Mayor Clif Vogt announced he’d be “stepping down” as a member of Hennessey Board of Trustees & Utilities Authorities right before the closing of the Tuesday, May 14, meeting at Town Hall.

His resignation will be effective June 30.

“That’s also the end of the (2023-24) fiscal year,” he said.

During the meeting, Vogt said he’d be moving out of town (which wouldn’t make him eligible to serve on the board).

He confided after the meeting that he and his wife, Karen, would be moving closer to their grandchildren. They have two sons, Tim and Anthony, and a daughter, Danielle, and three grandchildren.

Difficult Decision

“It was a difficult decision to move,” he said, “because we’ve made so many friends in our more than 40 years here.”

Vogt was elected mayor in 2023. He was vice mayor from 2019-23 after being appointed to the board in January 2018 due to Raymond Kerby’s resignation.

Vogt was elected to fouryear terms on the board in 2019 and again in 2023.

Trustees will have the option to appoint a new trustee, or call for an election to fill that open board seat.

Clif and Karen Support Community

Vogt is best-known as the friendly owner of the town’s Sonic Drive-in who wears many hats and who enjoys wearing actual hats.

He has supported many community projects, fundraisers and school events.

You may have seen him out weed-eating around curbs at his business, but he has also done it up and down Main Street during community “Make a Difference Days.”

He owned and operated the local Sonic from 1981-2018 and gave many teenagers their first jobs.

For about the past year, he worked at the Kingfisher Walmart because he just “enjoys working and being around people.”

Vogt has been the treasurer for the Hennessey United Methodist Church for many years. He and Karen have been active in that church most of their years in Hennessey. He is a member of the Methodist Men and she is a member of the Methodist Women’s group.

The Vogts are also car and motorcycle enthusiasts.

Champions of the Library

They have also been active in the Hennessey Friends of the Library since its inception and he has had a chili booth at that group’s Chili Cookoff for more than 20 years.

Karen Vogt is a past president of the FOL and was chosen by that group at the town’s annual Red Carpet Night to recognize volunteers.

She is also a longtime member of the town’s public library board of directors.

She is currently the administrative assistant at the Methodist church and is a former longtime librarian at the Hennessey Public Library.