ERHS Football 'Spirit Night' at McDonald's

East Ridge High football coach Tim James is inviting all Pioneer football fans to the McDonald’s on Ringgold Road Tuesday evening for “Spirit Night.”

James, in a Facebook post, said the Pioneer football team, coaches and cheerleaders will be at the McDonald’s from 5 to 7 p.m. and is urging all supporters of the team to come out and have dinner with them. A portion of the restaurant’s sales will be donated to the football program.

In addition, Coach James said he intends to unveil “the new look” for the Pioneers. There has been some speculation in recent weeks that East Ridge will return to its roots _ at least uniform wise _ with the traditional orange and white color scheme.

Coach James is the son of former East Ridge Coach Raymond James, whom the stadium at Shanks Field is named. The home stands were condemned last summer and razed in December.

Last week Hamilton County school officials said they would take more than $900,000 from its reserve fund and devote to making improvements to seven of its schools’ athletic facilities. A portion of that money will go toward rebuilding home-side stands at East Ridge.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.