Excited to have Footprints in the Dew: The Last Ten Tapes playing at this great theater!
Welcome back. This week I’m going back in time to 1928 when Calvin Coolidge was President and Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. During this time an entertainment venue opened in Tulsa to showcase a new craze that was sweeping across the country known as “motion pictures.” Of course in 1928 all the movies were silent and equipped with a Robert Morton theatre pipe organ by all accounts this new theater on Lewis just south of Admiral was a big success. Known as the “Circle Theater”, the venue experienced many ups and downs through the years as the development of sound and then television brought big changes to the film industry.
In 1990 the Circle closed its doors and for 10 years this famous landmark on Route 66 remained shuttered. 2002 brought new life to the theater when a group of citizens formed a not-for-profit organization to operate the Circle and then reopened it as an art house to show works by independent filmmakers calling it the Circle Cinema. It was quite an accomplishment when thanks to their effort, in 2003, the theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008 the Circle underwent a complete renovation which included the addition of two larger auditoriums, upgrading the projection screens and adding reclining seats in the screening rooms and friends I can tell you it is nice. Since its reopening the theater has received all kinds of awards including being named Oklahoma’s Main Street Business of the Year in 2016. It is truly an honor for me to have Footprints in the Dew: The Last Ten Tapes open there on Friday night for a 7 day run. If you go, be sure to check out the Walk of Fame sidewalk in the front where Oklahoma legends of stage and screen are honored. Brad Pitt, Ron Howard, James Garner and Roy Clark are all there along with Reba and Leon, just to name a few.
I could not leave this story without telling you that the Circle is the only not-for-profit cinema in the area and amazingly is open 365 days a year. In addition to a full roster of interesting films and a really good concession stand, the theater also hosts art exhibits and offers rental space for special events. To learn more and see upcoming films go to: circlecinema.com.
Last Saturday and Sunday found me at the Express Employment Professionals Invitational Bull Riding Championship which was held at the Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City and it was a hit. The event was televised not only nationally but around the world and I can tell you that the large crowd watching this growing sport saw bull riding at its best. As for who won the event it was twenty year old bull riding youngster Derek Kolbaba after a successful ride on the 2016 PBR World champion bull SweetPro’s Bruiser.
Next weekend the tour stops in Sacramento but look for a return visit to the Tulsa BOK Center in the fall when I’ll be bringing you a little more history about Express Employment Professionals’ involvement with the community and their ongoing support of this event.
As for me, the trail is still warm as I head to a gun show in Tulsa this weekend and then onto Norman where Wednesday is national signing day for high school football players. Bob Stoops and several past OU players will be there with Joe Washington and me for radio interviews at Balfour’s down on Campus Corner. After that it’s McAlester for another weekend gun show.
Hope to see ya somewhere along the way or till next time I’ll see ya down the road….
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