Governor's Square Mall

Several men enter the mall, moving quickly towards the mall office. A suspicious activity call goes out to the police department. The intruders pull weapons from under their clothing. One a pistol another a shotgun. Gunshots ring out sounding unbelievably loud in the confined space. People panic, some hide while others attempt to flee! 35 people are killed or injured. Several minutes later the police start to arrive. After organizing they enter the mall as a mass with guns drawn. They find a scene of carnage and chaos. The less severely injured, some in shock have started to try to make their way from the mall. Officers order everyone to the floor, they have no way of knowing who is a victim and who may be a perpetrator. Some of the officers are left to manage the survivors while the rest continue their sweep. Bodies are strewn everywhere. Two explosives device are found! The bomb squad is called out. A suspect is located in the mall office. Negotiations begin…

One of the gunmen (in black) shoots a Mall Patron

Over 200 local emergency responders, Gateway Medical Center personnel, and volunteers took part in a full-scale crisis response training exercise at Governor’s Square Mall this morning. The exercise was set up for a scenario involving “Black Friday” at the Mall. This allowed for a unique opportunity for many agencies to interact that don’t operate together on a routine basis. The training exercise was successful in identifying ways to improve procedural and operational methods during a critical incident response.

This multi-agency drill was the first of it’s kind held in Montgomery County, but will most likely not be the last. The Drill involved the particpation of the Clarksville Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and Bomb squad, the Clarksville Fire Department, Governors Square Mall Security, TEMA, The Department of Homeland Security, Montgomery County EMS, First Call Ambulance Service, and the staff of Gateway Medical Center among others. Evaluators from organizations across several different states also participated.

The Exercise was suggested by Governors Square Mall management who loaned their facility to the City and County to serve as the location for the drill.

[Show as slideshow]

123►

This has to be one of the funnest events to watch during the entire festival. The shoreline was packed with people all on hand to cheer on their favorite teams.

Here’s how it went down. The teams were called out and their boats carried down to the courtesy boat dock. Once all boats were in place they were gingerly placed into the water and team members carefully boarded their vessels. Once all three boats were situated at the starting line the horn sounded and the teams feverishly paddled their boats down river towards the McGregor park Boat ramp. The first boat to reach an orange flag placed on the shoreline near the boat ramp was the winner of that heat.

The boats  are raced in individual heats of three boats per run. The following Prizes are awarded

• The Ship Shape Award for the most creative boat design
• The “Cardboard Queen” Award which goes to the prettiest boat in the Regatta
• The Team unity Award for most spirited and most organized team (Looks don’t matter here!)
• The Team Attire Award for the team with the most creative costumes
• The Titanic Award which is awarded on the basis of the most spectacular sinking of the day.

This was in addition to the first, second, and third place awards for each heat. Regatta results are at the bottom of the article below the photo gallery.

The City Council Boat

A can of Whoop Ass

The City council boat featured a catamaran hull, and they brought along a secret weapon a case of whoop ass. Council Members David Allen (Ward 8), Joel Wallace (Ward 9), Bill Summers (Ward 10), and James Lewis (Ward 3) crewed the boat, seeing them off were Councilmembers Geno Grubbs (Ward 7), Candy Johnson (Ward 5), and Deanna McLaughlin (Ward 2).

For the last few years the Parks and Rec Department and the City Council have been swapping out the cardboard City of Clarksville Regatta Trophy. This trophy is exclusively for City Department participants as they are ineligible for the other awards offered in the Regatta. This year, Parks and Rec Department took the Titanic award because as Kevin said during the awards, “We get the award because we had the only boat that sank, and the plaque is dated so he had to get rid of it.” Better luck next year!

Missy Graham looks on as the Parks and Rec crew is fished out of the water

The Clarksville PD boat

The Police Department’s boat was crafted into the form of a giant beaver and was named Leave it to Beaver. The crew members including Chief of Police Al Ansley all wore beaver 100.3FM t-shirts.

Other organizations that raced included Clarksville High School, The Riverview Inn, Clarksville Highs Junior Civitan Club, The Kennedy law firm and their boat the Legal Eagle, the Hilldale Kiwanis Club, the Clarksville Fire Department Explorer Troop, the energetic Paco’s Taco, The Actus team represented Fort Campbell which took home several awards. There were too many teams to recognize them all here but they all did a great job on their boats, showed great sportsmanship during the races, and hopefully everyone had a really great time!

The Kennedy Law firm boat Legal Eagle

Following the Regatta the rest of the days’ entertainment beckoned.

The inflatables

As you walked from the Regatta towards the performance stages you passed through the kids area with its multitude of inflatables. Early in the day there was almost no lines, but by evening time you had to spend a bit of time waiting in line at each of them. There were tables and bleachers provided to allow the worn out parents to relax, as their children enjoyed the activities.

Around inflatables’ area you found other things for the kids to enjoy. A booth offering caricatures, another Airbrush tattoos. Booths offered many free games some with prizes for the kids. Then of course always a crowd favorite is the petting zoo, and pony rides.

Katherine Kolodzie and the Roxy Theatre booth

The Roxy Regional Theatre was on hand in the children’s area and ably represented by its new Director of Public Relations & Development Katherine Kolodzie, who told Parents about the Theatre, the shows suitable for young people, and their “School of the Arts”, and in the process she raised awareness about this fount of culture in our community. Some of the great Children’s shows that the Roxy has put on include “A year with Frog and Toad”, “Seussical the Musical”, “Cats”, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”, and they will soon be showing the hilarious “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” starting on September 18th. The show features six young people competing in a spelling bee, with parents who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, in the process the children learn that winning isn’t everything, and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.

Now we move on to the River of Culture!

Clarksville Family Magazine sat on the border of Toddler town and the River of Culture, and this was quite fitting. They introduced and sponsor the Toddler Town area which provides age appropriate activities for the younger children. Clarksville Family Magazine has left their mark on the yearly Riverfest Festival, and that deserves special recognition! Their high quality magazine is aimed at parents and families, and the businesses which want to reach them. Clarksville Family Magazine is published by Carla & and Cliff Lavergne. They started publication in April of 2007, and currently publish and distribute 10,000 issues a month, which are available free of charge at various locations around Clarksville. If you are interested in advertising with them you can contact Rachel Phillips at (931) 216-5102.

Riverfest is fast becoming the place to highlight the diverse mix of cultures that make up our community, and to allow the attendees to discover first hand the benefits that our city gains from them. This amazing diversity brings new ideas, new talents, new visions, and perhaps best of all new foods to try into our city. Toreros Fine Mexican Foods gave Riverfest visitors free samples of Churros, a tasty pastry item that originated in Spain. This dish is popular in Mexico, and is becoming popular in the United States. The pastry is fried into long ribbons and frequently topped with a light dusting of sugar and cinnamon.

The colorful Ballet Folklorico Viva Panama dancers

Clarksville Online has frequently identified the colorful Ballet Folklorico Viva Panama dancers as area favorites, and they didn’t disappoint at Riverfest. Joining them in that very selective favorites list are the Jezzebellies with their lithe and exotic dances, and the Hui Hawaii O Tenesi Hawaiian Civic Club with their graceful hulas.

Chris Monhollen

After a bit of midday break, We returned to the Festival in time to catch the Beaver’s Country Idol competition. Featuring 17 very talented local singers, the competition had the crowd singing along to the tunes, dancing in the aisles, and all in all having a great time. Chris Monhollen ended up taking home the $1000 dollar prize for the 2009 Beaver Country Idol contest.

The Beaver broadcasts with 100,000 watts at 100.3 on the FM dial, and features some of the best in country music. They are part of the 5 Star Radio Group which also operates Q108 107.9FM, The Eagle 94.3FM, Everything that Rocks Z97.5 FM, & The Fan 540 AM.

After the Beaver Country Idol Contest was over, it seemed as if time began moving twice as fast.

Clarksville Online was fortunate to attend a meet and greet for the headlining performers for the evening, The Trailer Choir , and Jack Ingram. Both of whom graciously allowed us to take the photos used in this story.

The Trailer Choir

Clarksville Mayor Johnny Piper with Country Singer Jack Ingram

Following that we made our way back through the River of Culture catching the start of the Hui Hawaii O Tenesi Hawaiian Civic Club’s last performance of the evening. As time was growing short we could not stay long, but grabbed a couple of quick shots. We were also lucky to run into some of the Ballet Folklorico Viva Panama dancers, and got a great picture of them as well.

The Pistols

We made it back to the Budweiser stage just before the end of the Pistols performance so we were able to catch a couple minutes of their show before heading on up to the Gateway stage to catch a bit of the Atmoic Blonde performance. They were tearing that stage up, and had the audience all the way up to the front edge of the stage, forming what was to all extents a mosh pit. It was nice to see an audience so engaged in the performance.

We returned to the Budweiser Stage and caught the introduction of The Trailer Choir by Fletch and Bailey from the Beaver 100.3 FM. On the Trailer Choir let me say this, you have to see that big man strut his stuff on the stage. The group mixed humor along with down home country jams. One of their songs facetiously invited the audience to head on down to the Waffle House with them after the performance.

The Trailer Choir performing

After listening to their couple of songs, we headed down to the Gateway stage and caught the first act in the Step Exhibition. Step is a form of dance where teams of dancers directly compete with each other each group trying to out perform the other.

As flash photography and video were not permitted of the headlining acts after 8:00pm we headed back to the Budweiser stage and was able to catch the lighted boat parade before heading out for the evening.

Many of the groups that performed during the 2009 Riverfest have music that is available online or on services such as Amazon’s Mp3 Store or iTunes, You can personally say thank you for coming to Clarksville and performing at Riverfest, by buying some of their songs. We have already purchased Off the Hillbilly Hook by the Trailer Choir on iTunes, and are looking forward to purchasing a couple of Jack Ingram albums in the next day or so as well!

Photo Gallery

The pictures from Saturday start on Page 2 of the gallery

[Show as slideshow]

1234...121314►

Regatta Results

The annual Riverfest Festival recognizes the role  the two rivers passing through the heart of our town have played in the heritage of our city. At its heart the City of Clarksville will always be a river town, our lives affected by their timeless ebb and flow. One of the greatest things about Riverfest is how it draws us together, all walks of life intermingling,  and for a that moment at least we are one people.

The final day of Riverfest will be jammed packed with things to see and do, so come early, and bring the whole family to join in this amazing celebration of our culture and heritage!

Riverfest Friday evening

For a complete list of activities see the schedule of events

Remembering September  11th 2001

At 5:00 pm it seemed as if the entire City of Clarksville paused for a moment to remember those who lost their lives on September 11th 2001. The City Honor Guard came on stage, made up of Police, Fire and Rescue, and members of the Sheriff’s Department. They carried two extra flags on this day, one each to honor the NYC Police and Fire Departments.

As the colors were presented, the 101st Airborne Division band kicked off with the Star Spangled Banner. As the last notes of the National Anthem sounded. Councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin began her heartfelt remembrance of that terrible day eight years ago. She continued by narrating a time line of the events that day, listing the number of casualties as each plane crashed, and as each building came tumbling down. She spoke of her certainty that our Country would be swift to take vengeance for the attacks, and how she knew that it would most likely involve her husband, a serving soldier in the U.S. Army. The crowd listened in respectful silence.

After Councilwoman McLaughlin concluded her remarks, the Fire Department’s Chaplin called for the crowd to pray. A prayer is a staple at city events, and today it  sought the blessings of God for those died securing the freedom our country enjoys, those who lost family members in the 9/11 attacks, and for our serving soldiers.

The prayer was followed by the sharp crack gunfire which echoed repeatedly between the banks of the Cumberland River,  as each of the three volleys in the twenty-one gun salute was fired. Soldiers, First responders, and ex-military members saluted as the crowd stood with hands reverently held over their hearts. Some members of the audience were moved to tears.

Things  you need to know

Food and drink

Be sure to bring your appetites as the food court features something for every one. Ranging from crispy golden funnel cakes to the biggest turkey drumsticks you have ever seen. Tickets for food and drinks are $1 each, and be sure to bring cash to purchase them with, cash is not accepted directly by the food vendors.

Parking

Parking is available at the Austin Peay State University, Dunn Center parking lot with free transportation down to the festival. Some Riverside Drive businesses may allow parking as well. Be sure to park only where you have been directly authorized to ensure your vehicle is still there when you return!

What is there to see and do

The River of Culture

Our local culture benefits from the people from all over our nation and the world that Fort Campbell to the North, and Austin Peay State University in the heart of our Historic Downtown area, brings in to our city, and is clearly reflected in groups showing their stuff in the River of Culture where you can find everything from demonstrations of the various Martial arts; to the exotic Ballet Folklorico Viva Panama, and will also feature the lithe gyrations of the Jezzebellies Dance Troupe, and the graceful Hui Hawaii O Tenesi Hawaiian Civic Club. In addition to their more exotic forms of dancing, local dance groups are also performing throughout the day if that is more suited to your tastes.

The Budweiser Stage

The Budweiser stage featured more mass appeal type acts including Highway 105, Mike Broward-Buffet, Chain Reaction, and American Floyd. Tommorow the stage will open with acts which will delight the younger members of the audience starting with a Magic show, followed the Nashville Zoo, and finishing up with Wake boarding for the teens. The Musical performances for the adults kick off at 1:15 pm with Sterling Heights, Dusty Mahan, and Stephanie Corbin.

The musicians will take a break starting at 4:30 pm for a contest which will feature local talent who will be trying their best to show the audience that they have what it takes to be the Beaver Country Idol! The contest is sponsored by the Beaver 100.3FM and Draughons Junior College. To show your support you are encouraged to make signs showing your support, and be sure to cheer as loud as you can for your favorite contestant.

The musical performances continue at 6:30 pm with The Pistols, followed by the hilarious Trailer Choir, and the Budweiser Stage closes out the night with the exceptional talent of Jack Ingram who was the winner of the the 2008 Academy of Country Music award for “Best New Male Vocalist

The Gateway Stage

The Gateway Stage has been set aside primarily for religious acts, though on Saturday morning many of the local dance studios will be holding performing there. In addition to the dance performances at 1:00 pm the Gateway to Stardom talent competition will be held, followed by a Stepping competition from 3:00 pm till 4:00 pm.

Friday night featured the headlining Christian band Rush of Fools, along with performances by G Man, Jamie Worley, Xample Praise, and August Christopher. Tomorrow the music resumes at 4:15 pm, with Keisha Williams, Alfonz, Renay Ross, Atomic Blonde, Five Minus One, Stan Lassiter, and closing out the evening with the blues performed by Stacey Mitchart.

The Kids Zone

The Kids’ Zone is back this year and is packed with fun for the kids to enjoy. Visit Toddler Town, the area set aside just for the pint size visitors to Riverfest. The “bigger kids” can enjoy themselves too with inflatables for teens and adults.

Photos the 2009 Riverfest

This gallery has been updated to include photos from both Friday & Saturday night

[Show as slideshow]

1234...121314►

Street Department crew works to clear debris from College Street

In downtown Clarksville, Street Department crews in wet weather gear worked to clear a fallen tree from College Street even as winds continued to howl and rip roofing shingles off the “Biscuit Company” building. Throughout the downtown area smaller branches were riding the winds, and traffic lights and street signs were battered and bent. In some areas, roofing shingles were fluttering like flags and being ripped from rooftops. Several globes on some of the city’s ornate street lamps off College Street were shattered. A stockade fence was partially blown down.  At the Goble Law Firm,  awnings on both sides of the building were shredded.

"What's left of a neighbor's carport"

Residents at Vanleer and Ford Streets heard a deep, rumbling roar of wind and a solid thump, followed by a second road and thump: a quick check revealed a neighbor’s carport upended by wind and deposited over power lines, a fence and clotheslines.  Police, power crews and the fire department responded to that call, along with many others over the course of the afternoon.

“I was on the phone, and I heard a roar and crash. I told my caller “I think the roof is coming apart.” I was partly right — it was the neighbor’s carport roof landing in my yard.”

Several lampposts are missing globes after the storm

According to the National Weather Service In Nashville, a long thin line of storms which stretched from Indiana to the Gulf states, a narrow band with a big punch. The NWS issued a high wind warning as forecast with the expectation of sustained winds of up to 35 miles per hour and gusts to 57 mph. In fact, wind gusts of as much as 72 mph were officially  reported across the north Middle Tennessee area. Just before 11 a.m., the sirens at Fort Campbell and across the city rang out with a severe thunderstorm warning. Within 20 minutes, torrential rain swept across the city, departing as quickly as they arrived but leaving a swath of damage behind. As predicted, an afternoon of high winds followed. To the north and east of Montgomery County, tornado watches were in place during the afternoon.

One police officer reported a traffic light on Madison Street blown from its mooring. A downed tree lib effectively barricaded a driveway at 423 Madison Street. At Madison and the 41A bypass, traffic lights were damaged and power was out at the K-Mart/Food Lion Plaza and at several neighboring businesses at the height of rush hour. Three police officers pulled traffic duty to keep the flow of cars moving through that area at peak time.

Power crews continue to work at restoring power t0 homes and businesses.

[Show as slideshow]

12►

In what became a marathon of persistence, a termination appeal hearing was conducted at the Clarksville Human Resource Department’s meeting room. The hearing was for Clarksville Fire Dept. Engineer Steve Sherlock in his quest to continue his service with the city’s fire department.

The hearing panel consisted of City Councilman Geno Grubbs, Sharon Hurst [CPD employee], and City Councilman Richard Swift. The hearing was conducted under a rotating police presence.

For over seven hours, the career of CFD engineer Steve Sherlock’s future with the fire department was up for review. During the tedious ordeal, testimony was given that reflected on past city government policies and practices which affected the ability and practice of city employees doing business with the city.

The debate went back to the early days of Mayor Piper’s first administration and the transition to Don Trotter’s return to the mayor’s office. There was tense debate and objections between the attorneys representing both sides. Political intrigue was even made mention as a motivation for the termination action and pursuit.

Engineer Steve Sherlock was appealing his termination from the Fire Department over a charge of violating the city’s Ethics Policy by doing business with the city in a window tinting project at the Waste Water Treatment Plant on January 24, this year. Sherlock was represented by Attorney Peter Napolitano and City Attorney Tim Harvey made the city’s case. Chief Roberts was the termination recommendation authority.

The two attorneys were dedicated to their arguments and sought to convince the review panel to rule in their favor. Harvey insisted the panel should only review whether the mandated protocols were followed and thus sustain the termination action. Napolitano argued that the case was more complicated because the charge itself was fallacious and without foundation. He cited points from the city’s own ethics policy, state law and national labor practice laws which directly contradict the actions being attempted against Mr. Sherlock. Thus the stage was set for a day of argument and revelations.

Fire Department Chief Michael Roberts initiated a ethics policy violation investigation after he was informed of the apparent policy violation by the city’s finance office. The crux of the charge is that on January 24, this year, a window tinting project at the Waste Water Treatment Plant project was performed by Sherlock’s company, S&S Auto Glass.

Upon presentation of an invoice for payment, it was determined that although S&S Auto was a certified city vendor, the company was owned by a city employee, that being Steve Sherlock, and thus was ineligible. The invoice was rejected because of this conflict and the project’s billing remains unpaid to date.

Testimony revealed that S & S Auto did not solicit nor perform the window tinting work. That was done by 113 Custom Glass, a separate company owned by Darren Lamont “Boxhead” Smith. Smith and Sherlock have a reciprocal referral relationship between the two businesses. There is no monetary exchange but they do refer work to each other as a courtesy based on friendship. Sherlock referred an initial inquiry from the waster water treatment facility for the tint work to 113 Custom, whose employees actually performed the work. Upon presentation of an invoice for this work, a series of missteps resulted in a perceived ethics policy violation.

However as testimony progressed it became evident that administrative missteps, along with a misguided attempt to assist a business associate, were the true culprits. It was also revealed that a high ranking fire department official has quite possibly violated this same ethics policy by doing business with the city whereby he received financial gain.

Vigorous challenges and arguments between the attorneys kept the proceedings lively and insightful to the casual observer. Eleven witnesses were called in all, coming from the fire department, city finance and purchasing office, waste water treatment facility, S&S Auto Glass and 113 Custom Glass. Discussion and debate over the city’s various ethics and conflict of interest policies and political rhythms of opposing administrations were all called into play during the testimony phase of the hearing.

Following the closing arguments by the attorneys, the panel declared its opinions and the end result was that the termination was not sustained. The hearing’s results will be formalized and submitted to the Mayor’s Office. Mayor Piper will then review the results and can either accept or reject the panel’s decision or impose some other punitive measures.

Within a minutes of finding a possible biological threat, the Police Department had locked it doors, effectively isolating everyone potentially exposed to the threat and quarantining the threat itself. Fire Department crews and a broad range of emergency management personnel arrived with all the bells and whistles, cordoning off streets, and calling in support from Fort Campbell’s HazMat team. Everyone had a job to do, and did it well, and that job, which began with containment and the establishment of a perimeter, also included some down time just waiting for the analysis of the substance to be completed.

Just a few months ago, these crews and other agencies in the area including the American Red Cross practiced two mass casualty drills over two days in north Clarksville, one a response to an F-5 tornado, the other a bio-hazard (in that case, a simulated “dirty bomb”) event. Both exercises were deemed “highly successful” and gave EMS workers the opportunity to coordinate and fine tune their response to disaster.

Given today’s political climate and the potential for terrorism, such training is critical. EMS also factors in the logistics of other potential disasters: possible failure of Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky, a seismic event on the New Madrid Fault Line, tornadoes, fires, and a host of natural disasters. Preparedness in many cases is the key to safety and survival.

As Fire and EMS crews converged on the police station Monday, each department performed its function: the lockdown was immediate, roadblocks were set up, a decontamination tent erected, ambulance and medical personnel on scene, bio-hazard specialists on site … efficient, effective and impressive response.

Fortunately, the substance brought to the police station was in fact a non-toxic “Fowl Pox.” Within five hours the station was cleared and re-opened, and those initially quarantined were released.

If there was a benefit to the evening, it was the visible success of the emergency response, the evidence that “practice makes perfect.”