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A great community newspaper
VOL. 6 NO. 9
IN THIS ISSUE
Outdoors Outdoor Living Special Section
February 27, 2012
Turning evil inside out Concord’s vandalized churches battle back By Betty Bean
Find out where the wild things are and much more in this month’s “My Outdoors.”
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See the special section inside
Rotary wows! Area Rotary Clubs came together Feb. 18 to clean up the campus at Belle Morris Elementary School in celebration of World Rotary Day. When students returned to campus last Tuesday and saw the results, most were wowed by the Rotarians’ weekend work.
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See the story on page A-6
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
‘Lolly-Madonna’ screening Friday A recently-uncovered 16mm print of “The LollyMadonna War” (also known as “Lolly-Madonna XXX”), an MGM movie filmed in Union County in 1972 starring Rod Steiger and Jeff Bridges, will be shown publicly for the first time in decades 7 p.m. Friday, March 2, at the East Tennessee History Center downtown. Admission is free. Parental discretion is advised. Info: Bradley Reeves, 215-8856.
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Mystery solved? On the cool spring Saturday afternoon of March 31, 1951, Fred Hankins returned to his Fountain City home to find his wife, Mary, lying in a pool of blood. Jake Mabe learns the author of a new book on the murder may have finally solved the case. On online and click the Halls/Fountain City icon.
Index Coffee Break Sherri Gardner Howell Government/Politics Town of Farragut Rotary feature Faith Schools Business Community Calendar Health/Lifestyles
2 3 4 5 6 7 10-11 12-13 14 Sect B
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The way Hughey Moulden sees it, whoever vandalized the churches in Concord Village this winter meant to do Satan’s work, but God stepped in and turned it inside out. “It was very disturbing, but I look at it as God’s opportunity to bring the community together,” he said. “It was like when Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egypt – they meant it for evil, but God used it for good.” Moulden is a lifetime member and an elder at the Original Church of God, a 97-yearold, eight-member white block church that had three windows broken out in early December. That was the first incident. On Jan. 7, Concord AME Zion Church – a 140-year-old, 10-member brick building next door – had several windows broken. Between Jan. 8 and Jan. 20, each church was victimized three times each. By the time it was done, there was not a window left between the two buildings. The Rev. Stephen Steele, who pastors Concord AME Church, says he agrees with Brother Moulden. “People oftentimes do things for one reason, but God, in caring and loving for his people, will always take whatever it is and turn it for good,” he said. His wife and assistant pastor, the Rev. Elaine Steele, seconded her husband’s observation: “We feel God moving.” The two next-door neighbors have long cooperated. They have homecomings and Bible study together, and Moulden and Liman Bacon of Concord AME Zion, in addition to being lifelong friends (Bacon used to drive Moulden to school when they were students at Austin High School), are trustees of Pleasant Forest Cemetery, where members of both congregations have people buried. They weren’t acquainted with another neighbor, Concord Presbyterian, which has a predominantly Caucasian congregation. Not long after the last act of
Members of the congregations of the Original Church of God and Concord AME Zion Church include: (front) Limon Bacon, Pauline Bacon, Helen Trent, Bernetta Hardin, the Rev. Elaine Steele, the Rev. Stephen Steele; (back) Lee Varner and Hughey Moulden. Photo by T. Edwards
vandalism at the two AfricanAmerican churches, Concord Presbyterian Church pastor, the Rev. David Webster, was pulling into his parking lot and noticed that four panes of glass had been broken out of the windows facing Second Drive. When he reported it to the Sheriff’s Office, they told him what had been happening to his neighbors. A few days later, Jane Koopmann, a Concord Presbyterian elder and one of three women who cook for church activities, was conferring with the other two cooks about the menu for a “Souper Bowl” party planned for Super Bowl Sunday after church. Somebody suggested inviting the Original Church of God and Concord AME Zion congregations to lunch, and Webster got the ball rolling by sending written invitations. Koopmann made potato soup. Someone else made tortilla soup and another made vegetable soup. There was a pot of chili,
a couple dozen sandwiches and tons of brownies. They worried about having enough. “It was very short notice,” Koopmann said. “And we didn’t have an answer for whether the other churches were going to come. Our church let out earlier than their churches, and we started getting ready. Then, here came six guests. And then another group, and some more of them until we had about 20 visitors in all. It was just amazing to us. … It was such a wonderful day, just the kind of thing I will tell my grandkids about. It was the parable of the loaves and fishes – we never did run out.” The Steeles and Moulden and other members of the two congregations concurred. “It was our first time getting to meet the pastor and the congregation,” Elaine Steele said. “It was an opportunity for us to break the wall of separation down because we’re all God’s
people,” added Moulden. In the next church newsletter, Webster delivered a mighty summation: “Most of the time, each of the three congregations minds their own business, worshipping Sunday in and Sunday out. We have done so for over a hundred years. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it may just be the reality of a multi-denominational world. However, I do not believe it is God’s intention for the church – ‘There is one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all’ (Ephesians 4:46). I think Satan likes to keep churches from fellowshipping together. “But on Sunday, Jan. 29, Satan’s kingdom shook with rage as Concord Presbyterian Church, The Original Church of God and the Concord AME Zion Church joined together to break bread. “It was the most joyous of family reunions.”
Shaping future requires participants By Suzanne Foree Neal A Boulder, Colo., firm on Thursday won the approval of the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen to act as its consulting firm as the town moves ahead with a comprehensive land use plan. Winston Associates Inc. beat out nine other firms for the $108,000 contract. “Winston is a small firm with stellar references,” said Assistant Town Administrator Gary Palmer. “This will be a viable land use plan to dictate how the town develops over the next five to 10 years. It will be a tool for us and the development community.” Winston plans at least three public dialog sessions over the year. Now the question is: Will residents turn out to speak their
For many the theme was the same: More money, more bodies. Public works and engineering grabbed the most attention. Director Bud McKelvey listed landscaping and maintenance as the most pressing as staff works to keep up with parks and recreation facilities. He estimates $30,000 to change the town’s radio communication system to work with a federally mandated change from wide band to narrow band. There’s also a need for more covered storage for equipAging infrastructure ment, and Town Hall is about comes into focus due for new carpet and a paint A workshop session Thursday job. Town Engineer Darryl Smith before the regular BOMA meeting was filled with reports from touched on the town’s growth department heads with “wishes” over the last 30 years and, while for the upcoming 2012 budget. much of the infrastructure is
mind? Board members hope to see a full house at each session. “This is huge for the town of Farragut and we want a lot of participation,” said Alderman Bob Markli. Palmer said the firm has innovation and technology to bring to the town that is “second to none.” Winston has a virtual planning process that can show people in real time how their suggestions might fit into the land use plan.
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relatively new, a lot of streets and pipes are going to need replacing within the next five years. Alderman Ron Honken jumped into the discussion saying, “People forget about it, but 30 years is long in the tooth for some infrastructure. Maybe we should change our thought process to think about money for future repairs,” he added. “The tendency is to look at what we can do new, but maybe we need to look at the old. Potentially, some of these replacement items could be costly.” McKelvey noted he already keeps a list and has his eye on several pieces of infrastructure that are getting to the point of replacement.
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