Honoring the “King of Center Hill”

August 29, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Honoring the “King of Center Hill”!

Family and friends of the late Darwin Gard gathered at Sligo bridge for a brief but special ceremony Tuesday evening to pay tribute to the man affectionately known as the “King of Center Hill” for his decades of service operating Sligo Marina.

The event, hosted by State Representative Michael Hale, was held to commemorate the state’s naming of Sligo bridge the “Darwin Gard Memorial Bridge”.

State Representative Hale recently introduced and pushed through legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly to honor Gard in this way and the effort was backed by the DeKalb County Commission.

From the early 1970s until his death in December 2017 at the age of 85, the name Darwin Gard and Sligo Marina were synonymous. For many years Gard was manager of the boat dock and later stayed on as an employee until his retirement in July, 2015. Mr. Gard was a retired veteran of the Air Force, serving from 1950-1971, he served in the Korean and Vietnam War. Darwin was a professional fisherman for Hydra Sport and Winner Boats. He was a well-known and respected fishing guide on Center Hill Lake.

“I enjoy when we get the opportunity to do things like this,” said Representative Hale. “It’s an honor to give honor where honor is due and I think this is past due. Mr Gard served our country for about 21 years in the service and then he ran the marina here for many years. His family is one we love dearly and when they came to me about this I said we will push it and make it happen. I am thankful for the county commission having their blessings on it for us to be able to take it to the state general assembly and getting this passed to honor Mr. Gard and his legacy here at Center Hill Lake,” said State Representative Hale.

“Its been a long time coming,” said Michele Roller, daughter of Mr. Gard. “ After daddy passed away we were not thinking anything about this but someone approached us and got the ball rolling trying to find out what we needed to do. After many years, my mom, myself, and others went to Michael Hale with this. It means a lot to know there was this kind of support for my dad. People still remember him and even today if you mention Sligo, they’ll talk about him,” she said.

Roller recalled how her father’s long association with Sligo Marina began.

“He came down here (from Missouri) to fish in 1971 with his brother, Ronnie Gard who had moved here and he left with a job offer. Daddy went back to Missouri and then packed us all up and moved us here to the cabins and we have been here ever since,” said Roller.

“When we came to Tennessee, I had never heard of this place,” said daughter Denise Holcomb. “I thought where in the world are we going? We moved into two cabins because there were six of us and this became home. We have been here over 50 years and love it. We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Holcomb continued. “Dad was always surrounded by people that knew and loved him here and its just an honor for this bridge to be named after him. He gave his heart and life to this place. We are so proud,” added Holcomb.

Tony Luna, whose family once owned Sligo Marina, said this tribute to Mr. Gard is well deserved.

“My family bought Sligo Marina in the early 1980s and Darwin was definitely a fixture down here. I got to know him from my teenage years and from then on until he passed away. He was like family to me. My dad thought the world of him. They were really close friends. He worked for my dad and he worked for the owners of the marina before we bought it. I am glad this happened. It is well deserved and I hope everybody comes down here to take a selfie of Darwin’s bridge here,” said Luna.

August 29, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

WJLE’s “Fearless Forecasters” are returning for another season of college pigskin prognosticating today (Thursday) at 4:30 p.m.

This season’s regulars are Dewain Hendrixson, Scott Brown, Scott Goodwin, Chad Kirby, the James Gang (Grant and Jeff James), Ricky Atnip, John Pryor, The Gill Gang (Darrell, Eli or Noah Gill), and Alex Woodward.

The “Fearless Forecasters” pick who they believe will win in fourteen of the biggest or most interesting college football games of the week along with the Tennessee Titans games.

They also make an underdog selection each week.

The Fearless Forecaster with the best record and most underdog points is awarded at the end of the season.

Ricky Atnip will be looking to defend his 2023 title as the WJLE Fearless Forecaster of the year. During the college football season in 2023 including bowl games, Ricky compiled the overall best record picking winners in 253 games at 171-82. He was back-to-back winner in 2022 and 2023. For the third year in a row, Atnip also accumulated the most underdog points during the season at 67 points in 2023. Ricky was presented the “WJLE Fearless Forecasters Joe Goodwin Memorial Awards” during last year’s season finale show in January. He is sponsored on the show by the Charles D. Atnip Realty & Auction Company.

The program is sponsored by DeKalb County Ace Hardware, FirstBank, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home, DeKalb County Insurance, Gill Automotive, the Charles D. Atnip Realty & Auction Company, Wilson Bank & Trust, and Domino’s Pizza.

Catch the “Fearless Forecasters” LIVE during the college football season weekly starting today (Thursday, August 29) at 4:30 p.m. on WJLE.

August 28, 2024
By:

On Monday, the DeKalb County High School Golf Teams earned victories over White County. The Lady Tigers won 79-117 moving their record to 15-0 on the year. Chloe Boyd carded a 37, Alison Poss a 42, and Emily Anderson a 51.

The boys defeated White County 178-210, moving them to 11-10 on the year. The boys scores included William Blair’s 42, Bradley Hale’s 43, Cooper Goodwin’s 46, Seth Fuson’s 47, and Jamison Troncoso’s 51.

“We are about halfway through the season, and I feel the teams are hitting their stride. With the post season less than a month away, we along with White County, were so excited when Honky Tonk National offered to host this match. It is a challenging course and will help the kids prepare for the post season. We appreciate the hospitality shown to us by the folks at Honky Tonk National,” said Head Coach John Pryor.

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