Back in town this past January to accept his Class of 2024 entry into the Hopkinsville High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Tommy Wade found himself nostalgic and reminiscent of all the good times he has had in Christian County.
All the basketball he played, and later coached.
All the running around with friends and family.
All the hours alongside his mom and dad, Tom and Wanda, and a 45-year legacy run as proprietors of a prolific, popular men’s clothing store.
He drove past the hallowed grounds where the Walnut Street Stadium once stood, a place he hooted and hollered for legendary state-champion Tigers on the gridiron, and later himself played Little League Football.
And it’s there, on that little jaunt down memory lane near Central Avenue, where the campus profile of the Boys & Girls Club of Hopkinsville and Christian County caught his eye.
He knew not its contents, nor its personnel, but that changed one day when he randomly walked in — and held a lengthy conversation and took a tour with its Executive Director Terrence Davis.
After a few more conversations with Davis, Baird Private Wealth Management and several other noted parties of interest, Wade said it became emotionally clear what needed to be done.
Something had been weighing on Wade’s mind.
So, he vowed to fund a complete renovation of the central gathering space.
Already underway, Wade Family Gymnasium will grant club members of all ages access to a facility that has new LED lighting, new scoreboards, new sideline chairs, new paint, new basketball goals, new bleachers, new signage, a new scorer’s table and a new wooden “Tom & Wanda Wade Floor.”
To put it more simply: Wade is bought in on the club’s mission, and he wanted to memorialize his parents the right way.
Davis said Wade’s generosity will obviously improve the club’s basketball and meeting hall experience, but will also allow the introduction of new sports such as volleyball, pickleball and archery.
Molded somewhat in the image of Tigers Gymnasium, Wade and Davis said everything will be orange and black, and a lone window will have a shadowbox filled with small relics paying homage to HHS history.
Having retired from Jacksonville State University men’s basketball, and a lengthy coaching career in general, this past November, Wade said he’s going to make even more time for Hopkinsville, Christian County and its youth.
The renovation is expected to be finished by mid-June.
