Monday night we held our Annual Banquet at Cherokee Yacht Club. We had an excellent turnout and I appreciate everyone attending.

I want to thank Lt. Governor Elect Todd Lamb for coming to the event and he gave a great speech on economic development and tourism for our area and the State of Oklahoma.

We had an opportunity to recognize our outgoing Board Members and to introduce our new board members for 2011.

Our newest board members to 2011 are Ray Claggett, Michelle Robertson, Nicole Benedict and Ian Drake. Our current members that are staying on the board are Earnestine Helmick, BJ Mooney, Lori Starks, Sharon Davis, Dave Helms, Donna Belt, Amanda Davis, Marty Follis and Chuck Perry. Our outgoing members are Wayne Crouse, Bart Montgomery and Art Box. I greatly appreciate their service on the board.

We also honored several people and groups from around the area. Our Grand Volunteer of the Year was Dan Brown. The Grand Event of the Year was Miami Now. Our Grand Supporter of the Year was Ed Townsend and Bank of Grove and Our Grand Laker of the Year was the Grand Lake Sail and Power Squadron.

Our evening also consisted of a live auction, which I would like to thank Nathan Vaughn for auctioneering for us, had great entertainment from Johnny Johnson and Cherokee Yacht Club put together a great meal. We also had the unveiling of our 2011 Visitor Guide Cover, which I would like to thank Judy McHenry for the design.

Speaking of the visitor guide, we will be going to print soon on the guide, so if you business is not a member of the GLA or if you would like an ad, please contact us immediately.

You can contact the GLA by calling 918-786-2289, pdavis@glaok.com or by visiting our website www.grandlakefun.com.