Melissa Denny, Chairperson of the Sac and Fox Elders Advisory Committee, presents a check for $1,000 to Color Oklahoma Board Members for a matching grant for an early winter 2025 wildflower planting. Shown from left, Joe Roberts, Board Member; Dr. Ron Tyrl, Color Oklahoma Vice Chair; Monica Bartling, Color Oklahoma, Chairman; (seated) Marlene Ellis, Sac and Fox Elder; Melissa Denny, Chair of Sac and Fox Elders Advisory Committee; Sandy Graue, Lynn Michael, Color Oklahoma Board Members.
Sac and Fox Elders Advisory Committee shown with Color Oklahoma Board Members at Color Oklahoma’s April 29, 2025 Board Meeting at the Sac and Fox Cultural Center on SH-99 South of Stroud. Front row, from left, Marlene Ellis, Monica Bartling, Robin Tiger, Sandy Graue, Joe Roberts. Row two (standing) from left, Rosemary Blie, April Nullake, Toni McKinney, Clarissa Littlehead, Anna Kilgore, Lynn Michael, Jennifer Wood, Peggy Big Eagle, Melissa Denny, Everett Denny. Back Row, from left, Nancy Nullake, Elizabeth Wolftongue, Shirley Wakolee, Dr. Ron Tyrl, and Thomas Reuben.

              Last December, the Sac and Fox Nation Elders Advisory Committee worked with Color Oklahoma to fund planting approximately 3 acres of native-to-Oklahoma wildflower seeds in front of the Sac and Fox Nation south of Stroud.  The flowers were planted by the Lincoln County office of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.  Five members of the Color Oklahoma Board of Directors met in Stroud on April 29 for their annual board meeting and to review the 2024 planting. 

              “The flowers were planted as part of an overall project to beautify the Nation’s headquarters with native flowers,”  Peggy Big Eagle, tribal member, who coordinated the project stated. “The Business Committee will also add roses in landscaping around the Nation’s buildings.”

              The Sac and Fox Nation is the first Tribal Nation that Color Oklahoma has partnered with for a wildflower planting. The Elders Advisory Committee plans to expand the planting area in future years.

              Members of the Sac and Fox Nation Elders Advisory Committee met with Color Oklahoma Board Members for a photo opportunity and discussed the Sac and Fox culture with the group.  Marlene Ellis, a senior Elder, was introduced to the group as the person who had the original idea of beautifying the grounds with native plants and roses. 

              The Elders provided a traditional Sac and Fox meal for the group at the Sac and Fox Elders and Veterans building in downtown Stroud.  The women of the Elders Advisory Committee wore ribbon skirts for the occasion. 

              At the end of the meeting, Melissa Denny, Chairman of the Sac and Fox Elders Advisory Committee presented a check for $1,000 that will be matched with a $1,500 grant from Color Oklahoma for the 2025 wildflower planting that Lincoln County ODOT will do this December.

              Color Oklahoma gets funding from the sale of wildflower license plates available from your local tag agent or directly from Service Oklahoma.  This funding is used to purchase native wildflower seeds that are planted across Oklahoma’s highways, turnpikes and public spaces. Last fall the more than $20,000 in native seeds were planted by ODOT in cities and towns across Oklahoma. Color Oklahoma is a committee of the Oklahoma Native Plant Society.  To get additional information about obtaining grants or to download an application for a license plate go to https://coloroklahoma.com.