Longtime nurse and healthcare manager Jinger Loggins, has been named the new Executive Director at Cumberland Ridge Assisted Living in Crossville.
She officially assumed her new duties on March 3, 2012.
Cumberland Ridge, located at 458 Wayne Avenue, is one of the premier senior service facilities in the Upper Cumberland region, which opened in 1997. It is owned by Wyndridge Health Systems and is located on the same campus as Wyndridge Health and Rehabilitation Center and the Center for Outpatient Therapy.
Jinger is a 1977 graduate of Cumberland County High School. She received her B.S. of Nursing from Berea College and a MBA in Healthcare Management from AIU.
She is the daughter of Kenneth and Doris Parsons, both of Crossville.
Jinger’s nursing experience has all been in Cumberland County. Most recently, she served as Cumberland Medical Center’s Vice President of Quality Patient Safety and Accreditation at Cumberland Medical Center. She has worked in Acute Care, Long-term care and Home Health Care in her thirty years since becoming a Registered Nurse.
When asked about how she enjoys here new job, Jinger said, “Working with the residents has give me such a sense of satisfaction and joy. I never thought I wanted to live to be 100+ years of age, but now I think that would be awesome. There are so many active residents at this facility, and they just have lots of fun. Everyday is wonderful.”
Jinger has two children; Lacy Loggins-Burk is a graduate student at Tennessee Tech University; Will works in the golf industry as manager of Fairways & Greens, Knoxville’s premier practice facility. Both played high school golf in Cumberland County.
Deadline for Senior Olympics
The entry deadline for the 2012 Senior Olympics is April 20. Peggy Houston is the District Coordinator. Entry forms and fees can be mailed or hand delivered to Fair Park Senior Center, 1433 Lvingston Road, Crossville, TN 38571. The basic entry fee is $25, with additional fees applicable in some sports. Checks can be made payable to Fair Park Senior Center.
Olympic events include track & field, bowling, swimming, tennis, pickleball, table tennis, team softball, shuffleboard, basketball, horseshoes, and more. There are individual events and team events. Whatever you call your specialty, most likely there is a category for it.
The Upper Cumberland District, of which Cumberland is a part, includes 13 other middle Tennessee counties. They are: Cannon, Clay, Dekalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, Van Buren, Warren and White.
This year’s District Recognition Luncheon will be hosted by Fairfield Glade Conference Center on June 11 at 11 a.m. The Awards Luncheon is sponsored by the Upper Cumberland Area Agency on Aging and Disability, Progressive Savings Bank, The Rains Agency, Cravens & Company, and VolFirst/ Ben Lomand.
For info about the Senior Olympics, including competition categories, visit www.tnseniorolympics.com
I would like to encourage golfers, bowlers, pickleball, horseshoe pitchers and all kinds of athletes to get involved in this great event. Although most events will be held in Crossville, including golf, all track and field events will be held at Tennessee Tech, with swimming events to be held at the YMCA in Cookeville. Bowling will be held at Plateau Lanes in Crossville and Bowling World in Cookeville .
Cumberland Ridge visit
While at Cumberland Ridge to interview Jinger Loggins for a story, I went to visit my church sister and friend Glendon Edmonds, who had been there for only a few days. “I love it here,” Glenden said. “I am not lonesome anymore.” Glendon is 95 years old and is one of the sharpest knives in the drawer. Her back is straight and mind is clear, and I love her. We had a great visit. She has a very nice room with four large windows that brought in tons of sunshine, which anyone would like. After a good 40-minute visit, I had to get back to work. Glendon went back to the exercise room to finish her workout. If you have an elderly friend who is either shut in at home or in a nursing home or living center, give them the best gift possible, go sit with them and talk. Nothing you buy in a store can compare.
Wonderful production at CCP
I don’t claim to be a show or movie reviewer. I am at my best reviewing food and restaurants, but I know what I like, and I have a good ear for music. The production of Sound of Music, which just ended a successful run, was AWESOME! I took my family to see it in mid-March and have spent every day telling people about it. It was wonderful. I have been singing those songs ever since.
Lindy Pendzick was just wonderful in the lead role as Maria. Brenda Frye, as Mother Abbess, was equally impressive in this the final collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein. Stephen Len White, a Memphis native, made his Playhouse debut as Captain von Trapp. These three performers made this one of my all time favorites at the Playhouse. I am sorry that its run has ended. April 6 was its final day.
Amphitheater time coming
With warm temps here, people will start wanting to use the new Spirit Broadband Amphitheatre. Just a reminder, that The Palace Theatre handles the booking and performance calendar for the Amphithreatre. So, if you want to book it for a day, a night or a weekend, you must call The Palace at 484-6133, or email them at [email protected].
Mrs. Ellie’s poem book is out
Our marketing company, Napier Media Services, just finished publishing a poem book for Fairfield Glade resident Ellie Gustin. “A Smattering of Rhyme,” is a book of poetry by the long-time Cumberland County resident. This is the second printing for this book, updated with a some new poems. It is illustrated by her granddaughter, Danielle Gustin, a fine commercial artist. Mrs. Gustin is donating all proceeds from the sale of the book to Shepherd’s Little Flock Christian Day Care, located at 1461 Sparta Highway in Crossville. To reserve your copy, call Ellie at 484-9195, or the Daycare office at 707-0508.
A Tennessee newspaper pioneer
Recently I wrote a story that appeared in The Tennessee Tribune, a Nashville newspaper that delivers the news every week to Middle Tennessee’s black community. It is owned and operated by Rosetta Miller-Perry. I learned of Mrs. Miller-Perry and her newspaper several years ago, and I have always been an admirer. She and I share a similar path in our early careers.
Twenty-one years ago, at age of 56, Rosetta Miller-Perry decided the African-American community needed a newspaper of its own. The big banks in Nashville didn’t like the idea and wouldn’t loan money for the venture, so she put up $70,000 of her own money and went to work.
Fifteen years earlier in 1976, I was looking for investment money to start my first newspaper. I was young and also was unable to borrow the money. I had to find another way to realize my dream. I know what Mrs. Miller-Perry went through and respect her perseverance.
Today, she continues to publish The Tennessee Tribune, where she is surrounded by the significance of her last 20 years on Jefferson Street. Certificates of appreciation, awards and trophies help define the gratitude from the community. “We inform the community about the good things of African-American life. We don’t do the drug scene, we don’t write about crime, we only write about positive things,” Miller-Perry said.
The library of archived papers preach the importance of the past. Samples include a Bill Cosby visit to Fisk University and reminders of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s time in Nashville.
But, the past is just part of her focus. “You must be proud of who you are, what you’re doing and where you’re going,” she said. Miller-Perry has been an achiever all her life. She is a mother of three, including a U.S. Navy veteran, and a law school graduate.
Oh, the story I wrote for The Tennessee Tribune? An article about Earl Lloyd, one of Crossville’s most famous residents.
Band of Brothers
If you have not seen the BAND OF BROTHERS, a mini-series that comes in 10 episodes, I highly recommend it. Based on the best-seller by Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army.
Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers’ journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of those men who knew extraordinary bravery. They were an elite rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden.
I had seen bits and pieces of it, until my great friend Oscar Elmore loaned me his 6-Disc collection. It dominated my life for about two weeks. I found it difficult to think of anything else. It is so real! It seems more like a documentary than a movie. After each episode ends, interviews with the real people made you start to associate the actors with the real people.
My father and my father-in-law were both World War II veterans, and seeing this series causes me to dwell upon what their service life was like.
You can order this film online, from Amazon.com.
Former resident dies
I learned recently, that a good friend of mine, Dr. Tom Clark, had died. Dr. Clark , a Dentist, was a native of Crossville. He lived most of his professional life in Sparta. After retirement, he moved to Fairfield Glade, where I became acquainted with him. Later he moved to Florida, then back to Chattanooga, where he was living at the time of his death. Graveside memorial services were to be held in Sparta on April 15. He was a great guy who never met a stranger.
