November ’23 – From the Publisher

Best Job in the World

Story by Nathan Sparks

About 21 years ago I was standing in a ski boat, in the dead of winter, in the rain, camera in hand, taking pictures of Eskimo Escapades. I was somewhat unhappy, to say the least. My fancy new camera was getting wet, I was cold, and wondering why I had chosen to get into the publishing industry. I was having to work weekends, and I was not looking forward to selling advertising the next week. I was feeling sorry for myself.

The man driving the boat was Rogan Oliver, the advertising sales manager for a local television station. Here was a man who I felt certain could appreciate my frustration and would happily commiserate. The action paused as we waited in line to pick up another participant. “How are things at the station?” I asked.

“Never better!” he replied. I was stunned.

“You sell advertising, don’t you?” I asked, expecting him to acknowledge the difficulty of advertising sales.

“Yes,” he said, “and I have the best job in the world.”

I had no idea how that could be true, but I certainly wanted to know how he had come to that conclusion.

“Would you mind explaining?” I asked.

Rogan didn’t hesitate.

“I get to go out every day and meet new people. Most are business owners or managers and I get to know them and learn about their businesses. Often I become friends with the people I meet. I take the time to really understand their business and then craft a marketing plan that will increase their sales. That creates more profit for their company and an opportunity for growth, which means more jobs are created. So in doing my job, I not only help my customers, I help our community grow and prosper. It is a win at every level and that is why I have the best job in the world.”

I was so overwhelmed that all I could do was utter a simple thank you. Those words changed me, and they changed the course of what I would do with the magazine. The next sales call I made, the customer asked me how I was and I shared my new paradigm. “Never better, I have the best job in the world.”

Attitude is everything, and as my attitude changed, so did the community response to the publication. I had the opportunity to chart the course of the publication’s editorial mission, and that mission was to write about the good in our community. Articles bring light to that which needs to be shared with the community at large. Getting to sing the song of just how great our little corner of the world really is, getting to help local businesses grow, truly makes this the best job in the world. But it is more than just that. I was learning, just as Bruce Fox talks about in this month’s Insights, the value of communication and how it can change people for the better.

All of that is only possible because of you and your support. So with an open heart, I thank you for being on this journey with myself and my team.

Sweet Indulgence

Denise Stewart-Sanabria celebrates products of desire in her paintings

Story by Susan Alexander

It’s hard to study Denise Stewart-Sanabria’s paintings and not crave a jelly doughnut. Or a fresh piece of fruit. Or a crisp French macaron.

Stewart-Sanabria’s dramatic works feature food in the foreground against what are often wallpaper patterns from various cultures and eras. She adds ceramic tchotchkes, often animals, to the mix. “These are the products of desire and culture that have been created for and chosen by people to enrich their everyday lives,” she says in her artist statement. “I love to put them all together to see what happens.”

Then there are her life-size drawings of people on plywood. She surreptitiously snaps pictures of visitors to art exhibits as they walk around the gallery space. Then she draws them, and they often end up displayed in the same gallery where she sourced the images, including in Knoxville at the UT Downtown Gallery and the Emporium Center. She even drew one of Nashville’s former mayors, a piece that was purchased by his wife.

She uses her scrap wood to create mixed media pieces resembling shadow boxes with small figurative drawings set inside handmade wooden altars adorned with rhinestones and other jewels. They’re inspired by medieval artwork, she says.

You can see examples of all her work at Bennett Galleries in December when her show, “Epicurean Indulgence,” is on exhibit. Her work is also represented at galleries in Nashville, Charleston, S.C. and Frederick, Maryland.

A Massachusetts native, Stewart-Sanabria and her husband moved to Knoxville in 1986 so he could work for TVA. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts with a BFA, she worked a variety of jobs here, including creating baked goods for Old City Java when her daughter Renee owned it about 20 years ago. “I am the granddaughter of the foreman of the doughnut room at the largest commercial bakery in Massachusetts,” she says.

Those jelly doughnuts come naturally, then. And whet the appetite for more.

Learn more about this talented artist atstewart-sanabria.com. And to learn more about her December show at Bennett, visitbennetthome.com.

The Musicians

The Chillbillies are making a change in our community, both on the stage and within their day jobs

Story by Chris Blue

The Chillbillies’ history dates back to the 1980s. At a concert for a gospel group in 1988 that year, founding member George Massengill introduced himself to the band and shared his story, telling them that if they ever needed a piano player, he’d be interested. They hired him that night. “That’s how I met Lewell Mollen,” George says.

Lewell played guitar for the band. Together, he and George cut some gospel albums, bringing on Don Taylor, an old friend of George’s, to join with his sax. Over time, by way of simple connections, other members of the group would emerge. And after a Friday night in 1988, playing in the back at Litton’s, this group of musicians decided to make it official.

The Chillbillies’ early beginnings were rooted in gospel, but over time they have come to be known for their classic rock vibes. And as the band has grown, so too has their reach across the community. But not just on the stage.

These musicians are anything but one-dimensional. George, on keyboard and vocals, is a drug and alcohol counselor. Tim Irwin, on guitar and vocals, is a well-known former UT footballer who later went on to play in the NFL. Today he is a sitting juvenile court judge. On drums many nights is Teddy Phillips, who also happens to be the CEO of Phillips & Jordan. Don, who brought flute, sax, and vocals to the Chillbillies, worked for the FBI for a while and spent time as a prison guard at Brushy Mountain (not to mention his time playing with Lynard Skynard). Add in second drummer Adam Helton, Larry Patton (who owns a music studio in Cookeville) and Kevin Keighley on bass, and Lewell (a boat builder) on guitar, and you have yourself the dynamic Chillbillies of today. They do it for the music.

“We all have these jobs, but at the end of the day, we’re musicians,” George says. “I think God ordains you to do a lot of things, which is mostly to be good and…help other people, but I think if God puts being a musician in you, you’re going to be a musician and if you’re not a musician, you’re going to be miserable. So we play and we have a good time and people have a good time, and that’s why we do what we do.

“As long as they love it, we’re going to keep playing it.”

The Most Hated Tax

Pay your debt and keep your home. Simple, right?

Story by George Korda

It’s possible for a Tennessean’s house to be sold out from under them – even if they’re paying their mortgage. The reason: property taxes, or rather, property tax non-payment. On one level, this process seems startlingly unfair: a Tennessean is paying off their mortgage, but can’t pay the government what it demands and expects. As a result, their home could go into a tax sale, with a new owner reaping ownership benefits.

This possible scenario is another reason that of all taxes, the property tax is the most hated. Here’s what the National Council of State Legislatures has to say about them, as stated in their article, “The Most-Hated Tax – and What States Are Doing About It.” Three key points kick off NCSL’s analysis:

• “Payments must be made in large lump sums for those who don’t have a mortgage. Unlike sales taxes that are paid in small increments or income taxes that are withheld, property tax bills come with a large sum due.

• “Taxpayers can’t control the amount. Unlike sales taxes and income taxes, which are determined by taxpayer actions, the property tax is based on property value and no amount of tax planning can reduce it

• “Most important, property values have gone through the roof over the last 30 years, with median home prices more than tripling between 1992 and 2022.”

Despite these feelings, in 2021 a“Cap the Tax”petition drive to cap Knoxville property tax increases didn’t get enough signatures to make it on a ballot. Bad organization, feelings of helplessness, or resident apathy? Take your pick.

Many people may believe that given the opportunity government would, in a quick process, wrest from people their houses to re-sell them. However, as in anything involving money and government, it’s not as simple as government pounding on a homeowner’s door to say, “Pay up, or get out.” Instead, elected officials know that many voters, while accepting that taxes are needed to pay for services, view property taxes like a personal assault. This is a reason why Knoxville and Knox County go years between property tax increases.

Different jurisdictions have different approaches. For example, Shelby County holds massive tax sales and winds up bidding on, and owning, many of the properties, Memphis’s WMC-TV News reported in “Homeowners left Homeless: Shelby County owns more tax sale properties than any investor.”

“Action News 5 found most properties sold in Shelby County tax sales aren’t purchased by investors, but are acquired by Shelby County itself…,” the story reported. “An analysis done with the Institute for Public Service Reporting shows of more than 8,000 properties sold in tax sales between 2016 and 2022, Shelby County came to own more than 5,500 of them – nearly 70%.” Institutional investors and individual buyers looking for bargains didn’t see enough value in the properties to buy them, even at bargain prices.

In Knox County, many of the properties in tax sales are blighted or abandoned, and the owners are as easy to find as someone who owes you money. The goal, say county officials, is to get the money owed, not to take the property. Regardless of one’s attitude toward property taxes, non-payment by some means the service-paying burden becomes heavier for everyone else. Also, it’s the rare elected official who wishes to be interviewed about why the revenooers took a home from its owners.

The Knox County trustee is responsible for collecting county property taxes. Trustee Justin Biggs says, “We give every individual an opportunity to try to get these paid; payment plans, bank drafts, and contact them well before they’re on a tax sale list.

“The state requires two years of delinquency before we put a property into a tax sale,” he added. “Before that happens, they receive probably a series of 12 or more contacts from us, typically reminders to pay and explanations of different payment plans they can use.”

If someone receives a notice that they’re delinquent, or if they think they’re headed in that direction, their best first step is to call the trustee’s office at 865-215-2305, or contact one of its satellite offices around the county (search atwww.knoxcounty.org/trustee). In Knox County, someone almost has to work at it to have their property taken away. There’s little risk of homeowners losing their homes as long as they cooperate to satisfy the debt. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. In the end, it’s pretty much up to the individual.

A Final Insight: The Power of Storytelling

Story by Bruce Fox

This page almost didn’t exist. Years ago, when I was asked to start this column by Nathan, I wasn’t sure I had the voice to tell my stories. I turned him down at least once. But he persisted. So I took the chance. I tried my hand, and then in the next issue, I tried again, and again, each time finding more of my voice and becoming more myself. I didn’t realize just how much of an impact this column would have on my life.

You’ve read along as I’ve shared stories of influential trips, time spent with the most important of people in my life, my love of hunting, losing family members, rekindling old friendships, and so many more memories that have helped shape who I am as a person.

Not many people are given the platform to share their most learned lessons of life, but I’ve been fortunate to have gotten to do that here, and I have heard from so many of you along the way of how meaningful those stories have been for you. I cannot count on one hand the number of phone calls, texts, and emails I’ve gotten as you’ve thanked me for reminding you of something you did as a kid or encouraged you to slow down and take in the moment. To be present. To be passionate. To be respectful. To be grateful for life’s gifts and learn from life’s challenges.

It has meant everything to me to hear from so many of you. All througout this time, as I shared my knowledge—you may call it wisdom, I just call it the ponderings of a small-town country lawyer—I realize a new insight in and of itself: the value of sharing your story.

We do not operate in a vacuum. Hearing someone’s story—their life and adventures, their trials and tribulations, their wins and losses—gives meaning to life. It is a reminder that life is ultimately a series of ups and downs for all of us.

Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes to the enemy, other times it will head out of bounds and you will have no control over that. But sharing your experience with others, no matter what direction they take, lets others know they aren’t alone—and reminds you that you aren’t either.

Whether you feel blessed and fortunate or are struggling with what life has handed you, there is value in your story. You simply must choose to believe that. And if you are on the receiving end of those stories, you have a choice of how you handle those.

Will you listen and learn from others’ experiences, or will you turn away from your fellow man? Will you share your experiences in the hope that they will help others, or will you bottle them up and leave a gap in your own story? Will you take the chance to find your voice?

I took the chance.

I chose to listen. I chose to share.

As I write this and prepare for my impending retirement at the end of the year, let me just re-emphasize how much it has meant to share my journey with you. The power of storytelling is real. Be brave and connect. We will all be better for it.

This is Bruce Fox, signing off.

Ekaneetlee Trace

The search for a forgotten crossing from North Carolina to Tennessee

Story by John Quillen

My relationship with Ekaneetlee runs as long as the creek. Since first reading of this secret passage from North Carolina into Tennessee, I was consumed with a desire to follow its genesis from Fontana Lake. Research into this defunct trail was as thin as the crossing itself. Some had heard of or done the shorter Tennessee section, but no one would claim any successful attempts of the longer Carolina “trace.” It was not looking as if anyone had moved through here in quite a while though, and following one stretch during which I was simultaneously ensnared in saw briars and dog hobble, I convinced myself of the minimal likelihood of popularizing this bushwhack.

They call it a trace, and anyone who has been briar bit and rhodo slapped chasing manways understands why. Having followed similar traces along abandoned routes before, you begin to realize the accuracy of that word in relation to this path. In these places you feel for traces of the people who crossed and their reasons for passing. Little remains now to indicate human beings ever stepped into this drainage. But the Cherokee regarded Cades Cove as a place of commerce and forged this path into our Tennessee valley. Pro-Union sympathizers fled North Carolina’s borders across this trail into Tennessee as well. They say at one time you could have driven a wagon from the Cove over Doe Knob and back down the mountains into Native American land.

This manway’s obscurity is beholden to access. Unlike more popular Tennessee side off-trail routes such as Porter’s Creek, the main obstacle is justgettingto Ekaneetlee Creek. For us—my off-trail-enthusiast friend, Steve, and me—it meant a two-hour drive to Fontana marina across the notorious Dragon of US 129. If a couple hundred curves in 11 miles does not wear you out, then a one-and-a-half-hour canoe paddle across the frigid channel into the headwaters of Eagle Creek might. Assuming the former did not turn you around, a quarter-mile backpack to base camp and all the creek crossings could. We stashed the canoe, established base camp, and settled in for the next day’s mission. This is really no day hike.

Hour three on this crisp, November morning found us at the confluence of a creek running in from the north which appeared to be a drainage off Little Grill Ridge. We had walked Lakeshore Trail to campsite 89. From what I remembered of the topography map, climbing would start here for certain. In the shadow of Hurricane Mountain, I crawled through rhododendron following hog wallows. Sometimes a bear-scratched tree would pop up along with other signs of their passing. How the Native Americans knew it was a low point along the spine of what now is the Appalachian Trail, I will never know. Ekaneetlee is hick for Egwanulti, which in Cherokee means “by the river.” We were in their river and climbing their river.

We pulled ourselves through tunnels of rhodo and dog hobble. At hour four, we paused to measure the lowering sun. My accomplice, Steve, gave me that look of desperate times. The AT ran one of the ridges ahead; did it circle around this hill to our right? It was worth a shot. We hunkered down and lunged up, pulling small saplings from their roots. A few more feet and that blessed trail would have to appear. As I crested that razor ridge nothing but disappointment greeted our soaked skeletons as we muscled our way into the setting sun.

Hour five was grim. It was late afternoon, and our creek was but a trickle that I waded with squishy boots. Steve hopped back and forth. That V in the gap was suddenly upon us as we rushed forward pulled by the promise of a trail. As the gap eventually leveled and ultimately began to drop across the invisible state line, so did our spirits.

Sunset was fading into the lights of Maryville as we descended a bit more. Completely immersed now in a patch of mixed hardwoods, we entered another dimension of mystical forest. Fanning out to net trail in the remaining light, we simultaneously stumbled into a flat stretch, topping out on the Appalachian Trail. Steve resisted the urge to kiss the ground as winds from this notch whistled through our chilling cores. It was cold and my boots were not getting any drier. We had around two trail miles left to climb up to Doe Knob so we could immediately lose all that elevation by then descending six miles back to camp. Our elevation here was 3,842 feet. Our quest began that morning at Lake Fontana, at 1,760 feet—and none of the climbing was done on any real trail.

Our return is best described as dark, undulating until the Gregory Bald trail terminus, and interspersed with mirages. Steve spied a campfire that was nothing more than a visual created by alpenglow filtering through beeches and birch. I would have mine a few miles later after we dropped back down into Lost Cove via one of the steepest maintained trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was a gigantic lizard on a log when we resumed our crossings back on the Carolina side. Steve reassured me that it was just a broken piece of bark. It could have just as easily been Gollum. I was strung out in the hills again. But we had completed the magic crossing into Tennessee.

Barbeque & You

From Knoxville classics to smalltown favorites, East Tennessee is chuck full of opportunities to eat the best BBQ around

Story by Marc Anthony

Barbeque is an American staple and a Knoxville favorite. While we’re not known specifically for a type of barbeque like Kansas City, North Carolina, or Memphis, we are blessed that “hogs and beeves” from around the country have found their way to East Tennessee to tempt our tongues and fill our (pork) bellies with All-American vittles. Enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed eating this!

Small Town BBQ

Find. Friendsville. Now. The “downtown” is barely a block and a stop sign, not even a stop light. But stop is the operative word to enjoy what they have to offer at Small Town BBQ. There are two bologna sandwiches in this article and here is an amazing one. Oh? Rolling your eyes at bologna? This thing is cut thicker than your grandma’s wrist and is smoked to delicious perfection. So then, don’t have it and leave more for me. Incredible smoked meats and hearty sides dominate this menu, and it’s a stop off the beaten path that’s well worth it.

Friendsville | 110 W. College Ave |smalltownbbq.com

Sweet P’s BBQ

Not resting on its TV fame laurels as a favorite destination of a certain food celebrity, Sweet P’s has been the absolute foundation of Knoxville barbeque for almost 20 years. I’m partial to the Downtown Dive, but the Uptown Corner lives up to the solid reputation Sweet P’s has earned. Best known for their BBQ or Brisket Burrito, don’t dare sleep on the ribs or the Tater Salad, which is a side dish revelation. And so is this Mac and Cheese. Oh, and the sautéed Greens and Things, too. I think you’re picking up what I’m laying down. Which I had to do after a hearty lunch at Sweet P’s on Jackson Avenue. Wake me for dinner!

Downtown Dive: 410 W Jackson Ave. Knoxville | Uptown Corner: 3029 Tazewell Pk. Fountain City |sweetpbbq.com

The Smokey Q

What in the heck would Northern Virginia transplants know about barbeque? Well, a lot obviously, as the line at The Smokey Q is always out the door no matter what day of the week you show up. And while it’s a bit of a hike to Douglas Lake, these folks know how to smoke brisket, pork, and wings and don’t even get me started on their side dishes. Their Facebook page is on top of “What’s Left” so you’ll know when they’re about to run out—and they do. I see an iron cauldron of steaming hot brisket chili on their social media, and I have to stop writing and jump in the truck. Get there sooner rather than later.

Dandridge | 287 US-25W |the Smokey Q

Sons of Smoke

Let’s head down US Highway 11 to Loudon because if you’re going to arrive at an historic old town for a big ole plate of America, you gotta take one of our nation’s original routes. Sons of Smoke defines the phrase “Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover,” as while not a true hole in the wall, the exterior belies the magic that is found inside. Sure, you’ve had meatloaf, but have you hadsmokedmeatloaf? You will soon, and it will alter your DNA. Full racks and family packs will have you swimming in sauce, fixins, and bliss. And personally, prayers up for Chris. Get well soon, Brother.

Loudon | 304 Cedar St. |Sons of Smoke

Dead End BBQ

A BBQ restaurant that teaches a Master Class in pit barbeque. Exactly. So there’s that. And with so few words to use, do I tell you about the Dead End Mac Attack or the Grilled Smoked Bologna? The Brick Top Chicken or the Tennessee Grilled Beef and Cheddar? The Bar-B-Queso or the Smoked Sausage and Cheese? You’ll have to stop me here because I can’t stop myself. I’ve been eating at Dead End BBQ since the early 2000s and so have you. See you soon.

Knoxville | 3621 Sutherland Ave. |deadendbbq.com

The Shed Smokehouse

We’re not going to say you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced The Shed… but you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced The Shed. Pig Burger Sliders, made with smoked rib meat, ground chorizo, and ground pork drip with deliciousness as you size up your next course. The Rooster is a char-grilled piece of chicken that like its siblings on the menu, drips with The Shed’s house-made barbeque sauce. Smoked meat sandwiches and platters round out the menu. Come on a weekend and dive in to the sounds of the countless bands that take stage while you feast. They call themselves “The Best Kept Secret in Maryville,” and we just might tend to agree.

Maryville | 1820 W. Lamar Alexander Pkwy |theshedmaryville.com

Festive Fantasy

The famous ETCH holiday gala has returned

Story by Rebecca Whalen

After years of existing in a variety of different forms, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital is bringing back its holiday gala to accompany the hospital’s ever popular community fundraiser, the Fantasy of Trees.

Dubbed the Gala Among the Trees, the event organizers invite neighbors to join them at the Knoxville Convention Center in their holiday best as they wine and dine for an evening in support of the hospital’s programming. Live music and a silent auction will accompany the evening, and attendees will be given early access to the Fantasy of Trees, where they can purchase items in advance of the event the following day. Tickets for the gala are on sale now for $125. You can purchase themhere.

All proceeds from the event will go to specifically support the hospital’s neurology program, expanding the neurology space, heightening the number of providers in the program, and elevating services, among other needs.

Toys for Tots

Story by Cityview

There’s nothing like bringing a smile to a child’s face, and Knoxville’s Toys for Tots has been doing that every year for decades. Last year, the program distributed more than 45,000 toys across East Tennessee, supporting thousands of local kids in need. Now as we enter the season of giving once again, they’re looking to make that message of hope ring even louder.

This is a special year for Knoxville’s Toys for Tots. If they reach their milestones for this year, they are on the verge of becoming a large campaign, meaning that more than 5,000 underprivileged children are benefitting from the program. If you’re looking for a way to give back and help Toys for Tots reach those milestones, you can come celebrate with us atCityview, as we partner with D1 Training for our annual event to support the Toys for Tots efforts.

This year, you’ll find us at Top Golf in Farragut on December 11 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm for an evening dedicated to the Toys for Tots efforts. Bring your family, friends, and a toy (or two or three) and enjoy the festivities and food.

If you can’t make the event, we have additional drop-off locations at D1 Hardin Valley, Topgolf, Rusty Wallace dealerships, Dick’s House of Sport.

There are plenty of other ways to support the organization’s efforts: donating toys, volunteering, and attending events like ours. You can also host your own events, or volunteer your business as a drop site. Check out all the ways you can pitch inhere.

If you or someone you know has children who could benefit from this program, there’s still time to register! You can submit your toy request formhereup until November 27. After that date, you’ll receive an e-mail telling you where you can pick up your child’s new toy.

Knoxville’s Best Idea

The birth of our treasured sanctuary

Story by Gary Wade

During the next calendar year, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, far and away the nation’s most visited of the “crown jewels,” will celebrate its 90th birthday. Most of us take for granted our Smokies because, well, during our lifetimes they have always been there. The truth is that without the leadership of the people in Knoxville, Tennessee and North Carolina would not have the most visited national park in the country, a park having an annual economic benefit of $2.4 billion.

In the summer of 1923, Ann Davis and her husband, Willis Davis, the general manager of Knoxville Iron Company, toured the national parks in the West. Upon their return, Mrs. Davis contended that as grand as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite were for a visit, the green peaks and ridges of the Smokies were of equal stature. Mr. Davis began to urge his circle of friends to support the notion of our part of the Appalachians as a national park. Despite overwhelming skepticism, the Davises persuaded the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, the Knoxville Automobile Club, and later, the Knoxville Rotary Club to lend a hand. Carlos Campbell, the Chamber manager at the time, wrote inBirth of a National Parkto an organizational meeting of the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association held at the law office of Judge H. B. Lindsay. Willis Davis was elected chairman. Others present included Wylie Brownlee and Cowan Rodgers as officers, and possibly Colonel David Chapman, who did not embrace the idea of a national park until he read a report by Teddy Roosevelt on the importance of the Southern Appalachians. Chapman’s level of enthusiasm convinced Davis to yield the chairmanship to his young colleague.

Meanwhile, Hubert Work, the Secretary of Interior at the time, had appointed a committee to study the prospect of a national park in the eastern part of the United States. At a hearing in Asheville, a city more interested in a Grandfather Mountain-Linville Gorge site than the Smokies, photographs taken by Jim Thompson persuaded two on the Interior Committee to hike the Rainbow Falls trail to Mt. LeConte, the Alum Cave Bluff, Gregory Bald, and, of course, Cades Cove. Ultimately, the Committee recommended the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains (Shenandoah National Park) and, for later, the Smokies. Colonel Chapman was disappointed with the second-place finish. North Carolinian Horace Kephart, the author ofOur Southern Highlanders, was thrilled even though many in his state preferred the Grandfather Mountain area.

Austin Peay, who had some familiarity with the Elkmont area and was later elected Tennessee governor, decided that he would support the quest for a national park and entered an option agreement with Colonel W. B. Townsend for the state to purchase 76,507 acres for the sum of $273,557 — or $3.57 per acre. Mrs. Davis, elected to the House of Representatives after the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, introduced the bill to purchase.

Strong opposition developed in the legislature. The Knoxville Chamber raised $5,000 to charter a train trip for the 99 in the House and the 33 in the Senate. With their expenses paid, the crowd swelled to some 200. Private automobiles transported the visitors to Cades Cove. Although supporters of the bill were optimistic when the bill passed in the Senate, attorney James Wright, a supporter of a national forest rather than a park, used his influence to defeat the bill in the House. Not backing down, Chapman enlisted the help of Knoxville Mayor Ben Morton who, in turn, persuaded City Council to offer one-third of the Townsend purchase price if the members of the House voted “yes.” When the vote was affirmative, Governor Peay signed the legislation with a quill pen, which he gave to Mrs. Davis.

While the state support for the purchase had solidified, there remained the matter of a vote by the Knoxville City Council to appropriate the funds. Opponents accused some on the Council of being overly extravagant, questioned the legality of city funds for such a purpose, and demanded a recall election for four of the 11 on the board. Three were defeated. Afterward, when the $90,000 appropriation came to a vote, Mayor Morton allocated much of the debate time to Chapman and then read a supportive letter from Governor Peay. The funds were narrowly approved — by a six to five vote. Recognizing that their efforts had failed, the five in opposition changed their votes to “yes” in order to make the resolution unanimous.

Raising dollars from the private sector in order to buy the land and help build the infrastructure was a struggle. Honoring a fundamental principle for fundraisers to give first and then ask others, Chapman, in 1925, donated $5,000 to the campaign. Recognizing the potential for economic impact, some corporations pledged as much as $10,000. When four thousand or so schoolchildren from Knox, Blount, Sevier, and Cocke counties gave pennies and nickels to the cause, totaling $1,391.72, their generosity influenced even more donations, swelling the total in excess of $600,000. A few months later, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce pledged $35,000 in order to meet their private sector goal of $500,000.

North Carolina, influenced by Charles Webb, the publisher of theAsheville Citizen-Times, was instrumental in the next steps essential to the creation of our park. When our sister state appropriated $2,000,000 from their government, the Tennessee General Assembly matched, but not without another boost from Knoxville. During the legislative session in 1927, the Conservation Association invited legislators back to their city. Legislators took a special train from Nashville, enjoyed breakfast at the Cherokee Country Club, toured Cades Cove for a picnic lunch, and were then escorted to the Mountain View in Gatlinburg for a banquet in their honor. The Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission, chaired by Chapman, which included Ben Morton and former governor Ben Hooper of Newport, was authorized to acquire the lands necessary for the park, the vast majority of which was owned by lumber companies.

If all of those hurdles were not enough challenges, the $5 million raised by then proved to be woefully inadequate. To develop the park, experts indicated that another $5 million would be required. In the depths of the Great Depression, the United States Congress was not an alternative, but Arno Cammerer, who would be later named as the Director of the National Park Service, capitalized on his long-term relationship with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., a major philanthropist for parks throughout the country. On March 6, 1928, he announced that the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Memorial Fund would make a gift of $5 million, conditioned only upon his “mother’s name… be memorialized in a way that would be pleasing to her.” Today, the Rockefeller Monument at Newfound Gap serves as an iconic place in our treasured sanctuary.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was opened to the public on June 15, 1934. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only United States president to have visited the Smokies, first traveled through in 1936 for an inspection, and then returned on September 2, 1941, for the official dedication. Three months later, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this country entered World War ll.

Meet Bodie

The puppy has arrived at the Pryor residence. The clothes and furniture are in trouble.

Story by Robert Pryor, Sr.

Against the advice of everyone who knows us, my wife and I have adopted an eight-week-old Golden Retriever puppy. We are not new to dogs, especially Golden Retrievers, but it’s been many years since we had a puppy to raise. To be perfectly frank, she’s now only three months old and she’s killing us.

We named our new baby “Bodine Brown” (cause she’s fun to be around), but everyone calls her Bodie. When our kids were young, we had a travel cassette that included novelty songs and one about a girl named Bodine Brown, who likes to go to parties and put her hands under her armpits to make that squishy sound. The kids loved the song and our boys began calling their younger sister “Bodine Brown,” so the name has long been part of our family tradition. It seemed natural to name the puppy Bodie after the girl in the song who was “fun to be around.”

At the risk of upsetting my cat-loving friends, I am an unadulterated, born again, dog lover of the first order. I’ve been the proud owner of many dogs over my lifetime, but now have a true preference for Golden Retrievers. I don’t have anything against cats except I’ve never met a cat that cared about or needed me. Dogs have always loved me and they are so needy. All of our children are now dog owners and Bodie has two Golden nieces to play with.

Bodie looks cute and harmless, but she has sharp nails and the teeth of a young wolf. I took her to PetSmart to have her claws trimmed and told the girl that I would gladly give her $100 to also pull her teeth. She declined. I’ve lost a lot of blood since Bodie came to live with us. My bathroom looks like a trauma center, and we can’t seem to keep enough Band-Aids. My hands and arms are covered with scars and scratches and, as I write this article, I am sporting ten Band-Aids, including some with cartoon characters.

It’s been a long time since we’ve house- and crate-trained a puppy, but we seem to be holding our own. I get up three times during the night, and I’ve lost a lot of sleep. I’d like to say I’m spending a lot time in the middle of the night standing around in the yard in my pajamas, but I haven’t worn pajamas in years. I tried to teach her to ring a strap of bells hanging on the door knob to signal her need to go outside and potty. So far, the only thing my training has accomplished is she regularly and vigorously rings the bells when she comes back in.

I’m not exaggerating when I say it is total chaos at our house. Everything we buy for Bodie must say “long-lasting.” She needs chew sticks and bones that will keep her occupied a long time so we can get on with life. We buy lots of big chew sticks to keep her from chewing on our furniture, but they are so expensive I think we could save money by letting her go on and eat the furniture. Toys must be indestructible. For the most part, she ignores her expensive “puppy playpen” in favor of a cardboard box. For no apparent reason, Bodie goes crazy at least twice a day and zooms through the house (at least that part without temporary barricades). We pulled up all of our area rugs to protect them from the Queen of Destruction, and now she can’t get good traction and slides into furniture and walls like Pete Rose in his heyday.

We’re learning lots of new stuff with this pup. Did you know they now sell dog “calming treats” with marijuana as an ingredient? I bought some at PetSmart and since she’s so young I break the treats and only give her one-half and I eat a whole one. They are remarkably effective for both of us. (That’s the second time I’ve referenced my new favorite store, PetSmart—do you think they will give me a discount for the free advertising?) We have also discovered that Bodie sleeps best to the tinkling piano and recorded announcements when placed on hold by Walgreen’s. It’s hypnotizing to her. Anytime we want her to relax and go to sleep, we simply put our cell phone on speaker and call Walgreen’s and ask to speak to a pharmacist. We find that’s always good for a two-hour nap. Of course, it will all be worth it after Bodie receives $3,000 in intensive training after which she will probably still pull me down the street when she takes me for a walk. For now, I’m condemned to a life of chasing after my shoes and my socks and regularly cleaning up after a toilet paper parade where she runs through the house streaming toilet tissue like a cheap homecoming float.

Well, now, Bodine Brown she’s a friend of mine But she’s about as feminine as Frankenstein She’s just a little bit funky And she’s put on a few pounds But she’s fun to be around. — R. J. Powell, 1982

Please understand that we are in all of this mess for just one thing—puppy love. She has the most beautiful face and the sweetest personality. Her mother and father live in Andersonville on Golden Acres Farm, and from all indications she’s going to make a great companion for two dedicated dog lovers. The great thing about Bodie is she already knows I’m her best friend and she loves me.

Our last two Golden Retrievers were wonderful and loyal dogs. I remember sitting in the floor with each as the vet lovingly assisted them to go to their forever sleep. It’s truly amazing how much you can come to love a pet like our Molly (2003 – 2014) and our Maggie (2012 – 2023) and how it hurts when they leave the comfort and protection that you build for them.

My dog history is long, but not all is memorable. It all started when a mutt followed me home from elementary school. My mother let me keep it, and that experience led me to a Cocker Spaniel, a Boxer, a Shih Tzu, a Peekapoo, a Labrador Retriever, and now three Golden Retrievers. I’m still trying to forget the melodrama associated with two or three (we’re still not sure) St. Bernards. You see, I bought a beautiful St. Bernard puppy when our kids were quite young, and he became the mascot of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, that puppy, Wally I, disappeared so I bought a second St. Bernard puppy (Wally II). One Sunday morning, a man called and said that our St. Bernard had come onto his property in a thunderstorm the previous day and would I please come and get him. I returned with what I thought was Wally II and a Dachshund that was his traveling companion at the time of the storm. My family insisted that the refugee St. Bernard was not Wally II, and no one knew anything about the wiener dog. My wife argued that the refugee was actually Wally I rather than Wally III. In any event, it didn’t matter because both the refugee and the wiener dog disappeared within a matter of weeks causing me to be dogless for several years just trying to cope with the conundrum.

One December the Shih Tzu and the Peekapoo, acting together in a conspiratorial manner, ate two whole country hams delivered to our front porch as a Christmas gift. They drank water continuously for a week. The black Lab ate two sport coats and a pinstriped suit delivered to our porch from an Atlanta Big-and-Tall shop. I would have looked great in that suit. The black Lab loved the swimming pool, but would shed so much fur that anybody who followed him into the water came out looking like Chewbacca, the Wookiee.

Our all-time favorites were Molly and Maggie, two beautiful British cream Golden Retrievers. Molly was 9 years old when we adopted Maggie to be her friend and protégé in her older years. They were inseparable. Molly taught Maggie how to climb the stairs and how to calm down when she got too rowdy. Molly always had a calming effect on Maggie, who regularly used her as a pillow. We traveled a lot with Molly and Maggie, and Molly would quietly ride and sleep in the car. Maggie would stand up most of the way like a kid wanting to know “Are we there yet?” It was wonderful owning two dogs because they were not only such great companions for us and our family, but also for each other.

Like proud parents, it’s great to be back in the baby business. Bodie is going to be a great addition to our dog-loving family. I’ll keep you posted on our grand adventure.

Her love is unconditional and that just makes me stronger. So the greatest wish I want to come true. I want my dog to live longer. — Curtis Salgado

Hanging Tough on Defense

A hard-fought 20-13 victory over Texas A&M set the Vols up for a visit to Alabama

Story by N. Brooks Clark

Defensive back Dee Williams came to UT in 2022 from Forsyth, Georgia, by way of East Central (Mississippi) Community College. In his debut last fall he returned a punt against LSU for 58 yards to set up a field goal, returned one 73 yards for a touchdown against Vanderbilt, averaged 18.7 yards on punt returns and 17 on kickoff returns for the season, and was named a preseason fourth-team All-America returner.

Midway through the third quarter against Texas A&M this October 14, as a member of UT’s punting team, Williams found himself near the goal line. “All eyes were on the returner,” said Williams. “I saw the ball pop up in the air and I heard someone say, ‘Ball! Ball!’ I looked up and thought, ‘Why not make a play on it?’” As he caught it, one toe almost touched the goal line. “I looked down at my feet and looked at the referee and saw him flag it down on the 1. Oh, well.”

Playing tough, as it did all evening, UT’s defense gave the Aggie runners no quarter on three plays, so the punter had only 10 yards of end zone. “We sent our rush in so they had to get the ball out quickly,” said Williams, who had to advance 10 or 20 yards to field the ball on the 39. He zigged left, zagged right, and used his blockers to dodge a passel of Aggies on his way to the right side of the end zone. “We had 10 guys competing their butts off to get him in the end zone,” said Heupel. It gave the Vols a 14-10 lead with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.

“It’s amazing,” said Williams, asked how it felt. “It’s something I’ve been working hard for. I have to thank God for the talent that I have. All I know is to work as hard as I can.”

“Dee is just very electric when the ball is in his hands,” said running back Jaylen Wright, who himself ran for 139 yards against A&M.

“Anytime Dee has the ball in his hands, I am expecting a touchdown,” said linebacker Aaron Beasley, who had five tackles on the evening and helped his comrades hound A&M quarterback Matt Johnson into making several ill-advised throws.

One ill-advised throw came with 3:48 left in the game and the Vols up 17-13. Cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally picked it off on the left sideline and ran 36 yards to A&M’s 6. A 24-yard Charles Campbell field goal made it 20-17 with 2:31 left to play.

Gabriel Valentin Jeudy was born in New York City. His mother, Alla, is Ukrainian. (Her father played for the Ukranian national soccer team.) From his mother and Russian nannies, Russian was his first language, and he remains fluent in it. English came later, when Alla married Thomas Lally and moved to Austin, Texas, a noted quarterback factory. “Baker Mayfield, Drew Brees, Nick Foles went to school right down the street from me,” said Jeudy-Lally in a podcast.

His stepfather coached him in Pee Wee football before he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and played for Ardrey Kell High. In three seasons with Vanderbilt, Jeudy-Lally earned his bachelor’s degree in human organizational development with a minor in business. In a season at BYU, he started 10 games and started on his MBA, then transferred (along with linebacker Keenan Pili) to UT. Jeudy-Lally, who is working on his master’s in recreation and sport management, described his interception with the thoughtful eloquence of a philosophy PhD candidate: “It’s what we prepare for every single day. Coach [Defensive Coordinator Tim] Banks, he just put us in the right spot. The quarterback overthrew his receiver. We gotta get them.”

“That was a good ass interception,” interjected defensive end Tyler Baron earthily.

A quarterback hurry by defensive end James Pearce Jr. and a great play by defensive back Tamarion McDonald broke up a second-down pass with 40 seconds to go. After another incompletion, cornerback Kamal Hadden picked off Johnson’s fourth-and-10 pass to seal the 20-17 victory.

It was Hadden’s second interception in two games, having had a 28-yard pick-six in the 41-20 win over South Carolina, and emblematic of the UT defense’s transformation from inconsistent to formidable. In postgame interviews it was suggested that Hadden was bouncing back from playing not so well. “I’m sorry,” said Baron, earthy once again. “But I wouldn’t say ‘Bounce back.’ He’s been doing his job the whole time.”

“I’m not sure what other people have seen,” said Jeudy-Lally. “But I’ve seen a guy that puts his head down and goes to work every single day. A guy that has dominated regardless of the situation. It always looks different to other people. But when we’re in the film room, we see a guy that is going out there and doing his job. Since I’ve been here that’s all I’ve seen the whole time so I’m proud of him and I’m proud of all of us.”

A Day for Defense

“How about that, man? Wow,” said Heupel after the epic defensive struggle. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in one of these. And I’m good with it. I like coming out on the right side of it. Obviously, offensively, we want to be more efficient when we can be. But I said when I got here, the standard here is to play elite defense. Not just good defense.”

“Today we had the offense’s back,” said Beasley. “They weren’t having their best day, and we had their back.”

On a tough defensive line of Baron, Omari Thomas, and Omarr Norman-Lott, Pearce has been swarming the opposing offensive line and making plays like a video-game character possessed by aliens. “I can’t say enough about James,” said Beasley. “He’s different. He’s a different guy. I like playing with him, man. As you can see, his play, it speaks for itself.” Pearce’s three solo tackles against A&M included a sack that maintained his average of a sack a game. He also had five quarterback hurries. “James is getting better every week,” said Heupel.

“We’ve been dealing with him all summer,” added Wright. “He’s a dog.”

The Volunteers had “self-inflicted wounds,” said Heupel, referring to the 12 penalties for 115 yards. “They kill ya, man.”

The running tandem of Wright, Jabari Small, and Dylan Sampson netted 232 yards. “We feed off each other,” said Wright. “We’re brothers.”

The run total included eight runs by quarterback Joe Milton, one for 19 yards, but he totaled only 100 yards passing and forced a ball to Dont’e Thornton in double coverage in the center of the end zone that was picked off. “That was a critical error by him,” said Heupel. “Sometimes that happens at quarterback, but we don’t want it to happen anymore.” On one play Milton hit a wide-open Ramel Keyton who had an open field between him and the end zone. Inexplicably, the ball spun off Keyton’s hands as if controlled by an impish drone pilot.

Heupel said the passing troubles are a matter of the quarterback, “the wide receivers—all of us—being on the same page.” But, Heupel added, “Through all the ups and downs, Joe continued to fight, continued to compete, continued to be willing to go out there and play the next play. That’s where it starts as a competitor.”

As he looked toward their visit to Tuscaloosa on October 21, Beasley said, “We’re ready for whatever comes our way.”

Against Bama, Squirrel White made an improbable diving fingertip catch on the left side of the goal line for a 39-yard touchdown to put UT up 7-0. The defense had its moments, holding fast on several third downs. Pearce made a first-quarter sack and caused a fumble that Omar Norman-Lott recovered, setting up a field goal for a 13-0 lead. On the day Norman-Lott also had a sack, as did Jeudy-Lally and Joshua Josephs. With Bama threatening in the Red Zone, cornerback Doneiko Slaughter tapped a pass in the right corner of the end zone that safety Jaylen McCollough intercepted. That set up a long drive capped with a 10-yard pass to tight end McCallan Castles that made it 20-7 at the half.

Then came the second half. Bama scored on its first possession to cut the lead to 20-14, quickly added a field goal, another TD and a field goal to go up 27-20. Then a blindside sack of Milton forced a fumble that Bama ran back for its final TD to seal a 34-20 victory. Milton ran for 59 yards, but otherwise UT’s running game curiously never got in gear. In all, Bama held UT to one touchdown in four Red Zone trips, and the Vols were penalized eight times for 55 yards.

Light, Water, & Color

An open floor plan home in Grande Vista Bay makes every day a vacation for its homeowners

Story by Carolyn Evans

Looking out over the clear blue waters of Watts Bar from Grande Vista Bay, you could be forgiven for losing yourself in the tranquility for a minute. Far from the rest of civilization, this elegant development is a sanctuary, inviting you to sit back, relax, and explore East Tennessee’s natural beauty.

Dr. Ray James, a semi-retired gastroenterologist, and his wife Amy, a nurse-practitioner, had always had a love for this area of East Tennessee. For years, the couple made frequent trips to visit Amy’s cousin Debbie, who lived on Watts Bar Lake. As they spent time in the area and saw the houses built on the shoreline looking out over the water, beautiful lots without any trees to obscure the view of the river, a plan began to form in their minds. They could see themselves here.

“I was retiring from full-time practice,” says Ray, and with his retirement on the horizon, the time seemed right to start the moving process and discover something new. It was just a question of deciding where. They knew it had to be on Watts Bar—and it had to be one of those treeless lots, with nothing to potentially topple over onto their new dream home—but that still left a lot of shoreline to explore. One particular requirement stuck out to Amy: “I wanted to be near Debbie. I was an only child and she was always like my sister.”

Finding a pre-built home that met all their needs proved a more difficult task than expected.

“We looked for a house for two years,” Ray says, “and made three or four trips here. We did not want to build because of the distance and our inexperience with the whole building process, but we couldn’t find what we wanted.”

Grande Vista Bay was not a place they originally looked at property, but while perusing Zillow one day, Ray spotted a west-facing lot for sale on Watts Bar. Sparks flew. He showed it to Amy, and they both knew then that this was the place. The idea of having to build their own home was still a troubling one for them, but it also presented opportunities to make something that was truly theirs.

“We had a realtor we’d been working with,” says Ray, “and I said, ‘What do you think about this lot?’ A couple of days later she called and said, ‘I’m out on your neighbors’ boat looking at your lot.’” The realtor was optimistic, and despite their worry about the idea of building, Amy and Ray took the plunge.

“We were afraid it would lead to divorce,” Amy laughs, “but we sent my cousin to scope it out from the water and she said it looked great.”

The next step was to find a builder who lived up to their dream for the lot. Ray reached out to several candidates, but Providence Builders of Tennessee quickly came to the forefront. With more than 20 years of experience and a vast collection of completed projects under their belt, there was little doubt they could make a home worthy of that perfect spot on the shoreline.

Providence responded quickly to Ray’s call, drilled some test holes, and gave the job the thumbs up. Despite never having actually seen the lot in person, Ray and Amy purchased, knowing it met their criteria: no trees and on the water.

Crafting a Dream

Though their dream home was destined to be here in East Tennessee, Ray and Amy’s story began elsewhere. Amy is native to Newport News in Virginia, where she and Ray both lived prior to their move. Ray’s original home is even farther away in New Jersey, where his father flew a Lockheed Constellation for the Navy. So when Ray and Amy drove up New Hope Road towards their new lot, they were seeing Grande Vista Bay for the first time with their own eyes.

With a turn onto Grande Vista Drive, the road opened up like a movie scene and soon the lake was everywhere they looked. With some plans Ray had gotten online and with a concept in mind, they scheduled a meeting with Shawn Jones, vice president and manager at Providence Builders, and met him at the company’s offices in Lenoir City.

“There was a floor plan of a 14,000 square foot home on the easel,” Ray remembers of that first meeting. “We didn’t want to build something that big, but we knew we were in good hands from the minute we walked in the door.” Ray says he and Amy just had a feeling they would be taken care of.

“We didn’t really have a lot of specifics,” Amy says. “We didn’t know enough to know what we wanted, but we knew we were fairly contemporary because we like color.”

Fortunately, Providence is anything but new to this needed level of detail. Their portfolio includes everything from elegant mountain retreats and celebrity estates to retirement dream homes, found everywhere from Grande Vista all the way out to Colorado. At the helm is Ron Bills, a seasoned design-build professional whose background in aerospace engineering drives his passion for performance excellence.

“We believe in treating every client the way we would want to be treated,” he says. “We believe in open, honest, and transparent communication. It does not matter if we are designing and building a 2,000 square foot home or a 20,000 square foot home. You get the same care and attention to detail.”

And for Ron, it’s all about giving clients an experience of a lifetime as they build. “We strive for our clients to have fun with the process and to really enjoy designing and building their home,” he says. “It should be fun and exciting, not stressful.”

Whether you are starting with one of their stock plans or designing a home from scratch, the team is committed to what they call, “turning dreams into reality.”

“We take our jobs seriously and understand the importance a home plays in your life,” says Diane Bills, who owns the company with her husband. “It’s a reflection of your personality, aspirations, your creativity and a haven for your personal life.”

As they began with Providence, it turned out Ray and Amy did have some specifics. “We wanted an open floor plan,” Amy says. “We wanted built-in shelves to display the art and sculpture we had collected. I wanted a more elegant upstairs and more fun downstairs.”

To add to those items, Ray says they didn’t want a stairway in the middle of the house or a range hood above the island blocking the view. And they didn’t want an office on the main floor. “Our office is always messy,” he comments.

Shawn pulled some files and found a previous Providence build that somewhat reminded him of what Ray and Amy were describing. It was similar to a house Ray and Amy had been attracted to in Spring City (except for a stairway through the center). The plan would have been near perfect—except the footprint wouldn’t fit on the lot. A redesign took place, fitting the depth of the lot perfectly and the personality of their client.

And while Covid caused its typical pauses in process—”There were weird things you couldn’t get like downspouts or fuse boxes, or we’d pick something and find out ‘Oh, they don’t make that anymore.’ We’d have to pick something else,” Ray says—the end result was worth it. The lake is in full view from the home’s massive windows. With the addition of a dock and boat, they can be at Debbie’s in minutes — or just meet in the middle of the lake for some relaxation.

Filling in the Details

Now instead of living in the woods, they’re living on the water in sunshine and color. They’re loving the nearly 5,000 square feet, the airiness of the 10-foot ceilings, the flood of light streaming in and the calming view of the lake from almost every window.

In addition to the great room and deck on the main floor are the sitting and dining rooms, sunroom, “the world’s biggest pantry,” a “bedroom area” with custom crate enclosures for their dogs, the master bedroom, laundry room and the kitchen finished in browns, blacks and cream. Working with Riana Mulder at Stone World, they chose “Magma” granite for the kitchen to coordinate with the truffle finish of the hickory cabinets.

“Ray Bell at Standard Kitchen and Bath really worked with us,” Ray says. “I think he was excited to be using some finishes that weren’t typical in a lot of Tennessee lake homes.”

Working with Ray Bell was a gamechanger for Amy, too. “I’m only 5 feet, 1 inch,” she says, “and being able to get close enough to the mirror in the bathroom to put my makeup on has been a challenge. Usually, I sit in the sink. Ray Bell was able to design a very shallow part of the vanity so I could get close. He told me, ‘You won’t be able to do that forever.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I can.’ Then we put in sinks that wouldn’t let me sit in them.”

As for the rest of the bathroom, the gray granite tile from Cella Flooring complements the Wendwood cabinets and gray marble tiles in the master shower that they ended up downsizing. Off the bath is a huge walk-in closet for their everyday clothes. Amy has other closets downstairs for her dress-up clothes for Vegas.

On the lower level are a gym, the office, two guest bedrooms with baths, a large rec room with a pool table and bar, a large storage room, and a patio.

Judy Gooch brought her interior design skills to life by creating an accent wall in the rec room and various other details throughout the house.

“Since they were living in Virginia during construction, we met once a month on average to review space planning, create interesting wall designs and help with selection of colors and some finishes of their home,” Judy says. “It was a great collaboration.”

The rec room has a few nods to Ray’s pilot dad and flight attendant mom, as well as to his grandfather who would take him to see steam locomotives when he was a child. He can tell you about each of the planes on display around the pool table, from the more abstract red biplane on the wall to the scale models on the shelf over the TV. After all these years, their stories still resonate with him.

A Constant Vacation

Ray never did fully retire from his work. He still works as a gastroenterologist every other week in Murfreesboro. Amy is still practicing nursing, but like Ray, she has adjusted her schedule to have time off. The time their new schedules have bought them is now filled with all the new adventures their Grande Vista home has to offer, from their still-treeless yard to the dock reaching out into Watts Bar Lake.

They say their favorite hobby is having fun with their neighbors, in particular playing dominos and cards in their rec room’s custom bar area. But Ray also dabbles in cooking now, using recipes fromThe New York Times, and they both enjoy sitting on the deck watching for boats and birds.

“We have hummingbirds, a bunch of eagles, and pelicans in the winter,” Amy says. “We feel like we’re on vacation constantly.”

They’ve come a long way from their roots in Virginia, but now that they’re here, they know this was the place they were meant to be, and they’re excited to share their enthusiasm with their new community.

Healing & Horses

Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding, or STAR, provides hundreds throughout the region with healing and hope through equine therapy

Story by Rebecca Whalen

George Morgan was 16 when his parents first took him to see the horses. It was 1989, and a lifeguard at the neighborhood pool suggested his family connect with a new place in the region called the Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding (STAR), a place where children and adults alike could work with horses and reap the benefits of equine therapy.

George was nonverbal and severely handicapped, says Tom, George’s father. Tom had reservations. “George really did not interact with animals,” he recalls of that time in George’s life. He imagined George petrified of interacting with such big animals. However, after a short while at STAR, George walked right up to a horse and started petting it. He suddenly had found something he loved.

“George loves the horses, and the horses love George,” Tom says. “It just worked out beautifully. He started the program in 1989, and he’s been riding ever since.”

The Start of Something Great

STAR began just two years prior to George’s moving introduction to their program, originally as a master’s thesis project of then-UT student Lynn Petr. Lynn had been working on this curriculum and concept since the summer before her sophomore year. While working as a horse camp counselor, she would come to recognize an odd reaction from one of her most challenging campers. “She asked if she could go up and talk to her favorite horse that was standing under a tree. And I said, ‘Sure. Go ahead,’” Lynn recounts. “I just kind of hung back, and she wrapped her arms around that horse and started to cry.” Lynn let the moment play out, and as the camper stroked the horse and cried into its mane, she spilled details of all the things in her life that were causing her angst. Later, after the camper’s family came to get her and she mouthed “thank you” from the backseat of the car as they drove off, something clicked for Lynn. “What if I could marry my love of children with my love of horses?”

With a new idea in mind, Lynn would end up changing her degree to special education. After getting her diploma, she would then go on to share her idea far and wide looking for support. And while she saw her fair share of dismissals about her idea to use horses as a way to provide therapy to those who needed it, she pushed forward, ultimately ending up in Anderson County. Though initially seeing the idea as lofty, the head of a local school would give Lynn a single hour to show him what she could do. She would go on to secure a job with the school as, as she calls it, “the farm lady.”

Lynn ran programming, four students at a time, helping them with their studies, using the farm as a tool for that learning. By the second year, she had introduced physically challenged students to the program and her first year of students began to take on new roles in the program, assisting the new students as “side walkers” during their riding sessions. And while Lynn would eventually have to end the school farm program due to a gap in grant funding, she would spend years in the classroom preparing for the moment she’d one day build out her own equine program.

Therapeutic Riding

Fast-forward to 1987, after pitching her idea and curriculum to a graduate professor, Lynn began her master’s program and her thesis to start a therapeutic riding program with horses. Four years later, she graduated with her masters, got married, and incorporated STAR.

At the time, the organization served 15 people each week through its core program of Therapeutic Riding, which continues today. The program meets participants where they are in life, offering them opportunities to groom, saddle, and eventually ride the horses. Trained staff work alongside them, as do a host of volunteers, all there to ensure the program participants are safe, happy, and reaping the rewards of working with the horses.

The number of participants grew, and the organization moved locations as the needs of its participants changed. Eventually, in 2002, they found themselves at their forever home, a 63-acre farm in Lenoir City where it still is headquartered today.

Growing Programs

Alongside its flagship program today are a host of other programs, all designed to serve a very specific population of individuals. The Minis in Motion program was originally prepared for the classroom setting, as an alternate opportunity to a field trip. Lynn and her team would bring mini horses to the schools for students to learn and interact with. But a visit from a local assisted living facility helped Lynn realize there was more these minis could do.

“We had a group of people come out to the barn from a memory care unit,” Lynn says. The people loved the experience of interacting with the horses so much that the staff of the unit asked Lynn if she would consider bringing the horses to their facility. She obliged and the program grew.

“They bring the horses in and they have these little shoes and dresses and little tiaras on them,” says Tammy Price, program director at The Lantern at Morning Pointe in Lenoir City. “Just the looks on those residents’ faces when those minis walk in here is just something. You’d never imagine seeing that smile on their face again.”

The minis have been coming to The Lantern for as long as Tammy can remember—she’s been there for 13 years—but her relationship with STAR grew once more about two years ago, when a 92-year-old woman came into her unit who had worked with horses for a living. “I kept trying to think, what can I do to make her feel more at home, more easy, get her out there,” Tammy says. She called Lynn and asked if she could bring the resident to tour the barn. “From then on, we signed up for the Reflections program,” Tammy says, the program designed to bring the therapeutic nature of horses to those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. “A lot of my residents when they leave the [memory care] facility, they’re very anxious and always worried about everything, [but] when they look at those horses, all their worry just kind of leaves them for that hour that we’re there. They have not a worry in the world, a completely different attitude.”

Heroes & Horses

The programs at STAR reach far and wide, and each serves unique purposes for the individual groups they work with. That can be felt greatly in the Heroes & Horses program, designed specifically to meet the needs of veterans and active military personnel.

Jim was one of the first volunteers in the program, signing on after retiring from the entrepreneurial life in 2006 after a 27-year career in the US Air Force. “All of the veterans who have been participating in the program have some physical or mental health challenges that they’re dealing with,” Jim says. The riders go through a fundamental ground course where, like many of the programs, they are taught how to groom the horse, prepare it for a rider, and walk it. They eventually move on to a riding-based course, and the impact, Jim says, is vast. “There is a bond that develops between the horse and the rider. It’s just a natural thing.”

Corey Hendrix, who spent nine years in the US Army, entered the program during a challenging point in his life. “I had a drinking problem for a long time, and it helped me get through that and realize that there’s more to life than what I see,” he says. “It gives me something to look forward to throughout the week. And even though it’s only an hour, it’s still an hour of peace, and I live for it.”

In the five years he’s been going to STAR, he’s developed relationships with the horses. “It helps me cope with life,” he says, adding later. “The military gives you one big family. We live with each other every single day, and then when you get out of the military, it’s like you’re on your own. You have the same people every day doing the same routine, and then it’s over. And I think at STAR it kind of gives you that family orientation back. Even though I only see them one hour a week, I still feel welcome, and it’s just like that big family again.”

More to Come

Programs abound at STAR. While the Strides program originally began with a local alternative school, it has since expanded to work with adjudicated youth, as well as individuals with drug and alcohol addictions. The curriculum is also applied to the organization’s newer Stable Friends program, a result of Covid that works with teenagers who may be dealing with anxiety and stress and need assistance with learning coping mechanisms.

In 2016, the organization received a donation of a 47-acre equestrian farm in South Knoxville from two long-time supporters. Today, aside from growing their staff, training volunteers, and bringing the therapeutic nature of horses to individuals across the region, STAR continues work on its new facility, which Lynn hopes will allow them to grow in their service to others. “When we can get that done, it will enable a lot of other people to be served,” Lynn says. “We have 160 people on a waiting list and that’s just for therapeutic riding.”

To learn more about STAR and how you can get involved, visitrideatstar.org.

The Untamed Beauty of Nature

A Knoxville Artist’s photographic journey through the wilds of South Africa

Story by April Thomas

All around me, I could hear the rumbling. Twenty-one lions closed in on their fresh kill, a lone zebra, one by one tearing off their share. The rest prowled, snarling at each other, challenging for their place at the feast. Their voices were so deep that you could feel it as much as hear it. Every now and then, the rumbling would be punctuated by the snapping of bones, a hard crack I couldn’t help but flinch at.

Twenty-one lions and seven photographers, together in the African wilderness, all waiting for the perfect moment to strike – us with our cameras, them with their claws. If the lions caught our scent, the only thing standing between us and them were a few rangers’ rifles, and a charge of twenty-one lions might have been too much even for their expert skill.

My breath caught in my chest as I watched the lions work through their kill. It was exhilarating. It was awe-inspiring. It was terrifying.

This was my fourth trip to Africa as a photographer, but this one was different than the rest. On previous adventures, I’d always been on the job and felt the ticking clock over my shoulder. Our game drives always felt a bit rushed. We were having to cram an entire week’s worth of sights into a single day sometimes, which didn’t give me the time I needed to get the perfect shots I wanted as a photographer, the perfect shots I knew were out there.

This trip was about reconnecting with my camera, and about taking some time to slow down and remember where my place in the world was. There’d be no work here (and no tourists) to dictate my pace. It was only going to be me and six others, all photographers here on our own journeys, and we’d have two weeks to ourselves to do what we came here to do.

I knew once I touched down in Africa, I’d have to hit the ground running, so I forced myself to relax and rest as much as I could over the 37 hours I spent airborne. Flying in the Sky Suite on the first leg of my journey helped with that quite a bit.

It doesn’t matter how many times I visit; every time, it feels like a different planet altogether. The moon looks different. The plants look different. The animals look different. It’s a place where my life back home feels so small, and the world feels so vast. We spend our everyday lives worrying about the hustle and bustle, but when you get out here, it’s survival. You’re not so different than the lions and the zebras – eating, sleeping, surviving. Every time I step off the plane and take my first steps out into this new world, I feel completely transported and humbled.

On the Drive

There were some things that were the same every day in the tent camps where we spent the first half of our trip. Every morning you could count on your wake-up call being early, dark, and freezing cold. You’d get dressed, get your gear, and clamber onto the back of the game drivers’ open-top jeep. Breakfast wouldn’t be for at least an hour into the drive, not until we were already where we needed to be. That would also be your first chance to take a “bush pee”, as they were affectionately known.

You could also count on the beautiful sunrises. Each and every morning brought new colors into the sky, and the game drivers always knew where to find the best view. Over the course of the six-to-eight hour drive, you could be certain that you’d get to travel through awe-inspiring terrain; one morning the jeep is splashing across a river, the next it’s climbing up a craggy slope. You could count on seeing no shortage of amazing creatures and sights the likes of which you can only dream of back home. In short, you could count on every day being an adventure.

I was part of 18 game drives during my trip, and each made good on that promise of adventure, but even then a few stood out to me as truly special. Often, the night before a drive, we’d stay up and listen for the sounds of passing animals, and discuss with the guides what was out there for us to find the next day. One of the game drivers mentioned that there were cheetah nearby and they hadn’t been seen eating recently, meaning that they were due for a kill – a great shot if we could find it nearby. The next morning, that was our quest.

It was still early when we found them: a coalition of three cheetah, closing in on a herd of eland. Each eland, a spiral horned antelope, is nearly the size of a moose, yet they seemed so vulnerable as each cheetah silently approached, moving with eerie synchronicity. We all froze in place; we wouldn’t be the first to break the tension hanging in the air. Languid and sleek, the cheetah moved into position, and then, at some silent signal, their muscles tensed, and they pounced. The eland herd bolted, the cheetah growled and hurled themselves after them, trying to throw them to the ground. I wept as I followed the attack with my camera. It was in equal measure beautiful and haunting to bear witness.

Some moments, though, couldn’t be captured on camera. We sometimes went on game drives at night, when it was too dark to effectively get a picture. Those moments were only for us and our guides.

We had two sorts of guides on our trip. The trackers were locals who’d spent their lives on nearby farms; their knowledge of the land was intimate and traditional, handed down from generation to generation. The game drivers, on the other hand, had gone to school to study conservation and came to the profession academically. Both groups shared a passion for the land and the wildlife, however, and seeing that passion come to life was stirring.

It was on one of those night drives that we came to a sudden stop. Passing right in front of us was a pangolin, a “scaly anteater”. They’ve been seriously threatened by poaching and are a rare sight to see. It looked up at us, and I was stunned to see the jeep’s driver, one of our guides, begin to cry. He had never seen a pangolin with his own eyes before. I have no picture of that pangolin to share, only the memory of the light catching off its carapace and the tears of the game driver.

Remembering the Lion

The night before we set off in pursuit of the lions, we could hear them. Growls reverberated around the camp, first from one direction, then from another. Our guides, steadfast with their guns, kept our perimeter safe, but even then the sounds awakened in us a primal sense of fear, as well as excitement. The next day, we knew exactly what it was we needed to find.

Our jeep set off in the pre-dawn darkness, following in the direction the sounds of the lions’ passage had last been heard. The guides knew the right trails to follow to carry us to our quarry. We double-checked and triple-checked our equipment, making sure our cameras were ready to get that perfect shot. Often we were working with very long, high-zoom lenses to make sure we stayed out of the animals’ way, which meant the slightest hand movement or mistaken setting could ruin the image.

The zebra was already dead when we arrived, the first of the lions already at work. Lion prides have a hierarchy, with the leaders – the largest and most fearsome of their number – getting to feed first, while junior members of the pride compete for the scraps. We could not see them all yet. We took out our cameras and began to snap pictures of the scene, and slowly became aware of the other presences around us. The younger lions skulking forward to claim their shares. That’s when the rumbling began. The snap-crack of the lions’ teeth tearing through bone. That terrible sense that any rustle in the undergrowth would be followed by a pair of feline eyes, and then, a leap.

Yet watching the lions – both in that moment and in others – left marks on me far more than that momentary fear. A lion exudes confidence and courage; it’s a reminder to stand confidently in the face of our own challenges. The lion teaches patience in its quiet, coordinated strikes. They are testaments to the untamed beauty of nature, which even we, in our modern lives, still share in.

When I was born, National Geographic published a cover article about losing the rhino in Africa. They published statistics showing the decline in populations and pleaded with our society to do something. I looked through this magazine from 1984 and saw pictures of species of rhino that are no longer walking this Earth. These animals that I photographed, that pangolin that brought my guide to tears, may not be around by the time your children have children.

Moments like this, little moments, are what made Africa such a profound spiritual experience for me. When I came back to Tennessee, I came back with a renewed appreciation for my life and what I have. I’ll treasure these moments captured in my camera, and even more the moments captured only in the minds of myself and my companions, and hope that my next adventure to Africa is just as stirring as the last.

Best of the Best 2023

Story by Cityview

Our biggest year ever. Those are exciting and weighty words. It seems just about everything about this issue was record-breaking for us. We counted over 313,800 votes across 365 categories in the Best of the Best poll this year. We’ve published 40 pages of business spotlights just for winners. The book itself is 236 pages, the largest we have ever printed. And all of this as we look forward to 2024,Cityview‘s 40th anniversary year.

In honor of those milestones, we decided to create something, an emblem for Best of the Best, a physical reminder of all the amazing people and businesses in our community that have made this remarkable year possible.

It all started with a phone call to Artisan CNC. Thomas Hitefield was quick to call back, and after I described the idea, he told me, “We are going to need some wood. Meet me at Jeffries Wood Works in Seymour.” Together with Thomas and his wife Lynn, we chose walnut and maple and they headed off to their shop to work. What they created is an amazing testament to both craftsmanship and technology.

Next for the finishing; the maple simply needed lacquer, the walnut we poured metallic epoxy and then lacquered. There is that special feeling of holding something you created in your hands. Getting to do that with the Best of the Best emblem was a gratifying experience.

As you read through the listings, I hope you share in our sense of accomplishment. I’ve enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had this year as publisher to both meet newcomers to the list and reconnect with long-standing winners. We can all be proud to be part of a community that has achieved so much, and doing this poll every year gives us perspective on what it means to be part of that community. Each and every name on this list has earned their place here through their hard work and commitment, and this year, as always, we’re glad to be able to do our part and recognize everything that goes into being the Best of the Best.

You’ll find our biggest Best of the Best ever below. Thank you for making that happen. We look forward to seeing even more of the community next year, when you decide who will make this list in 2024.

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BaristaJoslynn Fish – South PressAdam Kennedy – Refill Coffee CardAlec Glover – Honeybee Jessie DeRose – Ugly Mug

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South RestaurantYe Olde Steak HouseSoKno TacoSouth Coast Pizza

Specialty DrinkBrother WolfPeter Kern LibraryKefi Space Bar

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Vegetarian MenuTomato HeadYassin’s Falafel HouseSunspot

West/Farragut RestaurantConnors Steak & SeafoodLakeside TavernSeasons

Wine BarWater Into WineVan Edoms Wine BarDiamond Jack Wine Bar

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ActorJohnny KnoxvilleDavid KeithBill Landry

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Children’s AttractionZoo KnoxvilleThe MuseIjams Nature Center

Children’s CampTate’s Day CampZoo CampWebb Camps

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Dance LessonsAngela Floyd School for Dance and MusicRevolution DancePremier Athletics Dance Academy

Dog DaycareThe BarkFoxy LocksPets R People 2

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GymnasticsPremier AthleticsThe Little GymTataru’s Gymnastics and Tumbling Knoxville Twisters

Martial ArtsStephen Strouss Tae Kwon DoKnoxville Academy of Martial ArtsP3 Martial Arts

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Swim LessonsSafeSplash Swim SchoolWest Side Family YMCAAlanna’s Aquatics

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Health & Wellness

Alzheimer’s and Memory CareMorning PointeAvenir Memory Care at KnoxvilleArbor Terrace

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Chiropractic ServicesApple HealthcareKnoxville Spine & SportsBrown Chiropractic/Optimal Health

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Community PharmacyMac’s PharmacyBelew DrugsFarragut Pharmacy

Compounding PharmacyHeartland ApothecaryCompounding Pharmacy of AmericaMac’s Pharmacy

Dental HygienistMadison WilliamsMelanie HarperLeslie Reed Kim Baker

Dentist – CosmeticChase Nieri, DDSJohn Coulter, DDSBen Stroud, DDS Jack Haney, DDS

Dentist – FamilyChase Nieri, DDSGary Chesney, DDSJohn Coulter, DDS

Dentist – OrthodontistPickering & Allen OrthdonticsChristopher O’RourkeEpic Orthodontics

Family Health Care – Large ProviderUniversity Family PhysiciansTrinity MedicalEast TN Medical Group

Family Health Care – Small ProviderValley MedicalFamily Health CenterStafford Family Care

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Fitness – Cross Fit TrainingDunstan Kendrick at D1CrossFit KnoxvilleCrossFit One Valley

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Fitness CenterNational Fitness CenterYMCA of East TennesseePlanet Fitness

Hair ReplacementThe Skin Wellness CenterCulture Aesthetics & WellnessOptimal Health

Health Food StoreEddie’s Health ShoppeThree Rivers MarketThe Fresh Market

Home Health CareEast Tennessee Personal CareEncompass HealthHome Helpers

Hormone TherapyCulture Aesthetics & WellnessKnox WellnessRevitalyzeMD

HospiceUT Medical Center Hospice ServicesAmedisys HospiceSacred Ground Hospice House

HospitalUT Medical CenterParkwestEast TN Children’s Hospital

Independent LivingThe Villages of FarragutPark Place of Fountain CityNorthshore Heights

Life CoachChris O’HearnKellie CopeBooth Andrews Rev. George Doebler

Massage TherapistBrandy Becker – Brandy Becker Bodywork & Massage TherapyBrittney Miller – Brittney at the RetreatCara Bradshaw – Lightened Being Massage & Healing

Men’s Health & LongevityBe Well Anti-Aging & Weight LossKnox WellnessCulture Aesthetics & Wellness

Non-Medical Health CareBe Well Anti-Aging & Weight LossKnox WellnessBrooke Nix Medical Aesthetics

Nursing HomeNHC HealthcareShannondaleNursing Center at Little Creak

Nutrition StoreEddie’s Health ShoppeThree Rivers MarketGo Nutrition

OptometristDr. Charles Y. ShieldsDr. Shane PressonDr. Blake Rust Dr. Sam Winston

Personal Trainer – AthleticsDevin Driscoll – D1Shamir Peshewa – Marvel My FitnessWade Wilburn – Exclusive Fitness

Personal Trainer – Cross FitKasey McCormick – CrossFit Pistol CreekKara Wilson – Kara Wilson NutritionChase Hill – CrossFit One Valley

Personal Trainer – FemaleMargaux Cowan-Banker – Fitness TogetherMichelle Williams – Totality Living WellAnna Dark – Take Charge Fitness Kim Day – Kim Day Training

Personal Trainer – MaleScott Williams – Totality Living WellDevin Driscoll – D1Matt Gentry – Lenoir City Fitness

PharmacistDwight DisneyMac WilhoitMatthew Crawford

Physical TherapyBenchMark Physical TherapyKnoxville Orthopaedic ClinicTennessee Orthopaedics

Plastic SurgeonDr. David LoDr. Steven J. SmithDr. Tom Gallaher

Regenerative MedicineBe Well Anti-Aging & Weight LossKnox WellnessGallaher Plastic Surgery & Spa MD

Weight LossBe Well Anti-Aging & Weight LossNew Vision Weight LossBragg Weight Loss & Wellness

Women’s Health & LongevityBe Well Anti-Aging & Weight LossField Center for Women’s HealthThe Skin Wellness Center

Yoga InstructorPhilip CliftJoanna GoanKris Evans

Yoga StudioReal Hot YogaGlowing BodyBreezeway Yoga Studio

Hunting, Fishing, & Sporting

Fishing GuideGavin GreeleyKnoxville Fishing GuideChadwick Ferrell

Fishing Tackle StoreEdgemoor OutdoorsBucks N BassC & C Outdoors

Gun RangeRange USA KnoxvilleBuds Gun Shop and RangeGunny’s Indoor Range and Firearms

Gun SmithKnoxville TacticalJAY FirearmsMatt Shaw – Wood Brothers

Gun StoreBuds Gun Shop and RangeSmoky Mountain Guns & AmmoGunny’s Indoor Range and Firearms Harvey’s Pistol and Pawn

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People & Places

Apartments—DowntownMarble Alley LoftsRiver Walk811 East Downtown

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AuctioneerLaura Slyman – Slyman AuctionBear StephensonPowell Auction

Bed & BreakfastMaple Hurst Inn Bed & BreakfastBoyd Harvey HouseCreekwalk Bed & Breakfast at Whisperwood Farm

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Financial AdvisorThe Trust Company of TennesseeMark Pancratz – Axiom Wealth ManagementThierry V. Sommers & Associates

Golf InstructorJake Reeves – Fox Den Country ClubBraxton Hunter – Fairways and GreensKatie Brinker – Katie Brinker Golf Byron Williams – Fairways and Greens

HotelThe OliverThe TennesseanEmbassy Suites

MeteorologistTodd HowellRebecca SweetHeather Haley

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Photographer – PortraitMallory BertrandTracie Ancelet Colby McLemore Leah BullardApril Thomas

Place to work (500+ Employees)University of TennesseeUT Medical CenterORNL

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Place to work(50-99 Employees)Skin Wellness CenterAbridged Beer CompanyAdmiral Title

Place to work(under 50 Employees)GrowBe Well Anti-Aging & Weight LossNew Frame Creative

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PoliticianGlenn JacobsTim BurchettGloria Johnson

Public Golf CourseWillow CreekThree Ridges Golf CourseEgwani Farms

Real Estate Agent—CommercialJohn HaneyJay CobbleLouise Frazier

Real Estate Agent—ResidentialLucas HaunLaura SlymanMichelle Corley

Veteran-Owned BusinessHoneybee CoffeeThe Chow HallAdam Wilson Realty Born this Way Body Arts

Wealth PlannerThe Trust Company of TennesseeMark Pancratz – Axiom Wealth ManagementThierry V. Sommer & Associates

Woman-Owned BusinessSkin Wellness CenterJosie’s BoutiqueMakers of Magic and Wishes

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Middle School CoachCourtland Styles – South Doyle Middle & High FootballChris Cavalaris – Farragut Middle TrackTravis Felder – Alcoa Middle Football

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Teacher—KindergartenAbbey Fariss – GibbsKristin Geren – AlcoaAja Grimes – Concord Christian

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TutorChristy ClappRobin RouseKandi McMahan Gloria Shipley

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Advertising – AgencyNew Frame CreativeTombras GroupMoxCar

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Antique Store – FurnitureBearden Antique MallBargain Hunters Antique MallClinton Antique Mall

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Arts & Crafts StoreJerry’s ArtaramaClinch River Yarn CompanyScrappin’ In The City

Attorney – Auto AccidentT. Scott Jones – Banks & JonesFarrell A. Levy – McDonald, Levy & TaylorGregory F. Coleman – Milberg, Coleman

Attorney – DivorceCaitlin Elledge – Sobieski, Messer and ElledgeMandy M. Hancock – Mandy Hancock LawAdam M. Priest. -Pryor, Priest, Harper, Floyd & Coffey

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Attorney – Estate Planning/TrustsAnne M. McKinney – Anne M. McKinneyJulie D. Eisenhower – TriAmicus Law, PLLCCarolyn Levy Gilliam – McDonald, Levy & Taylor

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Insurance AgentJosh HemphillMansour HasanStanton Oster

IT Services ProviderGAMA NEtwork SolutionsThe IT CompanyTenHats

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Mortgage BrokerScott Worley – Mortgage Investors GroupLorie Jaynes – Mortgage Investors GroupSandra Parsons – Element Home Loans

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Moving CompanyGouffonFox MovingTwo Men and A Truck

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Tailor/AlterationsSandra G’sQuality AlterationsEuropean Alterations

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Web Site DesignerMake Me ModernNew Frame CreativeSlamdot

Wedding & Events

Bridal ShopWhite Lace & PromisesLillian Ruth BrideDavid’s Bridal

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Event VenueRiverView Family FarmDara’s GardenMarblegate Farm

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Wedding CakeMagpies BakeryArt of CakesVG’s Bakery

Wedding CatererBy the Tracks CateringRosa’s CateringB & G Catering

Wedding FloristLisa Foster FloralSamuel FranklinFlourish

Wedding Performer/BandErick BakerStephen GoffBoogie Knights Liquid Velvet

Wedding PhotographerZelina PhotographyBrittney Beeler PhotographyAmanda May Photos

Wedding PlannerMargaret Claire’s Weddings & EventsPeggy Buchanan – Heels & VeilsWhitney Bowman Events

Wedding VenueDara’s GardenMarblegate FarmRT Lodge Boyd Harvey House

Wedding VideographerTW ProductionsSkylar BallKira Cupp – Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Home for the Holidays

Nature-inspired holiday decor may be just what the doctor ordered to breathe simplicity into your home this season

Story by Rebecca Whalen

Tradition. The holidays are filled with it. Whether its the food you make, the parties you host, or the way you decorate your home, your traditions are what bring meaning to this time of year.

For me, decorating my own home is one of my favorite traditions of the season. As a girl, I would watch my mom weave the beauty of the holiday into our home through the decorations she put out and the care she would take wrapping presents and preparing food. It felt captivating to come home to after school. Today, I relish the moments spent creating that wonderland in my own home. Yet, while the decor is plentiful, I find myself adhering lately to the old adage thatless is more, and these days look for inspiration in the natural world around us.

For many, decorating begins on the front porch. A good friend of mine told me once not to toss your outdoor potted plants away, just because it’s winter. Some of your spring and fall outdoor plants have the potential to find their way into outdoor winter arrangements, if you’re willing to commit a little heavier to their upkeep. Geraniums and ferns are great options, as they can hold up a little longer as temperatures drop. Visits to local nurseries are a must as you try new arrangements.

An excellent addition to these pots can be found right on your own (or a friend’s) property. As you clean up leaves, take a few moments to gather the sticks, branches, and pinecones that have fallen. Some of the items you can find in boutique stores or catalogues are just faux versions of real items. You are more than welcome to pay for the faux items, but you could also just hold on to the nice ones from your yard.

Spray them with a subtle clear glitter coat, and these little pieces of forgotten nature become new again. Add them to your outdoor arrangement, place them in a vase on an end table, or perhaps pair them with leftover boughs from your Christmas tree, alongside other greenery, such as magnolia and holly. You have yourself supplies to decorate nearly every part of your home for the holidays, giving your spaces a simple yet elegant look that you can reuse for years to come.

It All Starts with the Wreath

The first thing a person sees when they come to your home for a holiday visit is your front door. They may even get a few more seconds with your wreath than you do, as they wait for you to let them in. And what do you think they’ll be doing during that time? That’s right; they’re looking at your wreath.

A plain evergreen wreath can make an excellent base for the natural elements you gathered outside, but you might be surprised to know that you can take this a step further and head to one of the local nurseries, like Northshore Nursery, to truly make it your own. They have the tools needed to bend and shape, but it is you who can choose the type of greenery that suits your taste.

Once the base of your wreath is complete, it can be as easy as grabbing a glue gun or floral wire and adding those outdoor elements you gathered, along with a variety of neutral decorative items to your wreath. Elegant simplicity, a trend I’m seeing more and more.

Up to the Treetop

As you move indoors, bring that container of outdoor items with you. Even if you have a real Christmas tree, there is no harm in putting some of those pinecones into your tree, and coupling it with your family’s ornaments and simple white lights. These same rules can translate beautifully to a mantle, if you have one. Just remember that if you are using live greenery, keep an eye on upkeep as it can dry out easily. Switch branches of leaves (especially magnolia) out often to keep the holiday decor looking its best.

Sharing the Beauty of Nature with Others

One aspect of decorating that is often forgotten about until we are in a crunch to get it done before a friend arrives is the gifts you put together and the food you prepare. You may spend hours preparing the meal and hors d’oeuvres, but have you ever really stopped to think about how you would arrange them? This can be a last minute addition often, but why not plan for that?

If there is greenery left in your bag of forgotten outdoor items, this is a great place for them, especially smaller items that weren’t quite big enough to make a grand statement. Case in point: the tiny pieces left from your tree. Tie these little guys onto the top of presents with some twine and you have yourself a simple, yet beautiful gift for those coming to visit. An even better aspect of this, is that if you get your shopping and wrapping done early, you get a two-for-one as you can use these beautifully packaged presents as decor in your own home until they head to their final destinations.

This can also be true for the spread you put together for your guests. Your decor doesn’t have to be over the top, even if you plan to have holiday gathering after holiday gathering at your home. Less is more, right? Small pieces of greenery placed gently under the edges of your appetizer plates breath life and love to your buffet. Pair that with neutral or nature-colored candles and minimal decorative items and you will make even the buffet look like a well-thought-out spot in your home.

Holiday decorating doesn’t have to be an enormous task. It should be enjoyable, something you cherish and look forward to each year. It should be something to build traditions within and then take great pride in later. And keeping it simple can make the season feel effortless, despite it often being the busiest time of year for many families. Let your home be the place you unwind and slow down, and let your decor play a role in that.

And when the season is over and it’s time to pack everything up, here are a couple of things to remember. Those pinecones you spent an hour collecting? They can be used again next year. Bake them in the oven on a low temperature to draw out any final moisture (or bugs) and pop them in a container for next year. And those boughs of evergreen you put out? If they still look good, leave them. A friend of mine once told me that natural elements can look relevant all year long. And judging from her banister in the spring, I think she might be right.

A Mission of Service

Former Air Force leader and Vietnam veteran Jim O’Brien gives back to his adopted Knoxville community

Story by Phil Newman

When 591 American prisoners of war arrived back on U.S. soil from Vietnam in early 1973, Jim O’Brien was midway through his studies at the University of Notre Dame, but the chill of winter in South Bend, Indiana, stood no chance against the warmth the young man felt as he watched on TV while veteran after veteran deplaned in Hawaii.

Just a few short years earlier, O’Brien had briefed and debriefed many of the Air Force pilots whose missions put them in harm’s way, some of whom would be captured and held as POWs. Now, tearful reunions with wives, children, and parents on the tarmac stirred the hearts of many war-weary Americans.

“That was quite a celebration for the men, their families, and all who saw it, but for those of us in the war who had lost friends, it was especially joyful,” O’Brien recalls from his home in West Knoxville, his typically upbeat, energetic tone tempered by a momentarily somber note. “Watching them embracing the families that had been flown in to meet them, it meant an awful lot.”

“To See Them Coming Home Alive…”

From July 1968 to July 1969, O’Brien had served a tour of duty as an Air Force intelligence officer, providing vital information to pilots who flew missions into and out of Vietnam as they sought to locate and take out enemy surface-to-air-missile (SAM) sites. Some of those pilots would be shot down, taken prisoner, and held in the infamous Hỏa Lò Prison, more widely known as the “Hanoi Hilton” where scores of POWs including the late Senator John McCain and Vice Admiral James Stockdale were held and tortured.

“I have a lot of friends whose names are on that wall [of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial] in Washington, so to see those men coming home alive…” O’Brien pauses, clearly moved.

Later in 1973, he would receive a related blessing in the form of a new friend, Tom Moe, who had been one of those American POWs returning home, and who was now enrolled at Notre Dame. Meeting Moe on campus and talking with him about his experiences served to bring some healing to O’Brien.

“He had been incarcerated at the Hanoi Hilton for six years,” O’Brien says. “He could have been one of my guys. After a much-needed and well-deserved leave with his family, he had come to college. The stories he told and the times we spent together—that was cathartic for me.”

After completing his master’s in government with a specialization in Soviet-East European Affairs, O’Brien would continue a surprisingly lengthy and decorated U.S. Air Force career, culminating in the rank of Colonel and leading some 10,000 intelligence staff across the globe.

“I had expected to do my four years and then go to college on the G.I. Bill and be done, but 27 years later I retired on the same parade field where I had been commissioned,” he says with a chuckle. “I was blessed with a fabulous career.”

When he opted to retire from the Air Force in 1994, O’Brien had moved some 23 times in 27 years; the last 10 or so years had included his wife, Diane. “She earned her PhD in packing and unpacking boxes,” O’Brien quips. The couple was ready to put down roots for their daughter, Meghan, who was then 8.

As it turned out, the last stop on their far-flung journey would be East Tennessee. “God was saving Knoxville for the O’Briens,” Jim says today with his trademark wide smile.

From Roxbury Guy to Pentagon Man

There had been no early indication O’Brien would end up going career military with influence in the halls of the Pentagon and beyond. Born in 1945 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, near Boston, he graduated from Needham High School and earned a history degree from nearby Stonehill College. (He had enrolled briefly in a diocesan seminary before going to college, but says he realized “I liked women too much” to become a priest.)

It was now 1967. With designs on pursuing a master’s and PhD to become a university professor, O’Brien was told by the local draft board that his number would likely come up that fall and that a deferment for higher education in “softer” fields was highly unlikely. In a preemptive move, he enlisted in the Air Force and was commissioned in November 1967.

He would be assigned to the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing as an intelligence officer, and sent to Southeast Asia. During a yearlong tour that began in mid-1968, “my job was to brief the pilots, tell them what their targets were, where they could expect to find surface-to-air missiles, anything they needed to know to keep them safe. Once they got back [from flights into Vietnam], we would debrief: ‘Did you get the bombs on target? Were any missiles fired from an unexpected location?’ We would use any information gathered to prepare for the next day’s missions.”

It was perilous work. “The really unfortunate part of it, we were losing an airplane a week, shot down or crashing,” O’Brien says. “Sometimes we got the crews back, rescued, but all too often the pilot and the navigators, in some cases, were killed or captured and taken to Hanoi.”

While most of his work was not directly in combat, O’Brien “did fly a few missions in the F-105” aircraft in an operation dubbed “Wild Weasel,” in which “we went trolling for North Vietnamese SAM sites” and to gather other vital details to share with pilot crews.

“It was one hell of a year,” he says of his tour.

Upon his return to the States in 1969, O’Brien was given options of where to be stationed and chose Europe, ending up at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. He advanced to the rank of Captain by 1972, the year he enrolled at Notre Dame. (While he became a lifelong Irish fan, O’Brien is quick to emphasize that as a transplant to our area—“I tell people I wasn’t born in Tennessee, I just got here as soon as I could”—he and Diane are dyed-in-the-wool Volunteer fans. “I cheer for Tennessee… until they play Notre Dame,” he concedes.)

His first assignment after South Bend, in 1975, was to the Pentagon in Air Force intelligence.

Thus began a gradual ascendency through the ranks that would include three stints in Nebraska—“nine Omaha winters was much more than enough,” he laughs; a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in 1976; meeting and dating Diane (they wed in 1982); six months in Rome, Italy, at the NATO Defense College; a return to the air staff at the Pentagon, working closely with the Joint Chiefs of Staff; a transfer to the Intelligence Committee Staff; and another promotion, this time to Colonel, at age 37— “which blew me away,” he says of having achieved the rank by that point in his career.

By 1989, after working in Omaha for the headquarters of Strategic Air Command (SAC), and then in San Angelo, Texas, home to an Air Force training center (Goodfellow), O’Brien was granted command of the 544th wing, with some 500 intelligence staff deployed. He would lead that wing through Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and into 1991.

A series of additional moves and assignments led to O’Brien commanding the newly established 67th Cyberspace Wing. “That was 10,000 people, all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica (by treaty),” he says. “We had a $500 million annual budget, and an HQ staff of 150 or so at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio.”

General… or Dad?

The pressure-packed role suited O’Brien and his leadership skills well, but by 1994 he sensed that he had arrived at a crossroads. He remained on an advancement track to the top of the ranks, but looking back, he says, “I decided it was more important to be a dad than to become a general.”

And so the O’Briens relocated to Knoxville, arriving on July 4, 1994. Jim established a franchise business and began getting involved in the community. These days he operates a “one-man-band” travel business. Daughter Meghan, now 37, lives in Lenoir City with her husband, Jonathan, and daughter Lily. Her dad “had the honor of commissioning her into the Air Force Nurse Corp,” he says. Her service included six months in Afghanistan.

O’Brien’s volunteer positions have included leadership in Farragut Rotary, Bridge Refugee Services, and the Honor Air Flight program. He and Diane are also active members of Concord United Methodist Church.

One of his most cherished roles is with the Heroes & Horses program at Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding (STAR) in Lenoir City. O’Brien is effusive as he describes the program in vivid detail and shares stories of wounded warriors who have found hope and healing in the welcoming equestrian environment provided at STAR.

Among many relationships that he says have been meaningful, O’Brien speaks of a man named Mark, who narrowly survived a suicide bomber’s attack in Iraq. His wife, Sunny, fought to keep Mark on life support when hope seemed lost, and he lived. Now in his mid-30s with two sons, Mark deals with brain injuries and hearing loss. He has been riding horses at STAR for the past decade, and O’Brien beams when he expresses the positive difference he has witnessed firsthand in the fellow veteran’s life.

“There are so many others. Helping all of them has been very rewarding to me,” O’Brien says.

Others have noticed as well. On August 7, 2023, STAR honored O’Brien for his 13 years of “extraordinary fidelity and essential service” to Heroes & Horses at a ceremony attended by local elected officials.

As is typical with many other military veterans, he deflects praise and prefers to point toward “the real heroes” who have fought, been captured or wounded, battled to overcome post-war injuries or PTSD, or given their last full measure of devotion.

And as he reflects on his own lofty Air Force career and several eventful decades in the Knoxville area, O’Brien sums it up with one word: service.

“My whole life purpose, whether in business or in church or in the community or in the military—it’s why many folks join the ‘service’ in the first place—to be of service. My volunteer work, with STAR or Bridge or Rotary, has all been because of my desire to help other people. That’s what I do. That’s what Jesus expects of me, and I’m doing my best to comply.”

That desire has birthed an enduring dedication that has blessed not only the thousands of troops O’Brien influenced in the armed forces, but also the growing number of grateful veterans and other fellow East Tennesseans whose lives he continues to touch.