Governor declares May 29 Paul McCartney Day in Oklahoma

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Governor declares May 29 Paul McCartney Day in Oklahoma
BY: STEVE MARINUCCI
MAY 29, 2013

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has declared May 29 as Paul McCartney Day in the State of Oklahoma as part of the festivities surrounding McCartney’s back-to-back concerts at the BOK Center May 29 and 30, the venue announced Tuesday.
The proclamation highlights McCartney’s career as the most successful composer and recording artist of all time for having sold over 100 million albums and 100 million singles. McCartney was also “recognized as a true philanthropist promoting international charities related to causes such as animal rights, poverty and music education,” the venue said.
“We worked in conjunction with Governor Fallin to roll out a warm welcome for Sir Paul,” said SMG General Manager John Bolton. “We are incredibly honored to have him back at the BOK Center to help us celebrate our fifth anniversary. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to mark this milestone.”
The concerts are part of the BOK Center’s fifth anniversary celebration. McCartney also headlined the BOK Center’s first anniversary concert in 2009 and was given a day in his honor that year by then-Gov. Brad Henry.
In addition to the proclamation, the BOK Center and the City of Tulsa have recently honored McCartney by naming several streets near the venue with temporary Beatles-related names. The streets include Abbey Road (3rd Street), Penny Lane (Denver Ave.) Blackbird Blvd (1st Street) and All Together Crossing (Frisco).
SMG Tulsa, which runs BOK Center, also commissioned McCartney street banners to surround the BOK Center and the Tulsa Convention Center and the digital marquee on the city's Denver Avenue will display a McCartney welcome message throughout the week.
Tickets for available for both the May 29 show and the May 30 show.
Last week, McCartney revealed he had written letters of support to officials in Russia for members of the group Pussy Riot.

Paul McCartney performs at the BOK arena. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World