The normally staid look and feel of the Chancery Courtroom in Hamblen County will turn festive Saturday, Nov. 15, with the addition of balloons, cookies and toys for a special Adoption Day ceremony creating new families for three children and four parents.
The adoption of a baby boy from Russia by two local attorneys will be formalized by Chancellor Thomas (Skip) Frierson, who also will legalize the adoptions of a 7-year-old brother and his 8-year-old sister. The 9:30 a.m. annual Adoption Day ceremony at the Hamblen County Courthouse in Morristown is the fifth conducted by Frierson, the father of three adopted children, including two from Russia.
“There is no more uplifting part of my job than adoptions,” Frierson said. “National Adoption Day is a wonderful way to raise awareness concerning the need to bring permanency into lives of the hundreds of thousands of children in foster care and orphanages here and abroad.”
In addition to presenting the children with toy bunnies, refreshments will be served and the courtroom will be decorated.
“The Hamblen County Bar Association has, again, contributed to this event,” he said. “It has become one of our favorite days of the year.”
National Adoption Day was designed to draw attention to nearly 500,000 children in foster care in the United States and encourage the adoptions of those who are eligible. In Tennessee, more than 8,200 children are in foster care and nearly 1,800 are available for adoption.