Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do Competes at Nationals

August 3, 2021
By: Bill Conger

Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do school in Smithville earned the distinction of placing second in the national for overall tournament points at the recent national competition in Daytona Beach, FL.

Owned and run by 5th Degree Black belt Master George Lloyd and his wife, 2nd Degree Black belt Head Instructor Amy Lloyd, the school brought home 50 medals including 29 gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze. Three students placed in the Top 10 in the nation. Deana Jones was 5th, Kinley Fisher came in 6th, and Natalie Fulton finished 8th. Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do received a trophy for Most Improved School, and Master Lloyd was pinned for his Master Rank. Student Jacob Harrell performed his form on stage for the Night of Champions.

“When Nationals was announced and we were able to travel to compete in the first live in-person tournament of the season, we had 16 students step up to want to travel to Daytona Beach, FL,” says Head Instructor Amy Lloyd. “13 of the 16 students had never competed in a live tournament before. We held twice a week tournament specific practices plus held a few successful fundraisers such as a spaghetti dinner and auction, Penny Wars, indoor yard sale and students got to duct tape me to the wall!”

Four students competed virtually from home in Smithville. Over the past year due to COVID-19 restrictions the school’s association, US Chung Do Kwan Association, decided to offer virtual tournaments. This meant competitors could compete through Zoom against other competitors throughout the US. Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do was a host school, which meant the school set up rings where students came to compete.

“We averaged 15 students for the six virtual tournaments we held at our school.” In just one year during the pandemic the school grew from30 students to 120.

Below are the individual results from the nationals:

Individual results:

– Head Instructor Amy Lloyd

1 speed kicking, 2 forms, 3 team sync with son Bane Averitte

– Bane Averitte

1 speed kicking, 1 kama weapons, 2 forms, 3 team sync

– Ivanny Earlington

1 speed kicking, 1 point sparring, 2 forms

– Jacob Harrell

1 forms, point sparring and bo staff weapons

– Deana Jones

1 speed kicking, kama weapons, and form, 2 team sync with son Benjamin Jones

– Kinley Fisher

1 point sparring, speed kicking and bo staff weapons

– Destiny Earlington

1 point sparring, 3 forms

– Taylor Vincent

1 point sparring

– Logan George

1 point sparring and bo staff weapons, 2 speed kicking and forms

– Alexis Fulton

1 bo staff weapons

– Natalie Fulton

1 bo staff weapons, 3 forms and speed kicking

– Bryan Parker

1 point sparring, 3 speed kicking and Kamas weapons

– Benjamin Jones

2 team Synchronized Forms, 3 point sparring

– Braylin Chapman

1 forms and team Synchronized Forms with cousin Jordyn Baumgard, 2 point sparring

– Reagan Manness-Stephens

1 point sparring and speed kicking, 2 Kamas weapons, 3 forms

– Joseph Quistgaard

1 point sparring, 2 forms, 3 speed kicking

– Jordyn Baumgard

1 forms, point sparring and team Synchronized Forms, 2 speed kicking

– students Lily Quistgaard, Michael Fulton and Hadley Fulton also competed

August 2, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Prayer at School!

Members of the community concerned about the school system answered the call to pray Sunday afternoon during what has become an annual event prior to the start of school.

Like last year, this year’s prayer time called ” Back to School-Call to Prayer” was held in smaller groups at each individual school instead of a central location as in previous years.

Local ministers led the gatherings at DCHS, DeKalb Middle School, DeKalb West School, Northside Elementary, and Smithville Elementary School in offering prayers for each school as well as the school transportation staff, athletic activities and band program, law enforcement agencies, and the school board.

Chris Moore, Minister at the Smithville Church of God, led the prayers at DeKalb Middle School Sunday.

“This is such a wonderful community event to give everyone a chance to come out to pray over our schools. It shows support for the school system but for our faculty and the children as well. I’m not here just as a minister but also as a parent because I want my children to have a great and safe place to come and learn. I also want to pray for our teachers and support staff to look after the well-being of our kids. It is very important and for those who could not attend this event I ask you to stop daily and say a prayer for all of our teachers and faculty in DeKalb County who are working so well with our kids,” said Moore.

August 2, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A Longtime local physician has passed away

Dr. J.C. Wall age 66 of Smithville, passed away Saturday night July 31, 2021 at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville.

He was born June 13, 1955 to his parents, the late James Clinton and Maureen Redmon Wall, Sr. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his father-in-law and mother-in-law, John Robert and June Nixon.

Dr. Wall was a local physician for 40 years, DeKalb County Medical Examiner, and on the Medical Staff of St. Thomas DeKalb Hospital. He was also a farmer, a director on DeKalb Farmer’s CO-OP board of directors, member of the Cattlemen’s Association and loved John Deere tractors.

He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife of 32 years, Sandra Wall of Smithville; sister-in-law, Gwen (Harrell) Tolbert of Smithville; niece, Tara (Steve) Crook of Liberty; great-nephew, Nixon James Crook of Liberty and several cousins.

Graveside Service and Entombment will be at 4 PM Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at DeKalb Memorial Gardens with Bro. Michael Hale officiating. There will not be any visitation or services at the funeral home. Family and friends will meet at the cemetery for the 4 PM Service. DeKalb Funeral Chapel is in charge of the arrangements.

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