Rainy Weather Hinders Heritage Festival

HUNTINGDON (September 28) — Rain dampened but did not cancel the 31st Annual Huntingdon Heritage Festival. Rains from the remnants of Hurricane Helene devastated portions of East Tennessee and dropped about four inches of rain in northwest Tennessee.

The main-stage events were relocated from the street on the Court Square to the main stage of The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center. Many of the exhibits were moved to basement of The Dixie, former Southern Chiropractic building and the First Baptist Church. The annual Carroll Arts Storytelling event continued in the Public Safety Building.

Attendance at the annual event was significantly lower as light rains persisted throughout the day.

Main stage entertainers were Fisher Stokes, Wallace and Company and former Miss America Kellye Cash, who headlined the entertainment.

The event included Eden’s Echo Wildlife Education, Ray Moore Magician, and information from the Carroll County Library.

Mayor Nina Smothers honored the Dewey and June Pritchard Family as the Pioneer Family. The Citizen of the Year was Denise Tucker.

Denise Tucker:
Denise Tucker was honored as the 2024 Outstanding Citizen. This award goes to an individual who has dedicated many years of service to the community.

Denise was born in Huntingdon at Dr. Gidden’s Clinic. She has lived here her whole life except for a brief stint in Ohio. Her parents were Warren and Naomi Jarrett. Her dad worked for Ford Motor Co in Memphis but was transferred to Ohio where they lived until he passed away in 1965. That led the family back to Huntingdon. She has one brother, Bob Jarrett, who resides in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Denise has two daughters, Jill and Brittney. Jill is married to Blake Courtney, and has four sons – Colton, Tucker, Hudson, and Jax. The family travels a lot together, and they are typically looking for the best running route wherever they go.

Denise’s family is her life.

Denise has worked at Norandal/now Gränges for 45 years. It was never her plan to work there, and actually she did not want to work there. But for some reason, Gene Burden lured her in. She said that she is not sure she would have stayed this long had it not been for the things she learned from him. She started in Personnel with Mr. Burden, then was promoted to Customer Service Representative, Scheduling and Planning. She is now a Senior Account Manager in the company’s outside Sales group.

Denise worked with her two best friends – Jan Scarbrough and Donna Thomason for almost 40 years.

She likes to work out and has a love/hate relationship with running. It has been a big part of her family over the years. She loves when it is over and it does make you feel good. Denise said that any activity makes you feel good. This belief led Denise to being talked into teaching an exercise class at First Baptist Church in 2000 and she has been at it ever since. She went to Barnett’s 24/7 when they opened and has been at E3 Fitness Center since they opened. She believes that nothing is better than seeing people do things they don’t think they can but are happy when they do. The exercise class is supposed to meet twice a week, but life and stuff has a tendency to intervene. Denise loves her group at the gym too!

In 2009, Denise, a few friends and her daughter decided to run the St. Jude half marathon. None of them had ever committed to that distance before. They really did not know anything about that weekend, the race, or anything else about it…except they had to run 13.1 miles and had three months to prepare. They all survived!

In 2010, they formed their hero team, Triple A. Originally, Triple A stood for All About Alex for Alex Reiter, son of Ron and Amanda. They quickly added Andrew Barger Jones, son of Keisha when he was also diagnosed with cancer. Denise shared that Triple A really stands for all kids, A – Z, that have had to face cancer.

The first year of Triple A, her team had a hefty goal of $2,000 to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. They raised $12,626 that year. Since 2010, they have raised over $500,000 by holding 5Ks, selling food and shirts, hosting car shows, and even begging! Little did she know that jumping forward to 2024, she would still be at it. Denise said none of this would have been possible except for the family and friends that have supported the group over the years.

Pritchard Family — Pioneer Family Award:
This award goes to a family that has dedicated many years to our Town, this year’s recipient is The Dewey and June Pritchard Family.

Pioneer Family
Dewey and June Pritchard were named as the Pioneer Family. Dewey was born and raised in Huntingdon. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army. He served as a medic in Belgium during The Battle of the Bulge and served under General George Patton. After the war, he returned to Huntingdon. He and June Kee of Clarksburg were married on June 12, 1948, and began their life together in Huntingdon.

During their 40-year marriage, they were blessed with six children: Jimmy Pritchard, Debra Twyman, Pam Pritchard, Pat Dillahunty, Rhonda Pritchard, and Stephanie Warbritton. The family always believed that June kept having more kids to try to have a brother for Jimmy, but that never worked out for him.

Dewey worked hard to support his family of eight while June stayed home to care for the children. She was a wonderful cook who grew much of the food the family ate and sewed many of the clothes the kids wore. June was also a faithful member of the Huntingdon Church of Christ where she taught Bible classes and never missed an opportunity to attend services. She died at the age of 58 to cancer in 1989. Dewey died in 2005 at the age of 82.

All six Pritchard siblings are graduates of Huntingdon High School which was a great source of pride for Dewey and June since neither Dewey or June graduated from high school. All six are also college graduates.

Jimmy is a retired teacher and coach after 40 years in education with 35 of those years teaching and coaching in Huntingdon. You can still catch him at E3 Fitness if you want to discuss some football.

Debra is also a retired teacher with 34 years of teaching all at Huntingdon Primary School.

Pam retired in 2020 after 45 years as a registered nurse and resides in Portland, Oregon.

Pat is a retired educator and superintendent with 33 years of service and is the owner of Small Town Blessings in Huntingdon.

Rhonda is a retired teacher with 35 years of service, with 18 years in Paris and 17 at Huntingdon Middle School.

Stephanie is the only one who is not retired, and she is the administrator of AHC McKenzie. Hopefully she’ll have a wing ready in the nursing home for her older siblings in the future.

Jimmy, Debra, Pat and Rhonda are now all retired teachers with over 142 years of service among them with 120 of those years serving the Huntingdon Special School District. June always said she wanted to be a teacher. Her kids carried out that wish for her and two of her grandchildren are continuing that service currently in the Huntingdon schools. In fact, there has been at least one Pritchard working in the Huntingdon Special School District every year since 1973. That’s over 50 years and counting.

Dewey and June were also blessed with 10 grandchildren: Beth Pritchard Guess, Nick Pritchard, Jennifer Twyman King, Brent Dillahunty, Kyle Dillahunty, Cliff Dillahunty, Brenna Ori, Tyler Warbritton, Jake Warbritton, and Brady Warbritton. Yes, if the Dillahunty brothers and the Warbritton brothers make you think of Huntingdon athletes, the family is proud to say they are half Pritchard! The Pritchard family line continues with 17 great-grandchildren. June and Dewey would be very proud to know that many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are continuing to live in Huntingdon.

The Pritchard family has always known about the importance of hard work and service. Among the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, there are teachers, coaches, librarian, school and nursing home administrators, college professor, doctor, physician’s assistant, nurse, general manager, industrial supervisor and worker, and a lawyer.

Dewey and June Pritchard lived a very simple life here in Huntingdon. They worked to make ends meet and to raise their family. Times were often difficult, as with a lot of families, but they did the best they could to ensure that their family had what they needed.

The children knew the value of hard work, education, and family. In fact, to this day, they still see that life is best lived when you base your life on love of God, love of family, and love of community. They shared that they are truly a blessed family.

To the Pritchard family, we thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our community. Your dedication and love for this town is evident by your tireless efforts throughout the years.