Troy Hooper was drafted in 1990 by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Shorter College and pitched for three years in the minor leagues.
With baseball memorabilia framed behind his desk at Dunlap RV in Ringgold, Hooper talks about wearing a yellow dress, 4-inch heels and doing a ribbon dance this Saturday night at the Ringgold Depot.
"Really makes no sense, does it?" he said with a grin.
Hooper is one of 14 contestants who will take part in the sold-out "Hunks in Heels" fundraiser this weekend to benefit Crossroads Unity Family Park, an in-the-works facility designed for both children and adults with disabilities.
The contestants also include Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk, Ringgold City Councilman Kelly Bomar, an assistant district attorney and a police officer. They will model a formal gown, answer a bank of questions from a panel of all-female judges, and perform a talent while wearing the formal attire.
"My question to give the judges to consider is, 'What would you do to stop a run in your pantyhose?'" said Shay Love, a member of the committee developing the playground. "I ran it by one of the men and he said, 'Duct tape.'"
The playground will be constructed via a community build over seven days in 2021 or 2022 on an acre provided by Ringgold on Emberson Drive at the Ringgold Recreation Complex. Play It Design of Ithaca, New York, has been the project's architects since its early stages in 2015, and will oversee the eventual build.
"How many times have you gone to a park and seen an adult with a disability watching their child or grandchild playing because there was no way for them to join them on the playground?" said Love. "I want people to know that this is going to be a place of healing and coming together."
Legion Street, which connects to Emberson at the site of the eventual playground, will be enhanced as part of the city's long-term downtown redevelopment plan. The park will be dedicated to Catoosa County's Troy Dyer, who died in 2002. The veteran lost both legs in Vietnam and overcame the disability to earn a living as a bricklayer.
"I don't know of another one like it," Lee Archin said of the playground. The co-founder of Play It Design, his firm has designed playgrounds for 25 years, including ones in Afghanistan, Australia and India.
"It will be a multi-generational space with benches facing each other to encourage interaction. The ramps will all be 5 feet wide, wide enough for two wheelchairs."
The centerpiece of the design is a treehouse in the middle of the park. It will have transfer stations at the top so that an adult or child in a wheelchair can lift out of the chair and go down a slide together with another child or adult. The space will feature a "musical instrument sensory station" and be "large enough to host animals from the zoo," said Love. The design also includes an adaptive zipline and swings.
"They are taking the idea of multi-generational space to a whole new level," said Archin. "They are thinking of the children and the caregivers being the ones left on the playground."
Love said the budget for the playground is between $500,000 and $750,000. The exact cost will narrow over the next year as the committee calculates the savings in local labor and donated materials as part of the community-build concept.
In its first few fundraising events, the group has banked $14,000, with no expenses. Love said the long-term fundraising plan will be developed as the Crossroads committee establishes a 501(c)(3) and signage goes up on their site.
"People hear the words 'inclusive playground' and they immediately think about children in wheelchairs - this is going to be so much more," she said.
Hooper's first and last thoughts about the ridicule he and a band of brothers face this weekend is about the heart of the cause.
"It's about what this project will do for so many people," he said.
Though despite the good cause, Hooper said he couldn't think of a worse way to raise money.
"I'm in a dress. What do you think?"
Email Davis Lundy at davislundy@aol.com.