FEATURING TULSA’S FEMALE METEOROLOGISTS
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Two hospitals named the best for maternity care. One more reason to smile.
Oklahoma is our home, and we believe all our friends, families and communities deserve the best. This is why two of our hospitals have been named the best for maternity care.
Visit us at saintfrancis.com
When you need to see a physician right away, it helps to know OSU Medicine provides same day urgent care services at OSU Family Medicine – Harvard clinic.
Rachel Ray, D.O., FAAFP, is a board-certified family medicine physician and cares for adults and children with non-life threatening conditions including:
• Coughs
• Colds
• COVID-19
• Flu
• Sinus infections
• Sprains
• Digestive issues
• Rashes
• Bites
• Non-life threatening injuries
Care
osumedicine.com
OSU Family Medicine – Harvard 4415 S. Harvard Ave., Suite 125, Tulsa, OK
Call 918-392-3444 to schedule an appointment Monday – Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Fridays, 8 – 11 a.m.
PHOTO
MICHELLE POLLARD
32
FRAGILE,
Bestselling author Risha Grant reflects on 25 years of DEI work and not giving up now.
BY JULIANNE TRAN34
RAIN OR SHINE
How 8 female scientists keep Tulsans informed of the always changing weather.
BY GRACE WOOD40
Dr. J. Martin Beal has plenty of compassion but is short on cowbells.
BY CONNIE CRONLEYSPECIAL SECTIONS
43 Women in Business profiles
51 Best Lawyers®
From historic church to new music venue. Women making a difference.
A 50-year career at Reeder’s. A Q&A with restaurateur Elliot Nelson.
Time flies at Grandfather’s Clock Gallery. This year’s color trends. Helping women be well. Ladies-in-waiting for Connie Cronley.
New French bakery in Jenks. A night out at Noche. New brunch spot. 3 places for steak frites.
Our youngest learners go to PE every day with the same coaches who lead our championshipwinning basketball and football teams — building true community.
The arts are an integral part of a Holland Hall education. All students share in the creation of music, painting, ceramics, dance and more.
With a 9:1 student to faculty ratio and deliberately small class sizes, our students truly connect and develop strong relationships and a solid liberal arts education.
Now enrolling for the 2024-25 school year.
Come March in northeastern Oklahoma and Tulsans know to pay attention to the weather. Heck, anytime of the year, weather is an easy point of conversation. But we really pay attention come spring storm season. Like the rest of you, I turn on my television and check my Facebook feed for the latest updates from local meteorologists — including those featured in this month’s cover story.
On p. 34, writer Grace Wood o cially introduces us to the eight women safeguarding, educating and informing viewers and readers about our wild weather systems. Our region is a bit spoiled with all this talent and knowledge. After all, it turns out we have a higher-than-average rate of women weathercasters than most viewing areas. We also happen to have one of the largest and top-ranked meteorology schools in the nation at e University of Oklahoma in nearby Norman.
As a former student in the broadcasting program at OU, I had several classmates whose sights were set on a career at a station’s weather center. While working on this article, I noticed most of these women are younger than I am and that a lot has been done locally to increase gender equality in newsroom weather centers. Obviously, we still have a way to go. However, it’s been noted how supportive and enthusiastic these meteorologists’ male counterparts are, sharing posts on social media in anticipation of this feature. is is our annual women’s issue, pegged for March partly to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. It’s a day
to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, while also making a call to action to accelerate gender parity. Equal Pay Day follows on March 12, a date based on U.S. Census data recognizing the current gender pay gap of 84% for full-time workers and 78% for all, according to the American Association of University Women.
is month, the Tulsa Women’s Commission will release its ndings on a topic that is a challenge to many women: child care. I had the privilege of speaking with commission chair Mary Quinn Cooper and past chair Meg Myers Morgan for the article on p. 12. Mary and Meg — both volunteers in this role — are two wonderfully inspiring women.
roughout the pages of this month’s magazine you’ll nd stories of women helping others, women building businesses, women inspiring others and so much more. In general, they’re all rock stars doing some pretty amazing things for Tulsa.
You might be one of them. You might be married to one. You might call them mom, sister, auntie or best friend. ey might sit in the o ce next to yours. Perhaps they’re your trusted physician or clergy member. Whoever they are, let’s celebrate them. tp
Construction began in 1917 on the First Church of Christ, Scientist. The building was designed by architect Courtland Butler who was inspired by Greek and Roman designs for the church’s grooved columns and iconic dome.
Two Tulsans are transforming the historic building into a venue — called The Dome — that will accommodate 1,200 people for concerts. It also will function as a workplace for creatives.
Local architecture firm GH2 is working with the owners to develop the space, which is currently predicted to open later this year. tp READ MORE ABOUT THE DOME ON P. 22.
March 7
PHILBROOK MUSEUM’S STORYTIME WITH TULSA ZOO philbrook.org
March 7-10
GREATER TULSA HOME AND GARDEN SHOW tulsahba.com
March 8
OPENING WEEKEND AT ADMIRAL TWIN DRIVE-IN admiraltwindrivein.com
March 8-10
TULSA IRISH FESTIVAL
Head to Tulsa Irish Festival at River West Festival Park for a family friendly celebration of Celtic heritage with authentic food, performers from all over the world and a kid’s zone with activities specifically for your little ones.
TULSAIRISHFEST.ORG
March 22-24
JURASSIC QUEST
The world’s largest interactive dinosaur event returns to Tulsa’s SageNet Center for three days full of fossil excavating, dinosaur meet and greets, and a raptor training show.
TICKETS.JURASSICQUEST.COM/TULSAOK2024
March 23-24
AIRPOWER HISTORY TOUR
Join Tulsa Air and Space Museum as it welcomes B-29 Superfortress FIFI, B-24 Liberator Diamond Lil and others to Tulsa. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to get up close and personal with these warbirds from different time periods.
AIRPOWERSQUADRON.ORG
March 8-10
HOMEWARD BOUND TATTOO EXPO homewardboundtattooexpo.com
March 9-10
“HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE” IN CONCERT tulsapac.com
March 12
“THE EXTINCTION OF IRENA REY” BOOK LAUNCH WITH JENNIFER CROFT magiccitybooks.com
March 14 “I DIDN’T WANT TO TELL YOU: NORMALIZING THE CONVERSATION AROUND MENTAL HEALTH” EVENT WITH STERLIN HARJO reddirtrelieffund.org/ idwttymentalhealth
March 16-17
HOT WHEELS MONSTER TRUCKS LIVE GLOW PARTY hotwheelsmonstertruckslive.com
March 23
OKGO MARKET SMALL BUSINESS SHOPPING EVENT okgomarket.com
March 26-31
CELEBRITY ATTRACTIONS PRESENTS: “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD” tulsapac.com
March 29-30
2 MINUTES TO TULSA METAL MUSIC FESTIVAL cainsballroom.com, thevanguardtulsa.com
This month the Tulsa Women’s Commission will present its findings and recommendations to the City of Tulsa on an issue affecting many: child care.
“I think it’s a family problem, not a women’s problem. We address it because it affects more women than it does men because we still live in such a patriarchal society,” says commission chair Mary Quinn Cooper
The topic was chosen at the commission’s strategic planning session in August 2022 as the 15 members discussed barriers for women in the workplace. The commission offers advice and suggestions to the mayor about how they can improve opportunities for women.
Former chair Meg Myers Morgan says after discussions with the U.S. Chamber, Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures and other entities, the commission has formed recommendations — such as developing an employee-parent group to discuss strategies, lowering obstacles to opening child care centers, utilizing thoughtful meeting schedules and having child care resources for an HR department — it will present to the mayor for consideration for implementation within the City.
Those suggestions can then be adopted and adapted by other local companies and nonprofits.
“I do think this is the biggest barrier to women entering, staying and advancing in the workforce,” Morgan says.
Both Morgan and Cooper know there is no blanket answer for every company, but Cooper em-
Starting March 16 inside the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York City, audiences will hear Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade and their greaser buddies sing about their rough and tough lives in 1967 Tulsa in “The Outsiders: A New Musical.”
The production heads to Broadway following a critically acclaimed world premiere engagement at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Adapted from S.E. Hinton’s book and Francis Ford Coppola’s film, “The Outsiders” features a script by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine; music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Levine; music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Levine; and choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman. It is directed by Danya Taymor, who took
part in a Q&A with Features Editor Tim Landes while visiting Tulsa in January.
WHAT TULSA ELEMENTS ARE YOU BRINGING TO THE NEW YORK STAGE? WILL THERE BE AN ADMIRAL TWIN OR THINGS LIKE THAT? … This is an urban place, and it has a buzz — like even when it’s quiet in Tulsa, it’s not quiet. There’s a crazy energy I feel when I’m here. Knowing that was great, just in terms of like, how the air should feel and how the feeling of the musical should feel. … Many musicals have a slick floor, our floor is dirt. And yes, we definitely have an homage to the drive-in and the cars.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE AUDIENCES TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR ITERATION OF “THE OUTSIDERS”? Something
WOMEN PARTICIPATE IN THE LOCAL WORKFORCE AT A RATE OF 73.8% AND MAKE UP 51.2% OF THE POPULATION.
WOMEN IN TULSA COUNTY EARN 84 CENTS TO EVERY DOLLAR EARNED BY A MAN.
— Tulsa Women’s Commission phasizes “everyone cares about this issue because it affects your bottom line.”
Child care is only the latest topic for the commission to address. Female incarceration and pay equity have been others. In 2022 the commission presented the Pay Equity Pledge, which has already had more than 50 companies and nonprofits — including the City of Tulsa — agree to ban questions about previous salary history to candidates for hire or promotion, as well as commit to ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion training to employees responsible for hiring and promoting, and reviewing employee pay to ensure compliance with the Equal Pay Act.
On March 1, Tulsa Women’s Commission will present a forum on child care at its monthly meeting. Guests can attend in person or virtually. Learn more at cityoftulsa.org.
— ANNE BROCKMAN
that’s powerful is it matters to make art or to tell stories. ... It can actually heal people. It can change things. I think (Hinton’s) book is absolute proof of that. Ponyboy struggling with that as a survivor and his guilt. Something else he says at the end is “I wondered what to do. And so I just put my pen to paper and I started writing.” That’s what Susie did and look at it all now. So some of that is what I hope people will feel or do or think about something. tp
Elliot Nelson is sitting at a table at the pub that started it all on March 11, 2004. Back then he was a young college grad opening James E. McNellie’s Public House, 409 E. First St., with about 55 employees in a downtown space that was long occupied by crickets. Now his company employs 1,000, spans 25 restaurants and continues to grow. Downtown’s Blue Dome District has been revitalized largely through his e orts and now his focus turns to going beyond feeding folks to housing them.
TWENTY YEARS “FEELS LIKE A LIFETIME” ... I was 23 maybe when we found this building and
started going. It’s been half my life. I’m 45. It’s crazy. I don’t think you ever know what’s going to happen. Just still being here feels pretty good. e best Irish pubs are the ones that are like 100-120 years old. So we’re just getting started.
NELSON IS VERY APPRECIATIVE OF MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE LATE MICHAEL SAGER, FOR HELPING HIM GET THE BUSINESS GOING, BUT HE SAYS HE’S MOST GRATEFUL FOR ALL WHO HAVE WORKED FOR HIS COMPANY OVER THE YEARS ... e incredible amount of employees we had that worked their asses o over the years to make this stu happen, because this is a long-hours, thankless business. Luckily, over
the years, we’ve had a lot of people come through who, even if they were only here for a few years, have bought into the fact that doing all the stu downtown and seeing it happen was making a di erence in the community. You look back 20 years, I’m the one who gets to do the interviews, but it’s never lost on me that it took an incredible amount of people taking a lot of risks to make all this happen. I can never say thank you enough. It gives me chills and chokes me up. It’s a fun story that I think only maybe gets to happen in your hometown.
THE BUSINESS IS ROOTED IN HELPING IMPROVE THE CITY ... e business over the past 20 years has been trying to wake up every day and gure out how to make Tulsa a better place. A lot of that early on was lling in the gaps in our culinary scene, entertainment and other things that we just didn’t have that I felt like we needed, that other cities had to o er. Since then we’ve been doing apartments and o ces and stu just trying to keep pushing the city forward.
LATER THIS YEAR, NELSON WILL OPEN SANTA FE SQUARE, WHICH IS A 20-YEAR DREAM PROJECT THAT WILL INCLUDE HOUSING, DINING AND RETAIL SPANNING NEARLY AN ENTIRE DOWNTOWN BLOCK FROM FIRST TO SECOND STREET ALONG GREENWOOD AVENUE ... I had the rst drawings done over there on that side in August 2004. So it’d be almost 20 years to the day when I said I needed to build something over there. I am very much looking forward to getting it done. It feels like the end of a 20-year project ... I’m thinking ahead about what I want to tackle. e City of Tulsa commissioned some studies and learned we need to build about 12,000 housing units over the next 10 years, many of which need to be a ordable, within city limits. I’m really starting to work on some options and think hard about how I do that. You look around at what’s getting developed and being built, and we don’t have anywhere near that in the pipeline. We’re maybe at our normal kind of pace of development around here at 20%. If that is one of the greatest issues facing our city and society at large in the coming years I think it’s going to be interesting to lean in and help gure it out. tp
Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, composer, visual artist, and author. While he is at the center of artificial intelligence developments, Lanier also has a different take on AI. He doesn’t think AI is a thing in itself but is instead a new kind of social collaboration.
Lanier has received CMU’s Watson Award, Harvard’s Goldsmith Book Prize, and the German Peace Prize for Books. Wired magazine named him one of the 25 most influential people in technology of the previous 25 years, and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Lanier’s lecture is accessible to non-technical audiences and relevant to all.
Free and open to all. Reserve your seat at utulsa.edu/pls
Familiar face Tom Goodson marks a lifetime of automobile service and customer care.BY CONNIE CRONLEY
The next time you hear someone lament company loyalty as a lost virtue, tell them about Tom Goodson
Last November Goodson marked 50 years working at Reeder’s Auto and Tire Center, a family-owned Tulsa business known as the coolest gas station in Oklahoma. He started working there when he was 13 years old, too young to even have a driver’s license. “My rst day I rode my bicycle to work,” he says.
He’d seen a newspaper ad for the job. At rst his father refused to let him apply. “He thought I was too lazy,” Goodson says.
Fifty years on the same job. Why has he stayed? “I enjoy the people. e customers. I’ve known several generations of the families.”
He seems to know all of them by name. “I’m good with names,” he continues. “When Ross (Ledbetter) started here, he asked if I had any advice and I told him ‘Learn people’s names. at gets you a lot farther in life.’” Ledbetter and wife Cheryl Reeder are third-generation owners of the gas station at the corner of 21st Street and Lewis Avenue.
While Goodson held a steady course at Reeder’s, change whirled around him. e gas station has become a family entertainment destination with an in-house chef, convenience store and an overwhelming selection of unusual toys and snacks. For Goodson’s anniversary, Reeder’s celebrated with sweatshirts, ball caps and cupcakes decorated with his picture, cookies and a great balloon arch.
“Gas was 19 cents a gallon when I started,” Goodson says. “Everything was full-service then. Cars had carburetors. Now everything is fuel injection and people don’t know what a carburetor is.”
Goodson was a mechanic at Reeder’s for 45 years, but after knee and hip replacements, he could no longer lift anything heavy. “Now I’m back to pumping gas. I’ve come full circle. No plans to retire, either.”
Despite his lifelong job, Goodson says, “I’m not much for talking cars. I drive a Toyota pickup. My wife drives a Toyota 4Runner and both my sons drive Toyota pickups.”
Goodson and his schoolteacher wife, Julia, have been married 42 years. “I do everything long term,” he emphasizes. tp
DUNE: PART TWO
Daily screenings start March 1
Journey back to Arrakis for the next installment in the “Dune” series. Award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve directs an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh and Tulsa’s own Tim Blake Nelson. The film explores the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
SKY HIGH (1922)
11 a.m., March 9
March’s Second Saturday Silent film is free courtesy of Hughes Lumber Co.! Tom Mix from Dewey, Oklahoma, was one of Hollywood’s first cowboy stars. Gordon Hill, Mix’s grandson, will be in attendance, plus memorabilia will be on display from the Tom Mix Museum. Then see Mix in the silent western “Sky High” with a live improvised score played by Bill Rowland on Circle’s 1928 pipe organ.
2024 RED CARPET EXPERIENCE
March 10
Free and exclusively for Circle Members, celebrate a great year of film on Hollywood’s biggest night and watch the Academy Awards on the big screen. The evening will feature red carpet interviews with Sunny Leigh, live entertainment with Barry Friedman and DJ Kennedy, best picture-themed drinks at the bar, giveaways, prizes and more. Become a member at circlecinema.org.
2024
Cat Fest opens March 15; Dog Fest opens March 22
Calling all animal lovers! A portion of all ticket proceeds will benefit local animal rescues. Each festival is a feature-length selection of short films curated by NPR host Tracie Hotchner. These are inspiring, educational and amusing films from around the world exploring the incomparable relationships between humans and their animal companions.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) 6 p.m., March 25
The beloved classic is back, in partnership with Celebrity Attractions, with a very special guest. Mary Badham, the actress who played Scout in the original film and also plays Mrs. Dubose in the new stage production, will be at the show for a special introduction and Q&A. Plus, a lucky guest will win tickets to the new stage production, making its Tulsa debut at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center on March 26.
Compiled
If you walk or drive past people on the street who need assistance, you can rest assured that there are dozens of organizations in Tulsa who have oneon-one relationships with the chronically homeless. While giving money directly to individuals can be problematic, your gift to the Tulsa Day Center is fully tax-deductible and will go directly to providing shelter, medical care and rapid re-housing assistance to those at risk of homelessness.
Since January 2023, the Day Center has helped:
people avoid homelessness through prevention services
416 people who visited the clinic, preventing 322 ER visits
22,346
1,932 people who needed an overnight shelter to stay off the streets
Start 2024 with a donation to the Tulsa Day Center by scanning the QR code or by going to tulsadaycenter.org/donate.
The striking owers in front of the house at 466 S. 79th E. Ave. — hyacinths, da odils and pansies, to name a few — represent a much deeper signi cance beyond an aesthetic ourish: they are a symbol for the hope and transformation taking place within. is is Jeri’s House, a temporary residential facility for people a ected by deaf-blindness. Under the careful guidance of founder and CEO Jeri Cooper, who is deaf-blind herself, similarly a ected individuals come here to nd independence. Residents learn Braille, how to communicate with di erent kinds of sign language, how to perform everyday tasks around the house, and how to connect with other people in the community.
“ at’s what Jeri’s House is here for: We’re helping (residents) become all that God intended for them to be,” Cooper says of the nonpro t. e facility is the only one of its kind in Oklahoma, and few like it exist across the country.
Since opening its doors in September 2021, Jeri’s House has empowered people with varying degrees of deaf-blindness to live full, more independent lives.
After staying at Jeri’s House last summer, a deaf young man with low vision capabilities learned Braille, sign language and household skills to help him become more self-su cient in day-to-day life. He was accepted into the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults, a place where people with hearing and vision loss can learn vocations and nd ful lling careers.
“I call him my ‘pride and joy,’” Cooper says.
Time spent at Jeri’s House can bring about a signi cant con dence boost to a person with deaf-blindness, she adds.
Betty Fulk, who experiences vision and hearing loss as well as mobility challenges, visits Jeri’s House every week. With the assistance of her Support Service Provider, Fulk is responsible for cultivating the thriving garden in Cooper’s front yard and has plans to keep expanding.
“Jeri giving me the opportunity (to garden) has helped me in so many ways. I’ve discovered things I never knew I could do,” Fulk says. “It’s given me a lot of con dence … it’s a reason to get up in the morning.”
In 2024, Cooper says she plans to welcome more residents, including those from out of state, to Jeri’s House.
To donate to Jeri’s House or learn more about the organization, visit jerishouse.org. tp
Teri Reed, Ph.D., is a die-hard Sooner. She also happens to have the experience and leadership that brought her back to her beloved alma mater to serve at the helm of e University of Oklahoma’s new Polytechnic Institute, which was established in May 2022.
Reed graduated from OU with a degree in petroleum engineering and she spent several years in the eld. She then received her doctorate and served on the faculty for several universities, including OU, Purdue, Texas A&M and University of Cincinnati.
Reed was hired as the institute’s rst di-
rector in March 2023. OUPI’s rst program — a B.S. in Cybersecurity — welcomes students this August.
“ is position is a dream come true,” Reed says. “It’s exciting to be on the ground oor of a new school, especially one that can open doors for so many people.”
e OU Polytechnic Institute at OU-Tulsa was founded to create innovative programs to meet the growing demands in technology-related elds such as cybersecurity, arti cial intelligence, software development and integration.
“OU Polytechnic Institute is a way of getting students in these positions,” Reed
Teri Reed, Ph.D., is the first director of the University of Oklahoma’s new Polytechnic Institute, which is housed at OU-Tulsa. “Tulsa was ideal because of a regional focus on high tech,” she says. “From an emphasis on cybersecurity to energy to aerospace, Tulsa has the industry that will support this program by partnering with OUPI for curricular examples, senior design projects and internships — all leading to a work-ready OUPI graduate.”
says. “Our curriculum is hands-on applied learning — we use real-world problems, so our students leave work-ready.”
e institute has several industry partners in place such as Google, Williams, Bank of Oklahoma, ONEOK and QuikTrip. OU is in the process of hiring faculty and sta for the rst Cybersecurity program.
Reed says the goal is to have 50 students in the rst semester. e next degree programs, Arti cial Intelligence and Software Development and Integration, are currently in the approval stage and Reed hopes to have those ready to go by August 2025.
e program is completion-only, meaning applicants must have an associate degree or at least 24 hours from an accredited institution before they apply. e program relies heavily on Tulsa Community College for recruitment.
“Even if a student doesn’t have their associate degree yet, we are partnering with TCC to help ll those gaps,” Reed says. “Polytechnic schools are very exible, cutting edge — we must adapt quickly to keep up with the rapid pace of technology. Once our students graduate, they will help lead Oklahoma to the next level.” tp
Founded in 2022, Tulsa Women Doing Good is a collective of more than 130 women who believe in the power of working together to help others. These local women contribute not only financially but also by raising awareness, volunteering and serving on boards for causes they support.
“We are everyday Tulsans, from all walks of life participating in crowdsourced philanthropy,” says Janessa Mondestin, founder of Tulsa Women Doing Good. “It allows for a more hands-on approach to giving back, bringing diverse perspectives and strengths to support causes that align with the group’s values and goals.”
Members decide together as a “giving circle” where they will donate their funds twice a year. Their causes range from advocacy and social
justice, to economic empowerment, equity and equality, to social and human services. Recent recipients have been Resonance Center for Women and Lindsey House. Local nonprofits focused on these issues can apply for the biannual grants. Once they are verified through the parent company, Grapevine, they will be added to the directory of nominees which will then be voted upon by the membership.
“This approach allows even the smallest contribution to make a greater impact,” Mondestin says. “The power of working together helps us create big change in our community.”
The organization’s next event is a networking soiree on March 8. Learn more at tinyurl.com/ tulsawomen. tp
Most people in Tulsa might consider the sport of cricket an unfamiliar game played in mostly former British colonies. But actually, there is a growing presence in the Tulsa area, as Green Country Cricket Club is hoping to grow the game’s popularity in the region.
GCCC has been playing cricket continuously since 1997. Recently, the group has been extending its pro le in the area by attracting new athletes to the sport — both adults and children — and not just those with a previous a nity from elsewhere.
Part adult team that plays competitively in a regional league, part youth club that is trying to attract and teach kids how to play by utilizing monthly clinics and part charitable foundation, Green Country Cricket Club has embarked on an ambitious agenda.
“It’s no longer just a social club that plays for fun,” says Krishna Ivaturi, GCCC co-founder, secretary and player. “We have become a formal nonpro t organization with a 501(c)3 status and we’re expanding, getting di erent programs in place. We have one for the youth and juniors of Tulsa. We already had the competitive cricket. We’re
talking about organizing pick-up games for (the new player), who has no clue, but lives in Tulsa and wants to try out something fun for an hour or two on a weekend. It doesn’t matter what age you are, just come and get together, play a game of cricket, have some fun, create some friendships.”
Ivaturi adds GCCC also plans to get more involved in community give-back initiatives, envisioning inter-nonpro t collaboration, and community and education-oriented events.
Green Country Cricket Club began holding monthly clinics for kids ages 4-16 in late January, partnering with MVP Sports in Bixby for the two-hour sessions. After attracting a total of 36 participants ranging in age from 4-14 in their pilot program last June, Ivaturi was pleased to welcome 18 young cricketers — four of them completely new to the sport — for its rst session of 2024.
“We want everybody to come together, whether that’s a kid coming from the immigrant community or (another) community that has no idea about cricket,” Ivaturi says. e adult team competes in the TriStates Cricket League. e GCCC team
was the T20 format champions in 2011, 2013 and again in 2017, while the over-35 team were nalists/runners-up in the league in 2015 and 2016. e 2024 competitive season begins on April 7, with home games at Terwilliger Park, 5902 W. 10th St.
“I’m a player myself, so we are not just committee members of our organization, but we are also playing members,” Ivaturi says. “We train every week in the evenings, one day a week, typically on Wednesdays. We have 12-14 teams in the league. We’ve got two in Tulsa, ve in Oklahoma City, three or four in Wichita, one in Stillwater, and then anywhere from one to three in Bentonville (Arkansas).”
Among other sports that Americans know best, cricket is probably most similar to baseball, although Ivaturi notes there is also a resemblance to golf in terms of the swing of the bat. Unlike golf, however, there is much more movement and activity that happens within a 360-degree playing area.
For more information about Green Country Cricket Club, visit gccctulsa.com or nd the organization on Facebook and Instagram. Visit mvpsportsbixby.com/ speedcricketclinic for details about registering kids for the monthly clinics. tp
ulsa neurosurgeon Eric Sherburn and former NFL running back Corey Taylor are the duo behind e Dome, a new venue under development at 924 S. Boulder Ave., in the building that previously housed the First Church of Christ, Scientist. As business partners in Tayburn Music and founders of the nonpro t Kröma Initiative, the two hope to create a space that unites the city through the power of music and creativity.
Situated on historic Route 66, the 107-year-old building is solid and imposing, with architectural ourishes inspired by Greek and Roman designs. According to Taylor, the building’s features, ample parking and downtown location make it the perfect space to host their vision.
“We’re looking to build something we hope is unlike anything Tulsa has ever seen, and we feel really good about it,” Taylor says. “We really see this as a space to unite the whole city of Tulsa. We want to create a place where people from all di erent walks of life and di erent socioeconomic status could come together and nd a common chord.”
Slated to open later this year, e Dome will feature a large performance space on the upper level, in what was once the church sanctuary, and a recording studio on the ground oor. ere’s also plenty of space for other cultural and artistic endeavors, where Taylor, a graduate of e University of Tulsa and the school’s Music Industry Professional In Residence, envisions opportunities to educate and support Tulsa’s creative population through the nonpro t Kröma.
“It’s another vehicle to really lean into our mission, which is to provide a platform and voice to underrepresented artists and genres, and help sharpen skill sets so they can have immediate value wherever they go,” Taylor says.
Taylor and Sherburn’s shared dream extends beyond the physical boundaries of the building itself.
“We plan to have our ear to the ground and really understand what Tulsa wants and be able to immediately pivot and bring to life those things that they would like to see,” Taylor says. “We also want to establish our own culture where the idea of e Dome is
not relegated to just location. We have this massive idea of the brand as e Dome, so these four walls should never be able to contain that. We want people to feel like they have some type of familial connection when they see other people out in public wearing e Dome’s merch because community is such a large part of our vision.”
It’s a big dream, and the two entrepreneurs believe they have the unique partnership and shared vision to achieve it.
“We have such a diverse range of experience and taste between us,” says Taylor, who holds a degree in business management. “My dad (Corey Taylor Sr.) was in the industry, mainly working with Christian artists, so I had this early exposure to the music industry and always knew it was something I wanted to do.” Taylor’s uncle, musician Mack McKinney, also served as inspiration.
For Sherburn, who set aside his early passion for music for a 30-year career in medicine, e Dome is a chance to reorder his priorities after surviving a lifethreatening illness.
“Everything has changed since, and now I want to dedicate the rest of my professional life to the music,” Sherburn says.
With a partnership based on friendship and mutual respect, it’s a dream that seems achievable.
“When Corey and I started talking and really got serious, I said, ‘Well, if we’re going to dream, then let’s dream big,’” Sherburn says. “Otherwise there’s no point in dreaming at all.”
Visit thedome-tulsa.com to learn more. tp
Shoegaze rock group has been making music for 15 years.
STORIES BY JULIE WENGER WATSONMany start bands in their teens, but few are still living that dream 15 years later.
“Brother Rabbit is always going to be, and has always been, a priority. It’s my passion project, and I really can’t ever see myself giving up on it,” says Susie Quiroz, lead vocalist for the Tulsa rock band she started as a 17-year-old in 2009. With Quiroz as a constant since the band’s beginning, Brother Rabbit’s current lineup features her husband, Luis Quiroz (drums), James Reza (guitar, backing vocals), John Jones (trumpet) and Humberto Garcia (bass). Cellist Matt Magerkurth joins in occasionally for live shows and recordings.
Quiroz’s rock star dreams date back to her childhood when she received her rst guitar as a gift from her parents.
“I think I was around 10 years old, and it was my dream to be in a rock band,” she recalls. “I remember calling all my friends and telling them that we were all going to be in a band together. ey didn’t necessarily play music, but I just thought, ‘Well, they’re my friends, so I’ve got to include them.’ I
assigned everybody di erent instruments. We didn’t even own those instruments. It was just a really big vision that I had. I thought it was going to turn out great, and here I am now.”
Although Quiroz describes the band’s sound as “shoegaze rock,” the vocalists she’s always admired are the female jazz singers of the 1930s-’50s, with their deeper, huskier voices. She brings that sound to the songs she writes, often in collaboration with Reza and her husband. e band released several singles last year, and a new album is in the works, although no release date has been set.
“I think that success in my terms is measured by, ‘Am I doing what I love? Am I making the music that I want to make? Am I making music that I would listen to? Am I making art with people that I love?’” Quiroz says. “My answer is ‘yes’ to all of those things, and it always has been. I think I’m meeting my de nition of success because I’m enjoying what I’m doing, and I’m creating what I want to create. is is music I would listen to, and I think that’s beautiful.”
Learn more at facebook.com/ brotherrabbitmusic. tp
Phil Clarkin first developed his love for photography as a kid with a manual advance Kodak film camera, running around in the woods near his family’s farm in the Kansas Flint Hills. What started as a hobby turned into a profession with Phil Clarkin Photography. His work has taken him across the country to legendary venues like Madison Square Garden and Red Rocks. He is the lead house photographer (under the name Phil Clarkin Photography) for BOK Center, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa Theater, Osage Casino and Guthrie Green.
WHAT MAKES YOU GOOD AT THIS JOB?
I’m always willing to learn, and I hope to never stop evolving as a creative. I’m musically inclined, which helps with my ability to capture the feeling of a show and to anticipate what is about to happen. I’m also a people person. I love to meet all the wonderful and interesting folks that make this industry happen!
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF YOUR WORK? Finding new clients and building the business side of my brand when all I really want to do is make cool stuff. Being a business owner is the hard part. Being a photographer and director is the rewarding part.
ANY THOUGHTS ON THE TULSA MUSIC SCENE? We’re so lucky to live in a place full of musicians who play on the level they do, while all trying to build each other up. This town has a beautiful dynamic you don’t see everywhere else. tp
Tom Biolchini has been a fanatic about movies and movie props since he was a kid. As former chair of Tulsa Regional Chamber, he was a champion of bringing lm and TV productions to Tulsa and Oklahoma.
is month, Biolchini makes his debut on the big screen as the narrator and host of “Mad Props,” a documentary detailing the passion, business and characters behind buying and selling movie props.
Biolchini had an idea for a TV show and shared the concept with friend Juan Pablo Reinoso, an award-winning commercial and lm writer, producer and director. Reinoso suggested turning the concept into a documentary depicting the phenomenon of movie prop collecting that could be eventually pitched as a TV show.
As a kid Biolchini loved horror lm artifacts and had dreams of being a special-e ects makeup artist. He eventually got into buying and displaying props in his home and in his o ce at Vast Bank where he is CEO. Over the years Biolchini has bid and lost out on items from collectors across the globe, and the documentary centers around discovering who some of these collectors are.
“We try to make the case that these props are pieces of art,” Biolchini says. “We talk about the idea that they are rare, that an artist created them, that they evoke emotion and memories.”
Not everyone knows the famous abstract art pieces or their artists, he says, but walk into a room with Indiana Jones’ whip and you’ll get people talking.
For Biolchini, and for nearly 100% of the collectors he knows, it’s nostalgia that encourages a purchase.
“Mad Props” has a special opening night March 1 at Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave., which will display a few of Biolchini’s props that weekend. Regular showtimes begin March 2 for at least one week (buy tickets at circlecinema.org). e lm will debut on streaming platforms later this year. tp
Anitra Lavanhar is a Renaissance woman with a camera. In high school she says she loved the magic of the dark room and felt challenged by photography’s technical and competitive aspects.
“Wanting to be a successful photographer is a little like a guitar player wanting to be famous,” she says. “It’s pretty much a saturated eld. And very di cult.”
A self-labeled anthro-photographer, she describes herself as being “fueled by a lifelong curiosity of the world around me, the people in it and their stories. My lens is wide.”
Lavanhar studied anthropology at Sarah Lawrence College and spent a year in India photographing women in a small shing village. Later she worked in women’s health as a medical assistant and massage therapist.
en in 2015, thanks to the iPhone and walking on a spiritual pilgrimage in Spain, she had an “I can do this” moment.
A Boston native, Lavanhar — pregnant with her rst child — moved to Tulsa in 2000 with husband Marlin Lavanhar as he took the job as pastor of All Souls Unitarian Church.
“It was a big change and challenge,” she says, crediting her adjustment to photogra-
phy. “It helped me appreciate where I was instead of missing what I didn’t have.”
In 2006, tragedy struck with the death of the couple’s 3-year-old daughter. “Out of these challenging things came amazing things,” Lavanhar re ects. She became a founder and sta member at Discovery Lab. She created the All Souls Acoustic Coffeehouse at the church. Family members established e Sienna Project, named in memory of her daughter, to build schools in Guatemala.
“Walking the path, having the past grief, photography has helped me with my mental health. Seeing the beauty wherever I am. Even in the mundane,” she says.
Lavanhar focuses on ne art and portraiture, and her signature technique is multiple exposures in nature and street scenes. She likes to shoot urban landscapes, street photography and macro nature. She tends to be drawn to that which isn’t traditionally photographed, like the detail and architecture of a parking garage rather than something like the Tulsa skyline.
“It’s almost like cheating to take a photo of something already beautiful,” she says.
“Painting adds to canvas; photography is the art of subtraction,” she continues. “What
will you include in the frame and what will you leave out?”
e COVID lockdown inspired two new portraiture concepts: “Doortraits,” which featured families on their front porches, and also exploring documentary family photography. “You’re like a journalist embedded with a family,” she says, “capturing authentic family life.”
Lavanhar teaches photography through Philbrook Museum of Art’s Stay Gold sessions and will host some afternoon workshops at Oxley Nature Center March 9 and May 4. She is also an instructor of White Crane Silat, an Indonesian martial art. “It’s a practice I’ve been a part of and developed for 36 years,” she says. During a Silat retreat in Indonesia last summer she photographed older women, showcasing how beauty and strength increase with years.
Age and aging drive her now. Her children are 23 and 15. She’s 58. Following success with local shows and having her work in the government and o ce buildings, she looks ahead.
“When I look at my goals, I very much want to pursue the ne arts even more,” she says. tp
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One of Tulsa’s early historians laid a foundation for today’s research.BY MICHAEL OVERALL
Heartbroken after the collapse of his short-lived marriage, Sam Houston abandoned his post as governor of Tennessee and went on an epic binge, stumbling in and out of saloons across Arkansas before staggering farther west into what would soon become Indian Territory.
Eventually, of course, he would sober up and lead the ght for Texas independence. But rst he spent four years running a lucrative Cherokee trading post called Wigwam Neosho near present-day Muskogee.
More than a century later, in the spring of 1950, Oklahoma o cials wanted Wigwam Neosho to be one of the rst places in the state to receive a roadside historical marker. But nobody knew exactly where to put the marker because nobody knew exactly where Houston’s trading post had been.
Historical documents o ered a general description of Houston settling somewhere between Grand River and the Verdigris River, but at least half a dozen speci c sites seemed to have a plausible claim to being the place where the famous frontiersman
had built his log house.
Ultimately, to designate the site, state o cials relied on evidence collected by Tulsa historian Fannie Misch, who had taken eld trips to the site of Wigwam Neosho decades earlier.
Born in Iowa, Misch came to Tulsa in the 1910s and opened a printing shop with her husband, Julius. e job gave Misch the opportunity to preserve a large collection of irreplaceable photos and drawings of people and landmarks from the history of Tulsa and Oklahoma, including early forts, Indian schools, courthouses and storefronts. And by the 1950s, she had become a proli c writer, documenting local and state history for a variety of newspapers, magazines and journals. In June 1962, she became one of the original directors of the Tulsa County Historical Society.
“Misch’s contributions to Tulsa’s understanding of its history were without peer,” the Society said.
On her 86th birthday in 1975, Misch received notice she had won the Oklahoma Heritage Association’s Distinguished Service Award. O cials, however, asked her for
a photo to publish with the announcement. And Misch, who by then had been collecting historic photographs and memorabilia for more than half a century, couldn’t nd one of herself.
“When my children came to help me celebrate my birthday, I put them to work trying to locate my photos,” she later told a local news reporter. “ ey were no more successful than I was. Fifteen minutes after they’d given up in despair and left, I found the pictures.”
She jumped in her car “without even stopping to smooth my hair” and delivered a picture with only minutes to spare before the deadline. e announcement came with two-and-a-half single-spaced pages listing all of Misch’s published articles and other accomplishments, a report that a local newspaper admitted was far too extensive to include in any normal-length article.
Su ce it to say without Misch, much of what we know about early Tulsa and Indian Territory would have been lost to history, the whereabouts of Wigwam Neosho being only the start of it.
She died in 1981 at age 92. tp
Tulsan’s second book is a reflective look at her life and a dose of encouragement to women.
BY JANE ZEMELCheryl Forrest never planned to be a writer, which explains her surprise at publishing her second book, “ e Girl on the Belvedere: Finding Meaning rough Travel, Friendship, and French: A Memoir.”
e title comes from her experience of being photographed as a child on the hood of a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere before it was buried to commemorate Oklahoma’s 50 years of statehood. As an adult, she then attended the time capsule’s exhumation in 2007 prior to embarking on a French-immersion journey in Canada.
Forrest’s rst book, “Roman Jasinski: A Gypsy Prince from the Ballet Russe,” was a natural story for her to tell, as she, Tulsa Ballet’s chief historian, and co-author dancers with the company. is second book, however, was more of a stretch, taking on the shape of adventure.
Having accomplished every title expected of her — wife, mother, grandmother, dog parent — Forrest decided it was time to do something unexpected. For herself. No one, she concludes, encourages women to have adventures. Even women themselves.
And just like that, she — a frequent traveler and a lifelong student of French (the language of ballet) — enrolled in a ve-week French immersion class in Canada in 2014. Before her bags were packed, she discovered a connection to Quebec City while researching her family’s genealogy. “I meant to write a book about my ancestor and what it’s like to be in an immersion program,” she says. “But the true arc of the book turned out to be international friendship.”
e project led her to self-examination. “I really needed to delve into my early life,” the 71-year-old says. She relays the lessons she learned from doing so:
— To women of a certain age: “If you want to do something, it’s time. And do it the way you want it done.”
— To younger women: “Don’t think you’re stuck in any one thing. Be aware of opportunities and embrace them.”
— For herself: “It’s never too late to discover who you are, and to explore happiness. For me, it was travel and new people — learning what makes them tick.”
Seventy-five guests gathered at the Vista at 21 on Nov. 30 to celebrate Osteopathic Founders Foundation’s Outstanding Physician for 2023, Dr. L. Janelle Whitt. For over 30 years, this prestigious award has been presented to an osteopathic physician — chosen by their peers — who has displayed extraordinary service to their patients. The Evening of Distinction also highlighted Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine student scholarship recipients Joseph Schnitker, Alexis Spence, Deseree Jones and Caleb Smith. Featuring live music from the Cello Ladies and catering from Justin Thompson, the event came together with the help of Rumbledrum event planners. 1: Scholarship recipients Joseph Schnit-
ker, Alexis Spence, Deseree Jones and Caleb Smith 2: From left, Shelta Sneed, contract for learning and development at Hilti North America and partner of Whitt; honoree Dr. Janelle Whitt; Sherri Wise, president and CEO of Osteopathic Founders Foundation; and gastroenterologist Dr. Drew Crawford 3: Dr. Benjamin Chong, OU Health; Dr. Raye Reeder, OU Health; Whitt and Sneed 4: Dr. Kathy Cook, OSU Internal Medicine; Dr. Chelsey Griffi n, OSU Family Medicine; Dr. Rachel Ray, OSU Family Medicine; and Dr. Tara Hasenpfl ug, My Doctor Urgent Care 5: Thoracic surgeon Dr. Larry Dullye, Jamey Carney and cardiologist Dr. Michael Carney
TOYLAND BALL The Parent Child Center of Tulsa held its annual signature fundraising event Toyland Ball on Jan. 27 at Cox Business Convention Center. Approximately 522 guests gathered for this black-tie optional dinner with catering from Devin Levine of OGV Hospitality. Attendees danced the night away thanks to live music from The Taylor Pace Orchestra. One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the 2024 Guardian Angel Award to Kathy West, who has made a significant difference in bringing hope and healing to vulnerable children who are at risk for, or victims of, child abuse and neglect.
1: Miranda Kaiser, Bryan Close and Janet McGehee 2: PCCT President and CEO Melanie Anderegg, 2024 Guardian Angel Award Recipient Kathy West, Toyland Ball chairs Cheri and Dr. Harvey Tatum 3: Betsy Jackson dances to the tunes of The Taylor Pace Orchestra 4: Stephen Earl, Shanese Slaton, Heather Earl and Kristen Johnson 5: Mike McBride and Dawnette Brady
2
Brainiac Ball
Benefits Family and Children’s Services. brainiacball.com
Sapphire Celebration
Benefits Riverfield Country Day School. riverfield.org/give/ sapphire-celebration
5
Reconciliation in America National Symposium Part I
Benefits John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation. jhfnationalsymposium.org
William Booth
Society Dinner
Benefits The Salvation Army. salvationarmyaok.org
8
Legacy Luncheon
Benefits Lindsey House. lindseyhouse.org
Street Party
Benefits Street School. streetpartytulsa.com
9
Candy Ball
Havana Nights
Benefits Child
Advocacy Network. candyball.org
Dance of the
Two Moons:
Mardi Gras
Benefits Indian Health Care Resource Center. ihcrc2moons.org
Dreamlife
Resource Fair
Benefits Women
Helping Other Women. whownetwork.org
16
Red Ribbon Gala
Benefits Tulsa CARES. redribbongala.org
Runway Run
Benefits Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. tulsamuseum.org
St. Patrick’s Day Run
Benefits Special Olympics Oklahoma. sook.org
21-APRIL 22
Tulsa Botanic BLOOMS
Benefits Tulsa Botanic Garden. tulsabotanic.org
23
Raising Hope Blue Tie Gala
Benefits The Demand Project. thedemandproject.org
28
Oysters and Ale
Benefits Hospice of Green Country. hospiceofgreencountry.org/ oystersandale
Pinnacle Awards
Benefits YWCA Tulsa. ywcatulsa.org
30
Breakfast with the Bunny
Benefits Tulsa Zoo. tulsazoo.org/bunny
Opera Ball
Benefits Tulsa Opera. tulsaopera.com/operaball
EDITOR’S NOTE:
HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS
SPONSORED BY TULSAPEOPLE
It’s been a year of accolades for Little eld Agency.
First, the marketing and advertising agency won Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Family-Owned Small Business of the Year in September.
e following month, the 44-year-old business learned it would be named one of Ad Age’s Best Places to Work, and a public announcement was subsequently made in January with the release of Ad Age’s list.
President Sam Little eld says the agency — which specializes nationally in working with business-to-business manufacturers and nancial institutions, while working locally with brands like RibCrib, Philbrook and Tulsa Health Department had applied for this award for the past three years, adding that thousands apply and only 50 are recognized.
Little eld stresses this award isn’t “bought.” After completing an extensive questionnaire that details everything from the agency’s types of clients to culture and employee bene ts, every Little eld employee then evaluates the agency via a third-party service by condentially answering questions about Little eld culture.
“We’ve done so much in the last
three years to focus on culture. My dad (agency founder David Little eld) ran an amazing agency for 40 years — that’s a long time to run a business, especially a business that evolves every day these days,” Little eld says. “We took time in the pandemic. We said we have two options — fret or take this time to rebuild our agency. It was a time for us to focus on who we are and what we do best and who we best serve.”
Little eld says his entire team had challenging and thought-provoking conversations over the course of 12-15 months, but from those discussions came a fresh path of what the agency stood for, including establishing three core values denoted by the acronym “LFG,” or “Let’s freakin’ go.” ese letters are scattered throughout the agency’s 24-person o ce.
Along with client validation, the Ad Age award is a great recruitment tool for hiring the best talent to create the best work.
“I told our sta at the holiday party in December — ‘Guys, for the rst time ever, we didn’t chase a revenue number; we chased what we believe in, and that is our culture, and doing great work for the clients that value our services, and look what happened.” tp
Bestselling author Risha Grant reflects on 25 years of DEI work and not giving up now.BY JULIANNE TRAN
Risha Grant wants the next phase of her career to be “e ortless ow.”
After over 25 years of championing diversity, equity and inclusion in the great, red state of Oklahoma, she deserves some e ortless ow, to say the least.
A Sapulpa native and a Black, bisexual woman, Grant noticed from an early age there was a di erence between herself and her white peers.
“At school, we read books with the n-word, and I’d be asked to step outside of the room while the class read the book aloud,” Grant says.
When she went out in public, her grandmother always fussed about the way she looked and acted. She wanted Grant to tuck in her shirt and keep her receipt with her as she left a store.
Grant was fascinated with Black history, but she was unsatis ed by the limited stories she learned about in school.
“In every history class, I would only hear about Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks,” Grant remembers. “And there would be a whole section on slavery, but I’d think ‘But, who were these people? What were their stories?’”
So, when she attended Kansas State University, she studied mass communications. She hoped to give a voice to othered communities and diverse businesses.
“At the time, some of the larger white PR rms and ad agencies were starting to work with smaller Black-owned, Hispanicowned, LGBT-owned companies, and I thought, ‘that’s it.’” Grant says. “I had this naive idea that if we all came together and had one voice, we could really make a di erence.”
She graduated in 1996 and moved to Tulsa. “I called every PR rm in Tulsa. I’d tell them they needed to add a multicultural arm to their business and I should run it,” Grant says.
Only one PR leader replied to her. “He supported me and stood behind what I wanted to do, but he didn’t know if his partners would, too.”
Grant gave a presentation to the rm’s partners, but they weren’t interested.
“ ere was too much to lose,” Grant says. “In this world, somebody’s always losing, so everyone feels like they need to watch out for their own interests.”
So, Grant started her own PR and consulting rm in 1998, the rst diversity communications rm in the state.
It wasn’t easy. ere were days when Grant stayed up all night working on a proposal. ere were foreclosure notices from
mortgage companies and insu cient-fund bank overdrafts.
But she continued handing out her cheaply printed business cards, trying to prove diversity was important for business. Grant would meet with company leaders for years until they nally decided to take on her diversity plans. She says she spent 15 years educating people on the importance of her work.
“Back then, the only way that companies were doing anything (relating to diversity practices) was if they were sued. And then they would be mandated to do some type of sensitivity training,” Grant says. “So, you can imagine the atmosphere going into a company (as a person of color) where it’s been mandated for the company to improve its practices.”
en in the early 2000s, one incident reshaped Grant’s business. After employees of a major airline reported nding nooses at work, the company contacted Grant with a goal “to change the way people are thinking about us,” she says.
“ at was a huge turning point for me,” Grant says. “ ere were two issues here. You have a PR issue but you wouldn’t have the PR issue without the problem. How long have their employees been living like this?”
Grant was frustrated. “ is company didn’t care until they were about to be sued and this was about to become national news. And they wanted a PR campaign. What they needed was a culture campaign.”
So, Grant shifted her work to diversity training and education in the workplace. She became a DEI speaker and trained employees and leaders on bias and inclusion.
In 2020, when the world seemed to nally understand and see racial inequities, Grant no longer had to prove her work was important.
“My phone never stopped ringing after George Floyd (was murdered),” Grant says. “And I felt guilty because the reason my business was growing was because Black people were dying.”
But she continued on, hoping her training and speaking engagements would make a di erence.
“In this work, if you expect big changes, you always end up losing,” Grant says. “At some point, I realized it’s really about small changes. It’s talking to a person who maybe does not understand you. You have a conversation and at the end, they’re like, I’m not sure I agree with you, but I see how you got there.”
Last August, Grant published a book about these small, personal changes.
“We’re trying to make sure our organizations and companies treat everybody with the respect, the common decency and the equitable practices they deserve. It’s about making sure we are doing better than we’ve done in the past.”
— RISHA GRANT
“Be Better an Your BS: How radical acceptance empowers authenticity and creates a workplace culture of inclusion” is about overcoming your BS, your “biasphere” — “the circles of in uence in your life that have taught you how to perceive the world and the people in it,” she says. e book appeared on multiple bestseller lists, including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
“We come into the world as a blank slate. e people who raise us want to guide and protect us, so they start downloading their memories on our slate. ‘Be careful around that person because this happened to me. Don’t go to this neighborhood because this is what happens.’
“ ey want us to be safe, so they teach us in a way that is representative of the lives they have lived. But grandma lived this life in 1930-something, so not all this is true about everyone we interact with,” Grant says.
Now, as she continues her work in 2024, Grant faces opposition yet again.
“ is work has always felt fragile. It has always felt so precious,” Grant says.
People now sour at the thought of hearing about DEI.
“Now in 2024, there’s an irritation and fatigue about DEI,” Grant says. “A company called me and asked me to speak about DEI, but not to say the words ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ because people are tired of hearing about it. I’m thinking the people who are diverse in this organization have been fatigued since they were born, and you’re telling me after two years of hearing about DEI that you’re tired? How do you think I feel after living it?”
Grant is proud of her work, but the decades of having to prove that diversity matters have weighed on her.
“Growing up and working (in Oklahoma) has been great, but it has also been really tough. ere have been so many amazing people along the way, but I had to branch outside of Oklahoma because it had gotten to a point where it was breaking me down.”
In December 2023, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an executive order that prohibits state agencies from funding and requiring diversity, equity and inclusion programs. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters lauded this order calling for a complete elimination of DEI programs and saying DEI should be called “discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination.”
“I want to move out of this state,” Grant says, half-jokingly. “ ey truly do not understand how they are a ecting the very people they are supposed to serve. Nobody should be hired and red based upon DEI. Nobody should be treated di erently based on DEI. at’s not what it’s about.
“We’re trying to make sure our organizations and companies treat everybody with the respect, the common decency and the equitable practices they deserve. It’s about making sure we are doing better than we’ve done in the past.”
And Grant still clings to that hope, even when she is exhausted and disheartened. She wants to live until she is 100 years old, so she can look out at the world and see some change.
Later this year Grant will launch her newest project in her career phase of “e ortless ow” — Be Better Institute — an online video membership site that teaches people to be better in all facets of their life.
“(I hope that) humanity wins. at people will allow others to be who they are without their judgments, without their misconceptions,” she says. “ at we showed kindness to each other. I want to work myself out of a job.” tp
How 8 female scientists keep Tulsans informed of the always changing weather.STORY BY GRACE WOOD • PHOTOS BY MICHELLE POLLARD
The women weathercasters you watch on television every week are much more than just the antiquated stereotype of being a “pretty face;” They contain depths of expertise, passion and resilience that make them formidable forces in the field of meteorology and public figures the people of Green Country rely on to stay safe and in the know.
According to research from the American Meteorological Society, women make up 29% of weathercasters in the 210 television markets in the U.S., while men comprise 71%. In Tulsa, of the 18 meteorologists on TV, seven are women. While more women are joining the workforce as broadcast meteorologists (only 19% of weathercasters were women in 1999, per the trade magazine Broadcasting+Cable), women still hold a smaller percentage of leadership positions, with men holding 92% of chief meteorology positions.
Beyond these numbers, Tulsa’s women weathercasters are leveraging their platforms to reshape the narrative. Through their onscreen presence, they set powerful examples for young women who tune in, showing them the sky’s the limit when pursuing careers in STEM fields. These women are not merely reporting the weather; they’re creating a forecast for change in an industry poised for more diverse voices.
Meteorologists Joie Bettenhausen (KTUL), Anne Brown (KJRH), Megan Gold (News on 6), Stacia Knight (News on 6), Emma Landeros (KJRH), K irsten Lang (Tulsa World), Laura Mock (Fox23) and Mikayla Smith (Fox23) spoke to TulsaPeople about what it means to be a woman in a STEM profession, the pressures of being a public figure, the immense work that goes into their forecasts, mentorship and the role models who shaped and supported them in their careers.
“I KNOW THAT WHEN I’M ON TV NOW, THERE MAY BE A LITTLE GIRL OR BOY THAT LOOKS AT ME AND SAYS, ‘I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE HER,’ AND I DON’T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY AT ALL.”
— MEGAN GOLD
Growing up in Oklahoma City, Megan Gold says she was bit by the weather bug at a young age and was obsessed with watching the local weather news. Attending the University of Oklahoma, where she studied meteorology and broadcast journalism, Gold gained valuable experience participating in the student-run newscast, OU Nightly.
“Any time I’d see a female meteorologist on TV, I connected with them,” Gold says. “I know that when I’m on TV now, there may be a little girl or boy that looks at me and says, ‘I want to be just like her,’ and I don’t take that lightly at all.”
At age 13, Gold started competing in pageants and still competes to this day (she was crowned Miss Oklahoma in 2022), which she says informs her desire to be on TV and connect with audiences.
“I have learned to thrive and love being in the public eye and interacting with people,” Gold says. “The opportunity to be so involved with the community through the weather is something I will never get tired of — it will always fuel my passion for people, and I think I’ll do it forever.”
Since joining the weather team at News on 6 two years ago, Gold says fellow meteorologist Stacia Knight has served as a mentor to her, offering constant encouragement and support in her career.
“She so flawlessly balances being a mom and a meteorologist, and she has always told me that it’s OK to set boundaries,” Gold says. “She’s always said, ‘When you go home, put work away, and focus on your family, so when you come back to work, you’re recharged,’ because the weather never stops.”
Gold says her biggest advice to other young women interested in meteorology is to find a good mentor in the field who can help them find the right path forward and guide them along the way.
Southeast Kansas native Stacia Knight has been an established presence on News on 6’s team of weather experts for 11 years. Looking back, it’s hard to believe weathercasting wasn’t always Knight’s career goal — her first year of college was spent studying nursing before she transferred to the University of Kansas, where she studied meteorology.
Knight didn’t know if she wanted to be on television, however, until she connected with Travis Meyer — also a Kansas graduate — who helped her get an internship at News on 6. Starting out behind the scenes as a weather producer, Knight eventually worked her way up to being a weekday meteorologist, where she works today.
A facet of News on 6 Knight says she appreciates is that the forecasts are a true collaboration and team effort among the meteorologists.
“Something Travis has instilled in us is that we are a team — it’s not my presentation versus
your presentation, we’re all working together in our different roles and building on each other’s forecasts collaboratively because four heads working together are a lot better than just one,” Knight says.
From the beginning, Knight says Meyer has been a steadfast source of encouragement, providing her with valuable advice over the years. Meyer emphasized the importance of establishing strong ties within the Tulsa community, cultivating resilience to navigate negative comments or feedback from viewers, and maintaining composure while delivering weather updates, particularly amidst the unpredictable and sometimes chaotic events that define Oklahoma’s weather landscape.
“He’s always told us, if people are in a situation where there’s severe weather coming in and they see the person they’re getting information from on TV panic, then they will panic, too, and they won’t make smart decisions,” Knight says. “Our No. 1 priority is to stay calm, cool, collected and stay on the air, so we can get the information out.”
KOTV’s Megan Gold and Stacia Knight
Meteorologist Anne Brown became interested in the weather after seeing a funnel develop on Brookside as a child.
“I was in my mom’s car, and I remember looking out of the sunroof and going, ‘How is this happening?’” Brown says. “The fascination and curiosity started at a young age for me.”
After studying broadcast journalism and meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, Brown went to work for a news station in West Lafayette, Indiana, for three years. After returning to her hometown of Tulsa in January 2021, Brown joined the team of weather experts at KJRH.
Much work and preparation goes into the weather reports viewers watch on TV every day, Brown says. For her weekend morning show, which starts at 8 a.m., she often arrives up to three hours ahead of time to do research, create her forecasts and get camera-ready.
“A lot is happening that (the audience) doesn’t see … There’s forecast models, numbers and data, I have to make sure my delivery is clear and concise, and make my forecast relatable to the audience,” Brown says. “I’m bringing a lot of factors together to make a cohesive forecast that has my name on it.”
As a mother to a young daughter, Brown says
motherhood has made her even more cognizant of the example she sets for young women who may be watching her on TV.
“Having a daughter of my own now, I want her to see through her mother that she can do whatever she wants, no matter if it’s in a male-dominated field,” Brown says. “It’s even more important to me now, looking at her and saying, ‘The sky’s the limit for whatever you want to do,’ and I can help provide a better future for her.”
Raised in a primarily Spanish-speaking household, Emma Landeros’ passion for meteorology came about at a young age, when she would translate the forecast for her parents.
“Growing up, especially during severe weather season, my parents would always ask, ‘Do we need to take cover? What are the meteorologists saying?’” Landeros says. “Over time, I learned to read the radar based on how the meteorologists were doing it, and anything they would say, I would translate. I started to wonder, ‘Why aren’t we seeing bilingual meteorologists on TV? If my parents are struggling and are scared, what about the other parents out there?’ That’s where my passion
for what I do now comes from — speaking Spanish and being the voice for the Hispanic community.”
Studying meteorology and honing her Spanish skills at the University of Oklahoma, Landeros worked hard, knowing she wanted to make her way back to the Tulsa market as a weathercaster.
“I knew I wanted to stay in Tulsa, so that way my family could watch me,” Landeros says.
After interning at KJRH, Landeros worked for a smaller station in Lawton. Through her internship, she forged a connection with chief meteorologist Mike Collier, whom Landeros kept in touch with while working in Lawton. Seeing the value Landeros could bring to KJRH, Collier offered her a position at the station in December 2021.
Being able to provide bilingual forecasts to viewers is something Landeros says she cherishes, and she values the feedback of other Spanish speakers to make sure her weather predictions are easy to understand. Her Spanish forecasts are uploaded to KJRH’s YouTube Channel and posted at KJRH.com.
“It feels great to be able to be that voice and represent, it’s something I take with me every day,” Landeros says. “I look at my family and friends since they’re the ones watching, and they give me tips. That’s what I’ve been doing over the years to improve and make (my forecast) easy to watch and understand.”
Broken Arrow native Laura Mock always had an interest in math and science, but also was drawn to performing and connecting with people, whether it was through cheerleading, theater or giving the morning announcements at school. Toward the end of high school, she realized weathercasting would be the perfect way to combine those interests, which led her to study meteorology and broadcast journalism at the University of Oklahoma.
After getting her career started in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Mock was offered a job at Fox23 in summer 2017, shortly before a tornado struck midtown Tulsa.
“That was the biggest ‘welcome home,’ to me … It was like, ‘Hey, you’re back, here are some tornadoes!’” Mock says.
Something Mock appreciates about the weather team at Fox23 is that the group, led by chief meteorologist James Aydelott , constantly encourages one another to learn more and improve their forecasts.
“We are always pushing each other to grow, stay on top of new information and learn, which is very appealing to me, from a career standpoint,” she says.
Mock says the ability to set a positive example for other young women is extremely important to her, and she hopes to continue paving the way for other women interested in meteorology.
“It makes me proud to be a woman in a male-dominated field,” Mock says. “It’s my goal to one day be chief (meteorologist), and I know I’m setting an example for a young girl down the line who wants to go into meteorology. Maybe she’ll see me and think, ‘Hey, maybe I can do this, too.’”
For women considering a career path similar to Mock’s, she advises them: Given the demanding nature of the job, they should make sure meteorology is something they’re truly passionate about.
“The business is not as glamorous as it probably looks — we do our own hair and makeup and get critiqued for it … It’s another level of thick skin because we’re also getting feedback on our appearances, not just our forecasting skills,” Mock says. “That said, if this is what you truly want to do and you have a passion for it, I say go for it.”
When Dallas meteorologist Evan Andrews visited Mikayla Smith’s elementary school classroom, she told her mom the same day she wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Smith followed through, attending the University of Oklahoma, where she studied meteorology and earned a double minor in broadcast journalism and mathematics. Smith also participated in the OU Nightly broadcast throughout all four years of college which, combined with a weekend job at KXII in Sherman, Texas, helped her earn a job at Fox23 in April 2022.
In the past two years, Smith says she has been struck by how encouraging her fellow meteorol-
ogists are, especially those who work at other stations.
“From the get-go, my chief (James Aydelott) has believed in me and knows how capable I am — it doesn’t matter to him if I’m the youngest on the team,” Smith says. “And something that sets the Tulsa female meteorologists apart is that we’re all supportive of each other, we’re very good about cheering each other on, which is so special. I love that about this group.”
Smith places great importance on continuous growth and advancement in her field, striving to stay at the forefront of the weather industry. She actively seeks feedback from experienced
meteorologists, welcoming their input on how she can improve her forecasts.
“You should never stop learning — you should always be hungry to learn something new and to challenge yourself because that’s the best way to grow,” Smith says.
Smith is conversational in American Sign Language and said a future goal of hers is to find a way to incorporate the language into her forecast more. She is also working toward her American Meteorological Society Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) certification and her National Weather Association seal of approval.
Meteorologist Joie Bettenhausen says her fascination with weather started very young, often asking her mother to turn on The Weather Channel over cartoons.
“I would watch meteorologists like Jim Cantore and Stephanie Abrams and was so fascinated by what they were doing,” Bettenhausen says. “I knew from an early age that I had to do this.”
After studying meteorology at Valparaiso University in Indiana, Bettenhausen spent two years covering the weather at a station in Joplin, Missouri, and then another two years in Waterloo, Iowa, before joining the team at KTUL in Tulsa in 2022. Bettenhausen says her experience covering severe weather, namely tornadoes, in Missouri and Iowa, provided her excellent experience for covering storms in Tulsa today.
As a woman in a male-dominated field, Bettenhausen says she appreciates the opportunity to show other young women they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.
“Being a woman in a STEM field, it’s an honor and a privilege to go to events and talk to young girls and show them that they can be whoever they want to be — even if it’s not a meteorologist — and that a man, or a disability, or a challenge is not going to stop them from achieving their dreams,” Bettenhausen says.
Bettenhausen acknowledges while the weathercasting industry is becoming more equal, the gender disparity is still prominent. At all three stations Bettenhausen has worked at, she has been the sole female meteorologist on each team. She says as she progresses in her career, she hopes to one day be in a position where she can help more women join the industry.
“My goal, down the road, is to be chief someday, and hire more female meteorologists onto my team and create a great work environment,” Bettenhausen says. “This job is a lifelong dream for me — I want to do this forever and give my life to this station and this community.”
Meteorologist Kirsten Lang worked in TV news for nearly a decade before becoming Tulsa World’s first meteorologist in 2021. Lang says she made the switch from TV to print and digital in order to combine two of her passions: weather and writing.
“I have been able to get into the specifics of the weather story or the science behind what’s happening,” Lang says. “I think people really love to learn more in-depth information about weather in Oklahoma, and it’s my goal to provide that to them.”
Reflecting on her role as a woman in a STEM profession, Lang says she feels great pride and hopes to set a positive example for young women who may be watching her.
“Being a woman in STEM is something I don’t take lightly,” says Lang, who studied meteorology at the University of the Incarnate Word. “Women are just as capable at achieving whatever goals they set before themselves. I actually owe my pursuit of a science career to my father. As a young child, he was the one to push me toward it. He told me that even if everything falls apart in this world, there will always be science.”
For other young women interested in pursuing meteorology, Lang says she recommends spending time with an experienced meteorologist to get a better grasp of what the job looks like.
“If there are any young women out there interested in becoming a meteorologist my advice would be to shadow some,” Lang says. “If there are any young girls out there reading this wanting to learn more — please contact me! I would love to have you come to the office to talk more about this type of career and see what our weather computers look like.” tp
KTUL’s Joie BettenhausenDr. J. Martin Beal has plenty of compassion but is short on cowbells.BY CONNIE CRONLEY
So, a poet, a painter, a musician, a chef, a cyclist, a professor and a doctor walk into a bar. But turns out, it’s all the same guy — Dr. J. Martin Beal — a charismatic and beloved Tulsa OB-GYN.
As it also turns out, it isn’t a bar but the cozy corner restaurant Bird and Bottle, where he’s recognized by owner-operator Johnna Hayes. She is among the legion of Beal’s patients who admire him to the verge of adoration. He took the time to mend her broken heart while helping her through a medical issue (more of that story later).
It’s not unusual for Beal to be recognized in public. In three decades of medical practice in Tulsa he has delivered more than 5,000 babies and treated thousands more female patients.
His wife, Dee Ann, says patients often approach him in public and show him photographs of the children he delivered and tell him about them. “It’s a lot of fun for me to get to meet them,” she says.
ose devoted patients are a testament to Beal’s legendary compassionate care. “It’s his nature,” Dee Ann says. “Some doctors burn through 40 or more patients a day. Marty takes the time to talk to people and get to know them.”
IT’S NOT UNUSUAL FOR BEAL TO BE RECOGNIZED IN PUBLIC. IN THREE DECADES OF MEDICAL PRACTICE IN TULSA HE HAS DELIVERED MORE THAN 5,000 BABIES AND TREATED THOUSANDS MORE FEMALE PATIENTS.
“He’s not just special from other OB-GYNs,” says Dr. William G. Watson II, “but from other physicians. He has a keen sense for the human condition and can connect with people more successfully than anyone I know.”
Beal also has a keen sense of the importance of obstetrics and gynecology. “In the history of medicine, gynecologists were the ones who changed the world,” he says.
Before the germ theory was known, puerperal fever (known as childbed fever) killed about 30% of mothers in childbirth. In 1846, a Hungarian physician deduced that puerperal fever and death were caused by cervical exam, Beal explains. He instituted a groundbreaking antiseptic procedure: wash your hands with sodium chloride. e mortality rate sank to about 4%.
In the 1930s, gynecologists came up with the pap smear, a test for early detection of cervical cancer with dramatic e ectiveness. Gynecologists also introduced the HeLa cell culture (from cervical cancer patient Henrietta Lacks), a breakthrough for modern medicine.
“If you want to change the fabric of a culture,” Beal says, “change the health of women. e true power of the world is the power of the mother.”
Even without his fanbase of patients, Beal is easy to spot. A dashing dresser, amboyant in his choice of patterns and colors, he wears bold eyeglasses that announce, “I’m looking at you!” With his ebullient personality, Beal not only jumpstarts a party — he
is the party. His joy of life is infectious, a colleague says. He keeps spirits high in the operating room by playing New Orleans jazz, merengue or classic rock ‘n’ roll.
He lives life with brio. For more than a decade he was part of a racing team in the Baja 1,000, one of the most prestigious oroad motorsport races in the world.
While still a resident, he went with a medical aid team in 1994 to Zaire to care for Rwandan genocide refugees. “I wasn’t the same person after that. Fifty-thousand people died every day in that camp from dysentery. I got out of there by the skin of my teeth and a little PTSD.”
Beal’s expertise also extends to animals — at Tulsa Zoo in the 1990s, he operated on a 350-pound Siberian tiger named Jella. He performed a rare procedure called laparoscopic uterine horn ligation.
And then there’s his artistic side. Beal writes poetry. He paints. He’s an avid cook. “If I weren’t a doctor, I’d be a chef,” he says. His undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma was in literature. He specialized in British lit, but he focused on William Carlos Williams, an American poet who made his living as a doctor.
Even his study of poetry was a dichotomy. Beal was profoundly in uenced by Williams and his stark epic poem “Paterson,” yet his favorite poet is e. e. cummings, a poet known for wordplay, neologism and writing “the world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”
“It took a long time for me to understand how my brains works,” Beal says. He could do geometry and calculus but stumbled on simple arithmetic. Multiple-choice exams were a challenge. “I’ve got my artistic side and my science side. I can ip back and forth and sometimes I dally in-between.”
Beal zips around town in a black Mini Cooper with the custom license plate: Me We. It’s an allusion to Muhammad Ali ’s 1975 commencement address at Harvard. When students called out to Ali for a poem, he replied “Me We.” (Also reported as “Me? Whee!!!”) It’s the shortest poem in the English language.
“Me We” is Beal’s philosophy of teamwork. To him, there is no me; it’s all we. “No leader does anything by themself. I got here because people helped me,” he says.
Someone who helps him a lot is Sylvia Alva , the registered medical assistant who has been with him for 15 years. She’s smart, sharply observant and she runs a tight ship. She is the mac to his cheese and she brings her own panache to the team with her Latina vibe and false eyelashes the size of a small bird’s wing.
As a teenager, Beal wanted to be a professional musician. He plays multiple
percussive instruments: drums, marimbas, xylophone, cowbells. He thinks a moment and says, “I need more cowbells in my life.” en he wanted to be a professional bicycle racer but went to college instead. “But man, I learned a lot (from road race cycling).” Mostly he learned about teamwork. “I like to see other people succeed. Whether it’s a cycling team or a group of residents. You want to do some good stu in the world and it’s better to do it together.”
Beal’s leadership skills were tested to the max when he served as chief of sta at Ascension St. John Medical Center from 2018-2020, the height of the COVID pandemic, a crisis so intense it threatened to close hospitals and collapse health care systems. He worked in tandem with Dr. John B. Forrest, then chief medical o cer for Ascension Healthcare System at St. John Medical Center.
ey were in “uncharted waters,” Forrest says, “and it was intense.” A shortage of ventilators. Maneuvering mandates for masking and vaccinations. Flagging spirits, extreme fatigue and unbelievably crowded conditions. Hallways transformed into ICU units.
Beal was wrangling a large medical sta that included all the physicians and midlevel providers including nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and housekeeping personnel. He organized regular educational seminars led by infectious disease specialists for the medical sta because, “ is was nothing we’d been taught in medical school or residence because no one had seen it before,” Forrest says.
Beal was at the hospital every day, walking the campus, communicating with every department. Sometimes he donned a chef’s coat, set up a kitchen in the physi-
cians’ lounge and made custom omelets for everyone. “ e tongue is a conduit to the brain,” Beal says, “so when that taste hits your brain it releases dopamine and you feel better.”
“It was that very personal touch, management and interactions that helped keep the medical sta together for 24 di cult months,” Forrest says. “Marty’s leadership was extraordinary and everybody recognized that. He has extremely strong people skills, has a well-developed sense of dealing with physicians and he’s good at managing complex issues. Part of that is natural to his personality and part comes from his experience as a tenured professor at Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine where he also directed the residency program at Tulsa Regional Medical Center.”
Keep in mind, while serving as chief of sta at St. John, Beal was maintaining his own private OB-GYN practice.
It was not the rst time Beal found himself in the middle of a medical maelstrom.
“I lived through the Middle Ages of HIV,” he says.
In 1995, Beal was 30 years old, two years out of OSU’s medical college and the chief resident of obstetrics and gynecology at Tulsa Regional Medical Center (now OSU Medical Center). e HIV/AIDS pandemic was the leading cause of death of all Americans ages 25-44. at year OSU received a federal grant to establish a Ryan White Clinic in Tulsa to provide health care for people living with HIV. e grant was named for an Indiana teenager born with hemophilia who contracted AIDS through a blood treatment.
In the midst of this pandemic, the Tulsa clinic found itself with more female patients per capita than any Ryan White clinic in the country. e looming question became management of pregnant women with HIV. Data was scarce, but when it became known the virus was transmitted by blood, “Nobody wanted to treat the infected women,” Beal says. “So, we did. We took great care of them.”
Babies born with HIV were handed a virtual death sentence. New research showed infection occurred in the birth canal, Beal remembers, and “the light bulb went on. I said, ‘Let’s C-section (Caesarean) them.” at was revolutionary.
Beal lists his band of brothers during the HIV pandemic: Dr. omas J. Stees and chair of internal medicine; Dr. Damon Baker ; Dr. Johnny Stephens; and Dr. Je rey S. Stroup. “ ose were my people.”
ey were young physician interns and Ph.D.s in pharmacology who brainstormed and innovated their way through a catastrophic medical epidemic.
Everyone mentions Beal’s extraordinary people skills and compassion. Some attribute this to his artistic nature, heightened by his study of poetry.
Sherri Wise, Osteopathic Founders Foundation CEO, adds that he can “combine compassion with an extraordinarily scienti c medical mind.” She credits it to his osteopathic training. “He practices the osteopathic way, with a ‘whole person’ approach to medicine. Osteopathic physicians’ training in science is identical to their allopathic counterparts,” she explains, “but with ‘whole person’ approach, he’s not looking just at your complaint, he’s trying to assess what other needs you may have.”
She recognizes that “medical care has become depersonalized, but you won’t see Marty hiding behind the computer. While he’s talking to a patient there’s going to be eye contact.”
Restaurateur Hayes can attest to that. “He genuinely cares in a way I’ve never experienced from another doctor.” He was seeing her through an extremely rough time in her life and when she fell apart, sobbing
in his o ce, he held her hand and talked to her for 45 minutes. “We’re gonna take care of you,” he assured her. She said, “It felt like true empathy.”
Is he just wired this way? Has he been like this since childhood?
He was born in Stillwater where his father was a student at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine before becoming the equine vet at Santa Anita Park, so Beal’s early childhood was spent in California. “ e beach, surf boards — it was great.” He was in the seventh grade when they moved to Muskogee. “Whoa!” he says. “From the ocean to Lake Tenkiller. Not an easy move.”
In Muskogee he met Dee Ann who became a good high school friend. ey reconnected romantically at OU and married. Beal is a devoted husband (he and Dee Ann have a standing Friday lunch date) and a loving father to their daughter Katy, a museum curator, and son Noah, a musician and IT specialist.
One of Beal’s earliest memories is his traumatic 5th birthday party where a neighbor boy was hit by a truck and died in in the arms of Beal’s father. Could that powerful memory be the headwater of his famous compassion?
Is Martin Beal a Tulsa shaman with mystical healing powers? He would dismiss the notion with a laugh. “I’m the son of a horse doctor.” tp
Learn more about some of Tulsa’s leading ladies and their exemplary services in the following pages.
Security Bank proudly acknowledges and values the vital role women play in banking and celebrates its team who deliver their personal best day in and day out. Led by CEO Dawne Stafford, Security Bank prioritizes people-first values, in the way it supports its employees, its customers and its community. Stafford emphasizes the importance of teamwork in achieving success and recognizes Security Bank’s strong team of both women and men, working together to bring invaluable expertise and perspective to the table.
“Our commitment to our employees, our customers and our community extends beyond the financial realm; it’s about investing in the growth and success of people while preserving the community banking culture,” Stafford says. “From the inside out, we build a supportive environment that unlocks potential, promotes growth and values family.”
This year marks Security Bank’s 24th anniversary and its continued commitment to empower success in people and to serve the community with the highest level of care.
Experience the difference at Security Bank.
10727 E. 51st St. | 918-664-6100 | sbtulsa.bank
When Mari Rains opened women’s boutique Ella + Orchid in 2021 she wanted to provide style and substance to her shoppers.
“Our boutique focuses on women who are looking for long-wearing, classic styles rather than trendy fast fashion,” says Rains, who hand-selects styles for a number of occasions. Black tie? Date night? Errands? Ella + Orchid has the perfect outfit or accessories. Find designer brands like Favorite Daughter, Michael Stars, Free People, Paige Denim, Allison NY, Amanda Uprichard, Jonathan Adler and more.
As a business owner, Rains says she is so appreciative of the support she has received in her business — both from customers and the fellow entrepreneurial community. “Never be afraid to take a risk,” she says. “Hire people that thrive in areas you don’t. Develop your network. Having people who love and support you is huge.”
2024 will be a big year for Rains and her boutique. Ella + Orchid will move in June to the Meadow Gold District at 1019 S. Quincy Ave., next door to The Beauty Shop.
6010 S. Yale Ave. | 918-530-2507 | ellaandorchid.com
Pet parents know having a safe and reliable place to take their dogs and cats for daycare and boarding is a critical part of caring for their animals. Established in 2012, Dogville and Kitty City provide peace of mind for owners and pets alike. Retired veterinarian Dr. Delana Taylor McNac leads the all-star team of staff members who specialize in regular and medical boarding for all dogs and cats, especially senior or special-needs pets. “Our promise is to treat every person and pet with the respect they deserve,” McNac says. “We understand the love and special bond between a dog or cat and their owner and will make every effort to ensure your expectations are met.”
Dogville and Kitty City are cage-free facilities with individual suites, some large enough for pets to stay together as a family. Staff is on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Along with boarding, Dogville provides dog daycare in a 4,400-square-foot facility with a 1-acre backyard that provides exercise and healthy social interaction for canine guests.
Her advice to other women entrepreneurs? “If you’re passionate about your dream, don’t stop asking until you get a ‘Yes.’”
Cherokee Nation Businesses is the economic engine of the Cherokee Nation, which prioritizes both cultural and economic development to improve the lives of Cherokee Nation citizens. As one of northeast Oklahoma’s largest employers, both Tulsa and the Cherokee Nation benefit from the economic success of Cherokee Nation Businesses.
Tralynna Scott, Cherokee Nation Businesses chief economist, knows that intersection and shared economic future well. As chief economist, Scott analyzes regional and global economic conditions to guide future growth and investment.
“The best part of doing business in Tulsa is its people,” Scott said. “Whether you’ve lived in Tulsa your entire life or recently moved here, you quickly learn Tulsa is just a big, small town. Everyone is friendly, and it is easy to establish a great support network.”
The Cherokee Nation and its citizens are the sole stakeholders of Cherokee Nation Businesses.
“The principal purpose of Cherokee Nation Businesses is to provide gov-
ernmental revenue back to the Cherokee Nation in order to fund programs that support its citizens,” Scott said. “These programs include education, housing, food security and health programs. A well-educated and healthy population is vital for economic growth, poverty reduction, and reducing inequality.”
Cherokee Nation Businesses does business in three core areas: entertainment and hospitality, federal contracting, and cultural and economic development. It operates in all 50 states and 26 countries abroad and generates about $2 billion in revenue with an economic impact of $3.04 billion to northeast Oklahoma every year.
“My advice for women in business is to trust in your abilities and knowledge,” Scott said. “Don’t be afraid to speak up, negotiate and advocate for yourself and your business.”
cherokeenationbusinesses.com
Tralynna ScottWhen Margaret Reimann founded MCR Branding eight years ago, she committed to putting creativity and clients’ needs at the forefront of everything her agency does.
“The work comes first,” says Reimann, who has spent more than 15 years in advertising and branding. “We focus on the needs of our clients and provide stellar work while sticking to budget. We stay up to date on trends, but more importantly, we work to set them.”
MCR assists clients with brand strategy, messaging, logo development, social media, websites, corporate communications, event planning and much more. “We love bringing awareness to Tulsa-based companies and fostering their growth and success.”
Reimann, a Tulsa native, loves building a business in Tulsa where everyone is working for a better and bigger cause. Tulsa is a network of businesses helping each other out. “Relationships are so important here and it shows in the work,” she says.
Margaret Reimann
She encourages other female entrepreneurs to never lose sight of why you started and where you want to go. “When you start to not believe you can — push harder,” she says. “Celebrate the victories, big and small, then get back to it!”
Family owned and operated, We B Trees has been caring for Tulsa’s trees for the past 29 years. The company provides tree trimming, removals, plant health care and arborist consultations to residential and commercial property owners. “Because of our longevity in Tulsa, we have established a great partnership with Tulsa icons such as Gathering Place, Philbrook Museum of Art, River Parks and many others,” says Barbara Nall, We B Trees’ majority co-owner.
Three women — Barbara, Kierstyn and Shawntel — are considered the backbone of We B Trees. Barbara runs the office and financial side of the business while trying to keep husband and business co-owner Tim Nall on track. Kierstyn is the plant health care technician and provides seasonal fertilizations and treatments offered to keep trees healthy. As the office assistant, Shawntel responds to all phone calls and emails while handling marketing campaigns and other assigned tasks.
“We have a small crew who we value and treat as family,” Barbara says. “We have a mutual trust and respect with our employees.”
As a woman in what is often considered a “man’s” business, Barbara says finding and surrounding yourself with a strong working and personal partner is key to longevity and success. She also recommends women network with other women in similar fields. “It doesn’t make you weak to ask for help,” she says. “Many people will doubt you, but never give up!”
Oma Salon
Amber Southern 1335 E. 11th St., Ste. C Oma.salon
Wildflower Cafe
Heather Linville 1306 E. 11th St. wildflowercafetulsa.com 918-764-8843
Jill Croka Designs
Jill Croka
1513 E. 11th St., Ste. A jillcrokadesigns.com 918-201-2711
Price Gallery
Jill Pinkerton 1513 E. 11th St. 918-640-3030
Mel Bean Interiors
Mel Bean 1402 E. 11th St. melbeaninteriors.com
Grandfather Clock Gallery
Talitha Grether 1416 E. 11th St., #4 tulsaclocks.com 918-742-1400
Bear Agency Group
Audrey Chambers 1416 E. 11th St., Ste. #3 bearagencygroup.com 479-659-1948
Meadow Gold District Business & Property Owners Association
Lori Moore, President 918-695-7249 meadowgolddistrict.com
#EatShopExplore
Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on 66
Mary Beth Babcock 1347 E. 11th St. buckatomson66.com @buckatomson66
Buck’s Vintage
The Beauty Shop
Michele Wright & Amy Ethridge 1019 S. Quincy Ave. thebeautyshoptulsa.com 918-779-7887
Jenkins & Co.
Lisa Wakefield 1335 E. 11th St., Ste. E Jenkinsandcotulsa.com 918-794-7844
Mary Beth Babcock 1024 S Quincy Ave. @bucksvintage66
Southwest Trading Company
Ashley Bible and daughter 1306 E. 11th St. | 918-760-3237 facebook.com/ SouthwestNativeGoods
Kate Neary is the new CEO for the Community Health Connection, the Tulsa based community health center that provides comprehensive services that include family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, behavioral health, pharmacy services, dental and case management.
Neary most recently served as Chief Executive Officer for Tulsa CARES, the largest and most comprehensive provider of care and social services for people livening with HIV and Hepatitis C in Oklahoma. During her tenure, the agency budget and staff grew more than 230 percent, and the organization twice received the Blue Cross Blue Shield Champions of Health Award.
“I am beyond thrilled to help continue a strong legacy of leadership, vision and growth for Community Health Connection in our mission to make all of Tulsa a truly healthy place to thrive,” says Neary.
The new CEO has more than two decades of experience in the Tulsa nonprofit community with expertise in public health, management and fund development. She has served in executive positions with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, and H.O.P.E.
Investment Executives Saletha Fuller,
FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, and Karen Bruns are devoted to putting a client’s best interests first to provide personalized, supportive financial planning services.
“We are an independent practice that provides investment guidance, retirement planning, small-business retirement plans, college savings guidance and financial planning for future goals,” Fuller says. We discuss risk tolerance and timing needs to provide the right combination of services. And DCH is there every step of the way to provide critical support and supervision. “We work with women, men, couples, pre-retirees, retirees and others to plan for their financial future,” says Bruns.
Neary received her BA in History and Political Science from the University of Tulsa and a Master of Public Health from the University of Oklahoma. She is also a graduate of the Health Care Executive Program at the University of California Los Angeles, and is an HIV Prevention Leadership Institute Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a graduate of Leadership Tulsa and currently serves as a mayor’s appointee on the Tulsa Women’s Commission.
It was in 1954 that “Miss Helen” Wingo realized many of the children entering Kindergarten had difficulty adjusting socially, emotionally and academically. She believed there was a better way for the young students of Tulsa to be prepared for their academic futures.
Today, executive director Lynda Wingo — the founder’s daughter-in-law who is beginning her 50th year at Miss Helen’s — believes in the philosophy of the founder: to provide a great learning institution where children can develop their reading, math and social talents as well as improve communication skills and learning habits.
Leadership at the state-accredited school is a Wingo family affair. Lynda’s daughter Jayme Wingo-Baker has served the school for 30 years. Lynda’s husband, Gary Wingo, the son of the founder, is a favorite with families and staff.
Miss Helen’s heritage lives on in the school’s facility at 48th Street and Mingo Road. The school offers programs in three areas: Preschool, Kindergarten, and Elementary Grades first through fifth. The school employs degreed professionals and encourages ongoing teacher training throughout the school year. Each pod is supported by a lead teacher with experience and expertise in their grade level.
918-622-2327 | misshelens.com
Margarita Gaberino has called Tulsa home for 22 years. In that time she has built Topeca Coffee Roasters into one of the very few family-owned specialty coffee companies that own and operate everything from the farms, to the roastery and the cafes.
“Tulsa has been a great place to raise my family, and I have felt very uplifted by the community,” Gaberino says. “It’s been wonderful to watch Tulsa grow and have Topeca be a part of that.”
Topeca Coffee Roasters offers wholesale specialty coffee to cafes and grocery stores across the country, and locally at Reasor’s, Walmart, Sprouts, Whole Foods and Homeland. Three Topeca cafes offer coffee and beverages to loyal diners.
Grown on the slopes of the Santa Ana volcano in El Salvador, Topeca Coffee is dedicated to maintaining a sustainable supply chain for coffee, where everyone involved at every level can thrive.
“I grew up surrounded by powerful women running businesses and making decisions, so I always felt empowered to be anything I wanted,” Gaberino says.
Her advice to other female entrepreneurs includes surrounding yourself with supportive family and friends who value your talents and determination. Lead by example, she adds. “Even though it seems like you have to do it all, everything will fall into place. As long as you try your best, that will carry you through and have more impact and weight than it seems on the surface.”
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Groceries, grab-and-go meals and more
Since opening last spring, Market 31 has attracted a loyal audience of shoppers who crave the shop’s dips and spreads, pastries and breads, take-and-bake dinners and local treats.
Chefs Julie Arnett and Maria Flores have a combined 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry. “They are both busy working moms who have thought out each dish they create as something they would serve to their family at home,” Market 31 owner Johnna Hayes says.
Market 31, which is open Monday-Saturday, is a midtown treat for those hungry for fresh, local flavors. Those who pop in can share a giggle with the team, Hayes says. “It makes the food that much better.”
3324 E. 31st St. | 918-271-5041 | instagram.com/market31tulsa
Creating spaces that improve lives and enrich communities.
For 35 years, KKT Architects has served the Tulsa area through its design expertise as well as its employees being engaged partners in local nonprofit and service networks.
“Tulsa truly boasts an incredible sense of community,” says President and CEO Sarah J. Gould. “The unparalleled collaboration among its public, private and philanthropic sectors perfectly mirrors the core values that drive our company forward.”
KKT, which opened an Oklahoma City office in fall 2023, is proud to have all five generations of the workforce collaborating in the firm. Over 50% of KKT employees are women, and more than 135 Oklahoma organizations are supported by team members.
2200 S. Utica Place, Suite 200 | 918-744-4270 | kktarchitects.com
Unique, historic venues
Make your next celebration or special event memorable with a reservation at a J. Potter Collective property.
Three venues — Station 13, The Union Building and Pecan Valley — offer an array of amenities and vibes, perfect for any kind of celebration.
“Our venues are able to meet the needs of a sizeable wedding reception or fundraiser, staff retreats, as well as retirement parties, birthday parties and small, private dinner parties,” says owner Jackie Potter.
Potter opened her first venue, Station 13, in 2020. Her property portfolio came to fruition this year with the additional two venues. She loves helping Tulsans celebrate life’s most special moments.
918-810-6765 | jpottercollective.com
What makes a local pet store different?
“The human—and often canine—touch of a local business is priceless when it comes to serving our guests. The vast world of pet products is confusing and sometimes intimidating. People like to have a place they trust that can give them advice and offer only a specialized curation of products,” says Emily Bollinger, store owner.
“Our new store has a fenced backyard that is a dream come true for us. You can usually find pet adoptions taking place every Saturday, dog water play on the weekends, workshops with other businesses here and there, and we’ve also started renting out the yard for pet birthday parties—or any kind of pet get-together”.
Plus, does that big box store or website have a Dennis? Our shop dogs are models, product testers, and testimonials to what we carry in store. Come in to ask questions, give a pup a pet or belly rub, and let us help you.
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“The Best Lawyers in America®” and “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America” are published by BL Rankings LLC, Augusta, GA. and can be ordered directly from the publisher. For information call 803-648-0300; write 801 Broad Street Suite 950, Augusta GA 30901; email info@bestlawyers.com; or visit bestlawyers.com. An online subscription to Best Lawyers® is available at bestlawyers.com.
BL Rankings LLC has used its best efforts in assembling material for this list but does not warrant that the information contained herein is complete or accurate, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. All listed attorneys have been verifi ed as being members in good standing with their respective state bar associations as of July 1, 2023, where that information is publicly available. Consumers should contact their state bar association for verifi cation and additional information prior to securing legal services of any attorney.
Copyright 2023 by BL Rankings LLC, Augusta, Georgia. All rights reserved. This list, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission. No commercial use of this list may be made without permission of BL Rankings LLC. No fees may be charged, directly or indirectly, for the use of this list without permission.
“The Best Lawyers in America,” “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” “Purely Peer Review” and “Best Lawyers” are registered trademarks of BL Rankings LLC.
This list is excerpted from the 2024 editions of “The Best Lawyers in America®” and “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America,” the pre-eminent referral guides to the legal profession in the United States. Published since 1983, Best Lawyers® lists attorneys in 150 specialties, representing all 50 states, who have been chosen through an exhaustive survey in which thousands of the nation’s top lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The 2024 edition of “The Best Lawyers in America” is based on more than 13.7 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.
The method used to compile Best Lawyers remains unchanged since the first edition was compiled more than 40 years ago. Lawyers are chosen for inclusion based solely on the vote of their peers. Listings cannot be bought, and no purchase is required to be included. In this regard, Best Lawyers remains the gold standard of reliability and integrity in lawyer ratings.
The nomination pool for the 2024 edition consisted of all lawyers whose names appeared in the previous edition of Best Lawyers, lawyers who were nominated since the previous survey and new nominees solicited from listed attorneys. In general, lawyers were asked to vote only on nominees in their own specialty in their own jurisdiction. Lawyers in closely related specialties were asked to vote across specialties, as were lawyers in smaller jurisdictions. Where specialties are national or international in nature, lawyers were asked to vote nationally as well as locally. Voting lawyers were also given an opportunity to offer more detailed comments on nominees. Each year, half of the voting pool receives fax or email ballots; the other half is polled by phone.
Voting lawyers were provided this general guideline for determining if a nominee should be listed among “the best”: “If you had a close friend or relative who needed a real estate lawyer (for example), and you could not handle the case yourself, to whom would you refer them?” All votes and comments were solicited with a guarantee of confidentiality — a critical factor in the viability and validity of Best Lawyers’ surveys. To ensure the rigor of the selection process, lawyers were urged to use only their highest standards when voting and to evaluate each nominee based only on his or her individual merits. The additional comments were used to make more accurate comparisons between voting patterns and weight votes accordingly. Best Lawyers uses various methodological tools to identify and correct for anomalies in both the nomination and voting process.
Recognition in the “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America” is based entirely on peer review and employs the same methodology that has made Best Lawyers the gold standard for legal rankings worldwide. These awards are recognitions given to attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States. Our “Ones to Watch” recipients typically have been in practice for fi ve to nine years.
Ultimately, of course, a lawyer’s inclusion is based on the subjective judgments of his or her fellow attorneys. While it is true that the lists may at times disproportionately reward visibility or popularity, the breadth of the survey, the candor of the respondents and the sophistication of the polling methodology largely correct for any biases.
For all these reasons, Best Lawyers lists continue to represent the most reliable, accurate and useful guide to the best lawyers in the United States available anywhere.
THE FOLLOWING FIRM NAMES
HAVE BEEN ABBREVIATED:
Atkinson, Brittingham, Gladd, Fiasco & Edmonds — Atkinson, Brittingham, et al
Baum Glass Jayne Carwile & Peters — Baum Glass, et al
Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson — Doerner, Saunders, et al
Franden, Farris, Quillin, Goodnight & Roberts — Franden, Farris, et al
Latham, Steele, Lehman, Keele, Ratcliff, Freije & Carter — Latham, Steele, et al
Norman Wohlgemuth Chandler
Jeter Barnett & Ray — Norman Wohlgemuth, et al
Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison & Lewis — Riggs, Abney, et al
Robinett, King, Elias, Buhlinger, Brown & Kane — Robinett, King, et al
Teresa Meinders Burkett
Conner & Winters
Thomas P. Schroedter
Hall Estill
Joel L. Wohlgemuth
Norman Wohlgemuth, et al
Jon E. Brightmire
Doerner, Saunders, et al
Amelia A. Fogleman *
GableGotwals
Philip D. Hixon
GableGotwals
Keith A. Jones
Keith A. Jones
Allison E. Lee
Mullican & Hart
J. Michael Medina
Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
Deborah C. Shallcross
GableGotwals
Bradley W. Welsh
Crowe & Dunlevy
ARBITRATION
David L. Bryant
GableGotwals
Deborah C. Shallcross
GableGotwals
ART LAW
Katherine G. Coyle Conner & Winters
AVIATION LAW
Jeffrey T. Hills
Crowe & Dunlevy
BANKING AND FINANCE LAW
John R. Barker
GableGotwals
Michael D. Cooke Hall Estill
Jason B. Coutant
GableGotwals
Frederic Dorwart Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
Phillip J. Eller Eller & Detrich
Jeffrey D. Hassell * GableGotwals
Steven G. Heinen
GableGotwals
Thomas J. Hutchison
GableGotwals
Betsy G. Jackson Hall Estill
Stephen W. Lake
GableGotwals
David Limekiller
GableGotwals
Victor E. Morgan Crowe & Dunlevy
Amy Newsome
Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
David S. Randolph Conner & Winters
Barry G. Reynolds
Titus Hillis Reynolds Love
John Henry Rule
GableGotwals
Gentra Abbey Sorem Conner & Winters
John T. Williams
John T. Williams Law
BANKRUPTCY AND CREDITOR DEBTOR RIGHTS/INSOLVENCY AND REORGANIZATION LAW
Brandon C. Bickle
GableGotwals
Mark A. Craige Crowe & Dunlevy
Thomas A. Creekmore III Hall Estill
John D. Dale
GableGotwals
Robert J. Getchell
GableGotwals
Pamela H. Goldberg Hall Estill
Charles Greenough McAfee & Taft
Jeffrey D. Hassell GableGotwals
Brian Huckabee Huckabee Law
Gary M. McDonald McDonald & Kindelt
Patrick D. O’Connor Moyers Martin
Steven W. Soulé Hall Estill
Sidney K. Swinson * GableGotwals
Neal Tomlins Tomlins Law
Timothy T. Trump Conner & Winters
Andrew R. Turner Conner & Winters
BET-THE-COMPANY LITIGATION
William C. Anderson Doerner, Saunders, et al
David L. Bryant GableGotwals
Mary Quinn Cooper McAfee & Taft
Michael J. Gibbens Crowe & Dunlevy
J. Kevin Hayes Hall Estill
R. Richard Love III Conner & Winters
Charles D. Neal Jr. * Steidley & Neal
Richard B. Noulles GableGotwals
Phil R. Richards Richards & Connor
John D. Russell GableGotwals
Sidney K. Swinson GableGotwals
John H. Tucker Rhodes Hieronymus
BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS (INCLUDING LLCS AND PARTNERSHIPS)
Mark D. Berman * Conner & Winters
R. Jay Chandler
Norman Wohlgemuth, et al
C. Bretton Crane Pray Walker
Phillip J. Eller Eller & Detrich
Sarah E. Hansel Hall Estill
Stephen M. Hetrick McAfee & Taft
Kathryn J. Kindell Conner & Winters
Christopher R. Wilson Conner & Winters
CLOSELY HELD COMPANIES AND FAMILY BUSINESSES LAW
Nathan S. Cross Doerner, Saunders, et al
Robert A. Curry Conner & Winters
Adam K. Marshall * Barrow & Grimm
Randy R. Shorb Johnson & Jones
COLLABORATIVE LAW: FAMILY LAW
Moura A. J. Robertson Doerner, Saunders, et al
David A. Tracy Tulsa Family Law Center
COMMERCIAL FINANCE LAW
W. Deke Canada Hall Estill
Frederic Dorwart Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
William L. Eagleton IV Pray Walker
Steven A. Stecher Moyers Martin
COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
Steven J. Adams GableGotwals
William C. Anderson Doerner, Saunders, et al
Jacob W. Aycock Aycock Aussenberg
Mark Banner Hall Estill
Christopher A. Barrow Barrow & Grimm
Jeff Baum Baum Glass, et al
Brandon C. Bickle GableGotwals
Mark K. Blongewicz Hall Estill
Jon E. Brightmire Doerner, Saunders, et al
David L. Bryant
GableGotwals
J. Craig Buchan McAfee & Taft
James R. Bullard
Doerner, Saunders, et al
John A. Burkhardt Jr. Schaffer Herring
Stuart Campbell
Doerner, Saunders, et al
Lewis N. Carter Doerner, Saunders, et al
John J. Carwile Baum Glass, et al
Nathan E. Clark Rhodes Hieronymus
Mary Quinn Cooper McAfee & Taft
David R. Cordell Conner & Winters
Mark A. Craige Crowe & Dunlevy
Gary C. Crapster Steidley & Neal
Renee DeMoss
GableGotwals
Jessica L. Dickerson McAfee & Taft
Roger K. Eldredge Ladner & Eldredge
Isaac R. Ellis Conner & Winters
Kristen Pence Evans Hall Estill
Tom Q. Ferguson Doerner, Saunders, et al
Craig A. Fitzgerald
GableGotwals
Amelia A. Fogleman
GableGotwals
Melodie Freeman-Burney Conner & Winters
Michael J. Gibbens Crowe & Dunlevy
Charles Greenough McAfee & Taft
William R. Grimm Barrow & Grimm
James C. T. Hardwick Hall Estill
P. Scott Hathaway Conner & Winters
J. Kevin Hayes
Hall Estill
Robert
CONTINUED FROM P.
Tony W. Haynie
Conner & Winters
Philip D. Hixon
GableGotwals
Andrew J. Hofland
GableGotwals
Craig W. Hoster
Crowe & Dunlevy
Kayci B. Hughes
Crowe & Dunlevy
Brian T. Inbody
Hall Estill
Jed Isbell
Conner & Winters
Robert James
Conner & Winters
Robert J. Joyce
McAfee & Taft
Michael T. Keester
Hall Estill
Alexander F. King
KingWoods
Thomas M. Ladner
Ladner & Eldredge
Stephen W. Lake
GableGotwals
Bobby L. Latham Jr.
Latham, Steele, et al
William S. Leach
McAfee & Taft
Randall J. Lewin
Moyers Martin
David Limekiller
GableGotwals
Michael S. Linscott
Doerner, Saunders, et al
R. Richard Love III
Conner & Winters
Graydon Dean Luthey Jr.
GableGotwals
James P. McCann
James P. McCann
Bruce A. McKenna
McKenna & McKenna
James C. Milton
Hall Estill
Pansy Moore-Shrier
Moore-Shrier Law
Victor E. Morgan
Crowe & Dunlevy
Charles D. Neal Jr.
Steidley & Neal
Kathy R. Neal
McAfee & Taft
Richard B. Noulles
GableGotwals
Bryan Nowlin Hall Estill
Patrick D. O’Connor Moyers Martin
William W. O’Connor
Hall Estill
Michael R. Pacewicz
Crowe & Dunlevy
Alison A. Parker
Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold
Stephen Q. Peters Baum Glass, et al
Terry D. Ragsdale
GableGotwals
James M. Reed Hall Estill
Barry G. Reynolds
Titus Hillis Reynolds Love
Phil R. Richards Richards & Connor
Andrew L. Richardson McAfee & Taft
Bruce E. Roach Jr. Barrow & Grimm
Tracy W. Robinett
Robinett, Swartz & Duren
Timothy L. Rogers Barrow & Grimm
John Henry Rule
GableGotwals
James W. Rusher
Albright, Rusher & Hardcastle
John D. Russell
GableGotwals
Robert B. Sartin Barrow & Grimm
R. Scott Savage Moyers Martin
Paige N. Shelton Conner & Winters
Trent Shores
GableGotwals
Michael F. Smith
Smolen, Smolen & Roytman
David A. Sturdivant
Barrow & Grimm
Timothy J. Sullivan Jr.
GableGotwals
Jason S. Taylor Conner & Winters
Colin Tucker
Rhodes Hieronymus
John H. Tucker
Rhodes Hieronymus
Mia Vahlberg
GableGotwals
Randall G. Vaughan Pray Walker
James E. Weger
Jones Gotcher & Bogan
Bradley W. Welsh Crowe & Dunlevy
Danny C. Williams Sr. Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
Robert J. Winter Pray Walker
Joel L. Wohlgemuth
Norman Wohlgemuth, et al
Harold C. Zuckerman McAfee & Taft
William L. Eagleton IV Pray Walker
David King Robinett, King, et al
Timothy T. Trump Conner & Winters
Michael D. Cooke Hall Estill
John E. Harper Jr. Barrow & Grimm
P. Scott Hathaway * Conner & Winters
Steven K. Metcalf
Metcalf & Spitler
Tracy W. Robinett Robinett, Swartz & Duren
Timothy L. Rogers Barrow & Grimm
Malcolm E. Rosser IV Crowe & Dunlevy
William H. Spitler Metcalf & Spitler
COPYRIGHT LAW
Rachel Blue * McAfee & Taft
Dennis D. Brown Brown Patent Law
Frank J. Catalano GableGotwals
Shawn M. Dellegar Crowe & Dunlevy
James F. Lea III GableGotwals
Todd A. Nelson GableGotwals
Scott R. Zingerman GableGotwals
CORPORATE COMPLIANCE LAW
Graydon Dean Luthey Jr. GableGotwals
Robert J. Melgaard * Conner & Winters
Stephen W. Ray Hall Estill
R. Kevin Redwine Conner & Winters
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE LAW
Pamela H. Goldberg * Hall Estill
Betsy G. Jackson Hall Estill
Graydon Dean Luthey Jr. GableGotwals
Stephen W. Ray Hall Estill
CORPORATE LAW
John R. Barker GableGotwals
Christopher A. Barrow Barrow & Grimm
Mark D. Berman Conner & Winters
W. Deke Canada Hall Estill
Lawrence T. Chambers Jr. Doerner, Saunders, et al
Michael D. Cooke Hall Estill
H. Wayne Cooper Doerner, Saunders, et al
Jason B. Coutant GableGotwals
C. Bretton Crane Pray Walker
Nathan S. Cross Doerner, Saunders, et al
Robert A. Curry * Conner & Winters
Frederic Dorwart Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
Robert F. Dougherty Hall Estill
William L. Eagleton IV Pray Walker
James H. Ferris Moyers Martin
Pamela H. Goldberg Hall Estill
William R. Grimm Barrow & Grimm
Del L. Gustafson Hall Estill
Sarah E. Hansel Hall Estill
Jeffrey D. Hassell GableGotwals
Steven G. Heinen GableGotwals
Jeffrey T. Hills Crowe & Dunlevy
Thomas J. Hutchison GableGotwals
Betsy G. Jackson Hall Estill
Stephen W. Lake GableGotwals
Graydon Dean Luthey Jr. GableGotwals
Robert J. Melgaard Conner & Winters
Lynnwood R. Moore Jr. Conner & Winters
Victor E. Morgan Crowe & Dunlevy
P. David Newsome Jr. Hall Estill
Stephen W. Ray Hall Estill
R. Kevin Redwine Conner & Winters
William F. Riggs Doerner, Saunders, et al
J. Ryan Sacra Conner & Winters
Stacy A. Schauvliege Crowe & Dunlevy
Mia Vahlberg GableGotwals
CRIMINAL DEFENSE: GENERAL PRACTICE
Clark O. Brewster Brewster & De Angelis
Paul D. Brunton Bond Gill
Jack E. Gordon Jr. Gordon & Gordon
P. Warren Gotcher Gotcher & Beaver
Stan Monroe
Stanley D. Monroe
CONTINUED
Trevor Riddle Riddle Law
Allen M. Smallwood *
Allen Smallwood
CRIMINAL DEFENSE: WHITE-COLLAR
Clark O. Brewster
Brewster & De Angelis
Paul D. Brunton
Bond Gill
Jack E. Gordon Jr.
Gordon & Gordon
P. Warren Gotcher
Gotcher & Beaver
Stan Monroe
Stanley D. Monroe
Trevor Riddle Riddle Law
Allen M. Smallwood *
Allen Smallwood
Danny C. Williams Sr.
Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
DUI/DWI DEFENSE
Bruce Edge Edge Law Firm
EDUCATION LAW
J. Douglas Mann
J. Douglas Mann
John G. Moyer Jr.
Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold
Eric P. Nelson
Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold
ELDER LAW
Jack L. Brown
Jones Gotcher & Bogan
EMINENT DOMAIN AND CONDEMNATION LAW
Roger K. Eldredge
Ladner & Eldredge
Malcolm E. Rosser IV
Crowe & Dunlevy
Danny C. Williams Sr. Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS (ERISA) LAW
Bill G. Freudenrich
McAfee & Taft
Steven W. McGrath
Conner & Winters
David B. McKinney
GableGotwals
Eric S. Smith
Conner & Winters
Martin R. Wing * Conner & Winters
EMPLOYMENT LAW — INDIVIDUALS
Donald M. Bingham
Riggs, Abney, et al
Larry D. Henry
Rhodes Hieronymus
Kevin Kelley
Kevin Kelley
EMPLOYMENT LAW — MANAGEMENT
P. Bradley Bendure Conner & Winters
Steven A. Broussard Hall Estill
Courtney Bru McAfee & Taft
N. Lance Bryan Doerner, Saunders, et al
David R. Cordell Conner & Winters
Kevin P. Doyle Pray Walker
Bryan Drummond Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold
R. Tom Hillis
Titus Hillis Reynolds Love
Mary L. Lohrke
Titus Hillis Reynolds Love
Kimberly Lambert Love
Titus Hillis Reynolds Love
Samanthia Sierakowski Marshall Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold
Kathy R. Neal McAfee & Taft
Michael R. Pacewicz Crowe & Dunlevy
Charles S. Plumb McAfee & Taft
Randall J. Snapp * Crowe & Dunlevy
Christopher S. Thrutchley GableGotwals
W. Kirk Turner McAfee & Taft
Nancy E. Vaughn Conner & Winters
Keith A. Wilkes Hall Estill
Madalene A. B. Witterholt Crowe & Dunlevy
ENERGY LAW
Mark Banner Hall Estill
Shelton L. Benedict Shelton L. Benedict Law Office
Steve Butterfield Pray Walker
David R. Cordell Conner & Winters
Kyle D. Freeman Hall Estill
John A. Gaberino Jr. GableGotwals
Michael J. Gibbens Crowe & Dunlevy
J. Kevin Hayes Hall Estill
Thomas M. Ladner Ladner & Eldredge
Stephen W. Lake GableGotwals
Terry D. Ragsdale GableGotwals
Bruce W. Robinett Robinett, King, et al
James D. Satrom Hall Estill
Thomas P. Schroedter * Hall Estill
Stephen A. Schuller GableGotwals
Lisa T. Silvestri GableGotwals
Donald S. Smith Pray Walker
Timothy J. Sullivan Jr. GableGotwals
Mia Vahlberg GableGotwals
John T. Williams
John T. Williams Law
ENERGY REGULATORY LAW
Garry L. Keele II McAfee & Taft
Thomas P. Schroedter Hall Estill
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Michael D. Graves Hall Estill
Robert J. Joyce McAfee & Taft
Garry L. Keele II McAfee & Taft
Linda Crook Martin * Doerner, Saunders, et al
Randall J. Snapp Crowe & Dunlevy
Joseph R. Farris Franden, Farris, et al
Benjamin D. Aycock Henry & Dow Law
Jacob W. Aycock Aycock Aussenberg
Christian D. Barnard Doerner, Saunders, et al
Megan M. Beck
Megan M. Beck
Paul E. Blevins
Blevins Law Office
James R. Bullard Doerner, Saunders, et al
Aaron D. Bundy Bundy Law
Brita Haugland Cantrell McAfee & Taft
Adam Carroll APC Law
Tamera A. Childers
Tamera A. Childers
Melissa F. Cornell Cornell Law Firm
Brad K. Cunningham * Conner & Winters
Richard J. Eagleton Law Offices of Richard J. Eagleton
Heather Flynn Earnhart Hall Estill
Kathleen M. Egan Bundy Law
Joseph R. Farris Franden, Farris, et al
Melissa Fell Fell Law
Robert G. Fry Jr. Fry & Elder
P. Warren Gotcher Gotcher & Beaver
James R. Gotwals
James R. Gotwals & Associates
Bradley A. Grundy Conner & Winters
Kimberly K. Hays
Kimberly K. Hays
M. Shane Henry Henry & Dow Law
N. Scott Johnson Johnson & McCord
Keith A. Jones
Keith A. Jones
Ronald W. Little McAfee & Taft
Maren Minnaert Lively Jones Gotcher & Bogan
Carrie M. Luelling
The Law Firm of Carrie Luelling
Alexandra Masters Henry & Dow Law
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S. Douglas Dodd Doerner, Saunders, et al
Steven
Steven K. Metcalf
Recognized by Best Lawyers® in:
Recognized by Best Lawyers® in:
Construction Law and Tulsa “Lawyer of the Year” 2014, 2020
Construction Law and Tulsa “Lawyer of the Year” 2014, 2020
Litigation - Construction and Tulsa “Lawyer of the Year” 2016, 2018, 2021, 2024
Litigation-Construction and Tulsa “Lawyer of the Year” 2016, 2018, 2021
20
William H. Spitler
William H. Spitler
Recognized by Best Lawyers® in:
Recognized by Best Lawyers
Construction Law and Tulsa “Lawyer of the Year”
Construction Law
2022 Litigation - Construction and Tulsa “Lawyer of the Year” 2020
Litigation-Construction and Tulsa “Lawyer
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Rhodes Hieronymus
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Walter D. Haskins
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Charles D. Neal Jr.
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James W. Connor Jr. Richards & Connor
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Robert J. Winter
Pray Walker
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Recognition for outstanding professional excellence in private practice given to attorneys who typically have been in practice for five to nine years
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Anna C. Proctor
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Ryan Scharnell Conner & Winters
Hayley N. Stephens Conner & Winters
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Dru Prosser McAfee & Taft
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Colton L. Richardson
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Will Silvia McAfee & Taft
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Eric L. Sardella
Conner & Winters
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C. Bretton Crane Jr. Pray Walker
Ruffles continue their popularity in women’s fashion. With spring around the corner, here’s one option to incorporate the trend with a pop of color.
Time marches north as Grandfather’s Clock Gallery moves to the Meadow Gold District from its home of more than 30 years at 31st Street and Yale Avenue.
e new spot “felt like home right away,” says co-owner Talitha Grether. She manages the store while her husband, Travis, the other co-owner (and the guy whose van license plate reads CLOCKDR), handles house calls. Both liked the idea of putting down roots on Route 66 and “to be a part of something growing,” she adds.
Talitha describes the store’s vibe as maximalism, or “making the most of the space you have, making it yours completely and carrying a theme all the way through.” Painted furniture and the matching wall color create the visual backdrop for the cacophony of constant ticking, chiming, music and cuckoo-ing.
Repairing clocks requires huge amounts of patience and skill. Both clockmakers and their sta work on clocks that someone’s Uncle Joe tried to x or another clock shop supposedly overhauled. “When you work on a clock that’s 100 years old, someone else has already worked on it,” she says.
Talitha’s favorite jobs are restoring clocks for people who inherited them. “ ose always come with a story — a memory of the one who had them rst,” she says.
Most replacement parts come from Germany, others from the U.S. and China; some they machine themselves. e store takes in about 100 jobs monthly — locally, statewide, from surrounding states or places as far away as Hawaii.
Today, the Grethers feel like they’ve built the store in the same way they decorated their home. “We’ve made such a lovely place for our friends to come and enjoy,” she says. tp
Hermle Pennington floor clock, $3,895.
Ballerina snow globe/music box, $55.
Black Forest Cuckoo Clock, $650.
Giveaway Date: June 23, 2024
Tickets on Sale Prize: Get your ticket by April 5 for a chance to win a $5,000 Moody’s Jewelry gift card, courtesy of Moody’s Jewelry.
Early Bird Prize: Get your ticket by April 26 for a chance to win a trip for two to the Country Music Awards in Nashville, TN including flight and hotel, courtesy of K95.5 and Broken Bow Records.
dreamhome.org 800-853-1470
Look around and blue is again — or perhaps always been — a popular color in home interiors. From chinoiserie vases and urns to navy accents on soft and hard surfaces, there seems to be a shade to suit just about everyone.
“Blues are a natural neutral within our interiors helping to blur the line between interior and exterior,” says Julia Kirkendall , owner of Kirkendall Design.
In 2024, leading paint companies Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams both chose shades of blue as their Color of the Year. Benjamin Moore’s Blue Nova is a hue with tones of violet and blue that make it a nice choice for front doors and cabinet accents.
Upward, which Sherwin Williams describes as a “breezy, blissful blue,” is a similar color to what Kirkendall chose for the cabinet in the above photograph. Built by Woodstock Cabinets in Tulsa, this feature piece is used to store and display a family’s heirloom collection of dishes. “We often like to add a punch of color to accent a special moment in a design,” Kirkendall says. — ANNE BROCKMAN
“Be well.”
at’s the greeting patients hear when they call Balanced Wellness. But that’s far from how clinic owner Jessi Brewer, a certi ed nurse practitioner and advanced practice registered nurse, felt in 2014. Brewer was working as a nurse practitioner in a community medicine clinic, with a 2-yearold and newborn at home, experiencing hormonal imbalance and the rigorous demands of a breastfeeding mother while trying to pump in-between patients. Life felt like a fog and the only medical options she seemed to hear were prescriptions that brought their own negative side e ects.
at’s when Brewer found functional
medicine, which focuses on the root cause of medical issues rather than just treating symptoms. When this approach addressed her own medical woes, Brewer — who has a degree in nutrition from Oklahoma State University and her master’s in nursing from e University of Oklahoma-Tulsa — had an awakening, realizing if she wasn’t receiving the best care, other women probably weren’t either.
“I had become very good at diagnosing and prescribing, but not looking at the root cause of what’s happening upstream,” Brewer says. “Like, this is a symptom and this is a Band-Aid for a symptom, but it’s not going to treat the cause of the symptom.”
DID YOU KNOW? Jessi Brewer, CNP, APRN, says all women should be strength training because, “we lose a very high percentage of muscle mass every decade.” Eating adequate protein and maintaining lean muscle mass can keep women strong as they age.
She decided to do something about it. Brewer started o small, getting an LLC and creating a website on a Sunday afternoon in 2019 with two kids in the background. She began seeing patients one day a week, practicing out of a room within another clinic. Now, ve years later, Brewer has her own clinic at 4146 S. Harvard Ave., Suite F6.
ough Balanced Wellness sees both male and female patients, the clinic has a special focus on treating women because of Brewer’s background in women’s health. “My typical patient age is teenage years through 80s. (I see) teenagers with period problems, women regarding fertility, postpartum anxiety, thyroid, perimenopausal.”
Brewer’s functional medicine practice is credentialed with insurance companies, which sets her apart from other clinics that are often cash only.
Another di erentiation is her approach to testing. “It’s important to get an assessment at the right time to get an accurate representation of the hormones,” says Brewer, who commonly utilizes micronutrient testing and saliva and urine testing, in addition to bloodwork, to put together a comprehensive and individual plan of care for each patient. “It’s important so you can personalize the plan. No two patients are the same.”
Whether it’s the patient Brewer diagnosed with a pituitary tumor after she’d been misdiagnosed by previous physicians as having ovarian cysts, or the hundreds of other patients who come to Brewer trying to get out of the never-ending symptom-to-prescription cycle, Brewer is making a di erence. “I don’t think I’m doing anything groundbreaking here. I’m listening to patients and doing things that make common sense,” says Brewer, who spends one hour with new patients, and 30-45 minutes with established patients. “I want to treat others the way I wanted to be treated. It’s the ultimate golden rule.”
Visit balancedwellness.health to book an appointment or learn more about Balanced Wellness. tp
Iknow what’s missing in my life. Ladies-in-waiting!
I don’t have any and I need some.
I realized this when I mended a hole in a sweater. reading the needle was the rst hurdle. Needles used to be bigger.
When I nished sewing and held up my work for a proud look, I was shocked. I used to sew with tiny, mincing stitches. is job looked like a bird’s track.
Sewing used to be easier.
So did climbing stairs. And hearing the dialogue on television.
Before engaging in this deft needlework, I was reading an absorbing biography of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Queen Anne had lots of ladies-in-waiting. So did Queen Katherine of Aragon and Queen Claude of France. Depending on how their fortunes were fairing, they had a handful, or 50, or even more. Plus, young maids of honor.
(Aside: e book is “Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage at Shook Europe.” It’s by husband-and-wife historians John Guy and Julia Fox , applauded for its “groundbreaking, fresh research.” Rightly so. Not only is it one of the most thoroughly researched books I’ve read, the style is engaging and the story has everything: lust, betrayal, paranoia and deadly politics. It’s all true. Plus, it’s history and not today’s news.)
(Aside to the aside: I used to be able to tell a story straight through from beginning to end without detours and asides.)
I had just come to a part where Queen Anne was interviewing a lady-in-waiting candidate to be Lady of the read with expertise in sewing silk.
“ at’s it!” I exclaimed, frightening the cat dozing on my lap. I need a Lady of the read (except of wool) to mend the sweater.
And then I need to call for a Lady of the Computer to download the troublesome Dropbox and watch for incoming scams. Where are the ladies in charge of replacing uorescent lights and taking the car for an oil change? Of course, I’ll have Ladies of the Privy Chamber and Ladies of the Bedchamber and they will be responsible for bed linen and minding my wardrobe, but I’ll also have a lady-in-waiting monitoring spam calls.
Paraphrasing King Henry II complaining about Archbishop omas Becket, I will call out, “Will someone not rid me of this troublesome detritus?” and the Lady of Clutter will scurry in and tidy up drawers and cabinets.
roughout history, queens, princesses and women of noble birth had ladies-inwaiting to help them. Servants did the ordinary chores. Ladies-in-waiting were from a higher social rank. eir service was
the equivalent of a profession. Customarily they were not paid a salary, but sometimes they received generous gifts. Queen Victoria gave one of her young maids of honor a wedding gift equivalent to $170,000 in today’s U.S. currency. Usually, though, they served as a courtesy. ey considered it an honor.
I’m going with the courtesy/honor pay scale. Free.
When I think about the word “waiting,” it is weighted with negative connotations. Oh, as a teenager and young woman the agony of waiting for the phone to ring or for someone to ask me to dance or for the job o er to come. (Aside: Sometimes that never happened.)
By de nition, “wait” means to stay in one place, doing little until someone arrives or something happens. We wait in line, we wait until our name is called, we wait for the mail, we wait for the meeting to begin, we wait until Christmas. We wait around, we wait our turn, we wait and see, we wait in the wings, we hurry up and wait, we wait for the other shoe to drop, we wait on someone hand-and-foot, we’re cautioned to just wait and see, we wait for dust to settle until nally we simply can’t wait any longer.
As for me, I believe good things come to those who wait. I’m waiting — with bated breath — for my courtesy ladies-inwaiting. tp
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CELEBR A T E TH E 17 1 S T AN N IV E R S A R Y OF S T E IN W A Y & SON S
WI T H L O W IN T ER E S T FO R T H REE F ULL Y E A R S .
fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , v isi t s t e i n wa ypianos co m
STEINWAY PIANO GALLERY
3402 S. Peoria Ave. Tulsa, Ok 75105
T E L (918) 516-1853
WWW.STEINWAYPIANOS.COM
* C a n n o t b e c o m b i n e d w i t h a n y o t h e r o e r O e r i s s u b j e c t t o c r e di t a pp r o v a l
TULSA
Noche is everything you would want a downtown Mexican restaurant to be. It’s fun, irty, busy, loud. Walking in, you’re greeted with bright colors, neon signs and letterboards. We were sold on the energy before the rst bite.
Noche Wood red Grill and Agave Bar meets all the expectations that have been swirling around it since its announcement. Chef Sheamus Feeley’s concept is a perfect t on the rst oor of the Vast Bank building, and the spacious location allows plenty of room for a full house. Feeley collaborated with Noche’s chef de cuisine Marco Herrera to create a menu that honors traditional Mexican cuisine by showing o great regional avors with some surprises and details only the best chefs could pull o .
Shortly after being seated, we were served an amuse-bouche of pureed black beans with arbol chile and toasted sesame seeds. Served with a few tortilla chips, this was a nice rst bite and taste of the balance of avor achieved in each dish here.
Noche is not a “complimentary chips and salsa” kind of Mexican restaurant. is is upscale Mexican dining with a focus on grilled meats and complex avor.
But you’ll nd a few familiar Mexican dishes on this menu, including a queso for starters that shouldn’t be missed. Hazel’s Crushed Tamale Queso is a rich queso loaded with avor from crushed chile-cheese tamales and roasted jalapenos. It’s served with thick, crisp tortilla chips and Sonoranstyle sour our tortillas.
Other appetizers include an ahi and avocado tostada with sesame seeds and black tru es, chiles and cilantro, and a shrimp aguachile with avocado, cucumber, radish and serrano pepper.
e wood red fajitas at Noche are superior to many restaurant fajitas that are mostly sizzle and not much avor. Load up the Sonoran-style tortillas with either marinated chicken, New York strip, shrimp,
pecan-smoked mushrooms or pecan-smoked short ribs and top with soft white Mexican cheese, guacamole, roasted jalapenos, smoky onions, pickled vegetables and crema.
We really liked the Yucatan-style pork shoulder. A spicy avocado-tomatillo sauce is served on the tender pork. Another great dish is the guajillo-braised short rib. We loved this dish that, like many things on the menu, seems straightforward but is a wonderful surprise of layers of avor and complexity. e short rib is broken down in the braising process, and avors are built upon each other, beginning with the guajillo peppers. Each bite of the short rib — placed on sweet potato puree with tajin-spiced roasted Brussels sprouts and chile oil — is perfection.
For a great meatless dish, there’s cheese enchiladas. e slightly smoky avor of the guajillo-ancho sauce, combined with heady Parmesan, made these a standout.
Other entrees include mushroom tamales, seared trout, beef tenderloin and Barbacoastyle lamb shank. Pollo a la Brasa — a citrus-marinated chicken cooked over pecan wood — is served with aji verde, a Peruvian pepper sauce inspired by Feeley’s time living in Peru.
Beverage Manager Luis Alfredo
Aguilera Hernandez has created a special cocktail and agave menu. Margaritas range from sweeter versions made with simple syrup, to less sweet and heavily citrused, to a spicy marg with an added habanero puree. One of the best ways to get a full taste of Noche’s bar menu is with an agave ight showcasing four styles of tequila, mezcal, raicilla and sotol.
Bar seating is open each night, though it tends to ll fast. Otherwise, a reservation is recommended. tp
MARCH 16
SHAM-ROCK BASH
Noon-11 p.m. • Cabin Boys Brewery, 1717 E. Seventh St. • cabinboysbrewery.com
New beer releases, yard games and live Irish music and dancing
SHAMROCK THE ROSE
5-10 p.m. • Broken Arrow Rose District • facebook.com/shamrocktherose
Food trucks, live music, kids zone and more
MARCH 17
ST. PATRICK’S DAY BLOCK PARTY
Opens at 11 a.m. • Kilkenny’s, 1413 E. 15th St. • tulsairishpub.com
Mingle on Cherry Street at this annual block party.
68TH ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY AT ARNIE’S
10 a.m.-11 p.m. • Second Street and Elgin Avenue, outside the Blue Dome building • arniesbar.com
Live Irish music starts at noon with food trucks and more under the downtown lights.
MCNELLIE’S
Opens at 10 a.m. • 409 E. First St. • mcnellies.com
A weeklong celebration culminates with a block party with the Guiness Gig Rig and more.
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day make this easy bread with a nice crust and subtle sweetness. It’s good eaten as a snack with tea, sliced for a sandwich or slathered with butter for breakfast. Serving with an orange butter makes it even better. is bread stays fresh at room temperature, tightly wrapped in foil, for about two days. You can also keep it fresh in the refrigerator for about a week. — NATALIE MIKLES
4 cups all-purpose our
1 stick butter, softened
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon melted butter
In a large bowl combine our, softened butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk and egg, stirring just until moistened. Add more buttermilk if needed to make a soft dough. Stir in the raisins.
Turn the dough onto a lightly oured surface and knead gently for 1 minute. Shape into a round loaf, and place on a baking sheet. (Dough will be a little sticky.) Use a sharp knife to cut a half-inch X in the top of the dough.
Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown and done in the middle. Brush with melted butter.
Note: Soda bread is also great when baked in a small cast-iron skillet — just follow the same baking instructions.
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon honey
Combine all ingredients with an electric mixer or in a food processor. Shape into a log to easily slice later. Wrap in plastic wrap, then place in refrigerator until rm, about 1 hour. Or, serve in a shallow dish at room temperature. tp
A wonderful little gem has opened in Jenks at 610 W. Main St. Patisserie by Sheila Anne is a neighborhood bakery with the heart of both a French pastry shop and an American bakery.
You’ll find wonderful French delicacies like croissants, pâte á choux and puff pastry with almond cream, but also American classics like cherry pie, coconut cream pie, carrot cake and cinnamon rolls.
This has been a labor of love for Sheila Dills
She imports many ingredients from France and has spent years perfecting her recipes. Croissants are properly laminated, and cakes are frosted with an eagle eye.
With a bronze rolling pin for a door handle, even the front door is inviting, teasing at all the buttery bakes and whipped wonders that await within.
MIKLES
Barbecue and Mexican — two of the most popular styles of cooking in Oklahoma — have come together for a mashup of flavor. You might have heard it referred to as “Mexi-cue.” But that doesn’t quite paint the full picture of what’s happening at Flo’s Smokehouse Eats, 2204 E. 11th St. This is super flavorful, highly visual food. The sauces, ingredients and toppings sometimes have an excessive or over-the-top feeling, but that’s part of the appeal at Flo’s.
You see some of this at Flo’s Burger Diner, and owner Brandy Adkins took note of trends and buzz-worthy food to recently open Flo’s Smokehouse Eats just down the road from her burger joint.
There’s the Mexi-Q Melt with chopped brisket, warm queso, pico and grilled onions; the street tacos on homemade corn tortillas with carne asada, brisket, pork or chicken with cotija cheese; the elote corn in a cup with crema, mayo, lime, cotija cheese and cilantro; the loaded fries with smoked meat, queso, pico de gallo and guacamole; and so much more, including burritos, a bologna steak sandwich and breakfast options.
One of our favorites is the birria grilled cheese served melty and mouthwatering on crispy bread perfect for dipping in the au jus.
MIKLES
American Solera, 1702 E. Sixth St., well-known for its unique and envelope-pushing brewing techniques, is at it again with a new addition to the menu — wine.
“I got into beer-making because I thought wine just took too long,” says Chase Healey, who co-founded the popular local brewery with his wife, Erica. “(But when) we started making beers that take just as long as wine it was like, well, we’re using grapes in our beers. We should just make wine.”
Adding a crusher, press and smaller tanks to the brewery’s infrastructure, Healey also partnered with Field Recordings in Paso Robles, California, to get ideas about working with the grapes, and even has grapes and juice shipped to him.
Healey’s wine is spontaneously fermented, which utilizes fewer chemicals in the production process and results in a more natural product.
“All fermentation in our wines comes from the natural yeast that lives on the grape skins,” he says, adding they’re OK with the higher acid content and slightly funkier flavors. “We’re used to that with the different beers we produce and the different wild yeasts we’re working with.”
They just released a rosé blend of Valdiguié grapes, grown on the Central Coast of California, and Vidal Blanc grapes, grown in Oklahoma.
“It’s not necessarily for everyone. If you’re interested in really interesting wines and bright wines that are easy to enjoy with food, that’s the goal,” he says. —
TOM GILBERT
When a hankering for steak frites calls, these 3 restaurants answer.BY NATALIE MIKLES
Perhaps no one in Tulsa does steak frites better than FRENCH HEN. That classic combination of a tender steak and crispy fries is perfection at Tulsa’s grand dame of French cooking. Owner Kathy Bondy gets it just right — as she does everything on the menu — starting with a prime New York strip. A brandy peppercorn sauce served with it is so good you’ll want to dredge your French fries through it as well. 319 E. Archer St. • 918-492-2596 • frenchhentulsa.com
POLO GRILL does cozy elegance so very well, and a great example of its simple, signature sophistication is the steak frites. Here you’ll find this dish on the lunch menu, perfectly portioned for midday. The 7-ounce New York strip is well-seasoned and comes with hand-cut crisp fries. All you’ll need to add is a glass of red. 2038 Utica Square • 918-744-4280 • pologrill.com
PRHYME has a wonderful, but richer, version of the classic steak frites. Rather than a strip steak, Prhyme uses a 6-ounce filet and then tops it with a bearnaise sauce. French green beans are served on the side. We love this interpretation, especially for the sauce, which is good on the steak, the fries, the green beans ... in fact, can we have a side of bearnaise to go? 111 N. Main St. • 918-794-7700 • prhymetulsa.com tp
Pasta, pizza and Parmesan — oh my! According to the 2023 A-LIST Readers’ Choice Awards, these are local favorites when it comes to tasting fresh Italian fare in Tulsa.
MONDO’S RISTORANTE ITALIANO
3534 S. Peoria Ave. 918-561-6300 • mondositalian.com
TI AMO RISTORANTE ITALIANO
6024 S. Sheridan Road, Suite A; 918-499-1919
219 S. Cheyenne Ave.; 918-592-5151 tiamotulsa.com
DALESANDRO’S ITALIAN CUISINE
1742 S. Boston Ave. 918-582-1551 • dalesandros.com
GAMBILL’S PASTARIA AND GROCERY
1921 S. Harvard Ave. tulsapasta.com
VILLA RAVENNA FINE DINING
6526 E. 51st St., Suite A 918-270-2666 • villaravenna.com
Gambill’s Pastaria and Grocery
In mid-November restaurateur Johnna Hayes opened Bird and Bottle for weekend brunch. “It started off with a bang and hasn’t stopped since,” she says.
Brunch-goers are treated to a menu of elevated classics created by executive chef Manny Mendez . Dishes like burrata avocado toast and espresso mousse pancakes have been instant favorites. Hayes says diners are surprised and excited to see dishes like shakshouka — a dish of roasted peppers, onion, garlic, tomato, parsley, avocado and poached eggs — next to other breakfast delights such as an egg and duck flatbread, waffle and plantains, or lobster benedict.
A creative cocktail menu only adds to the fun of brunch at Bird and Bottle. There’s the Hound Dog, featuring peanut-butter-banana-bacon bourbon, pineapple and prosecco, and Barbie’s Bloody Mary, which is garnished with curry shrimp. Mimosas and bellinis are also crowd-pleasers.
Hayes, a 2023 James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalist, and her team at Three Sirens Restaurant Group know brunch. The company’s Bramble locations have become synonymous with award-winning dishes popular among Tulsans.
“Brunch is a nice time to relax and take your time to enjoy a meal,” Hayes says. “It’s usually with friends, with some sort of celebratory vibe. It seems to be the most fun meal, for sure!” —
ANNE BROCKMAN
1816
LUNCH STAPLE Queenies’ tomato tart is a popular menu item featuring roasted and deliciously burst tomatoes atop a layer of caramelized onions and cheddar. The sprinkling of fresh basil gives it an extra pop of flavor. Have the tart by itself, or served alongside a cup of soup, fruit or salad.
CHALKBOARD SPECIALS Don’t forget to check out the chalkboard specials. Each day new creations inspired by the season are plated to please diners from breakfast all the way to dinner.
SWEET TREAT Skipping the dessert counter at Queenies might be a sin. Along with tarts and pies, there are cakes by the slice or whole, as well as a smattering of cookies and bars. Our favorites include the key lime bar, strawberry cream cake, and the triple chocolate and pecan cookie. tp
Over two decades before the city of Tulsa was established, a group of Pennsylvania railroad men-turned-oil-entrepreneurs founded the Enterprise Transit Co. Initially the company assisted with the transportation of the oil but then expanded into exploration, production and re ning.
In 1908, a subsidiary of Enterprise Transit called Kewanee Oil and Gas Co. was formed to maintain a heightened focus on the oil industry as a whole.
By 1915, Kewanee Oil Co. — named after the town in Illinois where the board of directors rst met — purchased its rst land leases in Oklahoma and established a production o ce in Tulsa. Unknown to them at the time, their most successful wells were about to be drilled nearby in Osage County.
After 37 years of success in Tulsa, the company announced the construction of a new three-story o ce building on the southeast corner of 14th Street and Boulder Avenue in 1952. e company’s headquarters remained in Philadelphia, but its latest operating location would be a modern masterpiece for its time.
Despite being only three oors above ground, the foundation itself was constructed to support an additional 12 oors, in case they were needed for future development. e building was set back from the street to allow for landscaping by landscape architect C. Burton Fox who designed the Tulsa Rose Garden.
Above the building’s entrance, a large stone panel depicts a scene of an active Kewanee oil well site. e stone frieze was
created by famed Tulsa sculptor Louis Terebesy who started his career as a Works Progress Administration artist during the Depression, sculpting art deco buildings in Chicago.
Amongst other amenities within the building, each o ce had a thermostat for temperature control. e cooling towers located on the rooftop were strategically concealed and in turn became a canvas to advertise the company’s name and insignia.
Kewanee occupied o ces at the location until 1972 when the building was sold. (Kewanee Oil was purchased by Gulf Oil in 1977). e building was home to a variety of owners over the following decades and remains an active o ce building today. tp
CIALOMA