PowellFamily2005

IT'S REUNION TIME AGAIN

WHAT MARK WILL BE BESIDE YOUR NAME?

mmmm ???? aaaa JJJJ PRESENT

OR rrrr LLLL ABSENT

The 22nd annual reunion will be held Labor Day Weekend, September 2-5, 2005 at NORRIS DAM STATE PARK, Lake City,Tennessee with the BIG PICNIC on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2005 AT NOON.

The Powell family consists of the descendants of Joseph and Mary Ann Summers Powell of the Pine Orchard Community, Morgan County, Tennessee. Their children were Charlie, Ernest, Frankie, John, Levi, Rube and Vesta. Rhodes and Nancy Hodges Powell were the parents of Joseph Powell. The reunion has expanded to the descendants of Rhodes' other children: Martha, William, Garrett Stanton, Louise, Mary, and Rhodes, Jr. We also have descendants of some 10 "other Powell's" attending who are working on their genealogy and everyone is sharing information.

Norris Dam State Park is located on the shores of Norris Lake at the site of Norris Dam, the first of a series of dams built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), completed in 1936. The park contains more than 4,000 acres. The park is located 20 miles North of Knoxville and is accessible from I-75.

The park has no vacancies in their cabins for that weekend. (You might keep trying for a cancellation 865-426-7461 or 1-800-543-9335.) The park does have 2 camping areas with 40 sites in the east section and 50 sites in the west section of the park. They do not take reservations for the camping sites. They are on a first-come, first-served basis. They do have boat rentals at the marina 865-494-8138.

Our get-together on Sunday, the 4th will be in the park office complex at the West Entrance to the park, in the "Craft Room" which is air conditioned and large enough to accommodate our group, complete with standard size banquet tables and chairs. The chairs are stackable type chairs. If you want a more comfortable type chair, you are welcome to bring folding chairs. We should have enough tables for our food and drinks and space for everyone to sit and eat their meal. An air conditioned location is what most have wanted since the weather has been so hot on Labor Day Weekend for the past several years. Restrooms are in the adjoining area between our room and the swimming pool area, handicapped accessible.

For those of you who need directions to this area of the park, take Exit #128 - Lake City - from I-75 Hwy 441 to the West Entrance to the park office complex, approximately 2.8 miles on the left. Follow the signs for the swimming pool which will be on your left and you will be turning up a hill to the left.

We are all extremely proud of Lloyd Powell. He has been the Director of Camp Ba-Yo-Ca since 1980. He has been associated with the Camp for some 40 years. Camp Ba-Yo-Ca is owned and operated by the Knox County Association of Baptists. The camp had its beginning in 1958 as a ministry to needy underprivileged children. It now operates year-round. Lloyd is an ordained minister. The Association is having an appreciation dinner to recognize Lloyd for his 25 years as Director on Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 6:30 PM at Sevier Heights Baptist Church on Alcoa Hwy in Knoxville. If you would like to go, the cost is $8.00 and they need RSVP by August 29. Lloyd's wife Patsy assists Lloyd at the Camp. Lloyd has continued to work as Director even through his bout with cancer and bone marrow transplant in 1998. He also has chronic back and leg pain due to nerve damage. Lloyd is the son of the late Evan Powell and grandson of the late Charlie Powell. Prince Powell is his mother.

Becka Powell Clanton was kind enough to send me up-to-date information about her son and daughter, Ashlie and Norman. She and husband Norman are very proud of their accomplishments. Ashlie is 16, drives, has been a big help to Becka and her dad taking her brother to football camp all summer. She is going into the 11th grade, swims for the high school team. She works very hard in school and has a 3.4 GPA. Her German is what kept her grade down, other than that, she exempted all of her exams. Ashlie was in the Georgia games which is Georgia's version of the Olympics and she did wonderful - came back with two Gold Medals, swam against some amazing kids and did pretty awesome herself. She placed fourth in four of her events and she placed first in two of her events. Afterwards she was able to try out for the USA swim team and made it, this is a year-round team. Ashlie wants to be a teacher so she is in the apprenticeship program at her high school which will give her 200 hours towards her teaching degree when she graduates from high school. During her senior year, she is going to take her classes at KSU which will count as her freshman year at college. Norman is now 11 going into the 6th grade, plays football, has been in football camp all summer training for the middle school team. He swam with the summer rec team and did really good. He likes to swim but really only swims to stay in shape for football. Norman is also a straight A student, his A's come to him very easily. Norman wants to go to UGA and grow up to play professional football and be a football coach, big dreams for a little guy. I am sure Tom is proud of these grandchildren as well.

Mary Powell Cate was kind enough to send me information expressing her thoughts to all of us.

To the families and friends of the Powell Reunion - I Mary Powell Cate as I approach my 90th birthday, it is a pleasure and a joy to have had a part of these wonderful occasions for many years. I wish to encourage the young people to keep planning and working on family reunions for years to come. You will meet relatives you didn't know you had, and the fellowship is great. As for me, my life has been a good life, and the Lord has been good to give me so many years. I am also thankful for all my precious families and good friends. In these last years of my life, I have been given infirmity and in this I feel a great need of God, and an inspiration to do better things. So my message to all is Love and as our family motto reminds us, Keep Looking Up. Love and God Speed Mary P. Cate.

Mary is hoping she will be strong enough to attend the reunion this year. She will be 90 on her birthday on November 6. Let's plan to send her lots of cards as she reaches that big 90.

Mary P. Cate

945 Wilmington Ave. Apt H.

Dayton, Ohio 45420-1649

For those of you who don't have E-mail, you may not know that Thomas Rufus Powell (Tom) was married to Jean Bellin Narke on Saturday, June 25, 2005 in Marietta, Georgia. Tom is the son of the late Rufus Powell, grandson of the late Ernest Powell. Tom is the father of Rebecca Clanton, Tom (Tigger) Powell, Gordy Powell and Scott Powell. Jean is originally from Pennsylvania, attending school in Dayton, Ohio and moving on to Georgia. She has four sons and one daughter. Both Tom and Jean have many grandchildren. They met on an "arranged date". Tom and Jean will be attending the reunion. Tom will be telling the history of the Powell Family Reunion. He will give us an update on his book about the Powell's. Cheryl and Krystall are typing the book for him.

Our oldest Powell, Charles Vigle Johnson - age 98, recently received a 50-year certificate and pin in honor of his loyal and faithful years of membership in the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). The certificate covers the years 1954-2004. His membership extends from 1954 to the present time. He retired from his position as electrician with the Cincinnati Public School System on January 1, 1971. His job there involved going around to any and all of the schools in the district taking care of whatever kind of electrical problem they might be having. He was extremely well liked by the school people since he did his best to make life easy for them. He recently moved to an assisted living facility in Phoenix, AZ. His son Larry and wife Sondra live in Cave Creek, AZ. There are pictures on the web site of Charles, one showing him sitting in front of his "office equipment" that he uses to send letters periodically to some 30 or so people. He still does his own typing.

A lot of us already know about Becky Powell Cochran who has been battling a disabling "mystery illness", a progressive neurological disorder for the past year where she started falling easily even breaking her shoulder, becoming weaker to the point of being unable to walk at all, unable to feed herself, having trouble swallowing and difficulty with speech. Her husband, Brian, took off from work when this started to be her fulltime caregiver as she needed total care. She has gone through extensive testing in the Oak Ridge-Knoxville area, Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. It seems that nothing specific has been diagnosed and thus no real treatment that has made a noticeable improvement in her. She has even undergone 2 different surgical procedures, one for breast cancer. Brian went back to work a few weeks ago after being off work for almost a year and Becky is at the Life Care Center of Morgan County in Wartburg where she is having therapy with improvement in her voice and ability to understand her. She must still have total care. They have 2 daughters, Jessica and Laura. Becky is the daughter of Henry and Polly Powell, granddaughter of the late George Powell. I am sure Becky would like to receive mail since she is away from her family except for their visits.

Rebecca Cochran - Room 106

Life Care Center of Morgan County

419 S. Kingston St.

Wartburg, TN 37887

We mentioned in the newsletter last year that Cheryl Norman was interested in compiling a Powell Family Cookbook. She still wants to do this so get those recipes written and/or copied and to Cheryl. Here is Cheryl's message to you:

Hey all of you Powell family members, in-laws, outlaws, and followers!!!! I would like to prepare a collection of favorite Powell recipes so we can all enjoy those family favorite recipes and/or historic recipes handed down through generations. If you would like to contribute one or many, please have your recipe(s) ready along with your name and address and bring it(them) to the reunion on Sunday, September 4th. That's the day I will be there. If you are unable to attend the reunion and want to contribute to the recipe collection, you can email me at cherylnorman420@hotmail.com If you don't have email, you can mail them via snail mail to Cheryl D. Norman, 127 Howard Ave. Harriman, TN 37748. I hope everyone will contribute something so we can have our collection ready for distribution at the 2006 reunion. Thanks for all your input. Cheryl. I am sure Cheryl will be glad to type them if you don't type and/or have email.

Everyone please bring food to the reunion. We like to share our good home-cooked/baked dishes. Those who will be staying in the cabins and doing your own cooking there, there is a Food Lion (approximately 4 miles from I-75) and an IGA (approximately 1 1/2 miles from I-75) supermarket at Exit 122. Those of us who will be cooking and bringing our food might want to prepare extra to cover those who will be staying in motels with no cooking facilities.

Bring your cameras, camcorders, family records and genealogy information to share, musical instruments, old pictures and recipes for the cookbook. I will have drinks consisting of 2 gallons tea (1 gallon sweet tea), 3 gallons lemonade, regular coffee, 1 gallon fruit punch and endless ice water for Sunday. If you prefer soft drinks, you are welcome to bring your choice for your family. We have plenty of supplies from before.

We will be selling chances on several nice items this year. The largest item is an Oritron stereo system with 20 programmable CD track memory, cassette player with recorder, AM/FM radio, full range speakers. This is a nice stereo system ($60.00 item) and would be suitable for any age person. The display unit had a real good sound. I have a nice wooden carriage clock ($20.00 item). A Sharp Scientific calculator with 131 functions, battery powered ($7.00 item). A GE 2.4 Ghz cordless phone with call waiting, caller ID, handset volume control and headset jack ($20.00 item) and possibly more items. All of the items with the exception of the stereo are compliments of me (able to get with cash rebates). There will be a separate drawing for two (2) tickets to the Tennessee Valley Fair here in Knoxville ($16.00 value) complements of WIVK radio station, good for any day during the fair September 11, through September 18, 2005. Only the names of the people who will be in the area and can go to the fair will be entered in this drawing.

The cost of the Craft Room for our reunion is $81.94 including tax and our postage used to mail the newsletter to those without E-mail has averaged $44.00 for the last 3 years. So our expenses are now roughly $126.00. If we buy a major item to use for selling chances, we have that expense. I know our attendance was down last year but if we had not had some money left from prior years, we would have not had enough money to cover the expenses. Karen Marks is our treasurer. I don't keep the money. We need to discuss this year how we want to raise money for our reunion and newsletter expenses. Some families ask each individual family to send money to cover annual expenses, $5.00 or $10.00. Several people have requested we have a white elephant sale again. So we can plan for that for next year if that is what the majority wants to do. Any ideas you have to raise money, let me know if you cannot attend the reunion. Prince Powell has volunteered again to sell the chances but she will need a helper, so we need another volunteer. Prince will be 88 years old on November 2. She is just as spry as ever. A lot of you may not know that Prince helped deliver me when I was born. Of course I was born at home with Dr. Carr attending. Emma Powell, my great aunt (who was like my grandmother since mine died when my mother was 10 years old) also helped with the delivery. It took a lot to get me into this world!!!! Ernest Powell was like a grandfather to me since mine died when I was 6 years old.

We hope to have several door prizes this year. If any of you have new items that you would like to bring for door prizes, you are welcome to do this. People enjoy winning something even if it is small. If you do not have door prizes to contribute this year, try to plan to bring some next year. Thanks to all of you who brought door prizes last year, especially Cheryl and Jeff Norman. I have some but not as many as in years past. I have not been out shopping very much at all due to my arthritic knee with the cartilage totally gone and have "bone-on-bone" that is so painful when I am on it. I am planning a total knee replacement this winter.

This spring and summer have been very frustrating for me as I started with a series of 5 weekly injections in my knee finishing in May which caused it to be initially very painful and sore but then has given me some pain relief so far but of course is temporary. I had a "summer cold" the end of May that lingered on. I also had to have cataract surgery on June 7, finally getting new glasses but have to have them remade as they have no distance vision. The high heat and humidity has taken its toll on me and my AC unit completely died the end of July with me suffering several days before getting it replaced with a new unit. We have also had administrative/management changes at work which create an uneasy feeling. Hopefully this fall and winter will be better.

There is an Olympic-sized swimming pool adjoining the building for our Sunday get-together. As of this writing, the ranger says it will be open Labor Day Weekend with lifeguards on duty. Admission is $3.00 per person, no charge for cabin guests. Several of the children went swimming last year and seemed to enjoy it very much.

We need a volunteer(s) to take care of the name badges and sign-in book. I have the name badges and sharpies. I also have a book already divided into blocks for a sign-in book which I made for the Pine Orchard School Reunion last year and we used it last year. There are still plenty of spaces for our reunion. This helps me keep everything in one place.

The usual Knoxville Labor Day Weekend festivities will be on their normal schedule this year with the first UT Football Game on Saturday, September 2, 2005 with the third ranked UT Vols playing Alabama-Birmingham in Knoxville at 12:30 PM. As of this writing, it is 16 days, 14 hours, 49 minutes, and 51 seconds until kickoff. Boomsday will be on Labor Day if you would like to stay over for it. Ralph, Laura and the girls went to that last year and enjoyed it very much.

Some likely heard reasons for not attending the reunion:

Gas is too expensive. Yes it is the highest any of us have ever seen it. Gas may cost more next year or it could be rationed by then.

The weather is too hot. Yes we are having temperatures in the 90's. We meet in an air conditioned building. Next year may even be hotter.

Maybe I will go next year. We may not all be here next year. The poor Corrections Officer that was gunned down here in East Tennessee last week had attended his family reunion on Sunday, 2 days before his death.

I don't know those people. You won't know them this time next year if you don't attend. Many new friendships have been made through these reunions. After we have finished with our door prizes, you don't have to leave. We are paying for the building for the entire day. Stay in the air conditioning and visit, get acquainted with those you don't know. Plan this year to spend the day. The building will be open by at least 10:00 AM. Those of you who have small children who prefer not to go swimming, plan some activities for them to enjoy in the afternoon.

Let the older people go, they enjoy it more. The older people may not be around next year to carry on with the reunion. We only have 6 living in our oldest generation. These people are in their 80's and 90's. The next generation is in their 60's and 70's. We need the next generation and the next to really promote the reunion to the younger people. We have one family that actually plans annually that on Labor Day Weekend, they will attend the Powell Family Reunion. Tigger and Alice Powell and children. They have a new baby girl, Marleigh Grace born on May 21. Marleigh will be with them at the reunion this year. Tigger - see if you can get some more annual commitments. If you cannot attend every year, we will understand if you want to attend the reunion every other year. Marilyn Hutchinson has chosen to do this as she is the pianist at their church.

We have another new baby that I know about; Jimmy and Nickie Hicks had a baby boy born this past spring - William Scott or Will. Jimmy is the son of Katherine Russell and the grandson of the late Scott Powell.

One of our family who is in the military has just recently gone to Iraq, Eric Gutman - brother of Ralph and Betsy, son of Mike, grandson of Mary Cate. As of this time, I don't have an address for him.

There is no restaurant in the park. See list below of nearby restaurants. For those coming for the weekend and like hiking, there are 18 different walking trails in the park. Maps are available at the park office.

For those of you receiving the newsletter via E-mail, there is a map of the park on their website which is http://tennessee.gov/environment/parks/parks/Norris Dam/ If you would like a more detailed map, please let me know and I will send you one. No one seemed to have a problem finding the site last year.

Listed below is the information concerning the motels and restaurants near the park.

EXIT #122 - Norris-Clinton - Hwy 61 to Hwy 441 - Approximately 4 miles to the East Entrance of the park - follow signs inside the park (opposite side of park/dam for our Sunday get-together). There is a visitor center at this exit.

MOTELS

Best Western Clinton - 865-457-2311 or

1-800-937-8376 - Continental breakfast and pool.

Comfort Inn Clinton - 865-457-2255 or

1-800-424-6423 - Continental breakfast and pool.

Holiday Inn Express Clinton - 865-457-2233 or

1-800-465-4329 - Continental breakfast and pool.

Super 8 Motel Clinton - 865-457-0565 or

1-800-800-8000 - Continental breakfast and pool.

RESTAURANTS

Arby's, Burger King, *Golden Girls Restaurant (country cooking - nice), Hardee's, *Harrison's (nice), Krystal, McDonald's, Shoney's, Subway, Waffle House, Wendy's, Zaxby's.

*Locally owned but good.

EXIT #128 - Lake City - Hwy 441. 2.8 miles to the West Entrance to the park and to the park office complex.

No motels or restaurants.

EXIT #129 - Lake City - Go to Exit #128 to the West Entrance of Norris Dam State Park.

MOTELS

Days Inn Lake City - 865-426-2816 or

1-800-329-7466 - Continental breakfast and pool.

RESTAURANTS

Cracker Barrel, KFC, McDonald's, Subway, Sonic.

If you don't like to drive in the Knoxville traffic and road construction, here are the best routes to avoid this. Those of you traveling from the North should not have a problem with traffic as you will not be traveling through Knoxville. If you are traveling from the East, be sure to take I-640 West to I-75 and you will not be going through Knoxville but I-40 West goes through the middle of Knoxville. If you are coming from the South on I-75, take Exit 81 - Oak Ridge/Lenoir City. You want to go toward Oak Ridge on Hwy. 95 which will take you through Oak Ridge toward Clinton to Hwy. 61. This will bring you to I-75 North Exit 122. If you are coming from the West on I-40, take Exit 356 - Oak Ridge/Lenoir City. You want to go toward Oak Ridge on Hwy. 95 which will take you through Oak Ridge toward Clinton to Hwy. 61. This will bring you to I-75 North Exit 122.

We hope all of you "other Powell's" can attend this year as we have some attend every year in addition to our family. We had David and Linda Murphy from Maryville at our reunion last year. She is researching genealogy on the Powell's. In our family I know that Dan Cooley, Buddy Lorimer, Cheryl Norman, and Tom Powell have researched genealogy and have a lot of information. Bring all of the information you have to share. All of these will receive a newsletter in addition to others that have made inquiries from the newspapers and our web site. The reunion notice went to some 54 different newspapers in Tennessee, the Tennessee side of Georgia, Kentucky and North Carolina.

We have had several of our family members with illness, hospitalization, accidents and surgery this past year. These are the ones I have heard about: Becky Cochran, Buddy and Margaret Lorimer, Bob Keeney, Cheryl Norman, Jerry Moss, Jim Cagle, J.R. and Norma Darby, Rusty Munger, and Tom Powell.

Our sympathy goes out to those who have lost loved ones. Helen Hayes - Sister of Norma Darby and Zola Abbott. Mary Alice Gutman - Grandmother of Ralph and Eric Gutman and Betsy Harrison, mother of Mike Gutman. Ellen Powell - Mother of Charles Powell and Katherine Russell, grandmother of Anggie Holland, Ann Randolph and Jimmy Hicks. David Munger - Father of Rusty Munger. Sympathy to Art Bohanan in the tragic accidental death of his son.

We hope to have a sound system again this year so we can discuss things and everyone can hear. We want all of you musicians to bring your musical instruments to show off your talent in the afternoon after the meal. If you play/sing in a group, invite them to the reunion. Last year, we enjoyed Hutch with Forrest and Lucas, Tigger, Jess, Jeff Norman, and Kyla and Emily Robbins. We welcome any type of music/songs. We don't limit it to gospel. Most people enjoy more than one type of music.

We hope Walter and Mona will be able to come to the reunion. They are very familiar with the Norris area as they always have a booth with the wood carvings at the annual "Tennessee Fall Homecoming" at the Museum of Appalachia in October each year. Walter also plays bluegrass music during that event also. We miss the carved birds and Walter's music. If you are coming for the weekend, you might want to visit the Museum which is located at Exit 122 off I-75. It is open year-round. This is a 65-acre Appalachian History Complex. The museum contains over 250,000 pioneer relics and 30 authentic log structures including a chapel, school house, cabins and barns with live animals. There is an admission charge. Allow 1-3 hours.

There is a great emphasis on historical interpretation at Norris, with the W.G. Lenoir Pioneer Museum, an 18th century Rice grist mill, and Crosby threshing barn. Meal is ground daily during the summer months and knowledgeable people are available to answer your questions. A gift shop is located in the mill featuring authentic Tennessee crafts. Hours 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. There is no admission charge to these attractions.

The park has 19 rustic (oldest) cabins and 10 3-bedroom deluxe (newest) cabins. The rustic cabins are on the East side of the dam (East entrance). I will be in #15 in the rustic cabin section. The deluxe cabins are on the West side of the dam next to the office complex. You are welcome to come see my cabin any time on Saturday or Sunday after we leave the Craft room. There is about a $20.00 difference in the type. I will be arriving on Friday afternoon and leave on Monday morning. If you are coming from the West side of the dam, bear to the left after crossing the dam and follow signs to the rustic cabins. You will be going up a hill to this area. If you want to reserve a cabin for next year's reunion, you can reserve it before you leave as you can make a reservation a year in advance and can always cancel if there is a hindrance to your attending then but these cabins are reserved pretty much on a regular basis a year in advance.

For those of you who are single, you are welcome. This is not just for families. We want to see you if you are single, divorced, or widowed. We welcome all age groups; newborn, toddlers, small children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged on up to senior adults.

I know there is road construction going on in Tennessee and probably other states that you may travel through. The toll free numbers that you may call ahead of time for road construction delays are TENNESSEE - 1-800-858-6349 and KENTUCKY - 1-800-459-7623. Georgia does not have a toll free number for road construction.

I want to express my thanks to Tammy Powell for printing the name/address mailing labels for me to use in mailing the newsletter to those who do not have E-mail. If you are receiving this newsletter via USPS and have an E-mail address, please let me know so that I will have it for future Powell-related correspondence. I limit my use of it to sickness or death in the family or if someone requests I send an announcement about something such as Tom's wedding announcement. If you have someone in your family who does not receive the newsletter, please send me their information to include in our directory which I hope to have current copies at the reunion. I also want to thank Cheryl Norman for sending the thank-you notes after the reunion last year.

Julie Cromwell has our information on this website: http://www.tngenweb.org/morgan/photoalbum/POWELLINDEX.html

This website has pictures from the 2001 reunion through the 2004 along with Powell Family History that stays in the website. If you have reunion pictures from prior years, you can send them to Julie at janncromwell@highland.net in jpeg format. Bring your cameras this year to take pictures to add to the website for this year's reunion. I want to thank her for keeping this website up to date for us.

If you need to get in touch with me for any information, you may call either of the telephone numbers: 865-688-2460 or 1-888-349-7242 (leave a message). I will be receiving E-mail through the evening of August 26, 2005 at vbrown@covhlth.com Will be on vacation after that time until the day after Labor Day. We hope to see lots of you Labor Day Weekend. I pray everyone will have safe travel. May God bless each of you.

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