Music in Angel Park

The fifth season of “Friday Nights in the Park,” hosted by the Sewanee Business Alliance (SBA), continues tonight (Friday), June 26, at Angel Park on University Avenue in Sewanee. University Avenue will be closed at 6 p.m., so that guests can safely enjoy all the activities, including local vendors offering food and drink. 

Men of Soul will perform at 7:30 p.m. Band members Towson Engsberg, Robbie Legette, Mike Futral, Bob Jones and Stan Lynch play soul, blues, Southern rock and oldies. This is the third year Men of Soul has played at the event.

On July 3, the band will be Boy Named Banjo and on July 10, Hotel Oscar will perform. For more information email <info@sewanee.biz>. 

Blount Tapped as Parade Grand Marshal :: Fourth of July Parade Still Accepting Entries

The Fourth of July planning committee is pleased to announce that the 2015 Grand Marshal is Steve Blount. 

Blount was selected from a large, talented pool of nominees. “It is encouraging that there are so many people in our community who exemplify servant-leadership every day,” said Erin Kunz, one of the parade organizers. 

He is the senior assistant district attorney for the 12th Judicial District based in Franklin County and has served in this position for 25 years.

Blount has been instrumental in the 12th Judicial District Drug Court since its inception in 2005. He serves as chairman of the Drug Court Team and as vice president of the 12th Judicial District Drug Court Foundation.

Organizers hope to have as many parade entries as possible. Gather up family, friends and coworkers, and join in. All entries are welcome: musical, clowns, bicycles, horses, floats, baton twirlers, beauty pageant winners or cars. This year’s parade will travel downhill from Hall Street to the Sewanee Market; it will begin at 2 p.m. on July 4. Parade entries must be made by June 30.

Reunion of 1960s Civil Rights Workers Honors Walter :: Group Gathers to Share an Untold Story of Grassroots Activism

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Former members of the Selma Interreligious Project (SIP) gathered in Sewanee recently for a reunion and to honor the Rev. Frances Walter, founder of SIP. He served as director of SIP from 1965 to 1972. 

In 1965, the National Council of Churches contacted Walter about carrying on the work of Jonathan Daniels, a young Episcopal civil rights worker murdered in Hayneville, Ala., while attempting to enter a whites-only store with a young black woman.

Walter rose to the challenge.

The 1965 voting rights march from Selma, Ala., to the state capital in Montgomery influenced Congress’s passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year; the 1965 bill solidifed the promises of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to end racial discrimination.

“The people around Selma weren’t enjoying the rights they helped to bring to the rest of the nation,” said Steve Suitts, one of Walter’s early recruits. “African-Americans were organizing themselves, and SIP supported and enabled their efforts.” Suitts was a student at the University of Alabama in 1965 when he joined SIP.

Ralph Knowles, a young attorney with SIP, was defending more than 2,000 black high school students who were expelled to prevent the integration of the public schools. Other SIP staffers helped blacks organize childcare centers and advised blacks struggling to find a place to live, putting them in touch with assistance resources like the Federal Housing Administration.

Eviction was used to punish blacks who stepped “out of place,” SIP organizers recalled. SIP provided the FBI with information on 70 black sharecroppers who were evicted because they voted. Unfortunately, only one of those cases was ever prosecuted.

“The FBI was not a friend of civil rights,” said Suitts.

Many of those attending the reunion talked about learning they were under surveillance. “It was amazing how much people knew about you,” said Martha Jane Patton, who left her career as a legal secretary to join SIP. “We were paranoid, and with good reason,” said Walter.

Suitts recalled escorting a black community member to vote and being threatened by a sheriff flourishing a baton and his rifle-toting deputy.

Black and white young people who fraternized were committed to mental institutions without ever seeing a judge, SIP members recalled. Knowles filed a suit bringing about changes in the law that stopped the practice. SIP went on to work to deinstitutionalize mental health facilities and to support and promote SIP-sponsored group homes. Said Walter, “We dealt with the pressures of the time.” 

The work of SIP ranged from legal and technical assistance to helping alleviate job, food and housing insecurity. The women’s quilting co-op that SIP helped organize was so successful that the beautiful handmade quilts were eventually sold at Bloomingdale’s in New York City. When the women needed assistance with managing finances, SIP found them an accountant through the Black Muslims.

The black community’s appeal to churches of diverse faiths for help led Walter to christen the organization the Selma Interreligious Project, but most of the recruits who signed on didn’t have a faith-based connection. They were students, young attorneys and activists from the women’s movement and anti-war movement who answered the call to address yet another injustice. All the recruits lived in Alabama and were not, as the FBI claimed, “outsiders.”

All of the SIP staffers made countering injustice a life-long mission, and they are prone to downplay their accomplishments, instead praising the people they helped.

“Some of the greatest people who ever lived were the dirt poor blacks and whites who managed to survive and enjoy life in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And the world will never know these people’s names,” said Knowles.

Regents Approve Plans to Move School of Theology

At its meeting in early June, the University’s Board of Regents approved a plan to move the School of Theology back to central campus. The move will provide improved access to University resources for seminarians and will integrate the school more closely into other facets of campus life.

Longtime faculty and staff members, and generations of alumni, will recall that the School of Theology was located in St. Luke’s Hall until 1984. The new location—planned on the current site of the Bishop’s Common—will place the School very near its original home on campus.

The School of Theology move, part of a university-wide, upcoming capital campaign to be implemented over the next several years, will enhance the academic experience and affirm the University’s Episcopal identity.

The University’s current strategic and master plans identify the need for a new complex for the School of Theology that will include state-of-the-art academic, conference and residential facilities for both the seminary and the Beecken Center. The campus master planners worked with the School of Theology dean and faculty to identify needs, including adequate space for the Beecken Center and its long-standing program Education for Ministry.

“This move will have an impact upon the School of Theology and the University for decades to come,” said Vice-Chancellor John McCardell. “I am pleased that the Regents determined that a central campus relocation of the School is not only feasible, but the right thing to do.”

In February the Board of Regents heard a report about potential sites and programs from the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, dean of the School of Theology. Based on that, the Regents asked staff members to move forward with more detailed concepts and plans for a central campus site. The resulting plan to move to the Bishop’s Common location was approved in June, after the Regents reviewed options developed with an architecture firm.

Chasing Dragonflies : Hood Practices Citizen Science

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

About 50 feet away it hovers, hawking on this beginning-to-bake June morning. Robley Hood identifies the Great Blue Skimmer by its size, color and flying pattern as she sits beneath the pavilion in Abbo’s Alley.

The dragonfly bobs out and above us, staying close as if it knows we are talking about it and the rest of its cousins on the Domain. Hood is a citizen scientist, a woman who gets bundled up to protect against bugs, sun and snakes, and takes her camera to different bodies of water in Sewanee in search of odonates—dragonflies and damselflies.

“They are unbelievably beautiful,” she says. “Some of them are like looking at Tiffany stained glass windows, and you don’t see it unless you can get close up.”

“Dragonflies can see almost 360 degrees, and they don’t hear, so everything is visual. If someone comes up to it, they think it’s a predator. It’s real tricky; you have to learn how to stalk,” she adds. 

Kirk Zigler, chair of Sewanee’s biology department, calls Hood’s work outstanding and says that as the climate changes, any observations collected today will be important in tracking how species distributions change over time.

“Dragonflies and damselflies are amazing creatures and she has made significant contributions to our understanding of local biodiversity by documenting species and their behaviors,” he says.

Hood has photographed and documented 36 different species of dragonflies in Sewanee, and 25 species of damselflies since she started her quest about four years ago.

“Citizen science is increasingly important in documenting biodiversity,” Zigler adds. “Digital photography, GPS and the Internet allow observations from around the globe to be stitched together into precise pictures of species distributions. Anyone with a passion for a particular bit of biodiversity can make a real contribution to understanding that group, and Robley’s project certainly exemplifies that.”

A literature and composition teacher who holds a doctorate in theatre history, Hood says she became interested in studying odonates after a walk around Lake Cheston with the late Harry Yeatman. Yeatman talked about different aspects of the lake environment and when they came to the metal bridge “there was an explosion of dragonflies.”

When Hood photographs and documents the existence of an odonate species, that information goes in the county record at Odonata Central, a website that stores information on dragonflies and damselflies. Recently Hood discovered a Unicorn Clubtail in Sewanee, a dragonfly that hadn’t been previously recorded in Franklin County, as well as two damselflies, the Sweetflag Spreadwing and the Spotted Spreadwing. 

A change in the University’s mowing pattern around “in-town lakes,” such as Lake Cheston, Lake Bratton, Lake Finney and Lake Gregg, has improved the odonate habitat and led to an increase in dragonflies and damselflies.

“We altered the mowing plan last spring to provide additional vegetation along the lake edge for increased water quality and soil stability, to provide additional habitat, and to reduce mowing labor and materials,” says William Shealy, grounds manager for Sewanee’s Physical Plant Services. “Robley says this has made a big difference in the number and variety of species she is seeing.”

Without the new mowing pattern, Hood says she would never have seen the Arrowhead Spiketail at Lake Cheston, a rare dragonfly in Sewanee. 

She notes that a small pond on the way to Lake Dimmick is her “honey hole,” and has a wider variety of species than any other body of water on the Domain.

To view photos and information about Odonata in Sewanee, visit Hood’s website at <https://sites.google.com/site/sewaneeodonates/home> or her blog at <mydailysnap.blogspot.com>.

SSMF Welcomes Alumnus, Plays Concert in Cowan

Cellist Joshua Roman will join the Sewanee Summer Music Festival (SSMF) June 30–July 1 as artist-in -residence. Roman, who attended SSMF in 1998, is the first alumnus with a flourishing career to return to the Mountain during the Festival. Reviewers have described him as “a whiz-bang young soloist” and “a musician of imagination and expressive breadth.” 

The Oklahoma native earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music prior to being named principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony. After two years, he left the position to embark on a solo career. He has played with Yo-Yo Ma at a State Department event and was a 2011 TED Fellow. Roman’s solo and chamber appearances are numerous, including New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival and Lincoln Center. He is recognized as an accomplished composer, curator and programmer. 

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival will have a free concert at 7 p.m., Wednesday, July 1, in the Cowan Center for the Arts. The concert in Cowan is provided in memory of Elizabeth Haynes, who some people knew as “Franklin County’s First Lady of Music.” 

Roman will be featured at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 2, in a performance at Guerry Auditorium; the program will include Roman’s own composition, “Riding Light.” 

Tickets will be available at the door, or online at <www.ssmf.inticketing.com>. 

Community Bells Tolled in Solidarity with Emanuel AME Church

On Sunday, June 21st , at 9 a.m., churches on this Mountain will ring bells in solidarity with Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in the wake of the tragic events of June 17.

Tomorrow, bells will ring at Otey Parish, the Chapel of the Apostles and the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School. At All Saints’ Chapel, there will be a four-bell peal of the carillon for one minute followed by “Nine Tailors” on the George Bentley bells.

May these bells symbolize the deep yearning of all people of good will that tragedies of this nature will some day come to an end.

Lunch Program Feeds Hundreds of Kids

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

“That’s the best lunch meal I’ve had in a long time,” said the 7-year-old boy.

He was talking about the June 15 lunch of chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, potatoes in olive oil and pesto, seasoned carrots, chocolate milk, and mixed fruit provided by the South Cumberland Summer Meal Program.

“I didn’t eat the kiwi; I don’t like kiwi,” he added. 

With or without kiwi, this is the type of nourishing meal kids in Grundy and Franklin counties are getting for free this summer, thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant and a partnership between the South Cumberland Community Fund and the University of the South.

Kelly Farina, an Americorps VISTA and program coordinator of the meal program, said organizers served more than 2,000 lunches the first week of June. 

“Each of our sites has done a great job reaching out to kids and teens in their communities,” Farina said. “We are very excited about all the great work they are doing and the dedication they have to helping make this program a success.” 

St. James Episcopal Church, Otey Parish, Grundy Housing Authority and May Justus Memorial Library in Monteagle are among more than a dozen sites in the two counties where kids 18 and under can get a free lunch regardless of family income level.

St. James has been the busiest site, Farina noted, with volunteers there serving 40 to 50 kids each day.

University executive chef Rick Wright and staff members of McClurg Dining Hall are preparing about 500 nutritious meals each day, Wright said.

“It would be easier and less expensive to meet the USDA requirements by using processed and packaged foods, as many sponsors do; that is not acceptable for me,” he said. “We do almost everything from scratch and exceed the dietary requirements set by the USDA.” 

A lunch last week included chicken fajitas with grilled natural chicken, local peppers and onions, a whole wheat tortilla and real cheese, with refried pinto beans, Spanish brown rice, and a fresh pineapple and shredded coconut cup.

When school closes for the summer, many children have less to eat. One out of every three children are food-insecure on the Cumberland Plateau, Wright said, adding that most children do not get the minimum requirement of fruits and vegetables. 

“Proper nutrition is critical to a child’s development. Not having enough of the right kinds of food can have serious implications for a child’s physical and mental health, academic achievement and future economic prosperity,” he said. “…No child should be hungry, not even sometimes, and every child should be getting fruits and vegetables.”

Wright credits Farina with much of the work in establishing the meal program. 

“Overall the kids we are serving have really been enjoying the meals,” Farina said. “Everything has been very filling and nutritious, and all the people at McClurg have been doing a great job and are really working to make this program the best it can be.”

The summer meal program will be back next year, Farina added.

Lunch days vary at the meal sites, and the sites also have activities for kids, like reading programs and guest speakers. Otey Parish serves meals from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays; St. James serves from noon to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; Grundy Housing Authority serves breakfast from 9 to 10 a.m. and lunch from 1 to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; May Justus Memorial Library has a reading program from 10 to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with lunch following.

A full schedule is available at “South Cumberland Summer Meal Program” on Facebook, or contact Farina at <sfpvista@gmail.com> or 598-1851 for more information.

Tracy City Wins Clean Energy Grant

Tracy City is among the 38 communities that received word on June 15 that it has been awarded a $125,000 grant by the Clean Tennessee Energy program. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau announced more than $3.1 million to fund energy efficiency projects for local governments and municipalities, utilities and state entities across Tennessee.

Tracy City’s grant was awarded for a proposal to conduct a major retrofit at the South Cumberland Learning and Development Center, which is being developed on the site of the old Grundy County High School. The project will consist of new HVAC units, more ceiling insulation and caulking exterior windows. 

The building was constructed in 1937 and is currently vacant. Additionally, the project is being implemented under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy as “Energy Savers” for construction and renovation.

The various improvements will result in an estimated 30 percent reduction in annual kWh consumption, and an estimated $10,000 a year in monetary savings. An estimated 467 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced from the atmosphere.

“Clean Tennessee Energy grants fund projects that help our communities become more energy-efficient while providing long-term cost savings for taxpayers,” Haslam said. “I want to thank all of these groups for their commitment to improving our communities, our environment and our state.”

The grant program provides financial assistance to eligible entities in Tennessee to purchase, install and construct environmental mitigation projects, and this is the largest amount of funding that has been allocated from the grant program since its inception.

Funding for the projects comes from an April 2011 Clean Air Act settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Under the Consent Decree, Tennessee will receive $26.4 million over five years to fund clean-air programs in the state. 

To date, TDEC has reimbursed roughly $6.1 million in funding to grantees for a variety of innovative projects to reduce environmental impacts and operating costs at sites of new construction and sites with aging infrastructure.

For more information go to <www.tn.gov/environment/energygrants/>.

Sewanee Summer Music Festival Opens

About 200 music students and faculty artists will arrive on the Mountain when the 59th annual Sewanee Summer Music Festival (SSMF) begins.

The SSMF office has become command central as students from 39 states and five foreign countries see to last-minute details for their trip and four-week stay. Local volunteers have been assisting with preparations and are an essential part of the welcome and orientation on Saturday.

At 5:30 p.m., Saturday, June 20, faculty artists will present the gala opening concert in Guerry Auditorium. Works of George Gershwin, Benjamin Britten, Jean Francaix, William Alwyn and Ivan Trevino are on the program. A reception follows in Convocation Hall for all who attend.

Tickets are available at the door, or a discount is available for online purhases at <ssmf.INticketing.com>.

For more information about SSMF, go to <sewaneemusicfestival.org>.

Parade Entry Sign-Up for Fourth of July

Sewanee Purple Mountain Majesty on the Fourth of July needs your participation. Organizers hope to have as many parade entries as possible. Gather up your family, friends and coworkers and join in! This year’s parade will travel downhill from Hall Street to the Sewanee Market at 2 p.m. on July 4. 

Parade entries must be made by June 30. To enter the parade email Heather Walsh at 

<sewanee4thofjulyparade@gmail.com> or call (678) 617-0505.

T-shirts with this year’s logo and theme are available to pre-order ($15) by contacting Jade McBee by email, <jademcbee@gmail.com>.

Archaeology Opportunities at Rebel’s Rest

Tap into your inner Indiana Jones as the Rebel’s Rest excavation site welcomes volunteers who have a passion for Sewanee history or have always wanted to try their hand at archaeology. Excavation and artifact processing teams of volunteers will begin work on Monday, June 22. 

On July 23, 2014, fire destroyed the second floor of the 148-year-old historic house. The building was in the midst of renovations.

Volunteers on the project must be at least 16 years old and are asked to commit to two half-days or one full day per week on the site or in the lab. 

For more information email <sei@sewanee.edu> to receive a detailed information packet with excavation and lab protocols and waiver forms. Information is also available at <www.sewanee.edu/rebelsrest>.

SUD Negotiating Compensation for Flawed Meters

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the June 16 meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Sewanee Utility District (SUD) of Franklin and Marion Counties, SUD Manager Ben Beavers told the board he would meet Thursday with a representative from Itron to discuss compensations for the flawed meters supplied by the company. Beavers also updated the board on the sewer inspection and cleaning work.

SUD began installing new meters system-wide last August in conjunction with the upgrade to automated meter reading (AMR) technology. Of more than 1,200 meters, nearly 10 percent have failed, Beavers said. According to the manufacturer’s warranty, if the failure rate exceeds 5 percent, the company bears labor and fitting-related replacement costs, in addition to supplying replacement meters. Itron has acknowledged the meters from a particular lot had faulty radio transmitters. Beavers said the flawed meters can be identified by their serial numbers. SUD wants the manufacturer to take full responsibility for replacing all meters still in the ground that are likely to fail. SUD will also request labor and parts compensation for the more than 100 meters already replaced by SUD and an extended warranty on the meters.

In discussing the financial statement for May, Beavers said the cash-on-hand reserve, $1,352,888, had nearly returned to the June 2014 level. A year ago, SUD began withdrawing funds from the cash reserve to pay for the $350,000 AMR upgrade.

“It’s good to know we can do a capital improvement project without borrowing money,” Beavers said. The AMR project came in $50,000 under budget because SUD employees performed much of the labor. A loan for the project would have cost SUD $25,000–$30,000.

Updating the board on the cleaning and video surveying of SUD’s sewer lines by the firm Sani-Tech, Beavers said the work was nearly finished except in difficult-to-access locations where more portable equipment was needed. SUD commissioner Ken Smith reported that the July 1 start-up date for the constructed wetlands project has been delayed. This is an effort undertaken jointly by the University of the South and the University of Georgia to examine using wetlands to treat wastewater. 

Complications and costs have forced the researchers to simplify the design, Smith said. Golder and Associates, the engineering firm in charge of the project, has indicated a costly pump is needed, when SUD has offered to supply the researchers with a pump meeting design specifications free of charge. Discussion is ongoing.

The SUD board will not meet in July. The next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 4 rather than on the regular fourth-Tuesday meeting date. 

Majestic Fourth of July Plans Taking Shape

Sewanee’s Fourth of July celebration is approaching fast! The theme for this year’s celebration is Sewanee Purple Mountain Majesty.

T-shirts with this year’s logo and theme are available to pre-order ($15) by contacting Jade McBee by email, <jademcbee@gmail.com>.

Organizers hope to have as many parade entries as possible. Gather up your family, friends and coworkers and join in! All entries are welcome: musical, clowns, bicycles, horses, floats, baton twirlers, beauty pageant winners or cars. This year’s parade will travel downhill from Hall Street to the Sewanee Market; it will begin at 2 p.m. on July 4. Parade entries must be made by June 30.

There will be trophies awarded in the following categories: best float (an entry is considered a float if it consists of a flatbed trailer being pulled by a vehicle), best decorated vehicle and best horse-drawn entry. Ribbons will be given for best decorated bicycle. Judging for the entries will begin at 1 p.m. The lineup location is at the parking lot behind Benedict Hall. 

The Sewanee Chorale will sing wonderful patriotic music during the Sewanee “Purple Mountain Majesty” Fourth of July celebration and is looking for more singers to participate. Their goal is to have 100 voices from our community be part of the event.

Musical director Gary Sturgis said, “You do not have to read music—just come and sing the melody!”

They will rehearse at 7 p.m., on Monday, June 22, and Monday, June 29, in Hargrove Auditorium (also known as the Pit) in Hamilton Hall. For more information contact Sturgis at (931) 636-5294.

A few reminders about the parade. If you will be throwing candy, please be sure to throw it as close to the curb as you can. We want to keep our little ones as safe as possible by keeping them from running out into the road. Also, if you have a siren, horn or other type of loud noise, please do not turn it on until you reach the Kirby-Smith Monument. There are those who do not like to hear the sirens and they will be seated at or near the hospital. If you will be riding a motorcycle or four-wheeler, please wear a helmet. Due to insurance precautions, participants in the parade will need to sign a release form before the parade begins. 

To enter the parade email Heather Walsh at <sewanee4thofjulyparade@gmail.com> or call (678) 617-0505.

Commission Rejects School Debt- Relief Solution

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

The Franklin County Commission Finance Committee rejected the school board’s proposal for addressing the 2015–16 budget shortfall, the board learned at its June 8 meeting.

In May, the Franklin County Commission asked the school board how it could help address the $1.6 million shortfall projected for 2015–16. The board subsequently passed a debt-relief resolution that would relieve the school system from repaying debt from the operating budget, with the debt instead repaid from sales tax revenue designated for that purpose.

The school board expected that the resolution would be approved by the county commission Finance Committee.

In the budget approved by the board on June 1, the revenue shortfall was $659,000 less than in the previous draft. The new budget took into account accepting a $35,000 bid for the sale of the old Oak Grove School and removing $510,000 in debt-service payments from the budget, contingent upon the Franklin County Commission accepting the debt relief resolution.

The resolution requested that the Franklin County Commission relieve the school system from making payments from its operating budget on the debt for the new high school ($250,000 annually) and the $3 million bond ($260,000 annually) and that those debts be repaid with sales tax revenue already earmarked for school system debt service repayment.

Based on the past four years, director of schools Rebecca Sharber estimated the 2015 sales tax revenue earmarked for debt-service repayment at $552,648.

The Finance Committee of the county commission not only denied the debt-relief resolution, Caroland said, but decreased the portion of property tax revenue allocated to the school system. The property tax revenue amount was reduced by 6.5 percent compared to the 2014 allocation. Caroland provided statistics showing that since 2011 the percentage of property tax allocated to the schools has decreased, while the assessed value of property, and therefore property tax revenue, has increased.

“I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know this,” said county commissioner Dave Van Buskirk. The Finance Committee prepares a budget and presents it to the commission for approval, Van Buskirk said. The full commission does not participate in the budgeting process.

“We need a special called meeting with the county commission,” Caroland said. 

School Board Grapples with Policy Decisions

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At its June 1 and June 8 meetings, the Franklin County School Board grappled with policy decisions about corporal punishment and tardiness.

A proposed revision to the corporal punishment policy, drafted by board member Adam Tucker of Sewanee, was approved on its first reading on June 8. The policy will have to be approved on second reading to take effect. Board member Sara Liechty, who has repeatedly stated she opposed corporal punishment, voted against the policy.

The revision takes into account input from school principals at the June 1 meeting and the subsequent discussion, Tucker said. The goals of the revised policy are to minimize the school system’s liability, engage parents and reflect the current practice by principals of phoning parents before administering corporal punishment.

The revised policy proposed three significant changes to the current policy. At the beginning of the school year, parents (or the student’s guardian) will be asked to sign a disciplinary preference form indicating either “I consent” or “I do not consent” to the school administering corporal punishment. If no form is on file, the school cannot administer corporal punishment. An attempt will be made to notify parents of the decision to administer corporal punishment and invite parents to witness the punishment.

At the June 1 meeting, the board heard from three system school principals.

Sewanee Elementary School principal Mike Maxon said SES sent home a form at the beginning of the school year asking parents to select from three choices for their child: allow corporal punishment, forbid corporal punishment or undecided.

Maxon said only seven or eight parents replied they were undecided. Forty-eight percent gave the school permission to use corporal punishment in disciplining their child; and 52 percent had forbidden the school from using corporal punishment. The responses were evenly distributed across socioeconomic lines, Maxon said.

Huntland principal William Bishop and Decherd Elementary principal Allison Spears said they always phoned parents before administering corporal punishment. Both Bishop and Spears had experienced parents changing their mind about forbidding the school to administer corporal punishment when confronted with the options of suspension, picking up the child or bringing the child to detention.

Spears said she would like a revised policy to include requiring the school to phone the parent before administering corporal punishment.

Asked about the effectiveness of corporal punishment, Spears said, “By the time we get to that, we’ve exhausted all our options.”

“If you need to spank a second time, it’s not working,” Bishop said.

To avoid showing a bias, director of schools Rebecca Sharber suggested the school system allow parents to express their preference with a form similar to that used by SES.

The board also approved a revision to the attendance policy on June 8. The new policy defines “excused tardiness” as “circumstances that, in the judgment of the principal, create emergencies over which the student has no control.”

Board chair Kevin Caroland said the Franklin County High School (FCHS) tardiness policy caused more absenteeism. According to the FCHS policy, students who are tardy a third time in one semester must attend Saturday school. The policy makes no provisions for excused tardiness, and does not differentiate between excused and unexcused tardiness. 

Caroland said FCHS students frequently chose to be absent rather than exceed the limit of number of times tardy and have to go to Saturday school. State law allows five unexcused absences.

Bishop said Huntland High School’s policy required students to attend Saturday school after five unexcused instances of tardiness.

The new county-wide policy will allow for leniency at FCHS in determining when tardiness counts toward the maximum number of allowed instances.

In the interest of deterring absenteeism, Sharber proposed a revision to the grading system policy. To encourage high school students to attend school, the policy revision would exempt students from taking the final exam if they had no more than five absences and an A average; no more than four absences and a B average; and no more than 3 absences and a C average.

Revisiting her proposal to provide rising fourth-grade students with Kindle Fire reading devices to foster summer reading, Sharber said that her survey of parents showed most families already have electronic reading devices in the home. The Franklin County School District has partnered with myON digital library to make ebooks available free of charge to students throughout the summer. Sharber sent a letter to parents providing information on participating in the program.

At the June 8 meeting, Tennessee State Representative David Alexander read a joint resolution of the Tennessee House and Senate recognizing the accomplishments of and congratulating Sharber, who will retire on June 30. Sharber served as director of Franklin County Schools for six years and as superintendant of Williamson County Schools for 14 years. The new director of schools, Amy Lonas, will begin her overlap time with Sharber on June 15.

The school board’s next meeting is a working session on July 6.

“Friday Nights in the Park” Return on June 19

The fifth anniversary of “Friday Nights in the Park,” hosted by the Sewanee Business Alliance (SBA), begins at 6 p.m., June 19, at Angel Park on University Avenue in Sewanee. University Avenue will be closed at 6 p.m. (with the exception of July 3, which will be earlier) so that guests can safely enjoy all the activities, including local vendors offering food and drink. 

“The Sewanee Business Alliance is proud to host this annual event for our community, and it couldn’t happen without the support of our local sponsors,” said John Goodson, SBA president. “For five years now, we’ve brought the very best in music and fellowship in the village during the summer, and everyone who attends has a great time.”

This year’s lineup is: June 19—the Uprights; June 26—Men of Soul; July 3—Boy Named Banjo; and July 10—Hotel Oscar. All “Friday Nights in the Park” bands will perform from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. under the pavilion at Angel Park, with the exception of Boy Named Banjo, who will perform at 6 p.m. on July 3, prior to the Fourth of July Street Dance. 

For more information email <info@sewanee.biz>. 

Bonnaroo’s Positive Impact on the Plateau

Festival Catering Extras Collected for Food Bank

It was in the spring of 2010 when Glenn VandenBosch, who was then the director of the Grundy County Food Bank, received a call from the organizers of Bonnaroo, the annual music festival held outside of Manchester in June. This year’s event is going on now through Sunday, June 14.

VandenBosch and the organizers made a plan to recover extra food from the catering tents on the grounds of the huge festival. These catering facilities serve three meals a day to all entertainers, VIP ticket holders, as well as the many hundreds of personnel needed to make this music festival a reality each June.

It proved to be a worthwhile venture. In 2010, 6,500 pounds of food was recovered from the Bonnaroo catering facilities. Every year at Bonnaroo, this recovery has continued, with the cooperation of the Grundy County Food Bank and the assistance of David Conover of Chattanooga and his team who help recover the food. Conover is the son of Carol VandenBosch.

In 2011, 6,000 pounds of food was recovered; in 2012, 15,000 pounds; in 2013, 9,000 pounds;  and in 2014, a record recovery was made of 22,000 pounds of food to benefit the food bank recipients in Grundy County.

This year, the recovery started on June 11, the first day of the festival, and will continue until Monday and Tuesday, June 15–16, as the festival wraps up, and the caterers return home.

Also, this year, the Bonnaroo Sustainability Program donated $500 for the Grundy County Food Bank to get their refrigerated truck operating up to standards in preparation for another great year of food recovery for the benefit of the Grundy County Food Bank and its recipients.

The Grundy County Food Bank is grateful to the Bonnaroo Sustainability Program, which continues to include the Food Bank in their yearly plans for food recovery. And they offer special thanks to David Conover and his team for their volunteer time .

MGTA Receives Grant

For the second time, the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance (MGTA) has been awarded a grant from the Bonnaroo Works Fund. The grant of $2,500 will go toward property acquisition and construction of the Trail between Monteagle and Tracy City.

“The Mountain Goat Trail is the closest trail project to Bonnaroo —only 22 miles away,” said Patrick Dean, executive director of MGTA. “Bonnaroo’s emphasis on creating healthy communities fits right in with our mission to offer recreational and health benefits, as well as economic opportunity, to the area.”

The Mountain Goat Trail is a rail-to-trail community outdoor recreation project to convert an abandoned railroad right-of-way into a multi-use recreational corridor between Grundy and Franklin counties.

The mission of the Bonnaroo Works Fund is to help communities in areas of the arts, education and environmental sustainability. 

For more information go to <www.bonnaroo.com/get-​involved>.

Town Planner to Guide Village Projects

The University Lease Committee has endorsed the hiring of a town planner to help implement the 2014 Sewanee Village Action Plan. Brian Wright, founder and principal of Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative, LLC, is expected to be hired as the planner on the project.

In a letter to leaseholders on June 2, University Provost John Swallow said the key project of Wright’s work will be “enabling the village to become a cohesive, organized set of properties that creates opportunities for infill and public realm improvements.” 

As a way to help with this process, the University will extend the leases for locations set to expire in the next few years, so that there is time “to allow for the appropriate determination of planning, policies and boundaries for successor leaseholds,” Swallow said.

The Lease Committee will ask Wright to submit a plan for development of the village area, including the development of housing for the community. The plan will also include standards for building siting and construction for residential and commercial leaseholds. After the plan is reviewed, the committee expects it will guide leaseholders and developers who desire to make changes to leaseholds.

“The months to come will be exciting ones,” Swallow said, “We should see the development of guidelines for improvements to the village area, as well as the encouragement of developers and others who wish to assist us in the construction of residential housing.” 

SAS Welcomes Alumni

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will host several hundred alumni and their guests for the school’s annual Alumni Weekend, today (Friday)–Sunday, June 5–7. SAS, which was formed by the merger of Sewanee Academy and St. Andrew’s School in 1981, also welcomes the alumni of its parent schools, including St. Mary’s School and the Sewanee Military Academy (SMA). Milestone reunions this year (fifth, 10th, 25th, etc.) are from the classes ending in 5s and 0s, but many SAS alumni and their families make this an annual pilgrimage.

The weekend begins today (Friday)with a golf tournament at the Course at Sewanee and dinner under the tent on the SAS Quad featuring music by Herschel Van Dyke, ’03.

Saturday, June 6, continues with an awards brunch, where this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients will be surgeons Dr. Clifton Lewis StA ’75 of Birmingham, Ala. and Dr. William Turner, SMA ’65 of Dallas. The 1965 Reunion Classes of SMA, St. Andrew’s and St. Mary’s will be awarded their 50th-year medallions. In the afternoon there will be a memorial tea honoring longtime SAS Latin teacher Ruth Benson. On Saturday evening, alumni reconvene for the Alumni Parade under the tent for dinner and entertainment.

Residents along Tennessee Avenue can expect to be awakened at 9:45 a.m., Sunday, by the sounds of the Highlander Pipes and Drums Corps. Led by the 50th reunion class, former cadets will re-enact their weekly march from Quintard Hall to All Saints’ Chapel. 

The weekend concludes with a 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist in St. Andrew’s Chapel, where the StA ’65 class banner will be retired, followed by a farewell brunch.

Throughout the weekend there will be activities for children, swimming and canoeing at the Res, and late-night bonfires.

The Sunday march and church service are open to the public. Area alumni are asked to register online for all other activities on the school’s main website or by contacting the Alumni Office by email, <sasalumni@sasweb.org>. Registration will also be available on campus beginning at 10 a.m., today (Friday), June 5, and 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m., Saturday, June 6.

Elliott Park Playground Fund Raising Begins

The Sewanee Civic Association (SCA) announces the beginning of the For the Parks fund raising campaign. Approximately $70,000 needs to be raised for the Elliott Park playground equipment and installation. 

Originally designated in 1870, Elliott Park has a history of community support with much of its playground equipment built by the community or purchased with donations. A swing set, chin-up bars, wooden step structure and sand box (since removed) were installed under the leadership of Sandy Baird and Yolande Gottfried in the 1980s. In 1998, community member Dana Lesesne spearheaded the addition of a pirate ship constructed by the Sewanee chapter of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), with support from various sources including the Kaj Krogstad Memorial Fund. 

In 2012, when several wooden play elements were in disrepair, the University removed the ship, cabin, play automobile and picnic table from Elliott Park leaving behind little more than an aging swing set in what was once a vibrant place for children to play. 

At its April 15 membership meeting, the SCA approved a design for the next chapter of this community park. The plans for Elliott Park include swing sets, a balance beam, bridge, climbing structures, spinning elements and a musical component. Other criteria met by the approved design include use of natural and local materials. The park will be ADA-compliant and accessible, with access ramps at the adjoining sidewalk and parking lot. The SCA will enter into a memorandum of understanding with the University concerning maintenance, drainage control and parking lot improvements, similar to the agreement used for the Phil White Dog Park.

Sewanee residents David and Robin Hille Michaels have agreed to be the For the Parks stewards and to help lead the fund-raising efforts. 

“The For the Parks project will benefit the whole community and our many visitors by reminding us that Sewanee is not only a place where families live, but it is a place where families are valued,” said David. “We hope you will join our community effort to reinvent Elliott Park.”

To make a donation send a check payable to SCA For the Parks, P.O. Box 222, Sewanee, TN 37375. Funds will go through the Sewanee Community Chest, a 501(c) 3 organization. The SCA is the managing organization for the Parks, the Sewanee Classifieds and the Sewanee Community Chest, and the sponsoring organization for Cub Scout Pack 152.

For more information or to volunteer email <fortheparks@gmail.com> or go to <www.sewaneecivic.wordpress.com>.

SSMF Announces 59th Season Schedule

\The Sewanee Summer Music Festival (SSMF) is preparing for approximately 175 students, 30 conductors and artist faculty to ascend the Mountain in mid-June. During the four-week program, they will study, rehearse and perform more than 30 concerts. 

Two student orchestras perform every Sunday afternoon. Chamber groups composed of students and faculty will perform in varied instrumental configurations and at venues including the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Most performances are held in Guerry Auditorium on the Sewanee campus.

Highlights of this year’s festival include the arrival of the Mobile Millennium Carillon, played by Joey Brink, winner of the 2014 Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition in Mechelen, Belgium. The carillon is composed of 48 bells, all of which may be played automatically or manually from an organ style keyboard. The 26,000-pound carillon is transported in a weatherproof, illuminated cabin. Prior to its appearance in Sewanee, the carillon was featured in recital at St. Olaf’s College, Minn. Following its visit to Sewanee, it will travel to Ohio.

Special events this summer include a collaboration with guest artist Joshua Roman. The San Francisco Chronicle described Roman as “a cellist of extraordinary technical and musical gifts.” He is recognized as an accomplished composer, curator and programmer, particularly as artistic director of Seattle Town Hall’s TownMusic series. He was named a 2011 TED Fellow and began his orchestral career as principal cellist with the Seattle Symphony, a position he won in 2006 at the age of 22.

Also planned for the summer are: participating in the annual Fourth of July celebration, the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Concert and the annual Hike to a Concert.

The opening gala concert is at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, June 20. The festival continues through Sunday, July 19. For more information go to <www.sewanee​musicfestival.org/concerts>.

Hubbard Publishes Poems About Caregiving

A memoir in poetry, “Yesterday’s Water: A Caregiver’s Poem Journal” by Sally Hubbard, is now available. She will have a book signing 6–8 p.m., today (Friday), June 5, at the Blue Chair. 

“Yesterday’s Water” is Hubbard’s journal of caring for her husband, Charles, during his last 18 months. She said she wrote it for people who are caring for chronically or terminally ill loved ones. 

It is “testimony that feeling numb, or disgusted, or abandoned, or inadequate, or lost, is understandable and acceptable,” Hubbard said. “That we sometimes have to grieve the loss of a person while he or she still lives; that life continues after the death of a loved one.”

Hubbard is a former associate editor of Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 at Rice University in Houston, a lifelong singer and occasional poet (her muse only speaks during the hard times, she said). She and Charles retired initially to the Four Corners area following an interest in Southwest Anasazi archaeology. In 2005, they moved to Sewanee, Hubbard’s hometown.

Copies of the book ($15) will be available at the signing. Hubbard will also have copies of her first book, Uganda Impressions, available.

“Yesterday’s Water” is available at the Folks at Home office, 141 University Ave., Sewanee. Profits will benefit Folks at Home (F@H), a local nonprofit organization developed for and dedicated to assisting its members in continuing a dignified and comfortable lifestyle in the community through coordination of services they need during their elder years. 

For more information contact F@H at 598-0303 or email <folksathome​sewanee@gmail.com>.