HCH March 2, 2007 Issue - Chattanooga Bar Association

2 Friday, March 2, 2007 HAMILTON COUNTY HERALD
Hood Continued from page 1
“He said ‘Lynda, do you
realize who you have coming?’
And I said, ‘Oh, sure, a really
good local band, why?’ He said,
‘Lynda, they’re the number-one
band—they won the Country
Music Award.’”
Hood told the chief she
would do whatever was necessary
to make sure everything on
her end was in place. In the end,
they increased police patrolling
in Miller Plaza and even called
in the S.W.A.T. Team.
“We ended up having about
20,000 people downtown,” said
Hood. “They came from everywhere.
I’m still pretty proud of
that event and the way it
turned out.”
Hood was still enjoying herself
at the March of Dimes when
she got a call from someone
at the Chattanooga Bar
Association to see if she would
be interested in applying for the
executive director position. Out
of a pool of around 150 applicants,
Hood went through several
interviews before being hired.
That was 13 wonderful years
ago, said Hood.
“I love this position because
everybody’s different,” she said.
“There’s a new president every
year. I always miss the outgoing
president because I really have
enjoyed working with them and
getting to know them. However,
I look forward to working with
someone new and different.”
In fact, the 2006 outgoing
president, Joe White, awarded
Hood and her assistant, Wanda
Paschal, the President’s Award,
given to the person or persons
who most helped the president
during his or her year.
And as always, Hood is
looking forward to working with
the new president, Jim Haley.
“It’s going to be an exciting
year working with Jim because
he has a great focus on the membership
and the whole community,”
she said. Haley plans to
encourage more attorneys to
donate time to public education.
He would also like the bar to
provide resources to attorneys
who are under great stress.
Hood agrees with Haley’s
goals, adding that the stress is
brought on by the pressure of
dealing with other people’s problems
and working incredibly
long hours.
Which is why, while Hood
stresses that she loves working
with attorneys, she doesn’t feel
as though she would enjoy the
long hours of the profession herself.
If she did, she would not
have as much time for all her
family.
“Family and church come
first,” she said.
Both of which helped her
through her breast cancer diagnosis
and subsequent treatment
10 years ago.
Her daughter Lauren was
only 14 months old when Hood
got the news.
“Hearing it was a little gutwrenching,”
she said. “You don’t
think that’s going to happen to
you. And when it does, you need
to focus.”
Hood placed her focus on
her daughter.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to
fight this as hard as I can,’” she
said. “As in everything, if you
take the emphasis off yourself
and focus on others around you,
your problems tend to diminish
in scope and impact. My daugh-
ter needed me and I was determined
to be here for her.”
She also credits Signal
Mountain Presbyterian Church
for helping her through tough
times. But mostly, Hood thanks
her husband, Michael.
“He was my rock through
this whole chapter in my life,”
she said. “Three weeks after the
surgery and one week after my
first round of chemo, I was crying
hysterically about my hair
falling out from the ‘red devil
chemo.’ He looked at me and
calmly said, ‘You mean to tell me
you lost body parts and didn’t
even give it a second thought
and you’re crying over losing
hair that will grow back?’ And
from that moment, I got everything
into perspective and continued
my fight to beat this.
“It was also unbelievable
the support we got from that
church—where I wasn’t even a
member at that time,” she said.
“They had a healing service for
me within two days of finding
out that I had breast cancer.
They called every week to pray
with me, and Dr. Dudley was
right there with Michael and me
that morning of my eight-hour
surgery.”
But it wasn’t just the church
that saw her through—it was
faith.
“I have never really asked
why this happened to me,” said
Hood. “I figured there was a reason.
There were several things I
had been praying for before I
knew I had this, and over the
course of time every prayer has
been answered through this.
And I know that this was the
only way they could have been
answered.
“So I am able firsthand to
teach Lauren a lot of things
about faith. It was like, ‘How do
I know I have that faith?’ You
grow up a Christian, but how do
you really know? But I know now
and I don’t ask that question
anymore.”
After surviving her stage IV
cancer, Hood now cherishes
each day.
“It makes life great,” she
said. “You appreciate everything.
And all those little petty things
you just put aside. It is not
important. That’s just how I look
at it. There is too much to worry
about, and the small stuff doesn’t
even register on my scale anymore.”
A stepmother of two grown
children, Mary Beth and
Lindsay, Hood now lives with
her daughter and husband,
Michael, national sales manager
at WTVC.
“I am the only mom in the
neighborhood who gets out and
roller blades, and jumps on the
trampoline in the rain,” said
Hood. “You’ve got to have fun
and enjoy life. Lauren and I ride
our bikes and go on picnics,
work in the yard, go to movies. I
love to play golf—that’s something
Lauren and I are looking
forward to do together this year.”
Hood also enjoys scrapbooking,
and repainting rooms
in her house every few months.
“And, believe it or not, I
love to pressure-wash and mow
the lawn,” she said. “I mowed
our lawn for the first time—ever
in my life—this past summer and
I absolutely love it. It’s kind of
my time, an hour and a half of
downtime that I can use to just
think—or not think. In fact, the
pressure washer was a birthday
present from my family!”
Between roller-blading and
pressure washing, Hood serves
on the boards of St. Peter’s
Episcopal School, the
Partnership for Families, Adults
and Children; and First Things
First.
She is a member of the
National Association of Bar
Executives, the Tennessee and
American Society of
Association Executives, the
Public Relations Society of
America, the Association of
Fundraising Professionals, the
National Association of Female
Executives, and the Rotary Club
of Chattanooga.
She is a graduate of
Leadership Chattanooga and
was active in the Diplomat
Corps of the Chattanooga Area
Chamber of Commerce, receiving
the Diplomat of the Year
award in 1985 and 1992.
Clearly Hood loves to stay
busy nearly as much as she
enjoys spending time with peo-
ple. But, her favorite activity is
spending time with her family.
As for the future, she doesn’t
see slowing down any time
soon. But maybe when Lauren is
older?
“No, I don’t see that either,”
she said. “I see a future where I
can also enjoy her children — I
look forward to one day in the
distant future being a grandmother.
A future where I can
help Lauren out and have a blast
doing it—that’s what I see.” ❖