ELIZABETHTON — Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park will restart its History at Home summer interpretive programs this week, with two new seasonal interpretive rangers, Matthew Simerly and Slade Nakoff. Both
Elizabethton High School student Elijah Smith wants the next school year to be as normal as possible â which is why he worked to bring a mobile COVID-19 vaccination van to the school this weekend.
âAs a student and as an athlete I speak for many other kids my age in saying that our number one goal is to go back to the life we had about a year-and-a-half ago,â said Smith. âAnd so, by doing this, hopefully we can get there as quickly as possible.â
Smith said the goal is to provide easy and convenient access to the vaccine for those in a county where only 29% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, well below the statewide rate of 38.7%. Smith said the countyâs low vaccination rate made the event that much more important.
JOHNSON CITY - Rondal (Ron) Clay Lovelace, 78, passed away at his home in Johnson City, TN on May 23, 2021 following an extended illness. He was born to the late Arnold B. Lovelace and Evelyn Hyder Lovelace Byrd on August 30, 1942 in Carter County, TN.
He had no blood born siblings, but a host of brothers and sisters in Siam where he grew up. His best and long-time friend since they were 4 years old, Ted Hamilton died last summer.
Ron was a Polio survivor. He graduated from Elizabethton High School in 1960. He was an American Patriot with hopes of getting an Army commission after firing in ROTC at ETSU for 3 years. But during his last physical at Ft. Benning, GA, the effects of Polio showed up, causing the loss of that dream. He had been #1 in his class for marksmanship. Ron worked with the Carter Co. Youth Civil Air Patrol in the early 1960s. He loved working with the Boy Scouts Troup #220 teaching emergency preparedness.
ELIZABETHTON â Several Elizabethton High School students have learned a lot about proper weight lifting techniques and also the effective ways to operate exercise equipment during their time in teacher Jordy Harrisonâs strength and conditioning classes.
Now, the students are prepared to use their knowledge to help several adults enrolled in a substance abuse rehabilitation program called Recovery Soldiers Ministry.
The program is a residential recovery program in Elizabethton.
One thing the men have wanted is to strengthen their bodies while they are recovering from their addictions. The men managed to collect an assortment of cast-off barbells and other weights and old exercise equipment over the years. Harrison said the equipment had been around since the program started. Because there was no exercise building in which to store the equipment, it was left in the yard, rusting and getting dirty.