Will Rogers Days events, Will Rogers Memorial Museum and Birthplace Ranch

Will Rogers Days will be held November 1–4 throughout the Claremore community. The weekend of fun will begin on Thursday, November 1, with the annual Kids’ Day at the Memorial Museum. Cherokee storyteller Robert Lewis and magician Doug Anderson will make special appearances to delight children at the event. The Memorial Museum also will host a Red Carpet Event on November 1 at 6 pm to raise money to renovate its theater. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Will’s first movie, Laughing Bill Hyde (1918). The Will Rogers Theatre inside the museum shows Will’s movies to a new audience and is in need of updated equipment and seats. Tickets to the event and theater seat sponsorships are available at squareup.com/store/wrmfoundation.

On Friday, November 2, Oscar-winning film producer and Oklahoma native Gray Frederickson will give a lecture from noon to 1 pm about the movies he produced, including The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and The Outsiders. Following the lecture, the Will Rogers Days Parade will begin at 3 pm. This year, writer and Route 66 historian Michael Wallis will serve as the parade marshal.

On Saturday, November 3, at 10 am, festivities continue with the Indian Women’s Pocahontas Club laying a wreath at the Rogers family tomb outside the Memorial Museum. This tradition began 80 years ago when the museum first opened. A reception will follow the wreath-laying with a musical tribute to Will performed by Jana Jae. Later that afternoon at 2 pm, a Mid-Afternoon Frolic Talent Show will be held in the theater at the Memorial Museum. Talented kids ages 5 to 18 are encouraged to enter this movie-themed competition by filling out the form at www.willrogers.com/will-rogers-days.

Finally, celebrate the 139th anniversary of Will’s birth on an Indian Territory ranch on November 4, 1879, by visiting the Memorial Museum for free on Sunday, November 4. The museum will be open from 10 am to 5 pm.

For a complete schedule of Will Rogers Days events and activities, please visit www.willrogers.com/will-rogers-days.