SAS Girls' Wrestling Team Places Second at State

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School student Abby Mainzer earned the title as the first girls’ heavyweight wrestling champion in the state of Tennessee at the state meet on Feb. 13–14. The SAS girls’ team placed second overall. From left: coach McLain Still, Kia Whitman, Mainzer and Zaferah Fortune. For the full story, go to the full edition and see page 12.

39th Friday School Seeks Volunteers

The Sewanee Elementary School Parent Organization is set to host the 39th annual Friday School series. 

The organization is seeking volunteers to run a program of their choice for four Fridays: March 27, April 10, April 17 and April 24. The children are divided into two groups by grade (K–2 and 3–5), and the course could be offered to one or both of the age groups. 

To learn more contact Abby Colbert at <abbycolbert@gmail.com> or Veronica Meola at <vlmeola@yahoo.com> or call (931) 636-1152.

The deadline to sign up is Saturday, Feb. 28.

“All’s Well That Ends Well” Opens Wednesday

Theatre Sewanee will present William Shakespeare’s comedy “All’s Well That Ends Well” at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, Feb. 25–28, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 1, in the Tennessee Williams Center on the Sewanee campus. Admission is free but reservations are suggested; please email <mcook@sewanee.edu>.

“There’s place and means for every man alive,” says the character Parolles in his moment of greatest loss. He means “every” person, not just those we want to have around. But how do we find a place for those who hurt us the most? In Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well,” his most modern woman, Helena, defies all cultural norms to answer this question. Like everyone, she has faults, but unlike most, she has unwavering love and baffling forgiveness. Helena travels through darkness and undergoes suffering to save the man of her heart’s desire. Through this journey, she unlocks the key for social change, healing and growth.

“All’s Well That Ends Well” is directed by Sewanee senior theater major Chase Brantley, with scenery by Mary Morrison, costumes by Josie Guevara-Torres and lighting by Chynna Bradford.

The production has a large cast of students and faculty, including faculty members David Landon, Marcia Mary Cook and Christopher Bryan.

Poet R. S. Gwynn on the Mountain Thursday

On Thursday, Feb. 26, at 4:30 p.m. in the Torian Room of duPont Library, R. S. Gwynn will delight and instruct with his characteristic wit, and this time in verse. Gwynn was last on the Mountain in 2011 to deliver the Aiken Taylor lecture on Billy Collins. A. E. Stallings, a faculty regular at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, describes Gwynn as a “comic genius with a tragic sensibility,” and says that his “mastery seems to encompass nearly every received form known to man, and some of his own invention.” But she saves her greatest praise for Gwynn’s political poetry: “his wit and intelligence let loose on our private foibles and public dysfunction. … In Gwynn we have an ironist worthy of our magnificent failings.”

Poet, editor and critic R. S. (Sam) Gwynn is the author of several poetry collections, including “The Narcissiad,” a book-length satirical poem; “The Drive-in,” which won the Breakthrough Award from the University of Missouri Press; “No Word of Farewell,” his new and selected poems; and the most recent, “Dogwatch.” Of this collection, released in 2015, Joshua Mehigan says, “Gwynn has a neoclassical flair for satire, epigrammatic wit, and refined technique, but without all the silly insistence on good taste and decorum. … the appalling comedy also often yields to moments of real tenderness and poignancy.”

Gwynn’s poetry and criticism appear regularly in the Hudson Review and the Sewanee Review, and he is the editor of the Pocket Anthology Series from Pearson Longman.

Born in Leaksville (now Eden), N.C., Gwynn received a B.A. from Davidson College, where he was the two-time winner of the Vereen Bell Award for Creative Writing. He earned both his M.A. and his M.F.A from the University of Arkansas, where he was the recipient of the John Gould Fletcher Award for Poetry. Gwynn is the winner of the Michael Braude Award for Light Verse from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Since 1976 Gwynn has taught at Lamar University, where he is the poet-in-residence and university professor of English. 

The reading will be followed by a reception, and Gwynn’s books will be for sale. This reading is supported by the Aiken Taylor fund.

Friends of the Library Celebrate Patterson’s Book

The Friends of the Library of the University of the South will sponsor a symposium on “William Perkins and Elizabethan England” on Friday, February 27, in Gailor Auditorium at 3:30 p.m. The occasion of the symposium is the publication of W. Brown Patterson’s book, “William Perkins and the Making of a Protestant England” (Oxford University Press, 2014). Patterson, C’52, is the Francis S. Houghteling Professor of History, emeritus.

James W. Dunkly, associate University librarian and School of Theology librarian, will preside at the symposium. The Rev. Benjamin J. King, associate professor of church history, will introduce the program. He will be followed by J. Ross Macdonald, assistant professor of English, who will speak on William Perkins and Christopher Marlowe, and by Patterson, who will talk about William Perkins and Richard Hooker. James F. Turrell, professor of liturgics and associate dean of the School of Theology, will provide a commentary. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

The program will be followed by a reception and a book-signing in the foyer of Gailor Auditorium. The symposium is free and open to the public. 

The publisher describes Patterson’s book as “a new interpretation of the theology and historical significance of William Perkins (1558–1602), a prominent Cambridge scholar and teacher during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.” It adds that Perkins’ “contributions to English religious thought had an immense influence on an English Protestant culture that endured well into modern times.” An endorsement by Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, states that the book “excitingly recovers an English divine usually portrayed as an arch-Puritan.”

Patterson has written widely on British and European history and religion. His publications include “King James VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom” (Cambridge University Press, 1997), which won the Albert C. Outler Prize in ecumenical church history from the American Society of Church History. 

More information about the Friends of the Library can be found at <http://libguides.sewanee.edu/FOL>. For more information contact Judy Rollins at 598-1265 or email <jrollins@sewanee.edu>.

Community-Building Focus of Civic Association / Call for Nominations for Person of the Year

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Community-building was the theme of the evening at the Feb. 11 dinner meeting of the Sewanee Civic Association. Following updates on the Community Chest fund drive and Elliott Park renovation, members and guests learned about two new Grundy County initiatives born of a desire to improve the quality of life for residents on the Plateau.

Civic Association president Kiki Beavers announced the Community Chest fund drive was within $2,200 of reaching its goal.

Beavers also announced the Civic Association had regained tax-exempt status after losing the designation a number of years ago for failure to file the required IRS documentation. The Community Chest has separate tax-exempt status and was not affected.

Parks Committee chair Stephen Burnett said the playground company designing the Elliott Park renovation recommended a larger “footprint.” The committee met with University Physical Plant Services to discuss increasing the area designated for the park and erecting a retaining wall using local Sewanee stone. Fund raising will begin as soon as design plans are final, with an estimated cost of $75,000–$80,000. A fund-raising chair is needed, Burnett said. The committee will apply for financial assistance from the Community Council project fund.

Part of the construction for the park will be done in a “community build,” Burnett said. Historically, all Sewanee parks have been community-driven initiatives, Beavers said, citing a 40-year history of complaints about lack of an adequate park system in Sewanee. Civic Association treasurer Lisa Rung said she wanted a written guarantee from the University the park would not be “torn down.” Burnett said the guarantee would take the form of a Memorandum of Understanding with the University.

Beavers called for nominations for the Person of the Year award, which recognizes organizations or individuals for “good work” in Sewanee and the surrounding vicinity. Nominations can be made by email <sewaneecommunitychest@gmail.com> or postal mail to P.O. Box 99, Sewanee, TN 37375. The deadline is March 2. The Person of the Year will be announced at the next meeting on April 15. The Civic Association will also vote on officers for the 2015–16 academic year.

Members and guests learned about two new community-inspired initiatives from the evening’s guest speakers, Lucas Finney, creator of the Guitarsome Project, and Micah Sparacio, owner and director of Tenacity Adventure Fitness Center in Tracy City.

A visiting instructor of guitar at the University, Finney saw a need for music instruction in Grundy County, where elementary school children have limited or no exposure to music in their school day.

The Guitarsome Project is an after-school program in which Finney teaches guitar via Skype. The computer technology allows Finney and the students to see and hear one another. On-site assistants offer backup support. Finney launched the program last spring, offering classes at Tracy City and Coalmont elementary schools. Every child learned at least one song and several chords.

Funding is a problem, Finney said. Implementing the program at two schools cost $3,000 for the technology and to pay assistants. This past fall, Finney offered instruction at Monteagle and North Elementary. He hopes to expand the program to Sewanee Elementary and other Plateau area schools. The Community Chest awarded Finney $500. To learn more or make a donation visit <www.sewaneeguitar.com>.

Micah Sparacio and his family moved to Tracy City five years ago. Sparacio learned about the benefits of physical fitness as a graduate student, when he suffered from depression. Sparacio saw the need for a local facility that would make physical fitness fun and confidence-building.

Adventure-inspiring equipment at Tenacity includes a vertical ramp, rope climbing, a rock wall, and for kids, a trampoline and a room filled with huge foam objects for bouncing on and into. Instruction is offered in martial arts, tumbling, yoga, Zumba, Parkour and self defense.

Sparacio said the biggest challenge is making the gym affordable in a community where many residents live paycheck-to-paycheck. The gym does not bind users to a long-term contract. Visitors pay by the day or month. 

The gym sponsors 20 local children who participate in all activities fee-free.

Happy Birthday, Messenger. A Word from the Editor.

Happy 30th Birthday, Sewanee Mountain Messenger

by Laura L. Willis, Editor

Is the printed newspaper on its death bed? Will we read all our news online in the future? I’m no prognosticator, but I know one thing: I believe in community newspapers. And I believe in the Sewanee Mountain Messenger.

Thirty years ago this week, the Messenger published its first issue. Geraldine Hewitt Piccard had great writing and editing skills, plus a typewriter, so she could begin a community paper. She’d planned on it beginning in early February, but the catastrophic ice storm of 1985 slowed her plans. With the help of Mary Smalley as business manager, Geraldine sold the ads, wrote the copy, and produced that eight-page issue on 9x12 white paper. The University press did the actual printing and she distributed it to post offices and businesses in the area. 

On page 1 under the headline, “Community Spirit,” she described the many people who helped Sewanee and her residents survive that historic storm: Carl Reid, Doug Seiters, Dwight Sholey, Ernie Butner, Galon Sherrill, Jim Franklin, Dan Rather, Bob Ayres, John Kildoo, Tom Watson, Doug Cameron, John Greeter, Lisa and Tim Keith-Lucas, and the members of the Sewanee Fire Department. If you’re new to Sewanee, you might recognize only a few of these names; if you’ve been on this Mountain for awhile, reading this list of names may stir memories for you.

In that first issue there are advertisements, many of which remain the same today. For their continuing support, I want to thank the Lemon Fair, Rob Matlock Construction, Monteagle Florist, Sewanee Auto Repair, the Sewanee Inn, the Sewanee Market, Shenanigans and Taylor’s Mercantile. 

Also in Vol. 1, No. 1, were many of the very same things that appear in our paper today: a notice of the Otey Parish Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, the obituaries of esteemed community members, birth announcements and wedding announcements, descriptions of meetings and gallery openings, a call for singers to join the Sewanee Chorale in its spring production of “H.M.S. Pinafore,” reviews of the SUT movies, the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School’s headmaster’s honors list, and a couple of letters to the editor (which are really letters to the community-at-large). The back page was, even then, devoted to the community calendar.

Looking back at its beginnings, the Messenger has always been dedicated to supporting the greater Sewanee area by providing news and information that affect residents’ lives and encourage meaningful community engagement. We are more explicit about this mission now, especially as we watch the number of newspapers decline and the news business change dramatically. Our mission hasn’t changed, but we are very clear about our role in this community. You won’t learn about the votes scheduled in the State Senate; you won’t read stories that “shout” at you or provoke you; and you won’t be embarrassed if your name appears on our pages. We are, with only the tiniest hint of irony, the Good News Newspaper.

Geraldine brought to life the Sewanee Mountain Messenger from the Sewanee Siren, the community newspaper from 1967 to 1984. We haven’t changed its name, but the paper continues to evolve. While we dabble in an online presence, we know that most of you still like to hold the Messenger in your hands and read it on paper, whether standing at the table in the post office or sitting with a cup of coffee at the Blue Chair or pushing a cart through the Piggly Wiggly. 

The printed newspaper is not dead, especially on this Mountain. I believe in our little free, weekly community newspaper. And I think you do too. May the Sewanee Mountain Messenger continue to be of service to the people of this Plateau for another 30 years. 

Reincarnation of Old GCHS in Tracy City -- A Dream on the Verge of Coming True

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

What had seemed like a lost cause may soon become a reality with reincarnation of the old Grundy County High School building in Tracy City as the South Cumberland Learning and Development Center. The center will focus on workforce development, helping local people get ready for local work by providing the skills needed to fill jobs in Grundy County and the surrounding vicinity. Julie Willems Keel, associate executive director of Mountain T.O.P., a local nonprofit agency, and Emily Partin, a Grundy County native, serve as project co-chairs. But the story that gave birth to the initiative, an effort plagued with obstacles and misfortune, began long before Partin and Keel became involved.

In 2006, the Southeast Development District of Chattanooga applied for a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) on behalf of Tracy City to establish a trade school in the old high school building. Grundy County mayor LaDue Bouldin spearheaded the effort on the local level, along with Tracy City mayor Barry Rollins. ARC awarded Tracy City $500,000 with the city required to supply $100,000 in matching funds.

With the grant in place, oversight fell to the Tracy City mayor, but Rollins was not re-elected, and his successor died in office. The onset of the 2008 recession left Grundy County struggling with day-to-day survival, and efforts focused on programs meeting immediate needs, such as the Grundy County Food Bank.

Keel’s work with Mountain T.O.P. stresses capacity-building for groups awarded grants for community development.

“It’s not uncommon for small communities to be granted large sums without a mechanism in place for planning and implementing the project,” Keel said.

Keel credits Emily Partin with reviving the ARC grant and getting the project back on track.

As a mental health professional, Partin worked off the Mountain until a job with the Grundy County School system brought her back home. Partin first learned about the ARC grant in 2011 from Tracy City mayor Jimmy Campbell. Campbell didn’t know the status of the grant. He was in ill health and soon after, resigned from office. Then in early 2012 at a Grundy County Rotary Club meeting, a visitor asked if Tracy City intended to pursue the project outlined in the ARC grant. The visitor was Tara Nichols, a representative from the Southeast Development District (SDD), the organization that had originally applied for the grant on Tracy City’s behalf.

Partin met with Nichols and took her to visit the old high school. The original grant was to cover the cost of a roof for the library wing of the school and to purchase equipment to teach carpentry skills. In the six intervening years, water damage to the library wing rendered it irreparable. Nichols insisted the money could not be used for other purposes, but Partin persuaded her to request the grant be refocused to fund renovation of the front portion of the building for use in technical education rather than as a trade school.

Unfortunately, Nichols left SDD, and her successor served only a short time, relocating to another state before he succeeded in getting authorization to repurpose the grant. But, finally, in the summer of 2014 the granting agency, ARC, gave permission for the funds to be used to renovate the front portion of the building.

Bid requests went out for the project for window repair; upgrading the wiring, technical specifications, and heating and cooling unit; and installation of a required sprinkler system. Then doom again reared its head. All the bids came back dramatically over budget. There just wasn’t enough money.

Almost coincidentally, though, another door opened. Grundy County officials completed a Community Development Block Grant project, making the county eligible to apply for another grant. On Jan. 26, 2015, the County Commission voted to apply for a $315,000 Block Grant to flesh out the budget for the old high school project. Partin also plans to apply for a grant to help offset the cost of window repair and the heating and cooling unit.

Partin and Keel have secured pledges to cover 100 percent of the $100,000 in matching grant money, with donors ranging from the South Cumberland Community Fund to individuals pledging in-kind contributions in the form of labor.

St. Mary’s Celebrates 150 Years

It was standing room only for the Festival Eucharist at St. Mary’s Convent Chapel on Feb. 7. People of all ages gathered for the sesquicentennial celebration of the founding of the Community of St. Mary. 

With the Rev. Jo Ann Barker as celebrant and the Rev. Robert Hughes as preacher, members of the congregation shared the Eucharist while accompanied by the organ and a five-piece ensemble of community musicians. 

In his sermon, Hughes told the congregation about the origins of the Community of St. Mary. It began at the dedication of the Mother Harriet Cannon and four other sisters at St. Michael’s Church, Bloomingdale, New York in 1865, as the first Episcopal Benedictine monastic community for women in the United States. 

The sisters went to Memphis in 1871 during the yellow fever epidemic, and four of the sisters were among “the martyrs of Memphis.” 

Sisters arrived in Sewanee in 1887 with the founding of St. Mary’s on-the-Mountain, a school for impoverished children. Hughes said that “these events established the religious life in the Episcopal Church in the United States, Tennessee and Sewanee, respectively.” 

Currently, as part of the Southern Province in Tennessee, the sisters continue their ministry of addressing the spiritual and temporal needs of society with a special emphasis on connecting faith with the stewardship of the environment. After the service, everyone shared a meal and their memories of their life at St. Mary’s.

­—Reported by Harriet Runkle
Special to the Messenger

Finalists Named in Franklin County Director of Schools Search

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

The Franklin County Board of Education will continue its quest for a new director of schools on Feb. 17, with the search narrowed down to five candidates.

Rebecca Sharber, director since 2009, is retiring June 30. The Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) started the search for a new director of schools last fall, and Tammy Grissom, TSBA executive director, announced the five finalists at the Jan. 9 school board meeting. The five candidates are:

• Embril Edwards, superintendent of Guntersville City Schools in Alabama since 2009.

• Stanley Bean, a lifelong Franklin County resident and principal at North Middle School since 2012.

• Tammy Shelton of Fayetteville, Tenn., executive director of content and resources at the Tennessee Department of Education.

• Michael Murphy, superintendent of St. Clair R-XIII School District in St. Clair, Mo., since 2004.

• Larrie Reynolds, superintendent of Mount Olive Township Public Schools in New Jersey and founder of Newton Learning, a national company that provides supplemental educational services.

Grissom provided to the school board a number of recommendations and guidelines for hiring a new director, including keeping questions uniform and voting for two candidates via paper ballot to narrow the field. She noted that it is important that the candidate selected have the full confidence of the board.

“Strive for a unanimous vote, because if I were going to be your superintendent, I would want to have all your votes,” she said. “Remember, you’re trying to get a candidate to want to come to Franklin County, as well. They are seeking the job, but you also need to put your best foot forward so they want to come here.”

The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 to review the candidate list and develop questions for the interviews. Interviews, which will be conducted in public, are scheduled to begin Feb. 23.

Grissom said 22 candidates applied for the position. 

Lucianna Sanson, an English teacher at Franklin County High School and president of the Franklin County Education Association (FCEA), said she personally would like to see the new director of schools come from Franklin County.

“I believe that someone who has spent a lifetime teaching and learning and being a part of Franklin County will be the best fit for our students, teachers and schools,” she said on Feb. 10. “I also hope that we gain a director who is student-centered and community-school focused rather than education-reform driven.”

Sanson said Franklin County teachers would welcome a director who values input from teachers and will support less student testing.

“We would also welcome a director who supports teacher autonomy and is willing to support parents and students who are refusing to take the state-mandated assessments,” she said. “FCEA is a member of the Tennessee Education Association, and we support the state association’s belief that less time should be spent on testing and more time spent in the classroom teaching. FCEA believes that our students, teachers and administrators are more than a score, and we hope that our new director of schools will support this sentiment.” 

Among numerous other items at the Jan. 9 board meeting, board members also discussed some issues they would like to see considered in the 2015–16 budget.

Board member Adam Tucker told Sharber to ponder the possibility of adding more academic interventionists in schools.

Chairman Kevin Caroland said the amount for coaching supplements should be examined since Franklin County schools appear to pay less than schools in surrounding counties.

Board member Chris Guess said adding parking lot space is a concern, especially at North and South middle schools, where there is not enough parking for school events.

Sisterhood of St. Mary Celebrates 150th

The Community of St. Mary’s Sewanee will celebrate its 150th anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the convent chapel. The Festival Eucharist will be at 11 a.m., followed by lunch. All are welcome to attend.

The Sisterhood of St. Mary, the first Episcopal Benedictine monastic community for women in the United States, was founded on Feb. 2, 1865, in New York. It has been involved in countless ministries over the past 150 years, including establishing a local school for Mountain children mired in poverty. The site of St. Mary’s School is where St. Mary’s Sewanee: the Ayers Center for Spiritual Development stands today. 

At present, there are three provinces of the Community: the Eastern Province in New York, the Southern Province in Tennessee and the Western Province in Wisconsin. It also has two international branches in the Philippines and Malawi. The local community of the Southern Province expresses its unique way of life through care for the body, the soul and the earth. It is particularly keen on connecting faith with the stewardship of creation. Through its innovative Organic Prayer Program, the Sisters seek to address the spiritual and temporal needs of society through a life of prayer, contemplation, ministry to the poor, spiritual direction and radical hospitality.

For more information call 598-0046 or go to < www.stmary-convent​sewanee.org>. 

“Organ Plus” Recital Friday, Feb. 6th

The Easter term organ recital series begins at 5:15 p.m., today (Friday), Feb. 6, in St. Luke’s Chapel, with an unusual program, “Organ Plus,” which is free and open to the public. 

The concert will feature music for organ and instruments with University organist, Robert Delcamp, joined by music department faculty colleagues César Leal, Lucas Finney, Rebecca Van de Ven and Katie Lehman. 

The program includes the “Sonata for Saxophone and Organ” by Denis Bédard, “God is our Righteousness” by Chris DeBlasio for guitar and organ, Calvin Hampton’s “Variations on Amazing Grace” for English horn and organ and the “Quartet for Organ, Violin, Viola and Cello” by Marcel Dupré. 

The Sixth Man Matters: Sewanee Basketball Sunday

Sewanee’s basketball teams take on archrival Rhodes College on Sunday, Feb. 8, in Juhan Gym at the Fowler Center. To encourage support for the Tiger teams, there are a number of special events planned, to which all are invited.

Using the theme, the “Sixth Man Matters,” the Sewanee coaches hope to get the entire gymnasium full of excited fans. For the Rhodes game, the teams will don their black-colored uniforms. Black “Sixth Man Matters” T-shirts will be given free to fans. 

“Having a great crowd really helps the team,” said Bubba Smith, head coach of the men’s basketball team at Sewanee. “We hope everyone—community members, college students and all fans—will come out and support the teams.”

“Sixth Man Matters” is a reminder that although there are only five players on the court, the “sixth man” makes a difference from the sidelines. 

In addition to T-shirts on Sunday, there will be halftime giveaways, a shooting contest, and free pizza and drinks between games.

“Sixth Man Matters” is a project of the Cornerstone Initiative at Sewanee, an effort to help members of the Sewanee community contribute their ideas, energy and commitment to work toward common goals. The initiative seeks to create a more positive and healthy student life on campus.

Home Sewanee basketball games this weekend include games today (Friday), Feb. 6, against Hendrix (women’s game at 6 p.m.; men’s game at 8 p.m.), and the contests against Rhodes on Sunday, Feb. 8. The women play at 1 p.m.; the men’s game begins at 3 p.m.

Lullaby of Broadway Opens at SAS

The SAS Players will present “The Lullaby of Broadway,” a musical revue, Friday–Sunday, Feb. 6–8, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts on the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School campus. Show times are 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, with a 4 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Feb. 8.

As a gesture of thanks for the support the SAS Theatre Program has received in the past, admission will not be charged for any of these performances. Instead, there will be a pay-what-you-can donation box to offset production costs. For more information go to <sasweb.org>.

“Pie in the Sky” Offers Slice of Sewanee

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

When the first “Pie in the Sky” sign appeared near the main Sewanee entrance around November, most people didn’t know what the moniker meant. Now two other Pie signs decorate the right-of-way of U.S. Highway 41A in Sewanee and the mystery is less, but it’s unclear if anyone is actually following the signs.

The Pie in the Sky Trail is a 363-mile trek for motorists that begins in Chattanooga and forms a loop through middle Tennessee, going as far north as Crossville. Sewanee is a little detour off that loop, with motorists directed from Monteagle to Sewanee and then back to Monteagle.

Patricia Gray, manager of research and sustainable tourism at the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, said Pie in the Sky is designed to get tourists off the beaten path.

“There are things to do all over rural Tennessee,” Gray said. “Our rural partners really need assistance; there are some small shops and sometimes just one person working in there.”There are 129 sites listed on the trail, which starts at the Chattanooga Visitors Center and ends at the Moon Pie General Store in Chattanooga. The trail gets its name from the famous marshmallow cookie created at the Chattanooga Bakery in 1917.

The Sewanee sites listed on the Pie in the Sky Trail are the University of the South (No. 49), Lemon Fair (No. 50) and the Blue Chair Café & Tavern (No. 51). Merchants and officials at all three places said they aren’t aware of any visitors who have followed the trail to Sewanee.

Gray said the state doesn’t have any measurements as far as visitors go, but feedback from convention and visitors bureaus indicates people love the trail maps. 

Pie in the Sky is one of 16 tourist treks in the state’s Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways program. Gray noted that most of the signs for the Pie trail were installed during a six-week period late last year.

Like Sewanee merchants, other area shopkeepers aren’t aware of an impact from being a Pie in the Sky site. Shawnee Gibson, owner of Hallelujah Pottery in Monteagle, noted that several people were interested in taking a trail brochure, but she doesn’t know of any visitors related to the trail.

Lynn Drivett, who works as a cook and waitress at Dutch Maid Bakery in Tracy City, said she also isn’t aware of any trail travelers, but the bakery does see its share of people who saw Dutch Maid featured on PBS television programs.

Gray noted that there are smart phone apps for the trail, and there also needs to be more of an education campaign about Pie in the Sky.

“You don’t understand what’s available on that trail until you see it,” she said. “This type of program is fairly unique…”

Maps for the trail are available online, and at some tourist sites and many chambers of commerce and visitors’ bureaus in Tennessee. For more information, visit < http://tntrailsandbyways.com/trail/13/pie-in-the-sky>.

ACA & Health Care Across the Plateau

The deadline to enroll in health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is Sunday, Feb. 15, and there are local resources to help consumers get more information and obtain insurance. The South Cumberland Plateau Health Network is sponsoring two Marketplace enrollment events.

Free in-person assistance will be available 10 a.m.–2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 12, in the Music Room at the Smoke House Restaurant in Monteagle. Certified ACA navigators and application counselors will be on-site. They will be able to answer questions about eligibility and enrollment procedures, assist consumers with the enrollment process and facilitate options for insurance premium reductions.

On Saturday, Feb. 14, enrollment assistance will be available, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the lobby of the Southern Tennessee Regional Hospital in Winchester. 

To enroll in ACA, folks must bring the following information: proof of identity; Social Security numbers and birth dates for individuals in the household; pay stubs; W-2 forms; policy numbers for any current insurance coverage; and a valid email address.

The Health Insurance Marketplace helps people without health coverage enroll in a high-quality plan. When you apply, you’ll learn if you qualify for a health insurance plan with savings based on your income, and learn if you qualify for premium tax credits that lower the costs of coverage. 

People who were enrolled in the 2014 Marketplace should not file their income taxes until they receive IRS form 1095-A from the Department of Health and Human Services. When it arrives, verify that the information is correct and keep copies of it. If there is a problem with the form, go to <www.healthcare.gov/tax-issues> or call (800) 318-2596 to get it corrected. If you filed your tax return before you received the 1095-A form, you must file an amended federal income tax return. 

The South Cumberland Plateau Health Network and the town mayors of Grundy County are sponsoring community conversations about how to improve healthcare in the county. Organizers want to hear from everyone. The information they receive will help as new programs are created to improve the health and wellness of the entire community. Dinner will be provided by the Smoke House. There is no charge to attend.

On Thursday, Feb. 12, the meeting will be at Dutch Maid Bakery in Tracy City. On Thursday, Feb. 19, the meeting will be at the Smoke House.

On Thursday, Feb. 26, the meeting will be at the Three Crosses at Calvary Church, Altamont. On Thursday, March 5, the meeting will be at Coalmont Community Center. On Thursday, March 12, the meeting will be at Pelham United Methodist Church.

All meetings will be 5:30–7 p.m. On the day of the event, if schools are closed due to inclement weather, then the Community Conversation will be rescheduled for a later date. 

These conversations are made possible through the support of the Grundy County Health Council, the South Cumberland Community Fund and the South Cumberland Plateau VISTA Program. 

For more information contact Katie Goforth at (615) 417-7258 or email <Goforth.SCPHN@gmail.com>.

Kubik Memorial Service Time/Date Change

CORRECTED TIME AND DATE: The memorial service for Tamas Kubik, C'13, will be at 5:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 5, in All Saints’ Chapel in Sewanee. This is a change from what is in the Jan. 30 printed issue of the Messenger. We apologize for our error.