Smithville Jamboree Names 2022 Blue Blaze Award Winner

June 2, 2022
By:

The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree & Crafts Festival has announced the Blue Blaze Award recipient for 2022. The Kody Norris Show country bluegrass band will be honored on Saturday, July 2nd, 2022 during the festival competition at approximately 5pm followed by a mini-concert performed by the band on the main stage in the Smithville, Tennessee Downtown Square.

In addition to numerous awards, album releases (Rebel Records), and appearances across the nation including the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, The Kody Norris Show was recently named ‘Entertainer of the Year’ at the 2022 SPGMA Awards (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America Awards). Following that honor, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris was named ‘Fiddle Player of the Year’. The group performs crowd-pleasing songs like ‘Love Bug’ and ‘Ole Carolina’ to name a few. For those unable to see the concert and award ceremony in person, the performance will air live on wcte.org, WCTE-PBS Channel 22, Tennessee PBS stations, and dtccom.net

“It is our sincere honor to award The Kody Norris Show with this year’s Blue Blaze Award.” said President & Coordinator Sam Stout. “They are a perfect example of young people that have grown up with a bluegrass heritage that they are continuing to build upon.”

“I am truly honored and humbled to be the 2022 recipient of the prestigious Blue Blaze Award. Organizations like the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree embody so many of the same values that the band and I work so diligently to pass on to the next generation. By preserving ole’ time country & bluegrass music and presenting it in a positive manner, it is my hope that bluegrass and pure country music will last through the ages.” said Kody Norris of The Kody Norris Show. “Receiving an award given previously to many of my bluegrass friends and heroes is one of the most humbling experiences of our lives. I am looking so forward to our performance at the 2022 Jamboree, and so excited to see our friends in Middle Tennessee.”

The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree & Crafts Festival will commence on Friday & Saturday, July 1-2, 2022 beginning promptly at 9am-10pm each day. For more information on the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree schedule of events, go to: www.smithvillejamboree.com or follow their FaceBook page at Smithville-Fiddlers-Jamboree-and-Crafts-Festival. For information on The Kody Norris Show, go to: www.TheKodyNorrisShow.com

June 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Danielle Tyson Horton is making history at DeKalb County High School by becoming the first female head coach of the Tigerette Softball program.

DCHS Principal Bruce Curtis made the formal announcement Wednesday that Horton will be succeeding Coach Danny Fish as Tigerette Softball Coach.

“I am very confident in Coach Horton. She demonstrated this year her knowledge of the game and the girls seemed to respond to her well during practice. As a player I know she played hard and had high expectations for herself so I feel like she will bring that to the program,” said Principal Curtis.

Horton, a 2014 graduate of DCHS, is only the third head coach in Tigerette Softball history following in the footsteps of legendary Coaches Danny Bond and Danny Fish, both of whom she played for as a Tigerette during her high school years. This past year Horton served as an assistant to Coach Fish.

Horton and her husband Davey are the parents of a two year old daughter, Amelia and the family lives in Smithville.

“I am thrilled about this opportunity. Its a big undertaking because the softball program is very big in DeKalb County with a good legacy behind it and I am excited to continue that,” said Horton.

Originally from South Louisiana, Horton and her family moved to Smithville during her Freshman year and then she joined the softball program as a player

“I played here and was honored to be part of a program where they really took the time to develop the talents of the kids. They cared more about us outside of softball too so to be part of that and help continue that on and to help build the program is really honoring,” said Coach Horton.

After graduating high school, Horton furthered her education and softball career at Trevecca Nazarene University. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in 2018 and is now working toward her Master’s Degree.

“At Trevecca I played softball in multiple positions including outfield, first base, and third base. I moved around a lot. I graduated there with an exercise science degree and was planning on a career in physical therapy but the Lord had different plans for me so I went back to school and ended up here at DCHS in the special education department working with Response to Intervention (RTI) students for Algebra and was named assistant softball coach last year,” said Horton.

When asked if her coaching style would differ from her predecessors, Coach Horton said there was no need to tamper with what has proven successful.

“Coach Bond and Coach Fish have set the tone for how the program has gone over the years and that has been successful with state tournament appearances, and the teams being competitive in district and regional tournaments and sub state so If I came in and changed anything that would be crazy. I believe part of my job is going to be continuing on with what they have done,” she said.

Coach Horton said the next step for her is to host a softball summer camp June 22 & 23 and then tryouts on July 25. “We did a fundamentals camp in April and it went well. I think it would be good to do another fundamentals camp especially for younger kids because learning those fundamentals is so important as you grow into a player and you always come back to the basics. The camp also gives me an opportunity to get more plugged into the community”.

As for next season, Coach Horton said the talent is there to have another good year.

“We lost two seniors but we will have five juniors returning as seniors including Ally Griffith, Morgan Walker, Aniston Farler, Madison Martin, and Emma Martin. We’ll also have other players returning including pitchers, Kora Kilgore, Bri Murphy, Chloe Lawson, and Gracie Randolph,” added Coach Horton.

Horton’s athletic record is as follows;

Played for the DCHS Tigerettes during the 2011-2014 Seasons

Individual Stats

2012 Season
All-District 8-AA Team

2013 Season
All-District 8AA team, All District 8AA Tournament team, and All Middle Tennessee team selection

2014 Season

All-District 8-AA Team
All District 8-AA Tournament Team
District Best Offensive Player
District Co-MVP
Miss Softball Middle Tennessee
Batting Average .556 and On base Percentage of .704
0 stolen bases during this season and a total of 64 runs scored.

TREVECCA NOTES -Taken from https://www.tnutrojans.com/sports/sball/2017-18/bios/Danielle_Horton

2017-18
Started in all 46 games she played in … hit .401 for the season which was fifth best in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference … in 142 at bats she scored 41 runs (3rd most in G-MAC), had 57 hits (9th most in G-MAC) and drove in 12 runs … also drew eight walks and stole 14 bases … her .437 on base percentage was fourth best in the G-MAC … named to the G-MAC All-Conference second team.

2016-17
Started in 44 of the 46 games she appeared in … Horton finished the year hitting .341 with 14 RBIs and 20 runs scored and 15 stolen bases … she was seventh in stolen bases in the G-MAC

2015-16
All-Conference second Team selection hit .347 with 13 RBI and 27 runs scored … tied for eighth in the conference in triples (2) and was fourth in the conference in stolen bases (14) she was second on the team in both of those categories

2014-15
Nationally ranked NCAA DII top 150 batting avg. … named to G-MAC All-Conference First Team and All-Freshmen Team … 13 stolen bases on 15 attempts for a team third best … batted .490 with runners on base, .483 with runners in scoring position, .448 with two outs … successfully advanced runners 70.9% of the time … 100% fielding percentage through 42 games with 37 starts, 95 catches for 92 putouts and three assists.

June 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

It’s all about the waves!

“Oceans of Possibilities” is the theme for the 2022 Justin Potter and Alexandria Libraries Summer Reading Program and children of all ages are invited to participate June 2-23 at 2 p.m. each Thursday at the DeKalb County Complex Theatre Room. All events for both libraries will be at that location.

Mr. Bond’s Science Guys will be at the opening party to kick off the fun-filled summer by teaching kids about waves including waves of the ocean, sound waves, and even light waves. Discover how scientists use the ocean to create energy, laugh out loud when they change the waves of your voice, and be amazed at the destructive power of concentrated light waves.

Children can begin registering for Summer Reading at both libraries on May 23rd. Each child that registers and meets their goal will receive a participation certificate and other goodies at the end of the Summer Reading Program.

The Summer Reading events are:

Thursday, June 2nd at 2:00 pm – Opening party with Mr. Bond’s Science Guys.

Thursday, June 9th at 2:00 pm – Barry Mitchell’s “Deep Sea Circus”.

Thursday, June 16th at 2:00 pm –. Edgar Evins State Park Rangers and Animal Friends.

Thursday, June 23rd at 2:00 pm – Final Party with Bob Tartar’s Animalogy Critters.

For more information, call Justin Potter Library at 615-597-4359 or Alexandria Library at 615-529-4124 visit us on Facebook or our website at www.dekalblibraries.net.

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