2023 REUNION NEWS: Sons and Daughters of Douglass Get Together

Your Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association is planning a big "WELCOME HOME" celebration reunion this coming summer!

Please circle Friday June 30th.... Saturday, July 1st.... and Sunday, July 2nd on your calendars.  Like everything else, COVID 19 shut us down two years ago, meaning we haven't seen each other IN FOUR YEARS!  It's time to relax, refresh, and renew  our high school, elementary and neighborhood friendships.

Please let us know that you are coming by sending in your alumni dues, so we can get an accurate count of how much food to provide.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

At 4 PM on Friday June 30th, you can register for the reunion and come together for our "Meet-N-Greet" in the Douglass Community Room at the V.O. Dobbins, Sr. Complex (you remember where that is... it's the old Douglass High School, 301 Louis Street).

From 6 PM to 11 PM, we'll have our popular Sock-Hop in a familiar place:  the old Douglass Gymnasium (remember when it didn't have air conditioning and all that hot air had to rise up through the windows at the top of the gym?  Oh.. the room has air conditioning now)  Crowd favorite D-J Jeremy Ford is going to crank up the songs of yesteryear to see if you still have some "razzle-dazzle" in yo castle."

On Saturday, July 1st, we're hoping to find out who the best golfer might be among the alumni, with a possible golf tournament (anyone who can help organize that, drop Doug Releford a line at 423-914-1461).  Shotgun start would be around 8 AM or 8:30.

Later on Saturday from 12 Noon to about 3 PM, it's the perennial "Douglass Field Day Cookout Gathering."  That's planned for Borden Park because of all the outdoor activities we can do there.

Our Douglass Reunion Banquet kicks off at 7 PM on Saturday in the Douglass Community Room with guest speakers, a good banquet meal and other activities, followed by dance music again from D-J Jeremy Ford.  That'll run until you run out of gas!

At 11 AM on Sunday, July 2nd, you're free to attend the church service of your choice, and at 3PM, the Douglass Memorial Service will begin, our location TBA, where we will honor the memories of those Douglass Tigers who have left us.

We do ask that, as always, don't forget your Douglass Alumni Association dues, which are $50.00 a year.  Please make your check or money order out to Sons and Daughters of Douglass, and mail it along with your contact information to:

Sons and Daughters of Douglass, 301 Louis Street, Ste. 304, Kingsport, TN 37660.  

This helps us defray the cost of the reunion and provides us funds for benevolence programs and services in the Riverview community.  Again, it also gives us an accurate account of who's coming.

Again, please make your plans now to come home and fellowship with your Douglass-Riverview family.  Who knows where we'll be in two more years?  Do you want to take that chance?  Come on home.. you're always welcome at home!

Our secretary Charlotte Maxwell checked around for hotel rates.  Here's what she found:  

The Holiday Inn: Standard room $125.00 per night, plus 16% tax.  Suite $135 per night and add on 16% tax, along with Continental Breakfast, plus fresh fruit/indoor pool (NEEDS AT LEAST 2 MONTHS NOTICE TO BLOCK).

The Hampton Inn: $149.00 per night plus a 16% tax for king or double bed/pool and Continental Breakfast.

Quality Inn:  3 nights plus a 16% tax is $368.95 total, Suites 3 nights with the 16% tax is $601.51 total, plus pool/breakfast. 

Comfort Inn, 115.00 per night with the 16% tax added is $133.98 total, Double $479.68 total with the 16% tax added, /Single $448.23 total for three nights, single $401.94 total for three nights both with the 16% tax added, heated pool, breakfast, NEED CONFIRMATION BEFORE APRIL.

Fairfield Inn: normally $164.00 per night.  Any rooms that we block, will be $129.00 ($150 plus the tax).  Full breakfast-juice bar, waffles, indoor pool, outdoor heated pool.  MUST BLOCK EARLY APRIL.  DHS Alumni must be identified with a code given to them by the Douglass Board.  THIS ONE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY THE BOARD BECAUSE OF PRICE AND AMENITIES.

Any questions, call Charlotte, 423-967-0536

  

Douglass Alumni Board Meeting this Saturday

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board will have our regular meeting this coming Saturday, February 11th, 2023.

We have some important items that we need to discuss, so we need everyone that can make it to be there.

The meeting will begin at 1 PM on Saturday in the Eastman Board Room, 2nd floor, V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, 301 Louis Street, Kingsport.

The door at the south entrance is always locked, but call 423-847-5139 for admittance.

Douglas Releford, President

Gary McClintock remembrance

 

Gary Edward McClintock

December 19, 1954 - February 03, 2023

Gary Edward McClintock, 68, of Mt Carmel, TN, passed away on Friday, February 3rd, 2023.

Gary is survived by his brothers, Mark and Larry McClintock; sister, Susan Johnson; and friend, Dale Simcox.

Graveside service will be held at Mountain Home National Cemetery on Wednesday, February 8th at 11:00 am. Military honors provided by American Legion Hammonds Post 3 / Gate City 265.

Trinity Memorial Centers Funeral Home (423-723-8177) is honored to serve the McClintock family.

Frank (Doc) Watterson remembrance

 

Frank (Doc) Watterson 79, of Kingsport departed this life for a heavenly life on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. 

Frank retired from the military after 28 ½ years. He later retired from AFG Glass Plant after 22 years he also spent 10 years at Wal-Mart before officially retiring in 2018. He had a servant’s heart and enjoyed traveling with the military. Frank will be missed by all who knew and loved him. 

  

He was preceded in death by his parents; John and Margaret Watterson; brothers, John Jr. and Russell Watterson; loving daughter, Denise.

 

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife, Mary Watterson of the home; son, Phillip (Tosha) of Kingsport; daughter, Stacy of Jacksonville, NC; eight granddaughters; two grandsons; seven; great grandchildren; special friend, Danny Howe who he enjoyed mission trips with; along with a host of family, friends, and his mission buddies. 

 

The family will receive friends from 2 PM to 3 PM on Sunday, February 5, 2023 at St. Mark United Methodist Church. A celebration of life service will follow with Rev. Billy Pearson and Rev. Rae Mullins officiating. 

 

A military graveside service will be conducted at 11 AM on Monday, February 6, 2023 at the Mountain Home National Cemetery with honors conducted by the American Legion Hammond Post #3/265. Those wishing to attend are asked to meet at the cemetery by 10:50 am.

  

The family would like to extend a special thank you to Patricia Horton for her care and help during Frank’s illness. 

 

 

Carter-Trent Funeral Home in Kingsport is serving the Watterson family.

The Dobyns-Bennett Indians (Douglass Tigers) versus the Greeneville Devils (George Clem Wolverines) Tribute Game

 

A file photo of the DB Indians dressed in the Douglass Gold and Blue playing Tennessee High in the DB Dome.  This year's Tribute game with Greeneville on January 27th will be in the old Sullivan North High School Gym at 2533 North John B. Dennis Highway, Kingsport

Get out your Douglass Tigers pom-poms!  It's that magical time of year when the Dobyns-Bennett High School basketball program plays homage to the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Tigers.

This year's Tribute game will be against a very familiar nemesis... the Greeneville Devils.

The Dobyns-Bennett Indians will be dressed in the gold and blue colors of the Douglass Tigers and the Greeneville Devils will be dressed in the blue and gold of the George Clem Wolverines.

Please mark your calendar for Friday night, January 27, 2023.

Tip-off is 8 PM.  The price for admission is $6.00 per person.

Because of repair work on the DB dome on Legion Drive, the game will be played at the old Sullivan North High School, 2533 North John B. Dennis Highway, Kingsport, TN 37660.

More news to come shortly, including the cost of the home game.  Please put on your calendars to attend!

Douglass Alumni Meeting Canceled

 

Because of bad weather forecasted, the regularly scheduled meeting of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board for Saturday, January 14, 2023 has been canceled.  

The next regularly scheduled meeting is for Saturday, February 11, 2023 in the Eastman Board Room, 2nd floor, V.O. Dobbins, Sr. Tower, 301 Louis Street, Kingsport.

--- Douglas Releford, president

     The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association, Inc.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 2023 Holiday Events in Kingsport

 

"I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear" - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., SCLC conference in Atlanta, 1967

Those words from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ring true today, 55 years after the famed civil rights leader was shot to death 500 miles on the other side of Tennessee from Kingsport.

The first Dr. King parade in Kingsport in 1968 was to remember and commemorate his teachings of non-violence only days after he was assassinated in Memphis.  Since 1986 and once a year since, people from all walks of life have gathered with community leaders to walk in Kingsport to honor Dr. King's legacy.  Bad weather postponed last year's Holiday commemoration, but this year's is scheduled for Monday, January 16th.

"Marching feet announce that time has come for a given idea.  When the idea is a sound one, the cause is a just one, and the demonstration a righteous one, change will be forthcoming."  "Non-violence: The Only Road to Freedom" -  essay by Dr. King, 1966

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Parade is scheduled for downtown Kingsport on Monday.  The yearly theme has always been "The End of Racism can come through the Love of Christ," but this year, there is an urgency to the teachings of Dr. King, says Parade Organizer Bishop Ronnie Collins.  With all the shootings and killings in America in the past year, he says "this year's theme is 'In 2023, Choose to Love and Not to Hate.'"  

"There's a reason why the word 'unity' is part of the word 'community,'" says Bishop Collins.  "It all comes from love, love for our city, love for our neighbor, love for those less fortunate and above all, the love for Christ.  We have got to get back to that love."  

The parade will assemble at 11:15 AM on Monday at the corner of East Center Street and East Sevier Avenue in Kingsport.  The event begins promptly at noon, proceeding down Center Street to the old city hall at Center and Shelby Streets.  Everyone is invited to march.

"Bring your car, your float, your bicycle, your feet and most importantly your spirit," says Bishop Collins.  "The parade is open to anybody who believes in the Love of Christ and the Love of Community with inclusion, diversity, equality and equity, as Dr. King believed in."

"I heard the late civil rights icon Representative John Lewis of Georgia once say 'we may have come here in different ships, but we're in the same boat now,'" Bishop Collins says.  "Only Dr. King's teachings can bring us back to that one togetherness of spirit that we need."

The parade is sponsored by the Tennessee/Virginia Fellowship Against Racism (TVFAR) and the East Tennessee Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship.

 

"I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits" - Dr. King acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, 1964

Immediately after the parade on Monday, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Luncheon will be held at 1 PM in the Riverview Community Room on Wheatley Street in Kingsport, located beside the pickle ball courts and Head Start.  Because of the weather and Covid, last year's was a drive-through event, but this year will be the customary dinner inside.  "Because the King Day holiday is a day of service in communities," says organizer Johnnie Mae Swagerty, "awards will be presented to those who have made a difference in helping people in the past year.  It's a prelude to the celebration of Black History Month in February."

On the menu this year is barbeque and chips from Broad Street Barbeque in Kingsport, with water provided by Healthy Kingsport.  The luncheon is free of charge.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Luncheon is sponsored by the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, the New Vision Youth/South Central Kingsport Community Development, Inc., Kingsport Parks and Recreation and KHRA.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that" - "Loving Your Enemies" sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama 1957

This year's Candlelight Vigil in Dr. King's memory will be held at the Shiloh Baptist Church, 712 East Sevier Avenue in Kingsport at 6 PM Monday night.  The lighting of candles has become a tradition that wraps up the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday every year in Kingsport and this year is no different.  "Community leaders will light individual candles in honor of people, programs, organizations and agencies who have shared the benevolence that Dr. King always preached about," Swagerty says.  The public is invited and is free of charge.

The event is sponsored by the New Vision Youth group and the Shiloh Baptist Church.

Bishop Collins says, the march, the luncheon and the Candlelight Vigil are where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dreams for society still live.  But they live in our hearts every day of the year.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Beyond in Johnson City

 

On Saturday, January 14th at 8:30 a.m. there will be a Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast held at the Wesley United Methodist Church. The phone number is 423-461-8830.

On Sunday, Jan. 15, beginning at 11 a.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Elizabethton will host Minister Teresa Bowers Parker as guest speaker for the church’s Martin Luther King observance. Father Tim Holder, priest and pastor of the church said, “It is a fitting and beautiful statement about our city and our faith that in a church built by slave peoples making bricks on site and then laying them to raise this House of God in 1861-1865, that we here today celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s message of the Love of Jesus for all of us.” Traditional spiritual songs which were prominently used in King’s civil rights struggles will be sung.

On the entire day of Jan. 16 MLK Day, there will be literary and performing arts, a blood drive and a community dinner at the Carver Park Recreation Center. The phone number is 423-461-8830.

Going from Jan. 16 through Jan. 20 will be a Martin Luther King Jr. Student Art Exhibit at the McKinney Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. There will also be a reception at the McKinney Center for the art exhibit on Jan. 20 from 6-8 p.m. The phone number is 423-753-0562.

On Jan. 19 at 6:30 p.m., the Seekers Book Club will have a reading on “How the Word is Passed” by Clint Smith at the Langston Centre.

On Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m., the Langston Centre will also present a movie and discussion on “Tower Road Bus.” The phone number for the Langston Centre is 431-434-5785.

On Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. a Community Building Roundtable will be held at Jubilee World Outreach Church.

Douglass Alumni meeting this Saturday

 

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association will hold its regularly-scheduled board meeting, weather permitting, on Saturday, January 14, 2023.

The meeting will be held at 1 PM in the Eastman Board Room, 2nd Floor of the V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, 301 Louis Street in Kingsport.

2023 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Commemoration in Kingsport

After the parade at 1:15 PM, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Luncheon will be held in the Riverview Community Room at the V.O. Dobbins Community Center, Wheatley Street, Kingsport.

At 6 PM, the annual MLK Candlelight Vigil and the lighting of candles for service to the Kingsport community will be held at the Shiloh Baptist Church, 712 East Sevier Avenue.
 

 

 

 

Barbara Jean Johnson remembrance

 

GATE CITY, VA - Barbara Jean Johnson, 91, Gate City, VA passed away, Friday, January 6, 2023, at her residence.

Barbara was born in Gate City, VA, on April 6, 1931, to the late George Washington and Fannie Annis (Wolfe) Rogers.

In addition to her parents, her foster parents (who raised her) Broadus and Mary Coley; brother, George Parret Rogers, Sr., Phillip Lee Rogers, and William Rudolph Rogers; Foster mothers, Aunt Geraldine Wolfe Dobbins, and Aunt Lakie Caldona Wolfe Fugate; nephews, Aaron Mickey Rogers, George Parret Rogers, Jr.; foster brother, Allen Curtis Dobbins, Sr.; niece, Fannie Patricia Rogers Pope; sister-in-law, Ola Beatrice Rogers; uncles; Esme Howard Dobbins and Joseph Fugate; close friends, Fannie Lynn Johnson Spriggs, Margaret Shoemaker, Pinkie Horton, Berniece Waterson, and Margaret Muncey (Peg); and former husband, Johnnie Johnson; and too numerous aunts and uncles to mention, preceded her in death.

She is survived by her foster sister, Rochelle (Richard) Maxwell; sisters-in-law, Ethel Payne Rogers, Dayton, OH and Nell Bowers Dobbins, Washington, DC; nieces and nephews, Carmen Rogers, Newark, NJ, Anthony Rogers (Marsha), Colonial Heights, TN, Stanley (Ruby) Rogers, Gate City, VA, Phillip (Rhonda) Rogers, Blacksburg, VA, Lena Rogers, Kingsport, TN, Dawn Hardin, Dayton, OH, Felicia (Ed) Williams, Dayton, OH, Howard (Jessica) Swan, Kingsport, TN, Kermit (Kiera) Swan III, Roanoke, VA, Mykel Tre Maxwell, Gate City, VA, Matthew Harris, Denver, CO, Courtney Dobbins, and Allen C. Dobbins Jr.; and a host of great nieces, great nephews, cousins, other family members, and friends.

The family will receive friends from 11-1 p.m., Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at the Gate City Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:00p.m., in the Gene Falin Memorial Chapel of the funeral home with Rev. Rochelle Maxwell and Pastor Steve Templeton. Music provided by Donnie McCoy, Willie Anderson, Bob Payne, James Wood, & 4 Him.

Graveside services will follow the service at Holston View Cemetery, Weber City, VA.

An online guest register is available for the Johnson family at www.gatecityfunerals.com.

Gate City Funeral Home is honored to be serving the family of Barbara Jean Johnson.

A Letter to the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni - Reunion 2023

 

A letter to the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association --- Celebrating the heritage and legacy of the Douglass Elementary-High School, Kingsport, Tennessee, the largest African-American school in upper East Tennessee, southwest Virginia and southeastern Kentucky when it closed in 1965-66. 

A reminder... The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association is a nonprofit corporation in good standing in the state of Tennessee, and designated by the IRS as a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization, headquartered in the historic Douglass High School building, Kingsport, Tennessee.

The 501 (c) 3 designation means your financial gifts and contributions to the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association are tax-deductible, through our Employee Identification Number (EIN).  

Please make a tax-deductible contribution to be able to claim it on your income tax return before the end of the 2022 tax year that ends on December 31st.   Our address is:

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association, Inc.

301 Louis Street, Ste. 304

Kingsport, TN 37660

Please contact us if you have questions.

Riverview Hosts Veteran Heroes Day Event 2022

 

Although rain canceled many local outdoor events on Veterans Day this past Friday, one Kingsport event turned into a moving experience the next day on Saturday.  The vehicles they were in, "moved" through the line at a Veterans Day lunch drive-through.

Dozens of veteran heroes and their families dodged the lingering raindrops to participate in a Veterans Day drive-through lunch.  Those raindrops did not dampen the spirits of sponsors, who gathered at the V.O. Dobbins Head Start entrance with delicious meals to serve to the veteran heroes and their families who stopped by.

 

"Rain wasn't going to stop any of us from coming to this event," says Kingsport Army veteran and lunch attendee Jim Brice.  "The sponsors and organizers go through a lot of work and preparation to put this gathering together.  We appreciate them as much as they appreciate us."  Veterans who couldn't make it, had their lunches delivered to them at home.

For two years, COVID had turned the in-person gathering on Veterans Day into a drive-through event.  Organizers had hoped that veterans would be able to assemble in person this year, only to have rain forced the affair to become a vehicle-only gathering again.

"On a cold chilly day," said New Vision Youth group director Johnnie Mae Swagerty, "what tasted mighty good was chili beans, soup beans, cornbread, cole slaw, a Texas RoadHouse appetizer, and a special pumpkin spice cake donated by the Central Baptist Church Food Ministry.  We were glad to honor the veterans on their special day, even though the weather did not want to cooperate much."

The menu did not escape the praises of many veterans in line.  Larry Byington is a veteran of both the Army and the Air Force in Vietnam.  He says he thinks of the chow lines during his military career, versus this Veterans Day line.  "Absolutely no comparison," he laughs.  "Those C-rations couldn't hold a candle to good ole homemade chili, cornbread and spice cakes.  And the convenience... instead of a P-38 can opener out in the field, you flip this meal open and off you go."

"Hats off to the organizers and sponsors of the event," he says. "As a veteran, it makes me feel good to know that people appreciate all of our veterans.  I'm proud of my service and it feels good to know that someone else is proud of it as well."

Animals who offer a lifetime of love and companionship to veterans were also welcomed at the drive-through.  Zakraj, a 9-year old Shih Tzu, an oriental breed known for a calming, friendly temperament enjoyed the drive-through.  His owner is Army veteran Gregory Watterson, who served in Germany.

Each veteran and their family also received a letter of appreciation from New Vision Youth members.  Each was handwritten, thanking the veteran for their service.  "Getting the letter was special," says Brice.  "As a veteran, I really appreciate that.  It makes me feel that my service meant something."

More than 70 veterans and their families stopped by the loading platform at the Head Start entrance on Wheatley Street on Saturday during off-and-on rain.  Swagerty says in addition to Kingsport, they came from as far away as Erwin, Johnson City, Church Hill, Rogersville, Mt. Carmel  and even Asheville, NC.

 

Attendees praised the family-like atmosphere of the event.  "I stay in touch at least once or twice a week with five guys that I was stationed with in Vietnam," Byington says.  "They are like my family.  But with these people who give up their time to sponsor and hold events like this, it's almost like having an extended veteran family.  They are very special, too."

The Veteran Heroes Day event was sponsored by the New Vision Youth, the Riverview Boys and Girls Club, Children of the Community, Kingsport Parks & Recreation, the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the South Central Kingsport Community Development Corporation, Texas Roadhouse and the Central Baptist Church Food Ministry.

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board Meeting

 

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association Board will have its regularly-scheduled meeting on Saturday, November12, 2022.

The meeting will be held at 1 PM in the Eastman Conference Room on the second floor of the V.O. Dobbins Tower, 301 Louis Street in Kingsport.

The Simon Brothers of Kingsport: A celebration of Life and Legacy

 

National Night Out in Riverview: Free Pizza

Pictures are from last year's "We Care" gift basket deliveries because of COVID, and from the in-person event in the ballfield two years ago.

They are your friends.  They are your neighbors.  You see them all the time, in the grocery stores, at church, in the mall.  You see them all over town and sometimes you may not even know who they are because you've never met them.  They're often the silent heroes in our community.  And they are also the first people you call in an emergency.

     Kingsport's upcoming annual National Night Out event in the V.O. Dobbins ballfield will bring law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other first responders together with the people they serve.  "Kingsport is a collection of good neighborhoods in a safe, friendly and welcoming community," says Mayor Pat Shull.  "We welcome everyone to attend the National Night out activities and help celebrate the Kingsport Spirit."

     Covid prevented people from gathering last year from celebrating that "thank you" spirit.  Members of the New Vision Youth delivered "We Care" gift baskets to local first responders at their bases of operation and while the spirit was there, everyone is looking forward to getting back together this year in a big way.

 

      Kingsport police officers, Sullivan County sheriff's deputies, Kingsport firefighters, emergency medical technicians, life-saving crew members and representatives from Ballad Health's medical facilities will all be on hand this coming Thursday for their annual "meet and greet" session with residents.  People will get the chance to meet new first responders they've never met, and greet first responders again that they may already know.  "We're always delighted to attend the National Night Out event," says KPD's Public Information Officer Tom Patton.  "Meeting people continues our mission of preventing crime in our neighborhoods and throughout the entire community."

     This year's National Night Out in Kingsport will be held on Thursday, October 13, 2022 in the V.O. Dobbins (Douglass) ballfield on MLK Drive at Louis Street, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.  In case it rains, the free event will move inside the nearby V.O. Dobbins gymnasium.  It's not just an adult event... special attention is being paid to grab the children's focus.  "Parents can get their children fingerprinted and firefighters will have equipment available," says event organizer Johnnie Mae Swagerty.  "One of the most popular activities for children is 'touch a truck' where the fire department sets up one of their fire trucks.  Children can get inside, try on the firefighting equipment, and see what the firefighters do in emergencies.  Law enforcement also has some activities planned as well."

     Special emphasis is always placed on children's interaction with first responders.  "Sometimes, little children can be bothered by the sight of total strangers at their homes during a fire, or someone reaching towards them in the confusion of an accident," says Swagerty.  "Seeing strangers in an already stressful situation like that might further traumatize them... they're already going through a bad time.  With National Night Out, we want them to meet and get to know these first responders in a friendly setting, so that they can be familiar with them in an uncomfortable setting later."

     Local National Night Out sponsors are the South Central Kingsport Community Development Corporation, in partnership with the New Vision Youth group, Kingsport Parks and Recreation, and the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority.  Other local sponsors are Food City, Starbucks, Chef's Pizzaria, Texas Roadhouse. and the Sullivan County Anti-Drug Coalition.  Chef's Pizzaria will also give out free pizza and Starbucks will give out free desserts and free coffee bags.   There will also be door prizes as well.

     There's also a challenge being given out as well.  "We want to challenge all neighborhoods to come out and meet and greet their first responders," says Swagerty.  "Bring your children and your lawn chairs.  Every neighborhood in Kingsport has had a first responder on their streets, even lately.  They always come as quickly as possible and they keep our lives, our homes and our property safe.  Most of the time, you will see them first during a traumatic event."

     "National Night Out on Thursday can be your way of saying 'thank you' for always being there."

Sons and Daughters Alumni Meeting on Saturday, October 10, 2022

 

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting in Kingsport on Saturday, October 8, 2022.

The meeting will be held in the Eastman Conference Room, 2nd floor, in the V. O. Dobbins Tower, 301 Louis Street.  The meeting begins at 1 PM. 

The tower front door on the side of the building is locked on weekends, so please call 423-847-5139 for admittance.

We have some interesting projects in the works.  Please come and take part in the meeting, and offer suggestions on the direction of your Douglass Alumni association.  Also, please bring a friend.

Upcoming Mickey Rogers Golf Tournament

     

The golf tournament is at Meadowview Cattails in Kingsport

The golf tournament is at Meadowview Cattails in Kingsport

Pauletta F. Sensabaugh remembrance

 

Mrs. Pauletta F. Sensabaugh, 76 of Kingsport, TN, sadly departed this life on September 24, 2022 at Select Medical Hospital, Bristol, after an extended illness.

She was born on March 28, 1946 to the union of Paul Crockett, Sr. and Dorothy Gambrell.  She was the eldest of five children through the marriage union of Charles Smith, Sr. and Dorothy Crockett.

She was a 1964 graduate of Douglass High School in Kingsport.  She worked for 30 years and retired from the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency.

Pauletta was a member of Great Commission in Kingsport and attended various local churches.  She taught and led the Women's Bible Fellowship Group, sharing the Word of God for many years.  She loved spending time with her great-grandchildren, watching cooking shows and planting flowers in her yard.

In addition to her parents, Pauletta was preceded in death by her husband Richard G. Sensabaugh; son Paul Preston Sensabaugh; two brothers, Paul "Pete" Crockett, Jr. and Charles "Chuck" Smith, Jr.;  maternal grandparents Rev. J.E. and Carrie Gambrell and paternal grandparents Zane and Rachel Geraldine Smith.

She is survived by two sons, Richard Brandon Sensabaugh of Kingsport, TN; and Corey Douglas Sensabaugh of Kingsport, TN; seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; two sisters, Sandra "Kay" Perkins of Manassas, Virginia; and Yolanda Smith of Knoxville, TN; three dear and devoted friends, Richmond Keeton, Charlene Hodge and Mary Gambrell; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, aunts, an uncle, and friends.

Services for Mrs. Pauletta Sensabaugh will be conducted Monday, October 3, 2022 at 12 PM at Clark Funeral Chapel and Cremation Service, 802-806 East Sevier Avenue, Kingsport.

The family will receive friends from 11 AM until the hour of service.

Interment will follow at the VA National Cemetery in Mountain Home, TN.