Jenna Stahlman is Editor-in-Chief of the Royal Scribe. She is studying mass communications at Johnson University. Although she was born and raised in Northwestern Pennsylvania, her heart is in Tennessee. She enjoys spending time with her horse, hiking, photography, writing, and fishing.
KNOXVILLE Premier Productions Winter Jam Tour Spectacular will be held Fri., Feb. 22 at the Thompson-Boling Arena. The doors will open at 6 p.m. The event starts at 7 p.m.
The event costs $15 or $10 with a canned food donation, which will be given to the local Rescue Mission. No tickets are required in advance as admission will be taken at the door.
KNOXVILLE The Tennessee School for the Deaf is offering beginner American Sign Language classes, which will be held on Mondays, beginning March 25 and ending May 13.
There will be two beginner classes. Beginner- I will be held from 5:45-6:45 p.m. Beginner-II will run from 7-8 p.m. The classes will be taught by TSD faculty and staff who are native users of ASL. The cost per person is $40.
The location for the classes is Alan J. Mealka High School Building – Library Conference Room, 2725 Island Home Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37920.
Interested parties can contact Becky Candino at (865) 579-2429 or R.candino@tsdeaf.org
KNOXVILLE There was a full crowd for Saturday night’s Professional Bull Riders Velocity Tour’s stop in Knoxville at the Thompson-Boling Arena. Dylan Smith, a 19-year-old from Ararat, Va., wrangled in his first win of the season.
45 cowboys mounted bulls and competed to move onto the short round, in which the top ten scoring riders would compete for first place. Only 17 of the 45 riders in the long round met the required time of 8 seconds the time necessary for a qualifying ride for which the judges then award them points.
Smith rode ‘Switch Hitter’ in the long round for a ride score of 89 points, putting him at
Knoxville’s 2019 winner, Dylan Smith, during his 89 point ride on the bull, Switch Hitter.
the top of the leaderboard in the long round.
Smith’s ride was accompanied by the Tennessee favorite, ‘Rocky Top’. When asked what he thought about this song being played during his winning ride and if he’d seen a better crowd, Smith said he had not.
“This is the most fun I’ve had at a bull ride ever,” Smith said. “I’m just blessed to be here, for sure.”
There were no qualified rides in the short round, so the scores from the long round determined the night’s victors.
Smith left Knoxville with a check worth $6,400, as well as the opportunity to compete at one of PBR’s elite tour stops, in Los Angeles, on Feb. 22-23.
Ouncie Mitchell, a competitor from Fresno, Tx. , placed 2nd with an 88 point ride on ‘Last Chance’ . He received a check for $4,700.
Jason Mara of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia, attained 87.5 points on ‘Blood Money’. He took home $3,000.
East Bernard, Tx. native Bryan Titman placed 4th with a ride worth 86.5 on ‘Striker’ and received a check for $2,000.
The top five winners were rounded off by Lindomar Lino of Anapolis, Brazil. He had an 86 point ride on ‘How Bout It’ and was awarded a check for $1,140.
4th place winner Bryan Titman said he enjoyed the competition in Knoxville.
“It was awesome,” Titman said. “The crowd was awesome. Y’all just filled the place in here. It’s phenomenal. It’s a blessing to be here.”
Knoxville’s hometown cowboy, Cody Clint Brewer, had a successful 82 point ride atop ‘Ring of Fire’ as his home crowd roared in the stands. He ranked 16th in the event overall.
The next stop for the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour is in Edinburg, Tx. on Feb. 9.
KNOXVILLE Professional Bull Riders Velocity Tour will stop in Knoxville for the second year in a row, on Feb. 2, at the Thompson-Boling Arena. Bryan Titman, a bull rider in the PBR, is ready to compete in Knoxville.
Bryan Titman, PBR competitor.
Titman, a Texas native, was raised in a bull riding family with his dad and grandpa having competed in the sport. He turned down a football scholarship to pursue bull riding instead and said that he does not regret it.
“I don’t see myself getting any bigger and I’m a pretty small guy when it comes to muscle wise, so I didn’t feel like I wanted to get hit and lift a bunch of weights every day,” Titman said. “My dream was always to ride bulls so I figured I’d follow that one. Football, I just happened to be pretty good at, but it really wasn’t what I wanted to be.”
He said the most complicated aspect of bull riding is keeping your mind clear and focused.
“The most difficult is your head,” Titman said. “You can’t get through it without your head… You’re not gonna make it very far. Your head’s a big thing in bull riding.”
Titman said he hopes to win the event in Knoxville, but he is also excited just to compete there once again.
“I mean, I’m excited to be there,” Titman said. “I just love Tennessee. Texas born – Tennessee couldn’t get any better.”
The tour’s stop in Knoxville will mark a little over two weeks since the death of Mason Lowe. Lowe was a competitor in the Velocity Tour. He was bucked off of a bull, and then stepped on, at the PBR event in Denver on January 15. He later died at the Denver Health Medical Centre due to the injuries.
Titman said that this loss does affect those who competed with and knew Lowe.
“It’s a bit rough but he wouldn’t want us to be down and low,” Titman said. “He’d always been a happy person so he’d like us to just keep spurring and doing the riding for him, so that’s what we want to continue to do and just push forward. It’s a sad day but we all know what we what we gotta do just to push on, and just thank him, and he won’t be forgotten.”
This one night event will be held at the Thompson-Boling Arena on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
KNOXVILLE Johnson University’s Tennessee campus will be down Fri, Jan. 25 from approximately 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. for internet upgrades.
During this upgrade time, there will be no access to the FL campus, internet, email, and most anything else internet related. However, there will still be access to on-campus servers such as Jenzabar EX and the Johnson Portal.
The upgrades were suppose to happen Jan. 18, however, the Internet Service Provider for the University could not add the additional circuit at that time.
The bandwidth will be doubled providing much faster internet speed. This will effect the main Johnson University and Johnson Guest wireless internet networks as well as the student’s wired networks.
In celebration of their 125th anniversary, Johnson University will hold many different events Oct. 25-27.
There will be a JU Birthday Bash, which will include games, a tractor hay-ride, music and food on Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. in front of the Philips-Welshimer Building.
On Fri. morning, there will be outings with Dr. Smith to Cades Cove, hiking with Dr. Eubanks, a tour of the Athletic and Recreation Complex with Dr. Weedman, and golfing with various alumni and professors. To reserve a spot on any of the excursions, email ESmith@johnsonu.edu.
Faculty workshops will be held on Fri. afternoon and Sat. morning. These will include topics such as preaching, leadership, Biblical interpretation, Emma Johnson, and more.
Guests can reserve a spot on the Riverboat Banquet Cruise, which will take place Fri. evening. This will include a full dinner, the ride, and entertainment. Tickets cost $35 per person and can be purchased here.
To find out more information about any of the events taking place, click here.
Knoxville’s Winter Jam Tour stop will feature Newsboys United, Danny Gokey, Mandisa, Rend Collective, Ledger, NewSong, Hollyn, Greg Stier, Ty Brasel, Manic Drive, Dan Bremnes, and Adam Agee.
In celebration of their 125th anniversary, Johnson University will hold many different events Oct. 25-27.