Project Summary

Sustainable Tulsa and the Tulsa Southside Rotary Club and Foundation have joined together to create the 2nd Annual Henry Bellmon Sustainability Awards Gala. Both Sustainable Tulsa and the Tulsa Southside Rotary Club and Foundation are focused on assisting Tulsa to create a more livable community in which to raise our families.

Our collaborative mission for the Henry Bellmon Sustainability Awards is to raise awareness and reward those people, agencies, organizations, or companies that dedicate themselves to a balanced approach toward quality of life for all, responsible economic growth, and environmental stewardship.

Click here for more information on how to support the Bellmon Awards.

Four awards are given, including:

Quality of Life for All Award: Improving the quality of life for our community members by increasing thoughtful support, improving living conditions, and encouraging healthy places to live, work, and play.

Responsible Economic Growth Award: Supporting healthy economic growth through local job creation, entrepreneurial green jobs, and supporting local businesses.

Environmental Stewardship Award: Helping to protect our natural resources in the plant and animal communities by reducing waste, cleaning up ecosystems, and using environmental processes or activities to accomplish these efforts.

The Henry Bellmon Award: For exemplifying sustainability leadership by a balanced approach in all three key areas.

Click here to nominate an individual or business.

The 2010 award winners were:

Quality of Life for All Award: Dr. James E. “Jim” Horne
Responsible Economic Growth Award: Goodwill Industries of Tulsa
Environmental Stewardship Award: The Metropolitan Environmental Trust
The Henry Bellmon Award: Dr. James E. “Jim” Horne

The Bellmon family has graciously offered their father’s name and legacy for the naming of the Sustainability Awards Program. They are excited to see the efforts go to promoting sustainability statewide. Two of Henry Bellmon’s daughters, Ann McFerron and Pat Hoerth, have started an organic farm in Billings, Okla., on the same farm where they grew up.

Henry Bellmon was a bi-partisan politician, community leader, wheat farmer, and family patriarch. He was innovative, thoughtful, and forward-thinking, many of the same attributes shared by sustainability leaders today. He promoted soil conservation and continued to farm until his later years. He impressed upon his children to be independent thinkers, considering the impact of what they do on future generations.

Time & Place

The second annual Henry Bellmon Awards Gala will be held Thursday, September 8, 2011 at the Southern Hills Country Club, and we’re looking to make it even better than last year’s. We’ll have more details here as the event gets closer, so check back!

Proceeds from the Gala will benefit Sustainable Tulsa.

2011 Judges

Dave Lawson, Chairman of the TU Board of Trustees

Jim Cameron, President, Cameron Glass, Inc.

Felica Collins Correia, YWCA Chief Executive Officer

Brett Fidler, Sustainability Director for the City of Tulsa

Dr. William Focht, OSU Professor of Environmental Studies

Phil Lakin, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Tulsa Community Foundation and President, Rotary Club of Tulsa

Ann McFerron, Henry Bellmon daughter and Co-owner of Turtle Rock Farm

Susan Savage, Former Secretary of State and Tulsa City Mayor

Dean VanTrease, President Emeritus Tulsa Community College

2011 Steering Committee

John M. Robinson, Co-Chair

Corey Williams, Co-Chair, Sustainable Tulsa Executive Director

John Benjamin, Sponsorship

Jason Brimer, Public Relations

Susan Fesperman & Debby Ganzkow, Gala

Steve Glen, Janice Nicklas & Bryan Osborne, Awards

Brandon Perkins

Denise Reid

Randy Sullivan

Tom Wilson, Past President, Rotary Club of Southside Tulsa