Gatlinburg Presbyterian Church

Church Members in the News

Community News Noblitt stays on track with model train avocation   It all started about 35 years ago. Tom Noblitt decided to give his 10-year-old son a train set for Christmas. Truthfully, he had a little extra incentive. Seems Tom Noblitt had a model train in his own childhood. While he saw the Christmas gift as a way to enjoy a hobby with his son, he also saw it as a way to recapture some of his own youth. It's an age-old story. Dad gives gift to son. Dad becomes more engrossed in gift than the boy. Dad takes over the gift. Dad becomes obsessed with model trains. Dad buys more trains. Dad and Mom build miniature trees and buildings and people for the display. The current display is really something. It measures 28 feet by 55 feet in their Wears Valley home. The layout includes locomotives, buildings, mountains, lakes, people. Several train sets move around. It is built so you can walk among the display. Son Randall is now an optometrist in Louisville, Ky. He has long ago left the childhood train set behind. This is the old man's thing now. Tom Noblitt was a professor of musicology at Indiana University when he bought that train set 35 years ago. He put the new train on a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood. As he collected more pieces, the wood surface got bigger. And bigger. Then the Noblitts built a new house in Bloomington with a basement big enough to accommodate an even larger display. The Noblitts had visited Sevier County over the years, so when he retired from IU six years ago he and Peggy elected to settle in Wears Valley six years ago. But that move meant disruption of the train layout he had built in Bloomington. "We moved what we could," Tom Noblitt said. Peggy Noblitt builds the trees that dot the landscape of the display. Her husband estimates she has built thousands of them. The Wears Valley display is set in the middle 1950s in southern Colorado. He named his fictional town Emerald Springs. "I was always fond of Colorado, so we set it there and invented a name that had a sound of Colorado. There are a lot of springs there," he said. The display is set in a period when steam engines were being replaced by diesel-powered trains. The layout includes locomotives and rolling stock of that era as well as period automobiles and trucks. The town lights up and includes lighted traffic signals and street signs. Noblitt has no idea how many train cars he has or how many buildings or landscape pieces he owns. He has no idea how much he has invested in the display. He does know that maintaining a model train display like this requires attention. "The main thing for an electric train of this gauge is a clean track," he said. "The electric contact comes through the track and wheels. You have to keep everything clean and dust-free, since the silver metal used in the track, like all metals, tends to oxidize." He does something train-related every week. "We'll never be finished," he said. "This is very much a moving target. You keep getting ideas you can do. Even in terms of the trains themselves, there are unusual features that evolve with arrangement of the trains." Just the kind of hobby a retired college professor needs. - Stan Voit is editor of The Mountain Press. His column appears each Sunday. He can be reached at 428-0748, ext. 217, or e-mail to svoit@themountainpress.com.   Confrontation with train set Bill Ball in right direction   By Stan Voit, Editor April 10, 2006 Email to a friend    Voice your opinion    Ball traveled a lot in his 20s, moving from place to place in pursuit of an education, a job or some fun. He went to church, but it was a habit, not a calling. When I left the nest, all I could think about was money," he said. "How much is too much? Greed took over." Then came the accident. To label it a wake-up call would be a sick kind of humor. When your head hits the pavement at a force later measured at 178 miles an hour, and you're in a coma for days, given up for dead twice, anything referring to waking up is not the right description. Ball, the youth minister at Gatlinburg's First Presbyterian Church and a resident of that city, was working as a locomotive engineer instructor at a train site in Knoxville on that Friday the 13th in March 1999. The moving train came out of nowhere. It wasn't supposed to be there. The force of the impact knocked him a good distance away. He lay unconscious, with broken bones and obvious head trauma. Ball, now married with a daughter, doesn't talk about that accident and his recovery very often. He's not sure anybody among his present friends and fellow church members even knows about it. Since he has no memory of it, most of what he does know has been told to him. If everyone has a defining moment in his life, a turning point, this surely was Bill Ball's. "I was never in any trouble growing up," he said. "When I left home I guess you could say I got off track. I usually didn't go to church on Sunday. Instead I'd go golf or ride my Harley. All of my hobbies overwhelmed my time. All of my friends had the same hobbies and interests." He drifted from Atlanta to Baltimore to Knoxville. He worked, but he played too. "The funny thing is, when I was involved in making money and spending money, I had these friends," he said. "But when my life changed, I looked around and found a lot of these buddies weren't really friends. When you make a lifestyle correction, all these buddies are gone." For two years after the accident he was a self-described human guinea pig. Doctors at the best hospitals in the South wanted to examine him to see why he was still alive with a functioning brain and cognitive skills. "I left the doctors scratching their heads," Ball said. "I had 14 blood clots in my brain and chunks of my head torn apart. A priest read me my last rites." So why is he still alive? "There is no doubt, absolutely no question, I am 150 percent sure, it was God," Ball said. "Anybody who would deny the creator is not getting your attention. God likes to elbow us from time to time to get our attention. Some people take a gentle nudge. Some are a little more hardheaded and take a swift kick in the behind. That's me." Since the accident Ball has devoted himself to God and family. With wife Tiffany and daughter Madison he became active at First Presbyterian and was named its youth director and a board member of the day care center attached to the church. He still rides the Harley, but probably a lot more carefully these days. And there are reminders around the house of his more carefree young-adult days, like the Van Halen vehicle tags hanging in his garage and his dog named for former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth. Ball is ready to start talking more often about the accident. With his friend Dick Wellons, who runs Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries, Ball is trying to set up a speakers bureau to allow him to tell his story to young people. "I want to tell them of the blessings God can give them at an early age," he said. "We never got told this stuff when we were younger. My goal is to go around and be the keynote speaker at youth conventions." He'll just be giving back some of what God gave him after that swift kick in the behind. - Stan Voit is editor of The Mountain Press. His column appears each Sunday. He can be reached at 428-0748, ext. 217, or e-mail to svoit@themountainpress.com.     GATLINBURG - A carnival featuring door and raffle prizes, clowns, a cake walk, a bake sale and wagon rides is scheduled for May 6 at First Presbyterian Church of Gatlinburg. The spring carnival will benefit the church and its day care center.   "There will be something for everybody," event chairman Bill Ball, youth director at the church, said. "This is the first time we've had something like this. We expect 500 to 600 people to attend." Admission will be $5, but that will include everything, including the food. Raffle tickets are $1 and can be purchased in advance from church members or at the day care center. The carnival will include a chili cooking contest pitting members of the Gatlinburg Fire Department and Police Department against others who want to enter. There will be three categories of winners: best overall, most original and spiciest chili. Ball said 10 percent of the proceeds will go to the church with the rest supporting the day care center. There are some 30 children from birth to age 5 enrolled in the center, which is open to all children, not just church family members. "The building needs a lot of maintenance," Ball said. "It needs a new roof. We also need toys for the children. And we're trying to expand it so we can take in more children." Ball is on the board of the day care center. Other attractions for the carnival: * Prizes from 47 different contributors include hotel getaways, admissions to attractions and bicycles * A doughnut eating contest with doughnuts provided by Krispy Kreme * Rides on a hay wagon * Face painting * Azaleas furnished by Lowe's for sale * A visit from the Smokies mascot * Basketball and bean bag games There will be free parking available in the lot behind the fire department next to the church on Reagan Drive, Ball said. The city is providing event tents so the carnival can be held rain or shine. * svoit@themountainpress.com SPRING CARNIVAL Where: First Presbyterian Church of Gatlinburg When: 2 to 6 p.m. May 6 Admission: $5, which includes food and attractions. Free parking is available behind fire station next door. Who benefits: The church and its day care center

David Hoffecker

May 25, 2003

Air Force Cadet David C. Hoffecker Jr. has earned honors with placement on the Dean's List at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for demonstrating excellence in academic studies and maintaining a 3.0 or better grade point average for a semester.

The Academy is a four year military institution of higher learning that provides instruction, education, training and experience in academics, military training, aviation and airmanship programs, physical training, athletic conditioning and spiritual and ethical development to all cadets.

Upon graduating, the cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants whom have acquired the knowledge, character and skills essential to meet the leadership challenges of the 21st century as career officers in the U.S. Air Force.

Hoffecker is pursuing a degree in biology, and is a javelin thrower on the men's varsity track and  team {2002-Season best throw in the javelin was 175'1"…Throw was the fourth best on the team…Finished eighth in the MWC Championships}. He has been named Captain the track and field team for the 2003-2004 season.

He is the son of David and Robin Hoffecker of Chattanooga, and Melinda and Don Grohman of Misty Morning Way, Sevierville.

David is a 2000 graduate of Sevier County High School.

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March 13, 2003

Tina Alston

Public Speaking Workshop Offered

Authentic Public Speaking Through Speaking Circles with Tina Alston will be a one-day workshop sponsored by the University of Tennessee College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service.

Speaking Circles is designed to aid both the novice and the veteran speaker. For those who are terrified at the thought of speaking, or those who fear they talk too much, attending these small workshops takes the focus off themselves as performers.

By honoring the spaces of silence in a speech, there is never again the feat of "going blank." People who attend these workshops find their true voice, delightfully funny stories, and a clear vision. Videotaping will be offered if desired.

Participants can expect to:

• Get past stage fright or other blocks that prevent them from being themselves
• Avoid the pitfalls of "acting as storytelling"
• Discover the creativity that emerges within brief stories
• Increase their capacity to touch their audiences
• Experience the authentic power of speaking from a "space of silence"

Certified Facilitator of Speaking Circles, Tina Alston presently sells real estate in the Smokies and works in retail businesses in Sevier County.

For over 25 years she has conducted workshops in storytelling for teachers, counselors and students. She serves as the National Storytelling Network’s liaison from Tennessee. Performance credits include keynote speeches, the NAPPS exchange tent in 1986, summers in Great Britain as a storyteller in residence on Radio BBC in the mid’80s.

The schedule is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 11 at the United Way Building, 1301 Hannah Avenue. A fee of $70 includes breakfast, lunch, materials and parking. The fee is $90 after Friday, March 21.

Register on line at www.sworps.utk.edu; call Donna Mitchell (865) 974-6019 or contact mailto mitchelld@sworps.utk.edu.

From the Moutain Press of March 13, 2003

Related Links:

http://www.speakingcircles.com

http://www.smokymtns.com/tina/tinahome.htm

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March 11, 2003

KnoxNews 


With state's highest number of National Merit Scholars, Gatlinburg-Pittman mocking 'hillbilly' stereotype

By JEANNINE F. HUNTER, hunter@knews.com
March 11, 2003

GATLINBURG - In the land of mountain chalets, art galleries and endless tourist attractions, there is a powerhouse brain center. For years, it has cranked out some of the state's brightest students. 

For 14 consecutive years, Gatlinburg-Pittman High School has ranked high in the state in its percentage of National Merit Scholars finalists. This year, the home of the Highlanders boasts the highest number of finalists of any Tennessee high school - public or private, said guidance director Don Bohanan. 

"I have a book that lists all the semi-finalists," he said. "We don't get a book that lists all the finalists, but we had the most semi-finalists. One hundred percent of our semi-finalists made finalists." 

2003 Gatlinburg-Pittman Merit Scholars finalists are Chenoa Allen, Cheryl Cantrell, Margaret "Maggie" Edwards, Andrew Galbraith, Rachel Hayes, Hannah Helton, Grace Line, Robert Craig "R.C." Maples, Amanda Meador, Tyler Newman, Eric Noseworthy, Curtis Oakley, Lydia Owens, Emily Phillips, Ellen Ramsden, Stacey Tarver and Megan Williams. 

Elaine Detweiler, a spokeswoman for Evanston, Ill.-based National Merit Scholarship Corporation, said they do not rank high schools or compare schools and school systems. 

"We honor individual students and their accomplishments," Detweiler said, adding that on average 90 percent of semi-finalists advance to the finals. 

"Educational quality is a complicated issue," she said. "Merit scholars data is not the only data to draw from, and there are schools where there are no Merit finalists yet they are doing well. ... The number they (Gatlinburg-Pittman) have, says they have 17 very bright students." 

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition for recognition and scholarships. Usually as juniors, students enter by taking the Preliminary SAT (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) and by meeting published program requirements. 

Ask Gatlinburg-Pittman students, administrators and guidance counselors what the secret is, and you'll get good-natured smiles and laughs. 

Do they eat high doses of fish, reputed to be brain food especially the coldwater variety packed with omega 3 fatty acids? Nope! 

Do they meditate before classes? Or hire a cadre of private tutors assigned to each student? Not even close. 

The young academicians speak of caring teachers, concerned guidance counselors and committed parents who enforce little or no television nights and encourage them when semester exams, college applications and spring fever converge at the same time. 

"When it appears like things are due at the same time, and you have to write five essays in one weekend, the group support helps," said Lydia Owens, 17, as fellow finalists nodded their heads. 

Cheryl Cantrell, added," It helps to get your friends' opinion and their take on a subject." 

There is a culture of success here, said senior Grace Line. 

It's cool to be smart here, chimed in senior Megan Williams. 

And it's great to dash stereotypes of people who live in the mountains. 

"People think we wear overalls, make moonshine and wear shoes on Friday and bathe on Saturday," Williams said. 

"I am proud of my heritage but those views exist," Cantrell said. 

"When we get National Merit, it shows people what we can do," Ellen Ramsden said. 

"Statements like that are usually from people from outside this area," said Chenoa Allen. 

If asked about their GPAs, they recite them to the ten thousandth place after the decimal point as if they are recalling a calculus formula. 

Is it that crucial? 

"Yes," said Tyler Newman, laughing. 

The grandson of a physicist, he aspires to do the same or to study psychology when he enrolls in college. 

Sitting nearby Andrew Galbraith joked he wants to be the "leader of the free world but this is commonly recognized as a business major." 

Guidance counselor Don Bohanan, 58, who has worked at the school for 30 years, said school officials interview rising ninth graders and their families the summer before they enter high school. 

"We go over what colleges will be expecting of them and what they need to prepare for that," he said, also applauding the efforts of his colleague Kristi Cantrell. "We try to get them involved in extracurricular activities and stress a heavy curriculum, enrolling in classes that will challenge them." 

Among these classes, the students said, was sophomore English taught by Ruth Lewis. 

"You're expected to succeed," said Hannah Helton, "not only from Bo (Bohanan) but from your peers. It's a healthy competition. You want to be the best that you can be." 

Standing below a sign in the hallway that says the school stresses straight As - attitude, attendance and achievement - assistant principal Tom Wolterman said, "It's nice to be first in the state. All the hard work of the teachers, the students and their families - because it's truly a community effort - is paying off. ... Regardless of where our students come from, whatever their address is, we want to help students to become well-rounded individuals." 

Jeannine F. Hunter may be reached at 865-342-6324.

Copyright 2003, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved. 

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March 2, 2003

Ellen Ramsden

by Jim Kayon March 2, 2003

Ellen Ramsden and Eric Noseworthy are Two of Seventeen 2003 National Merit Semi-Finalists for Gatlinburg-Pittman High School

Along with Ellen and Eric  the 2003 National Merit Semi-Finalists from Gatlinburg-Pittman  High School are: Chenoa Allen, Cheryl Cantrell, Margaret Edwards, Andrew Galbraith, Rachael Hayes, Lindsay Helton, Grace Line, Robert Maples, Amanda Meador, Stephen Newman,  Samuel Oakley, Lydia Owens, Emily Phillips,  Stacey Tarver, and Megan Williams. 

To be considered for Merit Scholarship Awards, a Semifinalist must advance to Finalist level of the competition by maintaining an outstanding academic record throughout high school and by submitting SAT I scores that confirm the earlier PSAT performance. Also, the Semifinalist and a school official must complete a detailed scholarship application that includes an endorsement of the student's academic record, information about the student/s participation and leadership in school and community activities, a student essay, and a letter of recommendation.

About 90 percent, or approximately 14,000 of the Semifinalists are expected to meet the high standards required to meet Finalist standing. In April of 2003, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will select approximately 2,200 Finalists to receive Merit Scholarship Awards of $2,500. In addition, 200 colleges and universities and 400 business organizations will provide an additional group of 1,200 Finalists with Merit Scholarship Awards.

Congratulations to all and especially  to Ellen and Eric from everyone at Gatlinburg Presbyterian Church..

More information can be found at:   http://www.gp.sevier.org/academics.html

March, 2003

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Young  Music Students Perform for Peers

By: GREG WILKERSON, Staff Writer January 15, 2003 


Photo by Greg Wilkerson

Makenzie Thomas, 6, and Ben Parton, 7, perform with Dalton Greenwood, 7, not shown, at Sevierville Primary School.

Students at Sevierville Primary and Intermediate schools were entertained by some musical children Monday. 

"We received a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission," said Melinda Grohman, who teaches violin to children at Walters State Community College. "We got the grant to enhance and improve" the fine arts program at Walters State, where the kids are learning their instruments.

The program gives music lessons to children in the county and other noncollegiate students. Monday's performance gave students at the primary and intermediate school a chance to see other children in their age group perform.

Walters State's children's music program is small but growing, Grohman said. They someday hope to be able to offer scholarships to kids who want to learn an instrument, but can't afford the high price of lessons.

"We're not at that point, but that's what our goal is," Grohman said. Still, the classes are "quite affordable."

The kids playing Monday included Coy Parton, 13, Ben Parton, 7, Dalton Greenwood, 7, and Makenzie Thomas, 6.

"My goal is to have an orchestra in Sevier County," Grohman said. "A children's orchestra."

On Saturday, Feb. 1, the community college will host a music fair for children interested in becoming musicians.

"We're going to invite all these students and their parents," Grohman said. "It'll be fun for the kids."

The event will last from 10 a.m. to noon at Walters State, and will include refreshments and prizes.

"The children will be able to try out different instruments," Grohman said.

gregw@themountainpress.com. 

©The Mountain Press 2003