| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 24 Feb 2001.
Malva Jetta Hurley obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 23 Sep 2011.
Just Plain Talk: Early Fall weather turns our attention to hungry bears
(c)2011 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
Earlier this year, Joey Holt, at left, a technician with Jefferson-Cocke County Utility District, was guest speaker at the Newport Kiwanis Club. Thanking him for the presentation on Appalachian Bear Rescue was Kiwanis President Jeff Greene.
Author: David Popiel
Fall arrived this past Friday after a week of showers and moderate temperatures in our hometown, ready for the weekend's sunshine and visit of a Lutheran bishop to St. James Lutheran Church.
Our writer and friend Walt Reese has been keeping us abreast of activities at his church that is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. Bishop Julian Gordy from Nashville arrives on Saturday for the two-day visit and special events. These will be reported on by us and in addition Miriam Hicks is working with the Plain Talk to do articles and present photos of the church's 200th in a multi-page section later, perhaps in conjunction with Smoky Mountain Homeplace part II.
Before moving along the trail to talk about the black bear situation, I want to finish up our chat with John Bublitz, who helped the High Oaks Coon Club have a successful fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Since he and wife, Barbara, moved to Newport, they have gotten to know new folks and worked with the community as good neighbors. John had helped get some artwork done for a national hunting magazine feature and began to learn about the Edwina club through Raymond Adams and Sam Blanchard.John and Barbara again helped insure that the club event had the best barbecue possible weeks ago serving more than 600 meals. The barbecue was great and not only because of his smoker skills but meat selection. Knox wholesaler Homestead Meats provided the three-dozen pork butts and many cases of chicken halves-I recall someone told me about 400 pieces of chicken were sold. During competition, John also selects Excel, IBP pork and free-range chicken from Bell& Evans. Sam's Club chicken is excellent, too, he said. John uses whole packer cuts weighing about 13 pounds for the barbecue briskets. An interesting point known by professionals is to order the left chest muscle for brisket, as it is most tender. Like right-handed people, most cattle get up using their right front leg, which means that muscle is tougher. "We trim all our cuts" and this is done before competition cooking, usually two to three hours ahead. It takes several hours to prepare the 20 chicken thighs. Finished smoked meats and poultry are placed on a bed of parsley before final presentation to judges. Barbara is the expert here and tediously first builds all boxes (9 by 9 inch Styrofoam) with a first layer of lettuce leaves then parsley so it looks like a "putting green." John will start cooking about 1 a.m. while Barbara begins her work about 6 a.m. The first entry goes to judges at 11:30 a.m. during a 10-minute window. There is so much to know and learn about professional barbecue competition that we may revisit John and Barbara, particularly after their final competition this year in Ohio.
Orphaned bears find help
The first time that I heard about this important wildlife rescue organization was at the Newport Kiwanis Club several months ago. The fellow working with Appalachian Bear Rescue is someone that I've known many years for his good work with Jefferson-Cocke County Utility District where he is a service technician. Joey Holt has been with the gas utility for about 17 year. It has only been in recent years that he became more active with the black bear rescue organization. Some of you know Joey's parents, John and Peggy Holt, who live off Sunset Circle near my friends, Walt and Amanda Cole, who is a talented cupcake baker. John is retired from Hearthstone Builders, the log home manufacturer near Douglas Lake.Joey has a brother, Christopher John Holt, who is a testing technician with Lisega at the new plant off I-40 in Sevier County. Before Joey joined the gas utility he also worked at Hearthstone doing log layout for special cuts and notching. He is married to the former Malva Hurley, daughter of Buddy and Jetta Hurley. Joey and Malva have a daughter, Rebecca, 19, who is an emergency medical technician with Greenville EMS.
I wondered how Joey got involved with bear rescue, and he explained that he has always been interested in the outdoors and used to be an avid deer and turkey hunter. Perhaps it was, as he said, spending long, cold hours sitting in a tree deer stand when he decided some other sport might be more fun. So, he took up hiking, like many of you do and Glenn Lane, who told me last week he and friends completed a 15-20 mile hike from Newfound Gap to Cosby in Sept.
Several years ago, while Joey was attending one of his favorite events, Wilderness Wildlife at Pigeon Forge, he came across Appalachian Bear Rescue's (ABR) booth and this led to his volunteer work. He has never regretted the hours he puts in to make sure many little bears survive after losing mother bear. Joey's presentation to the Kiwanis Club is one of many educational presentations he does at clubs and schools to promote the positive work of the bear rescue. He is also the only Cocke County board member of ABR. "It's been very rewarding," he said. Days ago he talked with Lisa Stewart at the bear compound in Sevier and found out she is now taking care of 20 cubs. "If it wasn't for ABR, they wouldn't live." Joey told me to get the word out that anyone who cares about bears could help these cubs eat by buying gift cards for the Chubby Cubby program offered by the Townsend IGA. Because of how close the store is to the ABR facility, Lisa does a lot of shopping there. Customers can go on the Internet to buy these gift cards. Maybe the Newport IGA has more information on the program. "They extended the program because it is working." The gift card purchases allow the bear rescue to buy food as needed week to week to feed all those hungry little bears.
Joey explains that he believes food is now in short supply. The crops of blackberries and cherries were small and acorn supplies not abundant. "The bears are moving in search of food." That movement can often lead them to unfortunate encounters with civilization and people."The mothers are being hit by cars. We have an injured cub receiving specialized care."
Let me tell you a little more about the bear rescue. In Tennessee there is a dedicated group of people, including Holt and others who do know and care what happens. They turned this care into action in the early 1990s and opened a center in the foothills of the Smokies to care for orphaned or injured black bears. The push to develop programs and centers to assist black bears came about because the severe freeze in 1989 destroyed the mast crop the bears depend on. Many bears ventured to civilization in search of food and this contact did not always end peacefully or safely. Mother bears were killed or dying, thus leaving many orphaned cubs, which in turn died. Since taking in the first cub in 1996, the rescue group has returned more than 150 bear cubs to the wild.
The facility contains two enclosures of about one half acre each on leased land near Townsend. TWRA officers or park rangers bring bear cubs there. The cubs are tended to, transported to UT veterinarians if injured, and fed regularly. At times the food bill will hit $1,000 per week,said Joey. All program and facility costs are covered by donations from private citizens or volunteer labor as provided by interested citizens. He said that those who work with the cubs maintain minimum contact so the cubs do not become habituated to humans or dependent on them for food. The ways this contact is minimized include covering the compound fence with a dark plastic cover so bears can't see humans. Food is tossed over the fence to encourage bears' foraging habit. Water is piped into the enclosures into ponds where bears drink. They have plenty of trees for climbing and sleeping but none of the trees are close to the fences to prevent them from jumping from trees over the fence.
In 1997, Appalachian Bear Rescue took in three cubs and earlier this year it had only two cubs and the population has exploded to about20 in fall. "Word gets around" about the good work done by Appalachian Bear Rescue so that bear cubs from eight states have been taken to the facility. The record number of cubs handled in any one year was 2009 with23 cubs coming to the center, though not all 23 were there at the same time.This was when the food bills were the highest. Rescue volunteers get some help from the older cubs who teach younger cubs. Joey explained that cubs spend about 18 months with their mothers during which time they learn vital survival skills. Higher food prices this year translate into higher operating costs for Appalachian Bear Rescue. Bears are fed a diet of vegetables, fruit, nuts and a small amount of meat. Bears might eat meat in the wild but prefer other food,even honey. "We have never had a black bear recaptured for being a nuisance," he said. "We educate the public about bears. They are not pets." Appalachian Bear Rescue volunteers also teach tourists, state residents and children how to be safe around bears. School children are taught about the Adopt a Cub program, which provides such activities as finding food for bears. Children are taken into the forest during fall to harvest acorns that are then sent to the rehabilitation center to feed bear cubs. Adults and school children are taught never to feed bears in the wild or to make food available at campsites. Usually when there is bear activity around park campgrounds it is because bears are searching for food.
While bears may have a reputation for being dangerous,Joey said he has "never had a problem with a black bear in the national park." And, he has hiked more than 75 percent of the trails."Normally, when you come upon a bear, they run."
He estimates that since the difficult years after 1989with food shortages, the black bear population in the Smokies is now about1,600 to 1,800, according to the park's researchers. However, Joey said he believes it could easily be closer to 2,000. When JCCUD General Manager and fellow Kiwanian Tommy Bible introduced Joey earlier this year, Tommy said of him, "He has made our utility a better place." It could also be said that he has made the national park a better place because of his volunteer efforts through Appalachian Bear Rescue. Anyone can be a member of Appalachian Bear Rescue or make donations to help save orphaned and injured bears. The address is P.O. Box 364, Townsend, TN 37882 and www.appalachianbearrescue.org.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 30 Sep 2011.
If you care for bears why not help the cubs survive?
Appalachian Bear Rescue volunteers are proud to be called bear lovers. From left are Albert Earle, Jamie, Janet Dalton, Joey Holt, Secretary Kathy Sherrad, and Vice-President Anne Allison. Not pictured is volunteer and ABR President Jack Burgin. This photo appeared in the winter edition of their newsletter, Bear Tracks.
Author: David Popiel
As if forecasting colder winter days in the not-to-distant future, cooler temperatures slipped in after fall began on Sept.23, followed by a new moon on Tuesday above our hometown and start of many festivals during the next several weekends.
You can hardly think of fall, its brilliant yellow and orange hues, the chance for frost, the apple crop coming in at Carver Orchards on Cosby without also thinking about black bears roaming the mountainsides. Last week we began talking with Joey Holt, who is a director with Appalachian Bear Rescue (ABR) of Townsend and technician with Jefferson-Cocke County Utility District. That group is doing life-saving work for orphaned bear cubs and they may set a record for number of cubs under their care this year. It is turning to be a fallow year for the cubs. So, let me tell you a little more about the bear rescue. In Tennessee there is a dedicated group of people, including Joey and others who do know and care what happens. They turned this care into action in the early 1990s and opened a center in the foothills of the Smokies to care for orphaned or injured black bears. The push to develop programs and centers to assist black bears came about because the severe spring freeze in 1989 destroyed the mast crop the bears depend on. Many bears ventured to civilization in search of food and this contact did not always end peacefully or safely. Mother bears were killed or dying, thus leaving many orphaned cubs, which in turn died. Since taking in the first cub in 1996, the rescue group has returned more than 150 bear cubs to the wild. ABR Curator Lisa Stewart told me on Thursday that they had just received another cub. This one was less than 15 pounds and probably had been going hungry shortly after losing his mother some weeks ago. The bear was found abandoned in the Maryville area. She also noted that cubs have been smaller this season perhaps showing stress and early separation.
The facility contains two enclosures of about one half acre each on leased land near Townsend. TWRA officers or park rangers bring bear cubs there. The cubs are tended to, transported to UT veterinarians if injured, and fed regularly. At times the food bill will hit $1,000 per week, said Joey. All program and facility costs are covered by donations from private citizens or volunteer labor as provided by interested citizens. He said that those who work with the cubs maintain minimum contact so the cubs do not become habituated to humans or dependent on them for food. The ways this contact is minimized include covering the compound fence with a dark plastic cover so bears can't see humans. Food is tossed over the fence to encourage bears' foraging habit. Water is piped into the enclosures into ponds where bears drink. They have plenty of trees for climbing and sleeping but none of the trees are close to the fences to prevent them from jumping from trees over the fence.
In 1997, Appalachian Bear Rescue took in three cubs and earlier this year it had only two cubs but the population has exploded to about 20 in fall. "Word gets around" about the good work done by Appalachian Bear Rescue so that bear cubs from eight states have been taken to the facility. The record number of cubs handled in any one year was 2009 with 23 cubs coming to the center, though not all 23 were there at the same time. This was when the food bills were the highest. Rescue volunteers get some help from the older cubs who teach younger cubs. Joey explained that cubs spend about 18 months with their mothers during which time they learn vital survival skills. Higher food prices this year translate into higher operating costs for Appalachian Bear Rescue. Bears are fed a diet of vegetables, fruit, nuts and a small amount of meat. Bears might eat meat in the wild but prefer other food, even honey. "We have never had a black bear recaptured for being a nuisance," he said. "We educate the public about bears. They are not pets." Appalachian Bear Rescue volunteers also teach tourists, state residents and children how to be safe around bears. School children are taught about the Adopt a Cub program, which provides such activities as finding food for bears. Children are taken into the forest during fall to harvest acorns that are then sent to the rehabilitation center to feed bear cubs. Adults and school children are taught never to feed bears in the wild or to make food available at campsites. Usually when there is bear activity around park campgrounds it is because bears are searching for food.
While bears may have a reputation for being dangerous, Joey said he has "never had a problem with a black bear in the national park." And, he has hiked more than 75 percent of the trails. "Normally, when you come upon a bear, they run."
He estimates that since the difficult years after 1989 with food shortages, the black bear population in the Smokies is now about 1,600 to 1,800, according to the park's researchers. However, Joey said he believes it could easily be closer to 2,000. When JCCUD General Manager and fellow Kiwanian Tommy Bible introduced Joey earlier this year, Tommy said of him, "He has made our utility a better place." It could also be said that he has made the national park a better place because of his volunteer efforts through Appalachian Bear Rescue. Lisa said that "Joey is one of the most wonderful directors and so dedicated." Anyone can be a member of Appalachian Bear Rescue or make donations to help save orphaned and injured bears. The address is P.O. Box 364, Townsend, TN 37882 and www.appalachianbearrescue.org.
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