Spaces limited on black towns tour

Only a few spaces remain on the Historical Black Towns Tour scheduled for Saturday. The chartered bus tour sponsored by The Coltrane Group will visit Boley, Clearview and Lima.

The bus will leave from the Oklahoma History Center at 8 a.m. and return by 7:30 p.m. The $75 fee covers transportation, home-cooked meals in two of the towns and a continental breakfast, snacks and drinks on the bus.

Tour participants will meet the local mayors and other townspeople, visit historical points of interest and soak up the culture of the towns. Shopping opportunities will be available. This is the third year for the tours, which are typically sold out.

In Clearview, the tour group will visit the African-American Educators Hall of Fame.

Rosenwald Hall, a brick school building constructed in 1921 that is on the National Register of Historic Places, will be among points of interest in Lima.

Programming during the bus ride will include video documentaries, commentary about the remaining 13 black towns, door prize giveaways and a chance for tour participants to get to know one another.

The Coltrane Group is a nonprofit founded by Andre and Jessilyn HallHead with a mission of preserving and revitalizing the 13 remaining historically black towns of Oklahoma.

To register for the tour, call Andre Head at 206948-8852 or Jessilyn Head at 206-949-5012, or email andreh@the coltranegroup.org.