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CONTENTS
Out-N-About Publisher Scott Pratt Operations Director Dylan Pratt Managing Editor Kelly Hodge Associate Writers Trey Williams Leigh Ann Laube Daniel Bratton Ron and Anita Fink Lester Bean Don Spurrell Harrison Jenkins Advertising Sales Manager Rick Richardson Cover Design Nathan Wampler Cover Photo Grant Kerley
Cover story 8 The Transformer He’s a criminal defense attorney by trade, but Joe Baker’s entrepreneurial spirit shows through with his many renovation projects in downtown Johnson City. “I like building new things,” the Gatlinburg native says in the October Q&A.
Features 4 Tall Tales Well Told There’s a spellbinding energy to behold every October when the National Storytelling Festival takes over Tennessee’s oldest town. 7 Brews of Distinction When it comes to Oktoberfest gatherings, the one in Kingsport has become a popular destination for beer lovers.
10 Change of Direction Steve Forbes brings a different style and a history of winning to the ETSU basketball program.
14 She’s a Gamer Professional billiards player Janet Atwell has gained strength and perspective in her battle with breast cancer. 18 Good Listeners Teri Dosher and her daughter, Zoe, have channeled their love of live music into a fulfilling occupation. 20 Wolves and More The gray wolves are a signature attraction, but Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium has plenty more to offer. 22 Glamping The Happy Campers found a bit of luxury mixed with the scenic beauty of Douglas Lake during a stay at an “RV resort.” 24 Lasting Legacy For more than four decades, The Cottage has felt like home to many. 30 Op-Ed: The Immigration Debate 31 Lester Bean’s Ode to the Donald
Page Design Kelly Hodge Photography Grant Kerley Cartoons Terry Warner Out-N-About magazine is a monthly production of Phoenix Flying Inc. We strive to be informative, entertaining and, above all, interesting. Thoughtful feedback is welcome at outnaboutmagazine@gmail.com. Read online at outnaboutmagazine. com and like us on Facebook. For advertising opportunities, call Dylan Pratt at 423-2028664.
October 2015
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Center of attention When it comes to tellers of tall tales, Jonesborough brings out the best
International Storytelling Center
The International Storytelling Center will play host to the national festival it founded from Oct. 2-4.
By Leigh Ann Laube
International Storytelling Center
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“We took an art form and professionalized that art form,” says ISC executive director Kiran Sirah.
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Kiran Sirah wasn’t born when the National Storytelling Association — the precursor to the International Storytelling Center — was founded. And even though Sirah, executive director of the ISC, hails from the United Kingdom, he is thrilled that the National Storytelling Festival draws more than 10,000 audience members annually to Tennessee’s oldest town. “What I really love about it is it’s a national festival, a national program, one of the top 100 events in the U.S., but it’s not in DC, not in New York,” Sirah says. “It’s in the South. It’s in the mountains. People from all 50 states come to experience the culture of the U.S. South.” Sirah, a prominent folklorist, joined the ISC in 2013 shortly after the retirement of founder and president emeritus Jimmy
Neil Smith. Smith, a former journalism teacher and mayor of Jonesborough, started the National Storytelling Festival in October 1973. Two years after that, the National Storytelling Association (NSA) was founded to spearhead America’s storytelling renaissance. Today, the NSA — now known as the International Storytelling Center — promotes the power of storytelling and the creative applications of this ancient tradition to enrich the human experience in the home, at the workplace, and throughout the world. “It was founded as an educational cultural center,” Sirah explains. The ISC is dedicated to enriching the lives of people around the world through the art of storytelling. It’s the organization’s goal to inspire and empower people See Page 5
Continued from Page 4 everywhere to capture and tell their stories, listen to the stories of others, and use storytelling to produce positive change. Probably best known as host to the National Storytelling Festival, held annually during the first full weekend in October, there’s much more that goes on at the ISC, a three-acre facility on Jonesborough’s West Main Street, just a stone’s throw from the site of the first festival. There’s the teller-in-residence series, storytelling concerts and workshops, and children’s performances. The ISC also has a network of partners. The ISC and Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort have joined forces to highlight the art of storytelling. Together with Google’s Cultural Institute, the ISC has launched a free online exhibition that explores the stories behind history’s most important historic and cultural moments. The ISC joined with MasterPeace, a grassroots peace movement based in the Netherlands, to launch a global storytelling competition. The winning story was presented at the United Nations headquarters on International Day of Peace in 2014. As a partner with the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Peacebuilding, the ISC reinforces the importance of sharing stories to build peace among peoples and nations. There have been other partnerships — with the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the United Way
of America and the Mounthe top storytelling festival tain States Foundation. in the world and the oldest. In addition, the Tennes“Jimmy Neil Smith was see Arts Commission offers the founder, the visionary the Student Ticket Subsidy (of the National Storytelling Program, which provides Festival). It was his vision ticket subsidy funds for the that planted the seed, but National Storytelling Festival other people were part of to Tennessee public schools watering that seed that to expose students to a broad made it what it is today,” variety of cultural he says. “The word experiences, arts started spreading disciplines and across the country artists. and people started None of this coming to Joneswould have hapborough. Ray Hicks pened, however, if was invited to first not for Jimmy Neil festival. He told Jimmy Smith and a few traditional tales in Neil Smith friends rolling an the home — Scotch founded the old farm wagon Irish tales and onto Courthouse Jack tales in Beech festival and Square and telling Mountain, N.C. storyelling stories. He did come, and center. “It was the he came for many world’s first ever gathyears. He became very ering of storytellers so it much associated with the was a landmark event, a movement itself.” movement in the storytell“In the early days, it was ing world,” Sirah says. “It folk and traditional-based sparked a renaissance. It’s stories from the mountain
Tom Raymond/Fresh Air Photographics
region,” Sirah says. Storytelling, Sirah says, is not unique to the South. It’s just that the South has such a rich oral tradition. “Now we can see there are probably 500 or 600 different kinds of storytelling festivals across the nations,” he says. “There are storytelling guilds or groups, festivals all across the world. We professionalized the industry. We took an art form and professionalized that art form.” The National Storytelling Festival is synonymous with Tennessee autumn; large, colorful circus tents; and three days of the magic of storytelling. “I think there’s a personal connection because everyone is a storyteller,” Sirah says of the appeal of the festival. “There are some people who have crafted that art form and have become masters of that art form. …. These are people
Bill Lepp, an internationally known storyteller and humorist from West Virginia, holds the attention of a large crowd under the big top with one of his outrageous tales.
who have crafted it and made it their fulltime profession. They can engage an audience for four hours, for five hours. They can make you connect with seeing the world in in a certain world and seeing themselves in a certain way. You don’t need any props. You don’t need any paintbrushes. You don’t need any costumes. All you need is your heart and the opportunity to be in a space and listen. When you’re in a story, you’re on a journey. It’s an art experience. It’s a meaningful experience because it gives us a sense of purpose of why we are on the planet. It inspires us to think about ourselves and each other in certain ways.” For more information about the International Storytelling Center or the National Storytelling Festival, visit www.storytellingcenter.net or call 423-753-2171.
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Kingsport readies for Oktoberfest fun By Daniel Bratton If there is a better Oktoberfest festival anywhere in the United States than the one being held Oct. 3 in downtown Kingsport, you sure wouldn’t believe it after a few minutes of speaking with Aaron Carson, owner of SuperFly Fabulous Events, which is organizing the fifth annual Tennessee Oktoberfest. After receiving multiple awards and inclusion in many best of lists, including Paste magazine’s “7 Best Oktoberfests in the U.S.,” the Kingsport event is continuing to gain momentum. It repoortedly drew a crowd of over 16,000 last year. “For our fifth year, we wanted to bring even more entertainment, we wanted to create something very special,” Carson says. Obviously, with a festival like this the beer is the centerpiece, and there will be no shortage of rare, obscure, one-off and, of course, Oktoberfest-style brews. The vast majority of the beers available are crafted here in the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. What separates this festival from many of the other beerfests around the country is the attention given to ensure that there is something for everyone to enjoy. “It was really important for us to make this a family festival,” says Carson, who owns and operates Superfly Fabulous Events with his wife Stephanie. In fact, there is an entire day of free family events planned in what they call Das Kidzones, a designated alcohol-free area. Everything from inflatable bounce houses, face painting, corn hole and, new this year, swordplay,
otherwise known as boffing. This is a supervised, safe area where kids have the opportunity to play with or against each other with fully padded and safe swords, shields, spears and arrows. For the college football fans in attendance, there is the Football and Bier Haus, located right next the Craft Bier Garden, which features a large tent, plenty of tables and chairs and five widescreen televisions. Creating the soundtrack for the event, 100 Acres, If Birds Could Fly and Jake and the Comet Conductors will be providing live music throughout the day and into the evening. This year also features a roving band playing traditional German polka music that is sure to get everyone in the true Oktoberfest spirit. Another crowd pleaser is the Weiner Dog Brat Trot that features dachshunds in multiple elimination races to determine a winner. All of the traditional Bavarian cuisine will be available in the food court and there is even a craft artisan market that showcases local artisans and craftsmen selling their unique and original creations. The main attraction for many is the Craft Bier Garden featuring over 100 beers. There is a deliberate focus on local and regional breweries that will be showcased at this event. Supporting and continuing to build a strong community of brewers, both commercial and home, is something that is very important to Carson. “There are many amazing local
The Tennessee Oktoberfest drew over 16,000 beer lovers to Kingsport last year. Organizers say the fifth annual festival on Oct. 3 will be the best one yet. (Photos by SuperFly Fabulous Events)
Over 11,000 sq ft of Books, CDs, DVDs, Books-on-CDs, Vinyl Records, Comics and Video Games.
See OKTOBERFEST, Page 29
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October Q&A: JOE BAKER
Giving old venues new leases on life
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erhaps the most striking thing about Joe Baker at first is his youthful appearance. A guy who is helping to transform a large chunk of downtown Johnson City shouldn’t look 28, should he? Baker actually turned 40 this year — he has a wife and three kids — and is bringing his ideas, energy and resources to bear in very creative ways. An attorney by trade, the Gatlinburg native splits his time these days between the Smoky Mountains, Asheville and Johnson City. He doesn’t make a lot of courtroom appearances. There are too many other things going on. Among Baker’s current business interests are Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine in Gatlinburg, which has grown into a successful international brand in just five years, and a cluster of historic buildings in various states of transformation surrounding Founders Park in Johnson City. The holdings include the new Yee-Haw Brewing Co., that opened in August in the former Tweetsie train depot, and two adjacent properties that soon will have repurposed lives. There’s also the former CC&O depot across the street, once in danger of being demolished, that now houses Tupelo Honey Café. Speculation that Baker will become involved in the century-old Model Mill property just down the State of Franklin corridor is ongoing, and he doesn’t discourage it. All things considered, Joe Baker is to many around town the most refreshing face to come along in a
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while. Wearing a pair of jeans and polo shirt, Baker was typically at ease as he sat on the patio of his brewery for a recent interview with Out-N-About managing editor Kelly Hodge. KH: So, attorney? Developer? Entrepreneur? Which label fits best these days? JB: I’m an attorney first, and I still love practicing law. But now entrepreneur is a better word. I’m not a real-estate developer. We’ve developed some properties through our work or ventures, but I could just as easily be selling ice cream tomorrow as beer. I enjoy building new things. KH: You got a taste of life in the city a few years ago when you lived in the Tree Streets neighborhood? JB: Yes, my wife (Jessi) was in medical school. She finished her first year of medical school and we were at a point where Ole Smoky was growing quickly and I really needed to be in Gatlinburg, so we moved back after her first year of medical school. We certainly enjoyed our time here. KH: Tell me about the brewery. It was another much-anticipated project in a historical building. What are the early reviews? JB: So far, so good. I think as we went through the construction process and just trying to get things open, there was a lot of excitement in the community for
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Grant Kerley
Joe Baker has raised the profile of the former Tweetsie railroad depot in Johnson City with his new Yee-Haw Brewing Co.
Continued from Page 8 Yee-Haw and for the taproom here. It’s been better than expected as far as the number of people coming through and the support we’ve gotten from the local community. Brandon (Greenwood) has done a great job making the beer. All of it has surpassed my expectations. KH: You’ve been in the spirits business for a while now, but this was your first foray into making craft beer. What was the attraction? JB: First and foremost, just being a guy that enjoys drinking beer. When we make whiskey, the process until you distill the mash is very similar, and the experience of making spirits probably helped that evolve. Just the excitement of creating a new brand and creating new opportunities, not only for me and my family but for the folks that we employ and the folks that are on the team with me … I’m certainly driven to create things that are good for the community and for the people around me. KH: What is the reach of the brewery now? JB: We distribute our beer now throughout East Tennessee, and I would expect by the spring we’ll be in a couple of other states. I would
‘I’m certainly driven to create things that are good for the community and for the people around me.’ hope that we’ll be on pace to sell 12,000 barrels of beer by next summer. I’d be very happy with that. KH: Does bottling come into play at some point? JB: In about two weeks. We’re currently in the process of packaging for stores like Roadrunner and Food City. The beer will be available for purchase in a lot of stores in October. KH: You mentioned Ole Smoky. Is that a different animal entirely from Yee-Haw? JB: It is. But when you start a business, I think in many ways they all start the same. The stressors and the challenges you face are very similar. Ole Smoky now is a brand that is distributed on every continent except Antarctica. I think we’re selling it in China and close to 40 countries. It’s certainly a different animal in that regard, but the challenges that we face are very similar. KH: Is your father Gary part of your business operation?
JB: He does a lot of construction for me, but he’s not personally involved in the businesses. He’s been a contractor and has done construction work for the better part of his life. He’s entertaining, and he’s got stories. It’s always something. He’s been a huge part of the process of reconstruction and bringing this back to life. KH: Is there a grand plan as far as your involvement in downtown Johnson City? JB: Our family has an interest in four properties, and we’ve been really proud to contribute to the downtown area. A couple of the projects, the Tupelo building and this one, they’re high profile, if you want to call them that, because of where they’re located. But in reality it’s just a small part of what’s going on down here. I’m just proud that we’ve been able to be a small part of it. KH: What do you like about the business climate here? JB: When I say we have seen great support from the local com-
munity, the things that are fantastic and really make me smile and feel like we made the right decision to bring this here are things like the Taco Trek here on Tuesday nights. We have pub rides with Fleet Feet. And when we see more than a hundred people show up to run out of here on Thursday nights, that’s significant. The energy that is here because of the university and the efforts of the local government to really create some significant quality projects, the energy that exists because of other business owners coming in and making the investment … Founders Park and the pavilion will add to it. It’s hard to come into town on a given day and not feel like good things are happening. KH: There’s construction going on next door as we speak. What’s that about? JB: It’s the three-story building that Free Service Tire used to occupy. There will be office space on the second and third floors and retail on the first. KH: What about the old Chevy dealership building across the tracks? JB: That’s an exciting project; that’s kind of my pet project right
October 2015
See BAKER, Page 26
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Dakota Hamilton/ETSU
Steve Forbes has been part of a lot of winning teams over the last decade, most recently as an assistant coach at Wichita State.
A big bounce for ETSU hoops By Kelly Hodge
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here never was much doubt that Steve Forbes was ready to run a Division I basketball program. For years he had worked beside guys like Billy Gillispie, Bruce Pearl and Gregg Marshall, soaking up all the knowledge the celebrated coaches had to offer. In between, he sharpened his skills, and his perspective, in the junior-college ranks, where you often learn as much about life as basketball.
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Yes, Forbes was ready. When East Tennessee State University decided to give its stalled program new direction in March, firing Murry Bartow after a dozen years in charge, it turned to the charismatic Wichita State assistant. Forbes came in with an ambitious mantra of “first, better and most,” borrowed from Marshall, his former boss. Six months later, he appears anxious to open camp and get on with things. “It’ll take time, just based on
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competition,” Forbes said during a recent interview at his office in the Mountain States Health Alliance Athletics Center. “But barring anything happening, injuries or whatever, I would think by conference time we’ll be a pretty good basketball team.” The 50-year-old Forbes comes to ETSU after two wildly successful seasons with the Shockers. They won 65 games over that span and reached the Sweet Sixteen both years. In 2013-14, the team rolled up a 35-game win streak before
finally being taken down by Kentucky. Forbes had been planning for another season as head coach at Northwest Florida State when Marshall called him and asked him to come to Wichita, Kansas. It was a shocking opportunity. “I felt like the jockey who went to the track without a horse, and they said, ‘Get on Secretariat,’” he said. “I knew they were good. I had no earthly idea they were that good. See Page 11
Continued from Page 10 Having Cleanthony Early, who’s a pro now, Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, both All-American guards … they’re the type of guys we’re trying to attract here — Burger King All-Americans who could be McDonald’s, guys who were a little under-recruited but are really good players. You have to be a good evaluator.” That will be crucial immediately, considering the roster Forbes has put together for his debut season at ETSU includes a dozen new players. (Transfers Hanner Mosquera-Perea of Indiana, who is 6-9 and “crazy athletic,” according Forbes, and Tevin Glass of Wichita State will have to sit out.) The group looks impressive on paper and walking the halls, but how quickly leadership and chemistry develop on the court remains to be seen. “A guy from CBS interviewed me yesterday and asked me, ‘Are you the only team in America that signed 10 players?’” said Forbes. “We really didn’t sign 10; seven we signed, and three are paying their own way. Regardless, I don’t want to do that every summer.”
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owever it shakes out, the native of Lone Tree, Iowa likes the change of scenery from Kansas — “It’s a little greener here,” Forbes says, “and the wind doesn’t blow right through you” — and has felt quite at home since arriving in March. His family includes wife Johnetta, daughter Elizabeth and sons Christopher and Johnathon. “We landed down in Greeneville — Scott Niswonger was nice enough to come out and get my family on his plane — and when we landed, I just felt like we were back home,” he said. “We have a lot of friends here in the area, and I was very aware of the tradition here and the passion for basketball. I came up to the Ar-
by’s, plus we had played ETSU a couple of times when we were at Tennessee. Our daughter lives in Knoxville; she graduated from the University of Tennessee and has lived there ever since we left. “We just felt like we were coming full circle with our family.” The trip hasn’t been without its pitfalls. Forbes was part of Pearl’s staff at Tennessee when the head coach was fired for lying to the NCAA about recruiting. His assistants received one-year “show cause” penalties, which restricted their ability to move to other NCAA jobs. It was a crushing end to a magical five-year run in Knoxville that saw the Vols rise all the way to No. 1 in the rankings in 2008. And UT fans, frustrated by football’s decline, paid close attention. Thompson-Boling Arena got a major upgrade as part of a $35 million project. Tennessee basketball was back on the map. “I loved it; it was phenomenal,” said Forbes. “We had an unbelievable run, had a lot of fun, had great players and tremendous fan support. People really liked watching us play. It ended bad, but if you look at the whole body of work, it was probably one of the best times in the history of Tennessee basketball.” The memories flooded back on a recent weekend when Forbes and his ETSU assistants visited the Knoxville campus for a football game. “I was saying, ‘Guys, you’ve got to understand. This practice facility, that was a parking lot when I came here. I parked my car over there. These offices and that new arena, none of that was there,’” said Forbes. “Obviously, when they saw what they had, they put some money behind it. You have to give them credit for that.” See Page 12
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Continued from Page 11 While the Vols scrambled to recover from Pearl’s departure — and still are, to a large extent — Forbes retreated to the junior-college world. He had started his career as coach at Barton Community College in Kansas, but hadn’t planned on going back if he could help it. Suddenly, after stops at Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Illinois State, Texas A&M and Tennessee, he was forced to make some hard decisions. Next stop: Northwest Florida State in Niceville. Asked how difficult it was to be a juco coach again, Forbes was straightforward. “Money-wise it was tough,” he said. “You’re not really prepared for that sort of dip in your income. But coaching’s coaching. I played junior-college basketball, and I started out coaching in junior college, so I really had no problem doing it. “The biggest redeeming quality of juco is helping kids turn their dreams into reality. I had 21 kids go to Division I in two years, and we won a lot of games (61-6) and had a lot of fun. And I could have lived in a worse spot; we were right across the bridge from Destin. We had a brand-new $30 million arena. The one thing about having a lot of really good players, I had so much traffic, all my Division I friends. I was still able to keep my network of friends, and I met new people, because they were coming to recruit my players. So it really made a lot of sense for me to do it. It was a good opportunity.”
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orbes, with his bald head, glasses and graying goatee, has a distinctive look and a quick wit. He has learned some catchy phrases along the way to help explain his coaching philosophy. Besides “first, best and most” — he wants his team to accomplish all
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‘I think we’ll have some big crowds. People will see these guys and get excited. I just tried hard to make it look like a Division I roster.’ — Steve Forbes those things in regard to school history — he says he “recruits offense and coaches defense.” “I’ve always believed that,” he said. “Big guys take a little longer to develop, but guards, by the time we get them, they don’t turn into scorers. They either are or they aren’t.” As a guy who grew up in the Midwest in an era of motion offense, Forbes likes to see ball movement. Lots of it. “I think ball screen has kind of messed the game up a little bit,” he says. Defensively, he’s a proponent of man principles and high pressure. Going back to the catchphrases, he appreciates teams that “play hard, play smart, play together.” “That’s really important to me,” he says, “because I’ve played a lot of teams that don’t play hard, that don’t play smart and don’t play together. I think you’ll see us play really tough defense. Defense and rebounding win championships. Defense travels on the road, and offense doesn’t always. Shots come and go.” The Bucs were found lacking on the defensive end in recent years. Forbes describes Bartow, his predecessor, as a “good friend” and respects the work the former coach did at ETSU. His teams went 224-169 overall, with three NCAA tournament appearances, but the
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Bucs didn’t finish higher than fourth in conference over the last four seasons. Bartow was fired after a 16-14 campaign, as much for growing fan apathy as the record, and Forbes was quickly identified as a strong candidate to replace him. ETSU waited patiently as the Shockers again played their way to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament with wins over Indiana and Kansas. A few of the Bartow holdovers could play key roles this season — Peter Jurkin, A.J. Merriweather, Petey McClain, Isaac Banks, Desonta Bradford and Lester Wilson, if he recovers fully from microfracture surgery — and Forbes is quick to praise the work ethic of the veterans. But there’s no denying the newcomers, with their length and athleticism, have given the Bucs a new look and their fans a new attitude. “I think we’ll have some big crowds,” said Forbes, who hasn’t lost a home game since 2011. “People will see these guys and get excited. We have some length, different pieces. I just tried hard to make it look like a Division I roster.” Perhaps the biggest curiosity, literally, is Jurkin. The 7-footer, the youngest of 26 children from a family in South Sudan, transferred in last year after two injury-plagued seasons at Indiana. He was once among the most prized high school recruits in the country. “He can protect the rim,” said Forbes, smiling. “He’s got to stay away from injuries, but so far so good.” Jurkin is one of several transfers from big programs. There’s also Ge’Lawn Guyn (Cincinnati), Mosquera-Perea (Indiana), Deuce Bello (Missouri) and Glass (Wichita State). Marshall, the Wichita State coach, has no doubt Forbes will be successful at ETSU.
“He’s a great recruiter and builds tremendous relationships,” said Marshall. “The Johnson City area will quickly embrace his personality, style of play and character of the individuals within his program.” Marshall’s players were quick to echo those sentiments. Said VanVleet, the Shockers’ rock-solid senior point guard, “He’s fun. He’s real. I think of him as a mentor first and a coach second. He obviously is a great basketball coach, but I enjoyed our off-thecourt relationship just as much, if not more, than our basketball relationship. He’s just a great guy, and we’ll miss him.”
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orbes and his assistant coaches — Jason Shay, Brian Collins and Brooks Savage — begin fall camp on Oct. 3. The Bucs open their season here Nov. 14 against Averett. Two nights later, ESPN will be on campus to televise a 6 a.m. contest with Green Bay, which is part of the network’s College Hoops Tipoff Marathon. One special date on the calendar: Dec. 22 at Tennessee. Forbes just wants to make ETSU basketball special again. He hasn’t seen much of Freedom Hall — “I was in the dressing room that Elvis and Aerosmith were in, and I felt pretty good about that,” he said — but thinks it has the potential to become a raucous home court. “I like the size of it,” he said. “If I had my wish, I’d rather play on campus, because everybody will come. It’s easier. But we don’t have that option, so we’ll make the most of Freedom Hall. “It’s an intimate venue that we could potentially fill. I hear that in the ‘90s we had 11,000 fans for games. But that was a long time ago, and when you lose that, it’s hard to get it back. They’re just not going to come, 11,000 strong. But 6,000, that’s possible. That would be awesome. It’s not about marketing; it’s about winning. We gotta win.”
Football time again East Tennessee State University was back in the football business in September. The Bucs played their first game since 2003 when they opened the new season against Kennesaw State at Kermit Tipton Stadium. A close game at half got out of hand quickly as the Owls prevailed 56-16. Alas, the first month was a winless one for the Bucs, and coach Carl Torbush’s team headed into an Oct. 3 matchup at home against St. Francis at 0-4. (Photos by Dakota Hamilton)
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She’s a gamer Breast cancer hasn’t kept Atwell down By Trey Williams
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n October surprise was the perfect time for giving a vote of confidence to professional pool player Janet Atwell, whose game is already in the pink. Beginning Oct. 3, Atwell will coincidentally spend 14 days of Breast Cancer Awareness Month training at her home with renowned pool coach Tor Lowry. Atwell, who began playing pool professionally in 1999 and has owned Borderline Billiards in Bristol since its opening in 2006, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Days later, she was undergoing a double mastectomy. Undeterred, Atwell finished second in a regional tournament in Phoenix before she’d finished her recovery. “I was amazed myself, because I got so tired,” Atwell said. “I was still doing chemo. There were times when I was kind of having to lean on the table and hold on to it as I was walking around playing because I was out of energy. But my mindset was, I was so happy to be playing that I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. And I think I probably played better than I might have played had I not been sick.” Atwell was too fatigued to remain in chairs at the venue between matches, so she’d rest in the car. It was a heartening display that made her the overwhelming sentimental See Page 15
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Cathy Metzinger
Janet Atwell began playing billiards professionally in 1999 and turned heads immediately. She’s now trying to revive a career derailed by breast cancer in 2013.
Continued from Page 14 favorite. “You can kind of tell when you’ve got the audience on your side,” she said. “Of course, I was bald. … I had people coming up to me — I mean, fans from everywhere — that had been following the story on Facebook. You can feel the energy of the spectators.” She certainly won a fan in Lowry, whose training videos were an instant hit on YouTube. One has more than 2.1 million views. Among his pupils was a veteran who lost a hand in combat in Iraq. When Atwell was still recovering from cancer surgery, she built up to walking 1-2 miles on a treadmill and began watching his videos while doing so. “He’s an amazing coach,” Atwell said. “He won’t just coach you by letting you pay him. … He believes in helping others and paying it forward.” While applying for an opportunity to receive his training some eight months ago, Atwell shared some of her story. But she spent more time thanking him for making his instructional videos available for free online. Alas, she’d decided her email probably hadn’t ever been received when she didn’t get a response for 3-4 months. “And then just one day out of the blue, the phone rang,” Atwell said, “and I’d listened to his videos so long … that when he said hello I knew immediately it was his voice.” Indeed, Atwell was the first person picked from 1,500 applicants, and she was picked personally by Lowry. One of those training with Lowry this year is actor-musician Ra Hanna. Atwell said she and Lowry will surely make an appearance or three at Borderline Billiards, but she hopes to basically steal away for two weeks and take her game to another level.
“I don’t want to have distractions,” she said. “It’s a little bit greedy on my part, but while I have him I want to learn everything I can learn that I never knew. … He’s bringing all of the video equipment. He’s analyzing everything about my game. He just loves being able to teach people.” Atwell isn’t exactly a babe in the woods. She has beaten Allison Fisher in an exhibition and has won at least $1,000 for 16 straight years. Her best earnings, according to azbilliards.com, came in 2005 ($11,370), and she’ll tell you it’s no coincidence that was the final year before she opened Borderline Billiards. “Somebody said, ‘Well, you own a pool room, you should be a champion,’” said Atwell. “I said, ‘Let me tell you something: since I’ve owned a pool room I play much less than I ever played beforehand.’ All the sudden, it’s your job.”
A
twell seems to have been destined for a pro career. Growing up near Abingdon in Brumley Gap, her family owned a general store. It had a pool table, although it was 50 cents per game and her parents didn’t own the table. “That’s really had I started playing,” Atwell said. “It had a coin-operated table in it. My little brother and I — we’d always ask people if we could catch the balls during their last game. We would catch all the balls and then my brother and I would catch the balls for each other when we were shooting them in the holes, because we never had the money to get the balls back out.” Spearing tobacco — lots of fivepound wet stalks of tobacco — also helped enhance hand-eye coordination at a young age. The predestined vibe strengthened in adulthood, particularly her chance meeting with Family Billiards owner Chris Aldridge in Foscoe, N.C., in 1999. Atwell was traveling and stopped in because
it looked like an excellent venue to shoot pool. Aldridge just happened to be there and Atwell, somewhat uncharacteristically, just happened to ask him if he wanted to play. When she mentioned her name, he declined. Apparently he assumed she wanted to gamble, and although she was an amateur, she’d been playing for a decade and news of her game had already made it over the mountains. But Aldridge wanted to evaluate Atwell. “So he and I played and he said, ‘If you’re interested in turning pro, I think you’ve got what it takes,’” Atwell said. “He said, ‘I’m good friends with Allison Fisher and Gerda Hofstatter.’ At the time they were Nos. 1 and 2 in the world. … “He said, ‘If it’s something you want to pursue, they’re coming to see me next month. You can come over and spend the weekend with us and let them play with you and see if you have what it takes and
we’ll guide you from there.’ And of course, I was like, ‘Heck, I just want to meet them. I could care less if I’ve got the talent. If that’s an in to get to meet them up close and personal and spend a weekend, I’m in.’” Atwell was a nurse at the time — still is, in fact — and received a call at her nurse’s station from Aldridge shortly thereafter. “Needless to say, I took off from work and went over there for the whole weekend,” Atwell said. “You’re amazed that you’re even getting to meet somebody like that. And even if they give you even a little indication that you could turn pro, then all of the sudden you start trying everything you think you can do to make it happen.” Fisher told her she should enter a qualifier in Myrtle Beach. Eightyfour entrants were in the qualifier, which ran Monday through Wednesday. A pro event began the
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Classic & Classical
Two genres of “classic” music will strike completely different chords in October at Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, ETSU. The month will begin, on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in ETSU’s Culp Auditorium, with the classic country of Christopher and Taylor Malpass, the Malpass Brothers, who say they are working to make “real country music cool again.” As October winds down, another classic, Chanticleer, dubbed the “Rolls Royce” of men’s choruses by The Los Angeles Times, will present a concert, also in
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Out-N-About
October to brew musical mix at ETSU Culp Auditorium, on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m. With early-Elvis hairstyles and an authentic mix of country, rockabilly and honky-tonk, the Malpass Brothers are unabashed purveyors of tradition from Goldsboro, N.C., transporting audiences “back 50 years,” says The Californian. “These guys don’t just sound retro. They are retro,” reports Dan MacIntosh of Roothog Radio. The Malpass Brothers toured with the late Don Helms, former steel guitarist for Hank Williams,
October 2015
and have opened for music legend Merle Haggard on multiple tours, as well as performing at the Ryman in Nashville and Merlefest. Their first album, “Memory That Bad,” debuted in spring 2011 on the Hag Record Label, and newest release, The Malpass Brothers, came out in May of this year on Crossroads Music’s Organic Records label, produced by bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson. “We usually bring in groups that are more established than the Malpass Brothers,” says Mary B. Martin School of the Arts
Director Anita DeAngelis, “but it’s also important for us to support high-quality, up-and-coming artists as well. I think we are going to hear a lot more from them in the future.” Traditional country music is the “real deal,” lead singer Christopher Malpass says. “Every song portrays life’s joys, heartaches, problems and happiness. It comes from the heart, and has depth and truth … Our goal, really, is to see this music be revived, to help ensure it doesn’t fade away.” ETSU’s Pride Band,
composed of students in ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies, will open the 7:30 p.m. show for the duo. Tickets for the Malpass Brothers are $5 for students of all ages with ID, $15 seniors 60 and over and $20 general admission. What Chanticleer, an allmale a cappella ensemble, lacks in instrumentation, they more than make up for in what The Boston Globe calls its “accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, variety of color and swagSee CLASSIC, Page 28
Concert Schedule OCTOBER Johnson City The Down Home (downhome.com) 7 — ETSU faculty show; 8 p.m.; $10 9 — Bumper Jacksons; 8 p.m.; $14 15 — Andrea Zonn; 8 p.m.; $20 advance 16 — Blake Ribot; 8 p.m.; $12 22 — Penny and Sparrow; 8 p.m.; $14 24 — Stray Birds; 8 p.m.; $16 advance 30 — Motel Rodeo; 8 p.m.; $10/8 31 — Lauren Cole Band; 8 p.m.; $10 Founders Park Founders After 5 series Free concerts; sets at 6 and 7:25 p.m. 2 — Sam Lewis 9 — Dark Water Rising Martha Culp Street Auditorium, ETSU (etsu.edu/cas/martin) 8 — The Malpass Brothers, 7:30 p.m. 25 — Chanticleer, 6 p.m. Acoustic Coffeehouse (acousticcoffeehouse.net) 1 — Jerry Oliver, 8 p.m. 2 — Reagan Boggs, 8 p.m.; Jubal, 10 p.m. 3 — David Kraai, 3 p.m.; Ben Blankenship, 8 p.m.; Muddy Ruckus, 10 p.m. 4 — Rob Williams, 8 p.m. 5 — Stevie Tombstone, 8 p.m.; Ralph White, 10 p.m. 6 — Matt Hectome, 8 p.m. 7 — Hadley Kennary, 8 p.m.; Sean Costanza, 10 p.m. 8 — Jonathan Tea, 8 p.m.; Kim Smith, 10 p.m. 9 — The World of Wendel Werner, 8 p.m. 10 — Jason “The Comeback Kid” Edwards, 8 p.m.; Steve Hung, 10 p.m. 11 — Community Center, 10 p.m. 13 — Kevin Crafton, 8 p.m.; Mike Wheeler, 10 p.m. 15 — Carrie Morrison, 8 p.m.; DuPont Brothers, 10 p.m. 16 — Greyscale and Higher Ground, 7:30 p.m.; Don Alder, 8 p.m.; Next Door Comedy Night, 9 p.m.
Bristol Paramount Center for the Arts (theparamountcenter.com) 27 — Turnpike Troubadours with the Black Lillies; 7 p.m. Birthplace of Country Music Museum (birthplaceofcountrymusicmuseum.org) 7 — Amythyst Kiah, noon; free
Peter Frampton will appear Oct. 8 at Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville. 17 — Jeff Swafford, 7 p.m.; Tony Vines, 8 p.m.; Dan Holt, 10 p.m. 18 — The Last Tycoon, 8 p.m. 21 — Chris Long, 8 p.m. 22 — Ethan Harrison Smith, 8 p.m. 23 — Darren Michaels, 8 p.m.; Next Door Comedy Night, 9 p.m.; Joe Cat, 10 p.m. 24 — Kenna Mae Music, 8 p.m.; Roanoke, 10 p.m. 30 — DaD6, 8 p.m.; Buck Nelson, 10 p.m. 31 — Jeremiah Daly, 8 p.m.; Rhythm Brewers, 10 p.m. Willow Tree Coffeehouse and Music Room Shows begin at 8 p.m. 2 — All the Little Pieces; Charlie and the Foxtrots 9 — Jezeball 15 — Tellico 16 — Big Daddy Love 17 — Bear Medicine; William Wild 22 — Dave Eggar 23 — Charlyhorse Capone’s (caponesjohnsoncity.com) 3 — Monster Energy Outbreak Tour 9 — Asylum Suite 10 — Disillusioned 17 — The Breakfast Club 24 — Pulse 27 — Whitney Morgan 31 — Super Bob ———
Quaker Steak & Lube (thelube.com) 1 — Southern Rebellion at Bike Night 9 — James Meadows, 8 p.m. O’Mainnin’s Pub 23 — Soulfinger, 10 p.m. 24 — Soulfinger, 10 p.m. ——— Kingsport 31 — Voices of the Mountain concert; Sacred Poetry and Music Through the Ages Biggies 2 — Catfish Frye Band, 9 p.m. 3 — Accoustifried, 9 p.m. 31 — Lance Stinson, 8 p.m. ——— Greeneville Niswonger Performing Arts Center (npacgreeneville.com) 8 — Peter Frampton RAW: An Acoustic Tour, 7:30 p.m. 10 — Rick Springfield; 7:30 p.m. 13 — Flashdance the Musical; 7 p.m. 20 — Foreigner; 7:30 p.m. 24 — Josh Turner; 7:30 p.m. ——— Asheville, NC The Orange Peel (theorangepeel.net) 1 — Dawes; 9 p.m.; $22 advance/$25 day of show 2 — SOJA; 9 p.m.; $20/22 3 — Emancipator Ensemble; 9 p.m.; $22/25 7 — Beach House; 9 p.m.; $25/28 8 — Autechre; 9 p.m.; $25/28 13-14 — Grace Potter; 8 p.m.; $35/38 16 — Old 97’s; 9 p.m.; $20/22 17 — Patty Griffin; 9 p.m.; $27/30
18 — Josh Garrels; 8 p.m.; $20/22/35 VIP 19 — Preservation Hall Jazz Band; 11 a.m.; $5 adults/$3 students 19 — Tobias Jesso Jr.; 8 p.m.; $18/20 20 — Joey Bada$$; 8 p.m.; $25/27/65 VIP/95 meet and greet 21 — Langhorne Slim; 9 p.m.; $16/18 22 — Paul Thorn Band; 8 p.m.; $20/25 25 — The Devil Makes Three; 8 p.m.; $20 27 — Big Freedia; 9 p.m.; $16/18/75 meet and greet 28 — Joe Russo’s Almost Dead; 9 p.m.; $32.50/35 29 — Lil Dicky; 9 p.m.; $17/20/95 meet and greet 31 — Papadosio; 9 p.m.; $20/23 Diana Wortham Theatre 9 — Kathleen Madigan; 8 p.m.; $34/37 ——— Knoxville Bijou Theatre (knoxbijou.com) Shows start at 8 p.m. 2 — The Mountain Goats 8 — Kathleen Madigan 9 — Black Jacket Symphony 13 — Knoxville Jazz Orchestra 16 — Left Foot Down 21 — Ralphie May 22 — Dave Barnes 27 — The Oh Hellos Tennessee Theatre (tennessetheatre.com) 2 — Knoxville Symphony Orchesrtra Pops: Classical Night Fever — A Disco Inferno, 8 p.m. 9 — Knoxville Opera presents Mefistofele, 8 p.m. 11 — Knoxville Opera presents Mefistofele, 1:30 p.m. 12 — Mighty Musical Monday with the Early Bird Special Band, noon 14 — Merle Haggard, 8 p.m. 15 — Grace Potter, 8 p.m. 22 — Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents Pines of Rome, 7:30 p.m. 23 — Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents Pines of Rome, 7:30 p.m. 28 — Ben Rector, 8 p.m. 29 — Third Eye Blind, 8 p.m.
October 2015
Out-N-About
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Grant Kerley
Chasing the dream downtown “My dad let me borrow the money for the startup,” Teri said with loving inflection in her voice. Soft-spoken and constantly smiling, Teri talked for nearly an hour in a large backroom that she’s converting to a bookstore. A steady stream of quiche orders, gluten questions and coffee purchases flowed in the adjacent room out front. While peppering ears with names like Big Daddy Love, Yarn, Dangermuffin, The Black Lilies and Sam Quinn through adoring smiles, Teri and Zoe would appear to have made the right move. “She’s been my best friend since she was little and we started looking for things to do outside the house,” Teri said. “This came out of that love of going to music together. Zoe introduced me to a lot of music I didn’t know about. Luckily, we have the same taste in music. That’s what’s made it so much fun. … “And every time we’d visit somewhere we’d say, ‘Well, if this was our place, this is what we’d do’ just for fun. And then one day a friend of Zoe’s was like, ‘Why don’t you
By Trey Williams Talk about a coffee buzz. Teri Dosher’s father wondered if she was losing her mind when she gave up her 12-year career teaching math at South Side Elementary School to start The Willow Tree Coffeehouse & Music Room. The all-in venture was rooted in little more than Dosher and her 22-year-old daughter Zoe’s love for live music, but they were eager to parlay the passion of their new life in to a new livelihood. “My dad is hugely conservative when it comes to finances,” Teri said with a canary-swallowing smile. “He thought I should’ve kept my same job that I got when I was 18 and been there forever, because I was a secretary, and who gives up a job as a secretary? So when I told him I was quitting teaching to do this, it really almost killed him. “But I told him, ‘You know, I’d rather go to my deathbed poor and knowing I tried than to go through life secure and always have wondered what would’ve happened.’” And maybe father doesn’t always know best.
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Out-N-About
Kelly Hodge
Teri and Zoe Dosher opened the Willow Tree on New Years Day 2014.
October 2015
See Page 19
Continued from Page 18 just do it?’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, why don’t we just do it?’” A broken dryer actually started life’s new wrinkle. “It started at the Acoustic Coffeehouse,” Teri said. “One night our dryer broke and so we would go there to do laundry (next door), and we discovered — in a tiny little venue like that — amazing music. There we discovered Yarn.” Before long they were blazing trails across Americana, regularly visiting locales such as Bristol, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Knoxville, and wondering more and more frequently about bringing it all back home. The Willow Tree opened Jan. 1, 2014 in downtown
Johnson City. Five weeks later, a ceremonial christening was made grand by Zoe and Teri’s two favorite bands. “Big Daddy Love and Yarn are our absolute favorites,” Teri said. “They were our grand-opening bands.” It wasn’t uncommon for such acts to generate 50 ticket purchases or less around here on an off night, but Teri all but assured them a sellout. “They didn’t believe us, but we had 380 people show up,” Teri said. “We sold out 20 minutes before we opened. We’d only been open for five weeks and we had no idea what we were doing. It was crazy. People came from Georgia, Florida, Washington, D.C.” There are moments when Teri appears to enjoy pro-
moting music as much as listening to it, although that quickly disappears when she mentions Pandora — which is dialed in to Ryan Adams, Amos Lee, Bon Iver, Joe Purdy, The Everybody Fields and Mandolin Orange on this early autumn afternoon. She’s been to MerleFest, Floyd Fest, Rhythm & Roots, Rhythm & Blooms. “We’ve discovered so much good music at festivals,” Teri said. “A couple of years ago when the schedule came out (at Rhythm and Roots) I felt like a kid at Christmas who got coal in her stocking, because I didn’t know anybody on the lineup. But then you get there and it’s one new discovery after another. That’s how we discovered Sam Quinn,
just walking by the stage at Rhythm & Roots.” Quinn, the eerie-voiced former member of The Everybodyfields, is high on the Doshers’ list. “We didn’t become familiar with them until they had already separated,” Zoe said, “and then we saw a few of their reunion shows.” They’re fans, to put it mildly. “We saw them open for the Avett Brothers in Sevierville,” Teri said. “We were so in love with The Everybodyfields that it was almost like the Avett Brothers was a letdown. We even left in the middle of it.” No one left Quinn’s performance at The Willow Tree this past January. The appeal was lost on many when The Everybody-
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fields became solo acts, but the place was packed for Quinn. “We wanted everybody who knew who Sam Quinn was to know that he was playing here,” Teri said. “We worked hard to promote it. … We got him a sellout crowd — him and Josh Oliver. He was amazed.” The energy peaked when Quinn sang his ode to Johnson City. “He came out to do an encore and he sang, ‘It’s Good to be Home,’” Teri said with eyes beaming. “And he cried during the encore, because everybody went crazy.” Teri anticipates a similar scene when The Willow Tree hosts Jezeball: Dy-
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Out-N-About
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Kingsport park leaves lasting impressions of a gray wolf. Tennessee’s largest cityowned park began to take Ask anyone who grew shape in 1915, when Kingup in the Tri-Cities, or any sport Waterworks began longtime resident of the building the dam atop the area, if they have a favorite park. The lake served as memory from Bays Mounthe city’s water source until tain Park and you’ll likely 1944. In 1965, a mayor-apget a variety of answers: pointed committee began rock-filled pencils and to study ways to turn the astronaut freeze-dried ice mountain into a park, and cream from the nature center gift shop, a particular the city hired the National Audubon Society to help planetarium show, hiking design the park. around the 44-acre lake, or Bays Mountain Park perhaps their first glimpse opened in the late 1960s. Work began in 1970 on the park’s nature center and planetarium. Animal habitats were added to house animals that were native to the area, including river otters, deer, bobcats, turtles, raccoons and birds of prey. The first gray wolves arrived in 1992. Today, the 3,550-acre nature preserve is probSandra Miller ably best known The first gray wolves arrived at the to its 200,000 annual visitors park in 1992.
By Leigh Ann Laube
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Out-N-About
October 2015
Bays Mountain is a 3,550-acre nature preserve that opened in the late 1960s. With 40 miles of trails, a 44-acre lake and a planetarium, it draws 200,000 visitors annually.
Rob Cole
for its animal habitats, planetarium, 44-acre lake, 40 miles of trails (for hiking and mountain biking) and adventure ropes course. Long before Kingsport Waterworks Corp. purchased 1,300 acres atop Bays Mountain and Holston River Mountain, the mountain was home to settlers who built homes, farmed the land and raised their
families. A glimpse of the park’s history is offered to visitors who stop by the Steadman Heritage Farmstead Museum, which opened in 1988. It’s a unique city park that offers unique experiences to its visitors. “We have those folks who instinctively think of Bays Mountain Park and when they came here when they
were young,” says park operations coordinator Rob Cole. “It’s not a stretch to say when I talk to people here in the park, especially when talking to a parent who’s brought their kids here for day camp … that’s the first thing they say — ‘Do you still have those rock pencils?’ I suspect we’ll See Page 21
Continued from Page 20 always have those things.” Cole says some visitors come to hike or ride the mountain bike trails. Others come specifically to see the animals or catch a planetarium show. “One of the reasons people come to Bays Mountain Park, this isn’t an amusement park. It’s not all these gaudy bells and whistles and noisemakers. It’s nature. It’s peaceful and that’s one of the things people love about it,” Cole says. “They can literally escape the very thing that makes a lot of other attractions. They love to get away. They love to get back to nature. We have a lot of folks who get out on our trails and hike. I think we have a great number of those hikers who hit our common trails, the lakeside trail and the fire tower trail. The back end of our park, where there are additional trails, some of those trails are just absolutely gorgeous.” In 2009, the planetarium was renovated and upgraded. Two years later, the park added the Adventure Education and Team Building Project, which consists of a traditional low ropes course and a high ropes Odyssey course. These courses were added to encourage area youth to get outdoors and are used to build teamwork among participants, youth and adults alike. But there’s much more to experience at Bays Mountain. Star Watch Saturday Nights are held in October, November, March and April. StarFest, the Bays Mountain Astronomy Club’s annual astronomical
convention/star gathering, will be held Oct. 23-25. There’s summer day camp for school-age children, day and night programs at the observatory, Astronomy Day in April and, of course, the planetarium programs. A new planetarium show debuted this month. Viewers are introduced to the idea of “dark matter” and why astronomers think it exists. The planetarium’s alternate show in October is “Appalachian Skies — Fall.” The alternate show for November is “Comets & Discovery,” which takes viewers on a journey of discovery following two intrepid comet hunters. “There really isn’t anything like Bays Mountain,” Cole says. “It’s a city park. It’s a large park at that, 3,550 acres. It has a planetarium. You can go nationwide and not find but maybe a handful of parks that even remotely resemble Bays Mountain Park in its makeup. It’s very rare. “We have some amazing parks nearby — Steele Creek, Roan Mountain — that people can enjoy, and city-owned at that, in some cases. We’re a nature preserve and a state-designated natural area, which means we are set aside by the state as an area that is to be protected in its biodiversity. There obviously are some delicate species of plant life that can be found here in the park. It’s a very unique place in that regard.” Entrance to the park is $4 per vehicle and $12 per bus (school bus or larger). For more information on park activities, visit www. baysmountain.com, or call 423-229-9447.
October 2015
Out-N-About
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Happy Campers
‘Glamping’ has surreal feel at Douglas Lake By Ron and Anita Fink As the temperatures begin to mellow a bit, the Happy Campers are excited to be getting back OutN-About and spending some time in the great outdoors. Two weeks ago we made a trip down to New River State Park in Scottville, NC. It is a pretty little park nestled along a bend in the New River. We had a great time camping, hiking several trails that led to the river, kayaking, and stargazing over our campfire. There are no streetlights in the park, and no large city nearby with light pollution so we had incredible skies. Just this past week, we did something we said we wouldn’t. But then, we are not calling it a camping trip. It was more a “glamping” (glamour camping) trip. We towed our little camper to Anchor Down RV Resort on Douglas Lake in Dandridge. As the name implies, it is a resort, not a campground. While being a little on the expensive side ($59-79 a day, plus hotel and lodging taxes), especially compared to state parks, we soon learned why the prices were high — you get what you pay for. Prior to our arrival, a campground worker using a power blower cleaned our concrete pad, making it free from any dust or debris. Next they wiped off our plastic-coated picnic table and cleaned our fireplace of any ash residue. When we pulled onto the property, we were greeted by a young lady collecting all of our paperwork (reservation papers, proof of the dog’s rabies vaccination, tag numbers, etc.). The whole area was
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Out-N-About
Ron Fink
Anita Fink
The campsites at Anchor Down RV Resort feature great views of Douglas Lake, beautiful stone fireplaces and even decorative tile bathhouses. And the amenities don’t stop there. beautifully landscaped with flowers blooming everywhere and small sod “lawns” beside many sites. There was no dirt! Our campsite was so clean we wore our shoes into the camper. (The rule is while camping in the woods with organic matter all around, you remove your shoes before entering the camper. Most campgrounds request that you not bring in firewood due to invasive species of insects. They all offer firewood for sale, usually 4-5 wedges for $5. At Anchor Down they offer a tub full of
October 2015
firewood, for the same $5. And here your firewood tub is promptly delivered directly to your campsite. The campground has a swimming pool (which actually closed for the season while we were there), a floating dock with slips available for rent in case you bring your boat or jet ski, a sand beach complete with volleyball net, a covered pavilion for gatherings, a small playground, and a small dog park. The entire campground was immaculate; it was almost surreal. The other surreal part of the expe-
rience was parked on every campsite (except ours and two others). The biggest, fanciest, most expensive rigs you have ever seen were parked throughout this resort. If you have ever watched one of the RV shows on TV where all the fancy amenities available are showcased, these were the rigs that were sitting at Anchor Down. One such motor coach had a matching color scheme with its towed vehicle (of course) and had leather covers for all six wheels,
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Continued from Page 22 and even leather covers that slipped over the driving mirrors while parked in camp. The campground is on a sloping grade down to Douglas Lake. There are quite a few sites packed onto this property. Apparently the owners of these huge rigs don’t mind being packed side by side. From what we witnessed, they don’t spend very much time outside. They come outside to walk their dogs and move their camp chairs into the shade of their awnings and then go back inside to watch TV and search the Internet. (Cable and were Wi-Fi both available with your site rental.) I personally would not wish to stay here during a holiday or busy season, but on our midweek visit there were many open sites that provided a semi-secluded feel. Every site has a built-in stone fire pit, but also beautiful, stone, actual fireplaces (chimney, hearth, grates) on about one-sixth of the sites. We had a site with a fireplace that created a stone wall separation between our site and the next campsite. Each of the fireplaces had a customized design with different stone patterns. These were functioning fireplaces and obviously built by someone who knew how fireplaces work; they were not just pretty fixtures. But there were two things at Anchor Down that hit the ball out of the park as far as this Happy Camper was concerned. First were the awesome views across the lake of the mist-enshrouded Smoky Mountains, and particularly seeing Mt. Le Conte during clear peri-
ods peeking out above the clouds. The second item was the gorgeous bathhouses. I know, it seems I am obsessed with bathrooms. But when you are camping, the more you use the bathhouse, the less often you need to dump tanks on the camper. And I like a nice clean bathroom. Well, these at Anchor Down win the award for most beautiful bathrooms ever! The bathhouse has six individual rooms, each complete with sink, toilet and shower. The decorative tile, wall niche in the shower and privacy gave the bathhouse a very “spa” feeling. Soft music playing in the ceiling was the only thing missing.
As a whole, because we were there when the crowds were thin, we had a good experience at Anchor Down. Remember Monk? It was the TV series with Tony Shalhoub as the OCD detective Adrian Monk. We equated our time at Anchor Down as “Monk Goes Camping.” There is a lot to be said for cleanliness! Our only complaint about Anchor Down was lack of hiking trails easily accessed from the campground. (Most state parks have trails on property.) Of course, this is just a personal preference. Most people staying here would probably spend the day shopping, eating and being entertained in Sevierville and/or Pigeon Forge.
We just like being in nature more and didn’t want to drive through Pigeon Forge to get to trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It’s just like traveling in hotels. Sometimes it’s fun
to see the fancy resorts, but then you want to return to your comfort zone. Guess we will probably stick with camping in the state parks. Only, Monk will have to stay home!
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October 2015
Out-N-About
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Comfort zone Familiar faces always part of scene at Heiges’ place
By Trey Williams The Cottage has been a home away from home for all walks of life since the late Don Heiges purchased it in 1974. Heiges, a Montgomery, Pa., native wrapping up a 20-year career in the Marine Corps at the time, wanted a place to provide his children a living when he was no longer in the picture. And 41 years later, his son and daughter are still flipping burgers and wiping up suds. Patti, a 1974 graduate of David Crockett, is in her 38th year. Sonny followed a couple of years later. “I didn’t come until ’79,” Sonny said. “I tell everybody I’m the new guy.” The Cottage was a Johnson City sports bar when sports bars were without pretense. David Thompson has eaten there. So has Bruce Pearl, who even entered his name on a square. “Pearl just talked to everyone like a regular guy,” Sonny said. Patti isn’t particularly impressionable, but is pleased to have waited on the likes of Phil Fulmer, Ricky Skaggs and “Big” Tom Buchanan, a former East Tennessee State football player who was introduced to the nation on “Survivor” as a hillbilly goat farmer decades later. “I had a big time with the goat farmer from ‘Survivor,’” Patti said. “One night some of his buddies were in from ‘Survivor’ and he brought them in there. … I think the goat farmer is the most entertaining person we’ve had. ...
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“Ricky Skaggs said one of the girls at the visitors center in Jonesborough told him if he wanted a good cheeseburger to go to The Cottage. That was pretty cool. I’d just wanted to know how someone that famous who could afford to eat anywhere would end up at The Cottage.” The semi-regular celebrities through the decades have included Steve Spurrier and former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith. “We try not to make a big hoopla out of it when Steve comes and try to make it where he can come in and enjoy himself and enjoy a beer and not have everybody hollering at him,” Patti said. “He really enjoys the kids, and he’s always been very nice to wait on. … And then that dude with the Super Bowl ring, Mike Smith, that was pretty cool.” Science Hill Hall of Famer Sammy Simpson, a teammate of Smith’s at East Tennessee State and a Cottage regular for decades, recalls “Smitty” coming in the Cottage and saying, “Your money’s no good here.” Smith has bragged on The Cottage fried chicken more than once when he comes to town. The Cottage has been a friend to ETSU athletes, many of whom were Buccaneers basketball players. Harley “Skeeter” Swift signed his pro contract with the ABA’s New Orleans Bucs at The Cottage, and although that was before Heiges purchased it, Swift has eaten there frequently in recent years with the likes of 1963 Parade All-American Ian Morrison, ETSU 1,000-point scorer “Big” Bob Brown, Science
October 2015
Trey Williams
Patti and Sonny Heiges have been fixtures at the family business for more than three decades. Hill all-state football-basketball player Sammy “Dee Dee” Stuart, former Science Hill/ETSU player Gary Scheuerman and his former teammate, Graham Spurrier, who once suggested Sonny hang Swift’s
framed Pittsburgh Condors photo above the men’s bathroom door. So Sonny obliged. “Skeeter’s funny,” said Patti, who See Page 25
Continued from Page 24 notes Bucs from ETSU’s second round of glory days in the 1980s and early ‘90s still frequenting The Cottage. “Trazel Silvers still comes in. Marty Story comes in. He’s coaching at Davy Crockett. Calvin Talford takes care of my Corvette. He loves cars.” Don Heiges became a fan of the Bucs during the Les Robinson-Alan LeForce era, and Sonny said many of their players came regularly during their playing days. “They would come in here and study when they were in school,” Sonny said. “And we just got to talking and became friends. Rodney English was the one that studied the most. I mean, he really studied. His parents were school teachers anyway.” ETSU professors such as the late Jack Higgs and Joe Corso were regulars, too. “All walks of life come in — from professors and students to coaches and athletes,” Sonny said. “There’s always been a good mix of people.” Geologists and those who’ve broken rocks in the hot sun are on a level playing field in The Cottage, and the fare is as unpretentious as the vibe. Grease and sodium have been fixtures since before there were no-smoking sections, and Sonny takes pride in local author Scott Pratt’s Cottage-inspired Purple Cow. “What was hilarious was when he described the Purple Cow, he said you came out of there smelling like cigarettes and lard,” Sonny said. “It used to be so smoky down here in the ‘70s. These people came in and looked around and they said we’d like to sit in the non-smoking section. I said, ‘Alright.’ So I walk over to a table and they sit down, and I just pick up the ashtray and walk off. And they were happy and I was happy.” Fried chicken and hamburgers are still their bread and butter. The beef, Patti proudly says, comes from Hamilton Meats.
‘Daddy wanted me and Sonny to work together. He wanted to provide a good living for us, and he did.’
— Patti Heiges
“The chicken and the bacon cheeseburger are our most popular orders,” she said. “The bacon cheeseburger and onion rings is hard to beat. We added tater tots to the menu for kids, but there’s more adults eating tater tots than there is kids.” Chicken tenders, battered in milk, egg and flower, have become a popular item. “And we sell a lot of chef salads with bacon bits and ham and cheese,” Patti said. “And for $1.50 you can get a piece of grilled chicken on it, too. That’s probably the healthiest thing we have. You don’t come to The Cottage for healthy.” There is, at least, a “here’s to your health” vibe. And there’s something to be said for the health benefits of a smile, which is easy to do while among friends and chasing a big bite of a bacon cheeseburger with a bigger swig of cold beer. The Cottage has a family feel, always has. Don Heiges was a patriarch, all but a father figure to regulars such as Denny Williams in the ‘80s. One year at the annual Christmas party — customer appreciation day on Christmas Eve when the beer was free — Don needled Williams by awarding him a customer-ofthe-year plaque. A moment later he awarded Williams the second-place plaque as well. Sonny laughs at the memory. Williams’ entrances evoked images of the “Norm!” greeting the popular patron on the “Cheers” TV show of that era invariably received. “Our Norm was a little wilder,” Sonny said, “but he was a good one.” Many spent time with the Heiges
clan outside The Cottage. Simpson and Bill Blankenship went out on numerous golf outings to places such as Arizona, Destin, Fla., Hilton Head, Groundhog Mountain, Va., and Bean Station. Blankenship and Simpson laugh recalling how much Don liked the Atlanta Braves. They were often in places with an abundance of dining and entertainment options. “But Don,” Blankenship says, “always wanted to get back to the hotel and watch the Braves.” One night the gang followed a round of golf with dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. “We went to Ruth’s Chris,” Simpson said, “but Don and (Mary’s Salads owner) Roy Hendrix went to Denny’s instead so they could get back to see the Braves. … We called them the Braves Brothers.” The laughter of timeless bonds’ suggests many of them were essentially brothers. “My dad thought a lot of Sammy Simpson,” Patti said. But Don’s love of the Braves was somewhat perplexing. “I don’t know why he enjoyed the Braves so much, because when he lived up North he really didn’t watch baseball,” Sonny said. “He was a big Redskins fan all of his life. As he got older, he just liked baseball more. … He didn’t care if the Braves won or lost. He never criticized the coaching or anything. He just enjoyed them. “We actually buried him with a Braves flag. We folded one up like you do an American flag in a triangle, and we put it in his casket.” Don died in 2004; his love is alive and well. “Don had just bought it (The
Cottage) when I started coming in and we got to be friends and started playing golf,” Blankenship said. “He was a good man.” Blankenship smiles remembering when Don won a van for a hole-inone on No. 18 at Pine Oaks and, not long thereafter, Blankenship won a six-pack of beer for a hole-in-one on No. 3 at Elizabethton. “We had a good time together,” Blankenship said through a handsome smile. A kid at heart, Don liked to give M&Ms to diners’ children. “A lot of them are old enough to drink now,” Patti said, “but they still remember their M&Ms.” Cottage connections with customers remain strong. Patti was too sad for an interview on Sept. 23, a day after Carver Rec employee Jeremy Stevens died in a motorcycle accident. Somber waitress Shalhla Maine, part of the Cottage’s lifeblood, recalled the friendly Stevens always ordering a chicken dinner or hamburger steak. She said Patti had gone home early after several crying spells. “He was such a nice young man,” Patty said. “He always said, ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘No, ma’am.’ You don’t hear that much anymore.” The Cottage family includes Patti and Sonny’s late mother Ellen’s 89-year-old sister, Eloise Swain. An excellent golfer and pool player, Eloise worked some 20 years there after retiring from the Bank of Hawaii. “Daddy wanted me and Sonny to work together,” Patti said. “He wanted to provide a good living for us, and he did. I didn’t know until he’d died and somebody told me the reason he’d bought it was so his kids could have a job and make a good living. … Me and Sonny have been lucky in that respect; we’ve made decent money. “I think that’s why some still come down — to make sure Sonny and I are still here. They go downtown and other places, but their home place is The Cottage.”
October 2015
Out-N-About
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Baker
Continued from Page 9 now. Ultimately it will serve as venue space and brewery warehouse, some manufacturing component that will rub off. We’ve got a tenant that’s very interested in the bottom floor. It looks like that will be restaurant space. Those are things that are not concrete but pretty firm. KH: How many more projects are you willing to take on? JB: We’re taking it as it comes and trying to make smart investments that will pay themselves off over many years. There is no real way to get rich quick by trying to redo old train stations, but for me it’s a rewarding thing beyond just dollars. It’s rewarding to contribute in a way that makes an impact on people’s lives. When people drive down State of Franklin and they pass between the two depots, to me we’ve created a pretty cool corridor for downtown. When I was living here and used to bicycle my kids to daycare, to the church up on Roan, I envisioned the quality that this corridor could be. It’s exciting for me to make that drive now and see the life that’s been breathed into these two buildings. KH: Of course, there’s been a lot of discussion about the big building down the road here. Do you still have an interest in the old mill? JB: I do. It has to make sense. It is a good project, a very large structure but one of those things I’d love to be a part of in making that thrive. It’s going to require partnerships much greater than myself. As we explore possibilities to develop that with the other parties, whether it’s the Chamber or the university, I’m interested. KH: What can you envision there? JB: It could be a great communi-
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ty space, but again, to go into it as an entrepreneur and look at it and say, How can I make this work? … to me, it’s not easy to say that project is viable as a single investor that would like to create commercial space. There are certainly challenges there, but if the community wants to make something work there, I think it’s possible. KH: With a wife and three kids and all this stuff going on, you seem to maintain a pretty cheerful outlook. How do you muster it up every day? JB: I have a lot of good people around me. None of it has been accomplished by myself. Whether it’s (realtor) Greg Cox or Brandon making beer here or my dad with construction, it’s a team effort. My part is our organization; we’re just part of the wheel. It all works because other people are doing their jobs. I like to stay busy. I’ve always been accused of having attention-deficit issues, so having multiple things going, there’s a method to the madness and makes me happy. KH: You’ve also had a little military influence along the way? JB: When I was in law school, ultimately after doing some ROTC stuff with the Army, I took a direct commission in the Air Force and served in the Air National Guard. I think everything you do in your life impacts you in some way. For me, my military experience was certainly a positive part of my life and I look upon it fondly. But to create structure, leadership and teamwork, all the values that I was taught, whether I learned at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery or from Miss Williams in kindergarten, those things are evident. I notice when I’m talking to my kids, you remember a lot of the things, whether it’s a football coach or a drill sergeant, whoever said something to you at some point in your life, you remember it and carry it with you.
October 2015
Kelly Hodge
Joe Baker’s projects in downtown Johnson City include, from top, the former CC&O train depot that houses Tupelo Honey Cafe; the former Free Service Tire Co. building that is currrently under renovation; and the former Sherwood Chevrolet building that Baker describes as his “pet project.”
Atwell
Continued from Page 15 following day. “I went all through the (qualifier) tournament and didn’t lose a round,” Atwell said. While doing so she met Jeanette Lee, better known as the “Black Widow.” “She walked in and she was standing there watching my match while I was still playing the qualifier,” Atwell said. “When I finished the match, I went over and introduced myself to her and she said, ‘I know who you are. I’ve heard all about you.’ I was like, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ She said, ‘No, word’s already out.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ That kind of pumps you up.” Atwell also entered the pro tournament that week, which included 64 entries. She said she was already amazed just to win her first two matches when she found herself in a competitive see-saw match with two-time world champion Robin Dodson. “It was such a cool match, because she might break and run out and then I’d follow it up with a break and a run,” Atwell said. “And we played a lot of safeties. It was just a battle, back and forth and back and forth.” The score eventually was tied, 8-8, in a race to nine. “I’d made, I don’t know, four or five good shots and I was down on the 9-ball and had my back to her,” Atwell said. “The 9 was not anywhere close to being in the hole. I would never in my life give it to someone, especially if it meant winning or losing a match. … “I was down with my back to her shooting the 9 — a long shot in the opposite direction — and literally from nowhere a white towel came over my head and landed in the center of the table. She got up shook my hand and said, ‘That was
Contributed
Janet Atwell says she’s never questioned “Why me?” during her battle with cancer.
an awesome match.’” It was a choice moment in a surreal week of highlights. “I’ve never seen that happen since then,” Atwell said. “In my eyes, they didn’t know me, and the fact that she conceded the 9-ball, when it wasn’t really what you would consider an easy shot — that was a ton of respect from any player on a competitive level to give you that.” Atwell finished 17th in that pro debut. Before she knew it, she was being asked to return at 9 a.m. for an interview with Mitch and Ewa Mataya Lawrence, the latter of whom is also known as the “Striking Viking.” “It was an amazing week,” Atwell said. “And it was my first time ever playing females.”
O
ne of her most memorable experiences involved playing with NASCAR’s Tony Stewart at Borderline Billiards. Stewart’s management wanted to hold his press conference there because he enjoyed pool and wanted to play Atwell. It meant her missing the first day
of a tournament in Michigan City, Indiana, and beginning the tournament in the loser’s bracket on day two. But they made it worth her while and she agreed. She planned to drive most of the night to get there, but when she and Stewart were done he asked her when and where she was playing. So he overruled his management and insisted on sending her on his private jet. Atwell said Stewart was extremely friendly and great conversation. He exited the plane in Louisville to meet Casey Kahne and Charlie Daniels, and his pilot flew Atwell on to her tournament — well, the pilot and Atwell did. The pilot actually invited her to man the controls for a while, and she eagerly agreed. It was took an “amazing day” to a whole new level. “Tony and I played pool for a while and he played the jukebox and he was just like one of your regular customers in off the street,” Atwell said. “He signed a lot of memorabilia and that kind of thing for me, just a super-nice guy.” Atwell said she began playing pool consistently when she got out of college in 1989. Her cousin owned a pool room in Abingdon, and she initially wanted no part of it because of the “hustlers and rednecks” perception. “I’ll never forget, I said, ‘I’m not going in there,’” she said. “And he said, ‘I promise you it’s not like that. If you’ll come I’ll stay with you the entire time.’ And I remember saying, ‘Okay, meet me in the parking lot.’” Turns out, her brother was in there. She wasn’t aware he still played. “It was a family atmosphere ... and I loved it,” said Atwell, who added that her relatively upscale establishment still contends with negative pool-hall perception. “I spent the majority of my time off playing pool, but I never dreamed about playing professionally.”
Among Atwell’s highlights is the time she was trailing 6-2 in a race to 7 at a tournament in Atlanta. “The girl missed the 4-ball and I ran that out and then I broke and ran the rest of the set out,” she said. “She didn’t get back to the table. The score was 6-2 and I beat her 7-6. She didn’t shoot a shot after she missed that 4-ball.” Atwell watched Fisher win a coin flip to begin a match breaking one night in Foscoe, and her opponent didn’t get to shoot a shot. “She won the coin toss and the other person never got out of her chair,” Atwell said. “Allison won 7-0.” One of Atwell’s especially gratifying moments was winning the Virginia State tournament in Midlothian in February, defending the 2013 title that cancer kept her from doing in 2014. She was playing well shortly before she got the diagnosis, having also won a South Carolina state championship in late May of 2013 in Lexington. Atwell won an Oklahoma state title in 2010 in Tulsa, too.
S
he was well aware of life offering its share of bad breaks, but refused to be snookered by self-pity. Atwell had watched her mother fight for 10 more years of quality life after a serious surgery for throat cancer. “I think just having my mom go through cancer and seeing all of her struggles and everything that she went through was such an eye opener,” Atwell said, “because she was my best friend and having to go through that — it was just a tragedy. … It doesn’t matter what kind of cancer you get, when you hear the word cancer you automatically think you’re gonna die. People associate cancer with death, not with recovery. … “I’ve always had a lot of faith. I’ve never questioned, ‘Why me?
October 2015
See ATWELL, Page 28
Out-N-About
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Atwell
Classic
Dream
Why’s this got to happen?’ When I look at things I always know something’s happening for a reason and I know there’s a bigger picture out there, and I always assume something good’s gonna come out of it. And I take it for what it is and make the best out of it. I don’t ever question God and why he does what he does when he does it.” Not that she’s interested in being overly Pollyanna. “Getting the cancer was horrible, and it was an experience I don’t ever want to go through again,” Atwell said. “But it opened my eyes in so many ways and it made me realize how many thousands of people out there are on your side and praying for you, even if you don’t have a clue who they are.” She also experienced cheers that raised chill bumps in Phoenix, fundraisers from friends and strangers and the kindness of love that seemed to transcend life and death. Some friends’ down-and-back drive from Richmond, Va., when she was going through chemotherapy was a moving example. “They made a five-hour trip down to take me to dinner and then drove straight back to go to work the next day,” Atwell said. “I tell you, when you’ve got people doing stuff like that, there is no way to be depressed. If you’re depressed with friends like that, you’ve got other issues. … “There were lots of good things that came from this. It gives you a lot of time to look back on your life and get a new perspective and just see all the blessings that you’re handed every day and take for granted.” And, of course, there’s the 14-day date with Lowry looming, which seems destined for more miraculous mending. “I’ve played very, very little since 2013 when I got diagnosed in July,” Atwell said. “I expect to try to get back into it pretty strong.”
ger of style.” While the two-time Grammy-winning ensemble was founded in 1978 with the mission of bringing Renaissance music back to the stage, the group — hailed by The New Yorker as “the world’s reigning male chorus” — travels the world to perform music spanning more than 10 centuries, from medieval plainchant to modern pop. Their visit is the result of a collaboration with ETSU’s Department of Music, DeAngelis says. “It took us while to get on Chanticleer’s schedule,” she says. “They are in very high demand internationally. ETSU has such a strong vocal music program and there are so many vocal groups in our region, this is really an opportunity to bring the community together for something very special.” The ensemble has amassed more than 30 albums for Teldec/Warner Classics and Chanticleer Records, as well as having been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, started its own National Youth Choral Festival and been recognized for its educational programs with young singers. Chanticleer takes its name from the clear-singing rooster in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and has gained an international reputation for its “seamless blend of its 12 male voices ranging from soprano to bass,” and its diverse repertoire and mix of styles and textures. “These men are phenomenal: as fresh as a blade of grass, tightly focused and keenly expressive,” says the New York Times. The ETSU Chorale will perform a pre-concert, starting at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for Chanticleer are $10 for students of all ages with ID, $25 seniors 60 and over and $30 general admission. For more information, call 423-439TKTS (8587) or visit www.etsu.edu/ martin.
namic Voices in Art & Music Oct. 9-11. Musical acts include Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass, Wild Ponies, Samantha Crain, Megan Jean & the KFB and Blue Mother Tupelo. Teri is also eager to hear Pirates Canoe, Little War Twins and She Returns from War. “I love every single person on that (promotional) poster,” Teri said. “Some of them are coming just because they want to be a part of it. … It should be a really big deal.” Teri said Amythyst Kiah and Megan Jean intend to do a duet performance on Sunday after performing with their bands on Friday. The Willow Tree is more than music. It’s settling vibe includes the background ponderings of a philosophy group that meets regularly and walls filled with paintings, many of which are available for purchase. Nine artists are scheduled to be at an exhibit reception Saturday night at 7 p.m. as part of Jezeball. An assortment of coffee, lattes, espresso, cappuccino and teas are available, and the kitchen favorites include chicken salad, quiche, a variety of soups and pimento cheese and meatloaf sandwiches. “Our meatloaf sandwich is hugely popular,” Teri said. “I didn’t even make meatloaf sandwiches. One day I just thought, ‘I bet people would like meatloaf sandwiches.’ So I Googled meatloaf and made a sandwich out of it, and everybody loves it.” Everything seemed to fall into place during the Doshers’ “leap of faith.”
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October 2015
Continued from Page 19
While on a walk and essentially looking for a sign to pull the trigger, Teri said she noticed contractor Ernest Campbell’s sign along a street. Months later, disheartened by a sea of red tape involved with trying to get a small platform stage built, she remembered the sign and called Campbell. “And he jumped in and took care of everything for me … and had it all done in a matter of weeks after I’d gone through months of hurdles,” Teri said. “He was really helpful or it would’ve taken much longer.” Living the dream, however, doesn’t always lead to a lot of sleep. The hours are endless. Teri said she could turn her tasks into four full-time jobs, and as much as she likes cooking, she hopes to soon hire a kitchen manager so she can devote more time to music promotion. “I love doing the promotions and answering all the emails from people that want to play here,” Teri said. “That’s my favorite part. I could do that 40 hours a week, easy.” Even the encouraging downtown growth is somewhat unnerving. Will there be Downtown Darwinism, or will a rising tide raise a whole boatload of dreamers? “It’s really crazy,” Teri said. “I had no idea how you would even go about something like this. I look back now and think, ‘What made me think I could do that?’ But it’s turned out really well so far.” Hearing this, Zoe flashes a smile to match her mother’s. “We were just thinking we’d rather try and fail,” Zoe said, “than to regret never trying.”
Oktoberfest
Quilt exhibition at ETSU mixes tradition with innovation “In this region, just about everyone grew up under a quilt,” says Patricia Mink, head of the ETSU fibers program. “Down here, everybody has a quilt story. It’s part of the richness of this region.” Mothers, grandmothers and younger stitchers have been making quilts for warmth and bedding since the beginnings of the “New World” and padding fabrics to clothe, comfort and protect for centuries. In the last 50 years, though, quilting has become a billion-dollar industry, Mink says, and at the same time, visual artists have experimented increasingly with the layered form and myriad techniques and marks. “It’s a medium that’s accessible because it has the connection to the familiar,” she says, “but it is also new to people in a lot of ways, so it is my intent to help expand that understanding of the quilt.” LAYERS: Quilt As Form, running Oct. 5-30 at ETSU’s Slocumb Galleries, should broaden perspectives on the contemporary evolution of the art form, says Mink, who is curating the show. In collaboration with the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts and Honors College at ETSU and the Tennessee Arts Commission, Mink — an internationally exhibited fibers and quilt artist herself — and ETSU’s Department of Art and Design have arrayed contemporary quilts by eight regional, national and international artists. Renowned teacher and artist Joan Schulze will highlight the exhibition with an Oct. 15 talk on her work, travels and the evolving art form. Artists in the LAYERS exhibition
Continued from Page 7
Nancy Crow
Michael James
are Susan Brandeis, Dorothy Caldwell, Judith Content, Nancy Crow, Michael James, Jeana Eve Klein, Aaron McIntosh and Joan Schulze. These artists are “redefining what ‘quilt’ means,” Mink says, while at the same time, they are perpetuating various traditional elements of the American form and often exploring nature and the environment. The continuing traditions of at least two layers of materials and some kind of stitching are the threads that connect these quilt artists, their works and the LAYERS exhibition. “This is a world-class exhibit,” she says. “These are internationally known artists, but still, none of them are denying the connection to the quilt and the tradition, which I think is important. They aren’t offended by [their work] being called quilts.”
breweries in this area, with more on the horizon,” he said. Some of these breweries will be making their festival debuts at Kingsport Oktoberfest. The list includes Cold Fusion from Knoxville, Busted Still from Gate City, Bristol Brewing Co., and Gypsy Circus Cider from Kingsport. With so many great local and regional breweries like Yee-Haw, Sleepy Owl, Triple B, Wolf Hills and Depot Street, it really wasn’t necessary to look to far out of the area to fill up the brewery slots. “About three years ago, there were two breweries in the Tri-Cities,” said Carson. “Now we are looking at 10, with 14 in the area and soon to be 16.” Included in the growth of the craft beer movement is a large segment of home brewers, and in the spirit of supporting the local community, they are also an important part of the Craft Bier Garden. “A lot of homebrewers come out of the festival circuit, and we feel
it is important to give them exposure,” said Carson. “They could be the next great commercial brew master.” Another part of this festival that elevates it from traditional beerfests is having actual brewmasters at the tents to educate attendees about the beer. While most festivals have volunteers with no ties to the brewery pouring the majority of the beers, Kingsport Octoberfest allows the participants to engage with the person responsible for the beer. There will also be beer tours offered that highlight specific styles during the day where patrons can try three different IPA’s or stouts, for example, and have the brewmasters educate them on exactly what they are enjoying. Kingsport Oktoberfest if a free event that has something for the entire family. The event will start at 10 a.m. and go until 8 p.m. Visit kingsportoktoberfest.com for additional details, starting times for specific events and information about tickets for the Craft Bier Garden.
Libation Station is the place There is nothing quite like the feeling of enjoying a beer that you made yourself. Ask any home brewer. Libation Station, located at 4471 North Roan St., in Johnson City, now has everything that you need to brew at home, and it specializes in making the kits required to make that happen. Whether you want to brew a hearty stout, an English-style porter or a West-Coast style hoppy IPA, you only need to go to one spot. The grains are ground at the time of the order, in house, so that they are at their peak freshness. Using only the finest and freshest ingredients available, the staff at Libation Station is now creating made-to-or-
der beer kits from a vast inventory of supplies. Detailed recipes are included with every kit showing step-by-step instructions outlining every phase of the brewing process to create that perfect beer at home. With the area’s largest selection of hops, yeast and grains, Libation Station and its knowledgeable, beer-loving staff has the quality and passion it takes to assist the new home brewer and the veteran of many batches alike. So the next time you are thinking about brewing your first batch, or your next masterpiece, come by Libation Station and let them take care of all of your beermaking needs.
October 2015
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OP-ED
Immigration
Let’s not forget our own history
By Don Spurrell
Build a great wall
By Harrison Jenkins
There are nearly 12 million illegal aliens in this country today and they continue to pour across our southern border like multiplying rats. Most of them are Mexican, but there are also a good number of Central Americans, especially Salvadorans. They take jobs from Americans because they work on the cheap, they use up valuable medical and educational resources, and they commit crimes. The fact that they’re here illegally is a crime in itself, so I suppose one could say they all commit crimes, but some of them form or join gangs and kill people and run drugs and commit sexual offenses. And last, but certainly not least, they don’t pay taxes. Bottom line? They cost us money. Lots of money. There are estimates out there that illegal immigrants cost U.S. taxpayers $100 billion a year. That’s a tenuous number, I admit, but there is definitely a high cost associated with illegal immigration, and it doesn’t appear that it’s going to get better any time
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Out-N-About
October 2015
soon because the present administration simply doesn’t take the problem seriously. Let’s say the number is half of the estimates coming out from the right-wingers. Let’s say it’s only $50 billion a year. Do some simple math and multiply that number by 10 years. $500 billion, right? Do you, as an American taxpayer, want to support illegal immigrants to the tune of $500 billion over the next decade? I, for one, do not. So what do we do about it? We build a wall. I know Americans hate walls. Walls represent oppression and isolation, and we’re the land of the free and the home of the brave. We stretch from sea to shining sea. We’re the land of opportunity. We’ve opened our arms to immigrants for 200 years. Every person living in this country is either an immigrant or the descendant of an immigrant, with the sad but notable exception of those who live on Native American reservations. But our ancestors came here legally. They followed the rules. They
See JENKINS, Page 31
The immigration question brings me immediately to Kohlberg and his observation that self-centered moral development is about the stage where most people get before their development arrests. Think of it as a kind of Peter Principle applied to the would-be progress of a maturing society, where ideas only go so far before people become paralyzed with fear and prejudice and that’s where they stay and progress stalls. America is only exceptional because of its ethnic, cultural, social and religious diversity. While other countries are defined by and built upon their cataclysmic histories, America was built upon aspiration, inspiration and immigration. So, take a long look at your great-grandparents in the mirror and ask yourself what effort and sacrifice was too great for them to make it to America, by whatever means necessary, to clear the way for you to be free and prosper. Would you not do the same? Ten percent of U.S. residents are foreign-born, an increase from 4.7 percent in 1970, but still far short of the 14.7 percent who were foreign-born in 1910, according to Pew Research Center. Only 53 percent of unauthorized immigrants are Mexican, and their numbers have actually declined since
2007. Unauthorized immigrants make up 5.1 percent of the U.S. labor force, and it should be no surprise that many of these people bring with them a hungry work ethic and willingness to cultivate our fields and our culture with hard work and family values. The violent crime rate for unauthorized immigrants is far less than for our native-born. From 1990 to 2013, the number of undocumented workers has tripled, from 3.5 million to 11.2 million, while violent crime has dropped 48 percent nationwide. The undocumented from Mexico, Central and South America are for more likely than native-born to marry, stay married and not rely upon public benefits. They bring a valuable example of self-reliance to the rest of our nation. Ironically, Alabama legislators recently and proudly passed the nation’s toughest police-state reaction to undocumented workers, requiring arrests and detentions. These actions drove the migrant farm workers out of the state, and millions of tons of crops rotted in the fields, enraging farmers of all stripes. The reality is that undocumented workers in this country are essential to our
See SPURRELL, Page 31
Lester Bean
An ode to the Donald
There once was a Donald named Trump, Who bellowed and brayed like a hump. He didn’t know squat but he prattled a lot, As he stood ‘neath his hair on a stump. His lips he kept pursed like a duck, As he dragged everyone through the muck. His rivals all shivered, they quaked and they quivered, Afraid he would tell them they sucked.
And he would, yes he would, he would tell them they sucked, He would tell them they sucked like a Hoover. Cause Donald the Trump only knew how to bully, That was his only maneuver. Donald the Trump dodged the draft in
Jenkins
Continued from Page 30 didn’t sneak across the border and melt into communities that harbor illegal immigrants and then start sucking their new neighbors dry. But I digress. Back to the wall. The estimates are that it would cost about $20 billion to build a secure wall that would stop the flow of illegals from Mexico practically overnight. Add another billion or so to beef up
Spurrell Continued from Page 30
economy. This week we had a visit from Pope
the day, When we were at war in the ‘Nam. His feet were too big and his wee-wee too small, To serve his beloved Uncle Sam. But he talks about vets and soldiers and troops, He panders wherever he goes, To those who have served and to those who have died, He ought to be socked in the nose. For being a hypocritical sham, For being a circus sideshow. To think that this guy might actually win, Makes me think I might pack up and go. But Donald won’t win and I’ll get to stay, Right here on this stool in this bar. ‘Cause like my friend Homer Jones likes to say, “The Donald’s a dumb dying star.”
sChedule oF events OCTOBER 2 — First Friday (Autumn in Appalachia), Downtown Johnson City (downtownjc.org) 2-3 — Unicoi County Apple Festival, Erwin; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; arts and crafts, music entertainment, food, children’s area (unicoicounty.org/apple-festival/) 2-4 — National Storytelling Festival, Jonesborough; oldest and most prestigious event of its kind in the world, with over 30 world-class story tellers in venues ranging from intimate theater seating to tents of 1,600 (storytellingcenter.net) 3 — Tennessee Oktoberfest, downtown Kingsport; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; 45 breweries offering over 100 craft beers; live music, German food and family-friendly events; free admission 3 — Unicoi County Apple Festival road race, Erwin; 9 a.m.; 4-mile run and 3K walk; cash prizes for top three male and female (runtricities.net) 3 — Opening of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Va. (bartertheatre.com) 3 — Running of the Beers, Kingsport; 9 a.m. (runtricities.net) 6 — Opening of A Wrinkle in Time,
Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Va. (bartertheatre.com) 13 — Flashdance: The Musical, Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville; 7 p.m. 16-18 — Jericho Shrine Circus, Freedom Hall, Johnson City; 7 p.m. on Friday; 10:30 a.m., 3 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday; 1 and 6 p.m. on Sunday; tickets $14/16/20 17 — BBQ & Bluegrass Festival, downtown Greeneville; bluegrass music inside Capitol Theatre (639-7105) 19 — “Shield and Spear” at Martha Street Culp Auditorium, ETSU; 7 p.m.; documentary film about living in the new democracy of South Africa; part of Suth Arts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers series at ETSU; filmmaker Petter Ringbom will answer questions afterward; free admission 24 — Art exhibition of Milligan College faculty members; open reception at 11 a.m. at Milligan art gallery in Derthick Hall; show runs until Nov. 20; free admission 29 — Scary stories at Fort Watauga, Elizabethton; 7:30-8:30 p.m.; free admission
enforcement along the wall, and voila, problem solved. And if $20 billion seems like a big number to you, remember that $20 billion was the exact amount the feds gave to Bank of America to bail them out after they nearly destroyed themselves through their greed and stupidity back at the end of the Bush administration. So build that wall, baby, and secure our border. If a Mexican or Salvadoran or Guatemalan wants into the United States, he or she will have to do so legally, and that’s the way it ought to be. Francis, leader of millions of American Catholics, whose Irish and Italian ancestors battled derision, prejudice and violence as they fought their way into assimilation and acceptance as Americans. Lets evolve, people!
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