Fathers get in free on their day, courtesy of various attractions in

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jun 19, 2009 by Kelley Chambers

Fathers can put their wallets away Sunday and enjoy Father's Day with their families courtesy of various popular attractions in Oklahoma City, Norman and Tulsa.

Three venues in downtown Oklahoma City will offer free admission for fathers when they are accompanied by a paying family member.

At the Myriad Botanical Gardens & Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, at 301 W. Reno Ave., fathers and their families can walk through the gardens and view exotic plants in the bridge. The Crystal Bridge will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, and $4 for children ages 4 to 12.

About two blocks northwest of the gardens, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Dr., is offering to let fathers tour the gallery for free from noon to 5 p.m. with a paid family member. The museum charges adults $12 and senior citizens and students $10.

A more somber tour is available at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum at 620 N. Harvey Ave. Admission to the memorial museum is $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and $6 for students.

Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock, public information and marketing manager for the Oklahoma City Parks & Recreation Department, said the three downtown sites offered free admission on Mother's Day and Father's Day for the past few years. This year, there will be two added features in the evening.

At the end of an afternoon traipsing through gardens and museums, families can head back to the Myriad Gardens for an outdoor concert and a movie screening. The two events will be free for everyone.

The Arts Council of Oklahoma City will present acoustic folk musician Michael Fracasso at 7 p.m. in the gardens. The Myriad Gardens Foundation will follow the musical performance with its first Screen on the Green with a showing of Singin' in the Rain at 9 p.m.

For fathers in Norman, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, both on the University of Oklahoma campus, will offer free admission to fathers from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum, in Mohawk Park just east of Sheridan Road on 36th Street North, is also rolling out the red carpet on Father's Day. The zoo is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Everyone gets into the zoo for half-price. Regular ticket prices are $8 for adults and $4 for children 3 to 11. The zoo will have hot dogs for everyone for $1.96 each.

McClintock said typically more mothers come out for the yearly downtown event than fathers, but she hopes the concert and movie will get more fathers with their families downtown this year.

"Father's Day is more of a traditional backyard barbecue type of day," she said. "We want to give dads the option to come down, bring the family and get in free."