Followup Interview on Enid, Oklahoma and the Royals

In response to the Profile of Enid, Royals Review caught up with Curtis Tucker, owner and site manager of Enid Buzz.com this week for a little extra insight on one of Kansas City's largest affiliates.

Can you describe Enid Buzz and your motivation for running the site?

I created Enid Buzz as an easy to find information portal all about Enid, Oklahoma where current citizens and those that have moved away can stay updated on the latest happenings. Enid Buzz is centered around Enid history, entertainment and the latest events.


How would you classify Enid? (Big town? Small city? City?) Do you feel like life in Enid is more like life in Oklahoma City, or, say, Alva?

I would describe Enid as a medium sized city. We are the hub of Northwest Oklahoma with major retailers, large employers, two colleges, hospitals and many of the same cultural events found in metropolitan areas. Life in Enid would be more comparable to Alva due to it’s easy going, hometown feel, lighter traffic and the limited number of resources available when compared to OKC.  

If someone had, say, only five hours to spend in Enid, what should they do? What's the absolute best way to spend an evening in Enid?

If you only had five hours in Enid you would definitely want to spend it near our downtown square. You could catch a baseball game in our state of the art, David Allen Memorial Ballpark. It’s unlike any baseball park you’ll ever see in a town of our size. Then you would want to grab a bite to eat at one of our half dozen local restaurants on the square with outdoor seating. You could then do a little window shopping and visit a couple of our world class art galleries including the gallery of the famous western artist Harold T. Holden.

If there was any time left you could head over and see a real western movie set or explore scientific wonders at Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse.

The best way to spend an evening in Enid would be to see a concert at the Symphony Center, have dinner at one of our fine restaurants while listening to a live band.

Is there a distinct Enid vibe?

I think Enid has a rural vibe. Our heritage is tied to the land run, wheat production and many western influences. We’re a city in the country and a ten minute drive in any direction will land you in the middle of wheat, oil and cattle.

Finally, can you talk about the interest in Major League Baseball in Enid. Are there any Royals fans? Rangers? Cardinals?  

Enid has a great interest in baseball. From our USSSA Sanctioned Enid Baseball League, EJRT, Enid youth grow up playing baseball. They can then move on to our American Legion baseball team that won the "world series" in Rapid City, South Dakota in 2005. That Enid team became the first team from Oklahoma to ever win the prestigious national title.

As I mentioned earlier, Enid has a state of the art baseball complex for our Legion team along with games played by our college baseball teams. Enid also has a great history of having it’s own baseball teams throughout the years. There is a picture of opening day in 1908 in Enid for the Western Association on the Enid Buzz blog.

I know many fans from Enid travel to Kansas City, St. Louis and Dallas to watch baseball. I believe there are more Cardinal fans in the Enid area from the comments I’ve overheard, but I know there is a loyal following for the Royals an Rangers as well.

Thanks again to Curtis for his time. With some winning, the hearts of baseball fans in Enid and other places in Northern Oklahoma can be Royal blue!