WHERE THE WILQFlQWFRc ARL OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA rnDN May-June 1991 Vnl dl, Nn -4 I FEATURES I WILDFLOWER REDUX 8 After decades as targets of sprayers, mowers, and bad-mouthers, Oklahoma's native plants are the new stars of garden and roadside. A look at a wildflower renaissance in full bloom. By BurkhardBilger HAVE PICNIC BASKET, WILL TRAVEL 19 Swing by for lunch on your way somewhere else or spend the afternoon under a shade tree. These four city parks are top picks for picnics. By Susan Wittand Barbara Palmer, photographs by Fred W.Marvel PORTFOLIO: OKLAHOMA TRIBESMEN 22 The regalia worn by Oklahoma tribes links the past and the present and is a source of identity for both young and old. Photographs by David Fitzgerald ZEN AND THE ART OF BICYCLE TOURING 28 Toiling up a brutal hill and sailing down the ocher side. Broiling at high noon and floating on an evening breeze. All are part of the cycle of life, one learns along the course of the Freewheel bike tour. By Joel Everett, photographs by Scott Andenen RIDING WITH RED 36 There are plenty of laurels for Red is still up at dawn, out training for yet another bicycle endurance tour. By Teq Phe/ps, photographs by Scott Andem TODAY IN OKLAHOMA 4 IN SHORT 5 LETTERS 6 OMNIBUS Chautauqua 'Til You Drop, by Douz Bentin 7 FOOD TheOnion-Fried Burger, by Bar(iara Palmer 39 WEEKENDER Red Earth, by Jeanne M. Dtwlin 41 ARTS Best of the West, by Marcia Preston 44 ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR A guide to what's happening 49 COVER: Kiowa storyteller Evalu Ware Russell of Anadarko at Red Earth. Photograph by David Fitzgerald. Inside front cover: A lone yucca and Lone Mountain in the Gloss Mountains in northwest Oklahoma. Photograph by David Vinyard. Back cover:A country road near Tom in McCurtain County. Photograph by David ~itz~erhd. May-June 1991 3 ne day last February, time to explore the places other writers Oklahoma Today staff have described in the magazine, and I members met together for have only read about. lunch. This was an unusual Even though most stories and pho- event0 for this busy group, but we had tographs in Oklahoma Today are travel much to celebrate. The magazine- had related, they also bring- out what is won two new awards and circulation unique or special about Oklahoma, and revenue were inching forward to what makes this state different from meet our goals. the rest. Sometimes the magazine's The Oklahoma City Advertising focus has shown the ordinary, like the Club named Oklahoma Today winner of top chicken-fried steak restaurants, to its annual Addy and Addy Merit awards actually be extraordinary. for editorial excellence. These presti- We believe that our readers want to gious awards will be added to our office know more about Oklahoma-its display of others received during the heritage, geology, wildlife, the arts-to past six years in national and interna- pique their interest in travel and pride tional competition from the Regional in the state. We have tried to make ~ublisherskssociationand the Society them aware of the great lifestyle we of American Travel Writers. have here. The first test for each story Our circulation has increased 36 idea is, can our readers go see or do this? percent since 1987. This is important During my tenure, Oklahoma Today since research shows that 79.7 percent has grown from 40 to 52 editorial pages of our subscribers have attended an per issue and from four to six issues per event or visited a place afi year. Our color phot~ography has in- about it in Oklahoma Today. creased and now illust:rates each story. an important source of income for The magazine has undergone several Oklahoma. And that is our purpose- major changes in design and added to increase travel in the state and to regular departments in each issue. We make it more interesting. have produced a scenic appointment Our 35th anniversary year is reason calendar annually and have begun enough for celebration. 1 r many selling gift products. These not only magazines" last long- enough- 1 debrate promote the state but assist with gen- this milestone? For that matter, how I grating sufficient revenue to fundour I 1 many businesses? operating expenses. And, as I told our lunch1eon group, We have also produc:ed special issues with everything going so we11, this on the horse industry, the state's 75th seemed the ideal time for me to retire. anniversary, the 1889 land run cen- Yes, there are still unfinished projects tennial and Indian art. You have shown and many more stories to write, but this your appreciation by giving gift sub- is my final issue. I look forward to scriptions and renewing your own. Our spending more time with a new circulation has grown from 10,000 grandson and traveling at a more lei- to 45,000 as a result. surely pace. The real secret to our success has to For 12years as editor-in-chief, I have be a corps of freelance writers and had the opportunity to meet wonder- photographers willing to drive across ful, interesting people across the state. the state and make that extra effort to I've learned more about unusual places tell Oklahoma's story. David Fitz- to visit in Oklahoma and its heritage gerald, for example, spent the last three than you can imagine. Now I will have continued on page 6 4 Oklahoma TODAY In Bartlesville,200 Years of Mozart A Sign of Summer: The Blessing of the Fleet on "Performance Today" each season. It has been two-hundred years since In coastal fishing villages it was once Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart put pen to This year, the festival got an unex- the custom to usher the local priest paper and composed his final master- pected endorsement, when Time down to the wharf to bless the fishing piece, the "Requiem," only to die, magazine named Bartlesville a bicenten- boats before they inched out to sea. December 5, 1791, at the nial destination of choice "People involved with fishing felt, and age of 35. for Mozart fans in search justifiably so, the need for some divine Given the world's of unusual places in help to get home," explains Leffen fascination with anniver- I which to revel in the Pflug of Gore. saries divisible by five, music of their maestro. Five years ago, Pflug and friends it's no surprise that there "It's going to be a very decided a little divine intervention will be a Mozart bicen- exciting summer," might be nice for their sailing club. The tennial in 1991. What has predicts Ransom Wilson, appeal was twofold: "I think we liked to impress, however, in a renowned flutist and I the idea of thanking the creator who year when rap is king, is conductor of the made all this beauty," says Pflug, "and the international hullaba- chamber orchestra Solisti the idea of asking for his protection on loo that has marked New York, as well as one the water." Mozart's jubilee year, and of the masterminds hi^ M~~~ bust The Grand Lake Sailing Club timed the fact that has made behind the Bartlesville entrance to the Bart/emi//e its "blessing of the fleet" with the arrival Illozart's hometown of jty festival. (The festival is c center. of the summer sailing season. Salzburg, Austria, and inked in Wilson's It's now a local tradition. Bartlesville, Oklahoma, bed fellows. personal calendar and he's yet to miss Come hlay, skippers "heave to with Both of these small towns will be sites a season.) brushes and mops" to ready dinghies, of major jubilee events this summer. OK Mozart, set for June 7-16, will power cruisers, and yachts for what has For the last seven years, Bartlesville include nine concerts, chamber and become a parade of some thirty boats. music lovers have tried to tell Oklahoma lecture series, art exhibits, Austrian cafes, Skippers decorate their crafts with signal and the world that their OK Mozart and non-concert diversions ranging from flags or Mardi Gras frills. then outfit International Festival has become a parades and fireworks to laser light shows themselves as Thurston Howell I11 or world-class event. Lending credence to and picnics. Concert tickets are $10 to Captain Hook. Spectators watch from the claim: NBC's "Sunday Today" $20, and can be ordered by calling (918) shore or nearby boat decks. filmed the festival in 1989 and National 336-9800 or writing Box 2344, The local Episcopal priest, Father Public Radio airs the concert recordings Bartlesville, OK 74005. Howard Wilson. himself a sailor. becins the ritual with a brief shoreside service (complete with hymns and prayers). That done, hc moves to the lakc and a Cruising Route 66 30-foot Catalina, equipped with holy From Quapaw to Texola, through detoured for barbe- water. As boats putter by single file, Vinita, El Reno, Canute, and points in cue in Arcadia or to Father Wilson administers names, holy between, Route 66 jitterbugs across drive through water, and the sign of the cross. "Once Oklahoma for 400 miles. And the state Davenport's round concrete tuGel. they pass Father's boat." says Pflug,"the Route 66 Association plans to use every The cruise brings out scores of vintage sailboats break out their sails and take bit of the old highway for its second autos, says association member Don off down the lake, and that concludes annual Route 66 Cruise, June 8-9.