Signal Mountain Town Council race noncompetitive so far

Signal Mountain's Town Council elections occur every two years. There are three spots on the 5 member council on the ballot. This year, incumbents Annette Allen and Bill Lusk are running for re-election. Councilmember Bill Wallace has apparently decided not to run again. Local activist Joe Dumas has qualified for the third spot on the ballot. Unless there has been a very recent addition, we currently therefore have three candidates for three spots. The same thing happened four years ago, the last time Allen and Lusk (along with Susan Robertson) were up for election. Frankly, I find this to be a sad comment. If anyone out there is interested in running, the deadline for submitting qualifying petititions is Thursday, August 16. If you're interested, go the the Hamilton County Election Commission website: http://elect.hamiltontn.gov/ for more information.

The Music Man

OK, it's time to start making plans to attend the Signal Mountain Playhouse production of The Music Man starting tomorrow, July 6 and continuing every Friday and Saturday in July at 8pm each evening. Productions are at the Signal Mountain Playhouse, located behind the town hall off Taft Highway.


This SMPH production features:
Greg Glover as con man Harold Hill
Kendra Gross as librarian/piano teacher Marian Paroo
Don Strickland as Mayor Shinn
Patti Gross as Mrs. Paroo
Janet McInturff as Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn
Brandon McCrary as Marcellus Washburn
Noah Huseman as Winthrop Paroo
Mary Eliza Hendricks as Amaryllis
Dick Gee as Charlie Crowell, anvil salesman
Frank Harrison, Michael Smith, Glenn Showalter, Paul Hendricks and Bob Roza as the River City Schoolboard/Barbershop Quarter (+1)
Becky Gardner as Zaneeta Shinn
Harrison Holmes as "bad boy" Tommy Djilas

and a host of others playing the citizens of River City trying to get itself out of the "Trouble" it finds itself in when Harold Hill blows into town and alerts them to the sinful temptations of its new pool table and how he can fix the problem "with a wave of my hand" by forming a boy's band (for a reasonable fee with a small deposit in advance and the balance due on delivery).

Tickets on sale at the Playhouse every Friday and Saturday at 6pm. Bring your folding chairs and have a great time listening to such great songs as "76 Trombones", "Trouble" and "Till There Was You".

Update on Signal Mountain Town Council elections... new candidate

I noticed today that Dr. Joe Dumas has picked up papers to run for the Signal Mountain Town Council. Incumbents Lusk and Allen have both qualified for the election. The deadline for turning in a petition is August 16 at noon.

Upcoming Signal Mountain elections

I know I've been mighty quiet lately. I've been trying to keep my head down! However, I think it is time we all started focusing on upcoming elections. While presidential races get a lot of attention, there are some important local races going on.

I'm sure everyone is aware that there is one candidate on the ballot for school board and another write-in campaign recently started. Dr. Jonathon Welch was the only candidate who qualified for the ballot. After that deadline, Mike Harvey decided to throw his hat in the ring as a write-in. I am remaining neutral in this race. I hope that the discussion will center around the issues affecting the school board and that both men will present their views on those issues and what they would do on the school board. Obviously, I am particularly interested in what made Mike Harvey decide to jump into the race so late. A write-in campaign is obviously an uphill battle and will take a lot of work.

Last, but certainly not least, there will be a Signal Mountain Town Council race in the fall. Allen, Lusk and Wallace's seats are all up for election. I know that Lusk has picked up papers to run (and I believe may have already qualified) and I have also been told that Annette Allen has qualified for re-election. I haven't heard from Bill Wallace, yet. The deadline to turn in petitions to run is August 16 at noon. All potential candidates should be getting prepared. As you know, Signal Mountain races have changed considerably in the last few years (when they are contested) and do require some preparation and planning. I am happy to share my own views privately with anyone considering running and you are welcome to contact me. I'm sure I will be commenting on issues as the race proceeds. All of the current incumbents now have records which are public and can be reviewed. Feel free to use this blog as a forum for commenting on any local issues. I also have a Facebook page for the League of Signal Mountain Voters which I have created as a forum for discussing local issues. If you are on Facebook and would like to join that group, just ask me. It is open to all. Here's the link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/110672268965327/

Stay tuned!

The Orchard Band at Giggle Cafe this Friday night

The Orchard Band will be appearing this Friday night at Giggles Grill (http://www.thecomedycatch.com/giggles-grill) which is at the Comedy Catch at 3224 Brainerd Road in Chattanooga. We'll be performing from 9-11. Come on out for some good food and good music!

Donate your gently used outdoor gear and clothing for a good cause!

Support Clean Water!

 

Mary Beth Sutton (on the left above), a long time friend of mine heads up a group which promotes clean water, both locally and in the Caribbean area (http://www.caribbean-sea.org/). This flyer advertises a fundraising activity for her excellent organization. So, if you find any ski gear or surfboards or other outdoor stuff that you've, ahem, grown out of, here's your chance to put it to a good cause. Here is a link to an article about her: http://nooga.com/153115/local-nonprofit-teaches-volunteers-how-to-test-streams-for-pollution/ 

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Looking for work

I received the following request from Anthony and Barb Amabile who I mentioned recently were closing CLS Lighting: 

Paul, 

As you know we’re closing the retail store and I will continue with the Electrical business. 

Barb on the other hand is actively seeking a full time position of employment and can do just about anything from outside field sales to inside sales or management office /clerical.  She has held numerous sales positions, customer service and secretarily and has a lot of hands on experience with running  a business.

If you could put the word out if anyone knows of any positions that she may be well suited for.  She has been self-employed for the past 8 years and has extensive knowledge in technical areas like electrical, electronics, communications, etc.

Thanks very much!

Anthony Amabile

Electrician

Signal Mountain Electric, LLC

TN State License  #00064329

Hamilton County Electrical License # C-477

Main Offices:  423-591-1632

Electrical Service Emergency: 423-838-9220

1238 Taft Highway, Suite 112, Signal Mountain, TN  37377

Or Visit us on the web:  www.signalmountainelectric.com

Now Serving all of Chattanooga TN and we’re in the Yellow Pages and YP.com

Licensed and certified area dealer, installer and service provider for Kohler and Generac Generators!

 

I am concerned about the future of Signal Mountain business. Most of you have probably heard that Seventeen Ninety, the excellent new restaurant recently opened by Rick and Nancy Adams of Southern Star fame has closed. I have just found out that another business, CLS Lighting is also closing. Anthony and Barb Amabile moved to this community and opened this business, but have been unable to attract enough customers to keep it open. Fortunately, in both cases these business owners have alternatives. Southern Star will continue to serve excellent sandwiches and salads. Anthony is a Master Electrician and also runs Signal Mountain Electric Service. He is available for electrical work and also specializes in generator installation. You can reach Anthony at 591-1632 or his cell at 838-9220. Snoda and I have had Anthony work on some things at our house and we can vouch for his quality and integrity. As they close the retail shop, I understand they will be selling lightbulbs at 15% discounts, so drop by and wish them well and stock up on bulbs.

http://www.signalmountainelectric.com/ 

 

I don't have any magic answers, but clearly we can all try harder to patronize our local businesses. Perhaps you can save a few dollars at Walmart, but giving your business to your friends and neighbors pays dividends for your extra investment. As a town, I have long been concerned that we are not friendly enough to businesses. Many of you know that I have had concerns about our Design Review Commission. Everyone wants our town to be attractive, but empty store fronts are pretty ugly, too. If no one can see your sign and don't know what your business is, it is hard to make a go of it. I have seen the amount of harassment our town has given to new businesses in town (on top of WWTA and other regulatory agencies). I think this needs to be seriously looked at.

I have heard rumors of other businesses teetering on the edge of closing, too. I urge all my fellow Signal Mountain residents to check local before going "off the mountain". We have some excellent restaurants up here, but we won't if they don't have customers. Check out the Mountain Business Associations website http://signalmba.com/ to find out about some of our businesses. Obviously there are many more who aren't members of the MBA, also. All of our businesses are important, check 'em out! If any local businesses would like for me to mention them in a blog, I am happy to do so. Just send me a brief write-up and an image if you'd like and I'll put it on here. My rates are cheap (free!). Just doing what I can to help.

Songwriter Concert at the MACC this weekend

This Friday night, March 9 there will be a concert at the MACC featuring several excellent singer songwriters. This is a preview of the songwriting workshop being held Saturday and will feature many of the writer's/singers who will be leading the workshop. Robert and Alice and I (The Orchard Band) will be opening with a few original compositions of our own. Those of you who came to the Karen Shropshire Memorial Fund Concert at the shopping center last May heard several of these folks perform. This will be a great show. I hope we can fill the hall! Be sure to call ahead to the MACC for the "cheap seats"!

God speed, John Glenn

 
50 years ago today, one of my life heroes, John Glenn became the first American in orbit. This man, now 90 years old, served his country as a combat pilot in WWII and the Korean War, then as one of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts. He went on to a distinguished career as a US Senator. He capped this career when he was the oldest man to fly in space when he joined a space shuttle mission in 1998. He is still active and healthy and married to his childhood sweetheart, Annie. Please check out this video about his amazing first mission in space: John Glenn, First American in Orbit

Tarzan, the musical at CCA

After you've planned on seeing "The Butler Did It , Again" at the MACC, don’t miss the premiere of Disney’s newest theatrical extravaganza, “Tarzan”, at the Center for Creative Arts.  CCA is one of four high schools around the country chosen by Disney to premier this show. It is a Hamilton County magnet school for the arts and includes students from all over Hamilton County, including the Signal Mountain area. Disney officials will be on hand for opening night.  The show is based on Disney’s animated film of the same name. 

The show stars senior, David Couter, as Tarzan.  Couter recently won recognition as the best high school actor in Tennessee at a competition held during the Tennessee State Theater Convention.  Co-staring as Jane is Brittni Rhodes, who won a Chattanooga Theater Center Miss Annie award last year for her performance as Penny Pingleton in “Hairspray”.  In addition to a dynamite cast and choreography by Lindsey Fussell, Tarzan will swing through the jungle with the help of the well know rigging company, Flying by Foy.

The show opens Thursday, February 16^th and runs through Saturday the 18^th with shows at 7:00 PM each evening.  Tickets at the door are $5 for students and $10 for adults.  Reserve seats are $15 each and can be obtained by calling 209-5942.

The Butler Did It Again - photo!

As promised, here is a photo of the cast of "The Butler Did It Again":

Back row:  Lee Abelson, Keith Colllins, Tim Forsythe, Don Strickland, Rob Inman, Eric Schubert

 

Front row:  Kendra Gross, Shandra Burnett, Janet McInturff, Sandy McCrea, DeDe Young, Anne Roza.

to be presented February 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, and 25
at the Mountain Arts Community Center.
Tickets available at the door of each nights performance
or from the MACC office between the hours of 9-2 and 4-8 week days
at $12.00 per person. For group reservations call 886-5243.

"The Butler Did It Again" by Signal Mountain Playhouse at the MACC in February

The Signal Mountain Playhouse will be presenting their winter play this February. Here is a synopsis: 


The Butler Did It, Again! is a murder mystery spoof with thinly disguised characters from the classic murder mystery genre.  There's Miss Maple, a faux Miss Marple; Mrs. Danvers, the despised housekeeper in Daphne du Maurie's Rebecca; Rick and Laura Carlyle, based on the charming Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man; Chandler Marlowe, a combination of the famous mystery writer, Raymond Chandler, and the detective he created, Philip Marlowe; Louie Fan, a knock-off Charlie Chan; Tony Tallchief, based on native-American novelist, Tony Hillerman; and Ruth Dice, loosely based on Anne Rice, the queen of the vampire tale.  This group gathers for a weekend mystery party in an old Louisiana manse.  Unexpected guests, petty jealousies, and an escaped sanatorium patient set the stage for comedic catastrophe.  


Performances are at the 
Mountain Arts Community Center, 
809 Kentucky Ave., 
Signal Mountain 


every Friday and Saturday night from February 10th through the 25th.  Tickets are $12 at the door, which includes coffee and dessert prior to curtain.  Dessert service begins at 6:45 PM with curtain at 8:00.  For more information go onlline to www.smph.org or call 886-5243.


The cast consists of many of your local favorites: 


Characters                                                                     Actors
Jane Doe - Attractive young woman                               Shandra Burnett
Chips - Family servant                                                    Keith Collins
Miss Maple - Dowager                                                   Janet McInturff
Mrs. Danvers - Sinister housekeeper                               Anne Roza
Linda Hayes - Fashion model                                          Kendra Gross
Chandler Marlowe - Tough private eye                            Rob Inman
Rick Carlyle - Debonair                                                   Don Strickland
Laura Carlyle - sophisticated                                            Sandy McCrea
Tony Tallchief - Western writer                                        Tim Forsythe
Louie Fan - ala Charlie Chan                                           Eric Schubert
Father White - English Vicar                                            Lee Abelson
Ruth Dice - Vampire writer                                              DeDe Young


I've been promised a "sneak peek" of photos soon, so keep watching my blog for more!

The Future of Signal Mountain

In spite of my affinity for Calvin and Hobbes, I would like to resolve to blog more. This being an election year, I expect I will venture forth into national issues, however for now I'd like to discuss a place near and dear to my heart... Signal Mountain. As I have said before, I wasn't born here, but my daughter was... I wasn't raised here but my son was. I have lived in this community for over 18 years, longer than I've lived any place before. I have a great desire to see Signal Mountain continue to be a great place to live.

Growth continues to be a major issue for Signal Mountain. However, in spite of those who still worry about "unbridled" growth in the area, the facts (based on census data) are that the town is not growing at all and is probably shrinking. While some may find this a good thing, the recent tax increase passed by the Town Council shows the downside of our town's current policy. I have used my experience as a biologist and physician to guide my approach to town policy. I have in the past compared town growth to human growth. When our children are young, we all want to see them grow to be big and strong, but once mature, future growth can manifest as obesity or cancer. Thus a town has to be careful not to grow in an uncontrolled manner, metastasizing all over the countryside and dying from the center out. However, like in all science one cannot oversimplify. The reality is that even in maturity we are not stagnant. We must continually grow just to replace our body's dead cells and we should be continually focusing on nutrition and exercise so we grow healthy and build muscle, not fat. So, now that I've beat this analogy to death, we cannot allow our town to stagnate.  

When I joined the Town Council in 2006, we started on a growth plan that I thought we could complete in my four year term. First was to be a new Land Use Plan which we completed in my first year. We next planned to rewrite our town's zoning based on that Land Use Plan which was based on the progressive, environmentally responsible conservation development principles of Randall Arendt. We soon realized that we also need to rewrite our subdivision regulations as part of this process. We began this in early 2008 and have yet to finish. I have heard that the subdivision regulations are finished, after four years, but it is not clear if they have been formally adopted yet. They certainly aren't on the town's website and, if there have been major announcements of public hearings on these regs, I certainly haven't seen them and I do try to pay attention. At any rate, the truly "heavy lifting" of rewriting the zoning regulations has not even begun. I'm not optimistic about the outcome of this since the Planning Commission and Town Council's majority have long since rejected Mr. Arendt and his principles.

So, moving forward what is the vision for the town? This is a big year for our town. It is an election year and three positions (Lusk, Allen and Wallace) will be up for re-election. Also, at the end of the year we will grow through the process of annexation which was finalized a year ago. The neighborhoods of Fox Run and Windtree will both join our town. While this will bring some new income, it also brings expenses and the net effect is fairly minimal (about an extra $100,000 per year, if I recall, worth about 5 cents in property taxes). However, the true advantage of adding these neighborhoods is the addition of the intangible assets of these citizens, their talents and brain power. I find this most exciting of all.

This brings up an issue that I think needs discussion. I have heard discussed the idea of moving to having electoral districts in Signal Mountain. Red Bank and, I believe East Ridge (along with Chattanooga, of course) have district elections. As we expand not only in population, but more importantly in geography, it seems like a good time to start thinking about the idea of assuring representation of all areas of the town. I'd like to toss this out as a discussion point and hope to expand on it later. In all honesty, I don't know exactly what would be involved legally, but the first step is to decide if it is something to pursue. I would encourage my readers to consider commenting on this issue (or any issue) on this blog. If you prefer, you can email me (paulmhmd@comcast.net) and I will post your email as a comment if you give me permission.

Finally, I don't think it is premature to realize that our fair town will be 100 years old in 2019. That seems like a long time off, but it would be nice to consider starting some community based discussion on how we would like to celebrate our centennial.

So, our future can be bright, but we need to seize it and make positive decisions. We can determine what kind of future Signal Mountain will have. If you wonder if this is important, just go ask your kids!

Happy New Year!

I want to wish all my friends and family a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Paul

Christmas greetings

Merry Christmas 

and a 

Happy and Peace-filled New Year

from the Hendricks family

Community Service and Town Boards

I need to return to the topic of town politics again. Our town is served by many voluntary advisory boards. These are all staffed by community volunteers and are all non-paid. This honorable service has been unfortunately turned into a cynical political process by the current Council majority. One of my goals when I was elected to the council was to improve the process of appointments to boards to increase participation. I originated a new board ordinance which put all boards into one place in the town code for easy reference and attempted to standardize the process of appointments and terms of service. I also initiated the concept of "council liaisons" which would be a point person on the council for each board to facilitate communication. I had hoped to make it much easier for citizens to participate in town government and to get a broader range of views represented.

I have recently been told that a council member (Annette Allen, who is the liaison to the Parks Board) has asked long time Parks Board member Jeff Duncan to remove himself from consideration for reappointment so she can put forth a favored candidate. I don't know that there has been any public discussion or vote on this, though confess I am not an attendee at council meetings and am still doing some research on this. Jeff is a PhD biologist who works for the National Park Service and has been a long time member of the Parks Board. His qualifications are without question ideal for that board. However, he has had the audacity to oppose Ms. Allen's pet project of turning over the rights to town park lands to a private non-profit land trust (on which Dr. Duncan sits as a board member) to prevent future Councils from having any say-so in their future use. He did this in a very well considered essay that I have published and which also appeared in the Community News. It should be noted that, while the goal of opening up a position for someone new was apparently used as an excuse, the Parks Board was recently expanded from 5 to 7 members and there is a consideration to expand the MACC Board from 7 to 11, so there are clearly other mechanisms to increase participation.

This is not an isolated or new occurence. After I was elected mayor, one of my first responsibilities was to appoint two members to the Planning Commission. At that time, the Planning Commission was the only board where the mayor had full authority to make appointments. This was based on a state law which was subsequently changed by the majority on the town council (a change that only applied to Signal Mountain) to eliminate any authority by the mayor to make any independent decisions. Nonetheless, all appointments that I made were made with the input and agreement of the council and all were confirmed by unanimous votes by the Council. My first appointment was an attempt to broaden the viewpoint and balance the involvement on the Planning Commission by using the two openings to both re-appoint a sitting member, Wells Blake and also to appoint a member of the "Recall" Faction to the commission to represent those views. I appointed Melissa Cantrell. This was an attempt at balance and fairness and seeking a diversity of opinions.

Since then, the appointment process has gradually evolved into a very political one. It rapidly became apparent to me that appointments to the boards would only pass if the appointees held views acceptable to the majority. There were many examples of this: Dan Saieed, former chairman of the Planning Commission requested to be re-appointed. Although I had full authority to do this on my own, Dan, being a man of honor, said he only wanted re-appointment if he had the support of the council. This was after a very successful process of developing a new land-use plan one year after we all were elected or appointed. I informed the council of his request and was met with a torrent of insults and attacks on Mr. Saieed. When I asked for substantiation accusations by the other four on the council of inappropriate conduct by Mr. Saieed, I was given none. When I reviewed his record and informed the council that I found no record of any wrong conduct, I was met with silence. Nonetheless, when I told Dan that he did not have the Council's support, he withdrew his name.

Later, Greg Goodgame asked for reappointment. Greg had served on the Design Review Commission for several years, was the Chair of the commission and had been a regular attendee of Council meetings. Unfortunately, he had also run for Town Council and opposed the recall. After initially agreeing to reappoint Mr. Goodgame, the Council tabled his application in a regular public Monday night meeting then later rejected his appointment at one of our weekday "agenda meetings" when no public was present. Again, accusations were made that he had not fulfilled his responsibilities in re-writing both design review regulations and a new sign ordinance in the previous year. I didn't know all the workings of the DRC for my first two years on the Council.  Bill Lusk has served as liaison and had apparently never attended a meeting. I became liaison and forwarded a request from the DRC for help in drafting these new ordinances. This led to the hiring of an outside design firm (KRW) to help with the design ordinances. Now, two or more years later I don't believe either of these ordinances have been finalized. Nonetheless, Greg was booted out of his volunteer position for having had the temerity of opposing the majority of the council on the recall.

Another instance was the removal of Wells Blake from the Planning Commission. Susan Robertson accused him of using his position for personal gain (again, in an "agenda meeting" when Wells was not present to defend himself). The fact that the ethics and organization of his occupation as an appraiser prevented any such activity was apparently lost on her, but she attacked and removed him anyway. Mrs. Robertson was also found abusing her "liaison" role in picking and choosing which candidates to even present to the Council for consideration. At one meeting she announced that she and the Tree Board chair had decided which individuals to appoint to the Tree Board. When I asked her at which public meeting this decision had been made and by whom, Mr. Long, the Tree Board chair honorably acknowledged that they had essentially violated the Open Meetings Law by making these decisions in private and apologized (though Mrs. Robertson did not). She later told me in private that the other candidates were unacceptable to her and she had applied her own criteria to weed them out, though provided no specifics.

I find this effort of stuffing the various town boards with political supporters and friends of the majority on the council to be an unfortunate turn for the town. I think that increasing participation should involve adding alternative opinions to broaden the views of the council. These are supposed to be "advisory" councils, not rubber-stamps for the previously decided views of the council. I hope that, in this fall's election, the board selection process will be brought forward as an important issue for the town.

Serving your community

One of the greatest strengths of the Signal Mountain community is the history of volunteerism of its citizens. Maybe that's why they call Tennessee "The Volunteer State"? Ya think? Anyway, I have been fortunate to learn of many of the great service organizations on "the mountain" and have even served with a few. I would like highlight some of them.

I recently joined the Signal Mountain Lion's Club. You may know them as those guys with the funny yellow vests who serve BBQ on Fourth of July and Labor Day. However, the Lion's Club is an international organization with a history of service dating to its founding in 1917. That was the year that Chicago businessman Melvin Jones formed the national Lion's Club, based on some local "Lion's clubs" already formed in 1916. In 1920, the Lion's Club went "international" with formation of the first Canadian club. In 1925, Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become her "knights of the blind in the crusade against blindness" which began the Lion's well known connection to sight-related services.Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization. We have 1.35 million members in more than 46,000 clubs worldwide. Lions are everywhere. We're active in more than 206 countries and geographic areas.

The Signal Mountain Lion's Club is over 50 years old. We have a dinner meeting at 6:30pm every 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the dining room at the Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC). In addition to vision screening and other sight services, we are known for our BBQ picnics every July 4th and Labor Day and for sponsoring fireworks at the July 4th BBQ. We sponsor a Leo Club for youth at Signal Mountain High School. While our current membership leans towards the male persuasion, we are a "coed" organization and are actively recruiting ladies to join. So, if you're looking for a great opportunity for service and fellowship and some fine dining, give the Lion's Club a visit. You can find more information at the follow websites: 

http://signalmountainlionsclub.com/

 And here's a great presentation about the local club: http://signalmountainlionsclub.com/documents/lions-club-orientation.pdf. 

Finally, Here is info on the international organization: 

 http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/about-lions/fast-facts.php

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Jazz Champagne Brunch and Sunday on Signal

Just wanted to give you one more chance to enjoy a great brunch at Sweet Gipsy on James Blvd. Jennifer Verville has provided a great dining experience serving her special Sweet Gipsy French Toast (you just have to taste it), Southern Breakfast Casserole, crispy bacon, ham biscuits, steamed asparagus, curried tomatoes, fresh cut fruit, hashbrown casserole and assorted breakfast breads (I can personally vouch for the scones and chocoloate croissants!). Adults can sample delicious Mimosa drinks with orange juice and champagne. All of this and great entertainment by Dana Rogers. What more can you ask for $20 ($10 for kids), all benefitting the MACC Foundation.

So come on over to Sweet Gipsy after church (from 10-2pm), then go do some local shopping for the last day of Sunday on Signal. The weather's beautiful, hope you'll be there!

Sunday on Signal and the Jazz Brunch



As you should already know, this weekend is Sunday on Signal, both Saturday and Sunday! Details on the sales and events can be found at the Mountain Business Association's website: http://signalmba.com/. The MACC Foundation is hosting a Jazz Brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10am-2pm at Sweet Gypsie's on James Blvd. Price is $20 for adults and $10 for children. All proceeds will benefit the Mountain Arts Community Center. Dana Rogers will be providing the entertainment. You can find out more about Dana at her website: Dana Rogers music .