My name is Rick Cheek. I am a long time resident of Oklahoma City and live here with my wife and our 4 children.  I work as the Operations Manager of a leading commercial furniture dealership. Over the past few years I have begun to discover my family's Scottish heritage. I discovered USCO through friends and became a member. My family has enjoyed attending and taking part in The Highland Gatherings, Burns Nights, and other USCO events. I have been inspired by the organization's commitment to the preservation and advancement of Scottish culture. I am an avid photographer, and I believe I would be a great asset to USCO as historian.  I do have experience with photographing and filming large and small events. I also have served previously as an officer on the board of a nonprofit organization. I am excited by the opportunity to offer my time and talents to USCO.

My name is Erin Cheek. For the past 21 years, I have taught literature, drama, yearbook, and broadcasting at Christ the King Catholic School, where I am the coordinator for several festivals including our annual Greek Myth Festival and Shakespeare Festival. I direct and produce two full musicals a year as well as several smaller productions at Christ the King. I also serve on the Academics subcommittee for our accreditation team. There, my job is mostly to take notes and consolidate multiple team member responses into a single streamlined document. I became interested in USCO through Scottish Highland dance. After visiting the USCO Gathering in 2023, my husband and I became members. I then joined Okie Skye Highland Dance group. I love that USCO is devoted to preserving a cultural heritage that is important to my family and so many others. I would love to use my talents for writing, note-taking, and event organization to help USCO preserve cultural traditions and focus a spotlight on Scottish heritage in Oklahoma.

My name is Aaron Kabrick, and I am excited to offer my candidacy for the role of trustee with the United Scottish Clans of Oklahoma (USCO). With a background in program direction and event planning, I have dedicated my career to bringing people together and fostering strong community relationships, values that are at the heart of USCO’s mission.

As a Program Director at various camp and conference centers in Arkansas, Illinois and Oklahoma, I have successfully managed a diverse range of events, including corporate retreats, athletic teams, youth camps, and church gatherings. These experiences have honed my skills in leadership, organization, and community engagement, all of which I am eager to bring to the United Scottish Clans of Oklahoma. 

Currently, I am serving as the High Reliability Organization Lead at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. In this role, I am committed to fostering a culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement. My time at the VA has reinforced my dedication to service and excellence, values that align closely with the principles of USCO.

I am passionate about preserving our Scottish heritage and promoting cultural unity. Becoming a trustee would provide me with the platform to contribute meaningfully to our shared goals. I am committed to protecting, preserving, and promoting Scottish and Celtic culture, language, and values, while also striving to improve the quality of life for future generations, in alignment with USCO’s mission. Additionally, I am inspired by USCO’s inclusive nature, where individuals, Scottish or not, who love Scottish culture, come together to share that love throughout Oklahoma. I look forward to bringing together those interested in Celtic music, dance, athletics, ancestral research, and more to celebrate the unique heritage of Scotland.

Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the opportunity to serve and support the mission and values of the United Scottish Clans of Oklahoma.

Sincerely,

Aaron Kabrick

My name is Chasity Cooper. After an Ancestery DNA test about a year and a half ago, I matched with a sister. I was able to find my biological dad, AND I found out I'm 49% Scottish. So needless to say...surprises all around! Not knowing anything about the culture I basically took a dive into the deep end and signed up to compete in Highland Games. It was love at first yeet. More so I fell in love with THE PEOPLE, the community, and the comradery. An old T.V show theme song explains it best "where everybody knows your name & they are always glad you came." From day one I have been welcomed with open arms, every game, every event, every meeting or encounter in every state. Who wouldn't want to be a part of something like that?! I spent 43 years of my life feeling like something was missing and now I know what! The opportunity to continue this journey of discovery as Clans Chief with your organization would be an absolute honor. 

I’ve been in USCO for about two years and have been going to most meetings this past year.  I assisted with setup for the Gathering this past year and worked at the booth, as well. I’d like to be a Trustee to gain knowledge of the positions in the organization and the trustee position would allow me to determine where I could help.  I found out about USCO from going to Scotsfest 2023 and meeting people from the Tulsa SCOT organization. I’m most interested in genealogy, the music and Highland games.  -Ellen Hart

Hello.  My name is Ellen Mallette.  I am 51 years of age and was born and raised in Oklahoma.  After I met my soon to be husband, we became interested in our heritage.  We have both had our DNA tested and found out we are part Scottish.  I am 21%.  We both became very interested in the Highland Games and that is how we became associated with USCO.  We have both volunteered and competed in the games.  I would like to be a trustee because I feel I have a wide connection to the people in our organization.  I have become friends with the athletes, the many clans that attend our gatherings, and could possibly help grow those connections too.  Thank you for considering me as a trustee.

I first became involved with USCO in 2014 out of curiosity.  My husband had always been interested in his Scottish heritage and was thrilled to find fellow like-minded individuals.  Curiosity turned into full immersion. I have been a board member for many years and currently serve as the Vice President for USCO.  I love this organization and plan on sticking around!  Many don’t realize that Oklahoma has a lot of Scottish heritage, and my hope is to reach more people who are curious!

A little bit about me:  I’m an Irish lass married to a Scottish lad, mom to 3 super cool grown kids, and ruled by a terrier and a Great Dane.  I love photography, woodworking, crafty stuff, and men in kilts.

My name is Kristi Kime. I am a third-generation Scottish person here in the United States. My grandfather was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and my grandmother was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, which makes me a McDonald and a MacIntosh respectively. Wish I knew how they met, but I know they worked very hard to immigrate to the United States. So did my great aunts and an uncle, and I’m so very proud that they all went through the process of becoming citizens. And so, from a young age I always knew there was something special about my relatives and I grew up learning little bits and pieces of my heritage until I was completely obsessed. Now, I want to be involved in everything Scottish. I learned the bagpipes and played in a band for 5 years until life had other plans for me. I’ve tried to learn Gaidhlig and will try again when I can. And I love USCO and spreading our heritage across the great state of Oklahoma. And I will keep doing that as long as I can!

My name is Kirk Murray, and I have been serving as USCO’s Chief Development Officer since 2022. I’ve always been interested in Scottish culture and was introduced to USCO in 2019. Since then, I’ve enjoyed attending the events and became a member to help support the organization’s mission.

I have a passion for research, making informed decisions based on data, and organizing information in a way that’s easily accessible. As Chief Development Officer, I’ve worked to streamline the organization’s internal processes—though not all efforts have been successful (looking at you, Members Portal—lol). One significant improvement was getting us set up on Google for Nonprofits. This allowed the board to move away from using personal email accounts and provided us with significantly more storage space on Google Drive.

I hope to continue serving on the board and look forward to the positive impact this organization can have on our community.

Hi, my name’s JT, and I’m the current Linguist for USCO. I began learning Scottish Gaelic on a whim through Duolingo following our first trip to Scotland in 2018. It has since helped me delve deeper into understanding the history of the language and the land. In 2022, I learned that USCO hosted a local Gaelic class, so I joined up with the intention of meeting like-minded people interested in practice and conversation. When the position for Linguist opened up later that year, I was asked to take it on, and I’ve been actively hosting classes since.

In my free time I like to garden and renovate my 95yo house. I’m also a member of a local domestic rabbit rescue group and foster abandoned and neglected buns in my home.