IF YOU GOWhat: Chattanooga Market.When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.Where: First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Carter St.Admission: Free.Contact: 648-2496.Website: www.chattanoogamarket.com
It won't be cicadas you hear at Chattanooga Market on Sunday. It will be the whine of hair clippers shaving heads to raise money for the Children's Hospital Foundation at Erlanger.
People already are volunteering to have their hair buzzed as part of Jack's Chattanoggins, the event at First Tennessee Pavilion named for Signal Mountain 12-year-old Jack Skowronnek, who was inspired to get his head shaved for the first time two years ago by the book "Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie."
In the book, a middle-school student gets his head shaved in solidarity with a younger sibling with cancer.
Jack first had his head shaved two years ago when the family lived in the Chicago area. Donations went to the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers.
His mother's introduction to oncologist Dr. Eric Gratias at last year's event on Signal Mountain and the Children's Hospital Foundation's desire to do a similar fundraiser led to Jack being asked to be the face of the 2011 affair.
Josh Davis, 34, said he's happy to be one of many to have his head shaved at the event.
"When I was 11 years old," he said, "my best friend, Earl Hess, who was 13 years old, died of leukemia. We sang 'Amazing Grace' at his funeral because it was his favorite song. He was a kind and selfless person, and his death had a huge impact on my life."
Cancer also has touched Davis' family since then.
"Seeing Jack Skowronnek's heart for cancer patients at a similar age really touched me," he said, "and my thought was that if I can help support Children's Hospital by shaving my head, it's an easy decision for me to help other Earls out there. Since then, my mom has also survived ovarian cancer and breast cancer, so it continues to be a big part of my life."
Chattanooga Market manager Paul Smith also will have his head shaved.
The fundraising goal for Jack's Chattanoggins (www.JackShaves.org) is $20,000, according to Dawn Skowronnek, Jack's mother and the event organizer.
Emily Lynch will provide musical entertainment.