‘Tis the season for Will’s Country Christmas BY TOM FINK
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ovember, 2021: Christmas, more than any other time of the year, is a season for homecomings and a time for family traditions. As the Yuletide season approaches, so do holiday traditions and the opportunity for generations young and old to make memories. A seasonal tradition and Rogers County favorite will be returning to Oologah again this year, with the chance to experience the Christmas season as it was during the time of Will Rogers at the Will’s Country Christmas celebration. “This will be our seventh year to host this event, and it’s one that’s really grown in attendance over the last couple of years,’’ said Tad Jones, Will Rogers Memorial Museums executive director. “Even last year, when many usual Christmas events and activities were canceled (due to the pandemic), we held ours and had record crowds. It really turned out well for us, and everyone who came truly enjoyed themselves, so we
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wanted to bring that back again, as it’s becoming something of a tradition for many families.” Named in honor of famed Oklahoma actor/author/ broadcaster Will Rogers, Will’s Country Christmas is a seasonal celebration as it might have been held during the heyday of Will himself, giving friends, couples, and families in attendance the chance to peek into yesteryear, and what Christmas might have been like during the simpler times of the late 19th century. Many of last year’s favorites will be returning again this year, Jones said. “Some of the returning favorites this year will include a shooting gallery, a Wild West hay ride, storytelling, kids crafts and 19th century games, carriage rides, a
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Christmas-themed Wild West shootout, music, pictures with Santa at the Birthplace, which, like admission, will be free and more,” he said. “We want to emphasize that this is very much a ‘family friendly’ event, so parents of very young children have nothing to worry about, as far as appropriateness goes, especially with regards to the ‘shootout’,” he said. “When we came up with the idea for Will’s Country Christmas, it was when we’d heard that Dry Gulch was going to be going away,
