The best kind of art puts a finger to your lips and shushes you. It urges you to open your eyes, stop looking and start seeing. It asks you not to simply hear with your ears, but to listen with your heart, too. In other words, it doesn’t just entertain your mind – it moves it forward, backward and every place in between.
Acclaimed poet, performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Joy Harjo is a Native artist that embodies this ability to open up minds and seek more than what’s on the surface.
Having been called one of the country’s leading Native American voices, hers is a powerful vision that manifests as a fascinating fusion of tribal myth and ancestry, social concern and passion for the natural world.
“Creativity amazes me. I’m always aware that the spirit has no boundaries. It isn’t bound by geography; it isn’t bound by religious or governmental structures. The art has its own spirit, it really does, and you just follow it and take care of it,” she says.
Although her roots are technically in Oklahoma, it has been exploring and establishing roots in other parts of the country that has helped her to connect with so many, no matter the culture or walk of life.
After leaving Oklahoma to attend an Indian boarding school as a teenager, Harjo called New Mexico home for most of her life and lived in the Hawaiian islands for 11 years.
Now back in Oklahoma, she is happy living within the boundaries of the Creek Nation of her people, but her work still takes her in and out of the state, keeping her music and writing very much connected to both her people and a world community.
“I’ve always loved poetry, and I’ve always loved world music. Music and poetry blend so well, there’s no need to draw a line. If you look back at most forms of poetry, almost all of their origins go back to music,” she says.
“When I was going to school, I thought, ‘What about my own tribe? Where is our own poetry?’ I discovered it at the ceremonial grounds and realized that our poetry is sometimes spoken, sung and danced – it’s beautiful, and most of it isn’t in books.”
Growing up with her mother, who loved to sing, and grandmother and aunt who were painters, Harjo’s decision to become an artist at the age of 4 came without question.
“Creativity amazes me. I’m always aware that the spirit has no boundaries. It isn’t bound by geography; it isn’t bound by religious or governmental structures.”
She says that as a child she never thought she would go outside of painting and drawing, that pursuing visual arts was her calling. But music and mystery in language spoke to her when she was only nine hours shy of graduating with a degree in fine arts. It was then that she changed her major, when she says the spirit of poetry came to her.
Over the years, she’s come to play an operative role in the cultural preservation of the Muscogee Nation, where, as it is within the broader spectrum of the Pan-Indian Movement (or Native American Renaissance), there is an ever-growing emphasis on the importance of preserving tribal contributions and presences, such as history, mannerisms, mythologies and ways of storytelling.
Particularly close to Harjo’s heart is apprenticeship, where older tribe members pass down knowledge of their art forms, whether traditional or contemporary, to young people who are just learning.
“That’s one of the main reasons I came back home. I really want to assist my own tribe in developing the arts and art awareness, presence and place within my own tribe,” she says.
“I think it’s important for all of us, whatever we know or have, to pass our gifts on, no matter the culture or what our gifts may be. These gifts don’t belong to us. We have to take special care of them and be generous with them.”
With her most recent book, a memoir entitled Crazy Brave, and following in the successful footsteps of her numerous previous works, Harjo continues to enlighten lovers of language and music.
As a Native American woman, her perspective is multifaceted, yet universal, able to convey stories of freedom and survival with an always-present air of grace and peacefulness.
She poses the question, “How do we help shift society towards compassion and respect for all people and nature and all cultures and religions?
“I think that’s how we’re tested – by compassion and our ability to accept that there are people of different cultures and accept that there is more than one pathway to God, and that everyone has a map in their hearts to reach that place,” she explains.
“There’s many ways to contribute to this story that we’re all making together. The only way that it’s going to move forward is if we do so with compassion.”
This past July and August saw wildfires rampage across Oklahoma, destroying homes and more than 100,000 acres of land across dozens of counties, including nearly 60,000 acres in Creek County alone. For State Rep. Richard Morrissette (D-Oklahoma City), there is one villain that stands out among the myriad factors involved in the wildfires that are becoming more and more common here: the Eastern Red-cedar tree.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture describes the Eastern Red-cedar as an invasive, weedy tree. Once found primarily in the hills of eastern Oklahoma, the tree has spread west, overtaking pasture and grazing lands. According to Morrissette, it also plays a dangerous role in wildfires.
“The Eastern Red-cedar played a major role,” Morrissette emphatically attests. “When they burn, they blow up like a bomb. The sap acts like a propellant.”
Morrissette, who has introduced legislation to control the spread of the tree, warns that too little is being done by state agencies to address the issue.
“At OSU in Stillwater they’ve done some mapping and various things to get a number of Red-cedars,” Morrissette says. “But we shouldn’t have to count every tree before we do something. We’ve been too reactionary so far. We wait until the fires have started to even talk about the problem.”
Still, there are those who believe the cedar’s role in wildfires is overstated. Oklahoma State Forester George Geissler says that while the tree plays a role, it’s far from the chief factor.
“The idea that the Eastern Red-cedar is the largest, most dangerous factor in wildfires is absolutely false,” Geissler says. “It is way down on the list of contributing factors in the wildfires we’ve seen this summer.”
According to Geissler, a bigger problem has been poor land management.
“A few years ago when we had the major ice storms across the state,” Geissler says, “there were so many trees that lost limbs, and in many cases those limbs have remained where they fell. Combine that with undergrowth, and all of that is fuel for fires. Add to that the drought we’ve had. Where a tree will normally have 10 to 15 percent moisture, now it will have five to eight percent. What you have is a load of seasoned wood.”
Geissler claims the fires that burned through Mannford, Noble and Luther were hardly affected by cedars.
“(Those) fires were fueled by cross timbers, which are made up of blackjacks and post oaks,” he explains. “If you have a Red-cedar in the middle of a fire, it will burn. But if you limb up the trees around your home and driveway, you’ll be lessening the risk on your home. I’ve seen areas where fires have burned that Red-cedars have been limbed up and are still standing.”
Geissler agrees there is a need for controlling the Eastern Red-cedar, but he believes that focusing solely on the tree in regards to wildfire prevention does Oklahomans a disservice.
“If you only blame the Red-cedar, you make people feel overwhelmed by what they can do,” Geissler says. “A homeowner can do a number of things to make his home safer. You start by limbing up your trees and keeping your lawns cut and cleaned.”
But Morrissette isn’t convinced and continues his crusade to stem the advance of the Eastern Red-cedar. His bill was defeated in the senate, but he is working on new language in hopes of having it passed soon.
“I’m convinced the governor is on board, but there’s still a lot of work to do,” Morrissette says. “Sometimes politics gets in the way of solutions.”
This time of year, we focus on giving – giving gifts and giving of ourselves to those in need. Chef Kenny Wagoner, executive chef of Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, is in the business of giving his talents, nutritious food and a hopeful spirit to cancer patients who need it most.
For this Irish-born chef, the quest is a highly personal one, as his own mother was diagnosed with cancer in 1997.
After living in several cities across the U.S. and completing an apprenticeship at the Westin Hilton Head in South Carolina, Wagoner settled in Tulsa and took the culinary reins of Tulsa’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America in 2003.
Besides all of the lives that Wagoner touches on a daily basis through his work, he is also credited with starting Chefs for the Cure, an annual event that raises money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for cancer research and education.
On a day-to-day basis, Wagoner strives to offer patients the freshest, highest quality food possible. Of course, nutrition is important, but even more important is the idea that the patients should eat anything that sounds appealing. The body has to have food in order to heal, but no one is going to eat something that simply does not sound good. Although patients are given options based on dietary needs and wants, they are not bound to those choices.
Wagoner says he has a huge pantry and access to any food patients might want. Whether the request is as sophisticated as lobster tail or as simple as a hamburger, Wagoner is dedicated to doing whatever it takes to help the patients. He adds that familiar, home-style foods like meatloaf, stews and casseroles are most popular because they remind the patients of a time before cancer.
“By offering the patients choices, we give them back some of the control that the cancer took from them. They may not be able to control aspects of their care, like chemo or side effects, but they can control what they eat. The food represents so much more than just sustenance for the body,” he says.
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Cream Sauce
Makes 4 servings
1 lb. butternut squash
1/2 c. diced onions, sautéed
1/4 c. diced prosciutto ham
1/4 c. diced red pepper
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
2 oz. Boursin cheese
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 lb. pasta dough or wonton wraps
1 egg beaten
Sage Cream Sauce
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chicken broth, warmed
1 1/2 c. half and half, warmed
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly ground nutmeg
2 fresh sage leaves
For the ravioli:
Mix first nine ingredients well and set aside. Cut dough into desired shapes. Brush with a little egg. Place a small amount of filling in center of dough. Top with another piece of pasta and crimp edges to seal. Repeat process until all filling is used.
Bring a quart of salted water to a boil. Place ravioli in simmering water and cook for about three minutes. Remove and serve with sage cream sauce.
For the sauce:
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the warmed chicken broth, half and half, seasonings and sage leaves. Cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly; continue cooking for another minute or two. Remove sage leaves and toss sauce with ravioli.
We’ve all seen it, either in person or on the television: a glistening turkey fresh from the oven, family members laughing and passing a basket of rolls while the children load up on pie. Everyone snoozes, follows the Cowboys game, and watches A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving or, for true holiday enthusiasts, White Christmas. Games are played, leftovers are packed up, and the house resonates with humor and warmth. It’s the ubiquitous Thanksgiving scene, a cornucopia of images that Americans have come to expect around the holidays.
That is, some Americans. As youngsters, we learned from our national mythology that during the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims sat down with the Wampanoag Indians for a banquet of turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie before living happily ever after in peace. We know now that the real story went just a little bit differently. These people’s Thanksgiving stories are a little bit different, too.
Firing Up The Feast
For most people, Thanksgiving is a day when the outside world vanishes and time is measured by football and food comas. But for emergency personnel, this day is business as usual, and sitting down at home for a quintessential Thanksgiving dinner is not an option. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t find ways to celebrate.
Major Keith McMurphy, a 23-year veteran of the Oklahoma City Fire Department, has seen a lot of on-duty Thanksgivings. He says the fact that everything must be shut down and left every time there is an emergency call makes cooking at the station difficult, but firefighters find ways to work around such obstacles.
“Often, the personnel who are scheduled to be on-duty Thanksgiving Day will plan a large meal, invite their families and others whom they know may not have family, and begin preparing the meal for their honored guests a few days before the event,” he says. “Sometimes, personnel will decide to ask family to bring prepared food to the fire station (pot-luck style) in order to avoid the possibility of being too busy with calls to prepare the meal at the fire station and ensure that it will be served when scheduled…In the course of most meals, there will be emergency calls. That is normal.”
Inviting the families to the fire station serves a dual purpose, McMurphy says. While it brings a taste of home and the holidays to fire personnel, it also gives comfort to those who often worry about their loved ones on duty.
“We work with our secondary family: firemen. It can be a great place to be if you need fellowship and family on a holiday.”
“I believe that many family members – spouses, parents, children, etc. – find that the holiday fellowship at the fire station calms many of the normal anxieties and fears they experience when their firefighter is at work,” he says. “Mostly, it is because they can quickly see the bond that we have as a fire company. We live together, we play rough, and we love one another. Those characteristics of a fire station environment are what show a family member that their loved one will not be in harm’s way without several people who absolutely will not turn their backs on them.
“For other people who may not have family or cannot be with their family on Thanksgiving, whether on-duty or off-duty, it is a blessing to be at work,” McMurphy continues. “We work with our secondary family: firemen. It can be a great place to be if you need fellowship and family on a holiday.”
Despite the potential for emergency interruptions, firefighters on duty during Thanksgiving still enjoy many of the traditions most Americans have come to expect this time of year.
“On holidays, we try to relax at the fire station,” says Captain Derak Stewart. “We take care of our daily business, and then we will try to catch some football games and eat as if we were at home with family. The typical traditions would mostly revolve around eating. A lot of eating!”
“We enjoy a holiday meal, a football game, a fire station full of family, and a lighter-than-normal call volume,” McMurphy says. “Those are the goals and dreams of most firefighters as they arrive for duty on a holiday. Those things make a holiday shift special.”
Bounty for the Boys
In 1918, two young boys were found sleeping in Tulsa trashcans. Ever since those first residents were rescued, Tulsa Boys’ Home has been helping troubled male children find their ways to better futures. Residents of the home typically include wards of the state and boys placed there for drug treatment by parents and guardians.
“They are all a little different,” says Executive Director Gregory Conway. “Throughout their stay, we do our best to give them another chance at a happy and successful life.”
Since officially being incorporated in 1919, the home has built almost a century’s worth of special Thanksgiving celebrations for its boys, many of whom never experience the picturesque family dinners of holiday legend.
“For many of our residents, a ‘normal’ holiday has never had special meaning to them.”
“For many of our residents, a ‘normal’ holiday has never had special meaning to them,” Conway says. “We try hard to create that sense of family togetherness and instill the role of traditions and holidays. But most of our boys do not have families; therefore, our unique Tulsa Boys’ Home traditions are especially important and meaningful.”
While the staff at the home works diligently to deliver all the typical foods and trappings of Thanksgiving to residents – “The dining hall is filled to the brim with food and people as we all gather together to give thanks and count our blessings,” Conway says – the home has worked to add unique customs to the celebrations. For example, he says, “We have also established new traditions where we take the boys into Tulsa for a delicious meal at a nice restaurant the day after Thanksgiving. Afterward, we all enjoy a heartwarming holiday movie at a local Tulsa theater.”
“The best part of the TBH Thanksgiving holiday is just being together and celebrating this special time of thanks with our boys and wonderful staff,” Conway says.
A Family of Choice
For many people, the idea of a welcoming Thanksgiving gathering with family is taken for granted. But those who sometimes face rejection at home, such as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, often celebrate the holidays with another sort of family – one that may not share blood ties, but is loving all the same. This includes many of the guests at the Thanksgiving festivities thrown by Oklahomans for Equality.
“Our event is for people to be around their ‘family of choice,’” says Toby Jenkins, executive director of Oklahomans for Equality and the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center. “Many LGBT people are alienated from their families, or their same-sex partners are not welcome. Many transgender individuals are not welcome in their families’ homes. We provide a traditional family Thanksgiving experience for all of those who are not welcome at home or not accepted by their birth families.”
Oklahomans for Equality tries to make each year’s event inspirational and comforting for attendees, offering them a home away from home for the celebration. The day is packed with special traditions, entertainment and bonding between attendees. “Every year, we feature outstanding dinner entertainment in our ‘Come Home for the Holiday,’” Jenkins says. “Last year we had harpist Linda Paul, who took requests from the audience. We post pictures on our Facebook page of special Thanksgiving greetings that attendees send out to the community. We have a moment of silence to allow people to contemplate things they are grateful for. We read off the beneficial advances for equal rights for marginalized communities locally and nationally as a part of the things to be grateful for. We play games with the winners getting the centerpieces. And we allow people to share stories of inspiration.”
“They get to meet other parents who can reassure them that things do change and parents can eventually come to accept them.”
Assisting Oklahomans for Equality with the feast is an affiliation of faith organizations that welcome the gay community, as well as straight parents and families who wish to provide support at the dinner. “Each year, we see more and more families with children participate so those children see their same-sex parents connect them to lots of Tulsans just like their family,” Jenkins says.
The holidays are a difficult time for some members of the LGBT community, but Oklahomans for Equality, their partnering faith communities and local families strive to mitigate this with a particularly positive celebration. “Each year, we have young people who just ‘came out’ to their family, and it did not go so well because the parents are dealing with religious stigma of having a gay child,” Jenkins says. “It is such a tender moment to hear these LGBT young people express appreciation to know we will be their family as their parents come to accept them. They get to meet other parents who can reassure them that things do change and parents can eventually come to accept them.”
Making Merry With Many
Once upon a time, Clay and Holly Morris were despaired trying to have more children. They had no idea that one day, they would be celebrating Thanksgiving with eight.
“We had a plan for starting our family, but our plans didn’t work out,” Holly Morris admits. “We always say that we are so thankful they didn’t.”
While waiting to conceive again, the couple decided to channel their love to children in need of foster homes. Over the next few years, they fostered several children while adding to their own biological family. When one of their previous foster children passed away, leaving infant twin daughters, the Morrises formally adopted the girls, thus starting on the path that would bring them not only four biological children, but four adopted children as well. The Morris children range in age from 2 to 20, making Thanksgiving in their household a larger-than-life event.
In addition to celebrating the holiday with their children, the Morrises also include another family each year, who bring their own three biological children and four foster children along for festivities.
“Talk about a houseful! We celebrate a weekend of Thanksgiving, not just a day,” Morris says.
The biggest tradition in the Morris household is honoring the true spirit of Thanksgiving by remembering for what – and whom – they are grateful. “We all, at least most of us, name one thing we are thankful for each year,” Morris says. “Never has there been a year that a person hasn’t been named. People, life, children…those are what we are most thankful for. It is an event, not just a meal, and a celebration of what we are most thankful for. It’s flexible and evolving, while holding to American traditions. We look forward to seeing who will be joining us each year.”
A Home for the Holiday
Perhaps more than any other American holiday, Thanksgiving evokes images of loved ones and a place to call home. But for those who have no homes or families, there is still a special place to celebrate the event. City Rescue Mission, an Oklahoma City faith-based organization, has been providing food and shelter for the city’s homeless population for more than half a century, serving an average of 350,000 meals each year. Approximately 900 homeless and volunteers attend the mission’s annual Thanksgiving feast. While this may sound daunting to some, president and CEO The Rev. Tom Jones says high attendance isn’t the distinguishing factor of the meal.
“The thing that makes it so special is the fact that so many wonderful volunteers come down to participate in this special day of giving thanks,” he says. “The volunteers make a tremendous impression on the homeless individual because the homeless know that these volunteers could be any place in the world they chose to be that day, yet they chose to spend it with them. This is such a powerful statement of acceptance and encouragement to the homeless. It is an amazing impact on the children of the volunteers when they truly see that many are not as blessed as they are with a family that loves them and supports them. I truly love to see the interaction between the homeless person that feels so lonely and forgotten and the volunteer that gives their time and holiday to share with those in need.”
The mission’s celebration, which is open to anyone in the community, boasts all the accouterment of the customary holiday, including turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie – and family. Volunteer families each sponsor tables, bringing with them their favorite decorations and desserts, before sitting down as a whole to share the comforts of family and warmth with homeless individuals.
Jones says the holiday is a reminder of how giving the citizens of Oklahoma City can be.
“We live in a time when it is easy to forget about the less fortunate,” he says. “A true measure of the health of a community is to see how they treat and care for their underprivileged. We truly are blessed to have a community that takes care of its impoverished.”
*The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center is open every day of the year, and serves Thanksgiving dinner at noon. To RSVP for the event, contact [email protected], and visit www.okeq.org for more details.
*City Rescue Mission is open every day of the year, and serves Thanksgiving dinner at noon. For more information, call 405.232.2709 or visit www.cityrescue.org.
*If you are interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent, Oklahoma’s children need you. Contact the Bridge Family Resource Center at 800.376.9729 or visit their website at www.okbridgefamilies.com.
It can be a challenge to match wines for a meal as extensive and diverse as a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. But it is also a great opportunity to experiment if keeping just a few principles in mind.
One wine from appetizer to dessert is definitely a challenge, with sparkling wine being one option that’s both popular and appropriate. A drier Rosé is also an option and will pair reasonably well with several courses. It’s slightly easier to remain committed to either red or white wine from beginning to end, but to do that or to switch between the two is a matter of personal taste. In white wine, Riseling pairs well with well seasoned turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes. Crisp Sauvignon Blanc nicely cuts the richness of turkey and mashed potatoes. Pinot Grigio also holds up well to fatty dishes.
Among red wines, Pinot Noir is a holiday classic that buoys Thanksgiving’s earthier flavors. Zinfandel is a little heartier accompaniment for those so wishing. A peppery or spicy Syrah can add another, deeper layer to the more savory components of the Thanksgiving meal. Beaujolais Nouveau is famously released from France just prior to Thanksgiving in the United States and for a fruity, light wine, actually pairs well with traditional fare.
Whatever you pair throughout the meal, for dessert consider a fortified wine like port or cream sherry – either will put the exclamation point to your pumpkin or pecan pie.
Gen. Rita Aragon is the fourth Oklahoma Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Nominated by Gov. Mary Fallin, the retired two-star general was sworn into office in 2011. In 1989, Aragon became the first female commander in the history of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, overseeing the 137th Services Squadron; in 2003, she became the first female in the history of United States Air National Guard to hold the rank of Brigadier General as the Commander and Assistant Adjutant General for the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
I joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1979. At the time, I was a school teacher and couldn’t make ends’ meet. I had two daughters and their dad left us, so we had no additional income. At the time I enlisted, women made up just two percent of the military population. In the Air National Guard, everyone comes in enlisted, and you have to prove you’re going to be loyal to the organization. In 1981 I was made an officer. It took me four interviews before I got an officer slot. After working in an environment with children, I was in an all-adults arena, and it was good for me. It helped my self-esteem and taught me I could do anything I wanted to do, that I just needed to go at it at full speed.
(During wartime I) was a mortuary officer. I had the opportunity to serve at Dover, Del., when they brought bodies in during the Gulf War. I also got the opportunity to serve as a mortuary officer after the Murrah bombing, which was considered to be active duty. I also held other commands in logistics and support. I also served as a support group commander, all while still teaching and, eventually, serving as a principal for 10 years in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district. I was offered full-time active duty role in the Guard, and I knew it was the only way I would make colonel; never did I think I would eventually make general.
We have 350,000 veterans in Oklahoma. That’s about 10 percent of our population. Young veterans face many challenges, including mental health issues. Last year there were 480 suicides in Oklahoma, and of those, one-fourth were veterans. So we make up 10 percent of the population, but a quarter of all suicides. We work with veterans’ outreach groups like the VFW, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans to step up and train people on what we can do to get veterans in to talk. They will listen to someone who has actually been there. They can talk them back down and get them help.
While today, eating soup or a salad out of a “bread bowl” might have some kitsch appeal, when tableware consisted entirely of very hard bread (a “trencher”) used to deliver food to mouth and then subsequently tossed to the dogs, it was decidedly less entertaining. But that was 500 years ago and things have changed since then – although not all that much in western civilization tableware since the 1700s. That’s when the European aristocracy discovered that China was using dinner plates, a German potter learned how to create the porcelain tableware, and companies such as Wedgwood, Royal Copenhagen, Royal Saxon and Spode launched their lines of “fine china.” A custom was born that persists to this day, with not much changing over time.
Traditionally a bride-to-be would get her dinnerware, for which she registered, from her parents and guests at her wedding. The tradition faded as couples began to set up homes – and dinnerware – prior to marriage, and as individual table settings became prohibitively costly. Today, after years of focus on function over form, china is again wildly popular, but with many people instead compiling their china over time, adding place settings and accessory pieces as possible.
Gilded edges and floral patterns have always been popular on china, but the number of patterns, colors, shapes, sizes and pieces can be quite staggering – or inspiring to enthusiasts. Some of the most popular lines today are Lenox, Wedgwood and Waterford, but there are numerous others including from famed designers such as Vera Wang and Kate Spade.
Regardless of choice in lines or patterns of china or the time invested in putting the collection together, rest assured that fine china is meant to stand the test of time. And, better yet, it doesn’t get fed to the dogs after dinner.
Is it really such a mystery why Tulsa OktoberFest is consistently named as one of the best Oktoberfest events around the world? In its 34-year history, Tulsa OktoberFest has been praised for its authentic German food, hardy appreciation of good beer and wily entertainment. Once again, the big autumn toast to life will be held under the tents at River West Festival Park, 2100 S. Jackson Ave., where guests will find food concessions, arts and crafts, a sports café, the Lederhosen Run, stein carry, bier barrel race, children’s tent, keg rolling, the Running of the Wieners and more. What makes Tulsa’s festival extra special, however, may be that total surrender to the spirit of sharing and fun best manifested in the sight of otherwise sensible people twisting and clucking like chickens in unison to polka music. Hours are …
Thursday: 5-11 p.m.
Friday: 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Sunday: Noon-6 p.m.
General admission is $6. Wunderbar Passes – which includes four tickets, OktoberFest money and more – are $59.95 and in limited quantities. For all the details and activity schedule, go to www.tulsaoktoberfest.org.
Small paintings and works of art hold all the fun for that prospective buyer taking those first steps into art collection. But even for the seasoned collector, an event like Gilcrease Museum’s Collectors’ Reserve still holds the thrill of acquiring something that could prove essential to the fabric of American fine art. The annual event, which raises funds for the museum at 1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road, Tulsa, opens this weekend with exhibition of pieces by 70 artists – pieces measuring 16”x 20” and even miniatures ranging in a variety of subject, style and medium. The artworks will be sold at a Nov. 1 sale at the museum, but the pieces can be viewed through the Nov. 4. Collectors’ Reserve: Small Works Art Exhibition and Sale will also feature two artists demonstration events – painters Jerry Ricketson at 11 a.m. Oct. 26 and Virginia Stroud at 11 a.m. Oct. 31. Museum admission is $5-$8. Opening day hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Go to gilcrease.utulsa.edu to see the complete schedule and other details.
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Major Keith McMurphy, a 23-year veteran of the Oklahoma City Fire Department, has seen a lot of on-duty Thanksgivings. He says the fact that everything must be shut down and left every time there is an emergency call makes cooking at the station difficult, but firefighters find ways to work around such obstacles.
For many people, the idea of a welcoming Thanksgiving gathering with family is taken for granted. But those who sometimes face rejection at home, such as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, often celebrate the holidays with another sort of family – one that may not share blood ties, but is loving all the same. This includes many of the guests at the Thanksgiving festivities thrown by Oklahomans for Equality.
“The thing that makes it so special is the fact that so many wonderful volunteers come down to participate in this special day of giving thanks,” he says. “The volunteers make a tremendous impression on the homeless individual because the homeless know that these volunteers could be any place in the world they chose to be that day, yet they chose to spend it with them. This is such a powerful statement of acceptance and encouragement to the homeless. It is an amazing impact on the children of the volunteers when they truly see that many are not as blessed as they are with a family that loves them and supports them. I truly love to see the interaction between the homeless person that feels so lonely and forgotten and the volunteer that gives their time and holiday to share with those in need.”