Since 1951 the cannon used by William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Gordon W. “Pawnee Bill” Lillie in their Wild West Show has been on display at the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) headquarters in Oklahoma City. It was first displayed outside the original OHS building at 2100 N. Lincoln Blvd., and then at the new Oklahoma History Center at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive. After more than 70 years in Oklahoma City, the cannon will return to the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum in Pawnee.
According to Ronny Brown, the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum director, the Model 1861, 3-inch ordnance rifle was cast in 1863 at the Phoenix Iron Company in Phoenixville, Penn. The gun reportedly saw service in several Civil War battles, including Missionary Ridge, before Pawnee Bill acquired it for use in the Wild West Show. After the Wild West Show, the gun found a home on the front lawn of Pawnee Bill and May Lillie’s mansion. Shortly before Pawnee Bill died in 1942, he gifted the gun to his longtime friend and publicist Frank Stuart. The carriage was in bad shape and continued to deteriorate as the gun sat in Stuart’s backyard in Oklahoma City for many years. Stuart died in 1950, and under his will the cannon was gifted to the OHS in 1951. The OHS had a new carriage built for the cannon, and has displayed it in Oklahoma City ever since. Now the gun is set to return home to the front lawn at the Pawnee mansion.
The OHS is providing $15,000 in matching funds toward the $30,000 needed to restore the carriage, build a suitable exhibit space, and move the cannon to Pawnee. “This has been a dream of the local community for many years, and we are so excited to be working on plans to make it happen,” said Mona Denney, president of the Pawnee Bill Ranch Association. “We are launching a fundraising drive to raise the $15,000 needed to complete the project. This will be a big attraction for the ranch, and we can’t wait to see it back home on the mansion lawn.”
“We are very pleased to be working with the community of Pawnee to bring the cannon back to the ranch,” said Trait Thompson, executive director of the OHS. “The project includes placing a flagpole near the cannon and lighting the front of the mansion and the cannon display. The cannon will be placed on a concrete pad with exhibit panels to tell the cannon’s story. Also included in the project is a new sidewalk to ensure the display is accessible to everyone,” continued Thompson.
“Come by for a visit and make a donation to the project to be a part of this opportunity,” said Denney. “If you can’t make it for a visit, give the ranch a call to make a donation at 918-762-2513.”
For more information about the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum or directions to the site, please visit www.okhistory.org/pawneebill or call the ranch at 918-762-2513. The Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum is located at 1141 Pawnee Bill Road in Pawnee.

Christina Sibley, EMT/RMA
Bachelor of Science Health Studies-Gerontology emphasis

We’ve all heard it, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. The assumption being that learning or improving our brains is somehow behind us, past a certain age. The truth is, that’s a bunch of malarky. Our brains continue to grow new connections, reorganize connections, and prune unused ones, through our entire lives. This is called brain plasticity.
In short, the nerve cells in our brains look a little like trees. There’s nerve endings where roots would be, these receive signals. There’s a sort of trunk, that contains an axon and a cell body, signals travel through/over this, and finally there’s an area that looks like spread out branches, these are dendrites and they send the signal to the next cell.
These amazing cells are lined up end to end (axons to dendrites). There are tiny gaps (synapses) in between and chemicals (called neurotransmitters) move between the two ends, to send and receive signals. These individual cells line up, bunch together, and make up our brain, spinal cord and all our nerves.
The cells and connections between cells can be damaged by many things, but our brains are designed to attempt self-repair, to make new branches/connections or to make a new connection with a different neuron, and clean out damaging proteins/debris. This repair and reorganization, according to Dr. Sanjay Gupta in his new book Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age, happens best, it turns out, when we sleep.
We form new connections and memories all the time, especially in the areas of the brain we use often. The more we visit the information or skill, the more the area builds and becomes permanent. It has to go from short term memory, which we lose quickly, to long term memory.
This new cell growth is helped by good overall nutrition and moderate exercise. Get the blood flowing with plenty of nutrients and oxygen, and good things happen to our bodies. We’ve been told this for years. Easier said than done, but it’s worth a revisit and it holds true for all our cells.
Many of us have kids and/or grandkids that we have watched grow. As children they have to build massive amounts of brain cells/neurons that go all over their bodies. They are also building muscle cells and dexterity. How do they do it? They play of course.
They’re active physically. They are unafraid and learn new things and skills all the time, from us or in school. They’re mentally active. They laugh, dance, dream, and create for their own benefit, simply because it feels good.
So the next time you think “I can’t learn that” know that you absolutely CAN. If you feel intimidated or awkward, take a lesson from your kids/grandkids and play to learn. Within reason, of course, no rollerblading, and consult your physician. Be unafraid to learn. Don’t worry about how long it takes or that it’s a work in progress. The act of learning new things and skills is what helps keep our brains, and bodies, healthy and functioning properly. Your awesome brain will thank you!
Christina Sibley, with Sibley Insures, is a licensed health insurance agent who specializes in Medicare plans, all types, and Medicare education. Call (405) 655-6098 or visit sibleyinsures.com. See our ad in the Resource Directory on page 17.

Story by Darl DeVault, Contributing Editor

Grateful for being able to write for Senior News and Living for almost three years, I am now sharing how my writing began.
I met John Ferguson, 91 at the time, at the June 2019 OKC 50+ Better Living Expo at the Oklahoma State Fair Park, where he was dressed as his “Count Gregore” character from decades of WKY-TV fame.
I first saw him standing in his character’s makeup and black cape, talking to a lady well away from any of the booths.
Playing Count Gregore, he was a favorite local on-air television personality for me while growing up. He is most famous for hosting live the 11:30 p.m. Saturday Nightmare Theater, Sleepwalkers Matinee, Creature Features and Horror Theater. He entertained his sizable TV audience as the host of eight movie series from 1958 to 2002 while on KFOR-TV, KOCO-TV, KOKH-TV, KAUT-TV and KOCB-TV.
I introduced myself, telling Ferguson how much everyone appreciated his talented entertainment in this market. He thanked me for remembering him. We talked about other things he had done in the OKC market.
He told me he made a living in other creative agendas. He wrote, produced and appeared in countless radio and television commercials in sales, sales management. He mentioned other places he lived while employed in different facets of the entertainment industry. He spoke fondly about making commercials from behind the camera.
Our conversation turned to how difficult it was to make a living in a small market like Oklahoma City. I told him I was J-school trained at the University of Oklahoma, writing for The Oklahoma Daily, the student newspaper. We agreed OKC is a small market for creative endeavors.
His characters made him a household name for his many fans playing with local legend Danny Williams during those years. He talked about how he enjoyed starring as “Bazark, The Robot” and “Evil Duke of Mukedeen” opposite his hero character Dan D. Dynamo (Williams), on WKY-TV.
He was amazed I could retire as a writer at 55 in 2010. My explanation was the Oklahoma taxpayers spent a lot of money on us at OU. They funded the school’s printing press and an excellent Journalism Department as a significant investment in my learning to write well. Our conversation soon broke up, as I did not want to take up all his time.
Later, while leaving the Expo, I walked down the last row of booths. There was Ferguson again. He was still in makeup, sitting without his black cape behind a booth all by himself, watching people go by. I thanked him again for his time speaking with me and wished him well.
While speaking to him, a guy came rushing up to the booth. He hurriedly told Ferguson he needed him to get his cape on because he wanted to introduce him to people in another booth.
Ferguson started to look for his cape while pointing at me and saying to the guy seeking his help, “he’s a writer.” He found his cape and stood up to put it on. Again, to the person hurrying him to get ready, he said while pointing at me, “he’s a writer.”
The two of them were about to walk away from the booth. Ferguson pointed at me for the third time and said to the guy, “he’s a writer.” By this time, curious about why he kept saying that, I asked Ferguson, “Why do you keep saying that?”
Ferguson then introduced the guy saying, “this is Steven Eldridge, the publisher of Senior News and Living, who is looking for a writer.” At first focused on Ferguson, I finally looked down to notice what booth he had been sitting behind. It was the Senior News and Living booth, a major Expo sponsor.
Ferguson’s effort to point me out as a potential employee caused Eldridge to ask me where I learned to write. I said, “I was J-school trained at OU in the mid-70s.” Eldridge then asked me what I was writing now, and I replied I was retired.
Eldridge told me I could be a good match for his reader’s demographics at Senior News and Living with my writing background and being retired. He asked if I would write a story for him to evaluate for the publication. He said if he liked my work, he would offer me a job writing feature stories. Eldridge told me my articles could start on the front page. He said he would also pay me for photographs.
He asked me if I had any ideas for an upcoming article he could evaluate. I said I did not have any story ideas in mind. He gave me his business card and the last two Senior News and Living issues.
I saw Bobby Anderson wrote for Eldridge when I looked through the magazines. Anderson was also OU J-school trained, having written for the Norman Bureau of The Daily Oklahoman. In looking over the June issue, Anderson, an excellent journalist, had written a front-page feature article about Ferguson, which explained why he was at the event.
I remembered I had taken photographs of Osage master artist Clancy Gray at the Red Earth Arts Festival earlier that month. Gray was The Honored One for that year at the event in downtown OKC.
Knowing how to contact Gray through the Red Earth organizers, I started to craft an excellent front-page feature story about him with good photos. I had taken a compelling photo of the Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, an Osage, and his family with Gray because they bought a painting from him at the event.
A few days later, I finished the article after interviewing Gray. I emailed the article to Eldridge along with the photographs. True to his word, he ran it on the front page. I have now written every month since.
I am grateful to Ferguson for providing me with a meaningful life experience by prompting my interaction with Eldridge. That gratitude also extends to Eldridge for allowing me to write for him during these last two years of COVID-19. The timing could not have been any better for my mental health during the isolation of being careful about the pandemic.
For Count Gregore fans like me, there is a 2008 YouTube video worth watching wherein the Count introduces his top 10 horror movies worth watching at Count Gregore’s top ten (2008-10-23) – YouTube.
Ferguson explains how Danny Williams motivated him to create so many characters in a 24-minute Vimeo video narrative in 2011 of his WKY-TV career at https://vimeo.com/458860008.

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)

Rising gas prices, the ongoing fear of contracting the latest illness, and just parking and traffic in general.
Tealridge Retirement Community residents don’t have to worry about any of it when it comes to receiving therapy services – all from the comfort of their own retirement community.
Tealridge Executive Director Melissa Mahaffey’s, MHA, goal was to bring convenience and accessibility to the residents of Tealridge – something that currently is being done in other metro communities. However, her aim was to find something that was very unique and different. She found what she was looking for when she found Orthopaedic and Neurological Rehabilitation (ONR).
“I think overall everyone’s aim is quality of life so people be independent as long as possible,” Mahaffey said. “We’re working together. The residents are top of mind of anything we do here and we want to make sure we have resources in place to make it easy and possible for each and every resident to access the care that they need.”
The ONR TOUCH program works with continuing care retirement, assisted living, and senior living communities to establish and maintain innovative, onsite therapy and wellness programs.
Support is matched to each resident’s ability to age gracefully by offering proactive, comprehensive therapy services across the continuum of care.
What that means for Tealridge residents is they are able to receive physician-ordered rehabilitative, physical, occupational, and even speech therapies without leaving their residence.
In addition to therapies, ONR also provides fitness, wellness, and educational programming from a full-time, onsite licensed physical therapist in Kate Glasgow, PT.
Glasgow previously worked in a home health setting. She likes the partnership with Tealridge, which gets her back into the residents’ daily lives and into the halls at Tealridge.
“It’s very beneficial,” Glasgow said of being onsite. “Building rapport and relationships with residents here and getting to know them on different levels helps them improve in their environment as opposed to offsite where the skills we work on might not transfer as well to their environment.
“It really is a convenience factor being on-site full-time. We’re here Monday through Friday.”
Kaitlin Petrie, OTR/L, is ONR’s director of business development.
She said Tealridge is the first ONR community partnership in the OKC metro area and one that’s sure to be a hit with residents and their families.
She expects the model to be quickly adopted by others.
“It lends itself especially to independent living residents because they are out and about and they want to be out and about,” Petrie said. “Our fitness classes allow us to connect with residents and build rapport and have more of an impact with fall reduction.”
“We’re so thankful and so blessed,” she said. “We’ve experienced exponential growth and I think it’s because our model is so unique. We’ve got the resource of a full-time director on campus Monday through Friday.”
The partnership allows ONR to fulfill outpatient speech, physical and occupational therapy orders from providers in the comfort of a patient’s own apartment or in the dedicated ONR therapy gym inside Tealridge.
Services are billed under Medicare part B outpatient services and covered under most insurance plans.
The ONR TOUCH program offers staff stability with the same dedicated director and therapists in the community daily.
Residents seeking enhanced mobility, greater independence and increased success with activities of daily living will enjoy the luxury of these onsite therapy services. With more than 30 years of experience providing personalized and specialized therapeutic care, ONR’s core tenet is that life should be lived to the fullest at every stage.
Pain, weakness, or limited mobility should not prevent you from doing the things you love.
Petrie said ONR’s program utilizes several evidence-based, research-based clinical programs that dictate plans of care and treatment programs.
“There are really very few ailments that exist that we don’t have a matching clinical program,” Petrie said. “It’s always evolving with the research and that’s where ONR dedicates its resources.”
For Mahaffey, the partnership just made sense for Tealridge and its residents.
“It’s convenience and accessibility,” Mahaffey said. “They’re going to be able to easily access these services. It keeps them independent for as long as possible and with a good quality of life and that’s all we want to aim for. In addition to ONR, Tealridge has several partnerships with home health agencies, physician mobile services as well as ComForCare Home Care.
“We want to have everything, hopefully, under one roof. For the most part, residents don’t have to leave the community to get medical issues taken care of unless it’s a specialist provider appointment.”
Tealridge Retirement Community is a full-service retirement community located at 2100 NE 140th Edmond, OK 73013. Should you have any further questions, please call 405-546-2385.
For more information on Tealridge Retirement Community visit: https://www.tealridge.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

Legends at Rivendell invites professionals

by James Coburn, Staff Writer

Healthcare professionals are invited to celebrate the arrival of spring at Legend Senior Living at Rivendell.
Gather among friends at the event hosted by Sarah MacAllister and Kristen Thomas at Legend Senior Living at Rivendell in Oklahoma City from 4:30-6-30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, located at 13170 S. May Ave., Oklahoma City.
Legend at Rivendell is a center for assisted living and memory care.
Festive activities for the spring fling professional mixer will include appetizers and prize raffles.
“I feel like we are so caught up sometimes in the day-to-day. So, we just wanted the opportunity for professionals to just kind of relax. You can talk about work; you can talk about raffles. We’re just going to have raffles, nothing too scripted just so they can relax and put their feet up,” MacAllister said.
Legend at Rivendell has done similar events in the past prior to the pandemic. Healthcare is one of the most challenging industries to be part of with experiencing COVID-19, MacAllister continued. Their job of caring for millions of seniors across the US continues every day.
“We still need those connections and people outside our building to do their job. And we’re relying on everyone else, and they are relying on us to do our job,” MacAllister said.
While spring is a time of new beginnings, healthcare professionals continue their noble calling of carrying on their shifts with compassionate care and best practices in protecting lives and quality of life itself. Each day is a time of learning something new and to celebrate the human spirit.
The professional mixer is a time to gather with long-time colleagues and to make new personal connections. It is a time to leave your office space and social media to meet in person. Professionals will be able to enjoy the comfortable and relaxed environment.
“We’ll be offering tours if people want to see our community,” she said.
The campus offers assisted living and began offering memory care a few years ago as the need presented itself.
“I can hold 66 in assisted living and then in the memory care they can hold 75 residents,” she said.
The memory care offers three separate neighborhoods, depending on the level of cognitive function of the residents, depending on what the family likes and what the nurses would prefer. They are safe in a home where they can best thrive and be with other residents of a similar mindset and physical level.
Legend Senior Living at Rivendell love community involvement. They are members of both the Newcastle and Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce.
“We believe in paying it forward and having everyone help out. The residents all have cardiologists and primary care doctors and all those things that are in the professional healthcare world,” she said.
Please RSVP by calling or emailing.
For more information, contact Sarah MacAllister, at 405-703-2300 or sarah.macallister@legendseniorliving.com.
Visit www.legendseniorliving.com.

Story and photos by Darl Devault, Feature Writer

Sports photographer Richard T. Clifton, 65, has become a generational legend for his prolific body of work in Oklahoma City since first chronicling future Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller’s gymnastic performance at the 1989 Olympic Festival. His latest website, created in 2010, features 1.9 million photos from his efforts.
These photos emphasize high school sports and other events around the state, and the nearly two million photos is not a misprint. You can find the photo count and these images at his online site: https://rtcdigitalimages.zenfolio.com
If it has been of public interest in the Oklahoma City area from 1980 onward, chances are Clifton photographed it. In 1980 he started shooting for the Chickasha Daily Express newspaper covering high school sports and the University of Oklahoma. He was the only photographer covering women’s basketball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s gymnastics for OU for many years.
In thousands of pictures, he captured the moment of almost anything that was an annual event in Oklahoma City, including a surprising array of one-time events in the evenings and weekends. He compiled his prodigious record all the while teaching physical education for 29 years at Lincoln Elementary School in Chickasha. He retired from teaching in 2008.
To become a legend like Clifton, photographers must start at a higher level than most and persistently expand their market and expertise. He has excelled as a photographer with varying images: sports events, retirements, dating, portraiture, commercial applications, media use, weddings, graduations, family events, fashion, parties, engagements, religious ceremonies, teams, and office settings.
A devout Christian, he now takes photos of the children of some of his photography subjects of three decades ago. Looking back through decades of experience, he fondly remembers his early years gaining acceptance as a photographer.
“As a volunteer photographer for the 1989 Olympic Festival here in Oklahoma City, we were assigned certain events to cover and told not to deviate from that schedule,” Clifton said in a recent interview. “After turning in my first rolls of film, the organizers could determine the quality of my work. Suddenly they gave me many rolls of film, upgraded my credential to all-access, and told me I could photograph any event I wanted to shoot.”
Encouraged by his early successes, he took on photographic challenges at a higher level. He was soon the chief photographer for the two Olympic coaches, Steve Nunno and Peggy Liddick, who trained Shannon Miller at Dynamo Gymnastics.
Because area news outlets have published his work as a photojournalist over the years, his images have been interwoven into the fabric of the state. He has shot the professional sports of baseball, bowling, basketball, football, tennis and golf in Oklahoma. He has donated a sizable part of his time to help local nonprofits document special events at several points in his career, often creating their most prized images.
His striving to get the best photograph has had immediate and long-lasting benefits for several nonprofits over the decades. These groups include the Oklahoma Sports Museum, Sooner State Games (now State Games of Oklahoma), and the now-defunct Oklahoma City All Sports Association from 2003 to 2018.
He has worked for national sports governing bodies such as the Big 12 conference while covering Division I softball, baseball and basketball, including the Women’s College World Series and NAIA Women’s National Golf Tournament. He has shot for the Oklahoma Soccer Coaches Association and served as the OSSAA podium photographer for state wrestling tournaments.
Clifton is one of the most easily recognized photographers in the metro area, where he and his sports action shots are well known. He has achieved an unparalleled level of consistency, adept at taking action shots during high school and college games over three decades.
Clifton’s photos in high-pressure situations during the Women’s College World Series have been featured in their programs and website and in the only definitive book written about the event. “Clifton’s photos are highlights in my narrative of this great event,” said Larry Floyd, co-author of “A Series of Their Own.” “His capturing some of the great moments in women’s collegiate softball has been duplicated for other sports over decades. Only his love for and dedication to his craft could produce such a body of quality work.”
His photos can be found on the pages of many other books. He says he is proudest of his image of former world No. 1 tennis star Monica Seles for her book.
Clifton has developed a following of other photographers who look to his expertise in finding where the most compelling action shots can be taken at sports venues. Local photographers also learn of the essential tools of their trade by observing Clifton’s expensive cameras and special lenses.
His early black and white prints, color slides, and negatives since 1989 showcase late 20th century Oklahoma City life. His eight years shooting Dynamo Gymnastics’ 1992 and 1996 Olympians and Olympic coaches Steve Nunno and Peggy Liddick provide an invaluable record of that historical period. He documented the Warren Spahn Award for decades while donating his time to the Oklahoma Sports Museum in Guthrie.
Outside the sports world, Clifton created iconic photos of many local, national and international celebrities, such as Dr. Nazih Zuhdi’s retirement in 1989. His pictures tell an easily understood story in various settings, making him one of the best portrait photographers available.
Clifton has shot weddings in almost every area venue. He ensures the wedding party, decor, dress, flowers, and cake are treated in skillful shooting, with professional studio lighting and thoughtful composition.
Learning his trade with film in the 1980s, Clifton’s photography equipment evolved into digital as he learned image-enhancing software such as Adobe’s Photoshop to enhance his work. This may explain why his website is approaching two million photos while he works independently as one of the market’s most respected freelancers.
Clifton has built his reputation with a blend of artistry, computer enhancement skills, and business professionalism. “My interest in photography was sparked during the photography portion of journalism class my senior year at Lawton Eisenhower high school in 1974,” Clifton said. “Just two years ago, I reconnected with my high school journalism teacher, Betty Tumlinson, and was able to tell her of the impact she had on my life.”

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 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.