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Mayor reflects

Williams discusses decade of change

January 28, 2026 by Tammy Cheek

Nearly 10 years into his service to the town, Farragut Mayor Ron Williams said the job has centered on steady improvement — often slow, sometimes frustrating, but measurable.

“My job was to roll up my sleeves and get to work on fixing everything that needed to be fixed,” Williams said of his time in office.

As he approaches the end of his term in August 2026, the mayor said there still are projects he hopes to see completed.

“There’s things I’d like to see done before I’m gone,” he said. “But everything has to go through the public discussion.”

Williams was first elected in 2016 as an alderman, then two years later, he was elected mayor in 2018. His first task was the corner of Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road.

“There’s been a lot done in the past 10 years,” Williams said, reflecting on what the town looked like when he first took office.

He credited former Vice Mayor Louise Povlin, now a Farragut Municipal Planning Commission member, with focusing on ordinances and zoning reforms while he concentrated on roads and building improvements.

“I worked on the building portion of it and the roads,” Williams said. “When we were first elected, we had 16 substandard roads. Now, what we have left is four, and two of those have been partially done; one of them is under way and another has a grant to fix it.”

Concord UMC helps neighbors in times of need

January 28, 2026 by Tammy Cheek

Concord Methodist Church was on a mission this month with a bevy of 25 projects to help its community during its 12th Annual Mission Blitz.

“It’s a way to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of serving,” CUMC missions director Jane Currin said. “We had 27 projects going on from Friday, Jan. 16, to Monday, Jan. 19.

“We want to love and serve our neighbors, and a response to Jesus’ love for us, we encourage our members to participate in serving and helping us love our community,” she said.

While 500 signed up, more people came to lend a hand.

“[Friday] night, we had 97 people here, sorting and bagging sweet potatoes for the crop drop, and we had 18 here decorating spider plant pots and gifts for nurses at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital,” Currin said. “They’re making Valentine’s Day cards for [the nurses] later this weekend.

“We packed 40,000 pounds of sweet potatoes into 10-pound bags, and they’re going to 47 pantries and feeding ministries in eight counties and a place in Kentucky,” the director said.

For the children at ETCH, volunteers made a craft activity bag and hygiene toiletry kits.

“Lots of times kids who come in don’t have anything, so they give them a little brush, toothbrush, shampoo and a small deodorant,” Currin said. “Just those small necessities you need when you end up some place unexpected. The hospital can’t afford to provide those things anymore so we make those kits.”

Rotary Club inducts new members

January 28, 2026 by

Rotary Club of Farragut ended the 2025 year inducting new members to the club during its meeting in Fox Den Country Club Wednesday, Dec. 17. From left, President Candace Viox sponsored Jim Caughorn, second-generation owner of Graphic Creations; Sonya Ford, Citizens Bank senior vice president returning to the club after a brief absence, was sponsored by Denise Bash and Amy Shewmake, owner of Simply Magical Vacations, who was sponsored by Larry Sheumaker.

Photo courtesy of Tom Woodbery