Rowing on the river Artistry in motion By Linda Benton The artist stands in front of the mural, her paintbrush poised in one hand. Focusing on the near-complete painting, she decides it needs something more and, with a steady stroke of the brush, applies a splash of blue-green paint to the Tennessee River scene. In [...]

Lessons for a lifetime By Josh Dzik Photo by Victoria Mason As parents, we are always looking for ways to keep our children healthy and active. When the sun is shining, it’s easy to get them engaged in sports or other outdoor games to give them exercise they need. But as the mercury drops and [...]

We all know the success Bruce Pearl has brought to the University of Tennessee men’s basketball program: three SEC Eastern Division titles, one SEC championship, four straight NCAA tournament appearances, including two trips to the Sweet Sixteen, and the school’s first-ever number-one ranking. In only four years at Tennessee, he has become one of the [...]

Happy Trails by Allison Gorman If the secret to success is sheer doggedness, bicycling enthusiast Mike Skiles has it in spades. Never mind his stamina on the trail; consider his parental energy. Who but the most determined dad would attempt to corral his six children, ages 2_ to 16, and all the attendant equipment, for [...]

“Karate Man” By Allison Gorman Photo by Michelle Young Here’s an interesting social experiment: Take a shy 7-year-old boy and put him in a tiny town in the Alaskan wilderness. Give him three older brothers at home, the usual quota of bullies at school, and a middle name that has unfortunate rhyming possibilities. Then take [...]

Sports—and a spectacle By Allison Gorman Photos courtesy of Chattanooga Lookouts If you think going to a baseball game is just about watching baseball—well, you haven’t gone to a Lookouts home game. “Spectacle” is the word John Maedel uses to describe the event at AT&T Field. “Forty years ago you could probably go to a [...]

Sidelines Field of dreams By Allison Gorman On a warm evening in 2007, while most teenagers were relishing their new-found summer freedom, Sara Kluttz was dodging anthills and picking up litter in an overgrown baseball field in the Westside public housing community. Armed with trash bags and a lawnmower, she and a small group of [...]

The evangelist By Allison Gorman Photo by Jim Mancke Troy Kemp picked up a lacrosse stick in college and hasn’t really put it down yet. Seeing a classmate at Colgate University carrying a rubber ball and an odd-looking stick with a net, the New York native tried working with them and, at first, was stymied. [...]

Here’s what you won’t see in Claire Mooney’s “Kids Yoga” class: tidy rows of tykes sitting perfectly still in the lotus position, eyes closed, chanting a mantra.

Order on the court By Allison Gorman Photos by Julie Hogue There’s something to be said for coaching a team for 20 of its 21 years—so long, says Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences boys’ basketball coach Mark Dragoo, that “nobody here remembers who the first coach was.” Parents rarely dispute his decisions about strategy [...]