Braden Burns remembers a time in the not-so-distant past when he was among the graduates of Kingfisher High School.

“It seems like when you’re in high school and graduating, everyone’s ready to leave,” said Burns.

“There were a lot of people, they just couldn’t wait to get out of here.” Burns was speaking Monday night to a large group attending the 84th annual Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce banquet being held at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

Burns is a 2021 KHS alumnus who is in his sophomore year at Oklahoma State University.

On top of that, he’s serving as the 2022-23 Oklahoma FFA state president.

“A lot of you may be wondering why I’m up here,” he said. “It’s because I was a part of some great organizations in school.”

Members of Kingfisher FFA served the catered dinner at the banquet, as they have for several years.

The KHS Photography group was on hand taking pictures to commemorate the evening, which is also an annual task of the group.

“It wasn’t too long ago, I was back there in the back sitting in my FFA jacket. And I was a member of the photography staff, so I know where you guys are at,” he said, pointing to the back of the room.

Now he’s the president of an organization with more than 27,000 members.

Burns in his speech had noted the desire of many recent graduates to leave their hometown, including some from Kingfisher.

But he capped it with this: “It seems like every time I come back to Kingfisher and maybe I’m running grocery errands for my parents, I see those same people who couldn’t wait to leave.

“That’s a tell-tale sign of how great a community it is.”

Burns is the son of Ryan and Lori Burns. Both are now teaching in Dover, but had legendary careers as co-advisers in the Kingfi sher FFA program for two decades.

The younger Burns said teachers like his parents - as well as current co-advisers Tyler Gradert and Megan Thormodsgard - had a way of inspiring him as a student.

“They really instilled a deep passion and purpose in my life for agriculture and for the (FFA) organization,” Burns said.

He told the crowd that he’s always been a fan of the saying “What you say about where you come from tells a lot about who you are.”

Burns travels the state and even the country - in his current role. He speaks with numerous students groups and sits in on countless meetings of different varieties.

“I just want to thank the people in this room for making it really easy to make myself look good when I talk about where I come from,” he said.

While a number of communities have many qualities that make them “good,” Burns said there are two that “make Kingfisher great.”

He said it’s the diversity and the willingness of people to go beyond what’s required of them.

Diversity can have multiple meanings, but Burns summed it up.

“Not everyone is the same,” he said. “You’re good at one thing. I’m good at another.

“Together we can be great. Kingfisher relies on the strengths of everyone here to make it a great community.”

It’s a community, Burns said, that brings him great pride.

“I’m proud to be from a town where not everyone’s the same. I’m proud to be from a town where we capitalize on people’s strengths and we eliminate people’s weaknesses,” he said.

“And I’m proud to be from a town where people go beyond the status quo and they do more than what’s required of them.”