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Mike's family at the 29th annual outing (Mike Dunn Scholarship Fund) |
On Friday June 9th a couple of hundred people
will gather at AJ Jolly Golf course in Alexandria to play some golf and raise
some money in memory of Fort Thomas resident Mike Dunn. That someone is so well
liked and remembered that they inspire this kind of turnout is impressive, but
what is truly amazing is that the tournament is now in it’s 30th
year, which tells you how much people think of Mike and his family.
Jayson Dunn, Mike’s brother agrees: “It says a lot about how he was, that people still turn out in his
memory after all these years. A lot of people who come annually never met him,
but they feel like they know him through this event.”
Mike Dunn graduated from Highlands in 1982.
An outstanding athlete, Mike was a captain of both the football team and the baseball team, and after his senior year was headed to Georgetown College on a football scholarship. During his final year he broke his leg during a baseball game when a base runner slid into him. During the x-rays doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his leg. He bravely fought cancer for 6 years but sadly passed away in 1988, never complaining and always with his usually happy-go-lucky outlook on life. Jayson remembers “He was always the same super-giving, wonderful person, even through his chemotherapy, which was pretty terrible back in those days.”
An outstanding athlete, Mike was a captain of both the football team and the baseball team, and after his senior year was headed to Georgetown College on a football scholarship. During his final year he broke his leg during a baseball game when a base runner slid into him. During the x-rays doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his leg. He bravely fought cancer for 6 years but sadly passed away in 1988, never complaining and always with his usually happy-go-lucky outlook on life. Jayson remembers “He was always the same super-giving, wonderful person, even through his chemotherapy, which was pretty terrible back in those days.”
After he passed a group of his friends decided to organise a
golf day in his honour. Jayson recalls “They wanted to do a golf outing because he loved to play golf.”
About 85 people, mainly family and friends turned out. After the outing they
had a little surplus cash left over, so the friends took the surplus and
decided to start a scholarship for a student athlete at Highlands who embodied
his spirit. Over the next couple of years the family took over “with the same intent, to reward a
Highlands student who embodied what Mike was all about.”
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The golf outing is an all day event. The day is a bargain, for
only $90 golfers play a round of golf, have snacks, lunch, dinner and drink
throughout the day. There are many prizes and everyone leaves with a small
memento with the fund’s logo. Jayson calls the day “an all day celebration. It’s a really good event, even after all these
years we get together, put it all back together and see all the goodwill that
everybody felt for Mike.”
The fund and the outing are driven by Mike’s immediate
family: his dad Jerry Dunn and his wife Dottie, his mom Donna Clapp and her
husband Jim, and Mike's siblings, Jayson Dunn, Greg Dunn and Julie Walker. Jayson
says the outing and the good it has done have helped the family with their
loss:
“It gets pretty
emotional, the fact that people still remember him. The overwhelming response
from those that knew him helps keep his spirit alive more than we could ever
have imagined. It means a ton to the family.”
In the outing's 30th year there are a new generation of
the Dunn family contributing to the event. Mike’s nieces and nephews, who never
got a chance to meet their uncle, volunteer around the course, selling raffle
tickets and doing whatever they can to help. “All of them got to know him more than we could ever have shared with
them through the outing. They’ve really got a feeling about who Uncle Mike was,
what he was all about and what kind of person that he was.”
The outing is close to a sell out every year and Jayson and
the family want to thank everybody who has contributed in it's 30 years. "There are some people, who are not immediate family, who have attended
every year. With their donations they’ve probably funded a scholarship by
themselves. We’re proud it’s been going on so long and we just want to thank all
the people who have given over the years.”
Even with the obvious success of the outing the Dunn family
remain modest and thankful for the Fort Thomas community they live in. Jayson says, “It’s a good old fashioned Fort Thomas community response, like we’re
all used to seeing round here.”
The outing this year
is Friday June 9th, the cost is $90 for golfers and $20 for those
who only have dinner. For more information, to donate, or to get sponsorship
information email mikedunngolf@gmail.com
or visit www.mikedunnscholarship.com
Registration deadline is 6/2/17
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One of the younger participants (Mike Dunn Scholarship Fund) |
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