More than 700 happy dogs and even more humans packed downtown Saturday for the fifth annual Mardi Growl parade and festival. Folks from the city of Knoxville’s special events office said this was the largest Mardi Growl to date. This was due partly, no doubt, to the beautiful weather.
I don’t think there was a single [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville | 14 Comments »

Lord, the costumes were hot this year at Dancing with the Knoxville Stars, an annual fundraiser for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. The top winner for raising the most money was Renita Stinnett, pictured here. The top dance winner was Jay Teter, the master of ceremonies at Dixie Stampede. In all, the event brought in more [...]

Filed under: Events, Journalism, Knoxville, Media | 2 Comments »

So you’ve heard and read and seen on TV so much about the Bonnaroo music festival, right? You know that music promoter Ashley Capps of Knoxville is the “father” of Bonnaroo, of course. But wouldn’t you like to ask a few questions about it and hear the “inside scoop” on how it came to be?
Seventy-five [...]

Filed under: Art, Business, Events, Food, Knoxville, Music | 2 Comments »

Having the news conference kicking off Knoxville Restaurant Week at Ruth’s Chris Steak House served as inspiration for Alan and me to sign up for our first Restaurant Week outing of 2012. We already have made our reservations to return to Ruth’s Chris on Monday, Feb. 27, with our friends Bill and Gay Lyons.
Knoxville Restaurant [...]

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

At a special gathering, Sam Beall, the proprietor of world-famous Blackberry Farm, a culinary treasure located just 30 minutes from downtown Knoxville, told the assembled music fans last weekend that this was Blackberry’s way of connecting with and giving back to its community.
For the first time,

Filed under: Events, Food, Music | 9 Comments »

The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” house is built, the Watson family is moved in, and the folks who worked on it are back to their normal lives, perhaps a little bit changed by the experience.
All this is good. But one thing I hated to see go was the VIP tent! It turned out to [...]

Filed under: Business, Events, Food, Knoxville | 2 Comments »

When my friend Gina Changas and I heard that entertainers were needed to play the VIP tent for fundraisers during the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build, we both had the same idea: Con Hunley!
And what a good idea it was. Hunley and his band sold out the $125-per-ticket event. And when it was over, folks [...]

Filed under: Events, Knoxville, Music | 6 Comments »

Last week, the Robinson Road build site of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” was a muddy, cold mess. Heavy machines were slipping and sliding. People were falling down in slippery muck. There really was nowhere to go to get your feet on solid ground — until it froze!
But, starting late Thursday, a little oasis sprang up. [...]

Filed under: Business, Events, Food, Knoxville, Media, Music | 7 Comments »

For the past 11 years, we have been celebrating News Year’s Eve with two other couples: Richard and Dawn Ford and Jackie and Ray Fisher. Sometimes we go out to eat, sometimes we go to a party, and sometimes we watch the ball drop at Market Square.
This year we did all three. And we saw [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Food, Historic preservation, Knoxville, Media, Politics, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

As the new year approaches, our friend and colleague, Ellen Robinson, has accepted a new challenge. She is leaving her post as vice president at Moxley Carmichael to head up the marketing efforts of Lewis, King, Krieg and Waldrop, the largest law firm in Knoxville (if you rank by number of attorneys).
Since we often do [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Food, Knoxville, Public Relations | 17 Comments »