Lions Club All-Star Game Founder Milt Dickerson Passes Away

Longtime Western New York high school football supporter and Kensington Lions Club game chairman Milt Dickerson has died after battling a brief illness, Section VI Football chairman Ken Stoldt told the media Wednesday.

Dickerson, along with the late Gene Zinni and Harry R. Chambers, had run the Kensington Lions Club All-Star High School Football Classic since its inception in 1976.

“Milt was one of the guys at the top of a short list that really dedicates themselves to their football community,” Stoldt told WNY Athletics. “He was very passionate, sincere and most of all a humble man. He’s done so much behind the scenes for kids that people will never know.”

The annual game, which features players who have recently graduated from high school, has become a marquee day on the calendar for WNY high school football, marking the end of one season with the promise of the next season right around the corner.

Proceeds from the game have gone to many charitable causes including the Lions Club Scholarship program (1976-2000) and Kids Escaping Drugs.

“Most of us don’t realize what it takes to put the game together,” Stoldt said. “To select coaches, put together rosters, get physicals lined up. He put on a banquet for the players and parents the night before the game. There’s so much that goes into that game that most people don’t realize.”

But Dickerson’s presence in high school football wasn’t limited to late August. He was involved in various organizations as such as the WNY Football Coaches’ Association, the Western New York Amateur Football Alliance and its Junior Combine.

“If there was a football event going on, Milt usually had something to do with it,” Stoldt said.

Last fall, Stoldt and his committee honored Dickerson by dedicating the program at the Section VI Football Championships to him.