DESA Hosts Thanksgiving Feast for Those in Need

November 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A large group of caring people from the community gave up part of their Thanksgiving Day to see that hundreds of their needy friends and neighbors had a hot delicious meal on this special holiday.

In what has become an annual tradition on Thanksgiving, the DeKalb Emergency Services Association (DESA) and volunteers gathered together early Thursday morning at the kitchen of the county complex to do some cooking for others in the community who might not otherwise have had a hot delicious meal for Thanksgiving.

This year’s meal consisted of turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, roll, and a homemade dessert.

According to DESA spokesperson Blake Cantrell, more than 750 meals were served Thursday morning at stops throughout DeKalb County.

“This is definitely the biggest Thanksgiving meal delivery effort we have ever done,” said Cantrell. “We have been overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity and support. In addition to the volunteers who helped cook, prepare the food trays, and make deliveries we had many people who made donations including lots of homemade dressings and desserts. We had extra food that we were able to distribute this year. Some boxed unperishables. Liberty Star Arms was especially helpful. They did a raffle and donated all the proceeds from that to this meal,” said Cantrell.

DESA will be conducting another meal delivery on Saturday, December 23 in time for Christmas and all those who received meals on Thanksgiving will be on the list for that event”.

To get your name on the delivery list for December 23 call 615-390-0297 or 615-712-4286 or visit www.dekalbesa.com/meal.

November 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County’s local option sales tax collections for October were down from September but up from October, 2022.

According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, DeKalb County collected $176,794 in October, down from $192,082 in September but up from $156,092 in October, 2022.

Local option sales tax collections in October were also down in two of the four towns in DeKalb County, Smithville and Liberty, but up in Alexandria and Dowelltown compared to October, 2022.

In Smithville, October collections were $320,369, down from $334,428 in September and below $365,386 in October 2022.

Alexandria’s collections dropped slightly from $28,894 in September to $28,779 in October but were up from $25,383 in October, 2022.

Dowelltown’s collections were at $3,140 in October, up slightly from $3,001 in September and above collections of $2,884 in October, 2022.

Liberty’s went from $9,906 in September to $11,463 in October but were below the October 2022 collections of $16,705.

Net collections of local option sales taxes for the county and cities combined in October were $540,546, down from $568,313 in September, and below October, 2022 collections of $566,452.

October sales tax collections reflect previous month activity.

November 23, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Three weeks after it opened and eleven days after the grand opening, an Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance crew is now assigned to the new Liberty Fire Hall each day for a 12-hour period from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. The firehall has three bays including one for an ambulance, restroom, and a small office for the EMS crew but no sleeping quarters.

County Mayor Matt Adcock made that announcement during Tuesday night’s committee of the whole meeting of the county commission. The reason for the delay in putting an ambulance crew at the new fire hall has been so that a reliable radio communication system could be installed.

“On November 2, the DeKalb County Health, Education, and Public Welfare Committee met in regard to an EMS unit being stationed at the Liberty Fire Hall. They discussed when and what kind of unit would be there. We talked about a plan for the Liberty station which was to place one of the two Advanced Life Support (ALS) emergency ambulances we have at this station to serve the community during the day. Under this plan, the unit will have to return at night to the main EMS station located on Meadowbrook Drive in Smithville due to no sleeping quarters at the Liberty station,” said County Mayor Adcock.

“The radio got put in today (Tuesday) and we are going down there (Liberty) tomorrow (Wednesday) said EMS Director Hoyte Hale during Tuesday night’s meeting.