Dick Dyer Award

The Dick Dyer Award is given each year to an individual who exemplifies Mr. Dyer’s exceptional vision and caring spirit for the community.  As the first United Way of McMinn & Meigs Counties Executive Director, Dyer worked tirelessly to provide the community with services that meet the most pressing needs.  His vision and leadership made our community a stronger and more caring place to live and work.

The recipient of the Dick Dyer Award should have made significant contributions to the community through church or civic activities and made a lasting impression through his/her work.  The award recipient is chosen by a panel of previous recipients. 

In addition to being named the Dick Dyer Community Service Award recipient, the person chosen will also represent McMinn County as the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Award recipient.  The Tennessee Governor’s office established this award to recognize ways volunteers strengthen the state’s communities, to increase volunteerism to meet compelling needs, and show that volunteering is rewarding and part of what it means to be a Tennessean.  The award will be presented at a ceremony hosted by Gov. Bill Haslam in Nashville.

To submit a nomination, mail it to P.O. Box 1681, Athens, TN 37371.  You may also email it to uwaymc@bellsouth.net or drop it off at the United Way office at 313 Maple Street in Athens. 

Past recipients of the Dick Dyer Community Service Award include:

James H. Willson (1990), C. Scott Mayfield (1991), William Sullins (1992), Jane Webb Higgins (1994), Lawrence Roseberry (1995), William Grater (1996), Milnor Jones (1997), J. Ross Dodson (1999),  George R. Price (2000), Harold “Prof” Powers (2001), Joseph F. Jaquish (2002), Dixie Liner (2003), Bryan Jackson (2004), Floyd “Jack” Bowling (2005), Jo Fleming (2006), Ralph Baldwin (2007), Charles “Buddy” Liner (2008), Pastor Kern Eschette (2009), Priscilla Cornwell (2010), Linda Garza (2011), Mintie Willson (2012), Frank Davis (2013), Joe Riley (2014), Ray Johnson (2015), Mary Brown (2016), Ben Wilson (2017), Jeff Brandon (2018), Carole Haynes (2019), Debbie Harrison (2020) and Rusty Rollins (2021).