DCHS Senior band member Victor Luna raised in a musical family

January 8, 2021
By: Bill Conger

Senior Victor Luna is in his third year with the D.C.H.S Band, but he has been playing music all his life. That’s no surprise considering he was raised in the home of Band Director Tracy Luna and his musical mother, Laura.

“Dad introduced me to music very early on,” Victor says. “I had access to basically any instrument I wanted to figure out. It’s been a big part of my life ever since.”

“He is very intelligent and can play most of the instruments in the band,” Acting Band Director Don Whitt said. “I have a huge admiration and respect for him. Whatever Victor does he is going to land on his feet.”

For Victor, band started on saxophone in 5th grade at Upperman Middle School in Cookevile, but he transitioned slowly to tuba, mostly because his dad needed that position filled in the high school band.

“I’ve grown to like it. I still keep up with the other instruments, and I enjoy learning new things all the time. I had some previous experience with the euphonium. He [my dad] had a euphonium at home that I had played on in my 7th grade year just to mess around. That gave me some steps forward into tuba and made the transition a lot easier.”

Victor’s dad is not only the band director but an accomplished tuba player who has played in numerous musical ensembles.

“He’s helped me so much with all of this, and I’m really grateful to have him as the music part of my life. His experience in tuba really helped me out a lot. He gave me so many tips and tricks and helped me process how to do everything with tuba and how to grow as a musician.”

After only a year and a half playing tuba in the band, Victor passed the highly competitive audition process and secured a spot in the prestigious Music City Drum and Bugle Corps. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 restrictions cancelled the drum corps season in 2020, but that door isn’t completely closed for the young musician.

“There’s a certain amount of uncertainty, but we’re hoping to at least get together and practice some this year and hopefully leap forward into 2022 as a strong and well-developed drum corps. I want to be part of that.”

Music will continue to be a part of Victor’s life after he earns his high school diploma. He plans to attend Tennessee Tech University in the fall and possibly combine two interests by majoring in music and engineering. He hopes to join the internationally known TN Tech Tuba ensemble as part of his undergraduate work.

January 8, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting on Monday, January 11 at 6:00 pm in the DeKalb County Courthouse. The agenda for the planning commission meeting is as follows:

Consideration of final subdivision plat for property located on Holmes Creek Road. (Martinelli Division)*

Consideration of final subdivision plat for property located on Obie Adcock Road. (Puckett Division)*

Consideration of final subdivision plat for property located on Holmes Creek Road. (Johnson Division)*

Consideration of final subdivision plat for property located on Banks Pisgah Road and Herman Road. (J T Family Farms Division)*

Consideration of preliminary subdivision plat for property located on H. O. Allison Road. (Sliger Division)*

Consideration of preliminary subdivision plat for property located on Backbone Road. (Scerbo Division)*

Other business as necessary.

Agenda Review

Martinelli Division—Final
Russell Martinelli submitted a final subdivision plat for the purpose of creating one (1) proposed new lot from property larger than five (5) acres located on Holmes Creek Road. The proposed new lot would consist of 1.370 acres and is currently vacant. The proposed new lots would be served by an existing four (4) inch water line and would comply with all Cumberland County Subdivision Regulations.

Puckett Division—Final
Jacob Puckett submitted a final subdivision plat for the purpose of subdividing 5.26 acres into two (2) proposed new lots for property located on Obie Adcock Road. Lot 1 would consist of 1.00 acres and an existing residential structure. Lot 2 would consist of 4.26 acres and is currently vacant. The proposed new lots would be served by an existing six (6) inch water line and would comply with all DeKalb County Subdivision Regulations.

Johnson Division—Final
Lori Johnson submitted a final subdivision plat for the purpose of subdividing 5.26 acres into two (2) proposed new lots for property located on Holmes Creek Road. Lot 1 would consist of 0.77 acres and an existing residential structure. Lot 2 would consist of 0.25 acres and an existing residential structure. Lot 2 would have access to Holmes Creek Road via twenty (20) feet ingress/egress easement. Lot 2 would require a 19,110 square foot lot size variance, a fifteen (15) foot front setback variance and a five (5) foot easement width variance. The proposed new lots would be served by an existing four (4) inch water line and would comply with all other DeKalb County Subdivision Regulations.

JT Family Farms Division—Final
JT Family Farms submitted a final subdivision plat for the purpose of subdividing 17.928 acres into eleven (11) proposed new lots for property located on Banks Pisgah Road and Herman Road. The proposed new lots would range in size from 1.00 acre to 2.251 acres and all of the proposed new lots are currently vacant. The proposed new lots would be served by an existing six (6) inch water line, two (2) existing fire hydrants and would comply with all DeKalb County Subdivision Regulations. This proposed final plat was granted preliminary approval by the PC on October 12, 2020.

Sliger Division—Preliminary
Matt Sliger submitted a preliminary subdivision plat for the purpose of subdividing 96.022 acres into fifty-six (56) proposed new lots for property located on H. O. Allison Road. The proposed new lots would range in size from 0.689 acres to 4.718 acres and all of the proposed new lots are currently vacant. The proposed new lots would be served by an existing three (3) inch water line, a proposed six (6) inch water line, an existing fire hydrant, three (3) proposed new fire hydrants, an extension of H.O. Allison Road and two (2) proposed new county roads (Caleb Way and Eli Lane). The proposed new lots would comply with all DeKalb County Subdivision Regulations.

Scerbo Division—Preliminary
Pete Scerbo submitted a preliminary subdivision plat for the purpose of subdividing 155.948 acres into eighty-two (82) proposed new lots for property located on Backbone Road. The proposed new lots would range in size from 0.688 acres to 9.689 acres and all of the proposed new lots are currently vacant. The proposed new lots would be served by an existing six (6) inch water line, a proposed six (6) inch water line, an existing fire hydrant, six (6) proposed new fire hydrants and five (5) proposed private streets (Ridgeway Drive, Peninsulas Edge Court, Peninsulas Edge Drive, Crest Drive and Lakes Edge Court). The proposed new lots would comply with all DeKalb County Subdivision Regulations.

January 8, 2021
By:

Donny Green, County Executive Director of the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency, says the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee met in regular session on Thursday, December 10, 2020 to canvass and tabulate the ballots received in the 2020 Local Administrative Area (LAA) # 2 (DeKalb County) and LAA # 4 (Cannon County) county committee elections.

For LAA # 2, Grant Williams was elected to serve as Committee Member. For LAA # 4, Terry Young was elected to serve as Committee Member. Elected members began their terms on January 1, 2021.

The DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee met on January 5, 2021 to conduct its Organizational Meeting. For 2021, the Committee selected R.V. Billings, Jr. as the Chairperson, and Robert Melton as the Vice-Chairperson. Jimmy Womack, Terry Young, and Grant Williams serve as members of the Committee. Mary Sanders serves as the Committee Advisor. The Committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. at the DeKalb/Cannon County USDA Service Center located at 647 Bright Hill Rd.

Green says that the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee and office staff wish to express their appreciation to voters in LAA # 2 and LAA # 4 who participated in the election by voting and returning their ballots. “The local County Committees are a very important part of Farm Service Agency’s program delivery and administrative processes,” added Green.

For more information about FSA’s County Committees or other program inquiries, call 597-8225 (extension 2) or come by the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency office at 647 Bright Hill Street in Smithville. You can also visit the agency’s web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov.