New general admission prices effective Thursday, February 9, 2023. With more than 1,000 animals to see, immersive habitats and memorable experiences, OKC Zoo remains top destination at best-value among state attractions.

On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, Oklahoma City Council members approved price adjustments to general admission prices for the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. Beginning Thursday, February 9, general adult admission will increase from $12 to $16, and admission for children ages 3 to 11 and seniors 65+ will increase from $9 to $13. Children two and under receive free entry into the Zoo. City Council also approved adjusted admission prices for student field trips which will be decreasing from $6.15 to $6 per student 3 to 11 and from $9.25 to $9 for students 12+. Educators wishing to make a reservation for a field trip can do so online at:
https://www.okczoo.org/self-guided-field-trips.
The Zoo’s last admission increase took effect February 2020.
ZOOfriends’ memberships will also be increasing effective February 9, 2023. Zoo fans are encouraged to join now and purchase memberships at our current prices. All ZOOfriends memberships are good for one year from date of purchase with the same incredible benefits including unlimited Zoo visits for a year and additional discounts. By purchasing a membership, you are also supporting the OKC Zoo, its growing animal family, conservation efforts and expansion including the awaited opening of Expedition Africa this summer! Purchase ZOOfriends memberships online at:
https://www.okczoo.org/membership.
The Oklahoma City Zoo is in its winter hours and open Thursday through Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the last entry at 4 p.m., and closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays through February 8, 2023. Purchase advance Zoo admission tickets at okczoo.org/tickets and avoid the entry lines. Located at the crossroads of I-44 and I-35, the OKC Zoo is a proud member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the American Alliance of Museums, Oklahoma City’s Adventure District and an Adventure Road partner. Regular daytime admission is $12 for adults and $9 for children ages 3-11 and seniors ages 65 and over. Children two and under are admitted free. Stay connected with the Zoo on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linktree and TikTok, and by visiting our blog stories. Zoo fans can support the OKC Zoo by becoming a ZOOfriends member. Starting at $45, memberships can be purchased at www.okczoo.org/membership and provide access to the OKC Zoo for an entire year plus, additional benefits and discounts. To learn more about Zoo happenings, call (405) 424-3344 or visit https://www.okczoo.org/.

INTEGRIS Health is celebrating 35 years of kidney transplantation. Surgeons with the INTEGRIS Health Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute have performed more than 2200 kidney transplants since the program began.
The INTEGRIS Health Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center offers superior outcomes for kidney transplants from both living and deceased donors. It consists of one of the largest and most experienced transplant teams in the United States.
E.N. Scott Samara, M.D., is the surgical director of kidney transplant at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center. He conducted the first kidney transplant at the facility and still practices today. He is proud of what the program has accomplished through the years
“I have been grateful to see over 2000 patients be able to avoid or stop dialysis and live normal productive lives,” says Samara. “In the last 15 years, I have even been able to work with my son, Dr. Shea Samara, and Dr. Jose El-Amm, who is the medical director of kidney transplant and like a son to me, which has been both professionally and personally fulfilling.”
Every ten minutes another person is added to the national transplant waiting list. Of those, 82% are in need of a kidney. There are more than 90,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney donation. The average wait time for a kidney is three to five years from a deceased donor. With living donation, a patient may be able to receive a transplant much faster. To learn more or schedule an assessment, call 405-949-3816.

By Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready

You’ve just purchased a beautiful, expensive piece of jewelry that you want to protect if lost, damaged or stolen. So, you ask your insurance agent to add a condition to your home insurance policy. As a small business owner, you make an addition to your insurance policy that would exclude or eliminate coverage for your company’s particular type of risk. These examples require changing your current, existing insurance policy; you can do that with an endorsement. An endorsement, also known as a rider, adds, deletes, excludes or changes insurance coverage to increase coverage by way of an endorsement/rider. The endorsement/rider takes precedence over the standard limits of coverage over the original agreement or policy.
TOP CONSIDERATIONS
How an insurance endorsement/rider works. An insurance endorsement/rider is an amendment to an existing insurance contract that changes the original policy’s terms. An endorsement/rider can be issued at the time of purchase, mid-term or at renewal time. An endorsement may affect insurance premiums, and premiums may change as a result.
You can have an endorsement/rider on your homeowners and renter’s policy, life insurance, and auto insurance policies. Endorsements/riders may include adding or deleting people and locations to your current insurance policy. Endorsements/riders are important because they address issues or items not included in the original contract or policy.
* Additional Coverage – An endorsement that adds or includes coverage that would otherwise be excluded.
* Exclusions – Some endorsements exclude coverage for certain types of claims.
* Modification of Coverage – An endorsement can expand the scope of existing coverage.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW – Be informed of any insurance policy changes. An endorsement can vary depending on the insurance company and the type of insurance to which the endorsement applies. If you receive a document stating there is an endorsement to your policy, be sure to compare it to your original policy, and talk with your insurance agent or representative about the changes to make sure you understand them.
Educate yourself on how an endorsement can protect your belongings. If you have expensive jewelry, like a diamond engagement ring or vintage necklace, you might want to consider an endorsement/rider. It will take over and protect these items, where a traditional home insurance policy might end. Other things worthy of an endorsement/rider may include antiques, fine art, and priceless stamp or coin collections, to name a few.
For instance, many home insurance policies exclude coverage for mold or sump pump overflow. An endorsement to your insurance policy could give you that added protection. Many home insurance policies exclude coverage for mold or sump pump overflow. An endorsement to your insurance policy could give you that added protection.
An optional endorsement that protects the rebuild cost of your home is an inflation guard endorsement. These endorsements are common and automatically increase the amount of insurance on your home by a certain percentage each year to account for the disparity caused by inflation.
THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER – An endorsement/rider alters the policy and becomes part of your legal insurance contract.
Always keep a copy of the endorsement and the change notice that accompanies the endorsement along with your copy of the original policy since it remains in force until the contract expires.
Endorsements can reduce or increase your policy premium.
For more information, please contact the Oklahoma Insurance Department at 1-800-522-0071 or visit our website at: https://www.oid.ok.gov/.

Story by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

Our legislators need to “Hear Our Voices” about issues concerning seniors in Oklahoma, especially since COVID-19 restricted the ability to interact with them in person for the last three years. Organizers ask seniors to recruit a friend and attend the Senior Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol on the morning of February 27, 2023.
Seniors can inform their legislators about important issues seniors face while aging in Oklahoma. They can explain their views on securing funding for home and community-based services, senior nutrition programs, transportation, healthcare accessibility, and caregiver support services.
Attendees are invited into the House Chambers in a once-a-year opportunity to fill the members’ seats and House gallery as they hear from their senators and representatives about their legislative agendas this session. This activity can help prompt them to take positive actions on bills addressing the full spectrum of aging that are in the best interest of seniors. (STORY CONTINUES BELOW)

Participants are also encouraged to visit the legislators in their offices and meet their staff for contacts they can follow up on later. Everyone can take a guided tour of the renovated capitol. Seniors will also visit nonprofit and government agencies’ exhibitor booths on the second-floor rotunda providing a wide range of information about senior needs and issues and their services.
Visitors can join hundreds of other seniors that day for a moderated discussion on the top issues facing the aging population throughout Oklahoma and programs designed to help seniors live their lives with dignity and independence.
Registration runs 8-9:45 a.m. with exhibitor booths available: 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Seniors attend an official welcoming presentation in the House of Representative Chambers at 10 a.m. and can visit with their legislative members from noon – 1 p.m. Pease allow a short period before your first event to get through the Capitol Security checkpoint.
The annual event is a chance for Oklahoma’s seniors and their advocates to discuss the needs of the more than 875,877 adults age 60 and older in Oklahoma and approximately 140,000 adults age 80 or older. By 2030, the population of older Oklahomans is projected to increase by 21.3 percent, and for the first time, seniors are expected to outnumber children.
The beginning of a legislative session is the best time for seniors to interact with their elected representatives. This is when new laws are being proposed and discussed and when legislators are more likely to be open to hearing from their constituents.
Organizers say the group of seniors gathered that day should be large enough to show legislators the significant number of seniors affected by the lack of services and resources. “The emphasis on Senior Day is many seniors being present at the Capitol to show Legislators their determination to be heard,” said Trish Emig, president of the Oklahoma Silver Haired Legislature Alumni Association. “We must make sure our voices are heard about treating all Oklahomans well from birth to 60, 80, 90 and beyond.”
Seniors can also provide legislators with specific examples of how the lack of services impacts their community. For example, they can talk about the lack of affordable housing options for seniors, the shortage of home healthcare providers, or the limited access to public transportation in rural areas.
This opportunity to gather at the Capitol also allows seniors to network with other seniors and advocacy groups that share their concerns. They can share information and strategies for effectively communicating with legislators and organizing to make their voices heard.
Seniors can prepare before attending the special event. They can research the current laws and policies that affect seniors and be ready to discuss them with legislators. They can then make specific recommendations for improving services at long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living and similar adult care homes and seek more funding and support for other vital services for Oklahoma seniors.
Please pre-register at: https://forms.office.com/g/5CYnvwvF1F and open the hyperlink. For more info, contact Alliance on Aging- at 405-943-1895 or https://okallianceonaging.org/.

By Nick Thomas

Before “Grease,” the hit 1978 movie, there was “Grease” the musical theater production first performed in Chicago in 1971 before moving to Broadway a year later for over 3,000 performances.
Adrienne Barbeau, who played Rizzo during the first five months of the show’s run, helped commemorate the 50th anniversary of the production as a co-editor of the 2022 book: “Grease, Tell Me More, Tell Me More – Stories from the Broadway Phenomenon That Started It All.” It features personal anecdotes from the Broadway cast and crew.
“It stemmed from a Zoom meeting that the original cast had when the pandemic first shut everything down,” recalled Barbeau from her home in Los Angeles. “The stories everybody told were just so delightful and touching and funny and most of them all new to me because I left the show early on.” (STORY CONTINUES BELOW)

Barbeau and two others involved in the production began assembling the stories.
“We sent out a questionnaire to over 100 actors, musicians, and crew members who had been involved in the show asking them to write down their stories of working on the production,” said Barbeau. “We put it all together in a terrific tribute to the show.”
Despite her strong connection to “Grease” which opened on Valentine’s Day, 1972, to this day Barbeau still has not watched the popular 1978 movie version which has many differences, including some of the music, from the original play.
“I happened to hear one of the songs from the movie a long time back, which was one of my songs,” she recalled. “It was lovely what they had done with it, but it just was not what we had done. So, I decided never to watch the film so I could keep the memory of our show and not cloud it with another version.”
Though her career began in musical theater, Barbeau left “Grease” to co-star in the TV comedy “Maude” throughout the 70s. But in the early 80s, the actress starred in several horror/sci-fi films (“Swamp Thing,” “The Fog,” “Escape from New York,” “Creepshow”) forever cementing her movie status as a horror sex symbol (see www.abarbeau.com).
“I started out in musical theater and comedy, and the transition to more dramatic roles was never by design,” Barbeau explained. “It’s just that somebody offered me something I wanted to do or needed to do to pay bills. I ended up playing strong women who were not victims and they were often interesting and challenging roles.”
“People always say, oh you were a sex symbol,” she adds. “But I like to remind them my first love scene in film was with a swamp monster!”

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. See https://www.getnickt.org/.

If your organization is having an upcoming event, let us know. Email the information to news@okveterannews.com

The Oklahoma History Center is pleased to announce a performance in the Kilgen Organ series featuring organist Christian Elliott. He will provide the accompanying music and sound effects to the American western silent film “The Mark of Zorro” (1920) starring Douglas Fairbanks. This performance will take place on Monday, February 27, 2023, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for Oklahoma Historical Society members and $20 for non-members, and may be reserved by calling 405-522-0765. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Christian Elliott is a prominent concert organist, equally at home performing literature of the church and theater. Elliott’s career has included extensive silent film accompaniment at venues including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Packard Foundation’s Stanford Theatre and the University of California, Los Angeles. Elliott was privileged to be mentored by several world-renowned organists and worked extensively with the “dean” of silent film accompaniment, Gaylord Carter. Elliott was named Organist of the Year by the American Theatre Organ Society in 2009.

Story by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

Seniors seeking affordable books and audiobooks can shop at the largest used book sale west of the Mississippi—the annual free two-day 43rd Friends of the Metro Library Booksale 2023. Thousands of book lovers will line up early Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26, well before the 9 a.m. opening in the Oklahoma Expo Hall at the Oklahoma City State Fairgrounds. The sale closes at 5:30 p.m. each day.
“This event is such a great opportunity for folks to build a personal library and support the public library,” said Heather Zeoli, Metro Library System director of development.
Providing a diverse selection of paperback and hardcover books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and more for every demographic of customers this year, the sale’s theme is “Books Bring Us Together.” The books and much more feature a wide range of subjects—including fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, biographies, medical, westerns, romance, children’s, encyclopedias, reference and foreign language books. Thousands of big print books printed are offered with larger point-size fonts to make it easier to read if you have weak eyesight, along with thousands of audiobooks.
In the General Area, hardback books are two dollars, paperbacks are one dollar (children’s paperbacks are 50 cents), and magazines are 3 for a dollar. Price lists for items in the general section are available online at supportmls.org/fol/booksale. Collectors go for the Items in the Better Books Room, which vary in price, mostly under $5.
The sale raises money to support the Metropolitan Library System In its 42-year run, the Friends have given more than $5 million in grants to the system. (STORY CONTINUES BELOW)

All of this is the product of the tireless efforts of hundreds of volunteers each year. “The volunteer connection lasts through the whole year – we hope everyone will come and join us for new friends and new books,” Zeoli said. Volunteering can provide seniors with a sense of purpose and fulfillment, an opportunity to socialize and connect with others, and positively impact their mental and physical health. It is a great opportunity for seniors to stay active and engaged with the community and contribute to positively impacting their peers’ lives.
With 800,000 books available, the sale becomes the largest bookstore in Oklahoma. Selective shoppers are advised to volunteer or join the nonprofit to ensure the best possible purchasing opportunity. Volunteers helping this year will be treated to the best possible selection opportunity available by having access to the sale on Thursday for a special volunteers-only session. Volunteer shifts are still open, as the group needs your help, so please visit supportmls.org/volunteer.
All volunteers receive a free T-shirt, service hours, and the chance to purchase items before the members’ sale. Volunteers are also welcome to shop on Sunday night and take materials for free. “Love of books and reading inspired my volunteering with the Friends of the Library,” Valerie Hernandez said. “Making sure others have the opportunity to select from all these books is why I help at both the sort site and the sale.”
Customers shop for many reasons. Some try to select bestsellers, classics, collectibles and research books needed for school. Others seek to complete personal libraries in certain subjects, while parents strive to enhance their children’s reading exposure.
Those who become members for $15 ahead of time can shop a Presale from 1 – 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24. Held the day before the sale goes public, members are invited to first access. Children 11 and under accompanied by an adult are free. Those wishing to join the Friends may purchase memberships online until noon on February 23 by visiting supportmls.org/fol/membership. No memberships will be sold at the sale.
The sale is well established on the literary sale calendar for customers from all over Oklahoma, surrounding states and the region. The multi-day event attracts more than 10,000 book shoppers. Each year, a quick parking lot survey shows many customers are from out of state, coming to Oklahoma for the vast selection. In some ways, the diverse selection offered represents a snapshot of high-quality current American publishing with the bonus that everything is available for affordable purchase.
The Friends offer a year-round Amazon store to access their selection at Amazon.com. They also provide ‘Buy the Box’ sales where volunteers package and seal books by genre – buy a box of romance, mystery or children’s books – and enjoy the surprises inside.
The shopping is so robust at the sale volunteers offer a dozen checkout points in each section. And yet, so many customers arrive early a line forms for the first few hours each day.
The shopping is intense, almost competitive, as this is a once-a-year opportunity. Customers quickly buy the best music or audio CDs, gaming systems and video games, eReaders, DVDs and vinyl records. Organizers ask shoppers to refrain from bringing wheeled carts so everyone can quickly move among the sections of tables laden with thousands of books. Tables include a broad cross-section of interest, including books by Oklahoma authors—to books about Oklahoma.
Some year’s special sections offer brand new books donated when bookstores and Oklahoma publishing houses use their donations to balance their inventory.
Many business and industry concerns are well represented when entities going out of business donate their libraries. Retiring attorneys and doctors donate to provide shoppers the chance to buy current-within-four-years law textbooks or books of law statutes and medical textbooks or medical journals at a steep discount.
On Sunday night from 6 – 8, educators and nonprofits are invited to visit the sale and take home any leftover items for free. For more information and registration, please visit https://supportmls.org/npt/.

Again, volunteer shifts are still open, as the group is looking for help. To volunteer for the Booksale, visit https://supportmls.org/fol/volunteering/.

Mercy family medicine physician Dr. Erica Dearman has shifted the focus of her practice to meet the unique needs of Medicare patients in the Oklahoma City metro area.
Dearman, a Mercy primary care physician since 2019, is passionate about caring for seniors and older adults and helping them navigate the natural life changes that come with aging.
“Many seniors are suddenly facing complex medical diagnoses, decreased physical abilities and fewer social interactions than they used to have,” Dr. Dearman said. “The focus of my practice and this new model of care is to work closely with these patients to help them optimize their quality of life in all areas.”
Dr. Dearman’s Medicare patients will have extended visit times and be seen more frequently to keep chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease under control.
“The heart and soul of my practice is to help seniors stay out of the hospital and lead long, healthy lives,” Dr. Dearman said.
Patients will also have access to the full suite of services available to all Mercy patients, including Mercy on Call, the after-hours help line staffed by a full Mercy care team, and access to MyMercy, a free app and website that make it easy to manage doctor visits, medications, tests and billing in one convenient place.
Dr. Dearman will see patients at Mercy Clinic Primary Care – Edmond Memorial. Call (405) 341-7009 to schedule an appointment or book online here.