Published: November 13, 2008 11:21 pm      

Edmond residents get award

EDMOND — Neal McCaleb is uniquely qualified to comment on being a public servant.

The Edmond resident served Oklahoma at the state level, as Oklahoma’s first secretary of transportation, and at the national level after President George W. Bush appointed him to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

McCaleb said public servants sometimes are an “open target” for criticism, but the work is more rewarding than working in the private sector.

“Your self worth is really measured by your usefulness to other people,” McCaleb said. “Public service gives you an opportunity to do that.”

McCaleb, former Edmond resident Charles “Chuck” Garrison and Oklahoma City resident Meg Salyer received the Award of Recognition from the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge Thursday during the Oklahoma City chapter’s awards luncheon at Quail Creek Golf and Country Club.

McCaleb was recognized for his 22 years of public service, which included eight years in the Legislature, his leadership as Oklahoma’s first secretary of transportation and his national leadership later as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Garrison, who recently returned from Afghanistan, was recognized for his volunteer efforts on behalf of the impoverished during his two periods of service with the military. Garrison, who now lives in Colorado, organized a collection of cold weather clothing from Oklahomans, which was distributed in Afghanistan. Pencils and pens also were given to school children.

Salyer, most recently elected an Oklahoma City councilwoman, was recognized for her longtime civic leadership in Oklahoma City, including historic activity on North Broadway, which, largely through her leadership, is now known as Automobile Alley.

McCaleb graduated from Oklahoma A&M College in 1957. He worked in engineering and real estate development for 35 years.

McCaleb spent eight years in the Legislature. While in the House, he served four years as the Republican floor leader.

Reminiscing about highlights, McCaleb mentioned being GOP floor leader at a time when there were not many Republicans in the House, now controlled by the GOP, and putting a bi-partisan coalition together to get tax relief passed.

McCaleb said he’s elated at the new GOP majority in the Oklahoma House and Senate.

McCaleb, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, was instrumental in the development of urban turnpikes in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and the Cherokee and Chickasaw turnpikes in eastern rural Oklahoma. As transportation secretary, he led the then-largest highway construction program in state history under former Gov. Frank Keating.

Currently, McCaleb is chairman of the board of directors of Chickasaw Nation Industries, which employs more than 2,000 technical and administrative personnel. He also serves on Bank 2’s board of directors.

While he was in Afghanistan, serving as a defense contractor, training the Afghan army, Garrison saw how many of the people were living in poverty. During weekends, he solicited help from friends back home who collected the clothing and school supplies. They were taken to schools and refugee camps.

“It’s a very, very deprived country,” Garrison said from Colorado. “They need a lot of help. I think we were able to save a lot of lives during cold weather by giving them the clothing.”

Garrison, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said he received help from Pendleton Woods, director of Oklahoma Christian University’s Center for American Ideals. Woods publicized the project throughout the area and set up clothing donation drop-off points in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Norman and Midwest City.

“We did this two years in a row, collecting more than 500 pounds of cold weather clothing each year,” said Woods, who nominated Garrison for the award.

Garrison said he has fond memories of his 12 years in Edmond and the friends he left behind. He said he plans to find work as a defense contractor in the Colorado Springs area.



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