I mentioned a couple of months ago that the population in Chickasha surpassed 17,000 as of July of 2024, but it’s pretty obvious that we aren’t stopping there. For the fiscal year 2024/25, the City of Chickasha issued 124 residential permits. This has been a consistent trend the past few years and is much needed for our town. It amazes me the amount of people that work in Chickasha, but live somewhere else and commute here each day. Forty percent of the people that work in Chickasha, drive at least 25 minutes a day one way. Let that sink in for a minute. Forty percent… Most people assume that many of the people that live here commute to other areas like OKC to work, but rarely think about the amount that commute here. Where should new housing additions be built? What size of homes should be built and what price range should they be in? Should there be more housing developed in the upper floors of cool old buildings in Downtown? Lots of issues to be discussed as our City moves forward and we continue to grow. There is so much data that shows that the OKC metro is spreading toward our area. New exits are planned on I-44 and when the Highway 81 bypass is completed years from now, there will be new exits created off of that. Traffic patterns will certainly influence where new housing developments are planned. Chickasha presents a huge opportunity for the right housing developers, it will be exciting to see what happens and where. This is also great news for our local businesses that will benefit from new people moving into town. So many positives are lining up for our future, this growth will help us enjoy all #TheGoodStuff!

This past Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder did something that this state has never seen before — they won an NBA Championship! If you’ve spent any time at all this year watching them, their recipe for success was obvious. Hard work, great defense, no egos and everyone working together to make something special happen. It worked wonderfully for them and I think that same approach can work right here in Chickasha. No, I am not talking about basketball, I am referring to our golf course. What previously has been a semi-private country club is now owned by the city of Chickasha. The city has been approached by a group of golf enthusiasts that want our town to keep it a golf course and they have a great plan to make that happen. There are a lot of details to be worked out, but this group is currently working hard to keep the oldest golf tournament in the state going: The Washita Valley. Thanks to the dedication of these local volunteers, this will be the 97th year of the Washita Valley. This group is working through the Chamber to use the golf course Fourth of July weekend. They are spending time raising money to fund the tournament as well as spending weekends to help beautify the course in areas where possible. The ultimate goal is for our community to have a youth focused golf course for our kids to be able to enjoy. This group feels like it’s important that the kids of today and tomorrow get to enjoy the game of golf like many of these volunteers did when they were growing up in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. There are a lot of details to be worked out for this to be successful long term, but what stands out to me is the community spirit. Instead of saying “someone should do something,” this group rolled up their sleeves, got out their checkbooks and presented a temporary plan to the city. The only way our golf course will see the Washita Valley celebrate it’s 100th anniversary is if this “team” takes the script from the Oklahoma City Thunder and agrees to work together to make something special happen. When the city, the Chamber, our schools and the private sector all figure out ways to work together, good things happen in our community! I’m excited to see this kind of commitment towards a youth focused golf course and I believe it will happen because after all…I believe in #TheGoodStuff.