Stacy (Grimes) Cline was elected president of the Hennessey United Association at the civic group’s Jan. 16 meeting.

It turned out to be an all-woman offi cer election with Teresa Oliver elected vice president and Tammy Henderson and Cathy Howard re-elected to the treasurer and secretary offi ces, respectively.

Cline has served on the United board for eight years and is co-chair of United’s Legacy Fund Committee and the non-profi t’s 2019 Leadership Team for high school seniors.

She is also active in the community as a lay minister at the First United Methodist Church and as a rodeo organizer and announcer for the Roundup Club and Pat Hennessey Massacre reenactment pageants.

Cline was the Hennessey elementary and middle school counselor for 16 years and resigned that job last summer to work on the farm. She continues to work part-time at the school running the auditorium sound equipment.

Community involvement is a family tradition for Cline, a 1986 HHS grad, and her husband, Perry Cline, HHS 1981 grad. They grew up going to Pat Hennessey Celebrations and helping their parents (Chuck Grimes and Pat and Gwen Cline) and grandfathers (Don Grimes and Loren Cline) in Hennessey events.

Stacy and Perry Cline have two children, Tyrel and Charlie, who join their parents in rodeos, parades and as riders in reenactment pageants.

In addition to Cline, Oliver and Howard, other board members at the meeting were Kaden Mitchell, Mariana Gonzalez and Barb Walter.

Also present was town board member and local preservationist Richard Simunek. Absent were members Henderson, Dagan Hardin, Wes Hardin and Scott Hajek.

The January meeting was the first since a two-month hiatus due to the holidays.

Mexican Festival Sept. 19

Mariana Gonzalez is a HHS senior who was elected to the board in October. She has been involved in United’s Leadership classes for the past two years. A community project she’d wanted to pursue in the class was a Mexican Festival.

Walter said the group had wanted another event to sponsor and asked Gonzalez to lead it.

She agreed and said while most people in the U.S. think of Cinco de Mayo as being a major holiday, Mexicans view Mexico’s Independence (from Spain) Day (Sept. 16) as being that.

“It’s like our Fourth of July here,” she said and members suggested to have it on a Saturday, Sept. 19.

That’s the same day of the townwide garage sales also sponsored by United and a week before United’s 10th annual Wine & Chocolate Festival.

Some board members were worried that it would be too much to have two events so close.

Gonzalez said she would be able to get people to work booths and help stage events.

“Besides it will be a different group of people,” she said and she’d get help from the Hispanic Catholic and Cristo Rey Baptist churches.

Her plan is to have food booths with Mexican foods in Memorial Park plus music and dancers in costumes along with a parade in the afternoon and perhaps a meal and dancing that night.

“Mariachi bands are expensive,” said Walter. “We had one once during our Heritage Festivals and had dancers from OU.”

“I know,” said Gonzalez, “but I think I can get some dancers.”

She said her mother sold tamales at the community Christmas event and sold out right away.

“And sopapillas too,” said Cline. “And the big stir fry they used to have at the football tailgates.”

“We have lots of people who enjoy cooking authentic Mexican food,” she said, and almost half of the Hennessey population is Mexican.

Walter said United’s Heritage Festival had featured the Hispanic, Czech, German and cowboys from “the run,” but it had been a covered dish event and soon it got down to only about 50 people coming.

“It was stopped due to expenses,” Walter said.

Howard said this festival event wouldn’t be a fund-raiser because festival goers would only pay for what they bought at the booths.

Gonzalez said she knew the group wanted to have more events to include Hispanics and she thought they would enjoy sharing their “stories and food about our culture.”

Barn Quilt Workshop

Howard said United’s Barn Quilt Workshop is scheduled Saturday, March 28, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Senior Citizen Center.

She said United would need to rent the center and that people attending the workshop would pay $30 that would include the instructor, the wood and paint for each barn quilt.

Howard says she has three barn quilts, but doesn’t have them up yet.

Oliver said there are Oklahoma “barn quilt trails” that you can drive around and see.

Barn quilts have been around for years and were started in order to honor a loved one with art on barns.

Howard may be contacted at 405-853-6212.

Little Theater Group

Walter said in 2000 during one of the workshops that Hennessey 2010 (later named Hennessey United) held about what the community wanted and needed was a “Little Theater” group for adults. She said there were a few meetings, but other projects took precedence back then.

“There is new interest in starting one,” she said, and asked for suggestions for someone to direct it.

Members offered suggestions and asked what kind of plays.

She said they’d defi nitely need to be comedies “and we have plenty of places to hold them now.”

Walter said people interested in performing or working on a play could call her (405-853-1320).

Party for Ladies in Their 90s

Howard said she is continuing to find the names of Hennessey and Dover women who are in their 90s so they can be recognized and honored at a “social” to include manicures, gift bags and more.

Kingfisher did an event and Howard said she wanted United to sponsor one like that, but needs names of those in their 90s and asked for people to call her with the names (405-853-6212).

No date has been set.

Mercy House

Oliver said she wants members to help at the Mercy House in Enid Feb.

26. She said United could help homeless people there by serving food, painting the fingernails of women and applying hand creams.

The board’s next meeting is Thursday, Feb. 20, so it will finalize plans on the Mercy House project that night.