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VOL. 7 NO. 13 NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Johnson gets state honor Rural/Metro Fire Marshal Dan Johnson was named the Code Official of the Year by the East Tennessee Building Officials Association (ETBOA). “Dan is a diligent, hard-working member of the Johnson Rural/Metro Fire Department,” said Chief Jerry Harnish. “His work is exemplary. He understands that preventing fires is the best way to save lives and property, and he is dedicated to thorough, regular inspections and providing fire prevention education to keep the Farragut community safe.” Johnson has worked as fire marshal for Farragut for more than 12 years.
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April 1, 2013
‘Wish Granter’
Madison’s wish comes true with help of Farragut friends
Madison Collier, 4, who is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, had a very special surprise party – complete with her favorite Disney character – when the Make-A-Wish Foundation of East Tennessee showed up to grant her wish for a trip to Walt Disney World. Photos by Karen Casey.
Update on taxes Craig Leuthold will talk taxes at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at Peace Lutheran Church, 612 N. Cedar Bluff Road. Knox County reassesses property every four years, and Leuthold will discuss the process and ways to communicate with the assessor’s office. Info: www.cwkch.com/.
IN THIS ISSUE Miracle Maker A veteran Knox County educator says Copper Ridge Elementary School 1st-grade teacher Natasha Patchen is “the most creative and organized teacher I have ever seen.”
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Keeping marble history alive While the Ross and Mead’s marble quarries have found new life as a recreation area, Ijams Nature Center executive director Paul James doesn’t want to lose their history. The cabins that housed the men who worked there are long gone, and their stories will be, too, if family members don’t share them, he says. Ijams is hosting a show-andtell session from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, April 6. Read ShopperNews writer Wendy Smith’s interview with James online in this week’s Bearden edition.
By Suzanne Foree Neal Most days, Jamie Fusaro is a busy driver for UPS. But some days, Fusaro’s official title is Wish Granter. Making wishes come true for children with serious health issues fills Fusaro’s volunteer time and has become his passion. Working as a volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of East Tennessee, Fusaro recently took “everything Tinker Bell” to the Lenoir City home of Madison Collier and staged a surprise party for the 4-year-old, who is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. Madison and her parents, Ashley and Todd, will go to Disney World in Orlando for a week’s vacation in mid-April. They will celebrate Madison’s fifth birthday there on April 18 with dinner in Cinderella’s Castle. Madison is also scheduled to meet her two favorite characters: Tinker Bell from “Peter Pan” and Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.” Fusaro says he learned from his parents and his church that it was important to give back to
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sherri Gardner Howell Suzanne Foree Neal ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey | Patty Fecco Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly and distributed to 29,974 homes in Farragut, Karns and Hardin Valley.
saluting the school for pro bono By Sandra Clark Lincoln Memorial University’s work in excess of 5,165 hours by Duncan School of Law opened 84 students assisted by faculty. And the optimists are counting with great promise, but now it’s on the credibility of the interim fighting for its life. dean, the legendary Parham Williams. With a degree from Yale School With enrollment underway of Law, Willia ms has 35 years of for the Class of 2016, students experience having served as a and staff await a decision on ac- professor and dean at Chapman creditation by the American Bar University School of Law, SamAssociation, a decision that may ford University’s Cumberland School of Law, and the University not come until year’s end. Pessimists worry. Without ac- of Mississippi School of Law. He creditation, graduates who pass has chaired or served on many the state bar exam can practice ABA site inspection teams. LMU president B. James Dawlaw only in Tennessee. Optimists don’t. The ABA’s son has said Williams “will play accreditation committee was in the crucial role of guiding (the town March 17-20, touring the school) through American Bar campus (the Historic City Hall on Association accreditation. We Henley Street downtown), talking could not be in better hands.” Optimists include students with students and meeting with members of the bar. The Tennes- like Scott Frith who, along with see Bar Association gave a boost, wife Stephanie, will graduate
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Tinker Bell is Madison Collier’s favorite Disney character, so wishgranter Jamie Fusaro made sure the sassy fairy was represented when Make-A-Wish showed up to give Madison a trip to Disney.
Fusaro and his girlfriend, Karen Casey, who works for AAA, plan to marry this year. Fusaro has Casey hooked on the charity as well after she started helping him behind the scenes for last year’s fundraiser. Ashley Collier says it was a routine checkup for Madison that sounded the alarm. Their pediatrician commented on Madison’s uneven smile and suggested further examination. The doctors found the brain tumor on July 2, 2012, says Collier, who is a nurse To page A-3
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Parham Williams, interim dean at LMU’s Duncan School of Law
from the Duncan School of Law in May. “Planning to pass the bar and practice law,” says Scott. Optimists include Pete DeBusk, who started a multinational business from his garage on Cunningham Road. DeBusk
chairs the LMU Board of Trustees. He pushed to launch the DeBusk School of Osteopathic Medicine at LMU and the Duncan School of Law. His aim: to serve To page A-3
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an average cost of $7,000. A trip to Disney World is the most common wish, says Fusaro. For the Disney trip, the children and their parents get to be VIPs with celebrity status for a week. There is even a special village called “Give Kids the World,” just for Make-A-Wish families, with added perks and medical personnel on standby. In the last 18 months, Fusaro has granted wishes for two boys, ages 2 and 5, and for Madison. Fusaro says he keeps up with the families after his duties as a wish granter, checking on how the children are doing. “People don’t like to talk about it, but it’s not all happy endings,” he says, which makes the granted wishes more important than just a family vacation. “The whole family spends time together in a special environment, and that is precious to them. They make memories filled with happiness and joy and don’t have to think about anything else for a while. Sometimes the wish vacation is the last thing like that they have with their child.”
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the community. He has donated to numerous charities, but something about the Make-A-Wish Foundation touched his heart. “I started as a volunteer with fundraising two years ago, but I’m good with kids,” he says. “I talked with the corporate office about becoming a wish granter.” Fusaro says it’s not simply telling a family a child’s wish has been granted. Granting a wish usually begins with a physician referral for a child 18 and younger. For the wish granter, there is a lot of planning, personal involvement and “front work” to be done before the wish is granted. The foundation has offices in Chattanooga and Morristown, and Knoxville has a chair who works with granters here. “I’ll get some information about a child, meet the family, talk to the kids, find out about the health issues, tell them what Make-A-Wish Foundation is about and see what the child wants to do,” says Fusaro. Knoxville representatives grant about 84 wishes a year at
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