Knoxify » East Knoxville

The Weekender: Concerts, Canoe Tours and a Triathlon

CP — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:00:20 +0000

Paddling a canoe on the TN River. Photo: Lorne Sykora | flickr

Saturday, July 10th
West Side Y Tri. The West Side Family YMCA in West Hills will be holding a sprint triathlon starting at 8:00am. The event helps raise money for all YMCAs in the Knoxville area.

Canoe Tour of Tennessee River. Get up bright and early and head east to Holston River Park. Most Saturday’s this summer will offer canoe tours of the Tennessee River.

Second Saturday Concerts at The Cove. Head west to The Cove and Concord Park and take in an evening of concerts. Show time starts at 6:00pm and we would bring a lawn chair or two if we were you.

You’ve Never Heard it Called That!?

CP — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:05 +0000

This is a guest post by Chad Huskey.

As a kid, riding up and down Chapman Highway with my folks, we would stop in for gas at a gas station/pawn shop/jewelry store/restaurant. The sign at the road says “Thrifty Center”, but I had always heard it called Taul Town. When I was a teenager I finally thought to ask one day, what exactly a Taul Town was. Turns out I had just heard it pronounced with a Tennessean southern drawl for all those years, and it was actually Towel Town. When the shop first opened it was a gas station/pawn shop/jewelry store/restaurant/towel emporium. You could fill up with gas, eat a waffle, buy a necklace, pawn your stereo, and purchase a hand towel in one convenient stop.

It seems people take great pride in calling it a name no one remembers, and I admit I’ve been guilty of it myself. The scene usually plays out something like this. “Meet me at Towel Town…Where?!…Towel Town! Where the heck is Towel Town?!…You know, the Thrifty Center…Yea I know the Thrifty Center, why did you call it Towel Town!?…What!?! You mean you’ve never heard it called Towel Town, that’s all I ever heard it called growing up?” We take offense to those outsiders who haven’t heard the secret code names, of local establishments from days gone by. At the same time we delight in filling them in on the often colorful history of the old names, and places and how they became what they are today.

Think you’re not guilty? Do you go to East Town Mall or Knoxville Center? I hear older folks still call the shopping center where the Disc Exchange is, Cas Walker’s. Whole communities’ names have come and gone. Ever hear of Happy Holler near downtown or maybe Pennyrile in South Knoxville? We get a kick out of the ignorance about our local stories and legends that make up these lost names. We feel it’s our civic duty, as native Knoxvillians, to fill in the out-of-towners and newly relocated to our “inside info”.

In truth, it’s all done in good fun, with a sense of pride about the silly little tidbits we are privy to about our home town. We enjoy educating folks about things we hold onto that take us back to years ago, when these secrets were common knowledge. When things where a bit slower, and life seemed to be a little bit more relaxed.

Makes me wonder if sometime in the early 1800s a conversation ever went something like this, “Meet me at James White Fort…Where?!…James White Fort! Where the heck is James White Fort?!…You know, Knoxville!”

Photo by: striatic

View of Knoxville, Vol. 41

CP — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:30:55 +0000

This photo was taken by Colorhaze

The View of Knoxville series is derived from photos in our flickr group. Add your pictures and we might feature them here.

New Neighborhood: Holston Hills

CP — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:43:04 +0000

Our Knoxville Neighborhood Guide just got a little bigger. Holston Hills, a 1920s addition to the Holston Hills Country Club, now has its very own guide on Knoxify.

High School Musical to Film at Vine Magnet

CP — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:15:31 +0000

Knox Insider is reporting that film crews will setup shop at Vine Magnet School to shoot scenes for High School Musical 4. Related Posts:High School maternity leave sought by Denver student High Atop Mt. LeConte School Board Interview: Indya Kincannon New Montessori School in South Knoxville School Board Interview: Karen Carson Related Posts: