VOL. 7 NO. 20
IN THIS ISSUE
Miracle Maker As the Knoxville Zoo’s outreach and outdoor science coordinator, Steve McGaffin has carted furry, scaly and feathery friends all over East Tennessee in the Zoomobile. But for the past two years, McGaffin has been attracting another sort of friend – the six-legged kind. It’s all part of the zoo’s educational outreach program.
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See Wendy Smith’s story on A-9
Coffee Break Nadia Kogeler stumbled onto a blessing six years ago and now wants to make sure others take a more direct route. Nadia, general manager at Cool Sports and Icearium, grew up ice skating in Parma, Ohio, where she skated competitively in synchronized ice skating. When husband Alex’s job as an airline pilot offered the newlywed couple the choice of three places to locate, they chose Knoxville.
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See story on page A-8
Crippled Mule Point? I have always been fascinated by street names and their origin. For the most part, developers often name streets after their families or after street names they have seen in other areas. Some use the name of the former owner if it has historical significance (i.e. Smithfield subdivision). All the streets in our neighborhood are named after famous golf courses. But one street, Crippled Mule Point, has no relation to the others. That aroused my curiosity.
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Read Malcolm Shell on page A-15
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Public Hearings The legal notice ad on Page B-2 is incomplete, a change coming after the press deadline for that section. The Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen will hold a workshop with two parts on Thursday, May 23: At 5:45 p.m. discussion of the outdoor classroom; At 6:15 p.m. discussion of greenway/sidewalk connectors. The regular BOMA meeting will start at 7 p.m.
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Raising a racquet Tennis group believes in saying, and playing, ‘Never’ By Betsy Pickle Judging by the looks of some Farragut participants, getting involved in the “Never-Ever” Senior Novice Tennis Program is almost like living in Never Land. Sandy Bradshaw, Bea Davis and Marjorie Raby are grown-ups, to be sure, but they appear to be much younger than their actual years. At the Frank R. Strang Senior Center to talk about “Never-Ever” along with program coordinators Lynne Keener and Bob Roney, most of the group seems to be right around retirement age. The “official” numbers span from 71 to 91, but even a midway carny would likely miss his guess. “Tennis is good for you,” says Keener, who is retired from the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. “It keeps you young.” The 2013 edition of “NeverEver” launched last Tuesday and welcomed 30 participants. It continues from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next two weeks at the Tyson Park Family Tennis Center, 2351 Kingston Pike. The Knoxville Parks and Recreation program is designed to teach people age 50 and older who have never played – or who haven’t picked up a racquet in years – how to play tennis. “When we start, we talk about how to stand, how to hold the racquet, how to move,” says Roney, a retired teacher and college administrator. “A lot of people who take this haven’t moved – except to go from the couch to the refrigerator and bathroom – in years, and so we have to deal with footwork. A lot of times, that’s one of the hardest things for people to get done.”
A few of the “Never-Ever” Senior Novice Tennis Program participants pose for a group shot. From left are Sandy Bradshaw, Bea Davis, Lynne Keener, Marjorie Raby and Bob Roney.
“Footwork wasn’t my problem as much as my eyes,” says Raby, a retired schoolteacher. “I have astigmatism really bad. My biggest problem was keeping my eye on the ball – always looking where I wanted it to go instead of where it was.” Raby, Bradshaw and Davis all got into “Never-Ever” years ago, but Raby and Bradshaw are going through the program again, mostly for the fellowship, and Davis is helping to teach Sandy Bradshaw gets ready to hit the tennis ball. the 30 novices. “It’s good to have seniors
Taking a stand After community forum, FBA opposes hotel tax By Sherri Gardner Howell Nobody said, “Oops,” and perhaps it will be a case of “all’s well that ends well.” While the second reading vote on the proposed hotel-motel tax for Farragut is yet to come, the Farragut Business Alliance voted to oppose the proposed 3 percent tax in a closed executive session Thursday, following a lively community forum on the subject. The FBA has submitted its recommendation to the town of Farragut in a letter in which they also offer to serve as a facilitating body for “continued dialogue” with the hotels and business community. Town administrator David Smoak says Mayor Ralph McGill, who sits on the FBA board but recused himself from the vote, will probably move to table the second reading at Thursday’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting. Still, after two to three years of discussion, there should be
Greg Adkins with the Tennessee Hospitality Association addresses the Farragut Business Alliance board and the crowd gathered for the community forum on the proposed increase in the hotel-motel tax. a bit of head-scratching on how hotels and motels in the Farragut area were not part of the discus-
sion on a new tax on … hotels and motels. And a bit of blame on the businesses’ side, too, for not keeping up with a topic that has been discussed for such a long time. As one forum participant, who asked to remain anonymous, said after the meeting, “How hard could it have been to spread the word that the vote was imminent? There are only seven hotels in Farragut.” Reaction spread fast after the vote for the tax passed on first reading by a vote of 4 to 1 during the April 25 BOMA meeting. The Farragut Business Alliance, which had taken no position on the proposal previously, quickly put together the community forum and called an executive session to follow. The Farragut hotel businesses attending the forum said the tax would not only hurt their businesses, but also local shops. Greg Adkins with the Tennessee Hospitality Association said
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teaching seniors because they understand,” says Keener. The “Never-Ever” program was created in 1990 by Jack Murphy, now deceased, and Clare Maisel, now living out of state. “One of the things that Clare and Jack built into the program was that people who’ve gone through it are supposed to come back and help the next bunch,” says Roney. “And that also gets them involved in playing, and we try to encourage them to keep on playing.” “The first year I was in it, which was ’98, Clare Maisel pushed me to More on A-3
the timing for an additional tax was terrible. “This is a game-changer for future investments in the community and could impede future growth,” said Adkins. “The lodging industry still hasn’t recovered from the recession. Occupancy rates have risen, but many of our hotels are just now beginning to break even or starting to make a little money again.” Nationally, Adkins said that studies show a negative impact when new taxes are added to hotels. “With a 2 percent increase in taxes, we see at 2.4 percent reduction in occupancy,” he said. The intention was for the money to be used to promote Farragut and increase tourism, Smoak said. “We have been looking for three years for ways to promote our town, and, with our revenue structure the way it is, it is a slow process to find new money to put toward that. We have to have cash on hand to pay for any programs we propose or improvements we want to make to existing facilities,” he said. Amit Patel with Comfort Suites said he would have to lower his rates to compete if a new tax was added. “We have to compete with hotels just one More on A-3
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