Claremore Celebrates Will Rogers' 145th Birthday With Will Rogers Days Festivities

There is a big birthday celebration this week for Oklahoma's "Favorite Son".

Will Rogers was born on Nov. 4, 1879, near Oologah and the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore has 4 days of events planned.

It starts with the Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival on Thursday and Friday at 10 a.m.

Will Rogers Historian Bart Taylor said that is because Rogers appeared in 71 movies, 50 of them during the silent film era.

The first talking picture ever was Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer in 1927, he said. Two years later, Will Rogers was in They Had To See Paris. He was meant to talk on film, and so he became the biggest box office star. A star in more than just movies. Rogers was also a cowboy, writer, radio personality, and sought-after public speaker.

He is Oklahoma's favorite son, he is the world citizen as folks called him at the peak of his career in the late 30s, Taylor continued by saying, There really was no way to get away from Will Rogers whether his writings in his daily column, him on the radio, you go see his movies on the weekends, he was just everywhere.

This year would mark Rogers's 145th birthday. The main part of the celebration happens on Saturday, November 2.

A 5K and fun run kicks it off at 8 a.m. winding through the Rogers State University campus. At 10 a.m. the Pocahontas Club will hold its traditional Hats Off to Will wreath laying followed by entertainment and a luncheon.

The Will Rogers Days Parade begins at 3 p.m. and makes its way through downtown Claremore. This year's theme is Will for President a nod to Rogers's mock presidential campaign in the late 20s.

Taylor said Rogers's politics and humor are what made him such an influential figure.

I believe the way he was able to bridge gaps, we always say we have a world full of dividers and we need more connectors, he said. Will was a connector.

After the parade, the museum is hosting a birthday party for Rogers with cake, inflatables, and performances by two World Champion Trick Ropers.

The weekend's events will wrap up on Sunday, Nov. 3 with a book signing and conversation with author Steven Watts. He will be selling copies and talking about his newest book Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers and the American People.

Admission to the museum throughout Will Rogers Days is free. For more information and the full schedule visit WillRogers.com