Collinsville, Oklahoma
July 23, 2008
Band Directors Hall Of Fame Banquet

Claude (C.H.) Wright Honored As Pioneer Oklahoma Band Director
OBA Convention In Tulsa


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Other 2008 Oklahoma Bandmasters Honorees
2008 Hall of Fame Inductee: OU's Dr. William Wakefield, Director of Bands, Professor of Music and Chair of the Ensemble Division at the University of Oklahoma School of Music.
2008 Hall of Fame Inductee: Sandy Hentges, Perry and Morrison, Oklahoma band director.
2007 Band Director of the Year: Chris Bordelon, director of Watonga bands for 28 years (and recently retired).
Current Collinsville HS band duirector, Ron Lewis, made the Hall of fame induction presentation for the first Collinsville HS band director, C.H. Wright. Lewis was OBA president in 2005.
The OBA Hall of Fame plaque presented (posthumously) to Claude Wright July 23rd, 2008 is shown with his 1911 CHS baseball photo and a 1911 town band photo (& his cornet at the newspaper museum).
The cover of the 2008 OBA convention program inculded a photo of C.H. Wright playing his clarinet.

Wright Family Members at the 2008 Hall of Frame Presentation:
(Front Row L-R) Emily Wright and Kimna Banks. Back Row: Phil & Carol Wright, Jeremy & Jenny Laird, Yvette & Bill Wright, and Ted Wright. H.R. Mills also attended and took this photo.

Bill Wright was the youngster in the early 1940s Wright family band photo above and the senior member of the 2008 photo above that..
Bill Wright (right, last surviving son of C.H. Wright) accepted the award for his father from Ron Lewis. Bill is a former editor of both the Collinsville and Skiatook News.
Bill Wright gave an acceptance speech for his Dad's award including his memory of his dad starting him on clarinet at age four, playing with the CHS band as a youngster, playing in the OU band and Navy band in Japan.
Previous Collinsville OBA Honors
There may be a few others I don't recognize but noticed the following with Collinsville connections already in the OBA Hall of Fame:

(1972) Hiram Henry (OSU) ... my nephew Scott Henry's grandfather (Scott is also a C.H. Wright's great-grandson)
(1986) Oakley Pittman ... former band student of C.H. Wright in Collinsville starting in about 1914
(2002) George Fain ... former CHS band director
... and Lonnie Fuller was director of the year in 2002