The Tennessee RiverLine announced the winners of its 2022 awards at the 6th annual Tennessee RiverLine Summit, which was held in Guntersville, AL, on January 23, 24, and 25, 2022 at Lake Guntersville State Park. The Tennessee RiverLine’s awards program recognizes communities, individuals, and organizations who best demonstrate leadership through their commitment to the transformational vision for North America’s next great regional trail system, and who embrace its guiding principles through innovative Tennessee RiverTowns programming.
“The Tennessee RiverLine is powered by partnerships. It stands as a testament that we can achieve something together that none of us could accomplish alone,” said Brad Collett, Director of the Tennessee RiverLine and Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “Our team, the UT Institute of Agriculture, and our principal partners, UT Knoxville and Tennessee Valley Authority continue to be inspired by the many and innovative ways that our partners in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee put these ideas into practice in their community and across the region.”
This year’s awards celebrate partners who have made substantial contributions to the ongoing impact and development of the Tennessee RiverTowns Program. Their individual and collective efforts in 2022 exercise the Program’s potential as a framework for collaboration to fulfill the vision for the Tennessee RiverLine and the economic development, public health, resource stewardship and equitable access benefits it promises.
The 2022 Tennessee RiverLine awards include:
Organizational Partner of the Year: Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association
Individual Partner of the Year: Terrence Johnson, Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area
Community Partner of the Year: South Pittsburg, TN
J.E.D.I. Path Award: The Shoals, AL
Excellence in River Animation: Calvert City, KY
Excellence in River Stewardship: Hardin County, TN
Event of the Year: Bridgeport, AL
Powered by Partnerships: Meigs County, TN
Extra Mile Awards:
John Bobenage – Bridgeport, AL
Blair Travis – Calvert City, KY
Terri Chapin – Chattanooga, TN
Rena Purdy – Clifton, TN
Jeanne Payne – Decatur, AL
Julie Patton – Guntersville, AL
Beth Pippin – Hardin County, TN
Brandi Quick – Huntsville, AL
Lydia Pennington – Jackson County, AL
Sheryl Ely – Knoxville, TN
Simon Bradbury – Loudon County, TN
Sunshine Loveless – Meigs County, TN
Suzi Davidson – Paducah, KY
Bonnie Angus – Roane County, TN
Walker Henley – South Pittsburg, TN
Norm McCowan – Spring City, TN
Terrence Johnson – The Shoals, AL
“All of our partners have made meaningful and essential contributions to the Tennessee RiverLine initiative this past year,” said Lizzy Gardner, Tennessee RiverLine Programs Director. “We’re moved by the effort and commitment these recipients have shown, and it’s their impacts that will further inspire the work we share to make the Tennessee RiverLine vision a reality.”
All awardees were recognized at the 2023 Tennessee RiverLine Summit, presented by Board Safe Docks. This year’s Summit convened more than 140 partners from across the region for three days of engaging sessions and excursions at Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge in Guntersville, AL.
Award recipients are nominated by members of the Tennessee RiverLine staff, the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership and Local Leadership Team members of each Tennessee RiverTowns community. All award recipients received a custom plaque commemorating their achievement. The award plaques are designed and fabricated by University of Tennessee, Knoxville, students at the College of Architecture and Design’s Fab Lab.
Visit tnriverline.org for more details about each award.
About the Tennessee RiverLine
The Tennessee RiverLine is North America’s next great regional trail system, a multi-generational initiative that offers economic development, public health, resource stewardship and equitable access benefits to 2.4 million people in diverse Tennessee River communities in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. The Tennessee RiverLine is an initiative of the UT Institute of Agriculture and principal partners, UT Knoxville and TVA, in collaboration with the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership, a diverse consortium of organizations committed to realizing the vision for the Tennessee RiverLine. The initiative began in and continues to be supported by the UT School of Landscape Architecture, which is a partnership of the UT College of Architecture and Design and the Herbert College of Agriculture. For more information visit tnriverline.org.