Out n About - May 2015 by Out 'N About Magazine

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May 2015

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Out-N-About Publisher Scott Pratt Operations Director Dylan Pratt Managing Editor Kelly Hodge Associate Writers Trey Williams David Fagelson Harrison Jenkins Lester Bean Cover Designs Nathan Wampler Page Designs Kelly Hodge

The start of something new

elcome to our first edition of “Out-N-About” magazine. We hope it’ll be around for a long time to come. Ron Scalf, the former manager of the Bristol race track, started the magazine nearly six years ago and published it every month until he moved to Savannah, Georgia, back in February of this year. We bought it from Ron a few weeks after he moved, but it’s taken us a little while to get our bearings. We now have what I believe is an excellent staff in place with Kelly Hodge, a lifelong resident of the area and an experienced journalist, at the helm. Trey Williams, the longtime Johnson City Press sports writer, will be chipping in along with Dylan Pratt, myself and plen-

ty of others whom I’m sure we’ll discover along the way. Our goal with the magazine is fairly straightforScott ward. We Pratt plan to strive to provide our readers — the people with whom we share our Northeast Tennessee community — with interesting written content and photographs once a month. We also plan to give our advertisers a vehicle of which they can be proud. “Out-N-About” can mean a lot of different things, but to me, and to the folks who are contributing to this effort, it means more than going out and having a beer or seeing

a movie or sitting down to a meal at a restaurant. It means, “what’s going on around here?” The answer to that question can involve anything from an outdoor concert to a political disagreement, and we plan to allow ourselves to be versatile. For example, Kelly Hodge’s story on Boone Lake — the anchor feature to this issue — is a serious, well-written piece of journalism about a problem that is affecting thousands of people in this area. People are going bankrupt because of the decisions made by the TVA. People’s property values are dropping, their boats are stranded. I’ve seen comments in other forums from people who say they don’t feel sorry for the rich folks who can’t use their

expensive toys. That attitude is short-sighted and mean-spirited. Most of the people who live on and use Boone Lake aren’t one-percenters. They’re just good people who happen to love being on and around water, and they’re suffering the consequences of decisions made by a massive utility that didn’t see fit to communicate honestly early on. So when you pick up this magazine, expect to find the content a little different than it used to be. Enjoy Kelly and Trey and Dylan and Lester Bean and whoever else we pick up in the future. We’ll do our very, very best to give you good stuff, and at the same time, we’ll try not to take ourselves too seriously. Happy reading and happy living.

Photography Nathan Wampler Andy Rowe Out-N-About magazine is a monthly production of Phoenix Flying Inc. We strive to be informative, entertaining and, above all, interesting.Thoughtful feedback from readers is welcome at outnaboutmagazine@ gmail.com. For advertising opportunities, call Dylan Pratt at 423-2028664. Special thanks to Delaney Scalf at the Elizabethton Star for helping us get the first issue off the ground. May 2015

Out-N-About

Sinking feeling Nathan Wampler

Lake lovers have less to play with at Boone By Kelly Hodge

homas Johnson walked into his backyard and gazed out at what should be another glorious spring day on Boone Lake. Any other year, with the sun shining and temperatures rising well into the 70s, the water would have been beckoning him to come closer. Not this year. From Johnson’s perspective in the Bluff City area, there is only an expansive view of mud, rocks and stumps, and by the end of April it had already gotten old. He might be able to stand at the edge of his property, or on his lonely

Out-N-About

May 2015

dock, and reach what’s left of the lake with a rock, if he were so inclined. He is not. “I’m already tired of looking at it, tired of thinking about it,” he said, his voice heavy with resignation. “We all understand that the water goes away in the winter; they have to draw it down. But you always know spring is coming and the lake will be back. It’s like new life, and that pumps everybody up.” Johnson shook his head. “It’s hard to come out here anymore,” he said, “and apparently we still have a long way to go.” A sinkhole near Boone Dam, first reported last October, caused TVA

officials to lower the water beyond normal winter levels to try to better understand the problem. Even after an initial attempt to fix the leak, seepage reportedly was still occurring at the base of the dam. The utility giant responded by “exercising an abundance of caution,” said John McCormick, vice president of river operations, and extended the drawdown. Amid a growing sense of dread, a TVA team was still formulating a course of action as May approached. Meanwhile, the lake remains at about 1,355 feet — which is 25 to 30 feet below normal summer levels. It’s a long, steep descent from the bank

in many areas. In others, the shallow coves, there is no water in sight at all. “I guess this is a good thing for Watauga and South Holston (lakes),” said Johnson. “There’s a lot of business that’s going to shift. I don’t know how much we’ll be out on the other lakes this summer, but we won’t be on this one.” It’s going to be a long summer indeed for property owners on Boone, for the boaters and the fishermen and the swimmers, for the marina owners, for those who just like to sit in the grass and enjoy the shimmering lake on a hot afternoon. For all of us. See LAKE, Page 5

Lake

their structures with a crane and trying to get their boats. There’s an all-terrain forklift that might work in certain situations. In some cases, there’s not an economic solution. They just have to wait.”

Continued from Page 4 TVA officials say there won’t be a full pool again until 2016 at the earliest. So communities are trying to come to grips with a once unthinkable dilemma: They’ll have to do without Boone Lake for a summer — one summer at least. The wait is on.

o one is more acutely aware of the problem than the people at the marinas. No water, no boaters. And in the case of some, no business to speak of. Of the seven marinas that were in operation last summer, only four have at least some slips that are currently floating, but none are at full capacity. It’s a new state of normal. At Rockingham, like everywhere else, the surrounding landscape looks dramatically different, but owner Doug Sams was able to move his dock about 80 feet farther out into the channel and keep going. The marina has been around about as long as the lake itself. It opened in 1955 as King’s Boat Dock, just three years after Boone Dam was completed. Sams bought the business in 2006. “It wasn’t that I was smart enough to buy a marina on what happens to be the deepest part of the lake,” he said. “That was just good luck. I absolutely feel blessed, but I’m still spending six figures to make all the adjustments and compensate for this. We didn’t get very much warning at all, and they didn’t tell us it would be a long-term situation. Obviously, we’ve all been scrambling.”

Nathan Wampler

Like many others, Sams is searching for breaks in the dark cloud that will hover over the lake for the next several months. He can find a couple, aside from his obvious competitive advantage. “In the glass-is-half-filled category, this is a once-in-alifetime chance for people to get out and see Boone Lake like they’ve never seen it before — and hopefully will never see it again,” he said. “The complaint about the lake has always been that it’s too crowded; that won’t be the case this summer. People will be able to get away

and enjoy themselves. They can beach their boats, build bonfires, camp if they want. “I have 250 boats at my marina, and most of those people are excited about the situation. Once you’re on the water, the lake is still beautiful. There’s still a huge amount of water out there, and I have not discovered any hidden hazards nearby to date.” Sams was planning to map the lake to assist members of his boat club and renters as they go through this strange period of discovery. If your boat isn’t already floating, your options for

getting on the water are very limited. The only accessible public ramp at these low levels is at Pickens Bridge. More than a few property owners were caught off guard by the drawdown, or simply didn’t act, and are now up in the air. Literally. Their boats are still suspended on lifts at their docks, waiting for water. Perhaps they never really believed the lake would go away and not come back. “I would say in the hundreds,” said Sams. “I know of some people who are building ramps or taking the roof off

ver at Sonny’s Marina and Cafe, owner Ryta Courter is trying to make the most of a bad situation. Her restaurant and bar business has always been a lively complement to the boating services that are the mainstay for any marina. For the foreseeable future, it will be the focus. “We just have to step up now and be the best café we can,” said Courter, who is in her eighth year of ownership. “We still have great burgers, live entertainment and cold beer. We’re still going to have a great summer. All we’re missing is the ambience of the water.” The pained expression on Courter’s face was telling. Her boat slips now rest on the red clay of the lake bottom, off in the distance from her storage facility and offices on the hill. The water is even farther in the other direction. “I look at it all the time, and there’s not a good thing about it,” she said. “They told us there was a sinkhole in October. We were hoping by the time the winter was over that it would be fixed, but here we are.” The fear, largely unspoken by Courter and other business owners, is that the nightmare will linger. A year from now, or two years from now, everybody will still figuratively be in the same boat — wringing their hands while waiting for the water to rise. “I don’t even want to think about it,” said Courter. See LAKE, Page 6

May 2015

Out-N-About

Lake

Continued from Page 5 The commercial loss of just one summer without the full use of Boone Lake, which snakes along for 32 miles through Washington and Sullivan counties, will be felt across the board, from the bait shops and convenience stores to the boat dealer-

it again.” Some annual events on the water near Winged Deer Park are among the casualties. The city had to scrap the Dragon Boat races, a popular team-building event in August, and the much-anticipated Quake on the Lake in September. The inaugural Quake last summer attracted 93 race teams and 1,200 attendees, according to Gavin Andrews,

Terry Warner

ships. The local economies are uniquely tapped into all the recreational benefits the reservoir has to offer. Gary Mabrey, Johnson City Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, says it’s impossible to put a number on what the lake is worth to area businesses. His organization is closely monitoring the situation, but about all it can do at present, he says, is keep lines of communication open and hope for the best. “We are concerned about it, but we don’t have a solution for it,” said Mabrey. “I think the communication has gotten better with TVA keeping us around the table. We have confidence in their ability to solve this problem as expediently as possible. We all agree that it needs to be done right, so we never have to deal with

Out-N-About

director of sports development for the Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We estimated there was a direct impact of $229,000 to the local economy,” said Andrews. “And this year I think we could assume it was going to be stronger.” Four bass tournaments scheduled through Johnson City Parks & Rec were also lost. Mary Ann Kinch, the marketing and events manager, said those would have drawn over 800 competitors alone. “This time last year I had 13 events booked on the waterfront,” said Kinch. “This year I have two.” Then there are the more subtle changes at the park. “You look at events like the symphony concerts,” said Brenda Whitson, the CVB executive director.

May 2015

“Part of the beauty of those is having the view of the water, people bringing their boats and just the whole atmosphere. There are so many ancillary issues … it’s a total ripple effect.”

or the intrepid fishermen in the area, the drawdown is an adjustment more than anything else. Tom Hensley of Kingsport is a regular competitor in bass tournaments around the region and says he fishes Boone Lake about 40 times a year under normal circumstances. It’s like home, and he’s not going away. “I started out there with buddies in a paddle boat more than 30 years ago,” he said. “We lived in Boones Creek, and when I was younger I was walking down to the lake to fish. The neighbors had lakefront property and would let me fish from their land.” Hensley says most of his friends these days are understanding of the predicament that surrounds the lake. Limestone below the dam has reportedly eroded over the decades to the point where water and sediment are now seeping from the earthen embankment. McCormick, the TVA vice president, said drilling into the porous “karst foundation” and injecting grout into the voids will be a “long process.” “TVA has got to do what they’ve got to do,” said Hensley. “I understand it’s an inconvenience for everybody, but safety is a big concern. We don’t need another creek or river wrapping around the dam.” Hensley thinks most of the fishermen who enjoy chasing the notorious stripers and other bass on Boone will keep trailering their boats to

the lake. It may just take a little more time and patience to get in and out at the Pickens Bridge ramp. He doesn’t expect the situation to have long-lasting effects. “People who want to fish Boone will still go, but they may have to change their schedule a little bit, knowing they have to be out there early to get a parking spot,” Hensley said. “Some of the guys that like summer fishing might be a little more affected, but most of them know you have to adjust. Some may be thinking of it as an interesting challenging, fishing the lake at that level. On most of the TVA lakes, the fishing is a little easier when the level is down.”

f there is a benefit to suddenly having less water and more land, maybe it comes from the perspective of the Boone Lake Association. The organization was founded in 1983 and currently has about 600 members, along with 20 corporate sponsors, that help fund its never-ending cleanup efforts. There are three full-time employees who are at the lake daily, either on the water or along its shores, removing trash and logs and burning debris. The group conducted its 16th annual lake cleanup that involved dozens of volunteers in late April. “If there is a silver lining, it’s that we have more area available to clean than ever before,” said Ron Siegfried, a Piney Flats resident who became BLA president last October. “There’s a tremendous amount of trash that has been underwater for 50 years. You see those 55-gallon drums, what’s left of them, bed springs, tires … you name it. It’s amazing

what’s on the bottom of that lake. “When the water comes back up, we’re going to have a much more pristine lake.” That may seem like small consolation for some at the moment. Siegfried has his finger on the pulse of the lake community, and he says it’s an understandably anxious group with an uncertain year ahead. They generally have more at stake. “I really feel sorriest for the people that didn’t know about the drawdown and kept their boats at their docks,” Siegfried said. “I’d say one third of the lake residents have boats hanging in slips. What percent of them can get out, I don’t know. “I was just talking to a gentlemen who retired here a year ago. He bought a nice, new Yamaha twin-engine runabout, and he has no way to get it out. It’s on the side of a cliff. He has to sit and make payments on that thing for at least a year, and all he can do is look at it. It’s like having a Corvette in your driveway, but you can’t drive it.” Siegfried thinks TVA could have done a better job of making the public aware of its intentions in an orderly fashion last fall, and that has made a big problem worse. “I hear a lot of frustration from people about TVA,” he said. “They obviously knew about this for awhile, but after five months they still didn’t seem to have much of a plan in place. If they’d just taken an extra week back in the fall to let people take care of their boats … but that’s all water over the dam now.”

hile homeowners all along the more than 130 miles of shoreline are conSee LAKE, Page 7

Lake

Continued from Page 6 fronted by stark reality every time they look out their windows, Boone Lake’s predicament will become more painfully obvious to others as the days grow warmer. The water is a pleasant escape, even for a couple of hours, and everyone wants to have that option available again as soon as possible. Sams, the marina owner, is cautiously optimistic that the scenario will be better by the end of the year. “What I heard from a safety engineer is that there’s a deadline in July that the TVA team has to make a proposal on how to solve it,” he said. “I don’t think they’re going to be doing anything between now and then, because there’s not an approved solution to implement. If in July they want to do more studies, this could stretch out more than a year. If they have a plan, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to

solve this in a short amount of time. “I would much prefer for them to try their best shot, bring the lake up and see what it does. If they say there’s no reason to be concerned for people downstream, why not?” In the meantime, we all will wait, some more patiently than others. On a sun-splashed afternoon in late April, Jenny Thomas lounged on the huge grass bank at Winged Deer. The remnants of lunch were sprawled out on her blanket, and her kids were playing happily nearby. From her vantage point, the lake channel wasn’t even in the picture. “We’ll try to keep bringing the kids out here and have some fun,” she said. “It’s still a beautiful park with lots of green space. But it’s obviously not the same without the water.” Thomas flipped up her sunglasses and managed a wry smile. “We just hope it’s coming back soon.”

Kelly Hodge

The Meredith Pavilion at Winged Deer Park is no longer near the lake.

100 Rocky Bottom Drive Suite 5 Unicoi, Tennessee Just off Exit 34 in front of Wal Mart

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May 2015

Out-N-About

All aboard Public embraces historic connector from Johnson City to Elizabethton By Trey Williams The Tweetsie Trail has been untracked — and it has a head of steam. From dawn till dusk the sound of loose gravel crunches under the feet of outdoor enthusiasts between Johnson City and Elizabethton. Joggers huff and puff, walkers giggle and gaze at a day-glo spring blooming on lush green, rolling hills and cyclists pedal past producing the nostalgic noise of baseball cards clicking through spokes and the lonesome sound of a train whistle. The train whistle, of course, was a bike horn. It aptly tooted five minutes after walking past a quarry and imagining the sound while picturing the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad carrying iron ore from Cranberry, North Carolina to the smelting furnace at Carnegie Foundry in Johnson City. Indeed, the Tweetsie Trail, with an initial 10-mile leg that features seven bridges between Johnson City’s Alabama Street and Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, is connecting communities and reconnecting “passengers” with the region’s rich railroading past. The Trail opened in August much to the delight of thousands, including Steve and Jane Lyon, Jim Dik and former Johnson City mayor Steven Darden. He helped spearhead the effort basically for the last half of his service on the city commission (2001-11). Many taxpayers felt like they were being railroaded back then, but now there’s a locomotive-like momentum that seems destined to extend the Trail to Hampton and perhaps as far as Roan Mountain. The growth of limbs to locales such as historic See TRAIL, Page 9

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May 2015

Kelly Hodge

The Tweetsie Trail was nearly a decade in the making. Extending it on toward Roan Mountain is in the long-range plans.

Trail

Continued from Page 8 Tipton Haynes Farm and Sycamore Shoals appears certain, too. “What seems like a no-brainer now took a lot of stick-to-itiveness then in order to make it happen,” Darden said. “The Tweetsie Trail is a result of forward thinking, proper planning and a municipal government that is willing to spend money to provide quality-of-life assets for its citizens. The reason Johnson City was able to do the Tweetsie Trail is because the city government was willing to spend $600,000 on the trail and buy it from the railroad.” The Trail was hopping on an Easter Sunday evening. Some 400 people were on it between Johnson City and Lions Field in Elizabethton — about a four-mile stretch. Perhaps 25 percent of those were bikers. The evening provided a sunny stroll of stunning views. Wildflowers blanketed fields where horses and cattle grazed between glances at their steady flow of new neighbors. Pink and white dogwoods, redbuds, weeping cherries, Bradford pear trees and forsythia colored understandably named communities such as Rich Acres and Happy Valley. The Tweetsie spans diverse dwellings and settings, too. Antebellum porches, stone chimneys, bright red barns and log cabins all capture the eye. “Even though it’s less than 10 miles long at this point, the variety of the terrain is pretty amazing through there,” Darden said. “You’ve got urban areas. You’ve got countryside with horses and a feeling that you’re out in the middle of nowhere.

Kelly Hodge

You’ve got lengthy bridges that used to support train travel spanning the highway. “I think the Trail taps into a lot of things that are pretty neat, obviously our railroading past and the nostalgia that people feel for when rail travel was common.” Among the amenities is the Milligan Depot, a recreation of the site where passengers, many of whom were Milligan College students, once found shelter while waiting to board the Tweetsie to travel as far east as Cranberry, North Carolina, west to Johnson City and numerous points in between. A sign at the depot states that passengers used the depot from 1896-1934, and passenger service continued until 1940 after ET&WNC abandoned the structure. Freight and mail were carried on the ET&WNC until 1950. Milligan College can be seen in the distance, some-

where between the backdrops of Unaka and Buffalo mountains. “To think about Milligan students riding the train from Milligan to Johnson City or Elizabethton — using that train for transportation to meet their needs — the depot really is a nice link to our region’s railroading past,” Darden said. The Milligan Depot sign reads, in part: “The steeple and Celtic cross of Milligan’s Seeger Chapel is visible just above the horizon at approximately 190 degrees south of this spot.” From 1901 until his death in 1922, Milligan alumnus board member/ benefactor George Duffield Williams Hardin (Class of 1882) served as a general supervisor of the ET&WNC. A building on campus bears his name. Benches along the Tweetsie were made from the railroad ties. A bike pavilion is being

erected right across from the quarry. Bridges required most of the heavy lifting. Bridging the likes of Catbird Creek, Buffalo Creek and Gap Creek were donations from people such as Dr. Dan Schumaier and Preston McKee. The creeks, ponds and quarry reservoir help draw a broad range of birds. Four hours on the trail also produced sightings of groundhogs and a three-foot garter snake. The Tweetsie is spurring entrepreneurial spirit as well. Betsy Bikes in Elizabethton borders the trail. In addition to bicycles, the store offers cold drinks, ice cream and other snacks. So does Creekside Nursery, which also borders the Tweetsie in Elizabethton. Available for purchase there are Amish foods, apples, boiled peanuts and local honey. It’s difficult to envision the changes sure to come,

particularly if the trail eventually reaches Hampton and Roan Mountain. But it’d be a success if it never covered another inch. Darden recalls the late Tom Dosser, who was instrumental in the creation of Buffalo Mountain Park and was an early proponent of the Tweetsie Trail, attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He was not in good health, but obviously appreciated the moment. “Tom Dosser, who was very ill at the time, was able to come to the ribbon cutting and see this wonderful recreational asset that he had dreamed of and helped to promote,” Darden said. “It was touching.” Dosser died shortly after the grand opening last summer. The day of his death he seemed distressed. “They (family members) asked what they could do for him,” Darden said, “and he said, ‘I’d rather be on the Tweetsie Trail.’”

May 2015

Out-N-About

May Q&A

Firehouse owner keeps answering the challenge

ow celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Firehouse Restaurant has long been a prominent destination for hungry diners in and around Johnson City. Owner Tom Seaton has shepherded the business from its humble beginnings as Bucwood Barbeque, a drive-thru operation in a nearby convenience store, to its current lofty perch between the downtown and East Tennessee State University. Housed in the old West Walnut Street Fire Station building, which was built in 1930 and served the public until 1968, the Firehouse has become an iconic brand. Seaton added a catering service that now operates from an adjacent building just a couple of years into the venture when the restaurant was “struggling,” he said. It all seems like a well-oiled machine now, and more components will soon come on line. The Firehouse is a family affair that includes wife Donna and sons Justin and Matthew. (Justin, the oldest, heads up business development.) “In the early years of our company, Donna worked the most important job of all — raising our two sons,” said Seaton. “Now, with some more time on her hands, there’s hardly a job she can’t do in our operation, from kitchen to dining room. She’s especially great working alongside and interacting with the young people we have here.” The team concept resonates through an unfailingly polite and eager staff of several dozen employees. Seaton has served on numerous civic and university boards through the years and has a unique perspective on how the city has developed. He sat down recently with Out-N-About managing editor Kelly Hodge to discuss a proud past and promising future.

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May 2015

KH: After more than three decades in business, it’s safe to say the Firehouse looms large on the Johnson City restaurant scene. Did you envision such a run when you and Jimmy Carter started out selling barbeque sandwiches and beans from the drive-thru window of the Buc Mart? TS: No, not at all. We were doing it to work our way through college, and it got out of hand. I really didn’t start loving it until about 20 years ago. Hospitality is something that really gets in your blood, and you love it or you get out. I really believe that. A lot of people who stay in it love the challenge; there’s a lot of challenge in this. I’ve heard people say if you can run a restaurant, you can do about anything.

Tom Seaton has cultivated an iconic brand on West Walnut Street.

KH: How has your approach evolved through the years? TS: Our approach changed pretty dramatically about 13 years ago. The bottom line to having a great restaurant is having great people who know what they’re doing -- and being able to create an environment in which those people can become great at what they do. At the end of the day, our mission here is to serve great food with famous hospitality while growing tomorrow’s leaders. That’s our mission statement and we talk about it a lot. For us, the basic makeup of our staff of 80 people, the majority are 16 to 25 years old, and we love that, being able to engage them while they’re in high school

and college and being able to teach them about hospitality and professionalism, customer-service skills and how to be part of a great team. That’s really what has made our place different the last 10 years. You love watching them come and learn and grow — and it doesn’t always happen — and then go on to their callings … the skills it takes to do that. That’s a lot of fun. That’s what enables us to pull off great food and hospitality. What we hear over and over from our guests is that, ‘You’ve got the greatest people.’ They’ve got great attitudes, they act like they want to be here. That’s what has kept us in the running for 35 years.

Kelly Hodge

KH: Is the Johnson City market more challenging than ever? TS: When we started, there was only a handful of the chain restaurants around. Red Lobster opened the same year or year after we did. Then came all the chains you and I saw growing up, and that weeded out some of the independents along the way. The market has changed significantly. There’s more competition than ever, whether it’s quick service or full service. We love where we are now, being on this side of town, whereas 15 years ago this was not the best place to be. We were isolated, and all of a sudden with everything See Q&A, Page 11

Q&A

Continued from Page 10 that’s going on both with the university and the downtown area, this location has become even better. KH: The Firehouse has been something of an oasis along a desert road for many years. Why do you think West Walnut Street hasn’t become the bustling business artery between the university and the downtown that a lot of people believe it should be? TS: Before State of Franklin Road, the way from downtown to ETSU was West Walnut Street. We built a bypass around it, so the traffic changed and we’ve seen a decline through the years. I think West Walnut Street’s best years are still ahead. We’re starting to see some things happen over here. And when you think about it, how many great places in town can you afford to open a small business? Small-business people can’t afford to go to some of these bigger areas. There are opportunities in this area. KH: What is your assessment of the way the downtown is progressing? TS: It’s exciting to see the new operation that’s coming in the Free Service Tire building. You look at that and can see what can happen with a historic building, just like ours. Some people may take ours for granted at this point, but the West Walnut Street Fire Station, what we’ve been able to do with it, is pretty neat. It’s good to see these old buildings, instead of tearing them down, to repurpose them like they’ve done at Free Service Tire, like Tupelo Honey did at the train station.

‘Hospitality is something that gets in your blood, and you love it or you get out. I really believe that.’ David Dewhirst from Knoxville, who has done a lot of development in downtown Knoxville, when he came up here and looked at the General Mills site — which we are really happy about something else going there now — he looked down Walnut and said this street, as well as the downtown, is a great place for growth. We’re excited about what’s going on. KH: So you don’t mind the competition closing in on you? TS: Not if it’s the right kind. People would ask me what I thought about Tupelo Honey moving in down there. We were an advocate; I was one of about 30 community leaders, when they did their final site visit, who told the people looking at Johnson City why they should move it down there. Some people would say, ‘As a restaurateur, why would you do that?’ We know it’s good for the community. We knew it was going to be good for this whole area up here. We’re excited about them being there. We’re excited about Yee-Haw Brewing across the street and all the different things that are going to develop. I think all the things going on between the downtown and ETSU — what Dr. Noland is doing at ETSU — it’s really exciting times. We’re at the intersection of Walnut and Watauga, and it’s a unique spot when you really think about it. We used to have a lot of things for ETSU down here when football was in, the ETSU Pride block party, and we’d love to see those

kinds of things happening on Walnut again. KH: You added a successful catering business many years ago but have operated just the one restaurant. Have you ever seriously considered expanding to other locations? TS: There probably will be more expansion in the future. I’m going to leave that up to future generations. I know Justin has his sights set on doing some other things. We’re in a time period right now of trying to do what we do here really well and to create the groundwork for that future. Years ago I wanted to open three to five restaurants. We had to figure out who we were before we could do that, and I think we’ve done that. Justin has been a valuable part of that process. He’s been involved in our branding and developing systems. He’s heading up bottling the sauce, which we’re getting ready to do, and online sales. We want to get all of that infrastructure in place. I think there’s definitely plans for future operations, but I’ve been doing this 35 years and will leave most of that to the younger folks. KH: The Firehouse has always been about more than barbeque, but barbeque is clearly at the heart of its identity. What makes yours stand out in an area that has produced more than its share of fine barbeque establishments? TS: Barbeque places, they’re all unique in their recipes and their approach. We

think our sauces are some of the best around — or the best around. We take time when we develop a new product. It’s like beef brisket; we only came out with beef brisket a year ago. Justin and a kitchen manager that we had at the time came up with that, and we’re still working on it. We keep working on the recipes and want to get it right, like our ribs. We spent a long time developing those recipes. One of the things that sets us apart is the number of made-from-scratch stuff that we do. Of course, what really makes the restaurant stand

out is the consistency and how we deliver that. That comes from having really great people who take a lot of care in what they do.” KH: So the dining public can enjoy at least another generation of Firehouse dining? TS: We’re thinking about what that next operation might look like, whether it’s a fast-casual, whether it’s a sitdown. We’ve had some conversations about that. Right now we have plans for a kitchen addition to expand our carryout. And there may be another surprise that we don’t want to reveal yet. We want to make sure we’re maximizing this location, then we’ll be ready for that next operation. I love what I’m doing here. And right now for me, bigger is not necessarily better.”

May 2015

Out-N-About

Two great local health systems.

Multiple national award recognitions.

And a million thanks to the people who made it happen.

MSHA ad

Prestigious awards just keep rolling in for our local hospitals. With each national recognition, we are reminded how fortunate we are to live in a community where quality healthcare is the rule. • U.S. News and World Report ranked Johnson City Medical Center as one of the top eight hospitals

in Tennessee. • Becker’s Hospital Review named Johnson City Medical Center as one of only four hospitals in

Tennessee among America’s 100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Cancer Programs. • Becker’s also named Franklin Woods Community Hospital in Johnson City, TN, and

Norton Community Hospital in Norton, VA, among the nation’s 53 hospitals with the best outcomes for pneumonia patients. • Indian Path Medical Center earned a Citation of Merit from the Premier Partnership for Patients

for providing a safe, healing environment for patients and preventing hospital readmissions, and Johnston Memorial Hospital received the 2014 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award. And we congratulate our friends at Wellmont’s Bristol Regional Medical Center and Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center for being named Top Performers on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission. On behalf of a grateful community, thank you to all of the doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals for bringing such nationally recognized quality here to our home. This is good for all of us!

msha.com

Out-N-About

May 2015

Music on the Square

Jonesborough has something going on Friday nights

Steve Cook was simply looking for a lively attraction to extend the day in downtown Jonesborough when he first began organizing Music on the Square in 1998. Seventeen years later, he certainly has that and more. The series of Friday night concerts in Tennessee’s oldest town is off and running again through September, stronger than ever. For Cook, whose Jonesborough Art Glass Gallery has been an anchor on Main Street for decades, getting to this point has been an intriguing adventure. The idea took root from humble beginnings. “Originally, it was an effort to create some after-five activity in town,” he said. “We told some musicians we knew to come down and play and help get us started. We said, ‘If it grows, we’ll pay you.’ “Things just took off from there. We’ll have 800 to a thousand people now on a pretty Friday night with a popular band. It’s the place to be.” Cook, a versatile musician himself, says it’s a pleasure to put together the lineup of 20 or so bands each summer. As creative director, he has license to pick and choose as he sees fit, and his options continue to grow year by year. “After awhile, it takes on a life of its own,” he said. “It’s not hard to book 20 gigs after that period of time, and we really get a lot of variety. There’s just so much good music out there that needs to be heard.” The free concerts that sprawl out from the courthouse steps create a unique atmosphere and have drawn some memorable acts. “We’ve had some bands that we simply could never afford again,” said Cook. “We had the Steep Canyon Rangers here one year for 750 bucks. This summer we have Brad Puckett coming. He has a song on the charts now, and I called him recently and asked him if we were still on his list of things to do. He said, ‘Absolutely.’” The Square schedule is booked up, right to the end on Sept. 25, and Cook still regularly fields inquiries from bands all over that would like to be part of the action. Asheville and the Carolinas have traditionally been a vibrant source of talent, but there are no

Mountain Photographics

Whitney S. Williams

bounds on where performers can be found. Sarah McQuaid, an English songwriter and guitarist, will visit Jonesborough this summer as part of her brief U.S. tour. You won’t see too many local bands at Music on the Square. “I just feel like there’s a lot of clubs and other venues for them to play locally,” said Cook. “We’re always trying to give people something a little different to listen to.” One of the surefire hits this summer will be the WannaBeatles, a Nashville group that promises to go “where no Beatles band has gone before.” They play on the Fourth of July weekend. “We had them here last year and it was one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had,” said Cook.

“Not one person left until the last note was played.” The timeless Jonesborough setting tends to bring out the best in the bands that stop by, and the listeners take it all to heart. And the memories made aren’t all musical. There was the time Cook found himself reading a marriage proposal over the sound system for an anxious man who was in the audience with his girlfriend. “I’m reading this on the PA,” he said, “and he’s down on one knee and she’s holding her hands over her mouth. I said, ‘I hope she accepts this, or we’re all going to feel pretty bad.’ Luckily she did. “We’ve seen and heard a whole lot of interesting things down here through the years.” The MOTS director was energized as the first concert of the series approached, and everything was falling into place in its own peculiar way. “We have a lot of really great people involved with Music on the Square, people that make it happen,” said Cook. “Like anything else, you’re always glad when it’s over, and always glad when you’re getting ready to start. We’re looking forward to another great summer of music.”

— Kelly Hodge May 2015

Out-N-About

Andy Rowe

Tucked away in downtown Johnson City, the Atlantic Ale House has an intimate charm, complete with chalkboard menu and wood tap handles.

BEST PLACES TO ENJOY A BEER Much of the fun of being Out-N-About is recognizing life’s simple pleasures. It may be a hikew, a day on the lake, a stunning view of the mountains. Also high on the list, we would suggest, is having a beer with friends. Certain establishments enhance the camaraderie, and we want to salute some of them here. The list was compiled by trustworthy beer experts and is no particular order. The criteria was, in fact, murky, though variety on tap and an interesting atmosphere are at the heart of any good watering hole.

Holy Taco Depot Street Brewing Atlantic Ale House Biggie’s Clam Bar Main Street Pizza State Line Bar & Grille Label Holston River Brewing Tupelo Honey Mellow Mushroom 14

Out-N-About

May 2015

211 E. Main St., Johnson City 904 Depot St., Jonesborough 111 McClure St., Johnson City 417 W. Stone Dr., Kingsport 300 E. Main St., Johnson City 644 State St., Bristol 112 Tipton St., Johnson City 2623 Volunteer Pkwy., Bristol 300 Buffalo St., Johnson City 2929 N. Roan St., Johnson City

Eclectic atmosphere, indoors and out Southern hospitality, bocce ball court Pub with a patio, it’s all about the beer Transplanted slice of Jersey Cozy, with an air of nostalgia Friendly saloon on the corner Barcentric, trendy yet comfortable Room to roam, indoors and out Train station history, patio with fireplace Outstanding selection, patio

Racks by the Tracks evolves, in a big way

Kanishka Biddanda was craving hearty entertainment that’ll stick to your ribs eight years ago, and he didn’t have to rack his brain for a recipe. But adding ingredients has allowed the music lover/restaurateur and his partner, James Phillips, to parlay beer, barbecue and live music into a festive fixture on the Tri-Cities scene. The eighth annual Racks by the Tracks is set for May 16, when some 12,000-15,000 people are expected to flood the Kingsport Farmer’s Market to sample craft beers, wines and barbecue while listening to award-winning artists such as Trick Pony and Junior Brown. The one-day festival began with some 450 attendees in 2008. The following year generated a crowd of 2,000. Approximately 5,000 came in year three, and attendance has continued to swell. ‘Racks’ has evolved. The music was initially intended to be as bluesy as Beale Street, but more and more requests came for country. So in 2013, Biddanda and Phillips guaranteed Diamond Rio a large paycheck while having faith that if you book it, they will come. Trouble is, it rained and stormed for most of the 24 hours prior to Diamond Rio taking the stage, and Biddanda spent much of that time concerned Phillips and him were going to essentially take a bath in the downpour. “This huge storm blew through, and literally all the work we’d spent eight hours setting up was demolished in 20 minutes,” Biddanda said. “A number of our tents were broken in pieces, and it kind of reflected how we were feeling internally. … I was at my lowest of lows. Nine months of planning for this one day.” But rain didn’t deter Diamond Rio fans and, more importantly, Racks by the Tracks fans.

‘Come rain or shine, people know they can count on Racks by the Tracks to provide a great time.’

— Kanishka Biddanda

Long before the headline musical act, thousands were consuming beer and barbecue while wearing ponchos and holding umbrellas. “That for us was the hallmark,” Biddanda said, “that we’d reached a point in the brand name of Racks by the Tracks and what people had come to expect of this event. We’d built up trust. … “Instead of draining me and James, it filled us up beyond capacity. We’re ready to do this year after year. Come rain or shine, people know they count on Racks by the Tracks to provide a great time.” Among the firsts at this year’s event are the wine tasting and a 10K road race that will follow the third annual 5K. The wine came by requests. “Every year we tend to add something that responds to attendee feedback, and this year it’s wine tasting,” Biddanda said. “We found a great partner in Michael Reedy, the founder of Reedy Creek Vineyards and Cellars. They jumped on board. He and his family have attended Racks by the Tracks. They’ve seen the type of event that we do.” More prominent musicians are beginning to contact Biddanda. Trick Pony has recorded three albums, produced four Billboard top-20 hits and was the Country Music Association’s Artist of the

Year in 2001. Junior Brown’s “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead” won the CMA’s Video of the Year in 1996. Brown narrated the “Dukes of Hazzard” and appears on the “Me, Myself and Irene” soundtrack. Other performers will include Taylor Ray Holbrook (American Idol), Annabella’s Curse and Demon Waffle. Festival attractions include a cornhole tournament, a children’s station with inflatables, food and merchandise vendors and barbecue tasting. Individuals and restaurants enter contests that all barbecue-tasting patrons help decide, and at approximately $2 per rib, Biddanda says barbecue lovers can sample a wide variety. Winners in such contests as best pork, best ribs and best side are revealed and introduced on stage with much fanfare and anticipation for about 15 minutes prior to the main musical act. Past winners include Phil’s Dream Pit and Hokie Smokey. Victors’ spoils are “a few hundred dollars” and the gratification of best satisfying stomachs from a 200-mile radius. Biddanda is proud to have raised in excess of $45,000 thus far for area non-profits such as Second Harvest Food Bank. This year’s recipients will include Relay for Life, Skin Cancer Foundation, Sullivan County Human Society, PEAK — Kingsport Young Professionals and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce. “I never had the intention of this being such a major attraction or a major event,” Biddanda said. “We wanted to help local non-profits and give the community a good time.”

— Trey Williams

Concert

schedule

MAY Johnson City Founders Park Founders After 5 (free series) Two sets, 5:45 and 7:20 p.m. 1 — Chuck Johnson & Charleyhorse Band (country) 8 — 49 Winchester (folk rock) 15 — Dangermuffin (spirited jams) 22 — My New Favorites (American roots) 29 — The Reginals (bluegrass) The Down Home (downhome.com) 1 — ETSU Bluegrass Bands; 7 p.m.; $10 2 — Julian Lage/Chris Eldridge; 8 p.m.; $18/20 8 — Larry Cordell Band; 8 p.m.; $20 advance 9 — Barefoot Movement; 8 p.m.; $14 15 — Grascals; 8 p.m.; $24 advance 20 — Sean Watkins; 8 p.m.; $20 advance 21 — Dave Eggar; 8 p.m.; $18/20 22 — Jonathan Byrd; 8 p.m.; $14 28 — Willie Watson; 8 p.m.; $16 advance Freedom Hall (tickets@freedomhall-tn.com) 2 — Newsboys; 8 p.m.; $21.50-41.50 30 — Starship; 8 p.m.; $26 ——— Greeneville Niswonger PAC (boxoffice@npacgreeneville.com) 9 — Diamond Rio; 7:30 p.m.; $25-35 16 — Steel Drivers and Suzy Bogguss; 7:30 p.m.; $20-30 ——— Bristol Paramount Center for the Arts (theparamountcenter.com) 3 — Jayme Stone with Tim O’Brien; 2 p.m; $20/25 28 — Jason Isbell and Craig Finn; 7 p.m.; $30-40 29 — Gaelic Storm; 7:30 p.m.; $28-38 Birthplace of Country Music Museum (423-573-1927) 2 — John Dee Holeman with Amythyst Kiah; 7 p.m. ——— Asheville, NC Orange Peel (info@theorangepeel.net) 1 — Mandolin Orange; 9 p.m.; $12/15 2 — Peter Hook & The Light; 9 p.m.; $20/23 3 — Hollywood Undead; 8 p.m.; $22/25 5 — Iration; 8 p.m.; $15/17 7 — Yelawolf; 9 p.m. $22/25 8 — Atmosphere; 9 p.m.; $25/27 9 — Panda Bear; 9 p.m.; $20/23 11 — TV On The Radio; 9 p.m.; $28/30 13 — Ani DiFranco; 9 p.m.; $36/38 14 — Marc Maron; 7:30 & 10 p.m.; $28 16 — Martin Sexton; 8 p.m.; $22/25 19 — Scott Bradley & Postmodern Jukebox; 8 p.m.; $20/22 20 — Rubblebucket; 9 p.m.; $14/16 22 — Jason Michael Carroll; 9 p.m.; $17/20 ——— Knoxville Knoxville Civic Auditorium (877-995-9961) 1 — Celtic Women; 7:30 p.m.; $42.75-105 5 — Slipknot; 7:30 p.m.; $63 Tennessee Theatre (865-684-1200) 5 — Rick Springfield, 8 p.m.; $39.50-54.50 6 — Doobie Brothers, 8 p.m.; sold out 16 — My Morning Jacket, 8 p.m.; sold out 23 — Sheryl Crow; 8 p.m.; $70.50-90.50 31 — St. Vincent; 8 p.m.; $34.50

May 2015

Out-N-About

Birthplace of Country Music Museum

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum opened last fall and features 24,000 square feet of interactive, audio-visual entertainment.

Bristol salutes its music roots

By Trey Williams

Bristol’s rich musical heritage produced the $11 million Birthplace of Country Music Museum, and much like the $50-per-song rate producer Ralph Peer paid while launching the iconic careers of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers during the historic 1927 Bristol Sessions, it sounds like money well spent. Centered on those sessions, also known as the Big Bang of Country Music, the Smithsonian-affiliated museum uses cutting-edge technology to replay simpler times when steel needles and shellac records captured the tal-

Out-N-About

May 2015

ent of humble hillbilly musicians. The museum, one block from State Street on the Virginia side, is 24,000 square feet of interactive, audio-visual exhibits certain to set feet to tapping. The tour offers eight hours of content that make the Bristol Sessions seem as nearby as 408 State Street, where they occurred from July 25-August 5, 1927. The museum includes a working recording studio. Peer detected musical heritages as diverse as the mountains and valleys surrounding Bristol, and on July 22, 1927, he and Victor recording engineers Fred Lynch and Edward Eckhardt set up a temporary state-of-the-art studio

in the Taylor-Christian Hat Company building on the Tennessee side of State Street. Museum introduction comes via “Bound to Bristol” — a 13-minute video documenting the origin of the Bristol Sessions and narrated by Johnny Cash’s son, John Carter Cash. The greeting comes in the immaculate 80-seat Orientation Theater, one of the museum’s five theaters. Among those are a quaint four-pew chapel, where you can view a film of regional artists discussing and performing the musical influences of faith and religion. The Immersion Theater includes a large dance floor. The

crème de la crème is the 100-seat Performance Theater, where optimum acoustics and Surround sound have enhanced live performances by Grammy winners Mike Farris and Ralph Stanley. Ferris played on January 31, eight days before he won a Grammy. Stanley performed last summer. ‘Birthplace’ is teeming with information and technology. Singalong and mixing stations allow museum goers to test their skills. There are audio interviews from the 1960s and ‘70s with the likes of Sara and Maybelle Carter and Clarice Shelor, who played See MUSEUM, Page 17

Museum Continued from Page 16

with Dad Blackard’s Moonshiners at the sessions. Sara discusses how Peer convinced her to sing “Single Girl, Married Girl.” Shelor noted the $50 and royalties, which were advertised in newspapers to help draw talent to Bristol. Peer said a story in the Bristol News Bulletin “worked like dynamite and the very day I was deluged with long-distance telephone calls from the surrounding mountain region. Groups of singers who had not visited Bristol during their entire lifetime arrived by bus, horse and buggy, train, or on foot.” Shelor’s family crossed the New River on a sketchy, timber ferry en route. El Watson, the only African-American at the sessions, was believed to be from Johnson City. He played the harmonica and bones, a hand-held percussive instrument frequently used in medicine shows. Watson recorded two instrumental harmonica songs, “Pot Licker Blues” and “Narrow Gauge Blues,” during the sessions. The ‘Birthplace’ museum creates a realm where fiddles and harmonicas evoke images of trains carrying coal mined by worn-out faces, dueling banjos assure you Appalachians weren’t always able to keep on the sunny side, and blank-faced, backward people let stringed instruments do their talking. The museum has been well received, especially during the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion music festival in September. Visitors have come from the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain. C. Rueda of Barcelona, Spain visited on March 29 and signed the museum’s exit wall with a prevailing sentiment that seems certain to help preserve Bristol’s prominent standing in the origin of country music. “I wanna be part of the circle,” Rueda wrote, “and keep it unbroken.” Assistant manager DeAnna Greene said there have been inquiries about using the museum for parties and weddings. Indeed, exchanging vows in the mini-chapel during a ceremony that included “Single Girl, Married Girl” would be spot-on for old-time country music lovers. And so is the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

Birthplace of Country Music Museum

May 2015

Out-N-About

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Out-N-About

May 2015

Just Jump

Trampoline park offers new kind of adventure

If you’re tired of being grounded, there’s a new way to get some airtime in Johnson City. Just Jump Trampoline Park opened in April after about a year and a half of planning and development. The 22,000-square-foot building on Silverdale Road is billed as a “state-of-the-art entertainment, fitness and sports facility” for people of all ages. Co-owner Christie Wolfenbarger said Just Jump is the only business of its kind in the area. It’s a fresh take on an old concept. “Trampoline parks have been around for a long time, but we had never heard of them until we saw something on Facebook about one in Knoxville,” she said. “We took a visit down there and came away thinking, Johnson City needs one of these because it’s great fun.” Wolfenbarger and partners Beth Ringley and Travis Hutton have created a fun, adventurous environment in a complex being renovated by developer Mitch Cox. (Silverdale Road is the short connector between Princeton and Oakland.) Wolfenbarger and Ringley have worked together for years in the consulting business, and they just saw an unexpected opportunity for themselves. “We used to do business plans for other people, and we started one for us,” said Wolfenbarger. “It looked good, and here we are.” Dozens of trampolines, supplied by Trampolines

Unlimited of Santa Barbara, Calif., make up the “floors” of the various play areas, which are detailed with dayglo colors. There’s a designated space for smaller jumpers and another for open jump. There’s also basketball and dodge ball, an obstacle course and an airbag jump. “We have almost 10,000 feet of play space,” said Wolfenbarger. “It’s fun for all ages. Everybody loves it.” If you’re not into flying, the facility has a mezzanine deck with couches and big televisions where you can view the action. The latenight atmosphere can be enhanced by LED lights, black lights and strobes. Jumpers can play by the hour ($11 during the week, $12 on weekends), for 90

Just Jump features a variety of activities in its 22,000-square-foot facility. minutes or two hours. The business is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 1 to 6 p.m. on

Sunday. Just Jump is available to host parties, private events and corporate outings, with food catering offered by Johnny Brusco’s and East

Andy Rowe

Coast Wings. Concessions are sold on property. Call 844-344-JUMP or see justjumptn.com.

— Kelly Hodge May 2015

Out-N-About

Curmudgeons Corner: Should

open carry extend to parks?

Gun culture gone mad

By David Fagelson Our illustrious legislators have completed the process of permitting weapons in public parks. This was obviously necessary as the sightings of Big Foot, mountain lions, and grizzly bears have grown tremendously. Not only have weapons been OK’d for bars and restaurants, but now they wish to include public areas where children may congregate. It is interesting to note that they are banning weapons in government buildings, apparently realizing that this might jeopardize their own lives. Lest there be a cry that I am a bleeding-hearted liberal, I do own a rifle that I use for skeet shooting and the rare hunt. However, the NRA has taken the 2nd Amendment and turned it into an obscenity. We lead the world in gun-related deaths and the record grows daily. Despite the continuing horror we hear the gun nuts advocating less and less controls, insisting on arming more and more people with no checks at all. Let’s start using common sense and begin to restrict the uncontrolled rise in gun deaths and accidents. Background checks on gun owners should be increased. Where there is no need for guns, such as in public areas where children are, these places should be made gun free. Also, a restriction should be made on automatic weapons; one doesn’t need an AK-47 to shoot pheasants. It is obvious these weapons are solely used to kill other people. If one wishes to return to the Old West mentality, then let’s have duels, shootouts and lynch mobs. But with the plethora of gun deaths growing daily, isn’t it about time we stopped marching to the beat of the small number of highly vocal NRA gun enthusiasts? How many more wasted lives must occur before we follow the rest of the civilized world and restrict the anarchy of a gun culture gone mad? All we have to do is look around us to see how the rest of the world has learned to handle guns. For some reason their gun controls work while ours don’t. I understand that we need weapons to prevent the government from taking away our liberty, but it is interesting that other countries have somehow figured out how to be free without killing themselves, especially innocent children. For those of us who preach the sanctity of life, we have a weird way of living it.

Nay

Terry Warner

Just another public place

By Harrison Jenkins

This is what I would say to those who are up in arms about the Tennessee legislature’s proposal to force local governments to allow people who have carry permits to carry their guns in parks: “Get over yourselves.” Guns are a permanent part the landscape in the United States and in Tennessee. They’re not going anywhere. I’ve read estimates that there are more guns in our country than there are people, more than three hundred million of them. We have relied on guns to defend ourselves and our homes (and to take land from others, I admit) for centuries. Guns are an integral part of our culture and our history; they’re a part of our national being. So what if we allow them in city parks? Do you really think they’re not there already? It’s legal in Tennessee to carry a loaded weapon in your vehicle without a permit. Do you think the men and women who have loaded guns in their cars

Aye

Out-N-About

May 2015

or trucks stay out of the city parks because of the anti-gun laws? Of course they don’t. They might not be carrying the guns on their bodies when they visit the parks, but they’re not far from them. And how is it fair to be able to carry a gun into a mall or a bank or a restaurant and not into a city park? Where is the logic in that? Should the parks be somehow exempt because they’re run by… the government? The government of Tennessee — the state government, that is — has seen fit to allow us to own and carry guns after having gone through the proper training and obtaining the proper permits. Who are local governments to be telling us otherwise? And it isn’t as though there is going to be a major upswing in violent crime at city parks if people with carry permits are allowed to enter with their guns either openly carried or concealed. I’ve read studies that say more carry permits reduce violent crime, and I’ve read studies that claim more carry permits increase violent crimes. Like all studies, you have to take a

look at who’s providing the funding before you can make a determination as to the objectivity or accuracy of the study. If the NRA is putting up the money, you can bet it’s going to say more guns means less crime. If the ACLU is sponsoring the study, the findings are going to be the opposite. Overall, though, there is no empirical data that exists, to my knowledge, that proves that increased gun ownership and carry permits increases the frequency of gun-related crime. The bottom line, though, is that at this point, it doesn’t really matter what the government does or says. The guns are already out there and new ones are pouring into the hands of U.S. citizens at the rate of more than ten million a year. State governments aren’t going to put a stop to gun ownership, and neither are the feds, for the simple reason that the majority of the people who live in this country don’t want the government controlling gun ownership. Why? Because they don’t trust the government. And really, why should they?

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Lester Bean

The appearance of piety in Nashville

My name is Lester Bean, and I’m gonna be the chief rabble rouser around here for the next little while. If you don’t want any rabble roused, then I reckon you ought to just move along, but if you don’t mind a little rousing of rabble, then stick around and maybe we’ll have a little fun. Most of what I plan to write will wind up on napkins since I’ll be writing while I’m sitting on this barstool at Miss Kitty’s Honky Tonk and Laundromat, which is just off Frog Hollow Road, smack in the middle of the Tri-Cities. My good buddy, Homer Jones, comes in a lot and he’ll join in on the discussion from time to time. He ain’t all that smart, but he says something worth listening to every once in a blue moon. Speak of the devil, he’s walking in the door right now. Homer takes the napkins home to his wife, Emmylou, and she types the words up for me on her Underwood Touchmaster Five typewriter. I give the pages to the people who publish this magazine, and they give

• 1 bedroom, 1 bath: $445. • 2 bedroom, 1 bath: $520 • 3 bedroom, 2 bath $595. Family income limits apply. Please call the number above for additional information or to schedule a visit. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Wheelchair accessible

See PIETY, Page 22

Feeling the heat By Dylan Pratt

Floor Plans Include: stove, dishwasher, garbage disposal, refrigerator, central heat & air, washer/ dryer hook ups. Water and sewer and garbage pick-up included. Apartments include a private patio or balcony with storage unit. We also have a nice playground with gazebo.

me enough money to buy a few more beers. This month’s rant is about the dimwits in the Tennessee legislature (are there actually any non-dimwits in that august body these days?) who want to officially declare the Holy Bible as the state book of Tennessee. It don’t matter a tick to them that mixing religion and affairs of state is forbidden by both the federal and state constitutions, which are nothing more than the legal foundations of both our state and our country. And it don’t matter to them that lumping the Bible in there with the state insects (firefly and ladybug,) the state fish (smallmouth bass and channel catfish,) the state reptile (Eastern box turtle,) and the state amphibian (cave salamander,) seems to trivialize the importance of a book that has influenced millions of people all over the world for centuries. What is most important to this bunch is the appearance of piety.

Growing up in Johnson City, I vividly remember the seasons of my youth. The fresh scent of the coming spring mixes a nice cocktail of memory with the smell of freshly cut grass in high summer at Lions Field before baseball games. I clearly recall the aroma of wood smoke marking the transition from fall to winter as I helped Dad build fires in our backyard near Fairmont Elementary School in Johnson City. I have fond recollections of every season, but summer is my favorite. It’s hot in the summer, but it’s still my favorite. I guess it’s the baseball player in me. Speaking of baseball, it’s a sport

that is constantly analyzed by numbers, the pesky little things. I’ve never been able to make much sense of them. They’ve plagued me since my youth. Always hovering, never far away no matter how much I tried to avoid them. Always measuring things like performance, telling me how I compared to the other players. Numbers are heartless and inconvenient. For example, here’s a number for you: 650,000. As in, according to NASA, carbon dioxide levels are higher than they’ve been in 650,000 years. Here’s another number: nine. As in, nine of the 10 warmest years

See HEAT, Page 22

May 2015

Out-N-About

Heat

Piety

on record have occurred since the year 2000. And I’ll share another number with you, but this time I’m going get a little fancy: 13.3. As in, arctic ice volume is decreasing at a rate of roughly 13.3% per decade. And last, but certainly not least, the ol’ lucky number seven. Even our lucky numbers have become a part of the global warming analysis. Seven represents the number of inches the oceans have risen over the past century. As if that weren’t enough, the ascent of the world’s oceans is an exponential thing; the rise in sea level will actually grow at a higher rate as we move forward because of the amount of ice falling into our oceans. Some people think it’s a little arrogant of us as human beings to think we’re actually capable of affecting the climate of the entire planet, but 97% of climate scientists agree the Earth is heating up and human beings are the cause. We can’t disregard the fact that human beings have been pumping a minimum of 4 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year since 1975 (that number was 8.4 billion in 2009). The planet might be warming up on its own a little bit, but it’s hard to deny in the face of the scientific evidence that we’re a huge part of the process. Half of the people reading this will think I’m stupid. They’ve made up their minds that global warming is a myth created by liberal fear-mongers, and there’s nothing I can do or say that will change their minds. I think that’s a shame, but it’s the way it is. So damn the facts and grab your swimming trunks, folks. It’s almost summer, and the heat is definitely coming on.

They’re like the lady at church who tries to pray louder than everybody else, including the preacher, or the man at church who gives you a dirty look if you don’t put enough money in the collection plate to suit him. They just want to use their particular brand of religion to make themselves feel holier than everybody else. That kinda thing don’t sit well with me, and Homer says he don’t like it, either. And speaking of being holier than everybody else, if Rep. Micah VanHuss of Jonesborough has his way, the state of Tennessee will also have an official new state rifle, the Barrett .50-caliber Model 82A1. A trained sniper can put a holier-than-thou hole in an enemy from a mile away with that weapon. How cool is that? You could kill somebody with a rifle that’s so powerful and so accurate that the person you killed would be dead before he even heard the shot. I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly the kind of thing I want my state to be known for. They should do a slogan, too, something like, “Tennessee: our state gun will kill you deader than dammit before you hear the shot.” At least the dimwits have calmed down about Sharia Law now that they’ve banned it. You knew that, didn’t you? The Tennessee legislature, in their infinite wisdom, spent a great deal of time and actually outlawed Sharia law, which was already not an accepted form of law in either Tennessee or the United States the last I heard. We’re now one of seven states in the country whose legislatures have banned Sharia law. The others are North Carolina, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Dakota, all beacons of progressive thought and reason. I swear all this talk and fuss about the Bible and guns and Middle Easterners reminds me of the Crusades. Maybe we ought to do what the English did back in the day. Maybe we should pack up our state-sanctioned Bibles, pick up our state-sanctioned weapons, and head on over to the Middle East and kick some Arab butt. What’s that you say, Homer? “We’re already doing that, Lester,” Homer says. “We’re already kicking some Arab butt. Been doing it since the Bush boys got their fingers on the triggers.” He’s right, by crackies. Well, if George H. Dubya and George Dubya Bush got us into it, then it must be fine. And I guess maybe them Tennessee legislative boys ain’t so dumb after all.

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Out-N-About

May 2015

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Rob Stacy’s fitness tips/Air squat Why should I squat and why should it be below parallel (hip crease below knee line)? There are many critics in the fitness community of this common misconception of squatting. The squat is the fundamental movement to a more healthy body. The best part is that it’s infinitely scalable for all age and ability levels. First lay flat on the ground on your back, without rolling over to your stomach try to stand without letting your knee go below your hip crease. This is tough. Well, who are we kidding? It’s nearly impossible. This is one reason you need to practice fundamental movement the way our body was built to do. There are several reasons why you should squat below parallel: 1) Healthy hip function If your hips are not healthy, your body will be unhealthy. Lower-back problems will exist, fundamental performance will also be lowered. 2) Healthy knee function Yes, below parallel is actually healthy for your knees. The joints, ligaments and muscles that surround the knee

were meant to be in these positions. Try squatting below parallel and sit for two minutes straight. Now sit just above parallel and see how that feels for two minutes. 3) Increase of core strength You heard that. Yes, squats increase your core strength. No more sit-ups, ladies and gents. 4) Function of life We’re going to keep this one simple. Do you want to get of the toilet? Then squat below parallel. Here are the rules to doing this exercise correctly: 1) Keep feet at shoulder width. 2) Turn out toes 8 to 12 degrees. 3) Keep arms straight, creating a triangle with your hands. You’ll want to look through this triangle to keep the proper back alignment. 4) Squat until your hip crease is below the knee line. Let your knees track your toes, spreading the ground with your feet. 5) Drive and stand through your heels.

Rob Stacy is a trainer at CrossFit East 10 in Johnson City.

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Calendar of events BLUE PLUM FESTIVAL

MAY 1 — First Friday (Corazon Latino Festival), Downtown Johnson City (downtownjc.org) 1 — Music on the Square, Jonesborough; 7 p.m.; free 1-2 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m., 423-283-0074) 1-3 — French Broad River Festival, Hot Springs, N.C. (frenchbroadriverfestival.com) 2 — West Side Story, Paramount Center for the Arts, Bristol; 7:30 p.m.; tickets $40 (theparamountcenter.com or 423-274-8920) 2 — The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Niswonger PAC, Greeneville; 11 a.m.; tickets $10-15 (423-638-1679) 3 — Music on the Lawn, Martha Washington Inn & Spa, Abingdon, Va.; free (abingdonmusicexperience. com, 276-676-2282) 3 — Lewis Black, Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville; 8 p.m.; tickets $3559.50 (865-684-1200) 8 — Music on the Square, Jonesborough; 7 p.m.; free 8-9 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 10 — Music on the Lawn, Martha Washington Inn & Spa, Abingdon, Va.; free (abingdonmusicexperience. com, 276-676-2282) 15 — Music on the Square, Jonesborough; 7 p.m.; free 15-16 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 16 — Racks by the Tracks, Downtown Kingsport ; $30-50 beer & concert, $10-15 concert only (racksbythetracks.com, 423-863-3998) 16 — Strawberry Festival, Unicoi; free (423-735-0317, unicoitn.net) 16 — Spring Breakout car, truck and bike show, downtown Bristol; 2 p.m.; free for spectators 16-17 — Outdoor Adventure Expo, Erwin 16-17 — Iris Festival, Greeneville; free (greenecountypartnership.com/ events/iris-festival-1, 423-638-4111) 17 — Music on the Lawn, Martha Washington Inn & Spa, Abingdon,

Downtown Johnson City June 5-7 Music lineup Shovels and Rope Rebirth Brass Band Ian Thomas and the Band of Drifters 18 South Danny Paisley & Southern Grass Empty Bottle String Band Michael Knowles Heppy Kats Malcolm Holcombe My New Favorites Sonia Webb Wilder Richie Jazz lineup Johnny Smith and the Power Players Show Band El Movimiento Diane Roblin Dan Wilson & Keith McKelley Va.; free (abingdonmusicexperience. com, 276-676-2282) 22 — Music on the Square, Jonesborough; 7 p.m.; free 22-23 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 23 — Plum Allen Date, Abingdon, Va.; $1 admission 24 — Free Family Fun Day, Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Bristol; 2 p.m. (423-573-1927) 29 — Music on the Square, Jonesborough; 7 p.m.; free 29-30 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 30-31 — Native American Festival, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, Elizabethton; $5 adults, $1 children (sycamoreshoalstn.org, 423543-5808)

JUNE

1 — Kathy Griffi n, Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville 5-7 — Blue Plum Festival, Downtown Johnson City; free (blueplum.

org) 5-6 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 6 — Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships, Muddy Creek Raceway, Blountville 7 — Southeastern Autorama, Erwin 12-13 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 13 — Slide the City, Appalachian Fairgrounds, Gray 19-21, 26-28 — Les Miserable, Theatre Bristol, tickets $15.25 & $19.25 19-20 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 26-27 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 27 — Jerry Seinfeld, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville, NC; tickets $49.50-125

JULY

2-4 — Jonesborough Days

3 — First Friday, Downtown Johnson City (downtownjc.org) 3-4 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 10-18 — Fun Fest, Kingsport 10-11 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 17-18 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 24-25 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 31 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.)

AUGUST

1-10 — Virginia HIghlands Festival, Abingdon, Va. 1 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 7 — First Friday (Our Northeast Tennessee Great Outdoors), Downtown Johnson City (downtownjc. org) 7-8 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 14-15 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 21-22 — Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, Johnson City (shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m.) 24-29 — Appalachian Fair, Gray Fairgrounds

SEPTEMBER

4 — First Friday (Main Street America), Downtown Johnson City (downtownjc.org) 12 — Watauga Lake Triathlon, Butler (wataugalaketriathlon.com) 18-20 — Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Downtown Bristol (bristolrhythm.com or 423-573-1927) 21 — Taste of Johnson City, JCCC

OCTOBER

2 — First Friday (Autumn in Appalachia), Downtown Johnson City (downtownjc.org) 2-3 — Unicoi County Apple Festival

May 2015

Out-N-About