NCF Collects Donations at Mission Oaks Candle Lighting

An East Ridge Christmas tradition continued on Monday evening as the residents of Mission Oaks held its Candle Lighting event.

Representatives from the East Ridge Needy Child Fund were at the main entrance to the subdivision and collected donations to assist in helping those less fortunate in our community.

For decades homeowners in the 145-home subdivision have decorated the exterior of their homes accented with candles. Officials with the Mission Oaks Community Club said that more than 3,000 candles will be used for the event. The event is funded entirely by residents through annual donations.

The event allowed people to drive through the hills of the neighborhood and enjoy the festive holiday atmosphere.

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.