Around Town: Hall-of-famers stand tall

By: Joan Gilmore//The Journal Record//November 20, 2015//

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The Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center in Tulsa was the setting for the 88th-annual Oklahoma Hall of Fame dinner Thursday with eight inductees honored. They are Kevin Durant, Jim Halsey, Bill Hancock, Mike Larsen, William J. Ross, Sharen Jester Turney, Steadman Upham and Francis Tuttle (posthumously).

For obvious reasons, the main topic of pre-dinner chat was basketball. Not only was Durant a real star to everyone, but so was his presenter, Russell Westbrook. Durant is a very tall man but in black tails and white bow tie he looked 12 feet tall. And very handsome. So did Westbrook. The two are best friends, evidenced by their comments to each other.

Others involved in basketball were the NBA commissioner and his table of friends, Clay Bennett, Joe Castiglione and what looked like the entire Thunder basketball team. All very exciting with fans hovering over Durant. Thought he’d never get time to eat. (First time I’d had flat iron steak and it was good.)

As usual, one woman was an inductee and Turney from Ardmore was stellar as she described her journey to the position of CEO for Victoria’s Secret and its related businesses. A beautiful blonde, she has come a long way from her beginnings of farming and driving a tractor. Her presenter was Leslie H. Wexner, who came from Columbus, Ohio where he heads the L. Brands Inc. organization, which owns Sharen’s companies as well as the famous New York fashion store Henri Bendel.

Also drawing major applause was the presenting of world-famous artist Mike Larsen by NBC Oklahoma Bank chairman Ken Fergeson. Larsen and his wife, Martha, live in Perkins where he does his paintings and maintains a gallery. Go visit. He’s friendly.

The late Francis Tuttle, known for his support of vocational and technical education in Oklahoma, was presented by his grandson, Chad Tuttle.

The continuing theme of the brief speeches was how grateful they are to the Lord and “their” Oklahoma. Everyone in the audience agreed, offering standing ovations and lots of happiness.

Great evening but a long way home at nearly midnight. Congrats to Shannon L. Rich (glittering in silver sequins), president and CEO of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and Joe Moran III, chairman of the board of directors, and praise again to emcees Burns Hargis and Mike Turpen.

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