Here’s a quarter ...

By JOSH NEWTON
Tahlequah Daily Press

May 02, 2007 10:36 am

— Voting for Oklahoma’s state quarter design ended April 27, and Gov. Brad Henry on Monday announced the winner.
Henry said more than 148,000 votes were cast in selecting the quarter design. It features the state bird, the scissortail flycatcher, and state wildflower - gaillardias, also known as Indian blanket flowers. The winning design pulled in more than 76,600 votes, over 50 percent of the total.
“Oklahomans have spoken, and the results are clear,” Henry said.
Voters chose the new design from five options, each of the four runners-up featuring varying designs of the Pioneer Woman and symbols often associated with the state - a gushing oil derrick, waving wheat, a windmill, and a calumet.
“In the year of our glorious centennial, I felt it was important to give Oklahomans the final word on what will grace our commemorative quarter,” said Henry. “Oklahoma has a rich heritage and diverse culture, and so it was a formidable challenge to distill everything that is Oklahoma down to a single design. But tens of thousands of our citizens took that challenge, and the result is an illustration that attests to the state’s natural beauty.”
Before voting was opened in mid-April, Henry told Oklahomans the new quarter design - chosen during the state’s centennial year - can present the state in a new light to those living abroad.
“While we Oklahomans have a very definite vision of Oklahoma, studies have shown that many outside the state don’t have any strong impressions of what Oklahoma is like,” he said. “It’s not that they think poorly of Oklahoma or Oklahomans; they simply don’t know much about Oklahoma. Now, in the year of our centennial, we have a chance to change that.”
Oklahoma, said the governor, is a place of “friendly people and rugged beauty, a land where bustling cities and modern technology meet small-town life and traditional values. Oklahoma is where neighbors look out for one another, and everyone is welcome.”
The five choices carry with them a mixed reaction from state citizens. Some are pleased with the design choices, but others believe the final selection doesn’t properly showcase the state’s history.
“Well, I guess we want to be like most other states that have quarters, instead of going with something unique,” said H.L. Mobely. “I wish we could have done something more noticeable, like Indiana or Florida.”
Indiana’s state quarter, released in 2002, features a Grand Prix race car, giving homage to the Indianapolis 500; the Florida quarter, released in 2004, includes an old ship, a couple of palm trees and a space shuttle, with “Gateway to Discovery” printed across the bottom.
“Maybe we should have included a nod to the Five Civilized Tribes. Or what about being ‘Sooners?’ Not the football team, but in terms of history - you know, stagecoach, land run, all that?” said Mobely. “We have Will Rogers ... Heck, I think Garth Brooks’ face could be on our quarter, mainly because people around the U.S. know Garth Brooks. A bird, to those who aren’t from Oklahoma, is just a bird. And I’d say most states have flowers that look exactly like [the state wildflower].”
Sixteen-year-old Shelton Hannover feels he has a better idea, calling to mind recent events surrounding the new Northeastern State University mascot.
“Now that everyone knows what a RiverHawk looks like, we’re probably the only state with one of those,” Shelton suggested. “That would be unique. It would make us look a lot tougher than a scissortail. Flowers and birds make us look kind of ...!”
(Unable to find the appropriate word, Shelton decided to leave his statement at that.)
Jim Farar believes the new state quarter will be OK.
“I don’t think we could have expected much more than the state bird and state wildflower,” said Farar. “I’d guess the purpose is to promote our history, and in a way, the bird and flower kind of take care of that. They’re symbols of our state, and I think most Oklahomans know the scissortail is the state bird.”
Besides, said Farar, some of Oklahoma’s biggest history-making times are too gloomy to be put on the back of a quarter: the Dustbowl, violent tornado outbreaks, the Oklahoma City bombing.
“There are too many Indian tribes to single out one, and I’m sure we couldn’t cooperate enough to find a compromise,” said Farar. “I don’t know, maybe we could. We could do a big slot machine.”
But local ideas will likely become nothing more, as the final design had to be submitted by Henry to the U.S. Mint by May 1. The new quarter will be released in 2008.
“No one knows Oklahoma better than Oklahomans, so no one is better qualified to pick an image to represent our great state,” said Henry. “This commemorative state quarter is truly a chance for Oklahoma to shine in its centennial year.”
The second-place design, featuring the Ponca City Pioneer Woman standing between a windmill and oil well, lost by just shy of 57,000 votes.
Contact Josh Newton at jnewton@tahlequahdailypress.com.

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