Public Update:

The Oklahoma Acupuncture Association (hereafter called the OKAA) which was founded in 1987 as a 501 C3 organization found it necessary to pursue legal avenues against Toni Pennery Twitty, Carol Solesby, Tamara Shanks Hall and Brandy Valentine after an attempted “coup” (as quoted by Toni Twitty) in September of 2019. An Emergency Temporary Restraining order was granted October 1, 2019 by Judge King in Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, Case # CC-2019-165.

These people enlisted out-of-state friends to join the Association online through Paypal the evening prior to our election and then railroaded their way through the process to attempt control by stuffing the ballots with illegal votes.

However, the meeting was recorded and, after Judge Kirkley reviewed the video he ordered a new election be held, thereby making their “takeover” (as quoted by Brandy Valentine) null and void. After resigning from the Board, Ms. Valentine presented old minutes from Dec. 2018 to BancFirst (when she was still Secretary) and illegally took control of the bank account, removing the Treasurer and President from the signatories.

Fortunately, recognizing their intentions and following advice from the Manager at BancFirst, we had withdrawn the funds in the form of a Cashier’s check and had our Lawyer hold it until Judge Kirkley ruled that the OKAA was the rightful owner of the funds and could redeposit it and continue with business. Even so, they continued to post on social media that Tim Williamson had embezzled the money after Judge Kirkley ruled that he “did no wrong.”

The OKAA attempted to settle this matter out of court, but our efforts were rejected by their Attorney Angela Smith, who afterwards withdrew from representing them.

Despite the court ordering the return of certain OKAA property more than once, even going so far as contempt charges against them, we were denied a writ of assistance to reclaim the property and were also denied our attorney fees. We therefore decided to drop the charges and focus our energy on continuing to provide the outstanding education that this organization has been known to offer for the past thirty-four (34) years.

It is specifically because the OKAA has such an exemplary reputation that these people took advantage of a loophole in our bylaws and endeavored to mislead the public into believing they were Board members. Even after Judge Kirkley heard the case they have continued to interfere by attending the new election and interrupting repeatedly, requesting numerous copies of the Minutes and then never paying for them nor picking them up, shutting down our Facebook page instead of returning the password and keeping the Association Seal from the rightful Board as ordered by the Court.

The OKAA followed every requirement from the Judge, and throughout this stressful situation has continued to provide educational workshops and seminars. Our membership includes Medical Doctors and Acupuncturists with thirty to fifty years of experience. The character and moral amplitude of our members is unsurpassed.

This experience gave us the opportunity to rewrite our bylaws thereby avoiding any future exploitation and empowered our members with unity and strength to face these challenges while never wavering to uphold the standard of excellence to which we have always adhered. Please be assured that we will continue, as we have in the past, to provide the utmost service to all of Oklahoma.

OKAA Board of Directors