VOL. 7 NO. 49
IN THIS ISSUE
Miracle Maker Cindy White knew what she was getting into when she agreed last spring to take over as principal of Vine Middle School.
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www.ShopperNewsNow.com |
December 9, 2013
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A gift of ‘Sanders’
See Betsy Pickle’s story on A-9
Big vote at school board tonight School board members don’t get paid enough to endure all of this drama. The board’s vote tonight (Dec. 9) surely weighs heavily on each member. On one hand, Dr. Jim McIntyre expects his contract to be extended for a year (until 2017). After all, the county’s test scores were higher than ever. Things are going great. Right? Ahhh. There’s the rub.
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See Sandra Clark’s story on A-4
Opponent for Campfield There’ll be no rest for Stacey Campfield this coming election season, even if he’s successful in fending off Dr. Richard Briggs in the Republican Primary. The Shopper-News has learned that Fountain Citian Cheri Siler will be a candidate in the Democratic Primary for the 7th District state senatorial seat next year.
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Read Betty Bean on page A-4
Being Art Reynolds was never easy This is the time of the Tennessee football year for reflections. For obvious reasons, I choose to look back at the good, old days. Like a typical fan, suddenly face to face with former Volunteer linebacker Art Reynolds, I asked the following questions, in proper order ...
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Read Marvin West on page A-5
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Mabe to co-host Sinatra show The Shopper’s own Jake Mabe will cohost a birthday tribute to Frank Sinatra with Bradley Reeves 10 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, on WDVX-FM’s “East Tennessee Quiver.” The station can be heard locally at 89.9 FM, 102.9 FM or streaming online at www.wdvx.com.
The cast of “Sanders Family Christmas” are, from left, back row: Bryan Flatford, Mike Watkins and Gabe Loving; front row: Tiffany Talent, Jennifer Rokisky and Katie Appleby. (Not pictured: Grady Milligan.)
By Betsy Pickle Don’t think about it too hard or your brain will hurt, but life is imitating art that imitates life that’s imitating art – or something like that – at Christ Covenant Church these days. The church is preparing a production of “Sanders Family Christmas,” the musical that’s the sequel to “Smoke on the Mountain.” The show is set in a smalltown church, and the participants are doing the play in a church, but they’re building sets to make it look like a church. Oh well, any confusion will be cleared up at the performances, which are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14, and 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15. The church is at 12915 Kingston Pike. Gabe Loving, Christ Covenant’s worship and music minister, seems to know what’s going on, even though this is the first time the church has had a Christmas production on this level.
“We have done the standard Christmas cantata stuff over the years,” says Loving. “We did an Irish-themed thing last year. But we have never done a professional musical before.” Loving saw a production of “Sanders” by the Cumberland County Playhouse a few years ago at the Bijou Theatre. “I thought it was delightful,” he says. And it fit with their plans because “we were looking for a way to ramp it up from years past.” “There are two reasons we do this,” says Loving. “One is, it’s a Christmas celebration for our church family. But another thing is, it’s kind of a gift to the community. We want to invite folks who don’t necessarily go to our church but who enjoy good music. “We felt like ‘Sanders’ has a wide-enough appeal that lots of folks would like to come to see it.” About 400 people can be seated
for each performance. The shows are free, but the church is encouraging people to pre-order their free tickets. Tickets are available online at www.christcov.org or by calling 865-671-1885. The small cast includes four church members – Mike Watkins, Jennifer Rokisky, Katie Appleby and Loving – and three nonmembers – Tiffany Talent, Bryan Flatford and Grady Milligan. Director Gayle Greene is also a church member. “We were looking for people who were triple threats – they can sing, they can play an instrument, and they can act,” says Loving. “That limits the talent pool quite a bit, but we were able to the cast parts really quickly.”
Get to know your town By Sherri Gardner Howell For Nancy Howard, participating in the inaugural Introduction to Farragut program this year was a no-brainer, even though she felt she knew quite a bit about the town. After all, she had served on the Economic Development Council and had worked in the tourism industry that required her to know about Knoxville and surrounding areas. But when Howard, who is now with Provision Health Partners, heard about the town’s program that teaches participants more
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The cast is just the tip of the iceberg. “This is a whole church activity, not just a music ministry activity,” says Loving. “Some of our children on Sunday night will be ushers and take tickets. Our middle school and youth will take tickets Friday and Saturday.” Add to that a 30-member choir, construction and show crew and other volunteers, and there are around 70 people helping to put on the show, he says. The musical takes place shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and while it is entertaining, it’s also a touching piece, Loving says. “It was an emotional time for our country,” he says.
The 2013 class of graduates from the Introduction to Farragut program include (front) Sue Fischer, Mary Lutz, Martha Cook, Carla Lyle, Carla Werner; (back) Stephen Krempasky, Neil Fischer, Drew Carson, Louise Povlin, Matthew Bryan, H. Taylor Johnson and Nancy Howard. GET STARTED ON YOUR CHRISTMAS CHR SHOPPING!
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