Carly Vance named DCHS Class of 2021 Valedictorian and the Salutatorian is Hannah Willingham

March 1, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County High School has released the names of 42 Top Rank students in the Class of 2021 including the Valedictorian Carly Vance and the Salutatorian Hannah Willingham.

Carly is the daughter of Chris and Cheryl Vance. Willingham’s parents are Rob and Deneene Willingham.

The DCHS graduation is Friday, May 14.

To be considered for top Rank, students must take at least 10 honors, dual enrollment, and AP courses and students must have a 21 or higher ACT composite score.

The following students have met requirements to be considered for Top Rank:
1. Carly F. Vance
2. Hannah X. Willingham
3. Leah B. Davis
4. Jasper D. Kleparek
5. Emma B. Jennings
6. Kiley F. Staley
7. Grace E. Griffin
8. Keri D. Winchester
9. Garrett B. Hayes
10. Jaden L. Johnson
11. Brionna A. Agee
12. Luke A. Jenkins
13. Ellisyn K. Cripps
14. Levi K. Driver
15. Skylar M. Fuson
16. Abigail M. Lawson
17. Victor C. Luna
18. Joshua G. Claiborne
19. William S. Pursell
20. Alyssa J. Owen
21. Alexis C. Cudney
22. Ariana T. Keith
23. Lynsey N. Ellis
24. Danna Monge Meda
25. Jacob L. Johnson
26. Craig E. Cooper
27. Cody A. Woodham
28. Hannah L. VanDyne
29. Ashlin J. Maynard
30. Linh N. Truong
31. Lydia G. Davenport
32. Nicholas T. Cothern
33. Alejandra S. Amaya
34. Joshua I. Moon
35. Sydnee S. Hendrixson
36. Noah J. Patterson
37. Ava I. Nokes
38. Savannah R. Jackson
39. Joshua K. Cook
40. James M. Copeland, Jr.
41. Autumn B. Hendrixson
42. Nathaniel J. Dace

February 28, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

It has happened again.

For the second time within the last five days swift creek waters have swept a vehicle off Odom Page Road (Preston-Vickers Road) at Liberty. It happened in the exact same place Sunday afternoon where an Amazon commercial van was washed off the road last Tuesday.

This time five people, including a 16 month old child, were trapped in their truck until help arrived.

(Video shown here and photographs provided as a courtesy of the DeKalb County Fire Department)

According to Trooper Brent Collier of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 29 year old James Sellars of Hendersonville, who later told authorities he and his passengers were out on a Sunday sightseeing trip, was traveling south on the Odom Page Road (Preston-Vickers Road) in a 2014 Dodge 1500 Ram pickup truck when he tried unsuccessfully to cross where the road was submerged in swift water. The truck was swept into the creek with Sellars and his passengers inside including 29 year old Stormy Creasy of Hendersonville, 61 year old Charles Patrick of Smithville, and 63 year old Margaret Humphrey of Smithville, along with the 16 month old boy.

“All five occupants, including the child were safely rescued with the help of swift water rescue teams from Lebanon Fire and Rescue/Wilson County Emergency Management, the Putnam County Rescue Squad, Smith County Rescue Squad, DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (bucket truck), and Caney Fork Electric Cooperative (bucket truck). Multiple agencies and partners with specialized training and equipment made this a successful rescue,” said DeKalb County Fire Chief Donny Green.

“We send a huge thank you to all responding agencies and partners. Others assisting on the scene were the DeKalb County Fire Department, DeKalb County Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department , Tennessee Highway Patrol including a helicopter which hovered overhead in case of an airlift, the DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and Randy Mulloy (truck crane),” added Chief Green.

No one was injured but Sellars was charged with driving on a suspended license.

Last Tuesday, February 23 the driver of a 2019 Ford Amazon commercial transport van escaped injury as his vehicle was nearly carried away by swift creek waters on Odom Page Road (Preston-Vickers Road) at Liberty.

According to Trooper Jonathan Burke of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 25 year old Clarence J. Stewart of Lebanon was traveling south on Odom Page Road (Preston-Vickers Road) attempting to cross the road that was submerged in swift moving water when he was swept off the road to the left and came to a final rest in the stream just off the roadway.

In addition to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Engine 65 of the DeKalb County Fire Department Liberty Station, County Rescue, EMS, and Sheriff’s Department helped provide for a quick and safe rescue without injury.

February 28, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A longtime insurance agency in town is getting a new leader and location as of Monday, March 1.

Mallory Sullivan Pfingstler is taking over from the retiring Jackie Smith as the new State Farm Insurance agent in Smithville and the office location has moved from the public square to 126 West Main Street across from Cantrell’s the home of Fluty.

Although new to the insurance business, Pfingstler is not new to the community. She was born and raised here. Her parents are James and Tonya Sullivan and she has a sister, Shay Sullivan Walter.

“My mom was a teacher for 30 years at the middle school and served one term as city alderman. She retired from teaching two years ago and now builds homes. My father helped get the tee ball field and soccer league going several years ago. My sister Shay also grew up here, played golf at DCHS, and went on to play golf at Belmont University. She is now a real estate agent,” said Mallory.

Pfingstler is a 2014 graduate of DeKalb County High School where she, like her sister Shay, excelled not only in the classroom but on the golf course. At DCHS, she was a four-time Class A-AA State Tournament participant, finishing in the top-10 twice. She won two district and one region title and finished second in the Tennessean Schooldays Tournament in 2013. After high school Pfingstler went to Belmont University on a golf scholarship where she majored in business administration with a concentration In marketing, and advanced her golfing career.

At Belmont Mallory played all four years carding 10 top ten finishes. She was on the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll three years. She was the OVC Newcomer of the year her freshman year and won the APSU Intercollegiate her senior year, where she was named the OVC golfer of the week. Mallory finished her career ranked third in school history for career average.

After earning her college degree, Mallory set out on her career path in the insurance business.

“I have been planning this career move since 2018. My husband Andrew and I decided we would open an independent agency so we started to do market research and created a business plan. At this time we lived in Columbus, Ohio. We planned to open our agency in 2019 and move back to Smithville. We started studying for our insurance license. Later I got a call from a State Farm recruiter who told me that Jackie Smith was planning to retire and there would be an opportunity for me. It felt every star aligned at that point. I have been working with State Farm for over a year working toward opening my office,” said Pfingstler.

Mallory said State Farm will continue to offer a variety of insurance plans. “We will be offering auto, home, commercial, renters, life, and health insurance including hospital income, short term, and long term disability.

As a new business person, Pfingstler also plans to keep a high profile in the community.

“ I do plan to be very active in the community. I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce. We plan to sponsor several events, support local businesses and schools. Additionally, we will be partnering with a local nonprofit organization of the month and offer to donate up to $10 for every insurance quote provided in a given month. The goal is to transform my role from a person who provides insurance into a person who facilitates altruism. This enables me to do “good” for my community and to move the business forward. I have also been networking with downtown businesses to help bring events to downtown,” said Pfingstler.

A ribbon cutting and grand opening for the business are planned for March 26 and Mallory said she and her new staff look forward to meeting everyone.

“We are inviting everyone to come out to see our new building, meet the team and enjoy refreshments. I have an entire new team, all local from Smithville. I am so excited to work with great people. One reason I wanted to open this agency was to provide job opportunities in Smithville. Each team member brings their own unique strengths. I also plan to meet everyone personally and reach out to our current book of business and introduce myself as their new agent and make sure they are properly covered”.

Office hours will be from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and outside of office hours by appointment.

Mallory said she is grateful for the support already shown her by the community.

“I want to thank you for the support that the community has already shown. If you are not comfortable meeting in person maybe because of Covid, we have the option to meet virtually through Good Neighbor Connect which is a video meeting. We are here to meet customers’ needs. Please come on by our office or give us a call. Our number is the same as before 615-597-8486. I would love to meet all current customers and review their coverages,” she said.

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