Category: My Family
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When Efficiency Serves the Human Heart
Back at the beginning of my career in the mid-1980s, our community’s largest employer, Eastman Chemical, was going through a transformative process in total quality management. It was based on the management principles that helped Toyota rise from being viewed as an affordable alternative to American-made cars into a global benchmark for reliability, quality, and…
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A Lesson in Grace, Learned at Food City
Some of the most important lessons our kids learn don’t come from classrooms, coaches, or report cards. They come from time clocks, name tags, and difficult customers. When our son was 14, we thought it would be a good idea for him to get a part-time job. Our daughter, too—but I’ll save that for another…
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Finding My Way Back to the Kingsport Spirit
Lately, I’ve focused too much on data, metrics, and measures. When I started this blog, I intended it to be about my unique take on the Kingsport Spirit with stories of faith, family, people, places, & the history of my hometown. In order to understand that statement, you have to understand what “Kingsport Spirit” means.…
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A Holy Land Close to Home
Through an unexpected turn of events, my son and daughter-in-law were given a rare opportunity to visit the Holy Land—one that was simply too good to pass up. Many people don’t realize that my son’s foundational degree is in Religion from Carson-Newman University, where he also served as a captain of the football team. His…
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1948: Appeal to the Great Spirit
Do you ever see a photograph that triggers a memory? Recently, I discovered that Ancestry.com has digitized many of our nation’s yearbooks. In the process, I stumbled on the 1948 Maroon & Grey—my mother’s final yearbook at Dobyns-Bennett. It offers a remarkable window into student life in that era. Twenty school years later, in 1967–68,…
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Maybe Fun Fest Means a Little Bit More
We all remember the Dr. Seuss book, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. The grouchy grinch lives on a neighboring mountain and each year when the citizens of Whoville come out to hold hands, sing songs, and celebrate Christmas, their joy plucked his last nerve. So, he decided to steal all the presents–to take away the…
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Cousins
Rarely do you get this opportunity—a reunion of two cousins, now men, born three years apart, of sisters who were born three years apart. We hadn’t seen each other in nearly 50 years. My grandfather and uncle worked for Mead Paper in Kingsport. In 1946, Mead teamed up with Inland Container Corporation to form the…
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A Letter to Dad, 11 Years Later
Dear Dad, It’s April 15. Hard to believe it’s been 11 years since I got the call that stopped me in my tracks. They held off on announcing my appointment as city manager that day, but you already knew it was coming. The mayor had tipped you off ahead of time—maybe that was your sign…
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Rewriting My Roots: Uncovering the German Influence in Appalachia
I’ve always taken pride in my Scots-Irish heritage, believing my ancestors’ lives mirrored the plot of Outlander, where Jamie and Claire settle in North Carolina, building a life among native tribes. As war with England looms, they fight to protect their home and loved ones—just as they did in Scotland. Their story closely parallels that…
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Meet the Burchfields
As I delve into my family tree, small details breathe life into the stories of my ancestors. They seem like fictional characters, yet they are my flesh and blood. I marvel at the hardships they endured and feel grateful for the relative safety and predictability of my own life. Take my maternal grandfather, Charles Blaine…
Kingsport Spirit 