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It practically gallops!

Ham Wow

Aside from the obvious benefit of raising money for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, one of my favorite things about the Star 102.1 Radiothon is the chance to visit with the local news anchors who stop by to help out. Beth Haynes, Robin Wilhoit, Russell Biven and John Becker are all scheduled to attend on Friday.

On Thursday, I got to chat with meteorologist Todd Howell and the one and only Abby Ham. The happily married Ms. Ham has always understood that my blog entries about her have been well-intentioned and in good humor. She returns the favor by pretending to flirt with me on the radio and, as of the other day, on Twitter. Her friend, sportscaster Kris Budden, met her at West Town Mall to go to a movie.

It’s hard to tell if Abby’s Facebook fans understand our history. She posted that I was “dreamy” and someone responded that “married women shouldn’t look.” Abby wrote that the dreamy comment was a joke and several more people agreed that the first guy was being too serious. I pointed out that my wife saw the humor in it. In fact, when I showed her the iPhone photo that Abby put online, I was hoping my wife would think I looked tall. Instead she said I looked like a father sending his daughter off to college. C’mon! I know Abby looks young but she ain’t that young!

April 23, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Quiet Buy It

For two days each year, Star 102.1 turns its airwaves over to raising money for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Radio listeners will be asked to phone in a pledge of any amount. This year the hospital is pushing a 3 x 30 donation, which is $30 a month for three months. The money is used to purchase specific equipment and to fund CarePages, which allow parents to efficiently keep friends and relatives up to date on their child’s condition.

I am increasingly becoming a fan of silent auctions at charity events. It might be because my wife and I have been attending a lot of them lately when we are offered free tickets to get in. I bought a Christmas gift for her at the Signature Chefs Auction and I think she bought a birthday gift for me at the Ruby Slippers Benefit. She almost always bids on packages with Regal Cinemas movie tickets but usually gets outbid.

The Star 102.1 Radiothon includes an impressive silent auction this year at West Town Mall. They are billing some Lane Kiffin autographed footballs as “white elephant gifts.” They also have some Tennessee playbooks autographed by Eric Berry, who should be an early NFL draft pick on Thursday night. I hope to see some decent bids on the copy of “The Bone Thief” that Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass signed last month. It’s gift wrapped in crime-scene tape and comes with a not-so-surprising extra signature on page 359.

April 22, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

G-burger, G-burger

“And the winner of a ten-year pass for all Ripley’s attractions in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge is… Frank Murphy,” said Ryan DeSear, general manager of Ripley Entertainment’s Tennessee attractions. I got about halfway to the podium when he said, “Oh sit back down, everybody gets one!” As you can imagine, the rest of the invited guests gathered for the opening of Ripley’s Penguin Playhouse at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies cheered at their good fortune. I stood there for a split-second, trying to figure out what had just happened while Bill Haslam looked at me quizzically.

One of the black-footed African penguins in the exhibit is named Fearless Frank. Maybe that’s why Chuck Winstead and the rest of the staff at Ripley’s decided to pull the prank on me instead of, say, Betsy Pickle.  Betsy was especially thrilled to be there. She has a large collection of penguin figurines and other items. I was happy that the first thing I saw upon entering the exhibit was a framed picture of Burgess Meredith. Considering the original name of the species on display, they could just as easily had a picture of Johnny Knoxville.

Penguin Playhouse is designed for families. Kids will love crawling through the Plexiglas tubes and popping up into the middle of the habitat. I enjoyed it myself. Steve File, operational manager for the exhibit, described the Playhouse as a “Disney-quality attraction.” He also said that people will now go to Disney theme-parks and think of them as up to Ripley’s standards.

As I was leaving, Ryan DeSear thanked me for being a good sport. As a consolation prize, he gave me a piece of original art, created by Maureen “Mo Mo” Penguin, a female in the exhibit. Officially, it is described as “finger-paint on canvas” but I am going with “happy feet in goo.”

April 21, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

Supportive Spouses

The Knoxville Choral Society held their year-end party Monday night at Buddy’s Bar-B-Q Bearden Banquet Hall. The menu included grilled chicken, pork tenderloin, salad, peach cobbler and plenty of JFG coffee. The party gives members of the large choir a chance to get to know each other better. My wife has been in the group for years and appreciates the chance to visit with singers not in her section.

As I moved through the buffet line, I heard several people who I didn’t know griping about Harold Duckett’s review of Thursday night’s concert. He had criticized the choir’s “clarity of diction” during Mozart’s Requiem. While I will side with the singers on that point, I did agree with Duckett’s praise of the Schumann symphony that opened the concert.

After dinner, they played a mixer game that worked well for the group members. Perhaps it could be adapted slightly to include the spouses too. Each person had to find the table marked with their Chinese Zodiac sign. The rest of the Oxen and I gathered around and added up the number of years we’ve sung with the choir. Obviously I added zero to the group total. Another member of my group was a former co-worker named Jeff. He added zero years as well. He still works up on Sharp’s Ridge. I was surprised to learn that we were born in the same year, married in the same year, that our wives are both sopranos and that they both drive the same model of car. I should have asked Jeff if he watches “Fringe.” We might be the same guy in alternate universes.

April 20, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Hope Floats

Nancy Feist’s daughter Hope was in the class that received the Sacrament of Confirmation at All Saints Church on Sunday night. Seeing the high school student walk up to the altar to serve as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion brought back memories of Nancy’s funeral last summer when Hope delivered the touching eulogy.

The Confirmation Mass was celebrated by Bishop Richard Stika. I attended the ceremony with my wife, who is part of the church choir. I love hearing her sing the verses of “Veni Sancte Spiritus” over the ostinato melody of the Taizé version of the piece. Five priests concelebrated with the Bishop: Fr. Michael Woods and Fr. Antonio Giraldo from All Saints; Fr. David Boettner from Sacred Heart Cathedral; Fr. John Arthur Orr from Holy Ghost and Fr. Augustine Idra from Notre Dame High School. Fr. John and Fr. Augustine ministered to these same students when the priests were assigned to Knoxville Catholic High School and All Saints respectively.

A letter from the Bishop was read at all the Masses throughout the Diocese this weekend. It dealt with the recent news about a retired priest who admitted to sexually abusing a minor during the 1970s. As the Bishop read his own letter at the Confirmation Mass, I recognized one of the parents in the congregation as an FBI agent who instructed us during the FBI Citizens Academy. It occurred to me that the lawman was uniquely qualified to know that the overwhelming majority of abusers are close family members of the victim, not clergymen. In his letter, the Bishop said that we should “not allow the emotions of the moment to sway” our beliefs and faith.

Bishop Stika spotted me before the ceremony and asked, “how’s the radio… and the blog?” I said that he has gotten some positive “ink” lately, meaning that I have written favorably about his handling of the abuse case. The heavily-read “Whispers in the Loggia” had a similar assessment.

April 19, 2010 | Filed Under Catholic | Comments Off 

Take It to the Bridge

The upper crust of  Knoxville was partying with Air Supply on Saturday night at the Knoxville Convention Center.  I hadn’t heard about this year’s Center Stage event, which benefits East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. I probably still wouldn’t have known if not for a multitude of posts on Twitter and Facebook from many of the attendees.  I saw Air Supply perform at the Children’s Miracle Network convention three years ago. If you were reading my blog back then, you might recall how I once had to persuade them to play at a “losers singles party.”

While the Convention Center crowd was thinking that “Even the Nights Are Better,” my wife and I were just across the Tennessee River at a benefit for an equally worthy charity. Family Promise of Knoxville helps those who find themselves in situational homelessness. They try to fill the gap by helping those not qualified for assistance from programs for the chronically homeless. The Ruby Slippers Benefit featured dinner and dancing at the Kerbela Temple. Four pairs of professional dancers from Academy Ballroom each performed a routine they have done at a competition.

Speaking of dance competitions, Emily Loyless and Jeremy Norris are holding their annual Rocky Top Dance Challenge on June 20 at the Knoxville Marriott. Emily also whispered to me that she had a great song idea for me if I am asked to participate again in Star 102.1’s Dancing with the Knoxville Stars. It’s not uncommon to keep the song title a secret until the performance, which means you’ll have to wait until 2011.

Because my wife and I had been invited to sit at the media table, we wanted to bid on some of the silent auction items as an easy way of making a donation to the cause.  We bought something at the Catholic Charities dinner and at the Signature Chefs Auction for the same reason. I was impressed with an amaretto cake made by Jason Yarbrough, The Cake Guy but the bidding skyrocketed quickly. I told my wife that she could bid on the autographed Cheryl Burke photo and give it to me on my next birthday. She said, “We’ll see.”

April 18, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Deliver Us from Evil

A blog post I wrote last weekend needs a follow-up post this weekend. An article about the rate of sexual abuse among all groups of men, not just Catholic priests, inspired me to speak up. Although the percentage of abusers is about the same in every denomination, it seems to me that Catholics get a disproportionate share of the blame and the publicity. A Facebook friend sent me the link to a two-year-old blog post that also pointed out the disparity. It quotes a Jewish businessman who said the media had an anti-Catholic bias then.

Let me make it clear that no abuse should be tolerated or abetted and that all abusers must be removed from their ministry or position of authority. That includes priests, rabbis, preachers, scout leaders, teachers, etc. I am saddened that the crimes of the few overshadow the good deeds of the many. In many cases the abuser tries to get close to the family of his intended victim. He spends time building a false sense of trust with the victim. I spoke with some staff members at Catholic Charities who told me that they provide assistance almost daily to children who have been abused by their uncles, step-fathers, biological fathers or other non-celibate male relatives.

On Wednesday, a man announced to the press that he had been sexually abused by a priest in Kingsport during the 1970s. At that time, East Tennessee was still part of the Diocese of Nashville. Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika met with the now-retired priest, who admitted his crime. The bishop permanently removed the man from the ministry. A letter from the bishop asking any other victims to come forward will be read at all Masses in the Diocese on Sunday. My wife and I feel that Bishop Stika’s response has been textbook. Frank Weathers wrote a blog post on the site Why I Am Catholic that agrees. Back here on my site, a blog reader named Michelle left the following comment on my post from last Saturday:

I was raised Catholic and have continued in the Catholic faith my entire life. This morning my mother called to tell me about the front page story with Father Casey and how he admitted to sexually abusing someone. I was baptized at St. John Neumann in 1978 and Father Casey was the priest there from the time I was 9 till I was 19. I was very active in the church and with the youth and very close to Father Casey. This is personally devastating to me, that I man I looked up to and admired has admitted to committing such horrible acts. It’s even worse that every time I turn around there is some negative comment or joke being made about my religion. I guess the funny thing is, I listen to your show most mornings and came straight to your blog when I heard the news, hoping that someone who cares about the Catholic faith as I do would have something to say about this. In reading this post, it made me feel a little better that people are trying to stick up for our faith while denouncing those who have done bad things in the name of it. So, thank you, thank you for trying to educate those who have only heard or only believe the bad things they hear.

Through this blog and through my job on the radio, I am openly Catholic. Some of my friends jokingly call me an “out-of-the-closet Catholic” in the Bible Belt where so many people are Baptist. I received the following email on Thursday from a listener named Alicia:

I just wanted to thank you for your response to the news story about the priest who is being investigated for abuse in our Diocese. It was refreshing to hear a well thought out and factual discussion about pedophilia and the Church.

I have had many discussions with friends about this issue and have been frustrated to no end at the accusations that our doctrine and traditions are “causing” priests to act out. I have been working hard to explain to all my friends about the changes the Church has been making to protect children, and to prevent or at least properly handle future crimes. People asking me “How can you stay?” and needless to say, it’s been a difficult few years defending my faith.

Thanks for not being afraid to talk about your faith and our Church on-air.

The mood at Tom & Barry’s on Thursday night was slightly subdued.  A mostly Catholic crowd had shown up on Tax Day because the restaurant donated proceeds and tips to Catholic Charities that night. I spoke with fellow parishioners and with some listeners who needed to talk about the day’s events. My friend Fr. Ragan Schriver was extremely unhappy about the ex-priest’s vile deeds against his victim. I didn’t know what would happen should an abuser admit to his crimes within the seal of the confessional. I learned later that the priest hearing the confession will compel the abuser to contact civil authorities. Fr. Ragan told me that abusers often think they are above it all and do not even confess their crimes. Friday’s email contained something happier. I don’t know why listener Kellie chose that day to write but it certainly brightened my mood:

We have never met, but I owe you a great big thank you. My husband, daughter and I moved to Knoxville last June and we are members of All Saints. My step-children are members of [a nearby] Baptist congregation. At home they are taught that Baptists are the only correct religion and that Catholics are wrong. This is something that we struggle with on the weekends that we have them because their mother insists that we drop them at their church on Sunday, and pick them up after. They are discouraged from attending church with us.

My husband and I were at Christmas Eve mass when you were narrating. I told this to my 8-year-old step daughter when I saw her on Christmas and she was fascinated. Ever since then, it has been her mission to see you at church. She now comes with us to church on Sunday. Well, last weekend we were sitting in the front row of church and there you were. You would have thought that she saw Santa! It was a riot. After church, while getting donuts, both of the girls stood there so they could hear your voice just to be sure. Her new mission is to find out who your wife is!

I will do whatever I can to open their mind to the Catholic religion, and for the last 4 months, it has been the excitement of seeing you!

April 17, 2010 | Filed Under Catholic | 3 Comments 

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