Portal Oklahoma

The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 - the date of Guthrie's birth - in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. Daytime main stage performances are held indoors at the Brick Street Cafe and the Crystal Theatre. Evening main stage performances are held outdoors at the Pastures of Plenty. The festival is planned and implemented annually by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a non-profit corporation, whose goal is simply to ensure Guthrie's musical legacy. The event is made possible in part from a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council. Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, Woody Guthrie's younger sister, is the festival's perennial guest of honor.

The festival, which over the years has morphed into being called "WoodyFest" by attendees, was founded in 1998 and the inaugural festival included performances by Guthrie's son Arlo Guthrie, British folk-punk-rock artist Billy Bragg, Ellis Paul, Jimmy LaFave, Joel Rafael, and The Red Dirt Rangers. For the festival's founding, the Woody Guthrie Coalition commissioned a local Creek Indian sculptor to cast a full-body bronze statue of Guthrie and his guitar, complete with the guitar's well-known inscription: "This machine kills fascists". The statue, sculpted by artist Dan Brook, stands along Okemah's main street - named Broadway - in the heart of downtown Okemah. (Full article...)

Broken Arrow is a city in Tulsa and Wagoner counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the largest suburb of Tulsa. According to the 2020 census, Broken Arrow has a population of 113,540 residents and is the 4th most populous city in the state. The city is part of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, which has a population of 1,023,988 residents.

The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad sold lots for the town site in 1902 and company secretary William S. Fears named it Broken Arrow. The city was named for a Creek community settled by Creek Native Americans who had been forced to relocate from Alabama to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears. (Full article...)

Featured articles: Black Seminoles • Chickasaw Turnpike • Jim Thorpe • Oklahoma • Tulsa, Oklahoma • Woody Guthrie • Oklahoma City bombing • Brad Pitt

Featured lists: Oklahoma birds • Tallest buildings in Tulsa • List of tallest buildings in Oklahoma City • List of birds of Oklahoma • List of Oklahoma Sooners football seasons • List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches • List of Oklahoma Sooners in the NFL Draft

• Nickname:The Sooner State
• Capital and largest city: Oklahoma City
• Governor: Kevin Stitt (R)
• Total area: 181,196 square kilometers (69,960 square miles)
• Population (2020 census): 3,959,353
• Date admitted to the Union: November 16, 1907
• Senators: Markwayne Mullin (R), James Lankford (R)
• Representatives: Kevin Hern (R), Josh Brecheen (R), Frank Lucas (R), Tom Cole (R), Stephanie Bice (R)

State symbols

• Mammal: Bison
• Bird: Scissor-tailed flycatcher
• Fish: White bass
• Floral emblem: Mistletoe
• Flower: Oklahoma Rose
• Grass: Indian grass
• Insect: Honeybee
• Tree: Redbud
• Fossil: Allosaurid dinosaur
• Rock: Rose Rock
• Soil: Port Silt Loam
• Song: Oklahoma!
• Beverage: Milk

Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six decade career, Howard has received two Academy Awards, four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013. Howard has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in film and television.

Howard first came to prominence as a child actor, acting in several television series before gaining national attention for playing young Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. During this time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962), a critical and commercial success. Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the influential coming-of-age film American Graffiti (1973), and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days (1974–1980). He starred in the films The Spikes Gang (1974), The Shootist (1976), and Grand Theft Auto (1977), the latter being his directorial film debut. (Full article...)

• ... that American musician Kenneth Kilgore, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, had a bridge posthumously named after him?
• ... that when a fire broke out next to studios of Oklahoma radio station KVSO, reporters had to rush in to report the blaze and then out to breathe fresh air?
• ... that after Cora Victoria Diehl was elected as the first woman to hold office in Oklahoma Territory, county records had to be recovered with dynamite when the incumbent refused to concede?
• ... that Oklahoma tenderloin is baloney?
• ... that Goodbye Normal Street was named after a street in Oklahoma, but also refers to the Turnpike Troubadours' new life touring on the road?
• ... that as the first licensed architect in Oklahoma, Leon B. Senter held "License Number 1" for forty years, from 1925 until his death?

WikiProject Oklahoma	Oklahoma State Highways	Missing articles on Oklahoma newspapers	Taskforce Tulsa

Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Julius Jones (death row inmate): A death row inmate in Oklahoma Expand : Deep Deuce, Oklahoma City, University of Oklahoma, Will Rogers, List of Oklahoma rivers Photo : Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Oklahoma Stubs : See Category:Oklahoma stubs