UNION COUNTY Shopper news • JANUARY 4, 2014 • 5
Down goes Gibbs Hall Down goes Gibbs Hall, well, soon. The old athletic dorm and Stokely Center will be mere memories as Tennessee clears the way for progress – parking garage, new dorm and three practice fields for football. This dorm was built in ’64 and named in a kneejerk reaction to the death of assistant basketball coach Bill Gibbs, 35. He was lost on the morning of Feb. 3 that year, when a commuter plane crashed on takeoff in Gainesville, Fla. An entire generation may not have known or cared about Bill Gibbs. I did. That was one of the worst days in 60 years of newspaper life. The basketball Vols were in Florida for a Monday night game. Gibbs was the advance scout who had charted the Gators on
same questions. This was another time in the news business. It was important to be first but Marvin more important to be accuWest rate. Of course I wrote the story but the combination of personal hurt and professional frustration made for Saturday. He gave his re- a bad-hair day. port to Ray Mears and the Gibbs Hall became a foteam at the Sunday walk- cal point in my many years through. The next day he of covering the Volunteers. would be moving on to see Access to athletes was far a future foe. more open then and I conWhen I heard about the ducted almost daily intercrash, I read tea leaves. views in the dorm lobby, Bill wasn’t at the hotel so after practice and after dinhe almost certainly was ner, without Haywood Haron the flight. I hurried to ris or Bud Ford arranging or the airport. There were monitoring conversations. no survivors. I got around Steve Kiner and I once enough police tape to see talked for two hours in his the wreckage from a dis- room – about life, obligatance but couldn’t confirm tions, responsibilities, exanything with authorities, pectations. The linebacker no matter how I asked the was struggling. I was a
The Written Word Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. (2 John 12 NRSV) See? This is a problem. What the author of 2 John may have said to the community of faith we will never know, because it was said and not written. If it had been written, we would likely have it recorded in Scripture. In much the same way, I have an issue with e-mails. Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate e-mail as much as the next person. It is quick and efficient and quite handy. However, there are advantages to getting a letter in the mail. Let me explain. We have, in the family archives, several letters my grandfather wrote to the
Cross Currents
Lynn Pitts
young lady he would eventually marry – my grandmother Belle. She was well and truly named; Papa claimed forever that she was the prettiest girl who ever came out of Union County. His letters to her were elegant, humble, and very proper: in them, he called her “Miss Petree.” (It was
a different time: as long as she lived, when she spoke of him to friends and neighbors, she referred to him as “Mr. Dunn.”) I also have one letter written to Belle by one of her 10 brothers. It was a letter of admiration and appreciation. I have considered giving it to one of his direct descendants, but so far, have (selfishly) kept it. Mother still has all of the correspondence she exchanged with Daddy before they were married. She was working at Miller’s Department Store and he was in school at Lincoln Memorial University. Those letters are filed, in order, in a cedar keepsake box. I have not read them, considering them private and personal. When my brother was
young husband and father and Sunday school teacher. I thought I had all the answers. It was an unforgettable experience. We remain friends. Kiner and Gibbs Hall – he was guardian of an adopted stray dog named Rabies. I believe it slept under his bed. He and other Vols smuggled in meat scraps. Maids and janitors didn’t notice. Kiner and Gibbs Hall – he once walloped basketball giant Rupert Breedlove over a table dispute in the dining room and had to skip a few meals as punishment. Tim Townes, very small freshman safety, was misidentified in the dining room by assistant coach Bob Davis: “Son, this is the football section. Wrestlers sit over there.” Gus Manning persuaded Tom T. Hall and part of his band to stop one evening as
cultural enrichment for the Volunteers. That was the first time I heard “Watermelon Wine.” Joe Louis came to see and be seen. I tried but the former heavyweight boxing champion didn’t say much. Bernard King lives on in Gibbs memories. Greg Phillips was second-team football but first in electrical engineering. He was studying late when loud music interrupted concentration. He took a walk, found the sound and asked the basketball star to turn it down. King said OK. Greg went back to books, heard more music and made another trip. Sorry about that. And there was peace and relative quiet. Phillips seemed more determined on the third trip. When Bernard opened the door, Greg picked him up and dumped him onto the stereo. It broke. It is good for all of us that King didn’t.
Police, now and then, visited Gibbs Hall. Eventually doors were locked. That didn’t prevent the occasional girl incident. The dorm was a focal point as recently as January 2010, after the sudden departure of a famous football coach. From a second floor window, somebody screamed, “Go to hell, Lane Kiffin.” John Ward delivered the most famous dorm mention, Vol Network, 1967, from the campus of Mississippi State. One fine guard hit free throws with seven seconds left in the third overtime to clinch the SEC championship. The big trophy belonged to the Volunteers. Ward said: “Wrap it up, tie it in orange and white, and send it to Bill Justus, care of Gibbs Hall, Knoxville, Tennessee!”
born (not long before the end of World War II), Daddy sent telegrams to relatives announcing the birth. At least one of those documents was sent back to Daddy and Mother as a keepsake. It gave Warren’s name, date of birth, birth weight, then remarked, “Mother and son are fine; father’s condition questionable.” That telegram is still in the family archives. When I was born three years later, Daddy made long distance phone calls. It was the new technology, very up-to-date. However, I have always felt a little cheated, because I didn’t have a telegram I could hold in my hand. I don’t know what Daddy said in those phone calls, and I would love to know! We also have all of the war correspondence from Daddy’s younger brother, who fought in the South Pa-
cific, and who was in a foxhole on Okinawa when he learned of Warren’s birth. All of these are documents of a different time, of a different world. They are, however, historical documents, even if they are a family history and not of great importance to anyone else. They are a little chunk of our story, and that is, after all, what history is all about: story – yours, mine, ours, our country’s, our world’s, our universe’s story. I encourage you to find out your story, your history. Ask your parents and your grandparents to tell you their stories. Check out old family Bibles; look at the pages between the Old and New Testaments; frequently there are pages there on which to record births, marriages, and deaths. Go to the McClung Historical Collection, 601 Gay Street.
It is part of the Knox County library system, and an unimaginable wealth of genealogical information. Go to Ancestry.com. Learn your stor y!
(Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com)
Celebrating an event? Share your family’s milestones with us! Send announcements to news@ ShopperNewsNow.com
Mission Statement: To improve the quality of life of all those God places in our path by building on our experiences of the past, pursuing our vision for the future and creating caring life-long relationships.
2322 W. Emory Rd. 1-800-237-5669 • www.knoxvillerealty.com
865.947.9000 Of ce is independently owned and operated.
NORRIS LAKEFRONT! This 3BR/2BA sits on 1.54 acres w/over 200' waterfront. View of Waterfront Marina. Private setting. Features: New floating boat dock, boat ramp, oversized detached 2-car wkshp/gar & carport. Features: Covered outdoor kit w/gas FP, lg open great rm & granite/tile in kit. $499,900 (867623)
16 ACRES – 3BR/3BA, B-ranch w/approx 4 acres of pasture & wooded for privacy featuring everything on main level w/sep living down including full eat-in kit, lg rec rm w/wood stove, full BA & laundry. Rec rm could be converted into BR or could nish 12x14 un nished stg area. 2-car gar on main & 1-car/wkshp down, 10x40 covered front porch w/ceiling fans, 2 decks in back. Many updates including newer windows, new appliances, countertop & tile ooring on main, kit w/pantry & lots of cabinets, new int doors. Well water w/water softner sys. A must see $275,000 (861332)
ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL MTN & COVE LAKE VIEW from covered 35x12 back deck. This 4BR/3.5BA, 1.5 story basement features: Master on main, 4th BR or bonus rm up, 2BR and full BA down with rec rm and family rm. Master on main with sep BAs. Updates include: Oak hdwd oor, microwave, intercom sys, HVAC 5yrs, Water puri cation sys. $275,000 (859108)
HEISKELL – Almost an acre ready for building. All utilities available at the property. $17,500 (864296)
CORRYTON – 25 ACRES – Creek, underground spring, approximately 1500 ft. road frontage. 85% pasture, mountain views, 3BR/1BA farm house. Barn, shed, sewer & city water at road. $389,900 (839047)
CARYVILLE – Own your own mountain for less than $12,000 an acre. These 208+ acres are within 1 mile from access to the Cumberland Trail. Great for hunting, shing & hiking. $269,900 (833013)
Larry & Laura Bailey Justin Bailey, Jennifer Mayes, Tammy Keith
MAYNARDVILLE – Timber Creek 5-10 acre tracts close to schools & shopping. Sewer & underground utilities. Starting at $29,900 (837594)
COMMERCIAL – Property fronts Maynardville Hwy & Spring St for prime locaton. The 60 storage units rent for $40.00 & $60.00 mth. $279,000 (837893)
< UNION COUNTY – 40 acres wooded w/stream and so much more all close to town. $95,000 (866247)