VOL. 10 NO. 51
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Making a bunad for a future Juletrefest By Carolyn Evans
Farragut resident Elizabeth Farr plays Christmas carols on her petite pedal harp.
Music-maker for a lifetime If you’ve lived in East Tennessee for any length of time you’ve surely run across the instrumental trio Farr Horizons and, in particular, their Christmas CD titled “Winter Reveries.” “People tell me they listen to it every year when they decorate their tree,” says the group’s founder, Elizabeth Farr. The music director at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church reflects on her life spent as a musician.
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See Carol Shane’s story page A-6
This bowl game is for the seniors “When this senior class signed on, the program was in shambles. We are no longer losing more than we are winning. “I really-really want these seniors to go out with a win!” So says one reader to anyone ready to disregard the Music City Bowl, where the Vols play Dec. 30.
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Read Marvin West on A-4
Mountain Strong people persevere On the 10th day after screaming winds drove arsonists’ flames down the mountain into Gatlinburg, the city still felt like a war zone. But there was music and food and laughter and friendship and happy surprises at the Three Jimmys restaurant.
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Read Betty Bean on A-5
Joan Shrader works on her Hardanger embroidery at her cabin home in Greenback. She’s making a bunad, the traditional costume of Norway. The Sons of Norway meets regularly at Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut.
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By Wendy Smith The Farragut Municipal Planning Commission discussed possible changes to the town’s subdivision regulations and zoning ordinance that would allow affordable single-family homes to be built on small parcels. Representatives from Saddlebrook Properties requested the changes. “Everybody can’t live in a $400,000 house,” said Saddlebrook president Bob Mohney. “Children that have grown up in Farragut can’t afford to live in Farragut.” Commission looked at pictures of
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Grantham Place, a new Saddlebrook development off Yarnell Road just outside town limits. Detached, two-story homes on small lots in the single cul-de-sac neighborhood have sold quickly. But current requirements in the town won’t allow for such development, he said. The company hopes to build such houses on parcels that are 10 acres or smaller, said Russ Rackley of Rackley Engineering. That would provide a development opportunity for infill properties and allow the housing market to continue to grow in spite of a shortage
By Sandra Clark
Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones must be mad because he’s term-limited. Why else would he hire Hugh Holt for a purchasing director’s job that never existed and pay him more than even the chief deputy makes?
And last week Jones was back – this time trying to get Holt protected under the Sheriff’s Merit System Council, a system designed to protect deputies and jailers from political fallout. Merit Council members are volunteers, appointed by Knox County Commission. You don’t get appointed unless the sheriff approves. It just doesn’t happen. So it was a stunning rebuke to Jones
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dim but cozy kitchen. She made the cloth belt with pockets and a few shiny brass objects dangling from it – basically, a seamstress’s toolbelt. “I wear this all the time,” she says. She picks up a long strip of cloth about 6 inches wide and carefully pierces the cloth with the needle as she talks. By drawing some thread in the material together as she embroiders, Shrader creates tiny holes, producing a sort of lace or cutwork, a design that has embellished the dresses and aprons of Scandinavian women for centuries and takes its name from the Hardangerfjord area of western Norway. “I take this with me everywhere I go and get five minutes in here or there.” The long white strip will eventually be covered with Hardanger embroidery, and once she’s finished, it will be sewn in place as a border around the bottom of a long black skirt, with the holes of the embroidery allowing the black material to show through. The skirt will be part of a traditional Norwegian outfit called a “bunad.” To page A-3
of larger developable parcels. The applicant requested flexibility in the subdivision requirements that would allow for 22-foot-wide streets and a walking path in lieu of a sidewalk on the main street. Narrowing streets from 26 feet would limit on-street parking, but would require less maintenance by the town and encourage drivers to slow down, said Community Development director Mark Shipley. To page A-3
Sheriff’s Merit Council tables Holt
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In a log home with a John Deere on the property, you wouldn’t expect to find a garland of Norwegian flags around the Christmas tree. Or troll figurines tucked into a small bookcase. And you certainly wouldn’t be expecting “hardanger” handiwork to be lying on the kitchen table. But at the Shraders’ home in Greenback, jewels of their Scandinavian heritage are on display everywhere. Joan Shrader, a former professor of computer science at the University of Hawaii, is a member of the Sons of Norway, a group that meets regularly at Faith Lutheran in Farragut. Like her, many are fair-haired and blue-eyed and have roots in places like Minnesota, where their ancestors settled after leaving Europe. The group’s mission is to promote Scandinavian culture. During the Christmas season at the Juletrefest (pronounced Yulee-tre-fest) celebration, members of the Sons of Norway come with traditional food and clothing, such as embroidered aprons and bunads. Shrader drapes a “chatelaine” around her neck as she sits in her
Proposed changes could yield affordable homes in Farragut
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when the three-member board tabled his recommendation on Holt, opting to leave the decision to the next sheriff. Board chair Bill Lindsey read a list of job descriptions and salaries, saying, “These people (who earn less than Holt’s $137,500) put their life on the line and have years of service. “Let’s not hamstring the new
sheriff. JJ is a lame duck. Let’s kick the can down the road 18 months. The history will be there then, and if the new sheriff wants (Holt), let him or her hire him and pay him. Let the new sheriff recommend putting him under the (Merit) System.” Roy Kruse and Jim Jennings concurred, citing employee morale. It was a rare act of independence that reflected favorably on each council member. Holt was director of purchasing for Knox County for several years until he resigned under fire. In that role, he oversaw purchasing for the Sheriff’s Office. When Mayor Tim Burchett requested his resignation following an investigation into charges of sexual harassment, Holt was earning roughly $137,000. Jones hired him three
days later for $500 more. In a column Nov. 9, 2016, this writer polled two potential candidates for sheriff when Holt was hired. Lee Tramel, the sheriff’s chief administrative officer, said it’s the sheriff’s call. “It’s not my position to comment. Look at Hugh’s record six or eight months from now. Has he saved the office money? That will tell the tale.” Tom Spangler, former chief deputy, said the position is not needed since the county has always handled purchasing. He would prefer to see the money divided among employees. “Some say that’s just $137 each, but I say it’s $137 they didn’t have before. “Nothing against Hugh, but his hiring was (an affront) to every employee up there.”