Oklahoma Today Winter 1983-1984 Volume 34 ... - Digital Collections

WINTER 

WINTERTIME IN BIRDLAND: GREAT SALT PLAINS 

SADDLE UP, STRAIGHT SHOOTERS! HIT THE TRAIL WITH TOM MIX 

WHAT MAKES 

UNCLE SAM RUN: 

4 

BACKSTAGE AT 

ENTERPRISE SQUARE ,., &., , 

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Winter 1983-'84 

COVER 

IE2 - bnghtly colored 

Economics Arcade at Oklahoma Citv's 

Enterprise Square scores some points 

about the free enterprise system. 

Photo by Jim Argo. Back cover. Moon 

over Red Rock Canyon State Park, 

near Hinton. Photo by Fred W. Marvel. 

Insidefront cover. Geese in the sunset, 

Great Salt Plains. Photo by Sylvia J. 

and Lloyd R. Brockus 111. 

FEATURES 

I 

THE STINGIEST MAN IN LAWTON 

Down at Fort Sill, seems like Christmas 

can't start without help from Raymond 

Shermeyer and Ebenezer Scrooge. 

e ok the State ok Vklahoma 

&OI ''Xly, 

George Nigh, Governor Vol. 34, No. 1 

o%arA".- 

p.26 

MR. FlXlT TULSA OPERA: 

Keeping the lights lit at Oklahoma 

IN THE GRAND MANNER 

City's Enterprise Square is a full-time job. what with bravura productions and visits 

from Estes. Pavarotti and Sills-not 

mention crowd scenes of homc 

rn 

WINGS OF WINTER 

talent-Tulsa Opera is 

proving itself the be* 

For folks who'll brave the wind chill, 

Great Salt Plains Wildlife Refuge is a winter 

little ipera house 

in CMahomaand 

beyond. 

p.32 

SHADES OF 

AN OKLAHOMA WINTER 

p.20 An essay in black and white by some of 

OF K-STAR-RS, KESTNERS 

the Sooner State's best photographers. 

AND CIRCLE DOT BRUS . .. 

The old-fashioned magic of an p.38 

Oklahoma dollmaker. HEY THERE, 

STRAIGHT SHOOTERS. .. 

Many a man is now alive who thrilled to 

the screen heroics of Tom Mix, the original 

good guy in a white hat. But how many 

know he got his training here in Oklahoma? 

DEPARTMENTS 

Today in Oklahoma ..................................... 43 

Letters..........................................................44 

On To Oklahoma ......................................... 45 

Entertainment Calendar ..............................46 

Winter 3

4 

Oklahoma TODAY

The Stingiest Man 

in Lawton 

the fort's Cabaret Supper Theatre. 

"It's a Christmas tradition here," 

Shermeyer says. "Even though there are 

people who sigh and say, 'Oh, no, not 

1 again,' they are usually the first in line 

for reservations." The show consistently 

plays to packed houses. "The Christmas 

Show has a message that never loses its 

meaning, regardless of one's age. The 

youngsters enjoy the music, color and 

excitement, while the parents see them- 

I selves in 'old Scrooge' as he struggles 

I between right and wrong. 

1 "It's a family show," he says. "These 

days it's hard to find entertainment the 

whole family can enjoy, especially in live 

I theater." As for scattered grumbling 

about the same show year in and yea] 

out, he replies in character, "Humbug! 

When the people stop coming, I'll sto~ 

doing it." 

There's a certain lack of conviction 

By Andrew I. Walton 

7 he house lights fade and the audience focuses on a bent old man in a gray pool of light, 

center stage. Some have seen him before. For others it's their first time. Children huddle 

closer to their parents. The figure on stage is menacing and cold. He shuffles and grumbles, 

then sits in an armchair hunched over a bowl of gruel. Then for the first time we hear it: 

"Humbug!" And Christmas has officially begun in southwest Oklahoma. 

When young Raymond Shermeyer did a reading of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas 

Carol" for classmates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1944, he could never have dreamed how the story, 

characters and message would affect his life-not to mention the lives of thousands who have seen and 

heard his Christmas message. 

Shermeyer has performed the Dickens characters, particularly Ebenezer Scrooge, all over Europe and the 

United States. But for the past 17 years his performances have lit the stages of Fort Sill, where he is music 

and theater branch director for the Army. And since 1972 the home stage for Scrooge and company has been 

Sans makeup, Shmeyer admia to 

Aming a Scmogish streak-like the mt of 

us o DirRmtinn mixture of "Humbuq!" 

"HO>H"* H" 

, behind that threat. When Shermeyer I- -1 

talks of 'The Christmas Show" (the title 

he gives the show regardless of its form, 

which he changes slightly every year), 

it's not just a play with fictional characters. 

Over the years the story has become 

a living entity, a companion. And the 

characters have become real people: a 

housewife as Belle; a soldier playing Bob 

Cratchit; Tiny Tim brought to life by a 

small schoolboy; a businessman rattling 

stage-prop chains and lamenting the fate 

of Jacob Marley. All different people 

from different years, but all part of the 

Dickens tapestry Shermeyer has woven 

through Christmases past. And all a part 

of Shermeyer himself, on and off stage. 

"One of the most fascinating aspects 

z of Scrooge," he explains, "is his univer- 

,t .hl sality. There is a little humbug in all of 

us." Shermeyer himself is not immune 

to a "touch of the humbug," and he is 

the first to admit it. Every year, a few 

weeks before casting the show in Octo-

er, he decrees gruffly, "No kids this 

year. They're too much trouble. Only 

;he ~ratcjlit kids. Maybe only in; 

Tim. Only the essentials!" Then audi- 

tions and stagestruck youngsters arrive 

on the same day. Before the production 

closes each year, anywhere from 20 to 40 

children are thanking "old Uncle 

Scrooge" for the candy-filled stockings 

he passes out at the cast party. 

His own children have been in the 

show several times, and one production 

in particular brings laughter to Shermeyer's 

eyes. "My son, Ray Jr., played 

Tiny Tim when he was 2 years old (he's 

a sophomore in college now). He had 

only one line to say, 'God bless us every- 

one,' but every night the actor playing 

Bob Cratchit had to whisper the line in 

his ear." Shermeyer chuckles as he re- 

members. "After saying the line he 

would get his reward, a lollipop from 

Cratchit. One night everything went as 

planned until Cratchit forgot the reward." 

The chuckles build to laughter. 

"Ray Jr. turns to Cratchit and in a voice 

louder than he had ever delivered his 

line, says, 'Where's my lollipop? " 

The vehicle for Shermeyer's produc- 

tion has changed many times through 

the years. But whether it be play, variety 

show, staged reading or musical produc- 

tion, it is always based on the original 

story. Since he's been at Fort Sill, Sher. 

meyer has performed a musical versior. 

titled 'The Stingiest Man in Town." As 

for "old Scrooge" himself, there are also 

changes from year to year. "I always try 

to make Ebenezer Scrooge a three-dimensional 

character," says 

Shermeyer, "not the stereo- 

typed man that the name Scrooge 

now connotes." Every year he goes 

back and studies Dickens' original char- 

acter, looking for more than just a selfish 

old man. ''The events of his life make 

him what he was. At one time there was 

warmth, happiness, gentleness and even 

love in Ebenezer Scrooge. But all of this 

has gone sour, and it takes a night of , 

travel through the past, present and even j 

an encounter with death to bring his 

warmth to the surface. That's why when 

6 Oklahoma TODAY

Shemqer'.r memories include a housmife a.r Belle, a buusin~rsmanlamenting the fate of Jucob Marley. 

playing Scrooge, I always try to include 

some kindness." 

Sometimes ShermeyerIScrooge leaves 

the stage and visits area classrooms. 

Grade-school children enjoy Scrooge and 

love to jeer and hiss as he grumbles and 

fusses about with "Humbug!" on his 

lips. But suddenly there is confusion and 

then cheers of delight as the mean old 

man brings out the candy he's brought 

for the unsuspecting students. 

Not only are children confused and 

delighted by Ray Shermeyer's Scrooge1 

Santa syndrome, adults are fascinated as 

well. The Cabaret staff has received 

more than one note from a transferred 

soldier saying, "Europe is great, but it's 

just not Christmas without 'The Stingiest 

Man in Town.' " And Lawton natives 

respond with puzzled expressions. 

"I don't know why I keep going," they 

say. "I must have seen it 10 times. But 

somehow it just wouldn't be Christmas 

without it." In the best sense of the 

word, Ray Shermeyer, Ebenezer 

Scrooge and Charles Dickens are tradition 

in southwest Oklahoma. 

"It's the way I celebrate Christmas," 

Shermeyer says. "Sure I love Christmas 

with just my family, but Scrooge allows 

me to celebrate with everyone. It's my 

gift to them. Too often we have to be 

reminded of kindness and generosity 

and humanity. If our production causes 

one simple act of kindness by only one 

person, then it's worth it." 

Andrew Walton, technical director for the 

Cabaret, directs most of the theater's musicals-wih 

the exception of "The Stingiest 

Man in Town." He also designs and builds 

scenery, handles lights and sound and even 

finds time to do some acting. 

Christmas begins in Lmton November 30, 

when Raymond Shermeyer and the rz of the 

cast of the 'StingiestMan in Town" take the 

stage at Fort Silrs Cabaret Supper 'Ileatre, 

2933 Many Road. 

L%eentertainmentpackage includes a piano 

bar, lounge area and buffet sewing line, as 

well as theater. (Neehs to say, for the 

Christmas show the buffet goes Dickensian, 

serving turkey, dressing and cranbeny sauce.) 

Datesfor thisyear's show are November30 

and December 1-4, 7-11 and 14-17. Tleater 

and buffet open at 6 p.m. ;curtain time is 8. 

To visit Scrooge, enter Fort Sill at Key 

Gate, go left on Craig Road, then right on 

Marry. For reservutions andinfomation, call 

(405)351-4519 or 351-4875. 


MR. FIXIT 

keeps th raxx&xxh 

iv Enkrpnie Sqwre 

By Jim Eiter Photographs by Jim Argo 

Behind the scenes at anterprise 

Square. 

Frank Irby, the attrac- 

tion's technical direp 

in the $15 million edu- 

"HeIIo, everybody, this 

is Bob 'Enterprise 

Square' Hope.. .99 

While the familiar voice coming from 

the familiar face on a 45-inch video mon- 

itor greets about two dozen visitors, 

Frank Irby is in another part of the build- 

ing watching one of 14 discs turn on a 

console that looks like a prop from a 

science-fiction movie. 

Irby, a stocky, young man in sport 

shin and glasses who has the pleasant 

but intense air of a college professor, is 

making sure Mr. Hope's speech, like its 

interruption in a few minutes by what 

appears to be the landing of a flying 

saucer, goes as planned. 

Irby has one of the world's most fasci- 

nating "furit" jobs. He's the technical 

director at Enterprise Square, USA. 

I I I I I I I I I . I l l I I I

As the man responsible for virtually all 

the features at the one-of-a-kind center 

at Benson and Memorial roads in Okla- 

homa City, he has the task of keeping at 

least 14 talking andlor moving attractions 

working just so. 

He once got a call while at home for a 

quick lunch that something was wrong 

with the Heartbeat Rotunda. Visitors rid- 

ing the glass-fronted elevator to the third 

floor couldn't see the more than 50 mov- 

ing pictures that were supposed to ap- 

pear as they went up. 

He rushed back and made the needed 

adjustment, and the many scenes, show- 

ing how people are involved in economic 

transactions every day of their lives, 

came to life again. 

He also takes care of the 160 relays 

and 19 motors that control the five big 

robots in the Remarkable Supply Shop, a 

"doughnut factory" that explains supply 

and demand. Sometimes he's behind the 

scenes inspecting the workings while vis- 

itors are watching the show on the other 

side, and it's a good thing he is: If things 

behind the stage set should fail to work 

right, the eight-foot-tall, 200 pound 

"Sugar," one of the stars of the assem- 

bly-line drama, could stop talking and 

gesturing and fall flat on her metallic 

face. 

"There's a lot of people wouldn't 

want my job,"says the 32-year-old Irby 

as he moves swiftly from one control area 

to another in the 60,000-square-foot 

complex, for the most part unnoticed by 

the crowds. "But I enjoy it, I guess be- 

cause I just like the variety." 

He has plenty of that, especially the 

kind he has been trained for as an elec- 

tronics technician. "We have over 750 or 

800 separate pieces of equipment, from 

little hand-held things to some interface 

and central boards that make everything 

work together," he says. "The elevator 

show [he refers to the Heartbeat Rotun- 

da] has 54 projectors and four soundtrack 

systems-and that's not listing half the 

equipment that runs the room." 

Some of the areas-there are about 

1Ghave a lot of electronics, and some 

only a little. But they all have some 

things that move. 

Irby started work at the center about 

10 months before it was set in motion for 

the public in November, 1982, and for a 

while was busy doing his homework. "I 

spent that time just reading the blue- 

prints," he says. 

"I have a student working here, and 

practically all he does is change light 

bulbs. And you'd be surprised how many 

there are; there are about 3,000 chaser 

lights," he says, referring to the many 

bulbs in the complex that flash on and 

off at intervals to indicate what direction 

visitors should head for the next exhibit. 

And while the technical aspects of his

I Hope, and the sudden "landing" of what 

' 

looks like a spaceship occupied by little 

cute-but-clever characters whose visit is 

also part of the overall script to explain 

1 the workings of free enterprise. 

) 

1 

Visitors then go up to the third floor 

on the glass-fronted elevator, an attrac- 

tion that in itself has been called the 

largest audio-visual show in the world. 

The visitors continue the tour of such 

shows and take-part attractions as a place 

called "Free to Choose," where anyone 

can see himself-r, of course, herself- 

/ on a video screen, acting the part of 

whatever he or she would like to be, 

including president of the United States. 

There's also a room where the faces in 

giant currency bills talk to supplement a 

slide show telling about the free market. 

I Another show has a large talking, con- 

stantly changing face, portrayed by nine ' anything you want to do." 

video screens, that represents the people Some areas keep him especially busy 

of the nation and the government-and- as the technician. "I spend more time in 

people relationship. the Venture Room," he says. "There are 

Then there's an arcade where eight three or four different types of comput- 

different video games can be played by ers in the place." 

visitors to demonstrate, entertainingly, And there are areas he likes to talk 

how the free enterprise system works. about from the view of the visitor. 

The attractions seem to go on and on, "The Free to Choose, that's probably 

and Irby, while walking by each one, can the biggest thing with the school 

constantly see himself as both the tech- groups," he says. "And I don't care if it's 

nician and the visitor. adults in their 50s and 60s or kids, if 

"It's really a learning center, is what it they're in a group they have so much fun 

is," he says. "It has some traits of a that pretty soon you have to tell them to 

museum, and some traits of an amuse- move on." 

ment park. It's really what it's called: an And, because of some characteristics 

'educational attraction. ' of the attraction, he says it's about as 

"Overall, we try to show how econo- much fun to watch the visitors as it is to 

my affects everybody. A lot happens be- visit. The color blue plays a major part in 

cause of various things, and you can do the phenomenon of the attraction, which

places the image of the visitor over an- 

other image-the cockpit of a plane, a 

surgeon's operating room, the office of 

the U.S. president. 

Therefore, something amazing can 

take place. "Since it works with blue, if 

you're wearing a blue shirt while you're 

in front of the camera it makes you look 

like the invisible man," Irby says. He'll 

occasionally hear one of the visitors say, 

"Look, you can almost see through me!" 

But Irby, like about everyone who has 

ever been to Enterprise Square, has his 

favorite attraction. He says he likes them 

all, of course, but he adds, "To me, the 

Marketplace, I think it's the best show. 

The music, the talking heads, the big 

cash register-there's just a lot going on 

in there." 

And that could be the best overall 

reason Irby likes his job at Enterprise 

Square-there's just a lot going on. Dl 

- 

Getting 

There 

Some seven years back, the story goes, 

educators at Oklahoma City's Oklahoma 

Christian College got the feeling that something 

needed to be done to educate young 

Americans on the economics of their coun- 

try. Tirey sponsored a national survey, which 

showed them they'd been right: Most kids 

in the U.S. didn't have the first notion what 

makes Uncle Sam run. 

Five yean of planning and two of 

building-plus $15 million and thousands of 

hours work by hundreds of individuals- 

later, Enterprise Square, a light-up schoo/ 

room on economics, began showing children 

and adults alike all about capitalism. 

In thef3nt six months, 43,000 trekked 

through Oklahoma's own Economylandand 

the total rises by hundreds each week, 

espen'alh during the school year, when bus 

loads of students ake from all over the 

country. 

Hours for the attraction, at the corner 

of Memorial and Benson roads, are Monday 

through nunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 

Fday andSaturday from 9 a.m. to 7p.m. 

(me full tour takes two to three hours, 

and the building stays open two hours afer 

closing to let late visitors see it all.) 

Admission is $3.50 for adults, $2.50 

for senior citizens and students through high 

school and $2 a head for school groups oj 

20 or mom who hawe resemattions. Call 

(405) 478-51 90 for more information.

Enterprise Square3 Own 

CAPTAIN VIDEO 

0nce school lets out, it's not uncommon for kids to show up 

at Enterprise Square, plunk down $2.50 and walk straight 

past the Remarkable Supply Shop and the Heartbeat Rotunda 

and music and the fun of the game, then they get interested and 

want to learn about the subject so that they can do well." 

All the games are programmed on Apple I1 Plus computers 

without even looking around. 

Instead, they head for the Economics Arcade to try their skills, 

with additional hardware for music and game controls. The 

programs were written in BASIC and Assembler languages. 

not at PacMan and QXbert and Robotron but at Economy Ma- The first game the team came up with was Oil Tycoon, a 

chine and Lemonade Stand and Oil Tycoon. Economy Q&A. natural for this pan of the country, according to North. It was the 

Lawnmower. Protect Your Rights. Inflation. Housebuilder. game taken on tour when money was being raised to build 

Video games with a message. The message is the economic Enterprise Square. 

lesson Enterprise Square was built to sell young people on. The The most difficult game for the group, technically, was Protect 

games are the work of a computer-design team led by David Your Rights, and the one they worked hardest on was Economy 

North, a computer science instructor at Oklahoma Christian Machine. Lemonade Stand resembles games found in commer- 

College. Working with North to mix the medium with the cial arcades. ("We did lots of research in various game arcades," 

message were Don Leftwich, says North, laughing.) The fast 

Ken Parker, Tom Stafford and 

Bill Goad. 

According to North, working 

as a group was more of an advantage 

than the handicap 

David Noh worked wirh a ream of computer whizzes to come up with 

video games fhut do mon dun jwt eat quarten. 

est game to design was Lawnmower, 

thought up, start to finish, 

in one day. 

As North explains it, the difficulty 

came not in thinking up 

"work by committee" can often 

be. "I've always believed two 

games but in thinking up games 

that could meet the set criteria 

heads were better than one, and and still be interestingly and 

in designing this type of thing, graphically displayed. 

the more viewpoints you have, "We came up with several 

the better," he says. "We had which just didn't work out at all 

lots of discussions about what because they wouldn't fit within 

we thought should happen in the limitations you have when 

each game and how it should be working with a computer," he 

done. Naturally we all didn't get says. 

exactly what we wanted each When the arcade first 

time, but we probably got better opened, no one on the design 

games because we could use the team was sure which games 

best from each person." would be hits. "I haven't been 

Several criteria had to be kept able to determine myself that 

in mind. There needed to be one is much more popular than 

some "fire-and-shoot" types to the others," North says now, 

attract people with good manual "but then I haven't tried too 

dexterity and some games that hard. Probably Drilling for Oil, 

relied on understanding and in- Lawnmower and Lemonade 

telligence for people who like to Stand.. . . Every day I've been 

use their heads. over there they all seem to be 

lhere had to be games that full up." 

were difficult and games that The young Americans who 

were easy, and they had to ap- pay to play the games from 3 to 

I peal to a wide age range. And 6 p.m. have already learned one 

Ibecause of Enterprise Square's of the lessons Enterprise Square 

theme, they all had to deal with set out to teach: Since commerbusiness 

and economics. cia1 arcades charge a quarter a 

"Hopefully, they're fun to game and the average play is 

play too," says North, who adds only a few minutes, $2.50 for 

C 

I 

that the group probably pro- 

C 

three hours of battling Inflation 

grammed in more "game" than and Protecting Your Rights 

"school." "But the lessons are looks like a sound investment. 

all there," he says. "If you can 

entice the players with colors By Burnis &go

14 


of Winter 

By Linda D. F. Shalaway 

ike hunters stalking prey we stealthily ap- 

nroach the large pond. 

'They should be up here just around 

a fthe bend," promises the leader of our 

group. "Walk quietly and try to keep behind some 

bushe- -r trees. We don't want to flush them." 

A fc .. steps more, and there they are. There must 

be thousands-a sea of ducks. We aim our 

binoculars. 

Most of them are redheads, with their bright rusty 

heads, gray backs and black breasts. The redhead is 

usually an occasional winter visitor here on northwestern 

Oklahoma's Salt Plains. But right in front of 

us the water is alive with them. 

There are others, too-canvasbacks, American 

Left. Geese in dramatic sihouette against a Salr Plains sunrise. Above. 

Forsightings /ike these, birders cheerfu//y brave coldandear& houn. 


widgeons, goldeneyes, buffleheads. 

. . ."Wait," someone whispers 

excitedly, "is that a hooded merganser?" 

Binoculars zero in, and the sighting is 

confirmed. 

Still moving cautiously, we set up the 

spotting scopes brought by several mem- 

bers of our birding group. With the early- 

morning sun to our backs, the light is 

perfect. We can see the male bufflehead's 

fluffy white "bonnet" as he courts 

females, the pintail's long narrow tail and 

white neck strips and the white spot on 

the widgeon's head that gives it a nick- 

name of "bald pate." 

Suddenly, the sea of ducks becomes a 

cloud as the birds rise in flight, a mass of 

beating wings. We stand transfixed. 

Even the experienced birders among us 

catch their breaths. This is worth getting 

up at 5 a.m., even on a cold Saturday in 

February. 

The chance to see great flocks of mi- 

grating ducks and geese, bald eagles, 

hawks, herons and much more awaits 

those who brave winter winds and chill- 

ing temperatures at the Salt Plains Na- 

tional Wildlife Refuge near Jet. 

Waterfowl are attracted to the refuge's 

extensive pond and marsh system, and 

by the fields of wheat and milo planted 

for them to eat. By the thousands they 

stop here on their long journey north to 

Canada or the Arctic. Other birds find 

the refuge a suitable winter home. 

And where birds go, birdwatchers fol- 

low-like the 14 of us, members and 

guests of the Payne County Audubon 

Society in Stillwater. But members, too, 

of a much larger group: the millions of 

birding enthusiasts nationwide. 

Americans spend hundreds of millions 

of dollars each year on bird books, binoc- 

ulars, spotting scopes and other bird- 

watching paraphernalia, according to 

recent surveys. About a third of that goes 

for bird seed for winter feeders. But 

there is a lot more to winter birding than 

watching birds from a window in the 

living room. Oklahoma "hot spots" like 

the Salt Plains Refuge offer the winter 

birder the chance to get outside and see 

7Xe great horned oa?/ i.c on('! one of183 different 

hirdq thmtfrequent the ri$ug's 32, OOi?acres. 

16 


I 

' 

I 

and tho 

waterfowl 

lon their long milgrati~n~,,tit# 

BIRDING 

a great variety of species. All it takes is 

some warm clothing, a pair of binoculars 

and a good bird book or knowledgeable 

companion. 

Our group includes a high school 

teacher, a housewife, a college professor, 

a state employee, several high school 

and college students and one young boy. 

In our hiking boots and heavy jackets we 

are a far cry from the "little old ladies in 

tennis shoes" stereotype. 

By now the flock of redheads has 

moved to another pond. We press on. It 

is barely mid-morning, but we have al- 

ready seen almost 40 species. 

The sun had still been several hours 

from rising when we left Stillwater. We 

wanted to reach the refuge around day- 

break; early morning is when birds are 

usually most active. As it became light, 

we scanned the skies and fencerows as 

we drove. Plenty of hawks, and an occa- 

sional songbird or two. But what was that 

in the field to the left? 

Wild turkeys! Our driver signaled to 

those following, and we pulled over for a 

closer look. We counted 32 birds, early- 

morning sun reflecting off their irides- 

cent green-black feathers. 

Thirty-two birds in no hurry as they 

headed toward the edge of the woods, 

just as leisurely as the ones we saw sever- 

al miles later, on the gravel road into the 

refuge. This flock was twice as large. I 

know because I had time to count as 

they crossed the road one by one in front 

of our car. The impromptu parade lasted 

more than five minutes. 

It promised to be a great day. 

Before taking to the fields, we 

checked in at the refuge headquarters. 

Assistant manager John Kirk told us what 

had been sighted recently, and what we 

could expect to see. He also gave us 

permission to go into some of the ref- 

uge's non-public areas. 

"I think there are still some wood 

ducks around on the ponds just across 

the way," Kirk told us. He was right. 

Just a short hike later, we saw the woo- 

dies. For several of us, it was a first. 

continued 

I 

1 Winter 17

i 

"YOLI can identify them by the 

brightly colored markings and crested 

head," an experienced birder explained 

to the novices. "And when you hear 

them squeaking, you know for sure," he 

added as the birds flushed. "The oldtimers 

used to call them 'squeakers."' 

For the experienced birder, watching 

a beginner's excitement at sighting a bird 

for the first time is almost as m ~~ch fun as 

seeing the birds themselves. 

"What was that?" We heard some rustling 

in the trees, and the search was on. 

Fourteen pairs of binoculars poised; eyes 

strained. 

"There it is. In that smallest tree, 

where the trunk forks. Follow the left 

fork to that first clump of branches." 

The tree became a giant "find the 

18 

- 

- Lloyd 

1 

R Brockus 111 

hidden object" puzzle. Each rustling 

twig, each little movement was a clue. A 

golden crowned kinglet, we soon discov- 

ered. Not bad. 

By this time we have hiked almost 

two miles over trails and dikes among 

the refuge's 32,000 acres. (About 10,000 

acres are ponds and marshes, another 

10,000 are grassy, brushy uplands, and 

the final 12,000 acres are salt flats.) We 

have seen many of the 283 different 

birds found here, including white-front- 

ed geese, mallards, gadwalls, greenwinged 

teal, northern shovelers, 

ring-necked ducks and common mergan- 

sers. The brushy cover along the dikes 

and paths is full of chickadees, cardinals, 

flickers and other winter residents. 

Again, discovery is just around the 


, 

1 

I 

I 

next bend. We freeze as those in front 

motion for quiet. Ahead is the hulking 

form of an immature bald eagle--even 

juveniles stand about three feet high. 

The eagle is perched on the ground on a 

small island in the marsh, too busy eating 

to see us or care. 

Bald eagles are common at Salt Plains. 

The refuge is one of the state's best 

eagle wintering areas, according to refuge 

manager Ron Sullivan. Sullivan reports 

that in one record year, 93 bald 

eagles spent the winter here. The aver- 

, age is 30 to 35. 

The cry of an adult bald eagle soaring 

overhead surprises us-and the young 

eagle we are watching. It takes off, 

I flushing a small flock of ducks as it goes. 

I Our good luck holds. After lunch, we 

! head just outside the refuge to look for 

owls nesting in the high mud banks 

overlooking the Salt Fork of the Arkansas. 

But as we climb down to the river, 

we notice a flock of huge white birds on 

the water. 

Pelicans! We set up the spotting 

scopes in a hurry. 

"Look behind the pelicans. There's a 

flock of about 20 red-breasted mergansers." 

Now this is a real treat. While the 

Salt Plains are well within the migratory 

route of the bird, it is not often seen 

here. 

We watch the mergansers as they fish 

alongside the pelicans. Their finely serrated 

bills are ideal for grasping fish underwater. 

With the scopes, we get a 

good, close look. The beginners among 

us are especially fond of the scopes. For 

someone who has not yet mastered the 

skill of using binoculars to sight rapidly 

moving songbirds, it is far easier to fix a 

scope on a relatively stationary duck. 

, And the view is fantastic. 

I Despite the view, a biting gust of 

1 wind reminds us how cold it is. Thank 

goodness for longjohns. 

I "Let's keep moving," our group lead- 

I er urges us. 

I We set out to hunt for owls. In the 

) high banks, we can see large holes where 

1 barn owls and great horned owls are 

probably roosting, in abandoned and 

eroded kingfisher burrows. 

Owl pellets at the base or tne banks 

show which burrows are in use. The 

pellets are little bundles of hair and bone 

regurgitated after the owl has eaten a 

small rodent or bird. Along with twigs 

and grass poking out of the holes, the 

pellets show that owls are around. But 

none appears; no doubt they are sitting 

tight. 

Our disappointment doesn't last, for 

flying over the river toward us is a mature 

bald eagle. Even without binoculars, 

we can see the white head and tail, 

brilliant in the afternoon sun. A fitting 

end to a long but exciting day. 

T2e Salt Plains Wildlife RRefge, Great 

Salt Plains Resemior and G w Salt Plains 

State Park form a fantasyland for birders 

and wildlife watchen. The refge office, off 

State Highway 38A nod of Jet, is open 

Monday-Ftidq, 7-4:30. Weekendtrmellen 

can call (405) 626-4794 for tips on besr 

birding bets. 

A good place to start is the Eagle Roost 

Nature Trail, 1% miles loopingpast various 

watery habitats. Good places to wildlifewatchfrom 

an automobileare theparking lot 

near the dam spillway and the section of 

State Hidway 21 that slices through de 

northern part of the rej.uge. 

The oofce for Great Salt Plains State 

Park isjust south of the refuge headquarters. 

Call ahead, (405)626-4732, for information 

on birding and other activities. 

Two other northwestern 'got spots" for 

birdwatchingin winter-or any time-are the 

Washita National Wildlife Refuge in Custer 

County and Black Mesa State Park in 

Cimarron County. 

The Washita refuge, covering the northern 

third of Foss Resemoir. hosts hum flocks 

of wate7foLl each winter. his lastYw;nter, 

rejuge oficials reportedflocks of 40,000 

Canada geese and 220,0017 ducks, mose 

mallards. About 18 bald eagles also winter 

there. 

But perhaps the biggest draw for 

birders is the congregation of sandhill cranes. 

Thq begin amving in ear4 fa// and stay 

into December, when their numbers peak at 

15,000-20,000. 

It is a weary bunch of birders that 

hikes back to the cars. Five a.m. was a 

long time ago, and we still have a threehour 

drive home. 

But I know we'll be back soon. There 

are the shore birds and sandhill cranes to 

see in the spring, the nesting snowy plovers, 

least terns and American avocets in 

summer-and the chance to see whooping 

cranes in the fall. It doesn't matter 

how early we have to get up. We'll be 

there. 

Free-lancer Linda Shalaway and her husband, 

Scott, a wi/d/;fe biologist sperializing 

in ornithology, live in Stillwater. 

Reach the refge and nearby Foss Stcltr 

Park by taking the Foss exit off 1-40, then 

travelling state highway.^ 44 nortb and 7.3 

west. Thepark's number is (4115)592-4433; 

call the refuge at (405)473-2205. 

At the northwestern tip of the Panhandle, 

Black Mesa State Park and its environs 

is a fmorife spot with birdwatchers, including 

Oklahoma'spremier birder, the late 

George M. Sutton. In Oklahoma Birds, 

Sutton wrote: "Especially exriting has been 

the Black Mesa country of Cimarron 

County, wit2 its rocky slopes, i2s aroma of 

juniper and pinyon, and its glorious wilderness. 

Here we have learned to expert the 

unusual,for montane forms drip into it 

in winter, many wesfern species migrate regularly 

through it, and a paradoxirally 

eastern element has a way of appearing 

among the transients in spring, probably 

as a result of following the Cimarron River, 

whose trees provide a habitat that leads 

westwardfar more strongly than northward 

across the vast Panhandle plain. " 

Soaring over c/#s and mesa tops in 

vinter are golden eagles, prairiefalcons, fernrginous 

hawks and other large raptors. 

Summer brings a breathtaking blend of eastern 

and western species: lark bunting, 

long-billed curlew, Lewis's woodpecker, 

Swainson's hawk, canyon wren, scaled 

quail, brown towhee and large colonies of 

cl@ swallows. 

Reach Black Mesa Stare Park by heading 

westfrom Boise Cia. 7iieparkS number 

is (405) 426-2222. 

Audubon chapten stareaide schedule 

frequent trips to Hlark .Mesa, the Ib'ashita 

refuRe and de Salt Plains. Newcomers 

are welcome, and gou ran locate the group 

nearest you by calling the society's re&na/ 

representative, Ed Pembleton, at (913)537- 

4385. -Linda Shalawa~~ 

Winter 1P

By Kate Jones 

Photographs by Steve Sisney 

- hen visitors walk into Be@ Reeders home, the first 

thing they're likely to do is forget their manners. 

Instead of observing be amenities, thb're jiab/e to dame leir mamas by turning their 

backs on their hostess and staring into be cases dat line de wide entryway. 

Beq doesn't mind, though, because what they're oohing and aahing over are 

samples of her artistry: a Bru Gourmand, a 1914JDK Hilda, a Simon QHalbig fi 

117, an FSBJ 252. 

Dolls. 

More dan dolls. If your experience has mn to Betsy Wetses, Barbies a d GI Joes, 

you may feel dat Betty's creations deserve another designation entirely. 

Bat dolls bey are, reproductions of French and German dolls giee~ to lucky ZMe 

rich girls in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Dolls with human-hair wigs and blownghs 

eyes, dressed in velvet and lace, their porcelain heeks delicately flushed with 

china paint. 

Since 19 76, Betty Reeder has been working at recreating these little works of art, not 

for little girls but for collectors. ''I've heard that it takes seven years to become a 

dollmaker, "she says. ''I'm into my seventh year now, and sometimes it seems I've 

9 9 

come a long way. Other times, I see how far I have to go. 

Herfist doN was a 12-inch ''Dream Baby, " made for her daughter. Betg is quick 

to see its flaws today-its glass eyes are not appropriate for a Dream Baby, for 

instance. Still, it won her a trophy and a blue ribbon in the Oklahoma Cily 

Metropolitan Ceramic Show. 

Of KeRs, Kestners &@Brus, 

Jumeaus and a 

Wire-eyed Steiner orTwo 

20 


i 

The cases in Be4 Reeder's home contain samp/es of herhandiwork-and her col/ertion of antique do//s. she'.^ ho/ding her reproduction of an A Marqueperhaps 

the ramst of antique ro//ertib/es. Behind her is the boy A Marque to mati%, and on the top she&, far ti&?, ir Betty's FrenA "wrestler" do//. 

1 Winter 21

$ Bett)"~ reproductions are based on 

careful obsemation of antique otigklsfrom 

the sweep of a Jumeau eyebrow to the 

details of a lag1 party dress. Above. The 

little Ute Jumeau wean a costume copied 

from another doll, an S&H 'Santa"-but 

the dress is quite appropriate to the little Jumeau. When it 

tomes time to dress her dolls, Beto turns to her partner, 

.Mn. Tom Reese, ayho's been helping Beto since 1977. 

'She's a wondedul lads, nor just because she sews so 

well for me, though she does," Beto says. "I ran take a 

picture and materials I want to her, and if she can see 

how it's put together, she ran nproduce it.. . . She's been a 

blessing for me, and I think the work has been a blessing 

for her, too." 771e 'IFte Jumeau's hat is made from antique 

fabric and feathen Beto found at a shous sponsored b)~ 

the I kikd Fe~feration of DON Clubs. Right. Another 

J11mea11, an ear!)' one. Junzeau.~ are not the rarest of 

dolls, because they uBere produced in such numben- 

I IO,OLIL)sold it1 1883. "But they're beautiful dolls that 

collecto~s just want-both old ones and reproductions, " 

Bern sqs. Far right. A Getman ':Wein Leihling"- 

Simon @ Halbig K-Star-R 117, to put it in 

rollerton' parlance. 7Xe ownal produced 

beheen 19J6 and 1923. 


Winter 

In the years since, the ribbons, and the skills, have 

been piling up. It seems that nearly every doll in the 

cases wears a ribbon-from the First Houston Iloll 

Club, Rocky Mountain Doll Fantasy, the State Fair of 

Oklahoma, the Doll Collectors of Irving, Texas.. .. Betty 

has no idea how many awards she's won. "I have 

them on the dolls," she says, "but I have them stuffed 

away in drawers, too." 

nf she doesn't seem overly interested in 

the awards, that doesn't mean she's lost 

interest in the dolls that won them. 

A tour of the cases includes a detailed 

commentary-concerning French pout- 

ers, wire-eyed Steiners, open- and 

closed-mouth Jumeaus, a little mohair- 

wigged Schmidt modeled after a doll 

/ that was a flower girl in a wedding 

group. 

In one case stand a pair of dolls in brown velvet, 

reproductions of a boy and girl made by A Marque 

about 1916. "The body for these two was specially 

made," Betty says. "See how narrow it is. It's like a 

gangly teen-ager, a sweet little body .... And look at 

these bisque forearms, and the way the thumbs curve 

down." 

She tugs back the soft hair of the girl doll, to reveal 

ears that stick out slightly. "Just look at those ears," she 

says, smiling. "It makes you laugh when you see some- 

thing that pleasing." (Betty then tosses in a slightly 

staggering fact: The original of this sweet little doll 

recently sold for $38,000, the highest price paid for a 

doll so far.) 

Betty's reproductions are much more reasonable; the 

range is $150 to $450. She produces them at work 

stations scattered throughout her house. "I pour molds 

at the kitchen table," she says. "I have a large kiln in 

the garage for porcelain firing, and a small one in my 

workroom for the china paint firing." 

It's quite a step from the elegant finished products in 

the cases to Betty's workroom. She apologizes in ad- 

vance for the mess, but in truth it's not so much messy 

as crammed with the parts and parcels of dollmaking. 

Beside her work table stands a bin full of unfinished 

heads for Jumeaus, Brus, ATS.. . . You could say some 

were standing on their heads, if they had bodies to 

make the remark relevant. Others stare from the spaces 

where eyes will be. 

Scattered on the table are the pieces of a little 

"French wrestler" doll Betty's painting, an arm here, a 

high-booted, fleshy leg there. If the dolls in their whim- 

sy and beauty have made you smile, the workroom will

man dollmakingfinns like Kestner and Khmer d Reinhrdt 

com~eted . -fiercely 

for the fano do1 market with Fmch 

bfirms like Jumeau anh ~m.- ~ight. A "Bru Teteur" or 

Nuning Bm. To Betty, the do// looks older than a baby and 

more like she's singing than nursing, so she posac her like a 

Christmas caroler. The dol/'s soft4 curling wig is human 

hair, purchasedfom a company in France. Above, right. A 

Gennan babv a doll. , a JDK Hilda. made about 1914 bv a 

company begun in 1805 by one J. D. Kestner Jr. The firm produced dolls 

until the 1930s, when it merged with another dollmaker. Above. The 

original "Hans and Gretchen" (K*R 114s) wen made around 1909needless 

to say, by a German finn, Kammer €8 Rehhardt. Betty gathers 

dollmaking supplies from all over, ordering through supplien and also 

searching for antique-or antique-looking-fabric and other items whermershegoes. 

She buys goodies at the dollshoa~s she attends, in Houston, San 

Jose, St. Louis, Ntw York.. ..'7 hawe a friend who takes an empty 

suitcase to mery show, just to carry back what she buys," Betty says. '7 don't 

go t/rat far, but it is hard for me to resist certain things.. .." 

Like blown- glass qes and the little red boots 

her Gretchen wean. 

24 


tend to make you laugh. There's something there that 

smacks of Santa's workshopand something of Salva- 

dor Dali, if you'll pardon the pun. Bags of lace and rich 

fabric, doll wigs, doll books, doll legs, doll arms.... 

From a plastic case designed to hold nuts and bolts, 

pairs of blown-glass eyes do Marty Feldman imitations. 

The process Betty follows to put together these 

pieces is standard: molding; cutting out the eye holes; 

firing the head to bisque; then repeated china paintings 

and firings, five or six for each head. "The last firing I 

do is for the cheeks," she says. "You have to be 

especially careful with them. Too much color, and they 

look bizarre. Too little, and they look washed out." 

he dolls she makes-about 30 different 

ones-are a result of looking at 

originals and photographs of originals, 

at their styles of dress, eyebrows, char- 

acteristic eye and hair colors. 

"If I could give any advice to a new 

dollmaker," she says, "it would be to 

learn what makes a doll a Steiner or a 

Bru or a Jumeau. How can you make a 

reproduction if you aren't familiar with 

the originals? I can't tell j7ou how many eyebrows I 

redid and redid before I had a good idea of how to 

reproduce ones on a Jumeau. ... 

"I feel at this point in time I'm acquainted enough 

with Jumeaus, for instance, to do justice to them. I 

hope I can say that without sounding conceited," she 

adds, a little shyly. "I feel my talent comes from the 

Lord." 

Along with God-given talent goes a lot of hard work. 

The heads are the focus of the dollmaking, for instance, 

but the bodies they sit on, made of a modern version of 

old-fashioned "composition," have to be sanded and 

painted-a job she labels "drudgery." She nods toward 

a poster on the wall. Its original wording was "I like my 

job. It's the work I hate." Betty has crossed out "hate" 

and replaced it with "tire of." 

Still, she's quick to add that the labor is more than 

balanced by the love. "If you really stopped to figure 

out how much time you have in a doll, it might seem 

you were foolish to keep on," she says, shaking her 

head. "My husband asks me all the time how much 

time I have in one doll or another-and I honestly can't 

answer him. Maybe I don't want to know. I'll be 

working on a sculpture, for instance, and the time will 

just pass. 1'11 have spent eight hours in this workroom 

and won't even realize it." 

Each of Betty's dolls bears her signature, incised in 

the porcelain behind its right ear; this keeps her dolls 

from being passed off as originals. Given the task she's 

set herself, perhaps it's especially important that the 

signature is there. 

"In some ways I know I've only just begun," she 

says. "People have tried to urge me to go into originals, 

and I've done one, my 'Pleasure' doll." Another original 

is in the design stage. 

"But there's a need for good reproductions, too," she 

adds, "for the people who can't afford the originals, but 

still deserve dolls that are faithful to the old ones. 

"And people have been so kind. Someone will buy a 

doll of mine and say to me, 'I'll just treasure it.' That's 

why I like dolls. They give pleasure, amusement. 

That's why they're worth all the hours I put into them. 

"I don't say I'm going to produce 10 of this certain 

doll, or 50. That would be too much like an assembly 

line.... I feel this is more than my job; it's a calling. I'd 

rather have a collector who has only old dolls and can 

put my dolls in with hers and have visitors not be able 

to pick mine out." To have someone not know until 

they read her name on the doll that instead of a Ju- 

meau, it's a Betty Reeder. Ell 

Stme Sisney is a veteran of ID yean as a newspaper photo~a- 

pfier; fie now free-lances and works us a techniral writer at 

Oklahoma University. Kate Jones ir managing editor of 

Oklahoma TODAY. 

Betty Reeder does business as Hru-Her's Dolls, 2737 Sit' 6.3rtl, 

Oklahoma City, OK 73159; (405) 685-6878, Her card reatir '@ 

appointment please." 

Those of us not lucky enough to own an orjginal Jumeau or Rru 

can visit the real things at the 6liza Cruce HUN Doll Museum, in the 

Ardmore Pdic Library, Grand and Ka.rt NCE: 

Eliza Cruce Hall-who came to Ardmore in 1896 and was the 

niece of Oklahoma's second governor, Lee J. Cruce-bought her fint 

doll in Europe in 1936, when she travelled to the coronatron of 

George VZ. Her collection twentua//y numbered more than .300. 

To share her dolls with the children of Ardmore, she donated her 

collection, and the money to buildand maintain a room to hold them, 

to the library. The wing was dedicated Der. 1 7, 19 71, Mn. 

Halfs 81st birthday. 

On display are classic dolls from the world over, including three 

wooden 'kourl" dolls in elegant 18t/l-century costumes, o%inal!y 

owned by Marie Antoinette. Other holdingr range from Rye-Lo 

baby dolls and MudameAlexanden to rare binglish peddler dolLr, 

circa 1830, and 19th-century ashio ion" dolls, the forerunners of 

mannequins. 

Museum hours are Monday-7Zursday, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. 

and Friday and Saturday, 10-4. No admirsion i.r rharged. 


26 

.c 

"+" 

1; 7 ,*< 

s gg MANNER 

' Susan Everi\ 


ack when Oklahoma was known mostly for its 

crude oil, cowboys and Western swing, a bunch of 

highbrow Tulsans who'd rather sing along with 

3Verdi than Bob Wills formed the Tulsa Opera Club. Opening 

night, 1948, featured "La Traviata" staged in a high 

school auditorium. a 

The result was an enthusiastic hometown sell-out, but:a 

admittedly oiltown opera, rather than grand. 9. 

That was 35 years ago. Today, national critics and 

season ticket holders, some of whom travel more than 500 

miles for a performance, call it brmk.0. 

Tulsa opera knows the score, producing the only fullscale 

grand opera between Dallas and Chicago. As an opera 

hub, its reputation is greater among buffs nationwide 

than in Tulsa itself. 

Still, standing-room audiences, I 

posed primarily of Tulsans, have thrilled to 

I the likes of Beverly Sills. And the diva, whc 

sang two ~erformances of Bellini's "I Puritan? 

as $ncipal artist with the local company, 

returned the compliment. The Tulsa 

production, she said, "could have gone anywhere 

in the world." 

Still, it's not so much superstar singers 

but the frequently adventuresome bill of I 

. 

fare that's gained Tulsa national attention. 

A full-blown Wagnerian opera is a rarity in America. 

The Tulsa Opera accepted the challenge in 1980 with a 

I 

$230,000 production of "Die Walkuere," the first time 

that a ~agnerian opera had been performed uncut on an I 

Oklahoma stage. d 5 

The marathon production ran from 7 p.m. to 11:30 

p.m. And the ~os-An~eZes Times, which flew a reviewer in for I 

the occasion, glowed: "Tulsa had mustered a perfor- 

Left. i9e beautifulgeisha Cio-Cio Sun (Diana Sowiem) mourns the faithlessness ofher American husband, in a tragic moment from "Ma- 

dama Butteffi'y. "Above. EdwardC. Purrington, Tulsa Opera'sgeneral director, addresses the tmupen before a performance. 


Oklahomans center stage: Leona Mitche//, fmm Enid, and OR/ahoma City native William Johns sing an emotionally Aargedduet from Y/Tmatore." 

mance of 'Die WalkuereY--one of the 

most formidable challenges in the reper- 

tory-that would have sounded and 

looked perfectly respectable in San Fran- 

cisco or Chicago or New York, not to 

mention Seattle or San Diego." 

But what really made the opera world 

take note was an innovative perfor- 

mance, that same season, of Massenet's 

"La Navarraise," a short, little-known 

French opera that had last been performed 

by a major company 50 years 

before on the stage of the New York 

Metropolitan Opera House. The Tulsa 

performance prompted the Central Op- 

era Service of the Met's National Coun- 

cil to time a regional conference in Tulsa 

for the occasion. 

Much of the credit for these creative 

offerings and for uplifting Tulsa Opera 

from a well-rooted but often lackluster 

local tradition to the fine-arts big leagues 

goes to the general director, Edward C. 

Purrington. A Massachusetts Yankee, he 

came to Oklahoma in 1975 after 13 seasons 

with the prestigious Santa Fe 

Opera. 

Before Purrington, attendance rarely 

28 

reached 70 percent, even in Tulsa's old peramental divas, tempestuous tenors 

Convention Hall. By 1978, demand for and backstage tantrums, Purrington, 

tickets in the considerably larger, 2,400- with a shock of silver hair whisked theatseat 

Chapman Hall in Tulsa's new Per- rically back off his forehead, is a rock of 

forming Arts Center was so great that a elegant and practical calm. But that 

third performance of each of the season's doesn't mask his enthusiasm for his vitwo 

operas was added. The following sionary plan: making Tulsa Opera, a 

season, a third opera was added, and sleeping regional company, grand. 

Purrington is currently considering ex- He explains: "What some people 

panding the season to four operas. want is simply stand-up-and-sing opera 

In a show-biz world known for tem- with big names. What I wanted was opera 

as theater. Opera, that plus those big 

names, is acting, scenery, lighting effects 

and costumes--basically all the makings 

of grand opera." 

Today, he's a man who's jetting off to 

audition superstars in New York one 

day; the next, he's efficiently putting 

more than 200 volunteers--chorus, 

"spear carriers" and production workers-through 

their paces. 

For Purrington, it's all as natural as a 

high C for Beverly Sills. Since he was a 

10-year-old in Massachusetts and singlehandedly 

staged "the world's smallest 

Pummngtonhas /ured&greats ofgrandopnvl to world's fair," he's been certain that show 

TuLFo. Above, Simon Esta, in makeup for '3:. business was his future. Not that there 

tih."buchstu~ewith PunJneton. - wasn't a little bit of ancestral encourage- 


'Wperais acting, scenery, ligitingeffeca and costumes-plus big names-basically, allthe makings of grand opera." The triumphalentry from 'Xida. " 

ment: His father and uncles, who harmo- 

nized in a fine barber shop quartet, were 

invited to sing at the inauguration of 

Calvin Coolidge. 

Even before high school, Purrington 

says, he knew he wanted his own opera 

company. By 16, he had his own Actor's 

Equity Card, and he worked summer 

stock for five college summers. After a 

stint in the Air Force as a recreation 

specialist, he returned to school at Co- 

lumbia University to earn a master's in 

dramatic arts. 

It serves him well today as he works 

with his Tulsa players to give them the 

true feel of the opera they're performing. 

There's Purrington at a final chorus re- 

hearsal for last season's "Madama But- 

terfly," for instance. The rehearsal lasted 

12 hours over one weekend for 40 singers-to 

make perfect what ultimately 

would be one single 10-minute scene. 

He explains: 

"It's Nagasaki, Japan, at the turn of 

the century, on a particular hillside over- 

looking the harbor, on a particular after- 

noon. Each singer is expressing his 

individual attitude to the foreign Ameri- 

can naval lieutenant marrying one of chooses these principal artists, conductheir 

own and gradually showing the re- tors and stage directors from the major 

sentment that comes out when it be- houses of the U.S. and Europe, and he's 

comes clear that the Japanese girl will brought to Tulsa the likes of tenor Lugive 

up her religion. Each and every ciano Pavarotti. 

member of the chorus had to show what But Purrington admits to a special 

that meant." 

fondness for young American singers, 

Purrington quickly established himself particularly Oklahoma natives. He likes 

as a general director who paid fees for to give them a first chance at starring 

principal singers that were competitive roles. And there's no lack of these talentwith 

larger companies. He picks and ed native sons and daughters to choose 

from. 

"Oklahoma has produced a surprising 

number of outstanding opera singers," 

Purrington says. "Many of them were 

trained, and exceptionally well, at Oklahoma 

City University." 

There's Roberta Knie, who hefted a 

spear and hurled high Cs as Bruennhilde 

in "Die Walkuere." She's also sung at 

New York's Met, in London and San 

Francisco. She hails from Cordell. 

Last season, the Tulsa Opera's 35th, 

saw a bumper crop of talented Oklaho- 

I 

i 

Pummngton meets Pavamtti, at Tuba Interna- 

I 

tional Airpofl. The mowned tenor was in town 

- A-A* Cam +L.. .A . 

mans come home. David Hamilton, who 

graduated from Tulsa's Washington 

High School, has been on stage from San 

Diego to the Met. He sang the role of

"Madama Butte@y" amives forher wedding in the 

first act of Putrini's beloved opera, which dosed 

Tu/sa Opera's3Sth season last May. 

Yamadori in "Madama Butterfly." Leona 

Mitchell, another professional, origi- 

nally from Enid, made her debut in "I1 

Trovatore." 

Then there was Gwendolyn Jones, 

who arrived in Tulsa that same season 

for her debut in the title "trousers roIe" 

of Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier." 

Now living in New York, after per- 

forming stints in San Francisco and Eu- 

rope, Miss Jones grew up in Tulsa, 

Oklahoma City and Lawton. She started 

singing in church at age 9 and refined 

her voice with Inez Silberg at OCU's 

voice department. 

30 

Opening night, her parents, relatives 

and friends amved by the bus full. 

"Oklahoma is special," she says. "It's 

my home, but I've never worked for a 

company where the artists have been 

treated so well; all of our needs were 

anticipated. If they'd hire me back every 

year, I'd be here." 

Purrington likes to give promising art- 

ists like Miss Jones not only the opportu- 

nity to debut in starring roles, but to let 

them do it "under optimum conditions." 

And he believes that Tulsa Opera, these 

days, fills the bill. 

"For consistent quality and execution, 

right after New York, Chicago and San 

Francisco-the biggies-Tulsa rates 

right up there with Dallas, Houston and 

San Diego," he says. "If you want opera 

that's big and gutsy, grand opera, we're 

it until you get to Dallas or Chicago on 

the north. We've got subscribers from 

Albuquerque to St. Louis." 

But Purrington is first to admit that 

beyond the big names, even native sons 

and daughters made good, the secret to 

his success is the Oklahomans who 

stayed home. At its most basic, Tulsa 

Opera still is grassroots, and a lot of foIks 

who like to sing along with Verdi. 

Patrons are generous with the check- 

book, to be sure, but the rest of the story 

is the volunteers who do everything from 

singing in the chorus to arranging pro- 

grams for school children and the deaf to 

playing host to out-of-town cast mem- 

bers. The latter includes everything 

from meeting performers at the airport to 


manning a hospitality room with what's 

said to be Tulsa's best homemade food. 

Behind the scenes are volunteer office 

workers, make-up artists, production 

crews and a dedicated wardrobe crew- 

who for your average opera must create, 

coordinate and maintain upwards of 200 

costumes. 

Cheryl Zrnic, opera spokeswoman, es- 

timates that volunteer efforts are worth 

almost $16,000 per production. And that 

doesn't count volunteer office help or 

the opera buffs who run the education 

programs. There are only seven full-time 

staff members on salary. 

But for volunteers, putting a price tag 

on their services is unnecessary. It's a 

labor of love. 

Carl Siberts, a chorus member origi- 

Swan Everfy-Dome writes for the Tulsa 

World; Don Siblg ha photographed Tda 

Opera for four yean. 

Prince Yamadori's servants. 

"The most thrilling part is during the 

initial rehearsals and staging, all the hard 

work and cooperation," he says. "The 

actual performance, while the jewel, is a 

jewel that rests on the tip of an iceberg, 

the unseen bulk of work of hundreds of 

people." 

For Scott, the Tulsa Opera has be- 

come a family affair. His wife, Rita, is a 

member of the Tulsa Opera Guild and 

helps with make-up. Last season she 

transformed her husband into a turn-of- 

the-century Japanese, an undertaking 

that lasted 20 minutes. 

When he took his son, Terry, 14 and 

I an avid football and basketball fan, to a 

rehearsal, Scott says he feared the teen- 

ager would be bored. "But he was fasci- 

nated," Scott recalls. "He realized that 

opera singers were cool dudes like bas- 

ketball players, and he's considering be- 

ing an extra himself next season." 

It's an attitude that's obviously been 

influenced by having a "spear carrier" 

for a father. 

"I love basketball, football, and I root 

for the Roughnecks," Scott says. "There 

are refined lovers of the arts in every 

comer of the U.S. You definitely don't 

II have to be a wimp to like opera." rn 

W 

There Getting 

nally from Okmulgee, is typical. One of Two of the three operas that make up 

his lifetime thrills was a one-line solo in 

"La Boheme." "That was really a night 

to remember," he says, "a fabulously 

uplifting experience." 

Tulsa Opera's 1983-1984 season are still in 

the offing-"Laria di Lammermoor" by 

Donizetti and Gilberr and Sullivan's "Pirates 

of Penzanre. " 

"Luba," starring Erie Milk of "Can- 

Then there's Doug Scott, one of the dide" fame, sounds off March 3, 8 and 10, 

opera's many extras, known in the trade 

as "spear carriers" or "supernumeraries." 

A banker who recently relocated in Tulsa, 

he calls himself "a starry-eyed opera 

1984, at 8 p.m. in Chapman Music Hall 

of the Tulsa Pegomzing Arts Center, 2nd 

and Cincinnati. 

"Pirates" ends the season in rousing 

English fashion Muy 5, 10 and 1L'7(ame 

lover who's just plain lucky." time, same place. Yi'rkets for aN pegor- 

"I'd almost pay to do this," he says, 

recalling his most recent roles in "Madama 

Butterfly" as one of the Pinkerton's 

fellow lieutenants and one of 

mances range from $4 for student admission 

to $40 for a view from the front of the 

orchestra. Call (918) 587-4811 for more 

information.

32 

hst fag, we asked photographen 

to send us their black- and-white visions 

of winter in Oklahoma. Response was 

both ripectable and surprising~respectable in 

quantity, surprising in range and quality. We saw 

eueqthing from hard-edged studies of writlen to a blur 

of semi-trailer on ice to finely etched landscapes. ne 

result is a worZd seen through a dzferent eye-an essay 

in black and white of the texturi of an 

Oklahoma winter. 


Susan Pfannmuller. 

LEFT Snow B~rd,February 1982' 

Enid 

BELOW 'Ice of the Hoof, February 1983' 

Northwest of En~d 


- ? 

RIGHT Woody Gaddis. 

'Bird Feeder." 

Tulsa 

BELOW Susan Pfannmuller. 

'Fly~ng Saucer, February 1982' 

En10 

OPFOSITE Steve Sisney. 

'Snow Scene: 

Oklahoma C~ty 

- - - - - 

OKLAHOMA WINTER

36 

ABOVEL.L. Smlth. 

'Prune Wlnd 2, Winter.' 

Oklahoma County. 

RIGHTC. Michael Mcffinney. 

Winter's End. 

W~chrta Mountains: 

OKLAHOMA WINTER 


YES! Enter my subscription today! 

Renewal 

, , 

I enclose my check for 8-. 

Please charge $ to my: 

VISA Mastercard, Interbank # 

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cbqea. Call 

. , I . Oklahom TODAY P.O. Bug 53384 Oklahoma City, OK 73152 

Fred W Marvel

HEY THERE, 

STRAIGHT 

SHOOTERS!! 

LET'S SADDLE 

UP AND RIDE 

1EOKLAHOMA 

B. 

m m r HIGH COUNTRY 

mmm 

By Sam Henderson 

,It 

:#' WITH THE ONE AND ONLY 

'm*m=, O I I 

mmm a 

I L 

TOM InIx 

:m:m:g 

rn e.8 

D 8 8 

m a r 

D I) 4 

. . I , 

mmm 

I 

IN OCTOBER OF 1902 a young 

a Army sergeant suddenly deserted 

' 

Fort Hancock, New Jersey, and hasti- 

8 ly fled to the Oklahoma Territory. He 

obviously hoped only to elude pursu- 

m m ' 

ers in the wild land, which was still 

five years short of statehood. And... 

1 He, at that uncertain moment, 

could not possibly have foreseen the 

m m 

q 

glorious future soon to arise in the 

Q a westerly skies overlooking those same 

B hills and plains. Yet he, as a result of 

II 

certain developments which unexpectedly 

unfolded there, later became 

renowned throughout the world as 

THE KING OF THE SCREEN 

COWBOYS, as THE HERO OF 

AMERICAN YOUTH, as THE 

ONE AND ONLY TOM MIX.. . 

Throughout the 1920s, millions of 

youthful show-goers joyfully thrilled 

as he eagerly proved himself ALL 

THIS AND MORE in scores upon 

scores of movie thrillers. These so- 

called "Straight Shooters" enthusiastically 

cheered as he and his wonder 

horse, Tony, furiously galloped to the 

rescue of the distressed. And they 

fearfully gasped whenever that same 

pair barely escaped disaster in SOME 

OF THE MOST EXCITING 

SCENES EVER SEEN ON 

SCREEN.. . 

Their hero, while meantime earning 

$17,000and more per week, enjoyed 

luxuries which awed the

'-- a 

crowned heads of Europe. His palatial from me establishment's second floor I

m m m m m ~ m m ~ m ~ u m s m m m m m m m m m m m 

m m m u e o m s m ~ ~ a ~ e s m a m m m m m m m m ~ 

r m m m A r a A m ~ r u~ 3 - a a - r r m r n . ~ ~ ~ 

I#.Il- _ 8 ~-'1-~-~-~- -* .~~~..~ 

r 

I. 

. 

Chaney and Will Rogers also once 

\mam ordered their pleasure there, to be 

8 a served by their fellow star-to-be. 

I 8 Tom's former fans will be pleased 

to find that the Blue Bell has not 

greatly changed since that day and 

Dm'a' age. The premises seem frozen in his- 

tory, almost no different from the mo- 

II ment when the flamboyant hero said 

to approaching customers: "What'll it 

.m,be, gents!" 

m Customers also find there among 

@ the original furnishings the means for 

1 "returning to those thrilling days of 

at Oklahoma City's Delmar Garden 

Amusement Park, which then surthe 

playing field. Too, he won count- rounded the present Farmer's Market 

less bouts in a nearby makeshift box- Building at Western and Exchange. 

ing ring. Gutherians who witnessed That lass's name was Jewel "Kitty" 

these events were not in the least Perrine, and her family owned the 

surprised when later learning that Penine Hotel on the southwest corner 

their old friend periodically sparred of Park and Robinson streets. 

with heavyweight champions like The sight which later arose from 

Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. that site remains as a marker on the 

The future screen star also taught trail which led Tom Mix to fame and 

youngsters the value of physical fit- renown. Jewel's family built the magness 

in the basement of the Carnegie nificent Perrine Building, one of 

Public Library, which still stands at Oklahoma City's earliest skyscrapers, 

yesteryear," for the presence of the 

It 0 

I) 8 cowboy hero still hangs like a ghost in 

I the atmosphere. The famed TM Bar 

brand, once the emblem of the Ral- 

402 E. Oklahoma Ave. For nearly a there in 1926. This was later renamed 

the Cravens Building and is now the 

First Life Assurance Building. 

Tom Mix and Jewel Perrine wed in 

ston Straight Shooters who furiously the old hotel lobby on Dec. 20, 1905. 

galloped over the air waves and into Oklahoma County court records prove 

homes throughout America, is repeat- that the groom was 25 and the bride 

' 

ff edly inlaid in the handsome uphol- was 22. (The future screen star's first 

stery of the back bar. And the former wife, Guthrie schoolteacher Grace Alfans 

who once enjoyed Tom Mix's4 

plin, had returned to her native Louis- 

5 m m 

I) I) fictional exploits on radio will no ville, Kentucky, only a short time 

7 

I) .(L doubt delight in the Guthrie sites of before.) 

his actual feats... 7 Tom meantime managed the Stag 

In Mineral Wells Park on the 

+" Saloon, which then stood directly 

I 

I) southerly edge of the city, Tom across the street on the present First 

thrilled his earliest audiences while National Bank site. And he once furi- 

8 8 serving in three separate capacities. ously but vainly tried to "shoot'er 

1 He performed as a drum major with v out" there in true western-movie 

Da9mm the Territorial Cavalry Band in the A etntuge shot O/ the .~l//erBmn)en' /dl style... 

D- 

parade field and led an early football Runrh, zviet2l our hem honed his skd/ ut stunts. 

"Something happened which did m m fi 

team through a victorious season on 

, 

II 

111 year he managed a gymnasium in the not please the former Guthrie football 4 

I basement there, stressing the impor- star," a Dai5 Okkdoman reporter later I 

I a 

tance of clean and healthy living. recalled, "and he furiously whipped a 

8 I 

This same virtue he later stressed six gun. He emptied the cylinder 

Urn8 

8 11 when organizing "the Ralston Straight while blasting out the lights and firing 

a Shooters," one of the earliest small- several more shots into the ceiling." 

II 

fry cults to charge a cereal box top for Tom Mix dared ALL THIS AND 

m m r 

membership. MORE while tending bar on the pre- 

II 

I 

111 He liked to excite these youthful sent site of Oklahoma City's First Na- a 

rn gatherings with acrobatic feats in mid- tional Bank. No one then dreamed I 

m 8 a air. And he meantime noted that that "this rootin' tootin' buckaroo" a 

11 1, "swift unexpected moments" never would one day become the hero of 8 

r rp failed to jolt hearts into throats. This American youth. But he nevertheless I 

. W B Z 

a ..I Is 

s explains the many stunts which later began preparing himself for his desti- a 

. m i stunned movie audiences throughout ny that same year on the vast ranching 

. m i 

the world. 

In 1904, an especially attractive 

. m e 

8 + ~h t& bar, and r _ t se&&fme, in young lady enthusiastically cheered Sum Henderson pdIZrhed "Loda of fi a 

I) Guhric. He later sparred wit$ Jack Dempsq. 

. . . Y i 6 ~ " 1 

his flamboyant feats as a drum major Okkdomu /Om" in 25 magarjira. I 

, - - - 

J 

A 9 9 7 J 1 .-A C 

i KI ;I ' L' 1% 5 3 "-?- Imomaly, B I 

II 

m a ) m... mm..ILm.I) 

f i ~ ~ c m m ~ ~ ~ u 

m m m o m ~ t a - smacmrrh 

- m - o ~ n ~ n n r 

a 

=L ?. = -,a m 3 ~ m 1 m a a ~ 1 ) m m m

empire which then surrounded Mul- 

A movie cameraman meantime I rr 

hall, where headquartered Col. Zack 

. &iulhall's renowned rodeo troupe. 

)I a ,And Tom "worked out" with the 

'ml 

came there in hopes of filming the 

most exciting scenes ever seen on 

screen. And someone suddenly suga 

6 

a 

.- troupers there while also tending bar 

in the tiny town's only saloon... 

He, after finally learning to bust 

) IC' a broncos and rope calves, became a 

drst-class cowhand. And he meantime 

)dlalso served as drum major of Zack 

I11 

Mulhall's Frisco Cowboy Band. 

The Mulhall ranching empire fadgested 

"shooting" a horseback leap 

:d to dust long years ago. But the 

e town which bears the founder's 

name remains on U.S. 77, 14 miles 

north of Guthrie. So-oo... 

rformed on Saturday afternoons 7 

th several of rodeo's all-time 

eats-Lucille Mulhall, America's Will Tom survive this death-defying p 

the sport's original trick rider; and 

Sam Garrett, seven-time winner of 

next issue of Oklahoma TODAY .. . . 19 

W Q 

closed to the public. Howtver, the OHa- 

3 iY I 

a P 

b Q W 

RI a, 

1 reg 

P 

homa Terntoorial Museum, next door, 

isfull of history. Hours are 9-5 Tuesday- 

Friday and 2-5 Saturday and Sunday. 

(405) 282-1889. 

Downtown, the Blue Bell Saloon, 

where Mix once tended bar, is closed for 

renovation. When the doors swing 

o w 

again, in mid-1984, visitors should 

be able to see the Bhe Bell returned to 

i&gloty, complete with a replica of the 

infamous skywalk to the Elks' Hotel. 

Of the headquaflm of the fab/ed 

101 Ranch only the store now stand in 

good condition-and is currently a 

prieate residence. Also on the site, on 

-7 

Mud-mam'edMix with his isid, Olive Stokes, 

a Scotd-Chmkeefrom Washington County. 

State Highway 156 south of Ponca 

City, are the old blacksmith shop and 

Cowboy Hu, where zack is 

bud. l2e 101 Ranch Restoration 

the National Roping Championship.. . 

From Mulhall, Tom journeyed to 

he Bbulous 101 Ranch, which then 

covered tens of thousands of lush 

acres in the Cherokee Strip. He 

Served there as a cowhand, a horse 

trainer and a dude wrangler, briefly 

nanaging the southwest's first dude 

ranch on the grounds. 

Foundation has bought the headquar- 

tm and is raising money to stan a museurn 

and restore the blacksmith shop. 

TOfind out more abouf pro?, wtite 

ClarenceVaughn, at '.O. 1o02, 

Ponca City, OK 74602. 

No Straiglrt Shooter should miss th 

Tom Mix Museum in Dewey. More about 

the museum-and why it's in Dewey- 

isfodcoming in our March-April issue. 

1 

&!am

Ofher features: 

DYES! I want to enjoy each dsy with the Oklohoma 

TODAY 1984 appointment calendar. Cost 

large squares is only 85.95, plus SI each, postagelhandling. 

major holidays N,,, 

and state holidays Address 

expensive, 

City, State, Zip 

heavy paper. PL~US~~ ,,IN~/x;~vIWIL~IJUI~.~, u.s /irtl,lj.. 

Name 

Address 

City 

State Zip 

Name 

Address 

City 

State Zip 

For fastest service, credit-card orders can 

be made R a.m. - 5 p.m. weekdays by calling 

toll-free, I-800-652-6552.in Oklahoma and 

surrounding states. 

Paymeat amount: L 

Elcheck payable to Oklahoma TODAY, 

endosed 

UVISA 

DMasterCd, Interbank# 

Cwd# 

Exp. date 

Authorized cnnlsignature: 

Donor address: 

Mail to Oklahoma TODAP; P.O. Box 

53384, Oklahoma City, OK 73152.

years there. That should give some of 

today's collegiate basketball stars a record 

to shoot for. 

Meanwhile, the "World's Greatest 

Dribbler," a title Haynes earned during 

his years with the Harlem Globetrotters, 

will be dribbling his basketball all over 

Oklahoma during January. 

And while he's doing some pretty fancy 

stuff with his basketball, he will be 

raising funds to buy shoes or uniforms or 

a scoreboard for the high school athletic 

programs sponsoring the exhibition 

games. 

"I feel good in being a part of helping 

to raise funds," says Haynes, who was 

born in Sand Springs, some 60 or so 

years ago. "And another thing that 

makes me feel good, too, is that all of 

'em want us back next year." 

Haynes will be shooting and dribbling 

in Guymon, January 12; Fort Sill, January 

13; Miami, January 14; Holdenville, 

January 16, and Owasso, January 17. 

Cowboys and cowgirls will be doing 

some fancy ropin' and ridin' as they compete 

for prize money in excess of 

"The 'vvor~a s Greatest urlmler pauses to talkto granaaaugnrer 1orr.aaugnrt.r or drew Pearson. $800,000 during the 25th National Finals 

fter scoring in excess of 120,000 world, and Haynes plans to continue a Rodeo at Oklahoma City's hiIyriad 1%- 

"Apoints in more than 6,000 bas- while. cember 3-11. The first two days will 

ketball games in over 30 years, Marques "I've taken it most of the time one feature bullfighting and Miss Rodeo 

Haynes is giving some indications that year at a time or two or three years at a America contestants along with teen-age 

he might be interested in beginning to time, but I have my sights set to contin- competition in bareback riding, barrel 

retire." ue through '90 or '91 maybe. Mainly racing and team roping. Tickets are still 

That's how a story in the Winter 1970 because I think I am the only player still available for the Beauty and the Beast 

issue of ORLahoma 'IDDAY began, but playing that's played in six decades. I events, but if you'd like to attend the 

were we ever premature. would like to go into the seventh de- NFR, you'll need to order your tickets in 

Thirteen years later, Marques Haynes cade," he says. January for the 1984 rodeo. 

and his Tulsa-based Harlem Wizards are His career really began at Langston We have had terrific response to manstill 

on the road and still scoring points in University, where his team lost only aging editor Kate Jones' request that 

exhibition basketball games all over the three games and won 112 during his four photographers submit black and white 

ST.4TEkIENT OF OWNERSHIP. .LlAN.4GE%,lENT .4ND CIRCULATlON (re- single issirc nearest filing date. ((:)Total paid circulation: 24.3.17 average nnumbcr copies 

quired by 39 I'.S.(:. 3685 filed September 29. 1983) for OKLAHOMA TODAY of each issue during the preceding 12 months, 23,658 single issue nearest filing date. 

hlAGAZINE publication number 407140. published quarterly. 4 issues annually by the (D) Free distribution by mail. carrier or other means samples, complimenta~, and other 

State of Oklahoma. Tourism and Recreation Department at P.O. Box 533%. Oklahoma 

c. .~t\.. Oklahoma Cmunty, Oklahoma 73152. Editor: Sue Carter. Oklahoma Tourism and 

free copies: 570 average number copies of each issue during preceding 12 months. 561 

single issue nearest filing date. (E)Total distribution: 24,907 avenge number copics c~f 

Recreation Department, P.O. Box 53384. Oklahomil City. Oklahoma 73152. Managing each issue during preceding 12 months, 24.219 single issue nearest filing date. (F) 

Editor: Kate Jones. Okkdhoma 'lburism and Recreation Department, P.O. Box 53384, Cmpies not distributed: (I) Office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing: 

Oklahoma City. Oklahoma 73152. 2.763 average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months. 3,345 single 

Owner: State of Oklahoma. OliLAHOhlA TODAY. Oklahoma Tourism and Recrea- issue nearest filing date; (2) Returns from news agents: 580 average number a)pics of 

tion Department. P.O. Box 53384. Oklahoma City. Oklahoma 73152. Known bond- each issue during preceding 12 months. 436 single issue nearest tiling dare. ((;) *l'otal: 

holder. mortgages, and other security holders or holding 1 percent or more of total 28.250 average number of copies of each issue during prrceding 12 month>. L8.OOU 

amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: none. single issue nearest filing date. 

Extent and Nature of

photos of winter in Oklahoma. Some of 

the best are featured in this issue's photo 

essay. Now we would like for you pho- 

tographers to show us how Oklahomans 

I have just completed reading your Fall 

1983 issue. Another fine job! I am look- 

ing forward to your six issues per year, a 

good idea on your part. 

this later. I just read the letter written by C. H. 

"Bud" Harriss in your letters section. 

Although I may not be termed an 

"Okie," I proudly proclaim, as he does, 

to be one. I don't fit the shoes like many 

people do when referring to being an 

"Okie," because I spent my first 21 

years in Wisconsin. After joining the Air 

Force I was stationed in Altus. Without a 

doubt, the five and a half years I spent 

there were my best years. As "Bud" 

Harriss states, 'The people there are 

included in the calendar. 

Oklahoma so much that I 

conducted 83 historical tours of south- 

west Oklahoma, on a volunteer basis, to 

personnel at Altus AFB. I enjoyed as 

much as I possibly could in those five 

and a half years, going to fairs, hikes and 

get-togethers with people to just talk. 

My two children are lucky. They will 

always be "Okies" by birth. 

I did not want to leave Oklahoma, but 

my military obligation took me away. 

The people are the friendliest of any that 

I've met. I will get back there some day, 

hopefully to stay on permanently. Hope- 

fully it will be soon, but until then your 

magazine keeps me going and aware of 

some of the beautiful things in "OUR 

state. My renewal subscription has al- 

ready been sent. Thanks! 

6552, toll free in Oklahoma and surrounding 

states. The phone answerers 

will take your orders between 8 a.m. and 

Gilbert D. Helland 

Scott AFB, Illinois 

I was born and raised in Oklahoma for 

17 years. I joined the Navy, and my 

travels have brought me to the wartorn 

coast of Beirut, Lebanon. 

Your magazine helps ease the tension 

n the air here. I can flip from page to 

age and remember the pleasant part. I 

received. ow that part isn't that far away when I 

44 

read your articles. I just want to congrat- 

ulate you on an outstanding magazine. 

But then again look what state you are 

writing about, the best, Oklahoma! 

I'm also writing to purchase your 1984 

Oklahoma Today calendar. I would like 

it to be a gift. I want this special family 

to see some of Oklahoma's best scenic 

views, which I know will be in it. 

OS2 Michael Anderson 

USS Mahan 

Eight or 10 years ago when discarding 

things in my home, I boxed up all the 

Okkzhoma TODAY magazines and sent 

the magazines to a friend in Ouray, Colo- 

rado. A fire at the city library there left 

them with no reading material. These 

magazines are in the Ouray Library, and 

I have continued to add each year's pub- 

lications. My copy gets more than normal 

reading. The complete set is now in 

Colorado. 

Selma J. Williamson 

Oklahoma City 

I love your articles on different pag- 

eants and festivals occurring in the state. 

I also like the articles on the state parks. 

We have scheduled two vacations this 

summer based on your articles! 

Dr. Rick Darlington 

Stillwater, Oklahoma 

I couldn't pass up a golden opportunity 

to say "thank you" for your wonderful 

magazine. I always plan to just look at an 

article, and end up reading straight 

through. 

We particularly enjoyed the article 

about the Old Sooner Theater in Nor- 

man (Fall 1982)-I grew up going to the 

Sooner and Boomer. My husband moved 

me to Dallas, but I'm still an Okie in my 

soul! 

My mom-whose subscription I'm re- 

newing again-lives in Norman, as do 

many of my family, including my 95- 

year-old grandfather, who still tells sto- 

ries of herding cattle in Indian Territory. 

Mrs. R. J. (Jimrnie) Webb 

Dallas, Texas 


DUNCAN December 

People travelling to Duncan this season 

will have a chance to visit a town within the 

town: 10 miniature homes on display at 

the Stephens County Historical Museum, in 

Fuqua Park, U.S. 81 and Beech. 

The diminutive village-from a threestory 

Victorian and a log cabin to reproductions 

of early-day Duncan businesses like 

Austin's General Store and Mercer's Long 

Branch Saloon-was built by nine area 

residents. Working on a one-inch-to-one-foot 

scale, they did everything from papering 

tiny walls to splitting shingles the size of 

Green Stamps to hand-crafting furniture 

and even doorknobs. 

The "Home Sweet Home" exhibit will 

stay , ~ . uat tleast 

until the first part of January, 

"to give folks coming home to Duncan for 

Christmas a chance to see it," museum director 

Charlotte L. Jenkins says. A display 

sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Council 

of Oklahoma, "The Diversity of Oklahoma 

Architecture," as well as photographs 

of life-sized Duncan homes, 1892 to 1983, 

will also be on view. 

Christmas is a busy time for the museum. 

Each year after Thanksgiving, volunteers 

get together to decorate more than a 

dozen trees to be sprinkled through the 

building. One is hung with Kachina dolls; 

another is a scrub oak, reminder of pioneer 

Christmases; still another is a triple-decker 

.-~ tumbleweed ----- - ~ --- creation. ~~~ Evew , vear , workers 

add a new tree. This year it will be a 

touch exotic, hung with origami and watercolor 

ornaments made by members of 

Duncan's Oriental community. 

Other Christmasy touches are the speculaas 

molds and cookies in the museum's 

old-time German kitchen-and reproduction 

molds and other goodies in the gift shop. 

Festivities reach their zenith at an open 

house December 10. This year, a handmade 

miniature home will be the door prize. 

Museum hours are 2-5 p.m. Tuesdays, 

Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. For more 

information, call (405) 252-0717. 

TULSA December-February 

Buffalo Bill is coming to town-or, rather, 

an exhibit titled "Buffalo Bill and the 

Wild West" is coming to Tulsa's Gilcrease 

Museum. 

Featured are more than 350 itemsfrom 

a stuffed bison to artworks by Remington 

and Catlin to Buffalo Bill's own buck- 

skins and Stetson to garish dime novels and 

gaudy posters touting his Wild West 

shows. All are from the Buffalo Bill Historical 

Center in Cody, Wyoming. 

The items chronicle the life of William 

F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), Pony 

Express rider, buffalo hunter, Indian 

fighter-and expert showman, who ballyhooed 

himself into America's first media 

hero. His Wild West show toured for 30 

years, and Bill and stars like Annie Oakley, 

Wild Bill Hickock and Sitting Bull (not 

to mention hordes of Indian and white 

extras who recreated everything from buffalo 

hunts to raids on settlers' cabins) fixed 

forever the romantic vision of the American 

West. 

The exhibit runs from December 10 to 

February 12 at Gilcrease, N. 25th West Ave- 

nue and W. Newton Street. Hours are 9 

a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. 

Sundays and holidays. No admission is 

charged. (918) 582-3122. 

-- 

OKLAHOMA CITY December-March 

Again this year, Oklahoma City's Black 

Liberated Arts Center upholds its tradition of 

bringing top-quality entertainment to the 

Sooner State. 

On December 4, the folksinger Odetta 

comes to the capital city with a program of 

spirituals and folksongs. She will give one 

performance, a 4 p.m. matinee. Admission is 

$8. 

Beginning January 20, BLAC sponsors 

a one-man show, "Paul Robeson," starring 

Morris McCorvey as the legendary Robeson. 

The controversial artist's life is told 

through monologues and through perfor- 

mances of the songs he made popular. 

"Robeson" runs at 8 p.m. on January 20, 

21,27 and 28 and at 4 p.m. on January 22 and 

29. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children 

under 12. 

Soprano Marvis Martin of New York's 

Metropolitan Opera Company will be in town 

February 5 for one performance; tickets are $8 

In March BLAC rounds out its season 

in royal fashion, with the famed Alvin Ailey 

Repertory Ensemble. The troupe will 

give an 8 p.m. show on March 24 and a 4 

p.m. matinee on the 25th. Tickets are $8. 

All artists will be performing in the auditorium 

of Classen High School, 1901 N. 

Ellison. For more information, call (405) 

52'8-4666. 

WAGONER January 

The winter air will be filled with the 

sound of bluegrass when the fifth annual 

Bluegrass Music Convention and Festival 

plays at Western Hills Guest Ranch near 

Wagoner January 20, 21 and 22. 

The music starts at 6 p.m. Friday with 

fiddlers from the Oklahoma Fiddlers Association. 

The bluegrass concert begins around 

8 p.m., and informal jamming goes on all 

weekend-"seems like there's pickin' all 

night every night," as festival organizer Don 

Thomas puts it. 

Beginning Saturday at 10 a.m., workshops 

run that cover all the lead instruments-guitar, 

fiddle, banjo and mandolin. 

The Saturday-night concert begins at 7 p.m. 

Sunday the religious roots of bluegrass 

see the light, with an all-gospel devotional 

service at 10 a.m. and a mixed bluegrassgospel 

program in the afternoon. 

Cost for the weekend is $12, with lower 

prices for individual days. Contact Don or 

Wilda Thomas, P.O. Box 642, Shawnee, 

OK 74801, for more information. 

According to Thomas, most folks who 

don't live close enough to drive in each day 

stay at Western Hills lodge. Reservation 

information is available at two toll-free numbers: 

1-800-522-8565 in-state and 1-800- 

654-8240 in surrounding states. 

Next issue: Hear the magic of 

Indian flutes. See what's new at 

Roman Nose State Park. Visit 

Woodward's mini-Garment District 

and Tulsa's Gilcrease Rendezvous. 

1 All this-~lus new views of the 

Sooner ~ k t eby photographer 

David Fitzgerald-in the March-April 

issue of OkIaAoma TODAY. 


1~ 

1-17 "The Stingiest Man in Town," Cabaret Supper 

Theater, Fort Sill 

\RT EXHIBITS 1-18 "Heaven Can Wait," Jewel Box Theater, Okla. 

City 

DECEMBER 

2-7 "Aladdin," Children's Theater, OCU, Qkla. City 

1-31 

2-17 "Little Me," Theater Tulsa 

2-24 "The Crystal Forest," American Theater Co., 

1-31 

Performing Arts Center, Tulsa 

7-11 "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll," Studio 

1-Jan. 13 

Theater, OU, Norman 

8-23 "Cinderella," Okla. Theater Center, Okla. City 

1-Jan. 22 

9-17 "To Grandmother's 

Community Theater 

House We Go," Lawton 

2-3 

15-17 "The Wizard of 02," Community Theater, 

4-23 

Bartlesville 

31 "Eddie h.leets Joyce," American Theater Co., 

Brook Theater, Tulsa 

10-Feb. 12 

11-31 

18-Jan. 8 

Sculpture of Allan Houser, Okla. Museum of Art, 

Okla. City 

Young Collectors' Show, Okla. Museum of Art, 

Okla. City 

"Images of China," Okla. Historical Society, Okla. 

City 

"Spiro Mounds: Prehistoric Gateway, Present-day 

Enigma," Stovall Museum, OU, Norman 

Individual Artists of Okla., Members' Show and 

Sale, IAO Gallery, The Paseo, Okla. City 

"Visions '83" and Photography by Steve and Karen 

Strom. Museum of Art, OU, Norman 

"Buffalo Bill and the Wild West," Gilcrease 

Museum, Tulsa 

"Retablos," Mabee-Gerrer Museum, Shawnee 

"Robert Maker, Sculptor," Okla. Arts Center, 

Okla. City 

JANUARY 

1-15 "We, Too, Sing America," Artsannex, 

Fairgrounds, Okla. City 

1-31 Lithographs, Serigraphs and Etchings by R. C. 

Gorman, Amada Pena, Phleat Boyd and Others, 

Galleria, Norman 

1-May 22 "Search for Self-Discovery," Figurative Paintings, 

Okla. Arts Center, Okla. City 

8-Feb. 12 Aaron Douglas Collection, Okla. Museum of Art, 

Okla. City 

15 "KANCHI," Arts and Humanities Council of 

Tulsa 

17-Feb. 19 "Blacksmithing: German and American" and 

"American Indian Photographs," Museum of Art, 

OU, Norman 

20-Mar. 4 Paintings, New York Artist Lowell Nesbitt, Okla. 

Arts Center, Okla. City 

24-Apr. 15 Armand Hammer Exhibition, Philbrook Art 

Museum, Tulsa 

29-Mar. 18 "Spiro Mounds," Stovall Museum Traveling 

Exhibit, Bacone College, Muskogee 

FEBRUARY 

1-Apr. 1 

5-29 

12-Mar. 18 

DECEMBER 

I-Jan. 15 

"Jazz in Oklahoma," Okla. Historical Society, 

Okla. City 

Cibachrome Photography by Linda Robbenolt, 

Arts Place 11, Downtown Okla. City 

Kassenbaum Ceramics Collection, Okla. Museum 

of Art, Okla. City 

'The Lion in Winter," Gaslight Dinner 1neater, 

Tulsa 

lblsa 

Opera's 

I production 

of "Aida." 

13-21 "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", Okla. Theater 

Center, Okla. City 

15 "Mummenschanz," Swiss Mask-Mime Theater, 


19-21 "Something's Afoot!", Muskogee Little Theater 

19-29 "The Front Page," Okla. Theater Center, Okla. 

City 

27 "Harvey," Alva Community Theater 

27 "Dial M for Murder," Ada Community Theater 

27-Feb. 4 "A Soldier's Play," Lawton Community Theater 

77-Feb. 11 "The Diary of Anne Frank," American Theater 

Co., Performing Arts Center, Tulsa 

FEBRUARY 

5 "Ashes," Actors Theater, Tulsa 

2-5, 9-12 "The Rivals," Town & Gown Theater, Stillwater 

11 "The Man Who Came to Dinner," Tahlequah 

Community Playhouse 

15-29 "The Pirates of Penzance," Cabarer Supper 

Theater, Fort Sill 

17-Mar. 9 "Same Time, Next Year," Theater Tulsa 

23-hlar. 3 "The Little Foxes," Okla. Theater Center, Okla. 

City 

24-Mar. 3 "\Vest Side Story," Studio Theater, OU, Norman 


I 

BIRDS 

Nov 20-Feb 15 Quail, Pheasant (North and Northwest) 

Dec I-Jan 1 Pheasant (Panhandle) 

Dec 3-18 Wild Turkey (LeFlore, McCurtain and 

Pushmataha counties) 

GAME 

May 15-Jan 1 Squirrel 

Oct I-Mar 15 Rabbit 

Dec 1-31 Deer (Archery) 

Dec 10-18 Deer (Primitive Firearms) 

DcbLMBER 

JANUARY 

FEBRUARY 

1-2 Henry Mancini with the Tulsa Philharmonic, 

Bartlesville 

2 "Hansel and Gretel," Cimarron Circuit Opera, 

Bixby 

3 Henry Mancini with the Tulsa Philharmonic, 


4 Odetta, Classen High School Auditorium, Okla. 

City 

4, 6 Okla. Symphony with Theo Alcantara, Conductor, 

Civic Center, Okla. City 

9-10 Okla. Symphony Pops Concert, Bernadette Peters, 

Civic Center, 3kla. City 

10 "Hansel and Gretel," Cimarron Circuit Opera, 

Sooner Theater, Norman 

8 Contemporary Christian Concert, Bartlesville 

Communiry Theater 

13 Okla. Symphony Pops Concert, Ramsey Lewis, 


21 "Tonight with Doc Severinsen," Bartlesville 

Community Center 

28 Peter Nero with the Tulsa Philharmonic, 


2 "Little Red Riding Hood," Cimarron Circuit 

Opera, Bixby 

3-4 Okla. Symphony Pops Concert, Tony Bennett, 


11-12 "Premieres Plus," Ballet Oklahoma, Civic Center, 

Okla. City 

17-19 "Lucia di Lammermoor," Okla. Opera & Musical 

Theater Co., Kirkpatrick Theater, OCU, 0kla.City 

19 "Cosi Fan Tutte," Cimarron Circuit Opera, 

Tonkawa 

19-21 Okla. Symphony with Pianist John Browning, 


28 "Thomas Carey Sings America," Sooner Theater, 

Norman 

RODEOS & 

]h HORSE EVEN 

DECEMBER 

JANUARY 

3 

3-11 

15-18 

26-Jan. 2 

12-15 

DECEMBER 

1-Jan. 1 

1-3, 8-10 

1-4 

1-10 

2-4 

3-4, 8-10 

4 

4 

10-11 

11 

12 

16-18 

20-23, 26-28 

Heritage Place Stallion Spectacular and Horse 

Sale, Heritage Place, Okla City 

National Finals Rodeo, Myriad, Okla. City 

Sunbelt Cutting Horse Futurity and Sale, 

Fairgrounds, Okla. City 

Tulsa Holiday Circuit Quarter Horse Show, 

Fairgrounds, Tulsa 

International Pro Rodeo Association I:inals, Civic 

Center Auditorium, Tulsa 

d41 SPECIAL EVENTS 

JANUARY 

FEBRUARY 

"Star of Wonder," Kirkpatrick Center 

Planetarium, Okla. City 

Boare's Head Feast, NEOSU, Tahlequah 

Christmas Week at Philbrook, Philbrook Art 

Museum, Tulsa 

Christmas Gala Show, Mabee-Gerrer Museum, St. 

Gregory's College, Shawnee 

Arts and Crafts Show, Commun~ty Center, 

Midwest City 

Cherokee Strip Arts Festival, Nohlc County 

Fairgrounds, Perry 

"An English Christmas," Annual Rena~ssance 

Feast, Memorial IJnion, OII, Norman 

Old-Fashioned Chr~stmas, Old Town Museum, 

Elk City 

Central Okla. Arts and Crafts Show, Expo Center, 

Shawnee 

"Christmas Festival," Arts and Crafts Show and 

Sale, Lloyd Noble Center, Norman 

Canterbury Choral Society, Christmas Concert. St. 

Francis Catholic Church, Okla. City 

"The Nutcracker," Ballet Oklahoma, Civic 

Center, Okla. City 

"The Nutcracker," Tulsa Ballet 

Theater 

14 Okla. Annual New Year's Pow Wow, International 

Bldg. Fairgrounds, Okla. City 

2-22 Women's World Exhibit, OBU, Shawnee 

7 Harlem Globetrotters, Myriad, Okla. City 

26-28 12th Annual Governor's Tourism Conference, 

Lincoln Plaza, Okla. City

Oklahoma Today Winter 1983-1984 Volume 34 ... - Digital Collections

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