Achieving the dream of American citizenship already makes for a pretty good Hollywood ending.
So at least in that sense, the setting Thursday couldn’t have been a better fit.
“A lot of people worked hard to pull off this very unique ceremony. I’m fairly confident this has never happened in the history of Tulsa,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said at the historic Admiral Twin Drive-In, where 55 new citizens were welcomed as part of the city of Tulsa’s latest naturalization ceremony.
The city began hosting monthly ceremonies at City Hall last year, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic it was forced to scale them back.
At recent ones, only 10 participants were allowed per ceremony to ensure proper distancing among participants.
The drive-in ceremony, which the Admiral Twin was happy to accommodate, allowed more people to naturalize at one time safely, officials said.
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The 55 new citizens naturalized Thursday came from 22 countries.
Along with any accompanying guests, the new citizens stayed mostly in their cars, where they could tune in to the ceremony on their radios.
They got out briefly to take the oath of allegiance.
The mayor and other ceremony officials occupied a temporary stage set up in front of the drive-in screen.
Bruce Paulin, Oklahoma City field office director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, read aloud each country represented and asked those in their cars to honk their horns three times for their country of origin.
“This is a new experience for us, doing this at a drive-in theater. So we’re trying to make it as fun as we can,” he said.
Among those taking the oath, Cherish Passawe, 13, was on hand with her mother, who drove her.
Camelia Passawe, a native of Liberia who’s been in the United States 10 years, became a citizen last year.
“As a minor my daughter is already a citizen because I am,” she said. “But I wanted her to get her own certificate. It will make it easier for her to get a passport and other things.”
“This is our country already,” she added. “We’ve been here for quite a while now. I don’t consider any other place my country, even though I wasn’t born here. This is home now for me.”
Oanh Phan of Bartlesville, a native of Vietnam, was accompanied by her wife, Thanh Nguyen, already a longtime citizen.
Phan’s main reason for seeking citizenship, she said, is “I want to vote.”
She and the other participants were able to register to vote at the ceremony, which means they made the Friday deadline to vote in the Nov. 3 election.
“This is such a great day,” Bynum said, briefly addressing the group.
“You are a historical figure in the life of your family. There will be generations of your family that will benefit because of what you are doing here today.”
At the close of the ceremony, the new citizens stood outside their cars once more, waving small American flags while a drone overhead took a group photo.
Admiral Twin owner Blake Smith said, “We’re incredibly thankful to be able to have the environment that we do that can allow this sort of thing, especially in a time where we have to put some space in between ourselves and others.
“Tulsa has always been a welcoming and resilient community. That was best shown when our theater burned down and our friends rallied behind us and helped us build it back better,” he said.
The city of Tulsa began hosting naturalization ceremonies in 2019 as part of the New Tulsans Initiative. They are held the second Thursday of every month.
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Gallery: Going stir crazy? Take a drive to visit ‘big things’ in the Tulsa area
Going stir crazy? Take a drive to visit 'big things' in the Tulsa area
The Golden Driller
The Golden Driller made a cameo appearance in "Friends" during the series' ninth season.
Buck Atom Space Cowboy
The "space cowboy" is set up at Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios, 1347 E. 11th St., which was once a Pemco service station. The 21-foot-tall fiberglass cowboy holding a rocket ship joins the brotherhood of many "muffler men"-inspired statues that can be found along Route 66.
The dentist's very big tooth
Randy McCormick has said he was always a fan of Tulsa landmarks like the Golden Driller while growing up, and for 18 years, he's enjoyed his own landmark — and so have other Tulsans. They first noticed McCormick's 650-pound fiberglass-and-concrete tooth in front of his dental practice at 5505 S. Peoria Ave., and when he moved to new offices at 1701 S. Peoria Ave., the tooth was extracted and taken to the new location.
Liquid Life
You'll find the 25-foot-tall bottle of Liquid Life at the health supplement company’s facility at 12320 E. Skelly Drive. While every Tulsan may know its location, even those just driving through can easily view the bottle when driving on Interstate 44.
The praying hands
At 60 feet tall and weighing in at 30 tons, when it was constructed it was the largest cast bronze sculpture in the world. The hands can be found at the entrance to Oral Roberts University, 7777 S. Lewis Ave.
The Rotary Plaza globe
While not as large as other items on this list, as far as globes go, a 12-foot bronze one is pretty big. It was installed when the new Rotary Plaza transformed the southwest corner of the Williams Center Green, a park at Third Street and Boston Avenue.
The "aviation arrow"
The original sign was constructed to help guide Charles Lindbergh on his 1927 visit to Tulsa (as well as other aviators heading to McIntyre Airport, then the city’s leading private airstrip). Located at the top of Reservoir Hill in the area of Young Street and Elwood Avenue, it was re-created with more than 100 tons of crushed marble through the Vision 2025 Phase III Neighborhood Fund project, and it now points toward Tulsa International Airport.
Route 66's Blue Whale
One of Oklahoma's most famous Route 66 attractions is the 80-foot-long "blue whale," with a picnic area that opened in 1972 at 2600 N. Oklahoma 66 in Catoosa. Every Tulsan has to go there at least once; even Paul McCartney did when he made a Route 66 trek.
Totem pole in Foyil
According to the National Park Service, artist Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park is the oldest and largest example of a folk art environment in the state, with multiple pieces but the largest being the 90-foot totem pole said to be the world's largest. It's just a couple of miles off Route 66.
Standing Brave
Northeast of Tulsa, "Standing Brave" stands more than 50 feet tall and has greeted travelers who exit the Will Rogers Turnpike to visit the Big Cabin Travel Plaza since 2001. According to the plaza website, the statue is a combination of steel pipe, rebar, wire mesh, expanding foam insulation and fiberglas.
The Pops soda bottle
It may be closer to Oklahoma City, but many from northeastern Oklahoma have found their way to Pops 66 Soda Ranch, where you will find hundreds of flavors of soda, from old favorites to weird ones the kids like to dare each other to try. This is also where you'll find a 66-foot-tall steel bottle sculpture out front that's as cool to look during the day as as night, when it's lit up.
