Boys & Girls Club welcomed first group of youngsters on Tuesday

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Tuesday afternoon marked a momentous occasion in Campbell County with the opening of the first Boys & Girls Club in LaFollette at the Dewey Hunter Center. Kids started showing up around 3 pm, excited to see what the after-school programming was all about.

Games, snacks and a safe environment could be found inside, along with the club’s new director Jordan Goins and several youth development associates who got the fun started with snacks.

Campbell County’s Club is the 26th Boys and Girls Club of Tennessee Valley and according to organizers, “has been a long-time dream of many in the county.”

Campbell County General Sessions Judge Bill Jones, along with board member Rae Lawson, attended the opening at the Dewey Hunter Center at 3pm on Tuesday.

“This is a proud day for Campbell County and a proud day to be a Campbell Countian. This program came together because of the hard work of everybody in our community; the donations, the work, everything, this was homegrown. This has been a dream come true,” Judge Jones said.

Jones and other community members have spearheaded the establishment of the club over the past two and a half years, though, according to Jones, “establishing a club has been a long-time goal and dream of many.”

Jones said the Boys and Girls Club will serve the children of the county for years to come and will have a huge impact on the children in the community.

The mission of the club is to “inspire and enable all young people, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”

Boys and Girls Clubs are known to show measurable improvements within the community. Clubs are open 240 to 250 days a year, have highly trained staff and can provide positive outcomes in academic success and much more. The clubs provide summer activities, Arts programs, Emotional and Social Health Programs, Cooking Clubs, garden clubs, pre-k programs, nutrition initiatives, Youthforce programs for paid internships, technical training camps and so much more.

“The kids see this as a safe place, a constant, stable everyday place they can count on, to rely on after school and when school is not in session where they see the same adults, see the same kids and they don’t have to worry about anything, they can just come here and relax and let loose. That kind of thing has a huge impact on children, children like a routine, they like consistence and the Boys and Girls Club helps provide that,” Jones said.

Judge Jones gave a shout out to Campbell County’s Boys & Girls Club board members, including John Snodderly who is over the LaFollette Housing Authority.

“John works in everything, I don’t know how he gets time to do what he does, he is a machine, he has worked tirelessly to make this happen, I am very grateful to him. We have a great board of directors who have all worked so hard with our fundraising events, Brandon Johnson has been instrumental, Linda Prim, Nancy and Bill Thompson, Chris Thomas, Jamie Wheeler, Rayma Daugherty, and Rae Lawson, they have all been integral,” Jones said.

He also thanked the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tennessee Valley for “all their help in the process, with a special shout out to Bart McFadden, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley.

“They have been amazing to work with, some of these people had never been to Campbell County in their lives and they have worked tirelessly to make this happen in a community that is not theirs, they have made it theirs, they have come up here over and over again, Bart McFadden was determined this was going to happen, he wouldn’t let us fail and I can never thank him enough as I long as I live, Bart McFadden is a rock star and we are very grateful to him,” Jones said.

Jones also complimented the Boys and Girls Club Director Jordan Goins who was hired for the position in September.

“She has been absolutely wonderful; I am very glad she has joined us. She hit the ground running, and we are very grateful for Jordan and have no doubt that it will be successful with her running it,” Jones said.

Goins, who was born and raised in Campbell County, said she was excited for the club to be officially open and to hear the kids enjoying themselves on day one.

“This is important because it gives the kids another place to go to after school and during breaks. It will be good for the community because parents are working and they want somewhere they can trust for their kids to go and be safe and continue to learn and build different life skills,” Goins said. The Dewey Hunter Center Boys and Girls Club location has the capacity to have about 60 kids in its program.

 Jones said it was wonderful how the whole community came together to make the club happen and that the future looked bright.

“We want to build on the success we have here. Having this club available for our children is so important and will have a huge impact, just having one person in a child’s life that they can rely on that is a positive influence can a have a life changing impact,” Jones said.

The Boys and Girls Club of Campbell County is open Monday through Friday from when school lets out until 6 pm and on non-school days Monday through Friday such as when school is canceled, it is open from 7 am to 6 pm and closed on the weekends.

For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, call 865.232.1200 or email info@bgctnv.org. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-01/07/2026-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)