(865) 922-4136

NEWS (865) 661-8777

news@ShopperNewsNow.comSandra Clark | Ruth White

ADVERTISING SALES(865) 342-6084

ads@ShopperNewsNow.com

Patty Fecco | Tony Cranmore

Beverly Holland | Amy Lutheran

CIRCULATION(865) 521-8181

To page 3

VOL. 4 NO. 8 February 24, 2016www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

NORTH / EAST

BUZZ

To page 3

By Tom KingIt’s not your average school,

Ridgedale Alternative School. No offi cial PTA. No clubs. No athletic teams. One fl oor houses classes for middle school alternative school students in grades 6-8. Up-stairs are 12 classrooms of special education students in grades K-12.

Today, the school has 115 stu-dents and these are not what we think of as neighborhood kids in the Ridgedale area off of Oak Ridge Highway. The students come from all over Knox County, bused in daily by 29 buses and shuttle vans.

Diana Gossett, a former special education teacher, is the principal of this special school, a position she has held since 2011. She leads a staff of about 70, doing special work for special kids. She has 19 classroom teachers and 46 teach-ing assistants. “Our TAs are the

Diana Gossettloves her job

“I could talk forever about why I love Ridgedale,” says principal Diana Gossett.

“I love being around children and around other adults who love children. … I want to make a difference for

children.“Yes, there are lots of meet-

ings, observations, maintenance issues, b udgets and other mat-ters that seem to fi ll up a typical school day. Nothing, however, can compare to the feeling we get when a parent thanks us for

teaching their child or when we run into a former student work-ing in the community, being successful.

“We measure each student’s success on what is meaningful for that specifi c student. … Be-cause we are able to focus on individual students and their individual needs, sharing the joys of meeting their goals is very personal for each of us at Ridgedale.

“I am inspired daily by the commitment shown by all of our staff. Teaching our students can be very challenging and, yes, sometimes even defeating. However our educators go over and beyond to see that our stu-dents’ needs are met. It’s not always easy – but it is defi nitely worth it.”

Rotarians set workday at Ridgedale

Gossett

meat and potatoes in the school. They are very committed and very valuable. I’m fortunate to have such a dedicated staff,” she says.

Two TAs ride each of the buses and shuttle vans each morning and each afternoon.

“We are giving these students the skills they need to be success-ful in less restrictive settings and we teach them social and life skills so they can go back to their regu-lar base schools,” she said.

The alternative school works with students who have disciplin-ary issues such as continuous class disruptions, fi ghting, drugs or bringing knives or guns to school. The majority are 8th graders. The gender ratio is 3-1 boys. “We need to get these 8th graders back to their schools to get them ready for high school,” Gossett said.

Five Points housing plan

Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation (KCDC) will hold a public meeting to present fi nal ren-derings of a new affordable senior housing development to Five Points’ residents and community stakeholders on Monday, Feb. 29, at 5:30 p.m. at the Walter P. Taylor Boys & Girls Club, 317 McConnell St.

The development will be the fi rst units to be built back onto the footprint of Walter P. Taylor Homes and Dr. Lee L. Williams Senior Complex in East Knoxville as part of the Five Points Master Plan.

Constructio n of The Residences at Five Points is expected to cost approximately $10 million and KCDC plans to break ground on the senior housing development in April 2016.

The public meeting will also include discussion on the next phases of development in the neighborhood. The master plan incorporated more than a year of community meetings and interviews and was presented to the community in 2014.

By Ruth WhiteAsk any coach for a list of top

fi ve wishes and somewhere close to winning a state championship will probably be having a main-tenance-free fi eld installed as a gift from Pilot Flying J and the Haslam Foundation.

Fulton High School, through the luck of a draw, is second in line for the renovations and will have ground broken on the new fi eld around March 28. Over the fol-lowing six to eight weeks, the work will progress and result in a fi eld of dreams in time for the kickoff of the 2016 season.

By Sandra ClarkMembers of Town Hall East

planted 14 Princeton elms along the periphery of Tank Strickland Park last weekend.

“The trees are part of Town Hall East’s ongoing efforts to im-prove the county-owned, vest-pocket park near the East Knox-ville branch of the library,” said Nick Della Volpe.

Kasey Krause, the city’s urban forester, selected the trees in Mc-Minnville as a part of the city’s ef-fort to establish a diversifi ed tree canopy in the city (where this park is located, along Asheville Hwy.). Princeton elms were selected be-cause they are more tolerant of the higher pH of the fi ll soil placed there during the reclamation of

A for Fulton High

Fulton head coach Rob Black. Photo by R. White

A digital rendering of the new football fi eld for Fulton High School. Work is

scheduled to begin around March 28. Photo submitted

Head coach Rob Black is thrilled with the installation of turf for several reasons, includ-ing no more mowing, weed eating or painting of the fi elds for Friday night football games.

“The coaching staff would gather after practice on Wednes-day nights to eat a quick bite of supper and paint the fi elds for the games,” he said. “Around 1 a.m. on Thursdays we would head home for a couple hours of sleep before returning for a full school day.” Although the group made it a fun

new field

Neighbors work to enhance parkthe site, Della Volpe said.

Town Hall East is also raising funds to add a spring-mounted rocking horse to the children’s play area. And another bench will be installed this week by Cemex, a community partner engaged in improving the community park, which sits on the former site of three poorly kept buildings (in-cluding the lariat lounge and a used tire/auto repair shop).

Cemex donated fi ll and topsoil used to reclaim the site by Town Hall East volunteers who worked with the county on the project. Also, TDEC excavated a segment of the buried/concrete piped Loves Creek that passes through the park, to help aerate the fl ow and enhance habitat.

The next project is a bouncy horse

for the little ones.

Cemex will install a second bench

like this one near the playground

area.

To page 3

Della Volpe, a longtime mem-ber of Town Hall East and the dis-trict’s current representative on Knoxville City Council, is steamed

Water pollutionThe Tennessee Clean Water

Network’s recent report that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conserva-tion’s enforcement actions have dropped 75 percent during the first five years of Gov. Bill Haslam’s adminis-tration shocked the public at large, but came as no surprise to those who deal with the agency regularly.

➤ Read Betty Bean on page 5

Oscar picksIt’s Oscar time and Betsy

Pickle is entertaining us with her speculation on winners this Sunday.

“For those who haven’t already had their fi ll of movie awards shows, the granddaddy of them all – the 88th annual Academy Awards, airing this Sunday night on ABC – provides the best offi ce-pool guessing game of the year.”

➤ Read Pickle’s Picks on page 9

BUZZ

Pushback on Magnolia upgrades

Community activists are pushing back on the city’s plan to spend $6 million to $8 million to landscape and generally enhance a 6-block portion of Magnolia Avenue.

Mayor Madeline Rogero confronted the protestors for the fi rst time on Feb. 16.

➤ Read Sandra Clark on page 5

2 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is a regional referral hospital where other facilities

REGIONAL EXCELLENCE.

4400949494949444449449499009-007-0070707--777

Karen Moore can sit

comfortably for a plate

of catfi sh at her restau-

rant and rise pain free

at the end of the meal,

thanks to a lumbar

fusion performed at

Fort Sanders Regional

Medical Center. She

says her only regret is

that she didn’t have the

procedure sooner.

Only one regretSome women won’t go any-

where without the right purse or the perfect scarf to properly accessorize an outfit. Karen Moore’s accessory of choice last spring was a little different. She carried a lawn chair everywhere she went.

Before she had a lumbar fu-sion at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Moore couldn’t stand up for more than four minutes at a time without ex-cruciating pain. Unfortunately, sitting down wasn’t much bet-ter.

Moore, who is part owner of Huck Finn’s Catfish restaurant in Pigeon Forge, says she spent a lot of time in tears and in mis-ery. “It felt like I’d been stabbed with an ice pick,” Moore says.

“The pain went down my right side through my hip, and all the way down to my foot.”

Her problems started when sciatica began to take hold in 2012. A spinal laminectomy by a different surgeon relieved her pain for about six months, but a follow-up MRI confirmed that she needed lumbar fusion.

Lumbar fusion is surgery that uses bone tissue to connect ver-tebrae in the spine, mimicking the normal healing process of broken bones. Neurosurgeon Barrett Brown, MD, performs the procedure through The Cen-ter for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort Sanders Region-al, and has seen it transform the lives of back pain sufferers like Moore.

Moore wasn’t ready. She was about the business of taking care of business. She was traveling out of state once a month to help care for her parents, plus trying to keep up with a demanding job.

Although the pain seemed

Relief much closer than you thinkJust like Karen Moore, many patients

that end up at the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort Sanders Re-gional fi nd out about the treatments offered in a variety of ways.

Whether it’s advertising, word of mouth or another way, the efforts are a big part of specialists, like Dr. Brown, desire to bring care to underserved areas.

“Our main effort is educating people on their options for their pain. We use articles such as this to do that,” said Dr. Brown, who partners with Dr. Joel Norman in spinal, cra-

nial, stroke and pituitary tumor surgeries. “It lets patients know what is available in their area or what is nearby.”

“Another way we spread the word is by Dr. Norman and I having clinics in a couple

different areas of the state; not too far from Knoxville but within a reasonable drive that we know we can always meet the patient quality that we expect, as well as making it convenient,” added Dr. Brown. “Then, if a patient does decide to have surgery with us, we’ll do that at Fort Sanders Regional and it’s not hours away for the patient and their families.”

Dr. Brown, for example, opened a new of-fi ce in Suite 230 of the Roane Professional Offi ce Building at 8035 Roane Medical Cen-ter in in Harriman, Tenn. That clinic will be open on the fi rst and third Thursdays of every month.

Likewise, Dr. Norman has an additional offi ce in Suite 208 of the Robert F. Thomas Building at 744 Middle Creek Road in Sevier-ville where he works twice monthly. They al-ternate offi ce times at their Alcoa/Maryville clinic at 205 Corporate Place in Alcoa.

“So we have clinics in these other loca-tions twice a month, kind of broken up in the month so that if something develops, people have a couple of options to get in to

Barrett Brown, MD

unbearable, she bore it anyway. She very simply didn’t think she could sacrifice the time for sur-gery and recovery.

“My oldest son had a lumbar fusion two years earlier at an-other hospital, and I took care of him. They told him not to get on a plane for three months, and I couldn’t imagine not being able to go see my parents for that long,” Moore says.

So she tried alternative mea-sures to manage the pain, in-cluding spinal injections every month for about a year, a chi-ropractor, physical therapy and “lots of Tylenol and Advil.” The breaking point came when her physical therapist told her there was nothing more he could do for her.

“I wasn’t living,” Moore says. “I was just existing.”

Moore had heard about Dr. Brown and was interested in learning more about how he would help to relieve her pain. She gathered up every ounce of courage, and made the phone call that would change her life.

“From the moment the first person answered the phone, I felt at ease,” Moore says. “Ev-erybody on the office staff was wonderful.”

With compassion, they lis-tened to her concerns through-out the process, and offered un-wavering support. “It felt more personal. It felt like they really cared about me,” Moore says.

After a new MRI and a consul-tation with Dr. Brown, lumbar

fusion was recommended for stenosis spondylolisthesis and a herniated disc. Fear and uncer-tainty no longer ruled. “He just put me at ease,” she says.

Minimally invasive surgery was finally performed on June 18 of last year, with six small in-cisions rather than one long in-cision, allowing faster recovery and less pain. That was a pleas-ant surprise for Moore, who had witnessed her son’s long and painful recovery from tradition-al surgery.

“I had no pain at all when I woke up,” Moore says. “I re-member moving my leg and hip around, and I had no pain, at all!”

Assuming she was just enjoy-ing the effects of surgery medi-

cation, she and her family dis-regarded the doctor’s opinionthat she was ready to go homethe day of her surgery. But eventhe next day, the sharp pain thathad shot down her leg two daysearlier was gone.

“I never used a walker athome, I never used crutches,and I just went to follow-uptherapy once,” Moore says. “Thetherapist said, ‘You don’t needto be here.’”

She was careful to followthe doctor’s instructions not tobend, lift, or twist for six weeks,but less than a month after sur-gery, Moore was back at therestaurant, greeting guests andrunning the cash register.

“Every day was just better andbetter,” Moore says. “I thoughtit was going to be four, five, sixdays in the hospital, I thought itwas going to be a long, long re-covery.”

Six months after the surgery,Moore was waiting in line at anelectronics store when she saw aman who was looking for a chairto sit in. She listened as he talk-ed to someone nearby about hispain.

“The more he talked, the moreit described what was going onwith me,” Moore says. She pulledup Dr. Brown on her smart-phone and told him if he wantedgood results, “you should go seethese guys.”

Moore says her only regret isthat she didn’t have the surgerya lot sooner. “I think about allthe time I wasted – I was in somuch pain,” Moore says. “NowI can stand as long as I want, Ican walk, I can sit and I’m backto living, again.”

To learn more about spinesurgery at Fort Sanders Re-gional Medical Center, visitfsregional.com/spine.

see us,” said Dr. Brown. “We can always get them in at one of the other clinics, if it is an immediate need.”

For more information about the

Center for Minimally Invasive SpineSurgery at Fort Sanders Regional, goto fsregional.com/minimallyinvasiveor call 865-541-2835.

NORTH/EAST Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 3 community

Some are surprised to learn of the special edu-cation component of the school. The teachers work with students who have a variety of disabilities – au-tism, intellectual disabili-ties, severe Attention Defi -cit Hyperactivity Disorder, or emotional and mental health issues.

The two groups of stu-dents do not interact at school but do ride the same buses and vans. The spe-cial ed classroom student-teacher ratio depends on the students’ needs and individual program. The

ratios in alternative class-rooms is one teacher and one assistant in each room of up to 15 students.

“Our special ed students are those who need help with specifi c tasks and need more attention and work outside of a normal class-room setting,” Gossett ex-plained. “The kids in the alternative school have just made some bad decisions and we’re a second chance for them. We see very few repeat offenders.”

Gossett considers Ridge-dale Baptist Church, the school’s next-door neighbor,

Workday at Ridgedale From page 1

New fi eld From page A-1

job, spending more time with family and preparing for the games will be a wel-come change. “By spring, I was mowing the fi eld every other day. The turf will not only save time but also on gas and lawnmower mainte-nance in the long run.”

The turf fi elds will play much like grass fi elds but drainage won’t be the huge problem that it is for some

fi elds. “We missed a ton of practice days in the past due to weather, but once the new fi eld is installed not much will run us off the fi eld.” The dura-bility of the turf will also take the pressure of preserving grass fi elds off the coaches.

In addition to the new fi eld, the Haslam Founda-tion will provide each high school with $100,000 for academic enhancements.

about a billboard owned by Lamar.

“Efforts are still under-way to have Lamar Advertis-ing remove a billboard from the park. Lamar’s regional property division in Atlanta had originally promised not to renew the lease at option time when the auto repair/tire shop was acquired sev-eral years ago,” he said.

“Thus far, local Lamar reps have refused to honor that acquisition promise, and the matter has been taken up by the county law department. L amar’s re-fusal to act has caused the Avalawn tree team to not plant and actually take back one of the trees scheduled for planting in the park (last weekend).

“Hopefully, Lamar will reach down in its corporate conscience to fi nd the requi-site public spirit it had pre-viously pledged, and honor its commitment.”

The park has been the site of Town Hall’s annual ice cream summer social.

Cliff Brooks, a local land-scape designer, has donated his time and talents to pre-pare a master landscape plan for the third phase of Tank Strickland Park. Both Town Hall East and Cemex

Neighbors work From page A-1

This Princeton elm is one of 14

planted over the weekend at

Tank Strickland Park on Ashe-

ville Highway.

By Cindy TaylorNo one was m ore sur-

prised than North Knox-ville resident Dorothy “Dot” Kelly when her name was called. Her mouth fi lled with chocolate cake at the time and in a state of shock, Kelly says she wasn’t sure she could choke down the bite of food. As a true South-ern woman of grace she swallowed, of course.

Kelly is a founding board member and served as president of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation As-sociation. It was at the 2015 Tennessee State Sesquicen-tennial meeting dinner that she was called to the stage to receive the fi rst ever Fred Prouty Award. Prouty is highly respected in the fi eld of war history and is a long-time program director of the Tennessee Wars Com-mission.

The award recognized Kelly for her efforts in working to preserve and in-terpret battlefi elds on a re-gional and statewide basis. It came with a grant which Kelly designated to the Knoxville Civil War Round-table Preservation Fund.

A love of Civil War his-tory predates Kelly’s middle school years. She recalls hearing her grandmother speak to her parents about the war in casual conversa-

A Confederate Yankeeat Knoxville’s Roundtable

Dorothy Kelly at a historical marker in the area of Fort Dickerson overlooking Knoxville. Photo by Cindy Taylor

tion.“When I was about 10

years old I would listen to my grandmother’s stories about her grandfather, Benjamin Donehue, who was a Con-federate soldier,” says Kelly. “I urged her to tell me more and my interest grew from there. Years later I found out I have a Yankee ancestor on the other side of the family.”

Although the Civil War has been an obsession with Kelly since she was a pre-teen, she says these days you need some kind of a hook to get young people interested in history.

Most of Kelly’s Civil War knowledge resides in her head though she has pub-

lished several articles. She says she may one day put a small book together on a specifi c area of Civil War history.

Kelly continues to serve with the preservation as-sociation. Its work in South Knoxville at Fort Dickerson has brought a previously little-used area to life. The group has been instrumen-tal, along with Knoxville Parks and Recreation, in purchasing cannon repli-cates, installing benches, picnic tables and interpre-tive markers and replacing a crumbling stone wall.

Due to her extensive ser-vice and commitment to preservation in the Knoxville

area, Kelly now has her own namesake award. The Dot Kelly Civil War Preservation Grant was established in De-cember by the board of direc-tors for KCWRT in coordina-tion with the East Tennessee Historical Society.

Kelly says many of the Civil War sites in the South disappeared long ago. She would like to see more peo-ple in Knoxville recognize the value of their Civil War heritage.

“Our Civil War history and sites need protecting,” says Kelly. “We have a great op-portunity to preserve, under-stand and appreciate the cru-cial Civil War years and the sacrifi ces of our ancestors.”

COMMUNITY NOTES

■ Alice Bell Spring Hill Neigh-borhood Association. Info:

Ronnie Collins, 637-9630.

■ Beaumont Community Organization. Info: Natasha

Murphy, 936-0139.

■ Belle Morris Community Action Group meets 7 p.m.

each second Monday, City

View Baptist Church, 2311

Fine Ave. Info: bellemorris.

com or Rick Wilen, 524-5008.

■ Chilhowee Park Neighbor-hood Association meets

6:30 p.m. each last Tuesday,

Administration Building,

Knoxville Zoo. Info: Paul Ruff ,

696-6584.

■ Edgewood Park Neighbor-hood Association meets 7

p.m. each third Tuesday, Larry

Cox Senior Center, 3109 Ocoee

Trail. Info: edgewoodpark.us.

■ Excelsior Lodge No. 342

meets 7:30 p.m. each Thurs-

day, 10103 Thorn Grove Pike.

Info: Bill Emmert, 933-6032 or

w.emmert@att.net.

■ First District Democrats

meet each fi rst Monday,

Burlington Branch Library,

4614 Asheville Highway. Info:

Harold Middlebrook, harold-

middlebrook@gmail.com;

Mary Wilson, marytheprez@

yahoo.com.

■ Historic Fourth & Gill Neigh-borhood Organization meets

6:30 p.m. each second Monday,

Central UMC, 201 Third Ave.

Info: Liz Upchurch, 898-1809,

lizupchurch1@gmail.com.

■ Inskip Community Associa-tion meets 6 p.m. each fourth

Tuesday, Inskip Baptist Church,

4810 Rowan Road. Info: Betty

Jo Mahan, 679-2748 or bet-

tymahan@knology.net.

■ Oakwood Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association

meets 6:30 p.m. each fi rst

Monday, Community Club

House, 916 Shamrock Ave.

Info: Bill Hutton, 773-5228 or

s_wlhutton@yahoo.com.

have adopted the park offi -cially and worked to improve it over 10 years. Della Volpe and others on City Council have provided funds to help complete the park.

to be its PTA. “They reached out to us and have adopted us. They bought and in-stalled a new playground for the school – a $40,000 expense,” she said. “And on Wednesday nights their youth group comes over and does some extra cleaning work for us and leaves won-derful notes of appreciation for our teachers. They also help us with Christmas bas-kets for the kids and their families.”

Ridgedale will get more help on Saturday, Feb. 27, when seven local Rotary clubs come together for a World Rotary Day workday to spruce things up. Their

work will begin at 9 a.m. on a variety of projects.

Gossett and her staff take very seriously the school’s Mission State-ment: “To provide a safe, consistent environment with a structured plan for each student’s personal success.”

4 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • Shopper news

Scott Frith

Marvin West

Rescued andwaiting for a home!

Brady–1.5 year old, male 13

pound Chihuahua mix Leia–2 year old, female 11

pound Chihuahua mix

966.6597www.sbret.com

contact: Karen 966-6597or Tyrine at 426-3955

email: rescue@sbret.com

Small Breed RescueSmall Breed Rescueof East TN

Space donated by Shopper-News.

Adopta dog today!

Penny–18 month old female 9

pound Chihuahua mix.

Photos by Julie Poole Photography

Little black and tan dogs need love too!

Hank Snow long ago sang a traveling song, “I’ve been everywhere.”

I’ve been everywhere, man

I’ve crossed the deserts bare, man

I’ve breathed the moun-tain air, man

Of travel I’ve had my share, man

I’ve been everywhere Hank rattled off a bunch

of places, some of which rhymed: Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota, Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Saraso-ta, Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma, Tampa, Pana-ma, Mattawa …

Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Shefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville … I’ve been everywhere.

Snow never mentioned Maynardville or Powell but I could relate. I thought I had traveled widely. Seven Olym-pic Games and several side trips created that illusion.

Parrington has been everywhere

Then I met Dave Par-rington, big man in town, 6-2½ and 280. He really has been everywhere.

Born in England, raised in South Africa, college in Houston on a diving schol-arship, competitor in the Moscow Olympics and coach in the Atlanta and Sydney Games.

In 25 years as Tennessee diving coach, he has led Vol-unteers to other Olympics, World University Games, World Championships, World Diving Cup, Pan American Games, Com-monwealth Games and Af-rican Games – a combined 25 times.

He has been other inter-

esting places as a recruiter.Among his favorite holi-

day outings have been soc-cer games in Liverpool and a canoe trip down the Zam-bezi River, home to the hip-popotamus, crocodile, bull shark and Victoria Falls, the world’s largest.

Adventures? He’s had a few others.

Dave was born in Wal-lasey (so was Malcolm L owry, author of “Under the Volcano”).

Francis Winder Par-rington, his grandfather, still holds the world record for distance diving.

Dave’s parents were prominent swim coaches. His mother had been a two-time Olympic swimmer.

The British were encour-aging young professionals to join the English colony of Southern Rhodesia. Dave says his folks were adven-turous and moved to Salis-bury. He was 3.

“I grew up in the water,”

he said. “The pool my par-ents managed was across the street from our home, 30 seconds away.”

It was a middle-class life-style, three servants, excel-lent education.

English roots, allegiance to the crown, one year of mandatory national service – at 19, Dave signed up for the British South Africa Po-lice. He stayed three years. It became a life-and-death job.

Rhodesia was locked in guerilla warfare.

Black opposition to white rule seethed. Violence ar-rived as terrorism. Ears were severed. Limbs were lopped off. Villagers were killed.

Parrington drove a patrol car. He went to investigate crime reports, sometimes into the bush. Some experi-ences he described as sick-ening. He said the necessary discipline shaped his life.

The University of Hous-ton discovered Parrington’s

potential as a diver. Rhode-sia became Zimbabwe and he represented it in interna-tional competition. Houston kept him as a coach until Tennessee called in 1990.

Parrington has been least publicized among UT winners. He has coached

several great Volunteers, six NCAA and 39 SEC cham-pions. Twelve times he has been honored as coach of the year but it has mostly been a secret.

Now you know.Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com

Fulmers fund Parrington scholarshipPhillip and Vicky Fulmer funded a $250,000 schol-

arship endowment in 2008 in honor of UT diving coach Dave Parrington.

Daughter Brittany Fulmer was a diving competitor and had been coached by Parrington since age 8.

Vicky Fulmer said: “Our goal was to honor Dave Parrington and recognize all he has accomplished in the swimming/diving world … He is an incredible man who has made a tremendous impact on Brittany’s life, as well as the lives of many young divers and student athletes.”

Phillip Fulmer said: “Creating this scholarship was our family’s way of showing our appreciation for Dave and the role he has played in our family … This endow-ment will ensure a scholarship for a Tennessee diver for years to come.”

Donald Trump won the South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary on Saturday. It was a dominat-ing win. Most pundits agree that Marco Rubio has the best shot to defeat Trump if he consolidates so-called establishment support. My guess is that Trump’s big-gest opponent isn’t Marco Rubio or Hillary Clinton.

It’s himself.In the past, presidential

primaries have been a great way for the ideological base of each party to let off a lit-tle steam. Presidential pri-maries are often like a tea kettle. The rhetoric heats up, there’s lots of noise,

Trump takes South Carolina, TN votes March 1

and then both parties settle down (enjoy their tea) and accept an establishment candidate.

For Republicans, that may not happen this year.

Trump’s supporters believe America may fi -nally get a straight-talking strong-man who will stand up against the injustice of the hour.

Ted Cruz’s supporters be-lieve they could elect the fi rst genuinely conservative pres-ident since Ronald Reagan.

Marco Rubio’s support-ers believe he’s handsome, charismatic and isn’t named Jeb Bush.

By the way, Hillary Clin-ton prevailed in the Nevada caucus on Saturday. Clinton is also expected to win the South Carolina primary this weekend.

When was the last time a major party presidential candidate was being in-vestigated by the FBI? Re-gardless of how you view the controversy surround-ing Clinton’s private email

server, this isn’t some vast, right-wing conspiracy from the 1990s. It’s the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Democrats should be nervous.

■ Too many delegates?It’s long past time to reform the way the Tennessee Re-publican Party chooses del-egates to the convention. If you voted early in the Repub-lican Primary, you couldn’t have missed the long list of delegates on the ballot. It’s confusing and unnecessary. Local candidates further down the ballot can be eas-ily lost by voters less familiar with the voting machines.

The state Republican Party should simplify the process and remove the del-

egates from the ballot. Make it simple like the Demo-cratic Primary ballot which does not list delegates.

Here’s hoping state Re-publicans fi x the mess for the next election cycle. It’s a problem that has gone on for too long.

■ County law direc-tor. The county law direc-tor’s race is also on the Re-publican Primary ballot. Incumbent Richard “Bud” Armstrong faces local attor-ney Nathan Rowell. Since no Democrat is running, the Republican Primary winner is all but assured victory.

If Armstrong prevails, some expect him to run for county mayor in 2018. (Tim Burchett is term limited.)

Also, the next round of ju-dicial elections is in 2022. Armstrong has been men-tioned as a possible candi-date for general sessions judge or chancellor (Clar-ence E. “Eddie” Pridemore will be on the ballot in 2022 if he seek s re-election.)

Of course, if Nathan Rowell defeats Armstrong next week, Rowell would be an unlikely candidate for mayor but would be an obvious candidate for judi-cial offi ce. In 2022, Rowell would be half-way through a possible second term as law director.

For politicians, it’s never too early to look ahead.Scott Frith is a local attorney. You can vis-

it his website at www.pleadthefrith.com

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 5 governmentThe Tennessee Clean Wa-

ter Network’s recent report that the Tennessee Depart-ment of Environment and Conservation’s enforcement actions have dropped 75 percent during the fi rst fi ve years of Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration shocked the public at large, but came as no surprise to those who deal with the agency regu-larly.

Former state Rep. Gloria Johnson is seeking her seat back from Eddie Smith, chair of the Knox legislative delegation who defeated her in 2014.

Johnson will need to run a much more focused and aggressive campaign this year to defeat Smith than she did last time around when she openly toyed with chairing the Democratic State Committee while serving in the Legislature as she sought a second term. She seemed more in-terested in being chair than being state representative.

Johnson did not cam-paign as actively in 2014 as she did in 2012. She even traveled to Baton Rouge prior to the election she lost to Smith for a Democratic women’s meeting when she should have been here in Knoxville going door to door. Not many votes in Louisiana.

Mayor Rogero was no-where nearly as involved in the Johnson re-election cam-paign in 2014 as she was in 2012 when she even worked a phone bank for Johnson. Rogero will endorse Johnson as a loyal Democrat but will be missing in action during the campaign.

Smith has had a moder-ate voting record in line with the district. His chair-manship of the delegation in his freshman term gives validity to the respect he has. District 13 is a toss-up district and the identity of the major party presi-dential candidates could impact the result. Smith is a delegate candidate for Marco Rubio.

He works well with Gov. Haslam while Johnson strongly opposed most of Haslam’s programs. Smith was instrumental in mak-ing the annual legislative meeting with Rogero be open to the public.

■ Rogero has recently been going to Washington a lot and missed a council meeting on Feb. 2 due to a speaking engagement. Some feel she is auditioning with the Clinton folks and key Democrats in Washington to nail down a position in a Clinton or Sanders Adminis-tration while on these trips.

She was an Obama delegate to the last national Democratic convention but has not offi cially endorsed Clinton or Sanders at this time. She continues to adopt policies on social

VictorAshe

Betty Bean

Sandra Clark

Steve Scarborough stands

proudly at White’s Creek.

The view from White’s Creek

Steve Scarborough isn’t shocked. A founder of the Dagger Kayak Company, he used his retirement funds to buy a scenic, 1,500-acre swath of woodlands along the old Gordon’s Turnpike in the White’s Creek gorge. He and his wife, Annie, live on the property, which stretch-es into Cumberland, Roane and Rhea counties. His long-range plan includes securing conservation ease-ments and selling large lots to like-minded buyers (on a portion of the property) and getting the creek declared a scenic river, which would require discharge permit holders to release effl uent as clean as the water in the creek.

And how clean is White’s Creek?

“Perfect,” Scarborough said.

He is a former member and chair of the Tennes-see Conservation Commis-sion, which serves TDEC in an advisory capacity. He is complimentary of TDEC’s professional staff, but high-ly critical of Haslam and his political appointees.

“Haslam is absolutely no friend of environmental efforts,” he said. “We (the

The battle for District 13

SmithJohnson

issues which are contrary to most elected offi cials in East Tennessee but consistent with the national Democratic Party.

■ UT continues to have issues in Nashville with its burial of the Lady Vols name change legisla-tion by state Rep. Roger Kane and state Sen. Becky Massey. There are hard feelings in Nashville.

There is legislation now to guarantee First Amendment rights to students, to freeze tuition, to require public forum at UT Board meetings and to reduce funding for the UT Offi ce of Diversity, which triggered outrage over gender-neutral pronouns and taking Christmas out of Christmas.

Each of these issues could go against UT if they come to a vote. The easiest one for the Board to resolve is to start a public forum at all Board meetings just as TVA does and every council and commission across the state does. The 43 legislators who wrote about the Lady Vols name change and who were denied an opportunity to present it at a public Board meeting are most unhappy.

Gov. Haslam chairs the UT Board just as he chaired city council as mayor. He is famil-iar with public forums and their value. Sharon Pryse, a board member, served on KUB’s board, which has a public comment period at its monthly meetings.

Haslam and the Board could adopt a new pro-cedure allowing public participation without being directed by the Legislature. That would be a posi-tive step toward calming troubled waters. Hard to understand why the Board has not done this.

TCC) did some good stuff, but the Haslam adminis-tration seemed to resent the very idea of us making suggestions about things like best management prac-tices for coal mines and timberlands. Tennessee is the only state that doesn’t have a strong best manage-ment practices policy for timber companies, who had asked us to study the log-ging industry. The timber companies wanted the state to adopt best management practices, but if you’d seen the reaction of the Legis-lature, you’d have thought we were asking to sell their fi rst-born daughters into slavery. We’d write white pa-pers, they’d go into a black hole.”

Scarborough said things got worse when Haslam took the recommendation of the chamber of com-merce lobbyists and folded the TCC into the Tennes-see Heritage Commission, which met infrequently.

But he doesn’t blame it all on Haslam, who took

offi ce in 2010. He is deeply critical of TDEC’s lack of oversight at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant’s ash storage fa-cilities prior to the massive coal ash spill in 2008. The state agency failed in its re-sponsibility to inspect and sign off on TVA ash storage facilities, Scarborough said.

“TDEC was rubberstamp-ing anything TVA wanted to do while they were having blowouts and leakages from the big ash pile”

Scarborough said TVA spurned a consultant-rec-ommended $23 million solution and opted for a $4 million stopgap measure.

“They saved $19 million on the fi x and spent $1.4 bil-lion to clean it up. If TDEC had been doing its job, the TVA ash disaster would have never happened.”

He has kind words for the professional staff in the fi eld, however.

“The guys on the ground do a good job,” he said. “We’ve had sediment prob-lems where the crystal clear water of the creek turns or-

ange, and those guys will go hunting (for the cause of the sediment). They’re the best. But what TDEC doesn’t do is enforcement.”

James McMillan, the Shannondale-area farmer who is Knox County’s most aggressive stormwater run-off watchdog, echoed Scar-borough’s sentiments.

“The professional staff knew what was going to happen when Haslam came in,” McMillan said. “They were used to taking one step forward and 10 steps back-ward, depending on the election, but it’s gotten real bad in this administration. I’ve been on the phone with TDEC this past week, and they were laughing about the commissioner (Bob Martineau).

“They said, ‘James, you thought it was bad 12 years ago? Now we can’t even pick up the phone for fear of get-ting in trouble.’ I asked if they were really scared of that little short fat (guy) in Nashville, and they said no, but he can fi re us.”

Wow. Sometimes the city just can’t give away money.

A small but noisy con-tingent of East Knoxville residents is protesting the city’s plan to spend between $6 million and $8 million to upgrade a 6-block section of Magnolia Avenue.

Dissent broke out at a Jan. 21 public forum at the O’Connor Center when the Magnolia Avenue Streetscapes project was unveiled.

Even though it’s been on the drawing board since 2009, some residents said they had no chance to give suggestions.

The protestors came to the City Council meeting on Feb. 2 and returned on Feb. 16. Mayor Madeline Rogero missed the Feb. 2 meeting, but secured the council’s consent to suspend the rules to allow everyone at the Feb.

16 meeting to speak. She said afterwards she would meet with them in her offi ce or on their turf.

The project parallels cor-ridor upgrades underway or planned for Cumber-land Avenue, Broadway and Chapman Highway.

The East Side project deals with Magnolia Avenue between Jessamine and N. Bertrand streets in the area of Pellissippi State’s Magno-lia campus.

It provides for raised me-dians to replace the contin-uous center left-turn lane, bike lanes, bus pull-offs,

improved sidewalks, street lighting, benches, bike racks, landscaping and even trash cans.

But protestors called it “gentrifi cation” that could lead to higher property val-ues, driving out marginal business and residential tenants.

On Feb. 16, tempers fl ared and language not usually heard at public meetings was hurled at the council.

The trigger was a generic rendering that showed pre-dominantly white people walking and riding bikes on a suburban-looking street.

Accusing the city of car-ing more about “hotels and condos and restaurants” than about people, a young woman said the city should support existing businesses and programs like the shut-tered Tribe One that offered jobs to neighborhood youth.

‘Start asking us what we want and Stop telling us what we need’

GOSSIP AND LIES ■ Andrew Graybeal will not

fi nd his diploma and our next

property assessor will be Jim

Weaver or John Whitehead.

■ Nathan Rowell can’t fault

Bud Armstrong for increasing

the budget of the law direc-

tor’s offi ce when the increase

was due to bringing work

inhouse to avoid outsourc-

ing to fi rms like Rowell’s. Net

savings - millions. Winner on

March 1 - Armstrong.

– S. Clark

“You shut down Tribe One. Where were you all when the doors closed?

“What about the freedom schools in the summer? I’m just really tired of this same narrative. ...

“Tennessee is for sale to the highest bidder. The Gibbs deal should show us that,” she said.

“If you really care about people, you’ll start asking us what we want and stop tell-ing us what we need.”

Apologies for not getting the name of this passionate, articulate community activ-ist.

She reminded me of another young mom who challenged the status quo in support of her inner-city neighborhood as a member of Knox County Commis-sion some 30 years ago.

Her name? Madeline Rogero.

6 • FEBURAY 24, 2016 • NORTH/EAST Shopper news

SENIOR NOTES ■ Carter Senior Center

9040 Asheville Highway932-2939Monday-Friday8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Off erings include: card

games; exercise programs;

arts and crafts; movie

matinee each Friday; Senior

Meals program noon each

Wednesday.

Register for: Carter

Café and Movie Matinee, 11

a.m. Wednesday, March 2.

Field trip, Mighty Musical

Monday: Jazz Vocalists,

11 a.m. Monday, March 7;

lunch, $5. Free beginner

computer class, 2 p.m.

Tuesday, March 8.

■ Corryton Senior Center

9331 Davis Drive688-5882knoxcounty.org/seniorsMonday-FridayHours vary

Off erings include: exercise classes; card

games; crafts, billiards;

Senior Meals program, 11

a.m. each Friday. Garden

club meeting 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, March 1. Veterans

Services, 10 a.m. Tuesday,

March 8.

Register for: Super

Seniors meeting, 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, March 8; magic

show.

■ Larry Cox Senior Center

3109 Ocoee Trail546-1700Monday-FridayHours vary

Off erings include: exercise programs; bingo;

arts and crafts classes.

■ John T. O’Connor Senior Center

611 Winona St.523-1135knoxseniors.org/oconnor.

htmlMonday-Friday8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Off erings include: Free

tax preparation available 9

a.m. Wednesdays through

April 13.

Frances Healey

prepares for

her close up as

Elmcroft mar-

keting coordina-

tor Lisa Ellis ties

the ribbon of a

hat around Healey’s

chin. Photos by S. Barrett

ing” with coat hanger wire. Sure enough, the wire bent at three sites near the house.

When the well driller came, they checked the sites again, and at one particular site the wire bent down-

Shirley McMurtrie told me a new one: If you fi nd a fi ve-leaf clover, it surely means bad luck; however, if you keep hunting until you fi nd a four-leaf clover that will redeem you and then you will have good luck.

Carson “Eddie” Thompson shared his experience with “witching” for water. Some years ago when the Thomp-sons built their home on Bull Run Road, they needed a well. Carson tried “witch-

Bonnie Peters

How’s your chicken luck? ward more forcefully. The driller agreed that this spot is where the drill should begin. He told Carson that he would need to drill 145 feet down for a good supply. Guess what! When the drill got to 145 feet, water was fl owing at 15 gallons p er minute, and the man told Carson that was suffi cient water so that they should never run out.

To this day, they have not run out of water.

Pauline Smith also called to tell me one I hadn’t heard before about “chicken luck.” If you raise chickens, the

fi rst person who comes to your door on New Year’s Day brings your chicken luck and determines the sex of your chickens!

If a girl or woman comes to the door, all the chickens will be hens – a good thing. If a boy or man comes to your door, all the chickens will be roosters.

Additionally, Pauline told me when she was in high school New Year’s Day was not a holiday, and children had to attend school. Pau-line had to walk a little ways to catch the bus. A neigh-bor, Gladys Welch, saw her

and asked her to come in to bring her chicken luck.

Pauline went in, and Gladys asked her to sit down. Gladys told her that if she would sit down that meant the setting hen would do a good job of setting on her nest and all the eggs would hatch and bring her a big fl ock of pullets.

Obviously, it is too late to determine your chicken luck for 2016; but be sure to mark your calendar for 2017 and see if chicken luck works for you. Contact Bonnie Peters at bhpeters@att.

net or 687-3842

By Sara BarrettFrances Healey is the

defi nition of living indepen-dently.

“She still does her own taxes,” says Healey’s daugh-ter, Clare Crawford.

Many of Healey’s friends and family members dropped by Elmcroft West on Feb. 16 to celebrate Healey’s 100th birthday. She is 100, but she doesn’t act her age.

“I don’t use the assisted living services here,” says Healey. “Most people have their medicine given to them, but I keep my own. It’s nice to know I have as-

sistance if I need it, though.”Healey is still making her

own living arrangements and says she moved to El-mcroft partly to give Craw-ford piece of mind.

She’s hit it off so well with staff of former facili-ties where she’s lived that several attended her party.

“I majored in chemistry at William and Mary, but no one would take a job appli-cation from a woman in that fi eld back then,” says the centenarian.

Healey lived in South Af-rica for about 15 years before her husband passed away, and

then she moved back to the states with her daughter. She enjoys staying busy so much, she’s retired twice. The sec-ond time was at age 81.

The staff at Elmcroft say Healey does just about every activity they offer, including bridge, “name that tune,” trivia and aero-bics. They credit her posi-tive attitude for her longev-ity, but Healey gives credit to something else.

“Stay away from doctors and medicine,” she says with a laugh. “I have a feel-ing I said that to a doctor the other day, too.”

Frances Healey

Elmcroft employees dress up in period attire from Big Don’s to

celebrate with the birthday girl. Pictured are dining services

director Judy Harper, 100-year-old Frances Healey; (back) com-

munity relations director Rebecca Swingle, business offi ce

manager Jenna Conforti, marketing coordinator Lisa Ellis and

health and lifestyles director Pat Anderson.

Best friends Donna Legg

and Frances Healey cele-

brate with their daugh-

ters (back) Paula

Connatser and Clare

Crawford.

turns 100

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 7 faith

CrossCurrents

LynnPitts

My mother read to me before I can remember. Even after I could read, I would ask her to read to me because I loved the sound of her voice.

There were always books in our house, shelves of them, and to this day, if I have a book, I can be happy in any wait-ing room, on any f light, on any quiet evening.

So, herewith are some fabulous quotes about reading; I hope these will encourage you to read to your children, for your own pleasure, or for the good of your soul.

“Children are made readers on the laps of their par-ents.”

– Emilie Buchwald

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” – P. J. O’Rourke

“I see all of us reading our-selves away from ourselves,

straining in circles of light to fi nd more light,

until the line of words be-comes a trail of crumbs

that we follow across a page of fresh snow.”

– Billy Collins

The benefi ts of readingThen the king commanded … saying, “Go, inquire

of the Lord for me, for the peop le, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. …

(2 Kings 22:12a, 13a NRSV)

“Wear the old coat and buy the new book.” – Austin Phelps

“There is no frigate like a bookTo take us lands awayNor any coursers like a pageOf prancing poetry.” – Emily Dickinson

“Tolle, lege.” (“Take up and read.”) – Augustine

“We read to know we are not alone.” – C. S. Lewis

“That is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed with profi t.”

– Amos Bronson Alcott

“Everywhere I have sought peace and no found it, except in a corner with a book.”

– Thomas a Kempis

“A good book has no end-ing.”

– R. D. Cummings

WORSHIP NOTES ■ West Haven Baptist

Church, 5651 Matlock

Drive, will host VBS

FunShop, a VBS training

and networking event,

Saturday, March 5. Group

Publishing VBS expert will

provide hands-on training

on its “Cave Quest VBS.”

Registration: group.com/

vbsfunshop. Info: Eliza-

beth, 237-4090.

■ First Comforter Church,

5516 Old Tazewell Pike,

hosts MAPS (Mothers At

Prayer Service) noon each

Friday. Info: Edna Hensley,

771-7788.

By Carolyn EvansMike Liske wanted to

catch up with a friend he hadn’t seen in 20 years, so he sent him an email and ar-ranged for a visit to Africa.

In January 2008, Liske, a pediatric cardiologist liv-ing in Nashville, landed in Kenya for a visit with Russ White, a friend from the University of Michigan Medical School.

“I knew that Russ had be-come the chief of surgery at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya,” Liske says. “I emailed him, not necessarily for spiritual or noble purposes. I thought it would be exciting to go to Africa, and perhaps I could provide a medical service.”

He asked if White could use a cardiologist to look at kids.

“I was thinking we would do no more than prescribe medication and give out in-formation,” he says.

He was so taken back by the plight of the African children needing heart sur-gery that he came back to Nashville with a dream.

“I put on a presentation at Vanderbilt about how vast the need is there. The folks over there have no chance of getting the medical care they need,” he says.

Liske’s colleagues re-sponded. That fall he gath-ered a group of about 13 doctors and nurses to go back to Africa with him for a week.

Since then, Liske moved to Farragut and joined Two Rivers Church. The mission trips to Africa have contin-ued and expanded.

Now multiple teams go so that a whole month of pediatric heart surgeries are done each year. Liske, a father of four, goes for 10 days. Like the other vol-unteers, he not only pays his own expenses, he helps raise money for the surger-ies through the nonprofi t Hearts of East Africa, which coordinates efforts with Sa-maritan’s Purse.

Dr. Mike Liske has been to Africa eight times to work with a team providing heart surgeries for

young patients. Photos submitted

Pediatric cardiologist Mike Liske works at a heart clinic in Kenya

where he spends 10 days every year.

Local cardiologist has a heart for Africa

Although the Americans are volunteering their time, there are hospital costs. Each surgery costs about $2,500, a bargain when compared to $150,000 for pediatric heart surgeries here, but still too much for most African families to pay.

The mission-minded doctors and nurses stay in a guest house on the hospi-tal compound, set up heart clinics in the hospital and screen children to see which ones are good candidates for heart surgery.

“Not all kids are candi-dates for surgery because some of them have waited too long, and they’re too sick,” he says. “The chance of them dying is just too high. We’re looking for a child who needs one surgery and will have good recovery time.”

While there, the heart surgeons usually perform two surgeries each day.

Liske has seen many pa-tients, and he recalls one he likes to keep at the top of his mind.

“He was very weak and couldn’t walk or run,” re-members Liske. “He had his heart defect repaired. His father brought him back for a follow-up the next year, and they were so happy. His dad said he’s playing soc-

cer with the other boys and is able to keep up just fi ne, whereas before he couldn’t even walk. He’s making straight A’s in school and wants to be a doctor.”

Liske just got back two weeks ago from his eighth trip.

“Our long-term goal with this, and we’re start-ing to achieve it already, is to make it a self-sustaining and self-replicating proj-ect. Every time a team goes over, our goal is help train Russ and his team. Over the years, he’s now gotten to the point that his own group of

Kenyan doctors and nurses and support people are do-ing a limited number of heart operations on their own. Our goal is to turn it over to him in the future.”

Liske says he initially didn’t have that vision.

“Seeing how great the need was, I initially felt like just a drop of water,” he says. “But with the compa-ny of many colleagues and support agencies, this drop turned into a little stream and then a rushing river. It’s something God has blessed and used, and it has turned into a really exciting thing.”

History award nominations soughtThe East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) invites

nominations from across East Tennessee for Awards of Excellence in the field of history. The annual awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation, promo-tion, programming and interpretation of the region’s history. The postmark deadline for award applications is April 8.

Info/nomination form: 215-8824; eastTNhistory.org; East Tennessee Historical Society, PO Box 1629, Knoxville, TN 37901.

HEALTH NOTES ■ CADES Caregiver Sup-

port Group meeting, 10

a.m.-noon Tuesday, March 1,

Concord UMC, 11020 Roane

Drive. Guest speaker: Cheryl

Blanchard, LMSW, with Life-

point Dementia Care Counsel-

ing. Info: 675-2835.

■ Diabetes Management Se-ries, noon-1 p.m. Thursdays

through Feb. 25, Knox County

Health Department audito-

rium, 140 Dameron Ave. Free

and open to the public. Info/

registration: 215-5170.

■ “The Full Plate Diet? Are

You Eating Enough to Lose

Weight?” program begins 7

p.m. Tuesday, March 1, North

Knoxville 7th day Adventist

Church, 6530 Fountain City

Road. Eight-week program.

Info/registration: 314-8204 or

KnoxvilleInstep.com.

■ Peninsula Lighthouse Group of Families Anony-mous meetings, 6:15-7:15

p.m. each Tuesday, 1451 Dow-

ell Springs Blvd. Newcomers

welcome; no dues/fees; no

sign-up; fi rst names only.

Info: Barbara L., 696-6606 or

PeninsulaFA2@aol.com.

■ UT Hospice Adult Grief Support Group meeting,

5-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March

1, UT Hospice offi ce, 2270

Sutherland Ave. A light sup-

per is served. Info/reservation:

Brenda Fletcher, 544-6277.

UT NOTES ■ Dixie L. Thompson has been

named vice

provost

and dean of

the Gradu-

ate School,

where she

will oversee

all aspects

of graduate

education

on the

Knoxville

campus and at the UT Space

Institute. Thompson will take

the post April 1.

■ Global Security Lecture, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Monday,

Feb. 29, Howard H. Baker Jr.

Center for Public Policy, 1640

Cumberland Ave. Samar S.

Ali will present “Countering

Violent Extremism in Syria

and Beyond.” Free and open

to the public.

■ UT will host the Tennessee

chapter of the Louis Stokes

Alliance for Minority Partici-

pation (TLSAMP) conference

Feb. 25-26. The focus of TL-

SAMP is to improve the num-

bers and quality of minority

students in STEM (Science,

Technology, Engineering

and Mathematics) fi elds. Info:

tlsamp@utk.edu.

Thompson

CALL FOR ARTISTS ■ The Arts & Culture Alli-

ance of Greater Knoxville

is seeking nomination for

Poet Laureate for the city of

Knoxville. The deadline for

nominations to be received is

Friday, April 1. Info/nomina-

tion forms: knoxalliance.com/

poet.html, or send an SASE to

Liza Zenni, Arts & Culture Alli-

ance, PO Box 2506, Knoxville,

TN 37901.

■ “Peep Show!”: featuring

art of the human fi gure in

all forms, clothed, nnude

and in between. Presented

by Broadway Studios and

Gallery, 1127 N. Broadway. Ap-

plication is $5 per piece; limit

three pieces per person. Drop

off : 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Feb. 25-27.

Exhibit on display March 4-26.

Info: BroadwayStudiosAnd

Gallery@gmail.com;

BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.

com.

8 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • NORTH/EAST Shopper news kids

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24Big Read: Spiritual Songs – “The History of the

Negro Spiritual,” 6 p.m., Beck Cultural Center, 1927 Dandridge Ave. A musical lecture/concert presented by Dr. Naima Johnston Bush. Info: beckcenter.net, knoxlib.org.

Big Read book discussion: “A Lesson Before Dy-ing,” noon, YWCA, 420 Clinch Ave. Hosted by YWCA and Union Ave Booksellers. Bring bag lunch. Facilitat-ed by Avice Reid. Info: ywcaknox.com, knoxlib.org.

The Bits ’N Pieces Quilt Guild meeting, 1 p.m., Community Center, Norris. Program: “Favorite Quilting Tips” presented by the members. Visitors and new members welcome. Info: Mary Jane Berry, 494-7841.

Computer Workshops: Internet and Email Basics, 2 p.m., Burlington Branch Library, 4614 Ashe-ville Highway. Requires “Introducing the Computer” or equivalent skills. Info/registration: 525-5431.

International Folk Dance Class, 7:30-10 p.m., Claxton Community Center, 1150 Edgemoor Road, Clinton. Info: Paul Taylor, 898-5724; oakridgefolkdancers.org; on Facebook.

THURSDAY, FEB. 25Big Read book discussion: “A Lesson Before

Dying,” 5 p.m., Beaumont Elementary, 1211 Beaumont Ave. Dinner followed by discussion. Facilitated by Indya Kincannon. Info: knoxlib.org.

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, FEB. 25-26AARP Driver Safety class, noon-4 p.m., Halls

Senior Center, 4410 Crippen Road. Info/registration: Carolyn Rambo, 382-5822.

FRIDAY, FEB. 26 Film Night: “Making of North America: Ori-

gins,” 7-9 p.m., Narrow Ridge Mac Smith Resource Center, 1936 Liberty Hill Road, Washburn. Popcorn and hot beverages provided. Info: Mitzi, 497-2753 or community@narrowridge.org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 27Ballroom dance, 7-9 p.m., Halls Senior Center,

4405 Crippen Road. Live music by the David Correll Band. Admission: $5. Info: 922-0416.

Final day of sign-ups for spring league base-ball and softball for ages 4-14u, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Holston Ball Park, 5900 Asheville Highway. League fees: $60. Teams will play at several locations around Knoxville. Info: Julie Townsend, 659-6989; Randy Geames, 525-5275.

Fourth Saturday Jam Session, 7 p.m., old Rush Strong School, Leadmine Bend Road, Sharps Chapel. Country, bluegrass and gospel music. Free admission, donations appreciated.

Kitten and cat adoption fair, noon-6 p.m., West Town PetSmart adoption center, 214 Morrell Road. Sponsored by Feral Feline Friends of East Tennessee. Info: www.feralfelinefriends.org.

Saturday Stories and Songs: David Blivens, 11 a.m., Powell Branch Library, 330 W. Emory Road. Info: 947-6210.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Sarah Rysewyk, 11 a.m., Fountain City Library, 5300 Stanton Road. Info: 689-2681.

SUNDAY, FEB. 28Silent Meditation, 11 a.m.-noon, Narrow Ridge

Mac Smith Resource Center, 1936 Liberty Hill Road, Washburn. Info: Mitzi, 497-2753 or community@narrowridge.org.

Yoga, 9:30-10:45 a.m., Narrow Ridge Mac Smith Re-source Center, 1936 Liberty Hill Road, Washburn. Bring yoga/Pilates mat, towel and water. Info: Mitzi, 497-2753 or community@narrowridge.org.

MONDAY, FEB. 29QED Experimental Comedy Lab, 7:30-9:30 p.m.,

The Pilot Light, 106 E. Jackson Ave. Free comedy show blending stand-up, improv, sketch and other perfor-mance styles. Donations accepted.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2International Folk Dance Class, 7:30-10 p.m.,

Claxton Community Center, 1150 Edgemoor Road, Clin-ton. Info: Paul Taylor, 898-5724; oakridgefolkdancers.org; on Facebook.

THURSDAY, MARCH 3Bee Friends beekeeping group meeting, 6:30 p.m.,

Walter State University Tazewell Campus. Speaker: Ben Volk; topic: swarms, splits and related issues. All welcome.

Big Ridge 4th District Neighborhood Watch meeting, 7 p.m., Big Ridge Elementary School library. Info: 992-5212.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4Adrian Burnett Elementary’s Hoopalooza

basketball game, 7 p.m., Halls High Gym. School staff vs WBIR Heartbreakers. Info: 689-1474.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5Free beginning beekeeping class, 9:30 a.m.-2

p.m., First Avenue Meeting Hall (across from Duncan Lumber) in New Tazewell. Presented by Bee Friends in Claiborne County. Guest presenter: John Hamrick, UT Extension agent and bee specialist. Lunch provided. Info/registration: Julianne Behn, 617-9013.

Kitten and cat adoption fair, noon-6 p.m., West Town PetSmart adoption center, 214 Morrell Road. Sponsored by Feral Feline Friends of East Tennessee. Info: www.feralfelinefriends.org.

Retirement Income Planning workshop, 10:30 a.m., Halls Branch Library, 4518 E. Emory Road. Pre-sented by Darrell Keathley, from the nonprofi t COFFE. Info: 922-2552.

Weed Wrangle, 9 a.m. Volunteers needed to help remove invasive plants in Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness, at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum, Ijams Nature Center, and Lakeshore Park. Info/volun-teer registration: weedwrangle.com and click on the photo of Knoxville.

MONDAY, MARCH 7American Legion meeting, 7 p.m., 140 Veteran

St., Maynardville. All veterans are invited. Info: 387-5522.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8Paulette 6th District Neighborhood Watch

meeting, 7 p.m., Paulette Elementary School cafeteria. Info: 992-5212.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9The Foothills Craft Guild JuryFest. Membership

applicants must reside in Tennessee, and crafts must be of original design produced within the past two years. Info: foothillscraftguild.org; Bob Klassen, klassenbob0619@gmail.com, or Ken Shipley, shipleyk@apsu.edu.

International Folk Dance Class, 7:30-10 p.m., Claxton Community Center, 1150 Edgemoor Road, Clin-ton. Info: Paul Taylor, 898-5724; oakridgefolkdancers.org; on Facebook.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10VFW meeting, 7 p.m., 140 Veteran St., Maynard-

ville. All veterans are invited. Info: 278-3784.

Send items to news@ShopperNewsNow.com

ShoppernewseVents

Fulton retires Steele’s jersey

Former Fulton basketball player Jalen Steele chats with Jody Wright following the ceremony

to retire his #24 jersey. Photo by R. White

By Ruth WhiteThe Fulton High bas-

ketball team honored for-mer player Jalen Steele with a retirement of his jersey last week before the game against Alcoa.

Steele is one of the most decorated players in Knox-ville basketball history, having led the Falcons to back-to-back state champi-onships in 2008 and 2009, and earning the Class AA Mr. Basketball award in 2010. Additional honors include being named an All-District player all four years, district player of the year (2008-2010), District 3-AA tournament MVP in 2008 and 2010; and Region 2-AA tournament

MVP (2008-2010).Steele was a three-time

All-State team member, was the PrepXtra Player of the Year twice and Sopho-more of the Year, and is Fulton’s all-time leading scorer with 2,400 career points. In Steele’s four years at Fulton, the Fal-cons went 115-18.

He signed to play col-lege basketball at Mis-sissippi State and played three years in the SEC for the Bulldogs. He is now completing his college ca-reer at Lincoln Memorial University.

Steele joins Bill Justus and James Gallman as the only Falcons to have their basketball jersey retired.

Call Ruth at

922-4136

Got school news?

www.ShopperNewsNow.com

Ruth.white@shopper

newsnow.com

Ashley Blackburn and Jennifer Lynberg are two different types of educa-tors—one teaches fi rst grade and the other works with kids with special needs. They both have taught for seven years, Blackburn in her third year at Sarah Moore Greene and Lynberg in her fi rst.

Blackburn grew up know-ing she wanted to become a teacher. Her kindergarten teacher, Sherry Corden, now retired from Rocky Hill, in-stilled a love for education in her at an early age. Black-burn got the opportunity to student teach with Corden and her mentor helps her set up her room each year.

Lynberg wanted to be-come a history teacher when she was in middle school, but life had another plan and she fi rst went to work in a retail setting. When a door opened for her, Lyn-berg went on to school and got her teaching degree. Her fi rst year was spent teach-ing high school history in Virginia with special needs students. She loved work-ing with the students and

Sarah Moore Greene Teachers of the Year, Ashley Blackburn

and Jennifer Lynberg. Photo by R. White

share Teacher of Year honors at SMG

RuthWhite

watching them as they be-gan to bloom in the class-room. Lynberg went back to school and earned her mas-ter’s in special education.

Both teachers love be-ing at Sarah Moore Greene. Blackburn loves working with the students and calls the staff members “wonder-

Blackburn, Lynberg

ful.” She has met some of her best friends at SMG and wouldn’t trade her experi-ences for anything. Lynberg loves how the staff members

work as a team for the stu-dents and enjoys putting her heart and soul into the kids. “We pour into the students and they give back every

day,” she says.When Blackburn was

asked what she might do differently in her classroom, Lynberg immediately an-swered for her.

“Every day is an adven-ture in her classroom (also known as The Doghouse thanks to Blackburn’s dog-themed room),” she says. “The students know that she loves each of them and she goes out of her way to make sure that they love school.”

Blackburn uses a favorite stuffed dog, Rocky, to help with classroom manage-ment, and former students like to stop by her room to check up on him from time to time.

Lynberg uses pillow pets in her classroom, allowing her students to name them and then read to them in a non-judgmental setting. “The kids know that they aren’t judged by their pillow

pet and build confi dence in reading to their friend,” she says.

When named Teacher of the Year, Blackburn admits crying like a baby because it is a very special honor to be recognized by her peers. She feels that everyone at Sarah Moore Greene genu-inely cares about the stu-dents. Lynberg was shocked (and asked principal Susan Espiritu to repeat it for her) because it’s her fi rst year at the school and she knows the range of wonderful teachers on staff.

Both agreed that the school has come such a great distance in gains for all students and credit the leadership as a key fac-tor for the student suc-cess. “Teaching life skills (through the Leader in Me program) helps them im-prove academically,” says Blackburn.

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 9 weekender

‘Gods of Egypt’The god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and mortal Bek (Brenton Thwaites) join forces to

save the world in “Gods of Egypt.” Also starring Gerard Butler, the fi lm is rated PG-13 for

fantasy violence and action, and some sexuality.

By Betsy PickleFor those who haven’t al-

ready had their fi ll of movie awards shows, the granddad-dy of them all – the 88th an-nual Academy Awards, airing this Sunday night on ABC – provides the best offi ce-pool guessing game of the year.

Face it, for an event that purports to honor “the best” of the fi lm world, the Oscars are a subjective contest. The members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sci-ences can be an eccentric bunch – and it’s hard for the general public to remember that it’s a group made up of individuals, not a monolith-ic entity.

The controversy this year was over the lack of ethnic diversity among the acting nominees. But it’s not as though the voters passed each other notes saying, “Don’t vote for any non-white actors.”

Does the Academy need more diversity in its ranks – which seems the most likely way to come up with a slate that represents the full spec-

The good, the badand the gingerbread

PeacemakerThe Oak Ridge Environmental Peace

Alliance will present its Peacemaker Award in celebration of the lives and work of the musical group The Emancipators 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at St. James Episcopal Church, 1101 N. Broadway in Knoxville.

With a style described as “subversive hootenanny,” the ensemble gets

its name from the newspaper “The Emancipator,” published in East Tennessee in 1820 as the fi rst American newspaper devoted to the abolition of slavery. The group performs original songs and currently consists of members Larry Osborne, Mitzi Wood-von Mizener, Kevin Collins, Durant Thompson and Mark Dumond.

Info: peacesongwriter@gmail.com or 414-5711.

Leonardo DiCaprio immerses himself in a struggle for survival and revenge in “The Revenant,”

nominated for 12 Academy Awards.

Playing the Oscar game

trum of those working in the industry? Of course. But ig-nore the conspiracy theories.

Here are my predictions for this year’s winners.

Best Picture: “The Big Short,” “Brooklyn,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Martian,” “The Revenant,” “Room,” “Spot-light.” Way too much pad-ding here, in my opinion. “The Big Short” was a mess,

“Spotlight” was a disap-pointment and “Mad Max: Fury Road” was amazing to look at but not really Best Picture-worthy. “Bridge of Spies” was solid but not groundbreaking. You could probably make the same call on “Brooklyn,” but it had some magic to it.

“The Martian” was a ter-rifi c piece of fi lmmaking and acting, but it’s likely to be a

victim of its box-offi ce suc-cess. The best two – “Room” and “The Revenant” – seem like polar opposites on the surface, but each features brilliant internal perfor-mances that lift it beyond the ordinary. I loved both, but I think “The Revenant” is going to win.

Acting – Best Male: Bryan Cranston, “Trumbo”; Matt Damon, “The Mar-

tian”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”; Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”; Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl.” The voters did a great job in this category, but unless the world spins off its axis before Sunday, DiCaprio is going to win.

Acting – Best Female: Cate Blanchett, “Carol”; Brie Larson, “Room”; Jen-nifer Lawrence, “Joy”; Char-lotte Rampling, “45 Years”; Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn.” This should be a runaway for Larson, who was as-tounding in a breakthrough role. But Blanchett has a lot of fans, and Rampling has nostalgia working in her fa-vor. Ronan and Lawrence, alas, are long shots at best.

Acting – Best Sup-porting Male: Christian Bale, “The Big Short”; Tom Hardy, “The Revenant”; Mark Ruffalo, “Spotlight”; Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”; Sylvester Stallone, “Creed.” I’m a fan of both Bale and Ruffalo, but I don’t think either deserved a nomination. The standout is Hardy, who had a very good

year. Rylance is worthy but not likely. Stallone could get the old-codger vote.

Acting – Best Support-ing Female: Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”; Rooney Mara, “Carol”; Ra-chel McAdams, “Spotlight”; Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”; Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs.” I can’t believe McAd-ams even got a nomination. Please. To me, Vikander is the obvious choice, though she should have been con-sidered a lead. Mara and Winslet were both fi ne. As for Leigh, I think director Quen-tin Tarantino’s script shot her in the proverbial foot.

Best Director: Adam McKay, “The Big Short”; George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”; Alejandro Gon-zalez Inarritu, “The Rev-enant”; Lenny Abrahamson, “Room”; Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight.” Again, to me, it’s between “The Revenant” and “Room.” The Acad-emy seems to favor big and splashy, which means Inar-ritu should win again after his hat trick last year with “Birdman.”

Elizabeth Peterson has enjoyed playing the witch in the Knoxville Opera Company’s school out-

reach programs of “Hansel and Gretel.” She’ll be playing the role of the mother in the actual

production this weekend at the Tennessee Theatre. Photo submitted

By Carol Z. ShaneElizabeth Peterson, part

of the cast of the Knoxville Opera Company’s upcoming production of “Hansel and Gretel,” is no stranger to the concepts of good and evil. Her day job, after all, is that of pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in North Knoxville.

But until recently, she’s never had to embody both concepts within the space of a month.

Though her contract for the role of “mother” was signed many months ago, Peterson has spent a large part of January playing the witch in Knox County

Schools as part of the KOC’s outreach program. She’s the only cast member to have appeared in both versions of the story.

Peterson holds master’s degrees in opera and divinity, and is currently working on her doctorate of divinity. Having appeared at Mighty Musical Mondays and the Rossini Festival, she’s a familiar face on the Knoxville musical scene. This is her fi rst production with the KOC.

“It’s fun to play the bad guy!” she says. “I loved interacting with the kids. I fl ew my broom in and among them, and I had a

light-up wand.”Reactions varied. “I made

a couple of kids cry. Some of them laughed at me. But I would say in general the kids liked me. Some would run up and hug me!”

For the big show, she has to switch gears radically. “Now I’ll be singing in fear of this person � this witch � who’s going to eat my children, and I’ve been her for the last month!”

The classic Grimm’s fairy tale was set to music by the 19th-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck. (It may be news to some readers that Arnold George Dorsey, the popular 1960s

singer of “Release Me” and other hits, received his unusual stage name from his manager as a publicity gimmick.) First performed in 1893, the opera is known for its all-age appeal.

In the KOC production, the witch will be played by mezzo-soprano Jennifer Roderer. Though Peterson cherishes her stint as the villain, she’s more than happy to be playing a different part this time around.

After all, she’s a mother of two herself: Leah, 12, and Zachary, 10. “The coolest thing ever was performing at my daughter’s school,” she says. Unsure as to how that would go over, she was delighted with her daughter’s positive, proud reaction.

“That was a highlight of my life,” says Peterson. “For real.”

The Knoxville Opera Company’s production of Humperdinck’s “Hansel and

Gretel” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Tennessee Theatre on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. An opera preview hosted by Maestro Brian Salesky will take place 45 minutes prior to each performance, and children are invited onstage after the fi nal curtain to take pictures with the cast. Tickets/info: knoxvilleopera.com or 524-0795.

10 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • Shopper news

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 11 business BUSINESS NOTES

■ Eric Botts and Holly Ham-

bright are

co-chairs

of the Dog-

wood Arts

Festival for

2016. Botts

is vice

president

of op-

erations for

Evergreen

Services, a

privately-held funeral service

provider operating 12 funeral

homes in

Tennessee,

North Car-

olina and

Kentucky

including

Fountain

City-based

Gentry

Griff ey

Funeral

Chapel.

Hambright is head chef and

managing partner of Holly’s

Eventful Dining, Holly’s

Gourmet’s Market & Café

and Holly’s Corner, which is

located in the heart of Happy

Holler on Central Ave.

■ Bill Pittman will retire April

1 as

president

and COO

of DeRoyal

after a 32-

year career

with the

company.

He will take

over the

investment

prop-

erty portfolio that he and his

father have developed under

the brand Pittman Properties.

He is credited with expand-

ing DeRoyal’s presence

internationally, and under

his leadership, the company

now has sales in more than

70 countries. He lives in North

Knoxville.

■ Summit Medical Group has

met all criteria for Laboratory

Accreditation by COLA, a

national healthcare accredita-

tion organization, and has

received the COLA Laboratory

Excellence Award.

■ Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon, sponsored by

107.7 WIVK and NewsTalk 98.7

radio stations, raised $103,090

to benefi t East Tenness ee

Children’s Hospital.

■ UT Medical Center’s trauma

center has been verifi ed

as a Level I Trauma Center

by the Verifi cation Review

Committee of the American

College of Surgeons. The

ACS Committee on Trauma’s

verifi cation program does not

designate trauma centers.

Rather, the program provides

confi rmation that a trauma

center has demonstrated its

commitment to providing the

highest quality trauma care

for all injured patients.

■ Weigel’s has scheduled

its third annual Hiring Day.

This on-site hiring event will

be held at all 63 locations

throughout East Tennessee

today (Feb. 24) from 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m. Applicants can

interview for full- or part-time

positions at all levels.

■ Museum of Appalachia’s

37th Tennessee Fall Home-

coming, to be held Oct. 7-9,

has been designated as

If you enjoy the Great Smoky Mountains National

Park, you’ve p r o b a b l y watched a program or taken a rest break at the E l k m o n t C a m p -ground Am-phitheatre. The old the-

atre is about to get a lot of attention. The Rotary Club of Knoxville is partner-ing with the Friends of the Smokies and Rotary Dis-trict 6780 to restore it.

The Park is a great part of the club’s history – the club’s fi rst president, Col. David Chapman, was in-strumental in convincing the National Park Service to select the Smokies as the fi rst national park in the southeast region. Col . Chap-man actually had a home in Elkmont.

“This is a great project for us because this is the 100th anniversary of the national park,” said Sandy Martin, club president. “The work should be starting in the spring and we’ll have one or two workdays there for our members. We are very excit-ed and honored to be a part of this project.”

The total project is esti-mated at $25,000, she said, and the club’s part will be $10,000 –

$5,000 from the club and a matching grant from Dis-trict 6780.

The restoration work will include:

■ The projection booth at the rear of the amphithe-ater will be demolished, re-instating the original, rear-projection design.

■ The screen on the orig-inal roll-down door will be replaced.

■ Rotten benches will be replaced and painted.

■ Stonework on the stage will be repainted and re-placed.

■ Lights for all pathways around the theatre and the theatre itself will be re-placed.

■ Asphalt sidewalks will be patched and repaired.

The Elkmont Camp-ground area is an extremely

News from The Pointe at Lifespring

By Heather HaleyVibrant. Defi nition: full of energy and

enthusiasm. Vibrancy is what separates the mun-dane from the brilliant. It is the key ingredient that changes mediocrity to exceptional, and con-ventional to extraordi-nary. The key to living is to living vibrantly.

There are seven main components to living a

vibrant life: ■ Be Inspired – Gain a deeper sense

of spirituality & feed the soul! ■ Be Well – Intellectual stimulation,

get moving & stay active! ■ Be Challenged – Ignite competitive

spirit, learn, grow & motivate! ■ Be Adventurous – Try something

new every day, explore & experience the unique!

■ Be Family – Cherish family connec-tions, share & continue family traditions!

■ Be Social – Embrace friendships, celebrate the moments, talk, laugh & lis-ten!

■ Be Connected – Engage in mean-ingful community outreach, share expe-

riences & expertise!Each component fosters an overall

well-being of living! There is a trend in our society that says, “My kids are grown, my career is complete, now what? What purpose do I have, now?”

Today, remove that thought from your mind. With each day on this earth, there is a purpose. Each day brings vibrancy all on its own, it’s time to choose your place in the earth’s natural vibrancy. The birds are chirping, the sun is rising, the fl owers are blooming … what is your part of the vibrancy that needs to be played?

Today, fi nd your purpose. Today, search out how you can better incorpo-rate the seven components to vibrant liv-ing.

Our mission every day should be “to optimize health and well-being by pas-sionately promoting a Vibrant Life fi lled with joyful experiences, meaningful en-deavors and abundant opportunities to connect with family, friends and the lo-cal community.”

Today, what can you change in your life to truly live and live vibrantly? Vi-brant life. Be Vibrant. Be You.

To learn more about the Vibrant Life program provided by The Pointe at Lifespring, contact Heather Haley at 865-896-9909, email LifespringDSM@ISLLLC.com or go to www.ThePointeS-eniorLiving.comHeather Haley is Director of Sales & Marketing for The

Pointe at Lifespring Senior Living, opening soon! Info: 865-

896-9909 or visit the Leasing Offi ce at 3016 S. Mall Road,

Knoxville 37917.

Heather Haley

The key to vibrant living

News from the Rotary Guy

Tom King

Knox Rotary in partnership torestore Elkmont’s amphitheater

popular part of the Smokies and has more than 100,000 visitors during the spring-time months alone – more than 1,000 daily. Elkmont Amphitheatre’s interpretive programs attract approxi-mately 3,000 people annu-ally.

■ Letters to our soldiersThe Rotary Interact clubs

at Webb School and Catho-lic High joined recently in a letter-writing project to our troops overseas. Through the organization A Million Thanks.Org, 17 students wrote letters thanking our soldiers for their bravery, sacrifi ce and service. The letters were mailed to the organization and then dis-tributed to troops world-wide. The goal was for the two Interact Clubs to par-ticipate in a joint project for a good cause. Phil Petree is the Interact advisor at Knox Catholic and Liz Gregor at Webb School of Knoxville.

■ North Knox club plans partyThe North Knoxville Ro-

tary Club will not meet at noon Thursday, Feb. 25, at Litton’s. Instead, the group will gather at Fountain City’s Chop House after work for networking and fellowship.

■ Farragut Food Gala in AprilFarragut Rotary will

have its 2nd International Food Gala at 6 p.m. Sat-urday, April 23, at the UT Visitors Center on Neyland Drive. Four cuisine teams from the Pellissippi State Culinary Institute will pre-pare the food. One team will be selected by the judges as the best. Tickets are $75. Funds will provide team awards and scholarships for Pellissippi State adult students with preference to single mothers, as well as other club projects. To at-tend, email event coordina-tor Keith Bryson at bryson-jk@comcast.netTom King is a retired newspaper editor, a

Rotarian for 28 years and past president

of the Rotary Club of Farragut. He can be

reached at tking535@gmail.com

Botts

Hambright

Pittman

one of the “top 100” events

in North America by the

American Bus Association.

Homecoming off ers excellent

entertainment value to both

tour groups and individual

travelers from around the

world, according to ABA.

Got news?

Send news to news@ShopperNewsNow.com

Waste Connections boosts recyclingGreg Hee, division vice president of Waste Connections, gives a check for $2,500 to the safety

patrol students at West View Elementary School to help pay for their trip to Washington, D.C., at

the end of the school year. Hee talked about recycling and stressed “safety fi rst.”

Snakebit: Snake handling in East Tennessee

By Sandra ClarkSnake handling is a reli-

gious ritual practiced mainly in rural Appalachia – pri-marily Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia, says Joe Jarret.

He spoke last week to North Knoxville Rotary at Litton’s. Jarret talked about an article he had published in the Tennessee Bar Jour-nal, April 2014, and a visit he made to a small church in West Virginia.

(His wife, Amanda, stayed in the car.)

The legal challenge is to outlaw the practice with-out trampling on the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and religious ex-pression.

“Although the rituals exercised in churches that practice snake handling are fairly uniform, the states where such rituals occur dif-fer in their approach to the practice,” he wrote.

“Tennessee’s serpent-handling law has remained virtually unchanged since its inception in 1947 and con-tinues to make no specifi c mention of the use of poison-ous or dangerous snakes in religious practices.

“Kentucky likewise out-laws the handling of poi-sonous snakes, albeit spe-cifi cally renders, illegal “using, displaying or han-dling any kind of reptile in connection with any reli-gious service.” Kentucky’s Act remains unchanged since it was challenged in 1942.”

Jerry Griff ey of Gentry Griff ey Funeral Chapel and Joe Jarret,

UT lecturer and former Knox County law director, at last week’s

meeting of the North Knoxville Rotary.

Jarret said a Tennessean named George Went Hens-ley is credited for spreading snake handling practices in the South in the early 20th Century.

Hensley founded a church at Sale Creek in Grasshopper Valley, Tenn., about 35 miles northeast of Chattanooga.

“The practice continues,” Jarret wrote, “despite the skepticism offered by schol-ars or the fact that George Hensley died of a snakebite in 1955.

“According to witnesses, during a Sunday worship service held in the town of Altha, Fla., Hensley handled a diamondback rattlesnake for approximately 15 min-utes before it bit him.

“The Calhoun County sheriff attempted to con-vince Hensley to receive medical treatment to no

avail.“The sheriff ultimately

ruled Hensley’s death a sui-cide.”

Jerry Griffey, a member of the North Knoxville Ro-tary Club, said he operated a funeral home in Newport before moving to Fountain City.

He said a couple of cous-ins tried to outdo each other in demonstrations of faith. Each handled a poisonous snake and neither was bit-ten. Then both drank strych-nine.

“We held the service for one on Thursday and the other on Friday,” said Griffey.

Jarret is more interested in the law than the theology. But he ended his presenta-tion with a passage from Matthew 7: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.”

12 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • Shopper news

Then you'll love the

Shopper's take on both

the local fi lmmaking scene

and Hollywood releases.

Love movies?

Betsy Pickle, East Tennessee's premier fi lm critic,

keeps you in the know in Weekender.

NEWS FROM EMERALD YOUTH FOUNDATION OF KNOXVILLE

Steve Diggs

A Message from

Steve DiggsEmerald Youth President and CEO

When Emerald Youth Foundation began more than two decades ago, we built our programs around neighborhood kids having fun alongside caring adults. Like growing kids every-where, urban children and teens craved to

belong to healthy community. Then as now, Emerald Youth want-

ed a lot for the city’s young people. We wanted each child to know the Lord through Christian faith, and have aca-demic success and good health. But we wanted even more. Emerald’s goals in-clude raising up the next generation of leaders in Knoxville, so that churches, families, businesses and city institu-tions will have good servant leaders.

Emerald Youth’s four-part focus on faith, learning, relationships and health seems the best way to meet these goals. We believe that com-munity transformation begins within each of its people. A child who has experienced God’s work and love in his or her life is most able as an adult to bring about healthy change in neighborhoods an d cities.

Another way to put it is that the connections in kids’ homes with the church, their schools and the commu-nity need to stay strong. Research is clear that when these connections are not healthy, kids are at risk. Isolation and disconnection from community are a threat to us all, regardless of our socioeconomic background.

Knoxville is a city that cares deeply for its children. Let us work together – with a long-term view – to help all our children stay involved in healthy community and fulfi ll their potential as God intended.

While winter weather persists in East Tennessee, summer plans are already tak-ing shape at Emerald Youth, including the hiring of about 30 AmeriCorps members.

AmeriCorps, a network of national ser-vice programs, has had a longstanding re-lationship with Emerald Youth since 1998. Charged nationally with “helping others and meeting critical needs in the commu-nity,” Emerald Youth AmeriCorps members will serve this summer from May 9-July 15. Their responsibilities will include leading summer day camp activities, providing academic enrichment, taking children on fi eld trips and much more.

“The AmeriCorps program allows Em-erald Youth Foundation to reach more kids in more ways. Emerald Youth AmeriCorps members spend the majority of their time engaging young people in academic and health related activities, two areas crucial to Emerald Youth’s mission,” said Rachel Davis, EY staffi ng manager.

Requirements, at minimum, to qualify for an AmeriCorps position include, but are not limited to: being at least 18 years of age; having or willing to earn a high school di-ploma or GED equivalent prior to the end

Emerald Youth Foundation has a full roster of team sports underway for young people, extend-ing through the remaining weeks of winter on into summer’s hottest days.

BasketballEmerald’s AAU basketball offers advanced levels of play to a wide range of ages, giving boys

and girls a chance to compete against other AAU teams in state and regional levels. For middle and high school boys who are still learning basketball, yet desire a competitive environment with dedicated coaches, Emerald Youth’s recreation league is a perfect fi t.

LacrosseLacrosse is being offered this spring for boys ages 11-13. This fast-paced fi eld sport is cited for

building fi tness and mental acuity.

Soccer About 250-300 youth aged 4-14 were expected to sign up for Emerald’s Academy (recreation)

League soccer, with teams formed in mid-February at the Sansom Sports Complex.

TrackTryouts for Emerald’s Track Club will be May 3. Boys and girls in 1st through 11th grades are

eligible to participate.

SwimTryouts for Emerald’s 10th annual summer co-ed swim team will be May 10. Swimmers aged

7-17 are eligible.For more details about any of these sports opportunities, call 865-637-3227 or www.

emeraldyouthsports.org

Thanks to the support of Uni-versity of Tennessee basketball fans, Emerald Youth is the recipi-ent of a $7,500 donation from In-fi niti.

Vol fans – and fans of Emerald Youth – voted daily in the Infi niti Coaches’ Charity Challenge for head coach Rick Barnes, who was competing na-tionally against 47 basketball coaches to raise funds for their se-lected charities.

“We are in-credibly grateful to Tennessee fans for their votes in support of Coach Barnes,” said John Crooks, Emerald Youth marketing and communications director. “The competition was

tough, and we appreciate Coach Barnes and his staff for their help. It was a fun contest in which to participate.”

The competition, supported lo-cally by Harper Infi niti, was pro-duced by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the NCAA and ESPN.

AmeriCorps member Tim Ramsey helps

Jashaela Bohanon with her homework.

Emerald Youth to hire 30 summer AmeriCorps members

of the Ameri-Corps term; be-ing a certifi ed U.S. citi-zen, a national or legal permanent resident.

AmeriCorps members receive a living al-lowance while they serve and an education

award, which can be used for

college expenses or to pay back qualifi ed student loans.

For info or to apply, contact Rachel Davis at rdavis@emeraldyouth.org or call 637-3227 x. 112.

Lacrosse is one of several sports Emerald Youth is

off ering this year at the Sansom Sports Complex.

EEmEmEmerralallalddddd YYoYoYo tutututhhh Foundation has a full roster of teeamammam ssssppopoportrts underway for young people, eextxtxtxtenenenenddd-d-

Spring and summer sports take shape

A donation from the Infi niti Coaches’ Charity Chal-

lenge will support Emerald Youth’s ministry with kids

throughout Knoxville.

The votes are in!

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 13

14 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • Shopper news

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BECHALLENGED• Ignite a competitive spirit• Bring out personal best• Learn, grow & motivate• Reach for new heights

BE ADVENTUROUS• Try something new• Explore & experience the unique• Expand horizons• Learn new things everyday

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BE CONNECTED• Engage in meaningful community outreach• Share experiences & expertise• Intergenerational engagement• Charitable endeavors• Foster advocacy

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