This letter is submitted on behalf of the undersigned in support of an initiative to name the Henry County High School baseball field in honor of the Paris Thunder, a youth team that claimed the facility as their home for over a decade.

Throughout their years of operation, the Thunder roster was strongly comprised of Henry County High School graduates, and the players and their families have remained active and involved members of our local community. Apart from the team’s athletic success, the families and supporters of the team were instrumental in resurrecting and rehabilitating the field and setting it upon the path of becoming the facility it is today.

Prior to 1996, the field had spent many years as a multi-purpose facility for physical education classes and as a practice field for the HCHS football team. The ballpark featured no dugouts, no bleachers, no press box, the fencing was badly damaged, unpainted and in a state of general disrepair. Through months of restoration, the Thunder opened the 1996 season at the field and hosted numerous games and tournaments in the years that followed.

In early 1999, the parents and supporters of the team led an initiative to install permanent lighting at the facility. This addition greatly enhanced the utility and aesthetic nature of the ballpark and allowed the high school team to once again host night games on campus.

Today, the HCHS baseball facility is the envy of other schools in our district and throughout the region. While the finished product represents the collective efforts of the school district, the athletic department, boosters and supporters, it started as an empty patch of shaggy grass and cracked dirt. While the surrounding ballpark may go on to bear the name of individual players or coaches or simply the school itself, we request that the playing surface, the dirt, the grass, the memories, carry the name of the team that made it a home.

Sincerely,

The Players, Family, and Supporters of the Paris Thunder