Students contribute ‘Up to Us’ prize money to College

A team of students from Tusculum College was awarded fifth place in the fourth annual Up to Us campus competition. The group of seniors has decided to contribute the prize money the team received to the College

During the annual School of Business Banquet in late April, the team members presented more than $2,000 to Tusculum President Nancy B. Moody as a contribution to the Tusculum First Scholarship. The Tusculum First Scholarship was established by the 2015 graduating seniors as their class gift to help future students achieve their educational goals as others had helped them achieve their goals. The class of 2016 also donated its class gift to the Tusculum First Scholarship.

The team members included Michael Fernando, Haylee Reed, Leon Seiz, David Siegle and Jonas Winklemann.

Members of the Up to Us team present Dr. Nancy B. Moody,Tusculum president, with its prize money during the School of Business Banquet on April 26.

Up to Us is a project coordinated by Net Impact, working in partnership with the Peter. G. Petersen Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative. The organization provides an opportunity to college students to educate their peers on issues stemming from the national debt, giving students the chance to speak up and make an impact on the nation’s long-term fiscal and economic health.

During the 2016 Up to Us campaign, 230 students on 53 teams in 28 states worked on their individual campuses to engage other students in understanding the national debt through in-person outreach, events and activities on campus.

“It’s been a rewarding experience,” said Michael Fernando, a senior Tusculum College student from Sri Lanka majoring in accounting, general management and economics and international business, who headed the effort at Tusculum College. “After we were invited to participate in Up to Us, such a prestigious competition, I knew we would have to give it all we had. We had a great team, and I am glad that we were as successful as we were.”

According to Fernando, Tusculum College participated in the campaign from October 22, 2015 through February 21, 2016, launching weeks of creative, non-partisan and thought-provoking campus campaigns to raise awareness of the impact of America’s long-term national debt.

The Tusculum College team led some innovative campaign strategies, including a TED Talk style forum regarding the national debt, he said. Students participated in the project “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees,” during which they made signs detailing how they cared about the national debt and hung them around trees on the Greeneville campus and even made special announcements during a basketball game.

As part of their award, the team will also be awarded a cash prize, which they have chosen to donate to Tusculum College. The team leaders from the top 10 teams have also been invited to Washington, D.C. to attend the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s 2016 Fiscal Summit; they will meet with economists and national political leaders to discuss the national debt and its impact on millennials. Fernando also traveled to the University of California, Berkeley to the Clinton Global Initiative University conference in early April where the winning teams were recognized by former President Bill Clinton.

Teams from the 2016 Up to Us campaign were assessed by a panel of judges that included several elite business executives and Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation.

For more information on the Up to Us initiative, visit www.itsuptous.org.

 

By Madilyn Elliott, senior journalism and professional writing major from Hampton

Tusculum College student Matt Pierce receives fellowship for research project

Tusculum student Matt Pierce has been awarded a research fellowship for his achievements in the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program at East Tennessee State University.

Pierce, a senior creative writing and political science major from Elizabethton, served as a McNair scholar this past summer, and having completed the program, applied and received the advanced research fellowship to further efforts on the research proposal he developed during the summer program.

The preliminary research proposal he developed last summer earned him the advanced research fellowship that will enable him to continue the research. Ideally, the project would be a direct follow-up of the summer proposal; however, Pierce simplified the project to something more personal for his academic year research.

Matt Pierce

The summer McNair program at ETSU allows first-generation undergraduates who meet income requirements to participate in graduate-level research to better prepare them for graduate school. During the summer of 2016, Pierce developed an idea of analyzing the correlation of language skills, particularly the English language, and how those skills affect an individual’s idea of social power.

“My hypothesis was that people who had less developed language skills would be less able to conceive themselves as having agency, so they were less able to imagine themselves as having control over their own lives because their language skills were less developed. If you don’t have power over your own language, you’re going to have to rely on other people to create your narrative for you,” said Pierce

“Ultimately what I decided to do was to investigate the presence and significance of Appalachian English in Carter County, which is where I’m from,” said Pierce. “I found some research that looked into the affect on students’ experience in classrooms and on standardized testing when they speak nonstandard English, which is what really sparked this direction of the project. Usually it has a negative impact, and speakers of dialect—of Appalachian English, in particular—tend to internalize the negative stereotypes about themselves from cultural signals they receive. I wanted to build this narrative of what Appalachian English is in Carter County.”

For his research, Pierce created four focus groups divided by age: under 18, 19-39, 40-59, and 60 years and over. He found participants from local high schools, churches, and businesses. Each group, which contained 6-8 people apiece, would answer a survey that contained socioeconomic questions, religious questions, and questions about how they thought their language intersected with their social identity.

Pierce interviewed the groups and collected data on what common experiences people in the same age group shared, as well as their attitude towards that group identity, and then compared the answers between the age groups.

“I just wanted to see how, in this community this dialect was still alive, what it looked like and what that meant,” said Pierce. “I wanted the people of this community to have a chance to create the narrative themselves about what it means to be speakers of this dialect. I didn’t want to take data from them, I wanted them to be able to say in their own words, what it meant to them.”

Pierce was also awarded the Tennessee Association of Special Programs’ Adult-Learner Scholarship, which Pierce won through his association with the Student Support Services TRIO program on campus at Tusculum College. The scholarship asked that applicants write an essay on how TRIO programs helped the student succeed. Pierce was nominated by the Tusculum College staff of Student Support Services in recognition of his success in his undergraduate program, according to David Smith, director of the Student Support Services.

“I think I was able to win because of the true support and the thankfulness and gratefulness I have for the people that work at SSS,” said Pierce. “They do so much for us, especially for those of us that really engage and develop relationships with them. They helped me navigate the more bureaucratic aspects of college that, as a first-generation student, I wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to deal with on my own.”

 

By Madilyn Elliott, a senior journalism and professional writing major from Hampton

 

Tusculum Band Program returns to the stage Thursday, April 28 for spring concert

After performing outdoors for the recent Old Oak Festival, the Tusculum College Band program will return to more familiar environs for its annual spring concert on Thursday, April 28.

The Concert Band, Jazz Band and Handbell Choir will be performing in the Band Program’s final concert on campus for the 2015-16 academic year in the auditorium in the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. The concert, which begins at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public.

The Old Oak Festival served as an appetizer for the Spring Concert as extended sets by the Jazz Band and Handbell Choir featured some of the pieces they will be performing next Thursday while members of the Concert Band showed their skill and versatility during “Conduct Us,” a popular part of the Old Oak Festival that allows festival goers to try their hand at conducting the band.

After successful performances at the recent Old Oak Festival, the Tusculum College Concert Band (above), Jazz Band and Handbell Choir will be returning to the stage on campus for the spring concert on April 28. (Tusculum College photo)

Thursday’s performance will feature a variety of musical styles in the repertoire of the Concert Band, including the always popular “Phantom of the Opera” and the classic “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” The Concert Band will also be performing “Into the Clouds,” “Perthshire Majesty,” “Lightning Field” and “Billboard March.”

Toes promise to be tapping during the Jazz Band’s performance, which will feature favorites such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” made famous by Duke Ellington, the Glen Miller signature tune, “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” and “September,” a hit for Earth, Wind & Fire. The Jazz Band’s set will also include the Big Band classic, “Big Noise from Winnetka;” “When I Fall in Love,” which won a Grammy in 1996 for the “duet” version by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole, and “Life Without You.”

The Handbell Choir’s performance will provide a taste of secular, Latin, popular and classical music with a twist. The choir will be performing “Pie Jesu,” “Sway,” “The Pink Panther Theme” and “PDQ Bells.”

The band program began in 2010 with the formation of a pep band and has grown to include the Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Handbell Choir and various small ensembles.

Tusculum student Jennie Frost wins scholarship to workshop in France

Tusculum College student Jennie Frost has received a scholarship to attend a creative writing workshop in Auvillar, France.

Frost will leave in mid-May to attend the Auvillar Writers’ Workshop. She was introduced to the workshop through Marilyn Kallet, the director of creative writing at the University of Tennessee, who suggested she apply.

Jennie Frost

Frost’s scholarship entry was selected from the dozens of students at the University of Tennessee and other universities who applied.

The week-long workshop is titled, “O Taste and See: Writing the Senses in Deep France.” The workshop will focus on poetry writing that celebrates the sensory joys of being in Southwest France and will include a wide variety of cultural immersion experiences.

“This will be a wonderful opportunity for me, one that I could not have possibly come across without the skills and practice I have picked up from the creative writing program at Tusculum College,” said Frost.

Frost, a senior creative writing major from Friendsville who will graduate in December, added, “I can say positively that I have been given something at Tusculum College that I could not find anywhere else.”

Frost is this year’s winner of the Curtis-Owen Literature Prize for Fiction and will have poetry published later this month in the “Anomaly Literary Journal.” Two additional poems have been selected for publication by the Kudzu Literary Magazine, an Appalachian journal.

 

Hodge named 2016 Lifelong Learner Award from the East Tennessee College Alliance

Tusculum student Amy Hodge was recently received the Lifelong Learner Award from the East Tennessee College Alliance. The Alliance hosted the annual Lifelong Learning awards ceremony and luncheon at the Foundry on the World’s Fair Site in Knoxville.

From left are Stephanie Langley, Amy Hodge and Shannon Brown

Hodge, a student member of Tusculum College’s ARCHES program, received the award after being nominated by Stephanie Langley, associate director of Student Support Services. Hodge is a native of Knox County and will be graduating from the Graduate and Professional Studies program with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education.

Founded in 1992, the ETCA is a consortium of eleven colleges and universities committed to the presentation and delivery of post-secondary educational programs and opportunities for non-traditional working adults. For more information on ARCHES please visit the website at http://www3.tusculum.edu/adult/sss/arches-program/.

 

Stream Clean-up of College Creek

On Wednesday, April 13, 29 biology/service-learning students from Tusculum College participated in a stream clean-up of College Creek and the Paul E. Hayden Educational Wetland. The Hayden Wetland is a man-made, stormwater wetland that filters out nutrients and pollutants, catches stormwater runoff and litter and helps clean the water before it goes into College Creek. The event was hosted by the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance.

Students were divided into two groups, with half cleaning the creek section near the Doak House Museum and half removing debris and litter from the wetland area and along the creek between Gilland Street and Shiloh Road. Water from College Creek eventually drains into the Nolichucky River.

With College Creek being 1 of 58 impaired tributaries flowing into the Nolichucky, it is critical for members of the community to practice environmental stewardship. Students also learned about how to save on water and energy consumption in their daily lives.

Pizza, drinks, t-shirts and rakes were provided by a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency grant. Gloves and trash bags were provided by a Tennessee Valley Authority Community Clean-up grant and through Keep Greene Beautiful. For more information on adopting a local stream in your area, please contact Appalachia CARES/AmeriCorps Member Kristen Lane at mnwa.tn@gmail.com.

 

By Kristen Lane ’14

 

 

Tusculum students participate in clean-up

 

Tusculum receives grant for nursing simulation lab expansion

Tusculum College’s nursing program has been awarded a $116,159 grant from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation for expansion of the nursing simulation lab.

Grant funds will be used to expand the nursing programs simulation laboratory by adding an infant and a pediatric simulator for infant and pediatric nursing training.

According to Michelle Arbogast, associate director of foundation and donor relations, the purpose of this grant is to educate nursing students in practical clinical exercises without causing any harm to patients.

“It will provide an alternative to the pediatric clinical experience,” said Dr. Lois Ewen, dean of the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Human Services and professor of nursing. “Simulation allows students an opportunity to make clinical decisions and see the consequences of those decisions. We all learn from our mistakes. With simulation, students can learn from their mistakes without harming a patient.”

The infant and pediatric simulators join two adult simulators purchased through a previous grant from the BCBS and the Tennessee Health Foundation in spring 2013.

The simulation lab provides opportunities for other academic programs at Tusculum, such as physiology courses in the science and physical education departments and the athletic training program, as well as other health care organizations in the Greeneville community.

Dr. Ewen said, “We open the lab for our community partners, which enhances the health of our community as a whole.”

 

From left, Michelle Arbogast, associate director of foundation and donor relations; Heather Patchett, vice president of institutional advancement; Dr. Jerry Ward, trustee; Jane Brown, nursing faculty; Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president Dawn Abel, manager of community relations and foundations for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation; Dr. Linda Garrett, assistant dean of nursing; Dr. Lois Ewen, dean of nursing, and Tammy Albright, chief nursing officer, Takoma Regional Hospital.

 

Spring Commencement will be Saturday, May 7

May 7 will mark a milestone for about 350 Tusculum College students who will reach the successful completion of their educational journey by earning degrees during the Spring Commencement Ceremony that day.

Two ceremonies are planned and both will take place in the Pioneer Arena of the Niswonger Commons. The first will be at 10 a.m. and will include students earning degrees from the Traditional College program. The second will be at 2 p.m. and include students earning Master’s degrees and the students earning degrees from the Graduate and Professional Studies bachelor’s programs.

Tusculum College applauds the graduates for their hard-earned achievements and is preparing for May 7 as a day of celebration for the newest alumni and their families. The College is busy making preparations to make the day a memorable one and you can help.

Family members are asked to carpool if possible rather than bring multiple cars to the ceremony to help lessen congestion on campus. As you arrive on campus, security personnel will direct you to a parking area and shuttles will provided from outer lots to the Niswonger Commons.

If you are any of your family members or guests requires special handicapped seating accommodations, please contact Bobbie Greenway at 423-636-7300 ext. 5154 so your needs can be addressed. There will be handicapped parking available in the large parking lot at the Niswonger Commons. Please let the security personnel directing traffic and parking know that you need handicapped parking if it is needed and they will direct you to the lot. Please note that Tusculum will not be able to provide wheelchairs. Those with special seating accommodations are asked to arrive at least 45 minutes prior to the beginning of the ceremony.

You can also help by helping your graduate be at the Pioneer Arena in time for graduation practice. For the morning ceremony, practice begins at 8:45 a.m. and it begins 12:45 p.m. for the 2 p.m. ceremony. Graduates who arrive prior to the practice times are asked to report to the cafeteria.

Graduates are not allowed to have personnel items such as purses and cameras with them during the ceremony. You can assist them by obtaining these items from them prior to graduation practice and holding them.  Prior to the practice is a good time for this and other communication between you and your graduate because after graduation practice, the graduates go to the cafeteria where they placed in order for the procession and for the ceremony. It is easier for the College staff getting the graduates in line if they stay inside the cafeteria during this period.

The Pioneer Arena will open for guest seating after completion of the rehearsal. Guests are asked to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the ceremony.

No tickets are required for graduation and there is no limit on the number of guests per graduate. However, to help provide seating for all, guests are asked to not hold seats for others in the last 45 minutes prior to the beginning of the ceremony.

Programs will be placed on the seat of each graduate and they will be distributed to guests at the Pioneer Arena primary entrances. The program will also posted on the Tusculum web site following the ceremony. For graduates unable to attend the ceremony, diplomas will be mailed to the graduates’ home addresses after Commencement Day provided all academic and financial obligations are satisfied.

To help preserve the prestigious decorum of the commencement ceremony, guests are asked to observe the following:

  • As a courtesy to other attendees, please consider making alternative arrangements for very young children.  Due to fire marshal regulations, no baby carriers or strollers will be allowed in the auditorium.
  • Cell phones are to be turned off or switched to the silent operating mode during the ceremony.  Do not speak on a cell phone or carry on a conversation during the ceremony as this prevents others from hearing and enjoying the ceremony.
  • Commencement is both a joyous and solemn event.  Please express your excitement in ways that will not prevent others from hearing the speaker and enjoying the ceremony.  Use of air horns, yelling or stomping are disruptive.
  • Please refrain from taking pictures until after your graduate receives his or her diploma.  This will allow the ceremony to flow smoothly and reduce the distractions and disturbances to other audience members as they try to see and hear ongoing presentations.
  • As a courtesy to and out of respect for your fellow graduates, you and your family are requested to remain in the auditorium until the conclusion of the ceremony. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the faculty traditionally forms a gauntlet and applauds the graduates as they recess from the auditorium.  We ask that your family and friends be respectful of this tradition and remain in the auditorium until the graduates have exited the auditorium.

 

Key times and dates for Old Oak Festival at Tusculum College

The Old Oak Festival will return this weekend to the Tusculum College campus April 15-17, featuring crafts, music, art shows, theater, children’s activities, festival food and more.

Music headliners include Fiddlin’ Carson Peters, just off his appearance on the “Steve Harvey Show.” Peters will play twice on Saturday, at the Doak House Museum at 11 a.m. and on the main stage at noon. Friday night will wrap up with Pink Floyd Tribute band, Prism beginning at 8 p.m. and Sunday will feature the Smoky Mountain Bluegrass Band playing at 12:30 p.m.

The official opening ceremony and parade will be at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, and the Old Oak Festival Church Service will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Winners of the Historical Monument Lego competition will be announced at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Doak House Museum.

GLAWPIGT (Great Literature Alive & Well, Playing In Greeneville, Tennessee) presents a one-hour showcase during each day of the Festival. Show times are Friday, April 15, at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m.

Sponsors of the event include Artistic Printers, Fatz Cafe, The Greeneville Sun, Radio Greeneville and Wayne Thomas.

There is no fee to attend the festival, other than the admission fee for the GLAWPIGT performances. Art vendor hours will be Friday from noon until 6 p.m. Author Row and the food vendors will remain open until 9 p.m. On Saturday, hours will be from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. for art vendors and 9 p.m. for the rest of the festival. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, contact Price at 423-636-7303.

Coolers and alcohol are prohibited.

For updates and more information or to see the full schedule of performances and event times, visit the website at www.oldoakfestival.org or on facebook.

 

Old Oak Festival returns this weekend, April 15-17

The Carson Peters Band will be returning to the Old Oak Festival.

The Old Oak Festival will return this weekend to the Tusculum College campus April 15-17, featuring crafts, music, art shows, theater, children’s activities, festival food and much, much more.

The Old Oak festival will span across three days and will feature something for everyone, including crafts, music, art, theater, puppetry, and area authors, as well as gallery and museum exhibits.

Craft vendors will include pottery, painting, jewelry, stoneware, weaving, woodworking, gourd art, pine needle baskets and much more.

Throughout the weekend on stage, the festival will present the sounds of the region, with a wide variety of music from bluegrass to jazz to regionally-known vocalists and musicians.

Fiddlin’ Carson Peters returns again to headline the Old Oak Festival, along with the Smoky Mountain Bluegrass band and a host of regional talent. Musicians kicking off the show on Friday include Bean Tree Remedy featuring Ashley Bean, Dave Nunez and the Perfect World Band, Mike Joy, My New Favorites and Prism – a tribute to Pink Floyd. Friday night will also feature Jack & Michael on the Terrace entertaining for a faculty and alumni social event.

On Saturday, expect good old-fashioned fun from Shiloh and the Tusculum College Band closing out the night, but also plan to get to the festival early to hear Stem Winder, the Thursday Night Boys, Jakie Keasling & Friends, New Chronic Dream, the Kevin Wilder Group, The Dandy Lions, Absinthe Gray, Jimmie D and the House Rockers and the Madisons. The night will conclude with a drum circle. There will be a parade at the center of the Tusculum campus, beginning at 10:45 a.m.

The Carson Peters Band will be on the main stage on Saturday as well. Additionally on Saturday, some favorite features return, including the “Conduct Us” session with the Tusculum College Band, where anyone can step up and take over the conductor’s baton.

Winners of this year’s annual Curtis-Owens Literary Awards will be the main event at the Tusculum Review Launch Party set for the Thomas J. Garland Library Terrace, 4-6 p.m. This year’s event will feature 2016 winners Jennie Frost (fiction), Sarah Holly (nonfiction), and Emily Waryck. These readers will be paired with winners from years’ past, David Roncskevitz, Andrew Baker and Joseph Wade Borden. Additionally, copies of the 2016 The Tusculum Review will be available.

Following the 10 a.m. Old Oak Festival Church Service in the main tent, Sunday’s artists will include Jim and Curtis Moneyhun, Steve Brown, the Tusculum College Handbell Choir, the Matthew Hurd Band, Able Brown and the regional favorite, the Great Smoky Mountain Bluegrass band.

“Each year the festival grows and this year is no exception,” said David Price, festival coordinator and director of music for Tusculum College. “There are many high quality craft vendors, more authors and surprises planned for throughout the weekend.”

One surprise that Price said will be unique to the festival is the launching of a trebuchet, built by Tusculum faculty and students. There will also be a catapult craft activity for children of all ages.

According to Dr. Peter Noll, assistant professor of history, “Over the past year, students and faculty have been meeting informally via a teaching and learning circle to read about and discuss a book about medieval technology and social change. The trebuchet we built represents the “enhancement” activity for group.”

According to Dr. Noll, the trebuchet is a gravity powered machine that changed the way siege warfare occurred beginning in the 13th century until it was supplanted by cannon. “We have built a scaled down version that is capable of launching a grapefruit 90 yards, oranges about 75. We plan on demonstrating it throughout the day on Saturday.”

The two museums on the Tusculum camps, the Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Library and Museum will both be offering free tours on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Fiddlin’ Carson Peters Band will have an encore concert at the Doak House on Saturday afternoon as well.

A reception at will be held at the President Andrew Johnson Library and Museum on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. for new exhibit “Prologue: Andrew Johnson’s Political Career before the Vice Presidency.”

Throughout the festival, the Tusculum College Gaming Club will be hosting a video gaming event in the Pioneer Perk in Niswonger Commons on the Greeneville campus. The event will run Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight; Saturday from noon until 1 a.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The event will feature multiple televisions and game sets with various games such as Guitar Hero, SingStar, Super Smash Bros., Call of Duty, FIFA and League of Legends. Attendees may come play the games from our library or bring their own.

During the weekend the LEGO contest entries will be on display at the Doak House, and the winners will be announced at 2 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and rules on the LEGO competition, contact Dollie Boyd, director of museums at dboyd@tusculum.edu.

Additional new features include horse and carriage rides, sponsored by Tymley Travel, and a lineup of 10 workshops designed for high school students, through which five participants will be awarded a $500 scholarship.

The high school workshops will be offered in morning and afternoon shifts, from 9-11 a.m. and 12:30-2:30 p.m. Workshop topics include an educational wetland tour and nature writing, contemporary poetry, drawing, playwriting, and music theory and songwriting. Acting, brief essay or prose poem, tree identification, photo manipulation and songwriting will be offered as well.

As part of the entertainment, Old Oak attendees will have the opportunity to see GLAWPIGT (Great Literature Alive & Well, Playing In Greeneville, Tennessee) as they present a one-hour showcase during each day of the Festival. Show times are Friday, April 15, at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m.

A truly varied hour of entertainment, the showcase includes sketch comedy, young adult fiction, poetry, amusing literary analysis, unique interpretations of fairy tales, Shakespeare and even Vaudeville style comedy.

General seating is $5 and tickets will be available one-hour prior to show time at the box office. The performance will be held in the Behan Arena Theatre in the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd building.

GLAWPIGT, which is celebrating its 30th year, is a literary performance group founded by Tusculum College Artist-in-Residence Marilyn duBrisk and sponsored by Tusculum College Arts Outreach. The group meets weekly during the academic year. It is comprised of students from East Tennessee ranging in ages from 10 to 17. For more information about the show case or GLAWPIGT, please contact Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620.

Another returning favorite is Joyce Carroll, puppet master. Carroll will be a puppet troubadour, appearing through the festival with spontaneous performances.

Sponsors of the event include Artistic Printers, Fatz Cafe, The Greeneville Sun, Radio Greeneville and Wayne Thomas.

There is no fee to attend the festival, other than the admission fee for the GLAWPIGT performances. Art vendor hours will be Friday from noon until 6 p.m. Author Row and the food vendors will remain open until 9 p.m. On Saturday, hours will be from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. for art vendors and 9 p.m. for the rest of the festival. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, contact Price at 423-636-7303.

Coolers and alcohol are prohibited.

For updates and more information, visit the website at www.oldoakfestival.org or on facebook.

 

 

Crafters of all types will be featured at this weekend’s Old Oak Festival at Tusculum College, as well as music, theater and festival food.

 

Fabulous Cars of the 50s to be feature of lecture at Tusculum College

“They Don’t Make ‘em Anymore:  Those Fabulous Cars of the Fifties” will be presented by Librarian Charles Tunstall on Tuesday, April 26, at 6 p.m. in the Thomas J. Garland Library.

The event will include a presentation and discussion of the American automobile industry during the 1950s. Through a series of slides and commentary, the audience will be introduced to one of the most exciting eras in automotive history. Highlights will include the flamboyant designs and color schemes, the horsepower race and a counter-cultural movement toward compact and imported cars.

Tunstall will present a portrait of American popular culture and how tastes can suddenly and radically change.

“This period of time points up the fickleness of what Americans waned, and how they changed their minds,” said Tunstall, adding that the audience will witness the rise of “The Big Three” and the fall of a number of independent manufacturers.

Community members are invited to bring cars from this era to campus for display. Set-up will begin at 5 p.m. in the Niswonger Commons parking lot. Shuttle service will be provided from the parking lot to the library. The event is free and open to the public.

 

Tusculum Service-Learning Students Lead Wetland Tour

On Tuesday, April 5, 2016, three service-learning students from Tusculum College conducted a student-led wetland tour of the Paul E. Hayden Educational Wetland on the Greeneville campus, under the direction of the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance.

Samantha Cochran, Chris Hutson, and Preston Tucker provided attendees with information on stormwater wetlands, history of the on-campus wetland, as well as facts about the importance of wetlands in protecting water quality. All three students are juniors, with Cochran majoring in psychology and Hutson and tucker majoring in business.

“Being able to work with Kristen and work on my leadership skills was the best part,” said Cochran. Hutson added, “The wetland is an important asset to our campus and the Greene County community.”

Stormwater wetlands function to filter nutrients and pollutants from nearby runoff, with the Paul E. Hayden Educational Wetland draining runoff from the campus before it is deposited into College Creek, running alongside the wetland area. College Creek is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s 303d list of impaired streams and is one of 58 impaired streams in Greene County.

By students sharing information on the importance of wetlands, they are encouraging environmental stewardship and protection of our valuable water resources. Tucker said, “We need to do all we can for the Nolichucky; it is vital to this community.”

MNWA appreciates all the effort put in by Tusculum students in protecting our watershed. For information on scheduling a tour of the Paul E. Hayden Educational Wetland, please contact Appalachia CARES AmeriCorps Member Kristen Lane at mnwa.tn@gmail.com.

Tusculum students learn from leading Wetlands tour.

 

By Kristen Lane ’14