Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Platform Biographies, 2015

Transcription

1 Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Platform Biographies, 2015 (Arranged alphabetically by last name of person or first name of group) Brooke Ballenger, Lecturer, Week 1. MISSIONARY FUND. Brooke Ballenger grew up spending part of her summer each year at the Assembly with her parents, Peter and Barbara Ballenger, her sister Maury, and her grandmother, Jane Maury. Brooke is from Memphis and graduated from the University of Missouri- Columbia in 1991 with a degree in Agricultural Journalism. She also attended Stephens College and completed the requirements for a degree in Equestrian Science. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership from the University of Memphis. Brooke was on full-time staff with The Navigators from 1993 to 2002, and has been on associate staff since that time. She worked as a team coordinator and Bible study leader in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the Navigators' student ministry from 1992 to She also is a founder of Camp Babochka, a Christian camp for disabled children based in St. Petersburg. She currently serves on the camp's board. Brooke has been teaching Russian at Central High School and Bellevue Middle School in Memphis since In addition, she is currently working with her dog Rimsky to become a certified Therapy Dog. Their goal is to volunteer in local libraries in the Reading Education Assistance Dogs program. Brooke recently completed a two-year term as president of the Nashoba Carriage Association in Germantown, TN, and currently serves on its board. Kim Barrick, Workshop Instructor, Week 5. BRANTLEY SMITH FINE ART FUND. Kim Barrick (b. 1960) is as diverse and complex as the work she creates. The artist deflects labels, challenges authority, and pursues knowledge and skills endlessly. Barrick's art has been described as impressionistic and expressionistic approaching representational, "alive with light and filled with movement," words that could be applied to their creator as well. Never a follower, Barrick s fresh style is a result of focused self-experimentation, exposure to a community of exciting modern outdoor painters and an unquenchable thirst for learning. Recognized in Santa Fean Magazine, June/July 2008 Top Talent article, this award-winning artist and writer, is also a sought after instructor teaching workshops in plein air painting and still life. A native of Colorado and resident of Tennessee, Barrick travels west frequently and maintains homes in both states. Through representation in galleries across the East, South and West, her numerous artworks are now held in private and corporate collections throughout the US and Europe. In 2001 Barrick founded The Chestnut Group, Plein air painters for the land, widely recognized as the premier plein air/conservation art organization. In addition, Barrick was instrumental in establishing Wild About Colorado plein air festival supporting The Continental Divide Land Trust in her native state as well as the Belle Meade Plantation Juried Art Show benefiting that historical treasure. She is a signature member of PAAC Plein Air Artists of Colorado. More information may be found on her website Bazzania Girls Band, Musicians/Performers, Week 8. THE MUSIC FUND. Six versatile and talented girls from the mountain perform under the name Bazzania Girls Band. Their gigs range from cafes to festivals, from picnics to wedding parties, from fundraisers to just plain fun. Some gigs have become annual traditions, such as Trails and Trilliums and the Sewanee Dean s Faculty Christmas Party. Bazzania is the official band of the South Cumberland State Park and performs at the annual picnic of the Friends of the South Cumberland Recreation Area (SCSRA), as well as at the annual conference of the Friends of the TN State Parks. Bazzania is named for a liverwort, a primitive plant that thrives in the Fiery Gizzard. The band had its beginning about a decade ago when botanist and accordionist Mary Priestley put together a motley crew to play for the picnic of the Friends of SCSRA. Performers, including a couple of boys, have come and gone, but Bazzania settled into its current harmonious membership about three years ago. Priestley still plays the accordion. Suzanne Cahoon plays guitar, Jim Ann Howard guitar and spoons, April Minkler bass guitar, Jill Carpenter banjo, and Betty Carpenter autoharp and percussion. All sing, and all have had a hand in composing songs or parodies for special occasions. Within the group are many talents and other careers - writer, journalist, artist, scientist, zookeeper, quilter, nurse, teacher, and computer whiz.

2 Band members bring their musical favorites to the group, and the eclectic mix of Bazzania songs country, blues, folk, tin pan alley, swing, movie tunes, Celtic, Cajun, Beatles, doo-wop is the appealing result. They all agree that music makes them feel good, and it will make you feel good, too. Bazzania's proceeds beyond equipment and publicity expenses are donated to the Friends of SCSRA. Proceeds from their recently released CD, Bazzania Girls Band, go to support South Cumberland State Park. Bob Bernhardt, Lecturer, Week 8. BATES BLACKWOOD FUND. Music Director Emeritus and Principal Pops Conductor, Bob Bernhardt, formerly served as Music Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera for 19 seasons. He was the second Music Director in the combined company s history, and is its first with the title Emeritus. A lover of all genres of music, he is equally at home in symphonic, operatic, pops and educational performances. Concurrently, Bob is in his 18 th year as Principal Pops Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, in his 33 rd consecutive season with the company, and is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University and conductor of the Lee Symphony. Bernhardt recently made his conducting debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony and Las Vegas Philharmonic, all of which resulted in return engagements. He has been a frequent guest conductor of the Boston Pops for over twenty years (where he made his debut in 1992 at John Williams invitation), and is returning to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for the ninth consecutive year as conductor of their Symphony Under the Sky Festival and as a guest on several of their subscription series. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1978, and has recorded for Vanguard, First Edition, Carlton Classics and RPO record labels. A lover of opera, he has conducted staged productions of Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Bohème, Il Trovatore, The Flying Dutchman, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Carmen, Tosca, The Barber of Seville, Susannah, Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor, Die Fledermaus, Madama Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana, Faust, Fidelio, Turandot, Pagliacci, Cosi Fan Tutte, Hansel and Gretel, Elixir of Love, Albert Herring, The Turn of the Screw, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Orfeo ed Euridice, numerous Gilbert & Sullivan operettas and the musical My Fair Lady. In addition to his work with the CSO, he has conducted the Opera Companies of Nashville and Birmingham. He has also conducted the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet and the Lonestar Ballet. Born in Rochester, NY, Robert Bernhardt holds a Master s Degree with Honors from the University of Southern California School of Music where he studied with Daniel Lewis. He was a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Union (NY) College, where he was an Academic All-American Baseball Player, and captain of the school s soccer team. His children, Alex and Charlotte, live in Seattle. He and his wife, Nora, live on Signal Mountain. John Bordley, Performer, Week 4. FOLK FAMILY FUND. John Bordley retired in 2011 from The University of the South, having taught chemistry at Sewanee for forty-one years. He has played the carillon at Sewanee since 2001 and was named university carillonneur in April He passed the examination to become a Carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) in While on sabbatical leave during the school year he was a fulltime student at the Royal Carillon School Jef Denyn in Mechelen, Belgium, receiving a certificate with distinction. He is the editor of the guild s Bulletin. Lee Boynton, Workshop Instructor, Week 3. JOHN GADDIS WATERCOLOR FUND Light has color and the color of light changes hourly throughout the course of the day, and also through the seasons of the year. Lee Boynton has been teaching his students to see the light for over 30 years. He is passionate about stewarding the artistic legacy first established and developed by Claude Monet, the father of Impressionism. Lee paints in both the oil and watercolor mediums. Intrigued with how the Impressionist theories of color and light would translate from oil to watercolor, a medium with a more translucent quality, Lee pioneered effective techniques for capturing the subtle effects of light with watercolor. He co-authored Painting the Impressionist Watercolor with one of his longtime watercolor students. For more about Lee you are welcome to visit his website: Jerry Bull, Workshop Instructor, Week 8. ROBERTS-MANEY FUND & HOWORTH SHANDS FUND.

3 Since his 2002 retirement from a career in Management Information Systems, Jerry Bull has been dedicated to formal bridge. He earned ACBL Life Master status in 2003, and was certified as a Bridge Director in After three years of directing at the Vanderbilt Bridge Club, he recently marked his tenth year as Director of the Brentwood Country Club sanctioned bridge game, and his fifth year directing the 4 th Tuesday Duplicate Game at Nashville s Centennial Club, where he also teaches every winter in addition to his extensive private lesson foursomes. His enthusiastic style and logical handouts have met a delighted audience at the Monteagle Bridge Week during the past four years! Jerry holds a B.S. in Math from Defiance College (OH) and an M.S. in Administration from George Washington University. He served as a Captain in the US Air Force and is a long-time piano man musician. An avid reader, he is currently Chairman of the Board of both the Williamson County Library System Trustees and the Tennessee Buffalo River Regional Public Library System Trustees. He and wife Carol live in Fairview, TN. Anne Byrn, Workshop Presenter, Week 5. TRABUE FAMILY FUND. Anne Byrn is an award-winning food writer and author of the New York Times bestselling The Cake Mix Doctor, and its sequels Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor, The Dinner Doctor, Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor, What Can I Bring? Cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor Returns, The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free, Unbelievably Gluten- Free, and Anne Byrn Saves the Day. These cookbooks have nearly 4 million copies in print, and USA Today called the first book the bestselling cookbook of Byrn produces her own line of cake mixes, with nothing artificial. Byrn s career began when she was hired by The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. By the end of her 15-year tenure the weekly Food Guide had grown to a 30-page section. It was named the Best Section by the Newspaper Food Editors and Writers Association (now the Association of Food Journalists) in While in Atlanta, Byrn was the newspaper s restaurant critic for three years, hosted a weekly food and restaurant show on WGST-Radio and authored her first book, the popular Cooking in the New South. She received a 6-week advanced certificate from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. She also won the Maria Luigia Duchessa di Parma first-place award for food writing on an Italian subject. In addition, Byrn was the food writer for Art Culinaire, a hardback quarterly publication. In 1993 Byrn moved to England for a year where she wrote freelance articles on food and travel. She moved to Nashville in a homecoming since Byrn is a Nashville native and a fifth-generation Tennessean. For several years, she was the food writer for The Tennessean where Byrn wrote the story on how to doctor cake mixes that generated such tremendous reader interest that she developed it into The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook. Byrn, a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, received the university s Emily Quinn Pou Professional Achievement Award in Byrn has been featured in People magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Southern Living, Publishers Weekly, and many other publications. She has appeared on Good Morning America, Later Today, CNN, The Food Network and QVC. And she has taught cooking classes across the country Shelley Cammack, Workshop Presenter, Week 7. WILLIAM TRABUE FAMILY FUND. Shelley Cammack lives on the domain of The University of the South, Sewanee, TN with her husband, Ward, and their youngest daughter of five, Wardie, age 13. She began making ice cream for fun in 2013 after purchasing her first electric ice cream freezer. As she experimented with various flavors and recipes, she came to love her new hobby. Soon after she shared her ice cream with anyone who would try it including maintenance workers and her women s groups. Her homemade, small batch, artisanal, ice cream was such a hit that she began getting orders for Thanksgiving dinners from her friends and neighbors. Suddenly she had a small business going out of her kitchen that now has upward of 100 customers. Shelley is a native of Nashville, TN and has both an undergraduate degree C 81 and an MBA C 88 from Vanderbilt. Anita Camarella & Davide Facchini Duo, Performers, Week 6. The original and beautiful Italian Swing conquers all generations! This talented couple has dedicated their music to the rediscovery of the Swing Era with a modern and unique Italian style. Anita Camarella and Davide Facchini boast of many years of concert activity that involves them in prestigious festivals and exhibitions in Italy,

4 Europe, United State, and Russia, in order to share and be the evidence of this big cultural part of Italian History. Their latest CD "La Famiglia Canterina" was honored with the "Lady Lake Indie Music Awards Best Album 2013 USA. They have performed in some of the most renowned concert halls, alongside some of the most famous artists on the international musical scene (Tommy Emmanuel, Stephen Bennett, Muriel Anderson, Frank Vignola, Carl Verheyen, and many others...). Radio Stations of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Tunisia, Portugal, France, Hungary, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Italy have broadcasted their music. Steve Carroll, Performer, Week 3. BARNES FUND and KEEBLE-EWING FUND. Steve Carroll was an original member of The Meat and Potatoes Company in New York City, where he appeared in a wide variety of Off-Broadway productions ranging from the plays of William Shakespeare and Jean Cocteau to William Inge and Jean Genet. Since 1977, he has worked extensively in theatre, commercials, films and daytime dramas. You may have spotted him as Dr. Matt Rawlins on ABC- TV's One Life To Live. In 2011, Mr. Carroll played a featured role in a new film called Beautiful Noise, which received an unprecedented six sold out screenings at the Sarasota Film Festival. The film is now touring the festival circuit as its producers seek national distribution. In 1998, he was called to China to portray U.S. State Department head John Carter Vincent in a 30-part series for Chinese television called A War of China's Fate. The series examined the birth of The People s Republic, which aired in 1999 and became a national sensation in China. It was there, during a break in shooting, the genesis for Charles Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle came at the suggestion of fellow actor Bob Brown, who performs his own one-man show on the life of Benedict Arnold. In June of 2001 Mr. Carroll first produced and performed Charles Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle, at New Jersey Repertory Company. It earned the endorsement of Reeve Lindbergh, president of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, who saw a command performance of the play the following year in Garden City, N.Y. at the 75th anniversary celebration of her father's famous flight to Paris. Since then, Mr. Carroll has toured the show to professional theaters, colleges, high schools, historical societies, senior centers, museums, libraries, country clubs, and aviation groups all around the country. Donna Carty, Lecturer/Workshop Facilitator, Week 5. ARMISTEAD NELSON HISTORY LECTURE FUND. Donna Carty was born and raised in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, where she learned to love reading and learning and, eventually, translating what she learned into everyday language. She considers being allowed to work on the transcripts of the handwritten letters of the Founding Fathers the job of a lifetime. Her blog about the stories she finds in the letters is storiesofthefoundingfathersletters.wordpress.com. The Reverend McKay Caston, Guest Minister, Week 2. Originally from Memphis, TN, Dr. McKay Caston completed his high school education in Jackson, MS, before receiving a B.A. in History and Literature at the University of Mississippi. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Covenant Seminary, where he earned both masters and doctorate degrees. Having served as an ordained teaching pastor for twenty years, he presently is the Church Planting Pastor for Preaching and Leadership for Creekstone Church (PCA) in Dahlonega, GA, a college town in the Blue Ridge Mountains just north of Atlanta. McKay and his wife, Kristy, have three children, Ann Ferris (19), Schaeffer (17) and Sarah Wynn (11), who are fifth generation Assembly attendees. McKay is an avid trail runner, photographer, and writer who, in addition to running an ultra-marathon, has published several books, including The Bronze Serpent and The A+ for the F and A Bridge Over Troubled Water, and blog at Follow him on Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Performers, Week 2. BATES BLACKWOOD FUND. The mission of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera is to inspire, engage, and enrich the greater Chattanooga community through music and music education. As the city s only fully professional performing arts organization, the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera (CSO) has been and continues to be an instrumental part of the community by providing a superlative orchestra that enhances the region s quality of life and economic vitality. The CSO, conducted by Music Director Kayoko Dan, employs over 190 musicians from the Chattanooga area as well as from across the southern region who are experienced performers and

5 quality educators. The CSO performs a full season of Masterworks, Pops, Chamber, and Volkswagen Series concerts from September through May, as well as a variety of community, education and engagement events throughout the year. Annually, through main-stage, education, and community engagement, the CSO reaches over 100,000 people. The String and Wind Quintets of the CSO are composed of principal members from the orchestra. The CSO quintets regularly perform in over 60 schools annually for over 20,000 students and perform in a variety of other community locations including libraries, hospitals, public parks, community centers, and Chattanooga businesses. Recently, the quintets have also been engaged to perform regular series performances at the Creative Discovery Museum (PopTots Series) and Warehouse Row (Warehouse Row Series). The musicians of the quintets are some of the finest musicians in the area, performing and teaching regularly throughout the community. For individual biographies, please visit the Musicians page at Priscilla Condon, Lecturer/Workshop Presenter, Week 1, DAVIS FAMILY FUND. As a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Master Nutritionist, Priscilla Condon is the owner of Path to Wellness in Foley, Alabama. In 1998, she started the first school-based health clinic in Alabama, which was located in a low-income school in Huntsville. After 20 years as a Nurse Practitioner, she went back to school to earn a Master s degree in nutrition and began a new career as a nutritional consultant focusing on the mind body connection. She received her Master of Nursing degree at Vanderbilt University where she later served on the nursing school faculty. She is a member of Church of the Advent in Lillian, Alabama where she is an EFM mentor and a vestry member. She serves as a member of the health faculty for CREDO, a wellness program for Episcopal priests and deacons and is active in several community projects including The Refuge for Women, which is a residential program for women seeking freedom from addictions. She has three daughters, three grandsons and loves kayaking and fishing. Al Cox, Lecturer, Week 7, PHILLIPS HISTORIC DISTRICT FUND. Al Cox was principal in an award winning architecture practice in Texas, was Executive Director of the Dallas Historic Preservation League and served on the Dallas Landmarks Commission. He has worked as a City Architect for Alexandria, Virginia since 1991 and now staffs the two local historic district Boards of Architectural Review as Historic Preservation Manager for the Planning Department. Al is a past President of the American Institute of Architects Northern Virginia Chapter, was presented the state AIA's Award for Preservation in 2002 and was elected to the AIA College of Fellows in Al and his wife have lived in a historic townhome in Old Town, Alexandria for over 20 years -- which he seemingly spends all of his free time scraping and painting. Linda Crouch-McCreadie, Workshop Instructor, Week 2, WILLIAM TRABUE FAMILY FUND. Linda Crouch-McCreadie is the co-owner of Tennessee Quilts, located in historic Jonesborough, Tennessee s oldest town. Linda has been quilting since 1988 when she took a quilting class and became addicted. Her addiction resulted in the purchase of an existing quilt shop in Jonesborough in The shop currently is home to over 8,000 bolts of fabric and is a Judy Niemeyer Certified Shop. It was also named as a featured shop in the American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine in Linda has produced a number of award winning quilts. Two of the quilts she quilted for hire have been juried into and exhibited at the American Quilter s Society show in Paducah, Kentucky. In a former life, Linda was a teacher and a lawyer. She is happiest now that she can spend all of her time with quilting related projects. Cruel Shoes, Performers, Week 3. CROSS FAMILY FUND. Based in Nashville, TN, Cruel Shoes is a rock 'n roll cover band that has performed for numerous past Assembly dances. The band is fronted by longtime Monteagle friend Clark Hudgins who along with band mates Brooks Odom, David Horn and Kelly Phillips and newest member Wanda Sheppard have been making music together since Cruel Shoes draws from a diverse collection of cover music from the heyday of classic rock through contemporary hits to blues & R&B. Virginia Donelson Curry, Workshop Instructor, Weeks 6 & 8. MARTHA BILLINGTON TRABUE FUND. Virginia Donelson Curry, native Memphian and life-long Assembly supporter, is the Lausanne Collegiate School s Lower School Art Educator who transmits the passion of creativity and enthusiasm for beauty to her students. After graduating from St. Mary s Episcopal School, she attended Hollins College in

6 Roanoke, VA. She is an active member in several national and state professional art associations, and in 2008 she spoke at the National Art Educators Association convention in New Orleans. In 2013, she spoke at the Tennessee Art Educators Association Convention on Clay in the Elementary classroom. After working in the printing industry for 15 years, she changed careers to her happiest years, now as a teacher of children and adults. David Currey, Lecturer, Week 7. AUSTIN FUND. David Currey, principal at Encore Interpretive Design in Nashville, has been both a consultant and museum director in the public history field for over eighteen years. He holds a B.A. in Film Production from Southern Illinois University and a Master s in Public History from MTSU. He works mostly with museums, historical societies, government agencies, and preservation organizations on projects that include facility design, interpretive and visitor experience planning, exhibit design, documentary production, digital, and interactive media. Two of his latest projects include a one-hour documentary on Ed Bearss, historian emeritus of the National Park Service, and the design and construction of the new Fort Nashborough Interpretive Center on the banks of the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. He has also produced documentaries on the Battle of Nashville, the Battle of Parker s Crossroads, and a short film for the Tennessee State Museum s travelling exhibit on the Civil War in Tennessee. His exhibit on Tennessee native and World War One medal-of-honor winner Sergeant Alvin York is currently travelling the state. David is Board Chair for the Tennessee Preservation Trust, serves on the advisory committee for Ft. Negley a site he produced the interpretive media for, and is in the early planning stages for a documentary on the history of vinyl records. In his spare time he eats and tries to get some sleep. Betsy Davison, Lecturer, Week 6. FITZGERALD FUND. Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Davison is an independent decorative arts scholar. She is a 2004 graduate of the MESDA Summer Institute. After graduating from Parsons The New School for Design, New York City and the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. program with a M.A. in the History of Decorative Arts and Design (2008), Ms. Davison guest-curated the exhibit A True North Britain: The Furniture of John Shearer, which ran at the Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) Museum in Washington, D.C., October 2010-March 2011 followed by the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, April 2011-March The exhibit and its accompanying book, The Furniture of John Shearer, : A True North Britain in the Southern Backcountry, were based on her Master s Thesis. Ms. Davison has lectured widely on Shearer in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Scotland. She recently completed an article for the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts ( entitled Scottish Bedroom Tables from Scotland to the American South which grew out of her research on Shearer. While John Shearer remains a tantalizing presence in her life, she will be speaking on Johannes Spitler, another fascinating craftsman who worked in the early Virginia backcountry, at the next Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum February 20-24, Prior to her work in the decorative arts field, Ms. Davison spent the previous 20 years in the computer field, working for many start-up companies as well as the recognizable companies, Microsoft and AOL. Dean DeBolt, Lecturer, Week 5. ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. Dean DeBolt is University Librarian/University Archivist for the University Archives and West Florida History Center at the John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida, Pensacola. The two million-item collection includes rare books, manuscripts, diaries, photographs, newspapers, family and business papers, and other materials concerning the people and history of the West Florida and the Gulf Coast ( ). Dean is also a Chautauqua Historian, specializing on the history of the Florida Chautauqua ( , DeFuniak Springs), as well as the American Chautauqua movement, and has spoken and taught at the New York Chautauqua, the Lakeside Chautauqua (Ohio), the Monteagle Assembly (Tennessee), and the Andrews Valley Experience (NC). His writings on the Florida Chautuauqua have appeared in the magazine of the Florida Humanities Council and he has served as a Humanities Scholar, lecturing on the Chautauqua movement at libraries and organizations throughout Florida. Dean has an M.A. in History from the University of Illinois (Springfield), a M.L.S. from the University of Illinois (Urbana), and archives and preservation training from Ohio State University and the Ohio Historical Society. Emily Frith, Workshop Instructor, Week 6. Emily Frith has been coming to MSSA every summer since she was 3 years old, and developed a passion for food on the Mountain. She and her husband Jim founded the Corner Market in Nashville in 1988, and started the Corner Market Catering Company in This is the

7 eighth summer that she has provided food for the Assembly at the dining hall, as well as providing catering for lots of people on the mountain, because there is nowhere else in the world she would rather be. Tony Galzin, Workshop Presenter/Guest Chef, Week 3. WILLIAM TRABUE FAMILY FUND. Fifty First Kitchen & Bar executive chef/partner, Tony Galzin, brings more than a decade of diverse culinary experience in Chicago to his first solo project in Nashville, Tennessee. Focusing in on his style of seasonally driven, rustic Italian cuisine, Fifty First Kitchen & Bar showcases Galzin s thoughtful and honest approach to cooking with a house charcuterie program and small plates menu. The Reverend Gary Gibson, Guest Minister, Week 2. Gary Gibson grew up on a dairy farm near Edmonton, Kentucky. He entered the pastoral ministry from Beaumont UMC. He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Psychology and Religious Studies. Gary has a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University. Gary has served a variety of congregations; rural, downtown, and suburban. His congregations include Scottsville Circuit UMC in Scottsville, KY; State Street UMC (Associate) in Bowling Green, Ky; Epiphany UMC in Louisville, KY; Florence First UMC in Florence, KY; and is currently the senior pastor at St. Paul UMC in Louisville, Ky. Gary was ordained an Elder in The United Methodist Church in He has served on various boards and committees for the denomination. He current chairs the Kentucky Annual Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. Gary has also been a speaker at a number of conferences including The Emerging Church for the Existing Church, emerging UMC: a gathering, Ohio Council of Churches Ministries Convocation, and Navigate Conference. He was the preacher for the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly in Gary is married to Tammy who is the choral music teacher at Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts School in Louisville. They have two sons Kyle and Caleb and one grandson Ryder. Gary s hobbies include golf, reading, but mostly being with family. Sandra Gilbert, Instructor/Lecturer, Week 1. ELROD FAMILY FUND. Sandra Gilbert, BA, RYT 500, E- RYT200 is a highly skilled Integral and Therapeutic Yoga teacher and educator with advanced training in Stress Management and other Integrative therapies. Her Yoga journey began as self-care and lifestyle change after years of caretaking family members with cancer and illness. She brought her practices to her mother during her illness and realized it was time to take her passion for Yoga as an integrative healing modality into action for others. Sandra is a senior faculty member for YCat: Yoga Therapy in Cancer and Chronic Illness training and was one of the original Integrative Therapists for the Urban Zen Initiative in NYC. She has taught for Beth Israel Medical Center, Mount Sinai Breast Health Resource Center and at the Ruttenberg Oncology Infusion Center in NYC. She has also taught for Integral Yoga, Chai Lifeline, and The Omega Institute in NY and for the Center for Mind Body Medicine in Washington D.C. Sandra currently teaches in Nashville TN at various locations including Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Yoga Research, HCA, Half Moon Yoga in Franklin, St. Mary s Retreat Center in Sewanee, and for teacher trainings and workshops throughout the United States. She is on the advisory board for Small World Yoga and teaches as a volunteer at Hope Lodge and for Gilda s Club in Nashville. Sandra has a passion for educating and empowering students and other teachers, and creating a safe, compassionate space to explore healing through Yoga. Good Ole Boys Bluegrass Band, Musicians/Performers, Week 4. THE MUSIC FUND. This Monteagle based band has been playing and performing together for more than 25 years, and they are perennial favorites at the MSSA July 4th picnic. Guitarist Billy Terrill, bass player Bobby Lawson and banjo player Ken Malhoit have been part of the group since its inception, joined by Don Hill on fiddle. Bradford Gioia, Lecturer, Week 3. DAVIS FAMILY FUND. Brad Gioia, Headmaster of Montgomery Bell Academy since 1994, is a graduate of the University of the South and former youth staff member of the Assembly where he was Tennis Coach during the 1970s. He is a long-time member of the College Board where he has served as SAT Reader and A.P. Reader English. He has served on various boards including the International Boys Schools Coalition (President ), American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers, Inc., and the Boys and Girls Club of Middle Tennessee. Brad lives in Nashville with his wife Minna and together they have two children Christopher and Gabrielle.

8 Michael Graziano, Filmmaker/Lecturer, Week 6. SAVAGE-ZERFOSS-FRYER FUND. Michael Graziano founded small-r in Prior to small-r Michael was a partner at Uji Films where he helped create original films and commissioned work for a number of clients including CNBC, Al Jazeera, The Tribune Company, WIRED and more. Recently, Michael directed the feature documentary Resistance (2014). Prior to Uji, Michael was a PhD Candidate in film and media studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. The Reverend Keith Gunter, Guest Minister, Week 6. THOMAS MALONE TRABUE III YOUTH WEEK FUND. Keith Gunter is the Associate Pastor for New Church Development at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville. He is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and received his Masters from Columbia Theological Seminary. In his call, he serves as a church planter for New Creation Church in Hendersonville, TN. Keith started the church in his home when he moved to Hendersonville in The church has grown out of his living room and is now in its 3 rd location. Prior to living in Hendersonville, Keith served as the Pastor for Family Ministries at First Presbyterian of Marietta, GA where he led a youth ministry of over 300 students. Currently, his work has kept him very involved in the community including serving as the chaplain for the Hendersonville Rotary and as board member for the Sumner YMCA, the Drug Court Coalition, and with the Community Pastor s Association. Over the years Keith has led retreats and workshops, served as a guest lecturer for Denver Theological Seminary, and worked nationally with new church development initiative in the PC (USA). Keith is married to Amy and has 3 children (Autumn 7, Noah 5, Macy 2). They love being outdoors, taking care of their 3 chickens, and enjoying slow mornings reading books together. Sherry Guyear, Lecturer, Week 3, DAVIS FAMILY FUND. Sherry was born and raised in Grundy, spent 30+ years teaching K-3 grade in the area and is now employed by Discover Together where she brings her passion for children and families to those participating in Discover Together programs. Sherry loves teaching, believes in connecting children and parents to their community, and was recognized last year on Scholastic s blog, On Our Minds as one of 5 inspiring teachers from across the country. The Reverend Dr. Melissa Hartley, Guest Minister, Sewanee-Monteagle Sunday. Melissa Hartley is beginning her fourth year as the Associate University Chaplain at Sewanee: The University of the South. She coordinates the worship planning for All Saints' Chapel and shares in the pastoral care of the University. A 1993 graduate of the college, she holds the following degrees: B.A., University of the South; M.Div., S.T.M., General Theological Seminary; Ph.D. (Liturgical Studies), Drew University. Melissa is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and is an Episcopal priest of the Diocese of Atlanta. Alex Henderson, Lecturer, Week 5, DAVIS FAMILY FUND. Alex Henderson attended Rural Studio as a student of architecture in 2009 and again in In 2012, he graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Architecture. For the past 2 years he has have been working as a studio instructor and on-site construction coordinator for the Rural Studio 3rd year program. Rural Studio is an off-campus design-build program of Auburn University. The program, established in 1993, gives architecture students a more hands-on educational experience whilst assisting an underserved population in West Alabama's Black Belt region. In its initial years, the Studio became known for establishing an ethos of recycling, reusing and remaking. Since 2001, Rural Studio has expanded the scope and complexity of its projects, focusing largely on community-oriented work. The Rural Studio philosophy suggests that everyone, both rich and poor, deserves the benefit of good design. To fulfill this ethic, the Studio has evolved towards more community-oriented projects. Projects have become multi-year, multi-phase efforts traveling across three counties. The students work within the community to define solutions, fundraise, design and, ultimately, build remarkable projects. The Studio continually questions what should be built, rather than what can be built, both for the performance and operation of the projects. To date, Rural Studio has built more than 150 projects and educated more than 600 "Citizen Architects." Denice Hicks, Performer/Workshop Instructor, Week 5. ELIZABETH SPICKARD SCHUMANN FUND and PERFORMING ARTS FUND. Denice Hicks (NSF Executive Artistic Director) has been working for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival since 1990, and has held the position of Artistic Director since She has edited, directed and performed in over 50 Shakespearean productions, and created the Festival s Apprentice Company Training and Shakespeare Allowed! programming. Educated at Point Park University

9 in Pittsburgh, Pa, she has been a professional actor for over 40 years, and was an original company member of Nashville Repertory Theatre. An Ingram Fellowship award winner, she has been a guest lecturer at many universities, and served as a Teaching Artist for the Leonard Bernstein Center, Co-operative Center for Study Abroad and the Folger Shakespeare Library Institute. Robert Hicks, Lecturer, Week 7. WALLACE LECTURE FUND. Named #2 in the most recent listing of the top 100 Reasons to Love Nashville by Nashville Lifestyles magazine, Robert Hicks was described as Nashville s Master of Ceremonies. They went on to say that being a New York Times best-selling author should be enough but not for Robert Hicks, award-winning author of The Widow of the South and A Separate Country. His passion for words is equaled by none for preservation and saving the history-steeped places associated with the Battle of Franklin. Writer, speaker, leader, world-traveler, preservationist one person really can make a difference. Born in South Florida, he moved to Williamson County, Tennessee in 1974 and lives near the Bingham Community at Labor in Vain, his log cabin. Hicks serves as Curator of Vibe for the BB King s Blues Clubs in Memphis, Nashville and Orlando. A lifelong collector, Hicks was the first Tennessean to be listed among Arts & Antiques Top 100 Collectors in America his collection focuses on Outsider Art and Southern Material Culture. He served as curator on the exhibition, Art of Tennessee, at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. He is founding chairman emeritus of Franklin s Charge: A Vision and Campaign for the Preservation of Historic Open Space in the fight to secure and preserve the historic battlefield in Williamson County. In December 2005, the Nashville Tennessean named him Tennessean of the Year for the impact The Widow of the South has had on Tennessee, heritage tourism and preservation. In the October 2014, Robert introduced his Battlefield Bourbon, a very small batch, Tennessee-made, aged and hand-bottled Tennessee bourbon whiskey. With this The Nashville Tennessean added Whiskey Preservationist to his list of titles. He speaks, nation-wide, on a variety of topics ranging from Why The Civil War Matters to The Importance of Fiction in Preserving History to Southern Material Culture to A Model for the Preservation of Historic Open Space for Every Community and a host of other topics. Bobby Horton, Performer, Week 7. ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. Bobby Horton was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. His life long passion for music and history began at an early age. With a trumpet playing father and a banjo-playing grandfather, he was exposed to a varied menu of music from the sound of the big bands, jazz combos and classical to the old time sounds of Southern gospel, sacred harp, and hillbilly music. Most of the men in his young life were World War II veterans, as he listened to their war stories he soon made the connection between these stories and the content of his school history books. When he was nine years old the United States celebrated the Centennial of the Civil War. This celebration brought the Civil War to the forefront of his interest and his love of history became deeply rooted. n 1984, Horton was asked to produce the score for a feature film set in 1863 in Southern Indiana. While researching music from the mid 19th century, he uncovered literally thousands of tunes from that period. Combining his passion for music and Civil War history, he began recording what has now become fourteen volumes of authentic Civil War tunes in his home studio playing all of the period era instruments and singing all the parts himself. This series is sold around the world and has led to a career in film scoring and a live presentation of these songs with the stories that accompany them. Bobby Horton is widely recognized as one of the country s leading authorities of music from the Civil War period. A seasoned performer, Horton is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and music historian. He has performed with the musical- comedy trio Three On a String, throughout the United States and Canada for 40 plus years. He has also produced and performed music scores for sixteen PBS films by Ken Burns - including The Civil War, and Baseball, two films for The A&E network, and twenty-one films for The National Park Service. His series of recordings of authentic period music has been acclaimed by historical organization and publications through America and Europe. Bobby Horton resides in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama with Lynda, his wife of thirty-plus years. They have two adult children, Jonathan and Rachel. The Reverend Thomas Tom Hotchkiss, Guest Minister, Week 7. Tom Hotchkiss was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and attended Vanderbilt University (B.A.), Fuller Theological Seminary (M.A.), and

10 Virginia Theological Seminary (M.Div.). Tom began his ministry on the staff of Young Life, served on the staff of St. John's, Memphis as their Minister to Youth and Young Adults, was ordained in the Diocese of West Tennessee, and then served parishes in Jackson and Humboldt. From , Tom served as Canon for Family Ministries and Fellowship and Chaplain to the Day School at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. From , Tom served as Rector of the Church of the Advent, Nashville, TN. In 2012, Tom moved to Texas and to serve as the Vice-Rector of St. Martin s Episcopal Church, Houston, TX. Recently, Tom moved to Dallas to serve as Vicar on the staff of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and School. Tom and Marcia, married for 29 years, have two sons (26 & 24). Tom is familiar with the Assembly having grown up with Judson Randolph, Jr. as one of his best friends. Also, Tom served as one of the first Youth Ministers for the Malone Trabue, Jr. Youth Ministry Emphasis Week. Tom and Marcia are warm and engaging, and they are very much a team, particularly with regard to their family, spiritual views and commitment to their faith. Favorite Verse: I John 4:19 We love because he first loved us. Judith Humphreys, Worship Musician, Weeks 1-6. Assembly member Judith Humphreys grew up playing organ and piano in her home church, First Baptist in Jasper, AL. She studied at Birmingham Southern College with a major in music and an emphasis in piano. In 1968 she transferred to Peabody in Nashville, where she graduated with major in education and a minor in music, and later earned a master s degree in education. Judith has taught private piano lessons, led and directed children s choirs, accompanied junior high and senior high choirs and adult ensembles for many years and sung under several great choral conductors. She directs the Assembly s Ringers & Singers youth choir (who participate in worship on Wednesday nights and some Sunday mornings) as a devoted volunteer, always striving to challenge the children to grow spiritually and musically. She also serves as the volunteer Worship Music Coordinator/Director and directs the Assembly Chorus and a Men s Group whom contribute to the Sunday Worship services during the Season. She strives to keep alive the traditional Old Fashioned Family Hymn Sings. Come and join us on selected Wednesday nights after Twilight Prayers as we raise our voices in making a joyful noise! The Reverend Charles Foster Johnson, Guest Minister, Week 5. Charles Foster Johnson is the Executive Director of Charles Foster Johnson Ministries, an outreach providing teaching, spiritual care, and leadership to churches, organizations, and pastors. He is founder and pastor of Bread Fellowship, a nontraditional faith community in Fort Worth. He also serves as Spiritual Director of New Horizons Treatment Center for Children. Throughout his thirty-four year pastoral ministry he has served churches in Mississippi, Kentucky and Texas, including Second Baptist Church of Lubbock where he led a complete church relocation, and Trinity Baptist Church of San Antonio where he helped build a multi-cultural and multi-racial community of faith among the 6,000 member congregation. He served interim pastorates with Immanuel Baptist Church of Nashville and Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth, and served a two-year term on the faculty of McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, as Visiting Professor of Preaching. In 2013, he founded Pastors for Texas Children, a statewide ecumenical organization of local pastors and churches partnering with local principals and schools to advocate for quality public education for all children. He is a frequent preacher and speaker in university, church, business, educational, and non-profit circles. He has written for numerous publications, and has made guest appearances on cable network news shows. He is involved in civic and denominational life, including the Mentor Pastor faculty at Perkins School of Theology, SMU and the Board of Trustees of Brite Divinity School, TCU. He was named Baptist of the Year by the Baptist Center for Ethics in He was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in He is married to Jana, has three children, and three grandchildren. He enjoys reading, movies, cooking, backpacking, hunting, and spending time at his ranch in Desdemona, Texas. Gretchen Johnson, Bible Study Facilitator, Weeks 1-8. Assembly member Gretchen Johnson will facilitate this year s Bible Study. The topic will be The Church and Jesus Return. There will be time allotted after each video session for group discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend!

11 Victor Judge, Lecturer, Week 8. ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. Victor Judge serves as the assistant dean for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University Divinity School where he is a lecturer in literature and religion. Among the courses he teaches are A Dialogue Between Two Christian Poets: Emily Dickinson and Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.; Religious Questions in the Canon of Albert Camus; Reading William Faulkner as a Literary Theologian; Writing Creatively About Religion; and the Incarnational Art of Flannery O Connor. He also serves on the faculty of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Vanderbilt and for thirteen years held the position of editor of The Spire, the magazine of Vanderbilt Divinity School. He lectures extensively in adult formation programs for various faith communities and in retreat centers to encourage individuals to discover the intersections between literature and theology. Judge earned his baccalaureate and graduate degree from George Peabody College for Teachers. Josh Justice and NHECM, Natural History Educator/Presenter, Week 7. KEEBLE-EWING FUND. Josh is currently a senior at University of Tennessee at Martin, majoring in wildlife biology. He has a background with over eleven years in the Navy as a nuclear trained Machinist Mate first class, but is excited to pursue this opportunity to share his fascination with reptiles to audiences all over. With over 20 years experience handling reptiles and amphibians, he has regularly provided wildlife outreach presentations to many local schools & organizations as well as working with inner city youth through the Great Outdoors University in Memphis, TN as well as many nature & conservation events. Amy-Jill Levine, Guest Lecturer, Week 2, MONTEAGLE SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY FUND and WAYNE & VIRGINIA JERVIS BIBLE WEEK FUND. Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Science; she is also Affiliated Professor, Woolf Institute, Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge UK. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus; The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us (with Douglas Knight); and The New Testament, Methods and Meanings (with Warren Carter). Her most recent volume is Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. Dr. Levine is also a co-editor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament. Holding the B.A. from Smith College, and the M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, she has honorary doctorates from the University of Richmond, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, the University of South Carolina-Upstate, Drury University, and Christian Theological Seminary. A self-described Yankee Jewish feminist, Professor Levine is a member of Congregation Sherith Israel, an Orthodox Synagogue in Nashville, although she is often quite unorthodox. The Reverend Eric Liles, Guest Minister, Week 4. Eric began his cure as the Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Ivy, VA in March St. Paul's is a beautiful, historical, active, and growing parish just west of Charlottesville. Before being called to St. Paul's, Eric served as Associate Rector at St. John's Episcopal Church, Decatur, AL (February February 2012), and prior to this as Rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Smiths Station, AL (June 2007-January 2010). Eric met his wife Allison while both were seminarians at Virginia Theological Seminary. They have two wonderful and energetic children; Hill, age 6, and Pailet, age 3. Eric grew up in Bakersfield, CA until age 14 and then in Richmond, TX. He earned a B.A. in Biology from Texas A&M University, an M.Div. from VTS, and has just finished his D.Min. at the School of Theology: The University of the South. In his free time Eric enjoys playing guitar, cycling, reading, and the occasional round of golf. Ellie Patrick Lovvorn, Workshop Instructor, Week 6. KEEBLE-EWING FUND. Ellie Patrick Lovvorn has been coming to the Assembly since she was 2 months old and is the grand-daughter of Assembly member Harry Lee Billington. Ellie worked as part of the youth staff for four years with Hummingbirds. She then went to the University of TN and graduated with a Masters in Education. Ellie now teaches third grade in Athens, AL, where she lives with her husband, Jeb, and their twin daughters. Ellie is certified to teach Zumba and Kickboxing. She teaches Zumba, Kickboxing and Muscle-works at a local gym in Athens, and we are pleased to have Ellie teach morning exercise this summer. Pamela Macfie, Lecturer, Week 3. GEORGE & ETHEL ARCHER FUND. Educated at Goucher College and Duke University, Pamela Royston Macfie teaches Shakespeare, Dante, and English Renaissance

12 Literature at the University of the South, where she is the Samuel R. Williamson Distinguished University Professor. At Sewanee, she has chaired both the college s Interdisciplinary Humanities Program and its Department of English. She has been a strong advocate for the liberal arts, especially through work for the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Interested in early modern poets often mysterious dialogue with the past and their canny influence on the future, she has published work on Dante and Ovid; Marlowe and Ovid, Lucan, and Colluthus; and Shakespeare and the Classics. She has also written on contemporary productions of Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford) and the Globe (Bankside, London), at London s Old Vic, and in several venues featuring London s Cheek by Jowl. Having recently completed "Shakespeare, Ovid, and the Poetry of Surprise" for Ashgate's Shakespeare and the Classics, she is now making final revisions on her book, Summoning the Past, which assesses the theory and practice of early modern allusion. Looking ahead, she is interested in determining if a study of Shakespeare's dewdrops might prove fruitful. Summers often find Pamela in Southwest Harbor, Maine or Oxford, England. This year, she will revel in a Sewanee summer, at least until July 18, when, having taught her final class on Dante s Poetry of Transformation in Sewanee s School of Letters, she will decamp for Maine, joining her husband Tom, University Chaplain and Dean of All Saints Chapel. Troy Marden, Lecturer, Week 3. GEORGE & ETHEL ARCHER FUND. With a career spanning more than 25 years, Troy Marden is a true Renaissance man in the world of horticulture and design. An awardwinning garden and floral designer with a passion for plants, Troy s career began as a teenager working in a retail nursery and garden center near his hometown in north central Kansas. His college years found him focusing heavily on greenhouse management and production, eventually leading to internships at two of the country s most esteemed public gardens, Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia and the worldrenowned Longwood Gardens a former DuPont estate in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. For the past 20 years, Troy has called Nashville home and has continued to grow his business and his brand by venturing into the worlds of garden and floral design, special events, garden photography, writing, public speaking and television. He is watched each week by tens of thousands of viewers across the state of Tennessee on Nashville Public Television s hit gardening show Volunteer Gardener and his gardens, floral design, writing and photography have appeared in both regional and national gardening magazines, including Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, Southern Living, and Tennessee Gardener among others. Troy s one-of-a-kind floral creations have appeared at many of Nashville s premier fundraisers and special events and have been featured in special shows at both the New York and Chicago Botanical Gardens. He is a popular lecturer, known for his engaging style and his ability to connect with gardeners of every skill level and he has addressed groups on the topic of gardening from Boston to Portland and from Montreal to Miami. Brenda Matthews, Worship Musician, Weeks 1-8. Brenda Matthews has been a church organist pianist for many years, first in Baptist, then Methodist, and now a member of Otey Parish. Brenda recently retired from Carolina's Medical Center and moved to Sewanee to be near her daughter who is a professor there. Brenda enjoys serving as a substitute church pianist/organist, and hymn singing is one of her favorite aspects of music ministry. Bonnie McCardell, Lecturer, Week 3, DAVIS FAMILY FUND. Bonnie McCardell has been involved in connections between the University and the local community since moving to Sewanee in 2010 when her husband, John McCardell, was named Vice Chancellor of the University of the South. She has an MEd in preschool special education and has been involved in advocacy efforts for children and families for many years. She currently serves on the Board of the South Cumberland Community Fund. John Meacham, Lecturer, Week 4. MONTEAGLE SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY FUND and PATTERSON LECTURE FUND. Jon Meacham is the author, most recently, of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. He received the Pulitzer Prize for American Lion, his bestselling 2008 biography of Andrew Jackson. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Franklin and Winston and American Gospel. Meacham, an executive editor at Random House, is a contributing editor to Time magazine and teaches at Vanderbilt and at Sewanee. He is at work on a biography of George H.W. Bush, entitled The Last Gentleman, to be published in the fall of A former trustee and Regent of The University of the South, Meacham has served on the vestries of St. Thomas

13 Church Fifth Avenue and Trinity Church Wall Street. Born in Chattanooga in 1969, Meacham was educated at The McCallie School and at The University of the South. He and his wife live with their three children in Nashville and in Sewanee. Keith Meador, M.D., Lecturer, Week 1. ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. Keith G. Meador, MD, ThM, MPH, is Professor of Psychiatry and Health Policy at Vanderbilt University and also serves as the Director of Mental Health and Chaplaincy through the VISN 6 MIRECC as part of a national initiative to foster integration of chaplaincy services into mental health care within the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is the Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt and Professor in the Graduate Department of Religion. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in July of 2010 and previously served as a tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University, where he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. While at Duke, Dr. Meador directed programs in the School of Medicine and the Divinity School at the intersections of religion and health, teaching in the Divinity School and the Department of Religion at Duke along with his medical school responsibilities. He is a physician and board certified psychiatrist with training in theology and public health and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vanderbilt University, having received his medical degree from the University of Louisville. He completed his residency in psychiatry and a fellowship in aging and human development at Duke University. His theological education leading to the Th.M. was at Duke Divinity School and he received his MPH in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. His scholarship builds on his clinical, research and teaching background in mental health, practical theology, and public health about which he lectures widely and has published numerous publications including the co-authored book, Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion of Christianity. His academic work includes theological and ethical exploration of the intersections of religion and health and empirical research regarding socio-cultural determinants of illness, health, and human flourishing. Dr. Meador currently gives national leadership to the policy and educational efforts to equip and facilitate the systematic inclusion of chaplains into mental health care for the VA and the Department of Defense through the Mental Health and Chaplaincy program that he directs for the VA. This collaboration of chaplains and mental health care providers seeks to improve access to care and enhance the quality of the care given through the inclusion of the particular expertise of chaplains within the context of evidence based mental health care. Dr. Gerald I. Miller, Lecturer, Week 2. WAYNE & VIRGINIA JERVIS BIBLE WEEK FUND. Dr. Miller is Professor of Ancient Languages and Religion at Asbury University near Lexington, Kentucky. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from The Johns Hopkins University and has taught Greek and Hebrew, Old Testament interpretation, and ancient history and civilization since In addition to scholarly work in his field, Dr. Miller enjoys speaking and teaching in churches, seminars, and conferences around the country. He and his artist wife, Claudia (who will join him for the week), have two married children and three grandchildren. Dr. Miller has served as Bible lecturer and guest minister at MSSA on several previous occasions. He is the nephew and cousin of long-time Assembly members, the Clay Miller family. Keri Moser, Workshop Presenter/Guest Chef, Week 3. WILLIAM D. TRABUE FUND. Ivy Wild chef, Keri Moser offers playful, offbeat cuisine. Moser sees compositions in colors and landscapes, and she works backward to edit in ingredients and techniques, building her plates with improbably good and often wild flavor combinations. Moser nods occasionally to the region s Southern foodways and supports them wholeheartedly as a champion of local farmers but her food reflects a deep curiosity, an artistic bent, and a creative streak that s unencumbered by the culinary establishment or her small-town status. She s defining her own path, one that more chefs should dare to follow. (Cited from starchefs.com) Music City Roots, Performers, Week 3. MONTEAGLE SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY FUND and SUPPORTING SPONSORS. Music City Roots, Nashville s acclaimed multi-platform showcase for the finest roots and Americana music, heads to the Assembly for a rare show outside of its home base at The Factory at Franklin TN. Hosted by Grammy-winning songwriter and country/bluegrass artist Jim Lauderdale, Tennessee Broadcasting Hall of Famer Keith Bilbrey and author/interviewer Craig Havighurst, Music City Roots looks back to early radio broadcasts and forward to the future with a mix of musical

14 styles and artistic visions. It features tradition and innovation in equal measure, scanning Middle Tennessee and beyond for the best songwriting, classic country, bluegrass, folk, blues, soul, gospel and rock and roll. All ages will find something to love in this fast-paced live show. Artists currently scheduled include songwriter/cellist Ben Sollee and country throwback Woody Pines, with more TBA. Ben Sollee emerged as a member of the acclaimed Sparrow Quartet then won over critics and fans nationwide with a string of innovative solo albums and wide ranging live performances. His cello playign makes him unique, but so does his exceptional voice and profound songwriting. He s long been a Roots favorite. Woody Pines is an amalgam of early roots music styles with a passion for entertainment. While many new/young bands take cues and songs from records that first came out on 78s in the 1920s and 30s, few do it with as much skill, class and integrity as Woody Pines. The prestigious English country music magazine Maverick called the band an intoxicating blend of rural and urban stringband, country blues, ragtime and jug band music. At Roots, we call them a lot of fun. Steve Neumeister, Lecturer/Workshop Instructor. Week 5. ARMISTEAD NELSON HISTORY LECTURE FUND. Steve Neumeister taught humanities (history, religion, and English) in schools and colleges for over twenty-five years, and he holds degrees in English and philosophy of religion. He has been not only a master teacher and educator, but also a minister doing care work and supporting community sustainability projects as well as editing letters of the founding fathers. He has emphasized the importance of great readings in eliciting discussion and shaping the hearts and minds of participants. Ralph Null, Floral Lecturer/Demonstrator, Week 6. MISS BESSIE FUND. Ralph Null is an internationally recognized leader in floral arts and retail floriculture. During his floral career he has presented more than 850 lecture demonstrations throughout the world. His floral creations have graced White House state dinners, Presidential inaugurals, the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's, and Neiman Marcus catalogues; and they have also appeared in many national and international publications. He has exhibited in London, Oslo, Cape Town, Sydney and Tokyo, as well as throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian Institution. Null has served as president of the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) and as CFO of the AIFD Foundation. He authored A Florist's Guide to Successful Weddings; A Christmas Collection; Spring Arrangements from the Southern Garden; Summer Arrangements from the Southern Garden; and Fall and Winter Arrangements from the Southern Garden. Upon retirement from Mississippi State University in 1992 after 25 years of teaching, Null was made Professor Emeritus. Over 40 years ago Ralph began using landscape materials as opposed to traditional commercial floral materials, and this creative approach to naturalism is still the foundation of his designs. The Reverend Adam Nunley, Guest Minister, Week 3. Adam Nunley is currently the Director of Discipleship at Grace Christian Academy in Franklin, TN. He works with elementary through high school students, and some of his many hats include teaching Bible, speaking at chapel, and overseeing missions. Adam has always been passionate about ministering to students. He worked in the public school system as a high school teacher and football coach for 5 years in Hendersonville, TN. He then felt called to full time ministry, and decided to pursue a seminary degree while serving as the middle school pastor at New Vision Baptist Church from Adam graduated from Tennessee Tech University with a Bachelor s in Education. He holds a Masters of Arts in Family Ministry and Discipleship from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Adam not only loves building relationships with students, but also working with families. He enjoys encouraging men in their role as a father through father/son camp experiences, rites of passage ceremonies, father/son group Bible Studies and one-on-one meetings. Adam has been married to his wife Elizabeth for ten years and they have two children: Miller, 4 and Lucy Kate, 2. He loves reading, watching good movies/tv shows, spending time with friends and family, playing pick-up basketball and a good cup of coffee. John Patrick, Lecturer, Week 1. ELIZABETH AUSTIN LECTURE FUND. John retired in April 2010 as a Program Analyst for the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in Washington DC. He recently completed an EPA grant as Principal Investigator for the Cumberland River Compact that encourages sustainable farming methods in this watershed. He also teaches a graduate

15 course, Sustainable Food Practices, at Lipscomb University s Institute of Sustainable Practices. John has completed his doctoral course work focusing on environmental corporate management and sustainable farming methods. He serves on the Board of the Southern Sustainable Agricultural Working Group, Tennessee Organic Growers Association, and the Beaman Park to Bells Bend Conservation Corridor, and serves on the Nashville Food Policy Council. John Patrick was raised on a poultry and cattle farm and is currently a co-owner of Foggy Hollow Farm (a small, organic vegetable, livestock, poultry, and blueberry farm) near Joelton, Tennessee. He currently has the only USDA certified organic laying and breeding operation in Middle Tennessee. He is implementing with the collaboration of other farmers a sustainable poultry network focusing on the economics of locally breeding and growing heritage breed chickens on pasture for meat and eggs in Middle Tennessee. Rochelle Pennington, Lecturer, Week 6. KNOX POLK VAN ZANDT FUND and ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. Rochelle Pennington is an award-winning newspaper columnist and bestselling author of ten books including Highlighted in Yellow (available in four languages; co-authored with H. Jackson Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author). Pennington has worked as a consultant providing story and quotation recommendations to several of the publishing industry s most noted authors including Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul, H. Jackson Brown of Life s Little Instruction Books, Dr. Richard Carlson of Don t Sweat the Small Stuff, and Alice Gray of Stories for the Heart. Pennington is both a lively storyteller and an entertaining lecturer. Her popularity as a presenter to schools, libraries, historical societies, corporations, hospitals, retirement facilities, and civic organizations is evidenced by the many invitations she receives to return and speak on further topics, ranging from history s most memorable stories, complete with fascinating trivia, to motivational engagements highlighting courage, determination, and personal strength. She expertly weaves the perfect balance of humor, charm, and riveting facts into her captivating performances that focus on the best of humanity. Audience members depart with inspiration to apply the principles presented to their own lives. The Reverend Dr. Ed Robb, Guest Minister, Week 8. Ed Robb is founding pastor of The Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Since its beginning in 1978, this congregation has grown to become the fourth largest in Methodism. Present membership is over 11,000, with weekly worship, averaging 4,400. Pastor Robb is active in civic affairs of The Woodlands. For the past 15 he has served in local government as an elected official of the 110,000 township. Dr. Robb serves as board chairman of A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE), which since 1977 has provided over 100 fellowship grants to United Methodist doctoral students. Additionally, he is a trustee of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Ed Robb was educated at Asbury College, where he was the student body president during his senior year, and at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University (M.Th.). He also holds an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Asbury College. He and his wife, Beverley, have three children. Diane Roberts, Lecturer, Week 8. MONTEAGLE SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY FUND. Diane Roberts is an eighth-generation Floridian, educated at Florida State University, where she received a BA and MA, and in England. A Marshall Scholarship took her to Oxford University, where she earned another BA and a P. Phil. in English. She has written scholarly books about the intersection of Southern culture and American literature, including Faulkner and Southern Womanhood and The Myth of Aunt Jemima. Her most recent book, Dream State, is an historical memoir of Florida told through the Confederate Daughters and Swamp Lawyers of her family. Currently Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at Florida State University (she taught previously at the University of Alabama), Diane Roberts is also a Contributing Editor to the Oxford American Magazine, an essayist for NPR and a documentary maker for the BBC. She has written for The New York Times, The Times of London, The Washington Post and contributes political columns to The Guardian and The Tampa Bay Times. Her new book, Tribal: How College Football Explains America, will be out from Harper Collins in October. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

16 Brian Russell, Performer/Workshop Instructor, Week 5. ELIZABETH SPICKARD SCHUMANN FUND and PERFORMING ARTS FUND. Brian's nearly thirty-five year career has spanned all aspects of theatrical endeavor, from acting to directing, from teaching to working as a technical director. He has been seen on nearly every professional stage in Nashville, including the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, the Nashville Children's Theatre, Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Chaffin's Barn, Blackbird Theatre, Actor's Bridge Ensemble and Studio Tenn. among others. Additionally, Brian has appeared in several films, as well as music videos. His work has garnered him accolades from The Nashville Scene as well as First Night awards, a Jeff Norton award from Tampa, and the 2001 Ingram Theatre Fellowship awarded by the Tennessee Arts Commission. John Scalici, Workshop Instructor, Week 7. YOUTH CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FUND. John Scalici is an award winning teaching artist, internationally recognized facilitator, musician, and a member of the John C. Maxwell Team of certified speakers, coaches, and trainers. His RHYTHM OF LEADERSHIP and REALIZE YOUR RHYTHM programs are in high demand and highly regarded at leading corporations, college campuses, elementary, middle and high schools across the U.S. and in Japan. No matter the size of the audience, Mr. Scalici s speaking style is engaging, powerful, and upbeat! It is also unique: Mr. Scalici s programs take place in the round, with everyone in the audience participating in an interactive rhythm making experience that is skillfully designed to Inspire, Motivate and Empower participants to reach their full human potential through the universal language of rhythm. As an accomplished musician, Mr. Scalici understands the power of rhythm on the professional level to propel and energize a band. He has toured the U.S. with two bands, Gravy, and, The Junk Yard Men. Gravy toured with blues and rock legends Buddy Guy and Gov t Mule and opened shows for many others, including the Allman Brothers. He is also a student of the popular West African drum, the Djembe. His passion, however, lies in empowering others through rhythm. He is a master of taking the goals and objectives of his audience and creating a unique presentation that will inspire action long after the participants leave. A strong advocate for the arts in education, he is the recipient of the 2010 Making a Difference award by the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education. Print and television media featuring John Scalici s work include: Making Music Magazine, DRUM! Magazine, Executive Traveler Magazine, The Hallmark Channel, Southeastern Performer Magazine, Society for Arts in Healthcare, Campus Recovery Magazine. Sandy Spies, Lecturer, Week 7. ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. Sandy Spies obtained her Masters in Social Work from University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She has served the people on the Plateau in that capacity for approximately seventeen years. She was the program director of Blue Monarch for four years. She established an intensive outpatient drug and alcohol program in Tracy City for Cumberland Heights of Nashville. She has worked for the State of Tennessee in the Department of Children Services and was the social worker for the local nursing home. In 2009 she and her husband started a non-profit organization called S Double A Recovery Ranch that provides life skill and twelve-step support for those looking for a change in their life style. The life skills program requires each attendee to participate in community service that many complete at the food bank and has proven to be a very rewarding experience. S Double A Ranch is working closely with other local agencies to establish a more effective recovery community in Grundy County. Sallie Swor, Workshop Instructor, Week 6. WILLIAM D. TRABUE FUND. Nashville native, Sallie Stamps Swor enjoys cooking, knitting, craft projects, gardening, reading and writing her food blog. She participates in the Query Club, Town and Country Garden Club, and Centennial Club Knitters. She has served as President for the Educators Book Club and as Historian for the Colonial Dames. Recent volunteer jobs have included the Friends Board at Vanderbilt, Cheekwood Antique and Garden Show, Bethlehem Center, Power of the Purse, Community Foundation Sale, Restoration at Belmont, Knitting Clubs at USN and Hillsboro, and West End Methodist Music Camp. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two basset hounds near Radnor Lake. Their son is studying to become a music and sound producer. Sallie is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and Rhodes College and holds a Masters Degree in Counseling and Psychology from University of Memphis. Follow Sallie on her blog at

17 Robert Tarter and NHECM, Natural History Educator/Presenter, Week 7. KEEBLE-EWING FUND. For almost 10 years, the Natural History Educational Co. of the Mid-South (NHECM), based in Columbia, TN, has been providing educational outreach wildlife programs to many schools, libraries, conservation & youth-oriented groups and other learning institutions throughout the Southeast. An avid conservationist and wildlife enthusiast, owner and primary programmer, Bob Tarter, is living his life-long dream teaching others about the natural world. After earning a degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois, Bob worked as a wildlife biologist for the Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources and research biologist for Ducks Unlimited. Since that time he incorporated NHECM in an effort to reach out to audiences that may not otherwise have the opportunity to see and appreciate nature up close and along with fellow NHECM biologists, have presented varied wildlife programs to thousands of children and adults throughout seven states. George Terrell, Lecturer, Week 5. MISS BESSIE FUND. George W. Terrell Jr. is a native of Tuscumbia, Alabama (where Helen Keller was born) and received his graduate and undergraduate degrees from Auburn University, where he majored in History and Geography, subjects he taught for almost 40 years. He retired last year from Gadsden State Community College, where he served as the chairman of the Social Science Division and was a faculty member for over 33 years. He is an internationally known authority on Imperial Russia and in particular the works of Carl Faberge. He is one of the few people in the world to have seen every known Imperial Easter Egg and in l989 was the first to identify a piece in the British Royal Collection as an unaccounted for Imperial Egg... confirmed 2 years later by research in records of the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. He has served as a consultant to many museums and collectors and was the curator/organizer of "The Jeweler Then and Now" featuring Faberge from the Forbes Collection and the jewels of Alabama Artist Kathy Chan. He is an authority on products of the Reinhold Schelgelmilch Porcelain works and authored the first definitive price guide on R.S. Prussia Porcelain -- now considered a standard reference work on the subject. In a more light hearted vein, he collects Gone with the Wind memorabilia and in 2001 organized the largest GWTW exhibit ever in the US marking the 75th anniversary of the publication of the novel in l936. Over half the major GWTW collectors in the country were lenders and over 1,000 items were included. He is a collector of American Rococo Revival furniture and l9th century (mostly American) decorative arts and has for over 30 years been restoring his l910 home in Gadsden. He enjoys travel and has made over 50 trips to Europe (19 times to Russia alone)--and other adventures have taken him to Asia, South America, Africa and Australia. Billie Weaver, Lecturer, Week 8. MISSIONARY FUND. Billie Weaver, along with her sister, Bettie Lynds, founded, Brinkley Memorial School and Orphanage in Tanuku, India, after the death of their missionary father, Raymond Brinkley to carry on missionary work he had inaugurated by making teaching and preaching trips to Andhra Pradesh State for a period of 16 years. The school was begun to serve the children of parents with Hansen s disease (also known as leprosy) living in Tanuku. Over 75 of the lepers children are being given a chance to have an education that they otherwise could never have, because they are not allowed in regular schools due to their parents condition. The school has since expanded to include street children and currently serves 462 children. With support from Gospel Partners, ministers native to India preach and teach the word of God, oversee the care of orphans and widows, and help the sick and poor of India without having missionaries from the United States or other countries live there full time. Nate Wilson, Lecturer, Week 4. ROLLINS LECTURE FUND. As Domain manager at the University of the South, Nate Wilson is responsible for the implementation of land management decisions across the Domain. Prior to his work for the University, he was a consultant in wildlife biology and forestry on the Cumberland Plateau where he worked primarily with private landowners and conservation NGOS. Wilson received his B.S. in Forestry and Wildlife Ecology in 2002 from the Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia and is Certified Wildlife Biologist. Wendy Wilson, Fitness Instructor, Weeks 2-4, 6 & 8. SAUNDERS FAMILY FUND. Active in the fitness industry for over 25 years, Wendy Wilson began weight training as a teenager, won a couple of events, and continued mostly weight training until about 8 years ago when she became interested in yoga and began her journey with group fitness. She enjoys the experience of working out with others and encouraging and

18 helping others to stay in shape. She is certified to teach group fitness yoga with pilates, weight training, kick boxing and aerobics. Norman Wirzba, Lecturer, Week 1. MONTEAGLE SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY FUND and SPECIAL LECTURE FUND. Norman Wirzba is Professor of Theology and Ecology at Duke University (Divinity School and Nicholas School of the Environment). He lectures frequently across North America, and is the author of several books including Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating and Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight. His latest book From Nature to Creation: A Christian Vision for Understanding and Loving the World will be released later this summer. Norman is married and is the father of four children. In his spare time he likes to garden, cook, play sports, and make music.