25th Year of Perpetual Motion

Perpetual Motion, Sewanee’s annual student dance program, celebrates its 25th anniversary with this year’s performances at 7 p.m., Thursday–Saturday, April 3–5, in Guerry Auditorium.

The Sewanee Dance Conservatory/AYB will have its spring recital at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 5.

This year Perpetual Motion will feature 22 pieces of original student choreography, ranging in style from reggae to jazz to ballroom, and will include more than 60 university student dancers. The public is invited, and the performances are free (donations to a charity will be welcome at the door).

Perpetual Motion is a performing dance company begun in 1989 and designed to give students an opportunity to perform for the Sewanee community the many forms and styles of dance. Dancers from the community often join Sewanee students in the dance company.

Ramseur Recital Friday Night

Carolyn Ramseur, C’14, will present her senior music recital at 7 p.m., today (Friday), March 28, in Guerry Auditorium, accompanied by Jason Farris, associate university organist and choirmaster.

Her program will include selections from Rossini, Brahms, Shubert, Bach and others. The recital is free and open to the public. A reception will follow at the McGriff Alumni House.

Carolyn has been a member of the University Choir for four years. In addition to a B.A. in music performance, she will also graduate with a B.S. in ecology/biodiversity. In the fall she will attend Wichita State University to study for the degree of Master of Music in Opera and Vocal Performance. 

She is the daughter of Cynthia and George Ramseur of Ocean Springs, Miss., and the granddaughter of Ruth and George Ramseur of Sewanee.

Council Sets Slower Speed for Ball Park Road

 by Leslie Lytle
Messenger Staff Writer 

The Sewanee Community Council approved reducing the speed limit on Ball Park Road to 15 mph at the March 24 meeting. The Council also heard updates on the town cleanup scheduled for April 19 and the town planning process.

The Sewanee Senior Citizens requested the speed limit be reduced on Ball Park Road and on the section of Lake O’Donnell Road from the Highway 41A caution light to Ball Park Road. The Senior Citizens’ Center is located at the intersection of Ball Park Road and Lake O’Donnell Road. 

A recent two-week vehicle survey by the Franklin County Highway Department recorded 1,900 vehicles traveling on Ball Park Road during the survey period. Although three months of radar monitoring by the Sewanee police found only a few motorists exceeding the speed limit, Sewanee police chief Marie Eldridge recommended reducing the speed limit from 25 mph to 15 mph given the heavy vehicle traffic that is expected to increase with use of the ball park in warm weather. The Community Council approved Eldridge’s recommendation. 

The reduced speed limit will go into effect as soon as signage is posted by the Franklin County Highway Department.

A Sewanee town cleanup is scheduled for 9–11 a.m., Saturday, April 19. For individuals wishing to join in the effort, bags for collecting trash will be available at the Angel Park and the University Book Store. Along with the Community Council, help with the cleanup is expected from many Sewanee-area organizations. Filled trash bags can be left at the roadside and will be picked up the following Monday afternoon. For more information contact Pam Byerly by phone at 598-5979 or email to<pbyerly@sewanee.edu>.

Reporting on the plans to revitalize the downtown area, Frank Gladu, vice president of administrative services, said the University has hired the architectural firm Ayers Saint Gross to produce an “action plan” for implementing ideas identified in the earlier town planning study and recent town workshops. The Ayers Saint Gross firm has extensive experience in developing plans for college campuses and the surrounding areas.

The Trustees Community Relations Committee will host a town meeting 5 p.m., Thursday, April 3, at St. Mark’s Community Center. The meeting will be followed by a picnic.

Caitlin-Jean Anne Juricic, student representative to the Council, announced plans for a Community Block Party in downtown Sewanee, 6:30–9:30 p.m., Friday, April 4. Highlights of the event include music, food, information tables and entertainment for children. The downtown area will be closed to vehicle traffic.

The next meeting of the Community Council is scheduled for April 21.

Gift Provides New Name, Support for School of Theology Programs Center

The University of the South announced on March 26 that a gift made by David and Kitty Beecken will support the School of Theology’s programs center. This significant and generous gift gives the programs center a new name, the Beecken Center, and provides funding for its continued revitalization, allowing for renewed facilities and new program development.

“The Beecken Center will expand its reach to become the Church’s primary center for lifelong theological education for all the baptized, offering residential and non-residential programs, short courses and retreats for persons of all ages,” explained the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, dean of the School of Theology. “The Beecken Center is committed to providing the tools for transformation that enable disciples of Jesus to shape their faith into action.”

Beecken, a 1968 graduate of the University, is a founding partner of Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, a private equity firm based in Chicago. He is a former chair and current member of the University’s Board of Regents and received an honorary degree in 2011. Longtime Episcopalians, the Beeckens are members of St. James Cathedral in Chicago. They are also active in diocesan programs, especially Kitty Beecken with Episcopal Charities and Community Services. 

“As alumni of the programs center’s Education for Ministry (EfM) program, we have been impacted by its transformational power,” said Kitty Beecken, who will join the Beecken Center’s board of advisors. “We hope that this gift leverages the capability of the center beyond EfM, and we view this as a gift to both the Church and the University.” 

The revitalization of the programs center began in the spring of 2013 when Alexander appointed Courtney Cowart as associate dean and director. Cowart brought with her a vision to actively recruit and develop programs to attract and train the laity, focusing on younger, more diverse leaders in the Church and the world. 

“With this wonderful gift that establishes the Beecken Center, we can engage disciples to fully realize the ministries God has given us,” said Cowart. “Through partnerships and by drawing on the legacy and resources of EfM, Sewanee’s seminary and college, and the Church, we can create an inter-generational learning community like no other for those who seek greater authenticity in the living of their faith.” 

SAS Students Restore Historic Landmark in Jamaica

by Bude Van Dyke

Special to the Messenger

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School’s Jamaica outreach trip has always been given meaningful projects to construct and relationships to develop. But, this year we were asked to restore a community treasure, the record of its sports heroes who achieved national and international status and acclaim. The Boys Town Schools and Football Club was named for the old Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney film “Boys Town.” It was initiated by Father Sherlock, whose memory is revered in Trench Town, though Trench Town is more readily known worldwide for musician and peace activist Bob Marley.

In the historic building named Father Sherlock Hall, various groups, many from Sewanee, have helped create a recording studio, a radio station and an internet cafe in recent years. In a large room at the center of the complex where three classes of students share space, the two-story high walls have fallen prey to the ailments that come with lack of funds for maintenance. On these walls are a dozen or so painted plaques with names of football (soccer) greats such as coach Carl Brown. 

Brown started playing soccer at Boys Town and went on to be the only coach to take the Jamaica team all the way to the World Cup in the late 1990s. Alongside sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Frasier, Brown is one of the most revered living sports heroes in Jamaica today. 

Coach Brown did well enough in his career to spend his retirement just about any place he wants. And he spends his days mentoring football coaches and helping bring attention back to Boys Town with his daily presence. Brown is known by every person in Jamaica and is greeted like a rock star when he goes into a business or group of prominent Jamaicans, yet he watches the Boys Town teams practice, plays dominoes on the porch of the Father Sherlock Hall with Trench Town elders and then finishes off the day by encouraging them by example with a workout just after the heat of the day.

When our group of 12 students arrived at Boys Town, we thought we might build a concrete block wall or something like that. Instead, the elders asked us if we would restore their century-old plaques, which meant meticulously painting black background around hundreds of white letter names, then painting the names with fresh white paint.

Maybe it is because I saw the film “Monuments Men” before leaving for Jamaica that this assignment hit me so hard. The Boys Town elders, who believe the school and sports program they help operate is vital to the future of their community, honored us by trusting us to restore this historical treasure. One of the powerful messages I learned from the movie was how essential the preservation of a people’s accomplishments are to the continuation of that community and culture. My initial response was hesitant because of the historical gravity of those plaques. But SAS teacher Rachel Malde and several of our students are accomplished artisans, so they excitedly said “Yes.”

So, along with students helping in preschool classrooms, working with students at an upper school to put on presentations and skits in the “No Witness, No Justice” program (which we were invited to do by the U.S. Embassy) and meeting all kinds of folks from Trench Town, we repainted the interior of Father Sherlock Hall and restored their Century Legends plaques. Our students got to paint alongside Coach Brown.

I went to Jamaica expecting to be taken in by the laid-back culture of the island. I was blessed by meeting some wonderful people in a country that seems to have a perpetual unemployment rate of 30 percent. What I either took for granted or did not anticipate is how honorably and enthusiastically our students would take to the tasks they have been asked to meet. They went above and beyond expectations. If the world can stay together a couple more decades until these young folks can take over, the world will be a much better place to live.

Van Dyke is the chaplain at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School. This essay and others from participants on the spring break trips to Jamaica, London, Italy and Greece are available at the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School website, <www.sasweb.org/about-sas/academics/international-study-opportunities>.

Sowing Seeds of St. Benedict

by Michael Trent Thompson

Special to the Messenger

From August of 2013 until the end of this month, two young adults —interns of the Organic Prayer Project—have been providing “radical hospitality” in every sense of the phrase. 

From the weekly Tuesday night dinners that they prepare by hand with local and organic produce to their weekly volunteer work at the convent of the Sisters of the Community of St. Mary and with the University Farm; to their efforts in forming a partnership between Thistle Farms and the convent, Eileen Schaeffer and Nathan Bourne (both graduates of the College) have been living their lives in a form of ora et labora (prayer and work) in an intentional community. Not one wrought with theory, but one in practice, formed as Thomas Merton described, with “active contemplation.” 

In addition to their significant year of volunteer efforts, and their radical hospitality dinners (that have included many from the local community, as well as the University), these two have been examples of living an intentional life. Indeed they have lived a Benedictine way of life under the guidance of the Sisters of St. Mary’s. 

From these “two seeds,” others are following their example. Two summer interns who have been “cultivated” by Eileen and Nathan will be spending this summer living at the convent and participating in the gardens and prayer life. Two more Sewanee students who are scheduled to graduate this May are considering carrying on the work Eileen and Nathan have started, which is based at and managed by the Sisters. Perhaps their example has captured some imaginations.

The combination of the agrarian life they have shared in, as well as the monastic way of life they have participated in, shows the community perhaps what “new monasticism/agrarianism” really is: a new way of expressing an ancient way of living. They have learned to read scripture, literature and nature in sacred manner, while being formed and tethered to an ancient order and living community of Benedictines. They have become fruit of a sacramental, organic, intentional life. 

Nathan is on his way to divinity school and Eileen on her way to study permaculture. Both have touched many here in Sewanee, and we are all better and grateful for their example, indeed for their lives. They will continue to sow seeds of St. Benedict wherever they go and take a little Sewanee with them, as well. Their lives have become a prayer for all of us to encounter. “Be Thankful and repay growth with good work and care. Work done in gratitude, kindly, and well, is prayer.” – Wendell Berry, “The Farm.”

Godspeed to you both.

Thompson is the director of the Organic Prayer Project.

Community Chest Very Close to $108,000 Goal

The Community Chest fund drive is 95.5 percent of the way toward its $108,000 goal. Only $5,300 in donations is needed before the end of March for the Community Chest to honor its commitment to fund 28 organizations whose work makes a difference in quality of life on the Cumberland Plateau. 

Nominations are being sought now for two individuals to serve as stewards for the 2014–15 Community Chest campaign. Duties include promoting the campaign, thanking donors and working with fund request applicants. Send nominations to <sewaneecommunitychest@gmail.com> or contact one of the current stewards, Kiki Beavers and Theresa Shackelford.

Every donation matters and helps to keep the community strong and vital. For example, $25 will help feed one child for eight weekends with the Campora Backpack Program; $50 will help to buy camping gear for two Scouts; $75 will help pay one month of maintenance expenses for the Sewanee Community Center; $100 will help defray the cost of fireworks for the annual Fourth of July celebration; $250 will help pay for four days worth of food at the Sewanee Senior Center; $500 will help five TigerShark swimmers with registration fees; and $1,000 will help to pay for Sewanee Elementary teachers’ professional development.

Through Community Chest funding, these organizations help those caught in the cycle of poverty, improve lives through outreach and community initiatives, and provide support for children with a variety of programs. 

The Sewanee Community Chest supports youth sports, outreach and many community and educational programs in the tri-county area. For a majority of these groups, 20 percent or more of the Community Chest funds are used to maintain their annual budgets. Much of the funding helps low-income families. 

Since 1908, the Sewanee Civic Association and its precursors have believed in the power of area citizens to help sustain community projects and programs. Donations can be made to Sewanee Community Chest, P.O. Box 99, Sewanee, TN 37375. Pledges, payroll deductions and donations in honor of, or in memory of a loved one are also encouraged. 

Common Core, State Control of Schools on Board Agenda

by K. G. Beavers, Messenger Staff Writer

The Franklin County school board met in regular session on March 10 to discuss common core standards, information on revenue from the mixed-drink tax, the county desegregation lawsuit and a resolution opposing legislation threatening the county educational system.

As part of a civil rights study released in 2008 by the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 12 Tennessee school districts have been released from a desegregation order, and 17 districts remain under court jurisdiction. Eleven counties still have active school desegregation lawsuits brought about by the U.S. Department of Justice. Franklin County is one of six public school districts where private desegregation lawsuits remain open in federal court.

The report identifies all school districts in the state that have ever been subject to a school desegregation court order and those school districts that have been declared by the court to have “unitary status.” The Supreme Court established the term “unitary status” to describe a school system that has made the transition from a segregated or “racially dual” system to a desegregated or “unitary” system.

According to the report, in Franklin County eight families joined a lawsuit in 1963 to compel the Franklin County school system to provide a “unified, nonracial educational system.” In 1964, the court issued an order to desegregate the schools. Objections to the order were filed by the school district. In 1966 the plaintiffs made a motion to reinstate the case on the active docket. Since 1970 there has been no action on the case. The case has not been dismissed, and the district has not been formally declared to have “unitary status” or released from court order.

“This is a loose end, and we have to clear this up,” said Franklin County Director of Schools Rebecca Sharber. “The school system will be in better shape because we have achieved desegregation.” The lawyer for the school board plans to file a motion for unitary status, which may cost between $10,000 and $15,000. The school board wants to consider other bids for representation before applying for the status.

Sharber presented an overview of the common core standards. For more on the presentation, go to <http://tncore.org/sites/www/Uploads/Family/Common%20Core%20State%20Standards%20PowerPoint%20Presentation.pdf>.

Common core state standards were adopted in 2010. These are goals that every student at each grade level is expected to learn, including math and reading standards for all students. These common standards are used to ensure that each student will be prepared for success in college or the workplace. These standards make sure that each teacher (K–12) knows what the best practices are in order to better teach their students. It does not tell teachers how to teach but helps them best use lesson plans or maps to reach a common goal. 

Sharber said common core is more complex than could be presented during the meeting. “But it is a strong link to critical thinking and problem-solving skills,” she said. “Common core sets standards to meet goals. This has nothing to do with curriculum. Curriculum is a road map for meeting those goals,” she said.

Many of the school board members expressed concern over the amount of testing students now have and the way the common core standards have been implemented in the schools.

“All of us are in a state of transition as the schools move toward the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test,” Sharber said. In 2014-15, there will be a transition to the PARCC test, which will be given on computers. PARCC will replace the TCAP math and English/language arts tests starting in fall 2014 for the high school. For classes such as biology and history, the end-of-course tests in spring will still be the TCAP tests. For grades 3–8, the PARCC tests will be two parts: the first will be a performance-based test in April; the second will be a multiple-choice test in May. TCAP tests will still be given in social studies and science. The state offered training for teachers during the summer.

“The state has not made funds available to each district to pay for mileage and teachers’ time,” Sharber said, “so most of our teachers have not been trained in the new standards.”

Chris McDonough, district 5 school board representative, requested the board consider adding money to the school board budget for teachers to attend training during the summer. “This is an unfunded mandate that teachers should attend training, give up their time during the summer, not get paid for the time or travel and be held accountable for the test results they were not trained on,” said McDonough.

In other matters, Sharber described how a mixed-drink tax has been collected across the state, with half of the revenue earmarked for the county school fund and the other for the town or county where it was collected. The total due to the Franklin County School System is $189,158 from taxes collected by the state from 1980 through 2013. 

“This is money we should have been paid,” said Sharber. “The City of Winchester has agreed to pay $50,000 initially, and pay the rest in installments during a five-year period. We have not been presented with a plan yet for payment from the county.” Franklin County is not the only county where this has happened in Tennessee. The school board also passed a resolution opposing state legislation threatening the county educational system. This includes opposition to H.B. 2293, which seeks to restrict the ability of boards of education to provide information and communication to state legislators regarding education-related matters; H.B. 2250, which seeks to enlarge the state’s control over local school systems and remove decisions from locally elected boards of education; and S.B. 0677, which will give more control to the Tennessee Commissioner of Education concerning fiscal outcomes and financial operations for schools.

The next school board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 7.

Barry Retiring After 40 Years at SAS

At the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee Winter Athletics Awards program, longtime SAS wrestling coach Dan Barry announced his retirement. Barry, a 1972 graduate of St. Andrew’s School and the recipient of the school’s Best Athlete award that year, has been affiliated with the school’s wrestling program for more than 40 years. He will continue to help the school as a volunteer and as coordinator of the annual Mountain Top Wrestling Tournament.

Barry leaves the SAS wrestling program in the capable hands of McLain Still, who served as head coach this year. 

“It’s been an honor to coach with Dan,” said Still. “I spent two years learning how to coach from him, and it completely changed my outlook on the sport and coaching as a profession.” 

Over the years, Barry has coached wrestling, softball, soccer, baseball and football and won many championships. Barry served as assistant varsity wrestling coach for nine years before being named head varsity and middle school wrestling coach in 2005. In eight years, his varsity team had nine state place finishes, one girls’ state champion and final four in state duals invitational in 2010–11.

From 2008 to 2012, Barry was head varsity girls’ softball coach. His team had two regional runner-up team finishes, one sub-state finish in 2008 and one final four finish in 2009. Barry led the middle school boys’ soccer team to league championships in 2003–04 and the middle school girls’ team to a championship in 2005. He also served as an assistant varsity baseball and football coach. 

The Rev. Ellis Mayfield, former director of athletics, said, “Dan brought high expectations, accountability, sportsmanship, passion and fun to every sport he coached. I could always count on Dan to coach and teach in line with the SAS athletic philosophy.” Margot Burns, assistant athletic director and coach, added, “Dan’s passion and commitment to wrestling and all our athletics will be greatly missed.”

Barry’s four children, Nick, ’02; Ryan, ’04; Evan, ’08; and Hannah, ’10, are all St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School alumni and, like their father, were all named SAS Best Athletes as seniors.

Civic Assn. Learns about Mountain Goat Trail, Hears Updates on Community Parks Project

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the March 5 dinner meeting of the Sewanee Civic Association, members and guests heard updates on the Community Chest and parks programs. In their presentation on the Mountain Goat Trail, the featured speakers cited some impressive benefits to the community.

Reporting on the renovation of Elliott Park, Parks Committee chair Stephen Burnett said the request-for-information phase was nearly complete. Updating the Civic Association on the Dog Park, Phil White said the initiative was meeting all of its regular monthly bills, but donations were needed for the two shelters planned for the facility. The shelters will offer pet owners protection from rain and sun. Donations can be made at Southern Community Bank.

Patrick Dean and Janice Thomas, representing the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance (MGTA), provided an overview of the trail project which, when complete, will extend 32.5 miles from Cowan to Palmer, following the path of the Mountain Goat Railroad constructed in the 1850s to transport coal from the mountain to the valley.

Ten years ago, Sewanee teenager Ian Prunty launched the trail project, raising money for the first two-mile section on the Domain of the University of the South. Although the region offers many hiking trails, most are for the able-bodied. The paved, 10-footwide Mountain Goat Trail is unique for being accessible to people of all levels of ability.

For many years, the coal mining communities on the railroad route prospered, but when coal resources dwindled, the economies of the communities suffered greatly. 

Under the direction of Chip Manning with the Babson Center for Global Commerce, University students conducted an economic impact study which showed an 80 percent completed trail would bring $1.2 million annually to towns on the trail route, with the greatest benefit expected in the severely economically depressed Tracy City community.

The next phase, scheduled to begin this spring, will extend from St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School to Mountain Outfitters in Monteagle, with 80 percent of the funding coming from a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant. 

The MGTA has already purchased 60 percent of the property needed for the Monteagle to Tracy City leg, and favorable negotiations are underway with CSX Railroad ,which owns most of the former rail bed earmarked for the rest of the route.

A History of Recycling and Trash in Franklin County

by Carol Fulmer, Special to the Messenger

Franklin County’s convenience centers provide citizens with a clean, user-friendly location to bring their recyclables and trash. Before 1970, county waste was taken to a designated piece of property where garbage was simply dumped. According to a 1966 survey, there were about 270 sanctioned dumps in Tennessee, many with problems such as odors, smoke, flies and rodents. 

The issue of groundwater contamination was addressed in 1976 when the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was passed, prohibiting open dumping. This legislation required the county to have an engineered landfill that addressed many environmental issues. In response, Franklin County began using green boxes often located on the sides of the road; many times they were filled to overflowing. 

With the passage of the Solid Waste Act of 1991, constructing a landfill became more difficult. The regulations were needed to protect the public health, but made constructing a Subtitle D landfill too costly for most counties (the estimated cost was $300,000–$500,000 per acre). The 1991 law encouraged counties to move to the convenience center system by issuing grants for site construction; it also contained a waste-reduction mandate, requiring counties to make a 25 percent reduction in their landfill usage. Now Franklin County operates convenience centers across the county (including in Sewanee, Sherwood, Alto and Cowan) that provide clean, safe places for citizens to participate in recycling and to dispose of waste. When an individual puts something into the trash, it costs the county$31.87 per ton to handle the waste. But when an item is recycled, not only does the county not have to pay, but it makes money. Last year Franklin County spent $333,233 in landfill fees for waste, much of which could have been recycled. During the same time period, the county received $148,354 from the sale of recyclables. For recycling, the county accepts paper, cardboard, plastic containers #1–#7, aluminum and metal. Prices for recycling fluctuate; currently the county is receiving $105 per ton for cardboard, $60 per ton for newspaper, $210 per ton for metal and $130 per ton for plastic containers #1–7. 

Franklin County recycles all cardboard, even if it is wet. The cardboard is baled and stored until a truckload has accumulated; it is then taken to RockTenn for processing. There, the material is shredded in a water solution and made into a pulp; it is saturated in water as part of the recycling process. 

The county sells aluminum and metal to CFC in Manchester, which sells to a smelting company that makes it into new products. Plastic containers go to various companies, such as Recycle America, where the material is separated, chipped and sold to make things such as toys, T-shirts, carpet, bottles, garbage cans and picnic tables.

Everyone is encouraged to further reduce their contribution to landfill waste by composting, donating clothing to charity and recycling computers, televisions, computer and printer cartridges and rechargeable batteries at the Recycling Center on Joyce Lane, Winchester. By separating recycling from trash, everyone benefits from conserving natural resources, saving tax dollars and reducing energy usage. 

For more information visit <www.iswarecycle.net> or phone 962-9048.

Fulmer is the regional administrator of the Interlocal Solid Waste Authority.