HALLS/FOUNTAIN CITY
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Outdoors Outdoor Living Special Section
Danny, Sam, Bethany, Holly, Hannah and Will Sharp.
See Marvin’s column on page A-5
Giants of their profession This month, Dr. Jim Tumblin casts a historical eye on the Albert Baumann family, which designed some of Knoxville’s best-known buildings. See Jim’s story on page A-6
Found art Marty McConnaughey has been painting with oils and pastels for 15 years and has become a well-known artist in Union County. She has now taken her flair for the unusual to a higher level and is ecstatic with her discovery.
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Nope. “We received an email that a group of children from China who either had what had been diagnosed as having cerebral palsy or a heart condition were adoptable,” Bethany says. “We felt God was calling us more in that direction.” “They don’t have a name,” Danny says, “but are assigned a number. And they tell you the children are missing an appendage or are blind, etc. It is really a sad process.” “Very impersonal,” Bethany adds. Danny was in Haiti on a mission trip. Bethany was in Memphis visiting her grandmother. They got the word. “We raced around to fix our dossier to make sure the China papers were in order. This was in September,” Danny says. “And we waited for each paper’s clearance. It was an 18-month process from start to finish.” The Sharps arrived in China at the beginning of May. They flew to Henan Province on May 7 to get their son. “It’s absolutely nothing like you think,” Bethany says. “You’re in this big room in which a lot of children are crying.” Someone said “Daniel?” Danny approached. The reply was “Yes, yours,” and then the person moved on to another couple waiting to adopt another child. The Sharps had brought Sam a Smokey dog to play with and spent some time getting to know him that first day. “He was ours from then on.” Sam had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy by Chinese doctors, but once the Sharps returned to the United States, doctors here told them Sam is probably just malnourished and has weak muscle tone. “We knew going over there what his diagnosis was, but there is no
Sharps adopt child from China
The orphaned child who became a number now has a name. And a loving home. Two years ago this August, Danny and Bethany Sharp read two books, independent of one another, that would forever change their lives. One was “Radical” by David Platt. The other was “Adopted for Life” by Dr. Russell Moore. (Remember the title of that second book.) “And we came to the realization,” Danny says, “that God wanted us to expand our family through adoption. We were both on the same page about it. We had talked about it before, after (son) Will was born, but it wasn’t the time to do it.” Danny is a teacher at Central High and is a Halls High graduate. Bethany, a former teacher, is a stayat-home mom. The couple went to an informational meeting through Bethany Christian Services. And thus began the two-year journey that brought Sam Sharp from China to his new home in East Knox County on May 17. It involved prayer, paperwork, prayer, adoption fees, prayer, background checks, prayer, a home inspection and more prayer. By January 2011, the Sharps thought they would most likely be adopting a child from Ethiopia. A group including “At the time, it was the Hannah, Will and Holly quickest of the countries Sharp wait at McGhee(from which to adopt), but Tyson Airport on May while we felt led to adopt, 17 to welcome their we were not convinced parents and their new (about) a specific place.” brother home. Bethany says the process entailed more paperwork and preparing a dossier to send to the host country from which one is adopting a child. By June 2011, they were ready. Ethiopia it was.
Tennessee’s football opener, the critical clash with North Carolina State, is 12 weeks away. That seems a safe distance to risk a simple comparison, Marvin West writes.
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June 11, 2012
By Jake Mabe
See the special section inside
Simple comparison
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‘Adopted for life’
Find out where the wild things are and much more in this month’s “My Outdoors.”
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A great community newspaper
VOL. 51 NO. 24
IN THIS ISSUE
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See Cindy’s story on page A-11
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Hospital valet parking restored North Knoxville Medical Center has resumed valet parking as a convenience to patients effective today (June 11), says CEO Rob Followell. The service will be provided by Parking Management Company, which provides service to several area hotels. The service will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The fee is $3 per parked car. Tenants have the option of validating their patients’ parking.
To page A-3
Read Bethany and Danny Sharp’s entire story about adopting Sam at Bethany’s blog www.loveknowsnoborders4.blogspot.com.
Index Jake Mabe Government/Politics Marvin West Jim Tumblin Faith Kids Business Health/Lifestyles
A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A13 Sect B
4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Sandra Clark sclark426@aol.com ADVERTISING SALES Patty Fecco fecco@ShopperNewsNow.com
Anders saves the Chamber By Sandra Clark Into the leadership vacuum created by Mayor Tim Burchett’s unwillingness to negotiate on his budget strode a most unlikely figure. Commission chair Mike Hammond got good press for the compromise he drafted with school board chair Thomas Deakins. On a 7-4 vote, the compromise gave the school system the $7 million first-year funding it had requested.
Analysis
Brandi Davis davisb@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 4509 Doris Circle, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 27,825 homes in Halls, Gibbs and Fountain City.
Less attention went to vice chair Brad Anders’ skillful defense of the Knoxville Chamber. Burchett’s budget cut funding for the Chamber and the accompanying contract had provisions termed
Brad Anders File photo by S. Clark “poison” by Chamber CEO Mike Edwards. “If we had agreed to the language they sent us we would be out of business,” said Edwards. So Anders waited until Hammond’s compromise was adopted
to offer his amendment. “My amendment (which was adopted 9-2) restored the Chamber’s funding to this year’s level and also kept their contract consistent with this year’s,” said Anders. Burchett wanted three changtes: removal of the word “regional” from the contract; restrictions on the organization’s involvement with public education, either as an advocate or as a partner on projects; and immediate notification, complete with contact information, on businesses inquiring about locating here. Anders said the Chamber works regionally because Knoxville is the area’s economic hub. He specifically cited connections with Oak Ridge and Maryville. Edwards called Burchett’s insistence that the Chamber quit its
support of Knox County Schools “mystifying.” He said the Chamber is required to sign a confidentiality agreement with a company’s site consultant before it begins negotiations. “It would void that agreement to provide the information to the mayor.” Under Tennessee’s open records law, the information would be public immediately on transfer to the mayor. So the Chamber did some quiet lobbying, and Anders’ amendment sailed through with only Tony Norman and Jeff Ownby voting no. Burchett may claim a budget victory, but both Hammond and Anders amended his budget significantly and by veto-proof margins.
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