Legacy Members Party
Story and Photos By Rebecca Hendrix.
“The 50th Committee would like to thank those that came out for the Legacy Party/Interviews on May 19. Also, special thanks to Katie Larue and Jim Ledbetter for opening their home to us, and to John Kern and Stacy Stone, thank you for conducting the interviews. Keep checking the club website tvccpaddler.com for upcoming info on the 50th celebration in September including registration for the 50th Event/Meal and for the Down River Hiwassee Race.”
A Little Bit of History
The following provided by John Hubbard.
Ocoee River Dam #2 TVCC legacy and current member Barnett Williams came to the gathering at Jim and Katie’s house to share his memories and pictures with current and past members. Below is a nice picture he has of the Ocoee #2 dam, the one at the middle put in taken many years ago (darn, I forgot to ask the year). Do you recognize it? What is different about the dam then and the dam today?
The answer is the slope of the dam as viewed with the water flow turned off. It is straight down, not sloped. You are seeing the dam the way it was originally built. Barnett explained that the vertical drop of the water was slowly, slowly eroding the base of the dam. To solve the problem, TVA back filled this side of the dam with rubble to create a slope and then covered the rubble with the asphalt layer we see today. Another interesting fact Barnett related was that when the flow through the sluice next to the dam was optimal, raft guides would run rafts through the sluice. I guess the TVA police were more tolerant back then. That is not a fuzzy rainbow over the dam that you see. It is glare from the glossy print caught by my phone. I’m glad I attended the event.
TVCC and TSRA Members Do A Slalom Race On The Hiwassee River. The guess is that this race occurred in the 1980s (or maybe late 70s) in the early days of TVCC and TSRA. TVCC is 50 years old in 2017 and TSRA is one year older. Below is the t-shirt for the race and the layout of the course as developed by Don Bodley, one of TVCC’s founding members and first president. And now I can’t remember who to give credits to for providing the shirt and course design that I took with my phone.
We are still collecting photos and videos until July 1, 2017.
The TVCC 50th Anniversary Committee is seeking photos, videos, from TVCC’s early years for a video documentary
If you have footage or photos you think could be included, here are your options:
If you have photographs or videos not already digitized, they can be delivered to Katie Larue at Gordons Cleaners, 315 N. Market Street, right across from the Northshore Publix. We would prefer to handle the digitizing process, and assure we’ll get your originals back to you safely. TXT Katie in advance, at 423-624-7584.
If your photos or videos are already digitized, you can
Email them to ilovecoleslaw@gmail.com, or
upload them directly here: https://drive.google.com/
View the Trailer for our TVCC 50th Anniversary documentary here: https://vimeo.com/195062997
Direct any questions to Katie Larue or Rebecca Hendrix, 50th Anniversary co-Chairs, (Katie: ktlarue@icloud.com or Rebecca: southernbelle63@hotmail.com). Thank you!
We are also seeking club newsletters, newspapers clipping, and member rosters from the early years. If you have anything stashed away, contact John Hubbard at preferred contact 423.432.9748