Rentenbach selected as general contractor for Tusculum College science facility

Rentenbach Constructors Incorporated recently selected by the Tusculum College Board of Trustees as the general contractor for the Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Mathematics. In a called meeting, the Board of Trustees authorized President Nancy B. Moody and Steve Gehret, vice president and chief financial officer, “to negotiate, execute, sign and deliver the general contract” as noted in the resolution.

“This is a very good day in the future of Tusculum College,” said Dr. Moody. “The journey to build a state-of-the-art academic building on the campus of Tusculum College will prove to be very exciting and, along with a dynamic faculty, provide the foundation for academic programs to thrive.”

The new building is named in appreciation for a gift from Verna June Meen of Kingsport.   Meen chose to make this gift in memory of her late husband, Dr. Ronald H. Meen, who was an organic chemist for Eastman Chemical in Kingsport.

A “pioneer” from the beginning, Mrs. Meen attended college at a time when few women were encouraged to attend college.  She earned top marks and graduated with an accounting degree in less than three years while she also worked. Following graduation and still single, Verna June accepted an offer from Eastman Chemical Company and moved from Indiana to East Tennessee.

I look forward to seeing the progress of our support of Tusculum College, said Mrs. Meen. “This is another step closer to the realization of mine and my deceased husband Ron’s dream to support Tusculum College students in a way that will make a positive impact on their education and their lives. I know he would be proud.”

The Meen Center for Science and Math will be a four-story structure of approximately 100,000 square feet. Interiors include wings for biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and environmental science. There will also be lab space and research areas for both faculty and students.

The ground floor features the environmental science wing with a loading dock, as well as larger general classroom spaces and classrooms equipped for distance learning programs. A large lecture hall will also be included on the ground floor. Space is also allocated to house the bachelor of science degree program in nursing and at least one other graduate level health-related program.

“It’s an exciting time at Tusculum College. Every time we visit campus we see visible signs of growth,” said Dr. Ken Bowman, chair of the Board of Trustees and a 1970 graduate of Tusculum College. “In addition to the construction, Tusculum is also growing in enrollment, academic programs and offerings to the community.”

Founded in Knoxville in 1946, Rentenbach Constructors Incorporated has served clients throughout the United States from its offices in Tennessee and North Carolina.

“Rentenbach has a long history of constructing the facilities which serve an expanding list of institutions of higher education,” said Don Freeman, Chairman. This building will be a major asset to the Tusculum curriculum, and we welcome the opportunity to be included as a member of the project team.”

 

Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Mathematics

 

Theologian-In-Residence series has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 21

A final session in the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 21, at Tusculum College.

Wintry weather resulted in the closing of Tusculum College on the originally scheduled days of the final two lecture sessions in February.

This year’s featured speaker, Dr. Jim Miller, will combine the materials planned for these two lectures to present in the make-up session in April. Dr. Miller, president of the Presbyterian Association on Science, Technology and the Christian Faith, presented two lectures focusing on science and religion in early February. The Theologian-in-Residence lecture series, now in its 25th year, is sponsored by Tusculum College and partially funded by Ron Smith.

Dr. Miller will be discussing contemporary scientific developments and their impact on religion in the make-up session, and also be looking at the theological implications of scientific discoveries on practical Christian living in the 21st century.

The session will begin at 10 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum College campus. There is no charge to attend the lecture series, but reservations are required as lunch is provided in the college’s cafeteria. To register or for more information, please call 423-636-7304 or email eestes@tusculum.edu. Those who registered for the sessions are asked to register again for the make-up session.

Library Director Jack Smith publishes 86th book

Professor Myron J. “Jack” Smith, Jr., has written a new book, “Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters: 956 Confederate and Union Naval and Military Personnel, Contractors, Politicians, Officials, Steamboat Pilots and Others.” This is the 86th volume published by the director of Tusculum College’s Thomas J. Garland Library.

From 1861 to 1865, the Civil War raged along the great rivers of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. While various Civil War biographies exist, none have been devoted exclusively to participants in the Western River War, which was waged down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Red River, up the Ohio, the Tennessee and the Cumberland.

Based on the official records, county histories, newspapers and internet sources, this is the first work to profile Union and Confederate naval officers down to the rank of mate. These include enlisted sailors who won the Medal of Honor, or otherwise distinguished themselves or who wrote accounts of life on the gunboats; army officers and leaders who played a direct role in combat along Western waters; political officials who influenced river operations; civilian steamboat captains and pilots who participated in wartime logistics; and civilian contractors directly involved, including shipbuilders, dam builders, naval constructors and munitions experts.

Each of the biographies includes (where known) birth, death and residence data; unit organization or ship; involvement in the river war; pre- and post-war careers; and source documentation. Hundreds of individuals are given their first historic recognition or are recognized as having a role in the river war, including Gen. John Hunt Morgan and Greeneville’s Andrew Johnson. Some 200 portraits are included, while the cover art features a well-known painting of Western waters naval action.

The librarian’s latest volume is the seventh in his eight Civil War title series. The volume is available from the Tusculum College book store or through McFarland & Company, which is located in Jefferson, N.C. or Amazon.com.

Smith is currently penning “His Honor’s Ironclads,” the first biography of Joseph Brown, the 21st mayor of St. Louis, Mo. (1871-1875) and also one of the best known steamboat captains of his era. Brown was also mayor of Alton, Ill. (1856-1857) and a Democrat friend of Lincoln’s. Brown built more Civil War Union gunboats than any other contractor.

Smith has been a professional librarian and historian since 1966. In 1993, he received the Nelson Ross Award and in 2006, was the first Greene Countian to publish an e-book. He is the only American to have received the Richard Franck Preis for history from the German Government. Smith and his wife Dennie reside in northern Greene County.

 

Old Oak Festival returns to Tusculum College April 17-19

The Old Oak Festival will feature a variety of craft vendors along with musical entertainment, theater, art exhibits, poetry readings and activities for children of all ages.

The Old Oak Festival is returning to the Tusculum College campus April 17-19.

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

“I would describe this year’s Old Oak Festival to be bigger and better than last year,” said David Price, director of music at Tusculum College and festival coordinator. “There will be arts on every level and something to interest everyone.”

In addition to artist vendors and music performances throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, there will be three performances during the festival of “5X10,” presented by Tusculum students under the direction of Wayne Thomas, the interim dean of the arts and sciences, Frank Mengel, arts outreach technical director and instructor, and Brian Ricker, arts outreach and assistant.

Performances will be held in the Behan Arena Theatre in the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Center. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

The college’s Allison Gallery will be open throughout the weekend, featuring a faculty and family spotlight exhibition by Deborah Bryan.

The festival is being coordinated by a committee of college and community representatives who are working to promote arts and music in the East Tennessee region.

“We are expecting a wide variety of artists, including painters, craftsmen and sculptors, whose work will be available for purchase. Arts will include pottery, woodcrafts and folk art,” said Price. Demonstrations will also be conducted on pottery, blacksmithing and cooking.

There are limited spaces still available for artisan and crafter booths. Deadline for reserving a booth is April 8, 2015, or until all spaces are filled.

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 local vocalists and musicians.

Both the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library and the Doak House Museum will be open to visitors during the festival and will have special activities planned for adults and children from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1-4 p.m. on Sunday.

The Doak House Museum will sponsor a batik workshop during the three days of the festival. Participants will learn how to make stunning designs on natural fiber cloth using the wax-resist dyeing method. Reservations and advance deposits are required. The workshop will be held in the heart of the festival on the main campus. Reservation and deposit are required. Contact Leah Walker at 423-636-8554 or lwalker@tusculum.edu for reservations and more information.

Fiddlin’ Carson Peter’s Band and the Old Time Travelers, a duo from Chattanooga Tennessee, will perform on the Doak House lawn on the Saturday of the festival. Picnic tables are available to the public to bring a lunch, tour the museum and hear great bluegrass and old-time music. Performance times will be announced at a later date.

For the length of the festival only, the museum will open its collections storage to display never before exhibited Appalachian chairs and other furnishings, titled “Sittin’ Pretty: Selections from the Doak House Furniture Collection.” Admission is free and donations are appreciated.

The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library will sponsor a 19th Century Toys and Games booth in the children’s area. Come and play with traditional folk toys and make-and-take your very own toy as a souvenir.

From 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library will feature the “Reaper: Nettie Fowler McCormick and the Machine that Built Tusculum College” exhibit. This exhibit explores the changes wrought by the mechanical harvest and explores the context through which Mrs. McCormick viewed her philanthropic mission.”

The festival will feature children’s activities on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and again on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. There will be storytelling performances on stage and around the festival grounds.

The Walnut Ridge llamas, previous favorites of the festival, will visit the Tusculum College campus over the weekend.

Throughout the weekend, there will be everything from bed racing to surprise performances to craft workshops.

Food selection will include festival favorites, such as homemade strawberry shortcake, Philly cheese steak, and Mennonite doughnuts. Music and food will be available until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and until 4 p.m. on Sunday.

There is no fee to attend the festival. Art vendor hours will be Friday from noon until 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, contact Price at 423-636-7303.

Coolers and alcohol are prohibited during the festival.

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

 

Keeneland trip to benefit women’s soccer program set for April 11

Tusculum College alumni and friends are invited to enjoy a day at the races in April  to benefit the women’s soccer program.

The women’s soccer program is hosting its popular trip to the Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, Ky., once again this year on Saturday, April 11. The trip is a fundraiser for the program and Tusculum College athletics.

April 11 is Coolmore Stakes Day at Keeneland, a premier pre-Kentucky Derby event.

A day trip option is available as well as an overnight option.

The day trip includes bus transportation from campus to the racetrack and back, special grandstand reserved seating, a race program, a continental breakfast, drinks and and snacks, vouchers for food and beverages at the race track and a catered BBQ dinner following the races. Movies will be shown en route during the bus trip and participants will be allowed to bring a small cooler aboard the bus (adult beverages permitted). The cost for the day trip is $119 per person.

The overnight option includes all the day trip amenities and a night on the town in Lexington, accommodations for two at the Clarion Hotel (a king or two double beds), breakfast at the Clarion Hotel Restaurant, tour of a private horse farm, Kentucky bourbon tour and lunch en route back to Greeneville. The overnight option is $189 (based on double occupancy).

The bus will leave from Tusculum on Saturday at 7 a.m. from the parking lot at the Niswonger Commons. The bus service will arrange pick-up at a Knoxville location to accommodate people in that area. The day trip bus will return to campus at 1o p.m. on Saturday. The overnight trip will return on Sunday.

Tickets are limited and a $30 deposit is required and is due by March 30. Full payment is due by April 1.  Participants on the trip must be 21 years or older.

For more information, please contact Women’s Soccer Head Coach Mike Joy at 423-636-7321 or call mjoy@tusculum.edu. Payment by credit card or check are accepted with the check made payable to Tusculum College Women’s Soccer.  Payment can be mailed to Tusculum Women’s Soccer, P.O. Box 5011, Greeneville, TN 37743.

Alumni honored in Hamblen County school system

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tusculum alumni sweep Hamblen County Tear of the Year Awards

Tusculum alumni Johnathan Richardson ’02, Nick Darnell ’06 and Olivia Breeding ’12 have been announced as the system wide Hamblen County teachers of the year.

Each year, every school in Hamblen County nominates one hard-working teacher for the teachers of the year program. Once these individuals are selected, the “top teacher” from each category, elementary, middle and high school, is determined by an outside party. This year, members of the Lincoln County Department of Education made the decision.

Richardson, elementary teacher of the year, is a music teacher at Manley Elementary School. Throughout his career, Richardson has led numerous professional development opportunities for Hamblen County teachers on topics including multicultural education, music in special needs classrooms, arts integration and brain games. He also has provided training at professional conferences on the state and national levels. In his classroom, he integrates other subjects such as language arts, science, math and social studies into his music lessons.  In addition, Richardson heavily focuses on culture in his classroom. He said he believes it is essential his students understand other cultures due to the variety of backgrounds present in his classes. His favorite part of teaching is seeing the smiles of his students.

The middle school teacher of the year, Darnell, teaches eighth grade American history at East Ridge Middle School. There Darnell is a substitute administrator and a member of the Data Team, Crisis Team and Mentor Leadership Team. He chairs the School Improvement Team. He also is the facilitator of the school’s Colonial Day, World Culture Day, Geography Bee and Mock Elections. In his classroom, Darnell integrates technology in an hands-on way for his students. Darnell’s inspiration is his students and enjoys working with them each day.

Breeding, an algebra I teacher and head of the peer tutoring program at West High School, was selected as the high school teacher of the year. She was a participant in the STEPs Externship program for science, technology, engineering and math teachers with local industry. Breeding helped to teach and develop the school system’s Seeds, Roots and Fruits program. Peer tutoring is a strategy Breeding uses in her classroom. She said this has proven successful due to the success her students have experienced. At West High, Breeding is the Interact sponsor and  cheerleading coach.

 

’00s

Kristy Sproles ’00 is among six Tennessee social studies teachers the Tennessee State Library and Archives named to its Tennessee State Library and Archives Educator Working Group. This group will assist and advise the Library and Archives staff about ways to make its Tennessee history collections available to teachers and students. The group will develop lesson plans based on original Tennessee documents and images so that social studies teachers across the state can better use TSLA’s primary sources in their classroom instruction.

Sproles is a high school teacher at Sullivan Central High School in Sullivan County. She holds a master of education from Tusculum College and has been teaching for 15 years.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives education outreach program offers tours of the building for teachers and students, sponsors statewide workshops for teachers, and offers a new education outreach website that links TSLA’s primary sources in American and Tennessee history directly to Tennessee’s new social studies curriculum standards.

 

 

 

Alison Leigh David ’95 was married to Robert McKinley Hagerman on Sept. 20, 2014, at the Inn on Town Creek in Abingdon, VA. After a honeymoon in Antigua and the Florida Keys, the couple is living in Abingdon. Alison is a realtor with Jones and Associates Realty and Robert works for Trustpoint Insurance.

 

Ryan Phillip Huff ’09 and Brook Renae Johnson were married December 13, 2014, at The Charles in Johnson City. The couple are living in Knoxville, TN.

 

 

 

 

’30s

Mary Elizabeth Ross Reel ’38, a longtime resident of Rogersville, TN, passed away on Feb. 17, 2015, following a period of declining health. Mrs. Reel taught for several years in the Greene County School System at Hardins View Elementary School and retired from teaching in the Hawkins County School System as a teacher at Hawkins County Elementary School. She was a member of the Rogersville Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Reel read her Bible daily, noting many favorite verses, especially Psalms 121. After her retirement, she became very interested in her family’s genealogy and spent many hours tracing her family’s history. Mrs. Reel received the honor of membership of “First Families of Tennessee,” which extends membership to anyone who can prove direct descent from a person or persons living in any part of what is now Tennessee before or by statehood in 1796. A native of Greene County, the home where she grew up in Afton as been in her family for at least 100 years.  She had begun researching the farm history in order to apply for the “Tennessee Century Farms Program,” which recognizes farms owned by the same family for at least 100 years. Mrs. Reel was an avid reader, making weekly trips to the library for all the latest releases and her older favorites. She instilled this love for reading not only in her own children, but in her classroom students.

 

’40s

Evelyn Smelcer Holdway ’45 of Morristown, TN, passed away Feb. 7, 2015. During World War II, she worked as a civilian efficiency analyst. Following the war, she returned to the Morristown area and married W.F. “Kink” Holdway. She used her business skills to help him run a successful dairy and crop farm. She was a longtime supporter of instrumental music, frequently attending concerts and provided financial support to regional band programs, including that of her Alma Mater. She was also a frequent volunteer with the Hamblen County 4-H Club during her daughter’s middle and high school years. In addition to music, she enjoyed dancing, singing, board games, crossword puzzles and gardening and was an avid reader.

 

’90s

Michael Stan Perry ’94 of Gaffney, SC, passed away Dec. 23, 2013, at his residence. Mr. Perry was a district manager with Piedmont Natural Gas. He was a member of the Gaffney and Spartanburg Rotary clubs, a member of the Gaffney and Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce and formerly served as a volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club.

John George Kosmak ’98 of Gray, TN, passed away Jan. 7, 2015, at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. He had been diagnosed with leukemia in December 2014. Mr. Kosmak had been serving as an adjunct professor in the Tusculum School of Business. A native of Chicago, his family was of Czechoslovakian decent and he took great pride in his family’s heritage. Mr. Kosmak had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and education, earning multiple degrees including his master’s degree in education and training from Tusculum. A veteran, he served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years. Stationed around the world, he retired as a master sergeant and had spent time serving in the department of communications for the President’s Air Force One and Two. He had worked for the Postal Service since 1995 and started teaching as an adjunct at Tusculum in 2000. Mr. Kosmak had become a Ham Radio Operator at the age of 15. His expertise in Morse code resulted in him winning national competitions. He also spent much time in building radios and assisting others in earning their Ham licenses. In more recent years, he built customized antennas and sold them worldwide.