From oil wells to board games

         I read on social media the other day that my hometown of Tulsa now has its own Monopoly board game.
Officials with Top Trumps USA, an arm of Hasbro, announced in early February that Tulsa, a city of 410,000 plus, had been chosen to have a Monopoly board game in its honor. At that time, Hasbro asked Tulsans to submit suggestions for what could be on the board.
      “I am honored to have Tulsa represented in one of the most popular games in the world,” said Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum at a board game announcement event. “To be selected for the MONOPOLY: Tulsa Edition speaks volumes about our city and the many landmarks that make Tulsa unique. I want to thank Top Trumps USA for choosing Tulsa and I’m eager for Tulsans and others to get a chance to celebrate our city in this new and exciting way.”
          The new game was unveiled on Nov. 1.
It features such popular Tulsa sites as the Golden Driller (a 75-foot-tall statue depicting an oil worker), the Gathering Place along the Arkansas River, Quick Trip (Tulsa is headquarters to the convenience store chain), Tulsa University, Tulsa Zoo, Greenwood Rising Black Wall St. History Center (near where the 1921 Tulsa Riots took place), Ida Red General Store (Tulsa gift store), Cain’s Ballroom (famous honky-tonk), Admiral Twin Drive-In, Guthrie Green, Center of the Universe, Oneok Field (home of the Tulsa Drillers baseball team), the Outsiders House Museum and Circle Cinema (a historic Tulsa movie theater).
       There are hundreds of places that didn’t make the cut such as Oral Roberts University, the Blue Dome District, Cherry Street, Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa Performing Arts Center, the Mayo Hotel, The Church Studio (a recording studio in an old church that was once owned by the late Leon Russell), Route 66 that rolls through Tulsa, Tulsa Air and Space Museum, Oklahoma Aquarium, the Cave House, many of Tulsa’s art deco buildings or anything to do with Tulsa history of oil and the Oil Capital of the World designation.
       With the town the size of Tulsa, I suggest that Top Trumps USA comes out with version two of the Tulsa Monopoly game and include other Tulsa sites.
        I’ve already started my 2023 Christmas list and I have the new Tulsa Monopoly Board Game listed as a gift idea.
        I have a lot of fond memories of growing up in Tulsa and opening gifts on Christmas morning and on my birthday. I always enjoyed my mom’s homemade decorated cakes. We always went on a vacation in August, went to church together and so much more. I will always be grateful for my folks and all they did to give my brother and me the best they could. We didn’t have a lot, but we had everything we needed.
      Anyway, I have lots of board games, including many of the Monopoly ones. I also have a host of antique board games from the 1970s such as the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Women. And I have a long list of old board games I want to buy.
        Funny things is, I don’t play board games that often. Debbie has threatened to sell some of them if I don’t start playing them. A lot times I don’t play because some board games take most of an entire day and I would miss my nap. I do enjoy playing dominos and bingo. 
         I remember back in the day my uncles and aunts on my mom’s side of the family would gather around my grandparents’ kitchen table when they lived in north Tulsa in the late 1960s and play the game of Rook for hours on end. I have a Rook game, but never learned to play it.
       I enjoyed a homemade version of rummy called Cut Throat Rummy, a game that uses three decks of cards. Jokers and twos were wild and you had to have runs and sets starting with seven cards and going to 13 cards. It was a fun game.
         I love buying Christmas gifts and seeing the smiles and spending time with family.
        I’m already hearing of people setting up their Christmas trees. I’m sure we will be setting ours up around Thanksgiving. Our oldest nephew is a big Christmas fan. He carries our tree up from the basement and sets it up in 30-minutes or less.
        Christmas is only six-weeks away!
       If you can, make it a priority this year to spend time with friends and family during the holidays. And if you have a few extra dollars, give it the local food bank, take part in a Christmas angel tree and buy a family in need some Christmas gifts. It’s also important to check on others wellbeing. If you can, volunteer to make life better for others.
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.