April 2025 Employee of the Month Jimmy Nease

The April Employee of the Month is Jimmy Nease. Jimmy has been a part of the Jonesborough Team for over 35 years; yes, over 35 years. Jimmy received 2 nominations for this month’s award which demonstrates the quality and quantity of his work.

Jimmy is always eager to help and keeps his fellow co-workers in mind constantly; taking the time to train them, show them anything and everything about our Town’s water system. One of his nominations read that he has a very initiative-taking approach to his work so that not only is he early to work and ready to get a jump start on tasks, but he is also volunteering to work on call and overtime. He is basically on standby all the year as his knowledge of water distribution is amazing; he is a human GIS map for the placement on lines and values in our system.

During the flood, Jimmy showed his leadership skills as he directed crews to locate water lines, shutting off lines, valves, and hydrants. His locating and repairing main line leaks are vital to maintaining our water system. As Jimmy is responsible for value maintenance, he does it with a friendly demeanor and is always offering a helping hand to other departments whenever an emergency arises.

Jimmy Nease, our April Employee of the Month, goes above and beyond and gives 100% in everything he does for the Town.

Thank you, Jimmy! You are appreciated!

March 2025 Employee of the Month Morgan Rogers

I would like to nominate Morgan Rogers for Employee of the Month. Morgan works as the Options Counselor for the Senior Center and has worked for the Town for four years. Morgan assists area seniors with services in their home. Meals on Wheels and works to help keep them independent as long as possible. Her job takes her all over Washington and Unicoi County and she is a champion for the underprivileged. Her heart is so ready to help and give back to her community. She does an excellent job working with different agencies to secure services and resources for seniors in need. She helps with getting individuals additional food through partnerships with the First Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability. Human Resource Agency. Good Samaritan, Neighborhood Service Center and area churches. Morgan is a great help at the Senior Center as well, always the first to help the front desk, in the kitchen with meals or when volunteers can’t deliver meals. she is happy to help deliver.

Morgan has a can-do attitude and takes every opportunity to help any senior she can. After the flooding when the Senior Center collected food, Morgan helped with the collection every day and helped deliver food to various churches. The work Morgan does can be very difficult, being in some of the home situations in our area can be discouraging and she handles it with grace. Always showing the upmost respect for those she works with and realizes the limitations of certain situations: she takes that all in stride and works hard to change the things she can. Recently when talking with the staff about their goals for 2025, Morgan shared that her goals were for the Senior Center to provide more outreach to Bethal Housing, to have some specific events for the residents. She had the idea to use some of the Benevolence funding that we raised from the Christmas trees at Lincoln Park to help the residents of Bethal Housing. With some of that funding, detergent and quarters were provided to each person who lives at Bethel. In February, Morgan completed Understanding Dementia Training seminar to stay current on best practices in working most effectively with individuals and their families dealing with dementia. The Senior Center received a large number of adult briefs that were donated to our center and Morgan worked very hard contacting various agencies to get them to folks who need them most. I appreciate that Morgan always works diligently to get resources to those most in need. I could not be prouder of Morgan and the heart she has for our area seniors. She is an advocate and a champion of people in need. She is someone you want in your corner, and she serves with a giving heart every day. I would like to nominate Morgan Rogers the work she does every day to improve the lives of our seniors.

 

Thank you, Morgan! You are appreciated!

February 2025 Employee of the Month Anne G’Fellers-Mason

Anne G’Fellers-Mason started as the Program Manager for the McKinney Center in December 2023 and has completely embraced every aspect of her job. Anne oversees the Story Initiative Program, which includes the monthly StoryTown Radio Show, the StoryTown Radio Show podcast, the story brigade, and other various projects.

Before being employed by the town, Anne would write monthly sections of the radio show called “Ask the Historian” which would feature historical stories from the area. Now that Anne has stepped into the role of Program Manager, she writes the script for the monthly radio show. She has some assistance from her writer’s group who turn in stories to feature in the radio show. Anne then casts up to twenty-five people in each show to make sure they each have a part that they will excel at. Anne directs the twenty-five-person cast while also being an integral part of the show herself. The radio show is recorded live to play on ETSU WETS and to be produced as a podcast. Anne will produce podcast episodes called “Director’s Cut” for any stories that were submitted but did not make it into the show.

Anne works very hard to make sure everyone in the volunteer cast is happy and that her production crew are a part of the process. I imagine it is difficult to write a hour long script for a show every single month. She also must secure and communicate with the musical acts that perform at each show. The 2024 season was her first full season of producing and directing the radio show. She put tremendous effort into every part of it and the data speaks for itself. The StoryTown Radio Show audience grew by 93% in 2024. Anne had 846 people in attendance of the nine monthly radio shows and sold out the 2024 Soups & Songs fundraiser. Anne worked hard and received $4,000 in sponsorships from 17 sponsors for the 2024 season. Anne raised $4,052.85 from the Soups & Songs fundraiser. StoryTown collected 83 stories in 2024 that included veterans, farmers, Jackson Theater stories, and the “Living Here” exhibit.

Her hard work will continue in 2025 and beyond. We are hosting the 2025 January Radio Show & Gala at the Jackson Theater on January 27th. On January 24th, the 275-ticket show sold out! She has currently received $2,250 from four sponsors for the 2025 season show. Anne’s hard work will completely rejuvenate and transform the radio show and the McKinney Center for many years to come.

Thank you, Anne! You are appreciated!

January 2025 Employee of the Month Mary Regen

The January Employee of the Month is an employee who has demonstrated consistent quality of work, been an asset to the community, presented an attitude of helpfulness, cooperative and been a positive role model for the Town of Jonesborough. This person was not only nominated by their entire staff but by a fellow co-worker who reflected on her commitment not only to her staff but to the Town of Jonesborough.

Mary Regen joined the Town of Jonesborough in 2015 as the Senior Center Director. She is known for her commitment to the Senior Center, her highest desire to serve the Town, the dedication she has for her staff and her continued support of all Town activities.

One nomination that was received states that the Jonesborough Senior Center is highly acclaimed, has received multiple awards, is accredited- the very valid reason for the success is Mary who works tirelessly throughout her tenure to build a firm foundation for our senior community. The passion Mary shows for the members is nothing short of amazing but is a small portion of the excellent work she accomplishes for her members day in and day out. One of Mary’s recent accomplishments is the

First Annual Christmas at Lincoln Park which not only brought together local businesses and community organizations to decorate Christmas trees to raise funds for the Senior Center Benevolence Fund, but this endeavor brought the community together and added a special new holiday tradition for many residents. Mary worked alongside the Park & Rec Director, Chris Kudera, to make this event as successful as it was. The tree lighting was a resounding success and enjoyed by all. If you know Mary, you know she strives for excellence in everything which she is involved; the Senior Cetner is providing mental, physical and emotional fitness, entertainment and most of all community- it is indeed providing a place to be active, fit and connected which is their mission statement.

The nomination from the Senior Center Staff was signed by every employee of the Senior Center which demonstrates their level of support for their leader who treats them with compassion, respect, and dignity day in and day out. The nomination spoke to the work of Mary with the Lincoln Park tree project and the amazing success of this project. In addition, the staff spoke of Mary’s commitment to teaching cooking and craft classes and managing the vegetable garden which feeds the senior center members through the

Café Connection meals. The nomination spoke of Mary’s willingness to host the Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands preview party of the WJHL special filmed during Mission 10. This event displayed to over 70 guests that night, the amazing facility. Mary’s commitment to serve Veterans is demonstrated through the work with Honor Flight but, also, with her organization and support of the monthly Veterans meeting hosted at the Senior Center and the Annual Veterans Day lunch for over 100 Veterans and guests at the Center. The staff shared that Mary is a diligent worker with a positive can-do attitude and is not afraid to ger her hands dirty and never asks the staff to do anything she is not willing to do herself. These words speak volumes to the dedication that the staff has for Mary, but that dedication is a two-way street as she cares about her staff and is dedicated to coaching, empowering, and leading the amazing Senior Center team.

Thank you, Mary! You are appreciated!

December 2024 Employee of the Month Nicole Widner

I nominate Nicole Widner as the December employee of the month. Nicole has been employed with the town almost two years. In that time she has been an asset from the start, With 10 years in working at a utility, she has proven time and time again that she has excellent skills in communication, leadership, and integrity throughout her short time at Jonesborough. Nicole has effectively completed the installation and maintenance of a new filing system for cross connection, tap, and flushing files, and much more, She quickly was promoted to Cross-Connection Specialist. She has completed and holds her backflow prevention certification, and is qualified to test and evaluate backflow preventers. She was instrumental in the ARM system start up as well as initiating our in house programing of our digital meters. She does not hesitate to assist with in field operations or assisting our field personnel. Helping to train her fellow co-workers in the removal and installation of new digital meters. She works with multiple departments on a daily basis and has a wonderful working relationship with all. She has offered innovative solutions and idea proposals to inner-departmental challenges that have been faced which have been of paramount importance. Nicole has an eye for detail and a very positive approach to her work. She does not hesitate to perform any task asked of her. Her work with our set up to digitize files and reduce paper waste, has helped to provide a more organized work place. She strives to learn and perform hands on tasks in the field. She arrives early to set up and prepare for the day’s assignments for her fellow co-workers to ensure all the computer systems are operating properly. Her attention to detail and manners allow her to communicate with our customers and staff clearly and respectfully. She volunteers to work outside of normal operating hours in any way needed. It is for these reasons that I nominate Nicole Widner for December employee of the month.

Thank you, Nicole! You are appreciated!

November 2024 Employee of the Month Zach Williams

I want to nominate Zach Williams, Equipment Operator II Water Distribution – County Crew, as the November Employee of the Month. Zach has been employed for over a year and in that short time he has showed great potential he volunteers to work over and on call. He strives to do his best and will help coworkers and other departments in need. He has been a true asset during the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Not only has he performed his regular duties, but while out assessing the damage caused by the flooding to our water system, Zach came upon a car trapped in the rising waters, and without hesitation or a thought to his own personal safety, he jumped out and ran into the flood waters in order to rescue a woman, her child, and a disabled man. Zach Williams was able to remove all parties safely from the vehicle. Zach Willaims goes above and beyond, not only in his duties, but gives his all for his community and the Town of Jonesborough. It is for these reasons that I am nominating Zach Williams for November Employee of the Month.

Thank you, Zach! You are appreciated!

August 2024 Employee of the Month Allen Weems

I would like to nominate Allen Weems for Employee of the Month. How many of us can say our actions led to someone’s life being saved, Allen can. One of our members, Mr. Wilson, who is also a dance instructor had recently taken off the month of July from teaching but was set to return to teaching his class the first Tuesday in August. When he didn’t show up that evening some thought oh well maybe he meant to also take this evening, but Allen said, I have a bad feeling about this. Allen tried contacting the instructor again and when Mr. Wilson did not answer, Allen called his emergency contact, when that person did not answer he called the next contact. Allen explained his concerns about Mr. Wilson not being there for his class the man agreed to go by his home and check on him commenting it was unusual for him to not show up. When the gentleman went to Mr. Wilson’s home, he found he needed immediate medical attention and he was swiftly taken to the hospital where he remained for several days. How often do we have those nagging feelings that something is not quite right? Allen had that feeling and he followed his instincts. Allen could have dismissed it but he instead, he followed his instincts and got Mr. Wilson the help he needed. To quote Mr. Wilson “If you hadn’t called my contact, last Wednesday, I’m not here today. My unbounded thanks.” When Mr. Wilson shared with me in his own words what happened and his profound gratitude to Allen, the story brought me to tears. When you think about the impact of someone caring enough about other person to take the extra steps to ensure that someone is okay and that is what Allen did. Words cannot express how proud I am that Allen is a team member at the Senior Center. That is the kind of people we need, those who go above and beyond and follow their instincts and look out for those in need.

I would like to recommend Allen Weems for Employee of the Month for his actions that lead to saving Mr. Wilson’s life.

Thank you, Allen! You are appreciated!

October 2024 Employee of the Month Skye McFarland

Skye McFarland is the Community Program Specialist at the McKinney Center. Skye has worked for the town for over ten years, starting out as a part time host at the Visitors Center. She began at the McKinney Center in 2017 as a part time employee and became full time by the end of 2019. As the community program specialist, Skye does the center’s community outreach events, manages volunteers, records a monthly podcast, manages the center’s social media accounts, and so much more.

This month Skye did a lot of work on the current McKinney Center exhibit Living Here: A Portrait of Jonesborough, which features 35 different people who live and work in Jonesborough. Everyone was interviewed by Isaac Wood, which was recorded by Skye. Skye then took a portrait of everyone. These interviews included family history, what they like about Jonesborough, working in Jonesborough, the Jonesborough community, and much more. Every interview lasted between 30 minutes to an hour. Skye edited each of the 35 videos down to 10 minutes long. Skye created a YouTube playlist of said videos so the Jonesborough community can hear stories from their neighbors. Skye spent time with Isaac reviewing the videos so he could pick out what quote from each video had the most impact. Skye spent Thursday and Friday of that week working on the presentation of the portraits in the auditorium so that the exhibition would look amazing for the opening reception that celebrated the lives of 35 community members.

The center does community outreach to share information about the center, introduce people to what the center does, and provides free crafts for people to engage in. Skye picks out the major festivals and events in the surrounding areas for staff to attend. Skye signs up to attend crafts at the Farmers Market in downtown Jonesborough once a month and helps to decide which downtown events we do outreach at. Skye attended the UMOJA festival on September 14th from 11 am-8pm to do a bead craft with children who attended the festival and to just share general information about the center. Skye plans to attend the Farmers Market in downtown Jonesborough on September 21st from 8am to noon with our new Arts and Culture Education Assistant AmeriCorps Volunteer Martha. They will be doing a popsicle scarecrow craft and passing out information about upcoming events at the center.

As the coordinator of community outreach, Skye has the greatest need for volunteers in the center. Skye gets three volunteers for every 2-3 hour period of doing outreach at festivals and events. Skye must organize when she needs volunteers, send out the information to get volunteers to sign up, typically multiple times, and then coordinate the volunteers on where to go once the festival begins. Skye then instructs volunteers on how to do the craft. Skye also gets volunteers for special events that the center hosts, such as the Masterpiece Mingle, art receptions, and fundraisers. Skye organizes the volunteers for the StoryTown radio show, volunteers who usher and run the concessions stand.

Skye started producing Conversations That Matter the Podcast in July 2020. The podcast began with Michelle Treece and Katelyn Yarbrough as moderators. Michelle Treece and Brittany Butler are the current moderators. Each episode of Conversations That Matter has two individuals that live or work in the Jonesborough/Johnson City area that get together and discuss how their lives are different and how they are alike. Topics of each episode vary depending on the guests for that area, although there are general overarching questions that each episode tends to touch on. In 2024, there have been episodes discussing the Jonesborough Area Ministerial Association Food Pantry, the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance, Langston Centre’s Health Task Force, and two teachers from Science Hill High School. It is beautiful that Skye can get people together every month to discuss what it means to be a part of the community in East Tennessee, especially Jonesborough and Johnson City.

Skye manages the social media sites for the McKinney Center, such as the McKinney Center Facebook and instagram pages. She helps the Program Manager and the AmeriCorps Volunteer StoryTown Assistant with the StoryTown Facebook and instagram pages. Skye is the one who makes graphics for each event we have and makes event pages on social media. These event pages and sharing general posts on a regular basis are why the McKinney Center events are so well attended. Skye promotes each class we have periodically throughout the semester, which is why our classes are able to make and even fill up. Skye takes the graphics she designed and has them printed out so that way staff can distribute them throughout Jonesborough and Johnson City to help attract attention to catch different crowds that are outside of the normal fan base.

Thank you, Skye! You are appreciated!

May 2024 Employee of the Month Officer Adam Depew and Officer Zachary Bruton

We are writing this memorandum to nominate Officer Adam Depew and Officer Zachary Bruton for Employees of the Month for the Town of Jonesborough.

On April 21st, 2024, Officers Depew and Bruton were dispatched to a Welfare Check at Walgreen‘s. A 911 caller stated that there was a man slumped over in his vehicle in the Pharmacy Drive Through. Upon arrival, officer Depew attempted to wake the driver without success. As Officer Depew went around to the passenger side of the vehicle to see if the door was unlocked, Officer Zach Bruton checked the man‘s pulse, and determined he had no pulse and wasn‘t breathing. Unsure of the cause of the man‘s state, Officer Bruton quickly administered a dose of Narcan with no response. He then pulled the man from the vehicle and laid him in the parking lot. At that time, Officer Depew began performing CPR on him while Officer Bruton was getting him hooked up to an AED. Once the AED analyzed the man’s heart rhythm, the device advised that a shock was advised. Officer Depew cleared while Officer Bruton delivered the shock. After the shock, Officer Depew continued CPR until it was determined that the man‘s pulse had returned, and he started to breathe on his own. At that time, EMS arrived on scene and began to treat him and transport him to JCMC. The last update we received was that he was out of ICU and on his way to recover. If it had not been for the quick response and immediate action of these Officers, that outcome would most likely been different.

Thank you, Officer Adam Depew and Officer Zachary Bruton! You are appreciated!

April 2024 Employee of the Month Theresa Hammons

Theresa Hammons is the Director of the McKinney Center and has dedicated herself to the Town of Jonesborough for over ten years. Theresa oversees both the large-scale activities and the day-to-day events that happen at the McKinney Center. Since January, Theresa has put hours of work into the 2024 Masterpiece Mingle. Theresa wrote the press release, has put out several calls for donations of artwork, and has put effort into making sure the event is well promoted. She has been spending time emailing over 100 artists individually to get people to donate to the event. She then kept in touch with the artists to make sure we secured the artwork. Theresa spent hours looking to make sure we had the perfect musician fit for the event and found the Tri-Cities Jazz Orchestra. For the last Masterpiece Mingle, we had high schoolers cater. Unfortunately, this year they are traveling to participate in a competition. So, Theresa has spent hours trying to secure a caterer at a reasonable price for this event. Masterpiece Mingle is our biggest fundraiser of the year. Theresa worked so hard on this event to make sure it is a success because she cares about the success of the center.

In the fall, Theresa put out bids to get the interior of the center painted. Quad City Builders won the paint bid and are scheduled to repaint the interior of the building from May to early June. We have had to shift around events on the master calendar to make sure that no events land in that time frame. Theresa made the decision to move the student art show up for a week from May 9th to May 2nd, so that way painting can begin when it needs to. Theresa has been communicating with teachers that this decision affects making sure we have adequate make up days for classes. Customer experience is very important to the people who attend our classes, and we want to ensure everyone is happy. We had to reschedule an artist exhibition due to scheduling to make sure their exhibit went up for a fair amount of time. Theresa also fit the Washington Co. school’s end of the year art exhibit into this tight schedule. She goes above and beyond to communicate, make things work, and keep all parties happy. This shows flexibility and patience.

Since January, Theresa has been working towards publishing the McKinney Centers 2024 Summer Camps. Theresa has communicated with teachers what the classes are, what the descriptions for the classes are, and the new age ranges for the different classes. After receiving this information from the teachers, Theresa then uploaded all the information to Course storm, the online class system used by the center. Theresa made sure that all the dates for classes aligned with our current schedule, including moving some dates due to the interior of the center being painted. After this has been added online, Theresa had staff and teachers review it multiple times before the classes went live to the public. Now Theresa is focused on advertising, both digitally and in person, to make sure all the summer camp slots fill up!

April 4th is the McKinney Center’s “Ernest McKinney Day of Giving” virtual event on Facebook. The center picked this day as it is the day Ernest McKinney was elected as the town’s first African American alderman, the same day that MLK Jr. was assassinated. Theresa has been reviewing the schedule of the day to make sure there is adequate representation of everything the center has to offer. Last year for the event, we live streamed teachers doing demonstrations and had different important figures in the town come in to talk about what the center meant to them. This year, it was decided that we would stream videos with the same type of content, but these videos would be pre-recorded to ensure the day is easier on the operations of the center. All proceeds from this day of giving goes to the Ernest and Marion McKinney scholarship fund. We were able to give several scholarships in 2023, and with the money raised from this event, we hope to continue to increase the number of scholarships we provide to students. Theresa works hard to ensure we provide the arts to ALL our community.

Theresa spent hours putting together the 2024-2025 budget together for the McKinney Center. Theresa asked every employee to write three goals they hope to accomplish for next budget year to include in the report. Theresa went through and checked the statements for each budget line to track how much the center has spent this past year. She uses these numbers and costs of operating in citing why some budget lines should be increased. Theresa then submitted the draft of the budget to be reviewed. There is a lot of consideration that goes in between drafting and editing the budget that can take over a month to do.

Theresa finished working on the 2023 McKinney Center report at the beginning of January and has since passed it around for our customers to see. We reviewed it at the January 2024 Advisory Committee meeting, sent it out with the January 2024 member newsletter, and shared it with our members at the 2024 membership brunch. Theresa put together data in a multi-page packet for the report. In the report, there are demographics about the average income, education levels, and race of our students. Another section of the 2023 report goes over the different types of events the center hosted. We reached 2,775 people at in person events and 253,304 through social media. There were 14,317 people who came through the doors at the center in 2023, which is a 40% increase from 2022. The center offered 116 classes to the community in 2023. The center had 5,274.25 volunteer hours for a value of $148,325. Theresa must extend her reach far and wide to be able to support all the programming that the center does and to keep customers continuously happy. On the rare occasion issues do come up, she is always willing to make things work. Her dedication to this job, community, and the town are incredible. The McKinney Center participated in 316 activities in 2023 with a small staff all under her supervision. It is an honor to have her as my supervisor and to work with her every day.

Thank you, Theresa Hammons! You are appreciated!