You pay $50.

First, you select a bowl out of hundreds created by area artisans

You go to the beautiful-in-any-season Hunter Valley Farm. You select a bowl out of hundreds created by generous East Tennessee artisans. You eat cheese and drink wine while bidding on a better-than-usual silent auction (mostly one-of-the-kind products also donated by local artisans).

You fill your beautiful new bowl with one of four soups. Maybe have a delicious donated dessert. And then you take your bowl and go home.

This is a great, great fundraiser! We were home by 8:30. Since this was last Thursday, I got home in time to see “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.” Love!

Event benefitted Second Harvest Food Bank.

Sponsors were Comcast, Clayton Homes and Clayton Bank and Trust, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee, B&W Y12, and Phillips & Jordan, Inc. The soups were donated by Copper Cellar Corp.

Here's the bowl I selected. Next Valentine's Day, I plan to use it as a candy dish.

Here are the ceramic artists who provided the bowls and auction items: Hugh Bailey, Gray Bearden, Marty Begalla, Judy Brater, Elise Denneny, Valerie Eiler, Candy Finley-Brooks, Jerry Harkenrider, Janet Harper, Pat Herzog, Becky Ibrahim, Hope Ingram, Lisa Kurtz, Karyn Kyte, Leanne Lewis, Patty Lewis, Bett McLean, Nancy Minturn, Jackie Mirzadeth, Tracey Morgan, Kristi O”Connell, Elain O”Sullivan, Cheri Pollack, Katie Ragsdale, Marioon Schlauch, Janice Threlkeld, Kathy Veverka, Marty Young, and Kim Zirkle.

Teresa Scott and the bowl she picked

These beautiful bowls featuring birds tempted me in the silent auction

It wouldn't be an auction in East Tennessee without something like this!

Chris Kahn considers a platter in the silent auction

Second Harvest head Elaine Streno and her husband, Glenn

From left: Tori Rose, Fletcher Kress and his mom, Kelly Fletcher. Thanks, Kelly, for inviting me to sit at your table!

Girls' night out! From left, Mary Fran Darwin, Nancy Bowen and Becky Dockery

Mike Charland and Mary Bogert with their bowls

Kevin Cowan, left, and Daniel Frye: among my table-mates

Carl Mathews and Jen Schroeder

From left: cellist D. Scot Williams, Maestro Lucas Richman, violinist Sean Claire and cellist Bruce Wilhite perform as a barbershop quartet. My favorite piece: "Wait for the Beep," which Richman composed as his answering machine message!

There are all kinds of fancy fundraisers for the Knoxville Symphony: the elegant Crystal Ball, dinners and lunches in fine homes, and special private performances by visiting guest artists.

But my favorite one of all is a simple pot luck supper held in a church meeting hall early on a Sunday night. Florescent lights, paper napkins and all.

Yikes! Willene Chalmers, charged with introducing the music segment of the evening, almost loses track of time

“Symphony Soiree,” as it is called, is organized by the musicians, led by violinist Sean Claire. The musicians, who constitute a virtual United Nations right here in Knoxville, prepare and bring their favorite dishes and then entertain with short (sometimes out of character) pieces.

This year’s Symphony Soiree was this past Sunday at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral downtown. The dishes included Thai red curry and rice, low country chicken bog, Brown Derby chicken curry, shrimp rotini, beef pork noodles, wild rice salad and a huge steaming pot of borscht, among many others. Seventeen musicians brought the food.

The music was just as eclectic. There were two classical pieces, but also a three-piece set of gypsy jazz and three pieces by a barbershop quartet made up of three KSO musicians and conductor Lucas Richman.

The Symphony Soiree is part of the Elegant Dining series produced by the Knoxville Symphony League. At $50 per ticket, it is among the least expensive of the offerings. Last year the League, through all its activities, contributed $205,000 to the Symphony’s operating fund, which in this economic downturn is a godsend. There are still some Elegant Dining events left and I encourage you to sign up for some of them. But whatever you do, don’t miss next year’s Symphony Soiree. See you there!

Violinists Ilia Steinschneider, left, and Sean Claire, get the bread on the table

Soup's on! Polly Anna Harris, left, and Nan Sweitzer help themselves to some borscht

Thai red curry and rice: yum!

Jeff and Karen Wilkinson, right, surprised their friend Sandi Lowe by bringing her to the event for her birthday. She said she was very puzzled when they pulled into the church parking lot.

Cellist Stacy Miller, who brought wild rice salad, and bassist Steve Benne, who performed, pass the time after dinner

Oboist Ayca Yayman and violinist Ilia Steinschneider wait for their cue to go on

Knoxville Symphony League Past President Willene Chalmers welcomes guests

It was great seeing Steve Benne and the other musicians in casual attire rather than their tuxes

Cellist Andy Bryenton, right, played gypsy jazz with his band, the Johnson Swingtet

Jennifer welcomed guests with ouzo and Greek appetizers

It is a real thrill to have a progressive dinner when everyone lives within walking distance. What better place for that than downtown?

At the end of this post, we’ll share some tips we’ve learned about how to have a great progressive dinner. But first, come along to a downtown version a bunch of us had just last Thursday. Cheers!

Our theme was Greek food. We started at Ryan’s Row, across the street from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, at the home of Jennifer Holder. We met there at 5 p.m. for ouzo (or wine, if you couldn’t handle ouzo) and Greek appetizers.

It tastes like licorice. Yuk! But some tried it.

From left: Bill Lyons, Hannah Parker and Michele Hummel get the evening off to a good start

Almonds, stuffed apricots and stuffed grape leaves were among the appetizers.

Hannah arrived with a cute new haircut!

After an hour, it was off to Kendrick Place, located right beside Chesapeake’s restaurant, and the home of Bill and Gay Lyons for our main course. That included moussaka, orzo salad and tzatziki with bread. And wine, naturally.

Gay had a serious corkscrew, which was put to good use!

The orzo salad was fantastic

Tzatziki, which features cooling cucumber and yogurt, was wonderful on bread

Bill introduced us to Caesar, a very big (and sweet) tabby cat

And then it was onward to Crown Court, the condos at the downtown YMCA. Mickey Mallonee provided dessert in a currently empty condo she is offering for lease. The exposed bricks and big windows offered charming atmosphere. The condo even has a working fireplace.

Baklava and other sweets

Mickey lived in Greece for two years. She said this was a very popular dessert: cut-up fruit, yogurt and honey

I loved Mickey's glasses. Of course we had more wine!

Gay gives Bill the look of love over dessert!

Our dessert hostess

The evening wound down around 9 p.m., which was very civilized for a week night. As we  walked back to our condo, we made plans to host one of the courses in our place next time.

Meanwhile, here are some tips we’ve gathered over the years:

• Have a theme. This was our second downtown progressive dinner. Last time our theme was French food. This time it was Greek. A theme helps hold the evening together. But it doesn’t have to be a country. When summer comes, we are planning to have one that requires all courses to feature food from the Market Square Farmers’ Market. Holidays are good themes, as are seasons.
• Limit the number of courses. We have found that we like to keep the evening to three courses on a week night and four on a weekend. We like our pace to be leisurely. On the Internet, we found recipes for progressive dinners running as many as six courses, but some of the stops lasted as few as 20 minutes. We think that’s too frenetic. We like to stay each place about an hour.
• Make the evening walkable, if possible. This was the most fun of all. You get to really know your neighborhood - in this case, downtown. You also don’t have to worry about having a designated driver.

We’ll probably have another progressive dinner in a couple of months. Please post any suggestions or tips you have discovered - especially if you have any suggestions for dishes or recipes that work well for being held until guests arrive.

Photo credit: the last two photos are by Jennifer Holder. Thanks!

Moll Anderson and Phil Fulmer: she bid $3,900 for a football signed by him and five other coaches

The Evergreen Ball, a fundraiser for Friends of the Smokies, was held at Cherokee Country Club Feb. 12th after being postponed from its original date by inclement weather.

Of course there was the usual silent auction, dinner, live auction, dancing routine. But my favorite thing about it each year is that the Chillbillies are usually the performers. Yes, that means Juvenile Justice Tim Irwin fronting on guitar and vocals with businessman Teddy Phillips on drums.

Although this is a blog post that clearly calls out for photos of the beautiful people in attendance, I did want to share a few of the highlights:

• One of the most sought-after items in the live auction was a football signed by six past and current UT football coaches: Doug Dickey (1964-1969), Bill Battle (1970-1976), John Majors (1977-1992), Phillip Fulmer (1993-2008), Lane Kiffin (2009-2010), and newly named Coach Derek Dooley. Moll Anderson bid $3,900 for it but let it go to someone she thought wanted it more. (She was sitting beside Fulmer at Jim Haslam’s table.)
• Justice Gary R. Wade was honored with the first ever Friends of the Smokies Legacy Award for his 17 years of service on the group’s board, during which he helped raise more than $28 million to protect and preserve the park.
• The co-chairs of the committee that put on the ball were Jody Curtis and Nancy Daves. They did a great job. Cherokee Country Club was lovely and, of course, carries a certain cache with some folks. And the club has, hands down, the best chef in town in the delightful David Pinckney. The entree was sliced beef tenderloin with Cabernet truffled glaze and oven roasted Scottish salmon with herbed bread crumbs and tarragon saffron sauce. I mean, really.
• But Cherokee Country Club is just too small for this event. We were lucky enough to be seated at a table in the main ballroom where all the action was, but I felt sorry for folks who paid big bucks and had to sit in other rooms and watch the auction on big screens. I liked the Evergreen Ball much better when it was at the Knoxville Convention Center with stunning decorations, plenty of space to move around, everyone in the same room and the Chillbillies on a huge raised stage in the center. (Full disclosure: we represent the Convention Center. But that doesn’t change the facts. Just sayin’.)

OK. The photos:

Gary Wade, who was honored with the Legacy Award, and Pat Johnson

Cindy and Pete DeBusk

Vicky Fulmer and Jim Haslam

Tim and Amy Williams

Tami Hartmann and Janet Coats

Lawyer Dawn Coppock and state Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee

Rebecca and Nick Cazana

Beth and Johnny B. Waters III

From left: Teddy and Christy Phillips, Pam Fansler, Betsy Child

From left: Pam and Doug Overbey, Phillip and Vicky Fulmer, and Tami Hartmann

Bear Stephenson, auctioneer extraordinaire

An original painting by artist Robert Tino went for $8,500. In the screen behind him you can see auctioneer Bear Stephenson at work.

Juvenile Court Justice Tim Irwin is lead singer for the Chillbillies

Businessman Teddy Phillips on drums

Janet and Rusty Coats

Bruce and Tami Hartmann

Eric Vreeland and Emily Jones

Sandy and David Martin

Stuart Worden and Lane Hays

Cute corgi

From Great Danes to chihuahuas, the dogs definitely had their day in downtown Knoxville on Saturday. The third annual Mardi Growl parade and festival - a fund-raiser for Young-Williams Animal Center - attracted more than 300 canines and their humans. And one cat.

Although one wag described the event as “The Watch Where You Step Festival,” to me this year’s pet owners appeared to show a lot more responsibility for picking up after their charges than those have in years past.

The parade started at PetSafe Downtown Dog Park, proceeded south on Gay Street in front of a viewing stand and ended up at Market Square where vendors selling all things dog-related were set up. The Old City Buskers performed on the stage for tips as the parade participants and hangers on (like me!) milled around.

Fittingly, the parade had a human and a canine grand marshal: Erin Donovan from WBIR-TV, Channel 10 and Charlie, a St. Bernard mix who was rescued by the Young-Williams Animal Center and is up for adoption. Just what does a grand marshal do? “I don’t really know,” Donovan said with a shrug after the parade ended. “No one ever tells you!” She must have done all right: I didn’t hear any complaints.

Presenting sponsors were PetSafe Village and Invisible Fence Brand. The event was produced by the city of Knoxville and Young-Williams. Other sponsors included Enrichment Federal Credit Union, WBIR-TV, the Knoxville News Sentinel and B97.5, which brought its bee mascot to the consternation of a number of startled dogs.

Ballerina costumes were big

At least I'm calling this a ballerina. (It might be a floozy.)

Elvis was my favorite

This was a popular look. Simple, classy.

Jesters were well represented

Festive!

This fellow was handsome and elegant

This dog is named Daisy

Beautiful

A vendor's dog dresses warmly

I'm sorry, but this is just wrong! Bless his heart.

This poor dog is dressed like a chicken

The bad thing about this: he's a male dog!

In Knoxville, you can always fall back on the UT theme

Another fan of orange

Some humans and dogs dressed to match

A family affair

Matching leather jackets for this pair

Some dogs resemble their owners

Some don't at all

Mardi Growl was a good place to make friends

Even if you didn't have that much in common

The cutest dogs are up for adoption. Call Young-Williams.

Whatever works!

Being handicapped was not a deterent to having a good time

A really good friend will share his stroller

Wagons make good transportation, too

Restaurants with dog-friendly patios did brisk business - even in the frigid weather. This is at Soccer Taco.

The patio at Trio Cafe

Of course the fire hydrant attracted attention

WBIR's Erin Donovan and her dog, Grady

Market Square District Association head John Craig and Wiggles

Knoxville Magazine Editor Janet Testerman with her dog, Riley, and her friend Craig Shelton

My hero. Todd Maurer rescued this dog from terrible abuse six years ago. Now they visit the ill together.

It was hard not to notice the Great Dane Rescue group

This dog was so big it was wearing a saddle!

All kinds of dog-related items were for sale

It must be more comfortable to be a jester in the cold weather than in the warm. Just sayin'.

These guys were giving away the previous week's Sunday paper. "The coupons are still good," they'd say. "And the paper comes with a free plastic bag!" Lots of folks needed those bags!

This guy was not that popular with the dogs. But the children liked him.

I don't think this cat was happy to be there. But she did attract attention.

Photo credit: Picture of the cat was taken by Erin Donovan. Thanks!

"Mercury" welcomes Natalie and Jim Haslam to the 2010 Moxley Carmichael client party

We were a little nervous when former Sheriff Tim Hutchison and state Sen. Tim Burchett arrived at the Moxley Carmichael party at about the same time last Friday. The two men are locked in a not-all-that-friendly race to be the next Knox County mayor. But all was well. Soon the room filled with many other movers and shakers and “the Tims” could easily avoid each other, kind of circling the room like sharks in a tank.

It was a very full tank.

Former sheriff Tim Hutchison chats with state Rep. Ryan Haynes

More than 300 politicians, business folks and media types braved nasty weather to make their way to the Moxley Carmichael offices on the 11th floor of First Tennessee Plaza. The theme this year was centered around promoting this blog, The Blue Streak. Invitations were issued by Mercury, the messenger god, who appeared in the flesh to pose for photos with the guests. Mercury was actually Clarence Brown Theatre actor James McGuire, who was a great sport for the better part of two hours hamming it up for the camera.

Our friends at Samuel Franklin did their usual great job with the beautiful blue and white flowers staged throughout the offices. Our caterer,  Knoxville Catering and Special Events,  added to the theme with foods saluting the “blue” idea.  The nibbles included “Black and Blue Beef Bites,” organic blue cheese polenta cakes, blue crab cakes, blueberries and mousse in chocolate cordial cups and cupcakes with blue icing. Another item: Gorgonzola, prosciutto and pear tarts - straight out of a posting on The Blue Streak.

Congressman Jimmy Duncan converses with Jim McGuire, also known as "Mercury"

This year for the first time, prizes were awarded to guests who complied with the suggestion on the invitation and wore blue to the party. Mary Bogert, general manager of the Knoxville Convention Center, won the ladies’ prize, which was a set of two stunning champagne flutes with blue stems and a bottle of bubbly to go with them donated by our friends at Hanson Gallery. Lawyer Bob Marquis won the male prize: a Pabst Blue Ribbon backpack filled with Pabst Blue Ribbon provided by our fabulous client Cherokee Distributing. Three other lucky folks: Sue Atchley, Jama Stinnett and Tim Adams each won a pair of tickets to the sold out Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Pops concert Saturday.

Everyone at Moxley Carmichael pitched in extra effort to assure that a good time was had by all - and I think it was. But all the preparations remind me every year that the most important ingredient for a great party is a wonderful group of guests - and we had that in spades! Thanks to all who came.

Knox County Sheriff J.J. Jones, left, and County Commissioner Mike Brown

In addition to those already mentioned, here are some of the guests: Allison Burchett, Congressman Jimmy Duncan, Jim and Natalie Haslam, Jamie and Bill Woodson, Mintha and Jon Roach, Tom Catani, Pam Fansler, Harry Brooks, Stacey Campfield, Ryan Haynes, Joe and LeTonia Armstrong, Sheriff J.J. Jones, Harry Tindell, Tony Norman, Dave Wright, Ed Shouse, Bud Armstrong, Sam and Gwen McKenzie, Mike Brown, Finbarr Saunders and Ellen Bebb, Sharon and R. Larry Smith, Alvin Nance, Sherry Witt, Cindy and Phil Ballard, Jerry Harnish, John and Charlotte Mills, Sherry Walker, Kim Sepesi, Dan Murphy, Mary Ellen Brewington, Craig Shelton, Christi Branscom, Russ Watkins, Nick Cazana, Justin Cazana, Larry and Jane Martin, Bill and Gay Lyons, Kevin, Leann and Lauren Burris, Marilyn Roddy, Pace and Karen Robinson, Bruce and Monique Anderson, Leanna Belew, John and Dr. Margo Uri Simmons, Phyllis Nichols, Margie Nichols and John Gill, Nick and Joy Pavlis, Brenda and Don Palmer, Joe Bailey, Daniel Brown, Duane and Marsha Grieve, Harry and Victoria Moskos, Bruce Hartmann, Patrick Birmingham, Rusty Coats, Erin Donovan, Bill Shory, Brian Gregory, Jeff and Christy Lee, Taz Painter, Alan Williams, Sara Hedstrom  and Ben Pinnell, John Rosson, Tim Irwin, Craig and Donna Griffith, Juanita Cannon, Ellen Adcock and Jim Warchol, Jack Hammontree, Janet Testerman, Betty Bean, Ed Marcum, Allison and Justin Kropff, Norman and Pat Majors, Gail Jarvis and John Cate, Larry Aldridge, Michael and Donna Patrick, Tom McAdams, Bart Mitchell, Jerry and Susan Becker, Dick and Karen Krieg, Kim Trent, Becky Hancock, Frank and Belinda Gambuzza, Ben Atchley, Bill Vaughan, Larry and Brenda Cox, George Ed and Susie Wilson, Gary Loe, Susan Brown, Chery and Brian Bartley, Katie and Blair Kline, Madge and Barry Cleveland, Jennifer James, Darrell DeBusk, Duncan Mansfield and Vivian Vega, Melinda Meador and Milton McNally, Christi and Rob Fightmaster, Jim Decker, Jan Henley, Richard Cate, Martha Boggs, Bob Griffitts, Mose Lobetti, Bob Booker, Brenda Hunter, Renda Burkhart, Kathy Darnell, Linda Adams, Susan Edwards, Carolyn Pointer and Rodney Neil, Judith and Michael Foltz, Rachel Ford, Richard and Dawn Ford, Dennis Upton, Jenny Hines and Tom Jester, Amy Styles, Cindy Hassil, Ann Lloyd, Julia and Gary Bentley, Jeannie Dulaney, Warren Perry and Mark Miller, Stephanie Welch, Lynne Liddington, David Butler and Ted Smith, Rob and Erin Frost, Martha Buchanan, Sharon and Bill Laing, John and Donna Dempster, Dr. Joseph and Jayne DeFiore, Pam Lynam, Karen Barrow, Howard and Betty Blum, Glo Marquis, Mary Lou Horner, Edwina and Robert Harvey, Cliff and Margaret Rodgers, Teresa Scott, Ray and Jackie Fisher, Michelle Hardin, Jennifer Holder, Tracey Courtney, Max Shell, Jerry Askew, Norman and Pat Majors, Eddie Black, David and Toni Swanner, Nathan Sparks, Wanda Moody, Patsy Vittetoe, Charlie and Patsy Daniel, Janet Testerman Crossley and Bill Regas, Barry and Annette Winston, Mark Mamantov, David and Sandy Martin, Barbara Brimi, Billy Tindell, Kim and Dennis Denton, John and Judy Griess, Jack and Doris Sharp, Larry and Barbara Clark.

Allison Burchett and state Sen. Tim Burchett pose with "Mercury"

From left: John Duncan III, City Councilman Duane Grieve, Lindsay Duncan

From left: Lauren Christ of Moxley Carmichael, Janet Testerman of Knoxville Magazine and Erin Donovan of WBIR-TV

Kevin Burris of Premier Surgical Associates poses with his daughter Lauren, left, and wife, Leann

Patrick Birmingham, left, the new publisher of the News Sentinel, spends some time with Tami Hartmann of Moxley Carmichael and Bruce Hartmann of E.W. Scripps

Margaret and Clifford Rodgers pause for a photo with "Mercury" before entering the party

Victoria and Harry Moskos, former long-time editor of the News Sentinel, were a little disappointed that "Mercury" is a Roman god rather than a Greek one!

Michael and Judith Foltz, from left, mingle with Jeff and Christy Lee

From left, Ranee Randby of the Knox County Health Dept., Moxley Carmichael's Lauren Christ, WVLT-TV's Allison Kropff and Justin Kropff of the Knoxville Chamber

From left: Larry and Brenda Cox of Homestead Inc., Alan Carmichael and Christi Branscom of Partners and Associates

Good sport Renda Burkhart and "Mercury"

From left: Sara Hedstrom, Gary and Julia Bentley, and Ben Pinnell, Sara's fiance

Karen Robinson displays one of the fine beverages served at the party

Moxley Carmichael staff members prepare to meet their guests

Hahaha! Shameless self-promotion

Photo credit: All photos except the one of Karen Robinson are by Wade Payne of The Purple Lens.

For many more photos, please go to the Moxley Carmichael Web site and click on “Our Events.”

Dually, from Knoxville, had a major role in the movie

While everyone else was getting ready for the Super Bowl Sunday, about a dozen folks were having a very unique Knoxville experience.

Members of the Upper Left Book Club (more on them later) and a few hangers-on gathered in a West Knoxville restaurant following a matinee showing of “That Evening Sun” for a Q & A session with one of the film’s executive producers, Larson Jay. They also got to meet one of the film’s stars: a smart and sweet terrier named Dually.

You’ve probably read about the film, which stars veteran actor Hal Holbrook and was filmed in Knoxville, Blount, Loudon and Roane counties. It’s playing for the third week at Regal Downtown West Cinema 8.

The low-budget (less than $5 million, Jay says) independent film is about an elderly farmer (Holbrook) who runs away from a nursing home and returns to his farm only to find his son has leased it to what he considers a no-good, white trash family.

The movie is beautiful and sensitive. The characters are complex and yet familiar. And the settings are places we see every day: the downtown post office, Shannondale nursing home, farmland in rural Knox County, a cafe in Lenoir City, a portion of downtown Rockwood. It has won more than a dozen film awards, although it was not nominated for an Oscar (more on that later, too).

Larson Jay answers questions at Margarita's Mexican Grill and Bar. Gary Bentley listens.

At the end of this post, I’ll refer you to some great links about the movie and its making. But here are some insights we got from Larson Jay on Sunday:

• During the 22 days of filming in the sweltering East Tennessee heat (July and August of 2008), Holbrook, who will turn 85 next week, set the pace. “He was there before the crew in the mornings and he was the last to leave at night,” Jay said. “With him setting that kind of pace, you can be sure nobody else was going to slack off.”
• When Holbrook was on set with his real-life wife of more than 25 years, Dixie Carter, you could tell they are still madly in love. “They were like little kids,” ‘Jay said. “You could tell they were delighted to be in love.”
• Holbrook originally was not sold on the ending of the movie, which is a little ambiguous. Only when he saw it in a theater did he agree that the ending was a good one.
• Holbrook and Carter are class acts. When Jay and his wife and co-executive producer Adrian Jay, had a baby five days after the filming wrapped, the two actors sent the baby a letter, which is now framed and on the baby’s bedroom wall.
• Jay said his film company, Dogwood Entertainment, is an arm of his DoubleJay Creative, which is located at Volunteer Landing and does primarily television and video production work. He has several “rules” for what kind of films he will get involved with: they have to make you think; they have to be good stories; they have to be authentic. “They can’t be caricatures no matter where they are set,” he said. “No ‘Hee Haw’ hokey Southern characters.”
• “That Evening Sun” had no product placements. The beer in the movie was a fake brand. The dog food brand was made up. The vehicles were real, although the companies did not pay a fee for them to be included. One of them belonged to state Rep. Frank Niceley.
• Jay also answered questions about what a casting director does, what an executive producer does and how the fire scene was created (rubber cement!).
• He said that although the team held out hope for an Academy Award nomination for the film or Holbrook, that really wasn’t realistic. “Most of the large film companies put more money into their Oscar campaigns than we put in our production budget, marketing budget and distribution budget,” Jay said. “We were competing with massive marketing machines.”
• Most scripts that producers and directors receive to read are “garbage,” he said. And they can tell a good one within the first 20 pages.

Dually is so well-behaved that he sat through the entire book club meeting.

About the dog

The role of Nipper is played in the film by a mixed breed terrier from Knoxville named Dually, who is owned and was trained by Connie Westerman, a groomer who runs “Bark Place” in Farragut. This was his first film - and may be his last since he lost one of his eyes last November due to an infection. “But who knows,” Westerman laughed. “Maybe he’ll be cast in a pirate movie!”

Westerman said Dually had to audition for the part. The important thing was that he could sit and “stay” off-leash and that he could bark on command. In the movie, he had to bark when Holbrook’s character said “hush.” In real  life, Dually responds to a hand motion Westerman makes. “And he had to have the right look,” Westerman said. Jay agreed. “He had to look like a rough Tennessee terrier. He couldn’t be a full-bred collie or something,” he noted.

Dually is truly a rags-to-riches story. Westerman found him by the side of a road when he was just four weeks old. She raised him on goat milk and baby cereal.

Turns out Holbrook took a real liking to the little scrapper. The actor was quoted as saying Dually was “the smartest dog I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s as smart as a human being.”

From left, Jeannie Dulaney, Rosa Mar and Dawn Ford

About the Upper Left Book Club

All eight members of the Upper Left Book Club have been through Leadership Knoxville where they all scored in the upper left quadrant of the program’s learning style inventory. “We are bottom-line kind of people,” explained Jeannie Dulaney, one of the members. “We will go to the end of a book first to see what happens.” When they discussed forming a book club, someone joked that they were so impatient, they might just read the Cliff Notes version of the book. “Or we could just go see the movie!” someone suggested. That idea “took.” Now, instead of reading books, they go to movies that are based on books.

“That Evening Sun,” which actually is based on a short story by William Gay, got a big thumbs up from the club, which makes a point to “process” each movie over drinks. Here are some of their thoughts:

• “It resonated with me,” Dulaney said. “I had someone complain about the loudness of the cicadas in the film. But to me that was comforting. My own parents have been in Shannondale. And my grandparents had farms in Grainger and Hamblen Counties. The movie was comfortable to me because I really KNEW the locations.”
• Rosa Mar said the film had four messages for her: the title itself was a metaphor for growing old; you reap what you sow in your life; sometimes people may want to rise above their situation but still be unable to; and you lose your credibility when you get old.
• For Dawn Ford, the movie was extremely moving. “I cried because it reminded me of taking care of my father and mother-in-law,” she said. “People can be very dignified and work hard and make a living all their lives. And then suddenly when they get old, they are treated like children.”

I think Dawn also summed up another feeling we all had after seeing the movie. “Knoxville should be very proud of this movie,” she said. “A movie that is this good was made right here. This little company made such a fine movie and we should all be very appreciative and supportive.”

Other members of the book club are Robin Gibson, Lynne Fugate, Julia Bentley, Sara Rose and Kathy Hamilton.

In addition to the press kit on the movie’s official Web site, I recommend a story about it that appeared in the Aspen Times and this one by Jack Neely of Metro Pulse.

Club member Kathy Hamilton discusses the movie. Alan Carmichael is in background.

From left, Julia Bentley, Dawn Ford and Jeannie Dulaney. (This was a serious film.)

Rosa Mar, left, and Connie Westerman, Dually's owner

Larson Jay, right, cracks up Paula Patton, Dually the dog's "aunt"

Christopher Ford, owner of Sweet P's Barbecue

Suddenly, everybody is drinking the beer that my dad used to drink in the ’70s. And they aren’t people even remotely resembling my dad.

The hip beer these days is, of all things, Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Our great client, Cherokee Distributing Company, distributes Pabst in this area. While Pabst sales were up nationwide by 18 percent last year, they were up 24.7 percent here in East Tennessee - the highest increase in the state.

Why?

“It’s kind of a retro beer,” explained Christopher Ford, the proprietor of the super cool Sweet P’s Barbecue at Willow Point Marina. Ford said he started drinking the brand over 15 years ago when he was the front man for the trendy rock band Gran Torino. “PBR was one of our beers of choice,” Ford said.”We didn’t have any money and it was extremely economical. And it is good. We drank in a lot of dives — and they always had PBR.” Sweet P’s is a PBR restaurant, of course.

Mary Ellen Brewington, of Cherokee Distributing, said her company acquired the brand in 2002 when it purchased Dinwiddie Distributing Company.  She has seen the brand’s popularity surge, particularly in the past two years. “Bottom line: PBR is hip and a good value,” she said.

She said PBR marketers make it a point to engage with their customers. Just go to the Pabst Web site and you’ll see this is true. It features photos of real Pabst drinkers and, just last month, the company concluded a contest for Pabst art submitted by fans. There’s a gallery of the fan art on the Web site: “Like an art museum without all the wimpy hush hush,” the site announces. The art makes great posters.

Christa DeCicco, lead singer of Christabel and the Jons, unwinds after a recent show.

“Beer brands move in cycles - just like fashion,” Brewington explained. “In the ’70s, it was all about light beer. In the ’80s, craft beers became popular.” (Knoxville was one of the orginal test markets for Miller Lite, she said.)

Today, she said, PBR drinkers seem to be the kinds of people who beat to their own drums. “They are making a statement that they don’t care what people think. They don’t need a designer label to be cool,” she said.

Randy Burleson, who owns the Aubrey’s family of restaurants as well as Bistro by the Tracks in Bearden, Sunspot on campus, and Barley’s in the Old City, says his restaurant group, thanks in particular to Barley’s, is the biggest seller of Pabst Blue Ribbon in Knoxville. “It’s a cult beer — and it’s good,” he said.  Brewington agreed: “Remember, Pabst has a blue ribbon for a reason.”

Here are some interesting facts about Pabst:

• In 1844, a German immigrant named Jacob Best started Empire Brewery in Milwaukee and produced Best Lager. It had an 18-barrel capacity, which is about 90 gallons — hardly an “empire.”
• In the 1860s, a steamboat captain named Frederick Pabst married into the family and was taken into the company. The company started marketing Best Select Lager in bottles.
• In the mid-1880s, the beer began winning awards in national and international competitions and the company was renamed Pabst Brewing Company. To signify the wins, Captain Pabst started tying silk blue ribbons around the necks of the Best Select Lager bottles.  The beer eventually was renamed Pabst Blue Ribbon.
• After prohibition, termed “the Dark Ages” on the Web site,  Pabst became one of the first companies to offer canned beer.
• The 1940s and 1950s were a time of explosive growth for all American beers and Pabst remained one of the top five brewing companies for 40 years.
• Due to a silk shortage during World War II, Pabst stopped tying ribbons around its bottles and instead developed the famous blue ribbon logo.
• The all-time high for Pabst was in 1977 when it sold a record 18 million barrels.
• By 2001, sales had fallen to fewer than one million barrels.

And now, the resurgence is under way.

Super hip Nama sushi bar on Gay Street has PBR on tap. This is bartender Nick Grubb.

Author and Knoxville historian Jack Neely signs his latest book at the Square Room. What's he drinking? PBR, of course.

Scott Frith, deputy administrator of elections for Knox County, and lawyer Stephanie Jernigan, have some PBRs at Bistro on Gay Street

Some women friends donate $200 a piece through their women’s giving circle. Once a year they select a cause to support with those funds. In this case, it’s the SMART Girls program at the Boys and Girls Clubs. Then they celebrate by getting together to shop at a friendly upscale store that agrees to donate 15 percent of the day’s proceeds to the cause. And they drink wine.

Kay Clayton, center, ponders a jewelry purchase

Pretty sweet plan, huh?

I joined this convivial group at Gift, Gourmet & Interiors last week. I also joined the women’s giving circle. We looked at beautiful jewelry and home decor items, drank a glass or two of wine or champagne, had some laughs and were home in time for dinner.

Members of the group call themselves Purses with Purpose. (They have one honorary male member: Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin.) They are only a year old and have 40 members. With last week’s gathering, they hoped to add another 30. Do the math. This money adds up quickly.

The program they are supporting, SMART Girls, stands for Skills Mastery and Resistance Training. It teaches girls aged 8 to 17 about the physical and emotional developments they can expect to experience during adolescence and how to make smart decisions. It also teaches them how to take care of themselves with basic cooking skills and physcial fitness habits.

On their own, the girls in this year’s program, which meets once a week, have decided to start a book club. They are reading the book, “Push” by Sapphire, on which the movie “Precious” is based.

“We all need to make a difference in the lives of young girls,” said UT Women’s Athletic Director Joan Cronan, who spoke briefly to the group.

Michelle Hardin, left, and Sharon Bailey

Betty Gill, of Boys and Girls Clubs, agreed, quoting the motto of Purses with Purpose: “The purpose of a life is a life with purpose.”

Here are few concerning statistics:

• Studies show that while girls and boys both experience a decrease in self-esteem during junior high and high school, girls’ self-esteem drops more over time.
• The average age when girls develop eating disorders has dropped. It used to be between the ages of 13 and 17. Today it is between the ages of 9 and 12.
• By age 14, girls are twice as likely as boys are to suffer from depression.
• Each year, 38 percent of date rapes are reported by girls between the ages of 14 and 17.
• Although the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is declining, it continues to be the highest in the Western industrialized world.

These stats are from the Boys and Girls Clubs. I hope the SMART Girls program has an impact here in East Tennessee. For more information about Purses with Purpose or SMART Girls, contact Amanda Brummerstedt, director of annual giving at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tennessee Valley, at (865) 248-1105 or at abrummerstedt@bgctnv.org

Jamie DeNovo of Gift Gourmet and Interiors was the bartender Thursday

From left: Donna Dempster, Mary Ann Russell and Jamie Dempster

From left: Cynthia Hudson, Kathy Brown, Dr. Martha Buchanan and Katherine Latimer

LaQuinta McGhee, left, who runs the SMART Girls program, and Mary Ellen Brewington

Judge Tim Irwin, the group's token male member, and Janet Testerman

Amy Williams hit the necklace counter pretty hard! They sold out of those pretty Mary Louise necklaces that she is wearing here

Mary LeAnn Mynatt, left, and Andrea White

Betty Gill, left, and Joan Cronan

Everyone got a cute little cupcake to take home. My husband ate mine. He didn't know it cost $200!

WBIR's Russell Biven in the crowd at TAC Air Saturday

The bulb was powered by solar panels on the roof. The children also had filtered water to drink. And someone made sure their education continued.

Who was responsible for that? A church in Knoxville, Tennessee, called the White Stone Church. And, in a large part, a television station that sponsored an annual golf tournament to fund the orphanage and, in the process, fell in love with it.

WBIR-TV, Channel 10, has sponsored the Barefootin’ for Haiti Golf Classic at Three Ridges Golf Course for the last four years. In that time, it has raised about $200,000 for the orphanage. But, perhaps even more importantly, during that time the people of WBIR have come to know the people of the church and the tiny inhabitants of the orphanage. WBIR’s Russell Biven, the “voice” of the golf tournament, has been particularly involved.

Over that time, seven Knoxville families have entered into the laborious process of adopting orphans from that facility and the people of WBIR have followed and rejoiced in the efforts of those families.

Reporter Erin Donovan shoots video of Russell Biven, right, and pilot Adrian Van Zyl, who flew the ProVision plane

So you can imagine the emotional impact when, on Jan. 12, news broke that a massive earthquake had hit Haiti, destroying the orphanage and putting its child residents out on the street. The church — and the TV station — sprang into action.

“I’ve heard it said that a TV station is like a person with a very small body and a very big mouth,” notes WBIR’s news director, Bill Shory. “We don’t have a lot of people to do things, but we can make a lot of noise.”

Folks from the church and the TV station called on U.S. Senator Bob Corker and U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper - politicians who already were in touch with people on the ground in Haiti - to try to expedite the adoptions that were in process so they could get the seven children out of Haiti as quickly as possible. They were glad to hear that the process could be hurried up, but frustrated to hear that it still would take weeks for that to occur. They also got the devastating news that the youngest of the orphans, a 3-year-old girl named Atanie, who already had adoptive parents waiting here in Knoxville, had been killed in the earthquake.

Beth Haynes was among about 10 WBIR employees at the airport to meet the orphans

Then, last Thursday, they unexpectedly got word that the children could leave in two days if all the arrangements could be made.

WBIR basically set up a “war room” in Shory’s office where people could come together, work the phones and try to figure out how to make things happen.

A plan was hatched. A missionary plane arranged through Knoxville-based ProVision Foundation would fly to Haiti to pick up the children. But each of  the children would have to be met by one of his or her adoptive Knoxville parents in Fort Lauderdale before he or she could pass through immigration authorities and enter the United States. Professionals recommended that the children, who already had been subjected to so much trauma, be kept together as they made the transition from Haiti to Knoxville.

So the folks in the war room tried to figure out how to transport the children and a parent for each one from Fort Lauderdale to Knoxville as a group.

Pilot employee Al Fitzpatrick leaves the plane with his daughter, Jayla

They called the commercial airlines trying to arrange seats. Because of the short notice, none of the airlines could offer that many seats on the same flight. They called any local company they could think of that might have a corporate plane to lend to the effort. Because of the tight time frame, many companies just could not mobilize quickly enough, although one company donated $10,000 to the effort.

But Pilot Corporation was able to make its jet available. Although it was not large enough to accommodate the whole group, the families could be divided between it and the ProVision plane. They could board the planes together and the planes could land together in Knoxville, giving the children a lot of together time.

Unbeknownst to Pilot at the time, one of its employees, Al Fitzpatrick, and his wife Sheri were among the adoptive parents with children on the flight. Al flew to Fort Lauderdale to meet 7-year-old Jayla. The folks at Pilot requested that Fitzpatrick and Jayla be among the passengers on its plane.

Erin Donovan, aka "Darin' Erin"

Because of WBIR’s involvement, Biven and reporter Erin Donovan were offered a seat on each plane. They took extraordinary video along the way that can be viewed on the WBIR Web site. And, of course, they got emotionally involved in the story which became much more than just a story.

“My prayer the whole time was that God would get these kids home,” Biven said afterward.

As the kids and their parents exited the two planes at McGhee Tyson Airport Saturday, I overheard Biven say quietly to himself, “This is it. This is what it’s all about.”

I glanced at the two police officers beside me, and they wiped tears from their eyes. “Airplane fuel fumes,” one said sheepishly. “Bad allergies,” the other one said. All the other local media had gathered on the tarmac at TAC Air, as well. Hard-bitten reporters and camera folks teared up, too, as did a normally cynical former-reporter PR person.

Despite the joyous homecoming on Saturday, the job is not over. “I’m trying to stay focused,” Biven said yesterday. “I can’t imagine what it’s like for the other children that are still down there. We’ve got to get the other 12 out.”

The folks at WBIR say it doesn’t matter to them that their role in the transport wasn’t mentioned in other news coverage of the event. Biven just shakes that off. “I’m just trying to do what I feel led to do,” he said. “It’s not about me. It’s a God thing.”

But Jennifer Stooksbury of White Stone Church has a slightly different perspective. “Without WBIR, it simply wouldn’t have happened,” she said today. “It wouldn’t have happened.”

Erin Donovan hops off the plane and begins taping the antics of the only little boy among the orphans

WBIR News Director Bill Shory, center, directed the TV folks on the scene

Pilot's plane landed at sunset

It was happy chaos inside the TAC Air terminal at McGhee Tyson Airport

Russell Biven says the job is not finished

Photo credit: All photos by Julie Koonce Morris of WBIR