December 2020

STEALING THE SHOW: OKLAHOMA’S GROWING FILM INDUSTRY LOOKS TO TAKE CENTER STAGE

Season ’Tis the

YO U R G U I D E T O C O L D -W E AT H E R F O O D A N D F U N

Happy Holidays Seasons Greetings from Dr. Noel Williams,

This year has been like no other at Optimal Health. Opportunities to adjust, grow, and offer our patients the individualized care they deserve are still vital parts of the organization.

Benjamin Barenberg and I welcomed Cassie Smith MD to our medical team. We are looking forward to further additions next year to expand care opportunities.

As we welcome 2021, everyone will still be confronted with the pandemic, as well as changes to the healthcare system. Our promise is to provide the same personalized care our patients are accustomed to while adapting to new scientific findings and technologies, allowing us to be leaders in healthcare.

We will continue to focus on the science of nutrition and its application to improving health along with newer collateral therapies including stem cell derivatives, IV vitamin therapies, and hormone therapy.

405. 715. 4496 | OptimalHealthAssocia t e s .co m 9800 Broadway Ext, Ste. 200, Oklaho ma C i t y Dr. Benjamin J. Barenberg

Dr. Noel Williams

Dr. Cassie Smith

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FE AT U R ES

4 05 M A G A Z I N E | V O LU M E S I X I S S U E T W E LV E

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An inside look at the food, travel and worthwhile endeavors to undertake this season.

From a trained labor pool to state-of-the-art sound stages, Oklahoma looks to join the film industry’s A-list.

Now Showing

COURTESY C9 PRODUCTIONS - JOHNNY GRAHAM

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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DEPA RTM EN TS

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OUT & ABOUT

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PR I ME PICK S Best bets for entertainment in December

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SOCI AL HOUR Faces and places inside the 405

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FA SHION Rich holiday trends to brighten the season

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PER SON OF IN TER EST The Reverend Dr. Lori Walke leads local efforts to aid migrants

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ARTS & CULTUR E Local filmmakers stage Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite with a new twist

72 EVERY ISSUE

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WH AT’S ONLINE A look at social media in the 405

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GIVING BACK Dragonfly Home seeks to return stolen lives to victims of human trafficking

DINING

HOME

52 GOOD

TA STE The Chicken Shack is on track to become another Route 66 icon

62 EN TERTAINING

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THE DISH Fabulous holiday fudge from Apple Tree Chocolate

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THE DR INK The best gifting whiskeys, from outstanding buys to pricey viands

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L A ST L AUGH Lauren Roth recounts the accuracy of her 2020 predictions

AT HOME WITH Proprietor of Tulips in Norman shares her thoughts on bringing warmth to a home

66 DESIGN

Edmond home showcases holiday traditions with natural accents

LOCAL FL AVOR A listing of the 405’s best restaurants

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LOOKING BACK Part 1 of the story behind the legendary John A. Brown Co. department stores

101 Steep in the tradition of afternoon tea

O N T H E C OV E R Children play amid the Christmas trees at Wells Family Christmas Tree Farm in Norman. Photo by Rachel Waters

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“I've been thinking about what I'd like to give you for Christmas. I'd really like to give you something that just fits your own wishes and needs the way these shoes just fit me. I suppose the thing I'd like most to be able to give you is hope...”

- fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

DECEMBER 2020

VOLUME 6 • NUMBER 12

OWNER | PUBLISHER

Jordan Regas

jordan.regas@405magazine.com VICE PRESIDENT

Kaley Regas

kaley@hilltopmediagroup.com EDITOR IN CHIEF

Melissa Mercer Howell

melissa.mercerhowell@405magazine.com ART DIRECTOR

Christopher Lee

christopher.lee@405magazine.com MANAGING EDITOR

Brandon King

Oklahoma City is OUR neighborhood. And what makes our neighborhood special is we help each other out in times of need.

Some of our more than one-thousand Habitat families are in jeopardy of losing the familiarity of the home they worked so hard to own this holiday season due to economic hardships brought on by COVID-19.

We are asking you to help these families, our neighbors, make ends meet with a donation to Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity. Your donation will help fill the gap in mortgage payments and allow us to continue operations as normal as possible, while ensuring these families remain in their homes.

Drawing inspiration from America’s neighbor – Mr. Rogers – We are calling on our neighbors to make a donation at YOURHABITATHOME.com

brandon.king@405magazine.com PRODUCTION MANAGER

Emiley Sexton

emiley.sexton@405magazine.com STYLE EDITOR

Sara Gae Waters

saragae.waters@405magazine.com TRAVEL EDITOR

Matt Payne

matt.payne@405magazine.com SENIOR WRITER

Greg Horton

greg.horton@405magazine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Kimberly Burk, Christine Eddington, Evie Klopp Holzer, George Lang, Linda Miller, Lauren Roth, Elaine Warner CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Lexi Hoebing, Fran Kozakowski, Rachel Maucieri, Charlie Neuenschwander, Matt Payne, Don Risi, Bailey Rucker, Rachel Waters, Shevaun Williams

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DANCIN’ AND PRANCIN’ Get in, Get Outlet.

This season, make a statement from any distance. Experience open-air shopping, and find holiday styles at over 80 name-brand stores.

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Meaning From the Clutter A HOPEFUL TAKEAWAY FROM THE DELUGE THAT WAS 2020

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HO K N E W SO M UCH COU LD be packed into such a small space?

Yeah, I’m talking about 2020.

I think this year will forever remind me of my mother’s garage. From the outside, it looks interesting. Treasure is bound to be lurking somewhere with so much crammed in; however, when you actually get into it? Put it this way: Minimalists would find it terrifying.

She’s a Depression baby, in her defense. She saves everything because she might need it someday. She even reuses paper towels and aluminum foil. It’s a virtue and a curse.

My dad used to clean the garage every Saturday.

It was a part of his so-called WOF Day ritual – WOF being “War On Filth.” There was no sleeping in on Saturdays for the Mercer kids. Dad started the day off at 7 a.m. with a cowbell (yes, a real cowbell) to remind us that it was WOF Day and we were wasting daylight.

Once, after cleaning the garage, he came into the kitchen, leaned on the counter and looked exasperatedly at my mother.

“Sam’s Club called,” he said. “They’re running low on paint and wondered if they could swing by and pick some up.”

Dad has been gone for 10 years. Under my mom’s supervision, things in the garage have … well, accumulated. Old appliances. Rugs. Canned food in case of a freak ice or snow storm. A 1930 model refrigerator that still runs, but no one is around who can make repairs on it. Silk flowers. Hurricane globes. I’m pretty certain the paint that Dad was hoping to give to Sam’s Club is still on the shelf – all 20 cans of it.

In spite of her vast stockpile, Mom manages to keep things clean and organized, while still squeezing her car in the garage. A full, detailed accounting of its contents would be one of the great mysteries of our time.

Yet, every now and then, when you really need something – maybe you didn’t even know you needed it – the perfect item will turn up in Mom’s garage. Maybe that’s the lesson of 2020.

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Sure, it’s been horrifying, weird, depressing and tragic, but maybe there’s something we can take from it. Much like my mom and her Depression-era sensibilities, 2020’s difficulties are part of us now. We’re marked by a collective, cultural trauma that will forever change our course. Perhaps the unprecedented struggles of this year will help us understand and navigate troubled times to come, similar to the helpful items found in the corners of Mom’s garage.

Melissa Mercer Howell EDITOR IN CHIEF

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Haynes is one of the few surgeons in Oklahoma performing the anterior total hip replacement, as well as same-day discharge joint replacement.

“The focus is on great results, but also on rapid recovery following a minimally invasive procedure for hip and knee replacement,” Haynes explained.

“For many patients, going home the same day is an important option.”

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Fashion

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Person of Interest

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Arts & Culture

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What’s Online 24 Giving Back

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Embracing the Shine Rich, dreamy colors and sparkling accessories lend a festive warmth to small or distanced holiday

SHEVAUN WILLIAMS

celebrations. Page 16

Brushed gold multi-strand necklace and gold bracelets from Eden and off-theshoulder, ruffle wine velvet dress by Unique Vintage from Black Scintilla.

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Pearl and crystal encrusted headband by Lele Sadoughi with gold ball bracelet and oversized pearl earrings from Cayman’s.

Sequin slip dress by Ali & Jay from Eden.

The New Look of the Holidays FRESH FASHIONS FOR A SHINING, LESS SOCIAL SEASON

BY LINDA MILLER

H

O L I DAY S F O R M A N Y O F U S A R E G O I N G T O look and feel different this year. Small family gatherings, if any at all, and video get-togethers may be the new normal, at least temporarily. What hasn’t changed is the desire to indulge in a little shine and sparkle, or in anything that adds an air of festivity. Maybe that’s even more important now.

All-out sequins and crystals convey glamour and always are a favorite, but with big parties questionable this year, don’t underestimate the simplicity and fancifulness of a jewel-encrusted headband or head wrap, or a sexy sequined sandal and oversized crystal drop earrings, with the most flattering pair of jeans in your wardrobe. Consider layering on necklaces and bracelets. How much or how little flash is up to you.

What looks new this holiday season are softer, almost dreamy shades that seem to convey the same sense of calm and comfort that we’ve sought from our clothing over the past few months, but with a welcome dose of allure and sophistication. And metallic delivers it all. Gold lame pants? Sure. A copper pleated skirt? Yes, please. Pair either one with a more subtle blouse or go head-to-toe drama.

It’s also worth noting that these clothes and accessories don’t specifically scream holiday, Christmas or even New Year’s Eve, so they can do double duty for almost any special occasion or event in the future.

But for this holiday season, let’s all embrace a little shine and let our clothes lift our spirits, too.

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Velvet dot and sheer blouse by See U Soon from rosegold; multiple bead bracelets and Ronny Kobo gold lame pants, both from Gretta Sloane; gold and white box bag from Eden and Cecelia white and gold booties from Betsy King Shoes.

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Crystal accented head wrap and silver bow blouse by Bishop & Young, both from Eden; copper pleated skirt

by Scotch & Soda from Cayman’s; and silver sandal by Pelle Moda from Betsy King Shoes.

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Brushed gold link necklaces by Virtue, one with a selenite crystal, from Kokopelli; green velvet pantsuit by Good American and blue sequin top by IRO, both from rosegold; and gold metallic square-toe heels by Marc Fisher and evening bag, both from Betsy King Shoes.

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The Reverend Dr. Lori Walke at Mayflower Congregational UCC Church.

Transcending Borders THE REVEREND DR. LORI WALKE WORKS TO REFORM IMMIGRATION AND HELP UNDOCUMENTED RESIDENTS NAVIGATE THE SYSTEM

BY G EO RG E L A NG | PHOTO BY BA ILE Y RUCK ER

F

I V E DAY S A F T E R H E WA S S WO R N I N T O office, on Jan. 25, 2017, President Donald Trump issued two executive orders that limited immigration from seven countries and codified his promise to build a massive wall along the United States’ southern border. The Rev. Dr. Lori Walke, then the associate pastor for Mayflower Congregational UCC Church, saw those orders and subsequent restrictions as a call to action.

“All people from basically seven countries, many of those countries we were bombing at the time,” says Walke, a 36-year-old former Oklahoma State University basketball player who went on to earn a master’s degree in health care administration from OSU, her juris doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law and her Master of Divinity from Philips Theological Seminary. “And for many of our congregation, that really started us on a journey, learning about immigration, refugees and asylum seekers.”

For the next 10 months, Walke and Mayflower’s congregants invited immigration attorneys and “Dreamers” – so called for the never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act that would offer protections to illegal immigrants brought here as children – to speak to the congregation so Mayflower could be morally and legally prepared for how to address the crisis.

In October 2017, the congregation voted to become part of the Sanctuary Movement, which began in the 1980s in response to civil unrest in Central America and the subsequent flood of immigration from those countries to the U.S. It offers workshops to help Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients renew their status, and accompanies undocumented residents if they are summoned to Oklahoma City’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office.

“We know that the results are better for people of color if a white person – and specifically a white clergy person – shows up to that appointment with them,” Walke says.

Walke and Rev. Robin Meyers were featured in the 2019 documentary American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel,

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which depicted Mayflower’s movement to join the Sanctuary Movement and explored the lives of progressive clergy in the “buckle” of the Bible Belt.

Events of the past year have required some major recalibration, both for Mayflower and for Walke. Since Meyers’ retirement on Jan. 5, Walke has served as acting senior pastor at the church and, at press time, was awaiting a Nov. 15 confirmation vote from the congregation to become Mayflower’s permanent senior pastor. It has also affected Walke’s prayer vigils for immigration justice. At noon every Friday, she and other activists broadcast a hybrid in-person vigil and Zoom call on Facebook Live, singing hymns and reciting prayers in hopes of speeding immigration reform and calling attention to the issues.

“So, of course, for the pandemic we were only online for a while, but in the last couple of months we moved to a synchronous vigil where we’re online

and in person and probably between the two of those, there’s 20 to 30 folks that show up every week.” she says. “And it is a wide range of folks who come, including folks from the Jewish community.

Oklahoma atheists, Lutherans, UCC, Muslim, Catholic, Methodist. You name it, we’ve got it.”

While issues concerning undocumented immigration have received greater attention in the past four years, Walke, who tweets under the Twitter handle @highheelrev, says the problems are far older than one or two presidential administrations.

“Well, one of the things that we’ve learned during the process of educating ourselves on this issue is that the injustice to the community that’s being targeted is long – the history is long,” Walke says. “And immigration policy in this country has always been rooted in racism, so we’ve got a lot of ground to make up.”

Wi s h i ng you a S a fe a nd Happy H oliday S e ason

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The Nutcracker’s New Look A THOUGHTFUL NEW SPIN ON A HOLIDAY CLASSIC

BY G REG HOR T ON

W

R I T I N G A B O U T T H E N U T C R AC K E R , T H AT beloved holiday ballet with Tchaikovsky’s twinkling, racing, soaring and inspiring music, is likely to be fraught with traps. For everyone who experienced it first as a child, it became both the moment they fall in love with ballet and a family tradition to pass on to the next generation. For adults who discover it late, especially in our modern context, it’s a puzzling mixture of children running around a parlor, a bizarre battle scene, a stunningly beautiful “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” then a deep dive into what appear to be casually racist stereotypes.

As The Guardian writer Lyndsey Winship wrote last year about the Chinese dancers: “It is just one example of the sometimes jarringly 19thcentury worldview that permeates classical ballet but has slowly begun to be questioned.”

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Lance McDaniel, formerly of deadCenter Film, has taken on the challenge of creating a modern version of The Nutcracker, with critical help from filmmaker and deadCenter veteran Melissa Scaramucci, who is directing.

Rather than create an “anti-Nutcracker film,” as McDaniel puts it, the team has chosen to give diverse ethnic groups their own “voice” in terms of the dances they perform, while keeping Tchaikovsky’s beautiful music.

“We’ve been working with Hui Cha Poos, the founder of RACE Dance Collective, and she’s been staging a hip-hop Nutcracker in schools for eight years,” McDaniel says.

“With COVID, though, the schools are closed to these types of events. She approached us about a film version.”

The timing proved to be opportune. McDaniel and Scaramucci had been talking to Heath Hayes at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services about reducing the stigma around addiction and mental health. The concept was a good fit.

“Lance and I have written about these issues for years,” Scaramucci says. “We even did a short film about them called Homecoming.”

In Finding Carlos, the male lead, played by Maximus White, is Carlos, a young man who struggles with anxiety and is part of a family with addiction issues.

ZACHARY BURNS

Maximus White (“Carlos” - left) and Layla Rickaman (“Clarissa” - right), show their “Fred & Ginger” talents while filming in the Farmer’s Public Market ballroom. Both are theater students at Classen SAS at Northeast.

“My character is a 16-year-old angsty teen,” White says. “He’s tough-edged, so he has to learn to love himself and let people in. I’m excited that we’re working on a project to help with mental health awareness, and because I deal with some of this myself, it feels good to make it less taboo.”

Opposite White in her first major role is Layla Rickman as Clarissa, who plays Carlos’s love interest in the film. Rickman’s background is dance, and her mother, a native of Colombia, owns a dance studio that teaches modern and traditional dance forms, including Salsa. Both White and Rickman are still in high school.

“We made an aspirational movie with these kids,” Scaramucci says. “The Nutcracker is a Christmas story, so we get to tell the story we want, which is that Carlos is OK; he gets to be successful.”

Multi-talented actors Maximus White (“Carlos” - top), Emmett Prince (“Michael” - left), and Chris Shepard (“Daniel” - right) in a hip hop dance scene filmed at the OKC Ballet.

ZACHARY BURNS

I’m excited that we’re working on a project to help with mental health awareness, and because I deal with some of this myself, it feels good to make it less taboo.

McDaniel and Scaramucci met with nearly a dozen advocacy groups that focus on diverse causes including children’s needs, mental health issues and veterans’ issues. The overwhelming message from all of them, according to Scaramucci, is “you are not alone.” To help get that message across, actors in the film make use of programs that are available for people suffering with mental health issues in Oklahoma. It’s not product placement, so much as a view of what the filmmakers hope will be a real-life experience for Oklahomans.

To combat the racial complexities of The Nutcracker, various dance troupes were tasked with creating their own choreography, which led to progressions from traditional, cultural dances to modern dance forms, including hip-hop and break dancing. One of the most problematic numbers in the original is the Chinese dance, so Hui Cha Poos focused not on one culture as emblematic of Asia, but rather choreographed an “Asian panoply” of Bollywood, Kazakh, Chinese and KPop. Scenes were shot around the city in culturally diverse locations: La Oaxaquena Bakery, Super Cao Nguyen grocery and OKC Ballet.

Another key role, the Sugarplum Fairy, is sung by Tulsa artist Brand J, and Oklahoma City’s Jabee is the rapping narrator. Finding Carlos will debut Dec. 4 and 5 on OETA. The deadCenter portal and theaters throughout Oklahoma will have access to it for the rest of the month of December, but opening weekend will be free of charge.

Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribal Elder James Sleeper (center) and his family have been performing ceremonial dances for generations.

He and D’Angelo Sleeper (right) and Nizhoni Sleeper (left) appear as dancers and actors in Finding Carlos.

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Survivors and Support THE LIFE-RESHAPING WORK OF DRAGONFLY HOME

BY CHR IS T INE ED D ING T ON

The therapy room at Dragonfly Home’s Human Trafficking Crisis Center is intentionally designed to feel homelike.

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Dragonfly Home serves people of all genders, from every cultural background, adults and juveniles.

The truth is that it’s our girls and our boys who are being trafficked by our people. And the only reason sex trafficking exists in Oklahoma is that there is a demand for illicit sex. In Oklahoma.”

Labor trafficking occurs in Oklahoma, though it’s less common.

According to The Dragonfly Home, labor trafficking is “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing or soliciting of a person for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.” Essentially, getting someone to work against their will for the benefit of another.

The version of human trafficking seen in most films is not how trafficking occurs in Oklahoma, according to Anderson and Snowden. With 25 years of experience working in the narcotics unit, Snowden finds the work rewarding, though he acknowledges the work would be more challenging without the Dragonfly Home.

“When police intercept a cocaine ring, the cocaine is evidence and it goes into a locker for a few years, and it doesn’t need anything,” Snowden says. “With human trafficking, the evidence is a person, a victim, and police really aren’t equipped to deal with all that may come with that. We really rely on the Dragonfly Home to help us provide care and assistance, which is also required by the (Oklahoma) Victims Bill of Rights.”

PARENTS’ TOOLKIT: TAKE ACTION TO PREVENT CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING Monitor Real Life and Online Friends • Talk to your kids about their friends in real life and online • Get to know their friends, and their friends’ parents • Teach your kids to look for signs of a predator: friends who seem too good to be true or make big offers and promises may be lying, exaggerating, trying to get something

Monitor Online Activity • Exercise parental internet safety • Monitor smart phones and computers for newly installed apps • Use Internet safety software with parental controls • Search “dangerous apps” regularly to stay up to date

Communicate Common Sense Safety • Talk to kids about their own Internet safety • Remind your child that people may not be who they say they are online • Keep personal info private: address, phone number, email, even school name • Only allow people you know in person to follow you on social media • When age-appropriate, encourage teens to research sex trafficking to learn the reality of the risk • Learn about and talk to your kids about sexting

PHOTOS PROVIDED

H

U M A N T R A F F I C K I N G H A P P E N S E V E RY day in the 405. Sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Adults and children. Women, girls, men, non-binary folks. Right here, by the hundreds. People are sold for sex or trapped in involuntary servitude; a sterilized phrase for modern-day slavery.

This is not a conspiracy theory; it happens every day in Oklahoma.

Whitney Anderson is the co-founder and executive director of The Dragonfly Home - a nonprofit serving survivors of human trafficking. Anderson says the issue is daunting, but victims can recover and move on from the experience.

Despite what many believe, human trafficking in the Oklahoma City area often is homegrown, Anderson said.

“The word trafficking implies movement, but in many cases, there is no movement,” she says. “ It’s a mom selling a child for sex out of their house to buy drugs or pay rent. It’s a husband selling a wife, or it’s a pimp or gang-controlled sale of a person for sex acts. If a child is being sold, that is sex trafficking. There is no such thing as a child prostitute.”

Michael Snowden – agent in charge of the Human Trafficking Division of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs – agrees and works to debunk misinformation surrounding trafficking.

“It is not someone following you in a Walmart or Target.

It has nothing to do with the number of highways in Oklahoma. We struggle with people believing these things.

Since the Dragonfly Home received certification from the Oklahoma State Attorney General in November 2016, two primary operations allow people to get the assistance they require regardless of the time: a 24-hour hotline and crisis center. Through these services, the Dragonfly Home is able to provide resources including crisis intervention, referrals, non-residential services, and more; as well as necessities including food and clothing.

Occupational stress is an unspoken aspect of Dragonfly Home agents. Upon opening the Dragonfly Home, Anderson’s first case involved a family member selling a child for sex out of their home.

“I have heard things that I never imagined were possible,” Anderson says. She pauses, starts to speak, pauses again. “I’ve met so many cool and brave individuals. Survivors. They don’t want this to define them.”

Operations never slowed. The Dragonfly Home has received more than 4,500 hotline calls, and continues helping callers find shelter, safety and other services, such as legal representation or medical care.

The group has directly housed or assisted more than 400 people.

Their clientele is primarily women and girls of all ages, with a majority between 20 and 25 years old; however, many in their 40, 50s, and 60s escaped their abuse, but continue to deal with lingering effects of trauma. Their abuse often took place before terms like “sex trafficking” entered the common vernacular.

I’ve met so many cool and brave individuals. Survivors. They don’t want this to define them.

The Dragonfly Home is the creation of three women of differing backgrounds and professions, yet each - Executive Director Whitney Anderson, Director of Communications and Development Melissa Eick, and Program Director Niqui (whose last name and image are withheld for confidentiality and protection) - felt called to help trafficking survivors.

The trio knew starting a nonprofit was a risky plan.

“We definitely had that moment of ‘Are we really doing this?’

But we all three believed God had led us to this place together. So, we did it,” Anderson says. “We pooled our money and started the Dragonfly Home with about $1,500.”

As an onsite partner agency at Oklahoma City’s Palomar Family Justice Center, the nonprofit is expanding services and outreach through partnerships and grants.

“We are so thankful that things have fallen into place,” Anderson says. “We receive confirmation every day that we made the right decision.”

Dragonfly Home currently has two locations, all in service to those in need and to those helping their cause, like Michael Snowden.

“The Dragonfly Home is crucial to the mission of our agency,” Snowden says. “It’s the only certified provider in Oklahoma City.

There are a few in Tulsa. What I appreciate the most about the Dragonfly Home is that the ladies who founded it are ground soldiers. And, frankly, it’s really hard, dirty work.”

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Holiday Shopping

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Conveniently located at the intersection of 15th and S.Bryant in Edmond.

Holiday Wishes GI F T

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HOLIDAY WISHES G IF T GU ID E 2020

Rosegold

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1 Cable Knit Headband, $18 2 Skylar Hat, $84 3 Cashmere Wrap (navy & tan), $275 4 Pretty Polaroid Notes, $15 5 200 Women Coffee Table Book, $50

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6 Beanie, $28 7 Moon + Back tee, $62 8 Fingerless Gloves, $16 9 Marina Bag, $223

HOLIDAY WISHES G IF T GU ID E 2020

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HOLIDAY WISHES G IF T GU ID E 2020

Swaddle

7 6 3 6 N W E S T E R N AV E NICHOLS HILLS, OK 405. 242 . 3555

Widgeon Warm Jacket: Comes in gray, pink & blue, $54 Elephantito Driver Loafers: Comes in Apache & navy, $42 Snuggle Me Organic Lounger: For lounging and tummy time, $112

Chateau Design

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Extra-Large Chunky Woven Knit Throw, $239. More styles available.

Also visit us at our second location at The Market at Northpark

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HOLIDAY WISHES G IF T GU ID E 2020

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Your Best Winter Ever The leaves have fallen from the trees and Oklahoma’s less-than-subtle breezes are signaling the onset of winter. Instead of riding out the season binging sitcoms under a blanket, now more than ever is a great time to celebrate good times, crisp air and the comfort of a fire and good food. On the following pages, we look at the best the season offers in cuisine, travel and ways to enrich your life. So, put on a warm scarf, don a pair of gloves and embrace the season of “Brrrrr!”

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WINTER BUCKET LIST

The holiday season is just as much about experiencing as it is about reflection. With only weeks away from welcoming the new year, feature writer Kimberly Burk offers new ways of making memories using the quiet winter months to broaden your life experience. BY K I M B ER LY B U R K

Chickasha Festival of Light. What’s not to love? Immerse yourself in 3.5 million twinkling lights, with ice skating, food vendors and a Ferris wheel in a pet-friendly environment.

Automobile Alley’s Lights on Broadway. Looking for perfect Christmas photos? Auto Alley has nearly a quarter of a million LED lights covering the buildings, transforming the whole district into a light installation.

It’s the perfect backdrop for pictures, food and shopping.

Get Physical

Mid-winter is a perfectly acceptable time of year to learn to swim for people of any age. Just ask Bryan Wilcox, associate executive director with Earlywine Park YMCA and aquatics team director. The next round of adult swim lessons commences in January at all YMCA branches that have a pool, with registration open by mid-December.

A package of eight lessons is only $45 for nonmembers of the Y, and prices are less for members and people in member households. Adult non-swim-

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mers typically had an adverse childhood experience, Wilcox said, but others simply had no access to a pool when they were kids. It’s feasible, he says, “to retrain their minds that water is safe.”

Camp Quarantine

The heavens will be showing off planets, meteor showers and constellations, said Mike Brake, public information officer for the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club.

On Dec. 21, Saturn and Jupiter will be very close together, visible at dusk in the southwest sky and in the same field of view in your telescope eyepiece. On Feb. 18, NASA Television will show the landing of the Mars Rover “Perseverance,” which launched from Cape Canaveral on July 30. To get into stargazing, buy a telescope for as little as $250 for a 4-inch reflector model, plan on driving about 20 miles from the city to escape light pollution and find the apps that tell you what’s visible in the sky on a given night, Brake advised.

Plan a Trip for the Summer of 2021

Read Together as a Family

Ryan Lewis, teen services librarian at the Edmond Library, suggests reading all 14 books in L. Frank Baum’s Oz series, beginning with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. John R. Erickson from the nearby Texas Panhandle has written an amazing 75 Hank the Cowdog books, and Lewis says there’s a new podcast featuring Matthew McConaughey.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket is a 13-book series, and Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer is a six-book series about the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes.

Make Memories

Hold a family meeting, discuss your budget and time constraints and decide on some projects or outings sure to produce warm and fuzzy feelings even in January. Everyone gets a vote.

Hope springs eternal.

Holiday lights in Automobile Alley near Downtown Oklahoma City.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Holiday Lights

ier and more comfort-food-based selections. Food writer Greg Horton shares the city’s highlights for soups and stews to keep you warm and satisfied. BY G R E G HORTON

Sean Cummings’ Irish Restaurant ,

7628 N May Ave.: Potato Soup. It’s oldschool Irish style, with plenty of potatoes and lots of bacon. Your mom would say it sticks to your ribs.

Magnolia Bistro, 722 N Broadway Ave.: Gumbo. It’s served with rice and toasted bread, and loaded with sausage and chicken. A cup isn’t enough, so get the bowl.

Clark Crew BBQ, 3510 NW Expressway:

Brisket Chili. Yes, Travis Clark has won awards for this dish, too. It’s wagyu brisket trimmings and five kinds of beans in a savory, smoky sauce.

The Hamilton Supperette & Lounge ,

12232 N May Ave.: Beef Stew. Honestly, this might be the most Oklahoma thing on the list, except your family probably didn’t use ribeye steak trimmings.

El Rinconcito, 1317 N May Ave.: Caldo de Res. It’s a traditional Mexican dish, so you can find delicious versions on menus up and down SW 29th and SW 44th, but the one from El Rinconcito – a Guatemalan joint – is a delicious take on this hearty beef soup with generous portions of veggies.

CLARK CREW: LEXI HOEBING

Pho Ca Dao, 2431 N Classen Blvd.: Bun bo Hue. From the Hue region of Vietnam, bun bo hue is pho’s spicier cousin. Similar in construction, but darker, heartier and more built for winter.

SEASONAL EATS

Winter dining means heartier, spic-

Clark Crew’s 3-meat platter with championship beans.

You can gumbo in two sizes at Magnolia Bistro. Pick the big one.

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Travel, otherwise known as the common cure for cabin fever, is the ideal way to end the year with a view. Travel writer Elaine Warner takes a look at the best getaways for the holiday season and beyond.

A view of the Wichita Mountains.

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A traditional German Christmas pyramid towers over the Marktplatz in the center of Fredricksberg, Texas.

FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS For an Old World Christmas, there’s no place like Fredericksburg, which celebrates the holidays with homage to its German heritage. The Marktplatz in the center of town is decorated with colored lights, a 30-foot Christmas tree and a 26-foot Christmas Pyramid handcrafted in Germany.

WICHITA MOUNTAINS: MATT PAYNE; FREDRICKSBERG: TRISH MCCABE-RAWLS

If you’ve ever wandered in and around the 405 on a Saturday and wondered where managing partner and food genius Elena Farrar is, the answer is somewhere camping or hiking in Oklahoma. We asked about what she loves and her favorite winter spots.

“The best hiking in the Wichita Mountains is definitely winter: no snakes, less people, lots of wildlife to see, and temps are perfect for hiking long distances. It’s a great reset button, even if it’s cold," she said.

The Artesian in Sulphur is located right across the street from several hiking trails in a beautiful park. After the hike, you can soak in their huge hot tub, and finish the day with dinner and drinks at their restaurant, The Springs.”

Guthrie is a short drive up Interstate 35, and its Territorial Christmas Celebration combines carolers, shopping, tours of decorated homes, trolley rides and living displays.

DESTINATIONS

BY E L AINE WA R NER A ND GREG H ORTON

POINT CLEAR, ALABAMA Want a southern breeze through the Christmas trees? The historic Grand Hotel shines brightly during the holiday season. The extensive grounds and buildings are lavishly decorated with twinkling lights, wreaths and poinsettias. One of the most special traditions is a giant gingerbread re-creation of the resort.

Two Perry Maxwell-designed courses – part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail – are a real Christmas present. And if golf’s not your racket, swing a racquet at one of the resort’s 10 tennis courts. Afterward, relax with a massage at the spa.

The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama, serves up light displays, poinsettias and a gingerbread model of the resort for the holiday season.

S A N TA F E , N E W M E X I C O

PHOTOS PROVIDED

An exciting destination any time of year, during the holidays Santa Fe sparkles with thousands of farolitos lining walks, walls and tops of buildings. For a unique place to stay, check out Las Palomas Inn, located in a historic neighborhood just a 10-minute walk from the Plaza. Each of the casitas has a private entrance, with a different breakfast delivered to your door each day. This spot is long on charm and hospitality.

Fredericksburg has more than 1,200 guest houses and B&Bs. The Fredericksburg Herb Farm features charming cabins each emulating a traditional Sunday Haus. Get ready to immerse yourself in gemütlichkeit!

Santa Fe, New Mexico, sparkles with holiday farolitos during the holidays.

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PHOTO COURTESY LIONSGATE AND ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

Scene from the film I Can Only Imagine.

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OKLAHOMA’S FILM INDUSTRY IS GROWING THANKS TO NEW

BY GEORGE LANG FACILITIES AND MORE INCENTIVES

PHOTO COURTESY IMDB

Production photo from the film Infamous.

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University of Oklahoma, moving to Los Angeles and going on to appear in series such as Fresh Off the Boat, Two and a Half Men and Mad Men, actress-producer Rachel Cannon saw a seismic shift in locations for movies and television. In a relatively short period of time, much of the film industry decentralized from California, finding fertile ground in places far away from the Hollywood backlots.

“I was kind of at a place where I was finishing up Fresh Off the Boat, all of the jobs that were coming across my desk were not Los Angeles anymore,” said Cannon, who started Prairie Surf Media with her friend from OU’s Film Video Studies program, Matt Payne. “So, for the first time in 20 years, everything that was coming across as an opportunity for me was in Atlanta, or New Mexico, or Vancouver, or Australia, or New York. And it kind of just planted a seed for me that maybe there’s an opportunity for me to go back home and raise my kids closer to family and in the place that I loved growing up.”

Cannon and Payne are heading up Prairie Surf Studios, which is converting the Cox Convention Center into production facilities in downtown Oklahoma City. This will include 140,000 square feet of clearspan (space without barriers or pillars) sound stages, ranging from 25,000 to 32,000 square feet. The sheer scale of Prairie Surf Studios will make it the largest ClearSpan film facility in the Midwest.

With a goal of opening Jan. 1, 2021, Prairie Surf Studios has already booked projects for the first quarter. Cannon said their projections for the facility’s first few years are strong due to widespread demand for soundstages once the coronavirus pandemic is under control.

“It’s going to be like the Wild West when the ban lifts and everybody’s able to go back to work ... It is going to be people scrambling for stages and trying to get there,” she said. “So, when our news came out at the end of September about the Cox Center, our phones exploded. We didn’t call anybody – it was all incoming calls from production people or people that we knew in the industry asking, ‘Can we see your marketing deck? Like, what are the phases available? When can we get in there, we have 10 shows that we’re trying to shoot.’”

Prairie Surf Studios could spur a significant influx of new film projects for Oklahoma, which is part of a homegrown film and television industry that has seen major growth in recent years. As of November 2020, nearly 20 film and television productions shot in Oklahoma during the last half of the year are in post-production and five are currently filming, including 42

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Photo of the Oklahoma production Birdie.

PHOTO COURTESY JEENYUS ENTERTAINMENT

E A R LY T W O D E C A D E S A F T E R G R A D U AT I N G F R O M

Unbreakable Boy, which is currently using a Bricktown location as its home base and is adapted from the nonfiction book about a special-needs child.

And there is more coming, including Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which will film in northeast Oklahoma in 2021 with Scorsese all-stars Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio attached.

Jeanette Stanton, deputy director of the Oklahoma Film + Music Office, said that film productions are being attracted to Oklahoma by the state’s Film Enhancement Rebate Program, which currently offers 35 to 37 percent rebates on film and television expenditures incurred within the state. This far exceeds New Mexico’s current 25 percent rebate and is competitive with Louisiana’s 40 percent offer. But dollars are only part of the story. The numbers of on-the-ground film workers, or crew, are multiplying and will only increase with the opening of Oklahoma Film & TV Academy in Spencer, which started offering classes earlier this year.

“We hear great things about crew,” Stanton said, referring to Oklahoma’s sound engineers, camera operators, boom operators and gaffers, all professions that have increased in large numbers over the past 20 years. “We always hear that people are so happy with the crew, and then locations, of course, are way up on the list, because we have 12 ecoregions. The diversity that you can find here is just really unreal. If you want a desert, we got it. If you want a 1920s setting, we have it, and then obviously like modern cities, you can find those as well. I think Oklahoma generally has done a great job of preserving some older architecture and obviously adding new, so those are the top things that we hear and then, of course, incentives just sort of sweeten the deal.”

Stanton said the state is working with a Burbank, California, company called Entertainment Partners that helps direct productions to the state based on all of those qualities.

“They provide a kind of a one-stop shop for the back office work of making films,” she said. “And so they’re always touting Oklahoma, you know, ‘Have you checked it out yet?’”

Oklahoma’s prospects for attracting film and television productions have only improved with the creation of new sound stages in Oklahoma, using pre-existing facilities to provide interior shooting locations. Green Pastures Studio converted the closed Green Pastures Elementary School in Spencer, also home to the Oklahoma Film & TV Academy, into shooting space.

For film and television production, sound stages are a key factor in offering flexibility for shooting large-budget, long-term projects, allowing interior scenes to be shot near exterior locations. As an example, the CBS series Dallas used two north Texas mansions for exterior shots, Cloyce Box Ranch in Frisco and Duncan Acres in Parker, which was later renamed Southfork Ranch in honor of the series. However, interior shots for most of the series

Production crew films a scene from Killer Inside Me.

PRAIRIE SURF MEDIA: CHARLIE NEUENSCHWANDER; KILLER INSIDE ME: COURTESY IFC FILMS

Matt Payne and Rachel Cannon of Prairie Surf Media.

We are eager to introduce filmmakers across the globe to our beautiful state.

were shot on sound stage in Culver City, California. So, the opening of sound stages in Oklahoma offers a sizable advantage for filmmakers, who will have greater flexibility in how they shoot, and for the state, which can retain more of the dollars spent on production.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt has watched the evolution of the state’s facilities since he was chief of staff for former mayor Mick Cornett. During Cornett’s second term, Holt helped the crew for the 2007-2010 TNT series Saving Grace acquaint themselves with the show’s Oklahoma City setting. However, production requirements kept actual shooting in Oklahoma City to a bare minimum. As a result, series stars Holly Hunter and Laura San Giacomo could be seen in episodes talking and eating from Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler bags with the Los Angeles-adjacent San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

A decade after Saving Grace shut down production, it is entirely conceivable that the series, which was created by Oklahoma-born writer and producer Nancy Miller, could have avoided requiring such suspension of disbelief by filming on Oklahoma City sound stages like Prairie Surf and Green Pastures studios.

“We never got to shoot anything with that accuracy, because they just said it was too expensive,” Holt said. “But this was before the state film credit which would have helped with those costs, and now we are able to present to them these ready-made facilities and soundstages.”

One of Holt’s goals is to have Oklahoma City rival strong industry hubs like Atlanta, Georgia, which is not only the production location for the longtime A&E series The Walking Dead, but also hosts the FX animated series Archer, which requires only production facilities, not locations.

“I’d say it’s an industry that’s ripe for growth and ripe for encouragement in our community,” Holt said. “This Cox Center facility has sort of fallen into our laps in a way, because we didn’t even build it obviously to be a film production facility and we didn’t build a new convention center so that we could have a film production facility in our old convention center. I mean, all of these things are happy coincidences. But once you have the right people around the table envisioning what this could be, It all makes sense and it has presented a great way to pursue growth in this particular industry. It’s really just a kind of an easy win for us.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: MATT PAYNE, MENTIONED IN CONNECTION WITH PRAIRIE SURF MEDIA IN THIS STORY, ALSO SERVES AS 405 MAGAZINE'S TRAVEL EDITOR.

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PROMOTION

Sexual Health & Wellness DESIREOKC SEXUAL HEALTH AND Wellness Center is a new business in Oklahoma City whose intention is to teach couples and individuals how to “love thyself” through sexual health and wellness counseling, and a multifaceted approach to wellness. Licensed counselor and owner Charity Danker first started Evanescence Counseling 10 years ago. With her direct and interactive therapy approach, she has been helping couples overcome all types of relational struggles.

Danker’s specialty is sex therapy. She teaches men and women how to have sacred sex, be present in their bodies, live a healthy life and give themselves permission to have the life and the intimacy they truly desire. Sex therapy isn’t just about sex; rather, it is about improving your overall life and relationship by learning to have a conscious relationship, be in your pleasure and communicate needs.

“Our libido and performance is affected by all of the psychosocial factors of our life,” Danker says, “including our interpersonal communication with partners, the stories and beliefs we were taught growing up, a lack of proper sex education, stress, mental health illness, medical illness, even muscular and skeletal system problems. My desire is to offer all the necessary education and treatments for sexual problems in one place.”

Inflamed, tense muscles in the body (especially the lower back, legs, glutes, thighs and abdomen) can negatively affect your libido, orgasm and overall sexual functioning, so professional, not erotic, massage is an important component in treatment. The massage, cupping and yoga therapists at DesireOKC understand this so they work the body in such a way as to loosen the

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muscles and open the glands, so the body can get proper blood flow and decrease the inflammation, tightness and pain.

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ASK THE EXPERT ATTORNEYS

Legal matters can be daunting. When is it time to seek legal advice? What makes a great lawyer? In this 405 Magazine special section, we pose questions to area lawyers that our readers are asking.

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SPEC IAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ASK THE EXPERT

Wyatt Worden ASSO C I AT E AT TO R N EY

The Worden Law Firm is based in Norman but serves clients from all over the state of Oklahoma, primarily in the areas of criminal defense, family law, immigration and nonprofit law. With more than 30 years of experience and a number of industry awards for excellence, the attorneys at the Worden Law Firm are well equipped to guide their clients to the best possible outcome for their case.

Wyatt Worden is one of five attorneys at the Worden Law Firm. Focusing on nonprofit organizations, Worden shared some advice on what to watch for when starting your own nonprofit in Oklahoma.

Q+A Q: Any advice for those wanting to start a nonprofit organization in 2021?

A: I would make it a priority from the start to retain legal counsel from an attorney with experience in nonprofits.

Starting a nonprofit can be difficult, but an experienced attorney can make it much easier and smoother. And more importantly, wise counsel can save you from making costly mistakes that may not surface for years. While setting aside a budget for legal counsel can be a hard choice to make in the beginning, especially with all the “free” information available online and from other sources, there are few other expenses that will pay dividends long-term like hiring the right nonprofit attorney at the outset.

Q: What are the usual pitfalls people find as they operate their nonprofits?

A: One of the biggest challenges people face (in) operating a nonprofit is how they view their organization.

Understandably, most leaders of small nonprofits tend to view the organization as their personal small business, especially if they’re the founder. I counsel them to think of it less as their small business, and approach it more like a trustee to someone else’s assets. This sort of thinking can help avoid future problems that can jeopardize the organization’s mission and create liability for the leader.

Q: What style of legal counsel should nonprofits look for?

A: I like to relate to our clients like I’m their general counsel – more of a holistic/comprehensive approach than transactional. In my opinion, most nonprofits need that sort of personal approach. With that said, by far the most important thing a nonprofit leader should look for in their attorney is extensive experience working with a variety of charitable organizations. Nonprofit law is very specialized and nuanced, so while any attorney should be able to provide some basic guidance, a nonprofit attorney will be far better equipped to provide individualized advice that will best serve the organization long-term.

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Worden Law Firm

124 E. Main St. Norman, OK 73069 405-360-8036 | wordenfirm.com

SP EC IAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ASK THE EXPERT

Kyle Goodwin & William “Billy” Lewis ATTO R N EYS

Goodwin / Lewis is a boutique law firm in downtown Oklahoma City focusing on commercial litigation, ranging from start-ups to regional businesses. Their specialized representation has provided clients from banks, construction companies, energy firms and others with the tenacity and experience required to ensure businesses are represented through every step of the legal process.

Goodwin / Lewis partners Kyle Goodwin and William “Billy” Lewis volunteered their time to answer questions they often receive.

Q+A Q: What is the difference between a boutique law firm and large commercial law firms with regard to clients?

A: Since boutique law firms tend to be more relationshipbased than larger commercial firms, it allows for clients to have more a more personal, hands-on approach when it comes to their case. One of the greatest advantages to being a boutique firm like ours, aside from our experience, is our ability to be versatile in assisting clients and provide unique solutions to a client’s issue. We are able to help clients from beginning to end because of the personal relationship and our ability to provide a tailored plan of action for each client.

Q: What are some factors businesses should consider when looking for a commercial litigator?

A: The first step for a client is to feel comfortable with your attorney, because clients must have the ability to communicate with their lawyer. Next, a client should inquire about a firm’s courtroom experience and track record of success. A client has the right to know if their attorney has handled a similar case or client in the past and if their attorney has actual trial experience. The dirty little secret in commercial litigation is that cases rarely go to trial, as most are settled. Some commercial litigators go years without actually standing in front of a jury. Finally, be sure to understand the fee arrangement and how you are going to be billed for legal services.

Q: What have been some of the challenges law firms face in modern litigation?

A: The transition to a paperless office and shifting towards a more virtual approach, while still providing personal attention to a client and a case, is challenging for many firms. When designing this new law firm, we moved away from the old-style boxes of paper to gigabytes of data. While no one could have anticipated the pandemic, our investments in technology allowed us to rapidly adapt our practice to the needs of our clients.

Logo Goodwin Lewis, PLLC

420 NW 6th ST, 2nd Floor, OKC, OK 73012 goodwinlewis.com | 405-900-5700

Mark

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SPEC IAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ASK THE EXPERT

Jacqui Ford FOUNDE R AN D AT TO R NEY

“Everyone deserves a second chance, and no one should be judged forever by one mistake or snapshot in time,” says criminal defense expert Jacqui Ford. Ford graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and began her career as a criminal defense attorney in 2006. Having found a love for being in the courtroom as a legal intern, she knew she was destined to defend Oklahoma citizens for years to come. Ford’s success in the courtroom came early and often. Among many recognitions, she was honored with the Clarence Darrow Award in 2011 for being the best criminal defense trial lawyer in the State of Oklahoma. Shortly thereafter, Ford opened her own law firm – Jacqui Ford Law, in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City. She serves clients charged with all types of criminal allegations, from low-end offenses to major crimes.

Ford spoke with us to share some advice about what Oklahomans need to know about defense law.

Q+A Q: When is the appropriate time people should seek legal defense?

A: Any time you are being questioned by law enforcement, you have the constitutional right to remain silent and have an attorney present. In certain cases, it’s appropriate to talk with the police; however, most of the time, you want someone in your corner who is going to be honest, but also willing to face challenges on your behalf. Asking for a defense attorney does not mean you are guilty, it means you are smart.

Q: Why is it important for those seeking defense attorneys to be careful in who they choose as their counsel?

A: Finding the right attorney for your needs is crucial because you are allowing the attorney to represent you and your interests; your future is in their hands. It’s easy to get an attorney who knows the judge, makes promises and is willing to cut corners for their own gain. You want someone who is willing to be honest and walk you through each step of the process, while making things flow more smoothly. We care for our clients, their families and their futures.

Q: What are some misconceptions people have about criminal defense?

A: When you are accused or charged of a crime, you are already fighting an uphill battle. False allegations happen, and the ramifications can be lifelong. Folks often do not think about the collateral damages that are far beyond jail and a plea deal. Even for those who are guilty, it is usually a regrettable instance in that person’s life, done in a highstress situation, without an intent to cause harm. It’s easy to cast judgment from afar, but this one moment should not define someone’s entire life. Do not get stuck in the fear – contact an attorney and let us help.

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Jacqui Ford Law

1621 N. Classen Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73106 405-604-3200 | fordlawokc.com

Your Grandma’s Legendary Homemade Gravy…

WHEN LIFE GIVES US LEMONS,

WE MAKE LIMONCELLO! Prized for its sweet and citrusy flavors, this vibrant cocktail transports you to a sun-drenched citrus grove in Southern Italy. Limoncello not only goes down smooth, it is bracingly ambrosial – especially when paired with our authentic Italian cuisine.

ole tim h w e h t s u s ….It wa

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(don’t tell her we told you.)

Patrono gift cards make great stocking stuffers!

They’re the perfect treat for making it through 2020.

CURBSIDE. CARRY-OUT. DINE-IN. Curbside and Reservations: 405.702.7660 305 N. Walker Ave. | Oklahoma City, OK 73102

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Browse our wide variety of gravy mixes and holiday favorites that will have grandma asking YOU for the recipe. at pioneerbrand.com

Dining

Good Taste

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The Dish

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The Drink 56 Local Flavor 58

Treats for the Season Caramel apples, fudge and peanut brittle fill Christmas tins every holiday season, so we asked Apple Tree Chocolate the secret to their delicious fudge this month.

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G O O D

T A S T E

A Palace for Poultry Lovers THE CHICKEN SHACK BRINGS CLASSIC CHOW TO ROUTE 66

BY G REG HOR T ON | PHOTO S BY LE X I HOEBING

T

H E R E A R E T H R E E WAY S P E O P L E U S UA L LY discover The Chicken Shack: Someone tells them about it; they drive past it; they ask, “Where can I find gizzards?”

Located along Route 66 in Luther, Eddy Gochenour’s fried chicken and beer joint has been around for about four years, and word of mouth has created a groundswell of interest in a space that is as much an outdoor venue as it is bar and restaurant.

Gochenour moved to Oklahoma from Iowa in 2011. He was working for a restoration company, but had a history in the fried chicken business.

“I was always around restaurants and bars – I’m a big guy,” the former University of Iowa linebacker says. “I had restaurants when I was younger, and they did well, but I was young; I made mistakes.”

Growing up around the area inexplicably called “the Midwest,” Gochenour fell in love with fried chicken in the small bars and diners around Iowa and South Dakota, and most of them used a Broaster, a brand-name piece of equipment that combines pressure cooking and frying. The process is not unknown in Oklahoma, but it’s not as common as deep-frying in baskets – the standard method for fast food.

The Chicken Shack has a half-dozen Broasters onsite, and the demand for their fried chicken means the machines are very busy. The core menu includes fried chicken, fried gizzards, chicken strips, pork chops, wings and a remarkably good smoked tri-tip. What The Chicken Shack gets right is that it is first and foremost about the chicken, and nothing else matters if the signature dish isn’t right.

Broasting seems to produce – on the whole – more consistently good chicken than other methods. The skin is crispy, and there is good flavor and moisture all the way to the bone. It helps that the prices make it easy to get enough to share. A few of us still enjoy gizzards, and The Chicken Shack does them very well, breaking down the organ’s toughness but leaving it intact, just like my grandmother did.

Gochenour said he wanted a destination restaurant on Route 66, so it was more about that brand than Luther specifically, but Luther has proven to be an excellent choice. He has

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Quirky and eclectic abound at The Chicken Shack.

When considering what you’d love to discover along Route 66, The Chicken Shack is exactly the sort of thing you expect to love and hope to find.

Fried chicken in all its forms – including gizzards! – of course, but also some of best mac ‘n’ cheese anywhere.

Indoor and outdoor dining are available, but the backyard is the preferred seating.

What The Chicken Shack gets right is that it is first and foremost about the chicken, and nothing else matters if the signature dish isn’t right.

abundant space along the Deep Fork River, such that the “backyard” allows for hundreds of people, a live music venue and (in the works) an outdoor bar to go along with the one inside.

They are still building the beer list, with several local options, and the goal is “66 on 66.”

The atmosphere is very relaxed, and on nice days, families can sit at one of the big picnic-style tables while the kids run around outside.

Weekends include live music, crab legs and a very festive environment.

The drive from OKC is fairly short, but if you want to try it while saving a few miles, Gochenour opened Chicken Shack 2 Go at I-35 and Seward in Guthrie. It doesn’t serve the entire menu, but does have the three things that matter most: chicken, gizzards and some of the best macaroni and cheese we’ve tasted.

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D I N I N G

T H E

D I S H

At Apple Tree Chocolate, the fudge (and peanut brittle) is made in house from their own recipes.

Sweet Christmas!

APPLE TREE MARKS THE HOLIDAYS WITH FANTASTIC FUDGE

BY G R EG HOR T ON | PHOTO BY LE X I HOEBING

I

N T H E PA N T H E O N O F C H R I S T M A S C A N D I E S , T H E candy cane stands above the rest for the honor of symbolizing the season – that elongated breath mint that does double duty as an ornament or window decoration. At the risk of over-generalizing, though, because everyone’s traditional Christmas is not the same, the best of the Christmas candies has always been fudge in its various forms.

Decades ago in Oklahoma – and mercifully, it’s not as common as it used to be – divinity would make an appearance in candy tins as the holiday season progressed, scattering its powdered sugar over the flotsam and jetsam of peanut brittle. The candy itself is simply powdered

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sugar, corn syrup and egg whites, which is to say sugar, sugar and egg whites, and that’s exactly what it tasted like. If it truly has disappeared from the pantheon, no one should mourn its passing.

Fudge, however, remains delicious yearround, but still manages to be associated primarily with Christmas. Ashley and Scotty Jackson own both locations of Apple Tree Chocolate, and as Ashley explains it, they make one style of fudge with different flavors and inclusions: peanut butter, nuts, mint, etc.

When making fudge on a scale like theirs, the process is much more complex than it was in my grandmother’s kitchen.

“One of the biggest factors in making fudge, and almost every other type of candy, is humidity levels,” she explains. “The humidity can mess with liquid content in fudges, toffees, caramels, etc., so we keep a running log and adjust accordingly with every batch.”

The result is a consistently delicious (and both beautiful and whimsical) selection of fudge behind the glass. And not just fudge; the Jacksons have their traditions, too.

“I grew up eating Mallomars and peppermint bark like they were going out of style,” Ashley says. “We do make a version of the Mallomar now, and we always carry peppermint bark at holiday time. I love smelling the peppermint in the kitchen when we start making holiday bark. Scotty always got a chocolate orange in his stocking, and he’s still pretty partial.”

Another Christmas favorite came in a striped box, and at our house, we knew that meant Turtles. Apple Tree makes a version of these with their own house-made caramel.

The selection at both locations includes truffles, toffee, caramel apples and even gelato.

The recipes are their own, but their move into the candy business was aided by family.

“My aunt and uncle own a chocolate shop in Louisiana,” Ashley says. “They gave us inspiration and assisted us in opening our first shop in Norman. Scotty spent a year before we opened creating new recipes, including our caramel recipe, from our house. Since then we have both taken courses in caramel, toffee and brittle making, as well as gourmet chocolatemaking.” The better they get at creating these seasonal confections, the sweeter the holidays can be for all of us.

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T H E

D R I N K

Whiskey on the barrel at George’s Liquor in downtown OKC.

Bottles of Comfort and Joy ELITE PICKS AT VARIOUS PRICE POINTS FOR THE GIFT OF WHISKEY

BY G REG HOR T ON | PHOTO BY LE X I HOEBING

B

ETWEEN TARIFFS ON Scotch and prices in the secondary (resell) Bourbon market, gifting whiskey is more expensive than ever, but the traditional spirit – particularly perfect for winter – is still a strong category, be it bourbon, rye, American whiskey or their international cousins.

We found high-quality buys at price points under $100, so there is a bottle for every whiskey lover on your list.

$20s: Larceny Small Batch Bourbon. Fans

$60s: King’s County Bourbon. From the Navy Yard

of wheated Bourbon will tell you this is one of the best. Smooth, easy to like, and perfect for an Old Fashioned.

in Brooklyn – yes, that Brooklyn – comes one of the best lines of whiskey to arrive in Oklahoma in the past couple of years.

$30s: Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage. This is likely the best dollar-for-dollar deal on the list, and it’s reaching a point of popularity such that it will be hard to find in 2021. Get it now.

$70s: Whistle Pig 10-year Rye. There is a solid consensus among whiskey drinkers that this is the best of the Whistle Pig if the metric is quality-to-price ratio. It’s the one to try if you’ve not had the others.

$40s: Belle Meade Sour Mash Whiskey. This little beauty comes from Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery, and the story behind it is as good as the whiskey.

$80s: Barrell Cask Strength Blended Whiskey.

$50s: Tahwahkaro Four Grain Whiskey. We tasted all the Texas whiskey available, and this one stood out from the pack by a wide margin. If this is where Texas whiskey is headed, we’re there for the ride.

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These guys are blenders, not distillers, but just like Champagne negociants, they’re very good at picking the best available and blending it beautifully. $90s: The Matsui Sakura Cask. Beautiful is the best

word for this single-malt Japanese whiskey that gets time in cherry wood. Subtle, elegant, lovely – those work, too.

For a Christmas they’ll never forget.

Christmas Lights, Permanent Christmas Trees and So Much More!

4201 S. Interstate 44 Service Rd, Oklahoma City | 685-NOEL(6635) *Special Pricing For Volume Lighting Purchases*

D I N I N G

L O C A L

F L AV O R

Restaurant Guide These listings are not related to advertising in 405 Magazine. If you find that a restaurant differs significantly from the information in its listing or your favorite restaurant is missing from the list, please let us know.

La Baguette Comfortable ambience and exquisite baking make a tres chic destination for brunch and beyond. 1130 Rambling Oaks, Norman, 329.1101; 2100 W Main, Norman, 329.5822 $

Email info@405magazine.com

BARBECUE

Designation $ MOST ENTREES UNDER $10

Clark Crew Bbq Travis Clark reached the pinnacle of pit master-dom when he won Jack Daniel’s competition, and he’s brought the delicious brisket, burnt ends, championship beans and the best cornbread ever to OKC. 3510 NW Expy, OKC, 724.8888 $$$

$$ MOST ENTREES $10 TO $25 $$$ MOST ENTREES OVER $25

A M ER I C A N The Hutch On Avondale Chef David Henry serves modern American cuisine with a creative twist, and the bar offers a full suite of tempting cocktails, wines and spirits.

6437 Avondale, OKC, 842.1000 $$$ The Jones Assembly From biscuits to Nashville Hot Chicken to burgers and healthy options, The Jones Assembly serves up eclectic, creative fare, including one of the city’s best brunches, excellent cocktails, and a solid wine list. 901 W Sheridan, OKC, 212.2378 $$$

Swadley’s Bar-B-Q This family-owned barbecue joint has five metro locations, so they’re convenient for just about anyone. It’s traditional bbq, with brisket, chicken, sausages, hot links, and even a catfish dinner -- a local favorite.

The sandwiches and fries, especially the Firehouse, are solid lunch choices. 4000 N. Rockwell. Bethany 470.4343 $$

Vast Keeping your attention on the elegant cuisine might be difficult; the view from atop the Devon Tower is truly unparalleled in Oklahoma, making this a fantastic date spot. 280 W Sheridan, 49th floor, OKC, 702.7262 $$$

B R E A K FA S T & B RU N C H Café Antigua Authentic Guatemalan food in OKC, with traditional dishes like motuleños, machaca, and refried black beans. Full coffee service is available, and you’ll want extra green sauce. 1903 N. Classen Blvd., OKC, 602.8984 $$

ASIAN Goro An “izakaya” is a Japanese pub, like this cheerful Plaza District spot for expertly crafted ramen, yakitori, bar snacks and more. 1634 Blackwelder, OKC, 606.2539 $

La Baguette Deep Deuce This breakfast-lunch concept combines the Norman location’s bakery and some original chef-driven items from Chef Andrew Black to create a comfortable morning eatery with good coffee, delicious egg dishes, healthy options, grab-n-go, and all the baked treats. 100 NE 4th St. OKC 445.6272 $$

Sala Thai The revamped menu and interior signalled a change in this popular Uptown eatery, but the food is as good as it’s always been. Dependably tasty Thai food, including excellent curries, and you can make it as spicy as you like. 1614 NW 23, OKC, 528.8428 $

B A K ERY Ganache Patisserie Yes, they’re also chocolatiers, but the pastries, baked treats, pies and cakes at Ganache are made by a husband-wife chef team who really get food as art. As beautiful as they are delicious, the food at this Chisholm Creek patisserie is one of OKC’s best indulgences. 13230 Pawnee Dr., Ste. 114, OKC, 286.4068 $$

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George’s Happy Hog A well-kept secret among State Capitol workers, the word is finally getting out. The turkey and greens are worth the trip, and if you’re hungry add potato salad and rib ends. 712 Culbertson Dr., OKC, 525.8111 $$

Neighborhood Jam Serving tasty takes on classic American dishes and more specialized options, this breakfast-centric spot aims to become a community favorite.

15124 Lleytons Court, Edmond, 242.4161 $

B U R G ERS & S A N D W I C H ES The Mule Solid beer and beverage selection plus a delectable array of gourmet grilled cheeses and melts; this

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relaxation destination in the Plaza District stays popular. 1630 N Blackwelder, OKC, 601.1400 $ Nic’s Grill This is the one everyone talks about, including Guy Fieri. Ask a local where to get a burger, they’re going to say Nic’s. It’s a classic onion burger, but somehow so much more. 1201 N Penn, OKC, 524.0999. $

C O F F EEH O U S E & TE A ROOM Elemental Coffee Seriously spectacular coffee roasted in-house, augmented with locally sourced salads, breakfast options and other vegetarian and vegan friendly treats and entrees. 815 N Hudson, OKC, 633.1703 $ T, An Urban Teahouse Proving that an establishment’s focus can be at once narrow and broad, these retreats offer over 100 varieties and expert counsel to explore a world of possibili-teas. 519 NW 23rd, OKC $

C O N T IN EN TA L Ludivine The menu adjusts constantly to reflect availability of elite-quality, locally sourced ingredients - but every dish is the result of genuine culinary artistry. 805 N Hudson, OKC, 778.6800 $$$ The Metro A perennial favorite that feels comfortably upscale, the far-reaching menu covers culinary high points from vichyssoise to crème brulée. 6418 N Western, OKC, 840.9463 $$$

F R EN C H Café Cuvée A classic French bistro in the Ambassador Hotel, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch. Choose from fresh oysters, beef Bourguignon, Dover sole, escargots, and delicious French desserts. 1200 N. Walker, OKC, 600.6200 $$ La Baguette Bistro Les Freres Buthion have deep roots in the city’s culinary landscape, and this flagship combines fine dining with a great bakery, deli and butcher on site.

7408 N May, OKC, 840.3047 $$

G ER M A N Royal Bavaria Superb takes on traditional dishes like Weinerschnitzel, Jagerbraten and sausages, plus fantastisch house-brewed beers. The time spent is a worthy investment. 3401 S Sooner, Moore, 799.7666 $$$

IN D I A N Misal Of India A Norman institution for over 30 years, specializing in tandoori-cooked delicacies and boasting healthy, natural, delicious cuisine served. 580 Ed Noble Pkwy, Norman, 579.5600 $$ Sheesh Mahal While billed as a combination of Pakistani and Indian cuisine, the menu will be familiar to fans of Indian food, with butter chicken, delicious curries, basmati rice, and fresh naan. You won’t find a buffet in the building, but you get complementary tea with every meal. 4621 N. May, OKC, 778.8469 $$

I TA L I A N & P I Z Z A Patrono Not only is Chef Jonathan Krell’s food some of the best in OKC, the service at Patrono is professional, friendly and seamless. Krell is as adept at seafood as pasta and chops, so it’s impossible to go wrong with this spectacular menu. 305 N Walker, OKC, 702.7660 $$ Sparrow Chefs Jeff Holloway and Joel Wingate have put together stellar Italian dining in Edmond with this sleek, modern space. The agnolotti is house-made for an elegant, delicious dish, and the pepperoni pizza and 100-layer lasagne are a must. 507 S Boulevard, Edmond, 815.3463 $$ Victoria’s A relaxed atmosphere for enjoying superb pasta – the chicken lasagna and linguine with snow crab are especially excellent. 215 E. Main, Norman, 329.0377; 3000 SW 104th, OKC, 759.3580 $

M ED I T ER R A N E A N & AFRICAN Cous Cous Cafe Authentic Moroccan food in the heart of Oklahoma City, featuring tagines, moussaka, bastilla and traditional dishes like hummus, kabobs, shawarma. 5620 N May, OKC, 286.1533 $$ Nunu’s Mediterranean Café If there is another place in the metro to get hashwa, we don’t know of it, and if you’ve never had it, go to Nunu’s immediately. The popular Lebanese dish is the main draw, but the traditional favorites—kabobs, tabouli and hummus—are also excellent.

3131 W Memorial Rd., OKC, 751.7000 $$

ME XICAN & L AT I N A M ER I C A N El Fogon De Edgar Colombian food made from family recipes is the heart of this

COME DINE WITH US AT OUR BRICKTOWN LOCATION Plenty of free parking available.

charlestons.com | 224 Johnny Bench Dr., Oklahoma City, OK 73104 | (405) 778-8868

hidden gem. A bowl of aji verde accompanies every meal and it should be ladled liberally on nearly everything, including flank steak, morcilla, arroz con pollo and patacones. 7220 S Western, OKC, 602.6497 $$ Fonda K-Tracha Honduran cuisine isn’t as well known as other Central American dishes in OKC, but this breakfast, lunch and dinner joint could help change that. Chimichurri pork chops are the easy part of the menu, but the bombastic flavors are in the pastelitos (similar to empanadas) and pickled veggies. 3001 N May Ave., OKC, 673.7678 $$

PIZ Z A Empire Slice House This was the city’s first by-the-slice pizzeria, but you can also get full pies, giant meatballs, fresh salads, and a great selection of cocktails and local beer. The full menu is also available late night inside or on the excellent patio. 1804 NW 16, OKC, 557.1760 $ Hideaway Pizza If you’ve been serving a devoted following for over half a century, you’re doing something right. In this case, that’s incredible pizza in jovial surroundings.

8 metro locations, hideawaypizza.com $$ Pizzeria Gusto Neapolitan-style pizza (which uses an extremely hot fire to

quickly cook superfine flour crusts) stars alongside Italy-inspired entrees, pastas and appetizers. 2415 N Walker, OKC, 437.4992 $$

SOUL FOOD

STE AKHOUSE

Brielle’s Bistro Blueberry beignets are the draw, but Chef Dwayne Johnson’s gumbo, etouffee, and catfish round out a Southern menu with Louisiana spice.

9205 NE 23, OKC, 259-8473 $$

Boulevard Steakhouse Perfectly soigné ambiance down to the last detail and cuisine easily in the metro’s elite – a sumptuous, if pricy, masterpiece. 505 S Boulevard, Edmond, 715.2333 $$$

Plant The Midtown restaurant features beautiful, creative vegan cuisine--including ice cream--for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food is fresh, smoothies are made without ice, and flavor is the focus. A small selection of beer and wine is also available. 1120 N. Walker, OKC, 225.1314 $$

Florence’s For more than 60 years, this eastside eatery has been serving crispy fried chicken, hearty meatloaf, tangy greens, and all the country cooking associated with soul food. Don’t leave without trying the pear pie. 1437 NE 23rd, OKC, 427.3663 $$

Cattlemen’s Almost as old as the state itself, this Oklahoma institution’s immense corn-fed steaks and matchless atmosphere are history served anew every day. 1309 S Agnew, OKC, 236.0416 $$

The Loaded Bowl The food truck turned brick and mortar helped pioneer vegan comfort food in the metro, and they’re still famous for their “mac and cheese.” The menu runs the spectrum from healthy vegan to comfort food, and the bar serves excellent cocktails, beer and wine. 1211 SW 2, OKC, 820-9599 $$

Cheever’s Southwestern-influenced recipes (the chicken-fried steak is a house specialty) and love of seafood drive the contemporary comfort food in one of the city’s finest dining destinations. 2409 N Hudson, OKC, 525.7007 $$

P L A N T B A S ED & V E G E TA R I A N

SE AFOOD The Drake The Good Egg Group’s flagship and a standard-bearer for diners who crave excellent seafood, it serves chef’s creations featuring the sea’s finest, plus an oyster bar and tempting cocktails. 519 NW 23rd, OKC $$$

S O U T H W ES T ER N

Hacienda Tacos Quality, of both ingredients and execution, and variety make this restaurant in Northpark a pleasure to visit, and to explore the menu again and again.

12086 N May, OKC, 254.3140 $

Mahogany Prime Steakhouse The ambiance and service are sublime, but fine aged steak broiled to perfection is the star. 3241 W Memorial, OKC, 748.5959; 100 W Main, OKC, 208.8800 $$$ Opus Prime Steakhouse A beautiful interior contributes to the experience of the excellent food and service, and the wine list is exceptional. Prime steak, seafood, chops, lamb and hearty appetizers make this a class steakhouse experience.

800 W. Memorial Rd., OKC, 607.6787 $$$$

For more, visit 405magazine.com/Eat-Drink

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710 8 N. WE STERN AVE, SUITE D1, OKC & 300 W. WILSHIRE BLVD, OKC 40 5.242.2227 | @ARTISANTILESTUDIO.COM

Home

Entertaining 101

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At Home With 64 Design 66

Tea for Two Few indulgences are as comforting

RACHEL MAUCIERI

as afternoon tea. Page 62

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Pastries served with china and silver make for the perfect holiday season observance.

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

HEN RY JA MES

O

Deck the Table ... for Afternoon Tea A DAILY ISLAND OF YEAR-END SERENITY

NE OF MY FAVORITE indulgences is afternoon tea. Known also by the name “high tea,” this small meal, usually in the mid-afternoon and accompanied by savory and sweet small bites, seems like an ultimate luxury.

It is the perfect occasion to bring out the tea set, china and silver, and bedeck your table with treats galore. Especially during the holiday season, afternoon tea begs to be savored, fire roaring and the tea flowing surrounded by garlands, evergreen and holly.

That is the grand version.

However, one with less pomp and spectacle is also just as enjoyable.

Simple fare and a “cuppa” are easy enough to do, and truly, the point is to sit for a moment, alone or with company, and take the time to enjoy the small meal, visit or just be still. Even when the chaos of the holidays isn’t like it used to be, there is still reason to carve out some time to do this.

In fact, it may be more important than ever. Take a seat, let the tea steep and enjoy the peace.

BY SA R A G A E WAT ERS | PHOTO BY R ACHEL M AUCIER I Pastries courtesy Quincy Bake Shop.

China, silver and linens courtesy BC Clark Jewelers.

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Paige Beal shares insights on home accents that enhance design and warmth.

At Home with Paige Beal TRADITIONAL TASTE FOR A MODERN AESTHETIC

BY SA R A G A E WAT ERS PHOTO BY R ACHEL M AUCIER I

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AVING STUDIED MARKETING and management at Oklahoma State University, Paige Beal has carved out a niche for herself in the gift market with Norman’s iconic Tulips, a home and gift store located in Campus Corner. With a down-toearth, genuine personality combined with an instinct for good retail, she is the quintessential shop owner who keeps you coming back again and again.

What led you to become interested in having a home and gift store?

I was very blessed to have my mom be a stayat-home mom for the majority of my life. She opened Occasions when I was a freshman in high school, and that was the beginning of my love of retail. I worked there throughout high school and college.

Were you always interested in being a shop owner?

When it was time to search for a job senior year, I knew I did not want to work in a cubicle.

I absolutely loved working at Occasions – the interactive environment and the aspect that every day was different. I never could have dreamt that this would have been my path out of college, and I will be forever grateful that it worked out the way that it has.

Do you have a certain style that you are trying to foster at Tulips?

Being on Campus Corner in Norman, I would say our style and product selections are pretty broad. We have customers ranging from 15 to 80. I try to buy unique gifts with a broad appeal. Because the store has lots of nooks, 64

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I do not like clutter, but I love accents that bring warmth to a space. we are able to build vignettes with different trends to appeal to varied customers while maintaining a cozy aesthetic for the store.

Being in a building with lots of character that was built in 1903, we feel blessed to build upon the homey feel it provides.

Who are the design icons that you look to in the gift market industry and the home design industry?

As far as the design industry goes, there are so many fabulous interior designers, it is hard to choose. I love all that Marissa Adler Designs

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does here in Norman. Also, I’m a huge fan of Studio McGee and Amber Interiors.

Do you have a favorite type of style that you gravitate toward?

I would say my style is a mixture of traditional, modern and eclectic. I love shopping and home décor, so switching things out often at home brings me lots of joy. I do not like clutter, but I love accents that bring warmth to a space.

Fragrance is also an important part of a space; there is a candle burning at all times in my home.

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Leon Kroll (American, 1884–1974) Composition in Two Figures (detail), 1958, Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 31 1/2 in. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Museum purchase from the Beaux Arts Society Fund for Acquisitions, 1968.015

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The Donahue Christmas tree decorations include wooden beads and pampas grass in a nod to the property’s natural beauty.

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Where the Treetops Glisten NESTLED ON FIVE WOODED ACRES, THE DONAHUE HOME CELEBRATES THE SEASON’S NATURAL BEAUTY

BY EVIE KLOPP HOLZER

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PHOTOS BY R ACHEL WATERS

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H E N K I N DA L L D O N A H U E C L O S E S H E R E Y E S A N D smells hints of vanilla and almonds permeating her kitchen, she pictures herself in another place and time.

“I’ve made these cookies since I was a little girl, as long as I can remember,” Donahue says. “I made them with my Mimi every year for Santa. It wasn’t Christmas unless we had these cookies.”

Mimi’s almond roca and sugar cookies have found a new home in a bright, open kitchen in Coffee Creek Hills. The Donahue boys – Sutton, age 5; Walker, 8; and Mason, 10 – can’t resist dipping their fingers in the batter and icing as they go. Their dad, Andy, stands by as another eager taste-tester. Kindall’s mother is there to carry on the baking tradition with her grandchildren. Together, they follow the recipe cards, penned in Mimi’s handwriting. They could bake the cookies from memory, but pulling out the original cards is part of the ritual.

This year marks the second Christmas the Donahue family is spending in their new Edmond home, which is situated at the front of five lush acres. They completed the 6,000-square-foot project in June 2019. Behind the home, the Donahues cut a trail through the trees that leads to a treehouse, firepit and campsite. The setup prompts new family traditions, such as Thanksgiving campouts with cousins and uncles.

“We’ve watched this place come together from the ground up, so it’s been really fun to look around and see everyone all together – and the kids with their cousins, making their own memories,” Donahue says.

The sprawling property evokes childhood memories for Andy, who grew up on five acres in Enid.

“Andy had the best time growing up, and he has all these stories. He really wanted that for our boys,” Donahue says. “They do their archery. They shoot their pellet guns. They have four wheelers that they ride through the trail.

They’ve really enjoyed having the space.”

Appreciation of the great outdoors appears in the home’s modern-transitional design by Dovetail Studio. Oversized windows provide abundant natural light and views of the wooded terrain. Huge pocket doors slide open to connect the game room to the outside patio. Building materials include raw woods, such as white oak in the master bathroom and pecky cypress featured in the large beams in the main living area, the range hood in the kitchen and the ceiling in the study.

“We were careful to incorporate some natural elements, like pecky cypress in its natural form,” says interior designer Natalie Turner. “We didn’t stain or change it in any way. The wood adds texture and warmth.”

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Juniper and magnolia sprigs, foraged from the Donahues’ land, adorn fixtures and surfaces throughout the home.

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Asymmetrical greenery arrangements provide an earthy feel, along with cranberry red, mixed metallics and raw wooden accents.

Turner owns Dovetail Studio with interior designer Taylor Malone.

Naturally, when they were tasked with decorating the Donahue home for Christmas, they pulled in earthy elements including cranberries, wooden beads, pampas grass, eucalyptus and fresh greenery found around the home.

“We went through the property and foraged juniper and magnolia,” Malone says. The designers used faux pine garland to provide length and structure, then elevated the look by weaving in a variety of live sprigs.

“For the Donahues, and pretty much any home that we style for Christmas, we style for the family,” Turner says. “We tailor the design to them, whether it’s their personality, the character of the home or their likes and dislikes. This is their Christmas and, hopefully, it will be a reflection of them.”

Donahue loves light neutrals, as shown in decorative wooden details and the row of chunky knit stockings lining the mantel. Gold bells play off the brass hardware in the living room and kitchen. Gold stars mimic the star-studded sconces and wallpapered ceiling in the powder bath.

The primary color used in the décor is a deep cranberry red. Velvet The Donahues have adopted a black and white holiday scheme to complement the home’s natural accents.

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ornaments and florals in vases of floating cranberries showcase the color throughout the home.

“I love the touch of cranberry to bring in a Christmas red without it being a candy red,” Malone says. “The flower arrangements are asymmetrical, organic and modern.”

The Donahues gave Dovetail Studio free rein on holiday design. It’s a relationship that has been growing since they hired Dovetail Studio in 2018 to review architect Brent Gibson’s blueprints.

“With Kindall and Andy, from the beginning, they truly let me design and get extremely creative,” Turner says.

Turner tweaked the floorplan to save on square footage and streamline functionality. From then on, she guided every design decision to create the bright, modern and timeless home the Donahues desired.

“Most clients can be overwhelmed when building a custom home,” Turner says. “They are used to looking at finished products on Pinterest or Houzz, but when they are actually going through the process, they realize the selection they have to choose from.”

“You have to pick out a type of brick – who knew there were so many bricks?” Donahue says with a laugh. “I didn’t pick one thing without running it by Natalie. I joke now that I can’t even go to Target and look at home items without thinking, ‘I’ve got to ask Natalie,’ because she’s so smart. She’s great at pairing stuff together.”

Painted in a rich blue with a zebra rug and bookshelves styled to have an eclectic, curated feel, the study is one of Donahue’s favorite rooms. The golden tree collar, ornaments and star on the Christmas tree glow against the high-gloss paint, called Moscow Midnight by Sherwin-Williams.

Another standout area of the home is the living room with built-ins painted in a cool blue, Sherwin-Williams’ Stardew, and a magnificent fireplace.

“I really wanted to achieve the look of a marble slab as the face of the fireplace, but I felt it needed more dimension than that and we still had a budget to meet,” Turner says. Turner used a large-format faux marble tile, applied with minimal grout lines, to create that look. Then, she added a charcoal gray cast stone to frame the firebox.

Stockings hanging on the mantel and a stunning tree with wrapped presents underneath make this room ready for new holiday memories.

Soon comes the morning when three excited boys rush in, wearing matching PJs. No doubt they’ll be checking to see if Santa ate all the cookies and, perhaps, left anything behind.

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Seasonal Showstoppers The 405 offers a suite of holiday entertainment treats to cap off a year like no other. Page 72

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Holiday Delights MUST-DO EVENTS IN A SEASON OF CELEBRATION

BY BR A ND ON K ING

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S W E S AY G O O D B Y E T O 2 0 2 0 , here are some seasonal festivities to help ring in a new – and hopefully better – year in 2021.

SHORT & SWEET Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker has been an iconic holiday masterpiece around the world since its debut in 1892 in St. Petersburg. Now, almost 130 years later, people can enjoy Robert Mills’s rendition of the Oklahoma City Ballet’s The Nutcracker: Short & Sweet presented Dec. 12-20. The event will be shortened to one act due to health and safety standards. Visit okcballet.org/performance/the-nutcracker.

H I S T O RY R E - S E E N

C L A S S I C A L LY C H R I S T M A S Ring in the holidays with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s annual winter performance, A Classic Christmas, Dec. 4 and 5 at the Civic Center, 201 N Walker. The event’s runtime will be shorter, including no intermission or second act. Join hosts Mandy Jiran and Vince Leseney as the orchestra plays Christmas standards selected to make your days merry and bright. For information on tickets and health guidelines, visit okcphil.org/concertstickets/20-21-season.

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OPENING NIGHT Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s Opening Night will ring in the new year for the 34th time. On Dec. 31, gather at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to experience local entertainment, live music and magicians, as well as areas devoted to artistic activities for kids of all ages. Wristbands to enter and exit the ballpark will be available to purchase upon arrival.

For more information, visit artscouncilokc.com/opening-night.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

WA L K O N T H E L I G H T S I D E Holiday light displays illuminate and bring cheer to the 405 every year. Edmond’s Luminance – An Enchanted Stroll features multiple three-dimensional light displays including massive teddy bears and glittering ornaments. All dogs must be kept on leashes and space should be accounted for when walking through. Go to edmondok.com and find “Enchanted Stroll” for information.

History is a collection of stories and shared experiences, a sentiment seen at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Shared Lives, Distant Places photography exhibit. In honor of the museum’s 75th anniversary, this collection displays the work of six contemporary photographers as they captured the human experience across the globe on camera – including the fall of the Berlin Wall, New York subway views and indigenous peoples’ ceremonies. Visit okcmoa.com/visit/events/shared-livesdistant-places.

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Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs Citizenship Dinner The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs presented its Citizenship Award to James L. Gallogly Sept. 17 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63. Keynote speaker was former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

1. Darlene & Larry Parman 2. Dr James Higgins, Trish Liscom 4. Jeff Higgins, John Gardner, Charles Williams, Dr. James Higgins 5. Jessica & Ross Smith 6. Mary Fraley, Barbara Bolen

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FRAN KOZAKOWSKI

3. Ginger Sloan, Cornell Wesley

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Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy welcomed the fall season with a chili cookoff Oct. 17 at its headquarters at 2915 N Classen Blvd.

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1. Enna Garett, Joe Dorman, Kate Cruickshank 2. John Ran Smith, Chris Kirt, Julia Kirt 3. Judge Kevin McCray, Judge Leah Edwards, Judge Barbara Swinton, Justice Noma Gurich, Judge Sheila Stinson, Judge Trevor Pemberton 4. Lisa Henderson, Lacey Townsend, Craig Johnston, Cathy Cummings, Kevin McCray

ZOObrew!

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Oklahoma Zoological Society hosted its 12th annual ZOObrew! Sept.

25 at the Oklahoma City Zoo, 200 Remington Place, serving up fan favorites from local breweries. The event was held in conjunction with the zoo’s “Fair” weekend where guests also were able to enjoy fair-style treats.

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1. Jillian & Jason Ball 2. Joshua & Sarah Fox 3. Megan & J.D. Widner 4. Ronnie & Ellynn Potter 5. Jessica & Brian Potter 6. Katelyn McCone, Emily Gallaway 3

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Photograph of John A. Brown Co., decorated for Christmas, 209-221 W Main St., c. 1940-1949.

Establishing a Retail Legend, Part 1 THE GROWTH AND FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF JOHN A. BROWN DEPARTMENT STORES

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E W D E PA R T M E N T S T O R E S are as emblematic of Oklahoma and its people as was John. A. Brown Co. What started as a modest dry goods store at 213-19 W Main Street in 1915 eventually overtook 10 acres of downtown real estate, and expanded to locations in Tulsa, Norman and Capitol Hill and Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, according to author Ajax Delvecki in his book John A. Brown’s, Kerr’s & Halliburton’s: Where Oklahoma City Loved to Shop.

But the success – and the hallmark – of John A. Brown department stores rested with the company’s founder, whose kind and compassionate nature infused a sense of “family” among customers and employees alike.

John Albert Brown was born in 1878 in Ohio, where his family ran a 100-acre farm northeast of Canton. But a visit to relatives in 1900 changed his career trajectory when he went to work in cousin A.O. Rorabaugh’s dry goods store in Emporia, Kansas. Brown was an immediate success.

After several years of working for Rorabaugh and others, Brown moved to Guthrie in 1908 and operated a store there until 1915, when 78

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he rejoined Rorabaugh and founded the Rorabaugh-Brown Company on Main Street in Oklahoma City, according to Brown’s Oklahoma Hall of Fame biography.

“Almost immediately, the store took on the characteristics of its leader. Bert Brown was a notably kind man, known for his empathy for both his employees and his customers,” Delvecki writes. “He often attributed … the success of the company to his employees, whom he saw as his family, and worked long hours every day, often alongside them out on the sales floor.”

By the 1920s, the Rorabaugh-Brown Company was exploding with growth. A national retail magazine expressed astonishment over the fact that the store earned more than $100,000 in sales each week and didn’t need a warehouse due to its rapid turnover of merchandise.

With the 1930s came the Great Depression.

Brown, who took sole ownership of the store in 1932, further endeared himself to customers by loosening credit rates on essentials and mandating to his sales staff that “there is to be no discrimination between persons but rather, the same consideration for all,” according to Delvecki’s book. And in an apparent show of loyalty to his employees,

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records indicate that the John A. Brown Company never laid off a single employee because of economic conditions.

Following the difficult years in the 1930s, the 1940s held great promise for Brown and his stores. The company began preparing for its 25th anniversary in January 1940, while Bert and Della Brown embarked on one of their buying trips, making a stop in Rochester, Minnesota, for Bert’s annual checkup at the Mayo Clinic.

On Jan. 25, 1940, John A. “Bert” Brown died from a heart attack in their hotel room at the age of 61.

Approximately 1,500 mourners piled into the First Methodist Church in Oklahoma City to pay tribute to Brown, according to a report in The Daily Oklahoman. Honorary pallbearers included local luminaries E.K. Gaylord, G.A. Nichols, Tom Braniff, Frank Buttram, J.H. Everest, J.C. Halliburton and Robert A. Hefner.

EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS IS THE FIRST IN A TWO-PART SERIES ON THE OKLAHOMA CITY-BASED JOHN A. BROWN CO. DEPARTMENT STORES. READ PART 2 IN JANUARY’S 405 MAGAZINE.

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Hindsight: 2020 LOOKING BACK AT SOME FORWARD-THINKING PREDICTIONS B Y L A U R E N R O T H | I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y K AT H Y L E E

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F YO U ’ V E M A D E I T T O T H I S P O I N T I N 2 0 2 0 , YO U A R E A survivor! Look at you! You’re like Cher, Keith Richards and bedbugs. The important thing is that, like Madonna, you’ve made it through the wilderness to the exit door of the worst year in recent memory, by all accounts.

If you’ve been feeling an odd familiarity in watching the entire globe reel from the pandemic and 2020’s cavalcade of nonstop, gut-punch headlines, it’s probably because you were tipped off about all of it in this very column in January. With 20/20 hindsight (couldn’t resist), I now recognize that I may have played down my psychic gifts – I need to devote a lot more of my income to the purchase of lottery tickets.

In case you missed that January article, I mapped out my “vision,” providing keywords for the reader as guideposts for navigating the year ahead. Given the manifestation of my 2020 predictions, I may have earned a seat at the table among the ranks of the nameless, faceless and unaccountable psychics who have built commercial empires by taking any number of shots in the dark every year in their predictions. At the very least, I feel qualified to write some legit fortune cookies. Here are a few called shots: T H E P R E D I C T I O N : High-ranking politicians, especially the American president. Keywords: tweet, scandal, assassination/assassination attempt, impeachment, prison, illness, shame, coverup, chimp with a loaded pistol.

H I N D S I G H T: We didn’t even make it through January without an assassination (Qasem Soleimani). Impeachment followed closely, the urgency of COVID-19 was shrouded in a cover-up, the President became ill with coronavirus, RBG left us and the chimp’s pistol was loaded all year.

T H E P R E D I C T I O N: Natural disasters, especially those brought on by extreme weather phenomena.

Keywords: wildfire, tsunami, hurricane, flooding, record-breaking snow, earthquake (“the big one”).

H I N D S I G H T: Take it from a gifted

psychic like me – natural disasters are a perennial safe bet for predictions, as these headlines validate: Historic blast of polar vortex sets scores of records, scatters rare May snow in Eastern U.S. (Washington Post, May 9) and Hurricane season 2020: One nonstop record-breaking year (Orlando Sentinel, Sept. 24).

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T H E P R E D I C T I O N: Man-made disasters. Keywords: oil or toxic waste spill, blackout, explosion, second term.

H I N D S I G H T: At press time (this article is written in October), we’ve seen these headlines: Major Fuel Spill in Russia’s North Spreads Toward Arctic Ocean (New York Times, June 9) and Oil Spill August: What Two Major Oil Spills in Venezuela And Mauritius Now Mean for The World (Forbes, Aug. 28).

T H E P R E D I C T I O N: The Royal Family. Keywords: another baby.

H I N D S I G H T: Think of it as a different kind of quarantine weight gain – Princess Eugenie pregnant: Major royal baby announcement from Duke and Duchess of York (London Express, Sept. 25) But who predicted the walkout of Harry and Meghan?

T H E P R E D I C T I O N: Civil unrest.

Keywords: riots, protests, Brexit, strikes, walkouts, [insert any major city’s name here], marches, demonstrations, Filene’s Basement Sale.

H I N D S I G H T: Pretty busy summer.

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T H E P R E D I C T I O N: Medicine. Keywords: discovery, cure, breakthrough, panacea, new treatment, serious side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, mild red, itchy rash.

H I N D S I G H T: It’s October as I’m writing this and that panacea can’t come quickly enough, which is giving all of us a rash. Hopefully a cure will be here before you read this article.

Happy holidays! I wish you all a MUCH better 2021!

Dear Neighbor, As I sit here writing this, my son Tahrohon, II, fresh off a flag football championship for 5th and 6th grade, is already planning and day-dreaming his first big touchdown catch for Community Christian next season. My daughter Audrey Grace is now a sophomore and a proud cheerleader, leading her CCS squad to a 2nd place regional trophy. I'm just pleased she isn’t asking me for the keys to her first car yet. My wife Devon is finishing up with her students at the University of Oklahoma. She passes by the door and stops a moment to offer a loving word before heading down the hall, effortlessly changing hats from OU professor to Super-Mom. We have been married 20 years and still her positivity and kindness amaze me. There is no fire crackling, but my heart is full of holiday cheer thinking about the impact this community has had on my family. We are blessed to have neighbors like you who care so much for each other and who truly embody the meaning of Christmas. As we bid farewell to 2020, we here at The Shannon household pray for a prosperous and joyful 2021 for everyone. "Little things go a long way.” Thank you to you all for teaching me that. Until we can see each other again, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

T.W. Shannon

CEO, Chickasaw Community Bank 909 S Meridian Ave • Oklahoma City, OK 73108 Main: 405.946.2265 • Fax: 405.949.2600

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