Franchise Opportunities in Tulsa, OK

TULSA, Okla. -

More than 50 all-Black towns once existed in Oklahoma, but only 13 still exist.

Now, the Oklahoma Center For The Humanities is telling the towns' stories through a new exhibit at the Henry Zarrow Center For Arts And Education.

Organizers said the exhibit highlights this important legacy in Oklahoma.

The people who came to visit said it fills in the gaps for a history lesson they didn’t learn in school.

“Didn’t learn all this history we’re learning now,” Lori Dreiling, Tulsa.

Dreiling grew up in Oklahoma and had no clue about the more than 50 all-Black towns across Oklahoma.

She said the exhibit will help people understand Oklahoma's stories that aren't always told.

“Really happy to see all that Tulsa is doing to recognize our history, whether it’s good or bad. But making everybody aware of it,” said Dreiling.

The exhibit features historical documents, pictures, and film.

Organizers said the exhibit allows visitors to explore Oklahoma's Black towns by learning how they came to be and what they looked like with booming businesses and opportunity for Black people.

“In the descriptions, it has like when the art piece was happening and what was happening and like the context. So they’ll get to learn more about the Black towns. I think that’s cool," said Ninemi Ortiz.

But organizers said this isn't just Black history. Thirteen towns are still here, fighting to stay alive.

“These are also not just set in the past. They have a presence, they are there, they have a future that the leaders of these towns are working for," said Dr. Dayne Riley, Oklahoma Center for the Humanities.

These towns still have major events like the Black Rodeo in Boley or the Blues Fest in Rentiesville.

The communities survive by people keeping the legacy alive.

“So going and experiencing these places would be one thing, but also being aware of them and thinking about them, and talking to the people from these places to learn more about them," said Dr. Riley.

This event is free and open to the public and will run through February 25.

The exhibition will also be the site of a conference entitled “All-Black Towns of Oklahoma,” hosted by the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, on February 18, 2023.

This event will feature UNC professor Karla Slocum, mayors from Tullahassee and Rentiesville, Hannibal Johnson, Eli Grayson, Q Lansana, and state senator Kevin Matthews.

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TULSA, Okla. — Tonight, the Bishop Kelley Community gathered to remember one of their own. They held a vigil in honor of their beloved teacher and tennis coach, Dan Schmitz.

A big loss for the Bishop Kelley community who said Coach Schmitz was loved by his students and colleagues.

“We give thanks to God for his life, and the way that he incorporated his gifts and talents just to glorify the Lord as a teacher, as a coach, as a mentor, as a friend, as a colleague," Duy Ngyuen, Bishop Kelley Chaplan said.

With hymns and anectdotes, friends, family and the Bishop Kelley community came together to honor the life of tennis coach and teacher, Dan Schmitz. Terry Stupp worked with him for the past 12 years.

“Dan and I coached tennis together. He was my assistant coach," Stupp said.

Stupp said he's still trying to process the unexpected loss of his friend and colleague. They had just seen each other at a faculty gathering right before Christmas.

“He was happy, gregarious, joking, laughing, telling stories and all of that," Stupp said.

They had even made plans for the upcoming season.

“We talked about what we were going to do with our tennis program and how we would divide it up, who was going where," Stupp said.

Stupp said Schmitz loved tennis, but he also had a huge heart for the students.

“He’s seen every student in the past five years who has come to Bishop Kelley," he said.

Colleagues said Schmitz didn't just touch the lives of his students and colleagues, but everyone he met.

“I remember very vividly his hug. You know, I’m a small guy. Standing next to him it was like David and Golilath and then you’d give him a big hug, but it was just so warm," Chaplan said.

As his memory lives on forever, so does his legacy, one that will be remembered for years to come.

“We’ve established the Dan Schmitz endowed fund for tuition assistance here at Bishop Kelley to help new students come and experience Bishop Kelley in a place that Dan loved," Stupp said.

The school said they made councilors and priests available to students this week as they processed the great loss.

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With her husband accepting a new job in another state, Tulsa Public Schools board member Judith Barba Perez announced Friday that she will resign from her seat effective Jan. 23.

“I still have a lot of ideas for the board and things I wanted to do,” Barba Perez said. “I love Tulsa, but unfortunately for us, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for immigrants. It was a hard decision.”

In accordance with state law, the school board has to accept the resignation before it can take effect. Once that happens, the board will take applications for an appointed successor who will serve until the 2024 election, when voters will select someone to finish the remaining year left on the term.

If the board accepts Barba Perez’s resignation at Monday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, applications in both English and Spanish for the vacant seat will be available online, at the district’s Education Service Center and at all campuses within District 2 starting Tuesday with a submission deadline of 5 p.m. Jan. 18.

Citing a desire to not leave District 2 without representation, board President Stacey Woolley said applicant interviews may start as soon as the afternoon before the board’s regular Jan. 23 meeting.

Woolley said the new board district boundaries that were approved in December will be used to determine candidates’ geographic eligibility. Therefore, campuses that will have board applications available include Emerson, Kendall-Whittier, McKinley, Mitchell, Owen and Sequoyah elementary schools; Unity Learning Academy; Carver Middle School; Booker T. Washington High School; and Will Rogers College Middle and High School.

Applicants must have completed a high school diploma or equivalent certificate and must not be a district employee or be related to a district employee within two degrees by blood or marriage.

Additionally, anyone who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving embezzlement within the past 15 years who has not been pardoned is ineligible.

Elected in February 2021, Barba Perez is the first first-generation immigrant to serve on Tulsa’s Board of Education. On Friday, she said she was proud not only of bringing that perspective to the board but also of the changes that came about in part due to those insights, including providing additional time during meetings’ public comment and citizens comments periods for constituents who need translation services in order to participate.

“I’m proud of the work I did, including bringing a voice that was never there before — the voice of an immigrant,” Barba Perez said. “I still struggle with the language, … but this perspective for the immigrant community and all the decisions I made as a board member, it wasn’t just me saying, ‘I’m going to vote yes,’ or ‘I’m going to vote no’ — it was me reaching out to people, to my community, to my neighbors.”

According to meeting minutes, Barba Perez missed 13 board meetings during her tenure in office, with more than half of those absences attributed to illness. By comparison, the numbers of absences among the four other board members who served during the same time frame in full vary from one to nine.

Barba Perez was absent from meetings in July and October that each resulted in tie votes on portions of the consent agenda, including the district’s 2022-23 agreement with Reading Partners, two bond sale resolutions and the renewal of TPS’ sponsorship of KIPP Tulsa University Prep High School.

Those items were all brought back before the board at subsequent meetings and approved.

With the remaining six members of the board responsible for appointing Barba Perez’s successor, Woolley acknowledged that while there is a possibility of another 3-3 tie, she said she expects enough quality applications for the seat that at least four board members will be able to agree on a candidate.

“I am confident that we will receive applications — not just one but more than one application — that a majority of our board can be happy with and that our board will think it is of critical importance to make sure District 2 has representation as quickly as possible,” Woolley said.

“I believe that we recognize our responsibility and our commitment to having representation from all districts.”

Specialty outdoor retailer REI Co-op, which has talked about coming to Tulsa for close to a decade, will open a store here in spring 2024, the Seattle-based company has announced.

REI Tulsa is expected to employ about 50 people at a 23,000-square-foot store at the northwest corner of 71st Street and Elwood Avenue, which is next to the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area and near Tulsa Hills shopping center.

It will offer a wide assortment of apparel, gear and expertise for camping, cycling, running, fitness, hiking, paddling and climbing. Also, certified mechanics will staff a full-service bike shop.

Recreational Equipment Inc. opened its first Oklahoma store in Oklahoma City in 2019.

“I think it will be great for Turkey Mountain and the residents,” said Tulsa City Councilor Jeannie Cue, who represents the district (2) where REI is locating. “I think it will bring a lot of economic income because we have a lot of people from all over Oklahoma and other states to come to Turkey Mountain.

“The only concern we are going to have to monitor — and I will do this for the residents — is monitor traffic flow. There are issues going up 61st (Street). We just have to look at maybe a turn lane and some other things there. But I’m very excited about the project.”

REI reported $97.7 million in net income in 2021 and had $3.7 billion in sales, an increase of 36% over 2020.

“We look forward to helping the community get outside and being a closer destination for existing REI members who have been driving to our store in Oklahoma City,” Kristen Engels, REI regional director, said in a statement. “We’re also excited to connect with local nonprofits that are protecting natural places and supporting people to achieve an active lifestyle.”

As the country’s largest consumer co-op, REI has 21.5 million members, including 84,800 in Oklahoma. It also has 179 locations in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

REI actively partners with nonprofits across the nation to steward and maintain local trails and public lands to connect more people to the outdoors. Last year, the co-op invested $7.1 million in more than 450 nonprofits across the country.

Since REI’s entry into Oklahoma in 2019, it has granted more than $44,000 to nonprofits, including Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma, Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship, Riversport Foundation and Scissortail Park Foundation.

The co-op also operates the REI Cooperative Action Fund, a community-supported public charity that partners with and provides financial support to organizations that promote justice, equity and belonging in the outdoors to strengthen the health and well-being of people and communities.

The Tulsa store is across the Arkansas River and about a mile west of where original plans had been made for an REI location.

The city of Tulsa had been trying for years to lure REI — and the sales-tax revenue it would produce — to a piece of Helmerich Park on the southwest corner of 71st Street and Riverside Drive.

A Dallas developer signed an agreement with the Tulsa Public Facilities Authority in 2015 to purchase nearly nine acres of Helmerich Park in that area for commercial development. But a group sued to block the development, saying the city improperly organized the sale and must maintain the property as park land.

In 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a Tulsa County District Court ruling that had granted the city and the Tulsa Public Facilities Authority summary judgment in the case. The justices sent the case back to district court to address two material facts that remained disputed and to render a new decision on the case.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said at that time that he wasn’t moving forward with the project. A city spokeswoman said Friday that a different developer is involved with the new REI location and that the city wasn’t involved with the announcement.

“The Tulsa region features so many great outdoor recreation opportunities, and more are on the way with the further development of the Arkansas River,” Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, said in a statement. “Having an REI store in Tulsa will help residents and tourists alike take even fuller advantage of all that we have to offer.”

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LAS VEGAS -

As the national anthem played before the Kansas City Chiefs faced Las Vegas on Saturday, the television camera zoomed in on the glare sticker under Raiders running back Josh Jacobs’ left eye.

“Pops,” it read.

In what’s been an exhaustive week around the NFL after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during Monday’s game in Cincinnati, emotions hit closer to home for Jacobs, whose father, Marty, underwent emergency heart surgery Wednesday.

And after the fifth-year back spent most of this past week in his hometown of Tulsa, he said his father awoke Friday with one message, insisting his son return to Las Vegas to play.

“I wasn’t gonna come back — for me, family always before anything,” said Jacobs, who added he flew in late Friday and was playing off roughly four hours of sleep. “Especially the severity of what was going on, what’s currently going on. But my dad had woke up and he told me he wanted me to play, so that’s why I’m here.”

Jacobs, who leads the league with 1,653 yards, finished with 45 yards on 17 carries in the Raiders’ 31-13 loss to the Chiefs.

While the NFL and a worldwide fan base have been praying for Hamlin, Jacobs said the love he received from his teammates and the organization made the decision to return at his father’s request much easier.

“That’s what made coming back good,” said Jacobs, whose 12 rushing touchdowns are tied for fifth-most in the league. “The whole team, even people upstairs that don’t really work with me every day. I definitely got that love and that support. ... Everybody had my back and they knew it wasn’t really about football, so I appreciate them. That’s just the love that they got for me and I got the same type of love for them.”

The NFL rushing leader’s dedication to the team through emotional pain came as no surprise, though, after watching him battle through physical pain throughout the season.

Jacobs, who was recently named a team captain, entered a game in Seattle on Nov. 27 questionable with a calf injury and wasn’t cleared until shortly before kickoff. He ran for 229 yards and finished with 303 offensive yards.

He injured his oblique on the first play from scrimmage in last week’s home game against San Francisco, returned in the second quarter, and still carried the ball 17 times for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Jacobs, who is ahead of Cleveland’s Nick Chubb by 205 yards, and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry by 224 yards, finished a season that started with many questions when his fifth-year option wasn’t exercised, and the new coaching regime started him in the Hall of Fame Game.

With a stacked running backs room to start training camp, there was talk Jacobs wouldn’t make it to Week 1, let alone vie for the league’s rushing title.

But in what’s been a career year for the former national champion out of Alabama, he’s quashed any and all innuendo of his worth to the organization, clearly looking like someone who brilliantly auditioned for a big payday this offseason.

“Since Day One, since I met Josh, me and him, we tell each other we love each other before every game because when you have special dudes in the locker room like him, they’re just a little bit different, it means a little bit more to him,” defensive captain Maxx Crosby said. “And to see him, the things that he’s overcome ... he’s been through it all. I can go on and on about Josh Jacobs. He’s got every bit of respect from me and all these guys in the locker room, so I’m just praying for him and his family. I hope is dad’s doing better. I love that dude to death, I’d literally go to the end of the world for him. So just hoping everything turns out good.”