| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 9 Dec 2005.
Horace Ball obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 11 Oct 2006.
Kristen Renae Ball, center, daughter of Darrell and Freda Ball, was crowned Senior Miss Harvest Queen of the Newport Harvest Street Festival on Saturday. Look for full coverage of the pageants and festival in Wednesday's edition.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 1 Oct 2010.
Skin Deep's owner aims for health and beauty
(c)2010 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
Kristen Ball has opened Skin Deep, a Newport business that features various skin care techniques and services. She is the daughter of Darrell H. Ball and Freda Ball, of Newport.
Author: David Popiel
The tropical storm drowning the coastline sent plenty of water to our hometown, as residents began contemplating long-sleeves, and just when it would be time to turn up the morning heat with October temperatures falling into the 40s.
Last week we drove into Western Auto to chat with the Burchettes and meet a fellow who has handled tire changing and sales at one business longer than most any other person in the county. Larry Lunsford haunts the two-bay garage at the Cosby Highway business. So, let me finish up our chat with a little more information. Larry is single and continues to live on the Lunsford farm off Jones Cove Road where he takes care of his mother who is in her 80s and must be a great cook judging by Larry's healthy waistline. He is a huge Tennessee Volunteer football fan but doesn't get the time to hunt and fish like he used to. I left him to his kingdom of tires and tools and said goodbye to James Burchette on the way out. I also found out that oldest son, David, is managing his rental properties; Joe is principal at Smoky Mountain School. Etholeen and James still live at Castle Heights where they are neighbors to Burnett Harper and Tim Hurst families. It was good to catch up on old friends and learn more about someone who has fixed so many tires in town since 1972.
Before moving on to my main and most attractive topic, I did want to mention what happened at the office earlier in the week. Perhaps you followed the reports we had of the car-motorcycle crash on Cosby Highway about a week ago. When out and about I saw a fire engine and called to learn of the crash, went to the scene, photographed it, saw the wreckage. Then, on Monday the brother of motorcyclist John Burnett, Jerry, came to us to report his brother had died. "He would squeeze our hand but never talked," said Jerry, who is younger than the 46-year-old victim. He must have been a super guy to coach and referee soccer and drive all the way from Seymour to Cosby that fateful day. Ironically, Jerry lost a portion of his leg in a motorcycle accident in 1999 and warned family members to stay off motorcycles. Jerry told me that John was taking care of three grandchildren, was a disabled veteran, and retired from the US Postal Service. He participated in AMVETS and the Freedom Riders. I am sure he will be sorely missed by all.
It might have taken me longer than the average person to notice a new sign for a unique business that opened several months ago in downtown Newport. The reason the news got to me rather quickly was thanks to our Internet marketing and sales representative Mark Taylor. He had just visited with the business owner and suggested that I pay her a visit. Skin Deep became a new business on our popular Cockecountymarketplace.com Website, if you want to check on it.
After a rainy morning on Monday, I went in search of the new business operator. Our Online rep. Mark told me to find the business in the two-story offices near attorney Tom Testerman. When I saw the door with the sign for Darrell Ball, surveyor, and the Skindeepinfo.com sign, I knew it to be the right place and remembered it used to serve as attorney Bill Shults' office. There was a light on at the top of the stairs but Kristen Renae Ball was not at her Skin Deep business. Darrell was on the phone so I waited to meet him and chat, not knowing the relationship between the businesses. Looking around his office, it quickly was apparent he loves golf, surveying, his family, and Tennessee. Darrell is a lot leaner and younger than his brothers, who I've known for years. Wayne Ball is a retired police officer and Ronnie Ball is a former businessman who has fallen on hardtimes. Trying to learn more about the Ball family, I quizzed Darrell for a few minutes on the genealogy and learned that his grandpa Tilman Ball operated a bean store at the Old Fifteenth and Sol Mountain Road. This is truly in the middle of the mountains and worth a trip to see the long-abandoned store. Darrell's Dad was Horace and Mom, the former Juanita Coggins Ball, of Del Rio. You know the other children: Joann Breeden, of Rankin; Velda "Wendy" Mallot, of Florida; and Joyce Fine, of Newport. I also was reminded of the connection to the 40-plus year cosmetology veteran, Geraldine Hartsell. She is an aunt. I will revisit Darrell to learn more about the family but let me tell you about Kristen and what she does.
The lights were on and she was in a back room busy preparing it for customers when I rapped on the glass panes about 10 a.m. on Friday. She is slim, tall, black haired and 22, looking nothing like her parents. Kristen lives with Darrell and Freda at their Sherwood Drive home. Her brother, Stephen 25, is a land surveyor, helping Dad. While Freda and I were chatting, Mom walked in and she looked familiar. You may know her as the former Freda Hooper, who is related to the Valentines, particularly Luther and Vergie Valentine. Freda calls the late Edith and Everette Hooper her Mom and Dad. When she is not handling her family chores, Freda works as a registered nurse at Morristown-Hamblen Hospital in the emergency room where she is a clinical supervisor.
It seems that Kristen has already packed a lot in her few years and was teaching skin car, aesthetics, at Morristown's Tennessee Institute of Cosmetology on Thursday. She is a graduate of theirs. After graduation from Cocke County High School, Kristen moved to Knoxville on her own to study at Tennessee School of Beauty (Tennessee Skin Care Center). This was a year's course after which she passed her state board examinations to be certified and returned to Newport. She did some work with Shear Structure in Morristown before her real first paying job with Darlene Brooks, a well-known cosmetologist.
Kristen is mastering microderma abrasion, does facials, chemical peals, spray tanning, anti-aging and anti-acne treatments. When I visited this past Friday morning, she and Freda were finishing the set-up of their spray-tanning booth, which is much different than I expected. No, you don't pick up a can of spray paint, and attack a person who has tapped over their eyes, hair and parts they don't want tanned.
After she finished in Knoxville, Kristen continued her studies at the Tenn. Institute of Cosmetology where she learned hair cutting, styling and coloring. She graduated the spring of 2009, went to work but was already pondering her own business. "I enjoy hair, but my real passion is skin care. There's a ton of hair stylists but few skin care specialists," she said. So as far as she is aware, Skin Deep is the only such local business offering the variety of skin aesthetics. It was natural for her to move into the offices owned by her Dad. He suggested there was plenty of extra room and she could "make it work." Skin Deep opened in May. Darrell and Freda support this high-energy daughter and her boyfriend, Lucas Tabor, painted the new offices. He is the son of Darrell and Renee Tabor of White Pine.
Freda and Kristen had set up the tanning booth, which looks like a tall tent to me. I recognized the special tanning spray unit as similar but smaller than my high volume low pressure paint spray gun. Seeing this made me ask to see a demonstration that we could video and place on our Cockecountymarketplace.com Website. This and her various skin care treatments are by appointment only. The sessions last for about an hour and Kristen creates a relaxing low-light atmosphere for her customers, who are both women and men. Although Kristen likes to travel her time now is focused on the business and she has future plans. "I'd love to expand, add employees and be Newport's first salon and spa" specializing in skin care.
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Abt 1988 - (~ 36 years)
