News - Friday, March 11, 2011

For the generation that preceded the Baby Boomers, retirement was simple: people stopped working and started resting. Fishing and golfing were acceptable, but anything that smacked of productivity was off limits. Retirees had made their contribution; it was time to relish the fruits of their labor.

The reason many may have not heard about the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga is because they do so many things, it’s hard to sum up their activities. They are unlike any public charity in town, says president Peter Cooper.

Monday, March 13

The County Court’s Commission to screen prospects for election to the Hamilton County board of education has been reorganized with Lou Williams, Chattanooga business and civic leader, as chairman. Roy A. Scruggs, Chattanooga attorney, has resigned from the school board effective March 31. Another vacancy was created by the death of Samuel Wear Johnson, and the seven-year term of Davis Eldridge expires June 30.

Since he began volunteering for the Pro Bono Project in 2006, Yousef Hamadeh has helped over a dozen clients access the justice system to protect their basic rights and, in many cases, improve their financial security.

Often when we construe the meaning of laws, one of the things we consider is historical context. It would thus seem logical for lawmakers to take a look at our history before they make new laws. They rarely do.

Proposed labor laws and accompanying protests against them have been making the news throughout the Midwestern states of our nation lately. I wonder if the laws and protests would have turned out differently, if anyone had thought to consult their history books.

Each day as I check out the news, I hear the continued story line of how bad our economy is doing and the continued movement by all of us to the brink of another Great Depression, or at least getting close to the edge of some type of financial difficulty. If you spend most of your time listening to these reports of gloom, you will soon consider the idea of placing your earnings in a Mason fruit jar and burying it in the backyard as the way to go, but I wonder if times have really become that desperate.

Grandma Kitty pulled her shiny case knife from the pocket of her blue apron. She reached down far to the bottom of the cane pole and cut it.

“This will make a good one,” she said, as she handed it to a three-year-old me. Then she cut one for herself.

Dean G. Hafeman v. Protein Discovery, Inc.

Knox County – This is a breach of employment contract action filed by Dean G. Hafemen (“the Employee”) against Protein Discovery, Inc., a Tennessee corporation (“the Employer” or “the Company”) after the Employer terminated the Employee’s employment before the expiration of the term of his “Amended and Restated Employment Agreement” (“the Agreement”).

It’s the strangest time of year – as in I don’t much care for it. It’s too cold for golf, at least if you’re at the grand old age of 53. But it’s too warm to hope for a couple more snow days. Basketball, at least in the great state of Hogville, is bad, and especially if you were once, recently in fact, a young rising star/coach from the Bluegrass State.  And I could not even tell you on a bet who the top five, college basketball teams are. I’d say Duke is in there, but who wouldn’t?  

In 1995, I read Christopher Moore’s book, “The Mediation Process – Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict.”

That same year, I completed two mediation training courses, totaling 60 hours.

Flowers make memorable moments. The heavy smell of roses can take us to a memory of a special birthday or an awkward date. Flowers can also make ordinary moments memorable as well.

The Daily Flower on Georgia Avenue in the Volunteer Building is a place where no special occasion is needed to pick up a grab-and-go selection of fresh and bright flowers or to go a la carte in picking just a few buds for a table arrangement.

At the beginning of this month, I signed up for a new weight loss competition at my gym. The idea behind the contest is simple, but beneficial. Gym members were able to sign up as a team of four or as a single. All of the single participants will be put on a team with three other strangers. Then for eight weeks, we work out and try to lose weight. Every week, we weigh in and write down how many pounds we shed. At the end of two months, the team that loses the most pounds, wins the contest. Parish thought he was too cool to participate (or something along those lines), but I happily signed up and weighed in.

Somebody should be ashamed of themselves.

Whoever it was, they forgot a basic tenet of kindergarten: if you make a mess, you clean it up. But there it is, trash all over the place. Paper bags, plastic sacks, crumpled aluminum, debris you don’t want to think about, all scattered on the ground. Somebody – or a lot of somebodies – missed the trash can and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.

We use our feet to carry us along life’s daily journey without hardly ever giving them a second thought, until we have a broken bone – or worse. How much do you know about your feet?

1. Which word best completes the title of John Chilton’s autobiography, “Hot Jazz,__ Feet”? Clean; Warm; Open; Friendly.

When remodeling a kitchen or fantasizing about a renovation, magazines and showrooms are good sources of inspiration. But to get a real sense of what a kitchen looks like, and how it feels and fits into the grander scheme of a home, nothing beats seeing it in person.

Celebrate! Remember! Fight back!

Those empowering words will once again be shouted throughout Collegedale at the city’s Second Annual Relay for Life benefit for the American Cancer Society. The event is scheduled to take place Sunday, April 3 at Veteran’s Memorial Park from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The recession has caused even big name Realty offices in town to cut back in many different ways. When Coldwell Banker Hamilton and Associates decided to consolidate their Hixson office into their Cleveland office, this left some Realtors with an important decision: stay in Hixson or set up shop in Cleveland?

The Chattanooga Women’s Council of Realtors mixed a little learning, a little networking and a lot of delicious pasta together for their March meeting at the Home Builder’s Association.

During the February Business Resource and Networking Meeting, Cathy Gibson of Title Guaranty and Trust was introduced as February’s super sponsor.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in real estate, a picture could be worth a thousand dollars (or more). Most agents aren’t photography professionals, but

there is an understanding that better photos get listings more attention, and ultimately, a higher selling price.

Knock. Knock.

Who’s there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Banana split, so ice creamed!

Ok, so I’m not much of a jokester … I guess because I have two ornery sons and one very funny hubby who are always a step ahead of me! However, I thought this was a cute way to start my Banana Split column today; however, first, a little information on some of the fruits in this yummy dessert.

The slogan at the top of the poster for “Hall Pass” says, “From the directors of There’s Something About Mary.” There should be an asterisk at the end of the phrase pointing moviegoers to a paragraph at the bottom of the poster that reads like this:

Some of us have referral aversion, so we are challenged in asking for referrals. We also might be a behavioral style like a high Steady, which causes us to avoid bothering people so we view asking for referrals as bothering our client. We need to approach the referral process with the correct mindset, right skills, and right timing. Some of selling is being there at the right time. The same is true for referrals. Here are four rules to follow: