by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the Jan. 28 meeting, the Sewanee Utility District Board of Commissioners tallied the votes for the commissioner election. Board President Charlie Smith reviewed the new commissioner training requirements and recommended the same requirements apply to those re-elected to another term of service.

“This is one of the most contested races we’ve had in a long time,” said Commissioner Doug Cameron. Ronnie Hoosier received 19 votes. Chris McBee received 29 votes. McBee will be sworn in February.

Smith said the Utility Management Review Board, an agency of the state comptroller, had begun more carefully monitoring utility boards to verify all commissioners had completed the required training. New commissioners must complete 12 hours of training in their first year of service and an additional 12 hours during the next three years of their four-year term. The regulations also stipulate a commissioner seeking re-electing must sign a Certificate of Compliance asserting he or she completed the training requirement during the prior term of service. Commissioners may complete the training online or by attending a Tennessee Association of Utility Districts training symposium in Gatlinburg. SUD pays commissioners’ travel expenses. Regulations require re-elected commissioners receive continuing education. Smith recommended re-elected commissioners should be held to the same standard as new commissioners and required to participate in 24 hours of training during a four-year term. For verification purposes, the board will begin keeping a log of commissioners’ training hours.

The board revisited the grinder pump fee discussion. Customer Ronald Summer attended the December meeting complaining about the fee. Since then, SUD has received phone calls and a letter raising the same objection: when residents were required to connect to public SUD sewer service if available and to pay for installing a grinder pump, they were told SUD would maintain the pump going forward.

In November, SUD implemented an $8 monthly fee to offset the high cost of maintaining and replacing the pumps. The policy requiring residents to install grinder pumps and to connect to sewer when a house was built or sold was implemented at the University’s behest in the 1990s. “The University exerted a lot of control over SUD until the mid-1990s,” SUD manager Ben Beavers maintained.

“It’s the University’s fault. They should be the one paying for it,” said Summer, who again attended the meeting. Summer used a septic tank until he was required to install a grinder pump. “I didn’t ask for a grinder pump. Why should people with grinder pumps be the only ones punished? Why not everybody’s rates go up a dollar or two?”

Summer pointed out the fee was a hardship for some customers with a limited income. Cameron asked if funds from the “roundup” option on customers’ bills could be used to help people in need. Beavers said he gave the roundup funds to the Community Action Committee to distribute to those who requested assistance with utility bills. But Beavers acknowledged, “There are people who need help who will never ask for it.”

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“When the lift station dies, nobody on the west side of the interstate has sewer. It will be backing up in the sinks,” said Alderman Dan Sargent at the Jan. 27 Monteagle Council meeting in support of a subsequent vote to approve a task order calling for replacing the aging sewage pump station behind the Waffle House. The council also voted to raise water and sewer rates, the costly lift station project among the driving factors.

Prior to the vote approving moving forward with the lift-station project, the board discussed LJA’s $239,950 fee for engineering services and weighed the feasibility of consulting other firms about what they would charge. Monteagle has also contracted with St. John’s Engineering, but Travis Wilson with LJA has served as Monteagle’s consultant since November of 2020. Mayor Greg Maloof advised against “switching horses mid race.” The board’s overriding sentiment was that LJA had provided good services, but going forward it would be wise to ask LJA for specs on a project and put it out for bid. “That’s what free enterprise is for,” said Vice Mayor Nate Wilson.

Highlighting the urgency of the project, Engineer Wilson explained the aging lift station, one of Monteagle’s two main lift stations, “operated at 50 percent capacity in dry weather and near 100 percent capacity when everyone was using the system.” There was a risk of the smaller lift station in the vicinity of the Piggly Wiggly overwhelming the Waffle House station, even without the proposed Hampton Inn adding to the load. Wilson recommended applying for a low interest State Revolving Fund loan spread over a 20-year repayment schedule to fund the project estimated to cost of over $1 million. Wilson stressed timeliness with a February deadline for SRF loan applications and 40-60 weeks lead time from bidding the project until the equipment was ready to install. Monteagle will need to fund the engineering portion of the project from capital reserves.

Providing an overview of Monteagle’s critical needs, Wilson said only 10 percent of the sewer system had been rehabilitated since it was created 50 years ago. The Inflow and Infiltration rehabilitation underway would mitigate only a portion of the groundwater entering the sanitary sewer system, putting strain on the wastewater treatment plant. The plant was already under a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation consent order for exceeding phosphorus limits. Sampling was underway to determine the source. The water plant was under a consent order for testing issues.

Monteagle recently conducted a water and sewer rate study which showed the current rates charged were not adequate to cover the cost of rehabilitating and replacing water and wastewater treatment facilities. “There is constant repair and updating of equipment and machinery which necessitates the rate increase,” said Maloof.

Monteagle previously increased water and sewer rates in January 2024 and implemented a $5 per customer monthly service fee. The new rates adopted at the Jan. 27, 2025, meeting will go into effect March 1. For residential customers inside the city limit, the rate for the first 1,999 gallons is $25.10 for water and $25.14 for sewer; for commercial customers the rate for the first 1,999 gallons is $30.28 for water and $37.88 for sewer. For residential customers outside the city limits, the rate for the first 1,999 gallons is $25.72 for water and $38.41 for sewer; for commercial customers, the rate for the first 1,999 gallons is $38.70 for water and $58.06 for sewer. The rates change for usage above 1,999 gallons. Contact Monteagle City Hall for details.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“There are lots of concerns about the new streetlights Duck River is installing,” insisted Laura Willis at the Jan. 27 Sewanee Community Council Meeting. The location of the lights, their angle, brightness, and whether or not they could be adjusted were not the only issues according to Willis. She directed the council’s attention to the organization Dark Sky International. “They have great guidelines about how to keep a community safe, but well lit,” Willis said. “Is there a way to be proactive and say we’re going to be a model?” Council member Ben Beavers observed, “I’ve received more emails about lights than anything else. People see the need for lighting, but [question] the location and brightness. They want to have input.”

Willis first brought the issue of the new LED lights to the council’s attention in January 2023. A subcommittee formed, but lacking active involvement from the University, the committee disbanded. Duck River installs the new LED lights when the old bulbs burn out, said Superintendent of Leases Sallie Green. Providing background, Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management Robert Benton said the streetlight discussion with Duck River Electric Membership Corporation began as a conversation about improving lighting in Sewanee. “Some people think they’ve gone overboard,” Benton speculated. Duck River purchased thousands of LED bulbs. The utility provider was willing to install shields and point the lights in a different direction to prevent them from shining in people’s homes, Benton said. But he added, “The issue of birds and light pollution are much bigger than that. To change the lights community wide, they [Duck River] haven’t really been open to that discussion.”

“Lighting is certainly something that’s on the agenda,” said Provost Scott Wilson. Students and parents had complained about inadequate lighting, especially in parking lots. Although the University has no “lighting plan,” lighting is part of the new Safety Plan. “A few parking lots are remote, so there would need to be some sort of lighting on the walkway to those lots,” Wilson stressed.

Vice-Chancellor Rob Pearigen recommended he and Wilson meet with Mark Webb, the Sewanee representative on the Duck River Board of Directors. “There are multiple issues at stake here,” Pearigen acknowledged. “We need to have a conversation about what the possibilities are.”

“If people knew what the options available were, that might get us through until a more comprehensive lighting plan can be developed,” said Beavers. “If there’s something Duck River can do immediately to lessen the impact that would help.” “Duck River will work with you,” said Green. She urged residents troubled by lighting changes due to newly installed bulbs to phone the utility (931) 598-5228.

Also in the safety realm, Traffic Committee Chair Michael Payne updated the council on the location of new speed humps purchased with joint funding from the University ($6,000) and a Project Funding grant from the council ($6,000). The traffic calming devices will be installed in the problem areas of Alabama, Kentucky, and Missouri Avenues. Speed humps allow bicycles and baby strollers to pass unimpeded, Payne pointed out. Sites proposed for the other two sets of speed humps purchased include Georgia Avenue, the location of the Childcare Center and duPont Library, and the upper part of Roarks Cove Road, a location with many children whose families live in faculty apartments. Direct suggestions about locations needing speed humps to the Lease Office. The $2,000 remaining in the fund could be used for another set of speed humps or signage, Wilson said.

The council welcomed newly elected council representatives Walker Adams, Kevin Cummings, Katie Gohn, and Ed Hawkins. Adams volunteered to serve on the Agenda Committee. The Agenda Committee weighs decisions about whether the council should address a topic or direct a resident’s concerns to the appropriate University channel.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

David Landon’s poems are quotidian glimpses of shopping and tending to and losing and finding, but in Landon’s grasp, the dailiness transcends the mundane to become “moments in a gentle war against whatever odds diminish hope.” This line from the poem, “Kleos, or Fame” encapsulates the essence of Landon’s new collection, “Some Moments in a Gentle War.” Landon takes the reader with him grocery shopping and to visit his aging parents inviting “a complicity between strangers” that makes the reader grateful they were allowed to tag along.

“I always wrote poetry, and I always acted,” said Landon, Bishop Juhan Professor of Theatre Emeritus at the University. As an undergraduate at Harvard, he won the American Academy Poetry Prize. He pursued a doctorate degree in French at Vanderbilt and after graduating stayed on to teach. Learning of his past experience in theater, the head of the French Department urged him to take a role in a French play. “That got me back into acting,” Landon said. Things became edgy at Vanderbilt when he gave the son of a major donor a B+ grade instead of an A. With the uncomfortable dust still settling, Sewanee offered Landon a job teaching French and Drama. “Sewanee was really the perfect place for Luann and myself,” Landon observed, citing his early education at an Episcopal boarding school and his father’s vocation as an Episcopal priest. Luann, likewise a poet, led her husband back into the realm of the poetic muse when she persuaded him to attend a writers conference with her.

Landon credits his years of teaching Shakespeare for his predilection for iambic pentameter, the meter of all Shakespearian plays. “Iambic pentameter asks to be spoken,” Landon insisted. The easy, spoken flow of Landon’s lines makes the poems feel like a conversation with the reader. Most of the poems are unrhymed, and when the lines do rhyme, the rhymes are subtle, without overpowering or distracting the poem, and reader, from the idea the poem is finding its way to. And for Landon, that’s what writing poetry is all about, “getting to the original idea.” Landon jots down lines and keeps revisiting them, adding more lines, tweaking others, searching for the idea. “Sometimes the idea in a first line I jot down is not the idea deep inside,” Landon acknowledged. A poem that begins with sipping coffee in a midtown New York Starbucks closes with the words, “May God be in my head.”

The reader travels with Landon even into “the murk ... where the usual checks and contradictions tempt you towards solution with a gun.” Yet Landon and the reader manage to resurface “mysteriously alert” where “gentle vibrations tune our will to be.” (“A Creature from the Murk” and “One day it has to be.”) “Ugly war is being fought by people who want power,” Landon said in discussing the poems. “The moments in a gentle war are not always happy, but we just may win. They are a reason to go on.”

Sewanee poet and professor of creative writing Jennifer Michaels said of “Some Moments in a Gentle War,” “Landon’s poems both narrate and participate in a ‘gentle war’ — that is, a quiet but noble campaign ‘to take back history from violence.’ ... these captivating poems are as current as today’s news, and give the reader strength to bear it.”

“Some Moments in a Gentle War” is available at the University bookstore and online from Amazon and the publisher, Finish Line Press. Landon’s recent poems have been tapped for recognition by several highly regarded literary magazines, Able Muse, Southwest Review, and the Georgia Review.

Arriving at the final poem, “A Connoisseur of Wind,” the poet’s muse “looks at us, and bows, and leaves us here.” The reader wants more, but despair not. Help is on the way. Landon is urging a collection of unrhymed sonnets into book form. Stay tuned.

The congregation of Christ Church (Episcopal) in Tracy City will observe the 100th anniversary of its current building on Sunday, Feb. 16, according to Beth Thomas, senior warden. Christ Church is the oldest continuously operating Episcopal church on the South Cumberland Plateau, she noted.

To commemorate the event, the Rev. David Goodpaster, Vicar, will celebrate the Holy Eucharist at 11 a.m. in the church, followed by a potluck luncheon in the Father Adamz Memorial Parish House. The parish house has served as a fellowship hall and community center since 1952. All current members, former members and the public are invited to attend. Please bring a dish to share.

The church began in 1868 when the Rt. Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee and Vice Chancellor of the University of the South, conducted the first service in a sawmill shed across from the railroad depot in Tracy City. Worship services continued there until a community structure, Temperance Hall, was built for people of all denominations.

In 1873, local Episcopalians erected their own church—the town’s first—under the leadership of Milnor Jones, a student at the School of Theology at Sewanee. He had the financial backing of three widowed sisters. Jones was among countless Sewanee seminarians who trekked to Tracy City by train, horseback and on foot to conduct services at the mountain mission. In gratitude, church members fed and lodged them.

The Rev. Henry Easter arrived in 1891. A master carver who served Christ Church until 1896, he left his mark by carving the altar in memory of his mother. He also created the bishop’s chair, priest’s chair and desk, lectern and communion rail.

In 1925, a new church replaced the original one damaged severely by a storm. Miraculously, Father Easter’s hand-carved works survived the storm and were installed in the new structure. Three inspirational stained glass windows were added above the altar. St. Margaret’s Guild raised the money to purchase the windows, while other windows, including one by Tiffany, were gifts of several prominent church families.

Christ Church welcomes all people and fosters a deep connection with God through worship, education, service, spiritual growth and community engagement.

The Old Gruetli Post Office has been given to the Grundy County Swiss Historical Society. This structure at the corner of Highway 108 and 20 Avenue North in Gruetli-Laager has been a community focal point dating back more than a century. The post office has been a part of the Swiss Colony of Gruetli which was started in 1869 when many Swiss families chose to come to America and make new homes. The condition of the gift is that the building be moved to the Stoker-Stampfli Farm. Once there, we will undertake a restoration of the building to its original style and maintain it as part of Grundy County history. In addition, we are asked to place a commemorative plaque at the current building site. We hope to be able to acknowledge the family of the donors and prior postmasters with a plaque.

We are pleased and excited about this gift; however, as a community, we will need to work together to accomplish this. New footings and a foundation must be prepared at the Farm, a house moving company must be hired to shore-up and move the building. Finally, the building will need internal and external restoration. The final product will be a valuable example of Grundy County life in generations that came before, and a Farm tour highlight.

The first $5,000 has been pledged in a grant from the philanthropy class at the University of the South in collaboration with the South Cumberland Community Fund. As you know, Grundy County and the Farm are increasingly a tourist destination. A special stop for many is the Stoker-Stampfli Farm Museum and the Annual Festival (Swiss Celebration) the last Saturday of July each year.

Please consider joining us with your gift to: Grundy County Swiss Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) organization, P.O. Box 496, Gruetli-Laager, TN 37339. On the memo line: “Post Office Move.”

Beginning on Feb. 3, the IRS-certified BetterFi and Sewanee Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program will begin processing and filing qualifying residents’ income taxes for its 11th year in a row. This year the students and volunteers are working with the University of the South, financial nonprofit BetterFi, and the South Cumberland Community Fund-sponsored South Cumberland Plateau AmeriCorps Program.

Grundy residents will be able to sign up online to schedule appointments on Thursdays at BetterFi in Coalmont (9933 State Route 56) at <www.betterfi.co/vita>.

Other tax sessions will be offered at partner sites – filers should contact the site to sign up for an appointment time slot. The current schedule is as follows: Moore County Library (931) 759-7285, Monday, Feb. 3, 9 a.m. to noon; Coffee-Lannom Library (931) 455-2460, Monday, Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to noon and Saturday, March 22, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Manchester Library (931) 723-5143, Saturday, Feb. 15, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Monday, March 3, 9 a.m. to noon; Franklin County Senior Center (931) 967-9853, Monday, Feb. 24, 9 a.m. to noon and Monday, March 24, 9 a.m. to noon. A session will also be at the Sewanee Senior Center Thursday, Feb. 20, 4–7 p.m. but sign-ups must be done in person.

Any resident who makes less than $67,000 a year, is disabled, or is elderly qualifies for a free tax return.

Please note that unfortunately the volunteers will be unable to assist with 1099-Bs.

Each resident interested in filing must bring proof of identification (a photo ID), social security cards (if filing jointly with another person then bring both social security cards and both individuals must be present), wage and earning statements (W-2, 1099, etc.), dividend and interest statements (if this applies to the resident filing), birth dates of the resident(s) and dependent(s), and banking account and routing numbers for direct deposit (found on a blank check).

If a resident filing does not have a social security card, then he/she must bring an IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) assignment letter.

If your organization would like to host a tax session or if a filer cannot make any of the tax sessions, please email BetterFi at <hello@betterfi.co> and BetterFi will try to accommodate.

Winter on the Mountain is always a slower time for the local community, but residents and winter visitors alike have a great new reason to get out of the house! A portion of the Shenanigans building — the back room on the ground floor that was formerly an art gallery — has become an upscale “speakeasy” cocktail lounge called Oddfellows.

Organizers promise that this new bar will have all the charm and ambience of Shenanigans, but with the elevated contemporary flair and style akin to larger southern cities. Nothing will change in the Shenanigans that we all know and love, but now area residents and visitors will have an opportunity for a different vibe, and a different set of drinks offerings.

Years in development, and now ready for full roll out after a successful pilot program over the fall, Oddfellows is poised to be a tri-county gem. The fun name springs from the time over 100 years ago when the building was home to the Sewanee Lodge #544 of the Independent Order of the Oddfellows, a social club and community improvement organization with the motto of “Friendship, Love, Truth.”

Leading the exciting project is Bill Elder, the proprietor of Shenanigans. Elder said, “In this, our 50th anniversary year, we’ve aimed at building something new and fun, and at installing something special that will take root as part of Shenanigans’ next 50 years. Our customers have been asking us for years for a more upscale option within this iconic building. Oddfellows is the result of years of listening and planning.”

Incorporating the ideas of the entire Elder Family (Bill, his wife Susie, and their daughters Zoe and Georgia), and honoring the late great Sewanee restaurateurs David Boyd Williams and George Stevenson, Sewanee residents should find Oddfellows to be a welcome addition to the community’s 21+ social scene.

The cocktail program includes craft cocktails, local whiskeys, premium spirits, and zero proof beverages. The drinks menu will range from prohibition-era classics to modern craft concoctions, with several Sewanee originals paying homage to our wonderful town, mountain, university, and cherished characters. Top-notch, authentic and proper Martinis, Manhattans and Old Fashioneds have finally arrived in Sewanee Village. A wine program will roll out later in 2025, as will a food program designed around flavor combinations that pair well with the wines and cocktails.

Even the music has been given much thought in order to elevate the experience. “I’ve put together a music selection that transports you to other times, and other places–always chill and interesting, always something to perk the ears and coax a grin. Let’s call the vibe soul lounge. Oddfellows is dim and cozy, charming and enchanting, enticing and slightly prone to mischief. But hey, it’s Shenanigans after all,” Elder said. “Our goal is to give the Mountain a cozy upscale spot with a speakeasy vibe, offering modern presentations and pairing suggestions.”

The hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 5–11 p.m., (and later, if the crowd wants to stay a bit longer). Entrance is the side door from the parking lot, then take a right down the hall. Shenanigans is located at 12595 Sollace Freeman Highway, Sewanee. A secret back door entrance is in the works. Want the password?

For more information, follow Shenanigans on Instagram and Facebook.

“Invasives!” Show at Stirling’s, the campus coffee house, on display through mid-February. The show spotlights some of the worst invasive plants and animals in our area.

Winter Green — an Introduction to Mosses and Lichens, Saturday, Feb. 8, 10 a.m.-noon, Yolande Gottfried

Whether the groundhog told us that winter is here to stay or that spring is just around the corner, winter is a great time to take a look at mosses, some ferns, lichens, and other non-flowering plants. Herbarium Associate Yolande Gottfried will introduce interested participants to some of the “lower plants”. Do mosses freeze? What is an Irish valentine? Are lichens really plants? Come with your questions and specimens, if you like! We will meet indoors with specimens provided to examine and, weather permitting, take a short walk outdoors to see them in the field. Meet in the Sewanee Herbarium on the first floor of Spencer Hall, Room 173, on the campus of the University of the South. The main entrance is across from duPont Library and there is parking behind the library. Bring a hand lens or a magnifying glass if you have one.

Grocery Store Flower Botanicals Workshop, Saturday Feb. 22, 9:30–11:30 a.m., Spencer room 173, Mary Priestley

Flowers that we sometimes pick up when we’re grocery shopping brighten our winter days! For this workshop, we will choose individuals from among a bouquet of these colorful flowers to do a pen and ink illustration to which you may want to add watercolor. We will look closely at a sunflower or other member of the Aster Family that is usually included in these mixes. Starting with dissecting a flower head to see how it’s constructed, we will then move on to drawing from life or tracing from a photograph. Bring a pencil and your cell phone; other materials will be provided. There is no cost, but please reserve so we know how many people to expect. Email <mpriestley0150@gmail.com>.

Tennessee State Parks (TSP) would like to invite you to the unveiling of South Cumberland State Park’s new exhibit, “Condemned to Labor: Convict Leasing and the Lone Rock Stockade” from 2–4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at the South Cumberland State Park Visitors’ Center. This exhibit explores a significant and complex chapter in Tennessee’s history, examining the convict leasing system and its role in shaping our state’s development in the decades following the Civil War. This exhibit results from detailed archaeological research at the site of the Lone Rock stockade and efforts by students and faculty from the nearby Sewanee: The University of The South.

Attendees of the unveiling will hear remarks from Dr. Tiffany Momon, Dr. Camille Westmont and TN State Park representatives, and have the opportunity to participate in two field trip options.

Please RSVP by Jan. 30, 2025 here: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=v75F83ENN0OSgSS5QWFsNoLbCei0OmhNj3b2cps-MSNURFVLRUcyWjZaMzQxRUtPTk5FSDY5MU5JNS4u&

The South Cumberland State Park Visitors’ Center is located on U.S. Highway 41 South between Monteagle and Tracy City and is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., seven days a week. For more information call (931) 924-2980.

Special to the Messenger

They shredded the poem, put the pieces in a beer, and drank the words — or maybe they ate them — or both.

Memories of the early days of Sewanee Spoken Word, originally known as “Community Poetry Night,” are now far enough in the past to be hazy — 10 years in the past. On Jan. 20, 2015, a slate of poets and other writers gave voice to their work at the first Poetry Night. That first night was packed, with people standing shoulder to shoulder, edging into the kitchen at the Blue Chair Café & Tavern.

It was in the first year when a group of people gathered at the bar after a night’s reading and literally consumed a poem. That inaugural year was chocked with memories, along with standing-room only crowds — witnesses to wild, soft, and beautiful words — and a discovery: The community needed this.

Sewanee Spoken Word will mark a decade on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Blue Chair Café. As always, anyone interested in performing, or just watching, is welcome to join.

More than partly-inspired by artist Ed Carlos’ readings at Iona: Art Sanctuary, journalist Kevin Cummings originally approached Lynn Cimino-Hurt, a poet and teacher, with an idea for a regular poetry reading. Musician and teacher Michael Cimino-Hurt joined with the sound equipment, and Sewanee student and writer Sarah Kachelman became the fourth founding member.

Annemieke Buis, 16-years-old at the time, was one of the early regular performers.

“Community Poetry Night was a safe space where I was able to integrate my authentic self with the chaos of adolescence in spoken word,” Buis said on the cusp of her 26th birthday. “I felt seen and heard reading my poetry in the Blue Chair more than anywhere during my high school years — I was able to take my passions, fears, curiosities, and shames and sing them into something we could all behold without judgement and I could feel whole in it.”

The original format was eight readers, four from the community and four University students, followed by an open mic.

“I’ve participated in many creative writing and spoken word groups and open mics since then, and none has had the same sense of safety and openness that I felt with Sewanee Spoken Word,” Buis added. “It’s what got me through some of the most difficult parts of my life ...”

Multiple people have helped organize the event in the past decade, and longtime investigative journalist Brooks Egerton has helmed Spoken Word for much of its existence. He’s been an organizer since at least 2017.

“Jimmy Wilson and the entire Blue Chair crew have been amazing — they’ve made it possible for us to do this with no budget!” Egerton said. “Sewanee Spoken Word has become one of the few places around here where town and gown regularly meet — I love that.”

Cummings, who still attends occasionally, praised Egerton’s work.

“Brooks is a force for good and he keeps things churning,” Cummings said. “Through his connections and passion, he has welcomed a myriad of different types of people to read, sing, act, and just bare their souls in the café. Michael, Lynn, and Sarah were serendipity personified in founding this event — and Brooks was a perfect person to not only carry the torch but keep it burning strong.”

Egerton notes that Spoken Word is more than poetry, it’s music, prose, dramatic performance, and unscripted storytelling. Attendees recently got a sneak preview of a podcast that’s about to launch.

During the Covid pandemic, Spoken Word stayed alive via Zoom, with writers in their digital squares reading from living rooms, offices, and sometimes cars scattered in multiple states.

A number of accomplished authors have performed at Spoken Word, including the author of a novel that inspired a hit movie with Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd — but the magic is in the locals — neighbors, bartenders, physical therapists, nurses, professors and others who muster the courage to share personal, funny, and intense work over the hum of the café ice machine or the occasional waitress who cuts in the front of the mic.

Egerton notes that many regulars have published books — books they shared at Spoken Word on the way to completing. Adam Ross, Stephanie McCarter, David Landon, and David Baker are among the most recent examples of those who have published work.

Blue Chair co-owner Wilson and bartender/occasional poet Ellis Mayfield have been integral in providing support and space for the readings.

Wilson, in his gregarious good-hearted style, has told the story many times of how he didn’t believe Spoken Word would get off the ground.

“They want to do what?” he has often recalled as his first response to the idea.

Michael, a talented gentle spirit and constant Spoken Word presence, was less incredulous in the beginning, but expected the gathering would eventually fade … “as things like this often do.”

“Now, 10 years later, I am happy to see how it has thrived and continued for so long,” Michael said. “After all this time, I can count on one hand the number of sessions I have had to miss. Every time we meet, I am amazed to find that I still come away with something beautiful and enlightening. So many voices, so many emotions, and so much wisdom …”

There is usually a suggested theme for readings, which performers are free to ignore, and often do, but it’s uncanny how many times an unplanned collective theme emerges.

“There is a shared energy that hundreds of writers and performers have carried since the birth of this thing,” Cummings said. “I love Spoken Word and how we come together as creative human beings who just want to support one another. Hell, I met my wife there.”

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“What we hope to get out of this meeting is to understand what you need,” said town planning consultant Brian Wright at a Jan. 14, joint meeting of the Monteagle Council and the steering committee for Imagine Monteagle, the recently adopted town plan. Monteagle is considering engaging Wright’s firm, Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC), to help Monteagle refine and clarify its zoning definitions and rules.

Monteagle received a $65,000 grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation to offset the cost of the project. “The Imagine Monteagle plan lays out what we want to do, but at present it’s not clear from the zoning map and Zoning ordinances how to get there,” said Alderman Nate Wilson who spearheaded the Imagine Monteagle planning effort. “There is not a lot of intent evident in the map and ordinances.”

“How do we use zoning and planning to make the Imagine Monteagle vision happen?” asked Recreation Committee Chair Ty Burnett. He pointed out the planning commission was frequently asked to recommend special exceptions to zoning rules or to rezone areas to allow uses prohibited there.

“The planning commission wants to approve everything by special exceptions,” concurred Alderman Dean Lay. Lay also observed the commission frequently put off granting final approval or found hurdles to approving a project.

“Special exceptions should be used sparingly,” cautioned Bill Wright, TPUDC Director of Coding.

“If you put someone off it shows you’re not confident in your ordinances,” Brian Wright said. “It costs the developer money, and as a result, the project is not as good as it could have been.” Wright observed the planning commission members were regular citizens, not planning consultants, and were being asked to make decisions on things they were not qualified to decide on.

Alderman Grant Fletcher cited another difficulty with Monteagle’s zoning. “If a someone comes in with a project and it meets all the criterion on the checklist, the planning commission doesn’t have any way to say ‘no’ when it’s business the town doesn’t want.”

Zoning could be by use or feel or a mixture of the two, stressed Brian Wright. He suggested defining the use or intent of a zoning district might be less important than whether the layout and design specified, the form, matched the character wanted.

Wright maintained that Monteagle’s zoning ordinance, written in the 1980s, was based on zoning by use standards developed in the 1920s. Rules that focused on intent, i.e., use, invited “subjective interpretation.” He argued Monteagle needed an entirely new zoning ordinance with more focus on character that identified the specifics that would give the desired outcome. Given Monteagle’s limited budget, TPUDC’s proposal called for analysis, not fixing the ordinances.

Wilson said additional funding would likely be available in the near future. Fletcher speculated asking the town for more money would be “a difficult sell.”

TPUDC proposed several possible avenues for moving forward within the budget available. One solution would be for the firm to draft an “overlay” the existing zoning rules could be plugged into. Another solution would be patchwork addressing zoning ordinances, perhaps setting 10 priority areas and beginning there, with a view toward a total overhaul.

TPUDC will submit a revised proposal minimizing analysis and laying out possible “fix” based formulas for moving forward.

Revisiting TPUDC’s initial question about what Monteagle needed, Wilson insisted, “We want ordinances that match and create the character of the town.”

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“TDEC is about to cause irreversible harm,” said Jumpoff resident Ed Routon at the Jan. 16 virtual public hearing for comments on Tinsley Sand and Gravel, LLC’s request for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the Tennessee Division of Mining and Geological Resources (DMGR). Threats to groundwater and wells, endangered aquatic life, and inadequate monitoring topped the list of concerns expressed by area residents about the proposed quarry on Hwy. 156, in Sewanee. The hearing opened with an information video explaining how the quarry intended to minimize discharge of pollutants into Jumpoff Creek and how DMGR would monitor the discharge. In the Q&A and comment period that followed, area residents took issue with both.

If granted, the processing permit would only allow discharge below the threshold of de minimis degradation for a watershed with exceptional biological diversity, as is the case with Jumpoff Creek. Most of the 774-acre watershed is downstream from the 79.4-acre site. The quarry’s processing plan calls for using recycled rainwater for dust suppression and for confining the recycled wastewater and stormwater in sediment retention ponds. Stormwater not diverted to a pond will be discharged at designated discharge points. The permit requires twice monthly sampling of discharge by the operator, Tinsley, and quarterly reporting. The Knoxville field office will inspect the quarry at their discretion. The Tennessee Division of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) will establish two monitoring sites off the quarry property, one just past the boundary and the other 0.3 miles downstream.

Responding to a question about the frequency of monitoring at the downstream sites, Program Manager Daniel Lawrence acknowledged the sites were sampled on a five-year cycle, and there was no permanent equipment in place. However, an investigation would follow within 10 days of a complaint. “We’d love downstream flow monitors, but with 18,000 sites, TDEC doesn’t have the budget,” Lawrence said. “The primary information is from sampling events at the quarry.”

“An event [with negative impact on the watershed] can be gone in 24 hours,” objected area resident Shari Lydy. “There should be monitors with real time data.”

“In heavy rains particulate could flow into the creek and asphyxiate aquatic life immediately,” resident Em Chitty pointed out. “The damage would be done.”

Others questioned relying on self-reporting by the operator, Tinsley. “You can’t expect people to turn themselves in,” observed Jumpoff resident Robin Gottfried.

Lydy also called attention to the subterranean flow linked to Jumpoff Creek and the potential impact on groundwater. “Sediment basins have a known track record of failure,” Lydy stressed. She argued the hydrological studies done were inadequate and failed to use dye tracing to track the underground flow in the Jumpoff watershed.

Chitty maintained given the permeability of the karst subsurface features, particulate could infiltrate the subsurface watershed and negatively impact water quality in the drinking water wells relied on by many Jumpoff residents.

Resident Cliff Huffman questioned the feasibility of the quarry relying on rainwater. Even in wet years his pond dropped a foot in the summer, Huffman said. Resident Anne Camp pointed out the local water utility likely lacked sufficient resources to supply the site with water. If there was insufficient rainfall, would the quarry draw water from the creek? Camp asked. Drawing water from the creek would require a separate permit according to Lawrence.

Huffman also expressed concern about the negative environmental impact years in the future after the quarry closed and silicate sediment had collected in the basins. “It’s not a well thought out plan,” Chitty insisted.

In November, the DMGR held a live hearing at the Princess Theater in South Pittsburg. DMGR will receive comments until Jan. 27 at <DMGR.Publicnotice@tn.gov> or by postal mail at TDEC Mining Section, 3711 Middlebrook Heights, Knoxville, TN 37921. The agency is authorized to approve the permit, deny the permit, modify the permit, or ask for more information.

“Just say, ‘no’,” said Jumpoff resident Buren Beavers. “I can’t believe you would let them desecrate this place.”

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

The truth about odd-job Annie, the sleuth in the cozy mystery of the same name, is that in real life Annie is Monteagle author Beth Riner. “There is a lot of me in Annie,” Riner confessed. She modeled the mystery series “Odd Job Annie” after herself and her home, crafting tales where the reader joins Annie prowling the Assembly and Mountain Goat Trail searching out clues.

Like Annie, Riner lives in a 600 square foot tiny home just off Summerfield Road. She retired and moved to the Plateau two years ago. When the career her degree prepared her for, journalism, failed to earn her a living, Riner tried marketing, then public relations, and ultimately found herself teaching English in Rutherford County for 23 years. Riner and a high school friend from Chattanooga, Jim Smith, would meet in Monteagle to hike and have lunch. “I joked, I should retire here,” Riner said. “The first year back to teaching after COVID was the worst teaching year of my life. It was so scary and stressful and miserable. I came up here and bought a lot.” Soon after she moved, Smith pointed her to a Messenger ad saying the paper was looking for a writer. Riner got the job. “Writing for the Messenger reminded me how much I loved writing. At the core, I was a writer,” Riner insisted, the passion in her voice chiming truth. “I was 64 years old. I’d lost track of me.”

Smith suggested she try her hand at a novel. “I love cozy mysteries,” Riner observed. “They say, ‘You write what you know.’” The main character she crafted was a retiree who moved to Monteagle, lived in a tiny home, and did odd jobs. “The story just spiraled from there.”

Riner responded to a Facebook post that urged writers to send the first 10 pages of their novel. “I’m different up here, more daring,” Riner admitted. She panicked, though, when the publisher asked to see the entire manuscript. “I only had 13 chapters. The book wasn’t finished.” She spent the next week glued to her computer screen writing. “In late June, I got a very nice rejection letter. They loved the book and main character, but said I cheated the reader out of the big climax. They were dead on,” Riner acknowledged. She rewrote the ending. On a Saturday evening in September, she went out to sit on the porch to check email. A message popped into her inbox from Golden Bridges Publishing: “We’d like to offer you a book contract.”

“It’s been an amazing adventure,” Riner said. “And I’ve had so much fun with the character Annie.”

Odd-job Annie is particular about what she will and will not do: no weeding, cleaning houses, or giving dogs baths. But Annie is fine with walking dogs, grocery shopping for her clients, and tutoring them in online shopping. Things take a dark turn, though, when a favorite client, a feisty octogenarian who lives in the Assembly, is brutally attacked and left for dead.

Riner has nothing but praise for her editor. “’Odd Job Annie’ is a much better book because of her,” Riner said. She is well on her way with the next book in the series where a character Riner describes as “a skeevy developer” is murdered. Her former students have rallied in her support on Facebook. At the suggestion of a student, a “tat pack” formed whose members will join Riner in getting a tattoo if “Odd Job Annie” makes the top 10 on any Amazon list. “When I was growing up, tattoos were for bad girls,” Riner said laughing. “You only live once.”

Riner left her job at The Messenger to focus on her novel, although she still writes feature stories for the Grundy County Herald. Scheduled for release on Feb. 11, “Odd Job Annie” is available for advance purchase at Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format.

What is the truth about Beth Riner? “I love it here. Everywhere I go I meet the most interesting and talented people. I always knew I’d write a novel. I’ve never been happier in my life.”

by Blythe Ford, Messenger Staff Writer

In 1899, the University of the South football team performed a remarkable feat; now, that feat will be known across the world, thanks to the airing of the documentary “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” on Delta Airlines starting this month. The documentary, created by Norman Jetmundsen, C’76, David Crews, C’76, and Matthew Graves, has also been turned into a coffee table book of the same name by Norman Jetmundsen and Karin Dupree Fecteau, which recently has been named Non-Fiction Book of the Year by the Global Literary Awards and Best Sports Book and Best Cover Design by the American Writing Awards.

The documentary covers the six day trip the 1899 team took across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee by locomotive to play five games, each won without the other teams scoring a single point. After a conversation at a reunion sparked the idea for a documentary, Jetmundsen and Crews spent six years interviewing experts in football and sports history, employees of the University, and the descendants of the players, manager, trainers and coach. They also delved into archives and commissioned paintings and music to portray the story of a team comprised only of students who were expected to maintain good academic standing while simply competing for the love of the sport, who nevertheless played an undefeated season with extensive travel. There were no athletic scholarships, and indeed no athletic department at the University. According to Jetmundsen, football in those days was very fast-paced and brutal, without much protective gear.

“In addition,” he wrote, “players had to play both offense and defense, and if they came out of the game, they could not return. Thus, players continued to play when hurt, unless they were disabled or, unfortunately, killed on the football field.”

The documentary aired in 2023 on the World Channel and can be found on PBS and other public television channels. The documentary is now featured on Delta Airlines’ in-flight entertainment, thanks to a LinkedIn request Jetmundsen made due to his belief that his most-travelled airline would appreciate the value of the documentary. He was correct, and “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” is now entertaining people worldwide.

Five fast, dangerous games in six days while traveling 2,500 miles by train required the sort of toughness, courage and determination that can inspire anyone, not just football fans. Jetmundsen terms it “the stuff of legends,” which the documentary and subsequent book aims to preserve for history. Jetmundsen and Crews found so much archival material and additional details about the players’ later lives that Jetmundsen wasn’t satisfied with only what the documentary could record. With the help of Fecteau, a graphic designer, Jetmundsen has self-published a book that goes into more depth, and also features images of photographs and documents from the University archives, as well as a QR code that will allow the reader to listen to music Bobby Horton created for the project. The book is available for sale primarily through the “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” website <https://sewanee1899.org/>; as of last year.

Recently, Jetmundsen and Fecteau submitted “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” for consideration for several awards, and were, in Jetmundsen’s words, “overwhelmed” by the honor of receiving Non-Fiction Book of the Year from the Global Literary Awards and Best Sports Book and Best Cover Design from the American Writing Awards for 2024. “We had faith our book was special, but we never considered that we could be named [for those awards],” Jetmundsen said. “[They] are an outside validation of our book, and Karin and I are both thrilled by this recognition.” Due to self-publishing, Jetmundsen has had to do all the marketing and publicity himself, and this recognition is especially impactful for him.

Jetmundsen has come to recent University events such as Homecoming to promote his book and talk about the history that inspired it. HE expressed his appreciation for these opportunities and hopes to return for other events, especially to speak about the lives of the players after their remarkable season. He mentioned in an interview that a few of them returned to Sewanee or had already been deeply connected to the Mountain and the University; many locals will recognize names on the list of players.

Those interested in purchasing the book or documentary, or arranging a talk or showing, should go to the “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” website.