Number 2 April, 1996 - Oklahoma State University - Library

BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP I f i t saves lives, chances are it runs on electricity
HEEP
SEEP
And v i t runs on electricit8 chances are it's OG&E electricity.
The choice of people who can't take chances.
Power at the speed of life. Downtown
Oklahoma Ci& OK
Myriad Convention
Center & Plaza
For Ticket Information Call (405) 427-5228 I
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Oklahoma Ci& OK 73111 OKLAHOMA m-
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VISIT
TODW i -B
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Oficial Magazine of the State of Oklahoma I
Frank Keating, Governor Tour the Creek
Council House
JEANNE M. DEVLIN
Editor-in-Chief
National Historic
Landmark built
in 1878 and
restored in 1993.
Experience the
history and
culture of the
Muscogee see@
people. Enjoy
shopping for
unique Native
American @s
in the Red
Stick Gallery.
JOANHENDERSON
General Manager
STEVENWALKER, WALKER CREATIVE, INC.
Art Direction
NANCY WOODARD, Associate Editor LISA BRECKENRIDGE, OfFce Manager BRIAN C. BROWN, Advertising Manager BECKY ISAAC, Asst. Ofice Manager JANELEONARD, Ancillary Products MELANIE MAYBERRY, Circulation Manager PAM POSTON, Subscription Services ANGI WARD, Clerical . . . . . .
Contributing Editors
BURKHARD BILGER, J.P. CARTER, M. SCOTT CARTER, DAVID CRENSHAW. STEFFIECORCORAN.DAVID FITZGERALD, THOM HUNTER, MAURA MCDERMOIT, RALPH MARSH, W.K. STRATTON, and MICHAELWALLIS '
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For more information, contact the Creek Council House Museum
(918) 7562324 or the Okmulgee Chamber of Commerce (918) 7566172
Advertking Representative CAROLE A. LEE Interns
AIMEE J. DOWNS SUSAN VAN HOOK I
Contributing Staff PAM FOX, ESTHER WARD, Accounting Tourism and Recreation EDWARD H. COOK, ExecutiveDirector Tourism and Recreation Commission LT. GOV. MARY FALLIN, Chairman PAlTY ROLOFF. Secretarv STAN CLARK
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MEREDITH FRAILEY JONATHAND. HELMERICH JOEMARTIN KENNETH R. SCHRUPP JOHN WEST ROBERT E. YOUNG . . . . . .
OklahomaCityAdvertisingSales Office,P.O. Box 53384,
OklahomaCity, OK 73152, (405) 521-2496 or (800)777-1793.
Oklahoma Today (ISSN 0030-1892)is published biionthlv in
February, April, b e , August, 0ctob&, and December by'the
State of Okkhoma, OklahomaTourism and Recreation
.
Department, 401 Will Rogers Bldg, P.O. Box 53384, Oklahoma .
City, OK 73152, (405) 521-2496 or (800) 777-1793. Subscription
prices: $13.50 per year in U.S.;$21.50 per year outside US.
U.S. copyright @ 1996by Oklahoma Today magazine.
Reproductionin whole or in part without permissionis
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prohibited. The magazine is not responsiblefor unsolicited
material for editorial consideration.
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Printed at PennWell Printing, Tulsa.
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Today Circulation,P.O. Box 53384,0klahom~City, OK 73152. .
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Let The Olympics Begin... w
T A
THEN THE OLYMPICTORCH BEGINS ITSWAY ACROSS THEUNITED
States thismonth, it seems fitting that it will not only wind through Okla-
homa but pause at the site of the Alfred P. Murrah building in downtown
Oklahoma City. A hundred years old this year, the Olympic Games remain one of the
enduring examples of what we as humans can accomplish; the bomb site, as much a
memorial to the resilience of the human spirit as it is a poignant reminder of the dark
side of human nature.
The torch did not have to pass by this way. Torch relay organizers left it to Oklahoma to decide, and Oklahoma left it to the survivors and victims' families. As the
first anniversary of April 19,1995, comes and goes, their decision to have the world
stop at our door once more recalls the line of an editorial the Daily Oklahoman ran
on April 26,1995: "We invite them all to return one day to experienceour normalcy."
The families and survivors rose above their own pain and loss because they believe
the opportunity to extend Oklahoma's well-known hospitaiity to the Olympic Torch
Relay is an honor. And indeed it is.
The torch relay begins April 27 in California; it ends fifteen thousand miles later
on July 19 as the games begin in Atlanta. In between it will travel through forty-two
states and most of central Oklahoma where hinety percent of the population willcome
within a two-hour drive of seeing it. "We tried to touch as many people as possible,"
said Sherry Jennings of the Torch Relay Advance Team.
The torch will travel by foot, bike, and a customizedUnion Pacitic train (thelatter
of which has been painted Union Pacific yellow and outfitted with a modified caboose that will hold the Olympictorch). It will spend Days 22 and 23 (of eighty-four
days on the road) in Oklahoma, visiting Ponca City for lunch, J e h g s (pop. 381)
and Yale for ceremonies, Stillwater for dinner, and
Prague for three midnight ceremonies (includingoneP
on Moccasin Road near
on May 18.
On May 19, it heads south to Oklahoma City (''wda
running all through the city," promises Jennings) -,
where the torch boards a train far Nosman. After a r.
ceremony at Norman's renovated depot, the
torch winds south on mcksthat shadow 1-35
and run through (or close by) Noble, Purcell,
Wayne, Paoli, Pads Valley,Wynnewwd, Davis,
Dougherty, Gene Autry, A r h r e , Marietta, and
Thackerville, before crossing the Red River bound
for Fort Worth. On its journey, the torch relay also.
plans brief fifteen minute breaks in Pawnee, Guthrie
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and Edrnond (all of whom have mrned what is
basically a rest stop into a full-blown shindig-"wh
is just wonderful," says Jennings).
With the Olympics not due to be held in the
States again until after the year 2000, this year's
relay will be an experience we won't see again
century, which makes the task of the swentyplus Oklahomanswho will carry the torch, just
that much sweeter.
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Oklahoma
T o d a y
In ~
e YO&,
w it's W Avenue.
In Ka-
City, it's The pI.aza.
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ery, heritage, and traditions, as well as the
hospitality of its people. All of this is so well
reflected in your publication.
We were particularly appreciativeofyour
,.. Special Memorial Issue, which was such a
poignant and moving record of the courage
and humanity mankind exhibited in the aftermath of this evil act. That same evil was
echoed in Scotland-in Dublane-last
month, and such tragedies ofhuman suffering can only be overcome by our own fortitude and the love of God.
Ted and JoyceHoward
Darlington, England
CC~
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i and ~the OCFD,
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~0klahoma
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~Oklahoma
~ mourns Scotland's loss, and our
prayers are with you. Today's 1995 Oklahoman of the Year.
ONE YEAR LATER May I offer you a particular British congratulations on the continuing excellence of
Oklahoma Today, which we have received
regularly for over two years through the
courtesy of friends in Oklahoma City. We
have visited the state twice in recent years
and have grown to love and admire its scen-
I commend you on your well thought
special issue on the bombing. I'm quite
impressed by the way it was done. I was
reminded of seeing a view of the whole
thing from another perspective-the European view.
Last May, my wife and I traveled to Brussels, Belgium. Our first look at just how far
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
away the bombing had affected people was
in the week just prior to our trip (aboutApril
30). The U.S. National Soccer Team was in
Brussels for a match with the Belgians. A
moment of silence was held before the game.
Only because Oklahoma City sounded the
same as in English did I understand what
was taking place.
I've seen moments of silence before a
game before, I've been in such scenesbefore;
never have I seen (or heard) such a quiet. It
showed me that many people were upset at
the events here.
Once in Brussels,whenever anyone found
out that we were from Oklahoma, we were
told how disturbed they were. We were
approached about it by Belgians-even
other Americans. It was astounding.
The most surprising thing was that while
watching TV in our hotel, we saw a report
that showed there was a building in Bonn
very similar to the Murrah building. In a
country that has also experiencedterrorism,
such as Germany, I was shocked to find that
THEY had learned from the Oklahoma
.&
bombing. It is now not possible to park
within a block of that building in Bonn.
I thought that you and your readers might
find these small glimpses that my wife and I
had interesting. It's nearly a year later, and
we still think about the many who came
from so far to help. May they always know
we thank them. And thank you for the special issue.
Andrew Warwick
Tulsa
I thought that I had cried all the tears that
I possibly could over the bombing, until I
received my copy of Oklahoma Today (Winter, 1996). The names were all too familiar,
but now there were faces to go with the
names.
As I ghmpsed into their brief lives, my
grief at this senseless act again overwhelmed
me. It took a while to get through it, but
what a wonderful tribute to the victims and
their families.
I plan to keep this issue to show my children and their children just how ugly and
destructive hate can be. Thank you for a
job well done.
PeggyGarrett
Harrah
A SPECIAL THANKS
Wewould like to thank Ryder Truck Rental
ofMiami Florida,for donating the truck that
carried thousands of Oklahoma Today's
1995 Year-in-Review issues safely to
Oklahoma City in timefor our announcement
of the Oklahoma CityFire Department a .the
1995Oklahomanof the Yearforits rescue and
recovery efforts during the bombing.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CLINTON?
Everythingis relevant,it would seem. On
the contents page of your Travel issue
(March,1996),I find, "...the ultimate homage to the Mother Road may be found in the
tiny town of Clinton."
I was born and grew up out at Thomas.
My teen-age years were spent there in the
early Thirties. A trip to Clinton was an
event. My goodness, there was a theater
there that showed films during the day. Up
the street was a pool hall where I could go
in and play. Therewere buildings that were
higher than two stories, and paved streets
that had names. Wow! Tiny town indeedhave you ever been to Arapaho or Eakly?
RossF. Cooke
Henderson,Nevada
A CORRECTION
We've personally typed in the toll-free
numberfm tourism informationin Oklahoma
so many times, we know it better than our own.
Or so we thought, unti1we inadvertentlymade
it a (405) number in our annual Travel issue.
For those who were leftconfised,our apologies
and the correct number, 1-800-652-6552.
Oklahoma Today welcomes the views of
its readers and prints letters on a spaceavailable basis. Letters are subject to editing
and must be signed. Send them to: Editorin-Chief, Oklahoma Today, P.O. Box
53384, Oklahoma City, OK 73152, or fax
them to (405) 522-4588.
he multicolored sunsets
in the United States. That's the quality of life we're accustomed to here in
uymon. It's the kind of life you're gonna love.
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For your free Guymon information packet, write the Guymon Chamber of
Commerce, Route 3, Box 120, Guymon, OK 73942. Or call (405) 338-3376.
From a small Oklahoma 6f ideas.
P
Y
CHERUBS RULE
United Design of
Noble is known for
its earth-friendly
ways, which is why it makes its line of garden ornaments
out of garden-safe
resin (it's actually
recyded ash retrieved from coalfired power plants).
This cherub is by
designer Ken
Memoli. 12"x 16",
$130.(405)872-
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WATCH YOUR STEP
United Design's Midge
Ramsey says-the elt tic
motifs of her steppingstones were inspired not
by the Irish but by Mother
Nature herself. $24.
.
ANGEL ON HIGH
A bird could happily
bathe here, but in
actuality this best-selling
. (and much photographed) piice by united
Design's Ken Memoli
and Dianna Newburn is
. a fountain, anda
running fountain
(completewith recirculatingpump) at that.
. $430.
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O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
FROM THE FARM
Designer Ken Memoli created this barnyard
twosome (completewith sunflowers) for United
Design, P.O. BOX 1200, Noble, OK 73068, (405)
872-3468. 16" x 20 1/2", $170 each.
THE TIME, PLEASE
Gardening is as much
about relaxation as
production, so why be
chained to a watch? A
kinder, gentler (albeit less
accurate) alternative:
these sundials by Larry
and Dianna Newburn for
United Design of Noble.
(Set the gauge to the
north: as the sun moves
. west, its reflection casts a
. shadow on the time.)
$20-$34.
.
tlMai3rn*cgcl
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Gothic culturesbelieved in
the duality of nature-the
Gothic face on this garden sculpture, left, by United renewal. 10.5" x 8", $60. Above, a Celtic stone. AND THE SIGN SAID...
Some gardeners sing to make
their plants grow-,now, an
alternative for the musically
impaired: garden signs by
United Desim's Suzan
Bradford-with messages for
both plants (and visitors).
8.s
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William Field contributed this clownfor Dear Oklahoma City, Get We11 Soon; the English boy also came
to Oklahoma City in April to offer comfort on the anniversaryof the bombing.
ONEYEAR LATER
A CHILD'S BOOK OFFERS HOPE TO OKLAHOMA CITY.
"I hope somebody in thefederal building that they exploded is dren from all overtheworld sentlettersand art to OklahomaCity,
alive. That's one wish on a star that I have."
expressingtheir sorrow,compassion,anger, admirationfor res-Mickey, Los Angeles, California cuers, and desire to help. As Nikie of Burleson, Texas, wrote:
"Even thoughI'm onlyten, I want to help thosepeople. Theonly
E DON'T ASK CHILDREN VERY OFTEN WHAT reason I'm not there is number 1, I'm too young; number 2, I
theythink of news events. Perhaps it isbecause kids turn can't drive. Otherwise I'd be there."
shy when faced with a microphone or an inquiring stranger
A new children's book, Dear Oklahoma City, Get WellSoonwith a note pad. Children tend to speaktheirminds usingmore Ammenm's
ChildrenReach Outto thePeople of Oklahoma (Walker,
traditional media-pencils and crayons, construction paper 1996),presents the touching letters and art of Nikie and fiftyand paste. With such tools in hand, children feel free to ex- eight other children from around the world, including many
press themselves.
from Oklahoma. Far from being childishly sentimental, "Their
Never was thismore true than after the bombingof theAlfred reactions, expressed in both writing and art, cut straight to the
Murrahbuilding in Oklahoma City a year ago this April. Chil- heart of thedisaster's impacton all of us," write editorsJimRoss
W
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
and Paul Myers (both from Oklahoma City) in their foreword.
The colorfulforty-eight-pagehardbackalsoincludesanecdotesand commentsfrom
grownups directly involved in the tragedy. ~choolt&c&rJoycePerkins worked as a
SalvationArmy volunteer on April 22, 1995,and she writes, "On Saturday, my husband and I went downtown to help. He said, we'd 'scrub toilets if they need us to.'
We spent our final hours helping sort the thousands of generous donationspouring
in. I was separating snack items when I came upon a package of pink marshmallow
Easter bunnies with a note attached. It was from a five-year-old child, and it simply
said, 'For the firemen.' To me it symbolizedeverything: the sweetnessof all children,
their natural generosity, their trust, their hope."
Joining such firsthand observations is a foreword by Oklahoma's first lady Cathy
Keating and an afterword by Pulitzer Prize-winning child psychologist Robert Coles.
Coles writes that the response of America's children to the Oklahoma City tragedy
A BOY I N ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,
MADE AN IMPROMPTU MEMORIAL
IN HIS FRONT YARD, COMPLETE WITH
FLOWERS, PEACE SIGNS, AND AN
AMERICAN FLAG.
AND WUFS
ARTIFACTS
CLOTHING
1
I06 MON.-SAT., 15. SUNDAY
15011503 N. PORTLAND
O
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"ought to remind us how little escapes the attention of our sons and daughters, how
quick they are to make distant eventsa part of their own lives."
"Kids everywherewere hit hard by this," agreesRoss,who with Myersworksfor the
OklahomaStateEmployment Serviceandwritesin his sparetime. The two spenthours
cullingthe book's contentsfrom ten thousandpiecesof mail archived at the Oklahoma
Historical Society. (Theadult expressionswere taken from unpublished personal accounts.) "We looked for things that were different or showed a lot of insight on the
part of the child," says Ross.
The pictures of teddy bears, rainbows, fire trucks, rescuers, and one of a bandaged
heartwith Oklahomawritten acrossitareboth colorfulandspeakforthemselves. They
are matched with messages equally touching and often poetic: "When I heard about
the explosion I was in a puddle of tears," wrote Cassie from Arlington, Texas. The
tragedymoved othersto action: Jessein New Mexicowrote that he used allthe money
he had, six dollars, to buy an "Oklahoma" rose to plant at his school. (He wrote, "I
reallywanted to buy a tree like the President, but I didn't have enoughmoney.") Ross
sayshe was surprisedby howmany children expressed theirangeratthebombers. One
child hoped they "will be caught andprosecuted" andjudged: "They are cowardswho
can't confront their problems."
Perhaps the most touching letters are from childrenwho have been struck by tragedy. The daughter of a man killed "by a gun on the Long Island Railroad" wrote, "I
have asked my dad to help watch over the children."
Coles remarks in his afterword that by "refusing to turn their backs on others no
matter how far away, these childrenbecome our teachers." Despitetheir sadnessand
anger, many children managed to nonethelessexpresshope. Aboy in Rochester,New
York, describedmakingan impromptumemorial in his frontyard, completewith flowers, peace signs,and anAmerican flag. Joseph,age eleven,wrote: "Even though some
time has now passed, I still have the triangle of flowers on my front lawn. A sign I
made is there, too. It says, 'Keep Up Hope.' That is what I still have to say to the
familiesin Oklahoma: Keep up hope. I do."
-Maura McDermott
Dear Oklahoma City, Get Well Soon ispublished by Walker and Company of New York.
The book sellsfor $16.95.After a royalty is paid to the editors,profitsfiorn sales of the book will
go to Project Recovety Oklahoma City.
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1996
4QSPI57935e800.943-7935
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ORDER THE 1995
YEAR IN REVIEW
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AN 0KLAHOhf.ATODAY
COLLECTOR'S ISSUE
Introducing the Oklahoman of the
Year-The Oklahoma City Fire
Department * Asaluteto 1995's
OklahomaHeroes A Miss
America retrospective Farewell to
Mickey Mantle and much more.
Order your copiesnow!
$5each plus 504 S&Hper copy
Call (405)521-2496
or (800) 777-1793
A
>mpf contrasts and nurtured in cooperation,
the iively spirit of Lawton is hard t o resist.
It's the spirit of the American West.. .where
enfaced Geronimo and his warriors; where
pioneers *led
and coaxed a livelihood from the virgin earth.
...
It's the spirit of nature where the prehistoric Wichita Mountains lift
their headsinto a wide, blue sky t o surveil the Great Plains below;
where sparkling lakes d o t the rocky landscape.
-XYX
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The Lawton spiriq is real. It can be sensed in visits t o historic structures and
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through the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge,
where remnants of the great buffalo herds have
been brought back from the brink of extinction.
When the travel spirit
moves you, let it move you
t o Lawton, Oklahoma,
where diverse elements
blend into a unique
vacation experience.
OKlAHOMA
NUIVE AMERICA
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ACROSS THE RANGE OPERATION ELEPHANT
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
A TRUE ADVENTURE STORY
June 7-15, 1996
BARTLESVILLE
OKLAHOMA
Ransom Wilson
Artistic Director Solisti New York Orchestra James Galway, flute Peter Schickele, P.D. Q. Bach Betty Buckley, singer/actress Robin Sutherland, piano Awadagin Pratt, piano Paul Neubauer, viola Stephen Balderston, cello Kerry McDermott, violin
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Christiaan Bor, violin
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Tim Hester, piano
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ORDER
TICKETS NOW!
918.336.9800
P.O.BOX 2344
BARTLESVILLE
74005
Bermuda's Ghunda--our Gunda-in profile.
Tulsa Creek Indian Community
TRADING
R m
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T IS SAID THAT SHE WAS KNOWNAS GHUNDA,AYOUNG ELEPHANTWHO
in August of 1954 unexpectedlylanded in Bermuda on her way from Calcutta, India,
to the United States when she became a casualty of a shipping mishap.
Ghunda was a passenger on the Brocklebank Line's freighter, Mahronda, when the
ship was forced to stop in Bermuda to replace a damaged propeller. News of Ghunda's
arrival spread across the island quickly. Most islanders had never seen a live elephant,
and some five thousand people dropped by the ship to see Ghunda firsthand.
It might all have ended there, too-a brief visit on a brief layover-had Ghunda not
been scheduled to appear at a circus in New
York. The agent
- for her owners-worried
about missing curtain-flew to Bermuda
and arranged for the one-ton elephant to fly
to her New York engagement on a Pan
American Airways Stratocruiser. When it
came time for her to depart, Ghunda was
lifted by sling off the ship and into an open
truck, then driven down roads lined with
waving spectators to the airport.
At the airport, Ghunda stepped off the
truck and was led to an electric light pole,
where she was tethered by one ankle under a
hastily erected awning. She spent the night
there on a straw bed, eating hay, apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes (along with eighteen loaves of bread) and entertainingcrowds The story of "Operation Elephanf sparked
by picking her food UP with her tmnk and headlines in Bermuda (and eventually this
squirting water on herself and others.
children's book).
A p r i l
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1996
SMOKE & GIFT SHOP
Beautiful Handcrafted Jewelry
Pendleton Blankets
Indian Print T-shirts
'% American Indian Calendars
Music and Language Cassettes
A Variety of Bingo Supplies
Competitive Prices on All Major
and Generic Brand Cigarettes
81st and Riverside Dr., Tulsa
(918) 29&8912/(918) 2984226
Walk in hours: M-S 8am+
Drive Thru: M-S 8am.7pn
Sun: 9am-5pm
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:
In ho?u)rof
D O C TATENEVAQUAYA
1 932- 1996
Exhibition & Sale
May 5 -31,1996
Reception
Sunday, May 5, 1-7 p.m.
Red Earth Gala
June 5 - 9,1996
Opening Evening
June 5, 6 - 9 p.m.
OKLAHOMA I N D I A N ART GALLERY
233.5 S.\+'.44th St. Oklahoma City, OK 7.31 1 0 405 1685 - 6162 SO0 / 585 - 6162
Visitour beautifil botanic garden, then dine in our rustic
restaurant overlooking Honey Creek and the scenic
Arbuckle Mountains. Wefeature a variety offine cuisine
including our house specialty--Rainbow Trout.
Ghunda is removed fiom the ship in Bermuda.
All seemed well until morning, when
Ghunda refused to board the plane. Despite the efforts of six determined men
pushing and pulling, the bellowing elephant would not budge. She delayed
two commercial flights and brought the
. crowd to cheers before efforts to move
her were abandoned. She spent the next
. two weeks tethered to a palmetto tree as
the guest of a Mr. A.W. West of Shelly
. Bay, where she was again repeatedlyvisited by crowds of children and adults.
~ k owners
r
put her up for sale with a
' price tag of $4,500; when that failed to
. draw anytakers, Ghunda wasput on the
Queen of Bermuda and shipped in style
. to the United States.
The debacle that became known as
. "Operation Elephant" producedstreams
of headlines and columns of copy in the
. local Royal Gazette, and for decades afterwards Bermudians entertained their
. children with the story of the young elephant that almost made their island her
. home. Therewasonlyonedisappointment:
no one seemed to know what had hap. pened to Ghunda.
Then in 1995, author Nancy Valentine
of New York City turned Ghunda's story
into a children's book entitled Ghunda's
Bermuda Holiday, and the little
elephant's lot was found to be tied to
Oklahoma. Seems Ghunda eventually
made her way to the Tulsa Zoowhere she
lived under the Americanized name of
Gunda for forty years before Valentine
found her-the elephant has since been
visited by Valentine and other Bermudi. ans.
Gunda can be seen at the Tulsa Zoo's
Elephant Encounter where she lives with
other elephants including (temporarily)
thefamouspainting elephantRuby on loan
fiom the Phoenix Zoo. (918) 669-6600.
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APRIL MAY 25,1996
"AnneFrank in the World:1929-1945 was developed by the Anne Frank
House and is sponsored in North America by the Anne Frank Center USA."
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Edmond Historical Society Museum
43 1 S. Boulevard Edmond, OK 340-0078 :
~ ~ ~ M ~ y J f i for
Wtk HUMANITIES
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
ACROSS THE RANGE TAMING OF THE WILD MUSTANGS --
I N THIS PROGRAM, BOTH M A N AND
BEAST ARE IMPROVED.
HOCKED EXPRESSIONS BURST ACROSS THE FACES OF HARDENED INmates as the mustang galloped passed them. Frightened, the animal had shoved its
way to the opening of the trailer, then bolted out onto the shoot-breaking its leg.
City-bred prisoners had failed to conned the metal shoot leading to the horse pen
properly. Feeling the oncoming surge of other mustangs plunging onto the shoot from
the trailer, the animal pulled his broken left rear leg up tight against his body and stumbled
to the sanctuary of one of the pens.
It was the first time since the mustang adoption program had begun at the James
CrabtreeCorrectional Center in 1991that an animal had broken its leg. Inmates, guards,
and the program director, as well as supervisors from the U. S. Bureau of Land Management, looked sickened as they stared after the animal as it raced away. No one was sure
what to do. "It depends on how bad it is if we have to put him down or not," said BLM
agent Debbie Harrington.
Seventymore wild mustangs from the high plains of Nevada (includingtwenty mares,
many of them pregnant) were then off-loaded without incident. "We try to stick with
two- to four-year-olds,"said Crabtree Program Manager Shawn Terrel. "They turn out
to be good horses. Mustangs are real smart."
The early morning shipment was the first since the mustang adoption program was
suspended in November of 1995 over budget restraints. It is a trial run before the Bureau will commit to more. "We still have no budget," Harrington said. "What (funds)
we were given are strictlyfor adoption and not for feed or housing." Creativebudgeting
by the national office has subsequently freed up monies for feed-but only for awhile.
Begun twenty years ago, the adoption program is a method used to prevent overgrazing by reducing the number of wild mustangs and burros roaming the American West.
More than 35,500 horses and 8,000 burros currently populate the isolated grasslands of
Nevada and other points west. Crabtree is one of two correction centers (theothersbeing
Canyon City, Colorado, and Rock Springs,Wyoming) used to ready mustangs and burros for adoption.
The choice is pure economics--if also touched by emotion. If one agrees saving the
mustangs for adoption-instead of slaughtering them-is a good thing, then the prison
would appear to be the best holding place for them. It costs the BLM fifteen dollars to
feed each mustang at the prison versus $160 at other facilities.
If demand for the horses means anything,prior to the federal budget cuts, demand for
horse adoptionshad tripled over the last two years. Some two hundred mustangs found
homes through Crabtree Correctional Center in 1995; another five found their way to
the stables at Roman Nose State Park, where they are used for trail riding. Yet in 1996,
because of budget cuts, the number of mustangs rounded up out west will drop-from
a thousand to 850. "I'm not worried that the program willbe phased out," said one staffer.
"The horse program has a lot of supporters. It is more of an emotional issue."
At Crabtree, inmates feed, care, break, and tame the mustangs in forty-two pens and
corrals fashioned down to their very hinges on site from scrap and waste retrieved from
various sources. (The feeders, for example, are from old metal bunk beds the Enid State
School discarded.)
Many of the inmates who work with the mustangs go on to take husbandry courses in
the prison's vocationalprogram. To date,some two hundred inmates have gone through
the training program, working in crews of thirteen to sixteen caring for the horses. "This
program is real important to the inmates here," said Terrel. "It has done a good job rehabilitating many people. We have had from twenty to thirty inmates go into the busi-
S
A p r i l
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1996
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ness after they leave here."
When the mustangs are ready to leave,
they go up for adoption. Their price tag?
$125and a year's commitment Thosewho
. apply for the horses must agree to keep the
animal behind a six-foot fenced area. After
. a year of proper care (verified by a farrier
or a veterinarian), the Bureau awards title
. to the individual. With current market
prices for horse ranging from $500 to
. $1,600, said BLM's Pat Hoffmann, the
mustangsare abargain4espitetheir feisty
. personalities. "A mustang can be a handful if you don't have the proper facility
. strong enough to hold him," admitted
Belinda Daves of Norman.
. Daves and her husband, Faun, brought
home the first of their three mustangs, only
. to have the animal gallop through the bar- rier they had erected in its pen. The couple
. spent a rain-soaked night searchingfor the
wild Nevada mustang in the residential ar. eas of Norman. "A lot of people don't realize how much time they have to invest
with each animal," said Daves. "For instance, (mustangs) don't know what feed
is. They won't approach a bucket for several days."
Yet Daves insists the mustangs are both
much stronger than domestic horses and
lacking in many of the domestic's nastier
traits. "I have one that follows me around
like a puppy," said Daves of one of her
adoptees. "I have to be careful, or she'll run
into me."
Out in far western Oklahoma, Ladonna
1 Barber was also pleasantly surprised by the
two mustangs she has added to her pony
1 ranch in Shattuckas well as the four others
adopted by familymembers. "I was expecting to see a wild horse like I saw on television," said Barber, "but they are very
scared. They don't know what people are."
. Initially, birds flying over the barn would
spook the horses, who also didn't know
. what to make of dogs, cats, or cattle.
For a long time, Barber could not find
. anyone to help her train the animalseither.
Old-timers and cowboys in Shattuck
. would laugh at her as shewalked by, repeatingthe old saying,"Once a mustang, always
. a mustang, and they never can be trusted."
Barber has since learned that the key to
. training mustangs is bonding with them.
Though her first mustang, broke Barber's
. leg in three places while being trained on a
I
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I cohventions or phpsiGIl.
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for great famifi,
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Duncan Chamber of
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lished in 1925, Pete's Place, the
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O k l a h o m a
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'
Fresh From
Our Garden
ACROSS THE RANGE
leadline (itdragged her through sagebrush-coveredpastures),Barber didn't give up or
the horse. And eventuallyit camearound. Barber foundit can take up to sixmonths tc
gentlea horse,and thekey is essentiallyspendingtwo hours a daysimplybeing with th~
mustang-stroking its coat, talking softly to it.
Howto knowwhen thebond has taken? "Liftingup their feet is thelastline for establishing trust," Barber said. "Predators attack their feet in the wild, and they are very
nervous about anyone getting around them."
Barber nowbelieves sostronglyin the adoptionprogram that sheand her familyvolunteer to help at BLM sales as part of a volunteer program establishedto offset federal
cutbacks that reduced manpower at the agency. "I work the front tables, my husband
handlesthe paperwork, and my two sons, twelve and fourteen, help load trailers," said
Barber. It is oneway to help ensurethattheselastvestigesof theWild West foreverroam.
-Mike Coppock
Others interested in the Wild Horse Adoption Program should call 1-800-237-3642.
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Mouthwatering colors and
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2ollection will make your cornel
of the world a little brighter!
Keepsake" Candle,.
Mon-Fri 9 am-930 pm
Sat 10 am-5 pm Sun 1 pm-5 pm
Two Miles West Of Bartlesville
On US Hwy 60 (918) 336-0351
Cowboy humorist Bawter Black
BAXTER IS BACK
THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR COWBOY
ENTERTAINER JOINS A HERD OF COWBOY POETS.
I
N A DECADE WHEN BEING A COWBOYPOET IS ALMOST MORE GLAMORrange, Baxter Black may arguablybe the most
popular cowboy entertainer in the world. Without a doubt, he is the most prolific.
Catapultedto fameby his tongue-in-cheekodeto RockyMountainoysters in the 1980s,
Black has gone on to write ten books and pen a syndicated column that appears in a
hundrednewspapers; he alsohas produced sixvideotapes,performed in a hundred and
ten showsayear,andbecomea regularcommentatoronthehigh-mindedNationalPublic
Radio. (Not bad for a former big-animal veterinarianwho insists he chose performing
poetry over doctoring livestock simplybecause it "was the cleaner of the two options.")
Observesthe Salina Journal,"Black's humor is bear greaseforthe soul. Ithelps us slide
over the rough places in life."
OnApril 27,thecowboyhumoristjoins some fifty other cowboypoets (includingtwotime Western Heritage award winner Buck Ramsey of Amarillo) at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's eighth annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Black opens the festivities
on April 26 at 7 p.m. with a presentation of his one-man show, Croutonson a CowPie.
Tickets for Friday night's performance are $15 in advance ($20 at the door). The
CowboyPoetryGatheringruns9a.m. to 5p.m. on Saturdayadmissionis $6.50 foradults,
$5.50 for seniors and groups,and $3.25 for children ages sixto twelve (membersof the
Hall get in free). (405)478-2250, ext. 254.
OUS than being a cowboy on the open
April
May 1996
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"THE INN PLACE T O BE"
B
P ~ & ATIME, T ~ E
man and the first &an
d until the first m d i a m e home
wildflowers rather thgn stirring- hungry," the first man said cgldly. "D$ expect me toea The first man had never before spoke o the fist
and she became angry (after all, she'd been picking the floyers for
him). She told him she was leaving him, and she did, walking west
towards the Sun. The first man tried to catch the first woman to apologize,but the first woman was too fast. High above, the Sun watched
this d6mestic drama with a m m y e of amusement and cowrn and
@ ' decided to help. The Sun shone; light down on the Earth ' ont of
the woman. Where the light shone, raspberries grew up. ut the
woman, in her anger, i@red them; the Sun tried again with blueberries, and then blackberries, but none tempted
shone its light down in the grass right in front
and strawberries appeared, glowing like coals in the grass.
And they stopped her. Biting into one of the heart-shaped fruits,
its sweetngs reminded the first woman of how happy she and her
husband had been before they quarreled. Forgetting her anger, she
began gathering the fruit for her husb~nd,and
band caught up with her. "Forgive m@
man said to the first woman. And she
handful of strawberries.
It could be said that strawberries have been contr&uting to habpy
homes every since, and nowhere more so than in Oklahoma. The taste
of fresh berries (coupledwith how easy they are to grow) makes strawberries the number one fruit grown in home gardens across the state.
Fittingly, Oklahoma's twelve-item official meal (which includes
chicken fried steak and fried okra) is topped off with low-fat, highfiber strawbenies.
While June is the month of the strawberry moon up north, in
Oklahoma it is May that desavm the poetic title. When spring has
sprung for p o d , OMbfnil-mMstrawberries appear in the markets and at farm stads. Most df these berries are grown in Adair
3
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By
~c~ermc
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County in far eastern Oklahoma. The county seat, Stilwell, pays
homage to its sweetheart fruit on the second Saturday each May
at its annual Strawberry Festival, now in its forty-ninth year. At
the festival, growers compete fiercely each year in the strawberry
contest, and no wonder-champion berries are auctioned to local businesses that have been known to pay as much as $3,200 for
sixteen quarts. That works out to $200 per quart, and depending
on how big the berries in the carton (and they are usuallybig beauties), a prize-winning berry can be worth a five dollar bill.
SLAVE TO STRAWBERRIES
Ar
FAVORITE MOMENT EACH STRAWBERRY SEAson: spotting the first gigantic, perfectly ripe berry in my
patch. I am always shocked by its size, and words never used, like
herculean,come to mind as I stop to admire it for a few seconds.
Then ever so gently, I pick it, leaving its little cap on. Before I pop
it into my mouth, though, I must confess that I wave it in the air
a few times, showing it off to my husband Ron, who is likelyto be
laboring the next row over. Then I bite into it. And ifthe truth be
known, that is really my favorite moment-when the berry turns
to sweet mush in my mouth. I always promise my husband that
I'll give him the next big one I find...and usually I do.
I planted my strawbeny patch about ten years ago, following
instructionsin OSU fact sheet #6214: "Growing Strawberries in
the Home Garden." It might just as well have been entitled"Strawberries for Dummies." It covered the basics and was just right for
someone like me, who had never grown a strawberry in her life
and was anxious to get it right. A paragraph on the sheet described
the Cardinalstrawberry as "an outstanding variety for Oklahoma.
Fruit is large, firm, and uniformly bright red. Excellent quality for
use fresh or processed. A good runner plant producer, resistant
to leaf spot, leaf scorch, and powdery mildew." That was good
enough for me.
At the seed store, I picked up a bundle of twenty-five rather
unspectacular lookingplants. I stuck them in a bucket of water to
keep their roots wet as per fact sheet instructionsand then carried
them out to a sunny spot in my garden. The fact sheet made a big
deal about how deep to plant them: "If the crown, which is the
growingpart of the plant, is planted too deep, it will rot. If planted
too shallow, the roots will stick out, and the plant will dry up." I
guess I planted them the right depth, because they grew. A single
mother strawbenyplant usually produces tlmty to fifty runneror daughter-plants the tirst year, and these sure did that. Before
long my three rows of plants spaced two feet apart became three
healthy beds of deep green. While it hurt me to do it, I pinched
off the flowers that first season, in order to ensure a big yield the
next spring. I didn't want to take any chances.
I needn't have worried, because the next May our small patch
poured out one hundred and twenty-five quarts of strawberries
(five times more than the fact sheet predicted). No one had ever
seen anythmg like i t It was as if the strawbeny fairy had waved
her magic wand over them and then forgot to come back and turn
off the spell. Day after sunny day they ripened; day after sunny
day we picked them. For threeweeks I was a slave to strawberries-but a happy one. I hummed "Strawberry Fields Forever" as I
picked. My fingertips turned red. I ate so many strawberrieswith
so much Cool Whip that blood levels of whatever is in that stuff, the berries are svewn or scatteredamong the leaves or because of
I'm sure, reached dangerouslevels. When Ron and I couldn't eat the way the mother plants strew baby plants about.
Before people tamed them, strawberries were wild-seventyanother berry, I made jam and froze strawberries by the pint.
To say the least, it was a learning experience. The first day I five different species in the United States alone. According to
~
Indian Herbs, Native
learned that while a perfectly ripe berry has the best taste in the Virginia S c d y in ~ r e d ofu American
world, an overripe berry has the worst -the taste equivalent of Americanswere prone to go on "veritable strawberry sprees, eatthe smell of skunk. And there is often no way to tell which is ing the delicateberries, seasoningtheir meat with them, drinking
which-the two look virtually the same. While I pondered that strawberrysoup or a tea made from the leaves." Europeans cololittle trick of nature, I discovereda few other things: Dogs, at least nizing North America brought their native wild berry, Fragaria
my dogs, like to nibble on ripe berries. And big snakes occasion- vesca, with them. (Strawberryflowers are fragrant, hence the genus name Fragaria) Before long, they switched their alleally hang out in the shade of strawberries;whetherdq
giance to the wild berries of eastern North America,
are eating any berries, I haven't tried to find out.
especially the Virginia strawberry, Fragaria
I also learned about myself. Strawberries
virginiana, which was so good they sent
grow low to the ground, and those who
Attracting
plants back to relatives in England to
would pick them must arrive at a pickgrow. Oklahoma's native berries are this
ing style: stooping, squatting,kneeling,
customers for the
species, growing in open woods and
sitting, or some combination of the
meadows across the state, save for the
above. I am a squatter,but after awhile
Panhandle and the far southwest.
my knees give out, and I turn into a
Modern berries are the result of a
sitter. By season's end, however, I
cross
between the Virginia strawberry
had toughenedto the point that I could
and
the
beach strawberry, Fragaria
pick for more than an hour without
Some
come
f?om
as
far
native to the Pacific coasts of
chiloensis,
complaining-a vast improvement
North
and
South America. Big-berried
from when twenty minutes of picking
away
as
Amarillo.
varieties
(of
which there are now thouwould set me whining.
sands)
have
been
available since the 1850s.
Harvesting strawberriesis really the hardCultivated strawberries grow in every state and
est thing about growing them. Otherwise, we put
Canadian province and are second onlyto the apple in geoin maybe eight hours of labor per year caring for our three
two-by-fifteen beds. I have never applied a single spray to my graphic distribution. People as varied as philosophersand cookberries, and my experience is the norm, according to JuliaLewis, book writers have sung the praises of the strawberry, but in 1653
former OSU extensionsmall fruitsspecialist. The worst problem Enghh fisherman Izaak Walton summed it up best: "Doubtless
I have encounteredwas during cool, wet spellswhen an ugly, fuzzy God could have made a better berry," he wrote, "but doubtless
gray mold enveloped some of the berries. This is generally not God never did."
' Such affection was not universal. Some Old World scholars
serious enough to spray for, says Lewis, who recommends putting the molded berries in a bucket and simply carrying them out believed strawberrieswere poisonous-contaminated by the urine
of the garden. (I use the mummified berries as ammo to toss at of snakes and toads; others who practiced folk medicine used
my dog, who always lies in the grass near the patch waiting for a strawberryleaves and roots to fight fevers, cure gout, and to stop
bleeding and diarrhea. Native Americans also used the plant
chance to move in.)
Those one hundred and twenty-fivequarts were a farm record; medicinally. According to Cherokeeherbalist LelanieStone, a tea
one that still stands. There must have occurred a rare combina- from the plant was used as a gargle for sore throat. Strawberries
tion of rain and sun that spring, because since then we have aver- are known to be high in Vitamin C-a half cup has as much as a
aged about fifty quarts per season. At this point I don't believe I navel orange. And then there are the cosmetic uses: berry juice
couldlive without my berrypatch-I am spoiled, and I enjoyspoil- reportedly dissolves tartar, whitens skin, and soothes sunburn.
ing others. When I hand a tiiend a two-inch-long, perfectly ripe Facial creams are made from a combination of strawberries and
berry, the reaction is always the same-a funny look sweeps over oatmeal. During the reign of Napoleon, one high-born French
the face, a mixture of surprise and great pleasure. I had the same lady reportedly bathed in crushed strawberries (twenty-two
reaction after encounteringa home grown strawberry-I had ex- pounds per tub) in order to soften her skin.
Such luxuriesrequire bumper crops, and for centuries gardenpected good, but not sublime; sweet, but not luscious. In short,
my expectations of what a strawberry should taste like were raised ers have been trying to coax more berries from their patches. Two
practices recommended today by OSU were first used in England
forever.
in the 1600s: cutting back berry plants after harvest (renovation)
and fedking with some kind of manure. Manure has long been
STRAWBERRY SPREES
A STRAWBERRYIS CALLEDA "STRAW" BERRY IS believed to be the key to a better tasting strawberry (the English
a bit of a botanical mystery. Some say it is because straw- were particularlyenthusiasticabout pigeon dung). InPoteau, horberries are traditionally mulched with straw. Others claim that ticulturists at the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture use
strawberries used to be known as "strew" berries, either because chicken litter-if only because it is so plentiful in LeFLoreCounty,
w
April
May 1996
23
G strawberriesissoroutine In Okldhom~~,
onc
'
+'@klahoma,OSU exp& recommen&theform# Junebearce a heavy crop once a year fo
a oy-product of the many poultry farms located there. The Kerr
folks compost it and use it to fertilize two acres of organically
grown strawberries, and so far their results have been good: last
year six tons of berries were harvested despite unfavorable
weather, and project head Alan Ware expects an even higher yield
this year.
Growing strawberriesis labor intensive: planting, weeding, and
harvesting must be done by hand. The goal of the Kerr demonstration plot is to interest small growers by showing them how to
grow strawberries organically while cutting both labor time and
production costs. One novel way Ware has saved on labor (and
avoided herbicides) has been to hire thirty-two big ornery white
birds to do the weeding in his two acres of strawberry rows. Developed as walking weed eaters for cotton fields in the 1930s,young
Chinese Weeder geese in recent years have made a comeback in
the Oregon mint fields. Geese work well because they are picky
eaters-they don't like the texture of mint or, it seems, strawberry
leaves, but they love crabgrass. They stay in the patch--except
during flowering and harvesting-and are sold off at the end of
the season. Two-year-old geese, explains Ware, are notoriously
lazy.
KCSA sells its berries on a pick-your-own basis and also at the
Poteau farmer's market. Last year, it didn't have enough berries
to meet the demand. Ware says a population base of 2,500 will
support an acre of pick-your-own strawberries. With the population of LeFlore County around 43,000, he sees a lot of potential
for prospectivegrowersin southeastern Oklahoma. Elsewhere in
Oklahoma, growers have had success running pick-your-own and
custom-pick (you place an order, and the grower picks them for
you) operations. Near Weatherford,Delvin and Anita Mast have
an acre of Cardinal and Arking berries. The Masts' biggest problem is the wind and extreme heat of western Oklahoma. But, as
Delvin says, "You can grow strawberries out here; it just takes a
little more work." Attracting customers is the least of his problems. Some come from as far away as Amarillo.
THE LAND OF STRAWBERRIES
T
'
plants. February or homa) are g& times to pla .part in rows four feet apart, To keep a familyofQy in
for freaing or preserving),
berry plants. One of the ealest met
of plants. Add peat moss commercial 10-20-10 on emes are shallow root
HE ROCKY HILLS OF ADAIR COUNTY YIELD SMALL
oak trees and big strawberries. Yet the strawberry industry
in this small county on the Arkansas line has also known its ups
and downs. Berries were first grown commercially here during
the 1920sby a few growers with about fifteen acres between them.
prices went up and down and sometimes so low growersleft berries unpicked; during the drouth years ofthe 1930s,many patches
were plowed up. Yet by 1939, acreage began to climb again, and
by 1948, the year of the first Strawberry Festival in Stilwell, more
than three hundred and fifty acres of strawberriesexisted-worth,
at that time, a record $750,000. By 1950,that acreage had tripled,
and StilwellCanning, now Stilwell Foods, built a freezing and cold
storage plant to handle the strawberries. Those were the glory
days. The U.S. was leader of the free world, and little Stilwell was
declared by the Oklahoma Legislature to be the Strawberry Capital of the World. Strawberryacreage peaked at a couple thousand,
and berries were shipped out by the railroad car.
Business hasn't been as good in recent memory. For the last
ten years, growers have been plagued by a fungal disease. Tighter
federal labor laws have also led to a h t r a t i n g dilemma: "(Grow- employ especially trustworthy special pickers who go out to the
ers) could sell a lot more strawberriesthan they've got, but they fields early, with flashlightsif need be, on festival day. Outside
strawberryexperts judge the berries on the basis of color, uniforjust can't get them picked."
In 1994,Oklahoma had 117acres in strawberries valued at $3.5 mity, size, and of course, taste, though with prices so high, the
million, a far cry from what some growers believe it cduld be. tasting is kept to a minimum. Back in the 1960s, first-place ber(California produces eighty-five percent of the berries grown in ries were fetching three hundred dollars for sixteen quarts of berthe U.S.) One small consolation: the very large California ber- ries; these days champion growers can expect about three thouries are picked unripe to weather the long journey to the store, sand dollars. The money is split 60140 between the grower and
making their taste not nearly as flavorful as locally grown berries. the Kiwanis Club, which has sponsored the festival since 1948,says
The offer of fresh strawberriesswells Stilwell's population to ten Charles Crozier, the resident festival expert. Presently the club
times its normal 2,663 during its annual Strawberry Festival. funds summer baseball and soccer programs for 350 county kids
with the auction proceeds.
Growers who set up on downtown streets sell out
While the fest is rooted in tradition, a 5K
quickly, and town fathers have even had to reTCA-sanctioned Run for the Berries has
sort to using California berries in the strawbeen added, and the StrawberryQueen is
berry and shortcakegiveawayin the afternow a sixteen to eighteen-year-old girl
noon. (Consumersare also warned that
'Doubtless God
judged on beauty, talent, and public
vendorson the roads leading into town
speaking;how well she can pick berries
may be selling "foreign berries.")
is no longer a factor. And while
At its heart, the Stilwell Strawberry
Blakemore used to be the favorite
festival is a local affair, equal parts harstrawberry, it has been eclipsed in revest festival and homecoming, coincent years by the Cardinal.
ciding as it does with Mother's Day
did.'
Whatever the variety in the garden,
weekend and the all-school reunion.
come May as the sun goes down and the
Over the years, festivitieshaven't changed
-Izaak Walton
strawberrymoon rises, I will be back in the
much: folks sing the national anthem and
berry patch. In my kitchen, the table, the
salute the flag before the parade gets under
counters, and the stove will be crowded with so
way. At the festival luncheon, a prominent Oklamany berries that the room will be bathed in a strawberry
homan-usually a politician--gives a speech while out on
the street, the band-usually military-plays on. Past activities red glow. Could there actually be a deeper meaning to this
have included schoolchildren singing in Cherokee, square-danc- bounty? The Cherokee think so. "To this day," their folk tale goes,
ing, fiddlingcontests, even a quick-draw shooting exhibitionby a "when the Cherokee people eat strawberries, they are reminded
to always to be kind to each other; to remember that friendshi
highway patrolman.
After lunch, judges announce the winners of the strawberry and respect are as sweet as the taste of ripe, red berries."
contest. Many of the same names pop up each year: Auffet, '. . .
. . . . . .
.
. . . .
.
Brannon, Baird, Gain,Lockard,but no onegrowerhas a monopoly Maura McDermott is a contributing editor for Oklahoma Toon first place. The title of champion is hotly contested: growers day who writes regularly on gardening.
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GETTING THERE
The Kerr Centerfor Sustainable Agriculture in Poteau will host afield day
May l8from 9 a.m. to 2:30p.m., during which visitors can inspeddernonstra- .
tion plots of organic strawberries, learn aboutgrmOW1ng
vegetables in walk-in wld
frames, and see how KCSA recommends making compost. Before May 10, a d m i . @ b W(c&ld
ages seventeen and younger arefree); afterwards and at the door, $10.
Visitorsare welcome at the Center anytme but must call ahead for an appointmefit. &P ~ v d u b l e
by mail: information on their strawberry, blueberry, and blackbenyprojects. For sopren w@ KGSA,
P.O. Box 588, Poteau, OK 74953;or call, Alan Ware at (918) 647-9123. For informition about .
picking (or buying)strawberries, call ahead to (918) 647-8940.
Stilwell's annual Strawberry Festival is setfor May 11;for more information, call (918)
For those without a strawberrypatch,strawberrypicking is still within yourgrasp at the
own strawberry farms scattered across Oklahoma. At the WatsonFarm in Man
open to the public (the Watsonseven provide containers). It is best, however, to go early and
1990, and they run out every year. From Mannford, go west on SH-51 to SH-48, then south nine miles to SH-33. Turn west on SH-33 and go another
one and a halfmiles; thefarm is on the right hand side of the road (bannersfor WatsonFarm point the way). (918) 352-3789.
Danyl and Jan Lockard have raised strawbm'es for about eighteenyears. (The couple made Stihvell strawberry history when their entries won Blue
Ribbons threeyears in a row in 1990,1991, and 1992.) Thisyear, theyteplanted threeand a haIfacres with mainly Jewel and Cardinal strawberries;
picking s e a m begins in May and lasts aboutfour weeks. In season, they open early, and their strawberry stand is usually sold out by 1I a m . (they do
accept call-in orders). Thefarm sits north of Stilwell on US-59 (a mile north of the last stoplight); lookfor the large "Lockard Farm" sign. (918) 696-2938.
Other strawberryfarms: Tom and Bonnie Norman's BonTom's in Red Rock (405-723-4216)and big Stilwellgrowers like Leonard h i r d (918-6967850) and JohnAu@ (918-696-7764).
April
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May
lQQa
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I
FORGET
T HE JETSONS I T ' S L I K E
L I V I N G IN YOUR C A ~ P E R > > >
I
The importance of this latest flight is evibecause she loved the man. But when Oscar
dent in the choice of crew members, resultcame along, the sacrifice seemed to make
ing in one of the most experienced crews ever
sense. "She was expecting me, and she said,
'God's going to give me a boy,' " recalled Osput together. No rookies. Along with Mission Specialist Shannon Lucid are: Comcar, " 'and he'll go to China to represent me.'
mander Kevin Chilton, Pilot Richard
So when I was born, she said, 'Here's your
missionary.' "
Searfoss, Mission Specialist Ronald Sega,
Mission SpecialistMichael Clifford, and MisMyrtle and Oscar's own fkst child was born
in 1943 in China, and they fittingly named
sion Specialist Linda M. Godwin. But only Shnnon at high KhoolgradUCItiOn.
Lucid will remain on Mir. "I think they
her Shannon &er Oscar's mother. Shannon
(NASA) were looking for people that they thought would not was barely six weeks old when the Chinese took the family prisbe real stressed out by differencesin cultureand things like that," oner in retaliation for Roosevelt imprisoning the Japanese in
said Lucid. "I've always enjoyedgoing to different countries and America. The Wellses-along with forty-seven other British and
meeting different types of people...my earliest memories are in American prisoners-were incarcerated in two bedrooms at an
China beingwith the Chinese and travelingwithmyfather alot." old university. Oscar cooked for the concentration camp. ShHer mission is a fundamental building block for the Interna- annon grew up on rice, cream of wheat, and powdered milk that
tional Space Station, on which constructionis to begin in 1997. her father obtained by whatever means necessary. "My wife
This is the third shuttle/Mirdocking,and the National Aeronau- would take her portion of rice and mine, skim the worms off
tics and Space Administration needs to show it can be a consis- the top, and mix up the powdered milk with it, to keep (Shantent partner in such a gargantuan endeavor as putting together non) alive," said Oscar. "I weighed one hundred and eightya working space station. Lucid's presence begins a two-year con- seven pounds when we went in, and weighed seventy-eight when
tinuous American presence on Mir.
we came out."
The time the family spent in prison was made more diEcult
In a time when flying to the moon seems almost routine, Lucid is part ofwhat has remained a tenuous dream: living in space. by the presence of a baby. "We slept under mosquito nets, and
"It's been one of many people's dreams, I think, to have an out- my wife would say, 'Take her outside, take her outside' (when
post in space where we can always go to and conduct research Shannon cried and kept the rest of the prisoners, weary from
and learn more about living in space, and this is the beginning work, awake), and so I'd take her outside and walk the barbed
of that," Frank Culbertson, director of NASA's shuttle-Mirpro- wire fence and pray." Eventually British prisoners with babies
gram, told the Associated Press in Florida after the launch of the moved in, and the pressure on Oscar and Myrtle e.ased some-
Space Shuttle Atluiltis at 3:13:04 a.m. EST on March 22.
Five more Americans are supposed to eventually live on Mir.
By the time the last one leaves in 1998, the international space
station should be housing U.S.-Russian crews year-round. But
that is all in the future.
For now, the space station is the only present Shannon Lucid
has.
RAISING AN ASTRONAUT
HE WAS BORN SHANNON M. WELLS ON JANUARY 14,
1943,to Oscar and Myrtle Wells, two young missionarieswho
met and married while living and working in China. Myrtle
came to China as a girl with her father, the first missionary to
the country in the history of his Dutch church. A mother's aspirations brought Oscar as a young man to China in 1940.
Oscar's mother had initially planned to marry a young doctor and go to China herself, but her young man was murdered
before they could wed. It was the early 1910s, and women of
that day just didn't venture overseas alone-even as missionaries-so she laid aside her plans and moved instead to Texas to
become a schoolteacher. There she met the man who would
become Oscar's father, a widower with five children. She married him, she always told Oscar, for the children's sake-not
S
though the w a h g dt lllght inzredsed.
When the family was finally released almost two years later,
they traveled by water (on a ship built for 500 that carried 1,550)
to east India to be exchanged for Japaneseprisoners. "We were
seventy-six days on the water," said Oscar. "You had to go
around the world to stay out of mine waters."
They ended up in New York, from which they pushed on to
Michigan, then Fort Worth, Texas. When World War I1 ended,
they returned to China as missionaries to Chiang Kai-Shek's
men. The family was larger by two by then, but of all the Wells
children, it was Shannon who roamed China with the ease of a
native, riding the rickety old buses, eating the regional food.
"The others always fussed about (the food), but it didn't matter
with her," said Oscar. "(The Chinese) take an egg, and they boil
it in soy sauce, and it turns brown. Well,you don't know whether
it's a nest egg, a forty-year-old egg, a hundred-year-old egg, or a
fresh egg. The others (Shannon's siblings) had to to see how it
was going, but she'd just bite into it."
Why was she different than her siblings? Oscar Wells doesn't
even hesitate: "because she traveled with me." He describes a
daughter who learned early that being a trooper can lead to wonRight, the launch on March 22, 1996.
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
derful opportunities. "My father traveled around a lot in China,"
agreed Shannon, "and as long as I didn't complain, he'd take me
with him. And so I didn't complain. We went to a lot of different places. I guess you could say I learned very young not to
complain."
She also exhibited young the sturdy constitution that would
serve her well as an astronaut. At the age of eight, flying from
Shanghai across the Kuling Mountains in an old unpressurized
airplane, she spent the entire trip with her nose pressed against
the window as her mother turned green and her siblings reeled
with queasiness nearby. "I thought the most remarkable thing
I'd ever seen in my l i e was when I saw the runway we were going to land on," recalled Shannon. "I (realized)just the pilotjust a mere human being-was going to land on that runway,
and I thought that was absolutelyremarkable. So I decided right
then and there when I grew up I wanted to learn how to fly."
THE OKLAHOMA DAYS
FTER THE COMMUNISTS TOOK OVER CHINA, THE
Wellses left the country for good, finally settling in Bethany,
which Shannon never regretted. "I just think that Oklahoma was
a very great place to grow up," she said, "and obviously I have
strong ties to Oklahoma because my family still lives there. They
still live in the same place, the same house-so that's home."
She was an enthusiasticstudent. And by the time she reached
junior high school,she already had all the characteristics of a budding scientistor astronaut, with one small hitch: it was the 1950s
and women weren't supposed to want to go to college, much less
be scientists. Astronauts? The term didn't even exist. Asked to
write a paper on what she wanted to be when she grew up, the
eighth grader whipped out an essay on becoming a rocket scientist and flying in space. The teacher thought Shannon was making fun of the assignment. "I will admit," said Lucid with her
trademark chuckle, "that I thought it was a very good idea to write
that paper, because there was nothing in the library (on it), so I
didn't have to go to the libraryto look anythmg up--I could just
make up all the requirements."
Rut shewas also dead serious Shannon h3d known she.cmnted
I
7
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L-
proq that aelng an astronaut Is not an
centrate on becoming a scientist. Mrs. Blanche Moon of
Bethany had Shannon for general science, physics, chemistry,
and four years of mathematics in high school, and she recalls the
young woman as one of those rare students who was always
doing interestingstufl. But Shannonwas also blessed with teachers who aided and abetted her inquisitive mind. After reading
one sentence in Reader's Digest that suggested the skin had an
inhihiton. f ~ t o that
r mizht pre~rentcnncer, Shannon built a
!A I I N E N G I N E ' ST A R
to be a space explorer since she was in grade school. She had read
books about pioneers traveling West in wagon trains in search
of new lands, and she admits she would have gladly settled for
that had she been born a century earlier. But America had already been discoveredand explored, and her greatest fear became
that there would not be anything left to explore by the time she
grew up. Before real despair could set in, however, Shannon began to read about the rockets Robert Goddard was launching in
New Mexico's deserts and discoveredthe wonders of science fiction. "I thought to myself, 'Oh, this is what I can grow up to be,
a space explorer,' " she recalled. "But then of course, that was a
long time before the United States had a manned space program,
so it was pretty off the wall."
Shannonnever shelved her childhooddream, but she did con-
T.-.2.2,>->
science project in which she applied different chemicals to the
skin of mice. "I remember one night," said Mrs. Moon, "it was
pouring down rain, and there was a phone call from the drugstore there in Bethany wanting to know if I would come down.
Shannonwas there, and she wanted to buy some chemicals. They
didn't want to let her have them unless I'd say it was all right."
That project won &st place in the school's science fair (Mrs.
Moon raised the prize money from the local Kiwanis Club),
qualifying it for the regional fair in Edmond. Before the judges
would consider it, however, they wanted assurance that Shannon would be able to afford to attend the nationals in Indianapolis should she win. Mrs. Moon gave them her word it was possible (though she wasn't at all sure a Baptist evangelist with four
children could afford such a trip). When Shannon won the top
Oklahoma
T o d a y
a
-,"
.;.
tkonly h
e , her student ever surprised Mrs. Moon: "I said to
herhusband, 'Hodd you ever get Shannon?,' and he said, 'I was
. b r boss." m e aspiring astronaut became a mother with the
; hhd~
of r daughter, E;awai Dawn, in 1968 (Shandara MiChelle
rf-ollowedin 1970, M&bel Kermit in 1975).
From thebeginning, Mcbel, himselfa chemist, stronglysupported Skannon's aspirations to became an astronaut, wen to
': theaxtent of agreeingto ¶uit hisjob and move the familyto Texas
' &ld
shebe selected. W e n Shannon unsuccessfullytridsevg@ h e 6 ditLtingthe 1960sto become a commercial pilot, how- W5
it seemedgd&&y.su&a sacrifice w ~ d ever
d be n e q .
+. .
, She went.toc u a r k ~ e in
~ 1969
d as a graduateassktarzt:htlie
$Tt@er&yo%@ikhhomaHealth ScienceCenter's d e p w of
&h~gemistry
and mbiology. After recei.viag.h@ dscGmk in biachenistry-in 1973 (her dissertationwkenfitledEff;.t ~fck~t~tx
TW'XS.
w Pb~pko~lazi~fl
d K~L-&B
of
drr&tid E@MiaIF& m
d
i Their B m k Boders), she h a m e
a research associate and postdoctoral fellowwith the OkIahoma
Medical Research Foundation.
Five years later on January 16,1978, Shannon Lucid was selected as a candidate for NASA's first group of women astronauts;among hex peers that day: Sally Ride.
, In August, 1979, Shannon completed a training and d u a tion course that qualiiied her for assignment & a mission speoidist on space shuttle flight crews. She &e her first night in
1885 on an eight-day mission that included satellite deployments, x-ray astronomy experiments, and the activation of the
Automated Directional Solidification Furnace. h n g those
there to see her fist launch were her father and mother (he's
never missed a launch) and Mrs. Blanche Moon.
prize, Mrs. Moon quickly went back to the Kiwanis Club for the
travel expenses, which the club happily donated.
It was money well spent. Shannon went on to receive the
Bausch and Lomb Science award and to have her paper on cancer research published by the Oklahoma Junior Academy of Science. She was accepted by the National Science Foundation for
study at its summer and weekend institutes. She graduated from
Bethany High School in 1960,one of four students to do so with
"high honor." Despite lukewarm support from some (one
teacher, when told Shannon planned to attend college, responded, "Why would you want to waste your parentszmoney?"),
Shannon headed south to Norman and the University of Oklahoma.
AU seemed according to the flight plan, until the announcement of the first seven American astronauts was made in 1958.
They were all men. For the first time in her life, Shannon admits, she was, 'a little turned off to the space program to a certain extent, because, you know, there were no females involved
at all." Shannon would be out of college before Valentino, a
Russian cosmonaut, earned the distinction in the 1960s of becoming the first woman in space (Sally Ride would not follow
until 1983).
Shannon put her head down and plowed on. She received her
bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1963 from OU. In the late
1960%she took a job as a chemistwith Kerr-McGee in Oklahoma
City, and it was there she met and married Michael Lucid. It was
A p r i l
.
WHY SPACE?
HE OBVIOUS QUESTION IS STILL,WHY? WHAT KIND
of person climbs into a crowded vehicle-surrounded by
volatile fuel and explosives and dependent on a million-plus
pieces of hardware, a myriad of computer programs, and the
ability of thousands of engineersand techniciansto work in harmony-destined for a place where human life can existwith only
the help of more hardware and technology and cooperation?
It is hard to saywhat kind exactly,but Oklahoma has produced
a lot of them. Two names readily leap to mind, Fred Haise of
Apollo 13,and Gordon Cooper, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. Now add Shannon Lucid to the list. This
"Oklahoma connection" is known by many, for the state has
produced a disproportionate number of astronauts and explorers, a fact that Lucid's commander on STS-76 noted whenas he introduced Shannon at the crew press conference in
Houston ten days before the March launch-he placed her in
"a long line of explorers from Oklahoma."
At a dress rehearsal for launch at the Kennedy Space Center,
Lucid herself made the observation that "Oklahoma was settled
by people who were dissatisfiedwith where they were and wanted
someplace new to live."
She added with a smile, "I guess it's sort of genetic."
But there might be a simpler, less esoteric reason, also-the
same spark that has motivated some of the great scientists and
T
M a y
1996
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..istoric missions of the last several years. She became the person, while on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Orbiter I$
Atlantis, who flipped the switches that deployed the nineteen- - .
ton GalileoJupiterorbiterlprobe in October, 1989,that plunged
:?to the giant planet's atmosphere in December, 1995.
Scientistsare now poring over data from Galileo that will add .'
greatly to our knowledge of the development of the solar system, where we come from, and our understanding of all celestial bodies.
Along with other female astronauts like Rhea Seddon,
Katheryn Thornton, and Tamara Jernigan,Lucid is at the core
of a group of the most talented and experienced women space
pioneers in history. At a time when most astronauts have long
since given up the high-risk job of active flight status, of being
hurled into space aboard rockets so powerful that humans are
not allowed within three miles at launch, Lucid is embarking
on a new era in space exploration. "You could live life in a
The STS-58flight ~rtrw.
padded room if you wanted to," Lucid once said, "but that
wouldn't be much of a life."
astronomers through the ages. To look at the earth from space,
When asked once if her children were proud of their astro- ,
to see it as that small globe floating unattached in an ocean of naut mother, she replied with a smile and a typical dose of mod- :
stars against blackness. How many have dreamed of it? How esty. "I know they are, but sometimes I think they wish they
many fewer have seen it?
had a more regular mom. I know they are asked a lot about it, ' :
Shannon Lucid put it simply. "I love looking out the win- and I can see them saying, 'Aw, it's just Mom.' " Though her .
dows from the flightdeck. I always look forward to time offso career takes her away from home for long periods of time (she ,
I can just look at the Earth. It's what I look forward to the was in Star City in Russia preparing for her most recent flight 'I
most." She is not alone-many an astronaut has been known for most of a year), she tries to be the kind of mother to her
to forgo sleep time to have "window time," where every hour- children that her parents were to her: "I had a wonderful set '*
and-a-half there is a sunrise and a sunset looking over the rim ofparents and couldn't have asked for a better childhood. They
of the world.
were always very encouraging. Whatever harebrained scheme
It is not all glamorous living in microgravity. "I'm not nor- you might come up with, they were very supportive."
mally a neat person," said Lucid with a laugh, "as anyone in
On Mission STS-76, Phase 1 of the International Space Stamy family can tell you, but it's important on a space flight. You tion program, Lucid will orbit the earth for nearly five months
have to be very careful that what you take out you put away so in a Russian-made space station, conducting experiments to
it can be found again."
gain insight into human effects of extended stays in weightlessGood advice, and critical in an environment where dust ness. The centerpiece of Phase 1 is the docking of the U.S.
never settles and one cannot walk, only float, where loose food space shuttle with the Russian Mir, but another objective is also
could mean disaster and spilled water a call to alarm. When to find countermeasuresfor the physiological and psychologiyou live for weeks in the orbiter mid-deck, which is the size of cal effects of long-duration space flight on humans. Lucid will
a nice modern bathroom, with six other people, housekeep- perform experiments on herself and other humans to contribing is not just a good idea, it is the law. The only escape: the ute to our'knowledge of how the human body reacts to long
,
4
+
;
flight deck, which is the size of a nice walk-in closet. The
Starship Enterprise it is not, but the space shuttle orbiter will
get an astronaut to space and back. Lucid likens it to "living
in a camper in the back of your pickup with your kids for several days when it is raining and no one can get out."
UP, UP, AND AWAY
HOUGH SALLY RIDE RECEIVED THE MOST NOTOriety of the U.S. women in space with her single flight, it
has been Shannon Lucid who has gone on to become a real veteran, making four flights and scheduled for one of the most
T
periods of weightlessness and isolation. But she also hopes her
work will contribute to a personal long-term objective: "What
1would really like to see," admitted Lucid, "is a plan for us to
go to Mars and become a space-faring people."
She began training for the Mir rendezvous in February, 1995,
at Star City, Russia, learning Russian, working through one
simulation after another to prepare her for the isolation of
months in space with only two Russian cosmonauts for company. To ease the transition, NASA has arranged to keep Lucid in contact with her family and events on Earth to help prevent any "cultural isolation." She will be able to speak with her
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
husband and three children every week and
see them during a video teleconference every
other week. She will also be able to exchange
messages with them via computer e-mail. She
will do frequent media interviews and carry
a laptop computerloadedwith training information, entertainment programs such as
chess,an extensiveCD library, and lots ofvideotapes, music tapes, and a box of books (which her daughters selected),includinga pocket Bible-not that being in space
isn't entertainment enough.
The morning of the launch dawns crystal clear. The Space
Shuttle Atlantis, brightly lit by powerful xenon spotlights,
stands like a ceremonialstatue toweringover all its surroundings. Onlya stone's throw from the ocean, the shuttle is poised
for a trip of several million miles.
Back at the launch complex's operational area almost three
miles to thewest, the launch director is in constant contactwith
the astronauts and the engineers responsible for conducting
the liftoff. The morning of the twenty-second is cold by
Florida standards, around 45 degrees with a stiff wind.
Time passes, and the veteran watchers of shuttle launches
ignore most of the commentary coming from loudspeakers
around the Space Center. But when the countdown goes into
a short built-in hold at T minus 9 minutes, things take on a
different air. People begin migrating to the spots where they
will watch the launch. They stop talking to one another, and a
tense silenceovertakesthe usually noisy reporters and photographers when the countdown clock continues its move backward through the one minute mark.
Some people get nervous stomachs bordering on nausea at
this point, and even a tourist could not help but notice that all
movement appearsto cease. Thirty seconds from launch, man
cedescontrol of the launch to the computerson board Atlantis.
At T minus 10 seconds anyone talking might be shot.
The launch commentator begins to count. "T minus 10,9,
8, 7, we have main engine start..."
Beginning at T minus 6.6 seconds, the shuttle's three main
engines are started at 120-millisecond intervalsand throttled
up to 100-percentthrust levels (roughly a million pounds of
thrust), but the shuttle does not fly-yet. The entire shuttle
configuration tips forward approximately 25.5 inches while
huge "hold-down posts" keep it bound to the launch pad until it rocks back to a true vertical stanceat T minus 0. Then the
solid rocket boosters (the giant white rockets attached on either side of the twenty-story tall orange main external tank)
ignite, and the massive bolts filled with explosives that secure
the "hold-down posts" blow the posts away from the shuttle.
The 140,000 acres of the Merritt Island National Wildlife
Refuge, on which the launch pad sits, is transformed into a
spaceport underneath a giant fireball seventy-stories tall that
lights the black night skies of coastal central Florida from horizon to horizon-visible from as far north as North Carolina.
Some say it looks eerie. For those aboard the space ship? As
one shuttle astronaut said, "You know you're experiencing a
significantmoment in your life."
April
.
The fireball is blinding against the drop of
night. The thunder it generates rattles windows, sets car alarms off all across the space
center, and wakes people sleeping thlrty miles
away. ShannonLucid is one of six human beings riding on top of the masterfully controlled chaos that is America's space shuttle
orbiter, Atlantis. In about eight minutes, it
will reach a speed of 25,000 feet per second, the equivalent of
a Boeing 737 accelerating straight up to the heavens at 17,500
miles an hour in less than ten minutes.
Before Challenger, a Kennedy Space Center employee had
told me the day before, "We never thought about the worst
case, about disaster. We used to clap our hands at liftoff. Now
we hold our breath until the SRBs (solid rocket boosters) separate from the vehiclethen we clap."
It is risky, it is dangerous, and it is sublime to those who
watch it rise into the night. The brightness hurts the eyes, the
noise is deafening, and those who call it eerie, well, they are
right.
Less than forty-eight hours later, on March 23, 1996, 9:33
p.m. EST, the 100-ton space shuttle moving tail-first with its
belly pointing up docked with the 107-ton M i r and, shortly
after, Shannon Lucid crossed the threshold between the two
spacecraftandjoined the Russian crew. Traveling 17,500mph,
245 miles above western Russia, she stepped out into new era
in space exploration-a true space explorer.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ron White is a n Oklahoma native who writes regularly about
the space program for Quest, the magazine of spaceflight.
GETTING THERE
The OklahomaAir eh Space Museum in Oklahoma City (just across
the metroplexfiorn Shannon Lucid's hometown of Bethany) is
Oklahoma's repositoryof astronaut memorabilia (it has threephotos of
Lucid). Though the museum's specialty is aviation, it is home to the
YoungAstronauts Program (sponsored by NASA itsem, which offers a
monthly opportunityfor children agesfive through twelve to learn
about rockets (the kids actually build onefiom a kit).
The museum also offers eighteen summer day camp options,
including a Space Station Adventure Camp in which six to eight-yearolds sample spacefood, design their own space station module, and
perform space experiments. Thissummer the Mission in Space Camp
for nine to twelve-year-olds includes a trip to NASA's JohnsonSpace
Center in Houston. Camp costs rangefiom $60-$300.
The museum is located in the Kirkpatrick CenterMuseum Complex,
2100 N.E. 52nd, Oklahoma City, OK 73111, (405)424-0203.
M a y
1996
33
and mist, the flower-covered hillside is
'rano-~iecedquilt, and the sun thr
shadows of hundred-foot trees. Illusion. Some of it is real, some is myster
u s q u a n i g o di. If it is illusion, it is still a part of the beauty of everythi
to us for enjoyment.
It tells us to enjoy but to keep a clear head-know
gentle differences but use wisdom i n making firm choices. W e
i n g good-or
,
.
,
everything beauti$*.l It is G
chc
3.
the
'i".
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f
h"' ,Y (...in Aprif 1832Mexico ' z ~the
J UnrSeaStated provaebfor a durvey of their commn boundary -a d m vey which w o ~ ~ dupl&e
t l y
A&nw-Onrb TreaQ.
theprovrbwrw of the
Thedaiefor tbrbdurvey wad a-
t e d d to Aprd2Q1836, b&
by that time T w had
J e c M d~;nSepedencefrom Me.lrico, thereby changby the ~tntudofthe
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&t inu
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which rvuj to have been d u ~ e y d . )
Mary Ann Parker,
Chronicles of Oklahoma
By Michael Vaught
Oklahoma
T o d a y
April
M a y
1996
would sometimes say things that 3
were alittle out of my understanding, S
stating once that Greer County "feels
like Texas." I asked him once what
that meant, but he narrowdhis eyes,
and after thinking for a moment, he
just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
Throughthe screenof recollection,
the words of the minister lit my mind
with a single phrase. "What is it
about a man," he said, "that would
make him spend his whole life in
southwestern Oklahoma?"
What a question, I thought. What
a totally fundamentalquestion.
I grewup on the other, eastern side .
of the Wichita Mountains, over in
Comanche County, with grandparents and aunts and uncles.
Someofthem hadcometo Oklahomafrom Texas, and in one case
especially, an old bachelor uncle, I could see thi$same hybridization onexas-0klahoma sen& ofp& and time. Keith stayedhere,
I suppose, because this was his home, and this country near Old
GreerGountywaswherehe belonged. It was agoodplace for him,
he had once said, because he was, as TexasauthortanyMcMtypified, "a researchet of life its ownself."
The funeralwas not a long one, and as we walked outside, waiting for Keith to be wried to the hearse that would take him on to
Mangum for burial, I put on my hat and looked out across the
open sky. A cryptic old folk phritse, Fpular as a euphemism for
fight from discovery, came into my mind: Gone to Texas. Keith
was going to be driven to Mangum, Oklahoma, for burial, and
there he was gone to Texas. Somethingabout that idea suggested
that there may indeedbe an areabetweensky and water, or a thing
between light and dark, or an area between Taras and Oklahoma
where there is no border.
@twad not until1853 wben a miEtarywcpdrwn o
d d
by Capfain &uGbt$bB. M a n y d&t auk to e;r~lomtbe upper
mgiorw ifthe ReaRiuer, thata real-t
to looatc the I&J&
Mcraian wad mdc. Accowarzy~tbLrxpditian wad&utenant George B. INcCleUan, who 4t&rnp& to & w t e tht eludive 1MtbMeraian tkmugbadtr~m&bbdervatio~. Hrb
o k n a t i o ~bvwew,
~,
w t m h m r ,d a d a w u h M c C l e h b
mapd h e J the l(Mth Mer&
afulliiym w t of L true
hion.)
M q A n n Parker
Chronicles of Oklahoma
At the midpoint of the nineteenth century, the United States
was stillrunning ahigh collectivefeverfor land The idea of manifest destiny, that the United Statb had been nominated in some
divine sense to stretch from one ocean to another, was accepted
as a noble crusade. The feverbroke after the Mexican War of the
1840shad joined the United Statesto California,and asthe smoke
of battle cleared, the surveyor came and began an accounting.
Marcy's famous expedition of 1853to explore the Red River carried the seeds of confusion for a later generation of Oklahomans
and Texans. Lieutenant George McClellan, the Army officer who
would later command the Union
Army of the Potomac during the
CivilWar, misjudged and misfigured
the location of the 100thMeridian.
He made his mistake in the company of several other topographers
who either made mistakes of their
ownoracceptedthemistakesofother
surveys and observations, even
though mileposts were erected and
dechationsof acamcywereasgured
During this time, Greer County
- was considered wholly Texan by the
StateofTexas. Some strange miasma
of reason seems to have confounded
evena commission appointedby the
President of the United States to leplly fix the intersection of the 100th
Meridian and the Red Rivek. The President's commission met,
argued amongst itself, and then permanently adjourned without
a finding.
By the late 18OOs,Greer Countyhad begun to be settld by tlie
people who built the towns and the farms and who gave their
names to the land Cotton was grown, children were born, and
hymns were sung along the Red River. Letters were mailed, and
mamlageswereperformed in a ~t?x.as
that would not remain exa as.
The people of the land livedtheir lives and peopled that wuntry
despitethe fact that the Government of the United Statesplid the
State of Texas did not officially know where all these folb were.
Claims by Oklahoma, and counterclaims by the State of exa as,
wound up before tb United States Supreme Court d
the
Octoberterm of 1895, and in the early springof 1 8e 3! preme
Court announda M o n t h a t 4 e r citingSP& tre$w and
the Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River and genuinely co#ushg
referrals to latitudes and longitudes-the people of 014 Greer
County were no longer Texans, but. ..what?
c0ntrat.rto popular belief outside of Greer County,Old Greer
was not irnm&tely assigned to IndianTerritory or what would
become O ~ o m a Instead,,
.
some 1.3 million acm was F w n
into a politid limbo of sorts. Oklahoma's Panhandle may be
known as No Man5Land, but in the two mon
Old
Greerbeing cut loose from Texas and adheringto 2
dm
it was for d intents and purposes N & ~ s - h & n o la%, no
order, no idea of what its future held.
Needless to say, those who believed themselves Texans attempted to right what they saw as a supreme misuse of justice.
Persons who described themselves as residents of Greer County,
Texas,forwardedpetitions to the U.S. government pointing out,
as if to a not-very-bright child, the operation of a U.S. Post Office
in Greer County, Texas. But the high court found that this did
not strengthen the claim of Texas to the disputed land. Greer
County, Texas, was gone.
Imagine this for a moment, this idea of going to bed a Texan
and waking up as a man without a s t a t m n l y two months later
tobe made part of OklahomaTerritory. Some people who live in
faraway places and who do not follow college football and who
have not been raised to hear the mutual jokes and to endure the
mutual (and not always good-natured) rivalry betweeh our two
states might imagine this and shrug, not seeing the point. The
O k l a h o m a
T
T o d a y
point is that you can still, one hundred years to the day later (literallythisMay 16th),start a pretty hot argument over the annexation of Greer Countyto Oklahoma Not that you ever really need
a very well-founded topic to start an argument between a Texan
and an Oklahoman.
Yet ifyou step back and think about it, is there really that much
differencebetween us? Think about this for a second-there are
a bunch of people in Santa Fe or ColoradoSpringswho really seem
to hate both of us. I'd like to try and make a case again for something I believe very strongly. There is a separate subculturehere
that we need to more fully appreciate and iden* made up of
people who live and breathe Oklahoma and who bleed Texas, a
specialbreed of people who belong only to the land on which they
stand
(On Januaryj; 1927,the Undd Stated Supreme Courtformally 2 e c d tbat a durvey of the true 100thMer& wou0
be mde.)
Mary Ann Parker
Chronicles of Oklahoma
1
onlyknewhimasanoldman, but he made thegrandest and
finest old man that folks around southwest Oklahoma will ever
know. He was born in Texas, and he always seemed a part ofTexas
and a part of Oklahomawithout belongingto either place. Hewas,
as they say, a man who could tack his own horse, roll his own
smokes, and keep his own peace. Even though I am very nearly
into middle age, I haven't quite outgrown a wish to be just like
him.
My great uncle Emmett lived for a very long time, but time was
a relative property to him. I don't believe that he ever really
changed much, and at the end of his life all of his manners and
habits and ways of speakingcould have been cataloged as museum
exhibits.
My first memory of him was in the old house on the bare hill
where his own mother and father died and where he would live
out his life. It was a cold, dark afternoon, and the wind that is such
a fixture of southwest Oklahoma blew hard against the old walls
and windows. Emmett was never a man for display, but in a room
full of Sunday afternoon family, he dug out a coin purse, one of
the old types made of cowhide with a brass clasp at the top such
as men used to carry a long time ago. Without a word he gave it
to me, and thirty years later I still have it and even carry it once in
a while.
Once there were scores of men just like him from the hill country of Texas to the Red River and beyond, but I am afraid that they
are all but gone now. He alwayswore boots, good boots like Tony
Lamas or Noconas, and he alwayswore a hat, either the dustyold
black Stetson for everyday winter wear or the old straw Resistol
that served for summer. For Sundays or special occasions he
would break out the good felt Stetsonthat looked as if it had never
known a speck of dust. He rolled hi own cigarettes, smoking
dozens through the course of a day, but he preferred to smoke
outside, kneeling on the ground like a tracker lookingfor signs in
the grass.
In the right mood, Emmett was the greatest storyteller in the
county. He told me stories that to this day outshine any I have
sinceread or heard. Yet as incredibleas the storieswere, theywere
so well-based on known history that they could have been taught
April
.
to a class of regional historians.
One of Emmett's favorites was the cowboy-outlaw Sam Bass.
Bass was to 1870sTexas what Pretty Boy Floyd would become to
1930s Oklahoma, a folk bandit who, despite a bad habit of robbing banks and trains, was applauded by many a common man.
Emmett could tell me stories of Sam Bass, of posses and chases
and shoot-outsso vivid I could almost hear heavy bullets slap into
the trunks of cottonwoods and see Sam riding hell for leather
across an open field of green grass and blue bonnets. Emmett
would tell of how Sam Bass made the foolish mistake of picking a
shooting scrap with some Texas Rangers down in Texas and of
how the cowboy gone bad had died on his twenty-seventhbirthdaySome distant relations of mine who are doing their familyhistory have said recentlythat they have found arrestwarrantsissued
for Emmett by the State of Texas back in the 1920s.None of that
matters to me one bit. I do know that past an age when most men
have either died or gone on to be spoon-fed in a nursing home,
Emmett could still hit small targets with an old-type, single-action handgun, and I wonder now if maybe Emmett was speaking
of himself and not Sam Bass when he would say, "He weren't
mean, but they could make him thataway."
Oklahoma was his home, but Texas was his birthplace. I believe
that southwest Oklahoma and north-central Texas could have
been equallycomfortablefor him.He thought of them as not two
separatestates or places, but as his country peopled with his own
kind. Thelast time I ever saw him in thislife was on another cold,
windblown evening when I drove out the long, straight road to
the old house where he lived alone. One of the mysteries about
the man was the rumor in my family that there had once been a
girl and that Emmett had very nearly married, but somethingsecret and very sad had kept him alone. I sat for a few hours with
him in front of the gas heater in the living room. There was once
a wood stove that had heated the big room even as recently as my
childhood, but even Emmett had been forced to modernize to a
M a y
1 9 9 6
shallowd e p . 1could smelltheMenthola~lzmbthe must have
covered himselfwith under hk d&g to .easethe k-~rturesof
d e d e g of hand-rolledcigm&kxi.B3s b 9male inlow, hard
rasps and gods,but he stdlr d l dap a:smw,k Z'd quit smoking
a fewyears beibre, but s o m w made m e a s k l hfor his makings, and I rolled a smoke d m y own (ahppytness of a cigarette
as compared ta his). As we sat &d s m o W Bmmca looked at
me and commentdon thefaEttHatfhmld wind on that daywas
coming up @omthe South. T h q sent it up here from Tertas,"
he said, adding FIritfi a growl, *Ih&mrh them"
On Mzch 17,B93B,chief J u d e Charles EvefysHughes dedared that Gsuzaett's finding af the 100th M
a bounhy
dongthe 1QOthB&d&n was &tnuebo.r&r, itnd-kb
f i v e h u n d e e d O W ~ s ~ b ~ e T ~ ~ a n a
offotty-fmwpm da,fiereism mr:dof&;epagpie in ti&
area ha*
unduly oarraged by this finclang. I imagine
that by that point in time, the families who lived d~ng
this be+
witched border muld not have been surprised by musk of anytbZngrhat~gwimmem
wouldttdl&em, but instead theywent
alonga~pbdldaT~~tr.OWaho~s,
N o t l m g & e r S ~ w e r e d s ~ ~ i r ; l ~ ~ d ~ g a i n a ssinging
t h e yhymn&,
mdm i & i&l&.
Emrnettiatorhered d i $ d m d O w Therewon't
Tems~ahdO Wwill no b u b t always be codM to a
be apap)tmgre like 3lmmd&W e x heerrmi&T-, but he w%s mutad m i a m d e r s ~ ~one
a f khd or an~ther.h Ia thisq,
a toU b r i d ~ ~ t r o v e ~ ~ two
~ f statmwht
l t h e ~asuch
part ofusboth, d h t h Clkkdmmam d T h w e ~ a p a rofhim
t
ludicrous p r o p a w that the Ckmmor of Olkldi~6md
p
{ThccrSiz~qfGmrO w & ~ m m & ~ f m m e & - acthated the OkiaImwa N&iond Guard, deploying klke &hn
giance to em&, a d iw&zd&&+ &&PB ~wegowmsol^ tom t h border.
~
The Governor ofTexastaponddin
merit &3 ~ ~ t t iin
t g~ianad&*~. rw;k&a-~~
to 6nam
kind by shipping.a am of Texas Rangers, indud@ the h o u s
Captain M.T.*LoneW a r C;o3328dw, to the Red River far a
mano a mam co~atationThere wlls no chnxtic Old West
~ . d b k ~ c s f i & o f n a battle, tho*, IM&W
&e~W
e~ WIO
m e d camps; &tad &q all
Page 303
appmn* w a d jokes, &&
I
M&C, and competed sgainst
each other in shwting con~tsuntil
they 6inaliy went home.
The Greer County case, the suit in equitybrought by the United
States against the State of Texas, led to the 1896decision to transform the Texans of Greer County into citizens of nowhere and
finally into legally manufactured Oklahomans,but even the "Greer
County Case" of 1896 did not end there. In 1929, a surveyor
named Samuel Gannett filed a survey report and map to the
United StatesSupreme Court which indicatedthat Oklahomawas
incorrectlyclaiming28,500 acres which hisreport indicatedshould
rightly belong to Texas.
any d ~ n d 6 . )
Uncle b e t t W@ht
As for the above quote, I can't say that my uncle was referring
to any specific group of Texans or Oklahomans or governments
or SupremeCourt justices. However, I would be willing to make
another bet with you at this very moment that the above quote
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
. --.
.r<.v,
-..,y
<"TTl-.
,,"
-.
<;d,:t$?$~py
:;4
.
I
< 1
%
<.,
-*-
,.-"7-v"
;*..
;+, :>J"
,;
,
-
(which he directed at a great many people, usually correctly),
would well serve the story of a successionof surveyorsand military men, attorneysand politicianswho made decisions for severalgenerationsof people from southwest Oklahomaand northcentral Texas, issuingone allegiance today, onlyto change it tomorrow.
As forthe manyfinepeoplewholivein that region-indudin6
'-.
my good friend Keith-the whole process crafted a pride in k.ing in a p h a where a mads heritage could be so p
from twoh e states. Debatethe speciesvariations
ans and O w m a n s ifyou will,but Iwillrecall to
Emmett,wholivedandbreathed Oklahomaand
Oklahomanstend to freelyfind difference in f o b from east d
west of 1-35,muchlessinthepeopleof Oklahomaand thepeople
of Texas. Personally, I have never lived in any part of Oklaho~pa
whereI didn't meet truly finepeople,and I probablywouldn't feel
sorry for myself if fortunesled me somedayto live for a while in
Texas. Thesubtlefeaturesand eccentricitiesof differentareasare
valuable thingsto have; they would giveanyoneasenseofbelong- G m N G THERE
Tkhundredth
ing to a people or a community and a sense of value.
a n n i w m yof Greer
Giventhat, I liketobelievethat I'm adaptable,that my senseof k98
Tm bsmming
self is notdictatedbyboundariesorgeography,but I alsoremanT & ~ ~
ber my wife askingme not so long ago, "If you're so adaptable, (dr~*ently
why have you always said that you'd like to be buried near your O W m a ) will be
akbrtltd thisMay
..
uncle Emmett?"
rhro~lghowtsouthwestern A goodquestion. For most of mylife I havebeen influencedby
he
the peoplewho camebefore me, people who in some cases were
so tied to thelandthat theyplanned fortheirownburial as a mawokJahoma h i s t o ~ n
ral closing of the lives they had lived. Maybe my belief that the Cecil Chesserpresentsa
people of southwest Oklahoma in some cases comprisea qedes d m m O u G m C o u n @ ,
histeryApril27at Wertem
of neither Tosann orSooner,but of theirown making,was wme- mhm
Stak 170Uegein
thing conjured up from my own odd thinking, but it certainly Alw
seemed that it existed. As I spoke with people who live in Greer
Duke obmes the old
Countytoday,Iwas oftentemptedto askaboutthis, but I waited, GreetCountyCentennial on
hoping that if there was a distinctiveinheritance, it would show May 3 with a l i v i n g h h r ~ ~ m t a t i ?o fnb o h
Ehe burl response to the US. Supetne Courtdecision m o t r i qOld Greer
itself to me without being invited
Countyfrom T m onM a d 16,1896,and the congreJsional &.on Iwo
DelbertCarpenter is oneofthestafTwhomaintaintheOldGreer months law May 4, 1896, thafmade itputt o f O k h h T
~
CountyMuseumand Hall of FameinMangum, aprivatelpowned (405)679-3679,
Wdotadopkznsan an-daycelebrationof the c e n a o s t ~ a3. y
museum of fifty-two rooms where the heritage of Qld Greer
T. HOussw@*v*n
'On M@Y4 Altus uzwei'Is
County is preserved and protected. An unusual feature of the
in the southwest cornerofAltus CiFyPark. The unveilingwill be
museum is thewalkwayfeaturingover two hundred, seven-fwt- fat i9 a.m.
M by an d r e s s by Cecil Chesser, a noted histmianonsouth&
high stonesbearingthelikenessesof men andwomenwhosettled
(405) 477-1 OO.
Greer Countyprior to statehood. It is a powerful testament to
e m i e b set d w e &brkon forMay 18.
OM h?iv25, the community of WrElowplansa centennial alebration
someverytough andproud people. "Some of these people could
claimhavinglivedin two different statesandtwo differentcoun- tfiatincfudesthe remation ofa whisteric home.
the capi&l of Old Greer Counv, will hostan art show,
ties without ever having to move? Delbert said, laughingat the pad &Wigurn,
du~,,g dwe mwnial cewtMn
and other
topographicalconfusionthat so defines this area.
onJune1. (Itsannual Pioneer Days will beJuly 6)
His obsewation spilled out so naturally, I found myselfblurtFor m e informationon any ofthese ma, &tgJt&yF&ntj,
Old
- ingout my long-held question,werethe people then, and are the Geer Cor~nlyCentennial 833 N. Byus Mangum, OK 73554-1805,or
(405$782-2249
people now, proud of this mixed parentage of Texas and OklaYew-round one can delve into Greer CounvhistDtyat the Gteer
homa?
and
~M~
apm-man's museum that spurnsfamy
After astartledpause, Delbertansweredme. "Well, gosh,yeah:
F.n*ngwhh~rw
h adfam
4u*t.
qfs
he said, as if1had asked if the skywereblue, or if the sun ro* in thm wg m~gums,"q l a i m the museum7$~ t l gB&&.
l ~ ~ To* can
touch irewfs k e nThe w I ~ o n ~ F F y - - r wrooom an tlereeflobrsanda
the East.
bas-$
mdBeilich says more h n one visitor has ccrlkl it the best ofits
"Gosh yeah."
kindd?efwseen.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The tmmmt is bated at222 W J#etyon, Uangum (&%I782-2W.
This story is dedicated to the memory of Emmett Wright, born ~ h ,
9am
adI - S p m
in Wise County, Texas, 1905; died in Comanche County, Friday. AdinSon is$1for adults;50 cenafir dziEdrarz high rhoolage
Oklahoma, 1988.
and~ger.
.
**
April
.
M a r 1996
~
T
HEY CAME FOR THE WEATHER. THEY WANTED TO
see those infamous Oklahoma storms that rise up from nothing to dominatethe prairie like a 70,000-foot-tall mountain range.
They wanted to experience our tornadicwinds that have been said
to blow so hard that afterwards chickens have been found sticking out of tree trunks stillclucking (it's a folk tale, guys). And they
wanted to meet real storm chasers-those men and women who
fearlesslydrive into the core of tornadoes in the name of science.
But to be honest, what Hollywood wanted for Twister-its bigbudget movie about two university chase teams racing to be the
first to get their instruments in the path of a tornado in order to
win a big grant-also made Hollywood a little nervous. "When
they first called me up I think they were very concerned about
being blown away by tornadoes every other day," said Vince
Miller, a storm chaser and former Oklahoma TV meteorologist
who acted as a meteorological adviser on the film.
This from executive producer Steven Spielberg who brought
us Jurassic Park, screenwriter Michael Crichton who wrote the
dinosaur epic of all time, and director Jon De Bont who gave us
that mild-mannered movie Speed. "I told them the chances of
being hit by a tornado were extremely small," recalled Miller, "a
much more likely concern would be damaging winds, thunderstorms, or lightning."
That said, Miller proceeded to accompany the filmmakers in
chasing storms from roughly March 23,1995, to April 23,1995.
"I know we put over ten thousand miles on the vehicles," he said.
"If there was a severe storm, we were there-in Oklahoma or
wherever. And there was one time when there was one warning
in the entire state one day, and we were there for it."
Hollywood approached the filming with a concern for safety
that one Oklahomawalk-on said he had never seen all his time in
training with the Marines and the Army Reserves: folks were
trained in CPR, a safety manual was written (and followed), and
an ambulance stood off set at all times (after Miller explained to
the producer-who reportedly told Spielberg-what lightning
could do to a person). Accustomed to only occasional stormsthat
at best carry a bolt or two, the film crew was wowed by gardenOpposite page, actors Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton ("he'sprobably the
nicest guy I've ever met in my entire life,"said one Oklahoma actor)
in Twister; above, a before-and-after location shot in Wakita.
A p r i l
.
variety Oklahoma lightning storms. "They thought they were
going to die," said Miller.
After one April storm in Ponca City that included lots of thunder and lightning and a power outage, crew members were sure
they'd experienced the worst. "They asked me the next morning,
'Wow Vince, this was a terrific storm. How would you rank that
on a scale 1to lo?,' figuring I'd say 12 or 13. I said, 'I don't know,
maybe a 6.' "
" 'What,' " they gasped, " 'you mean it gets worse than this?' "
" 'It wasn't a bad storm. It could get a lot worse.' "
Yet the filmmakers exhibited the same mix of fear and fascination of tornadoes with which Oklahomans are so familiar. "Everybody wanted to see a tornado," said Miller, who was constantly
being asked. " 'Are we going to see a tornado today Vince?' "
As far as Miller knows no one from Hollywood ever saw an
actual tornado while on location in Ponca City, Wakita, Guthrie,
or Norman, but some sure thought they did: "We'd have a storm,
and they'd say, 'Did you see that tornado?'...what they were seeing were cloud tags...but after a while you get to the point that you
mumble something (in agreement). It's hard to tell a couple hundred people that 'No, it really wasn't a tornado.' "
Sightings or not, the filmmakers (who also viewed hours of old
television film footage of tornadoes in Oklahoma) got the gist of
Mother Nature's most powerful form of self-expression. "The
footage that I've seen, as far as the special effects, how real they
are, is going to blow everybody away," said JayMichael Ferguson
of Nichols Hills, a Heritage Hall student turned actor. "It's very
accurate. It's just temfjmg. It maybe even takes it a step further."
Observed Darryl Cox of Norman who plays a mechanic in the
film, "Twister is Jurassic Park but with tornadoes." As Dorothy
Ell
would say, "Oh my!"
Twister opens in theaters on May 10. On May 9, Lt. Gov. Mary
Fallin hosts the Oklahoma Premiere at 7 p . m . at Penn Square Cinema
in Oklahoma City (both Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton are expected to
attend). The screening is preceded by a reception at 5p.m. at the
Waterford Hotel, followed by dinner with stars andfilmmakers at the
Oklahoma City Golfand Country Club. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m.
April 24; cost is $50 (reception and screening), $250 (dinner and
screening), and $2,500 (eight tickets to all events). Suggested dress is
black tie;proceeds benefit the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Red
Cross. For tickets, call (800) 879-4151.
M a y
1 9 9 A
.
.
-.
L
+
ARE THEY TEMPTING THE WEATHER GODS, FIGHTING WINDMILLS, OR ON TO THE NEXT BIG CRAZE IN ADVENTURE TRAUR?.
YOU DECIDE. ..
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.
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1
April
M a y
1996
i :,. .-. .
."
.,
t..:
.
{HE METEOROLOGISTS WE
comfortable. The storms
and moving too quickly. Just
'
tornado had neatly split the con
quickly that in the car known as
team, driver Matt Biddle saw the
acrossthe field, then a moment la
..,...
..~
. ,.-:
:
. :...
+?,.f1;
.
:
. . .. .
'
1
.
.
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... .~..~
.
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.
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'
THE OKlE PET ROCK
J
IM KuykRndall is giving a demonstration-his
favorite one. Like a practiced bartender, he shook
a small8ealed glassof liquid until it foams,"roahold
it like that? he wid, gripphg the molded base.,'md
give it a .Quick flick." With that the mysterpflirid
("tornado juice," KuykendaU calls it) spiss out a
dreaded shape Eadiar to inhabitants of the plains.
Floating flakes of glitter swirl and sparkle as a tapering cone dow a frenzied pirouette, then qvicldysl'j
to a thin, agitatedthread of watery bubbles.
i
The 38-year-old El Reno inventor grins WL
pride. Don't laugh. In six years, he has sold 396,823
ofthe hand-held tornad- togift shops,sciencemuseums, and W stations [for promotions) throughout the U.S. His Pet Tornado retails b r $4.95,
Theidea m e in the early 1980%WhileKuykmdall
was a driller on an oil rig* Acoworker, JackyM a y ,
was constantly approachinghim with money-making scheme&which Kuykendallanalyzedand batred
down one by one-until the tornado in b e bottle.
That one Jim took home, working it over nntil late'
into the night, It dawned on him thaG perchedbn
the corner of an office desk it wodd probablybekr m w l e t o people. A $6,0M)loan from Jim's brather*
aad the two were in business.
That was 1986. The partner has since bailed out,
and K c l y k e d will be the first to tell you thatthe Pi
Tornadoh m k n no easypath to riches. Heh a s h
a e d , gone deep into debt (&er MAWbo&t4M)
digsaf a on@-minute
TV ad in Florida @genetated only a dozen orders), and worked fat too many
14hmr
Emlee& ifit hadn't been for Ris mechanicalaptitude (and his determination), thr: Pet
Tornado might never have made it to mark&
Inan El Retlowarehowo@alonelystretch6f U.S.
81, he built a low-budget assembly line: a car side
view mirror became a speed-control foot pedal, the
vibrator n&Qrfrom a luxury recliner jiggles empty
tornado containers down a chute fashioned out of a
table&p,andthe motor foran ice a mmaker powers the mah belt. It isn't pretty, but it has kept q$
with demand until recently.
Order3for 1996are alreadyrunning doublethase
of 1995. Kuykendall, who has signed with a global
distriiutor, now wants t~push sale6 of his battery&
operated model ($19.95). Its advantage?Byadjmting the speed, it can create a l o w & g ~ ldqpd
to a ht-bodied tornado.
Meanwhile, the tornado czar is at work on a,
"Walking Tornado," a 12-%&-long, eigbcinchwide water model with cutoutsof buildyngs pldceR
on either side of a street "The torn&
w& '
mp md down the street," promised 'Ka'ykendfi
uAvdif you put that in there, make m a yi&~&p
it's patent-pending."
-4ZB
1
know about. Over the last several years I have lunched with storm chasers, interviewed
them in their living rooms, watched hours of their videotapes (only for the enthusiast; an
ex-girlfriend fell asleep thirty minutes into one, after tornado number six touched down),
and rode shotgun with a few. Along the way I met chasers like Jerry, who fearlessly sped
through heavy rain only to later dash back to the car in terror when lightning crashed
nearby (later I learned that he, like a number of storm hunters, once had been struck by a
bolt, leaving him with a charred shoe and a burned toe). And others who tried to relate
the sensation of having one's car rocked by a sudden, shrieking 100-mile-an-hourwind or
what it was like to have hailstones toss a windshield into your lap or to scramble out of the
way of a tornado that coiled down where it wasn't supposed to.
In March of 1994 I finally tracked down the legendary Gene Moore, a former television
meteorologist. A Time reporter profiling him in 1979 wrote that he carried a motorcycle
helmet to protect his head against hail, which in Oklahoma can reach the size of softballs.
Gene described this harrowing near miss: "I drove right in front of a pretty damaging
tornado in Texas in 1986. I passed six cars; this thing kept coming. As I passed the last car,
the condensation folded in right behind me. I stopped at an intersection. None of the
cars came out." They had been snatched up and rolled across a field.
Like a visitor to a foreign country, I had to learn their language, the weather-tech jargon
of "occluding mesocyclonesn and "low-level convergence" and "backing winds." In plain
English they tried to encapsulate what draws them to the terrible majesty of severe storms.
"In my mind," one reflected in a Fort Worth restaurant, "the Plains is the start of the
American West, a place where there's a confluence of sky and land, absolutelybeautiful.
Colorado has its 14,000 foot mountains, but the Plains have their 70,000 foot mountains,"
the thunderheads.
These floating mountains not only dwarf their stationary counterparts, but in many
ways are much more spectacular. Ever changing, they are intricate confections crafted out
of air, their muscular lines and arresting profiles written on no more than wind and an
aggregation of tiny water droplets. Much too large to be contained by the weathergenerating troposphere, they shove up into the thin air of the stratosphere. Imagine such
a cloud, twelve miles high, laid on its side. It would stretch one-third of the distance
across the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Storms have been called weather factories, an image that is perhaps too benign; they are
actually like munitions factories-on fire. Rounds of hail and shards of lightning fly
outward in unpredictable directions. The impact of the tornado has been likened to that
of a bomb, and rightly so. Yet despite all that potential for mayhem, storm chasing has
claimed only one life, and that was a college student who veered off a rain-slicked road
and crashed.
In fact, it is pretty darn hard to find a tornado. Experienced storm chasers consider
themselves lucky to see one in every ten outings. That is because on any spring day, there
are thousands of square miles where a twister could theoretically appear, or not. Multiply
that by twenty-four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, and it becomes clear why
pinpointing where a twister will turn up is not unlike reading tea leaves.
In more ways than one, a storm chaser is a detective. He sifts through clues. He makes
connections. There is an adage-with a ring of truth to it-that the weather maps are
trying to say something. That message, however, must be teased out of hundreds of
atmospheric readings reported by regional weather stations. The good detective weighs
wind profiles, dew points, air pressures, a low-pressure trough churning through, dry lines
(thin, storm-prone boundaries separatingvery moist and very dry air masses) shoving
eastward.
After a target area is chosen-maybe several hundred miles away-the chasemobile rolls
out of the driveway with its camcorder and N i h n and tripod, binders full of pages of road
maps, weather instruments, cellular phone and laptop computer to download weather
data in the field, scanners, and radios. A new phase of the operation then begins as
classroom meteorology takes a back seat to field savvy, to knowing how to read cloud
motions and shapes. It is an if@science at best: Adjustments must be made for the line 01
stratus that won't burn off. Or a chain of mediocre thunderstorms pops up, throwing off
everything in the weather equation. But when a storm builds explosively and a tornado
watch box is issued, the rejoicing can recall a southern Baptist church in the hands of an
inspired minister.
It is an instinctive reaction that leaves some nodding with understanding and others
cold and disapproving, for there are folks who perceive this hobby as a kind of weather
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
f
L
r \ O o l ~( ,I prclirie tlrlr~rder.storrrr.
voyeurism, the c l ~ e ~ ~ pofc sthrills.
t
'l'ornadocs do destroy and kill, 'ind tIi,lt fact
alone d e m a n d s ,I certain solemnity, not a pep-rally cheer, a n d s t o r m chasers
themselves 'ldmit to embarrassment over "yahoos" in their ranks whose insensitive and hoorisli belia\,ior tars tlie reputation of all. In m y experience, o u t - a n d o u t y,ilioos are I-are,but in a reflective m o m e n t it is n o t u n c o n i m o n for even a
sensible stol-m cli,lse~-to d m i t t o possessing a little o f t h e yahoo's exuberance.
Storm chasers do not fall tidily into any o n e demographic group. Some are
nationally respected tornado researchers, others amateur meteorologists tvith
vehiclcs weiglieci do\\,n wit11 liigli-tech e q ~ ~ i p m e nThey
t.
are per d i e m elllployees
of local television stations, weather-loving types o n vacation in t h e heartland, a n d
college s t ~ l d e ~ i\\slio
t s pack into a t o o small car for a n afternoon of adventul-e.
-l'liey are rn'linly young males betcveen tlie ages of twenty and forty. And they
n u m b e r in tlie s c ~ e l ~hundreds.
~il
M'lierc they all came from, that's a longer stol-y.
A
I' 'I'HE NA'l'lON:\L SEVERE SI'OIIblS 1.AHORA'I'ORY IN NOIIIMAN, THEY
htill I-emcmberthe long letters from IIoger lensen of Fargo, NOI-tliDakota.
l'licy r e m c m h e ~tlie
- <I-abhcdbcr-ipt, t h e 'lstidious detail. lensen, they s ~ yoften
,
with a n ind~llgentroll of the eyes, specified exactly what lie wanted in his
photograph reclLlests. Exactly. A few years ago, at a nursing h o m e where physical
infirmity li,lci limited him t o trotting o u t to a nearby hill t o a d m i r e storms, lie was
,~skcdto d e c l - i b e his ideal thunderstorm. I'ruc t o form, Jensen 01-deredit like a
deli sand\\~icli:60,000 t o 70,000 feet high,
hail, saucer-shaped
- -grapefr~~it-sized
.
lenticular ~ I O L I ~over
S a roll c l o ~ ~all
d , moving southeast through a sky of orange,
col-al, I-ost.,, ~ n dreci.
His intervic\\~rrjotted down the det'iils without even a smile. H e was Ddve
Hoadley, an ~lntiilinglypolite man who is also widely considered the father of the
amatcur s t o r m chase. He founded tlie newsletter "Stormtrackn-no\v nearing its
t\\~entit.tli,111nivel-521-1.-wliicli deals in o n e c o m m o d i t y and only o n e commodity:
tivister t,1II;. 14 m,lp of tornado fi-eque~icyin Austl-alia? A news item a b o u t
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WHIRLWIND OF A TOUR
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~aihveg~ofl~settr/aoriesw&~~ntonio~ari&,a~tazi
Htolncsutthatco~sJspanesermba%sy.
Inl~Carida&wroteaplaintie
to a s d d d t i o n stomshaser periodid "Ihave been
22,W U.S. d o h to
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a &min&ve srultyane-p~gtdEdBradimman leaping in the ai* ir a
chiid as anosg a pan-flat landsap men~milesaway, athkk bilel spun. Fedfs reputadortatlast with CariWe~~ls
dd Lerrdiqthe&urs,andtoa l ~ d e g r e e s e I l i n g u s a g e ~ t s f o
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iwn
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HeiPnot rich. He livesin an apartmenthin Normam m one allpiwpwmrn undeaheaves. He has noACiasmmeri Ilnd bis check&ammt sank to 91 cents rmtly. Hi8 Hishiest $o&ons all relate
~ & d d a g s t 0 ~ t hSany
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he said. *Pm imprkyed try the "e-RB
tornadoes skipping over the surface of Mars? Yes, all that and more minute-by- ,
minute accounts of storm chases than any human being should'k~eiwant to read '
("feeder bands from the north appeared and attached themselves to a dark,
elongated rain base...suddenly a downward bulge appeared...").
Hoadley and Jensen were a couple of pioneers; they m n n i n g after storms
in the 1950s, when most people were hightailing it into fraidy holes at the very
hint of a bad storm. At that time the Weather Bureau, having issued the first
public tornado watch boxes in 1952, was still perfecting its forecastingtechniques. As a consequence, for the fledghng storm chaser, the l e a m i ~ gcurve was
cruel. From his home in Bismarck, North Dakota, a teen-aged Dave Hoadley
sallied forth in the family Oldsmobile. Over a period of seven years and seventy
thousand miles, he managed to crack an engine piston, lock the keys in the car,
and visit every rural corner of the state without seeing a tornado.
Farther to his south, a native Oklahoman was also curious about the makings
of the twister in the mid- 1950s, but his early investigations took p l s e in hiis
Lexington garage. Neil Ward, a skilled Weather Bureau forecaster and csmpulsive tinkerer, decided to build a tornado model. He did so with plywood, sheet
metal, an electric chimney, and part of his son's electric train set. The train
circled the perimeter of the model, carrying a set of downward hanging fins that
imparted spin to air flowing in. The chimney heated air, causing it to rise. Soon
he had ribbon-like whirls dancing
" in his chamber.
But there was only so much to learn from manmade vortices less than a foot
high. Ward realized he needed real twisters. In May of 1961, with guidance from
a radar operator, a highway patrolman drove him west of Oklahoma City into the
thick of a storm. They closed in on a ragged pendant funnel. A tornado spiked
down, then dangled as it crossed the road in front of them less than a mile away.
Ward had become the first trained meteorologist to track down a tornado in a
ground vehicle.
Storm chasing seemed a natural for meteorologists. Astronomers gaze into
telescopes, archaeologists dig and scrape in pits, ornithologists creep through
forests with their note pads and binoculars. What they all share is a desire for
firsthand knowledge of what they are studying. Nonetheless s t a m chasing was
by no means immediately embraced by the scientific commm&y. Maybe it wa$
because the idea of government-salariedstorm troopers
over Oklahoma
- speeding
highways after thunderclouds seemed too difficult-or even downright frivolous,
maybe because no one could imagine what kind of useful data they could possibly
return with-even if they did catch a tornado.
The National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman did not undertake a storm
chasing program until 1972. By then the lab itself was almost ten years old. Neil
Ward was one of its original employees, but he could never convince the NSSL
director that storm chasing was a worthwhile enterprise. Then in 1971, an
unlikely proposal arrived that changed all that. A Notre Dame assistant professor
of engineering wanted to drive a military armored personnel vehicle right into a
tornado.
The professor's idea was that the vehicle would be retro-fitted with a tall boom
packed with weather instruments. A flat-bed tractor-trailer truck would carry it
near the twister. At the last moment it would rumble off a ramp, external strobe
light blinking, internal camera rolling. It was a titillating, if far-fetched, idea. Of
course the farmers whose wheat fields the heavy treads chewed through and
whose fences were knocked flat might not have seen the merit in all this (much
less the humor). And if a strong tornado lifted the vehicle-as one had before,
right in Norman-the researchers themselves might have been equally unamused.
Yet the proposal dangled a tantalizing figure: 90 percent. That was the chance,
according to computer simulations, of intercepting a tornado during a given year.
Even if that figure was a bit inflated, the odds didn't look bad. And so the
National Severe Storms Laboratory agreed to a modified version of the plan. The
budget was pared down, and the Army vehicle was scrapped in favor of a Dodge
Sportsman, which was to stop a safe distance from its quarry.
The leader of the Tornado Intercept Project was Joe Golden, a young member
of the NSSL staff. Those first few years were full of frustration and fascination.
"There were a number of days we went out, we got zip," Golden said. "The other
A p r i l ;
M.ay 1 9 9 6
.
Storm chasersfiom top and
left, Joshua and JenyStraka
withportable weather
station; Matt Biddle; and
Biddle and Mark Heamdon*
.&
meteorologists kidded us a lot. We were a wild group, young
graduates, eager beavers."
But respect came their way after May 24, 1973, when the
intercept team managed to swing into position south of Union
City just in time to document the life cycle of a devastating
tornado. From the frames of high-quality movie film they shot,
they later painstakingly tracked debris in a complicated process of
calculations to determine the wind speeds of the tornado. It was a
seminal date for storm chasing, the validation of a legitimate
scientific method of inquiry.
Investigations continued through the 1970s. Intercept teams
filmed tornadoes, learned about the complexities of thunderstorm
structure, and furthered the development of Doppler radar by
supplying field observations to match against images on radarscopes. Gradually, their curiosity about tornadoes grew as did
their desire to peek inside the tornado core. What was the air like
in there? Its pressure, temperature, wind speed?
University of Oklahoma professor Howard Bluestine figured he
knew how to find out. In the early 1980s, he supervised the
deployment of TOTO. Unlike its namesake in The Wizard of Oz,
the Totable Tornado Observatory weighed four hundred pounds
and was chock-full of delicate atmospheric sensors. Plans called
for scientists to roll TOT0 off the rear of a pickup into the path of
an advancing twister-then quickly get out of the way.
TOT0 became a media darling (it lives on, thinly disguised, as
the "Dorothy" devices in the motion picture Twister) but a
scientific embarrassment. It never took a direct hit. Placing
TOT0 in exactly the right spot at show side was a needle-in-thehaystack gamble. Perhaps in the end it didn't matter anyway. In a
wind tunnel laboratory test, the manmade equivalent of a
medium-sized tornado succeeded in flipping the device onto its
back.
Something about the effort to deploy TOT0 nevertheless
symbolized what organized storm chasing was often all about in its
growing years: a scrappy band of young, disheveled meteorologists fumbling in breathless haste to set out instruments. It was a
romantic image that lacked scientific utility. To untangle all the
bewildering threads of how and why tornadoes form, meteorologists needed mounds of data. They needed to have multiple crews
surround a tornadic storm, instruments drawn, in a concerted
assault on this natural aberration.
During the springs of 1994 and 1995, they conducted that
ambitious project. It was called VORTEX, for the Verification of
the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment. A long train of
government vehicles streamed out of the National severestorms
Laboratory parking lot when severe weather threatened. They
drove straight at the most ferocious storms in a tight, military-like
formation, then the armada split so teams could execute highly
specialized missions. Weather balloons were launched; a former
hurricane-stalking plane scanned the storm with on-board radar;
instrument packs called "turtles" were laid in the tornado's path;
cars with twirling roof top instruments passed through dangerous
zones below the storm base.
Eventually the knowledge gained through VORTEX is expected
Oklahoma
T o d a y
A scenefiom the 1997Twister calendar.
the shadow of the storin, are now hot and highly marketable.
Faidley's Tucson, Arizona-based agency does "A healthy six-figure
business." There is profit in knee-deep hail, sizzling lightning, and
a twister playing with a ring of cars one hundred feet in the air.
The Steven Spielberg movie Twister has tied up Faidley's images
like Nike has Spike Lee. Demand for photos and footage is strong,
and chasers are understandably bullish about their post-Twister
futures.
You want to talk numbers? The Weather Channel pays $200 to
$300 for a minute of desirable videotape. Televised specials to be
aired on major networks pay $15 to $45 a second. Still photographs in the right magazine can command $300 for a half page.
As the dollars pile higher, so do expectations. "If there isn't a
co-mma in the figures, hang up," cracked Marty Feely, who heads
Whirlwind Tours, a packaged two-week quest for tornadoes that
commands $2,000 per customer.
No- success story, however, tops that of veteran Gene Rhoden,
of Ching." That melodic cash
whom Feely fond; dubs "The
register ching sounded after an ad agency hand-selected Rhoden to
s& in a ~ u r i ~ e commercial
an
for the Volvo 850T-5. It was one in
a series of adventure-themed spots ("Volvo's trying to drop their
family image," Rhoden said). The Oklahoman motored into frame
in his trusty Volvo and up to a fifty-foot-high, machine-generated
twister with core winds of up to 80 miles an hour, then leaped out
f to daringly plant a weather-instrument pack at the edge ofthe
$ swirl.
Okay, it is a bit of a stretch. No one I have met chases storms in
a Voho. Gene certainly doesn't. And in the commercial, the Volvo
lacks the roof top thicket of antennas ident*ing it as a true
, chasemobile. Then again, it is hard to argue with success. The
cbmmercial played abroad to great acclaim, winning its director a
prize at the Cannes Film Festival. As for Rhoden, he received more
than $60,000 for three weeks of work in the California desert, and
Volvo sent him a brand-new car as a gift.
to improve tornado watches and warnings. At the very least, it
To some purists, the money taints the hobby. In a commentary
demonstrates how far storm chasing has advanced, both in
in "Stormtrack," an opinion piece warned rather ominously of a
technology and in achievement. "Storm chasers have done
"cancer within." "Now, chasers race back to a television studio
meteorology an immense amount of good," declared Tom
rather than talk to each other about the day's forecast and
Grazulis, a self-described free-lance tornado climatologist.
intercept logistics," the writer lamented. "With several chase teams
Grazulis is finishing a wide-ranging, authoritative book, Tornadoes on the scene, the chase turns into a video 'land-rush' of sorts to see
of the United States, to be published in spring of 1997. "Everything who can get their video first to the studio."
before that was being done inside people's minds, inside computOnly a few years ago, that kind of high-minded stance would
ers, on paper, in theory. Everyone assumed they knew what was
have occasioned much sympathetic head-nodding. Instead, the
going on in the field. It turned out that what was going on in the
editor of "Stormtrack," Tim Marshall, took the adjacent column
field was far more complex and far more unusual than any
to lay out a rebuttal. Marshall, who makes no apologies for
conceptual model drawn in any room or office."
charging media and others $100 a day to accompany him,
The tlame throwers were blazing in the sterile outer reaches of
defended such practices. His seasonal expenses to chase storms, he
cyberspace. An Internet dialogue was heating up over the rumor
noted, run to $10,000. Gene Rhoden defended commercial
that someone had trademarked the expression "Storm Chaser."
ventures more simply: "What better thing is there than managing
Could it be true? Kleenex, Rollerblade, and now Storm Chaser?
to make money at something you love to do?"
The offender rushed in to soothe his mortified peers. Warren
Whether money will be a corrupting force surely missed one
Faidley, owner of a stock photography agency specializing in
point. Take away every for-profit tornado tour, every sale of
weather-related images, tapped out an e-mail clarification. He had videotaped footage and still photos-in other words, remove the
actually reserved a service mark that applied narrowly to his
dollar bill entirely frord the scene-and these people would still
occupation as a stock photographerlcinematographer.
chase storms. They'd find some way to raise money for gas and
Today Faidley-whose spectacular lightning bolts have appeared scanner batteries and rolls of Kodak color film. They'd sell their
on everything from a Michael Jordan video to Paul McCartney
clothes, their plasma, their organs. But they would still chase.
concert backstage passes-is still a little sore over the e-mail
trouncing he got. "A lot of chasers are simply envious," he said. "I
A
m BIDDLE SENSES THAT MAYBE HE HAS BEEN MISUNkind of steal the show. I think a lot of chasers resent that."
derstood. He has been trying to explain, not what he is
Storm chasers, once accustomed to disappearing unnoticed in
chasing-but why. It is early evening, and the long, pink fluores-
in^
b
a
E,
'
M
A p r i l
.
M a y
1 9 9 6
cent light behind the bar makes the dregs of his dark beer look
black. He wears a NEXRAD (NEXt Generation RADar) T-shirt
and white National Severe Storms Laboratory baseball cap. Calling
Biddle a storm chaser is l i e calling the Pope a Catholic; one need
only glance at the forest of weather instruments jutting out of the
bed of his well-traveled burgundy El Camino. He has just
described storm chasing as a "spiritual thing," a "primal" need like
water, food, and sex. Then he laughed, realizing this sounded a bit
absurd. But he held firm. "Seriously," he said. "I'm not trying to
be creepy."
Biddle lives in Norman, which just may have more storm
chasers per capita than doctors or lawyers. He is originally
from Toledo, Ohio, and he recalls how his frightened mother
used to react to the wail of a tornado siren by rushing him and
his two younger brothers to the basement. At the tender age of
ten, while waiting out the danger, he pored over weather books
and drew freehand the watch boxes on road maps.
Storms fascinated him, but he never connected that to a
career until he was on the verge of graduating from college with
a geography degree and an uncertain future. He happened to
see a Nova special on public television about storm chasing,
and, "It was like a revelation. A couple of months later, I was
here with all my stuff."
That was 1986. He camped out in a public park in Norman .
for a few nights, sleeping on the front seat of his loaded down
car ("it probably looked like something out of The Grapes of
Wrath," quipped Biddle). Soon he was working by night as a
police dispatcher for the University of Oklahoma and studying
by day for a master's degree in geography with an emphasis on
natural hazards.
Poverty forced him to uproot a few times. For a few years, he
was the unpaid emergency management director in Medicine
Park, just north of Lawton. He issued tornado warnings by
connecting jumper cables from his truck battery to a World
War I1 airraid siren on the fire station roof. For a year, he even
returned to Ohio to a comfortable $40,000 a year job in
'leanup at a
plant¶but having
to watch Southern Plains severe storms on the Weather
(3mnel became too agonizing. "It made me go nuts," he said.
"I just felt like a caged animal."
So he quit. Since then, he has lived in Norman, at long last
finishing his master's thesis, "Tornado Hazards, Coping Styles
and Modernized Warning Systems." And in the spring of 1995,
he accepted the mission of driving one of the VORTEX "proben
cars. ~t was an assignment he took seriously. ~ i d dsuffers
l~
with the
bone deformations that force him to
aid of a crutch, and on some mornings, like a hobbled football
player before the big game, he would empty a syringe of Lidocaine
into one of his sore knees before leaving on a day-long trek.
The early storm season was disappointingly mild, more tease
than threat. Then in early June came the twisters, landing again
and again right in the midst of the waiting meteorologists. "We
nailed those things from every angle," ~ i d dexulted.
l~
u ~was
t like
watching the Blue Angels fly." The adrenalin kept his nerves
singing through long journeys home. It was the ultimate high.
''You've just seen a tornado. You're hydroplaning all the way back;
it's three in the morning. And you're shaking like this," he said,
extending a hand wobbling as if with palsy.
Storm chasing has a visceral pull-and a Purpose: deaths from
tornadoes have dropped greatly since we began to track them more
carefully. Still, it is hard to explain to people who don't do it why
anybody else does. See, you have to start by believing that the
thunderstorm is one of the most magnificent creations on this
planet. That belief allows you to withstand long drives, abusive
weather, near misses; it motivates you even after you swear off the
hobby. "I can't tell you how many times I've come home and fallen
in bed and said, 'I'm stupid. I'm an idiot!" Biddle admitted.
"Damn if you don't go the next day anyway."
It is true. After ten days of misses, the storm chaser catches a
scent of a southerly breeze and, foolish hope in his heart, drives
off. He patiently waits for the storm, then waits some more for it
to wrap itself up tight like a drum. Then, standing in the snappin
wind, he utters a silent little prayer.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Richard Bedard is a 1984 graduate of Harvard College with a
master's degree injoumalismfiom New York University. A n awardwinning writer, his work has appeared in The Christian Science
Monitor and Oklahoma Today. Bedard relocated to Oklahoma in
1993 to research his book In the Shadowof the Tornado, which includes a look a t Oklahoma's TV weather wars, a n intense coverage
of severe weather unparalled anywhere in the world.
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-:
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.\
I
.
'
.
<,.
In the Shadow of the Tornado: ~tbriesand Adventures &om
the Heart of Storm Country (Gilco Publishing, 1996) by Richard
Bedard will be available this spring. The 170-page paperback
(complete with 22 black-and-white photographs and an easy-to-use
appendix on where to seek shelter) retails for $1 1.95 at bookstores.
It can also be orderedfrom Gilco Publishing, P.O. Box 2175,
Norman, OK 73070-2175.
Also out this spring, Weathering the Storm: ~ornadoes,
Television, and Turmoil (OUPress, 1996) by Emmy-award
This 225-page
winning KWwmeteOrO1ogist
A.
hardback (55 co'or~hotogra~hs)
'5 ' 5 much an autobiogra~h~
of
Oklahoma weather as it is its author, chronicling England's career
at local
in a state where weather defines the news. It is
bookstoresfor$26.95 orfrom 0 u p r e s s , 005
A
~
~
Norman, OK 73019, (800) 627-7377 (please add $2.50 for
shipping and handling).
Also available this spring from Norman: "The OfFcial1997
Twister Tornado Calendar," produced by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey in cooperation with the University of Oklahoma and
Warner Bros. of Burbank, Ca1i;fornia. The calendar pairs twelve
dramatic photographs of real tornadoes with ones created for the
movie Twister; it also includes movie trivia (in addition to facts
about tornado activity around the world) and tornado safety tips.
Proceedswillfund OCS educational ouweach programs for grades
K-12 as well as OCS un~versityprogramming~
The calendar-$1 1.95 plus $3 shipping and handling-is
available by writing, Twister Calendar, Oklahoma Climatological
Survey, University of Oklahoma, 100 East Boyd Street, Suite 1210,
Norman, OK 73019-0628.
Oklahoma Today
Authentic
Cowboy Culsine
Live Entertainment NATIONAL COWBOY HALL OF FAME 1700 NE 63AD ST. OKC (405) 478-2250, X-210
illIn
ST:!SEOE
SUMMER
CELEBRATION
4
i
I
3 ~,,,.
,
SUMMER
FUNIN
BARTLESVILLE
PLANES,
TRAINS&
SUNFEST
THINGS!
ClARII IYE, JUNE 7413-1 5
Parade Dances Arts and Crafts Show
BBQ Baby Pageant Chili Cook-Off
5K Run PRCA Rodeo and more!
Area Attractions:
Will Rogers Memorial Museum and Birthplace
JM Davis Arms and Historical Museum
Fine restaurants and lodging
Over 400 antique dealers
For more information, call (9 18) 341-2818
i
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTFESTIVAL
-
MAY 31, JUNE 1 & 2 SOONER PARK
Discover the Music
of America's Heritage
visit the
Cherokee, Oklahoma
Memorial Day Weekend
May 24-26, 1996
Enjoy scores of tenor and plectrum banjo players
as they perform toe tappin' music of the Gay 90's
and Roaring 20's at historic downtown venues
and amphitheatre concerts.
For ticket and schedule information
Selenite Crystal DiggingContest
Carnival City-Wide Garage Sales
Food
Antiques Arts & Cra*
Musical Entertainment Quilt Show
Crystal Bingo & More!
For infomon, or to becomea
vendor, pleasecall the Great Salt Plains
Recreational DevelopmentAssociation
For ticket and schedule
information call
1 -800-OK-BANJO
ising Section
LAKE EUFAULA AREA
: ' S
[Visit Lake Eufaula II
I
Oklahoma\ Gertte Giant
COME PLAY WITH US c a day, a we&&
or indefinitely.
You'll find the fiSsndly folks around lakefgfaulap h e d b see you and
eager to help mab yak r$y om you wm't soon Farget O m you have
enjoyed our W
h
m
i s and
fsol meyou will wantto rbam
yourvaoclticaphQgaane.rwitb tM
Times
-. change, and so have we...
-,,
,>
.',-,.
COiC2E SEE OUR NEW
EYE-PLEASING CHANGES!
I
we
AREA EVENT&
RedmanBass Tomment: LabM a u h - May 19
ReunionDays Festival :Stigler -June 14-16
Parade of Boats :lake Etrfwla June 15
B l e of Honay Splingr Civil War ReeRasbneRt: Q-h
July 19-21
WkoleHawglhy:EBfrwk-Jtdy27
Outlaw C k Car Show end MiRun :P o r n September 1
Olrrafeat:tbmmb - S e p t e h 14
Oklahoma State H.A.W.G Rally :h u l a - Oetober 30
-
3
G U I D E
-
Spacious rooms and suites, intimate cabins, adventurous
treehouses, 18-hole golf course, restaurant, lounge, room
service, conference, meeting and banquet facilities.
Full service marina with boat rentals, a lighted 3500-foot
airstrip,and an adjacent state park with numerous facilities and outdoor activities.
I
For a frea guide to the Lake Eufaule area. contact the Lake EufaulaAssociation,
P.0. Box 792, Oept OKT, Eufaula, OK 74432.
(918) 689-7751
For more information & reservations:
1-800-422-2711
1 ~ v e r ~ r e eMarina
n
I
1
REAL ESTATE CO. INC.
RE'I'IRE\IEh"~HOhll'S
\:ACXI'ION I'KOI'EKTY
/1
1
.
H y Rides
agon Cookouts
C h u d
I;AKhlS
Cnll or wr.itPfo~.fi.eeproper0 gtdidt
(918) 452-3YOO (918) 689-3990
(91X) -1~1.2320
R'I'. I. BOX'.5o F.I~I:AI.I,A. OK 7 ~ 3 ?
305 S. XIAIN. El'l:.Al'L.A. OK 7U.32
/1
I
I
High Stakes Bingowith pulltabs, Power Bingo and Mega
Bingo. Plus, there is a new and exciting game in town:
25 cent Mega Mania-a new game every 2 minutes with
progressive jackpots.
-
ERA LAKE EUFALILA
II
I
I
-..an
call
1-918-689-9739
RENEGfiDE Main Street
JOE'S
Antique Mall
-
I,
I
For informalion and reservations
In Fountainhead State Park
/autiful
Lake Eufaula
-
OPEN M O N D A Y SATURDAY
41 YEARS O F BUSINESS
In Secluded Evergreen Cove
I
Easy Access -22 Full RVHookups
Clean Restrooms Covered Slips 16'
to 52'. Snacks, Beer, Ice
Super Unleaded Boat Repair
Barge Service
"GOOD HOME COOKIN SINCE 1955"
TRY OUR FRESH SEAFOODS EVERY
FRIDAY 8 SATURDAY
HICKORY PIT BAR-8-Q RIBS
11
2 Miles South of Dam
I
(918) 689-9474
I
I
WINDJAMMER SHIP STORE
Accessories by
Dolls - Collectables
Glassware - Furniture
M a i n Street Eufaula, OK
317 N. Main
Eufaula, OK 74432
(9 18) 689-4442
(918) 689-7177
Biker Apparel
Motorcycle Parts
I
25 years of service
'3Good Place TOAnchor "
BEAUTIFUL LAKEFRONT PROPERTY
SPACIOUS CAMPING LOTS
CABIN SITES FOR SALE 1 1 0 % D O W N
2 4 HOUR SECURITY
BOAT RAMP BATH HOUSES
(918) 339-6301
P.O. BOX 848
EUFAULA, OK 7 4 4 3 2
O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
"open year r o u n d
BOAT SALES & REPAIR
II
9 I8-452-3261
ALL MAlOR CREDIT CARDS WELCOME
7 MILES EAST OF EUFAULA ON HWY 9
II
DEERROAM
I
MAY4&5
Since 1990, Jerryand Jo Logan have
I operated the state's only commercial
deer farm on 320 post oak-covered acres
west of Guthrie. The venison the farm
produces turns up on menus of upscale
restaurants throughout Oklahomafrom the Coach House in Oklahoma
City to Norman's London House (it is
also sold at meat markets throughout
the state).
Once each year, the Logans open
their deer farm to the public. At the
open house, visitors can tour the
paddocks and working deer barn, learn
about cooking and servingvenison, and
sample game and honey-even better,
th~gettoseesome200derroamfree
in the low hius of central Oklahoma.
Honey Hill Farm is located 15
minutes north of Guthrie on SH-74C.
-AJD
(405)969-3236.
....................
MUSEUMS & GALLEMES
APRIL
1-21 An Unforced Vision: Marion Brown, Int'l Photography Hall of Fame & Mu-
seum, Kirkpatrick Center, OKC, (405) 424-4055 1-28 Artist As Illustrator, Philbrook Mu- seum of Art, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 1-28 Oklahoma Arts Institute Exhibit, Charles B. Goddard Center, Ardmore, (405) 223-7765 1-30 Gallery Showby Jeff Dodd, Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum, Woodward,
(405) 256-6136 1-30 Native American Cloth & Beadwork, 1 -,.
., -... -....- ,... ..".- ---.-.- .- ..- ..--.
..
,
Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, (918)
748-5320
1-30 Seeing: David Hedges, Int'l Photography Hall of Fame &Museum, Kirkpatrick
Center, OKC, (405) 424-4055
1-May 4 Ron Anderson's Winter of '95,
Jacobson House, Norman, (405) 366-1667
1-May 19 America at Work: Selectionsfrom
the Standard Oil Collection of American
Paintings, Philbrook Museum of Art,
Tulsa, (918) 748-5320
1-May 28 Independent Spirits: Women
Painters of the American West, 18901945, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, (9 18)
596-2700
1-May 31 Spirit of Heroism: Oklahoma
Statues, Enterprise Square USA, OKC,
(405)425-5030 1-June 2 The Making of Lonesome Dove,
Natylcowboy H ~ of
U Fame, OKC, (405) 478-2250
1-June 2 Photography of Barbara Van
Cleve, Nat'l Cowboy Hall of Fame, OKC,
(405)478-2250 1-Aug. 31 The Genesis Exhibit, Seminole
Historical Museum, Seminole, (405) 2759780
2-26 A Day in the Lie of Perry, Oklahoma,
Cherokee Strip Museum, Perry, (405)
336-2405
4-May 19 Wedding the Past to the Present,
Bartlesville Museum, Bartlesville, (918)
336-4949
5-26 American World War I1 Posters,
Walter Arts Center, Holland Hall School,
A p r i l
.
M a y
1996
Tulsa, (918) 481-1111 5-26 Fact, Fiction, & the New World, Mu- seum of the Great Plains, Lawton, (405) 581-3460 5-26 First Americans, First Oklahomans: In- dian Peoples, Enterprise Square USA, OKC, (405) 425-5030 5-26 First Americans, First Oklahomans: Indian Peoples, Grove, (918) 786-587 1 5-26 First Americans, First Oklahomans: Indian Peoples, McAlester, (918) 423- 2932 5-26 Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad, Lahoma, (405) 796-2205 5-26 Land of Promise: Europeans & Afri-
can-Americansin Oklahoma, OSU, OKC, (405) 945-3378 5-26 Native American Games, Norman, (405) 447-6581 5-26 Through Our Grandmothers' Eyes, Conners State College, Muskogee, (918) 684-0412 6-30 Art Under the Oaks Gallery Exhibit, Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Muskogee,
(918) 683-1701 12-May 25 Communication Graphics, State Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 951-0000 14-June 2 Elvis + Marilyn: 2 x Immortal, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 17-May 31 Women Legislators from Stillwater in the 1920s, Sheerar Museum, Stillwater, (405) 377-0359 19-21 Keeper of the Plains, Museum of the Cherokee Strip, Enid, (405) 237-1907 CALENDAR 22-24 The Perfect Setting, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 26-July 7 Gilcrease Rendezvous 1996, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, (918) 596-2700 27-May 25 Anne Frank in the World: 1929- 1945 Int'l Exhibit, Edmond Historical Society Museum, Edmond, (405) 340- 0078 27-May 26 Sarah Jaeger: Functional Porcelain Pots for Everyday Use, Firehouse Art Center, Norman, (405) 329-4523 MAY
Audra Urquhart's pastel, Widwoman's.
1-31 The Treasury of San Marco, Venice, Museum of the Cherokee Strip, Enid, (405) 237-1907 2-30 27th Art Exhibit, Charles B. Goddard Center, Ardmore, (405) 223-7765 5-June 30 Earthworks: Native American Clay in Oklahoma, Jacobson House, MAY 11
Norman, (405) 366-1667 Ever since Jim and Sue An& opened
5-Aug. 25 Contemporary Prints from the Wildwoman'+a combination herb
Philbrook Collection, Philbrook Museum garden, gift shop, and tearoom-in
of Art, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 Eufaula,all the signs have existed that
6-24 Land of Promise: Europeans & Afii-
this was the home of a green-thumbed
can-Americans in Oklahoma, Sheerar gardener: wildflowers line the sidewalk,
Museum, Stillwater, (405) 377-0359 gourds crawl up the roof, and roses and
6-24 Still the Golden Door: Oklahomans herbs grow not well, but profusely.
from Latin America, Asia, & the Middle And for the last three years, the
East, Sheerar Museum, Stillwater, (405) Anglu~shave paused to share their
377-0359 bounty at the Widwoman Wildflower
12 Gallery Show by Randy Meyer & Quilt Herb Festival, a combination of how-to
Show, Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum, gardening classes (an herb specialistwill
Woodward, (405) 256-6136 be on hand), bus tours (including a field
12 Great Women of the Frontier, Gilcrease trip to identify wildflo@ers),and craft
Museum, Tulsa, (918) 596-2700 demonstrations (basketweaving, paper
12-31 W i a r d Stone Family Exhibit, Five making,and wood carving).
Civilized Tribes Museum, Muskogee, Against a backdrop of live music and
(918) 683-1701 glds own personal garden of herbs
19-June 30 Wendy Mahsetky Paintings, 1 antique roses, visitors experience
Southern Plains Indian Museum, what Sue calls "a celebrationof
Anadarko, (405) 247-6221 growing"
24-July 21 Masterworks in Haitian Art, The festival will take place-rain or
OKC Art Museum, OKC, (405) 946-4477 shine-May 11 firom 9 am. to 6 p.m. in
26-Sept. 22 Prairie Print Makers, Philbrook Eufaula Space reservations on the bus
Museum of Art, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 tour are first-come, first-served. (918)
30June 1 Cimarron County Art Association -AJD
689-5481.
Show & Sale, Boise City, (405) 426-2447 31-June 2 Route 66 Art Show & Sale, Tulsa, (918) 746-5065 Sapulpa, (918) 224-0170 12-20 Camping with Henry Q Tom, Ameri-
can Theatre Company, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 747-9494 15-18 42nd Street, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 596-2525 18-21 The Secret Rapture, OCU, Kirkpatrick APRIL
Fine Arts Center, OKC, (405) 521-5121 1-20 The Sisters Rosensweig, Carpenter 18-20,25-27 Into the Woods, OU School of Square Theatre, OKC, (405) 232-6500 Drama, Norman, (405) 325-4101 5-May 11 My Fair Lady, Pollard Theatre, 18-20,25-27 Tony 'N' Tina's Wedding, St. Guthrie, (405) 282-2800 Mary's Church, Edmond, (405) 341-2980 11-13,18-20 Crashing,Heller Theatre, Tulsa,
ext. 2106 (918) 746-5065 19,20 Who So Ever Will, Civic Center, OKC,
11-13,18-20 Get Off the Bus, Heller Theatre, (405) 232-2522 Tulsa, (918) 746-5065 19-21 Once Upon a Mattress, OCU, OKC, 11-13,18-20 Green Roses, Heller Theatre, (405) 521-5315 I
I
CELEBRATING
NATURE DRAMA
Oklahoma
T o d a y
19-27 Steel Magnolias, Stone Soup Theatre
Company, Sooner Theatre, Norman,
(405)329-5222 21 Dinosaur Mountain, American Family
Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa,
(918) 596-2525 23-May 12 The Secret Garden, City Arts Center's Children's Theatre, State Fair- grounds, OKC, (405) 951-0000 25-27,May 2-4 Marvin's Room, Rose State College, Midwest City, (405) 733-7430 25-28 The Secret Rapture, OCU, OKC, (405) 521-5121 25-28,May 2-4 Arsenic Q Old Lace, Center Stage Players, Tulsa, (918) 584-8607 26 Croutons on a Cow Pie, One-Man Dinner Theater, Nat'l Cowboy Hall of Fame, OKC, (405) 478-2250 26,27,May 2-4 Into the Woods, Shawnee Little Theatre, Shawnee, (405) 275-2805 26-May 5 Brighton Beach Memoirs, Theatre Tulsa, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa,
(918) 596-7111 26,27,May 2-5 The Cemetery Club, Com-
munity Playhouse, Broken Arrow, (918) 258-0077 30-May 2 Cats, Civic Center, OKC, (405) 297-2584 MAY
1-4 One-Act Play Festivals, UCO, Edmond,
(405)341-2980 ext. 2106 2-5,9-11 Five Women Wearingthe Same Dress, HelIer Theatre, Tulsa, (918) 746-5065 3,4,10,11,17,18 TheDiaryofAnneFrank,Way-
ward Players, Edmond Historical Society Museum, Edmond, (405) 340-0078 3-5,9-11 Into the Woo& Muskogee Little The- atre, Muskogee, (918) 683-4901 4 Monkey Magic, Fine Arts Institute,Edmond, (405)340-4481 4,9,11 La Boheme, Tulsa Opera, Performing
Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 10-12,16-18 To
Kill a Mockingbird, Gaslight Theatre, Enid,
(405)234-2307 10-June1 TheManchurian Candidate, Carpenter Square Theatre, OKC, (405) 232-6500 12 Great Women of the Frontier, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, (918) 596-2700 16-Sept 1 Oklahoma Shakespearein the Park, Hafer Park Auditorium, Edmond, (405) 340-1222 28-June 8 Jesus Christ Superstar, Lyric Theatre, OKC, (405) 524-7111 31-June 8 The Sisters Rosensweig, American Theatre Company, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 747-9494 31-June 29 You Can't T a b It With You, Pol-
lard Theatre, Guthrie, (405) 282-2800 MUSIC & DANCE
APRIL
,
CALENDAR
12,13,24 Yesterday's Classics, Today's Trea- sures, Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa, (918) 749-6006 13,May 11 Bluegrass Music Concert, Com- munity Center, Midwest City, (405) 943- 4106
20 A Gift of Music for Consolation & Peace, Pianist Dr. Robert Cooper Rivard, First Baptist Church, Chandler, (504) 751-2725 20 Gertrude Cook Spring Ring Handbell Festival, First United Methodist Church, Lawton, (405) 357-0376 20 Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra: A Ger- man Requiem, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 747-7445 20 Violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky: Philhar- monic Classics, Civic Center, OKC, (405) 297-2584 20, May 5 Hispanic Dance, Myriad, OKC,
(405)232-8871 21 Cathedral Classics: The Concert Chorale, Seretean Center, OSU, Stillwater, (405) 744-8992 21 Symphony Orchestra Concert, OCU, OKC, (405) 521-5813 22 Symphonic Band Concert, OCU, OKC, (405)521-5813 23 Women's Choral Union, OCU, OKC, (405)521-5813 25 University Singers Concert, OCU, OKC, (405) 521-5813 26,27 Philharmonic Pops: Banu Gibson, Civic Center, OKC, (405) 297-2584 28 Frank Capelli: Philharmonic Family Se- ries, Civic Center, OKC, (405) 297-2584 28 J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, (918) 748-5307 MAY
4 Pops Hoedown with Special Consensus, McMahon Auditorium, Lawton, (405) 248-2001 5 Performing Arts Academy Recital, OCU, OKC, (405) 521-5813 6 Philharmonic Day at the Zoo, Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa, (918) 669-6600 7 A Choral Bouquet: Stillwater Chamber Singers, Seretean Center, OSU, Stillwater, (405) 744-8992 9 Bolshoi Ballet, Civic Center, OKC, (405) 848-8637 9 Reba McEntire Concert, Myriad, OKC, (405)282-7433 10 Pianist Benedetto Lupo, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 596-2525 10 Sunset Symphony, Downtown, Sand Springs, (918) 245-8751 11 OKC
RoLm?
Philharmonic
Season Finale,
HOClsYiY Civic Center,
OKC, (405)
COYOTES
842-5387 MAY 3 1 OAKLAND 11 Pianist
Christopher JUN 11 SAN DIEGO
O'Riley, Civic JUN 2 1 SAN JOSE
JUN 22 ANAHEIM JUW 28 DENVER JUN 29 L.A. Center, OKC, (405) 297-2584 26-28 Duvall Jackpot
11,12 Organist Lyn Lawson, Coleman The- Steer Wrestling,
YORSE RACES
atre, Miami, (918) 540-2425, ext. 454 Duvall Arena,
LPR 17-21 REMINGTON
15 Comedy Pianist Victor Borge, Civic Cen- Checotah, (918) 473LPR 18-21 BLUE RIBBON
ter, OKC, (405) 297-2584 2653
LPR 24-28 REMINGTON
18 Gala Season Finale Concert, Kirkpatrick LPR 25-28 BLUE RIBBON ,
Center, OKC, (405) 478-4132 M
A
Y
MAY 1-5
REMINGTON
18 Pianist Santiago Rodriguez: Tulsa Phil- MAY 2-5
BLUE RIBBON
harmonic Orchestra Masterworks VII, Oklahoma Quarter
MAY 9-12 BLUE RIBBON
Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 747- Horse Association
MAY $6-19 BLUE RIBBON
Horse Show, Lazy E
MAY 17-19 ~ ~ ~ N G T O N\
7445 24,25 A Gershwin Evening: Pops Concert, Arena, Guthrie, (405)
~
~
- - - - .-Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) 747- 282-7455
MAY 3 1
BLUE RIBBON
7445 4 Oklahoma Paint
MAY 3 1
REMINGTON I
Horse Show, State Fairgrounds,
OKC,
(405)
4781599
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,5 Oklahoma Dressage Horse Show, Heart
of Oklahoma Expo Center, Shawnee,
(405) 348-3738 APRIL
5-11 Non Pro Cutting, State Fairgrounds, 1-28 American I n d i i Heritage Center Art OKC, (405) 598-2568 Competition, Philbrook Museum of Art, 9-1 1 PRCA Rodeo, Fairgrounds, Tulsa, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 (918) 584-2000 19-21 Keeper of the Plains Celebration, 11 Founder's Day Rodeo & Parade, Lindsay, Enid, (405) 234-515 1 (405)756-4312 25-27 Indian Festival & Powwow, High 11 Reba McEntireIBen Johnson Pro
School Gym, Talihina, (918) 567-2539 Celebrity Rodeo, Lazy E Arena, Guthrie,
(405) 282-7433 16-19
Prairie Regional Team Roping, Lazy MAY
E Arena, Guthrie, (405) 282-7433 17-19 Claremore State Powwow & Stomp 16-19 29th Walleye Rodeo, Canton Lake, Dance, Will Rogers Roundup Club, Canton, (405) 886-2216 Claremore, (918) 341-2818 23-25 4-Way Rodeo, Rodeo Grounds, 17-19 Elk Creek Powwow, Convention Cen- Pryor, (918) 825-0681 ter, Elk City, (405) 225-0207 23-25 McCurtain County Rodeo, Fair- 18 Memorial Dance for Glover Zotigh, grounds Arena, Idabel, (405) 286-3305 Crutcho Armory, OKC, (405) 721-6240 24,25 Black Kettle Roundup Club Memo- 18,19 Kiowa Black Leggins Ceremonial, In- rial Rodeo, Rodeo Arem, Cheyenne, (405) dian City Dance Grounds, Anadarko,
497-3318 (405) 654-2354 24,25 OCA Range Roundup, Lazy E Arena, 24-26 Vietnam Veterans Powwow, Wichita Guthrie, (405) 282-7433 Dance Grounds, Anadarko, (405) 247- 24-26 Boley Rodeo & BBQ Festival, Rodeo 2425 Grounds, Boley, (918) 667-3341 25,26 Spavinaw Days, Baseball Field, 26 Bar D Rodeo's Steer Wrestling Champi- Spavinaw, (918) 589-2758 onship, Huddleston Arena, Talihina, 27 Otoe-MissouriaGourd Dance Honoring (918)567-3227 Leaders Past & Present, Red Rock, (918) 26,27 Bull Challenge Rodeo, Nichols Park, 835-5802 Henryetta, (918) 652-3331 29,30 Delaware Contest Powwow & Stomp 30-June 1 PRCA Rodeo, Rodeo Arena, Dance, Copan, (918) 336-4925 Hugo, (405) 326-2205 30 Great American Indian Dancers, City 31-June 1 Anadarko Riding Club Rodeo, Arts Center, State Fairgrounds, OKC, Fairgrounds, Anadarko, (405) 247-6043 (405) 951-0000 31-June 2 45th Tulsa Powwow, Fairgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pavilion, Tulsa, (918) 835-8699 fzJ
INDIAN EVENTS
FAIRS & FES'ITV..
APRIL
4lODEO & HORSE EVENTS
6-21 Azalea Festival, Honor Heights Park, Muskogee, (918) 684-6302 APRIL
18-20 Grand Moccasin Festival, Murrow In- 10-14 Oklahoma Centennial Horse Show, dian Children's Home, Muskogee, (918) State Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 557-9517 682-2586 19,20 89er Days PRCA Rodeo, Lazy E Arena, 19,20 Cheyenne Arapaho Days & Cowboy
Guthrie, (405) 282-7433 Festival, Old Town Museum, Elk City,
22-28 Reining Horse Show, Lazy E Arena, (405)225-2207 Guthrie, (405) 282-7433 19-21 Rattlesnake Festival, Downtown, A p r i l
.
May
1 9 9 A
+
CALENDAR
Apache, (405) 588-2080
20 Herbal Affair & Festival, Downtown,
Sand Springs, (918) 245-5588
20 19th Run for the Arts, Fine Arts & Jazz
Festival, Payne County Courthouse Lawn,
Stillwater, (405) 747-8084
20 Tulips Abloom Festival, Blackwell, (405)
363-4195
23-28 Festival of t h e m Downtown, OKC,
(405) 236-1426
25-27 Wanda Jackson Music Festival,
Downtown, Maud, (405) 374-2755
26-28 Mangum Rattlesnake Derby & Flea
Market, Downtown Square, Mangum,
(405) 782-2434
26-28 Spring Bluegrass Festival, East of City
on Duncan Lake Road, Duncan, (405)
255-7042
27 Herb &Garden Fair, Courthouse Square,
Tahlequah, (918) 456-3742
27,28 Gilcrease Rendezvous Fair, Gilcrease
Museum, Tulsa, (918) 596-2700
27,28 Springfest, Great Plains Coliseum,
Lawton, (405) 536-1079
MAY
1-4 Tri-State Music Festival, Enid, (405)
237-4964
1-June30 Summerfest,Ardmore, (405) 2237765
3-5 Arts for AU Festival, Lawton, (405) 2485384
3-5 Iris Festival, Downtown, Ponca City,
(405) 763-8082
4 Crystal Festival,
Dig Area, Cherokee,
BASEBALL
(405) 596-3053
4 Int'l Food Fair.
Adventist church,
OKC 89ERS
APR 15,16 IOWA
Ketchum, (918)
APR 17,18 OMAHA
782-2986
APR 24-26 NASHVILLE
4 Kolache Festival,
APR 27-29 BUFFALO
Main Street,
MAY 6-9
IOWA
Prague, (405) 567MAY 10-12 OMAHA
2616
MAY 2L21 INDIANAPOLIS
4 Onion Fried
Burger Day
TULSA DRILLERS
Festival, DownAPR15-19 JACKSON
town, El Reno,
(405) 262-8888
MAY 1-5
SHREVEPORT
4 Rose Rock
MAY 16
TX RANGERS
MAY 17-21 MIDLAND
Festival, DownMAY 22-26 EL PAS0
town, Noble, (405)
872-5535
W
4,5 Grovefest, Civic
APR 16
OSU
APR24
ARIZONA ST
Community
APR 2 6 2 7 TX CHRISTIAN
Center,
Grove,
APR30
TEXAS
(918) 786-9079
5 Culturefest '96,
MAY
MISSOURI
MAY 1
Pioneer Park, Ponca
City, (405) 765Osll
3178
APR17
OU
9-1 1 Black Gold
APR 23
WICHITA ST
APR26
O.ROBEiWS@nnU
Days & Bluegrass
APR 27
0. ROBERTS
Festival, Black Gold
Park, Glenpool,
MAY 5,6
MISSOURI SO
4
I
1
;
-
,
'
I
I
MAY 7.8
CHICAGO ST
MAY 10-12 KANSAS ST
MAY 13
RICE
Matmee, LYW, ay MwarU Yaschke.
I ELVIS S I G r n G S
APRIL 14-JUNE 2
The Philbrook Museurn of Art in
Tulsa is known for big traditional shows
on Native American and European art,
but that doesn't mean it can't appreciate
the lessons of pop culture. In Elvis +
Marilyn: 2 x Immortal, the Philbrook
emmines the lives of the two pop stars
who have most impacted American
culture; in the process, it explores both
our need for cultural icons and how we
choose them.
More eclecticthan even the works of
art inspired by Presley and Marilyn
Monroe, however, may be the workshops and activities accompanying the
show a film series featuring Jail House
Rock and The Goddess, a celebration of
Marilyn's birthday June 1, and a "Blues
and Velvetnworkshop on April 21 in
which children will learn how to paint
on velvet while listeningto Elvis' greatest
-AJD
hits. (918) 748-5374.
2055
25-27 Cherokee Square Arts & Crafts Festival, Courthouse Square, Tahlequah, (918)
456-3742
25-27 Hunt & Webster Spring Arts & Crafts
Fair, Civic Center, Grove, (918) 786-5372
25-27 Paseo Art Festival, The Paseo, OKC,
(405) 525-2688
25-27 6th Cowboy Chuck Wagon Gathering, Nat'l Cowboy Hall of Fame, OKC,
(405) 478-2250
26,27 Edmond Jazz Festival, Hafer Park,
Edmond, (405) 359-4683
30-June 1 Gusher Day Festival, Downtown,
Seminole, (405) 382-3640
30-June 2 Striped Bass Festival, Town
Square, Mannford, (918) 865-3088
3 1-June 1 Stockyards Stampede Festival,
Stockyards City, OKC, (405) 235-7268
31-June 2 SunFest, Sooner Park, Bartlesville,
(918) 337-0999
.............
SPECIAL EVENTS
APRIL
1-28 Trout Derby, Lake Carl Etling, Boise
City, (405) 544-3344
15-21 The Great American West Celebration, Norman, (405) 366-8095
16-21 89er Celebration, Downtown,
Guthrie, (405) 282-1947
18 Arts on the Square, Hobart, (405) 7262553
18-20 Far West Fiddlers Spring Fiddlin'
Convention, E k City, (405) 225- 1391
18-21 89er Celebration, Downtown, Lexington, (405) 527-6315
I
I
19 Anniversary of the Oklahoma City
Bombing, Downtown, OKC, (405) 297(918) 322-3505
2250
9-12 Rooster Days Festival, Central Park,
19 89er Benefit Feed, Chisholm Trail MuBroken Arrow, (918) 251-1518
seum, Kingfisher, (405) 375-5176
11 Central OK Herb Fest '96, OSU Horticul19-21 KlOl Expo '96, Crystal Beach Park,
tural Center, OKC, (405) 524-1000
Woodward, (800) 299-4101
11 May Fair Arts Festival, Reaves Park,
20 89er Day, Guthrie Museum Complex,
Norman, (405) 364-3211
Guthrie, (405) 282-1889
11 Polish Festival, Senior Citizens Center,
20 89er Day Parade, Downtown, Norman,
Harrah, (405) 454-2476
(405) 366-8095
11 StrawberryFestival, Downtown, Stilwell,
20 5th Spring Garden Show, Stillwater, (405) (918) 696-7733
744-6460 11 Wildwoman Wildflower Herb Festival,
20 World Cow Chip Throwing Champion- Widwoman's, Eufaula, (918) 689-5481
ship, Fairgrounds Arena, Beaver, (405) 16-19 Mayfest, Downtown, Tulsa, (918)
625-4726 582-6435
17-19 Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival, 20,21 Arts & Crafts Show, Muskogee, (918) 682-2401 Boiling Springs State Park, Woodward,
20,21 Re-Max Balloon Festival, Norman, (405) 256-7989
(405) 366-8095
18 AdaFest, Downtown, Ada, (405) 43622-24 The Perfect Setting, Philbrook Mu3032
seum, Tulsa, (918) 749-7941
18,19 America's Nat'l Gun Show & Craft
26 ZooFari, Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa, (918) 669Fair, Fairgrounds, Tulsa, (405) 275-7465
6600
24-26 Jazz Banjo Festival, Downtown,
26,27 NAIA Sectional Tournament, OKC,
Guthrie, (405) 282-1947
(405) 424-5266
25,26 Food Fest '96, Lake Tenkiller,
26-28 Alabaster Caverns Watchable
Cookson, (918) 457-4403
Wildlife Weekend, Freedom, (405) 62125,26 Italian Festival, McAlester, (918) 426O k l a h o m a
T o d a y
'
,
CALENDAR
ANTIQUES
APR 20
DAUAUFC
'*
worn
M A Y 4 OMAHA
my
''IDS
MAY 24 ROCKFORD
MAY 25 SAN ANTONIO
3381
26-28 The
Collectors'
Jubilee, Expo
Square, Tulsa,
(918) 298-8881
26-28 Rattlesnake Derby &
Flea Market,
Mangum, (405)
782-2434
27 Coal Mine Reunion, Old McAlester High
School Museum, McAlester, (918) 4232932
27 Historic Bus Tour of Pottawatomie
County, Santa Fe Depot Museum,
Shawnee, (405) 275-8412
27 Invitational Cowboy Poetry Gathering,
Nat'l Cowboy Hall of Fame, OKC, (405)
478-2250
27 Pawnee Chili Cook Off, Lake Pawnee
Bathhouse, Pawnee, (918) 762-2493
27 Watchable Wildlife Weekend, Quartz
Mountain Resort Park, Lone Wolf, (405)
563-2238
27 Watchable Wildlife Weekend, Sequoyah Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, (918) 773-5251 27,28 Watchable Wildlife Weekend, Greenleaf State Park, (918) 487-5196
27-May 5 Pioneer Days, Citywide, Guyrnon,
(405)338-3376
28 Carson & Barnes Circus, Lloyd Noble
Center, Norman, (405) 321-3055
28 KMOD Kite Flight, River West Festival
Park, Tulsa, (918) 596-2001
28 Yom HaShoah, Day of Remembrance for
the Holocaust, Edmond Historical Society
Museum, Edmond, (405) 340-0078
28-May 18 Symphony Decorators Show
House, OKC, (405) 848-6787
MAY
2,3 19th Oil & Gas Golf Tournament,
Weatherford, (405) 772-7744
2-5 May Daze Nat'l Antique Show & Sale, Downtown, Blanchard, (405) 485-8787 3 The Big Rock 'N' Roll Evening Youth Night, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa,
(918) 748-5320
3,4 Armed Forces Day, McAlester, (918)
423-2550
3-5 OK Steam Threshing & Gas Engine
Show, Fairgrounds, Pawnee, (918) 7622108
3-5 Rattlesnake Roundup, Okeene, (405)
822-3005
3-5 Spring Arts & Crafts Show, Community Center, Midwest City, (405) 732-9721 4 Arts & Crafts Show, City Park, Prague, (405)567-4093
4 Bass Tournament, Lake Vincent, Arnett,
(405) 885-7667
4 Bixby Community Garage Sale, Bixby,
(918) 366-4841
4 Carson & Barnes 5-Ring Circus, Fairgrounds, Anadarko, (405) 247-6651
4 Cowboy Poetry & Music Gathering, Coyote Hills Ranch, Cheyenne, (405) 4973931
4 Founders Day, City Hall Complex,
Nicoma Park, (405) 769-6635
4 Watchable Wildlife Weekend, Quartz
Mountain Resort Park, (405) 563-2238
4,5 Honey w ill Farm Open House, Honey
Hill Farm, Guthrie, (405) 969-3236
4,s Olympic Team Handball Games,
Myriad, OKC, (405) 232-8871
5 SW Iris Society Flower Show, Central Mall,
Lawton, (405) 248-1353
5 Western Arts Center Show, Little Red
School House, Arnett, (405) 885-7418
9-12 NCAA Big 12Tournament, OKC, (405)
424-5266
9-12 Rooster Days, Central Park, Broken
Arrow, (918) 251-1518
10 Armed Forces Day Parade, Downtown,
Lawton, (405) 442-4500
10,ll Big 12 Conference Women's Softbd
Championship, ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, OKC, (405) 236-5000
10-12 Antique Automobile Spring Swap
Meet, Fairgrounds, Chickasha, (405) 2246552
11 Art in the Park, McLain Rogers Park,
Clinton, (800) 759-1397 11 Britton Station Celebration, West
Britton Road, OKC, (405) 848-9415
11 Historic Bus Tour of Shawnee, Santa Fe
Depot Museum, Shawnee, (405) 275-8412
11 Ostrich Egg Breakfast, OKC Zoo, OKC,
(405)425-0219
11 Pawnee Days Rendezvous, Courthouse
Square, Pawnee, (918) 762-2108
11 Pioneer Day, Downtown, Ripley, (918)
372-4570
11,12 Tulsa Wind Riders Celebration of
Kites, Tulsa, (918) 322-9630
15 Comedian Victor Borge, Civic Center,
OKC, (405) 297-2584
15 Oklahoma World Premiere of Twister,
Penn Square Theater, OKC, (405) 5212161
16-19 Big 8 Conference Baseball Championship, All Sports Stadium, OKC, (405)
236-5000
16-19 Pro Show Sewing & Needlework
Show, Myriad, OKC, (405) 232-8871
16-19 Trail Days, Recreation Center,
Owasso, (918) 272-2141
17-19 Cruisin' Bricktown '96, Bricktown,
OKC, (405) 366-8188
17-19 Silver City Antique Tractor Show,
Schrock Park, Tuttle, (405) 387-9542
17-19 30th OKC Woodcarvers Show, Quail
Springs Mall, OKC, (405) 282-0224
17-19 Watchable Wildlife Weekend, Lake
Texoma State Park, Kingston, (405) 5642311
18 Arts on the Square, Courthouse Square,
Hobart, (405) 726-2553
18 Bartlett Regatta, Arrowhead Yacht Club,
Grand Lake, (918) 584-8607
18 Olympic Torch Relay Overnight Stop,
A p r i l
.
M a y
1 9 9 L
LI'L RED BARN
Antiques and unique craft collectibles in a
country setting on Route 66. Claremore,
Oklahoma. (918) 342-5772.
. .
BED'AND BREAKFAST
' '
INNS
ARCADIAN INN BED & BREAKFAST
Enjoy pampering and luxury in the setting
of a Victorian Romance novel. Intimate oversize whirlpools, canopy beds and much more. Edmond, Okla. (800) 299- 6347.
BED & BREAKFAST OF TAHLEQUAH
Separate apartment-full breakfast.
Contact Mary Geasland, (918) 456-1309.
CANDLEWYCK BED &
BREAKFAST INN
Secluded woods nestled on the shores of
Grand Lake offering cozy suites complete
with fireplace and whirlpool. Delightful
candlelight breakfast. Private boat dock
for your recreation. Grove, Oklahoma
(918) 786-3636.
THE DOME HOUSE
For information and reservations,
(918) 465-0092. 315 E. Main,
Wilburton, Okla. 74578.
HERITAGE MANOR BED &
BREAKFAST
Elegant turn-of-the-century accommodations in a charming country setting.
Aline, Okla. (405) 463-2563 or
(800) 295-2563.
MAYNE HARBER INN
A gracious colonial mansion set on three
wooded acres with numerous comforts
and attentive hosts. (405) 275-4700.
NELSON'S HOMESTAY BED &
BREAKFAST
Charming, antique-filled colonial home.
Southern hospitality at its finest. El Reno,
Okla. (405) 262-9142. . . . . . .RESORT.s. . . ' '
MARVAL RESORT
Family resort on trout stream. RV sites.
Log cabins with fireplaces. Recreation for
whole family. Lower Illinois River near
Gore, Okla. (918) 489-2295
WILLOW SPRINGS RESORT &
MARINA
Lake Texoma houseboat rentals. Boats
from 40-56 ft. Best way to enjoy Texoma's
secluded coves and island beaches. Rt. 1,
Box 279, Mead, Okla. (405) 924-6240.
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . .
OKLAHOMA TODAY A S I F I E D S
TEL.: (800) 777-1793 1FAX: (405) 522-4588
CALENDAR
.-
Nat'l Wrestling Hall of Fame, Stillwater,
(405) 377-2161 18 Olympic Torch Run Celebration, Paw- nee, (918) 762-2108 18 Olympic Torch Relay, Main Street, prague, 1405) 567-2616 . 18 16th Natl Softball Hall of Fame Induc- tion, Hall of Fame, OKC, (405) 424-5266 19 Judy the Elephant's 51st Birthday Party, OKC ZOO,OKC, (405) 425-0219 19 Olympic Torch Relay, Norman, (405) 366-8095 20-25 NAIAMen's &Women's Tennis Natl Championship, Tulsa, (918) 494-8828 21-24 NAIA Men's Golf Natl Champion- ship, Bailey Golf Ranch, Tulsa, (918) 494- 8828 24 Caribbean-Style Bloc-0-Rama, Bricktown, OKC, (405) 672-2622 24 Tour of World Figure Skating Champi- ons, Tulsa, (918) 584-2000 24-26 Memorial Day Craft Show, Lake Murray Resort, Ardmore, (405) 223-6600 25 Campbell's Soup World of Figure Skat- ing Champions, Tulsa Convention Cen- ter, Tulsa, (918) 584-2000 25 Heritage Day, Ninnekah Heritage Soci- ety, Ninnekah, (405) 224-6969 25 Lion's Club All-Star Football Game, High School Stadium, Claremore, (918) 341-2818 25 2nd Chili Bowl, City Hall Auditorium, Tecumseh, (405) 598-8666 25 Uniquely Herbal Tour Day, Blue JayGar- dens Herb Farm, Haskell, (918) 482-3465 25,26 OK Championship Chuckwagon Races, Clark Ranch, Idabel, (405) 286- 7076 25,26 SpavinawDays, Spavinaw, (918) 589- 2758 25-27 Heart of Oklahoma Cluster Dog Show, ~ e g q o Oklahoma
f
Expo Center, Shawnee, (405) 273-9348 25-27 16th Scissorcut Art Show & Sale, Acorn Gift Shop, Disney, (918) 435-8080 26 Freddie's Memorial Day Celebration, Freddie's Steak House, Mannford, (918) 865-9971 26 Tour of World Figure Skating Champi- ons, Myriad, OKC, (405) 232-8871 27 Memorial Day Ceremony, Fort Sill Old Post Cemetery, Lawton, (405) 442-4500 30 Memorial Day Observance, 45th Infantry Division Museum, OKC, (405) 424-5313 30 Veterans MemorialWalk of Honor Cer- emony, Courthouse Lawn,Pawnee, (9 18) 762-2108 30-June 1 Art on the Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron County Fairgrounds, Boise City, (405) 426-2447 30-Sept 2 Tours of Pensacola Dam, Langley, (918) 782-9594 31,June 1 Biplane Expo '96, Frank Phillips Field, Bartlesville, (918) 622-8400 31,June 1 Love County Frontier Days Cel- ebration, Marietta, (405) 276-3102 31-June 2 Pioneer Days, Downtown, Oologah, (918) 443-2790 30-June 2 Chautauqua '96, Inventing & Re31-June 2 Santa Fe Trail Daze, Main Street, inventing America: Pursuing the Great
Boise City, (405) 544-3344 Dream, University Center, Tulsa, (918)
497-2774 ..................
RUNS, RIDES, & WALKS
APRIL
....................
ECI'URES &WORKSHOPS APRIL
18-21 89er Stage Race & Criterium, Norman, (405) 364-5513 19 P.J. O'Rourke Lecture, Tulsa Town Hall, 20 Kids Bicycle Ride, Pawnee Lake, Pawnee, Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, (918) (918) 762-2108 749-5965 23 Amish &Azalea Tour, OKC Art Museum, 20,May 5 Rock-'N'-Roll Painting Work- Mazie & Muskogee, (405) 755-9097 shop, Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, (918) 27 Walk America, Central Park, Ardmore, 748-5320 (405) 223-4781 20,May 18 Tatting Workshop, Chisholm Trail Museum/Governor Seay Mansion, Kingfisher, (405) 375-5176 MAY
21 "Blues & Velvet" Workshop, Philbrook 4 Volksmarch, Lawton, (405) 357-2930 Museum, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 4,5 TX-OK Red River Challenge 150 Bike 24 Specialty Cut Flower Conference, Holi- Tour, Lake Texoma State Park, Kingston, day Inn, Stillwater, (405) 744-6460
(214)373-1400 26 Display Techniques for Native Ameri- 5 T-Town Trek Bike Tour, River West Festi-
can Materials, Philbrook Museum of Art, val Park, Tulsa, (918) 596-2001 Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 11 Red River Road Kill Bike Rally, Greater 26 Rendezvous Artist Gallery Talk, Southwest Historical Museum, Ardmore,
Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, (918) 596- (405) 223-7765 2700 11 South Canadian Bike Tour & Run, 27 Images & Self: Photography & Perfor-
Newcastle, (405) 387-3232 mance Art Workshop, Philbrook Mu- 16-18 Spring Blossom Talirnena Motorcycle seum, Tulsa, (918) 748-5320 Run, High School, Talihina, (918) 567- 3434 MAY
17-19 MayFit Biker Rally, Biker Park, Pawhuska, (918) 287-3244 1 0 , l l 19t h Wildflower Workshop, 25 Buckle of the Wheat Belt Classic, Main McAlester, (405) 521-4037 Street, Kingfisher, (405) 375-4445 11 Blacksmithing Workshop, Pawnee Bill 25 Roadrunner Marathon & 10K Run, Ranch, Pawnee, (918) 762-2513 Downtown, Gage, (405) 923-7727 16 Curator Richard Townsend on 19th-
25-27 Memorial Day Ride, Wild Horse Trail Century France, Philbrook Museum, Camp, Honobia, (918) 755-4570 Tulsa, (918) 748-5309 30 Veterans MemorialWalk of Honor Cer- 16,18 Statewide Preservation Conference, emony, Town Square, Pawnee, (918) 762- Duncan, (405) 522-4484 2108 25 Telling It Like It Was, Chisholrn Trail 30-June 1 PRCA Rodeo, Hugo, (405) 326- Museum/Governor Seay Mansion, King- 2205 fisher, (405) 375-5176 31 ArchitecTOUR Lecture and ArchitecTOUR, Firehouse Art Center, .............. Norman, (405) 329-4523 .
LMNG HISTORY
APRIL
Dates and times can change without notice;
please confirm before attending any event. The
calendar is a fiee service published on a spaceavailable basis. To be considered,please mail
a concise notice of the event (a separate page
for each event) that includes date, time, place,
address, and a contact telephone number.
Notices must arrive at Oklahoma Today three
calendar months prior to publication (i.e.
MAY
.
Aug.-Sept. events are due May I). Send to:
4,5 Spring Encampment, Museum of the Entertainment Calendar, Oklahoma Today,
Great Plains, Lawton, (405) 581-3460 P.O. Box 53384, Oklahoma City, OK 73152 18 Armed Forces Day Military TimelineRe- or faw: (405) 522-4588. Questions? Call (405) enactment, Fort Gibson Military Park, 521 -2496; we cannot, however, take listings Fort Gibson, (918) 478-2669 over the telephone. 27 Drovers of the Chisholm Trail, Chisholm Trail Museum/Governor Seay Mansion, Kingfisher, (405) 375-5176 27,28 Woolaroc Traders Encampment,
Woolaroc Ranch, south of Bartlesville,
(918) 336-0307 Oklahoma
T o d a y
doing windows
around these parts
since
It
1958.
seems like onlf yesterday that we started up our first drive-in rigLt here in Oklahoma.
And we've been serving the great people of Oklahoma ever since. In fact, you've helped make us
"America's Drive-In." S o from the bottom of our Cherry Limeades, we'd just like to say, "Thanks!"
L
A
H
W e stood there and gazed at the misty wooded hills rising
silently above the water. Listened-to the steady murmur of the
stream spilling over worn rocks. Felt the cool, clean morning air.
The moment was pure Oklahoma.
And nearby was a marvel even more true to Oklahoma. An
underground pipeline for Oklahoma Natural Gas. Unseen and
unheard as the water gently rippled to the river's edge, nature's
perfect energy source was being delivered to more than 700,000
Oklahoma households.
Only natural gas combines energy eflciency, low cost and
environmentalfriendliness in one fuel. Somehow, it's onlyfitting
that a fuel so kind to the earth should come from the earth. And
it's our good fortune that this abundant fuel is destined to play
a key role in the future growth of our state's economy.
Like the lakes, like the prairie, like the mountains, Oklahoma
Natural Gas is pure Oklahoma.
0-M
---=-
-=5
2-
7-
GAS