Sheila O. Lee--March 10, 1961-April 4, 2011—An Amazing Woman

A little over a week ago, Southwest Oklahoma was rocked, shocked and deeply saddened by the very untimely passing of Sheila Lee. Unless you are connected to the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber crowd, that name may not be a household word. But, I am gonna bet ya a dollar to a donut, that you have attended an event that was made better by Sheila’s extreme organizational skills. Sheila had worked for the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber for over 15 years and I have thought over the last week or so, how best to describe her. The best analogy I can draw is no matter what the event coming to Southwest Oklahoma, Sheila Lee was “on it”. I have worked with Sheila even way back in my ag teacher days when I was the steer superintendent for the Wichita Mountains Classic. That show, year after year, brought people in to show livestock from all over the US. It did what the Chamber folks like to call “put lots of heads in lots of beds”. I know some of my rural folks out there have had kids that have shown livestock in that event and that is just one example of the kind of things that Sheila did to keep things cranking and to keep people coming to visit Southwest Oklahoma. Another event that she was always good at orchestrating was the buffalo and longhorn sales that occur at the Wichita Mountains. Typically those events bring lots of folks from out of town and the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber for years has put a committee together to cook buffalo burgers for the visitors that come from far and wide to buy those animals. Sheila was a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma, as am I. One of the best things that happens every Fall with each new LOK Class is that they make a stop here in Southwest Oklahoma and state leaders from all walks of life get to come and experience our Southwest Oklahoma hospitality, as well as the high importance of a military presence to our Southwest Oklahoma economy. Sheila had her hand and more importantly, her superb organizational skills in a good many of these events and did 'yeoman's work’, mostly behind the scenes to make sure that we brought as many people into our area, and more importantly, into our economic circle in our part of the state. The question on everyone’s mind is “how do you replace someone so effective”?

Shelia was an integral part of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce. She served the chamber in several different capacities since 1996, finally earning her role as President & CEO this past October.

Shelia began her professional life as a successful businesswoman in Hanau, Germany, where she was a retail specialist with Waterford/Wedgwood and an accountant for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Once she returned to the United States, she began work in the field of career services, assisting others in finding an appropriate career path. She moved to Lawton, where she worked in Student Services for Draughon College and later became a fiscal officer at Marie Detty Head Start Center. She began her prominent Chamber of Commerce career in 1996 as the receptionist with the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the years, she thrived in many roles at the Chamber to include Military Affairs, Membership and Tourism, rapidly was promoted to Chamber Vice President and recently accepted the position of Chamber President.

She served as a board member for the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, the United States Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Oklahoma, the Lawton Food Bank, the Oklahoma University Cancer Institute, and the Fort Sill Federal Credit Union. She was a member of Leadership Oklahoma Class XVII, the Lawton Business & Professional Women, the League of Women Voters, the Association of the United States Army and the United States Field Artillery Association. Shelia participated in numerous professional organizations including the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Annual Convention, the Great Plains Association and the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association. Shelia was an instructor for the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma Chamber Management Institute. She was also a member of the Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher and was a very active volunteer for many organizations, but she was most proud of her work with Army Community Services and military families who were in need. She worked numerous hours to enhance the "Loan Closet," a program designed to allow military families to borrow common household items while in transition between duty assignments. The program was unfunded and owes its success to Shelia's tireless efforts to ensure the care of soldiers and their families.

Shelia's presence will be missed both here in the Lawton community, as well as around the state.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road
"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.” — Harold S. Geneen

Open Carry Continued

It has been very interesting as I have explored this issue of open carry of fire arms. One of the things that has been a good tool has been Facebook. We post this weekly article not only in our weekly papers but also on our Facebook page in the form of a blog. A lot of my friends and neighbors, some that have been friends since childhood gave me a lot of their thoughts and if you have ever looked at my Facebook page, you might guess that by my profile picture alone, I am a gun guy. The picture shows me with my wife and daughters in camo with rifles and shotguns sitting on the tailgate of a pickup. We used that picture on a Christmas card a couple of years ago. So, you might also guess that a good many of my oldest friends are also gun guys, outdoorsmen, etc. Some went into great detail when commenting on my blog.

One of the common threads regarding the current law seemed to be that some of the folks who have concealed carry permits that have been legally obtained worry about what happens if their gun becomes accidentally exposed. One of the responses came from Sherriff Whittington who has over 30 years experience in law enforcement. One of his concerns is that if a CCL holder is carrying and becomes exposed, it can mean bad news. Matthew, another Facebook friend, responds to Sherriff Whittington that “this is one of the biggest reasons he does not carry more often”. He does not want to be labeled a “bad guy” if his pistol becomes exposed while having dinner at a restaurant. Two of my friends, Keith and Tim, both hold federal firearms licenses. Both agree that open carry should not be “wide open”. Keith, who is a veteran school teacher even goes as far as to say “I can honestly tell you that even though all citizens have the right to own firearms, not all of them should”. He also goes on to say that “open carry can create a nervous atmosphere in communities”. Keith said “let’s keep our guns concealed and keep the criminals guessing who is and is not armed”. Mark, a friend of mine for over 30 years who is very much an outdoorsman, thinks concealed carry is better than open carry and feels like, as he puts it, “an ace in the hole is always a better idea than showing your hand”. Another friend whom I have known for most of my life who now lives in Tennessee says what makes him nervous about open carry is what he calls “caliber envy”, the whole “mine is bigger” argument. On the other side of the equation is Sissy who owns a local business. She said she would rather see the gun than guess who has it. She also adds that she would like to know someone would back her up if things went wrong.

Most of the people who I have heard from on this particular piece of legislation would also die for your right to keep and bear arms. Not one of them is part of the “tasseled loafer crowd” as I jokingly call some folks. They are country boys and own enough guns to protect their family and property from whatever comes. Even this crew has varied opinions of open carry and not one of them has said “swing the gate wide open and let er’ rip”. So, for me to say that my constituents are clamoring for open carry would be a misstatement. I think that my constituents become a little nervous at the thought of anyone 18 years and older with zero checks, zero balances and zero training strapping on a hog leg and taking off down the street.

Every gun bill we have seen this year has been amended all over the road. I am not sure how I will vote if we actually get an open carry vote on the floor. But, I know how my people are feeling more than ever before. I think they are very divided but leaning toward not allowing open carry. I have to balance what I think and believe with what I think the people who elected me feel and believe. In my opinion, a vote of the people would be a true test. I think that would tell us in no uncertain terms how the majority of Oklahomans feel about this issue. I think I know how that would turn out.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the capitol, please do not hesitate to send an email to donarmes@house.gov or call me at 1-800-522-8502.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“Common sense is seeing things as they are, and doing things as they should be done.”
-Unknown