Players on both sides of the competition for control of Alvamar Inc. say they have the interests of company shareholders in mind as they mull strategies and goals for the business that owns Alvamar Country Club and Alvamar Public Golf Course in Lawrence.

One prospective board nominee, who worked 15 years for Alvamar, acknowledges that he and his six fellow nominees aren’t necessarily “any wiser” than the board that has offered to resign.

“It’s just looking in another direction,” Jerry Waugh said Monday. “Change brings that about.”

Bob Johnson, a member of the current board and chairman of the Douglas County Commission, said he and his four fellow Alvamar board members – Dana Anderson, Beverly Smith Billings, Larry Chance and Ken Martinez – were not “working behind the scenes in any way to offer a new slate of directors,” although he declined to concede that all seven nominees from Waugh’s group would win.

“If the shareholders aren’t happy with the performance of the board, we’re more than willing to resign and get out of the way,” Johnson said. “But who knows what will happen?”

Individual shareholders will be able to nominate others as they see fit, Johnson said.

Here is a list of the seven nominees supported by the Alvamar Group of Concerned Investors, according to interviews and documents circulated to shareholders in advance of Thursday’s meeting, which is set for 7 p.m. at Alvamar Country Club, 1809 Crossgate Drive:

¢ C.W. Allerheiligen, a resident of Marysville, where he owns a property-management company. He and at least two other family members own Alvamar shares.

¢ John Drake, a Lawrence resident and retired division manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone. The Kansas University graduate formerly owned and operated a golf course in Pittsburg, and served on Alvamar’s board of directors.

¢ Michael Easterday, a venture capitalist who formerly practiced as a certified public accountant, served as managing partner for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG), in Wichita and Omaha. He served on Alvamar’s audit committee until April 1.

¢ Robert McKinney, a Lawrence resident and private investor with management experience at General Electric and, until 1993, Payless Shoesource, is a former Alvamar board member who served as chairman of the audit committee until January.

¢ Cameron Barnes, a certified public accountant. Barnes is financial controller for Interstate Flooring, a distributor of decorative hard surfaces that has grown – with assistance from mergers and acquisitions – to more than $70 million in annual sales.

¢ Harold Ogden, president of Ogden Leasing Co., which he founded in 1978. He also has worked as Kansas City manager for Hertz Corp. and has held other management posts.

¢ Waugh, a former KU basketball player, assistant basketball coach and assistant athletics director, spent 15 years as a vice president at Alvamar, served as a board member for the Kansas Gold Assn. and retired as KU’s women’s golf coach in 2000.

Members of the Alvamar Group of Concerned Investors are C.W. Allerheiligen, Mark Allerheiligen, David Allerheiligen, Virgil Brady, Drake, Easterday, Ken Fisher, Jerry Goforth, McKinney, Jerry Rogers, Roland Thornburg and Waugh.