Buzz Trexler

It was 20 years ago this week that I came to The Daily Times: Dec. 19, 1989.

I believe it was on Dec. 20 that I met Paul Bales, who came into my office with what looked like a homemade pad of newsprint with numbers on it, asking, “How many columns do you need?”

Having worked at a metro newspaper where someone else made those decisions, I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, and he knew it.

Paul, who is retiring from The Daily Times at the end of this year, was likely thinking, “This boy’s still wet behind the ears.” Still, he was kind enough not to say it to my face.

I learned a lot about Paul over the years, but nothing more important than his willingness to serve. On Thursday night, I was privileged to get a glimpse of the fruits of five decades of service to Blount County’s needy through his work with The Daily Times’ Empty Pantry Fund — and I was filled with awe and wonder.

For two decades, this editor has viewed the chronicles of that annual — let’s call it what it is — mission and ministry to, and by, this community. This year, I was determined to join other Alcoa Kiwanians at the Junior Service League’s packing of toys this past Monday and the packing of food on Thursday night for the Empty Pantry Fund. However, I got tied up at the office on Monday and could not be a part of the toy packing. Still, I was determined to make the Empty Pantry Fund event.

On Thursday, I ran across Paul in the composing room.

“I’m going to be there tonight,” I said.

“You are?” he said with big smile. “I sure am glad.”

He then went on to give me some volunteer advice.

“Now, you need to get there around 6:15 or 6:30, or you might not have a place to stand,” he warned. “Plus, you might not have a place to park if you wait until 7.”

I decided to take him at his word but, as newsroom events often dictate, I found myself leaving The Daily Times at about 6:45 p.m. As I approached the National Guard Armory on U.S. 321, there were cars turning in the same direction … and cars lining the entrance to the armory … and cars parked in the field.

“Oh, my gosh,” I thought. “This is serious. I’m not going to have a place to park.”

I slowly made my way through the traffic and turned around, thinking, “I don’t think they need my help.”

Driving back toward the highway, the thought came to me: “It’s been a long day. They don’t need my help. Just go on home.”

I passed volunteer after volunteer, young and old, walking in the dark toward the armory. The most impressive, fairly emotional, sight: A man on crutches who had lost a leg to some misfortune.

It was apparent: “There’s something special going on in this place. I’ve got to experience this thing.”

I spied First Tennessee’s nearly empty parking lot across the highway and sped across, parking under a street light.

“Great,” I thought as I checked the traffic before sprinting across U.S. 321. “I can see the headline now: ‘Foolish editor tries to cross parkway in dark.’” Not only did I have to face highway traffic, but the slightly winding road offered its own challenge.

Finally entering the armory, I was met with people lining up to serve.

What an incredible sight to see in what we sometimes believe is an age of selfishness: Here, in Blount County, people line up to serve. Of course, it was, as one volunteer analyzed, “Organized chaos.”

Volunteers pushing baskets along a route where others dropped in hams, yams, green beans, sweet peas and 43 other ingredients into huge, white sacks. There were Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, parents, grandparents and probably not a few great-grandparents working together.

For two hours, I found places here and there to serve. It was obvious I wasn’t needed, nor had my presence been missed for nearly two decades. Still, having experienced a fraction of what Paul Bales and tens of thousands of other volunteers have for more than five decades, I found myself in envy: Here were those who came year, after year, after year, to serve the least of these; in fact, from what I have gleaned, some of those serving had, in fact, been served themselves by the Empty Pantry Fund.

All of Blount County, it seemed, was on hand Thursday night to fill 1,424 baskets with 63 tons of food. By the time the servants gathered again and drove 70 routes, about 1,500 people will have been involved.

Chatting with Paul and some of his “partners in crime” when leaving, one servant put it this way: “I don’t think there’s another thing like it in the nation,” he said, with a touch of pride. “This is Blount County.”

A place where people line up to serve.

I remember when I first met Ed Tipton at The Daily Times. It was December 1989 and I think it was the same day I met his brother, Fred. I looked at this man and thought, “Fred’s changed clothes.”

Ed and Fred were twin brothers and I’m certain they got a lot of laughs over folks’ first impressions.

It was with great sadness that I learned Monday that Ed, 72, had gone to be with his Lord.

Ed was a longtime Daily Times employee, having worked at this company for 45 years. He was also a former pastor, having served East Walland Baptist Church. And one more job: Ed also owned Dude’s Grocery Store for 18 years. In the preaching business, we’d say Ed was a “tent-maker extraordinaire.” But that was his and Fred’s generation: You worked, sometimes two or three jobs.

Ed and Fred both retired within about a year of each other here at The Daily Times, and I miss them greatly. In my end of the business, you count on men like them to share the wealth of knowledge they amassed over the years. As managing editor, one of my primary roles is to ensure the paper hits the street. Fred and I worked through a lot of issues together over the past years to make sure that happened — and it was not unusual to see Ed at his side.

I still have my only sibling, so it’s difficult to imagine Fred’s sorrow. He and the rest of the family are in my thoughts and prayers, as well as those of others here at The Times.

Bruce Watt presents Bill Proffitt with the George F. Hixson Fellowship award at Alcoa Kiwanis.

Several years ago, Alcoa Kiwanians were gracious enough to let me into their fellowship to break bread and serve, but the invitation came during a time when I was also moving into ministry, and it made it difficult to serve. So, I had to bow out after about a year or so.

Recently, they extended an act of grace by letting me return — just in time for the civic club’s 55th anniversary.

On Monday, as they were celebrating 55 years of service, I watched and listened as charter members told stories of how the club came into being and how much they enjoyed serving their community. It reminded me of why nearly 20 years ago I felt drawn to join this community as managing editor of The Daily Times.

Vera Watson, who led the effort to recap the club’s 55-year history, told the group, “We’ve had a number of firsts: first in community, first in service, and I don’t know how much money we have given to the community.” Watson chided T.O. Hester, who joined the club in 1956, for being at the international convention in 1961 when delegates discussed allowing women to join, but voted the measure down. Women were allowed to join in 1987 and Watson, who joined Alcoa Kiwanis in 1989, noted she was the sixth female member at the time.

Bart Peak, who was a charter member in 1954, told the group, “I was recruited by two of my friends who I worked with at ALCOA,” recalling that of the 29 charter members, 18 of them were from the Aluminum Company of America. Peak explained that club rules prohibited more than two members from a single occupation, apparently seeking a diverse group. “So, we had to come up with creative occupations,” given the great number of metallurgists and engineers working at the plant.

Peak said that in the early days the lunchtime club met at Spike’s Restaurant, which was located at the current site of Shoney’s on Alcoa Highway at Wright Road. He recalled that another civic club decided that it, too, wanted to meet at Spike’s on the same day and time. The restaurant manager sought to accommodate both groups by putting up a partition. Peak recalled that the noise level from the other club was so high that Kiwanians couldn’t hear the speaker. Not long afterward, the Kiwanis program was a demonstration of what was then new audio technology known as stereophonic sound. The recording: A train roaring along the railroad tracks. The other club moved.

Ken Paxton, also a charter member, recalled that the birth of Alcoa Kiwanis was somewhat seeded by the Maryville club. “Maryville Kiwanis thought it was important to get people from ALCOA involved in Kiwanis,” Paxton recalled. “I don’t know of anything I would have rather been involved in, in terms of civic clubs.”

Some of the civic service actions recalled by Hestor included doing janitorial work at the Ronald McDonald House in Knoxville and recycling aluminum, the latter of which was alternated with Maryville Kiwanis.

And then there are the pancakes.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the pancake breakfast through all the years,” Hester said.

Alcoa Kiwanis is known for its annual pancake breakfast where hundreds are served in a fairly systematic fashion, to say the least. Paxton recalled the early days of cooking for the community.

“Our first pancake system was at Alcoa First Methodist,” he said. “We cooked the pancakes on a stove in their kitchen, which had four burners.” At some point, Alcoa ingenuity apparently kicked in and an aluminum plate was fashioned to fit over the four burners and served as a full griddle.

Pancakes haven’t been the only fundraising ventures, Paxton said. The club has held video auctions, sold fire extinguishers and even brooms. Club members would ride down the road with brooms sticking out of car windows. The longtime member related one broom-selling visit where a man answered the door and a woman could be seen in the background. It was an easy sell, Paxton said. “I need a broom,” the man said. “That’s my mother-in-law and she needs a new one to ride on.”

The service, humor and somewhat self-deprecating attitude of club members — the single clap given to recognize a fellow club speaker or achievement — makes me feel quite at home, as does the club’s mission: “Serving Children of Blount County and the world … one child at a time.”

And so many who have served the club and the community for so long provide an example of humility in service, as was evidenced by Bill Proffitt, who on Monday was presented with the George F. Hixson Fellowship award. In announcing the award, Bruce Watt noted that Proffitt has not only been a longtime member of Alcoa Kiwanis, but also has a history of civic involvement.

“Talk about being shocked,” Proffitt said following the presentation. “I was looking around to see who would’ve deserved such an honor.”

And with that, I’ll give a “CLAP!”

Last Sunday, I went to a river baptism connected to my mom’s church, Roan Mountain United Methodist, and penned a column about it. There is also a video, but the date at the end of the video is wrong. It should read Sept. 13, but the video editor and I both missed it until it hit the larger computer screen. We’ve uploaded a corrected version, but for some reason the errant version is showing most of the time. Oh, well. Maybe it’ll straighten out at some point.

Here are short links to the column, photo gallery and video:

Photo gallery of “The Baptism of Rhodyjane”:
http://tr.im/rhodyjane_photos

Video of “The Baptism of Rhodyjane”:
http://bit.ly/rhodyjane

Faith Today column of “The Baptism of Rhodyjane” with links to photos
and video:
http://tr.im/rhodyjane_column

It was an incredible faith experience for me …

In a matter of weeks, scores of bicyclists will begin a 433.7-mile trek from Johnson City to Nashville to bring awareness to the need for “forever families” — families who are willing to adopt children in need.

About 80 cyclists will partake of a kickoff banquet Oct. 4 at the Carnegie Hotel in  Johnson City, departing that town 7 a.m. Oct 5 and traveling about 112 miles before arriving at the Alcoa Muncipal Building around 5 p.m.

Unlike other such rides, the Tennessee Adoption Tour is not a fund-raising event, but the goal is to raise an awareness. “The need for these children is not money — there’s plenty of foundations to help the kids — it’s getting the families to adopt the kids,” said Tour Director Jesse O’Hatnick.

Jim Norwood, of Harmony Adoptions, told Alcoa Kiwanis this week that the tour started five years ago with five riders and no sponsor. Today, there are a host of sponsors and riders are coming from seven other states and they all have a direct connection to adoption, either professionally or personally, Norwood said.

To find out more about the tour and how you can help someone make “A Journey Home,” go to www.adoptiontour.org.

I just read a story by The Associated Press concerning the Supreme Court of the United States hearing arguments in a case involving “Hillary: The Movie.”

Citizens United, a conservative group, wanted to air ads for the anti-Clinton movie and distribute it through video-on-demand services on local cable outlets during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign. However, the story explains that federal courts said the movie sounded like a long campaign ad and needed to be regulated as such.

According to The AP, the movie is filled with criticism about Hillary, including a statement from former Bill Clinton advisor Dick Morris saying she is “the closest thing we have in America to a European socialist.”

My first thought was this: What’s the difference between the anti-Clinton “Hillary: The Movie” and “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore’s anti-Bush rant that was released in the middle of the 2004 presidential campaign? Well, the apparent difference is that campaign finance regulations do not apply to DVDs, theaters or the Internet. In those battlefields, the Red and Blue teams can spend away in the war for the minds of the voting public.

The conservative group was not allowed to broadcast TV ads for the movie, but it did get its message out by advertising on the Web, selling the DVD and showing the movie in a few theaters. Michael Moore gets his message out the same way.

I’ve never watched any of Moore’s movies and his garish Web site turns me off as soon as the page paints. The titles and related synopses leave me pleading, “Give me a break, Mikey.”

Sadly, the poor conservatives can’t get their own break. Truth is, they haven’t got a fighting chance when it comes to rolling out digital dollars and cash-cow celluloid pushers.

The Supreme Court of the United States could wipe away limits on spending by corporations and labor unions, but it’s way too late for a high court opinion to make any difference for the original intent of “Hillary: The Movie.”

Of course, Mrs. Clinton’s not the president, but she is the Secretary of State.

America’s fighting wars on the other side of the world, but there’s a continuing war here in Blount County that is sometimes ignored: The war on the home front that we call domestic violence.

Joani Shaver, executive director at Haven House, which serves victims of domestic violence, recently told Alcoa Kiwanis Club, “We’re seeing a horrendous rise because of the economy, but that’s no excuse.”

She explained that domestic abuse comes in many ways, not just physical. It includes emotional, psychological, economic and even spiritual. Each form leaves a devastating impact.

“Abuse is a very private crime, and most people don’t realize it’s going on,” Shaver said.

Haven House suffered a fire earlier this summer and is still in need of financial help to make repairs. According to its Web site, the shelter has raised only a fraction of the money needed to repair its gutted kitchen.

The 30-day shelter currently has 32 beds. “Our capacity is really limited,” she said, explaining that staffing is also an issue. “The problem is each one of those people … has a care plan, each has a safety plan.” With a staff of three, that can be a tough task.

But sheltering abuse victims and their children is not the only service Haven House provides. There are volunteer court advocates, transportation, and prevention programs as well.

Haven House is funded through federal grants, the ALCOA Foundation, Blount County government and United Way of Blount County, the latter of which she calls “our life blood.” Needless to say, the organization can use more help.

This is a topic very close to my heart, because my family has been caught in the web of domestic violence.

In the late 1960s, my mother, sister and I were victims in Florida during a time when law enforcement officers did not answer domestic violence calls. There was no place to turn. It was a remembrance of that battle which led me to become involved with Blount County’s Domestic Violence Task force in the 1990s, which also led to the establishment of a domestic violence unit. In March 2000, my 20-year-old niece was killed in a domestic violence incident in Richmond, Va., leaving a young child behind. It just goes to show that this war has no boundaries and has multiple levels of victimization.

A common epitaph on war memorials is along the lines of “lest we forget.” This need to remember that we have an ongoing war in Blount County is one of the reasons that we, as the newspaper of record in Blount County, publish domestic violence reports in Blount Records. Another reason: It’s common knowledge that one of the most dangerous calls to answer as a public safety officer is one involving domestic violence.

There’s no question that this is a war worth funding. As one lyricist wrote, “War is hell on the home front, too …”

Donna and I have a habit of watching NBC’s “Today Show” with our morning coffee. Believe me, I’m well aware of its conservative talk show reputation as “The Obama Network.”

Is it deserved? Maybe, maybe not; however, recently I couldn’t help but watch Matt Lauer smirk following an interview with conservative columnist Michelle Malkin. (Did he roll his eyes? Check out the clip on YouTube.) Malkin’s got a new book out with the incredible title of “Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies.” Lauer does a good job of peppering her with questions, but Malkin pretty much held her own.

But this brings up the whole question of bias in the media. Anyone with a mustard seed of intellect can tell you Fox is on the Right; CNN has the reputation of being on the Left; and other network news programs can leave you wondering “Who’s on First, What’s on Second, and Where’s Third?”

Truth be told, most viewers/readers have their own inherent biases and filters that they use (either consciously or subconsciously) when consuming news and information. Subsequently, they will assign bias — most often against their own viewpoint — whether it is reality or mere perception.

All of this brings to mind a University of Tennessee roundtable on the media and health care that I was asked to participate in sometime during the early 1990s. To the best of my recollection, other media representatives included a reporter from a major metropolitan daily and a young man from a mid- to large-size Tennessee newspaper. The conversation went something like this:

Health care worker: “We need your help in getting certain messages out to the public.”

Tennessee reporter: “You’re asking us to make the news. It’s our job to report the news, not make it,” the context of which was that to do so would include an element of bias.

At this point, I chime in with something along these lines: “Listen, if you claim that there is absolutely no bias in reporting, then you’re not fooling the readers, you’re only kidding yourself. It is only because we have an element of bias that tells us something is a news story. The challenge is to eliminate that bias and prevent a fair and balanced report.”

I thought I was standing alone when the reporter from the major metropolitan daily stood up — he was the size of a linebacker — and said this: “We know that every policymaker in the nation reads our newspaper every day. And when I walk down the streets of New York and see children with bloated bellies like they’re in some Third World country, it makes me want to do something. And you don’t change policy with one story. You change policy with one story, then another, and then another, until somebody does something.”

There was this sense that Diogenes had just found an honest journalist, for here was a reporter who was unabashedly practicing advocacy journalism. He was letting his bias loose upon the readers in hopes of effecting change and made no apologies for doing so — and that’s the difference. Journalists who obviously come at a subject from a particular point of view, but maintain they are being unbiased in their approach, are not fooling readers or viewers.  They only add to a growing general distrust of journalists.

When it comes to media bias, professionally trained journalists know that we all have biases. And since bias is the enemy to true journalism, the task is to recognize that bias and struggle to present the balanced report.

All we can do is run the good race — and we do.

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In watching the Michael Jackson memorial event today, I found myself torn between two vocations: There was the newsroom cynicism that looked at motives and celebrity production, and then there was the desire as a pastor to see family and friends make their way through what can be a difficult ritual — likely doubly so for a family caught in the midst of stardom.

The memorial event sometimes had the feel of a celebration of Michael’s life, sometimes it had the feel of just another pop variety show, but there were also some poignant moments that gave a sense of normalcy:

• Michael’s daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson standing before the throng and proclaiming, “I just want to say ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him so much.” She then fell into the arms of her aunt, Janet Jackson. It’s a clip that is playing over and over on CNN in the background as I write this post.
• Brooke Shields sharing how she and Michael were friends who bonded through the common life of child stardom. “We had a bond and maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very, very young age. I used to tease him and say, ‘I started when I was 11 months old. You’re a slacker. You were like 5?’ Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together, we were two little kids having fun.”
• Motown legend Smokey Robinson expressing the same sort of sentiment that an elder experiences when a younger friend or family member dies: “You don’t think you’ll live to see them gone.”

Those are the moments and memories that are common to humanity as we move through the rituals of a loved one’s passing: Grief, remembrances, and shock. Still, in the swarm of celebrity and pop culture hoopla, I continued to wait for one particular moment, growing more and cynical — and then it came, from Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

“My prayer is that no one and nothing, public or private, fact or fiction, true or rumored, will separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus,” King said. “Because ultimately at the end of the day it is only God’s love that will anchor you, sustain you, and move you to a higher ground, far above the noise of life. There you will find the peace, comfort and joy to move forward and advance Michael’s legacy.”

She later added, “Michael’s life and work was inspired by the love of God.”

Earlier, I believe, Stevie Wonder shared, “This is a moment that I wish that I didn’t live to see come. But as much as I can say that and mean it, I do know that God is good and I do know that as much as we may feel — and we do — that we need Michael here with us, God must have needed him far more.”

Not certain about the theology that God needs someone more than we do and thus decides to end their life here on earth, but it was good that God got a shout out, so to speak.

It was a long memorial event, and I may have missed other references to the Giver of Life and the Giver of Gifts, and thus the One who gave us the gift of Michael Jackson’s talent. But with an audience of millions, the pastor in me sought more in terms of comfort, assurance, and the love of God for the children and family.

I was still cynically stewing about this when we were in the News budget meeting discussing coverage for the next day’s print edition when I was reminded that the family had a private memorial service before the Staples Center spectacle. And then it hit me: That’s exactly where it belonged.

Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, has guardianship over his children. It is said that she is a woman of faith, and perhaps with that in mind, and knowing the entertainment spectacle that would follow, she placed the service of faith in the forefront.

Once again, I am humbled by the revelation that things are not always what they appear in this world, whether in the spiritual or the secular realm.

Whatever one thinks of the spectacle that is currently under way in Los Angeles, the media coverage of Michael Jackson’s funeral seems unprecedented in this digital age.

The Associated Press is providing a raw, live video feed that can be accessed by our readers using this short URL.

Interestingly enough, when there is no other voiceover, you can hear the cameraman’s comments. There is the occasional “Oh, God,” as well as various other mutterings.

They’ve now switched to the Staples Center in anticipation of the memorial service.

We can’t help but watch it unfold and pray it’s without incident.