Stories from Sunday, May 12, 2013

The Nashville Symphony has been performing in Shelbyville annually (with only one or two exceptions) since 1989. All but one of those concerts were in Calsonic Arena; the first one wasn't, because the arena was still under construction at that time, rising in the background as the symphony performed in the big open Celebration arena. I remember covering that concert for the newspaper...

In this photo the American flag hangs over the Tennessee state flower, the Iris.

Cousins Zach Bowlin and Brady Martin enjoy exploring on their great-grandparent's farm, Wallace and Virginia Jones of Shelbyville.

The Times-Gazette is proud to reveal the winner of its Mommy and Me photo contest, which honored mothers and their children of all ages by capturing special moments on camera. All contest photos were published in a special Mother's Day section Tuesday, May 7. The photos may be seen at t-g.com...

Shelbyville's newest councilman praised the work of its manager and urged citizens to help launch the city back toward growth. At the conclusion of Thursday's council meeting, Henry Feldhaus made a lengthy statement, commending city manager Jay Johnson for putting together "a very capable staff" for getting Shelbyville "through some tough legal and financial times over the past two years with grace and poise."...

The county's solid waste authority voted to dissolve itself Thursday, becoming an advisory committee that will meet as needed. The county is not permitted to have two authorities since Bedford County joined the Interlocal Solid Waste Authority (ISWA) last year...

Fourteen retiring Bedford County teachers, with combined service totaling 388 years, were honored Thursday evening at the Bedford County Education Association (BCEA) and Bedford County Schools retirement dinner. Superintendent of Schools Don Embry welcomed retirees, spouses, supervisors, principals and BCEA members to the banquet held in the fellowship hall of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church...

Members of the Cascade Lady Champion softball team who earned District 9-A recognition for their efforts during the 2013 season are (from left) Heather Hart (Honorable Mention), Alyssa Hoover (Honorable Mention), Summer Carter (All-District), and Kelsey Parker (All-District). (Photo by Anthony Puca)

The Community Viqueen Volleyball team recently held a camp for kids in grades K-8, teaching the basic fundamentals of the game. Each participant was taught passing, setting, spiking, and serving skills. Following the camp, all 37 participants, as well as members of the Viqueen team that helped run the camp, posed for a group photo.

The fifth inning proved to be costly for Harris Middle as Franklin County North rallied for seven runs in a 7-0 win over the Golden Eagles in the Central Tennessee Conference tournament on Thursday. Colt Williams pitched well for the Eagles, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing five hits with a pair of strikeouts...

With the season drawing to a close, both Harris Middle tennis teams look to be in prime form. On Thursday, both squads convincingly dispatched Warren County, with the Eagles finishing with a 9-0 sweep. The Eaglettes nearly made it a clean sweep as well, but lost one individual match, making the final team score 8-1...

Collaboration can be a beautiful thing. At one elementary school, it turned out to be a work of art. Students and teachers from all three Community schools recently collaborated with Middle Tennessee State University art education students on a project that not only gave students experience but helped to brighten the gymnasium of Community Elementary...

Mother's Day is a significant holiday to honor mothers in families experiencing the best of times. But for families battling a life-threatening illness, the holiday may take a back seat to other concerns. Rosie Olson, the mother of four children, said she simply hopes to be at home on Mother's Day. That's because the alternative would be to spend yet more time at the hospital with her son, Mark Kelly, who is battling cancer...

A witness watched as a barbecue grill was stolen from the patio of a King Arthur Trailer Court home Thursday night. The witness told police the grill was loaded into the bed of a gold truck. The truck and a gold car left together with the witness following...

A job fair will be held Wednesday at Goodwill in Lewisburg Goodwill Career Solutions center,130 The Acres, Lewisburg, will host the job fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Aid & Assist At Home. The company plans to hire dozens of caregivers for six counties: Marshall, Maury, Giles, Bedford, Lincoln and Lawrence. These employees will provide non-medical care and support services to seniors and persons with disabilities in the comfort of their own homes...

Roadside sobriety checkpoints are scheduled next week on Highway 64 West at Whitaker Road and U.S. 41A North at Old Columbia Road by the Bedford County Sheriff's Department. The specific days were not announced. "Impaired driving is a serious crime that kills more than 16,000 people and injures 305,000 others every year in the United States," a BCSD press release said. ...

My Mom and I often go out for lunch on Saturdays or during the holidays when I'm at home. We love to check out the little ladies' luncheon places and tearooms. It seems like they come and go with the wind and when one closes another opens. We enjoy checking out the menus and décor and just spending the afternoon together...

A Shelbyville woman who is a paraplegic is working to scrape together enough money to buy a van and make it handicap-accessible. Laurie Swing has been in a wheelchair since she was 13 months old. A drunk driver placed her there in 1965. Her mother, Betty Lamb, was driving one evening along Old Murfreesboro Highway from Bell Buckle to Shelbyville to pick up Laurie's father. ...

Editor's Note: The following article was submitted by Tabitha Smith. Our mom, Daphne Smith, has been such an inspiration to most. As everyone knows my dad got real sick last year and my mother has never left his side. She has done everything for him and supported him while being strong for us...

It was the spring of 1972 when a friend and I saw the movie, "The Last Picture Show," at the Empire Theater in downtown Grand Forks, N.D. This film was a coming of age story about several high school students in a small town on the plains of Texas....

What would you do if you found a wallet full of money? One 12-year-old student didn't hesitate to turn the money over to his bus driver. Seth Owens, a seventh-grader at Harris Middle School, sat down on the bus one afternoon recently for the ride home, and found a brown lady's purse, which had no ID....

Amber Lynn Grant of Shelbyville announces the birth of a son, Carson Lee Grant, on April 3 in Tullahoma. The baby boy weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces. He is the grandson of Charles and Kathy Grant of Shelbyville, and the great-grandson of John W. "Bear" Womack Sr. of Shelbyville...

Johnathan David Spence and Shayna Michael Spence of Shelbyville announce the birth of a son, Liam Steven David Spence, on April 5 in Murfreesboro. The baby boy weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces. He is the grandson of Linda and Herschel Waller, Theresa and Ronnie Amans, and the late David Ernest Spence and Steven Wayne Yount...

Jeremy and Jennifer Fann of Deason announce the birth of a son, Nicholas Scott Fann, on Feb. 8, at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro. The baby boy weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces. Grandparents are Jeannie and Richard Cobb, Dave and Kim Martin, and Jimmy and Jo Ann Fann. Great-grandparents are Patricia Boring of Bell Buckle and Charles Boring of Las Vegas...