I took a reporter to Regas a while back and was flabbergasted when he said he’d never been there before. I don’t think I could have had a reporting or a business career if it had not been for Regas Restaurant. I’m only exaggerating a little.
In the 1980s, when I was a reporter for the [...]

Filed under: Business, Downtown, Journalism, Knoxville, Media, Politics, Public Relations | 12 Comments »

We have been driving the highways from Knoxville to Gulf Shores, Ala., for as long as we’ve been married, which is 26 years. And the sights I see along the way — and when we get there — never cease to crack me up.
For some reason, during this holiday season, I found them even funnier [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

You haven’t really done Christmas to the max until you have done it at the historic Middlebrook, the beautiful circa 1845 residence owned by Rick Fox at 4001 Middlebrook Pike. Fox and his partner,  Ralph Cianelli, every year transform the house into a Christmas wonderland with collections of ornaments from all over the world adorning [...]

Filed under: Events, Historic preservation, Knoxville, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

When I downloaded my photos from Tuesday night’s “Strollstice,” I examined them very carefully. I half expected to see the late Robert Loest in some of them. Maybe standing on the skirts of the crowd or something like that.
I didn’t. But, let me assure you, his spirit definitely was present that rainy, cold evening. That’s [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 4 Comments »

“If drafted, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve!”
That’s how Mickey Mallonee paraphrased Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman last night when I asked her if she would really consider running for mayor of Knoxville, a rumor going around. Talk of that started six or eight weeks ago as kind of a joke among Mickey’s friends, [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville, Public Relations | 10 Comments »

Sara Hedstrom Pinnell is a long-time friend and client. The owner of Hedstrom Design, a great downtown landscape architecture firm, she obviously is very creative. But this time, she really knocked our socks off!

Filed under: Art, Business, Public Relations | 10 Comments »

I had not planned to write about our eighth annual cookie exchange since I wrote about the one we had last Christmas, but the cookies were just so darned beautiful, that I decided it would be nice to share.
(Click here for a report on last year’s exchange, as well as some tips we’ve learned over the years.)
Our [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 16 Comments »

One of my favorite traditions of the Christmas season is the progressive holiday dinner we have with two other couples. For the past 11 years, the Fords, the Fishers and we have traipsed from one house to the next feasting as we go. We either stop or start at our house, with the Fishers’ house, [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 3 Comments »

We Knoxvillians love to buy unique dining experiences, don’t we? Thus the hugely successful Elegant Dining series, which benefits the Knoxville Symphony League, and the always-sold-out Summer Suppers series, which benefits Knox Heritage.
Last  Thursday, 52 of us attended a festive and delicious dinner called “The Art of Rustic Italian Cuisine.” It was held at 128 [...]

Filed under: Art, Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 8 Comments »

Well, it’s not unanimous.
A lot of people are happy, for sure. Mickey Mallonee, the city’s director of special events, says more than 12,000 folks attended Friday’s Celebration of Lights program which marked the opening of the temporary skating rink on Market Square, dubbed “Holidays on Ice.”
All of downtown was bustling, as the accompanying photos will [...]

Filed under: Business, Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 6 Comments »