IN THIS ISSUE

Schroer and the parkway

Does TDOT Commissioner John Schroer’s right hand know what his left hand is do-ing? The answer is not clear.

Recently, Schroer has been saying that the extension of the James White Parkway (all of five miles, all in South Knox County at a whopping $21 million a mile) is now a regional issue, not a local issue.

➤ See Victor Ashe’s story on page 4

Downtown makes noise

Every weekend offers plenty to do downtown, but Aug. 17 seemed to be overfl owing.

The day started with the East Tennessee History Fair taking over the East Tennessee His-tory Center, Clinch Avenue and Krutch Park. Dozens of histori-cal groups offered displays and demonstrations on life as it

➤ Read Betsy Pickle on page 3

VOL. 1 NO. 2 August 26, 2013www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

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By Betsy PickleWhen the going gets tough,

South Knoxvillians get creative.To be frank, it’s hard to imag-

ine Tea & Treasures being any more creative than it already is. But owner Jenny Wolf – facing the strain of the lingering Henley Bridge closure and the still-strug-gling economy – managed to come up with a new idea to lure custom-ers. She held her second Tea & Treasures Marketplace recently and made downtown Vestal the place to be on a muggy Saturday.

A consignment shop featuring works by 40 artists, plus antiques and housewares, Tea & Treasures is an adventure in sensory over-load. But on Marketplace day, the magic spilled out onto the front and side lawns of the two-story frame house, built as a residence in 1905 at 4104 Martin Mill Pike.

Artists and vendors set up in the shade of trees and canopies. Music from guitarists and harp-ists created a sweet aural back-drop. The rain stayed away, and the stream of customers grew as the temperature rose.

Some of Wolf’s artists take their wares outside “from time to time just to create attention,” she said. “People had been saying, ‘We need to do a big event.’”

Marlene Burnett, left, shows Cindy Archibald and Rick Parks a handbag she

made from repurposed cowboy boots.

Shop puts treasures in plain viewto lure

customers

The July debut came together quickly.

“We planned it within about two weeks,” said Wolf.

She invited not only her ven-dors but also members of the South Knoxville Business Asso-ciation. About 17 vendors attended in July. The Aug. 10 number was lower, but Wolf is hoping for a re-bound on Sept. 14. She plans on holding the event on the second Saturday of the month as long as the weather cooperates.

Musician Em, aka Cynthia An-

dreson, welcomed the chance to sing and play. The South Haven Neighborhood Association mem-ber has been playing harp – gothic and Celtic – since the 1970s; she also plays guitar and dulcimer. When she was younger, she made a living from her music.

Guitarists Willow & Stone from Asheville also played for the art-ists and customers.

Bobbye Edwards, the resident artist at Tea & Treasures, “per-formed” as well. Edwards painted on slate tiles that used to be part

By Nancy WhittakerA packed room at Cracker Bar-

rel on Millertown Pike brought city and state offi cials together with merchants and property owners around Knoxville Center Mall last Tuesday.

City Council member Nick Della Volpe, who spearheaded the meeting, opened by covering his wish list for this area. Improved visibility, better signage, second chance exits and road improve-ments including the possibility of two-way frontage roads are at the top of his list.

David Brace, Knoxville’s direc-tor of public service, and Steve Borden, Region One director for TDOT, agreed that removing the

underbrush and vegetation along the Mall Road and fenced areas could be added to their scope of work.

While trees will be protected, both offi cials agreed that remov-ing the underbrush will open up the area for better visibility.

Borden explained that federal highway restrictions make add-ing new signage “tricky,” because TDOT can’t place signs for a par-ticular business along an inter-state in an urban area. However, he recommended rebranding the area in order to attract some of the 60,000 cars which pass by every day, and possibly renaming the streets to match the new brand.

Any changes in exits or the

Nick Della Volpe and Steve Borden discuss problem areas for mall traffi c. Photo by Nancy Whittaker

Clearing underbrush

frontage roads would have to be requested by the city and an Inter-change Modifi cation study would have to be completed by the state.

Della Volpe plans to present such a resolution to City Council, request-ing this impact study. Although this study usually takes about 18 months, the fi rst steps to remove the under-brush will begin shortly.

In jest, state Sen. Becky Massey

suggested that everyone could stop by and scoop up a cup of dirt each night and before too long there would be better visibility.

With more than 2,000 jobs pro-vided by merchants in this area, Della Volpe wants to make sure that short- and long-term goals are met. Judging from his enthu-siasm, he will continue to make things happen.

of the roof at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. She said she’s not tied to any one surface.

“Anything that stands still gets painted,” said Edwards, who paints on glassware, stepping-stones and even canvas. The shop features her Personality Pigs, pig-gy banks with a ontraditional ap-pearance.

Carrie Bilbrey, who sells her ac-cessory creations under the name

To page A-3

Above, Harper Em pro-

vides a relaxing musical

backdrop for shoppers.Photos by B. Pickle

Jenny Moshak and Hank Peck in Moshak’s 2008 Mercedes File photo by Betty Bean

Dismantling the house that Pat built 

By Betty BeanGen. Robert R. Neyland re-

quired his teams to study his Sev-en Maxims and apply them to the game of football. Pat Summitt re-quired her teams to study her Defi -nite Dozen and apply them to their lives. Unlike the General’s rules, the Defi nite Dozen were not sport-

specifi c. They were Summitt’s test-ed and true keys to success, and she practiced what she preached.

She acted on this principle while celebrating Tennessee’s eighth national championship in 2008 by naming Jenny Moshak the season MVP.

■ Tennova wants to rezone land on Middlebrook Pike for a new fl agship hospital, closing ER functions at the former St. Mary’s. City Council will hold a workshop on rezoning the Mid-dlebrook Pike land at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, in the City County Building. Both sides will speak.

■ Fort Dickerson needs better access, and City Council may realign the entrance with Woodlawn Pike. A public hear-ing is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, at Flenniken Landing, 115 Flenniken Avenue. Engi-neering design consultants Cannon and Cannon Inc. will present fi nal design and right-of-way plans.

■ Baptist Hospital’s for-mer employee are holding a reunion from 1-5 p.m. Satur-day, Oct. 12, at Tennova South Ambulatory Care Center, 7323 Chapman Highway, to mark the 5-year anniversary of the closing of Baptist Hospital. The reunion is open to anyone who worked at or was associated with the hospital, which oper-ated from 1948 to 2008 at 137 Blount Avenue. Registration deadline is Sept. 12 at http://bhetreunion.eventbrite.com/, 335-5275 or 218-7535 and leave your name, number and ad-dress. Mail donations to BHET Reunion Fund, c/o Patsy Bol-ing, P.O. Box 611, Powell, TN 37849.

NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ

To page A-3

Develop and Demonstrate Loyalty.Loyalty is not unilateral. You have to give it to receive it.The family business model is a successful one because it fosters

loyalty and trust.Surround yourself with people who are better than you are. Seek

out quality people, acknowledge their talents and let them do their jobs. You win with people.

(Number 3 of Pat Summitt’s “Defi nite Dozen” rules to live by)

means better visibility for Knoxville Center Mall area

2 • AUGUST 26, 2013 • Shopper news

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Fort Sanders named a NICHE site for elder care

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center has been designated as a Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) hospital by the New York University College of Nursing. Fort Sanders joins a distinguished network of hospitals that demonstrate dedication to improving the quality of care provided to older adults.

NICHE is a nationwide effort to better meet the unique health care needs of aging adults across America. Covenant Health is the fi rst health care system in the state, and the only one in East Tennessee, to implement the specialized services that NICHE offers at Fort Sanders Regional.

“As a NICHE hospital, our patients experience a geriatric standard of care by staff trained to recognize geriatric syndromes and use best practices,” explains Stan Boling, Covenant Health’s Vice President of Senior Services.

Fort Sanders Regional has been identifi ed as one of the top 10 hospitals in the country that

“The care of the older adult presents a diff erent set of challenges that all health care team members should be aware of.” – Stan Boling, Covenant Health VP of Senior Services

has performed exceptionally in disseminating knowledge and incorporating validated protocols for geriatric care into nursing practice. Fort Sanders has also participated in research projects sponsored by NICHE.

“We’re involved in validating research that looks at the differences between adults

and seniors when it comes to hospitalization,” says Boling.

Older adult patients often have multiple chronic illnesses and reduced function that may be both physical and cognitive. These issues can affect that patient’s success after they’re discharged from the hospital.

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presents a different set of challenges that all health care team members should be aware of, and should assess on admission, during the acute care stay and all the way through to the discharge setting,” explains Boling.

NICHE provides nurses with specialized training related to common health problems of older adults. These include issues such as skin breakdown, falls/injuries, confusion or loss of strength/mobility. NICHE-certifi ed gerontological nurses offer patients and families a high standard of care and resources while promoting patients’

independence and facilitating acomfortable transition home.

The NICHE program recognizesthat patient and family-centeredcare is imperative to creating apositive experience for the olderadult patient

“With NICHE there are trainingand resources available for thefamily as well as senior spousalcaregivers,” says Boling. “We areexcited about the effort we’remaking with NICHE.”

For more information about the NICHE program and resources for older patients and their families,

visit www.nicheprogram.org.

Why NICHE?NICHE, which stands for

“Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders,” is an in-novative program designed to help hospitals improve the care of older adults. The goal of NICHE is for every patient age 65 and over to be given sensitive and exemplary care. The mission of NICHE is to provide the tools and principles to change the culture of health care facilities to achieve patient-centered for seniors.

The NICHE program, based at the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing, consists of more than 350 hospitals and health care facilities throughout North America.

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older adult patients have special needs and that patient and family-centered care is important to cre-ating a positive experience for the senior patient. Families provide a vital link between the patient and hospital staff. Hospital nurses are in a unique position to work with families as partners to provide quality care to hospitalized older adult patients. It is also important to have informed, involved pa-tients who understand and partici-pate in their care.

The NICHE program is com-mitted to creating a hospital culture where the main focus is on patients and their families. As a result, NICHE hospitals have a higher patient, family and staff satisfaction overall. For seniors: How to prevent falls

As you age, your risk for falling increases. According to the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC) more than one-third of people ages 65 and older fall each year. Although most fallscause only minor injuries, the CDC estimates that up to 30 percent of the people who fall experienceinjuries that severely limit their independence.

Falls can happen anywhere, but most occur in the home, while climbing stairs or getting out ofthe bathtub, for instance. You can take steps to reduce your risk for falling. Here are some tips tohelp keep you safe:

■ Get your hearing and vision checked regularly before you notice problems.

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■ Try not to stand up quickly. Before standing, wiggle your toes and feet, and swing your legs, if possible. Move enough to increase your heart rate and blood pressure, then stand up.

■ If you feel unsteady on your feet, use a cane or

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Grab bars in the shower and on either side of thetoilet can prevent falls.

■ Improve the lighting in dark areas and usea nightlight if you get out of bed at night.

For more information, check out the CDC’s Fall Prevention resources at www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/index.html.

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Shopper news • AUGUST 26, 2013, 2011 • 3

Moshak was the team’s athletic trainer whose non-stop rehab wizardry kept Candace Parker on the fl oor, and Tennessee in the tourna-ment, despite Parker having seriously injured her shoul-der during the regional fi nals.

Longtime fans remem-bered a similar miracle she performed 11 years earlier when she helped point guard Kellie Jolly come back from an ACL tear to lead a 10-loss Tennessee team to an im-probable championship in 1997. Actually, Moshak did it many times, and was con-sidered an integral member of Summitt’s stellar staff.

And that April night in 2008, Summitt gave her a Mercedes-Benz.

Moshak, who has been busy this summer promot-ing her book, “Ice ‘N’ Go,” has been widely acclaimed as the best in the business.

And now she’s gone, hav-ing tendered her resignation two weeks ago, 11 months after fi ling a discrimination suit against UT. Through her attorney, she issued the following statement:

“Due to the overall atmo-sphere since I raised issues of equality at the University of Tennessee and given the university’s unwillingness to address the issues of dis-crimination and retaliation, I cannot continue my asso-ciation with the university’s athletic department.”

Brick by brickLast fall, Sports Illustrat-

ed writer Kelli Anderson, clearly disturbed by events in what she called the “once progressive” world of wom-en’s athletics at the Uni-versity of Tennessee, tried to make sense of what was happening. Like many na-tional sports commentators

who admired the program Pat Summitt built, Ander-son was concerned about changes she was seeing in the wake of the consolida-tion of the men’s and wom-en’s athletic departments and Summitt’s retirement.

Paying particular atten-tion to a discrimination lawsuit fi led by Moshak, strength and conditioning coach Heather Mason, as-sistant S&R coach Collin Schlosser and another fi led by former Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Debby Jennings, Anderson recounted something Jen-nings told her in 2008 when asked to explain why Sum-mitt’s staff was so loyal:

“It’s hard to leave a place where the salaries are fan-tastic, you’re working with the best people, you have the best facility, you have the best and brightest ath-letes, and you have an ath-letic department that’s in total support of every one of your efforts.”

Back in 2000, Tennessee was one of two D-1 univer-sities in the country to have a separate women’s athlet-ics department (the other was Texas). Boosters on the men’s side urged consolidat-ing the two departments in the name of cutting fat and “cleaning things up.” Boost-ers on the women’s side pointed out that Joan Cro-nan’s operation was leaner, more successful, in better academic standing and gen-erally just smarter than the men’s, and was untouched by scandal (this point was reinforced by an impolitic T-shirt: “Tennessee – where men are men and women are champions.”).

The signing of the gradua-tion pole became a happy exit ritual in the women’s basket-

ball locker room, a tangible symbol that the winningest coach in the game took as much pride in her 100 per-cent graduation rate as in her eight national champion-ships. Ditto for the academic banquet when Cronan would ask all the athletes who’d made the honor roll to stand. The basketball team took pride in having the highest composite GPA in the wom-en’s department, and nobody wanted to be left sitting. Ker-ry Howland, the women’s di-rector of academics, played a key role in that success.

But in 2002, after the national scandal that blew up over allegations of cheat-ing and grade-fi xing in the men’s academic tutoring program, tutoring services for all athletes were com-bined at the Thornton Ath-letic Center, and Howland began to be marginalized. She retired in 2011.

Hart takes down Jennings

Cronan’s retirement plans were already in place before Summitt’s very pub-lic health issues emerged. She was still around, but had no decision-making power by the time her suc-cessor, Athletic Director Dave Hart, started clashing with Debby Jennings, the most visible member of the house that Pat built.

On May 15, 2012, he called Jennings to his offi ce, accused her of insubordina-tion and gave her a couple of hours to resign or be fi red. Evidence suggests that Jen-nings’ major offense was her relentless effort to pro-tect Pat Summitt as she struggled with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Other transgressions included

complaints that employees on the women’s side were not receiving equal treat-ment. Jennings, recipient of too many awards to list, who served as Summitt’s voice for more than 35 years and her Doberman toward the end, was forced out.

In April of this year, Heather Mason, who had been steadily promoted and praised during the fi rst nine of her 10 years at UT, was terminated at the rec-ommendation of Summitt’s successor, Holly Warlick, and fi rst-year soccer coach Brian Pensky, who said she had not performed her job to their satisfaction. They both said they wanted train-ing specifi c to their sport, and Mason was replaced by a younger man with a rela-tively short resumé.

Something else will be different when the Tennes-see women take to the court named for Pat Summitt in the coming season.

Superfans Raubyn and Donna Braunton have de-clined to renew their season tickets. The loud and proud sisters from Morristown have been profi led by ESPN and are likely to show up for games in anything from orange prison jumpsuits to referees’ uniforms.

Last season, they debuted a different costume – a T-shirt emblazoned with Dave Hart’s name under a big red slash and another that says, “I miss Debby Jennings.” Raubyn, who also created an online petition protest-ing Hart’s actions, says she and Donna have been treated differently since they stepped out of line, and although they’ll continue to support the team, they’ll buy their tickets from scalp-ers from here on out.

Every weekend offers plenty to do downtown, but Aug. 17 seemed to be over-fl owing.

King Super – bassist Sam Quinn, left, vocalist Dave Bowers, drum-

mer Steve Corrigan and guitarist Josh Hobbs – opens the Band

Eat Band fi nals Aug. 17 at the Bill Lyons Pavilion at Market Square.

Kyle Campbell, left, Sean McCollough and Steph Gunnoe perform a fun show especially for

children at the Krutch Park extension during the East Tennessee History Fair.

SEEED executive director Stan

Johnson welcomes attendees

to the One Earth, Our Choice!

concert and rally at the SEEED

facilities.

ORNL scientist Virginia Dale

explains climate-change real-

ity.

Cindy Mugford, left, Jim Jean and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan chat

after the Aug. 15 South Knoxville Republican Club meeting.

Betsy Pickle

The day started with the East Tennessee History Fair taking over the East Tennessee History Center, Clinch Avenue and Krutch Park. Dozens of historical groups offered displays and demonstrations on life as it was 100 and more years ago.

Adults and children found plenty to engage them, whether it was learn-ing about Knox County’s historic homes and sites, watching soldiers drill or seeing how dolls were made. Local musicians, including Sean McCollough and Steph Gunnoe of South Knoxville, provided a fun backdrop for

the festivities. As the fair was wind-

ing down, the fi nals of the Scruffy City Band Eat Band competition got started on the stage at the Bill Lyons Pavilion at Market Square. Seven local bands com-peted for the grand prize of $3,000, recording-studio time, media interviews and band merchandise.

Playing fi rst was King Super, featuring Dave Bow-ers, Steve Corrigan, Sam Quinn and South Knoxville’s own Josh Hobbs, who is the band’s fourth guitarist (he was also its fi rst). Dressed in Robin costumes to augment their superhero image, the band played valiantly but didn’t win. And that was OK.

“We’re all here to support each other,” said Hobbs. “It’s a community thing.”

Grandpa’s Stash won the grand prize. The veteran ensemble released its fi rst-ever CD last fall, but, fi ngers crossed, with the studio-time prize they’ll be able to put out a follow-up in short order.

Focus onclimate change

Local environmental ac-tivists and groups came to-gether in harmony at “One Earth, Our Choice!,” a rally and concert held at SEEED (Socially Equal Energy Ef-fi cient Development), 1617 Dandridge Ave.

Organizer Todd Water-man, inspired by having environmentalist and au-thor Bill McKibben visit the Knoxville area for two appearances Aug. 18-19, reached out to a number of organizations to create the Aug. 17 event, and the turn-out was strong.

After opening remarks by SEEED executive di-rector Stan Johnson, who explained the mission of the urban-youth-oriented endeavor, keynote speaker Virginia Dale, an environ-mental scientist at ORNL, laid out some harsh facts.

Dale said that despite claims to the contrary, 99 percent of scientists be-lieve that “human-caused

Downtown makes some noiseclimate-change is a real phenomenon” that actually started showing signs in the mid-19th century.

In Tennessee, the average temperature has risen by 2 degrees since 1950. Climate change is having an impact on humans, animals and even agriculture, she said. About the best that can be done now is to mitigate the change.

On a happier note, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker gave a mini-concert showcasing their thoughtful and enter-taining compositions. The Ruckers are internationally acclaimed for their socially conscious music.

Duncan visits South GOP

U.S. Rep. John J. “Jim-my” Duncan got a warm welcome at the Aug. 15 meeting of the South Knox-ville Republican Club at the Optimist Building at Gary Underwood Park.

Duncan reminisced about his early activism – supporting Sen. Barry Gold-

Red Cadence, welcomed customers to her booth. She also sold baklava for her friends at King Tut’s Grill down the street.

Carrie Little Bird sold earrings and bracelets crafted by artisans in Ari-zona.

Fathi Husain, owner of Wee Care children’s con-signment shop on Chapman Highway, came to support Wolf and perhaps fi nd a new audience. He has operated Wee Care for 22 years.

Marlene Burnett of New Market, a regular T&T con-signer, displayed her hand-crafted moccasins and self-made wedding dress – not for sale but as an example of her custom work. She also showed off the handbags and wine totes she makes

from repurposed cowboy boots.

“I think it’s great to have an outlet for all these won-derfully artistic people,” she said of the Marketplace.

Wolf, who graduated from the now-defunct Young High School, believes in supporting artists. She works full-time in retail and opens Tea & Treasures on Fridays and Saturdays.

“I would love to just do this,” she said.

For now, she’ll stick to jazzing things up on the weekends. In addition to the Sept. 14 Marketplace, she’s also planning her shop’s Sept. 7 sixth birthday celebration, complete with cupcakes and door prizes.

“It’s just a big, fun party,” she said.

Bobbye Edwards paints

on slate shingles that

once topped Gloria Dei

Lutheran Church.

Tea & Treasures regular Cheryl Anderson, left, does some busi-

ness with shop owner Jenny Wolf.

Shop Treasures From page A-1

water’s run for president – and encouraged attendees not to give credence to talk that the Republican Party is washed up.

“Eighty percent of the American people are Re-publicans if they knew what we stand for,” he said.

Duncan discussed the es-calating national debt, wor-ries about “Obamacare” and the effect that environmen-

tal regulations have had on business – all familiar talk-ing points.

He also apologized for the irregularity of his Wash-ington Report newsletter, citing in part the vagaries of a bipartisan oversight panel that has to OK materials sent through the franking offi ce.

The group’s next meeting will be Sept. 19.

Dismantling the house From page A-1

4 • AUGUST 26, 2013 • Shopper news government

And we’re blabbing it to everyone.IT’S YOUR BUSINESS.

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Casual voters have no idea how close the 2012 Presidential election was. Even I didn’t know, and I’m a political junkie.

“What Went Wrong,” by Jerome Corsi, breaks down what he calls “the GOP de-bacle of 2012” and offers advice to Republicans for future elections. While I disagree with many of Cor-si’s conclusions, I appreciate his analysis.

Follow along:The Electoral College has

538 electors with 270 elec-toral votes required to win the presidency.

Barack Obama started with 55 electoral votes from California and 29 from New York, “for a total of 84 electoral votes without any necessity to campaign in ei-

ther state,” Corsi writes.Both parties labeled

states as “blue” or “red,” thus eliminating states where the presidential candidate would have to campaign. While analysts differed, Corsi said the consensus was that Obama entered the 2012 race with 251 electoral votes in states where Rom-ney had no chance of win-ning; Romney had 191.

“For all practical purpos-es, the presidential election of 2012 was reduced from the start to the seven swing states,” Corsi writes.

Those states were: Ne-vada (6 electoral votes), Colorado (9), Iowa (6), Ohio (18), Virginia (13), North Carolina (15) and Florida (29). Romney lost six of the seven, winning only North Carolina.

This book is a great read for those who want to un-derstand how Mitt Romney could spend $1 billion and lose to a marginally popular incumbent.

The difference was the cities.

In Ohio, Obama got his majority in one county – Cuyahoga, which in-cludes Cleveland. Take out Cuyahoga and Romney car-ries Ohio.

Obama won Florida by just 74,309 votes (4,237,756 to 4,163,447). Take out Dade County (Miami) and Rom-ney wins. Take out Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) and Romney wins.

Romney lost Colorado by roughly 138,000 votes of more than 2.36 million cast. Take out Denver and Rom-ney wins.

Romney lost Nevada by 67,800 votes out of nearly 1 million cast. Romney car-ried every county but two. Take out Reno or Las Vegas and Romney wins.

Obama won Nevada by carrying only two counties – a state where unemploy-ment was 11.6 percent.

On and on. Obama won Virginia by just 148,000 votes out of nearly 4 million cast. Take out Richmond and Romney wins.

Read the book and form

your own conclusions. ■ “Lee Daniels’ The

Butler” is a must-see mov-ie, especially for those of a certain age. The young di-rector moves at a fast clip from Truman to Obama, a span of 60 years, hopping through domestic politics like a frog on hot coals.

At the core is Forest Whitaker. Boy to man he wears 200 years of ugly rac-ism etched in his face.

The movie is a great char-acter study of a man who loved his family (despite fi ssures) and a family that loved its country (despite strong disagreements about how to manifest that love).

The movie elicited both sobs and applause at Regal Riviera on opening week. And Jane Fonda’s portrayal of Nancy Reagan – price-less!

Watching the elderly but-ler slip into an Obama T-shirt at the fi lm’s end adds soul to the numbers of Je-rome Corsi’s book and helps answer his question:

“What Went Wrong.”

Sandra Clark

Clark reads book, goes to movies

Does TDOT Commis-sioner John Schroer’s right hand know what his left hand is doing? The answer is not clear.

Recently, Schroer has been saying that the extension of the James White Parkway (all of five miles, all in South Knox County at a whopping $21 million a mile) is now a regional issue, not a local issue. So he is quite will-ing to override the views of Mayors Rogero and Bur-chett along with several neighborhood groups, Vice Mayor Nick Pavlis and Legacy Parks Foundation while negatively impacting two city parks.

However, Knox County has the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, or TPO, which can be found at www.knoxtrans.org/.

Jeff Welch is the long-time able staff director. Mayor Rogero is vice chair. TPO is a regional group with representa-tives from Sevier, Loudon, Blount and Knox counties. On Jan. 23, 2013, TPO voted in a public meet-ing, which included TDOT rep Angela Midgett as a voting member, to remove the James White Parkway from the TPO priority list.

Apparently, Schroer does not know this or does not want to know it.

He wants to build this extension despite the regional group saying it is not a priority. The minutes of the TPO vote are online at the above website. Far-ragut Mayor Ralph McGill is chair.

Now Schroer says more public hearings are needed. Apparently, the previous public hearings where the public voiced strong opposition did not satisfy him. He does not explain why he is ignoring the unanimous TPO vote. This was the recommenda-tion of the technical com-mittee and the motion was made by Knoxville Council member Brenda Palmer and seconded by Alcoa Mayor Donald Mull.

TPOs are part of the TDOT process required by the federal government so regions will voice their priorities with the state

honoring those decisions.Fortunately, Gov.

Haslam has indicated he will review this particular project personally, which should provide a more objective and level playing field for a final decision. Expect this issue to con-tinue for some time.

■ Fifty years ago this month, U.S. Sen. Estes Ke-fauver died, with services in Madisonville attended by Vice President Lyn-don Johnson and former Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, with whom Kefauver had sought national office in 1956 as Stevenson’s run-ning mate against Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

■ As predicted in this column months ago, Knoxvillian Larry Martin, who was Mayor Haslam’s deputy, has been named permanent Finance Com-missioner for Tennessee. This is good for the gover-nor, for Knoxville and for Tennessee.

■ Former Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar will speak at the Baker Center tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 1:30. The public is invited to hear the senator speak on international issues on which much of his 30 years in the Senate was centered. He was also mayor of Indianapolis for eight years in the 1970s when unified local govern-ment was achieved by popular vote.

■ Former U.S. am-bassador to Egypt and Syria, Margaret Scobey (a UT graduate who now lives in the Farragut area) is in demand for com-ments by the media and civic groups on the tragic developments going on in Egypt, which has tra-ditionally been a strong U.S. ally. Other former ambassadors living in the area besides this writer include Cran Montgomery, U.S. ambassador to Oman for President Reagan, and Howard Baker, U.S. ambassador to Japan for President George W. Bush.

VictorAshe

Schroer backtracks on parkway

Larry Smith seeks commission chair

R. Larry Smith’s been ac-cused of a lot of things, but nobody’s ever suggested he lacks ambition. The county commissioner from Halls is continually wading into controversy and testing the current for channels to fur-ther his free-fl owing aspira-tions.

Launch pad to oblivion

Betty Bean

One week he appears to be getting ready to run for trustee, the next, it’s regis-ter of deeds. A school board rumor bubbles up occasion-ally, as does the suspicion that he’d like to be county mayor. In recent weeks, he’s devoted his considerable energy to getting elected commission chair.

Given the widely ru-mored suspicions about his lust for higher offi ce, it’s hard to see this move as anything but a means to some unspecifi c end.

But does it really work that way?

A look at recent history suggests it’s more like a launch pad to oblivion.

Common wisdom is that incumbent chair Tony Nor-man, who, like Smith, will be term limited out of offi ce in 2014, could keep the job another year if he wanted it.

This is not a notion he wishes to encourage. He doesn’t see the position as a springboard, launchpad or steppingstone – for Nor-man, it’s more of a cow pie from which he’s attempting to extricate himself before he ruins his good shoes.

When talking about the past year, Norman sounds like the guy who was asked how it felt after being tarred and feathered and ridden

out of town on a rail and said, “But for the glory, I’d just as soon walk.”

“It’s a royal headache,” he said. “Not only from the standpoint of the workload, but you’re also a target of your fellow commissioners, which I thoroughly have not enjoyed. It stings. But that’s not the reason why I’m leav-ing – I just think a year’s enough. Let somebody else do it.”

So, does this mean he doesn’t plan to parlay his current prestige into anoth-er elected offi ce?

“Not without divine in-tervention,” Norman said. “After seven years in offi ce, my eighth year can’t get here soon enough. It would take a direct communica-tion from God.”

Norman’s predecessor, Mike Hammond, used to be suspected of plotting to par-lay his position into a run for mayor, but now he appears to be focused on his pro-

fessional life. Hammond’s predecessor, Tank Strick-land, the only Democrat in human memory to serve as chair, likewise hasn’t dem-onstrated any signs of fur-ther political ambition.

Former chair Scott “Scoobie” Moore had plenty of ambition, but got a rude comeuppance when he ran for county clerk in 2010 and got 17 percent of the Repub-lican Primary vote.

Previous commission chairs David Collins, Leo Cooper and John Mills were all defeated for re-election to their commission seats.

So someone not con-sumed by a hunka hunka burning desire for higher offi ce should carefully con-sider whether the lure of fu-ture glory is worth the pain of serving as commission chair.

But we’re talking R. Lar-ry Smith here. And unlike the guy on the rail, odds are he’d just as soon ride.

Sheriff ’s Offi ce brings crime stats home

NOTES ■ 8th District GOP will meet

Tuesday, Aug. 27, at Carter

High School. Speaker is Chan-

cellor John Weaver.

■ 3rd & 4th District Democrats

will meet 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug.

27, at Bearden Branch Library.

Speaker is Rick Staples. Info:

Chris Foell, 691-8933, or Rosina

Guerra, 588-6260.

By Sandra ClarkThe county’s chief law

enforcement offi cer is not afraid to wear pink in pub-lic. And he’s not afraid to blast the Obama Adminis-tration and immigration offi cials by declaring he will stack illegal immigrants “like cordwood” in his jail.

So why would anyone think he would be scared to post the county’s crime sta-tistics online?

Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones was not scared to do that. In fact, he encouraged

Captain Bobby Hubbs to hop to it.

“This has revolutionized our Neighborhood Watch,” Hubbs said last week as Jones demonstrated the computer program at the Halls Republican Club.

“This is the future,” Jones said of the program. “If you’re not willing to step into the future, you won’t be arresting people.”

He said criminals don’t mind the city limits or the county line. Burglars might break into homes in Nor-

wood one day, Powell the next and Anderson County the next. When the offi cers communicate crime stats online, it helps enforcement across the boards.

Jones said individuals

can log in to the system to get updates about crime nearby their home or business. “It will send you a link or mes-sage each day. You can check on the dorm where your kid lives,” said Hubbs.

When Jones OK’d the plan, only Collierville used the system in all of Tennes-see. Now the “RaidsOnLine” is regional, covering Knox-ville, Oak Ridge, UT and Loudon.

Sign up free online at knoxsheriff.org and click on Crime Map.

Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones

Shopper news • AUGUST 26, 2013, 2011 • 5

The magic of small businessPeople start and stay with

an independent business for many reasons. For some it’s a job. For others it’s a call-ing. For most it’s a fi erce desire for independence in a world where that’s harder and harder to achieve.

We want to salute local businesses in this column (and catch up with a few old friends), so here we go.

Kenny Adams started working at Graning Paint while in high school, learn-ing the business from his dad, the late Paul Adams, and handling chores like sweeping up.

“Downtown is my cus-tomer base,” Kenny says, so when road crews started talking about improvements to Broadway near the inter-state, Kenny looked close by. He got lucky and landed the building that previously housed the Lighting Gal-lery which had merged with Stokes.

So Adams got a modern, airy building to display his paint samples along with expanded warehouse space and loading docks for his merchandise.

Kenny has seen the busi-ness change over 58 years, as Graning went from 17 stores to one. He’s also seen his suppliers consolidate or close.

So today, Graning carries 4,000 regular colors and, thanks to new technology, can match anyone’s com-petitive color. Major brands are Glidden, Devoe, Flood Stains, Sikkens, Ralph Lau-ren and Pratt & La mbert. And Graning carries them all.

Kenny has a skilled staff including his son, Kevin. My dad always said, “Stay with what you know,” said Kenny. “That was the whole idea behind getting a better building – for my family.”

Graning Paint is open 6:30 a.m. to 5 weekdays and 6:30 to noon on Saturdays. Info: 546-4881.

Pam and Brian Train-or have been married 27 years. “It was arranged, we were just 14,” says Brian. And they’ve worked to-gether in various businesses most of that time.

Now Pam represents the 9th District on the school board. Brian continues a catering business, and they are partners in a niche busi-ness called River Dog Bak-ery on Kingston Pike in Vil-lage Square in Bearden.

The continue to live in the house where Pam grew up in South Knoxville. Wouldn’t live anyplace else, both say.

They’ve owned just three Golden Retrievers over the years. The current compan-ion, Cooper, comes to work at River Dog Bakery. It’s his job to taste-test the treats.

The bakery has other pet supplies and is open daily 10 to 6 and Saturdays 10 to 4.

The Trainors met as college students, but they didn’t meet at college. Both were working at J.C. Pen-

Free Prostate Cancer Screenings

During Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the Cancer Institute at The University of Tennessee Medical Center will offer free prostate screenings for men between the ages of 50-70. Men who are African American and individuals with a family history of prostate cancer can be screened at an earlier age.

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September 17 & 20UT Medical Center, Cancer Institute1926 Alcoa Hwy., Building F

For an appointment, call 865-305-6970.

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Our MissionTo serve through healing,

education and discovery

Screening includes a digital rectal exam and a blood test called PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen).

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Kenny Adams stands outside

the new Graning Paint store

on Magnolia Avenue.

Why am I doing this!!?!

ney’s in East Towne Mall. Their kids are Craven, a student at UT-Chattanooga, and Liam, a sophomore at Tulane.

Pam and Brian are a two-person praise band for South Knoxville. “Where else can you fi nd acres and acres of green space just three miles from down-town?” Pam asks. “You pull off the road and you’re in the woods. You don’t know there’s a town nearby.”

Pam Trainor said the Henley Bridge closure has been “horrible” for busi-nesses. And now the pro-posed James White Park-way would shoot traffi c right past them.

“We’re rallying over the parkway,” said Pam. “We’re really standing up.”

What’s next for the Train-ors? How about River Dog II in South Knoxville. “Yeah, right on the river,” laughs Pam.

Reach Brian’s Catering Unique at 579-5960. Call Cooper and the folks at River Dog Bakery at 588-8100. Call Pam at 577-5311 or (mobile)548-2381.

Phyllis Y. Nichols is heading to Washington, D.C., for the 50th anniver-sary celebration of the 1963 March on Washington.

Cooper with his people,

Pam and Brian Trainor

Phyllis Y. Nichols, energetic

head of Knoxville’s Urban

League

Pam Hammontree has

expanded local business to

Nashville and beyond.

Bill and Janie Emmert on their back porch in Thorn

Grove

The original River Dog

“This is something I’m doing for me,” she said. “I was too young to go the fi rst time. This is for me to tell my grandkids.”

Nichols is the president and chief executive offi cer of the Knoxville Area Urban League (KAUL). Her hus-band, Jim Nichols, heads Red Door Brokers, a local real estate fi rm. He was previously with ReMax. They’ve been married since college.

Phyllis is no-nonsense with a keen wit. Based at 1514 East 5th Avenue, the KAUL is about the oppor-tunity to thrive (children), own (housing), earn (jobs), and prosper (entrepreneur-ship).

Phyllis herself is ac-tive with various business groups and sponsors an an-nual awards gala along with the just-fi nished “shoes for school” promotion.

She a new friend, and we made a deal. You’ll read a lot about KAUL in the Shopper-News. And we’ll get some referrals for more great stories. After all, ev-erybody runs out of people they already know sooner or later. Info: 524-5511.

Pam Hammontree is alive and well in South Knoxville. OK, so she’s spit-tin’ mad about the proposed James White Parkway ex-tension. Isn’t everyone?

“Why two of the three (proposed) routes would cut right through my building. I built it in 1989. It’s a land-mark!,” she said.

Otherwise, Hammontree has survived the recession

and sees business pick-ing up along the Chapman Highway and Gov. John Sevier Highway corridors. “South Knoxville sells pret-ty well,” says Hammontree, a Realtor since 1979.

A second sign now hangs alongside Hammontree Re-alty. What is Hammontree Tucker International Farms and Estates?

That’s a relatively new business, Pam says. It’s a partnership with the family of entertainer Tanya Tucker, and as the name suggests, the brokers specialize in farms big farms as in Nash-ville area spreads favored by the country music crowd.

The company is based right there in that landmark log cabin offi ce on Gov. John Sevier Highway, but its reach has extended past Nashville as far as South Dakota. Pam just grins and repeats the old joke about anyone being an expert if they come from far away.

Pam and her team are at work every day, selling farms and homes right in South Knoxville. She’ll re-turn your phone calls quick-ly, but don’t ask her to sing. She’s leaving that to Tanya Tucker. Info: hammontree-realestate.com or 573-0145.

Bill and Janie Em-mert are retired now, him from the road building busi-ness and she from Home Federal Bank. And the last time we visited, they were mad about the sneak attack by The Development Cor-poration to buy up farms around their house in the Thorn Grove neighborhood of deep East Knox County.

We found them there last week, still on their back porch (although this time not breaking green beans), and still enjoying the view of open farmland where no businesses have been built.

Janie reminisced about the time she and some “girls” pranked my dad as he settled in to close a loan. They had taped shut his desk drawer and stuck his phone on the receiver.

“We waited until he sat down and got the custom-ers settled. He spread out his papers and we called him. He tried to answer the phone and then tried to

open his desk to fi nd some-thing to unstick it.” Wonder what the customers thought as everyone on the fl oor started laughing?

Bill doesn’t talk as much as Janie, but he spoke up

recently to ask what she would like for their 42nd anniversary. “I don’t need anything,” said Janie. Then looking slyly, she added, “But I could always use dia-monds.”

Kroger Pharmacy to Host Clinic for Shingles Vaccinations set for Wednesday

Zostavax Clinic for shingles vaccinations recommended to anyone over the age of 50 to help prevent the painful shingles skin disease

will be held from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday (August 28th) at

Asheville Hwy Kroger. The cost may be free for some insurances: Tricare/Express Scripts;

Federal Employees; Kroger Employees. Please join us for free refreshments, blood-pressure screening, and make sure that you

are up to date on your vaccinations. For more information, call 865-521-2926

6 • AUGUST 26, 2013 • Shopper news kids

By Betsy PickleWhen Paula Brown found

out in late June that she’d been appointed principal at Mount Olive Elementary School, she didn’t have time to worry about what the job would be like or how it would differ from her pre-vious positions with Knox County Schools. Her hus-band, however, had a ques-tion.

“Where’s Mount Olive?”As a West Tennessee na-

tive, he wasn’t familiar with South Knoxville, but even the new principal – who grew up in East Knoxville and graduated from Holston High School – had to study the map. She knows where she’s heading now, however.

“What’s interesting about this school is there are still generations and generations of kids,” says Brown. “I have retired teachers who come in and say, ‘I attended this school, and I taught in the same room that I had 5th grade.’ Then you have the children and grandchildren of those retired teachers. It

Principal Paula Brown, center, talks with Missy Robinson and her daughter, 2nd grader Faith

Penner, at Parent Information Night.

Paula Brown, principal of

Mount Olive Elementary

School

Mount Olive principal discovers school’s strong sense of community

appears to be a very close-knit community where many haven’t left.”

That continuity is refl ect-ed in community involve-ment with Mount Olive.

“With this school, it’s been a strength,” says Brown.

With 258 students and 14 classroom teachers, Mount Olive is a sharp contrast with Brown’s previous gig.

She came from Bearden High School, where she was a vice principal. Before that she was vice principal at Austin-East Magnet and Carter Middle.

Her resumé also includes fi ve years with Project GRAD, two years as presi-dent of the Knox County Education Association and nine years teaching fourth grade at Cedar Bluff Inter-mediate.

She started her teaching career in special education at Camelot Care Center in Kingston. This is her 30th year as an educator.

Though she has taught for three decades, she says students haven’t changed from the 1980s to now.

“Kids are kids,” says Brown. “They have different tools to use to access infor-mation. But the way they learn hasn’t changed. Ev-eryone has their own style of learning.

“There’s so much that has not changed that I think really impacts a kid and their learning, and it’s not

Fulton quarterback Penny Smith carries the ball downfi eld

for the Falcons during the recent Kick-Off Classic. The Fal-

cons face three tough opponents on the road for their fi rst

three games – Powell, Bearden and Austin-East – before

playing on their home fi eld Sept. 13 against Farragut. Pho-tos by Tim Gangloff

CARTER FOOTBALL STARTS ON THE ROAD

■ Carter High School football team played at Gibbs last week. The

Hornets will play on Thursday, Aug. 29, at Cocke County; on Friday,

Sept. 6, at Pigeon Forge; and will host the home opener Friday,

Sept. 20, against Austin-East. Game times are 7:30 p.m.

Austin-East senior Michael McMahan makes a catch and

heads down the fi eld during the Kick-Off Classic at Ney-

land Stadium. Austin-East traveled to Grace Christian for

the fi rst game of the season and will host Anderson Coun-

ty at home Aug. 30 and conference rival Fulton on Sept. 6.

Football season kicks off

Holston Middle School administrators know that there are areas to work on at their school, and they aren’t making excuses. They are making changes.

“We have a great plan ahead,” said principal Ash-ley Jessie, “and we are ready to rock and roll.” Jessie was assistant under former principal Tom Brown (who

Wolfenbarger Greene

Holston Middle School student Morgan Corum chats with

Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre during a recent school visit. Photo by Ruth White

Holston working hard to succeed

RuthWhite

Jessie

was moved to Gibbs High) and she is eager to continue the good p r a c t i c e s set in place and to help H o l s t o n continue to

grow.Assistant principals this

year are Jim Wolfenbarger and Sara Greene.

To strengthen reading and language arts, class-room time has been in-creased to allow students more time to focus on those areas. The staff will also use progress monitoring

to track all s t u d e n t s and provide immediate feedback on what is go-ing on with s t u d e n t s . “We need to know now what’s go-

ing on. We cannot wait until pre-testing for the TCAPS to fi nd out how students are performing,” said Jessie.

The school currently has 16 teachers trained for Common Core and two state-trained teachers who will facilitate training the others. Holston also has three master teachers and

six men-tor teach-ers who will pro-vide mod-eling and c l a s sr o om s u p p o r t for teach-ers. Every teacher is

assigned a coach and will receive support depending on needs.

“We (the teachers) have to be on the same page and get this literacy up,” said Jessie. With this plan in place and the dedicated staff, Holston seems to be on a good path to success.

Inside Carter’s classroomsClassroom visits from

the superintendent, ad-ministrators, school board members and county com-missioners can be nerve-racking to some, but the staff members at Carter El-ementary didn’t fl inch when they were observed at work.

Principal Shay Siler welcomed the guests and shared the progress of her school since last year. Cart-er’s biggest strength was in 3rd grade math and read-ing. Siler’s team of teach-ers doesn’t plan to let up in that area as they work to strengthen areas of need through PLC facilitators at all grade levels and es-tablishing several vertical teams in needed areas.

The school has three

coaches for Common Core state standards (one in math and two in English/Language Arts) and Siler herself is a leadership coach. Half of the staff at Carter at-tended a Common Core In-stitute for instruction over the summer.

In year three of the new evaluation system, Siler is pleased to see the staff more comfortable with the rubric and knows that Carter El-ementary has a history of effective teaching.

“I have told them to do what they do best every day,” she said.

Notes: East Knox Coun-ty Elementary School sec-ond grade parent night will be 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Knox County Superin-

tendent Dr. Jim McIntyre

visits with student Logan

Stamoulis in Staci Leach’s

classroom at Carter El-

ementary.

Leigha Rudd is new to Carter and teaches 3rd grade. She is

working with a student on number placement in the class-

room.

Blair King is the new assis-

tant principal at Carter El-

ementary School. He comes

to Knox County from Oak

Ridge Schools and is part of

the great team headed by

Shay Siler. Photos by Ruth White

Staci Leach is a new 1st grade

teacher at Carter Elementary.

Teacher Sherry

Beeler works

through math

problems with

her 2nd grade

students.

whether they have a com-puter or not. I think it is whether they know you care about them, whether they know you respect them and they’re treated with respect, that they see you as a role model. Those are the things that I think haven’t changed – the relationships.

“You start out with rela-tionships, developing strong relationships, and they’re going to do anything you

want them to do – it doesn’t matter what grade level they are, from kindergartners to seniors in high school.”

Brown set out to become a psychologist but added a second major in special edu-cation when East Tennessee State University switched from quarters to semesters, and she needed to fi ll time until a required psychology class was offered.

She likes the connections

of classroom teaching and the fulfi llment of providing teachers with professional development, but she’s hap-py in her new role.

“I just feel like it’s a bless-ing,” she says. “I don’t know any other way to describe it. I always feel like I was placed wherever I was for a reason, from the very fi rst time I was hired into the Knox County Schools sys-tem.”

Shopper news • AUGUST 26, 2013, 2011 • 7

By Betty BeanThe August meeting of

the Alice Bell Spring Hill Neighborhood Association (ABSHNA) was to have been a debate between 4th District City Council incum-bent Nick Della Volpe and his challenger, Rick Staples. The plan changed when Staples didn’t show up. (Contacted later, a Staples campaign staffer reported a scheduling mixup).

And there was still a lot to talk about as some 35 ABSHNA members, three of Della Volpe’s City Coun-cil colleagues, a West Hills Tennova opponent and a de-veloper with a subdivision plan showed up at the New Harvest Park community center.

Of most interest was the upcoming City Council re-zoning vote for the new Ten-nova Hospital on Middle-brook Pike, scheduled for the Sept. 17 City Council meeting. ABSHNA presi-dent Ronnie Collins told the group they need to get involved in this West Knox-ville rezoning, which Ten-nova must have before it can proceed with its plans to close the former St. Mary’s Medical Center (now known as Physicians Regional) in North Knoxville.

“That leaves this end of town with no hospital at all,” Collins said. “The neighbor-hoods out there don’t want it in their back yards, or any-where next to them. … Just think about how long it’s go-ing to take for an ambulance to get from this end of town down through there.”

A member of the audi-ence, who said he recently survived a life-or-death medical emergency because

he was able to get to the Physicians Regional emer-gency room quickly, agreed:

“If it’s down there (on Middlebrook), I’m dead,” he said. “I think this is one of the most important issues for our community.”

Della Volpe said it’s dif-fi cult to get a clear picture of what Tennova wants to do because its ownership was recently taken over by a New York hedge fund op-erator.

“The problem right now is we don’t know who’s run-ning Tennova,” he said. “They (the previous owners) said they had talked to the Sisters of Mercy (the nuns who ran the old St. Mary’s Medical Center), and that they are committed to pro-viding some services at that location. But there’ll be no acute care, no emergency room.”

Della Volpe said he is concerned about the jobs that will be moved to west Knoxville as well as the ripple effect on surrounding businesses like restaurants, fl orists and pharmacies.

In other business, devel-oper Ronnie Phillips, who wants to build a duplex on a nine-acre parcel on Washington Pike, brought his engineer, Brad Salsbury of Cannon & Cannon, to explain the runo ff control measures he plans. Eventu-ally, the subdivision would contain up to 19 units, and the discussion between Phillips and the neighbor-hood is whether he should be required to submit a con-cept plan for the entire de-velopment or be permitted to go forward with a single unit before submitting the plan.

By Betsy PickleJohn R. Moore doesn’t

have the kind of loyalty to the University of Tennessee that calls to mind a market-ing slogan – like #VolforLife or “My blood runs orange.”

After all, he isn’t a UT alumnus. But since 1953, he has been a fi xture in the College of Business Admin-istration’s department of economics, serving as a uni-versity professor, adminis-trator and researcher. Now, in gratitude for the career he has had, he has created an endowment to establish the John R. & Shirley Burr Moore Economics Faculty Award.

“It’s not very often that you come to someplace – your fi rst employment is ba-sically at age 25 – and you stay there for 60 years,” says Moore, sitting in the kitch-en of the East Knox County home where he has lived for 28 years. “Either they have to be terribly tolerant or …”

Or you have to be good?“Not necessarily good,”

he says, “but persistent. I think of all my qualities, persistence is probably the strongest.”

The department head and business dean will se-lect the award winners, but not all the details have been fi nalized. It seems likely that those chosen will have accomplishments in line with Moore’s achievements: He was named an Alumni Distinguished Service Pro-fessor in 1989, received a Chancellor’s Citation for Distinguished Service and was a University Mace Bearer.

It would also be wise for

Northeast Knox resident Kevin Murphy signs Rocky Swingle’s

petition urging City Council to reject Tennova’s Middlebrook

Pike rezoning request. Photo by Betty Bean

City Council challenger is

no-show

John Moore stakes an orchid in the greenhouse at his East Knox County home.Photo by Betsy Pickle

Moore endows UT faculty award

them to look for qualities exemplifi ed by Moore’s wife, Shirley, who passed away in 1992. They met at graduate school at Cornell Univer-sity after he graduated from Colgate University. She had earned her bachelor’s de-gree from Vassar College and a master’s from the University of Oregon and was working on her Ph.D. in economics at Cornell.

“She was a much better student than I,” says Moore, who earned his master’s and doctorate at Cornell. “The faculty looked up to her as a model student; they didn’t look up to me as a model student.”

When the Moores came to UT, a nepotism policy prohibited married couples from teaching in the same

college, so Shirley Moore taught math and statistics in liberal arts. After the policy was abolished, she taught statistics and economics in the business college.

They bought a home in the Holston Hills area in the late 1950s and reared their three daughters there. In the mid-1970s, Shirley be-came interested in growing orchids. They built a small lean-to greenhouse in the backyard, but after expand-ing it and then building and outgrowing a separate, even larger greenhouse, they moved to a new home in the county, and she used two greenhouses there in the operation of Pinnacle Orchids.

He still has the smaller greenhouse and cares for

the remaining orchids as “something to do” when he’s not visiting with his daugh-ters and grandchildren. He says he has never really had a hobby. He spent his free time during his teaching and administrating years working as a consultant. Since earning his emeritus status 22 years ago, he has done research at UT – sup-posedly part-time – pri-marily for the Department of Labor.

His consulting usually was for lawyers, drawing him into the courtroom many times. That may be what inspired his one true hobby, which he’s able to practice only when he visits London.

“I like to go to the Old Bai-ley and watch trials,” he says.

Carol Zinavage

Carol’s Corner

What do you do when you’re close to retirement from an illustrious career teaching and performing music?

Settled in Seymour

George Bitzas sang the na-

tional anthem at UT football

games for more than 27 years. Photos by Carol Zinavage

captain in the Revolutionary War, and was then passed down to the Bogle and later Atchley families, all related to Lisa on her mother’s side. Outlying buildings included a dairy, cantilever barn, brooder house, smokehouse and well house. Some of those buildings still stand and were also updated.

And after 179 years, they needed plenty of work.

The process did not go smoothly. There were heavy rains, many delays and no straight lines in the sag-ging main structure. Even now, maintaining the house takes effort.

“We moved in on April Fools’ Day of 1997,” says George with a rueful grin, “and it’s been April Fools’ Day ever since.”

The Bitzases had been living in a spacious condo at Mariner’s Pointe on Fort Loudoun Lake. Lisa was particularly fond of the fl oor-to-ceiling windows that afforded water views, and she “fought tooth and nail” to stay there.

“But this is home,” she admits. “This is my grand-father’s house, so I was here

Most folks would sit back, slow down and let someone else do all the work for a change. Not George Bitzas.

Four years before his re-tirement from The Univer-sity of Tennessee, George and wife Lisa began a com-plete rehab of the fi rst frame house built in Blount Coun-ty. A year later, with the work still in progress, they moved in.

“We were probably sleep-ing with possums and rac-coons,” says Lisa. “Defi nite-ly rats!”

The house has long been in Lisa’s family. It was built in 1817 by Joseph Black, a

George and Lisa Bitzas enjoy their historic Blount County home.

as much as at my house when I was a kid.”

Now, both George and Lisa enjoy the serenity of the mountains and the si-lence, “except for the don-keys and the cows,” laughs Lisa. They especially en-joy entertaining in their kitchen/dining area, which includes the original stone fi replace and marble fl oor, both beautifully restored.

You may be wondering why the name George Bitzas sounds so familiar to you,

even if you don’t know a lick of music.

If you’re a fan of Vol foot-ball, you know him as the man who sang the national anthem at the start of every game from 1973 to 2000.

Born in northern Greece in the small town of Tsamanta near the Al-banian border, he came to the USA at the age of 3. After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Converse College, he ac-cepted a teaching position in the voice department at the UT School of Music in 1965. With his bright tenor voice, he was a natural, and in 1973 the job became his.

Even after suffering a bout of thyroid cancer in 1978, he kept on perform-ing the notoriously singer-unfriendly piece.

“They told me I probably couldn’t sing anymore,” he remembers, “but I didn’t miss one ball game.”

“I can’t think of another tune that has such an un-singable range,” says the an-them’s current singer, bari-tone and UT professor of voice Andrew Wentzel. “Add to that the fact that you are singing it for 100,000 peo-ple and a radio audience, as well as the fact that every-one knows every word, and the pressure can be pretty intense out there.”

George Bitzas did it for 27 years, and did it so well that he’s recognized in un-expected places. When he and Lisa went to Greece last summer for an extend-ed visit to his homeland, a couple came up to him excitedly and asked, “Are you George Bitzas?” They were faithful Vol fans.

He’s also enjoyed a long career as music director of Sequoyah Hills Presbyte-rian Church, from which he retired in 2010.

Now, lounging by their pool on a sunny day, the Bitzases relax together and comment on how much they like a recently-added wrap-around deck.

But no more major house rehab.

“Enough,” says George.Send story suggestions to news@

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8 • AUGUST 26, 2013 • UNION COUNTY Shopper news

Furniture OutletFurniture Outlet512 Clinch Ave. • Clinton, Tennessee • 865.457.3815

RETIREMENT RETIREMENT SELL-OFFSELL-OFF

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Mon-Fri 10-7Saturday 10-6Sunday 1-5

Furniture OutletFurniture Outlet512 Clinch Ave. • Clinton, Tennessee • 865.457.3815

90 DAYS SAME AS CASH!

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