Devon Centennial River Parade

Parade lights way to future
By Michael Kimball
Staff Writer

As a former mayor of Oklahoma City and a man well-known to local residents, Ron Norick has plenty of reasons to look back with fondness on his city’s past.

But sitting on the deck of Devon Discovery, about an hour before the boat was christened Saturday as part of the Devon Energy Centennial River Parade, all Norick wanted to talk about was the future.

“Just because it’s the end of Oklahoma’s first century, that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop working hard going into the next century,” Norick said.

Norick and other organizers of the boat parade feel as if their event embodies Oklahoma City’s transition into a dynamic regional power.

River of change

The parade began after dark following fireworks and other entertainment organized for thousands of spectators.

It followed a route down the Oklahoma River, which is a focal point for urban renewal efforts taking place over the next decade in the same spirit that yielded Bricktown.

Over the next several years, as part of the “core to shore” plan, the city intends to combine public and private funds to reinvigorate the area between the Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway and the river.

“The public dollar was put in with MAPS and MAPS for Kids, but now the private dollars are coming in,” said Norick, now serving as chairman of the Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority. “It’s because of the corporations who say, ‘Yeah, we want to be a part of it.’ And they write us a check. … Corporations that are competing in the marketplace are willing to come together for the sake of making the city better.”
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A city to ‘be proud of’

Of the hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators, perhaps no one exemplified what Norick hopes for the future of Oklahoma City more than Dan and Jackie Whygle. City residents for the past 11 years, they said they’ve never known Oklahoma City to be anything other than the vibrant, cosmopolitan city it is now.

“There’s been a lot of change, and obviously I think it’s for the good,” Jackie Whygle said. “I think this is the nicest part of the city, and it’s exciting all of the changes that are still out there.”

It’s that kind of attitude that Norick hopes will continue to dominate the minds of Oklahoma City residents in the state’s second century.

“This is a city that people want to live in, and a city people already here can be proud of,” Norick said. “I’m just happy I’m a part of it.”

Indeed! Without the bold and risky leadership that Mayor Ron Norick provided with 1993 M.A.P.S. initiative, none of this (and much more) would have been happening 14 years later!

A very nice video clip featuring former Mayor Norick and others and much better pics than those I took is at the Oklahoman’s website … credit the pic below from that video to Sarah Phipps of the Oklahoman …

The Devon Discovery, 1st of 3 new water taxis which will hold 49 passengers, led the parade. Covered in about 18,000 lights and topped with a bow, it is Devon’s gift to Oklahoma City. In the spring, the Discovery & 2 other cruisers will move from Meridian and I-40 to near the Chesapeake boathouse.

I don’t know what this caterpillar is, but it was the largest entry.

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