Hal Smith Restaurants ProStart RESTART Program
 The Oklahoma Restaurant Association in partnership with Hal Smith Restaurants is grateful to support you!  ProStart RESTART 2025!  Hal Smith Restaurants continues to partner with the Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation/Oklahoma Restaurant Association to support Oklahoma's ProStart high schools and technology centers. Funds have been set aside to help build a highly skilled future hospitality workforce - And this starts in the classroom!

 ProStart ReSTART is a way for Oklahoma ProStart educators to apply for funding to support different needs for their ProStart programs. It's easy to apply with this online application. Eligible/Approved applications will be funded until funds are no longer available -  so don't delay!  
 Take advantage of this funding to help enhance your school's ProStart Program.
 To be eligible for funds:

 

• You must be a current Oklahoma ProStart school and registered with NRAEF.
• Funds must be used by December 15, 2025.
• Should funding still be available, applications must be completed by November 15, 2025. 
• Funds must be used to support your ProStart culinary and restaurant management program and cannot be used for other classes or projects.
• The application must be made online and completed by the registered instructor (ProStart Instructor 1 or 2).
• Submissions will be reviewed by the Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation for approval.

General Rules & Deadlines
Eligibility
   The RedBud Awards are open to all Oklahoma tourism entities. Advertising and Marketing agencies are eligible to submit entries but must submit on behalf of their client, and not as an entry for the agency. Entries should represent tourism and/or travel opportunities in Oklahoma. The timeline during which entries must have been produced, published, broadcast, or held must be between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. Entries must be submitted online by 11:59 PM on May 4, 2025. No extension will be made to this deadline due to judging schedules.

RedBud winners are not eligible to enter in the same category they won last year. You may enter in any category for which you won a Merit Award, but not a RedBud Award.

Entry Fees
  Payment or purchase orders MUST accompany all entries. Checks should be made payable to OKLAHOMA TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION. Any entry submitted without payment or purchase order will be disqualified. Entry fees are $35 per category entered.

Payment Processing
Payments are not processed online. After submission, please call (405) 942-1121 to pay and complete your entry.
   By check: Made payable to OKLAHOMA TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION. 

 
   Payment/purchase orders MUST accompany all entries. Any entry submitted without payment or purchase order will be disqualified.  
Recognition of Winners
   Winners in each category will be announced during the annual OTIA Redbud Awards dinner on June 24, 2025. Registration for this presentation will be posted online at www.OTIA.info later this spring. Winning entries will be recognized in the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association’s monthly newsletter and website, a statewide press release, and through social media.

Judging & Selection Criteria
   Marketing and event professionals will judge the RedBud Award entries. Awards for each category may include a RedBud Award and/or a Merit Award. However, if sufficient points are not accumulated by any entrant in a category, no awards may be given in that category. In the event of a tie, entries with equal score totals will receive an award.
   All Tourism Award categories will also be judged on customer service, attendance as compared to previous years, marketing (include plan and budget), media relations (include press releases, clippings, video clips, etc.), industry/community relations, accessibility, the variety of audiences reached, the value for the cost of admission, and effective use of funds.
  Entries must have been produced, published, broadcast, or held between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24

Greetings Culinary Students - ProStart Rockstars!

You've been invited to be part of a magical and memorable event Odyssey de Culinaire scheduled for July 9, 2025 at The Skirvin Hilton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City.  For over 20 years, the Oklahoma Restaurant Association has hosted the annual Odyssey de Culinaire dinner. This unique event provides students an exceptional opportunity to work with and be mentored by great chefs, industry leaders and even future employers. 

Are you ready to embrace a new culinary adventure? Now's your time to take on the challenge and meet some great chefs and industry leaders along the way.  Students who are selected will be creating and cooking special dishes for our annual open-to-the-public "foodie event". Students will be paired with some of the best and most talented chefs in Oklahoma's culinary community. Funds raised from the Odyssey de Culinaire dinner event are used to provide support to ProStart programs across Oklahoma -- with scholarships, food lab supplies, teacher development, and hosting special student events. 

ProStart students chosen to participate at this event will be based on their involvement in the program and recommendations from their culinary teachers. To be eligible, students must apply through this link and must commit to be available from 12pm on the date of the event through the completion of the dinner activities - approximately 9:30pm. 

 THE DEADLINE TO APPLY IS May 16, 2025. 

Odyssey de Culinaire will take place on: July 9, 2025, at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Oklahoma City. 

PHOTO RELEASE:
If I am chosen to participate, I hereby consent to the use of photographs/videotape taken during the course of this event for publicity, promotional, and/or educational purposes (including publications, presentation, or broadcast via newspaper, internet, or other media sources). I do this with full knowledge and consent and waive all claims for compensation for use, or for damages.