Today is dominated by plans to meet with the media.  Usually, it is an effort for us to get media attention in the towns that cities that we pass through.  Most media outlets don’t like to commit to an interview more than a day or two before our arrival and, when we do connect with them, we are competing with all of the “real news” stories that have already caught their attention that day.  Today was different.  We have been coordinating with this reporter for several days, and she was quite flexible with meeting times.  We met up with Amy – reporter with Tulsa, Oklahomas’s CBS news affiliate – at the Gathering Place park. 

But before I tell you about our interview, first I have to tell you about this park, as it is emblematic of a very interesting community-building trend that I have observed in a couple of towns so far.  This park is nothing short of spectacular.  It has dozens of areas for kids to play, and each has a separate theme  with structures that have a scale and quality you might expect to find only at superior commercial parks, like Disney.  As just one example, there is a frontier town themed area that includes fort structure, but this thing is massive – roughly the size of a three story building, with elaborate theme detailing, and climbing features, all well designed for safety.  This one structure must have cost a fortune to build and, as I say, it is just one of dozens of theme structures, as well as countless art installations, that I pass during a short walk.  We learn that this is the largest privately funded public park in the US, and that brings me to a discovery: the role of the local billionaire in civic life.  This park was largely financed by a wealthy benefactor named George Kaiser and, when I asked people about their perception of the Kaiser family, the sentiment was unabashedly glowing.  We saw the same thing in Bentonville, Arkansas, where billions had been poured into the local community by the Walton family to deliver civic features and programs that could not otherwise exist, such as the fantastic and well maintained system of bike trails that we got to enjoy.  I’m not talking about merely building a stadium or museum for commercial use, I mean building exemplary infrastructure for free use by an entire community.  We saw this as well in Bella Vista, Arkansas (also Walton funding), where just being a landowner gave you access to all sorts of amenities, such as the six local golf courses.  It seems that many of the successful communities that we have visited have benevolent benefactors at their core, and it does seem to work well.

Back to the interview.  Amy disclosed that her mother died two years prior as a result of complications from Parkinson’s Disease. Perhaps it helps to lessen the sting of her loss by reporting positive stories about PD.  If so, she returned the favour in her report by including a brief homage to my father, who died of PD complications in 2017, and also featuring my son, Jett.  Amy, if you see this, thank you.  Here is a link to the story: xxx

Matt’s Wife, Susan, joins us for a few days, and she arrives with a box full of homemade cookies.  After our first bite we immediately conspire on a plan to kidnap her for the remainder of the trip, but our plan is foiled when we eat too many cookies and can no longer move.