Fans and friends of the Moline Maroons are invited to Wharton Field House from 6-8 p.m. Thursday to celebrate the birthday of a beloved, longtime fixture at Moline High School.

Dexter “Dex” Johnson, 1972 MHS graduate, is a Maroons super-fan who never misses a game. He will be the guest of honor at his 70th birthday party.

East Moline Coach Marty Mahieu graduated in 1980, and says Johnson has been a fixture for a long time.

“At half time he’s out there on the floor pushing the mop to make sure that it’s clean,” Mahieu said. “He is very, very precise and very, very meticulous.”

“You get too much dust on that surface, somebody could slip and fall,” Johnson says..

Johnson has always had kids surrounding him. “He is very much loved by everybody,” Mahieu said.

“They interact with me pretty good here, really good,” Johnson said. “We visit and stuff and then watch the games.”

“I think it means the world to Dexter, because he has meant the world to so many of us,” Maheiu said. “I ‘think he’ll keep pushing that broom until maybe, I’m hoping, 80, 85, 90.”

Johnson says he will keep working “As long a I can, I guess.”

Happy Joe’s and Whitey’s Ice Cream will provide pizza and ice cream for the party. Guests are invited to bring cards or sign two huge cards that Moline High School art students created.