Kingfisher’s Independence Day Celebration would not be complete without the annual Kingfisher Educational Foundation fundraising duck race.

KEF President David Blair and his fellow board members have taken this event to new heights.

I told David recently that he better be careful, or he’ll be tagged with that volunteer job for the rest of his life.

I feel so blessed that David and his wife Shelley (Stuteville) chose Kingfisher as their hometown.

For those of you who don’t know him, David could have picked anywhere to live. Lucky for us, he chose Kingfisher.

David’s real job title is Executive Director of Revenue Cycle Performance for the Mercy health care system. He works mostly from home, and he is one smart man...and so much more.

He was raised in Cashion by two outstanding parents. He would be the first to tell you that he is the product of their raising.

My wife Mary taught school many moons ago with David’s mother and father, John and Marilyn Blair, who I consider to be two of the finest people I have ever met in my life.

John was a coach and mentor to hundreds, if not thousands of youngsters, during his time at Cashion schools.

John died way too young a few years back as the result of a tragic farming accident on one of their Deer Creek area farms.

He left behind a great legacy of community support and love. A testament to John’s character and Christian love were the hundreds upon hundreds of people who turned out for his funeral at one of North Oklahoma City’s largest capacity churches.

It was standing room only in the video-overflow room.

John left behind a great legacy in the four children that he and his wife Marilyn raised. Outstanding people in their own communities of service.

John was another of those old-school guys who worked seven days and nights a week...on the farm with crops and cattle...in the classroom...and evenings coaching ball games, driving buses and helping out whoever came to him...day and night.

And on Sundays you could always find him in church singing joyfully in the choir.

Mary and I can attest to his night and day support of others, because one evening our oldest son got his pickup stuck in the mud on a country road in the Cashion area. I was at a loss as to how to not only locate him, but also get him out of his jam.

Mary knew just who to call... John Blair to the rescue.

He immediately arranged for a farming friend in the vicinity to pull him out with a tractor and send him on his way. That was John Blair.

Marilyn still resides in the Cashion area, and she too was a beloved school teacher in the Cashion school system for many, many years.

Her other three children are all equally as successful as David.

Sheri lives with her family in the Cashion area, and she is a counselor at Cashion High School.

She and her husband currently have two sons in the Cashion school system.

Her son Eric resides in Australia with his wife.

They are the parents of nine...count them...nine children and they now have two grandchildren.

The Blair’s youngest son Brian lives on the home place in the farm house where John and Marilyn raised their family.

Brian works in industrial safety. He and his wife have two sons who attend school in Deer Creek.

Suffice to say Marilyn is surrounded by love and a very busy social calendar with ballgames and school events galore to attend.

David told me that Sheri and Marilyn plan a trip to Australia soon for a visit to catch up with the family down under.

Now, back to David. He and Shelley have two daughters who are as outstanding as their mom and dad. Chloe was an honor student at Kingfisher High School and is furthering her education now at Oklahoma State University, where she just wrapped up her freshman year.

Callie will be a sophomore at Kingfisher High School, and is also an honor student and every bit as active in activities as her older sister was.

Anyone who knows the Blair family is better off for the experience, and we are so very lucky that David and Shelley chose our community to live and raise their daughters in.

I don’t want to short anyone. David doesn’t do it all alone. He has a great crew of co-volunteers working along beside him at the Educational Foundation. Hard-workers each and every one. Heartfelt thanks also to: Zac Kannady, Heath Redwine, Joe Voth, Mark Andrews, Tanya Cameron, Jennifer Farrar, Kristi Hyatt, Whitney Johnson, Alberto Sanchez, Jeff Wilcox and Andy Evans.

We thank them all for jobs well done. And if you haven’t already done so, it’s not too late to contact one of these fine citizens and purchase yourself a duck or two! All funds received go toward the purchase of teaching tools for Kingfisher’s classrooms.