Leadership Knoxville has announced its 2020 class. I know about one-third of those chosen.
Justin Bailey: My friend from Powell and a key corporate partner in www.KnoxTNToday.com. Justin bought his parents’ company, Knoxville Realty, and rebranded to Bailey & Co. Real Estate. I’m in awe of his calm demeanor in a chaotic industry, and his risk-taking in opening a West Knox office this year.
Nancy McBee Nevader: Nancy has raised so much money for schools (Shannondale, Gresham, Central High) that when her daughter graduates, the schools will have to find 10 people to replace her. Until Nancy McBee Nevader, school foundations happened in West Knox. She brought them North and made them fun.
And no, I don’t plan to write a paragraph about everyone. But here’s a shout out to Debby Saraceni, VP for marketing and physician services at Covenant Health; Alisha Hinton, principal at Sequoyah Elementary School; Gwen McKenzie, CVS executive and member of Knoxville City Council; Mike Odom, new president/CEO of the Knoxville Chamber; and Sheriff Tom Spangler.
Jenny Pickell
Very sad to learn of the death of Jenny Pickell, 30. Jenny was a Shopper intern a decade and a half ago – one of the kids who put a reporter’s pad in hand to tour Knoxville, meet important people and visit unusual places. It was sort of a mini-leadership Knoxville program. We had over 100 kids over the years, but Jenny Pickell stood out for her kindness, creativity and friendliness.
One day we walked out of the Knoxville Visitors’ Center after attending the Blue Plate Special with live music. One of the kids (not Jenny) said, “Wow. I didn’t know this was here.” I thought she meant the Visitors’ Center. She meant downtown.
Mailers
That which does not kill us makes us stronger, said Friedrich Nietzsche. And I’m starting to feel that way about our mailers. Carol Springer and I produced a newspaper every Sunday forever; now we do six a year and each one almost kills us. That said, our West Hills/Bearden paper will reach mailboxes this Wednesday. Hope you enjoy.
We’ve got an October mailer that will hit 10,000 homes in the Northshore/Choto area (ZIP 37922) and a mid-November mailer to Farragut (37934). Anyone who wants to reach these folks, give me a call at 865-661-8777.
Sandra Clark write this Monday blog about the website, what we’re doing and how that’s going. Email her at sandra.clark@knoxtntoday.com.