RMHC® Day of Change – September 9th

You know those boxes on the counters and in the drive-thrus of McDonald’s® restaurants? Well, those boxes filled with your pennies, nickels and dimes added up to over $19 million in the U.S. last year to support RMHC. Basically, that small change added up to make really BIG change for children and families in need.

On the RMHC® Day of Change, September 9, we are inviting you to drop your spare change in an RMHC Donation Box at your local participating McDonald’s restaurant. So rally your family, friends, and neighbors to get involved. Together, if everyone helps just a little, we can make a meaningful difference.

Learn more about the RMHC Day of Change and the RMHC Donation Box Program

Links of Interest: Knoxville Ronald McDonald House

Thought for the Day

“The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.” ~ Mad Magazine

Photo Friday – Wilder Brigade Monument

This imposing 85-foot monument sits in the Chickamauga Battlefield in Northern Georgia. It honors Col. John T. Wilder and his brigade of mounted infantry, who occupied this part of the battlefield when Confederate troops broke through the Union line on September 20. Armed with seven-shot Spencer repeating rifles, Wilder’s 2,000-man brigade poured a deadly fire into the Confederates, momentarily stopping Manigault’s Brigade before withdrawing from the battlefield. The monument stands on the site of 23-year-old widow Eliza Glenn’s house, which served as Rosecran’s headquarters on September 19 and in early morning on the 20th, when the house was destroyed.

This imposing monument was authorized in 1892 and completed in 1902, to honor Col. John T. Wilder and his troops. It is built of Chickamauga limestone and rises to a height of 85 feet. A spiral staircase inside the 16×16 foot base leads to a platform at the top where you can obtain an excellent view of the battlefield and surrounding area.

Photo Gallery: Wilder Brigade Monument

Thought for the Day – Life

“There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we were born and the day we discover why.” – William Barclay

Photo Friday – Old Gray Cemetery

Old Gray Cemetery is a 13.47 acre site bounded by Broadway, Tyson and Cooper streets, with Broadway it’s primary access. The Knoxville National Cemetery is adjacent to Old Gray Cemetery on its northern boundary. Gray Cemetery (as it was known before New Gray Cemetery was established in 1892) was incorporated by the Tennessee Legislature on February 9, 1850. The cemetery is named in honor of Thomas Gray (1716-1771), the English poet who wrote “Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard”. After considering a great number of names ending in “vale”, “dale” or “wood” or commencing with “mount”, the name Gray was suggested by Mrs. Henrietta Brown Reese, wife of Judge William B. Reese, the first president of the cemetery board of trustees.

Old Gray Cemetery now supports a wide variety of trees and natural vegetation. Although originally sparsely populated with trees, the cemetery now contains many stately oaks, dogwoods, and maples. This has changed the cemetery landscape from an open pasture to a wooded garden over the years. The design of the cemetery follows the natural topography of the landscape and the roads leading through the cemetery follow the natural slopes and rises of the terrain. An avenue runs from the entrance on Broadway (originally Broad Street) to the fence running along Cooper Street (originally Jacksboro Road). Connected to this avenue are smaller curved roads. The cemetery roads were first laid out so that each grave site was located on a carriage path or walkway; the cemetery board eventually elected to remove many of the carriage paths and walkways in order to provide additional plots for the cemetery. Cemetery roads are now surfaced.

The “Receiving Vault” was built in 1885 and the same year water from the city water works was brought to the cemetery. In 1889 it was decided that the Circle in the cemetery be laid off into lots reserving, however, a small plot of the center of the Circle. In 1890 A. J. Albers had a large bronzed iron fountain twenty feet high and weighing four tons erected in the center of the Circle in memory of his wife. It was called the “Ella Albers Memorial Fountain”. This early focal point in the cemetery has since been removed due to rust and maintenance repairs.

Two significant monuments are the Horne and Shepard monuments. The Horne monument (Lot 902) with its almost life-sized sculpture of a Confederate soldier marks the graves of two Confederate veterans, William Asbury Horne (1845-1891), an assistant quartermaster with the 42nd Georgia Infantry, and John Fletcher Horne (1843-1906), who was a sergeant with the Kain’s Battery Tennessee Light Artillery. The Shepard monument (Lot 255) is the only white bronze monument in Old Gray. It marks the graves of Lazarus C. Shepard (1816-1902) and his wife Emily T. Shepard (1814-1882). L. C. Shepard was Knoxville’s first embalmer and many local residents report that this hollow monument served as a drop-off point for bootleg liquor.

In 1897 the “Porter’s Lodge“, a modern marble lodge of most attractive appearance, was built from plans obtained from an architect of this city. It is constructed of Tennessee marble and is a one story building, rectangular in plan. The roof is a bell cast hip roof covered with slate shingles of blue and green.

The entrance posts, constructed in 1902 following plans and specifications of Producers Marble Company of Knoxville for $650, are square and made of smooth faced marble in a dressed faced ashlar design. The main gate is made of wrought iron and has a diagonal bracing for support.

The current fencing protecting the eastern part of the cemetery from traffic on Broadway is constructed of iron. The north and south walls are made of stone. The west wall of five foot high concrete was built in 1907. The oldest fence in the cemetery is on the east side along Tyson Street (originally Holston street). It was built in April 1890 by F. M Arthur and Co. for 94 cents per foot.

The monuments in Old Gray Cemetery reflect the Victorian era during which they were installed. Although there are some rectangular stone markers, the first impression of the cemetery is of the elaborately shaped and carved monuments. Burial records indicate that approximately 5,700 burials have been made in Old Gray Cemetery since it was founded.

Photo Gallery Link: Old Gray Cemetery

Book Review – “You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be”

I’ve just finished reading Max Lucado’s “You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be”. It’s actually a very quick read of 127 pages and seems to be a condensed version of Max’s “Cure for the Common Life”. This would make a great gift book for a college student or young adult, but is also a great read for anyone trying to determine who God wants them to be. Much like “Cure for the Common Life” this book talks about finding your sweet spot, studying your S.T.O.R.Y., and taking great risks for God.

One of the best parts of the book for me was the chapter on finding your sweet spot. Max puts it this way: “Use your uniqueness (what you do) to make a big deal out of God (why you do it) every day of your life (where you do it). At the convergence of all three, you’ll find the cure for the common life: your sweet spot. So, if you are tired of your common life, let me encourage you to pick a copy of “You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be”. It may just change your life.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thought for the Day – Work

“Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” ~ Robert Orben

Photo Friday – Landmark Booksellers

Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN is a small, independent bookstore with a southern sense of charm and hospitality. Housed in an antebellum Greek Revival building dating back to the 1820s, Landmark Booksellers is located on the main street of historic downtown Franklin, TN.

This is a great place to grab a book, sit down and relax, and read a while in beautiful, historic downtown Franklin.

I don’t know much about the building’s history, but a Williamson County Historical Society marker indicates the building was the old factory store. I’m not sure what purpose it served or its historical significance. If anyone knows more about this building, please let me know.

Done any Whittling Lately?

Done any Whittling Lately? The Gift of Being

by Dan Miller

Webster’s Dictionary defines whittle as to cut away aimlessly at a stick. Okay, but is cutting away aimlessly on a stick a waste of time, or a useful part of a balanced life?

Last Sunday on a leisurely afternoon drive, Joanne and I found ourselves in Lynchburg, TN.  This is the town made famous for one product only – Jack Daniels.  It‚s not all about making whiskey; obviously, lots of people there were involved in growing corn, barley and rye as well as other components of a vibrant community.  But we found some very quaint memorabilia around this little town, calling people back to a simpler kind of life.

One small sign read:

To the casual observer, carving and whittling may appear to be similar pursuits.  But the two are related only by the fact that each requires a sharp knife, a good piece of wood, and, as with most things round here, a fair amount of time. Here’s how to tell the difference.  If a person is carving, he is making some sort of useful object.  Odds are he will end up passing this object on to somebody who will appreciate the gesture greatly.  In whittling, on the other hand, the process itself is the thing.  The result of this effort is simply a poke of wood shavings.  It is important to note that this does not make whittling any less important than carving.  Each is useful in its own way, and rarely does a person excel at both.

I remember as a small boy running up to the old guys sitting on the park bench in our little town, to see what they were making with their knives and sticks only to be disappointed as the stick disappeared totally with no meaningful object appearing at all.  I always assumed they were disappointed as well as they somehow missed the critical cut where they could have shaped a dog or a whistle.  Now I see that perhaps it was I who missed the point of the process.

Maybe in our rush to ‘do’ we miss some of the opportunities to just ‘be’.

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Dan Miller is President of The Business Source, founder of “48 Days” and author of 48 Days To The Work You Love and 48 Days To Creative Income. For more information, visit http://www.48days.com/.

(11/28/07)

Photo Friday – Franklin Confederate Monument

The following description of the Confederate Monument appeared in the November 30, 1899, issue of The Williamson County News.

The monument consists of a heavy stone foundation, above which rises, in three steps, the granite platform. On the north-east face of the second step are sculptured, in relief, crossed rifles. Above, on the third step, are the words “Our Confederate Soldier” in bold lettering. Above the platform is a square die, with polished faces and inverted cannon at the angles. Above the die is an ornamental cap, its upper edge cut in the form of battlements and surmounted by a row of sculptured cannon balls. From this cap rises the tall shaft, on the north-east face of which is chiseled a beautiful Confederate banner. Above the shaft is the elaborate capital, carved and battlemented; and crowning all stands the marble figure of a Confederate Soldier at “parade rest.”

The four faces of the die bear the following inscriptions:

On the first, toward the north-east, in which direction the statue faces:
“Erected to Confederate Soldiers by Franklin Chapter No. 14, Daughters of the Confederacy Nov. 30, A. D. 1899″

On the reverse:
“In honor and memory of our heroes, both private and chief, of the Southern Confederacy. No country ever had truer sons, no cause nobler champions,
no people bolder defenders, than the brave soldiers to whose memory this stone is erected.”

On the south face, looking up Main street:
“We who saw them and knew them well are witnesses to the coming ages of their valor and fidelity; tried and true, glory-crowned. 1861 – 1865″

On the reverse of the Monument:
“Would not it be a shame for us
If their memory part from our land and hearts,
And a wrong them to and a shame to us.
The glories they won shall not wane for us.
In legend and lay, our Heroes in Grey
Shall ever live over again for us.”

The monument is thirty-seven feet, eight inches in height and is of Vermont granite, except the statue. This is six feet high and is of Carrara marble. It represents a Confederate Soldier with slouched hat, service uniform and rifle, standing at “parade rest.”