GOVERNMENT/POLITICS A4 | OUR COLUMNISTS A6-7 | YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS A10-11 | HEALTH & LIFESTYLES SECTION B | BUSINESS SECTION C
A great community newspaper.
karns / hardin valley
VOL. 50, NO. 23
JUNE 6, 2011
INSIDE www.ShopperNewsNow.com
|
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
|
twitter.com/shoppernewsnow
Crazy about comics Larry Van Guilder recalls heroes of yesteryear See page A-6
What if they threw an election and nobody ran? See Betty Bean’s column on page A-4
Karns resident and grower Jerry Prueitt writes up regular visitor Jim Spall’s order for some locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Photo by Valorie Fister
Farmer Jerry’s Market attracts regular visitors, nostalgia By Valorie Fister
SPECIAL SECTION GET OUTDOORS! Fly fishing, geocaching and summer fun
ONLINE
DO YOU
LIKE? TELL US! The Shopper-News is now on Facebook! Check us out for updates, photos and more! www.facebook.com/ ShopperNewsNow
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Larry Van Guilder lvgknox@mindspring.com ADVERTISING SALES Paige Davis davisp@ShopperNewsNow.com Darlene Hacker hackerd@ShopperNewsNow.com Debbie Moss mossd@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 33,237 homes in Farragut, Karns and Hardin Valley.
Jerry Prueitt’s fruit and vegetable stand has been a mainstay along Oak Ridge Highway in Karns for six summers. And in this era of mega grocery store chains and shopping super warehouses, Prueitt’s regular visitors are thankful he’s there. “I like the fact we haven’t outgrown that yet – the people who grow it like this,” said Jim Spall, a registered nurse at Parkwest Medical Center who stopped by Prueitt’s stand recently to pick up some canned and fresh goods. “Like the strawberries,” Spall said, “you can ask what chemicals are on it. You can ask the person standing there. How are you going to do that in a grocery store?” Prueitt admits that for him it is
difficult to grow fruits and vegetables entirely without enhancements. “It does take some type of fertilizer.” Prueitt said he eats what he grows and sells. His tomatoes come in from Grainger County. His peaches come in from farther south. And his own harvest is grown on one four-acre parcel of land and two to three smaller plots of ground around his Carpenter Road home. Prueitt also cans his own tomatoes, beans and pickles and makes apple jelly. And all this comes in the years after his retirement from construction work. “I have different types of peppers, squash and zucchini. I make salsa, and that’s about it,” he said. A resident of Karns since 1962, Prueitt has seen much change in
to use the front section of it. “I mow it and use the bush hog and lawnmower,” he said. “It doesn’t cost me a thing but my time keeping it mowed off.” And Prueitt spends plenty of time at his stand. He’s there every day but Sunday. When he’s not selling, he enjoys watching locals, commuters and visitors zip up and down Oak Ridge Highway in their vehicles. And he has big smiles for those who stop to buy some of his produce and talk for a while. “I just love to see stuff come up out of the ground and grow,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what it is from corn to beans. “I will say you have to love doing this because it is a lot of work. I can sit back and enjoy it, now.”
the community known for its rolling farms. “Oh, mercy it’s growing up,” Prueitt said. “It’s amazing, all the different subdivisions going in and different farms torn up and divided. It breaks my heart. “But they say progress has to go on.” Prueitt even knows some of the families who chose to leave farming. “I know several of them,” he said. “Most were elderly and I guess getting money out of a farm has helped them to survive and get along.” Prueitt himself does not own the land he farms – or sells his produce on. Six years ago he found the owner of the lot he currently sets up on and made an agreement to keep it mowed and picked up in exchange for rights
Chase to legislators: Stay out of TWRA’s business By Betty Bean Mike Chase is a tough guy who has had a spectacularly successful career in the restaurant industry. He’s been a fi xture in Tennessee business and politics for two decades and his 17-restaurant Copper Cellar Corp. stretches from Gatlinburg to Nashville. He is a Democrat whose support is courted by both major parties and friends occasionally kid him about a passing resemblance to Tony Soprano. Those who know him best, however, say he’s happiest when he’s fishing. That’s probably why he lights up when he talks about his six years on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, which oversees the operations of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Chase was appointed by former Gov. Phil Bredesen and served as chair in 2010 and until his term was up earlier this year. He is an enthusiastic booster of the agency’s mission. “I don’t think most people know that the agency doesn’t get any money from the state. It is totally self-funded
Beat The Heat!
E legant E ssentials
Home Décor Home Dé D écor & G écor Gifts if
50% OFF Any One Item 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 184 • 865.247.0157 www.shopelegantessentials.com Not to be combined. Some exclusions apply. Must present coupon to receive discount. Expires 6/30/2011
SHOPPING CENTER
through hunting and fishing license sales. One of the things I would like to see is a portion of the sales of all boating, fishing and hunting licenses go to fund the agency,” Chase said. “The sale of hunting Chase licenses has been on the decline for years. “I don’t think the average person realizes what a wildlife officer has to deal with on a daily basis,” he said, mentioning a wildlife officer who worked a 20-hour shift dealing with a woman who had two fingers ripped off in a water skiing accident and a bear that was sighted and trapped in South Knoxville. “And I wonder if the average person realizes that the management job the agency does has made hunting what it is today in the state of Tennessee. Twenty years ago, we probably had wild turkeys in six or eight counties. Now, they’re all over the place. Something like 3638,000 of them are harvested every year. The same thing can be said for deer, and the same has taken place
WATCH BATTERY COUPON WA
$
Includes battery & installation
Keep Your Memories em SAFE! Preserve those old Pr reels, slides & vhs tapes today!
We Buy Gold
5 Foster' s
Expert Watch Fine Jewelry & Jewelry 7023 Kingston Pike Repair Services In the West Hills Center Expires 7/15/11 Must present coupon
mantly opposed to Rep. Frank Niceley’s deer farming bill, which was defeated this session. “In listening to the people I knew whom I have to respect, it would have been a very bad thing for wildlife in the state of Tennessee. Sometimes I think some of the legislators resent the independence of the commission – but that’s the reason the commission was set up – to keep it separate from the political in Nashville. “The agency has to be constantly monitoring what’s going on and try not to let these private acts pass. There would be different rules in every county. There would be no statewide enforcement, especially for the last two years because there’s been such a change in Nashville. Even a few bills, which have been withdrawn, to allow the Legislature to appoint commissioners and even put legislators on the commission, I personally think would be the death of the commission. The existing format has been working with great success and they need to leave it alone. Leave the commission alone. Leave the agency alone.”
in our lakes and reservoirs and rivers for fishing. Look at the trout below Norris Dam or in the Caney Fork River. Somebody has to raise and stock these trout. If you’re a hunter or a fisherman, you’ve sure got to give credit to somebody.” Chase is modest about his role in shaping policy, but says he’s proud of prodding the agency to spend money on hatcheries. “Since I have such an interest in fishing, I wanted to get our hatcheries to where we could start meeting the needs of fishermen out there as far as producing fish. Most of our lakes are past their prime as far as fishing goes, and it’s necessary to restock them. Under Gov. Bredesen, there was a strong emphasis on state parks and tourism, and this is part of it. Our lakes need to be attractive to out-of-staters who come to fish. It’s an important part of our economy and economic development for the future. I felt it was very important.” Chase said politics never played a part in the board’s decisions but sometimes were imposed from the outside. He is, for example, ada-
584-3966
www.fostersjewelry.com
Bring your VHS, slides, film and more into the digital age.
$
10 off
Audio & Video Conversion
for every $50 spent Expires 6/13/11 SN060611
686-5756
www.DigitizeItNow.com 12752 Kingston Pike, Renaissance Farragut, Ste 103, Bldg E