Can’t decide what you’re in the mood to do this evening?  How about ordering pizza to the bar and watching the playoffs with fellow sports fanatics? Or heading to a music venue that has hosted such luminaries as the late, great blues legend T-Model Ford? Perhaps just a classy cocktail on the patio is more your game, or pulling up a bar stool and sampling a selection of local Oklahoma brews.

Regardless of your fancy, you can pick your poison at Oklahoma City’s 51st Street Speakeasy. Tucked on a tiny side street off Western Avenue’s main drag, this historic house-turned-bar and restaurant makes “something for everybody” a reality rather than a cute turn of phrase. Join the crowds in the main rooms to mingle, or head upstairs for a more relaxed atmosphere, complete with comfy vintage couches. Fans of Oklahoma’s COOP brewery offerings will especially be interested in visiting the establishment – the brewery’s operations are set up right next door. The small cover charges on the weekend are worth the price of the atmosphere, the wide selection of drinks and the convenience of two bars. 1114 NW 51st St., Oklahoma City. www.51stspeakeasy.com       

Among the recently established restaurants in Oklahoma City that specialize in farm-to-table fare, Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar has thrown in its hat. Originally established in Plano, Texas, this American-as-bourbon establishment boasts a formidable example of its namesake: a toffee torte cake with whiskey, spiced pecans and whipped cream. But despite the quaint feel of the name, don’t be fooled. While traditional Southern fare is on the table, like fried green tomatoes and pulled-pork sliders, Whiskey Kitchen offers some non-conventional options for more adventurous diners, including pork belly ramen, smoked duck with quinoa and the edamame-and-mushroom burger. There is a wealth of drink options from which to choose, including some based around local ingredients, such as the Tracy’s Garden cocktail with locally grown basil. Other parts of the drink menu have a distinctly New Orleans flair, including the mint julep, the Sazerac and the Vieux Carré. 1845 Northwest Expressway, Oklahoma City. www.whiskeycakeokc.com

Take every ageist stereotype you know about senior citizens. Now take those stereotypes, wad them up into a little ball and throw them in the trash.

It’s from this starting point that we need to look at the “winter” of life.

Who says that growing older means slowing down? Of course, there are the inevitabilities that come with age as Mother Nature and Father Time run their courses on the physical, but when one moves beyond aesthetics in this youth-obsessed society we inhabit, it’s important to consider this: Do we choose to let the mind focus on all the stuff we have no control of, or do we roll with the punches, make the most out of our situations and keep our spirits timeless, ageless and full of gratitude for each and every day we are given?

The latter sounds like a whole lot more fun, doesn’t it?

Recent research shows that having a more positive attitude – being optimistic, easygoing, extroverted and laughing more – can play a role in living a longer, healthier life. Positive people are happier people, and we all know what happiness does for the heart.

What better way to stay young at heart than to keep on keepin’ on – both mentally and physically – getting the body moving, traveling, learning, trying new things and doing what you love?

Whether decades away or dancing on the brink, we’re all getting older, so listen up, and take notes, because these very active senior Oklahomans are sure to inspire the notion that it’s not how long you live, but how intensely you live while appreciating your life and living it to the fullest.

Stay Busy Having Fun

Bob and Bonnie White can tell you a thing or two about keeping busy.

Married for 59 years, the Whites, both 79, are always going someplace and doing something. Whether with their involvement in their church activities, sports or own separate interests, the key to their success as a happy, healthy couple lies in the fact that they keep busy and have fun together in the process.  

“We have always taken an active interest in one another’s activities. I quilt, and he enjoys that. He likes the colors and the fabrics and the patterns I put together and always helps me with things that need to be done, and I’ve always been really supportive of his weight lifting and baseball,” Bonnie says.

Bob, who has always been athletic, even coached a women’s softball league that Bonnie played on from when she was 47 to 70 years old.

When Bob started a gym in their garage to get physically conditioned, Bonnie was on board, and since then, Bob has become a competitive weight lifter (winning fourth place in his age group at a recent competition in Italy) and coach.

Bonnie stresses the importance of being supportive of what your partner’s interests are, even if it’s something that you wouldn’t normally have anything to do with.

 “I wouldn’t go to anyone else’s meets, but when it’s Bob, I’m there front row cheering him on. That’s what you have to do. Just because I don’t participate in it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it or enjoy watching him do it,” she says.  

“Being active as a couple keeps life fun and interesting. It’s important to have lots of interests and enjoy the company of other people. I think that’s what too many people don’t do. People get older and they think, ‘Oh I’ve worked all my life and now I just want to sit around and do nothing,’ but once you start sitting in that chair and start watching TV, in a few months, you can’t do anything else. So you better stay active the older you get.”

Nurture the Mind and Body

Nancy Blankenship, 78, says that her lifestyle changed about 10 years ago when she realized how much time she was wasting watching TV, and making the decision to stop watching TV left her more time to read.

Just like life is continuous, the learning process should be continuous, as well. A wise person once said that if you stop learning, you stop living, which in turns implies that to keep seeking knowledge is to continue to elevate your life above the usual.

Taking her love of reading up a notch, Blankenship’s higher education experience has turned into a lifelong crusade at Oklahoma City University where she has taken one class every semester for the past 26 years, including “Women in America: Twentieth Century” this fall.

Although she attended college in her youth, she couldn’t wait to get out, and it wasn’t until her daughter was in medical school that she decided to make her return to the classroom.

“The reason I did was because I heard a religion professor speak at our church, and he knew things the rest of us Methodists did not know. He made me want to learn all about all of that. Then I became a Unitarian,” Blankenship says.

Although a self-proclaimed former shy person, it’s been her years back in college that has turned her into one of the most outspoken students in her classes. Now always one of the first to speak up, it has been easy for her to make friends with both students and professors.

“My grandchildren are the ages of these kids, so it isn’t hard for me to relate to them,” she explains.

“It usually just takes a couple of weeks before they are comfortable with me and treat me just like one of them. I dress pretty much like they do, except not short shorts in hot weather. Mostly, I wear jeans or spiff up a bit more on occasion. Being more casual in dress puts everyone on a more level playing field, and it says, ‘Hey, we’re all in this together.’ It helps dissolve differences.”

Working in sync with keeping the mind active and healthy through proactive learning, keeping the body active and healthy through diet and exercise is a no brainer way to keep those endorphins flowing.  

Contrary to popular belief, research is showing that getting physically weaker and less mentally alert are not inevitable side effects of aging, but rather, they stem from inactive lifestyles.

Breaking the misconception that you have to slow down when you get older (and putting the average person, young or middle-aged, to shame), Darrell Creamer, 75, gets up at 5 a.m. and opens the St. John Siegfried Health Club in Tulsa at 5:30, exercising at least four days a week.

He started running when he was 34 years old without ever having been in sports and later transitioned into a dedicated rower, both competitively and noncompetitively, when he was 50 years old.

He says that in high school he always wanted to be a rower, and now that he is older, his workouts predominately involve the rowing machine.  

“I love the physical and psychological feeling it gives me. Exercise is soothing. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something, especially when you get older. I take very good care of myself. I’ll be exercising until I die,” Creamer says.

“Even more, I think that nutrition is much more important than exercise. I encourage people to read the lifestyle book, The Great Cholesterol Myth. It will change your life.”

After two major heart attacks – one in 2008 and one this past December, where he spent 42 days in the hospital – he attributes his survival and ongoing recovery to taking care of himself and working to stay in shape.

During the 17 days he was unconscious in intensive care, Creamer had a spiritual, out-of-body experience that gave him a fresh, newfound perspective on life.

After staying away from church for more than 55 years, he came to wanting to devote the rest of his life to serving God, and ever since, faithfully attends church and focuses only on what’s important.

“I have a 17-day hole in my life. I don’t remember one single thing. I was gone. When I woke up, I woke up a different person,” he explains.

“I don’t worry about anything anymore. People worry too much about things they can’t do anything about. I came to realize that I have a really good life. I’m financially secure, I’ve got a fabulous wife and great kids and grandkids, and I’m going to enjoy it all. I don’t worry about anything I can’t change. Nothing.”

Do What You Love

Continuing to follow your passions and do what you love throughout the course of your life has the ability to enable a feeling of ageless evolvement.

Bill Pahdocony has been an athlete his entire life and says, without hesitation, “I don’t feel old in my head. I’m a lot younger than my years indicate.”

Having played basketball and baseball in high school, the 76-year-old has since been bowling and golfing for the past 50 years.

His ongoing love of competition is strong, and he says that he’s always enjoyed the competition of sports and likes to compete against anyone, regardless of whether or not they are younger than him.

“If one hones his skills well enough then he can be competitive at any age. They may not throw the ball nearly as hard as they once could, but if they’re willing to be active, they can still score well based on accuracy and focus. Like, I may not be able to hit the ball as I used to, but I can still hit it straight. You don’t need to compete with anyone but yourself,” he explains.

Pahdocony plays golf and bowls in two leagues, practicing often to stay sharp on his skills. He and his daughter have placed as mixed doubles bowling partners in the National Senior Olympic multiple times.

Through competitions he and his family have had the opportunity to travel all over the country together, and the time they spend on “bowling vacations” is what he says he enjoys most.

“We stay close as a family unit and I believe very strongly in that. We enjoy the competition, and there’s no blame on anyone’s part if we have a bad day. As long as you do your best you can’t ask for anything more than that,” he says.

A former Oklahoma Poet Laureate, Fran Ringold, 79, is an author of prose, poetry and plays and has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry for more than 35 years.

Once juggling at least four things at a time daily, she finds herself doing more like two things at a time these days, but she doesn’t see this as needing to slow down so much as needing to maintain focus.

She sees her role as a writer as being a part of tradition – the past and the present – with hopes to give something to the future. 

“When I write I make discoveries. Those discoveries and the ultimate feeling that I’ve completed something after a great deal of revision – that’s energizing,” she says.

Ringold believes that the best years of life are every year of being alive, with each being filled with something special, from the birth of children to the birth of ideas.

As far as aging, she says that although she is unsure of whether or not she could say she’s embracing it, she has come to terms with the inevitabilities: “even the wrinkles,” she says.

“There comes a time when you look into the mirror and you know that you are not ‘the fairest of them all.’ But hell, it’s too time-consuming and expensive to try to fulfill that one. And it’s okay. I exercise. I eat right. Pretty good for almost 80, and 80 is sounding like a pleasant new era. After all, my mother died when she was 38 and my father when he was 56. How lucky can I get?” she explains.

“There is no need to moan about what we have lost or what we are not doing in the present or towards the future. We are living now!”

Already the sixth largest producer of wind energy in the country, up two spots from 2011, Oklahoma’s moving forward again. With success in the wind power sector showing up faster than originally anticipated, the state’s in a position to take a lucrative step toward growing it again. In July, two wind power interests, Renewable Energy Systems America and Energy Renewable North America, announced plans to build two large wind farms in Oklahoma, both pursuing a singular mission: contributing not just to Oklahoma’s energy supply, but also exporting power out of state.

Wind energy accounts for a bit over seven percent of the state’s power. No doubt it would be more, but hiccups with the math and technology stalled earlier wind energy efforts. Those have been, and continue to be, overcome. One tough obstacle to the use of wind energy is the ability to distribute it effectively. Getting that energy on the state’s grid is not easy. It’s a widely recognized tenet of doing business in the wind energy sector that putting together transmission abilities takes much longer than the construction of the wind farms themselves.

On track to be the second largest producer of wind power by 2030, the powers that be, business and governmental, are looking to open new markets that will keep Oklahoma on the path to reaching that 2030 goal. The first steps toward that goal came in July, when Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES Americas), a British company, announced plans to use its Origin Wind Energy Project to sell 150 megawatts to the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC).

The Origin Wind Energy Project, located in Murray and Carter counties in southeast Oklahoma, is a 75-turbine project scheduled to begin commercial operation by the end of next year. The AECC, for now, will be the sole recipient of its output.

Spanish company EDP Renewables North America (EDP) plans to use its Arbuckle Mountain wind project to export 100 megawatts to Nebraska’s Lincoln Electric System. This wind farm is expected to be online by the end of 2015.

“We are delighted to work with the AECC,” said Tom Hiester, senior vice president of development with RES Americas. “This purchase demonstrates the AECC’s forward-looking approach to diversifying their portfolio, as well as their understanding of the economic benefits that long-term, low-priced wind energy contracts offer to their members.”

The AECC is a consortium of 17 distribution cooperatives providing electricity to more than 50,000 customers in Arkansas and surrounding states. The AECC’s groundbreaking agreement was also made possible with the efforts of the National Renewables Cooperative Organization (NRCO), an organization enabling cooperatives nationwide to pool the ownership and benefits of renewable resources. The group’s primary mission is the facilitation of the development and acquisition of cost-effect renewable energy assets that assist its members with the diversification of their energy resource portfolios.

“The NRCO is pleased that Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation has contracted for additional wind resources,” said Amadou Fall, CEO of NRCO. “NRCO members continue to diversify by including renewable generating capacity. They are doing so economically.”

“The latest addition of 150 megawatts of low-cost wind energy provides AECC with a hedge against fluctuating natural gas energy prices,” said Duane Highley, president and chief executive officer of AECC, a Little Rock-based wholesale electricity supplier. “AECC will have 201 megawatts of wind energy in its generation assets with this addition. We will continue to pursue energy options that allow AECC’s member cooperatives to provide reliable electricity at the lowest possible cost.”

Lincoln Electric’s CEO Kevin Wailes points to an important economic consideration working to the advantage of wind energy producers. At least a portion of the incentive behind his 20-year contract with EDP is a function of the federal production tax credit extension. The same extensions benefit RES-America’s bottom line, and will boost, over the lifetime of the credits, the profitability of native Oklahoma energy companies exploring or implementing wind energy production, as well. Figuring in tax credits and depreciation, a majority of wind power generators will recover the costs of their initial investments in about eight years.

The Federal Energy Commission’s recent announcement that 2012 saw more wind energy development in America than in any other nation comes as no surprise. It was anticipated. Oklahoma’s wind energy producers are probably less surprised than the general public. Larger Oklahoman producers added just over 1,100 megawatts during 2012.

That kicks the state’s production up by more than half with a grand total of 3,100 megawatts – enough to power 780,000 homes. Kylah McNabb, renewable energy specialist at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, notes that while the state added no new wind generation this year, there are roughly 500 megawatts in projects under construction and she hopes for them to be generating power by the end of 2014.

The western half of Oklahoma sits squarely near the end of America’s “wind tunnel,” a stretch of land with endpoints in North Dakota and the Texas panhandle. A significant portion of America’s best wind resources are located in western Oklahoma. By most estimates, the state, with an aggressive pursuit of wind power, could eventually provide enough energy to power one third of the country.

With this many wind farms under construction, Oklahoma Commerce Department officials are positioning the state as a center for the manufacturing of the turbines and towers necessary for their productions. In response, many state technical education facilities are ramping up programs to train and certify workers with specialties benefiting the industry. Tribes are getting in on the action, as well. The Cherokee, Kaw, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee and Ponca nations have plans to develop a medium-sized wind farm on Cherokee lands.

America’s dependence on fossil fuels won’t come to an end anytime soon, but with an explosion in wind development, Oklahoma is set to remain a leader in the energy industry well into the future.

It was once the neighborhood of oil barons, business owners and city founders. At its apex, Brady Heights – which sits just north of downtown along Cheyenne and Denver avenues – was the neighborhood where the wealthiest put down roots and put up walls. But as Tulsa expanded south and east, so went the stylish neighborhoods; Brady Heights, Tulsa’s first and once-regal neighborhood, fell into disrepair.

“Blight isn’t even the word for it. I would say that 20 percent of the homes were abandoned; another 10 percent were boarded up. There were prostitutes, slum lords,” says Tim Williams, who purchased his first home in the neighborhood in 1980. Since that purchase, Williams has bought and restored at least 13 properties in Brady Heights.

Also in 1980, the National Register of Historic Places put Brady Heights on its list due to the neighborhood’s unique and historically significant architecture; it was the first Tulsa neighborhood to receive this designation. Streets are lined with Victorian, American Foursquare, Bungalow and Craftsman homes. Newer homes have been built on lots where older properties were razed, and they, too, are built to mimic the historic construction of the older homes in the eclectic neighborhood. The designation seemed to stop the neighborhood’s decline. Williams and a few other property owners formed a neighborhood association and partnered with city officials and the Tulsa Police Department to clean up the crime-ridden neighborhood.

Brady Heights began its steady climb out of disrepair that was propelled by the redevelopment of downtown Tulsa. “Once downtown started its rebirth, it really affected Brady Heights in a positive way,” says Williams. “(City officials) started talking about the plans, and people are going, ‘Hey, (Brady Heights) is a place where you can afford to have a spectacular house close to downtown.’ That was kind of the impetus of the younger crowd moving into the neighborhood.”

And now Brady Heights is ready to show off. The biennial Brady Heights Historic Home Tour will take place Sept. 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ten of the neighborhood’s homes and its three churches will be open for touring. “What’s cool about the home tour is that we try to get houses that are historic that are original and restored; houses that are in transition, in the process of restoration; and the infill houses that are historically appropriate to the neighborhood. It’s fun to see how different houses that appeal to different people,” says Williams. The tour will also include the famed mansion of the infamous Tate Brady.

Tickets for the home tour are $9 each or $24 for families and can be purchased at the start of the tour at Centenary United Methodist Church, 636 N. Denver Ave. Proceeds benefit the Brady Heights Neighborhood Association’s cultural and social projects. For more information, visit the association’s website at www.bradyheights.org.

More than anything, the Hispanic Chamber is the bridge between the Hispanic business community and the general business community. We serve as liaisons between the two, facilitating communication, identifying business opportunities and facilitating cultural and business understanding to both. We provide informational resources and guidance to small business owners. We assist them with all areas of establishing their business, serving as the bridge between them and the City of Tulsa and its different departments. We also provide educational opportunities through the Small Business Academy, and we provide all the opportunity for exposure and networking through our luncheons and other networking events.

Since I have been involved with the Hispanic community, I have seen the growth from the mom-and-pop small store to the [store that has] multiple locations across town and even across the state. Business owners are savvier about their business; as they grow, they like to invest in new ventures. We now have many very successful business owners who have several businesses, varying in type and size, with several real estate investments on the side.

The Hispanic Chamber is working to establish better relationships with the City of Tulsa, but we still have work to do. If entities such as the City of Tulsa created bilingual positions, it would make the process smoother for so many. More than anything, the political climate must change. (The Hispanic community is) not invisible, and yet politicians act as though we are. Look at the latest political campaigns: Not one advertisement has been made in Spanish, and (candidates) have failed to consistently reach out to the community. Politicians rely on a handful of “token” Hispanics, and they think reaching them is reaching out to all. If there is an immigration reform, those who are choosing to ignore this ever-growing and economically powerful segment of our city will have a rude awakening.

Juvenal Saldívar owns a boot shop, and this year decided to open the Bazaar shopping center, giving 50 small Hispanic businesses, the opportunity to have a store front for a fraction of the cost of renting a space. Supermercado Morelos is on its way to opening its fifth supermarket in the state. The Anaya family from Pancho Anaya bakery has the quintessential “American Dream” story. These and others have used their profits to invest in real estate and other business ventures. I could go on and on; the Hispanic entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

When Dr. David Gilbert and his wife Vanessa relocated from the Philtower to a 1,500-square-foot Tulsa midtown ranch home five years ago, their goals were specific. “One of my favorite magazines is Atomic Ranch,” says David Gilbert of the quarterly publication featuring Mid-century Modern-renovated, ranch-style homes.

“We wanted to capture the modern style you might see in L.A. or New York but in keeping with the 1950s architecture of the home,” Gilbert explains. The couple teamed up with Aaron Rogers, co-owner of CRFORMA, to begin the transition.

“It was great working with the Gilberts because they knew what they wanted to achieve from a design standpoint,” says Rogers. Although the project was done in phases, several standards were established throughout the home. In addition to refinishing the original wood floors, all the trim, doors and hardware were replaced with a simpler, more modern style.

To keep with the goal of blending the exterior architecture with the new, modern interior, Rogers used the same stone from the outside, a blend of gray limestone and Hackett sandstone, to create the fireplace as a dominant focal point. A custom frosted glass panel hides the AV equipment. The new floating fireplace hearth is poured-in-place concrete with a natural gray integral color. Clear-coated raw steel wraps the fireplace and the interior of the custom niches and is utilized beneath the hearth for the toe kick.

While the steel-wrapped niches are a perfect location to artfully embed the AV speaker components, they were initially designed to feature the vintage camera collection of Gilbert’s grandmother. The Eames chair and ottoman are from Gilbert’s grandfather’s office. “He was a doctor in Oklahoma City and would take naps in that chair,” he says.

According to Gilbert, one of the best changes occurred in the kitchen where previously it was too small and uncomfortable to want to cook or eat there; the room was completely gutted. “We added the large storefront window over the sink and counter to create a greater amount of light and open the space into the backyard,” says Rogers.

The maple cabinets coated with a special blended stain to allow the grain to be seen were custom built by Ultimate Cabinets. Hidden above the stove in the custom anodized aluminum and frosted glass shelving units is a custom designed stainless steel ventilation system. The countertops are quartz from Silex Interiors, and new, oversized tile flooring was installed. “Originally, the washer and dryer were in the garage, but we incorporated them into the kitchen cabinets for more convenience,” Rogers added. Now the Gilberts especially enjoy eating breakfast in the new space.

Both bathrooms required extensive renovation. In the guest bathroom, all the plumbing locations remained the same, but the classic 1950s brown and ochre tile throughout the space was replaced with simple finishes and color tones of white, black and stainless.

In the master bathroom, a six-inch-thick, poured-in-place concrete countertop extends into the glass walled shower and turns down to the floor, creating a ledge for shower supplies. The wall mosaic is a mix of glass tile and Carrara marble, and the shower floor is a black mosaic tile. Below the custom wall cabinet is a motion-activated light that comes on when anyone walks into the bathroom at night.

“We like to name our projects, and the Gilberts thought that Qi Ranch reflected their goals,” explains Rogers. Using the alternative spelling of chi, the Chinese term for life force, the simplicity of this impeccably renovated ranch provides a welcome respite from the “busy-ness” of daily life.

Parker Millsap says that he never really noticed the distinctiveness of his voice until other people noticed it and pointed it out to him.

“I have this theory that it somehow comes from growing up in the Pentecostal church. It’s pretty lively, and I spent a lot of years getting ‘yelled at,’ because, you know, the preacher gets really excited and screams and stuff, and I think a lot came from that,” the Purcell native explains. “Anything that you experience twice a week for your entire life, it has to affect you in some way, so I think maybe, subconsciously, that worked its way up through my voice,”

Although his vocals have been compared to those of one of his idols, Tom Waits, what resonates the most about Millsap is not his voice, but rather something even more captivating under the surface.

Like with Waits, when you strip away that signature gravely voice of his, what you’ll find is a brilliant songwriter at his core, and that’s the concrete that is solidifying his position as one of the Oklahoma music scene’s up-and-coming artists.

His ongoing regular Tuesday night gig at the Deli in Norman aside, he’s been busy expanding his live performances across the state and Texas, and playing bigger shows such as the Folk Alliance Festival in Canada, Stillwater’s Red Bull Gypsy Café and SXSW.

Millsap opted out of the Stevie Ray Vaughn/Eric Clapton-esque guitar solos that he enjoys and once played, choosing instead to dig into his blues and gospel roots and add a soulful, folksy edge: less in-your-face, more in-your-head.

“That kind of playing is fun, where you play a solo and people go wild and clap, but it’s more like pyrotechnics with a guitar, and that’s just not my kind of art,” he explains.

“I’d rather make someone feel something more than just react. I like to make someone sit quietly through an entire song and really connect with it.”

This appreciation for what he calls “the silence in space” may very well be that extra something special that has his debut album Palisade not only catching the attention of music fans, but of his peers and critics alike.

Millsap says that he wanted the album, which was hailed as one of Oklahoma City’s best local albums of 2012, to come together naturally without having to force fill anything up.

The resulting product is true to taste: an accurate reflection of the tone he wants to convey because it was recorded exactly how he plays live.

“It seems like when a lot of artists record a record, they bring in a full band and try to make it sound like a huge rock record. I didn’t want to make a record like that,” he remarks. “I think it’s the quiet moments that are more important – you know, the space between the notes and the music. You make people wait for something and they might appreciate it more when it gets there.”