By JON WEAVER

VISTA Publisher

FAIRFIELD GLADE – It’s not often you see a Hole-in-One prize taken at a local tournament, but it happened this year for Fairfield Glade’s own Phil Magdich. The story about Phil’s car-winning shot has been chosen as the top news story of the year by the VISTA staff.

Highlighting other top news stories of the year are the election administrator story, the launch of the new VISTA website, AirEvac’s decision to close its Crossville base and the City’s Women’s Open tournament at Stonehenge.

1. Magdich wins Hole-in-One prize at Rotary Club Golf Tourney

Fairfield Glade’s Rotary Club hosted its annual family golf tournament on The Craig at Heatherhurst recently and Phil Magdich came home with one of the biggest prizes ever.

Magdich, playing in the second flight, hit a perfect 5-Wood from 187-yards on the Par 3, No. 4 hole for a hole-in-one. In the process, he walked away with a brand new automobile from Dave Kirk Automotive. Playing in his foursome was wife and Rotarian Deanna Magdich, and Maleah Griffin and Caitlyn Burg — a pair of local high school golfers.

“It felt good when I hit it and I actually saw it go in,” said Magdich. “It’s got to be the best feeling I’ve had in a long time.” It was also his fourth hole-in-one in his long career. But this one had to be “the best.”

Over 96 golfers participated, including FFG Rotarians, family members of Rotarians, boy’s and girl’s high school golfers from Cumberland County and Stone Memorial High Schools, and others. The general consensus was that a great time was had by all.

But Magdich obviously came away with quite a different feeling than everyone else.

Making Magdich’s feat even more spectacular was the fact that Fairfield Glade Director of Golf  Steve Kraft and one of the tournament’s coordinators, indicated how rare a hole-in-one on the special “big prize hole” actually is in golf tournaments.

“I been putting on tournament like this one for over 33 years. In that time, I’ve handled probably over 1,000 tournaments where there was a big prize hole. But this is the very first time I’ve ever had someone in one of my tournaments make a hole-in-one to capture the “big prize,” Kraft noted. “It should give a boost to all our golfers knowing that they do have a legitimate chance.”

In those 1,000-plus tournaments, Kraft, who’s been at FFG for five years, estimated that probably 90,000 to 100,000 or more shots have been taken in an attempt to snare the “big prize.”

Tournament champions:

Winners of the tournament included: Championship Flight Low Gross (Brad Davis and Cody Stone –61 gross/net 56); 1st Flight Low Gross (Tim Wennermark and Marty Wennermark – 65 gross/56 net); 2nd Flight Low Gross (Scott Wennermark and Paul Wennermark – 65 gross/56 net); 3rd Flight Low Gross (Howard Robb and Dawn Robb – 73 gross/63 net).

Low flight net winners included: Championship Flight – Stewart Galloway and Dr. M. Stewart Galloway; 1st Flight– D. J. Shelton and Benton Roberts; 2nd Flight – Tom Williams and Fran Williams; 3rd Flight – Brad Stark and Len Stark.

2. Administrator of Elections ousted amid controversy

Amid a loud, continuous chorus of objections, the new majority of the Cumberland County Election Commission dismissed Administrator Suzanne Smith after 33 years of meritorious service and replaced her with County Commissioner Sharon York, who is totally inexperienced in election procedures and practices.

This set the stage for a contentious and fiery meeting at the Election Office Wednesday, April 22.  The events that created such a meeting began last November, when the Republican party of Tennessee achieved a majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives, a first in more than 100 years.

As a result, a decision was made by the Republican controlled State Election Commission to replace all administrators who had voted in Democratic primaries with individuals who had voted Republican.  No consideration was given to the performance of these administrators, their tenure, or their impartial non-partisan conduct of office duties.  Also, no criteria was set for the qualifications of the parties who would be named to the position.

Republicans and Democrats filled the Election Office and hallways as newly appointed Commissioners Cal Smart, Tom Henderson and Denver Cole announced their very unpopular decision.  Eric Swafford, the State Representative who appointed the three new commissioners, was conspiculously absent from the meeting, amidst a wide spread feeling he decided not to “take the heat” but let his new appointees do so on his behalf.  Swafford had appointed the three, all of whom are relatively unknown within the county party, in lieu of the three nominees of the County party’s executive committee, which included two current members of the commission.

The newly named commissioners refused to explain the reason for the change, taking the position that “we do not need a reason, but are doing this because we can.”

The commissioners quickly exited the room following their unpopular decisions.  Several in the audience tried to speck in objection to the proceedings and the decision, including former State Senator Annabelle O’Brien.  The commissioners reluctantly allowed Ms. O’Brien to speak but overruled further discussion and debate.  No one in the audience spoke in favor of the decision.

Ed Lewis, Fairfield Glade Republican Club President and a member of the County party’s executive committee, apologized to the audience on behalf of the Republican Party of Cumberland County, emphatically stating the decision was made by a small group of Republicans and did not represent the leadership of the local party.  Lewis also read from several documents which addressed the matter, including a letter to Swafford in January from six elected County officials strongly recommending that Mrs. Smith be retained.

He also referenced a recent decision by the state Attorney General’s office which concluded that “a court could find that the dismissal of a county administrator of elections solely on the basis of political party affiliation constitutes a violation of that individual’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Consitution.”  Lewis also read from a letter from County Attorney James Thompson which stated “….it is my opinion a public employee can not be dismissed from a job he or she is satisfactorily performing based solely on that employee’s voting in a particular party primary or for the sole reason of their party affiliation.”

Smith also addressed the audience, thanking them for their friendship and support.  Future courses of action in this matter are unknown.

3. VISTA unveils new website

Visit www.fairfieldgladevista.com a for time sensitive exclusive offer

The Fairfield Glade VISTA today announces the culmination of longtime plans to unveil an internet website.

The new site contains material from the latest edition of the newspaper, archived stories from past issues, a state of the art “live” weather feature, and late-breaking news as situations dictate, publisher Jon Weaver said.

“We’ve planned on having an internet edition for some time, and we are now ready for visitors,” Weaver said. “We invite everyone to go to ‘www.fairfieldgladevista.com’ and check out our site. There is a limited time exclusive offer for our web visitors.”

In addition to the weekly news, sports and features that appear in the newsprint edition, the VISTA website will also feature live information from a local weather station recently installed at the VISTA office on Peavine Road.

The purpose of the weather feature, sponsored by Ken Purvis Real Estate, is to check on current conditions and precipitation totals. Wind direction, humidity, pressure and dew point are other features of the weather station.

“A lot of people go the internet for current weather conditions, but to this point there has not been a truly ‘local’ weather feed,” said Weaver. “Fairfield Glade conditions on various websites have always been online statistics from somewhere like the Crossville Airport,” Weaver said. “The information on our website will be from a station located at our office. All our local serious weather followers should enjoy this feature, which will be automatically updated almost constantly.”

4. Air Evac Lifeteam to close Crossville base

Area members of Air Evac Lifeteam received a surprise letter in their mailbox April 16, as the air medical transport company, which has had a base in Crossville since early 2005, announced that the Crossville base on South Main Street will close in late May and the helicopter and crew will be transferred to another Air Evac location.

The Crossville base and crew currently are responsible for the following counties:  Cumberland, White, Putnam, Overton, Morgan, Roane, Rhea and Bledsoe and share coverage of Fentress county with the Albany, Kentucky base.

The letter, dated April 13, mailed from the company’s home office in West Plains, Missouri, read as follows:

“Dear Member:

As a valued member and supporter of Air Evac Lifeteam, we want to make you aware that we will close the Crossville air ambulance base in May 2009 as part of an effort to better utilize resources to help other rural communities in need of air medical transport.

The region served by the Crossville crew since 2005 is also served by Air Evac Lifeteam bases in McMinn County, TN, Coffee County, TN and Albany, KY.  After studying the area, we’ve determined that our company can best utilize its resources in other rural communities that are not fortunate enough to have access to emergency air medical services.

We understand that although the Crossville area is still being served by other Air Evac Lifeteam bases, there may be some concern among members who purchased memberships with the understanding that Air Evac had an aircraft and crew based in their community.  We hope you will remain an Air Evac member knowing that your membership is valid in all of Air Evac’s service area in 14 states.  As a member, you are covered for all medical transports flown by Air Evac for life- or limb-threatening medical emergencies if the flight originates from any of our 83 bases.  In addition, for members who live in Cumberland, Putnam, White and Morgan counties only, we have made arrangements at our own expense to have their current Air Evac Lifeteam membership honored until its next renewal date by both the UT Lifestar and the Erlanger LifeForce air ambulance programs.

If you are not satisfied with the additional air ambulance coverage we have arranged for, we will be making refunds available to those members who live in Cumberland, Putnam, Morgan and White county only.  If you would like to inquire about a refund, please call our membership department at 1-800-793-0010 or send us a letter indicating you would like a refund.  Correspondence should be sent to Air Evac Lifeteam,  P.O. Box 270, West Plains, MO 65775.

We thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

(Signature) Seth Myers

President,

Air Evac Lifeteam”

5. Golf Capital of Tennessee Women’s Open coming to Stonehenge in July

At a press conference held at Legend’s Restaurant in Fairfield Glade on Feb. 3, The Tennessee Golf Association announced that the 2009 Women’s Open would be played at Stonehenge Golf Course, July 15-18.

The tournament, officially known as The Golf Capital of Tennessee Women’s Open, has been held at Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain since locating in Crossville in 2003. For the second straight year, The City of Crossville will serve as the sponsor of the event. “We are extremely proud to partner with Fairfield Glade Community Club to bring this prestigious tournament to Stonehenge Golf Course, the flagship course in Cumberland County and one of the primary reasons we are known as the Golf Capital of Tennessee,” said Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham, III. “We look forward to a long and successful tenure here.”

“This year’s tournament will kick-off with the traditional Pro-Am on Wednesday, July 15. This is an opportunity for local players and tournament supporters to get to play with some of the top up-and-coming pros in the country,” Graham said. The 54-hole tournament gets underway on Thursday morning with a cut coming after the second day, with the top 60 players coming back for Saturday’s final round.

Up until this year, the Pro-Am took place on Monday, and the tournament was played on Tuesday and Wednesday. The move to a Saturday final is expected to have a positive impact on the attendance. Forty to fifty pros will be part of the 100+ players who will ascend on Stonehenge for the Open, which is one of Tennessee’s most prestigious championships. This event has been turning out a Women’s Open Champion since 1999.

Stonehenge will present a solid challenge to the field as the 6,549 yard, par 72 layout, has a reputation not only as one of Tennessee’s most beautiful courses, but also as one of the toughest. Opened in 1986, Stonehenge Golf Club existed as a public golf course, located in the center of Fairfield Glade. Immediately after it opened, Golf Digest called it the top new resort golf course in the country, with its bent grass tees, fairways and greens making it different from any golf course in the world. Over the years, Stonehenge maintained it’s reputation, being named the state’s top public course year after year until it’s sale to Fairfield Glade Community Club last year.

The Tennessee Women’s Open has grown over the years to the point where it is attracting players from all over the country. The 2008 tournament drew players from 15 states and two foreign countries. Marci Turner, the two-time All-SEC, All-America golfer at the University of Tennessee (2005-2007), shot a 220 (+4) to take home the first place money last year as the low professional. Turner is from tiny Tompkinsville, Ky.

The Bear Trace course played very long last year, due in part to the wet weather, but locals know that Stonehenge will present problems of its own. Players do walk in this tournament, even though some player shuttling will be required.

The move to Stonehenge seems to be a win-win situation for all involved. The Tournament Director will be Dori Webb of TGA and the Tournament Chairman will be Jean St. Charles. The TGA will work with FGCC Golf Director Steve Kraft and Stonehenge Head Pro Warren Huddleston on all details as they relate to the championship including: course set-up, recruitment of rules officials, pace of play, hole location sheet, starting times and groupings, results, acceptance of entry applications, course marking, tents, tables, starter boxes, scoreboard posters, signage, etc.

The 2009 Tennessee Women’s Open Championship is open to Tennessee female amateurs, female amateurs from bordering states, and female professionals .The championship takes place over three rounds, 54 holes of stroke play. The final round is cut to the lowest 60 players and any ties for 60th place. The Champion has her name engraved on the Tennessee Open Trophy and receives a crystal award. The low professional receives a prize check from the title sponsor, The City of Crossville.

For more information about this tournament, please contact the Tennessee Golf Association at (615) 790-7600.