Smithville FBC to Celebrate 175th Anniversary Sunday

August 15, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Another local church has reached a landmark year in its history

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH HISTORY (pdf)

The Smithville First Baptist Church will be celebrating 175 years this Sunday, August 18. The congregation will meet in the sanctuary at 9:00 a.m. for a time of reflection followed by the worship service at 10:00 a.m. featuring guest speaker Dr. Jimmy Draper, former President of Lifeway and the Southern Baptist Convention. After the worship service a homecoming meal will be served at the church’s Life Enrichment Center.

“This is big year for SmithvilleFBC. Our church was founded in 1844 and we turn 175 years old this year.   God has truly blessed SmithvilleFBC and we are going to celebrate what God has done and what God is going to do through SmithvilleFBC.  Come Join us this Sunday,” said Chad Ramsey, church pastor.

According to a church history prepared for the 150^th anniversary celebration in 1994, the First Baptist Church of Smithville was organized on August 25, 1844 and met in the Methodist Church building. It is believed that the congregation continued to meet there until 1858. The principal organizer and first minister was Jesse Allen. He served as pastor until his death in 1858. That being the same year the first building was erected. The large frame building was located on the same lot occupied by the present building though it faced south toward town.

John T. Oakley was pastor when construction was completed on a new building in 1902. This new church was a large frame structure painted white, with a tall and impressive steeple in which hung the bell. This church building faced west toward College Street.

The church acquired its first parsonage in June, 1936 when it bought the Jack Allen property on Shady Lane. The first pastor to occupy it was Joe Strother.

In 1952 a groundbreaking service was held for construction of a new church building to face north on Church Street and the first service there took place on April 5 followed by a dedication service on April 26.

Mrs. Bessie Lee Colvert donated a plot of ground on Highway 70 east for the purpose of building a new parsonage in October, 1967. The church accepted this free gift. Ray Ridgeway was the first pastor to reside in the new parsonage.

In November, 1972 plans were made and adopted to build a three story addition to the church and that was completed in August, 1973. A year later, the church voted to purchase property adjacent to the church known as Gothard’s Cleaners to be used for expansion. The building was renovated and has been used for many purposes.

Over the last several years the church has expanded its community outreach services including the addition of the Life Enrichment Center.

“We look forward to the church’s 175^th anniversary celebration Sunday and the many years to come of this church’s ministry,” said Pastor Ramsey.

August 15, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department is set to launch its second Sheriff’s Citizens Academy next month with a little help from partner sponsors including Walmart in Smithville.

(VIEW VIDEO OF FIRST SHERIFF’S CITIZENS ACADEMY BELOW)

IMG_2307 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

Steve Abell, Smithville Walmart store manager, presented a $1,000 grant to Sheriff Patrick Ray Wednesday in support of the program which is intended to foster better communications between citizens and the Sheriff’s Department through education on the day to day operations

“I am happy on behalf of Walmart to donate this money to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department to help with the Citizens Academy and the training of our local residents,” said Abell.

Sheriff Ray said he is grateful for the donation.

“I would like to thank Walmart for the $1,000 grant for our Sheriff’s Citizens Academy. I appreciate what Walmart does for our community especially our emergency services. We have a great working relationship and partnership with our local Walmart here in Smithville”.

The grant from Walmart, Sheriff Ray said will be put to good use.

“We will be using this money to buy training supplies and other needs for the academy. In addition to Walmart we have other sponsors that donate things such as food and drinks along with giveaways for our participants in the class. We will be announcing all of the sponsors to our participants at the beginning of each class. We also announce them publically on WJLE radio and in the Smithville Review newspaper after the participants graduate the academy,” he said.

The next class, which begins September 3, is already full but another one will be held in the spring.

“Our fall class is starting next month on September 3 and we will graduate our participants on October 22. This is an 8 week long academy. We have already sent out our acceptance letters to those students. We have 12 students in this next academy class. We meet each Tuesday night starting at 6 p.m. and we try to get everyone out by 9 p.m. There is an application process for the academy. Each individual has to fill out an application. Two of the most important requirements for someone to attend the academy are that they have to be a resident of DeKalb County and not have a criminal record. They have to live here. We are not at this time accepting anyone who lives in another county or who just works here in DeKalb County. We do run criminal background checks on everyone that applies. Once that is completed and they are accepted we will send out an acceptance letter with a date, time, and location where the academy will be held. We try to keep the class size to around 12 people and that is due to a lot of the classes being hands-on with each individual class member. We teach our participants the many services the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Jail provide to citizens and visitors to our county. The classes will also allow participants to experience what our correctional officers, school resource officers, court officers, deputies, and detectives see on a daily basis,” Sheriff Ray continued.

“A few of the topics to be included in the academy are domestic violence training, traffic stops, firearms, seminition training, investigations, what the role of the School Resource Officer is, and the D.A.R.E. program. We will also give a tour of the DeKalb County Jail and courtrooms and offer a ride along program with our patrol deputies after the participants graduate,” he said.

To apply for the spring class either mail or email your request to Sheriff Ray.

“We will have another class starting next spring. I would like to ask anyone who lives in DeKalb County and is interested in our next citizens academy to email me at sheriff21@dekalbsheriff.net or you can mail me your request to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Attention Sheriff Patrick Ray, 100 public square, Smithville Tennessee, 37166. I will in return email you back or send you an application by mail. We go through the applications and contact everyone who has been accepted,” he said.

“We are very proud to offer this to our citizens here in DeKalb County. It’s just our way here at the Sheriff’s Department to give back to our communities,” Sheriff Ray concluded.

August 15, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

An Alexandria man with charges against him was recently arrested after he tried to outrun the law in his pickup truck.

34 year old Bryon Ray Gibbs of Curtis Avenue, Alexandria is charged with driving while licensed revoked, reckless endangerment, and evading arrest in a motor vehicle. His bond on those charges is $23,000 but he is being held without bond for a violation of probation and failure to appear.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on May 25 a deputy was on Old Blue Springs Road when he noticed a truck, driven by Gibbs, heading toward him. Knowing that Gibbs had active warrants against him and that he had no license, the officer tried to pull him over but when he turned on his lights and sirens, Gibbs sped away, recklessly crossing the center yellow line and cutting in front of a car near Mystick Market on Highway 56 south. Gibbs was subsequently stopped and taken into custody.

Sheriff Ray said Gibbs’ actions placed the public in potential harm.

Gibbs’ license was revoked for failure to appear in Wilson County Court on January 26, 2018. He has been arrested multiple times for driving without a license in the last two months.

37 year old David Allen Cobb of Luttrell Avenue, Smithville is charged with accidents resulting in damage (hit and run). His bond is $3,500 and he will be in court August 22.

Sheriff Ray said that on August 2 Cobb left the scene of an accident without waiting for information to be shared with other parties involved or for law enforcement to arrive and make a report of the accident.

A deputy responded to a reported hit and run accident on New Bildad Road. Upon arrival the officer spoke to the parties on the scene who reported that a gold colored Ford Excursion had hit their vehicle and left the scene without exchanging any information with them. A license plate number was obtained from the fleeing vehicle and officers learned that it was registered to Cobb. An officer came upon the accident scene and saw Cobb’s vehicle before it left the scene. He confirmed that the driver of the Ford Excursion was Cobb.

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