Artists of Off the Beaten Path cordially invite you to their 16th Annual Studio Tour, which takes place October 23-25, from 10:00 to 5:00 in and around DeKalb County.
Take a drive through beautiful fall foliage as you tour 14 artist’s studios, watch demonstrations, buy handcrafted fine art and craft, and chat with more than 25 artists about their work and processes. Of the 14 different stops on the tour this year, there are three new stops in addition to six “visiting artists” participating, making for a wide-variety of contemporary fine-craft to see and purchase.
Some of the finest artistry and craftsmanship in the region will be represented in a wide-variety of artistic media: rake pottery, hand-blown glass, ceramics, handmade paper & books, reclaimed jewelry, sterling silver jewelry with semi-precious stones, woodturnings, architectural ceramics, women wearables, furniture, large-scale pulp painted canvases, ethnic-inspired dolls, and original paintings.
There is something for everyone at this family friendly event. Don’t miss this great opportunity to tour Tennessee’s beautiful autumn back-roads and support your local artists. For a printable tour map, list of artists on the tour and more information about Off the Beaten Path, visit www.offthebeatenpathtour.com

As part of its community outreach ministry, the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church is again sponsoring a drive thru mobile food pantry Saturday morning, October 10 rain or shine.
In partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, the church plans to prepare enough food boxes to serve up to 300 families regardless of their income status, on a first come, first served basis. Families will receive enough food to last them for a full week. The church held its first mobile food pantry in April and it was a great success.
Second Harvest will bring in pallets of food on trucks. The food will then be off loaded and organized in preparation for the distribution.
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and the food will be delivered from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Unlike most food distributions, those being served by the mobile pantry will not have to get out of their automobiles. They will drive thru in a pickup line and volunteers will deliver the food directly to their vehicles, placing the food boxes either in the back seat or trunk. Cars will line up facing north on College Street across from the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
“It’s a mobile food pantry but it’s also a drive thru. The recipients will stay in their cars. They will line up starting at 8:00 a.m. on College Street and when we have everything prepared and organized we’ll start the line moving, hopefully around 9:00 a.m. Recipients will drive through. As they enter in we’ll have a team there to put a box of food in their cars, either in their back seat or trunk,” said spokesperson Teresa Trapp Brown.
“We will line up right across from the church (Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church) on College Street. We’ll start registration at 8:00 a.m. We’ll need the name of the recipients and how many families are being served. We’re limited to two families per vehicle to make sure we have enough food,” added Isaac Gray, Minister of the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Others who wish to volunteer may show up Saturday or call for more information at 615-464-7896

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital, along with the local schools and civic organizations, are bringing awareness to this important topic in various ways throughout the month of October. A county-wide ‘Pink-Out’ is scheduled for Friday, October 16th where the public, county schools, and businesses are encouraged to wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness and our fight against all forms of cancer. The public is invited to gather on the Smithville Courthouse steps for a media photo in support of breast cancer awareness. County schools are participating in a ‘pink’ jack-o-lantern contest sponsored by Saint Thomas DeKalb and Saint Thomas Stones River Hospitals, and various businesses and organizations have agreed to take the ‘Pinky Swear Dare’ – painting their pinky nails pink throughout the month of October after pledging to get regular mammograms after the age of forty.
“We would like to thank the community and local schools for making last year’s Pink-tober events so very successful,” said Shan Burklow- Marketing Director for Saint Thomas DeKalb and Saint Thomas Stones River Hospitals, “We look forward to an even greater response for 2015. I am humbled by the wonderful and caring people who have volunteered their time to help us spread the word about the importance of early detection and mammograms in the fight against breast cancer. This is such an ugly disease and it has touched everyone in some way. Take this month to remind your friends and family of the importance of weekly self-exams and annual mammograms after forty. Early detection is so very important in the fight against cancer. Hundreds of people across Tennessee have taken the ‘Pinky Swear Dare’ posting photos of their manicure on FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter and we hope that hundreds more participate before the month’s end.”
For more ways that your family, business or organization can support the fight against breast cancer, go to www.cancer.org or contact Shan Burklow: shan.burklow@sth.org
Pictured: Erica Jenkins shows off her pink painted pinkies in support of the ‘Pinky Swear Dare’ for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The body of a man of unknown age at this time was found in the backseat of a car in the parking lot of Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital early this morning. (Wednesday).
The vehicle was still running when the discovery was made by hospital staff.
The incident was reported at 2:17 a.m.
According to a prepared statement by Captain Steven Leffew, “On Wednesday, October 7 at approximately 2:17 a.m. the Smithville Police Department was dispatched to Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital in regards to a deceased body being found in the backseat of a vehicle in the parking lot. The death was deemed to be of a suspicious nature. District Attorney Bryant Dunaway along with investigators from the District Attorney’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene.
This case remains under investigation at this time. “I would like to thank CEO Sue Conley and the staff of Saint Thomas-DeKalb Hospital for their cooperation and hospitality during this investigation” added Captain Leffew.

An 18 year old DeKalb County man was sentenced last week in Warren County Circuit Court for allegedly trying to arrange a sexual encounter over the Internet with an underage girl.
Mickael Flyn Mosley of Fisher Avenue, Smithville received a four year term but will serve only two months after pleading guilty to exploitation of a minor by electronic means and solicitation of a minor for reasons of statutory rape. He must also list his name with the Tennessee Sexual Offender Registry.
According to McMinnville Police who investigated the case, Mosley was communicating with the girl through social media when he tried to get her to meet him to have sex. The girl is under thirteen years of age. The girl’s mother, who had installed an application on her computer to monitor the daughter’s on line messages, reported the incident to police after the conversations between her daughter and Mosley were sent to her email.
Police confronted Mosley at his home in DeKalb County. He was questioned and reportedly confessed to planning a meeting with the girl.

Smithville Elementary is asking you to help the school win a new playground.
Although most of the existing playground areas at the school are in good condition, Assistant Principal Anita Puckett said one asphalt section has not been upgraded in more than forty years.
“We have three different playground areas. The playground and the place where we have the swing areas and slides, those are fine. My big concern is this asphalt that has been here since I was a student back in the 70’s. It’s very dated. There are tree roots growing up underneath it (pavement) and it’s very dangerous. We have children who sustain a lot of boo boos, skinned knees, and hurt body parts due to this asphalt being so outdated and unlevel. I want us to have a cork court. Basically it’s material much like cork board. It doesn’t retain water but it will allow our playground to be updated and more safe especially for special needs children,” said Puckett.
“We have special needs students who are in wheel chairs and those who can’t physically walk on this unlevel asphalt. The cork court will allow them (special needs students) to be able to get down on their hands and knees and be able to play on the cork court and do some interaction with their teachers. We would also like to get some new basketball goals and just have a place for kids to learn basic skills in PE such as hopping, skipping, and things like that on the new court,” she said.
Members of the community can help by visiting the Smithville Elementary School website at http://ses.dekalbschools.net/ and voting online for a chance to obtain new playground equipment at “Together Counts” and “Imagination Playground”.
“We’ve got two different things on our website. One of them is “Together Counts” which is a $30,000 grant that can help us with our vision of getting this cork court to renovate our playground,” Puckett said.
“Another is “Imagination Playground”. It’s just a unique kind of foam with blue type shapes that are kind of like Legos that kids can use their imagination and play with,” she added.
How to vote?
“Basically this is just an online vote where parents, teachers, and anyone in the community can go online and vote for our school. Just go to the Smithville Elementary School website at http://ses.dekalbschools.net/ and click on the links. Type in your email. Once you have voted it will store your email. You confirm your email each day and that counts as your vote,” said Puckett.
Smithville Elementary School serves almost 600 students in pre-k through second grade.