City of Elk City Feeds Its Citizens

November 1, 2017

Last week OML Field Representative Nancee Morris took a trip to Elk City to meet with City Manager Lee Litterell and Treasurer Elesia Church.  Litterell has served on the OML Legislative Committee for over two years while Treasurer Church is a graduate of OML’s Community Leadership Development program. 

As the discussion regarding the city’s progress continued, Church told Morris about the city’s participation in the local Meals on Wheels program.  As most know Meals on Wheels is a nonprofit program providing meals to seniors and the disabled for over 47 years. 

Several organizations assist to ensure the success of the Meals on Wheels program in Elk City including but certainly not limited to the local Rotary and the various churches throughout the city.  Every organization commits to taking on certain weeks out of the year to ensure those citizens that need it receive this service.

The City of Elk City has also been an active part of this program for 13 years.  City employees deliver meals every year the first two weeks of September with the coordinating efforts of city employee Crystal Wooten.  Wooten ensures all the city volunteers are set up in teams of two delivering each of the four daily routes.  The municipal teams consist of staff from city hall, fire, police, street, the landfill and museum.  Everyone is encouraged to volunteer to help.  Each route averages approximately 20 deliveries and takes approximately 45 minutes daily to complete. 

Elk City’s Treasurer Eleisa Church said, “It’s another opportunity for us to give back to our community.  It doesn’t really cost us anything but a little of our time.”

Pictured above are team members Linda Lyles, Crystal Wooten, Elesia Church,
Maxine Jackson, Kennie Shirey, Danny Snowder and James Dorgan

Julie Lenius, Director of the Elk City Convention and Visitors Bureau also talked to Morris about a recent event that the Elk City community was very happy to have been able to participate. 

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association rolled into Elk City, Oklahoma on September 28th displaying the history of military vehicles as a part of their 2017 MVPA Route 66 Convoy. The 2017 MVPA Route 66 Convoy launched on September 16th in Chicago, Illinois and traveled Route 66 making lunch and overnight stops as they traveled to the end of route in Santa Monica, California, on October 14th. 

The 2,400-mile, 29-day Convoy represented America’s longest Veterans’ parade honoring the service and sacrifice of all Veterans and active Military.  Elk City was honored to be one of convoy’s scheduled lunch stops and the beautiful National Route 66 Museum Complex in Elk City served as the backdrop.

City Manager Lee Litterell and Convoy Commander Dennis Boots

The local Elk City FFA Chapter helped place all of American flags that lined the streets along the convoy’s route as business owners, patrons, veterans and students lined up to welcome the convoy to town. School kids could be heard chanting, “USA…USA” as the vehicles paraded down Route 66 Hwy bringing a level of patriotic emotion that can only come from the heart. The City of Elk City provided lunch and served over 350 convoy crew members and all veterans that attended the event. Elk City 5th graders provided handmade table decorations for the dining area and several of the convoy drivers asked if they could take some of the decorations with them to remind them of their wonderful visit in Elk City.

 As the convoy crew paused for lunch, between 1500 to 2000 people of all ages gathered to view up close the large display of military vehicles from every war effort since WWI. Along with the military vehicle display, the Tommy Franks Leadership Institute mobile museum from Hobart, Oklahoma was also on hand for the public to explore.

The 2017 MVPA Convoy organizer, Dennis Boots, stated “We scouted the entire route a year in advance to determine which communities would host the lunch and overnight stops and we were so impressed with the National Route 66 Museum Complex and the warm welcome we received from the museum director, Maxine Jackson, that we wanted to make sure the entire convoy would have the opportunity to experience it”.

Morris experienced the same warm welcome as Boots speaks of and is looking forward to her next visit to this community.