The Community Chorus will make a return appearance during the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival Friday evening.
With the theme “What’s Right with America”, the chorus will be performing a variety of patriotic songs in a special tribute to military veterans and fallen soldiers. Again this year, adults and children alike will be singing in the chorus.
(VIEW VIDEO CLIP OF A PORTION OF THE COMMUNITY CHORUS PERFORMANCE AT THE FIDDLERS JAMBOREE LAST YEAR)

The program begins at approximately 6 p.m. on Friday from the Jamboree stage. You can also catch a rehearsal performance on Thursday evening, June 29 at Evins Park behind city hall and across from the post office from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Then immediately after, Mary Anne’s Cloggers will be performing from 6:30 to 7 PM. Bring your own chair and come enjoy seeing our local folks perform.

Eight members of the DeKalb County Fire Department graduated from the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Training Academy’s LIVE Burn Firefighter I class that was held Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25.
Captain Brian Williams said this 16-hour course required students to demonstrate skills needed to extinguish a passenger vehicle fire attack, exterior Class A fire attack, interior structure fire attack, commercial buildings and ground cover fire attack. “We are extremely proud of these recent graduates. Today, our department stands better prepared to respond to emergencies because of the high standards for training we set for our firefighters,” said Captain Williams
Photo Pic Left to Right
Luke Green
Travis Checchi
Victor Roller
Kyle Devers
Rachel Checchi
Ricky Edwards
Blake Reffue
Bill Brown

The 19th annual Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run, sponsored by Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County will be Saturday, July 1. All proceeds from the race will be used in building another Habitat for Humanity home in DeKalb County.
The race will begin promptly at 7:00 a.m. RAIN OR SHINE. The course will continue along the same path as last year beginning and ending on Church Street in Downtown Smithville.
“We’re in year 19. We had a race back then when there were not a lot of races around. The Fiddler 5K is really a fun race. It’s very festive. People dress up in patriotic colors. Lots of families come out for the race. We encourage everyone to come out and join the fun with us. We have a good time. Be a part of it or come out and cheer the runners on. Its an exciting way to start your Saturday morning,” said Race Director Tecia Puckett Pryor.
Anybody who is interested in participating either in the one mile fun run or the 5K may go to www.fiddler5k.com where you’ll find a printable registration form that provides all the details of registration and a link to online registration.
(CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW REGISTRATION FORM)http://www.fiddler5k.com/pdf/2017Fiddler5KRegistrationForm.pdf
The deadline for online pre-registration is midnight Wednesday, June 28 and paper registrations must be submitted no later than Monday, June 26.
“You may mail in the registrations to our P.O. Box 750 or you may drop them off by Monday afternoon, June 26 at my law office at 312 West Broad Street next to Griffin’s Fruit Market,” said Pryor.
Participants may sign up on race day, July 1 starting at 6:00 a.m. in the parking lot of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home but it costs a little more. The cost of race day registration is $30 and $25 for those age 18 and younger. For early registration it’s $25 for adults age 19 and older and for youth its $20 for ages 18 and younger.
“A perk of pre-registration is that you can show up on Friday night, June 30 from 5-7 p.m. at the Smithville First Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center and pick up your packet which includes your bib and t-shirt. That way you don’t have to get up quite as early on Saturday morning to check in. But you can check in as early as 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning if you pre-register,” Pryor continued.
“For our awards, we give an overall male award and a female award for the fastest runners. We also give a Masters award which is for the fastest male and female age 40 and older. We present the top three awards in the age categories of nine and younger, and then go up from there in five year increments. We give ribbons for those categories. For the Fun Run, we only give awards for children who are age twelve and younger. We give overall awards for male and female and then we do the top three. Everybody gets a nice ribbon and the overall winners get medals,” she said
The course is certified, chip timed and professionally managed by Tennessee Race Timing of Cookeville. Pre-registered participants will receive a commemorative t-shirt. Sponsors of the t-shirts are Wilson Bank & Trust, First Bank, Stonehaus Winery, Janney & Associates CPA, Los Lobos Mexican Restaurant, Federal Mogul, Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church, DeKalb Dental Center, and Glenda Davis CPA.
Funds raised through the Fiddler 5K support Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County. “All the money that we raise goes to Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County. We are in the process of selecting a new partner family and putting them in a home, which should occur this year. This money goes to a great cause,” said Pryor.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will be participating in Operation Dry Water, June 30-July 2. Operation Dry Water is a national weekend of Boating Under the Influence (BUI) awareness and enforcement campaign directed toward reducing alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities.
Operation Dry Water is held the weekend prior to the Independence Day (July 4) holiday to give BUI enforcement high visibility during the peak boating season. The TWRA is teaming with the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). Operation Dry Water was started by the NASBLA in 2009.
TWRA boating officers will saturate high traffic areas on reservoirs across the state. Along with the use of life jackets and other safety practices, officers want boaters to be aware of the effects and ramifications of alcohol use. The TWRA will be intensifying efforts to detect and apprehend boat operators who are operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
In 2016 during Operation Dry Water, there were 10 boating under the influence (BUI) arrests across the state. TWRA boating officers checked more than 4,000 vessels, issued 175 citations, 113 warnings, and assisted 94 boaters. There were four injury accidents and three property damage accidents reported.
Operating a boat with a Blood Alcohol Content of .08 percent or higher is illegal in Tennessee, the same as operating a motor vehicle. Penalties may include fines, jail, boat impoundment and the loss of boat driving privileges.
Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in recreational boater deaths. Sun, wind, noise, vibration and motion intensify the effects of alcohol, drugs and some medications.
For more information on Operation Dry Water, visit www.operationdrywater.org.

Members of the DeKalb Middle School Junior Beta Club departed by charter bus today (Saturday) on a trip to the National Convention at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The club punched its ticket to Nationals after winning first place at the State Convention in November for their anti-bullying drama presentation called “Be the Change”.
The National Convention is underway now through Wednesday, June 28.
Josh Isaac, who wrote and choreographed the skit, said “Be the Change” sends a powerful message. Isaac spoke with WJLE in March. He is currently in the hospital and was unable to make the trip to Florida.
“I wanted to do something that was different but also something that put a message out there. What big of a message than bullying? That is something I think almost everyone can relate to at some time in their life. Social media bullying is something that is very much affecting all of our kids nowadays. We put this skit together. The kids came together. They really only had four to five practices which is an amazing feat in itself but we came together. I have never choreographed 48 kids together in my life. That was a little challenging but they worked hard and it paid off,” said Isaac.

“It’s called “Be the Change” and its basically about a group of kids bullying a girl. One of the kids steps out and says he doesn’t want to do that anymore and the choreography shows that. By one person changing it causes an affect on everyone. I feel like that is what we need in our schools and in our world because it just takes one to cause that affect for all,” he continued.

“The most exciting thing is about just sharing the message of this video “Be the Change”. Its going to be on a national level with a national stage. On the state level there were 8,000 people out there watching. This will be an even bigger place for us to show that everyone can make a difference,” he said.
Isaac said everyone associated with the club is thankful to the community for the financial donations and other support shown. “Our community has all come together to just be part of this, That’s a great thing about living in DeKalb County. Everyone rallies together” Isaac concluded.

Mayors in three of DeKalb’s four municipalities are asking that the county commission not force their cities to pay more for the cost of property reappraisals, an expense that the county could have been charging them for 28 years.
Although DeKalb County has never enforced it, a state law was passed in 1989 requiring municipalities that collect a city property tax to ante up more in the county’s costs of real property reappraisals and audits of personal property, unless an agreement is reached to waive the charge.
Mayors Jimmy Poss in Smithville, Dwight Mathis in Liberty, and Bennett Armstrong in Alexandria have sent letters to County Mayor Tim Stribling and to the County Commission asking that the county waive the fees saying they are struggling with their own budgets and that the proposed assessment fees are “unreasonable and unnecessary”.
Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell recently learned of the state law during a meeting of assessors and made County Mayor Stribling aware of it. Cantrell also shared what he learned with members of the county budget committee, the city mayors, and the entire county commission at Stribling’s request.
The county commission discussed the issue but took no action during its monthly meeting in May. However the county budget committee has recommended that projected revenue to be derived from the cities share be included in the 2017-18 budget which will be up for passage by the county commission in July. The county commission is expected to revisit the issue during its regular monthly meeting Monday night, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the courthouse.
In the letter, the mayors wrote, “We the mayors of the City of Smithville, Town of Liberty, and Town of Alexandria would like to state our opposition to a proposal requiring the towns to pay one half of the reappraisal dues within the town limits of each municipality. Each municipality feels that the attempt to collect this fee is both unreasonable and unnecessary. Each municipality is struggling with their own budgets and do not need another assessment for the citizens. Therefore we respectfully request that the county commission refrain from approving this reassessment fee against the towns,” the letter stated.
Under state law, local costs of reappraisal of real properties within a city shall be paid one half by the county and one half by the city, unless there is an agreement between the city and county to waive the fees. Any city paying one half of local costs of reappraisal shall pay those costs directly to the county government with jurisdiction over the property being reappraised and shall pay those costs during the fiscal year in which the reappraisal is finalized. The cities of Smithville, Alexandria, and Liberty would be affected since they collect city property taxes. Dowelltown does not have a city property tax rate and would not be affected.
State law also requires cities to be responsible for sharing in the county’s costs of contracted personal property audits.
Based on 2016 numbers, Smithville’s portion would be $14,718 for real property parcels and $1,514 for its share of personal property auditing. Liberty’s costs would be $1,295 ( real property parcels) and $6.00 (personal property auditing). Alexandria’s share would be $2,814 (real property parcels) and $20.00 (personal property auditing).
Under state law, cities have the option of paying the real property reappraisal costs on a yearly basis or in a lump sum in the fifth year of the reappraisal cycle.

The county has not yet received an official notice but has learned that the state has established a fair market value of $7,200 for the Cherry Hill Community Center property on Cookeville Highway.
County Mayor Tim Stribling briefed the county commission on the matter Thursday night during an all committees meeting at the courthouse. The issue is expected to be discussed again during the regular monthly meeting of the county commission Monday night, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the courthouse.
The excess land committee of the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Right of Way Division met in January and granted approval for the sale of the land clearing the way for the county’s outright ownership of the Cherry Hill Community Center property.
Although the state deeded the 0.24 acre site to DeKalb County in August, 1981, a restriction currently requires the county to use the property for public purposes. After taking control of the site in the 1980’s the county constructed the Cherry Hill Community Center there. In recent years community interest in the center has waned and the building is now in need of repairs. Members of the county commission have expressed an interest in either disposing of the property or leasing it.
In order to have the “public use” deed restriction removed and for the county to assume total control of the property, the county commission several months ago authorized County Mayor Stribling to file with the Tennessee Department of Transportation an application for “Conveyance of Interest of Surplus TDOT Right of Way”.
County Mayor Stribling explained that this process requests the state to ascertain the fair market value of the property should the county decide to purchase it.
“The committee has determined that the public use restriction can be released if fair market value is paid by the county. After all necessary approvals have been obtained you will be issued and executed a release of all restrictions,” according to a letter to the county from TDOT’s Right of Way Division.
“If we do buy the property at fair market value then that restriction for public use will be removed from the deed,” said County Mayor Stribling.
The county is not required to buy the property from the state.
In other business Monday night, the county commission will consider reappointing Genrose Davis, Jane Ramsey, and Bobby White to new three year terms on the DeKalb County Library Board. The commission will also act on a continuing budget and tax rate resolution to keep county government operating passed June 30 until the new budget is adopted for the 2017-18 fiscal year next month.
Trustee Sean Driver is also expected to give a report to the commission on property tax collections. As of Thursday, June 22, the DeKalb County Trustee’s Office had collected 96.43% of the $8.8 million in 2016 county property taxes to be collected for the year. That includes property, residential, commercial, personal, and public utility taxes.

The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners of the 2017 “Project Welcome Mat” in time for the Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival June 30 and July 1.
This year’s winners are as follows: People’s Choice – Middle Tennessee Natural Gas; Most Original –DeKalb Middle School ; and Best Worded- Liberty State Bank.
“We want to thank all the businesses and DeKalb Middle School for using their message signs to welcome Jamboree visitors. It’s vitally important to make sure that our guests know how appreciated and important they are,” said Suzanne Williams, Executive Director of the Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce.
Middle Tennessee Natural Gas received the Chamber’s “People’s Choice” award for helping to promote the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival with its message “Cloggers, Crafts, and Fiddlesticks, Welcome to Jamboree 46”.
The Chamber of Commerce presented the Jamboree Project Welcome Mat award for “Most Original” sign to DeKalb Middle School for the message “The Music, The Food, The Crafts…OOH WEE, Welcome to Our Jamboree”
The Chamber of Commerce presented the Project Welcome Mat’s “Best Worded” award to Liberty State Bank for the sign “Banjo Picks, Guitar Licks, & Fiddlin’ Sticks all at Jamboree 46”.

NHC Smithville recently obtained the highest customer satisfaction and highest employee satisfaction of all eleven NHC centers in the Central Region.
Customer satisfaction is an important measure in delivering high quality healthcare. Surveys are mailed out to patients and their families on a regular, year round basis to rate the care and services they or their loved one received. The surveys are returned anonymously to a third party vendor, MyInnerview, for analysis and summarization. NHC Smithville had the highest customer satisfaction for the month of April, and currently has the highest overall score for the past 12 month’s average.
“Having the highest customer satisfaction in our region is a significant accomplishment,” said Clint Hall, Administrator. “Our expectation is excellence, nothing less. Our partners work closely to make sure that we communicate effectively with our patients and families. And most importantly, we listen to our customers as they tell us what they hope to achieve and accomplish. We can then put together an effective plan to help them reach those goals.”
Employee satisfaction is also an important measure in delivering high quality healthcare. NHC refers to its employees as “partners”; because that is a more accurate description for the important role they serve in the organization. Surveys are completed anonymously via an online third party portal, Relias Learning, during the month of March. For this past survey period, over 100 employees completed the satisfaction survey.
“All of our partners, from housekeeping to nursing, therapy to dietary, recreation to medical records, maintenance, laundry, and administration, serve a vital function for our customers,” Hall said. “It takes a committed group of talented partners to make this organization run smoothly. We are a family who is committed to helping each other grow as professionals and as individuals. It is an honor and privilege to be a part of the NHC Smithville family.”
For more information about NHC Smithville, visit www.nhcsmithville.com or call (615) 597-4284.

Eighteen units of blood were collected during Wednesday’s “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” Blood Drive, an effort which could save or contribute to the well being of up to 54 lives.
More than $400 was raised for both the Smithville and Alexandria Senior Citizen Centers thanks to several local elected and appointed county officials who donated $2.00 for every blood donation collected to be divided equally between the two centers.
The drive was sponsored by Cookeville Blood Assurance and DeKalb County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss. All blood collected from the Cookeville Blood Assurance Center supplies the needs of hospitals in our communities first.
The blood drive/fundraiser was supported by Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell, Trustee Sean Driver, Register of Deeds Jeff McMillen, Road Supervisor Butch Agee, Circuit Court Clerk Katherine Pack, County Mayor Tim Stribling, Sheriff Patrick Ray, and General Sessions Judge Bratten Cook, II along with Clerk and Master Deborah Malone and Administrator of Elections Dennis Stanley.