Meet the Leading Ladies

Claremore Chamber’s Leading Ladies Gala a Rousing Success

BY ASHLEY MAY

November, 2021: The Claremore Area Chamber of Commerce recently hosted the seventh annual Leading Ladies Gala & Awards Ceremony at Rogers State University. The gala honors 10 local women who go above and beyond in their field and for the community. The winners are nominated by their peers, and all nominations are sent out of town for judging.

“We were excited to add two new categories this year: Government and Education,” said Ashley May, Director of Communications for the Claremore Chamber. “We have an amazing pool of talented ladies in Rogers County, and the judges had a tough time choosing our honorees.”

The 2021 Leading Ladies Award winners and presenting sponsors were: • Rising Star Award, presented by

TTCU, honors Mariana Flores,

Rogers State University. • Behind the Scenes Award, presented by RCB Bank, honors

Delinda Reed, Safenet Services. • Business Leadership Award, presented by Wallace for Life, honors Amy Cope, Spirits of 66. • Community Supporter Award, presented by 5 Star Group, honors

Allison Dietzfeld, RCB Bank. • Leader in Health Award, presented by 6:19 Nutrition, honors Michelle

Green, Hillcrest Hospital Claremore. • Leader in Manufacturing, presented by CIEDA, honors Cara Carroll,

United Axle. • Nonprofit Leadership Award, presented by Red Crown Credit

Union, honors Nancy Phelps, Light of Hope. • Leader in Education, presented by

Robson Properties, honors Christi

Mackey, Rogers State University. • Leader in Government, presented by Keith Austin - Cherokee Nation

Tribal Council, honors Ashley

Hickman, City of Claremore. • Leading Lady of the Year, presented by Northeast Tech, honors Jody

Reiss, Safenet Services.

The evening event, presented by Hillcrest Hospital Claremore, featured live music, dinner and drinks, plus guest speakers. The focus of the 2021 gala was women’s heart health, and the audience heard a personal tale from Marti Jenkins, who was the Community Supporter Leading Lady of 2020. Jenkins had two heart attacks at the age of 47 and is passionate about telling her story, since she wants other women to be aware of the signs. She fully credits Hillcrest Hospital Claremore for saving her life. Attendees also heard from Kathy VanCuren of the American Heart Association.

The Ladies Loot giveaways are always a big hit, and this year the Chamber gave out more than $2,500 worth of goodies from local merchants, including Crooked Roots, The District on Main, Wildflour Baking Co., Ethos Yoga, Elizabeth Jean Salon, Spirits of

Above: Community Supporter Allison Dietzfeld, RCB Bank, with presenter Ronica Warden, 5 Star Group, Keller Williams Premier Right: Back row (L-R): Amy Cope, Mariana Flores, Allison Dietzfeld. Front row (L-R): Ashley Hickman, Christi Mackey, Jody Reiss, Michelle Green, Nancy Phelps, Cara Carroll, and Delinda Reed.

Above: Leading of the Year Jody Reiss of Safenet Services (front) with presenters Paula Reed, Sara Edwards, and Megan Edwards of Northeast Tech. Above: Leader in Education Christi Mackey, Rogers State University, with presenter Sara Moss, representing Robson Properties Above: Leader in Government Ashley Hickman, City of Claremore, with presenter Keith Austin – Cherokee Nation Tribal Council

66, High Life Limos, Vintique Charm, Esau Leatherworks, ACK Esthetics, Backwood Crafts, BancFirst, Dori G. Studios, Eye Care Catoosa Hills: Dr. Brett Howell, and Kaci Grossman Group One.

This year, the Chamber added a dessert auction, complete with 15 desserts donated by local bakers. Donors for the dessert auction were Hammett House, Hayes Cakery, My Yummy Crumbs, Northeast Tech Culinary, Nutcracker Sweets, Reasor’s, Not Your Grandma’s Cupcakes, The Blessed Baker, The Bookworm Cakery, The Pink House, Too Much Icing and Wildflour Baking Co. There are also a few local women who are known around town for their baking skills who donated their favorites: Sara Moss for her famous “Nana’s Cookies,” Sarah Miller and her scones, and Ollie Starr, who had the high bid of the night for her Southern Pecan Bourbon Pie.

“This was our best Leading Ladies Gala to date,” said Barby Myers, President and CEO of the Claremore Chamber. “Our committee worked tirelessly to make the event come together perfectly, and we are so thankful to our generous sponsors who made the event a success. We can’t wait to see what 2022 will bring!”

For additional information about the Leading Ladies Gala, please call the Claremore Chamber at (918) 341-2818.

Claremore Area Chamber of Commerce

419 W. WILL ROGERS BLVD. | CLAREMORE, OK (918) 341-2818 | WWW.CLAREMORE.ORG  @CLAREMOREAREACHAMBER  @CLAREMOREAREACHAMBER

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Front Porch Bakery: Baking the World a Better Place

BY TOM FINK

November, 2021: Front Porch Bakery is an Amish style bakery with a smokehouse that prepares food from the heart, and few seasons have more heart than Thanksgiving and Christmas.

With the holidays fast approaching, now is the time to start making plans for your company and family gatherings, and what better way to simplify the occasion than to have the culinary professionals at Front Porch Bakery to deliver the goods to your front porch.

“We’ve been catering for more than five years – pretty much from the time we opened the smokehouse, which was when we purchased the bakery six years ago – the catering aspect of the business just followed,” said Melissa Holt, owner, Front Porch Bakery. “We cater all kinds of cuisines and sizes of meals. Even though we have a smokehouse, we can prepare most kinds of cuisine, so long as it’s not fried.”

Whether seasonal get-togethers like Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter, special occasions like weddings, showers, graduations, birthday parties, retirement parties or other special events, Front Porch Bakery offers full catering services with their homemade baked goods, smoked meats, veggies, meat and cheese trays, and more.

“We can do carryout or curbside pickup, we can cater and even work the event for the customer,” she said. “I don’t ‘waitress’, as such, but we can definitely set up a buffet line and serve your guests in that way, to help your party or function go smoothly, as far as the dining is concerned.”

Holt said Front Porch Bakery caters across much of northeastern Oklahoma, but with the holidays approaching, it’s important to call orders in early to allow her and her staff time to prepare and deliver their delicious, home-cooked meals.

Too busy to make time to cook for the

family? Every week, Front Porch Bakery prepares ready-to-serve family dinners, available to pick up between 4-6 p.m. Wednesdays. Be sure to visit their Facebook page to learn more about the weekly dinner special and for ordering instructions.

“In addition to our weekly meal specials, we have a lot of frozen dinners, which our customers really like because it’s a homemade dinner that people can come by, pick up and take home to heat up in their oven,” Holt said. “One of the things we really try to maintain is freshness, making everything from scratch, with fresh ingredients – we only use fresh ingredients, and use real milk from Swan Bros. Dairy in everything we make that requires milk.”

Front Porch carries many local and regional items, including milk from Swan Bros. Dairy, real Amish butter, jellies from Kayterra Farms in Durant, Beacon Hill Ranch beef, and more.

Meals Holt and her staff prepare are reminiscent of what one might find around the Sunday dinner table, with Amish favorites, traditional homemade baking goods – made from scratch daily – and savory main courses from the finest meats out of the smokehouse, be it brisket, ham, turkey, bologna or more.

Be sure to ask about Mamaw’s cornbread dressing (stuffing), a Front Porch Bakery original recipe, handed down through the generations to Holt, and a delicious side to Thanksgiving – or any – meal.

Salad lovers can pick from any of 15 different kinds of fresh salads, from a standard garden salad to a spinach salad, a unique salad sprinkled with smoked cheddar cheese, smoked chicken salad and more, all with homemade dressing.

Holiday specialty items, be they Christmas cookies, brownies or other goodies, are added to the regular menu, upon time and availability.

Cookies, pies, cakes,

cinnamon rolls, smoked brisket and ribs are all made fresh daily. Holt’s passion for baking is shared by several members of her family, from her granddaughter, Kacey, to her mother and her Above: Melissa Holt, owner, Front Porch Bakery husband, all of whom pitch in where needed. Front Porch Bakery is located two miles north of Claremore on the east side of SH66 at 18435 S. Highway 66. Front Porch’s hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To inquire about catering or more information, contact Front Porch Bakery at (918)3417505 or visit them online at frontporchon66.com.

Front Porch Bakery

18435 S. HWY 66 | CLAREMORE, OK (918) 341-7505 | WWW.FRONTPORCHON66.COM  @FRONTPORCHBAKERY FRONTPORCHON66@GMAIL.COM

Hope Harbor: Changing the World Through Changing the Lives of Families

BY TOM FINK

November, 2021: By definition, a harbor is a place where vessels may go to find shelter from the rough waters.

Nestled in rural northern Claremore, Hope Harbor serves just such a purpose, helping families to find shelter from the sometimes rough waters of life, to heal, and to move forward from trauma or other difficulties.

Among those who help facilitate that recovery are Dirk O’Donnell and Stephanie Steward.

“Hope Harbor is a place that gives families a chance to heal,” said O’Donnell, Hope Harbor executive director. “Our main focus is to help families who apply for their child to come here because life at home with that child or life at school has gotten to the point that the parents aren’t sure what to do with them. One of the biggest things, from my perspective, is people who partner with us – either financially, or through thoughts and prayers – they’re providing a path forward to families that are really at the breaking point. “Something I talk about quite a bit is our partners and donors providing the tools and support for these kids to move forward in life,” he continued. “One example of this would be our nine step program, which both the kids and the families work through while the child lives here on campus. It helps establish for the children a foundation of respect – respect for themselves, respect for others and respect for the environment, the area that’s around them.”

Students who participate in the program live on the Hope Harbor campus, from nine months to a couple of years, depending upon their need and rate of healing. While on campus, they receive an education from certified instructors at the institute, while living on-site in the cottages, giving them a sense of home stability and purpose, as they continue their education.

“Meanwhile, the parents have a similar program that they’re going through at home, and at least once a month, are here on campus to undergo counseling with the kids,” he said. “Oftentimes, they might have a couple of sessions a month, depending on where they are in the program. The kids also have weekly counseling on their own – that’s the support aspect of it. As far as the tools aspect goes that could include the education they receive at our academy, or while living at the cottages and learning responsibility through chores, taking care of themselves, learning proper boundaries and respect for those around them.”

A large part of both the academic and living aspects of Hope Harbor involve instilling confidence and selfworth in the students, as many come from backgrounds involving trauma.

“Hope Harbor provides a kind of test environment for kids to safely learn how to deal with the effects of their past experiences, which are often the root of their struggles, and handle them in a productive rather than a negative way so that they can handle the challenges that face them when

they move forward in life,” he said.

Hope Harbor is capable of handling children from grades 7-12, even being set up to take 18 year olds in and helping them through their mid-20s, depending upon the situation.

Hope Harbor’s academy is fully licensed, with certified instructors teaching according to Oklahoma education standards, meeting the students at their level and allowing them to stay on par with their academic work for their entire time at the institution.

The campuses at which the children live, currently, three in all – have house parents to monitor and care for the upto-6 children per cottage.

“Our house parents live with the kids and essentially do everything their own parents would while there,” said Steward, Hope Harbor marketing director. “We wanted the cottages to be as much like a home environment as possible, rather than like a dorm or institution. They do family-style meals, which the students help in the cooking and cleaning, they hang out in the living room, they play games, enjoy limited TV time, paint, etc. We really do what we can to make it as much like home and a positive environment as we can.”

Utilizing a trust-based relationship intervention, Hope Harbor staff invest themselves in the young people, letting them know that they’re not on their own. “Our clinical director handles the counseling, which is at least 30 minutes to an hour each week, group counseling once a week, and counseling with their families, at least once a month,” Steward said. Over the course of their time with Hope Harbor, the students are allowed passes to return home and implement their newly-learned strategies and discipline with their families.

“It’s interesting that you get to see the children looking forward to spending time at home with their parents again,” O’Donnell said. “What starts out as two sides in opposition with one another, by the end of the program, you see the child working to get back home and to have time to reconnect with their families, and that’s an amazing thing to see.”

Hope Harbor accepts applications from across Oklahoma, so long as the parents are able to make it to in-person counseling sessions.

“We do several fundraising events every year, and we currently have our clay shoot coming up at Snake Creek Shooting Sports in Beggs,” Steward said. “Our website has an events page which stays up to date with

our fundraisers – including the one in Beggs – but we also have a thrift store in Claremore called Thrift Harbor, the sale of items from which helps us, and of course, we also take donations, which are greatly appreciated.” Steward, who actually served for five years as a house parent before she became marketing director, said she always enjoys seeing the transformation of the children, the healing and encouragement they gain during their time at Hope Harbor, and watching them to go on to become Above: Certified and compassionate instructors like confident adults. Lisa Bejarano teach students at Hope Harbor Tax-deductible donations may be sent by mail to: Hope Harbor, P.O. Box 1047, Claremore, OK, 74018. For more information about Hope Harbor, call 918-343-0003 or email info@hopeharborinc.org.

Right: Sales at Thrift Harbor, a thrift store in downtown Claremore, go to benefit Hope Harbor. Thrift Harbor is located at 316 W. Will Rogers Boulevard.

Hope Harbor

P.O. BOX 1047 | CLAREMORE, OK (918) 343-0003 | WWW.HOPEHARBORINC.ORG  @HOPEHARBORCLAREMORE |  @HOPEHARBOR_INC