Septemberfest at the Oklahoma History Center

Contact: Walter Eskridge
(405) 522-0791

Oklahoma City, OK
September 2, 2008
For Immediate Release

As part of the annual SeptemberFest, the Oklahoma History Center will offer free educational and cultural activities to the public on Saturday, September 6, 2008. Activities begin at 10 a.m. at the History Center and continue through 4 p.m. The event will also take place at the Governor's Mansion. The History Center venue will offer a nineteenth-century magic show presented by Chris Capstone at 11:00 a.m. At noon the Norahua Mexican Folkloric Dancers will represent various regions and cultures in Mexico through the music, dances and costumes that are traditional in those areas. A performance by the Greystone Bluegrass Revival will begin at 1:00 p.m. followed by Celtic Praise Dance Troupe at 2:00 p.m. Hands-on activities for children will include making corn husk dolls, calligraphy, face painting and origami by the Asian Society, and creating personalized bookmarks. There will also be demonstrations of outdoor cooking, hand weaving, and painting.

The Oklahoma Museum of History galleries (inside the History Center) will be open free of charge. The exhibits offer a wide range of topics, including “Simply Red,” “Field, Forest and Stream,” Oklahomans in space, the land runs, Oklahoma's Indian peoples, and African American history. The Winnie Mae Cafe will be open to serve great food.

Outdoors, re-enactors will present living history programs. Visitors may see a cowboy, a Civil War soldier, an Indian, or a silversmith. Outdoor attractions also include: a Buffalo hunter, bullwhip master, blacksmith and silversmith and an outdoor cooking program. The Devon Energy outdoor petroleum exploration exhibit will also be accessible, and picnic facilities are available along the Red River Journey, on the History Center grounds.

Indoors - Under the airplane

• 11:00 Chris Capstone 19th century magician
• 12:00 Norahua, Mexican folkloric dancers
• 1:00 Greystone Bluegrass Revival
• 2:00 Celtic Praise

Elsewhere inside

• Bazark
• Lewis Johnson story teller and flute player in the brush arbor
• Weavers and spinners in the hall near the fountain
• Corn husk doll making in front of the newspaper exhibit
• Asian society doing calligraphy, face painting and origami near the space exhibit
• Fishing simulator from wildlife in the Chesapeake
• Betsy the Queen of all the Cows- milking simulator under the stairs
• Cody and Cody doing a book signing by the gift shop and doing a talk under the airplane from 10:00 to 10:30
• Plein Air painters on the third floor bridge
• Hands on History cart with Caroline Kilgo on the third floor bridge
• Research division doing make and take book marks
• All galleries open

Outdoors

• South of Red River Journey
• Buffalo hunter, Mike Adkins
• Cowboys
• Chuck wagon with Brandon Reid
• Early Indian Territory, Dave Fowler, Jason Harris and Dwayne Miller
• Smitty doing silversmith
• Kevin Webb bullwhip master
• Civil War infantry and food venue, Benj, Howard, Lynn, Mike Sherriff, et al
• The Oklahoma Kid, trick roper Rope maker Greg Davis

North of Red River Journey

• Alan Swarts’ gun collection
• Martin Nature Center with skulls and hides
• Animal Calls
• Paula Conlon with flute demonstrations and lessons
• Luann Waters at the fire pit doing outdoor cooking
• Pioneer tools presentations by Katie Runion
• Omar Reed doing blacksmithing
• Jeff Moore with the marble court
• Critter Lady with live little critters
• Wayne Spears and his horse and his grandson doing Pawnee Bill
• Dan Lawrence and Gerald Krows - Civil War artillery by the cannon
• 19th century photographer, Mark Zimmerman
• Black towns with Bruce Fisher