It’s September and, in Knoxville, that means one important thing: the season starts. And I don’t mean the football season. I mean the almost equally competitive charity fundraiser season.
This time of year, it seems that not a day goes by that we don’t open our mailboxes to find elegant invitations or “Save the Date” cards [...]

Filed under: Events, Knoxville, Public Relations | 9 Comments »

That’s what the t-shirts said at Sweet P’s Barbecue and Soul House in South Knoxville on Saturday. And that’s exactly what we did! The temperatures were smokin’; the music was smokin’, and, most importantly, two big pigs were smokin’ on the grill being carefully tended by proprietor Chris Ford.

Smokin’ Day Fest is an annual benefit for the [...]

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

Saturday in Knoxville dawned overcast and drizzly, but our spirits were not dampened. We knew we were about to embark on the “Bloody Mary March,” our own name for the monthly Market Square Mixer, which is a contest among downtown restaurants to see who can make the best cocktail.
The type of drink for the contest [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 7 Comments »

In the morning last Saturday, I witnessed scores of volunteers of all races come together in a huge event to help the less fortunate — also of all races.
In the afternoon, I stood on Market Square and watched hate mongers shout “White Power!” while surrounded by police and counter-protesters.
The contrast could not have been more [...]

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

Joan Cronan was 12 years old and growing up in the town of Opelousas in southern Louisiana. “I was a tomboy before it was cool for women to be in sports,” the UT women’s athletic director told a lunch gathering this week.
She was really looking forward to signing up to play Little League baseball so, [...]

Filed under: Events, Knoxville, UT sports | No Comments »

I don’t know why I was worried, but I was. I guess it’s because I’ve seen the electorate do so many wrong-headed things (as they did in at least one case in Knox County last night — but that’s not my story here).
A group of us braved literally blinding rain storms and — after stops at several [...]

Filed under: Events, Knoxville, Politics | 13 Comments »

Some of us (including me!) shook President Obama’s hand.
We cried when national treasure, poet Maya Angelou, recited a poem about slavery and black history with rapper Common.
We were astounded to see the media crush around Congressman Charles Rangel, who sat at a table next to us at lunch the day before a House ethics committee announced 13 charges against him.
We [...]

Filed under: Events, Journalism, Knoxville, Media, Politics | 8 Comments »

There was so much material this year that the annual Front Page Follies show was bound to be funny! Held Saturday at the Knoxville Convention Center, it did not disappoint.
The Follies show is the annual performance by area journalists and PR folks to raise funds for communications scholarships and poke fun at area newsmakers in the [...]

Filed under: Events, Journalism, Knoxville, Media, Music, Politics, Public Relations, UT sports | 2 Comments »

You didn’t, did you? That’s what I was afraid of. Sigh.
A swarm is a group of people (hopefully 50) trying to earn the “swarm” badge on the social networking site Foursquare. There was an attempt Thursday by a group on Market Square to earn that badge. But, doomed by confusion and perhaps a little impatience, [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville, New media | 12 Comments »

When this turn-of-the-century church at 800 Luttrell Street was actually used as a church, I bet they never served iced tea like was served there Saturday night. The tea at this very special of Knox Heritage’s “Summer Suppers” series was laced with vodka to make a signature cocktail called an ice pick. Boy did they go down smoothly! (And [...]

Filed under: Events, Historic preservation, Knoxville, Media, Music | 18 Comments »