Smithville First Baptist Reaches Out to Community (VIEW VIDEO HERE)

November 11, 2018
By: Bill Conger

It was a day of Thanksgiving (Nov. 10) at Smithville First Baptist Church as over 500 individuals were provided with food for the upcoming holiday meal. At the church’s third Community Day this year, volunteers gave out stuffing, cranberry sauce, vouchers for hams from Save-A-Lot, and other Thanksgiving staples to around 187 families.

 “We want to continually be a source of love, hope, and light to our community,” says F.B.C. Pastor Chad Ramsey. “We want to help in any way that we can to show the same love God showed us by showing God’s love to others. We do not do these community days to make ourselves feel better. We do them because we care, and we love Jesus. So we want people to know that God loves them and so does Smithville FBC.”

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Volunteers like Tom Koblinsky enjoyed helping out.

“I felt like the Lord told me to do this,” Koblinsky told WJLE. “I feel called for home missions. I like to help the people locally more than far away. I like to see the joy and the happiness on their faces. It brings me self-satisfaction also knowing I’m doing the Lord’s work.”

The Clothing Closet also set up racks of winter clothing for folks, and a Christmas scene was on display for families to take a nice formal picture for the Yuletide season.

November 10, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Members of the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church and other volunteers braved the cold weather for several hours Saturday morning to make sure the less fortunate of our community have plenty to eat with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching.

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In partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, the church held its biannual drive thru mobile food pantry serving up to 300 families regardless of their income status on a first come, first served basis.

Cars began lining up on South College Street as early as 4 a.m., five hours ahead of schedule, By the time the food drive began, the line of vehicles stretched all the way to near Green Brook Park.

Church Pastor Isaac Gray said Second Harvest brings in pallets of food on trucks. The food is then off loaded and organized in preparation for the distribution.

“It includes vegetables, fruit, canned goods, potatoes, and all sorts of different food items. We unload and sort it out in the alley behind Market Street and people drive through. They can get one box per household or two boxes depending upon how many people are in the car. That’s what makes this food drive unique is that people don’t even get out of their car. They stay in their vehicle the whole time and we do the work for them. They drive thru and we fill up their cars with boxes of food and we give it out until the cars stop coming or until we run out of food. Every time we have done this we have always had enough food for every person who has come through,” he said.

Gray said the church enjoys serving the community in this way and plans to keep on doing it at least twice a year, in the spring and fall.

“We love doing it and people seem to be very thankful and grateful for what we are doing. We just want to try to help our community and help people who need some food. That is what we are about,” said Gray.

November 10, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Members of a grateful community gathered Friday morning at the county complex to honor military service men and women in a Veterans Day weekend ceremony hosted by American Legion Post #122.

This year takes on a special significance because Veteran’s Day falls on the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Richard Buford, Vice Commander of the American Legion Department of Tennessee and District Membership Chairman, was guest speaker at Friday’s observance and recounted the history of the beginnings of Veteran’s Day and the American Legion

“Veterans Day. What does it mean?

“Originally it was called Armistice Day and this was a celebration of those people who served in the great war. The war to end all wars, World War I. An act of Congress five years after the war ended established Armistice Day and that was to honor the World War I veterans. In 1954 Congress changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor World War II and Korean War veterans and from then on we have celebrated this day as Veterans Day,” said Buford.

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“The Armistice was signed to end World War I and the war and hostilities ended on the 11^th month, on the 11^th day, and in the 11^th hour. Sunday will be November 11 and it will be Historic that 100 years later it falls on that same day,” continued Buford.

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“The American Legion was started as a result of World War I. Five officers in France saw the casualties on the front lines of trench warfare and poison gas and they met and said we need an organization to support the needs of our returning troops. An act of Congress in March 1919 set the guidelines for the membership of the American Legion. Once that law was passed 586,000 veterans joined the American Legion within the first nine months. The first convention was on October 18, 1919 in Minneapolis Minnesota. This year we had our 100^th national convention in Minneapolis,” said Buford.

Although the American Legion remains a strong support organization for veterans, Buford said membership has declined significantly in recent years across the country.

“The American Legion is the largest service organization in the world supporting veterans. Our four pillars are veterans, rehab for our veterans, community, and national security. Today we have almost 4 million members not only in the United States but in 15 other countries. The American Legion is a very important part of your community but across the country our American Legion Posts are dying. At the end of World War II 97% of our veterans joined the American Legion but after the end of the Gulf War and the Iraq and Afghanistan  conflicts only 3% joined. We need you to be part of the American Legion family. It’s not just for veterans. If you are a direct descendant of someone who served in the military you can be a member of the sons of the American Legion. Its $10 per year and there are a lot of benefits of being in that program.  Women can be a member of the American Legion Auxiliary.

Presently the American Legion has 3.8 million members. At one time we had 20 million members. In 10 years projections are we will have less than one million members. I encourage you to take an active part in this local Post so we can continue our programs to benefit your community,” said Buford.

The program began with a performance by the DCHS Chorus and Band and the presentation of colors by Boy Scout Troop 347. The scout leader led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Local minister Don Rigsby opened with prayer and Legion Commander William Edmonds made welcoming remarks. Judy Redmon, President of the Ladies Auxiliary introduced the guest speaker and Adjutant Ronnie Redmon closed the program.

Afterwards, veterans boarded a school bus where local law enforcement and firefighters led the motorcade in parade fashion down Congress Boulevard to the Public Square for the placement of a wreath by the veterans at the memorial monument on the grounds of the courthouse. Josh Moon then blew taps to bring the day’s observance to a close.

Veterans and other program participants were then treated to a lunch at the county complex hosted by the Senior Citizens and Director Pam Redmon and members of the American Legion Post #122.