Panhandle State Foundation Banquet honors the First State Bank of Boise City and Dr. M. K. “Curly” Cook

The Panhandle State Foundation held their annual appreciation banquet on Tuesday, November 9, 2006 at 6.30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom on the campus on Oklahoma Panhandle State University. There were approximately 150 people in attendance. The Foundation banquet begins the annual fund drive, honors the year’s scholarship recipients and inducts new members into the Foundation’s Distinguished Contributor Honor Roll. The 2006 inductees were the First Bank of Boise City and Dr. M. K. “Curly” Cook. The OPSU Chamber Singers and the Aggie Krewe provided special entertainment.

Dr. Kenneth Woodward, Foundation president, presented the Distinguished Contributor plaque to Mr. Ted Smith accepting on behalf of the First State Bank of Boise City. The First State Bank of Boise City has funded two scholarships for OPSU students from Cimarron County for several years. It’s support of education, this community and of OPSU is acknowledged by its induction to the Panhandle State Foundation Distinguished Contributor Honor Roll.

Mr. R. D. Schultz presented the Distinguished Contributor plaque to Dr. M. K. “Curly” Cook. “Curly” married Sandra Blankenship of Guymon in 1955. Both Sandra and “Curly” graduated from Panhandle A & M College in 1956. He received his masters in Animal Nutrition and then his Ph. D. in Rumen Physiology from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1975.

Dr. Cook's career with the Georgia Cooperative Extension Service spanned 31 years, with roles as Mitchell County Agent, Area Livestock Specialist, State Extension Animal Science Specialist, Head of Extension Animal Science Department, and Associate Director of the Cooperative Extension Service in charge of all agricultural and natural resources programs. Dr. Cook served in numerous leadership roles servicing cattlemen, citizens of Georgia and the State of Georgia. Dr. Cook retired from the University in May 1992 but still works to improve the quality of the education for all the young people with agricultural interests.

Sandra Cook, a retired office manager, homemaker and mother, passed away in 2005 after a battle with cancer. Friends and family endowed the Sandra Blankenship Cook Memorial Scholarship through the Panhandle State Foundation in December of 2005. The scholarship is for an OPSU junior or senior business major.

The Panhandle State Foundation honored Dr. Cook and the legacy of Sandra Blankenship Cook as it inducted him into the Distinguished Contributor Hall of Fame.

###