Shopper Blog: CrossFit manager's mantra: It's never boring, and even kids can get hooked
HALLS
CrossFit manager's mantra: It's never boring, and even kids can get hooked
Al Lesar, Shopper News
Getting in shape should never be boring.
At least as long as CrossFit is around.
Combining the movements of gymnastics, weightlifting, running and other creative exercises, CrossFit offers the opportunity for a participant to push the body to its limits without noticing.
“People need to know they can do hard things,” said Rebecca Rysewyk, general manager at CrossFit First Creek (2404 Dutch Valley Drive). “They learn that being uncomfortable is OK. That’s where you grow. You can see what you’re about. That can transfer into all aspects of your life.”
That’s been one of Rysewyk’s primary selling points since she took over at the gym in 2018.
She came from New Jersey to East Tennessee to attend veterinary school at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She left the school shy of her degree, but became involved in wildlife rehabilitation.
She stumbled onto CrossFit as a release, but made a career of it.
Fitness can be fun
CrossFit’s relatively recent popularity on mainstream television has had a direct impact on the general population taking up the challenge.
“People are seeing (CrossFit) as adult (physical education) that is competitive,” Rysewyk said. “People don’t want to do the same workout every day. They want to be challenged by something different. They want their one hour to be effective.”
Whether it’s doing Olympic weightlifting, executing drills on the different machines, running or lugging a 150-pound (100 pounds for women) sandbag around, no two workouts are the same.
“Everything in CrossFit has become more user friendly,” Rysewyk said. “The longer it has been around, the more it has been studied; the more scientific the workouts have become.
The music is loud, the intensity is high and the camaraderie is off the charts − just the way Rysewyk likes her gym.
“CrossFit is a big community,” she said. “You know what everyone is going through. This is proof that fitness can be fun. Fitness should never be a punishment. It’s not easy, but when it’s over everyone can be together feeling good about what they have just accomplished. After a while, the mental approach can become a way of life.”
Kids can get hooked
Rysewyk is convinced that CrossFit is for everyone. That’s why she’s making a push to get youngsters in to give the sport a try.
“Once they get in the door, they usually get hooked,” she said. “We make it fun so that the kids are playing games and not focused on the physical benefits they’re getting.”
Children ages 4-13 can be part of classes Mondays and Wednesdays 4:15-5 p.m. or Tuesdays and Thursdays 10-10:45 a.m.
“We have them use so many skills and movements that they are focused on the game and not concerned about the workout,” Rysewyk said.
Rysewyk and her youth coaches are there every step of the way to make sure technique and form are proper and everything is done safely.
CrossFit First Creek has classes starting at 5:15 a.m. Monday through Friday. The last class of the day starts at 6:30 p.m., except for Friday. Saturday’s class is at 8:30 a.m. and Sunday is 1 p.m.
Rysewyk said there are HIT classes available, which are for people not ready for CrossFit. Also, off-season team training for middle school and high school students is an option.
BEARDEN
Student editor and Bearden grad is now a UT Torchbearer
John Shearer, Shopper News
Abby Ann Ramsey was sitting in a University of Tennessee Daily Beacon student newspaper meeting recently talking about prospective stories when she suddenly became the story.
The 2020 Bearden High graduate learned the news that she was one of only seven graduating UT students named a Torchbearer, the school’s highest honor for a student.
“I was not expecting it at all,” she said with a laugh of finding out she had received the award that recognizes academic achievement, commitment to others, and contributions to the university and community. “A whole bunch of people walked in with balloons, and I was completely surprised.”
Since the initial attention and hoopla, though, she admitted that she has felt completely humbled to receive the award for which she knew she had been nominated.
“It just feels like such an honor because, looking back at who the past Torchbearers were, it’s crazy to think about being in the same group as all those amazing people,” she said of the list that includes former Vol quarterback Josh Dobbs and current Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson.
Only honoree from Knoxville
Ramsey, to whom Shopper News readers were introduced in 2020 when the graduating Bearden High student body president was receiving the Rotary Club of Knoxville’s top scholarship to UT, is the only one of the honorees from Knoxville. She is one of two School of Journalism and Media recipients along with UT Lady Vol softball player Rylie West from California, with whom Ramsey has had class. She is also the second Daily Beacon editor in a row to receive the recognition after current News Sentinel reporter Daniel Dassow was selected last year.
Like the award namesake, Ramsey has busily kept the light on both in and out of class. Besides serving as editor-in-chief of the Daily Beacon, she has also done some journalism-related work for Canopy Atlanta and Atlanta Magazine publications. She has also volunteered for the Christian nonprofit organization Thrive, which works with at-risk youth.
And her schooling has not just included journalism. She also has a dual major in religious studies, which she believes is more important to the world of journalism than one might imagine.
“I took a (religion) class as an elective my freshman year and loved the material and how religion impacts people,” she said. “It has so many crossovers in politics and culture that it is important for journalists to understand.”
Her dual degree work also resulted in receiving the Joan Nicoll Riedl Book Award in religious studies, which she used for textbook purchases.
Ramsey has also enjoyed plenty of reporting experience while working her way up to student editor. A favorite story she worked on for the Daily Beacon was in 2022, when right-leaning TV host Tomi Lahren of “Fox Nation” spoke, and some more liberal students protested.
The topic of free speech versus extreme speech has become a growing debate on college campuses, and Ramsey found it a fascinating topic to cover objectively as a reporter. “It’s an interesting dynamic from both sides,” she said.
Despite her busy schedule and serious news stories, her four years at UT have not been all work and no play. She usually leaves campus briefly during a typical day to walk her dog, Maeby, and even finds a little time to laugh or make people laugh as a member of the improv troupe Involuntary Sports Party, which performs in the library auditorium.
“It’s really nice to have a designated time to laugh,” she said. “It’s a big stress reliever, and it has ties to journalism with storytelling.”
Ramsey also had an opportunity to attend the famous White House Correspondents Dinner in 2023 as the recipient of the Carter Holland Memorial Scholarship. The latter is named in memory of the son of Lucie and Steve Holland, who is a UT journalism graduate and White House correspondent for Reuters.
One achievement she has not yet secured is a professional job after graduation, but she added that she is hard at work on that, too. “I hope to go into news reporting for a paper or a website,” she said. “I like a little bit of everything. I love the investigative stuff and the human-interest stuff.”
As she graduates, she realizes she has enjoyed nearly everything about UT, despite the COVID-19 precautions that slowed her campus involvement before she joined the Daily Beacon in 2021.
“Very quickly I just dove into everything and really started to get plugged into the community,” she said.
POWELL
After 68 years, Martha Neskaug hangs up her scissors
Al Lesar, Shopper News
For 68 years, Martha Neskaug has been committed to her clients.
That commitment goes well beyond the confines of the hair salon in which she works.
“There have been times I’ve gone to the funeral home to do my client’s hair one last time,” Martha said. “It’s pretty rough. I talk to them. I give them a good talking to for leaving me.”
The 86-year-old, who has been working at Simply Hair and Nails in Norwood for the past 14 years, has finally decided to hang up her scissors after quite a run.
“I’ve always loved being with people,” Martha said. “I kept thinking that I was going to quit before (all her clients) died.”
A PK (preacher’s kid, as she calls it) growing up in Texas, Martha took advantage of a cousin’s high school graduation gift of a few months in beauty school in 1956. When the family moved to Wartburg, Martha finished her training at Joseph’s Beauty School in Knoxville.
“When I graduated, Joseph told me, ‘Don’t go to Wartburg and rot,’” Martha said.
Lots of stories over the years
Martha heeded the advice and found a salon in the newly opened Broadway Shopping Center to launch her career. It was the start of a journey in which she had a home salon on two occasions, and then finally put the cap on her career in Norwood.
“I remember one time in the late ‘50s,” she said. “A regular client came in and said she wanted to surprise her husband and dye her hair blonde. She had dark hair. It took a lot of chemicals to turn it blonde, but we did it.
“Her scalp was so sore from the bleaching. It was blistered. But she was happy to surprise her husband.”
Martha said she was never a fan of long hair, even in the ‘60s when that was the style.
“I’ve seen a lot of styles come and go,” she said. “I didn’t like the beehive (high-sitting style). There were stories about roaches being in the beehive.
“We didn’t have blow driers or curling irons. All we had was rollers. I didn’t do the beehives or a lot of coloring. I would do frosting.”
Navigating a changing world
Today, Martha’s feet constantly remind her of the long hours she spent on them while servicing her clients. The chemicals she used for 68 years have caused her COPD and have her hooked up to a breathing machine.
Those were just byproducts of the job she loved for so long.
“I would hear a lot of family problems from the women in the chair,” she said. “I always said, ‘We’ve gotta pray.’ There were times when I’d get close to (her clients).”
Heck, whenever she went to a family reunion, her mother would remind Martha to bring her scissors because someone would surely need a touch-up.
“The world has really changed in those 68 years,” Martha said. “I’ve lived the better part of those times. I still have a flip-phone. Change is hard sometimes.”
Now, she’ll have time to wander the 1½ acres she lives on, at least as far as the tether on her breathing apparatus will allow.
“I’ve always been very active,” she said. “I’d like to stay that way.”
BEARDEN
West High valedictorian scores a full ride to Vanderbilt
John Shearer, Shopper News
On the volleyball court, senior Emelia “Emmie” Bankston was a setter who helped some of her West High teammates get the glory with kills and other shots.
Academically, though, she has been the one scoring as of late, as she has been named the school’s valedictorian for the Class of 2024. The announcement came a few weeks ago when she and salutatorians Jocelin Hunter and Charles Burke were called to the office and told the news.
She is planning to attend Vanderbilt University because of its respected Peabody College education program and has received a prestigious Cornelius Vanderbilt full scholarship. Her career plans are to teach elementary school and maybe eventually get into school administration.
Because determining all the weighted grades in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes sometimes takes the skill of a valedictorian, she was unaware exactly where she stood. “I guess I was surprised and excited,” she recalled in a recent interview at the school. “I knew I had a high GPA, but it was a tossup as to who would get it.”
But she knows for sure she has enjoyed her academic classes at West, especially history under Lou Gallo.
“I never really thought I was interested in history until AP American history class my sophomore year,” she said. “He makes it really interesting. We learn about different perspectives and about different events, and that’s cool. You don’t think about other countries, and it is interesting to learn about that.”
The daughter of Julie and Newman Bankston also enjoys math, the satisfaction that comes from solving problems.
Regarding how much studying she does, she said that with some subjects, she can grasp the material in class. But with others, including those that she genuinely enjoys, she does do some additional studying at night.
“For certain classes, especially the IB ones, I have to study a lot,” she said. “It is different the last two years than before.”
Studying is connected to other aspects of Bankston’s life, as she has done some neighborhood tutoring in recent years as part of a side job and plans to help others study by pursuing a career in the field of education. The former actually helped with the latter decision, she added.
“It’s really good to see kids who are struggling and just to help them appreciate school more and give them confidence,” she said.
She is also looking back fondly on such activities as being on coach Jessica Lee’s Lady Rebel volleyball team, which had plenty of success until moving to a tougher district this past fall. Her father had attended Bearden, so that has also created some additional fun during the sports seasons, she said.
Bankston – whose younger siblings Oliver and Celia also attend West – said she has enjoyed serving as president of West’s National Honor Society, too. “I enjoy helping people find different service opportunities and people who want to get involved in serving. All of that has been really cool,” she said.
Her whole time has been fun, she added. “I’ve loved being at West,” she said. “I have always liked being in school. The teachers are awesome, and you can tell they care about how you do in class, and they are very helpful related to school and not related to school.
“The whole school is like a community. I’ll definitely miss it, but I am excited for college.”
NORTH KNOXVILLE
Ritterfest is smashing success at Shulz Bräu
Jack Coker, Shopper News
For the second year in a row, North Knoxville was treated to its very own Ritterfest, a German Knight’s Festival, at Shulz Bräu Brewing.
“Last year was our inaugural fair,” said sales manager Ben Oliver. "We had a really good reception for it, so this year we decided to try two weekends for it.” Those two weekends included battling knights, medieval merchants, minstrels of music, and special beer releases.
Oliver remarked that Shulz Bräu had “two record setting weekends” and that there was a “great symbiosis between us and Holleroo. I saw a ton of people in costume in Happy Holler.”
The medieval merchants present at Ritterfest were local business owners peddling their medieval-themed wares. “Whenever we do things like this we are trying to get the community involved,” Oliver said. “We had a jeweler, someone who did all of their work out of chainmail and chainlink, a guy who built D&D accessories, and one who made walking sticks and wooden shields. Our owner's son has been running around all day with his shield and helmet.”
Of particular interest to the beer sommeliers were the three special releases: the Grätzer, Dinkelbier, and the Kellerbier. Oliver explained that the Grätzer is “traditionally from the northern Germanic region, which would be Northern Germany and Southern Poland. It's a 100% wheat grain beer that is smoked, and we won a gold medal with it last year.” The Dinkelbier, which is a spelt-based beer (a species of wheat), was common in medieval Germany, and the Kellerbier is an unfiltered amber lager.
The highly anticipated knight fights were again a crowd favorite. However, this time Shulz Bräu was a bit more prepared for the crowd. “We had pallets of glassware on standby and twice as many staff,” Oliver explained. “We had eight teams come from the southeast and northeast; Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and two from Tennessee. It was bonkers. We are going to have to rebuild the arena; it broke.”
To round out the events, there was also a Castle Ball, which featured a costume and dance contest.
Shulz Bräu plans on hosting Ritterfest again next April, and patrons can continue to expect to see the Knight Fights continue and evolve throughout the year.
Shulz Bräu’s next event will be a Kentucky Derby party on May 4.
POWELL
Atomic Repair will give life to those old video games
Al Lesar, Shopper News
Generations have grown up on video games.
As some people grow older, they’re not inclined to give up on the passion.
That’s where Adam Foshie and Samantha Malone come in.
The Powell residents have a lot of education behind them. Foshie has a bachelor's and master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Malone recently received her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Kentucky.
Along the way, they were both gamers.
“I grew up playing Nintendo 64,” said Malone, 27. “It was so amazing to have that. I’m very artistic. I remember with PlayStation, I enjoyed the story and the art associated with it. I love to be creative and restore them.”
“I got into PlayStation in the early 2000s,” said Foshie, 28. “I bonded with my father with it. It was also a way for me to escape.
“Playing those video games led me to the passion I have for engineering; it really got me into computers.”
Skill becomes a business
It was during the pandemic when Foshie and Malone, both graduate students at the time, got into a bit of a side hustle repairing video games for people or finding broken games, restoring them and then selling them.
“(Turning that skill into a business) happened slowly over time,” Foshie said. “It was a hobby, then the idea hit me that I could make some money as a business.”
That’s when Atomic Repair was born.
Foshie said the long range plan would be to establish a brick and mortar storefront in Powell or Knoxville, but until then they will continue to deliver high quality repairs out of their home.
Foshie said his Facebook Marketplace page is loaded with five-star reviews.
“We have our own collection,” said Malone. “When we are given something to repair or if we find something that we’ll fix and sell, we treat it as though it’s going to be part of our own collection.
“Our standards are high. We try to bring as much life back to the game as possible.”
Restoring a piece of history
When Foshie delves inside the guts of an old video game, there are some common problems for which he checks.
“In the older systems, the capacitors will fail,” Foshie said. “Normally, they won’t get power or they won’t get a display on the screen. That’s a pretty easy fix. I can buy capacitors in bulk.
“In the older Game Boys, the battery burns out. That can impact saving games. Most port damage happens from cords being inserted and pulled out. After a while, they just won’t work anymore.
“It requires a degree of skill to be able to change the ports. It can be difficult to get parts.”
Malone can take a sentimental approach to the need for the work they do.
“Video games were such an integral part of our generation’s history,” she said. “It’s super awesome to be able to bring them back to play on a TV today.
“I parallel it to restoring the Volkswagen Beetle that so many people loved years ago.”
To contact Atomic Repair, go to its Facebook page or atomicrepairtech@gmail.com.
Don DeVoe is glad he coached Tennessee basketball when he did
WEST KNOXVILLE
Commission challenger Greene stresses bipartisanship, housing
Nancy Anderson, Shopper News
Hardin Valley’s Daniel Greene, a Democrat, is running for Knox County Commission District 6 against Republican incumbent Terry Hill.
He said he believes in balance in planning and in government.
“Knox County needs a more balanced approach, so I decided to throw my hat in the ring for seat 6,” Greene said.
“I think we keep going to extremes of one side or another. Knox County is very reactionary. I want to see a balanced approach where we are focused on economic growth and affordable housing.
“I’ve been working with the Democratic Party to bring balance to Knox County for a very long time. I’m a Knoxvillian born and raised. I’ve seen over the years an unbalanced approach to business and planning. It’s always one extreme or the other.
“I was precinct chair for a couple of years working to bring out the more moderate side to Knox County. I think many people are tired of the one-party approach so prevalent in Knoxville. I would like to see a more competitive approach. I believe Knox County will become more purple over time, creating a political balance.”
Greene is a dedicated Democrat who said he feels the Republican Party needs to focus more on people than on politics.
“For me, I feel the Democratic Party is the tent-pole party. I’m not the biggest fan of the direction the Republican Party is going in, although I know several people in the Republican Party that disagree with the focus around one individual. I believe both parties should be about the people.”
At 35, Greene has the political experience to represent Hardin Valley. He was an intern for Lenoir City government in 2012 and remains fascinated with how local government works.
Greene was the director of the Hardin Valley Business and Community Alliance (HVBCA) started by At-Large Commissioner Kim Frazier in 2018 under the name Hardin Valley Planning Advocates. The advocacy group helps push for better planning, especially under the old growth plan.
Greene resigned about a month ago, saying he didn’t want the group to be pressured and wanted to avoid any awkwardness within the group.
Greene said he’s a fan of Advance Knox.
“Advance Knox is a way for us to grow with better balance. Our growth plan has been the same for the last 20 years, which doesn’t match the amount of growth we’re in. We’re about to be a county of one-half million people.”
Greene was in the Army for five years and now works with banking and finance.
He lives in Hardin Valley with his wife, Becky, and son Anson, 5.
He says he’s a big nerd who likes to read about the Roman Empire or play video games with his son in his spare time.
“I know I’m a weird dude with a lot of energy and I embrace that 100 percent.”
Info: www.greeneforknox.com, www.advanceknox.org.
NORTH KNOXVILLE
Holleroo street festival has happy launch in Holler
Jack Coker, Shopper News
Knoxville is waking up. For many years our traditional urban neighborhoods have lain dormant, but the fruits of revitalization are budding all around our Appalachian paradise.
One shinning example was Holleroo, the inaugural street festival that took place April 13 in the Happy Holler neighborhood.
“I’ve been active in watching neighborhood groups,” said Seth Barber, co-owner of the Pirate Tavern and one of the event organizers. “As the new guy in the neighborhood who didn’t know any better, I said ‘Let's go, let's get everyone together and unite as a neighborhood group of business and see what we can do to make this a more attractive place to come hang out.’”
Barber has been interested in local politics for some time, even hosting a local government podcast. Barber recognized the power of organized neighborhood groups, which led him to create a coalition of business owners.
“It started with basic stuff,” he said, “like reaching out to KPD about the vagrancy issues, and getting the city to install trashcans so the trash doesn’t end up on the street.”
Holleroo, a manifestation of the business district's mission, was the brainchild of Barber and fellow Happy Holler entrepreneur Daniel Schuh. Both Barber and Schuh suggested a soapbox derby independently and it stuck.
“Is it just a derby? Do we want to do more than a derby? And in the sense of bigger is better, we landed on a street fair concert,” Barber recounted. “We had a lot of help from Rusty Odom of Blank Newspaper. He was a huge asset.”
If the numbers estimated by the Knoxville Police Department are accurate, the festival was a huge success, with more than 3,500 people in attendance. More than 40 local street vendors set up along both sides of Central and the soapbox derby. Many of the brick and mortar businesses in the holler had record-setting days.
“I'm really proud of all the work that the businesses put in to get it done,” Barber said. “It was really easy to talk about it in the abstract, but as we got closer to the event people really stepped up.”
The next street festival is already on the books for Oct. 26, although the theme is still being decided on.
Barber did explain that there is a policy change they are trying for to make the next festival even bigger.
“We intend to put some effort into working with the city for an ordinance adjustment so that we can have alcohol on the street. I truly think, and not in a self serving way, that we would have doubled the crowd easily had we been able to do the concert on the street itself. Technically we could have done the concert on the street, but it's hard to make it work. There is no point without the booze.”
FARRAGUT
Life skills, yes, but plant sale by Farragut FFA is pure 'fun'
Nancy Anderson, Shopper News
The second annual plant sale run by Future Farmers of America at Farragut High School was a great success April 15. The event was spearheaded by two spitfire students, chapter president Andrea Galloway and chapter vice president Jillian Leuciuc, along with horticulture teacher Val Elton and animal science teacher Taylor Watson.
“The plant sale is lots of fun. We do it every year,” said Leuciuc. “I think it’s fun because we get to design and create flower baskets. I’m in greenhouse management, which is a class offered here. We grow everything ourselves and make sure they don’t have pests or any disease.
“We care about everyone who comes to the plant sale because it helps support FFA, including the plants and animals. We’ll use the money for improvements in the goat yard and help pay to go to competitions.”
In the well-maintained greenhouse there are a multitude of plants, from flowering hanging pots to sweet smelling herbs.
In back of the CTE building are goats and chickens cared for by the students. In front is the greenhouse. The pathway is sprinkled with an impressive iris bed showing out for spring.
The FHS FFA chapter has about 150 students in the classes and about 50 in the club.
Future Farmers of America is a national organization covering all 50 states and Puerto Rico. There are chapters everywhere that focus on horticulture education and competition. The FFA website explains the organization, saying “FFA is the premier youth organization preparing members for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture.”
There are a number of competitions available to students depending upon their interests.
Leuciuc said she enjoyed a milk and cheese evaluation process that included both cow and goat’s milk. She said it was an excellent hands-on event.
“Even though we live in Farragut and you don’t see a lot of dairy farms around here, I got to taste a lot of milk and cheese. I checked for defects. It was with a team and it was a lot of fun bonding with other chapter members,” Leuciuc said.
It’s not all fun and games. The chapter focuses on leadership, Galloway said. Her favorite competition is job placement and leadership.
“Let’s say you want to be a veterinarian or vet tech. You would take all the vet science classes and gain leadership skills and possibly enter a competition where you apply and interview for a job in the industry. You have to do all the things necessary to land a job, including resume, cover letter and interview. You even have to fill out an application, then make a phone call to negotiate terms. Landing a job in the industry is a necessary skill,” she said.
Info: www.FFA.org
HALLS
Need help? The Red Book of Resources, North Knox woman's labor of love, fills a gap
Al Lesar, Shopper News
Helping others navigate the tough parts of their lives has helped Cheryl Sutton heal the trauma in her own.
About five years ago, the 1983 Gibbs High School graduate was a clerk in the Social Services office of the Knox County Health Department. When people came in off the street with a question, she was the one with the answer.
“When I was there, most of the people who came in were homeless,” Sutton said. “They’d want to know about food pantries or other assistance. I had a red binder that had everything written down. The president (of the United States) has his red phone (with an immediate contact with Russia); I have my Red Book.”
When Sutton left her job in 2019 to take care of some serious family issues, she was allowed to take her binder with her. Since then, the need and the information has grown, but the book hasn’t.
Instead, she has put all the information on the Knox County Red Book of Resources Facebook page.
A lot that people don't know
The highlight of that online presence is the daily calendar (www.knoxredbook.com). It went live a few months ago and is constantly updated by Sutton.
“The calendar will update information on food pantries, clothes closets, legal aid, free hot meals, support groups for widows, whatever,” Sutton said. “Click on an item and it will break down all the information.”
Sutton continues to fill the cracks that might be left by large agencies like the United Way. Sutton likely is passing on information that might be much more informal.
“This gives me a purpose,” Sutton said. “It gives me a reason to wake up each day. I’ve had a lot of loss in my life; a lot of pain.
“I’m taking my energy and putting it in something positive that can help someone else. I have a lot of information that a lot of people wouldn’t know about.”
Needs are changing
In addition to the Red Book of Resources, Sutton said she is the lone director of a backpack program for the homeless. Donated backpacks are filled with Narcan, to offset a drug overdose; condoms, toiletries and nonperishable snacks.
“The backpacks are a year-round project,” Sutton said. “I keep them in my car. When I see someone who might need one, I’ll stop and give them one.
“I might give out a couple hundred a year. I’d like to do more. There’s certainly a need for more.”
Sutton said Knox County Red Book of Resources is applying for its 501(c)(3) designation as a nonprofit. That will help with some of the donations that keep her ministry going.
“Over time, it’s not just the homeless who need the information anymore,” she said. “Now, it’s pregnancy; youth and adult issues; camps for children with autism; internships; food pantries; blessing boxes. They want to know the places that will deliver goods.”
A database with all the information is being compiled.
Sutton said dental services for those without insurance is a critical need that few are able to serve. Where can the homeless take a shower and park their car for the evening?
Volunteers to help with packing backpacks and inputing data are needed. But Sutton won’t let that slow her movement.
“Help would be great, but I’ll keep at it,” she said. “I needed the answers when I was at my lowest point. There have to be others. Those are the ones I want to help.”
Sutton can be contacted at: info@knoxredbook.com, 865-602-1660, or on Facebook.
OPINION
Spousal Management System still working
Leslie Snow, Shopper News
He calls from the office to check on me. “How’s your day going?” my husband wants to know.
I tell him about my morning walk and our Great Dane’s latest adventure. “We met a chihuahua today and he scared Buttercup half to death,” I say with a laugh. We chat for a few minutes before I casually mention I’m having our air conditioner repaired along with Buttercup’s electric fence.
“I didn’t know we were having problems with either,” my husband responds, sounding miffed that he was left out of the loop.
“It was on a need-to-know basis,” I say, trying to keep the conversation light. “And I’ll have everything fixed before you get home from work.”
He chuckles dryly then retorts, “I get it. You’re managing me.” Then he says the line we’ve been repeating for years. “Sometimes you have to wait to tell Daddy things.”
We both laugh. We both remember the long-ago reference and why we’re still repeating it today.
When the kids were little, we were in the process of selling our first Knoxville home. On the day we were supposed to have our home inspection, Zack’s 4-foot-long pet python, Scaly, escaped from his cage and was lost somewhere in the house.
I searched everywhere for that snake. I spent hours looking under towels and inside blankets, in closets and under beds. But, despite my frantic searching, I couldn’t find Scaly before the buyers, their extended family, and the home inspector arrived at the house.
So I gathered the kids together, looked them straight in the eye and said, “We would never lie to Daddy. That would be wrong. But sometimes, we have to wait to tell him things. We have to wait for just the right time so it’s easier for him to hear the news. And this is one of those times.
“So when we meet Daddy for lunch in a few minutes, let’s not tell him about the snake. Let’s wait until he comes home for dinner at the end of the day and then we’ll confess that Scaly was slithering through the house during our home inspection. OK?”
The kids agreed to keep our secret for a few hours, the home inspector didn’t get a ball python surprise, and when we finally found the right time to “tell Daddy the news,” everything was fine. Easy-Peezy.
But the tale of Scaly the snake tipped my hat. It let my husband know that, sometimes, I wait to give him bad news. I wait until I have a solution before I admit there’s a problem. That way, the problem is easier to digest, and he has no reason to be upset. It’s a win-win.
“You manage me,” he complains sometimes. And he’s right. I take care of a lot of little details that might aggravate him or wait for the right time to share bad news.
“I use a ‘Spousal Management System’ or ‘SMS’,” I tease when he realizes I’ve had the garbage disposal replaced before he knew it was broken. “All the best marriages use it.”
And I assume that’s true. I assume I’m not the only one who looks for the best time to say, “Guess what? We need a new washing machine.” I never lie, I just pick the right time to tell the truth.
That technique worked when Scaly was lost in our house and it worked yesterday when I realized the air conditioner was struggling. And after 36 years of marriage, I fully endorse the SMS.
Even though we never did find that snake.
Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Shopper News brings you the latest happenings in your community
