DIXFIELD – Barbara Chow was shocked when fellow Dirigo Athletics Booster Tom Child unveiled the name of the new concession stand at Harlow Field on Friday afternoon.

It reads, “Cougars Chow House,” with her first name written above Chow.

“I am totally surprised,” she said. “I wondered why the tarp was there.”

And just a couple of days ago, she had said that her time working in the concession stand made her feel like she had her own little restaurant. Now, she does.

Child, vice president of the Boosters who was in charge of getting the building constructed, along with more than two dozen other volunteers, have been working on the 24- by 24-foot white with blue trim building for more than a year.

Chow, a member of the Boosters since 1992, and president of the club, has given hundreds of hours helping to raise money and working in the stand during Dirigo High School games.

That was what she was doing Friday afternoon when the tarp was removed. The Dirigo varsity boys soccer team was playing the Livermore Falls team, and the Dirigo varsity and junior varsity girls field hockey teams were playing the Jay teams.

Besides being an active Booster, Chow served on the SAD 21 board for more than a dozen years, several as chairwoman.

Volunteering comes naturally to her.

“My mother was always involved, my sister is in the PTO. It runs in the family,” she said.

She joined the Boosters when her nephew was a freshman, then remained through the graduations of her two children, and expects to still be there through more nephews and nieces.

She likes to be near the athletes.

“I was an athlete and always liked doing sports. I like to be near the high school kids and get to know them,” she said.

Child said Low Key Customs in Mexico, owned by Matt Pingree, created the blue sign with white lettering.

The stand has all the equipment needed to produce or store food during games, two handicapped-accessible bathrooms and a ticket booth facing the gate to the fields, Child said. It replaces an older, smaller one.

The town appropriated $8,900 from the Ione Harlow Fund toward the building’s construction. Most of the labor was donated, and the Boosters raised at least $3,000 for equipment and other needs.