Jessie Evans and her mother, Linda. Photo by Betty Bean

IN THIS ISSUE

VOL. 1 NO. 3 September 2, 2013www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

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By Sandra ClarkIt’s been 15 years since Allen

Morgan’s surprise resignation as superintendent of Knox County Schools. It was a jolt for KCS, es-pecially when his top assistant, Shirley Underwood, followed. Morgan was our last elected su-perintendent.

Morgan, now 66, then joined Jim Clayton and worked 10 years as president of CMH Parks, lead-ing a team of 300 to develop some 22,000 homes in communities across the country. He retired again, taking four years off to earn a pilot’s license and lower his golf score. Then, on March 12, 2012, he accepted a new job as athletic director at Carson-Newman Uni-versity.

The guy is full of surprises.Underwood, now 70, claims al-

Allen Morgan: the guy can’t keep a job

To page 5

tor to First Baptist Church of Chickamauga. He and wife Mela-nie are proud parents to daughter, Collins. That name has a story. But then everything about Allen Mor-gan has a story.

Playing baseballAllen arrived at C-N in the

fall of 1964. He made the base-ball team under legendary coach Frosty Holt and played sparingly that fi rst season. The team won the 1965 NAIA national champi-onship, the school’s fi rst.

Allen said his main job was to roll out the batting cage, a chore he relinquished the next year to Dale Rutherford of Halls. (Dale went on to set records that still

Morgan-isms ■ Satellite dish – the state fl ower of West Virginia. ■ Experience – the ability to make good decisions, learned after

fi rst making bad decisions. ■ Getting hired – You be the very best at what you are and

they’ll come and fi nd you. ■ God needed a big stick in each hand to beat me out of retirement. ■ Being a grandparent is great, but the downside is I have to

live with Granny.

most retirement after a decade of education consulting. She’s given away her home offi ce desk and boxes of folders. There’s a good chance both made more money in the 10 years after retirement than in their 30 years as educators. They’re not talking.

Allen and Phyllis Morgan are

rumored to have set up a fund to help kids at Carson-Newman. They’ve also bought a house in Jefferson City just four doors from the campus. Allen can walk to work, and he’s given all the play-ers his cell phone number. Phyllis called in the decorator.

Their son, Chris, is senior pas-

By Betsy PickleSouth Knoxville’s Urban Wil-

derness just got a bit larger and a little less, um, wild.

The family of the late Pat Wood joined the Legacy Parks Founda-tion and city offi cials to announce their donation of 100 acres of undeveloped land accessed from Taylor Road off Sevierville Pike. The property will add trails and parkland to the Urban Wilderness and connect pieces of the South Loop trail system.

Mayor Madeline Rogero prepares to

visit Pappy’s Point in an ATV driven

by Todd Montgomery of the Appala-

chian Mountain Bike Club.

Kim Wood Mc-

Clamroch, backed

by her family and

local offi cials, tells

the crowd her fa-

ther’s hard work

allowed the fam-

ily to donate 100

acres of land to the

Urban Wilderness.

BByBy BBBetetsysy PPiicicklklklee

by Todd Montgomery of the Appap lala

chchchhiaiaiaiannnn MoMoM untain Bike Club.

Land donationhonors Pat WoodOne of the features planned for

the site is a 1½-mile mountain bike trail suitable for those who aren’t up to the demands of most of the trails in the UW.

“The topography allows us to have the fi rst introductory moun-tain bike trail in Knox County and really in this area,” Carol Evans, executive director of Legacy Parks

Foundation, said at the Aug. 27 an-nouncement staged at the entrance to the property. “We call some of those trails ‘moderate,’ but I have a different description of moderate than some of these (riders).

“We know people want to learn how to do this. We know people want to walk on trails that are fl at. We know people want to bike on

trails that are fl at. And they need that, and our topography just doesn’t lend itself to it, but this land does.”

Adventure seekers will get their share of fun from the land as well. Two “spectacular” balds requiring climbs up to an elevation of 1,100

To page 3

By Betty BeanJessie Evans, owner

of Friends Antiques and Collectibles Mall, was the founding vendor at the fi rst Historic Happy Hol-lerPalooza. Now, with the 8th annual street fair set to kick off at noon Saturday, Sept. 14, she’s thrilled by its growth.

“We opened the store in 2005, and mom and I helped found the street fair, which was originally a customer appreciation

Happy HollerPalooza ahead

To page 5

IN THIS ISSUE

Alice Bell Baptists give back

A Baptist church with an aging membership has stepped out in faith to build a ministry center for young families.

Sept 8 is Celebration Sunday at Alice Bell Baptist Church. The work that’s been done there is amazing.

➤ Read Sandra Clark on page 6

Showing gritFirmness of character, also

called grit, is a better predic-tor of life success than any other factor, including intel-ligence and income.

That’s what author Paul Tough says in his book “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curi-osity and the Hidden Power of Character,” and Knox County school board member Indya Kincannon agrees.

➤ Read Wendy Smith on page 4

Smoking Day FestThe 5th annual Smokin’

Day Fest at Sweet P’s Barbe-cue and Soul House at Willow Point Marina fed the stomach and the soul. If anyone left hungry, well, they had to be vegetarian music haters.

➤ Read Betsy Pickle on page 3

Vol footballThere are reasons to believe

even the immediate future will be better than the recent past.

As you may have heard, Ten-nessee football is facing a trap game in Western Kentucky and things really get tough after that.

No matter what happens at Oregon and Florida, keep be-lieving that success is again in sight, out there on the horizon.

➤ Read Marvin West on page 5

‘Coup’ is good readBetty Bean takes a look at

the new book by Keel Hunt that discusses the early swearing-in of Gov. Lamar Alexander, back in 1979.

➤ Read Bean on page 4

day where people went to each store and could get a stamp. Once the North Knoxville Business & Professional Association joined, it really took off. That’s when we shut down the street and it got bigger and better.”

Friends, which is man-aged by Evans’ parents, Linda and Rick Evans, is three stories crammed with collectibles, antiques and curiosities. They’ll

hold a raffl e.Ellen Lee’s brother Dan

Moriarty, the unoffi cial mayor of Happy Holler, opened the Time Warp Tea Room in 2002, before most of the other new busi-nesses moved into what is now an up-and-coming part of Downtown North. Lee is another of the Hol-lerPalooza organizers and is excited about what this

Parkway extension suspended

In a huge win for Chapman Highway businesses, the state Department of Transportation has shelved plans to extend the James White Parkway to Gov. John Sevier Highway.

➤ Read Victor Ashe on page 4

2 • SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

Laparoscopic techniques have transformed abdominal surger-ies in the last 20 years, replacing the need for one long incision with several smaller ones. This means less pain, quicker healing and few-er complications.

Gallbladder removal, appendix removal and hernia repair have all been improved with laparoscopic procedures. Here’s the latest on three common surgeries, accord-ing to Dr. Michael D. Kropilak, a general surgeon with Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center:

Gallbladder removalThe gallbladder is a “pouch”

that sits below the liver and stores bile to be used to help digest fats. When a gallbladder stops working properly, gallstones can develop and are very painful. Removal of the gallbladder is the next step. Laparoscopic techniques have greatly improved gallbladder re-moval. Instead of 6-inch scars for open surgery, patients now go home with only four tiny incisions, spots where the slender laparo-

scopic instruments have been in-serted.

Appendix removalAlthough its function is un-

known, the appendix can cause serious problems if it becomes infected or ruptures. Located be-tween the small and large intes-tines, surgery is the only way to re-move the appendix. In the past fi ve years, surgeons have improved techniques to remove the appen-dix. First, the infected organ is placed in a small plastic bag called an endobag, before being pulled out of the body. “This means it never touches any abdominal wall tissue, so the wound infection rate is very low,” Kropilak said. “We’ve been using it for a while, but it’s helped that surgery a great deal.”

Also in the last fi ve years, lapa-roscopic techniques have reduced incision size and healing time. “Appendectomies have become preferable, if they can be done. It defi nitely leads to shorter hospital stays, faster recovery times and, more importantly, a signifi cant de-crease in wound infections,” said

Kropilak.

Hernia repairA hernia is a weak spot in the

abdominal wall where fat or or-gans begin to protrude through. There are many types of hernias and just as many ways to repair them. But almost all surgeons use surgical mesh material. “It’s like patching a hole in a tire. The mesh helps reinforce the repair so much that, in the last 10 years, it’s really cut down on the recurrence rate of hernias,” said Kropilak.

Hernia repairs can either be done with laparoscopic instru-ments or with an open incision, depending on the location and size of the tear.

“Generally the outcomes are equal and the recurrence rate is low. With laparoscopy there’s slightly less pain and the ability to get back to work quicker. If open groin hernia surgery can be done with light sedation instead of deep anesthesia, that’s easier on the pa-tient,” Kropilak said.

When choosing a surgical cen-

ter for any kind of abdominal sur-gery, it’s most important to fi nd a skilled surgeon and quality center, said Kropilak.

“At Fort Sanders, some of our surgeons have been doing this for 20 years, and they’re very good at what they do. We have a lot of ex-perience,” said Kropilak.

“We also think we’re a conser-vative group of surgeons who re-ally only operate when we think it’s necessary. The staff at Fort Sanders treats all our patients as

if we were treating our own family.

We’re striving for the best care you

can get.”

As with any medical procedure,

discuss treatment options with

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At Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, doctors develop the best approach for each patient in an eff ort to eliminate the need for multiple surgeries and

extended stays in the hospital.

No quick fi x for Washburn man’s herniaThe surgical community con-

tinually looks for less-invasive methods involving smaller inci-sions, hoping to shorten hospital times and the chance of infection. However, in some cases, a larger incision is needed for a successful surgical procedure.

That was the case for William “Gary” Stephens of Washburn, Tenn., 61, who had not one, but three surgeries for a hernia be-fore it was fi nally repaired at Fort Sanders Regional Center.

A hernia is when fat or tissue squeezes through a weak spot in the abdominal wall. Stephens’ her-nia began about 10 years ago and grew larger over time, probably the result of his work in construc-tion. Eventually the pain became severe.

“It was just real painful, and I couldn’t do any physical work, be-cause when I did, my hernia would come out. Eventually it kept me at home,” Stephens said.

Stephens had two separate sur-geries that attempted to repair the hernia, in 2010 and 2011. Sur-geons used small pieces of surgical mesh each time to try to repair the weak spot in the abdominal wall. Surgical mesh helps bond muscles together, reducing the recurrence of hernias.

“But it kept coming back,” Ste-phens said. On the recommenda-tion of a friend, Stephens turned to Dr. Michael Kropilak at Fort Sanders.

Kropilak determined that Ste-phens would need another sur-gery, this time with a larger inci-

Latest news in abdominal surgeries

Abdominal pain:

When to call your doctorHow do you know if your stomachache requires an antacid or a

trip to the doctor’s offi ce? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

■ If your pain is sudden and severe, or increases when you move or cough.

■ When pain lasts longer than 24 hours or becomes more se-vere over several hours or days.

■ When fever accompanies severe stomach pain.

sion. “He went more intense on the surgery, he put in a bigger mesh,” said Stephens.

Even though it was more ex-tensive surgery, Stephens spent

only one day at Fort Sanders and went home that night. He said he was fully recovered in three months.

Today, he’s back to tending

cattle on his 100-acre farm and spending time with his family. He said he would recommend Fort Sanders to anyone who needs a surgical repair for hernia.

“I’ve had no problems since,”he said. “I went home the sameday. I was in and out, and it wasall good. They took care of me realwell.”

Shopper news • SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 • 3

George and Brenda Fieser of Parkridge, left, cruised over from Duncan Boat Dock in their 1939

Chris-Craft wooden boat to meet friends Polly and Howell Doka of Bearden. They enjoyed bar-

becue and music onboard before heading into Sweet P’s to hear Cheryl Renee perform.

Seymour artist likes art with a

messageSeymour clay artist

Karen Kyte will bond with patrons and the environ-ment this week at First Friday at the Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St. The opening reception for the September exhibit featur-ing the works of Kyte and Sevierville painter Nelson Ziegler will be 5:30-9 p.m.

Kyte often feels com-pelled to send a message through her art, especially the message of taking bet-ter care of the planet.

“I just believe we’re ru-ining the Earth,” says the 15-year Art Market mem-ber.

Last week in her ga-rage studio, she was still fi nishing some of the two dozen pieces she’ll have on display. One, “Mother Forest,” will include the veiled warning, “The earth breathes, and the trees are her lungs.” But Kyte, who adds all kinds of elements to her sculptures after they come out of the kiln, can be playful as well.

“Some of it I do for fun,” the South Dakota native says. “I have a whole se-ries of snowmen that I do. I like to do masks. I love horses.”

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday; and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

feet are part of the property, and “one will be the most reverent, beautiful, 360-de-gree view of Knoxville,” Ev-ans said. “We’re preserving that view, but we’re also cre-ating access to that view.

“It’ll be the place you want to come for your Sun-day-afternoon picnic or bring your family and sit atop of that perch.”

Wood, a real estate de-veloper and civic leader, passed away in April 2012. The announcement drew a large crowd of politicians, local residents and oppo-nents of the James White Parkway extension. News of the Wood family’s gift creat-ed a celebratory atmosphere among attendees, many of whom saw it as fuel to fi ght the extension.

Little did they know that in less than 24 hours, the Knoxville Regional Trans-portation Planning Orga-nization would vote to stop

plans for the parkway ex-tension, effectively killing the project.

Evans pointed out that the land is just across from the outdoor classroom at South-Doyle Middle School and offered her hope that the school will be the fi rst in the county to have a moun-tain-bike club.

Wood’s daughter, Kim Wood McClamroch, accept-ed the outpouring of thanks offered to the family for the donation but gave credit to her father.

“We know that it’s through his hard work and his dedication to our com-munity that we are honored to present this gift to the city and also to Legacy Parks,” said McClamroch. Speaking for her sister, Debbie Wood Hyde, her stepmother, Brenda Wood, and the rest of the clan, she added that the 1,100-foot bald would be called “Pappy’s Point,” in

honor of her father.Mayor Madeline Rog-

ero stressed that the Urban Wilderness and its new addition are good for the economy, drawing tourism and encouraging growth in support businesses.

“But it’s also good for the heart and soul of Knoxville and this region,” said Rog-ero. “It is outdoor recre-ation; it’s quality of life. It’s something that we can all enjoy, whether you are the slow-biking crowd or the fast-biking crowd, whether you’re going to walk the trails or going to ride them.”

Todd and Juliet Gladson, who live nearby, brought their three young children to the announcement.

“This piece of land is par-ticularly important for the children,” Todd Gladson said. “I think that it gives kids who are raised in this area promise for maintain-ing their life here.”

Land Donation From page 1

Carter ’58 grads set their own

scheduleThe Carter High School

Class of 1958 may be getting smaller, but the bonds are getting stronger.

Around 50 classmates, plus their guests, gathered on Aug. 24 at the Carter Senior Center on Asheville Highway for food catered by Ramsey’s and the camara-derie that comes from life-long friendships.

There were 125 in the graduating class, said Bar-bara Bennett Renfro, one of the organizers. They started out holding reunions every 10 years, then fi ve. Now they try to have them every cou-ple of years or so. The last one was in 2010.

Even though many still live in the area, it’s hard to keep up.

“Everybody’s so busy,” said Patti McPeters Smith, who lives in downtown Knoxville. “I still work full-time.”

Smith was particularly glad to see her friends from

Hot food, cool music at Sweet P’s

Betsy Pickle

The 5th annual Smokin’ Day Fest at Sweet P’s Bar-becue and Soul House at Willow Point Marina fed the stomach and the soul. If anyone left hungry, well, they had to be vegetarian music haters.

The restaurant, 3725 Maryville Pike, was packed inside and out when Scott McMahan and his band kicked off the music on an outdoor stage at the Aug. 24 event. Among those enjoying the tunes were Ruth Burchfi eld and her friend Dan Dulik, both of Maryville.

“We love it,” said Burch-fi eld, who was planning to eat brisket for her barbecue meal. “We go everywhere to listen to music – the Knoxville Mu-seum of Art, here, Relix.”

Farther back, Denise Rossignol of West Knoxville gave the music thumbs up as tablemates Derek Sharp of LaFollette and Antwawn McCoy of West Knoxville plowed through full plates of barbecue and sides.

“I came for the food – I’m not gonna lie,” said McCoy.

“We came last year, and we were here beginning to end,” said Sharp, a truck driver. “I’ve got to leave to go to Long Island, so I can’t overdo it this year.”

Former Knoxvillian Cheryl Renee, the Stella Vees and Jon Worley and the Cornbred Blues Band rounded out the musical lineup.

Karen Kyte twists wire to

make hair for her “Mother

Forest” sculpture.

Novalee McMahan, 4, ignores

her father, singer Scott McMa-

han, as he performs with Tommy

Eakins, guitar; Dave Peeples,

bass; Nolan Nevels, drums; and

Keith Brown, keyboards.

Halo Club alums include Patti McPeters Smith, left, Virginia

Hankins France and, standing, Nancy Cobb Beal. With them are

O.T. Smith and Barbara Clevenger Grigsby.

Main attraction: music or food?

The organizing committee for the Carter High Class of 1958 re-

union fi nally gets to breathe. From left are Dolores McGoldrick

McMillan, R.B. Fisher, Charlotte B. Swaggerty, Barbara B. Ren-

fro, Glenda C. Blake and Allan Roach.

Cheryl Renee performs.Antwawn McCoy, center, enjoys his barbecue as

Derek Sharp and Denise Rossignol watch.

the Halo Club.“We were way out in the

country, and all the big

fancy schools in town had clubs, so we just made up our own,” she said.

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4 • SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 • Shopper news government

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

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Call 218-9378 for information on how to advertisein our upcoming Service Guide.

At noon on Jan. 17, 1979, the principal planners of the 1982 World’s Fair set up a fancy lunch at the Hyatt Ho-tel Nashville with key gov-ernment offi cials in hopes of greasing the skids for a future funding request.

Guests included House Speaker Ned Ray McWhert-er, Lt. Gov. John Wilder and Attorney General Bill Leech. Not attending was Gov.-elect Lamar Alexan-der, who had other things to do, and whose presence wasn’t required, since he was already pretty much a cinch to support the event.

Bo Roberts, who re-membered the luncheon as a high-dollar, prime rib and red wine affair, led the Knoxville group.

Then somebody got a phone call and, poof! Wild-er, McWherter and Leech were gone.

“We all knew something was going on, but we had no clue what it was – until we found out later in the day. It was on the day of the coup. The day it was happening. Of course, we had no idea,” Roberts told Keel Hunt, author of “Coup,” a deeply-researched, highly engross-ing, minute-by-minute ac-count of the day a bunch of Democrats ousted their crooked governor and in-stalled a Republican before his scheduled inauguration.

This central fact makes “Coup” more than a well-told yarn. The inescapable comparison of then and now is stark.

“Then” was an era when Democrats and Republicans

Firmness of character, also called grit, is a bet-ter predictor of life success than any other factor, in-cluding intelligence and in-come.

That’s what author Paul Tough says in his book “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hid-den Power of Character,” and Knox County school board member Indya Kin-cannon agrees. She led the discussion at last week’s Knox County Public Li-brary’s Books Sandwiched In program.

Grit is marked by traits like perseverance, self-con-trol and conscientiousness, and it’s not the result of

genes, luck or even choice.“Character matters, it’s

malleable, and we know how,” said Kincannon.

Nurturing relationships and the minimization of stress help kids build char-acter. While stress isn’t necessarily related to in-come, low-income families are more likely to suffer stress, she says. Even if chil-dren are raised in a stress-ful environment, a caring adult, whether it’s a relative, teacher, neighbor or mem-ber of the clergy, can reduce the negative impact.

A Canadian study de-scribed in the book demon-strates the long-term impact of nurturing relationships – in rats. After baby rats were exposed to stress, some were placed with affection-ate mothers and others were placed with less attentive mothers. Those with the affectionate mothers, who licked and groomed the ba-bies, lived longer healthier lives.

‘Coup’ rec alls bipartisan eff ort to replace corrupt governor

sometimes put aside their differences to do what was right; “now” is an era when they don’t.

The felonious governor, of course, was Ray Blanton, whose major priority during his last days in offi ce was selling pardons to a scary array of Group W-level fel-ons with access to money.

The governor-elect was Lamar Alexander, who had deep misgivings about the propriety of allowing him-self to take the oath of of-fi ce early and relied heavily on the approval of the two speakers.

Other GOP players were Alexander’s Yodaesque advisor Lewis Donelson and pesky state Sen. Vic-tor Ashe, whose habit of requesting attorney gen-eral’s opinions set the stage for the coup when he asked whether a governor-elect could be sworn in before in-auguration day (the answer was yes).

And is any Tennessee po-litical tale set during the last fi ve decades complete with-out a mention of Mr. Ubiq-uitous, Tom Ingram?

Of course not. He’s all over this book like white on rice as Alexander’s chief campaign aide-de-camp. He may not, however, be thrilled with debunking the common wisdom that cred-

its Ingram with the signa-ture plaid shirt Alexander wore on the walk across the state. Hunt credits the candidate himself with sug-gesting the shirt because he thought he would look like a dope hoofi ng from Moun-tain City to Memphis in a blue suit.

Hunt also credits the candidate’s wife, Honey, with the concept of walk-ing across the state, and treats it as an original idea without mentioning Walkin’ Lawton Chiles, who hiked more than 1,000 miles from Key West to Pensacola dur-ing his successful campaign for U.S. Senate in 1970.

Johnson City native Lee Smith, creator of the Ten-nessee Journal, long a must-read for political insiders, lit the fuse for the fi re to come in September 1977 when he recognized the governor’s offi cial photographer as his homeboy Roger Hum-phreys, a well-connected double murderer from the Tri-Cities who had been sent away for life after being convicted of blowing away his ex-wife and her lover. Smith’s mention of Hum-phreys’ cushy work release assignment sparked state-wide outrage.

A couple of weeks later, tough questioning from TV reporter Carol Marin – who got her start at Channel 10 in Knoxville where she was known by her married name Carol Utley – set the stage for Blanton’s eventual demise when she frustrated him into blurting out a defi ant pledge to pardon Humphreys.

Wendy Smith

Blanton’s fate was sealed when undercover agents decided to test the lengths to which he would go by throwing out the name of the worst of the worst – James Earl Ray. The Blan-ton security operative act-ing as a go-between mulled the request before turning it down, sort of. Ray was prob-ably too hot to pardon, he said. But maybe an escape could be arranged.

Why now?The timing and distribu-

tion of the book (and prob-ably the subtext, which celebrates bipartisanship) have deeply irritated some who question the decision of Vanderbilt University Press to donate 2,000 free copies to schools and public librar-ies across the state.

Suspicions were com-pounded when the Ten-nessee State Museum an-nounced a traveling exhibit called “Come on Along: La-mar Alexander’s Journey as Governor,” a condensed ver-sion of an exhibit assembled from material the Alexan-ders donated to Vanderbilt.

The tour was put on hold until 2015 after notes sur-faced indicating that muse-um offi cials had consulted Ingram about the exhibit.

2014 is an election year.

The importance of grit

Betty Bean

Kincannon has wit-nessed how some kids thrive inexplicably while others, who have every op-portunity to succeed, don’t. Her children, now in 5th and 7th grades, have at-tended Beaumont Magnet Honors Academy. While part of Beaumont’s student body comes from housing projects that are infl uenced by crime, some of those stu-dents “hit it out of the park” academically, she says.

According to the book, developing grit can also be a problem for children of

overprotective parents who don’t let their children fail.

The community plays an important role in help-ing children succeed be-cause schools can only do so much, Kincannon said. Knox County has several ef-fective programs, but she’d like to see them scaled up.

A Birth to Kindergar-ten program offers educa-tion to new parents, but the program is understaffed, she says. She’s a big fan of AVID (Advancement via Individual Determi-nation), a program that helps underperforming middle and high school stu-dents prepare for college. Project Grad and Knox Achieves aim to help high school students with the college application process.

She’s encouraged that Knox County has again expanded its Community School program. It brings services to the schools, which is where the kids are, she says.

Indya Kincannon

VictorAshe

Credit the leadership of four people with the demise of the James White Parkway extension: Mayor Madeline Rogero, Vice Mayor Nick Pavlis, Legacy Parks Foundation executive director Carol Evans and Brian Hann of the Appala-chian Mountain Bike Club.

James White extension off the table

They now can celebrate following the unanimous vote Aug. 28 by the Trans-portation Planning Organi-zation (TPO) to remove this costly and foolish extension from the regional trans-portation plans. In fact, all fi scally conservative tax-payers can breathe a sigh of relief that $22 million a mile is not being spent for 5 miles of asphalt, and money can go to projects which are actually higher priority.

These four should be commended for their ef-forts to protect the urban wilderness.

Hopefully, improvements to Chapman Highway, Al-coa Highway and Oak Ridge Highway from Schaad Road to Pellissippi Parkway can move forward. TPO had actually voted eight months earlier, on Jan. 23, to do what TPO voted to do last Wednesday. Three mem-bers of TPO were absent including County Commis-sioner Amy Broyles, who represents commission chair Tony Norman; the Se-vier County representative and the Maryville mayor. Mayor Burchett’s rep at the meeting voted to kill off the project. County Commis-sioner Ed Shouse attended for the East Tennessee Development District as did the Oak Ridge mayor.

This is the second time Rogero has taken a stand against a high profi le but environmentally harmful and fi scally wasteful road program. The fi rst was in 2003 when as a candidate for mayor (unsuccessful that year) she joined me at a news conference right off the Pellissippi Parkway to oppose the construction of the orange route through Hardin Valley. While the project was approved at that time, it was later killed in the fi nal months of the Bredesen administra-tion due to its cost exceed-ing benefi ts to be achieved.

The JWP funeral also solved a growing political

problem for the Haslam Administration as the TDOT commissioner did not have to push a project which had generated such intense opposition. The governor was not forced to overrule publicly his TDOT commissioner. The death was arranged and planned by others.

■ Dave Irvin, UT vice chancellor for facilities, said in an Aug. 28 News Sen-tinel interview by Gerald Witt that the potential Clar-ence Brown Theatre, which might be constructed on the World’s Fair Park, could be 7 stories tall. This stunning news effectively means the open space on the south lawn of the park is gutted or eliminated if construc-tion occurs. This news came in an interview after the meeting of the UT City Task force.

This is the task force in which Mayor Rogero did not include Fort Sanders. Witt is the journalist who did an open records request with the city which revealed the strong possibility of the then-unannounced plan was to move the theatre off the UTK campus.

These comments from a high level UTK of-fi cial smack of a ‘done deal.’ The process being employed here leaves a lot to be desired. Irvin has been in Knoxville less than two years. He comes from the University of Hous-ton. He does not know the history of the World’s Fair Park or the development of parks in Knoxville.

What was Irvin think-ing?

■ One can only imag-ine how overwhelming (and totally inappropriate) a 7-story building on the World’s Fair Park would be. It would radically change the park as we know it. Deputy Mayor Bill Lyons, in reply to a question from this writer, said the Rogero Ad-ministration did not have a position on a possible struc-ture in the South Lawn area. He did say there would be a master planning process for the whole park.

■ Early voting in the city election for September district primaries starts this Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the fi ve district council seats in which only Nick Della Volpe and Daniel Brown face opposition. The actual primary is Sept. 24 with the general election on Nov. 5 . This primary promises to put most people to sleep. Only the Della Volpe-Sta-ples contest might generate fi reworks.

Shopper news • SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 • 5

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Class starts in Knoxville on

September 12!

year’s celebration has to of-fer, particularly the promo-tion to benefi t the Fulton High School band, which will open the street fair with a mini concert at the Origi-nal Freezo at the north end of the holler.

B a n d m e m -bers will be selling tickets for m e r r y -go -r ou nd rides and the climb-ing wall at fi ve tickets for $1.

“Ice Cream is two tickets, so a kid can an ice cream and three rides for a dollar,” Lee said. “And the best part is the money will befi t the Fulton High School band,

which is so improved and will use the money for new uniforms.”

Dancers from the Broad-way Academy of Perform-ing Arts will perform at the Freezo and on the An-

derson Avenue

stage. Newer businesses like Raven Records and Rarities and the Chop Shop hair salon will be open for business and singer-song-writers Sarah Pirkle and Jeff Barbra will perform,

as will Mike McGill and the Barstool Romeos, Ian Thomas and the Band of Drifters and Robinella.

Taoist Tai Chi Society will demonstrate some

moves, and there will be belly dancers, a motorcycle ride-

in, an adult tri-cycle race on

trikes from H a r v e s t R e n t a l s and local

belly danc-ers.

New neighbor Holston Gases made a substantial fi nancial donation, and the Epilepsy Foundation will be fi tting and giving away free bicycle helmets to the fi rst 150 children.

Holler Palooza From page 1

derson Avenue be bemoto

in

Allen Morgan From page 1

Shirley Underwood and Allen Morgan catch up, look ahead. Photo by S. Clark

stand, but that’s another story.)

Holt told a colleague that “once that kid from Strawberry Plains knocks the chicken s_ _ _ off his shoes,” he can play some baseball. Allen also ran track – jumping puddles in borrowed shoes. The Carter High School grad found a home at Carson-Newman. It’s an experience he hopes to extend to a new genera-tion of young people.

Raising expectationsMorgan has launched

swimming at C-N and boosted the women’s golf program with the addition of former LPGA profes-sional Suzanne Strudwick as coach. He hired two-time Olympian Tony Par-rilla to coach cross-country and assist with track and fi eld. Perhaps his best hire is Adam Cavalier, 26, as sports information director and Voice of the Eagles.

Adam has pumped up the website and plans free, TV-quality, web-streaming of

football games this fall.Last Monday, Morgan

held the fi rst Torch of Knowl-edge ceremony. He brought in parents and athletes to recognize players with top grades. A uniform patch will follow. About one-third of the school’s almost 2,000 students are athletes in one way or another, he said.

He wants to strengthen

each sport and bring diver-sity to the coaching ranks.

He faces a huge challenge when football coach Ken Sparks steps down, for how does one replace a legend?

Ever the high school prin-cipal, he noticed a kid in a ball cap at Monday’s event.

“Cap,” he whispered, pointing to his own head, and the kid took it off. A few minutes later the cap was back on. “Let me borrow that cap,” he said to the kid, walking away with the of-fensive headgear.

He noticed another pair texting during the ceremo-ny. He invited them to his offi ce afterwards, “to get to know them better.” Allen says being around students “keeps me young.”

As we walked out, he said, “Now come back. Don’t be those people who run into each other at the funeral home and say, ‘Wow, we need to get together some-time.’ Just do it.”

And that’s good advice for us all.

Wow! One day the state is spending $100 million or so to slash through the city’s Urban Wilderness, and the next day it’s off the table.

Tommy Schumpert (for-

mer county executive) liked to say, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

This is our third edition of Shopper-News for South Knox (and a bunch of other places). It’s not rocket sci-ence to walk from one end of Chapman Highway to the other and see how passion-ate the business owners are about this road which would have diverted whatever traffi c there is around their places and over to Gov. John

Sevier Highway.Allan Miller at the Disc

E x c h a n g e said it best: Safety con-cerns for C h a p m a n H i g h w a y could be fi xed with a center turn lane like Kings-

ton Pike. “We have a lot of unique businesses here, but they’re just not concen-

trated (like The District in Bearden). TDOT wants to destroy (the businesses with the James White Parkway Extension) and there’s just no need for it.”

In reaction to TDOT’s early effort to couple im-provements to Chapman with the extension, Miller said: “I don’t like the way TDOT blackmails us. What kind of public policy is that?”

He suggested that TDOT have a business oversight committee. Hey, Allan.

They already do. It’s called the Tennessee Road Build-ers Association.

You know how it ended. The family of the late Pat Wood donated 100 acres for a park (smack in the middle of TDOT’s route) on Tuesday. Early Wednesday morning, Rogero made a motion to delete the park-way from the TPO priority list. It passed unanimously.

By day’s end, TDOT Com-missioner John Schroer said: “TDOT will not build

projects that aren’t support-ed by communities and our local partners. Today, we re-ceived a clear statement by the current members of the Knoxville TPO that they do not wish to see the project progress. We will no lon-ger commit any further re-sources to this project.”

Call me cynical, but did you notice the phrase “cur-rent members?” This road is not dead. Future TPO board members can resurrect it. We all need to stay alert.

Chapman Highway businesses win big

Miller

There are reasons to be-lieve even the immediate fu-ture will be better than the recent past.

Improvement is coming (but not all at once)

Marvin West

As you may have heard, Tennessee football is fac-ing a trap game in Western Kentucky and things really get tough after that.

No matter what happens at Oregon and Florida, keep believing that success is again in sight, out there on the horizon. If you can’t see it, get out your telescope.

The orange (or grey) team

is about to be improved, in-crementally, a little here, a bit there, somewhat notice-able on forthcoming Satur-days, more obvious behind the scenes.

A positive attitude per-meates the premises. That helps. A great quarterback would help more.

This is not a champion-ship team. I hope it is a bowl team. That would be prog-ress, another Butch brick in the wall.

You are right, winning six will require considerable ef-fort and smarts, only avail-able substitutes for lack of depth and top talent. Right this minute, eight of the re-maining foes think they can whip the Volunteers.

We are in the “win” col-umn for the Ducks and Ga-tors, Georgia, South Caro-lina, Alabama, Missouri,

Auburn and Vanderbilt. Some marks are in pencil. At least one is wishful thinking.

Tennessee is circled in blue on the Kentucky sched-ule. It is the home fi nale that could save the Wildcats’ sea-son.

Western Kentucky is likely looking at Tennessee as a possible upset. You nev-er know. As the old saying goes, even blind squirrels fi nd an occasional acorn. You should meet some of the people who win the lottery.

Here comes the sobering part where total optimists get angry and start loading up to shoot the messenger: On most Saturdays that matter, Tennessee will be the betting underdog.

How many Vols, do you suppose, could win start-ing positions at Alabama? One offensive lineman? One

linebacker? I’m not certain the Bulldogs even recruited top Tennessee signees from Georgia.

For some strange reason, in-state schools did not put up a great fuss when UT was gathering the promising collection of young quarter-backs. OK, South Carolina could have been mistaken about Justin Worley. Per-haps nice guy Nathan Peter-man did not fi t the Florida scheme. I don’t know why Georgia allowed Joshua Dobbs to fi rst choose Ari-zona State. Too deep at that position?

Of course football vic-tories do not depend on quarterback play alone. But, unless you have Jadeveon Clowney bull-rushing off the edge, quarterback is the key. AJ McCarron and Aar-on Murray give their teams

the probability of winning on otherwise dull days.

Playmakers, runners, re-ceivers, disruptive defend-ers, are next in importance. These are not yet Tennessee strengths.

How much and how fast one or more quarterbacks and receivers improve is the probable key to achieving six wins – or more.

If Tennessee is still alive at the end of October, I ex-pect the Vols will have an advantage over several op-ponents in attention to de-tail. This is often a trade-mark of coaching staffs that must fight uphill bat-tles.

Coaches blessed with great skill players are some-times tempted to let skill prevail. Absent that, it is necessary to get the little things right. If you have

only a short stick to fi ght a bear, do point the stick in the correct direction.

I expect Tennessee will have an edge in enthusiasm some games. I think this is good. Football is an enthu-siastic game.

Alas, I am reminded of something the late, great Gen. Robert R. Neyland said about whoop-it-up en-thusiasm, that it lasts until a few seconds after the kick-off or until you get hit in the mouth.

After that, courage, prep-aration, speed, strength, weather, offi ciating and the bounce of the ball are more dominant elements.

It is Tennessee’s turn to have a favorable helping of at least fi ve of the above. That might get the team to six. Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com.

Sandra Clark

Catch up with all your favorite columnists every Monday at

www.ShopperNewsNow.com

Oops!Carter Elementary fi rst grade teacher Lisa Moreno goes

over a reading lesson with students during the superin-

tendent's recent visit to the school. Last week she was

misidentifi ed as math teacher Sherry Beeler. We apologize

for the error. Photos by Ruth White

6 • SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 • Shopper news kids

RuthWhite

Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre visited with ad-ministrators at Fulton High School last week, took a tour of classrooms and learned what’s going on inside the Falcon’s nest.

Leanne Hawn is the principal for Fulton’s

Magnet School of Communications.

Fulton High: small schools in one

Principal Rob Speas pre-sented data on his school and discussed areas of strength, including Algebra 2, English classes and the graduation rate; and areas that need a boost, including Algebra 1, biology and U.S. History.

To help students grow and achieve more in areas that need work, Speas has made structural changes, such as how students are placed, how students and teachers work together and by mak-ing weekly assessments.

“Just passing isn’t good

Jody Wright is the principal

for the Magnet School of

Skilled Professionals.

Dr. Stephanie Taylor is the

principal for the Magnet

School of Health Sciences.

Fulton High principal Rob Speas discusses the school’s

strengths and areas of improvement with superintendent Dr.

Jim McIntyre, members of the school board and other commu-

nity members. Photos by Ruth White

enough,” he said. “We have raised the bar of expecta-tions and we put teeth into it. We are taking it to the next level.”

Leanne Hawn spoke briefl y on the Magnet School of Communications, FulCom, and the work the students are doing in that area. The school juniors and seniors classes in graphic design, web design, televi-sion and radio. Through the course of study, students go beyond content and learn problem solving and critical thinking skills.

The web design team at-tended the Tennessee TSA Webmaster Competition in Chattanooga in March and placed fi rst. This win al-lowed them to travel to Or-lando over the summer and compete at the TSA Nation-als. The team brought home a fourth place fi nish overall. Students in the commu-nications school are given opportunities to design projects that are on display in the school. The students have recently been asked to

REUNION NOTES ■ The Central High School Class of 1978 will hold its 35th reunion

at Beaver Brook Country Club from 6:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday,

Sept.14. The cost is $25 per person, which can be paid at the door.

RSVP to Ronnie Booker, 688-8779.

■ Beta Sigma Phi Sorority reunion for all former and present mem-

bers will be held 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, at the BSP Chapter

House, 1411 Armstrong Ave. The sorority’s First Ladies of Knoxville

are invited. Info: Shirley Rouse, 531-1467.

SCHOOL NOTE

Fulton High ■ Open house will be 5-6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3; Blood drive will be

held 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6.

design a brochure for other magnet schools.

During the school tour, I met the principals of the health science and skilled professional schools. Dr. Stephanie Taylor and Jody Wright are the respective principals of those magnets and offer great classes in their specifi ed areas.

“These small learning communities have been go-ing strong for six years,” said Taylor. Wright added,

“Basically we have fi ve small schools inside one large school. This allows us to know the students on a dif-ferent level and build more meaningful relationships for better success.”

Look for more good things from these three ar-eas of Fulton High as they attend the Tennessee Valley Fair competitions, design products and learn skills that will launch careers in the health fi eld.

Ready for the FairMascot resident takes the lead

By Betsy PickleExcitement is building –

literally – at the Tennessee Valley Fair.

Between the Lego Build – in which Lego projects created beforehand are brought to the fair for judg-ing – and the Lego Extrava-ganza – where individuals and teams get a set amount of time to build an entry onsite – Lego has become a popular part of the annual 10-day tradition at Chil-howee Park.

“It is just becoming a very popular exhibit because it’s so unique,” says Robin

Marsh, who o v e r s e e s the fair’s Lego ac-tivities. “If you’ve ever looked at a Lego build, t h e r e ’ s somet hing m e s m e r -

izing about it because the sky’s the limit with it.”

The fair opens Friday, Sept. 6, and the Lego Build exhibits will be on display in the Kerr Building, where the Lego Extravaganza will occur Saturday, Sept. 7. The individual competition starts at 11 a.m. (check-in at 10:30), and the team por-tion starts at 1 p.m. (check-in at 12:30). Lego bricks will be provided.

Marsh advises arriving early to sign in to ensure getting a spot for the ex-travaganza. She expects the build exhibit to be crammed full.

“This year we’re probably going to hit between 125 and 150 as far as the builds go,” she says.

The themes are free build, Tennessee, and outer space or futuristic. In addi-tion to the traditional fi rst-, second- and third-place recognition, this year will also feature a Master Build-er Award and an Artisan Award.

Lego arrived at the fair in 2011.

“I was a deer in head-lights,” says Marsh, describ-ing the fi rst year. “I didn’t have a clue what was going on.”

Robin Marsh

By Sandra ClarkThe congregation of Al-

ice Bell Baptist Church has stepped out in faith to replace a structurally un-sound education building with a state-of-the art min-istry center that includes a full-sized basketball court.

The new facility will be on display on Celebration Sunday, Sept. 8, and every-

one is in-vited.

“ W e will hold our regu-lar service and then adjourn to the minis-try center at 12:15 p.m.

for food and fellowship,”

said Minister of Education Ron McConnell. “We’ve invited the architect, engi-neers, contractor and sub-contractors. We are prepar-ing for 300 people.”

The meal will be covered dish with the church provid-ing barbecue and chicken.

The church learned three years that the education building had shifted about 3 inches, McConnell said. “It had reached the point that it was not prudent to repair.”

The church could not get a fi rm estimate for repairs, and then it learned that two other walls had begun to shift.

When the church shut down and demolished the building, it lost about 70 percent of its classroom

space. “We were holding Sunday school in the foyer, all of the offi ces and in most hallways,” he said. The fi x-tures were stored, and the church had to discontinue its clothing closet because of lack of storage.

The new Alice Bell Min-istry Center will restore all the classroom space in-cluding a nursery and pre-school area, all built around the basketball court.

The court itself allows for portable walls and will serve as the fellowship hall. Exer-cise classes will be offered during the week. It will ac-commodate poles for volley-ball nets. English as a sec-ond language (ESL) classes will be offered, along with hunger safety classes. The

clothes closet will resume with donations of fall and winter items accepted any time after Sept. 8.

“We lost people when we had no b u i ld i n g ,” McConnell said. “We’ve operated for three years with two tiny rest-rooms.”

Led by Pastor Toby

Everett, the church began a capital campaign called “My Best for His House.” The congregation has made it through the inconvenience. And now it’s time for Cel-ebration Sunday. Y’all come!

Alice Bell Baptist Churchexpands to serve community

McConnell

Everett

Demolition of former ministry center

SPORTS NOTE ■ Holston Middle School baseball tryouts will be held 2 p.m. Sun-

day, Sept. 8, at Gibbs Ruritan Park. Info: Doug Lepper, 250-3983.

They had about 25 builds – “solid builds,” she says – but the next year the fi g-ure jumped up to about 100. That was partly due to Marsh’s promotion of Lego builds at local libraries.

The fi rst couple of library workshops drew “maybe 15 to 20” par ticipants, she says.

“When we hit Karns and we had 100 kids, I was blown away.

“And then we went to Far-ragut and 100 kids showed up for that, and I thought, ‘Something’s up.’”

When the entries at the 2012 fair’s Lego build re-fl ected that excitement, Marsh was thrilled.

“It was just a phenomenal success,” she says.

Marsh, who lives in Mascot, has been teaching Lego education classes for 14 years, using the classic building toys in STEM-re-lated studies.

Her company, Beyond a Brick, aims to stimu-late children’s creativity, problem-solving and team-working skills.

She and her business partner, Paula Suchomski, took an exhibit of their con-tests to a fair convention and won a national award.

No matter how stressful or tiring her once-a-year job is, Marsh doesn’t mind.

“The stories have been worth it,” she says.

The Tennessee Valley Fair runs Sept. 6-15 at Chilhowee Park and features rides, con-certs, food, exhibits and con-tests.

For a schedule, visit tnval-leyfair.org/.

Shopper news • SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 • 7 business

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By Nick Della VolpeA segment of Millertown Pike is be-

ing widened by the city of Knoxville at a cost of approximately $1 million. With a hoped-for completion date of Thanksgiv-ing, the newly widened road will add a turn lane, a sidewalk on the north side, and a long awaited end to the rush hour bottleneck of cars/commuters waiting to cross the narrow bridge over Loves Creek.

Just to the north of that road, at 2935 Millertown Pike, stands the brand new, brightly-painted Time To Shine Car Wash business run by manager Craig Calvert and his partner, Mike Roper.

The 120-foot long building sports a year-round, fully automated car wash along with some 22 high-powered vacu-ums for the patrons to use once their shiny, polished cars emerge from the interior wash tracks. Craig says you can purchase anything from a simple $5 car wash, to more deluxe treatment hot wax fi nish, shined tires, and even lava pre-wash conditioner, with prices ranging from $5 to $18 for added treatments.

A monthly Fast Wash pass can also be purchased enabling the user to visit the facility daily.

Visit Time to Shine, open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., 7 days a week, and sport your own clean machine about town. If you have questions, call Craig at 394-9407, or visit www.TimeToShineCarWash.com for more details.

And YES, East Knoxville is open for business! Y’all come back, ya hear.

Update on traffi c studyTDOT’s Amanda Snowden called me

back last week. She said after talking to TDOT’s Planning Offi ce in Nashville, there is a change in terminology they use, and in the way they are reviewing things

1) The current term for new ramps and major changes to interstate access is gen-erally covered by an “Interstate Access Report.” Those IARs usually require a change in the TPO long range plan, with the “fi rst horizon year” now being 2014.

2) There is also a more local review of an interchange within a city that can be triggered by a city directly, without TPO priority blessings. It is called a “Modi-fi cation & Review of Existing Inter-change.” and if a city wants that review they may asked for it directly, and submit it to TDOT District 1 for review.

Craig Calvert stands outside the Time to Shine Car Wash on Millertown Pike. Photo by Nick Della Volpe

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Shelby Long

David Underwood

Carey Wallace

Lisa Stanley

Bob Whetsel

Dawn Michelle Foster

Allan Miller

By Sandra ClarkNancy Whittaker and I

managed to connect with seven people last Monday on our weekly tour of busi-nesses.

On the South Side, we vis-ited Allan Miller at The Disc Exchange and Lisa Stanley at Stanley’s Greenhouse. On Magnolia, we talked with David Underwood at the Knoxville Teachers Federal Credit Union, and Carey Wallace at Pumps of Ten-nessee. From the city, we talked with Bob Whetsel and Dawn Michelle Foster, and over at Knoxville Cen-ter Mall we caught up with Shelby Long, manager of the Great American Cookie Company.

The visits continue

The Disc Exchange: Owner Allan Miller start-ed this business 25 years ago at his home. He oper-ated Parkway Video behind Shoney’s for a while and now is located at 2615 Chap-man Highway.

It’s both a retail and on-line business, with more than 100,000 new and used titles on the sales fl oor. The staff is laid back. When we walked in and asked for the owner, the woman behind the cash register asked Al-lan, “Do you want to be the owner today?”

In addition to vinyl re-cords, compact discs and digital music, The Disc Exchange has a collection of movies, T-shirts, post-ers and even incense. “We sell all over the world,” said Miller.

He tipped us off about the next day’s press confer-ence when Kim Wood Mc-Clamroch announced the donation of 100 acres for the Urban Wilderness. Allan is a leader in the branding effort for Zip Code 37920. So if he’s not the boss, he should be. The Disc Ex-change is a community hub. Info: discexchange.com or 865-573-5710.

Stanley’s Greenhous-es and Plant Farm: Lisa Stanley, Rocky Stanley and Monty Stanley are liv-ing the dream, operating greenhouses and a nursery on family land that dates back to the Civil War. The business has been there for 35 years, Lisa said, after Charles Stanley worked two jobs to ensure the survival of the farm.

He worked as a foreman at Fulton Bellows, and then came home to work the property. Gradually he con-verted from a trunk farm to a nursery. It was his dream to see his sons be able to make a living from the land without having to hold that second job. Now 94, he has realized that dream.

Lisa says offi cers and sol-diers “from both sides” are buried on the Davenport property. (Charles Stanley’s mother was a Davenport.)

“Rocky takes a challenge and runs with it,” said Lisa, of her husband’s efforts to block the James White Parkway initially. Working through attorney Will Skel-ton, the city was able to se-cure the land that is now the Stanley Lippencott Park.

“We paid half and the city paid half (to buy the land),” she said.

And she told us of the Rogero press conference the next day to announce yet another new park in South Knoxville.

Stanley’s Greenhouses is open Monday through Friday, 8 to 5; Saturday, 9 to 5; and Sunday, 1-5. Info: stanleygreenhouse.com or 573-9591

Great American Cook-ie Company: Store man-ager Shelby Long came in on her day off to talk with us about this business in the food court at Knoxville Cen-ter Mall. A Knoxville native, Long said friendly employees set her store apart.

“We’ve got an extremely good product,” she added, “and we go above and be-yond to take care of our cus-tomers.”

The local franchise is owned by Dave Wilson, who also owns stores at West Town, Foothills and Tanger. Cookies are baked fresh daily and custom orders are available by calling 865-544-1543.

Long said sales are up since Justin Sterling has in-fused new life in the mall. “Justin is awesome.”

classical music. Music is in-credibly important to open up your mind.”

Wallace went into sales for Southern Tackle and then briefl y opened a tackle store. He used to go fi shing every day.

“Every guy who ever went fi shing will open up a tackle shop before he dies and go broke,” said Wallace. “It’s a tough business to make money in.”

He’s proud to be a veter-an-owned business. Info: pumpsoftennessee.com or 865-637-4172.

Whetsel brought along an assistant, Dawn Michelle Foster, who is handling the Magnolia Avenue Corridor and the South Waterfront. Both are excited about on-going projects and we will have more on this visit next week.

Happy Labor Day!

Pumps of Tennes-see: Carey Wallace is the friendliest guy you’ll ever meet. He and his partner just relocated their business from Broadway, where, like Graning Paint, they were displaced by TDOT which plans to elevate the Broad-way viaduct.

Now located in larger quarters at 714 Willow Av-enue, Pumps of Tennessee is primarily a wholesaler. But a neat display in the lobby shows how a pump can en-hance your yard or garden. There are even goldfi sh.

“Well, I used to be called Curly,” Wallace said. He a 1963 Central High School graduate, but not hap-pily. “When I was a kid, we moved from Oak Ridge. It was a real luxury to go to school there. I even learned

Knoxville Teachers Federal Credit Union also relocated recently, moving out of Historic Knoxville High School where it had been for 81 years, since 1932.The new address is 104 E. Fourth Avenue and number is 865-582-2700.

David Underwood is manager of the credit union main offi ce. His father, Tom Underwood, has worked with the credit union for years. These guys are frugal.

“We lease everything we have,” said David, so the credit union can move with changing conditions. With 11 branches, the busi-ness tries to local near a high school. Membership is open only to school employ-ees of Knox and surround-ing counties. There are three branches in Anderson County.

Tom Underwood’s phi-losophy has been to give teachers who put their sav-ings with him the best pos-sible rate of return. That’s been challenging of late because interest rates are down, but David says, “We have the highest rate of re-turn on insured savings that I’m aware of.”

He likes the new offi ce on the East Side. “We’ve got a good number of members here. It’s visible and conve-nient. Hours are 9-5 week-days with automatic tellers open 24 hours a day and In-ternet access.

Knoxville Redevelop-ment: The director is long-time Fourth and Gill resi-

dent Bob Whetsel. He has worked for mayors Ashe, Haslam, Brown and Rogero and survived. “They are all good and all different,” he said.

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LOVELL HEIGHTSDrive-Thru Only10460 Kingston PikeKnoxville, TN 37922Lovell Heights Shopping Center

HOLSTON4118 Asheville HighwayKnoxville, TN 37914In the Holston Center

NORTH KNOXVILLE1316 Wilson RoadKnoxville, TN 37912Off Clinton Hwy, behind Northern Tool

NORTHEAST KNOXVILLE4520 Greenway DriveKnoxville, TN 37918Near Target, across from Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft

HALLS7459 Maynardville PikeKnoxville, TN 37938Across from the Post Office

DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE301 Wall AvenueKnoxville, TN 37902Between Market Square and Gay St.

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MORRISTOWN EAST(423) 581-0981Miller’s Landing3101 Miller’s Point DriveMorristown, TN 37813Across from Frank Lorino Park

MORRISTOWN WEST(423) 581-09813955 W. A. J. HighwayMorristown, TN 37814Across from Ingle’s

JOHNSON CITY(423) 794-51002004 N. Roan StreetJohnson City, TN 37601Between Starbucks and Taco Bell

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