ARDMORE, Okla. -- Twenty-seven members of Leadership Greater Ardmore were introduced at a Reception held Thursday at the Ardmore Convention Center. Clayton Lodes, Chairman of Leadership Greater Ardmore welcomed the new class. and provided them with the following history of the program:

The Ardmore Chamber of Commerce, in its community leadership role, identified the need for such a program over 18 years ago. Under the direction of Wes Stucky, the Chamber Staff and a group of community leaders put together the curriculum for the first class of Leadership Ardmore and that class graduated in 1989. The first Board of Founding Directors were Raymond Colvert Jr., Curtis Davidson, Millard Ingram, Frank Merrick, Bill Owen, Pat Ownby, Bud Patterson, Bud Reisen, Ford Simmons, Elmer Slaughter, Wes Stucky, James Thompson- Attorney and Wilson Wallace.

From its inception, the program has been designed to select a limited number of applicants for each class and to include in each class a cross-section of participants that represent our total community. The selection process is difficult – 60 individuals were nominated, with 27 selected to participate this year. The nine month program provides the class participants an opportunity to learn about various aspects of our community such as local government, economic development, health care, education, the arts, criminal justice, state government and contemporary topics of interest to the community. Wes Stucky and Annilisa Peevy of the Ardmore Chamber of Commerce provided the new class orientation. The first session will be held in September and is titled “Leadership Styles.”

LIST OF CLASS OF 2008-09 -- LEADERSHIP ARDMORE:

2008/2009 Leadership Greater Ardmore Class

Shelly Antuna - Mercy Memorial Health Center
Dr. Rick Baggett - First Presbyterian Church
Mark Bruegel - Michelin North America
Jake Charnock - First National Bank & Trust Co.
Dr. Sarah Clay - Clay Optometry
Angie Comer - Landmark Bank
Lisa Cowan - Ardmore Chamber of Commerce
Bill Dolman - Hewitt Mineral Corporation
Leslie Hicks - Arbonne International
James Lamey - Ardmore Main Street Authority
Lori Linney - City of Ardmore
Jim Marshall - Ardmore Oil & Gas Consultants
Brett Matherly - Arbuckle Area Council Boy Scouts of America
Patrick McGuire - County Building Center Inc.
David Mize - OG&E
Jeff Moen - The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc.
Donnie Offield - The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc.
Doug Pfau - Dollar General Distribution Center
Mandy Roberts - Ardmore City Schools
Dr. Denver Rushing - Wells Vision & Laser Eye Center
Sister Carolyn Stoutz - Mercy Memorial Health Center
Glenn Stubbs - Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs
Dawn Vaughn - Antero Resources
John Veazey - Thompson, Cawley, Veazey & Burns
Rhonda Walker - The Bramlett Agency, Inc.
Toni Washington - YWCA of Southern Oklahoma
Jason Winborn - AT&T