Oklahoma Centennial
Oklahoma is celebrating its 100th anniversary of statehood this year. Because most people think of the stage play " Oklahoma !" when they hear the state's name mentioned,citizens are attempting to update the state's image by sharing interesting state facts with others as we celebrate our Centennial.
Oklahoma is not only the home of Ado Annie and Aunt Eller from " Oklahoma !" but of the parking meter (invented in OKC) and the shopping cart (invented in Ardmore ). The electric guitar also was invented in Oklahoma , by a Beggs musician named Bob Dunn. The first "Yield" sign was installed in Tulsa .
**Environmental Protection Agency recognizes Oklahomaas having the most diverse terrain of any state in thenation. The state, according to EPA, boasts 11distinct eco-regions. The state has more man-made lakes than any otherstate, which give us more than a million surface-acres of water and 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined.
The Sooner State has produced more astronauts than any other state in the union. Owen Garriott is an Enid boy, of course, while Tom Stafford is from Weatherford, Shannon Lucid from Oklahoma City, William Pogue from Okemah and the late Gordon Cooper from Shawnee .
Oklahoma is home to the Amateur Softball Association and Hall of Fame, a world class zoo in OKC and more F4and F5 tornadoes than any other state. Oklahoma is the third-largest gas-producing state inthe nation and ranks fourth in the production ofwheat, cattle and calves, fifth in the production of pecans, sixth in peanuts and eighth in peaches.
We have some pretty famous Oklahomans out there, not to mention a few music artists, Garth Brooks, Reba, Roger Miller, Toby Keith, Gene Autry, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Hoyt Axton, Elvin Bishop, JJ Cale, Roy Clark, Ronnie Dunn (Brooks and Dunn), Vince Gill, Wade Hayes, Leon Russell, The Hanson's, David Gates, Patti Page and the list goes on. My all time favorite Oklahomans is none other than
How many famous Oklahomans can you add to the list?
The state's colors are neither OU's crimson and cream nor the orange and black of OSU but green and white. Oklahomans practice 73 major religions. The largest isthe Southern Baptist Convention, with nearly 1,600church and more than 960,000 members. Oklahoma gave birth to Dick Tracy (cartoonist Chester Gould is a native of Pawnee) and Donald Duck (Clarence"Ducky" Nash, the original voice of Walt Disney's Donald, grew up in Watonga).
Oklahomans have survived the Dust Bowl, any number of killer tornadoes, the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City 's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and various oil booms and busts. Oklahoma is populated by people who are caring, giving, hard-working, patriotic and fiercely independent. Oklahoma is a great place to live, work and play.
The challenge in this, our centennial year, is to make the rest of America aware of what Oklahoma has to offer, besides "beautiful mornings," "fringe-ladensurreys" and "a girl who cain't say no. "The official statehood celebration will be in November. In the meantime, individual cities are restaging various events associated with statehood and the settling of Indian Territory which eventually became our state. It's a great time to be an Oklahoman and I wanted to share this with you! Pass this on to friends who might not know anything about our state. Especially, since the quarter design won't show anything informative about OKLAHOMA other than we have scissor-tailed flycatchers and sunflowers.
Ciao!
Oklahoma is not only the home of Ado Annie and Aunt Eller from " Oklahoma !" but of the parking meter (invented in OKC) and the shopping cart (invented in Ardmore ). The electric guitar also was invented in Oklahoma , by a Beggs musician named Bob Dunn. The first "Yield" sign was installed in Tulsa .
**Environmental Protection Agency recognizes Oklahomaas having the most diverse terrain of any state in thenation. The state, according to EPA, boasts 11distinct eco-regions. The state has more man-made lakes than any otherstate, which give us more than a million surface-acres of water and 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined.
The Sooner State has produced more astronauts than any other state in the union. Owen Garriott is an Enid boy, of course, while Tom Stafford is from Weatherford, Shannon Lucid from Oklahoma City, William Pogue from Okemah and the late Gordon Cooper from Shawnee .
Oklahoma is home to the Amateur Softball Association and Hall of Fame, a world class zoo in OKC and more F4and F5 tornadoes than any other state. Oklahoma is the third-largest gas-producing state inthe nation and ranks fourth in the production ofwheat, cattle and calves, fifth in the production of pecans, sixth in peanuts and eighth in peaches.
We have some pretty famous Oklahomans out there, not to mention a few music artists, Garth Brooks, Reba, Roger Miller, Toby Keith, Gene Autry, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Hoyt Axton, Elvin Bishop, JJ Cale, Roy Clark, Ronnie Dunn (Brooks and Dunn), Vince Gill, Wade Hayes, Leon Russell, The Hanson's, David Gates, Patti Page and the list goes on. My all time favorite Oklahomans is none other than
How many famous Oklahomans can you add to the list?
The state's colors are neither OU's crimson and cream nor the orange and black of OSU but green and white. Oklahomans practice 73 major religions. The largest isthe Southern Baptist Convention, with nearly 1,600church and more than 960,000 members. Oklahoma gave birth to Dick Tracy (cartoonist Chester Gould is a native of Pawnee) and Donald Duck (Clarence"Ducky" Nash, the original voice of Walt Disney's Donald, grew up in Watonga).
Oklahomans have survived the Dust Bowl, any number of killer tornadoes, the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City 's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and various oil booms and busts. Oklahoma is populated by people who are caring, giving, hard-working, patriotic and fiercely independent. Oklahoma is a great place to live, work and play.
The challenge in this, our centennial year, is to make the rest of America aware of what Oklahoma has to offer, besides "beautiful mornings," "fringe-ladensurreys" and "a girl who cain't say no. "The official statehood celebration will be in November. In the meantime, individual cities are restaging various events associated with statehood and the settling of Indian Territory which eventually became our state. It's a great time to be an Oklahoman and I wanted to share this with you! Pass this on to friends who might not know anything about our state. Especially, since the quarter design won't show anything informative about OKLAHOMA other than we have scissor-tailed flycatchers and sunflowers.
Ciao!
posted by Terri | 3:15 PM
4 Comments:
Darn it Terri!! You stole my thunder. I drafted a post with some of the same info for a Sea to Shining Sea blog post thing I signed up for. lol Oh well....facts are facts. Jeanne Tripplehorn from Tulsa who played in The Firm, Waterworld and Basic Instinct and Mary Kay Place and Alfre Woodard should be on the list of famous Oklahomans.
Hey Terri,
Here are my Oklahoma tidbits:
Will Rogers, Born in 1879 somewhere in the middle of what is now Oologah Lake.
Ron Howard, “Happy Days”, Born in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1954.
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris Born in the small, south Oklahoma town of Ryan.
Blake Edwards was born in 1922 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is best known as the director of the Pink Panther films.
Dr. Phil McGraw was born in Vinita, Oklahoma in 1950.
Belle Starr one of the most famous women outlaws is buried in an isolated grave southwest of Porum, Oklahoma near the Eufuala Dam.
Vinita is the oldest incorporated town on Oklahoma Route 66 being established in 1871.
Turner Falls Park in Davis is the oldest park in Oklahoma.
Clinton Riggs designed the YIELD sign. It was first used on a trial basis in Tulsa.
Excellent you guys. I can't wait to see all the celebrations this year.
We also need to note that Oklahoma has more published romance authors than any other state and that we are also home to a plethora of fiction, non-fiction, and mystery authors--among them world famous Carolyn Hart.
Some lesser known musicians are Byron Berline, Bryan White, and Tom Paxton.
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