Vaughn files to run for mayor

KINGSPORT -- Former Kingsport alderman and state representative Nathan Vaughn filed his petition with the Sullivan County Election office on Friday to run for may in the May 19th city election.

Vaughn joins current Alderman Tom Parham and Domtar elecrician Gary Lane in the race to be Kingsport's next mayor.

Three other candidates have picked up petitions to run for mayor, but have yet to file.  The deadline to file is noon on February 19th.

Kingsport’s Brickyard Park on track for opening in early April

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES NEWS

By MATTHEW LANE

   mlane@timesnews.net  

SPECIAL NOTE  - RIVERVIEW (DUNBAR & CARVER STREETS) ARE IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER, INDUSTRY DRIVE IS IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER

(Picture courtesy Aerial Innovations of Tennessee Aerial Photography/Rick Smith www.flytenn.com)

 KINGSPORT — Work on Brickyard Park — Kingsport’s newest softball and baseball complex — is moving at a strong and steady pace, and how the facility looks now compared to before Christmas is like “night and day,” city officials said recently.

   However, even with construction moving along, the deadline for completion is coming up fast and basically hinges on what type of weather comes out of February.

   “If February’s weather is like January’s appears to be, we’re pretty good,” said Chris McCartt, assistant city manager for administration. “If February decides to be the worst month thus far, it has the potential to really set us back. It’s just unknown.”

   The contractors on the project — Denark Construction — plan to turn over the facility to the city on April 1, but will likely remain on site another 30 days to finish up with “punch list” items. The first tournament on the new fields is scheduled for the first weekend in April — the Eastman Invitational.

   “Even if we’re pushed back to March 1 to get the sod down, we still have a really good shot of being okay,” Mc-Cartt said.

   Brickyard Park is located on a portion of the old General Shale property along Industry Drive and is a re-

placement for the now gone Eastman ballfields on Wilcox Drive. When Eastman announced its $1.6 billion 

“Project Inspire” reinvestment plan in 2013, the plan called for a new corporate office building on the site of the 

company’s ballfields.

   As a result, Eastman asked Kingsport if it would build a suitable replacement complex and absorb the Eastman ball leagues into its programming.

   Brickyard Park will have four ballfields in a wagon-wheel design, with a centrally located two-story building for scoring, concessions and restrooms. Plans call for 245 parking spaces with room to add an additional 78 if necessary.

   Two of the ballfields will be approximately 325 feet. One will be a 350-foot championship field with terrace seating, and a fourth field will be 300 feet. Grading has been done for a future, fifth field.

   “We created a tiered site. The parking and future fifth field is on one elevation, below that are three fields and then one field slightly lower,” McCartt said. “The reason why it was done was to be as efficient as possible with the site we had to work with and avoid any additional cost. There’s been a tremendous amount of fill and grading to get us to this point.”

David Mason, Kingsport’s construction manager for the project, gave an update on the progress of the work taking place on the site, saying all of the light poles are up and the electrical work remains to connect them; all fence posts and back stop posts are up, the scoreboard columns are in place and all irrigation lines are in and Denark is working on testing those lines.

   The concession building is standing and is dried in, but has not been dry-walled or painted. Mason said crews will start on the final roofing work soon. Top soil for the fields is coming in and crews will start spreading it soon, Mason said.

   All of the fields are going to be skinned to allow for diversity of play, McCartt said.

   “(Brickyard Park) gives us a different view of downtown Kingsport than most people have ever seen,” McCartt said. “This property has been an industrial site for the entire history of Kingsport, and with the exception of when Cement Hill had houses on it, this view has not been open to the public. It’s pretty dynamic, with Bays Mountain, old Kingsport and new Kingsport downtown.”

   The total cost of construction is $6.9 million, with an additional $380,000 for the price of the land.

Benefit for the Oasis

The LampLight Theatre is doing a benefit performance of their hit comedy production - "Foggy Valley Idol" featuring the Foggy Valley Gang.

The event is Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 7 p m at the LampLight Theater on Broad Street in Kingsport.

Proceeds benefit the Oasis, a safe haven for women on Sullivan Street.

All seats are reserved and the price of the ticket is $10.

Please come out and support this worthwhile effort.

Current Alumni Addresses Needed

PLANNING IS UNDERWAY FOR THE 2015 DOUGLASS REUNION!

To all members of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association:

The Alumni Office needs an updated mailing list from everybody.

Please send your current mailing address to:

Sons and Daughters of Douglass

302 Louis Street

Suite 104

Kingsport, TN 37660

or send it to douglassriverview @gmail.com

Thank you!  See you on the Fourth of July Weekend!

2nd Annual DB Alumni Basketball Game: Oldies, But Are They Still Goodies?

It’s the chance to see some of D-B’s premier basketball players from back in the day, as they come together to see if they still have “the right stuff.”

The second annual charity Dobyns-Bennett Alumni Basketball game is tonight at the John Sevier Middle School gymnasium, and organizer Fred Smith, himself a former D-B basketball player, promises even more fun this time around.

“One of the things I liked about last year’s event in the D-B Buck Van Huss Dome,” says Smith, “was the diversity of the crowd.  People from all over  Kingsport and the Tri-Cities came out to see some good competitive basketball from former players, who used to make DB basketball their living.  We’ll have crowd participation this year as before, games for the little kids, door prizes, kid dancers.  The D-B gym was good for the first one, but I think the event will be more intimate this year, because the Sevier gym is smaller and more compact.  The noise level will definitely be louder.”

As last year, you’ll probably recognize names of some of the players who’ll take to the floor to see “if they still got it.”

“Dimingo Hale, JaMichael Mills, Corky Blye, are all playing,” Smith says.  “This year, we’ve even got some female ex-DB players comeing out too.. Becky Blevins Mayes, Erin Armbruster and others.  Coach Eckel’s son Anthony is going to be one of the coaches, in honor of his father.  One of the things I want to do every year is to honor people who were influential in the lives of their D-B players.  Although Coach Eckel was an assistant principal when I played basketball, I remember hearing from former players that he was a strict disciplinarian.  He told you like it was, and he really didn’t care if you liked it or not.  The other coach will be Laura Fowler, who coached the D-B girls team several years ago.  Coach Fowler worked well with the women’s teams she was involved with, and she is still in the lives of many of the players that she coached.”

Smith says, money raised from the event will benefit a scholarship for a graduating D-B basketball senior to continue their higher education.

Tickets for the 2^nd annual charity D-B Alumni Basketball Game are $5.00 apiece, with kids under the age of 5, getting in free.  Doors to the John Sevier gym open at 5, with the game starting around 6 PM.

If you're looking for old friends, familiar names in the rolls of the DB basketball team’s history, Smith says, come on out.   “You won't be disappointed.”

The 15th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Parade

KINGSPORT - The 15th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Parade will be held on Monday, January 19, 2015.day, Parade participates will need to assemble at the intersection of E. Sevier & Center Street (Rikki Rhoton Allstate Insurance Co.'s Parking Lot).

The parade route will follow Center Street and end on Shelby Street (City Parking Lot between Kingsport City Hall & The Justice Center). The theme is "KING’S LEGACY OF PEACE WITH A RENEWED COMMITMENT TO NONVIOLENCE 365”. 

If you would like to enter a car, float, church/business van, bus, truck, other exhibits or take a 20 minute walk during lunch in the parade, please contact Elder Gwen Collins (TVFAR) at (423) 753-2345 or General Overseer Ronnie Collins (JGII) at (423) 956-0675 or email: gacssccc@aim.com or rcollins_316@vzw.blackberry.net 

If you would like to contribute to some service projects from January 19, they are as follows:

·         Butterball Turkey, Can Goods, Mac & Cheese, & Rolls $10/family (My Brother’s Keeper & Food City)

·         Tools-For-School $7/child (Joshua Generation & Office DEPOT)

·         Diapers & Wipes $10/baby (Putting Babies First & Upper East TN Human Dev. Agency)

Make your tax deductible contribution payable to: JGII, P.O. Box 3390, Kingsport, TN 37664-3390.  

Parade sponsors include Eastman Chemical Company, Food City, City of Kingsport, Office Depot, Joshua Generation (JGII), My Brother's Keeper, Putting Babies First, Tennessee & Virginia Fellowship Against Racism, H.O.P.E., New Vision, Youth, and the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency. Please take time to help bring about positive change in the community in which we live and help us Change a Generation!

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2

Love, Peace, Joy, Health, Prosperity, Wealth, & The FAVOR Of GOD Overtake YOU,

General Overseer Ronnie W. Collins

General Overseer Ronnie W. Collins

1^st Assistant to Bishop Michael V. Kelsey, Executive Treasurer

1^st Assistant to Bishop Wesley T. Cherry, Sr. Bishop of Auxiliary Bishops & General Overseers

Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International

4321 Stillwood Avenue, Kingsport, Tennessee 37664-4958

Cell  423-956-0675    Office  423-229-4729   Fax   423-229-3517

-mailto: rcollins_316@vzw.blackberry.net

Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr., International Presiding Bishop

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, International Presiding Bishop-Elect

Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Int’l Headquarters

1691 Phoenix Blvd. Suite 200

Atlanta GA 30349

Office: 877-907-7915  Fax: 877-907-7916

Website:  www.fullgospelbaptist.org

           www.fullgospelconference.org

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Events - Wise, VA

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board Meeting

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass will meet on Saturday, January 10, 2015, in the Eastman Board Room at 1:00 P.M., at the V. O. Dobbins, Sr. Complex.

The meeting is very important, so please bring someone with you.


Douglas S. Releford
Board President