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  • Kelly Coker and Pamela Gorman were among the museum patrons who received a sneak preview of David Fitzgerald's "Cherokee Nation: Portrait of a People" photo exhibit during the Cherokee Strip Days Gala Thursday,at the newly renovated Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

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September 16, 2010

Gala provides glimpse of new heritage center

By Bridget Nash Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — After nearly three years the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center was host to a gala event giving the people of Enid a gimpse inside the renovated facility.

Thursday evening’s Cherokee Strip Days Gala featured a viewing of photographer David Fitzgerald’s work titled “Cherokee Nation: Portrait of a People.”

Center President Andi Holland said the evening was “tremendous.”

“We’re having a great night. The weather is perfect,” she said. “We’ve worked for three years for this day. It’s been a long journey but I think it’s been well worth it.”

Renovations for Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center broke ground Sept. 17, 2007, and work on the center has continued since.

Holland’s husband David agreed, saying the hard work has paid off and the people of Enid will be impressed with the results.

“Now we’re getting to see the fruits of our labor,” he said. “It’s going to be so much different than the people of Enid are used to seeing.”

Myra Ward, whose husband Lew is chairman of the center’s board of directors, said she thought the center looked “beautiful.”

“I think it’s very well done,” she said. “It’s hard to imagine just this big room and now it’s this wonderful exhibit.

“I think it’s spectacular.”

Phillips University will also be featured in the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, said Philips University Legacy Foundation Vice President Kelly Coker.

She said as well as university memorabilia, the center will have archives and information so former students can check on their favorite professors or look up old roommates.

“We’ll also have some wonderful exhibits of memorabilia and historical documents that were important to Phillips University,” she said.

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