News - Friday, June 22, 2012

Attorney Don Moore, Jr., is seated in his favorite chair, his television blaring cable news and his phone within reach. He picks up a remote and clicks off his TV, and his house becomes as quiet as a thought. Being tucked away in a cul-de-sac in East Brainerd has its advantages, as there’s no traffic to disturb the calm, only the sounds of a single beating heart and 83 years worth of memories.

North Carolina resident Dale Stewart is on a quest to solo paddle the Trail of Tears water route by Aug. 20. During the 1,226-mile voyage of discovery from Ross’s Landing in Chattanooga, to Fort Smith, Ark., Stewart will paddle the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers.

Saturday, June 23

Charles Rolston on Saturday was elected chairman of the Democratic executive committee in Hamilton County, defeating four other candidates for the post.

The wheat elevator that towers 229 feet and six inches at the site of the Seaboard Allied Milling Corp. flour mill will be ready for use in about six weeks. The million-bushel storage facility and mill being erected on the Tennessee River just off Amnicola Highway will be nine feet higher than the Hamilton National Bank.

Summer has arrived and so has the increase in requests for continuances due to family vacations or the need to simply have a day at the pool. (Don’t other people make continuance requests based upon this reason? No? I guess that’s just me.)

June 23

The Life and Time of Clark Lee

Raymond Evans will chat about Clark Lee, who went from being an enslaved African to serving as a soldier in the Confederate Army, at the downtown branch of the Chattanooga Public Library at 10 a.m. Afterward, Evans will sign copies of his recently published book, “The Life and Times of Clark Lee: Chickamauga’s Black Confederate Sodier.”

Miller & Martin last week announced Travis McDonough has been appointed as chair of the firm’s litigation department.

“This firm has offered me opportunities I could not even have imagined prior to arriving here 15 years ago. I am honored to lead many of the trial lawyers I respect most and am humbled by the confidence of our chairman, Jim Haley. We will work to ensure Miller & Martin’s litigation department continues to merit its reputation as one of the most capable, sophisticated and respected litigation practices across our region,” said McDonough.

The 2012 edition of “Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” ranks Miller & Martin as a leading firm in the areas of labor and employment, banking and finance, corporate mergers and acquisitions, healthcare, general commercial litigation and real estate. 

Fixed atop the Volunteer Building, the newly installed Miller & Martin logo might look like just a name on a building, but to the law practice behind the gracefully designed lettering, it’s a symbol of the firm’s commitment to its community.

The heart has its own memory, like the mind. And in it are enshrined the precious keepsakes into which is wrought the givers loving thoughts. – Longfellow

The above quote was placed by my mother on the opening page of a collection of writings that she gave to me 25 years ago. One of those pieces was a letter that was sent to her and my dad by the principal of my high school back in 1975. Seeing that we are near that commencement time of year, I don’t think he would mind if I shared parts of it with you.

Here in not for the wide array of characters, being in this business since the Jimmy Carter administration would have been pretty boring along the way.

While the bigger stories garner most of a writer’s attention, often it’s the behind-the-scenes people and events that provided much of the discussions around the water cooler, er, coffee pot in the newsrooms.

The other day, I stopped by Sonic for a little breakfast and a Diet Coke. It was pretty early and there were very few cars there. As I pulled up, I saw a young woman that works most mornings walk past on her way back to the door after delivering an order.

This is Part 2 of a series. Don’t miss Part 1, next week. (I know what order series normally go in! Get over it already!)

Maggie the Cheagle and I decided to watch “Lost” again. Last year, we watched for the first time, with Susan along for the ride. We went through all six seasons in about two months.

Three years ago this month, my wife and I got the word of her impending cancer. At that time, the early reports were not all that bad, but the final outcome was not that good. She had been our healthy one, eating everything right, walking regularly and if a drug store had depended on her for a living, they were out of luck. But when the “c” word enters your world, only one knows the future, and He doesn’t reveal how you should plan for the next trip. In our case, the time together was short and fast, but a time of closeness in hospital rooms and looks into each other’s eyes that went deep into the other’s inner-thoughts that made the final trip soul-calming.

A peregrine falcon named Fourscore now has a bird’s eye view of Chattanooga thanks to the efforts of Rock City Gardens and Save Our American Raptors, which oversees peregrine release projects at Rock City. The falcon, which received its name from Rock City’s Facebook and Twitter followers, darted out of its hack box and into the sky over Scenic City at 6:18 a.m. on June 18. His fans derived his name from the number 80 – the anniversary Rock City is celebrating this year.

This time, I couldn’t make up my mind on a general issue to puzzle you about, so this one is “a little of this and a little of that”. Have fun.

1. According to the National Safety Council, which of the following is responsible for causing the most burns in a home? Improper bathtub temperature; Mixing of cleaning chemicals; Working on the family car; Improper placement of pots and pans on a stove.

Remember the fondue parties people used to have? Nights spent sitting around talking and dancing to the Beatles or the Rolling Stones while melted cheese was bubbling away in a fondue pot? Well, if you hold on to something long enough, eventually, you’ll need it again. In this case, that would be the fondue pot!

The Great Chattanooga Association of Realtors’ 2012 officers and directors gather together for a photo commemorating the organization’s 100th year.  Seated, L-R: Jennifer Grayson, past president; Vicki Trapp, secretary and treasurer; Brenda Pargeon; Julie Chamberlain; and Mary Carlson.  Standing, L-R: Mark Hite, president; Arnold Farmer; Russ Elliott; Randy Durham; Mark Blazek, president-elect; Andy Hodes; Nathan Walldorf; and Fidel Fonseca.  Not pictured: Jennie Brockman; Travis Close; Melissa Harrison; John Healy; Byron Kelly; and Gayle McMillen. (Photo by David Laprad)

New Realtors might have a hard time comprehending doing business without a cell phone, email, Internet-based MLS, Bluetooth lockboxes, electronic signatures, QR codes and other high tech goodies. But there was a time when even a fax machine was futuristic fodder for a science fiction story and the idea of carrying a telephone in your pocket would have provoked laughter. Back then, many deals hung on a handshake until the ink dried on the half-piece of paper that contained the contract.

1912

Chattanooga Real Estate Exchange established with Noah Hamilton Grady as president. Later became known as Real Estate Board of Chattanooga.

1944

Name changed to Chattanooga Board of Realtors.

1956

Dorothy Hicks hired as executive vice president and first office opened in the Jackson building. Multiple Listing Service established with John R. “Jack” McGauley as president.

1912    N.H. Grady

1913    John R. Evans

1914    J.G. Burton

1915    J.G. Burton

1916    N. Thayer Montague

1917    Sam O. Bankson

Is there an age at which change is no longer possible? When new experiences are out of reach? When to hope for something is merely to court disappointment? Essentially, does life end before one’s heart actually stops beating? “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a warm, amiable movie about a group of British retirees who move to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel, says no.

I received an email the other day from a friend. It was one of those that gets passed on and on and on, and so I started to just delete it, but out of curiosity’s sake, read it. Now I’m all the wiser on something that I had no clue about: hand sanitizers and toddlers.

How much time do you spend improving your skills daily or even weekly? The skills of selling real estate include our listing presentation, follow-up systems, prospecting, negotiating, and qualifying, to name a few. It’s your mind, what you say, how you say it. How much time do we actually spend practicing these skills? Do we truly need to practice these skills?

Not long ago, the arts were considered a luxury in Chattanooga, but according to a recently completed two-year study of the region’s arts and culture, they have become a necessity in building the economy and bolstering Chattanooga’s position as one of the nation’s best mid-sized cities. Imagine Chattanooga 20/20, a community-wide cultural planning process facilitated by Cambridge, Mass.-based Wolf Brown, found that exposure to arts and culture in virtually every aspect of life not only improves quality of life, but also improves education, attracts businesses and drives the economy.