Intro to Farragut Class grads reunite
“This is our first-ever graduate reception,” Town administrator David Smoak said. “Our first class was back in 2013, and when this class started, we had this alderman named Ron Honken.
“We were talking about this class because he had gone to Leadership Knoxville, and I had a leadership program before I came [to Farragut],” Smoak said. “He said, ‘You know, this would be a great thing for you to do.’
“This has been absolutely fantastic to have the community learn more about the community you live in and work in … but also to give back to the community,” the administrator said. “Last year, Ron’s son Reed [Honken] graduated from our class.
“It’s been great to see so many friendly faces and familiar faces,” Smoak said. “We’ve had 183 graduates of the Intro to Farragut program. Truly, it’s been just a reward and honor to have each of you come through the class, get to know you a little better during that time, and also have go back into the community and tell the great things that you learned.”
“This class, in 2015 for me, was kind of an eye-opener because I had been around other municipalities but not one quite like this one in the way it operates,” said Mayor Ron Williams, a 2015 Intro graduate. “It’s unique, and I guess you all have seen that when we go through the budget and meet all the people who run our Town, as far as the department heads.
“And it’s kind of when you get right down to it, what makes us unique and one of the reasons we don’t owe anybody like towns around us is good management,” he said. “That starts with Mr. Smoak and his staff … we’re all pretty thrifty and really watchful over the Town money.”
After the Intro experience, Williams served a couple terms on the Board of Zoning Appeals before being elected alderman, serving on Farragut Municipal Planning Commission and other committees and two terms as mayor.
Reunion attendees also heard from Town historian Frank Galbraith, who related the history of how the Town of Farragut came about, starting with the birth of James Glasgow Farragut, later adopted by David Porter and changed his name to David Glasgow Farragut. His father Jorge Farragut, originally from the Balearic Islands, lived in old Concord after he fought in the Revolutionary War and got a land grant.
“In the 1880s, Concord, discovered in 1854, was the largest city outside Knoxville,” the historian said. “They discovered marble in them there hills.”
Every year, Galbraith presents “Day of Infamy,” a presentation about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This year, the event will be on Dec. 7 in the Town Hall.
Attendees also heard from Steve Krempasky, who graduated from the first Intro class in 2013.
“It was all about learning about this town, and this Town really intrigued me a lot,” he said about the class. “Farragut was a different town in 2013 than what we have today,” Krempasky said. “But, that background, driving to different locations, having guest speakers and sitting in the Board meetings and committee meetings, that made a big impression on me. It gave me a civic lesson of my life.”
In 2015, he became executive director of Shop Farragut/Farragut Business Alliance, on which he served until his retirement last year.
