Celebrating Blue Whale Weekend with Tulsa Oilers Hockey
by Rhys Martin
The Blue Whale of Catoosa is, arguably, the most famous roadside attraction on all of Route 66. It's incredible to see the attention it's received from companies like Mercedes-Benz or Phillips 66 or Snapchat in addition to the every-day attendance of locals and international travelers. Inarguably, it's an unforgettable icon of the Mother Road.
2024 Lights-On at Catoosa’s Blue Whale
Last year, I went out to the Blue Whale for their annual Lights-On event to mark the beginning of the Christmas holiday season. There were some additional guests that I was not expecting: Sledge, the mascot for the Tulsa Oilers, was there with a number of the Ice Girls cheerleaders from Tulsa's AA-league hockey team. It was a pleasant surprise, to be sure. What I didn't know at the time was that this was a precursor for a long-planned weekend in January where the team would be temporarily rebranding itself as the Blue Whales.
This is not an unheard-of practice. The Tulsa Drillers baseball team has done temporary re-brands several times to honor various things, such as when they became the TulsaSound and honored musician Leon Russell. But it was still a shock when the Oklahoma Route 66 Association received a surprise email in mid-December asking if we wanted to come out and be a part of the Alternate Identity Weekend. Talk about Periods of Significance! (obscure preservationist joke, humor me.)
Just before Christmas, the team announced publicly 'OILERS TO PLAY AS ROUTE 66 BLUE WHALES' and the excitement grew exponentially. They'd also designed a TON of cool merchandise celebrating the occasion and I couldn't help myself from making a few purchases in advance. We made plans to set up a table to give out Trip Guides and hopefully sell a little merchandise ourselves. But there was one more surprise waiting.
On January 7th, just four days before the first of the two games, I got another email - this time asking if I wanted to perform the Ceremonial Puck Drop. What an honor! That's how, on Friday, January 10th, I found myself in the player tunnel at rink level just before game time. After the National Anthem, I walked out on the carpet, posed for a photo, and dropped the puck for the game between the Tulsa Route 66 Blue Whales and the Fort Wayne Komets.
That first night, hundreds of local hockey fans braved the wintry roads to cheer on the home team. Our volunteers introduced the Association to a lot of people that didn't know we existed and listened as people told us their stories of visiting the Whale. The second night, when the Lt. Governor came out and dropped the Ceremonial Puck, thousands more came to the BOK Center to be a part of the special weekend. All the while, the Oklahoma Route 66 Association was there to greet them and the Oilers organization mentioned us multiple times in thanks for our support and engagement. We had just as many people stop by our table AFTER the game as we did before it!
My heartfelt thanks to the Association board members and volunteers that came out to help give out Trip Guides and talk about Route 66. This was a wonderful opportunity to educate people about Route 66 and our organization’s mission.
