Bartlesville Mayor Dale Copeland has been selected as the recipient of the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Tom Shoemake Award.
Copeland received the honor during the Chamber’s annual awards event held last week.
The Tom Shoemake Leadership Award recognizes “a true leader who has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He or she does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his or her actions and the integrity of their intent,” according to the BRCC.
Copeland was elected to the City Council in 2011. He was named vice mayor by the council three years later and began serving as mayor in 2016.
“During the past eight years, he has led the council and the city through many difficult situations including the pandemic, water shortages during severe drought, and a critical sales tax increase election,” said award presenter Sara Freeman of Truity. “In addressing these and many other challenges, he provided calm, deliberative leadership, which is his trademark. And whenever there are those who wish to address the council, he respectfully welcomes their thoughts and ideas and does so while maintaining decorum and order – not always an easy feat. He makes sure both sides are heard.”
In addition to his volunteer duties as mayor (City Councilors receive a small stipend of $10 per meeting, up to four meetings per month), Copeland has worn several hats in the community, including his service with the Boy Scouts of America, which he joined as a troop committee member in 1984.
“Over the years, he has served in a vast array of leadership roles ranging from troop scoutmaster to president of the Bartlesville-based Cherokee Area Council, which includes a six-county area,” Freeman said. “He has an impressive résumé on the national and international levels that include Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, the Scouting Association of Japan, and the World Jamboree in the United Kingdom.”
Copeland has received numerous prestigious scouting awards including two of the highest awards that can be earned — the International Scouters Award In 2007 and the Chaplain at Philmont last year.
“This gentleman – and gentle man – has been a church-ordained deacon and Sunday School teacher since 1980 and church treasurer since 1998,” Freeman said. “His community involvement has included the Adams Golf Course Board and the Community Center Trust Authority, on which he has served since 2010. In 2022, he earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the office of the President of the United States for 1,000 hours of community volunteer service in less than 10 years. And if that wasn’t enough, he also has the distinction of being a Hoe-Darr, which stands for Husband of a Daughter of the American Revolution. That means he helps his wife with Wreaths Across America, searching for elusive gift requests for veterans, designing and printing signs for events, and serving as ‘Plan B’ when she needs a speaker due to a cancellation.”
“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award,” said City Manager Mike Bailey. “Our community has faced some tough times during his tenure as mayor, and he has guided us through each one of these challenges with wisdom and grace and his thoughtful leadership. Dale Copeland is, hands down, one of the most honorable men I know, and our community is so much better for his contribution to it.”