POWELL www.ShopperNewsNow.com
|
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
|
twitter.com/shoppernewsnow
A great community newspaper
VOL. 51 NO. 24
June 11, 2012
IN THIS ISSUE
A little piece of heaven
Outdoors Outdoor Living Special Section
Noweta tours Racheff Gardens
Find out where the wild things are and much more in this month’s “My Outdoors.”
➤
See the special section inside
Simple comparison
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.
➤
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
Avery Robertson enjoys the bright hydrangeas at Ivan Racheff Gardens on Tennessee Ave. The gardens are owned and maintained by the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs. Avery is a member of God’s Little Gardeners, a youth group sponsored by Noweta Garden Club. She attended last week’s visit with her grandmother, Lana McMullen. Photos by S. Clark
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.
Ava Barber CD features hits, lost classics
See Cindy’s story on page A-5
By Jake Mabe
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Hospital valet parking restored North Knoxville Medical Center has resumed valet parking as a convenience to patients. The announcement came from Rob Followell and is effective today (June 11). The service will be provided by Parking Management Company, a valet company that provides service to several area hotels, including the downtown Marriott. The service will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The fee is $3 per parked car, and tenants have the option of validating their patients’ parking.
Index Sandra Clark Government/Politics Marvin West Jim Tumblin Faith Kids Business Service Directory
A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A9,10 A13 A13
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.
When Ava Barber’s “Bucket to the South” came blaring out of my CD player last Thursday morning, I knew I was in for a treat. The former “Lawrence Welk Show” star, billed as “Hollywood’s Country Sweetheart,” sure has earned that moniker. And, yep, she can still warm the heart. Driving down the road a few weeks ago, I heard Ava’s radio show on WKVL-AM 850 (it airs at noon Mondays). I perked up when she started talking about her new CD. It contains “Bucket to the South,” her Billboard hit song, as well as 20 new recordings “from the vaults.” Boy, howdy. Now, this is good stuff. Once upon a time, we used to live down the street from Ava and her husband, Roger Sullivan. I never worked up the nerve to knock on the door, but I remember seeing her bus parked on the street.
Ava Barber performs at the Central High School Wall of Fame Breakfast in this file photo by S. Clark. And, of course, I saw her on TV every Saturday night. (Yep, I still record or watch “The Lawrence Welk Show” every week. I like the big
A special treat is a song I first heard Elvis Presley sing, “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again,” as well as a cover of the Forester Sisters’ “Lying in his Arms Again.” What I’ve always loved about Ava Barber is that her voice is as warm as summer sunshine. It shines through here on track after track, be it a ballad or a toe-tapping tune. Listening to her sing makes me think of a simpler time, now gone with the wind, back when we only had three channels, a TV was a big wooden piece of furniture, and your grandmother hung the wash out to dry on a clothesline. If you know what I’m talkin’ about, or if you, too, love to hear Hollywood’s Country Sweetheart, go get this CD. It will make your day, y’all. Info: email avarog@live.com, visit www.avabarber.com or visit Ava Barber’s page on Facebook.
band sound, but I love Ava Barber.) A Central High School graduate, Ava started singing professionally at age 10. She auditioned for Mr. Welk in a tent on a Nashville golf course and made her first appearance on his popular show in February 1974. She was hired on the spot and stayed until the show ceased production in 1982. Along the way, she appeared on “Nashville Now,” “Music City Tonight,” “Crook and Chase” and for a while in the mid-1990s operated a theater in Pigeon Forge with fellow “Welk” co-star Dick Dale. These days, Ava runs Steamboat deli in Powell and still tours with “The Live Lawrence Welk Show.” In addition to the beautifully infectious “Bucket to the South,” the CD also features a smooth cover of Ray Price’s “Heartaches by the Number,” as well as a tear-jerking medley of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” and “Remember Me.”
Brad 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 firstyear funding it had requested. 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 “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. Brad Anders “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 “region-
al” 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.
Let us care for your wedding gown…
7032 Maynardville Hwy. • M-F 7-6 • Sat. 8-3
922-4780
American owned since 1958 Quality work at competitive prices
hallscleaners.net
rri
sF
131 y or Em E.
. Rd
WY .
33
131 d.
No
yR
before & after the wedding. Pressed, dry cleaned, boxed & preserved. Preservation starting at $85.
E. Em or
➤
As warm as summer sunshine
Maynardville HWY.
➤
7228 Norris Freeway Knoxville, TN 37918
Timothy Butcher, P.T., CSCS Physical Therapist and Clinic Director
377-3176 • 377-3187 (fax) Check us out on Facebook.
Immediate appointments available.