From Armory to Free Medical Clinic

An army of volunteers and donors is turning the old National Guard Armory at 1790 Oak Ridge Turnpike into an expanded Free Medical Clinic (FMC). Founded in 2010 by Dr. John and Mary Lou Auxier, the current clinic has outgrown its space. This YouTube video shows the transformation.

FMC was one of six agencies to share in a $1.75 million grant from the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences. The grants enable providers to close health care gaps in rural communities statewide.

Free Medical Clinic is a no-charge medical, dental, mental health, vision, women’s health, community health and engagement center that serves the rural and minority working poor of Anderson, Morgan and Roane counties.

Community Champions come together around a shared mission:

  • City of Oak Ridge
  • Tennessee College of Applied Technology of Harriman
  • The Oak Ridge National Lab / UT Battelle
  • CNS Y12
  • Covenant Health (Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge)
  • Roane State Community College
  • MCL, INC.
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints
  • TN Department of Health

More champions are needed for $1 to $100,000. Become an FMC partner here.

“A strong community is built when people are given a place to come together in the service of something larger than themselves. FMC provides that place – a welcoming, purpose-driven home where community members, and especially medical professionals, can use their skills to make a real difference in the lives of their neighbors. More than a clinic, it is a hub of compassion where volunteers find meaning, connection and the opportunity to turn care into action.” Join our team here.

Sanders joins Pinnacle Financial

Austin Sanders

Austin Sanders has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a trust portfolio manager in the Northshore office. He joins Pinnacle from First Horizon, where he most recently served as a senior portfolio manager. His expertise includes asset allocation, portfolio construction, performance analysis and regulatory compliance.

Sanders holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Oklahoma and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

New poet laureate in Oak Ridge

John Mannone

John C. Mannone has been selected by the city of Oak Ridge as its next honorary poet laureate, following approval by the city council on March 9, 2026. Mannone will serve a two-year term.

Mannone succeeds Poet Laureate Rose Weaver. Selected upon recommendation from the Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Selection Committee, Mannone is widely recognized for his contributions to poetry and education.

“A former teacher at Career Magnet Academy and an active member of the Tennessee Mountain Writers Guild, he has dedicated much of his career to promoting spoken word poetry and mentoring emerging writers,” said Oak Ridge Public Library Director Julie Forkner.

Mannone is the author of five full-length books of poetry and six chapter books, and has published more than 1,400 poems. Info here.

In Memoriam: Bill Thomas found an aptitude for insurance

William Thomas

The man who built TIS (Tennessee Insurance Services Inc.) into a regional powerhouse, William Morgan “Bill” Thomas, has died. He was 82. The 6-6 young man was a standout basketball player at West High School in Knoxville. He went on to the University of Tennessee and graduated in 1964 with a degree in business.

Bill and his wife, Sharon Kelly Thomas, had two sons: Morgan and Reese.

In 1964, despite being told after an aptitude test that he would never succeed as an insurance salesman, Bill joined Tennessee Insurance Service Inc., a company founded by his mother and father in 1945. Over the next six decades, Bill grew TIS from a small local agency with three employees into one of the largest independently owned insurance brokers in the country.

He was inducted into the East Tennessee Business Hall of Fame in 2006. Bill was a member of Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church and Cherokee Country Club. On Saturdays, after spending the morning at his office, he loved joining his friends for lunch and to watch sports in the Trophy Room at Cherokee. His full obituary is here.

Notes & Quotes

Halls BPA’s annual Prayer Breakfast will be 7:30 a.m. on Good Friday, April 3, 2026, at Beaver Dam Baptist Church, 4328 E. Emory Road, Knoxville. The speaker will be Pastor Allen James, Salem Baptist Church. Tickets are $20 with table sponsorships available. Info: Judy McMahan, 865-257-1334 or Dallas Love, 865-705-8804.

Remote Area Medical’s pop-up clinic offering free dental, vision and medical services to the Harriman and surrounding communities is set for two days only, April 11-12. All services are free, no ID required and on a first-come, first-served basis, until capacity is reached. Learn more here.

Quote: “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep, and we know it.”    — Hal Borland