| Sources |
- [S86] McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home, (http://www.mccammonammonsclick.com/), 30 Nov 2008.
Troy J. "T. J." McFall obituary
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 13 Mar 2011.
Goodbye, old friend: Daily Times pressmen let memories roll
By Melanie Tucker melt@thedailytimes.com
It’s hard to say goodbye to an old friend.
One that’s done everything you asked, with minor nudging.
One that took faithful to the extreme.
One whose silence will take a long time to get used to.
Today starts a new era at The Daily Times. A 10-year contract has been signed for this Blount County landmark to be printed by a new, faster, fancier, high-tech press at the Knoxville News Sentinel.
For those who knew this older, past-her-prime model best, there are mixed feelings. Everybody knows the old saying about keeping up with the times and progress, we must. But it can be hard nonetheless to part.
Fred Tipton, who served as production manager with over 50 years here, retired three years ago and knows her ways better than most. He hired on at The Daily Times on July 1, 1953, when The Daily Times cranked out its Monday through Friday newspaper using an old hot metal press.
“That was the most fun I had here,” Tipton said as he made a recent visit to catch up with old friends and share stories. “Putting out a newspaper was a craft then. There were no computers.”
Tipton explained a rather complicated process that involved a combination of lead, zinc and tin heated to 600 degrees. It took longer, it had to be more dangerous, but Tipton said when you finished, there was pride in a job well done.
At his side for many years at The Daily Times was Fred’s twin brother Ed. He put in 45 years, leaving for a period of time and then signing back up for a place he never got out of his system. He retired in 2007 as mail room supervisor and died in October 2009.
The press here in 1953 was a 12-page Goss, Tipton recalls. Later, The Daily Times acquired a 48-page press, in 1957. Both were hot metal. Then in 1969, an offset press was purchased, a Fairchild, Tipton said. Units were added on to this one over the years. The Fairchild was then replaced by an Urbanite, the one that remains today. It arrived at the back docks in 1982.
We’re gonna do what?
One of Tipton’s vivid memories is of that 48-page Goss hot metal press arriving for duty here at The Daily Times. It rode in on a boxcar, he said. “It came in piece by piece. I mean they dumped it right out there. We sat there thinking, ‘How in the world will we put this together?’”
It took a while, but mission accomplished.
Longtime press supervisors Sam Hembree and Mickey Stallans can attest to years of keeping an old well-used press in operational mode. Hembree was hired in 1979, and Stallans logged 28 years here.
They both worked round-the-clock shifts on occasion to make sure this community had its dose of daily news. In addition to printing The Daily Times, the press here has printed other area newspapers over the years, including the Farragut Press, Metro Pulse, The Tri County News, shoppers, college papers and the like.
It was in 1990 that The Daily Times went from being an afternoon paper to greeting its readers before sunrise. And in 1999, The Daily Times indeed became a daily, printing seven days instead of five.
Something you could count on
Of all the years he’s been here, Hembree said there was only one time the press let us down. One day last year The Daily Times had to be printed in Sevierville due to mechanical problems. Those hiccups in the day-to-day printing of the newspaper figured into the decision to silence the press and opt for one more reliable.
Stallans said the current press was added to in 1991 after The Daily Times was sold. Four new units were added in anticipation of printing The Knoxville Journal. The press that sits in the basement today is the Urbanite that contains 11 units.
Stallans and Hembree finished out their last shifts on the press this past week at this newspaper that’s been here since 1883. Stallans said it’s been a good run and one he wouldn’t have missed for anything.
“It’s been my bread and butter. That’s the way I look at it,” he said.
The job of keeping the presses rolling for more than 50 years was made all the more enjoyable because of workers like Stallans and Hembree, Tipton said. “They were good workers, dedicated to this newspaper,” their former boss said.
Tipton said when he came aboard in 1953 he hadn’t given a thought as to how long he might stay. He was presented other opportunities over the years but never chose anything else.
“I guess it gets in your blood,” he said.
There haven’t been many dull moments, Hembree said. Stallans echoed that, saying you could come in any day and expect surprises.
Moving on
Neither was sure how he would feel as his last shift closed out. It’s time to find something else to do, they said.
Tipton hates to see this era come to a close. He has plenty of stories left to tell. Fun ones like how many friends he made over decades as he kept The Daily Times rolling off the press. Scary moments when an employee got his arm hung in the press. Frustration at not being able to keep an old machine going a bit farther.
It won’t be the same seeing this Blount County newspaper being printed anywhere else, he said.
Now it’s silent.
- [S52] Miller Funeral Home, (http://www.millerfuneralhome.org), 29 Jan 2011.
(June 8, 1961 - January 29, 2011)
Terry Dan “Tennessee” McFall, age 49, of Friendsville, passed away Saturday, January 29, 2011, at his home. He was preceded in death by his parents, Troy J. and Barbara McFall; brother, Troy G. McFall; and grandparents, Ralph and Stella Brown. Survivors include daughters to his heart, Casey Williams and Emily McClurg; step-son, Tony McClurg; grandchildren, Dakota and Weston; special friend, Donna Stevens; brothers and sisters-in-law, David Ralph and Joan McFall of Vonore, Ricky and Lisa McFall of Friendsville, and Sharon McFall of Friendsville; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. Memorial service will be held 7:00 PM Monday, January 30, 2011, at Miller Funeral Home Magnolia Chapel, Rev. Charles Bailey officiating. Per Terry’s request, he was cremated with his ashes being buried in between his parents at a small, private ceremony at Zion’s Chapel Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM Monday at Miller Funeral Home, Maryville, (865) 982-6041, www.millerfuneralhome.org.
|
Search | Advanced Search
1961 - 2011 (49 years)
[3] 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
= Link to Google Maps