A group of former Atlanta Falcons stars and coach Leeman Bennett will be in Chattanooga on Thursday for dinner and “Locker Room Conversation” at Blue Water Grill. William Andrews, Bobby Butler, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson and Gerald Riggs Sr. will join linebacker Buddy Curry to help raise money for Curry’s “Kids and Pros” organization that provides youth football camp opportunities throughout the South, including Chattanooga. The cost for the 6-9 p.m. event is $75. After dinner the old pros will swap stories and take time for autographs and photos with fans, according to Joe Smith, one of the local organizers. “It’s going to be a very entertaining evening,” Smith said, adding that reservations are not necessary.
Deaths
• The funeral service for longtime Soddy-Daisy assistant softball coach Lamar Lasley is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at Middle Valley Baptist Church. Family visitation is 2-8 p.m. today at the church and one hour before the funeral service. Lasley, who has helped with the Lady Trojans the past 16 years and also at Loftis Middle and other schools and with summer teams throughout the years, died Monday at age 60. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to the SDHS and Loftis softball teams.
• Tommy Runyon, the Central High School head football coach from 1971 to ’76 between stints as an assistant at Red Bank, died Sunday at age 72 and will be buried today at Hamilton Memorial Gardens. A service is set for 11 a.m., but there is no visitation. Runyon played football at Marion County High School and Georgia and began his coaching career at Sequatchie County in 1964. He was an assistant principal at Ooltewah and then Red Bank from 1986 until ’95. “Tommy Runyon was one of the most inspirational men in my life, and he’ll be sorely missed,” said Alan Pressley, a Central team captain in ’76.
Baseball