VillagesOKC applauds Miss Oklahoma for her work with seniors

Megan Gold has spent nearly a year as Miss Oklahoma, championing the cause of senior adults across the state.

VillagesOKC is proud to applaud this beautiful young professional who has a heart for seniors and wisely recognizes the value of community. It is in a community for every decade of life that “breaking bread together” provides food for the body and nutrition for the soul.

Because of her love for her grandfather, Megan, crowned Miss Oklahoma in June 2022, chose the platform for her social impact initiative to be “America Let's Do Lunch –Ending Senior Hunger.”

After the death of his wife, Megan’s grandfather continued to live independently. But he felt alone, sad and no longer had the motivation to prepare nutritious meals. In fact, he didn’t feel hungry. Megan saw the value of Meals on Wheels which daily provided both a hearty meal and even more a friend with whom to share a meal.

During this past year’s reign, Megan lived in the senior living community Inverness in Tulsa while continuing as a TV meteorologist at Tulsa’s Channel 6 and carrying on her duties as Miss Oklahoma. She chose living there to further highlight her platform and to get to know more senior adults. The benefits of being in this community went two ways.

“I found that in my busy work life and traveling as Miss Oklahoma, even in all the crowds, I often felt alone,” she said. “The genuine friendships of these adopted grandparents cared for me as a person. They encouraged me.”

Mothers Day

From Page 12 and taffeta to a scandalous bare midriff tops and shorts in the 1940s, mother always looked fabulous. She really did have an 18-inch waist and dressed to show it off.

We moved from Mayfair to The Village, while we were in grade school. Mother finally had her dream home. She furnished every room with brand new furniture from a fancy furniture store and drove a Thunderbird.

She worked hard keeping my Dad’s business going during WWII while he fought in the South Pacific. She and her wonderful, crazy friend Rosemary Reed even ran a watermelon stand on the corner of 65th and May one summer. Each of them weighed about 100 pounds and how they hauled those watermelons out of that big ice bin, I’ll never know. She owned that property until she died.

She loved crazy hats and fashionable makeup. After she lost her sight to macular degeneration, she put on her makeup by feel. On the days when she mixed up her blue eyeliner pencil with her auburn eyebrow pencil, she looked a little strange, but we loved her. She finally gave up the eyeliner and mascara, however, she still put on the rest of her makeup every day.

When teachers wanted chaperones, someone to run a bake sale or the PTA, they called Mother. In high school, she once came up with the cash to bail one of my brother’s friends out of jail. Years later she had to post bond to get my youngest out of the Nichols Hills pokey for shooting his BB gun at a car. “He was in the backyard and didn’t think it would go that far,” she explained in his defense.

Mom met and married our stepfather, Owen “Mac” McKenzie, who was several years younger than her.

“I almost blew it when we were dating,” she said. “He had to go to the doctor about something and I said, ‘Medicare will pay for that.’ He said he wasn’t old enough for Medicare and I just said, ‘Well that is what I heard.’”

I could tell mother stories forever. She adored George W. Bush and Laura. When Laura Bush spoke at Literary Voices, I invited mother to go with me. She could not have been more excited if she were meeting the Queen of England.

She probably sounds just like your mother. We think they are really wacky until we grow up and discover Mother is our best friend.

VillagesOKC will continue to follow Megan’s career and her ongoing initiative reducing isolation and food insecurity among seniors. VillagesOKC will also be encouraging young students and professionals across Oklahoma to value senior adults and consider the wide-open field of gerontology for their life's work.

Megan is the daughter of Mike and Kathy Gold of Edmond and is the proud twin sister to brother Michael. Megan graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in broadcast journalism and meteorology. She has worked as a meteorologist in Texas, Missouri and now in Tulsa.

Under the Big Top was a carnival fundraiser for Calm Waters, which is dedicated to helping children and families in their grief journey after a death, divorce or other significant loss. At very top: Calm Waters Executive Director Erin Engelke and her husband Jason are the emcees of the event which featured carnival food and games, stilt walkers and jugglers, food and much more. Above: Jayma Haney, Calm Waters Founder Charlotte Lankard and Sondra Woodruff. The organization came to be in 1992 when Woodruff called Lankard and said she needed grief support for her son Jason. At left: Cody Tooley and Patty Kaiser ready to play the deck of cards game.