Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13 at the Partlow Funeral Chapel for Mrs. Jamie Griffin Creswell, 72, of Lebanon. A longtime planning assistant for Wilson County, she died Wednesday, April 10, 2013. A member of College Hills Church of Christ, Mrs. Creswell was a former board member of the Lebanon Special School District

The family will receive friends Friday, April 12 between the hours of 4-8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until service. Interment will follow at the Cedar Grove Cemetery.

By SAM HATCHER
The Wilson Post

Two local golfers, both members at Five Oaks Golf and Country Club, are experiencing a golfer’s dream this weekend.

Dwight Belew and Denny King are volunteering this week at the Masters in Augusta, Ga.

For Belew, owner of American Jewelry Company in Mt. Juliet, it’s his 10^th year to serve as a green’s volunteer and for King, who just recently retired as the U.S. Marshal for the Middle Tennessee District, it’s his second.

Both men, avid golfers themselves, will have the opportunity that’s only a dream for most.

In May they will be invited back to Augusta to play the Master’s course at Augusta National Golf Club, a reward paid volunteers for their service during the week of the tournament.

“I tell people Augusta National is just like stepping into a picture postcard. You can’t describe how immaculate everything is,” Belew said some three years ago in a story published in The Wilson Post about his experience at the Masters.

Belew, who holds a not so shabby 12 handicap at Five Oaks, has always been stationed at the first hole at the Masters and has the duty of being what he describes as a “gallery guard.”

“We also are walking information booths. I probably answer 100 questions a day, from ‘where’s Tiger?’ to ‘how do you get to Amen Corner?’ and ‘what kind of grass is this?’ The question I’m probably asked the most is ‘how did you get this job?’”

Belew said in the previous story written by Ken Beck that he has been at his post long enough to know a few habits of the PGA tour professionals: “Tiger is always the first one out on the practice rounds, early in the morning,” he said, whereas V.J. Singh prefers to practice late in the day when the shadows are long.

King, who incidentally maintains an 18 handicap at Five Oaks, is a scorer on hole number 11.

According to Bryan Combiths, the golf professional at Five Oaks, King has multiple chores at his green.

“He is one of four scorers at the green on hole 11,” Combiths said, explaining that King is responsible for collecting certain details from each golfer assigned to him playing the hole.

He said King must keep up with each player’s score, the number of putts made on the green and even the club used by his assigned player to get on the green. The information King collects is eventually passed to other officials who see that it is posted on Internet and social media sites maintained by the Masters and kept as a tournament record.

Both men began their assignments on Sunday, one week before the tournament concludes this Sunday.

They’ll rub shoulders with some of golf’s most celebrated professionals; see putts sunk at distances so great that not even the pros will think they can make them; and they will also likely see a few famous folks in the audience attending.

But best of all they’ll have a bucket full of stories to tell when they get back home.

By SABRINA GARRETT
The Wilson Post

One hundred and sixty guests attended Wilson County Habitat for Humanity’s Houses of Home luncheon at College Hills Church of Christ on Wednesday which raised over $21,650, through table sales, sponsorships by Payment Express Systems, Kroger and silent auction items, for the worthy cause.

The event featured a special appearance by guest speaker, Mike Keith, Voice of the Tennessee Titans.

Keith was invited to share his thoughts at the event by Habitat Advisory Board Member Romel McMurry, who said getting Keith to commit to the engagement was as easy as picking up the telephone.

“When I called him to see if he would be the guest speaker for this event, he said yes right away without hesitation. To me, that is a community leader willing to give back,” McMurry said.

Keith, who resides in Franklin, said he participated in his first Habitat build in 1998. “My father-in-law is an electrician and he would tell you I am not handy,” he said, laughing. “But I can carry stuff. I did whatever I could do to help. What Habitat does is so incredibly valuable. You are changing another person’s life for the positive. Anybody who takes part in a Habitat build makes a difference.”

Before taking to the podium, Keith watched as McMurry played a video of the famous Music City Miracle that took place Jan. 8, 2000 when the Titans took on the Buffalo Bills at home. Guests viewing the clip saw the play Titans Lorenzo Neal, Frank Wycheck and Kevin Dyson made to win in the last 16 seconds of the game. Neal handed the ball off to Wycheck, who threw across the field to Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown.

“Mechanically about six or seven things went wrong with the play. But watch what the other players do. They did their job in a phenomenal way. They set it up – sold it brilliantly,” Keith said. “You need Lorenzo and Frank and Kevin – but you have to have those other eight players on the field to make it work. It is a great lesson towards Habitat. You’ve got to have those leaders, but you also have to have everybody else. Whatever your skill level – you can make a difference with Habitat.”

Wilson Habitat Executive Director Tory Tredway followed Keith and handed out three awards with the help of Advisory Board Member Joe Ali. Rita Redmond was the recipient of the Spirit of Volunteerism Award. The Spirit of Habitat Award was received by Father Pat Kibby of St. Stephens Catholic Community and the Community Partnership Award was received by Scott Jasper on behalf of Wilson Bank & Trust.

“We want our friends at Wilson Bank & Trust to know how grateful we are,” Tredway said.

The luncheon also featured testimonials from two Habitat home recipients, Linda Gray and Sarah Caves. Gray was a part of Lebanon’s first Blitz Build in which Habitat volunteers built her home from the ground up in five short days. Gray said she had raised her two sons as a single parent for 14 years when she was suddenly laid off from her job.

“There were many changes and the only thing I could do was walk away,” Gray said of losing her home. “A friend of mine informed me about Habitat and what they do.”

Gray applied to the program and after completing her sweat equity hours, in which she helped other recipients work on their homes, and mandatory classes on financial planning, how to be a homeowner, how to be a good neighbor and more, she and her family successfully moved into their home. “I have to say thank you. We have a very nice home now that we call our own. Habitat not only builds house, they build dreams.”

Caves will be the next Habitat homeowner in Wilson County when the Women Build project is completed on June 22 in Watertown. “In November 2012 I filled out my application,” she said. “I feel that I have been blessed with the opportunity to provide a stable home for my five children.”

Bob Black, who serves on the Board of Directors, wrapped up the program by asking event patrons to pledge a donation to Habitat “to help other families’ dreams come true.”

For more information on Wilson County Habitat for Humanity, call 453-4517.

Southside Elementary will present their play, Aladdin Jr. at Cumberland University's Heydel Fine Arts Center this weekend. The school canceled Thursday night's dress rehearsal due to weather.

There will be showings on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and also a Sunday showing at 4 p.m.

Fiddlers Grove Historical Village, located on the grounds of the James E. Ward Agricultural Center, Lebanon, has been named a designated historic site by The Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities. 

The APTA is the oldest nonprofit historic preservation organization in the State of Tennessee and the fourth oldest in the nation. Since 1951, APTA has been working to preserve and maintain historic sites that played an important role in Tennessee’s rich cultural heritage. APTA’s mission is to promote and encourage active participation in the preservation of Tennessee’s rich historic, cultural, architectural and archeological heritage through restoration, education, advocacy and statewide cooperation. 

Currently, there are 11 chapters that administer 14 sites. APTA sites include:  Belle Meade Plantation, Nashville; The Athenaeum Rectory, Columbia; Buchanan Log House, Nashville; Crockett Tavern Museum, Morristown; Glenmore Mansion, Jefferson City; Ramsey House Plantation, Knoxville; Holy Innocents Cemetery, Arlington; Rachel H. K. Burrow Museum, Arlington; Historic Post Office, Arlington; Blacksmith Shop Site, Arlington; The Pillars, Bolivar; The Little Courthouse, Bolivar; Lee House, Memphis; and Woodruff-Fontaine House, Memphis.

Hawkins County and Rutherford County also have APTA chapters. 

As part of their program each year, APTA considers historical site nominations from each Grand Division of the State of Tennessee. Two nominations in each Grand Division are selected, and Fiddlers Grove was one of the sites selected in 2012 for the Middle Tennessee division. 

The Fiddlers Grove Foundation, Wilson County Promotions, and The Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (APTA) extends an invitation to all citizens to the dedication of the APTA Historic Site Marker at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, April 28, at Fiddlers Grove Historical Village, followed by a reception at the Jordan House. 

For additional information, contact James Jordan, chairman of the dedication committee, at 838-8524.