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Corridor of hope Metro nonprofits band together along Classen Boulevard to aid our community's most in-need

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COVER

inside P.24 and 25 Oklahoma City nonprofits make their home along Classen Boulevard, creating a destination social services district serving the city’s most in-need communties.

By George Lang and Kara Stewart. Cover by Chris Street.

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NEWS

Frontlines

Veterans stand with North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux tribe to protect resources and sacred lands.

By Laura Eastes

Daily, Yukon resident Angie Secrest checked social media for updates on the growing campaign to protect water sources and sacred land. Vivid images of objectors standing in the path of oil pipeline construction near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota filled her timeline.

She examined video and photos of peaceful action, prayer and unity as North American indigenous peoples and activists of all ages and backgrounds supported Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

She also witnessed law enforcement’s escalating militarized attempts to keep thousands of objectors from impeding Energy Transfer Partner’s progress on Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) as the controversial 1,172-mile-long project neared completion just upstream from tribal land and, according to tribal leadership, threatened natural resources and sacred tribal sites.

As police employed water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets, dogs and concussion grenades against activists, many U.S. military veterans — including Secrest, a retired U.S. Army medic — felt called to action.

“The videos are graphic. The images are graphic,” she said. “It looks like a war scene.

As a combat veteran, I’ve been to war. This doesn’t look like anything I want to see on American soil.”

Last week, cellphone in hand, Secrest clicked through social media and pulled up a photo a journalist posted a day earlier.

Lights atop a police water cannon vehicle silhouetted a single activist standing with their arms at their sides. Water arched through the subfreezing night air as it doused the peaceful objector.

“Does he look violent?” Secrest asked as tears filled her eyes. “He is just standing there. It is wrenching at my heart. These are our people.”

On Nov. 20, Secrest discovered the grassroots and social media-fueled event Veterans Stand for Standing Rock. Former Marine

Michael A. Wood Jr. and screenwriter and activist Wesley Clark Jr., along with more than 2,000 veterans, “self-deployed” as a peaceful, unarmed militia to support dozens of tribes and thousands of DAPL objectors camped around the stalled Dakota Access Pipeline construction site, located near the Cannonball River and Missouri River at Lake Oahe, North Dakota. The pipeline crosses unceded Sioux territory (under the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie) and abuts Standing Rock Indian Reservation, the sixth-largest reservation in the nation with a land area of more than 3,500 square miles.

Secrest quickly typed an email pledging her support to Veterans Stand for Standing Rock organizers. As one of the first couple hundred veterans committed to the mission and the first Sooner, she was appointed Oklahoma Regional Team Leader. The position came with duties like arranging travel and scheduling donation pickups in all 77 counties. A couple dozen Oklahoma veterans gathered into passenger vans and various vehicles Dec. 2 and caravanned to Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

“We did take an oath to stand up and protect this country, foreign or domestic,” Secrest told Oklahoma Gazette days before deploying. “I can’t speak for all veterans, but I feel like this is terrorism on American soil — look at how these people are being treated.”

Protesting the pipeline

Since April, when the Standing Rock Sioux launched its organized peaceful protest around the construction site, indigenous peoples and others around the globe have raised their voices in support of halting Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline construction, which could threaten natural resources and sacred land. The tribe’s protest centers on protecting the Missouri River, a primary water source for the reservation, and stopping the pipeline operator from destroying sacred

Happy Frejo, who traveled to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in September, shares her experience with activists in Oklahoma City. | Photo Laura Eastes

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Angie Secrest heads the Oklahoma Veterans for Standing Rock effort. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

ancestral sites.

The tribe, which laid out its grievances in federal court, argued it was not properly consulted during pipeline surveying and permitting processes. Sunday, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced it would deny a construction easement permit for the contested pipeline section and that the company must examine alternate pipeline routes.

Hours later, Energy Transfer Partners issued a statement asserting its commitment to the project’s completion without rerouting it. Objectors, including veterans, vowed to stay put and united through the process of public input and analysis during the monthslong environmental impact process.

Dakota Access Pipeline resistence has become a showdown pitting peaceful indigenous peoples and their allies against corporate power and militarized police . It also sparked a national movement centered on protecting tribal sovereignty, the environment and basic human rights. Tribal leaders assert that the methods Energy Transfer Partners and the federal government used to approve construction of the portion of the pipeline that abuts and crosses tribal lands violates the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

The declaration, passed in 2007, states, in part, “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.”

Objectors rally locally

The movement has grassroots support in Oklahoma City, an area home to thousands of Native Americans. The cause, along with the violence, sparked support from community members who have rallied in churches, high-traffic intersections and on state Capitol steps as they chant “Water is life” and wave “NoDAPL” posters.

“It is embedded in my mind every day,” said Happy Frejo, who is of Pawnee and Seminole heritage. “I have moments where I cry at work. It hurts my heart to see our people going through this.”

Frejo was one of many to raise a megaphone and share her strong connection with the Standing Rock Sioux people during last week’s rally in downtown Oklahoma City’s

Kerr Park. While standing in solidarity with the tribe and its allies, activists called for the public to divest from major financial institutions across the globe that are offering loan support to Energy Transfer Partners.

As a professional performer, several years ago, Frejo visited the Standing Rock Sioux reservation for a youth workshop. In September, she again traveled there under much different circumstances. Standing with dozens of tribes from across North America, Trejo witnessed large bulldozers carve open land as Sioux citizens wept.

“If we are going to fight for clean water, what is the next right we have to fight for?”

Frejo asked.

After hearing the leader of the Standing Rock Sioux call upon all native leaders to visit opposition sites, Absentee-Shawnee Tribe Gov. Edwina Butler-Wolfe felt compelled to make the trip and traveled there on Veterans Day. She said the public might be familiar with the hashtag #NoDAPL, but it takes a trip to the frontlines to truly grasp the movement and the monthslong, and at times violent, opposition movement.

“I tell people in our Indian Country to pray for those brothers and sisters up there,” Butler-Wolfe said. “They are fighting for us down here.”

During the local Dec. 1 rally, speakers pointed out that even the safest pipelines can leak and cause damage to the environment. Numerous oil and gas pipelines crisscross Oklahoma, and most recently, a crude oil spill was reported in Cushing, one of the world’s largest oil storage hubs.

Veteran role

“I think as a veteran, the solider mentality kicks in,” Secrest said when asked how she prepared to join veterans and stand alongside thousands of Americans at the Standing Rock Sioux site. “The only difference is this is a peaceful movement. It’s not like going into war.”

Since announcement of Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, event organizers stressed the nonviolent role veterans have on the frontline. Veterans hope their peaceful actions catch national media attention and a louder national cry for the pipeline’s halt.

“The reaction is unsettled,” Secrest told Oklahoma Gazette the morning after the army denied the easement. “There are those that believe this is a win, those that believe it’s a fake display for the media and those that believe it simply is history on its way to repeating itself.”

co m m u n i t y

Moving in

Goodwill Industries helps local homeless veterans and their families through its VA-sponsored grant.

By Christine Eddington

Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma has received an almost $1.5 million Department of Veterans Affairs grant for 2017. In total, the agency has received $5.8 million to help end veteran homelessness through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program under the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We believe it’s totally possible to end homelessness for veterans, and this is just one part of the puzzle,” said John Rourke, who managed Goodwill’s grant program its first three years.

Goodwill’s central Oklahoma offices service 37 counties. The grant covers six counties: Canadian, Cleveland, Lincoln, Logan, Oklahoma and Pottawatomie.

“With the SSVF grant, we focus on veteran heads of households who are currently either on the street or imminently homeless,” Rourke said.

Imminent homelessness can occur for many reasons, such as a lease ending, falling behind on rent or mortgage payments or temporarily living with family, Rourke said.

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“People we help are categorized as lowincome or extremely low-income,” he added, “which means they earn $1,300 per month or less.”

Grant funds also can be used as temporary financial assistance for homeless or imminently homeless veterans in crisis.

“This happens on a case-by-case basis and can help with payment of rent, deposits for housing or utilities or payment of utilities in arrears,” said SSVF program manager Donnie Lewis, who works with Rourke and took the helm of the grant initiative several months ago. “In some cases, it is also available to assist with transportation in the form of bus passes.”

Finding housing for homeless veterans is the first step to long-term stability.

“We are a Housing First program, meaning that we try to rapidly rehouse people,” Lewis said of the federal initiative that’s implemented through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s VA Supportive Housing program. “Second, we work on wraparound

Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program grants help Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma find housing and assistance for homeless veterans and their families. | Photo provided

services to help keep them there.”

Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma locates homeless and imminently homeless veterans in several ways.

“We canvass areas where homeless people are known to live, trying to find people, and we hand out backpacks with essential items in them,” Lewis said.

Goodwill helps veterans in need at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System’s Medical Center at 921 NE 13th St. Additionally, Goodwill partners with the HeartLine 2-1-1 hotline, which veterans and their families can call to be

connected with Goodwill and other support organizations and services such as City Rescue Mission and Homeless Alliance.

“In our outreach to the homeless veteran community, we try to let them know that if they call 211, they will get linked in with services,” Rourke said. “Our services and others.”

The nonprofit also performs outreach at events like OKC VA’s Sooner Stand Down, which provides emergency shelter and food assistance, medical and dental services and referrals and legal aid to in-need veterans.

“When veterans move into an apartment, we provide them with a move-in kit that has pots and pans, utensils, oftentimes a bed — basic essentials,” Rourke said. “We have a partnership with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to fill their fridges so they have some food to eat while they get on their feet.”

But simply putting a roof over someone’s head isn’t enough, Lewis explained.

“Often when we’re holding a drive, we are met with public outrage about our veterans and why they aren’t being taken care of by the VA,” Lewis said. “The reality is that many veterans may not be VA-eligible. … For this initiative, veterans are only required to have served one day of active duty for purposes other than training and can have any classification of discharge except dishonorable discharge.”

Learn more at okgoodwill.org/list-ofprograms.

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NEWS

metro

An active well drilled by Citizens Energy near the intersection of SW 29th Street and Cimarron Road | Photo Laura Eastes

Drilling issues One neighborhood’s experience with nearby drilling showcases cracks in a state law.

By Laura Eastes

Lindsey and Gary Ball were just days away from being able to enjoy late spring Oklahoma weather beside their recently installed backyard swimming pool when the rumbling sound started just beyond their fence.

The couple assumed the noise was temporary. However, the loud screeches soon intensified and hinted at oil and gas activity near their quiet, sprawling far western Oklahoma City neighborhood.

Soon, the din from the round-the-clock drill site near the intersection of SW 29th Street and Cimarron Road rattled windows and neighbors, leaving some sleep-deprived.

“You couldn’t carry on a conversation in your own backyard,” Gary Ball said.

Neither the local and state governments nor the energy company provided any advance notice of the drilling to neighbors, the couple said.

“It was like a jackhammer,” Lindsey Ball explained. “There would be occasional breaks, sometimes for a few minutes and sometimes for a few hours … but it would start up again.”

During the summer and early fall, calls and complaints from Kyles Court addition residents flowed into Oklahoma City and Oklahoma Corporation Commission offices and the oil company, Citizen Energy of Tulsa. The day-and-night, high-level drone was the main complaint, and there also were concerns about increased tractortrailer traffic. The neighbors, who said they aren’t against the oil and natural gas industry, asked about noise ordinances and wondered if there were nuisance violations regarding drilling throughout the night.

Emails and phone calls prompted responses, but the drilling rig continued operating 24 hours a day. During two weeks in September, fracking produced a much louder noise from the pressure pumps, and the sound mimicked a jet engine.

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Clashes between residents and drillers are becoming more common in places like Oklahoma City and other oil-rich areas.

Driving west from the urban core, signs for new subdivisions pop up one after another.

Open space, peace and quiet and proximity to Interstate 40 placed the area on the radar for home-buying families. For decades, the area’s multiple oil and natural gas-rich reservoirs have made them tempting targets for oil and gas companies.

Is it possible for residents and drillers to coexist, and what action is possible from state and local governments to address community concerns while continuing to meet driller needs?

New law

Nearly two years ago, a two-page bill made a ruckus as it worked its way through the Oklahoma Capitol’s lawmaking process.

Senate Bill 809, authored by then-Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, prevents towns, cities and counties from banning hydraulic fracking and other oil and gas activity within their boundaries. It passed on the heels of Denton, Texas, voters approving an antifracking ban within their city limits. At the time, Stillwater and Norman leaders also were revisiting oil and gas ordinances.

Supporters argued the bill reaffirmed the Oklahoma Corporation Commission as the statewide regulator of the oil and natural gas industry and provided it with uniform regulations, as opposed to varying ordinances in municipalities across the state. The bill earned plenty of opposition, including from the Oklahoma Municipal League, which represents the hundreds of state municipalities.

While the law was viewed as restricting local regulations, it did allow municipalities the authority to enact local rules regarding oil and gas activity nuisances.

“A municipality, county or other politi-

cal subdivision may enact reasonable ordinances, rules and regulations concerning road use, traffic, noise and odors incidental to oil and gas operations within its boundaries,” reads Title 52, Section 137.1, of the Oklahoma Statutes.

Municipalities can establish “reasonable setbacks and fencing requirements for oil and gas well site locations” under the new law. In other parts of the United States, setbacks are used as buffer zones between drilling rigs and homes, businesses and schools to protect public health and safety.

Looking for relief

For months, Kyles Court neighborhood residents endured noise and vibrations so fierce they attempted any remedy for its halt. Local governments, such as Oklahoma City, have previously sought local control of drilling. A number of ordinances remain in place addressing public safety in areas of well location, fencing and buffer zones from freshwater sources. Under municipal code, drillers should “eliminate as much as possible dust, noise, vibration or noxious odors, and shall be in accordance with the best available technology.”

Oklahoma City inspectors were twice sent to the area around the Citizen Energy well site for sound surveys. Each time, inspectors found no violations.

Neighbors like Lindsey Ball explained inspectors arrived during the downtime when less noise was produced.

Any citizen can lodge a nuisance complaint, regardless of oil and gas activity, said Ward 3 Councilman Larry McAtee. All complaints are investigated and violations are turned over to the city’s municipal court.

The Ok la homa Cor poration Commission deals with any issues regarding drillers or their activities, he said.

“The exploration of oil and gas has been taken out of the city’s hands and is on the state level,” McAtee said.

Calls to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission came with no hope, as the state agency claimed no authority in regulating noise from the site.

“There is no state law regarding noise levels for oil and gas,” said Matt Skinner, Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman. “It is not an uncommon complaint that we get.”

When a drilling operation is located within a municipality, corporation officials recommend individuals contact their local government agencies about possible nuisance ordinance violations.

For rural residents, the only option is dialogue between drillers and neighbors, explained Skinner.

“We do explain that we don’t have any legal authority, but we would be happy to be the go-between with the operator to see if some kind of agreement can be reached,” Skinner said.

In the Kyles Court addition case, one neighbor called the oil operator, Citizen Energy, and asked that a sound wall be installed, but the company took no action.

Citizen Energy did not return Oklahoma Gazette’s request for comment on the well near the Kyles Court addition, nor did the company respond to questions about how it handles neighborhood complaints.

How close is too close?

In Oklahoma, builders are prohibited from placing residential or commercial structures within a 125-foot radius of an active well or within 50 feet from related surface equipment.

It’s a law with no reciprocal component, as there is no legal barrier prohibiting an energy company from drilling within 125 feet from a home, school or business.

Oklahoma is not alone in lack of setback restrictions for gas wells and buildings; however, two neighboring states do have laws limiting drilling near homes. In Texas, the required setback between a shale gas well and the nearest residence is 200 feet.

In Colorado, it is 500 feet. Advocates of setback requirements say they protect the public from explosions and air and noise pollution.

This summer, state Rep. Steve Kouplen, a Democrat representing communities in Okfuskee, Hughes and Okmulgee counties, proposed an interim study to examine setback requirements for oil and gas and property owners near active oil and gas wells. Any changes to the state’s setback law would have to come from the Legislature.

Unknown

Most of the noise created by the drillers was temporary, over a period of 120 days, for Kyles Court residents. Afterward, the workers, equipment and noise decreased drastically.

Now, the active well is relatively quiet and produces a low hum that can be heard in neighboring homes with windows and doors closed.

Could this happen again? Is it feasible for another drilling operation to set up near the neighborhood? Those questions loom large among neighbors.

In October, the neighbors learned of an application for a saltwater disposal well near intersection of NW 10th Street and N. Cimarron Road. The application is pending before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

“The worst is over,” Gary Ball said, “but we don’t know enough about the process to know what’s next.”

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NEWS

s tat e

Photo bigstock.com

To (district) court Oklahoma’s new DUI law pushes cases to be tried in courts of record in hopes to eliminate threats of repeat offenses, explains bill author. By Laura Eastes

In a state known for strict laws for drunk driving, a gap existed allowing some drivers to steer clear from records of convictions.

In the case where a driving under the influence (DUI) complaint was filed in a nonrecord municipal court, a municipal judge heard the arrest as a first offense, regardless of whether the driver had been arrested or convicted of previous impaired driving charges. Often, a driver walked away from municipal court agreeing to pay a fine, but without any alcohol-abuse assessment or alcohol conviction on their record.

“Courts not of record is what the name applies,” said Toby Taylor, who serves as chair of the Governor’s Impaired Driving Prevention Advisory Council.

In 2013, Gov. Mary Fallin issued an executive order that effectively created the council assigned with reviewing and evaluating the state’s impaired driving system.

“There is no record of conviction,” Taylor said.

In Oklahoma, there are two types of courts: nonrecord municipal courts and municipal courts of record. Both typically deal with traffic offenses and criminal misdemeanors. More serious crimes are handled at the county level in district courts.

Nonrecord municipal courts operate independently from courts of record. For years, those tasked with studying Oklahoma’s impaired driving laws saw this as a legal loophole preventing repeat offenders from facing greater punishment for each consecutive conviction in district court.

“Somebody could get arrested in an area 8

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and be adjudicated in a municipal court not of record,” said Taylor, who also serves as the director of the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, a division of the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS).

“They could be arrested in the municipality next door two weeks later. It wouldn’t be filed as a second offense because there is no record of the first,” Taylor said.

Those days are over.

A new Oklahoma law now mandates all DUI cases be tried in courts of record, eliminating the chance for a driver to accumulate multiple DUI convictions in one or more nonrecord courts without being charged with a second offense in a court of record.

“This is a seismic change,” Taylor said.

“You could be found guilty in a court of nonrecord and there was no way for anyone to find out. … That’s not the case anymore.

There is accountability.”

meaning state prosecutors had no knowledge of recidivism.

“Municipalities would take these cases, basically taking money in fines and fees, and sweep everything else under the rug.

Out the door they go,” Sanders said. “I believed there had to be a better way.”

Last session, Sanders coauthored the Impaired Driving Elimination Act, House Bill 3146, with Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, which passed in a bipartisan effort to improve prosecution of repeat DUI offenders. Beginning Nov. 1, DUI cases were moved from nonrecord municipal courts to district courts.

In Oklahoma County, 12 municipal courts operate in cities like Bethany, Choctaw, Del City, Edmond, Harrah, Midwest City, Nichols Hills, Nicoma Park, Mustang, Oklahoma City, The Village and Warr Acres. Under the law, municipalities with populations of 60,000 or more can create a court of record. Only Edmond fits the requirement, but a city spokesperson said at this point, there are no plans to pursue creating one.

The act’s second component establishes a statewide database tracking all impaired driving arrests. The state’s public safety agency is tasked with creating the database, which calls on all law enforcement officers, from state troopers to municipal police officers, to complete impaired driver arrest reports that will be entered into the database.

It is expected to go live around the first of the year, Taylor said. The report is similar to the statewide traffic collision report, which is completed upon auto crash investigations.

“The purpose of the database is to capture arrests,” Taylor said. “There are times when a person is arrested for an impaired driving offense. At the end of the day, the case is reduced to reckless driving. …

What law enforcement wants to know is how many times you’ve been arrested for impaired driving.”

An attorney’s take

John Hunsucker, one of the state’s most well-known DUI defense attorneys, argued the law goes after the wrong problem.

Those arrested for drunken driving face

New law

In 2015, Nellie Sanders’ car was struck from behind by a car traveling at an estimated 40 mph. The driver had previously been arrested for DUI several times in several counties. When Kingfisher Republican Rep. Mike Sanders, Nellie’s husband, realized this, he began researching the criminal justice system regarding the state’s impaired driving laws.

Sanders learned that only two (Oklahoma City and Tulsa) of the state’s 354 municipal courts operated as courts of record.

Municipal courts weren’t sharing information for any complaints, including DUIs,

Rep. Mike Sanders authored the Impaired Driving Elimination Act, House Bill 3146, which passed in a bipartisan effort to improve prosecution of repeat DUI offenders. | Photo State of Oklahoma / provided

prosecution in the courts and administrative sanctions though the Department of Public Safety (DPS), which handles driver licensing. Operating separately, a driver’s first interaction with administrative sanctions comes when they are arrested. Law enforcement confiscates a drivers license and replaces it with an affidavit serving as temporary license.

As a driver’s criminal case is processed through the courts, a driver can request a revocation hearing from DPS. In recent years, drivers have waited months for the phone hearings — in some cases, more than a year, Hunsucker said.

Without speedy administrative hearings, a driver could be given the chance to reoffend.

“The problem is that it takes 12 to 14 months for the Department of Public Safety to give a hearing,” Hunsucker said. “This person could have had one DUI, and months later, they might still have their license. That’s because DPS might not have given them a hearing.”

Hunsucker said the database doesn’t appear to be necessary. He said the department’s master driving index tracks confiscated licenses, which are connected to drunken driving arrests.

Crackdown

The legislation fits recent efforts by Oklahoma lawmakers to crack down on drunken driving. In 2010, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report ranked Oklahoma No. 46 nationally for its high rate of impaired driving deaths and No. 51 for its lack of effort to improve impaired driving death rates over the previous decade.

Since that ranking was released, lawmakers passed two bills in hopes to strengthen drunk-driving laws. Six years ago, Gov. Brad Henry signed into law the Aaron Gillming Act, which required drug and alcohol evaluation and an assessment program prior to sentencing. A treatment program became a sentencing option. A year later, in 2011, the Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act mandated interlocking ignition devices on all vehicles owned and operated by DUI offenders — including firsttime offenders with a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher.

The state reports alcohol was a factor in 3,502 vehicle crashes in 2015. Since 2008, the number of drivers and passengers injured or killed in alcohol-related crashes has decreased from 2,652 to 1,615.

Past rankings and the gap in the dual legal system were a black eye on the state, Sanders said.

“It’s sad that it had to take a lawmaker’s wife getting hit for this to pass,” Sanders said.

In the final week of November, Sanders received an email from a district attorney who reported three cases sent from nonrecord municipal courts to the county.

Those repeat offenders now face felony DUI charges.

“People are dying,” Sanders said.

“People are being seriously injured. Lives are being ruined, and this was a problem we could fix.”

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letters

NEWS Speak up

Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com.

Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.

Mr. Meyers, your article is excellent and I am grateful for your words, but I so wish you and other evangelicals had spoken truth with force and fury about this sorry man long before the election. ... I fear for our nation and world the outcomes to be lived by my children and grandchildren.

Sherri A. Lewis Northfield, Illinois

Unmasking intolerance

Note from the editor

Our Nov. 16 commentary by Rev. Robin Meyers, “What have we done?” drew reader responses from around the globe.

Here’s a roundup of some of them:

Seek truth

As much as I liked the article, I do beg to differ with the statement that Mr. Trump has broken all 10 Commandments.

He has broken quite a few, more than is tenable for a president, but he has never killed anyone e.g. as far as I know (character assassinations aside). Just saying. We need to stay on the side of truth.

Evelyn Riera Offenbach, Germany

‘Spark of sanity’

I so appreciate Dr. Robin Meyers’ article.

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As a former Oklahoman, I’m so happy there’s still a spark of sanity there.

Joyce Wycoff Grass Valley, California

all the reasons you mentioned in the article.

It is nuts.

Bonnie Rubinow Chicago

It’s still your fault

Ministry authority

Well then, why did evangelical voters elect him? We on the left watched the evangelicals throw your support behind a hate merchant like Donald Trump. How on God’s climatechanging Earth is that even logical? Why should people respect evangelicals? You don’t have the courage of your convictions, or maybe you do not even understand your own religion, with a choice like Trump, for

I thank Rev. Meyers for exploring the question of how professed Christians could have done this. Many of us ask the same question but cannot put the authority of the ministry behind it. And thank you for publishing it.

May you, your staff and your facilities stay safe in these disturbing times.

Priscilla Drucker Amherst, Massachusetts

I read Robin Meyers’ Oklahoma Gazette commentary, and I wanted to thank you. I think this election has uncovered an ugly intolerance that has been swept under the rug for far too long in this country. Donald Trump, with his hate speech, rhetoric and lack of ethics, has unleashed the ugliness and given it a voice.

However, it has opened my eyes to communities around the country that I didn’t know enough about. I believe that if we all speak out and stand up for each other, regardless of our religions, skin color and gender, we will come out stronger than we were before this country.

We are certainly going to be put to the test, and it is my hope that we all will come together in a way we never have had to.

Nancy Magarill New York City

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10205 N. Pennsylvania Avenue | Oklahoma City, OK 73120 (405) 235-1560 or 1-800- 237-1277

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Give at www.kgou.org David Hamilton KGOU Listener & Donor

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chicken

friedNEWS Oklahoma has givers!

Lock her up?

Remember the politician who used her personal email to conduct jobrelated business and was hacked by the Russians, unleashing a huge, years-long scandal?

We at Chicken-Fried News remember. We also remember the “Lock her up! Lock her up!” chants echoed through this year’s turbulent election cycle.

We bet Gov. Mary Fallin remembers, too.

We wonder what she thinks about last week’s report by Tulsa-based investigative news website The Frontier that shows Fallin and 17 of her current and former employees had their email addresses and passwords stolen by Russian hackers. Guess what else was stolen. Go on; guess.

State-related emails sent via Fallin’s personal email address, a fact acknowledged by the Oklahoma governor’s general counsel in a statement released in response to The Frontier’s discovery.

“According to the attorney general, use of a personal device to conduct state business is not contrary to law and is not prohibited,” the statement by general counsel Jennifer Chance said. “Per policy, the governor’s response, regardless of which email account she uses, is captured and stored on the state email server and is available in response to an open records request.”

Business, social and filesharing accounts of some of Fallin’s top advisors also were compromised in the hacks, according to The Frontier.

Much of the data was posted to and can be found on publicly available websites, the news organization reported.

Oklahoma is earning high marks for its generosity. We at Chicken-Fried News know what you’re probably thinking: How? What are you talking about?

It can’t be in teacher pay.

Doesn’t Oklahoma rank as one of the lowest among states in mental health funding?

Aren’t some of our cities ranked as the most dangerous in the United States?

All true. But we are givers!

That’s right; the Sooner State ranks No. 5 nationally for its high rate of philanthropy, which includes metrics like “percentage of income donated,” “volunteer rate” and “percentage of sheltered homeless,” according to WalletHub personal finance website.

Nationally, the state ranks No. 6 for its high rate of volunteering and public service. It earned the No. 22 slot for its charitable giving, according to WalletHub. Sounds like Oklahomans deserve a pat on the back.

Let’s forget our state spending and higher rates of criminal activity for a moment and dwell on this good news: Our state is also filled with kind and loving people.

connect to

Dog dodge

In this time rife with catfishing and email scams from people offering easy fortunes in exchange of bank account information, one would think people might be a little more leery of online businesses. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.

One new scam involves puppies and is apparently connected to Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City police recently told KFOR.com the department has received calls about the con from nearly a dozen other departments across the U.S. Animal lovers like Alabama resident Gregg Armstrong hoped to purchase dogs online from duncanpaws.com. Instead, he just got scammed. Armstrong told KFOR. com he wired the breeder $500 for Labrador and golden retrievers that would be shipped to him.

Instead of two happy, tail-wagging pups, Armstrong said he received an email telling him, “We have the puppies in our possession, but the sender seems to have vanished leaving us incapacitated to proceed.”

So Armstrong was out 500 bones and the happiness puppies bring, but that wasn’t the end of the interaction. The shipping company that claimed the breeder disappeared then asked for $1,046 and said 95

Friendship at Central

U N I V E R S I T Y TM

TM

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(405) 974-2000

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O F

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percent of it would be returned to Armstrong.

“It was very obvious that it was become a scam at that point. So, I wouldn’t send them any more money and never heard from anybody,” Armstrong told KFOR.com.

Ok la homa Cit y Police Department posted sur veilla nce photos of a suspect on its Facebook page that were taken while a man picked up some of the wired cash at the WalMart Neighborhood Market at SW 44th Street and Western Avenue. Police said the suspect drove away in a silver Dodge Caliber.

Some things just shouldn’t be purchased online.

“We always recommend don’t buy off the internet,” Susana Della Maddelena, Central Oklahoma Humane Society president, told News9.com. “One reason is that it is a very good front for puppy millers which are high volume low quality breeders. … The second reason is there’s a lot of fraud. And so you can send money hoping to get a pet and not get one.”

Trucking great

Oklahoma is a great place to live if you’re a trucker.

After making some pretty unflattering lists this year — including the No. 3 spot on CNBC’s list of Worst States to Live in 2016 — the Sooner State scored high on Zippia.com’s roundup of the nation’s best places for truck drivers.

Oklahoma came in at No. 7, thanks to an abundance of trucking jobs (24,480) and average annual salary ($42,150) measured against the cost of living and a 1.26 location quotient, which measures how common a job is in the state.

Being tops in trucking shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as shown by anecdotal evidence provided in C.W. McCall and Chip Davis’ classic song “Convoy.”

“By the time we got into Tulsa town, we had 85 trucks in all. But they’s a roadblock up on the cloverleaf and them bears was wall-to-wall.”

A mention in McCall’s well-known 1975 hit is nice, but it does run up against a SmartAsset.com list released earlier this year. That ranking put Oklahoma No. 3 in the Top 10 States With the Worst Drivers due to our high rate of uninsured drivers and 7.74 DUIs per 1,000 drivers. So, it might not be the safest state through which to haul hogs, but you’ll earn a pretty good living doing it.

Recent rumblings

Something has shaken up Oklahoma oil magnate Harold Hamm’s stance on earthquake regulations.

Hamm, owner of Continental Resources and a rumored finalist for the job of president-elect Donald Trump’s United States Secretary of Energy, has previously been a staunch opponent to scientists who dared to connect the state’s recent earthquake outbreak to oil and gas drilling and related wastewater injection wells.

According to The Wichita Eagle, however, Hamm has altered his position.

Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) director Jeremy Boak said during a recent University of Oklahoma presentation that Hamm now supports efforts to regulate the industry as a means of halting the quakes.

In public record emails obtained by Bloomberg in 2015, Hamm had once suggested firing select OGS staff members who linked injection wells to increased seismic activity.

It is not clear if Hamm’s reported change of heart can be credited to anything like a sudden epiphany or whether it’s possibly political posturing to improve his chance of being chosen to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.

Either way, the Lexington native still

appears to be largely against what he views as unnecessary industry regulations imposed by the Obama administration. It’s a view Trump has echoed throughout his campaign.

If Hamm does land the position, some speculate he might find himself frustrated by an inability to effect meaningful regulation changes. Former President Bill Clinton’s energy secretary Bill Richardson told E&E Publishing that the Department of Energy does not implement or change such regulations.

“He may be extremely frustrated with his inability to unleash fossil energy,” Richardson said.

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EAT & DRINK

Meet the brewer After five friends brewed more beer than they could drink, they decided to create Vanessa House Beer Co. By Greg Elwell

Editor’s note: As part of our continuing coverage of Oklahoma craft beer, Oklahoma Gazette presents “Meet the brewer,” a monthly feature profiling beermakers.

Opinions vary regarding the condition of the Vanessa Drive home in Norman where the group behind Vanessa House Beer Co. met its most recent member.

“It was gross,” Nick White said. “It was a fun house, but it was gross.”

Originally from Texas, White met McCloud natives Justin Wright, Andrew Carrales and brothers Zac and Evan Smith at the University of Oklahoma.

“It was spotless!” Wright argued playfully. “It was that house you want to run away to when you were a kid. It was just a big clubhouse.”

The group imbibed plenty of beer there, but it wouldn’t inspire the company’s name until years later.

White, Carrales, Wright and Evan Smith sat waiting for Zac Smith to return with the latest batch of beer. It’s a sevenhour journey to O’Fallon Brewery in Maryland Heights, Missouri, where Vanessa House’s 401 K Cream Ale is brewed, kegged and bottled.

“This is kind of how we came up with the name — drinking beer, reminiscing,”

Carrales said. After college, the quintet stuck together.

“Zac would have us over to cook out or drink beer,” White said. “Then, one day, it was, ‘Let’s start brewing beer.’”

The crew began home-brewing in 2011 with varying degrees of success.

“We never took the approach of brewing a simple pale ale,” Evan Smith said.

Early attempts — and failures — included adding Lucky Charms to the wort, trying to make a spicy Doritos-flavored beer and creating a lemon-lime beer they all agreed was the worst. Even so, beermaking soon became their main focus, and they created something almost every weekend.

“We would spend all the money and brew all the beer,” Carrales said. “We ended up brewing more beer than we could drink.”

When they decided to bottle it for later, they discovered it was the least-enjoyable part of the process.

“Bottling sucks,” White said. “It was an all-fucking-day event. It was cold as shit.

None of us wanted to put our hands in the bucket to get the bottles out, so we’d take turns.”

But tasty beer was a salve for their wounds, because 150 bottles later, they had plenty to drink while talking about college.

Business school

It’s almost jarring how quickly the group shifts from making fun of each other to talking about running a beer company.

Carrales, who handles Vanessa House sales and marketing, said they want to brew the beer in Oklahoma once they’re better established.

“There’s a substantial cost if you go outside of friends and family for funding,” he said. “We don’t have enough friends and family.”

White added, “We haven’t ruled out stripping.”

Instead, they went to O’Fallon for contract brewing, using the larger brewery’s equipment and staff to make the beer using Vanessa House’s recipe.

“It’s super expensive to have a brewery, especially if you own all the equipment,” Carrales said. “The good news is direct sales drastically lowers the amount we have to invest in the new place. Under the old laws, it used to be $1 million minimum to brew and package your own product.”

The minimum order for contract brewing at O’Fallon is 50 barrels, which Vanessa House split into 320 cases and 96 quarter kegs.

“That was very ambitious, to say the least. Most people didn’t think we could do it, so we got out there and sold it like a son of a bitch,” Carrales said. “As of last week, I think one wholesaler had some kegs left.”

New brew

Evan is the group’s brewmaster, though everyone helps create and test beers.

Recipe creation still happens in Zac’s garage, which is how Vanessa House’s next beer was named.

from left Vanessa House Beer Co. owners Andrew Carrales, Nick White, Justin Wright and Evan Smith wait for CEO Zac Smith to return with a batch of 401 K Cream Ale. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

The Fifth Keg Imperial Malt Brown is one of Evan’s first recipes that they all loved. During brewing, they created five kegs but lost one of them.

“It smelled so good,” White said. “We think Zac was drunk and cleaning out the brewhouse and maybe poured out five gallons of beer.”

It’s a different style than 401 K Cream Ale, which is designed to be a flavorful, but very drinkable beer. The Fifth Keg appeals more to “beer nerds,” Carrales said. The brown includes lactose and candy sugar with a complex sweetness and about 8 percent alcohol by volume.

“It has a lot more going on flavorwise,” Evan Smith said.

The Fifth Keg is scheduled for a February release. Meanwhile, 401 K Cream Ale has been a hit and sold out its initial 50-barrel run so quickly that Wright was yelled at by the liquor store owner near his home for not bringing more beer for her shelves.

It’s another story for the quintet’s endless anecdotes, like the time Wright and Evan nearly set the garage on fire when they first used their large brewing kettles.

“It engulfed the kettle and almost the ceiling,” Wright said. “I remember the smell of shame and burnt hair.”

Like the company itself, the mishaps and triumphs of Vanessa House’s owners just inspire them to create another batch of beer.

Visit vanessahousebeerco.com.

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Flavor season

Fight winter weight gain by incorporating fresh spices in your recipes. By Greg Elwell

Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas can become a terrifying trifecta of calorieheavy holidays. Add in weather that’s inhospitable for exercise to create a recipe for packing on pounds.

The answer to eating less also might make your food taste better, said Native Roots Market “spice cowboy” Doug Rader.

“Fast food is designed to make you want to keep eating; bland food does the same thing,” he said. “You keep eating, trying to get enough flavor to satisfy your craving.”

Rader spends his days grinding fresh batches of oregano, rosemary and exotic peppers and mixing them into proprietary blends for customers at Native Roots, 131 NE Second St. Adding spice to home-cooked food intensifies the flavors so we need to eat less to be sated, Rader said.

But before reaching for the spice cabinet, there’s something you should know: Rader said the majority of spices in people’s kitchens are old.

“People are cooking with spices that have been in there for more than two years,” Rader said. “And they weren’t great quality to start with.”

Like any other food in refrigerators and pantries, he said, spices also have expiration dates. Spices lose potency over time. If the point of using spices is to give food more flavor, using old spices is a futile endeavor.

“People save up for really great ingredients, like a prime T-bone steak. Then they use a McCormick grill rub on it,” he 16

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said. “The flavor’s not going to be there.”

Prepackaged spices are usually lowerquality products to begin with, Rader said, and there’s no way to tell how long they sat in a warehouse or on a supermarket shelf.

Fresh matters

Savory Spice Shop co-owner Able Blakely said there’s no regulation on how long spices can sit unused afterthey areground, which is when they start losing potency.

“A spice has a window of nine months to a year before it loses its flavor,” he said.

That’s why he brings in whole spices and grinds them fresh in-store, 4400 N. Western Ave. It also gives him the flexibility to make spice blends without ingredients customers try to avoid.

“We do blends without salt or sugar in them that cater to what you’re trying to stay away from,” Blakely said.

Fresh spices are just as important in restaurants, said The Mantel Wine Bar & Bistro executive chef Garrett Myers, who finds his spices at Native Roots Market. “[The Mantel] is a scratch

kitchen, so having fresh spices versus regular store-bought dry herbs makes a huge difference,” he said.

Rather than adding spices as a garnish at the end of cooking, Myers adds them in early to make sure the flavors permeate the dish.

“We do a lot of rubs for our meats, and we infuse spices into compound butters.

I use a lot of specialty spices in brines for chicken and pork dishes,” he said.

(See the restaurant’s chicken brine recipe below.)

Using whole spices ensures better quality and convenience, Myers said.

“Getting whole spices lets us toast them on our own and either use them whole or get the right grind,” he said.

Expert advice

For the best results, Rader said people should spend time learning more about different spices.

“If a recipe calls for oregano, does it mean Mediterranean or Mexican Chicken two ways at The Mantel Wine Bar & Bistro incorporates fresh spices in its brine recipe, which seasons the chicken before cooking. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Once you get used to a certain standard of flavor, you’ll never go back.

Come join us this Christmas season!

Doug Rader

Sunday, december 11th

oregano?” he said. “They have the same name, but they’re not even in the same family. Mexican oregano is closer to lemon verbena.”

Details like those make big differences in recipes, but he said they aren’t always obvious to consumers. Asking an expert like Rader or Blakely helps customers find the right products for what they’re making.

Cost might seem like a factor, but buying spices in smaller quantities can be cheaper and more satisfying, Rader said.

“Get just enough for a few recipes and you’ll really appreciate those spices,” he said. “Once you get used to a certain standard of flavor, you’ll never go back.”

Visit nativerootsmarket.com and savoryspiceshop.com.

8:30am and 10:45am Choir Cantata “Jesus! The Advent of the Messiah” 9:30am Sunday School for all ages

Sunday, december 18th Joseph: A Call To Protect 8:30am and 10:45am Worship 9:30am Sunday School for all ages

new covenant chriStian church

(diScipleS of chriSt) 12000 N. Rockwell Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73162 (405) 722-7445 NCCCOKC.ORG

The Mantel Wine Bar & Bistro chicken brine serves 4-5 1 gallon hot water 1/2 cup sugar 3/4 cup salt 1 bunch fresh parsley 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 2 sprigs fresh thyme 4 lemons sliced and juiced 2 bay leaves 2 tablespoons coriander 1/4 cup juniper berries 2 whole star anise 1 whole chicken Add the spices to one gallon of hot water. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved and let the brine cool. Add the chicken to the brine and refrigerate for two

Join us this holiday season!

to six days. Remove the chicken from the brine and dispose of the liquid and spices. Remove any spices still sticking to the bird and pat dry. The seasoned chicken is great roasted or fried.

Sunday, December 18th

54th Annual Presentation of a Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols 9:15 AM and 11 AM

Saturday, December 24th Christmas Eve Service 4:30 PM Children’s Pageant Family Eucharist 10:30 PM Choral Prelude 11 PM Midnight Mass

Sunday, December 25th Christmas Day Service 10 AM Holy Communion

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review

EAT & DRINK

Vibrant palate

Located inside Oklahoma City Museum of Art, elegant Museum Cafe serves artfully prepared dishes. By Greg Elwell

larger dinner serving is $28) had an incredibly rich and flavorful mix of cheeses, pesto and seafood. Gorgonzola and 415 Couch Drive okcmoa.com/cafe | 405-235-6262 Parmesan are sturdy cheeses, and pesto, with its bright herbal What works: Lobster bisque and smoked notes and oily texture, can salmon are tasty masterpieces. sustain a dish on its own. They What needs work: Pesto and Gorgonzola are a powerful combination for are good but overpowering in seafood lovers of big flavors. It might macaroni and cheese. not be that great for seafood lovers, though, as the sauce can Tip: Use the east entrance to quickly find the host stand. overpower the perfectly cooked shrimp, lump crab meat and langostino.

The word “cafe” is important when disA Cuban sandwich ($13) might seem out cussing a visit to Oklahoma City Museum of place on an elegant menu like the Museum of Art. Cafe’s, but it’s like my mom told me during my awkward phase (age 11-present), “True “Let’s eat at the museum” could give beauty is on the inside.” Take one bite and one the impression that you’re planning its beauty becomes apparent. to dine on a painting by Fauvism co-founder André Derain before a light dessert of This meaty, lunch-only sandwich Dale Chihuly glass. Museum security stacks thick slices of roasted pork with guards made it clear that eating the art is ham, salami, caramelized onions and strictly forbidden.

Swiss cheese between hoagie buns.

But add just one word — “Let’s eat at the Cuban sandwiches are traditionally Museum Cafe” — and all is right with the served pressed, which minimizes the world. That’s because the cafe, 415 Couch height and intensifies the flavors. Museum Drive, deals almost exclusively in edible art.

Cafe’s version is less compact. The roasted The smoked salmon appetizer ($15) pork is a standout with its fatty, savory features three thick slices of hot-smoked taste that’s further enhanced with the salmon that are evenly placed across a spice of the mustard and salami. white, oblong plate with piles of pickled The restaurant does press its panini, caper berries and finely diced red onion for those seeking out a lower-profile sandplaced on either side for balance. Between wich. Lump crab avocado panini ($14) is the slices are squares of cream cheese naan filled with a lump crab and corn salad, topped with dollops of dill pesto. chipotle Gouda and avocado mayonnaise.

This is a better showcase for crab’s subtle It looks gorgeous. It tastes even better. flavor than the macaroni and cheese.

The house-cured salmon is solid and Vegetarians are not the only ones orflaky, unlike the cold-smoked version, dering the grilled asparagus panini ($9). which has a texture more like raw salmon.

On the side is a bowl of toast points, which The tender asparagus snaps off with most make perfect tiny canvasses for your inner bites, though diners might unintentionartist to create an ideal combination. A ally pull out a spear or two. Melted Brie little cream cheese, a sprinkle of onion and toasted almonds also hide between and a chunk of smoky salmon or a bit of the slices of grilled sourdough bread and provide bursts of sweet, creamy flavor. pesto, a smashed caper berry and salmon; test them all and make a masterpiece.

Ravioli is available in lunch-sized ($13) There’s a little less artistic liberty in the and dinner-sized ($23) portions, and lobster bisque ($6 a cup, $9 a bowl), but it’s either one is a joy to devour. The ravioli is no less stunning. The ample serving of filled with fresh ricotta cheese and creamy, peach-colored bisque whets one’s covered with a cream and Parmesan sauce, appetite for the meal to come. A disc of puff so there’s a lot of richness in each bite. To pastry topped with sour cream and caviar balance, the pasta is surrounded by bites floats in the center of the dish. of roasted butternut squash, grape tomaLobster is mild and sweet. The cream toes and Swiss chard. Add a little pepper in the bisque brings it to the fore, and the to give the dish a bit of crunch and heat. sour cream provides a tart counterbalMuseum Cafe is an elegant spot for any ance. Swirl it in slowly, so each bite is like meal, but I especially love it for lunches.

The menu prices are a bit lower, and the an abstract painting with salty pops of dining quality and food presentation are caviar and sour cream hitting the taste buds in random bites. always impeccable. Giant picture windows The subtle bisque is Johannes Vermeer, fill the restaurant with natural light and give each visit a relaxed feeling that lasts and the bold seafood macaroni and cheese through the day. is Andy Warhol. The $15 lunch portion (a

Museum Cafe

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Smoked salmon with caper berries, cream cheese, dill pesto and red onion | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Cuban sandwich with house salad | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Lobster bisque | Photo Garett Fisbeck

b r i e f s By Greg Elwell

RUSTIC ITALIAN FOOD AND ITALIAN WINE

Open Monday Dec. 12 & 19 | 5-9 Tues-Thurs 5PM-10PM | Fri & Sat 5PM-11PM Sun 5PM-9PM Yuzo Sushi Tapas opened Friday in Automobile Alley. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

•New Yuzo

There’s no such thing as being too popular, but it can cause some headaches, said Whiskey Cake general manager Spencer Henrion.

“During the holiday season, if we do a special dinner for one night, we usually book it in a 24-hour period,” he said. “Not that many people get to come.”

This year, the restaurant remedies that with two nights of Copper & Kings pairing dinners 7-10 p.m. Tuesday and Dec. 14 at Whiskey Cake, 1845 Northwest Expressway.

Each $65 dinner includes a five-course meal paired with drinks made with Kentucky-based Copper & Kings American Brandy Company varieties and recipes to make them at home. Courses include crispy oysters with Texas shrimp bisque and herbroasted venison loin.

Henrion said the bar and kitchen staff has been perfecting menu ideas since the restaurant’s brandy dinner in 2015.

Call 405-582-2253 or visit facebook. com/whiskeycakeokc.

Baking bounty

Those looking to create some holiday memories that also make happy bellies can find expert instruction on seasonal baking at Edible Adventures: Holiday Desserts at Platt College locations in Oklahoma City, Moore and Tulsa.

The $75 classes run 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Saturday at the schools, 2727 W. Memorial Road, 201 N. Eastern Ave. in Moore and

1 block from Civic Center & OKC Museum of Art

Gift Cards Available

Yuzo Sushi Tapas, 808 N. Broadway Ave., opened Friday.

Yuzo is the result of a partnership between chefs Yuzo Toyama and Tommy Le, who were part of Texas-based Piranha Killer Sushi restaurants. Toyama was the company’s corporate chef.

The eatery blends traditional Japanese sushi with Latin fusion and even some Cajun flavors, Toyama said.

“We think it will be a very social atmosphere,” he said. “Dishes are designed to share with everybody.”

Toyama said Oklahoma City is still underserved in sushi options and he thinks the new concept can introduce more people to raw sushi and ceviche-style dishes.

“Our ceviches won’t be so marinated,” he said. “It’s more like a squeeze of fresh lime juice at the end.”

As the menu expands, he hopes diners will keep coming back to try new dishes.

“The customer will never be bored,” he said. “There’s always something coming in.”

Yuzo Sushi Tapas is open 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. weekdays and 5-11 p.m. weekends. Visit yuzosushitapas.com.

Twice as nice

Now taking reservations on Open Table

3801 S. Sheridan Road in Tulsa.

Edible Adventures coordinator Cindi Caldwell said the classes are hands-on and informative because the college’s culinary instructors lead them.

“I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t have a good time. We have a lot of people who come back,” she said. “We do ask that everyone wear non-slip shoes since they’ll be working in a commercial kitchen.”

Students will learn to make truffles, yule logs and more, Caldwell said.

Call 405-749-2433 for metro-area classes or 918-895-9407 for the Tulsa class or visit plattcolleges.edu/events to see upcoming Edible Adventures classes.

Holiday drive

Whole Foods Market Oklahoma City hosts its sixth annual food drive for Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO) through Dec. 14.

Shoppers at the store, 6001 N. Western Ave., can buy nonperishable items to donate or add a financial contribution to their total when checking out.

Whole Foods provides the ingredients for RFBO’s Food For All food truck, which gives all proceeds to the food bank. Last year, RFBO distributed 52 million pounds of food to people in central and western Oklahoma.

Every dollar raised for the nonprofit through Jan. 15 is doubled by a matching challenge up to $600,000 from APMEX. com, Cresap Family Foundation and Chesapeake Energy Corporation.

Visit regionalfoodbank.org.

305 N. Walker

patroNookc.com

405.702.7660

HOLIDAY CATERING & CARRYOUT DON’T BREAK OUT THE CHINA, CARRY OUT SOME AMERICA.

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eat & DRINK

Seriously silly

Very few people laugh when they’re hungry. Laughing a lot leads to hunger eventually, but then your abs hurt from all that giggling. Here are a few restaurants that earn chuckles when you order and make you smile after every bite.

By Greg Elwell Photos Garett Fisbeck and Gazette file

Big Truck Tacos

Empire Slice House

Guernsey Park

The quick wits at Big Truck Tacos have always had a way with words when it comes to the menu. A Flaming Lips taco is made with beef tongue. Every day, the 5th Amendment is stuffed with secret ingredients and you have to eat one to find out what’s in there. Perhaps no item more smile-inducing than Dirty Bowl, a heap of refried beans, queso, tortilla chip pieces, beef picadillo, fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. Order one and it’ll quickly become an empty bowl.

It’s entertainment overload at Empire Slice House as you try to decide on which slice to order as you’re also watching TV, checking out the neighborhood pizza joint’s clientele and examining the pop culture collages that cover the walls. The menu hits you with deliciously clever specialty pizzas such as Uncle Buck and Notorious P.I.G. If it’s game night, your best choice is a slice of Brussell Westbrook topped with bacon, fennel, onions and Brussels sprouts.

Whoopee ti yi yo! Get along to Guernsey Park for a steak that still has some fight in it. After chicken lollipops and black garlic salad appetizers, diners should order the Korean Cowboy rib-eye topped with housemade ssamjang butter. The steak might arrive at your table still sizzling, but the heat is in the ssamjang, a sweet and spicy Korean dipping sauce mixed with creamy butter.

530 NW 23rd St. bigtrucktacos.com | 405-525-8226

1734 NW 16th St. empireslicehouse.com | 405-557-1760

2418 N. Guernsey Ave. guernseypark.com | 405-605-5272

check out our chef special roasted duck curry!

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ginthaifusion.com 20

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The Sandwich Club

The Mule

Gigglez Bar & Grill

Patty Wagon

Fore! I mean four! That’s how many Spaulding! sandwiches the Caddyshack character it was named for would probably order. It doesn’t include a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a hot dog and a milkshake, but The Sandwich Club’s delicious creation is stacked with sliced turkey, Gouda cheese, creamy avocado and French dressing. It even comes with a bag of chips. You better get there before closing time at 4 p.m. or you’ll get nothing and like it!

A sandwich filled with roasted chicken, Gruyere and Brie cheeses, pear, pesto and a balsamic vinegar reduction definitely earns its Fancy Pants name. The Mule’s hot melts menu is replete with funny monikers for outstanding sandwiches like the Macaroni Pony and the accurate, if a bit crass, Big Ass Grilled Cheese. Fancy Pants is one you must try on. The creaminess of Brie balances out the intense flavors of basil and vinegar to make a supremely satisfying sammie.

It’s easy to see the combination bar, restaurant and comedy club doesn’t take itself too seriously with menu options like Hey Mocharena chocolate flourless cake and All Mine, Nachos covered with queso and a balsamic caramel. But the food, unlike the comedy club’s entertainment, is no laughing matter. Pay close attention to the daily special, especially Thursday’s Vietnamese beef noodle soup phở, which sells out quickly.

A plain Patty Wagon burger is tasty, but when those griddle geniuses mix up ingredients, the results are mouth-wateringly delicious. Order a Beanie Burger and see for yourself. The all-beef patty is stacked between a buttery toasted bun filled with corn chips, melted cheese, chili, sliced jalapeños and a thick layer of bean dip for a spicy sandwich that sticks to the ribs (and the roof of your mouth).

3703 N. Western Ave. thesandwichclubokc.com 405-525-0799

1630 N. Blackwelder Ave. themuleokc.com | 405-601-1400

1016 N. Walker Ave. gigglezokc.com | 405-602-2074

3600 N. May Ave. facebook.com/pattywagonokc 405-917-1711

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SHOP

Shop happy

r e ta i l

KC’s #1 Explore O age Shop Vint

essories Clothing • Accct ables lle Co s Curiou e! or &M

This might finally be the year to revise the old adage, “It’s better to give than to receive.” Giving is nice, but it’s way better to give something truly awesome. Before getting all psyched up to run the gauntlet of sometimes impersonal megastores, check out these local shops that help make finding one-of-a-kind gifts for family and friends a joy.

By Greg Elwell | Photos Garett Fisbeck

in the Plaza 1759 NW 16th • Oklahoma City • 405-528-4585 Open Tues-Sat 12-7 • Like us on Facebook

designs that inspire merry christmas from all of us to all of you!

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30% oFF aLL neW FUrnitUre 10% oFF aLL consignment designsthatinspire.com

• Shop Good

3 NW Ninth St. shopgoodokc.com | 405-702-0517 “Give the gift that keeps on giving” kind of sounds like you’re passing around a fruitcake that nobody wants to eat. Instead, give a gift people want to keep from Shop Good, where a portion of every sale gets donated to worthy causes in Oklahoma and around the world. Buy a shirt from the store’s small-batch printing press, shop for Smell Good Daily scents and other unique grooming supplies and invest in a new pair of fashionable Warby Parker specs, all from the comfort of Ninth Street.

Cork & Bottle

• Learning Tree

7646 N. Western Ave. learningtreeokc.com | 405-848-1415 For more than 30 years, Oklahoma City parents have trusted Learning Tree for toys, books and games that entertain and enrich children’s lives. The shop has grown to include toys from 450 manufacturers that help kids hit developmental milestones. If you’re looking for a kid-friendly gift but you’re not sure what’s appropriate, Learning Tree sells products divided by age group, and its staff of knowledgeable experts will help find the perfect gift for any young genius.

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16502 N. Western Ave. facebook.com/corkandbottle 405-341-9463 Unless you are Robert Parker, buying a bottle of wine can be a real guessing game.

Take the worry out of wine shopping with a visit to Cork & Bottle, where the motto is, “We try the bad stuff so you don’t have to.” It’s a little shop, but the staff has crammed it full of expansive selections of wine, craft beer and liquors.

Anyone looking for something special needs only ask — Cork & Bottle is great at searching out hard-to-find products.

RINK Gallery

3200 N. Rockwell Ave., Bethany rinkgallery.com | 405-787-7465 Finding a great gift can be inexpensive and fun when shoppers go on a Rink Gallery treasure hunt. The venue is filled with antiques, collectibles and vintage furniture finds that you just won’t find at other stores.

Whether looking for something specific or just browsing away an afternoon, there’s always something new to discover at Rink.

And if keeping kids (and husbands) engaged while looking at dressers sounds impossible, there are plenty of used toys and oddities to peruse, as well.

Follow Us on

tTwitter

to see what we are tweeting

about!

@okgazette

Oklahoma Gazette

• OK Humane Adoption Center

7500 N. Western Ave. okhumane.org | 405-286-1229 The best gift to give this holiday might be a new home. Central Oklahoma Humane Society Adoption Center has young and old animals that would love the gift of family for Christmas. Pet ownership is a big commitment, so people who want to snuggle kittens and play tug of war with puppies but can’t adopt one can instead volunteer at the center to walk dogs, feed animals, clean kennels, provide administrative help and discover the satisfaction in helping great pets find forever homes.

• Chirps & Cheers

1112 N. Walker Ave., Suite 101 chirpsandcheers.com 405-509-6336 Get ready to nerd out over stationery. Paper craft connoisseurs, quirky gift lovers and hardcore organization enthusiasts can all find what they’re looking for at Chirps & Cheers. The Midtown stationery shop helps make sending snail mail delightful.

It also carries place cards for fancy parties and wrapping paper that adds pizazz to your gift packages. Those who want help finding the right inspiration can make an appointment and staff will give them one-on-one attention.

Reference • Point

1745 NW 16th St., Suite F1 referencepointshop.com info@referencepointshop.com If all jewelry starts to look the same after a while, it’s time to schedule a visit to Angela Hodgkinson’s shop Reference • Point, where the selection is anything but ordinary. Specializing in minimalist and modern designs, the store carries engagement rings, necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry that will wow the recipient. Too soon for jewelry? Reference • Point also sells fragrances, candles, soaps and pottery.

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23

ARTS & CULTURE

Positive Tomorrows | Photo Gazette file

moving, he directly came to us and talked about how this building could help in our next 28 years of service,” he said.

cov e r

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Oklahoma City | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Urban renewal

Charitable nonprofits along Classen Boulevard join together to reach Oklahoma City’s at-risk citizens. By George Lang

In mid-2015, as staff members at Sunbeam Family Services moved out of their longtime location on NW 21st Street and into a new headquarters at 1100 NW 14th Street, they were greeted with a large welcome banner hung by their new neighbors at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

At the time, Patrick Raglow, Catholic Charities executive director, was heading up his own transition into a new facility just across the street and noticed a positive trend developing along Classen Boulevard.

“We were gearing up for this project and Sunbeam was just completing their facility, and we were really happy to have them as a neighbor,” said Sonny Wilkinson, Catholic Charities senior director of mission advancement, development, media and public relations. “Patrick and I were looking around us, and it became clear that this area, this corridor, was becoming a social service hub.”

Geographic proximity led to greater opportunities for the nonprofits to collaborate and support one another. Catholic Charities, United Way of Central Oklahoma, Sunbeam, Positive Tomorrows, City Rescue Mission and Jesus House operate within two miles of each other and are conveniently served by a major bus route, meaning clients can access services with increased ease and efficiency.

Building opportunity

“We have all these other districts in the city; why not have one that is truly transformative?” Wilkinson asked.

The answer to that question formed Raglow’s “corridor of hope” concept.

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Sunbeam executive director Jim Priest immediately recognized its potential. “[Raglow] and I talked about it when we moved our offices from NW 21st to NW 14th and Classen,” Priest said. “We were right across from Catholic Charities, but to our knowledge, Sunbeam and Catholic Charities had never worked together on any projects. It was really a question of geography that prompted me to think, ‘Why aren’t we doing something with this other wonderful organization that does very similar things?’”

That possibility for interconnectedness only grew when The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM) purchased Catholic Charities’ former building and moved from its NE 13th Street location on the edge of Midtown.

TEEM, which has helped previously incarcerated individuals re-enter society through education, counseling and work readiness training since 1987, immediately noticed its many clients could simultaneously benefit from Sunbeam’s family services or Catholic Charities’ housing, health and counseling services.

“There’s a degree of overlap and an extreme amount of camaraderie between us, Catholic Charities and Sunbeam Family Services,” said Lance Evans, TEEM public information officer. “In a lot of ways, we’re serving the same community — at-risk Oklahomans — but our services are tailored to serve a specific niche.”

Evans credits Raglow’s direct outreach for making it possible for the interfaith organization to acquire the venue from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

“When they began their process of

Specialized growth

From a physical standpoint, the new Catholic Charities building provides the surest visual confirmation that the corridor of hope is an area of growth.

The result of a $10.5 million capital campaign led by Judy Love and Bob Ross, the 33,860-square-foot structure houses about 65 workers that provide adoption and pregnancy services, refugee resettlement, immigration-related legal services, family counseling and disaster relief programs.

While one proposal called for an approximately $3 million renovation to the previous location, the transition to a new building allows for future expansion as well as the opportunity to help a fellow charitable nonprofit like TEEM. Wilkinson said while each organization addresses specific sets of needs, the work being done in the corridor of hope is all about outreach and uplift.

“It’s about recognizing the dignity of a person who’s coming to us in a time of need,” he said. “When they’re coming to us, they’re coming to us at the low point of whatever situation they’re in. They need help, and that’s why we’re here: to lift them up and help them through the process.

When you walk into our lobby, it creates a sense of comfort.”

Sustainable vitality

That comfort was accompanied by faint rumblings of discomfort in surrounding neighborhoods as residents voiced concern over an influx of at-risk individuals, Wilkinson said.

But he said Catholic Charities and other corridor members are interested in the long game: healing individuals as a starting point toward a greater, communitywide vitality.

“It’s a total benefit for the community to have these services in one stop, because that means there’s more holistic approaches to serving the individual that’s troubled and needs our help,” Wilkinson said. “The quicker we can get them to a better place, the quicker the community gets to a better place.”

This summer, Sunbeam Family

Services paid forward its warm welcome from Catholic Charities by hanging a banner welcoming TEEM to the corridor.

Priest said the nonprofits plan some joint charitable events to coincide with the holidays and more interconnected giving will be offered for years to come.

“I think collaboration is key for nonprofits in this next generation, and the physical proximity of our agency really spurs that to fruition,” Priest said. “We can be a thousand points of light, or we can join together to form a laser beam and make a real impact. The corridor of hope gives us the opportunity to join together, geographically and functionally, as a laser beam.”

Corridor of hope members Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Oklahoma City 1232 N. Classen Blvd. catholiccharitiesok.org 405-523-3000

United Way of Central Oklahoma 1444 NW 28th St. unitedwayokc.org 405-236-8441

Sunbeam Family Services 1100 NW 14th St. sunbeamfamilyservices.org 405-528-7721

Positive Tomorrows P.O. Box 61190 positivetomorrows.org 405-556-5082

City Rescue Mission 800 W. California Ave. cityrescue.org 405-232-2709

Jesus House 1335 W. Sheridan Ave. jesushouseokc.org 405-232-7164

cov e r

Changing lives A new book describes how Sunbeam Family Services maintains itself while supporting growing community needs for more than a century. By Kara Stewart

What’s known as Oklahoma’s longestrunning nonprofit organization celebrates more than century of service in its recent book Changed Lives: A History of Sunbeam Family Services.

It details the history of the 109-year-old organization and the stories of community members Sunbeam has helped.

Sunbeam has served Oklahoma’s poor and working poor since statehood. First opened as a home for neglected and abandoned children, the organization has grown to include foster care, counseling, elderly assistance and early childhood services.

Despite more than 100 years of service and countless impacted lives, Sunbeam’s storied success happened largely in the background of Oklahoma’s history.

Changed Lives changes that.

Filling a void

The 143-page book was written by Sunbeam CEO Jim Priest and historian Bob Burke with former CEO Ray E. Bitsche Jr. Burke is a 2006 inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and is credited as authoring more historical nonfiction books than anyone in history. Changed Lives is his 126th work. Priest worked as a civil rights lawyer for more than 30 years. The two have been friends for decades.

“Jim and I were at breakfast one morning, talking about what could be done to make Sunbeam better known and to pay proper tribute to its incredible volunteers and donors,” Burke said, “and I said, ‘It sounds like a book to me.’”

Beginning with Sunbeam’s 1907 inception, the book chronicles the nonprofit’s growth from when Elizabeth “Lizzie” Swisher opened its doors to care for the state’s orphans. She, along with the group of women who assisted her, raised funds by taking baskets door to door and asking families for donations. The Sunbeam Home Association was introduced in 1910.

In a time when Oklahoma’s population was exploding yet the majority of its people remained poor, Sunbeam stepped in to help.

to include daycare services for mothers who worked in factories. Eventually, it grew to include the counseling and senior services it offers today, including the state’s only homeless shelter created specifically for senior citizens.

“We have even had [seniors] from out of state come to stay in the shelter,” Engelke said. “They are a bit more vulnerable than most, and a traditional shelter is just not an ideal space for them.”

Sunbeam’s willingness and ability to adapt, as well as the dedication of its volunteers, are reasons Sunbeam is successful, Engelke said. Today, the center focuses on four main areas of service: early childhood, foster care, counseling and senior care.

With more than 160 employees and 700 volunteers, Sunbeam reaches and assists over 6,500 people annually.

Along with the organization’s history, the book shares stories about the lives of those who have been helped by its services.

With photographs, volunteer and family stories and essays by notable Oklahomans, the book gives an in-depth look the lifechanging organization.

“It’s really cool how, in spite of all the trials, [Sunbeam] really has maintained itself,” Engelke said. “We still seek to be family for people who don’t otherwise have that or who just need ... support.”

The book, released in September, is available from local retailers like Full Circle Bookstore and online via the organization’s website at sunbeamfamilyservices.org. All proceeds from its sale benefit Sunbeam Family Services.

Learn more about the nonprofit, its services, volunteering and the book at sunbeamfamilyservices.org.

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wireless mics, moving lights, snow machines, fog machines

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Adaptability

Despite its lengthy history of success, it hasn’t always been easy. During the Depression, many local businessmen who had donated to support the nonprofit could no longer afford to do so.

“There were plenty of times where the outlook was grim,” said Erin Engelke, Sunbeam Family Services chief external relations officer. “But then someone would step in and help Sunbeam keep the doors open.”

During wartime, Sunbeam expanded O kg a z e t t e . c o m | d e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6

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shopping

ARTS & CULTURE

Traveling trunks Indie Trunk Show Oklahoma features unique gifts by local crafters and small business owners.

By Bailey Chambers

Oklahoma City is con“People call it a craft Indie Trunk Show stantly adding to its colshow, but it’s more than lection of small busithat,” Lea said.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday nesses. Saturday, 240 of Both women wanted Cox Pavilion at State Fair Park those will gather in one to improve and combine 3001 General Pershing Blvd. spot for local-loving local boutique shopping indietrunkshowokc.com consumers thanks to and arts and crafts to 405-460-3964 mother-daughter duo create an event unlike Free-$5 Karen Jobe and Stacy other shows in the state.

Jobe Lea, who founded “Every show needs Indie Trunk Show two years ago. to be unique,” Jobe said. “We have to make “I had just quit my job to raise my son, sure our customers know what we have. but I needed to do something part-time Vendors have to have the right products. with my business degree,” Lea said.

We go to every show we can, from big craft shows to small ones. We look high and low Her mother, Karen, who was retiring for them. Being in Oklahoma, there are so from a teaching job, was always creating many.” arts and crafts of her own. She decided to try out the business side of things, and Indie Big businesses are not a part of Indie Trunk show was born.

Trunk Show. Its appeal is directed toward people who find comfort in selecting gifts The event founders are particular about the booths they approve for the event, and and products that are well-made, usually the pair continually travel across Oklahoma handmade and local. to attend arts and craft shows and decide It’s important to Indie Trunk Show that which businesses are best suited to repreall retailers at their four planned shows — sent the noncorporate feel of the event. three in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa

Stacy Jobe Lea and Karen Jobe started Indie Trunk Show in 2014. | Photo provided

— sell high-quality, distinctive goods.

Events showcase diverse small businesses that sell a variety of handmade goods from hand-poured candles to meticulously stitched purses. Jobe and Lea strive to keep the shows part of the local movement that attempts to keep small businesses afloat by circulating money throughout Oklahoma.

Even vendors without handmade products ensure inventory is unique. Shoppers will find wooden furniture, purses, jewelry, art, baby clothing and accessories, bath products, pet accessories and even Oklahoman-written books.

“The word gets out and people flock after hearing that it’s local,” Lea said. “People are excited.”

Indie Trunk Show is a great place for those who enjoy original, locally produced wares to shop for holiday gifts or treat themselves to something special.

The next event is 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday in the Cox Pavilion building at State Fair Park, 3001 General Pershing Blvd.

Admission is $5 but is free 3-5 p.m. The first 100 guests receive goodie bags with surprise items from select vendors.

Jade Creek Boutique, Chateau Blanche Design, The Wooly Bear Cubs, Bark & Breakfast OKC, Londyn’s Moments, Savannah Lane Boutique, Olive & Grey Company and Local Lather are just a few of the vendors at Saturday’s show.

Visit indietrunkshowokc.com.

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O kg a z e t t e . c o m | D E C E M B E R 7, 2 0 1 6

27

ARTS & CULTURE Shopping

Global gifts

PAMBE Ghana Global Market noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays and Fridays-Saturdays,

PAMBE Ghana Global Market offers fair trade gifts and benefits education in Ghana. By Lauren Dow

noon-7 p.m Thursdays Through Dec. 24 PAMBE Ghana Global Market 6516 N. Olie Ave. pambeghana.org

Oklahoma-based PA MBE Ghana Partnership for Mother-Tongue Based Bilingual Education has worked to build educational infrastructure for a rural village in Northern Ghana since 2006.

PAMBE Ghana’s holiday Global Market gives shoppers a chance to buy ethically produced fair trade items while supporting La’Angum Learning Center in Ghana. All the items sold are fair trade, meaning they were purchased directly from the artisans or through the Fair Trade Federation, which has stringent standards for companies that distribute fair trade goods and requires them to pay artisans a fair price and assist with development and marketing.

PAMBE Ghana Global Market represents the organization’s ability to create and encourage collaboration without borders.

PAMBE Ghana participates in many pop-up events and festivals, but the market is the education organization’s largest fundraiser.

Executive director Alice Azumi Iddi-

Gubbels said the Oklahoma City branch of the organization represents this dedication.

“Here, there is a strong community,” she said. “This whole thing is volunteers.”

Iddi-Gubbels is from Ghana and began her education there.

“Education is the key; it opens so many doors and windows,” she said.

She said it was always her dream to go back and provide education opportunities for children, specifically in rural areas.

Iddi-Gubbels came to Oklahoma City to earn her master’s degree in education and receive Montessori training at Oklahoma City University. Friends and parents of her students at Westminster School helped bring her dream of providing education in Ghana to fruition.

Iddi-Gubbels said they could help her create the framework for the nonprofit “because it is hard to build an organization in the name of ‘Alice.’”

In 2007, Iddi-Gubbels returned to Ghana to plan the school. which the community came together and built it brick by

Free

Alice Azumi Iddi-Gubbels founded PAMBE Ghana in OKC in 2006. | Photo provided

brick. The first class contained just 40 students.

Today, 266 students attend the school, and each neighborhood comes to a consensus about which children will attend. “[The community] really considers it their school,” Iddi-Gubbels said.

Over the past eight years, the village has added one room to the school per year.

Iddi-Gubbels said the community chose the school name, La’Angum Learning Center. She said it means, “Together, we are stronger.”

Community members grow vegetables

for student lunches, and PAMBE Ghana supplements any other food needed. For many of the children attending La’Angum, lunch there might be their only meal.

Iddi-Gubbels manages the school in Ghana, which also employs 15 teachers, and returns to the U.S. for the yearly market fundraiser.

La’Angum Learning Center and the Global Market represent the spirit of community collaboration.

“This really is a partnership and is really an effort by so many people,” Iddi-Gubbels said. “La’Angum really sums it up.”

Global Market, a small donated storefront at 6516 N. Olie Ave. in Nichols Hills, is adorned with prayer flags.

The market is open noon-6 p.m.

Tuesdays-Wednesdays and FridaysSaturdays and noon-7 p.m. Thursdays through Dec. 24.

Visit pambeghana.org.

v i s ual art s

Shaping Utopia Current Studio’s new exhibit explores the concept of a perfect society. By Lauren Dow

Utopia noon-6 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays through Dec. 23 Current Studio 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave. currentstudio.org 405-673-1218 Free

Current Studio explores perspectives of the future with its Utopia installation, which runs noon-6 p.m. Thursdays -Sundays through Dec. 23 at the studio, 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave. The exhibit is curated by cofounders Kelsey Karper and Romy Owens and sponsored by local coffee providers and producers Leap Coffee Roasters, Coffee Slingers Roasters, Junction Coffee and Leaf + Bean.

“You can’t have utopia without coffee,” Karper said.

Sponsorships enabled Current Studio 28

D E C E M B E R 7, 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

to offer four $250 awards to artists in the show who produce new temporary, sitespecific or performance-based works.

“We were eager to develop an exhibition concept that would allow artists to submit their work and ideas to us,” Karper said. “Utopia was our first open call for artist submissions, and we received entries from all over the country.”

Utopia explores themes that are culturally relevant through the eyes of local and nationwide artists. The open call culminated in an exhibition that provides a multidimensional perspective of utopias and what they mean to artists and their communities.

Broad diversity

Some of the exhibition pieces are existing works, while others were proposals for new works created specifically for the show. Karper and Owens selected pieces that represent a “broad diversity of media” and investigate the theme of utopia from new perspectives.

The idea of exploring perfect societies sprang from conversations Karper and

Tulsa artist Rena Detrixhe’s red dirt contribution to Utopia was installed on Current Studio’s floor. | Photo provided

Owens had within the artistic community about their collective futures and the place artists occupy within it. The recent election season also played a big part in the concept.

Karper said they wanted to “contribute to the conversation in a way that would encourage more optimistic views.”

Even so, Karper described some of the works as dystopian. “[Through] bringing these varying perspectives together, it prompts additional questions: How can we collectively work toward common good when our definitions of ‘good’ can be so different?” she asked. “Can utopia ultimately be achieved, or is utopia found in small moments within our everyday lives? Can utopia exist without dystopia?”

The exploration and interpretation of the concept resonates with our cultural obsession with utopias and dystopias rep-

resented in fiction literature, television and movies.

No boundaries

Utopia exemplifies Karper’s and Owens’ dedication to creating a place for artists to create without restrictions. Current Studio’s mission is to foster emerging artists and provide them with opportunities to explore their work without worrying whether or not it must sell.

Utopia features video, painting, photography, performance and site-specific installations. The exhibition includes 13 Oklahoma artists and nine artists from eight other states.

“Expect to encounter artwork in a variety of forms, some of which will invite interaction,” Karper said. “Visitors should also watch their step, as art may even be found underfoot.”

Visit currentstudio.org.

performing arts

ARTS & CULTURE

Pretty friendly Comedian Josh Gondelman’s attitude is nice, even when his jokes aren’t.

By Greg Elwell

belly of people who show up for the underComedians generally arrive in a new city for ground thing.” one of two reasons: Either an agent books a show for them or they’re asked to come. The He’s also ready to impress audience members who heard his album Physical latter option is always the best, said funnyman Josh Gondelman.

Whisper, released in March.

“I’m excited,” Gondelman told Oklahoma “That’s amazing to me; I’m so excited Gazette during a recent telephone interview. that’s the crowd that would come out,” “People reached out and said, ‘Come do a Gondelman said. “I get a little nervous that show here.’”

I have enough new stuff for people who Gondelman performs 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at heard the last album. I like that challenge.

ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. People are onboard, and I have to keep Sheridan Ave. raising my game.”

When the 31-year-old stand-up comic heads somewhere, he said he’s never 100 Name it percent sure anyone will know who he is or Some Oklahomans might be fans of want to see his comedy.

Gondelman’s work without knowing it.

“But when I’m asked to come, even if Physical Whisper and TV appearances some of the people don’t know me, the people on Conan show off his comedic prowess. He who do come will be into it,” Gondelman has also lent his skills as a writer to Last said.

Week Tonight with John Oliver and popular Oklahoma City is a cool place to play, he Twitter account @SeinfeldToday, which said, specifically because it’s an unknown imagines modern-day Seinfeld sitcom plots. quantity.

“As an audience member, when some“I get to see the lay body puts a finger on that thing that has of the land and eat barfloated across your becue. It’s so much fun,” Josh Gondelman he said. “I’m not on the consciousness and puts with Steve road that much, so a name to it, that’s ‘Wampus’ Reynolds really gratifying,” he when I go out, I get to go said. “That was what to places I’m excited 8 p.m. Dec. 15 Seinfeld did — a close about.”

ACM@UCO Performance Lab A city that has a talker, that’s a thing.”

329 E. Sheridan Ave. reputation for being He said he aspires joshgondelman.com more cosmopolitan to have the kind of ticketstorm.com will have 100 things impact where his 405-974-4711 competing for attenhumor clarifies some$15-$20 tion, he said. thing everyone has All ages “There’s always experienced but no one some kind of Star Wars realizes is so common. deep burlesque show in an abandoned steel The idea for @SeinfeldToday, which he founded with comedian Jack Moore, came mill in those cities,” he said. “I often find ... when you go to a place where you’re like ‘I when friend and comic Dan Boulger pointed don’t know about this,’ it has a cool underout that half of Seinfeld episodes would be

moot if everyone in the series owned a cell phone.

His own comedy skews more toward Jerry Seinfeld than politically charged Last Week Tonight and focuses on writing about personal experiences.

“I really admire people who do different kinds of comedy, like political or social stuff,” he said. “I have little veins of both of those, but it’s a lot more ‘This thing happened to me’ or ‘I am afraid of this.’ A lot of humor comes from just trying to process information.”

The best jokes are often the ones that catch the ways in which people filter out what they experience, rather than inventing or analyzing things they don’t understand, he said.

“Most people who are comedians become one because they see the world a certain number of degrees off mainstream,” he said.

Being himself

Gondelman’s comedy is “pretty friendly.”

“It’s not clean, but it’s friendly,” he said.

“People mistake it for clean because it’s nice. It’s for grown-ups, but it’s not aggressive. I’m friendly, and I want everybody to have a good time.”

No matter the size of the crowd, he’s most

Soft-spoken comic Josh Gondelman performs Dec. 15 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab. | Photo Mindy Tucker / Photoshelter.com / provided

excited to perform comedy for people who know what to expect.

“It’s an exciting place to be in my career,” Gondelman said. “I use that as a freedom to be the most me I can be, rather than shape my act or bridge a ton of different sensibilities.”

Sometimes colleges might invite him to do an hour of “clean” comedy, which he can do, but it’s hard to find jokes that college students will enjoy that aren’t about sex.

“I can talk about how I’m excited to have in-laws. It’s not dirty, but does an 18-yearold care about that?” he said. “So it’s really wonderful to get to perform for people who expect me.”

Gondelman’s focus remains on giving the crowd a show it will enjoy.

“I think audiences really deserve the comedy that they want. I think there’s a real art to being able to be the person who shows up at any comedy club and burns it down,” he said. “It takes a little pressure off to play for people that are coming out and have a little more specific idea of what I do.”

Visit joshgondelman.com.

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Performing Arts

ARTS & CULTURE

Christmas Baby

Have the time of your life at local performer Balthazar’s Dirty Dancing-themed 2016 sendoff.

By Ben Luschen

Beginning in January, Leslie Hensley will friend convinced her to observe a mandabe temporarily grounded. tory rest period beginning in 2017.

Under her stage moniker Balthazar, “My brain goes 24/7,” Hensley said. “If Hensley spent 2016 propelling herself from I had the money, I would continue to do as many projects and write and create as one high-concept production to the next. much as I wanted.”

She helped develop an emotional and LGBT-positive stage show based on the The local performer closes out the year music of Queen. She also stepped into the with her final production, a large-scale role of Glen Campbell for tribute to the romantic ’80s musical film Dirty a birthday tribute to the country music legend Dancing.

Dirty Christmas while organizing themed Dirty Christmas begins – Featuring The bouts for her recently 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at OKC Kellermans renamed professional Farmers Public Market, wrestling outf it 311 S. Klein Ave. For one 8 p.m. Dec. 15 Balthazar’s Legends of night, the local venue OKC Farmers War (BLOW). transforms into luxurious Public Market The productions Kellerman resort.

311 S. Klein Ave. require serious dedicaWhen the doors open, ticketstorm.com tions in time, energy and guests can enjoy a number 405-232-6506 money, which is why of resort activities like $10-$15 Hensley said her boycroquet, badminton, cari-

from left Leslie Hensley and Zeke Varnell pose as Frances “Baby” Housemann and Johnny Castle ahead of the Dec. 15 Dirty Christmas event. | Photo Chris Larwig / provided

cature drawing, ballroom dancing and more.

At around 9:30 p.m., Hensley begins her performance, a dialogue-free reenactment of the 1987 film.

She becomes young Frances “Baby” Housemann, portrayed in the movie by Jennifer Grey, as her boyfriend Zeke Varnell becomes Patrick Swayze’s steamy dancer Johnny Castle. A large cast of dancers and Hensley’s backing event band, appropriately renamed The Kellermans,

join the couple onstage.

In lieu of dialogue, the film’s diverse and widely popular soundtrack narrates the action.

The performance is interactive, and cast members are embedded in the crowd.

Varnell often wrestles alongside Hensley in BLOW, but his turn as seductive Johnny is the first time any of his roles with her have required dancing with such technique.

Hensley found it challenging to adapt to the natural sway of coupled dance, though she did say it is at least partially comparable to grappling with an opponent in the pro-wrestling ring.

“There’s a rhythm in wrestling and there’s a rhythm in the moves and in everything we do, but it’s different because it’s timed different,” she said. “I’m not a ballroom dancer.”

The Dirty Christmas concept was born just one week after Hensley wrapped up her Oct. 7 Glen Campbell show. She texted band member Bear Rodriguez about her idea, and within 24 hours, the rest of her team had agreed to the first rehearsal.

Though Hensley is often praised for her creativity, she credits the strength and willingness of her band and surrounding team as the real motor behind her consistent output.

“It’s a strong family,” she said.

Visit ticketstorm.com.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | D e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6

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Ritual renewal

Oklahoma City Ballet’s The Nutcracker continues to delight holiday audiences.

By Jessica Williams

Oklahoma City Ballet continues its 45th anniversary season with The Nutcracker.

Each year, the company adds more opulence, athleticism and attentiveness to the holiday favorite.

Artistic director and Nutcracker choreographer Robert Mills spoke to Oklahoma Gazette about reviving stories and creating traditions.

“The original Nutcracker Russian debut in 1892 was a total flop,” Mills said. “Not many people realize this ballet only gained acclaim starting in the 1950s because it has become such an American tradition every Christmas.”

Thanks to renowned choreographer George Balanchine’s mid-20th century New York City revival of The Nutcracker, thousands of reproductions dominate American stages each Christmas season. Through Mills, in recent years, the show has been reestablished as an Oklahoma City tradition.

“Every year, I slightly tweak and change something about the choreography, even if it’s only something I notice in the performance,” Mills said. “This year, however, I’ve stayed pretty true to what we established a few years ago.”

If there are few noticeable production changes, it’s because Mills spent years enhancing the classic for local audiences.

“I developed this show over 12 years in

different companies,” Mills said. “In 2014, we debuted The Nutcracker with new performers, sets and costumes. For people who haven’t attended the ballet in the past two years, they need to come out and experience how the performance has evolved.”

Continued success

Maintaining the production’s robust elements contributed to OKC Ballet’s growing success in recent years. Oklahoma City Philharmonic resumes its accompaniment of the ballet with Tchaikovsky’s original pieces, and 2014’s costumes dazzle audiences once again.

Devon Energy’s 2014 OKC Ballet financial support enabled the company to expand its resources, and The Nutcracker’s continued success has also been a national effort.

“The costumes were designed in Colorado Springs, and the sets were built in Portland, Oregon, by Emmy award-winner Gregory Crane,” Mills said. “The production look is very colorful, bright and easily gets everyone in the holiday spirit.”

Sets and costumes mean little without the athletic grace of OKC Ballet principal dancers, soloists and corps de ballet. In addition, more than 100 children from The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet join company professionals.

“This show’s cast is our largest to date,” Mills said. “The company is made up of

Many people experience ballet for the first time with The Nutcracker.

Robert Mills 32

D e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

OKC Ballet corps de ballet dancer Rayleigh Vendt performs the tea dance in The Nutcracker. | Photo Kate Luber / Oklahoma City Ballet / provided

dancers from places like Hungary, Japan, Cuba, Mexico, Canada and about 13 states across the U.S. In Oklahoma City, all our dancers become unified through the different narratives they dance.”

The Nutcracker story is what people remember most about the show. Mills places as much weight on the story as he does on choreography.

“Many people experience ballet for the first time with The Nutcracker, and that makes its story incredibly important,” he said. “I use choreography to honor its narrative and work with our dancers to become immersed in their particular role.”

OKC Ballet dancers understand how important it is to use their physicality to communicate sincerity to audiences.

“People have approached me after previous performances saying how clear the story was and how they appreciated understanding what was happening in every scene,” Mills said. “I train the dancers to continue their performance even offstage. This method makes the ballet richer for the audience and the dancers themselves.”

That level of integrity has elevated OKC Ballet under Mills’ direction and furthers the show’s annual persistence in the community’s holiday agenda.

“The Nutcracker is such a phenomenon because it promotes the togetherness that so many people enjoy about Christmas,” he said.

The Nutcracker runs Dec. 10-20. Tickets are $15-$70. Visit okcballet.com.

The Nutcracker 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 17, 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 18, 7 p.m. Dec. 16 and 19-20 Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. okcballet.com 405-297-2264 $15-$70

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | D e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6

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Leading ladies Reduxion Theatre Company takes audiences to Regency England with Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker!

By Jessica Williams

If you’ve ever wanted to teach Jane Austen characters a thing or two about the modern world, this is your chance.

Reduxion Theatre Company invites you to experience high-society charm and elegance with interactive production Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker!

“Jane Austen is having a party, and she’s inviting characters from three of her novels,” play director Tonia Sina recently told Oklahoma Gazette. “It’s an interactive performance where the audience is invited to partake in festivities. Even if the audience isn’t familiar with these novels, it’s a really fun time.”

Reduxion specializes in classic works with a twist, creating original experiJane Austen’s Christmas Cracker! features dialogue and a ball includences for theater fanatics and casual specing audience participation. | Photo tators alike. An original production, Reduxion Theatre Company / provided Christmas Cracker! first emerged onstage last year.

Erin Woods, one of Reduxion’s foundSina said. “Characters that have interacers, created it with Austen fans in mind. tions are almost pulled directly from the Sina said the production was an imnovels, so fans will appreciate that familmediate hit. iar element shown in a different light.”

It’s difficult not to be engaged at Jane Austen novices won’t feel left out.

Austen’s Regency ball. The characters “It’s a very family-friendly perfornever leave the stage. mance,” Sina said. “Even if you aren’t fa“The setting remains inside the miliar with Austen, it’s a generally exciting Regency ball the entire play,” Sina said. theatrical experience, and the Christmas “Even the musicians never exit the stage. theme creates a universally appealing In a way, it will seem like we’ve actually mood.” transported you back in time.”

No character gets the spotlight in this Christmas Cracker!’s cast has trained play; however, one group in particular rigorously with ballroom dancers and a does take precedence. professional clowning theater coach to “Ten women and four men make up the further their late 18th century legitimacy. cast,” Sina said. “There are still not as Sina said all this rehearsal will culminate many opportunities for women in perin original interactions with the audience. forming arts as there should be, and this a way I can change that fact.”

“Cast members will teach volunteers from the audience dance numbers and Beyond her cast, Sina also includes games from the period,” she said. female audiences in her mission.

“Everyone is invited to the party.”

“We’re holding a contest this year Of course, audience participation is called Leading Ladies,” Sina said. “People voluntary. However, Sina said there are can nominate women in the community other ways to pretend you’re part of 18th who they believe stand out and represent century high society and guests are invited feminist leadership. We’ll honor the to dress in Regency clothing. winner with two tickets to the show.”

True to Austen’s roJa n e A u s t e n ’s Christmas Cracker! mantic comedy oeuvre, the play features a rollruns 8 p.m. ThursdayJane Austen’s ercoaster of themes and Saturday and Dec. 15-17 Christmas emotions. Lead characand 2 p.m. Sunday in Cracker! ters from Austen’s Joel Levine Rehearsal Sense and Sensibility, Hall at Civic Center 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday Music Hall, 201 N. Pride and Prejudice and and Dec. 15-17 and 2 p.m.

Persuasion all particiWalker Ave. Tickets are Sunday pate in the author’s ball. $15-$35. Visit reduxJoel Levine Rehearsal Hall “There’s singing, iontheatre.com.

Civic Center Music Hall dancing and Christmas 201 N. Walker Ave. carols, but there is also reduxiontheatre.com dramatic dialogue 405-297-2264 between characters,” $15-$35

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D e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

ARTS & CULTURE those of full citizenship. All Muscogee (Creek) Indiana by blood who are less than one-quarter (1/4) Muscogee (Creek) Indian by blood shall be considered citizens and shall have all rights and entitlement as members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation except the right to hold office.”

Because the Dawes Rolls do not list blood quantum for Freedmen, Graham said they were able to be systematically shut out by the 1979 constitutional election.

But he also discovered through his research that the Dawes Rolls contain serious errors, partly due to slipshod 19th century record keeping.

culture

Revoked rights

Ron Graham’s ancestors pictured were Freedmen citizens of The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. | Photo Ron Graham personal collection / provided

‘Nothing but a slave’

Freedmen descendants work to restore their Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizenship. By George Lang

When he looks into the faces of his ancestors in the fuzzy, black-and-white photos on his presentation materials, Ron Graham sees Creek Indians.

But despite treaties passed 150 years ago, Graham is not part of The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; he is working tirelessly to correct what he sees as longstanding injustices against the people known as Creek Freedmen.

“My main goal is to be fully recognized as a Creek citizen within the Creek Nation,” said Graham, Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association genealogy chairman. “We want our treaty rights, human rights and birth rights restored. That is first and foremost.”

All and nothing

Graham’s work on behalf of Freedmen descendants began in 1983, not long after he graduated from Okmulgee High School.

His father, Theodore “Blue” Graham, was on the Dawes Rolls, the registration system created for the allocation of land to heads of households, in the Five Civilized Tribes, including the former slaves and descendants of slaves known as Freedmen.

Born in 1902, he received Creek roll

number NB 671 — NB stood for “newborn.”

For Graham, it stood to reason that he could register as a member of The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (MCN), given his status as the son of a Freedman.

But in a 1979 constitutional election, the MCN excluded the Freedmen from participation in tribal benefits.

So when he visited the MCN headquarters, the clerk delivered bad news.

“She said, ‘Well, he’s down as a Freedman,’” Graham said. “Then she said, ‘He wasn’t nothing but a slave.’”

Graham only knew his father as a Native American because that is how Blue Graham identified throughout his life.

Within the Graham family, there were never any questions about how they fit within the MCN, but after the 1979 vote, it was as if the entire family’s history as Creek slaves and then Freedmen counted for nothing.

‘Full citizenship’

The story of the Freedmen in Oklahoma begins with the Trail of Tears during which the U.S. government removed thousands of Native Americans, including members of the Muscogee and Creek tribes and their

slaves, from their tribal homelands in the southeast to what was then known as Indian Territory.

The Muscogee Creek Nation then developed out of the union of independent small towns scattered from Fort Gibson to the Indian Territory border.

Following the Civil War, the tribes that supported the Confederacy were punished

by Reconstruction treaties, which required those tribes to cede land, among other things.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, the first concession the Five Civilized Tribes were required to make in the 1866 post-Civil War tribal reconstruction treaties was “to abolish slavery and give the freedmen tribal rights.”

Blue Graham was known in his community as a “traditional.” He spoke Creek and led stomp dances around Henrietta and Okmulgee, and Ron Graham said that he looked Native American.

“He looked like an Indian,” he said. “He talked and walked like an Indian. I told the lady at the Muscogee Creek Nation that I thought he was a full-blood Indian.”

Graham said one of the greatest challenges facing Freedmen hoping to regain status within the tribes surrounds the omission of Freedmen’s blood quantum from the Dawes Rolls.

According to Article III, Section 4 of the Muscogee Creek Nation’s constitution, “Full citizenship in The Muscogee (Creek) Nation shall be those persons and their lineal descendants whose blood quantum is one-quarter (1/4) or more Muscogee (Creek) Indian, hereinafter referred to as

Graham studied the Dawes Rolls going back to the first Muscogee Creek Freedman listed: Paro Bruner, a 73-year-old former slave, and he discovered instances when one sibling was placed on the Freedmen rolls while their brother or sister was placed on the blood rolls.

Graham said the inequities sometimes came down to the land that a tribe member was allocated as part of the reconstruction treaties, which assigned 160 acres to each tribe member, a move designed to break up communities and weaken tribal power.

“Once they made you a citizen, they gave you land,” Graham said. “It might be good to grow a crop, or it could be worthless on top but have natural resources below. I saw in my studies that once they determined they had natural resources, sometimes they’d transfer them from the blood rolls to the Freedmen rolls. Then, it was easier to steal your land.”

Muscogee Creek Freedmen are not the only descendants seeing their tribal citizenship revoked.

In 2007, the Cherokee Nation made an identical move against Freedmen descendants, which sparked much of the current movement to rectify the situation.

Cherokee Freedmen filed suit in U.S. District Court to regain their status.

The case is still pending.

In addition, the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band, a group of Freedmen descendants, petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be given status as a separate tribe.

A ruling has yet to be reached on the petition.

To Graham, the issue is straightforward. At one time, according to an 1866 treaty that is still in effect, he was considered a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. He said he should still be.

“The slaves who were emancipated from down south became Americans,” Graham said. “They’re still Americans. And guess what? They’re not one-eighth Americans; they’re not one-quarter Americans. They are full-blood Americans. We should be full citizens of the Creek Nation.”

We want our treaty rights, human rights and birth rights restored.

Ron Graham

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | D e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6

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ARTS & CULTURE

Film

Recovering hope Teen Recovery Solutions hosts a screening of the Generation Found documentary as the organization helps treat youth diagnosed with substance abuse disorder.

By Lea Terry

More than 63 percent of Oklahoma high school students say they drink or have tried alcohol, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health in its 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which was released in June.

The agency also notes that 15 percent of Oklahoma teens said they had their first drink of alcohol before age 13 and more than 32 percent of teens reported having used marijuana at least once.

These numbers add up to a teen substance abuse crisis in the state, said Andrew Rice, executive director of Teen Recovery Solutions (TRS) in Oklahoma City.

“There’s a dangerous problem with addiction among teens; it’s not just an isolated thing,” Rice said.

Founded in 2000, TRS offers counseling and outpatient services to teens in recovery from substance use, abuse and addiction.

Part of the organization’s mission is to bring awareness of the growing problem of teenage substance abuse and reduce the stigma associated with treatment and recovery.

It hopes to help do so through its upcoming screening of Generation Found, a documentary that focuses on how people in Houston worked together to battle teen substance abuse in their community. The

Generation Found 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14 Recent Mission Academy High School graduates. The school was founded by Teen Recovery Solutions. | Photo August Photography / Your Fantastic Photos / Provided

Harkins Bricktown Cinemas 16 150 E. Reno Ave. teenrecoverysolutions.org/ GenerationFound $11

result was a recovery high school called Archway Academy, which was the model for Mission Academy, the local recovery high school TRS founded in 2006.

“Having a recovery high school environment for the teenager to go back to out of rehab gives them the best chance to be successful,” Rice said.

He said TRS has a high success rate; 93 percent of its participants graduate high school, 96 percent test clean for drugs throughout the school year and 82 percent of graduates maintain sobriety after graduation.

The school has grown from around four students to between 18 and 20.

Generation Found outreach coordinator Mario Diurno said seeing people’s stories is crucial to reducing the stigma associated with substance use, abuse and addiction and encouraging people to see the person behind the addiction.

“Statistics are important, but seeing

I think there’s a stigma with young people and addiction, and I think there’s a lack of awareness.

Frank Turner

the story humanizes it; it becomes real,” Diurno said. “You see that the person is not just a number or a statistic.”

He also noted that the nation is facing a drug addiction epidemic and the film shows the positive side of the battle that many people don’t get to see, as it focuses on recovery and long-term well-being instead of the turmoil that occurs when someone is in the throes of the disease.

Generation Found premiered in August and has been screened in over 100 communities.

Diurno said it has also helped start a conversation about teen substance use in communities and prompted some to form task forces to potentially establish recovery high schools in their cities and towns.

Rice noted that when people are faced with a physical illness such as cancer or diabetes, they have a better idea of what treatment options are available to them than when confronted with treating the disease of addiction.

“We want people to know about a model that creates a lot of help and has a lot of success in getting them sober and helping them be happy and healthy into adulthood,” Rice said.

Frank Turner, TRS board of directors president-elect, hopes the film helps change public perception about teen substance use and addiction and shifts the focus toward finding solutions.

“I think there’s a stigma with young people and addiction, and I think there’s

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a lack of awareness,” Turner said. “To be effective in treatment, you need to understand what the problem is.”

A crucial part of TRS’ success is enabling the entire family to be involved in group sessions, examining what’s happening at home and working toward resolving those issues.

In fact, Rice said Teen Recovery Solutions could probably more accurately be called Family Recovery Solutions.

“Teenagers’ addiction issues are usually a byproduct of a lot of instability and dysfunction at large in the family, so we feel like the teenager can’t be successful if the whole family’s not on board as part of the recovery process,” Rice said.

The organization offers free assessments for any teen who might be experiencing substance use, abuse or addiction issues and will recommend one or more of the organization’s services or advise that the teen go into an inpatient treatment program.

In 2012, TRS launched a peer support group called Mission Peer Group, an outpatient program for teens and families in recovery.

Many of the school’s graduates return to participate in the group’s activities and act as mentors to other teens.

Generation Found screens 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 14 at Harkins Bricktown Cinemas 16.

Tickets are $11. For tickets and more information, visit teenrecoverysolutions. org/GenerationFound.

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Winter works

Loveworks Leadership hopes to draw students to its after-school programs with its holiday celebration. By Jessica Williams

Co m m u n i t y

Not many fondly recall their awkward preteen years, but one Norman organization seeks to change that.

Experience holiday spirit for a good cause this season at nonprofit Loveworks Leadership’s first Winter Wonderland community event happening 5:30-8:30 p.m. Monday at its Loveworks Center, 127 W. Main St., in Norman. The seasonal event features a carnival with familyfriendly activities and a concert by Maggie McClure and Shane Henry. Proceeds fund the Norman-based nonprofit’s mission to help middle-school students become motivated leaders.

“We’re calling it a holiday extravaganza,” said Michael Hirsch, Loveworks executive director. “It’s going to be an entertaining time that also provides people with the opportunity to get involved with what we’re doing for the community.”

Loveworks Leadership provides afterschool programs that focus on community and career options for middle-school students and celebrates its sixth year in

February. Loveworks believes in action and productivity to fill the after-school hours. Hirsch and his nonprofit team address issues through research on how to fill missing extracurricular gaps in education.

“Especially in middle school, if a student isn’t involved in a sport after school, there just aren’t many extracurricular opportunities,” Hirschn said.

“When you add technology like laptops, iPads and social media to those afterschool hours, you run the risk of a lot of sedentary preteens.”

Loveworks offers a variety of programs to help adolescents realize their potential.

“Leadership Concepts is experientialbased learning for students where they choose from a list of opportunities,” Hirsch said. “Students can learn about culinary arts, architecture, dance, business and a wide range of other opportunities with hands-on experiences from our partners.”

Many facets of the metro community show support for Loveworks’ cause. Radio

Winter Wonderland 5:30-8:30 p.m. Monday Loveworks Center 127 W. Main St., Norman loveworksleadership.com 405-397-9576 $15-$30

Maggie McClure performs at Loveworks Leadership’s Winter Wonderland. | Photo Melissa Cosper / provided

station Magic 104.1 sponsors Loveworks’ inaugural Winter Wonderland event celebrating the success and future of the nonprofit’s mission.

“We’re thrilled to be able to provide an event that’s designed for the entire community,” Hirsch said. “It’s going to be an unforgettable experience for anyone that attends.”

Among the crafts, activities and entertainment, guests can partake in hot chocolate and hors d’oeuvres, bounce around in 30 different inflatables, enjoy indoor snow or create personalized stockings and ornaments.

“Every person that attends will be able to leave with something they enjoy,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch said husband-and-wife duo Maggie McClure and Shane Henry’s music possesses a universal appeal that everyone can enjoy.

“Maggie and Shane perform separately and as a duo, and at Winter Wonderland, they will play music from a Christmas album they released last year,” Hirsch said.

He hopes Winter Wonderland will ultimately draw more support for Loveworks’ greater cause.

“Hopefully, at the end of the night, we can draw more people and families to Loveworks and our mission,” Hirsch said.

Loveworks will continue to enhance Oklahoma communities. Hirsch said the nonprofit will expand beyond its original location next year.

“We’re expanding our program outside Norman,” he said. “We’re creating new entrepreneurial initiatives, but most importantly, we’re increasing ways our young students can contribute to the community.”

Visit loveworksleadership.org.

Dream builders Fields & Futures’ annual Bowtie Ball helps rebuild sports fields and keep students in school. By Mark Beutler

In late 2011, Oklahoma City residents Tim and Liz McLaughlin toured the grounds of Jefferson Middle School.

Through the years, lack of funding had caused the Jefferson grounds and many others in the metro to fall into a state of disrepair. McLaughlin did some research and planning to improve and rebuild the district’s athletic fields. The result was Fields & Futures, a nonprofit organization founded by the McLaughlins to help OKCPS athletics grow student participation in sports. To date, the group has rebuilt 18 of the district’s 44 athletic fields, and two more are currently under construction.

“We exist for one reason,” said Dot Rhyne, who coordinates Fields & Futures sponsorship and marketing. “That is to grow student participation in sports, giving more students a motivator to go to school, stay in school and to graduate.”

The organization also provides a support system for the district’s more than 250 coaches and helps stem the turnover rate, giving kids a more stable environment.

Once Fields & Futures rebuilds a field, it assumes responsibility for its maintenance, Rhyne said. OKCPS contributes

fencing, Wes Welker Foundation provides field equipment and private donations cover the rest. In a few cases, Oklahoma City Community Foundation granted resources to help with landscaping, shade structures and asphalt/walking trails.

The effort is paying off. Last year, 99 percent of student athletes graduated, versus 77 percent of their non-athlete

Fields & Futures Bowtie Ball 6 p.m. Thursday Chevy Bricktown Events Center 429 E. California Ave. bowtieball.org

peers, while achieving an overall 2.82 percent grade point average, Rhyne said.

Through the year, Fields & Futures hosts several fundraisers. One of the largest is the annual Bowtie Ball, which is 6 p.m.

Thursday at Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 429 E. California Ave.

“We refer to this event as a ‘party with a purpose,’” Rhyne said. “This is really a night to celebrate, honor and thank the coaches who make the world a better place, one athlete at a time.”

The evening includes a cocktail party, a dinner, a silent auction and a raffle. Rhyne said each year, a guest speaker from the world of sports helps reinforce the belief that the most important win for any coach is actually off the field, court or track.

“We are so excited to welcome Cal Ripken Jr. to this year’s Bowtie Ball,” she said. “He is an iconic baseball player and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer. Cal embodies everything we believe in.”

With a number of fields completed, Rhyne said Fields & Futures tells people they’re at the halftime point in the game.

Roosevelt Middle School’s new BALTO sports complex was built by Fields & Futures. | Photo provided

“We need the community to rally around this work and help Fields & Futures finish what it started,” she said. “It takes a community to raise a community. With each school year that passes and a school does not have safe fields to play on, that class of kids misses what could have been a life-changing opportunity. This is a capital improvement in the school, the neighborhood, the community and the city as a whole.”

The organization needs about $3 million to complete the district’s field construction project and just under $6 million to fully fund a field maintenance endowment.

Visit fieldsandfutures.org .

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calendar Volkswagen of Norman in partnership with Norman-based Blackwatch Studios, 7 p.m. Dec. 9. Stash, 412 E. Main St., Norman, 405-701-1016, stashok.com. FRI

are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve, Dec. 2-10.

Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000, okcu.edu. FRI

BOOKS

Hands on a Hardbody, a musical comedy about 10 smalltown Texans competing for a new pickup truck, 3 p.m. Dec. 10. 8 p.m. Dec. 2, 8-10. Elsie C. Brackett, 500 W. Boyd St., Norman, 405-325-4101, musicaltheatre.ou.edu/facilities/rupel-jones. FRI

Ajax Delvecki and Larry “Buddy” Johnson Book signing, John A. Brown’s, Kerr’s, and Halliburton’s: Where Oklahoma City Loved to Shop, 2-4 p.m. Dec. 9. Barnes & Noble, 6100 N. May Ave. , 405-8439300, barnesandnoble.com. FRI

Campfires, Cattle and Cowboys Poetry Gathering, Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy., Duncan, 580-252-6692, cityofyukonok.gov/ city-departments/parks-recreation/events/. FRI

Tom Lindley to sign Opening Doors, Full Circle Press launches a book profiling 13 Oklahomans who overcame barriers to achieve rich, productive lives, 2 p.m. Dec. 10. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT Second Sunday Poetry Reading, J.C. Mahan is a local street poet area whose style is open-mic with an interactive delivery, 2 p.m. Dec. 11. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN Second Sunday Poetry, Johnie Catfish is the featured reader, 2 p.m. Dec. 11. Norman Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN

The Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Rocks! Tour Brian Setzer Orchestra embarks on a three-day trek across Oklahoma as the rockabilly and swing revivalist and his 19-piece band celebrate their 13th annual holiday tour. Shows are 8 p.m. Friday at Firelake Arena, 18145 Ridgeline Road, in Shawnee; 8 p.m. Saturday at The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 777 W. Cherokee St., in Catoosa; and 6 p.m. Sunday at the Global Event Center inside WinStar World Casino and Resort, 777 Casino Ave., in Thackerville. Tickets are $25$65. Visit briansetzer.com/tour-dates. Friday-Sunday Photo Suzie Kaplan / provided

FILM Buffalo ’66, (US, 1998, dir. Vincent Gallo) the first event in an Oklahoma pop-up screening series; having served five years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Billy Brown kidnaps a young dancer named Layla and forces her to pretend to be his wife, 7 p.m. Dec. 7. Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman, 405-673-4931, opolis.org/. WED Pearl Harbor Day 75th Anniversary Remembrance, a documentary about Pearl Harbor as well as filmed interviews with six Tulsa-area veterans will be screened. Live music will be played on the theater’s 1928 pipe organ and a WWII military exhibit by Keith Myers will be displayed, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Dec. 7. Circle Cinema, Tulsa, 10 S. Lewis Ave., Tulsa, 918-5853504, circlecinema.com. WED Cafe Society: Art in the 21st Century - Vancouver, offering screenings of the PBS series Art 21: Art in the 21st Century, which focuses on the most contemporary artists right now, 6-8 p.m. Dec. 8.

[Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-8156665, artspaceatuntitled.org. THU

HAPPENINGS Storyland Christmas, take a self-guided tour through eight traditional Christmas stories that come to life in 37 monumental handpainted murals; also enjoy photos with Santa, children’s activities and more, Dec. 2-18. Charles J. Johnson Central Park, 7209 SE 29th St., Midwest City, FRI

PAMBE Ghana’s Global Market, seasonal fair trade shop that provides destination shopping for unique gifts, including a wide selection of folk art from around the world; procedes benefit PAMBE Ghana’s La’Angum Learning Center in northern Ghana, noon-6 p.m. Dec. 3, 6-10, 13-17, 20-24.

PAMBE Ghana’s Global Market, 6516 N. Olie Ave., pambeghana.org/global-market. WED

Free Family Make + Take: Evergreen Prints, create a winter-scene printing plate using textured paper, foam sheets and bubble wrap then use ink to create a beautiful one-of-a-kind print that can be framed and cherished for holidays to come, 1-4 p.m. Dec. 10. Oklahoma Contemporary, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. SAT

Poinsettia sale, choose from a plethora of plants, weekdays 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Dec. 7-10. OSU-OKC John Kirkpatrick Horticulture Center, 400 N. Portland Ave., 405-945-3358, osuokc.edu/horticulture. WED

Santa’s Art Workshop, children create holiday art, mingle with elves, drink cocoa and eat cookies, listen to Mrs. Claus read a story and spend quality time with Santa, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 10. Fine Arts Institute of Edmond, 27 E. Edwards St., Edmond, 405-340-4481, edmondfinearts.com. SAT

Midtown Holiday Pop-Up Shops, more than 40 retailers set up shop in a village of heated geodesic domes including shops, food and beverage vendors, Santa, musicians and artists, Dec. 8-11, 15-18, 20-22. OKC Pop-Ups, 399 NW 10th St., okcpopups.com. FRI LuLaRoe Holiday Extravaganza, holiday shopping, 5-10 p.m. Dec. 9. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-232-6506, okcfarmersmarket. com. FRI Holiday Lights Spectacular, free family event; largest animated light display in five-state region boasts over 100 displays along the 1.5-mile-long drive that features Illumination Celebration, a dancing forest of lights choreographed to classic Christmas tunes, through Dec. 30. Joe B. Barnes Regional Park, 8700 E. Reno Ave., Midwest City, 405-739-1293, midwestcityok.org. FRI Christmas in the Park, more than 4 million twinkling lights and 400 displays cover 100 acres of Freedom Trail Playground, City and Chisholm Trail Parks, Nov. 23-Dec. 31. Chisholm Trail Park, 500 W. Vandament Ave., Yukon, 405-350-8937, cityofyukonok.gov. WED Free Holiday Water Taxi Rides, enjoy a fun-filled float down the beautifully adorned Bricktown canal free of charge, courtesy of the Downtown Business Improvement District, 6-9 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays through Dec. 31. Bricktown Canal, 115 E. California Ave., 405-234-8263, visitokc.com. FRI

FOOD Holiday Happening Where can you find Santa Claus, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and dinosaurs in the same place? At Holiday Happening 4-7 p.m. Thursday at Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., in Norman. Museum admission is free for the event, which includes pictures with Santa that parents can purchase afterward, a pair of songs performed by Sooner Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast cast, storybook time with Pioneer Library System librarians and discounts in Excavations, the museum store. Visit samnoblemuseum.ou. edu or call 405-325-4712. Thursday Photo Sam Noble Museum / provided

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Beer & Hymns Event for Standing Rock, Joy Mennonite Church hosts a beer and hymns event in celebration of Advent, collecting items to donate to the Standing Rock water protectors in North Dakota, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Dec. 9. Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th St., 405-823-4155, joymennonite.org/. FRI Weekly Farmers Market, shop local producers, bakers and artisans, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. every Saturday.

OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT

YOUTH Young Company Production Series, second session of Young Company brings a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol to the main stage; young performers work alongside directors and technical staff to great a special production, every Saturday through Dec. 17; performances 7 p.m. Dec. 22-23. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. SAT

2nd Annual RhymeSick Xmas, promoting the idea that hip-hop is about overcoming struggles via music and giving back to the community, 8-11 p.m. Dec. 10. Elite Studios, 8100 N. Classen Blvd. #112, 405-962-9230, elitestudiosok. com. SAT A Tuna Christmas, two dazzling comic actors play all the denizens of a small town in this laugh-aminute, quick-change comic tour de force, Dec. 1-18. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. WED Andy Hendrickson, stand-up comedy, Dec. 7-10.

Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED Comedy to the Rescue, charity show rescuing Oklahoma shelter pets from euthanasia and relocating them to no-kill shelters in the Pacific Northwest, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED

Saturdays with Santa, children visit Santa and holiday characters, make crafts, ride a train and listen to live music, as well as other activities, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 10. Devon Tower, 333 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-228-2400, devonenergycenter.net/. SAT Cookies and Milk Story Time with Santa, enjoy cookies and milk while listening to a Christmas story read by Santa, 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Dec. 10. Orr Family Farm, 14400 S. Western Ave., 405-7993276, orrfamilyfarm.com. SAT Pizza PJ Party with Santa, enjoy partying with Santa in your pajamas and enjoy pizza, 5-6:30 p.m.

Dec. 10. The Orr Family Farm, 14400 S. Western Ave., 405-799-3276, orrfamilyfarm.com. SAT When the Earth Shakes, learn all about the science of earthquakes, tsunamis and tectonic plates; an immersive interactive exhibit exploring the world below our feet, though Jan. 2. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu. SAT The 2015 Ultimate We Pageant, pageant geared toward the bond of union between a mother and child with a twist, fathers also have the opportunity to crowned king along side their little princess or prince, 7-9:30 p.m. Dec. 10. Coles Community Center, 4400 Northwest Expressway, 405-4187636, ticketstorm.com. SAT Junie B in Jingle Bells Batman Smells, in Junie B Jones’ world Christmas means you get presents, elf costumes are awesome and May is a blabbermouth tattletale; things are going well until she pulls May as her Secret Santa. With Santa watching her, what will Junie B do?, Nov. 28-Dec. 18. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. MON Red Dirt Dinos, following a journey around the state and across the world, the dinosaurs that roamed Oklahoma’s red dirt landscape return to Science Museum Oklahoma; interactive, lifelike robotic dinosaurs and hands-on components help visitors explore Oklahoma’s dinosaurs. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 405-6026664, sciencemuseumok.org. MON Mystery of the Mayan Medallion, immersive exhibit where visitors are transported to Palenque, Mexico, where an archaeological team has mysteriously disappeared from a dig site, through Jan. 8. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu.

Human Rights Day The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Dec. 10, 1948, and two years later declared the date Human Rights Day around the world.

American Indian Movement (AIM) Indian Territory celebrates Human Rights Day 1:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Guest speakers include human rights activist and NAACP Oklahoma City chapter president Garland Pruitt and Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma council member and indigenous rights activist Casey Camp-Horinek.

Visit facebook.com/aimindianterritory.

Saturday Photo Gazette / file

A Nice Family Christmas, the family gathers with secrets and dysfunctions, and the fruitcake hits the fan, 8 p.m. Dec. 9-10, 16-17 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15, Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com. THU

PERFORMING ARTS

One Incredible Moment, musical drama for the entire family about the Savior’s birth, life, death and resurrection, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8-11. First Presbyterian Church, 1001 S. Rankin St., Edmond, 405-525-6584, fpcokc.org. THU

Fowler VW Presents: A Blackwatch Christmas, launch party for A Blackwatch Christmas, Volume 6, the sixth Christmas album produced by Fowler

The Golden Girls Christmas Live!, a funny and loving parody tribute to your favorite sitcom senior citizens, 8 p.m. Dec. 2-3, 9-10, 16-18, 22-23.

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St., 405-601-7200, theboomokc.com. FRI The Night Before Christmas, including Christmas songs loved by children of all ages, Dec. 9.

Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1800 NW 36th St., 405-525-5793, cityseeker.com/oklahomacity/899781-immanuel-lutheran-church. FRI Christmas Vespers, four choirs join forces with the OCU Symphony Orchestra and University organist Melissa Plamann in a seasonal celebration of scripture, poetry and singing, 8 p.m. Dec. 9, 4 p.m.

Dec. 10. First Presbyterian Church, 1001 NW 25th St., 405-525-6584, fpcokc.org/. FRI Beauty and the Beast, holiday performances of Disney’s classic, through Dec. 18. Sooner Theatre, 101 E. Main St., Norman, 405-321-9600, soonertheatre.com. FRI

Norman, 405-325-4666, lloydnoblecenter.com. SAT Adult Adventure Travel Discussion, travelers come together to share experiences and tips for globetrotting or local parks, 3-5 p.m. Dec. 11.

Martin Park Nature Center, 5000 W. Memorial Road, 405-297-1429, okc.gov/parks/martin_park/ martin_programs.html. SUN

VISUAL ARTS Celebration of Art and Culture Fundraiser, fundraiser to send art supplies to youth and professional artists in Somalia, 6-10 p.m. Dec. 9.

The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave., 405-655-5889, therootokc.com. FRI JRB Art at the Elms Cocktail Reception, a festive event welcoming Malaysian fashion and jewelry designer Stella Thomas, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Dec. 9. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave. , 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. FRI Ornaments 101: Adults, a unique glassblowing class for the holiday season; create handmade gifts and learn several techniques for blowing small spheres of beauty and color, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 3 and 10. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Beginner’s Clay Class: Adults, experience clay as a sculptural medium; learn various techniques and complete a sculpture with an abstracted figurative influence, 1-4 p.m. every Saturday through Dec. 17.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT

Star Wars Science Overnight Painted Padawans eager for the new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story can spend a night exploring the science behind the forces of nature, building mini hovercrafts and making keepsake lightsabers 7 p.m.-7 a.m. FridaySaturday at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place. Admission is $25$45. Visit sciencemuseumok.org or call 405-602-6664. Friday-Saturday Photo Science Museum Oklahoma / provided

The Vocal Sounds of Oklahoma Presents: The Colors of Christmas, traditional Christmas songs performed by a 40-50 all-ages male chorus; performances by 405 quartet, School Bored Four, Okie Dokes and the East Side Boys quartets, 2-9 p.m. Dec. 10. Cherokee Hills Christian Church, 6601 N. MacArthur Blvd., 405-721-5861, cherokeehillschristian.church. SAT Classic Radio Theatre, enjoy beverages and hors d’oeuvres and travel back to the golden days of radio; live performance of scripts from various radio shows from the 1930s to 1960s, 2:30 p.m.

Dec. 11. Actor’s Casting & Talent Services, 30 NE 52nd St., 405-702-0400, actorscasting.com. SUN John Evans, stand-up comedy, Dec. 14-17. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave. 405-2394242, loonybincomedy.com. WED

Ceramics Sale, shop one-of-a-kind handmade pieces, made by area artists, through Dec. 23.

Oklahoma Contemporary, 3000 General Pershing Blvd. 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.

Child Labor in Oklahoma: Photographs by Lewis Hine, 1916-1917, exhibit highlighting a collection of 25 powerful photographs taken by Lewis Hine while he was in Oklahoma 100 years ago.

Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive , 405-521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter.

Chinese Brushwork Paintings: Swallows and Sparrows, using ink and watercolor on rice paper, students learn to paint swallows and sparrows in the spontaneous brushwork style, 1-4 p.m. Dec. 4 and 11. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SUN Cowboys & Caboodles, Shel Wagner art show and sale, through Dec. 23. UMB Bank Stockyards City, 1217 S. Agnew Ave., 405-239-5828.

Da Vinci : The Genius, the most comprehensive exploration of Leonardo Da Vinci’s work ever created; interactive experience immersing guests in Da Vinci’s timeless brilliance through full-scale interpretations of the mastermind’s inventions and unparalleled studies of his iconic art. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 405-6026664, sciencemuseumok.org.

Saturday. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Holiday Art Extravaganza, three shows in one: Small Works, Ornaments and Dirty Santa Toy Show, through Dec. 21. Kasum Contemporary Fine Arts, 1706 NW 16th St., 405-604-6602, kasumcontemporary.com.

Holiday on Paseo with Luke Funk, Funk explores the edges of anonymity in his work with images of masked underwater divers, faceless withdrawn sea creatures and horrid skull-filled catacombs, 11 a.m.8 p.m. Dec. 10. Prairie Arts Collective, 3018 Paseo St., 540-533-5883. SAT Off the Beaten Path, a photo documented joint art exhibit by Scott and Katie Henderson; tour many of the state’s unusual, intriguing and lesser-known areas, though May 4. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Pl., 405-602-6664.

Paseo Art Works Gallery, Edwin Eldridge sculpture design, through Dec. 31. Paseo Art Works Gallery, 3005 Paseo St., 580-470-5031.

Picturing Indian Territory, surveys how the people, land and history of Oklahoma were constructed visually by artists, illustrators and journalists from the early decades of the 19th century before and after the creation of Indian Territory in 1834 to the inception of Oklahoma Territory in 1890 and finally to the unification of Indian and Oklahoma Territories to create the state of Oklahoma in 1907, Oct. 6-Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

Power and Prestige: Headdresses of the American Plains, original exhibition includes nine headdresses from Northern and Southern American Great Plains along with historical photographs and other supporting artifacts including ledger art depicting Indian warriors and bonnets from the museum’s permanent collection.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250,.

Rebecca Mannschreck, acrylic paintings, Nov. 11-Dec. 31. 50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway Expy., Suite 113-R, 405-848-5567, 50pennplacegallery.com.

Sacred Words: The Saint John’s Bible and the Art of Illumination, includes seventy selected folios from The Saint John’s Bible as well as other historical illuminated manuscripts, such as a Book of Hours, Quran pages and Torah scrolls, Oct. 15Jan. 8. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Small Works VI, original artwork by many artists making great gifts for the holiday season, Nov. 11-Dec. 23. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave. , Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org.

contribute to the reality of tomorrow, Nov. 10-Dec. 31. Current Studio, 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 405673-1218, currentstudio.org.

December Artists, exhibit showcasing works from Sean Vali and Heidi Ghassempour, Dec. 8-Jan 8.

DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 405-525-3499, dnagalleries.com.

Drop-in Art, join guest artists each Saturday as they interact with families to create extraordinary works of art inspired by the museum’s collection, exhibitions and special occasions, 1-4 p.m. every

Utopia, an exhibition of work illustrating various definitions and dreams for a utopian future; through this exhibition, visitors will consider many possible futures and how our actions today

Women at War, works of three renowned artists: Ebony Iman Dallas, Gay Pasley and Edward Grady.

Owen’s Arts Place Museum, 1202 E. Harrison Ave., Guthrie, 405-260-0204.

SandRidge Santa Run, 5K race, a one-mile fun run and a free kid’s dash, plus a warmup with Rumble the Bison, 7:30 a.m. Dec. 10. SandRidge Energy, 123 Robert S. Kerr Ave., 405-753-5500, sandridgeenergy.com. SAT Ugly Holiday Lights Run, Christmas sweater-themed 5K and a one-mile fun run, 2 p.m. Dec. 10. Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-359-4630, signmeup. com/site/online-event-registration/110924. SAT Snow Tubing Winter Festival, one of Oklahoma City’s biggest and most popular holiday attractions returns to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, okcballparkevents.com/. SAT

OU Men’s Basketball, OU vs Oral Roberts, 7 p.m.

Dec 10. Lloyd Noble Center, 2900 S. Jenkins Ave.,

Vibrant Women of Oklahoma - Art by Anthony Pego, a collection of paintings and hand-crafted jewelry depicting the diversity of the dynamic women of our state, 6-9 p.m. through Jan. 6. 1219 Creative, 1219 N. Classen Blvd., 405-361-4927.

Submissions must be received

by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

ACTIVE

Edmond Ice Skating Rink, ice skating, through Dec. 31. Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-359-4630, edmondok.com/parks. SAT

Festival / provided

The Modernist Spectrum: Color and Abstraction, explore the invigorating ways in which postwar American artists, especially those associated with the Washington Color School, made it new, producing novel work that sought to reinvent abstract art through an alternatively rigorous and playful manipulation of color, line and shape.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive , 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Lyric’s A Christmas Carol, go on a magical journey with Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30. Lyric Theatre, 1727 N.W. 16th St., 405-524-9312, lyrictheatreokc.com. WED

Devon Ice Rink, through Jan. 29, 100 N. Robinson Ave., 405-235-3500, downtownindecember.com/ devon-ice-rink. FRI

NMF Dance with the Dead fundraiser Many fans will likely remember 2016 as the year the music world lost some of its most cherished legends. The folks at Norman Music Festival are throwing a dance party as a salute to icons David Bowie, Prince, Leon Russell and many more. DJ Jon Mooneyham spins music exclusively by dearly departed artists. Event proceeds benefit Norman Music Fest 10 (NMFX). NMF Dance with the Dead runs 8-11 p.m. Saturday at The Chouse, 717 W Boyd St., in Norman. Tickets are $15-$35 or free with the purchase of a $100 NMFX VIP membership. Visit normanmusicfestival.com/dwtd. Saturday Image Norman Music

Retro Wonderland City Cabaret takes its audience back to the 1940s with Retro Wonderland, a jazzy, era-appropriate mix of Christmas classics and swing standards.

Guests are encouraged to dress in retro attire. Shows are 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday at The Paramount Theatre, 11 N Lee Ave. Tickets are $25. Visit thecitycabaretokc.com or call 405-928-0690. Friday-Saturday Photo City Cabaret / provided

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

For okg live music

see page 44

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MUSIC Robert Earl Keen

with Hot Club of Cowtown 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center 6420 SE 15th St., Midwest City rose.edu/content/news-events 405-297-2264

event

$22-$53

Peachy Keen

Robert Earl Keen revisits his landmark success with his Live Dinner Reunion project.

By George Lang

Two decades ago, Robert Earl Keen wanted to commemorate the sound and style of his first 12 years as a recording artist with a live album recorded at John T. Floore’s Country Store, a renowned Texas venue that has hosted Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Keen’s album, No. 2 Live Dinner, became the biggest-selling project of his career, ensuring that the road really did go on forever for the celebrated singer-songwriter.

Live albums rarely transcend their status as tour souvenirs, but No. 2 Live Dinner helped define Keen’s career for many fans and quite a few musicians who took their inspiration from his sharply descriptive songwriting style. As such, Keen decided to revisit the scene of the beautiful crime and bring some cohorts — including Bruce Robison, Joe Ely, Cory Morrow, Reckless Kelly, Cody Canada and college 40

d e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

buddy Lyle Lovett — along to abet him.

“Fast forward to 2015, 20 years later; we had just agreed to do a show that was just a celebration of that record, and as we got closer to the date, I said, ‘Shoot; I don’t want to just do the same show,’” said Keen, who performs 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center, 6420 SE 15th St., in Midwest City. “So, I called Lyle and Joe and Bruce and Cory, and we already had Reckless Kelly and Cody Canada in place as performers, and we just had the really great night of music and camaraderie that was truly like I’d never experienced before.”

Beloved Reunion

Keen captures that night in his recently released album Live Dinner Reunion (LDR). Produced by Lloyd Maines and featuring longtime sidemen like guitarist

Robert Earl Keen | Photo Darren Carroll / provided

Rich Brotherton, LDR brings together several generations of Texas music to perform classics like “Merry Christmas from the Fam-O-Lee,” “Corpus Christi Bay,” “The Road Goes on Forever” and “This Old Porch.”

Texas music is a continuum, and as the guest list on Live Dinner Reunion illustrates, Keen now has his own herd of followers, including Morrow and Stillwater’s Canada.

The young’uns share stages and philosophies with their elders as they perform with Keen, Lovett and Ely, a legend who performs Keen’s “The Road Goes on Forever” about as often as Keen does.

Keen said the live album recording experience transcended what he usually expects from live shows.

“I walked away from that show totally on a cloud for months and months and months,” he said. “Whenever I had anything to complain about, I’d think, ‘You know, I did something that I’d wanted to do all my life, which was just to play with my friends and have a really good night.”

New traditionalists

Keen was part of the second wave of radical Texas traditionalists, singer-songwriters who wore their brains on the

sleeves of their pearl-snap shirts. Along with Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle and Lovett, Keen followed the direction of forefathers like Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, trusted their Hill Country instincts and kept Nashville at a highway’s length.

In 1984, Keen raised $4,500 to record his first album, No Kinda Dancer, a raw, no-frills project that introduced Keen as a writer with an unusual gift for lyrical detail. That grassroots release quickly led to more polished releases such as his third album, West Textures. It also provided a template for a couple generations of Texas singer-songwriters who valued honesty over spectacle.

But that honesty was not always an easy sell. Keen said he had to bust down a lot of doors and browbeat management to get onto stages at some venues like Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth — places where country dance bands reigned supreme and singer-songwriters who didn’t wear cowboy hats were considered suspect.

“I got a little better at my pitch, and they got a little more liberal in their thinking about what kind of music is out there,” he said.

While Keen’s music started out at the root level of Texas songwriting, he found the need to grow above the surface. The studio albums that followed No. 2 Live Dinner displayed considerable artistic growth and a penchant for risk-taking, including genre-bending albums like 2001’s Gravitational Forces and 2003’s Farm Fresh Onions that expanded his appeal to alt-country and alt-rock fans.

Moving forward

Keen is working on a proper studio followup to 2011’s Ready for Confetti and 2015’s Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions, but he is also recording a series of 90second songs he calls Short Songs for Short Attention Span Culture. He does not know how or when the songs will surface, but their creation and scheme show that Keen does not let gravitational forces hold back his ambitions.

“There’s no subject matter that’s offlimits — not that it’s bawdy or surreal,” Keen said. “One of the first ones that I wrote that I really get a kick out of is called ‘Our Municipal Airport.’ It’s about 85 seconds long, and it just talks about how our municipal airport is really cool. I think I’ll have to get to 30 songs to put out a decent-sized record.”

f e at ur e

Dropping anchor Subsonix resident DJ and electronic dance music producer Dropshop finds success in his home away from home. By Ben Luschen

Dropshop | Photo Waylon Clark / provided

Sebastian Madsen felt chills as he played in front of the largest crowd of his career.

Madsen, known onstage as locally based DJ and electronic dance music (EDM) producer Dropshop, performed in front of more than 1,000 people while opening Zomboy’s July 30 show at OKC Farmers Public Market.

Dropshop is a resident DJ for Subsonix EDM nights at the venue, and his work within the event series helped establish him as a rising star in the local EDM community.

Dropshop has worked with Subsonix for nearly three years as an event DJ opening for performers like Zomboy and as a street team leader promoting upcoming shows.

The relationships are symbiotic.

Dropshop gained exposure in his early career, and Subsonix has a reliable, inhouse DJ.

Finding residency

Now, several years into his career as a producer and DJ, Dropshop is experiencing personally unprecedented success from his recordings. His newest EP Transplant was released on Halloween.

Something about it awoke his creativity, and he has since spent long hours in his home studio, creating new music.

“Most of my successes are coming in the studio now,” Dropshop said. “I’ve just realized that the shows will come if the content is there.”

The EP’s title is a reference to Dropshop’s move to Oklahoma City from El Paso, Texas, in January 2012. He changed cities after his wife (then girlfriend) told him about the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@ UCO) located in Bricktown.

Before the move, trips to see acts like Kaskade and deadmau5 piqued his interest in making similar music. In high school, he played guitar and was in a band, but he

wanted to make music professionally.

“The more I got into it, the more I realized I had no idea what was going on,” he said.

Dropshop attended ACM hoping he would learn how to create music at a level similar to some of his favorite artists. At the time, he did not understand what the full value of his education would be. “[Attending ACM@UCO] was probably one of the best decisions I ever made,” he said. “Not because I learned how to make EDM, but just because I learned the intricacies of the music business and what it takes to actually produce music.”

His time there also helped him foster networking connections that both progressed his music career and helped root him in his newfound home. Dropshop spent years adapting to living life in a new city.

“I was an adult when I moved; it’s not like I was 18,” he said. “I was 24 or 25 years old, and it was tough to make friends again as an adult and assimilate into a new place.”

Feeling at home

He said he now feels at home in Oklahoma City, partly due to his personal investment in the Subsonix movement. One of the songs on Transplant, “Subsquad,” is an anthemic testament to Subsonix and the movement’s other DJs. While Transplant was like a sampler of all the sounds that comprise Dropshop, the DJ now wants to focus his career on developing a specific sound and being more selective with local shows.

“I think a lot of times, we get carried away with trying to impress other people,” he explained. “When you start impressing yourself, that’s the moment where you’re like, ‘OK; this is happening for real now.’”

Dropshop plans to unveil new music at his Dec. 30 set at the Lights All Night EDM showcase in Dallas. The event runs Dec. 30-31 and features headliners like deadmau5, Above & Beyond and Zedd.

Visit facebook.com/itsdropshop for more information.

HAVE YOU HEARD THE LATEST ABOUT KANYE WEST? NOT FROM US YOU DIDN’T.

91.7 OKC | 107.5 TULSA | KOSU.ORG

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | d e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6

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MUSIC The musician compared the venue’s evenly distributed crowds to Tulsa’s historic Brady Theater venue.

“These are really the best types of shows that bands can do,” he said. “Your show and the volume of your music — everything is kind of hitting everybody with an equal intensity. It’s not where people on the arena floor get a little bit different of a show than the people up in the stands.”

event

Modern fairytale

Criterion collection

The Flaming Lips’ first home city blowout in three years launches the psychedelic rock act’s newest album cycle. By Ben Luschen

With a new show and a new album, The their newest release before likely heading Flaming Lips prove there’s no place like back overseas sometime in June. home. In many ways, the psychedelic and It could be said that Coyne’s day of experimental rock outfit’s Dec. 16 show birth signals the opening of a new chapter at The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave., for the band.

Lips frontman and lifelong local resiserves as a rebirth celebration for the exciting year that lies ahead for The Lips. dent Wayne Coyne recently spoke with It releases its new album, Oczy Mlody, Oklahoma Gazette ahead of the band’s on Jan. 13, Coyne’s birthday.

Dec. 16 show.

The project is the “I forget that [the band’s first album-length release date] is my birthrelease of all-original day, but I’m glad it is,” The Flaming material since 2013’s The Coyne said. “It’s like a new Lips Terror. beginning.”

Coyne and company 8 p.m. Dec. 16 embark on a 10-city Intense space The Criterion Europea n tour in The upcoming Criterion 500 E. Sheridan Ave. January and February show was conceived midcriterionokc.com and then return to North summer as the band sought 405-840-5500 America for dozens of a space in the city large $40 live dates promoting enough to test out its 42

d e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

The Flaming Lips | Photo George Salisbury / provided

newest stage production.

Coyne said they rented the venue for a daytime rehearsal on Dec. 16 but were later approached by venue management, who said no acts were booked to perform there that night and invited the band to turn the practice into a true gig.

“We were like, ‘Oh fuck, we have a good chance here to do that,’” Coyne said, as the band’s touring show has morphed in recent years.

Coyne said fans will experience the push-pull of testing out a new set list, including four or five songs from Oczy Mlody, as the band — with cofounders Coyne and bassist Michael Ivins and longtime multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd, along with a roster of musicians that often features Derek Brown, Matt Duckworth, Nicholas Ley and Jake Ingalls — fine-tune their act for a busy first quarter of 2017.

Coyne said he is happy to bring a show to the relatively new downtown venue, which opened earlier this year.

He has seen a few shows there — My Morning Jacket in April and ScHoolboy Q in October — and said he is impressed with what he has seen.

“I like it because it reminds me of going to The Fillmore in San Francisco,” he said.

“It reminds me of that type of room where everybody’s kind of standing up; there’s a lot of drinking and booze and it’s more intense.”

In a press release announcing Oczy Mlody, Coyne compared the new album to what it would sound like if Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and synthy new-age rapper A$AP Rocky took a journey together along Oz’s Yellow Brick Road.

The explanation is simultaneously surreal and appropriate for the album that features mythic song titles like “There Should Be Unicorns” and “One Night While Hunting for Faeries and Witches and Wizards to Kill.”

The project marries musical worlds that would intimidate or overwhelm most other bands.

In the Venn diagram of fanbases between Barrett’s ’60s psychedelia and the fashion rapper’s millennial following, there is not likely much crossover, but Coyne believes there probably should be.

He drew his comparison in part to express the fact that Oczy Mlody is the band’s densest project to date (and that’s saying a lot) and packs a distinguishable low-bass punch.

The Flaming Lips successfully employs the type of subwoofing rappers like A$AP use to convey aggression as a means of painting their own fantasy world of unicorns and euphoria.

“If we had considered that in the beginning, we probably would have thought, ‘Well, that sounds horrible,’” Coyne said.

“But I think as it went, the production and the basic sound of the music came together little by little.”

The Lips started playing with a subwoofer in their studio in 2012. It progressively became louder and was used more often as time went on.

Perhaps partly due to recent influence from band friend Miley Cyrus, fatter synthetic sounds have grown on the aural preferences of Coyne and his mates.

The frontman said it has almost become hard for him to enjoy music without that rumbling bass.

“I think that shows in the record,” he said. “If you compare it to even one of our really hi-fi records like Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, it’s definitely got more fat. There’s a different weight to the whole thing.”

The Lips bring the fairytale into the future on its Oczy Mlody record. Coyne called the band’s fuller embrace of the newer, denser sounds a breakthrough.

“I think with just the way technology is and has pushed along, you can really get a lot of great, fat sounds,” he said. “And I think that has probably influenced us a lot too.”

Visit flaminglips.com.

event

Sound drama

Guitarman Tommy Emmanuel tells stories without words on his upcoming Classics & Christmas Tour. By Ian Jayne

Tommy Emmanuel 8 p.m. Dec. 14 Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center 6420 SE 15th St., Midwest City tommyemmanuel.com 405-297-2264 $29.50-$49.50

Tommy Emmanuel keeps things fresh.

“This is my Classics & Christmas Tour,” Emmanuel recently told Oklahoma Gazette. “The first half of the show, I play a lot of my original songs. The second half of the show is all Christmas.”

The Australian guitar player returns to Oklahoma Dec. 14 and performs 8 p.m. at Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center in Midwest City.

During the Christmas portion of the set, Emmanuel performs with Pat Bergeson, Annie Sellick and John Knowles, with whom he has also made the album Christmas Memories, released Oct. 28.

“I very rarely work within an ensemble situation, but I enjoy it,” Emmanuel said.

“These folks are very dear friends of mine, and we’ve worked together a lot over the years. … We’re showcasing a lot of stuff from the new Christmas album, and there’s a lot of original songs on there.”

Featured songs include “White Christmas,” “Let It Snow” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” along with classic American Christmas songs.

Perhaps in a reversal of the traditional order of things, Christmas Memories came from Emmanuel’s time on the road.

“Last year, we decided to do a Christmas tour, and I put it together with John and Pat and Annie,” he said. “It went so well on the road and we just had such a good chemistry that we worked out some more songs. I decided to go straight in the studio after the tour.”

Emmanuel said they video recorded the recording process and also will record two tour shows for a DVD they hope to release at a yet-to-be-decided date.

“There’s going to be a real awareness of how we work and how honest and open it is,” Emmanuel said. “It’s really about everybody having a lot of fun and check your troubles in at the front door and forget them.”

When Emmanuel plays solo, he doesn’t work from a prescribed set list.

“In the first set, I change it up every night,” Emmanuel said. “A lot of it depends

on how you are feeling.”

Emmanuel’s looser set approach means he can also adjust to how each audience reacts.

The musician’s job as an entertainer can also be one rich with meaning and significance, perhaps even one of healing.

Emmanuel said he was in Oklahoma shortly after 9/11 and he adjusted the show in reaction to the tragedy.

“I found a couple of poems … that I could read about faith and hope and that everything would be all right,” he said.

Melodic meaning

Emmanuel’s passion for music came at an early age, and it never waned.

“I started playing guitar when I was 4,” he said. “I was interested because my mother was always singing and playing.”

After Emmanuel’s mother gave him a 3/4-size guitar and showed him how to play chords, he was hooked.

“That was really all it took,” he said.

“It kind of lit a fire in me.”

Music was a collective affair during his youth.

“By the time I was 6, we had a band established,” Emmanuel said. “We were

cue o tHeHRoewSto t y d e m o c c 7 cHARity S gHt playing as a group and we were on TV and doing radio shows.”

After all these years, Emmanuel often performs solo but remembers his roots.

“I think like a band, and I write that way, but I can play it all on the solo instrument,” he said. “I try to write in a way as if it’s for a singer in a band, but when I play solo, it sounds complete. If I feel I’ve got a good idea and I’m excited about it, then I’ll try to see it through. I’ll just use whatever I can to make the song come to life.”

Although Emmanuel said he doesn’t describe himself as a lyricist, he does have mental words that accompany just about every song.

“I definitely have certain ideas that pop into my head, particularly if it’s songs about my kids or somebody I know,” he said. “I’ll sing their name in the song, somehow, to myself.”

One such name might possibly be that of Emmanuel’s daughter, born last year.

Emmanuel had been writing his most recent fully solo album, 2015’s It’s Never Too Late, on the road.

When his daughter was born, he responded by writing that song.

Whether writing about his life or Christmas, Emmanuel knows how to communicate through music.

“I write instrumental music, but I’m still telling stories,” he said. “Even though there may be no words, the story still unfolds musically.”

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LIVE MUSIC

DECEMBER SPECIAl* MICRODERMABRASION $30 First Treatment $200 Package of 5 MICRODERMABRASION ADD-ONS $10 Glycolic Peel $20 Jessner’s Peel

Delivery will be Thursday, December 15th

• $250 Eyeliner • $250 Eyebrows • $350 Full Lips • $250 Lip Liner

Delivery will be Friday, December 16th

PERMANENT MAKEUP JUVEDERM • RADIESSE

BOTOX Always $10 Per Unit

Schelly’s Aesthetics

Schelly Hill, R.N. 405-751-8930

Shoppes at Northpark, 12028 May Ave.

Open Mon-Sat • www.SkincareOKC.com Gift Certificates Available

P.O. Box 85 Fittstown, OK www.dunnsfishfarm.com (800) 433-2950 M-F 7am-5pm

3-4pm: Bethany Country Store, 3401 N Rockwell, Bethany 7-8am: Tuttle Grain & Supply, 1 SW 5th, Tuttle

These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

WEDNESDAY, 12.7 Berwanger, 89th Street Collective. ROCK Marshmello, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. ELECTRONIC

• Channel Catfish • Bass • Hybrid Bluegill • Redear Bream • Coppernose Bluegill • Fathead Minnows • Black Crappie • Grass Carp All types of pond and lake supplies available!

To plaCe an oRdeR oR FoR MoRe inFo, call one of our consultants Mon-Fri at 800-433-2950 or email sales@dunnsfishfarm.com

Maurice Johnson, The R&J Lounge and Supper Club. JAZZ Soulmen, Bourbon Street Bar. R&B

THURSDAY, 12.8 Capsize, 89th Street Collective. ROCK Dan Martin, Red Brick Bar, Norman. FOLK Final Drive/Volition/Dred-Dour, Thunder Alley Grill and Sports Bar. ROCK Garage Band Jam/The Garage Band, Bourbon Street Bar. ROCK Smooth and Soulful Sax and Axe, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. JAZZ Steve Crossley Solo, Margarita Island. VARIOUS

FRIDAY, 12.9 Brian Lynn Jones and the Misfit Cowboys, Remington Park. COUNTRY Bullet Boys/Pretty Boy Floyd/Tuff/Coming Up Zero/Sign of Lies, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK Dawn of Flames/The Devil Himself/Astraea Invade, Your Mom’s Place. ROCK Dirty River Boys/Travis Kidd, The Vanguard, Tulsa. VARIOUS Drive, Baker St. Pub & Grill. VARIOUS

Rock for Standing Rock Local bands and musicians offer their support to Standing Rock Indian Reservation land and water protectors attempting to halt Dakota Access Pipeline development that could threaten natural resources and sacred Native American sites in North Dakota. Bands performing in Rock for Standing Rock are The Big News (pictured), Katie Williams, Stone Tide, Hannah Wolff and more. The show runs 12:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday at Power House, 1228 SW Second St. Admission is an at-thedoor donation to benefit the Sacred Stone Camp at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. There is no set donation amount. Call 405-702-0699. Sunday

Photo The Big News / provided

Halos &Horns/The Chad Todd Band/The Second Chance Band/David Paul Nowlin, Oklahoma City Limits. VARIOUS

Hook Echo, Alley Club. ROCK

Jam Session, Ghost Riders Saloon. VARIOUS

Jack Rowdy, Landing Zone, Midwest City.

Josh Garrels, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. SINGER/

Joe Bonamassa, Brady Theater, Tulsa. ROCK

Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Rick Toops, Friends Restaurant &Club. COVER

COUNTRY

Josh Qualls, Jazmoz Bourbon St. Cafe. VARIOUS Mike Bone, Main Street Event Center, Norman.

HIP-HOP

Pet/Oberon/Sweeper, Blue Note Lounge.

VARIOUS

Randy Cassimus, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC

SONGWRITER

The Direct Connect Band, Elmer’s Uptown. R&B

MONDAY, 12.12 Jingle Bell Jam featuring Kyle Dillingham and Horseshoe Road, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. ACOUSTIC

Shawna Russel, Riverwind Casino, Norman.

Metal Jam/Comin Up Zero/Steve Parnell, Bourbon Street Bar. ROCK

Street Kings, Bourbon Street Bar. ROCK

TUESDAY, 12.13

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Sweeper/Oberon/Pet, Blue Note Lounge. VARIOUS

SATURDAY, 12.10 April Seals, Full Circle Bookstore. CLASSICAL Casey &Minna, Cox Pavilion State Fairgrounds. FOLK Get Fired/Darlington/Costanzas, Red Brick Bar, Norman. ROCK

Jam Session/Austin and Marie Nail, Bourbon Street Bar. BLUES

WEDNESDAY, 12.14 Amarillo Junction, JJ’s Alley. COUNTRY

Casey &Minna, OKC Pop-Ups. FOLK

Life of the Party, Newcastle Casino, Newcastle.

Husky Burnette/Soda Gardocki, Lost Highway Bar. BLUES

R&B Jam/The Soulmen, Bourbon Street Bar. R&B

OKC Voodoo, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Ed VanBuskirk, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER

VARIOUS

The Lacs, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. ROCK Tish Hinojosa, The Blue Door.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

SUNDAY, 12.11 Allegaeon/Battlecross/Necromancing the Stone, Thunder Alley Grill and Sports Bar. ROCK Blues Jam with the Stinnette Brothers, Bourbon Street Bar. BLUES Celtic Music Jam, Full Circle Bookstore. VARIOUS Danielle Nicole Band, Friends Restaurant & Club.

BLUES

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d e c e m b e r 7, 2 0 1 6 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

free will astrology Homework: Homework: Imagine it’s many years from now. As you look back on your life, what adventure do you regret not trying?

Truthrooster@gmail.com ARIES (March 21-April 19) Normally I cheer you on

when you devote single-minded attention to pressing concerns, even if you become a bit obsessive. But right now, in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to run wild and free as you sample lavish variety.

It’s prime time to survey a spectrum of spicy, shiny, and feisty possibilities . . . to entertain a host of ticklish riddles rather than to insist on prosaic answers. You have been authorized by the cosmos to fabricate your own temporary religion of playing around and messing around and fooling around.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Taurus poet Adrienne

Rich described “an honorable human relationship” as “one in which two people have the right to use the word ‘love.’” How is that right earned? How is such a bond nurtured? Rich said it was “often terrifying to both persons involved,” because it’s “a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.” I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because you’re in a favorable phase to become an even more honorable lover, friend, and ally than you already are. To take advantage of the opportunity, explore this question: How can you supercharge and purify your ability to speak and hear the truth?

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) In Goethe’s play *Faust,*

the hero bemoans his lack of inner unity. Two different souls live within him, he says, and they don’t cooperate.

Even worse, they each try to rule him without consulting the other. I’m guessing you’ve experienced a more manageable version of that split during the course of your life. Lately, though, it may have grown more intense and divisive. If that’s true, I think it’s a good sign. It portends the possibility that healing is in the works . . . that energy is building for a novel synthesis. To help make it happen, identify and celebrate what your two sides have in common.

By Rob Brezsny

CANCER (June 21-July 22) The poet Dick Allen described Zen Buddhism as being “so filled with paradoxes that it jumps through hoops that aren’t even there.” I’m tempted to apply this description to the way you’ve been living your life recently. While I can see how it may have entertained you to engage in such glamorous intrigue, I’m hoping you will stop. There is no longer anything to be gained by the complicated hocus-pocus. But it’s fine for you to jump through actual hoops if doing so yields concrete benefits.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) For decades, numerous self-help

authors have claimed that humans use ten percent or less of their brain’s potential. But the truth is that our gray matter is far more active than that. The scientific evidence is now abundant. (See a summary here: tinyurl. com/mindmyths.) I hope this helps spur you to destroy any limited assumptions you might have about your own brainpower, Leo. According to my astrological analysis, you could and should become significantly smarter in the next nine months -- and wiser, too!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Born under the sign of Virgo,

Mary Oliver is America’s best-selling poet. She wasn’t an overnight sensation, but she did win a Pulitzer Prize when she was 49. “What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly myself,” she confesses in one poem. “Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to. That was many years ago.” I bet that even at her current age of 81, Oliver is still refining and deepening her self-love. Neither she nor you will ever be finished with this grand and grueling project.

Luckily for you both, now is a time when Virgos can and should make plucky progress in the ongoing work. (P.S.: And this is an essential practice if you want to keep refining and deepening your love for others.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Most high-quality suits

worn by men are made from the wool of merino sheep raised in Australia. So says Nicholas Antongiavanni in his book *The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men’s Style.* There are now more than 100 million members of this breed, but they are all descendants of just two rams and four ewes from 18th-century Spain. How did that happen? It’s a long story. (Read about it here: tinyurl.

com/merinosheep.) For the oracular purposes of this horoscope, I’ll simply say that in the next nine months you’ll also have the potential to germinate a few choice seeds that could ultimately yield enormous, enduring results. Choose well!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Five of my Scorpio

acquaintances and 17 of my Scorpio readers have let me know that they’re actively seeking to make new alliances and strengthen their existing alliances. Does this mean that Scorpios everywhere are engaged in similar quests?

I hope so. I would love to see you expand your network of like-minded souls. I would love for you to be ardent about recruiting more help and support. Happily, the current astrological omens favor such efforts. Hot tip: For best results, be receptive, inviting, and forthright.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) “The awesome

splendor of the universe is much easier to deal with if you think of it as a series of small chunks,” wrote novelist Terry Pratchett. That’s true enough, but I’ll add a caveat: Now and then the trickle of small chunks of awesome splendor gives way to a surge of really big chunks.

According to my astrological analysis, that’s either already happening for you, or else is about to happen.

Can you handle it? I’m sure you’ve noticed that some people are unskilled at welcoming such glory; they prefer to keep their lives tidy and tiny. They may even get stressed out by their good fortune. I trust you’re not one of these fainthearted souls. I hope you will summon the grace you’ll need to make spirited use of the onslaught of magnificence.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) In his book *The

Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,* John Koenig coins words to describe previously unnamed feelings. I suspect you may have experienced a few of them recently. One is “monachopsis,” defined as “the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.” Then there’s “altschmerz,” meaning “weariness with the same old issues you’ve always had.” Another obscure sorrow you might recognize is “nodus tollens,” or “the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Now I’ll tell you two of Koenig’s more uplifting terms,

which I bet you’ll feel as you claw your way free of the morass. First, there’s “liberosis”: caring less about unimportant things; relaxing your grip so you can hold your life loosely and playfully. Second, there’s “flashover,” that moment when conversations become “real and alive, which occurs when a spark of trust shorts out the delicate circuits you keep insulated under layers of irony.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In 1983, two Australian

blokes launched a quest to tip a drink at every pub in Melbourne. Thirty-two years later, Mick Stevens and Stuart MacArthur finally accomplished their goal when they sipped beers at The Clyde. It was the 476th establishment on their list. The coming weeks will be a highly favorable time to plan an epic adventure of your own, Aquarius. I hope and pray, though, that you will make it more sacred and meaningful than Stevens’ and MacArthur’s trivial mission.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) For three seasons of the year -- spring, summer, and fall -- a certain weasel species has brown fur. During that time, it’s known as a stoat. When winter arrives, the creature’s coat turns to white. Its name changes, too. We call it an ermine.

The next spring, it once again becomes a stoat. Given the nature of the astrological omens, Pisces, I think it would make poetic sense for you to borrow this strategy.

What would you like your nickname to be during the next three months? Here are a few suggestions: Sweet Sorcerer; Secret Freedom-Seeker; Lost-and-Found Specialist; Mystery Maker; Resurrector.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Mixology

By Matt Ginsberg | Edited by Will Shortz | 1204 ACROSS 1 They often have small tables 6 Base men?

10 Jazzes (up) 14 Back to the Future antagonist 18 Stars-and-stripes land, informally 19 Some Great Plains residents 20 Possible destination for un

inmigrante, with “el” 22 Hero 23 Infant + straying = noted coach 25 Less polite + wildly

unconventional = epicenter 27 Eye part 28 New pop of 1924 30 Approached apace 31 Pro 32 In Tahitian, it means “good” 34 Urban woe + squirms = pool accessory 37 Untuned, say 40 Halters?

42 Big Ten sch.

43 Delay + dodos = some compromises 46 Adorn brilliantly 51 Birthday girl’s wear 52 Pandora release 53 Del ____ (fast-food chain) 55 Poetic Muse 56 Spa, e.g.

58 Nevada gold-mining town 60 Remain + “Hmm ...” = R&B great 62 ____ season 64 Moved at a crawl 66 Saharan 67 Letter at the end of three other letters 70 Bill producers + Western wear =

info for events 74 Lisa, to Bart 75 Big name in root beer 77 Overindulged 78 Sushi go-with 80 Show, informally + African capital

= Adonis 82 Social worker?

85 Suck it up?

89 Someone never seen in Peanuts 90 ____ Minor 92 Yarn 94 Feudal lord 95 Mariners’ aids

97 Pasty + vacation expense,

maybe = hospital specialty 100 Court affirmation 101 Radial alternative 102 Was ahead 103 See + umbrella alternative = warming option

108 Minimal diamond margin 111 Lead-in to maniac 112 Santa ____ 113 Area to defend 115 “My Cup Runneth Over” crooner 119 Regarding + undercoat =

network with 303 stations 122 Day of the month + succeed =

some recital pieces 124 Epps of House 125 Kind of chair 126 In years past 127 Vertical 128 Makes it?

129 Prefix with byte 130 The time of Nick?

131 ____ Chris Steak House

DOWN 1 Jinx breakers of 2016 2 “Hold on ____!”

3 Stable arrival 4 Violinist Zimbalist 5 Negev native 6 Evasive 7 Crooked 8 Accomplished everything 9 Green of The Italian Job 10 Director Lee 11 Cat that epitomizes finickiness 12 Many a charity tournament 13 Deeply offended 14 Hollywood, with “the” 15 Unimprovable 16 The “F” in F = ma 17 Results of icy breakups?

21 Finally put an end to?

24 Mrs. Gorbachev 26 Follower of an Alaskan team 29 “The doctor ____” 33 Actress Hatcher 35 Last part of the country to report

election results 36 Keeps safe 37 Pulls (out of) 38 Resell quickly

VOL. XXXVIII No. 49 1

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41 Takes a chance 44 Saharan 45 Curses 46 Recall cause, maybe 47 Computer hookups 48 Chain that sells chains 49 Cheri formerly of SNL 50 “The Highwayman” poet 54 Some 57 Do pretty well gradewise 59 Currently airing 61 What germs may turn into 63 Squeal on 65 Relatives on the father’s side 67 Classic Icelandic literary works 68 Time for una siesta 69 For two 71 Cabooses

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72 Some needlework, informally?

73 Art 76 Carter/Brezhnev agreement 79 Absolutely awesome 81 After Rainier, highest peak in the

Pacific Northwest 83 Island whose volcanic eruption is

rumored to have destroyed Atlantis 84 Simple truth 86 Mend 87 Nasty sort 88 Attention, for some 91 Capital where Robert Louis

Stevenson died 93 Verb from which “suis” and “sommes” are conjugated 96 Anonymous 98 Heavy-metal band with 1980s hits

Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com

99 Correo ____ (foreign mail stamp) 101 Carrier 103 Move, as a plant 104 Old World lizard 105 Hulk Hogan trademark 106 October option 107 Counterpart of “stand” 109 Milk container 110 Remote land in the Pacific 114 Familiar with 116 Rendezvous 117 Impress deeply 118 Bygone boomers, for short 120 Org. authorized by the 16th Amendment 121 Spanish she-bear 123 Maiden-name preceder

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T H I E E N

C L E P R N S L I A P A C F I C T E A A D R O D O E N Y Y C L E R A I N F S T I A O E I N P R C A L Z I N A O T E D E E D Y

H A D I D E A S

I N U S E W M D

M A N O S E E C N R I O F L E V E R

T A C O

S A I T E L N B A N U N B A I T E L I A R T C U I X O U T G T Z E E I D S P T E D E W E S L I W A S D A W A E D A Y V E R S O D E O

EDITOR-in-chief Jennifer Palmer Chancellor jchancellor@okgazette.com Assistant EDITOR Brittany Pickering Staff reporters Greg Elwell, Laura Eastes, Ben Luschen Contributors Mark Beutler, Bailey Chambers Lauren Dow, Christine Eddington Ian Jayne, George Lang, Kara Stewart Lea Terry, Jessica Williams Photographer Garett Fisbeck Circulation Manager Chad Bleakley Art Director Chris Street

Advertising/Marketing Design Coordinator Erin DeMoss Graphic Designer Anna Shilling

Puzzle No. 1127, which appeared in the November 30 issue.

M A G E L L A N

Account Executive / Advertising assistant Leah Roberts

Production Manager Arden Biard

New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers S N A P S U P

Advertising Director Christy Duane, cduane@okgazette.com

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Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute).

Sudoku Puzzle Hard

Accounting/HR Manager Marian Harrison Accounts receivable Karen Holmes

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Marketing Manager Kelsey Lowe

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VP, CORPORATE AFFAIRS Linda Meoli

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Associate Publisher James Bengfort

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First-class mail subscriptions are $119 for one year, and most issues at this rate will arrive 1-2 days after publication.

publisher Bill Bleakley

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