The second week of his last legislative session started with a bang for State Rep. Mike Sanders when he was named Kingfisher’s Citizen of the Year for 2020 at the annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet Monday night.

The faculty, staff and student body of Chisholm Trail Technology Center were named Volunteers of the Year for their more than 1,000 hours of community service assisting with a variety of local projects.

A special Portrait in Courage Award was presented to the family of the late Glenda Wolf, Kingfisher Public School special education director who lost her life to cancer last March.

Eli Davis, a Kingfisher High School alumnus and fifth generation combat veteran, was the keynote speaker.

Davis shared stories from his years of military service, including U.S. Army deployments to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan and serving in New Orleans with the Oklahoma National Guard in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

He said the coping skills that got him through the mental, physical and emotional challenges of his military service also served him well in handling the challenges of day-to-day life back in the U.S.

“I try to stay focused on the positive, which also helps me now as a business owner,” he said. “The last 20 years have been a long journey, but hopefully I have a lot of life left, a lot of story left to write.”

Davis’ speech earned a standing ovation from the more than 300 people in attendance.

Chamber board member Greg Kannady presented the Citizen of the Year Award to a surprised Sanders, a regular attendee at the banquet who usually offers his own recognition to the top award winners.

Kannady highlighted Sanders’ years of service to the community, starting with his volunteer work for local student and extending through campaigns as a grade school his work in Washington, D.C., for the Bush Administration and12 years in the State Legislature.

Kingfisher Times & Free Press Managing Editor Michael Swisher, presented the posthumous award to Wolf’s family after describing golfing with Wolf in a tournament against a pro golfer who tried to cheat.

“Glenda stared him down,. She didn’t flinch and she didn’t back down,” Swisher said. “She stared down cancer the same way. She wasn’t afraid and she was ready to fight.”

After Wolf’s death, Kingfisher Wheatbelt Ambucs redoubled its fundraising efforts for her dream project – a playground at Oklahoma Park accessible to all children, regardless of their physical abilities.

With many donations collected in her honor, the Playground of Dreams has been fully funded and additional funds are being collected to construct handicap-accessible bathrooms at the park also.

Chamber board member Kaci Murray presented the volunteer award to CTTC.

Some of student and staff volunteer activities over the past year included serving holiday meals at Kingfisher and Watonga, constructing barriers and providing personnel for the Christmas parade, working at Kingfisher Winter Nights, the Compassion Clinic, FFA speech contests and making Christmas cookies, Kingfisher cross country meet, holiday gift and quilts for nursing home residents and more.

[Photo Credits: KHS Photography (bottom photo)/TIMES-FREE PRESS Staff]