Sooners Party into the Golden Years

By Christian Price, News9.com INsite Team

OKLAHOMA CITY -- You're never too old for football and partying, at least that's what the residents at Village on the Park Retirement Community believe. They've spent the day transforming their social parlor into a pre-game party spot.

Resident Luther Cooke has been a Sooner fan since 1953.

"'53 is whenever I came to Oklahoma City," Cooke said. "I came from the south east part of Oklahoma, down on the line of Arkansas and Texas. Down there in that part of the country, it's mostly rodeo that's popular.

Walter Kaufman is a former Penn State fan, who switched teams 30 years ago, for a very important reason.

"I'm from Pennsylvania originally," Kauffman said. "When I got married, my wife told me her Siamese cat had to like me and I had to like the Sooners. I turned into a Sooner fan!"

Fred and Jeri Turner have been married for 51 years. They have been OU fans their entire life. They used their favorite school as bargaining leverage when it came time for their children to pick colleges to attend.

"We have an OSU grad," Fred said. "We had three children at OU, one at OCLA in Chickasha, even one from Texas A&M."

"He wanted to transfer to Austin," Jeri said. "We said, ‘If you want, go ahead, but you'll not get one dime for support'."

The Turner's son decided to stay at Texas A&M.

Norma Thompson is the lone Gator fan at the retirement community. Half of her family are Gator alumni.

"My oldest son graduated from the University of Florida," Thompson said. "Then, his two sons and daughter, my grandchildren, all graduated there too. So it's, ‘Yay Gators all the way' for grandma."

The Gator grandma even adjusts her dress code when walking outside of her apartment.

"I just take it in stride," Thompson said. "You don't make a big deal out of it and just don't wear orange."

The pre-game festivities will kick off at 2pm at the Village on the Park. There will be plenty of tailgate food and drinks. The event is free to all senior citizens. For more information or directions, call 405-692-8700.