Local AmVets Ladies Auxiliary Provides “Toys for Tots”

December 20, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Members of the local AmVets Ladies Auxiliary have done their part this holiday season to make sure children in the community have a merrier Christmas.

The organization’s annual “Toys for Tots” project was held Saturday at the Midway Community Center where parents and others could pickup toys and clothes for kids in time for gift giving.

“We have been doing Toys for Tots for about 10 years and it’s to serve the community of Smithville and DeKalb County. We know parents have a very hard time sometimes and need help with gifts so we feel the need to give back to the community and to our veterans and their families,” said Crystal Mason, local AmVets Ladies Auxiliary Chaplain.

Funds are raised throughout the year in support of “Toys for Tots” and other community projects.

“We raise our money so at the end of the year we can go out and buy new toys for the kids. We have also had some people bring in new toys and donate to us,” said Mason.

Due to COVID-19, Mason said appointments were scheduled 20 minutes apart for those who had pre-registered to pickup toys.

“Instead of letting the kids and parents come in together because of COVID we scheduled appointments so that we could keep the room clean between visits and keep parents and others safe when they came in to get toys for their child,” said Mason.

A few hours were set aside at the end of the day for people who had not pre-registered to walk-in one at a time and get toys.

Masks were provided for visitors who entered without one along with hand sanitizer.

Savannah Wilkerson, one of the parents who picked up toys, said she appreciates what the Local AmVets Ladies Auxiliary is doing for the community.

“This means a lot to people because many are having a hard time right now especially with COVID-19 and it means a lot to my family too,” she said.

In addition to “Toys for Tots”, the AmVets Ladies Auxiliary sponsors other community projects.

“We also do things for Saint Jude Children’s Hospital. We visit veterans at the VA hospital although we have not been able to this year because of COVID-19. We also support Paws with a Cause, an organization that custom trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities, and we sponsor an annual community Easter Egg hunt at Greenbrook Park,” said Vickey Milligan, 2nd Vice President in the local AmVets Ladies Auxiliary over Child Welfare projects.

December 19, 2020
By:

During the 99th annual meeting of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation on December 6, 2020, DeKalb County Farm Bureau was recognized for reaching the highest standards possible in membership, programs and teamwork.

The Pinnacle Partnership Award is the highest recognition a county Farm Bureau may receive. It is evidenced by the cooperation between volunteer leaders, agents and staff. DeKalb County Farm Bureau is to be commended for their hard work and well-earned success over the past year.

DeKalb County Farm Bureau was recognized with the Pinnacle Partnership Award for their exemplary records over the past year. They received a plaque with the bronze Pinnacle Partnership medallion.

Tennessee Farm Bureau is the largest Farm Bureau in the nation with a membership more than 675,000 and is a farm organization whose goal is to develop, foster, promote and protect programs for the general welfare, including economic, social, educational and political well-being of farm people of the great state of Tennessee.

December 19, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

“The Battle of Center Hill” will take on a little more significance next fall.

The Upperman Bees, a familiar regular season opponent of the DCHS Tiger football team in recent years, will be joining DeKalb County and the other four teams that make up Class 4A, Region 4.

As part of their annual rivalry, the Tigers and Bees a few years ago began competing for the “oar”, a trophy which symbolizes what they now refer to as “The Battle of Center Hill,” because the teams are on opposite sides of Center Hill Lake. The winner of the annual grudge match gets to keep the oar for a year until the next meeting.

Tiger Coach Steve Trapp said with Upperman joining the region, the two teams will not only be competing for bragging rights each year but for a region title as well.

“We have been in a region with them before but now they are moving up from Class 3A to 4A so they will be in the Region with us (DeKalb County) Livingston Academy, Macon County, Cumberland County, and Stone Memorial. The addition of Upperman is the only change in the makeup of Region 4. We like challenges and this gives us a chance to step up even more. These guys next year have that opportunity but we have a lot of work to do and we will be replacing a lot of really quality football players but we are excited about some of these guys coming in and up through the program,” said Coach Trapp.

According to Coach Trapp, the 2021 DCHS Football schedule will have the same opponents as this past year with the exception of Goodpasture, a private school from the Nashville area, which will replace Grundy County.

In addition to the region foes, the Tigers will also again meet Warren County, Cannon County , Smith County and Watertown next fall