Boyd Street February 2020

Trio of Oklahoma Ladies Became

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Local Restaurants for Valentine’s Day

Fun Food

February 2020 • Issue 2 • Volume 19

Return of the Daug

Normanite in the Spotlight

Mark Krittenbrink

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Features

FEBRUARY CONTENTS 2020

ISSUE 2– VOLUME 19 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mark Doescher

Fun Food

16 by Lindsay Cuomo

MANAGING EDITOR Lindsay Cuomo

SENIOR EDITOR

Eight local restaurants to love this February.

Chip Minty

PHOTOGRAPHY

Mark Doescher

Sooner Superfans

26 by Josh Helmer

CONTRIBUTORS

16

Trio seals friendship in crimson and cream.

Roxanne Avery | Stefanie Brickman Callie Collins | Lindsay Cuomo Kathy Hallren | Joy Hampton Josh Helmer | Shannon Hudzinski Chelsey Kraft | Bill Moakley Chris Plank | Chat Williams

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Normanite in the Spotlight:

37 Mark Krittenbrink

PUBLISHER Randy Laffoon

by Chelsey Kraft A college aptitude test changed the course of Krittenbrink’s life for the better.

High School Superfans

48 by Josh Helmer

Supporting Tigers, Timberwolves a way of life.

Return of the Daug

52 by Chris Plank

48

Beloved OU basketball mascot adds new source of energy to LNC.

Time for Change

Blackbird Gastropub debuts renovation, new menus.

American Heart Month

Managing heart health is a lifelong journey.

52

by Bill Moakley

Visit Norman

22 J.D. Grothe

Service Spotlight:

by Chelsey Kraft

32 by Lindsay Cuomo

Boyd Street Teacher Features

44

Civil Clerk Cathy Suttle Service Spotlight:

Golden Rule Pawn

New business putting people first.

by Joy Hampton

67 Mortgage?

Should I Refinance to a 15 Year

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Michael Robertson

14 by Stefanie Brickman

86 by Roxanne Avery

Spotlights Service Spotlight:

81 by Lindsay Cuomo

Any articles, artwork or graphics created by Boyd Street Magazine or its contributors are sole property of Boyd Street Magazine and cannot be reproduced for any reason without permission.

Any opinions expressed in Boyd Street are not necessarily that of Boyd Street management.

10

Master Police Officer

62 by Callie Collins

Boyd Street Magazine 2020 E. Alameda Norman, Oklahoma 73071 Phone: (405) 321-1400 E-mail: editor@boydstreet.com Copyright © Boyd Street Magazine

/boydstreetmagazine

86

@boydstreet

by Shannon Hudzinski - OUFCU

73 by Kathy Hallren - Joe’s Wine & Spirits

Corks, Closures & Cans

77 by Chat Williams - Youth Performance

Consistency is Key

Cover photo by: Mark Doescher

COMM U N I T Y

BY: BILL MOAKLEY

Service Spotlight:

Master Police Officer Michael Robertson

A

utomobile accidents on the streets of Norman often result in lengthy closures, requiring alternate routes for motorists. With the work of Norman Master Police Officer Michael Robertson, that may be changing.

Traffic diversion is necessary to allow responding emergency personnel time to treat those involved, and to provide time for police to take precise notes and measurements for scene reconstruction, as well as time to clear vehicles and debris from the roadway. However, a drone initiative being led by Robertson may soon allow police the opportunity to conduct some of that work remotely, reducing the time needed on scene.

“Any major injury collisions that occur, we close the roads for anywhere from five to eight hours,” Robertson explained.

“With a drone we could cut that time in half. They can take hundreds of photos of the scene and then put that into a computer to map and measure the scene.”

Robertson works with drones as part of his interest in videography. He said past skepticism among the public of police operating drones is waning.

“Initially, there was a fear of law enforcement using drones due to privacy reasons, but I think people are starting to see these are really good tools that have been proven to save lives,” he said. “For the past couple of years, I’ve been assisting in developing the department’s drone program.”

Robertson and the department do not have a drone in the sky yet, but all the required Federal Aviation Administration paperwork has been completed. The department is working on budgeting for its first drone.

10 | February 2020

Robertson grew up in Northern California and served a stint in the Navy before he landed in Norman as a police officer. He graduated from the Norman Police Academy in 2015.

In addition to helping pioneer the use of drones in the department, Robertson had already broken ground in another area with NPD. He is the department’s first openly gay male officer.

In addition to his duties on the afternoon shift, patrolling Norman, he serves as the City of Norman’s liaison to the LGBTQ community, a position he was appointed to by Norman’s Human Rights Commission.

“Everything has been very positive since I’ve been here,” Robertson said about his experience in Norman as a gay officer.

“I’ve never had a negative, discriminatory experience here.

If there is any fear in the LGBTQ community toward police, I’m happy to talk to people and hopefully maintain a good relationship between the police and the LGBTQ community.”

When Norman Police Chief Kevin Foster took the top cop job in Norman, he minted the traditional “chief’s coin.” Imprinted on the coin is what Foster expects of his officers.

“The coin reads, ‘Building an Inclusive Community’,” Robertson pointed out. “It’s not a very popular time to be a police officer. There’s a lot of negative news due to current events involving police. People have a sense all police are the way they’re seen in the media. It’s nice to be able to show people it’s not that way here.

“I like being in a position where I can enhance the relationship between the LGBTQ community and the police department.”– BSM

COMM U N I T Y

Fun FOOD F

BY: LINDSAY CUOMO

Eight Local Restaurants to Love this February

ebruary is the month of love and whether celebrating by dining out with a special someone, as a family or with friends, Boyd Street encourages readers to show some love to local restaurants. Here are a few inspiring dining destinations to explore some of the best flavors of Norman. - BSM

Crawfish Pot

3025 William Pereira Open: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. & 5 - 9 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Crawfish Pot is new to Norman, staking its claim on the Ed Noble Parkway in August 2019. Well known for their seafood boils, their menu also features other Creole classics, including Po’boys, gumbo and Étouffée.

Adventurous diners can even try fried gator! On Valentine’s Day, it’s happy hour all day long at Crawfish Pot so diners can enjoy $2 beers, $1 oysters and half off wine, spirits and appetizers.

Das Boot Camp

229 E Main St Open: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. - midnight Das Boot Camp is the Norman product of Royal Bavaria, a German restaurant and craft brewery in Moore.

Das Boot offers hungry diners a similar menu but with extended hours and TVs to catch Sooner games. Enjoy traditional German dishes like their schnitzel and rotisserie chicken or spice things up with their unique blend of German-American fusion. This February, Das Boot will feature a brand-new craft beer and several Valentine-inspired cocktails.

16 | February 2020

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The Service Station

502 S Webster Ave Open: Monday-Thursday & Saturday11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. on Friday The Service Station, a former gas station turned hangout offering American classics and comfort foods, has a storied history in Norman. With an automotive themed menu, featuring Dipsticks (fries), Lugnuts (fried okra), Spark Plugs, (nachos with jalapenos), Chief Mechanic (Chef Salad) and a whole line of burgers named after cars (Gremlin, Mercedes, Mustang and Firebird to name a few), there is something for every taste. For Valentine’s, step up and try the Luxury Line steak and shrimp.

The Garage Burgers & Beer 307 E Main St Open: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - midnight; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.

Over-the-top burgers, hot dogs, tacos and fresh-cut fries are at the heart of The Garage’s menu. But don’t let that simplicity fool you. There is nothing standard about their selection. Their protein options alone shake up any burger night. Add in their three-types of fries and dipping sauces and you can try something new every time

Pub W

3720 W Robinson St Open: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - midnight; Friday, 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 1 a.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.

A good pub is essential in any college town and, thankfully, Normanites have Pub W. Everything is made from scratch including their shareables, reinvented pub classics, hearty brunch dishes and their late-night menu items. They also have an extensive beer and cocktail menu and a spacious patio to enjoy on our warmer February days.

18 | February 2020

El Toro Chino

2801 36th Ave NW Open: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

El Toro Chino’s bold flavors, fresh ingredients and tasty cocktails keep Normanites coming back for more, whether for lunch or dinner. With unexpected dishes, such as Chilaquiles and Brunchiladas, their weekend brunch is a popular way fuel up. A Valentine’s Day special is available featuring a 3 course dinnner for $49 with drink specials and live music.

Oliveto Italian Bistro 1301 S I-35 Service Rd, Moore Open: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Oliveto’s is a casual dining restaurant with big flavors. Their piping-hot woodstone ovens toast pizzas, Paninis and pastas into delicious artisan-inspired dishes. This February, Oliveto’s will roll out a few new seasonal specials, including a blackened salmon piccata, a crispy chicken sandwich with an Italian twist, a spicy Andouille sausage and shrimp Creole pasta and their popular Pizza Pot Pie, a personal-sized nod to the Chicago deep dish.

Rib Crib

1131 Rambling Oaks Dr Open: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Normanites love their BBQ and Rib Crib has been serving up delicious smokehouse fare in Norman since 2001. They offer two styles of ribs as well as pulled pork, brisket and well-known southern staples like chicken-fried chicken and crispy, fried catfish.

They will continue their two for $10.50 lunch special and, on Valentine’s weekend, they will debut a special menu including smoked prime rib, glazed bone-in pork chop and Competition Baby Back ribs. Or you can always stop in on a Tuesday to enjoy endless ribs! boydstreet.com

BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 19

COMM U N I T Y

BY: CHELSEY KRAF T

Service Spotlight: J.D. Grothe

Grothe graduated from Edmond North High School and went on to swim at Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Ark., where he earned a degree in business marketing in 2009. He enjoyed the team aspect of swimming and recognized firefighting as a career path that would offer similar camaraderie.

“I don’t like sitting in an office. I like to be active,” Grothe said. “And I like to hang out with people, have a good time with the crew and get to do some hands-on activities and serve the community while I’m doing it.”

About three months ago, Grothe moved to Station 9, located at 3001 Alameda Street, and he has enjoyed the move because the station is responsible for both the city and rural areas.

He will celebrate six years with the Norman Fire Department in March.

22 | February 2020

Before coming to Norman, Grothe worked for the Oak Cliff Fire Department and the Guthrie Fire Department. His goal was to eventually work in Norman because of the mix of a big city feel while having a small enough department where he could get to know those he was working with.

For Grothe, his path to the fire department was different than some of his peers. After graduating from college, he spent time as a volunteer to earn training certifications to make sure it was what he actually wanted to do.

“The job path’s not for everybody,” Grothe said. “I think some people get in it and then realize… this is not what I thought it was or not what I want to do,’ so I think if I was going to give someone advice, take a year or two. Don’t be so stressed out about getting hired, and find out if this is really what you want to do.”

When not on duty, Grothe spends his time flipping houses and has an inter-

est in cars and trucks. Grothe and his fiancé, Gabby, have been dating for about two years and are planning to marry in August. He has a 5-year-old son, John David, who is the fourth generation in his family to share that name.

Due to the nontraditional work schedule of the fire department, Grothe said he appreciates the time he has to spend with his son, especially before he started school.

“It’s kind of hard when you don’t see your family at night … but looking back over the first five years of his life, I got to spend more time during the day with my kid than most people will ever get to, and it’s pretty cool.” – BSM

Photo by: Mark Doescher

E

ver since he was a child, J.D. Grothe knew he might want to become a firefighter.

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So oner Super fans

Trio Seals Friendship in Crimson and Cream

C

hances are if you’ve been to an Oklahoma Sooners coaches show over the past two decades you’ve bumped into them. Or, maybe you met this trio of OU super fans at one of the many Sooner sports they regularly attend.

Carol Sloan, Marilyn McCallon and Patsy Shelley are synonymous with OU sports. But, you probably don’t know Patsy as Patsy. Not many in the Sooner sports world do. Patsy is known as Lumber Lady, a moniker she acquired calling in to sports talk radio stations throughout the 1990s.

Carol and Marilyn became lifelong friends from their time working together at Southwestern Bell. The pair met Lumber Lady inside a Red Lobster at one of Bob Stoops’ coaches shows back in 1999. Their friendships quickly blossomed thanks to their common love of Sooner sports.

“This is our life. This is what we do.

My dad started me up coming to basketball and football games when I was

26 | February 2020

five years old. I’ve never known anything else,” Lumber Lady said.

They’ve attended hundreds of games in Norman, but have made plenty of road trips as well.

Lumber Lady has traveled to see Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team play in the Maui Invitational and also made a pair of trips to see the Sooners in the Final Four, when Kelvin Sampson’s Sooners went to the Final Four in Atlanta in 2002 and Lon Kruger’s team advanced to the Final Four in Houston in 2016.

Carol and Marilyn were at the famous Bedlam football “Ice Bowl” in 1985, which the Sooners won, 13-0.

“We loaded up a big, yellow van and put cement blocks in the back of that van and drove to Stillwater that game. We got so cold, we actually froze to our seats,” Sloan said. “Pretty much by halftime, the field was white. Sometimes they were slipping and sliding. I don’t know how they played the game or knew where the yard lines were. It’s something we’ll never forget. It was wild. We were crazy.”

She remembers seeing band members with instruments frozen to their faces and then vehicles spun out, turned backwards on their trip home to Norman.

“It wasn’t so wild going, but it was wild coming back,” Sloan said.

Lumber Lady goes back and forth trying to choose her absolute favorite football trip.

“There’s nothing better than OU-Texas, especially when we win. That’s just a given. Any time you beat Texas, how glorious is that? The 2000 National Championship in Florida. Are you kidding me? We weren’t supposed to win anything. We were the laughing stock. Going in there, we didn’t have a shot. That was fabulous,” Lumber Lady said.

As far as a group, that’s easier to pin down. Their favorite football trip they’ve taken as a trio was to Notre Dame in 2013 when the Sooners beat the Fighting Irish, 35-21.

fans. They are the very definition of a fan. I’m not just talking about OU. I mean in sports. We’ve got plenty of people telling us what we’re doing wrong and what needs to be done better, not as many people as there used to be that are just outright fans of their teams,” Rowland said. “When they win, they celebrate. When they lose, they try to lift everybody’s spirits.

That’s what they do.

“We rode the train from Chicago into South Bend. I can’t tell you how neat that was. Of course, the Notre Dame campus was phenomenal. We toured around and saw all that stuff. And we won the game,” Lumber Lady said.

“They go to everything because they love OU. They love all the sports, they love all the coaches and they just want to be a part of everything. I love those optimistic, positive attitudes and how they just can’t get enough of the Sooners. They are among my favorite people on the planet.”

Their love of Sooner sports extends beyond football. Carol also has season tickets to men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, baseball, softball and volleyball.

“College sports is just fun, because it’s evolving, it’s changing. You watch the players mature. You watch them come in as recruits and then you see them as seniors and they change,” McCallon said. “We’ve just met so many wonderful people through sports. And not just football, but all the sports. We have friends from baseball, softball, volleyball. They’re special friends.

Everybody has a hobby or something they enjoy.”

One of the friends they’ve made is OU play-by-play voice Toby Rowland.

“I think they are tremendous. I always say that we don’t need any more critics and cynics. What we need are more 28 | February 2020

Lumber Lady reflected on those trips with her daughter, Dru. “A mother and daughter getting to do all this kind of stuff? Wonderful, fabulous. We just enjoy it. As long as I’m physically able, we’re going no matter what,” Lumber Lady said.

How do she and her friends remain so positive when others might not?

That’s easy.

“We are fanatics. See, if y’all are griping and complaining, saying negative stuff about one sport, we’re on to the next one and we’re winning. We’re not just all about football. That’s how we’ve met all these different friends,” Lumber Lady said.

The group says they are looking forward to seeing what happens during the remainder of basketball season and into the spring sports schedule.

They also have plans to visit Army next football season.

“I really like to support them because a lot of people don’t. We started with volleyball when nobody was going.

We thought, ‘They need our support.’

Same thing with women’s basketball before Sherri got there. We’ve had a lot of fun doing it,” Sloan said.

Marilyn says it’s the growth of the players during their time at OU and the friends they’ve made through sports that make it exciting.

“She loves OU about as much as anyone I’ve ever seen. She’s going to support them through thick and thin. It’s something that she and Dru, her daughter, do to spend time together. They’ve been all over together,” Perry said.

In the meantime, it’s about enjoying the moment.

SportsTalk 1400 program director TJ Perry met Lumber Lady when she was part of a group of fans that bought air time to host a radio show called “Swarmin’ in Norman” to express their opinions that aired on Tuesday nights after Bob Stoops’ coaches show.

“Calling in wasn’t enough for them.

I’ve known her since those days and our friendship just grew out of that,” Perry said of Lumber Lady. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been around anyone as positive as she is. I think that’s why so many people around here love her. It’s almost an infectious personality.”

Perry says that today Lumber Lady is more like a family member than a friend. She spends holidays with TJ and his wife, Katie, and attends their son Bronx’s baseball games and birthday parties.

“The thing I feel strongly about is that it isn’t about how many games we’ve been to. We have a lot of friends that say they’ve been to so many straight in number. That’s not important. The important thing is that we had a good time there,” McCallon said. – BSM

boydstreet.com

BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 29

COMM U N I T Y

Alexa Hudak

F

or Alexa Hudak, a teacher at Lakeview Elementary, authenticity has been an important teaching tool.

“Being vulnerable is difficult for many people, but it is so critical to be who you are in the classroom and not who you think the students need to see in the classroom,” Hudak explained. “True connection and learning come from people that share mutual respect.”

Hudak said this game-changing skill is something she learned from one of her students.

“I had a student my third year of teaching that really changed it all for me. I think that every teacher finds a little bit of themselves in their students, and I certainly saw myself in this student.”

Hudak has spent most of her career

BY: LINDSAY CUOMO

teaching fifth grade. However, after earning her master’s degree this year, she decided to take on a new challenge. She now teaches special education and gifted and talented students.

“This mash-up really works for my desire to be on my students’ team and be able to cater to their needs in an entirely new way.”

She now connects with more than 100 students, helping to engage and enrich the various capabilities of each.

“There really isn’t a ‘typical’ day,” Hudak said. “Although my day is scheduled, we have many fun activities thrown in to keep classes enriched and engaged.”

Hudak was selected as Lakeview’s Site Teacher of the Year, an honor that was very humbling, she said.

“I feel so grateful that the people in my building, who I have leaned on,

nominated me for this honor. I continually bother them for advice and support, and I’m grateful for all the support, from my first day as a new teacher to today.” – BSM

Teaching Norman Shannon Johnson

S

creen time is a taboo word today. But, for Shannon Johnson, a teacher at Jefferson Elementary, television was an inspiration.

“Some people find motivation from their favorite sports figure, actor or actress. Others are motivated by friends or family. Motivation for me came a bit differently,” Johnson said.

“I became a teacher because of Sesame Street. Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Grover introduced me to sign language and from that point on, I wanted to become a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing.”

In her first teaching job, she worked with a 3-year-old, who was profoundly deaf in both ears.

“He had no means of communication,” Johnson remembered. “The day he realized he could use sign language as a way to communicate is a day I will

32 | February 2020

always remember. He was putting together an animal puzzle. He brought over the rabbit piece, handed it to me.

I signed ‘rabbit’ to him. He looked at me, then to the puzzle piece and back at me before signing ‘rabbit.’”

“He took me by the hand and moved around the classroom wanting to know the signs of everything in the room.”

Today she uses sign language to help her students, kids ages 3 to 5 years old with varying developmental delays.

“We work on academic readiness skills as well as life skills, behavioral skills and social skills,” Johnson said.

But, most importantly, Johnson wants her students to know that she believes in them.

“I want them to take with them the knowledge that they have a voice, and they can do anything anyone else can do.”

Johnson was named Jefferson’s Site Teacher of the Year, an honor she credits in part to her family and her teaching assistants.

“I have a great support system. My husband, Phillip, and daughter, Jalen, are my everything. I have two of the greatest teaching assistants in the Norman Public School system, Julie Burbridge and April Lytle. I could not do my job as effectively without their dedication and hard work.” – BSM

The Sooner Theatre

Annual Evening of “Fun”driaising dinner and show

February 13, 14 & 15

A musical, murderously funny fundraising dinner and show for adults only benefiting the programs and productions of The Sooner Theatre of Norman, Inc.

Tickets: $75 per person/$750 per table of 10 • RSVP: (405) 321-9600 110 E Main St. • Downtown Norman • www.soonertheatre.com

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COM M UNI T Y

BY: CHELSEY KRAFT

NORMANITE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

B

Mark Krittenbrink

orn on a farm in Kingfisher, Mark Krittenbrink jokes that his true destiny was to be a wealthy banker’s son on the West Coast.

While that didn’t quite pan out, an aptitude test taken during his time at the University of Oklahoma helped Krittenbrink discover the career path he has followed for more than 40 years.

Krittenbrink was sitting in an organic chemistry lecture during the second semester of his sophomore year when he realized remaining pre-med was not the right plan. The subsequent aptitude test revealed six areas he might excel in – music, art, human relations, social work, architecture and funeral director.

From there, Krittenbrink set up interviews with some deans on campus in the first five areas to see which area might be the best option for him.

“I’ve always liked to draw, and I’ve always appreciated the beauty of buildings,” Krittenbrink said. “I thought that architecture was probably my best bet for a successful career, and it’s been a good fit.”

After graduating from OU in 1978, Krittenbrink worked for a design boydstreet.com

firm, where he had also been employed during college. With their wedding approaching on Oct. 25, 1980, Krittenbrink and his wife, Debra, decided it was time for a move.

Krittenbrink’s vote was for relocation to New York City. Debra’s was for the mountains. She won the coin flip, and the couple headed to Breckenridge, Colo. There, Krittenbrink initially worked in construction as a laborer and eventually worked for Baker & Hogan Architecture.

After a few years in Colorado, during which the Krittenbrinks’ daughter, Autumn, was born, it was time for the family’s next move. Krittenbrink got to make the pick this time and eventually decided it was time to move back to Oklahoma in 1985.

The couple then welcomed their son, Christopher, in 1989.

Upon Krittenbrink’s return to his home state, he worked for a couple of firms before joining with Michael McCoy to start Krittenbrink McCoy Architects. Eventually three groups came together and created Professional Retail Service Management, or PRSM, which worked with national

stores like Gap, Eddie Bauer and Williams-Sonoma. In 1996, he founded his own firm, Krittenbrink Architecture.

“Doing national retail work, you never saw your finished product, you never really worked for people,” Krittenbrink said. “When I started Krittenbrink Architecture, I wanted to do architecture that makes a difference, do architecture that puts me in contact with people because I like people, and then do architecture that I could see the process and the end result. That led me to create Krittenbrink Architecture.”

Since 2018, Krittenbrink Architecture has been located at 119 W Main St. after years on Campus Corner. A significant focus for the firm is Greek living. When Autumn was in college at OU, Krittenbrink received a phone call from her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, which wanted to create a senior wing in the house. This opened a door with the Greek community on OU’s campus, and the firm was then contracted for Kappa Hall and later nine of the next 10 Greek projects.

Krittenbrink Architecture’s reach has grown to have a national presence and is probably one of the top three BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 37

in the country in the Greek area, Krittenbrink said. About 60 percent of the firm’s work is in national Greek sorority and fraternity houses with current projects in a variety of states, including Washington, Oregon, California, New Hampshire, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Florida and Texas.

Krittenbrink also enjoys connecting with the local community. One significant project to Krittenbrink was the Sarkeys Foundation building. Another was the recently completed St. Thomas More Church, the parish where Krittenbrink has been a member since college.

Family-oriented time is important to Krittenbrink, whether that’s hanging out around the pool, hosting his large extended family for Christmas or going on outings to see “Frozen 2.”

The Krittenbrinks live three doors down from Autumn, her husband Korey McMahon and their two kids, 5-year-old Rose and Brink, who was born last March.

Two items on his bucket list for the year are learning more Spanish and picking up watercolor painting. He also enjoys gardening and performing, especially musical theatre, although he does not get to do that as much as he used to. In the past, Krittenbrink served on the Sooner Theatre board and sang in the St. Thomas More choir.

“In my heart of hearts if I were doing Broadway, I’d probably be happy, but my life would be so much different,” Krittenbrink said.

While Krittenbrink’s path didn’t lead him to Broadway, it’s clear that he found a career that suits him well and has allowed him to still create lasting, impactful art. – BSM

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COMM U N I T Y

BY: JOY HAMPTON

Service Spotlight:

Civil Clerk Cathy Suttle

I

mpartially and compassionately serving residents of Cleveland County is at the heart of Cathy Suttle’s job as a civil clerk with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.

“Cathy has a heart for service and is especially dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence,” Sheriff Todd Gibson said. “I appreciate her long years of service, and her willingness to give candid input on how to improve the civil processes and customer service.”

The Civil Division of the Sheriff’s Office is charged with processing and serving civil court orders. That means Suttle deals with people on both sides of disputes, including domestic violence victims and their alleged abusers, landlords and people being evicted, attorneys, family members and more.

“My job is not to judge,” Suttle said. “Nobody on this planet is perfect, and we all make mistakes. Some of the people we deal with, unfortunately, have drug and alcohol problems or a history of abuse… whether that was from their childhood or if they’re perpetuating that as adults. The end result is they’re not able to function in society in a positive way.”

For people in crisis, the stakes are high.

Victims are frightened and have questions about getting help, while someone, rightly or wrongly, accused of abuse wants to know what the process is and how it will affect his or her life.

Landlords may be concerned about property damage and months of non-payment while those being evicted are worried about where they are going to live and how to get their belongings out of the home.

If she can de-escalate an angry caller and make sure they have the information they need to complete the legal process before them, she feels like she’s done her job.

“We live in America, and all people have certain rights provided by the U.S. Constitution and state statutes,” Suttle said.

Sometimes, situations can be heart-wrenching. Where possible, Suttle tries to provide information on resources.

“Cathy is good at building community relationships,” Capt. Ronnie Johnson said. “She’s also innovative and brings forward new ideas.”

Suttle started with the Sheriff’s Office in 1988 when she took a job as a detention officer.

“I needed a job with benefits. It was that simple,” she said. “A friend had heard about the opening at the jail and suggested I apply.”

Suttle has served as a detention officer, a corporal, a sergeant, a clerk and then a clerk supervisor over more than 20 years of serving at the detention center.

She moved to the civil division in 2009.

“There is an enormous difference in working with criminals and in working in the civil area with people who may not always have a criminal background,” she said. “It’s a whole different mindset.”

One part of the job that remains the same is her attitude about how people should be treated.

“Regardless of their circumstances, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity,” she said.

This is a continuation of our series on public servants in Norman.

44 | February 2020

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BY: JOSH HELMER

High School Superfans Supporting Tigers, Timberwolves a Way of Life

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r. Vivla Hill’s Spanish II classroom at Norman North is adorned with autographed team pictures that honor past Timberwolves. Stephen Jones has a collection of 20 scrapbooks filled to the brim with newspaper and magazine clippings that serve as an unofficial history guide to Norman High basketball since 1986. Separated by their loyalties in the Crosstown Clash, the pair is united in their unbridled love and fandom of their two respective schools.

Norman North athletic director Courtney Norton will tell you how Dr. Hill attends every single sport and has worked as a sponsor when they’ve needed a fill-in.

“She’s on the sidelines in football, in basketball. No game is too close, too far away for her and her husband to attend.

She is Norman North’s biggest fan by far that there ever will be,” Norton said.

She earned the Norman Athletic Association’s Norman North fan of the year award in 2017. Her love of sports came from her grandfather. D.B.R. Johnson

48 | February 2020

was the OU college of pharmacy dean from 1919-49 and his $5,000 donation was part of the funds raised to help build OU’s football stadium. As a result, 50-yard line seats to Oklahoma football games stayed within the family for years.

Then, after she began teaching at Norman North in the 2013-14 school year, Hill became a mainstay at her students’ sporting events. She’s had the Stoops brothers and Trae Young in class, and sometimes those familiar faces pop in just to say hello even after they have graduated.

“We always felt like we had just a little piece of the glory,” Hill said.

“I tell people it’s like having all these grandkids that you don’t have to buy Christmas presents for. I look at them and I think these are my kids,” Hill said.

Sports remained a part of her life. She was a cheerleader throughout junior high, her husband was in charge of track and field for the Marine Corps when they lived in Tennessee and her three kids played a mix of soccer, football and wrestling. When she lived and worked overseas teaching with the department of defense, she helped start the first all-girls soccer team at her daughter’s school on the island of Terceira.

“There were a lot of girls that wanted to play, and they kind of resented being on the mixed team. So, we decided to start (a team). It was a great sense of pride for it to be the first time,” she remembered.

That’s why she makes it a point to be at as many games as she possibly can.

“I feel an attachment there and I like watching them play. Whether they know you’re there or not, I think they appreciate that someone bothered to come. They need to feel there’s a support beyond mom and dad,” Hill said.

“I rejoice in their efforts and achievements. Sometimes it’s victory, sometimes it’s not.”

Her regular appearances at practices and games made it an easy decision for Norman North head volleyball coach

Stephanie Kane to suggest she just join the team.

“She really loves being a part of volleyball at Norman North. We love having her,” Kane said. “She tries to make all the away games. We love the energy that she brings. I think the main thing that the girls love the most is the support.

Knowing that there’s a staff member that cares a lot about them.”

Norman North girl’s head basketball coach, Rory Hamilton, also invited Hill to sit on his team’s bench at the state tournament last season.

“She’s really invested in our student athletes, she’s really invested in our school,” Hamilton said. “It gives us added motivation to want to perform at a high level for her. She’s our number one fan. Her enthusiasm is infectious.

“It makes you want to do better as a coach and it makes our girls want to do better. She lives and breathes Norman North, which is awesome.”

The bench invitations nearly brought Hill to tears.

“I don’t have any standing to sit on the bench to feel like you’re a part of it and that you’re appreciated, that matters to me,” Hill shared. “It’s hard to put words into it.”

At Norman High, Jones’ presence has been woven into the fabric of the Tigers over the past 35 years. He graduated from NHS in 1988 and worked as a team manager under then-head boys basketball coach Tony Robinson.

Though an obstacle, cerebral palsy has never kept Jones out of the gymnasium.

For years, he and his mom would go to boydstreet.com

games together, but with one condition.

“I don’t text. I sit there and watch every second, because my mom told me years ago, ‘If I’m going to bring you to these games, you’re either going to watch the game or we’re going home.’ So, that’s what I do,” Jones said.

His mom passed away several years ago and he wondered if he would be able to continue attending Norman High basketball games. That’s when he met Fred Staker at an OU women’s basketball game. Staker offered to transport Jones to and from games whenever possible.

“He just reached out and handed me this piece of paper that had his cell phone number on it. He said, ‘any time you need a ride to Norman High or the OU women, if I can do it for you, I will.’

That’s the only reason I still get to go to the high school games and to the OU women games,” Jones said. “It’s a blessing, because I truly would not be going to the basketball games anymore. One day Mr. Staker might not be able to bring me to the high school anymore, so I enjoy every moment that I’m there.”

Norman head girls basketball coach Michael Neal said he turned to Jones’ in order to fill out the missing record books in the Tigers’ basketball offices.

“If there were such a thing as a superfan in regard to Norman High, he’s the ultimate historian when it comes to basketball, on both sides, boys and girls,” Neal said. “He does everything in his power to try to attend every game. I’ve had the privilege of meeting him and getting to know him. He has it all. He and his mom used to go to every game. If you want to know something about Norman basket-

ball, he’s the person to go to, because if he doesn’t have it in his head, he definitely has it at his house with his memorabilia and everything he’s collected over the past few decades.”

There’s a sign on the wall and a reserved seat that signifies Jones’ spot at every Norman home game. Midway through last season, one of the seniors on coach Neal’s team had a message for Jones.

They were planning on winning the Gold Ball for him as a thanks for his and his mom’s support.

“I said, ‘You need to win the Gold Ball because you want to win it. Win it for your coaches and win it for Norman High.

Don’t win it for me. I will share it with you.’ They said, ‘We listened to you, but we’re going to win the Gold Ball for you.’

And that was it,” Jones said.

Sure enough, later that year Jones boarded an NHS spirit bus and watched in person as the Tigers claimed their first girls basketball title since 2005, topping Norman North in the championship game 44-31.

Afterward, Coach Neal and the players gave Jones a state championship medal to add to his collection.

“I keep coming back because of two reasons. I come back for the players, because they’re important to me. I really do mean that. I also come back to the Norman High gym because that’s my home,” Jones said. “That’s how it is and that’s how it will always be until I take my last breath. We’re not friends. We’re family when we walk in that gym.” -BSM

BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 49

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BY: CHRIS PLANK 52 | February 2020

Photos by: Mark Doescher

Return of the Daug

Beloved OU basketball mascot adds new source of energy to LNC

L

“

adies and gentlemen, for the first time in 16 years, welcome back to the Lloyd Noble enter… Top Daug!”

As those words were announced to the capacity crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center on Jan. 14 against the Kansas Jayhawks, the moment marked the official return of the beloved Sooner mascot.

but ended up in the Final Four of the NIT. The next year, with Wayman Tisdale on board, then head coach Billy Tubbs stated, “We are not underdogs any more… We are the top dog.”

“Who Let the Dogs Out” played throughout the arena, and as the smoke cleared from the entrance ramp, there he was…

Top Daug. In true form, Top Daug performed his signature ear tug, and proceeded to slide onto the court, sprint across the Lloyd Noble Center floor and launch himself into the base of the basketball goal.

The crowd roared as Top Daug, a beloved figure of University of Oklahoma basketball, was restored.

Somewhere inside the Lloyd Noble Center, Jacob Potter was watching with a huge smile on his face. There might not be a bigger Top Daug fan than Potter, who serves as the assistant athletic director for broadcasting, overseeing the operation at SoonerVision.

“To say that I’m a fan would be an understatement,” Potter said. “Top Daug was the reason why you are an OU fan if you grew up in my era during mid-80s and early 90s. It was “Billy Ball” and Top Daug was right there with it. That is what made it special.”

Top Daug’s roots did sprout on the basketball court, however, He was the idea of an OKC psychologist named Logan Wright, who was a part of the OU Wrestling Club. He dreamed up the idea of having a dog mascot for the Under Dogs. The Oklahoma Under Dogs were a group of aspiring wrestlers who wanted to make the Olympics. He called the mascot “Under Dog.” Wright approached the basketball team during the 197980 season to see if basketball would be interested in having Under Dog appear at games. During this time, a costumed Chicken was the basketball mascot but Under Dog started to attend home games.

While the name underdogs fit the basketball and wrestling program at the time, it would not last long. During the 1981-82 basketball season, the Sooners were picked last in the Big 8, boydstreet.com

It was at that point the name changed, with a minor spelling adjustment, and a legend was born.

“He was different than Boomer and Sooner,” said Doug Kennon, a student trainer from 1984 to 1988 who still owns a Top Daug costume. “He was iconic. We were so great during those years in basketball. There was just a lot of passion around the team and program. You look back on it now and it was Billy Tubbs, Wayman Tisdale and Top Daug.”

BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 53

As the Sooners continued to pile up wins, the popularity of Top Daug continued to grow. The personality inside the suit was different then most ordinary mascots. There was much more personality to Top Daug. Kenny Evans was inside the Top Daug costume beginning in the 1987-88 season. Many credit Evans as the best to represent what Top Daug was all about.

“Every mascot, I’ve always given it a character,” Evans said during an interview on the SportsTalk Network. “This is a 14- or 10-year-old kid and you try to imagine how he would react.”

“I thought Top Daug was a big part of the program while I was at OU,” former Sooner head coach Bill Tubbs said.

“I thought he added a lot of excitement to the game. Of course, I never really watched him because I was coaching, but I know he did a lot of tricks and a lot of fun stuff. He was a part of our team.

Everyone really seemed to like and be impressed with Top Daug.”

In his 14 seasons at OU, Tubbs held a 333-132 record and helped the Sooners to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four and National Championship appearance in 1987-88.

“Everyone remembers a Top Daug moment, everyone,” Evans added. “You get inside that costume, and you’re a completely different person. Making people laugh has always been medicine. Laugher has no dialect. You can entertain people all over the world, everyone laughs the same.”

“We created a singular mascot that could be engaging with fans at each and every game, not just one for one sport 54 | February 2020

and one for another,” Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione said. “We had three different colors of crimson in our football uniforms when I first got here…

We had several different logos including the slanted OU logo. We were going 20 different directions and … it wasn’t productive in the long run.”

So, in 2005, Top Daug was retired and the university moved forward with Boomer and Sooner.

“It wasn’t a devious plot to do away with Top Daug. It was just how it evolved,” Castiglione said. “We were trying to find a costumed mascot we could use for all of our sports.”

As time progressed, Castiglione was periodically asked about the mascot. In a wild twist, Potter, as a student in 2005, actually posted “Missing Daug” posters across campus to keep the memory of the beloved mascot alive. Potter went as far as even wearing a Top Daug shirt to every home game when he was a student.

“Any time you experience success, anything you can associate to that success you hold on to and appreciate,” Potter said. “For the most part, Top Daug is right there with Billy Ball and Billy Tubbs. It’s hard to think anything but positive things about Billy. When you look at something successful, you think that makes sense. Let’s bring this back.”

Potter finally got his chance to bring Top Daug officially back during the off season. It happened during a meeting where many of the creative minds within the Oklahoma Athletic department sat down to come up with ways to increase attendance at Oklahoma men’s and women’s basketball games.

“We really had a variety of conversations related to continuing to build greater attendance,” Castiglione said. “We put everything on the table. We didn’t leave any stone unturned. We thought historically, we thought in creative, innovative ways, some ridiculously, out of the box ways. Just trying to think of ways we can continually strengthen fan engagement. That’s where the idea started coming from. Obviously we knew Top Daug was popular and people have asked us about it periodically each year. We have brought Top Daug back a couple of times over the years. This particular time, we decided for Top Daug to have a presence the rest of the season, not just a one game here or their deal.”

For Oklahoma Marketing Director Drew Gaschler, he knew it was going to be big and started to work on a fun and creative way to re-introduce the popular mascot.

“A lot of people were behind the scenes on this one, our AD Joe Castiglione understands what it takes to get the crowd going. He’s a former marketing guy.

He cleared the way for all of this and allowed us to be creative with this,” Gaschler said. “We had countless meetings throughout the summer and in early fall as we tried to figure out the best way to bring him back and that’s where we came up with the Twitter take over and it kind of took off from there.”

TOP DAUG HACKED THE OKLAHOMA MEN’S BASKETBALL TWITTER FEED “We all sat and thought the image of a dog with his paws trying to type on a text message was really funny. I remember thinking about that in my head, and I couldn’t get the hilarious nature out of my mind,” Potter said.

As a couple of jumbled tweets were sent, many speculated. Initially some thought it was a tweet that was mistakenly sent by OU Men’s Basketball SID Ben Coldagelli.

Coldagelli had about 20 messages from media members and friends alerting him to the fact that either he had been accidentally tweeting or his young son had captured his phone. Neither was true.

Norman Transcript writer Joe Beuttner even came up with a way to decipher the tweets as some sort of code announcing the return of Top Daug. But, there was not a code at all.

“I’m pretty sure we picked random letters and just threw them out there,” Potter said of the social media reaction.

The social media campaign was a rousing success. Everyone was talking about Top Daug and to show support for his return, the crowd for the Oklahoma basketball showdown with Kansas was the biggest of the 2019-2020 college basketball season to date.

“I knew he was beloved. I didn’t know so many people loved him as much as I love him,” Potter said. “I didn’t realize there were that many Top Daug fans to my level.”

“I’ve been in Norman for five years now. The first year I was here, they started talking about bringing him back, so I got to know the history,” Gaschler added. “But even I was surprised it got the response it did. We knew he was a staple of Oklahoma basketball. We didn’t know he would create that much excitement going into this.”

For former Top Daug Kenny Evans, it was exciting and necessary in his mind to see Top Daug return.

“He adds the 12th man essentially,” Evans said. “Watching games on TV there is no energy in the crowd. Bringing Top Daug back will be something where a lot of fans will be bringing their kids out to see the game.”

TOP DAUG IS BACK “It is an emotional thing for OU basketball fans. Top Daug elicits an emotional response from a lot of fans,” Potter added. “The pictures they took at OU basketball games when there were kids with Top Daug and the memories were with Top Daug, and we felt like we could bring that back … to the LNC and bring some energy and excitement.” – BSM

B U S I N E SS

BY: CALLIE COLLINS

Time for Change

Blackbird Gastropub Debuts Renovation, New Menus

A

familiar local eatery is bolstering its community ties with a facelift and a revamped menu.

Blackbird Gastropub, owned by The Goodlife Hospitality Group, now features a broader menu with more family-friendly options and a cozier ambience.

Co-owner John Howell attributes the restaurant’s success to its ability to innovate since opening in 2011. Game day visitors are a huge part of the restaurant’s core crowd, and that isn’t changing. Instead, the venue, at 575 S University, is expanding its focus to include a bar bites menu, a selection of brunch offerings and a children’s menu, among other additions.

Howell estimates the menu change will include adding 18 to 20 items and he describes gastro pub food as “traditional fare with a twist.”

The arduous process of testing recipes has occupied staff’s time over the 62 | February 2020

past month and the new menu is the culmination of unique flavors and culinary skill.

“We’re looking for an intriguing juxtaposition of flavors. Finding food that’s delicious, interesting and attractive all at once is rare. It’s not uncommon for our team to dedicate 10 or 12 hours to one item then have us say ‘Actually, it’s not special enough, we can’t get it to taste the same way twice,’ and decide not to feature it,” explained Howell. “What we choose to serve is not just something pretty or that tastes good but it’s what we’re proud to make well, to execute correctly over and over and over, so no matter what day you come in, the food stands out.”

Howell laughed when asked what he most looks forward to seeing featured on the menu.

“Smoked fried chicken and waffles,” he said. “I’m not giving away the process,

but it has taken lots of practice and lots of thought to get a chicken that’s fried but tastes like it came out of a smoker, along with a savory waffle.”

The restaurant is a large three-story property, with two kitchens and three bars, spacious enough to accommodate large-scale special events.

“Working with local customers as they celebrate special occasions and life events is what ties us in the community here. Next to Embassy Suites, this is the biggest event space in town.

We can feed parties of up to 100, and there’s room for mingling and dancing for up to 300,” Howell said. “The setting can be a private space for as few as a dozen in the party, too, and our prices are really reasonable.”

Howell has more than 27 years in the restaurant business and recalls fondly the advice of an older mentor.

“What he told me was ‘You can decide what you are as a restaurant and you

can hang a sign outside your building that says whatever you want it to say, but to some degree, the community will decide what they want you to be.”

“It’s the people we serve right here in Norman who decide what they want us to be, and we have evolved over time. We woke up one day and decided Blackbird had transitioned from something bar like into something more like a family restaurant,” Howell said. “So, if that’s what the community wants, we need to make some changes. We decided baby changer stations, serving a church crowd, having a kids’ menu and a family restroom acknowledge that transition.”

The remodel included new pendant lighting, custom art installation and refinished tables, along with additional features to help families feel more welcome. Adding changing tables and dedicated family restrooms were intentional efforts to address specific needs in the restaurant’s transition.

Renovations were completed in January. Blackbird Gastropub is open Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. – BSM

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B USI NESS

Should I Refinance to a 15 Year Mortgage?

W

ith mortgage rates falling and financial experts predicting an unstable future for the economy, lots of homeowners are rushing to refinance their mortgages to lock in low rates. One increasingly popular option is to refinance a conventional 30-year mortgage into a 15-year loan.

Borrowers may be wondering if this is a financially sound move to make for their own home loan.

We’ve researched this option and worked out the numbers so you can make a responsible, informed choice about your own mortgage.

WHEN REFINANCING CAN BE A GOOD IDEA

The primary attraction to a shorter mortgage term is paying off your home loan sooner, typically at a lower interest rate. This can help you increase your home equity faster and can mean paying thousands of dollars less in interest over the life of the loan. Therefore, refinancing to a shorter-term loan makes the most sense when interest rates are falling.

It’s also a particularly good idea for homeowners who can easily afford to increase their existing monthly mortgage payments. In addition, homeowners whose home values have increased since they financed their original mortgage will be more likely to qualify for a 15-year loan, since they will have a lower loan-to-value ratio —how their home’s current value compares with their current loan balance.

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I SAVE?

There is no quick answer to this question, as there are several variables at play in each refinance. To provide a basic idea of what a shorter-term home loan can mean for your finances, let’s take a look at how the numbers would work out in a 15-year refinance on a conventional home loan.

As mentioned, a 15-year loan generally carries a lower interest rate than a 30-year loan. If national interest rates are falling when you refinance, and/ or your credit has improved since boydstreet.com

you bought your home, your interest rate can be even lower. According to Bankrate’s most recent survey of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, on Dec. 6, 2019, the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.74 percent and the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.16 percent.

Let’s assume you refinance your fixed $300,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 4.5 percent to a 15-year loan at an interest rate of 3.5 percent.

If you kept your existing mortgage unchanged for 30 years, you’d be making 360 payments over the life of the loan at $1,520.06 a month, not including taxes, insurance and other fees.

about getting your refinance process started, take a step back and slow down. First, these numbers may or may not translate directly to your own situation. In the above example, savings are calculated over 30 years, but you may be nearing the halfway point of your 30-year mortgage. A refinance can still be a good idea if it can get you a lower rate for the remainder of your loan, but your interest savings will be significantly less than those described above. Second, your interest rate may not be a full point lower after a refinance, as it is in our example. This, too, will afford you less savings.

There are other crucial factors to consider before jumping into a 15-year refinance. Read on for a review of some of the more important variables to think about when making this decision.

WHAT WILL A REFINANCE COST?

Toward the beginning of the loan, an overwhelming majority of your monthly payment will go toward interest, with less than $400 going toward your principal. By the time you pay off your loan, this ratio will reverse itself and the majority of your payments will go toward the principal of the loan. Most importantly, over the life of your loan, you will have paid $247,220.13 in interest.

Now let’s explore what these payments would look like if you refinanced this loan to a 15-year fixedrate loan at a 3.5 percent interest rate.

Over 15 years, you would make 180 payments of $2,144.65. Over the life of the loan, you’d be paying $86,036.57 in interest payments, bringing significant savings of $161,183.56. You’d also be chipping away at your principal at a far quicker pace, with $1,269.65 of your very first payment going toward the principal of the loan.

If these numbers are exciting you

Refinancing your mortgage is not cost-free. Expect to pay a minimum of 2.5 percent of your new loan in closing costs and other fees.

Here are some of the possible fees you can expect during the refinance process: • A fee for pulling your credit • A fee for processing your paperwork • Lawyer fees • An inspection fee • Discount points, each of which are equal to one percent of your home loan, which will give you a lower mortgage rate • An appraisal fee

• A surveyor fee • Title search fee • Title insurance Before you get started on the refinance process, it’s a good idea to tally up these expenses and see how much it would cost you to refinance.

You might be offered the option of refinance at no cost. This means your closing costs will be rolled into your new mortgage payments. This can BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 67

make financial sense if it means saving money in the long term, but it’s a good idea to work out the numbers before you continue with the process.

Finally, your existing mortgage may have prepayment penalties, which can cut into the amount you’ll save by refinancing. Find out about these fees before you set the refinance process in motion.

WHEN REFINANCING TO A 15-YEAR MORTGAGE IS NOT A GOOD IDEA

If you’re convinced that a 15-year refinance is right for you, make sure to consider this crucial factor before going ahead with the refinance: Your monthly mortgage payments will increase significantly after a 15-year refinance. In the example above, the mortgage payments increased by $624.59 a month. Your own payments may see a similar change, and any increase will impact your finances.

If you’re financially responsible, you won’t consider this move unless you are confident you can afford to meet this increased mortgage payment. However, you may not realize that tying up your spare cash in your home’s equity can be a risky move.

It can make more financial sense to first build an emergency fund with 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses, and to increase your retirement contributions. If you’re carrying any high-interest debt, you’ll want to pay that down, too, before moving ahead with a refinance.

Increasing your monthly mortgage payments can mean leaving you with a tighter monthly budget and very little breathing room. Make sure you are fully prepared to swallow these costs before you go ahead with a refinance.

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BY: KATHY HALLREN | JOE’S WINES & SPIRITS

Corks, Closures & Cans

C

orks have been the go-to closures for wine bottles for hundreds of years. French wine makers started using cork in the 1700s, replacing oil soaked rag plugs.

Corks created a better seal, and was the first step in trying to defeat fraud.

Winemakers could burn the seal of the winery on the cork before it was inserted, then apply a wax or foil capsule to the bottle. Purchasers could then examine the cork when presented with the wine to assure the goods were from the specific winery they desired, which is why a sommelier presents the cork.

Corks can help detect the possible presence of taint. Wine that is spoiled is often referred to as corked, but while the cause of the spoilage may not be the cork, the defect can be detected by smelling the cork.

Of all the closures, corks are also the most environmentally friendly for a variety of reasons including its biodegradable properties. Also, cork trees are not harmed by harvesting, and protect endangered species in the Iberian Peninsula.

LI F EST Y L E

Australian wine makers were among the first to adopt the Stelvin Cap, commonly referred to as a screw top. These caps have a plastic liner to seal the bottle under the cap. Industry claims are that there is less loss to taint, and less leakage with these caps. But in my opinion, screw caps actually leak more often and spoilage rates seem to be about equal.

One thing is for sure, they are easier to get off the bottle.

Other closures include glass caps, crown caps and plastic corks. Glass caps are found on more expensive wines, and have the attraction of being re-useable. The bottle and cap can be used for infusions after the wine is consumed. Most consumers find crown caps to look cheap in appearance and a bottle opener is necessary. Plastic corks can be the most difficult to remove and seem to be losing their appeal in the industry.

Regardless of the closure, your local wine merchant can advise you on the content and quality of the wine within the bottle.

Kathy

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BY: CHAT WILLIAMS | YOUTH PERFORMANCE

Consistency is Key A

fter 16 years of training young athletes, there is no doubt that consistency is the key principle for performance development for any sport, at any age. This applies to the 8-year old improving motor skill development, to the 12-year-old getting stronger and the 16-yearold competing for a varsity position.

Our most successful kids have participated in our program for more than five years, with many coming back to train at Youth Performance during their breaks while attending college.

Every single kid that I have worked with develops at a different psychological and physiological pace. So, when are kids ready to train? The answer to that question must take the athlete’s chronological ages and training age into account. And, to be honest, their training age plays more of a role in their maturation, commitment and the intensity of their training. It’s awesome to see kids develop and accept new challenges, when they’re ready.

The Long-Term Athletic Development continuum plays an important role in a child’s progress. As a strength coach,

LI F EST Y L E

I believe it’s important to develop a rapport with young athletes and encourage them to believe in themselves and the program. After that, the rest is easy.

At Youth Performance, we believe in year-round training, incorporating intense off-season training paired with recovery workouts during the in-season, especially at the high school level, to prevent overtraining.

After several years of training, as players transition into college athletics, we start to specialize and prepare them for the college environment.

If you have questions about getting your child or a team started at Youth Performance, please contact me via the information below.

Chat Williams MS, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT*D, CSPS*D, FNSCA chat@youthperformance.net www.youthperformance.net 701-3416

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BY: LINDSAY CUOMO

HE ALT H

American Heart Month Managing Heart Health is a Lifelong Journey

H

eart health is often something many people think they don’t have to worry about until their later years.

However, Sara McMillan, the cardiovascular accreditation and quality coordinator with Norman Regional Health System, tells a very different story.

“People think about heart disease as something they only have to worry about when they’re older,” McMillan said. “Your decisions from early in life can affect your heart health later in life.

Even the foods you eat as a kid make an impact and developing good eating habits early on in life matters.”

That’s her message to the young people she speaks to through Norman Regional’s educational outreach.

“Eating healthy, exercising, not smoking - those habits are so much easier if you start earlier.”

While genetics do impact your risk, lifestyle choices are a significant contributing factor.

“Heart disease is the number one cause of death, not only in Oklahoma, but actually all across the nation. It is very important that we take care of ourselves,” explained interventional cardiologist Archana Gautam. “We Oklahomans need to make healthy lifestyle changes, and part of this starts with the diet.”

Living in a landlocked state, many people do not automatically think to eat seafood to help fight heart disease, but Gautam said there is science to why people should.

“As a cardiologist, we try to educate our patients about unsaturated fats versus saturated fats – that is, good fats and bad fats,” Gautam said. “We want people to work on substituting bad fat with the good fat, and fish is a prime food source because it has Omega-3 fatty acids, which are the good fats.”

Photo by: Mark Doescher

McMillan also says that it’s never too late to make a difference.

“No matter your age, if you start changing your bad habits and living healthier, you can see results. Even if you’ve smoked all your life, there is a significant reduction in the risk of cardiovasboydstreet.com

cular disease, even in that first year.”

McMillan shared some key things Normanites of all ages can do to reduce their risk of heart disease. She put an annual checkup with your primary care doctor as priority number one, even for those in their 20s and 30s.

“It’s important to know your numbers, paying attention to blood sugar levels, cholesterols, your lipids,” McMillan advised. “So many young people are just naturally thin, but you could still be doing damage to your heart.”

Second and not surprisingly, she suggested focusing on living a healthy lifestyle that includes a healthy diet, regular exercise and quality sleep. It’s easy in those early years to put sleep on the back burner, but you should try to get six to eight hours of sleep, McMillan said.

As the years progress, other health factors come into play. In your 40s and 50s, the body’s metabolism begins to slow down and stress levels tend to increase.

McMillan said. People should pay attention to their body fat, learn how to manage stress and know the warning signs.

“Your risk naturally increases with age, especially for women after menopause,” she said. “Most of the time, heart disease is not sudden. People have warning signs and ignoring them can cause damage to their heart.”

Symptoms can include sudden shortness of breath, chest pain and nausea.

However, symptoms can vary, especially for women.

“Women’s symptoms are usually more atypical,” McMillan said, listing fatigue, sleeplessness, flu-like symptoms and/or pain in other areas in their upper body including the stomach, jaw or upper back.

McMillan added one particularly important note.

“Many of these symptoms could be confused as something else, but you’ll notice that symptoms get worse upon exertion and go away when you rest.

If you have any concerning symptoms, get checked out. It’s better to find nothing than end up in a serious condition.”

Once you reach 60, many of the same priorities remain including staying active and maintaining a regular relationship with your primary care doctor, but another factor rises in importance. McMillan said having a good social life is important too.

“You might not be working and having those daily social interactions that can help reduce stress and lower blood pressure. People who are more active in retirement are more likely to live longer, so keep your friends close.”

In observance of February being American Heart Month, Norman Regional has some special events planned.

Its annual Heart Health Fair returns on Feb. 18 at the Porter Campus Education Center. There will be educational booths focused on heart health with representatives from several of the health system’s departments, including The Health Club and Oklahoma Sleep Associates. During the second hour, Dr. Kyle Toal, Norman Regional chief cardiothoracic surgeon, and Benjamin Robinett, executive chef, will conduct a cooking demonstration with heart healthy recipes. The fair is free and open to the public.

“At Norman Regional labs, you can get a free lab draw before the fair,” McMillan said. “You’ll get your results at the event and a free risk assessment.”

Officials are also hosting a lady’s night out sushi night, titled Be Sweet To Your Heart.

On Feb. 27 at the Countdown Event Center, 480 24th Ave NW, ladies can get all their heart health questions answered by an expert panel and take part in a sushi-making class. Tickets are $35 and activities begin at 6 p.m. To learn more visit www.normanregional.com. – BSM

BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 81

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BY: ROXANNE AVERY COM M UNI TY

Golden Rule Pawn reat others the way you want to be treated. That is the Golden Rule, and at Golden Rule Pawn, that is exactly how the business is designed to operate.

Mark Floyd, his best friend Brandon Thompson and Floyd’s father-in-law, Jim Lawler, partnered to open Golden Rule Pawn and recently celebrated their one-month anniversary.

“I’ve owned a fitness center for 16 years and Brandon has been a pawn broker for about 22 years,” Floyd said. “After talking about doing this for years, we decided to finally make it happen. A lot of sweat and tears went into this, and it’s just turning out wonderfully. We’ve had a lot of positive input.”

With the goal of serving the community, the owners follow the Golden Rule and make it a priority to treat people fairly, and customers appreciate the concept.

86 | February 2020

“Golden Rule values their customers – you can feel it in the atmosphere. It’s very rare these days to find a pawn shop with integrity,” said Jeremiah Caldwell, a regular customer at Golden Rule Pawn. “The fact is, in my 36 years, I haven’t found a single pawn shop that actually embodies the concept of helping others and never thought

I would. However, I can honestly say Golden Rule Pawn really does.”

Caldwell remembers the first time he went to Golden Rule Pawn.

“As I stood in line, Brandon asked a customer about the condition of his hand well before examining his item.

He asked questions he didn’t have to, especially in the middle of a bustling

Photos by: Mark Doescher

T

New Business Putting People First

new pawn shop. He asked the man how his injury happened and how long he’d been out of work.

“I know that man felt more valuable as a person when he walked out than when he walked in, and it had nothing to do with the money he received.”

Floyd said their business model is meant to be a resource, and a good place to shop for unique items.

“Sometimes people just get in a bind, and we want to help them out,” Floyd said. “We always say if you’re looking for a small loan for extra cash or a larger loan for a house payment, if you have stuff sitting around collecting dust or if you just like pawn shopping, come see us.

“We like crazy fun stuff and want to help people out with financial solutions,” he added. “Not everyone wants to go to the bank to borrow money. Just give us a little collateral, and we’ll give you the loan. You can come pick it back up when you can.”

Golden Rule Pawn is at 2207 W Main St. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.– BSM

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