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Greetings,
As Tulsans from 6 weeks old to 77 years old gathered at the
Tulsa Convention Center on Oct. 10 for the first summit in the
country covering inter-generational planning, it showed me the
great importance Tulsans place in city leadership to help with an
ever-changing demographic.
Participants reached out to one another to discuss solutions to
an aging population, as well as what to do to narrow the generation
gap. It's so important for our young people to understand their
heritage and see senior citizens in a different light and vice
versa.
We heard from nationally recognized speakers with the Legacy
Project and other national organizations leading the charge for
bridging the generations. During the 10 afternoon workshops,
participants tackled specific issues covering: education and
lifelong learning; employment and economic development; healthcare
and healthy living; social supports and safety; community
development and sites for gathering; housing and development/land
use; transportation and mobility; communication and connection;
civic engagement and policy and funding; and our legacy
leaders.
As the summit participants worked throughout the day, their
ideas were compiled and documented as the starting point for the
Mayor's Intergenerational Commission, which will focus on the
trends of changing demographics in our community and work with the
Legacy Project to create a plan to put Tulsa at the cutting edge
for identifying and solving intergenerational issues.
By the year 2030, one in every five Americans will be
over 65. This creates the potential for rich intergenerational
connections across seven or more generations and Tulsa must
establish a foundation that will help people across all ages make
those connections.
In order to emphasize the importance of families and the
strengths they give a community, we also honored five Tulsa
families who have made contributions through several generations.
These families built their dreams in Tulsa, and each generation
successfully passed their values on to their children, creating
legacies of giving, sharing and caring for their community.
Five members of the Anquoe, Goodwin, McGraw, Stoops, and Tisdale
families were all on hand to accept Legacy Awards on behalf of
their families. I had the great privilege of sharing their family
stories and their valuable contributions to Tulsa:
The Anquoe family
founded the Tulsa Pow Wow Club and have been involved in Native
American civic affairs for more than 50 years.
The Goodwin family, relatives and
descendants of E. L. Goodwin were long-time publishers of the
Oklahoma Eagle.
The McGraw family, who came to Tulsa in 1921, has
contributed to the oil and gas industry, as well as the real estate
market.
The Stoops family has had three generations
serving as Tulsa firefighters with a combined total of 94 years of
service.
The Tisdale family, known for their involvement
with the Friendship Church, for which the Tisdale Parkway is named,
includes the late basketball standout and musician Wayman
Tisdale.
We are all proud to call ourselves Tulsans and I would like to
thank everyone who took part in the Across the Generations Summit
as we look forward to working towards Tulsa's bright
intergenerational future.
Best regards,
Dewey Bartlett
Mayor of Tulsa
