Tag: Knoxville TN

  • The History of Charlie Benzinger | September 6th

    Our newer members don’t realize what they missed by not being here when Charlie Benzinger was with us. He is one of the people that made our club one of the biggest in the southeast and the envy of all the clubs in Knoxville.  It was most entertaining to see the pictures and hear some of the things he had recorded and we are fortunate to have his daughter who plowed through it all and brought it to us. Both he and Janet’s mother, Joyce, believed in “giving back” and on a lot of Wednesdays they would be off to delivery something to someone.

    He was always available to pick something up, work at a function or do whatever we needed at the time. He is sorely missed. As it has fallen Janet’s lot to try and sort through and find what’s important what is not she has made a list for the rest of us:  Tell your family where you have stored things, give someone a copy of your honorable discharge, if you plan to be buried in a military cemetery you must pre-register. Go do it! Tell someone in the family who you want to have your military artifacts and finally, record your stories either orally or in writing.  Thank you, Janet, you did a great job!

     

    Housekeeping:  We had Joleen McCarty with UT Speech & Hearing, Nancy Brown, Janet’s sister and Senator Becky Massey was in attendance.  Mike Simpson read the prayer and Audrey Cowan led the pledge.  We had our first grid pick of the season and Caroline Grimm won!

     

    Next Week:  Our speaker will be Jayson Swain, former UT star wide receiver and player for the Chicago Bears. At present, he is a local sportscaster.

     

     Tuesday, September 12th is the monthly board meeting at Chesapeake’s @ 6 pm.  All are welcome, Dutch treat.

  • Justin Biggs 11th District | August 30th

    One of Justin Biggs claims to fame, he got married on Good Morning America. He has decided to make the trustee’s office a career. Government service evidently runs in the family, his dad is chief deputy with the sheriff’s office. He has been with the trustee’s office for 12 years and collects not only our taxes but real and personal property taxes for businesses. They do all kinds of fun things with this money and by the way we get a new appraisal next year so we better be really good friends with Mr. Biggs. Don’t know if someone else is wanting the same job, we’ll have to wait and see.

    A couple of people complained about having to pay city and county taxes; I did too when I lived in the city but gave it up and moved to the county. If that doesn’t work the next time it comes up, vote for a metro government.

     

    Our own Dr. Asp shared with us his book has been translated into several different languages and that is just the beginning.  I think we already knew he was smarter than the average bear, this just proves it.

    Next week: Janet Bigelow is going to share some information about her dad that she’s sure we don’t know. As he was a good and faithful Sertoman for many years and his birthday is in September this is timely.

  • Alex Gabbard

    We didn’t have the original speaker we were promised, however, Alex Gabbard did a fine job of “filling in”. He has written a book on the first battle of the American Revolution of which he received a book of the year award. The book, named Gaspee, tells the story of Lt. William Dudingston, captain of the ship Gaspee enforced maritime laws with a vengeance. Anything that was brought into port without the benefit of “paying the taxes to England” was sized and in some cases destroyed. Principal towns were Providence, Newport and Rhode Island. Joseph Bucklin was credited with firing the first shot that hit Lt. Dudingston and therefore started the war. King George offered a reward for his capture, you’ll have to read the book to find out the rest. Before out time, but quite interesting.

    Housekeeping: Jason Grahl read the prayer, Al Gill led the pledge. We had a couple of visitors: Shasta (hope I spelled that correctly) wife of new member Matt Hall, another friend of his and I didn’t get the name, Rand McKinney came with dad and sat with him this time.
    Called board meeting: It’s that time again when you get to “step up to the plate” and help run this organization. With that said, we have a tentative list for you to look at and hopefully approve. These people will take office the first of July so we don’t have a lot of time to pick and choose. If you would like to serve on the board and no one has contacted you, let someone know. We will sign you up!

    And the winners are:

    Chris Kerr, President; Jacob Tippens VP Outreach; Alan Stuckey, VP Member- ship; Brett Grimm, VP Special Events; Andy Schoerner, Treasurer; Carol Mohney, Secretary; Carolyn Grimm, Sgt-at-Arms; Jason Grahl, Speaker chair & grid pick; Matt Hall, Parliamentarian; Allie Harmon & Mike McKinney, Visitation; Bob Rentenbach, Greeter. Board of Directors: Jerry Faerber, Chris Hoosier, Carl Asp, Marianne Greene, Kim Simpson, Linda Price, Mike Simpson. Rusty Farrell, Chairman of the Board.

    In a nutshell: Matt Hall is replacing Tim Curbow, Carol Mohney is replacing Andy Libby, we are adding Mike McKinney to Visitation and Rusty Farrell replaces Mike Simpson as chairman.

  • Dr. Beth Humphrey | UTK Speech and Hearing

    Dr. Beth Humphrey gave our last talk on speech and hearing. She stated she was not a politician but is involved in the current healthcare legislation. She stated 2-3 out of 1,000 children are born with detectable hearing loss. Now almost 98% of infants are checked before leaving the hospital. In the works is a hearing aid assistance tax credit for people without insurance and for us old folks hearing aids are not covered by Medicare. The over the counter hearing aids are more affordable and accessible (these are not for children) but you need to get a hearing assessment before trying one out. By the time our children and grandchildren need hearing aids they will sell them at Wal-Mart.

    Next week is a not to be missed. We will have Scott West, owner of 3 local restaurants in Knoxville. He is going to tell us all about his stay with the federal government.
    Housekeeping: Mike McKinney led the pledge and I don’t have a clue who read the prayer. My pen died and my extra had run dry so I’m trying to write most of this from memory. What I do remember is Andy Libby is back and looks good. Rand McKinney came with Dad and was pumping Janet for information.

    Don’t forget election of officers is coming up and you just might be called on to fill a position. Also, we will have a called board meeting after June 7.

  • Speech and Hearing Month | Ellen Hamby & Katie Faulkner

    May 17:  Dr. Asp introduced Ellen Hamby who was the first female grad to come on board in 1977. The object was to improve life’s connections  for a forgotten population who had been locked up, locked away and locked in. Ridiculed, despised, feared, dehumanized and used for amusement. Aristole: let there be law that deformed child shall live. Serving people with intellectual disabilities; Knoxville has 12 group homes, 8 homes have 8 clients each. The day program serves 80 clients ranging in age from 8 to 84 with a severity of handicap from mild to profound.

    Report on the board meeting: It was determined to pass on the biscuit festival. We will look at it again next year.  We are greatly in need of sponsors for Oktoberfest, if you would like to attempt this all the paperwork is ready for you and you can be the “man of the hour”.

    May 24: Dr. Asp introduced Dr. Katie Faulkner who told us about the surgical procedure of the Cochlear Implant. This is a surgical prosthesis for both adults and children with profound hearing loss. It takes approximately a year from the time a person receives the implant until they are comfortable and able to hear normally and are released.  For a person that is unable to hear with regular hearing aids this is close to a miracle. Unfortunately, it cost about as much – around $80,000. Medicare for us old people will cover part of the cost.

    Housekeeping: 05/17 Jacob Tippens read the prayer, Jason Grahl led the pledge. We had one guest brought to us by Jacob Tippens; Matt Hall and he joined!  Carl Asp had an additional guest Dr. Nola Radford.

    07/24: Bob Rentenbach read the prayer, Jim Thompson led the pledge. We didn’t have a single visitor.

  • Cuba Visit by Chris Kerr

    Our own Chris Kerr got his feet wet on public speaking and gave us a bit of a history lesson. Looking back, it’s hard to believe how we had our head in the sand and without leaders like President Kennedy we might all be speaking Russia now.  We practiced getting under our desk in the case of an attack and were told to stay there for at least a minute.  Don’t know about you but I’m glad we didn’t have to put that to the test. Chris had a film from 1957 he shared with us, talking about the dangers. He also had the dog tags he and his brother were issued when he went to Cuba with Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church. As he spoke Spanish he came in real handy to interpret.  Things has improved a great deal; the state wage is now $14 a month, citizens are allowed to have cell phones and they are allowed to feed tourist in their home and keep the money. They need toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. Paul Harvey said several years ago on his show, no country can be a world power that can’t take care of its countries personal needs. Let’s face it folks, you may not agree with the last election but we have it good!

    Next Week: Allie Harmon is bringing us Mark Harmon of whom he says is no relation. Should be a lively meeting but leave your firearms at home.

    Housekeeping:  Mike Simpson read the prayer, Caroline Grimm led the pledge and Jillian from UT Speech and Hearing made a return visit.

  • David Montgomery Presentation

    David Montgomery teaches non-credit courses at UT on landscaping and basically tells you which plant should go where. My mother in law could have used him, she just found and empty spot and by the time she passed that was no mean trick. I don’t know how he is at that but I can tell you he’s a hoot. He says he gives a “farmer’s guide to plaints in East Tennessee and he’s a collector of interesting and totally useless information.” He said he really couldn’t pass on anything useful but he invited us to come and take the course so UT could get paid and therefore pay him.  Seems reasonable.

    Next Week:  Carol Evans with Legacy Parks will be our speaker.

    Sunday is our St. Patrick’s Day Celebration and along with the time change which screws some of us up, the weatherman is calling for snow. In the event, he knows what he’s talking about and it really happens and the roads are bad – stay home. Otherwise the party starts at 5 with green beer and lots of good food. We are also going to have an addition this year of a piano player from the Knoxville Opera. If they gave his name, I missed it but don’t you miss him.

    Housekeeping: I read the prayer, Audrey Cowan led the pledge. We had Patti Johnston a professor from UT Speech and Hearing as our guest.

  • Meeting 2-29-17

    We experienced another “no show” but someone came to the rescue with Lisa Skinner who took Joan Brown’s place at the Sertoma Center. For those not aware, Joan has retired. Lisa brought us up to date on what’s happening at the center and a picture of the duplex that is just one of many on the drawing board to house their clients. Seems the government doesn’t want people being put up in dormitory like housing, prefers them in separate homes. The building is a duplex and quite attractive. Don’t have a clue of the additional cost. Each house has 3 clients per side + a caregiver and they look nice; most neighborhoods wouldn’t have a problem with having one next door. The center is currently responsible for 125 people, 85 live in residential homes. Also, the powers that be, say all the clients must be “out in the community six hours a day. They attempt to get them employed with something they can do, the original win, win.

    P.S. We will need to forgive our “no show”. He was required to be at church to participate in the Ash Wednesday service.

    Next Week:  Caroline Grimm is bringing our speaker. Don’t have any information on who that will be but I’m sure he/she will be great!

    Coming Up:  Board Meeting March 14th.

    Don’t walk in silence April 22nd.

    Friendship Dinner, Butch Jones speaker, May 4th.

    Kenny Withers Golf Challenge May 19th

    Annual Gala, Nights in Havana August 19t

  • Meeting 11-30-16

    We literally went to the dogs this week with a program from Smoky Mountain Service Dogs. Mike Kitchens the Volunteer Chair and Laurie Birt the Community Events Coordinator brought “Hooligan” one of their canine ambassadors. He demonstrated his ability to pick up items, go find and retrieve things like a telephone, pick up a credit card that has been dropped, assist in getting up and down.  After completing training, each dog in their program is specifically matched with a recipient based on the person’s needs and the ability of the dog to serve those needs. All of the work that goes into making a service dog is done with volunteers only from raising puppies to the final stage of placing the dog. Occasionally they have a dog that is just not “suited” to be a service dog and they “assist” him to another career.

    Next Week:  The South Doyle Madrigal Singers. Good time to bring a friend or a perspective new member.  Be kind to Marianne and let her know if you are bringing several people.

    On a sad note:  Nancy Biddle, Allie Harmon’s friend, passed away. Her service is Saturday @ Sequoia Presbyterian.

    Also, our long time Sertoma member, Jim Key passed away.  I understand he had moved out of state to be close to a relative. Don’t have any information on his service.

    We conducted a drawing for those persons who had bought/sold a lot of tickets for Oktoberfest and the results were: Rusty Farrell got the UT tickets (which he had donated) Caroline Grimm won a UT picture and Jacob Tippens won a bottle of liquor.  Not to be outdone, Al Gill won the grid pick.

    Record keeping: Andy Schoerner read the prayer, Alan Stuckey led the pledge, we had Tricia Hatenger from UT and our Sertoman in Training Michelle Simpson.

    We will not meet December 21 and 28.

  • Meeting 11-16-16

    Bob Rentenbach introduced our speaker, Father David from Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Anyone traveling on Northshore is aware of the building they are in the process of constructing and evidently it will be massive. Twenty-eight thousand feet to be exact. He stated people ask why they are spending all that money on a building rather than giving it to the poor. He said each year the church invests over six million dollars to the poor and they believe a beautiful building will bring more people to Christ. This, of course, is the goal.  He is originally from Cleveland but has been in Knoxville since 2010. We have been invited to attend a service anytime it is convenient.

    Report on the board meeting:  Seems the meeting went over long (I was on a church trip and missed it) but the problem was in deciding the percentages we would be giving to our various charities. After much discussion, they decided on: Stockings from US 45.3%, UT Speech and Hearing 26.4% and the Sertoma Center 28.3%. We realized a net gain of $5148.from Oktoberfest. Stockings from US got the bigger piece of the pie as this is the only fund raiser that they participate in, whereas both UT Speech and Hearing and the Sertoma Center have other fund raisers to help them out during the year.  Both of my brothers were in service and away from home on Christmas (so was my ex-husband but we don’t count him) so I am of the opinion we can’t do enough. Jesus Christ and solders are the only ones who have offered to die for us. Per Rusty we all got an “atta boy”; every member bought a ticket and brought a brown bag item.

    Next week:  We will not have a speaker and we are joining up with the Kiwanis to share their speaker. Come and have lunch if you want too or since it’s the day before Thanksgiving we won’t hold it against you if you don’t show up.  On November 30 Andy Libby is responsible for the speaker and hasn’t shared with me who he has or if he has one.

    For the Record:  Julie Beeler from UT Speech and Hearing received the check Rusty presented. She said they appreciate what we do for them and it is making a difference in several students lives.