VOL. 10 NO. NO 44
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Bike club sets fall festival
The Appalachian Mountain Bike Club has the seven-year itch, but that’s OK. AMBC’s annual Fall Festival – which has been held for six years at the South Knoxville home of Brian Hann and Mary Beth Tugwell – is moving to the Baker Creek Preserve this year. The club has leased the park from the city for the event. Activities start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, and wind up at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at the preserve, 1516 Taylor Road. Overnight camping will be allowed. The move gives the festival – which is free and open to the public – more room for programs, says AMBC president Matthew Kellogg. “In addition to that, we have parking, for once.� There will be group bike rides for all levels throughout the day and a short-track race at 5 p.m. that will be fun for spectators. The festival takes place two days after the official opening of the kids’ track at Baker Creek Preserve – the ribbon-cutting is at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3. There also will be skills clinics and bike demos by a variety of vendors. On Sunday, there will be a Downhill race run by Go Nuts Biking. AMBC members are looking forward to having the event at the new location, Kellogg says. “Baker Creek has just been everybody’s favorite toy for the past six months.� Non-riders can watch the race and talk to experts about getting into mountain biking. Savory and Sweet food truck will be on site for lunch and snacking. Yee-Haw Brewing Co. will have beer sales starting at noon. Live music starts at dusk, with Southern Cities and Big Bad Oven performing. After 10 p.m., there will be a “silent disco.� Attendees can borrow headsets from AMBC to hear the dance music. “It’s quite an interesting thing to watch and to participate in,� says Kellogg. “We wanted to still have the party vibe but get it quiet quicker.� The festival is one of AMBC’s largest annual fundraisers; they use their coffers to build and maintain area trails. While the event is free, the club raises money through a silent auction and merchandise sales. “The city of Knoxville, Visit Knoxville and Legacy Parks made it possible,� he says. Info: ambc-sorba.org and on Facebook – Betsy Pickle
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Frank Galbraith remembers early Concord, Farragut
An accomplished piano player, Galbraith’s repertoire includes gospel, classics and early rock ’n’ roll. Photo by Margie Hagen
By Margie Hagen Best known as a local historian and educator, Frank Galbraith spends much of his time sharing his wealth of knowledge about people, places and events, and he should know – he has lived it. A lifelong resident, he grew up in Concord and attended Farragut High School. He likens Concord in those days to the fictional town of Mayberry, but calls it “even sleepier.�
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By Wendy Smith Instituting a hotel/motel tax and drawing out-of-town visitors to Farragut were two suggestions that came from last week’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen workshop on economic development. Town Administrator David Smoak provided a snapshot of the town’s financial trends. He also reviewed the role of Farragut’s economic development partners − Farragut/ West Knox Chamber of Commerce, Farragut Business Alliance, Knoxville/Oak Ridge In-
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most community gatherings. Galbraith’s mother, Fancher Smartt Galbraith, began teaching music at the school before the Great Depression, and also gave piano lessons in her home. “Hundreds of students passed through our house, one-half hour at a time,� says Galbraith, continuing, “Although she’s been gone for 49 years, not one month has passed in all that time that someone hasn’t mentioned to me what
an impact she had on them.� Galbraith’s mother instilled the love of music in him, and it served him well during his college years. “Fifty-five years ago this month, Charlie Baker formed a band and I was able to pay my tuition by playing guitar,� says Galbraith, “We played nearly every weekend in Oak Ridge for dances, also high school events, festivals and sock hops.� To page A-3
novation Valley, Visit Knoxville and Retail Strategies. Economic development initiatives cost the town $363,510 this year, counting professional services and personnel. Smoak said the town could continue on the same route or consider new ideas. Alderman Louise Povlin thinks the missing piece in Farragut’s strategy is a tourism coordinator who could drive business to hotels. She also thinks it’s a good time to implement a hotel/motel tax. The charter for the Economic Develop-
ment Committee (EDC) needs to be updated, since its role has changed, she said. The Farragut Business Alliance has taken on many of the EDC’s activities, turning it into more of an advisory committee. Alderman Ron Pinchok, who is the board’s liaison to the EDC, agreed that the committee needs to be more effective. He also agreed that the town needs a hotel/motel tax and a Visit Farragut initiative to increase tourism. To page A-3
Amber Rountree’s big October By Betty Bean South Knox’s Amber Rountree has every reason to “call in tired� for the Nov. 2 school board meeting, but here’s betting she will find a way to attend. The board will vote on her resolution to exempt Knox County from using standardized tests in students’ grades and for teacher evaluations.
Analysis The tests are not yet aligned with the curriculum, she says. A similar resolution passed the board last year, but this one has drawn fire from interim Superintendent Buzz Thomas and even Gov. Bill Haslam. Rountree was elected the board’s vice chair Oct. 5, after a
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4 4 deadlock between Terry Hill 4-4 and Tony Norman with Mike McMillan absent. She’s a doctoral candidate at UT, and on Saturday, she and husband Bart added a second son to their family. Just two days earlier, Oct. 27, Gov. Haslam brought astronaut Barry Wilmore to Mount Olive Elementary School in her district to celebrate two-year-old science scores. Rountree was there. Haslam, as quoted in the daily newspaper, had a Lake Wobegon moment (â€Śâ€œwhere all the children are above averageâ€?) when he said: “Here’s the big deal: Tennessee is the only state in the nation to grow faster than the nation in fourth grade and eighth grade ‌. That makes Tennessee the fastestgrowing state in the nation in science results.â€?
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canThey didn’t get a confetti conf nfetti f can non, but everybody at Mount Olive knew something big was up, even before the VIP invitations went out on Wednesday. Long-requested repairs suddenly got done, and by the time the governor showed up, the school was spit-shined to a fare-thee-well and the teachers’ parking lot was full of bigwigs’ cars. Going to Mount Olive was a two-fer for Haslam. He got to plug state Rep. Eddie Smith (fighting a stiff challenge from former Rep. Gloria Johnson) and he got in some licks against Rountree’s resolution. The resolution was on the school board’s October agenda, but was bumped by her colleague Gloria Deathridge, who took a point of personal privilege so the
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Teachers Advisory Committee could take up the matter (which they did, and voted 12-8 to support Rountree’s position). How was the Mount Olive event received? Depends on whom you ask. Not everyone appreciated the lastminute school facelift. The term “dog-and-pony show� got a lot of use: “If you don’t have nice stuff at your school, our politicians need to see that. You don’t need to clean up for company. Let them see how it is every day,� said one veteran teacher. “I kept asking myself, ‘Why Mount Olive?’ They never gave a reason.� And what does Rountree think? Here’s an entry on her Facebook page: To page A-3
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Recalling how phone calls were made, Galbraith said, “Miss Hammond was the phone operator and all calls went through her switchboard. When you placed a call, she was likely to tell you that person wasn’t home right then, and mostly she even knew when they might return!� Farragut High School was the center of social life in the area during the 1920s through the 1950s, and music was central to
Board discusses tourism as new funding source
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