Welcome to In My Space

by Peggy Gandy

Welcome to my new column which I promise you will be fun, irreverent, absurd, rambling and at times informative. I tried to come up with an edgy title but frankly the ones I thought of didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Coming off a long run as a Society Editor and social news columnist, I’m pretty savvy about the protocol involved in attending ‘important events.’ Certain things are a given. Bands are too loud no matter where you sit, salsa and chips never make the hors d’oeuvres list, and most of the female guests wearing long gowns have Spanxx lines. Reservations rarely match the number of people attending and no one ever knows which side their bread plate is on. This is an ongoing problem, especially for those who don’t know what a bread plate is.

Then there’s the question of which fork to use first. Men and women seldom agree on this. Some people pick up the first fork they see, not necessarily theirs, and use it for every course including the dessert. Others get the fork thing right, but then try to cut their meat with the butter knife.

Guests crowding the dance floor look like they’re from another planet, the Food Chairmen has a meltdown if the entrée is garnished with parsley instead of rosemary, and when you’re seated for dinner and draw a table leg pushed against your knee, you’re hobbled for the next two days.

I’m so happy spring is here. Retrieving my newspaper during winter months presents a problem for me. When my paper is buried in snow at the end of my drive, there’s no way I can get to it. So, I have worked out a routine. First I try to reach it with a rake and an old tomato stake. When that doesn’t work, and it seldom does, I back my car out of the garage, sliding in reverse until I am close enough to open the car door and grab it. Then the door won’t close when I catch my robe in it, but I don’t have far to go. Meanwhile, my neighbors across the street are selling front row window seats to anyone who wants to come over and watch the newspaper action going on in my drive.

Have you ever wondered how your obituary is going to read? Mine will be a challenge because I HAVE missed an OU game, I don’t crochet, watch “The Price Is Right’’ or work crossword puzzles. The only thing I’ve NEVER missed is a hairdresser appointment.

Bamboo and Chai, two Asian elephants, one 48 and the other 36 years old, are scheduled to be moved from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo to the Oklahoma City Zoo. They will travel in climate-controlled containers on the back of a flatbed tractor-trailer for 2,000 miles, and will be accompanied by two veterinarians, two alternate drivers and three members of the zoo’s elephant care staff. I can’t help wondering about the pit stops they’ll have to make, after all they’re female.

The OCZ elephant family, four females and one male, is so excited about the ladies joining their pachyderm family. I understand Rex is almost beside himself!

On a serious note, I’d like to extend kudos to a number of outstanding people and businesses in our community who have been honored recently:

Oklahoma City Beautiful recognized their 2015 Distinguished Service Award Honorees at an annual luncheon held at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club.

• The John Rex Elementary School and TAP Architecture received the Community Spirit Award.
• Love’s Corporate Headquarters was given the Chesapeake Corporate Award.
• Hal Smith Restaurant Group the President’s Award.
• Chip Fudge the Mayor’s Award for Distinguished Service.
• Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Garden the Visionary Award.
• Urban Ag Coalition the Volunteer Spirit Award.
• Ann Felton Gilliland the Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Katie Prior, Ariel McAffrey and Ava McAffrey the Education Award.

Four women who have made significant contributions to the community were honored at The Societies of Oklahoma City University’s annual Awards of Excellence fundraiser at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. Sherry Beasley, Elaine Levy, Sally Bentley and Donna Nigh received the accolades.

Dave Lopez and the Chickasaw Nation were honored for their efforts supporting the youth of the community at the annual Boys & Girls Clubs Champions of Youth Gala, ‘An Evening of Magic,’ at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum;

The Junior League of Oklahoma City’s annual Legacy and Legends Luncheon at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, celebrating 24 years of legends in the League, honored Debby Hampton, Janie Axton and Mary Nichols, and

Nancy and Bob Ellis were recognized at the Oklahoma Museum of Art by Circle Club members, as Honorary Chairmen of the 2015 Campaign for the Leadership Division of Allied Arts.