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VOL. 52 NO. 31
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July 29, January 18, 2013 2017
FIRST WORDS
See how to run By Nick Della Volpe Should you seek one of the five Knoxville City Council seats up for election this year? The primary is just seven months away. You and your family must decide if you have the time and the inclination to serve. To start: Della Volpe Examine your district boundaries at knoxmpc.org/. Visit knoxvotes. org for rules and forms. Get a petition signed by at least 25 registered voters from your district (get 50 to be safe). Appoint a treasurer before you raise or spend the first dime. Ground game: Plan how you reach potential voters and persuade them to support you by their votes, campaign contributions, signs, and by contacting others to support you. That’s a mouthful. Let’s break it down. You have to ask people to vote for you. Talk to them in person if possible or use your phone, email or other social media. Recruit friends to help. Find the active voters. Of roughly 20,000 people in your district, fewer than 3,000 will actually vote. Get a disc of the regular voters from the election office and get your message to them. Money: How do you ask friends and strangers to cough up dough for your campaign? It feels kind of creepy. You hate to be a mooch. ... Get over it! You will need to raise at least $10,000 to buy several hundred signs, send two or three voter mail-outs, and maybe buy a few radio and newspaper ads. Name Recognition: Most folks will not be focused on the race until voting time is at hand (August primary and November general). Repetition means recognition. Save your main bucks for showtime. But you will need signs earlier to let folks know you are running, and maybe pay for a mailout and/or a meet-the-candidate gathering. Meanwhile, keep talking to people. Show up at community meetings. Ask for their vote. If you survive the August primary, you will then be running citywide – so yeah, more money is needed. Those last few weeks are a sprint with lots of additional ground to cover. Also, be sure to file the city and state financial disclosure reports on the schedule set by rules. To page 3
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Mixing it up
at family-friendly gym
Knoxville Martial Arts Academy owners Eric and Taylor Turner and Joey Zonar are getting a kick out of their new location in the former Pease Furniture building. Photo by Betsy Pickle
By Betsy Pickle The Knoxville Martial Arts Academy raised its visibility about a hundredfold when it moved from the former Sevier Heights Baptist Church campus in South Haven to the former Pease Furniture building at 4201 Martin Mill Pike. “It’s been crazy because now we have windows and people can see us,” says Joey Zonar, who owns KMAA with Eric and Tay-
lor Turner. The traffic light at the intersection of Martin Mill and Ogle Avenue ensures that hundreds of stopped passersby get daily glimpses of people engaging in mixed martial arts, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu or exercise classes. “We’ve had an immense amount of traffic.” Ironically, KMAA had much more modest roots nearby. Eric Turner “was teaching about a mile from here in his little one-car
garage that he turned into a gym,” says Zonar. They met in 2002, after Zonar had been studying karate for a couple of years. Turner was teaching an MMA class, which was a novelty at the time. “I fell in love with it instantly, stopped doing karate and started following him around,” says Zonar, a Karns High School graduate. “We’ve been together ever since.”
They started teaching together about 10 years ago at locations in Farragut and West Knoxville. Their move to South Knoxville doubled their space to 12,000 square feet. When the Pease Furniture owners decided to close their store and sell the property, the Turners and Zonar purchased it and nearly tripled their space. To page 3
Dailey prioritizes improvements for kids By Betsy Pickle South Knoxville’s county commissioner, Carson Dailey, has been in office only four months, but already he’s fielded some phone calls he wasn’t expecting. Complaints have included “everything from people wanting me to condemn someone else’s property to cattle in the road,” he says. He took care of the cattle that were venturing out onto Gov. John Sevier Highway. Condemning property is not in his purview, but he sees
room for improvement in the way the county handles such problems. “One of the concerns of the citizens is the blighted properties that are in South Knoxville,” says Dailey. “Codes need to be strengthened. Buildings need to be torn down.” Dailey sat on the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals for almost eight years. He believes that government “needs to be out and open in the public,” but he was surprised to learn how re-
stricted he is in being able to speak to the other commissioners due to the sunshine law. For 2017, Dailey’s resolution is to bring to
Enjoying the Candoro open house in December are Buddy Mulkey, Carson Dailey and Tammy Dailey. Photo by Betsy Pickle
To page 3
‘Supremes’ singer Mary Wilson to visit Knoxville By Carol Z. Shane Pop singers come and go, some trailing clouds of glory, some disappearing after their allotted 15 minutes. Few have as generous a heart as Mary Wilson of the Supremes, who will perform as part of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s News Sentinel Pops Series on Feb. 4. Wilson has graciously agreed to appear as a guest speaker at the Sister to Sister conference of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Greater Knoxville Chapter (NCBW, Greater Knoxville) at the Phyllis Wheatley Center ear-
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portunities that align with the NCBW’s mission.” She spoke with Jennifer Barnett Harrell, the KSO’s director of education and community partnerships, with whom she’d worked on MLK Day events. Harrell advised her to submit a written request, and she would forward it to Wilson’s team. Hundley handed the assignment to Delores Mitchell, human resources manager for Lowe’s in Knoxville and president of NCBW, Greater Knoxville. “I wrote the proposal,” says Mitchell, “and the KSO did the rest.” “The KSO has been a superb
long-term partner with the Martin Luther King Jr. of Greater Knoxville Commission, where I also serve as a commissioner,” says Hundley. “The orchestra is known as a pillar in our community with a reputation of inclusiveness, which encouraged me to reach out.” With its Knoxville chapter established as a 501(c)(3) organization in July 2015, the NCBW is an advocacy group for women of color in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment. The Sister to Sister conference To page 3
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lier that same day. It all started when Joshalyn Hundley, newly elected vice president of resource and development for the organization and vice president of comMary Wilson munity development at First Tennessee Bank, noticed that the date of Wilson’s performance coincided with the conference. Hundley says, “One of my primary roles is to search for op-
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health & lifestyles
The gift of healing Fort Sanders Regional chaplains and Stephen Ministers help ease pain Nine days before Christmas, hospital chaplain Randy Tingle was checking his list – twice. After all, finding anything in his office at that time of year is next to impossible. Bags full of gifts were scattered all about, making it difficult to get behind his desk inside Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. The bags, containing gifts for children or grandchildren of the hospital’s employees, were part of FSRMC’s annual “Angel Tree” campaign. As hospital chaplain, Tingle collects and distributes the gifts every year. “It’s a treat and a mess every year,” he said with a smile. “I get the privilege of being the one who hands them out and organizes them coming in, but I don’t do the work of buying them. I take the angels in, not knowing how I’m going to serve them, and the employees really come through. Our environmental services department did several angels, the radiology department did six angels and the doctors provided for 10 kids.” But handing out holiday gifts isn’t the only service provided by FSRMC’s chaplain’s office. Tingle stays busy working with three oncall pastors and others to help attend to the spiritual needs of patients, employees and families through bedside visits, thriceweekly worship services, daily prayer services and special seasonal services for Christmas and Easter. The chaplain’s office also holds a yearly memorial service for families of palliative care patients who have died. Tingle’s duties also include the dis-
On top of his other duties, Fort Sanders Regional Chaplain Randy Tingle coordinates the hospital’s participation in the Angel Tree campaign.
tribution of daily devotionals, stocking the hospital’s chapel with helpful information, keeping each patient room stocked with Gideon Bibles and working with 1,000 registered clergy from the community to help them better serve their congregants. The 45-minute worship services Tingle holds in the hospital’s chapel twice each Wednesday and once on Sundays include devotional time, hymn singing and prayer. “What’s powerful about the services here is that you’re preaching to a specific population,” he says. “In a church, you’ve got all kinds of things going on, but when you know everybody in the room is dealing with a stroke, you can share in a little more
poignant way.” Tingle’s office serves those of any faith and can provide a rabbi, a priest, an imam, or other spiritual adviser including some Spanish-speaking clergy. “Our role as chaplains is a little bit more ‘clinical’ in that we meet the person where they’re at, wherever their faith walk is,” he says. “We’re there to serve them no matter the doctrine or theology iand to walk with them in that setting. For the most part, it’s trauma care, crisis care. It’s helping folks get through the heat of the moment, whatever it is that’s going on with them.” Occasionally he’ll perform communion, but said he’s often reluctant because his parish pa-
Chaplains lend aid, comfort to wildfire victims A day after the horrific Gatlinburg wildfires, Fort Sanders Regional chaplain Randy Tingle was witnessing its terrible toll as he and other clergy offered aid and comfort to patients at Covenant Health’s sister facility, LeConte Medical Center. Tingle was one of several Covenant Health chaplains and local clergy who visited LeConte in the days after the wildfires that claimed 14 lives, injured 191 and caused an estimated $500 million in damages. Throughout the night of the fires, LeConte Medical Center became a hub of activity as rescue workers brought in patient after patient. During the time Tingle was there, he worked alongside three nurses who lost their houses, “and all three of them worked that day,” Tingle said. “They said, ‘I can sit around and worry about this or I can work.’ So they were there being a nurse and taking care of people.” Meanwhile, back at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, employees were filling the hospital’s chapel with hygiene products, clothes, water, food and other items collected for families in need. “It took several pickup loads to get it all down to LeConte,” said Tingle, adding that being able to provide tan-
gible assistance helps a community pull together. “That’s what happens in a disaster – it makes us feel better to be able to respond in a tangible way.”
An update: How to help Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the people of Sevier County, surrounding communities and even other states, LeConte Medical Center’s warehouse is at storage capacity and currently is no longer accepting in-kind donations for wildfire victims. However, the Sevier county community will need additional items in the future. Please do hold any items you have generously collected, and contact the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation at 865-446-9627 to let them know what type of items you have gathered. They can help you schedule a delivery to the warehouse if space becomes available. LeConte Medical Center is still filling care package requests for those who need the clothing and other essential items available in their warehouse. If you know of anyone who needs assistance from the warehouse or if you are seeking ongoing volunteer opportunities to help those affected by the wildfires, go to www.lecontemedicalcenter .com for information.
tients might have swallowing issues. “When I first came I didn’t think about those things, and I got trained by the nurses,” he recalls with a chuckle. “I’ve learned you have to be very careful and get permission.” He also has performed a half-dozen weddings and does one or two baptisms a year. Between those duties and other campaigns like United Way and Covenant Health’s WeCare drive for employees in need, it’s little wonder that Tingle and his three on-call chaplains rely heavily on a small army of volunteers known as Stephen Ministers. Together they try and visit every person admitted to Fort Sanders Regional, with referrals coming from the hospital’s doctors or nursing staff, particularly in oncology, cardiology and palliative care. “We’re at about a 90 percent rate at seeing all the admitted patients,” says Tingle, adding that he personally visits 12 to 15 patients a day, and he and his Stephen Ministers made 12,500 visits last year alone. A third of his Stephen Ministers are former patients looking to “give back.” All have undergone 50 hours of training in pastoral care basics and developing skills such as listening to patients and understanding their own counseling techniques. Tingle currently has about 40 Stephen Ministers on the roster, about half of whom are actively giving the minimum four hours a month. Others volunteer as much as 15 hours a week. When the latest Stephen Ministry class is commissioned, he will have 10 more Ste-
phen Ministers to help. “Stephen Ministers are a huge, huge help,” Tingle says. “We wouldn’t be a department without them.” Tingle said that while the Stephen Ministers’ role is not counseling, they “come with a counseling spirit or compassion.” As an example, he notes that Stephen Ministers’ 30-second to two-minute visit is largely informational, telling the patients about worship times, how to contact the chaplain’s office, contacting their church family if desired, and just letting them know they’re available if the patient needs them. “Stephen Ministers are for the folks who need a prayer, folks who need a listening ear, folks who are just going through a rough time. Anytime someone’s in acute care it’s not necessarily the diagnosis that bothers them – it’s the other stuff going on in their life.” Stephen Ministers come from all walks of life, all faith groups, “retired teachers, retired professors, actively working insurance agents, pastoral counselors, and even a former hospital chief nursing officer. The professional nature of these folks, the intelligence of them, the gifts that they have just in terms of serving is amazing,” says Tingle. For more information about FSRMC’s Pastoral Services, visit fsregional.com/pastoral-services. For more information about the Stephen Ministry opportunities, call the chaplain’s office at (865) 331-1235.
Care for dying: FSRMC launches No One Dies Alone In 1986, a dying patient asked Sandra Clarke, a nurse at a hospital in Eugene, Ore., to stay with him. The busy nurse promised she would do so as soon as she finished her tasks with other patients. When she returned, the man had died. Alone. It was an event that triggered a national volunteer program that recognizes the right of every person not to die alone. The program, now in its 16th year, has been implemented at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center after nurses there also recognized the need. “One of our case managers in oncology came to me and said, ‘You know we have about 10 deaths a year where there’s no family and nobody to be with them,’” said Randy Tingle, FSRMC’s chaplain. The nurses asked if one of FSRMC’s Stephen Ministers might be able to sit with patients in their last hours. At the time, Tingle didn’t think he had enough Stephen Ministers available to stay with patients for extended hours, and he knew the volunteers would need additional training. Tingle began researching the problem and discovered No One Dies Alone, the program launched by Clarke after her experience in Oregon. He also learned that the NODA program has been in place at Fort Sanders Regional’s sister facility, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, for six years. After customizing NODA’s training program, recruitment of volunteers began. Roughly half the first 26 NODA volunteers at Fort Sanders Regional are University of Tennessee students,
while the remainder are either Covenant Health volunteers or employees. “The biggest piece of this is teaching people how to listen and how not to worry about not ‘doing things.’ When you’re sitting for someone who’s dying, there’s really nothing you can do for them,” said Tingle. “What you can do is just be present and care for them and treat them with respect and dignity. A lot of times they just need someone there to hold their hand, moisten their lips and make sure they’re warm.” Tingle says there are myriad ways patients might find themselves facing their final hours alone. “Some are estranged from family, whether it be through addiction or just years of life,” he said. “A lot of times they have outlived all their family and there is nobody left to be with them in those last hours. And we get people who are traveling . . . and they wind up here in their last hours because they’re away from home when some crisis happens. “NODA provides a service to make sure patients get the respect and dignity that they deserve,” said Tingle. “We all have a right not to die alone … it doesn’t really matter what you think theologically, whether or not you believe God’s got their back or not. What matters is what’s going on around them. They deserve to have the dignity of having someone to hold their hand or be in the room with them.” For more information about NODA or to volunteer, call the chaplain’s office at (865) 331-1235.
To ALL of Our Volunteers - Thank You! For more than 50 years, members of the Fort Sanders Regional Volunteer Auxiliary have helped support the mission of Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. During National Healthcare Volunteer Week, we recognize each of our volunteers for their selfless commitment to our patients, staff and doctors.
0094-0102
Want to know more about volunteering at Fort Sanders Regional? Call (865) 331-1249 or go to fsregional.com.
South Knox Shopper news • January 18, 2017 • 3
Mike Brown beams as Cherel Henderson of the East Tennessee Historical Society presents him with a certificate of appreciation for his work on the Knox County Civil War Sesquicenten- No county business was discussed by commissioners at Mike Brown’s retirement party. First row: Michele Carringer, Brown, Register of Deeds Sherry Witt; back row, Brad Anders, Randy Smith, Dave Wright, John Schoonmaker and Carson Dailey. nial Commission. Photos by Betsy Pickle
Brown feels the love at retirement party Betsy Pickle
munity service. Rochelle Cordova of WoodmenLife served as emcee for the upbeat affair. There were plenty of “Mike Brown stories,” including some told by Brown himself – on himself. There were so many presentations of plaques and certificates and gushing tributes praising Brown’s community service that it was hard to keep track of them all. Brown seemed particularly taken with two – first, when
Mary Wilson to visit Knoxville will focus on HIV/AIDS, body image, breast and other cancer risks, sex and abstinence, date rape and domestic abuse. Wilson, who with her fellow Supremes represented the height of glamour and sophistication during the golden days of Motown in the ’60s and ’70s, is herself a passionate advocate for HIV/AIDS research and treatment, traveling as a CultureConnect ambassador on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. On the U.S. Embassy website, she stresses the need for celebrities to help raise awareness for HIV/AIDS. “People listen to your songs. You can get their attention. “How sad this disease is. I’m not speaking as a victim. I’m speaking on the level that we all need to recognize – there are all different approaches to take to get to that area of healing. We have to start right at the family, at the little girls. We’ve got to teach those little children how to survive, go on to live, and have a future.” She has raised thousands of dollars for AIDS awareness, and here in Knoxville,
See how to run Platform: This need not be formal. Why are you the best person for the job? What distinguishes you from the two or three other serious candidates in your primary? Write it out. Talk it over with friends. Keep it simple. You are asking to represent about 20,000 people in your district (and ultimately 190,000 people in the city at large). You will be reviewing budgets and contracts, deciding zoning questions, and helping to set public policy for the future through ordinances.
Family comes first with Mike Brown. Clockwise from front left: wife Jan Brown, grandson Michael Allen, Brown, daughter Meredith Brown, granddaughter Madison Allen and daughter Michelle Allen. Oldest grandson Christopher Allen is serving in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Okinawa.
Dailey prioritizes improvements for kids
From page 1
From page 1
she’ll have her boots on the ground, walking the walk, when she speaks directly to some of those girls and their families. KSO executive director Rachel Ford says, “It is very kind of a celebrity like Mary Wilson to donate her time like this. We are looking forward to the KSO Pops performance that will feature Mary on Feb. 4 at the Civic Auditorium and are glad to have engaged an artist who cares about the community she’s visiting and is willing to volunteer her time to speak about important social issues.” “We believe that Mary Wilson is capable of speaking into the lives of our participants and can encourage those of us who are walking alongside of her championing these efforts,” says Hundley. “It was simply a gift from God that she agreed.” Info: about Mary Wilson’s work as a CultureConnect ambassador, iipdigital. usembassy.gov; about the NCBW, 100blackwomen-greaterknox v ille.org; for ticketes to the KSO’s Pops Series, knoxvillesymphony.com/.
fruition projects he started in the fall. One is a shelter for the students on the playground at Gap Creek Elementary School. “They lost their only shade tree last August,” he says. “When they’re out on the playground in warm weather, they’re sweating and burning up.” He says Knox County Schools said it couldn’t fund a shelter, so he and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett are going to come up with one similar to the one erected not long ago for Mooreland Heights Elementary’s playground. With the help of Burchett and the Public Works Department, he thinks the project can be done for less than the $10,000 to $12,000 estimate. From page 1 Another Dailey priority is improving Bower Field, You should expect phone calls and which offers baseball and emails from confused or angry citizens softball facilities for hundreds of kids each year. dealing with issues that confront them “It basically has had zero – and you are now their knowledgeable improvements for the last ombudsman channeling help from city departments and workers. You understand 10 to 15 years,” he says. He worked with Gary Rader, how the local government works. manager of the park, and Do you have the time and the inclinaDoug Bataille, director of tion to work for the betterment of your the county’s Parks & Recrecommunity? ation Department, to come Then wade in, the water is fine.
Tammy and Carson Dailey at the cotton-candy concession at the Dogwood Elementary in May 2016. File photo by Betsy Pickle up with a plan to build a new softball field, replace fencing, put in new scoreboards and purchase a tractor. He’s also keeping an eye on the expansion at I.C. King Park. “I want to make sure that the bidding is done correctly and when they install the new trails, the money is for new trails, not to repair the old trails,” he says. Three miles of new trail are being built. Dailey is looking forward to holding more “meet the commissioner” gatherings. He held one in the fall at
G&D Deli and expects to have the next one at Gap Creek Market in March. He wants to make himself available to residents all around South Knox County at the informal quarterly event. Some in South Knox still feel like a “redheaded stepchild,” but he thinks that’s changing. He’s attending neighborhood meetings faithfully to hear residents’ concerns. “They’ve just got to have a voice,” he says. He’ll keep at it till “we get what the community needs.”
Nick Della Volpe, an attorney, represents District 4 on Knoxville City Council.
Family-friendly gym KMAA connected with a mindset that has continued to expand. “Everybody’s talking about fitness and exercising and a new way of life,” says Zonar. “Be fit, live longer, be healthier.” He says that KMAA is different because of its “family culture” and “welcoming” environment. “I would say probably 50 percent of the members are families, whether they’re boyfriend-girlfriend, husband-wife, parents and kids. Everybody’s super nice and friendly.” It’s also different because of its emphasis on martial arts and self-defense as a
his successor on commission, Carson Dailey, presented him with a carton of hard-to-find Diet RC Cola, his favorite beverage; and second, when Cherel Henderson, executive director of the East Tennessee Historical Society, celebrated his lineage in the First Families of Tennessee and presented him with a certificate of appreciation for his contributions to the Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. Most of Brown’s family was present, along with past and present commission colleagues and notables and chapter members from WoodmenLife. Brown, who recently had shoulder-replacement surgery, was his usual jovial self. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he said.
path to fitness. The gym still has a strong MMA presence, with drills five nights a week and sparring on the sixth. Their top fighter, former University of Tennessee football player Ovince Saint Preux, is ranked No. 6 in the UFC. “We actually have about 10 professional fighters,” says Zonar. “We have about 15 amateur fighters.” KMAA has 10 female fighters, which is unusual, he says. Most gyms in Tennessee have only one or two. “The environment here is not like most gyms,” he says. “It’s not like a meathead place.”
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From page 1 He notes that Taylor Turner is a mother and has a master’s degree in nutrition, in addition to competing in MMA. “You would never think that she would compete or anything just because of her bubbly, happy personality.” Their “most prestigious” female fighter, Shanna Young, is also a college graduate and a mother. Zonar says KMAA is a great place to get support for New Year’s fitness resolutions, whether for weight loss or just getting in shape. Info: www.knoxmma. com or Knoxville Martial Arts Academy on Facebook.
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It’s hard to surprise former Ninth District County Commissioner Mike Brown. He’s always been the guy plugged into nearly everything that’s going on in South Knox. One of the rare occasions came last week, when Brown was treated to a retirement party instead of the typical lodge meeting he was expecting. The longtime WoodmenLife chapter member and officer should have known something was up when his wife, Jan Brown, kept dragging her heels beforehand. But when he walked into the packed private dining room at Shoney’s on Chapman Highway, he was overcome seeing the faces of friends and colleagues from nearly 60 years of work and com-
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4 • January 18, 2017 • South Knox Shopper news
Kids can hit the books, earn a bike Christmas has come and gone, but some elves are still in Knoxville surprising students. The Bike Elf organization volunteers stopped by Wesley House last week and announced their new initiative, Read, Write and Ride with Bike Elf. The program will challenge the students of Wesley House Community Center’s afterschool program to earn a bicycle during the spring term at school. The challenge was given by Wesley House director Anderson Olds: All students in the program who earn first honors (all As and Es) in school on the next two report cards will receive a bicycle from Bike Elf. Olds said that two Wes-
ley House program goals for 2017 were: 1) to find ways to honor their participant children by celebrating them and their successes, and 2) to create motivating educational programs and incentivize learning. Bike Elf co-founders Dewayne and Leigh Wilson contacted Olds in October 2016 with an interest in partnering with Wesley House. Dewayne believes in students earning the bicycles. Students meeting the goal will be awarded a bicycle, helmet and bike lock in June. The bicycles are not new, but after the elf volunteers are done refurbishing them, it’s hard to tell that they were ever ridden by anyone else. The volunteer team
Inauguration Day trivia! By Kip Oswald Over the holidays, our competitive family played a lot of board games during our family time. Now, I can’t tell you how many times Kip Kinzy and I lost because we didn’t know some trivial presidential history. This made us decide to find some fun, little known facts to help us win those family board games someday, and maybe you will enjoy learning these things too! For the next two articles, we will look at Inauguration Day, a tradition that is special to our country and is happening on Jan. 20. Donald Trump will be inaugurated as our 45th president, but should he really be our 46th? Did you ever hear of President Atchison? Trivia question! If David Atchison had ever been counted as one of our presidents, Mr. Trump would be number 46! Zachary Taylor, our 12th president, was due to be inaugurated on a Sunday but due to his religion, he refused until Monday. Since there was not an acting president or vice president, Mr. Atchison, who was a senator from Missouri, became president for 24 hours. Also, during that 24 hours, he appointed many of his friends to cabinet offices, but just for 24 that hours. Now that is good trivia! Of course, George Washington was the very first president to be inaugurated, but it was in the spring to avoid bad weather. The
day did not move to Jan. 20 until 1933. There are certain things scheduled to happen every Inauguration Day. The day begins with a worship service and then the current president and new president ride together to the inauguration. The president repeats his oath directly from the Constitution. All but three presidents have placed their hands on the Bible. John Quincy Adams used a constitutional law book. Franklin Pierce and Theodore Roosevelt chose not to place an oath on the Bible. Three presidents have had to restate their oath after the ceremony. Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge took the oath outside Washington, D.C., and had to restate the oath when back in Washington. President Barack Obama had to retake the oath after Chief Justice Roberts had him repeat the wrong words during the ceremony. After the oaths, the new President gives a speech called the Inaugural Address to the audience. George Washington gave the shortest one at 135 words. The longest speech was William Harrison’s, which he gave on a chilly, rainy March day. He then got pneumonia and died a month later. After the speeches, the outgoing president and his family leave the capital city while the new president goes to lunch in the Capitol Building. Next week, we will learn some interesting history about the rest of the day! Watch next week’s events to see new history being made! Comments to oswaldswordtn@gmail. com
cleans the bikes, repaints them when necessary, adds new tires, seats and other needed repairs. During a recent assembly, students stepped up, were measured and signed their name on several posters indicating the size bicycle needed when they meet the goal. Over the next four months, Bike Elf and Wesley House have activities planned to remind the kids of their goal and keep them motivated to achieve earning a bicycle. Bike Elf is in its second year of giving bikes to children and began after the Wilsons and their friends had dinner together before Christmas. Kristi Fightmaster, on the board of the Salvation Army in Maryville, shared with the Wilsons how children left on the Angel Tree were usually ones who had requested bicycles for Christmas. The Wilsons decided to collect enough bikes to give 100 away for Christmas 2015, but after some discussion, the delivery date was moved to June for the first giveaway as a way to motivate students in school. In the first year they received over 200 bike donations. They will be holding a bike drive at the Boys & Girls Club of Maryville at 520 S. Washington St. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 18 for anyone interested in donating a used bicycle or to make monetary donations (to purchase seats, tires, tubes, etc. to repair the bicycles). Bike Elf’s motto is
Bike Elf co-founder Leigh Wilson and Wesley House executive director Tim Adams kick off an incentive program for students. Photo by Ruth White
Isaiah Adams is measured by Bike Elf volunteer Jim Wilkin to determine the size bicycle that would be appropriate. Photo by Ruth White
“You donate ’em. We fix ’em. Kids earn ’em.” To learn more about the Bike Elf program, visit bikeelf.org or Facebook/bikeelf.
SoKno parents, others worried about rezoning By Betsy Pickle The domino effect of creating a Gibbs Middle School was felt in SoKno when Knox County Schools held a meeting to get feedback on middle-school rezoning last week at South-Doyle Middle School. With the new school – designed to have a 600-student capacity – set to open in the Gibbs community in August 2018, KCS officials are determined to have a rezoning plan in place well in advance. They expect to submit a final draft to the school board in May. A new Hardin Valley Middle School will also open in August 2018, with the capacity for 1,200 students, but it is drawing far less criticism. The rezoning meeting at SDMS was the third of six planned in various parts of the county. It was also the lowest attended, with approximately 72 people turning out compared with 96 and 94 at the first two. Several of the attendees were from other communities; they fear that rezoning plans might have a greater impact on their children than
on those of other areas. East Knoxvillians turned out in force to make it clear that their students deserve the same quality of facilities and academics as the rest of the county. The Rev. John Butler, president of the Knoxville NAACP branch, and his wife, the Rev. Donna Butler, were among those voicing their concerns to interim KCS Superintendent Buzz Thomas and Russ Oaks, KCS chief operating officer. The NAACP filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, claiming that the Gibbs school would resegregate the Knox County system. Building a middle school in Gibbs when several schools whose students are most likely to be rezoned to it are far under capacity alarms community members. Just as Gibbs families resent being bused to Holston Middle and the lengthy rides that entails, parents whose kids attend Vine Middle and other nearby schools don’t want their children experiencing the same fate. SoKno parents fell into that category. Several of them expressed
the sentiment that South Knox kids should go to school on the south side of the Tennessee River. Oaks said the middle schools most likely to be affected were Carter, Gresham, Halls, Holston, Vine, Whittle Springs and South-Doyle. South-Doyle has an enrollment of 960 with a capacity for 1,200. Halls is at 1,095, 95 over capacity, while Gresham at 841 is 41 over capacity. Oaks said that KCS prefers to have schools that are somewhat under capacity, but forecast population changes can take care of some crowding problems. Thomas said they don’t want to sacrifice families and communities in the rezoning process, and they are trying to find the best way to bring things into balance. Christi Luttrell, whose fifth-grade son is scheduled to start at SDMS in the fall, said she was already worried about “kids being out of control” at South-Doyle. She’s not sure what the rezoning solution should be but said, “They don’t need to close any schools.”
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South Knox Shopper news • January 18, 2017 • 5
Librarian Viktoria Henderson, director of the African American Wax Museum, with Paislee Scott, who represented Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American female poet. Kashauna Dyer portrays Rosa Parks, who refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger. Photos by Kelly Norrell
Anderson Hill portrays Abraham Lincoln.
Historic figures celebrate MLK Day By Kelly Norrell When the fourth- and fifth-graders of South Knoxville Elementary prepared for the second annual African American Wax Museum, presented Jan. 13 in the gymnasium, they didn’t just read about historic leaders. They figured out how to get
in their skin. About 35 students lined the walls of the gymnasium in period clothing, ready to tell visitors about their character in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day. In the spirit of a wax museum, each was quiet until asked to speak.
“I really don’t like people bossing me around,” said Rosa Parks, played by fifthgrader Kashauna Dyer. Wearing a demure dress, Parks sat in a chair as she spoke and said, no, she did not want to get up. Fifth-grade Anderson Hill, portraying Abraham
South Knoxville Elementary fourth- and fifth-graders line the walls of the gymnasium recently portraying famous leaders in the second annual African American Wax Museum.
Lincoln, held a stovepipe hat and spoke in the style of his lawyerly inspiration: “When I was a young lad, I never went to school, but I loved to read,” he said. Portraying Coretta Scott King, fifth grader Shai’Auna Mills wore a Sunday dress as she described life with her famous husband: “I graduated from college and met a young theology student named Martin Luther King.” Later she confided, “My favorite speech of his was ‘I Have a Dream’.” Frederick Douglas, Marian Anderson, Wilma Rudolph, Muhammad Ali and Duke Ellington also received visitors at the event, along with contemporary leaders like Michelle and Barack Obama.
Shai’Auna Mills portrays Coretta Scott King.
The event was the brainchild of school librarian Viktoria Henderson, who helped each child choose a character and research him or her using databases for information and costumes. Helping things along was a visit from author Benjamin Brooks, who told children how to write their speeches and get into character. Children worked hard and enjoyed learning what civil rights pioneers had to go through, like Ruby Bridges, who desegregated
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last words Knox greeways have new driver Tim Hester, former city manager of Norris, has been hired as the new greenways coordinator for the city of Knoxville. He started to work this week. Brian Hann, active chair of the city greenway commission, praised the choice, saying, “I look forward to seeing him in action.” He replaces Lori Goerlich who left for Chattanooga after a lackluster four years in Knoxville. Hester will clearly be a positive upgrade in this office and greenways will be moving forward. His office will be at Lakeshore Park. ■■ If U.S. Rep. Diane Black becomes the permanent chair of the House Budget Committee, will that impact her potential run for governor next year? She is the interim chair for now until Georgia Republican Tom Price is (presumably) confirmed to the Trump Cabinet as Health and Human Services secretary. Paul Ryan chaired the budget committee before becoming House speaker. It is an important, demanding and time-consuming position. It is a sign of the respect the House leadership holds for her skills, which will be tested under President Donald Trump. Her office for now says it will not affect her decision on whether to enter the 2018 race for governor. She is considered by many to be the leading candidate at this early stage in the contest and she can fund her own campaign if necessary. Other potential candidates include Randy Boyd of Knoxville, state Sens. Mark Green, Mark Norris and Doug Overbey, and possibly House Speaker Beth Harwell. ■■ Knox County officials are hopeful that Gov. Bill Haslam will include funding in his budget for the Knox Safety Center, which is being pushed by Mayor Tim Burchett and former district attorney Randy Nichols. Money was not in last year’s state budget, but a behind-the-scenes effort has been made since then to secure funding. If not included, expect the Knox lawmakers to push funding by legislation. The governor has not announced his decision. ■■ Wayne Christensen, 71, retired director of Knox Youth Sports, has decided to run for the West Knoxville city council seat now held by Vice Mayor
Victor Ashe
Duane Grieve, who retires in December because of term limits. Christensen may be opposed by David Williams and Tim Hill. Others mentioned include Bearden activist Terri Faulkner, West Hills sidewalk supporter Sandi Robinson, Knox County election commissioner Andrew Roberto, and former Democratic party vice chair Doug Veum. This could be a crowded field that triggers much interest. ■■ Lois Riggins Ezzell, the 35-year director of the state museum, has been gone 18 days but only a few blocks away, where she secured an easy $40,000-ayear job as a fundraiser for the new museum building at age 77. Interestingly, no one asked her to do this except herself. But the foundation board is in her pocket and they are happy to spend money citizens give for the museum to enhance her personal retirement on top of her state pension. She attempted her last week in office to create an actual office for herself within the museum as the foundation actually does not have office space anywhere. When museum commission chair Tom Smith discovered this last-minute maneuver, he placed a halt to it. This sequence of events is impossible to make up. It is also most unfortunate that some public employees do not realize when it is time to depart. The museum commission is scheduled to meet next week, Jan. 24, to choose a permanent replacement. Meanwhile the governor is trying to raise $40 million to pay for the new $160 million museum. Birthdays: Chancellor Mike Moyers turns 56 on Jan. 19. Congratulations! Marie Leonard, widow of Farragut’s first mayor, Bob Leonard, celebrated her 90th birthday last Saturday at the Farragut Town Hall. Knoxville’s oldest living former mayor, Randy Tyree, turns 77 on Jan. 20. He was also the youngest person ever to be elected mayor in 1975 when at age 35 he was elected over the late Kyle Testerman.
6 • January 18, 2017 • South Knox Shopper news
UT makes life more difficult for Butch Top leadership of the University of Tennessee, if there really is some, has made life more difficult than necessary for Butch Jones. As the coach sought to improve his staff, prospective assistants kept asking nosey questions about who will be the next athletic director. Potential offensive coordinators with names you might recognize were curious about the job and such trivia as chain of command, grasp and understanding, long-term stability and exactly how important will football be in the overall scheme of things. Here’s the dilemma: If Butch was forced to pick an available replacement for Mike DeBord when he really wanted someone else, he has a built-in excuse for future problems. You tied my hands. President Joe DiPietro and the board of trustees have known for months and months that UT needed a chancellor and athletic director. We’ve all known since August that Jimmy Cheek and Dave Hart were moving on.
Marvin West
Common sense dictated a new chancellor was the first priority in replacing the lame ducks – just in case that person wanted a vote in the selection of the new athletic director. Identifying Beverly J. Davenport took almost forever. Time dragged on. Even for a quick study, figuring out what is Tennessee football takes longer than making instant potatoes. Delay, delay, delay. Finally, she or DiPietro or somebody more powerful wants a professional search company to sort through AD possibilities, make recommendations and mask responsibility. There was a time Butch and I thought we knew the next athletic director would be David Blackburn, Vol for life, very successful as recent leader of athletics at UT-
Chattanooga. He seemed so obvious. He is 50. He has the ideal background. He has experience. He knows everybody who matters, big donors, politicians, thousands of fans. DiPietro is already his top boss. David, son of a high school coach, was born in Loudon. He played quarterback there. He enrolled at UT and learned a lot as student manager for John Majors’ teams in 1988-89. He went to Morristown to be a coach. Phillip Fulmer invited him back for an administrative role in recruiting and compliance and a few dozen other things. Doug Dickey saw greater potential and promoted Blackburn. Through the years, he looked after facilities, fundraising and event management. Because he could read and write, he evolved into the athletic department connection to the Thornton Center and academics. He participated in coaching searches. He became a senior associate AD under Mike Hamilton. He was a big help in dealing with the NCAA during
a time of crisis, the Bruce Pearl and Lane Kiffin era. If winning matters, it appears Blackburn and Chattanooga have excelled. Last year UT-C became the first school in a hundred years to win Southern Conference titles in football and men’s and women’s basketball. Maybe I shouldn’t mention that the basketball Mocs defeated the Vols in the opener of this season. Maybe I shouldn’t mention that Blackburn is Tennessee through and through. He is not from Florida or Alabama or even Cincinnati, from whence cometh Dr. Davenport and, before that, Coach Jones. David has never been athletic director at Notre Dame or UCLA or even Kansas or Kentucky. He is known widely but is not famous outside the Volunteer family. But, he is smart and aware and interested. Come to think of it, if the big time is what really matters. Dr. Davenport has never been chancellor at any of those places. Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero,com.
School board politics: It’s not about party There are no Rs or Ds on local school board ballots. Board members are elected on a non-partisan basis, and despite some past saber rattling from the Red-tothe-Roots crowd, it doesn’t appear that Republicans are preparing to change that status. This probably makes Patti Bounds Mike Edwards Knox County school board chair Patti Bounds happy. Bounds is worried about Betsy DeVos, the ultra-conservative Amway billionaire who is President-elect DonBetty ald Trump’s choice to head Bean the Department of Education. It’s DeVos’ identification with school privatizaFor Bounds, a conser- tion, not her overall politics, vative who was raised Re- that bothers Bounds, who is publican, it’s educational also not comfortable with philosophy, not party lines some of the positions of that divide the board, the state legislators who repmajority of whom oppose resent her district, even much of the reform agenda though they are fellow Refavored at the state and na- publicans. “The more I get to know tional levels. “I could probably tell you them and the more I study where people come down, the issues, the more I just if you had to put them in want to scream when Bill a box, as far as Republi- Dunn talks about vouchcans and Democrats, but ers. And the more time I’m that’s not what affects how spending in Nashville, the they vote,” Bounds says. more I’m seeing the pres“We have some very di- sures to conform and fit in.” But the group she finds verse opinions. But here’s the thing that makes me most worrisome is the state feel like I’m out there and school board, whose nine don’t know who I am some- voting members (one per times: it’s the Democrats (in congressional district) are Nashville) who are fighting appointed by the governor for (public) education and to serve five-year terms. see the dangers in the re- This board strongly supform movement (excessive ports charters and vouchers high stakes testing, charter and high-stakes testing. “Some of them have zero schools, vouchers and privatization, linkage of teacher knowledge of education, evaluations to sometimes- and they’re the ones making the major decisions. They’re flawed test results).”
not accountable to anyone,” Bounds says. “The only one Mike Edwards (who represents the Second Congressional District) is answerable to is Bill Haslam, and citizens have no vote in the matter. I think they’re good people and have done good things for the state. If you’d asked me 10 years ago, as an average person, if I was in favor of vouchers, I’d say, ‘What’s a voucher?’ And you’d say every child deserves a good school, and I’d agree. It’s the far-right people saying that’s what they are trying to do. You have to ask why are they doing this.” Bounds worries that the Legislature might try to abolish local school boards and let the state board run everything from Nashville.
Edwards takes issue with most of what Bounds said. He said he’s studying a stack of documents seven inches thick for the next board meeting, and considers himself answerable to Tennessee’s schoolchildren – not to the governor. He said he doesn’t see teachers as adversaries and that nobody is looking to shut down local school boards. “Our biggest push is not against teachers. It is against the U.S. Department of Education. We’re not answerable to the governor. And we’re not trying to please the governor. Nor or we trying to please the Department of Education. “None of us are ideological and none of us are on there with an agenda.”
Here comes Harry
Former state Rep. Harry Tindell, 56, has announced his intention to seek the District 4 seat on the Knoxville City Council in the upcoming election. A lifelong resident of Knoxville, Tindell was twice elected to the Knox County school board before serving 11 terms in the state House. He lives in the Alice Bell/Spring Hill community and is self-employed in the insurance business. Harry Tindell “It will be important to have new city council members with varied experience in this period of change,” he wrote in a press release. Info: harrytindell4knoxville@gmail.com or on Facebook.
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