IN THIS ISSUE

Tale of two beesBetsy Pickle chronicles the

high drama of spelling bees at Bonny Kate and Dogwood elementary schools. Winners Hannah Gardner and Sam Dascomb will compete in the Knox County spelling bee in March.

➤ See her story on page 8

‘Walk, Don’t Ride’The WordPlayers of Knox-

ville are kicking off Black History Month in a big way with “Walk, Don’t Ride,” billed as “a presentation of drama and song depicting events that helped shape American free-dom.” An example of the best kind of “edu-tainment,” “Walk, Don’t Ride” has been booked in nine different counties and 16 different venues in East Tennessee, including middle schools, colleges and churches.

➤ See Carol Shane’s story on page 7

7049 Maynardville Pike 37918(865) 922-4136

NEWS

news@ShopperNewsNow.comSandra Clark | Betsy Pickle

ADVERTISING SALESads@ShopperNewsNow.com

Patty Fecco | Tony Cranmore

Wendy O’Dell | Sara Whittle

VOL. 2 NO. 1 July 29, 2013www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNowVOL. 3 NO. 4 January 28, 2015www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

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By Bill DockeryAfrican-American children in

the Knox County school system are suspended from school almost three times more often than their white fellow students.

And that rate has not changed since 2007, when a community task force recom-mended ways to fi x the disparities in discipline. State statistics reported for 2012 show that black Knox Coun-ty students are still about three

times more likely to be suspended than white students, despite the negative results such suspensions will have on their educational and legal futures.

Those facts are part of the infor-mation presented at a workshop on “school push-out,” the name given to discipline policies that re-

sult in children leaving school and getting caught up in the criminal justice system.

A group of parents, students, school personnel and civil rights ac-tivists gathered Thursday at Mount Calvary Baptist Church to share stories and strategize about ways to change county schools so that their discipline system does not discrimi-nate against blacks, people with dis-abilities and other minorities.

Local activists with the NAACP and the Children’s Defense Fund sponsored the meeting.

“We want parents to under-stand that suspensions are not an individual problem with you and your child,” said Andre Canty, one of the organizers of the meeting. “School push-out is a systemic problem that has some students being arrested for no reason. That’s messed up.”

Amy Sosinski, a law student at the University of Tennessee, presented totals from 2012 state

Sheppard

Push back on push-out

By Betsy PickleIt’s not every day that a con-

struction project breaks ground indoors. But with the unpre-dictable January weather – and the fact that the actual ground-breaking occurred on Dec. 30 – it seemed wise for Mooreland Heights Elementary School to hold the groundbreaking ceremo-ny in its gym.

The two-story addition on the west side of the school toward Martin Mill Pike will be the fi rst renovation at Mooreland Heights in about 50 years, so naturally all the big guns turned out for last Wednesday’s event. Schools Su-perintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre, current and immediate-past school board members Amber Rountree and Pam Trainor, board chair Mike McMillan, Knox Coun-ty Mayor Tim Burchett, County Commissioners Mike Brown and Bob Thomas and Sheriff J.J. Jones were among the luminaries, but the loudest applause seemed to come for two Mooreland Heights

Sunny mood permeatesMooreland Heights ‘groundbreaking’

Community leaders and politicians join in the ceremonial ribbon cutting. From

left are Bob Thomas, Pam Trainor, Roy Miller, Piers Littlejohn, Dominick Murray,

Jim McIntyre, Mike McMillan, Amber Rountree, Mike Brown, Tim Burchett, Alan

Williams, Sam Venable and Tanya Coats. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Fifth-graders Piers Littlejohn and Dominick Murray, who led the

Pledge of Allegiance and the School Affi rmation, pose with Super-

intendent Jim McIntyre after the ceremonial groundbreaking at

Mooreland Heights Elementary School.

alumni: News Sentinel columnist Sam Venable and WVLT anchor Alan Williams.

Dr. Roy Miller, principal for 11 years, built the excitement level as though it were a revival meeting. He thanked Trainor for her “vi-sion” and Rountree for carrying it through.

Miller – part joking, part sin-cere – expressed gratitude for no longer having to have multiple teachers share classrooms or a teacher use a closet, or 40 fac-ulty members share one toilet. (The latter comment drew cries of “Amen! Amen!”)

Miller put a special empha-sis on the support for Mooreland Heights throughout its history and all the people who have “be-lieved” in it.

“We’re special,” he told the at-tentive students.

“That’s why all these people are here – because they believe in you. This is your school. This is your

To page 8

Jim Richards, general manager of Mast General Store on Gay Street, is the new chair of the Knoxville Transportation Authority

(KTA) board. Liliana Burbano Bonilla is vice chair, and Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) employee Lau-ren Robinson is recording secretary.

Richards is an avid alternative-transportation advocate. He has served on the KTA board since September 2012. Renee Hoyos is the previous board chair.

The nine-member KTA board sets policy for all for-hire intra-city passenger transportation ser-vices, including bus transit service, taxicabs and private for-hire transportation services. KTA sets

schedules, fares and routes for KAT services.

Jim Richards

Richards heads KTA

rec ords that show that some 8,300 black students in Knox County schools are about 2.7 times more likely to be suspend-ed than the system’s 44,600 white students.

Among students with disabili-ties, slightly more than one in 10 white students will be suspended; around one in four black students with disabilities will be sent home from school.

In November 2014, the Educa-tion Law Practicum fi led a com-plaint with the U.S. Department of Education based on those dispari-ties. That complaint is still pend-ing in the department’s Offi ce for Civil Rights.

Maya Sheppard presented in-formation on an innovative plan in Baltimore that had dramati-cally reduced school suspensions. Sheppard is a lawyer with the Knox County Public Defender’s Offi ce who serves in the county’s juvenile court.

Other speakers discussed simi-lar programs that have improved racial disparities in discipline in other school systems.

“These are proven methods for reducing suspensions and arrests,” Canty said. “What needs to happen from the people is a collaborative effort among parents, teachers and students.”

Canty asked the attendees to share their own experiences of problems with the school system’s disciplinary policies. He then led the attendees in a discussion of how they would like to see the sys-tem change and how those chang-es can be brought about.

Suggestions included mentor-ing programs for students, cultural sensitivity training for teachers and school personnel, increased parental advocacy and changes in special-education laws and poli-cies.

“We want all our kids to have a bright future,” Canty said.

In late December, Canty partic-ipated in a discussion with Super-intendent Jim McIntyre on WATE-TV’s “Tennessee This Week.” During that broadcast McIntyre announced that he would create a working group to look at solutions to the disparity problems.

NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ

Hall seeks golfersKids Play Free is more than

a slogan at the Beverly Park Par 3 Golf Course.

George Hall, retired teacher from Halls Middle School and PGA golf instructor, spoke last week at the Halls Business and Professional Association.

“I’ve coached about every sport there is,” he said.

Hall led softball teams from both Halls and Gibbs high schools to multiple state tour-naments. His son, Andrew, was a two-time all-state golfer for Halls High School.

George Hall was seeking do-nations to the Tennessee Golf Foundation, which manages the Beverly Park course that is owned by Knox County and located on Tazewell Pike.

In addition to free golf for kids, the course offers junior camps, clinics and competi-tions. The course has a brand-new, full-size driving range. Holes range from 80 yards to 170 yards.

Adults as well as kids can play golf there, and Hall is available for lessons for adults and teens. Info: 423-794-0747.

2 • JANUARY 28, 2015 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

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

REGIONAL EXCELLENCE.

4400949494949444449449499009-007-0070707--777

After more than a

decade of pain, Sey-

mour resident Ben

Herndon was freed

from his suff ering

thanks to the work

of Dr. Joel Norman

at the Center for

Minimally Invasive

Spine Surgery at Fort

Sanders Regional.

‘I’m Free!’Seymour man enjoys liberating experience with minimally invasive surgery

Getting comfortable is something most of us take for granted. But it was something Seymour resident Ben Herndon, 67, longed for and couldn’t experience until he went to the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.

“I couldn’t lie down, I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t stand, and it was just excruciating pain,” Herndon, says. “I could not get com-fortable.”

The pain was radiating down Herndon’s leg into his foot. His sciatic nerve was be-ing compressed by a disc herniation due to spinal instability.

Herndon had undergone surgery to treat the effects of degenerative disc disease years earlier. That surgery had relieved spinal ste-nosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal.

This pain was different, but it was quickly becoming just as unbearable. The sciatica also manifested itself in numbness below the knee, causing him to drag his foot and stumble.

“My job entails getting in and out of the car about 15, 20 or 30 times a day,” Hern-don says. “The pain was debilitating, and I was relying on injections and other methods to relieve the symptoms. While the injec-tions helped for awhile they eventually wore off. Nothing seemed to give me long-term relief.”

Deciding he didn’t want to take medica-tion for the rest of his life, Herndon started searching for a solution. During that search, he read an article about neurosurgeon Joel Norman, MD, and minimally invasive spine surgery.

With this procedure, a surgeon makes several small incisions instead of one inci-sion that’s larger. Using special imaging and instruments, the surgeon works to reposi-tion the bones and fuse them together to stabilize the spine.

The surgery removes compression from

Meet Dr. Joel Norman – local neurosurgeon and Seymour nativeDr. Joel Norman is a local na-

tive who returned to East Tennes-see after medical school and now cares for patients in the place he calls “home.” He recent-ly talked about his journey from local boy to well-educat-ed neurosurgeon and the minimally invasive spine sur-

gery that is changing the lives of his patients.

Tell us your story – where did you go to school, and how did you decide to become a neurosurgeon?

I was born in Knoxville and raised in Seymour. After I graduated from Seymour High School, I went to col-lege at MTSU in Murfreesboro, then moved to Johnson City to attend ETSU Quillen College of Medicine. I completed neurosurgery residency in Lexington, Ky., at the University of Kentucky.

I’ve always had a keen interest in the sciences. I found neuroscience intriguing and challenging. Once

I found my way into the operating room, I knew I had found my calling. Combining my love of neuroscience with my love of the operating room, neurosurgery was a natural exten-sion.

What do you like about this area? In other words, why are you still here, instead of in a larger city?

East Tennessee is my home. I love the scenery here, the people here and the opportunity to give back to the community that raised me.

I appreciate the hometown feel here and the value that word-of-mouth retains in this community. The greatest compliment I receive is when someone tells me they heard about me from one of my patients.

What are some common problems your patients have, and how do you help them?

We treat an expansive variety of patients from brain tumors to herni-ated discs. Many of my spine patients have seen several different medical providers and some have undergone several different treatments for their back and leg pain before they arrive in my offi ce.

Most have complaints of back pain coupled with sciatica or nerve pain, typically running down the back of their legs. These patients benefi t from the minimally invasive approaches to lumbar discectomies and spinal fusions.

What patients might be can-didates for the surgery?

The ideal candidate for minimally invasive spinal fusion is someone suffering from back and leg pain due to a spondylolisthesis, or slip-page, of the lumbar vertebrae. This is a condition sometimes missed on an initial workup as it often requires specialized X-rays with the patients bending forward or backward to clearly visualize.

Often, patients are pain-free while lying on their back, such as during their MRI scans, but upon standing their pain returns.

Can you explain how it works? What are the benefi ts of minimally invasive spine surgery?

Minimally invasive spine surgery uses specialized technology within the operating room to allow for smaller incisions and more precise

placement of instrumentation. We are able to actually obtain a CT scan of the patient while they are asleep on the operating room table and cus-tomize our surgical approach to the individual patient, in real-time.

This allows for much smaller inci-sions and less damage to the tissues surrounding the spine. Ultimately, this approach gets people back on their feet sooner than is generally necessary for a more traditional, open approach to the spine.

What makes the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Sur-gery at Fort Sanders Regional Medical the best choice for this surgery?

Fort Sanders Regional has dem-onstrated a true commitment to excellence in spine surgery and especially minimally invasive neu-rosurgery. The hospital has been instrumental in purchasing state-of-the-art intraoperative image guid-ance that allows minimally invasive surgery to be possible.

We have a dedicated team of nurses and technicians in the oper-ating room who are experienced and specially trained to assist in these

minimally invasive procedures. Post-operatively, our nurses are alsohand-picked and specially trainedin the management of our patientswho have undergone minimally in-vasive spinal procedures, and wehave a dedicated fl oor of the hospitalreserved for neuroscience and espe-cially spine patients.

What’s it like to also practicemedicine in the place whereyou grew up?

Many of my friends and familystill live nearby and it’s been greatto reconnect with people I hadn’thad the opportunity to see in theyears I was away for training. It’salso been an honor and a humblingexperience to take care of peoplewho watched me grow up in a smalltown. I’ve taken care of my schoolteachers, old friends, and familymembers of friends who knew mein high school.

I have a relatively unique experi-ence in that I graduated high schoolwith many of the same people Istarted kindergarten with. I’m hon-ored that those people who watchedme grow up trust me now with theirhealth.

nerves, while the small incisions mean less blood loss and quicker healing.

“The article said there was less cutting, less bleeding and less recovery time,” Hern-don says. “That was intriguing, so I decided to call Dr. Norman’s offi ce and set up an ap-pointment with him in Sevierville.”

Norman is a Sevier County native and sees patients in his offi ce near LeConte Medical Center. Not only did Herndon get a sense of feeling “at home” there, he found out his daughter and Dr. Norman were part of the same circle of friends.

“When I told my daughter that I was looking to have back surgery with Dr. Nor-man she said she knew him and that he was a really good surgeon,” Herndon says. “That added a little extra bounce to the ounce for me.”

While Herndon wasn’t able to get comfortable physically, he says he felt very comfortable trust-ing his spine to Norman from their fi rst meeting. All of Herndon’s ques-tions were answered, and Herndon was asked to answer plenty of ques-tions, too.

“They seemed to be genuinely interested in what I had to say about my problem,” Herndon

says. “Dr. Norman seemed to know his stuff, he seemed extremely interested in do-ing it right, and he explained everything to me really well.”

Herndon says the detailed explanation included a hands-on model of a spine that the doctor used to show what would happen during the surgery. Then Herndon heard Dr. Norman say four important words.

“I can fi x it,” the surgeon said.“He was just that positive,” Herndon

says. “And I felt good about that, knowing he had the knowledge to do what I wanted him to do, and that was to fi x my problem.”

Having Dr. Norman’s offi ce in Sevierville and the surgery at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center gave Herndon the best of both worlds. Herndon had undergone heart surgery at Fort Sanders Regional just a few months earlier. The heart surgeon and the neurosurgeon, both working in the same hospital, were able to confer with each other on every aspect of Herndon’s case.

Herndon says he wasn’t afraid to have the surgery, at all. He was ready for relief from debilitating pain, and that’s exactly what he got.

“I was pain free!” Herndon says. “I don’t have any pain in my leg now.” Herndon says sometimes it makes him want to put his

hands in the air and cheer.“It’s like, ‘Hey! I’m free!’ and you just

wanted to shout,” Herndon says. “It’s hard to describe how exhilarating it is.”

Herndon says his fi rst surgery (in 2004) required an incision of about fi ve inches, and after six weeks he was still suffering and experiencing diffi culty completing everyday tasks. There was a marked difference with minimally invasive surgery 10 years later.

“This time, I went back to work almost exactly fi ve weeks after the surgery,” Hern-don says, “and I was able to perform most of the duties of my job without pain, at all.”

“Minimally invasive surgery gets people back on their feet faster and back to regular activity much sooner than a large incision operation does,” Norman says. “After a hos-pital stay of one or two days, most people return to normal activities within one to four weeks.”

“I would highly recommend the mini-mally invasive surgery because it takes less time to recover, there’s less trauma, less bleeding and there’s less risk involved,” Herndon says. However, he also recom-mends that the procedure be performed by the right surgeon.

“Make sure whoever does your surgery knows the new technology and procedures,” Herndon says, “and you need a doctor who can fully explain the procedures.”

“The surgeon is going to be working around your spinal column, your kidneys – you want to be as comfortable as you can that he knows what he’s doing,” Herndon insists.

“It’s amazing that I can get up every day and go to work and do what I have to do with-out having that pain down my leg and without having to worry about tripping and falling,” Herndon says. “It’s a huge, huge relief.”

For more information about the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort

Sanders Regional, call 865-541-2835 or visit fsregional.com/minimallyinvasive.

Joel Norman, MD

SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • JANUARY 28, 2015 • 3 community

Betsy Pickle

The South Knoxville Alli-ance is an organization on a mission.

Alliance looks for growth

January moderator Dave

Gartner of Lake Forest listens

as Nancy Welch from the

Community Action Commit-

tee explains the Volunteer

Assisted Transportation pro-

gram to the South Knoxville

Neighborhood & Business

Coalition.

Make that multiple mis-sions.

At January’s meeting, chairman Debra Bradshaw launched a discussion on recruiting new members. While the group reached 50-plus entities on its member-ship rolls last year, there are hundreds more businesses in South Knoxville whose voices would be welcome in the alliance and whose pres-ence could support projects SKA has in mind to improve life in SoKno.

County Commissioner Mike Brown volunteered to mail a brochure with SKA info to 1,000 businesses, emphasizing those along Chapman Highway.

With spring on the way (fi ngers crossed!), SKA is looking ahead to two big events that will bring a lot of activity to South Knoxville.

First is the Dogwood Arts Festival, during which all of South Knoxville will be the focus and Chapman High-way the featured Dogwood Trail. Events take place April 1-26, but the offi cial start is the Dogwood Lun-cheon on April 8 at Ijams

Sommer Barickman, Chris Widener and Brian Hedges, all of Lowe’s, chat with SKA chair Debra

Bradshaw about how Lowe’s employees can volunteer with the alliance. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Nature Center. That’s also the kickoff for the trails.

Just on the festival’s heels is the Blue & Gray Reunion & Freedom Jubilee, April 30-May 3. The Tennessee Civil War Sesquicenten-

nial Commission selected Knoxville to host the 2015 commemorative event, and many activities will take place in South Knoxville.

SKA’s Carl Hensley, who’s in charge of the al-

■ SKNBC and volunteering The South Knoxville

Neighborhood & Business Coalition heard a call for volunteers at its monthly meeting.

Nancy Welch from the Community Action Com-mittee’s Volunteer Assisted Transportation introduced SKNBC members to the program. VAT uses all volunteers to drive Knox County seniors and people with disabilities to appoint-ments, errands and other destinations.

Volunteers use VAT’s Pri-us sedans and wheelchair-accessible minivans. There is training for the vehicles and other aspects of the program, and volunteers must pass a physical exam, a background check and a drug-and-alcohol test.

The volunteers aren’t just chauffeurs; they assist the passengers as needed and stay with them through their outing. Welch said there are about 400 trips on average each month, and there’s a great need for more drivers.

For info, call 865-673-5001 or email vat@cactrans.org.

SKA member Patrick Mi-chael encouraged SKNBC members to volunteer with the SKA cleanup group.

Among the news from member neighborhoods was word from Jim Staub that Island Home is working on

plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that neigh-borhood.

SKNBC consists of repre-sentatives from South Knox-ville neighborhood groups and other organizations.

■ Life in South Haven The South Haven Neigh-

borhood Association’s Janu-ary meeting focused on real estate and roads.

The group is coordinat-ing with the South Wood-lawn Neighborhood Asso-ciation to clear up confusion on the boundary between the two neighborhoods.Reps from South Wood-lawn attended the meeting at the Roundup Restaurant to discuss. (Any excuse for a Roundup breakfast will do!)

Upcoming development in South Haven and Island Home is expected to require extensive road closures, particularly on Island Home Avenue.

Hillwood Avenue with its steep grade and unforgiving shoulders is a top priority, according to South Haven board member and Knox-ville Vice Mayor Nick Pavlis.

The group is making plans for another “What’s Shakin’, South Haven?” It likely will take place in March.

SHNA meets at 10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month. Check the Friends of South Haven Facebook page to confi rm the location.

liance’s Parks Committee and the monthly cleanup at Fort Dickerson, is heading a special group to address the much-needed cleanup of SoKno before visitors de-scend this spring. He was to hold a meeting on Monday this week.

The SKA meets at 6:30 p.m. the third Monday monthly at LaborExchange.

COMMUNITY NOTES

■ Colonial Village Neighborhood Association.

Info: Terry Caruthers, 579-

5702, t_caruthers@hotmail.

com.

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

second and fourth Monday,

Connie’s Kitchen, 10231 Chap-

man Highway, Seymour. Info:

https://www.facebook.com/

TriCountyLions/info.

■ Lake Forest Neighborhood Association. Info: Molly

Gilbert, 209-1820 or

mollygilbert@yahoo.com

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

Monday, South Knoxville

Community Center, 522

Maryville Pike. Info: jim.

sessions@comcast.net or

573-0655.

By Carol Shane “One simple thing will

make a big difference in the life of an at-risk child,” says the Kids Hope USA website. “One-on-one, positive at-tention from a responsible, caring adult.”

Begun in October 1993, Kids Hope USA grew out of conversations between concerned church groups and experts in fi elds such as law enforcement, education, religion and health and hu-man services. The experts responded with one voice: Churches that mobilize and train their members to form one-to-one relationships with the youngest children can make a profound differ-ence in their lives.

St. John’s Lutheran Church is one of the Knox-ville churches that provide Kids Hope mentors. In co-operation with Big Broth-ers Big Sisters, the program currently has 17 trained St. John’s Lutheran volunteers, each carefully matched with an at-risk child.

“We are in our seventh year of mentoring,” says program coordinator Thea Peterson. “We began at Christenberry Elementary and have followed students all the way to freshman year in high school.

“Mentoring young people to help them grow up to be productive, contributing members of our community was very important to us. We feel this is a wonderful way to transform our community.”

The “Kids Hope USA Way” relies on four integral parts:

■ One child: an at-risk public elementary-school child who needs a relation-ship with a caring adult;

■ One hour: 60 critical minutes each week when a trained mentor befriends a child and helps him or her acquire basic academic skills;

■ One church: a commit-ted congregation that owns the program with its neigh-borhood school and pro-vides a trained mentor and a behind-the-scenes prayer partner for each child; and

■ One school: a school that welcomes this proven intervention to increase the academic skills of at-risk

Local Kids Hope USA coordinator Thea Peterson and 15-year-

old Thalia Photo by Owen Peterson

Changing a child starts with Hope

St. John’s Lutheran Church pastor Steve Misenheimer and his

good friend Brandon, a fourth-grader at the time Photo by Thea Peterson

children, at no cost to the school.

Peterson has mentored Thalia, who is now 15, for the past seven years. The high school student has “moved from being an av-erage student to one who has been on the honor roll for the last three years. Her self-esteem with regards to doing well in school has in-creased tremendously,” says Peterson. “I reward her ef-forts in getting on the honor roll with a trip each summer that provides many learn-

ing opportunities.”Clearly, special relation-

ships are being formed here and not only for the good of the students.

Peterson encourages other churches that want to fi nd a way to get involved in making a difference to consider Kids Hope USA. “I would be happy to talk with anyone who is inter-ested.” Contact her at thea@sjlcknox.org or 922-8555.

Send story suggestions to news@shoppernewsnow.com.

FAITH NOTES ■ Alice Bell Baptist Church,

3305 Alice Bell Road, will

hold its Community Clothes

Closet Opening 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 7. Each family

member will receive a clothes

bag to fi ll. Everything free.

■ First Comforter Church, 5516

Old Tazewell Pike, hosts MAPS

(Mothers At Prayer Service)

noon each Friday. Info: Edna

Hensley, 771-7788.

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4 • JANUARY 28, 2015 • Shopper news

Remember the fun Tina Fey had with her Sarah Pal-in impersonation on “Satur-day Night Live”? If you do, you can hardly wait to see what the show does with Joni Ernst.

Ernst is what would hap-pen if Palin and Michele Bachmann conceived a love child. Choosing “Shoeless Joni” to “rebut” the presi-dent’s State of the Union ad-dress makes as much sense as castrating hogs with bread bags on your feet.

Anyway, very little rebut-tal took place.

There was the expected swipe at Obama’s “failed” health-care plan. Obam-acare has proved such a resounding dud that 10 mil-lion people now have insur-ance who had none before.

Like her Tea Party soul-mates, Ernst is not about to

Miracles on Pennsylvania Avenue

let facts stand in the way of demagoguery.

But without the miracle that preceded her, Ernst wouldn’t have had an audi-ence to admire her dental work. A black president delivering a State of the Union message is a social and political miracle few of my generation thought we’d witness.

I vividly remember the way in which the only black student in my freshman high school class was treat-ed 50 years ago. I can recall feeling ashamed and em-

LarryVan

Guilder

barrassed for her, but I was too cowardly to speak up.

I don’t know where she found the courage to show up each day and endure the name-calling, shunning and isolation, and I’ve often wondered how she made out later in life.

Now, leafi ng through my high school yearbook, I fi nd the faces of two young black women among the hun-dreds of class photos.

I scan the superlatives: best dressed, best school spirit, best looking, most studious, most athletic, best-all-around, most likely to succeed.

I browse the clubs, the chorus, the student council, and the football and bas-ketball teams. I come to the homecoming queen and her court, class offi cers and the happy scholarship winners.

Tall, short, slim, stocky, smiling or somber, they have one thing in common: their white skin.

A black president one day? Dream on.

Viewed through my generational lens, Barack Obama’s presidency is mi-raculous. I was 13 years old when Bull Connor turned fi re hoses and police dogs loose on children in Bir-mingham, Ala., 14 when three civil rights workers were murdered near Phila-delphia, Miss.

As a man and a politi-cian, Obama is fl awed, as we all are. That doesn’t take away from the signifi cance of his election.

Despite the Republican majority in both houses of Congress, there is a grad-ual turning away from the reactionary politics that

began with Reagan and peaked with the neocon tragedy that was the Bush administration. Gridlock in Washington has earned both parties a bad rap, but Republicans come off much worse in national polls.

The worst mid-term vot-

er turnout since 1944, 36 percent of eligible voters, is not a ringing endorsement of the party of “No.” In fact, there’s a good chance the Obama miracle may beget still another.

Are you ready for a wom-an in the Oval Offi ce?

Marvin West

Real life is not far away.College football is his-

tory for Justin Coleman, Justin Worley, Marlin Lane, Jordan Williams, Jacob Gil-liam, Devrin Young, Matt Darr, A.J. Johnson and a few other Volunteers who settled for smaller head-lines.

One, two or three may find jobs in the NFL. The others face this sober-ing question: What now? What happens after the cheering stops, after the crowd has gone home and old jerseys and Adidas shoes are put away? What happens when life replac-es fun ’n’ games?

Well, it depends.Dick Williams looked

like a tight end but played defensive tackle in the mid-late 1960s (heart of

What happens when the cheering stops?

a lion). He married well, co-founded an insurance agency and became a na-tional leader in the indus-try. He has never had half the credit he deserves for supporting UT and for leading the East Tennes-see chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

Larry Seivers, fi rst of the great receivers, never be-lieved the cheers were for him, so there wasn’t much to miss when it was over.

He went into the vending business (food services) and earned a fortune.

David Rudder, quarter-back, completed 11 passes in a row against Alabama in 1978 and became our and several others’ dentist.

Bill Nowling, fullback-linebacker, 1940-42, fi n-ished a fi ne career with an interception against Tulsa in the Sugar Bowl. Too soon, football was background. Bill and many other Volun-teers went away for World War II. Nowling was killed fi ghting in France on Aug. 9, 1944.

Jim Smelcher, tackle, 1956-59, coached for a while, got smart and started an insurance agency. There is value in being a former Volunteer.

Several Tennessee ath-

letes performed as well or better after the applause faded away. Hank Lauricel-la, great in 1950-51, enjoyed a 32-year political career in Louisiana, eight as a state representative, 24 as a state senator. He was managing partner of Lauricella Land Company.

Bill Johnson, 1957 really good guard, became a Spar-ta banker and university trustee. Bob Johnson, 1967 center (sixth in Heisman voting), was an icon with the Cincinnati Bengals and is one in Cincinnati busi-ness.

David Allen, cornerback, 1970-72, returned to Ath-ens, Ga., and emerged as the state’s leading urologist.

Herman Hickman, 1931 guard, had a short but spec-tacular post-football career

Death March. Shofner retired as a brig-

adier general.Dennis Wolfe, lineback-

er and captain, 1978, is another winner. He didn’t say much as a Volunteer but spoke right up as a school administrator. He is a leader in the lettermen’s T Club.

Mack Gentry was serious about academics and athlet-ics when he arrived in 1963. I recall that he was pledged to a fraternity for one week. He was in law school before he ran out of eligibility as a defensive tackle.

He coached at West Point. There were few cheers. The team went 1-9-1. He became an SEC and NFL offi cial. Nobody cheers for zebras. He heads a tax law fi rm. It earns deep appreciation. If there is applause, it is pri-vate.Marvin West invites reader reaction. His

address is westwest6@netzero.com.

Air Force One confabPresident Barack Obama listens to Sen. Lamar Alexander while

meeting with a congressional delegation aboard Air Force One

en route to Knoxville Jan. 9. Also pictured are, from left, Ted

Mitchell, undersecretary of education; Sen. Bob Corker; James

Kvaal, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council; and Rep.

John “Jimmy” Duncan. Offi cial White House photo by Pete Souza

as TV and banquet humor-ist and Sports Illustrated author. I probably shouldn’t tell you that he dabbled in pro wrestling.

Steve Chancey, second-generation Vol, son of a coach, scored a couple of touchdowns against Penn State in 1972. He and Art Reynolds created a heating and air-conditioning busi-ness. Good men. Good com-pany.

Ed Molinski, 1939 guard, became a doctor.

Tony Robinson went another direction, from spectacular quarterback in 1984-85 to prison. His path looks better now.

Austin Shofner, 1936 tackle behind Bob Wood-ruff, became a Marine. He plotted and led the only suc-cessful American team es-cape from a Japanese prison camp during World War II. He brought to the world the fi rst report of the Bataan

Shopper news • JANUARY 28, 2015 • 5 government

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If anyone thought the new year would bring a kinder and more transpar-ent TVA, they were quickly disabused of that notion when TVA rejected the free-dom of information request regarding the amount of tax-paid incentives given to a Clinton industry to expand. In fact, TVA even suggests the News Sentinel should seek judicial review.

Hopefully, the News Sen-tinel accepts the challenge and takes TVA to federal court.

TVA’s most recent top legal counsel was paid $2 million a year. Management has minimal regard for fi s-cal restraint other than the layoff of some 800 employ-ees across the valley while their top employees get lit-erally millions each year.

New TVA legal coun-sel Sherry Quirk will earn $675,000 a year if she meets all goals. This still exceeds what 98 percent of East Tennessee attorneys make.

U.S. Reps. Jimmy Dun-can and Chuck Fleisch mann have said TVA should dis-close the amount of money paid out. The two should go a step further, put some backbone behind their statements and introduce legislation to require more transparency in TVA’s use of tax dollars. Clearly, TVA does not care what Duncan and Fleischmann think, and only a new law or a court order will elicit the corpora-tion’s attention.

■ Something strange is going on with Team Rog-ero and its treatment of Rick Evans, former Chilhowee Park general manager who now works at a much lower salary for the city’s service department. Evans, a 20-year city employee, had received signifi cant compli-ments at Chilhowee Park – up until Greg Mac kay took over from Bob Polk as director of Public Assembly

By Wendy SmithThere are 86 homes in

George Turner’s West Knox subdivision, but not one fi re hydrant. His home in Land-mark subdivision, off Mid-dlebrook Pike, has doubled in value since he bought it in 2003, and he’s afraid of losing his investment to fi re.

It’s a valid concern. Ac-cording to Turner, a home in the subdivision burned to the ground three years ago. The initial response was slow due to debate over

George Turner tells about his

unsuccessful eff ort to have

a fi re hydrant installed in his

West Knox subdivision. Photo by Wendy Smith

Fire protection ‘hot topic’ in Knox Countycludes commissioners Dave Wright, Charles Busler and Bob Thomas, fi re and emer-gency personnel and others. They will spend the next year looking at ways to improve fi re service in the county.

Kevin Lauer, a fi re and emergency services man-agement consultant, said that fi re protection is a “hot topic” throughout the state because many county lead-ers realize that current sys-tems might not work in a few years.

Lawyers win regardless

VictorAshe

Facilities and did away with Evans’ position. Abolishing a position is a cleverer way of getting rid of someone than simple termination.

Meanwhile, the city hired attorney Thomas Hale to do a report on some of the charges in the lawsuit Evans fi led against the city. The report cost $10,868.50 but failed to settle the lawsuit.

This appears headed to court with lots of stories to come. Shirley Nash-Pitts, former chair of the Coli-seum Board, says this issue never would have occurred if the Rogero administra-tion had not removed the board’s authority and placed it directly under the mayor.

Jamie Satterfi eld, able News Sentinel reporter who fi rst broke the story, has further details in her blog at http://knoxblogs.c o m / l a d y - j u s t i c e - u n -masked/2015/01/13/report-city-boss-greg-mackay-pot-ty-mouth-average-joe/.

■ It is interesting that two sponsors of the mayoral pay raise, Nick Pavlis and George Wallace, are both often mentioned as may-oral candidates themselves. Maybe they did not get the memo urging them to avoid raising the pay if they have any remote notion of seek-ing the position in 2019 or before. Marshall Stair, also a possible candidate, did not sign the ordinance.

■ State Rep. Martin Daniel will hold an openhouse from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Bearden Branch Library on Golfclub Road for any con-stituent to attend and com-ment on pending legislative issues.

Former Metropolitan Planning Commission di-rector Mark Donaldson retired in December with a $101,000 severance pack-age (approved in a meeting that you can’t watch online because MPC doesn’t main-tain an accessible video ar-chive), but his policies con-tinue to rile neighborhood groups.

Take Ryan and Amber Bradley, who live next door to a former church build-ing on the west end of Ce-dar Lane and have invested money and sweat equity in their home.

In 2007, Donaldson championed a new zoning designation called Civic Institutional to apply to churches, schools and gov-ernment buildings. This classifi cation was attached to the parcel at 607 Cedar Lane although it was no lon-ger being used as a church (churches are allowed in residential neighborhoods as a permitted use and fre-quently cause issues like this to arise if they vacate the property).

Fast forward to late 2014, and imagine the Bradleys’

Betty Bean

Mark Donaldson: the gift that keeps on giving

surprise when they learned that MPC had recommend-ed that their property – and that of their close neigh-bors westward to the rail-road tracks – be rezoned from Residential 1 to Of-fi ce 1 along with the former church building at 607 Ce-dar Lane.

The railroad tracks have long served as a boundary between residential Cedar Lane and the commercial hub of Merchant Road and its interstate ramp to the west. The Bradleys and their neighbors were not no-tifi ed about the MPC recom-mendation. Critics charge that this is unlawful “spot” zoning.

MPC commissioners fur-ther complicated the issue by prohibiting all but three of the 15 uses allowed in of-fi ce zones by “right” (mean-ing that they do not need to be reviewed).

The controversy came

about when real estate agent and former MPC commis-sioner Cindy Bradley (ap-parently no relation) bought the property, which had not been used as a church for many years, last April for a greatly reduced price after the previous owner was un-successful in an attempt to sell it to Family Promise, a nonprofi t organization that provides housing for fami-lies with children who have lost their homes.

Cindy Bradley said the need for the rezoning be-came more urgent when city codes inspectors ordered her to remove a sign from the property in December.

Her request was sup-ported by Betty Jo Mahan, president of the Inskip Neighborhood Association (and administrative assis-tant to Mark Donaldson). It was opposed by Fountain City Town Hall, represented by board member Carlene Malone.

Mahan cited her organi-zation’s worries about half-way houses and apartment complexes. Malone warned that excluding uses allowed by ordinance is vulner-

able to legal challenge and will likely be struck down, and although Cindy Brad-ley promised not to allow any objectionable uses, if she sells the property, the door would then be open to all kinds of things neither neighborhood association wants, like private clubs and halfway houses.

The vote was 5-4 to ap-prove on fi rst reading.

On second reading, Jan. 20, City Council member George Wallace, a Realtor and one of Cindy Bradley’s most adamant champions, recused himself, saying someone had complained that he had a confl ict of in-terest because his company had been involved in the sale of the property to Brad-ley and also had a contract to resell it that expired Dec. 31.

Council member Duane Grieve, who represents the Sequoyah Hills area and voted no on fi rst reading, fl ipped his vote, guaran-teeing approval. On the crucial vote to change the sector plan, Mark Campen, Finbarr Saunders and Nick Della Volpe voted no.

What if you threw an ex-pensive birthday party for a friend and no one showed up? Would you do the same thing the next year or would you try something differ-ent?

Knoxville city elections are coming up this fall. They are expensive and few people vote. Unlike state and county contests, which are held in even-numbered years (2014, 2012, 2010), the city has stand-alone elections in odd-numbered years (2015, 2013, 2011) for offi ces like mayor, city council and city judge.

As a result, city taxpayers get stuck with the entire bill of about $250,000 for the primary and general elec-tion.

But the cost of the elec-tion isn’t even the biggest problem. Voter turnout is worse.

According to the Elec-tion Commission, there

Scott Frith

It’s time to rethink Knoxville elections

are approximately 107,000 registered voters in Knox-ville. Yet, in the last city election (November 2013), only 4,350 ballots were cast citywide. Think about it. We have enough folks reg-istered to vote in Knoxville to fi ll Neyland Stadium, yet the voters from the last city election wouldn’t fi ll the Civic Coliseum.

Why is low voter turnout a bad thing?

We have elections so that folks have a voice in choos-ing their leaders. The larger the voter turnout in an elec-tion, the more accurately the election results should

refl ect the will of the people. For example, an election with 50,000 voters is more likely to refl ect the views of the community than an election with 5,000 voters.

However, in low-turnout city elections, special inter-est groups like government employees and neighbor-hood organizations have more clout because candi-dates know that their mem-bers are more likely to turn out to vote than the general population. In the long run, low-turnout elections can have a corrosive effect on government, electing folks who cater to an elite few, rather than the views of the city at-large.

Nevertheless, the current system still has its support-ers – mainly from folks who benefi t from it – and city of-fi cials have little incentive to change a system which benefi ts them.

What now?

Let’s move city elections to the state election cycle in even-numbered years. Put the city primary in August and the city general election in November. It will save a lot of money, about a half-million dollars every four years, and turnout will in-crease exponentially.

Of course, this idea isn’t new. Other surrounding municipalities have elec-tions in even-numbered years: Maryville, Alcoa, Oak Ridge and Clinton, among others.

If necessary, delay imple-menting any new election schedule until the current offi ceholders are term lim-ited out of offi ce. Removing political self-interest might give city offi cials greater in-centive to act.

Knoxville city elections are broken. Let’s rethink them.Scott Frith is a local attorney. You can

contact him at scott@pleadthefrith.com.

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As a former Farragut fi re marshal, Lauer is famil-iar with fi re protection in Knox County. The county’s subscription-based fund-ing through Rural/Metro is fairly unique, he said.

Shelby County, which in-cludes Memphis and is the state’s largest, is covered by a career fi re department. Hamilton County, which includes Chattanooga, is covered by volunteer fi re departments outside city limits.

John Linsenbigler of the Seymour Volunteer Fire De-partment said that Sevier and Blount counties are also

whether the home was in the city or the county, he said, and when a fi re truck fi nally arrived, a hose had to be run across Middlebrook Pike to a hydrant at Wei-gel’s. By then, the home had burned.

Because his home is in the county, he pays for a Ru-ral/Metro subscription.

Turner was the only resi-dent to speak at the fi rst meeting of Knox County Commission’s fi re protection workgroup. The group in-

looking at ways to provide better fi re protection.

In response to Turner, Dwight Van de Vate, the county’s engineering and public works director, said the group would have to engage utility companies to talk about contributing fac-tors like water pressure.

The group will meet again at 4 p.m. Monday, March 16, in the large assembly room at the City County Building. Each meeting will include a public forum.

Turner says he’ll come to every meeting until he gets his neighborhood a fi re hy-drant.

6 • JANUARY 28, 2015 • Shopper news

Betsy Pickle

Jude Law plays a

rogue submarine cap-

tain in “Black Sea.”

Octavia Spencer and Kevin

Costner both want what’s

best for their granddaughter

in “Black or White.”

Abel (Oscar Isaac) and Anna (Jessica Chastain) discuss their troubles in “A Most Violent Year.”

“A Most Violent Year” doesn’t fall short on vio-lence, but it has all the emo-tion and allure of a research paper on the subject.

Written and directed by J.C. Chandor (“All Is Lost”), the drama is set in New York in 1981, which holds the dis-tinction of being the most violent year in the city’s his-tory. It takes place in the dog-eat-dog world of the heating-oil industry (who knew?), which apparently occupies the least populated areas of the city.

If none of that gets your juices going, there’s no point in checking out “A Most Vio-lent Year.”

Well, there is the cast. Oscar Isaac tries to pull a 180-degree turn from “In-side Llewyn Davis” – from unlikable ne’er-do-well musician to admirable, in-tegrity-fi lled businessman. He succeeds, but there isn’t much point in this bland en-terprise.

Jessica Chastain plays his loyal wife, but she main-ly seems to be on board to walk a cinematic catwalk in the 1980s-era outfi ts de-signed by Giorgio Armani – some original to the period

By Betsy PickleWorlds collide in “Black

or White,” one of four new fi lms opening in Knoxville on Friday.

Kevin Costner plays a grandfather who suddenly fi nds himself raising his biracial granddaughter on his own. He loves the little girl (newcomer Jillian Es-tell) and believes that she belongs in his home and his world.

Octavia Spencer plays the girl’s paternal grand-mother, who is encouraged

to seek custody by her law-yer brother (Anthony Mack-ie).

In this timely fi lm in-tended to open discussion on racial relations and the meaning of family, both grandparents want the best for the child, but they have different ideas on what that means.

Mike Binder (“The Up-side of Anger”) wrote and directed the fi lm, based on experiences within his own family.

Jude Law sails into trou-

‘Violent Year’ sets scene, forgets action

and others created in con-cert with costume designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone. (Perhaps the cost of her cos-tumes decimated the budget for extras.)

Elyes Gabel (of CBS’s “Scorpion”) plays an immi-grant oil-truck driver who wants to achieve the Ameri-can dream, like his boss.

And Albert Brooks plays Isaac’s lawyer, a canny, world-weary type who sees the big picture better than most.

Abel Morales (Isaac) has done well in the heating-oil industry, but he’s under siege. His drivers are being attacked and their trucks hijacked, with the thieves making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of oil.

Abel has no idea who’s behind the crimes. He’s an honest businessman trying to operate legally in a busi-

ness full of cut corners and questionable practices.

His wife, Anna (Chas-tain), is the daughter of an oil man who played by a dif-ferent set of rules and got caught. She seems happy to follow Abel’s lead and reap the benefi ts of their nou-veau-riche lifestyle as she works alongside him.

An ambitious district at-torney named Lawrence (David Oyelowo) is inves-tigating the oil business and its shady practitioners. In his drive for power, he is willing to paint all the participants with the same brush.

Trying to run his busi-ness legally, rise above Lawrence’s persecution and solve the mystery of the hi-jackings takes a toll on Abel. The resulting sizzle is too little, too late.

Chandor focuses so much on creating a specifi c atmo-sphere that he forgets to give the fi lm energy. Even with a cast that also includes Alessandro Nivola, Cata-lina Sandino Moreno, Peter Gerety and Jerry Adler, he can’t lift “A Most Violent Year” out of its torpor.

All that oil. So little heat.

Costner, Spencer, Law head new fi lm lineup

To next page

ble in “Black Sea.” Law plays a submarine captain who agrees to hunt for a subma-rine rumored to be full of gold.

Claustrophobia and dan-ger ensue. Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scot-land”) directed the thriller, whose cast includes Scoot McNairy and Ben Men-delsohn.

Teenagers get into trou-ble in “Project Almanac.”

When a brilliant teen and

Shopper news • JANUARY 28, 2015 • 7 weekenderFRIDAY

■ Gaelic Storm, 8 p.m., Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay St. Tickets:

$21.50 plus applicable service fees. Info/tickets: knoxbijou.

com.

■ Ron White, 9:30 p.m., Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay

St. Tickets: $50-$60. Tickets: all Ticketmaster locations,

tennesseetheatre.com, Tennessee Theatre box offi ce.

SATURDAY ■ ENSO String Quartet concert, 7:30 p.m., Lambert Recital

Hall at the Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 E. Lamar Alexan-

der Parkway, Maryville. Tickets: $20-$35. Info/tickets: 981-

8590 or claytonartscenter.com.

■ World Class Bluegrass featuring Phil Leadbetter, 7:30 p.m.,

Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre, Clayton Center for the Arts,

502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville. Info: 981-8590 or

claytonartscenter.com.

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The 12-ounce prime rib at Chop House is tender and fl avor-

ful. To accompany the classic, a buttered baked potato, with a

starter of a bowl of Shrimp Bisque. Photo by Mystery Diner

Joe Tolbert, Ethan Norman, Grace Hamer, Darneisha Riley and Kelsey Broyles rehearse a scene from “Walk, Don’t Ride,” which

runs for the month of February. Photo by Jeni Lamm

The WordPlayers of Knoxville are kicking off Black History Month in a big way with “Walk, Don’t Ride,” billed as “a presenta-tion of drama and song de-picting events that helped shape American freedom.” The play’s author is Peter Manos.

An example of the best kind of “edu-tainment,” “Walk, Don’t Ride” has been booked in nine different counties and 16 different venues in East Tennessee, including middle schools, colleges and churches.

A Christian theater com-pany, The WordPlayers’ mission, according to the company’s website, is “to impact theatre audiences and artists by telling cultur-ally relevant stories from a Christian worldview.”

The shows will be pre-sented in collaboration with the Carpetbag Theatre, which is “a professional, multigenerational ensemble company dedicated to the production of new works,” according to the website.

Founded in 1969 and

Plate it

Chop HouseTheater with a conscience

When you go to eat at a place called The Chop House, it is probably a good idea to go craving a good piece of meat. Prime rib – which I consider to be the king of steak dinners – comes in three hearty sizes at The Chop House: eight, 12 or 16 ounce. I went straight for the 12 ounces because I like to clean my plate.

The prime rib at The Chop House is slow roasted for 12 hours. You can choose from a smorgasbord of “steak toppers” if you want to enhance your prime rib. They offer everything from béarnaise sauce to blue cheese butter to lobster. I was strongly considering the burgundy mushrooms as a steak topper but de-cided to just stay pure with the meat.

I also kept the accompa-niments classic – baked po-tato with butter, after start-ing with a bowl of shrimp bisque instead of a salad. The prime rib and accom-

Mystery Diner

panying ramekin of au jus is really all you need.

Prime rib at The Chop House is tender and full of fl avor. My cut was well-mar-bled with just enough fat to enhance to taste. It was cooked to perfection, which is medium for me.

The locally owned Chop House has three outstand-ing locations – each one befi tting the casual, yet up-scale restaurant atmosphere that makes you feel good about white tablecloths but not bad about your casual attire. Check them out at 4870 Harvest Mill Way in North; 7417 Chapman High-way in South; and 9700 Kingston Pike in Franklin Square in West.

Carol Shane

chartered in 1970, the Car-petbag Theatre works in partnership with other community artists, activ-ists, cultural workers, sto-rytellers and leaders. They work with people who are concerned about social jus-tice, creating original works through collaboration in a style based in storytelling and song.

Events depicted in the Manos play are the Mont-gomery bus boycott, the Nashville lunch-counter sit-ins and the Greyhound/Trailways freedom rides.

Speaking of these civil rights events, the Carpet-bag Theatre’s website states, “For some, they are part of a seemingly distant his-tory. And perhaps for oth-ers, they are unfamiliar. But without a doubt, a couple

of generations ago, those events changed the course of America.”

Private performances will take place in several area schools. The following performances are free and open to the public:

■ 5 p.m., Feb. 1, Fourth Presbyterian Church, 1323 N. Broadway

■ 6:15 p.m., Feb. 5, Wal-ters State Community Col-lege, 1325 Claiborne St., Tazewell

■ 1 p.m., Feb. 7, ReCre-ate Cafe, 800 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga

■ 6:15 p.m., Feb. 12, Walters State Community College, 1720 Old Newport Highway, Sevierville

■ 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Feb. 16, Roane State Community College, 276 Patton Lane, Harriman

■ 9:40 a.m., Feb. 17, Pellissippi State Communi-ty College, 1610 E. Magnolia Ave.

■ 6:15 p.m., Feb. 19, Wal-ters State Community Col-lege, 500 S. Davy Crockett Parkway, Morristown

■ 2 p.m., Feb. 21, Oak

Valley Baptist Church, 194 Hampton Road, Oak Ridge

■ 5 p.m., Feb. 22, Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, 2500 E. Fifth Ave.

■ 1:30 p.m., Feb. 24, Walters State Community College, 215 N. College St., Greeneville, Tenn.

■ 7 p.m., Feb. 26, Austin-East High School, 2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

This project is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Arts Com-mission and supported by the Arts Fund of the East Tennessee Foundation.

Info: www.wordplayers.org or call 865-539-2490.Send story suggestions to news@

shoppernewsnow.com.

Sam Lerner, Jonny Weston, Allen Evangelista and Virginia

Gardner think using a time-traveling device is a good

idea in “Project Almanac.”

his friends come across the blueprints for a mysterious device, they build it and end up on an exciting time-travel adventure. But since they apparently have never watched any time-travel movies, they discover be-latedly that every time they travel, they affect the world as they know it.

Jonny Weston, Sofi a Black-D’Elia, Allen Evange-lista, Sam Lerner and Vir-ginia Gardner star in the fi lm from fi rst-time feature director Dean Israelite.

Also opening this week is “A Most Violent Year.” Please see review on previ-ous page.

New fi lm lineup From page 6

the seed of disaster with “sesame.” “Portrait” was a

picture of success for the third speller, but “ v e t e r a n ” undid her successor.

T h e speller who w o w e d with “ulti-

matum” in round fi ve met an unhappy fate in “skir-mish,” and the one who had breezed through “nourish” got unhooked by “phonics.” The last competitor was clearly in need of “edifi ca-tion” when he received that word.

Six up – fi ve down, and all fourth-grader Hannah Gardner had to do was spell “outrageous,” which she did handily, winning the bee without a runner-up. Humble Hannah, who was in the bee last year, said she couldn’t have handled some of the words that un-seated the others, but she was beyond ecstatic as she received congratulations from classmates and her family – mom Tasha and younger siblings Caleb and Katie were on hand for the victory.

The competition at Dog-wood had the feel of an ath-letic event. The judges sat to the side and, instead of ringing a bell, raised a green or red paddle to indicate

8 • JANUARY 28, 2015 • SOUTH KNOX Shopper news kids

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Mooreland Heights From page 1

school. And we are improv-ing your school.

“We’ve improved this school since I’ve been here, and we will continue to improve the school as long as I am here. Not just the physical building – because bricks and mortar do not a school make. …

“This school has been im-proving not only physically, but academically. I’ll put our teachers and this faculty up against anybody, and I’ll put our kids up against any-body …”

Miller told the students that the next speaker “has a servant-leader heart” and “he believes in you because he believes in me,” then in-troduced McIntyre, whom he described as “my boss, our superintendent and my friend.”

McIntyre called it “an exciting day” and described Mooreland Heights as “a very special place.” Growth at the school has been a chal-lenge, he said, but “we think

School board member Amber Rountree and her predecessor,

Pam Trainor, have been strong advocates for the renovations

and additions at Mooreland Heights.

Mooreland Heights students Lonnique Minor, Phoebe Maples, Damysha Moore and Carmen

Sedighi share in the excitement.

this is going to be a great solution to some of the chal-lenges that we’ve had here.”

The 7,500-square-foot, two-story addition will in-clude six classrooms, offi ce

space and restrooms, and the project will reconfi gure the playground space.

Mooreland Heights is “providing a truly outstand-ing education,” McIntyre

By Sandra ClarkApril Lamb is best known

to students at Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Academy as their technology teacher. She’s got a lot of cool equip-ment since SMG is a magnet school. And she’s ordered $6,000 more as one of six winners of the recent Teach-erPreneur grant program sponsored by the Great Schools Partnership.

But before Lamb was a teacher, she was a reporter.

And she talked to the newspaper club last week about her career.

A shy kid growing up in Bristol, she was challenged by her third-grade teacher to be the class reporter. She loved the job and deter-mined right then to be a TV reporter.

There was discourage-ment. “You have to go to col-lege … it costs too much ...”

“But I worked hard to earn scholarships,” she said. She made it through East Tennessee State University with a degree in mass com-munications. Next came the challenge of fi nding a job.

“Back then, we had to send out tapes. I sent tapes to television stations every-where.”

She was hired fi rst by a local radio station and then by a TV station in West Vir-ginia. Her big break came when she was offered a job

April Lamb engages with stu-

dents. Photos by Madison Thomas

April Lamb:Great reporter, great teacher

Karina Cortez and Safari Bahati snap photos of the PowerPoint

showing April Lamb reporting for WBIR-TV at the TVA coal ash

spill.

at WBIR-TV in Knoxville as reporter/anchor for a show called “Style.”

Lamb’s PowerPoint showed her climbing a rock wall despite her fear of heights. The student-reporters were captivated, especially when Lamb told us she had to do it twice – once with the photographer on top shooting down and again with the photogra-pher shooting her ascent from below.

Twice up a rock wall, but the show was still canceled.

The station gave Lamb a job as a reporter and backup anchor. She showed clips of both. Working on New Year’s Day, she was the fi rst reporter on the ash pond at the TVA coal ash spill site. “Was almost arrested twice

By Betsy PickleTwo schools. Two show-

downs. Two spelling-bee champions.

It all went down in South Knoxville last week.

In Bonny Kate Elemen-tary library, the setting was dramatic: The high-ceilinged room was dimly lit except for the illuminated stage, where 22 spellers perched on chairs, excite-ment and nervousness in their eyes. The judges sat below, shadowy fi gures at a table.

Parents and other well-wishers fi lled sideways rows lined up almost to the entrance. Classmates sat cross-legged on the fl oor in the space between.

Dogwood Elementary’s gym was the total opposite. The unyielding brightness of the fl uorescent lights put the spotlight on the whole room. The mood was cel-ebratory from the get-go.

Guests and students cheered wildly as the 18 proud classroom champions

were introduced and pre-sented with medals on red, white and blue lanyards, and then their alternates were presented. Several spellers mugged for their classmates – and the sea of cell-phone cameras.

The Bonny Kate spell-ers felt the pain of defeat in the fi rst round, when nerves caused one to turn “neat” into “neet.” The bell signify-ing a misspelled word sent a chill through the competi-tors, but instructional coach Sara Harris kept them fo-cused, and there wasn’t another fl ub until the third round, when two spellers fell.

As words such as “wad-dle,” “parameters” and “jostle” came their way, six left after round four, and another half-dozen dropped after round fi ve. Then came the bloodbath.

Only six were left for round six, and “duvet” undid the fi rst speller. The next, who had conquered “ve-hicular” in round fi ve, found

Hannah

Heather Palmer congratulates Dogwood Elementary Spelling Bee winner Sam Dascomb and

runner-up Maleki Somers. Photo by Betsy Pickle

A tale of two bees

whether a word was spelled correctly or incorrectly. Classmates sat on the fl oor, with relatives and friends behind them in chairs.

Librarian Heather Palm-er sat directly in front of the spellers’ microphone to pronounce the words. The mistake rate was fairly con-sistent after the fi rst round wiped out four. Words rang-ing from “gross” and “snide” to “tulip” and “burden”

felled two each in rounds two, three, four and fi ve, and “suspenders” dropped another in round six.

Round seven was the game-changer: Three youngsters spelled out, leaving fourth-grader Male-ki Somers and fi fth-grader Sam Dascomb in a two-man match.

It took four more rounds for Sam to emerge the win-ner by correctly spelling

two words – “domestic” and “volcano” – in a row. He had foreshadowed his triumph by playfully showing off his muscles during his intro-duction, but Sam demon-strated that he was serious about winning. Mom Shelia Dascomb and little sister Sarah were on hand for con-gratulatory hugs.

Hannah and Sam will compete in the Knox County bee in March.

said, and now it “will have a facility that refl ects that high-quality education.”

The day’s most comedic – or best-acted – moment came toward the end, when McIntyre called Burchett to the microphone. He ex-plained to the kids that he and Burchett were “kind of like siblings who fuss at each other every once in a while. Sometimes you hear about it in public. But ulti-mately we love each other. We have the same goal in mind, and that’s to make sure you get a truly out-standing education.”

Before cracking a few jokes and then offering congratulations, Burchett played along with the super-intendent.

“At the end of the day, you’ve still got to try to get along. That’s what Dr. Mc-Intyre and I try to do every day; we just try to get along.”

(by TVA police trying to re-strict access) that day,” she said.

In her spare time, Lamb worked as a reading tutor. One day a student asked how long she had been a teacher. “I’m not a teacher, I’m a re-porter,” she said. The fellow told her she would make a wonderful teacher.

“That set me thinking,” she said. She remembered her third-grade teacher’s

impact on her life. She de-cided, “We need teachers who can make a difference.” So she returned to college for a second degree – this time in education.

“Education provides free-dom,” she told the kids. “I have two degrees and can do a lot of jobs.”

A fi fth-grade reporter, Eddys Garcia, said it best: “I think she was a great TV reporter and still is and she is also a great tech teacher here.”

For the younger report-ers, Lamb included pictures of her daughter’s fi rst birth-day party. She said she met her husband while working in television. The family lives in Fountain City.

SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • JANUARY 28, 2015 • 9 business

NEWS FROM PREMIER SURGICAL

For more information about Premier Surgical Associates, please visit

www.premiersurgical.com.

For de-cades, the Pre-mier Surgical Associate phy-sicians and staff at Fort Sanders Re-gional Medical Center have had a tradition of providing exceptional surgical care. It’s a tradition established by respected, longtime Fort Sand-ers surgeons including Richard A. Brinner, MD, FACS, Randal O. Graham, MD, FACS, Hugh C. Hyatt, MD, FACS, and Kevin P. Zirkle, MD, FACS, founding, early members of Premier Surgical Associates.

With the retirement of these promi-nent Premier surgeons in the past two years, one of Knoxville’s most estab-lished surgical groups is experiencing a changing of the guard and a rebirth.

“It’s an exciting time for Fort Sanders Premier Surgical,” says surgical oncolo-gist Greg Midis, MD, FACS. “There’s an injection of new energy and an increas-ing need for specialized expertise.”

In August, general surgeon Joel F. “Trey” Bradley, III, MD, and surgi-cal oncologist Troy F. Kimsey, MD, FACS, joined the Premier Surgical practice at Fort Sanders. The pair brings a wealth of clinical knowledge and train-ing to the group.

Dr. Bradley was Fellowship-trained in minimally invasive surgery at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. There he specialized in minimally invasive surgi-cal techniques such as complex hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruc-tion. Dr. Kimsey completed a Fellowship in surgical oncology at the renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York. He practiced general surgical oncol-ogy in Georgia for six years and helped develop a community-based regional cancer center, before joining Premier Surgical.

Dr. Kimsey is part of the strong surgical oncology team at Fort Sanders Premier that includes Greg P. Midis,

Premier Surgical at Fort Sanders Regional: Expertise You Can Count On

Premier at Fort Sanders surgeons (from left to right) Dr. Paul Dudrick, Dr. Joel “Trey” Bradley, III, Dr. Troy Kimsey, Dr. Greg Midis, Dr. Michael Kropilak and Dr. Richard Young.

MD, FACS, and Paul S. Dudrick, MD, FACS. Dr. Midis completed a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the respected M.D. Ander-son Cancer Center, and a Colon and Rectal Surgery Fel-lowship at the top-notch Cleveland

Clinic. Like Dr. Kimsey, Dr. Dudrick received his surgical oncology Fellow-ship training at the renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Vascular surgeon, Richard M. Young, MD, FACS, completed Fellow-ships in Vascular Surgery at the Univer-sity of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and Endovascular Surgery at the nationally-known New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He specializes in complex vascular and endovascular cases and treats varicose veins.

The group’s veteran surgeon, Mi-chael D. Kropliak, MD, FACS, who has practiced at Fort Sanders since 1988, performs general, vascular, and endo-crine procedures. He completed a Vascu-lar Surgery Fellowship at the esteemed Cleveland Clinic. He says working with multi-specialty Fellowship- trained surgeons every day is a plus.

“It’s nice to have the ability to discuss complex cases. There’s a lot of clinical knowledge and specialized experience in this group.”

Dr. Midis agrees. “As operations be-come more complex, specialty training and volumes point to better outcomes for patients.”

Rob Followell left mem-bers of the Halls Business

and Profes-sional As-s o c i a t i o n looking at each other d i f f e r -ently after last week’s m e e t i n g . Fo l l o w e l l , CEO of Ten-

nova North, borrowed from author George Manning to divide people into groups of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Every team needs a mix of the three personality

By Bonny C. MillardThe Knoxville region saw one of its best

periods of economic recovery and success in 2014, a local business leader said.

That’s due in large measure to Innova-tion Valley, an economic development ini-tiative created in 2008 by the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, said Rhonda Rice, Chamber executive vice president.

Rice made a joint presentation to the Rotary Club of Farragut with Doug Lawyer, Chamber vice president of economic development.

“Knoxville is a large, viable region, and we know that we can get more for this region and this community by mar-keting and recruiting as a whole instead of worrying about what political boundaries and geographical boundaries are in this area,” Rice said. She is executive director of Innovation Valley.

Lawyer said that last year, the Innova-tion Valley partnership recruited new busi-nesses such as Flower Foods, Leisure Pools and Fresenius Medical Care and expanded current businesses including Aisin Auto-

motive Casting Tennessee Inc. and ARC Automotive.

The initiative has three goals: net new jobs, gain capital investments and increase wages.

During the 2013-2014 year, 3,273 new jobs were created, surpassing the goal of 2,300. Innovation Valley exceeded its capi-tal investment goal of $300 million by $215

million. According to its annual re-port, distributed by Rice and Law-yer, the wages increase fell short of its annual 2 percent goal by just .5 percent.

“We spend a lot of time making sure that we’re out in front of site-se-

lection corporate decision-makers who are interested in seeing companies grow,” Rice said. “We also spend a lot of time working with our existing industries in the region in trying to fi nd ways and opportunities to help them grow.”

Created just as the national recession hit, Innovation Valley is managed by the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce but is a separate entity.

Rob Followell

All fl avors make

Sandra Clark

types, he said.Look for dark chocolate

when hiring a CFO. These individuals like order and structure. They won’t go above the chain of com-mand. Examples in history and sports are Moses (who literally carried rules carved into stone) and coaches Pat

Summitt and John Wooden. “All successful leaders,” said Followell.

“I’m vanilla,” he said. “That’s a team-builder who dislikes confrontation and lives within boundar-ies while leading toward a goal.” Most people fall into the vanilla category. They like to make people happy with plenty of discussion around decision-making.

In history and sports, examples are Ben Franklin, who pulled France into the American Revolution on the side of the United States. He went on to found the public library system and the U.S.

Post Offi ce.Rick Pitino is a coaching

example. He led Kentucky to an NCAA national cham-pionship and then turned around and led “a team of scrubs” at Louisville to the same achievement. He’s a consensus-builder for sure.

Strawberry people are most likely to hit a home run. They’re also most likely to land in jail. “Don’t hire a strawberry as your CFO,” said Followell. “You might end up in jail.”

Historically, he cited Pat-rick Henry: “Give me liberty or give me death!” In sports he fl ashed photos of Bruce

Innovation Valley boosts local economy

Pearl and Bobby Knight on the screen.

Strawberries are creative people who focus on the present. There’s an element of marketing and optimism around them, and they don’t mind surprises.

“There are great lead-ers in all three groups,” said Followell. “As business leaders, we need a balanced team.”

Somebody asked about football. Folks quickly la-beled Peyton Manning a chocolate, Joe Montana a vanilla and Michael Vick a strawberry.

Followell drew his talk

from the work of George Manning, a professor of psychology and business at Northern Kentucky Uni-versity. He has written 11 books, and his consulting clients include AT&T, IBM, the IRS and the U.S. Navy.

As the meeting ended, I drifted over to the table where Hallsdale Powell Utility District CEO Darren Cardwell sat. “Now I know why Marvin Hammond and I always got along so well,” I whispered. “We’re both strawberries.”

“I tend toward choco-late myself,” said Cardwell. Well, yes he does.

By Wendy SmithPreservation of cemeter-

ies is a challenge, but Bethel Cemetery, located just east of downtown on Bethel Av-enue, has a couple of things working in its favor. The fi rst is the Winstead Cot-tage, which has housed the cemetery’s caretakers since it was built around the turn of the 20th century. The second is Arin Streeter, the young architect who is working to put the ceme-tery, and the cottage, on the National Register of Histor-ic Places.

Streeter’s extensive re-search is included with the application.

According to his work, the federal government took responsibility for locating the graves of Union soldiers after the Civil War and rein-terring them in the National Cemetery on Tyson Street. But the burial of Confeder-ate soldiers was the respon-sibility of each community. Ladies’ Confederate memo-rial associations formed across the South with the goal of placing Confederate soldiers in dedicated cem-eteries with appropriate monuments.

Knoxville’s Ladies’ Me-morial Association applied to the Knox County Court for a portion of an indigent cemetery where Confeder-ate soldiers were already buried. They received a deed for the new cemetery in 1873, and it was named Bethel Cemetery.

A 48-foot memorial, topped with a sculpted sol-dier designed by Knoxville artist Lloyd Branson and executed by George Whita-ker, a Union veteran, was unveiled on Memorial Day, May 19, 1892.

The cemetery had a full-time caretaker for two years before the job was taken over by William Winstead in 1886. He was a Confed-erate veteran who lost part of his leg after the Battle of Gettysburg. According to his youngest daughter, Mamie, Winstead took the position because he wanted to ensure that his fellow soldiers had a beautiful fi nal resting place. It was a volunteer position,

Calvin Chappelle, executive director of Mabry-Hazen House

Museum, and board member Arin Streeter stand in front of the

Winstead Cottage, which has housed Bethel Cemetery caretak-

ers for well over a century. The cottage and the cemetery have

been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

Confederate cemetery nominated to Historic Registercurrent caretaker. The mu-seum is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and by appointment with the staff of the Mabry-Hazen House, 1711 Dandridge Ave.

Streeter is vice presi-dent of the Mabry-Hazen House Museum board. The Minnesota native isn’t sure why the cemetery became a hobby.

“I have no connection to the Confederates,” he says.

Calvin Chappelle, ex-ecutive director of the Mabry-Hazen House Mu-seum, says that being on the National Register of Historic Places will pro-vide a certain amount of protection to the cemetery and cottage and make the property eligible for grants from the Tennessee His-torical Commission.

While cemeteries are sometimes overlooked by the National Register, Streeter thinks the story of the cot-tage, and its residents, will make it noteworthy. The state review board meets to-day (Jan. 28).

The 48-foot Confederate monument was installed in Bethel

Cemetery by Knoxville’s Ladies’ Memorial Association on Me-

morial Day in 1892. Photos by Wendy Smith

but the family was given the partially fi nished caretaker’s cottage that was being con-structed by the Ladies’ Me-morial Association.

Winstead maintained two neighboring cemeteries, as well as Bethel, until his death in 1907. His wife, Bridget, cared for the cemetery until her death in 1930, when Ma-mie took over the task.

Mamie, who had careers in the Knox County Old Records Department and the Tennessee Supreme Court Library, maintained the cemetery as a park, says Streeter. The property, adorned by ornamental trees and shrubs planted by Mamie, has few head-

stones and yet contains the remains of more than 1,600 Confederate soldiers. Ap-proximately 100 died in the Battle of Fort Sanders while the rest succumbed to in-juries and disease. Over 50 Union soldiers, prisoners of war, are also interred there.

Mamie was given the deed to the cottage and cemetery in 1959 by the La-dies’ Memorial Association. When she died in 1989, she left her estate to the Hazen Historical Museum Foun-dation to be preserved as a historical site.

Bethel Cemetery Museum is now located in one side of the cottage. The other side is occupied by the cemetery’s

10 • JANUARY 28, 2015 • SOUTH KNOX Shopper news

THROUGH SUNDAY, FEB. 1“Huckleberry Finn” presented by Knoxville

Children’s Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Ave. Performances: 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 1 and 5 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Info: 208-3677, knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com or info@childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

THROUGH SATURDAY, FEB. 28“Buy One, Get One Free” admission tickets

available for Knoxville Zoo. Tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours. Info: 637-5331, ext. 300 or knoxvillezoo.org.

THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 8Call for entries for the next “Arts in the Airport,”

a juried exhibition to run April 16 to Oct. 7 at McGhee Tyson Airport. Info/applications: www.knoxalliance.com/airport_entry.html or send an SASE to Suzanne Cada, Arts & Culture Alliance, PO Box 2506, Knox-ville, TN 37901.

THROUGH FRIDAY, MARCH 27Call for local authors of children’s books for

“Farragut Book Fest for Children” to be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at Founders Park at Campbell Station. $25 fee includes tent, table, two chairs and lunch at the event; authors will supply their books, decorations and signage. No fee: bring own set-up materials, which must include a tent fi tting a 10’x10’ space. Info/to register: www.townoffarragut.org/register and click the Programs tab; Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive; 966-7057.

THROUGH FRIDAY, APRIL 10Tickets available for Rhythm N’ Blooms mu-

sic festival, on stages set exclusively along downtown Knoxville’s Jackson Avenue. Features fi rst-timers,

chart-climbers and highly lauded acts from varied musical backgrounds. Info/tickets: www.rhythmnbloomsfest.com.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29Opening preview of new exhibits: “LIFT: Con-

temporary Printmaking in the Third Dimension” and “Contemporary Focus 2015,” 5:30-7:3- p.m., Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park. Free. Both exhib-its run Jan. 30-April 19. Info: http://www.knoxart.org/.

FRIDAY, JAN. 30Alive After Five concert: Soul Connection, 6-8:30

p.m., Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive. Tickets: $15; $10 for members/students. Info: 934-2039.

Needle Tatting/Crochet/Quilting Class, 3:30-7:30 p.m., Hobby Lobby classroom, 6580 Clinton Highway. Cost: $24. Info: Monica Schmidt, 406-3971, monicaschmidt.tn@gmail.com, myquiltplace.com/profi le/monicaschmidt.

Performance Salon Series, 7-10 p.m., the Black Box Theatre in the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay St. Featuring: Shekita Arnold, Oh So Coy, Artese Slay, Jer-emiah Welch and Kristopher Tucker. General admission $5 at the door. Presented by the Carpetbag Theatre and Arts & Culture Alliance. Info: Joe Tolbert, 806-0451 or thejoet@gmail.com.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31Beginner Crochet Class, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.,

Hobby Lobby at Turkey Creek. Cost: $24. Info: Monica Schmidt, 406-3971, monicaschmidt.tn@gmail.com, myquiltplace.com/profi le/monicaschmidt.

Beginning Genealogy, 1-4 p.m., East Tennes-see History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Instructor: Ann Blomquist, Med. Preregistration required. Info/to regis-ter: 215-8809.

Chocolatefest Knoxville, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Knox-ville Expo Center. To benefi t Knoxville’s Ronald Mc-Donald House. Admission and parking are free. Tasting pass ticket: $15; VIP pass ticket, $30. Tickets: www.chocolatefestknoxville.com; Sugarbakers Cake, Candy & Supplies, 514 Merchants Road; Imagination Forest, 7613 Blueberry Road; at the door.

Gospel singing, 7 p.m., Mount Harmony Baptist Church, 819 Raccoon Valley Road NE, Heiskell. Fea-turing the Walker Boys Bluegrass Gospel Group from Clinton. The church is also collecting nonperishable food items for the church pantry. Everyone welcome.

Healthy Recipe Swap, 2 p.m., Farragut Branch Library, 417 N. Campbell Station Road. Info: 777-1750.

“La Femme Bohème,” an all-female cast of Puc-cini’s opera “La Bohème,” 7:30 p.m., NV nightclub, 125 E Jackson Ave. Presented by the Marble City Opera. Admission: adults, $20; students, $10. Tickets: knoxtix.

com or at the door. Saturday Stories and Songs: Laurie Fisher, 11

a.m., Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave. Info: 215-8750.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Sean McCol-lough, 11 a.m., Cedar Bluff Branch Library, 9045 Cross Park Drive. Info: 470-7033.

Wallace Coleman in concert, 8 p.m., Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave. Tickets: $12, some discounts available. Info/tickets: www.jubileearts.org.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1Vegetarian Society of East Tennessee meet-

ing, 6 p.m., Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike. Featured dish: Thai Green Curry with Vegetables demonstrated by Ellen Matteson. Potluck supper to follow. Cost: $4. Info: bobgrimac@gmail.com or 546-5643.

“Walk, Don’t Ride!” Black History Month Touring Show performance by the WordPlayers, 5 p.m., Fourth United Presbyterian Church, 1323 N. Broadway. Free performance; no reservations required. Info: www.wordplayers.org or 539-2490.

MONDAY, FEB. 2Crochet in the Round-Make a Hat class,

9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Hobby Lobby, 6580 Clinton Highway. Cost: $24. Info: Monica Schmidt, 406-3971, monicaschmidt.tn@gmail.com, myquiltplace.com/profi le/monicaschmidt.

Tennessee Shines: Craig Market and Thomm Jutz and poet Jack Rentfro, 7 p.m., Knoxville Visitor Center, 301 S. Gay St. Tickets: $10, free for students with valid ID and children ages 14 and under. Info/tickets: WDVX.com.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3Blount Mansion History Supper, 6 p.m., Boyd’s

Jig and Reel, 101 S Central St. Speaker: Dr. Joan Markel. Topic: Belle Boyd, Confederate Spy. Cost: $65. RSVP by Jan. 30. Info/RSVP: 525-2375 or info@blountmansion.org.

Needle Tatting/Crochet/Quilting class, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Hobby Lobby at Turkey Creek. Cost: $24. Info: Monica Schmidt, 406-3971, monicaschmidt.tn@gmail.com, myquiltplace.com/profi le/monicaschmidt.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4Brown Bag Lecture: “Clans, Septs, and Surnames

in the Highlands of Scotland” by Graeme Mackenzie, noon, East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Admission: free. Bring a “Brown Bag” lunch; soft drinks available. Info: 215-8824 or www.EastTNHistory.org.

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ShoppernewseVents

Today’s funeral options are vast

Gentry Griff ey Funeral Chapel & Crematory

5301 Fountain RoadOff Broadway above Fountain City Lake

(865)689-4481www.GentryGriff ey.com

NEWS FROM GENTRY GRIFFEY FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORY

Locally owned funeral homes tailor services for unique celebrations of life

When a friend or fam-ily member passes away, it is common for funeral or memorial services to be held.

There is a great deal of plan-ning that goes into funeral and memorial services in East Tennessee because they serve as a way to honor the life of the person who meant so much.

There are different ele-ments of a funeral ceremony or memorial that must be considered, and one of these is tone. It’s important that the family or friends who are planning the funeral choose a tone that is appropriate for their needs.

In recent years, there has been somewhat of a shift in the tone of funerals. Tradi-tionally, funerals have always been a somber occasion, but more and more families are opting to incorporate ele-ments that celebrate the life of the deceased. In part, this is due to pre-planning fu-neral arrangements because it allows the wishes of the person who has passed away

Long known as a favorite photo spot for proms and weddings, the gardens at Gentry Griff ey provide

an ideal location for a celebration of life service. Gentry Griff ey is a proud sponsor of the Dogwood Arts

Festival Fountain City Trail.

Eric Botts, Managing

Partner and Licensed

Funeral Director.

to be carried out.Some individuals see

pre-planning a funeral as a chance to emphasize dif-ferent aspects of their life that set them apart. People who love a particular type of music or a sports team might want to somehow incorpo-rate those elements into their funerals and memorials.

Funerals help the fam-ily and friends who are left behind cope with the loss while at the same time com-memorating a life well-lived. Funerals can be as unique as the individuals they honor. Whether they include religious aspects or cultural traditions, it is possible to

incorporate elements that set the desired tone at a funeral or memorial.

One way that tone is set at funeral services is by the type of music that is

played. A carefully chosen selection of funeral music can soothe those who are grieving as well as honor the life of the deceased.

Another way to set the

tone while planning a memo-rial or funeral is through the chosen readings. Whether or not there is a eulogy or reli-gious reading plays a role in the tone. Poetry, sacred texts and other written passages can lend a distinctive feeling to the ceremony. Allowing attendees to take part in the service and even contribute their thoughts/share memo-ries can affect tone as well.

Visual displays also as-sist in creating a funeral or memorial’s tone. “Here at Gentry Griffey, we offer the option of a celebration of life DVD with photos and special memories,” says Eric Botts, managing partner and licensed funeral director. “We also encourage families to display photos and other memorabilia if they choose. These things personalize the experience and only further allow families to honor their loved ones who have passed.”

Gentry Griffey has been offering families a source of comfort and peace of mind for more than 60 years. If you are interested in planning a special memo-rial or Celebration of Life ceremony or learning more about the pre-planning fu-neral services, contact them at 865-689-4481 or info@gentrygriffey.com.

Catering is just one of many customized options that Gentry Griff ey

is happy to coordinate for your unique needs.

SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • JANUARY 28, 2015 • 11

LOCALBusinesses

5009 Chapman Hwy • Knoxville, TN 37920 www.basementrecordstn.com

facebook.com/basementrecordstn

LLPs • 45s • 78s • CDs • DVDs Video Games & CConsoles • Stereo Equipment

***Disc Repair Services ***

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3400 Chapman Highway • Knoxville, TN 37920Toll Free: 1-866-496-4496 • www.executive-inn.net

KING-SIZEBED

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Our proceeds help feed the homelessFurniture • Glassware • Clothes • Etc

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Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 5:30 pmManager, Vickie • 604-8077

Please Clean Out & DonatePlease Clean Out & Donate

God’s Place Thrift Store5925 Chapman HighwayHappy

Valentine’sDay!

865-573-0145Sharon Davis, REALTOR/Investor

JUST LISTED - SOUTH ONLY $75,000 HOUSE FOR SALE! Be charmed by this 3BR/1BA home with private patio, 2 driveways, pretty fl ooring & a motivated seller. Near Ijams Park & urban wilderness. Call Sharon Davis 865-640-5700

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West Knoxville Merchandise atWest Knoxville Merchandise at

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VALENTINE SPECIALS

5901 Chapman Hwy., Knoxville

776-1006 • 546-1246

10% off Wine every WednesdaySouthland

Spirits & Wine

Open Monday - Wednesday 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.Thursday - Sat�rday 8 a.m. - 11 p.m.

211 W. Young High Pike • 573-1320

WEST KNOXVILLE 7219 KINGSTON PK • 951-0531

South Knoxville4939 Chapman Hwy • 659-2337

www.MyMattressPlace.com

Amish Handcrafted, Cool Gel Memory Foam

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Mattress sets at closeout, deep-discount prices!

FA

CTORY

MATTRESSE

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ANY SIZEThe Mattress Place

Expires 2-1-15Excludes Crazy Quilt Sets

TheMattress Place

Open Sunday12-6 at

West location

HOME COOKING

40 YEARS IN BUSINESS

BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER

South Knoxville • 3643 Sevierville Pike577-8981 • OPEN 7 DAYS

$4.99With coupon. Not valid on Sundays

or with any other coupon offer. Expires 2-14-15.

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SPECIALCHAPMAN HWY

JAMES WHITE PRKWY

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PK

ALL SHOPPERSwill receive a

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Absolutely best prices on formula, baby food & cereal.

Winter clothes on clearance plus new spring & summer clothing

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with a $10 purchase

Excludes formula, baby food & cereal.Bring cou-

pon or mention ad to receive credit.

Expires 2-15-15.

Since 1968

YE OLDE STEAK HOUSE

6838 Chapman Highway5 miles S. of Henley St. bridge

Call 577-9328 for reservations for parties of 6 or more only

Top Ten Restaurants in theUnited States!Voted by Yahoo Travel

as one of the

Offering Early Bird Specials Mon-Thurs,

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Open noon to 9:30 for

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TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SOUTH KNOXVILLE ALLIANCE VISIT www.KTownSouth.org

SKA

SouthKnoxville

AllianceSKA

Feb 16: 6:15PM: Monthly South Knoxville Alliance meetingLabor Exchange, 2623 Chapman Hwy.

Feb 28: 11:00am - 12:00pm: Fort Dickerson Clean-Up, Augusta Road entrance

Enjoy South Knoxville!

6202 Chapman Highway577-9616

Mon - Fri 9-5 • Sat 8-2

The cake pictured is

$250and serves

100

We make weddings

a piece of cake!

12 • JANUARY 28, 2015 • Shopper news

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