VENDOR WRITING

MY LEGACY

CARL D., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

All my life I dreamed about being a baseball player. My heroes were the stars of the game. Men who, in my eyes, were characters that were larger than life. With manes like “The Big Bambino,” “Jolting Joe,” to name a few. Growing up I worked hard, trying my best to be like them. I copied their swing, their stance at the plate. I tried to throw like them, even walk like them. I loved playing baseball.

On Saturday, with my glove hanging off the end of my bat, bat slung over my shoulder, I made my way around the neighborhood knocking on doors

and windows until I got a response. Anywhere and everywhere until I found who I was looking for and then by whatever means necessary gathered up as many as could come, then turned and proceeded directly back to the park. “The Diamond,” as it was called, was a sacred place to us little leaguers because that’s where legends were born. The place where our heroes got their start.

All it takes, we were told, is hard work, lots of practice and of course you must love “the game” above all else. Although momma ran a close second. After all, a boy couldn’t survive without his mom. She was essential to the dream. Pop played a part as well. He pointed out the highlights and of course he taught me the fundamentals of the game. How to snag a fly ball, scoop up a grounder, and the most important thing of all, how to throw the most terrifying pitch in the game, the curve ball. Yea! Man did I love this game. Played on a hot summer day, sweaty, dirty from sliding into second base. For me, life didn’t get any better than scoring on a hit and run or stealing home plate.

One of the guys I played ball with once told me later on after we had grown up that he loved playing against me because he knew I would play as hard as I could to beat him and that it made him try harder at everything he did in life, and he was glad to have known me. That I made a difference in how he lived his life made me smile. That’s how I want to be remembered. As highly competitive, someone who will always try and beat you, gets you to play your best. And last, a guy though behind in the count, always stepped up to the plate and swung for the fence. Always striving to win! Who never gave up, in the game of baseball and in life.

THE EAGLE’S NEST - PREFACE

BY CHRIS SCOTT FIESELMAN

I watched the sun setting from the top of Saint Cloud Hill. This historical, remnant, preserved piece of Nashville, holds special meaning to me. It’s where I came to know and love and claim Nashville as my home. The ruins and remains of Fort Negley rest there and have witnessed beautiful sunsets like this over and over again, so many times for so many years. Standing like a silent, still, sentinel or a proud, loving, parent watching over the growth and change of this city. Always hopeful with promise, that these changes will benefit one and all who come to call this beautiful, welcoming city, Music City, their home.

Back in the 1800’s, the belief that “All Men Are Created Equal” was a foolish, unacceptable, new Yankee idea that many a fine, wealthy, Southern gentleman did not cotton to. So, for four long years, Americans fought The Civil War, brother against brother, to establish a nation un-questionably built upon the belief that “Justice for All” meant everyone. Fort Negley, atop Saint Cloud Hill is a cherished reminder of that painful, shameful, period from our past. On Feb. 23, 1862, The Union Army took possession of Nashville from The Confederacy. In April of that year, Fort Negley, was established, built through the hard work and noble, valiant effort of conscripted, freed slaves. I was born on Feb. 23, 1962, 100 years to the day later and I arrived in Nashville on April 23, 2009.

I stayed at the Nashville Rescue Mission for a couple of weeks, but then I decided to live instead as a homeless camper in the forest on the N.E. side of Saint Cloud Hill beside The Adventure Science Center. This went on for seven long years and it was there I built a homeless camping community I called The Eagles Nest. Free from violence and drug addiction, with clean well-maintained campsites and raised tents on decks I built from pallets. Meticulously manicured trails covered with wood chips. A place where people who felt like outcasts could feel like they were a part of something, happy and content, safe and secure, like being at home with family, a community. In April, 2016 the city of Nashville decided that a sanctioned encampment area for the homeless, no matter how well maintained and presentable, can not and will not be condoned or allowed. So, in the shadow of Fort Negley, the camp was dismantled, the homeless evicted and the forest was cleared. Two days later I went to court for trespassing but it was a futile effort after the fact. The case was dismissed, I lost everything, Justice had failed and the wealthy and powerful prevailed. The Eagle’s Nest Camping Community, an example of what could be, was gone, but will never be forgotten. The video documentary Saint Cloud Hill is available online and remains a historical record of this tragic event.

Meanwhile… On the South Eastern side of Saint Cloud Hill, Herschel Greer Stadium, the former home of the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team, built in 1978, had outlived its usefulness and functionality due to costly maintenance repairs and numerous much needed expensive upgrades. So, in 2014, Greer Stadium saw its last season and closed its doors forever. The property sat abandoned for the next four years until 2018, when Mayor David Briley and Metro City Council decided it was time for demolition and redevelopment. Plans were submitted and demolition began. During that time, developers offered several different proposals for residential and retail space, which led to an archeological survey that revealed the strong possibility, the conscripted slaves who originally built Fort Negley were most likely buried there. After a short court battle, it was decided that the land held too much historical value to disrupt, disturb or destroy by development. New plans to convert the land into a memorial park with additional greenspace to be re-incorporated into Fort Negley were considered but never agreed upon and no conclusive decision could ever be reached. In 2019, demolition was completed, the land was re-seeded with grass, fenced in and again left idle and abandoned since then, until now. It’s January, 2022 and the time for talk without action is through. “The Eagle’s Nest” Nashville, Tennessee’s Homeless Transitional Micro-Housing Facility is ready to become a reality.

The problems resulting from Nashville, Tennessee City Government’s failure and inability to find a workable solution to address the city’s ever increasing homeless problem has created a present-day, city-wide, dilemma and sense of urgency. For 12 years, I have lived in Nashville. My first seven, as a homeless camper in the woods on the north side of Fort Negley/Saint Cloud Hill, until the camp was destroyed. Everything happens for a reason and the steps of a righteous man are ordained by God. I am an Army veteran who, for some unknown reason, has been drawn to the land surrounding a United States of America, former military installation known as Fort Negley. In the setting sun’s shadow of that historical monument, I can hear the words of our beloved former 16th president, Abraham Lincoln say, “Heal This Nation.” My intention for that presently unused, city owned piece of property, formerly known as Greer Stadium, is the subject of this Proposal. To Be Continued…