2010 Chatt State Students on 1st Amendment

Despite that these two videos in this playlist were created in 2010, I think they are still a great listen and still makes me ponder when I hear these college-student responses to what the 1st Amendment means.

Water rolling in a circle in mid-air: February 28, 2011

2011 had eventful days where tornadoes touch down in the Chattanooga area. One of those days was February 28.  I left my work at 1:30 that day in order to get over to Lookout Valley High School to pick up my child when school let out at 2:15.  The drive over from Amnicola to the LV was a trying experience with wicked winds. Going around Moccasin Bend in between Lookout Mountain and the river was a huge down force.

I got in line behind other cars on Lookout Valley High School Drive. Unknown to me at the time, dismissal at 2:15 was delayed.  There was a possible tornado spotted nearby.

I found a video on YouTube that someone actually filmed the rain-wrapped tornado coming across Raccoon Mountain pumped storage station. This would be above the car line and a little to the north.  The video is embedded at the bottom of the post, but it was described by one tornado chaser as one of the best audio capture of tornadic activity.

Back to the parent line of cars waiting outside of the school, many parents, like me, did not know about the incoming tornadic storm. Suddenly, a fog descended upon the area. Rain and wind mixed rocked the cars. I saw the water rolling in a circle mid-air and then splashing with force onto the windshield. The water kept slamming down. And the car was rocking to and fro.

Suddenly, the fog and rolling water had moved on. I could see big tall trees lying on the ground.  At the time, I didn't know what I had gone through.I am thankful to the person who took this video. The sound, the wind, the water reminds me all over again that day.

Honor Lincoln Park when the Extended Central Avenue is Built

Lincoln Park. From about 1918 to about the 60s, this park was the only recreational facility for African Americans in Chattanooga. Warner Park was a white-only park.

Lincoln Park had the distinction of being the first African American park in the South with lighted softball fields. African Americans from all over the South came to the fields at Lincoln Park to be able to play softball at night.

The park grew in popularity in the late 1930s with a new swimming pool: a pool so large that it was described in the media of the time as the finest pool for Negroes anywhere in the South.
This 10-acre park also had basketball courts, playground, and a zoo.

Now sadly looking around, dilapidation rules the day in former Lincoln Park. After desegregation, the city of Chattanooga couldn't afford keeping two large parks running. The pool closed in the 60s and in 1979 the land was given to Erlanger in exchange for land in Glenwood. In 1996, a plaque was made to honor the park and a stone archway was dedicated to honor those who used the park.

Fast forward to June 2012.  The City Council approved extending Central Avenue north to Riverside Drive.  The amount of time saved for ambulances definitely justifies the extension.
But there is a lot of planning to do. I noticed that the intersection of Blackford and Central was quite busy. I think the traffic pattern will require a traffic light at that intersection.  The Blackford/Central intersection is also a strange 5-way intersection. I think one of the smaller streets will need to be closed to access Central to make it a regular 4-way intersection.
The extended Central Avenue will cross railroad property and Citico Creek.

Wouldn't it be appropriate if the City Council would honor the existence of Lincoln Park by adding signage when the new part of Central Avenue is built as the Lincoln Park Parkway?

Stuff the Bus at Live United Day at the Chattanooga Market

The point of Lookout Mountain facing downtown and the Chattanooga Market this morning was concealed by a low lying clouds.  But the clouds soon moved to a bright sunny day at the Market.

Today was United Way of Chattanooga Live United day!  I am very humbled that a Twitter conversation last year about merging the United Way's annual Stuff the Bus drive and the Hamilton County PTA Council's Teacher Supply Depot turned into reality this year. I am the president-elect of the Council.

It was very cool to see fliers and posters about Stuff the Bus that had both the Hamilton County PTA Council logo and the United Way logo on them.  All of the school supplies donated to Stuff the Bus will go to the Teacher Supply Depot. The Depot is jointly operated by both the County PTA Council and the County Deparment of Education.

 The County PTA Council had a display inside the Market. I thought this was great public relations for the Council to be a part of the United Way booths.
Media Coverage:
Hamilton County Council Facbook Photo Album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.350561295025749.80398.16640499677471...
Times Free Press article: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/aug/20/stuff-the-bus-donors-kick-off-...
Fox 61 video: http://www.myfoxchattanooga.com/story/19319842/stuff-the-bus-supports-less-fo...

Repressed Memories from the 70s

I loved the music of the 80s. The music scenes of the 80s were one-of-a-kind. D.C., Lawrence, Little Rock, Cincinnati, and many more cities.

But I have been repressing my 70s self, it seems.

Memories from the 70s were blocked from my mind. Maybe it is that nauseating feeling I get when I hear “Ring my Bell” or other disco-maniacal songs.  Or maybe it was that nauseating feeling I got after eating lunch at my middle school. I could blame Nixon, Ford, and Carter, but then Reagan came in afterwards so bleh.  Maybe, Mork and Mindy is the root of all 70s malaise. Or the oil embargo.

But the 70s should have been the best of times.

High school was blast; even back when I was in high school. My Dad changed careers completely and everyone in my family benefited.  I was a high school letterman. I was driving an old pickup truck followed by driving, in my senior year, a cool-looking car.  There was “We will Rock You” Queen and the Who with Pinball Wizard.  Frisbee golf. Ping pong tournaments. Youth leadership in 4-H and in church conference. Good family times.  Attending a church where the many of the best looking girls in high school also attended.  Yeah, the last four years of the 70s should have overcome the drudgery from middle school and downward.  But it did not.

For the first time, this week, I voluntarily sat down and listened to England Dan and John Ford Coley.  Not a pretty sight but I recalled a lot memories. Sometimes, we all need voluntary “England Dan moments” just to recall our life, our journey. 

YouTube Video Coal Hauling

I came across this video yesterday while trolling on YouTube.  I can see why it has over 19,000 views: hear the diesel engine whine as the coal truck descends a steep grade down a Kentucky mountain.

August Anniversaries

It seems that August is anniversary month to me.

August one is my wedding anniversary. Twenty-one years now. Hooray for my wife and I.

August seventeen is my date hired anniversary. In these last few years of economic slumping, I'm appreciative of that anniversary as well. Twenty years now.  See a pattern? I don't either.

When I was first hired at Chattanooga State, I was involved with a branch library.  My first time walking into the branch library, a room 48 feet long and 30 feet wide, was disbelief.  Not a single bookshelf was up. Pieces of bookshelves and chandeliers were scattered everywhere on the floor. There was no office (and would never be one). Not a single book. Back then in the early 90s, libraries were primarily books.

August 17 was that date.  Classes were to begin around the end of August. Never had I seen an empty space, a former church sanctuary no less, be transformed so quickly to be ready for classes.

In came bookshelves and beautiful chandeliers. In came boxes and boxes and more boxes of books. In came tables and chairs; computers for staff and students.  It was an amazing transformation.

But it was a 48 X 30 room. Many years went by and it remained a 48 X 30 room but with an added general-use computer lab connected by a doorway.

Nowadays, that branch library no longer exists.  A victim of changing educational needs and objectives at branch college campuses. Library services changed considerably during that time too.

Happily and fortunately, I was reassigned to the main campus before the branch library closed, so I have no direct connection to its demise.  I suppose some day I will go over and visit; it's been a few years now since I've been there.  I'll visit when I finally feel comfortable doing so. Whenever that might be.