Doug Hale (Bow Tie) and John Baird (Pockets) clown around for children.

by Leigh Kelley

Two lawyers dressed as clowns walk into a hospital. No, this is not the set up for a bad joke; it’s what really happens every week at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Each week John Baird, of White and Reasor, PLC, and Doug Hale, of Hale and Hale, PLC, morph into their alter egos, Pockets and Bow Tie. Instead of saving the world Superman-style, these two don clown shoes and yellow hats for an equally noble goal—bringing smiles to patients and their families at Children’s Hospital.
These lawyers-turned-clowns recently debuted a new clown troupe at Children’s Hospital. Bow Tie and Pockets walk (and occasionally jump or skip) with extra wide steps to accommodate their clown shoes, bright yellow monstrosities that appear to be at least five times the size of any normal human shoe.
Aside from their big shoes, Bow Tie and Pockets look, for the most part, like the rest of us. There’s not any scary full-face clown makeup or bad wigs on these two. What really stands out about Bow Tie and Pockets are their fire engine red clown noses which they wear and leave as calling cards with children they visit.

Uncommon bond
Baird and Hale share an uncommon bond. Both of them have a child who underwent cancer treatment at Children’s Hospital.
Hale’s daughter, Caroline, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 13. Martin, Baird’s son, had leukemia. Caroline is now 19 and Martin is 23, and both are in college now and have been in remission for several years. But their dads’ dedication to children continues.
Baird and Hale’s first-hand knowledge of the pain and anxiety that a child’s illness causes gives them a natural knack for relating to families. They are particularly empathetic with parents, simply because they have been there.
“Kids are much braver than we are as parents,” Baird says. “They don’t get as scared as we do.”
With their two-man clown troupe, Baird and Hale hope to alleviate just a little bit of the fear that parents and children feel during their hospital stay.
For the two men, their clown act is much more than giving back. It’s a matter of healing.
“We may be happy now, but we were once very sad,” Hale recalls. “Our wives are part of a group of moms who meet as a support group. We dads didn’t have as much of a chance to get together and support each other as moms do.”
And that’s how the idea for the clown act came about. Hale thought that it would be the perfect way to help the hospital while creating a support group for dads.
The clown idea seemed to be a good way to stay in touch with the hospital and to help other families. He called John and the men got to work organizing their troupe. For now it’s just the two of them, but their goal is to grow. They want to involve as many dads as they can.

Clown school
Baird and Hale spent an afternoon working with a coach to learn the ropes of clowning. Their coach taught them how to walk and act like a clown and helped them with their costumes, but there’s one thing they didn’t think they could learn.
“We’re not funny,” Baird says. “And we were scared we would have to have some sort of routine or talent.”
Right before their first appearance as Pockets and Bow Tie, Hale’s daughter, Caroline, alleviated some of their fears.
“I told Caroline I was nervous about being funny and she said ‘Dad, they don’t care if you’re funny, they just want you to be friendly.’”
Baird and Hale took Caroline’s advice and have found little ways to be friendly and make children smile.
Before his clown debut, Baird raided his sons’ old toys looking for anything unexpected or different that would grab a child’s attention. He filled his coat pockets with all sorts of small, simple toys. On any given day his pockets might be filled with anything from yo-yos to wooden beetles. In fact, that’s how he came up with the clown name Pockets.
Stephanie Van Dyke, director of volunteer services at Children’s Hospital, has been instrumental in helping the clowning get started.
“Bow Tie and Pockets are meant to be more interactive and relationship-geared than typical entertainment,” Van Dyke says. “They will be here on a regular basis and the people in the hospital will get to know them.”
And that’s exactly what the lawyers-turned-clowns want. They hope to become familiar and comforting to families who are here often.
Bow Tie and Pockets can be seen at Children’s Hospital each week and will attend special events.You can find them chatting with children in the halls or inviting people to play checkers on their giant-sized checker board near the butterfly garden.
It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is or what special event is on the calendar. Baird and Hale keep coming back for the same reason.
“I don’t know these kids,” Hale says, “but I love them.”