| Sources |
- [S47] Sevier County, Tennessee and its Heritage, Sevier County Heritage Book Committee, (1994, Don Mills, Inc.), 145.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 7 May 2005.
Atchley wins sixth consecutive term in office
SEVIERVILLE - After winning an historic sixth term as mayor of Sevierville on Tuesday, Bryan Atchley becomes the longest-serving mayor in at least a hundred years.
Atchley received 1,082 votes, or about 58 percent of the 1,862 votes cast for mayor, to defeat Barry Gibbs, who received 780 votes. These unofficial results will be certified by the Sevier County Election Commission next week.
When Atchley heard the news, he hugged his wife, Cherie, and thanked dozens of friends and supporters who helped put his campaign over the top.
"This was a good election, and Barry ran a positive campaign," Atchley said. "I'm looking forward to two more years as mayor."
After waging a tough campaign against an incumbent, Gibbs said he had "no regrets" and that he did all he could to win.
"I'm pleased with the 780 votes I received, and even though it fell short, it spoke volumes as to the will of many people within the city," Gibbs said. "I'm humbled by that show of support and will forever be grateful to so many people."
Gibbs, who regularly attends meetings of the Sevierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen, said he is uncertain what his political future might be.
"The next move for me will be to step back and assess my love for this community," he said, "and I can be of service to the people of Sevierville in some future way."
The unofficial early voting totals prior to election day had Atchley ahead with 623 votes to Gibbs' 451. Rainy days traditionally favor the incumbent, and this election wasn't different. Atchley garnered 455 Tuesday votes to Gibbs' 329.
Atchley's victory makes him the longest serving mayor in the city's history, according to information from a 2002 City of Sevierville newsletter, knocking Gary Wade out of the record books. Wade, who was perhaps the youngest Sevierville mayor ever elected at age 28, served five terms as mayor from 1977 to 1987.
"Bryan served with me back when he was an alderman," said Wade. "I'm so proud that he has won his sixth consecutive term - meaning the monkey is off my back."
After leaving office, Wade was appointed by then-Gov. Ned McWherter, and then elected and re-elected, as a judge with the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. He is currently the presiding officer.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 22 Mar 2007.
Cancer center key point of new hospital
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 22 Apr 2010.
Mayor recovering from ‘very successful surgery’
By JEFF FARRELL
SEVIERVILLE — Mayor Bryan Atchley is home and recovering after undergoing surgery to address prostate cancer.
Atchley’s surgery was Monday; he missed the regular meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that evening.
He was released Tuesday and back at home Wednesday. He said he plans to return to work at Sevier County Nursing Home on Monday.
“It’s prostate cancer, but it was caught early,” he said Wednesday. “I had very successful surgery and I’m at home recuperating.”
Atchley said the prognosis from his doctors was very good after the surgery. The cancer was detected early on because he’d been getting some tests to monitor his cholesterol, he said.
“If men would get tested regularly for prostate cancer, it would almost eliminate the threat,” he said.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 26 Aug 2010.
Man on the run (or walk): Atchley participating in Man Run less than year after cancer diagnosis
by GAIL CRUTCHFIELD
Mayor Bryan Atchley will take part in the 1-mile fun run/walk at Saturday’s Man Run for Prostate Cancer Awareness. “If I did the 5K I’d be in the hospital for another reason,” he joked.
When Sevierville Mayor Bryan Atchley heard about the Man Run for Prostate Cancer Awareness last year, he didn’t give it too much thought. After a year in which he was diagnosed and treated for a disease that is expected to kill more than 27,000 men this year, he’s taking a more active role in the third annual event.
“About this time last year I was on my way back from Nashville and listening to a Knoxville radio station,” Atchley said, sitting in his office at Sevier County Health Care Center. “Phil Williams, the DJ, had a gentleman on there talking about the Man Run and talking about prostate cancer and I didn’t think anything more about it until I got diagnosed.”
Atchley, 58, was diagnosed in February, after a spike in levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was found in his blood.
“Fortunately, I had high cholesterol,” Atchley said. “That’s the reason I was going to the doctor, and the reason I had high cholesterol was because I hadn’t been taking my medicine.”
He said he just stopped taking the medication and couldn’t feel any difference in his health when he took it.
“Typical male, you know,” he said. “I can’t tell any difference when I take my cholesterol medicine, but it does things internally like clean out your arteries and keeps everything going.”
While it wasn’t the best choice he could have made for his health — he now takes his medicine as it’s prescribed — it proved helpful in the long run.
After resuming his medications, his doctor had him come back a couple more times for blood tests. One taken about 10 months later showed an improvement in his cholesterol, but was worrisome when it came to his PSA count.
“I’ll never forget when Dr. (Eric) Littleton called me back in February he said, ‘Well, Bryan, your cholesterol is great.’ But he says, ‘We may have another problem. Your PSA is really elevated since July.’”
Atchley’s PSA count was 4.3, slightly above the 4.0 minimum that is considered standard for healthy men.
“But the fact that it had come from almost nothing to 4.3 in six months, it’s the rate of escalation,” he said that worried his doctors.
He and Littleton went over a list of urologists and chose one for Atchley to see for treatment. Within a week that doctor had him scheduled for a biopsy on Feb. 23 — the birthday of one of his younger brothers. The results came back a few days later.
“I’ll never forget, I got the call from Dr. (Edward) Kim after the biopsy,” he said. “It was a Friday. He called me about 12 o’clock and said it’s cancerous. I had to speak to East Tennessee Leadership at 1 o’clock.”
He didn’t even think about canceling his speech.
“I had to,” he said, but admitting, “That was not one of my funner days.”
Making it worse was the family’s history with cancer. His wife Sherry died five years ago from cancer and his thoughts automatically went to her when he was diagnosed.
“I can’t really describe (what I was feeling),” he said. “Because of what I’d gone through with Sherry and her battle with cancer, you think all kinds of horrible things.”
He had surgery on April 19, which fell on another brother’s birthday. Atchley said he had several treatment options, but chose surgery.
“I took a look at all of them, but I just felt that surgery was the quickest and surest and the thing I wanted to do,” he said.
He got a lot of support from family and friends.
“Of course, I’ve always known I’ve got a great family,” Atchley said, “but the support from co-workers here at the nursing home and at the city; the phone calls and cards from friends. I’ve always kind of known, but I know I’m a truly blessed individual when it comes to friends and family. If I start talking about it too much I might get emotional. I don’t know that I can do that. It was unbelievable.”
One source of support he was especially grateful for was from friends who went through what he was about to experience.
“I had several friends about my age, maybe a year or two younger, maybe a year or two older, who had gone through this, and they called me and they said if you want to talk about it, we’d be glad to help you any way we can. And I did want to talk,” he said.
“I can’t tell you how much help that is,” she said. “It’s just tremendous.”
Since then, he’s paid it forward, helping other men as they go through the same process.
“And I don’t sugarcoat it,” he said. “It’s not the most fun thing in the world you’ve ever done. But, you know, I’m alive and I feel great.”
Great enough to participate in Saturday’s Man Run for Prostate Cancer Awareness — at least the mile fun run/walk portion, not the 5K race.
“If I did the 5K I’d be in the hospital for another reason,” Atchley said. He’ll have company and support from family members, friends and others in the community who will attend the event as well.
The money raised through the Man Run benefits the University of Tennessee Medical Center Cancer Institute, which provides free prostate cancer screenings and outreach programs. The $30 registration fee will pay for two free screenings.
Those free screenings are especially helpful now, Atchley said, when unemployment is so high.
“If somebody’s laid off, somebody’s out of a job, the last thing they’re going to think about is going to have lab work done,” he said. “But they provide like eight different free clinics all over East Tennessee where you can go and have the PSA and physical exam free of charge.”
Just such a clinic is scheduled for Sept. 8 at UT Family Physicians, 657 Middle Creek Road in Sevierville. The screenings will be offered to males 50 and older and those 45 and above who are black and have a family history of prostate cancer. For an appointment, call 305-6970 or toll free 877-882-2737.
Atchley encourages men to be diligent about their yearly physical exams so they too can catch any signs of prostate cancer early.
“Prostate cancer is a cancer they have basically found a cure for, if people would just get tested early enough,” Atchley said.
He’s already encouraged his brothers to be tested and told his son, Bryan Jr., that he will need to tested when he turns 40 in a couple of years.
“You better believe he’ll have his tested,” Atchley said. “I don’t care if I have to draw the blood myself.”
Early detection, he said, is truly the key.
“I’ve known two or three people who said they lost a father or a brother or an uncle to prostate cancer simply because they caught it when it was way too late,” Atchley said.
“The more I can help somebody through a situation like this — I think that’s one of the reasons maybe the good Lord has let me do as well as I am — if it makes people aware first to get tested, and then if you get tested and it turns up cancer, it’s not the end of the world.”
The Man Run will start at 8 a.m. Saturday at UT Medical Center. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and is $30. For more information, call 305-8577 or visit www.manrun.org.
gcrutchfield@themountainpress.com Prostate cancer statistics
Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in American males. The latest American Cancer Society estimates for prostate cancer in the United States for 2010:
About 217,730 new cases will be diagnosed
About 32,050 men will die of it
About 1 in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
More than 2 million men in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer.
About 1 man in 36 will die of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer accounts for about 11 percent of cancer-related deaths in men.
Source: American Cancer Society
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 30 Apr 2011.
Atchley gets 2nd cancer diagnosis
by JEFF FARRELL
Sevierville Mayor Bryan Atchley looks at a thank you card from Will Clabo and Shelby Koerten after reading to students at Sevierville Primary School March 4 as part of Read Across America.
SEVIERVILLE — Mayor Bryan Atchley has been diagnosed with cancer for a second time.
Atchley had successful surgery last year for prostate cancer. He still visits his physician regularly, and officials said the new cancer was discovered early as a result.
A statement from the city said Atchley was diagnosed with stage two oral cancer. According to the Internet site webmd, that means doctors found a tumor that is two to four centimeters in size in the lining of the lips or oral cavity, that has not spread to the lymph nodes.
Dr. Eric Carlson, chair of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, is expected to perform surgery to remove the cancer June 22. After it is removed, physicians will analyze the tissue within two weeks, and they are expected to offer a prognosis sometime after that.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryan and his family,” said city spokesman Bob Stahlke.
The mayor remained was good spirits Friday despite the new diagnosis.
“It’s just another hurdle and I feel good about what all the doctors have said, that they can get in there and do the surgery and get rid of it,” he said.
Atchley was not present for the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s last regular meeting, but said he plans to attend Monday’s meeting.
“I have no effects. I feel good,” he said.
Atchley’s wife, Cherie, died of cancer in 2005. He said he found strength in remembering the way she dealt with the disease.
“When I got the initial news it was sort of a bummer, but having a wife that went through this and witnessing her life and her spirit with what she went through ... I think God’s made me a lot stronger by what I went through with Cherie. I firmly believe there’s a reason for everything he does.”
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
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1952 - (73 years)
, d. 11 Aug 2008, Sevier County Health Care Center, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee 
