Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Career Fair TOMORROW!

A career fair will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) for those interested here in Smyrna.
Tennessee and Rutherford County continue to see unemployment rates fall from the heights of the Great Recession. 
Motlow College’s Smyrna Center wants to tap into that growth by holding its inaugural Career Fair from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday at 5002 Motlow College Blvd., in Smyrna. The event is sponsored by the Smyrna Center in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
This looks like it would be a good place to hunt for a job. Make plans on being there.

Should it be making that sound?

A local church is hosting a car maintenance workshop for women ages 16 and up.

This is an event being held at the Lifepoint Stewarts Creek Campus on Saturday March 29th from 9am - 11am.
For all women, ages 16 and up. Think of young drivers, college girls, women of all ages. Childcare provided up to 5th grade.
It is a Car Care Maintenance Workshop. There will be car care technicians teaching women about how to check their oil, tire pressure, change a tire.
Games played. Prizes be won.
Registration at lifepointchurch.org/women

click to enlarge



Monday, March 24, 2014

Sorry

I need to extend an apology to readers Tracy Warrick and Chasity Ridgeway. I ask for our readers to submit events and happenings around town so I can post them. The last two months I have had to put on the sidelines several things I normally did faithfully and in the midst of life updating This is Smyrna ended up lost. I'd remember ever once in a while when I saw an interesting event or something, but checking emails I saved to post at a later date was forgotten. Because of this two good events did not get posted and I am so sorry.

Things are getting better so I will be able to put into the community and the community site the needed time.

BLOOD DRIVE!!

H&R Block on Sam Ridley is helping host a blood drive and we should thank This is Smyrna reader April Sullivan McArdle for bringing this to my attention.
Hi there! Well be hosting an American Red Cross blood drive at 439 Sam Ridley on April 1st between 2-6 pm. Folks can sign up by calling office number is 220-1912

Blood drives like this are real life savers.

Tennessee Healthcare bus

Respectful commentary only please 
The Tennessee Healthcare bus is in town today and Wednesday for those local who wish to get assistance.

The Tennessee Healthcare bus will be making several stops in Rutherford County before the March 31st deadline to sign-up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. 

Here are the times they will be in Smyrna and other nearby locals.

Monday, March 24, 2014
439 Sam Ridley Parkway, Smryna (11AM-1PM
Shoppes of Rutherford (2955 S. Rutherford Blvd., Murfreesboro) 4-6PM

Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Smyrna Shopping Center (291 N Lowry St., Smyrna) 11AM-1PM
Jackson Heights Plaza (800 NW Broad St., Suite 264, Murfreesboro) 4-6PM

Thursday, March 27, 2014
Stones River Mall (207A Stones River Mall Blvd., Murfreesboro) Noon-2PM

Friday, March 28, 2014
Georgetown Square Shop Center (1772 W Northfield Blvd., Murfreesboro) 11AM-1PM
Innesbrooke Square (2910-D Church St., Murfreesboro) 4-6PM

Friday, March 7, 2014

Other departments

My last post on the issue of the golf course went over like a lead balloon. People commenting on the blog site itself were very vocal, and long winded on their individual views on the subject (take some time and read the comments...they're real good). I had hoped that my column for the week in the Smyrna AM, and its sister column on the ‘This is Smyrna’ pages would give people a different view and some material to think about.

I hope that idea was not a mistake.

The economy sucks. The numbers nation-wide do not look good, and people are sensitive to who (whom?) is taking their money and for what reason. I can understand that. On the issue of the golf course I have heard some rather extreme views about why it is bad, and some reasons why it is good for the community…but mostly bad. I thought, and still do, that the golf course is a minor issue and there might be other issues that need addressing.

In that line of thought I will be doing some irregular posts on different departments of the town of Smyrna. I will compare what was spent several years ago, and what is being spent now. I might even try to compare them to Murfreesboro to give you an idea what a town of 110,000 spends when compared to our town of 40,000 plus. Maybe a more detailed picture is needed for all, and I do include myself here.

I’m not sure what department I will start with, but bear with me people. I hope to learn some stuff in the next few weeks. Maybe the future is not as bleak as it seems.

I might even email some council members to drop by and comment. Our council has not achieved the online presence that the individuals in the LaVergne government has attained. Yes they have FB pages, but engaging on forums is not their strong suit.


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

looking at the golf course

My column this week, to be found in the Smyrna AM at the end of your drive, is about the Smyrna golf course. It just so happens that the golf course and the Town Centre is the subject of FOX 17 Waste Watch.

The Waste Watch video is alright, but they do perform a little sleight of hand trick and throw big numbers out by adding up several years of budgeting. It is good to get a whole view of the subject, but it does make an issue more monstrous for the viewer.

The problem is that I’m not sure how much a problem it really is. I understand it loses money. I suspect that the town baseball diamonds, and soccer fields also do not make enough to cover the cost of running them in tip-top condition. Do we look at the town greenways and wonder if we should make them the first ‘toll’ walkways in Tennessee? I see little $.05 automated security bars scattered about that will not rise unless you drop in a nickel.

Right now a lot of people are suffering tunnel vision as the budget season approaches, and due to that nothing looks more horrible than the golf course. It is an easy target.  As the town manager said in the video “The town manager also points out the city gives breaks to civic groups, non profits, and military members at the town centre and doesn't charge school teams and other kid organizations to use the golf course.    He says they'd all be priced out of private facilities.”

I’ll admit that if Smyrna had another golf course my tune would be different. I would view it as unfair competition against a private business…but we don’t. Because of the lower prices we can have at the golf course many activities that would be prohibited due to cost at other sites.

One item that the Waste Watch did not do, that is a GIANT oversight in my opinion. The Waste Watch people did have a balance of views on, but they did not show a balance of prices. It would have been simple to find out the prices of a round of weekend golf at the Hollingshead run golf course for a mid week and a week end and compare the prices side by side.

So I went and checked out the prices and compared them for you.

Weekday rates
18 Holes (walking)
$26 Cedar Crest Golf Course
$25 Smyrna Golf course ($25 Green Fee)
18 Holes plus golf cart
$34 Cedar Crest Golf Course
$37 Smyrna Golf Course ($25 Green Fee/$12 Cart Fee)

During a weekday trip Smyrna has a dollar savings if you walk, but the rental of the golf cart puts Cedar Quest slightly ahead with a 3 dollar savings.

Weekend rates
18 Holes (walking)
$32 Cedar Crest Golf Course
$28 Smyrna Golf Course ($28 Green Fee)
18 Holes plus golf cart
$40 Cedar Crest Golf Course
$40 Smyrna Golf Course ($28 Green Fee/$12 Cart Fee)

Smyrna seems the place to go if you wish to stretch your legs as you save $4 for 18 holes. The prices are the same for ones that need carts.

I did not take the time to break down the discounts offered by Smyrna to seniors and it “doesn't charge school teams and other kid organizations”. I have to admit that I had a niece on one such kid organization and she enjoyed it greatly, and likely would not have been able to participate if the prices were higher. I actually just remembered that fact as I was writing this column.

So what does the prices between a public funded and a public golf course say. Not sure. No one price blows the other out of the water, so unless you plan on running up prices, you have to make big cuts elsewhere.


The golf course issue is NOT going away, but the answers are not easily to see.