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YMCA Evening of Impact coming September 10

August 26, 2026 by Tammy Cheek

For the second year, YMCA supporters can make an impact by attending the Evening of Impact Gala.

The event is slated from 6 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 10, at Riverview Family Farm, 12130 Prater Lane.

Money from the event will benefit YMCA of East Tennessee, which includes every quadrant of Knoxville, as well as Blount, Roane, Loudon and Anderson counties, along with the Corryton area.

“It has a wide expanse of support,” said Erin Stidham, executive director of Davis Family YMCA near Farragut.

Tickets currently are on sale for $100 per person, and she said 100% of the proceeds from the Evening of Impact “benefit our annual campaign so we can give back to families, youth, seniors, adults in East Tennessee.”

Tickets are available on the YMCA website at ymcaetn.org/eveningofimpact and will be available up until the day before the event. The deadline to buy tickets is Tuesday,

Sept. 8.

“This year, it is going to be a Roaring ’20s-themed party, where we are celebrating the impact of the YMCA,” Stidham said. “We will be having a swing band that night, so put on your dancing shoes. We will have a fantasy casino event — a mock poker night — delicious food by Copper Cellar and a silent and live auction as well.”

Camino Journal: Part 5

To Santiago de Compostela and beyond

August 26, 2026 by Carlos Reveiz, Correspondent

After 32 days and approximately 472 miles of walking from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port across Spain, our journey to Santiago de Compostela had

finally arrived at its final day—a 13-mile walk from O Pedrouzo to the Santiago de Compostela cathedral.

We had been blessed with mostly sunny skies. But on this final day, the forecast called for rain on and off throughout the entire walk. As Nancy and I went through our normal morning routine —packing our backpacks, taping our feet with Leukotape, covering them with Vaseline and organizing our snacks — we couldn’t help but feel sad. Santiago would be the final destination for two members of our Camino family, Bob from San Diego and Ilona from Holland. Nancy and I planned to continue walking another three days to Finisterre, the coastal village once believed to be the “end of the world,” followed by another day to the coastal village of Muxía. That meant we would soon have to say goodbye to Bob and Ilona.

We had walked with them every single day, every single step, since the beginning of our journey. The bond we developed is difficult to put into words and will be unforgettable for the rest of our lives. Although we had known them for only 32 days, it felt as if we had known them for 32 years. We shared fears, accomplishments, frustrations and joys. We laughed together, encouraged one another and had countless deep conversations about life.

Veterans honored with quilt ceremony

August 26, 2026 by Jake Nichols

Laurie Battles still remembers the bittersweet relief she felt in 1991.

The emotion swirled in her stomach amid the heat of Baton Rouge, where Battles was a 23-year-old graduate student at Louisiana State University.

More than 700 miles away, her brother — the future Dr. Timothy Andrews Crater — stepped off a plane in Kansas City after being deployed for Operation Desert Storm.

Since Battles proved unable to make the trip, she could not express her thanks to her brother in person.

Last month, the Farragut resident got her chance.

On Saturday, July 11, the General William Lenoir Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) — of which Battles is a member — united with the Quilts of Valor Foundation and corporate sponsor CNS Cares to honor several deserving veterans with crafted quilts and a catered breakfast at the War Memorial Building in Lenoir City.

There, Battles and another Farragut member, April McCroskey, expressed appreciation to their own relatives and other veterans for their service.

Crater worked as an artillery observer attached to a tank company, becoming involved in direct combat and reconnaissance missions during a nighttime firefight.

He received the Bronze Star with “V” Device (for valor) in the first Gulf War for heroic service in combat — which was a surprise to his family.