Church Mobile Food Pantry Returns October 14

September 21, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Don’t be surprised if you see a line of automobiles early Saturday morning, October 14 stretching from downtown Smithville on South College Street as far out as Green Brook Park.

It’s become a regular occurrence at least twice a year as families needing food get in line to be served by the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church’s mobile food pantry in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

The distribution begins at 9 a.m. with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. No one being served ever has to leave their automobile. Volunteers working the pantry will prepare food boxes filled with non-perishables, vegetables, produce, canned goods, breads, bakery treats, and sometimes dairy products and deliver them directly to the vehicles waiting in line. Automobiles will line up facing north on College Street to North Market Street.

Myra Reffue, Pantry Coordinator, said this food distribution has been a community outreach mission of the church for several years.

“Second Harvest always sends us enough food to feed about 300 families and we try to limit it to two families per car and depending upon the size of the family there is enough food distributed to feed each family for about a week. The pantry is often sponsored and paid for by TVA so the church doesn’t have to pay anything. Many times we get sponsorships from companies that go through Second Harvest and if there is no sponsor the church covers the cost,” said Reffue.

The food pantry always gets help from volunteers both from the church and the community to off load the Second Harvest truck and to prepare and deliver the food boxes but others who want to participate are welcome.

“Anyone who wants to volunteer needs to be there by 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning, October 14. For more information you may call 615-597-4197, extension 3,” added Reffue.

September 21, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Dewain Hendrixson is now the sole leader among WJLE’s Fearless Forecasters picking college football winners after the first three weeks of the season,

Overall Hendrixson owns a record of 32-13 followed by Grant James of the James Gang, Jared Davis, and Scott Goodwin each at 31-14, Ricky Atnip, Scott Brown, Chad Kirby, and John Pryor each at 30-15, and Darrell Gill of the Gill Gang at 29-16.

For the week, Scott Brown had the best week at 9-6 followed by Grant James, Jared Davis, and Dewain Hendrixson each at 8-7, and Darrell Gill, Ricky Atnip, John Pryor, Chad Kirby, and Scott Goodwin each at 7-8.

Three Fearless Forecasters hit their underdog picks last week. Jared Davis added to his lead with 4.5 points as North Texas upset La Tech 40-37. John Pryor picked up 4 points with UNLV’s win over Vanderbilt 40-37, and Dewain Hendrixson got 8 points as BYU defeated Arkansas 38-31.

Overall, Jared Davis leads in underdog points with 32 followed by Dewain Hendrixson with 12.5, Ricky Atnip with 7.5, and Chad Kirby and John Pryor each with 6.5.

Today (Thursday) the Forecasters will be picking winners in the following games:

UCF at Kansas State, UCLA at Utah, Oregon State at Washington State, Iowa at Penn State, Ohio State at Notre Dame, Florida State at Clemson, Memphis at Missouri, Mississippi State at South Carolina, Arkansas at LSU, Colorado State at MTSU, Ole Miss at Alabama, Auburn at Texas A&M, Kentucky at Vanderbilt, UTSA at Tennessee, and in the NFL the the Tennessee Titans at the Cleveland Browns.

Catch the Fearless Forecasters on WJLE today (Thursday) at 4:30 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.

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

September 21, 2023
By: Bill Conger

The DeKalb County High School Fighting Tiger Marching Band earned a Superior ranking Saturday (Sept. 9) at the 40th Annual Upper Cumberland Marching Band Festival. Held at Cumberland County High School in Crossville, the exhibition ranks bands by the categories of superior, excellent, and good. In addition to the band’s overall Superior ranking, the color guard and percussion section were ranked Excellent.

“The guard does a tremendous job,” Band Director Don Whitt said. “We have a very talented leader, Mrs. Shannon Johns, who is doing a phenomenal job. The students are learning how to create and write their own material for the show. They are all very creative students. I am proud for them because of that.

“Because the kids actually wrote the opener, I believe they are more invested in this show,” Color Guard Leader Shannon Johns said. “Each of the color guard members brings their unique, authentic self but also work well as a team. This season is no different in terms of injuries and other time commitments, yet the students have literally put their blood, sweat, and tears in to create something they can call their own. I am very proud of each of them and look forward to seeing them have continued success this season.”

The band’s musical theme Heart and Soul features song selections from 1970s Motown including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “I Want You Back,” and the soon-to-be-added “When A Man Loves a Woman.”

“The main objective for me is the music and the marching for right now,” Director Don Whitt said. “They have to learn how to play in that type of style. They are learning proper breathing technique, how to articulate and communicate the music they play to the audience. I like the familiar sounds that take the audience back to a simpler time. I have heard my parents and family and friends that will cut the old radio up when they hear those classic tunes.”

“We have had a lot of people from our community that have bragged on our students and told me how much that music had touched them. Our students are coming a long way for a small band of about 43 total. We have a lot of things to tweak here and there, however, we are learning to work and play as a team in the entire group.”

In addition to Whitt and Johns, Maxwell Patterson has come on board as the Percussion Director and Assistant Band Director.

The band’s next competition will be at the Yellow Jacket Invitations in Trousdale County on September 30.

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