According to the program left at each attendee's seat, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball coach Jim Foster officially was listed as the guest speaker for the Orange Grove Center's annual Lunch for Champions on Friday.
But it was Orange Grove client Roger Freshour who stole the show.
Thirty-two years young and confined to a wheelchair his entire life due to cerebral palsy, Freshour was the centerpiece of an Orange Grove video presentation following Foster's talk. His image beamed to the crowd from a giant screen, Freshour told the audience, "From the first day I stuck my foot in the (Orange Grove Center) door, they treated me like family."
He soon added, his voice a perfect blend of strength, passion and sweetness, as is so often the case with special-needs folks: "They gave me encouragement ... they gave me love. Ever since I've been here it's like a dream come true."
That noise overcoming the Scenic City at that moment was a collection of choked-back tears, trembling lips and purses and blazer jackets being searched for hankies throughout the center's auditorium.
This is not to say that Foster didn't deliver his typical Hall of Fame effort, as thoughtful and entertaining as any of his 838 wins to date.
He brought numerous smiles and chuckles to the crowd with stories regarding his special-needs siblings Judy and Matt, as well as a few memories of the late Henry Davenport, whose "Henry-isms," as Foster calls them -- everything from "Where's the defense?" to "I don't know, you tell me" -- still warm the hearts of everyone who ever knew him, whether they met Davenport at Foster's previous stops at Vanderbilt and Ohio State, or were long touched by Henry's infectious personality here in the Scenic City.
In fact, there may be no better story to illustrate how we sometimes under-appreciate the wit and wisdom of the mentally challenged than Foster's concerning Davenport's consumption of a well-done steak before a Vandy women's game.
The steak cooked just short of shoe leather, Foster asked his friend if he wouldn't prefer something a little juicier, something showing at least a tad bit of pink.
Replied Davenport: "Jim, don't you know that red meat is bad for you?"
Foster also provided a moist-eye moment when he was handed a plaque for his appearance.
Said the coach: "Thank you. I'll hang it in my office, right next to my photo of Henry."
But Freshour's journey, especially his own words concerning that journey, should immediately find their way onto every public relations vehicle Orange Grove uses to tell and sell its story, which began in 1953, before any other community in the Volunteer State.
He's even all but begged the facility to lean on him in its constant need for funds.
"I'd like to help these folks after all they've done for me," he said.
Born two months premature and ravaged by cranial bleeding, Freshour never had a chance to walk and run and jump his way through childhood. But he's fought and scrapped and overcome so many obstacles -- far too many obstacles -- well enough to earn a paycheck at Orange Grove as an expert paper shredder and ball-point-pen maker.
"He treats us to dinner sometimes with the money he makes," said his stepmother, Debbie Freshour. "Red Lobster, usually."
And Roger's favorite Red Lobster meal?
"Lobster dip," he said with a grin. "And shrimp."
But three years ago he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. By the time they discovered it, it had metastasized, spreading to his lymph nodes. An operation was his only hope. Then, in the middle of the surgery, doctors discovered Roger was allergic to latex.
"He almost died on the operating table," Debbie said.
But he somehow survived, his spirit never broken. Or as his sister Ashley McDowell said, "Despite all he went through with cancer, Roger always had a smile on his face."
Now recovered, he regularly collects thousands of tabs from cola cans to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House when he's not working at Orange Grove.
Said Debbie: "Roger's the glue that keeps our family together."
Friday's video done, Roger Freshour suddenly appeared on stage with Foster and local attorney Jerry Summers, quite probably the best friend and advocate Orange Grove ever will have.
"I like to run around on Friday," Roger said with a smile from his wheelchair. "I get to see my girlfriend on Fridays."
His girlfriend's name? Hope, of course.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.