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Sunday, June 4, 2017

PUTTING YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD!

We all wish that the tornado of May 16 had been a bad dream that we all had, a nightmare. But, as it turned out, it was very real and very damaging, especially to a community where everyone knows each other. It is like it struck a big family, and in many ways it did, and because of that, we all saw how a family can get up after being knocked down... but not knocked out. How very grateful I am that there wasn't a fatality in "our family".

The girls at the snack bar may have very well saved me, several golfers and the maintenance crew. It was because of their vigilant attitude that I went out on the course to ask all golfers and maintenance crew to leave the course before sending our snack bar staff home early, in case the storm hit as it was predicted by the weatherman. I know very well that had it not been for the Arine, Alisha and Alyssa, I would not have paid as much attention to the weather and would have stayed working in the office late in the afternoon, when I couldn't be interrupted. What a mistake that would have been, as in the process, we lost the clubhouse, our rental barn and over 150 trees, inventory, range balls, range mats, and God knows what else we'll find missing.

The next day, although I knew that our clubhouse and several of our members' homes had been destroyed, and although I remember that we got busy taking things out that could be salvaged into a storage place, Wednesday and Thursday following the destructing tornado, is a blur: it is like it was the reaction we needed to have as we made decision after decision, and always being in the "same page" with others, like programmed robots.

Without details, I remember several of our members coming to help other members or help us at the club to pack and move things out of the rubble... Larry & Lana Hudgens, Allen & Kathy Robinson, Debbie Dunn, Bob Miller, the Culver kids, Tim DeWitt and son Conner, all of the members of the board who were in town, even those who had been hit in their own homes, and several others, including some volunteers that I had never seen or met. 

Then, it all struck at once, Brad Gilbert called an emergency meeting of the board with Ed Hughes and myself present. What should we do about the immediate future? Should we pause and recover before continuing operations, or, should we continue operations while we recovered? It was a "slam-dunk": WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE OPERATIONS AND DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO SERVE OUR MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY OF GOLFERS. THIS TORNADO HIT US HARD, BUT IT DID NOT PUT US OUT. FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS "MAKE THE OIL & GAS HAPPEN IN TWO AND A HALF WEEKS".

The following weekend, we witnessed how much our members and golfing friends love this club when several dozen people came to help clean up the course. For a couple of hours each day, I went around thanking people for their help, taking pictures of this amazing show of unity and care for others. My only regret is that I was too busy getting the pro-shop and office ready along with the snack bar, and I could not thank everyone personally during the time I visited. For that reason, it is impossible to thank everyone, here or personally, but, from the bottom of my heart and with all of the gratitude our board and staff can have; THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

After only two days of people bringing their own equipment, friends and family, the golf course itself was almost ready for play... though it did look different without about 150 trees down or bare. 

In the process, every board member got involved, with Rusty taking the lead as former president since Brad's home and Joe Wynn's home as well were pretty badly damaged and they also needed to deal with their own losses and insurance transactions.

Our crew (Ed Hughes has an amazing group of workers with Josh, Trina, Johnny and Chad), our members, our snack bar staff (Jennifer, Alyssa, Alisha, Arine, Lyndsay), our friends and the Chamber of Commerce (Susie Cupp and Debbie Smoot), all worked non stop. Even people like Kent Miller (PGA Professional, Clinton OK) and Mike & Steve Whitaker (Woodward, OK) entered in the picture, organizing and making special plans for very special circumstances, and on June 2 and 3, from three small trailers instead of a comfortable clubhouse, with a tent instead of a dining room, with twisted and broken carts instead of nice clean ones, and with a golf course with no trees, instead of the beautiful course we had, we held the annual Oil & Gas Tournament, almost 50 years, uninterrupted. None of that could have happened if our members, the Chamber of Commerce, our staff and friends, HAD NOT PUT THEIR BEST FOOT FORWARD to make this happen, which makes these seventeen days nothing short of amazing by showing how working together with people who care for other people, can accomplish anything!

On Memorial weekend, we opened the course for members and friends who helped, on Tuesday, May 30th, we resumed the Tuesday night Scramble and we continued to be opened in the afternoons... then, two amazing days of golf during the Oil & Gas...

Wow!! THANK YOU ALL! 

Without all of these people and their hard work, the following winners would have not had had a chance to even participate!

"A"
106 - Culverstone Homes
109 - Doug Gray
112 - Thru Tubing Solutions







"B"
115 - Terry's Furniture
116 - Paul Jones Drug
116 - Bogey Boys






"C"
124 - Range Pro
125 - 1st National Bank
126 - Moran Equipment
(Schwab's Dogs Bumped with 121





"D"
129 - Weatherford Cement
130 - Redbone II
130 - Advanced Air






For pictures of the amazing weekend where our members and friends helped us, click Amazing ECG&CC's Members & Friends, Click>> Amazing People

For Pictures of the 2017 Oi & Gas Teams, Click Oil & Gas Teams >> Click Teams

For all other Oil & Gas Pictures, Click Other Oil & Gas Pictures>> Click Other

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