Published: December 25, 2007 11:53 pm         

Annual Pillar award nominee has invested hours in improving Enid’s quality of life

By Robert Barron

Staff Writer



Enid oilman Lew Ward has been a resident here since 1956 and is one of the most active community supporters.

His desire to help the city has earned him a spot as a finalist for 2007 Pillar of the Plains. The award annually recognizes a person whose volunteerism and community service have made a difference in the community.

Other finalists are Mary Stallings, director of Enid Community Foundation; Al-lan McCobb, executive di-rector of United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma; Joan Allen, a longtime baseball and civic leader; and Willa Jo Fowler, a longtime school board member and educator.

The winner and other finalists will be honored at a reception Jan. 10 at Conti-ental Towers North Ball-room.





Music to my ears



Ward, owner of Ward Petroleum, has been a member of Kennedy Center’s Presi-dent’s Advisory Council for the Arts for the past eight years. During that time he has helped bring Kennedy Center programming to Enid and to local schools.

Presidents Advisory Council on the Arts (PACA) is responsible for raising large amounts of private funding for Kennedy Center to help accomplish its mission. Through Kennedy Center’s Prince William Network, a series of educational programs from schools in the Washington, D.C., area has been sent to participating cities. The programs come to Enid through PEGASYS, Enid’s public-access television station, and are broadcast in classrooms. Students are able to use teleconferencing to visit the artists involved in the programs.

Christy Northcutt, former president of Enid Arts and Humanities Council, said Ward is the person who told the council about partnering with Kennedy Center.

“He finds out about many programs, and he tells us about them. That knowledge has helped us on a lot of things,” she said.

Northcutt said Ward has helped the council get on lists it would not have been on otherwise.

“Besides, he is very generous to help fund programs he believes in,” he said.

In tune with the community

Ward also has been involved with Enid Symphony Center during its development in the Knox Building.

“Doug Newell (symphony executive director) was helpful in realizing the acoustic characteristics of the building, a former Masonic temple. He felt it would be a great place for the symphony home,” Ward said.

As a result of that decision, and the work of a group of dedicated people, the symphony has an outstanding home, he said.





This project is history



Recently, Ward has led the drive for an expansion of Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center into a Smithsonian-quality museum. It has become the largest privately funded project in Enid history. Now at $7.7 million, the center’s expansion budget is comprised mainly of contributions from Enid residents, with some help from the state of Oklahoma, city of Enid and a number of foundations around the state, he said.

“The project will be Smithsonian quality and will tell the lesson of leadership and historical facts Enid will be proud of,” he said.

A storyline will show how Enid started from a community of 5,000 people and grew to a city of 50,000. Many of its residents are successful people who homesteaded the area, Ward said. There are stories of hardship and hope the people had while building their lives in Enid.

“It will tell how Enid began rising from the prairie to become the golden era of Enid city beautiful,” he said. “The response from the citizens of the city has been really awesome.”





Putting down roots



Ward said he was a “vagabond” in his early years, as his family moved from town to town. Having roots in one place is important, he said. If a person lives in a place he or she should be part of the community and make things happen.

This is the fifth year Enid News & Eagle and its Making a Difference partners, Autry Technology Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, will name a Pillar of the Plains award winner. This year there were about 15 nominations. Finalists were selected by representatives of the News & Eagle, Autry Tech and St. Mary’s and past recipients of the award, Bert Mackie, Lee Thompson, Janet Cordell and Dr. Charles Ogle.