Will there be a Rhythm In Riverview in 2025?

 

Picture this.  In the year 2025, the music died.

No tunes that you can hear all over the neighborhood.  

No musical band from out of town, playing the soul and the Motown hits.  

No chairs set up in the ballfield.  

No food vendors.  No funnel cakes in our backyard.

No dancing around the stage.  No shimmies to be shaken.

There will be no Rhythm In Riverview music festival this year.

So many people have been asking if there was going to be a Rhythm In Riverview because they hadn't heard anything.  We also have not been able to confirm anything with the Rhythm In Riverview event sponsor.  Calls have not been returned.  Not a peep.

But we did confirm through Kingsport Parks and Recreation that the Douglass Ballfield has not been reserved for anything on the first Monday, July 14th. Nothing at all.  Empty field.

A week later, Kids Central is reserved for the ballfield on Monday, July 21st and those activities are over on that day by 4 PM.  After 4 PM... again, nothing.

So.... 

For the first time in at least 18 years, there will be no celebration of Riverview's musical heritage which pre-dates most of us who grew up in Kingsport's African-American community.

As the children and grandchildren of Kingsport's Black community, we were  all raised on the culture of music along Lincoln Street (now M. L. King Boulevard).  From Washington, D.C. southwest, the "Chitlin'  Circuit had several routes along the Lee Highway.  U.S. Highway 11 was a major route down south from the Northeast and it went through many white cities.  At many venues, auditoriums, clubs and juke joints,  African-Americans singers and show bands stopped off in the Black communities from Roanoke down to Bristol-Kingsport to Greeneville, Morristown, down to Knoxville and on to Chattanooga, Birmingham and Nashville, then hooking back up to the main Chitlin' Circuit at Atlanta.  It meant that our people paid for, and got to see and dance with their favorite performers in person, if just for a few hours.

In Kingsport, the main venue was the Masonic Hall on Lincoln Street at Carver Street (now demolished).  For years in the Masonic Hall, and also at the nearby Hut and the Elks, musical groups made stops to entertain, staying a couple of hours depending on the crowd, then moving on down the line to the next stop.

The fact that Riverview's most famous world-wide musicians and entertainers, Brownie and "Stick" McGhee were raised right in the heart of our community, gave the people of Riverview a vested stake in the development of music culture both in Kingsport and around the world.  They were a symbol of pride, proclaiming that WE in Riverview had a small hand in the music business.  Stick McGhee giving an impromptu concert in Mr. Jack Pierce's backyard back in the day, is itself, a testimonial to the influence of "The Riverview Sound" in the development of Black music culture.  

Rhythm In Riverview has always been a continuation of that culture, cemented into place long before any of us were born, just a hum in our daddys' memories.  The humming has now stopped.

This year, the beloved Douglass ballfield will be silent.  Kingsport's and Riverview's contributions to African-American culture stops.  The beloved Douglass ballfield will be quiet.  There will be no music.  The musical notes will be gone.  The dancing, the fun with our fellow Kingsporters (even the ones who stopped by for the music, and the others who didn't know for years that anybody ever lived in Riverview), the food, the festive atmosphere will give way to the constant, distant, forever drone of Eastman and those constant locomotive whistles.  

No Rhythm In Riverview for 2025.  It's the day the music died.

2025 Reunion of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association, your Douglass Alumni Association:

Here's the agenda for the 2024 Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association Reunion:

On Friday, July 4th,  there will be a Fish Fry in Riverview, beginning at  2 PM until the food runs out.

On the menu is fish , chicken, chicken wings and chicken quarter legs.   Dinners are $12.00 and the sides include baked beans, soup beans, pinto beans, cornbread, cole slaw, and mac and cheese.   A small fish sanwich sandwich is $7.00 and a large is $10.00.  Also available are polish sausage sandwiches for $3.00 (add chili for $4.00)

     The event is sponsored by the New Vision Youth in honor of the Douglass alumni attending the Reunion.

The location will be at the South Central Kingsport office, 229 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Kingsport, again beginning at 2 PM on Friday, July 4th.  

Events of the reunion, then kick off at 5 PM:

Douglass Alumni Board Meeting Saturday; If you can't attend the Reunion, RECORD A REUNION MESSAGE!

 

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass/Douglass Alumni Association Board will hold its final meeting before the July 4, 5 & 6 Reunion, THIS COMING SATURDAY, promptly at 11 AM.

Anyone with ideas and suggestions are welcome.  A full itenuary will be published shortly.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE REUNION, please send us your well wishes by recording a short video message, 60 seconds or less, on your cellphone and text it to me at 423-847-5139, so that we can play it to everybody at the Saturday night banquet.  If you haven't mastered the phone recording part of your phone yet, any youngster can record it for you.  Just text it to me!

'Sense of togetherness:' Juneteenth 2025 celebrated in Kingsport

 

Courtesy the Kingsport Times-News

KINGSPORT — A celebration honoring Juneteenth was held at V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, offering food, entertainment and education on the history of the holiday.

Ryan Smith, with the Children of the Community, said the first year they held the celebration about 300-350 people attended. Over the next few years the location changed, but it was back at V.O. Dobbins on Saturday.

 "It never should have left," Smith said.  He said this location is relevant to many elders, some of whom may not be here anymore. 

"This is a lot of people's roots right here," Smith said. ". . . So no better place to hold it than right here, because it brings a lot of family that lives out of town back to the community where they grew up in."

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, and since then Kingsport has commemorated the emancipation of slavery in the U.S. 

Calvin Sneed said events celebrating Juneteenth brings the entire community together.

 

"Not just the Black community," Sneed said. "It brings all the communities in Kingsport, all of the neighborhoods together."

 

He said the event unites people and gives them a reason to look into the history of the holiday.  "It's a sense of togetherness," Sneed said.

 Although they celebrated on Thursday, the day of the holiday, Sneed said Saturday was a good day to hold the big celebration as more people could attend.

 V.O. Dobbins used to be Douglass High School, and Sneed said those who attended still get together every couple years. 

"We were first grade up to 12th grade," Sneed said. "We were one of 16 African American schools in all of East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia."

Despite celebrating the liberation of "everybody," Sneed said African Americans are not all the way free yet. 

"Will we ever get past the past and start moving into the future? I don't know," Sneed said. "But Juneteenth is a good way to look back at those legacies that were left to us by our ancestors . . . you can't go forward until you know where you've been."

Food and entertainment were provided and children enjoyed the splash pad in the summer heat.

The Kingsport Police Department and Kingsport Fire Department were at the event. Children had the opportunity to go into the vehicles, talk with the first responders and turn on the siren in the police car. 

Click on the play button below twice

Thanks to Johnnie Mae Swagerty and Ryan Smith

for organizing this year's Juneteenth event!  

More pictures to come!

Kingsport Twilight Concert: Legacy Motown Revue

 

"HELLO KINGSPORT!" "Twilight Alive presents "Legacy Motown Revue" Friday, June 20th, 2025 at 7 PM, Broad Street downtown.

Presented in partnership with "This is Kingsport," Eastman Credit Union, Eastman, Cardinal Glass Industries, First Horizon, Food City, 99.3 the X, Peak, EAV, Eletric 94.9, 96.9 WXBQ, Glass Machinery & Excavations, Inc, spivey, King & Spivy, Appalachian Resources, Conservation and Development Countil, Holston Medical Group, Cardinal Glass Industries, and Express AV.

Come enjoy.. thanks to all the partnerships that made this happen for Kingsport, the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas to enjoy music every Friday in downtown Kingsport. Twilight Alive, you rock!"

Douglass Alumni Board Meeting on Saturday, 6/14

 

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association board will meet on Saturday June 14, 2025.  It will most likely be the last meeting before the school reunion on July 4th, 5th, and 6th.

The meeting will begin at 11 AM, in the second floor conference room of the V.O. Dobbins Community Center tower, 301 Louis Street, Kingsport.

Please bring your ideas and mail (or bring) your dues in ASAP.  Again, dues ($75.00) will help the Board pay for the reunion, plus enroll you in the Douglass Alumni Association.

Please make the check payable to the Sons and Daughters of Douglass and mail them to:

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association

301 Louis Street, Ste. 304

Kingsport, Tennessee 37660

See you at the Reunion!

Riverview community to host 2025 Juneteenth Celebration

 

KINGSPORT — Music, dancing, gospel choirs and games will fill V.O. Dobbins Field later this month as Riverview hosts its 2025 Community Unity Juneteenth Celebration.

In partnership with the Kingsport Parks and Recreation, the event will take place on Saturday, June 21, from 2 to 8 p.m. at 301 Louis St. It will bring together families and the community to celebrate freedom and culture, said Johnnie Mae Swagerty, one of the event’s lead organizers.

Swagerty said the celebration will include artists, vendors and local organizations.

“This is Riverview’s celebration, unity in our own neighborhood, for everyone.”

Festivities will kick off with a welcome and prayer, followed by a Juneteenth history presentation from Sherman Patrick of Northeast State Community College. Kingsport Mayor Paul Montgomery is scheduled to read a special proclamation, Swagerty said.

Performances will include the New Vision Youth Drama Team, a skit titled “In the Hood,” and music by DJ Unity from Nashville, who will play a mix of gospel, jazz and family-friendly hits.

Choirs and soloists scheduled to perform include:

• Keante’ Dukes & Kingdom Collective
• Zacharias Dukes
• Journey (God’s Child), age 9
• Yani Litt
• Naj & Company, an R&B and rap group performing rhythm and blues classics

Dance entertainment will be provided by Holiday Dance Studio.

Attendees can enjoy food from Mama’s Food Factory, Beach Hut, Exotic Foods and a taco truck. Merchandise vendors include Letitia T-Shirts & Jewelry, The Litt Factory, Looks by Letise, Tiffany Bakes and Timeless Scents.

Community organizations will be there including:

• Sullivan County Anti-Drug Coalition (SCAD)
• Traces Foster Home
• Bethel AME Zion Church
• Imagination Library
• Girls Inc.
• Northeast State’s aviation program (bringing a small aircraft for children to learn about flying)

Young visitors can explore a Kingsport Fire Department truck, meet police officers and play in the splash pad. Swagerty said games will include inflatables, cornhole, pickleball, a toilet paper roll toss, basketball and bingo.

Swagerty said bingo will start promptly at 4:30 p.m., with no late entries after 5 p.m.

Free red sodas and red cookies will be handed out, while supplies last. Guests are encouraged — but not required — to wear red or Juneteenth-themed shirts.

“We want everyone to come out, have fun and be a part of the fellowship,” Swagerty said. “It’s about unity, joy and honoring our history together.”

For more information, contact Bishop Ronnie Collins at 423-956-0675, Johnnie Mae Swagerty at 423-429-7553 or Ryan Smith at 423-480-4072.

James Arthur "Jimmy" Harrill Foster remembrance

 

KINGSPORT - James Arthur "Jimmy" Harrill Foster, 71, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, May 17, 2025.

Jimmy was born in Kingsport, TN on July 25, 1953, and was a lifelong resident of Sullivan County. He was a member at Shades of Grace in Kingsport and had attended since their opening in 2014. 

Jimmy loved to sing and help people in the community, and to spend time with his loving wife, Polly and his fur babies, Wolferton, Pupperton, Rachel Rose, Lilly Bell Tell, Big Black and Baby. 

He was a journeyman foundryman for many years and worked a variety of jobs inside of Eastman Chemical Company. Jimmy's greatest joys in life was his love for his Lord and Savior, his wife, his children, and grandchildren; all of whom he was so proud of; and his furbabies.

In addition to his birth parents Jimmy is preceded in death by his mother, Barbara Ann Hodge; son, Jeremiah E.J. Foster; stepson, James W. Feathers; mother-in-law, Sylvia Louise Moseley; and several brothers and sisters.

Jimmy is survived by his loving wife of 20 years, Polly Ann (Moseley) Foster; stepdaughter, Rose of Sharon (Feathers) Thacker and her husband, Jason; stepson, Paul Feathers; daughter, Tonya Harrill; son, Nathanial Foster; grandchildren, Grace Ann (Thacker) Ramey and husband, Anthony, Alisha Nicole Robinson, Anabelle Rose Thacker, Kelly Rose Scanlan and her husband, Gage, Dawson Kell Thacker and his wife, Tara, Creed Thacker, Nevada Harrill, Hazel Harrill, Antwan Nicholson, Trey Bush, Tonio Chambers, Quamesha Chambers, Junior Chambers; great grandchildren, Lyric Rose Scanlan, Laveah Page Scanlan, Lydia Grace Ramey, Lillyana Faye Scanlan, Zoey, Leana, Adalynn, Laylay Chambers, Jamari Carter, ; brothers, Sanford Hodge Jr., and Keenan "Teaspoon" Mason; sisters, Mary Cornelius and Gloria Hodge;  sister-in-law, Mildred "Millie" Moseley Crawford; brother-in-law, Raymond Moseley and his wife Erin; as well as many extended family members, and dear friends.

The family would like to say a special thanks to Jimmy's caregivers at Church Hill Nursing Home for their love and care, and to Alan Hicks and the staff with Restore Life USA  in Elizabethton, and to Brian Arrowood and the staff at Johnson-Arrowood Funeral Home in Church Hill for the love and compassion they have shown during this difficult time. 

A visitation will be held from 12:00 - 2:00 on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Shades of Grace United Methodist Church in Kingsport, TN. 

A memorial service will follow the visitation with Pastor Will Shewey, Pastor Regina Shelton, and Pastor Melissa Malcolm officiating.

Remembrances of Karen Young Gonzales

 

                            

 

Karen Hope Young Gonzales remembrance

 

Celebration of Life of Karen Hope Young Gonzalez

   October 31, 1954 – May 14, 2025

Karen Hope Young Gonzalez was born to the late Howard W. Young and Mary Elizabeth Young in Kingsport, TN on October 31, 1954.  She was called to her eternal reset on May 14, 2025.

Karen, a woman of deep faith, gave her life to Christ at an early age and devoted herself to a life centered on daily Bible study and prayer, serving in church ministries and engagement.  Her faith was the bedrock upon which she built her life, guiding her through the trials and tribulations of this world.  She held fast to the belief that with God, all things are possible.

Karen was educated in the Kingsport City Schools systems graduating from Dobyns-Bennett High School, having recently attended her 50th class reunion.  She moved to Cleveland in 1980 with her son Brandon to join the family, retiring from the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works in 2014.  Karen joined her sisters in Knoxville, Tennessee after retirement but never lost the pull of her beloved Cleveland so she returned in 2024 to be with her son.  Her church family and friends welcomed Karen home.

I Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  Karen embodied this scripture, living a life rich in faith, brimming with hope and overflowing with love.  Karen was preceded in death by her parents and her nephew Preston E. Peters.  She leaves behind to cherish her beautiful memories:  her beloved son, Brandon Marquis Gonzalez;  her grandchildren, Samaria, Samir and Harmony of Cleveland;  and her siblings; Charlotte (Gary) Maxwell of Kingsport;  Howard Young, Jr. (Euclid);  Phyllis (Jim) Nichols of Knoxville;  Linda Reid of Knoxville;  and Gregory (Kim) of Stockbridge, GA.

“Auntie Karen” is mourned by her nieces and nephews: Bryan (Jackie) Young,  Robyn (Marcia) Young,  Ashley Young; Tiffany (Patrick) Powell and Allison Toich;  Deidtra Reid, Brittany (Cleo) Nettles; Jason Young, Charles N.Young, Ryan Young, Miles Young and Morgan Young;  and several grandnieces and nephews;  and a host of friends, church members and classmates.

As we say farewell to Karen Hope Young Gonzalez, we do not dwell on the sorrow of her parting, but rather rejoice in the knowledge she has been received into the arms of her Savior, Jesus Christ.  She has fought the good fight, she has finished the race, she has kept the faith.  Let her life be a loving reminder that while she is missing from our presence;  she will be forever in our hearts.  We will remember how greatly each of us loved her, and how she loved us all.

Visitation

Calhoun Funeral Home Lake Shore Blvd.

17010 Lake Shore Blvd.

Cleveland, OH 44110

216-738-0300 

Friday 5/30, 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Service

Christian Assembly

25595 Chardon Road

Richmond Heights, Ohio 44143

(216) 261-4214 

Saturday 5/31, 11:00 am

Wake to begin at 10:30 am