Still, she does not want to overlook the importance of the performance for the children involved. Initial youth auditions for Great Russian Nutcracker were in August at Julia’s Academy of Dance in Norman. Radik realizes what a moment like this could mean to a young dancer.

In each girl’s eyes, she is reminded a little of her days peeking backstage in Kiev.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform with a professional dance company,” she said. “I think it will give them lots of experience now and in the future as well.”

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The Southern mommas who raised Darren Knight know that he was listening to everything they said; their words made him a near-instant comedy success.

In early 2015, Knight was working in the loss prevention division at a Sears in Southern Momma took off after rural Alabama and dabbling in stand-up Darren Knight posted a video to comedy when he shot a video in his living YouTube early last year. | Photo room and posted it to Facebook. In the Frederick Carpenter / provided video, Knight channeled the verbal style of his mother and grandmother, two colorKnight’s tale is light-years different ful women who employed phrases like from most stand-up comics, who typi“Cut them eyes at me one more time!” in cally toil away at comedy clubs for years their day-to-day parenting. before catching a break. Knight started Within hours, hundreds of people were performing stand-up not long before his sharing Knight’s post, and Southern first video went viral when friends conMomma was born. vinced him to go up at an open mic at The “I just remember seeing the views,” Peerless Saloon & Grille in Anniston, said Knight, who performs 7:30 p.m.

Alabama. He said there is an enormous Friday at Rose State College Hudiburg difference between doing his act into a Chevrolet Center, 6420 SE 15th St., in cellphone camera and keeping a live audiMidwest City. “It got up to, like, 5,000 ence laughing, but he was able to bridge views, and that was just the craziest thing that gap quickly. ever. Later that night, it got to 10,000, and “It was a big transition, but it’s been it was at a million by the end of the week.” amazing,” he said.

Knight said he is currently in talks for Within weeks, it was nearly impossible for Knight to go into the Wal-Mart a sitcom and pay-per-view specials, and in his hometown of Munford, Alabama, his style is prompting comparisons to Blue without someone walking up and saying, Collar Comedy Tour players like Jeff “Hey, hun.”

Foxworthy. But he said Southern Momma “I guess when people started coming resonates because it comes from someup to me in public and saying, ‘I tell my place real. kids, ‘Cut them eyes at me one more time,’ “It is deep-seated and deep-rooted,” he that was about a month after the video said. “It’s my mom — these are things I was posted,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Wow. heard growing up, and they’re things we say to our kids in our family today. I like This must be something here.’”

Knight’s numbers to say that 40 percent on social media conof Southern Momma tinued to skyrocket is my mom and the North Meets other 60 percent is as Southern Momma Southern Momma my grandmother, spread like kudzu because she’s a bit vine. Things picked 7:30 p.m. Friday up in a big way just as more animated. She Rose State College Hudiburg his fortunes in retail h a s t hose old Chevrolet Center Southern sayings, took a nosedive; he 6420 SE 15th St., Midwest City and my mom just was laid off from his okcciviccenter.com loss prevention job in carried it over to me.

405-297-2264 February and signed But the inspiration is $20-$45 a production contract definitely the women by the end of the in my family. I think that’s why Southern Momma really took month. Knight started his North Meets Southern Momma tour in July, and his off the way she did, because many genshows consistently sell out — even the gigs erations can relate to what Southern booked for mid-2017 are selling briskly.

Momma says, and I think everyone can “It happened so fast, I didn’t have time relate to the problems she deals with in for it to sink in,” he said. “I went from the videos.”

Tickets to Friday’s show are $20-$45. filming videos in my living room in my trailer and putting them on YouTube to Visit okcciviccenter.com or call performing in front of thousands of people 405-297-2264. at some of these shows.”

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | n ov e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

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ARTS & CULTURE

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Mike Wimmer is the new artist-in-residence at The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

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Inquisitive art Artist Mike Wimmer uses his time as artist-in-residence at The Skirvin to study what drives people. By Mark Beutler

Mike Wimmer has impressive credentials.

More than 40 of the Oklahoma artist’s paintings are on display at the state Capitol.

He also has created some of the country’s most iconic pieces of commercial art, including Mr. Clean and the Brawny paper towel guy, and has designed book covers for some of the nation’s top publishers.

Wimmer recently added another prestigious credit to his resume as the newest artist-in-residence at The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City, 1 Park Ave. The yearlong residency allows him to set up shop in the hotel, where he will work on his latest project.

“As a portrait artist, I am a natural observer of people and all of the differences that make us unique,” Wimmer told Oklahoma Gazette. “It is this diversity I want to portray. We have all observed the many people who feel their only way to make ends meet is by standing on street corners, holding cardboard signs saying ‘Will Work for Food.’ I was inspired to ask myself, and then later others, what they would work for. What inspires them as individuals to sacrifice their lives, their labor and their love enough that they will work for it?”

Wimmer said he will use the public window and the Skirvin’s centralized location as the base of operations for gathering his inspiration and research. He will also use the location to create and display his work.

“I want to help bring a visual display of answers to questions we are all asking, like ‘What gives life purpose?’” he said. “I want to contribute as much prominence to each model and each voice as I do to the corporate captains of industry, politicians and noted celebrities I have been commissioned to paint.”

One of his earliest inspirations for this project was a young man from California named Dwayne. Wimmer said he had hired him to do some carpentry work around his house when Wimmer was struck by his facial features.

“We talked a bit, and I learned Dwayne’s story as a former gang member in California,” Wimmer said. “He had moved to Oklahoma to make a new beginning and wanted to work to make a better life for himself and his family. So I showed him with his tool belt attached and holding a sign that says, ‘I will work to build a better life for my family.’ He is a perfect example

I am a natural observer of people and all of the differences that make us unique.

Mike Wimmer

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of what I hope to document and capture in this project.”

The artist-in-residency program is sponsored through the Paseo Arts Association, and a different artist is selected each year.

Wimmer said the downtown location is perfect for his new project.

“The Skirvin is forward-thinking enough and involved in the arts, and they are supplying the studio that faces Broadway,” he said. “It has an open window to the world at street level.”

He’s expecting more interruptions but is looking forward to the interaction.

The diversity of the downtown workforce will make up the bulk of his work, Wimmer said. He hopes to capture all walks of life, from the business people who work in the office towers to blue-collar workers, local celebrities and politicians.

“I will set up a studio with my paints, palettes, canvases and easel so people walking by can observe the creation process,” he said. “And when I’m not there, they can see the paintings and sketches displayed as they are finished as well as some of the selected cardboard signs created during the process.”

When his residency is over, Wimmer said he plans to have an exhibition of the work he has created throughout the year. He might even consider producing a book to accompany the project.

“I have been a great admirer of humanity, with all its diversity, origins and destinations,” he said. “I have been an avid reader of biographies my whole life because of my curiosity. I have often wondered what makes someone a hero. What path did they take, what choice did they make that made them someone we celebrate as worthy of our attention? That is part of the origins of this project. I am very curious what people consider worthy enough, that they would sacrifice their time and labors toward that goal.”

La ac t i v e

Brooke Larson leads a recent Beer Yoga class while surrounded by brewing equipment at COOP Ale Works in Oklahoma City. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Active success

Brooke Larson’s Beer Yoga business grows from a class project to a social phenomenon.

By Kara Stewart

What began as a college class to fill credits grew into a popular local business with nearly 30,000 social media devotees.

Brooke Larson, owner and creator of Beer Yoga, LLC and #BeerYoga, has redefined what exercise can mean.

Through her Beer Yoga classes in taprooms and breweries, she shares her love of craft beer and the Hindu philosophybased exercise and meditation. Her passion has taken her to local venues and more than a dozen locations across four states.

“I started by enrolling in yoga for a physical education credit when I was a student at [the University of Central Oklahoma],” Larson said. “From there, I practiced yoga on and off for four years before I started practicing regularly in 2014.”

It was then that the exercise became more of a goal than a hobby. One night when Larson was practicing yoga while her now ex-husband drank a beer, an idea came to her.

“I thought it would be funny to post a picture of me drinking a beer while in a yoga pose,” Larson said. “Then I got over 100 likes.”

The interest inspired her to launch a @BeerYoga Instagram account to share her photos. Soon, thousands of people followed her posts. By 2015, she was a 200-hour certified yoga instructor and began contacting breweries across the Midwest about offering yoga classes.

“A few breweries were totally down to have me out,” Larson said. “Then the emails from other breweries came pouring in.”

‘Bring a friend’

While she knew her business was growing, Brooke Larson wasn’t sure exactly how popular she was until this year.

“I really love that it has brought people together who enjoy yoga and beer, and

it’s a joy to meet people and drink beer with them,” she said.

While her business has attracted those experienced in craft brews and yoga alike, the classes are designed with all levels of learners in mind. Each lasts about an hour and is beginner-friendly. Following the class, beer and brewery tours are optional, but recommended.

“I tell potential participants to just come out and try a class one time to see what they think and bring a friend if they are nervous,” Larson said.

Although Larson prefers to keep her class schedule spontaneous, she shares planned event details at least one month in advance via her social media pages.

She recently held a class at COOP Ale Works in Oklahoma City. This summer, she also led weekly, outdoor morning classes at The Bleu Garten. Events also are planned soon in Austin and Denver.

Each class is about $20, requires registration (find and sign up for upcoming events via eventbrite.com by searching “Brooke Larson”) and is BYOM — bring your own mat.

As for the beer, Larson recommends trying all beers to find one that speaks to you.

When she isn’t scheduling and leading yoga classes, Larson teaches French at Oklahoma Christian University and the University of Central Oklahoma. She also enjoys reading and traveling to places where she can hike and camp with her boyfriend.

“Being able to road-trip around with friends to teach yoga and drink beer in different cities is so fun. What better job could you have?” she said. “I would love to travel to the coast or another country to teach yoga classes. We’ll see what happens.”

Find Larson on Facebook at facebook. com/beeryoga1.

November 18-20

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Rumble road

Uber and Thunder partner to make traveling to and from games easier.

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Oklahoma Gazette

Steve McGehee travels a lot. As a sports reporter with KWTV, he has been to many cities across the country following the Oklahoma City Thunder and University of Oklahoma Sooners.

But McGehee said a recent California trip will go into the record books as his worst rideshare service experience. He walked down Oakland streets to find his driver, who, according to McGehee, had no clue where he was.

This sort of scenario is the reason the Oklahoma City Thunder joined Uber to create a pick-up and drop-off lot for Thunder fans using Uber to travel to and from basketball games at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

“The main thing is to provide our fans with an easy way to and from the games,” said Dan Mahoney, Thunder vice president of broadcasting and corporate communications. “We have quite a bit of construction going on downtown, which will make downtown a lot better. But in the short term, it does cause some congestion and delays.”

The Uber lot is located at SW Second Street and S. Harvey Avenue. Mahoney said he doesn’t know if any other NBA franchises offer the same type of service.

But he has seen Uber start to integrate itself into sports franchises in similar ways.

Thunder fan Blake Hooper is an avid Uber user because it is so easy. He has used the rideshare more than 200 times on business trips around the country as well as in OKC. Hooper sees the Thunder joining forces with Uber as a win for the team, the two businesses and fans.

“This eliminates any confusion and

delays the rider may experience as a result of the driver not having access to pick-up/ drop-off spots for hot sporting events,” Hooper explained. “This also created a static pick-up location where riders and drivers alike know exactly where to meet.”

Lauren Gemar, who works in Oklahoma City, said she uses Uber for most of her daily trips around the city and to Thunder games. However, she is not as excited about the new lot.

“I personally haven’t experienced this yet, but it seems like a designated lot might cause unnecessary congestion, depending on the location and ride volume,” Gemar said. “It doesn’t sound like an appealing idea to me, but it still outweighs the costs of driving myself and ultimately wouldn’t affect my decision to Uber.”

Hooper doesn’t agree.

“I believe it’s a hassle-free, safe and cost-effective way to travel,” Hooper said.

“Paying $10-$20 to park and walk to the stadium is not only expensive, but it’s time-consuming and often results in major delays leaving a game.”

Mahoney also doesn’t see any downside to the new lot.

“We are all about doing what we can for our fans,” Mahoney said. “We are so thankful for the support we get. Anything we can do to make the experience better, we do. This is certainly an example of that.”

Visit uber.com/info/thunder. Firsttime riders can enjoy a free ride up to $20 by using the code THUNDER1617 after they sign up.

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Uber pick-up lot is located at S. Second Street and S. Harvey Avenue. | Photo Gazette / file

film

Original storytelling

To help celebrate Native American Heritage Month, Oklahoma Gazette rounds up great films you can watch right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services.

By George Lang | Photos provided

The golden age of Native American filmmaking dovetails with the 1990s golden age of indie film, partly because an infrastructure of distribution and recognition arrived in time to provide support for unique First Nation voices.

With the emergence of the Sundance Institute in 1981, talented creators connected with producers and distributors, achieving a more prominent role in helping create stories that were unique to their own history and experience.

The institute’s Native American Initiative brought attention to key talents, including Oklahoma filmmaker Sterlin Harjo, who has since served on juries at Sundance Film Festival.

A watershed moment for the Native American film industry came in 1989 with the success of Powwow Highway, a comedy-drama starring A. Martinez and Gary Farmer and featuring Oklahoman Wes Studi and Graham Greene.

Barking Water

2009, unrated Watch via Fandor at Amazon Prime Frankie (Richard Ray Whitman), a Seminole man in the final stages of cancer, travels with his ex-lover Irene (Casey CampHorinek) on a road trip to visit family before his death.

Director Sterlin Harjo’s feature-length debut, Barking Water received positive reviews, including one from The New York Times, and won best drama film at the 2009 American Indian Film Festival.

Smoke Signals

1998, PG-13 Watch via Tribeca Shortlist at Amazon Prime One of the most critically lauded Native American films of the 1990s, Smoke Signals features the first screenplay by Sherman Alexie (based on the short story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” from his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven). Adam Beach and Evan Adams star as Victor and Thomas, who must travel from Idaho’s Coeur D’Alene Reservation to Phoenix to retrieve the ashes of Victor’s father. This story of self-discovery earned director Chris Eyre the Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy. The project also earned honors at the Independent Spirit Awards and Tokyo International Film Festival.

Produced by George Harrison’s HandMade Films, Powwow Highway helped launch Studi’s career.

Director Jonathan Wacks earned the Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy.

New filmmaking talent constantly emerges, and as streaming services become more important in distributing small-budget films, platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and iTunes are an important avenue for seeing them.

Here is our beginner’s list of Native American films that can be seen right now on streaming services.

Shouting Secrets

2011, unrated | iTunes A successful novelist (Chaske Spencer) writes a bestselling novel based on the experiences of his family back on Arizona’s San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, which alienates him from the family.

Shouting Secrets won best film at the Rhode Island Film Festival in 2011 and costars Q’orianka Kilcher (The New World).

This May Be the Last Time

2014, unrated | Netflix For this haunting documentary, director and coproducer Sterlin Harjo explores the mystery surrounding the 1962 disappearance of his grandfather Pe t e Ha r jo.

Painstakingly researched and revelatory, This May Be the Last Time received widespread praise upon its release.

Rhymes for Young Ghouls

2013, R Netflix Mi’k maq teenager A ila (Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs) takes over the family’s pot-dealing business and soon finds herself attending the reservation’s residential school, where she plots against the government agent who sent her to a place where physical abuse goes unchecked. Set in 1976, Rhymes for Young Ghouls won Best Canadian First Feature Film at the 2013 Vancouver International Film Festival.

The Cherokee Word for Water

2013, PG | iTunes This film chronicles Wilma Mankiller’s (Kimberly Guerrero of Longmire) efforts to bring water to the small town of Bell, Oklahoma, where the largely impoverished Cherokee population still did not have running water in the early 1980s. Mankiller’s work on behalf of the town, which involved the Cherokee Nation providing equipment and technical assistance, helped launch her political career, culminating in her ascendance to principal chief.

Empire of Dirt

2013, unrated Amazon Prime A n intergenerational family drama from Canada, Empire of Dirt focuses on Lena (newcomer Cara Gee), who must return to her ancestral home after her teenage daughter tries to commit suicide. Empire of Dirt earned Gee a best actress award at the 2014 American Indian Film Festival.

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calendar are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS

The joy of the season in can be found in Gazette’s Holiday Festivities Directory.

Publishes

DeaDlines

December 7th December 14th December 21st

November 30th December 7th December 14th

Jeff Provine and Tanya McCoy book signing, authors sign their book Haunted Oklahoma City, 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 16. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. WED Nothing Daunted Women’s Book Club, A Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman, 7 p.m. Nov. 17. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. THU

FILM The Terror of Tiny Town, (US, 1938, dir. Sam Newfield) an evil gun-slinging midget terrorizes the good little people of Tiny Town, they organize to defeat him and zany antics ensue, 1 p.m.

Nov. 16. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. WED Cafe Society: Art in the 21st Century Mexico City, a series of screenings of the PBS series Art 21: Art in the 21st Century, focusing on contemporary artists; Mexico City artists exit their homes and studios to use the growing megalopolis as their canvas and present everyday materials as artworks, mine recognizable images for their poetic potential and take their art to the streets, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 17. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, artspaceatuntitled.org. THU Fire at Sea, (IT, 2016, dir. Gianfranco Rosi) film capturing life on Lampedusa, a small Italian island in the Mediterranean; following Samuele, a 12-yearold boy, 8 p.m. Nov. 18, 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19, 2 p.m.

Nov. 20. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. FRI -SUN Screenwriting Seminar, professional seminar hosted by deadCenter Film; free classes and lectures that are open to the public and a private workshop for selected screenwriters, Nov. 19.

StarSpace46, 1141 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-5380069, starspace46.com. SAT

Call your Account Executive at 405.528.6000 or email specialsections@okgazette.com to reserve ad space!

HAPPENINGS PAMBE Ghana’s Global Market, seasonal fair-trade shop that provides destination shopping for unique gifts, including a wide selection of folk art from around the world; all proceedes benefit PAMBE Ghana’s La’Angum Learning Center in northern

New INK at Full Circle Bookstore Don’t die just yet! Though it isn’t listed in Angela Botzer’s book, 100 Things to Do in Oklahoma City Before You Die, No. 101 on the list is surely to get a copy of the book signed by the author. She’ll be autographing copies during New INK 3-5 p.m.

Saturday at Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway. Authors Paul R. Lehmen, Mandilyn O’Neal, Lynda Strahorn and others also will be at the signing. Visit fullcirclebooks.com or call 405-842-2900. Saturday Photo Shannon Cornman / provided Ghana, noon-6 p.m. Nov. 16-19, 22-26, 29-Dec. 3, 6-10, 13-17, 20-24. PAMBE Ghana’s Global Market, 6516 N. Olie Ave., pambeghana.org. WED -SAT Oklahoma Statehood Day celebration, special guests, live music and more in celebration of Oklahoma, 5-7 p.m. Nov. 16. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter. WED 10th Annual Paseo Arts Awards Dinner, an evening to recognize and honor those individuals who have contributed to the artistic creativity and well-being in our state, 6-8:30 p.m. Nov. 16. Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park Ave., 405-272-3040, skirvinhilton.com. WED Christmas Tree Lighting, fun for the entire family with horse-drawn sleigh rides, snacks and entertainment and visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, 4-8 p.m. Nov. 18. Downtown Bethany, NW 39th Expressway and Ashbury Ave., Bethany. FRI Holiday Lights Spectacular, free family event and also the largest animated light display in the five-state region boasting over 100 displays; over 1 million lights are sprinkled along the 1.5-mile-long drive that features Illumination Celebration, a dancing forest of lights choreographed to all-time favorite classic Christmas tunes, Nov. 18-Dec. 30.

Joe B. Barnes Regional Park, 8700 E. Reno Ave., Midwest City, 739-1293, midwestcityok.org.

Santa Market Craft Show, enjoy shopping from more than 100 vendors with proceeds benefitting the Alzheimer’s Association of Oklahoma, Nov. 19. Edmond Community Center, 28 E. Main St., Edmond, 405-359-4483, edmondok.com. SAT

Now – January 1, 2017 • 2 million twinkling lights along with lavish holiday displays • NEW ICE! theme – 2 million pounds of colorful, hand-carved ice sculptures and slides featuring Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town • Santa’s Wild Workshop Snow Tubing • The Elf on the Shelf® Scavenger Hunt • Rudolph’s Holly Jolly™ Breakfast • Gingerbread Decorating Corner • Build-A-Bear Workshop® • NEW – Glacier Glide Ice Skating • And much more!

PRESENTED BY

ICE! PRESENTED BY

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ChristmasAtGaylordTexan.com

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PEPSI, PEPSI-COLA and the Pepsi Globe are registered trademarks of PepsiCo, Inc. The Elf on the Shelf® and © CCA and B, LLC. All rights reserved. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town © Classic Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and all related elements © & TM under license to Character Arts, LLC. All rights reserved. © & ® Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved. FUJIFILM and INSTAX are trademarks of FUJIFILM Corporation and its affiliates. © 2016 FUJIFILM North America Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Leading Ladies Leading Ladies, a comedy by award-winning writer Ken Ludwig, tells the tale of two down-on-their-luck Shakespearian actors in a crossdressing attempt to fool an aging millionaire that they are her nieces and worthy of their inheritance. The show runs 8 p.m.

Thursdays-Saturdays and 2:30 p.m.

Sundays at Jewel Box Theatre, 3700 N. Walker Ave., through Dec. 4. Tickets are $15-$20. Visit jewelboxtheatre.org or call 405-521-1786. Thursday-Sunday, ongoing Photo Jewel Box Theatre / provided

When the Earth Shakes, learn about the science of earthquakes, tsunamis and tectonic plates; an immersive interactive exhibit exploring the world below our feet, through Jan. 2. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu.

FOOD Batter and Bubbles Wine Dinner, featuring a selection of five sparkling wines from various regions of France paired with chicken made five different ways by the Vast culinary team, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Vast, 333 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-7027262, vastokc.com. THU Weekly Farmers Market, shop goods from local producers, bakers and artisans, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. every Saturday. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT

YOUTH Family Workshop: Archaeology After Hours, become a detective in the case of the ancient culture and learn about archaeology, 6-8 p.m. Nov.

go to okgazette.com for fu

17. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu. THU Scout Workshops, explore museum galleries and engage in hands-on activities in order to complete all requirements to earn one badge, loop or pin, Nov. 19. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu. SAT Silkscreen T-Shirts: Ages 6-10 + adult, learn basic silkscreen printing techniques and design and print your own one-of-a-kind T-shirt, 10 a.m.-noon, Nov. 19. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Art Adventures, young artists are invited to experience art through books and related projects for children ages 3-5, 10:30 a.m. Nov. 22. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. TUE Robot Club, learn to design, build and program and real working robot, 4 p.m.

Nov. 23 and 30. Norman Public Library, 225 N. Webster Ave., Norman, 405-701-2600, pioneerlibrarysystem.org. WED

PERFORMING ARTS Oklahoma City University Guitar Ensemble, award-winning Oklahoma City University Guitar Studio under the leadership of Profs. Matt Denman, Kyle Patterson, Dr. Lynn McGrath and Brian Belanus, 8 p.m. Nov. 16 and Nov. 30. Petree Recital Hall, Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000, okcu.edu. WED

OKC Improv presents Fall Shows, music and comedy from local performers, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.

Nov. 18-19. The Paramount Theatre, 11 N. Lee Ave., 405-637-9389, theparamountokc.com. FRI -SAT La Rondine, the swallow, or rondine of the title, is the courtesan Magda, who dreams of leaving her gilded cage to fly in search of happiness and true love; her relationship with a man who knows nothing of her history unfolds within a colorful score highlighting Puccini’s only operatic dance music, evoking the romance of Paris and the south of France as she ponders whether to share her past or start anew, Nov. 18-20. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-2085000, okcu.edu. FRI -SUN The Dinner Detective, this improvised show is just another ordinary dinner with one exceptionsomeone: in the midst is guilty of murder, and that person just might be sitting right across from you, 6-9:30 p.m. Nov. 19. Sheraton Hotel, 1 N. Broadway Ave., 405-235-2780, sheratonokc.com. SAT Classics 3, performance presented by the OKC Philharmonic featuring Alexander Mickelthwate as guest conductor, 8 p.m. Nov. 19. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. SAT The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Naked Truth Tour, Lewis Black comedy tour, 8 p.m. Nov. 19. WinStar World Casino, 777 Casino Ave., Thackerville, 508-276-4229, winstarworldcasino.com. SAT

Oklahoma Contemporary’s Annual Ceramics Sale Shoppers are fired up for buying locally made gifts this holiday season. Handmade crafts enthusiasts should visit Oklahoma Contemporary’s Annual Ceramics Sale 5:30-10 p.m. Thursday at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd. The sale continues 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Dec. 23. Pieces are made by local artists in Oklahoma Contemporary studios, and proceeds fund the ceramics program teaching beginners and experts to create clay art. Visit oklahomacontemporary.org or call 405-951-0000. Thursday-Wednesday, ongoing Photo Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center / provided

The Impresario, a one-act, comic singspiel, German opera with spoken dialogue; show centers around a theater company holding auditions and the director attempts to placate two arguing singers tasked with helping to select the cast, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16-18.

UCO Jazz Lab, 100 E. Fifth St., Edmond, 405-3597989, ucojazzlab.com. WED - FRI John Wesley Austin, musical cowboy comedy; this Loony Bin favorite will remind you of a cynical, sarcastic Roy Rogers, 8 p.m. Nov. 16-17, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Nov. 18-19. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy. com. WED -SAT Toast the Maestro, The University of Central Oklahoma College of Fine Arts and Design’s signature fundraising event, featuring the talents of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation and Central artist-in-residence Valery Kuleshov, 6 p.m.

Nov. 17. CHK | Central Boathouse, 732 Riversport Drive, 405-552-4040, boathousedistrict.org. THU Shrek, The Musical, the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a journey to rescue a princess accompanied by a chatty donkey, 8 p.m. Nov. 17-19, 3 p.m. Nov. 20. Poteet Theatre, 222 NW 15th St., 405-609-1023, poteettheatre.com. THU -SUN

om for full listings!

Fresh Paint Performance Lab Kick-off Cabaret and Fundraiser, mingle with the artists and enjoy teainfused craft cocktails, artisanal breads and more from local vendors, 8-10 p.m. Nov. 19. Oklahoma Contemporary, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. SAT Classic Radio Theatre, enjoy beverages and hors d’oeuvres and travel back in time to the golden days of radio; performance of scripts from shows from the 1930s to 1960s, 2:30 p.m. Nov. 20, Dec. 4 and 11. Actor’s Casting & Talent Services, 30 NE 52nd St., 405-702-0400, actorscasting.com. SUN Oklahoma City University Jazz Ensemble, free concert in Petree Recital Hall, under the direction of professor John Allen, 8 p.m. Nov. 20. Petree Recital Hall, Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000, okcu.edu. SUN Martha Jean Lemon Speaker Series: Kelli O’Hara, Broadway star returns to her alma mater to talk about her career and life followed by a short performance, 7 p.m. Nov. 21. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-2085000, okcu.edu. MON

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calendar c a l e n da r

continued from page 59 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical, see your favorite characters from the special including Santa and Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius and, of course, Rudolph, as they come to life; an adventure that teaches us that what makes you different can be what makes you special, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. MON

ACTIVE Devon Ice Rink, ice skating rink, through Jan. 29.

Devon Ice Rink, 100 N. Robinson Ave.

VISUAL ARTS A Sense of His Soul, exhibit featuring only the eyes, stripping away any additional identifiers, the mouth, hair, facial structure anything that would clearly identify who the person is, thereby making all subjects in this work equal in the eyes of the viewer, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/ fjjma.

Beginner’s Clay Class: Adults, experience clay as a sculptural medium; learn various techniques and complete a sculpture with an abstracted figurative influence, 1-4 p.m. every Saturday Nov. 12-Dec. 17.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Child Labor in Oklahoma: Photographs by Lewis Hine, 1916-1917, a collection of 25 powerful photographs taken by Lewis Hine while he was in Oklahoma 100 years ago. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory. org/historycenter.

Christie Owen: Surroundings, a diverse collection of abstract 2-D and 3-D works inspired by everyday environments; materials and compositions in Owen’s body of work perpetually change in relation to time and her life experiences. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomaheritage.com.

Color, Connections, Constellations, Caroline Cohenour’s debut collection of original watercolor works, through Nov. 26. In Your Eye Gallery, 3005 Paseo St. #A, 405-525-2161, inyoureyegallery.com.

Conversation, new artwork by Jan Jeffrey inspired by conversations; loud voices result in stronger, bold colors while soft create layers of mild tints, through Nov. 26. Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo St., 405-525-2688, thepaseo.com.

Cowboys & Caboodles, art show and sale featuring the art of Shel Wagner, Nov. 18-Dec. 23. UMB Bank Stockyards City, 1217 S. Agnew Ave., 405-239-5828.

Curiosities, dual exhibition featuring works from AK Westerman and Bombs Away Art, on display through Nov. 19. Mainsite Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main St., Norman, 405-360-1162, mainsite-art.com.

The Studio Gallery annual fall show The Studio Gallery unveils its fall art show, which is on display through spring 2017. Enjoy acrylic, oil and mixed media paintings, photography and jewelry from member artists Lu Beard, Beth Hammack, Dodge Hill, Margot Holaday, Lacy Saak, Kay Smith, Jane White and others. The show opens 5-8 p.m. Thursday at The Studio Gallery, 2646 W. Britton Road.

Admission is free. Find the gallery on Facebook by searching “The Studio Gallery” or call 405-752-2642. Thursday, ongoing Photo Studio Gallery / provided

OU Women’s Basketball, OU Sooners vs. Arkansas Little Rock Trojans, 7 p.m. Nov. 16. Lloyd Noble Center, 2900 S. Jenkins Ave., Norman, 405-3254666, lloydnoblecenter.com. WED OKC Blue vs Erie Bayhawks, OKC Thunder’s NBA D-League affiliate basketball game, 7 p.m. Nov. 17.

Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. THU OKC Thunder vs Brooklyn Nets, NBA basketball game, 7 p.m. Nov. 18. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. FRI Learn to Curl, the Oklahoma curling club walks guests through the basic rules and etiquette of curling, explains the hows and whys of the sport and lets you try it yourself, 9-10:30 a.m. Nov. 19.

Devon Ice Rink, 100 N. Robinson Ave. SAT Edmond Ice Skating Rink, enjoy ice skating under the open skies and starlight nights, Nov. 19-Dec. 31. Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-359-4630, edmondok. com/parks.

Yukon’s Chill Your Cheeks 5K, 5K coinciding with the opening of Christmas in the Park, 4 p.m. Nov. 19. Chisholm Trail Park, 500 W. Vandament Ave., Yukon, 405-350-8937. SAT OKC Thunder vs Indiana Pacers, NBA basketball game, 6 p.m. Nov. 20. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. SUN

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Da Vinci: The Genius, the most comprehensive exploration of Leonardo da Vinci’s work ever created; interactive experience immersing guests in da Vinci’s timeless brilliance through full-scale interpretations of the mastermind’s inventions and unparalleled studies of his iconic art. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 405-6026664, sciencemuseumok.org.

Drop-in Art, join guest artists each Saturday as they interact with families to create extraordinary works of art inspired by the museum’s collection, exhibitions and special occasions, 1-4 p.m. every Saturday. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT

The Second City Hits Home Those looking for a gut-busting laugh need not look further than the crew from Chicago’s legendary sketch and improv comedy theater.

Adam Archer, Danny Catlow, Alison Gates, Eve Krueger, Greg Ott and Lauren Walker present sketches, songs and classic material from Second City archives. The show begins 8 p.m. Friday at Hudson Performance Hall, 2820 N. May Ave. Tickets are $31-$52. Visit protixonline.com or call 1-866-977-6849. Friday Photo Todd Rosenberg / provided Picturing Indian Territory, surveys how the people, land and history of Oklahoma were constructed visually by artists, illustrators and journalists from the early decades of the 19th century to the unification of Indian and Oklahoma territories to create the state of Oklahoma in 1907, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

Power and Prestige: Headdresses of the American Plains, original exhibition includes nine headdresses from Northern and Southern American Great Plains along with historical photographs and other supporting artifacts including ledger art depicting Indian warriors and bonnets from the museum’s permanent collection. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org.

Sacred Words: The Saint John’s Bible and the Art of Illumination, includes 70 selected folios from The Saint John’s Bible as well as other historical illuminated manuscripts, such as a Book of Hours, Quran pages and Torah scrolls, through Jan. 8.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Small Works VI Art Chat, a casual event with artists Carol Beesley, Don Holladay, Debby Kaspari, Brad Price, Mitsuno Reedy and Connie Seabourn present to visit with attendees along with a demonstration

by Brad Price and Connie Seabourn, 2-4 p.m. Nov.

Flashback Friday Art Show & Sale, Oklahoma artists showcase some of their finest works from past exhibitions at discounted prices; paintings, sculptures, altered photos, fiber art, ceramics, works on paper, mixed media, art dolls, and more, 5:30-9:30 p.m. Nov. 18. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery.org. FRI Melvin Edwards Exhibition, a pioneer in the history of contemporary AfricanAmerican art and sculpture returns for his first solo exhibition in Oklahoma in the last 25 years; Edwards creates new, site-specific complex welded sculptures from chains, tools and steel found in Oklahoma scrap yards along with works from his noted Lynch Fragments series, through Dec. 27. Oklahoma Contemporary, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.

Off the Beaten Path, a photo documented joint art exhibit by Scott and Katie Henderson; tour many of the state’s unusual, intriguing and lesserknown areas, through May 4. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org.

The Art of Collecting, an exhibition featuring world-class paintings from the Melton Legacy Collection, through Nov. 17. Melton Gallery, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 405-974-2000, uco.edu.

The Modernist Spectrum: Color and Abstraction, explore the invigorating ways in which postwar American artists, especially those associated with the Washington Color School, made it new, producing novel work that sought to reinvent abstract art through an alternatively rigorous and playful manipulation of color, line and shape.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Utopia, an exhibition of work that illustrates the various definitions and dreams for a utopian future; through this exhibition, visitors will consider many possible futures and how our actions today contribute to the reality of tomorrow, through Dec. 31. Current Studio, 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 405673-1218, currentstudio.org.

Verbode artist reception, event featuring work of local artist Christie Owen along with Rick and Tracey Bewley; paintings, fused glass and sculpture, 6-9 p.m. Nov. 17. Verbode, 415 N. Broadway Ave. #101, 405-75797001, verbodegroup. com. THU Visage: Photography from the Permanent Collection, explore how photographers have examined individuality through portraiture and shaped the presentation of identity through pose, props and lighting and compositional choices, through Dec. 4. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

Edmond People, Edmond Politics, showcases a variety of political memorabilia and historic photographs that illustrate the many ways Edmondites have participated in local, state and national politics; political brochures, elections guides and even a Bellmon Belles dress with matching jacket complement the many posters on view in the Sign of the Times exhibit, runs through Dec. 16. Edmond Historical Society & Museum, 431 S. Boulevard, Edmond, 405-340-0078, edmondhistory.org.

Equal Parts Deadwood and Disney: Tourism, Authenticity, and Popular Culture in Tombstone, Arizona, public lecture exploring the historical and mythical legacies of the OK Corral gunfight and demonstrate how the marketing of authenticity revitalized Tombstone, Arizona, a town today described by the Arizona Office of Tourism as equal parts Deadwood and Disney, 7 p.m. Nov. 17. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. THU

20. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN

When Less Becomes More, two solo exhibitions featuring pop realism portrait artist Robert Peterson and impressionistic artist, through Nov. 27. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405528-6336, jrbartgallery.com.

Women at War, works of three renowned artists: Ebony Iman Dallas, Gay Pasley and Edward Grady.

Owen’s Arts Place Museum, 1202 E. Harrison Ave., Guthrie, 405-260-0204, owensmuseum.com.

Fourth Annual Children’s Hospital Foundation Trivia Bowl Bust out those thinking caps. The Fourth Annual Children’s Hospital Foundation Trivia Bowl is 6:30-10:30 p.m. Thursday at The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave. Organizers expect more than 40 teams to answer five rounds of 10 trivia questions each. Tables are $400 per team of eight players. Event proceeds benefit the foundation, which brings pediatric physicians and scientists to Oklahoma to treat sick children. First prize is a dinner for eight at La Baguette Bistro. Email linzy-hall@ouhsc.edu or call 405-271-8430 ext. 2 to sign up. Visit chfkids.com. Thursday Photo Children’s Hospital Foundation / provided

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

Submissions must be received

by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

For okg live music

see page 64

F E AT U R E

MUSIC

Vices verses

A new El Reno bar and music venue provides a boost to local youth and music culture.

By Ben Luschen

Charlie is a skeleton, and he has few bones to pick with Vices.

The full-scale Halloween decoration sits propped in a chair along a wall by the stage inside Vices Bar and Venue, 1701 E. Highway 66, in El Reno.

Sarah Ward, bartender and co-owner of the fledgling El Reno music venue alongside her husband Justin Ward, first put Charlie on display in October, not realizing he would eventually become a bar star.

“Everybody loved him so much that he just stayed there,” Sarah said. “People get up and dance with him and put cigarettes in his mouth.”

Vices opened its doors in September at the site of a former El Reno bar. The establishment is open 10 a.m.-2 a.m.

Monday-Saturday and noon-2 a.m.

Sunday.

The Wards opened the space as a way to bring live music to the town.

The business is also close to becoming the first non-private bar in El Reno licensed to serve liquor.

For Oklahoma City residents accustomed to modern nightlife in the city, such distinctions might seem commonplace.

For the people of El Reno, especially the town’s young adults, it is a game changer.

“Stuff that way [in Oklahoma City] is

a lot different than stuff this way,” Justin said. “We’re trying to bring it this way.”

Dream find

The Wards met while working together at another local bar. Sarah has been a bartender in the city for the last seven years.

The two share a lifelong passion for music. Justin is a drummer in El Renobased punk-rock band James Bond Dracula and has been in about a dozen other bands in his life.

Sarah said though the couple had long dreamed of helming their own music venue in the city, it wasn’t something they were actively seeking out before Justin was contacted by a friend who owns the building they now lease.

The Wards embraced the opportunity to make their dreams a reality. Sarah hopes the venue can help fuel a larger music movement in her hometown.

“It hasn’t always worked under other people,” she said, “so now we get to do it for ourselves.”

Vices has been open for less than three months, but Sarah said the feedback they’ve received has been very strong.

“They say it’s refreshing and something the younger crowd needed here in town,” she said.

Justin and Sarah Ward opened El Reno’s Vices Bar and Venue in September. | Photo Garett Fisbeck / provided

Musical platform

A musician friend was conducting a soundcheck at Vices when he remarked that he felt like he was at 89th Street Collective in Oklahoma City.

“That was like the biggest compliment to me,” Sarah said. “It made my whole night. To be compared to that or more, that would definitely be way cool.”

Vices hosts primarily acoustic sets on Wednesday nights and full bands on Friday nights. Justin said they are open to booking acts from almost any genre.

Vices recently welcomed its first touring band, Canadian punk outfit Letdown.

Sarah has been working to book bands in El Reno for years, but establishing an official venue in the city has attracted a lot of attention.

“Usually, at my old jobs, I would have to hunt them down,” she said. “It’s a lot easier finding the talent.”

Justin said the El Reno music scene is alive and loaded with a surprising number of active musicians.

“There’s a lot more than you would think that play just out of El Reno,” he said. “There’s so many different types — country, acoustic indie, hardcore punk.”

Despite a local interest in music, El Reno musicians were previously located in an area with few local gigging options.

James Bond Dracula’s two other members are also from El Reno, but most of the band’s shows take place in Tulsa or Oklahoma City.

Though he now owns his own venue in the town, Justin does not think he will use it for his own gigs very often.

People come in here and it’s all about the love and the good vibes — no fighting.

Sarah Ward “I could come here and play, but I would burn myself out really easy,” he said.

Cultural anchor

Like any hometown anywhere, El Reno has its dissenters.

“Some say they hate it, but they don’t see the good things about it,” Justin said.

“There’s a lot of good things in this town that people just take for granted.”

El Reno’s music-loving crowd can now count Vices as one of the good things.

Sarah works hard to make sure Vices is a welcoming destination for everyone.

“People come in here and it’s all about the love and the good vibes — no fighting,” she said.

The Wards hope to be at the forefront of the effort to further cultivate El Reno’s music scene, which starts with establishing a local home base.

“People don’t have to drive 30 minutes [to Oklahoma City] just to have a good time and then risk their lives coming home,” Justin said.

Visit facebook.com/vicesbar for more information.

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MUSIC Cami Stinson | Photo provided

s U w o ll Fo on

facebook ...all the

cool kids are doing it!

Oklahoma Gazette

F E AT U R E

facebook.com/okgazette

Fostering creativity

Cami Stinson transforms her emotion and experiences into innovative expression.

By Tyler Talley

Fri, Nov 25

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TICKETS & INFO: caiNsballrOOM.cOM 62

N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

This month sees yet another entry in Oklahoma City singer-songwriter Cami Stinson’s growing resume with the release of “Bring Me a Home for Christmas,” a new track release that coincides with November’s National Adoption Awareness Month.

Stinson, who was adopted out of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services foster care system with her brother, said she wrote the song specifically to combat common stigmas and misconceptions associated with foster children.

“One thing I feel really strongly about is the fact that I turned out okay and I can use music for this platform to help raise awareness for all these kids that need homes,” Stinson said. “I basically wanted to stand up and say I was adopted from DHS foster care. I was not a private adoption that cost $50,000. So was my brother, and we’ve both gone on to become successful people.”

The song, featuring Adam Ledbetter on piano, is another collaboration between Stinson and OK Foster Wishes, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting and raising awareness

about the more than 10,000 children in the state’s foster system. She performed at the organization’s first Snow Ball fundraising event last year and said she intends to perform at the event again in February at The Criterion. The track, produced by Raul Alfonso and recorded and mixed at The Music Group Studios

by L.G. Hamilton and Bryce Zabric, can be streamed at soundcloud.com/camistinson.

Background and career

While Stinson was initially terrified of the prospect of singing in front of crowds, her love of music started early and only grew over time. It’s a love she later discovered she also shared with her biological mother, herself a singer.

Recent notches on her already impressive belt include the formation of her band Vastye and release of the group’s wellreceived Come Around, a six-song EP released in September.

Come Around represents a noticeable evolution in sound from Stinson’s jazzier 2009 debut In the Morning. She credited the shift to the combination of her traditional jazz and country influences and

As long as it’s got interesting melodies and a good beat, I have fun doing it.

Cami Stinson

Oklahoma producer and cowriter Matt Stansberry’s modern pop fluency.

“He kind of pulled [the album] into more of a pop realm, whereas I probably would have pulled it too far into [jazz and country] and we were trying to make a more universal-sounding record,” Stinson said.

The final product sports melodies “more chromatic than pop,” she said, with beats inspired by hip-hop. She cited her love of harmony as a major element in bringing together such a wide variety of sounds.

“As long as it’s got interesting melodies and a good beat, I have fun doing it,” Stinson said.

Stinson also recruited a veritable who’s who of Oklahoma City-based artists, including ZHU guitarist Mitch Bell, Horse Thief drummer Alberto Roubert and hip-hop artist Jabee.

“I knew that it would be great, and then I also think it’s important to support our community, grow the scene and produce good stuff here,” Stinson said.

She described the metro’s communityoriented music scene as conducive to artistic creativity and innovation.

“I do really well in that environment just being from a small town,” she said.

She also attributes the city’s creative growth and connectivity to the rise of the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@ UCO), where she teaches as an adjunct professor.

As with her early foray into music in general, Stinson said she was hesitant at first to assume the mantle of teacher.

Once there, her early doubts quickly evaporated.

“I seriously love going to work,” she said. “It’s like being around people that I would choose to hang out with to put them altogether.”

Through ACM, Stinson teaches business and financial classes and vocal courses.

She said finding a balance between her teaching career and her art keeps her excited about music and also provides a medium in which to stay plugged into the ever-shifting landscape of the music industry.

Outlook

For Stinson, success is not measured in worldwide fame or sold-out arena shows but by the satisfaction drawn from her craft — a peaceful state-of-mind she said she did not reach overnight.

“I used to really want to leave Oklahoma,” Stinson conceded, explaining that a lack of resources made it hard to move elsewhere.

Rather than be bitter, she opted to shift her attitude.

“I changed my thinking to, ‘Okay, if I can’t move where all the cool things are happening, maybe I can just make where I am better and cooler,” she said. “Now I really like being a part of that.”

Vastye’s Come Around EP is available via iTunes. For more information on Stinson and Vastye, visit vastye.com.

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LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

WEDNESDAY, 11.16 $uicideboy$, OKC Farmers Public Market. HIP-HOP Bowsley/The So Help Me’s/Pax/Teenage Self, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. ROCK

DJ J20, Dust Bowl Lanes and Lounge. VARIOUS Echo 21, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK Erik the Viking, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. FOLK

Rick Jawnsun, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe.

Funk Frequency, Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse.

King Taylor Project/Troy Petty, Red Brick Bar, Norman. BLUES

Jucifer/Psychotic Reaction/Ascend Decend, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Shu Lace/The Royal Jelly/Psychotic Reaction, The Root. ROCK

Kierston White/Eliza Bee/Annie Oakley, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

4onthefloor/The Yawpers, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Larry June, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. HIP-HOP

Blake Lankford, JJ’s Alley. COUNTRY

VARIOUS

Lil Jon, Firelake Arena, Shawnee.

HIP-HOP

Bill Hearne, The Blue Door. COUNTRY

ACOUSTIC

The Weathermen, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. ROCK

SUNDAY, 11.20

Diamond on the Rock: A Neil Diamond Tribute, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. POP

David Morris, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO

Martha Stallings, Lottinvilles Restaurant, Edmond.

Jam Session, Ghost Riders Saloon. VARIOUS

For Today/Norman Jean/Silent Planet/My Epic, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Signal 88, Rock & Brews. ROCK

Light The Fire/90 Days Till December, The Paramount. ROCK

Helen Kelter Skelter/Condor & Jaybird/Arc Flash, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

SATURDAY, 11.19

Jarvix/Special Thumbs/Dresden Bombers, The Deli, Norman. ROCK

SATURDAY Photo bigstock.com

Red Dirt Rangers, The Blue Door. COUNTRY

Curses/Sheeva/Alive Alone, The Paramount Theatre. ROCK

THURSDAY, 11.17

Rae Sremmurd A “No Flex Zone” descends upon Oklahoma City Farmers Public Market as rap duo Rae Sremmurd takes the stage. Brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi burst onto the hip-hop scene in 2015 with their platinum-selling debut SremmLife, featuring the popular single “No Type” and the aforementioned “No Flex.” The show begins 9:30 p.m. Saturday at OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave. Tickets are $35-$95. Visit raesremmurd.com or call 405-232-6506.

Pentatonix/Us The Duo/ABI, Chesapeake Energy Arena. POP

VARIOUS

Adam Banner/The Dirty Little Betty’s, Belle Isle Brewery. ROCK

ROCK

ONI/Exmortus, Thunder Alley Grill and Sports Bar.

Akiba/The Big News/Cosmostanza/Limp Wizurdz, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Steve Crossley Solo, Margarita Island. VARIOUS

Blackwater Creek, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY

The Smooth Soulful Sax & Axe, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. JAZZ

Collective Soul, Riverwind Casino, Norman. ROCK

You Knew Me When, Red Brick Bar, Norman. ROCK

ROCK

FRIDAY, 11.18 12th Planet/Lunberjvck, OKC Farmers Public Market.

Mike Hosty One Man Band, The Deli, Norman. ROCK

Dresden Bombers/Station 5150, Opolis, Norman.

Hook Echo, Newcastle Casino, Newcastle. POP Howard Brady, Full Circle Bookstore. ROCK

ELECTRONIC

Jonathan Tyler, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. COUNTRY

80z Enuf, Remington Park. COVER

PEARS/Useless ID/Shut Up Matt Jewett, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

Amarillo Junction, Riverwind Casino, Norman.

COUNTRY

B.C. & The Big Rig, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY Blind Date, The Landing Zone, Midwest City. ROCK

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS!

3127 S. 4th St. Chickasha, OK • 405.825.3529 64

N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle It’s All An Elision

By Joe Dipietro | Edited by Will Shortz | 1113 ACROSS 1 Point of greatest despair 6 Terms of service 13 Laid out for printing 20 Unchallenged 21 Lift 22 Sure things 23 “Do your taxidermy on the patio instead!”?

25 “You can’t make me” 26 Of the highest quality 27 Republican, on an election map 28 “Da Coach” 30 Place to get stuck 31 “Double” or “triple” feat 32 Discipline for paper tigers?

34 Newcastle Brown and others 35 Thrown 38 Harley, in slang 40 A foot on the ground in Phoenix?

43 It’s just for openers 44 “Venus in Fur” playwright David 46 Today rival, for short 47 Get on one’s high horse?

48 Kind of replication 49 Miasma 51 “____, captain!”

53 Some Campbell’s offerings 56 Skinflints 58 It makes tracks 60 See 41-Down 62 “____ it go” 63 Ones who have it coming to them?

64 “Silence is the ____ that

nourishes wisdom”: Bacon 65 Classical pianist Levit 66 Composer Bartók 67 Reaction of dismay 68 Comfort food causing oral discomfort?

70 Selfish sort 71 Harpies 72 Where many connections are made 73 Huge quantities 74 Surgical tube 75 Common New England street name 76 Lyft offering 77 Groove-making needles 78 With 96-Across, bit of Chinese cuisine

79 Many, after “a” 81 “Not interested” 83 Like some tales or details 85 Broadcast 86 Hall of Fame quarterback Dan 88 Trendy jeans feature 90 Extract used in brewing 91 Foreign: Prefix 92 Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and

that’s probably it?

96 See 78-Across 97 Memo abbr.

98 Cab stopper?

99 Up against it 101 Genesis of an idea 103 Amaze 104 Deadly nerve gas 106 Artist who awards a biennial

Grant for Peace 107 Real sport 111 Adjust, as a currency 113 Slogan for wine geeks?

116 Field of vision 117 Nipple rings 118 Set free 119 “Noble” thing 120 Mack of early slapstick 121 ____ Muggs, girl in Archie

DOWN 1 Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas 2 Kind of clef 3 Prettify 4 Blow up 5 Do more repairs on 6 The Princess Bride theme 7 Put groceries away 8 It blows things up, in brief 9 Some wedding figures 10 Small semicircular grooves on a column 11 Port. is part of it 12 Left in a hurry 13 Radioactive form of hydrogen 14 Pennsylvania city 15 “SOS,” e.g.

16 Middle-earth inhabitant 17 Mystery ingredient in SweeTarts?

18 Comes later 19 Insect that folds its wings 24 Nearly throws a perfect game

against, maybe

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29 Uses WhatsApp, say 33 Snap 34 River to the Ligurian Sea 35 Communication devices for

commuters, once 36 Best Picture between Rocky and The Deer Hunter 37 Always putting up my entry fees?

39 1960s TV show whose star

weighed 650 pounds 41 With 60-Across, player of Tony

Soprano’s son 42 Engine sound 45 Pressure, so to speak 49 Fraternity and sorority leaders,

usually: Abbr.

50 Follow closely 52 Rough choice?

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Accounts receivable Karen Holmes

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VP, CORPORATE AFFAIRS Linda Meoli

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Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute).

Sudoku Puzzle Very Hard

Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com

P A P A S

T A P E L S A T

R O T C

I T H A C U M A N O N I T S H A O R T M A C

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R O O T I G E R M I N O A B S T X E C O L I O N I N O C A T H E N O S S E

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O N G M O E N E S A O P I E R C O G

EDITOR-in-chief Jennifer Palmer Chancellor jchancellor@okgazette.com Assistant EDITOR Brittany Pickering Staff reporters Greg Elwell, Laura Eastes, Ben Luschen Contributors Mark Beutler, Lauren Dow, Adam Holt Michael Kinney, George Lang, Kara Stewart Tyler Talley Forty Under 40 contributor Christine Eddington Photographer Garett Fisbeck Circulation Manager Chad Bleakley Art Director Chris Street

Graphic Designer Anna Shilling

Puzzle No. 1106, which appeared in the November 9 issue.

I L E S

Account Executive / Advertising assistant Leah Roberts

Advertising/Marketing Design Coordinator Erin DeMoss

New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers S A B E

Advertising Director Christy Duane, cduane@okgazette.com

Account EXECUTIVES Stephanie Van Horn, Saundra Rinearson Godwin, Elizabeth Riddle, Nathan Ward Walter Agnitsch

89 What an overstuffed suitcase

might do 91 Unknown quantity 92 Bogeyman 93 Informal words of thanks 94 Athlete’s wear, informally 95 Soup dumpling 100 John Kennedy ____, author of

A Confederacy of Dunces 102 Game with mallets played on a

hard-surfaced court 104 Criticize, in British slang 105 Vibe 108 Maze solution 109 Pennsylvania city 110 Walk while dizzy 112 War hero 114 High dudgeon 115 Giant image over Gotham

55 Begin to tongue-lash 57 February 14th figure 59 Divorced 61 London lavs 64 Bit of jewelry 65 Opposite of outflux 66 Ram 68 Hard to pin down 69 Giant among Giants 74 Punk rocker Vicious 76 Gravy thickener 77 They might need guards 78 Drops to the ground?

80 Herman who wrote This Is My God 82 Home of Walmart 84 New-employee requirement, maybe 87 Formal wingdings

publisher Bill Bleakley Associate Publisher James Bengfort

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First-class mail subscriptions are $119 for one year, and most issues at this rate will arrive 1-2 days after publication.

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Oklahoma Gazette is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers.

The cash value of this copy is $1. Persons taking copies of the Oklahoma Gazette from its distribution points for any reason other than their or others’ individual use for reading purposes are subject to prosecution.

Please address all unsolicited news items (non-returnable) to the editor.

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free will astrology Homework: Though sometimes it’s impossible to do the right thing, doing the half-right thing may be a viable option. Give an example from your life: FreeWillAstrology.com ARIES (March 21-April 19) There is a 97 percent

chance that you will NOT engage in the following activities within the next 30 days: naked skydiving, tight-rope walking between two skyscrapers, getting drunk on a mountaintop, taking ayahuasca with Peruvian shamans in a remote rural hut, or dancing ecstatically in a muddy pit of snakes. However, I suspect that you will be involved in almost equally exotic exploits -- although less risky ones -- that will require you to summon more pluck and improvisational skill than you knew you had.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) *The Onion,* my

favorite news source, reported that “It’s perfectly natural for people to fantasize about sandwiches other than the one currently in their hands.” You shouldn’t feel shame, the article said, if you’re enjoying a hoagie but suddenly feel an inexplicable yearning for a BLT or pastrami on rye. While I appreciate this reassuring counsel, I don’t think it applies to you in the coming weeks. In my opinion, you have a sacred duty to be unwaveringly faithful, both in your imagination and your actual behavior -- as much for your own sake as for others’. I advise you to cultivate an up-to-date affection for and commitment to what you actually have, and not indulge in obsessive fantasies about “what ifs.”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) I hesitate to deliver the

contents of this horoscope without a disclaimer. Unless you are an extremely ethical person with a vivid streak of empathy, you might be prone to abuse the information I’m about to present. So please ignore it unless you can responsibly employ the concepts of benevolent mischief and tricky blessings and cathartic shenanigans. Ready?

Here’s your oracle: *Now is a favorable time for grayer truths, wilder leaps of the imagination, more useful bullshit, funnier enigmas, and more outlandish stories seasoned with crazy wisdom.*

By Rob Brezsny

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Kavachi is an underwater

volcano in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. It erupts periodically, and in general makes the surrounding water so hot and acidic that human divers must avoid it. And yet some hardy species live there, including crabs, jellyfish, stingrays, and sharks. What adaptations and strategies enable them to thrive in such an extreme environment? Scientists don’t know. I’m going to draw a comparison between you and the resourceful creatures living near Kavachi. In the coming weeks, I bet you’ll flourish in circumstances that normal people might find daunting.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Seventeenth-century British

people used the now-obsolete word “firktytoodle.” It meant “cuddling and snuggling accompanied by leisurely experiments in smooching, fondling, licking, and sweet dirty talk.” The coming weeks will be prime time for you to carry out extensive experiments in this activity. But here’s an interesting question: Will the near future also be a favorable phase for record levels of orgasmic release? The answer: maybe, but IF AND ONLY if you pursue firkytoodle as an end in itself; IF AND ONLY IF you relish the teasing and playing as if they were ultimate rewards, and don’t relegate them to being merely preliminary acts for pleasures that are supposedly bigger and better. P.S. These same principles apply not just to your intimate connections, but to everything else in your life, as well. Enjoying the journey is as important as reaching a destination.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Here’s an experiment worth trying: Reach back into the past to find a remedy for what’s bugging you now. In other words, seek out on an old, perhaps even partially forgotten influence to resolve a current dilemma that has resisted your efforts to master it. This is one time when it may make good sense to temporarily resurrect a lost dream. You could energize your future by drawing inspiration from possibilities that might have been but never were.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) By the time he died at the

age of 87 in 1983, free thinker Buckminster Fuller had licensed his inventions to more than 100 companies.

But along the way, he often had to be patient as he waited for the world to be ready for his visionary creations. He was ahead of his time, dreaming up things that would be needed before anyone knew they’d be needed. I encourage you to be like him in the coming weeks, Libra.

Try to anticipate the future. Generate possibilities that people are not yet ripe to accept, but will eventually be ready to embrace.

that ultimately result in a mostly happy ending.

According to my reading of the astrological omens, you Capricorns will have an unusually high chance of making fruitful contact with a Higher Power or Illuminating Source in the coming weeks. I doubt that 716-776-2323 is the right contact information. But if you trust your intuition, I bet you’ll make the connection.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Does the word

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Some spiders are

“revolution” have any useful meaning? Or has it been invoked by so many fanatics with such melodramatic agendas that it has lost its value? In accordance with your astrological omens, I suggest we give it another chance. I think it deserves a cozy spot in your life during the next few months. As for what exactly that entails, let’s call on author Rebecca Solnit for inspiration. She says, “I still think the [real] revolution is to make the world safe for poetry, meandering, for the frail and vulnerable, the rare and obscure, the impractical and local and small.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) “We all have

ghosts inside us, and it’s better when they speak than when they don’t,” wrote author Siri Hustvedt. The good news, Sagittarius, is that in recent weeks your personal ghosts have been discoursing at length. They have offered their interpretation of your life’s central mysteries and have provided twists on old stories you thought you had all figured out. The bad news is that they don’t seem to want to shut up. Also, less than 25% of what they have been asserting is actually true or useful. But here’s the fantastic news: Those ghosts have delivered everything you need to know for now, and will obey if you tell them to take an extended vacation.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) In the film *Bruce

Almighty,* Morgan Freeman plays the role of God, and Capricorn actor Jim Carrey is a frustrated reporter named Bruce Nolan. After Nolan bemoans his rocky fate and blames it on God’s ineptitude, the Supreme Being reaches out by phone. (His number is 716-7762323.) A series of conversations and negotiations ensues, leading Nolan on roller-coaster adventures

both construction workers and artists. The webs they spin are not just strong and functional, but also feature decorative elements called “stabilimenta.” These may be as simple as zigzags or as complex as spiral whorls.

Biologists say the stabilimenta draw prey to specific locations, help the spider hide, and render the overall stability of the web more robust. As you enter the web-building phase of your cycle, Aquarius, I suggest that you include your own version of attractive stabilimenta. Your purpose, of course, is not to catch prey, but to bolster your network and invigorate your support system. Be artful as well as practical. (Thanks to Mother Nature Network’s Jaymi Heimbuch for info on stabilimenta.)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) “Aren’t there parts of ourselves that are just better left unfed?” asked Piscean author David Foster Wallace. I propose that we make that one of your two keynotes during the next four weeks. Here’s a second keynote: As you become more and more skilled at not fueling the parts of yourself that are better left unfed, you will have a growing knack for identifying the parts of yourself that should be well-fed. Feed them with care and artistry!

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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