Haven of Hope’s Executive Director Steps Down

November 2, 2020
By: Bill Conger

After 16 years as one of the pivotal figures with the Haven of Hope, John Quintero has handed over the business reigns at the agency to mental health counselor Samanthia Curtis, LPC-MHSP. While he has stepped down as Executive Director, he will remain intricately involved on the mission side.

“John has always been the ‘level head’ in leading the organization and keeping the organization moving forward,” says Kay Quintero, who founded the Haven with her husband in 2004.

John Quintero was working a demanding 24/7 job at a plant when he felt the Lord leading him to leave the company, and in short order he and his wife joined the Mission Services Corps starting in the basement of Smithville First Baptist Church.

“I didn’t have a grand plan,” Quintero said. “Somebody else had to have a grand plan.”

His wife, Kay, had been providing counseling through the chapel at the Tennessee Prison for Women.

“Our thoughts were to do the same thing here,” he says. “but down there we didn’t realize we had a captive audience in more ways than one where up here we didn’t have that.”

“Our goal to start off was to help hurting ladies,” Quintero remembers. “It soon became very apparent that there were people hurting besides the ladies. We modified that to help hurting people.”

Over the years the Quintero’s have ministered to the DeKalb County area in a variety of ways including offering support groups, classes, and visits to the Housing Authority communities to give away cool pops.

“John has been a wonderful role model both personally and professionally, says new Haven of Hope Executive Director Samanthia Curtis. “John has a huge heart for helping hurting people and always doing the right thing. He is very genuine with people and doesn’t make them feel like he is looking down on them. I have watched him share God’s love with sincerity through the years. I think that is what Jesus would do. It is what He asks us to do and John does it. He is willing to go the extra mile and really serve people. I feel like this is a God given gift, and I have enjoyed learning from him.”

“Looking at John shows the true meaning of what it is to be a servant of Christ,” says Rita Bell, a friend and former Haven employee. “He and Kay would go out of their way to take people to Nashville for rehabilitation or for recovery. There is no selfishness in them. They are wonderful at glorifying God and furthering his mission.”

Located at 301 West Main Street, the Haven grew from a ministry to also encompass the town’s first ever professional counseling center. Half of the not-for-profit organization serves the community with professional counseling while the other section is devoted to ministerial needs such as connecting people to resources and offering a variety of support groups and classes in anger management and parenting just to name a few.

“I’m proud of the ministry portion that we’ve done,” Quintero says. “We’ve helped people in a lot of different ways get back on their feet.”

A large part of the ministry has also assisted people striving to live a drug free life. Quintero is a team member of the Recovery Court in Smithville and leads a weekly class called “Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups.”

“His heart is so warm for the drug community that’s recovering,” says longtime Haven volunteer Anne Huebner. “He understands their hopelessness. He understands they’re afraid. He understands they’re taking a step forward, and he encourages.”

“A lot of times people come in that won’t look us in the eye. They sort of have their heads down, and they don’t say very much. To see that head come up, to see their involvement increase, to see smiles on their faces, to have a conversations with them that they start or respond to you is very meaningful to me.”

Quintero says overall it has been a very good journey.

“Maybe the thing I think of the most is being able to see people grow spiritually, grow responsibly and allowing God to change them.”

November 2, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The 2020 statewide muzzleloader/archery season for deer opens in Tennessee on Saturday, Nov. 7 and continues through Friday, Nov. 20 in all of Tennessee’s deer hunting units, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The opening of muzzleloader season in the state has a permanent opening date of the third Saturday before Thanksgiving.

For Unit CWD only, in addition to muzzleloader, gun season will open on Nov. 7. Unit CWD, in the western portion of the state, is now comprised of 11 counties and was established after the confirmation of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in December 2018.

Muzzleloader firearms are defined as those firearms which are incapable of being loaded from the breech. Muzzleloading firearms of .36 caliber minimum, plus long bows, compound bows and crossbows are legal hunting equipment for this season. Hunters are also reminded that they must meet the blaze orange requirements while hunting.

The statewide bag limit for antlered bucks is two. No more than one antlered deer may be taken per day. Hunters are allowed the following antlerless bag limits: Unit L-3 per day, Unit A and B-2 total, and Unit C and D-1 total.

In Unit CWD, there is a limit of three antlerless deer per day with no season limit and the statewide bag limit of two antlered deer.

For the exact boundaries of the different deer units, hunters can refer to the 2020-21 Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide, available where hunting and fishing licenses are sold and at all TWRA offices. In addition, regulations and other information for Unit CWD are included on pages 26-33 of the guide.

A list of the state’s permanent annual opening hunting dates is on page 11 of the guide. The guide can also be viewed at TWRA’s website at www.tnwildlife.org.

Resident hunters, ages 16 through 64 must possess in addition to other appropriate licenses, an annual big game license for the equipment used. Lifetime Sportsman license, Junior Hunt/Trap/Fish, Adult Sportsman license and Permanent Senior Citizens license holders are not required to purchase supplemental big game licenses.

In addition to private lands, including public hunting areas, several wildlife management areas (WMAs) will be open to hunters during this muzzleloader season. Hunters need to refer to the 2020-21 Hunting and Trapping Guide for a listing of these WMAs or go to TWRA’s website.

Tennessee’s gun season for deer opens in units A, B, C, D, and L on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year’s date is Nov. 21. The season for gun/muzzleloader/archery will then continue through Jan. 3, 2021. Archery equipment is legal during muzzleloader and gun seasons. Muzzleloaders are legal during gun season.

November 2, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Law enforcement pursuits especially from outside the county often find their way through Smithville and that has become a concern of Police Chief Mark Collins.

In July, after a man led Warren County authorities on a pursuit into DeKalb County on McMinnville Highway before being forced off the road at the edge of the Smithville City limits, Chief Collins decided it was time to act in the interest of public safety so he requested and got authorization from the city to purchase Stop Sticks for the department. Now each city patrol car has them.

A Stop Stick is a tire deflation strip for high speed pursuits.

“Now if we hear of a pursuit that is coming in we are going to try to get them stopped with these Stop Sticks before they get inside the city limits. This is where everybody is. The more people the more danger and the greater risk you have of getting somebody hurt,” said Chief Collins.

Last month, Smithville Police officers got a chance to use their new Stop Sticks for the first time. It occurred during another Warren County pursuit into DeKalb County and ironically involved the same man, 54 year old Marty Tallent, who led Smithville Police on a pursuit in August 2019 that ended at Silver Point with two wrecked city patrol cars but fortunately no injuries.

“On October 13 Warren County deputies were coming into our city during a pursuit and when they got close two of our officers deployed stop sticks right outside the city on McMinnville Highway and got him (Tallent) stopped without incident,” said Chief Collins.

“I believe Stop Sticks are a valuable tool. It’s a way to safely stop a vehicle. It keeps others from getting hurt and patrol cars and possibly other automobiles from being wrecked,” said Chief Collins.

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