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OHIO VALLEY UNSUNG HEROES: Dunfee selected Harrison Central Booster of Year

CADIZ — Christmas came early for Heather Dunfee this year.

Dunfee received an unexpected, yet appreciated, gift last week when she was named Booster of the Year by the Harrison Central High School organization at its annual holiday dinner.

“I was shocked, actually,” Dunfee said. “But, like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. It was nice, very nice.”

It came to no one’s surprise that Dunfee was honored. She’s been an anchor of the Harrison Central athletics support group for more than a decade and has been instrumental in the success of many a fundraiser staged by the organization.

In fact, this past fall, Dunfee received another honor. At halftime of a Huskies football game, she learned this season’s football program was being dedicated to her.

That came to no surprise, either, as Dunfee has had a major in in producing the annual grid publication, which highlights fall sports at the school.

“Jackie Corder and I put the program together,” Dunfee explained.

And, as projects go, the football program might be one of the most-challenging projects the boosters takes on.

“We start in June, sending out notices to businesses and individuals that had done ads in the past and asking for continued support,” Dunfee said.

Support is something that’s never been a problem in Harrison County, according to Dunfee.

“The people here are always willing to give and help,” she said.

The boosters went a different route this fall in producing the annual keepsake, keeping its development in-house, which cut down on costs and made for, Dunfee believed, a quality product.

“This year, we printed all of our programs,” she explained. “We usually send them off to have someone set them up and do them. This year, we were actually able to do them ourselves.”

With the help of Corder’s son, development and design of the program was kept local and, in turn, creating more funds for local athletes.

“It helps when we cut down on costs, because everything we do — 100 percent — goes to the kids,” Dunfee said.

And, as the boosters heard at the end-of-the-year gathering, Harrison Central’s athletes have benefited well from the boosters’ work.

“I think, so far this year, we have paid out nearly $34,000,” Dunfee said.

That’s done thanks to the effort of a lot of people. But Dunfee is representative of the hard work boosters members put in.

Dunfee is a diehard when it comes to working at football games in the fall. She’s also active in the group’s annual golf bash, the 300 Club and other group initiatives.

“If I wasn’t doing this I’d just be sitting at home,” she chuckled. “It gets me out around other people. I’ve made a lot of friends through the boosters.”

A 1981 Cadiz High grad, Dunfee joined the group upon returning the area about 10 years ago.

“I went to one of the meetings and kept going every Wednesday,” she remembered. “That same year, they voted me in as secretary.”

It’s a position she still holds. She likes it, although, the group is looking for younger members to join.

“We really need some young blood to step up and get involved in some of these projects,” she said.

In the meantime, Dunfee said she’ll continue to enjoy her work with boosters and seeing athletes in Harrison County prosper.

“I do it because I like to do it,” she said. “And, like I said, it helps the kids.”

If you know of someone in sports in the Ohio Valley whom I could feature as an Ohio Valley Unsung Hero, drop me a line at rthorp@timesleaderonline.com or via Twitter @RickThorp1

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