IN THIS ISSUE

Unity gets new owner

In our quest to discover “where the jobs are,” we found a homegrown business that has provided jobs along with compassion-ate community service for 35 years. We also found an

indomitable woman with an inspiring story. Come along.

➤ Read Sandra Clark on page 9

Dem women prepare to party

The oldest Democratic women’s club in America is throwing itself a party.

The Knox County Demo-cratic Women’s Club, estab-lished March 28, 1928, will celebrate its 85th anniversary year 6:30 Saturday, March 8, at the Southern Depot, in con-junction with Women’s History Month. The public is invited and descendants of charter members will be there. There will be music, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. It’s not a costume party, but period attire will be welcome.

➤ Read Betty Bean on page 4

Spring sportsNo doubt you are delighted,

perhaps even bubbling over, with the coming of spring sports at the University of Ten-nessee.

What, you hadn’t even thought of Volunteer track, baseball, tennis or golf?

These are the fun and games funded by football and donations. Please mark your calendar. Enjoy.

➤ Read Marvin West on page 5

VOL. 2 NO. 8 February 24, 2014www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

7049 Maynardville Pike 37918(865) 922-4136

NEWS

news@ShopperNewsNow.comSandra Clark | Betsy Pickle

ADVERTISING SALESads@ShopperNewsNow.com

Shannon Carey

Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore

Brandi Davis | Patty Fecco

Candidates visitValentine’s Day had come

and gone, but there was a lot of love in the room at the Febru-ary South of the River Demo-crats meeting.

More than two dozen at-tendees packed the meeting room at the South Knoxville Community Center on Feb. 17 to learn about and support Democratic candidates for races this year.

➤ Read Betsy Pickle on page 3

By Betty BeanJennifer Nagel’s 7-year-old

daughter spent her snow days reading a book. That might not sound like a big deal, but to Na-gel, it’s almost mi-raculous because reading has been an ordeal for her daughter, who has an undiagnosed

learning disability. Nagel says her daughter’s teacher has been very helpful, but the school system has not. So she started looking for solu-tions on her own.

Almost by accident, she found

Opting out: Parent says K-2 testing harms daughter

To page 3

By Betsy PickleAmid all the discussion and

controversy over schools in Knox County, there’s one that gets As from everyone who’s been in-volved with it.

The Aviation Academy at Mc-Ghee Tyson Airport is an ac-claimed, groundbreaking endeav-or that has become a model for programs across the country. And it takes only fi ve days to graduate!

The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority is accepting ap-plications through March 14 for the program, which runs on fi ve consecutive Wednesday evenings April 23 through May 21.

“This will be our third class,” says Becky Huckaby, the author-ity’s vice president of public rela-tions. “The Aviation Academy was created during the year the air-port was celebrating its 75th an-niversary.

“We were looking for ways to help bring the public in and inter-act with the facility, instead of just thinking of our building as a place where people come to take a trip or to rent a car or to pick someone up. We wanted people to know about the people who work here, about the signifi cant operations that go into keeping the facility open and also what kind of impact we have just being in the community.

“We had such wonderful mo-ments with the people who par-ticipated (the fi rst year), we opted to make this an annual program.”

Aviation Academy

Class members

get up close

with an engine.

Aviation Academy participants examine a military helicopter at McGee Ty-

son Airport. Photos submitted

off ers backstage look at

Jennifer Nagel

By Jake MabeHe was a big man with an even

bigger heart. And he’ll be missed.

Roger Wilson, 55, passed away Feb. 16, following an illness. He was a longtime employee of the Knox County Sheriff’s Offi ce, in-cluding a 22-year stint at assistant

chief deputy.“I’d usually talk to him every

day,” Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones said. “No fi ve people could do Roger Wilson’s job.”

For the past few years, Wil-

Roger Wilson

The academy is free, but there is a rigorous screening process for applicants.

“They have to go through a background-clearance process because we’re taking them behind the scenes and taking them into areas of the airport that the gen-eral public typically doesn’t get to go,” says Huckaby.

The program is targeted toward adults age 21 and older – and there is no upper limit.

“This last class we had someone who was 85 years old.”

The fi rst two classes had mem-bers from eight counties through-out East Tennessee. Between 25 and 35 people will be accepted for the academy – some of the areas

Knox airportKnox airport

Carter community, Sheriff’s Offi ce lose special friend

son was in charge of inmate work crews. They would perform main-tenance for nonprofi ts and around the county, working at such places as the Halls Outdoor Classroom.

Wilson himself would secure bicycles and food baskets for those who needed them, as well as help former inmates and their children. Jones said Wilson never publi-cized it and wanted it that way. Last year, he racked up $125,000 in volunteer hours for nonprofi ts.

“I had just talked to him, and he was feeling better. He’d had some health problems. So it was not a complete shock, but it was a

Staff and students at Pellissippi

State’s Magnolia Avenue Campus

hosted entertainer Kelle Jolly Feb.

19 as part of the school’s Season

of Music.

Pictured after the performance

are students Jessica Michel (at

left) and Druscilla Roberts (at

right) with performers Emily

Mathis and Jolly.

Refreshments were provided by

Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Inc.,

Alpha Xi Chapter.

Jolly interacted with students, an-

swering questions and discussing

the history of African-American

music.Photo by S . Clark

The Freedom of

Jazz and Blues

visited are cramped, and there are space limitations.

“Our class members are people who have a genuine interest in our facility, who are opinion leaders within their own groups who can help spread the word about what the airport’s doing and what im-

To page 3

a critically acclaimed series of books co-written by actor Henry Winkler and the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity for and about dyslexic kids – who knew the Fonz has a master’s degree from Yale, and dyslexia?

As of last week, Nagel’s daugh-ter is halfway through a book about a resourceful dyslexic boy named Hank Zipzer, printed with a special font designed for dys-lexics, who frequently have prob-lems with letters that seem to fl oat around the page.

Nagel says her daughter has fi nally found joy in reading, no

To page 3

Over 20 years experience

SALES • SERVICE • MAINTENANCE5715 Old Tazewell Pike • 687-2520

“Cantrell’s Cares”

A+ RATINGWITH

We Offer:We Offer:• Complete inspections, maintenance & repairs for all air conditioning & heating equipment

• Money-saving high-effi ciency system upgrades!

• FREE ESTIMATES on new equipment

• FINANCING through TVA Energy Right program

• Maintenance plans available.

JOBSWHERE

the

ARE

Dr. L.C. Powell

2 • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

serving our patients for more than 25 years.

Fort Sanders Center for Advanced Medicine1819 Clinch Avenue, Suite 108

Knoxville, TN 37916

CardiologistsBrian J. Adams, M.D.

Thomas M. Ayres, M.D.Jeffrey M. Baerman, M.D.

Lee R. Dilworth, M.D.George M. Krisle, M.D.

Daniel M. Slutzker, M.D.

Joseph S. Smith, M.D.Joshua W. Todd, M.D.David E. Wood, M.D.

For more information please call (865) 546-5111 or visit knoxvilleheartgroup.com.

0094-0082

Statins: What do the changing guidelines mean for you?Are you a male over the age of 65, but told

that your cholesterol levels are fi ne? You still might need to take a statin drug,

according to new guidelines from the Ameri-can Heart Association and the American Col-lege of Cardiology. A statin is a cholesterol-lowering medication, but decades of studies have shown that they can also help prevent heart attacks and strokes even if cholesterol levels are at previously defi ned targets.

“We are now treating our high cardio-vascular risk patients with statins. We don’t

think of them as cho-lesterol pills, but rather as cardiovascular and stroke reduction pills,” said interventional car-diologist Dr. Joshua Todd of the Knoxville Heart Group and Fort Sanders Regional Med-ical Center.

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued the

new guidelines in November 2013. The pre-vious guidelines targeted three groups of pa-tients – those with known cardiovascular dis-ease, an LDL at very high levels (>190 mg/dl) and patients with diabetes (age 40-75).

The new guidelines include a fourth

Catherine Miles talks with

Renee Hammett while at

the cardiac rehabilitation

program at Fort Sanders

Regional Medical Center.

Close to home and close to the heartdidn’t want to be left alone,” she said. But, there was no chance of that. Ivee Slater said she took one look at her mother and knew right away she needed emergency care.

“I said, ‘Sister, you’ve got to get out of here!’ ” said Slater. “There was nothing in the house that would make her feel better, so we had to go. I wasn’t going to sit there and let my mother hurt.

“But of course she had to put her perfume, earrings and her cross on, and do her hair,” Ivee Slater said with a laugh.

The Slaters took Miles to the emergency department at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Cen-ter, just a few minutes from their home. It was around 6 a.m. when they arrived.

Heart attacks are less likely to be recognized in women than men. While men most often have classic chest pain symptoms, women are more likely to experience atypi-cal symptoms such as nausea or sweating with a heart attack.

But at Fort Sanders Regional, emergency room staff right away gave Miles an electrocardiogram (EKG), a test to detect abnormal electrical activity in the heart.

“Evidently they are experts at knowing when something’s wrong,” said Miles. “They right off said, ‘It’s the heart.’ ”

The emergency department called in Dr. Joshua Todd, an intervention-al cardiologist with Knoxville Heart Group. Fort Sanders Regional has cardiologists on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all living within a short drive of the hospital.

“Dr. Todd and his team, some-body must be on duty at all times, because that team came right in

group who will need statin therapy – those with an estimated 10-year risk of heart at-tack or stroke greater than 7.5 percent. The percentage is based on a calculation from several risk factors that include the patient’s overall cholesterol level, the HDL level plus a handful of other risk factors, such as gen-der, age, race, blood pressure and whether a

patient smokes or has diabetes. The physician plugs those factors into

a “risk calculator” to fi nd a patient’s score, which calculates a person’s risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years.

Anybody with a 7.5 percent or higher risk should take a statin, the new guidelines say. Under the old 2002 guidelines, a person’s

Dr. Joshua Todd

Get heart healthy!Physical exercise and a heart-healthy diet are keys to

preventing and recovering from heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. Some more heart healthy recommendations:

■ Don’t smoke ■ Maintain a healthy weight ■ Get daily moderate exercise ■ Eat a healthy diet, low in saturated fats, processed sugar and

sodium, and high in fi ber ■ Eat fi ve fruits and vegetables each day ■ Know your numbers for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood

sugar, and manage high levels with medication if necessary

10-year risk had to exceed 20 percent to goon statins.

The risk rate is set lower because the calculator is also factoring the possibil-ity of stroke as well as heart disease. Heartdisease is the leading cause of death in the world, but stroke is fourth, according to the American Heart Association.

“So, for example, a 62-year-old male with normal blood pressure and cholesterol lev-els has a 7.5 percent risk,” said Dr. Todd.“So he’s going to be on a statin.”

Even some people with a risk as low as 5 percent can benefi t from a statin, studieshave shown, especially African-Americanwomen over age 60 with high blood pres-sure, and men over 50 who smoke and havehigh blood pressure.

Statins are generally low in cost, about $4-5 a month for a generic brand, with a low risk of side effects as well. “They’re verysafe,” said Todd. “We do see some muscle and liver side effects, but they’re rare.”

Overall, more people will be hearing theirdoctors say they need to be on a statin.

“It’s going to be a big change for peoplewho were previously told their cholesterollevels were at target,” said Todd. “Twiceas many Americans will be taking statinsbased on these new guidelines with the hopeof a dramatic reduction in cardiovascularevents.”

and did the job,” said Miles. Miles was sent up to the heart

catheterization lab.“They took her back right

away,” said Ivee Salter. “By the time my husband got back from parking the car, they were starting the procedure. It was so fast, it was done in 45 minutes.”

Miles had a 100 percent block-age in her right coronary artery. Todd inserted a slender catheter (a tube) into the main artery in her groin and threaded it up to the heart, without cutting open the chest.

He found and removed the clot in her heart, and inserted a tiny mesh stent to hold open the artery in that spot.

After two nights in the hospital,

Miles went home. She continues attending the cardiac rehabilita-tion program at Fort Sanders to maintain her strength and endur-ance, and she is walking every day for exercise.

“We’re doing protein powder in the morning and a gluten-freediet, a blood thinner and vitamin K,” said Slater. “I’ve lost 12 pounds along with her!”

Miles said she would recom-mend Fort Sanders to anyone who needs cardiac care.

“Everybody, really they were wonderful, they were wonderful,” Miles added. “I felt blessed to be so near to home, and here.”

And, she credits her daughter for her quick thinking. “She has been a blessing to me.”

It was in the middle of the night in late June when Catherine Miles, 87, woke up to extreme nausea. She thought maybe it was a stom-ach virus, but never suspected a heart attack.

“I was sick to my stomach all

night. But I had no chest pains,” said Miles, who lives in Knoxville with her daughter and son-in-law, Ivee and John Slater.

When the fi rst morning light came up, Miles was worried her family would go off to work. “I

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • 3

Opting out From page 1

thanks to Knox County Schools.

Knox County Schools Di-rector of Student Support Services Melissa Massie said she cannot comment on Nagel’s daughter’s situa-tion and is not familiar with the Winkler books.

“But we have a number of interventions that look at multi-sensory approaches (for learning disabilities),” Massie said.

Back in December, Na-gel, who is PTA president at Amherst Elementary School, fought back tears as she stood at the lectern and told the school board how her youngest daugh-ter is being affected by the

17 district-mandated tests she has to take during the school year. Once a happy child, she’s now anxious and overwhelmed by her strug-gles with a yet-undiagnosed read ing disorder, Nagel said.

“She hates school be-cause she thinks she is stu-pid,” Nagel said, calling the K-2 Assessment (formerly known as SAT 10) “a test that is set up for her to fail.”

She expressed frustra-tion at what she sees as the school system’s infl exibility, And because of the diffi cul-ties her child had as a 1st-grader, Nagel says she will not subject her to the K-2 Assessment again this year.

“My daughter has been

struggling since kindergar-ten, saying there’s some-thing wrong. She couldn’t get phonics, and that’s all they taught. I kept saying she needs more help, but they just didn’t get to her. Up until six months ago, I thought the school system was doing the best they could for her. But I kept say-ing she needs more help, and they didn’t respond. Nearly one in fi ve children has some form of dyslexia. That’s roughly four kids in every class.”

Massie said KCS is vigi-lant about paying attention to young students who don’t make suffi cient progress.

“When we identify those students, we will begin in-tervention as early as kin-dergarten,” she said. “We may not have a label on it as

formal as dyslexia, but we have identifi ed it.”

Meanwhile, Nagel said her daughter can’t sleep the night before the test, and cries and doesn’t want to go to school the next morning.

“She yells about little things and gets very stressed. She worries that she’ll get her teacher in trouble if she messes up,” Nagel said.

Although the K-2 Assess-ment is not required by the state, KCS offi cials have told Nagel and other parents that they cannot opt their children out. Nagel says she has been given an unaccept-able alternative:

“I refuse to let her take the SAT 10 test, so I have to keep my healthy daughter home, just so she won’t have to take a test that will be harmful to her.”

KCS Accountability Offi -cer Nakia Towns said that no one representing KCS tells parents to keep their chil-dren at home on test day.

“We don’t advise people to not send their children to school,” Towns said. “For every child that is in atten-dance, those are included as part in those assessments.”

In a Feb. 17 email ex-change with another parent who is considering opting her children out of the high-stakes tests, Supervisor of Testing Laurie Driver ap-peared to hint that skipping school could be a way out of taking the tests.

“Although the SAT 10 is an optional state as-sessment, it is a required assessment in the Knox County Schools. Like TCAP and End of Course assess-

ments, all students are ex-pected to participate. Theonly students who are ex-empt from required testingare those who are not pres-ent to take the assessment,”Driver said.

Meanwhile, Nagel saysthere’s one more option – aprivate evaluation, whichcomes with two signifi cantproblems: expense anduncertainty about the re-sponse she’d get from KCS.

“My friend paid $350 toget an evaluation privately,”Nagel said. “It confi rmeddyslexia. I was told I coulddo the same thing, but itdoesn’t guarantee they’drecognize the fi ndings.That’s when I gave up andsaid this is ridiculous.”

She says she’s thinkingabout spending the moneyon a lawyer.

Valentine’s Day had come and gone, but there was a lot of love in the room at the February South of the River Democrats meeting.

More than two dozen at-tendees packed the meeting room at the South Knoxville Community Center on Feb. 17 to learn about and sup-port Democratic candidates for races this year.

Cheri Siler, candidate for the State Senate District 7 seat, Jim Berrier, candidate for Knox County trustee, and Amber Rountree, candi-date for Knox County School Board District 9, all came to introduce themselves.

Another special guest, Kathy Manning, chair of the Knox County Democratic Women’s Club, came to in-vite chapter members to the KCDWC’s 85th anniversary celebration. The group was the fi rst county Democratic women’s club founded in the United States.

The event, featuring a reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres, is 6:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at South-ern Depot. Tickets are $40 and are available through https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/85.

Siler, an instructional coach with Knox County Schools, says she felt com-pelled to run for offi ce be-cause of her dissatisfaction with the job state Sen. Sta-cey Campfi eld is doing. The mother of six says she’s a “proponent of hard work and public schools.”

Berrier, who was in the fi rst graduating class of South-Doyle High School, has spent his career in the fi nancial fi eld. He says he wants to re-establish trust in the trustee’s offi ce and put fi duciary principles to work for taxpayers.

Rountree came to Knox-ville to attend the Univer-sity of Tennessee and stayed on because she fell in love with Knoxville. A librarian at Halls Elementary School, the Island Home resident says she’s running for the school board because the board needs to have the

Donna Doyle gives Apollo – a H.A.B.I.T. (Human-Animal Bond

in Tennessee) dog – a fi nal neck scratching as Apollo’s owner,

Tresa Holt, looks on.

Current members Cameron Brooks and

Sylvia Woods are running for the state

party’s executive committee.

Members and visitors at the South of the River Democrats February meeting are (front row) Sylvia Woods, Cheri Siler, Shannon

Webb, Fran Ansley, Kathy Manning; (second row) Baron Hyatt, Mary Wilson, Polly Murphy, Amber Rountree; (third row) Sarah

Campbell, Martha Olson, Jim Sessions, Linda Haney, Vivian Webb, Debbie Helsley, Cameron Brooks; (fourth row) Daniel Lawhorn,

Jon Leach, Andrew Doss, Bill Cox, Arthur Webb, Bart Rountree and Jim Berrier.

Apollo, a sweet and friendly

80-pound Weimaraner, “nose”

that change is in the air.

Candidates visit South Dems

Betsy Pickle

Jim Berrier, candidate for Knox County trustee, and Cheri Siler,

candidate for the State Senate District 7 seat, feel at home with

the South of the River Democrats. Photos by Betsy Pickle

knowledge and experience of educators.

Two others asked for sup-port as they run for the state Democratic executive com-mittee. Current members Cameron Brooks and Sylvia Woods are seeking the posts later this year.

■ Mission: SuccessfulApollo, the H.A.B.I.T.

dog, is taking his healing powers to a new location.

The therapy dog and his owner, Tresa Holt, are volunteers with H.A.B.I.T. – Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee – and have been biweekly visitors to the Preston Medical Library at the University of Tennes-see Medical Center. They’ve been given a new assign-ment, so last Wednesday students and faculty got a chance to say goodbye to the beautiful Weimaraner.

The mythological Apollo is associated with – among other things – healing, so the approximately 3-year-old rescue dog is aptly named.

“He volunteers here at the library, and we go to special events at the vet school and UT,” says Holt. “He helps stu-dents relax while studying.

“Most of the students are not allowed to have dogs, so having someone to pet and love on is a real stress reliever for them. Plus, all three of my kids are away at

school, so I know how much they miss him.”

H.A.B.I.T. makes the de-cisions on assignments for the volunteer animals.

“The H.A.B.I.T. offi ce suggests where he is best suited to go,” says Holt. “This new assignment, they asked for him because he’s a bigger dog, and people in wheelchairs can pet him easily. He does really well with wheelchairs. But we’re going to miss everybody here.”

Another dog has been alternating with Apollo, so students will still be able to get their dose of doggie love.

“Every Wednesday at 4, there’ll be a dog here,” says Donna Doyle, supervisor of the medical library. She says the H.A.B.I.T. visitors have a big impact on stu-dents.

“They see the dogs, and they’re transformed.”

Island Home resident Amber

Rountree, librarian at Halls

Elementary School, is run-

ning for Knox County School

Board, District 9.

shock.”Wilson knew tragedy.

His son, Andy, a correc-tions officer, was killed in 2008. And yet he carried on, developing a memo-rial fund and hosting a golf tournament fundraiser in Andy’s memory.

Law enforcement and volunteerism ran in the fam-ily. Wilson’s father, Bill, is a former chief of detectives for the Sheriff’s Offi ce. His mother, Peggy, is a longtime volunteer at Hillcrest North.

“He was a prankster,”

Jones said. “He was a big man, and he had this golf cart he would ride around in. At one time, he ran the detention facility on Malo-neyville Road. One day he got a little goat in the cart and rode with it down the hill. If you were having a bad day and you saw him, you felt better.”

Wilson loved his commu-nity. He was a member at Marbledale Baptist Church and a regular at Carter High athletic events.

“He had his own yellow

penalty fl ag that he would throw if the referees didn’t call a penalty.”

Jones said the mold was broken after Roger Wilson entered the world.

“He was a fi xture, and we will make sure he won’t be forgotten. You won’t fi nd anybody who has a bad word to say about Roger Wilson.”

The family requests me-morial donations be made to the Andy Wilson Memo-rial Fund, 455 N. Wooddale Road, Strawberry Plains, TN 37871.

Special friend From page 1

pact it has on the community,” Huckaby says.Participants have been surprised at “the size of the operation, how in-depth the pro-

gramming goes here,” says Huckaby.“People take for granted that the airport is here, and they just come out and they get on

a plane, and they go on their business trip or vacation, and they get back, and they pick up their bag and they go home. They don’t think about what it takes to make the airport oper-ate smoothly for them and all the other businesses that spring up in the area because the airport is here.”

The fi ve weekly classes, running from 5:30-8:30 p.m., cover as much of the airport as possible, from its history to current operations; airport security and public safety; coop-eration with the military elements at the airport; general aviation and the Civil Air Patrol; and even the cargo facility and regional jet maintenance.

“We have cram-packed those fi ve nights,” says Huckaby. “You don’t sit still.”To apply for the academy, visit http://fl yknoxville.com/tys/programs-at-the-airport/

aviation-academy/.

Aviation Academy From page 1

4 • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • Shopper news government

VictorAshe

Betty Bean

The oldest Democratic women’s club in America is throwing itself a party.

The UT Athletic Board is meeting behind closed doors after years of being open. The News Sentinel has gone to great lengths to criticize this change.

UT Athletic Board goes silent

It is apparent that the university went to great lengths to ensure nothing comes out of the meeting that suggests remotely what is happening. No minutes are taken, and no reports are written. Clearly, they have had legal advice on how to avoid disclosure.

It leads to the ines-capable conclusion that there must be some heavy discussion going on inside the meeting room for UT to take the media hit for closed sessions with these instructions to board mem-bers and staff on how to stiff the media.

This may have been done without Gov. Bill Haslam’s knowledge or approval. However, he is chair of the board, and a simple word from him to Chancellor Cheek would end this. The board itself, which operates in public, could end it.

We should all remember that the UT board must meet in public to choose a UT president. Why should the Athletic Board be dif-ferent? UT would not be going to so much trouble to keep it all quiet if there was not something worth hiding. The Athletic Board operated well for many years in public. Why the sudden need to go silent?

■ UT President Joseph DePietro is expected to appoint an in-ternal committee to review the status of the historic Eugenia Williams house on Lyons View Pike. This house was acquired several presidents ago and has lan-guished and deteriorated.

The committee will look at the basic ques-tion of what to do with the Staub-designed house and where UT goes from here. One hopes a sensible use can be found. This needs to be resolved since UT has only been embarrassed by it to date while this historic home simply falls down in front of us.

■ Don’t hold your breath, but TVA might consider opening its com-mittee meetings to the public. That is where all its

real work occurs. Recently the regional advisory com-mittee that TVA named listed open committee meetings as one of its recommendations to the full board (now short one member). TVA has dis-cussed this in the past but opted to keep them closed every time. Current board chair Bill Sansom has op-posed going open.

Given that it is TVA’s own advisory group that has pushed this, TVA will have to respond in some way. It cannot be dis-missed. Within the group, the effort to highlight this was led by Anne Davis, head of the Tennessee Offi ce of the Southern En-vironmental Law Institute and wife of Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, and Steve Smith of the Clean Energy group here in Knoxville.

Supporting them was Gov. Haslam’s appointee on the group, Susan Rich-ardson Williams. She is a former TVA board member who unsuccessfully sup-ported open meetings along with former TVA chair Mike Duncan when she served on the board.

■ Almost fi ve years ago in 2009, Knoxvillian Troy Whiteside, who has been active in local politics, was accused of murder. The trial still has not been held. Knox County District Attor-ney General Randy Nichols recused himself early in the process, and it was transferred to DA Berkeley Bell of Greeneville. One of his assistants is actually handling the case.

It is now scheduled for trial on April 21 with Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz (who is retiring Sept. 1) to hear it. It is a fi rst-degree murder case with prominent attor-ney Greg Isaacs represent-ing Whiteside.

The DA expects it to go to trial. The judicial system has worked very slowly in this case.

Mayor Rogero will not present two budgets to City Council as previously stated in this column, but she has asked department heads to present two budgets to her prior to her single budget going to council on April 24. One will have 6 percent cuts in her internal budget hearings, which are open to the public. The 6 percent cuts are usually designed to alarm citizens into support-ing a tax increase.

Correction

Dem women prepare to party

The Knox County Demo-cratic Women’s Club, estab-lished March 28, 1928, will celebrate its 85th anniver-sary 6:30 Saturday, March 8, at the Southern Depot, in conjunction with Women’s History Month. The public is invited and descendants of charter members will be there. There will be music, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. It’s not a costume party, but period attire will be welcome.

Club president Kathy Manning says the event will be more of a celebra-tion of the historical con-tributions of Knoxville women than a political event. Tickets are $40.

A bronze statue of club

founder Lucy Graham Cro-zier’s sister Lizzie Crozier French stands on Market Square, commemorating the feminists who worked for women’s suffrage.

The Croziers, both edu-cators, were smart, fear-less and deeply involved in the political fight that made Tennessee the cru-cial 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in 1920.

They had three other sis-ters, Mary, Anna and Cor-nelia, all described in Cor-nelia’s obituary as “women of dominance and individ-uality.” The Crozier home, said to house the fi nest private library in the area, stood on the corner of Gay Street and Clinch Avenue now occupied by the former Farragut Hotel. Lucy was born there in 1856. Her fa-ther, attorney John Hervey Crozier, a two-term mem-ber of Congress, sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and retired from

politics soon thereafter.Kathy Manning’s grand-

mother Mary Vance Man-ning and great-aunt Ann Manning were founding members of the Democratic Women’s Club. She found Lucy Crozier’s obituaries, dated Nov. 30, 1930. One praises her “unquenchable spirit and great heart.” An-other begins like this: “A brave and earnest soul pass-es in the death of Lucy Gra-ham Crozier. An extremist she was, of course. But she was always sincere and of-ten brilliant.”

Kathy Manning never knew her grandmother, but her aunt spent her last years living with her, and Man-ning says she wishes she’d asked more questions. Since the club’s purpose was to educate women as new vot-ers and encourage them to become involved in poli-tics, and it was chartered the year that Democrat Al Smith, the fi rst Catholic to run for president, took on Republican Herbert Hoover,

Manning believes her Cath-olic grandmother and aunt were probably involved in that campaign. She wishes she knew more about them.

“My aunt was a World War II veteran and served with the Army Nurse Corps. Lat-er, she was a public-health nurse for the city of Knox-ville. I’ve since realized, ‘Gee, I should have asked her all those questions.’ Havi ng the oldest club in the country is something we can all take pride in.”

Knox County Democrat-ic Women’s Club charter members:

Lucy Crozier, Mary Cro-zier, Mrs. J.C. Guinn, Mrs. Frank Haur, Mrs. Sarah Henry Hood, Mrs. J.B. Shinliver, Miss Emma Pate, Mrs. Joe McMillan, Mrs. E.T. Beach, Miss May Le-land (Marshall), Mrs. Sam Heiskell, Mrs. J.C. Renfro, Mrs. Herman Schenk Jr., Mrs. Ida Reynolds Lonas, Mrs. Bannister Wilkes, Mrs. J.J. Manning and Miss Ann Manning.

Solutions in search of problems

JakeMabe

“Well, we didn’t give you much to work with today,” Tony Norman said after County Commission’s work session last week.

I just grinned.The meeting was, well,

weird.Discussion over R. Larry

Smith’s resolution affi rming commission’s support of the End of Forced Annexation in Tennessee Act was down-right contentious.

Andy Andrew, who has been fi ghting annexation nearly as long as I’ve been alive, evoked everything from rugged individualism to the Bill of Rights.

“This is an opportunity to solve a problem that has bothered Knox County as long as I’ve been here,” he said.

Amy Broyles said this resolution is “a solution in search of a problem.”

(I looked around for Stac-ey Campfi eld. But I digress.)

Broyles said the city of Knoxville is not allowed to annex outside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), and those who live within it know annexation can happen.

Smith called Sheriff Jim-my “J.J.” Jones, who was trying to get the heck out of Dodge (long day – his de-partment lost the beloved Roger Wilson last week), to the lectern. Jones agreed that fi nger annexation has caused a problem over law-enforcement jurisdiction.

“We’ve already had this conversation,” Sam Mc-Kenzie said, adding that the

process is working.“That’s because there’s

been a moratorium on an-nexation,” Smith said.

“There’s not been a mora-torium,” McKenzie said. “That ended in 2008. This is 2014. This was an issue with one city mayor a long time ago.”

(Paging Victor Ashe.)“We know what our cul-

ture is in Knox County. We’re pro-property rights. I’m voting against this be-cause I think we’re already doing this.”

Dave Wright hit his light.“Well, if there’s no prob-

lem, Commissioner Mc-Kenzie, if it’s moot, then it would be OK for the state to pass it.”

Wright is upset about fi nger annexation on Miller-town Pike.

“There’s an excellent de-velopment at the end of Mil-lertown Pike, but it’s still just a (small) road leading up to it. The suggestion that we had the conversation in 2001 … doesn’t mean we can’t have another discus-sion before it becomes a problem in search of an an-swer.”

(I looked around for Stac-ey Campfi eld. But I digress.)

“If we want to change

this, let it be homegrown,” McKenzie said. “I don’t want the state telling us what to do.”

(The Republican in me smiled.)

“All we are doing, com-missioners, is letting Nash-ville know where we stand,” Smith said. “I bet less than 3 percent of homeowners know if they live in the (UGB).”

Broyles is sponsoring amendments to ordinances ensuring that county em-ployees are protected when speaking out against em-ployers without risk of ter-mination. She cites both teachers who have spoken up recently and county em-ployees who want to cam-paign for someone other than their bosses.

“I’m going to use Com-missioner Broyles’ earlier words against her. This is a solution waiting on a prob-lem,” McKenzie said.

(I looked around for Stac-ey Campfi eld. But I digress.)

Rick Briggs said free speech in this case needs limits. “Tennessee is an at-work employer state,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t be in favor of something that would protect an employee who spoke maliciously, giv-ing the county no resource to stop it.

Broyles said the amend-ments would include all departments and elected of-fi ces and would not protect slander and libel.

Chief deputy law direc-tor David Buuck said the only process in place now is a lengthy, costly battle in

federal court.“This brings it to the lo-

cal level,” Broyles said. “And the mayor (Tim Burchett) said he is for this, so I don’t want you to miss an oppor-tunity to vote for something that he and I are both in fa-vor of …”

(Maniacal laughter.)“Retribution occurs,”

Norman said, referring to teachers. “There are a vari-ety of ways to do that. This might help the teachers and their position.”

McKenzie mused and changed his position,saying he felt more com-fortable that the county wouldn’t have to defend slander or libel. Briggs was the lone “no” vote.

Finally, Barry Hawkins, who is running for Knox County trustee, took ex-ception to Wright adding a discussion item based on a News Sentinel report about his allegedly getting $3,000 that he allegedly wasn’t owed as a former county employee, adding it is a political tactic timed to help his opponent.

Wright said his feelings were hurt at such a charge, “but I’m a sitting commis-sioner and I have no feelings.”

I have to disagree with you, Tony, my friend. Y’all gave me plenty with which to work. For that, I thank you.

Commission will hold its regular meeting at 1:45 p.m. today (Monday, Feb. 24) in the Main Assembly Room of the City County Building. “Pull Up A Chair” with Jake Mabe at jake mabe.blogspot.com

Our history says it all. For almost four decades, the physicians and staff of Tennova Heart Institute have led the

way in bringing the latest cardiac treatments and technology to East Tennessee. This talented and experienced

team continues to bring world-class heart care straight to patients—right here in East Tennessee.

• Advanced cardiovascular diagnostic screenings

• Comprehensive open heart surgery program

• Interventional cardiovascular treatments

From the diagnosis of heart problems to state-of-the-art treatments and rehabilitation, to the study of new

and exciting medical breakthroughs, Tennova knows hearts.

For a physician referral, call Ask Tennova at 855-836-6682 or visit us on the Web at Tennova.com.

Tennova Heart InstituteTurkey Creek Medical Center10820 Parkside DriveKnoxville, TN 37934

We know hearts.• National and global cardiovascular clinical trials

• Rapid intervention for heart attacks

Tennova.com

1-855-836-6682Members of the Medical Staff at Tennova Healthcare.

Left to right, top to bottom: Chuck Dugal, M.D.; Steven Miller, NP; Tim Ballard, NP; William Lindsay, M.D.; Michael Underwood, M.D.; Lance Jones, CEO; Joseph DeLeese, M.D.; Gabriel Ojeda, M.D.; Malcolm Foster, M.D.; Ravi Mehta, M.D.; Randall Towne M.D.; Nilam Patel, M.D.; and Steven Reed, M.D.

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • 5

pastorate to Fair Havens Baptist Church in Powell. He was to me as Paul was to Timothy.

R.C. pastored eight or more churches and was di-rector of missions for the Northern Association of Baptists. I still have peo-ple telling me how much he meant to them. He had a great impact on many lives.

R.C. passed away Oct. 5, 2013. Many times since then I have wanted to talk

What is your property worth? Call today for a free market analysis!There is no obligation for this service, but

we do hope that should you decide to sell, you will remember us.

Pamela Hammontree 865-573-01454 firms to serve your real estate needs.

‘I’ll Add Another Thou$and’For your trade on a New Ford!For your trade on a New Ford!For your trade on a New Ford!For your trade on a New Ford!FFFFFFoooorrr yyyyyooooouuuuurrrr tttttrrrraaaadddddddeeeeeee FFFFFFoorrr yyyyyooooouuuuurrrr tttttrrrraaaadddddddeeeeeeFFFFFooorrr yyyyyooooouuuurrrr ttttrrraaaaddddddeeeeeFFFFFooorrr yyyyyooooouuuurrrr ttttrrraaaaddddddeeeeeFFFoorr yyyooouuuurrr tttrraaadddddeeeeFFFoorr yyyooouuuurrr tttrraaadddddeeeeFFFoorr yyyooouuuurrr tttrraaadddddeeeeoooooonnn aaaa NNNNNeeeewwwww FFFFFFooooorrrddddd!!!!ooooonnn aaaa NNNNNeeewwww FFFFFFoooorrrddddd!!!!oooonn aaaa NNNNNeeewwww FFFFFoooorrrdddd!!!oooonn aaaa NNNNNeeewwww FFFFFoooorrrdddd!!!ooonnn aaa NNNNeewww FFFFooorrrddd!!!ooonnn aaa NNNNeewww FFFFooorrrddd!!!ooonnn aaa NNNNeewww FFFFooorrrddd!!!

yyyyyyyyyFor your trade on a New Ford!

(865) 457-0704 rayvarnerford.com65) 457 0704 rayvy arnerford.cVehicles excluded: Invoice Credited Units, VIN Exclusive and Specialty Vehicles. Customer must pay for non-factory installed equipment.

Eligible incentives will be evidenced by FMC VIN look-up (zip code specific) and customer must qualify for incentives. A, D, X, Z plans are not eligible. Taxes, tags and fees additional.

Wee Care ShoppeWee Care ShoppeChildren’s Resale Shop

2537 Chapman Highway573-4218

All Winter ClothesAll Winter Clotheswith coupon5050 OffOff%%

Exp. 2/28/14

No doubt you are delight-ed, perhaps even bubbling over, with the coming of spring sports at the Univer-sity of Tennessee.

What, you hadn’t even thought of Volunteer track, baseball, tennis or golf?

These are the fun and games funded by football and donations. Please mark your calendar. Enjoy.

I didn’t throw softball into that group. It is a big winner and often draws a crowd. Ellen Renfroe is re-ally good.

Baseball, we are told, will be better this year, weather permitting.

Dave Serrano, baseball coach ($450,000 salary), is not promising cham-pionships just yet, but he does foresee signifi cant improvement. That was the plan all along for year three.

It appears he has re-cruited well. He expects the rewards of growth and development. He thinks he has much better pitching. He believes the Vols will be-

come relevant in the South-eastern Conference.

That is very good news, a giant jump if it happens. The team was 8-20 last season, last in the Eastern Division, totally irrelevant. From mid-April until the bitter end, Serrano’s Vols won three league games. Other highlights were two rainouts.

Pitching, you ask? Andrew Lee is thought to be recovered from Tommy John surgery. Kyle Serrano, the coach’s son, chose college over the Colo-rado Rockies. Bless him.

First baseman Scott Price can hit.

“Probably the best hitter in the SEC,” says the coach.

Third baseman Will Maddox takes the game very seriously. Tough guy.

Dirt on uniform. The old-fashioned description was “hard-nosed.”

Pro scouts will probably make notes about sopho-more shortstop A.J. Simcox.

Team characteristics? Better defense, lots more scoring punch. Coach says he can now compare talent with rivals without feeling handicapped.

If there are positive de-velopments in track, they re-main hidden. Old Vols send emails, trying to convince me that a coaching change is necessary. I have reserved comment. Athletic director Dave Hart is on his own in this case. He gets paid most of a million to make such weighty decisions.

Tennis is not really a spring sport. It goes on 10 months a year. For me, it is more fun on a balmy April afternoon.

The Vols are nationally ranked. They have strong leadership with teaching skills. Sam Winterbotham was 2013 national coach of the year. Chris Woodruff is

another head coach in asso-ciate disguise. Ben Tester-man is volunteer assistant. Wow!

Winterbotham, a native of Stoke on Trent, England, has the proper recruiting phone numbers – Austra-lia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Webb School.

Tennessee golf, much like cross-country, is for the participants who take pride in their sport and can press on without the cheering multitudes.

It is OK if you skip some matches. You do need to know about the Mack and Jonnie Day practice facility along the Tennessee River. It is big league. It should be. The grassy patch cost $4.5 million.

Phase 2 of this project, the Furrow-Blackburn club-house, will be special, too.

If you are into spring foot-ball, there is one date to cir-cle. The Orange and White game is scheduled for April 12 at Neyland Stadium.  Marvin West invites reader reaction. His

address is westwest6@netzero.com

Marvin West

Excitement is upon us: spring sports!

Sisters Ellen Turner (left) and Helen Ashe are fascinated

with Mayor Tim Burchett’s selfi e, a photo taken on his

smartphone and transmitted instantly to friends of The

Love Kitchen. Burchett and Doug Bataille, senior director

of parks and recreation, presented the sisters with $3,400

and several barrels of canned food on Feb. 19. The do-

nations were collected in December at the county-spon-

sored Holiday Festival of Lights at Concord Park. Photo by S. Clark

Showing the love

By Jake MabeYou’d expect an internal

auditor to run a lean, mean operation, and new county auditor Andrea Williams is no exception. Her offi ce has a staff of three – herself, an-other auditor and an admin-istrative assistant who does everything from some audit work to checking grammar.

Williams, who came to Knox County from TVA, started work Dec. 16. She said the timing was perfect, with the laid-back holiday season allowing her to work her way through a massive amount of reading material.

She’s now working on a risk assessment for fi scal

Andrea Williams

County auditor hits the ground runningyear 2015.

“We’re looking at which areas add the most value,” Williams said, “so we can evaluate not just the fi nancial risk, but the reputational risk and public safety. We should be fi nished around June.”

Her offi ce also performs some request work, if the county Audit Committee or County Commission re-quests an audit, or performs reviews on the back end of an external audit. All of her work has to be approved by the Audit Committee.

In January, County Com-mission requested a proce-dural review of the crimi-nal-justice system.

“That includes every-thing, from the time a person enters the system to the time they complete it. It involves multiple players and pro-cesses,” she said, not just the offi ce of embattled Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey.

One of Williams’ sugges-tions has been to digitize the method by which the county performs monthly p-card audits. Currently, that process is manual.

“With technology, you can do queries and push a button. (Manually), it is time intensive and less consistent than a database process.”

Last month, commission discussed at length whether

By Wayne RoachWhen I was 16, a new

pastor came to my church, New Corinth Baptist in Grainger County.

He was young and full of life with something about him that drew both young and old. The church began to grow.

There was a different spirit of love in the church. This new pastor was the Rev. R.C. Harless.

I remember when he and his wife, Mary Lou, would take me to meetings and training seminars that helped me grow and become more involved in the work of the church. When I was 19, I was inducted into the U.S. Army. I remember very well the last Sunday before I left for the military.

R.C. called me before the church and told me how much the church appreci-ated me and how much they loved me and that they would be praying for me.

Then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little Bible that he always carried. He said, “Take this with you, read it and it will comfort you.”

Inside he had written: “God and you are a majority.”

To this day I still have that Bible and consider it one of my cherished belong-ings.

R.C. went on to pastor Ce-dar Ford Baptist in Luttrell, where he and Mary Lou met a young lady named Sharon DeVault. They asked if she would write to me. She did, and we corresponded by mail for about a year.

When I came home, we dated for three months, and then R.C. married us. He must have done a good job because that marriage has lasted 46 years to date. We have two children, and R.C.

R. C. Harless

A tribute to R.C. Harlessa s s i s t e d me in their weddings.

O u r f r iendship grew. He was always helpful in my church work and r e c o m -

mended me for several posi-tions. He was the very fi rst person I told that I was be-ing called to preach.

I followed him in my fi rst

with him. I can just hear him asking, “How is your church doing, Buddy?”

He was always interest-ed, even through his illness. Many times I would see him sitting on the porch, and I

would stop and we’d chat for a while.

Twice he asked me, “How long have we been buddies?”

I would tell him, more than 50 years. He would say, “Boy, that’s a long time.” I

miss my buddy, but I know he is in a better place.

Thanks, R.C., for being my friend, my counselor, my pastor and my mentor. We shall meet again. The Rev. Wayne G. Roach is pastor of Gre-

enway Baptist Church.

a concentration in taxa-tion from UT. Her fi rst job was working in the Inspec-tor General’s offi ce and the compliance offi ce at TVA.

She says the best part of her job is getting to solve problems.

“You get the bigger pic-ture, not just the transac-tional details. And you can provide information that can improve something. I like learning. Every audit is a new experience.”

And that also means pointing out both the good and the bad.

“When you’re an auditor, people don’t always want to see you. But I haven’t gotten that feeling here. We want to point out both ways the county can improve and the things they are doing well.”

Williams should be present for the entirety of its meetings like the county law director. Williams says the consensus

was that she use her discre-tion on when to be present.

Other goals for her fi rst year include getting the day-to-day operations of run-ning her offi ce in order and making sure every county department knows she has an open-door policy.

“We want to maintain our independence, but that doesn’t mean we’re isolated. We’re all on the same team, working for the people of Knox County.”

Williams was born in Michigan and lived all over the Southeast as a child. She earned a bachelor’s de-gree in accounting and a master’s in accounting with

FREE Health Screenings:Kidney Health Risk Assessments,

Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, BMI and more!

Local health & wellness vendors ONSITE!Door Prizes!

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Purchase TicketsOnline for $5.00 atwww.diabetes.org/

diabetesnow

Sat., March 8, 20148am - 2:30pm

Knoxville Convention CenterWorkshops:

• What to look for when eating out• Complementary & alternative medicines for diabetes• Pre-diabetes & metabolic syndrome• Making exercise fun • Coping with the stress of diabetes• Affording diabetes: Panel discussion• Kidney Health & Diabetes• Sleep disorders & diabetes• Foot treatment: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Keynote Sessions“The Latest in Treatments & Research”

9:35am - 10:25pm

“Myths & Truths About the Diabetic Diet” 11:35am - 12:25pm

“Affordable Healthcare Act” 1:20pm - 2:10pm

865-524-7868, Ext. 3342

For questions or concerns call865-524-7868, Ext. 3342

Healthy box lunch & goody bag will be provided

6 • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • Shopper news

Have you put off treatment for hemorrhoids because of concerns about painful surgery and a long recovery? Our non-invasive, non-surgical procedures make hemorrhoid relief easier than ever before.

A quick, painless procedure can put hemorrhoids behind you.

865-588-9952A Division of Premier Surgical Associates

Take comfort.

Request an appointment online at www.premierhemorrhoidtreatment.com.

The dreary days of Feb-ruary – or the frequently heard complaints about them – traditionally make this time of year a letdown from the gaiety of the previ-ous holiday season.

Well, there’s nothing like a road trip to buoy the spir-its. East Tennesseans are lucky to have diverse and affordable options nearby. Parks – from the Smokies to Big South Fork to Concord Park right here in town – offer hiking on much-less-crowded-than-in-spring-time trails. If you’re in a more urban frame of mind, Nashville and Atlanta are within a few hours’ drive.

This past weekend I was in the mood for a treasure hunt. So I grabbed my best girlfriend and headed for Asheville.

There’s nothing more fun for us than picking through antique malls and second-hand stores. Knoxville has some fi ne ones – Dutch Val-ley Antique Mall is one of our favorites, and we’re big fans of KARM and Good-will. But for a change of pace and some beautiful scenery, you can’t beat Asheville.

Swannanoa River Road

boasts several large collec-tives. We saw some excep-tional mid-century furni-ture at The Local. The price tags weren’t slight, but this was quality stuff in beauti-ful condition. Owners Chad and Morgan Baker travel a lot and say of their extraor-dinary inventory, “we really work for it!” Other stores in the same location are Odd-fellows, Nostalgique and Bryant Antiques.

Right next door, we found the Tobacco Barn. Its 70,000 square feet of space is crammed with booths. The big barn doors were wide open on either end, which, in the 30-degree windy weather, meant some brrrrrrowsing! But we good-natured “pickers” bundled up in our parkas and made the best of it. Some folks even brought their dogs in!

A real fi nd at The Tobacco Barn – a stainless steel professional

kitchen, complete with overhead pothanger

Carol Zinavage

Carol’s Corner

Dwight Ewart welcomes “pickers” to Sweeten

Creek Antiques. The Tobacco Barn is gigantic and stuff ed with fascinating fi nds.

A life-size nativity set from the ’50s at Sweeten Creek

Antiques

Colorful booths and beautiful furniture await the discerning treasure hunter at Sweeten Creek Antiques Photos by Carol Zinavage

Treasure hunting over the mountain

We mostly just look. You know how it is. I’m big on metal lawn furniture and jelly glasses; my friend is obsessed with mid-century lighting fi xtures and divider screens. But our rule is, “It has to be absolutely perfect in every way.”

Not too far from the To-bacco Barn, Sweeten Creek Antiques offers 31,000 square feet of just about anything you can think of. I found a beautiful silver bed-side tray from the 103-year-old Taft Hotel in New Ha-ven, Conn. It provides a touchstone to history for me every morning when I reach for my eyeglasses case.

Our last stop was Lex-ington Park Antiques in downtown Asheville. Labyrinthine and seem-ingly endless, it features gorgeous estate jewelry, vintage clothing, movie memorabilia and fi ne used leather goods. Other Ashe-ville landmarks are within walking distance. We love Tops for Shoes – 30,000 square feet of quality foot-wear and accessories on three levels – and Mala-prop’s Bookstore, where a cup of hot chocolate awaits,

along with every book you’d ever want to read.

It’s a good time of year to get hotel rooms at lower rates, and we chose the Brookstone Lodge. Built only fi ve years ago, it has the atmosphere of a much older place. There’s a cozy lobby with fi replace and a com-plimentary 24-hour coffee bar. The rooms have large fl at-screen TVs, wireless internet, microwaves and refrigerators, cozy beds and mountain views. A compli-mentary hot breakfast is served each morning.

But the main reason we chose the Brookstone Lodge in the middle of February? The indoor pool and spa.

Right now the hotel is in the middle of a renovation from water damage caused by a burst pipe during last month’s extreme cold, but the only evidence we saw was the temporary carpet-ing in the hall. Info: http://brookstonelodgeasheville.com/.

All the stores mentioned here are open year-round. Visit http://www.romantica-sheville.com/antiques.htm to fi nd out more about them. And bring your parka!

CrossCurrents

LynnPitts

Toni Morrison’s searing and grace-fi lled book “Be-loved” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Don’t ask me why I am just now reading it. May-be because I wasn’t ready.

It is not a book for the faint of heart. It is about the after-math of slavery, and the long shadows that horror draped across a young nation. It is, quite simply, stunning, heart-breaking and haunting.

In a tale fi lled with truths I have only read about in history books, Morrison’s words about kneading bread struck a chord with

Beating back the pastNow a new king arose over Egypt, who did not

know Joseph…Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.

(Exodus 1:8, 11 NRSV)

Working dough. Working, working dough. Noth-ing better than that to start the day’s serious work of beating back the past.

(“Beloved,” Toni Morrison)

me. There was something I could relate to!

I have been baking bread for more than four decades, and every batch is a little miracle of grace. Not to say – far from it – that every loaf of bread was perfect. It takes a while to get the hang

of making bread, and then, if one is daring enough to try a different kind of loaf, or work at a different alti-tude, or bake on a rainy day, all bets are off.

Yeast is a living thing and seems to have a tempera-ment. It can’t be hurried, or overheated, or too cold.

But it is the handling of the dough, the kneading of it, the shaping of it that makes the magic work, and at the same time affords such pleasure to the baker.

However, Morrison’s “beating back the past”? That is harder still.

Admit it. There are things in the past that haunt you. That worry, and nag at and grieve you. It is part of the human condition, this memory of pain or failure or regret or sin.

We may not be enslaved by chains or by those who claim to own us. But slavery still exists in today’s world. It lives in those who live with terrible memories of pain

and suffering. It thrives in those who will not, cannot, forgive or forget the wrongs done to them. It continues in those who are addicted – to anything! (A good friend made an unforgettable state-ment to me many years ago. She said, “Satan is alive and well in Knoxville, and his name is Crack Cocaine!”)

So, how do we throw off the chains and beat back the past?

William Faulkner, who knew something about the South, famously said, “The past isn’t over. It isn’t even past!”

Forgiveness is key, I be-lieve. Forgetfulness is also helpful.

I can’t remember where I fi rst heard the 10 words that will lead to freedom. But I believe they are true and life-giving. Write them down. Keep them where you can read them when you need to. Remember them.

They are, “Give it up, let it go, and set it free.”

Colorful glassware at The Tobacco Barn

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • 7 kids

EVERY SECOND COUNTS. HEART ATTACWHEN YOU’RE HAVING A

Chest Pain Center Physicians Regional Medical Center Tennova Heart Institute 900 East Oak Hill AvenueKnoxville, TN 37917

For details or to take our heart quiz, go to Tennova.com.

To find a heart specialist, call 1-855-836-6682.

THE CHEST PAIN CENTER AT PHYSICIANS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

During a heart attack, every moment is critical. The Chest Pain Center at Physicians Regional Medical Center is the first and only Accredited

Chest Pain Center in East Tennessee—combining expert care with

innovative technology. By helping patients get treatment fast, we have

a better chance of limiting or avoiding permanent heart damage. We

know hearts, and we know what it takes to bring you up-to-the-minute,

premium cardiac care.

Tennova.com

1-855-836-6682Members of the medical staff

By Betsy PickleIn the eternal cat-vs.-dog

competition, cats seem to be taking the lead – at least among 1st-graders at Dog-wood Elementary School.

Last week, art teacher Nicole May had the students making drawings for a col-lage called “Cool Cats and Hot Dogs,” which will be on display at the school art show on Thursday, March 13. The students were al-lowed to choose which ani-mal they wanted to draw, but all the children from Renee Morie’s class decided

to depict cats.To be precise, cat parts.

The kids will later paint their felines, and the parts will be arranged in a col-lage.

Each grade level will have two to four projects displayed during the show, which will be 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. All levels have their own projects and themes.

In addition to the student art displays, there will be craft stations and guest art-ists displaying their work and giving mini demonstra-tions.

By Betsy PickleIt sounds like “Godzilla.”

Human-generated trash – in the form of nuclear waste – created a monster that wreaked havoc while showing humans the error of their ways.

But 6th- and 7th-grade Elective Art students at South-Doyle Middle School are taking trash and creat-ing monsters that are beau-tiful – if a bit scary. They’re putting the slogan of the environmental movement – “reduce, reuse, recycle” – into creative action.

As the students began their unit on three-dimen-sional art, art teacher Carol Vinson challenged them to create a “monster sculp-ture” from items most peo-ple would toss away.

“These works began with cardboard pieces gleaned from leftovers from pack-aging, then used the ever-present plastic garbage bags, straws, wadded-up newsprint, bits of wire, and other assorted ‘trash,’ ” says Vinson. “Once they had cre-ated an ‘armature’ or struc-ture for the work, it was cov-

Joida Weatherspoon and Ju-

lio Gasper Francisco have fun

working on the cat project. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Kalissa Billingsley fi ts an

entire cat on her drawing

paper – piece by piece.

Veronica Aldrovandi wears a cat-ear headband for inspiration

while drawing.

Olivia Snapp, Jessica Wilson and Lindsay Maxwell

present their murals to the 8th-grade Spanish class.

Chloe Hogan, Allie Webb and Angela Hernandez get their plas-

ter strips ready. Photos submitted

Dante Alvarez shows his scary spider.

Art students think green – and mean and scary

1st-graders ‘feline’ groovy about collage

Isabelle Jackson and

Paola Martinez work on

painting their projects.

ered in plaster strips, not unlike those used on a cast for a broken limb. As the students added paint and details, the ‘scary monsters’ started to come alive.”

Vinson says the project encouraged creative think-ing and involved prob-lem-solving skills such as “thinking abstractly, draw-ing conclusions, improving their solutions and observ-ing and experimenting.”

“These students seem to be mastering these skills, but mostly they are having fun doing it!”

Meanwhile, in the 8th-grade Elective Art class taught by Vinson, students are wrapping up a unit in which they studied the Mexican-American murals created in Southern Califor-nia in the 1930s. Students worked in groups of fi ve to

six and did research on the artists’ lives, the creation of the murals, how they were designed and the messages the artists were trying to send.

The student groups “taught” their mural to the rest of the class and eventu-ally presented their mural to the Spanish class across the hallway. The fi nal proj-ect involved creating a mu-ral that represented the cul-tural, geographic or popular interests of their group.

“We have some super tal-ent representing the many cultures and interests of these students,” says Vin-son. “This project focuses on cultural connections, us-ing the elements and prin-ciples of design to create and evaluate a design, and working on a large scale in a group setting.”

and Emily Mathis will pres-ent their own talents as they highlight those artists and share something of the peri-ods in which they lived. The event will be held from 10:45 to noon Tuesday, March 4, in the Community Room and is free and open to the public.

■ Priority AmbulanceSeveral widely known

members of the Rural/Metro team have established a new fi rm. Priority Ambulance has opened its corporate head-quarters in Knox County and a branch in Scotts dale, Ariz., which happens to be the home of R/M. Familiar names: Bryan Gibson, CEO; Steve Blackburn,COO; Kristi Ponc-zak, CFO; Moxley Carmichael, PR fi rm; John and Charlotte Mills; Gary Morris and Dennis Rowe. Info: 865-688-4999.

■ City hires Ahrens Peter Ahrens, 38, is the

city’s new director of building inspections. He comes from Virgin-ia and holds a degree from Virgin-ia Tech. He will oversee 29 employ-ees and a $2.4 million

annual budget. Tom Reynolds will remain deputy director.

Mayor Madeline Rog-ero has named Jennifer Stone to the Board of En-vironmental Appeals. She is a licensed professional en-gineer employed by AMEC Environment & Infrastruc-ture Inc.

Liliana Burbano Bo-nilla was appointed to the board of the Knoxville Transportation Authority. She is employed by the Knox County Health Department as the project coordinator of Healthy Kids Healthy Communities. She holds a master’s degree in sociology from the Ibero-American University in Mexico City.

8 • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • Shopper news

Nancy Whittaker

business

865-971-1971 • 800-264-1971

UTFCU.ORG

Businessby

Nicky D.

OK, I’m veering a bit wide on this one, to address attending business school instead of spotlighting local storefronts. But you’ve got to ask yourself: Why would anyone in his right mind go back to school at 65? My wife, of course, challenges the initial premise, but I’ll save that one for the psychi-atrist’s couch … or the mar-riage counselor.

UT’s School of Finance is graciously allowing me to audit fi nance 425 this semes-ter. It deals with Investments and Portfolio Management. I need to roll up my sleeves and look under the hood of the city’s underfunded pen-sion plan – we’re short some $200 million – if we are ever to get closer to a solution.

It certainly wouldn’t hurt to understand the lingo and know how to handle a few of the wrenches when you are looking under the hood. You might have to go toe-to-toe with the high-priced, skilled investment managers who guide that system but who also feed from that trough.

First, an aside. In case you didn’t know it, taxpay-ing Tennesseans of a certain mature age are allowed to audit classes in state colleges … assuming there is room in the classroom and you meet the academic prerequisites. After all, you have been sup-porting these schools with

Back to school, huh?

your hard-earned dollars for 40+ years. You should be allowed to dip your beak.

Audit and free, of course, are not quite synonymous. There are always fees, park-ing passes and books to pay for. But you knew that.

Back to the main story. Remember those night-mares of waking up in a cold sweat, wondering how you forgot to read the book until the morning of the exam? Well, the boogeyman is still out there, even if it’s only a dream. What is different at 65 is that you have decided to tackle something. You actually asked to be in this class, so you are motivated to learn … not just check off another required course on the way out the door. Not that you did that 45 years ago.

The kids are smarter (and a helluva lot younger). Their brains are supple. They are used to homework and quiz-zes. And the math. Good grief! When’s the last time you curled up with algebra and statistics and integrals, or were reading “Excel for Dummies” in your “spare

time” so you can tackle one of the assignments? Where’s the marbled- or spiral-notebook? What’s this thing about computers? They live on the dern things, while you are fl ub-a-dubbing to fi g-ure out what’s an electronic blackboard and how do I download that assignment?

But don’t despair. The teacher is patient as you shuffl e where others stride. And, you have at least one advantage: you grew up when there were books. They don’t seem to read the textbooks – it’s so old school.

They will probably fi nd an equivalent online e-book or a YouTube tutorial.

Hell, there probably is a chat room or blog with all the answers you need. Good luck fi nding that. The good news: You spend a lot less time tweeting about lunch or Marylou or what-ever. (Confession: I don’t even know how to tweet). And you may have learned a thing or two over the years, out in the real world.

Seriously, it’s interest-ing to challenge yourself in a way you have forgotten about, or never had time for. Learning is fun, even if painful at times. What did he say is on the next test?!

Yes, dear, I promise, I’ll clean out the garage this weekend. …Nick Della Volpe represents District 4 on

Knoxville City Council.

Hammontree Realty names new broker

Pam Hammontree started Hammontree Real Estate in 1984, and this successful company continues to grow. It currently has three loca-tions in the Knoxville area and a sister fi rm in Nashville.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the (hammon) tree.

P a m ’ s d a u g h t e r , Tracy Ham-m o n t r e e G r i f f i n , became a Realtor in 1990 after graduating from Sey-mour High

School. This month she be-came the broker at the com-pany’s northeast offi ce at 7465 Crosswood Blvd. in Strawber-ry Plains. The offi ce, which opened in 2003, is in a beauti-ful log house that was HGTV’s Dream Home in 1997.

While I was there, the phone was constantly ring-ing, some of the top produc-ers were stopping by and Tracy loved every minute of it. She is proud of making their customers’ best inter-est the top priority.

Hammontree Real Estate offers a free market analysis if you would like to learn the worth of your home. Virtual tours of sellers’ homes are on the agency’s website.

Info: www.hammontree-realestate.com or 933-1024.

■ YWCA says Enough! Knoxville’s YWCA is re-

cruiting volunteers to begin a training course in March. Enough! was created in 2011 to assist the Y’s Victim Ad-vocacy Program (VAP).

Through Enough! staff and volunteers help victims of domestic violence. Vol-unteers work closely with VAP advocates to ensure the safety of victims by assist-ing with a safety plan, fi ling orders of protection, assess-ing basic needs and making community referrals.

Volunteers must com-plete 40 hours of intensive training, which includes 20 classroom hours and 20 hours of hands-on experi-ence. A commitment of 12 hours per month for at least one year is expected.

VAP is the only communi-ty-based, non-shelter domes-tic violence outreach program in Knox County. All services are offered at no charge and are available in English and Spanish. Enough! volunteers play a huge role in making sure this life-saving program continues.

Info: www.ywcaknox.com or Leah Harris at 865-215-6851.

■ Jazz program at PSCC March is Women’s His-

tory Month, and Pellissippi State’s Magnolia Avenue Campus will celebrate by featuring three women who became prominent through their musical talent as jazz musicians or vocalists.

Contemporary artists Au-brey Baker, Pamela Klicka

Tracy Griffi n

Peter Ahrens

■ Haslam launches transparency website“Transparent Tennes-

see,” an overhaul of the state’s transparency web-site, will offer more user-friendly information online to Tennessee taxpayers, said Gov. Bill Haslam.

It’s a one-stop shop for public data on how state dollars are spent. The site

includes a searchable check-book with more interactive data related to state agency expenses, vendor payments and travel reimbursements.

Why doesn’t every local government and utility dis-trict have this? Info: http://tn.gov/opengov/.

■ Welcome, Neil HeatherlyKnox native Neil Heath-

erly will head Tennova

Health care here effective March 3. He’ll replace Mike Garfi eld, who resigned.

The son of former Park-west Medical Center admin-istrator Wayne Heatherly, Neil has nearly 20 years of hospital management expe-rience. He graduated from Farragut High School and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Ten-nessee and a master’s of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University.

NEWS FROM PREMIER SURGICAL

Dr. David Harrell, Surgeon

“Life Changing” SurgeryCorrects Woman’s Severe Acid Refl ux

For more information about surgical options for treating acid refl ux and

hiatal hernia, please visit www.premiersurgical.com

hiatal hernia. It successfully resolves symp-toms in more than 80% of people.

“I was ner-vous about surgery, but Dr. Harrell is a wonder-ful person and has done sur-gery on several members of our family, so I knew I was in good hands,” says Wood.

Wood, who underwent the surgery in December, was vigilant about being a perfect pa-tient. “The biggest thing is following the doctor’s instructions after surgery and only eating liquids and soft foods for several weeks. It’s hard, but you can do it, and it’s worth it.”

After healing for several weeks, Wood is thrilled with the result. “I’m off the medicines, I feel fortunate – the surgery was wonderful for me.”

Wood hopes others with severe GERD will also learn about their sur-gical options. “I tell people it’s a “no- brainer.” If you’ve dealt with these symptoms, it’s a life changing surgery. There is help – you don’t have to suffer.”

Jamie Wood, pictured

during ZUMBA class, is

active and feeling great

following surgery for

severe GERD.

Jamie Wood is eager to explain her life before and after surgery. “I ate Tums like kids eats candy,” she says. “I took medicine morning and night. I slept sitting straight up for years.”

Wood says since undergoing surgery to treat severe gastroesophageal refl ux disease (GERD), things are very differ-ent.

“I can eat anything I want now. I’m sleeping at night and I don’t have to schedule everything around eating and taking medicine,” she explains. “This surgery has made a big difference in my life.”

Wood suffered for years from a hia-tal hernia that caused stomach acid to backfl ow into her esophagus. When medication didn’t control the condition, she underwent esophageal dilation, a procedure to stretch a narrowed area of the esophagus.

“I had my esophagus stretched two or three times,” says Wood. “But, it only helped temporarily. Before long I’d feel like I was going to choke whenever I ate.”

Wood’s niece, who is a physician assistant with Premier Surgical As-sociates, told her about a procedure called Nissen fundoplication. During fundoplication surgery the upper stom-ach is wrapped around the esophagus

and sewn into place, strengthening the valve between the esophagus and stom-ach.

“I didn’t know there was a surgery that could help me,” says Wood. “My niece made me promise to make an appoint-ment.”

Wood met with Dr. David Harrell of Premier Surgical Associates, who discovered that her hiatal hernia was more severe than expected. Dr. Har-rell explained that laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication is the standard surgi-cal treatment for severe GERD and

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • 9

Beginning of the endThe old Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee, closed in 2008, is

coming down at last. Workers from Charlotte-based JW Demo-

lition have started at the Henley Bridge end of the complex,

with big bites of glass and brick already taken out of the south-

and west-facing sides. Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial, a

Georgia-based development company, plans a mix of luxury

apartments, retail and restaurant space, and a hotel at the site.

Getting the Bonnaroo scoopThe crowd at Disc Exchange reacts favorably on hearing that Elton John will appear at the Bonn-

aroo Music & Arts Festival during the Feb. 19 BLAM! 2014 offi cial watch party. (They were less

thrilled when Kanye West was named as another headliner.) More than 200 people came to the

store to enjoy the Bonnaroo Lineup Announcement Megathon, which included a big-screen

music broadcast hosted by Taran Killam and Hannibal Buress and the naming of performers for

Bonnaroo. The festival takes place June 12-15 in Manchester, Tenn. Photo by Betsy Pickle

Unity gets new owner

with familiar nameBy Sandra Clark

In our quest to discover “where the jobs are,” we found a homegrown busi-ness that has provided jobs along with compassionate community service for 35 years. We also found an in-domitable woman with an inspiring story. Come along.

In 1979, a young man completed his doctoral coursework in Risk and Insurance from The Whar-ton School of Business in Pennsylvania. A gradu-ate of Harvard University, he moved to Atlanta and started a company that now conducts more than 125 comprehensive ASOP#3 actuarial studies each year. The fi rm develops compara-tive benchmarks for key actuarial, demographic and operating statistics. It’s de-veloped software for the profession and propelled the founder to several high-profi le boards and consult-ing contracts worldwide.

Also in 1979, three

friends launched Unity Mortuary on McCalla Ave-nue in East Knoxville. They hired an African-American architect (the Rev. Dewitt Dykes) and contractor (Fe-lix Gaiter), kept the jobs community-based and built a solid business over time. Their aging brought transi-tion to the business. Could it survive? Up stepped a new owner, the Wharton- and Harvard-educated actuary from Atlanta.

Why?Meet Unity’s board chair

Dr. L.C. Powell, retired principal, widow of City Council member Bill Powell and mother of A.V. Powell, the mortuary’s new owner. “It’s my fourth career,” she says with a smile.

Dr. Powell is an East Knox legend, having served as prin-cipal of Green Elementary for almost 30 years before retir-ing in 2001. She continues to live in the neighborhood, near Beck Cultural Center. “I’ve got a grown son, three

granddaughters and lots of others who call me momma,” she says.

Powell never meant to work at a mortuary in re-tirement, but she says the work has helped her fill a void since the death of her husband in 2009. “I’m here 24/7,” she said. “Most of our clients are those I’ve taught.” So she’s got a job that enables her to keep in touch with the people she loves.

Powell is an easy inter-view. We didn’t ask a ques-tion until 20 minutes in. But it was later, after a tour of the facility, that she re-vealed personal details that left this writer in chills. “Lula,” as she was called growing up, was one of fi ve kids. Her dad was a minis-ter who often was paid “in-kind,” and her mom worked as a maid, earning 50 cents a week. Work was a way of life for the Cooper family.

With just six in her graduating class, the prin-

Standing in front of portraits of the Unity Mortuary founders are Bessie Jackson, secretary; Dr.

L.C. Powell, board chair; and James Hawkins. Photo by S. Clark

cipal asked each girl what she planned to do. “Two of us went to college,” Pow-ell says. “There were no scholarships or government loans. I worked doing clean-up, babysitting, whatever I could fi nd.”

She graduated from Knoxville College in 1952, having earned that degree with “determination.” She went to the University of Tennessee for a master’s, education specialist degree and doctorate. “People asked me if that doctorate is hon-orary,” she says. “No, those degrees are all earned.”

Powell’s fi rst job was as a travel-ing substitute teacher in segregated schools in Knox and s u r r o u n d -ing counties. In 1959 she was hired by the Knoxville City Schools and opened libraries at May-nard, Sam E. Hill and East-port schools. She had help from moms in Sequoyah Hills who volunteered to shelf books. She continued her education while teaching fourth and fi fth grades. In 1960 she became principal at Green Elementary.

After the systems merged, Powell worked for Knox County Schools. She em-braced Green’s conversion to a magnet school, telling

her students, “Now children from all over the county are going to come here.”

Powell encouraged her students to dress up and at-tend ballet, thanks to efforts by KCS supervisor Lynn Miller. She encouraged her teachers to aspire to become principals. She mentored young principals, and she taught evenings as an ad-junct at Knoxville College.

“Our children are not born with resources,” she said. And Green often got newly minted teachers, straight out of school. Pow-ell would put them on a bus

and drive through neighborhoods so

each could see where their c h i l d r e n lived. She o r g a n i z e d

report card nights in neigh-borhoods includ-

ing Austin Homes. Powell marched in with teachers and a police offi cer to put report cards directly in the hands of parents.

“My Fridays extended to Saturdays,” she said, as students would knock on her door. “Does your mom-ma know you’re here?” she would ask. “No,” the kids would usually say. “Well, come on in,” she answered. She and Bill built a big playroom downstairs. She would feed the kids lunch

and drive them home.How did she get her son

through Harvard?“We had to pay, but he

had to (have the grades to) get in,” she says. “We taught our children, ‘You can do anything.’ I have never ac-cepted ‘No.’”

Alwyn “A.V.” Powell went through public schools at Mountain View and Vine Middle, then in the 7th grade the Powells realized he needed more. Research turned up a prep school in Boca Raton, Fla., which Al-wyn and three other boys integrated. “All we thought about was the education. He led the class for three years and came out of there and went to Harvard.”

She recites the family motto (that worked for her granddaughters as well): “You will not stop (school).”

“I came up the hard way. My parents said I could go to college, but I’d have to work for it. We loved each other and we knew who we were.”

Unity MortuaryWow. It’s now quite clear

why A.V. Powell bought Uni-ty Mortuary. Would y ou tellDr. L.C. Powell no?

The staff at Unity Mortu-ary includes Brandon Wil-lis, manager and chief oper-ating offi cer. He’s a licensed embalmer, funeral director and notary public. George Tolbert is chief technology offi cer with more than 20 years as a bereavement co-ordinator. Bessie Jackson is the secretary and James Hawkins handles details.

The custom-built cha-pel contains stained glass throughout, including an awesome 23rd Psalm in glass. Clients are memorial-ized on the walls by year, and each December a reception is held to honor those who have used the services of Unity.

Founders were William V. Powell, Jefferson Davis and Bryant Keese. Mr. Powell was the fi rst African-Amer-ican social services direc-tor for KCDC. He served on Knoxville City Council from 1990-98 and passed away in 2009. Mr. Davis was a re-tired captain with the Knox-ville Police Department and a U.S. Army veteran. He passed away in 2012.

Unity Mortuary is located at 1425 McCalla Avenue. Info: 637-8811 or www.unitymortuary.com/.

JOBSWHERE

the

ARE

Mayor Madeline Rogero

and Deputy Mayor Bill Ly-

ons talk with members of

the Knoxville Transit Au-

thority board at a meeting

last week. Shopper-News

columnist Victor Ashe had

been critical of the city

administration for termi-

nating its management

contract with Veolia Trans-

portation without consult-

ing with the KAT board. Director Cindy McGinnis was terminated as a result of the cancella-

tion. Rogero said she plans no structural changes now, and Deputy Mayor Christi Branscom

said more than 30 people have applied for McGinnis’ job. Photo by Jake Mabe

Changes for KAT?

Space donated by: SELLERS!

Spring is just around the corner. Now is the time to list your property.First-time buyers, stop renting and use that tax refund to get into your own home.

Call Rita Neubert, I can help!

6410 Asheville Highway • Knoxville • 865-919-4141

Serving buyers and sellers in Knoxville, surrounding counties and across the state

10 • FEBRUARY 24, 2014 • Shopper news

THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 2“The Dixie Swim Club” presented by Theatre

Knoxville Downtown, 319 N. Gay St. Performances: 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets: www.theatreknoxville.com or http://knoxalliance.com/knoxtix.html.

TUESDAYS THROUGH MARCH 11Living Well with Chronic Conditions, 9:30

a.m.-noon, Knox County Health Department class-room, 140 Dameron Ave. Free. To register: 215-5170.

THROUGH MARCH 9“The Trip to Bountiful” starring Carol Mayo

Jenkins, Clarence Brown Mainstage, UT campus. Tickets range from $5 to $40. Performances: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Info/tickets: 974-5161 or www.clarencebrowntheatre.com.

“Charlotte’s Web” presented by the Knoxville Children’s Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Ave. Performances: 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 1 and 5 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Info: 208-3677; www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com; info@childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

MONDAY, FEB. 24Tennessee Shines featuring The Grassroots Grin-

gos, 7 p.m., WDVX studio, Knoxville Visitor Center, 301 S. Gay St. Broadcast on WDVX-FM, 89.9 Clinton, 102.9 Knoxville. Tickets: $10, at WDVX and www.BrownPaperTickets.com. Info: www.WDVX.com.

Muslim Journeys: Point of View – “Broken Verses,” 6-8 p.m., Cedar Bluff Branch Library, 9045 Cross Park Drive. Info: Mary Pom Claiborne, 215-8767 or mclaiborne@knoxlib.org.

Ossoli Circle meeting, Ossoli Clubhouse, 2511 Kingston Pike. Refreshments, 9:45 a.m.; “Middle East Dialog” by Susan Dakak, 10:30 a.m.; “Piano Selec-tions” by Slade Trammel, 11:30 a.m. Lunch will follow. Visitors welcome. Info: 577-4106.

Stroller tour focusing on the “Glass of the Ancient Mediterranean” exhibit, 10-11 a.m., McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Drive. Free and open to the public, but reservations are necessary. Reservations: http://mcclungmuseumstrollertour.eventbrite.com; 974-2144. Info: http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu.

Special Black History Month program, 7 p.m., Tennessee School for the Deaf, 2725 Island Home Blvd. Keynote speaker: John Sibley, president, founder and CEO of The Literacy Imperative Inc. A reception will immediately follow the presentation.

TUESDAY, FEB. 25 Launch party for Amy Greene’s second East

Tennessee novel “Long Man,” 6-8 p.m., at the home of Warren and Annelle Neel. Hosted by the Knoxville Writers’ Guild. Tickets: $90 for members, $100 for nonmembers; includes a signed copy of the book. To order: www.knoxvillewritersguild.org or send your check to KWG Launch Party, P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville TN 37939-0326. Directions will be provided prior to the event.

Computer Workshops: “Excel,” 5:30 p.m., East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Requires “Word 2007 Basics” or equivalent skills. Info/to regis-ter: 215- 8700.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26UT Film Series: “Exit Through the Gift

Shop” documentary, 8 p.m., McCarty Auditorium of the Art and Architecture Building, 1715 Volunteer Blvd. Free and open to the public. Info: http://utk.edu/go/hf.

Knoxville Writers’ Group meeting, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Naples Italian Restaurant, 5500 Kingston Pike. Speaker: Bobbi Phelps Wolverton on her book “Behind the Smile.” All-inclusive lunch, $12. RSVP by Monday, Feb. 24: 983-3740.

Bowl For Kids’ Sake, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-9 p.m., Oak Ridge Bowling Center, 246 S. Illinois Ave. To reg-ister a team: www.BowlForKidsToday.org.

WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY, FEB. 26-MARCH 2

Pianist Byron Janis will host master classes, discussions, presentations and performances at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center, 1741 Volunteer Blvd. All events free and open to the public. Registration recommended. Info/schedule/to register: http://www.music.utk.edu/janis.

THURSDAY, FEB. 27Parent to Parent Support meeting for parents

of children with mental health diagnoses, 6-8 p.m., K-TOWN Youth Empowerment Network, 901 E. Summit Hill Drive. Info: Alicia, 474-6692 or abanks@tnvoices.org.

“Wild, Ungovernable Young Men: Rethink-ing the Creek War and the War of 1812” lecture

by Kathryn Braund, the Hollifi eld Professor of Southern History at Auburn University, 5:30 p.m., Shiloh Room of the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center. Free and open to the public. Info: Daniel Feller, 974-7077 or dfeller@utk.edu.

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, FEB. 27-28Performances by the Tennessee Children’s

Dance Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Features a dozen dances by six different cho-reographers. Tickets: $30. Tickets/info: 584-9636.

THURSDAY-SATURDAY, FEB. 27-MARCH 1

Virtual conference on augmentative and alter-native communication devices for people with speech disabilities hosted by East Tennessee Technology Access Center, 116 Childress St. Registration fee: $10. Register by Feb. 21 to: Shaynie Gray, 219-0130 or sgray@ettac.org. Info: www.ettac.org or 219-0130.

FRIDAY, FEB. 28Cafe Noir celebrating the life and work of writer

Amiri Baraka, 7 p.m., the Carpetbag Theatre, 1323 N. Broadway. Cost: $3 cover charge.

Annie Sellick and the Hot Club of Nashville in concert, 8 p.m., Palace Theater, 113 W. Broadway, Maryville. Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door. Tickets: 983-3330 or Murlin’s Music World, 429 W. Broadway, Maryville. Info: www.palacetheater.com.

Last day to RSVP for Esther Luncheon for women, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Westgate Christian Fellowship, 1110 Lovell Road. Lunch free; includes a chocolate foun-tain. RSVP to 392-1101 or heather@westgatecf.org.

“A Woman Called Truth” presented by the Word-Players, 7:30 p.m., Erin Presbyterian Church, 200 Lock-ett Road. Performance is free and open to the public; no reservations required. Info: 539.2490.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, FEB. 28-MARCH 245th Jubilee Festival at the Laurel Theater, located

on the corner of 16th and Laurel Avenue. Concerts on Friday and Saturday begin 7 p.m.; Old Harp Singing and potluck, 10 a.m. Sunday. Tickets: Friday or Satur-day evening, $12, available http://www.knoxtix.com, 523-7521 and at the door. Sunday singing, dinner on the grounds: no charge. Info: 522-5851 or concerts@jubileearts.org.

Choreography workshops with Angela Hill, pre-sented by Circle Modern Dance at the Emporium Annex, 100 S. Gay St. Sessions: 6 p.m. Friday; noon Saturday; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday. To register: http://circlemodern-dance.com/choreography/ or at the door. Info: Angela Hill, 255-3834; circlemoderndance@gmail.com; www.circlemoderndance.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12014 Young Classical Musicians Concert, 7:30

p.m., Knoxville Convention Center Lecture Hall. Master of ceremonies: WBIR anchor emeritus Bill Williams Tick-ets: $15 adults, students $10. For tickets: www.knoxtix.com, Knoxville Choral Society members or at the door.

Dr. E.V. Davidson Teen Step Show, 7 p.m., Knox-ville Civic Auditorium. Hosted by the city of Knoxville. Tickets: $8 in advance, $10 day of show. For advance tickets: 656-4444 or www.knoxvilletickets.com. Info: www.cityofknoxville.org/recreation.

Seventh annual Mardi Growl Parade and Festival. Costume parade for dogs and their own-ers, 11 a.m., PetSafe Downtown Dog Park. Registration by Friday, Feb 26, $15 per dog; day-of-event, $20 per dog. Pet-friendly festival, noon-2 p.m., Market Square. Proceeds benefi t Young-Williams Animal Center. Info: www.young-williams.org; www.cityofknoxville.org/mardigrowl; 215-6599.

Family Oriented Clothing Swap, 8 a.m.-noon, Trinity UMC, 5613 Western Ave. Dad, Mom, kids and nick-knacks. Free. Bring some, take some. Info: Tonya Jelf, 357-6134.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Sean McCol-lough, 11 a.m. Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave. Info: 215-8750.

Tennessee Stage Company Table Readings: “Found Objects” 11 a.m., “A Cocaine Comedy” 2 p.m., Bearden Branch Library, 100 Golf Club Road. Info: Info: 588-8813.

Concert by the Southern Chorale from the Uni-versity of Southern Mississippi, 7 p.m., in the sanctuary, Farragut Presbyterian Church, 209 Jamestown Blvd. Free and open to the public.

MONDAY, MARCH 3Ossoli Circle meeting, Ossoli Clubhouse, 2511

Kingston Pike. Refreshments, 9:45 a.m.; Poetry Contest program by Faye Julian, 10:30 a.m.; Business meeting, 11:30 a.m. Lunch will follow. Visitors welcome. Info: 577-4106.

TUESDAY, MARCH 4UT Hospice Adult Grief Support Group meet-

ing, 5-6:30 p.m., UT Hospice offi ce, 2270 Sutherland Ave. A light supper is served. Info/reservation: Brenda Fletcher, 544-6277.

Best-selling author Ron Rash will speak, 7:30 p.m., East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Co-sponsored by The Library Society of UT Knoxville and Friends of the Knox County Public Library. Free and open to the public.

Reception for the 2014 Farragut Primary Schools Art Show, 5-6:30 p.m., Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive. The work of young artists from Concord Christian School, Farragut Primary and Intermediate schools, and St. John Newman Catholic School will be on exhibit March 3-14. Info: Lauren Cox,

lauren.cox@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057.

TUESDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 4-9Applications accepted for membership jury,

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St. Prospective members may deliver: four pieces of their work, application form, $30 fee. Application form: www.artmarketgallery.net. Info: Lil Clinard, watercolorsbylil@charter.net.

THURSDAY, MARCH 6Parent to Parent Support meeting for parents

of children with mental health diagnoses, 6-8 p.m., K-TOWN Youth Empowerment Network, 901 E. Summit Hill Drive. Info: Alicia, 474-6692 or abanks@tnvoices.org.

Free “Creating and Maintaining a Home Rain Garden” workshop, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Tusculum College , Room 101, 1305 Centerpoint Blvd. off Lovell Road. Advanced registration required. To register: 974-9124. Info: www.tnyards.utk.edu.

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MARCH 6-7Bowl For Kids’ Sake at Family Bowl, 213 Hayfi eld

Road. Times: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Friday. To register a team: www.BowlForKid-sToday.org.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7“Eat Me Two,” an exhibit of paintings of culinary

drama by Denise Stewart-Sanabria, 6-10 p.m., Paulk + Co Alternative Art Space, 510 Williams St. Also features demonstration of the art of sushi making by Sushi Acad-emy of TN; organic produce and artisan baked goods will be available from local vendors.

Opening reception for “Photography by Judge Harold Wimberly Jr.,” 5:30-9 p.m., The District Gallery. The show continues through March 22.

Community Law School presented by the Knox-ville Bar Association at O’Connor Senior Center, 611 Winona St. Sessions: 9-10:45 a.m., “Wills & Estate Planning for Everyone”; 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m., “Consumer Rights & Responsibilities: Protect Yourself and Your Assets.” Free. Preregistration requested: www.knoxbar.org or 522-6522.

First Friday reception for “A Bird in this World” exhibit by the SASS Collective, 5-9 p.m., the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay St. The exhibit is on dis-play March 7-29. Info: 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

Opening reception for exhibit by Knoxville artist Rick Whitehead, 6-9 p.m., Bliss Home, 29 Market Square. Free. Exhibit open through the month of March.

SATURDAY, MARCH 8Winter Market: an indoor farmers market,

10 a.m.-2 p.m., Historic Southern Railway Station, 306 Depot Ave. Hosted by Nourish Knoxville. Info: http://www.marketsquarefarmersmarket.org.

“Shamrock Ball - A Father-Daughter Dance,” 7-9 p.m., Farragut High School commons, 11237 Kings-ton Pike. Proceeds benefi t East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and the Kiwanis International Eliminate Project. Info: Lauren Cox, lauren.cox@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057.

Beppe Gambetta in concert, 8 p.m., Palace Theater, 113 W. Broadway, Maryville. Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door. Tickets: 983-3330 or Murlin’s Music World, 429 W. Broadway, Maryville. Info: www.palacetheater.com.

Community Law School presented by the Knox-ville Bar Association at Fellowship Church, 8000 Mid-dlebrook Pike. Sessions: 9-10:45 a.m., “Wills & Estate Planning for Everyone”; 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m., “Consumer Rights & Responsibilities: Protect Yourself and Your Assets.” Free. Preregistration requested: www.knoxbar.org or 522-6522.

Esther Luncheon for women, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Westgate Christian Fellowship, 1110 Lovell Road. Lunch free; includes a chocolate fountain. RSVP by Feb. 28 to 392-1101 or heather@westgatecf.org.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 8-9“The Last Stop at the End-Of-The-Road Café”

mystery dinner theater presented by Beaver Ridge UMC, 7753 Oak Ridge Highway. Performances: 6:30 p.m. Sat-urday; 2 p.m. Sunday. All proceeds support Hands-On Missions at the church. Info/tickets: Leslie, 804-6642, or the Church offi ce, 690-1060.

SUNDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 9-16The 2014 annual Used Book Sale organized by

the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, at the Knoxville Convention and Exhibition Center in the Holi-day Inn, World’s Fair Park. Preview Day for members of Friends of the Knox County Public Library, Saturday, March 8. Schedule/info: www.knoxfriends.org or 215-8775.

MONDAY, MARCH 10Muslim Journeys: Point of View – “Dreams of

Trespasses,” 6-8 p.m., Cedar Bluff Branch Library, 9045 Cross Park Drive. Info: Mary Pom Claiborne, 215-8767 or mclaiborne@knoxlib.org.

MONDAY-TUESDAY, MARCH 10-11Foothills Craft Guild Jury Fest submissions

accepted, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Foothills Craft Guild offi ce, Emporium Building, 100 S. Gay St. The Jury Fest will be March 12. Info/application: www.foothillscraftguild.org or Ann Lacava, 938-4180.

Send items to news@ShopperNewsNow.com

ShoppernewseVents