Celebrating its 27th summer session, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (SWC) will continue through Saturday, July 30, and feature readings, panels, and lectures by distinguished faculty and nationally recognized editors, publishers and literary agents. All readings and lectures are free, open to the public, and held on campus in the Mary Sue Cushman Room of the Bairnwick Women’s Center.
At 9 a.m., today (Friday), July 29 readings begin with Gwen E. Kirby, Adam Latham and Megan Roberts, SWC staff. Former Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Hass, will give a lecture and Ken Weitzman and B.H. Fairchild will read.
On Saturday, July 30 readings will be given by Maurice Manning and Richard Bausch.
A complete conference schedule can be found online at <www.sewaneewriters.org/schedule>. Authors’ books are available at the University Book & Supply Store.
Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference offers instruction and criticism to writers through a series of workshops, readings, and craft lectures in poetry, fiction and playwriting. The SWC also offers a poetry translation workshop.
For more information, call (931) 598-1654 or visit <sewaneewriters.org>.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
STEM Program for Girls
by Bailey Basham, Messenger Intern
Jamie Treadwell, Education Director at the Hands on Science Center (HOSC) in Tullahoma was one of 15 science education program leaders to attend a workshop in Miami focused on marketing STEM programs to young girls. STEM is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
The workshop, Exhibit Design for Girls Engagement (EDGE), was facilitated by the San Francisco Exploratorium and funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the workshop was to educate those in attendance on how to create girl-friendly exhibits and programs.
“There is currently a trend towards girls-only programs so that they are less intimidated,” said Treadwell. “Because STEM has been perceived as a male topic, there are fewer women who seek careers that are math- and science-based. We are trying to change those perceptions to encourage girls to consider careers in the field of science.”
Unlike more traditional marketing strategies, Treadwell said the EDGE workshop taught her that making everything pink isn’t necessarily the way to appeal to girls.
“It’s not about making things pink—even though that’s what everyone thinks. It’s about making it more friendly and familiar, making things have a more homey feel with less technology, steel and chrome,” said Treadwell. “Traditionally speaking, technology is chrome, gears and high-tech. That’s intimidating to women and also a lot of people that don’t consider themselves tech-savvy. By making it more welcoming to girls, you’re making it more welcoming to people in general.”
Following the workshop, Treadwell coordinated a camp specifically for first through sixth grade girls interested in STEM. This camp was recently held at HOSC in July.
Kellye Burns, HOSC intern and physics major at Clemson University, served as a camp director for the STEM program.
For Burns, giving girls the opportunity to study STEM just makes sense.
“Humans love to tell stories, and the greatest story that we could hope to tell is the story of us. It is impossible to talk about human history without talking about the invention of the wheel, the use of simple machines to build the pyramids, the bridges we built, the weapons we redesigned and going to the moon. STEM is the language we use to write our story,” said Burns. “Now imagine only letting half of the population write the story. Take our story and cut it in half. Delete Sally Ride’s trips to space. Delete Madam Curie’s discoveries about radioactivity. Delete Joan Clarke’s work with computers and crypt-analysis. Delete all of the chapters like this, and no one is going to buy the book.
That is why it is important that girls have just as much opportunity to study STEM. It’s not about equal pay. It’s not about diversity. It’s not about using “women” as a buzzword to get more grants. It’s about filling our space in the universe, and men cannot do it alone.”
Burns said it was her goal at the camp to empower the girls with the tools and understanding to overcome the struggles they might face in the world of STEM. The girls left the camp with their interests in STEM validated, but they weren’t the only ones who were rewarded.
“At the end of the camp, every girl walked out excited to talk to their parents about astronomy or about estimating the amount of Ping-Pong balls in a box or about how they got to Skype a female graduate student at CERN,” said Burns. “I watched those young girls become extraordinary.”
The HOSC is located at 101 Mitchell Blvd. in Tullahoma. It is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. For more information go to <www.hosc.org>.
Jamie Treadwell, Education Director at the Hands on Science Center (HOSC) in Tullahoma was one of 15 science education program leaders to attend a workshop in Miami focused on marketing STEM programs to young girls. STEM is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
The workshop, Exhibit Design for Girls Engagement (EDGE), was facilitated by the San Francisco Exploratorium and funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the workshop was to educate those in attendance on how to create girl-friendly exhibits and programs.
“There is currently a trend towards girls-only programs so that they are less intimidated,” said Treadwell. “Because STEM has been perceived as a male topic, there are fewer women who seek careers that are math- and science-based. We are trying to change those perceptions to encourage girls to consider careers in the field of science.”
Unlike more traditional marketing strategies, Treadwell said the EDGE workshop taught her that making everything pink isn’t necessarily the way to appeal to girls.
“It’s not about making things pink—even though that’s what everyone thinks. It’s about making it more friendly and familiar, making things have a more homey feel with less technology, steel and chrome,” said Treadwell. “Traditionally speaking, technology is chrome, gears and high-tech. That’s intimidating to women and also a lot of people that don’t consider themselves tech-savvy. By making it more welcoming to girls, you’re making it more welcoming to people in general.”
Following the workshop, Treadwell coordinated a camp specifically for first through sixth grade girls interested in STEM. This camp was recently held at HOSC in July.
Kellye Burns, HOSC intern and physics major at Clemson University, served as a camp director for the STEM program.
For Burns, giving girls the opportunity to study STEM just makes sense.
“Humans love to tell stories, and the greatest story that we could hope to tell is the story of us. It is impossible to talk about human history without talking about the invention of the wheel, the use of simple machines to build the pyramids, the bridges we built, the weapons we redesigned and going to the moon. STEM is the language we use to write our story,” said Burns. “Now imagine only letting half of the population write the story. Take our story and cut it in half. Delete Sally Ride’s trips to space. Delete Madam Curie’s discoveries about radioactivity. Delete Joan Clarke’s work with computers and crypt-analysis. Delete all of the chapters like this, and no one is going to buy the book.
That is why it is important that girls have just as much opportunity to study STEM. It’s not about equal pay. It’s not about diversity. It’s not about using “women” as a buzzword to get more grants. It’s about filling our space in the universe, and men cannot do it alone.”
Burns said it was her goal at the camp to empower the girls with the tools and understanding to overcome the struggles they might face in the world of STEM. The girls left the camp with their interests in STEM validated, but they weren’t the only ones who were rewarded.
“At the end of the camp, every girl walked out excited to talk to their parents about astronomy or about estimating the amount of Ping-Pong balls in a box or about how they got to Skype a female graduate student at CERN,” said Burns. “I watched those young girls become extraordinary.”
The HOSC is located at 101 Mitchell Blvd. in Tullahoma. It is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. For more information go to <www.hosc.org>.
SUD Board Approves Delayed Payment of Tap Fees
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
“We would have to insist the note survives even in the event the Cooley’s Rift developers declared bankruptcy,” SUD manager Ben Beavers advised, commenting on a request to delay payment of tap fees presented for a vote at the July 26 meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Sewanee Utility District of Franklin and Marion Counties. The developer RLF Cooley’s Rift, LLC applied for water service to 23 lots in the Cooley’s Rift development, but subsequently requested two changes to the standard developer’s contract.
Typically the developer is required to pay the $4,150 per lot tap fee at the time the contract is executed. The developer is also required to pay a $5 per month dry tap fee until half the lots are sold to cover administrative expenses and line flushing costs.
Cooley’s Rift requested a three-year, no-interest note on the tap fee cost, total $95,000, with the tap fee to be paid at the time a customer requested water service. By the provisions of the note, the developer would pay any unpaid tap fees at the end of the three-year term. Cooley’s Rift also requested SUD waive the monthly dry tap fee.
“We need to be very cautious given the history of the project,” Beavers said. New Life, the former Cooley’s Rift developer, was forced to liquidate by creditors and a court order.
Brian Youngblood, representing the present Cooley’s Rift developers, expressed confidence in their marketing plan. “We’ve already sold six of the existing lots,” Youngblood said. Interest in lakefront lots is particularly strong, according to Youngblood. Fifteen of the 23 lots identified in the SUD contract are lakefront.
Raising another concern, Beavers said accepting the note as payment might violate SUD policy, which requires payment at the time the contract is signed. “We’d need to check with the attorney to see if a note constitutes payment,” Beavers insisted.
After long deliberation, the board agreed to the three-year note contingent on SUD attorney Don Scholes satisfying both of SUD’s concerns, survivability of the note and compatibility with current policy.
The board voted against waiving the dry tap fee.
“Flushing lines would be the only cost SUD incurs during the three-year period of the note,” Beavers said. The dry tap fee covers that expense.
In reviewing operations Beavers stressed the need for sewer line remediation in three areas prone to overflows, Depot Branch, Alto Road and Running Knob Hollow Road.
“Depot Branch is the worst,” Beavers said. “We’ll address it first. There’s enough money in the budget to start the project.” The problem stems from roots growing into the old clay pipe. At present, SUD cleans the line every other week to avoid backups. According to Beavers, 2,000 feet of line needs replaced. He estimated the total cost at approximately $80,000.
Beavers projected it would cost $200,000 to do all the sewer line remedial work needed. Beavers will consult with the state comptroller about the legality of drawing on SUD’s cash reserves to finance the sewer repairs. SUD drew on the cash reserves to finance the automatic meter reading project. As a public utility, SUD law prohibits SUD from drawing the cash reserve below the minimum required balance in successive years.
Flagging another operations issue, Beavers said he will consult with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation about how to control the invasive duckweed at two of the wastewater treatment plant ponds. “The duckweed shades out the algae needed to put oxygen back in the water,” Beavers said. The duckweed appeared following the introduction of plants to the constructed wetlands, the site of a pilot wastewater treatment study by University of the South and University of Georgia. The SUD Board meets next on Aug. 23.
“We would have to insist the note survives even in the event the Cooley’s Rift developers declared bankruptcy,” SUD manager Ben Beavers advised, commenting on a request to delay payment of tap fees presented for a vote at the July 26 meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Sewanee Utility District of Franklin and Marion Counties. The developer RLF Cooley’s Rift, LLC applied for water service to 23 lots in the Cooley’s Rift development, but subsequently requested two changes to the standard developer’s contract.
Typically the developer is required to pay the $4,150 per lot tap fee at the time the contract is executed. The developer is also required to pay a $5 per month dry tap fee until half the lots are sold to cover administrative expenses and line flushing costs.
Cooley’s Rift requested a three-year, no-interest note on the tap fee cost, total $95,000, with the tap fee to be paid at the time a customer requested water service. By the provisions of the note, the developer would pay any unpaid tap fees at the end of the three-year term. Cooley’s Rift also requested SUD waive the monthly dry tap fee.
“We need to be very cautious given the history of the project,” Beavers said. New Life, the former Cooley’s Rift developer, was forced to liquidate by creditors and a court order.
Brian Youngblood, representing the present Cooley’s Rift developers, expressed confidence in their marketing plan. “We’ve already sold six of the existing lots,” Youngblood said. Interest in lakefront lots is particularly strong, according to Youngblood. Fifteen of the 23 lots identified in the SUD contract are lakefront.
Raising another concern, Beavers said accepting the note as payment might violate SUD policy, which requires payment at the time the contract is signed. “We’d need to check with the attorney to see if a note constitutes payment,” Beavers insisted.
After long deliberation, the board agreed to the three-year note contingent on SUD attorney Don Scholes satisfying both of SUD’s concerns, survivability of the note and compatibility with current policy.
The board voted against waiving the dry tap fee.
“Flushing lines would be the only cost SUD incurs during the three-year period of the note,” Beavers said. The dry tap fee covers that expense.
In reviewing operations Beavers stressed the need for sewer line remediation in three areas prone to overflows, Depot Branch, Alto Road and Running Knob Hollow Road.
“Depot Branch is the worst,” Beavers said. “We’ll address it first. There’s enough money in the budget to start the project.” The problem stems from roots growing into the old clay pipe. At present, SUD cleans the line every other week to avoid backups. According to Beavers, 2,000 feet of line needs replaced. He estimated the total cost at approximately $80,000.
Beavers projected it would cost $200,000 to do all the sewer line remedial work needed. Beavers will consult with the state comptroller about the legality of drawing on SUD’s cash reserves to finance the sewer repairs. SUD drew on the cash reserves to finance the automatic meter reading project. As a public utility, SUD law prohibits SUD from drawing the cash reserve below the minimum required balance in successive years.
Flagging another operations issue, Beavers said he will consult with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation about how to control the invasive duckweed at two of the wastewater treatment plant ponds. “The duckweed shades out the algae needed to put oxygen back in the water,” Beavers said. The duckweed appeared following the introduction of plants to the constructed wetlands, the site of a pilot wastewater treatment study by University of the South and University of Georgia. The SUD Board meets next on Aug. 23.
SCCF Hosts Grant Award Event
Folks at Home of Sewanee is among the 11 area organizations receiving a 2016 grant from South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF). SCCF will host a ceremony on July 31 to make the awards as well as honor the VISTAs who are completing their service on the Plateau. The event will begin at 4 p.m., Sunday, July 31, at the Big Red Barn in Beersheba Springs. All are welcome at the free event.
The approved grants are:
Animal Alliance South Cumberland (AASC) is an all-volunteer organization that makes available accessible, affordable spaying and neutering for pets across the Plateau. This grant of $3,500 will purchase a tandem axle 7’ x 14’ enclosed cargo trailer. AASC will use this trailer for two purposes: AASC’s main fundraiser each year is a very large yard sale, augmented by smaller flea market sales during the summer. The trailer will be used to store large items and transport them to the sales (rather than keeping them in the garages and barns of volunteers). It will also be used to haul and distribute pallets of donated dog and cat food. AASC uses donated food as an incentive for low-income pet owners to have their pets sterilized and also to help pet owners through difficult times.
Coalmont Public Library offers life-long learning for people of all ages, as well as access to technology and the Internet and is open 20 hours each week. For its 800 card holders and other members of this rural community, it offers a year-round story time for children, participates in the Interlibrary Loan program and provides services such as fax, printing and email access. Individuals seeking employment come to the library to search for open positions, to fill out and follow-up on online applications and to learn about educational opportunities. This $1,000 grant purchases a new desktop computer to replace an obsolete one and provides funds to help purchase supplies for next year’s summer reading program.
Folks at Home is dedicated to assisting older area residents in living a dignified and comfortable lifestyle through coordination of services they need. Through this grant of $3,040, Folks at Home will expand its Boost Your Brain and Memory Program, an evidence-based program designed to help participants learn and practice the most promising strategies for keeping the brain healthy as they age. The goal is to expand the program into Monteagle, Tracy City and Sewanee or Sherwood. Current program facilitators will mentor new volunteer facilitators, with an “each one teach one” approach to continuing the program with community-based facilitators.
Almost a decade ago, Friends of South Cumberland (FSC) started “Every Child in the Park,” a program that takes every fifth-grade class in Grundy County to one of the South Cumberland Parks for an all-day field trip. This year’s grant of $9,856 helps FSC expand this program into the fourth grade by creating an all-day field trip to the Park’s Visitor’s Center, which will provide an introduction to the history, geography, flora and fauna of the area; and will provide enriching activities through the use of nature journaling. In addition to building a sense of community, this grant will connect children to nature, support the preservation of the area’s history and culture and increase attendance at the Visitors Center by making it more widely known to area children and families.
Grundy County High School has an enrollment of about 725 students (grades 9–12) and a very limited annual library budget. This grant of $9,095 will help improve literacy skills and expand the library’s capacity to be a teaching space for the school. This grant will purchase books that will be engaging and interesting to high school students and at the appropriate reading level. It will also purchase a new computer and software for circulation and inventory of books. The grant will also purchase materials to equip the library as a teaching space with advanced audio-visual capabilities for multi-media presentations and web seminars.
Grundy County Historical Society operates the Grundy County Heritage Center, which is a museum, a library and a research center about the South Cumberland Plateau. An all-volunteer operation, it supports and encourages appreciation of and education about the culture and history of this region. In 2015, about 2,400 people visited the Center. Dry, secure space is essential to the preservation of historic photographs and documents. The Historical Society is housed in a location with three separate roof structures, all of which now need repairs. This $10,000 grant, combined with a USDA Rural Development grant and support from individual donors, will pay for repair to damage from previous roof leaks and will help support the re-roofing of the three buildings.
Grundy County Housing Authority provides safe and affordable housing for low-income families in the area. Its 110 units range from efficiencies to four-bedroom units. Of its 219 current residents, 76 are under the age of 18. Grundy County Housing Authority will use this grant to expand its on-site recreational opportunities for families, with a special emphasis on children. Presently there are courts for volleyball and basketball. This $4,500 grant will purchase age-appropriate playground equipment for young children so that they and their families will have ready access to safe outdoor play space.
Grundy County Swiss Historical Society, host of the Swiss Celebration and Festival for 42 years, maintains a farmhouse/museum to educate visitors about the unique history of the Swiss settlement in the Gruetli-Laager area since 1869. The farmhouse and the adjacent pavilion are also used for family reunions, community gatherings and weddings. This grant of $4,500 will replace all the gutters on the farmhouse and will support the creation of a new drainage system to protect the integrity of the historic building.
Grundy County Youth Football is a county-wide program that provides football and cheerleading for children ages 4 through eighth grade. About 130 children participate in the football program and about 60 children are in the cheerleading program. Games are played every Saturday from August through October, all led and coached by volunteers. This program is one of the most formative experiences for young people in Grundy County, advancing life skills such as teamwork, discipline, sportsmanship and the importance of physical fitness. Most of the program’s current helmets are more than a decade old and need to be replaced. This $10,000 grant will purchase 100 new state-of-the-art football helmets to ensure the safest possible program.
Pelham Fire and Rescue provides the Pelham Valley community with primary fire response. Its service area also includes Interstate 24, where they respond to emergency calls, some of which are complex accidents including hazardous materials. Because it is an unincorporated community, Pelham has no mechanism for assessing taxes; most of the funds for the Fire and Rescue program come from an annual Fish Fry and Barbecue. This grant of $9,740 will purchase five new sets of gear (coat, pants and helmet with shield) for firefighters, keeping the program in compliance with federal standards and ensuring the safety of the 12 volunteers who dedicate their time and efforts to saving the lives of others.
Tracy City Softball and Baseball operates an annual program for boys and girls ages 3–12, involving about 100 children each year. In addition to introducing them to the sport, the program helps children learn to work together as a team, to appreciate the benefits of hard work and practice and to gain experience dealing with stressful situations, including losing. This grant of $9,369 supports the development of a community softball/baseball complex on the site of the old high school baseball field. Having reached agreements with the Town of Tracy City, the Grundy County School Board, the Fair Association and the Golf Association, the program can now move forward with surveying the property for future development. The grant also purchases portable aluminum bleachers for use at the current location and that can be moved to the new field when it is completed.
Established in 2012, South Cumberland Community Fund works to improve the quality of life across the Plateau by increasing philanthropy and supporting leadership of the area’s communities, schools and nonprofit organizations. Since its founding, SCCF has reinvested nearly $750,000 in projects that benefit the Plateau.
For more information go online to <southcumberlandcommunityfund.org>; or contact Laura Willis at (931) 636-2901 or by email to <laura@southcumberlandcommunityfund.org>.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Messenger break ahead!
Editor’s Note
The Sewanee Mountain Messenger will publish on Friday, July 29. The office will be closed beginning Monday, Aug. 1. We will not publish a newspaper on Friday, Aug. 5.
If you have events or news that will be happening between July 29 and Aug. 12, please submit them before 5 p.m., Tuesday, July 26, so that they might be included in the next week’s “coffee table” edition.
We will be in the office at 9 a.m., Monday, Aug. 8, and back in print on Friday, Aug. 12.
Thank you!
The Sewanee Mountain Messenger will publish on Friday, July 29. The office will be closed beginning Monday, Aug. 1. We will not publish a newspaper on Friday, Aug. 5.
If you have events or news that will be happening between July 29 and Aug. 12, please submit them before 5 p.m., Tuesday, July 26, so that they might be included in the next week’s “coffee table” edition.
We will be in the office at 9 a.m., Monday, Aug. 8, and back in print on Friday, Aug. 12.
Thank you!
Movie Night in Angel Park
The Sewanee Business Alliance (SBA), Sewanee Union Theater and the University of the South are co-sponsoring “Movie Night in Angel Park” on Saturday, July 23, starting at 9 p.m. The movie shown will be “Big Fish.”
The movie will be projected on a 40-foot screen and professionally run by the drive-in movie company, Preferred Entertainment. In case of rain, the movie will be shown at the SUT.
“Big Fish” (2003, rated PG-13, 2hrs. 15 min.) is a comedy-drama directed by Tim Burton with an all-star cast including Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, Albert Finney and Helena Bonham Carter.
This event is free and open to the public. University Avenue will be closed 8–11:30 p.m. Food and drink will be available for purchase from area restaurants. Please bring your own chairs or blankets, enjoy downtown Sewanee at night and enjoy the show.
The movie will be projected on a 40-foot screen and professionally run by the drive-in movie company, Preferred Entertainment. In case of rain, the movie will be shown at the SUT.
“Big Fish” (2003, rated PG-13, 2hrs. 15 min.) is a comedy-drama directed by Tim Burton with an all-star cast including Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, Albert Finney and Helena Bonham Carter.
This event is free and open to the public. University Avenue will be closed 8–11:30 p.m. Food and drink will be available for purchase from area restaurants. Please bring your own chairs or blankets, enjoy downtown Sewanee at night and enjoy the show.
County Commission Votes to Rezone 67 Acres in Sewanee
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
At its July 18 meeting, the Franklin County Commission voted to approve the University of the South’s request to rezone 67 acres in Sewanee from agricultural and general residential use to mixed-use, allowing for commercial development. Located adjacent to downtown Sewanee, the area to be rezoned includes 24 leaseholds.
Before a vote was taken, Chair Eddie Clark invited comments in support of and in opposition to the rezoning request.
University spokesperson Frank Gladu, Vice President of Administrative Services, spoke in support of rezoning.
“The University has been pursuing development of the downtown area for five years. The plan took 18 months to create,” Gladu said. “We want to expand the experience of visitors.”
The University retained Brian Wright with the Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative to design a revisioning plan for the downtown area.
Wright addressed the commission stressing the time spent seeking input from the community and the intent to maintain the natural beauty and unique character of the town.
“We held more than 20 community meetings,” Wright said. “We don’t want Sewanee to be overrun with tourists. We want to build on the right kind of tourism, eco-tourism, while addressing housing needs, improving the economic environment, attracting potential students and creating a village that stands as a national model for sustainability. The mixed-use rezoning will allow us to implement that vision.”
John Goodson, President of the Sewanee Business Alliance, agreed.
“Sewanee businesses are struggling. We lost two restaurants in the past year,” Goodson said.
“The rezoning will allow the University to slowly progress to make Sewanee a better place,” said Goodson.
The three Sewanee leaseholders who spoke were far less enthusiastic.
Chris Colane resides on a leasehold adjacent to the area proposed for development.
“I’m not here to oppose the project,” Colane said, “but to ask the University to respect the natural environment and to be accountable to those who have homes in the neighborhood and will experience significant change.” Colane also expressed concern the Senior Citizens’ Center would be torn down before a new building was constructed.
“The University has 13,000 acres, and they’re moving to our side of the tracks,” said leaseholder Louise Irwin. “I don’t like it when they put buildings in front of buildings,” she added referring to the drawing of the proposed village area presented by Wright.
Leaseholder Lucia Dale asked, “What’s in place to support new businesses? What is going to bring businesses to Sewanee? What will drive the economic development? What we need is affordable housing. What in the plan will fulfill that need and keep housing costs down? What’s going to make this work?”
Commissioner Johnny Hughes, who represents Sewanee, asked Wright if there were plans to have a new Senior Citizens’ Center and a new Community Center in place before the buildings now housing the programs were demolished.
Wright reassured him this was the plan.
Sewanee area commissioner Helen Stapleton said in reply, “I’d like to see these promises in writing. Now it’s just words. If the promises are adhered to, it could be a good thing.”
“These questions are legitimate,” said Clark, “but they need to be taken up later with the University. Our vote tonight is only regarding rezoning.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
At its July 18 meeting, the Franklin County Commission voted to approve the University of the South’s request to rezone 67 acres in Sewanee from agricultural and general residential use to mixed-use, allowing for commercial development. Located adjacent to downtown Sewanee, the area to be rezoned includes 24 leaseholds.
Before a vote was taken, Chair Eddie Clark invited comments in support of and in opposition to the rezoning request.
University spokesperson Frank Gladu, Vice President of Administrative Services, spoke in support of rezoning.
“The University has been pursuing development of the downtown area for five years. The plan took 18 months to create,” Gladu said. “We want to expand the experience of visitors.”
The University retained Brian Wright with the Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative to design a revisioning plan for the downtown area.
Wright addressed the commission stressing the time spent seeking input from the community and the intent to maintain the natural beauty and unique character of the town.
“We held more than 20 community meetings,” Wright said. “We don’t want Sewanee to be overrun with tourists. We want to build on the right kind of tourism, eco-tourism, while addressing housing needs, improving the economic environment, attracting potential students and creating a village that stands as a national model for sustainability. The mixed-use rezoning will allow us to implement that vision.”
John Goodson, President of the Sewanee Business Alliance, agreed.
“Sewanee businesses are struggling. We lost two restaurants in the past year,” Goodson said.
“The rezoning will allow the University to slowly progress to make Sewanee a better place,” said Goodson.
The three Sewanee leaseholders who spoke were far less enthusiastic.
Chris Colane resides on a leasehold adjacent to the area proposed for development.
“I’m not here to oppose the project,” Colane said, “but to ask the University to respect the natural environment and to be accountable to those who have homes in the neighborhood and will experience significant change.” Colane also expressed concern the Senior Citizens’ Center would be torn down before a new building was constructed.
“The University has 13,000 acres, and they’re moving to our side of the tracks,” said leaseholder Louise Irwin. “I don’t like it when they put buildings in front of buildings,” she added referring to the drawing of the proposed village area presented by Wright.
Leaseholder Lucia Dale asked, “What’s in place to support new businesses? What is going to bring businesses to Sewanee? What will drive the economic development? What we need is affordable housing. What in the plan will fulfill that need and keep housing costs down? What’s going to make this work?”
Commissioner Johnny Hughes, who represents Sewanee, asked Wright if there were plans to have a new Senior Citizens’ Center and a new Community Center in place before the buildings now housing the programs were demolished.
Wright reassured him this was the plan.
Sewanee area commissioner Helen Stapleton said in reply, “I’d like to see these promises in writing. Now it’s just words. If the promises are adhered to, it could be a good thing.”
“These questions are legitimate,” said Clark, “but they need to be taken up later with the University. Our vote tonight is only regarding rezoning.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
Sewanee Writers’ Conference Readings and Lectures Continue
Celebrating its 27th summer session, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (SWC) will continue through Saturday, July 30, and feature readings, panels and lectures by distinguished faculty and nationally recognized editors, publishers and literary agents.
Lectures and readings will be in the Mary Sue Cushman Room of the Bairnwick Women’s Center on Mississippi Avenue, one block south of University Avenue. Admission to all public events is free, but space may be limited.
The remaining readings feature Randall Kenan; Mark Jarman; founder of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Wyatt Prunty; Jill McCorkle; Adrianne Harun; Allen Wier; Tony Earley; Daniel Anderson; former Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Hass; Naomi Iizuka; Erin McGraw; Steve Yarbrough; Andrew Hudgins; Christine Schutt; Ken Weitzman; B.H. Fairchild; Maurice Manning; and Richard Bausch. A complete conference schedule can be found on page 6, or online at <www.sewaneewriters.org/schedule>. Authors’ books are available at the University Book & Supply Store.
Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference offers instruction and criticism to writers through a series of workshops, readings and craft lectures in poetry, fiction and playwriting. The SWC also offers a poetry translation workshop. For more information call (931) 598-1654 or visit <sewaneewriters.org>.
Lectures and readings will be in the Mary Sue Cushman Room of the Bairnwick Women’s Center on Mississippi Avenue, one block south of University Avenue. Admission to all public events is free, but space may be limited.
The remaining readings feature Randall Kenan; Mark Jarman; founder of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Wyatt Prunty; Jill McCorkle; Adrianne Harun; Allen Wier; Tony Earley; Daniel Anderson; former Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Hass; Naomi Iizuka; Erin McGraw; Steve Yarbrough; Andrew Hudgins; Christine Schutt; Ken Weitzman; B.H. Fairchild; Maurice Manning; and Richard Bausch. A complete conference schedule can be found on page 6, or online at <www.sewaneewriters.org/schedule>. Authors’ books are available at the University Book & Supply Store.
Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference offers instruction and criticism to writers through a series of workshops, readings and craft lectures in poetry, fiction and playwriting. The SWC also offers a poetry translation workshop. For more information call (931) 598-1654 or visit <sewaneewriters.org>.
Reach Out and Read Program Promotes Literacy
by Bailey Basham, Messenger Intern
Nearly 100 new books have been joined with the hands of young children in the Sewanee area over the last three months thanks to a program called Reach Out and Read.
Reach Out and Read partnered with the Sewanee Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine clinic in May of this year to promote literacy on the Mountain in lower income areas.
Each year, Reach Out and Read serves 4.5 million children across all 50 states, focusing on those in low-income families. According to the organization’s website, Reach Out and Read’s purpose is to give “young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.”
For children ages 6 months to 6 years, a well child check-up at Sewanee Pediatrics begins with a new book.
“It makes for a very lovely start to a visit because they’re handling the book and turning the pages. Their eyes light up, and then they take the book home and start building their library,” said Evans. “They love them, and they learn at an early age that getting new books and reading is a pleasurable thing. I think parents also learn how important it is to be their children’s first teacher. If we wait until they’re 3-years-old we’ve missed three opportune years to teach children.”
Jesse Bornemann, Senior Grants and Development Associate for Reach Out and Read and wife of the clinic’s nurse practitioner Eric Bornemann, said promotion for early literacy could have positive results in the future.
“Our evidence base of 16 peer-reviewed research studies shows that during the preschool years, children served by Reach Out and Read score three to six months ahead of their non-Reach Out and Read peers on vocabulary tests,” said Bornemann. “Reach Out and Read does have a measurable, long-term impact on children’s language development, and parents are up to four times more likely to read aloud with their children when they engage in the program. The parental engagement leads children to make developmental gains, have larger vocabularies and really be prepared for school.”
More immediate benefits are helping a child build their own home library and love of books and reading.
“From the first day of life, babies love to hear their mother’s and father’s voices. Even if they’re not understanding the words, they love to hear their voices,” said Amy Evans, board-certified pediatrician at Sewanee Pediatrics. “When parents read to their children in the early months and years, their children hear more words, develop a larger vocabulary and have less behavioral problems. The earlier we start reading to children, the better. This simple gesture of giving a child a book may help to encourage life long learning.”
Reach Out and Read partners with several national book publishers and sellers, with one of its biggest partners being Scholastic. Funding for Sewanee’s branch of the program does not come from the organization, however.
“The books are ordered through Reach Out and Read’s national office from the Scholastic catalog and then supplied to the clinic. All of the books currently are coming from a memorial donation from my dad, Hank Haines. He passed away earlier this year, so the memorial donations were designated for book purchases for the clinic.”
For Bornemann, the personal connection to early literacy began when she was a child.
“My parents read to me regularly when I was growing up, and my mom and I even read together through middle and high school. It had a real influence on my career track and my current love of books and reading,” said Bornemann. “I read ‘Charlotte’s Web’ with my mom when I was younger, and I just reread it earlier this year because I remembered that I love the characters so much. Sometimes I revisit favorite books from my childhood, and of course I’m doing that a lot more now that I have a young child. I’m hoping that some of those books will be my son Hank’s favorites too.”
Sewanee Pediatrics wants to enhance the Reach Out and Read program with community volunteers. Any community member interested in reading to children in the reception area may contact office manager Rhonda Henry 598-9761.
Nearly 100 new books have been joined with the hands of young children in the Sewanee area over the last three months thanks to a program called Reach Out and Read.
Reach Out and Read partnered with the Sewanee Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine clinic in May of this year to promote literacy on the Mountain in lower income areas.
Each year, Reach Out and Read serves 4.5 million children across all 50 states, focusing on those in low-income families. According to the organization’s website, Reach Out and Read’s purpose is to give “young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.”
For children ages 6 months to 6 years, a well child check-up at Sewanee Pediatrics begins with a new book.
“It makes for a very lovely start to a visit because they’re handling the book and turning the pages. Their eyes light up, and then they take the book home and start building their library,” said Evans. “They love them, and they learn at an early age that getting new books and reading is a pleasurable thing. I think parents also learn how important it is to be their children’s first teacher. If we wait until they’re 3-years-old we’ve missed three opportune years to teach children.”
Jesse Bornemann, Senior Grants and Development Associate for Reach Out and Read and wife of the clinic’s nurse practitioner Eric Bornemann, said promotion for early literacy could have positive results in the future.
“Our evidence base of 16 peer-reviewed research studies shows that during the preschool years, children served by Reach Out and Read score three to six months ahead of their non-Reach Out and Read peers on vocabulary tests,” said Bornemann. “Reach Out and Read does have a measurable, long-term impact on children’s language development, and parents are up to four times more likely to read aloud with their children when they engage in the program. The parental engagement leads children to make developmental gains, have larger vocabularies and really be prepared for school.”
More immediate benefits are helping a child build their own home library and love of books and reading.
“From the first day of life, babies love to hear their mother’s and father’s voices. Even if they’re not understanding the words, they love to hear their voices,” said Amy Evans, board-certified pediatrician at Sewanee Pediatrics. “When parents read to their children in the early months and years, their children hear more words, develop a larger vocabulary and have less behavioral problems. The earlier we start reading to children, the better. This simple gesture of giving a child a book may help to encourage life long learning.”
Reach Out and Read partners with several national book publishers and sellers, with one of its biggest partners being Scholastic. Funding for Sewanee’s branch of the program does not come from the organization, however.
“The books are ordered through Reach Out and Read’s national office from the Scholastic catalog and then supplied to the clinic. All of the books currently are coming from a memorial donation from my dad, Hank Haines. He passed away earlier this year, so the memorial donations were designated for book purchases for the clinic.”
For Bornemann, the personal connection to early literacy began when she was a child.
“My parents read to me regularly when I was growing up, and my mom and I even read together through middle and high school. It had a real influence on my career track and my current love of books and reading,” said Bornemann. “I read ‘Charlotte’s Web’ with my mom when I was younger, and I just reread it earlier this year because I remembered that I love the characters so much. Sometimes I revisit favorite books from my childhood, and of course I’m doing that a lot more now that I have a young child. I’m hoping that some of those books will be my son Hank’s favorites too.”
Sewanee Pediatrics wants to enhance the Reach Out and Read program with community volunteers. Any community member interested in reading to children in the reception area may contact office manager Rhonda Henry 598-9761.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Sewanee Writers’ Conference Begins 27th Year
12 Days of Readings and Lectures Open with Poet A.E. Stallings
Celebrating its 27th summer session, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (SWC) will run from Tuesday, July 19, through Saturday, July 30, and feature readings, panels and lectures by distinguished faculty and nationally recognized editors, publishers and literary agents. All readings and lectures are free, open to the public, and held on campus in the Mary Sue Cushman Room of the Bairnwick Women’s Center.
The SWC will begin with a reading by poet A.E. Stallings on Tuesday, July 19, at 8:15 p.m. A.E. Stallings studied classics in Athens, Ga., in the previous millennium, and now lives in Athens, Greece. She has published three collections of poetry: “Archaic Smile” (University of Evansville Press); “Hapax” (TriQuarterly Books); and “Olives” (TriQuarterly Books), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She also wrote a verse translation of Lucretius’ philosophical epic, “The Nature of Things” (Penguin Classics). She is completing a new translation of Hesiod for Penguin Classics. Stallings received a translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize, the 2008 Poets’ Prize and the Benjamin H. Danks award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a 2011 Guggenheim fellow and a 2011 MacArthur fellow.
The following 11 days will feature readings by National Book Award winners Alice McDermott (July 20, 4:15 p.m.) and John Casey (July 20, 8:15 p.m.), and former Poet Laureate of the United States Robert Hass (Tuesday, July 26, 4:15 p.m.).
Other readings feature best-selling and critically acclaimed fiction writers Randall Kenan (Friday, July 22, 4:15 p.m.); Jill McCorkle (Saturday, July 23, 8:15 p.m.); Adrianne Harun (Sunday, July 24, 2:30 p.m.); Allen Wier (Sunday, July 24, 8:15 p.m.); Tony Earley (Monday, July 25, 4:15 p.m.); Erin McGraw (Wednesday, July 27, 4:15 p.m.); Steve Yarbrough (Wednesday, July 27, 8:15 p.m.); Christine Schutt (Thursday, July 28, 8:15 p.m.); and Richard Bausch (Saturday, July 30, 8:15 p.m.).
There will be readings from award-winning poets Charles Martin (Thursday, July 21, 4:15 p.m.); Marilyn Nelson (Thursday, July 21, 8:15 p.m.); Mark Jarman (Friday, July 22, 8:15 p.m.); founder of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference Wyatt Prunty (Saturday, July 23, 4:15 p.m.); Sidney Wade (Sunday, July 24, 4:15 p.m.); Daniel Anderson (Monday, July 25, 8:15 p.m.); Andrew Hudgins (Thursday, July 28, 4:15 p.m.); B.H. Fairchild (Friday, July 29, 8:15 p.m.); and Maurice Manning (Saturday, July 30, 4:15 p.m.).
Acclaimed playwrights Naomi Iizuka (Tuesday, July 26, 8:15 p.m.) and Ken Weitzman (Friday, July 29, 4:15 p.m.) will also read.
Editors from 5E, 32 Poems, Algonquin Books, The American Scholar, Blackbird, Copper Canyon Press, Grand Central Publishing, Grove Atlantic, The Hopkins Review, the Kenyon Review, Knopf, LSU Press, Measure, The Missouri Review, The New Criterion, New Directions, Northwestern University Press, the Sewanee Review, The Weekly Standard, and W.W. Norton & Company will discuss publishing, as will agents from Georges Borchardt Literary Agency and Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. Agents from The Gernert Company, ICM Partners, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin, The Williams Company, and Zachary Shuster Harmsworth/Kuhn will meet with participants. Representatives from Actors Theatre of Louisville and Agency for the Performing Arts will meet with playwrights.
A complete SWC schedule can be found on page 11, or online at<www.sewaneewriters.org/schedule>. Authors’ books are available for purchase at the University Book & Supply Store.
Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference offers instruction and criticism to writers through a series of workshops, readings, and craft lectures in poetry, fiction, and playwriting. The SWC also offers a poetry translation workshop.
For more information, call (931) 598-1654 or visit the website at <sewaneewriters.org>.
Celebrating its 27th summer session, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (SWC) will run from Tuesday, July 19, through Saturday, July 30, and feature readings, panels and lectures by distinguished faculty and nationally recognized editors, publishers and literary agents. All readings and lectures are free, open to the public, and held on campus in the Mary Sue Cushman Room of the Bairnwick Women’s Center.
The SWC will begin with a reading by poet A.E. Stallings on Tuesday, July 19, at 8:15 p.m. A.E. Stallings studied classics in Athens, Ga., in the previous millennium, and now lives in Athens, Greece. She has published three collections of poetry: “Archaic Smile” (University of Evansville Press); “Hapax” (TriQuarterly Books); and “Olives” (TriQuarterly Books), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She also wrote a verse translation of Lucretius’ philosophical epic, “The Nature of Things” (Penguin Classics). She is completing a new translation of Hesiod for Penguin Classics. Stallings received a translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize, the 2008 Poets’ Prize and the Benjamin H. Danks award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a 2011 Guggenheim fellow and a 2011 MacArthur fellow.
The following 11 days will feature readings by National Book Award winners Alice McDermott (July 20, 4:15 p.m.) and John Casey (July 20, 8:15 p.m.), and former Poet Laureate of the United States Robert Hass (Tuesday, July 26, 4:15 p.m.).
Other readings feature best-selling and critically acclaimed fiction writers Randall Kenan (Friday, July 22, 4:15 p.m.); Jill McCorkle (Saturday, July 23, 8:15 p.m.); Adrianne Harun (Sunday, July 24, 2:30 p.m.); Allen Wier (Sunday, July 24, 8:15 p.m.); Tony Earley (Monday, July 25, 4:15 p.m.); Erin McGraw (Wednesday, July 27, 4:15 p.m.); Steve Yarbrough (Wednesday, July 27, 8:15 p.m.); Christine Schutt (Thursday, July 28, 8:15 p.m.); and Richard Bausch (Saturday, July 30, 8:15 p.m.).
There will be readings from award-winning poets Charles Martin (Thursday, July 21, 4:15 p.m.); Marilyn Nelson (Thursday, July 21, 8:15 p.m.); Mark Jarman (Friday, July 22, 8:15 p.m.); founder of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference Wyatt Prunty (Saturday, July 23, 4:15 p.m.); Sidney Wade (Sunday, July 24, 4:15 p.m.); Daniel Anderson (Monday, July 25, 8:15 p.m.); Andrew Hudgins (Thursday, July 28, 4:15 p.m.); B.H. Fairchild (Friday, July 29, 8:15 p.m.); and Maurice Manning (Saturday, July 30, 4:15 p.m.).
Acclaimed playwrights Naomi Iizuka (Tuesday, July 26, 8:15 p.m.) and Ken Weitzman (Friday, July 29, 4:15 p.m.) will also read.
Editors from 5E, 32 Poems, Algonquin Books, The American Scholar, Blackbird, Copper Canyon Press, Grand Central Publishing, Grove Atlantic, The Hopkins Review, the Kenyon Review, Knopf, LSU Press, Measure, The Missouri Review, The New Criterion, New Directions, Northwestern University Press, the Sewanee Review, The Weekly Standard, and W.W. Norton & Company will discuss publishing, as will agents from Georges Borchardt Literary Agency and Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. Agents from The Gernert Company, ICM Partners, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin, The Williams Company, and Zachary Shuster Harmsworth/Kuhn will meet with participants. Representatives from Actors Theatre of Louisville and Agency for the Performing Arts will meet with playwrights.
A complete SWC schedule can be found on page 11, or online at<www.sewaneewriters.org/schedule>. Authors’ books are available for purchase at the University Book & Supply Store.
Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference offers instruction and criticism to writers through a series of workshops, readings, and craft lectures in poetry, fiction, and playwriting. The SWC also offers a poetry translation workshop.
For more information, call (931) 598-1654 or visit the website at <sewaneewriters.org>.
SSMF Alumni Reunite
by Bailey Basham, Messenger Intern
When Wanda Everett was a young girl, her mother saved money throughout the year to send her to the Sewanee Music Center in the summer.
More than 45 years later, Everett returned to campus for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Alumni Day. There, she reunited with four of her friends from her days on the Mountain. Though it has been many years, Sewanee has kept them all together.
Everett, piano; Anne Megan, oboe; Joan Whiteside, flute; Bill Arey, oboe and Kathy High, french horn, met each other during the early 1970s and their time in Sewanee for the music center. The fees to attend the camp were expensive, but each of their parents felt it would be a sacrifice worth making.
“We all talked about that over dinner at the reunion. All of our parents just felt like it was important, and it was,” said Everett. “My mother had read about it in the Chattanooga newspaper. She knew it was expensive, and my parents didn’t have lots of money, but my mother put money back all through the year so that I could go to Sewanee in the summer. It was a big sacrifice for them but life changing for me and the others.”
Each of the others found their way to Sewanee through music teachers with connections to the summer music center.
Arey took oboe lessons in Baton Rouge from a professor of music at the SSMC, and Whiteside’s flute teacher told her about the center the summer before her senior year in high school.
“I loved it, and I learned a lot about stage presence and performance. I loved everything about it— the beautiful setting, the great teachers, great conductors, all of it. And obviously, I met some great friends that I still keep up with,” said Whiteside.
High’s French horn teacher at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, also a professor of music at the center, encouraged her to make the trip to Sewanee.
“It was an amazing time musically with friends that you had a lot in common with. It was just something that bonds you with people,” said High.
The five friends last reunited about four years ago when Everett married her high school sweetheart in South Pittsburg, Tenn.
“We’ve all been together over the years for different things like each other’s weddings, our children’s weddings, graduations, babies being born, vacations, stuff like that,” said Everett. “When we get back together, it’s like time never passed. We just get to talking as fast as we can, catching up and asking questions about what’s going on with each other. We do love to talk about old times that we had together, but we talk about new music that we’ve learned, different styles of music and playing our instruments as well. We all have such a great foundation of appreciating excellence in music from Sewanee.”
Whiteside said that the five friends have even played at each other’s weddings over the years.
“That’s the first people we think of because we know we’re good musicians and we’re good friends and we’ll probably come to each other’s weddings anyway, so we may as well,” said Whiteside.
Arey said he never grows tired of returning to the Mountain to visit, but that nostalgia about their years at the SSMC was particularly infectious once they were all back together for alumni day.
“When you’re around someone that was on the Mountain when you were, it tends to heighten the sweetness of the memories,” said Arey.
Each of the friends credit Everett for keeping the group together over the years, but Sewanee itself has had a hand in helping maintain contact among the friends.
“It’s kind of amazing that we’ve stayed in contact. Wanda was my roommate the first year, and we became friends that first summer. We feel like that was a God thing,” said High. “It’s really amazing because we just see how our paths crossed and we really feel like it was something that God did in bringing us together as friends. Just seeing how our lives have changed, it’s one of those things where sometimes a couple years go by without us seeing each other, but these are lifelong friendships.”
Monteagle Arts & Crafts Market
The 57th Annual Monteagle Market for Arts and Crafts will be 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Saturday, July 30, and 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Sunday, July 31 at Hannah Pickett Park behind City Hall, located at 16 Dixie Lee Ave., Monteagle. The weekend includes live entertainment and children’s activities.
This event will feature more than 100 artisans and crafters displaying their handmade creations of fine art; stained glass; pottery; fine, primitive and refurbished furniture; bird houses; paintings in a variety of media; quilts; woodcrafts; folk art; toys; jewelry; chain saw carving demonstrations; blacksmith demonstrations and lectures; cigar box art; metal art; soaps and lotions; local honey; embroidered baby items and doll clothing; knitted and hand sewn items; and much more.
The Grundy County Arts Council will be on hand again to help with the children’s craft area, Creation Station, where every child will leave with their own piece of art. There will also be train rides for the kids.
For more information go to <www.monteaglechamber.com> or call (931) 924-5353.
Assembly Annual Cottage Tour
The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Woman’s Association will host its 53rd Annual Cottage Tour and Bazaar on Friday, July 22. Veteran floral designer Ralph Null will offer a floral workshop and lecture at 3:30 p.m. in Warren Chapel as part of the day. A gate ticket is required to attend this demonstration.
Tours will take place from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Bazaar shopping, food pavilion and the bake sale will be on the Assembly Mall, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
The bazaar will feature many well-known merchants and a few newcomers displaying their fine arts and crafts on the shady Mall at the heart of the Assembly. The bake sale will include delicious home-baked treats. Advance tickets are $15 per person; tickets may also be purchased the day of the tour for $20 at the Assembly’s north gate. Box lunches may also be reserved in advance at the Assembly office for $15 each.
This annual event raises money that the Assembly donates to area nonprofit organizations, as well as the restoration of historic properties inside the Assembly.
For more information go to <www.mssa1882.net>.
School Board Rejects Drones Policy; Adopts Discrimination Policy and Code of Behavior
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
“The drones policy recommended by the TSBA infringes on the community’s rights and would institute rules we don’t have the authority to enforce,” Director of School Amie Lonas told the Franklin County School Board at the July 11 meeting, passing along the advice of school attorney Chuck Cagle not to adopt the drone use policy. The board also reviewed changes to the Student Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Policy recommended by the Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA) and the Code of Behavior and Discipline for the 2016–17 school year.
Sewanee School Board representative Adam Tucker suggested rewording portions of the Discrimination Policy because “the policy as written is both under and over inclusive.”
The language used in the policy as drafted by the TSBA didn’t take into account bullying not based on discrimination, Tucker explained, while “technically prohibiting discrimination based on intellectual, athletic and artistic ability,” or discriminatory behavior teachers routinely employ to facilitate student activities and learning. In addition, the TSBA recommended the policy only applied to students and staff, Tucker said, without taking into account the possibility of discrimination and harassment by volunteers, independent contractors and visitors.
Board member Christine Hopkins asked if the policy adequately protected student’s after school.
“The school system only has the authority to intervene in instances of outside school harassment when the harassment effects the in-school environment,” Tucker said. “Then principals can address it.”
The board approved the TSBA recommended revisions to the Discrimination Policy with the language changes proposed by Tucker. The board did not adopt the Unmanned Aircraft (Drones) Policy.
Reporting on operations, Lonas said the Bullying Report had been sent to the state, with no incidents of bullying recorded during the 2015–16 school year. Two acts of bullying were recorded in the 2014–15 report.
The board also approved a revised Code of Behavior and Discipline for the 2016–17 school year.
Board Chair Kevin Caroland said the 46-page document included a number of policy decisions “approved and adopted throughout the past year.”
Tucker questioned the provision for random drug testing of any student engaged “in voluntary extracurricular activities.”
“When we passed the policy, I thought the intent was for testing students engaged in sports,” Tucker said.
“That was the intent,” Caroland agreed.
“There’s no money set aside for drug testing in other extracurricular activities,” board member Lance Williams said.
Director of Human Resources Linda Foster will compile a student handbook incorporating the rules outlined in the code.
Significant among new policies that will be in effect in the 2016–17 school year are changes to the dress code allowing knee-length shorts and patterned shirts. The revised Code of Behavior and Discipline also delineates procedures to be followed by school principals when incidents of bullying are reported.
Beginning with the 2016–17 school year, the Alternative School will be located in the former Special Education facility at the Franklin County Health Department. Lonas said the Adult Education program had requested permission to relocate from Cowan to the Winchester Townsend School, which previously housed the Alternative school. The board approved the request.
“We have plans to divest ourselves of the Townsend property eventually,” Caroland said, “but while we still have it, I think it’s a good idea.”
Hopkins concurred.“The Townsend School is much more centrally located.”
The board approved the Athletic Ambulance Service agreement for the coming school year. Under the revised agreement, an ambulance will be on site 30 minutes prior to the beginning of an event, instead of 10 minutes. The fee was increased from $50 to $100.
The board meets for a working session on Aug. 1. The next regular board meeting is Aug. 8.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Free Music at Angel Park
Reverse Raffle Drawing for $10,000 Friday Night
Friday Nights in the Park brings The Stagger Moon Band to Sewanee at 7:30 p.m., today (Friday), July 8.
The reverse raffle $10,000 grand prize give away will be drawn at 8:30 p.m. Tickets for the reverse raffle are still available for purchase from Locals, Mooney’s, Regions Bank, Taylor’s and University Realty. Proceeds benefit Angel Park and Housing Sewanee.
The Stagger Moon Band is a southern alternative powerhouse band from Middle Tennessee. The collaboration of founding lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ky Brazelton, drummer Stevie Counts, former drummer turned bass player Clark McClain and the incredible guitar rifts of Ken Huddleston radiates a raspy soulfulness that is unlike any other band. The unity of sound produced by each member of The Stagger Moon Band compounded by the talent, creates an authentic and captivating sound that resonates with listeners looking for a breath of fresh air on the southern alternative/indie scene.
University Avenue will be closed at 6 p.m. for the annual outdoor family event, with food and drink from local vendors available for purchase. The entertainers play from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Angel Park Pavilion. This event is free and open to the public.
Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition Finalists Announced
by Bailey Basham, Messenger Intern
Five finalists were recently announced for the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition.
Violinist Gustavo Arauz of San Jose, Costa Rica; violinist Ryan Huo from Henan, China; double bassist Bowen Ha from Shanghai; cellist Jared Murray of Lanesville, Ind.; and cellist and last year’s competition winner Bethany Bobbs of Houston will all play with an orchestra specifically formed for the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition Concert.
Walter Nance, C’54, and Mayna Avent Nance of Sewanee established the Jacqueline Avent Summer Music Festival Scholarship in 2007, in memory of Mayna Nance’s elder sister.
“My sister was so bound to music, so when the music festival began in the 50s, she devoted herself to being there and to every concert,” said Mayna Nance. “She loved music and books beyond anything else. In my studio, there are stacks and stacks of the recordings she accumulated over the years. It has stayed there just exactly as she left it.”
Gustavo Arauz, a student of Instituto Nacional de Música in San Jose, has been playing the violin since he was four years old. Now 22, Arauz is a finalist in the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition.
“It’s 100 percent thanks to my mom that I am here,” said Arauz. “She died four years ago, and she made me play when I was younger. I hated it, and I told her when I turned 15, I would be done. Then I turned 15, and I told her when I’m 17, I’m done. At 17, I told her when I’m 18, I’m done.”
But Arauz did not stop at 18. He got to learn a piece he had always loved—Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto in Dm—and from there, he fell in love.
“Before, I hated practicing—I never practiced before—but now I love to practice,” said Arauz. “When you start preparing a piece, you have nothing. You build and build and build, and then you have something amazing. There’s one piece, but there are infinite ways to play it. After you work so hard, it becomes yours.”
Ryan Huo attends China’s leading music school, the Middle School attached to Center Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Huo is currently 17-years-old and has been playing the violin for nine years.
For his audition for the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition, Huo played Jean Sibelius’s only concerto ever written, “Violin Concerto in Dm.”
“The reason I played Sibelius’s violin concerto for the audition is that I love the strong passion buried deep in the peaceful melody,” said Huo. “His music is not easy to express—mysterious and frozen on the surface,with fire and flames on the inside. You can just feel the sorrow and the anger in this movement.”
Sibelius’s violin concerto is structured in three movements, and Huo performed the first movement for his audition.
James Murray is currently a student at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, majoring in cello performance.
For the past several years, Murray has been working on Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Opus 10.” For his second year at the SSMF, he auditioned for the concerto competition with movement one of Shostakovich’s concerto.
During the school year, Murray studies under Paul York, accomplished cellist, chamber musician and string faculty member at the University of Louisville.
Bowen Ha is a student at the The Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The 15-year-old has spent much of his life involved with music, first learning to play the piano at just three years old.
“I played for four years, and then I started playing the cello. I played the cello for three years.”
Ha decided to learn to play the double bass after his three years playing the cello.
“At first, I wanted to learn the cello for my major, but I thought it was too difficult so I chose the bass,” said Ha.
Ha auditioned for the concerto competition with Nicolo Paganini’s theme for the violin from Gioachino Rossini’s 1818 opera “Mose in Egitto.”
“When I was younger, my mother always played the accompaniment with the violin and I fell in love with the violin music,” said Ha. “Since then, I have loved playing violin music on the bass.”
Bethany Bobbs is a Houston Symphony substitute cellist and attends the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston.
Bobbs, 14-years-old, has already won five concerto competitions and soloed with five orchestras.
“My whole family is musical. I have seven siblings, and we all know how to play the piano and one other instrument,” said Bobbs. “My sister Susanna plays the violin. I started with the violin, but I decided I wanted to sit so I switched to the cello.”
Bobbs auditioned with Edward Elgar’s “Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85.”
“I picked it because of the main theme. I played the first and fourth movements, and by the time I had gotten it, you could tell it was my piece,” said Bobbs.
Bobbs was the first-place winner of the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition last year. Her return to the festival this year falls in line with what the Nance family hoped the concerto competition would bring to the festival.
“One of our major goals was to retain the festival’s very best students,” said Nance. “I hope to see the day when we have some winners come back as instructors so the program not only contributes to their success, but to the overall success of the festival.”
Nance said her sister would have been absolutely thrilled to know the concerto competition was a part of her legacy on the Mountain.
The concert will be performed Thursday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium.
Live Sewanee Radio Show at the SUT
The Sewanee Radio Show will be presented by River City Sessions on Saturday, July 9, at 7 p.m. at the Sewanee Union Theater. The show, sponsored by Chambliss, <Communify.org> and Trenchi Law and produced by Sewanee Eclectic, will feature original works of music and spoken word. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 general admission available at the door (cash only), or by credit card online at <SewaneeEclectic.org>. This show will be recorded for broadcast on WUTC-88.1 FM.
The show features the original music of the Linda Heck chamber trio, and singer-songwriter John Michael Hurt. Six spoken word artists will be sharing poetry or story: Jeannie Babb, Maggie Blake Bailey, Miller Dew, Thomas Macfie, Mindy Melton and Peter Trenchi.
Special Events for the SSMF Finale
The fourth and final week of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival (SSMF) has many special events for the whole community.
The Bike/Hike (or FLY!) to a concert will be today (Friday), July 8 at 6 p.m. Allen Tinkham, music director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, will conduct pieces by Wojciech Kilar and Mozart at the Franklin County Airport in Sewanee.
Saturday, July 9 brings a full day of music from SSMF, starting with the second SSMF for Kids at 3 p.m. in Convocation Hall. SSMF students will demonstrate their instruments to the young and curious (free ice cream served). Following the interactive demonstration will be a Student Chamber Music Concert at 4 p.m. in Guerry Garth as other student chamber ensembles perform at The Sewanee Inn at 5:30 p.m. The day concludes with the Faculty Chamber Music Concert at 7:30 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium.
SSMF Alumni Day is scheduled to begin on Sunday, July 10. Alumni are welcome to register in the Guerry Lobby from noon to 2 p.m. A schedule and complimentary tickets for the afternoon’s concerts and reception will be given upon registration.
The Sunday Diversions tours and events continue on Sunday, July 10. Tours start at 1 p.m. at the designated location–look for the purple balloons. There are events scheduled for both indoors and outdoors. Tours will finish in time for participants to attend the Cumberland Orchestra Concert at 3 p.m. followed by the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra at 4 p.m. Further details are available on the website <ssmf.sewanee.edu> or by calling 598-1903.
Sam Hammond, carillonneur, will perform at the Leonidas Polk Carillon on Sunday, July 10 at 2:15 p.m.
At the Cumberland Orchestra’s Sunday, July 10 performance in Guerry Auditorium, pieces by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz von Suppé and Jacques Offenbach will be played at 3 p.m. Gene Moon, director of orchestras and musical director of opera at Stephen F. Austin State University, will conduct the Cumberland Orchestra. Following the 3 p.m. performance, the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra will perform, directed by Josep Caballé-Domenech, the music director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Works of Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Strauss and Offenbach will be played.
On Tuesday, July 12, the Cowan Center for the Performing Arts will present the Cowan Arts Center performance. The concert will take place at 7 p.m, and program repertoire will be announced from the stage.
On Thursday, July 14, the five finalists of the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition will perform with an orchestra specifically formed for the performance. The concert will take place in Guerry Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
Student chamber music concerts will be held on Friday, July 15 at 7 p.m. with one performance at Guerry Auditorium and one performance at St. Luke’s Chapel. Program repertoire for each of these concerts will be announced from the stage. A second performance by the student chamber music band will take place on Saturday, July 16 at 4 p.m. in Guerry Garth.
Week four of the Faculty Chamber Music concert series will take place on July 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium. Pieces by Francis Poulenc and Johannes Brahms will be performed.
Following the faculty concert, the Festival Brass Concert will begin at 10 p.m. in All Saints’ Chapel. Attendees are invited to a reception with faculty and students in Convocation Hall before the festival begins.
Ray Gotko, carillonneur, will perform at the Leonidas Polk Carillon on Sunday, July 17 at 2:15 p.m.
The Cumberland Orchestra will perform on Sunday, July 17 at 3 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium. Conducted by Allen Tinkham, Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Cumberland Orchestra will perform pieces by Steve Heitzeg, Lucciano Boccherini, Luciano Berio and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Following the Cumberland Orchestra’s performance on Sunday, the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra will perform at 4 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium. The orchestra will be conducted by JoAnn Falletta, Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The performance will include pieces by Tchaikovsky, Anatoly Lyadov and Modest Mussorgsky.
Tickets for Sunday afternoon concerts are available online for $15 each. All other concerts are free to the public. Go to <http://ssmf.sewanee.edu> for more information.
The Bike/Hike (or FLY!) to a concert will be today (Friday), July 8 at 6 p.m. Allen Tinkham, music director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, will conduct pieces by Wojciech Kilar and Mozart at the Franklin County Airport in Sewanee.
Saturday, July 9 brings a full day of music from SSMF, starting with the second SSMF for Kids at 3 p.m. in Convocation Hall. SSMF students will demonstrate their instruments to the young and curious (free ice cream served). Following the interactive demonstration will be a Student Chamber Music Concert at 4 p.m. in Guerry Garth as other student chamber ensembles perform at The Sewanee Inn at 5:30 p.m. The day concludes with the Faculty Chamber Music Concert at 7:30 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium.
SSMF Alumni Day is scheduled to begin on Sunday, July 10. Alumni are welcome to register in the Guerry Lobby from noon to 2 p.m. A schedule and complimentary tickets for the afternoon’s concerts and reception will be given upon registration.
The Sunday Diversions tours and events continue on Sunday, July 10. Tours start at 1 p.m. at the designated location–look for the purple balloons. There are events scheduled for both indoors and outdoors. Tours will finish in time for participants to attend the Cumberland Orchestra Concert at 3 p.m. followed by the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra at 4 p.m. Further details are available on the website <ssmf.sewanee.edu> or by calling 598-1903.
Sam Hammond, carillonneur, will perform at the Leonidas Polk Carillon on Sunday, July 10 at 2:15 p.m.
At the Cumberland Orchestra’s Sunday, July 10 performance in Guerry Auditorium, pieces by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz von Suppé and Jacques Offenbach will be played at 3 p.m. Gene Moon, director of orchestras and musical director of opera at Stephen F. Austin State University, will conduct the Cumberland Orchestra. Following the 3 p.m. performance, the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra will perform, directed by Josep Caballé-Domenech, the music director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Works of Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Strauss and Offenbach will be played.
On Tuesday, July 12, the Cowan Center for the Performing Arts will present the Cowan Arts Center performance. The concert will take place at 7 p.m, and program repertoire will be announced from the stage.
On Thursday, July 14, the five finalists of the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition will perform with an orchestra specifically formed for the performance. The concert will take place in Guerry Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
Student chamber music concerts will be held on Friday, July 15 at 7 p.m. with one performance at Guerry Auditorium and one performance at St. Luke’s Chapel. Program repertoire for each of these concerts will be announced from the stage. A second performance by the student chamber music band will take place on Saturday, July 16 at 4 p.m. in Guerry Garth.
Week four of the Faculty Chamber Music concert series will take place on July 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium. Pieces by Francis Poulenc and Johannes Brahms will be performed.
Following the faculty concert, the Festival Brass Concert will begin at 10 p.m. in All Saints’ Chapel. Attendees are invited to a reception with faculty and students in Convocation Hall before the festival begins.
Ray Gotko, carillonneur, will perform at the Leonidas Polk Carillon on Sunday, July 17 at 2:15 p.m.
The Cumberland Orchestra will perform on Sunday, July 17 at 3 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium. Conducted by Allen Tinkham, Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Cumberland Orchestra will perform pieces by Steve Heitzeg, Lucciano Boccherini, Luciano Berio and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Following the Cumberland Orchestra’s performance on Sunday, the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra will perform at 4 p.m. in Guerry Auditorium. The orchestra will be conducted by JoAnn Falletta, Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The performance will include pieces by Tchaikovsky, Anatoly Lyadov and Modest Mussorgsky.
Tickets for Sunday afternoon concerts are available online for $15 each. All other concerts are free to the public. Go to <http://ssmf.sewanee.edu> for more information.
CAC Benefits from Hunger Walk and Community
by Bailey Basham, Messenger Intern
Last year, more than 250 donors, sponsors and walkers raised $14,547 to support programs designed to alleviate food insecurities on the Mountain. One year later, planning for the second annual Rotary Hunger Walk on the Mountain Goat Trail has begun.
The goal of the Rotary Hunger Walk, scheduled to take place on Sept. 3, is to bring awareness to the poverty present in the greater Sewanee community and to raise money to support a local food bank and a community provision organization.
Money raised from registration fees, sponsorships and community donations goes to support food ministries led by the Community Action Committee (CAC) at Otey Parish in Sewanee and the Morton Memorial Food Bank in Monteagle.
One thing each of these organizations has in common is they all rely on the same entity for their support: the greater Sewanee community.
“We depend on volunteers,” said Betty Carpenter, director of the CAC. “We depend on grants. We depend on University students. We depend on not only the members of Otey Parish, but the members of St. James. Every first Sunday of the month, they have a food collection for CAC, as does Otey Parish. Members of the community are aware of our needs, and they bring donations. All the positions—weekly volunteers, people who do our Facebook page, our website—are all volunteers. We depend greatly on volunteers to carry on the work.”
In a 2014 study by Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks in the U.S., it was reported 13 percent of Franklin County residents are food insecure. This means almost 5,500 members of the community do not have access to affordable, nutritious foods.
According to Carpenter, one in three of those 5,500 Franklin County residents are children.
“The purpose of the CAC is to provide assistance for persons in crisis, to provide services related to basic human needs and to identify ways to break the cycle of poverty” in Sewanee, Midway, Jump Off and Sherwood, according to the mission statement on the organization’s website. In an average month, the CAC gives away anywhere from 65 to 95 bags of groceries. Food supplies for the CAC ministry come from community donations and from the Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville.
“For a community like Sewanee that means to continue to bring awareness to the poverty that exists on this mountain, and to really live into that word community. People are scared they’re not going to have enough to eat or feed their children. It’s a real problem,” said Carpenter. “Our job is to say, ‘How can we make this better?’ and to give help where help is needed.”
The biggest problem Carpenter has faced, and thus one of the goals of the Hunger Walk, is making the local community aware that food insecurity and poverty is a real problem.
“Our biggest challenge is to make people aware that there is so much poverty here because it’s hidden. We don’t drive through the neighborhoods; we don’t see people sleeping on street corners. So if we don’t see it, we don’t know it exists,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter is a fairly recent addition to the CAC, having volunteered to serve as an interim director until the position could be filled. That was three years ago, and Carpenter hasn’t looked back.
“It was not very long into the job where meeting the people, hearing their stories, knowing what a difference CAC makes—hearing people say, ‘I don’t know what I would do if you were not here—my food stamps have been cut; I’m raising my grandchildren; I’m disabled; I am not able to work—and if CAC were not here, I just don’t know what I would do’—it was such an easy decision to stay,” said Carpenter. “I’ve not regretted it.”
Carpenter, who is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, said her work with the CAC allows her to live out her calling.
“My ordination promises I will look out for the poor. I really get to live into my ordained life every single solitary day, and that’s pretty cool,” said Carpenter.
Anyone interested in donating to or volunteering with the CAC food ministry may contact Betty Carpenter at Otey Parish by calling (931) 598-5926 or emailing <cacoteyparish@gmail.com>.
To register for, donate to or become a sponsor of the Hunger Walk, contact Carpenter or Monteagle Sewanee Rotary President John Goodson <johngoodson@bellsouth.net>.
Last year, more than 250 donors, sponsors and walkers raised $14,547 to support programs designed to alleviate food insecurities on the Mountain. One year later, planning for the second annual Rotary Hunger Walk on the Mountain Goat Trail has begun.
The goal of the Rotary Hunger Walk, scheduled to take place on Sept. 3, is to bring awareness to the poverty present in the greater Sewanee community and to raise money to support a local food bank and a community provision organization.
Money raised from registration fees, sponsorships and community donations goes to support food ministries led by the Community Action Committee (CAC) at Otey Parish in Sewanee and the Morton Memorial Food Bank in Monteagle.
One thing each of these organizations has in common is they all rely on the same entity for their support: the greater Sewanee community.
“We depend on volunteers,” said Betty Carpenter, director of the CAC. “We depend on grants. We depend on University students. We depend on not only the members of Otey Parish, but the members of St. James. Every first Sunday of the month, they have a food collection for CAC, as does Otey Parish. Members of the community are aware of our needs, and they bring donations. All the positions—weekly volunteers, people who do our Facebook page, our website—are all volunteers. We depend greatly on volunteers to carry on the work.”
In a 2014 study by Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks in the U.S., it was reported 13 percent of Franklin County residents are food insecure. This means almost 5,500 members of the community do not have access to affordable, nutritious foods.
According to Carpenter, one in three of those 5,500 Franklin County residents are children.
“The purpose of the CAC is to provide assistance for persons in crisis, to provide services related to basic human needs and to identify ways to break the cycle of poverty” in Sewanee, Midway, Jump Off and Sherwood, according to the mission statement on the organization’s website. In an average month, the CAC gives away anywhere from 65 to 95 bags of groceries. Food supplies for the CAC ministry come from community donations and from the Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville.
“For a community like Sewanee that means to continue to bring awareness to the poverty that exists on this mountain, and to really live into that word community. People are scared they’re not going to have enough to eat or feed their children. It’s a real problem,” said Carpenter. “Our job is to say, ‘How can we make this better?’ and to give help where help is needed.”
The biggest problem Carpenter has faced, and thus one of the goals of the Hunger Walk, is making the local community aware that food insecurity and poverty is a real problem.
“Our biggest challenge is to make people aware that there is so much poverty here because it’s hidden. We don’t drive through the neighborhoods; we don’t see people sleeping on street corners. So if we don’t see it, we don’t know it exists,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter is a fairly recent addition to the CAC, having volunteered to serve as an interim director until the position could be filled. That was three years ago, and Carpenter hasn’t looked back.
“It was not very long into the job where meeting the people, hearing their stories, knowing what a difference CAC makes—hearing people say, ‘I don’t know what I would do if you were not here—my food stamps have been cut; I’m raising my grandchildren; I’m disabled; I am not able to work—and if CAC were not here, I just don’t know what I would do’—it was such an easy decision to stay,” said Carpenter. “I’ve not regretted it.”
Carpenter, who is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, said her work with the CAC allows her to live out her calling.
“My ordination promises I will look out for the poor. I really get to live into my ordained life every single solitary day, and that’s pretty cool,” said Carpenter.
Anyone interested in donating to or volunteering with the CAC food ministry may contact Betty Carpenter at Otey Parish by calling (931) 598-5926 or emailing <cacoteyparish@gmail.com>.
To register for, donate to or become a sponsor of the Hunger Walk, contact Carpenter or Monteagle Sewanee Rotary President John Goodson <johngoodson@bellsouth.net>.
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