2023 is a year of firsts for Renee Sutton. After concluding year 18 of teaching at Camden Central High School, Sutton is taking an administrative leap at Carroll Academy in Huntingdon. Since starting her new position as Assistant Director of Carroll Academy on June 1, she has taken an administration job for the first time, she has written her first grant, and more. more

JACKSON — Contestants for the 2023 Miss Tennessee Volunteer Pageant checked in at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in Jackson on Saturday, July 22, officially starting Tennessee’s biggest pageant of the season and its festivities. Pageant rounds begin Wednesday, July 26, and end Saturday, July 29. Four women represent Carroll County at the 2023 pageant. more

HUNTINGDON (July 19) — State Representative Brock Martin (R-Huntingdon) addressed the Huntingdon Special School District Board of Education on Wednesday, July 19. more

McKENZIE (July 18) — The newly-established McKenzie High School Alumni Association (MHSAA) gathered for the first officially sanctioned meeting in the McKenzie High School Theatre on Tuesday night to elect officers and board members. more

HUNTINGDON — Oom Pah Pah, Oom Pah Pah, Mau Mau. While these words might not make much sense on their own, audiences sing right along when they’re placed deep within a song by The Oak Ridge Boys. West Tennessee fans are in for a very special event — The Oak Ridge Boys will perform a free concert during the Huntingdon Heritage Festival on Saturday, September 23 on the court square. more

McKENZIE — Bethel Associate Athletic Director of Communications/Sports Information Director Dave McCulley announced popular McKenzie radio broadcaster Craig Lunn is joining the Wildcat broadcast team. Lunn will be the color analyst for Bethel football this fall and selected games during the basketball season. more

Bruceton’s First United Methodist Church and New Hope Methodist Church of Vale extend a heartfelt welcome to their new pastor, Brother James Ellington, a certified lay minister from Jackson, Tenn. Preaching full time since 2019, Brother James served as pastor of Lester’s Chapel Methodist Church and Mount Carmen United Methodist Church, both of Jackson, and the Montezuma United Methodist Church of Henderson. more

Beta Club members from across the nation have worked for months in preparation for the National Beta Convention this summer. West Carroll Elementary and West Carroll Junior/Senior High School won big this year, with Junior Beta member Aubrey Hammett making history as the first National Junior Beta Secretary-elect from West Carroll. more

McKENZIE (July 14) — As participants of the Last Annual Vol State Road Race pass through West Tennessee towns, Al Everett and The Refinery gym employees helped make McKenzie a refuge for walkers in need of rest. more

CHATTANOOGA — Chase Daffron, a 2019 McKenzie High School graduate, put the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) on the map recently by being named one of the best collegiate players in both Call of Duty and club baseball. more

McKENZIE (July 11) — Williams Furniture celebrated an employee’s milestone retirement last Tuesday, July 11. Peggy Hopper announced her well-deserved retirement after a 42-year long career at Williams Furniture in McKenzie. Williams Furniture owner Phil Williams threw a Hawaiian-themed retirement party for Hopper on Tuesday afternoon, complete with tropical leis and a cake congratulating Hopper on her retirement. more

McKENZIE — McKenzie residents may have already noticed that Raymond James Financial Services has found a new home at 1966 Cedar Street. more

McKENZIE (July 11) — The 2023-24 school year is a year of change, according to McKenzie Special School District Career Technical Education (CTE) Director Susan Dyer. As career paths and opportunities change alongside vast technological advances, McKenzie schools will begin preparing students for a technologically-saturated world with the help of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s Innovative School Model (ISM) grant. more

NASHVILLE (July 7) — Leadership Tennessee, a collective with a mission to foster non-partisan dialogue on issues of state importance, has named Carroll County Mayor Joseph Butler to its 2023–2024 Signature Program Class X (class number 10). more

Clayhill Motorsports Park has new owners, and they’re returning racing to the famed Atwood track. In a press release, a spokesperson says the new racetrack (formerly known as the Atwood Speedway, then Clayhill, LLC.) returns with a new name, new owners, and a new purpose. The race track opens to the public for the first time in over two years on July 27 with a Thursday night “Test & Tune,” the first of many races under the new owners. August 5 is the first official race date. more

Jason R. Martin, manager of Tri-County Publishing / The McKenzie Banner, is the new president of the Rotary Club of McKenzie. Martin was installed by District 6760 Governor Eddie Allred at a banquet on June 27 at Hometown Hangout. more

PARIS — Sally Lane’s Candy Farm may have new owners and a new location, but its legacy is stronger than ever. more

McKENZIE (July 6) — Ice bucket challenges were really popular a few years ago. The concept was to fill a five-gallon bucket with iced water and dump that water on someone’s head as a fundraiser. A recent fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital took the concept to the extreme: ice water from the bucket of a front-end loader. That followed a pie in the face by Johnathan St. Clair. Will Walker had the pleasure of operating the bucket as he eased the levers forward to dump the water on Trent Johnson and Trent’s granddaughter, Lila Colvin. more

ATWOOD (July 6) — The West Carroll Special School District heard a third-grade retention report showing no third graders will have to repeat the third grade during their meeting Thursday night, July 6. more

Carroll Arts’ annual creativity camp concluded Friday, June 30, with an end-of-the-week program where students showed parents and community members what they learned from the week’s drama, art, creative writing and music classes. more