EDUCATION Living On Tulsa Time me want to spend my hard-earned money, my precious time and trek to the north- east corner of 46th state in the spring of 2020?” Beyond the SAFETECH classes, of course. Well, here are some cool facts about Tulsa and the surrounding vicinity, as well as Oklahoma in general: It was settled in the 1830s by the Creek Indians. The saying “Good Lord will- ing and the Creek don’t rise” had noth- ing to do with water and flooding but with the Creek Nation rising up and attacking. Tulsa was known as the “Oil Capital of the World,” as there were more oil discoveries in the area than anywhere else in the world in 1907. The city held that title for six decades. Tulsa has more man-made lakes than any other city in the United States. Fred Flintstone may not live in Tulsa, but he’d probably feel right at home in- side the famous Cave House on Charles Page Boulevard. Resembling a shack made of cartoonish boulders and built in the 1920s, it functioned as a novelty restaurant by day and a Prohibition-era speakeasy by night. Tulsa businessman Cyrus Avery was known as the “Father of Route 66.” Frus- trated by the region’s poor roads, he start- ed pushing for improved transportation and was named Oklahoma’s highway commissioner in 1924. When the fed- 56 KEYNOTES MARCH 2020 “If you aren’t doing at least some safe and vault type of work, you are missing out on a pretty good revenue stream.” eral government started planning an in- terstate highway from Chicago to Los Angeles, Avery lobbied for the route to run southwest rather than west over the Rocky Mountains. The road that would become Route 66 was laid through Ari- zona, N.M., the Texas panhandle and (conveniently) Tulsa. Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum houses the world’s largest collection of art and artifacts from the American West. The collection of more than 350,000 objects — including a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence — was amassed by oilman and philanthropist Thomas Gilcrease. Allegedly, his ghost haunts the halls of the museum. Before they made it to the big leagues, pro baseball players Matt Holli- day, Sammy Sosa, R.A. Dickey, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira suited up for the Tulsa Drillers, now a Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. On a railroad overpass in the city’s downtown, a mysterious brick circle laid into the ground is dubbed “the center of the universe.” When people stand in the center and shout, they hear an extremely loud echo that is barely audible outside the circle. Scientists aren’t sure why. Who knew the portal to parallel worlds ran through Tulsa? It’s the birthplace of Garth Brooks. And this is just the tip of the prover- bial iceberg. Many movies have been set in or filmed in and around Tulsa: Rain Man, Twister (go figure), The Outsid- ers, UHF, Where The Red Fern Grows and more. Come to Tulsa for the education. Learn a skill you don’t currently have and increase your business opportunities. But while in Tulsa, explore the area and the “Buckle of the Bible Belt” and all the unique shopping, restaurants and landmarks it has to offer. Jim Hancock, CML, CMST, is ALOA’s educat ion manager. You can reach him at [email protected] or (214) 819-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
