The Mariemont Alumni Association and the Mariemont School Foundation presented the recipients of Mariemont High School’s annual Distinguished Alumni Award on Friday, September 24, as part of the Mariemont High School homecoming celebration. The award recognizes Mariemont High School graduates of at least 10 years who have notably distinguished themselves by extraordinary contributions and/or remarkable accomplishments in their chosen career; skill, trade or business; in civic duties; in military service; in philanthropy; in volunteerism; in the arts; in the sciences; in education; in religion; or any other field, endeavor or pursuit.

 

The 2021 recipients are Jeff Proctor (class of 1072), Doug Proctor (class of 1973) and Dave Arnold (class of 1972). The eighth class of recipients was selected from nominations submitted to a committee of Mariemont School Foundation (MSF) board members. Past honorees include a variety of truly distinguished alumni, such as Jeffrey Anderson, Marie Huenefeld, Mark Lippert, and James Verdin.

 

The white-water rafting industry has brought tourism and a whole new life to the state of West Virginia. Three friends from Mariemont High School have worked to create and build that industry from the ground up. They began with a love of rafting and the beauty of The New River Gorge in Fayette County, now a National Park.

 

Jeff Proctor, class of 1972, Doug Proctor, class of 1973, and Dave Arnold, class of 1972, cultivated this passion for rafting and the outdoors since the 1980's, putting West Virginia on the map with what has become a multi-million-dollar industry for the state.  In 1978 they created Class VI (http://www.class-vi.com/), that is one of the fastest growing whitewater rafting outfitters in the nation and has made the pursuit of excellence its development cornerstone. In 1991 Class VI won “The Entrepreneur of the Year” for the service sector in West Virginia, a national award program with Ernst & Young, Inc. Magazine and Merrill-Lynch.  In 1997 the three were named one of ten “Who’s Who in West Virginia Business” by The State Journal.  After 33 years ownership and management, Class VI merged with Adventure Mountain River and the Rivermen to form Adventure WV, LLC, known as Adventures On The Gorge.

Dave Arnold is a Founding Partner of Adventures on the Gorge. His love of West Virginia and its beautiful rivers motivate him to make the best possible choices for West Virginia. Dave has been an integral part in building tourism in West Virginia. He served on the West Virginia Tourism Commission for more than twenty years, through six governors, and was Chair under Governor Wise. He is currently a member of the Federal Reserve Bank’s roundtable for WV and additionally chaired the WV Hospitality and Tourism Association for 12 years.  He serves on the WV Economic Development Authority, part of which successfully attracted the Boy Scouts Summit Bechtel Reserve High Adventure Base, National Scout Camp Training Center.

 

Dave also spent many years working to achieve National Park status for the New River Gorge and is currently working to change the name to The New River Gorge National Park now that it has been successfully approved.

 

In an effort to help bring tourism and increase revenue to the region, Dave has also started focusing on development of lodging and restaurants to create a resort theme. The effort has paid off and industry revenue and employment has been going up.

 

Dave has a son named Jeffrey who lives in Denver, Colorado, and has been married to his wife, Peggy, since 1982.   Peggy taught in the West Virginia public school system for 25 years. They still have a family farm in Fayetteville, Ohio (Brown Co),  that has been in the family since 1939.

 

Jeff Proctor is a founding director of Class VI River Runners, Inc in Lansing, West Virginia.   In Jeff’s earlier role, he oversaw digital marketing, reservation system and software and IT duties.  Post merger, Jeff continued to serve on the Management team as the COO, which oversaw a $10 million expansion, including 100 cabins, three restaurants, pool, TreeTops Canopy Tour and an assortment of adventure activities. Jeff managed the reservation staff, resort management, maintenance and grounds, food service and most expansion capital projects.  He continued to assist staff who book vacation packages including meals, lodging and activities, the day-to-day operations and the quality and maintenance of the 240 acre campus.

 

Jeff received his B.S. in Forestry from the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana and served on the Board of Directors of America Outdoors, the National Outfitter Association from 1992-1998.  He served on a three-year term (1999-2001) and completed serving a second two-year term on the Whitewater Commission, which oversees West Virginia’s commercial rafting industry.  Jeff is presently on his fifth term and is Chairman for the Fayette County Urban Renewal Authority and the acting representative for the West Virginia Secretary of Commerce on the WV Broadband Enhancement Council.  An Eagle Scout, Jeff is giving back to the Boy Scouts of America by serving as the Chairman of Advancement for the Seneca District of the Buckskin Counsel.

 

Jeff retired from Adventures On The Gorge July 1, 2018.  Since that time, as a volunteer, he has focused his energy on Broadband.  As a member of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council and Fayette County Urban Renewal Authority, Jeff has worked tirelessly to expand broadband in the State and Fayette County.

 

Jeff started working in the whitewater industry in the early 70’s as a kayak and canoe counselor at Camp Falling Creek in Tuxedo, North Carolina.  In the late 70’s he guided professionally and in 1978 started Class VI with his three other partners.  Jeff has run rivers from Alaska to Chile.

Jeff married Janet MacKay in 1980 and has two sons, Carter, age 33 and Cullen age 27.  Both their sons are Eagle Scouts too.

 

Doug began canoeing in 1964 through the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in Terrace Park. He canoed in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina. In 1966, he joined Morgan’s Canoe Trails for a two-week Daniel Boone canoe trip in Kentucky and he became an Eagle Scout in 1969.  These activities, along with family camping trips helped set the direction for his career in the outdoors.

 

Doug’s first rafting trip on the New River was in 1970 while in high school and he would later start guiding raft tours on the New and Gauley Rivers in 1977. He was a founding owner of Class VI River Runners, Inc in Lansing, WV in 1978. Doug coined the name “Class VI” after the classification of the rapids, which exemplifies the quality, service and products he has believed in offering since its inception. His primary responsibility was finance and accounting, risk management and raft operations. As one the founding members of Adventures on the Gorge, LLC, located in Lansing WV, Doug assisted with his specialty areas of risk management and human resources from 2008-2015. In 2012 he was given a 35-years of Exemplary Service Award from America Outdoors in the outfitting industry.

 

Doug volunteered his time to the Fayette County Transition Team (county zoning and planning) from 1999-2013; he served as Fayette County Chamber of Commerce Board member in 1998, Vice President in 1999, President in 2000 and Past President in 2001. He served on the Board of the Directors of the New River Convention and Visitors Bureau in 1999-2001 as well as President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer of WV Professional Outfitters from 1999-2008. Doug worked with youth as a coach from 1995-1999 and volunteered as a leader with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts between 2002-2014.

 

Doug has run rivers in Alaska, Chile, Costa Rica, Texas, Canada, Colorado River, in the Grand Canyon and Cataract Canyon, the Green River in Utah, Middle Fork, Main Salmon, Lower Salmon and Selway in Idaho. He has rafted most of the rivers in West Virginia and the Eastern United States.

 

Doug attended Terrace Park Elementary School and graduated from Mariemont High School in 1973. He obtained a Bachelors Degree in Business and Accounting from Wittenberg University in 1977 and is now one of the founding owners of Selway River Adventures, LLC rafting on the Selway River in Idaho. He started this company in 2018 and still loves guiding river trips, as he has done for 45 years! Selway was one of the first rivers included in the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.  He currently resides in Stanley, Idaho, with his wife, Cathy.