By Fred L. Jones, Jr.
It was 98 years ago, in a city named Tulsa, Oklahoma that a tragedy of epic proportions “The 1921 Massacre” took place. As people all over the world now begin to know and learn about the history of the tragic events and moments that took place, Tulsa as a city has come a long way since that horrific moment in time.
George Kaiser had a dream that he could create an outdoor sanctuary for people of all races, creeds and colors, likeminded people that could come together and communicate, celebrate, and children could learn, and grow with inclusion, and diversity, coming together as one.
Kaiser provided the money, however the right person for the Gathering Place had to be selected. A global search ensued for the person that would be over the park, it was found in Tony Moore.
Moore has very humble beginnings a former soccer player born in Jamaica. Moore stated “I had dreams of becoming a soccer star, I came to the United States to go to college”
Moore then stated “Being a college student I needed a part time job, I took job at Sea World and I embraced it. I learned to take pride in it even though I was just a sweeper, in a month they asked me if I wanted to be a lead and from there one thing lead to another. From the Universal Team opening new parks after the I went back to Sea World as a marketing director for all the parks in central Florida. I then moved to St Louis to work for our parent company Anheuser Busch I traveled internationally to help establish parks word wide”.
Moore went on to say, “I got a call one day and they stated hey we are building a park in Oklahoma and I was like Tulsa, where the heck is that? At first, I rejected the offer, I was thinking I’m good in central Florida but for some reason I came and fell in love with Tulsa”.
We as Tulsans are proud to have Tony Moore as Gathering Place Director and executing the vision. Stay tuned for more information as the park Opens with 100 events in 100 days beginnings with national recording artist “The Roots” on September 8th at 5 pm all events are free.
Tony Moore is the man, operating the plan, at The Gathering Place for a complete list of events, on-site venues and park information log on to www.gatheringplace.org
The Roots Contributed Photo
Event: The Roots
Details
September 8, 2018 @ 5 PM
Location
QuikTrip Great Lawn
CELEBRATE day one of 100 Days of Opening Celebration with nationally recognized acts, The Roots, Hot 8 Brass Band, and more.
QUIKTRIP GREAT LAWN STAGE:
1:30PM – Larkin Poe
3:15 PM – Hot 8 Brass Band
5:00 PM – The Roots
THE ROOTS
The Roots are an American Grammy Award-winning hip hop/neo soul band, formed in 1987 by Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots are known for their jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which includes live instruments.
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