Fund honors late band director

By Staff
Lead Gore, Hartselle Enquirer
For years Dexter Greenhaw helped students make beautiful music. Now, friends of the late Hartselle High School band director are working to help music students continue their dreams in honor of Greenhaw’s memory.
The Dexter Greenhaw Memorial Scholarship has been established at First American Bank. Money raised will go to fund a scholarship for a graduating music student from Hartselle High School.
Greenhaw directed Hartselle High School’s band from 1994 until his retirement due to illness in 2004. He died March 14 after a long battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 52.
Greenhaw’s work with the music program included starting the Southern Hospitality Marching Festival held in Hartselle each October. He and his wife, Cindy, also created the award-winning HHS Color Guard program and led the school’s bands to superior ratings at marching and concert festivals.
But it was his work off the field that made the true difference, according to friend and fellow teacher Jerome Ward.
Ward said Greenhaw was able to look past a student’s struggles and always offer an encouraging word.
Ward said Greenhaw’s influence led him to become an educator, influencing the next generation of students.
“I worked with him for ten years and he was my neighbor while he lived in Hartselle. Without his encouragement, I may have never become an educator. For Dexter, the job provided much more than a paycheck. His reward came from seeing the students succeed and learn. He was always doing for others, and when I last saw him a day before his death, he was still encouraging me. Although he struggled to talk, he asked about the students and people of Hartselle. He said to me, “Hartselle has good people. Good people.”
Anyone wishing to donate to the Greenhaw Scholarship fund may do so at First American Bank or at the front office at Hartselle High. Checks may also be mailed to Hartselle Band Boosters, P.O. Box 672, Hartselle, AL 35640.