Fox 23 anchor Clay Loney (front, second from left) visited the Leadership Rogers County Class of 2021 to discuss sincerity, connecting with oneself, and how to be a good listener.
The March meeting of Leadership Rogers County began at the Claremore Museum of History (MOH), which was recently given The Best Regional Museum of Oklahoma award. The beautiful museum was once home to the Will Rogers Library. The MOH has several different exhibits that display the many marvels and achievements produced by the town of Claremore. In the museum, you can learn about the growth of Claremore, as well as learn about some recognizable people from Claremore such as: Lynn Riggs, an author, poet, playwright and screenwriter; Patti Page, a singer of pop and country music and occasional actress; Stuart Roosa, who was an Apollo 14 astronaut, and so many more. The mission of the MOH is “to create engaging experiences that celebrate history, connect community, and inspire creativity” and that is exactly what they are doing! They are going to be planting moon trees and building a space-themed playground to honor Stuart Roosa. The MOH is now offering memberships and by being a member, you will be invited to members-only events and see behind the scenes of the exhibits. The MOH is now also available to rent as an event venue! To find out more about the MOH and its upcoming events, please visit their website at https://claremoremoh.org/
Next, the LRC group traveled to Northeast Tech’s Claremore campus to hear from Fox 23 anchor Clay Loney. Clay is an upbeat journalist with an amazing attitude. When first addressing the group, he said the one word he wanted the class to walk away with a new appreciation of, was sincerity. Clay talked about the meaning of the word and its origins. He discussed the many ways on how to tell when someone was truly being sincere and when they really did not have an interest. Some of the key points discussed were connecting to yourself and listening to understand what people are saying, to be genuinely interested.
After lunch, the LRC group met up at the Claremore Expo Center. The tour there was led by Tanya Andrews, the CTOS director. The expo center is the largest event-driven business northeast of Tulsa all the way to Missouri. The expo’s mission is to “drive economic impact for Claremore and Rogers County.” The expo works with the state tourism office to promote our community and Oklahoma as a whole. They attend tourism shows all over the country to spread the word about Claremore. The tourism industry took a hard hit from COVID-19. Local hotels went from a 70% occupancy to a 30% occupancy. The expo is trying to turn that around by bringing more events to Claremore. They are making the Will Rogers Stampede PRCA Rodeo a destination event by investing more than $30,000 in marketing. The AKC Dog Show event should bring in an estimated half a million dollars to tourism in Claremore. Be on the lookout for events such as the Cowboys 4Kids golf tournament, RSU sporting events, the Memorial Day parade, the Claremore Home and Garden Show, and many more. To learn more about the Claremore Expo Center and upcoming events, please visit their website at Claremore CVB, OK | Official Website (visitclaremore.org)
To end the day, the LRC group went to visit the Rogers State University television and radio stations. There, the group was able to explore the production room that is currently undergoing a remodel. The class had fun learning about the new tech board switcher and all the new things the production team can do with it.
RSU Radio 91.3 is run completely by students, and is on the air 24/7. RSU radio is now streaming online and has a worldwide reach, one of the first in Oklahoma. They are run by CDS, they have a full vinyl show, and they have even started doing podcasts. They also have a drive to be more involved in the community by doing Santa Cash, playing Christmas music for the drive-thru parade, and many more events. The communications program has been in place at the college for more than 40 years and offers many services to our community as a no-commercial station. Stop by to see them at their booth during the Rogers County Art Crawl.
For information on how you can apply for the Leadership Rogers County Class of 2022, please visit LeadershipRogersCounty.org.
