Brookside Tattoo Artist has Stories to Tell

By Susie Dumond

Wright tattoos a Brookside customer

Most people would cringe at the idea of a tattoo artist sharing stories and jokes while a client is under the needle. But customers at Brookside Body Piercing and Tattoo enjoy the distractions offered by tattoo artist Doyle Wright while enduring the pain.

Doyle Wright has long hair and a full shaggy beard. Tattoos cover most of his visible skin and he has large gauges in his ears. Wright is the kind of man moms might discourage their children from talking to.

Asked how he felt about being interviewed, Wright shared a story of a Dallas news anchor that he gave a tattoo. She did a story on Wright afterwards. "And she had the nerve to call me a f***ing dirty hippie. Can you believe that?" Wright said. So this reporter will refrain from using that choice of words.

But after spending time with Wright, it's obvious that he is a friendly and kind person with many great stories to share with a willing listener. Many of these stories start with, "One time at the tattoo parlor."

Wright will celebrate his 16th year as a tattoo artist in January of 2011. He came from a tattooing family, following a mother and older brother in the career path. He then shared that he fired them both from tattooing jobs after he surpassed them in talent. "And I'm not makin' that up. They weren't cutting it." He recently calculated that in his 16 years, he has given over 80,000 tattoos, using over a square mile of ink.

One of Wright's works

Asked what his own last tattoo was, Wright couldn't remember. He hasn't gotten a tattoo himself in ten years. One would expect a tattoo artist to have a process for choosing tattoos, but Wright said he never really followed a pattern.

"At some point, if you're in the industry, you're not getting tattoos of your mom or your kids' names. You're just having fun with the art," he said.

But Wright says tattoos shouldn't be taken lightly. "You're changing someone's body forever. One little movement can change everything, and if you mess it up, they'll be the first to tell you that they think you're s***. I don't want to be told I'm s***."

He shared the story of an art teacher that came to the parlor with a friend getting a tattoo. She told Wright that his job looked easy and she thought she could do it. He challenged her to give him a tattoo if she thought she could handle it. He set up the tattoo gun and ink, handed them to her, and prepped his leg for a tattoo. Centimeters from his skin, the art teacher gave up. She admitted that it was a lot scarier than Wright made it look.

Wright shared a variety of other stories while tattooing customers. One of the most thrilling was the time he stabbed a man in the forehead with a penknife. "That dude had tattoos on his face though, he could take it," Wright said of the incident.

Although Doyle Wright's casual demeanor in the tattoo parlor may make some customers nervous, his are the experienced hands that one would want changing the appearance of his or her body for the rest of time. So whether your need for a tattoo comes from rebellion, mid-life crisis, or inebriation, Doyle's steady hand can do the job.

Wright gives a customer tattoo care information.

For more info on Brookside Body Piercing and Tattoo, chec out their website at http://brooksidetattoo.com/ or look them up on Facebook.

A Day in the Worklife: Chet Thomas

By Drake Allen

Chet Thomas, 43, has been the main vet at the Brookside Veterinary Hospital for 16 years. Thomas deals with stray, sick, or very unhealthy animals all the time, and sometimes it can be a matter of life or death.

Thomas received his vet training at OSU. He grew up in Southern Oklahoma as a child, and he now lives in Sand Springs. Thomas also attends the Brookside Business Association meetings every month.

Farm animals were really the only animals that Thomas was around when he was growing up as a child. Like most Americans his favorite animal is a dog.

Thomas arrives at work everyday at 8 a.m., and his average workday consists of about 10 hours. "When you get to do what you love for a living it does not seem like work,” he said.

Thomas sees about 20 patients a day, and about one percent of those animals are in fatal condition. “The most common thing that I usually see animals coming in with is a skin disorder,” he said.

Most of the time when patients come into to see Thomas with a problem their animal is having he will normally send them home with medication and maybe schedule a second visit for the animal.

Most of the animals he sees are dogs or cats, and sometimes exotic animals like birds. “The most unusual animal that I have had come in would probably be a pig,” Thomas said, “and this pig was far from small.”

The Brookside Veterinary Hospital takes in stray animals. They also adopt the stray animals out to associations like All About Animals. They also allow people to come in and take a look at the stray animals.

“It is extremely tough when something fatal goes on and you are the vet who is working on the animal to try to help prevent this from happening," Thomas said. "Sometimes it is hard to cope with but you have got to move on quickly, because it is the name of the business.”

Thomas gave me the chance to play

with the animals that are in the back, the ones that you can adopt, and he let me see the stray animals. The Brookside Veterinary Hospital also allows the public to come play with the animals that they have.

I took three animal pictures. One is a cat waiting for its owner to come pick her back up. I also took a picture of a stray dog, very sad because the dog was very unhealthy.

Then I got a picture of a parrot that was at the front of the hospital, a fixture there. The parrot has quite a sense of humor, making funny comments while you wait in the lobby.

I also got a great picture of me feeding the parrot a peanut. He would take the shell off and eat by himself.

Brookside Mom Is on the Go

By Cody Wilson

Staying busy is one thing Brookside stay-at-home mom Shannon Klaus never has to worry about. In fact, the phrase “stay-at-home mom” is almost an oxymoron nowadays. Shannon admits she is almost always on the go. “

It is safe to say we spend a lot of time in the car,” she said, laughing. Between her two athletic sons, her musician husband, and herself, there is always something going on.

A typical day starts at 6:30 a.m. and does not end until 8 p.m. Her two sons, who are in first and third grade, attend a private school on the other side of town. After dropping them off at school, Shannon typically runs errands. For those, she doesn’t have to drive far at all. “I love having all of the specialized stores around Brookside. I don’t have to get all my groceries from a supermarket," she said.

With all of the cooking that she does, she loves having healthy and high-quality produce nearby. If she has any spare time before she has to pick the boys up, she will come back and do chores at the house.

“I love the location of our home. It is nearby some of the best parks and nicest restaurants in town.”

Shannon and her husband Greg are avid runners and enjoy having the Riverside running trails nearby. Greg also takes the boys on bike rides down the trails occasionally during the week to give Shannon a little break.

The two also enjoy their date nights during the weekend to unwind from a stressful week. Shannon’s favorite restaurant is Wolfgang Puck’s. “The best part about living nearby all these nice restaurants is we can save an hour of time paying for a babysitter, since it is just a five-minute drive.”

Her two elementary-aged sons play just about every sport offered. Taking the boys to and from practices logs up mileage on the car, but it is a great opportunity to catch up with the boys on how their day went. Whether it is wrestling, football, basketball, or baseball, Shannon enjoys watching her sons practice and play. For a few sports, her husband coaches, so he takes them to and from practices and that gives Shannon a chance to catch up on things at the house.

Shannon and her family are very involved with their church, which is located in Broken Arrow. Their home church is most likely planting a campus nearby Brookside, which they would love. “We are very excited to have church right down the street and it will feel more like home! With Greg playing in the band and taking a separate car, it will save two long drives.”

Shannon and her family love living in Brookside. “The only thing that I would change is the long drives to church and school," she said. “After living in Brookside for close to ten years I couldn’t ever see my family and I leaving Brookside.”

Garrett Blackwood: Bartender, Teacher and Businessman

By Emily Stern

Garrett Blackwood mixing juice drinks for the class.

The drinks I mixed during our practice time.

This past Monday I observed Garrett Blackwood the owner of the Blue Label Bartending School. Blackwood is not only a great teacher and bartender, but he is also a charming individual who made me feel comfortable the instant we met.

Blackwood owns two businesses. He has Blue Label Bartending, which rents out bartenders for private parties or weddings with locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. He also has the Blue Label Bartending School where he teaches a 32-hour course on how to become a bartender.

Blackwood’s Blue Label Bartending business has 16 bartenders on staff. They do around 400-500 private parties a year. This business began getting attention when they were in the top 7 businesses for the Spirit Award here in Tulsa. The Spirit Award is an award given by Spirit Bank to the most original business that has been in operation for less than 5 years and does not exceed $1 million in net worth.

Blackwood moved from Dallas to Tulsa in 2006, and realized that there are “3 places to go here: Brookside, Cherry Street, and Downtown.”

He found a house in the Brookside neighborhood, and in 2007 he opened the Blue Label Bartending School right in the middle of the Brookside bar scene. The building where the school is located used to be a bartending school, which is one of the reasons he chose this location.

Another reason he chose Brookside is because “it’s a very entrepreneurial area.” He expressed how much he appreciates that business owners invest so much of their time in the Brookside area.

While I was shadowing Blackwood at the Blue Label Bartending School I learned more information about bartending than I even knew existed.

During the class Blackwood’s student and I took a written quiz over the flavor and makeup of liquor and the appropriate use of wines. His student had been assigned readings over the material on the quiz and other information about alcohol. Blackwood claims that it is important for bartenders to not only know how to make drinks, but also that they need to know about the alcohol they are putting in them.

Blackwood taught us how to free pour. The correct technique for free pouring is necessary in order to pour the correct amount of liquor into every drink. After watching Blackwood and his student practice free pouring I thought it would be easy, but free pouring was much harder than it looked.

During the course Blackwood also taught us the meaning of the names in a lot of mixed drinks. For example, a screwdriver is called that because screw means orange juice and drive means vodka in bartender lingo that he taught us.

Blackwood showed us how to make all of the juice drinks out of his bartending manual. After he taught us about the ingredients, garnishes, and correct glasses to use for the drink, he let us practice making them.

As I practiced making these juice drinks, I could imagine myself working behind a bar and having drink orders yelled at me. I felt like a professional bartender after only attending a small portion of Blackwood’s course, which shows how great of a teacher he is.

Observing Blackwood was not only a fun time, but I also learned a lot of information about the bartending business and what it takes to be a bartender. As I left the school I told Blackwood that I would be back if I ever decided on bartending as a career, and after the great time I had on Monday I am definitely going to consider it.

More information on the school is at their website: http://www.bluelabelbartending.com/module-clip-viewpub-tid-2-pid-1.html

DJ Griffin : A Journey to Photography

By Kyra McNamara



An Audio Portrait: Denea "DJ" Griffin, 63, talks about her life as a photographer and her work at her studio, DJ Griffin Photography, located on Brookside at 3702 S. Peoria Ave.

Pirates, Ponies, Gators, and More! All in a Day on Brookside

By Kyra McNamara

The Cook family takes a break from their pirate adventures to pose for a picture.

Kids line up for free pony rides outside of the Angel Food Ministries branch of the Brookside Baptist Church.

Instructors perform a Zumba dance in the Fit for Her parking lot.

Jenny and Jason prove that Halloween costumes are not just for the kids.

Kids have a chance to pet a live gator outside the Trinity Methodist Church.

Cameron (Spiderman), Lexis (Witch), Taylor (Witch), and Hannah (Doctor) pose for a picture in between trick-or-treating.

A scarecrow makes balloon animals for kids outside of Blockbuster.

Alicia and Margarita pass out candy to trick-or-treaters outside of the tailor shop.

Trick or Treaters Descend on Brookside

The Brookside Business Association says Brookside is the place to be, a claim that was certainly true today as thousands of Tulsans lined South Peoria Avenue for the annual Boo Ha Ha parade.

Trick or Treaters Descend on Brookside

Decked out as the classical figure Medusa, Saidie, 9, was one of the many trick or treat children at the Boo Ha Ha Parade Saturday afternoon.
Part of the crowd along Peoria Avenue for Saturday's Boo Ha Ha parade.

Tulsa Student Loves Living in Brookside

By Toni Allen

Studying, photography and part-time modeling keep 20-year-old Phillip Buggs busy. The Brookside resident manages to prioritize them all, putting no one activity before another.

Buggs graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in May, 2008. Today he's a student at TU. He has lived with his parents on Brookside since his early childhood, and he has no plans to move.

“I love it here,” he explained. “There’s nothing else like it in Tulsa.”

He is referring to the unique nightlife, the diverse crowds and the chic boutiques and restaurants. Brookside also offers an array of services, from banks to medical offices.

Asked about the places he frequents, he names a list of shops and restaurants. He stops by Starbucks to relax and unwind, Cosmos to grab a bite to eat and Ivey Lounge to hang out with friends.

The Brookside lifestyle also inspired his latest hobby, photography. “It was interesting to me that so many people walked these streets every day,” Buggs explained. “I started carrying my camera to capture it.”

He has progressed from an amateur photographer to a professional, taking high-quality pictures and creating a still-life from the chaos of Brookside. His practice has paid off, and his hobby has turned into a source of income. He has networked, contracted new clients and currently books photoshoots.

He has also become a subject for some Brookside photographs. His modeling career is off to a start, and is successfully progressing.

What would he change about Brookside? "Nothing," Buggs says. Anything he'd like to see more of? "Nope."

Greg Klaus: Brookside Musician—and Dad

By Mary Donnelly

Brookside resident Greg Klaus is a guitarist as well as a human resources business partner for Williams, a global energy and communications company. Klaus has been in “a string of bands,” one of which was “Mudville Project.”

He is a also a husband and a father who has lived in Tulsa for 19 years, all of which have been in Midtown.

In Brookside, Greg likes the accessibility of parks, the entertainment, restaurants, running on Riverside. He really likes Whole Foods, a natural and organic food grocery store. For his kids he enjoys the new QuikTrip playground at Riverside and 41st Street. He likes the “aesthetic of the old restless ribbon,” a nickname given to the stretch of Peoria in Brookside.

Klaus would like to see some new churches in the neighborhood, since the church he attends is not in Brookside.

Greg has two sons, one 9, the other almost 7. He and his family are TU football season ticket holders. They try to make it to all of the home games, but since his son's sports are sometimes are at the same time, “we go when we can.”

Recently, Greg has been playing at the Church at Battle Creek, playing solo acoustic shows and filling in with the band “Dante and the Hawk.” In the past, his bands have won awards, recorded albums, (one, for “Mudville Project,” in Nashville), released CDs, played at various music festivals including South by Southwest, The Woodie Guthrie Folk Festival and D-Fest.

Greg has a master's in industrial and organizational psychology from The University of Tulsa and his undergraduate from NSU, Tahlequah, in psychology.

Carrie Clevenger-Gwartney: Living for the Arts

By Kyra McNamara

It was a quiet afternoon at the Tulsa Ballet building at 45th and Peoria when I met Carrie Clevenger-Gwartney, the box office manager and marketing associate for the Tulsa Ballet. With an easy smile she welcomed me into her office behind the glass-encased ticketing desk.

Carrie, who first moved to Tulsa in 1994, was familiar with the Ballet and the people who worked there, so when a position came open, she eagerly took it. “It is an incredible arts organization, and I’m very proud of it,” Carrie said. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in theater from NSU and ORU respectively, Carrie is excited to be working in the arts here in Tulsa.

Carrie met her husband Nathan in 2001 as his co-star in a production of Grease. They played love interests Rizzo and Kenickie. As it happened, I met her on their 8th anniversary.

The couple’s love of theater is something they have shared over the years. A picture of Nathan from the play Moon Over Buffalo is tacked to the bulletin board beside her desk.

Carrie said that one of her favorite productions she has worked on is a play she directed in graduate school called Coyote on a Fence, pictured at the top left corner of her bulletin board. Even though she loves performing, Carrie said her real love is directing.

“I love pulling together the whole creative process, just conceptualizing it, trying to figure out what you want,” Carrie said. “You take the script and you build on that, build a concept, and I love that process.”

Carrie and her husband are working on putting together an independent production of the Greek play Medea for next summer. As Carrie says, these are the “baby steps” toward the independent theater group she and Nathan are trying to form. The final performance will be in the Tulsa Ballet’s very own Studio K.

It’s been a year and a half since Carrie and her husband moved to their house near 41st and Peoria. She says her favorite thing about living there is being close to everything she needs, from the library, to entertainment, to work. “Right now I’m just enjoying being where I’m at,” says Carrie.

TCC Student Enjoys Her Life in Tulsa

By Drake Allen

At Shades of Brown, a Brookside coffee shop, I met Danielle Jones. She is 19 and a student at Tulsa Community College, majoring in anthropology. She wants to be an archaeologist.

She lives in Midtown Tulsa, not far from Brookside. Her family owns three smoke shops, and she is employed at Best Buy.

One of Danielle’s hobbies is belly dancing. She also enjoys riding her long board on the weekends and meeting new people. She played sports all the way through high school.

“If I could have one wish, it would be a scholarship to play at a prestige volleyball program somewhere in Texas,” Danielle said.

“I come to this same coffee shop every Thursday by myself to do my homework and to think peacefully by myself," she said.

Danielle loves to go shopping with her girlfriends, especially at Utica Square.

She enjoys various types of music but her favorites are Tom Petty, Beatles, and Kings of Leon. Danielle plans to be in Tulsa for a while, but would like to take her life out of Oklahoma at some point.

Brookside: Tulsa's Best Place for the Young

By Jamad Williams

Tamara Mayhew, 27 is a resident of Brookside who works at Cingular Wireless by day and lives it up in Brookside by night.

She speaks highly of the upscale area that lies in the heart of Tulsa.

“Brookside is the best place for a young mind," Tamara said. "It’s a place of adventure, entertainment and cuisine. It’s also a place where businesses can flourish and grow because of the diversity.”

Diverse is the perfect word to describe this neighborhood. Within feet of each other are restaurants, bars, bistros, Starbucks, the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant and more. It’s like a mini New Orleans, done the Tulsa way.

“I grew up in small country town called Nowata, Oklahoma. about an hour from Tulsa," Tamara said. "When I was younger I remember Brookside being like Disneyland to me. I’ve had a lot of fun times out here and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“The appearance of Brookside is also another appeal that attracts residents to the area," she said. "Although there are quite a few businesses packed along the strip, the area looks really kept up and taken care of.”

The Man behind the Waldo at Starbucks

By Susie Dumond

Starbucks is one of the most famous chains in the U.S. This amount of national attention often leads coffee elitists to criticize it as lacking personality.

Any visitor to the Brookside Starbucks will find this assumption untrue. This Starbucks is full of quirky decorations, friendly baristas, and an opportunity to experience life on Brookside.

One of the most creative "hidden treasures" of this Starbucks is the Where's Waldo doll.

Andrew Brown, 23, has worked at Starbucks for a year and is the man behind the Waldo.

"When I got here, they had the Waldo doll, but he just stayed in the same spot. I decided to start moving him around," Brown said. He finds Waldo a new home somewhere in the store once a month.

This month, Waldo can be found hiding in an air vent hanging from the ceiling. "I have to say, I think this is one of my best hiding spots yet," says Brown.

Brown greets customers with enthusiasm and a warm smile. Some may wonder if this is due to natural charisma or the amount of free coffee available to baristas during their shifts. Upon inspection, patrons will find that Brown is truly friendly and excited to help you find the right drink.

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Brown grew up in Bartlesville, spent three years in Tahlequah, and moved to Brookside two years ago.

"I love Brookside," he says. "South Tulsa is too scary and North Tulsa is too snobby. Brookside is the perfect combination of cool people."

Asked about his favorite spot in Brookside, Brown said, "There are a lot of cool places, but I'd say In the Raw, definitely. It's top-notch, delicious."

Next time you step into Starbucks on Brookside to get a caffeine pick-me-up, take a moment to ask yourself, "Where's Waldo?"

The Many Shades of Ann McClane

By Jackie Lawrence

Born and raised in Tulsa, 30-year-old Ann McClane has lived in the Brookside area for 10 years.

I found Ann sitting on a bench outside the Brookside Body Piercing and Tattoo Shop chatting with a friend on Wednesday afternoon. McClane claims to have many alter egos.

She explained, "Which personality I exude depends on which part of town I'm in at the time."

The professional side of Ann works at a local day spa providing hand and foot treatments. She enjoys working in the service industry and meeting all types of people.

The adventurous side of Ann enjoys the sport of roller derby as a positive outlet to exert aggression. Ann played with the Green Country Roller Girls for two years. "I've always appreciated aggressive athletics and sports," Ann said as she began telling her story of roller derby.

She began competing while suffering from a broken heart. Roller derby offered a healthier alternative to rebounding from the relationship. "I enjoy the showmanship involved in roller derby; I liked to entertain the crowd," Ann said openly.

The relaxed side of Ann enjoys living and hanging around Brookside. She takes pleasure in the convenience and charm of the area. One of her favorite cafes is the Brookside Starbucks Coffee Company. She has ordered the same drink for 7 years - Iced Grande Peppermint Mocha.

"It's good to support local businesses always and I appreciate the consistently good service," Ann said. She also expressed her concern for the development of new places on Brookside. "I believe growth is good but it shouldn't go as far as compromising the integrity of the neighborhood," Ann said.

No matter which personality Ann takes on, she is sure to live life to the fullest.

Mark Zabienski: The Stucco King of Oklahoma

By Taylor Thompson

Sitting in the shadows under an overhead awning at the Brookside Bar & Grill, Mark Zabienski enjoys a drink after a sweltering Wednesday at work. Zabienski, 58, has been a Tulsa local his entire life. Although he recently moved to Cherry Street, he was formerly a Brookside resident.

With long gray hair, dark skin, and a full beard, Zabienski is a man who exemplifies the life of the working class, and it's no surprise that he owns and operates his own construction company, Mark Zabienski Construction Inc.

He is the proud father of three sons, all of whom graduated from Cascia Hall High School. They are currently living in Ft. Collins, Colo., Portland, Ore. and Denver, Colo.

While most spend a lifetime planning, Zabienski is a man who has actually lived his life. He has spent time traveling and living in places such as Hawaii, California, and even Paris. "I have survived by the motions of my body," said Zabienski. "If you want to be somebody, you got to make it happen for yourself."

Zabienski is remodeling Sharky's at 3425 S. Peoria Ave. and his brother remodeled the Brookside Bar & Grill at 3368 S. Peoria Ave. After five years of gathering equipment and labor, Zabienski now does exterior stucco work, much of which is found on Brookside's buildings.

"I have made a lot of money off of this neighborhood; I might become the stucco king of Oklahoma," he joked.

When not working on Brookside, Zabienski enjoys cruising Tulsa on his Harley Davidson Road King and spending time at Grand Lake.