19 Year Old Cookeville Woman Dies in Fiery Crash at Liberty

May 3, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Another fatal crash

19 year old Savannah Buckley of Cookeville lost her life in a fiery wreck this morning (Monday) on Highway 70 at Liberty.

Trooper Chris Delong of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said Buckley was traveling east in a 2000 Ford Ranger when she lost control in a curve and crossed into the path of a westbound 2005 Chevrolet Silverado driven by 31 year old Ryan Robinson of Sparta. Buckley’s truck caught fire after impact. She died at the scene.

Robinson suffered minor injuries and was taken by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital where he was treated and released.

Trooper Delong said the highway was wet from the rain and may have contributed to the crash. He was assisted at the scene by THP Captain Wesley Stafford, Lieutenant Dewaine Jennings, and Trooper Brent Collier.

Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department rendered assistance and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and TDOT employees helped with traffic control. The Liberty station extinguished the fire and the Main Station performed extrication on Buckley’s truck in order for her body to be removed

Buckley’s death marks the third traffic fatality within the last month in DeKalb County. 18 year old Cassie Maxwell of Alexandria was killed in a crash Monday, April 5 on Highway 70 between Dowelltown and Liberty and a week later on April 12, 42 year old Thomas Higginbotham of Silver Point died in a wreck on Highway 56.

May 3, 2021
By: Bill Conger

DCHS Senior Victor Luna took home the highest honor at the annual band banquet May 1. Assistant Director Don Whitt presented Luna with the prestigious John Philip Sousa Award for Academic and Skillful Musicianship as a Senior. Luna is the son of Band Director Tracy Luna and Laura Luna,

The Director’s Choice Award for Outstanding Leader as a Senior went to Josh Moon, the son of Cedron and Diana Moon. The Louie Armstrong Award, which goes to an outstanding leader in the area of jazz music was presented to Charlie Ford, the son of Jeff and Bobbie Ford. Senior James Tramel, the son of C.J. Tramel and Deana Jones, won the Musicianship Award. Moon, Luna, and Ford also won the Musicianship Award. Given the honor for Outstanding Leadership in Band was Owen Warren.

Picking up the Star Performer award were Alexis Stanley, Trumpet; Gavin Conger, Serenity Patterson, and Kyle Holmbeck, Percussion; Gage Cote and Aaron Maple, Clarinet; BJ Mosely Tenor Sax; Skylar Southard, Trombone; Victor Luna (Tuba, Alto Sax, Euphonium); Serenity Burgess, Flute/Piccolo; and Amy Nokes, Flute. Trumpet player Jaden Wilden received the Most Improved award.

The Color Guard Outstanding Leadership award went to Hannah Finan; Most Improved Winter Guard, Cameron Smith; Outstanding Rookie–Sabor, Sarah Fuson; Outstanding Rookie–Rifle, Elizabeth Cardin; and Outstanding Guard Manager, Elizabeth Mosely.

Savannah Warren picked up the Outstanding Leadership in Band trophy. Amy Nokes was named Top Fundraiser for this year.

The band boosters gave Director Tracy Luna a special plaque that reads “You were there for us. Now we will be there for you.” The crowd gave a standing ovation to a choked-up Luna, who has been on leave this school year fighting against pancreatic cancer. The plaque had a recording of The Jackson Five’s “I’ll Be There.”

Assistant Director Don Whitt said, “Every time he plays the music it will be a reminder to him that we will be there for him, or we are always thinking about him.”

May 3, 2021
By: Bill Conger

The 16th Annual Dot’s Storytelling Day featured tales—some funny, some intriguing, and some truth stretching. Professional storyteller Roy Haney of Liberty was the featured guest. Most days he’s farming and running the Haney Family Sawmill, but on Saturday (May 1) he shared a few stories from his life including one about his 96-year-old mentor Snake Williams who taught him to hunt, fish and trap.

“He named a dog Mandy after my great, great, great, great grandmother. All his life he has coon hunted. Snake is one of the premiere coon hunters in the United States.

Mandy is one of the best coon hounds in the country, and Snake had been offered more than $5,000 for Mandy, and he won’t take it. Mandy was his partner. He’ll go out on the old home place. In Jackson County we’ve got hollers—pastures up on top of the hills, hollers down. I’ve been there a thousand times with him. He’ll let Mandy go down the holler. All of a sudden Mandy yelps. This is noon. Coons ain’t out at noon, but all of a sudden Mandy goes, “Yip! Yip!” That means Mandy is on a trail. Snake got over there to the edge of the holler and looked down. Mandy weighed about 35 pounds. Snake looked at a coon that weighed more than Mandy. Mandy doesn’t have a pack of dogs to back Mandy up. Mandy is by herself, and this old he coon has backed up against a log, he wrote in this letter, looks at this little dog and says, “I’ve got lunch.”

That old he coon knew exactly what Mandy was going to do. Trouble is Mandy had never read the manual. Mandy never braced, hit that coon head over tea kettle, and they both went over the log, and Snake says he’ll get out of there now. And he did. He ran right over to a beech tree. He turned around against that beech tree and said, “I’ll never make this mistake again. Snake wrote that Mandy went after that coon again and hit that coon head on. Coon says that’s mistake number two today, and the coon started up that beech tree. The only problem is Mandy grabbed her by the hind leg and won’t let it go up the tree. Problem with that the coon’s bigger than Mandy, and Mandy gets pulled off the ground. When Mandy got pulled off the ground, you’re not hearing a growl, you’re hearing (cries for help). The coon got up the first limb and went inside the tree. There was a hole there. Mandy flipped right upside down in that hole. Snake has got down to the bottom of this tree, and he hears the most awful barking, scratching there ever was. He ran up to the house and got a little chainsaw. He got that tree cut down. When it fell, it busted open, and he found a little blood and a little guts. That coon and that dog had got so mad that they had ate each other up. And that’s called a tall tale.”

Ms Senior White County Sherry Hickey, Helga Thompson, Jerry Parker, Walteen Parker, Guylene Atnip, Susan and Jerry Hinton and Bill Conger shared stories from their lives. The 16th Annual Dot’s Storytelling Day was started in 2005 by the late Dot Tittsworth, who loved the art of storytelling. This year’s event at the DeKalb County Complex featured the theme “Tales, Tidbits, and Tornadoes” and raised $1,020 for the DeKalb Imagination Library.

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