The Contributor: Dec. 22, 2021

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I N T H E I S S U E L a N ticia

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁS...

GRATIS Diciembre

2021

Año 19 - No. 340

Contributor Board

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

Tom Wills, Chair Cathy Jennings, Bruce Doeg, Demetria Kalodimos, Ann Bourland, Kerry Graham, Peter Macdonald, Amber DuVentre, Jerome Moore, Annette McDermott, Drew Morris

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“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

Nashville, Tennessee

La Cruz Roja le ofrece 10 consejos de seguridad para cocinar durante las fiestas

4

14

15

Incendios en la cocina de casa ocurren más en Acción de Gracias y Navidad que en otros días, precauciones adicionales necesarias para la pandemia COVID-19 en curso A medida que se acerca el tiempo de Navidad, es el momento de preparar el banquete navideño y repasar la seguridad contra incendios en el hogar.

Además, dado Por Yuri Cunza que la pandemia Editor in Chief COVID-19 con- @LaNoticiaNews tinúa afectando a las comunidades, la planificación de sus celebraciones puede ser un poco diferente este año.

"Los incendios domésticos son una amenaza real para Tennessee durante las vacaciones de Acción de Gracias y fiestas de Navidad", dijo Joel Sullivan, Joel Sullivan Director Ejecutivo director ejecutiRegional regional Cruz Roja Americana vo para la región de Tennessee de la Cruz Roja Americana. "En particular, los fuegos en la cocina son la causa número uno de los incendios en el hogar y año tras año es un día pico de estas tragedias. En la Cruz Roja, instamos a las familias a que sigan los pasos de seguridad en la cocina para ayudar a evitar que las celebraciones navideñas se conviertan en humo ".

Vendor Spotlight

Para ayudar a que usted y sus seres queridos estén seguros, la Cruz Roja Americana ofrece estos consejos de seguridad:

La Noticia + The Contributor

1.

Vigila lo que fríes. Nunca deje desatendidos los alimentos que se están cocinando. Si debe salir de la cocina, aunque sea por un período corto de tiempo, apague la estufa.

2.

Mueva los artículos que puedan quemarse lejos de la estufa. Esto incluye paños de cocina, bolsas, cajas, papel y cortinas. También mantenga a los niños y las mascotas al menos a un metro de distancia.

3.

Evite usar ropa holgada o mangas colgantes mientras cocina.

4.

Al freír alimentos, apague el quemador si ve humo o si la grasa comienza a hervir. Retire con cuidado la sartén del fuego.

5.

Mantenga cerca una tapa de sartén o una bandeja para hornear galletas. Úselo para cubrir la sartén si se prende fuego. Esto apagará el fuego. Deje la sartén tapada hasta que esté completamente fría.

6.

Gire las manijas de las ollas hacia la parte posterior de la estufa, para que nadie las golpee ni las tire.

Patrick, once a Big Issue vendor in London, is now working to develop clean water solutions in Lagos, Nigeria.

También puede ayudar a mantener a su familia segura probando sus alarmas de humo mensualmente y practicando el plan de escape en caso de incendio de su hogar hasta que todos puedan salir en menos de dos minutos - la cantidad de tiempo que puede tener para salir de una casa en llamas antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

7.

Usa un temporizador para recordar que la estufa o el horno están encendidos. Revise la cocina antes de acostarse o salir de casa para asegurarse de que todas las estufas, hornos y pequeños electrodomésticos estén apagados.

8.

Celebrar con las personas con las que vive es la opción más segura.

Si celebra con personas que no viven con usted, las reuniones y actividades que se realizan al aire libre son más seguras que las reuniones en el interior.

Visita redcross.org/fire para obtener más información, incluido un plan de escape para practicar con su familia.

También puede descargar nuestra aplicación de emergencia gratuita y aplicación gratuita de primeros auxilios de la Cruz Roja para obtener acceso instantáneo a cómo controlar el sangrado, ayudar a alguien que se está ahogando y otras situaciones.

Busque "Cruz Roja Estadounidense" en las tiendas de aplicaciones.

Vendor Writing

Sobre la Cruz Roja Americana: La Cruz Roja Americana refugia, alimenta y brinda apoyo emocional a las víctimas de desastres; suministra aproximadamente el 40% de la sangre del país; enseña habilidades que salvan vidas; provee asistencia humanitaria internacional; y ayuda a los militares ya sus familias. La Cruz Roja es una organización sin fines de lucro que para cumplir su misión, depende de voluntarios y de la generosidad del público estadounidense. Si desea más información, visite redcross.org o cruzrojaamericana.org, o visítenos en Twitter en @Cruz Roja.

Con informacion de American Red Cross Tennessee Region

La Noticia, one of the In this issue, vendors leading Spanish-language discuss God, politics, newspapers in the nation, reflections on this year, 9. content No asista brings Spanish toni organice unao one vendor shouts reunión festiva si está enfermoand tiene síntomas de COVID-19.

The Contributor. out several customers!

10. Si no está completamente vacunado y debe viajar, siga las instrucciones de los CDC Viajes nacionales o internacionales recomendaciones para personas no vacunadas. Todos, incluso las personas que están completamente vacunadas, deberán usar una máscara en el transporte público.

17 Moving Pictures OK so you've seen the Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life, but did you know about its copyright drama?

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Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada?

1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

por

Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.

Contributors This Issue

Hannah Herner • Liam Geraghty • Patrick Lawson • Ridley Wills II • Justin Wagner • Hannah Herner • Alvine • Jim Patterson • Mike Dubose • Yuri Cunza • Norma B. • Tyrone M. • Jamie W. • John H. • Deanna H. • Gary E.. Fred S. • Mr. Mysterio • Joe Nolan

Contributor Volunteers Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • John Jennings • Janet Kerwood • Logan Ebel • Christine Doeg • Laura Birdsall • Richard Aberdeen • Marissa Young • Ezra LaFleur • Rachel Stanley Cathy Jennings Executive Director Tom Wills Director of Vendor Operations Hannah Herner Staff Writer

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Carli Tharp Social Services Intake Specialist Dymin R Cannon Section 8 and E&T Specialist Ree Cheers SOAR Manager Rachel Ternes Housing Navigator Catherine Hardy Housing Navigator Jesse Call Operations Consultant Raven Nye Director of Housing Initiatives Barbara Womack Advertising Manager Amanda Haggard & Linda Bailey Co-Editors Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus

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December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Once a Big Issue vendor, now Patrick (center) is working to develop clean water solutions in Lagos, Nigeria. IMAGE: PATRICK LAWSON

‘THE BIG ISSUE’ VENDOR WHO BECAME LONDON’S HAPPIEST BUS DRIVER IS NOW BRINGING DRINKING WATER TO AFRICA

BY LIAM GERAGHTY Patrick Lawson spent around two decades in and out of prison and on the streets. His journey since has put him on a road to redemption, which saw him named London’s happiest bus driver — but that was far from the former Big Issue vendor’s last stop.

Lawson sold The Big Issue in Russell Square and Mayfair for six years. The 53-year-old from Finsbury Park turned his life around with the help of The Big Issue and charity Single Homeless Project and managed to rebuild his confidence to renew his license and retrain as a bus driver.

He landed a job behind the wheel with social enterprise HCT Group and took over the number 26 route from Hackney Wick to Waterloo station.

Since then he has flourished, attracting 66 commendations from passengers and winning

the Hello London Award for outstanding community service at TfL’s London Bus Awards in 2018, as well as being dubbed the capital’s happiest bus driver.

“I’ve been homeless, I’ve been in prison, I’ve been an addict,” says Lawson. “I often thought, how did I get here? Without SHP and Big Issue’s support, I’d still be on benefits.

“I just want people to get on my bus to have a good time.

People seem to enjoy it more, talk between them. I want to enhance their journey.” But Lawson did not stop there.

He joined Arsenal legend Tony Adams as the face of More Than My Past in 2019.

The addiction charity The Forward Trust’s campaign asked ex-offenders and those in recovery from addiction to share their stories and help end the stigma that impacts on employment

opportunities in the UK. The same year Lawson received a cash windfall after selling a property he and his brother inherited from their mother after she died in 2016.

The money gave Lawson the opportunity to leave his job as a bus driver and pursue a new dream during the pandemic — creating clean drinking water in Nigeria, the country his family hails from.

He now runs a business creating tap water in the African country, with ambitious plans to develop clean water across the continent both from taps and bottles.

“I’m an employer now, they call me MD — managing director,” says the former Big Issue vendor, laughing.

“I’ve always had a vision, even in the days of being on the street. I knew there was some-

thing I had to do in Africa to help with accommodation, to help with employment.

“My vision is that I believe that nobody should not have clean drinking water. I see them in Nigeria here walking around fetching water, they can walk for miles to go fetch water in buckets.

“I believe that clean running water should run in every home.

I want to supply the whole of Africa. But one step at a time.”

As well as producing water that is safe to drink, Lawson has not forgotten his own journey out of homelessness and addiction and into work.

During the pandemic, he has overseen the building of a factory in Lagos and built accommodation and boosted employment in the Nigerian capital.

Lawson said he was working to offer science graduates roles

PAGE 4 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

in their chosen field as part of the business.

The move echoes Lawson’s own battle to secure a path into employment, one he could not have created without the help of The Big Issue.

“I say this all the time — in my journey as a homeless person I big up The Big Issue because it made me be proud,” The ex- vendor says. “Many people would just love to be off drugs, off the streets. But I realized that I can’t stop there. I have to keep moving. I realized that if it needs to be done it is up to me to do it.

“Seriously, sometimes I think to myself, God, I’ve wasted so much time, I’m so old. But I think as soon as we wake up, we’ve got another chance to face the day and then there’s hope.”

Courtesy of INSP.ngo / The Big Issue UK bigissue.com @BigIssue

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER

WHY DID THE CITY OF BELLE MEADE INCORPORATE?

BY RIDLEY WILLS II Many readers of The Contributor probably don’t know why the city of Belle Meade incorporated in 1938.

Peggy Henry Joyce, whose father, Douglas Henry, was Belle Meade’s first mayor, told me there were two reasons. One was that most residents in the Belle Meade Park subdivisions, largely developed by Johson Bransford and Luke Lea, did not want commercial establishments on Belle Meade Boulevard. In the thirties, Mr. Cornett had a Pan Am service station on Harding Road near where the Belle Meade City Hall is today. He made known his interest in building a new service station on Belle Meade Boulevard.

The other reason was that Henry C. Beck, an Atlanta real estate developer, intended to build Nashville’s

first garden-style apartments in the heart of Belle Meade Park. Beck, whose company is now headquartered in Dallas, visited Nashville probably in the winter of 1937-38 to inspect the site. It was a triangular section of land on the north side of Harding Place and in the triangle between Jackson and Belle Meade boulevards just across the street from the Belle Meade Country Club. Beck had the financing, $700,000, from a New York City insurance company to finance the project.

Belle Meade Park residents were livid about the possibility of having a filling station and a large apartment complex in Belle Meade Park. They called for a meeting to consider how to stop the projects. The first meeting

was held on Feb. 10, 1938, at the Belle Meade Country Club.

A second meeting was held on Feb. 25. At that meeting, chaired by Robert C. Webster, he appointed Harry H. Corson, Paul F. Eve M.D., Morton B. Howell, John F. Hunt, and Alfred D. Sharp to investigate the feasibility of incorporating as a city as the most effective means of halting the projects.

Realizing how opposed most residents of Belle Meade Park seemed to be about his proposal. Mr. Beck backed off and, on Feb. 10, Henry C. Beck representative, Paul A. Rye, announced that the real estate company “thought it unwise to proceed with the project in this section.”

Instead, Henry C. Beck & Co. purchased a larger piece of land,

PAGE 6 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

owned by Rogers Caldwell, at 920 Woodmont Boulevard just west of a branch of Brown’s Creek and built there a two-story apartment complex named Woodmont Terrace. It still remains today as Nashville’s oldest garden-style apartment complex.

On Oct. 28, 1938, 270 residents of Belle Meade Park voted in favor of incorporation while 170 qualified voters voted against incorporation. One of the earliest actions taken by Belle Meade’s first three commissioners — Douglas Henry, Robert C. Cooney, and Alex B. Stevenson — was to pass an ordinance that no more than two families could live in a single residence and that no commercial businesses could be established in the City of Belle Meade.

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

Tennessee’s

gift to you.

Free Admission. This, and Every Season.

Free Parking, Too.

Rosa L. Parks Blvd (at Jefferson St.) 615.741.2692 | TNMuseum.org

PAGE 8 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

NEWS

Cold weather overflow shelter sees improved accessibility, potential changes

BY JUSTIN WAGNER People experiencing homelessness are acutely vulnerable to cold weather, but advocates and businesses are working with Metro to round out relevant resources as lethality becomes an intensifying concern.

Prominent among these resources is the recently opened Brick Church Pike cold weather overf low shelter, which has served an average of more than 90 people each night it has been open this winter.

The shelter opens on nights when the National Weather Service indicates temperature lows will reach 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and this year, Metro has collaborated with WeGo to mobilize buses which ferry people to the shelter as needed.

“We have slowly, over the last couple years, been trying to advocate for basically more accessible forms of transportation to shelters, including the overflow cold weather shelter, on cold nights,” said India Pungarcher, outreach specialist at Open Table Nashville.

Open Table Nashville has also been canvassing around the city to get people to shelter or, should they be unable or resistant, supply them with warm clothes and supplies to reduce the risk of hypothermia.

Jay Servais, interim head of Nashville's Metro Homeless Impact Division, said this iteration of the cold weather overf low shelter has been successful due to years of iteration and the city’s collaborators, such as Open Table Nashville and WeGo.

“It's been quite interesting and challenging,” Servais said. “But at the same time, very rewarding. Because when we do open up at 28 degrees or less, we are serving a community that's vulnerable.”

Despite the successful openings of the shelter so far this year, though, the risk of lethal cold presents itself at higher temperatures than 28 degrees, which has driven advocates like Pungarcher to push for a higher threshold.

The shelter previously opened at 25 degrees, and it was recently formally requested of MHID that the temperature requirement be raised again to 32.

Pungarcher said that a homeless individual had recently died of hypothermia downtown on a night not considered cold enough for the shelter to open.

“Monday night, when that person passed away, that was a night when the cold weather shelter wasn't open, I think the low was 31 that night,” Pungarcher said. “And so someone did pass away and die in that cold weather. I think it's very difficult to sit with, ‘what if that person could still be alive?’”

Servais said the proposed change was being taken under advisement, but that resources would have to be assessed to ensure it was within budget constraints.

“It's not just as easy as saying ‘OK, let's move to 32,’” Servais said. “Can we afford that in the budget? Can we provide logistically what that entails?”

Vicky Batcher, a member of Continuum of Care’s Homelessness Planning Council and vendor for The Contributor

WINTER SHELTER INFO

Text the word Nashvillewinter to 84483. You will get a text roughly 24 hours in advance of each 7 p.m. opening of the cold weather overflow shelter Call (615) 862-6391 to hear if the shelter is open that day.

Visit coldweathernashville.com

OTHER RESOURCES/ QUESTIONS

Teens can call (615) 327-4455 for support with shelter.

Single fathers with children and any families can call Metro Social Services for help with longer-term solutions call (615) 862-6444 Launchpad (specializing in serving LGBTQ young adults) can be reached at (615) 375-6274 Room In The Inn can be reached at (615) 251-9791 Nashville Rescue Mission can be reached at (615) 255-2475 who has been helping WeGo mobilize people toward the overf low shelter, agreed the change would be a boon to those unsheltered from the cold.

“It needs to be raised,” said Batcher, who was formerly homeless.

In the interim, Batcher and Pungarcher recommend that people donate

spare warm clothes and blankets or be willing to provide them to those in need, as well as communicating to anyone experiencing homelessness that the overflow shelter is open when it opens.

“Just love the homeless and help them,” Batcher said. “Help them all you can.”

Thank you to all supporters and providers for serving our friends in the community who are experiencing temporary homelessness.

Open Table Nashville, People Loving Nashville, ShowerUp, Project Return, Park Center, The Contributor, Mental Health Cooperative, Room in the Inn, West End United Methodist, Councilman Sean Parker, Clencliff Village *Paid for by Friends to ReElect Lynda Jones, Cathy Werthan, treasurer

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

2021 HOMELESS MEMORIAL

2021 HOMELESS MEMORIAL Many people from the community gathered on Dec. 18 at Riverfront Park to remember the 194 people in the homeless community who died this year. We've listed all of their names below. Each person had a life and a story and people who cared about them. They will be missed.

A r t by Lauren er lu P mm

Timothy Abrams Yadelin Abreu Aguto Aguto Eduardo Alvarez Jeffery Michael Anderson Tony Anthony Shavaun Atcitty Brittney Bannister Jeffrey Francis Bee Homer Bell Brian Berkley Kimberly Berlin Jackie Bess* Charles Birdsong Douglas Bondie Juanita Bowling William Brink Nicholas Brown Richard Allen Brown Jake Stevens Brown James Brown Jr.* Tamarsha Bumphus Katherine M. Burdelsky Bryant Burton Danny Cantrell Ronnie Carney Joseph Clayton Steven Clemmons Tony Coffey David Wayne Coleman Tony Collins Jr. Jerry Combs Melissa Conquest Jewel Copeland Phillip Cornette Carroll Crimmons* Larry Criswell Terry L. Critchlow Robert Crowe James Crowley Donald Crutcher Paul Cunningham III Steven Denson Larry Gail Dowell* Lee Duffield Daniel Dyer*

Daryl Ellis Gary Ernissee Gary Foriest* Andrew Eugene Fox Joe Franklin Ralph Freeman Stephan Fuller Mingcorya Gaddes Jackie Gainous Robin “BillBill” Garrett Michael Garschagen Joshua Grier Jacob Griffin Anthony Griffin Anthony Gunter* Larry Guthrie Jewel Hackworth Sammy Haddock Jacob Hale Cindy Ann Hall Rodger Halpin Nathanial Hargrove Timothy Hatfield Alicia Head Daisy Hendershot Gail Heumann John “Dr. John” Holder* Eric Hudson* Keith Hughes Leland K. Humphrey Darrian Humphries Brodge Hurst* Lewis (Louie) Jennings Stephanie Jetton James Johnson* Jason Johnston Crystal Jones James Keniston Norris Kenner Marvin Kimbrough Richard Kimery* James Robert Kinney Joseph Knight* Joseph Koschmider Susan Lantrip* Robert Lasater

Brian Lawrence* Arthur M. Lawson* Christopher Ledwell James P. Lee Walter Lewis LaVonda Lindsley Timothy Lofton Thelma Lynch Roy Madison Steven/Melody/Chichi Martinez* Larry Mashburn Jairus C. Mathis Larry Lee McConnell III Kelvin McCullough Jaritha McCutheon-Cousin Kenneth “Kenny” McKimmy* Mark Meyers Hyman Miller Richard Miller* Larry Mintlow Joshua Mitchell Michael Moss* Tammy Murrock Franklin “Don” Nash* Freeman Nation Fred Ngongi John Noel* Melissa Orrick Larry Parker Jerry “Montana” Paschall* Richard Paul Rufus Peaks* Robert Perry Charles “Chaplain Charles” Phipps Simone Pierson* Hans Polak* Archie Powell Ricky Prock Bobby Putman Keith Ramey Otis Randolph* Nelson Ray Fredrick “Fred” Richards Jeff Richardson Jeffrey Roberts* Mario Robich*

Tiffany Rolle Nicholas Rummel David Rye Colton Sanders Matthew Schmidt Sean Sehorn Jeremy Shivers Edward Smith Danny Spencer John Spencer James Spratt Frederick Stevenson Michael Storey Lawrence Stout James Stutts John Sugg Roy Swafford Harold Thompson Joseph A. Tidwell Joe Tinsley Thomas “Tommy” Toombs William Christopher Tucker Jr. Marice Underwood Alfonzo Valencia Holly Vantrease John Velez Lacie Waldrop Hayes Kenneth Robert Wayne Walter Lonnie Warren* Steven Warren Eugene Douglas Wells Charles White Shameka White Rodney Whitehead Cornelius Whitlock* Tony Williams Kenneth “Kenny” Williams Willie Wilson Tia Winford Keith Winston Mitchell Wolfe* Patrick Wooden Preston P. Woods Anthony Young “Fast Blacc” Darr * housed individuals

PAGE 10 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

2021 HOMELESS MEMORIAL

Annual memorial honors lives of those who spent time on the streets

BY HANNAH HERNER On Dec. 18, homeless service providers, government officials and friends gathered at Riverfront Park to honor the 194 people in the homeless community that died this year. Some were in housing by the time they passed, and others weren’t.

The number is up from 128 last year, and hovered around 100 in the years prior. Lindsey Krinks, co-founder of Open Table Nashville, which puts on the event, says “part of that is because our reporting is getting better and part of that is because things are getting worse on the streets.”

The average age of death was just 53 years old, and the oldest person to die on the streets this year was 73, still four years younger than the average life expectancy in the United States. Forty-one of them had sold papers for The Contributor at one point or another.

Bobby Watts, executive director of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, which is headquartered in Nashville, shared that ceremonies around Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day originated in Nashville in 1986, before it became a national ob-

servance in 1990.

“There are 194 that we know about. The question is how many people died experiencing homelessness that we don’t know about?

One thing we do know is that many of them died too early many of them died in conditions that could and should be prevented,” he said.

He added, “What it takes is all of us making sure we’re caring for people one-to-one as individuals and that we make sure that our society’s systems are working for all of us. Because it’s not re-

ally working for any of us. If we have people dying on the streets, we’re not a healthy country, we are not a healthy city. If we have people who are dying prematurely because they don’t have health care, we are falling fall short of our potential and our responsibility. Nashville, we can do better. Nashville, we must do better.

We must hold those accountable and help those in power, who have the purse strings, who can change laws, who change systems — we have to make them do it. That’s our responsibility.”

These 194 names were each read aloud. Each name was also written on a small white f lag, carried by the group up to Public Square Park and stuck in the ground. A jar of slips of paper with notes to the deceased was gathered, to be buried at the Hills of Calvary indigent burial site.

One hundred and ninety four names, 194 little white flags, and 194 people lost, each with some time taken away due to experiencing homelessness. The hope is for housing to give some of that time back.

Q&A: Rachel Biggs

Cities across the country look to improve data around homeless mortality

BY HANNAH HERNER Something that is assumed with all data around homelesness is that people are undercounted. The population is fluid and hard to track, but it’s also because cities often don’t have a system to get accurate data. This is especially true for homeless mortality.

A spinoff of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, headquartered in Nashville, Homeless Mortality Data Workgroup put together a toolkit that was released in 2020.

The toolkit confirms that it’s rarely the local government, and definitely not the national government, that collects this data on how many people who’ve experienced homelessness we lose each year. This data by and large relies on homeless service providers, community advocates and religious organizations. Only two percent of counties keep a count at all, it says.

In Nashville, the list is an informal amalgamation. Getting reports for each person from the medical examiner’s office to make the data more complete costs money and time, and the cause of death remains largely incomplete.

Still, homeless service providers collaborate on a shared google sheet each year.

Rachel Biggs, chair of the Homeless Mortality Data Workgroup, explains how this data can improve.

Can you tell me about why the mortality work group got started?

Homeless mortality was a topic that just kept coming up — talking about if we had better data to talk about how many people die while experiencing homelessness. We have some really good reports out of Boston and out California that have been doing homeless mortality recording for decades.

that hadn't really started doing homeless mortality counts and are wanting to get started.

And so it's a great place to learn from some of the technical experts — from epidemiologists or folks that have really good relationships with their medical examiner's office or coroner's office, and then help the localities that were just getting started to figure out a way to start this work because it is a pretty big undertaking.

But what we were talking about in the [NHCHC] policy committee was that we wanted to have more local data for our own localities to talk about homeless mortality and use that data in our policy and advocacy works. Because we knew that if we were able to really bring to light the huge disparity in terms of life expectancy for someone experiencing homelessness versus someone that is housed, we could use that to advocate for the things that we know end homelessness, like affordable housing, living wage and access to health care.

What’s the purpose of the group?

The purpose of the group was really to bring together the expertise of localities that were doing the work to help other localities

Do we know at this point how COVID affected the homeless population?

In all of this work, when we're talking about documenting homeless mortality, or documenting how many people experience homelessness, we acknowledge that it's always going to be an undercount of the issue. And so right now trying to find the data to understand the impact of COVID on experiencing homelessness has been challenging, because we do have such a different way of documenting homeless mortality across the country.

One of the things that we have been speculating on, and perhaps seen in early reports is more looking at the impact of COVID on lack of ability to access services and what that means for homeless mortality. So not necessarily COVID-related deaths, but the impact of COVID and accessing essential services and what that meant for people who are more vulnerable out on the street and having early mortality due to the lack of access.

Things were closed down or transportation was limited or people were fearful to go into congregate settings or into health care facilities because of concern with contracting COVID, and what that meant for impacting

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11

homeless mortality. So we're still looking at that and the impact of COVID more broadly than just COVID deaths among the homeless population.

So if we know how the mortality is happening in this community, what could help something like life expectancy for this group to go up overall?

Across the board, housing is the number one thing that we can do to improve life expectancy consistently. Other recommendations after housing improvements, like expanding the ratio of street medicine teams, and looking at ways to better reinforce street medicine and treatment in non-clinical settings… Doing more of that would go a long way in reaching people, connecting them most importantly to housing but other health services. I think expanding and improving substance disorder services for people experiencing homelessness is a big finding, making sure we really invest in syringe exchange services [and] naloxone distribution to prevent overdoses [are] big findings as well.

Having put out that toolkit, are there other goals or big projects that you're working on with this group?

Standardization is a big one. We are looking at updating the toolkit. We want this to be something that's continually updated.

And hopefully we'll have another version of it released in the coming months. We're still working to come up with some really big national level policy priorities out of the national homeless mortality data workgroup, so that'll be a next step for us.

2021 HOMELESS MEMORIAL

BY HANNAH HERNER

Otis Randolph

Contributor vendor Otis Randolph died on Dec. 4 at the age of 60.

He went to elementary school in Memphis and high school in Chicago, Illinois, and still has family in both areas. Later in life, he said that his upbringing ‘in church every day of the week’ had made him the kind-hearted person he was.

To his family, Otis was a free spirit, but they were proud that he always found work, too. He was in and out of contact with them,

but when he came around, there was always a funny story to tell. He had a sense of innocence and was able to make light of tough situations.

“If I had to say one thing about my nephew, he always kept you laughing,” his Aunt Alcenia shared. “No matter what was going on in your life, no matter what trouble or hardship you were dealing with, he always made you keep a smile on your face. And we’ll remember him as the person that stopped the tears and made light of the situation regardless of how tough things got.”

Likewise, his great niece Vanetta said, “We would look back on something that he did and just laugh about it afterwards. He lived his life fearlessly, never afraid to try something new.”

In the final months of his life, Contributor SOAR advocate Ree Cheers helped him connect

with his mother so they could talk on the phone after being out of touch for a couple of years.

“A mother’s love for her child is always there. While you didn’t always keep in touch, you were always on mind, in my heart and in my prayers each and every day,” his mother wrote.

The family was happy to hear from him after fearing that he may have passed during the pandemic, and made plans to visit Nashville around the holidays.

In the last year of his life, he became a fixture near Downtown Presbyterian Church, and Contributor staff and volunteers got to know him, too. The housing navigation team was able to get him into temporary housing in his last few months. Even in the face of deep health problems, he brought joy to those he came in contact with on that block.

BY SUSAN ADCOCK

Eric Hudson

On the day Eric Hudson died he texted me at 5:44 a.m.

A sleepy green cartoon character with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. He wrote: “Good Morning.”

At 8:02 a.m. I text back: “Good Morning to you.”

Within seconds he texted back again: “Welcome to Friday.”

I remember seeing it as I left for work and thinking what a sweetheart he was, dropping random thoughts onto my phone for no reason beyond the genuine love he felt for those around him.

Eric was always a giver.

When we first met he slept in Centennial Park where he ran daily errands for people; watched their dogs. He was the guy you always knew would bring you back both the thing you asked

for and the change. It was hard, though, and physically exhausting. One day he looked at me and said: “Can you get me out of here please?”

Eventually we managed to get him his own apartment, but not before a couple of seasons of what I liked to call Warming Shelter Carpool Karaoke.

These were some of the most memorable and fun car rides of my life. Eric and his friends sang enthusiastically even when they didn’t know the words, from West End Avenue all the way to Shelby Park.

We laughed, we sang, we hid beer in the back of my car; we learned about real friendships and now we grieve for the gentle spirit that was and always will be Eric Hudson.

BY A M ANDA HAGGARD

Anthony Gunter

Longtime Contributor vendor and poet Anthony Gunter died in mid-June.

He would have been 60 years old in October.

Anthony sold The Contributor for almost the whole time the paper has been printing.

“Anthony had an indefatigable spirit in the office and on his corner,” said Catthy Jennings, executive director for The Contributor. “His outgoing love of life carried him through his disability and hard times. Customers loved him.

He chose everyday to see the positive and he loved that he could write for The Contributor and share that spirit.”

When Connie Britton from the show Nashville visited The Contributor’s offices, Anthony dressed in a suit and tried throughout the encounter to

deliver his best lyrics to her. He was always looking for his next big break.

Volunteers at The Contributor called him “part of the legacy” of the paper and many said he would be remembered for his laugh.

Anthony penned more than 100 poems for the paper in his tenure writing — his poems were often in a lyrical style and almost always about romance.

He would attend writers’ workshops for the paper and offer suggestions to other writers, sometimes sparking debate by bringing up hot topics.

“Anthony was always interested in what we thought about his work,” said Amanda Haggard, co-editor of The Contributor. “He always came in with multiple pieces of writing to turn in and would come back with new ver-

PAGE 12 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

sions when you hadn’t printed something he’d turned in.”

During the pandemic, Anthony took to selling papers at one of the only places that people were still going: a grocery store. He would sell in his motorized scooter outside of the grocery store, Osborne’s Bi-Rite, on Belmont Boulevard in Nashville. In a feature The Contributor wrote for The Big Issue Japan, Anthony was interviewed. He was happy to have found a place to sell the paper successfully, but also lamented that “all his other honey holes are closed down.”

At that time, he said he had been making more money than usual. He was feeling confident. He died in housing, having lived a long portion of his life on and off the streets.

2021 HOMELESS MEMORIAL

BY CO NTR I B U TO R S TA FF

Don Nash

Franklin Nash Jr., also known as Don, died in his home on March 29 at the age of 62.

Since starting at The Contributor in 2010, he purchased a total of over 32,000 papers to sell, typically vending in the Gulch.

Nash came to be well-known in The Contributor office. Executive director of The Contributor Cathy Jennings said he loved his apartment.

“Don was a friendly soul and could be full of gratitude,” she said. “A customer bought him a roller suitcase and every time he came in the office he would show it off.”

Volunteer for The Contributor Michael Reilly said will miss Nash’s folksy and goofy nature.

“He was an optimistic soul who struggled with his personal demons,” Reilly said. “He was

often disappointed with himself, but never lost his desire for self-improvement.”

Another volunteer, Joe First, said Nash could amaze with his writing.

“My favorite was when he wrote about learning to take apart and reassemble a car engine when he was 15 years old,” First said.

Volunteer Logan Ebel said Nash could spin a narrative, once telling him all about “some psychedelic dreams he had had and compared them to astrological charts. It was an extremely unique conversation that I won’t forget.”

He often would tell folks to take care of their body, once buying cigarettes and then telling Ebel to “never smoke.”

He was polite and thoughtful and will be missed by many.

BY A M ANDA HAGGARD Contributor vendor and longtime Nashvillian John Holder died in early February. He was 66 years old.

Everyone called him Dr. John. He was skilled at chess and loved to fish.

He said he loved to sell the paper so he could meet good Christians. He started selling the paper in 2009.

In 2020, Dr. John lost the spot where he sold his papers and his favorite place to eat: Demo's in downtown Nashville.

The restaurant closed as it lost customers during the pandemic. He had recently secured housing — Executive Director of The Contributor Cathy Jennings said she was feeling like things might finally start to work out for Dr. John.

“His death is sad for me because I had hope that he had a chance,” she says.

Jennings spent a lot of time with Dr. John recently — his new home was close to hers and they had developed a system

John "Dr. John" Holder

when she came to the door so he knew it was her, three short knocks and one long one.

“He was a chess player,” she says. “He knew the Queen's gambit and the King's.

He earned money in prison by hustling chess matches and told me he’d teach me for $20 a game.”

He liked cheap menthol cigarettes, cherry beer and scratch offs and enjoyed listening to B.B. King and other “old school music.” He always wanted to visit Guam, where a friend of his lived.

Director of Vending for The Contributor Tom Willis remembers Dr. John as a “fiercely independent man” who took pride in and loved being a vendor for the paper.

“He camped off some railroad tracks, if memory serves me correctly, and was haunted by vendor Billy White who was hit by a train nearby in 2014,” Willis says.

When The Contributor asked him what his pet peeve was, he said “people dying on the street from freezing or heat exhaustion.

Death

By Dr. John Holder Formerly Homeless Poet, Vendor Cowards die many times.

But the valiant taste death but once.

Of all the things, it seems most strange to me that man would fear death, a necessary end.

It will when it will.

BY HANNAH HERNER

Joseph Davis

Contributor vendor Joseph Davis passed on April 12 at the age of 65 after fighting cancer.

He sold The Contributor for more than 10 of the paper’s 13 years.

Vendor office manager and co-founder of The Contributor Tom Wills said Davis had quite the following at his spot on Hobbes Road and Hillsboro Pike.

“Joseph had large, serious eyes that always kept me on my toes,” Wills says. “Hanging out in the office, eating a meal he knew how to cut straight to the point.”

Executive Director Cathy Jennings remembers that even when Joseph was ill, he was always diligent and determined to keep his map badge.

“He was friendly, smiley and so courageous in the face of his illness,” she added.

Michael Reilly and other volunteers got to know him well with how much time he would

spend in the vendor office.

“Joseph was an outwardly crusty, but really a jovial guy,” Reilly says. “He enjoyed interacting with staff and other vendors in the office and, back when it was possible, was one of our office campers. He'd eat lunch and trade jokes and give tips to new vendors. Glad he's done with pain.”

Volunteer Logan Ebel added, “He was a very kind man, even when he was struggling with health issues in the moment, he did his best to be grateful and friendly.”

Former office manager Linda Bailey was affected by Davis’ encouraging words.

“Joseph always called me ‘boss lady,’ which meant a lot to me because I felt like I never really knew what I was doing, but I genuinely felt like he believed in me,” Bailey says. “I remember Joseph as friendly, strong, fashionable and professional. I’ll miss him a lot.”

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

2021 HOMELESS MEMORIAL

United Methodist clergy conduct a graveside funeral service for Frederick Harris at Hills of Calvary Memorial Park in Nashville, Tenn., as part of the Call the Name program. The volunteer program, started by the Rev. Jay Voorhees (left), provides clergy to acknowledge deceased people who haven’t been claimed by anyone, making sure that their name is said aloud one last time and offering a short ritual of committal in their honor. Voorhees is joined by the Revs. Luke Lea (center) and James Cole (right). PHOTO BY MIKE DUBOSE, UM NEWS.

Making sure all are mourned

BY J I M PAT TE R S O N On a sunny, windy November morning at Hills of Calvary Memorial Park, almost everyone was assembled.

Three pastors were there to lead five short funerals. Gravediggers and funeral home employees went about their responsibilities amidst the stunning fall foliage. Bodies of the recently departed were present and accounted for — bar one, which arrived late because of a traffic jam.

Only one element was missing at this cemetery in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city: no family or friends to mourn.

The pastors wouldn’t necessarily be there either, save for the Call the Name program. The new effort by a United Methodist pastor seeks to provide clergy to acknowledge deceased people who haven’t been claimed by anybody. Often those are people experiencing homelessness.

“We don't know if they lived a good life or a bad life,” said the Rev. Jay Voorhees, the lead pastor at City Road Chapel United Methodist Church, who organized Call the Name. “All we know is that they are a child of sacred worth that is deserving of respect and honor in their death.”

Metro Nashville’s Indigent Burial Program is run by the city’s social services department, which provides about $3,100 in funeral services for deceased people when no one claims the body,

said Carol Wilson, a program director for social services. Families who don’t have the resources to bury a loved one also can apply, she added.

The Indigent Burial Program has been going on in Nashville stretching back to at least the 1950s, she said.

“We contract with four funeral homes that do the preparation of the body,” Wilson said.

“The cemetery provides them with opening and closing of the grave and also a grave marker. So they do receive the respect of a dignified burial service.”

Everyone merits acknowledgement, even if it’s brief, said the Rev. James Cole of Antioch United Methodist Church, one of the 30 to 40 clergy who have offered to help. Most are United Methodists so far because that’s the group where Voorhees has the most contacts, but the hope is that other denominations as well as Muslim and Jewish clergy will volunteer.

“There's a lot of work to be done in terms of recruiting other pastors and other faith traditions,” Voorhees said. “We're still in the process of that.”

At Hills of Calvary, the Revs. Luke Lea and James Cole presided over the five funerals with Voorhees. Lea is lead pastor at Matthews Memorial Church.

“I think it's important to call people's names

before God and whatever community is gathered to recognize that they are children of God with inestimable worth and dignity,” Cole said.

“And though they were at times abandoned and forgotten in this world, they're never abandoned

by God.” City Road Chapel has been ministering to homeless people for years. The church offers showers and laundry service and provides space for homeless advocacy groups in its building.

“We discerned along the way that we are called to minister to the neighbors we have, not just the neighbors we want,” Voorhees said. “A lot of the folks that are around (the church) are homeless folks. Because of the location of our church, we really didn't have any choice but to take on this calling to offer love to homeless folks.”

It’s important that the funerals are not perceived as an endorsement of any particular brand of religion. “[The concern of city officials was], we don't want to feel like we're proselytizing because of separation of church and state and all of that,” Voorhees said. “So we had to work through how that was all going to work.”

Also, since they don’t know the religious views of the deceased, they wish to avoid saying

PAGE 14 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

anything that might have offended them.

Voorhees has fashioned a funeral service that briefly pays tribute to the deceased, saying repeatedly that, “we remember them.” It concludes: “May this be a place of quiet rest, and may his-her name never be forgotten.”

Although remembering the dead at a funeral is important, it shouldn’t overshadow what people need while they’re alive, Lea stressed.

“The church spends a lot of our time with birth and death and even resurrection,” Lea said. “But we have to think about how resurrection comes about between people's births and deaths. How we can help people be resurrected in between?”

A lone mourner arrives too late for the service for Melissa Orrick, the sole woman being interred. The woman pours some of the Crown Royal she is carrying on the grave, a last drink of whiskey for the deceased.

Cole and Lea, separately, approach the woman. They each console her and pray with her. They hope it helps.

Patterson is a UM News reporter in Nashville, Tennessee. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests. This story first ran on umcnews.org.

LA NOTICIA “The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.

“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁS...

GRATIS Diciembre

2021

Año 19 - No. 340

L a N ticia

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

www.hispanicpaper.com

“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

Nashville, Tennessee

La Cruz Roja le ofrece 10 consejos de seguridad para cocinar durante las fiestas

Incendios en la cocina de casa ocurren más en Acción de Gracias y Navidad que en otros días, precauciones adicionales necesarias para la pandemia COVID-19 en curso A medida que se acerca el tiempo de Navidad, es el momento de preparar el banquete navideño y repasar la seguridad contra incendios en el hogar.

Además, dado Por Yuri Cunza que la pandemia Editor in Chief COVID-19 con- @LaNoticiaNews tinúa afectando a las comunidades, la planificación de sus celebraciones puede ser un poco diferente este año.

"Los incendios domésticos son una amenaza real para Tennessee durante las vacaciones de Acción de Gracias y fiestas de Navidad", dijo Joel Sullivan, Joel Sullivan Director Ejecutivo director ejecutiRegional regional Cruz Roja Americana vo para la región de Tennessee de la Cruz Roja Americana. "En particular, los fuegos en la cocina son la causa número uno de los incendios en el hogar y año tras año es un día pico de estas tragedias. En la Cruz Roja, instamos a las familias a que sigan los pasos de seguridad en la cocina para ayudar a evitar que las celebraciones navideñas se conviertan en humo ".

Para ayudar a que usted y sus seres queridos estén seguros, la Cruz Roja Americana ofrece estos consejos de seguridad:

También puede ayudar a mantener a su familia segura probando sus alarmas de humo mensualmente y practicando el plan de escape en caso de incendio de su hogar hasta que todos puedan salir en menos de dos minutos - la cantidad de tiempo que puede tener para salir de una casa en llamas antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

1.

Vigila lo que fríes. Nunca deje desatendidos los alimentos que se están cocinando. Si debe salir de la cocina, aunque sea por un período corto de tiempo, apague la estufa.

2.

Mueva los artículos que puedan quemarse lejos de la estufa. Esto incluye paños de cocina, bolsas, cajas, papel y cortinas. También mantenga a los niños y las mascotas al menos a un metro de distancia.

3.

Evite usar ropa holgada o mangas colgantes mientras cocina.

4.

Al freír alimentos, apague el quemador si ve humo o si la grasa comienza a hervir. Retire con cuidado la sartén del fuego.

5.

Mantenga cerca una tapa de sartén o una bandeja para hornear galletas. Úselo para cubrir la sartén si se prende fuego. Esto apagará el fuego. Deje la sartén tapada hasta que esté completamente fría.

6.

Gire las manijas de las ollas hacia la parte posterior de la estufa, para que nadie las golpee ni las tire.

7.

Usa un temporizador para recordar que la estufa o el horno están encendidos. Revise la cocina antes de acostarse o salir de casa para asegurarse de que todas las estufas, hornos y pequeños electrodomésticos estén apagados.

8.

Celebrar con las personas con las que vive es la opción más segura.

Si celebra con personas que no viven con usted, las reuniones y actividades que se realizan al aire libre son más seguras que las reuniones en el interior.

9.

No asista ni organice una reunión festiva si está enfermo o tiene síntomas de COVID-19.

10. Si no está completamente vacunado y debe viajar, siga las instrucciones de los CDC Viajes nacionales o internacionales recomendaciones para personas no vacunadas. Todos, incluso las personas que están completamente vacunadas, deberán usar una máscara en el transporte público.

Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada?

1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

por

Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.

www.juanese.com juaneseUSA@gmail.com

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

Visita redcross.org/fire para obtener más información, incluido un plan de escape para practicar con su familia.

También puede descargar nuestra aplicación de emergencia gratuita y aplicación gratuita de primeros auxilios de la Cruz Roja para obtener acceso instantáneo a cómo controlar el sangrado, ayudar a alguien que se está ahogando y otras situaciones.

Busque "Cruz Roja Estadounidense" en las tiendas de aplicaciones.

Sobre la Cruz Roja Americana: La Cruz Roja Americana refugia, alimenta y brinda apoyo emocional a las víctimas de desastres; suministra aproximadamente el 40% de la sangre del país; enseña habilidades que salvan vidas; provee asistencia humanitaria internacional; y ayuda a los militares ya sus familias. La Cruz Roja es una organización sin fines de lucro que para cumplir su misión, depende de voluntarios y de la generosidad del público estadounidense. Si desea más información, visite redcross.org o cruzrojaamericana.org, o visítenos en Twitter en @Cruz Roja.

Con informacion de American Red Cross Tennessee Region Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

PAGE 16 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

VENDOR WRITING

UNIQUE AND PRECIOUS GIFTS FROM SOME EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE

BY NORMA B. Well we’ve come to that time of year again — time to highlight some of those “special people” who’ve taken the time to stop and visit and ultimately made a difference in my life and my family’s this past year. (*Note if you’re NOT mentioned here, please don’t take it personally. It’s often a matter of space allotted in the paper, or it could be my over-50-memory failing to remember details before I can write them down. That’s why you’ll often see me scribbling things down in a notebook on the side of the road.)

Mark, who stops by pretty regularly, came to get his paper and asked me if I was taking it easy as I sat on a rock at my spot, he said I wasn’t going to sell many papers like that.

I explained I’d recently had surgery and tire out more easily than before. I took advantage of the opportunity and complemented his overalls saying they reminded me of my Pop. He took it as it was intended, as a compliment, and after wishing me well, away he went.

Micah stopped by on a VERY cold day with a much appreciated HOT cup of coffee.

When I asked him what prompted such an act of kindness, he said he saw me from a distance, and thought to himself, “If I were selling the paper on a day like this what would I want someone to do for me?” Good answer! He even took the time to put me and my family in his prayer book.

Similarly, another young man stopped in

traffic and gave me four protein bars, two waters, and asked if he could say a prayer with me.

I said I never turn down a prayer, but do you think you have time? (Remember, he was IN TRAFFIC.) He proceeded to pray saying, “Lord, please give Norma what she needs for this day, and please protect her from the elements.”

Why is this significant? Well, I’ve always felt that as long as I do all I can, God gives me what I need at the right time, his hand is NEVER short.

As for protection from the elements, it was threatening rain ALL day and I forgot my raincoat, I didn't have a poncho and I rarely carry an umbrella even though I have several. Thankfully the rain held off, that is, until I got on the Accessride, then the bottom fell out and it poured buckets.

One man, I honestly can’t remember if his name is Len or Les, recently parked his car, walked to me on the sidewalk, and got a paper. He said he and his wife usually come through my area but sadly, it’s only once every couple of weeks.

I said, “That’s perfect!” He said he wished they could do it more often, but it just wasn’t possible.

I assured him it was OK, and said, “Did you know the paper comes out every two weeks?” He just smiled, and away he went.

Sarah is new to Tennessee. She recently moved here from Arizona and stopped to ask if I needed help because she saw me as I struggled to get out of my wheelchair after

taking a break. I thought that was SO sweet!

I gave her a paper so she could see what The Contributor is all about.

Cindy from Smith County was in the area recently for a Christmas party at the Hermitage Smorgasbord. She stopped because I had dropped some of my papers, and she wanted to help me pick them up.

How sweet!

She said she used to work downtown (pre-COVID-19, now she works from home).

She said she wholeheartedly supported a few vendors back then. She apologized that she didn’t have any cash. I explained I often trade for food, drinks, etc. I also told her we now accept Venmo. Her enthusiasm returned as she scanned my badge and sent me $3 saying that was all she had at the time. I told her she shouldn’t say it that way, instead I encouraged her to say, “I have this just for YOU!” See how much better it sounds? She agreed.

Wilda stopped and talked to me for a while telling me she sees me out here all the time and started asking basic questions: “What are you doing? How often are you out here?” etc. I happily explained.

She went on to tell me that she suffers from PTSD, and Early Onset Alzheimer’s, and how she’d recently lost her second husband who she referred to as, “the love of her life.”

I asked if she minded if I shared such personal details in an article for the paper.

She said she didn’t mind because she wanted people to pray for her. Done!

She went so far as to take a notebook of her own out and write things down, saying if she didn’t, she may forget what I’d said.

She asked what “specific things” I wanted or needed. I was at a loss. I assured her that I make use of EVERYTHING I am given, and if I can’t use it, I’ll ALWAYS find someone who can. As is my custom, I got her a card and I hope that she’ll return soon.

Kira stopped with her young daughter Grace (age 3) for a visit. They gave me $5 and some Chinese food. Yum! In return, she asked for prayers — she’s in need of a liver transplant. Done! And I would ask ALL our readers to please do the same on behalf of both Wilda and Kira.

Not to be overlooked are all the children who give everything from change, to a few dollars, and sometimes much more: food, clothing, other much needed items and all those goody bags...WOW! They provide SO many purposeful and practical things!

Finally, I’d like to thank all of you who noticed I was missing from my corner while I was in Vanderbilt University Medical Center ICU twice in recent months (NOT COVID related). There are far to many to mention by name, and even if I tried, I’m sure I’d leave someone out.

Suffice to say, it’s nice to have a place and people where you feel like you are wanted and loved, where you feel like you belong­, and it’s equally nice to be missed when you’re not there. Thank you for your continuing love and support, it means far more than you’ll ever know!

THE PILLOW GUY - MIKE LINDELL

SO GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE

BY T YRONE M.

BY JAMIE W.

Mike, mike, mike. Do America a really big favor, sell your pillows and be content, but please stay out of politics, OK. We all seen you running around with the former Prez, trying to act like you were advising him on important matters. Stop the play acting, you don’t have a clue about what you were talking about. We saw you going in and out of the White House. You thought that would make you very important, huh? Sorry, sorry, didn’t work. You tried with all your feeble little mind to try to tell him how to stay in power in case he lost the election, and he did. Your stupid ass advice fell on confused ears.

He lost, Joe Biden beat the red MAGA socks off of him!

And that’s when he start the “stop the steal movement” one of the biggest lies ever to come out of the

(“domestic terrorist”) mouth. And there you stood looking stupid, acting stupid, and thinking you would get a position in his re-election administration. Wasn’t going to happen, didn’t happen, now both of y’all can comfort each other and cry. But after many many months later you told people you had proof the election was stolen.

You didn’t have no proof then and you don’t have no damn proof now! You even had the colossal nerve to go on national television waving and flinging your arms around, while all the time saying some crazy things that didn’t make no damn sense to anybody. Mike, stop the foolishness, OKd. Do me a favor, Mike, my (best friend,) Norma Jean would say, “shut up, sit down and be real still.”

Well this has been a hard year. In March, I had a mild heart attack and the month after that I got hit by a car. A couple of months ago my husband thought he had a heart attack and my hands and feet felt like someone set them on fire, then they started to blister and swelled up and I ended up at Vanderbilt Emergency Room. After sitting in there all night they did a biopsy on my right and left index fingers and I had stitches in my right and left index fingers.

I hope nothing else bad happens to me. This has been one crazy year. My hands were so messed up I couldn’t tie my shoes, I couldn’t button my jeans. I would have my husband open things for me. I felt so helpless. I should be dead from everything I have gone through, but I guess I’m lucky to be alive. I must have some purpose to be alive.

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

VENDOR WRITING

LOVE

LOOK FORWARD TO THAT DAY

FRED S.

THE DEATH OF A CHILD (1995)

Love to me is just a four-letter word.

Do they mean it when they say I love you?

TYRONE M.

JOHN H.

Walking to my corner, looking waving, smiling at many Can’t wait to be on my corner, trying to sell papers if any Hit in the back with brick, wasn’t a good sign

Being homeless can they say they love me too?

The death of a child leaves you empty

Is it something that we have to do?

Just thank the Lord for healing, now I’m fine

/ in dispair I just wish and pray that someday

You sit crying there

Taking up that cross, never know what may occur

someone will show or tell me that they

In that empty chair

Many hate the truth, some scripture they don’t prefer Can’t let that stop you, speak the truth anyway

Love: Me it seems no one cares

God will reward you in Heaven, look forward to that day

but Jesus is standing there He feels your sorrow He feels your pain

TEAR DROPS

Jesus is there to comfort you

CHILDREN OF GOD

once again

TYRONE M.

GARY E.

Tear Drops

The Death of a child

Tear Drops,

makes a whole family mourn /

Christ,

then comes Jesus to bring you Peace

Mighty in the midst of us,

covering the nation

face, I seek Justice

but it never came

(African Americans)

Gives us victory over every limitation.

The Death of a child leaves you

As Children of GOD, we are

staring out that same old window

Happy, healthy, prosperous

going back / again

Wise, loving and FREE

Tear Drops it’s playing out in your life Because Justice was covered up!

it’s hard to get over a death of a child

Because Justice was hid!

Because Justice was buried!

First you cry, / cry

Because Justice was thrown out!

then you just pray a while

Because Justice was missed!

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER DEANA H.

Because Justice was sh*tted on and used for toilet paper Justice was burned!

Then God gives you strength Then God gives you power

A November to Remember

To withstand the pain

Is be ahead of the game

Justice was lynched!

For every day is not the same

Justice was left out!

Hour after hour

Justice was ignored

By giving them a smile, it

Justice was shot 32 times in the back! Justice wasn’t even

armed!

Then little by little God

Will carry on for miles,

Sends his love that helps us

You will see that you

To overcome the sorrow

Pay it forward life is a

The pain

Blessing or a lesson

Tear Drops, Tear Drops,

You can make someone’s day

A November to Remember Thank you God

You changed someone’s life

once again

Just by your touch a hug

Dripping onto (America’s face)

Giving hot cocoa in a mug

/America should be ashamed!!!

I remember November But at (last) Justice came!!!

So well

PAGE 18 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

FUN

HOBOSCOPES CAPRICORN

Just another couple of weeks, and everything should be back to normal, Capricorn! Although, I must admit that “back to normal” has been holding at a two weeks distance for a very long time now. How long have you been waiting? What if this is it, Capricorn?

What if this is normal? And if that’s the case, I think today is a great day for you to do the thing you always think you’ll do in a couple of weeks.

AQUA RIUS

You order the same thing every time you go. You wear that same shirt every chance you get. You watch that same TV series all the way through and when you get to the end you start back at the beginning. It’s a time for changes, Aquarius, and you’ve got lots of options. If you don’t know what to change, start with something easy to loosen up your brain. Get the shrimp instead of the chicken. Wear a hat. Go by a different name. Get a bionic arm. Feel the power.

TAURUS

After weeks of action and distraction, it’s strange when everything around just starts to slow down. It’s like you stopped paying attention just long enough for the room to fill with honey. It makes it hard to want to keep moving. Maybe you don’t have to, Taurus. Let the slow wrap you up and pull you in. There’s no rush, Taurus. Have a seat and let your mind wander.

GEMINI

I feel like every year of my childhood has a different flavor. When I hear 1985, I can almost taste buttery movie theater popcorn. When I think about 1991, it’s more like a tangy but thin store-brand ketchup.

What was last year’s flavor for you, Gemini? I’m hoping this next year tastes a little better. What would it be if you could pick?

VIRGO

At what point are you actually in the tub? You can lean over the tub. Soak your feet in the tub. You can stand in the tub while it fills. Some would say you can even sit in the tub without being “in the tub.” But I think this next year is the one for you to get all the way in, Virgo. You’ve been so close for so long and I think it’s time you stop wading. Get in. Get in like you’re gonna be in for a while.

LIBRA

You know that one commercial that plays before every video you watch lately. You probably searched for the product one time and you have no intention of buying it and now it plays at the beginning of everything you want to see. I’d just like to point out that I have now caused that commercial to play in your brain at the beginning of this horoscope. Your mind is a powerful place to hang.

Don’t let just anybody in there.

CANCER

PISCES

If your life was a musical, Pisces, this would be my favorite part: the intermission. Act I had so many great songs and then that huge number right before the curtain came down that brought them all together.

I think we’ve established who the characters are, what they want, and what’s getting in the way. I’ve got a feeling there’s a lot of surprises coming up in Act II, so maybe take this opportunity to grab an overpriced ginger ale and talk to your seatmates about what’s working and what isn’t.

ARIES

Is it Thursday? It feels like a Thursday, but I’m pretty sure the garbage got picked up yesterday, which would definitely make this a Tuesday. But it can’t be Tuesday because I didn’t go to my Amateur Astrologer’s Astral meetup in my sleep last night.

Maybe they canceled this week? Nothing seems like it’s happening in the right order right now, Aries. Enjoy it while it lasts. See how long you can go without finding out what day it is.

I just started listening to this podcast where an aspiring journalist goes to a small, sleepy town and starts asking questions about a crime that happened a decade ago. As you can imagine, Cancer, they uncover some surprises. Like, how could the detective have a Slurpee at 9 a.m. when it’s a well established fact that the Slurpee machine at Pine and Rivercrest never got turned on until 11? It reminded me that this is a great time for you to do some heavy-hitting investigation into your own emotional responses. How do you feel right now? Interesting.

LEO

When you take stock of the last year, Leo, you may think about areas where you made progress and areas where you wish you had. You’ll think about the opportunities you took and the ones you missed. While you’re deep in that list, I’d like you to add one more category. What difference did it make to anybody else? As you stretch forward into a new year, give a thought to how your actions could make life easier for the people around you.

SCORPIO

I think this year’s gonna be different, Scorpio. When they do the countdown from 10 and then everybody screams and kisses and the trumpets blare and all the new calendars fall from the ceiling, I think things are really gonna be different. But just in case they aren’t, Scorpio, just in case the changing date doesn’t fix everything you’ve wanted to change, I just wanted to say that I really like the way you are already and I think you’re doing a fantastic job.

SAGITTA R IUS

All the shows we stopped watching last year, Sagittarius. The ones where we just couldn’t get past the second episode. The ones we almost finished and then forgot about. The ones we’ve watched for seasons and seasons but this time we just couldn’t keep going. Set them all free as you step forward into this bold new future. You don’t have to finish those shows. You don’t even have to think about them anymore.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a registered plumber, or a trained librettist. Mr. Mysterio is, however, a budding intermediate podcaster! Check out The Mr. Mysterio Podcast. Season 2 is now playing at mrmysterio.com. Got a question, just give Mr. M a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19

PAGE 20 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

CROSSWORD THEME: W INTER FUN ACROSS 1. Rope fiber 5. Mai ____ 8. Russia's Terrible one, e.g.

12. "What ____ Happened to Baby Jane?"

13. Tattled 14. Actress Reed 15. Internet share-able 16. Inwardly 17. Black tropical hardwood 18. *Winged impression in winter 20. Home of the Hawkeyes 21. Investigative report 22. Chicken or this?

23. Not dense 26. Early-day supercontinent 30. Afternoon shut-eye 31. Even though 34. Picture on a coat 35. Anti-seniors sentiment 37. Jean of Dadaism 38. Crewneck alternative 39. Half-man, half-goat 40. Arm cover 42. Victoria Beckham ____ Adams 43. Lacking sense of

moral standards 45. Flying high 47. Often part of disguise 48. Queen-like 50. Wood file 52. *____ ____ Plunge 56. Secret stash 57. Damien's prediction 58. Not at work 59. Opposite of cation 60. Abbreviated seconds 61. Precedes stated rank 62. Moon pull 63. *Like toddy or cocoa 64. Trans-Siberian Railroad city DOWN 1. Shortens pants 2. Like fair share 3. Short for memorandum 4. Antebellum 5. Polynesian kingdom 6. Ten-pin establishment 7. Bucolic poem 8. *Ride on runners 9. *Winter building material 10. Tolstoy's Karenina 11. R&B Charles 13. *Glittery decor 14. Condescend

19. Indian black tea 22. Nibble 23. Big mess 24. Like a Druid, e.g.

25. Celery, technically 26. *Snowman's corn cob accessory 27. Are not 28. Wedding singer, e.g.

29. Questioned 32. *Snow____, ammunition 33. *"But I heard him exclaim, ____ he drove out of sight..."

36. *Winter walking aid 38. Type of consonant 40. Actors' grp.

41. a.k.a. strict vegetarians 44. Mature, as in fruit 46. Like Silas of "The Da Vinci Code" 48. Young Montague 49. Decide at the polls 50. Jasmine of "Aladdin" 51. Turns blue litmus red 52. #42 Across, once 53. Cheese from Netherlands 54. Contributions to the poor 55. Stink to high heaven 56. *Arctic ____, snowmobile brand

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head; The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes; I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky, And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay Close by me forever, and love me, I pray; Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there.

-Anonymous

Thank you for the privilege of sharing this story every day. Merry Christmas.

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 21

The New Christian Year Selected by Charles Williams (1941)

Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), the editor of the following selections, is today probably the third most famous of the famous Inklings literary group of Oxford, England, which existed in the middle of the 20th century, and which included among its ranks the better-known and longer-lived Oxford Dons J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. First published in 1941, this series of profound quotations, encompassing all walks of life, follows the sequence of the themes and Bible readings anciently appointed for contemplation throughout the church's year. It is hoped that the readings reproduced here will prove beneficial for any who read them, whatever their place in life's journey. — Matthew Carver

4TH WEDNESDAY IN ADVENT RELIGION is no religion, and virtue is no act of choice, and reward comes by chance and without condition, if we are only religious when we cannot choose; if we part with our money when we cannot keep it; with out lust when we cannot act it; with our desires when they have left us. Death is a certain mortifier; but that mortification is deadly, not useful to the purposes of a spiritual life. When we are compelled to depart from our evil customs and leave to live, that we may begin to live, then we die to die; that life is the prologue to death, and thenceforth we die eternally.

Jeremy Taylor: Holy Dying.

4TH THURSDAY IN ADVENT THE Light which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, came here in the flesh; because He was here in His Divinity alone, the foolish, blind, and unrighteous could not discern Him; those of whom it is said above, The darkness comprehended it not.

St Augustine: On St John.

WHAT is it to serve Christ? The very words explain. They serve Christ who seek not their own things, but the things of Jesus Christ, i.e. who follow him, walk in His, not their own, ways, do all good works for Christ's sake, not only works of mercy to men's bodies, but all others, till at length they fulfil that great work of love, and lay down their lives for the brethren.

St Augustine, quoted in St Thomas: Catena Aurea.

4TH FRIDAY IN ADVENT LOVE is a life, coupling together the loving and the loved. For meekness maketh us sweet to God; purity joins us to God; love makes us one with God. Love is fairhead [beauty] of all virtues. Love is [the] thing through which God loves us, and we God, and each one of us other. Love is [the] desire of the heart, ever thinking to that it loves; and when it has that is loves, then it joys, and nothing may make it sorry. Love is yearning between two, with lastingness of thought. Love is a stirring of the soul, for to love God for himself and all the other things for God; the which love, when it is ordained in God, does away all inordinate love in anything that is not good. But all deadly sin is inordinate love in a thing that is naught; then love puts out all deadly sin. Love is a virtue, that is rightest affection of man's soul. Truth may be without love, but it may naught help without it. Love is perfection of letters, virtue of prophecy, fruit of truth, help of sacraments, stabling of wit and cunning (knowledge), riches of poor men, life of dying men.

See how good love is.

Richard Rolle: The Form of Living.

CHRISTMAS DAY THIS is the solemnity of all the Holy Trinity Father and Son and Holy Ghost by whom this sovereign deed of the Incarnation was wrought and fulfilled . . . But sovereignly this day is a high feast and a special solemnity of all mankind: for this day was mankind sovereignly worshipped in that it was oned and knitted to the Godhead in Christ without departing. And this day began the healing and the redemption of mankind, and the reconciling to the Father of heaven. For unto this time God was wroth to mankind for the sin and the trespass of our forefathers. But from this time forth he may no longer be wroth seeing his dear Son became man. And therefore is this day skilfully called the plenty [plenteousness] of time to man.

The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, tr. by Nicholas Love.

BUT he was under a heavier law than the Greeks or Romans, the law of his Father and his own eternal decree.

Donne: Sermons on Christmas Day, 1625.

NOT by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by taking of the manhood into God. The Creed commonly called of St Athanasius.

GOD united Himself with her spirit, and spake to her His secret Word, and bare His only son in her spirit with unspeakable love and joy. This is the eternal birth of Mary.

Tauler: Sermons.

SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS CHRIST’S human nature was so utterly bereft of Self and apart from all creatures as no man's ever was . . . Neither of that in him which belonged to God, nor of that which was a living human nature and a habitation of God, did he, as man, claim any thing for his own. His human nature did not even take unto itself the Godhead, whose dwelling it was, nor anything that this same Godhead willed, or did or left undone in him, nor yet any thing of all that his human nature did or suffered; but in Christ's human nature there was no claiming of anything, nor seeking nor desire, saving that what was due might be rendered to the Godhead; and he did not call this very desire his own.

Theologica Germanica.

THE FEAST OF ST STEPHEN DEATH is ugsome (loathsome) and very terrible unto the flesh; but joyful and welcome is it unto all such as are instructed in the secret science of God. Coverdale: Fruitful Lessons upon the Passion.

THE Lord, having taken upon him all the infirmities of our body, is then covered with the scaret-coloured blood of all the martyrs.

Hilary, quoted by Aquinas: Catena Aurea.

THE FEAST OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST HE did lay aside His own nature in that He did make Himself poor of the fame of His holiness, goodness and innocence . . .

He might have revealed himself in all the fame of holiness, so that He would have been universally held to be the greatest of all saints and one in whom there was no sin; but He did choose to take upon Himself the sins of us all and the fame of holiness did He give unto His servant John.

Angela of Foligno: The Book of Divine Consolation.

OUR Lord asks but two things of us: love for Him and for our neighbor: these are what we must strive to obtain. If we practice both these virtues perfectly we shall be doing His will and so shall be united to Him. St Teresa: The Interior Castle.

GOD loves all existing things.

Aquinas: Summa Theologica.

CHRISTMAS WEEK FRIDAY THE affirmative man, that does acknowledge all blessings, spiritual and temporal, to come from God, that prepares himself by holiness to be fit to receive them from God, that comes for them by humble prayer to God, that returns for them humble thanks to God, this man hath the first mark of this person upon him, He trusts in God. Donne: Sermons.

THE 'now' wherein God made the first man and the 'now' wherein the las man disappears and the 'now' I speak in, all are the same in God where this is but 'the now.'

Eckhart: Sermons and Collations.

FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION HE began betimes to suffer for us, and he that never did sin began this day to bear pain in his sweet tender body for our sin.

Much ought we to have compassion and weep with him, for he wept this day full sore . . . for that bodily circumcision we have ghostly circumcision, that is cutting away from us all superfluous things that dispose to sin, and holding with us an affection only that is needed to virtuous living. For he that is truly poor is virtuously circumcised.

The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, tr. by Nicholas Love..

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS THEN I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the city of Destruction.

Bunyan: The Pilgrim's Progress.

"I HAVE yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Not because they are so unlike your mortal experiences, but because they are so like.

Patmore: The Rod, the Root, and the Flower.

2ND Monday AFTER CHRISTMAS IT shines everywhere, though not to all. In a word, it shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehends it not. The light sees the darkness, for with it seeing and shining are the same thing; but it is not in turn seen by the darkness, because the darkness comprehends it not.

St Bernard: On Consideration.

ALL bodies together and all minds together and all their products are not equal to the least motion of love; that belongs to an order higher by infinity.

Pascal: Pensées.

THE Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true.

Others say, "Go out of yourselves; seek happiness in amusement." And this is not true. Illness comes.

Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is in God, both without us and within us.

Pascal: Pensées.

THE FEAST OF HOLY INNOCENTS

2ND TUESDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

WELCOME, all wonders in one sight!

Eternity shut in a span, Summer in winter, day in night, Heaven in earth and God in man.

Great little one, whose all-embracing birth Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.

Crashaw: Nativity Ode.

CHRISTMAS WEEK Thursday WE cannot know whether we love God, although there may be strong reasons for thinking so, but there can be no doubt about whether we love our neighbor or no. Be sure that in proportion as you advance in fraternal charity, you are increasing in your love for God, for His Majesty bears so tender an affection for us, that I cannot doubt He will repay our love for others in augmenting, in a thousand different ways, that which we bear for Him. Saint Teresa: The Interior Castle.

LOVE is a life, coupling together the loving and the loved. For meekness maketh us sweet to God; purity joins us to God; love makes us one with God. Love is fairhead [beauty] of all virtues. Love is [the] thing through which God loves us, and we God, and each one of us other. Love is [the] desire of the heart, ever thinking to that it loves; and when it has that is loves, then it joys, and nothing may make it sorry. Love is yearning between two, with lastingness of thought. Love is a stirring of the soul, for to love God for himself and all the other things for God; the which love, when it is ordained in God, does away all inordinate love in anything that is not good. But all deadly sin is inordinate love in a thing that is naught; then love puts out all deadly sin. Love is a virtue, that is rightest affection of man's soul. Truth may be without love, but it may naught help without it. Love is perfection of letters, virtue of prophecy, fruit of truth, help of sacraments, stabling of wit and cunning (knowledge), riches of poor men, life of dying men.

See how good love is.

Richard Rolle: The Form of Living.

Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher

PAGE 22 | December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

MOVING PICTURES

Oh Little Town of Bedford Falls AT 75, FRANK CAPRA’S 'IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE' IS A CINEMATIC GIFT FOR EVERY SEASON

BY JOE NOLAN Film Critic When It’s a Wonderful Life was released on Dec. 20, 1946, it was way ahead of its time.

While contemporary viewers may think of the film as one of the darkest Christmas stories ever filmed, contemporaneous audiences found It’s a Wonderful Life to be sentimental and overly optimistic when it was released about 14 months after the end of WWII. Despite mixed reviews and audience reactions, the movie received five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, and it won the Oscar’s Technical Achievement Award.

The film’s copyright changed hands a number of times over the years, and an administrative error at National Telefilm Associates saw the copyright lapse and slip into the public domain in 1974. This allowed television programmers to add the movie to their schedules without paying expensive licensing fees, and by the 1980s It’s a Wonderful Life had become a classic holiday movie tradition in households across the country.

But It’s a Wonderful Life is more than a very good Christmas movie. It might be the

greatest American film of all time. The very structure of It’s a Wonderful Life is unique and still surprising three quarters of a century after its release. Can you think of any other film that tells the entire story of a man’s life from his birth to the establishment of his own young family before the last act takes a fantastic turn into an alternate reality that overthrows everything that came before it?

Watching the film in 2021, it’s still a unique experience to follow the movie’s patient, detailed wind-up that completely illuminates the lives of the people in the little town of Bedford Falls, only to have the whole experience turned upside down once George finds his way to that lonely bridge.

Of course the performances in It’s a Wonderful Life are the stuff that Hollywood history is made of. Stewart has never been better than he is as George Bailey, the everyman dreamer who constantly defers his own goals and desires in order to do what’s best for his family and friends. Donna Reed gleams as Mary, George’s soulmate with the spunky can-do spirit. Lionel Barrymore is

unforgettable as the mean old miser, Mr. Potter. This terrific trio at the center of the film is surrounded by an equally talented supporting cast, and it’s a hallmark of Frank Capra’s films that even incidental characters somehow feel fully realized even if they’re given only a line or two of dialogue. Obviously, this movie would be completely different without Stewart or Reed or Barrymore, but I can’t imagine it without Gloria Grahame as Violet or Ward Bond as Bert the cop or Frank Faylen as Ernie the taxi driver.

It’s a Wonderful Life gives viewers a series of chapters that follow the major events in George’s life and reflect the real history of the first half of the 20th century in America.

Capra and Stewart joined forces on the film after both had returned from service after World War II. Stewart served as a bomber pilot during the conflict and Capra made documentary films for the Army Signal Corps.

It’s a Wonderful Life is a definitive post-war movie that’s colored by the experiences these men — and the country as a whole – endured during the conflict. It’s a Wonderful Life

December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 23

asks ‘Was all the sacrifice and the bloodshed to stop the tide of fascism worth it?’

The film’s answer is yes, America is still a moral place where moral people dedicated to their communities can make a difference.

But it’s a dark, conflicted and complicated affirmation that acknowledges the bad deeds of bad actors and the everyday tragedies that will always mark the lives of mortal humans. Long before the great American film masterpieces of the 1970s, It’s a Wonderful Life gave us an existential story about the meaning we make and the communities we create when we choose to live selfless lives in service of others.

It’s a Wonderful Life is screening at the Belcourt through Dec. 24. Go to www.belcourt.org for times and tickets

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/ songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.