Mountain City, Tennessee 3768375 centsWednesday, July 10, 2019 Vol. 145 No. 28

THE TOMAHAWKwww.thetomahawk.com

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Meet the Locals ............... A2Agriculture ....................... A2Education ........................ A3Health .............................. A3Reports ............................ A4Community Calendar ...... A5From Page One .............. A6

Sports .............................. B1Service Directory ............. B2Obituaries ..................... B3,4Faith ................................ B4Classifieds ....................... B5Sunflower Festival ........... B6

INSIDE:

By Jill PenleyFREELANCE WRITER

When the Johnson County Court-house was constructed in 1958, architect Clarence B Kearfott and contractor, J.E. Green Company,

gave little thought to central heating and even less to central air. During this time, oil and gas furnaces were improved and made more efficient, with electricity becoming the criti-cal source of power for building systems. In the 1920s large-scale

theaters and auditoriums introduced central air conditioning, and by mid-century forced air systems, which combined heating and air conditioning in the same ductwork set a new standard for comfort and convenience.

Basic heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, composed of compressor drives, chillers, condensers, and furnace, designed for even distribution,

Courthouse deals with HVAC issues

See Courthouse Page A6

By Tamas Mondovics EDITOR

Do you have an ancestor who served in the Blue or Gray? Are you interested in finding more about his service? Or do you maybe need help understanding his records from the National Archives? Are you interested in

Civil War historian and author

Michael C. Hardy

423-928-1901 423-929-9101 2340 Knob Creek Rd., Johnson City, TN

We help you hear what you’ve been missing.

By Tamas MondovicsEDITOR

The Upper East Tennessee Hu-man Development Agency is host-ing a Commodity Distribution for Tennessee residents.

UETHDA officials said that the distribution is now scheduled for Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at the National Guard Armory at 1923 South Shady Street.

“Items will be distributed on a first come first served basis to income eligible households until all commodities are gone,”

said UETH-DA Assistant Director of Community S e r v i c e s , Shounda Ste-venson in a recent press release add-ing that all

recipients must be residents of Tennessee.

This project is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee De-partment of Agriculture.

To pick up their commodities, recipient must present a light blue colored commodity ID card, which is obtained by completing an appli-cation at the Neighborhood Service Center.

“We strongly encourage each re-cipient to complete the application the week prior to the distribution, this will be helpful in reducing wait time,” Stevenson said.

Staff will be available on site during the distribution to assist in

UETHDA to host JC Commodity

Food Distribution

Red, White, and Shoe…Historical Society presents

See History Page A6

Michael C. Hardy is an American historian and author of Civil War

and western North Carolina books and articles. Submitted photo.

15th Annual Sunflower Festival & Deputy Allen Lipford Memorial

Car, Truck, & Motorcycle ShowSaturday, July 13 9am - 4 pm

Mtn. City Main St. SEE PAGE B-6 FOR MORE INFORMATION

TRUCK AND TRACTOR PULLSATURDAY, JULY 20, 6:00 PMJOHNSON COUNTY CHAMBER PARK

Hwy 167, Mountain City, TNSee page A6 of this weeks paper for all the details!

By Meg DickensSTAFF WRITER

Childhood is an important step in growth and development. Children should feel safe and protected.

One Mountain City family is taking steps to make this possible for their little angel with man’s best friend.

Four-year-old Kourtnee Dawne Peters struggles with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH) and autism. She deals with sensory overload, social anxiety, trouble communicating, motor difficulties, and noise sensi-tivity on a daily basis.

Between her sensory difficulties and near blindness, Peters’ family realized that she is in desperate need of comfort and a seeing-eye service dog, thus launching Kourt-nee’s Paws of Hope, a campaign through Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers (SDWR) to raise money

for the cause.“For her, this will make her life a

lot better. We want to try and make her life more comfortable,” said Mountain City resident and Peters’ great uncle David Torbett. “We can make it where she is not so scared in life.”

One major hurdle that stands in the way is cost. Service dogs cost approximately $25,000. The exor-bitant cost led the family to ask for local support.

The family have hosted a yard sale, spaghetti benefit dinner, and will host a benefit bass tournament

on Friday, July 19. The upcoming fundraiser will be at Fish Springs Marina at 191 Fish Springs Road in Hampton from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Cost is $35 per boat with a maxi-mum of two contestants per team per boat.

Approximately 58 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the cause while the other 42 percent goes towards the tournament. Call David Torbett at 423-895-2453 to register.

The family has raised more than $4,000 so far; a good start, but a long way to go. The goal is to provide Kourtnee a furry com-panion to keep her calm, safe, and happy.

Area residents are asked to please support Kourtnee at the upcom-ing fundraiser or directly at her campaign on SDWR at sdwr.do-nordrive.com/PersonalCampaign/Kourtnee-s-Paws-of-Hope.

Family fundraises for toddler’s service dog

Mountain City resident, Mary Lou Brennan, gets a turn during a horseshoe tournament held last week at Ralph Stout Park in Mountain City, TN. As part of their Fourth of July tradition, the annual event brings local residents together to enjoy the sport,

good fellowship, fun and, of course, a healthy competition. See story page B-1. Photo by Tamas Mondovics

Kourtnee Dawne Peters, age 4, was diagnosed with ONH and autism by age 2. She is nearly blind and suffers from social

anxiety, sensory overload, and many other symptoms

Submitted photo.

“We can make it where she is not so

scared in life.”Peters’ great uncle,

David Torbett

JOHNSON COUNTY

See Food Page A6