Sara Mitchell 
September 10, 2016 has arrived!
The Battle at Bristol kicked off with a Tailgate Party concert Friday evening inside Bristol Motor Speedway featuring Kenny Chesney along with Old Dominion and the Band Perry.
ESPN’s College Gameday, pre game country music concerts, packed RV and camp grounds, plus a college football game attendance record of 156,990 fans created an atmosphere for the biggest college football game in history.
Virginia Tech and Tennessee took the field for an epic battle at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Tennessee Vols won the Battle at Bristol with a final of 45-24.
The Knoxville Chamber along with a host of sponsors joined to create an event that aimed to inspire, connect and engage young professionals in the community. The 2016 Endeavor Young Professionals Summit welcomed over 500 atteendees for group and breakout sessions which focused on personal development, professional development and the Knoxville community.
It was a thrill and a joy to emcee Endeavor and have the opportunity to introduce community leaders like the Knox County and City mayors, keynote speaker sponsors from the University of Tennessee and event partners.
Between breakout sessions, young professionals had an opportunity to participate in service-to-go projects to benefit Young-Williams Animal Center, the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley and Great Schools Partnership. The projects included stocking binder pouches for 100% of students at New Hopewell Elementary School in Knoxville as well as making braided dog toys.
The day concluded with an upbeat after party which included live music, food and fellowship. The inaugural Endeavor Young Professionals Summit was a hit!
Three-year-old Joshua Collins dresses from head to cape as his favorite superhero, Batman. The toddler’s mom, Jessica Collins, says it all began when Joshua met a K-9 officer in what looked like a bat mobile. Since that meeting, he believes police officers are heroes; Batman to be exact.
“Every time we see a vehicle with words on it or anything, it’s ‘Batman! Batman! Batman!’ Jessica says.
To know her son admires authority is a good feeling for Joshua’s mom, especially with recent negativity surrounding law enforcement.
“I just think it’s wonderful,” Jessica says. “I think it’s the greatest comparison to see him do that. It just builds encouragement to our officers knowing they are loved and idolized.”
Joshua was surprised by a real-life superhero Thursday when a Rocky Top officer pulled up to his house to say hello.
“In my Batman, I love Batman!” Joshua shouted.
Officer Wade and Joshua exchanged a high five and he was invited to turn the car’s blue lights on in what he thought was a bat mobile.
Jessica says it is not from watching a Batman movie or seeing pictures but somehow her young son compares officers to the superhero.
“Every time you say anything about a policeman or anything in that matter, it’s ‘oh, Batman! My Batman!’ and it’s all his Batman,” Jessica says.
Joshua has met several officers who pretend to live the superhero life with the toddler who has a big imagination.
Friends and family of Jeremy Easterday gathered at Powell Levi Park for a bittersweet party to collect gifts of diapers, wipes, toys and gift cards for “Christmas in July.” The gifts will be delivered to Alice Easterday and her three children who lost their husband and father on June 21, 2016.
32-year-old Jeremy Easterday was killed in a head-on crash on Beaver Creek when a Pontiac Grand Am crossed into his lane.
Courtney Lewis, a long time friend of Alice, organized “Christmas in July” to offer a time where friends could bring gifts to help ease the pain of purchasing gifts for the children at Christmas.
“I just want to make sure she is taken care of,” Lewis says. “We all do. She has a lot of support and the Powell community has come together. It’s more than I ever thought.”
Jeremy’s sister, Kayla Neely says support from friends means a lot to their family.
“I mean you don’t even have the words,” Neely says. “It means so much to all of us. Jeremy would be in shock, he would be floored by all the generosity from everybody.”
The Powell community has come together in light of this tragic situation to show love and kindness to a friend who lost her husband and now faces raising their children by herself.
“Kids at Christmas; it’s a magical time,” Jessica Addis, friend of Alice says. “It’s going to be a difficult time for them this year. We’re here for her. I can’t even begin to imagine what she is going through. I think they’ll be super surprised. We’re trying to gather everything for her to keep for Christmas. One more thing she doesn’t have to think about then.”
A golf tournament at Three Ridges Golf Course is being held to raise money for the Easterday family in August.
Friends & family of Alice Easterday bring gifts for “Christmas in July” to a bittersweet party. Story at 6pm @wvlt pic.twitter.com/T4SOskSeWn
— Sara Mitchell (@SaraMitchellTV) July 16, 2016
Random Acts of Flowers partnered with Alzheimer’s Tennessee to repurpose the flowers from the Pat Summitt “Celebration of Life.” Volunteers picked up the flowers from Thompson-Boling Arena, deconstructed the arrangements and created 372 bouquets that were delivered to Alzheimer’s and memory care patients in East Tennessee.
Executive Director for Random Acts of Flowers Knoxville branch, Jennifer Sheehan, says it is a great opportunity to brighten the day of someone else.
“We are humbled and honored that we are able to take her flowers and mix them with other flowers to create some beautiful bouquets that will serve close to 300 folks,” Sheehan says.
Sheehan’s father went through Alzheimer’s and she says many of his friends were not sure how to act around him, creating a lonely time for their family.
“For those who receive flowers,” Sheehan says, “even if they don’t understand quite the meaning of it, for their caregivers and their family, for them they realize they haven’t been forgotten. This disease robs you of your dignity, it robs you of your friends and family. So I hope they realize that they live in a community that cares about them and wants to be apart of their treatment.”
Weekly volunteer, Bettie Kurtz no longer has a flower garden of her own so having a place to get her hands dirty is special and a time to enjoy her passion for arranging flowers.
“To me, this is about the best use of flowers I can think of,” Kurtz says. “Flowers bring beauty everywhere they go so this means another opportunity to share flowers, to have them last longer, to provide joy on more than one occasion and more than one level.”
Kurtz was one of 70 volunteers who have a heart for other people and enjoy seeing a smile on the faces of the recipients.
“It’s a gift,” Kurtz says. “A real gift because if you’re caring for an Alzheimer’s patient, you don’t have time to make bouquets and flowers and if someone brings one, it’s like having a gift for yourself. It’s a real joy.”
A group of 47 volunteers from the University of Tennessee also rolled up their sleeves and assisted Random Acts of Flowers with the deconstruction and recreation of arrangements. Taylor Thomas, Coordinator of Student Affairs in the Undergraduate Admissions Office says it was a special day to help continue to celebration of Pat Summitt’s life.
“Who better to prepare those than her volunteer family? So we are excited about that,” Taylor says.
The new arrangements were delivered to five locations in East Tennessee. One neighbor of Pat Summitt received a knock on the door and flowers from her friend’s celebration. Geraldine Watson ate, visited, joked and arm wrestled with Pat Summitt and has nothing but fond memories of her.
“When I would get up sometimes in the morning,” Watson says, “I’d go out on my porch and there would be one or two flowers in a vase and some little something that would say from her caregiver and Pat and a heart. That’s something nobody will ever take away from me.”
Her brother lives with Alzheimer’s disease and Watson says Summitt’s battle was near to her heart. That is why the flowers brought to her door were special.
“There’s no comparison to getting this bouquet of flowers because I know they were at Pat’s service last night,” Watson says. “I’m so thrilled and so proud that I could say I knew Pat Summitt and she’ll always be with me, she will always be in my heart.”
@SaraMitchellTV that’s a lot of busy florists
— Craig Gordon (@RockyTopSkiBum) July 15, 2016
Students from @UTKnoxville create bouquets from the #PatSummitt Celebration of Life flowers pic.twitter.com/QIkj8UzTRq
— Sara Mitchell (@SaraMitchellTV) July 15, 2016
Orange & white flowers from the #PatSummitt Celebration will be distributed to @alzTN patients today. 🍊💜 pic.twitter.com/dNVoQuKza7
— Sara Mitchell (@SaraMitchellTV) July 15, 2016
A healthy lifestyle is sparked by a positive mindset. Belief in yourself is the barrier that must be crossed. Fear is oftentimes a limitation to exercise success, but with an instructor who motivates, encourages and challenges participants, a healthy lifestyle is more easily obtained.
Instructor Carissa Mahoney explains that adopting a strong mindset is a key factor in becoming a stronger, healthier person.
“A big thing is believing in yourself that you can do it,” Mahoney says. “When it gets tough physically, that’s when I really cue people in…now is when you have to go in your mind and fight through and dig deep.”
In addition to exercise and a nutritious meal plan, maintaining a healthy lifestyle includes positive thinking, determination and a community of like-minded friends. Marnie Bailey participates in Mahoney’s tabata workouts and enjoys the comradery of women who come from all different backgrounds with differing goals.
“We’re all in the same boat right?,” Bailey says. “We get here and support each other and encourage each other. ‘You look great, keep going’. We are high-fiving and it makes you feel great.”
Mahoney has coached people who felt limitations through fear of failure or fear of never attempting the exercise or challenge.
“Your fears can become your limits and if you say ‘I can’t even run a mile’, then your fear is stopping you,” Mahoney says. “I’ve got people in here that couldn’t do a push-up on their toes when they started and just in a short amount of time, it’s amazing to see those strides and they’re like ‘yeah, I can do that’. They thought ‘I could never do a push-up on my toes’.”
Tabata workouts incorporate full body movements set to a timer. A typical workout is 6-8 rounds of 20 seconds of work with a 10 second rest between.
There are many water related injuries and deaths every year that TWRA says might have turned out differently if the victim was wearing a life jacket. In the state of Tennessee, anyone under the age of 13 must wear a life vest, but it is recommended that everyone wear a fitted life vest.
TWRA Wildlife Officer, Jeff Webb says, “there are so many life jackets that are available now days. They’re no longer bulky or unstylish. The main thing is they don’t work if you don’t wear them and we just ask that if you have life jackets on board, make sure they are in good and serviceable condition and you have enough for each person on board.”
No matter how strong of a swimmer the victim might be, injuries on the water can take over quickly and a life vest is always needed to help prevent serious injury.
“No one plans to be in a boating accident; it always happens suddenly, unexpectedly,” Webb says. “We just want people to wear their life jackets so that way when that worse case scenario does happen, they’re ready and prepared for it.”
Charlie Cole is the manager of West Marine who says it is not a difficult task to choose a life jacket. The size and activity for a specific flotation device are printed in the jacket.
“Zippers and buckles,” Cole says, “I can take these up and if I were to wipe out being pulled behind a boat, with some speed, this vest is designed to keep me in. It has small arm holes and it’s really really tight fitting.”
Life jackets are not life savers, but the flotation devices can help save a life.
“Understand that health issues happen,” Matt Cameron, Public Information Officer for TWRA says, “medical issues happen to people while swimming and jumping. If you’re wearing that life jacket and you jump out of the boat, you may knock yourself unconscious but you’re going to float back up.”
All life jackets should be U.S. Coast Guard approved.
There are many exercise options when it comes to fitness at the gym, but some great group or individual workouts may be the most traditional. Basketball and racquetball have been around for ages and they are a great form of fitness.
Ten-year-old Terry Sutton enjoys playing a game of basketball and wants to shoot like his Dad.
“I love the game of basketball,” Sutton says. “You get to dribble and stuff and it’s a good workout.”
There are many more fitness options that someone can get besides just shooting or playing a game of basketball on the court.
Examples:
– Full court stretches
– Sprint workouts
– Basketball ABC’s (spell the alphabet with extended arms, holding a ball)
– Push-ups on basketballs
– Wall sits with basketball
Stretching and warming up are essential to keep muscles loose and in shape.
“It’s very important to stretch,” National Fitness Center personal trainer, John Jones says, “very important to stay loose and warm up.”
In addition to exercise, nutrition is also an important part of living a healthy lifestyle. Hydration is necessary before, during and after exercise; water should be replenished immediately. Eating nutritional foods like natural fruits, vegetables and meats are healthy options that will aid in the overall well being of an individual.
“The more you replenish your body, the more you have a routine schedule of when to eat and how much you eat,” Jones says, “you’ll lose whatever you want to do. Basically reach your goals a lot quicker, your body will feel fresher because it’s not holding on to all the negatives inside.”
Examples of healthy post-workout meals include fresh fruit, high protein meals like eggs, chicken, peanut butter and almonds, and carbohydrates like brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and vegetables.
Consult a nutritionist for specific dietary instruction.
An idea that came to the young CEO in November of 2015 now has Brady Fernandes and his dad, Craig, on a mission to spread a passion for veterans and those who are serving our country. Patriot Threads is the apparel company that Fernandes started for a school project and has now become his business.
The duo wanted their company to have a mission and vision. That is where the idea sparked to donate portions of sales to non-profit organizations. Fernandes says they wanted to have some meaning behind the company, something that would give depth.
“My generation, we don’t really understand the respect the effort willing to put in to show these veterans and those who will serve (that) we appreciate you, we’ll never forget you, and you deserve all the praise,” Brady Fernandes says.
Organizations like Wounded Warriors and other local non profits that support veterans is what Brady thinks makes his business so special.
“What I’m most proud of,” Brady Fernandes says, “is when I get to look at the shirts and all the stuff that we’ve done and know what it’s there for.”
The pride for veterans is represented in the Patriot Threads logo with a bowtie wrapped around the United States. The preppy apparel is designed for collegiate styles, but of course, anyone is welcome to try it.
Craig Fernandes says he is proud of his patriotic minded son.
“It’s something that obviously makes me very proud to know that my son has a work ethic to put into the business,” he says, “and more so the fact that he’s willing to help out veterans through non profits and he has a heart for it.”
Next up for Patriot Threads is a student ambassador program where college students can apply to be representatives of the company. Those who join will receive a care package with gear; their job is to run a charitable event, create a college appeal and market the brand.
Brady and Craig say they cannot wait to see where the business goes and they have big plans to help more non-profit organizations.
“We just want to honor people that are less fortunate,” Craig Fernandes says, “and people that gave for our country. Just meeting those people, hearing their stories and letting them know we have their back, we are doing something specifically to help them is our goal, putting them first. That’s the best.”
The apparel is currently sold in ten retail locations.
Sara Mitchell 