“It’s a fun time to be the mayor.”

That is what Woodward Mayor Bill Fanning had to say after being recognized as a 2009 Oklahoma Mayor of the Year during an awards breakfast at the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) conference in Tulsa Thursday morning. According to an OML press release, the Mayor of the Year award “recognizes the dedication and committent brought to the highest elected post in municipal government. ”

But Fanning was not just talking about how fun it was to “finally win” the award after his third nomination. He was also talking about the opportunity to be involved with all the accomplishments the city has achieved in the past few years that played a part in helping him win the award.

Some of these accomplishments were shared during the OML awards ceremony prior to the announcement of Fanning’s selection by the Mayors Council of Oklahoma (MCO) as the Mayor of the Year from mayors representing communities with poplulations over 5,000 people.

These accomplishments include the addition of various community agencies from Providence Place Assisted Living Center to the Air Evac Lifeteam base, the recent visit and speech by former President George W. Bush, and the ongoing renovation project at Crystal Beach Park.

In fact, Fanning said “it was when they said, ‘a $25 million park remodeling project,’” that he realized they were talking about Woodward and that he had been selected as Mayor of the Year.

“It’s exciting,” he said of receiving the honor.

“But what’s more exciting, is that it belongs to the whole city,” Fanning said, noting that if it wasn’t for the city’s “good employees, good commissioners, and good citizens” who “work so well together,” then neither he nor the city would be where they were Thursday, getting recognized by the Mayors Council of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Municipal League.

What made Thursday’s OML awards ceremony even more exciting was the fact that Fanning wasn’t the only Woodward official to be honored.

Woodward City Manager Alan Riffel also walked away with a top award, having been selected by the City Management Association of Oklahoma (CMAO) as the recipient of the 2009 Gerald Wilkins Award.

According to an OML press release, “Riffel is the twenty-first recipient of the annual award that honors the late Gerald Wilkins, former OML president and longtime city manager and municipal advisor in the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. The citation, named in his memory, recognizes the most outstanding city manager in Oklahoma.”

Like Fanning, Riffel said his award was also “a team honor.”

“We have a good organization,” he said, noting he is “proud of our community.”

“Our commissioners work well with city staff and that’s what makes things progress,” he said.

Nevertheless, Riffel described it as “thrilling” to receive the award.

He admitted that he was “a little bit surprised.”

“This wasn’t the first (nomination) for me. I was nominated a few years ago, but you never know how things are going to go,” he said.

Riffel and Fanning’s double honor is a first in the Oklahoma Municipal League.

“This is the first time that the mayor and manager of the same city won top awards the same year,” Riffel said.

“It was gratifying from the standpoint that all our peers felt that Woodward was deserving,” he said. “Very, very gratifying.”

“I think we got a lot of momentum in Woodward right now,” Fanning said. “With the things that happened today and our exhibit here at the OML conference, the whole state now knows what’s going on in Woodward.”