Families and communities coming together and working toward a common goal is what makes a place special. In Elk City the passion and support for the athletic programs cannot be understated. VYPE Magazine recently spoke with one very passionate and dedicated mother of Elk City student-athletes, Selena Dixon, about her role within the community and volunteer efforts through Elk City Athletics. Her youngest son Holden is a current member of the Elk City Football team, the track and field team, and is planning on playing golf in the spring. Holden is the third member of the Dixon family to participate in Elk City Athletics. When Selena isn’t assisting with Elk City schools she and her family enjoy spending time with friends and family and taking vacations to the beach. 

How long have you and your family lived in Elk City and what is your favorite thing about the people, school, or community?  

We moved to Elk City in 2005 for my job as a pediatric nurse practitioner.  We raised all three of our kids in Elk City Public Schools.  I love how all of the businesses and people in the community support the schools and kids in our community.  I also like the small town atmosphere, where most people know you and your kids and will watch out for your kids.

Can you tell us about your other children and what activities have they been involved in through Elk City Athletics?  

I have a daughter Hayley who is 24 years old, she is married to her high school sweetheart.  She was a football trainer and played tennis in high school and Shayne, her husband, played football and basketball in high school and is now one of the high school football coaches. They have a baby girl Landry who I enjoy babysitting and spending time with. My middle son Karsen is 22 and played football and baseball in high school.  He actually was also starting center his sophomore-senior years until he had a few concussions his senior year which ended his football career.  

Can you tell us about some of the things you do to assist with the booster club or other Elk City volunteer programs?

My husband, Toby and I were part of the original three families who started the current football booster program more than 10 years ago.  The other families were Don and Lory Kerr (who have moved to Edmond) and Ronnie and Leah Redd.  At the time we started it the only booster program was  “All Sports” which supported all the school sports.  The football coach at the time told us that because there are so many kids in the football program it would be better to separate from “all sports” and start our own booster club.  I agreed to be secretary and have been doing that ever since. 

We had a 5k run 3-4 years in a row to raise money for the booster club, we also have advertising signs and banners that we sell to raise money, we support the kids fundraisers which are usually sending out letters and selling football discount cards. We usually have a parent, this year it is Jamae Davis, assigned to reach out to businesses in the community to help us feed the players after home games, then we organize food to be delivered to away games.  In the beginning we used to have a tailgate and feed the community by cooking out hot dogs before games.

Over the past 3-4 years our booster president Michael Price has organized food trucks to come out and sell food before and during the games then those businesses donate 10% of their profit to the junior class concession stand.

We also set up a “tailgate atmosphere” with tables and chairs and corn hole boards and a TV that plays season highlights in front of the stadium for home games.  This year we have several parents including Leah Redd, Beth Holliday, Tana Green, and Kathy Mayfield who organize food and snacks for the kids for the bus ride for away games. Our senior parents do a lot for the team and for the senior kids. Typically a parent, the past several years it has been Leah Redd, who organizes a t-shirt fundraiser and we sell extra t-shirts before the home games.  

I also take pictures on the sidelines during the High school games and post them to our football booster Facebook page.  I’m really proud of all the parents and boosters who support our program.  If it wasn’t for the businesses and families in our community we wouldn’t be where we are today especially Culver Electric, Brandon and Jill Culver have been a huge part of the football booster club since the beginning too.  The Culvers as well as the school and several other businesses in the community helped us get a new speaker this past year and helped us install it.  We have been able to remodel the field house and purchase new lockers for the team, we buy new helmets every year and recondition the old ones, we have purchased uniforms several times over the years, we also offer scholarships for eligible players and trainers each year.  

Honestly I don’t do all of these things. It is a huge group effort and couldn’t be accomplished without all the other parents and boosters. I do this for my kids and the kids in the football program, I don’t volunteer to get recognition.

What would you say to other parents who are interested in volunteering but aren’t sure how to get involved?

Truthfully you just need to show up to the meetings and volunteer to help. As a booster club we always have volunteer positions, whether you help sell t-shirts or organize food or snacks, or organize the banquet, get donations of bottled water, etc.  My mother was a stay at home mom and was always involved in my stuff when I was growing up.  Since I work a full time job I always felt guilty that I couldn’t be at the school much to help when the kids were in elementary school but I felt like this was something I could do even with my job.