From The Gold Wing Road Riders Association of Oklahoma. This is supposed to be a space for the Director to share his views and opinions. Therefore these views and opinions are his and his alone and do not reflect the views of the real world as he knows it to be. Be it as it may be.

The times they be a changing thats for sure. Well hang on, this years Wing Ding is coming to Tulsa Oklahoma, yes I know Tulsa WOW. It's going to be a Pow Wow theme I hear. Some people think this is real Indian country, ya know, still riding around on horses and scalping people all the time stuff. Let me assure you the only scalping your going to get in Oklahoma is from the Oklahoma Turnpike authority or the Casinos. Fun times are a coming.

Some Oklahoma History I Bet You Didn't Know

If someone mentions California, what do you think of? Hollywood, L.A.,
crowded freeways, beaches and Arnold Schwarzenneger? California, of
course, is so much more than that.

When people hear the name of our state, it seems the first thing that  comes to mind is not Oklahoma, but "Oklahoma!" The 1943 musical, the first for Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, is the first thing most people in America think of when they hear about the Sooner State.

Having people associate our state with a beloved musical is certainly 
better than some alternatives, like rednecks and tornadoes, but it
certainly isn't representative of today's Oklahoma. However, the musical
"Oklahoma!" is a delight. The story of cowboys and farmers finding love in
Oklahoma territory features classic music and ground-breaking
choreography.  It also gave us our state song, which never
fails to bring standing ovations before the final curtain comes down.

It is not, however, an accurate indication of where our state has been, is
today and is going. Oklahoma is not only the home of Ado Annie and Aunt
Eller but of the aerosol can. That wonder of the age was invented in
Bartlesville, OK.  Oklahoma City is the home of the parking meter, while
the shopping cart was born in Ardmore, OK.

The electric guitar also was invented in Oklahoma, by a Beggs musician named Bob Dunn. The first "Yield" sign was installed in Tulsa.

The state has more man-made lakes than any other state, which give us more than a million surface-acres of water and 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined.

The Sooner State has produced more astronauts than any other state in the union.
Owen Garriott is a hometown Enid, OK boy, of course, while Tom Stafford is from Weatherford, Shannon Lucid from Oklahoma City,
William Pogue from Okemah, OK and the late Gordon Cooper from
Shawnee, OK.

Oklahoma is home to Amateur Softball Association, Sonic restaurants and
tornadoes.  The famous Woody Guthrie, song writer, is from Okemah, OK and Jim Shoulders, the famous cowboy, is from Henryetta, OK.

Oklahoma is the third-largest gas-producing state in the nation and ranks
fourth in the production of wheat, cattle and calves, fifth in the production of
pecans,  sixth in peanuts and eighth in peaches.

The state's colors are neither the crimson and cream of the University of
Oklahoma nor the orange and black of Oklahoma State but green and white.

Environmental Protection Agency recognizes Oklahoma as having the most diverse terrain of any state in the nation. The state, according to EPA, boasts 11 distinct ecoregions, one of only four states to have more than 10.

Oklahomans practice 73 major religions. Many, many Christians live in
Oklahoma.  The largest is the Southern Baptist Convention, with
nearly 1,600 church and more than 960,000 members.

Oklahoma gave birth to Dick Tracy (cartoonist Chester Gould is a native of
Pawnee, OK) and Donald Duck (Clarence "Ducky" Nash, the original voice of Walt Disney's Donald, grew up in Watonga, OK).
More trivia on Oklahoma
The bread tie was invented in Maysville.
The first Girl Scout cookie was sold in Muskogee in 1917.
The Oklahoma State Capital is the only Capital in the U.S. with working oil wells on its grounds.
WKY Radio in OKC was the first radio station transmitting west of the Mississippi River.
The Port Of Catoosa (northeast of Tulsa) is the largest inland port in America.
The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth was in Moore,Oklahoma on May 3, 1999. Clocked at 318 mph.
Funny town names in Oklahoma
Frogville
Loco
Bushyhead
Bugtussle
Hooker
Slaughterville
Bowlegs
Slapout
And of course not to be outdone?
Gay Oklahoma
Straight Oklahoma


Oklahomans have survived the Dust Bowl, any number of killer tornadoes,  the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and various oil booms and busts and Runs. Oklahoma is populated by people who are caring, friendly, giving, hard-working, patriotic and fiercely independent. Oklahoma is a good place to live, work and play and raise children.


The challenge in this, with Wing Ding coming to Tulsa, is to make the rest of America aware of what Oklahoma has to offer, besides beautiful mornings,
fringe-laden surreys and a girl who will be true to you.
"We're more than Sticks, Hicks, and Ticks"

THANKS
Rick and Robin Greninger
Your District Directors
Oklahoma District