Liberty Mayor and Aldermen Sworn into Office (View Videos Here)

August 8, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Fresh off election night Thursday, the Liberty Mayor and Aldermen-elect met Monday night to take their oath of office in a brief swearing in ceremony outside the town hall at the old high school building.

Smithville attorney Brandon Cox, the newly elected DeKalb County General Sessions Court Judge who will soon take office himself, administered the oath.

Audrey M. Martin, the first woman to ever be elected Mayor of Liberty, has taken over from Jason Hayes Ray , whom she defeated in the election Thursday while the new makeup of the town council includes Ryan Dodd and Kendra Stanford along with Incumbents William H. Reynolds, Jr. and Joe D. Bratten who were re-elected. Kevin R. Mullinax, who had been serving as an appointed Alderman, was also elected to his first full term on Thursday. Derek Johnson was defeated in his bid for re-election as Alderman.

An enthusiastic Mayor Martin said she wants to help renew the vitality of the town and restore the historic old Liberty High School building.

“I am very excited to be Mayor, especially the first woman mayor of the town and I want to bring Liberty back to life. I believe with the help of all of our Aldermen we can. I believe us being united is important to accomplishing anything that needs to be done,” said Mayor Martin.

“I am looking into having an historical society grant for this beautiful old schoolhouse that needs a lot of restoration and that is going to be my main concern right now,” she added.

August 7, 2022
By: Bill Conger

Children from Sozo, Uganda in Africa will make a stop on the “Miracle Tour” in Smithville. This 4th tour of the Sozo Children’s Choir will perform at Smithville First Baptist Church during morning worship services (today) August 7. They’ll sing a second show (tonight) Sunday night at 6 p.m. for the community. Donations for the group are welcome.

“From what I have seen, this is the most talented bunch yet,” says Terry Schrimscher, Global Engagement Coordinator for Sozo Children.

Sozo Choir from Sozo Children on Vimeo.

“The kids come here to share their faith and it is our hope that they return home knowing they are loved and their lives truly matter to the world,” adds Sozo Children CEO Suzanne Owens.

The pandemic put a halt to tours for a couple of years. They were scheduled to be in the states earlier this year, but working the logistics out with two governments to travel with the children can be a challenge. Starting in 2016, the Sozo Children’s Choir began to provide spiritual, personal, and cultural development opportunities for those served by Sozo Children in Uganda.

“The choir tour is a way for us to share a faith walk with the children we serve, and it lets them go on a mission trip instead of us just sending people to Africa all the time,” Schrimscher explained. “When we go to Uganda on mission trips, we are a lot different than a lot of missions’ organizations. Of course, we go there to serve but not always to do massive projects, and we don’t go over there for photo ops or to post updates ourselves. It’s not about us! We go there to share faith with the children, our staff, the community and the families we serve. I like to say we walk alongside our Ugandan neighbors and help equip them to serve others in their community well into the future. We are not there to create little American Christians. We find that we learn so much from them. The kids in the choir have an incredible witness opportunity, some heart-wrenching testimonies, and some pretty awesome talent as well.”

This year 12 children from Uganda will be performing in Mississippi, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

“In the past, the children have come directly from the 130 or more children directly in our care in Uganda,” Schrimscher. “This year, for the first time ever, 5 kids from the neighboring community outside of Sozo auditioned and made the choir. That’s pretty amazing if you think about it. When they moved into the choir house to rehearse with our team, that was likely the first time they had lived in a home with electricity, running water, or the things we take for granted here.”

“Once they join, we have a choir director and a musical director in Uganda who works with them to rehearse songs and dances. They go into a recording studio and make a professional recording of each song as well. They have costumes made and they tour churches and events in Uganda before they come to the United States.”

“They will perform contemporary songs your congregation may recognize like “Waymaker” and “New Hallelujah” and some songs they love from home that you will enjoy like “Jabulani” all with some amazing harmonies and a bit of an African beat. They also have a cultural segment of the show, which we do when venues are gracious enough to give us a few extra minutes, which features African dance and instruments. These kids can dance! You will see the sweetest smiles you have ever seen which are enhanced by the knowledge that the kids come from circumstances we cannot really fathom at any age—things like abuse, neglect, abandonment, trafficking and generational poverty. Yet, they smile and they absolutely LOVE you and love that you came to sing along with them.”

“Fair warning. They have been known to run grab a friendly face out of the crowd to dance in the aisle with them. Wear some comfortable shoes. If they connect with your smile from the stage, you just might be part of the show. Nothing warms our hearts more than seeing people in the crowd get up and let go for a few minutes and just worship God with the kids dancing in the aisle, in your seats, or cheering them on.”
Again the Sozo Children’s Choir will perform for the community on Sunday August 7 at 6 o’clock at Smithville First Baptist Church.

August 6, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The stage is set for the Tennessee General Election on November 8th.

On the ballot will be candidates for Governor, U.S. House of Representatives, and Tennessee House of Representatives.

Incumbent Republican Governor Bill Lee will be challenged by Democrat Jason Brantley Martin. Statewide, Governor Lee, who ran unopposed in the GOP Primary Thursday, received 494,195 votes while Martin garnered 101,221 to win the State Democratic Primary over two challengers, JB Smiley Jr., who received 99,753 votes, and Carnita Faye Atwater, who had 56, 061 votes statewide.

In DeKalb County, Governor Lee received 2,893 votes in the State GOP Primary. On the Democratic Primary Ballot, Martin had 302 votes in DeKalb County while Atwater received 158 votes and Smiley got 111 votes.

Sixth District Congressman John Rose won the State GOP Primary unopposed with 57,115 votes district-wide. In DeKalb County Congressman Rose had 2,626 votes. His Democratic opponent in November will be Randal Cooper who won the State Primary with 17,071 votes. Cooper defeated Clay Faircloth in the Democratic Primary. Faircloth received 5,798 votes.

In DeKalb County, Cooper had 398 votes to 123 for Faircloth.

The Tennessee House of Representatives-District 40 candidates are Republican Michael Hale and Democrat Tom Cook, both of DeKalb County. Hale secured the Republican nomination for the office on Thursday, defeating Incumbent Republican State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver district wide 6,696 to 4,542. Hale won DeKalb with 2,392 votes compared to 1,152 for Weaver. Cook, the Democratic nominee, received 1,464 votes in the district including 504 in DeKalb County.

In other races Thursday:
State Executive Committeeman District 16 – Republican Primary: Jerry S. Anderson-20,665 (District-wide), DeKalb County 2,138

State Executive Committeeman District 16 – Democratic Primary: Bobby Eddress Bush, Jr- 4,684 (District-wide), DeKalb County 454

State Executive Committeewoman District 16 – Republican Primary: Amy. L. Dennis- 20,157 (District-wide), DeKalb County 2,108

State Executive Committeewoman District 16 – Democratic Primary: Shelia Younglove- 4,911 (District-wide), DeKalb County 490

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