By Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready

In Oklahoma, natural disasters are a tragic reality. Every year, disasters disrupt different parts of our state, leaving behind lasting effects on Oklahomans and property. After a disaster, many in our community need help and first responders may not be able to assist right away. That is why it’s important to Get Ready now. You and your family can take simple steps to Get Ready for emergencies and mitigate your risks. Here are some very easy but essential things you can do to Get Ready.
Document Your Property
One of the most important things you can do before a storm hits is to make a home inventory. Keep a detailed record of your valuable belongings to help you recover and file a claim more quickly. Take photos or videos to record your belongings and write down descriptions. Take photos or videos of the inside and outside of your home, including spaces like closets and cabinet interiors. Keep your inventory somewhere away from your home (i.e. safe deposit box, virtual cloud), where it can be accessed after a disaster.
Review Your Insurance
Disasters are a matter of when not if. Understand the risks you may face and talk to your agent to ensure that you have the insurance coverage you need for your property. For example, a standard homeowners policy does not cover floods, and you may need a separate wind and hail policy if you live in tornado-prone areas. It’s also important to prepare your property before the storm hits. Sometimes it is not the storm that directly causes the damage to your home but your possessions that are not secured in your yard. Cut down or trim trees that may be in danger of falling on your home. Secure outdoor objects that could blow away or cause damage.
Make a Plan
Lastly, having a plan in place and knowing how you will respond to the storm can make a significant impact. Be sure to have flashlights, food, water and a weather radio ready at all times. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find and practice that plan regularly. Sign up for your community’s alert and warning systems and make sure you understand what these alerts and warnings mean.
To help Oklahomans prepare for this storm season, we’re releasing the three-part column series—Mulready Says Get Ready: Before, During and After the Storm. This comprehensive series will provide you with detailed information on how best to prepare for disasters. In this series, I’ll explain general disaster preparedness tips for before, during and after disasters. Please follow #GetReadyOK and visit www.oid.ok.gov/getready for more information on how to Get Ready.
If you have questions about other insurance issues, please contact the Oklahoma Insurance Department at 1-800-522-0071 or visit our website at www.oid.ok.gov.

By Nick Thomas

Joe Cornet never initially considered now 92-year-old Don Murray for a role in his 2021 western film “Promise.”
“I wanted an iconic actor for one of the roles and approached two other veteran western stars, but for one reason or another neither worked out,” said Cornet, from Los Angeles, who wrote, directed, and co-produced the almost 2-hour-long western drama.
Already acquainted with Murray’s son, Cornet explained his dilemma to the younger Murray who proposed a simple solution: “Why don’t you get dad?”
“So, I sent Don the script but wasn’t really expecting to hear from him – I just didn’t think he would do it,” explained Cornet. “However, he called the following day to say he loved the story, calling it a classic, and asked when the shooting started!”
Murray’s previous big-screen appearances had been a pair of 2001 films two decades earlier, but he required little convincing to dude-up in cowboy gear for Cornet’s film which depicts a desperate search for lost gold and lost love, both linked to the Civil War.
“It has elements of the classic western but it’s also not cliché-bound,” said Murray from his home in Santa Barbara. “It was just a great concept, very imaginative with good writing.”
Murray, on set for a week to shoot his scenes at a Southern Californian ranch, “was a gem” according to Cornet. “He has three large, important scenes, two with me. He added a lot of quirks and nuances to create an interesting character.” Currently available on Amazon Prime, “Promise” was entered in Tucson’s Wild Bunch Film Festival last October, receiving 11 awards including Best Picture.
Don Murray is no stranger to award ceremonies, having been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his first film role in 1956’s “Bus Stop,” co-starring Marilyn Monroe.
“It was a total surprise, I couldn’t believe it,” said Murray of his reaction when learning that the film’s director, Josh Logan, insisted the producers cast him as a rambunctious cowboy alongside the notoriously difficult Monroe.
“I was aware of her reputation, but didn’t let that bother me,” recalled Murray. “I didn’t pay any attention to what people thought of her. I was just involved with the work and working with her which was a great experience. She was very supportive of me and we got along well, no problems ever.”
Murray also remembers Logan going to great lengths to put Monroe at ease. “He was always very supportive and made her feel comfortable,” he said. “He was very positive and didn’t criticize what she was doing.”
After “Bus Stop,” Murray went on to work in numerous TV shows and appeared in some 40 films, often tackling challenging roles that portrayed compelling characters. He appeared in several westerns and believes the genre, though far less common today, can still attract audiences.
“There’s always the classic theme of the western but there’s also room for creative changes in the screenplay, giving a better sense of western reality,” he says. “(Joe) actually took advantage of that and created a classic piece all its own and I was very proud to be part of it.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. See www.tinseltowntalks.com.

The final installment in a series of exhibitions featuring works by Native American artists and sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation opens this week at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Ascendant: Expressions of Self-Determination, on display through Aug. 14, includes works by artists while enrolled at the University of Oklahoma from 1946 to 1954.
Following in the footsteps of the “Kiowa Six,” Chief Terry Saul (Chickasaw, Choctaw), Walter “Dick” West (Cheyenne) and Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota), the exhibition explores the context in which this remarkable group of students came to OU, presents their development as artists, and demonstrates their legacy.
Ascendant is the result of a collaboration between the Art History program of the School of Visual Arts and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The exhibition and accompanying catalog are funded by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York City. The show was organized by five student curators – Meagan Anderson, Danielle Fixico (Chickasaw, Mvscoke), Chris Tall Bear (Cheyenne), Olivia von Gries and Nathan Young (Delaware Tribe of Indians, Pawnee, Kiowa, and Cherokee Nation) — who were enrolled in the fall 2021 seminar on Native American Art and Museum Studies led by Alicia Harris (Assiniboine) Assistant Professor of Native American Art History.
“The artists in this exhibition are the first Native Americans to receive M.F.A.s in
the United States,” says Harris. “The exhibition revolves around topics of Native American spirituality (when the full expression of which was illegal in the United States at the time), political and legal paradigms, and their legacy as artists, teachers and leaders. We worked to expand the label “Modernism,” which has been applied to their abstract compositions and assert that these artists also fit securely into the art histories and ancestral paradigms of their unique, sophisticated communities.”
The exhibition features work from FJJMA’s permanent collection and special loans from the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa and the Western History Collection at the University of Oklahoma.
An exhibition catalog published in conjunction with the show is also available at the museum free of charge. Included in the catalog are essays and biographies of the artists written by the curators with an introduction by Alicia Harris. An exhibition webinar with the student curators is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24. The exhibition and related programming are free and open to the public.
More information about this exhibition and related programing is available on the museum’s website at www.ou.edu/fjjma.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus. Admission to the museum is complimentary to all visitors. Further information regarding this exhibition and accommodations are available by calling (405) 325-4938 or visiting www.ou.edu.fjjma.
The decades following World War II were rife with change on a global scale, no less so for Native American artists at the University of Oklahoma. Ascendant: Expressions of Self-Determination considers the Native art students enrolled at OU from 1946-1954 as the “second generation” of Native artists in the legacy of the university, following in the footsteps of the Kiowa Six. Chief Terry Saul (Chickasaw, Choctaw), Walter “Dick” West (Cheyenne) and Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota) came to OU at a time of political, social and personal transformation. Artists turned to ancestral philosophies of artmaking to represent their identity, celebrate heritage and assert individual artistic agency.
During this period, Native art was becoming increasingly accepted as “fine art.” This generation of artists is notable as teachers and leaders whose resounding influence on the vast field of Native American art is felt to this day. Curators for the exhibition include instructor Alicia Harris and student curators Meagan Anderson, Danielle Fixico, Chris Tallbear, Olivia von Gries and Nathan Young. This exhibition was made possible with generous support from the Mellon Foundation.
Oscar Howe (Mazuha Hokshina) U.S., Yanktonai Dakota) 1915-1983 Waci (He is Dancing), 1973 Watercolor on paper Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman; The James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection, 2010
Tommy Wayne “T.C.” Cannon (U.S., Kiowa/Caddo, 1946-1978)
On Drinkin’ Beer in Vietnam in 1967, 1971 Lithograph Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman; The James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection, 2010

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

There’s an old joke where a preacher is asking his congregation to raise their hands if they want to go to heaven. Many do raise their hands, but one man does not. The preacher asks the man why he didn’t raise his hand. “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” asked the preacher. And the man replied, “I thought you were asking, who wanted to go right now!”
Many of us are not ready to go to heaven right away, but I’d go to Paradise, No April Fools, that is, Florida’s Paradise Coast anytime. It is the area inclusive of the West Coast Florida Cities of Mediterranean style Naples, and the tropical Marco Island
Naples offers upscale and funky shopping at their Fifth Avenue South: Florida’s own version of Rodeo Drive. Shopping in the historic Third Street South area, one might find the perfect piece of art in one of kind shops. I was surprised at the Tommy Bahama store where a restaurant and bar separated the men’s from the women’s clothing sections. That’s the way to shop! T.B. is famous for their drink of the day, often in martini format, with names like, Frost Bite, Kiwi-Tini, Cayman Cooler and Watermelon Splash. I was tempted to sample one, but dining at the award winning Sea Salt was waiting.
Sea Salt is an upscale restaurant known for fine beverages and a sophisticated culinary experience. After tasting a selection from the extensive menu it’s easy to see why Sea Salt received Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2009 and 2010, and named one of the Top 20 Best New Restaurants of 2009 by Esquire.
I could have spent the evening at Sea Salt, but then I would have missed a charming musical production by the Naples Players of “I Do, I Do” at the Sugden Community Theatre in the Fifth Avenue South district. (That show is long gone but check out their upcoming shows.) Another diversion is a pleasurable stroll through the Naples Zoo, with their Black Bear Hammock, Tiger, Lion and Giraffe exhibits, along with their Alligator Bay.
For a real break from reality an airboat ride on Lake Trafford gets you up close and vegetation slapping personal, with the folks at Airboats and Alligators. The extended drive north east to Lake Trafford is worth the effort for the natural vegetation and creature viewing on this west coast head water of the Florida Everglades, known as Corkscrew Swamp.
For your headquarters in paradise, The Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club offers a family owned yet expansive hotel complex right on the beach; a Naples novelty. Owned and operated by the Watkins family since 1946, the comfy rooms have an historic old Florida feel about them. With plantation shuttered windows overlooking several pools and ocean views, you feel relaxed and right at home. And as the name describes a fine golf course is adjacent. Also unique to Naples, is the hotels HB’s, which is the only beach front dining restaurant in the City of Naples, and has been awarded a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2005-2010.
Once ensconced at a resort I usually like to leave the car parked and do nothing on a schedule, and know that my needs are met at the hotel; whether it is finding snacks and forgotten sundries from the gift shop, dining options, or the comfort of viewing a lazy sunset, or a favorite movie on the flat screen.
A Florida Paradise Coast getaway is a little bit of heaven, with shopping, attractions, fine dining, resort accommodations and relaxing seaside, letting any stress evaporate into the gentle ocean breeze. I can see why AARP named Naples-Marco Island the 10th best place in the country to retire and live.
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For more information before you go check out: www.paradisecoast.com
Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club: http://www.naplesbeachhotel.com/
Sea Salt Restaurant, Naples: http://www.seasaltnaples.com/
Naples Zoo and Caribbean Gardens: www.napleszoo.org
Airboats & Alligators: www.laketrafford.com/tours.html 1-239-657-2214
Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa: www.hiltonmarcoisland.com or 1-800-445-8667

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
3110 N.W. 15 Street – Oklahoma City, OK 73107
https://realtraveladventures.com/?s=terry+zinn
https://realtraveladventures.com/?s=zinn
http://new.okveterannews.com/?s=TERRY+ZINN
www.martinitravels.com

by Dot Liles, Contributor

John Ferguson turned 94 in February and is still counting. Yes, Oklahoma has counted on him many times. He has lent his talent, not only professionally, but to a host of charitable and fundraising events. This year the Oklahoma Senior Follies are counting on him to be our “King” and “Count.” He will be helping us raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
John will be surrounded by a bevy of beauties with elaborate show costumes and hats. Also, joining him on stage will be Jackie Short as “Elvira.” He has just one thing to laughingly say about this to all Oklahoma’s senior men, “Eat your heart out!” You will see him on stage as “John Ferguson,” the King, and as his most-remembered character, “Count Gregore.”
Also featured at this year’s show will be Vince Gill via video performance and Emmy and Grammy-nominated David Hooten on trumpet. There will be many new performers as well as a host of your favorites from past years! The OKLAHOMA SENIOR FOLLIES will be at Hudson Performance Hall, 2820 N. May, Oklahoma City, this year. The show dates are May 20 at 7:30 p.m., and May 21 and May 22 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the website at www.oklahomaseniorfollies.com or www.TicketStorm.com or by calling Ticket Storm at 866-966-1777. This year we have added a seating chart with $25 seats, $30 seats, and $40 seats. You can also purchase blocks of ten and get a $5.00 discount.
We promise you-it will not be a draining experience! This year will be an overflowing, fun, and exciting show to remember. Count Gregore and the cast of the Senior Follies cannot wait to see you there!

Dear Savvy Senior, I need to find someone honest and reliable to look after my estate, health and long-term care when I’m no longer able to do it myself. I’m a 67-year-old recent widow with no children and one sibling I rarely talk to. Any suggestions? Solo Ager

Dear Solo,
This is big concern for millions of older Americans who don’t have a spouse, children or other family they can depend on to watch out for their well-being. While there’s no one solution to this issue, here are some tips and resources that can help you plan ahead.
Essential Documents
If you haven’t already done so, your first step, before choosing a reliable decision maker, is to prepare a basic estate plan of at least four essential legal documents. This will protect yourself and make sure you’re wishes are carried out if you become seriously ill or when you die.
These essential documents include: a “durable power of attorney” that allows you to designate someone to handle your financial matters if you become incapacitated; an “advanced health care directive” that includes a “living will” that tells your doctor what kind of care you want to receive if you become incapacitated, and a “health care power of attorney,” which names a person you authorize to make medical decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to; and a “will” that spells out how you’d like your property and assets distributed after you die. It also requires you to designate an “executor” to ensure your wishes are carried out.
To prepare these documents your best option is to hire an attorney, which can cost anywhere between $500 and $2,000. Or, if you are interested in a do-it-yourself plan, Quicken WillMaker & Trust 2022 ($129, Nolo.com) and LegalZoom.com ($179) are some top options.
Choosing Decision Makers and Helpers
Most people think first of naming a family member as their power of attorney for finances and health care, or executor of their will. If, however, you don’t have someone to fill those roles, you may want to ask a trusted friend or associate but be sure to choose someone that’s organized and younger than you who will likely be around after you’re gone.
Also be aware that if your choice of power of attorney or executor lives in another state, you’ll need to check your state’s law to see if it imposes any special requirements.
If, however, you don’t have a friend or relative you feel comfortable with, you’ll need to hire someone who has experience with such matters.
To find a qualified power of attorney or executor for your will, contact your bank, a local trust company or an estate planning attorney. If you need help locating a pro, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA.org) is a great resource that provides online directory to help you find someone in your area.
Another resource that can help you manage and oversee your health and long-term care needs as they arise, and even act as your health care power of attorney, is an aging life care manager. These are trained professionals in the area of geriatric care who often have backgrounds in nursing or social work. To search for an expert near you, visit AgingLifeCare.org.
Or, if you need help with bill paying and other financial/insurance/tax chores there are professional daily money managers (see AADMM.com) that can help.
Aging life care managers typically charge between $75 and $200 per hour, while hourly rates for daily money managers range between $75 and $150.
It’s also important to note that if you don’t complete the aforementioned legal documents and you become incapacitated, a court judge may appoint a guardian to make decisions on your behalf. That means the care you receive may be totally different from what you would have chosen for yourself.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

In the process of aging, many older adults bear the heavy burden of dementia and vascular cognitive impairment, conditions that can rob them of quality of life and put them at risk for falls and injuries. To explore a promising premise in aging research — that changes to the brain’s tiniest blood vessels may play an outsized role in cognitive decline — an OU College of Medicine researcher recently received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Shannon Conley, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the college’s Department of Cell Biology and a research member of the Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, earned the five-year grant, which will allow her to further explore how damaged micro-vessels in the brain may contribute to cognitive decline.
“It has become increasingly evident over the past 10 to 15 years that the smallest blood vessels are important in terms of contributing to disease pathology,” Conley said. “In the brain, this is especially important with aging. Because the brain can’t store any extra oxygen, the loss or damage of even a few tiny blood vessels means there’s not enough oxygen being supplied. In this project, we want to understand what is causing the damage or loss of blood vessels in the brain of an older adult.”
Specifically, Conley is focusing on the relationship between IGF-1, a common growth hormone that promotes blood vessel health, and smooth muscle cells, which surround the outside of blood vessels and help regulate blood flow by contracting and dilating. Researchers know that a person’s IGF-1 levels decline with age and that a deficit of the hormone can lead to defects in blood vessels. However, much less is known about the role of smooth muscle cells in that process.
“The research community has not really looked at the role of IGF-1 deficiency on the smooth muscle cells, specifically in the brain and in the context of aging and age-related cognitive impairment,” Conley said.
For this project, Conley has created an animal model that does not have a receptor for IGF-1 in the smooth muscle cells, resulting in a research model that mimics accelerated aging. Her first aim is to chronicle what happens when the smooth muscle cells can’t respond to IGF-1. Potential effects include damage or loss of blood vessels and impairment of the blood-brain barrier. She will also monitor to see whether the smooth muscle cells become impaired in their ability to contract as they normally do.
“One of the things that is important about smooth muscle cells in the brain is that they contract to protect the small blood vessels from the effects of systemic hypertension,” she said. “If you have systemic high blood pressure, you don’t want the tiny blood vessels in the brain to experience that. They’re very fragile and could have small bleeds or hemorrhages. So we’ll be watching to see if the smooth muscle cells lose their ability to protect the small blood vessels.”
Conley’s study will also seek to determine what is happening on a molecular level when smooth muscle cells cannot respond to IGF-1. “For example, do we see changes in the genes that are associated with cell contraction? Do we see early death of smooth muscle cells?” she said.
Ultimately, one of her goals it to identify targets that might be suitable for a therapeutic intervention. Treating an IGF-1 deficiency isn’t as simple of giving someone a supplement of IGF-1; because it is a growth factor, it could promote abnormal growth in other tissues and cells. However, some of the changes that occur because of IGF-1 deficiency could be a target for future treatments, she said.
Conley’s research is a component of the growing discipline of geroscience research, the study of the biology of aging. Aging itself is one of the biggest risk factors for disease, and many of the cellular mechanisms of aging are common across a wide range of pathologies.
“The things that go wrong in the blood vessel cells in the brain that can lead to dementia are some of the same things that can go wrong in the retina and lead to age-related macular degeneration. And some of those same cellular mechanisms can contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease pathologies or Parkinson’s disease pathologies. Among geroscience researchers, there is a lot of interest in what we call the basic cellular mechanisms of aging. We’re not looking specifically at the disease, but how the cells change as we age, and how that increases our risk for a variety of pathologies.”
As people live longer, research like Conley’s is especially important. Medical advancements may be able to keep people alive longer, but many will be diagnosed with conditions that significantly decrease their quality of life.
“As we have longer life spans, it’s really important to identify ways to simultaneously promote increased health spans,” she said. “It’s very challenging when you have loved ones who have severe illness or cognitive impairment, yet they are not dying; they are physically able to keep living. We want to help people stay healthier longer.”
Research reported in this news release is supported by the National Institute on Aging, a component of the National Institutes of Health, under the award number 1R01AG070915-01A1. Federal funds were secured with the help of seed grants from the Presbyterian Health Foundation, the OU College of Medicine Alumni Association, and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

by Greg Schwem

“Hello! Thank you for downloading our app, which is guaranteed to take up valuable memory on your phone and ensure that, if you ever have a problem with our company, you now have the tools to solve it yourself. Which is why, on our website, you will not find any kind of contact information; only the sentence, ‘Most issues can be solved by downloading our app.’”
“First, we need a user name. Sorry, that name is not available. Nor is that one. Or that one. ‘Bootyliciousgranddad’? As weird as it sounds, even that one has been taken. ‘Greg79450854’ is available. Congratulations.”
“Now, please enter a password. It must contain one capital letter, one number, one special character you never knew existed on your keyboard, and another special character you create simply by pressing, simultaneously, ‘control/option/shift/return/command/function/tab/CAPS LOCK/>/<.’”
“That password is weak. Please try something stronger. May we suggest, ‘Pwb8*)@?!sV’?”
“Now, please re-enter the password. Sorry, the passwords didn’t match. Please check the spelling and be reminded that certain characters do look alike, particularly the ones we suggested for you.”
“Success! If you have not yet thrown your phone against a wall in anger, you are ready to use our app. Almost. First, we need to verify that you are you and not some robot that is capable of completing the user name and password steps. Please retype the following characters: 0oO1liImnmmnmnnOo0.”
“Please click here to request another series of characters that look like they came from an eye chart at your optometrist’s office. You have four more attempts.”
“Whew. You did it on your last try. Way to go! Now you just need to click on every square containing the color white.”
“Try this one. Click on every square where you see a road.”
“Close enough. You have successfully installed our app. Now, please download the latest version, 15.0.7.3.2, which we released while you were trying to find the roads. Please close all other apps on your phone while the installation takes place. The new version will be installed in approximately 13 minutes. Or three hours. Or two days if your internet connection sucks.”
“Your app is now up to date. You may sign in.”
“First, we need your credit card information and a scanned government issued ID. This could be a passport, driver’s license, Social Security card or anything else that could make your life a living hell if hackers stumble across it. But that isn’t going to happen. Rest assured; we NEVER share your personal information with outside sources. And we’re serious. That’s why we capitalized ‘NEVER.’”
“Now it’s time to link your credit card information to your digital wallet. Click here to establish a digital wallet. You might want to walk away from your phone for a few minutes, because establishing a digital wallet means creating another user name, password and avatar. Spend this time away from your phone by going to another device and Googling, ‘What is an avatar?’ Or just beat your head against a wall.”
“Make sure you store your digital wallet login information separately from where you keep your other password information. If you cannot access your digital wallet, you will NEVER be able to retrieve the funds you placed there during a night of drinking with your friends because Steve told you it was time to start investing in cryptocurrency. By the way, Steve did not offer to pick up the check. What does that tell you about crypto?”
“Please check your inbox for a verification email. Simply click the link and you will be able to use our app. If the email does not appear between 30 seconds and 24 hours, please check your spam folder. If you do find the email in your spam folder, please add our address to your ‘contacts’ folder so we can send you periodic updates about changes to the app. If you have questions, our chat bot is here to help.”
“Please be advised that our chat bot only knows how to say, ‘Refer to your app.’”
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)

On March 22, 2022, at 10 a.m. the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) opened the Oklahoma State Capitol Museum, a state-of-the-art gallery space in the Oklahoma State Capitol. Created as part of the Oklahoma Capitol Restoration Project and located on the ground floor near the new primary public entrance on the south side of the Capitol, the Oklahoma State Capitol Museum contains 4,400 square feet of exhibit space and 13 exhibit cases, featuring more than 125 artifacts relating to the history of the Oklahoma State Capitol and the work of Oklahoma’s state government.
“The Oklahoma State Capitol Museum is a necessary addition to our Capitol Building,” said Lt. Gov. Pinnell. “No state can match our heritage and history, and these exhibits will provide Oklahomans and out-of-state visitors with a hands-on way to experience that history. I appreciate the hard work Trait Thompson and the rest of the Oklahoma Historical Society have put in to make this dream a reality.”
“The new Oklahoma State Capitol Museum provides a key educational component to our beautiful Capitol for visitors from around the world,” said Thompson. “The Oklahoma Historical Society has worked very hard to install exhibits that showcase the unique story of our Capitol and help people of all ages understand the important work that takes place within its walls. This museum is an integral part in making the Capitol a must-see destination when people come to Oklahoma City.”
Admission to the Oklahoma State Capitol Museum is free to all visitors. The museum will be open from Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.