Oklahoma Main Street announces 2018 award winners

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Main Street Center announced the winners in 21 competitive award categories during the 29^th annual Main Street Awards Banquet Tuesday at the Embassy Suites Downtown Medical Center Hotel.

Main Street programs in Ponca City and Newkirk took home several of the awards.

“Awards night is always exciting for the Main Street communities throughout the state  as well as for the Oklahoma Main Street Center,” said Buffy Hughes, director of the Oklahoma Main Street Center program. “It is a spirited competition that celebrates the positive and meaningful impact on each community through the dedicated people, original events, historic preservation, and financial investment. Cheers to the winners.”

Each award falls under one of the “four points” in the Main Street Approach – Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Vitality.

The 2018 award winners include:

ORGANIZATION:

Premier Partner

Sapulpa – SeneGence International

Best Community Education/Public Awareness

Newkirk – Good Luck Card Game

Best Volunteer Development Program

Wilburton – Digger Forward

Main Street Hero

Okmulgee – Dr. Bill Path

Best Creative Fundraising Effort

Ponca City – Battle of the Burger

PROMOTION:

Premier Special Event Under 1,000 Attendees

Collinsville – Taste of Collinsville: Music is to the Body as Food is to the Soul

Premier Special Event Over 1,000 Attendees

Claremore – Food Truck Thursday

Best Retail Event

Ponca City – Ladies Night on Grand

Outstanding Image Promotion

Durant – Durant Main Street Rebrand

Creative New Event

Ardmore – Farm to Table Dinner

DESIGN:

Best Placemaking Project

Ponca City – Outside the Box

Best Sustainable Design Project

Ponca City – Veterans’ Plaza

Best Interior Design Project

Okmulgee – The McBrayer Building

Best Façade Rehabilitation Under $10,000

McAlester – Common Roots

Best Façade Rehabilitation Over $10,000

Okmulgee – The McBrayer Building

Best Visual Merchandising

Durant – Bella Ragazza Boutique

Best Building/Business Branding

El Reno – Wandering Daisy Boutique

ECONOMIC VITALITY:

Best Adaptive Reuse Project

Okmulgee – The McBrayer Building

Best Business Practices

El Reno – Ross Seed Co./True Value Hardware

Best New Business

Kendall Whittier – Fair Fellow Coffee

Business of the Year

Newkirk – Albright Abstract & Title Guaranty Company

In addition to the awards listed above, Main Street programs throughout the state vie for the honor of the outstanding Main Street program.  Those making the list this year include: Altus, Cherokee, Claremore, Collinsville, Enid, Newkirk, Okmulgee, Ponca City, Sapulpa, Stockyards City and Tulsa Route 66.

The 2018 Outstanding Main Street Program of the Year is:  Ponca City Main Street.

The Oklahoma Main Street Center also recognized the outstanding program director of year.  The award is named after a former director who embodied all aspects of the Main Street program.  This year the “Watonga Bob Shoemaker Award” was awarded to Chelsea McConnell, Ponca City Main Street director.

The OMSC also gave an award to a long-serving program director upon her retirement after more than 20 years of commitment to her local community and program. This year, the Oklahoma Main Street Center Legacy Award went to Karen Dye of Newkirk.

The Oklahoma Main Street Center would also like to thank the sponsors for this year’s banquet: the Cherokee Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Choctaw Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Okmulgee Main Street, Embassy Suites Oklahoma City Downtown Medical Center Hotel, Cory’s Audio Visual, Discover Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

For more information about the Oklahoma Main Street Program, please call (405) 815-6552 or visit www.OKcommerce.gov/mainstreet.