Community 9/11 observance to be held Thursday downtown Smithville

September 7, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County will join communities across the country this week in remembering the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The local 9/11 Memorial Ceremony will be Thursday, September 9 at 6 p.m. on the east side of the Courthouse in remembrance of the people who lost their lives during the attacks. Darrin Vincent will be singing and prayers will be offered. The Marine Corp League will also perform the three-volley salute and play taps.

The first community tribute was held just days after the attacks in 2001 and a ten year observance was held in 2011

September 7, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Where were you?

As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Americans are pausing to reflect on where they were and what they were doing on that day, September 11th, 2001.

Bert Driver of Smithville was in Washington, D.C. that morning attending a Nursery Conference. Driver said he was only a few miles from the Pentagon, which of course was one of the targets of the 9/11 attacks. “I had traveled to Washington D.C. to attend a nursery conference. The American Nursery and Landscape Association was hosting a conference that week. We had attended a series of seminars on that Monday. Tuesday morning we were beginning the day with Senator Larry Craig, who at that time was a senator from Idaho. (During the program) someone came to the podium to inform him of what had happened (in New York) and he was quickly escorted out of the room. So it took a few minutes to figure out what was going on. They rolled in a few TV monitors so that we could witness what everybody else was witnessing. It was relatively calm for the moment. After a few hours, people started to leave the hotel and tried to leave the city. By that time, the other plane had hit the Pentagon. I wanted to see what was going on so I made my way up to the top of the hotel. There were some maintenance guys who had opened a hatch there on the roof. They were curious as well so I had a pretty good line of sight across the Potomac over to the Pentagon. We were probably three or four miles away but we could see it (Pentagon) smoldering and the emergency vehicles. By this time, it had gotten into the afternoon hours on Tuesday. I later walked about a block away from the hotel and found it to be eerily quiet. Everybody was obviously stunned and still processing what had happened. That was the most impressive thing to me at that moment, how quiet it had become,” said Driver

Although he was near the pentagon, Driver said he did not see the crash or hear the explosion. “What we thought was an explosion turned out to be fighter planes. They had scrambled fighters and they had broken the sound barrier near the hotel. This was moments after the Pentagon had been hit so what we thought might have been an explosion we figured out later was actually F16s that had come down the Potomac to patrol the area,” said Driver.

Anxious to return home, Driver said he had to find other means of transportation after all flights were grounded. “I wanted to leave as quickly as possible because no one knew what the next turn of events might be throughout the day and into the evening and next morning. I had gone so far as to try and get a train ticket to get out of town. I figured I could at least get down the coast to North Carolina and find my way back into Tennessee. That really was ultimately my goal. But by the morning hours one of our group, one of the other nurserymen had come up with a rental car. He had gotten a van so seven of us piled into the van and left that next morning and we drove straight through the day and into the next down through the Shenandoah Valley and made it back. We were fortunate because most people had to sit tight for a few days before they could leave,” he said.

Driver said it felt good to get back home and it was also touching the way this community rallied in a special ceremony on the public square, downtown Smithville a few days after the tragedy. “I think it was a little bit of solidarity for us all to be together there in town on the square to recognize what had happened. It was moving to say the least and a great warming of the heart to be with our fellow citizens. That was a mementos day. I remember the flag they had brought down from Nashville and draped across the courthouse. It was a beautiful sunset. The bagpiper, the firemen, policemen, and all the emergency workers came in to the town square. There was patriotic music by the community chorus and the fantastic song that was unveiled by Aaron Tippin on that day “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly”. It was a touchstone in my life and I’m sure everyone else’s life. Its hard to believe twenty years have come and gone and so much as happened in the world since. I can’t get past those words in the song by Alan Jackson “Where were you when the world stopped turning”. That really kind of sums it up. The circle of smoke and the helicopters around that Pentagon will be etched in my mind as long as I live. Those images are burned into my memory,” said Driver.

September 5, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The number of positive cases of COVID in the DeKalb County School District dropped by 21 from Monday, August 30 to Friday, September 3 but the number of those quarantined went up by 19.

According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the DeKalb School District reported 113 positive cases on Monday, August 30 with DCHS having the most at 69 followed by DeKalb Middle School 22, Northside Elementary 11, Smithville Elementary School 6 and DeKalb West School with 5 cases. By Friday, September 3 the number of positive cases district wide had dropped to 92 with DCHS having 57 followed by DeKalb Middle School 18, Northside Elementary 11, Smithville Elementary 4, and DeKalb West School with 2.

The number of those quarantined district-wide was at 252 on Monday, August 30. DCHS had the most quarantined at 89, followed by Northside Elementary and Smithville Elementary each with 47, DeKalb West School 40, and DeKalb Middle School with 29. By Friday, September 3, the number of quarantined district-wide had increased to 271 with DCHS again having the most at 85 followed by DeKalb Middle School 54, Northside Elementary School 51, Smithville Elementary 47, and DeKalb West School 34.

The district reported 27 absences among the staff on Friday, September 3 due to positive cases or quarantine. DCHS had the most at 8 followed by Northside Elementary 7, DeKalb Middle School and DeKalb West School each with 4, the Transportation Department 3, and Smithville Elementary School with 1 case.

According to Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, the schools are basically relying on parents to report cases of COVID.

“We are not checking temperatures at the door and we don’t get reports from the medical profession saying someone has COVID. We rely on parents to call and tell us. Once we have a positive case we send letters home and a remind app to notify parents that their child is in a classroom where there has been a positive COVID student with possible exposures. We tell the parents that they have the option to quarantine their child and we advise them to please look for signs and symptoms. If the child shows signs, we ask the parents to keep the child home for a few days. Because of the number of students, we are unable to contact trace,” said Director Cripps.

Although remote learning is not an option, students at home can keep up with their homework from packets sent home to them or via Google Classroom.

COVID remains a concern in DeKalb County

According to the Tennessee Department Health, DeKalb County had 346 active COVID 19 cases Friday, September 3. Thirty four new cases were recorded in DeKalb County on Friday alone.

At last report a total of 7,849 people (38.3%) have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine and 6,437 (31.4%) are fully vaccinated in DeKalb County.

There have been 59 deaths in DeKalb County since the pandemic began in March 2020 and 98 have been hospitalized.

Over the last seven days, (August 27 – September 2) DeKalb County had a case count of 242 for a daily case rate of 168.7 per 100,000 residents.

For the most recent 14 days, (August 20- September 2) DeKalb County’s case count was 415 for a daily case rate of 144.7 per 100,000 residents.

For the 14 days prior (August 6 to August 19), the case count was 178 for a daily case rate of 62.1 per 100, 000 residents.

From March 5, 2020 to September 2, 2021, DeKalb County has had a total of 3,535 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 for a daily case rate of 31.6 per 100,000 residents.

Over the last 7 days the average percent positive was 31.8 %.

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) wants to remind Tennesseans that COVID-19 vaccines are the best defense in preventing the continued spread of the virus. Vaccination rates across the state have increased over the last month as the state experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

Individuals seeking more information on the COVID-19 vaccines can visit covid19.tn.gov or www.vaccines.gov to schedule an appointment with a local vaccine provider.

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