Park Rangers with the US Army Corps of Engineers and members of the boating public at Center Hill Lake will participate in “Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Day!” The event will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 20 at the Buffalo Valley Recreation Area. Throughout North America, participants will simultaneously inflate their life jackets to set an unprecedented world record.
The public is invited to bring life jackets to help set the world record for inflating life jackets. Everyone wearing any type of life jacket will be included. This is a great kickoff to Safe Boating Week May 22-28 2010.
New innovations and developments in life jackets have produced a smaller, sleeker, and much more comfortable version of a life jacket.
“Inflatable life jackets are cool and comfortable,” said Acting Resource Manager Gregg Nivens. “We’re drawing attention to the importance of wearing a life jacket and to practice safety, courtesy and common sense on the lake.”
This World Record Day will help to usher in National Safe Boating Week, this year May 22 – 28, 2010. The day is being held in cooperation with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the National Safe Boating Council. More information is available at www.readysetinflate.com.
The goal of National Safe Boating Week is to educate and inform the boating public about boating safety, specifically life jackets. During National Safe Boating Week and throughout the boating season:
·Expect the unexpected. Wear your life jacket.
·Stay alert and aware. Avoid drinking and operating a boat.
.Keep a proper lookout – watch out for the “other guy.”
·Use courtesy and common sense.
·Learn to swim. Swim with a buddy.
·Swim in designated areas close to shore. Distances on the water are farther than they look.
·If your boat capsizes, stay with the boat. It will usually partially float, making rescue easier.
·Take a safe boating course

Right before spring break in late March, students at the three county-area elementary schools received a visit from a very special guest. Ollie Otter, Tennessee’s booster seat and seat belt safety mascot, visited the school to promote the use of booster seats. Ollie’s program also encourages students to wear their seat belts and to raise awareness about roadway construction site safety. Ollie’s slogan for the students is, “Under 4’9”- it’s Booster Time!” The 30-minute broadcast will air on MyDTC3-Channel 3, on Tues., May 18, 7 pm; Thurs., May 20, 1 pm; and Sat., May 22, 1 pm.
Ollie was joined by volunteers from the DCHS journalism staff to help increase booster seat and seat belt usage among Tennessee’s elementary school children. Presenting the program to second, third and fourth grade students at Northside Elementary, Smithville Elementary and DeKalb West schools were high school staff members: Elicia Cantrell, Marissa Garmer, Sabrina Griffin, Nick Hale and Lucas LaPrad (actors), Chelsea Holden, Brittany Malone, Raul Narvaez, Kelly Cubbins, Haley Snyder and Katie Stutts (press, photos and video). Donna Emmons, journalism teacher/adviser, helped coordinate the safety education events in the county elementary schools.
The program is sponsored by several organizations, including the Tennessee Transportation Development Foundation (TTDF) – a non-profit group established by the Tennessee Road Builders Association- and the TRBA Ladies Auxiliary. The statewide safety education program has made presentations in all 95 counties in Tennessee and is now crossing state borders.
“Our goal is to try to educate children through the Ollie Otter program about Tennessee’s child restraint law,” said Carol Coleman, chairperson of the TTDF. “Hopefully, children will encourage their caregivers, or whoever is driving them around, to make better safety decisions. Ollie needs help from everyone to make a difference to save children’s lives on our Tennessee highways. It is up to us all.”
DeKalb elementary school principals, Dr. Gayle Redmon, Northside, Dr. Bill Tanner, Smithville Elementary and Danny Parkerson, DeKalb West, agree. “I learned something new today,” Redmon said. “Almost all our students in second and third grade at Northside will need to ride in a booster seat to really be safe.”
The Ollie Otter program communicates that Tennessee state law requires the use of a booster seat until a child is 4-feet-9 inches tall or nine years old. An orange and white construction barrel, representing Ollie’s home, is on display to teach the children the importance of roadway safety near construction work zones. The children were told to ask their parents to “Please slow down!” when they see construction barrels or road builders on the roads.
With the help of the Tennessee Highway Patrol and local law enforcement, the children were also taught about “Belts to Bones”, and what parts of the body the seat belt should hit when properly buckled up- the collarbone, the sternum, and the hipbone. The fully costumed Ollie Otter character encourages children to wear their seat belts and educates them about Tennessee’s booster seat law. Volunteers from the crowd were also measured to show the students the height differences between those who need to be in a booster seat and those who don’t.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008, the use of seat belts in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 13,250 lives. The use of booster seats compared to the use of adult seat belts alone lowers the risk of injury to children in crashes by fifty-nine percent.
The Ollie Otter program is implemented by a network of statewide volunteers who work through the Tennessee Technological University BusinessMedia Center in Cookeville to coordinate the presentations. The unprecedented educational safety campaign was launched in December of 2006, and continues to grow daily.
“The program is growing strong and we are all very excited about its expansion. Moving into the other states, such as Mississippi, creates more opportunities for Ollie to spread his message about booster seat and seat belt safety. Statistics show that booster seat usage is improving, which is what our goal is,” said Julie Brewer, program coordinator with the TTU Business Media Center. “The familiarity of the program has grown so that children and the community recognize Ollie and his message when he goes to a school or community event.”
To prepare volunteers to conduct the in-school presentations and perform as the costumed Ollie Otter, an online training course has been developed by the TTU Business Media Center through the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Continuing Education program. ROCE hosts the user-friendly online course and certifies the completion of the class.
The Ollie Otter program uses educational materials, such as measuring posters, bookmarks, and an interactive Web site, to inform children and their caregivers nationwide about seat belt and booster seat safety.
To sign up as a volunteer, to schedule a visit from Ollie, or to learn more about Tennessee’s booster seat and seat belt safety campaign, visit www.seatbeltvolunteer.org.
(Top Photo: Under 4-foot 9, It’s Booster Time: Students at DeKalb West School line up to be measured to use either a booster seat or a seat belt by Ollie the Otter and DCHS journalism student volunteer Elicia Cantrell)
(Center Photo: Smithville Elementary students help Ollie lead the Ollie Cheer during the “Under 4-foot 9, It’s Booster Time” presentation by volunteers from the DCHS journalism staff)
(Bottom Photo: Northside students learn about car and road safety from Ollie the Otter and DCHS journalism student volunteers Marissa Garmer, Elicia Cantrell and Sabrina Griffin)

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department charged two men last week with driving under the influence.
33 year old Gary Ashford of Goodner Lane, Alexandria was arrested Monday, May 10th for a second offense of driving under the influence and simple possession.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says a deputy found Ashford in his vehicle parked in the roadway on Snow Hill Road Dowelltown. While speaking with him, the officer noticed that Ashford had a smell of an alcoholic beverage on his person. Ashford also had red blood shot eyes and he was very unsteady on his feet. Ashford submitted to field sobriety tasks which he failed. At times, the officer had to assist Ashford in keeping his balance while walking. Ashford admitted to drinking alcohol and taking prescription drugs together. Upon an inventory of Ashford’s vehicle, a marijuana cigarette was found in the console. Bond for Ashford was set at $3,000 and he will appear in court on June 16th.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, May 11th a detective spotted a vehicle on Midway Road Smithville driving erraticly. After stopping the vehicle, the detective found the driver, 44 year old, Tony J. Reeder to be under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. Reeder had an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and he was very unsteady on his feet. Reeder submitted to field sobriety tasks which he failed. Reeder was arrested and charged with a seventh offense of driving under the influence.
According to Sheriff Ray, Reeder had been convicted here in DeKalb County for driving under the influence on the dates of March 21st, 1984, April 11th, 1984, December 14th, 1994, and August 25th, 2006. He was also convicted of driving under the influence on August 28th, 1990 in Haywood County and on October 13th, 1997 in the state of Kentucky.
Bond for Reeder was set at $10,000 and he will appear in court on the charges May 27th.

A fire Friday afternoon destroyed a home on Carter Street in Smithville belonging to Ray and Joan Underwood.
The Underwoods, who had been living at this residence, had temporarily relocated while they were having the home renovated. They had planned to move back in once the renovation was completed.
A family member says that Mr. Underwood had begun mowing the yard on Thursday but had not finished. When he returned on Friday, Mr. Underwood opened the door to the garage and discovered that the riding mower had a fuel leak. Shortly after he entered the garage, a gas water heater inside the garage apparently ignited the fumes, causing an explosion and subsequent fire.
Underwood reportedly received minor burns and was checked out at the scene by DeKalb EMS.
Members of the Main Station, Cookeville Highway Station, and the Short Mountain Highway Station responded along with the department’s tanker truck.
(Photo provided by Callie Matthews)

A fire destroyed two houseboats and damaged another Sunday night at Center Hill Marina at Cove Hollow on Center Hill Lake. The marina itself was not damaged.
Central dispatch received the call at 7:29 p.m.
The fire apparently started on one of the houseboats which was docked at the “B” pier of the marina. The owner of the boat, who had been on board, left a pan of grease heating up on the stove while he went fishing off the pier. When the man returned to the boat, he found it mostly engulfed in flames. The fire also spread to boats on either side of the burning houseboat, destroying one and causing minor damage to the other. A dog on one of the boats also perished in the blaze.
The marina’s maintenance manager cut loose other boats in danger that were tied to the dock along the pier and he made sure persons on board those boats were alerted so they could safely evacuate.
Among those responding to the fire were members of the DeKalb County Fire Department’s Main station and the Liberty and Temperance Hall Stations. The department used it’s fire boat to gain better access. Officers of the TWRA were also on the scene along with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and DeKalb EMS.
One of the firefighters became overheated while fighting the fire requiring treatment on site. The marina’s maintenance manager also suffered a minor shoulder injury.

A total of 170 students at DeKalb County High School will receive their diplomas during graduation exercises Friday, May 21st at 7:00 p.m. on the high school football field.
The program will feature remarks by the Valedictorian, Hunter Tramel, the Class President, Amanda Ours and Guest speaker Michael Burt, a championship coach, motivational speaker, leadership expert, author, and culture builder.
The prestigious White Rose and Citizenship Awards will also be presented to three outstanding members of the class. Diplomas will be presented to each graduate by Director of Schools Mark Willoughby. The DCHS Chorus is also expected to perform.
The honor students will be recognized including the 2010 Valedictorian Hunter Tramel and the Salutatorian Wesley Blair.
Students among the top twenty five senior academic ranking from numbers one to twenty five are as follows: Hunter Tramel, Wesley Blair, Grant James, Caleb Spencer, Meagan Sullivan, Hunter Poteete, Seth Willoughby, Amanda Ours, Reddy Munagala, Cynthia Woodward, Tyler Harbaugh, Tiffany Young, Haley Snyder, Erica Neely, Jared Adams, Dakota Dexter, Payne Denman, Nicholas Goff, Caroline Carter, Kendra Foutch, Kyle Hogue, Jessica Fox, Lindsey Harden, Austin Garrett, and Gabrielle Byford.
Students earning “Highest Distinction” with a grade point average of 3.8 to 4.0 include
Hunter Tramel-Valedictorian 4.0, Wesley Blair- Salutatorian 4.0, Grant James 4.0, Erica Neely 4.0, Hunter Poteete 4.0, Caleb Spencer 4.0, Meagan Sullivan 4.0, Seth Willoughby 4.0, Cynthia Woodward 4.0, Jared Adams, Caroline Carter, Payne Denman, Dakota Dexter, Kendra Foutch, Jessica Fox, Austin Garrett, Nicholas Goff, Tyler Harbaugh, Kyle Hogue, Reddy Munagala, Amanda Ours, Haley Snyder, and Tiffany Young
Students earning “High Distinction” with a grade point average of 3.6 to 3.79 include Gabrielle Byford, Axyl Chalfant, Tyler Dunaway, Kayla Ellis, Sabrina Griffin, Lindsey Harden, Katie Nixon, and Katelyn Stutts.
Those earning “Distinction” with a grade point average of 3.2 to 3.59 include Paulina Alfaro, Matthew Antoniak, Reeves Beller, Elicia Cantrell, Samantha Coe, Rachel Cunningham, Brandon Dyer, Abram Edwards, Whitney Gann, Jaylen Garrett, Jessica Goldstein, April Hale, Ethan Hale, Stephanie Hobbs, Conner Jones, Sasha Knowles, Abigail Laprad, Layne Mathis, Tyler McCloud, Brad Michaels, Travis Neal, Zachary Odom, Morgan Page, Micah Prichard, Kristian Puckett, Myra Tramel, and Joseph Vickers.
Members of the DCHS Class of 2010 are as follows:
Jared Adams, Angela Alfaro, Paulina Alfaro, Schuylar Allen, Taylor Allen, Matthew Antoniak, Nathan Armour, Brandon Atnip, and Corey Atnip,
Autumn Banks, Reeves Beller, Lance Bennett, Wesley Blair, Hillary Bowman, Michael Briley, Brittany Brown, Natasha Burrage, Gabrielle Byford,
Jade Cade, Ashly Caldwell, Elicia Cantrell, Macey Cantrell, Caroline Carter, Axyl Chalfant, Mindy Chrisman, Holly Cikalo, Dakota Clark, Samantha Coe, Britany Collier, Matthew Collier, John D. Crutcher, Jordan Crutcher, Rachel Cunningham, Jodi Curtis,
Kandi Davenport, Michael Davenport, Ethan Davis, Payne Denman, Dakota Dexter, Ryan Dodd, Tyler Dunaway, Brandon Dyer,
Abram Edwards, Kayla Ellis,
Allen Faux, Kendra Foutch, Jessica Fox, Cody Fults,
Whitney Gann, Austin Garrett, Jaylen Garrett, Juan Godinez, Nicholas Goff, Jessica Goldstein, Sabrina Griffin,
Brandon Haas, Megan Hackett, Travis Hagan, April Hale, Ethan Hale, Tavisha Hall, Tyler William Harbaugh, Lindsey JoAnn Harden, Kirsten Nichole Hardison, Rebecca Lee Haynes, Ashley Breanna Hendrixson, Mizael Hernandez, Michael Austen Highers, Aaron E. Hines, Stephanie Hobbs, Daryl Lindsay Hobby, Kyle Patrick Hogue, Christopher Garrett Hoke, Chelsea Lee Holden, Kayla Dawn Hubbard,
Grant James, Bethany Nichol Johnson, Cody A. Johnson, Travon Aki Johnson, Conner Jones,
Colby Mason Kelnhofer, Tyler Kemp, Sasha Suzanne Knowles, Daniel Kosirog,
Kimberly Ann Lanier, Abigail Laprad, Heather Nicole Lee, John W. Licht, Chelsye Janae Linder,
Ryan Macy, Mark Mason, Jessica Lauren Matthews, Layne Thomas Mathis, Talisha Mathis, Ethan Matthews, Tyler McCloud, Shaun McGinnis, Heather Melton, Brad Michaels, Lyndsey Miller, Joseph Miller, Ross Moore, Kane Morgan, Frank Morris, Veronica Mullins, Tejaswi Munagala,
Jesus Narvaez, Kayla Neal, Travis Neal, Zachary Neal, Erica Neely, Katie Nixon, Jenna Norris,
William Odom, Zachary Odom, Lizabeth Oliva, Andrea Ottinger, Amanda Ours, Ashley Owen,
Brian Pack, Morgan Page, Piyush Patel, Carlos Perez, Jonathan Plattenburg, Hunter Poteete, Sarah Price, Micah Prichard, Brandon Puckett, Kristian Puckett, Salvador Puentes, Brandon Pyles,
Raul Ramirez, Chandler Robinson, Casey Rowland,
Joi Satterfield, Anthony Schellingburger, Tiffani Scott, Jason Singleton, Eddie Lee Smith, Haley Snyder, Hilda Soto, Caleb Spencer, Kristina Stephens, Britta Strayn, John Strayn, Andrea Stringer, Katelyn Stutts, Meagan Sullivan, Dustin Summers, Jesse Sutton,
Corey Tate, Nicole Taylor, Vanessa Taylor, Kyle Thomas, Nathaniel Tippens, Jaime Torres, Hunter Tramel, Myra Tramel, Joshua Tyree,
Justin Vandergriff, Katelyn Vanwinkle, Joseph Vickers,
Ashley Waggoner, Jessica Walden, Daniel Watts, Tyler Weatherby, Tiffany Wheeler, Seth Willoughby, Cynthia Woodward,
Tiffany Young