South Knox Shopper-News 122414

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NEWS

[email protected] Clark | Betsy Pickle

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Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore

Patty Fecco | Wendy O’Dell

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VOL. 2 NO. 1 July 29, 2013www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNowVOL. 2 NO. 51 December 24, 2014www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

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By Wendy SmithWayne Blasius, who began his

new job as executive director of the East Tennes-see Community Design Center this week, remembers having coffee with Annette Anderson back in 1977.

Anderson was executive director of the design cen-ter from 1973 to

1995. She was one of the fi rst peo-ple Blasius met when he arrived in Knoxville to begin graduate work in urban planning. They talked about the importance of getting involved in the community, and the conversation stoked his enthu-siasm for civic engagement.

In the years since, Blasius has volunteered for the design center,

Knox Heritage, Leadership Knox-ville, the Central Business Im-provement District and the Knox-ville Chamber of Commerce, along with other organizations.

“I strongly believe in giving back, that our community is only as good as the work its citizens are willing to put into it.”

He grew up in the Chicago area and didn’t intend to stay in Knox-ville. But the South grew on him − especially the warm winters.

After Blasius fi nished his de-gree, he was hired as a planner for the Metropolitan Planning Com-mission. He worked on the down-town master plan that ultimately led to that area’s renaissance.

His fi rm, InSite Development, also contributed to downtown’s revitalization with the redevelop-ment of the Phoenix and the Mast General Store/Gallery Lofts.

Knoxville has an incredible his-toric building stock, he says.

“If you look down Gay Street, there are not many missing teeth.”

The area has remained intact because businesses had little eco-nomic incentive to be there dur-ing the 1960s and 1970s, he says. If downtown had been booming, some of the buildings would have been torn down and replaced with modern equivalents.

When it comes to good design, there’s always room for improve-ment, and he hopes the design center will continue to be a play-er in that. Blasius took the reins from interim executive director Mary Linda Schwarzbart, whom he commends for her leadership. He also praises the design center’s staff and volunteer board.

He thinks his ability to envi-sion a new future for downtown’s

big, empty buildings will help him lead the design center, though its scope goes far beyond the city center. Knoxville and its outlying communities depend on each oth-er, and good design is benefi cial to everybody, he says.

The ETCDC, which serves a 16-county region, provides profes-sional design and planning services to communities and nonprofi t orga-nizations that would not otherwise be able to afford such services. Con-ceptual designs for projects, which are chosen based on service to the public, help organizations focus their vision and seek funding.

The design center was founded in 1969 by renowned Knoxville architect Bruce McCarty. Staff is composed of three full-time and two part-time employees. Fund-ing for the nonprofi t comes from grants and donations.

Wayne Blasius

Blasius is new director of design center

By Betsy PickleDon Parsley fi rst studied Tai

Chi 30 years ago when he was liv-ing in Utah.

“My son was learning kung fu, and the master there was teaching Tai Chi,” he recalls. “Within a year we kind of drifted away from it.”

But six years ago, he and his wife, Joann, took a Tai Chi course at the Carter Senior Center. Pars-ley was thinking about retiring, and he wanted something to do with his time. He enjoyed the class so much that he decided to fur-ther his training and become an instructor. He marked his fi fth an-niversary of teaching in October.

On Jan. 6, he will begin a new round of Tai Chi for Arthritis at the South Knoxville Senior Cen-ter. Beginner classes will be at 11 a.m. and advanced at 12:30 p.m. each Tuesday for 10 weeks. Cost is $2 per session.

“This was the fi rst place I start-ed teaching,” Parsley says during an informational open house at the South Knoxville center. “The fi rst class that I advertised here in

Tai Chi instructor Don Parsley and several of his frequent students demonstrate some of the movements he teaches

at the South Knoxville Senior Center. With Parsley are, front row, Elysse Myers, Joann Parsley, Margaret Whaley; back

row, Jim Myers, Valarie Johnson, Barbara Lillard and Pat Morehead. Photo by Betsy Pickle

Improve your health with Tai Chi

It’s tree-planting season, and the city’s tree experts will be ana-lyzing soil and growing conditions in choosing from 45 different spe-cies of trees for plantings in public places – in parks, along greenways and in rights-of-way – between now and March.

Kasey Krouse, the city’s fi rst urban forester, has selected sites where new trees will be placed. Together with the city’s arborist, Jeff McCarter, Krouse and his six employees will oversee the plant-ing of more than 600 trees around town his season.

Since his hiring in 2012, Krouse has ended the approach of plant-ing primarily monoculture stands of trees. His goal is a diverse va-riety of trees. He considers the makeup of the soil as well as the environment in which the trees will be growing.

“Planting native trees works if you’ve got the native soil. If you don’t have that, exotic trees like the zelkova and ginkgo are a bet-ter option because they will do well in poor soil,” Krouse said.

Much of the land Krouse is planting trees on has been mis-used at some point over the past couple of centuries, leaving little if any virgin soil.

“Planting these trees is reward-ing work,” Krouse said. “It’s sat-isfying to know that, if we do our research correctly, our children and their children will be playing under these tree canopies many decades from now.

“More immediately, neighbor-hood leaders and park users will notice the wider variety of tree fo-liage and fall colors, as well as the thickening numbers of trees on public properties in the city.”

It’ t l ti dd “P“Pll tii iti t kk iiff

City crews planting 600 trees across Knoxville

A crew with AvaLa wn Lawn and Land-

scaping plants a tree in Tyson Park.

NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ

IN THIS ISSUEMarvin West

Money trumps tradition. How else can you explain changing the name of the his-toric Gator Bowl to TaxSlayer Bowl? The online tax prep people started paying the price in 2011. Naming rights were finalized this year.

➤ See story on page 9

Betsy PickleChristmas is a huge day for

movies, and Shopper-News previews two of the best ones: “Into the Woods” and “The Imitation Game.”

➤ See previews on page 6

Wendy SmithJudging at Tour de Lights

was a challenge. In the end, there were 1,023 riders, most of whom sported lights, tinsel or costumes.

It was nothing short of magical to watch them depart for a tour of the Fourth & Gill neighborhood, even though my toes were numb.

➤ See story on page 5

Christmas greetings!In this drawing by Carol Chilton of

Greeneville, Bill and Wanda Wil-

liams say it best. “Straight from

the heart.”

Festival of LightsWalk around Concord

Park to see the Knox County Festival of Lights, running from 6-9 p.m. through Dec. 30. It’s sponsored by the county’s Parks and Recreation Depart-ment.

Come for a Dam Road Ride Saturday, Dec. 27, at 9 a.m. as the Knoxville Bicycle Company sponsors the Saturday Dam Road Ride. Meet at 10657 Har-din Valley Road. Info: www.Legacyparks.org/.

Lights fantastic at Chilhowee Park

Tour Chilhowee Park by car after dark to see the city-sponsored forest of lighted trees fl oating on the lake. The exhibit will continue to Jan. 1.

2 • DECEMBER 24, 2014 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Centerwishes you and your familya wonderful holiday season

and a happ y new year.

fsregional.com • (865) 673-FORT

Amy Taylor, pictured here on vacation with her son, Bryce, came to Fort Sanders Regional Medi-

cal Center earlier this year due to crippling hip, leg and back pain. Now, she’s back on her feet

thanks to Dr. Yau and the team at the Joint Center of Fort Sanders Regional.

Local entrepreneur receives ‘excellent care’ during two hip surgeriesAs an interior designer of professional of-

fi ce spaces, Amy Taylor of Knoxville knows how to make her clients comfortable at work.

But several years ago Taylor became very uncomfortable herself, whether sitting or standing. She had severe pain in her back and hips that made it diffi cult to bend and walk.

“I had a lot of lower back pain and leg pain. It progressed to hip pain, deep pain, in my back and lower legs. At night, I couldn’t sleep on my side. I’d wake up with a lot of hip pain,” she said.

“It got to the point where I came home and went straight to the recliner and put my legs up, because that was the most comfort-able position. I used to walk daily, but all of that stopped – going to the park or going outdoors. It defi nitely affected my level of exercise and activity.”

Taylor was diagnosed with femoroac-etabular impingement, or FAI, of the hip. It’s a condition in which the ball of the fe-mur (thigh) bone isn’t perfectly round and with activity patients can experience pinch-ing, tearing and premature wear. This can damage the cartilage of the both the ball and socket and, ultimately, lead to bone-on-bone arthritis.

“But not everyone needs a hip replace-ment,” said Dr. Paul Yau, an orthopedic surgeon at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. “Caught early enough, tears can be repaired, the hip can be made round and balance can be restored to the joint. With modern techniques in hip arthroscopy, we can accomplish a lot of work through three tiny incisions.

“Hips are much like tires. If they’re not round, they’ll wear out sooner,” said Yau. “A lot of what I do is similar to being a me-chanic. If your tires are out of balance, you balance them to help them run smoother and last longer. If there is a hole or a tear, repair it. But if your treads are completely worn, it makes the most sense to replace the whole tire.”

Tips on how to avoid joint injuries

■ Avoid doing too much, too soon. Never increase the length of your workouts by more than 10 percent from one week to the next, and never increase both the length and intensity of your workout at the same time.

■ Maintain strength in the muscles surrounding the joint area. To strengthen the knees, do calf raises, lunges, squats and leg lifts.

■ Train smart by cross-training. Repetitive-motion injuries caused by doing just one sport or workout are some of the most common. You can prevent them by doing different sports or activities that work differ-ent muscles.

■ Never skip your warm-up or cool down. Tight or stiff muscles around a joint will make the area more prone to injury.

■ Always use proper technique and body mechanics when playing sports involving repetitive motion, such as tennis and golf. Taking lessons from a certifi ed coach or trainer every once in a while can help you learn and stick with proper form, which can reduce your injury risk substantially.

■ Keep in shape. A high cardiovas-cular fi tness level is crucial to avoid joint injuries. Otherwise, as you tire your form can fail and your joints carry unbalanced weight.

■ Be sure to wear proper shoes that provide adequate support during exercise.

A closer look at direct anterior hip replacementFort Sanders Regional Medical Center

is among only 15 percent of U.S. hospitals with the staff and facilities available to per-form the latest approach in hip replacement surgery, called direct anterior hip replace-ment.

In this procedure, the surgeon goes through the front (anterior) portion of the hip, instead of the side or back. This allows the surgery to sepa-rate important muscles and tendons instead of cutting through them to position a new hip joint implant.

“When I fi rst started do-ing hip replacement surgery this way, I thought it was

just another option to access the joint, but people have done amazingly well with this approach,” said Dr. Paul Yau, an orthopedic surgeon with Fort Sanders Regional Medi-cal Center.

“With traditional hip replacements, we have to cut muscles or tendons, which pro-longs the recovery process and may require limitations on hip motion,” said Yau. “It

is common to hear patients being told not to bend at the hip more than 90 degrees, squat, reach to the fl oor or cross your legs after hip replacement because it would risk a dislocation.

“With the anterior approach, none of these typical ligaments are cut, which means all of these common activities are safe, im-mediately after surgery,” Yau explained.

The anterior approach does require a specialized surgical table and intraoperative X-rays.

“The specialized table allows for safe leg placement not possible with a traditional surgical table,” said Yau. “This unique table improves access to the hip joint and permits the use of intraoperative X-rays to ensure accurate implant position.

“Traditionally, leg length discrepancies are a well-known complication after total hip replacement. The use of live, real-time imaging during surgery allows the surgeon to make both legs balanced and symmetric in length,” he said. “This means the implant will last longer. I no longer say you have to be a certain age to get a hip replacement.”

With the anterior approach, the patient

should expect usually one or two nights in the hospital.

“Some people even go home the same day,” said Yau. “People recover so much faster, it’s unbelievable.”

Yau said he began doing the anterior surgery routinely about a year ago and uses it today for about 95 percent of his hip re-placement and repair surgeries.

“It does require special facilities and a trained staff, which we have at Fort Sand-ers. There are a lot of moving parts to the surgery and they all need to be coordinated or you’ll have problems,” he said.

Studies have backed up Yau’s opinion of anterior hip replacement.

“You know how progress tends to hap-pen in increments?” he asked. “I want to say this is a giant leap instead of an incremen-tal one in orthopedic surgery. I haven’t seen anything this dramatically improve people’s outcome from surgery, ever.”

For more information on

direct anterior hip replacement,

call 673-FORT or visit our website

at www.fsregional.com/orthopaedics.

Taylor tried steroid injections to calm the pain, without success. So she went to see Dr. Yau.

Even though Taylor is only 42 years old, Yau suggested replacing both of her hips with artifi cial joints.

“Yes, it is quite unusual to be that young and need replacement surgery. I certainly spend a lot of time repairing and saving hip joints when possible. However, past a cer-tain point, replacement surgery has a much better chance of providing decades of pain relief. Recent data show the average age of hip replacement patients has dropped be-low age 50 and Amy’s not far from that,” said Yau.

Taylor had her hips replaced one at a time, one side in late August 2014 and the second two months later.

Both were done at Fort Sanders, with Taylor staying just one night in the hospi-tal each time. Taylor was able to go home so quickly because Yau used a minimally invasive technique called direct anterior hip replacement.

It requires only a 4-inch incision, and the muscles and tendons are spread apart to make room for the new hip joint instead of cutting them. This leads to a quicker re-covery.

Yau does a high volume of direct anterior hip replacements each year.

“This is a much easier way for patients to recover from hip replacement surgery,” said Yau. “I have some patients where I did one hip the old way and then we did the other one the new (anterior) way, and patient feedback reports the new way is about 70 to 80 percent easier.”

Taylor said in both surgeries, she felt dramatically better quickly. “In both cases by the third week I felt so much better and was off all my pain meds,” she said.

She is going through physical therapy to strengthen her muscles again after years of not exercising.

“I still have some back pain; I have a limp in my gait,” she said. “Dr. Yau recommend-ed I go to some physical therapy because my muscles are weak because I haven’t used them for two years. The pain in my hips is gone, and right now I just have muscle re-lated pain.”

Taylor said she would recommend Fort Sanders to anyone facing hip surgery.

“Dr. Yau is so personable,” said Taylor. “He talks to you, listens to you. He talked to my husband. He called me after the surgery and stayed in touch.

“Dr. Yau and Fort Sanders did a great job. The care at Fort Sanders was outstanding,” said Taylor. “They were very attentive to any needs I had, all very knowledgeable, with excellent care. I’ve already recommended them to about three of my friends.”

Paul Yau, MD

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Tai Chi From page 1

South Knoxville, I had 60 people show up.”

He now averages 20 to 30 people per class.

Parsley teaches the sun style of Tai Chi as developed by Dr. Paul Lam, an Aus-tralian physician who has taught Tai Chi since 1976 and emphasizes its contri-butions to good health.

Parsley, who also offers classes at the Halls and Cart-er senior centers, says the sun style is perfect for people suffering from arthritis.

“It’s more upright,” he says. “You don’t get way down touching the fl oor; you’re not reaching up in the sky; you’re not overextend-ing your joints.”

While Lam’s version is approved worldwide by the Arthritis Foundation, Pars-ley doesn’t work through the foundation.

“I spent a good part of my life in the Army, and I did not want to go through a bureau-cracy again,” he says. Instead, Parsley gets his certifi cation every two years through Lam’s organization and can schedule classes on his own.

Knox County residents age 50 and above are eligi-ble to attend county senior centers, and Parsley, 70, has taught all ages – including people in wheelchairs and others who need to sit for the classes.

“I’ve had people in their mid-90s in this class,” he says. “I have one in her late 80s over at Carter who would

After the fi reworks of the October city Board of Zon-ing Appeals meeting, the December meeting – which revisited Blanchard & Cal-houn Commercial’s requests for variances on the develop-ment of the former Baptist Hospital site – raised barely a spark of controversy.

Betsy Pickle

All quiet on the southern (water)front

Mark Senn, Blanchard & Calhoun president, told the board that he and his architects had met with the public and discussed their reasons for requesting the variances. The company dropped its request for a variance on ground-fl oor glazing (windows) even be-fore the public meetings, rethinking its design ap-proach and the aesthetics.

Senn said there had been little opposition to the other variance requests – concerning setback re-quirements, lot size and permeable-material park-ing decks. He was correct in saying that there hadn’t been much vocal objection at the meeting at Flenni-ken Landing, though one at South Knoxville Elemen-tary School hosted by the Old Sevier Neighborhood Association was somewhat livelier.

But two South Knoxvil-lians spoke out at the BZA meeting, refusing to let the board believe South Knox-villians were all in lock-step on the variances. The most thorough presenta-tion came from Old Sevier resident Jacqueline Arthur, who read her prepared statement, eloquently citing possible pitfalls as a result of granting the variances, and citing support only for the parking variance.

In the end, the BZA sided with Blanchard & Calhoun, approving the variances as a package deal.

■ Festive Candoro High spirits reigned at

the Candoro Marble build-ing during the last holiday open house before the Aslan Foundation, which owns the building, begins renova-tions next year.

A blue-and-green pea-

Sharon Davis and April Burt, right, who organized the open house, give elf Brad Selph the

squeeze.

Mother-daughter fl utists Carla Manley Brown and Bethany

Brown entertain Candoro guests.

Candoro board member Evelyn Gill and husband Michael Gill

get ready to sample the food off erings.

Friends and community leaders Janice Tocher, Debra Bradshaw and Debbie Sharp take a break

from volunteering to visit during the Candoro party.put a lot of people to shame.”

Parsley grew up in the tiny town of Cotton Plant, Ark. He joined the U.S. Army straight out of high school, serving for more than 25 years before retir-ing in 1987. He worked in re-tail management for a while before starting a new career as a corporate trainer.

The Parsleys were liv-ing in Dallas and hating the hectic lifestyle there when they decided to move to Knoxville. They have been here nearly 20 years and love their home near Chil-howee Intermediate School.

Between training peo-ple in both the corporate world and the Army, Parsley knows how to teach.

But Tai Chi requires a different mindset of him.

“It’s basically a totally different way of teaching, especially teaching so many seniors,” he says. “Seniors are not going to put up with what a teenager would put up with. If you’re not re-sponsive to their needs, they’re going to leave.

“It’s sometimes a chal-lenge, but you have to inte-grate the whole class. That’s the key to teaching this kind of class so people go, ‘This is f or me.’ ”

Loyal members of the Vestal Community Organization gather for fellowship. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Helen Caldwell’s reindeer cookies were a crowd-pleaser at the

VCO holiday party.

cock theme provided a spin on the usual holiday colors. Candoro board members April Burt and Sharon Da-vis brought the building to life with their décor, and Burt’s spread of delectable foods put everyone in a good mood.

Sean McCollough earned heavy applause as Trudy Monaco named him vol-unteer of the year for his invaluable contributions in organizing the music for the annual Vestival event.

Aside from music by new board chief Paula Johnson and her piano students and mother-daughter fl utists Carla Manley Brown and Bethany Brown, the main entertainment was the raf-fl e presided over by Davis.

Many guests walked away with prizes, but – thanks to the generosity of local businesses – the raffl e turned into something like a

comic marathon.

■ Vestal timeoutMembers of the Vestal

Community Organization set business aside to enjoy a holiday party in December.

Homemade goodies and light conversation were the only things on the agenda.

Regular meetings are held at 6 p.m. each second Monday at the South Knox-ville Community Center.

COMMUNITY NOTES Group provides stroke survivor support

The Knoxville Stroke Group welcomes stroke sur-vivors and their caregivers. It meets the second Tuesday of each month at Tennova’s Shamrock Room (next to Fulton High School).

The group offers help to stroke survivors with edu-cation as well as emotional, social and recreational sup-port as they go through the recovery process.

At the January meet-ing, the group will have a speaker from the Disability Law Center. February is the annual bingo night and chili dinner. Info: Kerry Jones, [email protected].

HEALTH NOTE ■ Enrollment assistance for

the Aff ordable Healthcare and

Medicaid and the Children’s

Health Insurance Program

(CHIP): 3-7 p.m. Wednesday,

Jan. 21, South Knox Com-

munity Center, 522 Maryville

Pike; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday,

Jan. 3, Mount Calvary Baptist

Church, 1807 Dandridge Ave.;

3-7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12,

Montgomery Village, 4530

Joe Lewis Road. Info: www.

healthcare.gov.

■ Colonial Village Neighborhood Association. Info: Terry

Caruthers, 579-5702, [email protected].

■ Knoxville Tri-County Lions Club meets 7 p.m. each second

and fourth Monday, Connie’s Kitchen, 10231 Chapman High-

way, Seymour. Info: https://www.facebook.com/TriCountyLi-

ons/info.

■ Lake Forest Neighborhood Association. Info: Molly Gilbert,

209-1820 or [email protected]

■ South of the River Democrats (9th District) meets 6:30 p.m.

each third Monday, South Knoxville Community Center, 522

Maryville Pike. Info: Jim Sessions, [email protected] or

573-0655.

■ South Haven Neighborhood Association meets 10 a.m. each

third Saturday, Hillcrest UMC, 1615 Price Ave. Info: Pat Harmon,

591-3958.

■ South Woodlawn Neighborhood Association. Info: Shelley

Conklin, 686-6789.

■ Vestal Community Organization meets 6 p.m. each second

Monday, South Knoxville Community Center, 522 Old Maryville

Pike. Info: Newman Seay, 577-4593.

Merry Christmas

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Training information sessions every Wednesday at 10am!

No obligation & scholarships available to those who qualify.

6921 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxvillle, TN 37909


Last week, after Presi-dent Obama announced we would normalize relations with Cuba, I tuned in to a lo-cal radio station’s daily talk show anticipating wing-nut hysterics at the news.

I came away gratifi ed.One caller expressed his

displeasure at trading with any Communist nation by asking rhetorically, “Why are we (trading) with Viet-nam, anyway? They killed 55,000 of our men.”

Then, for emphasis: “We shoulda nuked ’em back to the Stone Age.”

For that fellow, nothing exudes Christmas cheer like a glowing, radioactive cra-ter.

Although Obama’s most recent treasonous action was enough in itself to curl his toenails, it turned out the caller was equally out-raged over the origin of his jockey shorts: made in Viet-nam.

After East Tennessee’s version of Gen. Jack D. Rip-per (of “Dr. Strangelove” fame) hung up, I tried to empathize with him.

My jockey shorts are “im-migrants” as well, made in Honduras, but we haven’t had a war with Honduras lately. If we had, I might feel differently.

Then I considered what

To arms, to arms, the #DanishAreComing

LarryVan

Guilder

this country would look like today if we had “nuked” Vietnam: probably a lot like Vietnam but without the jungle. But our actions would also have precipi-tated World War III, and we would have been nuked in turn by the Soviet Union and Red China.

(Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers …” As op-posed to “peacekeepers,” now-retired ICBMs once de-ployed by the United States.)

However, fair-minded individual that I am, I con-ceded that the caller might be on to something.

Vietnam is the wrong target, especially now that it produces serviceable un-derwear. But there are peo-ple, places and things that could do with a good Christ-mas nuking, so I made this list and checked it twice.

Denmark. Peaceful lit-tle Denmark, you say? Ha! Danes, with their well-paid McDonald’s workers and their cream-cheese pastries may seem to be the last peo-ple on earth who deserve in-

dustrial-grade irradiation, but read on. Denmark has decided to lay claim to part of the Arctic surrounding the North Pole. Because the continental shelf running under Greenland stretches to the pole and Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the pushy Danes think they can just grab ter-ritory like it was formerly part of Mexico.

Anyone who writes or says anything pre-ceded by a hashtag (#). If you’re like me, it’s becom-ing increasingly diffi cult to restrain the impulse to strangle the next person who uses a hashtag to com-municate feelings, as in, “I feel #blue today,” or opin-ions like “#DanesAreNuts.” Nuking on this scale would mean the end of Twitter, a sweet collateral benefi t.

The National Football League. The conduct of pro football players makes a strong argument for nuking. I’ll exclude Peyton Manning if he agr ees to stop making Papa John’s commercials.

The next politician who says, “I’m not a sci-entist, but …” We’ve been hearing a lot of this from cli-mate-change deniers in re-cent years. We know you’re not scientists; we only wish you would listen to them.

Jacksons celebrate ChristmasKnox County General Sessions Court judge Andy Jackson and his wife, Janet (at right), celebrate

with daughters Rachel and Rebecca at the family’s annual Christmas party at their home in Sol-

way. Judge Jackson is a descendant of President Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the

United States. Photo by A. Hart

Forty years ago, in 1974, the fi rst woman to represent Knox County in the state Senate was elected in No-vember. Her name was Mar-tha Ashe, and there is quite a story as to how it all hap-pened in an unplanned way.

She was this writer’s mother, and the reader needs to be 60 to have much current memory of the fall campaign in 1974 in Knox County. In fact, the full sto-ry will take up much of two columns, so this story will be continued on Dec. 31.

Martha Ashe was also the fi rst Republican woman ever elected statewide to the Senate. Since then three more women (Jamie Wood-son, Becky Massey and, briefl y, Sue Atchley) have represented Knox County in the state Senate, and many more have served other parts of the state.

At the start of 1974, I was completing my third term in the state House and de-cided to run for the state Senate that year. Tennes-see’s Constitution requires that a state senator be 30 years old. In 1974, I was 29 and would turn 30 on Jan. 1, 1975.

Since the Senate would not convene until the sec-ond Tuesday of January in 1975, I would then be 30. I sought and secured a state Attorney General’s opinion that said I was eligible to run and the Senate would determine the qualifi ca-tions of its own members.

The state Constitution also provides that the term of offi ce begins with the day of election in November.

VictorAshe

The fi rst Martha Ashe

There is not a lame-duck period for state legislators.

My mother at that time had no inkling she might seek the Senate seat but was a vital supporter in my cam-paigns. I declared my can-didacy in the GOP primary and won the nomination over longtime Sheriff Ber-nard Waggoner in August. In addition to the Democrat-ic candidate, Betty Cathey, there was an independent candidate, former state Rep. Jack Comer, whom I had defeated two years earlier for state representative in the GOP primary after re-districting. Comer was irate over his loss.

He fi led as an indepen-dent candidate to gain legal standing to sue over my eli-gibility. The lawsuit is styled Comer v. Ashe and was fi rst heard in Chancery Court by the late Len Broughton, who ruled in my favor, holding that the Senate alone would decide the eligibility of its members. Since the Sen-ate would not convene until January, when I would be 30, the issue would be moot.

However, Comer quickly appealed the decision and asked that the state Su-preme Court hear the case, bypassing the appellate court. The Supreme Court agreed to hear it.

I was ably represented byJack Draper and the late Rob-ert Ritchie, father of formerstate Rep. Wayne Ritchie. Tomy dismay, the court quicklyruled that I was not eligibleto run since I would not be30 the day of the election andordered my name removedfrom the ballot. There wereless than seven weeks to theNovember election and nowno Republican nominee.

The public reaction wasmostly in my favor andagainst the court, which wasseen by many as an arm ofthe Democratic Party.

The story continues innext week’s column with thebattle to name a GOP nomi-nee and the fi ve-week cam-paign to election day.

■ Gov. Bill Haslamhas made an outstandingchoice in Randy Boyd ascommissioner of EconomicDevelopment. Boyd previ-ously helped Haslam on ed-ucation issues as an unpaidassistant for one year.

Boyd, founder of Pet-Safe, has been a communityleader. He follows anotherKnoxvillian, Bill Baxter,who served in this positionunder Gov. Don Sundquistfrom 1998 to 2000, andAlex Fisher, who lived inKnoxville then but has nowmoved to Columbus, Ohio.

■ Former KnoxvilleMayor Kyle Testerman,80, and retired city FireChief Eddie Cureton, 77,are recovering well from ac-cidents and were patientsrecently in adjacent roomsat NHC in Farragut. Bestwishes to them as they getback on their feet and be-come more mobile.

Shopper news • DECEMBER 24, 2014 • 5 government

Betty Bean

News gets hard to come by during the holidays, which made this announce-ment from Knox County Schools’ prolifi c public in-formation offi ce enticing:

“PUBLIC NOTICE: (14-173) Please note that two or more Board of Education members may meet on Mon-day, Dec. 15, at 11:30 a.m. at Panera Bread, 2000 Cum-berland Avenue. Education issues will be discussed and minutes will be taken. All board members are wel-come to attend and will pay for their own meals.”

So it was no surprise that two reporters played Cum-berland Avenue parking-spot roulette and showed up

Lunching in the sunshine

at the popular campus café. No telling what they were going to be talking about, right?

But there was no news broken at the meet-ing, which was attended by board members Patti Bounds, Amber Rountree, Terry Hill and Doug Har-ris, as well as assistant superintendent Elizabeth Alves (who got stuck taking notes). Also present were

Knox County Education As-sociation president Tanya T. Coats and Rountree’s 3-month-old son, Teddy, for whose affections Hill and Bounds competed as they discussed problems fi nding substitute teachers.

Afterward, Bounds was a little embarrassed about the announcement. Turns out that she, Hill and Roun-tree, who regularly attend Bible study together, just wanted to have lunch. In an abundance of caution, they reported it to KCS spokes-person Melissa Ogden, who “sunshined” the meeting, i.e., sent out a formal no-tice in compliance with the state’s sunshine law.

“We were just going to get together and have lunch. … Our intent was to convey that business ‘may be dis-cussed,’ but it was really just some people wanting to get together and have lunch, but not wanting our conver-sation to be limited to small talk. I’m surprised we didn’t have cameras rolling,” Bounds said, barely stifl ing a laugh.

This abundance of cau-tion is typical of Knox County elected offi cials, who are still smarting from the aftermath of “Black Wednesday,” when County Commission got itself into a world of trouble by ap-pointing spouses, kinfolk

and drinking buddies to seats they were being forced to vacate after the state Su-preme Court forced Knox County to abide by term-limits laws, thumbing their collective noses at Tennes-see’s Open Meetings Act in the process.

Even though school board members weren’t the offenders, they are extremely careful about such things, unlike some of their colleagues across the state.

Take the Metro Nashville school board, for example, which recently attempted to choose a new superin-tendent by secret ballot. Astonishingly unaware of

the state’s open-meetings law, they were publicly hu-miliated when Jeff Woods of the alt-weekly The Nash-ville Scene pointed out that state law is pretty clear: “No secret votes, or secret bal-lots, or secret roll calls shall be allowed.” A do-over fol-lowed.

Sometimes scoop-hun-gry local media get a little aggravated by investing time covering meetings that produce no fi reworks.

But those of us who’ve been around long enough to remember the bad old days can’t help but appreciate the transparency that has become a way of doing busi-ness.

My favorite Christmas memory isn’t really a mem-ory at all. It’s a feeling. It’s the excitement I experi-enced when I walked out of my grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve knowing Christmas was the next day.

My brother and I couldn’t stop grinning during the car ride home. “Can you believe it? Tomorrow, when we wake up, it will be Christmas!” we’d say, and fi ve minutes later, we’d say it again.

It was sheer bliss know-ing that something magical was going to happen, and no matter what we found under the tree, it was going to be good.

Each Christmas, I try to fi nd something − twinkling lights, a delicious smell or a beautiful carol − that makes me feel like a kid again. This year, it was the eighth an-nual Tour de Lights.

This was the fi rst year the annual bike ride was part of Knoxville’s Christmas in the City, and I was honored

Wendy Smith

Lindsay Lee, Angela Wampler, Stephanie Lee and Pam Lee, also known as the Snowfl akes, don’t

mind the chilly weather at the 2014 Tour de Lights. Photo by Wendy Smith

Tour de Lights is holiday magic

to be asked to help judge the event’s costume contest. When I arrived at Market Square, I was handed a clip-board and asked to mingle with the hundred or so cos-tumed participants.

The categories included best costume, best helmet, best group, best bike and best overall. I met a man wearing a top hat made out of a coffee can and adorned with a candle. I met Mayor Tim Burchett’s cousin, P.J., who restored the 1950s bike ridden by his wife, Beau-mont Elementary art teach-er Cheryl Burchett, as well as his own 1930s-era bicy-cle, which he found leaning against a tree in the woods.

He had to cut the bike out of the tree, which had grown around it.

I met the Three Wise Men, two of whom were women. They followed a star that hung from a pole attached to one of the bikes.

Saul Young, my favorite News Sentinel photogra-pher, looked more like Alice from “The Brady Bunch” than a wise man in his ruf-fl ed bath robe.

I met Steve McGhee, who had so many lights on

his bike and helmet that I thought he must be an engi-neer. He turned out to be a pharmacist.

My job would’ve been easy if not for the continu-ous stream of entrants. I thought I’d picked my favor-

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ites until I met David Stair, with a shiny, red present on his helmet, and his wife, Debbie, who wore a Christ-mas tree costume made of real hemlock branches. I also ran into my friend from the Dogwood Knitters, Lyndsay Crawford, who was dressed as the Doctor from Dr. Who.

In the end, there were 1,023 riders, most of whom sported lights, tinsel or costumes. It was nothing short of magical to watch them depart for a tour of the Fourth & Gill neighbor-hood, even though my toes were numb.

Judging was a challenge, given our absurdly creative community, but it was a pleasure to whittle down the fi nalists with my fellow judge, Erin Donovan of Visit Knoxville. It was even more fun to watch the winners, most of whom were grown-ups, grin as they accepted their prizes.

Perhaps the key to fi nd-ing childlike Christmas bliss is forgetting that you’re a grown-up − just for a little while.


Alan Turing (Benedict Cum-

berbatch) works on a machine

that will break the Nazis’ Enig-

ma in “The Imitation Game.”

By Betsy PickleTwo intense stories are

at work in “The Imitation Game.”

The fi rst is Britain’s race to unravel the mysteries of Nazi Germany’s Enigma coding machine during World War II. The second is the lifelong emotional and sometimes physical assault on mathematical genius Alan Turing, who took the lead on breaking Enigma but suffered greatly as a gay man because of his coun-try’s laws against homosex-uality.

The movie jumps around in time, framed by an inter-rogation of Alan (Benedict Cumberbatch) after the war, when his home has been burglarized but nothing seems to be missing. A zeal-ous police detective, Robert Nock (Rory Kinnear), be-comes suspicious when he is unable to learn what Alan did during the war and sus-

By Betsy PickleBefore the novel

and stage smash “Wicked,” before the TV fantasies “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm,” the-ater had “Into the Woods,” a dark fairy-tale mash-up that united charac-ters from “Cinder-ella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Rapunzel” into one bewitching sto-ry. The musical’s col-orful, often-doomed characters and sly lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim won over critics and audiences.

Now, 28 years af-ter the stage debut, comes director Rob Marshall’s fi lm ver-sion of “Into the Woods,” with terrifi c singing and acting by stars such as Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Christine Baranski and Tracey Ull-man and a host of lesser-knowns.

While it deserves to fi nd a strong following – much more so than the recent “Les

Turing fi lm explores depths of humans, machines

Sturdy ‘Woods’ slyly twists fairy tales

pects him of being a spy.There are several fl ash-

backs to Alan as a youth (played by the appealing Alex Lawther) at school, but the bulk of the screen time is devoted to the adult Tur-ing’s work on building a ma-chine to decode Enigma at Bletchley Park.

Director Morten Tyl-dum, working from Graham Moore’s screenplay, based

on the biography by Andrew Hodges, tends to overdo the friction between Alan and his boss, Commander Denniston (Charles Dance), and between Alan and his colleagues, led by chess champion Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode). But aside from that two-dimensional bent, the characters and plot twists are absorbing and suspenseful.

Keira Knightley is surpris-ingly good as a bright math-ematician stymied by the male-dominated world she inhabits, and Mark Strong is deliciously manipulative as MI6 chief Stewart Menzies.

The weight of the movie is on Cumb erbatch, however, and he carries it brilliantly. He uses Alan’s struggles – with relationships, working with those who are far from

his intellectual equal and creating his early computer – to move the fi lm forward as well as to make Alan sympathetic.

A quote from childhood friend Christopher Morcom (Jack Bannon) is the light that shines on and through Alan throughout his life. It, and the fi lm, testify to the complexity and potential of all human beings.

Miserables” or Marshall’s own “Chicago” – “Into the Woods” lacks a true show-stopping tune to act as a defi ning siren song, which may hinder its popularity with short-attention-span moviegoers.

James Lapine adapted the screenplay from his book for the musical, and with Sondheim’s words and

music the fi lm is a tantaliz-ing spin on familiar stories. The plight of a childless baker (James Corden) and his wife (Blunt) cursed by a witch neighbor (Streep) weaves the classic tales to-gether.

Everyone has some kind of dilemma, and some of the twists and turns are in-deed Grimm (and unsuited

Early presentsFive of the six fi lms hit-

ting town this week – “Big Eyes,” “The Gambler,” “The Imitation Game,” “Into the Woods” and “Unbroken” – will play once or twice to-night (Dec. 24). “Foxcatch-er” arrives Christmas Day.

■ In “Big Eyes,” Amy Ad-ams plays painter Margaret Keane and Christoph Waltz her husband, Walter, who tries to take credit for her work. Tim Burton directed.

■ A literature professor borrows money from his mother and a loan shark to pay off a debt in “The Gambler.” Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, Brie Larson and John Goodman star in a fi lm adapted from the like-titled 1974 fi lm starring James Caan.

■ “Unbroken” tells the story of Olympic distance runner Louis Zamperini, who enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces before the attack on Pearl Harbor and survived for 47 days at sea after a search plane he was on crashed in the ocean, only to be captured by the Japanese, who mistreated and tortured him in a POW camp.

■ “Foxcatcher” stars Steve Carell as eccentric multimillionaire John du Pont, who recruits gold-medal-winning wrestler Mark Schultz and his wres-tling-coach brother, David, to train to compete in the Seoul Olympics. Bennett Miller (“Moneyball”) di-rected.

– Betsy Pickle

for little ones). Though there isn’t a “hit” among the songs, the lyr-ics are wonder-ful examples of Sondheim’s clev-er word-smithing and build to an emotional wallop with “No One Is Alone.”

It’s always a joy to hear tal-ented actors like Streep, Blunt and Kendrick show off their pipes, but it’s also fun to discover b r e a k t h r o u g h performers like James Corden (the baker) and Billy Magnus-sen (Rapun-zel’s prince) and youngsters like

Lilla Crawford (Red Riding Hood) and Daniel Huttle-stone (Jack) who can sing as well as act.

“Into the Woods” takes viewers on an engaging journey through atmo-spheric sets and timeless questions. It’s a reminder that “happily ever after” does not come smoothly – or predictably.

The baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) get

instructions from the witch (Meryl Streep) that will help

them undo a curse in “Into the Woods.”

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Shopper news • DECEMBER 24, 2014 • 7 weekenderTHROUGH WEDNESDAY, DEC. 24

■ Christmas in Old Appalachia at the Museum of Appalachia,

2819 Andersonville Highway. Info/schedule of events: 494-

7680 or www.museumofappalachia.org.

FRIDAY, DEC. 26 ■ Movie & Popcorn: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 10 a.m.-noon,

Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave.

Free. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

THROUGH SATURDAY, JAN. 3 ■ The Knoxville Watercolor Society exhibit at the Rose

Center, 442 W. Second North St., Morristown. Hours: 9 a.m.-5

p.m. Monday through Friday, Thursday until 7:30 p.m. Info:

www.knxvillewatercolorsociety.com.

THROUGH SUNDAY, JAN. 4 ■ Holidays on Ice presented by Home Federal Bank, on

Market Square. Hours: 1-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-10

p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 1-9 p.m. Sundays. Info: www.

knoxvillesholidaysonice.com.

THROUGH FRIDAY, APRIL 10 ■ Tickets available for Rhythm N’ Blooms music festival, on

stages set exclusively along downtown Knoxville’s historic

Jackson Avenue. Features fi rst-timers, chart-climbers and

highly lauded acts from varied musical backgrounds. Info/

tickets: www.rhythmnbloomsfest.com.

The Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby, N.C. Photo sub-mitted

Christmas lights and little kids

in my admittedly rose-col-ored memory.

But they really were spe-cial: red, gold and green curlicues culminating in a spectacular crown in the center.

The most anticipated night for me during Christ-mastime was my family’s tour of lights.

Mama, Daddy and I would bundle up and pile into the Dodge station wagon armed with a ther-mos of hot chocolate. And we’d drive all over town looking at the lights.

As an only child, all I had to do was sit, look, wonder and thrill.

Some of the more mod-ern-minded decorators in those “mad men” days favored pastel-colored wheels and artifi cial silver trees, or monochromatic color schemes. Though I appreciate them now, at the time I didn’t care for them. They didn’t “speak”

to a 5-year-old.For me, the only decora-

tions that mattered were bright lights of red, green, gold and white. Maybe a little blue. I could spot them as we started down a street and couldn’t wait until we were in front of the vivid, glowing colors.

My parents were egali-tarian and wanted me to see how everyone lived, so we didn’t just confi ne our-selves to the “better neigh-borhoods.” But it didn’t matter to me if those lights were sparkling on a majes-tic fi r in front of a three-story colonial or gleaming dimly behind a sheet of plastic taped to a cracked window in a wooden shan-ty. I loved them all.

To this day, though my neighbors in my 100-year-old Fountain City neigh-borhood favor elegant all-white light displays, I still put up colors for the little kids whose parents might

Here at the Shopper-News, we’re all counting our blessings this week.

Carol Shane

Among mine, I count the fact that I can claim as my hometown not one but two picturesque, charming North Carolina towns. One of them – Waynesville – is now a real tourist destina-tion, though it had little more than a drugstore and a fi ve-and-dime when I moved there as an adoles-cent in the late ’60s.

But my little-kid years were spent in the sweet hamlet of Shelby, where there’s still a courthouse in the town square. I took a friend there a few years ago. “It’s Mayberry,” she said.

Shelby has done well; it’s on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places and has experienced a renaissance, thanks to several down-town preservation groups.

It was a wonderful place for a child. And the best time of all was Christmas. Downtown became a fairy-land. The lights strung across the streets were the prettiest I’ve ever seen. I’ve tried to Google them; no luck. So they’re stored only

be driving by. They’ll be in an SUV, not a station wagon, and they’ll prob-ably be glued to a CGI-saturated adventure on the overhanging DVD screen, or immersed in an adren-aline-pumping computer game.

But I hope they glance up, at least for a few sec-onds. I hope they get a glimmer of that sweeter, gentler kind of thrill.

You can view some Christmas lights yourself this weekend at the Con-cord Park Holiday Festival of Lights presented by the Knox County Parks and Recreation.

Every evening except Christmas, from 6 to 9 p.m., visitors can walk a .75-mile greenway trail to view the spectacular dis-play of several hundred thousand lights. The park staff at The Cove did all the decorating – including a series of lights coordinat-ed to music – and they’ve even provided bonfi res for roasting marshmallows.

What a wonderful place to take your family and friends! Pets on leashes are welcome, too.

The event runs through Dec. 30. It’s free, but please bring a nonperishable food item for the Love Kitchen, which provides meals and other types of aid to those in need. Info: 215-6600 or www.knoxcounty.org/parks.Send story suggestions to news@shop-

pernewsnow.com.

Space donated by Shopper-News.

Contact Debbie at 300-6873for adoption and fostering information.

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Want to adopt?come to our kitten adoption Fair

Visit our adoption center at West Town Petsmart. Open every day!

Adoption Fairs are held each Saturday from noon until 6.214 Morrell Road.

Coming soon!2nd Kitten Adoption Fair location!

New Petsmart at 2437 University Commons Way(located between the new Walmart and Publix off Cumberland)

Grand Opening Dec 20!!

Santa won’t be disappointed with a plate of

Panera Bread cookies and some hot choco-

late. Photo by Mystery Diner

Santa will probably leave a little something extra in your stocking if you treat him to a Mitten Cookie from Panera Bread. Throw in a Candy Cookie and some hot chocolate, and you might just jump from the naughty to the nice list!

Mystery Diner

Panera is the bakery that grew. The company began in 1981 as Au Bon Pain Co., lo-cated primarily on the East Coast. The purchase of the St. Louis Bread Company in 1993 added 20 bakeries and a change in growth plans.

In May 1999, all Au Bon Pain Co. businesses were sold, and the company was renamed Panera Bread.

Panera is now a bak-ery/café with h o m e m a d e soups, salads and sandwich-es on the menu. Fresh bakery items range from bagels to muffi ns to cof-fee cakes and the specialty cookies. The Mitten Cookie is replaced each season with a “new” seasonal shaped cookie – Easter eggs, jack-o-lan-terns, spring fl owers.

The Mitten Cookie is a shortbread cookie with a

Plate it

Panera Bread

crunchy-sweet icing. Pane-ra’s hot chocolate – both

regular and gourmet – is the perfect accompaniment.

Slamdot founder and CEO Sean Christman and

chief operating offi cer Daniel Monday get a

visit from Rocky Top Air owner and Slamdot

client Gerald Allison, dressed as Santa Claus.

By Sara BarrettSlamdot has offi cially

opened its new location in Northshore Village at 2053 Thunderhead Road.

The web design and host-ing group was founded in 2005 and has about 900 clients, ranging from mom and pop stores to large cor-porations.

Rocky Top Air owner and Slamdot client Gerald Al-lison attended the ribbon-cutting and had nothing but praise for the folks who built his website. Allison ex-pected several meetings and a long, involved process, but said he met with the folks at Slamdot one time for an ini-tial consultation, and every-thing afterward was done online. He said his business has benefi tted from Slam-dot’s ongoing support and

training in “Slamcamps,” which are customized train-ing sessions in small group settings.

Originally based in downtown Knoxville, the company moved westward “for a number of reasons,” said web consultant Wade McLemore. “We’re a grow-ing company, so we need more space. This is conve-nient to downtown and also has a small-town feel,” he said.

While CEO Sean Christ-mas prefers to work behind the scenes, COO Daniel Monday has a large person-al footprint. He has served as an offi cer for several business groups and is ac-tive in both the Knoxville and Farragut West Knox chambers. Info: 238-5600 or www.slamdot.com.

Slamdot relocates

8 • DECEMBER 24, 2014 • SOUTH KNOX Shopper news kids

www.ShopperNewsNow.comNorth offi ce: 7049 Maynardville Pike • Knoxville, TN 37918 • (865) 922-4136 • Fax: 922-5275

West offi ce: 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500 • Knoxville, TN 37932 • (865) 218-WEST (9378) • Fax: 342-6628 wsNow.comNow.commow.comw.com.comcom

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Former UT quarterback and Denver Broncos stand-out Peyton Manning knows how to give back. Through his PeyBack Foundation, Manning helps promote the future success of disad-vantaged youth by assisting programs that provide lead-ership and growth opportu-nities.

While at UT, Manning would visit classrooms at Beaumont Magnet Academy and work with students. Since his graduation, he has given back to the commu-nity and now has expanded his generosity through Knox County Schools.

Last week, the founda-tion donated $15,000 in gas cards to area schools, and the staff at each school will distribute the cards to fami-lies in need.

“In the past we have put one card each with our school Angel Tree recipi-ents’ gifts,” said social work-er Mimi Jackson from Dog-wood Elementary. “Parents knew that they were getting gifts for their children, but when they saw the gas card, many were moved to tears.”

Schools splitting the do-

By Betsy PickleTwo South Knoxville

schools were among 14 Knox County schools selected by Peyton Manning’s PeyBack Foundation to receive gas assistance for their families during the holidays.

Dogwood Elementary and South Knoxville El-ementary each received about 30 gas cards at a pre-sentation last Wednesday at Beaumont Magnet Acad-emy. The total donation to KCS families was valued at about $15,000.

The schools distributed the $25 Pilot gas cards to deserving families last week. South Knoxville has a weekend food backpack

program, and the cards were added to the back-packs on Friday.

Dogwood selected fami-lies that were already due to receive Angel Tree gifts.

SKES principal Tanna Nicely said the gas cards would help families with above-normal transporta-tion needs.

“I feel like it’s an oppor-tunity for them to possibly visit family members for Christmas and the holi-days,” she said. And with gas prices dropping this month, “for most vehicles, this will just about fi ll up a tank,” she added.

Dogwood principal Lana Shelton-Lowe said PeyBack

has provided holiday-time assistance for several years, usually in the form of gro-cery-store or gas gift cards.

“Our parents come to pick up the Angel Tree stuff here, and some of them can’t even afford to (drive to the school to) do that,” she said.

Alison King, who orga-nizes Dogwood’s Angel Tree program, said parents are grateful for the gas cards.

“They appreciate the (Angel Tree) Christmas as-sistance, but the fact that they don’t have to worry about their next tank of gas, they’re just very thankful.”

King said that the school

had about 70 Angel Tree families this year.

“We’re able to serve about 10 percent of our popula-tion,” she said. “I wish we could give more, but we just don’t have the resources.”

Support for Dogwood’s Angel Tree program came from First, Graystone and Lake Forest Presbyterian churches, Tennessee State Bank and the Knoxville Vol-leyball League. Staff mem-bers and their families also contributed.

“We are very fortunate to have such a giving staff,” said King. “We had a re-cord number of staff mem-bers ask this year to adopt kids.”

By Betsy PickleYou never know what

you’re going to see at Dog-wood Elementary on the last day of school before winter break.

The faculty tacky-sweat-er contest has expanded into a fabulous indoor pa-rade with lots of laughs and music. Students often join to support their teachers.

The school’s instructional assistants made the biggest impression this year with well-coordinated Hawaiian attire and their message of “Mele Kalikimaka.” Prin-cipal Lana Shelton-Lowe says they’ll get their reward when school resumes in January.

With help from PTA elvesGap Creek Elementary third-grader Tyson Kimbler picks up

some presents he bought at the PTA’s Secret Santa Shop. Stu-

dents were able to purchase gifts – all under $5 – for family and

friends and have them wrapped by PTA members such as Chris

Fisher, right. Photo by Betsy Pickle

PeyBack Foundation brightens

holidays for South Knox families

Sarah Moore Greene Magnet

Academy assistant principal

Dexter Murphy shows the

bundle of gas cards his school

received thanks to Peyton

Manning’s Peyback Founda-

tion. Photo by R. White

The Dogwood administration suits up for the event. From left are Rebecca Headrick, principal

Lana Shelton-Lowe, Denise Gordon and Aaron Maddox.

Dogwood Elementary’ s instructional assistants wish everyone

“Mele Kalikimaka” – “Merry Christmas” in Hawaiian. From left,

front, are Nikki Tilson, Rita Barrick, Kayla Griggs, Remola Turner,

Terry Kaas; second row, Debra Hudson, Erma Doolan, Susan

Ferguson, Christine Hill, Wendy Benjamin; third row, Eric Long,

Jessica Newport, Santa (Jeff Hood) and Robin Herbert. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Dogwood teacher Lisa McCoy, right, and daughter Mariann

give a hoot about their costumes.

Manning promotes student success

nation included Beaumont Magnet Academy, Belle Morris, Christenberry, Dog-wood, Green Magnet Acad-emy, Inskip, Lonsdale, May-nard, Norwood, Pond Gap, Sarah Moore Greene Mag-net Academy, Spring Hill, South Knox and West View.

– Ruth White

Dogwood struts holiday stuff

A couple of Grinches help Angie Lamon celebrate.

SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • DECEMBER 24, 2014 • 9 business

FRIDAY, DEC. 26

Knitting Caps for the Homeless, noon-1:30 p.m., Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave. Free. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

TUESDAY, DEC. 30

Family Movie Night: “Frozen,” 3 p.m., Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave. Info: 215-8750.

Senior Tai Chi, 3-4 p.m., Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31

New Year’s Eve Celebration, 9 p.m., the Rose

Center Council for the Arts, 442 W. Second North St., Morristown. Featuring the Al Curtis Orchestra. Tickets: $35. Info/tickets: 423-581-4330 or [email protected].

New Year’s on the Square, beginning 11 p.m., Market Square. Ball drop and fi reworks at midnight. Holidays on Ice skating rink open 1 p.m.-midnight. Info: www.cityofknoxville.org/Christmas.

FRIDAY, JAN. 2

Opening reception for Art Market Gallery fea-tured artists for January: Eun-Sook Kim of Oak Ridge and Harriet Smith Howell of Rutledge, 5:30 p.m., Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St. Info: 525-5265, artmarketgallery.net or facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

SUNDAY, JAN. 4

Open house and beginning Taoist Tai Chi class, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive. Classes last three months. Info: 482-7761 or www.taoist.org.

Winter Princess Sk8, 4-6 p.m., Cool Sports, 110 S. Watt Road. Pictures with Princess Elsa and Anna available. Info: www.coolsportstn.com, [email protected], 218-4500.

MONDAY, JAN. 5

Open house and beginning Taoist Tai Chi class, 7-8:30 p.m., Peace Lutheran Church, 621 N. Cedar Bluff Road. Classes last three months. Info: 482-7761 or www.taoist.org.

TUESDAY, JAN. 6

Computer Workshops: Library Online, 5:30 p.m., East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Info/to register: 215-8700.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 7

AAA Driver Improvement Course, 5:30-9:30 p.m., Knoxville AAA Offi ce, 100 W. Fifth Ave. Cost: $30 members; $35 nonmembers. Must preregister. Info/to register: Kate, 862-9254, or Don, 862-9250.

THURSDAY, JAN. 8

Knoxville Choral Society auditions for all voice parts, 6-8 p.m. To schedule an audition time: 312-2440 or [email protected]. Once a time is set, location and other details will be provided. Info/ audition form: www.knoxvillechoralsociety.org.

Send items to [email protected]

ShoppernewseVents

By Ruth WhiteThanks to Helen Ross

McNabb, Mayor Tim Bur-chett, KCDC, United Way,

Federal Home Loan Bank, the Veterans Administra-tion and a host of donors, volunteers and community

partners, eight homeless veterans will have a place to call home by Christmas.

Pat Polis, pastor of Wash-

Present at the ribbon-cutting

are Randy Boyd, Helen Ross

McNabb president and CEO

Jerry Vagnier, HRM board

chair Susan Conway, assistant

director of housing and sup-

port services Jana Morgan

and Mayor Tim Burchett. Photo by R. White

Exterior of the new veterans’ home

located in the Inskip community

McNabb builds home for eight vets

The Rotary Club of Knox-ville has elected its 2015-16 board of directors, which will be led by president San-dy Martin, retired president of Corporate Interiors Inc., when the board begins its term July 1.

Allen Pannell, owner of Allen Pannell LLC, is pres-ident-elect and membership director. Edwin A. Ander-son of Cannon & Anderson, Attorneys, is vice president and communications direc-tor.

Bill MacGrath, senior vice president and fi nan-cial adviser with Pinnacle Financial Partners, is secretary.

Jennifer A. Sepa-niak, chief fi nancial offi cer for Schaad Companies, is trea-surer and chair of the Financial and Audit Com-mittee.

Outgoing president Roy King, M.D., a dermapathol-ogist with Dermapathology Partners PC, will represent

past presidents.Other directors are: Jim

Decker, chief executive di-rector of Medic Region-

al Blood Center; Don Hasson, president of House-Hasson Hard-ware; Jody Mullins,

senior district man-ager for Takeda Phar-

maceutical USA Inc.; Brent Midyett, vice president of DFA/@home audio-video; Tiffany Walker, vice presi-dent of Elite Service Mort-gage; and Ginny Weather-

stone, retiring CEO of the Volunteer Ministry Center.

Founded in 1915, the Rotary Club of Knoxville is among the oldest and larg-est Rotary Clubs in Tennes-see. The club was instru-mental in the formation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and sponsor of several park projects. It is also the creator and steward of The Rotary Foundation of Knoxville, which provides college scholarships and special projects.

The Rotary Club of Knoxville 2015-16 board of directors: (front) Allen Pannell, Sandra T. Martin, Roy King; (back) Brent Midyett,

Tiff any Walker, Ed Anderson, Jennifer Sepaniak, Ginny Weatherstone, Bill MacGrath, Jody Mullins and Jim Decker. Not pictured

is Don Hasson. Photo submitted

Rotary Club selects new board

Papenbrock

UT NOTES ■ Kathy Kidd, associate direc-

tor of the Early Learning Cen-

ter for Research and Practice,

off ers these suggestions for

helping children learn to be

thankful and cheerful in the

midst of the holiday rush:

■ Normalize routines. Provide

consistency and predictability

for children during the hectic

holiday season.

■ Be a role model. “If you would

like to see thankfulness and

graciousness in your child, the

fi rst thing you have to do is

live thankfully and graciously

yourself.”

■ Limit lists. Children are often

encouraged to make a list

of everything they want.

When everything on the list

is purchased, children can

start to associate the holidays

with “it’s all about me getting

everything I want.”

■ Give open-ended gifts.

“Include open-ended materi-

als such as blocks and large

fabric pieces that push the

child to think creatively and

expand play time.”

■ Nurture openness. When chil-

dren open a gift they may not

Marvin West

Money trumps tradition. How else can you explain changing the name of the historic Gator Bowl to TaxS-layer Bowl? The online tax prep people started paying the price in 2011. Naming rights were fi nalized this year.

There is a bonus. Because TaxSlayer has invested in NASCAR, because Dale Earnhardt Jr., once drove a TaxSlayer car at Bristol, he’ll be at the bowl to toss the coin. Don’t miss it.

If you are going to Jack-sonville, you might enjoy the $75 coaches’ luncheon on Dec. 31. Rivals will brag on each other. You can sign up for a 5k run or attend the UT pep rally or watch the parade of bands. The big tailgate party costs $50.

Nothing like that hap-pened when I was there.

Long-ago Gator Bowl stuff probably doesn’t mat-ter too much to current Vol-unteers. Even with Butch Jones conducting history class, there can’t be much interest in that great 3-0 Tennessee victory over Tex-as A&M in 1957 dampness and muck.

Bobby Gordon gained more yards (60) than Heis-man Trophy winner John David Crow (46) but Crow is in the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame on his name. Maybe Sammy Burklow should be. He kicked the winning fi eld goal, a 17-yarder, only one of his Tennessee career.

Coach Bowden Wyatt prepared Sammy for the winning moment.

“There’s nothing to it. It’s just like an extra point.”

You need to know that ex-Vol Burklow, from Haz-ard, Ky., became Dr. Sam Burklow, practicing internal medicine in Fresno, Calif.

More history? Bear Bry-ant was the Texas A&M coach, his last game with the Aggies.

Best yarn from that trip was the post-game kicking exhibition in the fashion-able Ponte Vedra Club suite of Robert R. Neyland, then athletic director at Tennes-see. The General had the game ball as a trophy. He and friends, after several glasses of lemonade, decid-ed to recreate the moment

Money trumps tradition

of triumph.A somewhat famous

guest, Scrappy Moore, Chat-tanooga coach, delivered a mighty kick and broke a big mirror. His second try took out a bay window. Gus Man-ning retrieved the football from the beach.

Weeks later, the Univer-sity of Tennessee received a bill for room damages. Neyland was very unhappy. He wanted to know who the heck did what to tear up the place. Gus reminded him of the indoor fi eld-goal exhibi-tion.

The General said: “Well, there ain’t a damned thing wrong with that. Pay the people.”

Tennessee 18, Syracuse 12 in 1966 was a bit more conventional. Dewey War-ren threw for 244 yards with touchdowns to Rich-mond Flowers and Austin Denney. Floyd Little rushed for 216 yards and Larry Csonka gained 114. The play I remember best was Paul Naumoff tackling Csonka near the goal to preserve the victory.

Tennessee lost to Flori-da, 14-13, in 1969 in Doug Dickey’s last game as coach of the Volunteers. Don’t get me started on that.

Tennessee routed Vir-ginia Tech, 45-23, in 1994. James Stewart scored three touchdowns. Peyton Man-ning completed several passes.

Back when the Gator Bowl was the Gator Bowl, there were other landmarks. Ohio State coach Woody Hayes threw a forearm at a Clemson receiver and got fi red the next morning. Bobby Bowden coached his fi nal game for Florida State at the old arena.

That was before Ever-Bank Field and TaxSlayer. I suppose money makes things better.Marvin West invites reader reaction. His

address is [email protected].

ington Pike United Meth-odist Church, blessed the event and the home, say-ing “today we are making a difference.” Jerry Vagnier, president and CEO of Helen Ross McNabb, added that he and his staff were “honored to deliver this kind of care to veterans.”

The new home is located in the Inskip community at 4821 Coster Road.

want and react negatively,

engage them in conversation

about their reaction rather

than scold them.

■ Manage your own expecta-

tions. “We as caregivers all

can be guilty of putting

higher expectations on our

own children. We want to

take our own knowledge and

assume that our child got that

from birth.”

■ Thomas Papenbrock, a

professor in the Department

of Physics and Astronomy, has

been elected

a fellow of

the Ameri-

can Physical

Society, the

leading or-

ganization of

physicists. Pa-

penbrock was

named for his

“innovative

theoretical approaches to the

nuclear many-body problem

and other fi nite quantum

systems.”

■ Info: http://elc.utk.edu.


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