Will Rogers Memorial Oklahoma’s ‘Outstanding Attraction’

Lt. Governor Jari Askins visited Will Rogers Memorial to present the RedBud Award for Oklahoma’s “Outstanding Attraction,” announced earlier in the week at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism. She was joined by Steve Gragert, Memorial director and staff members Julie Luna, Rick Mobley, Jennifer Holt and Jacob Krumwiede.

 

Will Rogers Memorial received one of Oklahoma’s top tourism honors at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism. The Memorial received the “Outstanding Attraction” Oklahoma RedBud Award.

Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, who has oversight of Oklahoma tourism, made a special visit to the Memorial to present the award recognizing efforts to serve and promote Oklahoma’s tourism industry.

Awards presentations were combined with the annual gathering of Oklahoma tourism attractions, destination marketing organizations and travel writers.

Nominees in the “Outstanding Attraction” category were judged on improvements in facility, their strong entertainment and educational value, marketing and public relations, as well as contributions to the overall tourism industry in the state.

“Will Rogers rarely missed the opportunity to seize new technology (radio, film, sound recordings) and use it to full affect and advantage. His Memorial is no different,” said Steve Gragert, Will Rogers Memorial Museums director.

Throughout the museum are interactive displays, including touch screens, the quantity and quality improved during the past three years. In addition, visitors can browse his writings via computer, watch one of his 21 top-rated motion pictures, hear him soothe a nation torn by the Great Depression and chuckle as he pokes fun at a president in his down-home fashion. More recently the Memorial is on Facebook and Twitter.

Recent changes have been new exhibits and transformation of galleries. Changes and additions have been made to the Children’s Museum and a permanent location opened for the 13 one-inch scale dioramas of Will Rogers' life created by California artist Jo Mora in the 1940s.

The Museum celebrated Rogers’ Cherokee heritage and family with a renovated space, the Will Rogers Heritage Gallery, with temporary loan of artifacts from the Cherokee Heritage Center.

After being without volunteers for many years, the Memorial Museum is now in the process of training the fourth class of Will Rogers Ropers (docents), who provide hands-on service in various capacities.

Through an outreach program, the “Will Rogers in Schools” presenter shared Will Rogers with more than 5,000 students in 100 public, private and home schools in Oklahoma and neighboring states.

The Memorial’s website, www.willrogers.com has expanded in scope and content with availability of additional volumes of Will’s writings.

Attendance has increased for the annual Will Rogers-Wiley Post Fly-In and Will Rogers Days. Special events — Western Traders Days, Family Night at the Museum, Taste of Claremore and “Trail of Tears” film presentation — have boosted attendance. Further outreach is through programs and presentations by staff to groups at the Memorial and in settings around the country. A Will Rogers course of study is being developed at Rogers State University.

A Friends of Will Rogers, membership program of financial supporters, was revived in 2007.

“Attendance at the museum has increased appreciably during the past three years,” Gragert said. The museum recorded 113,243 visitors in fiscal 2007-2008, the highest number in five years. In 2008-2009, the count was 122,141, highest in seven years. And in 2009-2010, attendance climbed to 136,527, a one-year gain of almost 12 percent.

In 2009 visitors came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 30 foreign countries. In an average month, according to the director, the Memorial welcomed guests from 44 states and 12 nations. Only about one-third came from Oklahoma. According to the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, the economic impact of visitors to the Memorial Museum in 2009 was $17,696,250.

“The legacy of Will Rogers remains alive, vibrant and thriving,” Gragert said.

This is the second time the Memorial has earned a RedBud Award. They received the “Outstanding New Event” in 2006 citing the Will Rogers Wild West International Expo.