He has traveled all 2,400 miles of Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles. As he became familiar with the iconic highway, he began to truly appreciate Oklahoma’s place along the Mother Road. When he began to explore his home state, Rhys turned his attention to historic Route 66. He discovered a passion for photography while traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Europe.Īfter returning home, he looked at his home town and Oklahoma heritage with fresh eyes. In 2009, he sold everything he owned and left the country, living out of a backpack for ten months. Rhys Martin was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1981. I was proud to walk in both parades and proud of my employer for giving me the opportunity. In that culture, it’s still a very closeted issue.
In Japan, the participants were more organized and put a LOT of focus into costumes and appearance while the only folks watching seemed to be concerned that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The folks on the sidelines were likewise, and the protesters were loud and clear. The participants were hugging people, handing out things, cheering, hollering, and having a great time. Overall, the vibe here was much more open and active … on BOTH sides. Isaiah and I ate at Fat Guy’s Burger Bar (it was amazing) and I dropped him back off at his place before heading home. Shortly after that, the parade was over and we started walking back. I got a quick hug, but we kept moving on. Just outside the VFW, a familiar shout caught my attention and I saw an old AT&T friend of mine. We passed right by the VFW Post, which is where Indi and I had our farewell party last April. There were hundreds of people cheering and waving, and as soon as we got in the middle of it we ran out of USCC swag quickly. When I got a good look, I slowed my pace a little. A short walk through a quiet warehouse street and we crossed over near Centennial Park and were greeted with THRONGS of people. Once we powered through that corner, they were gone. There was active booing and other derogatory remarks, but no actual projectiles. Here, we had a guy on a megaphone shouting about Matthew Shepard burning in hell and lines of supporters holding signs of scripture and sadness. Just old men frowning disapprovingly, confusion, and people deliberately ignoring the procession. We had absolutely NO protestors in Japan. As we crested the small hill past the Blue Dome District, we saw what we’d been hearing on loudspeakers for the past few blocks: protesters. It’s amazing what a keychain or frisbee will do for a kid. Cellular goodie bags and we bestowed trinkets on children throughout the parade. We crossed the tracks on Elgin Ave and past McNellie’s Pub before we started seeing decent numbers of people. The atmosphere was fun and friendly throughout. We had groups from churches, other businesses, support groups, and even a contingent of Tulsa furries.
The turnout was underwhelming, honestly, until we got to Centennial Park. In Tulsa, we marched through downtown, across railroad tracks, and next to run down warehouses. We had marched down the central financial district in one of the most advanced cities in the world. In Osaka, it was generally just a gathering of people bookended by an organization. There were many organizations represented in traditional parade format, quite a few of them faith based. A loud cheer went up and not long after, the procession got underway. He advised to turn the other cheek, smile, and wave. At about 7:15 the organizer got on a loudspeaker and reminded everyone that we live in Oklahoma, and there was a good chance we would run into protesters and folks being generally unpleasant. Pokemon costumes) there was a larger density of flamboyancy at this event. Japan’s culture is very conservative, and though the flamboyant folks in Japan went all out (i.e. I walked about a little and already sensed quite a difference. I watched as other groups gathered and floats arrived. We met up with a few folks en route and the rest joined us closer to 7:00.