385 Magazine Spring 2022

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2•385 •Our People•Our Stories

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385

Volume 6 | Issue 3

Staff

Publisher

Jack McNeely jack.mcneely@herald-citizen.com

Editor

Lindsay Pride lindsay.pride@herald-citizen.com Graphic Designer Amanda Loshbough

Ad Composition Becky Watkins

Contributors Jim Herrin Amanda Loshbough

Business Manager Sandy Malin

Advertising Roger Wells Dusty Smith Stephanie Garrett

Circulation & Distribution Keith McCormick Ronda Dodson

385 Magazine is a publication of and distributed quarterly by the Herald-Citizen, a division of Cookeville Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored for retrieval by any means without written consent from the publisher.

385 Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited materials and the publisher accepts no responsibility for the contents or accuracy of claims in any advertisement in any issue. 385 Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or changes in information. The opinions of contributing writers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine and its publisher.

Our mission is to promote the 385 zip code areas of the Upper Cumberland and to showcase their many attributes. We welcome ideas and suggestions for future editions of the magazine. Just send us a brief note via email.

from the

Editor

I am so grateful for the suggestions of our readers and advertisers who often recommend some of the most interesting ideas for stories in our 385 magazine, but I wasn’t quite sure what a couple of military heroes had in common with a popular festival for a historic town until I finished reading all of the stories in this season’s edition.

If you know Randall Clemons, you know he’s passionate about Granville, and his passion has driven the success of that former riverboat town into the popular festival destination it is today. But maybe you didn’t know about the details of centenarian John Stafford’s service in World War II and how he found a passion for preparing the best meals he could for his fellow service members, or how Cookeville son Mike Moore was inspired to do more than simply serve his country after the unforgettable tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.

These stories reinforce the realization of all that we have to be thankful for in the Upper Cumberland beginning with the people who do more than show up. Clemons, Moore, Stafford, Tech Trailblazers founding member Ella Rogers and Why I Love contributor Amanda McNeil have all stepped up to be leaders we can all be proud of, and we’re grateful for the impact they’ve had.

Thanks for reading.

Lindsay Pride, Editor

on the

Cover

WWII Navy veteran John Stafford stands beside his framed medals.

© 2022 Herald-Citizen 385 Magazine P.O. Box 2729 Cookeville, TN 38502 931.526.9715 Email: 385Magazine@herald-citizen.com

4•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Photo by Amanda Loshbough

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Contents

8

12

17

Leadership

Looking Back

Simple Times

A retired Marine tells his story of serving his country in a time of war.

100-year-old WWII veteran John Stafford reflects on his time during the war.

Historic Granville festivals offer good fun while remembering and celebrating a "simpler time."

20•

Tech Trailblazers When it comes to college tours, what better way to get a genuine view of the campus than by exploring it with a student already immersed in the experience?

6•385 •Our People•Our Stories

22•

Why I Love…

Career Advisor for the Army National Guard Amanda McNeil explains why she loves the Upper Cumberland.

Spring•2022•7

Leadership passion remains a

Retired Marine reflects on serving his country in a time of war Story by: Jim Herrin Photos provided by: Mike Moore

I

t was the day after Father’s Day 2014 in Afghanistan when a group of Marines led by Cookeville native Mike Moore found themselves in the midst of an intense firefight. Their base had come under a rocket attack the day before and Moore had been “inserted via helicopter" with a company of Marines and eight soldiers from the Afghan National Army to locate the rocket rails that were used to launch the rockets.

Moore was “out forward” with 13 Marines and his Afghan soldiers, followed by the main body of the company, known as the assault element, which was about 800 meters behind.

“As we crested a small hill where a cemetery was located, all hell broke loose,” he recalls. “My team of 21 or 22 people were fixed in place by intense enemy fire — meaning we couldn’t move, nor could we return fire. We were taking fire from three different enemy positions and they had gained fire superiority on us.”

The Marines on his team turned to him for instructions.

“Sir, what do we do?” they yelled repeatedly, on the edge of panic.

Moore told them to remain calm as he pulled out some MRE (Meals Ready To Eat) crackers from his cargo pocket and began having a snack.

“The Marines looked at me as if I were crazy, still yelling,” he said. “I told them to follow my lead.”

Moore had already been on the radio to his assault element, urging them to hurry to their assault position so they could maneuver on the enemy “and essentially save us from certain death.”

“My concern at this point was the enemy was attempting to maneuver on our flank, so I ordered four Marines on my team to move into position to protect our flank. At this point, we

were waiting for the assault element to get into their position, which took some time.”

Moore understood that the soldiers were moving 800 meters while carrying 100+ pounds of gear.

“The Marines on my team were scared, including myself, but I couldn’t show them I was scared,” he said.

As he munched on his crackers, the assault element radioed, telling him they were in position.

“Despite the heavy enemy fire, I got on my knee and started returning fire,” Moore said. “The Marines followed and we were able to gain fire superiority with our rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers.”

He said the assault element “maneuvered through the kill zone and destroyed the enemy.”

“As we returned to base, I told the Marines to go clean their rifles, and I would rejoin them after the debrief,” he said.

It was as he was cleaning his own rifle that Moore noticed out of the corner of his eye that some of the troops “were just staring at me with this dumbfounded look on their faces.”

He asked them what was on their minds, and they didn’t mince words.

They said, “Sir, what the f**k was that? Eating crackers in a firefight?!”

Moore replied, “Listen fellas, what would you have done had I started to freak out? Was I scared? Hell yeah, I was scared! But what would you have done if I started to freak out?

You would’ve freaked out too. What did you guys think when I was eating crackers?”

One Marine immediately said, “I knew everything was going to be OK. I saw you were calm enough to eat crackers, so I knew we were going to be OK.” That ability to remain “calm, cool and collected,” even in the midst of a crisis, to lead by example, and to use the chaos of combat as a “teachable moment for young men” is not something that Moore might have expected from himself as he was growing up in the Park Village neighborhood behind the old Wheeler Skating Rink on East 10th Street, where he says most of his

Mike Moore attends the wedding of his lieutenant. time was spent “playing basketball and running the streets with neighborhood friends.”

He was born April 23, 1978, in Nashville to Steve and Diane Moore, but was raised in Cookeville where his father was the Athletic Trainer at Tennessee Tech and his mother worked for the phone company.

He first became interested in the military during his junior year of high school, partly because he wasn’t ready to go to college and knew that he would be wasting his parents’ money if he went.

“I didn’t plan to make it a career, initially,” he said.

On July 9, 1996, a month and a half after graduation from Cookeville High School, he joined the Air Force.

“I was initially drawn to the Air Force due to the technical aspect of the service,” Moore said. “I felt it would provide me with a better chance to learn a skill I could take with me if I chose to separate and return to the civilian world after my first contract of four years. I also had a few friends from high school who joined the Air Force at the same time, so that certainly influenced my decision.”

But he also admits to “one other reason” for joining that branch of the military.

“I’m not disparaging the Air Force,

but I chose the easy route,” he said. “A six-week versus a 13-week boot camp with the Marine Corps made my decision at the time very easy.”

Upon graduation from basic training, he earned the Air Force Specialty Code, 3P0X1-- Security Police Journeyman. He planned to do a four-year hitch and then go to school at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, but decided during his last few months on active duty to continue his service in the Air National Guard.

At UT in the fall of 2000, Moore “was enjoying my time as a civilian again," a relatively carefree time that abruptly ended Sept. 11, 2001.

"Most of us will never forget where we were that day,” he said. “I woke up to a phone call from my father telling me to turn on the television. When I saw the second plane hit, I went to school in my camouflage uniform knowing I was going to get recalled.”

From 2001 until 2007, he would be recalled to active duty several times, deploying in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, all the while juggling school at UT. He also had a change of heart about his future in the military.

“When I returned home in March of 2007 following a seven-month deployment to Iraq, I woke up one morning at my house in Park Village Spring•2022•9

and decided I would leave the Air Force and become a Marine officer,” he said.

“I wanted to be an infantry officer and lead Marines in combat.”

He started the application process, which he describes as “extremely rigorous and difficult” and was accepted in the fall of 2007, reporting to Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia the summer after his junior year at UT “for 10 weeks of hell, to put it in simple terms.”

After he graduated from OCS, he returned for his senior year at UT, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on May 9, 2009, and made plans to take the Infantry Officer Course (IOC).

“IOC is not for the faint-hearted.

It is one of the toughest schools in the Department of Defense,” Moore said, while noting that he performed “exceptionally well as a 32-year-old with a bunch of 22-year-olds.”

And just as he intended, he became a leader, building on skills he had begun developing in Iraq in 2005, as he conducted more than 100 convoys throughout the country.

“This was the first deployment where I was exposed to combat by both direct and indirect fire along with improvised explosive devices,” Moore said. “I learned a ton about myself during that deployment and served alongside some of the greatest people this country has to offer.”

His 2014 deployment to Afghanistan was also memorable.

“I got to lead Marines into combat, the reason I joined, and advise a company of Afghan National Army soldiers,” he said. “I believe we conducted more than 1,000 hours of patrols along with numerous engagements with the enemy.”

He still wears a bracelet bearing the name SERGEANT THOMAS SPITZER in memory of a fellow Marine killed in action. He also marvels at all of the “extraordinary Marines and Sailors” he’s had the chance to serve with.

“Unless you’ve served in this capacity, no one will ever quite understand the ingenuity and strength these young men exude on a daily

10•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Mike Moore says goodbye to his company gunnery sergeant who was returning home early from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. basis,” Moore said. “We have 18-, and 19-year-olds in combat working through a problem set, staying calm while doing so and controlling fires on the enemy. Watching young men recently out of high school lead their fellow Marines in combat, outmaneuvering the enemy, and providing a better and more secure country for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan is inspiring to say the least.”

Had the 9/11 attacks never happened, Moore acknowledges that he wouldn’t have served past his contract with the Air National Guard.

“I certainly never would’ve earned the title ‘Marine,’ nor would I have ever served with the greatest men and women in the world,” he says.

“The attacks sparked a fire in my heart and would be responsible for my service and retirement from the Marine Corps. That day will forever live with me.”

So, too, will other days — good and bad.

“Perhaps the scariest moment I had was during a raid on a compound full of Taliban,” he said. “We came in on three or four CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters at about 2 a.m.

It was a ‘hard hit,’ raid meaning we landed right beside the objective we were raiding. Our helicopters came under intense enemy fire on our final approach, and I thought to myself,

‘This is it.’ After the helicopters landed, we still had to come out the back under enemy fire. When the ramp came down, I was the first one out, and immediately went into the prone position and returned fire. We had several Marines injured that day. It was just an all-around scary moment which is still very vivid in my memory to this day.”

His proudest moment involves a man named Max, his interpreter in Afghanistan, “Max never left my side, even during the scariest of times,” he said.

“I had the pleasure of escorting Max back to the Herat Province just before I redeployed back to the States.

I’ll never forget him telling me he feared for his life since he supported the U.S. during the war.”

Determined to do something to help Max, when Moore returned home, he called a friend who worked for “a very important political figure in Washington, D.C.” “They worked hard to get Max and his family out of Afghanistan and to the States where he would be safe,” Moore said. “I am proud to say that Max and his family are safe in California.”

He retired from the military on April 15, 2022 and started working in project management for KCG Companies of Indianapolis.

Mike Moore, along with fellow soldiers, returning home from deployment.

“It’s a great company with great core values that mirror my core values,” he said. “I get to work from home and travel at my leisure. So I plan to take advantage of being home with my wife, Stacy, and my cat, Riviera, aka Rippy.”

Leadership remains a passion.

“I love standing in front of Marines as their commander and serving them as a servant-leader,” he said. “I NEVER told Marines under my command they served ‘under me,’ but rather we served TOGETHER. My father told me when I was young to pick something and be passionate about it; be willing to fight and die for it. This country and the Marines and Airmen I have

L

wn

Mayberry in a To ife

served with over the course of my 26 years will always be my passion.”

As Father’s Day 2022 approaches, eight years removed from that firefight in Afghanistan, Moore is thankful for his upbringing in Cookeville.

“My father was very big on discipline while growing up, but in a good way, although I didn’t think of it as a “good thing” during my teenage years,” he said. “I would look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I would never be like him when I was older. I was wrong.

I’m exactly like him and damn proud of it.”

•385•

Mike Moore and his wife, Stacy, on their wedding night, December 2016.

n y Tow yberr a M essee Tenn

• Cornbread & Moonshine Festival- May 7thMoonshine Tasting by Tennessee Distillers, Cornbread Baking Contest, Tasting, Craftsmen • 24th Granville Heritage Day - May 28th Antique Car & Tractor Show, Bluegrass Festival

• Professional Fireworks Show - July 2 • Granville Open Wed thru Sat- Mayberry Lucy Museum, Jim Beam Whiskey Decanter Museum, History & Car Museum, Historic Home and Pioneer Village- Great Southern Cooking at 1880 Sutton General Store.

Weekly Bluegrass Dinner Show- Sutton General Store

Spring•2022•11

12•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Looking Back

at

WWII A drawing of the USS Dyson — John Stafford's ship during WWII — hangs on the wall in the veteran's home.

Spring•2022•13

100-year-old Navy veteran reflects on the war Story and photos by Amanda Loshbough

W

hen asked what he thought about turning 100 years old this month, Cookeville resident John Stafford replied, “I’m thinking about the one who has looked down on me all these years.”

Stafford is a WWII Navy veteran who recalls much of his time during the war, and is among few still living from the Greatest Generation.

“There’s not too many of us left,” Stafford said, remembering a dear friend he had met during the war who recently passed. “I had a buddy I was on the ship with, and I would talk to him every day up until a month ago, and now he’s gone.”

Stafford was born in the Free State community in Jackson County where he farmed until he was 18 years old. It was around that time when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

“One Sunday I was down around the river, looking for arrowheads,” he said. “I went up to the school house and the boys were playing basketball. One of them said, ‘John, are you ready for the military?’ I said, ‘No, what do you mean?’ He said the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor.”

Stafford would enlist in the Navy in 1942, after moving up north to look for a job. He worked at a hotel in Ohio and then later moved to Detroit, Michigan where he enlisted.

“They said, ‘Go home, and we’ll give you a call.’ I was home in no time, and I got the call,” he said.

Stafford recalls being transferred to his ship in Orange, Texas.

“They put us in an outdoor unit. The building looked like a chicken coop. Days later a bus came up, and they said we were going to go on a trip. We drove maybe an hour. We pulled up and a man said, ‘that right there is a brand new ship.’”

14•385 •Our People•Our Stories

RON STAFFORD

Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton presented WWII Navy veteran John Stafford his medals July 4, 2016.

WWII veteran John Stafford and his daughter-in-law Brenda Stafford look at pictures of Stafford's family and friends as well as documents from the war, including a letter from Harry Truman.

That ship was the USS Dyson (DD572), a destroyer of the famous squadron DESRON 23, better known as the “Little Beavers.”

This squadron won the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions including the notorious Battle of Cape St. George in the Solomon Islands. During this battle, Squadron 23 sank three Japanese destroyers: Onami, Makinami, and Yuguri on Nov. 23, 1943.

“We were going to land troops, see they got to their destinations,” said Stafford. “One of our spotter planes spotted a Japanese fleet on the way to interfere with our landing troops. We said we’ll let them get in firing range, and we’ll welcome them.”

The Naval War College described the battle as “an almost perfect surface action.”

Between November 1943 and March

1944, Squadron 23 was credited with destroying one Japanese cruiser, nine destroyers, one submarine and approximately 30 aircraft under then-commodore Arleigh A. Burke, who went on to serve as Chief of Naval Operations under Eisenhower and Kennedy. The Dyson received 11 stars for its service.

Stafford’s darkest day during the war had nothing to do with battle but a typhoon that sank three ships, including his sister ship, the USS Spence.

Typhoon Cobra caught the seaman off guard in the Philippine Sea, and killed hundreds.

“There’s so much I can’t tell you.

It was so bad,” Stafford said, with his head down. “We lost two or three ships, turned completely over. Some of the guys were trapped below deck in the engine room. All those men could not get up. We lost it. The ship went

under the ocean and them with it.”

He remembers the long duration of the storm, too.

“You could not have a meal. You could not stand up. You could not sleep. It lasted a long time.”

Stafford said he cannot read about that day without a tear coming to his eye.

But just as he recalls the darkest days, Stafford also remembers good times and friends, such as his old naval buddy Louis Taylor, who Stafford says helped him earn his rank of Ship Cook 3rd Class.

“We got to be real close. He’s the one who got me to be a cook,” he said. “He wrote out the menu. I was a deckhand at the time. We called that ‘Jack of the Dust.’ I looked at the menu and saw what they had to bring out. I was down below the waterline. He said, ‘John, Spring•2022•15

how would you like to come work with us.’’

Stafford enjoyed serving as a cook, working topside where he could see the ocean, always giving the men an extra scoop of beans when they would say, “hit me again, John!”

But there was one thing Stafford did not like about cooking.

“Lord, I hated sunny side up (eggs). I hated that more than anything. Think, sunny side up for 400 men,” he said, shaking his head.

Nevertheless, Stafford was committed to his work.

“I’d break my eggs in a bowl to see they were good. The other guys didn’t, but I did. The eggs can be old, and you don’t know how long ago the shipment had come in.”

During the war, Stafford met his wife, Julia Doris Stafford, while he was home.

“I was home on leave in Jackson County. I had been in combat for a long time. I go into this restaurant, and this lady was serving ice cream. She was beautiful, man. I told her, ‘I’ll marry you one day.’ I swear it’s the truth.”

The two were married in 1946, the year Stafford received his honorable discharge from the Navy, and moved to Detroit, Michigan where he worked for 33 years at General Motors. They had two sons, Ron and Gary Stafford, and one granddaughter. In 2009 the couple moved to Cookeville and were married for 73 years before Doris passed away in 2019.

In 2016 Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton presented Stafford with a slew of medals during an Independence Day celebration ceremony for his WWII service, which he has framed in his home.

Stafford turned 100 years old April 15, but he’s not bothered by being a centenarian.

“The Good Book says ‘your days are numbered by the hair on your head.’

But mine’s not up. I’m going to live to be 150. And I haven’t got that much (hair) either; there’s a bald spot,” Stafford said, laughing in good humor.

•385• 16•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Stafford shows a picture of himself, his wife, Doris and their son, Ron Stafford at Niagara Falls.

WWII veteran John Stafford recalls fond memories of his wife and family.

Simple Times Historic Granville festivals offer a fun escape

B

Story and photos by: Amanda Loshbough Photos also provided by: Randall Clemons

luegrass, antique cars, southern food, and Mayberry characters. Words that offer a small glimpse of what the historic town of Granville, Tennessee has to offer. You’ll find the town buzzing with visitors throughout the year looking to escape to a “simpler time.”

“As you look at Granville and as you look at 'The Andy Griffith Show,' they portray a simpler time in life,” said Randall Clemons, president of Historic Granville-Granville Museum, Inc.

Clemons has seen the riverbank town grow into what is today’s Tennessee’s Mayberry Town. Clemons was born in Granville, but moved away at a young age in 1967 when “the Cordell Hull Lake took all the family property.”

“The lake hurt Granville. A lot of people left because their property had been taken,” Clemons said.

Nearly 30 years later, after establishing Wilson Bank and Trust and serving on the board of the Wilson County Fair, Clemons returned to Granville

and purchased a weekend home in 1996.

Clemons’ background prepared him for his role in helping to restore Granville and to turn the small town into a tourist hot spot. “(Wilson Bank and Trust) was formed on giving back to the community and being community involved,” said Clemons. “I was already involved with the fair when we started the bank, and I was an antique car collector for years. So, when we started in Granville, Spring•2022•17

Carrie Ketterman, a Lucy impersonator, walks down the street in Granville during Mayberry - I Love Lucy Day.

the first thing we did was have a festival in 1999 when we opened the Granville museum, and we had an antique car show in conjunction. That’s how our festivals started here in Granville.”

While Clemons credits the museum opening as the start of Granville’s restoration, he believes the “determining factor” of Granville’s success was the T. B. Sutton Store.

“It was the second year of the festival, Harold and Beverley Sutton came to the car show, and they discovered the store and bought and restored it and gave it away later to Historic Granville,” said Clemons. “The store is what has made the difference in Granville, and we’ve just enhanced that with the festivals and all the different museums.”

The general store opened April 5, 2008 and operates Wednesday through Saturday, with a weekly Saturday Bluegrass show. Since the store’s opening, Granville has continued to draw in visitors.

“In 2010 we were able to purchase a town block where the Sutton store

owners had lived in Granville. We restored it, and it allowed for a car museum and other buildings which made the pioneer village,” said Clemons.

“The Andy Griffith Show” plays — which are part of Granville’s indoor and outdoor theater shows — originally were a means to pay bills and were the precursor to Granville becoming certified as the state’s Mayberry town.

“We started the Mayberry plays to help pay the utility bills at the Sutton Store. Later the Mayberry and I Love Lucy museums were established, and we were able to be certified as Tennessee’s Mayberry town,” said Clemons.

Granville draws in a few thousand visitors with its festivals, including the wine and genealogy festivals, which happened early April, and the upcoming Cornbread and Moonshine Festival and Heritage Day. Granville’s Cornbread and Moonshine festival is set for May 7 and will feature a cornbread cook-off, a Tennessee Spirits/Whiskey Trail Guild event featuring several distilleries, and live music.

Heritage Day at Historic Granville will feature an antique car show.

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“Serving the Upper Cumberland for 20 years”

18•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Mon. - Sat.10 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | Sunday 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Dot McCullough sells homemade pies in front of the T.B. Sutton Store at a Historic Granville festival.

Heritage Day will be May 28 from 9 a.m.‑5 p.m. and will include an antique car show, antique tractor show, the Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Festival, several events for children and much more.

“Our spring festivals are real large events,” Clemons said. “We have around 3,000 that come in for the Cornbread and Moonshine Festival, and the largest event is Heritage Day.” These large crowds haven’t just helped to develop tourism in Granville. “(The festivals have) made a difference to Granville but also to the Upper Cumberland because people come in and stay at motels in Cookeville and other places," Clemons said. "They’ll go to Gainesboro, Cookeville, Carthage, Crossville to do other things. The Mayberry Town destination has greatly made a difference. It brings people to Tennessee, but it also keeps people at home

to spend their dollars in Tennessee.”

Clemons said the festivals and overall operation of Historic Granville would not be possible without its volunteers.

“It only happens because of our volunteers. They drive from all over because they have a love for a small, historic town,” he said.

In addition to the volunteers, Clemons recognizes others for their support, including Upper Cumberland Tourism, Middle Tennessee Region Antique Car Club, Tennessee Whiskey Guild, and Jimmy Bilbrey who helps with the Bluegrass show at Heritage Day and the weekly radio shows.

“God has continued to work and continued to open doors for us and we are very thankful. We work hard with all our festivals to make it an experience people want to come to,” Clemons said.

•385•

Jay Frankenfield Pottery demonstrates pottery techniques at festivals in Granville.

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Spring•2022•19

Trail blazers Tech students give genuine campus tours When it comes to college tours, what better way to get a genuine view of what it’s like to be a college student than by exploring campus with someone actively immersed in the experience?

Trailblazers at Tennessee Tech University offer that personal look at Tech through individual campus tours.

“I love being able to represent everything I am involved in and what I stand for in the Tech community and to talk about that, especially with prospective students,” said Ella Rogers, a computer science and computer engineering major at Tech and a founding member of Tech’s Trailblazers.

20•385 •Our People•Our Stories

Partnering with the Office of Admissions and Campus Visits, the Tennessee Tech Trailblazers officially formed its inaugural class in fall 2021 with the goal of offering Ella Rogers personal, one-on-one campus tours to prospective students and their families, while also fostering genuine connections between current Trailblazer students and future Golden Eagles.

“Being a Trailblazer has been especially rewarding because I am able to see how my actions help others,” said Rogers, who graduated as valedictorian

of her high school class at Houston County High School in 2018. She fell in love with Tech and wants to share that with others.

“There are people that I once had on a tour that I still stay in touch with today,” she said. “I have had people tell me about how meeting me on a tour helped solidify their own love of Tennessee Tech, and we’ve maintained that personal connection. For many of them, I became their mentor when they started attending Tech because they got involved in the same ways I did. They have told me that they got involved in those things because I talked about it when I showed them around

Tennessee Tech Trailblazers provide personal tours of campus for prospective students and their families. campus!”

Trailblazers now play an integral part in the admissions process and new student recruitment at Tech. Prospective students and their families planning a visit to campus will be paired with a Trailblazer to lead their personal tour of campus. With the diverse group of students who make up Trailblazers, the university’s goal is to personalize the visit experience for each prospective student by focusing on their interests and intended major. Trailblazers are chosen through a rigorous selection process and represent every college on Tech’s campus.

“Coming on a VIP tour here at Tennessee Tech means that students get a one-on-one with a Trailblazer,” she said. “This means that students

are able to make a personal connection with a student that already goes here to Tennessee Tech that has something in common with them and to whom they can relate! VIPs are also able to see what they are interested in while on campus because the tour is personalized to them.”

In addition to leading one-on-one campus tours, Trailblazers will also interact with prospective students at various campus events throughout the year.

“I love to share all parts of Tennessee Tech with prospective students,” Rogers said. “We have such a beautiful campus and so many opportunities.

I love being able to tell prospective students about everything Tech has to offer and how Tennessee Tech makes it

twinlakes.net | 800.644.8582 |

possible for students to pursue opportunities.”

For prospective students, hearing those ideas come from current students brings a relatable voice to a big step in their future and offers invaluable insight on what’s to come after high school.

“More than anything, I love telling students how Tennessee Tech is very much a ‘you get out of it what you put into it and more’ environment. So, always get involved with what you are passionate about and personalize your experience to what is best for you,” Rogers said.

To schedule a tour with a Tennessee Tech Trailblazer and see campus from a student’s perspective, visit tntech. edu/visit.

TN Cert #C-0026

Spring•2022•21

Why I Love…

the Upper Cumberland Career Advisor for the Army National Guard

Amanda McNeil Why do you love the Upper Cumberland?

Home is where the heart is, so I love the Upper Cumberland because I reside in Livingston. My maternal side of the family was born and raised in Livingston and received their college degrees from Tennessee Tech University of Cookeville. I attended Tech as well, and finished my Bachelor of Social Work at Tennessee State University, Nashville.

I chose to make my difference through social work as a DCS Case Manager II. Five years ago, I chose to use my social work skills as a Career Advisor for the Army National Guard in the Upper Cumberland area. I have covered most of the Upper Cumberland counties during this time, with my current office in Crossville. I also enjoy being an instructor for our National Guard Recruit Sustainment Program in Cookeville where we prepare new recruits for Basic Training.

I have been a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard for 14 years.

What is special about the area and community you serve?

First let me say I have traveled to many places, but none compared to the natural and free beauty that the Upper Cumberland provides.

Upper Cumberland people are different because they go out of their way to ensure you are successful professionally

22•385 •Our People•Our Stories

and have the necessities at home to be able to function as a whole. Most importantly, the people of the Upper Cumberland are the friendliest and most military-supportive community I have ever known. Wherever you go, you will be made to feel like you belong and have found a home. I’m not knocking large metropolitan areas, but there’s just something different about a smalltown atmosphere where you never meet a stranger and a handshake is still a person’s word.

What is something you enjoy the most about serving as a recruiter for the Army National Guard in the area?

Before becoming a recruiter, I had applied to start my master’s degree in social work to become a guidance counselor in the school systems. I like to say career advisor, because it means much more to me than recruiting someone to join the armed services. I have always had a passion to make a difference in people’s lives, especially our youth. I believe that there are two things that will place a person on the best route to a successful career. First and most importantly, allowing God to guide them in those choices. Secondly, using the benefits the military provides and training to fast track their career.

What is your observation or experience in how service members and veterans are regarded in the area?

I haven’t always resided or worked in

the Upper Cumberland area, but for the largest part of my life I have. With that being said, I consider the Upper Cumberland to be the most military-friendly community I have ever resided or worked in. Anytime a soldier is out in public, in uniform, people offer to pay for their meal and always want to shake their hand to thank them for their service.

The school systems are thankful anytime we offer assistance for their program/events. Most all counties in the Upper Cumberland have their own National Guard Armory, which is an important aspect to that community, because not only do we serve our state and country when called upon, but we are first responders when natural disasters strike our communities. The Upper Cumberland communities realize that, and they demonstrate a high level of respect and thankfulness to us when they see us in uniform. I have personally experienced this in the following counties: Overton, Pickett, Clay, Jackson, Cumberland, Fentress, White and Putnam. Out of these counties, Overton and Cumberland have been the most military friendly to me.

Thank You!

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