Ponca City Mayor in Hall of Fame

Ponca City Mayor Homer Nicholson will be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Sept. 15.

The announcement was made Friday by the Oklahoma Municipal Leauge.

The following is the news release from the organization.

Six officials representing a wide range of experiences will be inducted Sept. 15 into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials. The black-tie optional hall of fame induction ceremony will be at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City in conjunction with the Annual Conference Banquet for the Oklahoma Municipal League.

They will become the 50th – 55th inductees into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame since 2001.

Those to be inducted this year were recently announced by the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Foundation, which is supported by eight organizations of Oklahoma municipal government officials or service organizations.

Those to be inducted on Sept. 15 are:

• Mike Brown, Mayor of Weatherford;
• Michael Crawford, a Certified Public Accountant, based in Oklahoma City;
• Kevin McCullough, a Law Enforcement Specialist with the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group in Edmond;
• Homer Nicholson, Mayor of Ponca City;
• John Ramey, Retired City Manager of both Okeene and Tonkawa, and
• Alan Riffel, City Manager of Woodward.

Formed in 1999, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Foundation recognizes individuals for outstanding achievements or contributions to city and town government. To be selected, an honoree must make significant contributions to Oklahoma local government, through their positive spirit of public service, with unquestioned ethics.

The website www.okcityandtownofficials.org highlights the careers of each inductee in the past 15 years. Visitors to the website are able to navigate through biographies, video and photo features about each inductee.

The Oklahoma Hall of Fame Foundation is supported by the Oklahoma Municipal League, The Mayors Council of Oklahoma, the City Management Association of Oklahoma, the Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group, the Oklahoma Municipal Retirement Fund, the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority and the Oklahoma Municipal Clerks, Treasurers and Finance Officials Association.

The 49 past inductees based on their residence when inducted include:

• Ada – Charles E. Spencer;
• Bixby – Joe Williams;
• Braman – Jerry Johnston;
• Broken Arrow – James C. Reynolds;
• Chickasha – Robert J. Hicks;
• Clinton – Glendenne Goucher;
• Duncan – Eugene Brown;
• Edmond – Cindy Shattuck, Don Bown, Charles Lamb, William A. Moyer, Carl Reherman and Donald C. Rider;
• El Reno – Tony Rivera;
• Frederick – Robert B. Johnston and Wanda Jo Evaige;
• Guymon – Jess Nelson;
• Hobart – Thomas Talley;
• Jenks – Randy Ewing;
• Norman – Anthony M. Francisco, David Morgan, PhD, and Larry J. Shelton;
• Midwest City – Tommy Melton;
• Oklahoma City – James Couch, James G. Hamill, Patience Sewell Latting, Leon E. Nelson, Gary Marrs, Zach Taylor, Jr., Stephen E. Reel and Gerald Wilkins;
• Ponca City – Gary D. Martin
• Prague – Harold Pumford;
• Sand Springs – Mike Burdge;
• Santa Fe, NM – Shane Woolbright
• Seminole – Edward Smith
• Shawnee – Mary Ann Karns, Terry Powell and Bertha Ann Young;
• Stillwater – Ernest R. Dirks, Lawrence Lee Gish and Lawrence O. Hansen;
• The Village – Stanley Alexander;
• Tulsa – Robert LaFortune and Susan Savage;
• Walters – Albert Veltema;
• Watonga – Leroy Lage;
• Weatherford – Tony Davenport and George Wilkinson.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and banquet are $45 each available from the Oklahoma Municipal League by calling 405-528-7515.