Copyright © 2004 NLThomas
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News from Cherokee Nation
Copyright © 2004 CNO
TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - An Oklahoma Sooners football great, was on hand recently to motivate youth at the Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Treatment Center.
Uwe von Schamann takes time to sign autographs and talks one on one with students. 
Uwe von Schamann visited the Jack Brown Center and spoke to their youth about the need to focus and work to achieve their goals.
"I explain to kids that in order to get through life one of the main fundamentals is to F.O.C.U.S.," said von Schamann, former OU kicker and current director of development and fundraising for the J.D. McCarty Center for Children with Developmental Disabilities. "We start with the F in focus and explain how they must always look towards their Future, O leads into following Opportunity’s presented to them, displaying Confidence in all they do, Understand how they fit in the big picture and always build from their Strengths."
Von Schamann, a native of West Berlin, told the youth at the Jack Brown Center about his life growing up and the struggles he faced in Germany. Von Schamann explained how he came to the United States and was the star kicker for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1975 to 1979 and then with the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League.
"A good friend of mine, who also played football at OU was a Cherokee citizen and we hope to pay homage to him through a memorial in his honor," von Schamann said.
Sammy Jack Claphan was a member of the Oklahoma Sooners football team from 1974-1979 and later a member of the San Diego Chargers football team for seven years. Claphan, a Cherokee tribal citizen, worked with special needs children in the Stilwell school systems for five years, before passing away in 2001. Von Schamann hopes to keep Claphan’s greatness alive at the camp site they are currently building for the patients of the J.D. McCarty Center.
"We recently purchased some land which holds an 800 acre lake that we hope to build cabins around for the kids to have annual summer camps," von Schamann said. "We would like to dedicate one of these cabins to Claphan."
J.R. Claphan, juvenile officer for the Cherokee Nation is Sammy Jack’s brother.
"This is a really good thing," said J.R. Claphan. "This is what my brother liked to do, work with special needs children, which was his life’s work, always making sure to put a smile on their faces."
Von Schamann hopes to have this project completed by the summer of 2004. For more information on the J.D. McCarty Center, contact them by phone: 405-307-2800.
| Related contact information: |
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Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org
Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager |
Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org
Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation |