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A great community newspaper
VOL. 51 NO. 20
May 14, 2012
IN THIS ISSUE ‘You get what you pay for’
Powell Elementary School principal Reba Lane walks with Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre, County Commissioner R. Larry Smith and school board member Kim Sepesi as they toured PES last Monday. The most recent construction at the school happened in 1988 when Earl Hoffmeister was superintendent and school board members included Steve Hill, A.L. Lotts, Harry Tindell and Mike Padgett.
There is an old Vulcan proverb that says “Only Nixon could go to China.” Well, what was true on “Star Trek” is true in Knox Vegas, Jake Mabe says. County Mayor Tim Burchett has said that if County Commission approves a property tax increase to fund Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre’s budget, he’ll veto it. Jake thinks Burchett is missing his moment.
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See page A-4
Ask the prof ... Looking for the perfect gift for a high school grad? Walters State Community College associate professor of history Tim Holder has just the book for a soon-to-be firstyear college freshman.
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See page A-3
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Time capsule opening May 16 Friends of Powell Elementary School will open a time capsule buried 25 years ago this week. After opening the capsule and examining the contents, the staff and students will bury another capsule to be opened in 25 years. A public reception will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at the school for anyone who wants to come by and view the contents. Betsi Vesser, technology assistant at PES, is handing public information for the time capsule.
Fourth of July Powell Business and Professional Association and the Powell Lions Club will team to bring a sun-filled, fun-filled day to Powell for the Fourth of July. The Lions Club will sponsor the annual parade down Emory Road, while the PBPA will host entertainment, concessions and games in the Scarbro field near Halftime Pizza. Info: teresa.underwood@ transworldsystems.com/.
Index Sandra Clark Government/Politics Marvin West Jim Tumblin Faith Schools Business
A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A9, 10 A11
4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Sandra Clark sclark426@aol.com ADVERTISING SALES Debbie Moss mossd@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 4509 Doris Circle, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 8,314 homes in Powell.
Photo by S. Clark
Lane outlines construction needs at Powell Elementary By Sandra Clark Powell Elementary School will get $1.25 million for building upgrades if County Commission funds the school board’s budget, but Commissioner R. Larry Smith wants more specifics. Smith toured the campus with school board member Kim Sepesi and Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre last Monday.
McIntyre said details will be worked out by facilities supervisor Doug Dillingham and principal Reba Lane, but the improvements will not eliminate the portable classrooms at Powell Elementary. Lane said the school is landlocked, but the school system recently acquired an adjoining lot for more parking. She said all second graders are housed in por-
table classrooms, along with two CDC classes, one fifth grade, art and music. While the portable buildings are equipped for restrooms, the plumbing is not connected so the students must walk into the school building for breaks. McIntyre said the $1.25 million would make Powell Elementary more functional and a “safe,
healthy learning environment.” In response to a question from Smith, Lane said physical education classes and school assemblies are held in the gym with kids getting P.E. twice in an 8-day rotation. For assemblies, she breaks the student body into three groups. Powell Elementary has about 980 students.
Friends sustain ‘Mrs. Paddy’ ‘The Savage Dilemma’ coming to Powell Playhouse
wonderful support group. When they found out last July, Pat Stansberry took charge and they all wanted to do something. Those who are retired said, ‘I will sit with her all day after chemo so her husband can go to work.’ Others prepared dinners. They saw me through six treatments, and I had a three or four course meal every night at 6. They were there for eight solid months.” On her 70th birthday, Wells threw herself a “surprise” birthday party at the Lions Club and invited her caregivers to a brunch catered by Kelly Payne and Susan Prince. There were linen tablecloths, fresh flowers and all the fancy breakfast trimmings. “I welcomed everyone to my birthday party and said, ‘I’ve deceived you. This is not to celebrate my birthday. This to celebrate each and every one of you for what you did to make this part of my journey better. You visited me, transported me, cooked for me and cared for me. You’ve seen me with my bald head, held my head when I was sick and waited on me as if I were a queen.’ “Now, you tell me that God’s not good.”
By Betty Bean Nita Buell Black, who taught high school English and theater for 52 years (35 at Powell High School) is the founding director of Powell Playhouse. She listens to her inner voice when she is preparing to produce a play, no matter when or where it sounds off. Last year, Black was starting the casting process for “The Curious Savage” – a dark, ‘50s comedy about a bunch of patients in a Massachusetts sanitorium who want to help out a new arrival, a widow whose greedy relatives are trying to get hold of the fortune left to her by her recently-departed husband. It was to be the playhouse’s first production. Black was thinking about the task ahead when she stopped by Vaughn’s Pharmacy and ran into Carolyn Wells, who works there two days a week. The inner voice spoke, clear as a bell. “I discovered her in Vaughn’s drugstore, and I said, ‘You are Mrs. Paddy,’ She’s outgoing, friendly, responsive to people, always laughing and loves to have fun.” Mrs. Paddy isn’t the main character, but she has an interesting quirk: “Her husband told her to shut up 20 years ago, and she hadn’t spoken since,” Black said. “But there was something about the word ‘hate’ that she tuned in on.” Wells takes the cue like a pro and snaps into character: “I hate onions, bunions, banks, bigots, winters, splinters, haste, waste, rust, dust, glue, grease, grime, mud and blood.” She was a smash hit and is set to reprise the role in the next Powell Playhouse production, “The
Carolyn Wells stands outside the Jubilee Banquet Facility. Photo by S. Clark Savage Dilemma,” a sequel to last year’s play, which debuts June 7. But things got pretty dicey for Wells over the past year. “We have five original cast members returning in their roles, and Mrs. Paddy is one of them,” Black said. “Fairly soon after the play ended last year, Carolyn went to the doctor and discovered that she had ovarian cancer. It was quite advanced. When I visited her in the hospital, I was shocked. We had printed this little card that said we were going to be doing a sequel, and I told her, ‘You have got to be around to be Mrs. Paddy. If you can’t do this last play, we’re going to scrap it.’ ” Wells, a 1960 Powell High School graduate (her last name was Bennett before she married her high school sweetheart, David Wells), had taken the part-time job after retiring from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She said she wants to work, “to try to keep my brain cells from dying.” (Black puts it differently – “In retirement, your butt gets bigger and your brain gets smaller.”) Wells has had a hard year – two surgeries, five hospitalizations, che-
motherapy, a bout of kidney failure – but her last CT scan is clean of growths or tumors, and she is ready for her close-up, even though she had to postpone her final surgery so she could make opening night. “I’m scheduled for surgery June 12, and I’m praying that I can have a reversal of the colostomy,” Wells said. “Hopefully this surgery will end this part of my life’s journey. I want everybody’s prayers.” “All through this we kept saying, ‘You’re in this last play,’ ” Black said. Her doctor wanted to schedule her surgery for May 3, but Wells resisted. “I said, ‘I’ve got to be in a play, go to Washington, D.C., and be in a wedding.’ ” She was sustained during this hard year by the loving care of her husband, David, and by a group of Class of 1960 classmates with whom she’s been getting together for dinners and special occasions for the past 25 years. “It started out being social, but over the years, it’s turned out to be a support group. Death of spouses, divorce, births of grandchildren – it’s been such a
Performance dates set Powell Playhouse will present the comedy “The Savage Dilemma” on Thursday through Sunday, June 7, 8, 9 and 10, at Jubilee Banquet Facility. Advance tickets only are for the dinner and play on June 7 and 8 at $25. Other tickets for the four performances may be purchased at the door for $10. Menu for the buffet dinner includes turkey breast with dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, tossed salad and strawberries and cream. Info: Mona at 947-7428.
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