Angel Tree Project Underway!

November 16, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The annual Angel Tree Project is underway and your support is needed to help make this holiday season merrier for 298 children from 144 families. This is Angel Tree’s 27th year of serving the children of DeKalb County.

“The Angel Trees are located at all bank locations in Smithville and Alexandria,” said spokesperson Laura Stone. “Each Angel represents a child and his or her wish list for Christmas. The process is very simple. Just go to your bank and select an Angel from the tree, shop for your Angel from their wish list and return your gifts to the bank where you picked up your Angel by December 3rd. Make sure your presents are clearly marked with your Angel number. The wish list on the Angel tag is just a suggestion. It is what the child specifically asks for. Sometimes people will buy only what is on there. In some cases they will buy additional things. It’s not necessary that you buy everything on the list. If you have no time to shop, donations are always accepted and appreciated and we will do the shopping for you. This program would not be a success without the continued support of our community pulling together and making Christmas special for these children,” said Stone

November 16, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Its basketball time!

The DeKalb County High School Basketball Teams will be ready to hit the court running tonight (Tuesday, November 16) and Saturday, November 20 with Hall of Fame action.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers will travel to Whitehouse, tonight (November 16) with the girls game at 6 p.m. followed by the boys showdown. DCHS will then head to Gordonsville on Saturday, November 20 starting with girls play at 12 noon. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

The first regular season home games will be against Cannon County on Tuesday, November 23 followed by a trip to Warren County on Friday, November 26 to close out the month of November.

DeKalb County will also be stepping up a class moving from Class 2A Region 4 District 8 to Class 3A Region 4 District 7.

The former makeup of the district was comprised of DeKalb County, Macon County, Upperman, York Institute, Watertown, Livingston Academy, Smith County, and Cannon County. In addition to DeKalb County, the new seven team Class 3A District 7 will be made up of Livingston Academy, Macon County, and Upperman along with newcomers Cumberland County, Stone Memorial, and White County.

Last year the Tigers finished with an overall record of 10-14 losing to Smith County in the first round of the District Tournament.

Without the presence of a big man inside this season, Tiger Coach John Sanders said this team’s style of play may be somewhat different.

“Last year we had Evan Jones who was able to score around the basket but this year we don’t have a traditional big man like that to go to inside so we may look to play a little faster and try to press a little more. We will probably be more perimeter oriented on offense. We tried it out this summer and the guys seemed to enjoy it and had some success with it,” said Coach Sanders.

“We have a lot of different guys who we are expecting to make plays in different ways including Brayden Antoniak, Jordan Young, Elijah Ramos, Conner Close, Stetson Agee, Nathaniel Crook, and Isaac Knowles, who is coming out from football this year. We are expecting some big things out of him. We have a lot of guys we are hoping will get some playing time this year,” added Coach Sanders.

As if the old district alignment wasn’t tough enough, Coach Sanders said the new district is perhaps even more challenging.

“I think Cumberland County is probably the front runner. They return a lot from the team they had last year. A team that won their district. White County is always really good and so is Stone Memorial. Upperman lost seven seniors so they might drop off a little bit. Livingston lost their all time leading scorer, Matthew Sells but they will still play really hard although they may drop off a little bit. Macon County lost one or two players but they should still be better. I expect it will be tough across the board,” said Coach Sanders.

The Lady Tigers finished the 2020-21 season with an overall record of 10-15 and made a quick exit from the district tournament losing to Smith County in February,

Senior Kadee Ferrell, one of the leaders on last year’s team and who joined the 1,000 point club, will be returning along with fellow senior Natalie Snipes. Also last year’s District 8AA Freshman player of the year Ella VanVranken will be returning as a sophomore.

“We’ll be counting on Kadee. She has been a great player over the four years she has been here and we are hoping for her to finish out strong and have a good senior season,” said Coach Fish.

“Ella VanVranken is coming off her freshman year as District 8AA Freshman Player of the Year. Hopefully she can continue to develop her game to where there is not any drop off as a sophomore. Sometimes when you come in as a freshman people don’t know about you and what you can do but in that sophomore season there is no fooling anybody. They start planning and scheming for you but I believe she will have a good year for us,” Coach Fish continued.

“Natalie Snipes is our other senior. Natalie will be shooting the three for us. She has been shooting it really good for us during the summer and in shooting practices she has been doing really well so hopefully she will have a good senior year,” added Coach Fish.

“Our Junior Class will be a good class for us with Xharia Lyons getting some playing time. We saw her last year come off the bench and start emerging as a good player at the end. Hopefully Madison Martin solidifies her game this year. She has had a good summer and fall. Hopefully she will step up her game as a Junior”.

“Throughout the team we have some pretty good players. We have a sophomore class which is a pretty good class with Ally Fuller, Cam Branin, and Ella Hendrixson. We’ll take a look at Avery Agee and Dare Collins as freshmen to contribute for us off the bench. We are a little deeper than we have been in the past and I think we shoot the ball better than we did last year. Hopefully with some players playing well and other players stepping up we can make some things happen,” said Coach Fish.

Expect to see the same style of play from the Lady Tigers as in the past. “We will play up tempo, press, and trap. We are not tall. We don’t have any six footers. Our tallest player is 5’ 10 so with 3A teams being a lot bigger we will have to get up and down the floor and use some of our assets and strengths to offset some of our size weaknesses”, Coach Fish continued.

Although it may be tougher, Coach Fish said he welcomes the challenges of the new Class 3A Region 4 District 7 alignment.

“It will give us some different opponents to play but it will be the toughest 3A district in the state. Last year six of the seven teams in it won twenty games or more and five out of the seven teams have won a state championship before and all seven teams have been to the glass house so if we can get out of that district and into the region tournament we will have a chance to do some good things,” said Coach Fish.

2021-22 DCHS Tiger and Lady Tiger Basketball Schedule
November
Tuesday – 16th: White House (HOF)- Away: 6:00
Saturday – 20th: Gordonsville (HOF)- Away: Noon
Tuesday – 23rd:Cannon County- Home : 6:00
Friday – 26th: Warren County- Away: 6:00

December
Friday – 3rd: Watertown- Away: 6:00
Monday – 6th: Cannon County- Away: 6:00
Tuesday – 7th: Smith County- Home: 6:00
Friday – 10th: Stone Memorial * -Home: 6:00
Monday 20th: Heritage Christmas Classic (girls)- Maryville, TN
Tuesday 21st: Heritage Christmas Classic (girls)- Maryville, TN
Wednesday 22nd: Heritage Christmas Classic (girls)- Maryville, TN
Monday – 20th: Riverdale Christmas Classic (boys)- Murfreesboro TBA
Tuesday – 21st: Riverdale Christmas Classic (boys)- Murfreesboro TBA
Tuesday – 28th: Aflac Christmas (girls and boys)- Watertown TBA
Tuesday – 29th: Aflac Christmas (girls and boys)- Watertown TBA
Tuesday – 30th: Aflac Christmas ((girls and boys)- Watertown TBA

January
Tuesday – 4th: Livingston Academy *- Home: 6:00
Friday – 7th: Macon County *- Home: 6:00
Saturday – 8th: Warren County- Home: 3:00
Tuesday – 11th: Watertown -Home: 6:00
Friday – 14th: Cumberland County *- Away: 6:00
Tuesday – 18th: Upperman * -Home: 6:00
Friday – 21st: Stone Memorial *- Away: 6:00
Tuesday – 25th: White County *- Home: 6:00
Friday – 28th: Livingston Academy *- Away: 6:00
Monday – 31st: Smith County- Away: 6:00

February
Tuesday – 1st: Macon County * -Away: 6:00
Tuesday – 8th: Cumberland County * -Home: 6:00
Friday – 11th: Upperman *- Away: 6:00
* District 8AA games
^ Region 4AA games
Game time listed is start time of each girls contest, boys game to follow

November 16, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

For 34 years she owned and operated Sundance Restaurant & Catering, one of the most popular dining places in town but since she retired and closed the business three years ago, Karen Carpenter has been working on her first ever cookbook called “The Best of Sundance” which is expected to be available by December 1.

Karen has scheduled three local book signings next month. The first will be at F.Z. Webb and Sons Pharmacy, Gifts & Soda Foundation on Friday, December 3 from 11:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. She will also host a signing at Justin Potter Library on Tuesday, December 7 from 3-6 p.m. and at the County Complex on Thursday, December 9 from 4-8 p.m.

The cost of the cookbook is $20.

Carpenter said while she is excited about the new cookbook she is equally thrilled about the opportunity to visit with old friends and customers again during the book signings.

“I miss all the people from when I was in business. I still see them in Walmart and other places but they were like my family”.

Although its been a work in progress for quite a while, Karen said her dream of producing a cookbook has been a labor of love

“I have worked on it for a long time but I have had some help. Karen Caplinger has worked side by side with me and I could not have done it without her. We had to overcome some hurdles with things like finding a publisher but we finally worked that out,” said Carpenter.

“The Best of Sundance” includes a few stories and helpful hints but its largely filled with Karen’s famous recipes that made her restaurant entrees so popular.

“The book contains mainly my original recipes. I didn’t want to put a lot of stuff in there that they could go to any other cookbook or go online and get,” said Carpenter.

“A lot of people have asked me about my house dressing, the honey onion Sundance dressing, blue cheese dressing, honey mustard dressing, thousand island dressing and barbeque sauce. Those recipes are all in the book,” she said.

“We sold inordinate amounts of chicken and dressing at the restaurant so my dressing recipe is in there. I had a smoker so I smoked ribs, pork chops, and chicken breasts. The hickory smoked chicken breasts were one of the all time favorites and I used the chicken breast to make the Karen salad which was also one of my top sellers. On weekends we sold prime ribs, coconut shrimp, and seafood salads which were also big favorites. We had something different every day and a special menu on weekends. It was a pretty extensive menu for a small restaurant,” said Carpenter.

Of course the cookbook would not be complete without Karen’s delectable dessert recipes.

“One of the best sellers over the years has been my Jewish brownies. That recipe is in there. My chocolate and coconut pies were very popular and of course the mousse cakes including the chocolate, tropical, and strawberry along with my cheesecakes,” Carpenter continued.

Karen said her love for cooking came at an early age.

“I learned from my mother. She was a wonderful cook. Later I was a cook on a ship. My husband was the captain and I was the cook and first mate. He called me the admiral. That’s where I developed the Sundance dressing. The honey onion,” she said.

Karen opened Sundance in 1984 at the old Town and Country Shopping Center (what is now the county complex) but she relocated to downtown three years later.

“When I opened Sundance it was mostly a health food store. We sold vitamins and herbs with a little bit of food but as time went on the demand for the food grew and the vitamins went away. I later decided to be open on Friday and Saturday nights and it just grew and grew. I was having recipes and foods that were different from other restaurants in town and people loved it. I loved it too because I love cooking for people who like to eat,” said Carpenter.

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