DD Lewis, Tim Irwin and Eddie Brown (Judge Tim Irwin, a former Boys & Girls Clubs of the TN Valley club kid served as the master of ceremonies. Irwin, a football star at the University of Tennessee and later with the Minnesota Vikings, serves Knox County as a judge and also serves on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley. Irwin is a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Hall of Fame. Eddie Brown, board volunteer of the Boys & Girls Club of Greeneville & Greene County, was honored as the Beverly Burton Tennessee New Board Member of the Year Award.)

KNOXVILLE - Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley (BGCTNV) alumnus D.D. Lewis received honors from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Tennessee Area Council at its annual membership meeting in Pigeon Forge recently. Lewis and four other new members were inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee Hall of Fame for their lifetime achievements at the Tennessee Area Council Awards and Hall of Fame dinner. The Tennessee Area Council is made up of over 70 Club sites from across the state.

Lewis is an alumnus of BGCTNV, a graduate of Fulton High School and Mississippi State University. He was an outstanding football player in high school, college and the National Football League as linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys.

Lewis started the first fundraising event for the Boys Club with the D.D. Lewis Celebrity Golf Tournament in 1979. In addition to the revenue raised for this event, he helped the Club raise awareness through marketing celebrities who participated in the tournament. Celebrities such as Archie Campbell, John Dotton, Larry Cox, Cas Walker, Big John Tate, Charlie Waters, Ron Widby, Chuck Ramsey, Larry Seivers, Judge Tim Irwin, Pat Ryan, Jimmy Streater, Steve Spurrier, Johnny Majors, and Michael Jordon played in the tournament over the course of the tournament’s 21 years. In 1999, with his support, the name of the tournament was changed to the Phillip Fulmer Golf Classic which celebrated its 15th anniversary this year.

“D.D. Lewis has always looked for opportunities to support us,” said BGCTNV’s VP of Corporate Relations Ernie Brooks. “He is certainly one of our most outstanding alumni.”

D.D. Lewis often shares his life’s journey with youth groups and has done a number of free speeches for Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. He is retired from Con Agra Corporation, a major supplier of farming chemicals. Lewis is married to Diane Walters. They have two daughters, Melna and Victoria, and one son Brook Barnes.

Published November 8, 2014